#i think that helped kinda ease that “man this better not be an allegory” feeling

[technicolorxsn]

hm. finished beastars

[caelumsnuff]

Same POC anon that said they didn’t feel at home here! Thank you for letting me ramble! I think since most of the angrier *speaker* characters have mellowed out over time, I personally find people making any of the speakers MOC cool (I will admit that I did wonder why Damien was often/always Black for people at first, but again his mellowing out over time did help ease that! Oh and I do think people might often make Gavin brown is because Redacted canonically gave him tan skin?? Maybe. Am I trying too hard to give the benefit of the doubt lol? Maybe, maybe lol). I personally don’t think you’re being hypocritical at all tbh!

I do occasionally wonder about listener characters which I totally get is often self-inserts so a lot of them being white I understand ‘cause the fandom is mostly white. I will admit though that Alexis and Darlin’ often drawn as Black women and/or femmes and *usually* only them out of the non-Redacted voiced characters used to make me go hmm. And the art is beautiful and I think it’s better than, you know, never seeing a non-white listener character on my dashboard and no one is obligated to *ever* ever ever draw anyone a specific way aaaand Darlin’ has also done some mellowing out as well. I’m half Black-American and half Korean-American so I’m just hyper aware of the ‘angry Black woman’ stereotype so I think that’s why I wondered why those two “only” (for the most part when it comes to the more consistent fandom headcanon looks) out of all non-Redacted voiced characters? But again, again Darlin’ has mellowed out so I’m just making a fuss.

I meant to talk *less* with this ask (I know you said in another ask not to apologize, but this *is* excessive, I’m sorry), but you brought up the weird racism allegory. And yes tbh! I’m sorry you had to deal with anons being mean when you talked about it. It reminds me of Zootopia where the allegory doesn’t work exactly cause it’s like ‘of course a rabbit might be afraid of a lion. It’s a lion!’ like ‘of course regular empowered people might be wary around demons like they are the most powerful beings walking around them.’ I get though that Redacted probably feels more comfortable with being more explicit about a coming out story like with Damien seeing as Redacted is a queer man and feels more comfortable with allegory instead of being explicit for race since all the characters’ races are *technicallyyyy* up to listeners (technically because sometimesss the ‘this character is white’ vibes pop up lol /lh), he might not know how to go about it (if he ever thought about going about it explicitly which I doubt which no biggie!), and soooooo many fantasy works have used race allegories for a such long long time now (most not the best metaphor wise either lol) that he may just be used to that.

Okay, this was way longer than I meant for it to be. I’m sorry again. Thank you for being such a great person and letting me get this out when you don’t have to. I hope to be brave enough to talk about this on my own tumblr eventually. I hope you have a wonderful day!

I'm shaking you like a soda can for apologizing so much (lighthearted) (silly)

I wish this fandom was welcoming enough for people to talk about this in the open too, but alas this fandom is kinda shit aslkdfasdf (for the most part)

I appreciate that you don't think im being hypocritical. I give the benefit of the doubt for most depictions of all the characters considering theres explanations for most of them. I understand a lot of the characters have mellowed out now, so they also have soothed my squinting a lil bit. I do be "hmmmm"ing at some of them still askjdfasd i cant help it.

I am REALLY happy you mentioned Alexis being depicted as a black woman, because that was the exact depiction that made me genuinely like squint at my screen.

Honestly i never question depictions of the listener characters, considering most of them are either self inserts or OCs to play the part of the listener characters. I do genuinely appreciate all the art in this fandom, a lot of the people here are so talented. It's nice to see diversity amongst all the characters and i still stand by that.

I'll never get over the d(a)emon allegory for several reasons, but in part because theres literally so many other, better allegories that could have been used in this world instead of d(a)emons vs humans its literally so irritating like. daemons vs demons, or empowered vs unempowered , or several other things are right there! ugh its so irritating. Like admittedly it is hard to write a good race allegory into a work that isn't racist somehow, but this man hit like all of the big no-nos with this, which should not be humanly possible if you sat and wrote in your sleep (hyperbole for comedic effect).

ANYWAYS thank you so much for the ask. Again, im happy to know you can let off some steam here, makes me happy tbh. I know i took a little long to answer this (energy), but i hope you have a lovely day as well, anon.

[noctvrncls-blog]

𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈.𝐃. : / / [ jake gyllenhaal + cis male + he/him ] — thomas o'malley? oh, you mean tommy! they are a thirty-five year old locksmith known as the jack of all trades. i heard some sketchy stuff about them, like how they break into big corporations! oof, no wonder the mad titan was after them. to be fair, i think they’re appealing + jocose, even if halting + dubious. did you know? their big secret is redacted. cheap warm beer, empty motel rooms lit by neon signs, oil stained hands.

hey my name is ron, i’m 23 and i have a basketball game tomorrowwww. i know vine intros aren’t what kids do anymore but whenever i introduce myself it’s all i can think abt i’m so sroyury. anyways. i’m excited to b here, it’s been a minute since i last rped so yk, i’m rusty. but i’m also here to love all ur charas. now let’s talk abt this fucking idiot aka tommy o’malley.

first of all, he’s the embodiment of this vine

old, tired, the bags under his eyes? they’re not fucking designer, they some bootleg chanels tops

hailing from a family of irish descent, tommy’s dad aka danny o’malley figured it would be hard to compete with all the irish pubs out there, deciding to go into locksmith business. you see, the o’malleys back in ireland, they had a little bit of ease with the sleight of hand. it was a tradition that was passed down to tommy’s dad from his grandpa, and to his grandpa from his greatgrandpa. so yeah, they made bucks stealing little things on the side of having a legitimate business.

of course, it was only a matter of time before thomas himself learned the trade. he must have been seven or eight by the time he mastered it, and his father was weirdly proud of tommy’s innate gift. of course, the more tommy practiced the better he got at it, capable of stealing a man’s watch in a fraction of seconds.

as tommy grew up, he helped his dad out around the shop, selling and fixing locks, sort of a wolfgang like gig from sense8, yk??? but not really because instead of being broody and somber tommy well, he was an idiot. he liked to laugh and to drink and he’s fucking loud, a lot like his family

either way, at some point, tommy got so good at cracking safes that it kind of became an idea, on the back of their minds, that they should do this for profit. it started out little, a few jobs here and there and as tommy slipped into his teens, he got bolder, better, extracting secrets from the most challenging locks

to the outer world, no one knew that the o’malley son was responsible for cracking the codes and the revenue from the back of the shop, with his father taking credit for the misdemeanor. according to tommy’s dad, his son shouldn’t worry about things like that and just focus on school and being a normal kid, and not a product.

that’s how the titan got to his father. no good deed goes unpunished and definitely no bad deed does either in the town of atlas. after pulling a big job, danny o’malley was found with shattered legs and spends the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair.

so yeah, you could say that tommy really feels guilty for his dad taking the fall for his deeds. and he had sort of a personal vendetta against the mad titan.

still, though more careful nowadays, tommy still pulls heists. invading into government property, stealing stuff people pay a high price to have handed to them. documents, titles, you name it. he’s good at opening doors, and that’s what he’ll say to any client of his, the ones that come for a change of doorlocks or the ones who come in for more illegal trades.

tommy is definitely a mess and doesn’t know what’s going on 99% of the time

has a very juvenile sense of humor tbh, but he’s charming yk, he’s easy to talk to and friendly enough and idk, he helps old ladies with their groceries and he’s pretty much just a normal dude??? like, just wants some peace and quiet it’s not his fault that he’s really good at being a con

wears a lot of layers he’s always cold??? like denim jackets w hoodies and sweaters, just a grizzly lookin man

plant dad

his motel room is a fucking mess, a lot of work related stuff laying around (yk, the legal part of his work ofc)

also he lives in a motel because well, he sold the house he lived with his dad to put his dad under nursing care cause his dad needs it and he doesn’t feel like just buying an apartment yk, he’d feel lonely in one and he craves some social interaction and he kinda has that living in a motel

v good w kids but will teach them how to steal money from your purse

loveable guy although terrible social skills

probably has a nervous breakdown every 3 to 5 months

was in love once and it ended with him getting hurt so now he just lives in his cave like plato’s cave allegory and doesn’t think about love at all bc haha he’s fragile and hates to cry in public

also good w animals but doesn’t have any

honestly??? without the whole thief part?? a solid dude. too bad he’s a fucking idiot 24/7

oh also, here’s his pinterest board

if you’d like to plot w this mess, pls like this or think happy thoughts n i shall storm into ur dms so i can love u down. i have a d*scord n its kurtistown resident#2978 if u wanna plot thru there. that’s all ig!!!

[thisspaceintentionallyleftblank]

Try, Try Again (pt. 13)

(Cpt 1) | (Cpt 12) ||  (AO3)

Chapter 13 (2594 words)

A metallic claw latched itself solidly onto Emmet’s arm and, with a hydraulic hiss, lifted him into a bone-crunching hug.

The dull, leaden feeling in his limbs was quickly receding, but Emmet was still glad for the solid arms wrapped around him, unsure how well he would have been able to keep his numb, noodly legs underneath himself without them. With jerky motions, he looked around at his rescuers.

“Catastrophe? Nova?” He asked breathlessly, a dopey grin smeared across his face. They hadn’t parted on the best terms previously, but his earlier anger paled in comparison to the joy he felt seeing them now. “But how did you guys find me?”

“We saw the whole thing,” Nova explained. “Our glasstroid wasn’t too far from where your ship exploded.”

“KA-BOOM!” Catastrophe added very helpfully.

“But,” Emmet frowned, still swaying slightly in the Major’s grip. “I thought the Gemini couldn't fly?”

Nova’s face darkened. “O-oh, we um,” her voice petered out awkwardly, and her gaze fell sharply from Emmet’s face, as though she had suddenly become fascinated by the abstract shapes her boot traced in the dust. “S- Some parts of your ship landed near our crash site. We uh, we used them to repair the Gemini.”

Catastrophe’s grip shifted slightly, enough that they could face Emmet eye-to-eye. “WE ARE DEEPLY SORRY FOR TAKING YOUR PARTS, HAZMAT. ”

Emmet tried to laugh, but found himself wheezing instead, due the Major’s vise-like embrace. “I don’t think you guys need to apologize for saving my life.”

“No, it’s- ” Nova sighed, her boot pausing halfway through its current line. “We’re also sorry about before.”

“Oh,” Emmet breathed.

He could remember that night on the Gemini well, each moment of hurt and betrayal having been preserved in his mind clear as crystal. But now, try as he might, he couldn’t summon up any of those old emotions. Like paints dried in the bottle, they retained their shape, but not their function. He was simply too happy to be able to move and speak again, to be able to leave. 

“We just got so excited about finally fixing the Gemini.” Nova continued, oblivious to Emmet’s thoughts. “We never really considered that you might not be excited too. But still… we should have asked.” 

She looked up at him, stretching out a gloved hand. ”We’re sorry that we didn’t ask, and we’re sorry that we hurt you.”

Emmet took her hand in his own. Hearing the aliens’ intentions didn't technically change anything in the past, but it felt good to know that they hadn't meant to hurt him. He wriggled slightly, and with a gentle touch, pulled himself out of Catastrophe's arms, turning to face both of the aliens. 

“I’m sorry too.” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, the pair jerked back in surprise. 

“UH,” Catastrophe’s expression was hidden under his mask, but no doubt it was as contorted with confusion as Nova’s. “W-WHY?”

Emmet thought back to that night, to the empty way the aliens had stared at the dark broken engine, like a light had gone out of them as well. 

“I was upset at you guys but… I didn’t have to break your stuff. I could have just taken the fuelcell back, or heard you guys out, but I… I felt hurt and I wanted to hurt you too. So, I’m sorry for that.”

Nova’s smile was small, but genuine. “Thanks Emmet,” she murmured. 

“WE CAN ALL BE SORRY TOGETHER!” Catastrophe bellered enthusiastically. “SHARING IS INTEGRAL TO OUR ABILITY TO FUNCTION AS A TEAM AFTER ALL!”

“A team?” Emmet chuckled.

���Oh...” Nova paled. “Yeah, so um…. There might be a little bit of um...”

“AN IMMINENT WAR.” Catastrophe interjected eagerly.

Emmet’s laughter faltered awkwardly. “That’s funny... I could’ve sworn you just said ‘war’.”

“I DID!” The lights on the Major’s mask lit up, pleased with themself. 

Dumbfounded, Emmet to Nova for clarification. 

“It’s the Queen,” she explained. “We heard her on the comms once our ship turned back on. It…. We don't know why but there's a fleet of warships heading directly to Bricksb- er, Apocalypseburg, I mean." 

“Okay…” Emmet strained to keep his voice level. “That’s probably not good...” 

From the back of his mind, the remnants of his nightmare on the Gemini lurched forwards. The images of Apocalypseburg shattering replayed in a horrible loop, set to a soundtrack of Lucy's terrified scream.

He forced himself to take a deep breath. “What are we planning to do?”

Nova and Catastrophe exchanged a quick look. “We... we’re not sure."

"WE'RE CLOSER TO BRICKSBURG THAN THE FLEET IS," Catastrophe stated matter-of-factly. "SO WE COULD PROBABLY BEAT THEM THERE IF YOU WANT TO GO HOME."

Nova nodded. "Or," she added, "we could try to meet up with the fleet before they ever even get into range of the city.”

"OR WE COULD RUN AWAY, GET CONCEALING FACIAL HAIR, ADOPT NEW NAMES AND ACCENTS, AND BEGIN A NEW LIFE AS NON-TRADITIONAL COLLEGE STUDENTS."

This suggestion was met with a pair of blank stares.

"I'M NOT SAYING WE SHOULD, BUT IT IS TECHNICALLY AN OPTION."

Emmet groaned. Saving the world had been hard enough the first time, and now his Systarian friends' world hung in the balance too.

“Gosh," he muttered. "This sure is an important decision that I should definitely make right now, in order to avoid any potential ambiguity.”

“OF COURSE,” Catastrophe nodded solemnly. “SO, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?”

---

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Unikitty’s form shifted rapidly, her size and color fluctuating as her rage intensified. 

“Guys, listen,” Lucy begged. She’d finally confessed to the others about letting Rex go, and needless to say, they weren’t taking the news well. 

“We’ve been listening!” Batman groaned. “We listened the whole time you were saying ‘hey, I let the prisoner go!’”

“AGAIN.” Unikitty tacked on with a growl. 

“I be starting t’ think we oughtn’t let Wyldstyle guard the brig anymore,” Metalbeard added, crossing four of his robotic arms in double the disappointment.

“Just let me explain,” she continued, trying to speak over their protests.  “Rex is… he is Emmet. Just… just from some kind of awful alternate future.”

The others stared at her with concern, but Lucy could see understanding dawning in their eyes.

“Let me guess,” Batman started, “he’s from a future where some big-chinned, superpowered alien tried to wipe out half the universe in a weak attempt at a Hegelian tragedy?”

“No,” Unikitty interjected. “I bet it’s a future where scientists bred a new kind of super dinosaur that inevitably escaped and ate everyone in an elaborate allegory for the folly of man.”

“Mmm-mm,” Metalbeard hummed in disagreement. “He probably got trapped in the worst hell of them all - a career in government bureaucracy.”

“NO!” Lucy felt her face growing hot. “He’s from the future where… where he listened to me.” Ashamed, she sank to the floor, ducking her face into her lap and pulling her arms up to hide the hot tears that had started spilling out. The other Masterbuilders exchanged concerned looks. 

“Wyldstyle,” Unikitty shrunk back down to her normal size. Her voice was much calmer now. “What do you mean?”

“He,” her voice caught in her throat, the sound threatening to become a full sob. “He got tougher. Like I’d told him to. And… and now he’s come back to protect Emmet from that fate. To protect him from us.” Now her voice did break. “To protect him from me.”

There was a moment of silence. Lucy struggled valiantly not to disturb it, to remain composed.

“Ugh,” Batman eventually broke the silence with a groan. “Morally complex villains are not really my thing. More of a Marvel trope to be honest.”

“So, what?” Unikitty ignored him. “We’re just not supposed to rescue Emmet?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy whispered. “I just… I never realized that I was hurting him, so like, how can I take that risk, knowing that I could hurt him this badly again?” She lifted her head from her hands slightly, but still couldn’t bring herself to meet their eyes. “Would we really be rescuing him, or just hurting him more?”

The three other Masterbuilders stepped forwards, each taking a seat on the ground near Lucy. Something about the presence of her friends eased the tension in her chest, making it just a bit easier for her to breathe.

“Do you really think the best possible future for Emmet is for all of us to just leave him all alone?” Unikitty asked, her face serious.

"Well no, but-” 

“You can isolate yourself out of fear of being hurt, but the loneliness doesn’t hurt any less.” Batman added. “Uh, so I’ve heard... From my many friends.”

“He- He wouldn’t have to be alone!” Lucy stammered. “He could have better friends! He deserves better friends.”

“The ability to hurt others isn’t something that only bad people have.” Unikitty replied. “Absolutely everyone has the capacity to hurt the people they care about, even unintentionally.”

“Yar, indeed our actions have a tendency t' outrun or exceed the ends through which we attempt to govern them.” Metalbeard added, nodding sagely.

“Wuh-" Lucy couldn't help but stare at him blankly for a moment. "What?”

“Tis just the basic principle of impropriety. Ya know, the concept defined by philosopher Patchen Markell in order t' describe the fallacious idea that we have any kind of control over the consequences of our actions, much less their reception or interpretation by others."

Now the others stared too.

“Oh, so the pirate can’t know philosophy huh?” Metalbeard scoffed. “I have lotsa interests, ya know. I’m not some kinda bilge-ridden, one-dimensional, side character!" He huffed to himself grumpily, but remained firmly planted at Lucy's side. 

"Wyldstyle," Unikitty began softly, "do you really think that Emmet would rather never talk to you again?"

Lucy shook her head. “But... I’m scared," she replied, her voice low and ashamed.

"I know it sucks to think that you can hurt your friends without meaning to, but that doesn't mean that you should stop being their friend. It just means that you need to try and pay closer attention to the things that they say, and the way that your words and actions affect them. It's hard work sometimes, but it's the right thing to do."

Unikitty rested a comforting paw against her friend's knee. "I think it's something that we've ALL been failing at recently," she finished.

Lucy looked up, meeting Unikitty's eyes and seeing the same shame reflected there. Glancing to the other two Masterbuilders, she could see that they also shared the same guilt, and the same conviction.

With a deep breath, Lucy rubbed her face dry and pulled herself to her feet.

"Emmet deserves better than how we’ve been treating him, but he also deserves better than being alone. You guys are right - we need to find him."

Her newfound determination was contagious, and the others leapt to their feet beside her.

"I want to do right by him," Lucy resolved. "No matter how many tries it tak-”

“UM GUYS?!” 

General Mayhem burst into the room, completely out of breath. “Benny and I… huff… just got the long range scanners back online.”

For the first time in years, Lucy felt hope leap in her chest.

"Did you find Emmet?" Unikitty bounded towards the alien, stars literally glimmering in her eyes from excitement.  

Mayhem grimaced. “Not exactly...” She fidgeted for a moment, trying to work out what to say, before giving up with a shrug. “It... it might just be easier to show you.”

The Masterbuilders nodded, and followed the General back towards her ship or, at least, what had originally been her ship. Repairing it was a much more difficult task now that her control device had been broken, and since they were starting from scratch anyways, she and Benny had decided to change the design in order to increase the occupancy load. 

As the group entered the half-finished thing, they could see the blue spaceman tucked under a panel of bright blinking lights. He seemed to hear them enter, and pulled himself out in time to greet them. Mayhem strode over to the console and pressed a combination of controls. The screen flashed to life behind her, and glowing lines began to crawl across it, scrawling out a rough map. 

"Okay," Mayhem gestured up towards the lower left corner of the screen. "This green spot here is Apocalypseburg. And this bit," her hand trailed up across the length of the screen, "is the Stairgate."

“And what are all those little red triangles coming out of the Stairgate?” Unikitty asked, reaching up to paw at the blinky lights.

"Um... well," Mayhem stammered.

“Oh!" Benny interjected. “That's the Systarian War Fleet!”

“Heck yeah.” Batman cracked his knuckles in anticipation of a fight.

“Heck NO.” Lucy replied, shooting him a quick glare before turning to look at Mayhem helplessly. “Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is there a WAR FLEET heading towards us?

“W-Well, remember when I said that Queen Whatevra might um, possibly, maybe retaliate for you guys um…. kidnapping me a little?"

“But!" Unikitty exclaimed. "We totally un-kidnapped you right after!"

"They don't know that!" Mayhem explained. "We've got the scanners back online, but the communication array is still in pieces. I haven't been able to send them any messages yet."

Lucy had a bad feeling about this. She stared at the ships on the map, burning the image into her retinas. The screen blinked, and they all moved about a pixel closer to the green splotch at the bottom. 

“Mayhem,” she started, “if you aren't able to send a message before the fleet arrives, will… will it be…”

The General nodded grimly. “It could mean Ourmomaggedon.”

“How long will it take to fix?" Unikitty asked nervously.

“I don't know." Mayhem looked tired and close to tears. "I've always had my remote control, so I've never had to build the ship myself. Benny can help some, but apparently this technology is not his 'thing'."

Benny nodded. "Definitely produced after the 1980's."

Lucy cupped her chin in her palm, deep in thought. There was an idea growing in the back of her mind, but it would definitely be risky.

"Okay guys," she broke the tense silence, "hear me out."

"Oh no," Batman groaned. "How are you gonna one up ‘I let the evil Emmet clone go’ this time?"

“Sorry," Mayhem interjected. "What was that?"

"Uh, nevermind!" Lucy pressed past the question. "I have a plan!" She turned to the spaceman beside her. "Benny, how long would it take you to get this ship flying?"

He shrugged. “Probably not too long. I've already been building our rescue ship, so we could just pull the engine off of there. Why?”

“Um, could we go back to the part about letting the evil guy go?” Mayhem's question fell on deaf ears.

“I think we'll have to deliver this message ourselves.” Lucy finished. "We'll meet the war fleet head-on and try to explain everything."

“It be worth a shot!” Metalbeard agreed. "I'll be stayin' here though t' rally the crew. If you landlubbers get blown to tiny heroic smithereens, the rest of the city needn't be caught unawares."

Mayhem looked unsettled at the implication, but couldn't deny the possibility that the Systarians might shoot first and ask questions later. 

“But what about Emmet?" Unikitty asked.

The other Masterbuilders fell silent. On the screen, the red ships moved another space forwards. 

“Well,” Benny broke the silence. “He’s in space, we’re going to space... maybe we’ll just bump into him!”

Batman scoffed. “Right, like that will happen.”