#i mean it's pretty fishy and the comment itself sounds pretty canned but

[yansurnummu]

hmm. has anyone else gotten an ao3 comment lately offering to do an art commission based on their fic?

I really can't tell if this is a real person or another weird bot

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.2

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

The BEAUTIFUL art pieces were done by @clownwry and @elishevart ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭❤️💋

ch.1 - ch.3

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was way more nervous than he was letting on.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

Ford would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Mabel’s company, but she was practically a stranger, and keeping a random girl in his house that was located in the middle of the woods was fishy and Ford couldn’t help but feel like it was illegal. But he couldn’t leave her out in the snow and send her on her way to find her home and family, so he decided to keep her warm or healthy, simply because it was the right thing to do.

But then she said she had no parents to call. Only a brother, who was lost, too. Ford can remember the old rule: If you’re lost, stay where you are until you are found. So he then decided that she could stay here until her brother found her, which should be by morning at the latest.

Still, he felt uneasy, so once Mabel was settled in front of the TV, Ford excused himself and went into the kitchen to make a phone call. There was only one man who would have better judgement in this situation than him.

The phone rang a few times. Ford checked his watch to make sure it was a reasonable time to call. It wasn’t Sunday, was it? But then the ringing stopped. “Howdy! This here Fiddleford McGucket.”

“Hey there, buddy.” Ford smiled to himself at hearing that cheerful voice. “How have you been?”

“Stanford Pines! Good t’hear from ya!” Fiddleford cheered. “M’just fine, just fine! How are ya?! Ya haven’t gotten eaten by monsters yet, have ya?” He laughed, making his old friend chuckle along.

“No no, I’m alright.” Ford almost brought up the reason he called, but then he remembered something very important to Fiddleford. “How are Emma-May and Tater?”

“OH! They’re doin’ great! We’re all very happy n’ doin’ well! Ya won’t believe how big Tate’s gotten since ya last saw him! He’s already crawlin’!”

“Wow, that's great to hear.” Ford sat in a chair at the kitchen table. “Has he said his first words yet?”

“No, not quite. Actually, he’s extremely quiet. Not a lot of baby-babble.” Fiddleford chuckled. “The doctor says that’s perfectly normal. Tate’s so smart, he’s reachin’ for specific colors n’ such, n’ ya can tell he’s thinkin’ a lot n’ knows what’s goin’ on, he just got nothin’ t’say.”

“I was very shy when I was young.” Ford commented casually. He didn't feel like mentioning why. “If Tate is anything like either of his parents he’s very intelligent.”

“Oh, he’s so much like both of us it’s scary. Ya know Emma-May, so clever n’ quiet n’ such. Tate’s got all that. But he already looks so much like me! But he’s got his mama’s hair! N’ Santy Claus brought ‘im this fun little fishin’ game where ya fish for plastic fish with a pole with a magnet on it, n’ he loves it! I can’t wait to take ‘im fishin’ when he’s big enough! Ya really outta give yourself a break n’ come down for a visit, he’d move to see his Uncle Ford again.”

Ford’s face felt hot. “Perhaps. Spring is when a lot of anomalies are active and breeding, so i would prefer not to miss that, but maybe I could visit for a weekend before that…”

“Well, no pressure, I won’t assume anythang until ya tell me to, just know there’s always a bed for ya here.”

“Thank you, Fiddleford. The same for you and your family. The clean air will do everyone some good.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Fiddleford sighed happily and perked up. “So! Whatcha callin’ for? Not that I’m not happy just t’chat, but ya never call.”

Ford laughed and shrugged to himself. “I suppose I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No need t’be sorry, Stanford, just wanna know what’s up.”

“Well, I was hoping to get your advice on something.”

“Shoot.”

“Um… well…” Ford rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tell him this. “I heard some unusual sounds outside today…”

“What kind of unusual sounds?”

“Cracks, like lightning. And some faint yelling.” Ford answered. “I thought it might be a tree branch or a new anomaly to catalogue, but when I opened the door a young girl was standing there in the snow with no coat.”

“Heavens! Is she alright?!”

“She’s okay, no frostbite. She was cold, but after sitting by the fire, drinking some hot chocolate, and changing into some dry clothes, she’s okay now.”

“Well, good.”

“So of course I brought her in. I tried to call her parents, she probably got lost playing…”

“Sure.”

“... but she says she doesn’t have any parents.”

“Oh.” Fiddleford sighed. “Oh. Now, wait, are ya sure she didn’t just say that so ya wouldn’t call?”

Ford chuckled and said, “I first thought that too, but she looked too sad to be lying.”

“Okay, I see. Does she got somebody ya can call?”

“She says she has a brother, but he was out there, too. So he is probably out there looking for her and therefore nowhere near a phone.”

“Fair enough, okay. So, I reckon y’all are waitin’ for him t’come ‘round.”

“Yup.”

“Well sounds to me like you’ve handled this all pretty well.” Fiddleford said confidently.

“You think so?” Ford asked. “I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m missing something. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Nonsense, buddy, you’re doin’ great.” Fiddleford assured. “Look here, ya can’t just leave a young gurl out in the snow t’try t’find her way home...”

“I agree.”

“... so ya really got one option n’ that’s t’keep an eye on her n’ let her in as a guest. N’ ya tried t’call, but nothin’. The best thang ya can do right now is be there for this lil’lady n’ just be kind t’her. N’ if nobody comes for her by mornin’, why don’t ya go into town n’ see if anybody knows her, then they can help y’all out.”

Ford nodded, then remembered that his best friend couldn’t see it, so he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“You’re welcome. N’ hey, are ya okay?” He asked seriously.

“Yes, yes I’m okay. I just want to make sure I do this right.”

“O’course. I understand. Ya want me t’come down there n’ give a hand?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Mabel will find her brother in the morning.”

“Mabel, huh? Well, if y’all don’t, please call me. N’ even if ya do find her brother, call me. Keep me updated.”

“I will. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Anytime, Stanford.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When Mr. Ford gave Mabel the remote for the old TV and went into the kitchen, she decided to use her awesome detective skills to figure out what year it was. If it was before Grunkle Stan lived here and opened the Mystery Shack, she must be pretty far back in time. But she had no way of knowing if it was 1999 or 2005 or the 50s.

The TV was old, but so was Grunkle Stan’s in her time. So Mr. Ford could have had this TV for a long time and didn’t want to replace it. 

Okay, so when was the TV made? Mabel didn’t know. Dipper would have known.

Okay, Grunkle Stan mentioned watching TV when he was a kid once or twice. So at least Mabel was when Stan was a kid, okay. 

Mabel turned the TV on and it was in color. Okay, so she wasn’t too far back in time. But the TV was playing a commercial for clear skin. The picture was gritty and all the people in it had puffy hair and long socks and oh my god was that woman wearing legwarmers?! Mabel grinned at seeing her favorite fashion on TV, but then her face dropped. When was she?

She tapped her chin and tried to think of how to know the date without being suspicious. She could ask Mr. Ford, but that might be suspicious. Mabel decided to start flicking through channels to try to guess what year she was in based on what was airing. A lot of shows were about cowboys, space, or game shows. Huh. Okay.

All the TV shows were definitely older. Nothing her dad would watch from when he was a kid, so if Mabel had to guess by everyone’s crazy air, the cheesy TV shows, and the music occasionally playing, she was in the 70s.

Huh. Okay. But she needed an exact year. So Mabel turned off the TV, saw an old radio on a desk, and turned it on to listen.

“... cuz it’s cold doesn’t mean you can't boogie, folks! So grab someone you wanna get warm with, turn up the music, and get your bodies warm in the coolest way possible! Here’s Night Fever, by the Bee Gees!”

Mabel grinned at the disco music. Her personal favorite song from these guys was More Than a Woman, but Night Fever would do. For a moment Mabel forgot her mission, jumped off the couch and left the blanket behind, and in the over-sized gray t-shirt Mr. Ford gave her while her clothes were drying, she danced along to the music, singing the chorus since those were the only words she knew.

“When you reach out for me. Yeah, and the feelin' is right,

Then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it! Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!”

Mabel laughed at herself as she spun around in her socks and tried to do the point-and-hype dance she didn’t know the name to, but everyone did it when a disco song played.

Little did she know that Ford had returned to check on her, and was smiling at her as she shook her hips and waved her hair around and had fun. He leaned against the doorway and planned to let her dance in peace, but when she did a spin and saw him, she grinned and took his hand. “C’mon, Mr. Ford, come dance with me!”

Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No, no! I can’t dance!”

“You got two legs that aren’t broken?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can dance! C’mon!” Mabel encouraged, let him go when they were both in the middle of the room, and she started to dance again. “Don’t make me dance alone!” She even pulled an evil move and gave him puppy eyes. Rude.

Ford smiled slyly at her and hesitantly copied her boogie moves. It was true that Ford never liked to dance, but there was no one around but Mabel, and though he had only known her for an hour or more, he was sure she would never make fun of him.

And he was right.

“Wow! Look at you, Mr. I-Can’t-Dance! Yeah!” Mabel hopped on the couch, standing, and took Ford’s hand. “Here, I’ll spin you!”

Ford laughed and allowed it, doing a single spin, but then scooping her in his arms to dip her and then let her down, making her laugh as they continued to dance. 

“Alright alright, you crazy cats, that was Night Fever by the Bee Gees! It's a snowy day here in the heart of Oregon, with snow flurries coming in harder all night, but it should clear up by morning and be a fun day to go out and play! The date is January 26th, 1978 in case you gotta write a check or mail a thank you note to a friend or family member. I’m still writing letters for Christmas! We’ll be right back with some of your favorites after a word or two from our sponsors, so don’t go anywhere!”

Mabel stared at the radio. “Wow, 1978.” She breathed. Her parents were only kids right now, maybe only six or seven-years-old. Wow.

Ford chuckled. “I know, I’m still in the bad habit of writing ‘77.”

Mabel realized her mistake, but was grateful her host misunderstood her. “Me too.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for dinner. How about some ramen noodles?”

“Yes, please! Can we play a game after we eat?”

“Sure. I don’t have many board games, but I do have a deck of cards.”

“Do you know any card tricks?!”

“A few.” Ford admitted, wiggling his fingers. “There are some advantages to having more fingers than average.”

Mabel grinned up at him and followed him to the kitchen for dinner.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

And the aftermath of the first battle. Featuring more OFA talk!

[No. 34 - Victory or Defeat]

The cover art for this chapter is actually pretty gorgeous. Like, wow, that HAIR. It looks so damn soft I can’t even.

Getting into the chapter itself, we get just shy of a page of flashback to Shinsou’s middle school. Several students are talking about how cool Shinsou’s quirk is, how they’ve never heard of a quirk like it, how jealous they are. One student comments on how he could make all kinds of trouble with it, while another adds on that it’d be without getting his hands dirty. She then asks Shinsou not to go around controlling them. 

Past Shinsou just laughs it off and notes how everyone says that, with his internal narrative thinking about how he’d also expect bad things from someone with his ability. That person would probably turn into a criminal - a villain, even. So he’s used to everyone implying that about him. That’s just how the world works.

Back in the present, we see Shinsou gritting his teeth, while Izuku is standing over him, a bit bloody and beaten, but still victorious. Present Mic again confirms Izuku is going to the second round. Up in the stands, Kaminari nudges Katsuki’s shoulder with his own, noting how Izuku had also gotten him with that shoulder toss. Katsuki looks a bit put out, I guess? Or just distracted. He calls Kaminari dunce face, which gets a fantastic face out of Kaminari.

Artwork. 

There’s a bit here about Izuku using a baiting tactic that I’m not sure whether is from Katsuki or Aizawa, since Aizawa’s thought process continues in the next panel. In either case, I am certain it’s Aizawa noting how Izuku was concentrating his quirk in just his finger, like the strength test and the throw in battle training. Izuku’s been learning from those experiences - or rather, said experiences have forced him to adapt. 

As Shinsou and Izuku bow (or at least Izuku does), Present Mic comments on how the event is off to an uneventful start, before encouraging the crowds to put their hands together for their fierce competitors. As the crowds do so, Izuku is thinking about Shinsou’s words, being ‘naturally blessed’ and ‘getting to follow his dreams.�� Eventually, Izuku asks why Shinsou wants to be a hero. Shinsou turns away to start leaving the platform while replying that ‘we don’t get to choose the things we naturally admire.’

Izuku vibes deeply with this, thinking about how those feelings are just like how Izuku was before he got One For All. But as he is now, what does he say to that?

Shinsou gets his own surprise, however, when his classmates start shouting their praises from the stands above the entryway. One says how awesome Shinsou had been out there, another on how he’d had them on the edge of their seats, a third on Shinsou being the shining star of the general studies guys, and a fourth on how he’d done just as well as the guy who’d gotten third in the obstacle course (Katsuki). Shinsou looks like he has no idea how to process this. And if that’s not enough, the heroes in the crowds are also talking about him and his quirk with no small amount of admiration.

...oh man, wait, do I spy Miss Joke there with the crowds?

Why, yes it is! I don’t know if her character was fully planned or background developed at this point, but I suppose Hori must have elevated hr to more than a one-off appearance at some point. Perhaps liked her relatively simple design?

But yeah, we shift back to Shinsou and the other gen ed students as the latter point it out, and repeat how awesome he is. Shinsou says nothing for a moment, hesitating at the entrance, before speaking to Izuku. UA will consider transfers to the hero course depending on the results here. Remember that. Maybe he failed here, but he’s not giving up. He’ll show UA he’s got what it takes to make the hero course, and he’ll become a greater hero than all of the other students. 

Izuku accepts this driven challenge, only to get caught in Shinsou’s quirk again. Izuku’s confused, because the match is already over. Shinsou comments on how people who respond to him tend to stiffen up like that, and how it’d be easy to mess everything up for Izuku just now. But instead he just demands a promise as he lets Izuku loose from his quirk - don’t lose in a sorry way out there. Izuku agrees again, only to again be temporarily caught in Shinsou’s quirk.

Also, it's a teeny thing here, but I know there's been people (not necessarily in here, but in general) who've questioned how shinsou's quirk works, and from here in the sports festival, what I can at least determine is this:

-his quirk can affect multiple people at once

-people don't remember what they were doing under the quirk's effect (barring Izuku for Reasons)

-his quirk takes effect when he chooses after someone responds verbally to him (sign language or writing don't work)

-it can be a statement or question someone responds to!

-general non-word noises, or non-directed sounds (ie izuku's growls of exertion) don't work as targets for shinsou's quirk

Anywho, with that, we transfer over to Recovery Girl’s temporary office, where Izuku is getting himself healed up while Toshinori hovers nearby nervously. Izuku admits that he couldn’t smile at all, and Toshinori considers that and figures this must have been a tough battle for him, given what Shinsou was saying. Izuku replies that that doesn’t make it okay for him to lose; when you’re aiming for the top, that’s just how it is, right?

Recovery Girl is not impressed with the ‘life lessons’ Toshinori is passing on to Izuku, spinning around to wallop Toshinori on his non-injury side. Toshinori tries to reply that it’s all necessary, only to be interrupted by said wallop and yelp in pain. While Toshinori is nursing his poor abused ribs, Izuku brings up the vision he had. 

He saw eight or nine shadows - not sure on that - when his mind was lulled from the brainwashing, the vision appeared and snapped him out of it. In that instant, he was just barely able to move his fingertip. One of them had Toshinori’s hairstyle… so could it have been the souls of the people who have inherited One For All?

Now, a few things I have to say to this: 

First off, holy SHIT did Izuku already pretty much hit the nail on the head for what’s happening here. We obviously don’t really get more about this for, what, a hundred and fifty or so chapters? I dunno when the JTA is in the manga exactly, so I’m probably off, but even before then, there’s only a few hints here and there about the whole ‘ghost’ thing happening - and yet, Izuku already is kinda sus of what’s happening after just one vision. 

Secondly, while it’s way more likely that it’s Izuku being scared and confused that has him questioning the number of shadows he saw there, I also really love how it’s a perfect set-up for something Fishy if Hori so wants, while also allowing an out if he doesn’t want. It’s like, does the number mean something, or is it just a scared schoolkid struggling to remember details he only glimpsed for a moment?

In any case, we move on to Toshinori’s response to this strange vision. Mostly in that he finds it kinda scary. Izuku is confused, because he was sure Toshinori would know. Toshinori admits that he did see them once when he was young, and that it’s a clear sign Izuku is getting used to One For All. 

At Izuku’s visible confusion, Toshinori continues - the shadows are traces of the quirk’s past bearers. But whatever they are, they can’t directly interfere or influence Izuku. Nor can Izuku affect them. In other words, that vision wasn’t what undid the brainwashing. Rather, it was Izuku’s protagonist powers strong will that allowed him to see those faces - and as far as Shinsou’s brainwashing, Izuku overcame it! Just for an instant! He managed to move that fingertip all on his own.

Izuku isn’t convinced, but Toshinori chastises him, telling him not to dwell on it, and shouldn’t he be worrying about his next opponent instead? Izuku agrees, and thanks both him and Recovery Girl before heading out. Only once Izuku is gone does Recovery Girl note that Toshinori’s shadow had been there too. Toshinori replies how that’s not a bad thing.

My take on this whole scene?

But yeah, it definitely is interesting how early Hori outright told us what was happening with One For All, only for it to be dismissed by Toshinori and a good chunk of the audience. I mean, I don’t know if Hori was planning everything with the vestiges and the other quirks at this point, but he sure laid the groundwork here, and I kind of love it. 

Anywho, moving on from that, we shift over to Shouto making his way towards the arena for his own fight, only to run into the last person he wants to see - Endeavor. Shouto tells Endeavor to get out of his way, but Endeavor ignores him, instead calling Shouto a disgrace to him. He harps on about how Shouto could have crushed the obstacle course and the cavalry battle if he’d used his left side. Shouto says nothing as he marches himself past his father. 

Endeavor tells Shouto to grow up, and stop rebelling like some petulant child. His duty is to surpass All Might. He’s different from his siblings - Endeavor’s greatest creation! Shouto asks if that’s all Endeavor has to say, then states how he’ll win this with his mom’s power alone. He’ll never use Endeavor’s power in battle. Endeavor states how that might be good enough while he’s a schoolkid, but he’ll reach his limit soon enough. 

Shouto is… not in a good headspace. As we’ll see momentarily. 

Izuku joins Ochako and Tenya in the stands while Present Mic starts to announce the participants of the next match. Sero Hanta, the cream of the crop, and yet somehow still as plain as they come! Versus Todoroki Shouto, the best of the best, strongest of the strong! 

The match starts as Sero finishes stretching himself out, stating how he doesn’t really feel much like winning. His arms then snap forward, the tape rushing out to wrap around Shouto. Sero tugs back, yoinking Shouto into position to be swung out of the arena. Present Mic hypes up the surprise attack maneuver, and how it’s probably the best strategy for him, overall complementing how Sero’s giving it his all. Shouto, still somewhat mad-eyed, apologizes, and then-

...yikes. How Sero (or any audience members in the way) didn’t die here is a show of Shouto’s astounding control here, even if it doesn’t seem like it. The entire stadium is dead silent as Sero calls the move a bit overkill. Midnight, half-frozen as well, tentatively asks Sero if he can move. Sero asks if she’s kidding, before the frostbite starts getting to him and he starts biting back pained hisses. Midnight announces Sero’s loss, and the crowds are… pretty sympathetic, calling out good tries to him. 

Shouto steps forward to start defrosting Sero, apologizing for overdoing it, stating that he’d just been annoyed. Up in the stands, Izuku watches on, with his future narration noting that, lost amid the cheers that arose from the audience, he saw Shouto defrost his own frozen self with his left hand. And to Izuku… something about Shouto seemed really sad. 

Shouto is announced to be moving on to the second round, and the chapter closes.

Holy shit. This chapter is actually really something, and not just because of One For All. But still, it really is fascinating to see what groundwork laid early on in the series ended up being used way down the line by Hori as he got more comfortable with the direction he wanted his story to go in. 

Anywho, see you next time for the last chapter of volume four! Which means the next bonus material post is upcoming. And I can just say there’s some interesting stuff in that as well…

[sapphire374]

Soy Sol: Chapter 12 (I'll Be There Through Every Step)

Wattpad Link

Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch.5 / Ch.6 / Ch.7 / Ch.8 / Ch.9 / Ch.10 / Ch.11 / Ch.13 / Ch.14 / Ch.15 / Ch.16 / Ch.17

Ámbar runs into her apartment with tears falling on her face. She tries to escape into her bedroom, but Simón catches her before she’s able to. “Ámbar, what happened? Why are you crying?” Simón guides her to the couch and she cries on his shoulder in the comfort of his arms. Tears smearing the mascara all over her face. “Remember when I told you I had a meeting with some students from Law school. Well, the truth is I wasn’t going to meet for any school project, I went to go talk to my biological mom,” Ámbar tells Simón. “Look I didn’t mean to lie; I just didn’t feel like hearing anyone tell me how bad of an idea it was. I felt like I owed that moment to myself, to discover more who I am before I married you.”

“Ámbar I would’ve never stopped you and you know I always support you on every decision and step you make. Us getting married means that we have to trust each other. You have to trust me that I’ll always be here for you no matter what. I know it’s tough, to try to discover more who you are. That happened when Luna was trying to discover from who and where she came from.” Ámbar nods and wipes away her tears from the tissue Simón gave her. “It didn’t even matter anyways since part of me doesn’t believe her but then the other part of me wants to. It made sense everything she said but still hurts, a lot,” Simón holds her tight as she tells him everything Sylvania told her.

“Originally I was considering on meeting Sharon as well to have some questions answered but I don’t want to end up feeling hurt again and in tears like today. Maybe I should just leave everything in the past… I don’t know,” Ámbar says. “I know this can be very hard for you but if that’s what you want, I think it’s a good idea, to speak to Sharon even just a little if you’re ready. Maybe it can tie some loose ends, and you can finally have some of those questions answered. That’s the least you deserve.” Ámbar stares to her lap and thinks about it for a second. Simón gently holds her hand and lets her know, “I will always be here, whether you decide to go talk to Sharon or not. I’ll be here every step of the way.” Ámbar holds out her arms and gives Simón a tight hug. She kisses him on the cheek and lays her gentle face on his shoulders again.

Jam and Roller

It’s the next morning and the whole gang is huddled around Delfi as she prepares their skating video. The nerves crowd the air as she finishes the project on her computer. “Done! It’s ready you guys,” she exclaims. Some are anxiously sipping their shakes while others are tightly holding on to their companions. Pedro stares in awe and shows how proud he is of his soulmate and the whole gang. “You guys this is just the first step into making this dream, the Jam and Roller, stay alive and come true. You all should be proud because we have finally came together, worked hard and did an awesome skating routine. We got this,” Luna announces. “On ready, one, two, three… Jam and Roller!!” the gang all chant.

Delfi presses the button on her computer and it’s official, the video has been sent to the competition’s organization. After sharing a group hug with Juliana, they resume to their posts. “Since today is a special day in which we sent the video, I’m willing to give you guys this day off. Enjoy it, you all truly deserve it after how hard you guys have been working,” Juliana lets the team know at the rink. Gastón heads over to where Matteo is at and says, “hmm well someone seems to be saved by the bell.”

“You’re right, speaking of which I’m so excited to finally sing that song, I’ve been working on for Luna. I spent all night practicing it hoping she forgives me, and everything can get back to normal. I hope this plan works,” Matteo chuckles. “Don’t worry amigo, everything will be fine and lately I’ve been seeing her in a much happier mood. I think she even probably forgot about the arguments and such,” Gastón suggests. “Yeah, I hope so.”

Luna rolls by Matteo and he doesn’t help but stare at her. “So, are you going to talk to her, or should I have to do it for you?” Gastón jokes around. Matteo takes his advice and heads to Luna where she is taking off her skates. “Hey Chica Delivery, are you getting ready for the concert I’m having today,” Matteo asks. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Luna giggles. “Glad you said that cause I may or may not have a surprise all planned out,” Matteo comments. Luna gasps and couldn’t help her excitement cloud the air. “Chico Fresa, I didn’t know you were the mysterious type?” Luna and Matteo begin to laugh in synchronicity. “Well, I guess there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me then.” Matteo’s phone begins to buzz. He picks it up and answers the phone call.

Once he has hung up, he lets Luna know he has to leave. “I’m sorry but I have to go now to start preparing for the concert. I would love to continue this conversation, but the surprise won’t reveal itself on its own hmm,” Matteo teases. Nina rushes to Luna after seeing him slip away. “Luna, what was all that giggling?” Nina whispers. “A special moment that truly felt like it hasn’t happened in ages,” Luna responds.

Jazmín and Delfi both sit together on the couch as they discuss their plans on how they’ll find out who the secret admirer is. “So, I was thinking we can look at all the comments of your recent video and maybe find some clues as to who the secret admirer is. I feel like they probably must have known you from your videos I’m assuming,” Delfi states. “Of course, they know me from my videos, I am the most popular on the web. Who honestly wouldn’t want to date me?” Jazmín insists.

A delivery man holding a large bouquet of flowers enters the Jam and Roller and hands them to Jazmín. Delfi stares in shock. Jazmín pulls out the card and reads “Mi amor, I chose these flowers because they represent the beautiful tones of your eyes and bring out your inner sparkle. I hope these make you feel the happiness I feel just seeing you.” Jazmín holds the card close to her chest and doesn’t help but cheer. “Oh my Jazmin, this person is head over heels in love with you,” Delfi says. “I know! Whoever this is, he already sounds so charming.” Delfi is beyond excited for Jazmín but can’t help but feel a little worried for her friend since they still don’t know who this person is. Why are they sending them anonymously? She finds this a little fishy.

Sharon’s Apartment

Ámbar knocks on the door, she shakily turns the knob when she hears the door unlock from the other side. “Come in,” Sharon states while her personal caretaker guides Ámbar to the dining room as Simón follows her in. “Don’t be shy and take a seat.” Ámbar and Simón pull two chairs and sit down in response to Sharon. She slowly takes a sip from her tea as the room fills with silence. Ámbar is beginning to have flashbacks of all the lonely nights she would have being with Sharon.

“It is a pleasure getting to see you again Ámbar, you hadn’t visited in 7 months. I was beginning to worry that maybe you have forgotten about me,” Sharon admitted. “No, it wasn’t like that, I have been just so busy with law school and managing the Jam and Roller. That’s all,” Ámbar replies. “You’ve always been busy, that’s never changed. I suppose that you’re here but not only to just meet me or stop by to say hello because you would’ve done that before. I can sense you’re here for something,” Sharon remarked. Ámbar turns her eyes towards Simón as a sign for help. “Ms. Benson, I don’t mean to intrude but Ámbar has decided to come here to ask about her past,” Simón answers. “I was wondering what made you decide to adopt me?” Ámbar asks.

Sharon takes a deep breath. “In the past, I had always wanted a kid, but it never seemed like the right time. When I heard Sylvania was planning to give her child up for adoption but didn’t know who would be fitting to be the parent of her baby, that’s when I saw it as a sign of fate. It was meant for me to be your mom,” Sharon takes another sip of her tea. “I’m a little surprised since you never seemed like the ‘loving children’ type. No offense or disrespect,” Ámbar comments. “You know I was a lot different before the fire, after that everything felt a lot stressful with life in general.” Sharon reaches out to hold Ámbar’s hand and feels the ring on Ámbar’s finger.

“You’re engaged?” Sharon questions. “Yes,” Ámbar responds. “And you never told me?!” Sharon shows her dismay and stays silent. “Well, it was pretty recent, I was planning to tell you I was just not sure when or how. It’s complicated and you know that plus you never liked Simon anyways,” Ámbar said. “I know we’ve never had such a close relationship but just know I’ll forever regret not being that loving caring parent you deserved to have. I know it’s too late, but I still care about you and love you.” Sharon begins to cry and tries to wipe her tears with her fingers. “I know madrina, I know, and I love you too mom.” Ámbar heads out with Simón since she thinks it’s for the best.

Benson Valente Mansion

Monica is seen gathering some tulle and fabric in the living room. She hears the door unlock and it’s Ámbar and Simón. “Oh, hello guys! I’ve already begun preparing some of the table arrangements for the wedding reception,” Monica states gleefully. Ámbar looks a little flushed and just nods trying to avoid crying. “Mija, what’s the matter? Is everything okay?” Monica seems concerned for Ámbar. When she notices Ámbar doesn’t say anything, she does what she knows best, she hugs her. Ámbar hugs her back.

“Well, I think I should leave you two in private,” Simón whispers to Monica. Simón leaves to the kitchen when they head to the couch as Monica gives Ambar the tissue box. “Have you ever felt empty inside? Feeling as if everyone you knew as a child and grew up lied to you. That your own story held in the hands of someone else. I feel like….. me trying to uncover the pieces are as if their edges are shattered and there’s no way on putting the puzzle together. Nevermind, this all might sound very silly to you,” Ámbar sniffed. Monica thinks for a little bit. “It’s not silly at all Ámbar, it’s normal to feel this way not being able to know your own story of how your life began. But just know it doesn’t make you who you are entirely. For example, when I look at you, I don’t see the girl who was manipulated by her madrina. I see a strong-minded, hardworking, caring young girl beside me who does an excellent job managing the Jam and Roller while attending Law school. Not anyone can pull off all those moves at once, and you do it so effortlessly. You may not know the full story and only some parts of it, but you are not your mother’s mistakes. In fact, I’m proud of you. After everything you went through, you still managed to seek the right path in life, and it worked. You gave it a second chance, you had what’s so important to have, and that is hope. So, when you walk down the aisle wondering ‘who am I,’ you’re Ámbar Smith, the one who overcame it all.”

Ámbar turns to Monica sobbing, but this time with a huge smile on her face, even showing her teeth. “How do you do it?” Ámbar asks. Monica looks at Ámbar with a confused expression. “How do you know exactly what to say at the right time?” Monica smiles back giggling alongside Ámbar. They stay wrapped in each other’s arms on the couch. Ámbar starts glancing at all the beautifully tied table arrangements for her wedding, how you can tell the amount of effort that was put in each one of them. That’s when it hits her.

When they break away from each other’s arms, Ámbar faces Monica. “Can you be the one to walk me down the aisle? You have always been there for me whenever I needed you these past couple of years and…. I don’t know how to say this, but you have showed me how it feels like having a mom. Why wouldn’t I want my mom there?” Ámbar starts tearing up again. “It would be an honor to attend it, and it truly warms my heart hearing you say that. Ever since our family reunited with you and Alfredo, it’s felt much bigger and cozier. I’ve got two daughters, Luna and you. I wouldn’t miss your dress fitting or wedding for the world.” They begin to hug again. Near one of the walls close to the living room, there’s Simón who couldn’t help but smile while spying on them. It makes him feel ecstatic knowing that Ámbar does feel like she has a family now and is not alone, not ever again.

Matteo’s Concert

All of Matteo’s fans begin to huddle up near the pit of the stage. Everyone is beyond excited to hear his collaboration with Viviana on stage for the very first time. Luna enters with Nina. Nina stays holding Luna’s arm, trying not to get dragged away by the crowd of people nearby. “So Luna, how have you been feeling about the whole thing?” Luna turns towards Nina and says, “A little conflicted not going to lie, but I’m here to support Matteo. I’m still a little bit upset at what he did calling me jealous and standing me up on our date, but I think I’ve put it past us. Today is a special day for him and I shall be here for that.” Nina nods in response.

Gastón rushes over to Matteo backstage. “Everything okay amigo?” Matteo picks up his guitar and nervously answers, “Yes. Once Viviana and I stop singing, you turn off the lights and have only the spotlight facing me. Just like old times when I had sang to her Alla Voy. I will sing this song I wrote for her, and it shall feel like we’re the only ones in the room. This night shall be perfect for her.” Gastón approaches him and smiles while patting him on the back. “Don’t worry you got this!”

The crowd starts chanting when the lights turn on as Viviana and Matteo approach the stage. They begin singing into their mics, Viviana doesn’t stop staring at him while Matteo’s eyes are fixated on Luna. He is in awe of how beautiful she looks tonight, even though he feels like Luna looks beautiful all the time.

Luna starts dancing along to the song with Nina, they don’t stop giggling and having a great time. Viviana starts noticing who Matteo can’t keep his eyes off of. She grows green with envy. She never liked Luna and was always hoping he would break up with her. She tries to get really close to him, even at times trying to have a sharing mic moment. Viviana throughout the song doesn’t stop making eye contact with Matteo and keeping him close. When she sees that this doesn’t Luna, or him she reacts quickly. Once the song ends, Viviana standing next to Matteo grabs his neck towards her and kisses him. She has her hand caress his cheek. The fans are screaming with excitement.

As for Luna, she’s speechless. It feels like the world has stopped and she has lost track of her surroundings. When Matteo pushes Viviana off him, he turns and sees Luna running out of the venue crying.

[thejustmaiden]

Just bcos u PERCEIVE SessRin as something that promotes pedophilia and grooming doesn't mean that's how the author portrayed it. It's disappointing to see that antis force such idea, as if they know what's inside Rumiko's mind. It is fine if u find sessrin cringey. Just don't force your idea of pedophilia and grooming as THE CORRECT PORTRAYAL OF SESSRIN.

Hello there, nonnie! You had quite the party in my ask box, I see. Breaking it up in parts may actually help me get to the point and address your concerns swiftly and accordingly. Here goes nothing. 😉

This answer is for your first two asks by the way. Firstly, you're putting words in my mouth because I do not view Rumiko as an author who promotes pedophilia and child grooming and never have. She never once placed an ounce of romance into their scenes. Rin was essentially introduced to serve as a catalyst for Sesshomaru's character growth. That's major in and of itself, which is why I'm not sure why she needs to be the mom on top of all that she's already done for him. It was you, Sessrin shippers, who had to go and make it romantic, not us. It was you who took every innocent scene and turned it into a romantic one. You'll even use some of their scenes as proof they will end up together, then back-pedal later and say those very same scenes weren't romantic in order to protect the sanctity of your ship. I mean, which is it? It can't be both, it's either one or the other.

I repeat, NO we don’t actually think Rumiko wanted to portray this relationship with pedophillic or grooming tendencies. It's you shippers who insist there is no other way for their relationship to evolve, as if you speak on behalf of Rumiko. Your interpretation of Rumiko's work is what implies child grooming; she may not be condoning it but your perspective sure is. You talk down to antis who disagree, because in your opinion, your interpretation is not only superior but already canon in your eyes. You're doing a disservice to this fandom by spreading false information like that when you try to pass it off as official. So if it's anyone that assumes they know what goes on inside Rumiko's head, it's YOU. Somewhere down the road in the (un)foreseeable future, it's you who changes course since remember we were all in agreement at the beginning that their relationship wasn't romantic. So what did I miss? Please break it down for me and explain what exactly influenced you to change your mind, then describe in detail how again this transition in their relationship magically came to be. It's you who came to that decision on your own- nobody helped you get there, and certainly not Rumiko (as you said yourself). The user boycottyashahime put it better than I did, so here is the link to their post. I highly recommend you read it if you haven't already. I urge you to keep an open mind about it while reading, too. You may not like what they have to say, but there's no denying they make excellent points all the same.

I'm pretty sure I catch your drift, but can you clarify if you're referring to historical context or cultural context? I suppose both can be applied here. haha Anyway, from what I gather, you believe that fans should be on board with the idea of Sessrin and at the very least tolerate the pairing. Whether they ship it or not, you believe this simply for the fact that the story takes place in the feudal era and couples with a similar relationship back then were more than acceptable. The thing is, we may be transported to Feudal Japan in this story but we're still taking our modern day morals with us for the trip. I have a whole ass blog dedicated to the significance of fiction in real life (convienently pinned on my page) if you wanna check it out. I also discuss what age-appropriate content is and isn't for Inuyasha viewers in this recent ask here that I find is also pretty relevant to the convo.

Alrighty, moving onto your next point. I can't stress enough to you guys that this isn't a mere Caucasian vs. Non-Caucasian dilemma. I'm a POC, so I ask that you please not presume to know things about me you couldn't possibly know unless we met or I shared it with you. In fact, many of the other antis I frequently chat with are POCs like myself. So for all that's good and holy, please stop ignoring us when we say: THERE ARE FANS IN JAPAN WHO HATE THIS SHIP TOO. THIS ISN'T A DIFFERENCE OF CULTURE, THIS IS A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION (& FACT). It may have not been called child grooming during that time, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't; it just went under a different name, that's literally it.

Let me give you another example. So if I'm watching a movie about WWII in Nazi Germany, am I supposed to sympathize with an SS officer if the story is being narrated from his point of view? Because in his mind and during that time period, his ideology is right. Like a lot of Germany during that war, I rally to support his leader for what is in my opinion a just cause. Tell me, how does context matter in this instance? Does it matter so much so that you would adopt the same ideals just because it was "historically accurate" and you don't see anything wrong with it when you put yourself in their shoes? Does the "it's just fiction" defense come into play here, too?

The illustration I believe you are referring to is the calendar with that one official illustrator for Inuyasha, right? The thing is, an official illustrator doesn’t equal the creator of Inuyasha. They may support the Sessrin ship, but their work has no connection to the Inuyasha series in any way besides the name affiliation. I've heard that the illustrator also included Kagome x Koga art, so should we take that seriously then too? Rumiko never once alluded to a future romance between Sesshomaru and Rin, to which you even (kinda) agreed. She described their relationship as neither parental or romantic, and she added that she even contemplated making Rin a boy at first. Fun facts, y'all!

I've heard about those magazines but they sound fishy to me. Would you mind sending me a link to a reliable source that comes with an English translation? I'd like to emphasize again that illustrators or VAs can do and say as they please, but their opinions are still only opinions at the end of the day. Nothing is set in stone until Rumiko says it is.

For one, I never said my interpretation was the only correct portrayal. That's you putting words in my mouth again. What I did say, however, was that my interpretation was more logical and reasonable than yours based on popular and widely-accepted story patterns found in real life and in fiction. Look this isn't about who's more "correct" or not. You can perceive Sesshomaru and Rin's relationship any damn way you want, BUT what you cannot do is dictate how we react to your depiction of this ship. You can't demand us to view your ship a certain way to fit your preferences. I'm sure all the hate on your ship can be unbearable at times, but that's just the cross you'll have to bear for supporting such a problematic couple. If a large part of any fandom is strongly against a pairing and what it represents, then there's usually a very legitimate reason for that. You may not want to hear this, but certainly you must realize there's some truth to it all. A couple of your fellow shippers have even admitted to me that Sessrin would be wrong IRL. You see what I mean? Even if we find the ship gross, antis don't care if you choose to ship Sessrin. All we care about is you acknowledging that, like IRL, Sessrin potentially poses a lot of problems for young viewers and how they come to make sense of and view similar situations that are borderline grooming or the very thing itself. Teens watching this show are more vulnerable and impressionable, which is why it's crucial to not show relationships like Sessrin in a favorable light. If they're ever put in a situation IRL that resembles Sessrin, they need to be aware and understand that it's not at all normal or healthy for that adult to make a move on them. Let's say Sessrin does go canon, then that would mean Rin had to get pregnant around 14 or 15. Sending that kind of message to an audience made up of mostly teenagers isn't exactly wise if you ask me. Please really think about that and sit with it if you need to.

I'm positive I'm following the same story, thank you very much. Also, how can you be so confident making a statement like that when I have actual Sessrin shippers praising me for making valid points? Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think I'm as lost as you claim me to be or wish that I was.

That's a wrap, peeps!

Read over what I had to say again later and then get back to me if want, but only write me back if you plan to be respectful. Otherwise I will decline to answer. Just keep that in mind. And may I suggest only sending 1 or 2 asks at a time? Please and thank you!

I think I may know exactly who are, nonnie, but I can't say for sure. Besides, it doesn't really matter, as you have a right to stay anonymous if you so wish to. Listen, don't forget you are also more than welcome to interact (but appropriately) on my blogs/asks/etc. If you are who I think you are, then you recently did make a comment on one of them but didn't stick around when I replied back (and for good reason). Finally, if you hope to ever have a real discussion about this topic someday, first put your ego aside and refrain from throwing insults and then I'll hear you out. I have never once put you down in all of our interactions, so there's no need to show up here all riled up and aggravated in the first place. There's also no need to laugh at or mock other's opinions. Don't take jabs and assume I must not know something about Inuyasha just because I don't support your point of view. I may not agree with your opinion, but you don't see me having a condescending air about it.

Apologies if you're not the member I believe you to be, but no offense, you probably still needed to hear all of that too. It's not included here since I answered it immediately, but that final ask you sent me where you got angry and assumed I wasn't going to answer you was totally uncalled for. If you ever hope someday to participate in real discourse with me or any other antis, you should take my advice and seriously chill and learn how to be patient.

Hope this finds you well, nonnie!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Sk8 2 - 8 | Kemono Jihen 2 - 3 | Wave!! 2 - 5 | Back Arrow 3 - 6

Sk8 2

What’s with the filter over the recap?

These dance moves are cool (a derpy kind of cool)…but I’m seeing them all with the volume off (due to background noise), so I’ll have to find out what the audio is like later. Update: Rude-Alpha! Someone I actually do know!

I was worried about Truck-kun causing another Isekai Incident ™ there…phew…*wipes sweat off brow*

Is Langa…left-handed, perhaps? Or are left-handers not necessarily better with their left foot?

Langa’s mother’s so funny! It’s rare to see a mother who isn’t dead or just not talked about in anime.

Why is it that parody Sailor Moon transformations always happen with the buffest dudes possible…? That’s why it’s rare to get something like Boueibu, where it takes itself (semi-)seriously.

Lately, the urban aesthetic is cool. HypMic, Akudama, IWGP and now this…

Langa is 17. *takes notes on eligible bachelors, LOL*

“A huge family only embarrasses you.” – *nods*

I see! Although I don’t know anything about skateboarding, I can relate to him when he’s fixing a board up for Langa because I can see it’s Reki using his passion for a friend.

Oh, that’s why they call it Sk8 the Infinity…!

I keep calling it “wiping out” in my head when I watch…I’m no surfer, but I guess I’m more used to surfing lingo.

Hitori piledriver = piledriver by oneself ( I guess…?).

Sk8 3

I’ve never heard of this Takuma Nagatsuka (voice of Miya Chinen). He sounds like Kohei Amasaki…

Hmm…normally skateboarders wear protective gear, right? Couldn’t Langa have gotten some of that (now that I think of it)?

I guess this is also Reki’s pride as a board mechanic on the line here…never saw it that way until I thought about it like that.

I think I remember reading a comment once about Bakugo and Midoriya from BnHA – about how Bakugo seemed sluggish in his progress because he’d been training his Quirk from day 1, while Midoriya was trying to catch up. I think Chinen is in a similar situation.

I think what Chinen has is stability, above all others.

There’s a piece of paper in the back that has “supoort” (sic) written on it.

Chinen’s not…“smiling with his eyes”, you call it. In retail, you learn how to smile with the eyes even when it’s fake.

Kemono Jihen 2

Inari? Like the fox shrine?

So Shiki is a spider-guy and…what is Akira? I’ve heard whispers he’s a yukiotoko, but I don’t know at this point in time.

Kabane’s kinda short, LOL, even in comparison to Akira.

Shiki is definitely Bakugo, Spider Version…LOL.

Oh, BnHA came out in 2014 and Kemono Jihen in 2016 (manga).

Oh, that drip apparatus. I’ve only ever seen it in real life, I think – my dad uses one for his coffee.

Kemono Jihen 3

…hmm, I don’t think I’ve seen much set in Shinjuku. I think there’s Mayonaka Occult Koumuin, part of HypMic…and that might be it.

I laughed at “small meeting room”.

Apparently “biddy bait”, according to Urban Dictionary, is meant to mean “a lure for hot women”. I don’t particularly like Urban Dictionary, because the editors who make these definitions are clearly biased in some way or another while writing their definitions, unlike an actual dictionary.

Aw, come on! Why is it fire from the tail?! Fire from the mouth like a dragon is cooler!

Kabane’s getting ahead of himself! (LOL)

Just noticed Kon’s hoodie has a design that says FOX, but the X is inside the O.

…thank goodness for Shiki’s hand…

Akira’s been a bit of dead weight recently, so I hope he gets developed soon.

Back Arrow 3

I wonder if Shu Bi is asexual and/or aromantic…?

“…inherited the spirit of the former sheriff…” – That’s Atlee’s job…oh wait. It’s about the undies again…

This is fishy…this whole “paradise is beyond the canyon” thing.

Ooh, I get the feeling Shu Bi and Arrow will either come to blows with each other or fight on the same side…

Sk8 4

I wonder if episode 8 will look weird in the titles…? I mean, it will be “Sk8 8”…

I would think Reki’s straightforward emotions would be spiky shapes.

I knew women were something objectified by S, but…Langa, the deuteragonist? That’s new.

It just hit me: This would be so good with a dub…!

*Langa casually eats 10 burgers* - LOL.

“This has gotta be way too late!”

So now an anime character has stolen a motorcycle…LOL.

Back Arrow 4

The title of this episode seems to be “Is Today Yesterday’s Tomorrow?”, the service’s title that I’ve got in front of me is “Does Genius Come When Least Expected?”

This map reminds me of +Anima’s continent.

I seem to remember Boueibu was constructed as half an episode of idle talking, half fighting. Why do I bring this up? Because Back Arrow seems to be constructed similarly, episode-wise.

The reason I like the hot-blooded mech series and not the serious ones…is stupid things (<- I mean that affectionately) like Shu Bi pulling out a phone in a world like this.

What’s with the shot of Elsha’s butt…? I know it seems somewhat justified, considering the position her Briheight’s in…but the leery angle is a bit annoying.

…I keep thinking Bit will get a Briheight one day and he’ll be like Zenitsu – powerful only when he doesn’t know it.

Shin Fusui, right? “Ren Sin” kinda makes sense, given we didn’t know any better, but so does “Ren Shin”…Sin as a first name though…? Anyways, it’s Shin Fusui, Kei Suiitsu, Nen Kasei and Ko Chisen. Their names match their elements.

I never realised how skimpy Kei’s outfit was until she was without her Briheight on the ground…eesh, women and their skimpy outfits in this universe…

Wave!! 2

I’m going to differentiate this anime from the other Wave (Wave, Listen to Me) with 2 exclamation marks…also, I’m not able to mark this episode down until 4 episodes have gone, or until AniList makes a TV entry for this. Update: AniList did eventually make an entry for the TV version (i.e. the version I'm working off) of this anime.

Nalu was playing an invisible ukulele even in the bath, LOL.

I noticed Masaki keeps his corgi between his legs so that the dog doesn’t run away. That’s probably only a thing dog owners do, because I don’t think anyone inexperienced with pets would know if they could do such a thing.

Why do I get the feeling the symbol on one of Masaki’s shoulders is (meant to be) Rip Curl…?

I read some of the 4koma for this series (found on the website) and…Sho’s so cute, envying this ‘warm family”. Nalu still has his ukulele, even at the dining table, LOL.

LOL, random rainbow. Every time I read subs about Masaki extolling surfing, I’m reminded of what I call “translator’s high”. It’s the feeling of working under deadlines and being inspired to churn out a high-quality release.

…well, this is a surfing anime. I should have known this would talk about places that get lots of hot weather and big waves (like Australia) because Joel Parkinson is from Tweed Heads, Sydney.

Who’s Jojo Pardinen?

Why does Masaki call Tanaka “Murphy”?

Wave!! 3

Oh, so that man is Masaki’s dad…Right.

The real spirit of characters is shown after they’re defeated…that’s my thoughts, anyway.

I know what a repechage is…in fact, I learnt about that through the FP and M manga.

Oh! It’s “Nalu”, but written “Naru”.

Wave!! 4

Is there a 3rd place in these competitions?

Wait, so the guy in the pink shirt is Masaki’s dad, but then the Hawaiian shirt dude owns the shop. Am I right on this now…?

There is a magical girl called Sally, IIRC, and the description does match.

LOL, I like how the teacher is so indecisive.

Back Arrow 5

Shu Bi’s so pretty…I had my eyes on him from the beginning and now that’s paying me back tenfold.

I wonder if Shu will ever get a Briheight…? (I wanna see it!)

Back Arrow 6

Pretty boy farms!!! It sounds like abuse in a sense, but it also sounds like a dream (?!)

Bit reminds me of Sousuke (Classicaloid).

Oh, so the funky gold hat-thing with the purple ribbon is what the head diviner wears.

LOL wut…his name is “Bruh”? *tries to hide stupid smirk on face*

Wait, if it’s a pretty boy farm, how do you produce new pretty boys without women…? *scratches head*

Question: What is Gote’s conviction?

Wave!! 5

Kadomatsu (the bamboo), huh? Must be New Year’s. Likewise, the bush warbler (uguisu) means it’s spring.

Sk8 5

Milk, straight from the carton…*sigh* Boys… Update: (This is referring to how guys are typically shown chugging straight from the carton. As you can tell from the comment, I don't particularly like it.)

I like how suddenly, all the barriers come down for these guys, even though Kaoru said at one point they shouldn’t be coming down.

Battle of Ganryujima.

Sk8 6

…this woman Reki has the hots for is going to be a dude…that’s normally how this joke works.

Oh well, that was also a funny moment.

“Dangerous stuff is forbidden.”

Hiromi in a swimsuit is…vaguely disturbing.

Kamata? Y’mean, she has the word for “scythe” in her name and she’s a “mantis woman”? Makes sense.

Even on their day off, the Sk8 crew are fun to be with.

Sk8 7

Whoa! Straight to the OP!

…I’m suddenly scared. What if Langa’s mother gets put in danger…? (Like in Kanon.)

Sk8 8

I want Langa to punch Adam. In the face. Now!

…is Snake…Ainosuke’s butler? I can sort of guess from the hair…and the matching theme [of Adam, Eve and the snake in paradise]…

It is the butler!

[awhitehead17]

Meddling Kids

Dick & Jason, Dick & Tim, Secret Agents AU, Humour, Assassins, Fights, Oblivious Dick, Jason loves bread, Sassy Tim.

Summary: With little information to go on, Dick and Jason are sent on a mission to grab some files before they fall into the wrong hands. It doesn't help that the mysterious persona 'Red Robin', is rumoured to be after the same files. What is clear is that they need to grab those files first.

A/N: This is done for ‘AU: Secret Agents’ on my Batfam Bingo 2019 Card. 

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

“I hate these things.”

“You hate a lot of things.”

“Well... yeah, but these monkey suits are definitely near the top of that list. They’re fucking awful.”

Dick sends Jason a glance as he puts his jacket on. He didn’t mind them as much, yeah they weren’t the comfiest things in the world but they make him look great so he’ll take that as a win. He watches as his brother puts his own jacket on and straightens it out. Dick smirks, “Well you do brush up nicely Jace, doesn’t that matter?”

Jason responds with a glare, “Oh go suck a dick.” 

The two of them go about finishing to get ready for the night ahead of them in their shared apartment. Once they were both done and everything was sorted they exit their home and make their way down to the shiny sleek black limousine waiting for them outside.

They climb in and settle at the back of the car, allowing the trusty driver to take them where they need to be without worry of interruptions.

“So what’s the plan again? And why the hell is the old man making us do this when he could easily do it himself?” Jason questions with annoyance.

Dick sighs before telling him, “To most, we’re going to the charity gala to make up for our adoptive father’s absence as he’s busy in Japan doing business. Then to the odd few, we’re actually going under cover because there are rumours of files being passed around at this very gala. Our mission is to try and infiltrate these files to stop them getting in the wrong hands.”

“Right,” Jason drawls out. “And we don’t know what’s in these files as well as not knowing whom is after them?”

Dick’s reluctant to answer because he’s knows what’s coming, knows what Jason’s reaction is going to be. “No…”

“Fucking unbelievable! This is why I question working with him, he doesn’t even trust us with the information we need to complete the mission! How the fuck are we supposed to do it huh? We don’t know what the files are, who even has the files to start with and who wants the goddamn files!”

Rubbing a hand across his head Dick sighs, “I know Jason, I know, but it is what it is. It’s a do as your told and don’t ask questions situation.”

Jason glares at him, “It’s stupid.”

Dick doesn’t comment again, knowing that his brother is right. Working as secret agents for their adoptive father is a challenge in itself, especially when they all butt heads and have different opinions on the matter. It’s especially challenging when Bruce doesn’t give them any information regarding the mission he’s sent them on, Dick can see why Jason is annoyed, however there isn’t anything he can do about it.

That’s when he remembers something else to do with this mission. “Oh also I heard that there are rumours about Red Robin being at this gala as well, even potentially after the same files we are.”

Jason’s glare turns into a surprised expression. “Oh? That’s great and all but we don’t know who Red Robin is! All we know about Red Robin is that they’ve been bugging both Bruce and Barbara for over two years, Bruce because he can’t work out who it is and Barbara because they constantly hack her network and pass all of her firewalls.”

Dick couldn’t help but snicker because he’s not wrong. This mysterious ‘Red Robin’ character appeared two years ago, at first they were completely paranoid of whoever this is because they appear to have extreme knowledge of technology, they appeared to be a brilliant detective and tactician.

Over time, while they never fully trusted Red Robin, they’ve come to accept them. It seems like they never mean any harm as they never do any damage to their systems or never seem to get up to anything along the lines of evil.

What makes the situation difficult is that they don’t know who ‘Red Robin’ is. Of course they’ve tried to work it out, tried to find out who this detective that can hack into one of the most secured systems on the planet is. That’s where he annoys Bruce, the top agent, Dick’s and Jason’s boss slash adoptive father, because Bruce couldn’t work it out. The man grows more and more frustrated each month and it was hilarious to see.

Red Robin bugs Barbara, who was their top systems and comms person, because she too couldn’t work it out and because Red keeps on getting into her systems and despite everything she tries she can’t seem to get back into theirs.

The fact that Red Robin may be at the gala, in person, was a big matter. The annoying thing was that they just didn’t know who that was so being able to identify them would be tricky.

“Who knows,” Dick starts adjusting his sleeve, “When we get the files we may find out who Red Robin is after all, wouldn’t that be a treat?”

Jason shoots him a look, “Yeah, whoopee-doo. I just want to get this mission out of the way.”

They both fall silent and don’t talk for the rest of the drive. When they finally pull up outside of the charity gala, they’re let out of the limo and put on their best smiles for the reporters surrounding the, being Bruce Wayne's sons certainly gets them a lot of coverage no matter where they are. What the press don’t know, nor will they find out, is that Bruce Wayne is the boss of the biggest secret service in the world.

Dick and Jason make their way up to the building and get into the gala with no issues. Once inside they each grab a glass of champagne that was being passed around and stand together to get an over view of the gala.

Jason leans over closely, whispering into his ear, “So how do you want to play this? Walk around until we find something or someone fishy?”

Dick scans the crowd around them, lots of people varying in ages surround them, all dressed to the nines chatting away with one another like they were having a good time. As his brother pointed out earlier in the car, they have no idea on who was involved with these files that Bruce wants them to obtain. It was going to be a hit or miss kind of situation which sucked but what could they do?

He leans towards Jason, “That’s probably best yeah, scope around see what you can find out and get talking to people. You know what to do.” Jason looks at him and nods once in confirmation. “We’ve got our comms in if anything happens, Babs is on standby if we need her.”

They start to split up then but before his brother could get too far away Dick turns back around, “And Jason, don’t eat all the bread.”

Jason narrows his eyes at him and sticks a middle finger up in response, Dick snickers and spins around to get started on his mission.

Going around and talking to people is easy for Dick, he’s been doing for many years and by now it comes all naturally. Being Bruce Wayne’s son since he was 9 years old has given him plenty of time to practice being nice and friendly to rich snobs and then there’s the added bonus of being involved in the Secret Service since he was 11. He’s had a lot of practice in his life, this part was easy.

He wonders about the gala for an hour talking to a variety of people trying to get a feel of the situation at hand. It wasn’t easy to work out who was going to be involved in the exchange of files that night as they had next to no information on the individuals, but he’s keeping an eye and an ear out for anything.

He was sipping his champagne (which was still the glass he collected when he first came in) when he was suddenly bumped from behind. Tensing up and getting ready to spring into action he spins around and is surprised to see a familiar teenager who looks guilty. Upon recognising him Dick grins, “Timmy! How’s it going buddy?”

“Oh hey Dick, sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

Dick wraps an arm around the teenager’s shoulders and pulls him into a side hug. Dick’s known Tim since he was a kid, he was their neighbour and Dick often babysat him when the kid’s parents went away (which was a lot) so he’s become like a second younger brother. They all adore him, he’s pretty sure that if Tim didn’t have parents Bruce would adopt him with no hesitation.

He looks at the teenager, seeing him dressed in a navy tux that makes him look like a baby CEO and was holding a glass of what looked like soda. “What you doing here then? Are your parents back from their latest trip?”

Tim shrugs and glances around the room before looking up at him, “No they’re not back, but they requested that I make an appearance for their name sake. They would be annoyed if they find out I didn’t show up.”

Dick frowns at that, it sounds so sad that Tim has to do things like this just to try and please his parents to get their approval. He knows Tim’s had a hard upbringing and it makes him go soft for the kid. He gives him a squeeze, “Well give it another hour then make disappear.”

He feels Tim tense against him, clearly not liking the idea of leaving early. “I guess I could.” He says tightly. Dick doesn’t comment on it, choosing to let it go because it’s clear Tim doesn’t want to talk about it. He lets his arm drop from around him, “Did you know Jason’s here too. Have you seen him?”

Tim nods, smiling slightly, “Yeah I’ve seen him. He was at the food table eating bread rolls when I went over to grab a snack.”

“Of course he was,” Dick sighs. He hears Tim laugh at that, the kid knowing exactly what the other man was like. Jason and Tim have an odd relationship, at first Jason couldn’t stand him, absolutely hating his guts but then over time he seemed to have gotten used to the kid and even became protective of him. It was oddly sweet.

The only problem with having Tim around however was that Tim didn’t know about the Secret Service. They all would love to have him on board, he was crazy smart, talented, really deductive but the underlying problem was his parents. They didn’t fully know what Tim’s relationship with his parents were like, they know only what Tim wants them to know. Of course they have their suspicions but that can only take them so far.

As Dick opens his mouth to say something else to Tim, Jason’s voice buzzes in his ear. “Bingo, I found the first of our unknown associates. Just walked in through the door and of fucking course, we really should have guessed who it was.”

Dick doesn’t respond despite how much he wanted to. It’s great that Jason’s found the first one but what did he mean by they should have known? Who was it? He clears his thoughts and look down at Tim who was glancing around the gala, he feels bad but he does have a job to do at the end of the day.

He pokes the kid’s shoulder lightly to get his attention, two blue eyes stare up at him and Dick gives him an easy smile, “I gotta go as there’s someone I need to talk to because Bruce asked me to, how about we meet up some time soon, just you, me and Jay? We could go to the skate park or something?”

Tim stiffly nods, frowning slightly as he does so, “Uh sure. Sounds great.”

Dick reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, “Great, I’ll message you soon okay.”

He leaves Tim standing there as he starts making his way through the crows towards the door where Jason had said he saw the first unknown associate. Dick gets near the entrance and looks around, after turning in full circles like four times he frowns and finally responds back to Jason, “Do you still have eyes on them? I can’t see them.”

It takes a few moments but soon enough his brother’s voice was in his ear, though sounding a bit muffled like he was eating. “Yeah I can see them, they’re at your six talking to Miss Anderson, the lady in the horrid green dress.”

Dick turns around and freezes when he sees who Jason had been on about. There he was, talking to the elderly lady with a fake smile plastered on his, was none other than Lex Luthor. Dick sighs, “You’re kidding me? What is he up too now?”

“Beats me. Though I certainly wouldn’t mind throwing a punch or two at the guy after last time.”

Pinching his nose, Dick lets out a long breath, Jason wasn’t helping matters here. While he can agree with his brother’s desire to punch the man he knows it doesn’t work like that. “Right,” he says trying to get them back on track, “Just because he’s here doesn’t mean he’s involved, while it’s very likely that he is, we can’t be certain. Keep an eye out for the potential second.”

He moves away before he gets caught staring, as he moves swiftly through the crowd occasionally chatting to rich folk, he keeps an eye on Luthor at all times.

“Where are you?” Dick asks after a long period of time, despite going around the floor three times he hadn’t bumped into Jason once. It made him wonder where his brother was and what he was up to. It didn’t help that he’s also been very quiet.

“Up above. Figured it was an easy vantage point, plus I’m not surrounded by a load of rich snobs who are stuck way too far up their own asses.”

Dick glances up, looking for him, after a couple seconds he finds Jason leaning over the railing with a glass of champagne in his hand. Jason sees him looking and offers a little wave. Dick rolls his eyes and goes back to what he was doing.

It was another 15 minutes until the second person they were looking for comes into the room at long last. Dick curses under his breath once he sees him. “Found associate number two, or at least who is a suspect.”

Who Dick was watching comes strolling into the room looking like he owns the world. In his long green and gold robes that trail behind him, his head and chin turned up at everyone as he wonders into the room with no cares of the world. It was none other than Ra’s Al Ghul.

“What a fucking coincidence.” Jason’s comment obviously means he’s seeing Ra’s too.

Dick turns away before the man could see him, moving through the crowd to get out of eye sight. “What’s the chances? Two huge names coming to a puny charity gala. Something’s up.”

“Who do you think has the file? Luthor giving it Al Ghul or the other way around?”

“I have no idea. For now just keep an eye on them, I’ll watch Ra’s while you watch Luthor, if one makes a move instantly report.”

“Gotcha.”

Dick keeps an eye out for anyone else who could be a suspect but he never lets Al Ghul out of his sight. The man walks around and talk with people like he belongs there, but Dick knows better, knows that he really doesn’t belong there. To majority of the world Al Ghul was a kind man who often gives to charity and helps those in need. To Dick and a few others he was a criminal master mind, the head of an entire empire full of assassins ready to kill.

The fact he and Luthor were here at the same time was no coincidence. Both were bad men, both were always up to no good, both only doing things for their own benefits and no one else’s.

About half an hour later, Dick spies on Ra’s as he excuses himself from a conversation with a small group of elite Gothamites. The man heads out of the room heading in the direction where the toilets were. A good cover really but Dick knows better. After radioing Jason a quick message, he follows the man several feet behind, making sure to keep him insight.

As expected Ra’s goes straight past the toilets and down the corridor before turning around the corner. Dick continues to pursue him, following the man as he travels up some steps to the next level and as he travels down another corridor. Not once does he stop moving and not once does he look over his shoulder. Dick probably could guess that Ra’s knew he was being followed and was allowing it to happen, which meant nothing good for Dick but he continues forward because he needs to.

As he follows behind him, he gets a message from Jason saying how Luthor was now on the move. After that it becomes much clearer that it was these two they were after.

Ra’s keeps going until he gets to the end of the corridor and stops in front of a door. With precise movements he opens it up and steps inside the room. Dick waits a few moments before creeping forward, he plasters himself against the wall and peers into the room to find Ra’s standing there in the middle of it with his back against the door.

The room was an old fashioned study. A wooden desk with elegant patterns engraved in it was one side of the room which was placed in front of a wooden door, large open windows were opposite it, two single velvet love seats sit in the other corner of the room.

Dick sneaks inside the room as quickly and as quietly as he can and slips behind the desk and the chair parked at it. He stays in a crouch and listens intently as he watches Ra’s stand there in the middle of the room.

“I know you’re here agent. You may as well come out. It can’t do you any good being crouched like that for a long time.”

Dick curses and debates what to do. When he glances up he sees Ra’s looking in his direction despite the chair and desk hiding him. Knowing that he’s lost he stands up, squaring his shoulders and gets ready for anything. A man like Ra’s doesn’t travel alone.

“Ra’s.” Dick says coldly. This isn’t his first interaction with the man, he’s far from wanting to be polite with manners.

“I give you credit agent, for following me as you did, for waiting as long as you did but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.” He mocks Dick with an almost sneer.

“If anyone was to know what patience is all about, it would be me.” Dick comments. “Why are you here Ra’s? What’s your goal?”

The man doesn’t seem surprised at the change in subject. He stares at Dick with a cold calculating look. “You should leave the interrogation to your father Grayson. He’s much better at it than you.”

Dick scowls at the jab but doesn’t comment.

“You say you have patience, why don’t you wait and find out what I’m here for. You’ll be lovely company.”

As the words leave his mouth the door behind the desk bursts open. The action startles him and he gets into a defensive position as four assassins pour into the door. The first one launches himself at Dick and he finds himself dodging and throwing punches. The second joins in and Dick fights him off as well.

It becomes a battle of four against one and he holds his ground well. He gets the first one on the floor who doesn’t get back up. The second one gets knocks down but slowly rises back up. Unfortunately that’s where his luck ends. A well-aimed punch to the stomach winds him and he instinctively hunches over, allowing an opening for a kick to the head which knocks him down to the floor. Before he could get his bearings they were on his back and tying his hands together, he’s thoroughly tied and pinned down by the time he gets his head together.

He grunts and squirms trying to get free but his efforts are futile and he quickly gives up. He cranes his neck up and glares at Ra’s, who was watching him with a sinister smile, having clearly enjoyed their scuffle. The bastard.

Nothing was said between them and it stays silent for several minutes until commotion outside the room could be heard. Dick twists around in his binds to glance at the door. His eyes widen as he sees Jason being pushed through. His brother stumbles in before he’s forced down to his knees next to Dick by another assassin.

They share a look surprise and anger when they make eye contact. Not only had Dick been caught but Jason too. Great. This mission is going so well. When they get out of this Bruce is going to give them such a lashing for this mess, it’s not going to be pretty.

After Jason’s down on his knees another figure walks in. Crisp in an expensive, tailored suit was Lex Luthor. He casts them a disgusted look before turning his attention on Ra’s.

“Nothing was ever mentioned about the extra company Al Ghul.” He scowls. “I don’t appreciate being watched and then stalked.”

“Them being here was not my doing. I had no control over it, however as you can see, I planned ahead and figured something like this would happen. It’s been sorted.”

“You call this sorted?” Luthor walks around them, looking down scornfully, “Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, the Wayne brats. I do have to admit, what an unwelcomed surprise.”

“As if this is what I want to be doing on my Friday evening.” Jason snorts glaring at the men above them. “You’re not that special Luthor.”

Luthor stops in his tracks and looks at Jason pointedly, “And yet here we are.” He turns back to ra’s. “Enough games, I want what we discussed and then I can be gone. There’s only so much pretending I can do a night.”

As Ra’s gestures to one of his assassins still in the room, Dick squirms around on the floor until he’s sat up next to Jason. The two of them share a look, trying to work out how to get out of this mess. They can’t let Luthor leave with those files, who knows what kind of damage the man could do with them.

Jason sends him a look which Dick can interpret, it’s his brother’s look of, ‘I have a plan’. While Dick adores his brother, and he really does, Jason’s plans aren’t always the best so seeing that look does nothing to help ease his mind of their current situation.

Above them, Ra’s passes over an A4 envelope to Luthor who instantly snatches it from the man’s hand and holds it tightly. They watch as he opens it up, scans the contents on the inside before nodding approvingly. “Good. That means our business here is done.”

“A pleasure as always Luthor.”

“Hardly. Now I must be going.”

Luthor turns and starts heading towards the door but not before scowling down at the agents on the floor, “What ever you do, make sure you dispose of these thoroughly, wouldn’t want them meddling once again.” Then like that he walks out of the room.

As the man disappears from view, Dick shoots Jason an alarmed look but his brother wasn’t paying him any attention. His gaze was on the man still in front of them.

“So many ways I want to get rid of you. Both talented in your own ways but stubborn and too drastic for my liking. A shame really, I could do with people of your abilities.”

“How about I narrow down your options?” Jason comments glaring at him.

Dick raises an eyebrow in question just as Ra’s eyes him up. “Oh, what’s that then?”

A snapping sound could be heard and then Jason was suddenly springing up and launches himself against Ra’s, “This.”

Dick didn’t get the chance to be surprised by Jason’s actions or as he takes on the assassins in the room by himself because he notices a knife lying where Jason had been. Using the opportunity while everyone else was busy with Jason, Dick awkwardly shuffles along to grab the knife to cut himself free as quickly as he can.

To Jason’s credit he holds them off for a long time. Once free Dick joins in on the action, making the playing field more even. While they were both excellent fighters individually, together they become almost unstoppable. Jason’s surprise attack of course giving them the advantage they needed at the beginning.

They take out all of the ninjas and once it was just them and Ra’s left standing.

“Go find and track down Luthor.” Jason tells him getting into a defensive position against Ra’s. “I can handle him.”

When Dick doesn’t move, his brother shoots him a sharp look, “Go. I can handle it. We can’t let Luthor get away with those files.”

Dick looks between them before nodding. He was reluctant to leave Jason alone but he knew that he was right. Those files were important somehow and he couldn’t let them get away.

He runs out of the room and head back the way he came. Dick has no idea how far Luthor would have gotten by now but hopefully it wasn’t too far or else he’s going to need a way to track him. A back up would be to contact Babs, who was tech savvy and could track the man for him if it came down to it.

Dick runs down the corridor and turns the corner before continuing to run. It was as he was getting to the end that he hears familiar voices talking from around the bend. He slows down to a stop and takes a moment to listen in.

“Move out the way boy.”

“No can do Mister Luthor.”

“I am not someone you want to get on your bad side.”

“That's questionable, but I wasn’t planning on it. The only thing I want is those files.”

“I have no idea what you’re on about. You may have mistaken me for someone else.”

“I’m pretty sure I haven’t.”

“Move out of my way.”

“Afraid I can’t do that. I can’t let you go, not until I have those files.”

There’s a moment of silence between them and Dick works on not letting out any sounds at his surprise. One of the voices is Luthor’s, that’s just clear and obvious at this point. Thankfully he hadn’t gotten very far.

However that second voice Dick knew without looking. It was Tim. That was Tim’s voice and he was standing up against Luthor asking for the very files he needs to get. But how did Timmy know about the files? Why would he want the files in the first place?

“Mister Luthor, I’m giving you two options here, either you give me those files by choice and we can part ways like nothing ever happened. Or, I forcefully remove them from you and without your body guard here to help protect you, well odds aren’t exactly in your favour.”

There’s another pause and Dick finally peers around the corner to find Luthor and Tim at odds with one another. Luthor’s back was to him and he could just make out Tim’s frame beyond the man. The scene was almost comical, Tim’s tiny size compared to Luthor’s tall frame was such a contradiction, it would make anyone wonder what damage Tim could do to someone.

Dick was so confused to why Tim was standing against Luthor in the first place. What was that kid even thinking? He could get hurt!

“Oh?” Luthor’s tone was mocking, “And what is a kid like you going to do to a full grown man like me?”

“I know I may not look like much but trust me I can cause havoc when I need too. It also doesn’t help that you don’t recognise me when I’m not in front of the computer screen.”

A few beats go by as Tim’s words hang in the air. Dick could pick up the double meaning in his words but he couldn’t work out exactly what the teenager was on about. Apparently Luthor had a bit of trouble working it out also but he still got it before Dick did, “Red Robin. You’re the Red Robin.”

“The one and only.”

And wasn’t that a punch to the gut. Dick felt almost breathless. Timmy, Tiny Tim, his little brother, their next door neighbour, was the one thing that none of them could work out. Timmy was the one causing mayhem in their lives. How? How was that possible. Why?

Dick shook his head trying to get back on the scene at hand, trying to get over the fact that Tim was Red Robin and how he didn’t know about it.

“Enough games.” Luthor growls. He reaches behind him and Dick watches wide eyed as he brings out a gun and points it at Tim. “I don’t know what kind of kid you are, but I have no qualms about killing kids, especially those who are too nosey for their own good.”

He may not have a problem with it but Dick certainly does. That action alone was enough to get him to finally engage with the fight. He creeps out from around the corner and sneaks up on Luthor. Before the man could even blink Dick disarms him, without the gun going off, and subdues him so he’s on the ground in hand cuffs.

With a jab to the neck Dick knocks him unconscious before patting him down searching for the files. He finds the envelope tucked away in a secret jacket pocket. He grins happily, finally having them in his hand.

Now that was done, there was something else he needed to address. He turns around expectantly and blinks in surprise when he finds the area empty. He frowns as he looks around, looking for the kid that was there moments ago. He lets out an annoyed sigh, giving into the fact that Tim had pulled a disappearing act on him, which, fair enough but at the same time was rude.

There were so many questions Dick had for him. He wants to know how Tim became Red Robin, why he became that persona, does he know who they all are, what were the reasons behind his actions, why hasn’t he said anything before.

So many questions and so many explanations.

Dick doesn’t get the chance to think about it any further because he could hear footsteps coming from behind him. He tenses up, getting ready for a fight before he realises who it is as they turn the corner. It’s only Jason.

He holds the file up with a triumphant smile, “Got the files. Ra’s dealt with?”

His brother has a black eye forming, a nasty gash on his forehead and parts of his suit were ripped, but apart from that he looked relatively okay.

“He got away, called a retreat and I was over powered. But that’s not particularly important. You got the file that’s what matters. B will be happy at least.”

Dick hums and looks down at Luthor’s unconscious form. “I’ll let the police handle this, for now lets get heading back, B will want these files.”

After making an anonymous call to the PD, the two of them start heading towards the back exit of the gala. The last thing they need is someone questioning Jason’s new appearance.

“Did you ever see Red Robin, he was supposed to show right? I didn’t notice anyone who could be him at all.”

Dick goes stiff at the mention of the persona. He hadn’t wanted to talk about that just yet, not until he got the answers he needed. To his annoyance, his stiffness doesn’t go unnoticed by Jason. His brother reaches out and grabs his arm to stop him from walking. “Dick. You saw him, didn’t you? You know who it is?”

Dick swallows and looks away. Should he give Tim up? What if he was wrong about this and it was all a big understanding?

Jason’s grip on his arm tightens. “Don’t you dare lie to me. You don’t have to tell B but you need to at least tell me.”

Dick takes a deep breath and lets it out, he looks at Jason. “It’s Tim. Tim is Red Robin.”

Several moments go by and all Jason was doing was blinking at him. He then lets out an obnoxious laugh like Dick had just told the world’s best joke. “Yeah okay Dickie bird, good one. Tim, Tiny Tim, the little baby bird, as Red Robin. That’s gold.”

Dick wasn’t laughing. He glares at his brother until he sobers up. “I’m not joking. I saw and heard him talking to Luthor, he revealed himself and claimed to wanting these files. Luthor then drew a gun on him and of course I wasn’t about to let that happen so I got involved but by the time I went to talk to him he was gone.”

His brother blinks at him again, “You’re not joking. You seriously think Tim is Red Robin, the exact thing causing both B and Babs ulcers because they can’t work out who it is.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Dicks says softening his expression. “I honestly don’t believe it myself but I want to get answers before taking this any more forward. I said to him that we’ll meet up soon, I plan on interrogating him then about it.”

“So we’re keeping this just between us.”

“For now yes.”

“Bruce will be pissed at us for keeping that information from him.”

“I don’t care. I want to get the facts correct before proceeding this further. Anyway, these mysterious files should keep him busy long enough for us to work it out before he catches on.”

“Alright, if this all goes down hill and then I’m blaming you.”

“Sure.”

“I mean it Dickhead, I ain’t taking the blame for your crappy decisions.”

“Whatever Jason.”

“So now what?”

Dick grins at him, “Now we have a little birdie to catch.”

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life 2: Chapter 6

After a nice meal at Tonio’s, the three head out, bellies full and bodies healthier. However, the last thing they expected to see was Josuke and Okuyasu, charging at them, with a look of pure hatred on their faces. It looks like another enemy has come to attack them.

"I like that Tonio guy," Kakyoin said. "At first he seemed a little sketchy, but he's pretty nice."

"I agree," Lily replied. "It's nice to see he's using his Stand to help others, too. It feels like everyone we come across always wants to use it to hurt others or for their personal gain. Tonio could have just as easily shown people his healing abilities and charged an insane amount of money for his food, but he chooses to open a restaurant in a small town with reasonable prices."

Meanwhile, Emily was looking behind her when she saw a familiar face. “Mommy!” she tugged on Lily's pant leg to get her attention. “Mommy, I see Josuke and Yasu!”

Lily peered over the horizon, and saw the two running towards them.

“Well, what do you know?” Kakyoin commented. “There they are. Although, I wonder why they’re running.”

“Yeah, I don’t see why, either,” Lily replied. “They’re so close to us, too. They’d usually slow down by now.”

Kakyoin looked again, and the boys were close enough that he could see something different in their eyes. A murderous intent, and, at the same time, a blank, zombie-like expression. “Lily, Emily, look out!” He tackled them out of the way as Okuyasu used The Hand to attempt to scrape away the little girl. Not long after, Josuke tried punching Kakyoin, but he rolled along the ground and dodged just in time.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Lily exclaimed? “Why are you attacking us?”

Neither of the boys answered as they went back to attack the three, who were still laying on the ground. As Josuke approached Lily, he sent one of Crazy Diamond's fists straight through her stomach, leaving her fatally wounded. However, Josuke failed to notice that Ace of Pentacles had already activated and duplicated Lily in the nick of time.

"There was something wrong with his eyes," Lily told Kakyoin. "They were pink. Josuke's normal eyes are blue."

"Are you suggesting these might not be the real Josuke and Okuyasu?" Kakyoin asked.

"They might not be," Lily answered. "But we don't know for sure. All we can know is that this is not Josuke or Okuyasu acting on their own. Either they're being influenced by a Stand or these are fakes created by a Stand. We need to keep them alive for now, just in case."

"Okuyasu," Josuke whispered to his friend, "Mrs. Lily and Mr. Kakyoin are distracted right now. Let's take care of Emily."

Both boys sprinted towards the little girl, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. Like a squid that feels threatened and releases ink, she instinctually activated Walking on Sunshine and made everything around her float, including bugs, leaves, blades of grass that had been rooted up, and the four people surrounding her. Both parents soon figured out what was going on, and returned their attention to the boys, who, despite being airborne, were still trying to get to Emily. Josuke was trying to "swim" towards her, while Okuyasu used his Stand to move through the air.

"Leave Emily out of this!" Kakyoin shouted, using Hierophant to snatch her away before Okuyasu could reach her.

"Sorry, Mr. Kakyoin," Josuke shrugged. "We can't."

"Why can't you?" Kakyoin asked the boys.

"Reina told us to get rid of you, and so we will," Okuyasu said nonchalantly.

"Reina?"

"Emily, baby," Lily tried hiding the stress in her voice, but she couldn't do it very well. "Can you deactivate Walking on Sunshine, please?"

Emily nodded, and squeezed her eyes shut. However, when they opened again, everyone was still suspended in the air. "I can't!" she exclaimed. "She's still here!"

"What do you mean, you can't?" Lily asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. Which, given the circumstances, was a very hard thing to do.

"I can't do it!" Emily started to cry, and things started floating that were even further away. "I'm sorry, Mommy! She won't stop!"

"Who's Reina?" Kakyoin questioned the two boys.

"Nobody who you need to know," Josuke answered. "She matters to us, and that's all there is to it."

"Doesn't it seem fishy that you would kill multiple people just because this 'Reina' told you to?" Kakyoin argued.

Josuke locked eyes with Okuyasu, and Okuyasu with Josuke, then both turned back to Kakyoin and shrugged.

"Seems logical to me," Josuke told him.

"I don't see a problem there," Okuyasu added.

"No, no, no, no, it's okay, sweetie, no need to cry!" Lily consoled, although it sounded more like a plead. She glanced over at Kakyoin, who had been (unsuccessfully) trying to negotiate with Josuke and Okuyasu. "Noriaki, prepare for an air battle!"

Kakyoin nodded his head, and summoned Hierophant, who wrapped its tentacles around Emily to keep her safe and secure. "I think these are the real Josuke and Okuyasu," he said to Lily.

"Why do you think that?" Lily asked as she duplicated herself before her original was scraped away by The Hand, and used Okuyasu as a footstool to move through zero gravity.

"They keep talking about how they want to 'please Reina' so they can gain her approval," Kakyoin answered as he grabbed the ground with Hierophant to pull himself away from Josuke's attack and stroked Emily's hair to calm her down. "Why would a fake person created by a Stand talk about gaining approval from someone we've never heard of?"

"You have a point," Lily nodded, then gasped. "Noriaki, behind you! They're coming for Emily!"

Kakyoin grabbed both boys, who believed they had made a sneak attack on him, with Hierophant's tentacles, then launched himself behind them from pulling them forward, and used an Emerald Splash to counter them. He made sure it didn't do too much damage, though, as he was sure those were the real boys.

"Stop running away, dang it!" Okuyasu growled. "We have a woman to win over!"

"She's mind controlling you, don't you get it?" Kakyoin shouted, with a hint of worry in his voice.

"You're not going to break the spell by trying to convince them, you know!" Lily objected. "The only way to free them is by finding the user, probably Reina, and either getting her to release them from her grip or knocking her out.”

"But how are we supposed to find this Reina if we're stuck in Emily's zero gravity?" Kakyoin asked.

"I don't know!" Lily fretted. "The only way to escape is to move out of the radius, but we can't do that without putting Emily at risk!"

Once Josuke and Okuyasu were done recovering from the Emerald Splash, they went back to attack Emily and Kakyoin. That's when a light bulb sparked in Kakyoin's mind. "Lily!" he shouted. "Catch!" He threw Emily just above Lily's reach, though, so that the little girl would be thrown far enough for him to escape her gravity radius. Of course, the boys followed after her, unaware of Kakyoin's plans. He saw the objects that were falling were getting closer and closer to him, until...

"Noriaki!" Lily exclaimed. "You're on the ground!"

"Here's the plan," Kakyoin called out to Lily. "I'll go search for Reina, and you do everything you can to keep those two away from Emily!"

"You got it!" Lily shouted. Let's hope Josuke and Okuyasu don't know Hierophant's powers, or they'll know to chase after him, instead, she thought to herself.

"It'll take forever to find someone who you've never seen before, even in a small town!" Josuke laughed. "You think running everywhere will speed the process up?"

Thank goodness, they don't know! Lily sighed lightly.

"Whatever," Okuyasu said to his friend, "let's just try and get rid of Lily and Emily. After all, the little one's currently being left unattended."

Right! Emily! Kakyoin had thrown her to escape Walking on Sunshine's power, and she was still suspended in midair! Okuyasu was gaining on the child quicker than Lily would ever be able to. At least, not without a boost. A boost!

With some quick reactions, Lily duplicated herself with Ace of Pentacles, and boosted off of herself, grabbing Emily and throwing her into the original copy's arms. Right after Emily was safe and sound, the duplicate Lily was wiped away with The Hand.

Noriaki, please find Reina soon, Lily silently begged. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold these two off.

***

As soon as everyone was out of sight, Kakyoin stopped running, and caught his breath. "Hierophant Green!" he called, and his Stand obediently showed itself.

"I need you to survey the area," he said. "Look for a girl, of course. Probably has a murderous intent in her eyes. Make sure you can feel the power of a Stand. If all three of those match up, we've probably got our culprit."

Hierophant nodded, and slipped through whatever cracks he could find in order to stay hidden. Geez, how many girls could live in one small town? There were so many, and none so far had met the criteria that Kakyoin had set for him. Not one. He was just about to give up, but then he saw a girl. A girl who he felt a strange power leaking from her skin. A girl who was clearly not trying to be modest. Everything about her seemed to be an attempt to show herself off. And, from the looks of things, it was working, too. She was talking to a guy who was definitely into her.

"So, I'm having a party tonight," the boy said, leaning against his motorcycle. At least, it looked like it was his. "Alcohol included. You look like the type of girl who would call that a good time."

"Oh, I definitely would," the girl purred. "Any party without alcohol is only as fun as a two-year-old's birthday party. Not fun at all." As she talked, Kakyoin felt that power coming from her strengthen. "Of course, any party that doesn't end in me waking up next to the party's host is a party I'd rather not go to, so..."

"I was hoping that was part of the deal," the boy grinned.

"And I was hoping you'd say that," the girl answered. "You were way too easy to win over to Tainted Love."

The boy tilted his head. "Tainted Love?" Before he could question it any further, though, the girl snapped her fingers, and the boy suddenly looked like he was in a trance. Pastel pink eyes, the zombified expression on his face, it was all adding up! This was Reina!

Hierophant sent a signal through his body to Kakyoin to alert him that Reina had been found, and Kakyoin instantly received it and sprinted down the path Hierophant made to lead him to the user.

"Now, I want you to go into your pantry," Reina instructed the spellbound boy, "find all of the alcohol, and give it to me."

The boy nodded, and ran towards his home.

"That was too easy," Reina laughed to herself. "I'm going to be wasted tonight. Man, with this power, I'll never have to buy anything again. Speaking of this power, I wonder how Josuke and Okuyasu are doing?"

"They're doing fine," Kakyoin said. "Well, except for the fact that a selfish little brat is using her Stand to make them her slaves to kill off my daughter, my wife, and I, but other than that, perfectly fine."

Reina gasped. "Kakyoin!" she growled. "How did you escape?"

"That's not important," Kakyoin answered her. "What is important is that you release those two from your Stand's grasp."

Reina looked Kakyoin in the eye, then back up at the sky. "Nah."

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Reina," Kakyoin scowled. "And I think we'd rather both do it the easy way."

"Any way is the easy way for me, now," Reina chuckled. "After all, I have Tainted Love by my side." She completely summoned her Stand for the first time, and revealed a cherry-red-skinned, humanoid figure, with hearts for eyes. It's hair was a darker color than its body, and it's clothes... well, there were none at all. Not that it looked immodest, it just looked... incomplete, as if her Stand wasn’t fully formed.

“You can’t seduce me, Reina,” Kakyoin said. “I’m happily married. Plus, what are you, sixteen? Seventeen?”

“I’m not trying to seduce you,” Reina laughed. “Tainted Love is trying to.“

“What difference does it make?” Kakyoin asked.

“The difference,” Reina answered, “is Tainted Love’s abilities. She can morph herself into your ideal woman, and act ideally, too. And once you've been seduced by her, snap!" Reina snapped her fingers. "You're under my control."

While she was explaining her powers, Tainted Love was slowly changing shape, her red skin shifting to a shade of beige, her hair changing into a blonde ponytail, and her eyes becoming almond-shaped, with blue corneas. Eventually, she became a spitting image of Lily.

“Noriaki!” Tainted Love cooed. “I was so worried!” She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I thought you might die from this girl.” The fake Lily planted her face in the crook of Kakyoin’s neck. “You’re my hero.”

Oh, Kakyoin’s heart was thumping, and it was thumping hard. After all, Reina’s Stand now looked exactly like the woman he married.

“Wow,” Reina stifled a laugh. “That’s your fantasy? This isn’t a Mario game, you know.”

“I just want to protect her, is that so bad?” Kakyoin argued. “And I just want her to feel safe in my arms.”

“Anyway,” Reina snorted, “it’s too late for you, now! With the snap of my fingers...” she went for a snap, but her fingers wouldn’t move. “I said, with the snap of my fingers...” she tried again, nothing. That’s when she’s turned her head to look at her hands, both of which were entangled in Hierophant’s tendrils, making it impossible to snap.

“You didn’t notice Hierophant sneaking up on you while Tainted Love flirted with me?” Kakyoin asked. “Well, it’s too late for you, now.”

“Don’t think you can just get out of this unha-“ Reina didn’t get to finish her sentence because Hierophant wrapped his tendrils around her mouth and nose, making it so she couldn’t breathe. She tried clawing at the tendrils encasing her breath, but her fingers fell right through.

“I’m sorry, Reina,” Kakyoin shrugged. “I asked if you wanted to do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s not my fault you chose the hard way.”

The last thing Kakyoin heard from Reina was her muffled screams before she passed out. “I know you don’t know this, but I truly am sorry,” he said to the girl after setting her down on the ground. “I don’t like having to do things like that with my Stand, no matter who it is. And for the record, my two-year-old's birthday party was awesome."

***

Lily had just barely escaped death over ten times now, and there were tons of copies of her, all lifeless as they floated through the air. For some reason, even though Emily had calmed down, Walking on Sunshine was still as active as ever. Lily thought it might have something to do with the fact that they were in danger, since Emily was old enough to know what danger really looked like. Noriaki, she pleaded silently as she duplicated herself yet again before she was punched through by Crazy Diamond, now would be a really good time to defeat Reina. They’re starting to figure out how to move in zero gravity!

As Okuyasu was quickly approaching Lily, she duplicated herself yet again and her copy shot straight up, Emily in her arms. However, she failed to notice that Josuke had snuck up behind her, Crazy Diamond prepared to attack. He just barely missed her heart, since she was still moving fast from the boost, and instead punched her straight in the stomach.

The pain was agonizing. Lily felt almost all of her life energy leave her body immediately after the punch. It was so bad she let go of Emily.

So this is how it felt, Noriaki? All of those years ago in Egypt? This is the pain you had to endure? She could barely keep tears away reliving that memory. As her vision faded out, she heard one last voice.

“No! Mrs. Lily! Don’t worry, I’ve got you! Okuyasu, take care of the dead Lilies all around, would ya?”

They’re... not trying to kill me?

Before she knew it, her vision immediately got better, and the pain in her abdomen was only a memory. That’s when she saw Josuke’s blue eyes again, staring down at her with worry.

"You're... back to normal," Lily smiled weakly.

"Oh, Mrs. Lily, I'm so, so sorry. I promise, that wasn't me acting on my own, someone was controlling me. If I had known what she would do, I would have never fallen for her," Josuke rambled.

"It's okay, Josuke," Lily reassured him. "I could tell you weren't controlling your actions. Your eyes were pink."

"Really?" Josuke sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. I wouldn't want you to think I'm a bad kid, or anything."

Immediately, everyone dropped to the ground, none of them feet first. Well, except for Emily, who was gently carried down by Walking on Sunshine.

"Emily!" Lily exclaimed. She ran over to the little girl, and scooped her up in her arms. "I'm so glad you're okay," she hugged her tightly, and planted kisses all over her cheeks.

"I'm sorry for the hassle, Mrs. Lily," Okuyasu scratched the back of his head. "I'm sure you already know, but this girl-"

"Yeah, yeah, Reina, pleasing her, I get it," Lily waved her hand around. "It happens to the best of us. Well, not that specifically, but being attacked by a Stand."

"I wonder how Mr. Kakyoin was able to find Reina?" Josuke muttered.

"I'll tell you while we walk," Lily answered him. "Let's go find him, so he knows we're safe."

The boys nodded, and all four of them casually walked away.

[bakagamieru]

Hi!!! I’m hoping you can help - do you know why Zayn left One Direction? He was partying with Louis on March 14 in Thailand and left the band on March the 25th. So what happened in those 9 days for him to leave? I just don’t get it!! TIA!!

Hello,

It wasn’t anything in those 9 days that made him leave.  In fact, I don’t think it was his idea to leave at all.

I have a masterpost outlining most of my speculation relating to this: http://bakagamieru.tumblr.com/post/120840259353/zayn-stunt-summary

Of course there are other fans/bloggers (known as Team Stunt mostly) that have speculated about this as well.

Disclaimers

Please bare with me here and read the whole post (and preferably the other posts in my masterpost) before writing this theory off.  I 100% believe that if anyone takes the time to look at the evidence, it will become obvious that something very fishy is going on.  It’s just logic.

If you’re not coming into this post with the knowledge of 1D’s adversarial relationship with their team or with the knowledge that there are closeted gay couples within the 1D band (Louis and Harry, Liam and Zayn), then you might want to check that out first.  There are good resources out there for all of it.  I have some of it linked on my “ziam resources” and “larry resources” tags or on my Projects and Posts and Tags and Links pages.

It’s important to know what’s going on with these things and the history of 1D and their team because Zayn leaving being a stunt is a part of and a continuation of that.  

It might also help to check out who Zayn really is since a false and negative characterization of him has taken hold because of his public persona since his leaving.  I’ve got a few things linked on my summary masterpost.  Another tag on my blog to check out would be “pairing masterpost” (look for any including Zayn).  There’s also this post and this post and this post that show who Zayn is beyond the broody bad boy image he’s always been saddled with, extremely so in his solo career.  Myself, I think the lyrics from his solo albums, particularly Mind of Mine but also the Icarus part of Icarus Falls, shows who he is better than anything.  There’s no way to fake the gentleness and thoughtfulness inherent in the sentiments he chooses to express.  

Even if you know Zayn well already, it’s always good to revisit these because it can be hard to fully avoid the effects of being bombarded by everyone telling you he’s a selfish, erratic, rash, and disloyal person.  It’s good to be reminded of exactly how dorky, geeky, sweet, protective, thoughtful, intelligent, and caring he is.

Let’s Get Into It

The thing that made us start wondering about a stunt was the way Zayn left.  It doesn’t particularly make sense for a lot of reasons.

1) He had been more engaged than usual at the start of the OTRA tour, talking to fans on social media and practicing to get better at giving speeches on stage.  He was also just as affectionate with the other boys on stage as ever.

2) The reasons they gave for Zayn leaving were many and yet none of them ever made sense.  The WAY he left is also baffling.

Originally the implication was that Zayn left because he was caught “cheating again” on Perrie.  This is unlikely because 1) Zayn was never truly dating Perrie as it was a PR/bearding relationship (yes there is proof), and 2) Zayn and Perrie officially broke up that August anyway and if Zayn left for her, that would take away his reason for leaving and yet he didn’t return.  The same sort of theory popped up with the idea of Naughty Boy luring him away, but again, 1) Naughty Boy had been very pro-1D the year before, and 2) Zayn and Naughty Boy had a “falling out” and yet Zayn didn’t return to 1D.

They said anxiety immediately after he left, but then he started a solo career that’s bound to be more anxiety-inducing if someone has stage fright.  If the worst part of the job is dealing with people, then why would you get rid of the people who distracted most of the interviewer’s attention during interviews and the people who shared the stage with you?

They said he never liked being in the band, but if he likes the music/performing part (he ostensibly did because of going solo) and he likes the boys (there’s no real proof he doesn’t), that only leaves his management team to be causing the problem.  One Direction was just about to end their active contract with Syco/Modest, so why leave the band and risk penalties and censure instead of sticking it out until the end of the year?

Some said he left to go solo first and get the spotlight, but he didn’t actually release solo music until after the hiatus started, he risked a really negative public image by doing so, Simon Cowell had actually claimed the fall before that 1D members could do solo music while in the band, and he missed one of the concerts he’d been really looking forward to (Dubai) instead of at least waiting until the end of that tour leg when there would be a month-long break.  

Additionally, even though Zayn is supposed to be “free of Syco”, it’s pretty clear that his own team is sabotaging his solo career with a complete lack of promo and unnecessarily negative print interviews.  Zayn can’t be blamed for this because even if those things were his choice, they’re not going to earn money and his team has a vested interest in that and yet would apparently be doing nothing about it.  Going back to the theory that Zayn left because of not liking how Syco/Modest did things, clearly him going solo didn’t fix that problem whatsoever and Zayn is too smart to cut ties and burn bridges only to jump from one bad situation into another.

Some people say all of the above things were lies to cover the fact that Zayn and 1D just didn’t get along.  There’s no proof of this.  Like I said, he was just as affectionate with them leading up to his departure.  He was very complimentary of them right after he left, and then suddenly there were Twitter fights with Louis out of nowhere (very suspicious Twitter fights by the way), a supposed feud with Harry (that has only ever existed in the headlines as there is literally no proof other than “a source said”), and negative and then positive and then negative and then positive comments in print interviews despite this being very inconsistent with the official narrative of what’s happened.  Zayn has never from his own mouth said something vitriolic about the other boys.  In fact, the way he talks about them in his few radio/tv interviews is far more positive than his supposed words in print interviews (which can be manipulated very easily).

They claim that Zayn up and decided to leave and then caught a plane without anybody knowing and went back to the UK.  This is very unlikely considering all of the people around him that would notice like the bodyguards, etc.  Also, this assumes Zayn is the type of person who would make such a rash, snap decision.  They also announced him officially leaving not long after which begs the question, did Syco/Modest do nothing to try to persuade/coerce 1/5 of their biggest money-maker to at least finish the tour?

The way it was announced was quite odd, considering it was posted on Facebook of all places immediately after the end of a concert and sounded extremely impersonal like a PR person wrote it (which Zayn later confirmed).  The Mirror also reported on the announcement almost immediately which means they had to be tipped off because they wouldn’t have had time to find the announcement and create an article about it otherwise.

The other odd thing is that there were never any consequences for Zayn leaving.  He’s part of a huge money-making band and he broke a contract with his team, so you would assume that they would 1) sue him, 2) demand he pay the very high fee for getting out of the contract, or 3) drop him from the label/management agency and make sure no one else will work with him in the industry.  None of these things happened.  There’s obviously been no suit as it would have made news.  There was no payoff because Zayn’s net worth never changed in such a dramatic way.  Originally the story was that Syco ONLY let Zayn leave if he signed to them for his solo career, but then Syco claimed to have dropped Zayn BECAUSE he left, but then Syco was still listed on his first solo release (which is sketchy in and of itself).

And let’s talk about the timing once more because there’s a little more to it.  He left 7 shows before the end of the Asia/Africa leg of OTRA.  This meant that he missed the Dubai show which was in an area of the world where he was very popular, where he has cultural ties, and where he had explicitly said he was excited to perform.  That leg was the last leg before a planned 1-month tour break, which would have been a much more logical time to leave, break it to the fans, deal with the paperwork, etc.  That tour was also the last tour before the hiatus.  No, it wasn’t announced until later, but it’s very unlikely it wasn’t planned before that.  Even the fans kind of assumed there would be some sort of break after the album since as far as anyone could guess, that was going to be the end of the Syco/Modest contract time period.  

If Zayn couldn’t stand the band or wanted to go solo or couldn’t stand his management team, there was an obvious out coming up that would have been way less complicated and would have had way fewer potential negative consequences.  For any reason but anxiety (which is eliminated because of the baffling solo career decision), it doesn’t make sense for him to leave instead of waiting out the year.  

There are any number of oddities about the way he left and the given reasons for him leaving.  No matter what theory you look at, it isn’t consistent with logic OR with Zayn’s character and past actions.

So these things were why some of us were suspicious from the start and paid close attention as the events unfolded.  As we did, we just caught more and more inconsistencies and suspicious things.

3) Finally, I need to point out one massive area of evidence about Zayn’s leaving being a (particularly long-lived [although only a couple months longer than babygate]) stunt.  The shade.

The 1D boys have a long history of throwing shade that contradicts the official narrative, thus cluing fans in that some lie is being told.  There’s hella shade around Zayn’s leaving from both him and from the other boys.

The masterpost I linked at the top contains several posts about this, so I’m not going to rehash that here.  However, I will briefly go into what I think is the most compelling evidence that Zayn was actually planned to return to the band in August 2015.

The reason I find this particular shade so compelling is because it’s actually a pattern of shade, and not only is it a pattern of shade, it’s actually 5 overlapping and coordinated patterns of shade.  

The basic idea is that Zayn was scheduled to return on August 5th, around July 26th the boys learned that the return was delayed, the 2nd scheduled return was probably August 18th, and then that return was also delayed/cancelled.

First is Niall’s all-black pattern.  Niall had never worn an all-black outfit on stage before and he’d never repeated the same outfit more than 2 times in a row during a tour, but starting from the concert before Zayn left, he wore all black for 8 shows in a row until the end of that tour leg.  He stopped for the European leg and some of the NA leg.  Then, 8 shows before the August 5th show, Niall starting wearing all black again, like a bookend.  He didn’t make it to 8 shows consecutively because plans got changed, but he did continue wearing some amount of black at almost every show until the end of a tour in an organized pattern.

Second is Rainbow Bondage Bear’s (“RBB”) stickers.  In mid to late August, people started associating the recurring blue and green stickers on RBB with Louis and Harry because of their blue and green mic grips.  In fact, there were orange and yellow stickers (Niall and Zayn) before that, and a red sticker (Liam) showed up after that at strategic times.  The interesting thing is, Zayn’s yellow sticker was up for exactly 8 shows, ending on, you guessed it, August 5th.

Third is the Batman references.  With Liam taking the lead, the references to Batman skyrocketed in August.  Participants included Liam, some of the musical band members, Naughty Boy, and Zayn (yes, both sides participated).  Three particularly compelling references when put together are 1) the bat symbol that was put on the big screen at the 1D concert in Kansas City after the show (the bat signal traditionally calls Batman to come to it), 2) Zayn posting a fanart of his own name in the bat symbol (indicating himself as Batman), and 3) Naughty Boy posting a quote from Batman about the darkest moment being just before the dawn, which he posted with the hashtag “comesoon” (indicating a positive change coming soon).  All together, it’s hard not to read them as a sign that Zayn was supposed to return to the 1D stage soon.  Incidentally, RBB wore a Batman costume on, yes, August 5th.

Fourth is the 5th of the month pattern.  On the 5th of the month, from June 2015 to September 2015, something Ziam-related always happened with the exception of August 5th.  On June 5th Liam wore a ring (unusual for him at the time) in concert.  Surrounding circumstances point to it being Zayn-related.  On July 5th there was a video taken of Liam singing and coming out of the shower where surrounding circumstances point towards Zayn being the one filming.  On September 5th, Zayn and Liam started posting Instagram pictures that seemed to mirror each other or hint at Ziam in some way.  On August 4th, the Zerrie break up was announced, but on August 5th there was nothing in particular.  However, there would have been if that had been the first concert Zayn returned.

Fifth and final is related to the in-ears the boys wear on stage (and specifically to the 2nd return date this time, August 18th).  Oddly enough, the boys seem to change their in-ears in overly patterned ways and although I can’t identify what exactly they’re marking all the time, some of the ones I can link match up to Zayn’s leaving and potential return.  Liam wore a different set of in-ears for the last 5 concerts of the Asia/Africa leg of OTRA, starting on the Jakarta concert which was the first after Zayn’s official leaving announcement was made.  Later, starting on the Winnipeg show on July 24, the first show after Niall’s all-black bookend was disrupted (indicating Zayn’s return date was probably in flux at that point), Niall wore different in-ears for 3 shows.  Then Niall switched back to his regular and Liam picked up the pattern seamlessly by wearing different in-ears for 3 shows and 1 TV performance.  There are 2 possible ways this pattern could have ended that would make sense.  1) Liam could have counted the TV performance, worn in-ears for 1 more show and that would have completed Liam’s bookend of 5 different in-ears ending the show before Zayn’s (2nd scheduled) return on August 18th.  This would have resulted in a total of 8 performances with different in-ears counting both Liam and Niall and both concerts and TV performances, which partially (it doesn’t end on the concert Zayn would return)matches Niall’s bookend pattern.  2) Liam could have not counted the TV performance (the in-ears are almost exclusively a concert pattern) and worn in-ears for 2 more concerts, resulting in 8 total different in-ear shows ending on Zayn’s 2nd return date, completing Niall’s bookend pattern.  This would also mean Liam wore his in-ears for 5 performances, partially matching his bookend pattern (but not ending before the concert Zayn would return).  Again, I think the pattern was disrupted because Zayn’s return was again delayed (indefinitely as it turns out).

All of these patterns are explained in more detail (and with visuals because heaven knows it’s just a lot of dates and numbers without seeing it) in posts that are linked to my masterpost.  

There are also several other surrounding events that seem to confirm Zayn’s delayed returns such as:

the Zerrie break up;

an aborted Zayn-Naughty Boy fight;

the advent of positive 1D-Zayn relations leading up to August and then negative press resuming around August 17th;

a few things that might match up relating to Niall’s Where We Goin’ Today Mark video shade pattern; and 

the release of Drag Me Down which seems to have possibly been moved up by a week or so, indicating it originally might have been an OT5 song meant to be released around Zayn’s return.

To me, the fact that these patterns were so obviously deliberate (they’re way too organized not to be) and that they all overlap and point to the same dates, along with the fact that people from both camps participated in the Batman pattern, points to a definite return plan that was positively anticipated by both the boys and Zayn.

If I were to ever wonder if maybe Zayn really didn’t want to return even if leaving wasn’t his idea in the first place, this is what makes me positive that he did.  

If I ever wonder if maybe there was a falling out with Zayn and the boys after he left, even if he didn’t want to leave to start with, the shade from both sides makes it obvious to me that there never was any real bad blood.  If they all go to the trouble to contradict the official story, then clearly the official story must be a lie and the boys must all be on the same page.

Conclusion

I know this is a long post, but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sketchiness around Zayn leaving.  

Unfortunately, I haven’t followed through on organizing all the evidence like I had planned to at one point, but I think the masterpost I put together does cover a lot even if it’s a bit repetitive with some posts and a bit disorganized.

If anyone has questions that aren’t already covered in the masterpost, go ahead and send me an ask.

[lightlyscathing]

SOMETHING IS UP WITH BUTCH HARTMAN...

...And it might not be what you think it is.

(VERY long post/sort of essay, a lot more beneath the cut.)

TLDR: Butch is not the devil, he is flawed, and there’s almost certainly someone else behind a lot of what’s happening right now.

I’d like to start this off with saying that even though this blog is Pretty Empty and doesn’t have any other content from Butch Hartman’s shows (Danny Phantom, Fairly Odd Parents, etc.) on it, I watched his work as a kid and loved it. I’ve been a fan of Danny Phantom for years, and I’ve seen a lot of Butch hate.

Today I’d like to offer you another perspective on what might be happening with Butch, and why we should, I don’t know. Maybe lay off on the hate just a little...? He is by no means a perfect person, and has made mistakes, but the same can be said of any person.

After a friend of mine (@sarasanddollar) mentioned having mixed feelings about recent events (specifically, the OAXIS controversy), we had a conversation about it. She was coming from the perspective of someone who has defended Butch in the past, and I asked her about that as someone who has disliked Butch for a long time. I was curious to see what she had to say.

She made several good points, which I will summarize. You can also view the most important snippets of that conversation HERE.

One of the reasons many Danny Phantom fans (or Phans) dislike Butch so intensely is because of the terrible writing and overall execution of Season 3 of the show, especially the finale (Phantom Planet). 

Many Phans attribute this directly to Butch himself. And it’s true that he had a much heavier hand in Season 3 than the first two seasons! But he’s not the only one at fault here. As far as either of us could see, Nickelodeon basically axed his show (as they have with many shows), leaving Butch without most of his skilled team while creating the third season.

Butch is by no means the BEST creator or writer out there. His greatest skill seems to be in coming up with creative pitches for shows, and the execution of these ideas is best left to a team who knows what they’re doing. But that’s the thing: Butch had a team. Can you imagine suddenly losing the team you’re working with and trying to handle an entire animated show almost entirely on your own? No wonder it was a mess, that sounds terrifying.

Many people believe that Butch is anti-LGBT, and most of those people frame it as an intentional thing. That honestly seems unlikely, though.

Butch’s work has many scenes or even entire episodes that have sexist undertones or demonstrate a lot of toxic masculinity. Often, this is even the joke in and of itself. 

This seems to be more the product of the way he himself was raised than anything else, though. As far as either of us are aware, he’s never outright said anything for or against the LGBT community. Honestly, he’s not LGBT, so why should he?

Butch also seems pretty ignorant or uncomfortable when it comes to things he hasn’t directly experienced for himself, leading to comments like the one he made about introversion.

Beyond that, he allegedly kicked any people posting/liking LGBT content off of his Danny Phantom forums. The thing is, back then, almost ALL slash ship content was Pompous Pep (Danny Fenton/Vlad Masters). Making no comment on my personal feelings about the ship, it should be noted that this depicts an explicit sexual relationship between a 14-year-old boy and a man in his 40s. It’s understandable that Butch wouldn’t want explicit content of a pedophilic slash ship being associated with his show.

His way of dealing with it may have been excessive, but almost all of the LGBT content he was seeing was also pedophilia.

It’s also worth noting that almost all details about the Forum Days of the Danny Phantom fandom are now being passed around via word of mouth. Even in text form, people’s biases do change the tone of a situation.

Given recent events, many people are spreading around anything connecting Butch to religion. This deserves a closer look too, though.

Here’s something I didn’t know until Sara told me: Butch Hartman was not always a Christian. He wasn’t raised into it, “brainwashed” as a child and blindly following those values as an adult. He allegedly converted a year or two into the production of Fairly Odd Parents, well into his adult life. Before that, he was apparently an atheist. 

This man has one show about magic and another about scientists and ghosts. His shows have sexual jokes, witchcraft, violence, and all sorts of things you’d expect a super-conservative Christian to avoid. So why do we all act like he’s always BEEN that super-conservative Christian?

It may have something to do with how people tend to associate Christianity with the corrupt or incompetent white men who run a significant portion of the planet. The exact reasons are probably different from person to person.

This, of course, DOES NOT give Butch any reason to act like Christians are oppressed. He is not the “living embodiment of ‘one of these things is not like the other’” as he put it. 

That being said, it seems as if his shows are largely detached from religion (until now). They have morals, sure, but all Nickelodeon shows have lessons for kids, many of which also happen to be mentioned in some form somewhere in the Bible.

So it seems kind of fishy that Religious Values are suddenly such a huge deal for him... which leads me to the point of this entire thing.

When it comes to the OAXIS scam, we might not be the only ones who are being played.

It seems very likely that Butch Hartman himself is also being played.

Hear me out.

With the context of Giving The Children Jesus, some of the more confusing parts of the way OAXIS was pitched make more sense. But at the same time, I find it very difficult to understand how this man created so much content for children (and RAISED a child) with such a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to how families and society work.

After thinking about it, I realized that this feels very familiar.

Someone I was once very close with had a similar experience about a year ago. For both of them, it seems to have gone something like this:

The person in question starts off not knowing/caring about a cause. At some point, they are introduced to this cause and join, but it does very little to change their work or public life. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they have a radical change in lifestyle and behavior, while screaming an extreme or radical version of that cause’s message from the metaphorical rooftops.

For the person I used to be close with, this “cause” was Isogenix. (For more information on operations like this one, consider watching this video.) For Butch, it seems like that cause is... saving young people with religious lessons and “pure” media.

With the person I knew, this whole process started when a group of people who were already working with Isogenix befriended her and gained her trust, then told her repeatedly how good Isogenix would be for her. When she started considering it, they told her it was about self-empowerment and pursuing her true self. This kept going until they’d pushed her into dismantling her circle of friends (anyone who wasn’t working with Isogenix), and the last I’ve heard about it is that she left her husband and children to dedicate herself to “self-exploration” and being a Good Example of Isogenix’s successes.

With Butch, it seems likely that something similar is in the process of happening, though with different results. I wouldn’t be surprised if he met and befriended someone (or several people) who believe that modern mass media is corrupting the youth, and that limiting their media intake to Christian-approved content will fix a lot of the issues in modern society.

I mentioned earlier that Butch seems to have a pretty limited understanding of things outside his own little sphere (based mostly on his unintentional sexism in shows, lack of understanding of healthy male friendships/physical contact, and complete misunderstanding of the 16-50% of the world that is made up of introverts). Considering this, it seems like he’d probably buy into this mentality pretty easily, especially if these people “spoke his language”.

While I personally have a lot of resentment for the people who fall for this sort of tactic, it’s not really the victim’s fault when they become the Face or Voice of the cause. The recruiters often know exactly what they’re doing. Most of them seek out people who are lost, desperate, low on self esteem, or somewhat narcissistic. People who want to make a future for themselves, and sometimes others, usually as “their own boss.” Sound familiar?

Some people are more than one of those things. Butch, given that he recently left Nickelodeon after working there for literal decades, could understandable be a bit lost on what his next step should be. And honestly, he’s shown narcissistic tendencies in the past (have you SEEN his self-insert from Fairly Odd Parents?).

So, as easy as it is to stay mad at Butch Hartman, there’s almost certainly someone else involved... which would also explain some things about his Kickstarter.

The way these things are pitched is designed to make the “victim” believe that it’s all their own idea. THEY took control of their life to make these changes, THEY are the brave example of the Future of the industry, THEY are a self-made person. And most of all, showing other people how they can succeed by joining the organization/school of thought is THE BEST THING EVER.

Which... to me, that seems like it’s a logical reason for Butch’s Kickstarter not actually mentioning anyone else, when he insists other people are involved. Someone likely took his already self-absorbed and narcissistic tendencies and intentionally built them up to make him into the Face and Voice of this project. 

Bonus points to them: they also picked the perfect person to use.

Butch is a well-off, reasonably well-known person. He has a pretty large following that is almost exclusively made up of young adults, teenagers, and even children (a detail many people cited as the reason his Kickstarter shouldn’t have worked at all). Many of those young people grew up watching his shows and seeing his content on social media, assuming that the loyal followers we’re talking about are the several hundred thousand people following him on social media platforms. Many of them would take his word as something more important than some random person they’ve never heard of, or so the theory goes.

With this context, his line makes perfect sense:

“You trusted me with your childhood, won’t you trust me with your future?”

He probably does honestly care about what happens, and he’s not trying to maliciously brainwash children with Jesus. It’s far more likely that someone else convinced him that he’s the person perfect for saving “lost” young people, given that many of them trusted him as children. He’s obviously the best person to show them Pure and Good content, away from the “poisonous” aspects of mainstream media.

Butch Hartman isn’t a demon. He’s not evil. He’s not... Trump, or anything like that. He’s a naive man with very little actual understanding of how the world works, who believes that he’s helping. 

Which is not to say he’s perfect at all. He’s made lots of mistakes, and he’ll continue to make them. 

I just seriously doubt he’s actually the “mastermind” behind this whole operation. He’s little more than a figurehead, probably. And from how he’s acted in the past, he seems to crave the attention and trust of young people. He needs to be someone important to them.

And the worst part of all this might be that he’s not going to get out of this without a disaster. I pity the guy, as much of a mess as all of this already is.

You don’t get out of this kind of position unless it falls out from under you. And when you fully believe and trust in what you’re doing, you’re not prepared for the fall. 

You hit the ground hard.

~Ren

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Puny

Puny Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: AU featuring Katie the bartender and a mysterious stranger rolling into her dull, small town. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: I struggled a bit with this one but I still think this story turned out pretty okay.

Katie wasn’t necessarily satisfied with her job at The Stale Ale, the only bar in town, but it was a way to pay the bills. She had been living in the small, dull mountain town of Kerberos for nearly three years and been at the bar since she got there. She’d come here because the idea of college hadn’t been appealing but she’d needed some sense of independence from her family. Her parents had been terribly disappointed with her admission that she wasn’t going to take the scholarships or go to college right away, insisting that she would be wasting her time if she didn’t go for a degree. Her brother, Matt, had been much better about it, saying that he understood that she needed to take time for herself to reflect on what she really wanted out of life. She hadn’t spoken to her parents much since she moved but she did keep up with Matt as regularly as she could. He was, after all, busy with his own life.

And living in Kerberos and working at the bar certainly weren’t helping.

Every night was the same; the same faces, the same incidents, the same cleaning tasks and the same shifts. It was all so routine and expected that it felt like she was even more lost than she was three years ago. She ducked back behind the bar after taking the construction workers that came in every Friday night their first round of cheap, draft beer, tossed the serving tray on top of the stack, and pulled up her cutting board to get started on slicing some limes. A quick check of the clock showed that it was a quarter to eight, meaning that the bowling league guys would be showing up for their nightly round of pool and beer soon. It’d be best to have the limes ready to go before they arrived, simply to make her life easier.

The bell above the front door chimed lightly and an unfamiliar figure hovered in the doorway.

She cocked her head as the tall figure made their way to the bar itself, sliding into a bar stool and motioning him over with a small nod of his head. The first thing that caught her eye was the leather riding jacket and hunched shoulders, his arms seeming to be hidden within the front pockets of his jacket. “You got any food here?” He asked, blowing a few strands of his inky bangs out of his eyes.

“Depends on what you’re looking for,” She said, leaning her arms against the counter. He shifted back a bit in his seat, seeming to pull a little bit closer to himself.

“Do you have, like, some kind of fish?” He huffed.

She quirked an eyebrow then shrugged. “We have a tuna salad sandwich. Would that work for you?”

“Can I just get a plate of the tuna salad stuff? Like, no bread or anything extra, just the fishy part? Oh, and a little cup of milk?” He asked, glancing down as if to check his boots and then back up.

She frowned a bit. “Not interested in something a little more… Typical of a place like this?” She asked, gesturing around her with one hand.

He pinned her with a bland look before shaking his head. “When you put it like that, I guess I’ll take a beer, too. Whatever you’ve got that’s on tap and won’t have me spilling my guts out later,” He said evenly.

“Whatever you say, chief,” She said, giving him a quick salute before turning and heading to the back of the kitchen.

Gomez, the line cook, perked up as she made her way over to the fridge where he kept most of his supplies. “What are you looking for, Kat?” He asked calmly, walking over and leaning against the counter beside it.

“Got a weirdo out there that, get this, wants a beer, milk, and a plate of just tuna mix. Mind grabbing me a plate?” She asked, grabbing the container of tuna salad mix and the open carton of milk. She had one in the mini fridge up behind the bar for certain mixed drinks, but she hadn’t had to open it yet and wanted to prolong it. Once it was opened, she had to remark the labels on it for freshness.

“Yeesh, sounds like a real odd ball. If he starts acting like a total freak, remember to grab the bat we keep up there. It still hanging on the hooks right underneath?” He asked, opening the container and scooping out some of the tuna to plop on a plate. He offered it to her once she had poured some milk into a small cup.

“Thanks for the reminder, Gomez,” She said with a small laugh. The bat was supposed to be a deterrent for any potential robbers, though she didn’t exactly see the point. After all, if someone came at her with a gun, they’d probably be able to shot before she could land any decent blows with the bat.

She took the plate and glass back out to the bar, peering around the guy at the bar to see the bowling guys had come in and were starting to rack the balls at their table. She set the two down in front of the stranger and turned back to the long line of beers, grabbing a frosty mug and holding it up to the nozzle. “Never seen you around here before. Just passing through or planning to stick around?” She called over her shoulder as she prepared the beer.

“Not planning to stay here too terribly long; just got some business to sort out and then I’ll probably be moving along again,” He said, his jacket making noise as he moved.

She had just turned around to set down the beer when he eyes fell to the small, sickly looking fuzz ball now set on the bar counter.

“What is that?” She asked, setting the mug down and watching as he set the little gremlin down on the plate, watching it sniff at the tuna before licking at it cautiously.

“What, never seen a kitten before?” He scoffed, reaching down to carefully stroke down along its little spine with his index and middle fingers. Tiny, rumbly purrs could be heard as the kitten started going to town on the tuna.

“That thing is a kitten? But it looks so… Puny,” She said as she picked up another serving tray and started preparing the beers for the pool players.

“It was half dead on the side of a road, so it’s probably a bit on the frail side. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a kitten,” He scoffed, picking up his beer with his other hand and taking a swig. He made a face before setting it down and returning his attention to the kitten. “But I take it you’ve been here a while?”

“Excuse me?” She asked in surprise as she picked up the tray.

He looked over his shoulder at the pool table and then over at the tray in her hands. “You seem to have a regular schedule around here,” He commented.

She scowled a bit and waved a hand. “Something like that, I guess,” She said before heading over to the table.

The guys greeted her with their usual loud, unified shout of her name. Sampson made his weekly pass at her, complimenting how her work pants fit on her using highly vulgar terminology. Andrew apologized for Sampson, the beaten down little brother that all overgrown frat boys seemed to have, and slipped her a few extra bucks as an additional apology. Derek was on another one of his tirades about the government tapping phone lines while Kyle, a retired cop, told him that he was just being paranoid and had delusions of grandeur. She made sure to leave the small dish of sliced limes beside the ashtray on the windowsill, knowing full well that Derek would most likely end up knocking them over, regardless of location, before the night was done.

She returned and stared down at the brown and white mottled thing still resting on the plate. It had lapped up a decent amount of the tuna mix and was now lapping at a little bit of the milk. “I swear, that thing looks like a gremlin, no matter how you dice it. Oh, and in response to your comment about me having a schedule, so what if I do? I’ve been here for three years so it makes sense that I’d know what to expect by now,” She said.

“Sounds like this place is pretty dull,” He commented, leaning a little bit more on the counter. He kept one arm curled around the plate to assure his furry companion couldn’t run off to far. “Oh, and thanks for the name suggestion. Gismo will be a great name, regardless of what gender this little thing ends up being.”

She laughed lightly. “If you came to Kerberos in the hopes of adventure and excitement, then you really didn’t do any homework before moving out here. This place has been exactly the same since I showed up. I mean, not even a forest fire or car accident has happened in all my years here, and it’s honestly ridiculously infuriating. It’s like this place is trapped in the Twilight Zone or its own pocket dimension or something like that. First interesting thing to happen here since I came out here has been you showing up with that thing,”

“Sounds like a real hoot. Wish Kolivan had warned me about that before he convinced me to head on out here, then,” He scoffed.

“Your brother or something, I take it?”

“Old friend of my mom’s. He runs a mechanics shop here in town,”

“Yeah, I’m well aware of who Kolivan is. He’s the only mechanic here in town, if he hadn’t mentioned that. I know Trent and Glen up and quit on him last week, though,” She said back. Kolivan was one of the few people in town that wasn’t ear-bleedingly obnoxious or mind-numbingly boring. The man had a lot of interesting stories about all the odd jobs he’d worked over the years that he liked to share when he came by to have a few drinks. He could also play a mean game of darts, which she appreciated.

“Yeah, and Harris put in his two weeks a few days after they left,” The stranger snorted.

“Well that was expected. Ever since him and Theresa tied the knot he and I have been making wagers on how long they’d stick around for; looks like he owes me a sweet twenty bucks. Theresa has always hated this place and doesn’t think it’s a good enough place to raise children,” She said while wiping out a glass with a clean rag.

“Don’t blame her for that opinion. I mean, this place doesn’t even have a school, does it?”

“Not an official one, no,” She said, setting the mug in the clean rack. She then grabbed another mug and started cleaning another. “I mean, Claire offers some classes at her place, but it’s far from a structured curriculum. And since she’d be the only one teaching, it’s limited to whatever she actually knows enough about to teach.”

“Sounds like a real party down in this little town,” He scoffed lightly, chugging the rest of his beer. She took the mug and refilled it for him before taking another tray of beers out to the construction workers, then stopped by the pool table to clean up the spilled remnants of squeezed limes from the floor. “So if it’s so miserable and dull here, why do you stay?” He asked when she settled back behind the counter, the kitten nuzzled into his cupped hand, snoozing with its tiny head resting on his fingers.

“What?”

“I asked why you’re still here. I mean, you seem like a smart girl with plenty of potential. Why stay in a place that seems dedicated to stunting people’s development?” He asked.

She frowned slightly as she pondered the question. It was one she’d thought over herself, in the quiet moments in her apartment as she chased sleep like a starving lion on a young gazelle. She had been hoping that life in a small town would give her clarity, give her a taste of real hard work and accomplishment that would answer all the questions she’d been asking herself. At first, she had been thrilled at getting to enjoy the small town experience. There was something charming about having everyone remember her name and what she wanted, and being able to learn the same things about them. But once she hit six months and it felt like every day was the exact same as the one before it, she started to feel the irritation kicking up.

But her pride kept her from leaving. That would be admitting her decision had been wrong, but she didn’t exactly feel that way, either.

“I guess I’m just waiting to see if anything new happens that motivates me to leave,” She said with a  small shrug, making sure to keep up her poker face. She didn’t need a stranger making fun of her ambivalence to the sorry state of her own life.

“Well, if you ever need your car looked at, ask for Keith over at Kolivan’s. I’m sure you’ll be seeing me a lot in the weeks to follow, so you may as well know my name,” He said, taking the last swig of his beer and then standing.

“If you ever need a drink, just come ask your dear Uncle Katie here,” She said lightly while taking away the now empty mug. He chuckled a bit as he carefully settled the hand with the kitten into the pocket of his jacket.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He said, waving back with his free hand and heading out. She watched him go, then turned her attention back to preparing the round of whiskey shots she knew the pool players would want. Maybe something good was starting with the arrival of this strange young mechanic rolling into town.

[occupyvenus]

@doublehex replied to your post “Actual footage of aegony stans popping a bottle of champagne...”

You make it seem as if only J0nerys shippers bought into it. BryndenBFish thought it was a legit interview at first, and he was someone that has poured over most of GRRM's interviews. The way the interviewer wrote his responses were very cleaver. And it was written by no means a Jonsa shipper, because the Jonsa answer was just one small part about it. Get off your high horse and take a chill pill.

How about you get off my post and take a red pill that takes you back to reality? 

I do not make it seem like only J0nerys shippers bought into it. I specifically made fun of the specific group of people (mostly J0nerys shippers) who used this interview as “prove” to debunk Jonsa and celebrated the “death of the delusional crackship” before getting all their facts straight. Yes, while the Jonsa passage was only a small part of the interview, I made fun of the people who only cared about this “small part” and made a big deal about it. Weak reading comprehension, much? Would explain a lot of things. 

As a lot of other people, I didn’t dismiss the interview right away either, that would be just as biased as buying into it without any further questions. I thought maybe the “interviewer” had some personal connection to GRRM and he did them a solid by talking with them. I read the entire thing, while considering the problems that arise with automated translation and compared his statements with some he’s made before. I actually took my time to apply some critical thinking skills before forming a final opinion. The post was not directed at people like BryndenBFish (btw, what’s with the appeal to authority? People can’t think for themselves unless someone with supposed “higher credentials” gives them the green light to do so?) who did the same thing, who wasn’t sure about it’s legitimacy, but actually looked into it before drawing any final conclusions, but at the gullible, biased idiots who never learned to not believe everything they read on the internet. So what is your point exactly? 

Btw, I retain the right to make fun of the people who didn’t even bother to look into it before making hateful, condescending, snarky posts because there were so many things that should make everyone capable of critical thinking at least a bit sceptical: 

An exclusive interview with a high-caliber author is published on some random, unknown blog? 

Why didn’t a “professional journalist” sell that thing to some news media, actually making some profit with their supposed profession?

Why wouldn’t the author at least take one picture with grrm?  

One tiny little google session would’ve showed that this “interview” wasn’t picked up by any verified news outlet. 

Neither westeros.org, nor the asoiaf wikia picked it up either. They’re usually pretty fast with that. Most interviews show up a few hours after they were published. Maybe because the administrators have connection to grrm and his pr-team themselves and are aware of any upcoming interviews? 

The interview has no links to grrm’s blog, twitter, his official website and their was no mention of that interview on all these outlets either. 

The interview was ill-formatted and the blog itself looks rather shitty. Not a sign of professionalism. 

Why would GRRM agree to making interview that was only going to be published in Spanish? Why would GRRM agree to making an interview with such a low-profile outlet at all? 

Those were at least a couple of things that seemed fishy about the circumstances of the “release”. If that wasn’t enough to at least raise one of your eyebrows, there are couple of things about the content that an attentive reader could/should have noticed:

George is praising D&D? After politely redirecting any questions about them with neutral answers? After throwing some epic shade at them not two months ago? (Like, he has no time to watch “his own show”, but fangirls about another? Sick burn, george.)

GRRM has never outright denied any fantheories. Here he takes strong stances about Azor Ahai and Jon’s endgame romantic partner. This isn’t about me being a pressed shipper, it simply isn’t in line with his previous reactions to questions like this. Do you remember the dubious, unambiguous way he talked about S@nsan in the past? He didn’t confirm it, he didn’t completely deny it. He 

While we’re at the topic of the jonsa-passage, he contradicts himself numerous times here alone, for example: Well, in my books Jon Snow is dead ... but to find out about his possible relationship with Dany you have to keep reading. Any romantic relationship is very unlikely, because they only share a siblingy bond ... but Jon and Sansa don’t even have that. Like, what? Sounds awfully like a rehash of your usual anti-jonsa arguments, don’t you think? The creator of the whole series has no more to say than your average redditor? 

Btw, Grrm honestly reacting to a question involving his original outline? When has that ever happened?  

I remembered that Medusa interview, I don’t remember any news about it being fake. But in this interview it’s presented as fact and common knowledge?  

GRRM answers a question about Arya by talking about how she isn’t like Sansa? Sounds less like him and more like your typical reddit douchebag. 

Btw, he talks about revenge and it’s downfalls, but doesn’t bring up Lady Stoneheart? A character about whose non-inclusion in the show bugs him so much, he talks about her significance to the narrative every chance he gets? 

At one point he emphasized that Jon is dead in the books, but later doesn’t correct the “interviewer” when she calls Jon a king? How is Jon a king in the books, btw? Or would GRRM really confirm in an interview that Jon will become KITN in the books too? Seems like an obvious mix up of book and show canon to me. 

Another instance of this is him taking Cersei as an example that women can rule in Westeros, when talking about Asha. In the books, Cersei does not rule in her own right, she rules through her son. This is no correct comparison to Asha becoming queen of the Iron Islands, at least not for current book-canon. And Goerge doesn’t discuss show canon. 

Just in general, many, many answers don’t hold up to the usual intellectual level displayed in his interviews.  

He says Jon Snow isn’t a hero, that every question about right and wrong depends on which side you are own, - which sounds a lot like him - but “regarding Dany, deserving something because you're a good person doesn’t mean you will obtain it?” Biased, much? 

GRRM confirms a couple of characters as bisexual, some very surprising candidates included, but doesn’t mention those who have relationships with both men and women in canon like Ellia, or even Jon ?

George names a rather specific release date for Winds of Winter? 

Those are only a few things I remember. If I went through this glorious clusterfuck one more time, I’m sure to find more. There are so many things in this “interview” that stick out, but in the name of fairness, let’s look at some of the things that seemed convincing:

Some passages successfully copied Grrm’s way of speaking. 

Some statements were in line with grrm’s usual style of answering spoilery questions. (You have to keep reading, the show is the show and the books are  the books etc)

No one could be batshit crazy enough to seriously fake an interview with GRRM. 

Sry, if all these red flags didn’t lead you to even do a bit of investigating, if instead, your first reaction was to make petty posts about “jonsa being dead” and “grrm killing jonsa” you deserve to be made fun of. Should I give you a pat on the back for focusing solely on the few things that seemed legit, while completely dismissing everything that pointed to the opposite?

Sry not sry, but after being called “delusional” for shipping Jonsa, despite bringing up a bunch of compelling arguments, while your strongest argument against it is screaming DELUSIONAL!!!,  after being told “to seek professional help” thousands of time, I have absolutely no problem with pointing out the mass delusion that these assholes suffered from the last day. Payback’s a bitch. I actually made another post about why this whole surreal situation is so endlessly funny to me, and it has nothing to with people “who AT FIRST thought this as a legit interview”, before taking a closer look and realizing that it’s most likely forgery (like your weak argumentative shield BryndenBFish did). 

It’s because of the sheer hypocrisy and the delicious irony: 

J*nerys-stans and co were so desperate to discredit us “delusional crackshippers” that they took some random interview on some random blog with  zero credentials, something that seemed fishy to anyone who took 5 minutes to clearly think about it, but instead they just swallowed it like a bowl of dramatic rice, because they were so excited about proving that other people are “delusional” and I just can’t. This morning there were dozens of posts celebrating that the “delusional jonsa stans will finally shut up about their delusional crack ship” and now they’re the ones whining about being called delusional and how unfair and inappropriate that is and, fuck, payback’s a bitch. Like, you gotta appreciate the fucking irony of the situation.

Never forget the blessed Halloween of 2k17 when antis got a taste of their own medicine. The dramatic rice remember.

Now pop in the blue pill and go back to the matrix where jonsa-shippers are the “delusional” ones, who only see what they want to see”. That’s the only place where you people can still pretend that jonsa-shippers are the ones who lack critical thinking skills. I’ll be enjoying the view from my high horse, thank you. 

Actual footage of you, thinking you can get one over me with that weak ass comment.

[cheemers-writing-archive]

Crusader of Life: Chapter 6

“I like that Tonio guy,” Kakyoin said. “At first he seemed a little sketchy, but he's pretty nice.”

“I agree,” Lily replied. “It’s nice to see he’s using his Stand to help others, too. It feels like everyone we come across always wants to use it to hurt others or for their personal gain. Tonio could have just as easily shown people his healing abilities and charged an insane amount of money for his food, but he chooses to open a restaurant in a small town with reasonable prices.”

Meanwhile, Emily was looking behind her when she saw a familiar face. “Mommy!” she tugged on Lily’s pant leg to get her attention. “Mommy, I see Josuke and Yasu!”

Lily peered over the horizon, and saw the two running towards them.

“Well, what do you know?” Kakyoin commented. “There they are. Although, I wonder why they’re running.”

“Yeah, I don’t see why, either,” Lily replied. “They’re so close to us, too. They’d usually slow down by now.”

Kakyoin looked again, and the boys were close enough that he could see something different in their eyes. A murderous intent, and, at the same time, a blank, zombie-like expression. “Lily, Emily, look out!” He tackled them out of the way as Okuyasu used The Hand to attempt to scrape away the little girl. Not long after, Josuke tried punching Kakyoin, but he rolled along the ground and dodged just in time.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Lily exclaimed? “Why are you attacking us?”

Neither of the boys answered as they went back to attack the three, who were still laying on the ground. As Josuke approached Lily, he sent one of Crazy Diamond’s fists straight through her stomach, leaving her fatally wounded. However, Josuke failed to notice that Ace of Pentacles had already activated and duplicated Lily in the nick of time.

“There was something wrong with his eyes,” Lily told Kakyoin. “They were pink. Josuke’s normal eyes are blue.”

“Are you suggesting these might not be the real Josuke and Okuyasu?” Kakyoin asked.

“They might not be,” Lily answered. “But we don’t know for sure. All we can know is that this is not Josuke or Okuyasu acting on their own. Either they're being influenced by a Stand or these are fakes created by a Stand. We need to keep them alive for now, just in case.”

“Okuyasu,” Josuke whispered to his friend, “Mrs. Lily and Mr. Kakyoin are distracted right now. Let’s take care of Emily.”

Both boys sprinted towards the little girl, but it didn’t go unnoticed by her. Like a squid that feels threatened and releases ink, she instinctually activated Walking on Sunshine and made everything around her float, including bugs, leaves, blades of grass that had been rooted up, and the four people surrounding her. Both parents soon figured out what was going on, and returned their attention to the boys, who, despite being airborne, were still trying to get to Emily. Josuke was trying to “swim” towards her, while Okuyasu used his Stand to move through the air.

“Leave Emily out of this!” Kakyoin shouted, using Hierophant to snatch her away before Okuyasu could reach her.

“Sorry, Mr. Kakyoin,” Josuke shrugged. “We can’t.”

“Why can’t you?” Kakyoin asked the boys.

“Reina told us to get rid of you, and so we will,” Okuyasu said nonchalantly.

“Reina?”

“Emily, baby,” Lily tried hiding the stress in her voice, but she couldn’t do it very well. “Can you deactivate Walking on Sunshine, please?”

Emily nodded, and squeezed her eyes shut. However, when they opened again, everyone was still suspended in the air. “I can’t!” she exclaimed. “She’s still here!”

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Lily asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. Which, given the circumstances, was a very hard thing to do.

“I can’t do it!” Emily started to cry, and things started floating that were even further away. “I’m sorry, Mommy! She won’t stop!”

“Who’s Reina?” Kakyoin questioned the two boys.

“Nobody who you need to know,” Josuke answered. “She matters to us, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Doesn’t it seem fishy that you would kill multiple people just because this ‘Reina' told you to?” Kakyoin argued.

Josuke locked eyes with Okuyasu, and Okuyasu with Josuke, then both turned back to Kakyoin and shrugged.

“Seems logical to me,” Josuke told him.

“I don’t see a problem there,” Okuyasu added.

“No, no, no, no, it’s okay, sweetie, no need to cry!” Lily consoled, although it sounded more like a plead. She glanced over at Kakyoin, who had been (unsuccessfully) trying to negotiate with Josuke and Okuyasu. “Noriaki, prepare for an air battle!”

Kakyoin nodded his head, and summoned Hierophant, who wrapped its tentacles around Emily to keep her safe and secure. “I think these are the real Josuke and Okuyasu,” he said to Lily.

“Why do you think that?” Lily asked as she duplicated herself before her original was scraped away by The Hand, and used Okuyasu as a footstool to move through zero gravity.

“They keep talking about how they want to 'please Reina’ so they can gain her approval,” Kakyoin answered as he grabbed the ground with Hierophant to pull himself away from Josuke’s attack and stroked Emily’s hair to calm her down. “Why would a fake person created by a Stand talk about gaining approval from someone we’ve never heard of?”

“You have a point,” Lily nodded, then gasped. “Noriaki, behind you! They’re coming for Emily!”

Kakyoin grabbed both boys, who believed they had made a sneak attack on him, with Hierophant’s tentacles, then launched himself behind them from pulling them forward, and used an Emerald Splash to counter them. He made sure it didn’t do too much damage, though, as he was sure those were the real boys.

“Stop running away, dang it!” Okuyasu growled. “We have a woman to win over!”

“She’s mind controlling you, don’t you get it?” Kakyoin shouted, with a hint of worry in his voice.

“You’re not going to break the spell by trying to convince them, you know!” Lily objected. “The only way to free them is by finding the user, probably Reina, and either getting her to release them from her grip or knocking her out.”

"But how are we supposed to find this Reina if we’re stuck in Emily’s zero gravity?” Kakyoin asked.

“I don’t know!” Lily fretted. “The only way to escape is to move out of the radius, but we can’t do that without putting Emily at risk!”

Once Josuke and Okuyasu were done recovering from the Emerald Splash, they went back to attack Emily and Kakyoin. That’s when a light bulb sparked in Kakyoin’s mind. “Lily!” he shouted. “Catch!” He threw Emily just above Lily's reach, though, so that the little girl would be thrown far enough for him to escape her gravity radius. Of course, the boys followed after her, unaware of Kakyoin’s plans. He saw the objects that were falling were getting closer and closer to him, until…

“Noriaki!” Lily exclaimed. “You’re on the ground!”

“Here’s the plan,” Kakyoin called out to Lily. “I’ll go search for Reina, and you do everything you can to keep those two away from Emily!”

“You got it!” Lily shouted. Let’s hope Josuke and Okuyasu don’t know Hierophant’s powers, or they’ll know to chase after him, instead, she thought to herself.

“It’ll take forever to find someone who you’ve never seen before, even in a small town!” Josuke laughed. “You think running everywhere will speed the process up?”

Thank goodness, they don’t know! Lily sighed lightly.

“Whatever,” Okuyasu said to his friend, “let’s just try and get rid of Lily and Emily. After all, the little one’s currently being left unattended.”

Right! Emily! Kakyoin had thrown her to escape Walking on Sunshine’s power, and she was still suspended in midair! Okuyasu was gaining on the child quicker than Lily would ever be able to. At least, not without a boost. A boost!

With some quick reactions, Lily duplicated herself with Ace of Pentacles, and boosted off of herself, grabbing Emily and throwing her into the original copy’s arms. Right after Emily was safe and sound, the duplicate Lily was wiped away with The Hand.

Noriaki, please find Reina soon, Lily silently begged. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold these two off.

***

As soon as everyone was out of sight, Kakyoin stopped running, and caught his breath. “Hierophant Green!” he called, and his Stand obediently showed itself.

“I need you to survey the area,” he said. “Look for a girl, of course. Probably has a murderous intent in her eyes. Make sure you can feel the power of a Stand. If all three of those match up, we’ve probably got our culprit.”

Hierophant nodded, and slipped through whatever cracks he could find in order to stay hidden. Geez, how many girls could live in one small town? There were so many, and none so far had met the criteria that Kakyoin had set for him. Not one. He was just about to give up, but then he saw a girl. A girl who he felt a strange power leaking from her skin. A girl who was clearly not trying to be modest. Everything about her seemed to be an attempt to show herself off. And, from the looks of things, it was working, too. She was talking to a guy who was definitely into her.

“So, I’m having a party tonight,” the boy said, leaning against his motorcycle. At least, it looked like it was his. “Alcohol included. You look like the type of girl who would call that a good time.”

“Oh, I definitely would,” the girl purred. “Any party without alcohol is only as fun as a two-year-old’s birthday party. Not fun at all.” As she talked, Kakyoin felt that power coming from her strengthen. “Of course, any party that doesn’t end in me waking up next to the party’s host is a party I’d rather not go to, so…”

“I was hoping that was part of the deal,” the boy grinned.

“And I was hoping you’d say that,” the girl answered. “You were way too easy to win over to Tainted Love.”

The boy tilted his head. “Tainted Love?” Before he could question it any further, though, the girl snapped her fingers, and the boy suddenly looked like he was in a trance. Pastel pink eyes, the zombified expression on his face, it was all adding up! This was Reina!

Hierophant sent a signal through his body to Kakyoin to alert him that Reina had been found, and Kakyoin instantly received it and sprinted down the path Hierophant made to lead him to the user.

“Now, I want you to go into your pantry,” Reina instructed the spellbound boy, “find all of the alcohol, and give it to me.”

The boy nodded, and ran towards his home.

“That was too easy,” Reina laughed to herself. “I’m going to be wasted tonight. Man, with this power, I’ll never have to buy anything again. Speaking of this power, I wonder how Josuke and Okuyasu are doing?”

“They’re doing fine,” Kakyoin said. “Well, except for the fact that a selfish little brat is using her Stand to make them her slaves to kill off my daughter, my wife, and I, but other than that, perfectly fine.”

Reina gasped. “Kakyoin!” she growled. “How did you escape?”

“That’s not important,” Kakyoin answered her. “What is important is that you release those two from your Stand’s grasp.”

Reina looked Kakyoin in the eye, then back up at the sky. “Nah.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Reina,” Kakyoin scowled. “And I think we’d rather both do it the easy way.”

“Any way is the easy way for me, now,” Reina chuckled. “After all, I have Tainted Love by my side.” She completely summoned her Stand for the first time, and revealed a cherry-red-skinned, humanoid figure, with hearts for eyes. It’s hair was a darker color than its body, and it’s clothes… well, there were none at all. Not that it looked immodest, it just looked… incomplete, as if her Stand wasn’t fully formed.

“You can’t seduce me, Reina,” Kakyoin said. “I’m happily married. Plus, what are you, sixteen? Seventeen?”

“I’m not trying to seduce you,” Reina laughed. “Tainted Love is trying to.“

“What difference does it make?” Kakyoin asked.

“The difference,” Reina answered, “is Tainted Love’s abilities. She can morph herself into your ideal woman, and act ideally, too. And once you’ve been seduced by her, snap!“ Reina snapped her fingers. "You’re under my control.”

While she was explaining her powers, Tainted Love was slowly changing shape, her red skin shifting to a shade of beige, her hair changing into a blonde ponytail, and her eyes becoming almond-shaped, with blue corneas. Eventually, she became a spitting image of Lily.

“Noriaki!” Tainted Love cooed. “I was so worried!” She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I thought you might die from this girl.” The fake Lily planted her face in the crook of Kakyoin’s neck. “You’re my hero.”

Oh, Kakyoin’s heart was thumping, and it was thumping hard. After all, Reina’s Stand now looked exactly like the woman he married.

“Wow,” Reina stifled a laugh. “That’s your fantasy? This isn’t a Mario game, you know.”

“I just want to protect her, is that so bad?” Kakyoin argued. “And I just want her to feel safe in my arms.”

“Anyway,” Reina snorted, “it’s too late for you, now! With the snap of my fingers…” she went for a snap, but her fingers wouldn’t move. “I said, with the snap of my fingers…” she tried again, nothing. That’s when she’s turned her head to look at her hands, both of which were entangled in Hierophant’s tendrils, making it impossible to snap.

“You didn’t notice Hierophant sneaking up on you while Tainted Love flirted with me?” Kakyoin asked. “Well, it’s too late for you, now.”

“Don’t think you can just get out of this unha-“ Reina didn’t get to finish her sentence because Hierophant wrapped his tendrils around her mouth and nose, making it so she couldn’t breathe. She tried clawing at the tendrils encasing her breath, but her fingers fell right through.

“I’m sorry, Reina,” Kakyoin shrugged. “I asked if you wanted to do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s not my fault you chose the hard way.”

The last thing Kakyoin heard from Reina was her muffled screams before she passed out. “I know you don’t know this, but I truly am sorry,” he said to the girl after setting her down on the ground. “I don’t like having to do things like that with my Stand, no matter who it is. And for the record, my two-year-old’s birthday party was awesome.“

***

Lily had just barely escaped death over ten times now, and there were tons of copies of her, all lifeless as they floated through the air. For some reason, even though Emily had calmed down, Walking on Sunshine was still as active as ever. Lily thought it might have something to do with the fact that they were in danger, since Emily was old enough to know what danger really looked like. Noriaki, she pleaded silently as she duplicated herself yet again before she was punched through by Crazy Diamond, now would be a really good time to defeat Reina. They’re starting to figure out how to move in zero gravity!

As Okuyasu was quickly approaching Lily, she duplicated herself yet again and her copy shot straight up, Emily in her arms. However, she failed to notice that Josuke had snuck up behind her, Crazy Diamond prepared to attack. He just barely missed her heart, since she was still moving fast from the boost, and instead punched her straight in the stomach.

The pain was agonizing. Lily felt almost all of her life energy leave her body immediately after the punch. It was so bad she let go of Emily.

So this is how it felt, Noriaki? All of those years ago in Egypt? This is the pain you had to endure? She could barely keep tears away reliving that memory. As her vision faded out, she heard one last voice.

“No! Mrs. Lily! Don’t worry, I’ve got you! Okuyasu, take care of the dead Lilies all around, would ya?”

They’re… not trying to kill me?

Before she knew it, her vision immediately got better, and the pain in her abdomen was only a memory. That’s when she saw Josuke’s blue eyes again, staring down at her with worry.

"You’re… back to normal,” Lily smiled weakly.

“Oh, Mrs. Lily, I’m so, so sorry. I promise, that wasn’t me acting on my own, someone was controlling me. If I had known what she would do, I would have never fallen for her,” Josuke rambled.

“It’s okay, Josuke,” Lily reassured him. “I could tell you weren’t controlling your actions. Your eyes were pink.”

“Really?” Josuke sighed with relief. “Thank goodness. I wouldn’t want you to think I’m a bad kid, or anything.”

Immediately, everyone dropped to the ground, none of them feet first. Well, except for Emily, who was gently carried down by Walking on Sunshine.

“Emily!” Lily exclaimed. She ran over to the little girl, and scooped her up in her arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she hugged her tightly, and planted kisses all over her cheeks.

“I’m sorry for the hassle, Mrs. Lily,” Okuyasu scratched the back of his head. “I’m sure you already know, but this girl-”

“Yeah, yeah, Reina, pleasing her, I get it,” Lily waved her hand around. “It happens to the best of us. Well, not that specifically, but being attacked by a Stand.”

“I wonder how Mr. Kakyoin was able to find Reina?” Josuke muttered.

“I’ll tell you while we walk,” Lily answered him. “Let’s go find him, so he knows we’re safe.”

The boys nodded, and all four of them casually walked away.

[humerusimagines]

we all scream cause we’re terrified - mt!sans x reader

Welcome back! I was curious if you could write about more about Mafia/MobTale. Specifically, how sans (yes sans again sorry) and his S/O met. Perhaps while sans was on a job, he was in jail, or his S/O found him after the cops or another gang got to him? Thank you for your consideration! Have a lovely time writing!

my part mafia!sans x reader fics (which are linked sorta): x x

summary: the last thing you expect to walk into your little ice cream parlor was a gruff, scratched up skeleton who just wanted a scoop of lemon meringue. the events that occur after, however, are even less expected.

notes: ya’ll seem to like mafia!tale fics, which is cool. if i write inaccurate stuff tho lemme know.

pairing: reader x sans

The tinny bell of your small ice cream shop tinged, signalling a customer.

“Hold on a moment!” You called, bent behind the counter. You weren’t expecting anybody at this hour, but there were the odd few that came during the night, wanting a fix of ice cream after a long day. Which you didn’t mind. It’s why you opened the place, after all.

You straightened and put on a smile to greet the customer, only for it to quickly drop in shock when you see who it is.

A short skeleton met your gaze, hands slid in his pockets. He would have  looked like he would be going out to a party in his pinstriped suit had it not been completely ruined, covered in mud stains and dirt, plus a white powder that you had no idea of the origins. You’d ask about it, but chose to keep quiet. He barely met your chin in height, which made you think he was a kid at first, but once you saw his face, the bags under his eyes and the lazy grin, he looked much older...Despite the fact that it was a literal skull. How skulls portrayed age, you had no idea, but you rolled with it.

He glanced around, visibly uncomfortable with the attention. Wait, had you been staring? Shit.

“U-Uh--” You stammered, smacking your forehead with a sigh in defeat. Taking a deep breath, you pulled out your friendly grin again and tried to speak like a regular human being. “Welcome to Sweet Dreams, what would you like?”

“cute name.” He comments, in a baritone that sends chills to your feet. “i’ll have a couple scoops of your lemon meringue, please?”

You reply in a chipper voice, pulling out a small bowl and a spoon. “Here or to go?”

“y’know what? here. i’d like to rest for a while, if that’s ok with you?”

You completely understood the feeling, sending him a reassuring grin in return. With that, you completed his order and the transaction, and as the register shut, he swaggered over to the nearest table to enjoy his dessert.

You glance at the clock. You usually close up around 3 am, and it’s was 1:30. Considering that it looked like nobody was going to come in other than the bony gentleman, you began to clean up around the shop.

You were the only one who ran it, and since the business was never too touch to handle, it went pretty well. Any money not used for stock, taxes, or bills was yours, so you had a pretty decent nest egg in the safe back at home. That being said, you didn’t spend it very much. You didn’t like to live lavish and lazy, you preferred keeping your hands busy. That much was apparent, considering the callouses on your hands from hefting boxes into your establishment.

With an easy sigh, you grabbed a dishtowel and started wiping tables, humming a little tune as you went. Speakers in the dining area played quiet lullabies (hence the name Sweet Dreams) for ears to listen to as you worked, but since you were always in here they never had an effect on you. 

As you began wiping down a table near your only customer at the moment, you noticed his body go rigid for some odd reason, staring at something beyond the front windows. He stuck his spoon into his half empty bowl suddenly.

“kid, don’t mean to scare you, but you probably wanna get behind the counter again.”

You looked at him quizzically, lifting your towel and opening your mouth to speak.

A bullet shot through the front window and past your right ear.

You dropped down to the floor with a yelp as several more shattered the glass, the shards spilling onto the tile. You ducked under the table you were cleaning, and the guy also had the same idea, reaching inside his suit pocket for a-- Is that a gun?!

“listen kiddo, do me a favor and get yourself somewhere safe, i’ll find you in a sec.” He commanded, pulling himself off the floor to use a booth near the windows as a buffer between him and whoever was shooting. You crawled from your place under the table to the counter, scrambling behind and curling up into a ball, clamping your hands over your ears.

After what felt like an eternity, the muffled sounds of shots firing stopped. You uncovered your ears slowly to hear footsteps coming towards you, sending ice down your spine. Was that the guy from earlier?

A pinstripe clothed leg confirmed your suspicious as the skeleton came into view, breathing haggard and suit riddled with bullet holes. This detail concerned you especially, jolting you to your feet with a gasp.

“Oh my god, you’ve been shot, I’m so sorry!!--” You rushed out, but he raised a hand with a chuckle.

“no bones about it, doll. i’m fine.” He reassures, his grin widening. “i’m a skeleton, after all,”

At this you relax, but a frown still plasters itself on your face. “I need to call the police, and call the insurance comp--”

At this though, his eye sockets widen. “wait, don’t worry about the cops. that’d be a bad idea. i got some friends that can patch up the damage no problem, don’t you worry about it. just gimme your name and number and i’ll get them in touch with you.”

You get a sticky note from the shelf under the register and scribble your info down, handing it over to the guy. Wait, even after this ideal you still haven’t got his name?

“I’m sorry for waiting so long to ask, but what’s your name? I feel like I should at least ask, since you did save my life back there...”

“sans, sans the skeleton.” His expression warms. “it’s no problem. i’ll get my guys out here to fix your property in no time, and in the meantime...” He holds a hand out for the pad of paper and the pen and scribbles down a number. “if anybody fishy starts hangin’ around here, you call me okay?”

You nodded, adding a hopeful smile for good measure. “Thank you so much Sans, I’m pretty lucky that you were here when that happened.”

His expression hardened at that, but he laughed anyways. “eh, it was no problem. say, would you like a way home? i know a shortcut.”

[bitchyfoxcandy]

Okay guys...

I would like to take a moment to look at something that is undoubtedly on everyone’s mind: the PewDiePie issue. I will NOT speak about the issue directly here; I want to focus on the people who HAVE. I’m not here talking about Felix. I’m here to talk about Mark and Jack.

As most YouTube fans know, both Mark and Jack have put out videos responding to the issue, and they each did it in a very different way. Mark chose to use the issue as a springboard for his comments on a much wider subject: human decency. He called for people to stop using harsh labels and spewing hate at others, because doing that is not giving that person a chance to be an equal. We all make mistakes, we all do stupid things, we all make people mad. BUT- that does not give anyone the right to attack someone else or throw a horrible label on them and stigmatize them without looking at them as a whole, real, living human being. Mark’s message was one of respect for your fellow man as an equal. He is now being called an enabler of hate and a coward.

Jack posted a video, about twice as long, addressing the issue directly. He looked at things such as the WSJ’s article and media attacks on Felix (at his personal address, mind you) and YouTube cancelling Scare PewDiePie’s second season, a season that Jack was costarring in. He stated that he admits Felix messed up big time and has to face some consequences, and that technically the newspaper and YouTube have the rights to run/not run, air/not air anything they want. That is within their company rights. Jack tried to let people know that Felix is a good person, but he just made some choices that were unwise. Jack is now being called a backstabber.

Now... let me break it down to its very simple points:

Mark: Posts a video that is, more or less, a response to the PewDiePie issue; not one that attacks the problem directly, but instead looks the elements surrounding the issue. And he’s a “Nazi-enabling coward”.

Jack: Posts a video response to the PewDiePie issue, tackling the subject directly and giving us all the information he knows, and then commenting his thoughts that, YES, Felix f-ed up big time and there will be consequences, but that does not mean we and the media should be so brutal. And he’s a “backstabber”.

Hmmmm... 

Mark - doesn’t address the specific issue, is a “Nazi enabler”.

Jack - addresses the specific issue, is a “backstabber”.

Does that sound a little fishy to you? Because it sure does to me. It is a lose-lose situation. Because people are so willing to go to war with other people over the internet and will look for anything to start a fight. I am not going to say I think one or the other handled it better. I am just here to lay it out the way I’m looking at it. It would not have mattered which route they took, because they would have received hate ANYWAYS. Doesn’t that sound WRONG?

Disagree with them all you want! They both have embraced the discourse! Totally fair opinions to hold. But, everyone is missing the main points of their videos entirely. These two guys, both similar pop culture icons to and good friends with the man in question, are trying to satiate their communities and possibly offer solutions to the pure vile hatred coming from those communities. And both of them lost. If you don’t like Mark or Jack, DO NOT SUBSCRIBE OR WATCH THEIR CONTENT OR FOLLOW THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA. If this particular issue really squicked you that badly, maybe open a polite discussion over it. Or, if you can’t/don’t want to do that, just calmly take a break from the content and let this thing work itself out. Hell, unsub if you feel like you must. Just... you can do ALL of those things without spitting acid at them in the process! You don’t have to have the last laugh, because there’s nothing here either of them are laughing ABOUT! It’s like at the top of some fanfics, “don’t like, don’t read”. People have claimed that I am biased on this subject because I am a huge fan of both Mark and Jack. Okay, maybe I have some bias. I see them as brave heroes for doing what they did. That’s my subjective opinion, my bias. However, the objective issue still exists:

THEY WERE DAMNED IF THEY DID, DAMNED IF THEY DIDN’T.

And that, folks, seems pretty wrong to me. I stand by Mark and Jack. They do not deserve this. These are two dudes in their mid-twenties trying to make a living by making people from the ages of around ten to probably thirty or so laugh. They are human beings. They have lives outside of a webcam, families, friends, girlfriends... They’re just like you and me. They just have a YouTube channel that happens to 16.5 and 14.5 million subscribers. They’re wonderful guys who give to charity and go visit sick kids and help animals and reach out those in need... Mark is not a Nazi enabler. And Jack is not a backstabber.

I’m sorry this went on so long, I wanted it to be short and to-the-point... but there is so much happening with this issue right now that I feel like I had something to add to the discussion.

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I'm a programmer, pretty competent in my field.This summer an acquaintance of mine (lets call him Mr.R) approached me with an unusual offer - he wanted to make a crypto trading bot. From him explaining the trading algorithm to me - I figured that writing the actual code would only take a few hours, one day tops, so out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. Although it seemed fishy, It wasn't illegal, Mr.R didn't seem crazy, and the time investment wasn't big. He offered me a 50-50 partnership, and I agreed.After some research, I wrote the code in Python, it worked with poloniex API. It took me only a day.We launched the bot the next day and ran it for a few weeks - it was working as it should, using his trading logic and my code. It wasn't making money though, it had a slightly negative ROI, mostly bacause of trading fees.After this Mr.R asked me to code some changes that would improve the bots performance (he was observing the trading troughout all this time, working out the things that needed to be improved). I oblidged and v2.0 was born. It was still losing money, but not as much anymore, the ROI was close to break-even, even with high fees that we were paying.After a few more weeks Mr.R presented me with v3.0 of the trading logic. It was a lot more comprehensive then v1.0 and 2.0. At this point the coding became more difficult, required more research and tinkering with API timing and limitations. The code itself started to present a challenge. But I did as he asked, and we launched v3.0. And the bot actually performed well, it started trading at a positive ROI. Frankly, I was surprised, at first I just did it out of pure curiosity and not much faith, but now I saw that perhaps Mr.R was on to something.In the following few month the bot was actually doing well and making a consistant profit, it traded enough volume for us to be sure that its not just a fluke ("not just positive variance" as he said). Mr.R was observing the trading and contacting me with minor changes that needed to be made. v3.01, v3.02 and so on. At first it wasn't a lot, but over time he started contacting me a lot more often then I was comfortable with. Constant changes, new ideas, new improvements etc. Sometimes he would just call to rumble, talk about whatever unrelated stuff that seemed to have no importance whatsoever, frankly, he started to annoy me. Like I had no other life outside of this bot project or Mr.R (maybe he didn't).After a few month, at Mr.R's request, I actually had to code v4.0, which was a lot more difficult then anything before. I had to figure out an undocumented push API, tinkered a lot with timings and limitations, the logic was convoluted and required a lot of research to code properly. It was a big and stressfull project for me, on top of other things I was doing - I had to sacrifice a lot of my time and effort. And Mr.R kept hurrying me, trying to impose his initiative on my coding process, despite knowing nothing about coding.The bot performs well, its profitable, but its not making a lot. Pennies every trade on average. 0.03-0.07% ROI after the fees. And the bad part about it is that the profit will not increase if we start trading bigger amounts. Its not scaleable - making a $100 trade will yield a $0.05 profit, but making a $1000 trade will not yield a $0.50 profit. Its too technical to explain why - but its like this. There is a treshhold at which the increase in position size will start to decrease the EV ROI of the trade, to a point of it becoming negative if increased too much. What this means is that the bot makes money by making a whole lot of very small trades, very often. Its trading many different currency pairs simultaniously, and tries to make as many small trades as possible, as fast as possible. And there is a limit to how many trading pairs are available, and how many API calls you can make, so, since position size can't be increased, and there is a limit on volume of trades, there is a limit on the bots hourly rate. As it is now, running on poloniex and trading up to 5 pairs at the same time - its hourly rate is not big. Its not worth the time investment so far.At present day, we are on v4.6. The trading logic, according to Mr.R, can't be improved much any more. Only some minor things, maybe a v5.0 that will maybe push the ROI a bit further.At this point, I sacrificed a lot more time and effort on this project then Mr.R did.And recently he dropped this bombshell on me - we have to launch this bot on all the big trading platforms and trade as many pairs on all of them as possible! He made it sould easy - lets just do it and we become rich, we increase our volume of trades by many fold and buy a lambo in no time. Yeah, lol. That may be so, but he makes the work sound trivial, of course, he's not the one who will have to do it. He's almost delusional. He doen't get it - how much work this will be, how much time and effort it will require of me. Maybe he thinks hes project is the most important thing in the world, but I have other work too. "Yeah, just do it" - go figure out all the different API's on two dozen different trading platforms, half of which are not even documented, so easy! And in the meanwhile, Mr.R will just do nothing and get his 50%. Yeah, sounds fair! Some partnership this is...However good Mr.R might be at writing trading algorithms - he doesn't know how to code, he doesnt even have a degree in anything. He's good at analythical thinking, but his math is rudimentary, hes limited by a lot of things. He didn't spent years of his life stydying and learning things like I did, at this point - he is just using me, and is too stubborn or greedy to to offer me proper compensation. He believes that he's entitled to 50% of the profit, despite not putting in almost any work and not even having the ability to do so even if he wanted to, due to lack of knowledge and education. He spend his college years wasting his life/drinking while I was sacrificing mine for knowledge and career. How is this fair?Anyway, I like the project and I think it has potential. Mr.R's plan to launch it on many platforms is a solid plan, probably a profitable one, hes not really wrong. But no way I'm agreeing to him having 50% and doing close to no actual work to make it happen.I had this discussion with him, not for the first time, and he just stubbornly disagrees, he admits that I'll be doing most of the work, but still thinks he is entitled to his 50%, as its his idea.A few times I thought about it, that maybe somehow he's right. Frankly, I don't have much experience in the business world, and he's been doing some business before, nothing major though. He was a professional poker player for many years too.We couldn't agree at the end, and we decided to part ways. I'm sure Mr.R will now look for another naive sucker who with agree to his conditions. He's good at convincing, he can talk people into things.Before parting ways Mr.R asked me to confirm that I agree that I won't make any more bots using his trading idea without his permission. He's paranoid that I will cut him out. Just shows how "necessary" he actually is for the project...We did agree that the current running bot on poloniex is still "ours", and whatever profit it generates over time will be shared.​Given the situations, what is your opinion on the following:- Is there, by any stretch, a possibility that I'm wrong and Mr.R is entitled to his 50% despite me doing all the work from now on?- Does Mr.R have the right to ask me not to write bots using his idea and use them myself (or sharing the code/alghorythms with others)?