#he's saying as kids me and my siblings all instigated and acted like he was a bad person

[dogbunni]

not my stepdad saying that i used to belittle him as a child by using big words 😭 and that I was smart but had no common sense. I said it's the autism and he was like "no it's not that" 😭😭😭😭

[aristia-pjoheadcanons]

POSTING ARES HCS BC HE NEVER GETS ENOUGH ATTENTION

(This is actually canon): It was referenced multiple time in the series “Trials of Apollo” that Ares will often make dirty (inappropriate)-jokes and generally joke around with Apollo about certain things.

Which bring me my headcanon that Apollo and Ares get along because they are the black sheep’s of the family. Apollo will get emotional and start trauma dumping in him, while Ares is sitting there like “that’s rough buddy.”

More headcanons now:

Ares is actually one of the neutral gods in Olympus. (Along with Dionysus, Hades, Athena). Which makes sense why he keeps switching sides mid battle, but even though he does that—other Gods still tolerate him.

He will often be the troublemaker. Often sending horrible pranks to other Gods like creating terrifying & disgusting monsters and send it to Apollo/Hermes/Demeter etc. and blame it on Apollo/Hermes (which usually works because they’re all tricksters).

Demeter doesn’t hate Ares since he would often protect village crops from priests back in 399B.C

I feel like he’s the type of God to have a terrible soft spot for very specific things but would not admit it because he has an image to maintain.

Athena and Ares act like siblings in private meetings and can generally have a nice conversation about battle strategies.

When Athena and Ares were kids they would be on Mount Olympus while silently judging whoever passed them while making nicknames of the people around them. So now, as adults they have a lot of inside jokes but refrain from using them around others.

Hephaestus and Ares are really f’ king awkward around each other for no reason whatsoever. Maybe it’s the fact that they don’t really know how to make friends or not used to making them. But Ares is the God that sends the most requests from him and often praises him (but not to his face). -(which reminds me of when Apollo said he gives encouragement to Hephaestus when he’s working, canon btw).

Ares gets shy very often but has to look strong and unfazed even when his face is red. Most gods just assume that he’s so mad that he turned red.

Other times when he looks like he’s about to pop a blood vessel on his neck & forehead simultaneously, he’s actually trying not to burst out laughing.

He finds his own jokes and thoughts entertaining and has a hard time controlling his facial expressions when he thinks of something stupid. Sometimes he says some of them out loud, other times he keeps it to himself bc most of his jokes don’t even make sense unless you hear his full thoughts.

When the Gods of Olympus first met Ares when he was introduced, everyone thought he was a lot more handsome then they assumed. He usually had a helmet on that covered most of his face and during banquets he would just show himself as smoke (not a person), so when they saw him they thought he looked attractive.

Ares finds it embarrassing to see sculptures of himself. In one of them, you can see him trying to cover up his private areas. He thinks that that is no place for people to see. Which is why he never enters museums.

His favourite meals are burgers, fries, fish n’ chips, (Americanised) Chinese food.

Doesn’t like wine that much, but prefers beer.

(Canon) Since Apollo Said that the Gods have game nights in Mount Olympus,

(headcanon) Ares is the instigator during heated discussions about who is cheating or who won. Ares actually controls his temper well & isn’t the one throwing a tantrum, but rather it’s the other Gods who do so. Athena doesn’t care so much as she believes she can spent her intellect in something worth giving it for, but it’s everyone else that is like that. Hephaestus and Hades are never invited, until after the P.J. Series where they finally accepted him to the table. Hephaestus never truly shows up, he’s awkward and is very insecure about how he smells, looks and gets anxious. If he does ever play, he’s completely quiet and tries to take up as less space as possible. They often put Zeus & Hera/Athena/Artemis at each ends of the table. But everybody let’s Zeus win every once in a while bc he’s a sore loser and nobody has the time & energy for another conflict, not even Ares himself.

When Ares first understood the extent of his powers & realised he could control dead people from the underworld, Hades had to tell him to stop because he needed the labour.

Ares deepest, darkest secret is that he watched children’s movies. But in public cinemas or with other gods/people he will watch action movies.

He secretly wishes that he had a loving family. Over 3 millennia’s of being alive - he is bound to think of things like that at least once.

(Canon) Apollo Said that Zeus used to sing songs during banquets before he was born—

Headcanons: if Ares was alive at that time, he would probably laugh in a corner while listening to him and he would get grounded by his father.

[camvrin]

gang as streamers

maz would be the most problematic alongside me (given sometimes we say things on impulse and then backtrack by smacking a hand over our mouth with "I am so sorry. omg.")... but not "problematic" like Melanie Martinez no like. "oh hell nah y'all are WILDDDD for this 😭" "guys I can't keep defending u."

Devon is an actual Cory like they'll post something they'll stream but then go AWOL for six months and come back like "what's good chat 😈.."

Devon is the least interactive with their fan base outside of streaming unless they're tagged in shit or see something that makes them go "wait wait wait hold on a minute."

Jake has the LEAST problematic fanbase and he's easily more popular because. have you seen his rants he'd be like a Charlie but in a. Jake way

we're all the most problematic people ever whenever we're doing a stream together people have clips of things they shouldn't

ykw I'm talking about Devon being a Cory, I act like I hate my fanbase and proceed to disappear too "OLIVER stop posting on everything BUT yt/twitch. DO A STREAM ITS BEEN MONTHS"

we're like Inquisitormaster we have a plethora of ships left and right and one day we do a reaction and someone comes out and says "guys what if they're just poly?" and we make the mistake of entertaining without clarifying it was a joke and all fanbases go insane

drinking streams... 🤤 except I'm (me and probably Maz.) are raging alcoholics so there's a shit ton of clips which include Jake and Devon being tired of my (our) bullshit

irl streams once we're all comfortable like we do house tourssss, bakingggg, vlogsss,,,

"we've known each other since 2020... we were all still in late elementary or smth HAHA" and we earn the title of #onlinefriendshipgoals

ship clips

we have so many out of context compilations it could be damaging to our careers 😭🙏🏽

we all have roles too like "Jake being that tired older sibling for 13 minutes and 04 seconds" / "Solar being the baby for twenty minutes straight" / "Devon being a D1 Instigator™ during the Among Us stream" / "Cameron giving peak theatre kid for 10 minutes"

erm wait guys add more I'm pooping rn 🤓🤞🏽

@barneysbigstompers @anonoob @mazzywazzy69

[dragongirldg]

The 12 tmnt boys remind me of how me and my siblings act around each other.

So I didn’t didn’t really think much of it, but to see people write the boys being the worst versions of themselves is sad.

Don’t you ever wrestle with your siblings? Chase each other when they steal something from you and you are laughing?

Insult each other in a joking way and know neither mean it, it’s just teasing? Bug each other? Barge into their room?

Take stuff from their room? Borrow or ask for stuff?

My sister comes into my room to snoop around for snacks or ask for money. It’s a 50 - 50 on if I say yes or no.

She comes in to do something and sometimes we play fight or role play.

Doesn’t your brother poke you in the shoulder? In the most annoying way he can?

Sit in the same room doing our own thing while probably not even talking?

Raph put Mikey or Donnie in a choke hold for a (how is it spelled? Rub fist in head)? Same! We laugh about it too.

Don’t you remember the last time you pranked or aggravated your sibling?

If you have a sibling then you can name one time you broke something while fighting/ playing with them.

I remember one time I lost a tooth while fighting over a toy rabbit. It was silly. I uh had it in my mouth while my brother pulled on the other end. We thought it was funny.

I remember another time I lost a tooth or my mouth was bleeding.

Bottom line is that not all fighting is meant to hurt. You see animals play fighting without the intention of actually hurting each other! Same with people!!

Raph just has control issues sometimes. Mikey is also impulsive and instigates things.

Attention is attention to some so they’ll do it because they want someone’s attention.

I bug my sister or she bugs me. My brother moved out so I can’t really bug him anymore.

The context of insults are important!

I affectionately think of my sister as a snotty little brat, because I like that about her! I like how insufferable and rude she can be!

That’s my sister! She can mock me and I’ll mock her, but we both know it’s fun.

No one intends to make the other cry, so it’s a shock when it happens! So learn to control what you do.

So yeah, Raph is a kid in his most unstable part of his life learning to control himself. He is not the only one either!

My sister wants me to talk for her? Fine I’ll do the talking, but I try to get her to do it so she will be use to it. Then she can order food for herself or ask a question.

I remember when she’d ask me to text our parents about food she wants and I’d always type that she wants it.

Well I don’t know if this helped or actually went anywhere, so I’ll end it here.

——-

I’m not going to get into Splinter because I don’t think he’s a bad parent (maybe he has moments but he’s just one man doing his best trying to raise four kids- give him a break!)

He came from a strict clan okay- but he is still a kind person-

Cough cough

Bye!

[nonbinary-ghost]

A Conversation Between Vessel and Wyrm

So, I know I’ve never posted my writing here before but this scene has been playing in my head for days and I just need to share it. The premise is based on @chipper-smol ‘s shitlordAU where Ghost somehow goes back it time to when they and the Pure Vessel were kids, and decide to absolutely torment their Father in between finding a way to kill the Radiance. It’s such a fantastic AU rife with opportunities for both humor and angst. Anyone who reads this should totally check out chipper’s work!

(This turned out longer than expected: ~2700 words, so the rest is under the Keep Reading tab)

Ghost leaned back and tilted their head to the side, observing their painting with a critical eye. The corridor in which they worked was dark, but the barest glow of the occasional lumifly that flitted about the palace halls provided just enough light for Ghost to be able to make out the dark lines of ink they had scrawled across the white wall. They nodded to themself in approval. The painting, while quite sloppy, could at least be recognized as the Pale King with monstrously exaggerated teeth and a grotesque tongue. They rubbed their chin thoughtfully, unwittingly getting some of the black ink on their mask, as they pondered if there was something more they could add to the painting to make it even less flattering.

Their current prank was one outside of Ghost’s typical inclinations. Until the Queen had begun to teach Ghost to write, they never held much interest for anything to do with a brush and ink. They had found Sheo’s art beautiful or interesting certainly, and they marveled at the skill with which the retired nailmaster could wield a brush – but such things never appealed to Ghost. There had been so much they needed to do at the time that learning about art seemed unnecessary. But now that they were learning to write, Ghost realized that art could be used to communicate just as much as words, and the motions of painting were somewhat easier for them than the neat script they were attempting to master. Sheo hadn’t lied when he said the strokes of a brush were not unlike the strokes of a nail, and Ghost had found they enjoyed the act of creating something that others could see and understand.

This particular painting was not their best, but it wasn’t intended to be. It was intended to stir up the Knights and bother the Pale King, to prove yet again that Ghost could think and feel – and to illustrate how they felt about the King.

Ghost didn’t notice the approaching bug until the shadow eclipsed the faint lumifly light they were using to paint by. Ghost froze as the shadow slipped over them. Their shoulders tensed as they prepared for the cold hand of a Kingsmould to grip the collar of their cloak, or a loud scolding from Dryya. When neither came, Ghost dared a hesitant glance over their shoulder. Shock rang through them like a stag-bell when they found not a Kingsmould, nor one of the Five Knights behind them.

It was the Pale King.

Ghost went ridged, half prepared to bolt and debating if doing so was worth the effort. Their painting was meant to be discovered after all, and it would never have been any question by whose hands the crude caricature had been created. But the King’s gaze focused not on the guilty Vessel standing before him. Rather, he appeared to be studying Ghost’s painting, his secondary hands clasped behind his back and while his primary ones rested in the wide sleeves of his robe. The Pale King’s unusually calm demeanor unnerved Ghost and they slowly turned to face the Wyrm, their hand almost instinctively reaching for the reassuring hilt of a nail that was no longer there.

“A remarkable likeness.” When not raised in anger the Pale King’s voice was almost as melodious as the White Lady’s. Ghost cocked their head enough to glance between their painting and the King in disbelief. The painting, while recognizable as the King by the crown-like horns, was by no means a “remarkable likeness” to the actual subject. Ghost had deliberately made the painting as messy and obnoxious as possible. Perhaps sensing Ghost’s disbelief, the King unclasped a secondary hand from behind his back and raised it toward the painting.

“I imagine that this is how you must see me,” he murmured. “I cannot truthfully say it is all that far from accurate.”

Before Ghost could process the meaning of the King’s words, the Pale Wyrm finally turned his gaze on them. The weight of that unwavering attention felt like a heavy pressure against Ghost’s shell and they found themself tensing, feeling as if the Pale King was staring right into them. It was unusual for the King to actually look at Ghost without some other distraction dividing his attention – distractions Ghost typically crafted – and they weren’t certain they liked the scrutiny of the King’s abrupt interest in them. Despite the fact that Ghost now stood taller than the King, they felt suddenly small.

“Vessel-“ he began, but stopped before the word fully left his mouth. He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “Ghost. If I may have a word with you somewhere more comfortable?”

So startled by the Pale King’s use of their name and the phrasing of the request as a question rather than an order, Ghost found themself nodding yes without really considering the consequences. They followed the Wyrm with their thoughts swimming. This was not the kind of response they had come to expect from the King – anger, yes, shouting, almost certainly. But this calm, quiet passivity left Ghost uneasy and they struggled not to fiddle with the hem of their cloak as they walked behind the King, following him down corridor after corridor. As they walked, Ghost began to notice that the pale white light that the king always seemed to give off was much fainter than they remembered. Perhaps the Wyrm was suppressing the glow to avoid disturbing any sleeping bugs whose rooms they passed.

With a final turn the two of them entered a veranda that overlooked a vast garden glowing bright with thousands of lumiflies – no doubt one of the Queen’s creations, though Ghost didn’t recall ever coming to this particular garden with their mother. The King gracefully lifted himself up to sit upon the short wall that separated the tiled veranda from the garden, his wings flaring slightly to aid his balance. Ghost stared, uncertain of what to do. They were fine with breaking formalities for the sake of rebellion, but at the moment the King was adhering to no formalities for Ghost to go against. It made them feel strangely directionless. They fidgeted. They didn’t like this feeling. The King lifted a secondary hand to gesture to the space beside him, keeping his primary hands nestled in the sleeves of his robes.

“Would you care to sit with me?”

Ghost rocked forward to oblige but halted before even taking a step, instead crossing their arms over their chest and staring at the Pale King expectantly. While they could not fathom what all of this was about, they could clearly sense there was something specific the King wanted to say. Ghost waited and the King sighed, turning his head to look out over the garden.

“It has come to my attention that you have begun spending some time with the Pure Vessel.”

Ghost didn’t move. So what if they had? Pure was not some hollow thing, no matter how much they pretended to be in order to appease their Father. Ghost knew the Knights went to great lengths to keep the two siblings away from each other, but that didn’t mean Ghost didn’t seek Pure out from time to time. When they were alone, Pure sometimes even relaxed a little, and showed sparks of interest in the language of hand-signs Ghost was crafting with the Queen. Their meetings were few and far between, as Pure’s life was strictly regimented and Pure would never go against something they were told to do, but their meetings had been occurring with more frequency after the sparing match Ghost had instigated.

“This cannot be permitted.”

Indignation sparked through Ghost and they clenched their hands against their folded arms. The Pale King let out a long breath and turned on the wall to face them, his expression unreadable.

“I must admit, was wrong about you.”

Ghost stared, their anger faltering somewhat. Making their hands into fists, Ghost held them up in front of their chest with their thumbs pointed toward themself. With a quick twist of their right fist, Ghost pointed their right thumb upwards. The motion meant “how” – in what way was the King wrong about them. Ghost wasn’t sure if the King knew any of the signs they used with their Mother, but it was what they had. The King at least continued as if he understood the motion.

“You were never hollow – only a fool would watch your mayhem and attempt to claim otherwise. For a time, I have ridiculed myself for allowing you to remain here with the Pure Vessel. I believed you should have been removed.”

The King’s gaze had shifted down to stare at his primary hands resting in his lap. Ghost could see, now, that they were stained a dark black that stood out starkly against his silver robes. A black so deep and bottomless it looked like it would leech the light out of the room around it. A black so similar to the void of which Ghost was made … Ghost went cold as they suddenly comprehended what the Pale King was implying – that they should have been killed. Discarded into the abyss. The King shifted and Ghost dropped into a defensive stance as their whole body trembled with sudden fear, once again reaching for the hilt of a nail that was no longer there. But the King only lifted his head to meet Ghost’s eyes.

“It was wrong of me to believe that.” He paused only long enough to take a deep breath before continuing. “You are a sentient being, very full of life and will, with a personality all your own. To believe that I have any right to take that from you is a crime against everything I have built Hollownest around. And to see the way my Root adores you … how could I ever take you away from her?”

The raw honesty in the Pale King’s voice made Ghost hesitantly stand from the half crouch they’d fallen into. He…cared? He cared that Ghost could feel? Enough so for it to stay his hand in killing them, when he’d never hesitated with all of their lost kin in the abyss far below? Why? Was it because he knew without a doubt that Ghost was not hollow, and could not delude himself into thinking otherwise as he had with the others? Or was it because the Queen had taken a liking to Ghost and going against her wishes would cause strife between them? Ghost almost didn’t hear the King’s next words, but at the mention of Pure their attention was quickly pulled back to the Pale King.

“But the Pure Vessel is a different matter. It has a purpose – one whose success or failure will determine the fate of every bug in Hollownest.” The tentative hope spurred by the King’s acknowledgment of Ghost’s sentience vanished as the King continued to speak, and unease began to worm its way through Ghost’s chest. “You are not hollow, of this there is no doubt, but the Pure Vessel must remain as such if it is to succeed. The more you are around it, the more likely it is to begin to feel. If it sees the leniency with which you are treated, it may begin to develop a will of its own, and all of the sacrifices made to protect this kingdom will have been for naught. You must stay away from the Pure Vessel to preserve that hollowness for which it was created.”

Rage thundered through Ghost at the King’s words and they sharply signed “You are wrong”. Pure had never been hollow. The King’s plan had already failed, doomed from the very beginning, and Ghost refused to let their sibling go through that suffering again. That was the whole reason they were here – to stop the radiance before their sibling was sacrificed, before Hollownest fell to ruin. The King blinked at the venom in Ghost’s movements as their hands flittered through the signs for disgust, for being too late, for refusal. They were too angry to keep the motions smooth and they shook as that fiery emotion pounded through them. Even if the King could not understand all of the motions, the message was clear: They refused to stay away from Pure.

The Pale King’s brow pinched in anger and his wings flared slightly.

“There is no other way to keep Hollownest safe,” he rumbled, his voice tight with controlled anger, but Ghost shook their head. The King’s hands clenched into fists. “We have tried everything else. Without something to contain the Radiance and Her infection, Hollownest will fall and every bug in the Kingdom will be corrupted. I cannot doom the entirety of my people to an existence of mindless misery for the sake of any one bug. If you continue to interfere with the Pure Vessel, you will condemn everyone in Hollownest to a living death. Surely you must understand this! I know you are not blind – you have been outside of the palace, you have almost certainly seen those the Radiance has already corrupted.”

The Pale King had no idea just how much suffering Ghost had seen at the hands of the Radiance’s infection. The memory of Pure’s eyes filled with the yellow light of the Radiance swam up and Ghost recoiled as they remembered the wretched agony in their sibling’s motions as they turned their nail on themself, trying to cut the infection away. No. The King could not possibly understand just how much Ghost knew about the pain the spreading infection caused. They shook their head, feeling oddly ill as they clenched their trembling hands into fists at their sides in their sign for “I’m done speaking to you”. They turned sharply and moved to leave the veranda.  

“If there was any other way, I swear to you I would take it,” the Pale King whispered to Ghost’s back, his voice soft with some kind of emotion. Regret? “But I cannot See any other path that will slow the Infection’s spread.”

Ghost straightened, spinning to meet the King’s gaze with a furious glare. Of course he could not know of any other way. He was looking at this problem from a completely different angle than Ghost. He was trying to find a way to slow the infection, to contain it, while simultaneously trapping and starving the Radiance in a Vessel of Void. He could See no way to remove the infection at its source. Ghost realized that while the Pale King had a measure of Foresight, his Sight must be limited to the scope of the knowledge he already possessed. He did not know of the Seer, of the Dreamnail, of Godseeker. He could not fight the Radiance directly, not without a way to enter Dream and face the enraged Goddess, and so he was attempting to defeat her in this roundabout manner. Did he know his doomed plan would ultimately fail, but believe it to be the only way to buy his people time?

“You are wrong,” Ghost signed, pointing at the king and lifting their thumb and pinky in a gesture under their chin. They then closed their fist and pointed their thumb to the side before using both hands to imitate the sides of a path: “There is another way.”

The King’s brow furrowed and he shook his head.

“I do not understand.”

Ghost opened and closed their fists at their sides in frustration. Even if the King could understand their signs, Ghost did not have the gestures for the ideas they would need in order to convey their plan to the Pale King. Their anger cooled somewhat, shifting to a steady burn in the pit of their being rather than the all-consuming fury that had raged through them not moments before, and they realized that if they could find a way to explain their plan to the King, he might help them find the Seer. If he knew there was another way, would he help them do it?

“I don’t have the words to explain,” Ghost signed by drawing a finger over their throat. They held up their index fingers a little ways apart, then made an ‘L’ with their right hand, pressing their thumb into their raised left palm and twisting their right hand so the ‘L’ was upside down: “I will tell you later.”

They did not wait for the king to respond before turning and storming out of the veranda, their mind ablaze.

The Pale King could not See that there was another way.

So Ghost would make him See.

[mc-critical]

your analysis of selim? i think he's hated way more than he deserves. hating him for valid reasons is fine but telling that he's gonna be such a bad sultan is really stupid [and especially because only now do they bring out history & say selim was bad which is historically inaccurate as well]. out of all of suleyman's sons, it was only mustafa who was loved by all & talented [show only cuz apparently mehmet was also extremely talented & selim wasn't a bad sultan] enough for the throne. bayezid was extremely hotheaded and you can't tell me that a prince who can't control his emotions, especially in front of state officials, will be a good sultan. everyone tells selim was extremely selfish & the instigator of all their fights, when they were younger & older. siblings are always like that?? mustafa obviously wasn't like that because he was way older than mehmet, mihrimah, selim, bayezid & cihangir to get into stupid fights w/ them. mehmet & mihrimah had frequent & annoying arguments because they were closer in age. selim & bayezid had frequent fights because they were closer in age. this is a thing with many siblings; the elder provoking the younger & the younger disrespecting the elder. why do people point out their sibling fights as evidence for selim's personality? i feel sorry for bayezid as a kid but i feel less remorse for him as he's older. i don't say he deserves execution, especially at the hands of his own father, but he did rebel against his father's order & then proceeded to flee to another empire; like, the punishment for that is execution, what did he expect after rebelling? i feel extremely sorry for all his sons though, they didn't deserve this fate when they were just victims of their father's rebellion. also, unpopular opinion but bayezid is lowkey overrated pls don't cancel me i love him but he's annoying at times like all characters & no one really acknowledges it back to selim, he was honestly very underrated. he was really slandered in the series and he didn't have any real support w/ him until nurbanu & sokollu. although hurrem did vouch for him to go to manisa, it was literally only because he was 'peaceful' [we can read that as untalented as well] and no harm would reach him because he wasn't a threat [i actually really liked this plan of hurrem's, tough & clever; only if she was actually supported in this]. even mihrimah, till the end, is quite unfair to him. he had a problem w/ alcohol & people telling him to just stop? like, it doesn't work that way? people have to suffer so much in order to stop their addictions & they're actually restricted from their addictions; selim was a prince, no one around him could restrict him [his parents could but they weren't w/ him in his provinces]. he did become politically active w/ nurbanu's growing ambitions & he took smarter, more cunning & dirtier measures than bayezid to win the throne. the battle for the throne was bloody; resorting to honour like mustafa did was obviously not the best decision & people insult selim for being cunning enough [or being influenced by cunning people] to win the throne. let's also keep in mind that selim didn't even have much of an interest for the throne until manisa & nurbanu. i also like his relationship w/ nurbanu. it paralleled suleyman & hurrem's w/ the concubine arcs but selim did end up being monogamous to her in the show. their chemistry was fantastic [props to engin & merve for their acting] and although i don't really enjoy the 'a woman makes a man strong & influences him in everything; good or evil' kind of take, i did enjoy their relationship [he also sometimes looked at her like she was this ethereal type miracle, appropriately so w/ her courage]. i like what the show did w/ bayezid's execution a lot, the whole scene was such a wonderful cinematic experience; the music, bayezid's agonizing screams, his sons falling one by one, selim crying because he didn't want it to end up this way, bayezid falling & his screams ceasing, selim's heartbroken face because he was always a soft person & he always loved bayezid;

ahh, what a scene, so much love for it. anyway, that's just my opinion; i think he's hated way more than he deserves, especially in comparison to other characters & he's actually one of my most favourite characters from s4 [but i honestly love all characters w/ their good & bad, mc has many complex characters & i live for it]. what do you think about selim? sorry if you got annoyed at the long ask, i can get really heated when talking about selim [especially in reference to his historical figure], hope you don't mind if❤ [if it is annoying i'll stop it]

(okay, I'll talk strictly about the show, since I don't feel like delving deep into historical waters. There is still stuff we don't know for sure and I do want to keep the line between show and history in my head, except for the similar themes.)

While he isn't particularly my favorite character, I appreciate MC Selim and he is a very interesting subject when it comes to analyzing him. I'm actually amazed with what the show did with him in the span of a season (and something, counting some S02B and S03B moments) - he was one of the most fleshed out characters in S04 and we could get a clear picture as to why he does what he does.

Some people consider his debut to be an insult, for it immediately showed some of his weaknesses, putting him in a bad light right out of the gate. But all I can see in this debut is a showcase of his predicament of the prince no one sees as a capable heir of the throne. It’s as if he sleeps with women and drinks as a coping mechanism he’s delved into, with Mihrimah having to do effort to snap him out of it. The Selim we see in the beginning of S04 is a hopeless person. He doesn’t have dreams and ambitions, it’s as if he’s a already a lost cause and he has no one to truly support him. Even Hürrem wanted to send him to Manisa not because she deemed him as worthy, but to use him as a shield in order to deceive her enemies and protect the actual favorite. That may seem like a clever plan, but in actuality, it failed spectacularly - not only did her enemies not get confused for a second and didn’t attack Selim at all, but she forgot to tell Bayezid why she did it and made Selim confused to the point of demotivation, because none of his brothers were truly happy with this decision and they were all opposing it, directly and indirectly. And while he may not show it that much, because of his more composed and pragmatic nature, Selim is sensitive to the opinions of his brothers and the people around him and their prevailing disapproval may be a part of why he became so different than the rest. It’s like no one wanted to get to know him.

Nurbanu’s entrance in Selim’s life is very cathartic in this aspect, for she actually worked with him and gave him the needed motivation and ambition to fight, awaking sides of him that were dormant for a long time. And yes, I do think that Selim’s pragmatism is something he always had, if the whole arrow incident in S03B where he sabotaged Bayezid’s arrow, which caused him to lose is any indication. 

{I don’t think that the quarrels Selim and Bayezid had when they were little are so much indicators of Selim’s personality as they are foreshadowing of their future conflict. Right, these quarrels are normal for siblings and Mehmet and Mihrimah also fought like that (heck, even little Mehmet and Mustafa had a fight once in S01 and that fight was used as the conflict of the remainder of that one episode), but they weren’t as frequent as the ones of Selim and Bayezid. I don’t know, it’s just the atmosphere of these scenes was different and hinted at something more. It could be because we know the historical events and we could see every tiniest bit of early sibling rivalry between them as build-up, but still, I always felt there just was something else. Like the whole arrow incident I mentioned, a presumably harmless little situation gains a whole other meaning later on. It sets up neatly Süleiman’s opinions of both of them (his reaction to apparent disobedience and the making of a scene by someone he doesn’t expect to, by which I mean Bayezid), Hürrem’s retroactive ignorance of a possible bigger enmity and the roots of the whole conflict. It’s not Selim deciding to sabotage Bayezid’s performance as a last resort, maybe knowing that he surely won’t do better than his brother (doing a pretty typical ,,prank’’ for a little, naughty kid) that is exemplary of his cunning later, it’s his validation and him getting away with it that eventually becomes it, just like how he ends up getting away with stuff in the next season. Selim definetly isn’t the instigator of all the fights, especially because Bayezid, thanks to his more impulsive nature, is much more likely to start a fight in the first place and contrasts to Selim’s overall better composure. Provokations among them were mutual and both were consistently throwing darts at each other, one after another. Their conflict is a very nuanced issue: while people try to play right and wrong, both sides were at fault one way or another. The conflict between them is mostly caused by insensitivity, favoritism and ignorance and the desperation of both to try to prove themselves to their parents and win their support, at the end of the day. Why did they always calm down in front of their mother? Not only because of their joint respect for her, but also because of these same attempts to earn her support. Even Bayezid, who obviously had to be sure of her support, wasn’t completely certain of it after Hurrem turned it on Selim for a while. Selim, on the other hand, obviously never felt her support, it’s like something was missing right from the start. Combine that with their completely opposing personalities and the whole system encouraging competition for the throne and there you have the inevitable ultimate conclusion. That’s why I also love the set-up, the pay-off and the aftermath of Bayezid’s execution. It may be historically inaccurate that Selim, not Süleiman, executed Bayezid, but when you think about it, it was the most logical thing that could’ve happened, ending their conflict with a heart-wrenching bow. I love the scene of the execution itself, too - the action, the dialogue, the direction, the character moments, the themes... I don’t know whether Selim loved Bayezid by that point, per say, after all they went through, but it was clear that he knew that he had to do it, that it couldn’t have ended any other way, but he was broken over it. He was aware that it was, ultimately, a sin, which would continue haunting him. He couldn’t catch a break afterwards, he couldn’t stop. All was solved, but at what cost?}

I love his dynamic with Nurbanu - they balanced each other off so well, their chemistry was amazing, such a power couple. Nurbanu’s biggest contribution is hiding some of his flaws and mobilizing him to fight. Her cold pragmatism ,,grounds’’ Selim’s softer side, she’s there to always remind him of the stakes of the game and to shut off the last ounces of his vulnerabilities after Hurrem died. He sure is influenced by her, but that doesn’t mean that he blindly takes her word for everything - he is always ready to call her out when necessary and assure her that there are lines she shouldn’t cross. Despite of her pleas, he kept having affairs with other women (that is honestly a trend with all the men of the show, but still..), he got mad at her after what happened to Huricihan and most notably, after he found out that she possibly stole his mother’s ring. A part of why their dynamic works so well is precisely this strenght of character and their awesome compatibility. 

I have heard affirmations that Selim doesn’t care about Mustafa, which... simply isn’t true? While they have the least scenes together and Selim is the one that considers him most as a rival and his most dangerous competitor for the throne (which would explain his startled reaction after Musti saved him from the janissary), it’s precisely Mustafa’s death that is the turning point of his character arc. He was upping his game slowly but surely and before then, but he didn’t do much in terms of attacks. Neither Selim, nor Nurbanu once considered attacking Mustafa, the supposed biggest danger to them, which I find respectable and admirable. The bomb with the death drops and then every hope about a fair game is abandoned. Selim gets the realization that being honorable won’t work. The only way to win is bend the system and play dirty. There’s no time for sitting around or looking nice. And even though Nurbanu realized this, too, as well as Selim, Nurbanu was always more inclined to act this way than him and now the righteousness of her methods were only getting confirmed. It was Selim that had to reach this end. Discovering that he is no longer allowed to show any kind of weakness. Every chance that appears on the horizon, he’ll take it. That brings him to his first true dirty plan - the trap he set through the fake Mustafa rebellion.

Speaking of which, the worst deed of Selim’s for me is connected to that rebellion. I know I may be very biased in this regard, since it affects my personal favorite character and isn’t as recalled as others, but I hated when, in Selim and Sokollu’s attempts to wash their hands from the pulled off stunt, Sokollu, his man, told SS that Mahidevran was giving money to the rebellion. Okay, it’s not said outright whether is this directly tied to Selim or it was something Sokollu himself came up with out of desperation or something (though it was hinted that both thought something through in a scene where both were saying that they should come clean out of this all somehow) and it’s not outrightly confirmed whether Mahidevran gave the money or not (I highly doubt she did it; not only because it would destroy her whole S04 arc and she would become, well... MCK Gulbahar, but also because after the messenger told her of her alleged blame in E129, her eyes widened in surprise.), but all it does is be the only explicit case where Selim indeed looks bad, for his proposal to return Mahidevran in the castle doesn’t seem to stem from genuine guilt and remorse, but rather a late and empty attempt to placate his own conscience. Oh, not to mention (for the upteenth time, sorry in advance) how the scene back in E58 where Hurrem tells Mahidevran that her kids will be there taking care for her when she’s alone, which was treated as some big foreshadowing in the show, as well, by both the voice of the S02B narrative and the fandom alike, loses its value even more with that framing, because Selim and Sokollu themselves brought her to this state in the first place!!! Despite it making sense anyway, it’s still such a disservice to Selim as a person both inside and outside of the writing. 

One aspect of Selim’s pragmatism I find most interesting is his ability to turn his enemies into allies, knowing exactly how to amass them and get them on his side, be it through giving them more money and promising them the world. These alliances are all opportunistic in nature and may not be as loyal as those of Mustafa’s or of Mustafa’s people (like Atmaca) with Bayezid, but I think Selim knows this and wants to keep them steady enough for the common goal. As for what kind of a padisah he’ll be.... I believe that state matters would be the least of his concerns, since he was shown to not care so much about them, compared to his other brothers (but then again, the show itself doesn’t put the political capability of the princes at center stage - their personal virtues are always the determining factor of what makes a good padisah and what doesn’t, more of a psychological outlook, if you will.) and he perhaps won’t plan as many campaigns or conquer as many territories, maybe he won’t be that successful at all, but his cunning would bring him advantage in front of his people, he will be at least a bit careful of who he’s choosing and won’t simply lose it in front of everyone, compared to Bayezid’s impulsive temper.

[I love Bayezid as a character, but the shadier aspects of his personality sure tend to be overlooked. While his anger is directed mainly at Selim and Suleiman, it often reaches such extremes to the point it becomes destructive and affects everyone. He doesn’t deserve his execution at all and most of his actions stem from a very sympathetic place, given how SS never truly gave him a chance and he went on the inevitable path, because he, just like Selim, realized that honor won’t work in this war, but took the opposite approach from Mustafa, direct rebellion. And predictably, both approaches didn’t work since Bayezid, too, was taken advantage of. While he didn’t get justice, the lead-up to his execution is a character arc of his and there are many reasons and events linking it all together and showing us why it took place the way it did.]

Selim’s dynamic with Suleiman is proof of how you can be presumably favored, but you have to work to get there. The reasons Suleiman favored him are very telling and sad and we see that he also doesn’t favor him because of any and all capabilities he may have, but because of his self-imposed distorted view of loyalty Selim has to do a lot to preserve, actually. He constantly has to make it so it looks like he’s loyal and obedient and doesn’t work behind his back. He doesn’t get the fullest appreciation from his father, as well, and I certainly feel it impacts him, in a way.

I agree that Mihrimah could be unfair to Selim. They weren’t that close and she had this open preference to Bayezid. Most annoyingly is when, in their confrontation in E139, which highlights even more their parallel sins, Mihrimah doesn’t seem to face that sin of hers when Selim calls her out on it. She has a reason to deeply resent him after what he did to Bayezid, but was offended when he reminded her of the crime she also committed. More solidarity on that front would be a bit better, at least a hint of like recognizing like even for a moment. (but maybe then her scene with Mahidevran later wouldn’t be as impactful? Huh.)

And lastly, about his drinking - Nurbanu tried to restrict him, but it’s true that such habits aren’t easy to give up on, especially knowing how his drinking is a coping mechanism as much as it is something he enjoys. He knows he shouldn’t do it, he’s told he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t drink when he’s planning or scheming, but he keeps on doing it more and more with every problematic action of his. It’s an attempt to supress his otherwise strong conscience to the max, seeing how after his brother’s execution he apparently always took a drink when he was alone at night, fighting an inner conflict with himself. I don’t think there was a way he could stop doing it permanently in the show. It was a part of who he was, unfortunately or not. 

[restingdomface]

Lan Wangji makes extremely deadpan videos of his daily life with Wei Wuxian and their kids and nephews (and nieces if JC and JYL had more). This would include:

*shows a video of LWJ staring out the window for a solid thirty seconds, face entirely unchanged and somewhat disappointed, turns camera around to show Wei Wuxian and the kiddos putting mentos in soda bottles and trying to chuck them at each other, camera pans back to his face, still entirely devoid of emotion*

That one time Jin Ling got stuck up a tree and Wei Wuxian tried to get him down and also got stuck up there and now the other kids are looking for a ladder while LWJ just watches them from the patio, drinking tea. The kids finally give up and shamefully come to LWJ and ask him for help, he gets his husband and nephew down without a word.

The one where he buried 5yo A-Yuan in a pile of bunnies and got scolded by Lan Xichen for it because they might bite him if they get annoyed with him.

There is an entire compilation of rabbits that won’t leave him alone. Climb into his lap. Follow him with every step. Get excited when he comes outside. Hear a guqin and start looking for him. Just. He’s the rabbit whisperer. One of the black ones is just about always with him.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian interacting in any capacity is going to involve a lot of hitting each other and pushing each other over. Only-child kids think they hate each other, but people with siblings are all ‘no no, siblings are just Like That’. People think Yanli is all innocent till they realize she def only tells them to stop when she thinks they might actually get on each other’s nerves. She’s in the ‘boys will rough house and probably only have one collective braincell’ category.

People won’t stop asking him if he speaks so he vaguely makes mentions of having extremely low verbility. They ask if he does sign and he’s not really sure how (lol cause words hard) to explain to them that sign doesn’t really help when the issue is more of him not having much to say tbh. This is apparently the wrong thing to say because then people start being all ‘yeah I get you, I’m pretty dumb too, at least you’re pretty’ and he’s just sorta sitting there with this smacked fish look on his face while WWX can’t stop laughing next to him at the very idea of someone calling his husband slow. Wow. LWJ just sorta finally gets out that he has like two degrees and teaches giqun lessons and it’s amazing. The kids find out about it and can’t stop laughing for hours.

“Hey, why did you name your son ‘sorrow and longing’?” *commense 10 minute video of that time Wei Wuxian got arrested for something to do with a satanic ritual and that’s when LWJ ended up with custody of his adopted son for the next three years and he was in a really angsty mood tbh so it just kinda happened* not a single commenter expected that, even less so when he mentions that they weren’t even together at that point

Films what the viewers think is a prank at first, where he pours a dangerous amount of chili powder into a mug of hot chocolate (with a completely straight face) and then brings it to WWX who takes a drink and makes a dreamy little sigh and goes ‘you always know how to make it just like I want it’ and no one is sure how to react to this video. It’s like watching someone peel and eat a lemon.

You know that video of the girl with the deadpan voice saying she went downstairs to take a shower and there was something brown in the bottom of the tub but it turned out to be potatoes and she’s all ‘not a problem I was expecting, but a problem I can handle’? Okay so that’s how he talks in every video. WWX hands him a baby and he talks to them exactly like that. People ask if he’s good with kids and WWX is all ‘yeah, he’s not just a rabbit whisperer, he’s a baby whisperer too, he’s super great with kids’ *shows LWJ talking to a baby in That Voice while the baby looks at him in utter adoration*

“What’s it like growing up gay? Do you ever get shit for it?” LWJ.exe has stopped working, he has only met one straight couple the same age as him and they’re his sister in law. His brother has three boyfriends, one of which is his brother-in-law. He doesn’t know what a het-er-o-sexual is and he doesn’t want to. Pretty sure his uncle is acearo and hasn’t seen his parents in like 20 years.

LWJ: ‘I apologize for being so emotional in my last video.’ *viewers scrambled to find what video he meant because they ain’t ever seen that man emotional before but end up finding a video where Sizhui told him he loved him and called him papa and gave him a hug while WWX filmed, you can barely see LWJ’s left eye twitching and he pets Sizhui’s head for a moment* viewers are very confused on how this constitutes emotionalism.

Viewers ask to see his brother ‘you know, the one who apparently has three boyfriends’ and LWJ posts a video of LXC passed out on a couch with like three fully grown men all in various states of sliding off onto the floor while the teens play a game of ‘who can stack the most random objects on uncle’s bodies without them waking’ because apparently LWJ and WWX were gone for a weekend and the uncles were supposed to watch the kids (like, all ten of them probably, there’s probably a lot of kids) and it’s Sizhui filming the whole thing cause he’s the ‘good one’ and never does bad things. But he’s also like Auntie Yanli and is totally gonna egg them on from the sidelines.

WWX hands LWJ literally any food and LWJ will eat it all with a completely straight face but as soon as WWX is turned around LWJ is chugging a glass of milk with a look of death on his face. The kiddos straight up can’t stomach his cooking.

😭 someone asks why their hair is all so long and LWJ puts up a video of chatty adorable Sizhui braiding WWX’s hair while he tells him about his day at school. It’s. Too. Cute.

The never ending debate on if LWJ’s deadpan personality/speech is acting or not. No matter how much everyone assures them he’s really just Like That people just aren’t convinced.

Someone points out several times that in their house they have a room with a satanic symbol on the door. That’s just WWX’s home office it’s all good. This is treated as ‘lol WWX is so dramatic’ for like four whole weeks before LWJ posts a video of Sizhui standing outside the office looking nervous. ‘What’s wrong?’ He says. ‘Dad called me into his office.’ Sizhui replies. ‘WWX must be a very strict father,’ the viewers think. That’s not it. That’s not it at all tbh. That video got flagged on like four different platforms and kept getting removed for graphic images and half their viewers don’t. Want. To know. What happened. In that office. (WWX doesn’t even see what the big deal was, that goat was dead when he bought it shut up.)

The others do videos sometimes too lol. Videos include

Jin Ling’s compilation of ‘Mom, what’s for dinner’ and the answer is Always Lotus root and pork rib soup. Someone asks ‘lol she must make that often’ and JL is all ‘lol often, fairly sure she got same-food syndrome, it’s always soup’.

Lan Sizhui at like 17 years old: The one true secret I’ve never told my dads? My most shameful lie? Rabbits aren’t my favorite. My favorite is butterflies. *proceeds to cuddle a bun* I’m sorry Mister Bun, but you just aren’t nearly as pretty as butterflies.

Shaky video of someone sitting on the couch, pointed at NMJ: Brother, while you’re away on vacation with your boyfriends, I don’t plan on leaving this spot for even a minute. NMJ: Oh yeah? What’ll you do when you have to use the bathroom? NHS: Listen, I found a guy on Craig’s List who’s exact fetish is lazy young men who refuse to move and also diapers exist and he’ll be my slave for the week if I let him change me. NMJ: ...I’m taking you with me on vacation. NHS: Yay! NMJ: I’m also taking your phone away. NHS: -wait, no- NMJ: Too late.

Jin Ling: JiuJiu, I spilt soda on your Valentino white belt. Jiang Cheng: *incomprehensible sputtering* -soda on my Valentino white belt-!

Sizhui: *brings Jingyi a bowl of food* Here. Jingyi: Thank you! *takes a bite, face falls in terror, gives Sizhui a betrayed look* Sizhui: Dad’s worried I’m getting sick, he said this would clear my chest cold up. He didn’t consider what horrible things it would do to my bowels instead. Please eat it, he gets sad when I don’t finish what he makes. Jingyi: *glaring* Just dump it down the garbage disposal! Sizhui: *def has a fever if he didn’t think of that* Oh. Good idea.

LWJ: *swaying in place* WWX: This bitch drunk as hell. LWJ: I’m. Gonna comit. A crime. WWX: *crying a little* I love drunk hubby times. A full shot of vodka and he’s not gonna remember any of this. Hey kids, I’m taking Papa on a walk! Sizhui’s in charge!

Zizhen: *sitting quietly on the couch while LSZ, LJY and JL all argue behind him somewhere, covering his mouth with a slightly horrified look* Jingyi: I mean, that’s not fair at all! Who HASNT made out with their cousin at one point or another? Ling: ... Sizhui: You said you’d never bring that up again please shut up. Ling: ...!!!!!! Zizhen: Amazing.

That one time the kiddos hypnotized Jin Ling into thinking he was a kitten. The adults all thought it was really weird that he was finally going through the whole ‘pretending to be an animal’ phase at like ten, but then the kiddos fessed up to learning how to hypnotize and they aren’t sure how to fix it. WWX instigated a rule that no brainwashing is allowed outside his office from now on.

People ask how WWX and LWJ met and it’s told from the POV of Lan Qiren who progressively getting drunker as he tells the story of the terrible high school romance that he had to watch between bad boy WWX and his precious baby angel nephew that made him consider quitting and how no one believed them when they insisted they didn’t get together till after WWX got out of jail for the cow incident.

[cartoonsliveon]

Captured

Ever since I saw the Impossi-bin episode, and how Donald was written as a “suspected traitor” on the white board, I couldn’t help but think about if F.O.W.L. ever captured any of the Duck fam. And if he captured Donald and Della, how that might just go... *shrugs*

“Ahhh! Della- Ow!!!”

“Hold still,” She snapped, grumbling softly under her breath, “You big baby.”

There was no real heat behind Donald’s glare as he watched his twin sister, only exhaustion... and a little bit of fear. Della continued to tie her scarf tightly around his arm, watching as the light blue fabric already began to darken.

“There,” Her hands hovered in the air awkwardly, she wasn’t sure what to do with them. Let them dangle at her sides or fold them in her lap? She isn’t entirely sure anymore. Donald isn’t looking at her anymore, finding the floor and his feet so much more interesting. The tips of her fingers are tinged red from his blood, and even though this isn’t the first time she’s had to patch her brother up, the sight of it makes her incredibly uneasy. A ball of anxiety makes its presence known to her again. 

And Della hates it. Because how in the world did they end up in this situation anyways? It’s a rhetorical question of course, she remembers the adventure clearly. The Stone of What Was, so tiny and unassuming. Louie and Dewey had looked down upon it, so entirely unimpressed with the simplicity of it. Uncle Scrooge tucking it into a satchel, which swayed with his hips and bounced with each jump. The chaos that surrounded the adventure and grew once they reached it. Della’s heart hammers as she reflects. F.O.W.L., in almost full force. The fighting, the lasers, Donald throwing himself at the giant rooster with the metal beak with so much force and rage.

Somewhere in the fighting, the cave’s structure began to deteriorate. Somewhere in it all, Donald and Della had gotten separated from Scrooge and the kids in the midst of keeping their family safe. And instead of finding Scrooge, and the kids, and returning home, they were here. In a cell.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“What?” She looks up to see her brother giving her a very pointed, knowing look.

“You’re about to punch the wall. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“No I wasn’t.”

“Yes you were,” Donald rolled his eyes, “You had that angry look on your face. The one you always make before you’re about to explode.”

“I did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

“Did-”

“Bickering like children, are we?”

If looks could kill, Bradford would have been nothing but ash and maybe a few smoking tail feathers. He met their gaze though, as if their combined anger was not a force to be feared or reckoned with. It was as though he were meeting the angry, unforgiving looks of two children than two adults. He can’t help but give them more than a brief once over though, because he’d seen these two grow up after all. Once upon a time, they’d been children just like the triplets and Webby. Up to nothing but trouble and mischief. He eyes the scarf wrapped around Donald’s arm, the bruises darkening along Della’s beak. The disarrayed feathers. 

“You aren’t going to get away with this, Scrooge is going to come for us,” Della demands, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You really believe that?”

It’s such a risky, wildcard thing to say. Bradford knows Donald and Della well. Not as well as Scrooge, but well enough to know that this could strike a chord with them, if done right. To his great surprise, not that he dares show it of course, identical looks of confusion spread across their faces. He sees Donald tense and shoot a side eye look at Della. 

Neither of them interrupt or argue, they’re surprisingly silent. He pushes on before the moment is lost.

“You vanished for ten years. You were on the Moon for ten years. The easiest place to look. The closest thing you could have crashed onto. He gave up on you when searches became a financial loss.”

“That’s a lie and you know it. You forced Uncle Scrooge to-”

“And he listened to me,” Bradford snapped back, “If he cared about you and truly, truly believed you were still out there, he wouldn’t have listened to me. If he loved you, he wouldn’t have let anything or anyone stop him.”

His gaze immediately turned to Donald, “No one even knew you were missing. Your month long cruise, spent as a prisoner on the Moon and then trapped on an island. You come back and he gives you nothing but grief and insults. No one even had the decency to try and tell you your sister was back the minute she showed up at the door. If Scrooge cared about you, he would have thought about you and your feelings. He would consider your input. Value your opinions.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” Bradford asks, “Did you know your brother raised the boys for ten years bouncing from job to job, sacrificing everything so they could have food on the table and clothes on their backs?  Would feel love and protected? He sheltered them. If Scrooge cared about either of you, wouldn’t he have done everything he could to make sure Donald had help? Support?”

“Or what about the way he manipulates you, Della, into doing what he wants without you realizing it? Instigating your competitiveness as siblings? ‘Isn’t there another strong duck you know who’s never lost a fight?’ ‘You mean Donald?’, he played you.”

Donald’s hands folded tightly into two shaking fists, the duck struggling to maintain eye contact with Bradford. Della felt nothing but cold fury start to fill her. She never doubted Uncle Scrooge, not his ability to constantly undermine and defeat his foes, not in his ability to think his way out of situations, not in his strength, and most definitely his love for them. But even now, even though she knows that their uncle loves them, she can’t help but feel something in her twist and squirm at Bradford’s words (possibly that very doubt she has never felt before? She refuses to give it a label). 

But she knows Donald doesn’t think the same way she does. His relationship with Scrooge has never been.... as smooth as hers. It’s full of bumps, pot holes, and steep turns. She doesn’t doubt Scrooge’s love for them. Donald doesn’t always feel that same confidence, not about himself. She stares at Bradford, wishing that there wasn’t a plexiglass wall between them. If Bradford is making this.... feeling.... bubble up in her, she can only imagine how much of a struggle it is for Donald to not let his insecurities get the better of him. To remain as impassive as possible. And for that she wants to strangle this good for nothing buzzard. 

Especially when she sees the way Bradford stares at Donald now. Not the two of them. Not at just her. But Donald.

“If he doesn’t wipe that smug look off your ugly beak,” Della growls, “I will. Uncle Scrooge loves us. He’s coming for us.”

“Is this really the way you want it all to end? Blindly following a man who has caused you so much grief?” Bradford tsks, ignoring Della.

“What do you want from us Bradford,” Donald’s voice is a heavy sigh, tired and resigned. He uncurls one fist, mainly to grab Della’s wrist. She doesn’t realize, until he strokes his thumb over her knuckles how tightly her own fists are clenched, “Why are you even here?”

“I want the same thing that you want,” Donald doesn’t like how that sounds at all. He doubts the buzzard truly wants what they do, “For all this chaos and madness to end. Your uncle is meddling with things he shouldn’t, and everyone else has to pay the consequences. He has to be stopped. Duckburg has dealt with enough chaos and madness. The world has dealt with enough. Hasn’t it been enough already? Haven’t you both suffered enough?”

Both twins give a snort as they chuckle, both of them raising identical eyebrows as they stare at Bradford. It makes a chill crawl up his spine. The way they do that, being able to act simultaneously in the littlest ways. So different and yet so identical. So similar. It’s chilling to anyone who isn’t used to it. Who doesn’t see it every day like Scrooge and his family. 

“If you honestly think that we’re just going to betray our family like that-” Donald can’t help but shake his head slightly at the idea as Della continues for him, “Then you’re dumber than Glomgold. And that’s saying something!”

“Nothing you say is going to change anything,” Della continued, “so you and your stupid lackeys can shove it up your-”

“Not even for the kids?”

Bradford couldn’t help but smirk a little wider when he saw Donald and Della stare at him in silence. The fear shining in their eyes. Perhaps he should have mentioned the children sooner. Perhaps he should have just led with that. But what fun would that have been? What sort of villain would he be if he didn’t make them squirm a little bit and drag up things neither of them wished to dwell on.

“They’re all so young,” Bradford shook his head, “Is this what you want for them? For them to run straight into danger and pay for Scrooge’s mistakes? Haven’t they already suffered enough?”

“Nothing bad has to happen to them,” Bradford reminded, “They don’t have to get hurt. They can grow up, safe, and normal. That was what you wanted, right Donald? For them to be safe? That’s why you cut all connection from Scrooge in the first place. I can make sure they don’t get caught in the crossfire. I can make sure none of my operatives harm a single feather on their head.”

“You’re bluffing,” Della snapped, “You-you’re lying!”

“What would I possibly gain from lying to the two of you?”

Neither Donald or Della had a response to that. And Donald hated it. He hated not having anything to say. He desperately wanted to fly into an angry rage and curse Bradford out in front of him. But he was filled with fear and this little voice, the same voice that told him to take the triplets and leave Scrooge ten years ago, fretting over the kids. What if Scrooge didn’t come for them? What if he did and wandered into the obvious trap waiting for him? What if the kids...?

“I’ll give you both some time to think about everything,” Bradford folded his hands behind his back, “I’m going to test that little theory of yours. If you’re so sure Scrooge will come, let’s see if he’ll be willing to make a trade.”

Bradford expected the two ducks to argue. To say that Scrooge wouldn’t give F.O.W.L. the Stone of What Was. That he’ll see through the trap. But they didn’t. Instead, Donald and Della turned to look at each other. And Bradford watched as they stared at one another, a silent conversation being communicated by the more subtle facial expressions. He turned, leaving them in silence until the door shut behind him.

Donald and Della stared at one another, simultaneously sighing as they let the situation fully seep in and try to mentally prepare themselves for the burden it is about to drop on them.

“Ah phooey,” They mutter together.

[anotheronechicagobog]

Enemies to Lovers Noah Sexton x dawson!reader

requested by: @bitweird1​

written by: @anotheronechicagobog​

Warnings: swearing, mature themes, child neglect, slightly Dawson bashing but they really just didn’t know, canon compliant threats

You had spent your entire life struggling and working your ass off. No social life, extracurriculars for the sole purpose of applying to universities, and spending the majority of your life studying because according to your dad at least one Dawson had to become a doctor and your older siblings had decided that it wouldn’t be them, leaving you to do nothing but prepare for the future that had been hand-picked by the man you felt abandoned you. And then Noah fucking Sexton just waltzes in having put in half the effort and riding the coattails of his much more intelligent sister who gave up a career as a doctor because of sexism. He spent far too much of his time flirting with everything that had boobs and a pulse. You didn’t like him because he took nothing seriously and didn’t have a responsible bone in his body, and he hated you because you were incredibly uptight and didn’t have a sense of humour.

“Maybe you’d have more friends here if you didn’t have a stick shoved up your ass.”

“I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to become a doctor.”

Everyone was getting really sick of your fighting, so they banded together and made things worse. They had badgered you until Doris had enough and dragged you to Molly’s. You refused to drink or eat anything, resulting in more snide remarks between you and Noah. Just when everyone was developing a migraine before they were anywhere even close to drunk your parents burst through the door and marched over to you. And suddenly, everyone in the bar, including your siblings, were subjected to and twenty-minute rant from your parents about how you should be grateful they pushed you towards medical school and all the activities that got you scholarships, that they didn’t abandon you, and that they clothed and fed you because a third child cost so much money, how you never took anything seriously and were always joking around, and how you were a disgrace to the family. Once they finished, your dad dragged you out by your arm, your mom followed muttering about why couldn’t you be more like Gabby and Antonio.

You walked into the ED the next day as robotic as ever. The pitiful and awkward stares were ignored with ease, it was something you were quite used to if you were honest. Your parents were always scrutinized by your teachers and DCFS. At the end of the day, though, they weren’t abusive enough for any charges or housing changes to be set. They weren’t like that with Gabby and Antonio, who had mostly moved out by the time you were in kindergarden, you were their last chance to help them prove to their family that they didn’t fail as parents. And they made sure you knew it.

“Dr. Dawson, you’ve got a patient in treatment one. Also, uh, are you okay? I feel pretty bad about last night.”

“Oh, don’t worry about anything. I’m fine, and my parents were right I should’ve been studying. It was a poor decision on my part not to. I’m gonna get to this patient, but you really don’t need to feel bad, okay?”

She nodded absently as you turned your back to her. ”Hi, I'm Dr. Dawson, can you tell me what brought you in today?”

---------------------------------

Your patient had just gone up to the OR to have a blood clot removed and you made your way to the doctor’s lounge, followed by Noah Sexton. ”Hey, Y/N, are you-”

”Yes, Noah, I am okay. Yes, I'm sure. I am fine, I am always fine.”

”From my experience when people say they're fine they're usually not.”

”Noah, I am okay.”

“I don’t believe you.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few weeks were a maze of pitiful stares, hushed concerned words, and a silent Noah. All of it was completely unnerving. It all came to a head when Dr. Charles approached in the ED you about starting therapy with him, talking continuously about all the points ‘brought to his attention’, not even giving you the time to tell him the majority were false. “Excuse me?” 

Your stomach coiled in anger at his words. Not only were you more than capable of doing your job, but you already had a therapist. With basket case parents like yours, it was blatantly obvious that therapy was required. But the audacity of your co-workers to gossip so much that it came to the point over half the points Charles brought up were complete BS was astounding. Not only that, but he’d apparently spent the last few days internet stalking you to try and find some of your demons. “Dr. Charles, do you consider me a danger or liability to any of the patients or doctors at this hospital because of my relationship with my parents?”

“No, you actually seem to be well balanced mentally.”

“Then what, on earth, made you think it was appropriate to go around behind my back asking everyone at the hospital their opinion about me and what happened at Molly’s, or stalk me online to try and get a read on me, and then ask me blatantly at work, in the middle of the shift, in front of all my co-workers and superiors? What made you think it was okay to loudly bombard me with rumours and hearsay while I’m working?”

“Well, I thought that since it’s my job to check on all the ED docs, I’d check on you.”

“... You’re joking, right? I am the only person in this department who goes to therapy. Don’t kid yourself, you don’t check on anyone here. You judge them and make sure they know it. And quite honestly, you don’t have the best reputation for looking out for the mental and emotional state of your colleagues. This confrontation was not only completely inappropriate, but rude, obnoxious, presumptuous, riddled with unchecked errors, and unprofessional.”

“That’s not how I would word it.”

“It’s how I see it, and how I’ll word it with HR.”

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No one was pitying you anymore, not since the tongue lashing you gave Dr. Charles, who was on very thin ice with the hospital. While bringing up Robin and Sarah may have been a bit of a low blow, it exposed some issues with Dr. Charles that needed to be addressed. The only person who acted as if you were made of glass was Noah Sexton. While he had been a bit of a pain in the ass, this was worse. He was being sickeningly nice to you and it was getting on your last nerve. Yes, your parents were abusive. Yes, you had a messed up and traumatic childhood. But did that limit your abilities? No. Did that make you mentally unstable requiring therapy and fragility from your coworkers? Absolutely not.

He came in with coffee exactly the way you liked it, again. With a muffin, again. “You have to stop.”

“Stop what, Y/N?”

“Stop acting weird. You don’t like me, you hate me, actually. The only reason you’re being nice to me is because my parents resent my existence. I do not need or want your pity. So stop treating me like a china doll, and start treating me like your coworker.”

“Okay, okay, I uh... I’m sorry. I just, I feel guilty, okay? I gave you such a hard time for being so frigid and then when your parents showed up at Molly’s and started screaming at you for existing and having a life of your own, it just all made sense. And I gave you shit and trouble for coping with your crazy-ass parents. And then Dr. Charles came by to talk to you and I just felt even worse because even though I didn’t tell him anything, it was our fighting that put the spotlight on you in the first place. You shouldn’t have had your dirty laundry aired to the entire hospital, that’s happened to me a few times and it’s horrible, and I feel bad because I know that I was a contributing factor to all the shit you’ve had to deal with at work.”

“I get where you’re coming from, but let’s be real, everything would’ve turned out exactly the same way if you weren’t involved. The gossip mill runs strong at Gaffney.”

“Yeah, it does. I still feel bad.”

“Well, you’re forgiven then. So you can stop treading delicately, buying me coffee, and being creepily nice to me.”

“I am not being ‘creepily nice’! And how can being nice be creepy anyway?”

“Yesterday you followed me around offering to help me take my gloves on and off constantly, to the point where a patient who came in for falling out of the ceiling above the women’s changeroom said ‘that’s just weird’.”

“... Okay. I’ll stop. But I gotta be honest, I don’t think I can go back to arguing with you all the time.”

“That’s fine, just stop acting so weird that a couple I caught having kinky sex after an STD swab said ‘that made us really uncomfortable’.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Seriously, you didn’t have to tell me twice.”

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SIX MONTHS LATER

You and Noah had actually managed to become good friends and roommates. Shortly after he started acting like a normal person around you, not an instigator or a psycho, you found yourself enjoying his company. And yesterday, when you’d come home to find your room completely torn apart by your mother because your father had tried to frame you for using weed, you were done. Most of what you owned had been destroyed in your mother’s search, which sucked, but it made packing up all your stuff into your car much easier.

So far you’d ignored 43 texts, 12 calls, two visits from Gabby when she brought in a patient, and one visit from Antonio who didn’t even bother trying to lie to you. He also threatened to impound your car, you threatened to tell Voight about the time he and Lindsay got drunk and hooked up. It didn’t even matter that she was in New York now, Voight wouldn’t even blink before bludgeoning him down. He swore at you, “how could you break mami’s heart like this?”, and “can’t you just behave and do what you’re told for once?”

You looked him dead in the eyes, heart beating erratically at you older brother supporting your parents belittling and abusing you, “You sound like dad Antonio.”, watched his face fall, and left. Noah stopped him when he went to follow you. “You good?”

“Uh, not really. I don’t have a place to go tonight.”

“Did your mom kick you out?”

“No, I left. I can’t do it anymore. I break out in hives whenever I even think about my mother now. I just can’t go back.”

“Well, you don’t have to. I have been looking for a roommate, we can move you into my place after shift.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Now come on, it’s prank week. Stohl pissed off Manning last week and she’s been planning revenge ever since, you do not want to miss this.”

And you didn’t. You entered the ED to find one of the most hated doctors in med spitting out Gatorade. “WHaT thE heLL?! That was sooo-ughghghg-” he couldn’t even finish his sentence before running to the doctor’s lounge to throw up in the bathroom. To Natalie’s credit, she didn’t crack a smile or react at all as she gracefully stepped over the spilled orange Gatorade. She briefly reminded you of a fae, graceful, beautiful, and cunning as all hell. You made a mental note never to cross her. Later at lunch, Natalie opened her sushi container, slightly deconstructed each piece, loaded all the pieces up with wasabi, reconstructed them, and popped one in her mouth. Everyone sitting near her had their eyes flash in recognition. Stohl had a habit of stealing other people’s food, and no matter how many times anyone told him to stop, they were just bullied into compliance. As a result, everyone had to dictate their food choices around his palette. Which meant no spicy food. Something that sucked for nearly everyone because hot food was a favourite for most people in the ED. But Manning wasn’t taking his shit. Not today. Something that worried everyone sitting around her because she would get in trouble for eating her own food how she liked it. It wasn’t until one of the HR workers, Holly, sat down beside Natalie and engaged in conversation that everyone realized the full scope of her plans. Stohl plopped down beside you and stole half of your sandwich right out of your hand. Ranting and raving, insulting everyone, stealing food, he made his way all around the circular cafeteria table until he got to Nat. He scooped up to pieces and threw them in his mouth just after he finished the words ‘insolent underlings’. Everyone held their breath as they watched his pale face redden exponentially. His eyes widened. And then he screamed. 

He yelled, he swore. “I’m going to report you to HR! You tried to poison me!”

“You stole food from everyone, something inappropriate, unethical, and unprofessional. You stole her food. That she made spicy to her tastes. She didn’t try to poison you.”

“And just who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“Holly Scott, from HR.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and Noah were doing great, as roommates and as friends. “Hey, do you have any plans for dinner tonight? My parents invited me over for dinner and they asked me to extend an invite to you. It’s nothing major, they wanted to meet my previous roommates, too. Make sure you’re not a hooligan.”

“Okay, sounds fun. What should I bring?”

“Yourself...?”

“It’s rude to show up at someone else’s home without a gift.”

“You don’t need to bring my parents a gift.”

“Oh, I’m bringing a gift. I’m just asking you for some input.”

“Okay, well they really like wheelie shoes-”

“Ha, oh my god, I meant for what your parents would like, not you. And want wheelie shoes? Those have been out for a while, Noah.”

“Hey, do not laugh at me! They are just a very effective and fun way to get around.”

“Would you like them to light up too?”

“... Is that an option?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You knocked on the door while Noah rolled his eyes at you. “I grew up here!”

“Well you don’t live here anymore and it’s rude to just barge into someone’s home and act like you own the place.”

“Oh, you must be Y/N! I wasn’t expecting anyone to knock, usually, Noah just barges in and acts like he owns the place. Come in, come in. It’s freezing outside.” You gave Noah a side-eyed smirk as you took off your coat, while he looked bashfully embarrassed. “Uh, here Ms. Sexton, I brought some homemade empanadas, they can be put in the fridge or kept in the freezer, and it’s best to reheat them in the oven. 350 F, ten minutes from the fridge and about 20 if they were put in the freezer.”

“Oh, you really didn’t have to do that.”

“I was raised that when you go over to someone’s house for dinner or an event, you bring a gift. And it was either this or a house plant.”

“Ha, good idea going with the food, it’s a Sexton family trait that will kill all the plants we touch. Thank you very much.”

“Hello, you must be Y/N. It;s wonderful to meet you- and what smells so good?”

“Y/N brought empanadas, and they are going away so that you and I can enjoy them later. Now everyone, to the dining room, dinner is just about done.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things started to change a bit a few months later when Choi had to physically restrain Noah from attacking a drunk bar fight patient who called you a slut in the middle of the ED. You’d been confused but Maggie just kept saying that it was a matter of time.

When you’d been hanging around at Molly’s with Noah, Sarah, and Darren, Noah had his arm casually wrapped around your shoulders, something your sister gave you the eyebrow for from her place at the bar.

After you’d been mugged and beaten, you’d run to the 21st, where your brother promptly unleashed the most fearsome demon hell has ever cowered from, AKA Hank Voight, he also called Noah. And when your brother finally made an arrest and got Voight to calm down a little, he’d entered the breakroom to find you fast asleep, curled up against Noah. Who sat in an incredibly uncomfortable position, holding you and stroking your back. You missed the dark look that crossed his face, or the one of fear that had crossed Noah’s but something of an understanding had fallen to Noah. The two of you needed to talk.

So you did, and it went well, so well that you planned a date. Then another one. And another one, until you two had been dating for six months and figured it was time to tell your families. You were shaking in your boots, the Sexton’s were all incredibly close and incredibly doting on Noah, so even though they liked you, you had absolutely no clue as to what the reaction would be. To your relief, it was happiness, they loved you as much as Noah apparently, and they relished in the changed you’d caused in Noah.

Your family, on the other hand, did not react well. Which was why you’d made sure that you told them in a very public place, and had only ordered waters before you told them. There was yelling, screaming, your father waving his arms around so much Antonio had to use his cop voice on him. In the end, you and Noah had been there for around five minutes before throwing some cash at the waitress as a tip for leaving her with your family, and hauling ass out of there. The two of you had ended up just eating pizza on the boardwalk in your fancy clothes and heading back to the apartment late.You both had work the next day, but while you were an intern, Noah was not. And while you were off giving a patient a sponge bath, your siblings cornered Noah at the nurses desk. “Sexton, is there a place the three of us can talk?”

“Uh, sure, this conference room is free...”

“Perfect.”

“So, I take it this is about-”

“Nuh-uh. You do not talk. We do.”

“You are dating our baby sister.”

“We may not be as close to her as you are with your sister, but she still means a lot to us.”

“We love her. We are two people with some pretty dangerous skills. It is for these two reasons that you will not hurt her. Ever.”

“And if you do, don’t forget who I work with.”

“No one will ever find your body.”

“Are we clear?”

“Uh, hmmh... Clear. Crystal clear.”

“Good. Now do you know where Y/N is? We’d like to take the both of you out to lunch or something, just the four of us, to make up for the dinner of many disasters.”

[blaster-aichi]

Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 22 things

forgot to post this, heck

Aw, cute shopping trip because they feel things are drawing to an end, barrier or no —  [gets distracted by the little girl who looks just like Shingo]

Given the topic of conversation, felt Emi’s downcast expression was a hint of bittersweet realization that her time with Shuka is running down, then get smacked with even ruder sads.

There’s something massive ironic about Majesty Lord being pulled to the antagonistic side of battle after his role in the original Season 1 and embodying unification between Royal and Shadow Paladins when things get dire, now faced against the both of them.

Ren taught Shuka ‘Bukki’, bless.

Very appreciative of the explanation why Majesty Lord was so importaant to Shuka to Realize, though curious as to why he wouldn’t manifest in the first place.

MISAKI SIGHTED. Please don’t relegate her to post-Legion Mate Quatre Knights of voiceless cameos.

Side-eyes Emi for picking cards purely because of their cuteness, your friend’s calling you out.

With the truth of what led Aichi to ruling Sanctuary, Emi’s moment of finding no alternative but for the blame to fall on him is very relatable; at least some of us have been grasping at any explanation because we couldn’t imagine Aichi doing this of his own will, it’s incongruous with his character, and Emi may have been doing the same, but with options whittling down, she’s been forced to face that scenario that this has been all by his design and it upsets those of us who have been trying to figure out any other scenario, but to her, naturally it’s world-shattering.

How dare you fuckers use the same sads track from episode 7 where she was talking about the Aichi she knew.

He looks so worn down and I’m so upset.    — Even his tone when speaking reflects his exhaustion and reluctance to deal with shit. Please let me hug him.

Is this the first time he’s said ‘Toshiki’? Feels like this is the first time he’s said ‘Toshiki’.

Even when they don’t meet, fate crams them into one another’s heads. That’s gay. (But doesn’t go the Legion Mate route and make it a clean injection, both of them have become tremendously distressed and pained and I scream).

Takuto, you can’t just say that in front of him?!

Emi actually draping Aichi’s jacket over her shoulders is so cute, she really is giving it a piggyback ride. After he mentioning it aloud how he left it behind, half-expect returning it to be one of her first gestures once he’s brought out of his antagonist role.

Takuto’s referencing Outside World Aichi brings back thoughts of the previous theory that IF Aichi had been doing all this in an effort to reach outside IF, why do you hurt me in these ways after that backstory, Bushi? At the same time, Takuto needs shaking if he had any inclination that IF Aichi would have the mental fortitude to cope with that possibility existing elsewhere after a lifetime of loneliness.

The poor boy hid in the shadows and hunted for Kai-kun just to verify Takuto’s theory and torment himself more, sweetie no... Considering his methods for keeping his very existence from the potential of breaking the IF illusion, it’s consistent, but sweetie no...

Takuto onto Aichi’s bullshit. The post before this clarifies, but his solemn delivery and feeling responsible for accidentally instigating everything, would like to hope he’ll be able to make a move in helping to rectify Aichi’s state.

Two things: You’re saying he had nothing to pass on through Miwa? And why did he never contact Suiko or Rekka before? Because there was no certainty they were inside IF? Isn’t it apparent they would follow once he and Kourin never returned? Did he even try?

Sad Rena howling noises in the background.

If Aichi is banking on her saving him, never let him know there was a moment where it all got too much and Emi gave up on him.    — She’s doing the Misaki episode thing again.    — Though it’s understandable the guilt she must feel; they might be correcting the timeline, but she’s conveyed her feelings before that each iteration of a person isn’t any less valid than another; though Kai-kun has come to terms with and accepted that there is another version of himself in a “proper” timeline, the same is essentially true for Aichi and Emi, who for all we know, could/will vanish along with him. It might not just be Emi sympathizing with others and not wanting to write them off as incorrect versions, but trying to validate her own and her brother’s existences as well.

Suiko and Shuka are onto the price the group are going to pay regardless; the preview isn’t subtle about it. Whether it’s Shuka having to move onto another place where more cards are waiting for her to rescue them or something more final awaits her, it’s difficult to tell. Though the former is simply a part of her journey and might not evoke the sorrow from someone like Suiko, it might be a sore spot for her, particularly with everything she, Kourin and Rekka lost, faced with having to watch the same happen to someone else. But Emi herself seems already be aware of this, she’s a smart girl.

IF 23

Squad goals. Squad goals.

Aichi looks ready to straight up murder and have to wonder who taught you how to pull those faces, boy?

If you’re going to be fighting in the area, please keep the babies safe from harm. Who knows what they might see?

What space-time commotion did you guys cause to alert all the other major characters across the city?.

On the one hand, more Majesty Lord Aichi aaaaaaa. On the other hand, that episode title, screams. (Now are you guys directing that to Aichi, Kai-kun or Shuka? Sus)

This take on the “They Never Met” story:

It’s taken a while for the fact IF is taking the route it is with the story to sink in; a lot of thoughts and feelings are still incredibly jumbled, but here goes An Effort.

As someone who's childhood has a lot of overlap with Aichi’s, it’s incredibly painful to actually see him endure it without the beacon of hope that gave him solace and the toll it’s taken on him to endure it. Having a loving family and a sibling could alleviate the pain, there are fond memories with things with my family that don’t make my childhood an unending nightmare, and it’s apparent that he and Emi were particularly close; though understand that by 16, he’s exhausted by it all, pretty sure I was.

I want to believe that he was able to find at least one other hobby to keep his life from being completely devoid of happiness; reading, writing, art, a love of animal, photography, meeting people on the internet, there has to be something. There are plenty of outlets that could have channelled his imagination to keep it from building with no freedom. The lack of clarification about what he spent his time doing does nothing to help this belief or deter the fears that  he really never tried to find anything, and really hoping that’s able to change before the season is through.

But something about Aichi’s reasoning really doesn’t line up. He claims to be doing this so that he be the only one who has to suffer. And really struggle to fathom how he could think so when Emi and Shizuka, would and are suffering with him. Emi’s own pain has been right in his face and he’s turned away, he can’t be that narrow-minded to think she isn’t in anguish or that forgetting him would magically erase that of her or Shizuka.

My understanding (or interpretation, headcanon, what have you) of Aichi has always been that his unrelenting kindness stems from knowing well the absolute agony of complete loneliness and hopelessness, so he acts to help alleviate or prevent the same feeling upon others. Vanguard shouldn’t have any bearing on that trait staying with him or not; that’s something within Aichi, not created by one facet of his life that appeared one day, particularly when he’s even more familiar with such a rock bottom, even if the exhaustion of it weighs on him; he’s always put on a smile and done his best for someone else’s sake, no matter the cost to himself — and that is what he’s doing, but it’s incredibly difficult to believe he can only manage that demonstration of kindness towards others when he’s connected to or aware of Vanguard.

I can understand Aichi being worn down, I can understand him being a bit hostile and reluctant. But to lack his good heart and throw everything away, to put his family through the nightmare he has been, I can’t understand that, it just isn’t him. He isn’t that dependent on Vanguard to be a good kid.

With how vital the event and relationship are to both Aichi and Kai-kun, to explore the possibility that they would never meet is fascinating, but this feels like a lukewarm attempt at it, at least in regards to what this episode covered and that in itself is saddening, it feels like an incredible premise with wasted potential, just like Legion Mate. It saddens me immensely that this is how they tell that story, more so when it’s the last one we might ever have from this cast.

Late-Bloomer PsyAichi:

The only possibility, and this is very much a last-ditch at this point, draws on ideas from Override (is there an IF plan in the works? laughs with shovel maybe since the day before epi 1 aired), so chances are these might be as swiftly debunked as other ideas.

With the rapid influx of memories breaking through the IF illusion, Aichi’s imagination’s shackles were released, according to Takuto. The result was Psyqualia overloading Aichi, its poisonous nature of the original continuity repeating itself as a result of festering inside of him for years without usage.

By retaining this nature, it amplifies Aichi’s fixation on Kai-kun, maybe through an amalgamation of other PsyAichi remnants in line with the original continuity who became overwhelmed by that obsession blinding him to the pain that other characters have experienced through their connections with Vanguard or the suffering he’s putting his own family through to see IF secured.

His mind struggles to contend with the sudden explosion of power and his sanity withers when viewing possibilities that he was never granted, reinforced by Takuto’s claim that Kai-kun’s life is better as it is, of Aichi’s strength in those other worlds, of longing to reach his alternative selves and feel his existence holds any value. He doesn’t truly have control over himself as a result of this madness, which is why he refers to Kourin by just her name.

How Sanctuary itself formed, there’s just nothing that comes to mind. Unless IF has special properties that just haven’t been explained that allow for more supernatural events to occur — like Sanctuary’s appearance, the battlegrounds that don’t inflict real world damage on their sites — can’t really wrap head around how Aichi was able to create it.

The original distortion’s root:

Something else that still doesn’t make sense is Shuka being led to Blaster Blade as a withering existence. And as Aichi himself never played a part in that, the past couple of weeks had had me suspicious of Nome, and other fans have been pointing fingers his way as of late. His disappearance in episode 1 hasn’t been addressed, and it’s odd for him to so briefly show up only to seemingly play no part.

It’s just a possibility, but he, whether tainted by something Brandt or sibling jealousy, tampered with the Akashic Records to lure Shuka in and cause the accident that prevented Kai-kun and Aichi from meeting, shaping IF Aichi’s life to keep him from deviating from a path that Nome had set for him, using someone else’s brother (and someone known to be a powerful force is let loose) as a weapon.

If Brandt has a part in any of this, perhaps he infected Aichi with it, to allow it/his Psyqualia/imagination to overload him when exposed to the truth beyond IF.

This is all just grasping at straws at this point because really struggle to see Aichi doing this of his own accord and I believe him to be better than this, I want to believe the writers do too.

[catbowserauthor]

A preview of the next TMNT Empathy story “Aftershocks”

So it’s been forever and day since I worked on my TMNT Empathy series but I got inspired tonight and am finally making progress with the next story, which takes place directly after “Damage.” Or, right after Kala has severed ties with Michelangelo. Here’s a short little preview.

@brightlotusmoon

***

Mess with me and I will let karma do its job. Mess with my family and I will BECOME karma.-Unknown

               “This way.”

           Michelangelo gave a slight yelp as Raphael pulled him along. He barely had time to straighten his hat to hide his appearance before his older brother was dragging him into the nearby doors. “Dude, why the rush? You have been acting mondo-bizarro.” That was the understatement of the year. First and foremost, when he had dragged himself out of bed, he had been utterly dumbfounded that there was no one shouting at him to get to the dojo. Early morning practice came even before breakfast but no one was rushing him along. When he had rushed into the dojo, certain that he was late, it was empty. Thinking he was beyond late and certainly due for a lecture that would make his ears bleed, he ended up running through the Lair only find that Master Splinter had merely left a note that he had taken Leonardo with him for some meditation practice away from the noise of the Lair.

           But what noise? It was silent! Not even workaholic Donatello in his lab!

           At least until Raphael practically ambushed him outside the main entrance (“Thanks for the heart attack, compadre!”) and threw the trench coat on him before pulling him through the sewers, proclaiming about them going to be late for the “best morning ever!” He had begun babbling about how there was a special going on with breakfast pizza and how the House of HaHa had their “best acts” performing all day and then how Donatello had some type of special surprise for them before lunch and then they were going to have to raid the comic shops when they opened.

           Michelangelo was officially freaked out.

           The red banded turtle gave his brother a cheeky grin, rolling his eyes, “Since when does the party-turtle turn down a good time?”

           Cocking a suspicious brow ridge, the teenager responded “And since when does my super-cranky amigo become Mister Rogers?”

           Raphael pouted, though it never seemed to look right on his face. That was more of a Michelangelo move and even then, not very often. So, he instead pasted another smile on his face, “What, I can’t want to spend some time with my bud every so often?”

           Michelangelo tensed “Aw, man, amigo, did you get hit with Donatello’s Personality Alterator again?” That HAD to be the only reason for this maximum-weirdiozo behavior! Raphael, while not cruel, was also not the spoiley, let’s-have-a-guys-day type of turtle. He would go along with it if you pestered or offered but actually instigating it? This was Outer Limits-level odd! Outer Limits crossover with Twilight Zone-kind of odd! If it wasn’t so unnerving, he’d really be enjoying it but given it was such a random shift….he had so many things on his mind after…after Friday night…and he really didn’t need dissecting a brother’s totally nutsoid behavior added to the list.

           “Will you stop giving me the tenth degree and just come on?!” Raphael snapped. He stood, pushing his sibling into one of the chairs near the front of the club. There weren’t a lot of people; never really were for a morning show as the House of HaHa was definitely more of a ‘night club’ type of scene but that didn’t mean they didn’t have any acts in the morning. The owner had been proclaiming about it being “a day of laughter” all last week, promising “our best acts every hour!” so Raphael thought it was the perfect spot! After all, he always got a kick of it. His brother could be a LITTLE more appreciative.

           “Okay,” Michelangelo admitted with a half laugh, “THERE is Raphael.”

           Rolling his eyes, Raphael flagged down one of the servers and asked for “your largest breakfast pizza, all the fixings, and a pitcher of Coke,” before sitting down across from his brother, “Look, sorry that I’m trying to give you a good time. Should I mark it down that Michelangelo wants to foot the bill then?”

           Shaking his head, Michelangelo clarified, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, compadre.” He stressed that. “It’s a bodacious idea…breakfast pizza and a free morning…but why?” No lying there. A breakfast pizza, soda and a morning to not worry about training or exercises was totally righteous! That didn’t mean that he didn’t wonder what brought it on though!

           Raphael shrugged “Eh, seemed like a good idea and I wasn’t about to turn down Sensei stealing Leonardo.”

           Michelangelo nodded, though he didn’t believe him (he knew his brother too well) but their attention was divided when the first comedian made his way up to the stage, obviously not happy at the small group (there were only about three other tables with customers) but when you were a starting comic, you didn’t exactly get top billing. The House of HaHa rarely got what you would call “top notch” comics (given its small size) so it wasn’t usual for small, beginner comics to try their routine on the group. Sometimes with good results, sometimes with bad.

           The red banded turtle HOPED the owner hadn’t been lying about the “best acts” part. He needed good comics. He needed to get a laugh out of his younger brother! No more of this mopey, sad and depressed Michelangelo. He couldn’t take it!

           Raphael grinned and nudged his brother, “Hey, it’s Joey! Remember him?”

           Michelangelo couldn’t say so much he remembered him so much as he recognized him. When they’d saved Raphael from Barney Stockman and Pinky McFingers and their ‘Gag-a-magnifier’ (seriously, who came up with these names?) there had been two comedians with Raphael and this older man was one of them. Apparently, he was still semi-popular as a few of the patrons seemed to recognize him. Michelangelo wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but he took a sip of water that was offered and focused his attention.

Raphael wanted him to laugh, to feel better. If he was any more blatant about it, it would have been announced with a gong. Raphael had never been good about covering up his emotions, at least as far as Michelangelo was concerned. After the…disaster of a date Friday night, he’d finally gone to bed and had moped around the Lair most of Saturday. When he woke up today, he really didn’t feel much better and would have liked nothing more than to just lay around the Lair doing nothing but what could he do when Raphael had been so insistent? His brother was trying to cheer him up and judging by his statement that Donatello would be joining them later, his other siblings were in on it too. Pretty sweet of them. For all their teasing towards one another, they did love each other, just had different ways of showing it.

So, while Michelangelo inwardly cringed at what might pass for ‘funny’, he had to give a half smile as he went along with it. “Sort of…” he offered his brother but opted not to finish because Joey was starting his routine.

           “’Morning Folks,” Joey greeted them. “Glad to see you all. Got a whole new load of questions for you today!” He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect, “So, the other day, I’m chatting with the baker down at the store, just the usual catching up kind of thing and he tells me that he and his wife weren’t able to get the new car they were planning on. Know why?”

           Michelangelo groaned inwardly as Raphael and for that matter, most of the audience, finished with “he didn’t make enough dough.”

           Joey smiled and offered a wink. “You got it folks. Felt bad for the guy, I really did. He’s got two kids, see, and his daughter’s been feeling really down in the dumps. Heck, she went to the river yesterday to…”

           “Fish for compliments,” Raphael chimed in.

           A few of the audience members clapped but Michelangelo winced, burying his face into his arms to suppress a groan. Man, this guy was bad. Nothing against the guy but the jokes…they were painful!

           “And you know the other day, I found out that it’s not just humans that can be rude. I met the rudest bird in my garden. He was a …”

           “Mocking bird!”

           Michelangelo did groan that time.

           This kind of back and forth continued for about ten minutes before Joey finally left the stage when he stopped getting laughs and even the other people in the club were starting to look disinterested. Raphael could see the owner gesturing to him from the side and finally he got the hint. Well, Joey had never been the best of that group of three, at least in the red banded turtle’s opinion. Raphael looked up to his younger brother and made a face. Michelangelo had buried his head into his folded arms but he wasn’t asleep. Looks like he wasn’t the only one with that opinion. “Eh, okay, Michelangelo so Joey’s talent isn’t exactly his jokes.”

           “Mondo understatement, Dude.” He remarked. Lifting his head, he remarked “I mean, I give the Dude points for gettin’ up there and trying but those were really mondo-bad.”

           The server finally brought out their pizza at that point and it was excellent timing. Raphael had a feeling that this wasn’t going like he had hoped. Best acts his shell! He had a few words to exchange with the owner over that. Aside from a small smile at the beginning, his brother still had that depressed look and darn it, Michelangelo was not meant to be depressed! He was the turtle that was supposed to be full of life and happy and smiling but…because of a girl’s selfish actions, here he was, trying to cheer up the cheerleader! It was completely backwards!

           “Alright! Bodacious!” Michelangelo took hold of the nearest slice, grinning widely. Loaded down with all the fixings, yes, this looked wonderful. He took a giant bite of a slice, relishing in the egg, sausage, bacon, tomato and even the thin coating of grits that was underneath the cheese. Breakfast pizza was usually more complicated and they didn’t routinely make it so getting a large one was a real treat. It gave him something to focus on besides what was rushing through his head. Despite his brother’s attempts, Michelangelo found his thoughts still drifted to Kala.

           Why wouldn’t she let him help her? He’d do anything to help her! Hadn’t he shown her that? Didn’t she know that—

           “Hey! Daydreamer!”

           His brother’s sharp tone snapped him out of his somber thinking and he blinked, taking in Raphael’s concerned-but-covered-up-with-annoyance look. He knew that look anywhere. You didn’t grow up with someone and not learn their looks, despite how they might try and hide them. “Oh, major league sorry, Raphael. What did you say?” He took another bite of the pizza slice in his hand, realizing he must have been thinking a bit because some of it had tumbled onto his plate. Not like him to waste pizza toppings.

           Rolling his eyes, Raphael responded “I said not to let Joey throw you off. They DO have good comedians here! Hey, they liked my routine!”

           Michelangelo didn’t say anything for a moment. Okay, so his brother wasn’t HORRIBLE per say but he wouldn’t exactly say that he was ‘great’ either. At least not when he was trying to be funny. “Oh.” He finally said but then promptly wanted to slap himself in the forehead. Michelangelo didn’t say ‘oh,’ he didn’t just sit there and stare blankly ahead either. He was totally failing in his brother role right now! He was supposed to be supportive of family goals and his brother was totally going out of his way to make him feel better and he was being a major wet rag about it! Maybe he should pick up the tab…

           “Hey!” Raphael chimed in, oddly enough, not hurt. “I’m pretty good!”

           Refocused again, Michelangelo clarified “When you’re not trying, you are, Dude.”

           Under normal circumstances, Raphael would have taken that as an insult. However, Michelangelo had been showing since Friday night that his humor radar was deeply off kilter. Plus, he hadn’t said he _wasn’t_ funny, just that he was funny when he wasn’t trying. Well, what did that mean?! Raphael took the bait and inquired as much with another bite of pizza himself, “Whatta you mean, when I’m not trying? I put a ton of work into my jokes, I’ll have you know!” He gave his sibling a half pout but once again, that look just didn’t work for him.

           “Oh, believe me, we know” Michelangelo replied to his brother “But your jokes aren’t when you’re funny, Raphael,” he responded simply “Sorry to bust your bubble, amigo. It’s when you’re just talkin’ about our family or our mondo-crazy lives or the latest near-death avoidance fiasco that you’re funny.” He added “See, real life is funny enough and you’re bodacious at pointing that out.” He took another bite of pizza, swallowed and said “You try, like, way too hard, compadre, to be funny. Don’t try so hard.”

           Raphael had to admit that this took him by surprise. He had always thought that being funny meant pouring more skill into his writing of jokes and routines. But faced with this information, he frowned, considered.

           “Well, that settles it.” Pushing his plate aside, Raphael stood and made his way to the front of the room. Michelangelo reached after him, calling for him to come back, no doubt thinking that he’d hurt his feelings but the red banded turtle was on a mission now. His little brother needed to smile, damn it!  And if the comedians provided by this club weren’t going to cut it, then shell it all, he’d do it himself!

[speeding-fox]

Sorabon on the Haunt!

~~~~

Synopsis: Sorabon gets dared to go inside a creepy abandoned mansion rumored to be haunted to prove his bravery and that he's no chicken, but when his friends end up getting captured by a spirit, he has to summon the courage he needs to rescue them! Along the way, he unviels a surprising secret!

~~~~

Author's Note: "~~"'s indicate a scene change, and warning, this fic might be a little too spooky.

~~~~

Exiting the cinema after a scary movie, Tosukana, Dot, Shian, and Tiiru were discussing how freaky it was, with Sora stumbling behind them, trembling like a leaf. "That movie was certainly terrifying." Dot said. Shian wrapped her arms behind her head. "Yeah, terrifyingly bad." 

"I thought it was pretty scary, Shianbon." Stated Tiiru.

She stares at her with raised brows. "Seriously Ti? Did you not see how fake everything was? You could see the zipper on some of the guys' costumes during multiple scenes."

They all turn to the frightened Sora when they hear him whimpering. "Sorabon, you can't seriously have been scared by that movie." Shian teased.

"B-B-But, e-every looked s-s-so r-re-real." Sora stuttered out shakily.

"Dude, the only thing to be scared of in that movie was how bad it is." Shian assured.

"Have you forgotten about that one particular scene, Shianbon?" Tiiru inquired as they raise a brow.

"What scene?" She asked, playing dumb.

"You know, the scene that scared you so badly that you hugged Dottobon?" Tosukana teased.

Shian's cheeks turn a pinkish-red and snapped back at her sibling and Tosukana. "I wasn't scared! I heard her screaming, and I thought she would need my protection!"

"You sure that wasn't you screaming?" Tiiru questioned, stifling a snicker.

"No! It was just her and Sorabon! I would never scream out of fear! I'm not afraid of anything!" Shian bellowed at the two.

"Uh huh." "Whatever you say, sis." Tosukana and Tiiru said respectively before they begin to laugh at Shian's expense while she huffs, turns away, and crosses her arms, her cheeks maintaining the pinkish-red hue.

"Um, guys, not to interrupt, but where's Porukabon?" Dot asks.

"Didn't he say he had to use the bathroom before meeting us out here?" Tiiru questioned.

"Oh yeah, he did." Dot affirmed.

"He's definitely been taking a little while." Tosukana stated.

"I-I wouldn't worry a-about him. When nature calls, n-nature calls." Sora reassured shakily, unaware of a shadow looming behind him. He flinches and his eyes become dots as he felt a hand suddenly grab his left shoulder. He trembled as he slowly turned his head around to see what grabbed him.

The shadow roared once he met its glowing yellow eye. Sora turned ghost white as he screams like a little girl, then his eyes turn to X's, and he faints. The shadow turned out to just to be Polka fooling around with some party glasses.

Polka laughs heartily at the fainted Sora's expense. "Gotcha'!"

Shian busts out laughing. "Nice one, Porukabon! You scared the color off of him!"

Sora suddenly recovers and is on his feet, though still ghost white. "THAT WASN'T FUNNY, PORUKABON!" He screamed angrily at him.

"Yes it was!" Polka corrected while cackling. "I got you good!"

Sora growls. "No you didn't!" He crossed his arms and huffs. "I wasn't scared!"

Polka chuckles. "Oh really? Why are you still white as a sheet then?"

Sora checked himself, and he was indeed white as a sheet, devoid of color. "Ah!" He grabs a small paint bucket and paint brush from out of nowhere and rapidly paints his colors back onto himself, then crosses his arms once again while still holding the paint brush and bucket in his hands. "Like I said, I wasn't scared! I'm a hero, and heroes don't get scared!"

"Is that so?" Polka inquired. "If you're not as scared as you say..." He gets an evil look. "Then maybe you wouldn't mind going into an abandoned mansion I found on the outskirts of the city while was out for a drive."

"Abandoned..." Sora begins shaking again. "Man...sion...?"

Shian's eye light up. "You found an abandoned mansion?! That's so cool!"

"And going there sounds like a bad idea." Tosukana states.

Polka shrugs. "We don't *have* to go there..." He then glanced to Sora. "-if Sorabon's a such scaredy-cat."

"Porukabon-" Dot tried to interject, but Sora immediately stops shaking and snaps back at him. "I am NOT a scaredy-cat!"

"So you're going?" Polka asked with a smirk.

"Of course I am! I will go over to that abandoned mansion and PROVE that I'm not a scaredy-cat!" Proclaimed Sora.

Polka clapped his hands together. "Alright! It's settled then! Let's go!"

"Wait, huh? Already?" Sora questioned.

"Yeah! It's not like we have anything better to do anyway. C'mon! I'll show where the place is!" Polka went up ahead. "Porukabon, wait up!" Shouts Dot as she tries to catch up.

Sora realizes he just made a mistake. "Oh my Whiter, what did I just agree to?"

"Trouble, I bet." Tucker says as they go catch up.

As that was all unfolding, none of the kids realized they were being watched by the Neo Devil Trio from an alleyway, whom recede into their hiding spot, and begin to discuss. Lucifer rubs his chin. "Abandoned mansion, huh?"

"Sounds like the perfect place to mess with them!~" Sung Dandylion.

"I'll say... Hey, are two down for giving those brats a scare?" Suggested Lucifer.

"Oooh! I'm in!" Dandylion exclaimed. "I especially want to see the look on sky boy's face!"

"So am I, and lucky for us," Hades brings out a hologram projector. "I have just the tech we need give those losers, especially the Sora kid, the scare of their lives!" She cackled.

Lucifer chuckles. "Great! With that, those brats won't stay very long, and for sky boy, he'll stay even less."

~~

The group arrives to the derelict mansion via mech. "Here we are!" Shouts Polka.

Getting out of Sky-Soarer, Sora was already shivering at the sight of the creepy-looking building. 

Holding a flashlight under his chin, Polka begins to creepily tells a story. "Let me tell you a little story about this place. From what I heard, the first owner of the place, passed away suddenly over one-hundred years ago, and they say his spirit has haunted this mansion ever since, hunting down for any intruders. If he catches these intruders... he curses their spirits to be bound to this place FOREVER!" This story practically petrifies Sora into a statue, while Polka chuckles. 

"Porukabon, you just made up that story to scare Sorabon stiff." Tosukana tells him while staring at him, not at all amused.

"What? No! It's true!" Polka vehemently refuted.

"Then where did you hear this "story" from?" Tucker asks with a raised brow, meanwhile Tiiru is proding at the frozen Sora, trying to get him to budge.

"I- uh-" Polka averts eye contact. "I heard it from people.

Tucker continues to stare at him with a raised brow. "Uh huh..."

"Who cares if the story is fake or not?! I wanna go beat up ghosts!" Shian exclaims with four-pointed stars in her eyes; it seems Polka's story hyped her up.

"Shianbon, just how are you gonna do that?" Tiiru questioned.

Shian pumps a fist. "By punching them until they disappear!"

A sweat-drop appears on the side of Tiiru's head, and they mutter. "Oh sister..."

"So who's gonna go in first!?" Shian exclaimed.

"I don't know, maybe Sorabon should go in first, if he isn't too... chicken." Polka instigated.

That comment snapped Sora out of his statue-like state and swiftly turn to glare at Polka. "I am NOT a chicken!" He bellows.

Polka, somehow now partially dressed as chicken, teases him by acting like a chicken and making chicken noises. Sora flails his arms to boldly and angrily proclaim "I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT A CHICKEN! And I'll prove that right now!" He then barges through the unlocked doors of the old mansion. Polka takes off his chicken get-up and heartily laughs along with Shian. 

"Ha! That riled him up good, Polka!" Commended Shian.

"It sure did!" Polka continued to laugh, until Tosukana harshly slaps Polka across the face. "Ow!" He immediately rubs where he got slapped.

"That was not funny, Porukabon." Dot scolded to her brother, then she turned to Shian. "And Shianbon, you should know better." 

Shian grumbled quietly. "Sorry." 

"Since you riled him up, Porukabon, you're going in there to fetch him and apologize." Tosukana insists.

"Uhhhh." Polka shifts his eye around quickly. "I can't go in there."

Tosukana raises a brow and puts his hands on his hips. "Why not? Don't tell me you're the one that's afraid now."

"Me? Afraid?" Polka laughs nervously. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Ha ha..."

He continued glancing around as everyone is staring at him expectantly. He was hoping someone would back him up, but when he realizes that nobody will, he gives up. "Okay, fine! I'll go in after him, but I'm not going in alone!"

Tosukana sighs. "Even though I was hoping to teach you a lesson, I'll go in with you."

"I will too! I've always wanted to explore a haunted place!" Shian exclaimed.

"Sorabon's my friend too, so I'm coming too!" Tiiru chimed in.

"But what about me..? I can't go in there, not because I'm scared, but I don't want to possibly get stuck in the floorboards. I don't want to be out here on my own either..." Dot says while twirling her fingers and looking aside.

"Well, that's the perfect excuse ta'-" Polka tried to say, but Shian butted in before he finished. "I'll stay out here with you, Dottobon!" 

"Shi-Shianbon, I thought you wanted to explore this place!" Polka stammered.

"Of course I do, but Dotto has a point, and we can't just leave her alone!" She gets in a battle ready pose. "Besides, while I am disappointed I can't go exploring with you guys, what if something happens and you guys need to call back-up, huh?"

"I guess it is a good idea for you both to be on stand-by incase we need help. Now as for you, Porukabon," Tosukana grabs Polka's arm. "we're going." He turns to Tiiru, whom is watching a leaf float by on the breeze. "Tiirubon, you coming?"

Tiiru snaps to attention. "Oh! Yeah! Coming!"

Tosukana drags Polka by his arm into the mansion, with Polka groaning.

Now that the trio went inside, Dot and Shian wondered what they should do while they wait for everyone. "Sooo... What should we do now?" Questioned Dot.

"Hmmm..." Shian glances to Dot's half of the mech, then back to her. "Did you bring your Bontendo Switch?"

~~

As the trio stepped inside the old mansion's foyer, the floors creak under their weight as they look around for Sora, Polka shines his flashlight around, trying find him, but he doesn't see him anywhere. "Where the heck he go?" Polka wondered aloud. The three try calling out to him in hopes he responds. "Sorabon! Sorabon!" No answer...

"Where did he go anyway?" Tiiru questioned.

"In a place like this, you'd think he'd bail once he got in here." Polka remarked before Tosukana nudged him. "Ow!"

"Regardless, we have to find him. He couldn't have gotten far." Tosukana states.

"Should we split up and search?" Tiiru suggested.

"Tiirubon, that is a terrible idea." Polka retorts. "You've seen how well that turns out in the cartoons."

"Oh, right." Tiiru muttered.

"How about stay in a group and search the first floor together?" Tosukana suggested.

Polka nods. "That sounds like a better and safer idea." He puts the flashlight under his chin again and speaks in his "creepy voice" while wiggling the fingers on his free hand around. "It would deter the ghost if he was to find usss."

"Stop." Tosukana says flatly.

Polka groaned. "Okay fine." He shines a flashlight down the hallway to the group's left. "Let's check down that way first."

With that, they began their search for Sora. For the next ten or so minutes, they check each room across hallway for their friend, but did not find him, so they decided to search down another hallway, little did they know they were being followed...

"Where IS he??" Polka questions as he peeks into a smaller room and shined his flashlight around to find it was empty of life as well, and groans before closing the door. "This is some game of hide-and-seek he has us playing."

"And this only the first floor." Adds Tosukana as the group continues on.

"I swear, if we find him in a broom closet after spending all this time..." Polka murmurs audibly.

"What makes you think he's hiding in a closet?" Inquired Tiiru.

"If he is in a closet, he would've came out when we've called out his name." Tosukana says, concerned.

"Coming out of the closet isn't easy for most people, Taka." Polka joked, only to receive a beat in response. "Okay, I get it, bad time for a joke."

"I'm the one that's supposed to make the jokes, Porukabon." Claimed Tiiru.

They group freezes in place when they see one of the doors shaking, and whimpering noises coming from behind it. "Wh-Why is that door sh-sh-shaking a-and ma-making noises..?" Tiiru stammers.

"I-I don't know. L-Let's just hope i-it's Sorabon." Polka shakily replies.

Slowly, the three stepped towards the shaking door. Once close enough, Polka reaches for the doorknob, and grabs it. He hesitantly turns the knob, and opens the door, it creaking as it slowly opens, the noises coming from it getting louder, then when the light hits it, something covered in a white sheet shrieks, causing Polka and Tiiru to hug eachother and scream simultaneously. "EEEEEIIIII!!! GHOOOOOOST!!!"

Tosukana, however, was completely unfazed, and sighs. "Guys." He stepped over to the "ghost," and pulls the sheet off, revealing a terrified Sora underneath.

Sora gets startled from having the sheet pulled, then blinks a bit before he realizes what he's seeing. "G-Guys?"

"Sorabon?!" Polka and Tiiru shout in unison, then glance to eachother, and Polka lightly pushes Tiiru away and tries to look like he wasn't at all scared.

"Ahem... Sorabon! What's the big idea?!" Yelled Polka.

""What's the big idea?!" I should be asking you that! You almost gave me a heart-attack!" Sora shouts back.

"I asked first!" Polka fired back. "What were you doing trying to scare us like that?!"

"I wasn't trying to scare you, I was trying to hide from the ghost!" Sora shot back.

"G-Ghost..?" Tiiru shuddered.

Polka rolls his eyes. "Yeah right." 

"I'm not kidding!" Sora insists. "The ghost from your story, it's real! As soon as I entered this place, it chased me around until I hid in this closet!"

Polka still wasn't convinced. "Sora, I made that story of the mansion's first owner up to scare you." As if on cue, the aforementioned ghost floats down from the ceiling and hovers behind Polka, and the three onlookers pale and start trembling. "Everyone knows that ghosts are just made up! Heh heh!"

"Uhh-hhh, P-Poruk-kab-bon..." Sora uttered shakily.

"L-L-Look behind y-you-u..." Tosukana stammered as he pointed behind Polka.

"Huh?" He does turn around, and immediately turns white as a sheet once he sees what everyone was staring at. "Oh... so it is real... Ha ha ha..." He laughed nervously.

"Leeeeeaaaave..." The spirit moaned before roaring. "NOOOOOOWWW!!!"

The group scream in shear terror before bolting away, the ghost in hot pursuit behind them, but no matter where they went or where they tried to hide, they were always some how found. Where the heck is the exit?! This only the first floor! Were they running in circles?!

The group then runs upstairs in hopes of finding a better place to hide from the spirit giving them chase, then they run through a series of doors in a hallway in a familiar cartoon-like fashion in an attempt to escape the ghost until they get to one particular hallway. Sora bolts ahead of everyone before tripping over a loose floorboard, which triggers a trapdoor to open, he didn't have time warn his friends of the trapdoor. "GAH!" Polka just barely stops in time to avoid falling in, but Tosukana and Tiiru weren't as quick to notice, they bump right into him, knocking his flashlight out of his hand, it landing next to Sora, Polka loses his balance, and the three of them fall in, screaming out until they fade into the darkness.

"GUUUUUUYYYS!" Sora cried out to them before the trapdoor closes. Seeing the ghost still after him, he scrambles to his feet, and sprints around the corner and finds a conveniently-sized vase big enough for him to hide behind, then remained hidden for some time, even after the spirit wandered off, he is fearful and unsure of his next move. He waited a bit longer before he briefly peeks out of his hiding spot and glances around, the coast seems clear, but he goes back into hiding, he doesn't want to leave his hiding spot yet, he was afraid the ghost will come back and find him if he gets out of his hiding spot.

The poor kid whimpers as he hugs his legs, and he begins murmuring to himself as he softly sobs. "I don't wanna get out, I don't! But I wanna leave, but my friends... the ghost got them! I can't leave them, but I'm afraid of the ghost coming back! I don't wanna get caught too! What do I do? What do I do?!" He sobbed quietly some more, those sobs slowly turn to sniffles, and he begins to put on his "brave face". "I- *sniffle* I can't leave them behind. *sniffle* They're my friends, and... and they need my help."

Sora gains a determined look on his face. "I may be afraid, but it'll be the heroic thing to do!" He peeks out once more to check if the coast was still clear, when he saw that it was, he takes a deep breath, breathes out, then he quietly gets out of the vase, tip-toes the opposite direction the ghostly spirit went, retrieves Polka's flashlight, and carefully begins his search for his friends, hoping they're alright, and murmuring "I'm beginning to feel like that green-hatted guy from that mansion game..."

~~

Meanwhile...

"Dang it, Dottobon!" Shian shouts as she looks up from her Bontendo Switch. "How are you so good at Bontris?!" 

Dot gazes up at Shian before rubbing her head bashfully. "I wouldn't say *that* good, Shianbon..."

"You kidding? You beat me AND the 97 CPUs, twice!" Exclaimed Shian. "There's no way you're "not that good!""

Dot turns away, blushing. Her gaze swiftly shifts towards the mansion when she thought she heard screaming. "Shianbon, did you hear that?"

Shian was too focused on her game to notice. "Hear what?"

"It sounded like the others screaming..." Dot clarified. "And they are taking a little while..."

"Oh gosh dang it!" Shian says under her breath as she once again loses, then turns to Dot. "I didn't hear anything. I think you're probly just hearing things. Yeah, they're taking awhile, but they didn't call for help yet, so they must be fine."

"I hope so..." Dot mutters while not taking her eyes off the mansion.

"You down for a 3 out of 5?" Asked Shian.

Dot stares at the place for another couple seconds, she was still concerned about the screaming, but if Shian didn't hear them, then she must've just imagined them out of worry. She then shifts her gaze to Shian. "Sure, I guess I can do another round."

~~

Sora quietly searches around downstairs to see if he could find his friends down there, careful to not draw the ghost's attention and give away where he is. Why did this mansion have to be so big? There's so many rooms and hallways, he feels like he's going in circles and not making much progress, he just wants to find everyone and leave this place already. 'They have to be somewhere down here. The trapdoor has to lead into one of these rooms, right?' He wondered to himself as he quietly opens the door leading into a rather large room.

He enters the aforementioned room and shines the flashlight around for anything out of the ordinary. Nope. Just old and dusty furniture, nothing weird here, except for the coffin resting against the right-most wall. He shudders and whispers to himself. "That's... pretty weird. I really hope there isn't anything, or anyone, in that thing."

He turns to leave when he finds no signs of anyone being in the room, but he freezes in place when hears a noise coming from the coffin. He gulped, cold sweat runs down his head, and he very slowly turns back to the coffin and shines the flashlight to find it opening up, the light illuminates the revealed figure inside, a Bonpire... Sora was too horrified to utter a word. There isn't just a ghost hanging out in this place, monsters too?! 

The Bonpire's red eyes shot open and begins cackling as he leaps out of his coffin and lunges for Sora. The kid screams and sprints full-speed out of the room. So much for not drawing attention to himself.

He continued to shriek as the bonpire gave chase. Thinking he could get away if he went back upstairs, he sprints up the nearest staircase, and practically dives into the first room that had a door open, then slams it shut and pushes an old chair infront of it to barricade it. When Sora thought he was safe, he lets out a sigh of relief, and slumps into said chair. "Phew..."

His moment of relief quickly died when he heard something shuffle within the darkest corner of the room. A pair of glowing yellow eyes appear in the darkness, then whatever it was growls, before it leapt into the light of the flashlight. It was a wolf-like Wereron! They howl, then snarled at the kid. Sora screams once more before using the chair he was just using as a barricade as a throwable projectile at the beast, only them to swipe it away with no effort. Well that plan didn't work.

He swiftly opens the door, and yet again screams when turned out the bonpire was standing right in the doorway. Sora manages to sprint passed him and made a beeline for the stairs. Great, now he has a bonpire AND a wereron on his tail! Can it get any worse than this?!

As Sora ran through the hallway his friends found him in earlier, he had the bright idea of hiding in the same closet he used to escape the ghost earlier. The bonpire and wereron wouldn't even think to check there!

Without checking said closet first, he quickly ran in, and shuts the door before those monsters rounded the corner. He panted for bit before letting out another sigh. "Phew..." 

He wipes some sweat off his forehead, then slightly grimaced when he realized his head was covered with sweat. "Eugh, running away from those monsters left me all sweaty. I could really use a rag right about now."

Someone from behind him hands him a dry rag. "Oh!" He takes the rag. "Thanks." As he was wiping the sweat off his head, he suddenly freezes when makes a realization. "Wait... who handed me the rag when I'm the only one in here..?" Sora shakily turns to whoever was in the closet with him, and shines Polka's flashlight onto a one-eyed figure covered in rags and bandages, whom groaned lowly and began reaching for Sora.

"Muh... Muhh..." Sora stammered before screaming "MUMMYYYY!", and barged through the closet door and booked it, which caught the attention of the bonpire and wereron at the other end of the hallway, they, now with the mummy alongside them, once again pursue him.

Poor Sora kept on running and running in a vain attempt to get away from the group of monsters, he would've grown exhausted by now, but he was so pumped with adrenaline that he was determined to not get caught by the ghastly trio on his tail, however, this was for naught as he rounds a corner to dead-end. "Oh no!" He turns around to see the bonpire, wereron, and mummy surround him and slowly creep foward. He frantically tries to find a secret button to open a secret escape route. "C'mon c'mon! There has to be a secret button! There's always a secret button somewhere like in that one mystery cartoon!" Unlike the cartoon though, Sora could not find a hidden button, he was really trapped. He presses his back against the wall as the monsters crept closer and closer, his eyes were filled with tears, his head was covered in cold sweat, he was whimpering and shaking violently, he thought this was the end for him, this was how he was gonna go out.

The trio of monsters were now within arms-reach of Sora. As he braced for his doom, something woke up within him, all his fear was suddenly replaced by anger, and his biidama begins glowing brightly. He screamed "That's ENOUGH!" before firing a laser-shot at the monsters, and exploding a hole into the floor, which said monsters fall right through. Thinking he took care of them, Sora leaps over the hole he made and tries to make a run for it yet again, only to stop when he thought he heard his friends groaning. "Huh?"

He peeks into the hole, at first, all he could see was smoke and dust billowing through the air, but once it clears, he could now see the dazed monsters at the bottom- wait a minute, is that Polka, Tosukana, and Tiiru?! "Guys?!" Sora called out in disbelief.

Polka sat up and rubs his head. "Ow, my aching head..." He stops when he sees what is on him. "What the..? Why am I covered in bandages and stuff?"

"Owww... What... happened?" Tiiru dazily asks as they shakily get onto their arms. "Why do I feel all... fuzzy?

"And why are we in costume..?" Tosukana adds as he helps himself up and spits out the fake teeth.

"Guys!" Sora repeats, prompting the three to look up at him. "Sorabon!" They all shout, relieved he is okay.

"You're okay!" Exclaimed Tiiru.

Sora jumps into the biidaman-made hole and lands on the spot near his friends. "Of course I'm okay!" He closes his eyes. "Now, let ask you three this..." His eyes open to reveal flames, he flails his arms about, and his head gets comically large as he bellows at his friends, making them scream because they did not expect this kind of reaction. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?!? WAS THIS ANOTHER PRANK!?!? YOU ALL ALMOST SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH!!!"

Polka rapidly waves his arms around. "S-Sorabon! Calm down! We can explain!"

That only calmed him a little bit. He then crosses his arms. "Hmph! You three better explain yourselves!"

"Sorabon, we really didn't mean to scare you so badly." Tosukana began.

"We didn't mean to because we don't even remember doing it." Tosukana and Polka nod as Tiiru finished.

That explanation didn't convince Sora. "Likely story."

"Dude, it's true." Polka insisted. "You don't know what happened after we fell through that trapdoor." 

Now he was intrigued. "What did happen after you guys fell into that trapdoor anyway?"

"Allow me to explain to give you a clear vision." Polka started. "After falling into it, we fell and got caught in a net trap at the bottom. Apparently, the Neo Devil Trio have set up shop down in one of the basement rooms, and they were watching everything unfold the whole time!"

Sora's eyes got big. "Wait, those three are behind all this?!"

Polka nods. "Yeah, and they also were behind the whole ghost prank! That ghost was nothing but a hologram they set up!"

Sora's eye twitched. "Are you kidding me?!"

Tosukana shook his head. "Nope."

Polka continues. "After they tell us about their prank, they told us that we're gonna be apart of it. You think we wanted in on their prank after that whole ghost trick? Heck no!"

Tiiru chimes in. "That's when Hades got out this weird swirly gun thing, and then... I don't remember what happened after that."

"And the next thing we knew, there was an explosion, and we fall through the floor, we're also in costume for some reason." Tosukana added while pulling at his costume.

"They made you guys think you were monsters and made you all chase me all around this place to scare me! You don't remember any of that?!" Sora exclaimed.

All three shook their head in response. "Not a dang thing." Polka replied.

Knowing now that this was all just a mischievious prank pulled by the Devil siblings, Sora clenched his fists tightly. How dare they pull something like this on him! How dare they play such a cruel joke, not to mention hypnotizing his friends into involuntarily scaring the crud out of him, and above all, possibly giving him a sore throat later from making him scream so much! "Grrrr... Those absolute JERKS! I can't believe them!" 

"And I thought I scared ya' bad earlier, but those three took it too far!" Polka growls as he balled his fists. "I want to get back at them for hypnotizing us and covering me in rags!"

"Normally, I would disagree about "getting back" at someone," Tosukana glares his costume. "but I don't very much appreciate getting hypnotized into scaring my friend!"

"And I don't appreciate getting put into such a tacky costume!" Tiiru adds as they're pulling at their urufuron costume.

Sora spent some time thinking about how to get back at the devious trio, then his eyes turn into light-bulbs, and gains an evilish look as he gets a devious idea, an idea to give the Devillish pranksters a taste of their own medicine. "Guys, huddle up, I think I have the perfect way to get back at those three." He huddles everyone together to discuss his plan. "Some of the things we need are white glow-in-the-dark paint, and some chains..."

~~

"Eeee heheheee! They surely scared Sorabon good!" Dandylion laughed.

"Did you see the faces he made when saw our "monsters?" Priceless!" Lucifer cackles. "He even fell for our hologram!"

"I wouldn't be too surprised if he busted out of here out of terror while crying for his friends." Mocked Hades.

"I don't see him on any of the cameras we set up." Dandylion giggled as they flipped through the camera screens from their phone. "So I guess he did flee from terror!"

"Brat said he is a hero?" Lucifer blew a raspberry. "More like a big baby."

The siblings laugh heartily, until they heard moaning. "Uh... what was that?" Dandylion asks.

"Was that you, Lucy?" Hades questioned.

"No, it wasn't me. I thought it was from one of you two." Lucifer answered.

"Then..." Dandylion begins trembling and whimpering. "Who made the noise..?"

The trio begin to hear the sounds of chains being dragged across the floor, getting closer to their place of hiding, all three begin to get nervous. "Please tell me this a prank you two set up." Begged Lucifer.

"L-Lu-Lucy, it-it's not us!" Hades insisted shakily.

The sounds of chains dragging across the floor crept closer and closer, then stop right at the doorway, the three very slowly turn to the doorway's direction, until the trio saw a white glowing shape. Their faces contort in horror, then they shriek at the sight, it was Sorabon, but... he was glowing white, his eyes were glowing red, he had chains on both his wrists, and he looked like a zombie. "S-So-Sorab-bon?!" All three stammered out of fear.

Sora's "ghost" lifted up an arm to point at the three. "Yoooouuu..." He droned on as he crept over to the frightened trio. The siblings all cower to nearest corner.

"S-Sora-b-bon, wha-what happened t-to you?!" Dandylion asked shakily.

"You allll know what happened..." He lifted up an arm to point at them once again. "I died of fright because of your prank..."

"N-No way..." Uttered Lucifer.

"Th-That wasn't supposed to happen!" Shouted Hades.

"It was only meant to scare you, not to death!" Dandylion yelled.

"Wa-Wait, ho-how do you kn-know it was OUR pr-prank?!" Lucifer inquired. 

As if on cue their "monsters" emerged from the shadows. "They told me..." The "spirit" replied.

"EH?!" The Devil siblings shout in unison.

"Now because of you, my friends are cursed to be monsters and to be bound to stay at this old mansion with me... forever!" The ghost announced, raising both of his arms.

"You took it too faaaarrrr..." Tiiruwolf growled.

"The four of us are now bound here because of you three..." Tosukanapire spoke lowly.

"We ought to return the faaavvoorrrr..." Mummy Polka droned whilst glaring at the three.

"Great idea, Porukabon..." Sora agreed, and the four tower over the terrified siblings menacingly, gleams appearing their eyes. "They deserve payback by making their last moments... A LIVING NIGHTMARE!" They all cackle as they surround the three.

The Neo Devil Trio all shriek in absolute terror, scream "WE'RE SORRYYYYY!" before jumping up, book it through the doorway, and make a beeline for the entrance they came in through, the kitchen entrance. They bust through the door, slam it shut, barricade it with planks, then take off in their aircraft. The group of four made it to one of the kitchen windows just in time to see the siblings take off, then they all laugh and give eachother high-fives.

"Dude nice! We sure scared the pants off of them!" Polka exclaimed whilst still snickering.

Sora agreed. "We sure did! It's what they get for hypnotizing you guys and scaring me to "death."" He snickered.

"How long do you think it will take until they realized they got pranked?" Tiiru questioned.

"Probably whenever they start causing trouble again." Tosukana answered.

"Y'know, Sorabon, for a biidaman that doesn't like spooky stuff, you surely know how to pull off a scary prank!" Polka commended.

Sora bashfully rubs the back of his head. "Well, I did get some help from you guys. I just came up with the idea." 

Polka pats Sora on the back. "I must admit, I honestly thought you would leave us behind after getting so scared like that, yet, you stayed."

"While I'll say I did think about that," Sora proudly puts his hands on his hips. "it would be very unheroic of me to leave my friends behind when they're in trouble, so I bravely trudged forward to find you guys!"

Polka chuckles. "I guess I was wrong about you being a chicken. Sorry about earlier."

"While all this did happen because of you, I forgive you." Sora joked.

"Wha- Hey!" Polka shouts as Sora laughed.

Tiiru happened to glance to the right when they heard something, and something caught their eye. "Not to interrupt you guys, but who's that?" They ask while pointing at a glowing white old-looking biidaman floating behind the group.

The others turn around, and see what Tiiru was talking about. Polka chuckled and nudged Sora's shoulder. "Ha! Nice try, Sorabon!"

Sora was merely bemused by Polka's reaction to seeing this. "Huh?"

"I know this another prank of yours. You turned on the Devil kids' hologram when we weren't looking. Go on, spill the beans!" Polka insisted.

"Uh, no, I thought you turned on the hologram thing." Sora stated.

Polka went quiet. "Nnooo, I didn't turn it on." He turned to Tiiru and Tosukana. "Did one of you two-..?"

Tosukana shook his head. "Nope."

Tiiru shrugged. "I forgot there was a hologram thing."

Sora began. "If it wasn't you guys, then..." A look of grim realization crept onto the four's faces, and they slowly turn to their guest. "Who is that..?"

..."Leave...NOOOOOW!" The spirit bellowed.

All four kids scream and make a beeline for the exit they came through. Shian was about ask Dot to play another round when the four burst through the doors, Sora slamming the doors behind him. Their exit startles Dot. "Ah!"

"About time you guys get out there! What took you all so long, and what's with the costumes?" Shian questioned.

"Are you guys-" Dot tried to say, but was quickly interrupted.

"Can't explain now! Dotto! Shian! Get in your mechs, we need to leave now!" Polka hurriedly answered.

"Why?" Shian inquires. "Why are you all acting like you've seen a ghost?"

"Just get in your mechs NOW!" Polka screamed.

"Alright alright, sheesh! I don't know why you all are in such a hurry." Shian helps Dot get into Lightning-Bug before hopping into Cyan-Sniper. As soon as Dot is in the mech, the four spooked kids swiftly take off ahead of Shian, involuntarily leaving her in the dust.

"HEY!" She yells out angrily as she starts up her tank, and quickly takes off after them. "GET BACK HERE! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME IN THE DUST!"

The ghost of the mansion's first owner watches the kids take off through the foyer's window, takes a sip of ghostly tea from his ghostly teacup, then shakes his head. "Kids these days, they never learn to stay away from creepy abandoned places, don't they?"

[gemraldkid]

Analysis and speculation on Bête Noire

Spoilers for Undertale and Glitchtale. Undertale by Toby Fox and Glitchtale by @camilaart​

You thought I was joking? Nope. Here it is: a mix of canon, headcanon, and speculation.

Of all the characters that people are obsessing over right now (Ronan, Jessica, Gaster, Rave, the prequel wizards), I choose to put all of my energy into making some sense of the one character that continuously reminds us that we should hate them. I could be thinking about the struggles of anyone else. I could be worried for Chara or Asriel or Asgore (he’s not dead until he starts turning to dust), but nooooo. This is what occupies my thoughts about this series.

This is basically most of my headcanon relating to Betty. I wanted to put these thoughts out there before the new episode since... well, anything could happen. 

Betty’s probably gonna mostly die from hate and stuff.

Imagine if we were actually supposed to end up feeling bad for this character? Right...

You shouldn’t take everything I say here as facts.’m pretty sure I made it clear enough which parts are speculation with the amazing power of verb tenses.

I’m open to corrections about currently available facts that I got wrong.

Glitchtale is a series that I’ve greatly enjoyed watching. I believe that it is one of the finest things to come out of the Undertale fandom. It is a testament to how good a fanfiction can be.

One thing that I find particularly praiseworthy is the way OCs are handled. They manage expand on the world without hogging the spotlight for too long. There’s a good balance between introducing new elements without ever forgetting about the old ones.

Of course, among many of the new characters, one in particular stands out: the current antagonist of Season 2, Bête Noire or “Betty”.

Betty is the character I have been the most fascinated with so far. She’s been a mystery to many ever since the punch to the gut that was the ending of “Dust”.

What follows is a look into the way that I perceive Bête Noire. I am not necessarily dead-set on a single possibility. While my views are backed up by certain facts, I acknowledge that they are also based on and influenced by my personal wishes for this character. Therefore, my words should be taken with a healthy amount of salt.

Betty was first introduced to us as an innocent 13 year-old girl, barely a year older than Frisk, physically. She was a shy, happy-go-lucky kid who became friends with Frisk after the latter saved her life from a fast-moving car.

Unfortunately, things were not as they seemed. The girl never was in any real danger as the car was an illusion created by powers. The scenario was merely a set-up to get her closer to Frisk and their family of monsters.

Illusions are likely a power granted to her by her trait: fear. With it, she is able to see the memories of others simply by looking them in the eyes. This grants her knowledge of their personality and, most importantly, their emotional weaknesses. Using that knowledge, she can create illusions to throw off her enemies. These illusions can serve a variety purposes even if they don’t directly involve fear. Examples include the aforementioned car and the illusion that caused Undyne to kill Alphys.

Bête Noire originally woke up when the barrier was broken, a month before the events of “My Sunshine”. This means that she spent a month doing “something” before starting her plan. She likely spent days and nights observing the humans and monsters. Through her observations and memory-reading abilities, she judged whether the monsters were truly as dangerous for human kind as she believed. This wasn’t all she observed, however. Betty also learned the ways and customs of this new time period. After all, the only memories in her possession belonged to someone who lived over 800 years ago...

-

Agate Lightvale was best known as the wizard of bravery who helped seal the monsters underground. She lived in a medieval time. While she was born into a common family , she didn’t live a common life. Her twin brother, Copper, was lucky enough to be born with a soul of determination, a trait so rare that only one person can possess it at a time. It elevated the Lightvale family to a noble status.

Growing up, Agate acted like a big sister to Copper even though they were the same age. However, this changed  as they grew older and trained to become wizards. Copper became more independent while his sister started to develop a few insecurities. 

Agate spent most of her time training in combat. She was always looking to improve, to get stronger, to surpass her limits. Unfortunately for her, being the twin of the soul of determination meant she was often overshadowed. 

Her brother was essentially a “chosen one” of sorts. As a result, he got most of the attention. Agate would execute a spell flawlessly while Copper stumbled at the same task. Yet, he would be the only one to receive praise.

In addition to being the rarest trait, determination is also the strongest. Agate was confronted with the reality that, no matter how hard she trained, she could never surpass her brother.

Still, it didn’t stop Agate from being a kind and respected individual. True to her trait, she was know for her bravery in the face of danger and resistance to physical pain. In addition, she and Copper both stayed strong for their younger sister, Amber, who’s birth resulted in the death of their mother. Agate and her siblings were extremely close.

After the war between humans and monsters ended, she, her brother, and five other wizards created the barrier, trapping the monsters underground.

After a certain amount of time, Copper proposed the idea of releasing the monsters from captivity. He believed that humans and monsters could still live together. Agate opted against this. She believed it would be better for both races if they lived separately. The discussion got extremely agitated to the point where Agate spontaneously challenged Copper to a duel that would decide the future.

-

If I may break the flow of information a little, this part seems a tad off to me. I find it notable, at the very least. In the official depiction of this moment, Agate looks smug, as if she knows she is going to win. Isn’t that odd considering what we know? I believe there was more riding on this duel than the fate of two races.

Recall that Agate had a bit of an inferiority complex with her brother. Isn’t it possible that she also challenged him to prove she was stronger, to finally break out of his shadow by defeating him in front of the entire kingdom? If this is the case, I believe that the “confidence” she showed might not have been entirely sincere. Surely, a part of her knew that she couldn’t win. Yet, she still instigated a fight.

I think it’s possible that challenging Copper was not an act of hubris on Agate’s part; it was an act of desperation made in the heat of the moment.

-

Ultimately,  she lost. Her brother was victorious. Agate was overwhelmed by her loss. While she had an abundance of physical bravery, she lacked it emotionally. Due to these factors, she lost her trait then and there. Completely humiliated, she fled to parts unknown. Still under the intensity of the battle, Copper didn’t think to go after her.

During this period of her life, Agate made many poor life choices. She searched for a way to break her limits more than ever before. She came across at least two forbidden spells. She used one of them to reverse her souls trait from the orange of bravery to the dark orange of fear. The process completely eradicated the last shred of sanity she had. After being absent for an unknown amount of time, Agate rejoined her family, who welcomed her back in spite of the changes she had gone through. 

Driven by her obsession for victory, Agate furiously demanded a rematch from Copper. He refused, knowing it wouldn’t bring about anything good. Seeing that he wouldn’t move on the issue, Agate threatened the life of Amber, her own sister. Copper attempted to protect her, but was ultimately forced to watch as Agate stabbed her through the chest. This horrible sight caused him to lose his trait, allowing Agate to easily finish him in the same manner. She relished the victory as all life left his eyes.

Unfortunately, she would soon be forced to join her siblings. Inverting one’s trait is immensely stressful on the soul. With her time running out, Agate performed another forbidden spell to ensure that her will lived on: the Bête Noire spell.

The Bête Noire spell consists of creating a powerful, nearly lifelike golem called a “bête noire”. While the golem itself is powerful, a bête noire’s true strength lies in its longevity and ability to form complex thoughts. 

Most spells typically act in very basic ways. For example, a simple fire spell will simply follow a chosen path or pattern before disappearing regardless of whether it hit its target or not.

Bêtes noires, on the other hand, can not only accomplish much more complicated tasks, but also think about how they will go about doing so. They are even be able to improvise if things don’t go their way. In addition, they can exist for several weeks before fading. However, if they have a way to replenish their magic (such as harvesting it from souls), they become virtually immortal. A bête noire is essentially a living spell. 

Of course, to craft such a being, the cost is extremely high. It requires the caster to use their own soul for the conjuring. Then, they must also have a vessel other than their own body that can be merged with the soul to create the golem.

Agate was willing to sacrifice the life she wouldn’t have for much longer and she had two perfectly good vessels. Still spiteful towards her brother, the wizard chose Amber’s body over Copper’s. Her soul turned pink as it absorbed Amber’s body. With the deed done, Agate lifeless body fell to the floor.

The soul remained sealed and hidden for over 800 years until the barrier was broken. At that moment, it awoke, transformed into the being that would be know as Bête Noire.

-

Bête Noire knew her purpose from the very start as she possessed some of Agate’s memories as she possessed some of Agate’s memories. Unfortunately, the goal her “mother” left her with was no longer as good-natured as it once was. In Agate’s twisted mental state, it had gone from “Keep humans and monsters separate for both their safeties.” to something akin to “Kill all monsters so that they will never live in peace with humans. Do so by any means necessary, even if it means killing humans who oppose you or using the power of hate.”

-

Gathering hate is stated to be the universal purpose of a bête noire. It’s fitting when considering the name. “Bête noire” is a french term that literally translates to “black beast”. Black is the color (or lack there of) of hate. In addition, the term “bête noire” is used to indicate a person or object that someone particularly dislikes.

I originally found it ironic that Bête struggled to keep her hate under control, but the solution is simple. She likely only struggled to keep it under control because she wasn’t in her complete form at the time.

Nonetheless, I can’t help thinking that maybe bêtes noires are supposed to succumb to the hate they collect. Perhaps they are meant to serve as vessels for the stuff. After all, Betty still requires a large surplus of magic to keep it at bay. One would think a creature made to collect hate would do more than just resist it a little better than others. 

Yet, if bêtes noires are supposed to succumb to hate, why has this one been shown fear it? Perhaps because, as a creature made purely of magic, it would be akin to death, something that she fears because fear is built into her nature.

-

In order to accomplish her mission, Bête had to gather information on both her enemies and the era she was in. She separated herself into two beings in order to hide her monstrous appearance and blend in with the humans. She dubbed the part she separated from herself “Akumu”, the Japanese word for “Nightmare”. Under the nickname “Betty”, she spent a month observing and planning. 

It should be noted that she must have done so 24/7. Bêtes noires don’t need to sleep. It could also be for this reason that she is so unfamiliar with the concept. Agate’s knowledge about sleep was mostly omitted because it had little relevance to the mission.

As previously stated, Betty used her power of fear to look into the memories of the monsters. From the information she gathered, she judged that monsters were in fact deserving of death. This may seem strange to many since, as seen in Undertale, most monsters are innocent and kind-hearted people. How could she possibly think so poorly of them even after seeing their past? Is she blind?

I believe so. Betty may, in fact, be blind to certain degree.

Any normal person would most likely have seen that monsters didn’t deserve what was coming to them. Why didn’t Betty? Because she isn’t a normal person. Highly advanced or not, Bête Noire remains a spell, and spells exist to carry out the will of their caster. They are tools.

If magic bullets could miss because they took pity on the opponent, few people  would use them.

Keep in mind that Betty isn’t just a bullet that uses up 0.001% of the caster’s magic. She’s a bête noire. People had to die for her creation. If a person poured all of their life force into a spell that would carry on their will, they would be pretty upset to learn that they failed because the spell didn’t want to do the one thing it was created for. 

All this to say that I believe that Betty is unable to go rogue either physically or mentally. She has no choice but to believe she is in the right. After all, if she realized that her only purpose for existing was objectively wrong, it could make her a less effective weapon.

When she looked into the souls of the monsters, it is likely that she was never going to come to any other conclusion than “They are dangerous.” 

She did see some of the good in them, but most of what she retained were parts that would prove her right. These included Asgore killing the 6 humans (even though it was the only way to save his kingdom), the horrors Asriel committed as Flowey (even though he was soulless at the time), and Frisk’s many resets (even though they aren’t even a monster). These actions were obviously horrible, but there were nuances that made them more understandable. Context was important.

Betty, who I believe was unable to pick up on such nuances, may have simply taken the most basic message from this. “These monsters did bad things, therefore they are evil and the same must apply to all of monsterkind.” She is blind to anything that doesn’t fit into the way she is supposed to see the world.

(Of course, this doesn’t mean she is unaware of Papyrus or Undyne’s heroic and selfless acts. It just means that can’t see them as proof that monsters are good people.)

As such, Bête may not be wholly responsible for her actions. Some of her malicious acts can be blamed on her creator. After all, her contradictory objective of killing humans to protect humanity was given to her by Agate, who’s mind was far from clear at the time.

However, other aspects are harder to justify. The pleasure she seems to take in her victims’ emotional suffering could have come from Agate as the wizard displayed something similar shortly before casting the spell.

The fact that Bête wouldn’t care if the world ended as long as it was by her hand definitely makes her seem incredibly hypocritical (which she is) and entitled, not to mention evil. I suppose that by annihilating everything she would technically accomplish her goal of killing all monsters. With her one purpose in life fulfilled, she would have no more reason to live. The idea of ruling humanity afterward is likely more of a bonus. Assuming this is the case, it’s a testament to how much important the mission is to her.

Finally, I would like to bring up the debate of whether Betty and Agate are the same person or not because, if they are, most of what has been written here will be completely pointless. There are two ways to look at this.

This post tells us that Agate is technically Betty, but it may only refer to them in the physical sense. Betty’s body is physically Agate’s soul. The debate is about whether they are mentally the same.

This comic is likely the largest piece of evidence to support this. To my knowledge, it is still canon. In it, Bête finds the remains of Agate’s body. Her reaction is quite interesting because she acts and talks as if the body was once hers. She also has to reassure herself that she “can’t die now”, implying that she was once mortal. She also mentions ensuring “our race’s survival” in reference to humanity. For that sentence, she includes herself with the human race. This implies that she was at least human at one point.

This evidence certainly appears conclusive, and it very well might be. However, it directly contradicts this conversation which, to my knowledge, is also still canon. Here, she refers to Agate as “mom”, indicating that she thinks her as a separate being. Why is this? Is one of these sources outdated? Possibly, but I have another proposal.

Betty’s mind appears to be all over the place. One moment, she laments the fact that she is meant to be hated and, at another, she takes joy in torturing her victims. She doesn’t want to die, yet she wouldn’t mind if the world ended at her own hand. She is hypocrite.  Sometimes, she believes she is Agate’s creation; at other times, she acts like she is Agate herself.

Bête Noire’s first memories came from Agate. Surely, It isn’t too far-fetched to say that her mind was likely derived from her creator’s. If that is indeed the case, the solution is clear; Betty might be insane just like Agate was before casting the spell. Agate’s insanity could have rubbed off on her creation. Thus, it’s possible that Bête’s thoughts are meant to be hypocritical and contradictory.

In the end, is Betty Agate? She may not even know herself. I believe she is more of an imperfect copy or a “simulacrum”. The things that make her “Agate” are the incomplete memories of the wizard’s life and the similar way of thinking. In my opinion, these don’t make an entirely different person, but they also aren’t enough for her to be considered Agate. She is merely a being in possession of her creator’s memories.

-

Also, these hints might still be relevant today.

“Steven Universe logic”? You mean the show where almost every problem is solved by talking and all the villains end up becoming good? Sure, that could just be referencing Sans and Asriel getting talked out their states, but you never know. Maybe Betty’ll regret her actions too before dying. Eh? EH?!

“Never assume things”? No kidding. Words to watch by.

[cynicaljapanophile]

The Uchiha Family Modern AU Headcanons

I would like to say the only character that I really "know" is probably Sasuke and even when it comes to Sasuke my talent in writing him is probably -37 out of 5 

P.S. This has a bit of SasuHina, it's just hard for me to have a modern AU that features Sasuke without a bit of SasuHina, so if you're not into SasuHina sorry about that

Anyways I hope you guys enjoy this I’ve been thinking about doing some more family headcanons in a modern au so I just want to see what people think of these. 

_______________________

Madara Uchiha

Is probably in his 40s but looks like he is in his 20s

Shady Uncle

Is rich but gives weird presents

Disses the head of the Senju family 24/ 7

Is constantly stressing out Fugaku

Theorizes everything

Was probably married three times

Is an instigator

Uses Game of Thrones as a reason for him attempting to kill Hashirama

Only brings fruit cake around Christmas time

Eccentric Emo(??? Is that even a thing)

Whenever younger members of the Uchiha and Hyuga families(Itachi, Shisui, Itachi, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji, maybe Izumi sometimes, etc.) are feeling down he just randomly appears and gives an inspirational speech while simultaneously dissing them

He is banned from about nine restaurants in South Korea, three clothing stores in Canada, and twenty-three car dealerships in the U.S

Is banned from entering Romania

Probably owns 12 sports cars

9 out of the ten cars have probably never been used

Annoys Izuna 24/ 7

Probably has a group chat with Izuna, Fugaku, Tobirama, and Hashirama

He only sends memes(85% of the memes are sent to Izuna)

Izuna Uchiha

The uncle that everyone likes

No one hates him

How is he related to Madara?

Even Sasuke and Itachi question his relationship to Madara

Is the only functional adult

Owns a business in Tokyo

Low(High)key spoils his nieces and nephews

He is probably happily married

Lowkey roasts Madara and Fugaku

When Sasuke was going through his horse phase he legit bought Sasuke a Thoroughbred Horse

Itachi and Shisui's childhood treehouse looks like a condo because of him

Izumi also owns a mini "castle" because she was going through a princess phase

Shoots down 95% of Madara's ideas

Probably drives a family van

Is almost always

85% is because of Madara

Straight up BOIS people(it's usually Madara and Hashirama)

Gives Orochimaru dirty looks all the time

Is probably responsible for getting Madara banned from like 6 places

Will roast you to the edge of death if you disrespect any of friends and family

Fugaku Uchiha

The patriarch of the Uchiha family

CEO of Uchiha Tech.

Is a stereotypical traditional Asian dad

He has a net worth of like 21 billion USD

He probably views 100, 000 USD as like 10 USD

Probably gave his kids math and reading presents

Made Mikoto wear those headphone things that you put on your stomach when you're pregnant when she was pregnant with Itachi and Sasuke and just had them listen to classical music

Probably took away his kid's phones away from them if they got anything less than 95 marks

Gives Madara a judging look all the time

Questions everything Madara, Hashirama, and Jiraya a skeptical and dirty look all the time

Highkey disses Jiraya and Madara

He and Sasuke go back and forth dissing each other

Is the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company but is almost always home

Didn't learn how to drive until he was 26

Really only gets along with Izuna

Is stressed

Mikoto Uchiha

Wears the pants in the family

Is done with the shit of the men in her family

Is always straight up roasting Fugaku

Cried when Sasuke started high school

Spoke about Itachi like he was dead when Sasuke started high school

Is part of a book club

The book club hardly discusses books and all they do is talk about the neighborhood drama

Roasted Sasuke to death when he insulted Sakura and Ino

Gives Madara a judgemental stare all the time

Knows martial arts so do not mess with her

"Accidently," told Naruto about the time that Sasuke called his swimming teacher mom

Is a fan of YUI

Holds grudges

Would not speak to Madara for 2 whole months after a certain incident

Is that mom that everyone had a crush on boys and girls alike

Always suggests the family play Monopoly but is always the one that gets the maddest

Shisui Uchiha

Is in college

Is a college student but has literally no friends his own age

His only friends are probably people that are related to him(Sasuke and Itachi) and the Hyuga family(Neji, Hinata, and Hanabi)

The only friend he has that is actually his age(I know I said he doesn't have any friends his actual age but that doesn't matter now) is probably Ko and Ko is done with his bullsh*t

Is the dad friend

Only tells puns

Lives with Itachi in a dorm

Will roast battle people

Only watches dank memes

Acts like a dumb a** but gets some of the best grades of school

Has legit gone to the store to buy a candle and a lighter, waited for Itachi to come back to their dorm after classes and light the candle just to say that a party that they were going to go to was going to be lit

There is so much tension between him and Fugaku

Thinks Sasuke is cute

Is a weeb

Nico Nico Nii!!!

Loves Idols

Sleeps five minutes a week

Can someone please help this child

Makes excuses for not getting gifts

Will not even spend five bucks for a card

Has given Sasuke a piece of composition paper with Happy Birthday on it for his 10th birthday

Itachi Uchiha

Is a stereotypical older brother

He lives by the rule that every older sibling lives by which is to roast your younger sibling every day of their life

Gets a lot of sleep but always looks tired

Drinks around 93 liters of coffee a month

Works at the school library

Eats real food unlike Shisui

Lowkey disses Shisui

Roasts everyone he talks to

Visits home once a week

Is always annoyed by Madara

Eats about 5 fruit cakes during Christmas time

Teases Sasuke 24/ 7

Has written an itinerary that was solely him roasting Shisui

Is dead on the inside

Is on the dean's list

Has shown all of Sasuke's friends old family albums and has told all of Sasuke's friends embarrassing stories solely to embarrass him

Lives with Shisui

Is done with Shisui's sh*t

Only gives out money for birthdays and Christmas

Is a momma's boy

Is popular amongst girls

Has admitted that he learned everything he knows about women and how to speak and treat them from dating sims

Has driven from Tokyo all the way to Osaka with Shisui solely to leave him there

Will straight up roast you and your entire family if you disrespect women

Sasuke Uchiha

Lowkey hates his family

Is done with his dad, Itachi, Shisui, and Madara

Only likes Izuna and his mom

Despite saying he hates them he always wears the sweaters his mother makes

Only eats the bentos his mom makes him

Claims he hates his family but if you so as even mention any members of his family with a negative tone you will be traumatized

Someone said something about Shisui and the last thing people heard about them is that they transferred to a school in Hokkaido

Will roast anyone that comments that they find Mikoto attractive

Has a brother complex

Used to think that Shisui was cool

When he gets extremely annoyed by someone he will just give them a blank stare

His favorite uncle is basically everyone's favorite uncle, Izuna

Has a pet parrot

Is confused by Madara 93% of the time

Highkey crush on Hinata

Gets teased a lot by Itachi and Shisui for his crush

Overthinks everything

Still owns the horse that Izuna gave him when he was a kid

Has not gotten out of his horse phase

Will roast anyone who disrespects women to death

Takes monopoly way too seriously

He stopped talking to Shisui for a month after a game of Monopoly

Looks calm on the outside but is screaming on the inside

Is a conspiracy theorist

Doesn't really show it but gets embarrassed easily

He is just the baby of the family that acts aloof and emo but is just cute and precious

[zephyrises]

character sheet.

full name.  ventus pronunciation.  ven-tuhs (which is not at all how the latin word is actually pronounced but don’t worry about it) nicknames.  venty-wenty

height.  5′5″ age.  verse dependent. 12 in ux, 16 in bbs and going on 17 in post-kh3. zodiac.  taurus, with his new birthday. original unknown. languages.  japanese. everyone understands everyone else in kingdom hearts anyway, though?? doesn’t matter which world they’re on. it’s that Disney Magic(tm), ig.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  golden blonde that edges towards platinum. eye colour.  forest green. skin tone.  pale with yellow undertones. body type.  slight, but athletic. accent.  none, per se, but he will shorten words, mash words together and use some slang. dominant hand.  ambidextrous. he tends to stick with his right, though. posture.  very lax and casual. in battle, he uses a unique and antiquated, backhanded stance. tattoos.  none in any of my canon or canon based verses, even though he likes the idea of it! but in my collegeverse, he’s saving up to get lines drawn between the birthmarks on his back so they look like constellations. most noticeable features.  definitely his eyes, freckles, smile and the armor he wears on his feet, upper arm and abdomen. i’d say that the way he moves around is pretty attention catching in and of itself, considering how speedy, floaty and bouncy he is even without necessarily needing or intending to be. he’s also a bit small for his age, both in terms of height and weight.

CHILDHOOD.

place of “birth.”  daybreak town. hometown.  likely daybreak town. birth weight / height.  unknown.. manner of birth.  as weird as it sounds, necromancy. first words.  unfortunately, “yes, master.” siblings.  luxu could technically constitute in uxverse, depending upon how the both of them would view their situation. otherwise, he starts to think of terra and aqua as his older siblings sometime before the events of birth by sleep and then forever onward. parents.  in a terrihorrible way, the master of masters. if he had any parents before his body was re-animated, then it would be impossible to trace them now. he thinks of eraqus as a father figure, but his feelings on the matter are a big ol’ can of worms. parental involvement.  mom locked him up and used him for experiments. eraqus locked him up, good intentions notwithstanding, and tried to kill him. in other words, not the best!

ADULT LIFE

occupation.  post-kh3, he’s a guardian of light and keyblade master in training. the way aqua and yen sid have it slated, he’ll be taking his mark of mastery exam when he turns 18! current residence.  the land of departure, for now. even though he wouldn’t say it aloud to terra or aqua, he’d really like to leave and live somewhere new someday. close friends.  based off current canon, terra, aqua, lea, isa, sora, minnie, stitch, lilo, cinderella, jaq, hercules and peter pan. i see him having really good chemistry with vanitas, kairi, naminé, roxas, xion, ienzo, riku and demyx too, barring some development and circumstances! relationship status.  i don’t portray ven as having been in any romantic relationship or harboring romantic feelings towards anyone up until post-kh3. what happens from then on is a toss up depending on who i’m interacting with. i.e., right now, he’s dating @midnightpapllion​​ and has a budding crush on @rxcusant​​‘s vanitas! he’s a good-natured cutie, though, so other teenagers have flirted with him plenty during his travels. he’s just inexperienced and completely oblivious to the intent unless it’s spelled out for him, which tends to discourage most. financial status.  eraqus left a small fortune that he, aqua and terra use exclusively for groceries and supplies for missions. otherwise, he’s got a modest amount of spending money from traversing the worlds. he just doesn’t spend it on much aside from snacks and souvenirs. driver’s license.  cars are Completely nonexistent in his world. he only rides a keyblade glider and, even though there prrrrrobably should be, there’s no actual license required for that. criminal record.  this one time, he harassed some old men in the woods and beat up a cat about twenty times his size. those instances aside, he’s not necessarily above crime or violence as long as it isn’t Too uncouth and serves a purpose, so he’s probably got at least a little more on his rap sheet.

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.  pansexual. romantic orientation.  demi and panromantic. preferred emotional role. submissive | dominant | switch |  unsure preferred sexual role.  submissive |  dominant  |  switch |  sex repulsed libido. turn on’s. turn off’s. love language.  even though he’d fail to notice a lot of the patterns himself, ven’s would consist predominantly of physical touch, acts of service and gift giving. as of terra and aqua’s involvement in his life, he’s become a huge touchy feely type. shoulder, arm and back touches, hugging and hand holding are all pretty normal for him in any sort of relationship, but lingering touches would be the big cue where romantic attraction is present. longer or more common hugs as opposed to just short lived hugs of greeting, parting or comfort. increasingly consistent tapping, leaning, nudging or hand holding for no particular reason other than because he gets a random urge to instigate it. acts of service would mostly just boil down to doing a lot of cooking or baking, but if he was in a position to and it wouldn’t be Weird to do so, he’d happily tidy up for someone or do their laundry, too! since the person in question would be on his mind a lot, he’d feel inclined to grab something up if it reminds him of them. probably stuff like flowers, pretty rocks or shells, accessories, snacks, things they’ve mentioned/he’s Noticed they enjoy, etc. etc. relationship tendencies.  mileage may vary for all of this depending on his partner’s personality and boundaries, obviously, but i’m willing to bet he’d be doting and clingy. he’s clingy with pretty much everyone once they give him an inch anyway, so i don’t think anybody would be too surprised or put off if they’ve already been hanging around long enough for him to develop feelings. definitely a little shy when it comes time to say i love you, kiss, go out or snuggle non-platonically, but not awkward or uncertain. the friendship that came before would be the foundation, after all, and he wouldn’t view a romance as something separate from that. more like another layer on top that they can navigate and define together. baseline, his flirting style is a combination of undisguised adoration and big time teasing. aaaand generally, he’d also be very attentive! he accounts for the tinier details, even if he can’t always make sense of them without posing a question or two.

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song.  i love the canon version of his theme, but i’m linking project destati’s version in particular because it’s orchestrated and extended and kills me dead. hobbies to pass the time.  adventures, walks, star gazing, star charting, flower pressing, bird watching, cooking, ukulele, and the biggie.... NAPPING. mental illnesses.  depression and ptsd. physical illnesses.  you could definitely argue that having his darkness stripped from him is more of a spiritual or mental condition, but to me, it’s a physical one. i think of it like having an organ removed from your body (say, a chunk of your goddamn HEART) or being on the receiving end of blunt trauma. there are mental and spiritual effects, sure. it contributed to his ptsd, depression, and an amnesiac episode, but xehanort stabbed him to make it happen and he’s got the scar and near death experience to prove it, so we’re calling it a physical illness in my house. a reaaaally strange, completely unparalleled, chronic fantasy illness. left or right brained.  right brained for sure. he’s really imaginative and artsy. fears.  being abandoned, especially by those he holds dear. not being smart or strong enough to prevent someone from getting hurt or worse. being deprived of control over his own body or decisions.  self confidence level.  veeeeeery low. when he acts confident, he’s just faking it until he makes it,.which, unless he addresses the root of the problem, won’t be anytime soon. but i’m behind the wheel so this kid’s not going to let being abused define him forever. mark my words. vulnerabilities.  impulsive and bad decision prone. he’s not very physically strong or durable, either. fast, sure. definitely determined to stick it out until the very end. but once you get a couple of good hits in, he’s down. he’ll also undermine his own value and throw his life and safety away on the off chance that it could help someone else, so jot that one down.

tagged by: @kissafist​​ THANK YOU!! ♥ i had so much fun with this. tagging: in addition to livi and sammi who i already pinged above, let’s do @localmagicalboi​​, @feraliix​​, @galaxycrxss​​, @blackasteriia​​ and YOU! but only if you feel like it!

[divainity-a3]

topic: reggie  +  family   (   relationships & dynamic   ) spoiler tw: archie afterlife, reggie & me,  archie comics (2015) GENERAL TW:  ABUSE, ABUSE MENTION, MENTAL ILLNESS  !

abstract:  it’s no secret that reggie’s parents play an absent role,  both in reggie’s life & overall in most of the original, campy archie comics. we see lots of mr. & mrs. andrews, we never get enough of the coopers & the lodges, and we get glimpses of gladys & jellybean jones, but never really the mantles ——— why is that  ?   what do we even know about ricky and vicky mantle, his alleged parents, if anything at all  ? and what little do we get from the comics and wikipedia to give us clues ? in this essay i will be going through the things that i know and accept as canon for my reggie’s relationship with ricky and vicky mantle and why reggie having a brother according to wikipedia makes absolutely no sense  !

                          SECTION  I.   THE  MANTLE  FAMILY  TREE

i. the  mantles  are  an  upper -  middle class  family.  more upper than middle, given how reggie spends his allowance,  &  ranking - wise, i headcanon  the mantles to be the second richest family in riverdale right below the lodges.  since the dawning of the original archie comics in the 50s, we’ve known richard and victoria mantle as  ricky and vicky  mantle, the well-off parents of their son, reginald victor mantle.

ricky canonically owns riverdale’s most popular newspaper the riverdale gazette and while vicky’s profession isn’t specified, i assume she either works in the secretarial portion of the paper along with the mantles’ other enterprises. y’know, the way heteronormative rich couples do. while the paper’s popularity generates a significant amount of revenue for the mantles, it isn’t their main source of income— investments & other business deals are. using their hard earned (not) inheritance and what they’ve made from paper circulation and subscriptions, they turn it into more profit by investing it in the right places. fiscally, the family is very well-off and happy. in every other department ? debatable.

ii.  the mantles are more or less, absent parents. and always have been. for starters, as i said it earlier: we don’t ever see them in the damn comics. even in cw’sriverdale— ricky and vicky are nowhere to be found. even according to reggie’s  wikipedia, we don’t know all too much about his mother and father aside from their professions but the archie reboot comics offer a different perspective that i choose to adopt.

exhibit a.  reggie and me (2015)  / issue #2 context: reggie coming home distressed after having accidentally pushed archie into a pond. betty went off at him, he ran home crying to an empty house. his dog, vader, is narrating, recalling how reggie describes it as one of the worst days of his life.

exhibit b.  reggie and me (2015)  / issue #4 context: reggie attemptng to make an effort with his dad only to be rejected immediately.

exhibit c.  archie (2015)  / issue #6 context: reggie’s coming back home from a failed attempt at persuading hiram lodge to let him into his inner circle.

exhibit d.  afterlife with archie (2015)  /  issue #9 context:  in a dystopian take on archie comics, reggie is reflecting on his entire life existentially while confessing his sins to kevin keller, someone he’s come to trust.

conclusions drawn:

coming home to an empty house wasn’t and still isn’t uncommon for reggie. across the multiple comics i reference, the narrative seems to be the same. his parents consistently don’t show up for him. are constantly working, and more importantly  never home. and even when they are home, they pay no mind to their only son, seen in how reggie attempts to get his fathers attention after seeing archie and his dad play ball. i can also assume that reggie had to raise/take care of himself, given that there’s no maid to be seen in any of the scenes where the ricky and vicky aren’t there. while the mantles clearly make sure he doesn’t starve, they don’t exactly do… anything else. as we see when reggie comes home crying, no one’s there to hold him. no one’s there to tell him he’s okay and that he’s valid. so he has to tell himself. and as he gets older and more self-sufficient, his parents start giving even less of a fuck about him being on his own. furthermore, reggie also has to teach himself what is right and wrong as a result, having little to no guidance from the people who are supposed to fulfill that role. obviously, we know how that works out.

ricky and vicky missed out on a lot of reggie’s milestones. being out on business trips all the time leads me to believe that the mantles missed out on a lot of reggie’s overall life and more importantly accomplishments (even if he doesn’t have a lot of them). to name a few things, i headcanon the mantles to have missed his middle school graduation, his first football game, multiple recitals through the years, and the day reggie got deemed captain of the football team, something he actually considers one of his bigger achievements in life. i also headcanon that reggie had to teach himself how to drive, shave, ask a girl out and all the other cheesy, heteronormative stuff rich families instill. the mantles sure do come back to reap the benefits though, happy to use reggie for bragging rights.

reggie blamed himself a lot for his parents not being around and developed deep-seeded insecurities about it growing up.i think it’s reasonable to think that a child as young as he was used to believe that something was wrong with him with his parents never seeming to want to be around him. that shit hurt him and that is where reggie’s need to constantly be around people and have companionship comes from—— it’s an underlying desire to be wanted for once. but he’d never tell that to anyone.

reggie acting out started out as an attempt to get attention from his parents. the only time parents will really be forced to pay attention to their children is when they have to answer for them. so it’s reasonable, i think, to assume that a lot of his bad behavior started out at least as a way to get his parents to give him the time of day. i don’t think the same applies to reggie in the present day, but nonetheless, —————old habits die hard. more on that, later.

                                SECTION  II.   THE  MANTLE  LEGACY

i.  reggie is, and always will be, an only child. according to reggie’s wikipedia, he also allegedly has a younger brother named oliver mantle that made a brief appearance once in a single issue like 40 years ago. in my canon, i’m choosing to ignore this for two reasons: a.because it literally just doesn’t make any sense for reggie to have any siblings. ricky and vicky can barely take care of reggie, god forbid they abuse and neglect another child. the idea is nice and it would mean that reggie would have someone to confide in, but alas i don’t think the mantles would be so …  kind.

and b.  because there’s absolutely no significant information and/or canon attached to thisalleged oliver mantle and so i have to conclude that he was just thrown in at some point during the original archie run because the writers realized they didn’t develop reggie’s family background in any aspect.

ii.  however, reggie does have two cousins. the writers do this on multiple occasions to all the characters, throwing in relatives here and there and they actually did give reggie two cousins which i actually do accept in my canon. their names are regina(first cousin) and may (third removed cousin), both of which are from vicky’s side of the family. reggie doesn’t care for may all that much but regina is someone he actually can get along with as they share the same kind of humor.

other than that reggie’s the only mantle heir, putting immense pressure on him to marry rich and carry on the family name———— but that’s a different meta for another time.

  SECTION III.  PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE   &   NEGLECT

ii.  reggie himself is a victim physical and emotional abuse, mainly from his father, in addition to overall parental neglect. now don’t get it twisted, i’m not saying ms. vicky had absolutely nothing to do with reggie’s childhood trauma, but ricky certainly had the more prominent role as an instigator and we get proof of that on several occasions. i headcanon that vicky never laid a finger on reggie and truly does love him deep down, but her passiveness & allowing the abuse to happen has made reggie view her just as antagonistically as he does ricky ( and for good reason ). she’s a bystander and nothing more, a spineless bitch that never intervened, only spoiled him in hopes it would make up for his emotional scars. she pretends she’s not as bad, reggie thinks and knows otherwise.

exhibit a: afterlife with archie (2015)  /  issue #9 context:  in a dystopian take on archie comics, reggie is reflecting on his entire life existentially while confessing his sins to kevin keller, someone he’s come to trust. the first page of the issue is titled  ARCHIE & REGGIE,  all about comparing the two and their different persona’s but more importantly, their different upbringings.

conclusions drawn:

while the sentiment of this side-by-side is aimed to highlight the fact that reggie is a spoiled kid that likes to act out, what stands out more so to me is what looks like intense pressure to perform from ricky.  while i did say earlier that reggie’s parents have a very absent role in his life, obviously there are public appearances to keep up. the mantles can’t come across as unsupportive an absent, they need to put on an image. while you’d think this is a good thing that would force the mantles to show up more, my concern here comes from the reason for the fight being over the fact that reggie’s team, not just reggie, not winning a baseball game. despite never being there to emotionally support reggie, to me it seems like ricky expects perfection. i believe the pressure might be more so for athletic performance than academic, given that reggie’s wikidoes specifically cite reggie’s natural-born athletic excellence. i think it’s also worth noting as well that since my reggie is asian and i firmly believe this pressure is present (i’m asian myself, the struggle is real). reggie has slowly cared less and less and we’ll get to that later but, you get it.

the panels also have drastically different interactions between parent and child, ricky’s looking borderline abusive and more importantly, public. one could argue that it only looks like ricky only has a tight pinch on reggie’s ear, but i also have concerns about the extent of ricky’s expectations and what lengths he’d go to make them known, especially when reggie didn’t fulfill them as a kid. this leads me to my next piece of evidence.

exhibit b:   archie (2015)  /  issue #30 context: ricky has recently bailed him out reggie out of jail, having been charged with vehicular manslaughter. despite ricky having pulled several strings to get him out, reggie’s still acting out and in getting ready for the riverdale spring dance, has taken it upon himself to go through his father’s wardrobe without asking to dress himself for the occasion.

conclusions drawn:

reggie has an unforgiving memory. rightfully so, as he’s been going through this vicious cycle for as long as he can remember, but take note his ability to citeextremely hurtful things that ricky has been guilty of saying about his own son and, in some cases, said to his own son’s face. he plays it off as a snarky comeback, but to me, that’s a cheap coping mechanism and speaks to a greater desensitization on reggie’s end towards constantly receiving such disappointing and demeaning remarks from his own father. he  expects it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt to hear.

ricky has a horrible temper. i say this because his temper is shown to go from 0 to 100 extremely quick (literally read any of the new archie reboot, you’ll pick up on it) until reggie puts him in his place. i honestly headcanon that ricky hasundiagnosed bpd  (disclaimer: my mother has bpd) and that this extreme range of temperament is something reggie has had to develop a defense to and it’s taken years for him to do. it’d take a lot of convincing to try and tell me that this temper has never escalated into physical altercations. especially from a toxically masculine man like ricky ? no chance.  

the abuse is physical as well as emotional.  absent parenting aside, look at the way ricky’s holding onto reggie’s collar. that grip is like ice and furthermore it’s also the first thing ricky does in confronting his own son. immediate physical invasion of space isn’t promising in parental maneuvers and yeah, we might’ve laughed all the time at how archie’s parents would grab him by the ear and drag him home when he was in trouble in the classic comics, it was all in good fun back in the day but reggie didn’t get the same, comical treatment. in fact, far from it.

it’s happened before.  the way reggie cuts his father off right in the middle of his alleged apology, simply telling him to get out of his personal space? the fact thatreggie has to tell him to stop makes it seem like ricky is a creature of habit and that he defaults unhealthily to physical confrontation. and honestly who would be surprised ? reggie’s immediate, nearly nonchalant defense makes me think he’s done this many times before. whether or not ricky’s willingness to back off comes from him trying to improve himself as a father, his efforts don’t seem to be working.

reggie’s acting out has become a method of survival. this argument is bit of speculation on my end and comes from what makes sense to me, but in my eyes reggie’s acting out as an almost-adult is both an act of defiance and an act of survival. i headcanon that once reggie grew up and became more aware of his family’s ‘clout,’ he began to weaponize it. remember the  ‘mantle family image’  thing i talked about earlier? jackpot. while reggie might have had to put up with abuse silently growing up, he soon figured out that if his father was gonna do anything, he couldn’t leave a mark. otherwise, people would ask questions.  i mean, imagine if he went to the press with a sob story about all the times conglomerate boss ricky mantle hurt his own son… what would his family do then ?  reggie doesn’t give a fuck about the family, and for that he has leverage. the mantles can’t have a scandal, that’s bad for business !  reggie holds that over his father’s head, knowing it’ll get him to back off the way he does in the last panels and ricky knows better than to test his son’s boldness. so reggie doing whatever he wants, knowing ricky can’t do jack shit to him ? that’shis power source. that’s what gets him out of bed every day. it’s where his hubris comes from, his arrogance. knowing he’s the shit because he is.  this is where he finds his ground, making sure he never gets hurt again, and if he does it’s only on his terms. no one elses.

tl; dr:   ricky and vicky mantle aren’t shit, there’s absolutely no way reggie has a brother, reggie raised himself for the most part since he was about 9 years old, reggie grew up and continues to grow up in an empty house,  a good portion of reggie’s insecurities come from his childhood when he blamed himself for his parents not being around, and reggie is a victim of emotional and physical abuse as well as neglect.

so have mercy on him. he isn’t inherently evil and while his actions aren’t always excusable, it’s worth remembering that no one was there to teach him otherwise.