#ignores S6 entirely

[autistic-katara]

me personally i think every american who wants to write fanfic about british media should be legally obligated to do extensive research on what terms are used over hear before posting it

[rockmonopoly]

Oh fuck I forgot uhhhh convention next weekend I’ll be locking in on a paper wig this week

[gold-onthe-inside]

hamelin

who? spencer reid (s6/7) x mayor!reader summary: spencer's the first person you think to call when the kidnapper attacks your home. content warnings: animal gore, kissing (no smut) word count: 3.5k (a lot of stuff goes down, okay) a/n: part two to diplomat, ending is open ended (i couldn't decide what happens next and this fic is long enough already)

It’s late when you get back home from city hall, briefings from that day and agendas for tomorrow tucked under your arm and fumbling for your keys and finally unlocking your front door. You moved to switch the light on, dumping your folder and keys on the top of a cabinet and closed the door. There’s a relief that comes with closing the door, the version of you that is so carefully made up for the public eye shedding away.

You took off your heels, turning around to set them on the centre table in the lobby of the mayoral residence, when you let out a strangled scream — dozens of slain rats pooled in front of the staircase, your heart beating frenetically. Your heels clattered to the floor, shaky hands moving to call the first person that came to mind as you retreat back to your car, leaving your door open. Pick up, pick up, pick up—”

“Hello?”

“Someone’s broken in, there’s-there’s rats and blood everywhere,” you gush instantly, switching the cell phone between hands and tearing your car door open and slamming it behind you before locking yourself in.

"Can you stay where you are? I'm coming now- stay there-" he said, as he stood up abruptly, grabbing his coat and his satchel. "Prentiss-" He called out. "Can you come with me? I have to check on someone."

Meanwhile, you fumble quickly through your glove compartment, finding the handgun you carried, slotting the magazine in place and cocking it before sliding back in your seat, starting to wonder if you should’ve just called the chief of police instead. As the minutes tick by, you curse yourself for what you’ve done. You can imagine the questions that’ll get asked when this is over — why was he the first person you called? Why wasn’t the chief of police involved? More importantly, if you couldn’t keep yourself safe, how were you supposed to keep your city safe?

The tap on your window scares you, raising your gun into Spencer’s face at the shotgun window, and you let out a soft breath of relief, switching the safety on and releasing the magazine before putting it all back in your glove compartment. Agent Morgan stepped out of your house, along with Agent Hotchner, and as you get out of your car, Agent Prentiss holds the door open for you, closing it behind you.

“Are you okay?” she asked and you nodded, trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism.

“I’ll be better once we find out who did this.�� You looked back at your house, trying to ignore the sympathetic look Emily was giving you. You feel numb as Aaron explains the process to you, and you might as well be a child for all the power you wield — that forensics will need to take over the scene before they can do any actual profiling, that they need to do a cognitive interview.

“I'll need to speak with my office,” you manage to get out in as mature a voice as you can, considering. It's not like you haven't gotten death and assault threats before, what female politician didn't? But something about this felt different, it felt real.

Emily's grown up in your world, in the world of appearances and stiff backs and false smiles, so she convinces Aaron to take you back to city hall, let you get a handle on things before doing an interview.

Spencer watched you the entire time from the rear mirror of the car, the way you slipped into business mode on the drive to City Hall. It was all so foreign to him, the way you soldiered through this. He remembered a time when seeing a dead pigeon had made you tremble and he’d had to hold you in your arms and tell you everything was alright. It was a far cry from what he was seeing now, and for a moment, he even felt a slight disconnect.

He felt completely out of place from your life, watching you approve clothes for a press conference, your secretary directing hair and make-up to your office, listening to a speechwriter read out your statement for you and making amendments without a single tell that any of this was getting to you. At least, not until Mandy arrived.

“So, we’ll do the first one outside City Hall,” she began immediately, right behind you as you waved away the make-up artist, standing up to pay attention to your campaign manager. “Once the residence is cleared by the police, we’ll do a second one there. We also have a response prepared for a potential recall—”

“Recall?” you demanded, turning to look at Mandy. “We’re in the middle of the campaign.”

“They’re saying that public trust is gonna drop 13% by the end of tomorrow’s news cycle,” Mandy said, widening her arms helplessly. “Perry’s changed his entire campaign to be tougher on crime,” she said, looking at her clipboard, oblivious to the anxiety that was starting to overwhelm you as your hands fidget at your side — anxiety that Spencer was all too familiar with.

“Mandy, I think- I think she needs a minute-“ he spoke up, moving a little closer to you, but keeping his words gentle, not touching you. “I don’t think we need to overload her with all of this right now-“ his gaze flickered to yours, giving you an encouraging nod.

“We’ll deal with a potential recall after tonight’s conference,” you said, finding your centre of gravity in Spencer’s eyes. “I have a statement to revise.” Your speechwriter left the sheet on your desk with a sheepish smile before walking out, your stylists packing up to leave, and Mandy half-glaring at Spencer for obstructing her job twice now before leaving. The door clicked shut and you let out a breath of relief, sagging against your desk to pick up your cue cards while Spencer stepped forward, plucking them out of your hands. “Spence,” you protested but it melted under his look.

“You haven’t taken a minute to process what happened,” Spencer said, his voice gentle but insistent.

“I don’t have the time—”

“Then make the time,” Spencer said firmly, interrupting you swiftly and you pursed your lips at him. That hadn’t changed. “Your home was broken into and your floor was covered in dead rats, and you’re gonna go on like nothing happened?”

“This isn’t about me,” you replied patiently. “This is about the city needing to feel safe—”

“The city isn’t safe, and you telling them otherwise is… It’s patronising and it’s belittling their intelligence,” Spencer retorted and it was unfair because he was right.

“I can’t believe I’m taking political advice from a STEM major,” you muttered, moving to sit behind your desk and pull out a fresh sheet of paper.

“I can’t believe I’m giving it,” he pointed out, and he stepped around to the front of your desk, placing a hand atop yours, and sitting himself directly in front of you, forcing eye contact. “What do you need?” He looked at you, and he gave your hand a gentle squeeze.

"Twenty minutes to write a new speech and a lot of coffee," you said.

“I’ve got you,” he said, and disappeared around the corner, reappearing a minute later with a pot of coffee and two mugs, and he poured one for you and one for him, setting it on the desk, just like old times. It was hard to concentrate with the smell of the coffee and Spencer’s cologne right in front of you, and you took a quick sip before setting the cup down and writing your speech.

You soldiered through your speech, putting on your best face, and Spencer pulled you away from Mandy who was trying to get you to take this threat of a recall seriously, setting you up in a secure hotel room instead. “You really don’t have to do this,” you said, sitting cross-legged by the foot of the bed as Spencer checked the windows were locked.

“We need to make sure you’re safe. If you go back home, there’s a stronger likelihood that he’ll come after you this time,” Spencer said, closing the curtains over the windows. “He’ll think you aren’t taking him seriously.”

“I don’t understand how he could just break in,” you said, rubbing your face tiredly, and Spencer pulled up a chair in front of you to sit down, face to face when you look up.

“Morgan and Rossi are looking into it, we’ll get you answers,” he assured you, pressing his hand to your knee and you sighed.

“What are the chances that this is connected to the missing kids?” you asked and Spencer frowned, retracting his hand.

“The working hypothesis was that a disgruntled parent might have done it, but leaving that many rats behind—” Just the mention of the creatures seemed to cause you pain, a wince crossing your expression at the memory of it. “—doesn’t seem plausible for just any parent to pull off. Was there anyone specifically angry at you?”

You chewed your bottom lip, shaking your head. “Not enough to do this. I was expecting getting tomatoes thrown at me or something.”

Spencer frowned. “Tomatoes is oddly specific,” he noted and you shrugged.

“I had these parents corner me after a council meeting, asking me why I was more focused on county fairs than looking for their kids,” you said, looking down at your hands and picking at your thumbnail. “I write policies and draft budgets. I can’t find a mass abductor, and people expect me to put more pressure on the police force as if they’re not doing everything they can. We can’t just close off an entire district forever. And the protocol says that after the first 24 hours…”

“For a regular child abduction,” Spencer told you. “This is different. He hijacked a school bus and abducted over 30 kids. It’s unprecedented, there’s no protocol for this.”

You swallowed before you looked at him, your expression cloudy and downcast. “I’m gonna lose my job,” you whispered, tears rimming your eyes and Spencer’s hands cupped your cheeks, thumbing the tears away like they had ten years ago.

“Hey, no, you’re not,” he insisted softly. “Noone’s done more for this city than you have.”

“Like that matters,” you muttered, wanting to cry some more but his hands were so warm and comforting that you just closed your eyes. “All Perry has to do is promise to deliver. I’m the one who has to actually do the work, and no matter what I do, I get criticized for it.”

“Well, then, they’re idiots,” Spencer said matter-of-factly. “You don’t wanna be a mayor of a town of idiots, do you?” he asked and you snorted gently, laughing as he shifted to sit next to you, and he felt you curl into him, so he rubs your arm, following his instincts.

“Thank you for being here,” you murmured into his chest, his woollen sweater vest warm against your cheek, your fingers playing with the hem of it.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” he replied, pressing a kiss to your hair, his hand on your arm stilling. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Sap,” you muttered, making him smile a little, one you can feel as he presses his lips to your hair. “You could’ve called,” you murmured, still playing with his sweater.

“I didn’t think I was allowed to,” he replied quietly. “You were so mad that night.”

“Ten years ago,” you reminded him, pulling away to look at him. “You thought I was gonna be mad at you forever?”

Spencer looked at his hands, long spindly fingers meant to lace through yours. “I didn’t have any evidence to believe otherwise.” He looked at you with those glassy hazel eyes that made you melt. “I screwed up,” he murmured. “But I was so afraid you’d look at me like everyone else.”

“Spence,” you whispered, shifting closer, knee pressing against his thigh. “There is more to a person’s character than their reputation, or their qualifications.” You cupped his face the way you used to, his cheek slightly rougher than before, and the briefest thought flickered across your mind — does he still kiss like he used to? You swatted it away, focusing on the conversation at hand. “There is so much more to you than your PhD.”

“PhDs,” he corrected quietly, and you snorted quietly.

“You got more of them?”

“Math, engineering, chemistry.”

“Does that make you Dr. Dr. Dr. Reid?” you asked and Spencer shook his head, your hand dropping to his lap.

“That’s not how it works.”

“Well, how else will people know you’re a multi-PhD holder?” you asked, teasing.

“Shut up,” he muttered, kissing you, his hands sweeping up to cup your face, holding your jaw like it belonged to him. You were wrong. He doesn’t kiss like he used to. Not tentative or hesitant, but confident and breath-stealing, each move precise and purposeful as he took pauses in just the right places to make you needier, smiling as you chased his lips greedily. His fingers threaded into your hair, like he still remembered how to drive you insane, still holding your face close to his as he pulled away for breath, feeling yours fan over his lips. “I wanted to do that all day,” he whispered, nudging his nose against yours.

“I…” You had no words, opening your eyes to look at him, your head all cloudy and dazed and Spencer wanted to laugh, hands dropping to his lap. You, who had an argument for everything, the debate captain who always won, who had a retort armed at all times, had been struck speechless.

“Need a minute?” he asked, smirking and you wanted to hit him. You definitely wanted to kiss him. His smirk dropped as he saw concern flit across your face. “What is it?” he asked, starting to panic just a little. “Did I… No, I should’ve asked first—”

You shook your head. “No, well, I mean, yes, you could’ve asked first but that’s not…” You dropped your gaze, stopping yourself from taking his hand. “You’re leaving,” you said quietly and he frowned. “Once you find this guy… I won’t see you again,” you said matter-of-factly, blinking away the sting in your eyes.

“I… I can visit,” he offered lamely and you looked up, tilting your head at him.

“You won’t,” you said quietly. “And you shouldn’t. This part of your life ended ten years ago.”

“I don’t want it to,” he whispered.

“If your team hadn’t been called in to find these kids,” you asked softly, “would you have ever thought about me again?”

“Don’t say that,” Spencer insisted, taking your hand in his. I still love you, he thought. “We’re gonna find these kids, and this guy who’s harassing you, and… And we can figure this out too.”

Wishful thinking, you thought, but his hand felt so warm in yours, his heart on his sleeve, bleeding in front of you. You can’t dash his hopes, even though a part of you thinks he’ll be better off that way. “Okay,” you said instead, and his phone buzzed, forcing him to pull it out of his pocket and step away to answer Morgan. You can hear bits and pieces from Spencer’s side.

“Yeah, she’s with me… I already asked her, she doesn’t know… I can ask, yeah. If it is him, I’d rather stay here, make sure she’s safe… If there’s the slimmest chance that he comes here instead, I’m not taking the risk, Morgan.”

You rubbed your wrist, waiting for him to return. “Do you know a Perry Williams?” he asked, showing you a picture of the man, his voice on FBI mode and it creeped you out.

“Should I?” you asked, frowning.

“He used to be a pest controller, did work all over town, and he was at the school when it burned down four years ago,” Spencer said, slipping his hands in his pockets. “Right around where your first term started.”

You shook your head, frowning, not remembering the name or the face. “No, I don’t. But one of my first acts as mayor was to award the firefighters at the school,” you said. “I… I can’t remember their names either.”

Spencer said nothing, calling someone else instead, leaving you to twiddle your thumbs. “Garcia, can you look into firefighters associated with the school fire?” he asked and you were starting to feel restless, watching him work instead. “Huh,” he said, his expression puzzled. You watched him put the phone away again and turn to you. “Apparently, the firefighter you awarded implied to the press that the reason the fire got so bad was because of Williams, saying that the pesticide chemicals made the fire worse. When Williams recovered from his burns, that firefighter became his first victim.”

“What?” you asked. “Wh-How?”

“You don’t want to know,” Spencer said and you stood up to face him.

“Don’t tell me what I want or what I can’t handle, just tell me the truth,” you retorted firmly and he let out a breath.

“He was beaten to death in his own home and then set on fire,” Spencer said, watching you process that.

“Jesus Christ,” you muttered, running a hand through your hair.

“The records also said,” Spencer continued, slowly this time, measuring your reaction, “that he tried to get a meeting with you multiple times but he was denied.”

You stared at him. “So he kidnapped an entire schoolbus of kids?” you demanded. “Are you kidding me? Who does that?”

“It was multiple stressors piling on,” he said patiently. “He was recovering from his burns for the better part of a year, he lost his job, plus the separation from his wife, add that the city’s hero blames him for the fire, and the fact that he’s going unheard… so he did a drastic thing.”

“So now what?” you asked.

“The team’s checking his place, and any other locations he might go to, and hopefully, we’ll find him before morning.”

“Great,” you muttered, sitting back on the foot of the bed, hands grasping the edge, and Spencer knelt in front of you, placing a warm hand on your knee.

“We will find him,” he assured you. “Believe it or not, we’re very good at what we do.”

“Yeah, I know,” you murmured, tucking hair behind your ear, and looking down at him. A moment passed like that, just both of you looking at each other, different in so many ways, and in so many ways, still the same. Spencer wet his lips, getting up eventually.

“You should get some sleep,” he said and you frowned.

“Just me?”

“Well, I need to be up, in case anything changes,” he said and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“Or maybe you just want an excuse to watch me sleep,” you retorted, making him blush.

“What? No, I-I don’t want— I mean, I don’t—” He’s cut off by your little laugh and his attempt at a scowl came out more as a pout as he moved to sit beside you. “You’re mean,” he mumbled and you laced your fingers into his, raising it to kiss his knuckles, then pressing your interlocked hands to your chest.

You can’t sleep and he’s not supposed to, so you end up curled into his side, hand in hand, while he tells you what the last ten years have been like — about being recruited and abandoned by Gideon, meeting Derek who would become arguably his best friend (you narrowed your eyes at that, a flare of jealousy that he kisses away, reminding you of your place in his heart), and stories about cases. By 2am, he’s telling you all about Riley and how his dad had helped cover up the murder of his killer, all to protect his mom from having witnessed it, and you’re hanging onto every word, until his phone buzzes with a text.

Derek: We got him. Kids are all accounted for. Tell your girl.

“They found the kids,” Spencer said first, knowing that would bring you more relief than just telling you that they found Williams. He’s right, too, noticing how your eyes close and you take a deep, calm breath.

“Thank God,” you murmured.

“They’ve got Williams in custody too. You could probably go home in the morning,” Spencer continued, watching you nod, the tight coil in your chest unravelling.

“And you?” you asked, looking up at him, memorising his face now.

“What about me?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow, noting the huff that leaves your nose.

“When do you have to leave?”

“Under normal circumstances? We make sure the PD and the DA have enough to prosecute. Sometimes they don’t have enough evidence, so we stick around for a confession, but otherwise, we leave when the jet’s available.”

You nodded stiffly, lips pressed together. “This isn’t normal circumstances, though,” Spencer continued and you glanced at him.

“It’s not?”

He looked at you with a kind of fondness that you’ve only ever associated with him. “Normal circumstances don’t include you.”

[bugsandboos]

reading everyone’s thoughts on the london special and marinette’s actions have given me a serious case of deja vu in relation to the s5 finale, here’s why

a very very VERY common reaction from the fandom i saw to the finale was “why are the writers letting gabriel get away with being a hero why isn’t he being held accountable horrible finale horrible writing i hate this show etc etc etc”

before i share my thoughts on this for like the thousandth time i just wanna mention i DID cry during the finale, partly because i was in shock and also because i HATED it. but now i genuinely believe it was one of if not the smartest thing the ml writers have ever conjured up and i just. fucking love it. (point is: i understand disliking it. that was me at some point, until i began to consider the implications of the “ending”)

similarly, a reaction i’ve seen to the london special (mainly from ml salters) is “why would the writers let marinette lie to the world when it’s so clearly morally wrong she’s such a horrible person she needs to be held accountable blah blah blah”

something both the s5 finale and the london special share is that THE ACTIONS THAT TAKE PLACE IN BOTH. ARE NOT MEANT. TO SIT WELL WITH THE AUDIENCE

NO writer on ml is trying to convince a fan that “gabriel was actually a hero because he made one selfless decision (that wasn’t even that selfless?????)”. NO writer on ml is trying to convince a fan that “marinette is completely right for hiding the truth about gabriel from not only adrien but also the whole world!!!!!! no one should ever find out!!!”

the entire point of the finale and special is to make the viewer uncomfortable, as we watch marinette sit with her questionable choices, watch adrien refer to his father as a hero and watch their class throw a party. none of this is supposed to make us feel at peace with the way this arc has concluded.

what people seem to be missing is that even if the s1-s5 arc has ended, the s6 arc is just beginning, CENTERED AROUND THE CHOICES THAT HAVE MADE US AS THE AUDIENCE FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE!! you’re completely ignoring the way the plot is set up if you think the writers are going to neglect gabriel’s storyline, because it is far from over.

i think it’s also important to mention that neither marinette nor adrien are at peace with what’s happened (even if that was implied during the s5 finale—the london special has provided us with this new information on their emotional statuses). marinette is clearly being eaten alive by guilt, seeking confirmation throughout the entire special that protecting adrien from the truth was the morally correct decision. adrien was obviously affected by his father’s death (contrasting the idea that he just “threw a party” without any emotional backlash), and will undoubtedly learn to grapple with his conflicting feelings on gabriel’s character throughout s6 (he sacrificed himself??? but he abused me??? but he saved ladybug and nathalie????? but he apparently assisted monarch?????)

POINT IS

no one is meant to be satisfied with the way things are in the miraculous universe at the moment. you aren’t supposed to want the truth about what really went down during recreation to stay hidden. if you feel uncomfortable with the current situation our main characters are in, GOOD! please stop the discrediting the writers, because your discomfort means they have done their job well.

[bronx-bomber87]

Hello amazing fandom :) Ooh man this episode. I think it is my fav of the season so far. Which I know sounds insane considering what we got last week. But if you know me and been following me last couple years with my reviews, you know how much I LOVE me some Tim growth and depth. This is chock full of it so buckle in for the analysis and joy of that.

Other than our beautiful ship which I adore as you know. This is the other thing that makes my heart so happy. Plus it's pretty intertwined with their future as a couple this ep. Which excites me to no end. The episode as a whole was incredibly good too. The writers have really tapped back into the ensemble cast of it all. I adore it. I love this show as a whole and s7 is crushing it with that. Let us get started.

7x07 The Mickey

We hit the ground running with Tim at group therapy. Not only that but thinking about Lucy and their night together. Excuse me while I freak out 30 seconds into this episode. Oh my word the raw cut of his memory has me fanning myself. The look on her face and hearing his belt buckle being undone. Holy hell. A whole week later and this scene is still ruining me in the best way lol

Look at my boy in group therapy. Not only that but one for veterans. This is the perfect setting for him. I’m so proud I could cry. I damn near do this entire episode. We see Tim just jumping right in when prompted. Definitely has been going a long time because he looks very comfortable. ALSO they know about Lucy.

This is huge. I can’t get over this. In my heart of hearts I knew he would keep going to therapy. Keep working on himself. But seeing the results on screen.*happy sigh* It brings my soul a happiness I can't quite put into words. He’s taking care of his mental health. Bettering himself by putting the work in. I could have an entire impressions just on this cause it excites me so much. Other than Chenford, Tim growth is my show crack. It excites me like no other.

Tim sharing how far he’s come with Lucy. That he felt he had earned his way back in. Both professionally and personally. How hard he’s worked to get there. Now he's worried he's ruined it. I love his group leader nodding along and understanding him. It's so important to have that support. Just look at him so mad he gave in before he finished doing the work. Tim being so self aware is amazing to witness.

Saying he was being selfish. That he had't finished fixing what he broke with her yet. Is this a dream? This is what I’ve been WAITING for. Holy cow. Tim owning what he did to Lucy, knowing he had done it and most importantly knowing he broke them. What they had. That it's on him alone to fix it. I'm delirious with the continued growth shown in this scene.

What's that Lizzie McGuire song? ‘Hey now, hey now. This is what dreams are made of?’ My millennial is showing and I’m ok with it LOL How I feel about this opening sequence though. Encapsulates it perfectly. Cathartic and satisfying to watch after s6. After analyzing what he had done and what he needed to do in order to move forward. It's the best feeling to watch it unfold on screen.

‘I couldn’t help myself....’ Oh my Timothy. Neither could she. That inexplicable bond wasn't to be ignored last ep. It was too magnetic in that moment. He's being SO vulnerable with his group. It's making my head spin with happiness. Telling them his first shot at being with her again broke his own boundary; That he went for it anyways. This is so good. Well done writers. I’m giddy. Love the person running this and their reply. My god it’s good. So spot on. Stating Tim’s using a lot of ‘I’ language.

Saying Lucy was a willing participant. As she always is with you my love. No one ever forces her to make the decisions she does about you. It's all her. Telling him he’s taking away her agency when he does this. *mic drop* Hot damn this is fantastic. That they made the mistake together. Not just him. It's true. She wanted him as just as badly. She too couldn't help herself. Lucy is the one who grabbed his face for that kiss. She's the one who went for his belt asking him to take this further. They did this TOGETHER. No coercion.

Takes two to tango as they say. He needed to hear this. This wasn't something he did to her. They chose it together. I love how receptive he is to this advice. Just look at his face above. Eric killing it like he always does with his expressions. He is absorbing it and internalizing what he is learning. I mean he's clearly doing this meeting before work. To get his head right before he goes in. My god how he’s evolved and the strides he's taken. I can’t even you guys. I’m feeling high off this opening section in the best way.

Ooooh yes Lucy thinking about it too. Of course she is. Ooof love these raw shots and noises we’re getting in their thoughts. Reminds me of when Lucy was dreaming about kissing Tim in 5x01. She tries to shake it off and it comes right back to it like a boomerang. Can't keep her mind off the carnal delights she gave into with TIm. Gah I love this.

Saucy thoughts just keep rushing back to her. The first 90 seconds of this episode have me reeling in the best way. Sweet baby James. Also kudos to Melissa and her ability to convey so much with just her eyes. Her and Eric have this glorious ability to convey so much with so little.

Lucy is trapped in her thoughts and I'm here for it. I mean I can't say I wasn't in a loop watching that scene over and over the last week. heh. Celina scares the shit out of me and Lucy. Snapping Lucy out of her heated revere. God damn little lady lol She gave me a heart attack. Lucy messes up her lipstick and I’m cackling.

Celina pointing out she put on new lipstick….Dressing up more than usual. I wonder who that’s for? hehe. Girl you could wear a paper bag and you would have Tim panting after you. But I do love her wanting to put in extra effort post 7x06. Those actions proving it was more than just 'Ex-Sex.' for her.

I mean we all know why she put it in that box. She isn't ready to handle that and I don't blame her. As I've stated before. Tim is going to have to put the work in to get her there. Until then, it's going to remain complicated af for her as she muddles through her complicated feelings for Tim. Our girl is doing her best out here everyone.

I loved this scene with Nolan and Tim so much. Tim saying cops gossip more than middle schoolers. lmao accurate. Also ugh I remember this with post 6x06. I am LOVING post-therapy Tim helping Nolan out. Legit adoring it. Giving him some solid advice. "Feel like you don't believe yourself.' Nailed it.

Then of course turns back into being Cop Tim with how to handle it with some action. Not really John's style babe. Reminding me of s1 Tim looking for fights. With a biker gang…One the future love of your life had to wake you up from Timothy. But I do love them having a bonding moment over this.

It's cute how excited Tim is when Nolan agrees to his idea. I adored this scene so much more than I expected tbh. Pretty great watching them bond. I don’t always dislike Nolan lol I do tend to like him better when he’s with Tim LOL Or Lucy. But with Tim it’s extra good cause they don’t often share scenes. This one was gold.

Hot damn this episode has it all for me. We get to have some protective Tim with Seth as well. *grabs ice water.* Protective with hint of feral. Yum. Gimme gimme. Always happy to have a slice of that pie. Don’t put his girl in jeopardy with your stupidity Ridley. You will answer to him if you do anything to put her at risk.

Also If this cancer ends up being a lie and Tim finds out? Phew boy he will legit end you. You think he's scary now? There will be no safe place for you to hide if that happens. That is a guarantee good sir. He will destroy you. And I will sit there with popcorn enjoying it.

The tension inside the shop with Lucy and Seth is unreal. Palpable to say the least. It seems to only escalate and not cool off. Even with his time off for his 'treatments.' Lucy not so subtly rooting around to see if he’s lying about that. I love it. The timing was fishy af and he knows it. So he deserves this. His face when she says she might do that about his medical records. Oh my lord. Called her bluff and she rose to the occasion. I wonder if she will?

Yay Tamara is back! My girl. I missed her. I can't believe the flirty nature between her and Seth. Last thing Lucy needs with this kid....Don’t look at her that way Seth. Lucy will strangle you to death. That is not the way to get back into her good graces you turd. Blatantly flirting with her pseudo daughter.

Appears she's reached out due to drugs on campus. Not great…..But hey UC time. Lucy says she can look like a college student for the buyer. Tamara isn’t sure and Lucy is so offended lmao I’m dying. I’ve missed their banter.

Sadly Ridley has to be used instead of Lucy. Tamara suggesting that Seth be her fake BF..... Lucy's protective mama alarm bells are going off so hard. Lucy's face when Tamara wraps her arm around him. This is gold. Well done Melissa. I'm laughing so hard. This would be cute if Seth wasn't sus af.

Oooh teacher Tim always makes me happy to see. Ok that came out dirtier than I meant it to lol I just love to see him in his element. He observes Miles is riled up and asks why. Knowing it's more complicated than just not liking their suspect. You know Tim is far more emotionally intelligent than people give him credit for. This scene right here is proof of that.

The way he spots Miles having an issue. Handling it right then and there. Does a good dose of logic with empathy. It’s fantastic. He doesn’t eviscerate Texas for his outburst. But wants him to understand the consequences of his actions. I love watching him in T.O. mode for this reason. Man is so perfect for the job. This right here is exactly why he's such an exceptional T.O.

It's exciting that Lucy gets the go-ahead from Grey. The not so great part is she won't have stellar backup. Poor Lucy it’s Smitty or no one. LOL Already has to deal with the flirt fest and now she has the worst backup ever. Cool beans. Just what she wanted. The day continues to get better for her....

Lucy in UC mode is always a delight to see. Reeling Smitty in while prepping Seth. 'Tam? eww. ' Lmao Of course Smitty thinks it’s cute. Eating his damn licorice while he pops off lol Lucy's reply has me laughing so hard. 'No, it’s not.' haha Smitty is being the complete antithesis to everything she is feeling right now. She is SO unsettled and I don't blame her.

'You’re together we get is geez.' 'Mama bear Lucy is none too pleased with this scenario. Not holding her cards to her chest at all with this. But that's our girl. Said this many times before. She's a ten but terrible at hiding her feelings. I can’t believe Smitty giving Lucy parenting advice. I’m dying. 'Do you have kids? ‘Do I.? Oh I love him. Always the comic relief. Lucy's reaction has me laughing so much. I loved this scene of levity.

Of course Seth pushed it… He’s just lucky it worked out. Well For the the moment. Friggin Smitty praising him when Lucy is far from thrilled about all this. She is channeling Tim in this scene. The way she scolds him and asks for the product. Her gesture signaling how over his bravado she is.

Hot damn Tim in streets with his gun/badge on display with tight jeans? Excuse me while I drool a bit. This ep gonna kill me in the best way. I'll always take Tim in non field clothes anytime. Tim and Nolan standing side by side isn’t fair to John lmao

Tim is just exuding sex appeal and authority. While Nolan exudes midwestern dad scolding his kids. LOL I'm sorry John really I am. I actually like you in this episode. So my apologies sir. That is just my fav Tim pose and no one does it better than him. Forearm porn when he does that stance too. *phew lord.* Mmmm.

As I stated earlier I'm really enjoying Nolan in this episode. He is more human. More realistic in his failures. If they wrote him like this more I wouldn't be so hard on the guy. I used to love Nolan. Back in s1-2 he was written really well. I did start this show partly for Nathan. Eric being the other. They've been writing him better this season. With some humility and consequences for his mistakes. I'm digging it.

This scene was hilarious. John had no idea about the ring. That’s so funny. Also a friggin trip The Hammer is a softie for love. I didn't see that one coming at all. Just shows you the right person is worth fighting for or you live with the regret of it. That is the theme going forward for sure. Tim being so nonchalant about fighting The Hammer for the ring has me rolling. What makes Nolan's reaction so friggin funny.

I’m all for Tim leaning on stuff every episode looking like a damn snack. Feral Caitlin is here for it. Cause hot damn show me those forearms all day. I'll be a happy girl I'll tell you that. Tim suggests John actually sleep if he needs it. Since he looks like a damn wreck. Ugh Tim’s face when he says ‘Hard to sleep when she’s not there.’

Rip my heart right out there Eric. Tim understands far more than you can ever know John…. *sad sigh* The pain train continues to roll through this season. With a side helping of 'hurts so good' to go with it. I'm sure Tim has had many a night where he couldn't sleep without Lucy since they broke up.

I mean they scarcely had a night apart when they dated. Only times they did was 5x21 and the fight at the end of 6x01. Other than that he lived with Lucy at his side nightly. That man feels the loss of Lucy by his side in more ways than one. You can see how it haunts him as he agrees with his statement. Gah this episode is just so damn good. I can't get over it. This scene of theirs is my favorite of the episode.

John asking if he can ask a personal question? 'Usually I'd say no, but I've been working on being more emotionally available.' Be still my damn heart. Knowing pre-therapy Tim would've said no. But wanting to continue to put the work in he says yes to Nolan. This ep has me floating on cloud 9 you guys. Oh my Timothy, how you have grown so damn much. I'm misty and squeeing.

John eagerly pulls up a chair next to Tim. I do love Tim helping Nolan sort this mess out. I really do. It's creating a bond I never expected to love this much. The advice he is giving. Holy hell. Color me impressed. Look at how this man has emotionally evolved. How he can speak of his ex-wife with such emotional maturity and clarity.

That had he tried sooner he would've seen the broken mess of his marriage. Telling Nolan he can't just ignore this and hope it goes away. Because if he does he will end up same way his marriage did. That if he doesn't try now he's only going to fracture their relationship beyond repair. This is such SOLID advice he is giving John. It's insane.

I am blown away by his emotional depth in this scene. His clarity sharper than it's ever been. Tim continually sees and is reminded of what he did to Lucy. Using it as a cautionary tale for Nolan. Giving a piece of himself to drive home his point. Telling him not to make the same mistakes he did with Lucy. Side note, look at how soft his eyes are when he speaks about her btw. Eric killing the game as always. I love that Isabel is what is brought up but Tim ends with Lucy. This is where the growth is momental.

And if you can't get excited about this. About how huge this is for his character. For their future as a couple. Then I'm doing a bad job of explaining why. Because this is HUGE step in the right direction. Tim is telling John he gave up long before he should’ve. That he left mid-battle. Left Lucy holding the emotional bag of it all in that battlefield. Basically telling John he regrets how he handled it all. How he handled his treatment of Lucy and their relationship. The way he went about their breakup. Regretting the breakup all together really. That he gave up and retreated before he should've.

Fandom. I’ve had dreams about him saying this kind of stuff. To hear him acknowledge what he did to her. That he still has work to do. And why he still does. The next battle is getting him to relay those things to Lucy. It would un-muddy those waters so quickly if he did. Give her the clarity she’s been yearning for since he left her in that parking lot in 6x06. Clarity we’ve all been waiting for her to have. But as they say patience is a virtue. Tim even tells Nolan one step at a time. We gotta heed that same advice. This is no small fix Tim is undergoing here.

Tim is tormented by the decision he made in 6x06. It's written all over his face at the end of this scene. Telling John that he is gonna spend the rest of his life wondering if he could’ve done more. Been better. I adore the writers taking their time with this all. With Tim, their relationship, and Lucy. Because as forever grateful I am for s6. For getting a shortened season win on the heels of the writer strike reconciliation.

It didn’t have the time to flesh out everything and let it breathe the way this season is doing. Honestly I am grateful the heartbreak was in a shortened season. Or we would be dealing with that now instead of a s7 if we didn't get it. It would’ve hurt even more in a longer season. S7 is taking what couldn’t be fleshed out and delved into with s6 this season. I am personally loving the delayed gratification. It’s lending to wonderful scenes of growth like this.

Also like to say how proud I am of how far Tim and Nolan’s relationship has come. This a massive far cry from the s1 pair up they had watching a convict. Tim has grown so so much for this scene to take place. I keep saying how I could cry at how happy this makes me. But it's because this is what I hoped for with this season. This level of depth and growth before a reconciliation. It's going to make when they do that much sweeter. I guarantee you it will. The writers are crushing this season. It's a legit a joy to see come to life.

Oooh I love Lucy calling Tim needing his help. Her go to. Shows he's still her person. *le sigh* Tim was clearly was giving himself some time to decompress after that heavy convo, but he immediately picks up knowing it's his girl. Her reaching out will always make me happy. Tim tells her he will get himself replaced to go help her. God I love these two so much. Always have each others back when they need them. Never change you two.

I love Lucy Chen so much. BAMF level of bad assery in this scene. Doesn't turn around for most of this scene. Wants him to understand the gravity of this situation. To know he is VERY lucky this worked out the way that it did. That it had nothing to do with his skill in this case. She is cold as ice with his mentioning of Tamara. I love it. She has learned that hard edge from her man. Once again embodying Tim. Especially with telling him she had no keys LOL Classic.

The scene with Tamara and Lucy made me so bummed. Seth is infecting her world in more ways than one. I legit had zero idea the writers would go this route. I love that they've surprised me so much with this kid though. Lucy going into mama mode saying she can't date him. When teenager 101 says you do that they'll go running toward that choice. *sigh*

Tim coming in while Tamara shuts her down made me giddy. Asking right away what that was about? Going into protective dad mode himself when he hears why. Mmm. Asking ‘Want me to put the fear of Bradford in him?’ Heh I was all for it. Lucy too. She honestly considers it by saying 'Yeah.' I love the look he gives her following that. Knowing that isn't actually what she wants. Because the man knows her so damn well.

That it's just a gut reaction to knock some fear into this guy. Lucy responds to his knowing look saying no.... That it'll just make things worse....That it will. Sadly. This is not going to end well. But's Tamara's mistake to make. Look at them co-parenting Tamara like the good ole days though. my heart

Oh my word that episode was SOOO good. The growth alone had me buzzing. I an enjoying this season so very much. I can't wait to see what next week has in store for them. Thank you as always to those who support these. Without fail means so much to me. Every like, Comment ( come chat with me I love it) and reblog are noticed and appreciated by me. Shall see you all in 7x08 :)

Side notes

Of course Smitty has been divorced three times lmao

Damn look at James pulling one over on Nyla to talk. Loving the realness of this season. He just laid down the gauntlet with her whew lord.

Holy crap that shelter lady was a bad ass. She didn’t win but gave him a good fight. Run for his damn money that's for sure. Loving the empowered women in this season.

Celina you cannot flirt with the bad guy omg lol The hammer is back. Loving this call back.

‘Tough woman often come with dark stories.’ I felt that deep in my soul.

Nolan getting actual consequences this season. I’m digging it. Like a lot. Grey reminding him how many times his shop been stolen before. Yikes John...

What a bad ass Celina Juarez has turned out to be holy cow. I love her. Just sprayed his ass she closed the door lmao Don't got time for that macho fight.

Man never thought relate to Bailey on something. But that hospital scene I did. Her saying emotional isn't the same as physical. I hate that for her. Because I know what that is like. Some people do treat it like it’s not as bad when it is.

Emotional abuses is just as scarring as physical. If not more because it’s harder for people to see your scars. To see what you’ve lived through mentally and survived. Writers are doing a very good job this season. You got me to empathize and relate to a character never had a connection with. Well done.

'He cannot help you heal if he’s doesn’t know what’s still alive inside you.’ Damn if that isn’t true for Tim as well with Lucy.

The Hammer helping them oh my lord that was amazing. Because he wanted a clean slate and new chance at love.

Texas my word. What a man offering up his services to her shelter. Loving this kid more each week.

I love Harper’s new group this is awesome. Look at her listening to James. Also Wopez got her there. That was really good. Working together to making policing better. I love it sfm. Very them. They have the same common goal just had to tweak how they handled it. Yay they have good depth this season. Excited to see where they go.

[caplanbuckybarnes]

Celestial Stars & Candy Apple Eyes (Castiel) (Dean)

Request: CanI request a Dean x Reader x Castiel (no Destiel) fic? Reader has been hunting with Sam and Dean for a long time (like since the events of early S1) and met Cas when Dean, Bobby and her went to the Barn (S4 E1). She had a Crush on Dean since the beginning and they kissed right before he died (end of S3) but they never talked about that again after he came back. And when she met Cas, she instantly felt a strong connection and also developed a Crush on him. So now she is conflicted, thinking both dont like her like that (Since Cas is an Angel and Dean doesn't talk about the kiss). The Fic could be right around S6, so Dean was with Lisa for a year which made Reader even more convinced that Dean didnt like her. And Cas hadn't contacted her in a while. But Dean, Sam and Reader started hunting again and called Cas a few times. During their interactions, the two boys realize how they feel and get jealous of the other for being close to Reader (or something like calling her petnames). Idk if all of that makes sense but thats the general Idea I had^^" @storytellers-randomshortstorys

A/N: you'd requested this back in April 2024, and I couldn't for the life of me think of what to do with it. SOrry for the lateness!

Summary: You're torn between man & angel, and cannot handle the jealousy anymore.

WC: 995

Warnings: jealousy, reader loves both dean & Castiel, pining

Read on ao3!

--

The Impala’s engine hummed a low, steady rhythm as the three of you drove through the dark backroads of Ohio. You were wedged in the backseat, your head resting against the window. Dean was behind the wheel, Sam in the passenger seat flipping through a case file.

The silence wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable either. You felt it keenly, especially every time you glanced at Dean. Things had been weird since he came back from Hell. Not outright bad, just... unspoken. That kiss before his deal ran out was a moment you couldn’t forget. But he never brought it up after he returned, especially not with Lisa in the picture for a whole year.

And Cas—well, Cas was another layer of confusion entirely. He wasn’t here often, but when he was, you couldn’t help but feel the pull toward him. The two of you had this... connection. Like you understood each other without needing to say much. He wasn’t human, but he made you feel seen in ways no one else did.

“You good back there?” Dean’s voice cut through your thoughts, rough but edged with concern.

“Yeah,” you lied, offering a small smile.

Sam looked back at you over his shoulder. “We should call Cas for this. If that witch really managed to pull off a binding spell like this, we’ll need more firepower.”

Dean grunted in reluctant agreement. “Fine, but he better not be off doing Heaven’s dirty work again.”

You rolled your eyes but stayed quiet. Dean always acted like he didn’t trust Cas, but you knew better. He was just too stubborn to admit he cared about the angel.

Later, at the motel, you all regrouped in the cramped room. Dean called Cas, who appeared with the usual flutter of wings.

“Hello,” Cas said, his gravelly voice sending an involuntary shiver down your spine. His eyes found yours immediately, lingering a beat longer than you expected. “Y/N.”

“Cas,” you replied, unable to stop the smile tugging at your lips.

Dean huffed. “Yeah, yeah, great reunion. You got anything for us, Feathers?”

Cas ignored the jab and got right to work explaining the spell you’d be facing. But as the conversation went on, you noticed something odd. Dean kept glaring at Cas every time the angel spoke directly to you, and Cas—well, he wasn’t much for subtlety. Every time Dean called you sweetheart or kiddo, Cas’s jaw tightened just slightly.

Sam noticed too, of course. He wasn’t oblivious. He shot you a look that said, You seeing this?

You were trying not to.

By the time you were setting up for the hunt that night, the tension was palpable. Dean was unusually snippy, barking orders with more edge than usual. Cas stayed unnervingly silent, only breaking it to answer your questions.

At one point, you felt Dean’s hand on your shoulder as he guided you to a safer position near the abandoned barn. His fingers lingered longer than they should have, and when you looked up at him, his green eyes softened. “Be careful, okay?” he murmured.

Your heart twisted. “I always am.”

From a few feet away, Cas’s eyes bore into the scene. He stepped closer as Dean walked away, his presence like a calm yet electric storm.

“Dean seems... protective of you,” Cas remarked, his voice low.

You shrugged, unsure how to respond. “It’s just Dean being Dean.”

Cas tilted his head, studying you in that way that always made you feel like he was looking straight through to your soul. “I don’t believe that’s all it is. He cares for you. Greatly.”

You froze. “What?”

He stepped closer, his gaze intense but not unkind. “And you care for him. But you also...” His voice faltered, rare for him. “You also care for me.”

Your throat felt dry. “Cas, I—”

Before you could finish, a loud crash from the barn interrupted, followed by Dean shouting for backup. You cursed under your breath and ran toward the noise, Cas right on your heels.

The fight with the witch was chaotic, but you managed to come out mostly unscathed. By the time it was over, the adrenaline had your heart racing.

Dean was pacing, muttering curses under his breath. When he saw you, he rushed over, his hands gripping your arms as he scanned for injuries. “You okay?”

“Yeah, Dean, I’m fine.”

“You sure? Because you scared the hell out of me back there.”

You opened your mouth to respond, but Cas’s voice cut in. “She handled herself well. She always does.”

Dean turned to glare at Cas, his grip on you tightening slightly. “Yeah, I know that, angel. But she’s not bulletproof, is she?”

“And you think I don’t know that?” Cas shot back, stepping closer.

You stepped between them, exasperated. “Guys, seriously? This is not the time.”

They both looked at you, their frustration melting into something softer. Something vulnerable.

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look, Y/N. I—I care about you, okay? More than I should, probably. And I know I’ve been a dick about it, but—”

Cas interrupted, his voice calm but firm. “Dean, stop. She doesn’t need your guilt. She needs to know the truth.”

Dean glared at him, but Cas ignored it, turning his full attention to you. “Y/N, I’ve felt this connection with you since the moment we met. I don’t fully understand it, but I know it’s real. And I know you feel it too.”

Your breath hitched. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening.

“Y/N,” Dean said softly, stepping closer. “I don’t want to screw this up. I care about you. A lot.”

You stared at them, your heart pounding as you tried to process their words.

“I... I need time,” you finally said, your voice trembling. “I care about both of you, but I can’t just... choose like this.”

They both nodded, reluctantly stepping back. The hunt was over, but the battle in your heart had just begun.

[kradogsrats]

Aaravos, Leola, and the Entire History of Human Magic: Revisited

So I last dumped on this topic right after s5 released, and came up with a rough series of conclusions that were largely correct, as far as interpreting what information we had been given so far. Now that s6 has dumped some new delicious and crunchy twists into the mix, let's take another look.

The Unicorn's Gift

Going into s6, we had 2.5 accounts of the gifting of primal magic to humans: the Book One: Moon novelization, Tales of Xadia, and Ripples. In Book One: Moon, and Tales of Xadia, we learn that humans received primal magic from the/a most selfless and compassionate unicorn(s), against the advice of the elves.

Unicorns were always the most selfless of the Xadian beings. There came a time when, filled with pity, they desperately wanted to help the struggling humans. After all, it was not the humans' choice to have been born without magic. But the First Elves were wary. They warned the unicorns that kindness was not always returned with kindness; it would be a mistake to trust the species. After all, if humans were supposed to use magic, they would have been born with it.

— Book One: Moon

One heart took pity on the plight of humanity. A unicorn, unique among her own rare kind, saw the strength and ingenuity of the human spirit where others saw weakness and beastly ignorance. Her name was Leola. While elves warned that if humans were meant to wield magic they would have been born with it, she gifted the wisest humans with secrets: the language of the dragons and the runes that shaped spells.

— Tales of Xadia

What's interesting is how inaccurate both of these stories have turned out to be. We also don't even actually know whose stories these are. By the time of the series events, it's no longer even remembered that humans had primal magic, aside from primal stones. It's a truth forgotten on the human side, and either similarly forgotten or deliberately suppressed in Xadia. Despite the brightest, most constant star in the sky still retaining the name "Leola's Last Wish," neither Callum nor Rayla know who Leola was.

Ripples obliquely acknowledges the vagueness and changing nature of these stories, opening with:

Like all the oldest tales, time has bent its shape and blurred its color. It is a fable whispered on some tongues and shouted on others. While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall.

— Ripples

So rather than directly telling the story of humanity's acquisition of primal magic, Ripples deals with the aftermath. We learn that humanity had been, implicitly or explicitly, forbidden primal magic, and in the wake of them receiving it, a star fell.

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. Humanity had been given something it was never meant to have. And so there came a calamity.

— Ripples

The story told in Ripples turns out to be the most accurate, based on what we have learned from s6. Humans acquired primal magic, and a star was cast from the sky. (A tiny star, if you want extra emotions.) It makes no mention of how humans learned primal magic, only that they did, and—unlike the other stories, where the elves caution against giving magic to humans but take no other action—the are hunted by monsters for it.

Elarion, fading bloom, afraid to wilt and dim and die, she searched the dark for but a spark and caught the dragons’ hungry eye.

— Midnight Star

Hmmmm.

The Order of the Stars

One of the main things, possibly the main thing, we learned from s6 is that we were given a glimpse of the stars as the god-like authorities that have been hinted at in a lot of Aaravos-related side content. It's not a good look. (It never was.)

It tells us succinctly why primal magic was forbidden to humans: in the timeless gaze of the stars, humans acquiring magic dooms the universe.

(Of course, it is the attempt at averting prophesied doom that actually brings it to pass, but that's just standard stuff. For all their omniscience, the stars apparently still lack genre-awareness.)

This "cosmic order" is likely what the stars have built that Aaravos seeks to destroy:

I hope the stars were watching. I hope they saw it: the moment their perfect reflections turned warped and ruined, churned to chaos by the touch of a single human hand.

— Ripples

And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky.

— Patience

Snitches Get Stitches, Even Dragons

The other major curve ball s6 has thrown into the story as we understood it is the involvement of the archdragons, Sol Regem in particular. According to Aaravos, the testimony of a young Sol Regem is the only evidence against Leola.

At the time, Aaravos seems to take this at face value, and argues that anything Leola may have done was out of love for humans and the world, not defiance of the cosmic order. Maybe this is because Sol Regem/Anak Arao is an archdragon of the Sun, the primal source known for the light of truth.

I, however, have to wonder if he was lying. Taking a look at Ripples, again:

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain.

— Ripples

Apparently, the first primal source humans accessed was the Sun. It could just be that Anak Arao was a rules-obsessed hall monitor and... but what if it wasn't Leola who gave humans that secret? We don't even see Leola doing any magic of the kind she's credited with giving humans—no runes, no spells of any specific primal. If someone did teach humans the runes and Draconic words for primal magic, it seems unlikely to have been her.

But as heir to some kind of position of authority, could it have been partially Anak Arao's responsibility to keep his primal source out of human hands? Was it maybe stolen out from under his nose, and he sought to shift the punishment away from himself? (And boy, would it sure be a real uno-reverse to have this story loop all the way back around to a literal theft of fire for humanity.) Or could it have been lost/given to humans by someone he wanted to protect from the same cosmic justice?

Hmmmm.

There have been hints about a larger human/dragon conflict in the past, most notably the Midnight Star poem. In a hiatus-era interview, Aaron Ehasz describes an early version of the setting as being essentially humans/unicorns vs. dragons/elves. The low-key emphasis on humans and dragons in opposition that we get from some of these materials is a) interestingly not mentioned in either of the "unicorns gave primal magic to humans" stories, and b) not actually what we see as the primary conflict in the setting, outside of Sol Regem's personal grudge.

It gets especially weird because, like... there's no reason to think all the other archdragons we're aware of (except Zym) weren't there, too. Sol Regem is cast as a bit older, but not "of an entirely different generation from the other archdragons"-older. So like, you'd think Zubeia would remember, at minimum, that primal magic was forbidden to humans by the cosmic order. Maybe, given the implied departure/loss of interest by the stars, no one cares anymore? Maybe dark magic was considered a much more serious issue, as far as perversions of the natural order are concerned. Or I guess it's possible that there was some special relationship between the stars and the line of the archdragon Sun King, and the other archdragons weren't privy to the machinations going on in the heavens.

Basically, there's been a big new mystery introduced as to the geopolitics of Xadia and the heavens in the distant past, in addition to Aaravos's personal relationships with all the archdragons.

Book and Key

So overall, I don't actually know what to make of this:

But I have a couple wild theories to put forth.

First of all, Aaravos has been referred to as "archmage of all six primal sources," and this is reflected in the pre-s6 promo art series featuring the book and key.

But, interestingly, we also see in s6 that in order to truly commune with the heavens, the Celestial elves have to remove themselves from the influence of the other primal sources, specifically the Sun and Moon.

So, as powerful as they are, I think maybe Startouch elves don't have automatic access to the other primal sources. Maybe not even the magic of the Star primal, as it exists harnessed by rune spells. The book is probably how Aaravos himself built connections to primal magic while in Xadia.

(This would mean that the reason it was at all believable for Leola to give the secrets of primal magic to humans is because Aaravos was exploring those secrets—something it could be that the stars resented?)

Anyway this could also connect up with any number of wild theories about the nature of primal magic or primal elves, though we see a Moonshadow elf among Leola's friends so it seems primal elves are already present at this point. Being me, if Aaravos and Leola's home was actually in what is now Duren, I at least personally want to believe that he was seeding the frontier with magic.

Anyway, as always: some answers, and even more questions. Catch y'all later when the post-release interviews and Q&As inevitably make everything even weirder.

[theninth09]

people dont actually believe that theo killed his sister, do they?

like okay. the entire pack and probably theo himself think that hes responsible for her death, but the pack hates him and doesnt trust him for valid reasons and theo is traumatized and holds guilt over her death so hes probably convinced himself that he did kill her. i just dont believe thats true.

in s5b when hes with stiles in the tunnels (i forgot why they're down there but whatever) and stiles tells him "oh yeah, the guy that killed his own sister when he was nine?" and theo argues back "yeah. i was nine. i had no idea what was going on." and that he also still believed santa exists so obviously he believed the dread doctors when they told him she wanted him to have his heart.

first of all: this is s5b. hes long dropped his act and he has no reason to lie in this moment. he knows that stiles wont fall for his lies and hes stopped lying and transitioned into threatening and intimidating anyway. theres no good reason for theo to lie to stiles here: theres no actual benefit that would come from that.

and his behavior points towards him telling the truth. instead of deflecting or making a joke, or any of the stuff he usually does to get his way, he starts explaining and defending himself. he seems almost agitated that stiles claims that he did kill tara and argues why he didnt.

and ofc stiles doesnt believe him and tells him "i think you pushed her. i think you liked it." which is, sorry, utter bullshit. i understand why stiles says this (yk. theo killed his bffie and all that) but i think stiles is purposely turning everything that he knows about theo into something evil. he doesnt want to believe that theo was a victim of his circumstances, because that would make him human, that would explain why he became the person that he is. its easier to fall back onto the "hes just purely evil" argument, because then he can hate theo for what he did.

stiles is smart. thats his whole thing. thats his whole thing with theo, that he was "smart enough not to trust him" as theo says to the sheriff in s6a. stiles knows that theo was a child, that its likely that theo got manipulated and groomed by the dread doctors. but, i think, he decides not to care about that, to ignore that. he hates theo and he wants to hate theo, but if he starts looking at the reasons for why he did what he did, he'll begin to understand him. and while he'll still never forgive theo, that will reduce this fury he has for him because, newsflash, theo was a CHILD.

people argue that tw doesnt show us enough of his back story to back this up and yeah, i kinda agree. we dont get enough of his story because teen wolf ALWAYS does this. with every character. they insinuate something, they start something interesting that could give their characters depth and then they abandon it and its like the characters just forget about it. all this show has is small details for fans to focus on if you want to analyze anything, because this show is objectively not good enough to actually do that.

+ theo is a side character. he wasnt even meant to stay as long as he did and cody did his best to work with the material. if your argument is that theres missing context and only vaguely shown stuff, im sorry but thats so stupid. thats not a good argument for in canon. "oh but we never see theo do this or that" HES A SIDE CHARACTER. he wasnt even supposed to come back! and tw is not a very good show! obviously they added more depth to his character in s6 because cody came back. like yeah theres stuff that doesnt make sense (like the show saying he didnt have a heart condition), because his back story got added as an afterthought in s6. you cant only look at s5 and judge his character based on that. his depth comes from s6 and its not the characters fault that the show has bad writing.

and if you simply dont like theo, cool. i dont like a bunch of characters in tw. but i find this argument that hes actually evil and deserved getting tortured and whatever exhausting and annoying.

if you dont have empathy for his character in s6 bc you just hate him, fine. i dont care. but if you're talking about this in a more analytical way? fuck off. he was a child, the show points towards him getting groomed and abused by the dread doctors and guess what? even during his villain arc, hes still a child. yes he should take responsibility for what he did, im not excusing any of that stuff. but theres reasons for why he did all that.

and again, dumb tv logic reasons, but most of the villains getting away unscathed, fucking peter hale and deucalion being allowed to just kinda wander around while theo is in an eternal time loop of torture? like this technically erases the packs rule of not killing because i dont think its weird for me to argue that getting non-stop tortured without the ability to die is objectively worse than actually dying. and yeah, tv logic, but if you think that (in canon, not just bc you personally dont like theo) he deserved that, idk. weird. very weird.

[purpleheartskies]

"Second Place. Second Place. Second Place."

After s5e5, s6e5 feels like a long time coming...

Robby's entire character journey is rooted in his traumas. He's hit such low points that he's said things that show how hopeless he is about himself and about how Johnny treats him.

"You were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change." (s3e2) "I screwed everything up... It just made things worse, and now it's never going to get better." (s4e10) "I'm sick of blaming you, Dad." (s4e10)

After everything Johnny has put Robby through and everything Robby has experienced including being beaten into submission by Miguel with Johnny's permission right before hearing the baby news, is it really that hard to fathom that this kid who has been losing hope more and more because of all the traumas and losses in his life just, essentially, shut down and gave up fighting for himself against Johnny, Miguel, and everyone?

Robby isn't even allowed to talk to Johnny about their issues, without Johnny getting defensive and deflecting, mostly turning things onto Robby. Johnny's always been this way. Like in s2e1, when Robby said he needed more time to forgive him, Johnny immediately accused Robby of training with Daniel to torture Johnny. And in s3e4, Johnny immediately got defensive the moment Robby got upset after Johnny admit that he had missed the scheduled visit because of going to the hospital. He got more defensive as Robby kept calling him out for choosing Miguel over him, and Johnny eventually deflected that Robby put Miguel in the hospital. Regardless, it's Johnny's responsibility as Robby's parent to be there for Robby first and foremost. In s5e1, Johnny apologized for tricking Robby into the trip, but then he started manipulating Robby in different ways (gaslighting and guilting him, again deflecting) just to get Robby to stay to help him find Miguel. That trip and the "stories" they made were regardless all so that Johnny could find Miguel and restore him as "first place" in Johnny's life. In s5e8, Johnny told Robby not to "be like that" when Robby passed the comment about fatherly advice.

This kid has had to put up with so much shit from Johnny. It's exhausting for someone to have keep fighting against a rival that they'll never win against. Like Robby had told Tory in s5e4, he and Johnny have some issues that are too big to solve. Yet, another assessment about the hopelessness of his situation with Johnny.

In s6e5, Robby once again spoke about his hopelessness:

"It's still better than always coming in second." The face he made as he said "second", as if it's so painful to think about.

Yes, the focus was on his tournament losses when he was practicing later on.

"Second place. Second place. Second place."

But the sheer intensity of Robby's anger can't be ignored. Robby's trauma of being second place stems deeper than just being second place in the tournaments. His whole life he's been second place in Johnny's life and in Shannon's life. Throughout the series, he's been second place to Miguel in karate and in relationships, especially with Johnny. Everyone sided with Miguel over him after the school fight.

Now, he's second place to this new family that Johnny has. How Johnny put together the family in s5 is already proof of that, but that continued in s6.

In s6, Johnny continued to treat Robby as if Johnny's never done him any wrong, like Johnny doesn't need to make amends or help him with his future, and that focusing on the new family is Johnny's priority and Robby isn't.

In s6e2, after Miguel read his letter to Stanford, all the adults, including Johnny, praised it. Miguel then asked Robby his opinion, and Robby commented that Miguel made him the bad guy in it. Miguel innocently said that he could remove Robby's name from it. Robby said it was okay because it's not like Robby is applying to Stanford or any college. Johnny then emptily said that both boys have good future prospects.

First off, all the adults are fine with Miguel framing Robby as the bad guy. They are all still actively scapegoating Robby for the school fight. This is not even a question. Yaya and Carmen are enablers. They're definitely going to scapegoat Robby and act like Miguel did no wrong. However, Johnny, specifically, has never cared at all about what happened in the school fight. In s4e4, several months after it had happened, Johnny threw in Robby's face that he'd gotten kicked out of school, and when Robby tried to tell Johnny what had happened in the school fight, Johnny dismissed Robby with an "I wasn't there", as in "I don't care".

Second, "I don't care" overshadows their entire relationship, even now. In s1e4, Robby told Johnny that he hasn't cared for 16 years and Johnny ended that conversation with an "I don't care". Johnny very clearly doesn't care about helping Robby with his future prospects. Robby has to figure that out on his own.

In s6e5, when Miguel tried to "convince" Robby that Miguel's future and life are more worth changing, Robby put him in his place. The pact that Robby had made with Tory earlier gave Robby some belief in himself again, that he can be more than second place. For the first time since s5e5, Robby was ready to fight for himself and for his future again.

Yes, kiddo! Don't trust this guy or his family. They don't have your back. You're the one they'll sacrifice for his future. They've been fine with scapegoating you and with how Johnny has been treating you this whole time.

Miguel gaslit Robby after their fight in s5e5. Here, in s6e5, Miguel was gaslighting Robby again. I know some will brush this off, but this is gaslighting. Miguel started by telling Robby that no matter what happens tomorrow, he's got no beef with Robby. This is to let Robby know that Miguel will do whatever it takes to win and Robby should be okay with that. Then, Miguel proceeded to "convince" Robby that Miguel really needs this. Robby rightfully countered that Robby doesn't? Miguel then said that he's thinking about Stanford and that, if they look at his application again, then this could be really life changing for him. Robby rightfully called him out for his assertion that Robby's life isn't worth changing because he's not going to college. Miguel immediately tried to claim that's not what he was saying. But that was definitely Miguel's assertion. Miguel wanted to convince Robby that Miguel needs this win more than him because Miguel believes that his own future is more important.

It's so important to note how alone Robby is. ROBBY DOES NOT HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM. No one, other than Tory, truly believes in him. This is facts. We saw this in that simple, seemingly benign scene for Miguel's college letter. This is not surprising at all. I've been pointing out the dysfunction in this family for so long now. s6 continued with these characterizations to a tee.

Despite what fans claim about the toxic blended family, s6e5 showed once again that Robby is all alone. After the school fight, when Robby was at his lowest, no one was on his side. Everyone did take Miguel's side over his blindly, which was once again shown in s6e2. They still act like Miguel's the good guy and Robby's the bad guy in the rivalry that Miguel had started, continued, and ended on his own terms.

Robby is in a subtly toxic environment in which he can't be himself, has to settle for being "second place" to Miguel and the unborn plot device, and has to have his guard up all the time. Robby is still in survival mode.

Tory's mom said that life dealt them a bad hand. Life dealt Robby a bad hand too. Two parents who abandoned and neglected him for pretty much his whole life, even to the point of abuse. They're still neglecting him in some ways and emotionally neglecting him, giving him more trauma. A mentor who took him in, called him family but then discarded him after he screwed up and without even giving him a chance to explain. Who didn't even hear his side of the story for the most traumatizing experience in his life. A friend turned girlfriend turned person he barely talks to but just hangs out with who used him, turned on him, and then used him again, all while dismissing her own and her boyfriend's wrongs against him. Not to mention, being scapegoated by everyone for the fight in school between him and Miguel that Miguel himself started and escalated to the point it got to. A scapegoating that is still going on.

I find it interesting that they framed Robby's trauma as based on him being "second place". This is something Johnny and Tory both understand.

In '84, Kreese broke Johnny's trophy and strangled him for coming in second place.

"Second place is no place! ... You're nothing. You're a loser."

In s4e5, Kreese taunted Johnny:

"Has it really come down to this? Johnny Lawrence playing second fiddle to little Danny LaRusso."

In fact, in s6e5, Kreese told Tory:

"When push comes to shove, they'll always figure out a reason to keep you second fiddle to Larusso's kid."

Not to mention, Tory has technically lost all of her fights with Sam.

And, back in s4e1, Kreese told Robby about Johnny:

"He chose Diaz, and left you with that mark on your head."

In s6e5, Johnny, Robby, and Tory all were dealing with their trauma from feeling second, not good enough, like the underdog who'll never win. Johnny was feeling second to Daniel. Robby feels second always. Tory repeated Kreese's words to Amanda, that they would keep Tory second to Sam. Tory has always felt that she has to fight for every inch of what she has, and she had just lost the most important person to her. The person who had taught her to be a fighter.

Earlier, when Robby had told Tory that her "win" at the avt was better than always coming in second, Tory told him that this was their chance to win big. They then made a deal to stick together and win the Sekai Taikai together. That sounds like an "it's us against the world" pact. Later, when Tory lost her mom, she told the doctor that she had no one, which in the end was not true. The LaRussos, Robby, and Devon all wanted support Tory. Tory has been alone and unsupported for so long that she believes that she's still all alone. Kreese had been the first person in a long while to support her and help her (even if he had/has ulterior motives, which she isn't aware of). It's sadly understandable why she chose to go back to him and join Cobra Kai.

Their deal and the match later clearly indicated that Robby feels all alone too. He truly doesn't have a true family or support system, which has been shown. When Tory showed up at the match, Robby felt supported again. Robby didn't notice that something was wrong with Tory, though. It's understandable because of his own headspace at the time. He was very much dealing with his own traumas. Sure, Robby seems "happy" all the time on the outside, but the shadow boxing scene is Robby's raw anger on the inside. The self-hate and "hate" he has due to his traumas. It's still all there! Of course, it is! Robby's been lead to believe, by Mr. Balance (Daniel) who himself can't "find balance", that Robby needs to "let go" of his emotions to "find balance". But, he's just burying his emotions, like he instinctively buried the egg to protect it in s5e7. So when Tory came to the match, Robby was not in a good headspace at the time. After he had won his match, he was still exhilarated by that win. But, he did start noticing that something was wrong as he watched Tory fight.

Johnny's "second place" insecurities with Daniel were also in play. Johnny was first upset that Daniel kept treating him like they weren't karate sensei partners, until Daniel admit that they are karate sensei partners and Daniel should treat him that way. Then, during Tory and Sam's match, Johnny's insecurities intervened again when Daniel first intervened in the match and later when Johnny egged on Tory's assumption that Daniel and Amanda were taking sides, which was quite hypocritcal of Johnny. He himself has been giving his son "second place" trauma because he chooses Miguel over his son. He offered up Sam as Tory's punching bag here, just like he offered Robby up to Miguel in s5e5. Luckily, Daniel and Amanda were there to put a stop to it. Johnny was projecting his own past onto Tory and was not reading the room and not helping properly. Afterwards, Johnny was pretty riled up because of seeing how Tory wanted to deal with her mom's death by fighting it out. Hearing the news had brought back his own feelings for when his mom had died. He told Daniel that it would have been helped him back then if he was able to fight it out like he had wanted to. His mom's death had led to him making the worst mistake of his life: abandoning Robby. A mistake that Johnny has been trying to overwrite since s1e4, first by using Miguel and, since s5e3, by using the baby. Johnny hasn't been trying to redeem himself. He's been trying to cover up his past. That's why he so easily dropped Robby completely after the conversation with Ali in s3e10 about not living in the past.

The setup for part 2 for Johnny, Robby, and Tory is interesting. Kreese knows all of their weaknesses and traumas. Kreese is using Tory's grief to his advantage. In s5e9, Robby had walked into the CK dojo and confronted Silver to give Tory support. Robby is likely going to do what he can to get her out from Kreese's grasps. Tory's mom's death brought back Johnny's own feelings when his mom had died and he'd abandoned Robby. Will Johnny try to help Tory because Johnny doesn't want to see Tory go down that path that he himself once did and maybe because Johnny also wants to help Robby help her. (I know... wishful thinking on the latter, but Johnny's redemption needs to start at some point.)

Johnny's and Robby's stories have to resolve. Their character journeys have always been intertwined (despite Johnny being useless and horrible to Robby). Based on what we know so far, it sounds like those resolutions are finally coming in part 2 during the Sekai Taikai. "The Resurrection" stage of Johnny's and Robby's character journeys align with part 2. In this stage, Johnny and Robby will reach the goal of their character journeys. This is when the character stops believing in their "lie", gives up their "want", starts believing in their "truth", and achieves their "need", if these are meant to be positive change arcs. Part 1 was "The Road Back" stage. Interestingly, Robby's "lie" was challenged and his "truth" and "need" were explored in s6e5. Robby's "lie" is not believing in himself and his worth because of his traumas. His "truth" is believing in himself and his worth, and his "need" is to "find balance". When Robby accepted his "truth", he was able to achieve his "need". Even if though it was brief, it was shown.

It's interesting that they paced Robby's story in s6 to pick up in ep 5. This reminded me of how his story in s1 picked up in ep 5. Since watching s1e5, I've wanted Robby to get the world, but all he's gotten is pretty much loss after loss after loss.

s6e5 really brought home that some of the odds against Robby are that he's all alone. He doesn't have parents or mentors, a support system, that believes in him, will be there for him, or will fight for him. They didn't when he truly needed them to after the school fight. They scapegoated him instead and continue to act like he's the bad guy in the story.

It does make me sad. I've always wanted Johnny to step up for Robby and to start building a real relationship with Robby, but s6 part 1 continued to show that Johnny still isn't building a real relationship with Robby.

In s6e4, when Devon got upset with Johnny for arguing with Barnes, she told Johnny that Barnes missed all her "good moments". My immediate thought was that Johnny missed all of Robby's "good moments" in life. Johnny did that intentionally too. They're never going to get those moments back, and Johnny has been wasting the rest of Robby's childhood running after random people (and these are still random people to Robby, who has to put on a charade and be around them so that Johnny doesn't abandon him again).

And, yet, Johnny did see Robby win the match for captaincy and Johnny himself crowned Robby as captain. So, maybe this is where the turning point begins for them. Because this is the first important win Robby got in the series, and Johnny was there and was happy to see it, even though it came at Miguel's loss. For the first time, Robby was not "second place". He rightfully earned "first place".

Robby got the win and this "good moment" with his dad proud of him. This is seriously a huge moment for Robby. Johnny got to see this "good moment". Hopefully, Johnny will be there to see all of Robby's "good moments" from now on. And, hopefully, Robby will get many many more "good moments" in his life. (Yes, I will keep gloating about this win. 😊)

Don't know what to expect in s6 part 2, but I really hope Robby gets his big win. The sad thing is that this win and this moment in s6e5 happened alongside the plot that Tory's mom had died. No good moments last for Robby. (Hopefully, there is some context as to why Robby didn't immediately go after Tory. Amanda was not present at the headband scene, so maybe she went then and Robby went afterwards.) Seeing that Tory joined Cobra Kai for the Sekai Taikai means that Robby's not going to be in a good headspace as the tournament starts. He'll probably also blame himself that he hadn't told anyone that Kreese had approached and talked to Tory. Because Robby feels and is all alone, he's probably going to try to help Tory on his own.

A major theme in the story is the struggle to "find balance" due to dealing with trauma. It's not using karate to get into your dream college. That's a character motivation. Just like the pact that Robby and Tory made to win to get on the podium is a character motivation. Robby actually has a character journey that is exploring the theme. Robby will need to "find balance" in order to win. He will need to believe in himself and his worth. Without Tory, I don't know how he'll do it. We'll have to wait and see...

(As always, please don't comment or reblog with dismissive comments about the nuance in the story. The nuance is part of the story, and the story is exploring important topics like trauma, bullying, neglect, and dysfunctional relationships.)

[nonerrata-myarchives]

Hating Jameson while liking Joey is actually unfair. Yes, Jameson might have caused problems, but nobody hasn't held him accountable. Meanwhile, Joey would literally say horrible things about his siblings in R6 because when their dad pretended to be good, they took advantage of the situation .

Let's be honest after s6 Joey was a horrible brother who prioritised his girlfriend who was in a healthy (comparatively) family. He was gone more than he was there, which was ridiculous. Aoife was selfish and utterly disgusting towards his siblings. She never truly cared about them, considering she didn't hesitate to cut contact after Joey was in rehab . He treated Shan like a burden in R6, which really annoyed me, considering he was more of the burden than she was . She was stronger than Joey but no one talsk about it

To end this , JoeyAoife are by far the most toxic couple and I'm tired of people pretending that Darren was wrong fir saying that they were . He was wrong about JohnnyShan (which he admitted) but right about JoeyAoife

Thank you for proving my point, anon. This is exactly why y’all can’t handle criticism of your pretty princess. The fact that you—YOU—wrote this mess is actually embarrassing. Whoever you are, you shouldn’t be reading, because you clearly have the reading comprehension of a toddler. I never said I hate Jameson. I said I don’t like him. Can you not read? Seriously, asshole, it’s not that hard.

Now, onto your ridiculous Joey and Aoife take, because you sound like the most brain-dead person in this fandom. Even Chloe would tell you to stop reading her books because of how much of a disgrace you are. The fact that we are even in the same fandom? Ew. You’re giving me secondhand embarrassment.

First of all, Joey is by far the best brother to all his siblings—(better than Jameson ever was and ever will be.) He fed them. He took care of them. He slept outside their rooms when Teddy wanted abuse them.

He was the only one there for them. That is canon. His sacrifices are mentioned multiple times, even in Redeeming Six. When his siblings had no one—absolutely no one—Joey was the one telling them it would be alright. He was their anchor, their sea, their entire damn boat, and he did it all while having no one to hold him up. Nothing.

Yes, he had Aoife to some extent in the beginning, but not much. It was him and him alone looking after four kids by himself. And did he take drugs? Yes. Because that was the only thing he could get.

Starving kids will eat anything—Damon Torrance.

You want to ignore that reality? Be my guest.

Now let’s talk about Marie.

She hated Joey. That was made explicitly clear. She looked at him and saw Teddy. Yet she still tried to be a mother to everyone else, including golden boy Darren. And while what happened to Darren was horrific, let’s not act like he wasn’t one of the worst brothers during that time. He was.

Yes, he got redeemed, but that doesn’t erase what he did. And the fact that you’re making excuses for him while trying to discredit Joey? Disgusting. Be serious. Marie had love for every single one of her kids—except Joey. That’s canon. You choosing to ignore it doesn’t change reality.

Now onto Aoife and Joey. One of the best couples written, period. Argue with the wall, because I know you will. You seem like the type. Aoife spent her own money on Joey’s siblings when he had nothing. She bought groceries. She planned his week. She budgeted for him. And she didn’t have to. That was one scene, but there are countless moments where she defended his siblings—Shannon, Ollie, Tadhg, Sean.

And then you try to say she abandoned them when Joey went to rehab? Are you just stupid? Because that never happened. His siblings were with Edal and John, and I'm 100 percent sure Aoife still visited. So you made that up again.

And don’t even get me started on you claiming that Joey treated Shannon like a burden. Are you okay? Shannon and Joey found strength in themselves and in each other. That is stated over and over again. Your claim? Completely baseless.

And finally, your last point. Darren the saint said Joey and Aoife were toxic? You believe him? Wow. You’re even dumber than I thought. You’re a joke.

Seriously, log off, take a reading comprehension class, and stop embarrassing yourself.

You Jameson stans that can't take criticism are so funny like carry on.

Xxx - Caity..

@two-braincells-in-total @thecircularlibrary

[scoobydoodean]

sorry, i'm genuinely confused by your s6 deancas conflict take. i don't think either is the bad guy but i think cas was doing what he could with what he had. i don't think he was in the wrong but i'm curious to know what you think he could've done to be in the right? be honest and upfront? that would jeopardize his mission and put him on the outs with dean. sure, that happened anyway but he did stop raphael

i've also always been confused by dean's "i was here where were you?" because was he though? when they did find out, they punished him and cut him off instead of idk, strategizing with cas. it was a lose/lose situation for cas from the get-go starting with his decision not to involve dean as much as he could help it because cas did care about him. if the issue was working with crowley, cas ended up double-crossing him anyway. if the issue was being dishonest, well, that's nothing new among the winchesters

anyway, i don't have a favorite between deancas because i could never pick but in s6 i very much sympathized with cas so again, i guess i'm curious what you think he could've done differently. i hope this ask doesn't annoy you too much

Let's separate this into two pieces. 1) What I actually said (i.e. the disk horse I was addressing) 2) The utility of Cas's plan to pop Purgatory.

First, what did I say today based partly on a post I made yesterday?

It’s not remotely hard to see that Cas repeatedly uses Dean without his knowledge throughout the season. But you’d think based on how 90% of destiel shippers talk that Cas was waiting on Dean hand and foot while having his own needs ignored by a callous asshole. That’s literally the story people try to tell you while Cas uses Dean for everything from spells to forced labor to a meat shield for Raphael and Virgil while only showing up when Sam and Dean having a lead on an angel weapon is mentioned. They just erase Cas’s problems in order to misrepresent and reduce Dean down to a mean friend who doesn’t deserve him.

I'm wasn't talking about the plan to pop Purgatory and the conflict that happens over it in 6.20 (we can address that in a moment). I'm talking about how a large chunk of destiel fandom erroneously argues that season 6 Dean is a bad friend throughout the entire season who only cared about Cas being useful to him, when Cas is the one who spends the entire season using Dean without his knowledge. You want to have a conversation about something slightly different, which is fine, but don't conflate two common streams of disk horse about separate things. They have some overlap yes—but don't get it twisted.

What could Cas have done differently?

Cas could have asked to use Dean's blood for a spell instead of yanking his wrist over and cutting his palm open for blood without a word, but instead, he did it without asking (and that small act sets the stage for how Cas treats Dean the entire season). Cas could have asked if Sam and Dean would look for leads for him on angelic weapons. He could have asked them if they would look for leads on Purgatory instead of secretly cosigning Crowley coercing them into forced labor capturing alphas. He could have asked them if they would keep Raphael and Virgil off his tail long enough for him and Balthazar to collect their weapons. Instead, Cas used them without their permission or knowledge. All Dean asks in these moments is to be told that Cas needs his help instead of being used without permission.

You seem certain that giving Sam and Dean any information would have "jeopardized his mission"... but how? Setting aside the actual utility of Cas's plan to pop Purgatory for now, Cas actually could have communicated what he needed in every single one of these situations without revealing his plan to pop Purgatory. In fact, that's exactly what he did with Balthazar, isn't it? But again—we're talking about two slightly different things here. EYE was talking about whether or not it's true that Dean was a mean and bad friend who didn't care that Cas needed help and never offered him assistance while Cas moped like a wet cat, back aching from bending over backwards to help Dean with *looks at notes* something. EYE pointed out that Cas absolutely did not fail to make Dean useful to him. He just didn't bother to tell Dean he was doing it. YOU are talking about whether or not the Cas's plan to pop Purgatory was the only viable solution to the Raphael problem and whether Dean should have supported Cas despite everything when the plot was revealed in 6.20. Again—this is a separate (though somewhat interrelated) discourse.

Despite all the crying about Bad Friend Dean, it was Cas who showed through his behavior throughout the season that he would rather treat Dean as a pawn than as a friend. Cas coerces and lies instead of just asking his friend for help. Forgive me if I'm not going to coddle him over it. If you've been in this fandom for a single moment, you know that the fanon fantasy of Dean being a horrible bad mean friend with a angelic guardian waiting on him hand and foot starts long before 6.20 when Dean rejects the finally revealed plan to pop Purgatory, and the whitewashing of Cas's actions and outright denial of Cas using Sam and Dean also starts long before then. So lets not move goal posts. I'm asking people to stop ignoring and misrepresenting every single thing that happened between Dean and Cas leading up to 6.20. I'm asking people to stop assigning all of those things only selective importance (i.e., they're only important when Dean was the "bad friend", but when Cas was, it didn't matter/didn't happen).

Now let's talk about "the plan to pop Purgatory" briefly and the utility of that plan and whether Dean not jumping to help Cas swallow every soul in Purgatory makes him a bad and mean and terrible friend. Multiple people in Cas's life tried to tell him his plans would backfire, and he didn't listen. He ended up starting an apocalypse which was the very thing he was trying to prevent. He just traded out Raphael for the Leviathan and made no meaningful progress toward an actual improvement in terms of "threats to the world as we know it". How exactly did he make anyone better off?

For some reason, some people insist on arguing that while it did backfire spectacularly, it was "the only option" to dispense with Raphael and "there was no other choice", but nobody saying that actually knows that. In fact from a meta/lore perspective, this is just... outright wrong. Archangels have been dealt with in any number of other ways over the course of the show. The Cage. A weird ass egg. The archangel sword. Spellwork. You can invent whatever goddamn lore you want. You cannot reasonably argue it was "the only option" when archangels repeatedly show up and are dispensed with in a variety of ways that aren't "swallowing all the souls in purgatory, going insane, declaring yourself god, and starting a new apocalypse so we're right back where we started".

The only reason "popping Purgatory" is the only plan we get in season 6 is that it's the only plan that Cas allows to be made. He refuses to so much as consider the possibility of anything else because he's so deeply caught in sunk cost fallacy. When Sam and Dean and Bobby finally learn what he's up to and disagree with his plan, Cas breaks Sam' brain to keep them out of his way. When Balthazar disagrees with his plan, Cas murders him.

i've also always been confused by dean's "i was here where were you?" because was he though? when they did find out, they punished him and cut him off instead of idk, strategizing with cas.

...No? It was the other way around.

6.20

Dean tried to get info on what was going on with Cas from 6.03 when he learned about the angelic war onward, and Cas would give vague answers then fly off. In 6.10, Dean asked if there was anything he and Sam could do and Cas said there wasn't. When he found out about Cas working with Crowley, Dean asked to brainstorm a new solution and work as a team and Cas refused to consider this for a single moment. He insisted nothing about his plan was broken despite multiple people warning him, and his own secret-keeping suggested his own conflicted feelings.

[actual-changeling]

the second half of s6 is so incredibly weird because you have the unnatural right in the middle of all the bad shit. it feels incredibly out of place because they're happy.

the scully and mulder in that episode have a good, solid relationship, they have fun together, they're slowly transitioning into allowing other, previously suppressed behaviours into their life. meanwhile you have not just the whole diana bullshit that's temporarily over, there are episodes like alpha and arcadia that might seem fine on the surface but are just different facets of their dysfunctional relationship.

like, most of the episodes have mulder disappointing or confusing scully again in one way or another. just think about the continuation of the cycle & scully distancing herself in alpha or how deeply uncomfortable she is with mulder's affection when they pretend to be married. he's an ass to her at the beginning of field trip, milagro is a fucking mess, agua mala is scully following him into a fucking hurricane—while he doesn't even acknowledge how much she's doing for him. that old x files agent whose name i forgot had to POINT IT OUT.

monday reveals that she hasn't been at his place in ages and that he doesn't tell her shit (what else is new). trevor actually has some genuinely sweet moments which makes it feel somewhat out of place, too, but ultimately it's fragile and an outlier.

i choose to ignore the entire biogenesis arc because it's stupid and CC takes the cheap exit instead of dealing with their emotional issues. they are deeply devoted to each other, which we are shown several times over, and yet scully was forced to retreat behind her walls to avoid constantly being hurt by him.

he never utters a single fucking apology for ANY of the bullshit he pulled or said to her. there's no actual growth or recognition, no chance for scully to express and process her pain. once again, mulder ditches her and keeps her in the dark. once again, scully has to save him with everyone around her trying to sabotage every single step she takes.

despite mulder explicitly telling her that he does not trust her anymore, she still trusts him against her rational judgement. she still loves him and she still does not leave. all that pain and loneliness is simply ignored and thrown away because CC found it too bothersome to deal with.

i'll never get over how good this show could have been with a competent showrunner.

[batsplat]

speaking of smallville now that was certainly a show. how many seasons did you manage and when is it best to stop? I am currently at s2 and already I would kill every other character for lex, wyd it’s only gonna get worse 😭

lmaooo okay so I got to. six. which actually kinda kills me because I swear I poured my heart and my soul into that stupid show, it drove me insane it left me a lesser person and I BARELY GOT HALFWAY

my basic analysis of the default journey with that show that I'm going to pretend is universal is like. it hooks you with something compelling in s1 and you still have enough naive faith to give it benefit of doubt that the writers actually know what they're doing, because you just wanted to have a bit of fun but, hey, these characters are actually more interesting than you expected!! then in s2 you're starting to get doubts but you're already kinda too deep. then s3 breaks your sanity and makes you scream and at this point you just see how far this shit goes. then s4 is.... mid..... but is also in a way the last remotely palpable season? and then at some point in s5 you're just like. wow I don't even enjoy the hate watching any more. and s6 is. yeah. eventually there was one storyline that is so insanely uncomfortable that it's just. enough. enough!

[mild spoilers to follow]

if s2 drives you insane on lex grounds then!! boy!! s3!! the thing about s3 from lex's pov is that. okay it's extremely angsty and does increasingly radicalise you... I have to say I started this show in a very innocent jokey 'oh ho ho I heard they have some good superman/lex luthor queerbait in that noughties show!!' and was ready to be a lex fan like. as a bit. and y'know my readiness to adopt morally dubious characters is pretty high anyway. but the first few seasons made me go?? okay but he genuinely isn't even the villain?? like I'm not even saying this for the bit, he LITERALLY is not the bad guy in this story?? guys??? and then by the end of season 3 I had been completely radicalised to the 'Actually Lex Luthor Should Turn Evil And Kill All Of You People And I Will Cheer Him On' stance. but what really, really, really kills me is that after all that, they still manage to bungle his transition to evil. like, they ignore all the very obvious reasons for why lex would turn evil after all that, and just come up with completely new ones? that have fuck all to do with this character you've been writing up to that point?

and the worst bit. the WORST bit. is that after all that, he literally does not even have fun being evil. like, you know that season one episode where he's being mind controlled and does his gay little swagger. this scene, yeah:

first of all, again, they ended up erasing lex's canonical motivation for turning evil, which is being so queer-coded he might as well be wearing a sign with slurs around his neck while he's stuck in a small town in fucking kansas. like "you think I don't see the way your parents look at me? the way half the town looks at me?" okay, great, love how this entire arc is eventually concluded by having the show say the entire town including clark's small-minded parents were 100% right to be suspicious of him, that there was something fundamentally defect with him basically from birth and he was always going to turn out to be evil. I feel like you definitely thought through the implications of what you wrote here!

but never mind all that, my actual point is that lex is having fun here!! this is one of several episodes where they're 'foreshadowing' lex turning evil by 'having a paranormal reason to make lex evil for a few minutes' (some subtle writing, this), and he's generally having a lot of fun with it!! he's leaning into the camp of it all!! he's freed from all his nasty and completely unnecessary inhibitions like 'not killing everyone in smallville' which. good. and he's just having a great time. and then he becomes a villain and he's literally just miserable all the time!! it sucks!! like omg if you're going to butcher his writing and ruin the character then at LEAST let him have some fucking fun?? at least let him experience joy at his own depravity or whatever? like he doesn't even get to do any fun villain monologues at clark, he's literally just sad clark isn't his friend any more while clark is giving him the homophobic dog slur. and then also about twice a season something paranormal happens to clark and he physically assaults lex to the point where he like, almost kills him, and then after that everyone pretends it didn't happen and clark never apologises and continues to burst into his room demanding answers. like omg?? lex, they hate you anyway, can you please just attempt to shoot clark?? also, obviously the turn to villainy should have been in large part motivated by lex finding out clark's secret and going?? the fuck is wrong with you for not just SAYING this?? (plus finding out everything clark did to lex in season three to keep his secret like it's genuinely so fucked up #lmao) but. I hate to break bad news to you about where we're at with the whole 'does lex know clark's secret yet' situation at the point where I gave up. genuinely what is the point of all this building and perfectly interesting character work if you're NEVER gonna deliver

but quite possibly an even worse sin of the later seasons that genuinely broke my brain was the treatment of lex's father. like, not to give the game away too much here, but the show's philosophical stance on rotten apples ends up being.... well. it's interesting which characters this show feels is worthy of redemption!! also interesting when they retcon several seasons of writing for the show that already very much set up why a character would actually perfectly legitimately go insane and instead settle for 'well his father sure did know there was always something wrong with him'!! watching some season 3 and season 5 episodes back to back would leave your face scarred from the amount of whiplash in the writing. the whole thing's kinda incompetent and dumb but is also like?? actively a little bit evil when you really think about the implications of what they're writing here

anyway. it's a brave stance on superman to go 'okay but what is being a superhero really about if not a whole whole lot of gaslighting'. and I do love the clark stalking room!! but the problem is, they could've played the clark/lex dynamic in a kinda tragic 'wow clark really has been so blinded by his parents that he's gonna end up destroying his relationship to lex because he just can't be honest with him and lex really needed one person in his corner who actually trusted him but clark wasn't the right person to provide that' way. they could've played it in a sort of fun 'yeah this is kinda fucked up and weird and toxic how they simply cannot stop doing dubious shit to each other' way where you just kinda roll with how terrible the whole thing is. but they don't go for either of those!! they're so stuck with treating clark's parents as the moral centre of the universe, with their "marriage is SACRED, clark" schtick and all that (yeah, there's an episode where clark gets lectured about the importance of the bond of marriage, this is a thing that happens) that they're blatantly unaware of what story they're telling but ALSO just refuse to lean into the batshit insane elements and just have!! fun!! and it's one of those things where you really do feel like an idiot for even thinking about this stupid fucking show so!! much!! but I swear, I swear they had a dynamic that hit like crazy in season one... also some of the fic out there for them is CRAZY like it kinda does make it all worth it but still!! still!! this shit infuriates me!!

anyway, here are some bonkers plot bits I remember happening in this show for you to enjoy if you continue in this endeavour:

the lex luthor slut shaming episode

clark kent slut shaming lex luthor, which is conceptually funny anyway but becomes funnier if you just read it as clark being unable to figure out he is actually just subliminally attracted to his friend. like, okay, clark being disappointed at lex for sleeping with thirteen different women, I see you

like. multiple lesbian lana moments. she's constantly getting herself in lesbian situations. and I get this is some kinda weird fanservice-y shit from the showrunners but, sue me, I thought lesbian vampire lana was cute

which is a thing that happens

they get spike from btvs to tell clark vampires aren't real, which is the one funny thing they wrote in about a season

the native american stuff is always deeply uncomfortable but it becomes even weirder when they invent some native american prophecy *deep sigh* to explain how lex was always evil

clark steals a car from lex several episodes after committing like, one of the most obscene acts of betrayal it is possible to commit against a friend (lex is unaware of this and possibly never finds out? I think the writers maybe forgot about this.) and lex is just like. it's fine <3 I know friends sometimes have to do crazy shit for other friends!! you're my friend, right?? and clark goes... yeah. sure

I vaguely remember lex buying stuff the american football high school team at some point and showing up to the lockers to give a speech and it's just?? this is right after the friendship break up and it's basically lex talking right at clark and he's talking about the importance of fresh starts and it is so fucking funny

the one episode where lana is in paris. they had built up to this for ages as like a whole thing where lana finally frees herself from that miserable town and all the people in it (don't ask how the 'lana knowing clark's secret' situation develops. it doesn't) and then she's there for. one episode

martha kent tells clark how they can't harbour illegal immigrants at one stage?? she eventually changes her mind I think but what even was that all about

the papa kent goes into politics arc. shoot me

lex becomes like. possessed by zod. which somehow manages to make everyone involved more dull

silver kryptonite makes clark paranoid, which ends up being pretty funny because he genuinely talks the exact same way

lex thinks clark can throw him across the room because he's been hypnotised

lex starts capturing various clark super powered friends and delivers these gay villain monologues to them (like genuinely, in one of them he's got shirtless aquaman strapped to a gurney and he's like, leaning over him, teasing him with a glass of water) and they're some of the best bits of the show

clark discovers the clark stalking room, which I will say was very funny

chloe basically saying lex always sends clark these massive gifts as a way of keeping his affections which?? clearly true but I thought we were keeping that the subtext

clark gatecrashes lex's wedding high on red kryptonite

one of lex's old bullies gets killed by like, a statue falling from the top of the building they're standing next to and stabbing the guy and then some of the blood splashes on lex and he's just like ?? bleh. fantastic scene

and THEN there's several scenes with his father where lex is like 'well that sure was a nice shirt :(' and lex's father is berating him for his lack of humanity. or something

there's an episode where lex is split into good lex and evil lex and it's genuinely the only worthwhile thing the show did that season. like the writing is still kinda incoherent but, crucially. it sure is fun

the spirit of lex's mum tells him she thinks he sucks

worst show in existence. I'll never forget it

[all-pacas]

I do agree that chase wasn’t house’s special smart child from the first, but I’ve always felt he indeed is the most similar to him, even when it wasn’t very obvious. He does kiss ass but also seem to genuinely go along with his method on lot of occasions. So sometimes I entertain the idea that house too sensed those similarities when (or after) he first hired chase, and it was part of the reason he let chase stick.

i kind of disagree tbh. chase isn't all that much like house.

i mean. in terms of life story, they're absolutely running on parallel tracks: abusive families, lost loves, all that. but in terms of personality and core personhood, house and chase really aren't similar.

house cares a lot about everything. not in terms of liking them, but in terms of emotional investment: he has opinions and states them and fights about them. he studies religious texts to better argue about it; he has strong feelings and a strong moral code (even if those morals aren't necessarily in line with society). chase is the opposite: he never gets involves with moral or philosophical debates — cameron and foreman have multiple, and solicit his opinions, and he never participates. he tries not to care about things, and is notoriously apathetic and without morals or convictions: it isn't that he has no ethics, but he does whatever he needs to do in the moment to get by generally. his killing of dibala wasn't a moral moment or for the greater good — chase actually kind of liked the dude — it was a moment of anger and emotion and betrayal.

house is in his own way extremely loyal (slash clingy): he's often unpleasant and a bad friend, but once you're in his circle he will do everything to keep you there. it's most obvious with wilson, but look also how he goes into s8 assuming taub and chase have been waiting for his call, or how hard he works to get his team back in s6: he wants His People around them, and is intensely loyal (if not nice) to those people. chase is an opportunist, without many close friendships, even among his colleagues. he spends 2+ years not forming any relationships with the new team, he similarly avoids/ignores masters, park, and adams, he's superficially quite outgoing and social but on the other hand goes 8 years without ever making friends with foreman, a person he sees and works with daily.

which isn't to say chase is entirely heartless: he is similar to house in that once he does open up to someone he cares intensely, but that threshold is much higher. house in s1 has a best friend. chase never does.) chase is also willing to -- and has -- thrown others under the bus for his own gain/survival. he sells out house to vogler. he puts all the onus on covering up dibala's death on foreman. he is self-serving. so is house, but not nearly to that extent. while you could argue house chose himself over wilson/the world in the tritter arc, house felt cornered and threatened and was reactive; chase is proactive in putting himself first.

house is confident to the point of arrogance, and doesn't doubt himself: he has a very strong sense of self and will. i think that kind of goes without saying. he struggles to change, even when he wants to: in s2, he reluctantly concedes he and stacy are doomed to fail because he won't change for her, and much of the series focuses on house's refusals/inability to change or compromise himself, even in his own best interests. chase by contrast is extremely lacking in will: while i wouldn't call him insecure exactly (he seems generally secure in himself and who he is), he lacks backbone, is often called spineless. he does what he's told, he folds his convictions, he doesn't argue. (house could never.) he copies house and tries to be like him; he changes himself repeatedly. he becomes a doctor when he never wanted to, he gives up on seminary when it doesn't work out, he becomes a giant slut when that path seems open to him. he changes drastically over the series, never holding onto convictions or even opinions when challenged: it's an actual running joke that chase always defers to the strongest personality in the room, whether that be house, cuddy, cameron, or foreman. nor does he ever really fight for anything, or have anything to fight for: house is constantly fighting for his beliefs (that patients are dumb, that something matters or doesn't, that he's right, whatever): house cares enough to put himself out there, is strong-willed enough to want to fight. chase simply doesn't, and isn't. (i don't mean that chase doesn't fight, because we see he gets angry and a bit punchy at times: that's something different. but he doesn't really have a strong enough will to fight for things.)

put another way: house does things because he truly believes it's the right thing to do, probably not morally but for the patient, for the answer, etc. chase does what house says not because he has that same conviction or feeling, but because house seems to be right, and house is smart, and house is the boss.

i could go on.

it's absolutely true that the two of them have some deep similarities in background, and i can absolutely imagine house pinged onto chase's daddy issues and trauma in the same way we see him hone in on cameron, thirteen, adams, etc. we see him try in cursed, although chase pushes him off. and it's not like the two have nothing in common -- they're sarcastic, they deflect rather than talk about their feelings, they prefer to pretend things are okay than admit weakness, etc etc. but they really are not that much alike.

[wrinkly-fucking-qtip]

“I kind of earned my space or whatever... just don't move your shit is all I'm saying.”

If I think about this scene longer than a minute I might just fucking McLoose it. You can count with half a finger the amount of times Ian has asked for help. You can count with two hands the amount of times Ian has avoided asking for help.

"Name a single time I've let you down."

I have always loved the Lip and Ian dynamic because of how perfectly flawed it is. There's a lot of comparison between Lip, Ian, Monica, and Frank, so let me raise you this situation. Remember how in s2 Monica wanted to do better by signing herself for more days at the psychward? Trying to get her psyche under control but Frank wanted to keep enabling her in the wrong ways? Telling her that she's alright, she doesn't need the help? Well, how about Ian reaching out to his brother for a helping hand, because he is feeling overwhelmed, needing help now more than ever, and Lip just basically denies him the help... in a somewhat patronizing way?

So it's like, two people that for different reasons, and different circumstances, are seeking that help or support, and the other person who claims to care outright attempts against it? Monica always did what she wanted, never really accepting her illness and ignoring the repercussions of it, and the effects it has on her family. And the few times she tried, Frank always intervened in heinous ways. Ian has been going through a difficult time, and the one time he asks for help, it is denied because his brother, who has claimed to never let him down, achieved a status, something that inflates his already overgrown ego. Nevermind that this is his brother, and he is visibly depressed.

Ian had goals of his own, always on the lookout to achieve. Lip didn't care about that for a while, and practically forced himself to care, only to throw it all away. And I'm sure he didn't outwardly intend for it to come across as that, but it did. Ian wanted to make something out of his life, but shit hit the roof and he didn't. And I'm glad he found a job as an EMT, he really needed that job. And he worked hard for it, he earned it. Lip fucked it all up.

This is not a Lip hate post though, he's in my top 5 favorite characters, I love that mother fucker, and I hate him as well, and his high moral that only pretends to give him BDE.

But yeah. Ian needed support. And I know that each of the Gallaghers had their own shit going on this season, I know, but there is already a recurring theme of Ian being entirely dismissed by his siblings, except for Debbie in s4 and her attempts to help him in s5. She did more than was expected of Fiona to do in those seasons, given that she is the legal guardian and all.

I am also not hating on Fiona, she is a fantastic character and stepped up for her family obviously. But by stepping up at such a young age with a lack of tools to maneuver herself through this chaos, good parenting is unobtainable.

It hurts me to see that he reached this point. All he ever fucking needed was support. S6 Ian, you have my heart and soul, and I wish you weren't hurting as much.

[riagraie]

Ninjago AU Headcannons

so obviously, this includes OC content. if you don't like OCs, don't read that part/ignore other hc ig?

anyway, this is for my AU of Ninjago, Echoes of the Echoed. The timeline is set to be between Crystalized (s16) and Dragons Rising Season 1. So there shouldn't be any spoilers?

this is just a bunch of random hcs I have for the ninja (and Hanna) in my AU. some of these are adapted from other people, some of them are mine.

Kai

he has naturally straight hair so he uses curlers to put wave in it. by curlers, i mean the ones your grandma uses overnight. he also sleeps in a bonnet

bro wears eyeliner. not a lot, but when asked he will admit to it.

he knows how to cook a meal and is probably the best chef (minus Zane bc Zane is goated) but doesn't like to cook

he is terrified of bugs. any kind of bug, it doesn't matter. he doesn't want to look at them, he doesn't want to be near him, and if he was alone in the monastery and found a spider, the entire thing would be up in flames.

when he gets spooked, sometimes fire will shoot out of his shoulders.

when someone on the team is upset or struggling with smth, he forces them to do self care nights with him

he paints his nails black or red

he's an insomniac, has been since his parents left. it got better around s11 but still struggles with it. when he can't sleep he likes to do blacksmithing. nya and pixal set up a station in the X Cave for him to do it quietly.

Jay

adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd-

he doesn't know what his biological mother looks like and he likes to try and imagine it.

the reason his hair curled after s7 is bc of puberty. some people's hair gets curly :/

when he uses his powers his spine will glow blue and have offshoots of the same color that look like lightning. it's sick af

he always carries his yin medallion with him. he might be wearing it, he may be holding it, it may be chillin in his pocket, but it's always on him.

after the events of s15 and then after s16, jay brags about how easy it was for him to grow a beard. it pisses lloyd off.

the eye that he hurt in Skybound(s6) is ever so slightly a lighter shade of blue than his other eye. sometimes it still hurts him and on those days it looks bloodshot and he wears an eye patch.

his favorite kind of art is watercolors.

he's got a wicked spice tollerance

Cole

he forced Zane to teach him how to cook basic things. but, he is a very skilled baker naturally

he's great with kids bc he lets them swing off his arms like monkey bars

cole is black and bc his dad never did, kai taught him how to take care of his hair.

he likes having long hair bc it covers his scar from when he was a ghost.

right after becoming human again, he kept forgetting he wasn't a ghost and kept running into walls and doors

he has seriously considered becoming a streamer

cole is terrified of singing because his mother used to sing him to sleep.

Zane

sometimes he feels what pixal is feeling bc they share a heart

even after nya came back in s16, zane didn't turn on his emotions again until nya convinced him too. he then cried for three hours straight.

he will laugh without hesitation at a dad joke. he will also crack up as he's trying to tell a dad joke

he still has pictures lloyd drew him in s1 until childs play.

he's easily annoyed by people who break traffic laws.

he rarely swears, but swore more when he was pretending to be a pirate in s15.

after figuring out him roleplaying a detective in s12 annoyed Pixal, he downloads and roleplays things for other missions they are on together. like the pirate thing in s15.

he lets kai paint his nails

Nya

unlike kai, her hair is naturally wavy and she used to straighten it from the pilot-s7. then she kinda gave up.

she decided to grow out her hair bc she wanted to look more like her mother, but then hated having hair against her neck all the time and started putting it up.

she can bench press jay and she has a sleeper build

she gets pissed when she sees someone in the arcade getting close to her and jay's high score on the dance machine

she's a light sleeper

she's terrified of snakes

when she's upset about something, she will either beat the shit out of the training equipment (then proceed to fix in in a huff) or just build random things

she's seriously considered building jay a robot dog. but she never went through with it

Lloyd

when he's really happy, sleeping, or meditating, he purrs.

he's got freckles that look like diamonds bc of the dragon scale thing

hes got fangs, his ears are pointed, and when he's pissed or enamored by something his eyes turn red. naturally, his pupils are a bit pointer, aren't as round basically

lloyd knew about his oni form before the events of s16 but never told anyone. he's known about it since s9 when he had a nightmare and woke up to see himself half-shifted in the mirror. he asked mistake about it, she explained, he asked her to not tell anyone, and she didn't. neither did he.

he likes mints because he likes hard candies better, gives him something to fidget with

he's always bustling with energy bc of his element. he can't sit still for the life of him.

he can still control the individual elements of creation as well as water and wind. he found out he could control wind after s5 and he could control water after s15.

when he uses his powers, his eyes glow whatever color they are (red or green) for up to an hour afterwards.

he has super hearing and super smell. he can also partially see in the dark if theres just a little bit of light

he hates ants

he has consistent nightmares. nearly every night. unlike the visions in DR, he doesn't flail for his nightmares, just jolts awake.

he loves photography and has many professional grade cameras. he likes it because he gets to hold memories.

when he's upset at someone, he unconsciously switches to yelling at them in Oni language.

he can understand and read the Harmonizer language but can't speak or write it.

Hanna

she's filthy rich. her parents own a very successful real estate business and a shipping company

she doesn't talk to her parents and doesn't like talking about them

she has an accent bc of being part Harmonizer but she hides it bc it led to a lot of people not understanding her. the closest thing it sounds like irl is a Russian accent.

she sometimes talks in the Harmonizer language, especially if she's frustrated or sleeping.

she can understand and read the Oni language.

after shifting to full harmonizer the first time, the black and gold lines on her skin became visible when human if your close enough to see them

she requires no form of skin care but still joins kai for skin care nights.

she has bad periods and struggles with migraines bc of her powers

she could feel something was off before the crystal king formed in s16. she has a scar on her knuckle from where she punched harumi in the face

she loves sports bikes. she liked going fast and breaking traffic laws. but, safety is her top priority even for herself and never goes out without making sure her and any backpacks are in full gear.

after s15, she had a lot of anxiety attacks

she knew about Lloyd's oni form bc she accidentally walked in on him one day he struggled to mask it.

she is also really good with kids

she heals pretty quickly bc of being part harmonizer, and because of that, most of the wounds she gets scars over.

she hates being in the spotlight

so thats them, let me know what you think. should I do more hcs? let me know ab that too. uhh

hope you enjoyed :D