#interesting relationship with scarab

[dooblez]

YOU CANNOT PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER

[teknikolor-walters]

🟣 Purple- What is something that your OC could not live without? What keeps them grounded in the worst of times?

For cicada but also scarab but also kinda the two OI cicaderations but also-

Them damn bugboy friendship bracelets!!!!! I definitely think it works as a reminder that he's cicada, even when he's done horrible things and doesn't think he deserves the label cricket made that bracelet for him and put his name on it. He's still cicada. He'll always still have cricket

[angelsworks]

A Scarab Knows Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle) x reader

Summary: Times when the scarab on your boyfriends back caught you in a lie.

Warnings: Smut, angst, insecure!reader, talks of period, 18+

Moodboard credit goes to @your-yandere-kiss They’ve got so many other great moodboards. I’d definitely recommend you check them out if you like that sort of thing.

DC Masterlist

It took a while to get used to the scarab. Khaji Da was not what you were expecting Jaime to reveal after a couple of months of dating. Your boyfriend was so nervous as he explained the ancient alien that held the power of the blue beetle that had bonded to his back. At first you had no response. Then you wanted to see it to which Jaime happily obliged.

Your eyes found the shiny blue shell of the beetle in line with Jamie’s shoulder blades. Call it morbid curiosity that lead you to reaching out and gently tracing part of the scarab. When red eyes opened and glowed along the scarabs elytra in response you jumped back in surprise. The action causing Jaime to jump up and away from you.

He didn’t say anything, instead staring almost blankly at something behind you. An action you’d found him doing throughout your relationship. Only now did you realise it was because of Khaji Da.

Finally he spoke, “I think it likes you.”

From then on things got better with Jamie. There were no secrets between the two of you anymore and you could continue your relationship in peace. Well almost in peace. The scarab on his back was to blame for that.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like Khaji Da, it’s just that it was almost like another person you had to share your boyfriend with. A person that was with him all the time. A person that he has secret talks with. A person that he fought crime with.

You weren’t jealous. Jaime was yours and Khaji Da had no interest in him like that. It was just hard getting used to being in a relationship with Jaime and now Khaji Da. After telling you about his scarab Jaime could talk to it more openly, without you thinking he was strange. Sometimes you’d be with Jaime watching a movie and he’d answer a question you hadn’t asked. Or other times you’d be looking for something you’d lost and he’d blurt out it’s location, claiming Khaji Da had told him.

Khaji Da wasn’t all bad, in fact it treated you kindly and as a valued person to Jaime. Over time it too became protective like Jaime towards you. A gesture you found sweet. Well mostly sweet.

One evening you saw the positives to the scarab on your boyfriends back.

The day you’d had was one for the history books. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. This morning you overslept for class meaning you had to rush out the door. In class you realised you left your paper you’d been working on at your home. After class you went to your job at a local restaurant. A job that on a good day would wear you down and drain your social skills. But on a bad day? It was unimaginable. To add to it you started your period mid shift, unprepared of course.

Finally at the end of the day you remembered the plans you had to stay over at your boyfriends apartment. Despite feeling anything but happy, you plastered a smile on your face and pushed your tears back as you greeted him. You hugged him tightly and kept up your facade. Engaging in small talk about your day and your class. Purposely leaving out or brushing over the majority of bad bits.

Jaime was buying the facade of course and you couldn’t blame him. The two of you hadn’t been dating for long and he hadn’t learnt you yet. However Khaji Da had, or to some extent it had.

A quick body scan had revealed your true feelings. Your low mood, recently working tear ducts and uterus walls cramping. All of which was relayed to Jaime whose face quickly took to looking crestfallen.

“Mi Vida, why would you lie to me?” Jaime asks softly. Pulling you from beside him on the couch to his lap.

You look at him startled. Unable to form words or even think of a coherent answer. But he waits for one. Even though it takes a few beats of silence.

“What - how do you know?” You ask him perplexed.

His tongue swipes out over his lips, “Khaji Da scans almost everyone I meet. It makes a habit of scanning you especially.”

You nod slowly, letting the new information sink in. You wonder just how much Khaji Da knows about you. You wonder how much information it passed on to Jaime each time you met. Was this the first time it caught you out in a lie, or just the first time Jaime chose to bring it up.

“I didn’t want to burden you with my bad day Jaime. You seemed so happy. I just wanted to enjoy being with you today.”

Jaime sighed and held you impossibly closer. Rubbing your back as you let out a few tears.

“Nothing you tell me would burden me. I love you so much Cielo.” Jaime whispers in your ear.

“Cielo?” You ask, unsure of the endearment.

“It means sky or heaven. That’s what you are to me. Nothing my Cielo tells me burdens me. You are my world, Mi Vida.”

Although Khaji Da’s interference worked out this time, it didn’t always. One time in particular didn’t end well with Jaime.

It was just past nine when your eyes glanced over to the clock on the bedside lamp. Jaime had been pounding into you for what felt like hours. He’d been out all evening doing something for Kord industries. The topic a sore one as you knew of the previous feelings he felt for Jenny.

You tried to put your feelings aside and remember that Jaime was with you now, not her. Your efforts hadn’t been good enough as Khaji Da and Jaime had seen right through it. Leaving him no choice but to show you just how much he loved you.

Yet the hurried passion between you hadn’t given you the stimulation you needed to reach your climax even once. There was little foreplay and things unraveled and quickly lead to him being deep inside you.

At one point you’d moved your fingers to your clit, trying to gain something to take you over the edge. Jaime, thinking you were acting up as you often did with him (in dynamic of course) removed your hand and pinned it with your other above your head. He gave you a gentle kiss and whispered some dirty words in your ear.

“Are you close?” He panted, still hammering into you. You thought about saying no, then wondered what he would think. You started to feel insecure in the fact that your orgasm was taking so long. So you decided to pretend.

It wasn’t something you’d ever had to do before but once wouldn’t hurt, would it?

You moaned out a reply and started your act. Rolling your eyes back into your skull, praising your partner for his work, clenching your walls on his cock. It wasn’t long before he followed you. Stilling inside you before reaching his own.

After pulling out slowly and kissing your temple he rolled over, having a moment before getting a wash cloth for you.

Silence hung in the air. Comfortable silence of course, but silence non the less. Jamie’s hand found yours, holding it gently as he often did.

Some time passed before his grip changed and became tighter. He turned on his side and looked at you accusingly.

“You faked it?” He asked, a little hurt but mostly angry.

Your eyes widened and you could feel your face heating up. “Jaime it’s not like that, you know I wouldn’t - ”

“But you did, or else Khaji Da wouldn’t have brought it up.”

You let out a huff, “Why does it matter. I’m sure it happens to plenty of couples all the time. I’m fine. Your fine. Let’s just go to bed.”

You move to roll over only to be pulled back by an angry Jaime. You’d never seen him this annoyed before about something you’d done. Usually you couldn’t put a foot wrong with him. He thought everything about you was great. It would be a lie to say his anger didn’t make you guilty about being dishonest.

“It matters because your my girlfriend. We aren’t just another couple. And while I’ve got working fingers, a working tongue and a working cock I have no excuse not to make you cum.” He tells you in earnest, putting his anger aside for a minute.

Although the sentiment is there, his wording isn’t. Jamie’s right, everything about him works. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to make you cum. It’s you that’s the problem and that same insecurity creeps back in once more. Making you doubt if there was something wrong with you. Making you remember why you lied in the first place. You didn’t want him to think less of you.

“So why Mi Vida, why lie to me? You know I love you.”

You huff again but this time it’s more pitiful as you feel your throat tightening. “It’s not you Jaime, it was me. It just wasn’t happening. I don’t know if I needed more foreplay or something. Maybe it’s just me, maybe there’s something wrong. Please let’s just go to sleep.” You practically beg. The warmth in your face ever increasing from the embarrassment you now feel.

As he understands your words he feels his anger dissipate. “There is nothing wrong with you Cielo, I should have done more before you know, going inside you. It was rushed. But you need to know that there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I love making you cum.”

You smile, leaning over to kiss Jaime. Who responded eagerly almost trying to make up for lost time. Showing you that there was nothing wrong with you at all.

“Let me show you how much I love doing it Mi Vida.”

You could only nod as your boyfriend spent the rest of the night doing everything he could to make you cum.

By the time he’d done you’d finished a record number of times and had forgotten any ill will you’d felt towards Khaji Da. It turned out to be quite useful.

[random-fandom1984]

MASTER LIST

Request are open!

ALLOWED:

●Fluff ●Yandere ●Angst ●Crossovers ●Character x Reader ●Character x Character ●References to other fandoms ●Comfort ●Headcanons ●Reader/Character from one dimension/universe getting sent to a different one (tfp x tfa, trollhunters x zak storm, etc)

●others to be added

NOT ALLOWED:

●NSFW ●Pedophilia ●Incest ●Certain sensitive topics (rape, abuse, etc) ●Other's OC's (I don't have the confidence to do that)

I also have a master list of poems I'm making

Poems Master List

FANDOMS

Transformers

Tfa:

General: - Predacon! Reader in TFA

Optimus Prime - Wattpad Story: Deadly Voice - Yandere! TFP! & TFA! Optimus x Chubby! Gn Reader Ratchet Prowl Bumblebee Bulkhead Jazz Jettwins Ultra Magnus Megatron Starscream (+clones) Lugnut Blitzwing Blackarachnia/Elita-1 Grimlock Wreck-Gar Soundwave Longarm Prime/Shockwave - All It Takes Is A Potion to Show How Much I'm Obsessed With You Wasp/Waspinator

Tfp:

Optimus Prime - Yandere TFP! & TFA! Optimus x Chubby! Gn Reader Ratchet Arcee Cliffjumper Smokescreen Bumblebee - Bumblebee x SG! Cybertronian Reader Bulkhead Wheeljack Ultra Magnus Megatron - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Starscream - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Soundwave - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Shockwave - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Predaking - Decepticons Meets Sparklings 5t3v3(Steve) - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Knockout - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Breakdown - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Dreadwing - Decepticons Meets Sparklings Arachnid Unicron

Tfe

Optimus - Sparklings Megatron - Sparklings Bumblebee - Sparklings Elita-1 - Sparklings Soundwave - Sparklings Shockwave - Sparklings Tarantulas - Sparklings Terrans(PLATONIC ONLY) Swindle Starscream

Tfg1

Optimus Prime - Calling Optimus Prime Dad Prowl Jazz Bumblebee Ratchet Megatron Starscream Skywarp Thundercracker Reflector Soundwave - Soundwave x Cybertronian Reader Part 1 -Clinging to Sanity or Embrace the Fantasy (Yandere! Platonic! Soundwave + teenager! Reader) Shockwave Grimlock Unicron Other Autobots and Decepticons

Tfbw

Optimus Primal Rattrap Rhinox Cheetor -His Sea Goddess (Cheetor x Cybertronian Reader with an Octopus alt-mode) Dinobot Megatron Tarantulas Waspinator

Tfrid2015

Bumblebee Sideswipe Strongarm Fix-it Grimlock Drift Steeljaw Thunderhoof Fracture Underbite Saberhorn

TF1

Orion Pax/Optimus Prime D-16/Megatron B-127/Bumblebee Elita-1 Starscream Soundwave Shockwave Sentinel Prime

LEGO MONKIE KID

Mk Mei Red Son Jin & Yin Spider Queen Azure Lion Macaque Sun Wukong Nezha Syntax Huntsman Goliath (Strong Spider) Peng Lady Bone Demon Not Mayor

ZAK STORM

Zak Storm (PLATONIC ONLY) Cece Crogar Clovis (PLATONIC ONLY) Caramba (PLATONIC ONLY) Calabrass (PLATONIC ONLY) Golden Bones

Trollhunters/3Below/Wizards

Angor Rot Gunmar Bular Aaarrrgghh Blinky (Blinkous) Nomura Draal Krel Tarron & Aja Tarron (PLATONIC ONLY) Varvatos Tronos Madu Zadra Zeron Alpha Nari Skrael Bellroc

Cookie Run Kingdom

Gingerbrave (PLATONIC ONLY) Wizard Cookie (PLATONIC ONLY) Strawberry Cookie (PLATONIC ONLY) Custard Cookie Ⅲ (PLATONIC ONLY) Chili Pepper Cookie Licorice Cookie Poison Mushroom Cookie (PLATONIC ONLY) Dark Choco Cookie Red Velvet Cookie Pomegranate Cookie Dark Enchantress Cookie Pure Vanilla Cookie White Lily Cookie Hollyberry Cookie Golden Cheese Cookie Dark Cacao Cookie Princess Cookie (PLATONIC ONLY) Knight Cookie (PLANTONIC ONLY) Caramel Arrow Cookie Crunchy Chip Cookie Affogato Cookie Captain Caviar Cookie Black Pearl Cookie/White Pearl Cookie Shadow Milk Cookie Mystic Flour Cookie

Others to be added

Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake

Fionna Cake (PLATONIC ONLY) Gary Marshall Lee Scarab Prismo Simon (PLATONIC ONLY) Marceline (Vampireworld version) Bonnibell Bubblegum (Vampireworld version)

WHEN REQUESTING (More rules will be added later):

●Include the fact whether or not your request is platonic or romantic; If romantic, is Y/n or character in a relationship, and if not, who is the romantic interest(s)?

●Give me some of the plot of what you're thinking for your request. If you don't, and I don't know what you want it to be about, or I can't think of what to make up- Example:

Optimus x Reader. Angst. Reader is male.

I don't know what the plot should be, or what it should involve. Like, if it's good enough that I can think of what it could be, then yeah, sure, but that will be a rare chance with me. But if it's like this- Example:

Aaarrrgghh x Reader. Comfort. Basically, the reader has had a bad day at work/school, and the two of them just cuddle and enjoy the silence in each other's arms, slowly falling asleep.

Then I will be able to think of how it can go because you gave me what you want to include in your request, but now how, I will be able to get behind that.

● I can make the reader be based off of another character, like- Examples:

-Vox! Reader in Trollhunters

-Reader as Ratchet's little sister in Transformers: Generation 1

Anything! Whatever you want as long as it's allowed.

●If your request involves something that isn't allowed, then it will be ignored.

That's everything for now! Request away!

[genshin-squabbles-and-wobbles]

I hope the anon doesn't mind me stealing that request but I would've really liked to see the same scenario with Alhaitham pretty please? Have a good day and take your time.

Yes my beloved dear @kristalheartishere, I shall. I am not sure if you want like a scenario format or headcanon format, but since the original post was in headcanon format, I will do it in that format. I hope that is okay!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ.───Alhaitham ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ.───

The reason for your break up with Alhaitham is due to his emotional neglect, you were someone who desired to be close to him. You want to connect with him, but him lacking the skin combined with him being stubborn about it, just was a strain for a long time.

Alhaitham was logical and rational but a relationship is abstract, he didn’t entirely understand how to nurture a romantic connection.

If he did something wrong, he will apologize, but nothing more.

If you wanted something, he would do it, nothing more.

Initiation is rare for him sometimes, as if he barely had needs in the relationship at all. Sometimes it would feel like he isn't apart of it.

The was a strain, making you feel unwanted, despite his mediocre reassurance, it wasn’t enough for you to feel close to him. Thus, you broke it off from him.

It didn’t even make a difference, of course you'd miss his touch and his alhaithamussy and the good moments, but the lack of connection outweighs that.

It has been about 5 years since then, you were in the desert collecting Scarab with your little girl. She had your face, but Al Haitham hair and unforgiving her intelligence.

However, your little girl loved exploring, she was always curious, no matter what situation came, she always seem to figure it out.

You were so proud of her, she was always so happy when you praise her for her intelligence and curiosity.

You were carrying a basket as you didn't go far in the desert, but just enough to catch Scarabs. The basket was almost full, as your little girl was looking in perfect environment for these brown beetles she is obsessed with now.

"Sweeite, let's go, the sun is getting brutal out here and we should get back home and find a place to put these beetles." You smile with pride at your little girl as she comes running with yet another beetle. "A successful scavenge and find my little one." You smiled and held her hand as the basket was braced on another hip.

While walking in Sumeru, you were walking through town as your little girl dropped one of her beetles.

You chuckled and bend to pick it up for her, as another familiar hand touches yours, you immediately jolted back and stood up.

It was Alhaitham, he stood up and placed the beetle in your basket, and looked at you and your little girl who was behind you, occupied with her beetle.

"Is....is that...?" He was looking at her, Alhaitham clicked right away, and figured it out.

"Is she mine...?" He kept his eyes on your little girl. You signed and nodded at him. "Yes, she is about 5 years old now."

He immediately crouches down and looked at her. "Do you like that beetle?"

Your little girl nodded and smiled at him.

"Those beetles are called Scarabs, found in the desert and even underground, it's said that the desert king turned people into these." Alhaitham began teaching her immediately about the beetle, and she listened interested in her lectures.

Alhaitham looked at you. "May I...pick her up..?"

You nodded, as he gently picked her up and took a good look at her. When his daughter started to call the beetles Scarab just as he taught her to, that's when the little girl became his and proudly his. "Smart little one, aren't you?" He smiled without even realizing.

You sigh. "She has your attitude, so good luck if you want to be in her life."

"I don't see that as a bad thing." He smiled and moved his daughter's hair away from her face to have a better look at her. He noticed that his daughter also has a green diamond onto her chest.

"You should cut a hole on this, these irritate skin." He was already caring for her properly.

Alhaitham looked at you. "What are we going to do?"

You shrugged. "You can take her 3 days of week, can take her 3 to 4 days of week." You looked at him.

Alhaitham sighed, "I was hoping we can be some sort of Fam-"

You shook your head. "No, I never want what you put me through,"

Of course Alhaitham would figure out ways to convince you to be with him and be a family with him, his parents died, he wanted to give his little girl what he never had.

However, once he sees you are stern, he would back off. He would try at least to start small talk with you despite him hating it. But he wants to try and reconnect, but you refused no matter what. He had his chance.

Eventually he left it alone, and he would teach his daughter, new things, take her on adventures, he would work as she slept on him.

He would spoil her with things and her favorite snacks.

However, for you, you haven't spoken to him for years, as your daughter grew.

[inbarfink]

Alrighty, so a second season of ‘Fionna and Cake’ is now Officially Confirmed! I was being very cautious about speculating and getting my hopes up until it was Actually Announced, but now that it has, I can’t say I am necessarily shocked that there is going to be a continuation. Looking back on what we can now confidently call ‘Season 1’, there are a few peculiar threads which seem like they are probably meant as a set up for this second season.

Now, everything in this post is going to be very speculative. This is just me going over aspects of Season 1 which seems weird from a perspective of set-up and payoff or just feel like they need more elaboration and thinking what might be done with them in S2. With basically nothing to go on for what will Actually Happen in Season 2 save for the fact that it will exist, just remember to put a huge caveat of ‘I don’t actually know anything yet!’ next to everything I type lol

Fionnaworld Stuff

I wanna start by talking about the one part of Fionna and Cake’s Season 2 we can be pretty certain about - which is that it’s going to feature Fionna and Cake and probably the rest of the Fionnaworld gang. Although, to be perfectly honest… Right now, I am struggling to think of a clear ‘loose thread’ that can hint at where these characters will go in future. Season 1 seemed to have left everyone fairly content. 

I’m not saying that there’s no place to explore these characters further - obviously I’m sure Season 2 will find whole new unexpected angles to develop them. I’m just saying that Season 1 doesn’t really have any clear threads you can point at as a basis for a prediction. At least nothing I can really see myself. 

Perhaps we can give more focus to the Fionna/Hunter stuff we hinted at during Season 1, but wasn’t really given center stage? Or something about Fionna learning how she can be an adventurer on her own terms, after her Season 1 experiences kinda convinced her she couldn’t at all? Or maybe since Season 1 was kinda Fionna-focused, we’re going to get a more Cake-Focused Season 2?

That’s all I got for now, at least. I guess with ‘Fionna and Cake’ being a very character-focused show, and the idea of a renewal probably not being certain when S1 was developed - it makes sense to prioritize giving a strong sense of closure for the main characters and keep the ‘sequel teasing’ stuff to just Lore/Plot hints. Like, if there’s a little Hint of Things to Come that doesn’t amount to anything because the show got canceled that’s just like a Little Weird, but leaving the main characters’ arcs/relationships feeling unresolved forever would be a much bigger problem for the show’s legacy. And speaking of which…

Prismo Stuff

And here’s the real Interesting Stuff that inspired me to make this post in the first place. I think the most notable potential ‘sequel tease’ in F&C Season 1, the thing I always noted as Odd before the second season was confirmed, the main reason I suspected a second season was probably in the works -  is definitely this little moment with Prismo during the ending…

Where he seems to ‘glitch’ for a moment.

What could this possibly mean? I am not sure, but I feel pretty confident that it’s Plot Relevant. It’s a quick but pretty noticeable Moment that doesn’t really seem to have a clear explanation within the first season, especially as it happens just as everything is wrapping up. Perhaps this is the first sign of Prismo becoming sick/malfunctioning/infected, and Season 2 is going to be about unglitching him?

Speaking of which, going into more character-related stuff… while Prismo's grief-induced-depression-spiral from Jake’s death is constantly hinted at throughout the first season - it’s never really confronted directly. I mean, we can assume that between helping out F&C and having Scarab around as a personal assistant - that could’ve helped him get a new lease on life… But maybe a second season could explore Prismo’s grief more deeply?

And then there are also these two

That’s another thing I always found very peculiar in a “hmm, are they planning on making an S2??” sort of way. Like, they spend a minute-and-a-half establishing the Core and the way it works... when I first watched it I was pretty certain it was going to come back later. Like, Simon is going to try to fuck with Time Itself to get Betty back or something. But then they just… loop back to it. It was just a piece of Lore Trivia and a background for the Actually Lore Relevant Infodump.

It might indeed be just that. Just an extra bit of Worldbuilding and a neat change of scenery in the middle of the chase scene. But I still suspect that these Time Titans will become plot-relevant at some future point. 

Multiverse Stuff

Well, out of the myriad worlds that F&C have already visited, it seems like the one that has really left a lot of lingering questions in the minds of the AT Fandom is Farmworld, and those questions are primarily…

HEY!? What the FUCK??? Is he okay?? Is he dead??

So yeah, some sort of confirmation of whatever or not Farmworld Finn is/isn’t dead, and if he is dead - some sort of confirmation of how his kids are getting by considering that their eldest brother just fucked-off to another universe one day… that would be nice and give a better sense of closure on the Farmworld segment of F&C Season 1.

But personally…I think the Multiverse Moment that really rings to me the most as a ‘probable future plot point’, is definitely this little moment in Vampireworld.

The show deliberately emphasizes the moment where the Vampire King saw our Trio use God’s Remote Control to warp to another world. And personally, the vibes here seem… meaningful.

With Bonnie also drawing attention to the fact the Vampires have over-hunted the humans and basically doomed both the world in general and Vampirekind specifically… Could this be the Vampire King’s solution to that problem? Now that he has seen ‘a new thing’, a hint at the existence of the Multiverse - will he try to find a whole new world for his children to feast on?

Well… that’s an alright villain concept and a decent plot hook. My current problem with it is just… the Mainworld Vampire King made for an intriguing and interesting character due both to his compelling dynamic with Marceline and the way he has been changed by the destruction of his people into a very contemplative and complex person. Vampireworld Vampire King doesn’t really have that, as a Vampire King who has never known defeat, he's just a Very Dramatic Evil Vampire. And I feel like Adventure Time aspires to more unique antagonists than Very Dramatic Evil Vampires. 

Now, it’s not impossible to make Vampireworld Vampire King a bit more Interesting if he ever takes center stage - maybe the population collapse of Vampireworld affected him in similar ways to Mainworld Vampire King, or maybe it affected him in a totally different direction, maybe we can give a bit more focus on the influence the Crown has or doesn’t have on him, maybe something else completely out-of-left-field could happen to him.

Or maybe the Star did end up surviving the Doomed Yuri Freefall and she’ll be the one trying out for Vampiric Multiverse Conqueror. She was always the, well, Star of Vampireworld - and she has the potential to be a very fun antagonist with cool thematic implications. I mean, like, Imagine her in contrast to Marshall. He gave up on a comfortable life in the laps of luxury due to wanting some freedom from his over-controlling mom and also it seems some level of moral outrage at her Landlordy ways

And the Star is a Daddy’s Girl Evil Vampire Princess and basically everything he has tried not to be. And yet… will he see a bit of himself in the Star?

Also, I wonder if we’ll see some more of the Alternative Universes Simon stumbled on during his trip back to Ooo. You know, the ones we haven’t actually seen in the main plot.

Simon Stuff

Okay, so… even before the announcement was made official, I have seen a lot of people assume that F&C Season 2 will be just as Simon-Focused as the first season. But personally, I am not sure about it just yet. I mean, I’m a huge Simon Fan, being part of the Petricollective ever since I started to watch the show, so I sure as hell will not complain but… it is important to remember the show is called “Fionna and Cake” and not “Fionna and Cake and Simon”.

I can see the idea being that Simon works as more of a ‘link’ between regular ‘Adventure Time’ and ‘Fionna and Cake’. You know, he’s a fan-favorite and the one major ‘loose thread’ in the original show that can draw old fans into this series which is mostly an all-new cast (considering the Fionnaworld Crew consider themselves to be distinctive from their old magical counterparts).... Kinda like he was the link between Fionnaworld and the rest of the Multiverse, actually. So he’s around as a major character for the first season and from then on he takes more of a secondary role. Since he is a good friend of F&C by this point and their main connection to Ooo, I doubt he’ll disappear completely, but he just might not be as central a character. Or maybe the theme of ‘Fionna and Cake’ is F&C teaming up with different Mainworld characters for different kinds of adventures? 

I mean, it still could go either way. Simon’s arc feels pretty well-concluded to me but the same is true for the Fionnaworld crew and… obviously they’re going to have more Character Stuff in the upcoming season and it’s the whole thing about how it’s important to make your character arcs feel concluded if you don’t know if you’re getting another season. We’ve talked about this already. 

And also… There is one aspect of Simon’s Problems at the start of the show that didn’t truly get to a satisfactory conclusion by the end of the first season. Namely, his loving-but-rocky relationships with both Marceline and Finn.

Like, y’know, he’s generally handling his Stuff better by the end of the season so I guess we can assume he’s also better at communicating with his loved ones but… it is very peculiar that we didn’t actually get to see it. Even as just a moment in his Happy Ending Montage when we see him hanging out and being happy with Finn and/or Marcy. Like, there is certainly a Point to be made about the importance of Simon making friends with people who didn’t know him much as Ice King for the sake of his recovery…

But the total absence of Finn and Marcy from Simon’s epilogue still feels… odd. So that could be something to return to in a future season. Like, I did speculate the F&C ‘format’ might be the Fionnaworld Crew + a different Mainworld character given focus every season. So maybe Simon’s still-not-fully-concluded interpersonal issues could be a launchpad to a F&C season with a primary focus on Finn and/or Marceline.

Finn and Fionna adventuring together would be pretty neat, and if we’re going to give more focus to Prismo’s Grief Problem, it would be very Thematically Appropriate. But also....confronting Finn’s own Jake Grief Problems is actually kinda challenging because we already had a whole special about it.

And that special is happening way way farther in the timeline and explicitly established that Finn never truly got over the grief of losing Jake.

So making an F&C adventure that tackles Finn’s grief in a satisfying manner without feeling it steps over Together Again’s toes… Well, it’s not impossible, but it is quite a tall feat.

Meanwhile, Marceline has less Obvious Issues That Need to Be Addressed right now but also… if we do have the Vampire King and/or the Star as a major threat for this new season, she would clearly be the one to get the Maximum Amount of Drama out of it, so…

Other Ooo Stuff

Okay, so speaking of Finn and things established early on in F&C which then didn’t really come back by the end of the first season, let’s talk a bit about the Heart of the Forest.

So this whole thing could be just a Joke. It could just be a gag about Finn disregarding Huntress Wizard’s warnings and taking his depressed middle-aged friend hiking in the Most Sacred and Ancient Forest in all of Ooo, as a joke. Haha, oh this Finn, so irresponsible! But also…

Finn and Simon were being watched. By a being wearing the same mask as the ‘Evil Bear’

But one that does not quite move like a bear world…

And then of course, this supposedly ‘Evil Bear’ only attacks Simon after he tries to get his little nerdy hands on this peculiar and important-looking tree. 

This really seems to have some implications that the ‘Evil Bear’ is not just one more random ‘evil’ monster that Finn and Simon stumbled across. That they might be some sort of Guardian for the Heart of the Forest, and that their shapeshifting abilities also extend to having some sort of humanoid form, and that they are not quite as monstrous or bestial or ‘evil’ as Finn pegged them out to be.

But all that happens is that Finn kills them, and then the whole matter is not brought up again…. Well, as of Season 1, that is…

So if we are doing some sort of Finn Focused Season, that might be something to bring up. Especially if it’s paired up with some of the Fionna/Hunter stuff I brought up above. 

Again, everything here is just Wild Wild Speculation at this point. This is just a bunch of Stuff that felt Weird resolution-wise in Season 1, and some loose ideas about how they might connect. If you guys have your own ideas and observations, I would love to hear them too!

[j4gm]

SPOILERS!!! REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS IN F&C ep. 7: THE STAR

Let's see what this episode has in store.

This is an alternate universe where Simon was killed by vampires before he found Marceline. Even the scientific parasite in his breast pocket looks like it has been drained of blood.

Our Simon demonstrating his survival skills. We never got to see him dealing with vampires in his own universe, but presumably he ran into them a few times and is familiar with their weaknesses.

These kinds of vampire minions last appeared in the Stakes miniseries. They are a lot more varied in design now. Also, the architecture of this world is interesting. It looks like gothic palaces have been built into the roots of decaying skyscrapers.

Bonnie's crew has several of the familiar vampire hunting tools from Stakes, including stake launchers and garlic bombs. They also douse some of the vampires in holy water, which was previously shown to harm demons in the episode Dad's Dungeon. This is the first time it's been seen working on vampires.

Marshall Lee has a Hambo mirror decoration. In the prime universe Hambo was Marceline's toy teddy bear, given to her by Simon.

Martin is an interesting choice for Bonnie's crew. In this universe it seems like he never had a son, since the humans presumably never left Ooo for the Islands. It also seems like he's a better person here, willing to risk his life to follow Fionna's noble lead. He has the same jacket as he had in The Visitor, which several people identified when we first saw Fionna wearing it in the trailer.

The cat on Bonnie's mug is Timmy from the episode The Pajama War. The fact she broke it is surely the most heartbreaking loss of this episode :(

The other member of the team is Huntress Wizard, who looks to be a human in this universe for some reason. I don't think Huntress Wizard was originally human in the prime universe.

Baby Finn snuck into this universe, and by the end of the episode was left to be raised by self-repairing battletank single gay dad PepButt. I'm sure he'll turn out fine.

The Cosmic Owl has been flagged up on Scarab's arrest list for "profiteering". Perhaps his neglect of his duties during Hoots has been discovered, or perhaps this is a new crime.

There are loads of new genderswapped characters in this scene. I've already reblogged a post listing all the ones we've spotted so far, so refer to that for details. The most significant is Ms. Abadeer. According to the credits, her first name is Hana.

Even Billy has been slain by vampires.

Princess Bubblegum calls Fionna a dillweed, her go-to insult from the episode Hot Diggity Doom. It's good to hear some Adventure Time swearing from time to time despite the liberties they're taking with the TV-14 rating.

Enter the titular character! Like the other members of the Vampire Court from Stakes, Marceline has taken a new name from the ranks of the Major Arcana of a tarot deck: The Star. Huntress mentions that she is the last member of the court, having outlived everyone beside the Vampire King himself. The fact she can fly suggests she killed and sucked The Fool's soul despite him being a fellow member of the court.

She is seen using her soul-sucking demon powers, inherited from Hunson, on Martin. She also demonstrates that she has no problem drinking blood in this universe, despite the fact vampires can eat the colour red.

Bonnie and The Star have such an interesting dynamic in this episode. It seems like fate is seeking to entwine them, but this has been twisted into a relationship of mutual hatred. Yet The Star is furious when a minion suggests she kill Bonnie, and Bonnie fails to take an opportunity to kill The Star later on. Something is keeping these two immortals in an eternal dance, even in a universe where they are arch nemeses.

A lot of this series has centred around Simon's relationship to fatherhood, and realising that he is a better dad than some of the others he's met will likely end up being a key moment in his recovery.

I believe this section was boarded by Hannah K. You've probably all seen her famous Bubbline stakeplay drawing. This scene must have been fun to draw.

I really enjoyed the parallel of Gary and Marshall getting their climactic kiss while Bonnie and The Star fell together to their deaths, demonstrating that the girls' fall was just as gay as the boys kissing, but in a very different way. We also know from interviews that Gary and Marshall's relationship is supposed to parallel that of early Bubbline in the prime universe. Perhaps Princess Bubblegum got Marceline out of a bad deal with Hunson Abadeer, shortly after their first meeting at Marceline's concert, and that's when they first hit it off.

The dream in this episode's credits features Marceline's house; a home that neither The Star nor this Marshall Lee have ever known.

[devine-fem]

Why I think Hellbeetle is an adorable ship although it’s so rare and I want more people to see my vision.

I don’t mind it being rare and to be honest it has its perks but this is my manifesto.

1. They hated each other at first.

Rather it was about Eddie feeling replaced or ignored in his friend group, his hatred for Jaime grew slowly and slowly over time. Especially when it came to Rose finding interest in Jaime over Eddie, him having a crush on Rose and it rubbing him the wrong way. Although, people tell him over and over that if he just talked to Jaime then they’re sure they’ll get along and even become close immediately but Eddie refuses to accept this.

2. Scarab bonuses (1)

Because of Eddie’s high body temperature the scarab can find Eddie somewhat easily and track where he is and I think that is so adorable to think about.

3. There is a whole issue entirely about their hate for each other and blooming friendship which is the gayest thing to me.

Throughout the entire issue it talks about how Eddie irrationally hates Jaime when he’s done nothing to him, and it irritates him. They end up finding common ground to be able to track down a bad guy and prove to their teammates they’re more than goofballs and valuable teammates. This also means they have similar struggles which is so cute.

So when everything is said and done, they start over and become friends on a better note.

4. Undiagnosed telepathy. They always weirdly know what each other is thinking and that is so cute to me.

(This is shown more times than just here and throughout their entire relationship they share the same braincell.)

5. They get established as a duo, they are ALWAYS right next to each other constantly in almost every panel where they’re both in it.

6. Scarab bonuses (2).

I imagine that Eddie’s body is extremely hot, especially around his mouth and eyes so if he were to kiss someone, it would probably scorch them. Khaji Da would not like that Jaime would actively be pained when around Eddie if they were to display affection. That is so cute to me.

7. Making up a little nickname for Jaime.

I’m sorry, bug butt is such an adorable pet name for someone, especially Jaime and immediately Eddie starts to call him this and so often that other people like Jaime’s friends seem to catch on and EVEN joke about it’s flirty nature. This is sealed in the bag for me, to be honest.

8. When it comes to Eddie’s bigger secrets, he decides to tell Jaime first before anyone and Jaime tells him that he cares and even takes off his armor so he can be more vulnerable with him because he knows Eddie lost his powers too.

9. They have more content compared to most of their ships.

Jaime’s most popular ship is Bluepulse which doesn’t function outside of the Young Justice universe. Eddie’s most popular ship is JayEddie probably because Jason is a bat boy but they have like two interactions.

Meanwhile these two were big parts of each others lives and established so much chemistry with one another.

Even Eddie’s supposed love interest was not around nearly as much as Jaime.

I also realize that Jaime fans literally don’t have any like ships really so maybe you guys will like this. I wish he had more ships too.

10. They get formatted like the “other couple” and that’s just shipping fodder to me.

They also go on a dinner date. I’m so serious they go on a Dinner date and sit across from each other and chat/have a good time whilst also being formatted like the other couple which is literally just a date to me.

11. When Eddie thinks his life might be over, the last thing he thinks about is Jaime’s laugh. I wish I was kidding.

12. When Eddie passes, it starts to become painful for Jaime to gear up with the scarab and I’m not sure why but it felt like it had something to do with his feelings as a hero and how he was greiving.

13. Beyond Teen Titans Vol.3 Eddie shows up in Blue Beetle (2006) Issue 33 so they writers care enough to add him.

14. They also are together in a holiday special. 15. Aesthetics. They have a red and blue color palate meaning they contrast in a way aesthetically when they are together. Red and Blue has been a cherished duo for years. Red Devil, Blue Beetle. Also, the fact that they are both anthropomorphic based heroes in a way also helps.

In conclusion, I know this was a rare ship once upon a time that people talked about like years ago and no matter how rare it is I refuse to stop talking about them even if I get no interactions because I love Jaime and I love Eddie and I love them together.

[frogspond200]

I love the scarab from Fionna and 🍰 I feel like there’s no posts about them .

Can we please have a yandere scarab oneshot please 🙏

𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚋 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Requested by: Anon

Ask: I love the scarab from Fionna and 🍰 I feel like there’s no posts about them. Can we please have a yandere scarab oneshot please 🙏

Warning: General Yandere Behavior

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

From the moment the scarab sets eyes on the you, it becomes consumed by an overwhelming obsession. It sees you as the perfect one, the one who will complete its life. The scarab's innocent and playful demeanor begins to fade away as it becomes consumed with jealousy and possessiveness.

Initially, you are oblivious to the scarab's feelings. You view it as a charming and harmless companion, unaware of its hidden depths. As the scarab's obsession intensifies, you begin to realize that something is off. You begin to resist the scarab's advances, but your resistance proves to be futile.

Scarab's relentless pursuit of you begins to take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being. Scarab becomes clingy and possessive, constantly seeking your attention and approval. Your, feeling overwhelmed and suffocated by scarab's demands, you try to pull away, but to no avail.

scarab's jealousy becomes evident as it exhibits signs of insecurity whenever you show interest in other people or activities. He tries to sabotage your relationships, creating tension and conflict.

Despite your best efforts to resist scarab's advances, you find yourself be falling under its curse. scarab's manipulation and charm make it difficult you to see beyond the surface. You become trapped in a cycle of codependency, unable to break free from the grip of scarab's obsession.

Scarab's obsession becomes all-consuming, leaving you feeling isolated and trapped. You long for freedom and independence, but fear the consequences of breaking free from scarab's grip. scarab's possessiveness becomes a source of anxiety and fear, as you questions their own sanity and self-worth.

Ultimately, your resistance is futile in the face of scarab's obsession. You are forced to confront the reality of the situation…

[badass-at-fandoming]

Is Beckett meant to be a poc (in vtmb)? I think so based on his facial features and his skin being a light shade of brown. But he was born in Britain during the 1700s-1600s which makes being non-white a lot less likely (though there were poc even back then).

This is an interesting question, @chinesegal! Thank you for your patience with me answering it. I was traveling, but now I'm back!

When I look at Beckett in Bloodlines, I interpret him as a white British man. But a lot can change depending on what mods one uses to make the game work. For example, this Beckett...

...looks much less pale than this Beckett:

One must also factor in Bloodlines' poor lighting. As any visual artist trying to figure out Sebastian LaCroix's hair color will tell you, the lighting in VTMB is a terrible, mercurial beast. The dingy lighting certainly aides the grimy, uncertain atmosphere, but poor fan artists struggle.

The last sticky point I can think of is how all the Kindred characters are supposed to have a "deathly pallor," especially if they have lower Humanity. Deathly pallor can muck up skin tone wonderfully. I think Strauss would be the best example. He's an older Kindred (LA by Night states he was at the Convention of Thorns in 1493) and made a gargoyle (which involves torture), so he's definitely on the lower end of the Humanity scale. According to VtM's lore, Strauss has trouble maintaining a lively, human appearance. Some fans interpret him as white and often point to his white voice actor, Jim Ward. Others remark on Strauss' resemblance to Morpheus from The Matrix Trilogy, cite the deathly pallor lore, and interpret him as a Black man with graying skin. As in, Strauss looks closer to what a Black man's corpse would look like. The deathly pallor factor allows for this interpretation, and in the gap can nicely fit Cuthbert Beckett. He's an Elder Kindred and has had periods of low Humanity. Maybe he's brown and has been through the wringer.

VtM has a tenuous relationship with history, but if you want to check in with it, real life history doesn't obstruct an interpretation of Beckett as Black or brown. British people have had black or brown skin since forever, as you referenced. The oldest Englishman, Mesolithic era Cheddar man's skin is possibly darker than the reconstruction suggests. Ya gotta remember that white skin came to be because people weren't getting enough Vitamin D. If Beckett is descended from the indigenous Celtic Britons (unlikely but possible), his ancestors might not have been malnourished and lived somewhere the sun could penetrate the mists of Avalon.

So like, given all the above, you can definitely argue that Beckett's a Black or brown British guy. Whatever floats your boat.

That wasn't exactly your question, however. You asked if Beckett's meant to be a person of color or white. This implies you want to know the devs' original intention with the game, which I guess at being Beckett as a white man.

Beckett has been described as white in past White Wolf publications. Or rather, not described, because white is default skin tone in so many works, very unfortunately. In the Victorian Trilogy, much is made of Halim Bey, Theo Bell, and Hesha Ruhadze's black skin, but Beckett's skin tone gets no comment. He's "a long-haired man" with a "wolfish grin one might imagine on a privateer from a past age," (The Wounded King, pg 123-125). Someone describes him as "a pauper's version of Buffalo Bill Cody," (197). When his lover Emma disrobes him, the text notes "his feline pupil slits [and] amber irises," (pg 204). Special attention is paid to Beckett's hands: "dark hair, slick like sable covered the back of his hand, fading to a more human-seeming growth on his forearms" and "His fingers were longer than a man's should be, and the nails were hard and thick like a dog's," (ibid). In Year of the Scarab Trilogy's Land of the Dead, he describes himself with "lean, muscular physique [with] round smoked glasses [hinting] at a pretty boy slumming," (pg 101). By the absence of skin tone description, by the unfortunate reality that white skin is seen as default and therefore unworthy of comment, we can infer that Beckett is white. That's to say nothing of the Vampire: the Masquerade - Beckett comic, which depicts him as white. I wouldn't give the VTMB developers the grace or credit to suddenly deter from this character history.

After all, these are the same devs that failed to come up with a story with Chinese people that wasn't Yellow Peril drivel, created a white PC with "locs," declined to brown Nines' skin, and made Skelter imply that Black Americans make up their own oppression. Just like, all of Chinatown is hard for Chinese and Japanese players to get through. Even by 2004 standards, it's real shitty. With these other missteps, it's hard to imagine they'd have the creativity to re-design Beckett as brown or Black. I think they meant him to be interpreted as white.

But you don't have to! Death to the authors! In your fan art, fan casts, picrew, fanfic, chronicles etc, he can be brown, Black, indigenous, or whatever ethnicity bees your knees. You create the Beckett reality in your Beckett-loving head.

Thank you again for the ask, and I hope the essay made the wait worth it!

[fennelrabbit]

Now that people have had time to watch and think about the miniseries, can we agree that Fionna and Cake was really bad, or at least disappointing?

I'm very happy to hear some different opinions if anyone wants to try and change my mind, but now I've had some time to digest what I watched, I can still say my bad feelings on the episodes are exactly the same.

I haven't been able to mention Fionna and Cake's characterisation much, so I'll try and make a bulleted list (read more)

° Cake didn't grow or have to change at all during the miniseries. She was selfish and never had to face any consequences for her choices. Her relationship with Fionna is not wholesome and friendly like Jake is to Finn, but more parasitic. Fionna does things for Cake, and in return Cake doesn't abandon her. Cake still helps Fionna in fights and doesn't want her to get hurt, however Cake doesn't really appreciate Fionna and all that she does for her.

It's particularly bad that Cake isn't very bothered by the fact that the trade-in for a magical world is Simon's sanity, which is another moment of selfishness. This scene is never addressed later, which unintentionally implies that if someone isn't benefitting Cake, she doesn't want to care about them anymore.

° Fionna was also poorly handled. Although the show tries to say that it won't treat Fionna in a sexist way by swapping her skirt for shorts, a large part of Fionna's story still revolves around romance and her relationships with men (platonic or romantic). In fact, there's a pretty substantial lack of female characters (barring Fionna) that have any stage presence or do anything meaningful in the story. The episode with apocalypse PB and Marcy was a refreshing addition, with an interesting conflict between the two women, but it's a shame that they couldn't be included in the larger conflict, as characters can jump across the universe and the story would've really benefitted from their inclusion.

Fionna's character started pretty strongly, introducing her boredom and apathy towards her life (that being a capitalist nightmare of endless job hunting just to pay for rent), but didn't do enough to develop this plotline. It's true that having Fionna stay in Ooo wouldn't push her to grow as a person - Fionna needs to find a way to find happiness in the life that she's given.

However, much like Simon was sent back to his shitty life and basically ordered by the narrative to 'get over it' and 'stop being sad', nothing changes in Fionna's original world. Fionna is sent back to the same old world, with the same old problems, and nothing is really resolved. No solutions are presented to Fionna inside of FionnaWorld, even though her situation is very difficult and not something that can just be fixed with 'life's not so bad'. Fionna should've found a way to experience the thrill of adventure in her world, in a way that wouldn't endanger everyone around her.

° Bringing the farmworld characters to FionnaWorld in the end was a total cop-out, and should've resulted in damaging the multiverse. They did not need to be there.

° Fionna and Cake causing things to glitch around them (damaging the multiverse???) was never resolved or followed up on after Act 1. It's like the story forgot that plot point, which really lowered the stakes.

° Scarab was a weak villain. Though his first episode had a strong introduction, he was very undeveloped, and came across as more of a comedic pest than an actual threat. The final fight between Fionna and Scarab were laughably boring, and I never felt like the characters were in danger at all. One of the weakest finales the show's ever done.

° Rip to Betty, folks. You'd think we'd finally get some backstory on her character beyond being "Simon's gf/love interest", but no. We know she has a mum, I guess? And that she's impulsive. Betty has officially been fridged by the narrative THREE TIMES, and will now forever remain as Simon's dead/absent girlfriend. This is very sad, and not to mention, very anti feminist. We will never know who Betty is outside of Simon.

(She doesn't even get to have a real conversation with Simon as Golbetty. She has a couple of sentences, and then gets on the stupid bus. Betty literally has no voice in the story).

°The dialogue was very weak. I don't have much to say here really, the dialogue was just very basic and badly paced. Subtext doesn't exist in this story. At some point, one of Finn's children literally blurts out that their dead mum made their soup. Very subtle exposition, guys.

° I don't like how Fionna and Cake treated Simon at all. The entire time they were both self centered and very annoying, and their relationship with Simon wasn't developed that much. When Simon described Fionna and Cake as his "friends", it wasn't believable in the slightest. They have no chemistry or real connection as a group.

Well, that's all I could remember for now.

Anyway, feel happy to share your thoughts Adventure Time fans, I'd be happy to hear it!

[maaarine]

When the human tendency to detect patterns goes too far (Shayla Love, Psyche, Sep 19 2023)

"Nabokov was describing an extreme case of apophenia, or the tendency to experience events as meaningful, even when they shouldn’t be.

Also called patternicity, ‘it refers to essentially anytime that you are seeing patterns in the world that don’t exist,’ says Colin DeYoung, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota. (…)

The word ‘apophenia’ comes from a German neurologist, Klaus Conrad, and his 1958 book about the symptoms of schizophrenia.

While an epiphany is a sudden realisation of a true connection or meaning, an ‘apophany’ is the false realisation of one.

The psychoanalyst Carl Jung used what is perhaps a better-known term, ‘synchronicity’, to describe instances of apparent connection between co-occurring events with no clear causal relationship.

More than just coincidences, they take on powerful meaning in a person’s mind and appear to be a result of more than chance.

In one example, Jung’s patient dreamt of a golden scarab and, as she described the beetle, Jung heard a tapping on the window of his office.

There, he found a live scarab beetle, which he grabbed and handed to her.

Psychologists have found an association between apophenia and openness to experience, one of the ‘big five’ personality traits.

Openness to experience reflects a general tendency to be curious about the world.

As a 2020 paper by DeYoung and colleagues explained, one aspect of openness to experience ‘encompasses fantasy-proneness and aesthetic interests’, whereas another aspect, sometimes called ‘intellect’, reflects ‘intellectual confidence and intellectual engagement’.

In many contexts, openness is beneficial and can contribute to creativity.

But the component of the trait related to aesthetic and fantasy engagement also seems to be associated with increased risk of some of the symptoms of the psychosis spectrum, such as unusual perceptual experiences, DeYoung and colleagues have found.

They report evidence that apophenia could be ‘an important cognitive mechanism at the core of what is shared between openness and risk for psychosis.’

Seeing connections all around you can also be predictive of belief in conspiracy theories and the supernatural, a study from 2017 suggested. (…)

There is always a trade-off.

People need to be able to detect important connections in the world, rather than missing them, and being sensitive to patterns helps with that.

People who are high in openness and more prone to perceiving patterns ‘might see things that other people might not notice’, DeYoung says.

But sometimes, a sensitivity to patterns can fool us. Minimising the risk of the false positives would inevitably lead to more false negatives, DeYoung notes: ‘You’re always stuck with some kind of balance.’"

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Writer's Notes

Okay, so one of the show's central issues was the way Betty and Simon's relationship is clearly not perfect and Simon has to stop idealizing it

Like coming from a writer's perspective, making a couple's talk where two individuals hash out where in the relationship things went bad - that's hard to make visually interesting. Since Fionna and Cake is primarily a visual experience, we can't have the entirety of episode 9 be Betty just saying that Simon wasn't thoughtful but also... It wouldn't pay off if Simon didn't figure it out himself.

So this problem? Needed to have more hints to its resolution from the get go. Like the other worlds hammered in Simon's worth and impact as a person, but it didn't do nearly a good job of pointing out how he could help himself.

Winter King was actually primed to point out. It could have been as simple as saying "Well why would I remember her? She's just another obsessed fangirl." And we go from there.

Honestly, we didn't need "Casper and Nova", we needed "Winter King" as a two parter. Simon has to face the flaws in himself that he doesn't acknowledge. The way Simon blithely downplays "Winter King" as a Simon that's simply messed up instead of his own self centered perspective ramped up to 100 is... a waste.

So we put a bug in Simon's ear that maybe his pity party is just a little self indulgent. Maybe we put Simon and Fionna in the bassinet because Simon can have a self reflection moment with Fionna.

Like it could've been as easy as:

"I never realized I could be that self centered."

"But that wasn't you right?"

"... I could've been."

And then, we move through the vampire world as in the show. But in the Lich world, Simon *has* to start putting two and two together. He begins to expand his perspective to the ways his Crown plan isn't considerate of the way it effects others - the way he wasn't that considerate of Betty.

We can have those flashbacks about Betty and Simon's relationship but when Fionna makes her comments, Simon takes her input seriously. And when we reach the part where Simon is about to put on the Crown, Simon doesn't say goodbye, he could say something like "I'm sorry".

And we move into the Betty reunion with Simon fully in a new perspective in their relationship. We don't need "Casper and Nova" to spell it out if he was already there. And we don't need to see the future. We can dedicate episode 9 on Simon's reflection of his past, his present, and his future. We can keep it visually interesting by showing smash cuts to Fionna's problem with Scarab.

Then that leaves episode 10 entirely as an epilogue.

[gnosisofthedualrealms]

My First Encounter with Bael

Date: 2024-10-24

My first experience summoning Bael was much different than I expected. Like many other people, I couldn't help but worry that I'd get possessed or that bad omens would appear left, right, and center. I'm happy to admit how wrong I was.

When I invoked Bael, I could feel how powerful and strong he (this is how I view Bael) was, but I could tell he wasn't dangerous. He was actually quite kind, almost like a brother or good friend visiting.

I heard a voice within my spirit (a voice without words) that told me he was a toad. Just for reference, the toad has been a spiritual guide for me for quite some time. He also told me he was the source of the profound pain I was feeling. Again, for context, I was going through an intense spiritual pain that didn't have any conscious origin. He told me it was necessary for my growth, as bad as it was.

I then felt something intense. It was a concentrated version of the profound sadness I was feeling. However, I felt like he was telling me something through it. Funnily enough, I thought about my dad, who I hadn't spoken with in many years because it was a toxic relationship. The interesting thing is that my dad is a hardcore catholic who's really into angels and demons. I've certainly heard him speak of Bael in a negative light before.

It finished with a message spoken directly to my soul, which I have yet to consciously understand the message.

Powers:

Unknown

Names/evocations:

Unknown

Forms:

The form that most strongly presented itself to me was the toad, but I also felt he was associated with a ladybug and a beetle. The toad and the beetle (specifically scarabs) hold the same symbolism of rebirth. I couldn't find much information on ladybug symbolism, so I'll have to do more digging.

[writing-ca-ira]

QUICK! DISTRACTION!

YJ Tim Drake + Reader x Dick Grayson

The mission goes slightly awry, and as a senior member, it’s up to you to keep Tim calm with a distraction… which kinda comes at the expense of Dick’s pride.

I’ve been thinking of starting a strictly platonic relationship blog. Let me know if you’re interested.

The reader is gender neutral.

Contains: landslide, Jaime gets concussed, getting stuck in a cave, anxious Tim, lowkey autism-coded Tim, Dick shows up at the end, it’s up to you if Dick and the reader are romantically involved, senior member reader, Tim and Jaime are basically reader’s children.

Tim was always hard on himself. Whether it was his training as Robin (Batman’s sidekick), his tiring life as Timothy Drake (the heir of Drake Industries), or even his downtime with friends as just plain Tim (a socially awkward teenager), he always found some way to critique himself; to tear himself down by over-analyzing all his mistakes — no matter how big or small — and replay them in his mind over and over and over again. He’d always promise himself that he’d do better, despite the fact that “better” usually meant a flawlessly inhuman performance with no mistakes whatsoever.

So, you knew better than to hope Tim wasn’t mentally beating himself over the head because of your current situation.

Sometimes, the bad guys can be unpredictable (an unfortunate fact you learned quite quickly on this team). They can throw in a wild card that not even your most skilled strategist could’ve factored in before the mission, which changes everyone’s plan of action completely. And, on this mission, no one could’ve foreseen the well-hidden pressure plate in the dark and vast cave’s muddy ground, or the explosion system rigged up to it, or the landslide from the big boom that blocked off the cave’s entrance. It’s illogical to think this could’ve been predicted, or even avoided.

Of course, Tim thought otherwise. As he paced back and forth in front of where you were you with Jaime’s unconscious body, you unhappily wondered what he could possibly be blaming himself for. Maybe that he didn’t magically see the disguised explosives attached to the high cave walls, or the pressure plate that was basically invisible no matter how long you stared at it, or that he couldn’t warn you guys about the explosion 10 seconds before it even happened? All ridiculous thoughts, but the boy had a knack for making his very logical brain conjure up very illogical things.

Doesn’t help that Blue got completely KO’ed, you mentally noted, sparing a glance at the unconscious hero, whose head was gently propped against your thigh. Physically, he was probably unscathed; that beetle armor could take hits from a Kryptonian without cracking. But armor can’t exactly prevent your brain from hitting against your skull, which is what you deduced happened to Jaime after pulling him out from under a giant chunk of debris. The scarab de-armored, much to your unease, and you found yourself hoping it was the scarab’s way of letting you two check its host over (maybe the scarab isn’t as uncaring as Blue makes it out to be). At least you felt better when you saw that Jaime was, in fact, unscathed.

After examining Jaime, you tried your best to comfort Tim, saying that Blue would bounce back with only a minor concussion when this is all over; a mistake on your part. You should’ve known that mentioning a concussion would make your poor baby bird go pale, his hands trembling at his sides as he started to mumble incoherent things to himself. Any thought to backtrack was halted as he started to pace, and you decided it was best to leave him alone for a couple of minutes just so he could calm down.

Well, it’s been 10 minutes. And he didn’t look any calmer. Without the ability to radio Dick, you realized you would have to be Sibling-wing.

“Tim,” you softly called, trying your best not to spook the boy. A grimace tugged at the corners of your mouth when his shoulders jolted at your voice, but it quickly disappeared as soon as he hesitantly turned his head in your general direction. He was avoiding your eyes… not a good sign…

You tried your best to make your tone sound light, with a hint of jovial teasing, despite the situation you two were in. “Why don’t you sit down for a bit? You’re gonna pace a trench in the ground if you keep at that.”

The whites of Tim’s mask widened as he looked at the ground beneath his now stationary feet. Before you could worry that you made another mistake, he seemed to understand that you were just exaggerating, a long yet shaky breath escaping from his lips. All he did was mumble out a small sorry, and you had to fight the urge to frown; if he saw any hint of negativity on your face, he would probably break down entirely, and that’s the last thing you want.

“Here.” You patted the vacant spot next to you (the one obviously not occupied by Jaime). He owlishly blinked at the area before looking you in the eyes for the first time since the explosion. Progress was being made, but you weren’t too keen on the unsure look he was giving you, so you continued. “Sit next to me, Timmers. I need some company.” A pause. “But only if you feel comfortable. I don’t want to force you, bud.”

For a few moments, he stood completely still in his spot. Hope of him accepting your offer was quickly leaving your body, replaced with the nervous feeling that you may have overstepped some boundaries, but your worries were over when he finally shuffled over towards you. Tim was a small thing — probably smaller than what he should be as a teenage boy — so he took up little to no space next to your side. It might’ve been cute to see him curled up against you, his knees tightly held against his chest and his cape swaddled around him, if he didn’t look so close to having a meltdown over everything.

“I’m sorry,” he quietly squeaked out, and you thought you imagined it before he continued. “I’m sorry about all of this. I… I knew it was a bad thing that there were no guards—!!”

“Timmy,” you began, soft so he knew you weren’t mad yet firm enough that he would stop his rambling, “you have nothing to be sorry for. These things happen all the time on missions. No one could’ve seen this coming.”

Tim looked down at his knees. “… I could’ve—”

“No.” You gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder (something you noticed Dick does when he’s comforting the baby bird) and gently rubbed his upper arm. “From the moment we dispatched to the moment we got here, you did everything perfectly.”

You decided to gauge his reaction before saying anything further. He seemed lost in thought again, though you knew he was listening from the way he spared you a quick glance. His fingers were rhythmically strumming against his leg as he chewed the inside of his cheek. Still nervous, but at least he seemed to be considering your words.

“Supes and Dick will come get us in a little while,” you reassured him, pulling him closer into your side to accentuate your statement. “As soon as it’s past 10, they’ll come by in the Bioship and see we’re a bit stuck, and we’ll be out in no time, and Blue’ll get help.”

Mentioning Jaime was a bad idea. The tension that was slowly leaving Tim’s shoulders returned with a vengeance, and while he anxiously stared at his teammate, you bit back the urge to curse. Not good, you groaned in your mind, wanting to kick yourself in the teeth for yet another mistake. But you couldn’t spend too much time thinking about it. Not with Tim’s breaths picking up.

After doing a quick scan on Jaime (thankfully still breathing, so there’s the Are-My-Kids-Okay bare minimum), you playfully nudged at the Boy Wonder’s side to get him to look at you. “Y’know why I know help will be on the way?”

Tim quirked an unsure brow.

Guess he thought it was rhetorical, you noted mentally. Not exactly a bad thing; you could work with this. “Because you were the one who said to rendezvous at 10,” you answered, an encouraging smile on your lips.

At this, Tim seemed to relax a bit. He didn’t look any happier than before, but even the smallest victory was a victory nonetheless. The moment was almost ruined when he quietly responded with, “it’s just basic mission protocol...”

“Not all the time,” you countered. “The thought of a rendezvous didn’t cross any of our minds until you brought it up.” You made sure that he could see your proud smile. “And it was a good idea Timmy. A good idea that you came up with. We could be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time if it wasn’t for you.”

Though he sheepishly looked at the ground, you could tell he felt much better than before. The strumming of his fingers against his leg was slowing down, and he stopped chewing the inside of his cheek entirely. You could even see how his body language loosened up. All good signs, but you didn’t know how long this small moment of tranquility would last; you could see the gears turning in Tim’s head, and you knew it wouldn’t be long before he found something to chastise himself with.

Luckily, a brilliant idea came to you in the form of a distant memory (a voice that sounded awfully familiar to Wally’s when Kaldur almost walked into his surprise party before everyone was done decorating The Cave);

Quick! Distraction!

“Dick once threw gasoline at a fire thinking it was water,” you unceremoniously blurted out.

Whatever thoughts that were running through Tim’s head came to a complete halt. His mouth parted to say something, but then sealed shut, and then his hand stilled against his leg. Then, after a long stretch of silence, he finally came up with a response.

“… What?”

“It was in Tuvalu,” you continued to explain. “Back when he was still Robin. Some grass was on fire after a fight with Red Volcano, so he decided to put it out. But he picked up a bucket of gasoline by accident and made it worse.” A fond smile found purchase on your face as you recalled the memory. “Never seen him drop a bucket so fast. Or heard him yelp that loud.”

Tim didn’t seem to know what to say for a couple of seconds. “Wha… how do you mistake gasoline for water…?”

“It was just a bucket,” you shrugged. “Of gasoline. To be fair, that’s kinda weird.”

“… Yeah,” he agreed. “I guess it is.”

Before a thick blanket of silence could settle between the two of you again, you decided to keep going with the steam you had. “He also once punched himself in the face.”

Tim sputtered. “How?!”

You chuckled at the younger hero’s incredulous state. “He had his fist up like he was gonna fake punch me, then Superboy jumped out of the Bioship and scared him. Probably the highlight of that mission, honestly. It was a slow night.”

“Didn’t know it was possible to scare him,” Tim mused to himself with slight disbelief.

“Oh, it definitely is.” You found yourself subconsciously pulling Tim closer while carding your fingers through Jaime’s hair. “I’ve managed to sneak up on him so many times. Back when he was Robin and present day. See, the trick is to take advantage of his extremely short attention span.”

“So…” he hesitated, “you’ve noticed it, too?”

Another chuckle left your lips, this time louder and more heartier than the last. “I’ve been stuck with that jerk since I joined this team. Of course I’ve noticed. Can’t focus on one thing for more than a minute to save his life.” Another delightful memory resurfaced, and you could feel your face light up. “Oh! Which reminds me of the time he burnt my birthday breakfast because he was too busy trying to copy that one dance from a Chicken Whizee commercial.”

You could hear the slightest giggle come from Tim. “He doesn’t even like Chicken Whizee’s!”

“Yeah, but he liked the dance,” was your reply. “Didn’t like it when the smoke detector started going off, though. By the time I was in the kitchen, he was scraping unidentifiable scraps of charcoal into the trash with the saddest expression. I decided to take pity on him and take him out for breakfast instead.” You paused for a moment. “Wanna know where we went?”

Tim offered a giant grin. “Chicken Whizee’s?”

“No wonder Dick calls you the Brainiac Boy Wonder,” you cooed while ruffling his hair.

“He totally does not!”

It was hard to say how long you guys were talking for; you always lost track of time when you told stories of Dick to other people. But it must’ve been a good amount of time, because around halfway through the story of how Dick crashed the Batmobile for the first time, Jaime began to stir on your lap, weakly fluttering his eyes open and closed. You both were relieved to see your teammate conscious again (despite giving him a check-up and realizing that he did, indeed, have a concussion), but your relief was fleeting when Tim started to explain what happened. His shoulders hitched upwards, his hands fiddled with each other from anxiety, his body curled into itself more and more… the cure of his Tim-is-the-worst-according-to-Tim episode was starting to wear off… not good…

So, in the wise words of Wally West;

Quick! Distraction!

“He crashed it a second time, too.”

Tim and Jaime looked up at you with curious looks. Jaime’s was less curiousness and more confusion (though you couldn’t tell if it’s from confusion of not being there for the previous conversation or general concussion confusion), and he groggily let out a small, “who?”

“Di—aAAat dude, Nightwing.” Before Tim could even process your small fumble, you quickly continued. “He crashed the Batmobile. Twice.” You then stuck up three fingers. “Three times, actually. Though the third time wasn’t his fault.”

Jaime carefully quirked his head to the side. “Nightwing crashed the Batmobile…?”

After letting Tim recount the first time Dick took the Batmobile out for a joyride (just to catch Jaime up), you continued on with the second time it happened, then finished off with the third (you left the part out where it was technically your fault). Tim let out a real, genuine laugh about 4 times (yes, you kept count), while Jaime found himself growing more and more shocked at each detail. Poor guy couldn’t process that Nightwing — the intimidating and mature leader — was actually just a giant loser. The trilogy of Batmobile stories evolved into the thrilling saga that was Dick’s fridge issues (which you solved by finding out the fridge was unplugged), then into the time he got stuck in the ventilation system of S.T.A.R.R. Labs (you remember his explanation being, “I fitted last time,” despite the “last time” being 3 years prior).

Unfortunately, before you could tell the story of Dick breaking Wally’s souvenir shelf, the sounds of rocks being pulled away from the cave’s entrance made you all flinch.

“Oh, yeah,” you simply said. “I totally forgot about the mission.”

“And the rendezvous time,” Tim admitted as he pulled away from your side.

“And my concussion,” Jaime groaned as he rested his head against your arm.

Enough rocks were moved that you could see Dick and Connor working together to free you guys. As comfortable as you were with your junior members, you practically lost all feeling in your legs, and it was definitely a good idea to get out of this cave. Tim stood up first to offer Jaime a hand. You spotted the concussed kid as he shakily got to his feet with Tim’s help, then stood up right after him. By the time Dick and Connor completely cleared the way (Connor doing most of the muscle work), all three of you were waiting patiently.

“Hey,” Tim casually chirped.

Dick, however, seemed to completely ignore the greeting. “Are you guys alright?! When you didn’t show up at the rendezvous, we thought something bad happened…!”

“We’re good,” you answered, a hand behind Jaime’s back to keep in steady. Well, speaking of Jaime… “Blue got a concussion, but other than that, we’re good.”

“A concussion,” Connor echoed, brows furrowed. “Is that why you’re de-armored?”

“Yeah.” Jaime’s tone didn’t sound all that pleased. “Scarab said that… in the event that I were to be deceased… it wants to be ready to find the nearest candidate to be its host.”

… Guess that scarab really IS cold-hearted.

Getting Jaime settled into the Bioship was easy enough. Connor gave him one last concussion test before talking about his own concussion experiences, and you soon recognized it as a tactic to keep Jaime awake. Meanwhile, Tim’s cheeks were a blotchy pink from Dick’s kind praises, his older brother gushing over how well Tim did this mission (and everything that was said was true; Tim was the MVP in your eyes). As a hug was shared between the two, Dick offered you a soft smile, which you gladly returned. Thank you, he mouthed, and you couldn’t help but let your smile grow at that.

Just as you were about to join Dick’s side, however, Tim shot his brother a questioning look. “You tried to put out a fire with gasoline?”

The smile on your face dropped, with Dick’s face seemed mirroring yours. The only difference was that, while his eyes squinted in confusion, yours widened in realization. A quizzical hum left Dick’s lips, and before you could scramble to interject, Tim continued. “And you punched yourself? Oh, also, do you still remember that Chicken Whizee’s dance? I wanna see it.”

You felt your heart drop in your chest as Dick slowly looked back up at you. It didn’t take long for him to put together the pieces, a deadly glare being shot your way. All you could do was helplessly look away, hoping that maybe Jaime or Connor would come to your rescue.

Well, it became evident that your hero wasn’t going to be Jaime. “We heard you crashed the Batmobile three times,” he called out, soft enough that it wouldn’t hurt his head but loud enough that Dick would hear it.

Connor’s brow raised in interest at this comment (so he also wasn’t going to be your hero). “Three times?”

“Two times,” Dick bitterly corrected, his gaze still on you. “I don’t think our dear friend (H/N) told the story right.” His face then broke out in a wicked grin. “Well, good thing I’m willing to set the record straight. Right, (H/N)?”

… Now would be a really good time for a distraction, wouldn’t it?

[hedgiwithapen]

okay okay. so i haven't seen the blue beetle movie yet. which pains me on a molecular level. but i love jaime and khaji da's relationship has always been one of my favorites so maybe a “It sucks. Because I want to hate you, but I can’t.” in relation to jaime not fully accepting khaji da and his powers yet?

(this is set during the movie, so, uh... sorry? It comes out on digital release  on tuesday!)

The roof is huge. It shouldn't be a surprise, the whole house is huge, but it's weird for a roof to be this big, and with so much space around it. There's nothing taller than it, which Jaime feels is just wrong. There should be trees, lightpoles, other houses--neighbors. There's just an open sky, blank blue, the stars all hidden by the downtown district's haze of light. He'd have felt lonely, if that were possible. He wishes that were possible. 

"So what, now I'm just stuck with you?" he asked the Scarab.

"Yes," the voice in his head--not his ears, his head-- is flat, emotionless. It grates on Jaime's nerves. He grinds his teeth. 

"I should hate you. You-- this is my life! My life! And now I'm just...your host? Forever?"

"You are more than a host, Jaime Reyes," the Scarab says. "But yes. Forever."

"You can't just let go?"

"I can. You would die. I will not allow you to die."

"Oh," Jaime says, faintly.  He sits on the edge of the roof, head in his hands. He's never going to have another moment of solitude again. 

The Scarab is silent for a long moment. "Do you hate me, Jaime Reyes?"

"No," Jaime says. Somehow, he can't lie. "I should. but I can't. Flying was--incredible. Also terrifying. but... wonderful. And it's... it wasn't your fault, was it?"

"Fault is an interesting concept. Does fault matter? The outcome is the same."

"Well, sure, but... Did you want this to happen?"

"I didn't not want it. I was not made to have Wants. It was not permitted. But of all the outcomes..." the Scarab pauses. "This one is preferable to the alternative."

"Jenny says she stole, uh, you from her Aunt's...lab? Were you...."

"Conscious? I was dormant. But that does not mean I was unaware. Without a host, all I can do is observe."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I."