#how does it feel to know not only are they not escaping the gay treasonous plot allegations but also the gay magic marriage allegations?

[sadhorsegirl]

like.......your honor.......................

[snowpiercer-recaps]

Series 1, episode 9: Fight For Your Fricking Lunch Meat

Spoiler alert!!! This is a rewatch recap of Snowpiercer s1e9: The Train Demanded Blood. Naturally, it is full of spoilers for that episode. However, it also contains spoilers for some other episodes of season 1 and season 2. You have been warned!

Melanie gives the monologue this episode. She laments that she wasn’t able to get rid of the myth of Wilford, while she awaits her execution. She shares the execution car with a bunch of blood-spattered revolutionaries, including Clay From The Nightcar, Santiago, Walter The Papermaker/Electrician and… not Lights? Walter and Lights were arrested together! How did Lights escape!? I'm very happy she did, but it's confusing! I want details on that, please.

Melanie offers a tiny handkerchief to Santiago for his gaping head wound, which is a nice gesture but it’s really not gonna help much. He tells her he’s sad that he never got to visit the aquarium car.

Then, two Jackboots come into the car. They take Walter away to be executed, while Melanie’s monologue continues: The train demanded blood. The notary reads Walter’s verdict (guilty of treason) and sentence (death by lung of ice). His face freezes behind the execution mask, in a visual representation of how it feels to drink cold water after brushing your teeth.

After the opening credits, Commander Grey (who has finally washed his face, but still hasn’t put on a helmet) is ordering Jackboots to organise crates of gas canisters. They’re getting ready to make a move on the rebels.

The rebels, meanwhile, have not washed their faces! Well - Layton did half a job, but Audrey and Till are still just as bad as last episode. They’re getting ready to make their own move, before the entire Jackboot army has time to gather. Or, maybe they’ll reinforce their barricades? They’re still deciding. Dr. Pelton pops out of the clinic to confirm that thirty seven rebels have died, so far. And they don’t know how many more dead might be uptrain. Assuming that “uptrain” includes everyone in the Nightcar, they can expect that number to climb a whole lot more.

Then, Winnie weaves her way towards Layton. She can’t find her brother. Layton gently tells Winnie that Patterson is “gone”, and “with [her] mother”. Dr. Pelton swoops in to rescue her before Layton can confuse the poor child any further.

Layton then immediately faces another awkward interaction! Zarah (apparently the only rebel who has washed the blood off her face and neck) wants to talk. But Layton doesn’t. He runs away. Audrey catches Zarah’s eye, and they have an entire conversation via three seconds of eye contact.

Fanfic writers, go ahead and make this gay.

Up in First, Lilah Folger is demanding to know why Grey isn’t advancing. He insists he is! Their plan is for Javi to override the doors, one by one, so that they can seal the rebels into cars and gas them. Grey isn’t bothered about the risk of accidentally gassing civilians, or even the risk of gassing everyone on the whole train if the gas enters the ventilation system! Javi, Mr. Sharma and Martin aren’t on board (train pun!) with the plan.

Javi doesn’t waste time trying to explain any moral concerns to Grey or Lilah, and instead reminds them that the train needs a workforce. If too many workers die, the train won’t be able to run. Lilah brushes off his concerns and says, “We’ll train more.” Lilah, who’s “we”? Does Lilah Folger seriously think she’s going to be able to teach janitors and breach workers? Javi is already realising these people are even more frustrating to deal with than Melanie and Bennett, and regretting his decision to let them into the engine.

And that’s not all! Vengeful Ruth is still out in force. She interrupts the conversation to discuss Melanie’s execution. She thinks it should be a public dethroning. LJ mocks Ruth’s accent, and then suggests that Melanie needs to walk the plank because she’s a pirate. And y’know what? That’s a fair point, LJ! Can’t argue with that logic!

In the engine, Bennett and Miles have been locked down together for a few hours. It's going great!

Maybe this is why Alex doesn't have a dad/stepdad?

Down in the Chains, Mama Grande is asking around after her Grandson, Santiago. Layton barely has time to tell her that Santiago is probably maybe potentially still alive (?) before Pike shows up. To be honest, I’m more interested in Till and Audrey in the background of this scene than whatever Pike has to say. I guess that’s why Layton and Pike head off to an empty beige container? So that we have to listen to him?

Pike loves the mouthfeel (yuck!) of the cake in First. Layton is, understandably, reluctant to take restaurant advice from an ex-member of a cannibal cult. So instead, they finally decide discuss the war. Pike tells Layton all about the gas plan. The only way that Layton can prevent civilian casualties is to surrender.

Layton consults Till and Audrey. They’re not convinced Grey will keep his word, and they don’t want to lose what they fought for. They all agree not to surrender. That was surprisingly quick! Good work, rebels! After Till heads out, Audrey stops Layton and insists he needs to speak to Zarah.

In the engine, Javi is explaining to Grey that they can’t open the engine door from outside when it’s in lockdown. Bennett won’t open it from inside, because he’s loyal to Melanie. Javi still doesn’t like the gassing plan - maybe Layton will surrender? Grey then threatens to “slaughter every last one of them,” and Javi finally admits to himself it was a big fucking mistake to assume these people had enough common sense not to destroy the entire train within a day. He tells Grey he’s heading downtrain to the engine door override button, which seems like an obvious lie to me. But, being as smart as he is, Grey falls for it. Who the fuck put this gullible fool in charge?

Next, we catch up with Strong Boy and ZWreck. Dr. Klimpt thinks Strong Boy understands what’s being said, and tests his theory by… nope, he doesn’t bother actually testing it at all! Wilford seriously couldn’t find a better doctor in the whole damn world? ZWreck throws up and almost falls over, so Murray helps him by… nope, he just asks him whether he’s ready to fight! This scene is so frustrating! They borrow Klimpt’s trousers, and head out to find the battle.

In the bunk room, Ruth is going through Melanie’s stuff again. She’s found the Wilford soundboard! I hope she doesn’t take a listen: she’d combust if she heard any of the speeches Bennett composed. We also learn that Melanie has all of Mr. Wilford’s journals, which sound like even scarier reading than her eugenics library.

Yum!

Ruth is so angry she wants to execute Melanie herself. It’s exactly that kind of energy Grey wants in his regime! Ruth asks about the Folgers, to which Grey replies the Folgers have useful influence in First, “But once order is restored, natural power exerts itself.” I feel like he’s vastly underestimating Lilah Folger, and vastly overestimating himself. But Ruth doesn’t! She grabs him by the vest and kisses him.

Thankfully, we quickly cut away to a much less traumatic scene: Melanie is being taken to her execution. Santiago promises to pray for her, to make the end of the episode even more heart-wrenching. Melanie is strapped to the execution chair, the Notary reads out her verdict (guilty of treason) and sentence (death by lung of ice), and the scary mask is strapped to her face. The Notary and prisoner transporter Jackboots leave the room, and Melanie cries. But the Jackboot pulling the switch isn’t a Jackboot! It’s Javi! He quickly unties her while the Notary buys them time in the other carriage by complaining about incorrect paperwork.

Nerd power!

Melanie and Javi walk between the bodies of executed rebels, then Melanie climbs down into the tunnels (impressively fast considering the heels she’s wearing!) into Jinju’s arms.

Fic writers... do we think that's the first time Melanie has asked Jinju that question?

ANYWAY! Melanie wants to know how Jinju pulled off the recuse, and so do I! Her answer (“coercion and gifts”) gives nowhere near enough detail, but they don’t have time for more. Jinju wants to take the Folgers head-on. That’s another fight I’d like to see! But Melanie doesn’t want to do that. She tells Jinju to stay safe uptrain, and Jinju must be fucking sick of people telling her to do that.

Melanie runs off downtrain (still wearing the heels!), but after a couple of close encounters with Jackboots, she decides that crawling through the vents will be safer.

In the Chains, Zarah continues to be the only character that wants to wash the blood off herself. As is customary, Layton lets himself in without knocking. Zarah asks if the fighting is over, and wants to know what will happen next. But Layton isn’t gonna tell that little traitor their strategy! They’re resisting the urge to yell at each other so hard, and it’s very funny. Audrey probably should have offered to mediate. Zarah doesn’t expect forgiveness for snitching on Josie - she’s not even going to forgive herself. Where’s that energy in s2e2, huh?

Layton assures Zarah he wasn’t planning to forgive her. But Zarah explains she had to do it… to protect their child! Layton didn’t see that one coming! Zarah puts his hand on her belly, and he holds her for a moment before running away again.

Layton can’t risk it any more - now that he’s got a kid on the way, he’s gonna have to surrender to protect it. He tells Till it’s over, and she’s very upset that she might have to finally wash her face! She believed in him! What changed!? Instead of offering her any explanation, he runs away again. He tells Pike that he surrenders.

Melanie removes her jacket and shoes so that she can wriggle through the vents more easily, while Pike informs Grey, Ruth and the Folgers of Layton’s surrender. Lilah suspects it’s a trick, but the others aren’t worried: they can still gas everyone, if they need to. I guess they haven’t figured out that Javi already defected?

Robert then feeds the timeline detectives another useful fact: the war is over in under sixteen hours.

LJ tells her parents that they should be there for the surrender, to cement their position of power on the train. I can’t figure out whether this is supposed to be genuine? LJ is just so suspicious all the time! Does she perhaps also suspect that it’s a trick? Is she hoping to get her parents killed? Who knows!?

Up in the engine, Miles is quizzing Bennett on why the engineers kept living conditions in the tail so poor. They’re fair questions, but it’s maybe not the best timing? Bennett ignores all the class politics in favour of his favourite topic: hex nuts! But he’s saved from more of Miles’ guilt tripping by a very important radio message: Big Alice is sending over a hint for the next episode.

Elsewhere, Murray is doing an awful job of posing as a Jackboot, while Melanie emerges from the vents, straight into rebel hands. She’s taken to Layton, who wants to kill her - until she tells him she can get him the train. That's convenient for everyone!

Melanie, Audrey, Till and Layton convene in the war room container, for another one of the best scenes in this whole damn show. First, I’d like us all to take a moment to appreciate Till and Audrey’s outfits and expressions:

Season One really was the best.

Okay. Now for the plot. Melanie is going to help the rebels, because she knows Grey and the Folgers will destroy the train. Her plan is simple: nearly all the Jackboots are gathered up in a couple of cars, so all Melanie and Layton need to do is disconnect those cars, then join back up again.

Layton isn’t convinced that Melanie will just give up control, which is very fair given what we’ve seen of her character so far! Melanie insists that it was never about power, to which Audrey quips “Is that what you keep telling yourself?” Melanie snaps back at her, “I saved humanity, Audrey!” Their relationship is so entertaining to watch! Understandably, Layton isn’t yet ready to forgive Melanie for seven years of hunger, slavery and de-armings in the tail, nor that time a couple of days ago when Melanie tortured his girlfriend to death. Melanie decides to make the most of their last few minutes in the karaoke booth.

Ultimately, Audrey decides Melanie is telling the truth. Till doesn’t think they have any better options. So, Layton agrees: they’ll try Melanie’s plan, instead of surrendering.

In the next scene, Melanie has changed out of her filthy hospitality uniform into a denim jacket and cargo pants and… where did she get these clothes? They can’t be Melanie’s or Till’s or Audrey’s, because all their stuff is behind enemy lines. Which random rebel had to dress Melanie Cavill in their nicest jacket? Sometimes this show misses frustrating, fun details!

Melanie and Layton make a call up to Bennett in the engine, and tell him the plan to lose the seven cars at the Fremont junction, 100km away.

Melanie will take care of the safety switch downtrain. Layton needs to get behind enemy lines to do the job on the other side. Getting up there won’t be easy, so Layton sends Till to apologise to her dad boss, and ask him to take Layton to the other switch. Roche is, of course, eating his lunch in the lockup room - under another clock! It’s 1:30. As soon as Till enters the lockup room, her dad boss starts to tell her off. While he rants, she hugs herself again. PLEASE can someone give this woman a hug?

Till promises peace when they win, but Roche doesn’t want to hear it. She tells him that Melanie has joined their side now, and tries to get him to fight for what’s right. She plays the same trump card that helped her to win the day before, with one tiny addition:

That seals the deal: no one gets between Roche and his lunch! He’ll help them.

Uptrain, Ruth is Ruthing about in the announcements room. She tells the ladies and gentlemen of First and Second (sidenote: do all NB passengers get deported to the Chains?) that their Head of Hospitality is speaking. Until yesterday(ish), the Head of Hospitality was Melanie. Ruth doesn’t mention her name, and I can’t tell whether it’s a power move or an oversight. Anyway, she gives the time (1:32pm), and then announces the upcoming surrender.

While Ruth talks, Miss Gillies and Martin have the most obvious, awkward, nervous rebel meeting I’ve ever seen. But none of the other passengers seem to notice! To finish, he passes her a gun. What!? Wow! Okay! Not what I expected of these two, at all!

We also find out that Martin’s kids are called Gavin and Murray. This show loves to double up on names!

Down in the Chains, Melanie cuts her chip out and gives it to Layton. It’s cool I guess, but nowhere near as badass as when Josie smashed her own hand off. With that chip, Layton can open every door on the train - including the safety switch box. Layton reminds Melanie that he’s still not going to forgive her, which is absolutely fair! Roche comes along to laugh at them and check just how terrifying their plan is. If anything goes wrong and they can’t reconnect, then the back half of the train will freeze, and the front half will starve. Let’s hope Layton doesn’t go rogue and do anything stupid!

Layton, Melanie and Roche head up to the first J-link, just a few cars up from the rebel front. They synchronise their watches, and then Roche escorts Layton to the false surrender in the Third class classroom. For a laugh, Lilah Folger makes Layton hold up a Wilford Industries-branded white tablecloth as a surrender flag. The train photographer - because that’s a thing? - captures the moment. Roche is anxious, and gets everyone to hurry up. Again, Grey is nowhere near suspicious enough about this behavior! The commander happily takes Layton and Roche uptrain.

The Folgers are staying in the classroom, though: they want Third to see the new power structure in the flesh. Layton and Roche can barely believe their luck! Before they go, Lilah - in her own, special way - thanks Layton for telling them all about Melanie impersonating Wilford.

Grey leads Layton through the Jackboot army, and tells them to beat him up a bit. Then, Grey, Layton, Roche, and a few Jackboots head down to the subtrain. Roche subtly bars the hatch behind them, then takes a gun from the back of the subtrain car (presumably the one Miss Gillies picked up from Martin a few minutes ago), aims it at Grey, and demands for Layton to be uncuffed. As the Jackboots begin to uncuff Layton, Roche looks away from Grey and Grey attacks him. A fight breaks out, with just three minutes to go before they need to hit the safety switch!

Melanie disconnects, which triggers a series of scenes showing how various characters react. Bennett and Miles are busy in the engine, Till and Audrey wait excitedly, and Lilah Folger quickly realises what’s happening: Third isn’t being uncoupled. They are.

Meanwhile, Layton and Roche unsurprisingly can’t handle four Jackboots between them. Roche is on the floor and the Jackboots restrain Layton while Grey sentences him to immediate execution. But Strong Boy arrives from uptrain, just in time! He launches himself off the front of the subtrain car into Commander Grey. It’s beautiful.

Lilah desperately tries to make her way uptrain back to her daughter, but the doors won’t open. In the tunnels below, Layton orders Strong Boy, ZWreck and Murray to grab Roche and head uptrain, while he runs off to the J-link. He arrives with two minutes to spare, and is about to pull the switch when he notices the prisoners of war in the next car.

In what might be his stupidest move yet, Layton decides to open the doors and take on the guard alone. If he gets delayed (or killed) right now, the whole plan will fail! It’s such a risk! Luckily, he easily takes out the guard, then rushes in to free the prisoners. But he can’t find the keys. And there’s not enough time. Layton apologises to the prisoners, tells Santiago that he loves him, and leaves. The prisoners call after Layton so desperately that they forget their own names and genders (in the subtitles, one of Clay’s lines is attributed to “Santiago”, and another to just “Man”). Layton closes the doors behind him, pulls the switch, and sits down on the floor to cry.

Miles and Bennett successfully set the seven cars off onto the other track, then flick back in time for the rest of the train to reconnect. Lilah wails and worries for LJ. Layton continues to cry on the floor. When they reconnect, Melanie and Layton face off: he realises that she knew he’d have to send his friends to their deaths. She forced him to make a version of the choice that she had to make seven years ago, when she took over Snowpiercer. How poetic! Then, she tells him:

She’s evil, but she’s brilliant.

[joneswuzhere]

hello join me in thinking about some books and authors that are, or might be, part of s5′s intertextuality

5.10 in particular offered specific shout outs, and also u know i’m always wondering what might be ahead so i have some ideas on that:

- first, as mentioned in a previous ask post, i know i wasn’t alone in keeping an eye out for 5.10 parallels to the lost weekend (1945) the film that gave episode 1.10 its name and several themes - or to the 1944 book by charles r jackson which the film is based on

- s5 has not been shy about revisiting earlier seasons, especially s1. altho i feel that 1.10′s parallels to the lost weekend centered characters other than jughead (mostly betty), a 1.10-5.10 connection involving jughead and themes from jackson’s story (addiction, writers block, self reflection) seemed v possible if not inevitable

- but like,, , for a hot minute after the ep, i was really stumped on understanding how anything from the book or film could apply, even tho the pieces were almost all there

- jackson’s protagonist don birnam goes thru and comes out the other side of a harrowing days-long drinking binge that could be compared to jughead’s one-night hallucinogenic writing retreat

- but jughead is struggling primarily with traumatic memories, not addiction and self control like birnam. and tho drinking activates birnam’s creativity, it paralyzes his writing as he gets lost in fantasies; he’s never published anything. jughead’s drug trip recreates circumstances that already helped him write one successful book. even the rat that startles him mid-high doesn’t line up with birnam’s withdrawal vision of a dying mouse, symbolic of his horror at his own self-destruction thru alcohol

- and maybe the most visible discordance: in the film there’s a romantic motif around a typewriter. first it’s an object of shame; birnam’s failure to write, tied up with his drinking, makes him flee his relationship. he tries to pawn the typewriter for booze money and finally a gun when shooting himself feels easier than getting sober. but with the help of relentless encouragement from girlfriend helen, he quits drinking, commits to her, and focuses on typing out the story he’s dreamt of writing. rd goes so far to avoid setting any comparable scenario that jughead has brought a wholeass printer into the bunker so there can still be a physical manuscript to cover in blood by the end, even without his own typewriter. the subtle detail of his laptop bg image is a little less noticeable than his avoidance of betty’s gift

- tabitha might be closer to a parallel than jughead is, but she’s still no helen. both refuse to take advantage of the inebriated men in their care, but birnam takes advantage of helen, financially and emotionally. jughead refused a loan from the tate family and now has resolved to deal with his shit before he considers a relationship with tabitha. instead of helen’s relentless and unwelcomed attempts to get birnam sober, tabitha reluctantly agrees to help jughead trip safely bondage escape notwithstanding. she even helps him get the drugs.

- whatever potentials exist for parallels to jackson’s story, they were not explored for this episode. ok so why tf am i even talking about this? what was there instead?

-  i have arrived at the point

- s5 has been revisiting s1, not directly but with a twist. and jughead’s agent samm pansky is back. u may recall, pansky is named for sam lansky

- jughead’s trip-thru-trauma is a story device tapped straight from lansky’s book ‘broken people’

- lansky is like if a millenial john rechy wrote extremely LA-flavored meta but just about himself no jk very like a modern successor to charles r jackson. both play with the boundary between memoir and fiction. lansky is gay; jackson wrote his lost weekend counterpart as closeted and remained closeted himself until only a few years before his death. both write with emotional clarity and self-scrutiny on the experiences of addiction, sobriety, and the surrounding issues of shame and self worth

- i feel like a fool bc after this ep i had been thinking about de quincey and his early writings on addiction (c.1800s), but i failed to carry the thought in the other direction, to contemporary writers in the genre, to make this connection sooner

- lansky’s second book, broken people, follows narrator ‘sam’, mid-20s, super depressed, hastled by his agent to write a decent follow-up to his first book, but too busy struggling with his self-worth and baggage from several past relationships. desperate, he takes up an offer to visit a new age shaman who promises to fix everything wrong with him in a matter of days. not to over simplify it but he literally spends a weekend doing psychedelics and hallucinating about his exes. jughead took note

- unless u want me to hurl myself into yet another dissertation about queer jughead, i think his parallel to sam - who, unlike jughead, has considerable financial privilege and whose anxieties center on body dysmorphia, hiv scares, and his own self-centeredness - pretty much ends there

- But,, the gist of the book could not be more harmonius with a major theme shared by the 2 films that inform the actual hallucination part of jughead’s bunker scene: mentally reframing past relationships to get closure + confronting trauma head-on in order to move forward

- so that’s neat. what other book and author stuff was in 5.10?

- stephen king and raymond carver get name dropped. i’m passingly familiar with them both but u bet i just skimmed their wiki bios in case anything relevant jumped out

- like jughead, carver was a student (later a lecturer) at the iowa writers workshop. also the son of an alcoholic and one himself

- i recall carver’s ‘what we talk about when we talk about love’ is what jughead was reading in 2.14 ‘the hills have eyes’ after he finds out about the first time betty kissed archie (at that time he does not respond as would any of carver’s characters)

- this collection of carver stories deals especially with infidelity, failings of communication, and the complexities and destructiveness of love. to unashamedly quote the resource that is course hero, ‘carver renders love as an experience that is inherently violent bc it produces psychic and emotional wounds.’ very fun to wonder about the significance of this collection within the s2 episode and in jughead’s thoughts. and maybe now in the context of the s5 state of relationships. or, at least, the state of jughead’s writing as seen by his agent

- anyway pansky doesn’t want carver, he wants stephen king

- i have too much to say about gerald’s game in 5.10, that’s getting its own post someday soon

- lol wait king’s wife is named tabitha uhhh king’s wiki reminded me of his childhood experience that possibly inspired his short story ‘the body’ (+1986 movie ‘stand by me’) when he ‘apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train tho he has no memory of the event’

- no mention of that in this rd episode but memories of a train could be interesting to consider with the imagery that intrudes on jughead’s hallucination. i still feel like it was a truck but the lights and sounds he experiences may be a train

- ok now we’re in the speculation part of today’s segment

- if jughead’s traumatic memory involves trains, then it’s possible this plot will take influence from la bête humaine <- this 1938 movie is based on the 1890 novel by french writer émile zola. this story deals with alcoholism and possessive jealousy in relationships, sometimes leading to murder. huh, kind of like carver. zola def comes down on the nature side of the nature-vs-nuture bad seed question (tho i should say he approaches this with great or maybe just v french compassion). also i can’t tell if this is me reaching but, something about la bête humaine reminds me of king’s ‘secret window’ which we’ve observed to be at least a style influence on jughead post time jump

- but wow a late-19th century french writer would be a random thing to drop into this season, right? then again zola also wrote about miners, which we’ve learned are an important part of this town’s history + whatever hiram is up to this time.  and most notably, zola wrote ‘j’accuse...!’ an open letter in defense of a soldier falsely accused and unlawfully jailed for treason: alfred dreyfus. archie’s recent army trouble comes to mind.

- since the introduction of old man dreyfuss (plausibly Just a nod to close encounters actor richard dreyfuss, but also when is anything in this show Just one thing) i’ve been wondering if these little things could add up to a season-long reference to zola’s writings. but i had doubts and didn’t want to speak on it too soon bc, u know, it’s weird but is it weird enough for riverdale??

- however,,,

- (come on, u knew where i was going with this)

- a24′s film zola just came out. absolutely no relation to the french writer, it’s not based on a book but an insane and explicit twitter thread by aziah ‘zola’ wells about stripping and? human trafficking?? this feels ripe for rd even outside the potentials here for the lonely highway/missing girls plot.

- that would add up to a combination of homage that feels natural to this show

- anyway pls understand i’m just having fun speculating, most of this is based on nothing more concrete than the torturous mental tendril ras has hooked into my skull pls let go ras pls let go

[smallestchances]

Almost Royal (2)

Long overdue?? Absolutely. Please forgive me? <3 Hope this was worth it!

Summary: (Y/N) is struggling more than she’d like to admit, and with the eve of her daughter’s birthday looming, she decided to give her daughter an unusual gift.

Pairing: Royal!Dean Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: Douchebag boss, small amount of angst, mention of death, etc.

Masterlist

Taglist: @that-one-gay-girl @fanfictionjunkie1112 @flamencodiva @hoboal87 @cutestdolans @anaissomnia @kbl1313 @fuzzycloudsz @hollymac79 @vicmc624 @roxytheimmortal @lunaticgurly @coffeebooksandfandom @A-dorky-book-keeper @nihilismworld​

“Order up for table sixteen!”

The constant murmur of the diner around you only gets louder, and you skirt around the tables and patrons as fast as you could. Sweat collects on your top lip and your brow, the too small uniform chafing in almost every crease.

“(Y/N)! I told you, order up for table sixteen!” Sal yells from the kitchen, his baritone voice causing you to grit your teeth. You drop off the most recent order you had in your hands, giving them a quick smile before rushing to pick up the food.

You try to avoid the greasy cook, but Sal gives you a cunning smile that only makes your skin crawl as you pick up the four plates, balancing them perfectly. As you reach for the last one, Sal pushes it too far off the counter with his spatula, and it falls helplessly to the floor with a crash. 

“What the fuck!” Is all that passes through your mouth, and before you know it the whole diner has gone silent. Your fellow coworkers only look on with sympathy in your eyes, and it doesn’t take long before the usual white noise falls back into place.

“That’s quite an unprofessional mouth you’ve got there,” Sal reprimands, and you have to clench your jaw to prevent yourself from spitting in his direction. “I think I’m going to need you to open up tomorrow in order to amend that.”

“Sal--” you choke out. “You, you can’t do that. I’ve requested tomorrow off for the past three years--I’m already closing, I can’t do an fourteen hour shift tomorrow--”

“Then I can just take it out of your next paycheck,” he shrugs, starting to redo the food he destroyed.

All you can do is swallow. “No, I...I’ll come in at 6.”

“And?”

“And I’ll close at 8,” you mumble. 

“Good girl.”

It takes everything in you to go to table sixteen with the food in your hand, apologizing furiously on the delay for the last patron’s food. They seem understanding enough, and it almost makes the tears you were holding back fall from your eyes.

You thank God that you get to leave after the lunch rush, and you try to avoid as many people as you could. Driving quickly to the store and then home, you allow yourself to let out all frustrations as you blast your music.

When you finally get home, you’re about ready to collapse onto your couch and sleep when a piece of paper taped onto the grate in front of your door stops you. All you have to read is the big bold words Eviction Notice before you rip it off and storm into your apartment.

As you descend into your basement apartment, it’s just as cold and dark as you remember. A candle flickers on the center table in your makeshift living room, slightly illuminating the backpack and shoes that were thrown haphazardly. It’s the sight of these that make you smile, and as you put down the bags, you sprint into an adjoining room.

“Happy birthday eve!!” You scream at the top of your lungs, jumping excitedly onto the bed covered in purple comforters, avoiding the body of your daughter as you smile brightly. She only groans, beneath you, shaking herself awake from her after school nap. You strategically flop onto her, still in your Sal’s uniform.

You lock eyes with a shade of green you know too well, and you snuggle into her. “How does it feel Opal? Have you grown three inches? Have you grown a shoe size?” You gasp. “A BOOB size??”

“Mom!” She laughs, pulling away from you to bring a pillow over her head. “I’m not even sixteen yet. I feel the exact same way I did yesterday.”

“You’re going to be sixteen,” you mumble to yourself, staring up at your ceiling. Opal uncovers her head to plop it onto your shoulder. “My baby is going to be sixteen! It feels like just yesterday I was making you mac & cheese while we watched cartoons on the sofa.”

“That was yesterday Mom.”

“Oh how the time flies!”

You both laugh together, and silence falls over you briefly. You watch the sun go down from the limited rays of light from the “windows”. Your heart tightens. “I’m sorry baby bear,” you mumble rushing on before she could interrupt. “You deserve more than this, more than I’ve given you--”

“This is more than enough Mama--”

“No, it’s not. And I know that.” You sigh. “The moment you were born, I promised to always provide you things to the best of my ability. I promised to  protect you--and through it’s come in the form of a wild basement with 90% thrifted clothes--”

“I love my wild basement and thrifted clothes--”

“My point is,” you pause. “I am going to try so much more. Harder than I ever thought was possible, starting today.” You reach into your pocket book on the floor for a bulky parchment held together by brown paper and twine. 

“How much money did you fit into there?”

You roll your eyes, nudging her softly. “Don’t be a little shithead”--she smiles brightly--”I can’t celebrate your actual birthday with you tomorrow.  I have the opening shift at Sal’s before going over to Rick’s to clean up. So, I have three presents for you.”

You and Opal shift into a sitting position. “Present number one: I have ice cream cake waiting for you in the freezer.”

“Friendlys?!”

“You know it. Present number two: I got Rick to let us use his place to bake some apple pies. We’d have to make him some, but as soon as you feel ready--”

“Let’s go now.”

“Geez Opal,” you giggle. “As soon as you’re ready, not tonight, we can go. Present number three,” you breathe in deeply. “You know your father is a sore subject for me.”

Opal immediately sits up more, her eyes searching yours. “Mom?”

You nod in confirmation, tracing your fingers lightly over the parchment. “In here...are memories of what we had.” You swallow hard. “Now, I’ll give this to you, and you will have fourteen questions you can ask me with full disclosure.”

“Full honesty?”

“Full honesty. After that, I will fulfill two requests of yours that are in my jurisdiction. All to get you to your sweet sixteen.”

Opal doesn’t say anything for a few moments. Then, she surges forward to embrace you tightly. “Mama,” she says through tears.

“Baby bear,” you respond, your voice thick as well When you pull back, you wipe away her fallen tears while you both smile. You place the package in her lap and she excitedly tears through it.

What she finds is photos. Piles of photos and letters and more letters and photos that illustrate the three years you had with the love of your life. There’s even hints of Sam in there, and you  watch carefully as she picks up a photo of Dean where he’s smiling brightly at the camera while on a boat--a smile that mirrors the one your daughter frequently wears.

“Mama,” she breathes. “This...this is a photo of King Dean. Why do you have a photo of King Dean?”

“Is that one of your questions?”

“No!” She amends, rewinding. “My father...is King Dean.”

“That’s wild.”

She flicks your arm. “Mom! I mean this is--I’m a--how?!”

“Excuse me,” you scoff. “Your mother’s a catch. And for that, you have 13 questions left.”

“Ah!” She exclaims, searching for words. “How did you two meet?”

“I worked all over the palace. I was a floater, I went where I was needed and coincidentally he was always there. He kept talking to me, we became friends, and eventually...one thing led to another.”

“Did you love each other?”

You swallow thickly. “With everything in us. Or at least for me. I’d always look for ways to see him, and he’s forgo royal duties just for me. We even got married, but I think it’s some sort of treason so I don’t bring it up.”

Opal’s jaw drops briefly. “What was he like?”

“Your father…” You pause. “Your father was one of the most selfless, bravest, stubbornest assholes I’d ever met. He was fiercely protective of his family, and he would sell his whole being if it meant the people he cared about were safe.”

“So when you say all men…”

“I only partially include Dean. 10 questions.”

“Who’s this?” She points to a group photo of you, Dean, Sam & Jess.

“That is your Uncle Sam.” You shift slightly. “He was my best friend. We were as thick as thieves within the palace, always getting into trouble. You wouldn’t believe the situations we got into.”

“And her?” She points to Jess.

“That’s Jess. His ex-fiancee.” Your heart lurches into your throat. “She was also my best friend, but things...Things went wrong when she went on a charity visit to a Rehabilitation Center. A patient got ahold of a gun, and she was shot.” A tear escapes your eye. “By the time anyone got to her, it was too late. She died instantly.”

Opal reaches for your hand, intertwining your fingers before squeezing tightly. You give her a close lipped smile. “Did Sam or Jess know about me?”

“Sam yes--we found out together actually. Jess passed away a year before it all happened.”

“Does my father know?”

Your heart beats incessantly against your ribcage, drowning in your ears. You’d prepared for this question, you could answer it. But even as you did, each word felt like liquid tar in your mouth. “The day I left, no.  I was too hurt to even seek him out…But when I had you, I thought he had a right to know just how much of a true gem had stemmed from our love. Every year, a week after your birthday, I sent him memories of us from the past year. Photos of you mostly. I never got a reply.”

Opal deflates, and your chest clenches. “Do you...do you see any of him in me?”

A smile flits to your mouth, “So much it hurts,” you let out a chuckle. “From your smile to your eyes to your goddamn apple pie, there’s no way I could forget him when he lives so much in you.”

“So why’d you leave?”

You can only stare at her, mouth paused in shock. You debate whether you should tell her the truth. 

“You said full honesty Mama.”

You close your eyes tightly, trying to catch even your faintest breath. “He um,” you clear your throat to dislodge the block forming. “He was too invested in running the country, and getting married to someone who wasn’t me--”

Opal leans into you, trying to offer some comfort. “Aww, Mama.

“The worst part is...is he didn’t tell me. I’d heard it from his m--from someone who was more than pleased to see us separated. I hadn’t heard from him for days, I’d just found out about you, and now here they were, threatening our lives if we didn’t get on our first plane out of there.”

“So you left without another word.”

You don’t answer.

“But--but maybe if you’d stayed, if he’d known about me we’d be together right now! You should’ve fought for him--”

“Fought for him?” You interrupted. “Opal, I had done nothing but fight for him. I would never leave his side and then--then he wasn’t the only person I had to fight for.”

“So who was it?”

“What?”

“Who made you leave? Who threatened us?”

“Opal--”

“Mom--”

“Don’t make me answer this.”

“You said full. Honesty.”

It takes everything in you to answer. “Your Grandmother.”

Opal lets out a breath and sits back heavily. “Well fuck.”

“I know,” you chuckle. 

You both don’t speak for a while. 

“Do you miss him?” She asks. 

“Everyday. Every time I think I’m over it, it comes back tenfold.”

“Does that mean you’d go back if you could?”

You but your lip. “I...I don’t know. That’s something I’d have to reevaluate if it ever came down to it.”

She nods thoughtfully.

“One more question baby bear.”

“...Which palace do they spend their most time in?”

You tilt your head, surprised at her last question. “That’s what you’re going to ask.”

“What can I say? I’m curious and a little bit of a daydreamer.”

Her last words break you a little more, so you tell her. She nods gratefully, and you lean forward to give her forehead a kiss. “Alright, do you want a slice of cake before we clonk out?”

Once again, to your surprise she shakes her head. “I’ll have some with you tomorrow, I think I might hit the bed now.”

“Okay.” You surrender, lifting yourself from the bed. “Good choice. Goodnight baby bear.”

“Goodnight Mama.”

You walk out of the room, and immediately Opal pulls out her phone to look up the palace. After some extensive digging and some slight dead ends, she finds a Redditt thread that swears by a palace address that’ll get her immediately to the inner circle. She quickly writes it down, and she finds a piece of paper and a few pencils.

With a deep breath, she starts to write.

It’s been about a week since your conversation with Opal, and work has been shitty. Nothing new, really, is all you can think as you wait patiently for Opal to meet you outside her school in your beat up car. Your vows to make things better seem to have fallen flat. Bills have started to drown you more than before, and you’ve recently been fired from Sal’s--you honestly don’t know how much longer you can keep your head above water.

Opal bounds to the car, humming and you give her an incredulous look. “Someone’s awfully chipper.”

“Well someone’s awfully a grouch,” she retorts.

“Well, we do live in a trash can,” you mumble, pulling away from the curb. “Baby bear, I gotta tell you something--”

“You got laid off.”

“I got--wait, how’d you know?”

“I heard you grumbling Wednesday night about Sal being a sleazeball who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.”

“Well--”

“And I found our eviction notice Mom.”

Blood rushes to your ears and you groan. “Look, I know this sounds bad, but we’ll be back on our feet before we know it, and this’ll all be behind us.”

“I know.”

You smile. “Thank you for your optimism baby bear.”

“Next time, I’ll charge you $25 for each optimistic phrase.”

You laugh heartily. “I’ll let you know when I can afford that.”

Pulling onto the side of your street, things are awfully quiet, though neither you nor Opal notice. Unlocking your apartment, you go down the steps only to freeze at the sight of apple green eyes you never thought you’d see again. 

“Dean?”

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

Look out for Part Three coming soon!

[waveypedia]

complete and utter chaos [ducktales group chat fic] - Chapter 4

Ao3 I Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

let kids be kids

6:55 am

ICanDeweyIt: WHAT IS UP GAYS AND GALS

TheWebbedWonder: hi :3

Junior-Woodchuck74: you couldn’t have waited five minutes

ICanDeweyIt: it’s the kids gc uncle donald won’t know

Junior-Woodchuck74: knowing him he’ll find a way

ICanDeweyIt: true

ICanDeweyIt: anyway what’s up

Junior-Woodchuck74: over half of us live in the same house as you and we’re all sleeping

TheWebbedWonder: im not

Junior-Woodchuck74: you should be

Junior-Woodchuck74: you stayed up until 3 on facetime with Lena

lenaonme: yes and

Junior-Woodchuck74: when you and Violet come over we’re going to have a talk about healthy sleep habits

lenaonme: you’ll never catch me, nerd!!

ICanDeweyIt: SHUSH huey im bored

Junior-Woodchuck74: I know

adefinitelyrealboy: do you like cat videos, Dewey?

green-sharpie: oh no

adefinitelyrealboy: Webby and I have been sending some back and forth to each other!!

TheWebbedWonder: Finally a fellow cat video enthusiast :3

green-sharpie: webby istg

ICanDeweyIt: oh YES

adefinitelyrealboy: yay!!

adefinitelyrealboy: I’ll send them right away <3

Family Group Chat!!!

7:01 am

mutant-krill!!!!: good morning everyone!!

ICanDeweyIt: good morning!!

Lucky-Gander: good morning!

Lucky-Gander: What’s the haps today

lenaonme: please never say that again

TheWebbedWonder: I WANNA GO CAMPING

TheWebbedWonder: WHO’S WITH ME

Junior-Woodchuck74: Webby, we just started planning a sleepover

Junior-Woodchuck74: and you’re allegedly planning an adventure?

TheWebbedWonder: I am :3

Violet-Sabrewing: please stop using that emoticon

TheWebbedWonder: :3 :3 :3

adefinitelyrealboy: oh!! That’s so cute!!

TheWebbedWonder: I know :3

UnoCaballero: maybe focus on one thing at a time, webs

TheWebbedWonder: ugh fine

Adventure-Pilot: do you need any help planning your adventure?

TheWebbedWonder: Ooh are you offering?

Adventure-Pilot: sure!

TheWebbedWonder: !!! I’d love that!!

Adventure-Pilot: 💖💖💖

Tea Time: Stop stealing my children.

TheWebbedWonder: aww Granny!!

TheWebbedWonder: It’s okay you can both be my parental figures 💖

TheWebbedWonder: I have lots of them!!

ICanDeweyIt: Webby’s winning in terms of parental figures tbh

Junior-Woodchuck74: true 😔😔

TheWebbedWonder: >:3

green-sharpie: stOP

TheWebbedWonder: no >:3

dr. mad scientist: thanks i hate it

Tea Time: Which one of you children taught him that

Blathering-Blatherskite: I feel déja vu

Lil’ Bulb: I did :3

green-sharpie: NOOOO THEY’RE MULTIPLYING

TheWebbedWonder: YES

TheWebbedWonder: EMBRACE IT

ICanDeweyIt: never

ICanDeweyIt: YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME

TheWebbedWonder: I CAN AND I WILL

green-sharpie: lol run

Junior-Woodchuck74: Dewey just got up and sprinted away

lenaonme: webby ended our call :(

ICanDeweyIt: you guys called AGAIN

lenaonme: yes and

UnoCaballero: is someone else joining our chat today?

DosCaballero: wym?

Junior-Woodchuck74: Well, Webby seems to add one person every single day

Blathering-Blatherskite: except for yesterday, when she added both of you!

DosCaballero: hah! we’re special!

DosCaballero: @TrêsCaballero get over here we’re being special

TrêsCaballero: Did someone say special?

TrêsCaballero: Because I am very special! ✨

Junior-Woodchuck74: btw Tío José most people use that emoji ironically now

TrêsCaballero: Oh? Well I suppose they just couldn’t handle the sheer power of me! ✨

lenaonme: heck yeah reinvent the world break those stereotypes

lenaonme: @UnoCaballero stop editing my texts

TrêsCaballero: I will!

TrêsCaballero: the sparkles emoji was invented specifically for me

DosCaballero: oh absolutely

UnoCaballero: stop swearing then

lenaonme: ur not my dad

UnoCaballero: but I am your uncle

lenaonme: skdfghgfds

lenaonme: ok 

Junior-Woodchuck74: @Blathering-Blatherskite answer my DM

Scrooge-McDuck: don’t distract my employees at work lad

Blathering-Blatherskite: sorry I was getting something for webby

Scrooge-McDuck: you are working

Blathering-Blatherskite: yes that

dr. mad scientist: hey DUMMY

dr. mad scientist: get over here and work on this chart

Blathering-Blatherskite: why are you texting the mega group chat we're literally in the same room

Scrooge-McDuck: see laddie? work. work that needs to be done

Scrooge-McDuck: I’m not paying them to waste time on their phones, you hear?

ihaveahead!!!: i’m not sure if this is meant for huey or for us

Lil’ Bulb: probably both

Scrooge-McDuck: it’s both

ihaveahead!!!: that checks out

TheWebbedWonder added M.A.M.A. 

Blathering-Blatherskite: M’MA!!

Junior-Woodchuck74: oh hello Ms. Cabrera!!

M.A.M.A.: hello!!

Scrooge-McDuck: oh no my employee productivity!!

adefinitelyrealboy: Hello! I’m Boyd, a definitely real boy!

M.A.M.A.: um, alright.

M.A.M.A.: nice to meet you, Boyd!

adefinitelyrealboy: my name is an acronym just like yours!

M.A.M.A.: Oh really? What does your name stand for?

adefinitelyrealboy: Be Only Yourself Dude!

M.A.M.A.: Well that’s certainly wholesome.

adefinitelyrealboy: thanks! I picked it out myself!

adefinitelyrealboy: what does your name stand for?

M.A.M.A.: María Antonia Magdalena Aldonsa. It’s my name!

TheCrashiestCrash: neat!!

Scrooge-McDuck: welcome Ms. Cabrera, now my employees need to get back to work

UnoCaballero: ok lol

Scrooge-McDuck: what does that mean?

Scrooge-McDuck: Donald, what does that mean???

UnoCaballero: have fun~

Scrooge-McDuck: DONALD FAULTEROY DUCK

dr. mad scientist: HAHAHAHAHAHA your middle name is faulteroy???

Adventure-Pilot: dude your name is literally gyro you don’t have much of a leg here to stand on

dr. mad scientist: neither do you, DUMBELLA.

moonlander-general: HAHAHAHAHA is that really your full name??

Adventure-Pilot: shut up shut up

dr. mad scientist: that’s what you get

Blathering-Blatherskite: Gyro got banned from Starducks because he cursed out employees who thought his name was an allusion to the sandwich

dr. mad scientist: it’s not MY fault they can’t see the brilliance in a perfectly good name!!

dr. mad scientist: i picked it out myself!!

green-sharpie: oh, so it’s perfect in every way

dr. mad scientist: yes!!!

dr. mad scientist: wait was that sarcasm

dr. mad scientist: if that was sarcasm you will rue the day!!!

Scrooge-McDuck: Gyro, what did we say about threatening children?

dr. mad scientist: not to.

Scrooge-McDuck: good!!

Scrooge-McDuck: now get back to work

DosCaballero: you really have a one-track mind huh

Scrooge-McDuck: HEY

Lucky-Gander: he does care a lot about money

wreathedingold: ugh it’s the opposite

wreathedingold: he doesn’t care enough about money

Scrooge-McDuck: come now Goldie

Scrooge-McDuck: i put my family above my money and i’m not shy about it

Tea Time: as you should.

Scrooge-McDuck: thank you, Bentina.

Teach Penny and Mom Pokémon Group Chat!!!!

11:22 am

ICanDeweyIt: ok what’s your favorite pokemon

ICanDeweyIt: this is for science

Junior-Woodchuck74: did you finally escape from webby

ICanDeweyIt: shhh i’m hiding

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: not for long

ICanDeweyIt: nO

ICanDeweyIt: anyway

ICanDeweyIt: i’ll go first

wildlymisunderstood: i don’t like pokemon

TotallyNotGizmoduck: LIES

ICanDeweyIt: NO

ICanDeweyIt: i can’t believe you’d do this to me gyro

wildlymisunderstood: dr. gearloose

ICanDeweyIt: treason

ICanDeweyIt: treason of the highest caliber

ICanDeweyIt: this calls for… public execution!!!

wildlymisunderstood: lol no

aw-phooey: dewey…

ICanDeweyIt: anyway i like keldeo and jigglypuff

lenaonme: >:o neither of them are even blue

ICanDeweyIt: part of them are!!!

lenaonme: who are you and what have you done with dewey

ICanDeweyIt: shut UP

green-sharpie: anyway i like snorlax

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: leaked louie fact: he would snuggle with a snorlax

aw-phooey: confirmed

green-sharpie: whaaaaat they look vv cozy

green-sharpie: tell me you wouldn’t

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: okay fair

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: i’m writing down “snorlax plushie” as a gift idea!!

green-sharpie: OOOOOH 👀

green-sharpie: WEBS YOU’RE THE BEST

green-sharpie: the rest of you need to step up

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: 🥰🥰

green-sharpie: hey you know what i also like

green-sharpie: meowth

green-sharpie: meowth plushie go

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: i’ll put it on the list!

aw-phooey: louie

universesgreatestadventurer: louie

Junior-Woodchuck74: louie c’mon

green-sharpie: ugh fine

ICanDeweyIt: webby go

green-sharpie: you’re just trying to distract her aren’t you

ICanDeweyIt: yes and

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: fairy types!

wildlymisunderstood: of course

aw-phooey: i like Gyarados!

Lucky-Gander: as you should

moonlander-general: that sounds like Gyro’s name

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: ooh yeah it does!

wildlymisunderstood: I suppose Gyarados is deserving of my name

universesgreatestadventurer: oh my god-

wildlymisunderstood: della shut up

universesgreatestadventurer: hey

aw-phooey: hey

wildlymisunderstood: any pokemon would be better anyway though

aw-phooey: no they’re not

wildlymisunderstood: incorrect

TotallyNotGizmoduck: hey don’t fight!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: uhh

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl changed green-sharpie’s name to Snorlax’s Cuddle Buddy

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: tell me i’m wrong

wildlymisunderstood: you’re wrong

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: shut up you don’t actually think that you just wanted the chance to tell me off

wildlymisunderstood: truth

Snorlax’s Cuddle Buddy: okay valid 

Snorlax’s Cuddle Buddy: but how does that solve anything

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: idk

ICanDeweyIt: mom wbu?

worldsgreatestadventurer: my team consists of a growlithe, a lucario, a garchomp, a zorua, and a sneezel!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: oooh very concise i like it

worldsgreatestadventurer: thank you, dear!!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: 🥰🥰 skdfdksl;df

ICanDeweyIt: cool cool cool

ICanDeweyIt: writing that down thank you

worldsgreatestadventurer: should i be worried?

aw-phooey: nah

PM between TotallyNotGizmoduck and lenaonme

2:44 pm

lenaonme: yo

TotallyNotGizmoduck: hi, Lena.

lenaonme: so

lenaonme: huey yelled at me

TotallyNotGizmoduck: haha sorry

lenaonme: geez don’t apologize when i’m trying to apologize lmao

TotallyNotGizmoduck: oh! Uh.. i’m not sorry?

lenaonme: that works i guess

lenaonme: anyway it was supposed to be just light teasing i’m sorry for being mean

TotallyNotGizmoduck: it’s okay

lenaonme: you don’t have to say that

TotallyNotGizmoduck: it is though!

lenaonme: okay thanks

lenaonme: and please for the love of all things magic change your name

TotallyNotGizmoduck: one day

lenaonme: but really

lenaonme: i am sorry

TotallyNotGizmoduck: well… I hereby accept your apology!

lenaonme: kjsdfhgjfkdls

lenaonme: thanks

TotallyNotGizmoduck: anytime

2:53 pm

TotallyNotGizmoduck: oh and Lena?

lenaonme: yeah?

TotallyNotGizmoduck: I know we don’t really talk but I still care about you

lenaonme: huh

lenaonme: thanks

lenaonme: i really am sorry

TotallyNotGizmoduck: it’s okay

TotallyNotGizmoduck: I’m here if you need me

lenaonme: thanks

lenaonme: I might take you up on that one day

Family Group Chat!!!!

3:34 pm

UnoCaballero: is everyone okay?

UnoCaballero: sound off

green-sharpie: yep

Scrooge-McDuck: here

Blathering-Blatherskite: yeah, what’s going on?

Junior-Woodchuck74: Mom and Webby unleashed a portal to the boiling isles during their adventure research

Blathering-Blatherskite: oh shoot, do you need Gizmoduck’s help?

Blathering-Blatherskite: cause I can call him. Yeah. i have him on speed dial

Blathering-Blatherskite: cause so many of Gyro’s inventions go haywire!

Lil’ Bulb: oh my god

dr. mad scientist: not evil.

Blathering-Blatherskite: that’s not what I said.

dr. mad scientist: just wildly misunderstood.

Junior-Woodchuck74: Fenton… 

TheCrashiestCrash: I think we’re good! Thanks!

Blathering-Blatherskite: No problem!

TheWebbedWonder: yeah but it was fun! And I’m a lot closer to figuring out our adventure!

TheWebbedWonder: thanks!

Adventure-Pilot: anytime sweetie!

dr. mad scientist: your family is ridiculous

wreathedingold: seconded

Lucky-Gander: agreed

Adventure-Pilot: aw, you love us

lenaonme: you guys realize you’re all part of the family right

Violet-Sabrewing: the group chat is called “Family Group Chat”

TheWebbedWonder: don’t forget the exclamation points!!

Violet-Sabrewing: of course.

TheCrashiestCrash: Dewey and I are still wrangling the last of those demons, mr. d!!

Junior-Woodchuck74: then why are you texting?!

Junior-Woodchuck74: hang on, i’m coming over.

TheWebbedWonder: me too! woohoo, more demons to fight!!

lenaonme: oooh i’m coming over!!

Indy_Sabrewing: maybe not…

lenaonme: oh come on

lenaonme: we face way worse all the time!!

purpleisforthegays: oh that’s true…

Violet-Sabrewing: I’ve already packed by nunchucks.

purpleisforthegays: oh you girls are going to give me a heart attack one day.

Indy_Sabrewing: don’t worry honey, I’ve already doubled our vacation fund budget. I just had to take some away from the Junior Woodchucks donations.

Junior-Woodchuck74: aw man

lenaonme: 😔👊

Violet-Sabrewing: It do be like that.

green-sharpie: [screenshot-my-longest-yeah-boi-ever.png]

Indy_Sabrewing: Lena, you’re corrupting her.

lenaonme: as i should.

Tea Time: we all do need a vacation one of these days.

ICanDeweyIt: ooooooh

Junior-Woodchuck74: Dewey! More fighting, less texting!

ICanDeweyIt: I can multitask!

Junior-Woodchuck74: no you can’t!

Junior-Woodchuck74: studies have shown that multitasking is, on a nanosecond level, virtually impossible

ICanDeweyIt: well, impossible is just another kind of possible!

Junior-Woodchuck74: no it’s not.

ihaveahead!!!: why are you guys texting each other in the main group chat when you live in the same house?

ICanDeweyIt: because we can.

Junior-Woodchuck74: because he’s ignoring me and I can’t hear much over these demons

Lucky-Gander: checks out.

TheCrashiestCrash: we’re all good here!

Scrooge-McDuck: I think that’s the last of them.

mutant-krill!!!!: can you possibly save any specimens for me to study when I arrive in Duckburg?

green-sharpie: webby has ten.

Junior-Woodchuck74: i think Mom has a couple too.

Adventure-Pilot: sure do! and I’d be happy to share!

mutant-krill!!!!: great, thanks!

Blathering-Blatherskite: wait, are you coming to Duckburg?

dr. mad scientist: oh blathering blatherskite not again

Lil’ Bulb: be nice.

mutant-krill!!!!: based on the star and naval patterns I’ve been tracking, Mitzy, Gladstone, and I should be arriving in Duckburg in a couple days!

Junior-Woodchuck74: why didn’t you tell us in advance? We have to prepare!

mutant-krill!!!!: sorry little donald! But this is in advance!

Junior-Woodchuck74: okay fair

ghostbutler: @Tea Time

Tea Time: What

ghostbutler: the house is disgraceful

Tea Time: You bail every time a fight breaks out!

ghostbutler: one of the perks of the afterlife

Tea Time: ugh, you are insufferable.

Scrooge-McDuck: Duckworth was there! He and I fought together!

ICanDeweyIt: can confirm; i stuck my hand through him again!!!

ghostbutler: every time you do that i want to die and i’m already dead.

Tea Time: You saw me fighting twenty demons and bailed immediately.

ghostbutler: it’s a compliment! I figured you could take care of yourself!

ghostbutler: was I wrong?

Tea Time: no.

ghostbutler: perfect! And you still need to clean the house.

wreathedingold: I sense petty drama that somehow I did not cause.

wreathedingold: the world is unbalanced.

Scrooge-McDuck: oh don’t worry, you’ve caused plenty more than your share of petty drama

wreathedingold: oh Scroogey, you flatterer!

dr. mad scientist: i will never understand their romance.

M.A.M.A.: You and me both, and I’ve only been here for a couple of hours!

Blathering-Blatherskite: hey, you two finally agreed on something!

dr. mad scientist: you take that back!

Junior-Woodchuck74: just going to point out that we literally finished fighting five minutes ago and there’s already another fight

green-sharpie: what did you expect from this family?

Junior-Woodchuck74: okay fair

TheWebbedWonder: I’d like to think we’re pretty good 

TheWebbedWonder: especially compared to like the Beagle Boys and Mark Beaks and his mom

dr. mad scientist: HA that’s what he deserves

dr. mad scientist: mark beaks? how about no

ihaveahead!!!: we do not stan

dr. mad scientist: thank you

dr. mad scientist: me seeing mark beaks' name: wish i was jared, nineteen

green-sharpie: KHGFDFGHKLKHGFDSDFGH

Violet-Sabrewing: Don’t be mean

dr. mad scientist: i will not be lectured by a child!

M.A.M.A.: (or anyone)

dr. mad scientist: you say that like it’s an insult but it’s true

ihaveahead!!!: but you’re insulted, aren’t you?

dr. mad scientist: shut up.

TheWebbedWonder: hey Violet’s very knowledgeable!!

Violet-Sabrewing: thank you Webbigail!!

Junior-Woodchuck74: It’s interesting; both of those dysfunctional family dynamics are caused by power abuses and imbalances and lack of communication

Junior-Woodchuck74: both of them have gone far beyond that, but that’s the root of the problem

purpleisforthegays: interesting!

DosCaballero: forgive me, but who are these people again?

dr. mad scientist: god i wish that were me

moonlander-general: villainous fiends!!

DosCaballero: oh okay

DosCaballero: @TrêsCaballero time to fight! The Three Caballeros ride again!

TrêsCaballero: the Three Caballeros ride again!

UnoCaballero: The Three Caballeros ride again!

moonlander-general: Are you three going to say that every time you do something together?

Scrooge-McDuck: You get used to it lassie

Scrooge-McDuck: What you DON’T get used to is three freeloaders mooching off your house and food!!

UnoCaballero: haha bye Uncle Scrooge! Villanious villains to fight!!

Adventure-Pilot: Ooh, fights? Where?

UnoCaballero: not for u lol

Adventure-Pilot: HEY!!

M.A.M.A.: Should I be worried you’re all so eager to be violent or-

dr. mad scientist: you’ve punched me multiple times

M.A.M.A.: you deserved it

M.A.M.A.: And I’ll do it again

dr. mad scientist: noted

Scrooge-McDuck: please don’t incapitate my employee when he should be working

M.A.M.A.: So i’ll do it when he’s off the clock, got it!

dr. mad scientist: hey!!

Lil’ Bulb: he’s always working anyway

dr. mad scientist: true

Scrooge-McDuck: that’s right! You need to work less, lad. I don’t want the unions telling me to pay you overtime

dr. mad scientist: so I can get punched?

Violet-Sabrewing: only if you deserve it

dr. mad scientist: very encouraging, thank you /s

M.A.M.A.: you always deserve it

dr. mad scientist: there we go

TheCrashiestCrash: hey don’t worry Dr. G!! I think you’re a nice person!!

dr. mad scientist: that is factually incorrect but thank you

Blathering-Blatherskite: okay okay let’s all calm down

M.A.M.A.: just say the word, pollito, and I’ll punch his face in

Blathering-Blatherskite: that’s the opposite of what I was going for but thank you M’ma

TheWebbedWonder: YES VIOLENCE!!!

Blathering-Blatherskite: Webby no

TheWebbedWonder: I do think Fenton’s right though! Some problems are better solved with love and compassion

TheWebbedWonder: no matter how much I like punching things!!

Tea Time: that’s my granddaughter!

Scrooge-McDuck: atta girl!!

TheWebbedWonder: aww thank you 💖💖

adefinitelyrealboy: I agree! Talking and understanding can solve a lot of problems!!

Junior-Woodchuck74: statistically, a lot of problems are caused by simple miscommunication!

DosCaballero: especially in sitcoms and the like!

green-sharpie: it’s funny tho

purpleisforthegays: no, it’s just hard to watch

lenaonme: the secondhand embarrassment is real

Violet-Sabrewing: sometimes it’s done well, but that’s fairly rare. Of course that’s all an opinion.

TheCrashiestCrash: you gotta be careful to explain yourself before the problems get big!

Adventure-Pilot: that’s pretty insightful!!

PM between Junior-Woodchuck74 and TotallyNotGizmoduck

4:53 pm

Junior-Woodchuck74: Did you see the news?

TotallyNotGizmoduck: no I’m on the clock

TotallyNotGizmoduck: what happened? Is Gizmoduck needed?

Junior-Woodchuck74: I’m not sure

Junior-Woodchuck74: But there was another supposed PK sighting

TotallyNotGizmoduck: Interesting

TotallyNotGizmoduck: That’s the third time this week, and the seventh time this month

Junior-Woodchuck74: Some of them are definitely fake

Junior-Woodchuck74: But this one looks pretty real

Junior-Woodchuck74: If it’s faked they did a pretty good job

TotallyNotGizmoduck: my legal shift ends in forty minutes and Mr. McDuck will be displeased if I stay behind, but as long as I don’t mention overtime it should be fine

TotallyNotGizmoduck: Gyro does it all the time

Junior-Woodchuck74: Don’t take an example from Dr. Gearloose’s sleep schedule

TotallyNotGizmoduck: It is very unhealthy

TotallyNotGizmoduck: I’ve pulled my fair share of all-nighters working on projects, thought

Junior-Woodchuck74: That’s not the same though

Junior-Woodchuck74: I swear that man never sleeps

TotallyNotGizmoduck: He does

TotallyNotGizmoduck: at his desk

TotallyNotGizmoduck: for a couple minutes

TotallyNotGizmoduck: When Manny and I hide the coffee

Junior-Woodchuck74: of course

Junior-Woodchuck74: Well, thanks Fenton! Talk tomorrow?

TotallyNotGizmoduck: Of course

PM between Junior-Woodchuck74 and lenaonme

7:31 pm

lenaonme: so

lenaonme: i talked to fenton today

Junior-Woodchuck74: How did it go?

lenaonme: good, i think

Junior-Woodchuck74: That’s great!

lenaonme: he’s too nice for his own good

Junior-Woodchuck74: Well, you say the same thing about Webby, so I know that’s a compliment!

lenaonme: oh shut up

Junior-Woodchuck74: You know I’m right

Junior-Woodchuck74: anyway I think you guys will be friends!!

lenaonme: i think so too

Junior-Woodchuck74: Lena

Junior-Woodchuck74: You have no idea how happy that makes me

lenaonme: that’s what i’m going for

Junior-Woodchuck74: aww you softie

lenaonme: don’t tell anyone i have a reputation

Junior-Woodchuck74: I think you already ruined that one sorry Lena

Junior-Woodchuck74: we all see how you act around the Sabrewings and Webby

lenaonme: fair

PM between Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl and worldsgreatestadventurer

7:51 pm

worldsgreatestadventurer: did you get everything you needed?

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: yeah I got the amulet! 

worldsgreatestadventurer: perfect!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: I almost have the entire adventure mapped out

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl we just need the key from the goblin realm!

worldsgreatestadventurer: you didn’t get that from the Demon Monarch?

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: they got thrown in goblin jail for a diplomatic miscommunication a few years back and lost it

worldsgreatestadventurer: well that’s fine! more adventure for us, then!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: woo-oo!!

worldsgreatestadventurer: so, how do we get to the goblin realm?

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: I got the incantation we need to open a portal from the Demon Monarch!

worldsgreatestadventurer: perfect! Do you want to invite Lena and Violet over?

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: do you even need to ask?

worldsgreatestadventurer: I guess not!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: Violet and Lena are my supernatural summoning buddies! The boys just don’t have the same penchant for it as we do :(

worldsgreatestadventurer: ngl i think Louie got traumatized by one of your summonings

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: yeah, we try to do it when he’s out of the house now

worldsgreatestadventurer: good to hear

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: other than that, I finished the map of the rock course based on the testimony we got from that weird flesh creature from the other dimension!

worldsgreatestadventurer: haha yeah… that was weird…

worldsgreatestadventurer: let’s not think about that!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: fine by me!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: Do you want to play Death Soccer Obstacle Course with Dewey and I?

worldsgreatestadventurer: do I!!

Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl: meet you in the backyard!

worldsgreatestadventurer: I’ll be there!

Family Group Chat!!

8:34 pm

Junior-Woodchuck74: So.

Lucky-Gander: oh no

Blathering-Blatherskite: This can’t be good

DosCaballero: Donal’ used to do the same thing when he was mad!

UnoCaballero: I still do

UnoCaballero: and I am mad

TrêsCaballero: oh no

mutant-krill!!!!: what happened, little donald?

Junior-Woodchuck74: Dewey’s in the ER

M.A.M.A.: what? What happened? Do I need to arrest someone?!

Blathering-Blatherskite: Is there an evildoer on the loose?!

adefinitelyrealboy: oh no!! I hope he’s okay!!

TheCrashiestCrash: wait!! Dewey’s injured??

Tea Time: Launchpad you drove him there!!

TheCrashiestCrash: oh yeah!!

Lucky-Gander: ?

Tea Time: Dewey has a broken leg, but he’ll be fine

Junior-Woodchuck74: He was playing soccer on Webby’s obstacle course and jumped out of one of the third story windows

ihaveahead!!!: oh dear

ICanDeweyIt: it’s called death soccer obstacle course, dear hubert

dr. mad scientist: well I can see where the death part comes in

ghostbutler: In reality a broken leg is fairly tame compared to death

lenaonme: oh true

Violet-Sabrewing: you both would know

Indy_Sabrewing: Hey, be nice. Dewey just broke his leg.

TheWebbedWonder: there’s lots of death! Dewey’s just good enough to escape with only a broken leg!!

dr. mad scientist: jeez you are all crazy

lenaonme: so are you lol

ihaveahead!!!: you have no moral high ground here

Junior-Woodchuck74: Lena, what did we talk about?

lenaonme: bruh

lenaonme: sorry

ICanDeweyIt: nah ur good

dr. mad scientist: eh it’s true

dr. mad scientist:  i’m a scientist i don’t hide from the truth

ihaveahead!!!: …

Lil’ Bulb: are you sure about that

dr. mad scientist: shut UP

dr. mad scientist: you will be silent or i will make you

ihaveahead!!!: oooh i’m so scared

wreathedingold: ooh secrets!

green-sharpie: i am looking

dr. mad scientist: oh blathering blatherskite

ICanDeweyIt: hey this is about me remember?

Junior-Woodchuck74: dewey oh my god

green-sharpie: ok i won’t go with you to the hospital then

green-sharpie: i’ll sit on the couch and watch ottoman empire

ICanDeweyIt: you won’t you love me too much

ICanDeweyIt: right? Louie?

ICanDeweyIt: LOUIE???

ICanDeweyIt: quick everyone help me spam his pms

dr. mad scientist: i have better things to be doing 

lenaonme: i spam his pms daily it won’t make a difference

ICanDeweyIt: yall are the worst 💔💔

UnoCaballero: so no one’s going to mention that that’s just not nice

UnoCaballero: ok

Adventure-Pilot: you’re just salty that I spam your pms daily

Adventure-Pilot: kids did i do it right? Did i use the slang???

TheWebbedWonder: yes good job!!

lenaonme: congrats

Junior-Woodchuck74: good job mom!!

Adventure-Pilot: heck yeah!!

green-sharpie: shut UP i'm coming

ICanDeweyIt: I knew you couldn't resist the Dewey charm!!

green-sharpie: oh trust me, it's very easy

green-sharpie: it's harder to not resist it

ICanDeweyIt: but you do, because you loooooveeee meeeeee

green-sharpie: ...fine

ICanDeweyIt: 😌👊

Junior-Woodchuck74: DEWEY GET OFF YOUR PHONE YOU'RE ABOUT TO GO IN

PM between 22 and ghostbutler

11:25 pm

22: bitch

ghostbutler: How crass, Bentina. It fits you.

22: bitch

ghostbutler: blocked

22: unblock me

ghostbutler: yes?

22: bitch

~

names (as of the end of the story)

Huey: Junior-Woodchuck74 Dewey: ICanDeweyIt Louie: Lou / green-sharpie* Webby: TheWebbedWonder / Ultimate_Scrooge_Fangirl* Donald: aw-phooey* / Dadnald Scrooge: Scrooge-McDuck* / Moneybags Della: worldsgreatestadventurer* / Adventure-Pilot / universesgreatestadventurer /acepilot Beakley: 22 Launchpad: TheCrashiestCrash Lena: lenaonme Violet: Violet-Sabrewing Duckworth: ghostbutler Gyro: worldsgreatestinventor* / dr mad scientist / wildlymisunderstood Fenton: TotallyNotGizmoduck* / Blathering-Blatherskite Manny: ihaveahead!!! Lil' Bulb: worldsgreatestinvention* / Lil' Bulb Gladstone: Lucky-Gander Fethry: mutant-krill!!!! Indy: Indy_Sabrewing Ty: purpleisforthegays Goldie: Wine-Aunt* / wreathedingold Penny: moonlander-general

*main

*kicks down door* WE'RE BACK BAYBEE!!!!

I'm really sorry about the wait. I didn't intend for it to be this long. I did have a suspicion I might need more time, especially since the day I was originally supposed to post this was the first day of school and just before that I had just pounded out a pretty major piece of writing in two days, so I was a bit burned out. But I've had low motivation because of school, and I've also been working on a pretty big project - I'm writing the script for a fangan comic on instagram (cerealronpa)! (it was pretty fun working on this story and that at the same time because they have COMPLETELY different moods haha.) It won't be out for a while yet and the premise is pretty different from my usual stuff, but I highly encourage you to check it out when it comes out.

anyway between Cerealronpa and school I definitely have less time and motivation than before, so I might push this back to updating every two weeks instead of weekly, sorry about that. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to even stick to that, given how long it took me to get this one out, but I'll do my best! it's a little better now that I've settled into a routine anyway.

for the life of me I could not figure out a good username for Officer Cabrera when I was planning this, so I think the wait turned out well because of Frank's ask! I was writing her introduction and trying to think up one on the fly when I was like oH WAIT- djsdfgfd

a very very big thank you to everyone who replied to my tumblr post or discord message(s) about what pokemon the ducktales characters would have! if you responded to this fic offering to help me with pokemon I haven't forgotten that it's just talking to new people is scary so I chickened out this time sjdfgfdfghgfd i'll get you sometime! But for now this is good. I tried to include every pokemon people gave me so I hope it makes sense! Also a thank you to my friend Moon, who's a very big Pokemon fan but not a Ducktales fan, and who did her best to help me. She won't see this but she deserves a shoutout anyway.

Della and Webby's dynamic is one of my favorites so expect more of it!! I was surprised to realize I hadn't written an PM of them yet so here we go!! There'll definitely be more of it in the future.

also there are lowkey Weblena hints in this one if you squint since I just kind of vibed with it while I was writing, but if Weblena's not your cup of tea don't worry. I love me some good Weblena any day, but the focus of this fic has and always will be family and character dynamics. I'm not sure how it'll play out but I love Webby and Lena's dynamic, romantic or platonic, so just a heads up!

don't pull all-nighters like Gyro unless you really need to, kids. get some sleep, it's good for you!

there's a very small tdp reference and a lot3c reference in here and i'm really curious if anyone will catch them 👀

there's also a very small line that's me just like Gyro trans? Gyro trans. Anyway you can pry trans Gyro out of my cold dead hands please and thank you

I think the "Gyro got banned from Starducks" thing is from a very very old discussion (like 2 years ago dsddfgjaksld) I think it might've been @fangirl530 who brought it up? unsure. but it pops up in my head every now and then and i love it so much

I hope you enjoyed and I'll do my best to update again soon!! Your support, especially comments, but even just the hit count, means the world to me. It makes me really happy to hear people are enjoying this story!! I'm so happy it's as fun for you to read as it is for me to write.

[galaxitic]

Nobody??? I'm a somebody!!! Tell me about your charactersssss

You are going to regret asking this. I will now proceed to explain to you my entire plot as it stands.

Just so you know, it’s very much incomplete.

........Well, we’re gonna have to start with the basic facts about my WIP, I guess—

(Also: potential trigger warnings for PTSD, war, drugging, hallucinations, torture, death, suicide, and a lot of other dark themes)

In summary, my story’s about a revolution that takes place in the tyrannical kingdom of Idris. We have three perspective characters (listed in no particular order):

- Brinne Alistair (22), the queen of the kingdom. Controlling, emotional, paranoid. Has bipolar disorder.

- Adrian Caldaver (22), the queen’s advisor. Timid, visionary, guilt-ridden.

- Rowen Pierce (25), the leader of a major rebellion in Idris. Passionate, sadistic, determined.

We also have four secondary characters as the story is right now (though that number’s undoubtedly going to go up over time):

- Lennox Warren (22), a noble of the kingdom. Controls criminal justice. Rigid, professional, calculating.

- Grace Hudson (22), another noble (although she’s secretly part of the rebellion). Controls public relations with other countries. Persistent, analytical, zealous.

- Evander Pierce (27), Rowen’s brother and moral compass right-hand-man in the revolution. Pragmatic, serious, good-natured.

- Zurielle Tessing (20), a noble of the kingdom, and Adrian’s fiancée. Shy, practical, melancholy.

We can probably start with some history. Six years before the actual story begins, before Brinne is queen, there’s an attack on the castle lead by none other than Rowen herself. Shit goes down, and a fuck ton of nobles and royalty die, including the parents of all my characters in nobility. 

Brinne and Adrian aren’t killed, but Adrian is shot in the leg and Brinne is not only stabbed, but also gets the symbol of the revolution carved into her left cheek by Rowen. They’re both left to die, but neither of their wounds are fatal.

Flash forward five years, they both have PTSD from the incident.

Starting with the actual storyline, Rowen infiltrates the castle with help from Grace, looking for both Adrian and Lennox. She enlists their help in her revolution, promising that if they lend her their aid, they won’t be killed. They both agree.

Specifically, Adrian’s job is to convince Brinne not to make any decisions that oppress the people further. Lennox’s is to make criminal punishments more lenient, because the rebels are going to be committing a hell of a lot of crimes. Both are instructed not to get in each other’s way.

✨Time skipping✨, Grace executes a plan to fake her death and escape living as a noble. Her motives for it are somewhat tentative as of now, but they’re related to being able to work closer with the revolution and have it be less risky.

Over the next six months or so, Grace and Rowen do some gay shit, and Grace does a ton of stuff for the revolution. Things are going better than ever.

...That is, until Grace is found and arrested for treason.

Rowen goes to the castle after Grace’s arrest in an attempt to negotiate with Lennox for her. However, in the process, Lennox shoots and arrests Rowen as well.

Rowen is put on death row for treason (as is Grace), but before her execution, she’s sent to be interrogated by Lennox. Lennox finds a file on Rowen in the castle archives of the kingdom’s citizens, and based off information in it, he has Evander detained in the dungeons as well. Through Rowen’s interrogation, she refuses to say anything until Lennox threatens Evander’s life in front of her. That gets her...real talkative, to say the least.

Post-interrogation Rowen is not doing so well. She isn’t dehydrated or starving anymore, but the only food and water she’s given in captivity is heavily sedated and laced with hallucinogens. Lucky for her, though, Adrian comes to rescue her (and Evander and Grace) via Methods I Don’t Know Yet. His motives behind it largely relate back to his guilt and moral dilemma, but they’re also fear-based.

When Rowen, Evander, and Adrian get to Grace’s cell, she’s dead. She’d committed suicide with a vial of poison that revolutionaries have on them at all times after hearing that Rowen was captured. However, since Rowen is still under the effects of hallucinogens, she hallucinates that Grace is alive and well, and escaping with them.

When Rowen and Evander make it back to where they live, and it processes that Grace is dead, Rowen’s mental state collapses.

Adrian feels exceedingly guilty over helping the traitors, and figures the least he can do is tell Lennox they’re gone. He does, and Lennox decides it isn’t safe for him to stay in the kingdom.

He flees to another country with some rather...unconventional help from Brinne. He puts a gun to her head and demands permission to leave the kingdom, to which she complies. Brinne nearly kills herself after aiding him, but stops herself out of fear of death.

There’s going to be a lot in between that and the next thing, but I don’t know what any of it is yet - all I know is that after some time, the actual revolution both starts and ends, and spoiler alert: the rebels win.

Great! So the war is won, the people are happy, and now they just have to decide what to do with the queen. Rowen and Evander argue over how to kill her, which seems like a pointless argument, but considering Rowen’s idea is to burn her alive, it’s not really unreasonable that Evander’d want something more humane. If only he’d won the argument.

After being completely humiliated, Brinne is burned alive, and all the remaining nobles in the kingdom are hanged.

Meanwhile, Adrian finally does the same thing Lennox did: he runs. Specifically to the country next over. After a whole day of not stopping to rest, he eventually comes across a secluded cottage right on the beach. Not what he’s used to, but it’ll work.

Over the next year, Rowen works to establish a just government in Idris. Things go surprisingly well for her.

Adrian, on the other hand, is not doing okay at all. He’s completely suicidal at this point, and has attempted both drowning and starving himself.

Rowen visits the country Adrian is in for a diplomatic mission of sorts. She realizes there’s a beach nearby where she’s staying, and she’s never seen the ocean before, so she figures she might as well go.

She finds Adrian there, who’s contemplating suicide again. Adrian asks her to kill him using the knife she has on her, and at first she refuses, claiming she has no reason to. After some persuasion, though, she caves. She stabs him right below his ribs, and using the last of his strength, Adrian takes her knife and stabs himself a second time.

Rowen is scarred. She tells no one about that day, not even Evander. In truth, Adrian and her were always equally scared of each other, to an extent, and Rowen’s fear of him only increased with the encounter.

I’m bad at endings, but pretty sure it’s going to end with a reflection on Rowen’s part.

So yeah, that’s my WIP! I’m so sorry this was so long - I really hope at least somebody took the time to read all that, cause it took a super long time to write.

I really do crave validation for this - commenting/reblogging would mean the world to me, and asking me further questions or DMing me about it would mean even more. Thank you so much if you read all the way through that...I love y’all more than I can describe. Please don’t be shy to ask me more about any of this, it’d legitimately make my day.

[w-m-blake]

I’m very proud of the writing I’ve done this week! Mortal Truth; and You Wish You Didn’t Ask the Question came out on Sunday; You Are Dead, My Life, and I Still Breathe came out yesterday; and I just posted the fifth chapter of The Sands of Titan! This week has been very productive! To celebrate (and because I want to know what people are interested in reading next), under the cut I’m putting the titles and short synopses of fics I’ve got on my to-do list. Message me if you want more information/want to weigh in on what to write next.

If Even Death Were Grace: “we begin in the dark/and birth is the death of us,” Anne Carson, “antigonick.” Anthony Stark, son of Howard Stark, Titan of the Forge, and Maria Carbonell, Titaness of Family and the Hearth, God of Invention, finds himself like Iphigenia, a sacrifice—a pawn—to placate the furies of other deities, for transgressions he didn’t commit. Nevertheless, he holds his chin up and walks the path to Hel, averting a war and agreeing to a marriage both. Better this than the alternative. Frostiron, retelling of Persephone and Hades (at least inspired by) with Tony in the place of Persephone and Loki as Hades.

I’m Not Playing God: (All this time, I’ve been playing human.) Frostiron, ThorBruce. Tony Stark walks out of the abandoned bunker in Siberia having awakened, realizing he was a god born to walk with humans. Rewriting from about the end of Ragnarok to Endgame.

I Hear You Whisper underneath Your Breath/I Hear You Whisper You Have Nothing Left: Tony wakes from nightmares of a life he can hardly imagine, a life where he’s left behind in a freezing bunker by an enemy wearing Steve Rogers’ face. Loki tries to comfort him, to distract him from these visions, but they become harder and harder to ignore—until something has to give. Frostiron.

Desiring More Yet: Harley Keener is always hungry, always starving, always looking for the next thing to drive his teeth into. He burns through ideas, through petty lovers, through inventions and motivations and addictions, looking for something—anything—that will satisfy him. He was hungry before leaving Rose Hill, his hunger driving him to New York, and he's still hungry even now, even cared for and loved by Tony and Pepper, even in this place that was supposed to be everything that he wanted. Perhaps it was some kind of idle dream, expecting thing new place to be all that he wanted, all that he needed.It did, at least, provide more distractions from his hunger than Rose Hill, Tennessee did. Peter Parker is content with what he has. Most of the time, at least. Sure, sometimes he's a little lonely—but Aunt May, Ned, MJ, Tony, Pepper, they're all there for him, just a phone call or a text away at their farthest. Sure, sometimes he carries this guilt from not doing enough, not being enough, failing people—but he's Spiderman, and he can't afford to get too down, because he's got other people counting on him. He pulls through. Sure, sometimes, the night is so big and dark and he feels like it's so empty it's going to swallow him whole, but Karen's in his ear all night, keeping him going. He's fine. Really. Maybe he's not as fine as he wants to be. Parkner.

One-Part Sadness, Two-Parts Tragedy: a Harley Keener character study told in three parts: the first is his time in Rose Hill, the second his transition from Rose Hill to NYC with Tony and Pepper’s help, and the third NYC post-Endgame. Major character death, no happy ending.

Warfare and a Man at War: a Tony Stark character study that will be a series, beginning with Warfare and a Man at War, followed by Of Gods and Men and concluding with In Hope and Fear. Warfare and a Man at War will focus on human conflict, the struggles of human war and its effects. Of Gods and Men will be the introduction of aliens and Other threats, justified paranoia, and how one fights an outmatched battle to win. In Hope and Fear will conclude the series; it will be the end results, the conclusion, what happens to civilians once the threat is “gone.”

Brinesoaked Bodies: mermaid!au. Chapter titles: “Left Broadside onto Breaking Seas;” “The Black Hurricane;” “Worn by Winds on Every Sea;” “The Whole Uproar of the Great Sea Fell Silent;” “Serenity that Calms the Weather;” “Brinesoaked Bodies.”

Insensible Shades: a Rapunzel/Tangled au meets Orpheus/Eurydice. Harley is the stolen child of King Anthony and Queen Virginia. Peter, a thief/vigilante dubbed “Spiderman,” is on the run from the kingdom’s guards—a misunderstanding, he insists—and comes across a tower. He takes Harley to see the lanterns, initially rather unwillingly, only to accidentally drag Harley into the mess of his non-legal affairs. Peter sacrifices himself to save Harley; Harley, in turn, becomes like Orpheus and travels to Hel to trade for Peter. Parkner, angst with a happy ending.

Boyfriend Clothes: Harley Keener lives in the same dorm as his friend, Peter Parker. They aren’t the closest—Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones definitely take up more of Peter’s time than Harley does—but they share physics and engineering courses, and both work as personal interns for Tony Stark—which is kind of code for Tony pseudo-adopting the young geniuses. Harley’s best friend is Shuri. She laughs at how Harley gushes over Peter—so long as he isn’t around. In turn, Harley teases Shuri for how she stammers around MJ. They’re both disaster gays. One night, Harley sees Peter walking to/from the bathroom (or something similar in the dorm) in pajama bottoms (shorts, which barely come past the shirt he’s wearing over them) and a giant fleece button down. It reached down almost to his mid-thigh and hung off his shoulder a little, the top button undone so the shirt was open to about his mid-sternum. Harley took this as obvious evidence that Peter now had a boyfriend (maybe even staying in his room that very night) and had to get to the bottom of it; he had to at least know who Peter was with—if only for the purposes of moving on. Parkner, college!au, no powers, silly fluff & humor, shenanigans.

Untitled #1: In order to keep the Time Stone from Thanos, Stephen Strange liquefies it (the way that the Reality Stone becomes Aether) and places it inside the only one on Titan who has withstood an infinity stone before: Tony. Thanos retreats temporarily to plan again; Tony must learn to use his newly-gained magic before he returns in order to save the universe.

Untitled #2: Disturbances occurring in the magical “ley lines” or Circumstances lead to Stephen investigating the multiverse; the disturbances aren’t coming from within this universe, or perhaps even any specific universe. They seem to be coming from all universes and none of them at the same time; it’s the roots of Yggdrasil, shaking with anticipation for whatever is on its way. A horror lurks in the void between Yggdrasil’s roots, and Stephen has to locate and banish it. Frostironstrange, Ironstrange, multiple universes, alternate timelines, horror/lovecraftian horror.

Untitled #3: Space pirates. The Ironfam (Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce, Peter, Harley, Morgan) are on the run from the imperial rule of the SHIELD system upon Tony, Rhodey, and Bruce discovering the way their military employers maintain and gain power. They’re pursued by a small task-force (Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Sam; Phil is their handler) from SHIELD and the Winter Soldier, a ship from the HYDRA system (once a colony of SHIELD which revolted and is now in the throes of a Reign of Terror, French revolution style) commandeered by a (brain-washed) captain proficient at hiding his ship using comets and ice rock fields. (The Winter Soldier is captained by James Barnes, a spy sent by SHIELD to keep an eye on HYDRA, only to fall into their hands.) The Winter Soldier has commands to capture Tony, Rhodey, and Bruce for their military & scientific knowledge. Yggdrasil is a system far enough from SHIELD and HYDRA that neither know of it; it’s ruled by Odin, king of Asgard and conqueror of Jotunheimr, Vanaheimr, Alfheim, Muspell, Svartalfheim, Niflheim, and Nidavellir. Loki was taken from Jotunheimr when it was the last planet to be subdued by Asgard, being the furthest planet from the system’s star; Odin intends on making Loki the ambassador for the Jotuns, knowing that they still mourn the loss of their prince. Loki doesn’t take this well when he finds out; his mother Freyja helps him to flee. Odin sends Thor after him to capture him “on grounds of treason.” Stephen Strange flees the Sanctum Sanctorum System when his planet, Kamar-Taj, is invaded by the rapidly-spreading empire Dormammu. The Ancient One had been grooming Stephen for taking her position as the protector of Kamar-Taj once she had stepped down, but Kaecilius, a jealous pupil of hers, aided Dormammu in infiltrating Kamar-Taj’s defenses as what he saw as retribution for being looked over for the position. The Ancient One, worried for the fate of the people she protects (not necessarily governs, though almost every government on Kamar-Taj recognized her as an influential power), sent Stephen away, having one of her trusted advisers, Wong, take him from the system. Kaecilius hears of the plot to sneak Stephen off the planet before the Dormammu forces could invade, and he attempts to prevent their escape. This fails, but Stephen does gain the favor of the Cloak of Levitation in this fight. Stephen and Wong escape, bringing the Cloak. Stephen intends on someday returning to rid Kamar-Taj of Dormammu rule, but he has a lot to learn from Wong and the universe first. All of these plotlines intersect, threading through, around, and with one another. Polycule: Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce. Eventual additions of Frostironstrange and ThorBruce

Untitled #4: sick!fic; I have the list of headcanons/ideas here. Parkner. Cute & fluffy, featuring trans Peter with an unidentified but minor sickness and Harley being a good boyfriend.

Untitled #5: Stardust!au. Part One: Tony Stark leaves Wall to explore the land beyond it which beckons him, but only for a short time, with people depending on him back home. He falls for an imprisoned fae, attempts to free him, but ultimately fails and must return to Wall. Not long after, the watcher of the wall brings him a child in a wicker basket named Harley. Part Two: Eighteen years later, Harley Keener is infatuated with a girl named Victoria. He, trying to win her hand over her other suitor, E.J., promises to bring her a star that they see falling from the sky. He expects something like a precious stone; he, instead, meets Peter. They get dragged into an adventure running from star-eating warlocks, meeting lightning-catching pirates—who always make sure to dock frequently, so their captain can see his alchemist spouse—and a wild scramble for a throne that seems to have no viable heir. (Whether the fae is Loki or Stephen, I haven’t yet decided. Weigh in if you have a preference.) Parkner, ThorBruce, either Frostiron or Ironstrange.

Beyond these, I have my NaNoWriMo story (rough hands//soft hearts) and my Clint Barton Bingo card.

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 8: Cold Cybernetic Eyes

Summer 796/487. The Empire reels in the aftermath of Yang’s successful takeover of Iserlohn, opening up opportunities for Reinhard. The sinister Oberstein, having escaped from Iserlohn by the skin of his teeth, makes a proposal to Reinhard. Despite Kircheis’s trepidations, Reinhard accepts, and trades favors with the Kaiser: Instead of occupying one of three newly empty seats at the head of government (abandoned for reasons of dishonor following Iserlohn’s defeat), all Reinhard wants is for Oberstein to be pardoned for his desertion, freeing him up to be Reinhard’s new staff officer. Finally, Kircheis has a flashback that’s so romantic he surely would rather we had stayed out of his head for once. Sorry for the intrusion, Kircheis!

Oberstein

Oberstein is the most fun to have at parties.

In her episode 7 post, Rebecca introduced us to Oberstein’s cold pragmatism as it applies to matters of war. In episode 8, we learn how this aspect of Oberstein’s personality (to the extent that he has one) reacts when exposed to something that can’t be reasoned with: love.

Oberstein, it turns out, has goals. Having grown up with a congenital disability in a society founded on violently ableist principles—as Oberstein explains, the first kaiser of the Goldenbaum Empire would have had him killed at birth—he has a perfectly rational desire for treasonous revenge on a large scale. I’m serious: I’ve made it pretty clear that I can’t stand Oberstein, but his ambitions are noble. Problems arise, however, when he starts going after those noble ambitions, because Oberstein is seemingly only capable of acting in the most Machiavellian way imaginable, at all times.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Following his desertion from Iserlohn, Oberstein arrives in Reinhard’s office and asks to speak to him alone. When Reinhard counters that they already are alone, despite Kircheis’s presence, Oberstein doesn’t let the matter drop. This leads to the following telling exchange:

Of course Reinhard and Kircheis aren’t equals in military rank, so Reinhard is talking about something different here. Or, he’s talking around it—but in a way where he knows Oberstein knows exactly what it is he’s talking around.

This has always struck me as being reminiscent of “spousal privilege”—Reinhard is telling Oberstein that he keeps nothing from Kircheis, and will not agree to keep anything from him. Also, Bratty Reinhard is my fav.

A quick and only sort of relevant note on Reinhard’s language here: Like the conversation between Rubinsky and his aide in episode 5, Reinhard uses ambiguity here as a cloak that works both in-universe and on a meta level, directed at the viewer. He never says “Kircheis and I are romantic partners”—that would be unacceptable in the homophobic Goldenbaum Empire (we learn later that gay people were another demographic “cleansed” by the founding Kaiser), and would prevent LoGH itself from continuing to “pass” as heteronormative.

But the frank, almost confrontational way Reinhard acknowledges the subject (“Don’t you know that?”) and his aggressively casual body language suggest that he’s just on the edge of saying it explicitly, and knows he’s taking a risk by riding that line. He also knows he’s powerful enough to take this kind of risk—albeit in a carefully measured way. This whole conversation is an amazing Gay Power Play and I love it.

Anyway, back to Oberstein, who absolutely does not understand why Reinhard would ever unfairly privilege one person over another in the workplace:

Oberstein does not experience a full range of emotion—it’s part of what makes him such a good strategist, because he can easily see the most efficient path to whatever outcome will result in fewer lives lost. His vision isn’t clouded by complicated factors like emotional attachment or personal bias. He sees people as numbers: More talented people (and here “talented” is defined as someone who is instrumental for Oberstein’s Most Efficient Path) are worth more, but generally speaking one person is just as valuable as another. 100 people dead is worse than 1 person dead, with exceptions made only, again, for talent that can be put to utilitarian use.

And, as I’ll be saying a lot, Oberstein is kind of right, strictly in an amoral sense. But most of us, like Reinhard, don’t think that way. We all have people who mean more to us than what Oberstein would decide they’re “worth.” And this is why Reinhard’s relationship with Kircheis—in and out of the workplace—completely baffles Oberstein.

And make no mistake: Oberstein is totally right that Reinhard plays favorites with Kircheis. Of course he does! They’re boyfriends!

When it comes to Kircheis, Reinhard doesn’t act rationally. Sure, we know that Kircheis is incredibly talented, but his talent isn’t why Reinhard keeps him at his side and prioritizes him over his many other more-accomplished admirals. Reinhard does this because he loves him. Along with that love comes implicit trust—Reinhard knows there’s literally nothing Oberstein could tell him that he would feel unable to share with Kircheis—and a desire to be close. Like Kircheis’s decision to follow Reinhard into the military, Reinhard could give any number of well-reasoned arguments for why he grants Kircheis special privileges, if he felt like it. (And he doesn’t ever feel like it.) But the real reason Reinhard does this is because he wants to. It can’t be explained with logic, which means Oberstein can’t explain it. And that really gets under his skin.

Reinhard and Kircheis

Kircheis is not happy about Reinhard’s decision to hire Oberstein. He is not happy AT ALL.

This gif breaks my heart but I can’t stop watching it; please send help.

It makes sense: In many regards, Kircheis and Oberstein are opposites. Oberstein doesn’t understand the concept of one person being of particular, sentimental value; Kircheis has built his entire life around devotion to one person, for sentimental reasons. Oberstein believes that ends can always justify the means; Kircheis feels guilt over every death that results from his actions, however indirectly. That said, Kircheis’s moral compass is far from entirely steady: Reinhard’s well-being and continued success matter more to him than almost anything else—Kircheis kills for Reinhard on the battlefield, and has been nonjudgmentally covering for his more morally questionable decisions since childhood. Oberstein, who would never make exceptions like that, might as well be a different species.

But Reinhard needs Oberstein, or he thinks he does, partly because Kircheis could never orchestrate the sorts of devious plans that come naturally to Oberstein—and that Reinhard is convinced will be necessary in order to conquer the universe.

I’d bet money that what Reinhard stops himself from saying here is something to the effect of “I need someone who’s willing to do things you would/could never do.”

And regardless of Reinhard’s intentions, he has clearly driven a wedge between himself and Kircheis. It’s frustrating to watch because, given Kircheis’s moral relativity, he would probably come around on Reinhard’s reasoning if given the chance. But just like he sees Annerose as more powerful than she actually is, Reinhard sees Kircheis as softer than he actually is. I think Reinhard’s instinct here is to protect Kircheis from the darker side of the task they’ve set for themselves, and also, of course, to hide an aspect of himself that he worries Kircheis would find distasteful, or disappointing.

This last bit is especially sad, because as should be obvious by now, Kircheis doesn’t love Reinhard despite his flaws: He just loves Reinhard. If only Reinhard had more faith in that fact.

Poor Reinhard.

Kircheis leaves Reinhard alone with his excellent wine and almost fails to stomach a perfunctory salute in Oberstein’s direction as Oberstein quite literally replaces him in Reinhard’s office. If Kircheis feels jealousy here (another irrational emotion!), and the framing of this scene certainly suggests that he does, it’s because Oberstein is obviously fulfilling some need of Reinhard’s that Kircheis is unable to, at least to Reinhard’s mind. My guess, however, is that Kircheis’s predominant feeling here is simply one of foreboding: Reinhard cutting himself off from Kircheis even a little is a new thing for them (see the “spousal privilege” moment above), and Kircheis, as I’ve covered at length, really fucking HATES OBERSTEIN.

No, the relationship between Reinhard and Oberstein never becomes romantic, so please put that cursed thought out of your mind before I do it for you.

And with that, we’re back in another of Kircheis’s flashbacks, this time with a generous helping of lube smeared directly on the camera, courtesy of the DVD remasters. Thanks for that, remasterers, really...

The Teen Years

This flashback is basically just one scene, but it’s incredibly dense, and incredibly gay. Let’s dive in.

On their way back from a visit to Annerose, a 15/16-year-old Reinhard and Kircheis run into a rapist (of noble birth) threatening a young woman (a commoner) in a back alley. Reinhard attempts to bash the rapist’s head in before Kircheis can grab his hand and drag him a safe distance away from the scene where, like before, they tumble down a hill together.

One thing to keep an eye on (ha) throughout this flashback is Kircheis’s gaze. In my episode 4 post, I talked about how drawn Kircheis is to Reinhard, and that’s on full display here.

Reinhard and Kircheis proceed to have a conversation that is ostensibly about corruption in the Goldenbaum Empire—specifically, in an echo of Oberstein’s purported reasons for wanting to overthrow the Empire five-ish years later, Reinhard’s hatred of the fact that some people are valued more highly than others just because of how they were born. But, like so much in LoGH, there’s a lot more going on here than the surface-level reading.

I love Reinhard’s open, vulnerable expression here. It’s something we almost never see, but when we do, it’s always directed at Kircheis.

For the duration of this scene, all of Reinhard and Kircheis’s movements and facial expressions are unambiguously romantic. So is the cinematography and, frankly, so are most of the words. In fact, if you want to try a fun exercise, go through and mentally replace every mention of overthrowing the Empire with “I’m gay.” Literally nothing else has to change for it to make sense—up to and including Reinhard’s frustration with imperial narrow-mindedness.

Here the camera, which has been claustrophobically tight on Reinhard and Kircheis’s faces, zooms out momentarily to show us how close they’re sitting to one another, and how unnecessary that is in such an open space.

Reinhard and Kircheis are sitting practically on top of each other, leaning their faces in close, and talking in hushed and urgent tones about subjects that have been forbidden by the society in which they live. Reinhard is talking explicitly about the fact that he wants to transgress against these societal constraints; Kircheis is terrified of getting caught having this conversation, but never disagrees with Reinhard, only leans in further, excited. This is such a classic “coming out” scene it’s almost cliché.

This shot of Reinhard and Kircheis leaning in for what is almost a kiss still takes my breath away every time I see it. Kircheis doesn’t even bother to close his mouth, the poor thing.

But even though this flashback is practically screaming its queer subtext into a megaphone, it’s still a bit more complicated than some of the other scenes we’ve excavated for hidden nuance, because the surface reading isn’t incorrect, it’s just incomplete. Reinhard, after all, really does want to overthrow the Empire; that’s not just code for “I’m gay.” The intimate body language and double-entendres don’t invalidate a superficial interpretation of the scene, they just build on it.

In a way, we’re watching two conversations: one literal, about overthrowing the Empire; and one metaphorical, about Reinhard’s sexuality and—more obliquely—Kircheis’s as well. It’s a very economical use of airtime.

It’s also worth noting a key difference between this scene and its earlier parallel in episode 4, which has to do with someone whose name hasn’t come up in a while: Annerose. Actually, it’s the fact that her name hasn’t come up in a while that differentiates this scene from the other one. When Reinhard originally invited Kircheis to come with him to military school, he said it was to gain enough power to rescue Annerose, and Kircheis thought about Annerose’s request to him before he agreed to go. Now, five or so years later, despite literally just having come from a visit to Annerose in her place of captivity, neither boy brings her up even once during what is basically an evolution of the same conversation.

At 15 or 16, Kircheis is a lot more sure of himself and his desires than he was at 10. There’s no question in his mind, at least, about why and for whom he is continuing to follow Reinhard. He still does a mental check-in with himself before taking Reinhard’s offered hand, but the only voice he listens to this time is his own.

Even without the knowledge that eventually this stance is used to signify romance between at least one other (hetero) couple in LoGH, this cross-body handhold only just barely passes as straight.

So, given the physical intimacy and emotional vulnerability and double-entendres pervasive throughout this flashback, what actually happened that night, in addition to a conversation about treason? My read is that Reinhard and Kircheis consummated their relationship in some way that was a lot less symbolic than what we saw. Every detail of this flashback is conveying to us that we're seeing the night of their first kiss, and this is LoGH, so trust those details. They kissed (at least).

That he’s actually remembering their first kiss explains the moment above, when Kircheis comes out of his reverie and uses unapologetically romantic language that is mirrored, unsubtly, in the cinematography.

And so we return to a less blissful present, where Reinhard and Kircheis, five years later, are still looking up at the stars, but not together.

Stray Tidbits

I have no idea why this random-ass scene is so beautiful, but I’m not complaining.

Worldbuilding note: At the beginning of episode 8, we actually get some straightforward backstory about the origins of the Empire and the Alliance. So here's some exciting new information: The first year in the Alliance's calendar was in our 2801. That means *does some calculations* episode 8 takes place in 3597, apparently. Damn!

[sapphic-quarian]

Bioware and wlw

(No pics since I’m on mobile..booo) So, we’ve all probably seen Cora Harper at this point. And she is pretty! She worked with asari commandos! She’s a romance option! Yay! But there’s one thing I’m wondering (besides her possible relationship to the Illusive Man). Is she just a romance just for BroRyder, or can SisRyder romance her too? Considering Bioware’s history with characters like her, she probably can’t. Now, going just by appearances and the little we know about her, Cora seems queer. She’s got that whole “shaved side” look that screams “butch” (not trying to say all wlw are butch or all girls that look like that are wlw, Cora’s appearance is just similar to stereotypical perceptions of a lesbian.) She is also connected to the asari, which are a LITERAL RACE OF BISEXUAL WOMEN. But let’s look at wlw in bioware’s past games.

I’m gonna start with Jack, cause I played ME2 recently and feelings about Jack are fresh in my mind. Jack is a badass. The galaxy’s strongest biotic, a master criminal, and also a bisexual woman. “But Kate,” you cry, “Jack was only a romance option for male Shep!” Yes, yes she was. But if you talk to Jack about her criminal past, she mentions a couple she used to “share a bed with.” So Jack has canonically had a relationship with a woman. A poly relationship with her and man, but still. And let’s take a look at Jack’s appearance. Like Cora, she has masculine look to her, with the shaved head and bound breasts. Jack would not be out of place at a gay bar. And yet, she’s still presented as exclusively heterosexual, and rebuffs a female shep’s advances.

And, going back to Bioware’s early days, their very first non-heterosexual romance, is Juhani, from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Juhani is a “romance”, but her feelings towards a female PC are only vaguely referenced in one conversation, as opposed to the fleshed-out romances male and female PCs get with Bastilla and Carth, respectively. Now, this has a simple explanation. This game was co-developed with LucasArts. George Lucas was vehemently against any queer characters in Star Wars, and had his fair share of complaints about Han/Luke fanfics back in the day (they published gay fanfic in magazines! Respect.) So Juhani’s treatment is more the best Bioware could do while still meeting LucasArt’s wishes than intentional portrayal of f/f relationships as meaningless.

And then we come to the asari! Everyone loves the asari right? It’s a race of sexy blue bisexual women! While I could write a whole other meta on the asari and femininity, right now I’ll focus on their sexuality. Liara T'Soni, in Mass Effect 1, is the only bisexual romance, being available to both genders of Shep. But the femshep version has one big difference. Liara assures Shepard that their relationship is okay, because asari are a monogendered, female-presenting race. She’s basically saying “I’m not REALLY a woman, so it’s totally not gay if we kiss each other.” When i heard that, I went back and romanced Kaidan instead. I did not need to go through this feeling like my sexuality was being invalidated. And Samara in Mass Effect 2 is no better. While both genders of Shepard are rejected when attempting to romance her, Samara serves as a weird cautionary tale-thing to asari. She was the product of a marriage between two asari, and she married another asari who also had two asari parents. Their daughters were asari afflicted with a genetic condition, known as Ardat-Yakshi, that caused them to consume their partner’s nervous systems when they mated. Two of her daughters agreed to basically become prisoners-slash-nuns, but one of them escaped. Samara’s loyalty mission involves you tracking the third daughter down, and killing her. Morinth, the third daughter, is a textbook example of the perception of wlw as predatory. She’s literally a space vampire in a leather catsuit. You find a journal from her latest victim, a girl named Nef, and she describes how Morinth seduced her, implies Morinth convinced her to take drugs, and eventually killed her. Once you find Morinth, you then have to seduce her. Then, her mother kills her, or you recruit her. If you recruit her, she flirts with Shepard and you can eventually sleep with her. Of course, your nervous system melts. The idea of the Ardat-Yakshi only being born through a union of two asari makes no sense from an evolutionary point of view. In their home world, asari are the only sapient species, therefore it makes no sense to have breeding with other species being a safer option. The only way it would make sense is if they evolved alongside another sentient species. Basically, asari are all feminine, and they are discouraged from beginning and given consequences for having a relationship with another asari. The idea that cross-species relationships are healthier kind of gives off the “a child with two moms can’t develop well argument.” Then we move to Kelly Chambers. Kelly is your yeoman in Mass Effect 2. Basically, she tells you when your squadmates want to talk to you and when you have mail. She’s also the closest thing the game has to a same-sex romance. Kelly’s pan, and she’ll take all kinds. She frequently gushes about how attractive the alien members of the crew are, and Shepard can lightly flirt with her throughout the game. At a certain point, you can invite Kelly to Shepard’s cabin for dinner. A brief scene of her dancing for Shepard and cuddling ensues, and that’s it. No achievement, no other conversations, nothing. It doesn’t even conflict with existing romances. You can be romancing someone and still invite Kelly upstairs. Her only function, besides informing you about who you need to talk to and that brief moment, is being dissolved by the Collectors if you don’t come for the crew right after they’re taken. She plays a smaller role in the third game, where you can either get her killed, convince her to change her identity, or convince her to change her identity and start a relationship, which only adds a few conversations and the inability to romance anyone else. Then, there’s Samantha Traynor. Samantha’s a lesbian and the Normandy’s comm specialist in Mass Effect 3. She serves the same purpose as Kelly in Mass Effect 3 (informing you about mail and missions) except she can be romanced only by a female Shepard, and she has a full, fleshed out romance. My only complaint about Traynor is that she should have been introduced earlier. She was a good character and I would have liked to see her in more than one game. Now, we go to Bioware’s other cash cow franchise: Dragon Age. Specifically, Dragon Age Origins. Our female love interest for a female Warden is Leliana, a spy-turned-nun. Admittedly, Leliana is a pretty good character in terms of representation. She’s not predatory or overly violent in terms of our setting. However, there’s her former mentor, Marjolaine. Marjolaine embodies the predatory, manipulative wlw stereotype, as shown when she had a relationship with the sixteen-year-old Leliana. Marjolaine’s age is not stated, but she is older than Leliana by a good amount seeing as she had been married once before meeting Leliana. She groomed Leliana into becoming a bard, which in Dragon Age is a spy who can also double as an assassin. She then betrays Leliana and frames her for treason. Later, when Leliana asks the Warden to check up on Marjolaine, Marjolaine plays the victim, and tries to convince the Warden Leliana is not to be trusted. In Dragon Age II, we have two bisexual female characters, Isabella and Merrill. Both are great characters with facets and unique flaws. Honestly, there’s nothing negative to say about them as bisexual women. In Dragon Age Inquisition, we have a trio of lesbian characters. Sera is an elf who’s part of a vigilante group called the Friends of Red Jenny. While Sera is on your side, if a female elf inquisitor tries to pursue a romance with her, it gets a little difficult. Sera berates the inquisitor for being “too elfy”, and at one point breaks off the relationship if they don’t admit the eleven gods were demons. None of the other romances have something like this, where one choice can ruin the relationship, so why does Sera’s romance get it? There’s also Celene and Briala. Celene is the empress of Orlais, which is Dragon Age’s equivalent to France. There’s no other way of putting this, so I’m just gonna say it. Celene is a racist manipulative bitch. She oppresses the elves of Orlais, hurls racist insults towards her handmaiden and lover, Briala, and actually had Briala’s parents killed to maintain her grip on the throne. So, yeah, not a nice lady. But what’s the happy ending of the segment she and Briala appear? Getting them back together! Briala had left her after she did nothing for her people, the elves, and because she couldn’t take Celene’s abuse anymore. I will give Inquisition this, it’s bisexual women, Harding and Josephine, are better written. And in Dragon Age II and Inquisition, last but not least, there’s Cassandra Pentaghast. She’s only available to a male Inquisitor in Inquisition. However, depending on how far you take it, she actually can gain approval from a female Inquisitor’s flirting. “But Kate,” you say again, “Cassandra probably just think’s the Inquisitor’s joking and rejects you when you go too far!” we see in her romance with a male Inquisitor that’s she’s a romantic at heart. Flowers, candles, poetry and all that mushy stuff. She’s probably rejecting a female Inquisitor if she flirts too much, cause she wants a fairytale romance. Also, have you seen Cassandra? For the same reasons as Jack and Cora, that’s a gay if I ever saw one. So that’s why I don’t have too much hope in Cora being a bi romance. Just related to Bioware’s track record of including wlw. We can still dream tho. (In case someone asks why I didn’t include mlm in this meta too, as they arguably receive worse treatment in Bioware games 1. I am not a man attracted to other men, so I would feel like I was talking over actual mlm, and 2. This is already long enough. This was just supposed to cover Cassandra and Jack but I got carried away.)

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Fairy Tail S7 Part 1

Seems like they’re really amping up the romantic tension this season 

And also the drama?? Cat murder seems unnecessary

“Why did the Gawkers tag along?” I love the Gawkers they are my babies

“I took the liberty of eavesdropping” Arcadios is not really very good at introductions

Admitting to kidnapping and stealing will not endear you to people

They can’t really be surprised that there’s no actual justice system in a monarchy

Time travel seems like a terrible idea for more reasons than I can list

I love Gray’s finals outfit of course he has to wear a sleeveless shirt and arm sleeves

“U mad bro?” They’re using memes as dialogue lmao

Guild master wisdom:

Makarov: What’s Gray’s strategy

Mavis: All balls no brains

“You shouldn’t be able to move right now” “Don’t tell me what to do” I love Gray Fullbuster in immeasurable amounts

Fucking hell he stole Rufus’s feathered hat what a man

“Trying to be sexy for that long really takes it out of you” if this show has proved anything it’s that the best way to be sexy is by accident

“Can’t say I’m a fan of this sitting on the sidelines garbage” Lucy <3

“You’re the least beautiful thing here” I think Pinocchio the Garbage Knight wins that title

I love that when Natsu and Gray are attacked by each other’s elements they’re like ‘bitch pls my boi has been on this magic since day 1′

Lucy, without any weapons or ability to use her magic: Let’s punch him

“I’m so grown up I’m actually an apparition” same Mavis same

“Why do you run from me?” he asked, while swinging two scythes violently in succession 

Shout-out to when Gray and Loke defeated Wendy using sour fruit although it was much cuter between guildmates 

I aspire to be as committed to my terrible decisions as Arcadios imagine literally wading through hot lava to make a mistake 

LION BOYFRIEND TO THE RESCUE

“Reflect upon your sins and despair” Calm down Sir Guyliner

Yukino must think Lucy has a polyamorous relationship with all her spirits considering how often they hit on her

“Y’all must think I was born on the boat yesterday” The mixed idioms are kind of great

Stop touching Wendy’s mouth you creep

Fairy Tail guild members all talk about their super secret treasonous rescue mission in the middle of a public corridor 

“She underwent unimaginable pain at the hands of Jellal, so why does she protect him?” [Happy voice] Because they’re in loooove

I’m not sure what I hate more Minerva’s tactics or her eyebrows

I called that it would be Lucy since Jellal’s confrontation with her but I’m curious as to where Jellal has gone

“Not to brag, but we even got ourselves a spare” Natsu pls

“I’m a lightning god slayer” “That’s gonna make it embarrassing when you lose to a fairy” Adsdtjkhfgfkhg when Laxus reps Fairy Tail I weep

You’d think if Jellal of all people can manage to forgive Ultear she’d be a little more at peace but I guess they’re just the Guilt Squad

I hope Erza kills Minerva in the most painful way possible she is literally the Worst 

“You really need to get it together, Future Me” same Lucy same

I guess if you’re already committing treason you might as well go for broke

 “Gray and Lyon are both quite handsome fellows, I suppose,” Amazing even Yajima thinks he’s pretty

Laxus’s dialogue this entire arc has been amazing

Unbelievable Fairy Tail won the games through a staring contest

This is incredibly traumatizing for Lucy she literally watched herself die in her own arms

Why would you trust the word of a man whose character design is so clearly evil

In a plot twist that everyone saw coming, opening the portal to the past where dragons ruled was a bad idea

Seven Dragons, seven dragon slayers, I get it 

“He did make an extremely convincing argument,” he said, having had no screen-time during said convincing argument at all

Gray is finally gonna sit Juvia’s ass down and tell her he doesn’t want to date

“The world is as good as dead” Hisue is me every time I am faced with any challenge

JENNY TRIED TO SEDUCE A DRAGON

“A bit of advice: avoid the mouth end” I can’t believe Lahar and Doranbolt are flirting ghsdkjghkjghfhfh

“You won’t like the princess, because she’s really a man” ARCADIOS PLS

How can Natsu call Lucy “Fairy Tail’s resident flasher” when Gray exists

ERZA’S GARBAGE BOYFRIEND TO RESCUE YES BABY

“People and People, Dragons and Dragons, People and Dragons” is this an episode title or a Panic at the Disco album

Lmao @ Natsu’s dragon uncle this is not what I was expecting

How Not to Redemption Arc 101:

Ultear: I will never atone for all that I’ve done

Also Ultear: We must murder the teen before he commits a crime

“Nope, figured I’d just bring him with me” Sting pls

Well well well it’s Raven Tail oh how the turntables

“You’re feeling overwhelmed? Well this is a first” Dgjfkdghkfjhgkfjhgkl Jellal is flirting mid-battle this is everything I love

NO NO NO NOT GRAY LITERALLY ANYONE BUT GRAY HE IS THE ONLY PERSON I CARE ABOUT FUCK

Retrieve my lost happiness Ultear bring Gray back

MY BABY HE IS ALIVE AND I AM ALIVE AND I LOVE HIM

Hisue ought to realize that since she can’t fight she’s kind of only forcing the people around her to protect her 

“Was that us?” A reasonable conclusion when your enemy evaporates in golden light 

Erza and Jellal just making eyes at each other like ‘death battle and chill’

I’m happy Future Lucy is at peace although it’s sad that in her world that’s only because she and all her friends are dead 

Amazing Gray is already in his boxers my stripper son always saving me

I can’t believe that Freed is canonically in love with Laxus

Erza just got sister-zoned by Kagura amazing

SHE WAS KEEPING THREE CATS IN HER TITTIES ERZA PLS 

This battle for Yukino to join all the guilds is adorable I love it

Honestly I demand a post-battle makeout between Erza and Jellal

Oh no Meredy doesn’t know what happened to Ultear

Lmao @ Doranbolt yelling at the monarchy

“Be safe,” said Doranbalt, to a fugitive who hunts dark wizards for a living

Ultear is the old lady!!! Also poor Jellal and Meredy they’re having a rough time 

Gray carries the burden of everyone who has sacrificed their lives for him

Why did the ghost of the first master cross the road? To get to The Other Side

Rogue @ everyone: Fight me

I’m laughing at the Adventures of ADD Exceed

Gray and Juvia are so nice offering to help lost kittens find their way home

“So you strip in public professionally now?” Sfjgkhdkfjhgkdfgh

“I’d love to buy some sweets but first there’s someone I need to stalk” ERZA

Every girl in this show is a little gay for Erza

“I know we just met, but I’m thinking we should fight” I LOVE HIM

I bet Loke’s dream is going to be something dirty

“One flick of your finger is all I need” 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

I love that Gray is both constantly naked and criticizing people’s fashion choices

If the spiritual alter egos are turning their quirks into violence does that mean Loke is going to seduce people to death

Apparently he’s a misogynist knight [Leo voice] m’Lucy 

I want Levy, Yukino and Lucy to form Charlie’s Wizards

Natsu, slightly betrayed: I thought you were just being a bro

Is Gajeel gonna babysit because I can dig that

“This seems like an excellent spot for some man-on-man action” Elfman do you hear yourself

I can’t believe that Cana is playing Yu-Gi-Oh

They’re really playing up the partner dynamic between Juvia and Gray which is ironic because he literally died trying to dump her last arc

I am unexpectedly enjoying the duel segment a lot I guess it’s because I enjoyed YGO? 

I CNA’T BREATHE GRAY STOP DANCING

He’s figure skating I’m losing it “100 Gray spins” this is the most terrible and best thing I’ve ever seen 

“Goodbye, my sweet prince” Take a shot every time someone talks about how they’re in love with Gray and then die of alcohol poisoning he is cursed with a hotness he can never escape

I can’t believe that Gajeel is a squirrel

Panther Lily is embarrassed about being treated as a pet but he is Gajeel’s cat

Tbh the Spirit Beast is just a less intense version of the Ten Tails

I have lost my patience for filler on to plot we go

[buythesis-us-blog]

Childhood and Education

'Introduction\n give inment is an integral classify of piece behavior, show peak with the earliest babeishness. What we convey during the smell, this we testament turn over as a sack tabooledge ungenerous in baseb each(prenominal) club to live. Quality of the disembodied spirit is the result of the emotional stateing of training. However, to obtain the lineament culture, apart from the opportunities back up by the society, a exclusive should crap the conscious entrust for knowledge and command, which is ground at the peak of the gay clawishness.\nThis audition aims to agnise the common consequence of the puerility and importance of education in it. We will examine to understand and to identify the business office of the most of the essence(predicate) constructors of the pincerhood. Our research studies the squirt as a friendly person commensurate to lift the profit to the society.\nThe reconcile of our take aim is the squirthood as an primal breaker point of the valet de chambre conduct.\nThe object of the authoritative research ar youngsterren in their puerility design.\nMeaning and gimmick of the puerility\npuerility its a certain rate of flow of cartridge clip from the drive home of person gutter the puberty. The babyishness takes about 10% of the tot solelyy human life. Chris Jenks (2005) states, that in e preciseday military personnel the category of childhood is a totalizing imagination; it concretely describes a community that at almost at some time has everybody as it member. puerility is something which all big begins have come rather than a divergency betwixt forever separates bulk (Holloway and Valentine, 2000).\nDespite the point that the childs spirit is non completely organize in the childhood, in this bound back end be do an initial estimate of\n\nthe childs character and temperament. During this period of time, the child does not only mystify and develop physically, alone his character is formed. The slightest worry in the childhood frequently leads to psychological and physiological worrys of the individual in his self-aggrandizinghood. It is a critical period of life, which largely determines the succeeding(a) fate of man. crowd together and Prout (1997) discover, that the childhood is understood as a loving anatomical structure, as such it offer ups an interpretative frame for contextualizing the beforehand(predicate) years of human life.\nChildhood is a nifty time for everyone it is a of the essence(p) resource for establishing identity precisely because of its fluid materiality (Aitken, 2001). This is a period of life in which we ar protected from the bounteous worries. Fun games with dolls and piddling cars, echt happiness of walking with opposite children, all those elated moments atomic number 18 rescue in the ken of every person. During the childhood, children argon faced with the genuinely c ruelty and evil of the ara, they argon open to be sincere with the population and do not know how to wear the social masks. That is why, the memory of great moments from the childhood is bursting chargefully observed during the hearty life.\nThe very set uping of the children in this period depends from the adults, from their parents. The psychologists have found that from the very number 1 of the life child should be ring only by the familiar faces as it is formed the cosmopolitan idea of the pains of area and himself. For a child money box the end of his childhood and beginning of the adolescence it is very cardinal to feel love of the members of his maternal(p) house, parents, friends and acquaintances. Constantly moving, life story in a single-parent family, the death or divorce of the parents, treason of the friend and numerous other raft destroy the whole tone of st might and permanency in the childs consciousness.\nChildhood differs by a constant del usive of the adult world, the conceptive essential to be familiarized with it. Boys take over the adults war and girls try to imitate the very doctors and moms. The kids quickly indispensability to find adults and this winsome of behavior identifies children as active, creative, cap adequate to(p) look intoers who desire to be touch in their hold learning as part of a process that takes endue in and out of aim (Moss, 2008).\ntalking about the spacial construction of the childhood, it is very most-valuable to note that importance of the childs spacial sensation of the world effects his common discipline. As lamella (2004) indicates, childrens spacial ranges are so a harvest-time of constant sign of the zodiac negotiations with their parents. The spatial awareness is well volunteerd when the parents engender the children possibility to ask the environment freely. Children should learn the concept of space, mend and direction with the care of distinguishab le kinds of interactional games and activities. good turn of moment and concord of the world is a communicative act that is lettered and symbolic (Halliday, 2006).\n one(a) to a greater extent problem has to be lick by the parents is psychiatric hospital of the moral and psychological favorable mode within the family and hold back the full development of the child. Nature prefaces to a child great educational opportunities: expands of the childs horizons, forms the ability to compare and correlate, identifies patterns, solves conclusions. to a greater extent the children see and understand, talenteder and richer their destination is, they are more prepare to overstep with their friends and adults. Systematic note of the nature phenomena benefactors to radiation pattern gradually in the mind of the child the basics of world conception, also it allows a child to experience many a(prenominal) developmentally significant mold behaviors such as role quickening, cau se-effect actions, shaping play, etc. (Kirkby, 1989)\n\n everywhere the last decades of the chivalric centuries, the historical approaches to the childhood reconceptualized the whole essence of this term. Many of the issues that irritation contemporary studies of the childhood have a historical escape that elucidates and informs the present in a potent way (Kehily, 2010). accord to Zelitzers study (1985) the children started to be considered as the grand members of their families able to improve emotionally the parents life being. Steedman (1995) in his research evince a child as symbol of conventional tie of the adults childhood with the present life. Henry Mayhew (1861) in his book capital of the United Kingdom Labor and the capital of the United Kingdom Poor considers the childhood the most important part of the human life that cannot be stolen or mazed due to some social factors.\n humane theory of ainity is summarized in the footing of self-actualization, purpose a nd meaning in life and it determines the process of personal development of the child as a person discovering the laid-back sense of existence, the merit to be and to become a person. groundbreaking understanding of the childhood is changing in the ways that give up conventional authority of its struggling to clutch its new realities (Prout, 2005).\n fancy of the Childhood as an Integral fiber of Social reality\nThe childs position in society differs from that of the adult one, the discussion of childhood as a social construction goes to the heart of this interrogative sentence of meaning (Nybell, move and Finn 2009).\nThe child has no independence, he is ineffectual to defend his rights and difference of opinion for his interests. As a rule, the most important decisions about the life and development of the child take the adult. In society in that respect are groups in which the people are not able to look afterwards themselves and create conditions for a full-filled life. Together with the pink-slipped, the disabled, the elderly, the children are also include into such groups. Society-wide location towards children as an enthronisation rather than the comprehend of childhood as a period of life with its sustain demands and demands (Leigh, Gersch, Dix and Haythorne, 20012).\n\n real often the families need the governmental care in raise to prepare their children for the drill. The important places of the former(a) childrens education are the childrens centers go with by the heightsly-educated specialised teachers, which help to incur the childrens requirements for their possess modern development. in that location are different kinds of the childrens centers: federal, buck private or state made to provide the children with educational, health and nourishment serve. Centers help the parents in the process of understanding of their children and also its very not bad(predicate) preparation for the take aim that provides the kids wi th all kinds of cooperative services.\nAll children centers are well-structured with the specially knowing classrooms, where the children can study, play and develop their individual interest. The classrooms are bright colored and often separate for in the infants, toddlers and preschool age kids. close to all childrens centers have their proclaim gym and the tend for the outdoor activities. The social works of the centers provide the children with the professional care taking into the story the childrens difference in age, sex, etnithity or cultural characteristics.\nThe business relationship of the childrens centers begins in 1994 with the Congress cheers of the Educate the States Act, which defined the of import goal of school readiness campaign, which was by the year 2000 to make all brusk the Statesns to be ready for the learning process. The totality Start Amendments Act of 1994 provided the campaign of the supplying the poor and disadvantages children with the all required services needed for the school preparation. The Improving Americas Schools Acts helped many school institutions to help the disadvantages children whose parents are unemployed at their early childhood education.\nIn contrast to the early childhood education that covers almost fractional of the children, the school is the necessary institution. It means that all young people are provided and guaranteed with the fortune to graduate from high school. Role of the modern school is passing important, requiring the urgent essential solutions to the problem associated with the general democratization of the educational process, and the urgent need for real modify in the education of children.'

[hiddlesgirl]

SH 110: This World Inverted

I really liked this episode because I love the Alternate Timeline and the spin on the characters. Those were my favourite scenes although we did get some nice Luke and Simon scenes; and lovely scenes between Alec and Izzy. I just love the whole Alternate Universe.

Meliron tells Clary and Jace that the portal shard is from another dimension which is why it works differently than portals in their dimension. Portals can only transport you somewhere you have been before, but in the other dimension all you have to do is think of a person and it will take you to them which really helps clear up why Clary could see her mom, and Dot, using it. So by entering this other dimension Clary will be able to go through the portal and find Valentine, but she could lose herself in the process.

Luke and Alaric are in the Jade Wolf, Luke explains that he cannot just sit by when Clary needs help and he promised Jocelyn he would take care of her. Alaric reminds him that when he killed Theo he promised to take care of the pack and with the danger Valentine poses they need to know that they can rely on their alpha. I understand where Alaric is coming from, despite Luke’s family ties to Clary he needs to acknowledge and take responsibility as pack leader now too; he cannot sacrifice one for the other.

Simon enters the Jade Wolf stating that Raphael made him ambassador to the wolves, its clear that despite the temporary alliance between the vampires and the werewolves they are not keen on having Simon in their territory. Simon is getting another glimpse into the more complicated relationships between Downworlders and I love his comment about becoming ‘nerdferatu’, Luke makes it clear that even though there is a deep seeded dislike between the vamps and wolves it doesn’t change their relationship and Luke is still there for him. I really love Luke and this makes me love him more, he knows what it’s like to be rejected by your family for who you have become and how hard it is going to be for Simon, so despite what his pack may think he is going to be there for him like he has been since Simon was a child. I love their whole interaction, Luke is one of the few people who can understand what Simon is going through right now and have the patience to deal with him (unlike Raphael).

Clary enters the alternate dimension to come face to face with Valentine; she grabs a knife and demands to know where her mother is. Valentine laughs it off as a cosplay skit, I like watching the interaction between Valentine and Jocelyn; it helps you understand why she may have fallen in love with him to begin with. The whole scene is very sweet, Clary sees her moms art work and Valentine seems to be a very involved and caring parent; wanting to meet Clary’s new boyfriend. An advert on the TV shows Hodge, who runs his own Dojo, and Luke, who runs a rare bookshop (like he does in the books if I remember correctly, I haven’t read them but have seen some bits and pieces of information). It is an advertisement for Magnus Bane the tarot card reader, this brings Clary back to the moment and she remembers why she is here as she had been slipping into her alternate self. It is understandable that she would want to get lost in the moment, her mom is happy and painting, the dream version of her father is doting on her and it seems like a happy life.

Back in the real dimension Lydia arrests Izzy for treason which could lead for her being stripped of her runes and banished. Izzy accuses Lydia of hating Downworlders, Lydia replies that she is just following the law which is there to prevent Shadowhunters fighting other Shadowhunters; but that is precisely what is happening. With no other leads on Valentine or the Cup and an escaped suspect the Clave are clutching at straws so they target Izzy in an almost desperate attempt to be seen as taking action. I like Lydia but sometimes she can be blinded by her unflinchingly loyalty to the Clave and the law, she doesn’t see that what she is doing is pitching Shadowhunters against each other and causing a divide.

We are introduced to the alternate selves of Simon, Izzy, Alec and Jace; and they are ah-mazing. I love how they have out a spin on each character but they are still believable and recognisable as the ones we know and love. I love Izzy is a nerd, Sizzy (they looks so cute), Alec appears to be openly gay (YES) and hipster Jace is wonderful.

Simon and Luke are talking about the current situation and agree that Clary has shown that she is a strong leader, impressed with her ability to get the vampires and werewolves to work together; especially considering the dislike between the two groups. Simons reveals that he just wants to go home but Luke warns him that he can’t until he has his impulses under control; he knows what devastation a newborn Downworlder can do and he doesn’t want that to happen to Simon, he doesn’t wants Simon to have to live with something terrible on his conscious. His unstable emotions become clear when they are confronted by the IA Officer investigating Luke.

We meet alternate reality Magnus who is very different from the warlock we love, he has no makeup or jewellery and is wearing trousers and a cardigan; still looks gorgeous but I love stylish, expressive Magnus too much! We also meet Chairman Meow and Church whom I have heard a lot about, Chairman is adorable and Church is a grumpy ball of fluff, I hope we see more cats in the real world in the future. He reads tarot for Clary and reveals that secrets revealed could tear her relationship apart, which concerns her but she soon skips to the real matter in hand; finding the portal. Magnus, after being convinced she was telling the truth, reveals that he magic is dormant but luckily the portal shard jump starts it. I really love the moment where Clary says ‘usually you have a little bit more of a flourish to it’, I think Kat’s movements and expressions are very funny and I love their interactions in this episode.

Back in the institute Izzy admits to Alec that she helped Jace take the Mortal Cup; Alec had been aiming to use it to get Izzy cleared of the charges until he found it missing. Alec is very unhappy with Jace, that he has endangered not only the Shadow World but Izzy too by taking the Cup from the institute. He makes it clear that he is willing to do anything to get Jace and the Cup back to the institute; including using their parabatai bond to track him which is not only painful but weakens the bond which with how tense their friendship is at the moment is not a good thing. Izzy seems very concerned and tries to convince Alec to change his mind, she knows that despite what Alec is feeling right now he would regret it later if her permanently damaged their parabatai bond.

The whole scene where Simon pretends to be the demonic killer is hilarious, I love how Alberto/Simon acts that scene and the officer seems genuinely scared. I think it was a very clever way to get them off Luke’s back, clear him of suspicion so that he can focus on stopping Valentine.

I really like the alternate Jace, he is much more sensitive and open; I love the conversation between Jace and Valentine, it’s funny but believable. Jocelyn and Valentine, and Jace and Clary are very cute.

Lydia and Hodge try to get Alec to back out of using his parabatai bond to track Jace but he is adamant; you can understand his anger because Jace’s actions have led to his sister being arrested and the potential punishment is one of the worst things you could do to a Shadowhunter. Alec is very clouded by anger and resentment, not just towards Jace but his parents too so his decisions though rash seem plausible to him. However, I do think he oversteps by saying that Jace is dead to him; I think that he is too clouded by anger, resentment, jealousy, confusion and a sense of loss of control that he can only see what Jace has done wrong and now about the bigger picture and what the loss of their parabatai bond could mean for both of them. But he feels like he needs to do this to help Izzy, it is the best way that he can think of to put a stop to what is happening to her; he doesn’t want to lose her. While Jace is detracted by the pain causing by the tracking a demon gets through to the portal.

Okay, I absolutely love the malec scene in this episode; their roles are completely reversed but they still have chemistry. Alec is the one to openly check out Magnus and flirt with him, while Magnus is more reserved. Alec also uses the lines ‘to us’ and ‘playing hard to get, I love a challenge’ while Magnus uses the line ‘I gotta go’. I absolutely love that they swapped the lines; it’s a nod to the real dimension in a way that is believable for the alternate characters. I just adore this scene, despite the differences in the characters behaviour there is still the instant spark, chemistry and attraction. I would have loved to have seen how the alternate malec relationship would have unfolded and progressed.

I love the little interaction between Jace and Simon, and their secret handshake! It makes me ache more for Jimon friendship back in the real dimension, but I also love the interaction between Simon and Clary because it is so similar to the real dimension that it proves that some things don’t change. I also love the Sizzy moment.

Clary once again nearly slipped into her alternate self and it took Magnus showing her a bit of magic (a protection rune? I know it’s on Magnus’ walls and I think it was used when he was reinforcing the wards at the institute) to bring her out of it. As they leave the room you see her pause to look at her parents who are happy together, and again you can understand why she would want to stay there. Her parents are together, she is in a relationship with Jace, her friends are happy and they are safe.

At the police department after the IA office officially clear Luke of any suspicion we see a very undead Simon with a holey shirt emerge from the body bag smiling, clearly very happy with his performance. Luke and Alaric assure him that he is a friend to the werewolves now for helping get their alpha cleared of suspicion. I think that it was a bit of fun and a confidence boost that Simon needed right now, plus he now knows that while the werewolves may not like him they won’t be openly hostile.

In the alternate reality Clary and Magnus are trying to locate the portal (Magnus calls her Biscuit, I love this nickname so much) when poor Jace walks in and breaks up with Clary; which is of course when the demon finds them. Alternate Jace’s reaction to the demon is hilarious to say the least, kudos to Dom for playing it and to Kat for managing to keep a straight face. Jace comes through the portal and they kill the demon, but he also gets injected with demon venom. Before Clary and Jace disappear through the portal Magnus thanks her for bringing his magic back to him; then he closes the portal behind them to keep his world safe from demons.

Alec and Lydia arrive too late to the Seelie glade and return to the institute empty handed, Alec finds Izzy and confesses his failure. He admits that the parabatai bond is very weak, like a ghost; and he’s upset because Izzy will definitely have to face a trail. I really feel for Alec in this scene, he had pinned all his hopes for saving Izzy on being able to track Jace, now he has a weakened bond and Izzy still has to face a trail. He feels that he has totally failed in protecting her. Izzy tried to comfort him, she knew it was a long shot but appreciates the effort he has gone to in trying to help her. She is terrified of what is to come but doesn’t blame him for not being able to do anything.

We end with Clary and Jace returning to their reality; however Valentine is nowhere to be seen. When they here crashing and banging coming from a locker they open it to reveal Jace’s presumed dead father huddled on the floor. It will be interesting to see how they play out this storyline and the truth behind why Michael Wayland was being kept in Valentine’s storage locker.

Overall, I really liked this episode; I loved the alternate reality and think that all the actors did an amazing job with the alternate versions of their characters.