#it could have worked until the end of episode one

[strange-anni]

The lights are flickering. The alarm is on.

Why?

MIKE: A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here. WILL: What is it? DUSTIN: What if it's the Demogorgon? Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon.

There is a threat looming on the horizon. The Demogorgeon (Deep Father) could enter Mikes basement. If this happens they're screwed as Dustin informs us.

MIKE: An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber! DUSTIN: Troglodytes? LUCAS: Told ya.

Luckily for our party, it's not the Demogorgeon. So we can all take a breath now, can we?

A relieved smile. No imminent danger

Or is there?

It's the Demogorgeon!

DUSTIN: We're in deep shit. MIKE: Will, your action! WILL: I don't know! LUCAS: Fireball him! WILL: I'd have to roll a 13 or higher! DUSTIN: Too risky. Cast a protection spell. LUCAS: Don't be a pussy. Fireball him! DUSTIN: Cast Protection.

Oh no, it's the Demogorgeon after all. This should've never happened. What is Will supposed to do? Should he protect himself or attack?

WILL: Fireball!

Will has made a decision. He's going to attack! Yet he's losing his dice. Chaos ensures. Will he be successful in fighting of the Demogorgeon? Will he roll a 13 or higher?

WILL: Oh, I got it! Does the seven count? LUCAS: It was a seven? Did Mike see it? (Will shakes his head.) Then it doesn't count.

It doesn't work. The attack didn't work. It's only 7. BUT as long as Mike doesn't know, it doesn't count that he couldn't fight off the Demogorgeon. There is still a chance left. Will could lie. He could tell Mike that he rolled a 13 and landed the attack and defeated the Demogorgeon and everything would be fine!

Yet ...

WILL: It was a seven. MIKE: Huh? WILL: The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See you tomorrow.

Will decides against it. He's made a decision to tell Mike. He's made a decision to tell Mike that he couldn't fight off the Demogorgeon! Now Mike knows and that's BAD. Will has exposed the secret. It's the secret of the a*use he suffered by his father.

It does not matter that Mike doesn't get it. Now everything is different. Things can never go back to the way they were before

The lights are flickering on the Wheelers garage. What was once contained inside is now affecting the outside. The alarm is full on.

... and Will needs to be thought a lessen. He can never act that way ever again!

So

The Demogorgeon attacks to remind Will of what the (deep) father is capable of doing. To remind him of the a*use he suffered.

Now look above at what happens next.

But there is still one more thing I want to shed some light on. It's a scene which happens a bit later shortly before Hopper investigates the cabin. It's got to do with Chester and his behavior.

Look at this dog

Chester is flicking his ears meaning he's listening to his surroundings as well as wagging his tail. That's a happy gesture. It means that whatever is in the woods in not dangerous. This dog is not afraid at all.

Why?

Because there is nothing dangerous in the woods. No Demogorgeon. Nothing. Just Will hiding and Chester knows/ senses this.

It's so anticlimactic and yet I believe all of this exactly what happened. Will did not get abducted on the November the 6th 1983. Lonnie did not come back to get him (although he's still responsible in the end). What happened was that Will disclosed the secret of the a*use he faced when he shouldn't have done that. (not my opinion) So he had to be scared into submission. This can happen through many means and one of them is visions. What Will saw that night was a vision of the Demogorgen (deep father) h(a)unting him as has happened in the past and can happen again.

The only way to prevent it is to behave aka to shut his mouth and never tell anyone of what had happened. A rule Will did not follow and so he had to be reminded.

What really happened to Will when he vanished...

I don't have all the details here but... a lot of this is starting to connect.

Will enters the U.S. Department of Energy.

He falls off his bike. Wheel stops turning (indicating time coming to a halt).

He rushes through a spooky forest (creepy trees... I'll touch on that topic later) into his home. Mom and Jonathan aren't there. He tries to call the police but the Demogorgon scares him into doing so.

He rushes toward the shed.

(The association between a shed and a bomb for context).

This "Little Boy" loads a gun.

Little Boy was a gun-type atomic bomb that was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare.

He comes face to face with a light (the truth). It begins shining brighter and brighter...

Likely an explosion occurred right at that moment.

As Will is compared to "Little Boy" here... there's a nuclear fission reaction. This means splitting in two.

Kind of like...

A boy being split into two. Two what you say? Two... personalities?

Perhaps this little girl appeared to take over. To help protect Little Boy from his trauma. She came into the light while he vanished into the darkness. She's the gatekeeper alter (an actual DID alter term...). The one who controls the gate and access to memories...

Thus, he remains in the dark with only "vague" memories.

This bomb going off caused time to stop at exactly 8:15, just like "Little Boy" the atomic bomb did. That atomic bomb caused time pieces to be stuck at 8:15 essentially leaving the city of Hiroshima frozen in time.

It's no wonder Brenner and co wear hazmat suits when investigating the shed. Nuclear fission leaves behind toxic nuclear waste, after all.

More on this topic...

[causenessus]

leaving soon. | dazai o.

dazai x f!reader

written in 3rd person bc i can

song recc: the fear of losing this by florist

word count: 2.8k words

notes: use of pet names angel, love, and bella; WARNING for mentions about suicidal ideation,, not heavy angst, it's just dazai. and also the reader thinking she'd be fine dying if she's with dazai. not in a manipulative way, just a way of loving him in every universe and state <3 lots of hurt/comfort, overthinking, and insecurity. basically both dazai and the reader are horrible at communication so they have to figure it out together. established relationship implied. takes place during cannibalism arc after dazai is shot. civilian or ada reader not specified on purpose. thank you for reading!

she was the first person they called when they found out.

well– the first after an ambulance had been called. after that, she was the next most important person to call.

not important enough to have any part in saving his life, though. not just as a doctor; she wasn’t good enough to prevent him from thinking of killing himself every day. she wasn’t important enough to keep him from throwing himself into the way of danger, not worth enough that he thought about what would affect her before he wound up in these situations–

it was wrong of her to be angry at him for something like this. she knew what she’d been getting into when she first met him. when she first started falling for him, and when she confessed. she knew all along what he was like, and she still loved him anyway.

yes, he had a past. yes, he joked about committing suicide every day. yes, he was reckless. yes, he was a mastermind. yes, he was selfless and willing to always put everything above himself. yes, he was bad at communication. yes, he was worthy of love. yes, he could give love.

relationships were a work in progress. they would always be until the day she ended up buried next to him, hopefully. deep down, a part of her had already forgiven him for the episode of panic and stress she'd had as soon as she'd recieved the broken call from atsushi. but the other half knew it also wasn’t wrong of her to feel upset when she'd heard that her boyfriend had been shot in an alleyway.

she knew him well enough to know he knew he was putting himself in risk of danger in that alleyway, whatever he'd been doing there. she reckoned he probably knew he was going to be shot, too. and if he knew all that, she just wanted to know why he didn’t give her a heads-up. she wasn't asking for all the details. even just a text, moments before, saying "hey. i'm about to end up in the hospital. someone might will call you. don't be too worried." she didn't expect them dating to miraculously change him into a man who didn't crave death at every moment, but had it been so wrong of her to hope that maybe being in a relationship would cause him to think twice before getting himself in situations like these, no matter how much he assured her he knew what he was doing?

one day, as much as she hoped it wouldn’t be the case, she feared there’d be something he failed to account for. one day, he'd go missing, and no one would be able to find him, and it'd stay that way. she feared one day they wouldn't be so lucky as to find him bleeding out in an alleyway when there was still a chance to save him.

but there she went again, being angry at dazai, then being angry at herself for being angry at him, and then shoving down her feelings before she even had the time to process them. because she didn’t want to be the overbearing girlfriend who always plagued and worried about her boyfriend, but she couldn’t help it when her boyfriend quite literally wanted and was trying to kill himself.

everyone she had talked to had agreed that it wasn’t wrong of her to feel worried about her partner and that they would support her if she decided to distance herself from him for her own sake, but she could never bring herself to do that. if anything, to be completely honest, she’d rather she die with him than leave him to die on his own. 

maybe she was weird or morbid for thinking that way. maybe she needed to seek help. but all she knew was that she truly loved him, but maybe he didn’t feel the same way. maybe their entire relationship was just temporary for him and he didn’t want to die with her at his side. maybe death was something sacred for him that he wanted to experience alone, or she just wasn't the perfect one for him and he was still looking for that "special one." she wasn’t entirely sure what his thoughts were on the concept, or what he really, truly thought of her. she didn't know if she was really of any value to him.

maybe she could figure it out for herself. maybe she was a horrible, terrible, awful girlfriend for not knowing what her boyfriend thought of committing suicide with her, but she had no idea. she wasn't sure what was okay for her to bring up, and what wasn't. how was one supposed to go about asking their partner's opinion on a double suicide? she had been frozen by this fear as she stood outside her hospital door, but it was something that had been on her mind long before now. the fear of bringing up something that might ruin their relationship started even before they were dating; with even the thought of confessing her feelings. even though she'd gotten past that, it never became easier bringing up touchy subjects with him, out of fear of triggering something without the intention to.

she had been stuck outside his door for more than ten minutes since she'd been left by a nurse to open his door and check on him. she was unsure of what to think of herself, and what to do. her hand was fisted and raised, ready to knock but then she decided ‘i’m the first person on his emergency contacts list. i don’t need to knock; he’s mine. he probably wants to see me. i’m his.’  

she swung the door open.

what was she doing with her face? what was she supposed to be saying? why had she decided to come in so abruptly? she should have knocked after all. she was reminded of the fact that she was not enough to stop osamu from wounding up in a hospital in the first place. she didn't have any right to barge in like this.

then, all of her worries melted away when he turned away from the window to see who’d entered his room and his face softened.

“[y/n],” he whispered, and she saw his bandaged hands loosen their grip on the sheets he'd been holding. his shoulders dropped, and his whole demeanor seemed to relax.

“osamu,” she called his name back, letting her body do what felt normal. she was glad it had a sense of what to do, because she felt like she was at a loss for words. if she opened her mouth, she wasn’t sure if a tone of concern or of anger would come out. 

she took a seat in the chair pulled up to the side of his bed, loosely intertwining her fingers with his nearby hand. the bandages that adorned his skin didn’t bother her. in fact, she was often overcome with an urge to kiss over every inch of his body and tell him how beautiful he was. the hospital gown he wore was what bothered her; she thought everything about him was beautiful and she couldn’t stand the thought that there’d be a scar on his body because of her. because she hadn’t done a good enough job of telling him how loved and important he was. that he didn’t think of himself nor her as important enough to keep himself out of danger.

her lips were pressed into a grim line as she ran a thumb over his knuckles. she wished he would eat more.

“everything go well with the surgery?” she asked, talking softly as if the silent atmosphere in the room was fragile.

he hummed in response, “yeah, they took good care of me. i should be good to leave by tomorrow afternoon.”

her head perked up at the answer, “that soon already? are you sure?”

“yep! as long as i take it easy, they’ll let me go tomorrow which is good. thing are tense between the mafia and agency right now. ranpo and kunikida are fine, but we'll have to work together with them against the one who caused all this, and i’m the only one who can faciliate that.” 

she liked it when he explained everything to her, it made her feel helpful, as if at least he could share his thoughts with someone else rather than keeping them all wound up in his head. she nodded along, trying to push down the concerns she had for him. the mafia wasn’t always nice to work with; even if dazai was right and their cooperation was the best course of action, that didn’t mean they would agree to it–at least not without a fight.

“you are going to take it easy when you’re discharged. right?” she gave him a look, in which he gave her a wry smile in return.

“of course i will, bella! who do you think i am? and i’ll have you, my guardian angel to make sure of it, won’t i?” he laughed, squeezing her hand as he talked boldly.

it had been easy for her to forget that he would want her by his side but the reminder made her smile, “you’re right. i'll be there to make sure you don’t hurt yourself again.” she almost added something else to her sentence but the "again" spoke well for itself, she thought. she didn’t want to ruin the mood so she kept it vague and her mouth shut. dazai looked at her expectedly, as if he was waiting for her to say something else but she only smiled at him, “i think i’m going to go take a walk real quick, just to clear my head. is that okay? i’ll be back soon.” she made an excuse as she stood up, turning to walk towards the door of his room before a hand gripped her wrist, pulling her backward.

she yelped as she fell onto the bed, flush with his chest. she could feel and hear the groan he let out when she hit his torso and on reflex tried to push off of him to lighten the pressure on his wound but his grip remained strong around her wrist, pulling her closer.

the prick of pain that shot through his stomach was a small price to pay for having his girlfriend on his chest, where he had wanted her from the moment she’d walked through the door. he wrapped his arms around her back, keeping her secure and from escaping his arms.

she allowed herself to be held in his arms, knowing it was useless to try to fight it now. she sighed, trying to enjoy the moment as her ear rested against his chest, allowing her to hear his heartbeat while she looked out the hospital window to the orange colored sky. 

“why take a walk away from me?” he mumbled playfully, nose buried in her hair. when she didn't respond, he placed a gentle hand on both sides of her face, tenderly guiding her head up to look her in his eyes; warm, chocolate-brown pools of adoration.

this is pathetic.

how did she come in here upset and worried about him and end up being the one comforted?

“you’re thinking too much in that pretty head of yours, angel. you’re thinking way too much about things way out of your control. that isn’t good. i can’t let you worry yourself to death like this, love. you gotta let me know what’s up. pretty please?” his voice was soft and pleading, but she winced at the mention of the word death, averting her eyes from him, instead opting to lay her head back on his chest, focusing on the steady rhythm inside of it. it was the surest sound in the world, the only thing she felt that could silence her head at the moment.

“sorry, angel,” he brushed a hand through her hair again, “didn’t mean to upset you, but i can tell, you know. and it makes me worried. i want to know what’s upsetting you so much.”

“says you,” she replied, huffing in frustration. he waited for her to continue, and she did, “you think you’re worried? i’m worried. about you! you’re the problem.” his fingers stopped moving at the mention of him. 

“‘don’t worry about me,’ i can already tell what you're about to say. ‘yes i know i was shot but don’t worry it was all part of an elaborate plan i didn’t tell you about after promising to try to communicate better,’” she mimicked him, trying to explain to him her point. she feels the hum in his chest as he processes her words and starts to grasp it. “it’s just– i’m sorry if that’s mean. and i’m sorry for worrying because you don’t need that added to your plate, but i can’t help it. i didn’t want to tell you this at the start because i don’t want to overstep your boundaries or give you one more thing to fix. i don’t care much about you breaking your promise to communicate better because it’s a lot to ask and it can’t always be done. i know you’ve had a difficult past and i don’t mind, osamu. i’m not mad, all i want is for you to be safe. and i know that’s a lot to ask from a suicidal man and that’s why i don’t know where i have a say in all of this– but i love you and it hurts for me to see you put yourself in danger so carelessly without telling anyone, as if i’m not enough to make you think twice before injuring yourself. sometimes– sometimes it feels like i’m just something for you to toy with before you die. something for you to entertain yourself with before you inevitably end up leaving. and i don’t want you to leave. i don’t want you to die, or at the very least without me– but i also know that’s nearly impossible to ask of you.”

he had started to rub her scalp as some sort of apology while she’d explained her feelings to him, and she still couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. she felt pathetic and weak with the tears in her eyes, and even worse when they began to slip from her eyes, no doubt seeping through his shirt and bandages. “you have every right and place to say whatever you would like, bella.” he spoke up after a beat of silence as he thought. still, it didn’t make her feel any better. he could just be saying what he knew she wanted to hear, but what she wanted was the truth. how much time did she have left with him? how much was she worth? was he leaving soon?

“you're the closest person to me and you deserve to say whatever you would like and to know what’s going on. i love you, too,” she could practically hear the smile in his voice as he said those words which made her face turn red as she turned away from the window to hide it in his hospital gown. her own confession had slipped out of her without a second thought, but she hadn’t meant for this to be a serious moment of testing how much he loved her. “i wouldn’t have agreed to try to change if i didn’t want to, but that’s why i made you that promise. i do want to change and be better for you, whatever that entails. i’d rather talk to you about my plans even if you don’t like them so that you know what’s going on rather than leaving you in the dark. because i never want you to feel like you’re just a toy or anything of the sort. you’re so much more than that, bella, and i should show as much. i’ve been and am forever grateful for your love and patience, [y/n]. i don’t deserve either. ask whatever you want of me and i will do it. will you give me another chance, my angel?”

“of course,” she mumbled in response, nuzzling and kissing the center of his chest, finally feeling the truth and love behind his words spread through her body like a warm fire. “i love you,” she whispered, not expecting him to hear it.

“i love you too,” he whispered back, pressing a kiss to her scalp.

a noise from the window made them both jump as they turned to see a spotted orange cat with a sardine in its mouth waiting outside. it was posed too well to be a normal cat, and the pair shared a glance as she moved to start to get off of him.

“do you want to come along with me this time, bella?”

“always.”

[skzpixie]

Can we have clingy sleepy in pain chaotic Pixie on her period and the members caring for their baby member, pleeeease?

Oh. My. God. YES.

Its short, but its sweet. This is predebut, but i hope you like it <3 I love the prompt

Word count: 636

Warnings: Menstruation... obviously. Mentions of episodes (doesnt say specifically but it alludes to depression). She gets called 'bun' twice. Cancer being used once. Also, unedited

The first thing the members noticed in the day was them getting to work before their female member. This rarely happens – but it’s fine, she must’ve slept in. She had been overworking herself for the evaluation, after all. She wanted to make sure she would debut this time, as this was her last effort before she quit the idol scene all together.

The second thing they noticed was when she came in. She was late by three hours. She seemed… off.

“Hey, Kai…?” Chan said hesitantly, raising an eyebrow. “You good?”

“I’m fine.” Kai snapped back, pulling up her hair into a ponytail, despite the obvious pain. She was wearing a black top and white sweatpants. She rarely wore white pants, called it a waste of time.

“O…kay?” Chan backed away from her hesitantly.

The rest of the day was long. Their Hellevator choreography was pissing a lot of people off, and even after several hours of training, Chan called it a day. Kai seemed to book it out after, not spending time with the members afterwards, like how she normally would. That rang alarm bells in their head, and they planned on talking to her the next day.

However, the next day she didn’t show up. That was unlike her, as it was also the day of evaluation. They kept calling her, but no luck. They eventually got it to be rescheduled for a few days from then, and once the evaluator left, they made a beeline for the female dorms.

They made it to her dorm and started knocking furiously. After a few seconds, one of Kai’s roommates opened the door, eyes wide. “Why are you guys-“

“Where’s Kai?” Felix cut her off. The boys were in a full blown panic, thinking she was having one of her episodes. Her roommate, Seung-hee, sighed and opened the door and pointed to the Kai-shaped lump on her bed.

The boys filed in and crowded around her bed. There was muffled groaning coming from the blankets. They looked towards Sung-hee, with wide, puppy-dog eyes. “What’s wrong with her?” Minho asked.

“Is she dying?!?!” Felix asked, which sent Han into a spiral.

“Oh my god, is it cancer?!?” Han added.

“She’s on her period.” Seung-hee blanched.

That made the boys pause. Before a look of realization overtook their faces.

The blankets shifted, and then moved as Kai sat up, looking deathly. “Why’re you guys here?” She mumbled.

“We were worried about you, bun.” Minho said, eyebrows creasing in worry for her sickly appearance.

Kai sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes. “You were worried??” She looked up at them with her big, boba eyes.

Their hearts melted. “Of course, bun.” Felix said, sitting on the bed beside her, pulling her into his arms.

“Okay. Today is a Kai Day. We will bring you back to our dorm, make a little floor nest with how many snacks and heating pads you want.” Changbin stated, scooping her up in his arms – blankets and all. Kai giggled, clinging onto Changbin as he carried her with ease. The boys followed, bring whatever blanket, heating pad, menstrual product, and snack they could find.

Hours later, they were all watching a comfort movie. They all bundled around Kai, keeping her covered, watching The Notebook, and cuddling. Kai was in and out of consciousness due to her pain medication she took. “You guys are so sweet.” She mumbled, cuddling into Seungmin’s side.

Hyunjin smiled softly, brushing hair out of her face. “You’re our baby, you make us want to be sweet to you.”

Kai smiled softly. “I just… wish we can debut together… all nine of us….” She whispered, before falling asleep.

And her wish came true – the nine of them debuted, so they can stay together until the end of time.

[agueforts]

me vs eternal grudges abt d20 captions

[bagheerita]

#ooh this is a hot take#bc on one hand I do actually believe that tain loves him in his own fucked up way#which is why hes so hard on him. i mean he literally risked his career and reputaion to send him to bamarren#he really did want the best for him. but hes so fucked up himself that he really cant be a parent#i love his ‘night people’ speech bc thats really the only time hes ever honest or straight with garak#and that bit about the riding hound tells me he absolutely loved garak. he obviously loves mila very much#but on the other hand garak never felt loved or accepted or like his dad was proud of him. he was never a father to him.#and afterall its tains fault that garak turned out the way he did. sentimental and emotional and short sighted#obviously he had no choice but to have tolan raise him but he was more of a father to him than tain ever could be.#so of course he takes after him. like tain did this to himself and he did it to garak.#theres just so much pain and disapointment and blame between the two of them#they both made mistakes. they even both deserve some grace. the big differance is that garak was just a kid. this was done to him.#even if tain didnt mean to. even if he had the best of intentions. intentions arent worth much when compared to actions and outcomes#also… I bet your right about tain being this fuckin close to just being like yk what. idc. join a cult be a gardener idfc#but he loved him. which is why he never gave up on him until the disspointment was too great. and he was angry and hurt#the humiliation of exile is so much worse than execution. ts was personal#it was so cruel bc he loved him so much and was so hurt

@codenameregnar I wanted to thank you, because I've been thinking about your tags for months now.

My initial instinctive reaction to the idea that Tain actually loved Garak was fucking no way. I personally think Tain loves no one but himself, and therefore loves only the mirror that he thinks he can carve in Garak. But I swallowed my hasty words and forced myself to get to some Tain episodes in my rewatch first and reexamine the evidence.

To me, selflessness is a main component of love, placing someone else's needs ahead of your own, and I don't believe Tain has ever been selfless in his entire life and is therefore incapable of love. I personally don't think he even really loves Cardassia, except when it's a reflection of himself and his own ideals.

But the other main component of love, to my mind, is vulnerability. And Tain does allow himself to be vulnerable around Garak. So, yeah, in his own fucked up way, I guess Tain does love Garak. (For what it's worth, because love is neither a be-all-end-all or an obligation, despite what the writers of DS9 want to promote.)

I also really liked your point that the reason Tain never gives up on Garak being a part of the Order is that he does love him, and wants to keep giving him opportunities to prove that he can do better. He never wants Garak to die: even when Tain feels ultimately betrayed and hurt, Garak is exiled instead of killed because if he's alive he can always have another chance to learn to be better; and Tain gives Julian whatever he needs in "The Wire." If he says it's only because living is a punishment, well he is a noted liar and teacher of liars; and also the truth in the lie is that it is a punishment that part of him hopes Garak will learn from and return from, stronger. Even when he sends the assassin in "Improbable Cause" (I mean I think he's pretty well gone on being too up his own ass at that point but) I feel like it was really just another test: that he knew it wouldn't work unless Garak was already fallen too far from what he could have been. And I guess he was right, because Garak saw the assassin coming, but Tain didn't see Changeling-Lovok coming.

So I read A Stitch in Time and one result of that which I was certainly not expecting was that I feel so much sympathy for Enabran Tain. Garak's life is a tragedy, but Tain's is a fucking black comedy.

I mean, he's a terrible person and an absolute shitbag, but can you imagine? You have this kid. You go to all the trouble of arranging for him to be raised in a family situation where he won't be rejected from society for being your bastard. You get him into the nicest indoctrination school where he can hobnob with plenty of uppercrust kids. You get him a job in your Order and all the proper training. And he's actually, like, really good at it. But he has this fatal flaw of being completely incapable of not making stupid, short-sighted, emotional decisions.

A scene I imagine has to have happened just prior to Garak and Tain's confrontation at the end of part II:

Like goddamn. When Tain asked "what's your plan for getting rid of her husband?" and Garak's just like "plan what plan." Dude. I'M disappointed, I can only imagine the guy who's job it is to know and plan for everything isn't at least as disappointed.

I know he didn't actually, but do you think there was ever a time when Tain wanted to be like, You know what. Just go back to Tolan and become a gardener. Join that illegal hippie cult. It's fine.

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 6!!!

[ursaspecter]

what i say: i'm fine

what i mean: in the back to the future telltale game in episode 1 doc was talking about how jules and verne were already getting ready to go to college. and its just not brought up again. what the fuck. at that point marty hadnt seen him since october 1985 and it's may 1986 now. and this was before the idw comics so there was nothing to fill that gap yet. marty's best friend has been gone for so long his own kids are around marty's age now. i love the game and it's my favorite extension to bttf but holy shit why did they do that. i know in the end the timeline gets so changed around that the browns have been living in hill valley since the end of part 3 but marty wasnt around for that. this is another whole new doc he has to get to know now. how many times must marty lose his best friend to time travel

[brown-little-robin]

so many feelings about Noragami in the club tonight 😭

IT'S SO DRAMATIC BUT IT'S SO GOOD *froths at mouth* IT'S THE BEST DEPICTION OF SIN AND REPENTANCE I'VE EVER SEEN AND IT'S SO UNASHAMEDLY DRAMATIC AND SILLY AND IT HITS ALL MY BUTTONS I SWEAR

[mbg159]

I view Z-One as a fairly good antagonist who had the potential to be a much better antagonist. His main problem is that he has two very good concepts: the protagonist in the future, at his lowest, having abandoned everything he once was, and a guy futilely trying to emulate what he thinks of as the last symbol of hope. These are both good concepts. The problem is, the series uses one as a fakeout for the other, and in a way that ends up diminishing it.

Usually, when you want to have a fakeout, it's important for the thing you're faking out to be something the characters and the audience both think they know. That way, the fakeout can have some actual meaning, because the audience and the characters can learn about something at the same time. But that's not the case in the Z-One fakeout. Fans figured out "oh, he's probably Yusei from the future or something" from the moment he first appeared--but the characters didn't. They don't bring up the idea until the mask breaks. In fact, once Yusei does see what he looks like under the mask, he takes about half an episode before he dismisses the idea as something that could never happen, and Z-One basically goes "alright, fair cop, here's what really happened." After giving us a big emotional reveal, the series then nullifies it before anyone's really processed it, and the result just doesn't feel right. And that's not even getting into the catastrophic experience of watching it week-to-week, where audiences who had just had their socks knocked off by the end-of-episode reveal tuned in the following week to learn that all the cool ideas and scenarios they'd imagined for how the show could possibly explain Yusei's fall from grace were actually pointless.

I'm going to enter speculation mode here, but I'd be willing to bet money that when we first saw Z-One, the writers didn't actually know what his backstory was, and may have even gotten into conflicts about it. The series stays tight-lipped about him for a very long period, keeping his actions mysterious and leaving most of the clues of his identity as a future Yusei left to his visual design and the whole Shooting Star Dragon thing. That, to me, suggests that the writers were strongly considering the idea of him being Yusei, but didn't want to nail anything down in case they went back on it later.

Now, if they had decided from minute one that he was going to be a fake, then it would have made sense to have the characters think he was real (or at least strongly suspect it), well before the duel with him. That way, you can have Yusei struggle with the idea, have his friends distrust him a bit, and delve a bit into Yusei's attempts to reject that potential future--he might even question using Shooting Star. You could have the villains deliberately play into Yusei's doubts. You could have the angst and the character arc, but you don't have to tarnish Yusei. As it stands, the reveal doesn't actually mean much emotionally, because it's really only pulling the rug out from under the audience. To the characters, the twist was "hey, you know that guy from the future we don't know or have any connection with? Well, he's... still a guy from the future we don't know or have any connection with."

Basically, I'm not opposed to the Z-One twist in a vacuum, though I feel its actual execution leaves a lot to be desired (that flashback feels incredibly rushed, and in a bad way). But I feel that to make the twist work would require the rest of the arc to be written differently. With the arc as it was, I think it would have been better to just go for the full shock option and make him Yusei, letting the "holy SHIT" factor paper over the oddities.

The Supreme King arc of GX is a really good counterexample. As the arc stands, it was very clearly rushed and underplanned, the timeline is wonky, and believing that Judai would become that evil takes a lot of stretching of the imagination, but the strength of seeing this loveable dorky goofball have all that stripped away from him to become a cruel demon king with a heart of ice is enough to make you want to believe it. And it helps that, while it may not hold together logically, it does hold together emotionally, because it felt like it was informing what we knew about Judai. Judai was outwardly affable, but he'd always had an undercurrent of something worse, moments here or there where he just comes off as kind of an asshole. Then, the third arc kicks into gear, and people start calling him out for it--and suddenly all his behavior earlier starts to get recontextualized, and it becomes clear that Judai was only ever a "hero" because being a hero came easily to him. He didn't really have a moral code or a selfless motivation, so when he does suffer great personal loss for the first time, and completely throws aside any veneer of morality, dragging down the dimensions in a cosmic-scale act of desperation to never be weak again... it feels like it's coming from somewhere.

In fact, the arc went so far as to have a twist on top of its twist, but from the complete opposite direction of the Z-One twist. Initially, it seems that the Supreme King might just be some kind of entity of darkness possessing Judai, some supernatural, external force. But later on, we discover that, no, that isn't true. The Supreme King was nothing more than Judai at his worst, tapping into the power of Darkness that was his birthright. The series refused to let him off the hook for his selfishness, and it makes the arc incredibly powerful when he ends it by doing the most selfless thing imaginable.

Now, I don't mean to say every character should get a villain arc. Judai and Yusei are very different characters: in fact, they're almost opposites in a lot of ways. Judai's arc is about maturity and learning to accept responsibility. His arc is meant to be a positive one, where he starts out as kind of a bad person and ends up as a better person. Yusei's arc, meanwhile, has more to do with guilt, with refusing to accept that you are a bad person even in the face of the whole world telling you that's the case. His arc is a neutral one, where he starts out as a good person and then refuses to stop being a good person even in the face of the world telling him to not be, with the occasional stumble along the way. Either Z-One option would have played well off that, whether it's thinking he could become a monster, or knowing he could become a monster--which would make it powerful when he then recants it, denying even the forces of apparent predestination to declare, no, he could never become Z-One. But, by hiding the idea for so long, and then disproving it immediately after it comes out, we kind of get neither. Yusei doesn't really get his morals tested: we do get the "no, I'll never become you", but it just feels like yet another affirmation of what we've already heard a thousand times at this point, which is that Yusei Is Really Cool, You Guys.

But, on the other hand, I suppose I can't complain very much. On presentation alone, Z-One is still handily the second-best Gallop-era final boss, even if that mostly just means he's a B- in a sea of C's and F's (and one A, by all accounts).

dunno if you've ever been asked, but what are your thoughts on z-one? He's one of my favorite final boss villains in YGO but I know (especially for a while) people didn't like him due to the fakeout of not being an evil Yusei.

Hey there! As a matter of fact, I have not been asked. I think Z-ONE's a fine antagonist, frankly. The setup to get to him takes a while, but the reveal when he finally shows up is pretty good where I'm concerned. (Of course, some things about him are plagued by the same plotholes as the entire WRGP—mostly, the scope of his "godlike" powers is very, very unclear. But since it adds a lot of pizzazz, I can usually overlook it.) Moreover, I think the initial reveal of his face—where it's unclear whether or not he's Yusei at first—is perfect, because it really throws you for a loop.

That said, I'm a bit in two minds about the identity thing. On one hand, I get why people wanted him to be Yusei, as in, the actual, real Yusei, who was simply pushed to his limits by a horrid, inescapable future. The sheer amount of angst would have been unparalleled. And it would have posed the very interesting question of just what it would take to push Yusei, our very own protagonist, that far. After all, he's the hero, he's the one preaching hope and friendship even when everyone else has given up on it already. Just the implications alone of a person like Yusei—Yusei—being pushed far enough to become the villain would have been downright cataclysmic. It would have sold the sheer hopelessness of the Meklord future like nothing else. So I get why people wanted it to be true, there's certainly potential there.

But at the same time... I'm not sure I can bring myself to see it. And a lot of that has to do with what canon presents us before the big reveal of Z-ONE's face already. First, there's the fact that it's Yusei. As I said, this is the guy who's all-in on loyalty, hope, and friendship even when nobody else is. It is arguably one of his, if not the defining trait he has. To topple that unwaveringness by implying even he could be pushed to give up on these things... I don't know if it might not have soured his character a bit in some people's eyes. Even if it might have been more realistic, even if it might have been human. Then, there's also the things we get about Z-ONE, as a character, before the reveal. And yes, I concede that's very little, but frankly? It's enough to make him feel like he absolutely couldn't be Yusei to me. Like yes, granted, the unavoidable future of despair™ would have probably changed his personality somewhat, but to that degree? Z-ONE acts nothing like Yusei to me. His tactics in manipulating Sherry, the way he speaks with Aporia during their duel, hell, the sodding Timelords he plays. I mean, sure, obviously they gave him a completely different deck so they could a.) sell more cards and so b.) the reveal could be delayed a little longer for more tension, but something about the idea that Yusei, had he actually been Z-ONE, would have completely abandoned his old deck, kept not even a single card, not even Stardust, or Speed Warrior, or Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, doesn't sit right with me. And that's obviously not touching on the timeline shenanigans that don't quite match up, because Z-ONE's ruined future is implied to be far away enough to exceed Yusei's own lifespan. (Now, if they had actually written Z-ONE to act more like Yusei, and to perhaps, damningly, have kept some of Yusei's cards, I might have been more on board with the idea.)

I don't know, I might be in the minority there, but I think Z-ONE was fine the way he was in canon. We got the shock moment of him possibly being Yusei without delving into either the emotional can of worms, nor the timeline nonsense can of worms that would have come with him actually being Yusei. Z-ONE is an excellent, end-of-show antagonist to me, with or without that extra angst. I don't usually like fakeouts that much, either, but this one, I'll happily tolerate. (Though I would argue the guy could have used just a smidgen more setup and would be even stronger if not for the nonsense worldbuilding of the Meklords. But everyone and their mother who knows my blog knows how I feel about the Meklords, worldbuilding-wise.)

[flaresanimedump]

People keep talking about Bones doing Stormbringer as a movie or at the start of the inevitable upcoming season 5. And while I can see that argument (and I heard something about stormbringer being hinted at in the OP), I think it would be very funny if Bones did Beast instead.

Just imagine the fandom rage if Bones veers out of 5 episodes of Chuuya backstory for the Odazai love letter.

[suprsingr]

I have never in all my life had so many emotions about a tumblr poll but oh my GOD I'm so happy Garak won, lmao. That was so tense.

[seddair]

.

[shioaoi]

Rundown of the more interesting parts from the Necrits live stream with Christian Linke (Creative Director and Co-Creator of Arcane) :

There was a longer version of the Caitvi sex scene but they got bonked by the ratings people, and because it would have raised Leagues rating to mature, it got brought down to what we got.

The entire Caitvi sex scene was directed and animated by Fortiche with zero input by Riot. Christian says, "That was French people being French."

Riot making Arcane canon didn't change where they were taking characters or the story, it just made them more aware of how it would affect other Riot projects.

Christian refused to confirm exactly when the events of Arcane take place in the existing timeline.

The Arcane doesn't originate from Hextech. It is just one - in universe - interpretation of magic.

Christian doesn't view Viktor and Jayce's love as romantic, and that romance wasn't the intention when writing their relationship. However, by the way he talks, it doesn't seem he's against people shipping them romantically - just as a creative team, they were more interested in exploring a close, complex male friendship / brotherhood.

The 250-million dollar show budget number is not accurate as marketing is included in that fund. Fortiche's goal from the beginning was to bring the level of animation found in feature animated films to serialised content. While the show was very expensive for an animated series, it was way cheaper than an animated feature film because they try and work efficiently. As an example, Christian says how often in Hollywood, it's not uncommon for sometimes 40-50% of what is animated to end up on the cutting room floor while with Fortiche they try and keep it around 5%

Ekko's hair was changed from a mohawk to dreads because the artist who worked on him told them that black hair doesn't work like that (in reference to the mohwak), and here's how it would actually work.

Legends of Runterra affected Arcane in terms of giving the team inspiration for how the everyday street life is for people in the regions.

Caitlyn's LOR Tactical design (2021) and Warwicks VGU Voicelines (2017) were made to reflect what was going to happen in Arcane - production of Arcane just took a long amount of time.

They've said from the beginning that the only person who could ever defeat Viktor at the height of his power was Viktor himself. His story is about the glorious evolution, the pursuit of that, and what it actually means to remove these human elements until there is nothing left.

All projects Riot is working on - whether the MMO, Games, Written or Animated projects - are in talks with one another at all times.

Christian comments on how very few games have remain in service as long as League has, and because of its ever growing and evolving story, it's hard to bring everything together cohesively since everything was made at different times, in different era's, by a multitude of different people. So, while many things may be very cool creatively, it makes it impossible to successfully bring it all together more often than not. So for new projects, they are more focused on making something good and successful with the team and talent they have, even if it retcons or replaces content made in the past.

Christian pitched singing Heimerdinger.

Arcane's scripts for S2 were locked in before S1 was released, so they were not impacted by fandoms or online reactions. Christian thinks maybe some animation choices were influenced by things the animators saw online, but not the story.

When watching the premier of the final arcane episodes in LA - the entire 4000 seat theatre cheered when Maddie died.

The butterfly motif shared between Jayce and Viktor specifically was used to represent transformation.

Christian talked about how they don't think about really whether people will like something or not, but whether it's the right consequence for the story (this is in discussion to Caitlyn losing an eye). What makes a character likeable to an audience in his eyes is their decisions in the story; the choices that they make.

Continuing on from this, he comments on how the choices Caitlyn makes now are so different now compared to the beginning of the show. She is now willing to take risks and sacrifice parts of herself for people, for Piltover and for what is right.

When asked about Caitlyn's signature hat, Christian says that the team saw it as somthing that didn't really fit this version of Caitlyn they were writing and the person she becomes and that's why it was never incorporated into her designs.

Back in the beginning, when they were first working on Arcane, Christian would constantly going back to Jinx and Vi's original design artists & Riot August who was their champion designer to make sure they weren't messing anything up with these characters.

Christian goes on to tell an anecdote of when Paul 'Zeronis' Kwon was drawing the first concepts for Vi. This was back when Christian was in music. She didn't have a name at the time, but when Christian looked over Paul's shoulder at the art, he comments "she kinda looks like a Violet to me." They never spoke about it, but months later, when she became a serious character concept internally, she was gifted the name Vi. To this day, Christian doesn't know if his comment resulted in her name or if it was just a coincidence, but Violet became stuck in Christian's brain as Vi's true name. Riot August (who was in chat) then confirms that her name came from her tattoo, which came from one of her key design elements, being that she had the number 6 on her face. So, just a happy coincidence.

Talking about the tattoo. The tattoo was shrunken in size so, from a distance, it would look more like a beauty mark and the brain can more easily disregard it. One of the many things that they had to think about when translating the designs over as, is animation, you would be looking at a characters face a lot more than you do in league where the camera is situated top down.

As they were wrapping up the stream, Christian talks about how there always needs to be a bit of space between what content creators / content consumers do (pointing at Necrit) and what Riot does. He thinks it's good that there is space for criticism and a critical view of the things Riot does. In order to succeed, he believes they need to listen to their audience but also that they need to have their own vision, take risks, and be bold. It's a delicate balance in his eyes, and projects tend to fail when these two sides are too in cahoots.

He iterates that they are not trying to shove anything down anyone's throats. They are just trying to find what makes these characters cool, tell their stories, and be true to the regions they come from. With taking the characters from League to Arcane, it was important that they translate these stories and characters so they can hold up with the best storytelling in the world.

This circles back to the earlier point about retconning things and replacing past stories and content. He comments on how some characters are very outdated or too archetypal, but they still have an essence that people love about them.

Arcane was something Christian worked on for 9 years, and he was getting clearly emotional near the end. He also adds they're just getting started and he wants to make sure they do a good job with this IP and the characters we really love.

To those who are not happy with certain decisions, he's sorry they didn't hit what you personally wanted, but there is simply no way they can please everybody. While they are trying to make as many of the Riot / Arcane audience happy, they as the creators and artists need to follow their own compass, be the shepherds of this IP; that being creative is hard. They will keep doing that even if they sometimes have to ruffle some feathers.

He closes the stream by confirming that they are investing quite a bit in Noxas, Ionia, and Demacia for the next regions they explore.

[spotsupstuff]

-gasp- •̀ o •́ WELL HOLD THAT THOUGHT FOR A SECOND RIGHT THERE, FIEND.

-makes my cats adopt yours-

Git got @spotsupstuff

[idolomantises]

Wasn't sure when it would be the best time to discuss this, but since the ending is drawing near... yes, Bugtopia is ending.

It was a decision I really wrestled with myself for months over it, before finally concluding that letting it end after 40 episodes was the better option. Just to be clear, webtoons did not force me to end the series. They even offered to give me a pay raise to continue the series. It was my decision due to a multitude of personal factors. I'll just repeat what I said on my patreon:

I just want to say, first of all, thank you all so much for patiently waiting for my series to release and for supporting my work as I began developing the series. Bugtopia was a series I genuinely loved and adored and it made me feel so incredibly happy that people were turning their heads towards a series about weird bugs and their natural lives.

However, as you can probably guess, it pains me to say that I am concluding the series after season 1. I had 4 seasons planned with new characters to introduce, but unfortunately, I cannot see myself continuing to work with Webtoons and I want to pursue other projects.

This decision was due to a compiling number of issues with the company, the final straw was when they had a mass layoff, fired my editor that I've been working with for two years, and did not inform me for a week, leaving me in the dark until they randomly assigned me with someone else. My new editor is great and I'm glad I'm working with someone so patient and understanding, but this decision to fire my previous editor, the one who got me the job to begin with, without prior warning made me feel disrespected and disregarded, and it killed all motivation I had for properly completing the series.

I also felt incredibly overworked, I was spending vacation days working on comics and avoiding time with family just so I could get something done for webtoons once I come home. I feel like so much time was being wasted away for a company that paid me so little that I had to work twice as hard building up funds on my patreon. Bugtopia just ate up so much of my time. The pay also didn't make up for it. It's commonly assumed that webtoons authors make about $800 for the episodes they do, but that's not true. In fact, you can make far less depending on the amount of panels expected for your contract. It doesn't help that the artwork i did for banners and promotions were all things I had to draw and didn't get paid for, and the work I gave was either tampered with or scrapped, making me feel like I spent more hours of my day wasting time. There were also comics I had to censor and scrap, likely due to another series being in hot water for its racially insensitive content. But it was just extra work I wasn't being paid for. It also frustrated me because I was seeing other series with far more explicit content getting away with a slap on the wrist (turns out you can't say "fuck" anymore without it being hit with a mature rating, disappointing!)

In all honesty, it just felt like webtoons needed me more than I needed them. I was making more money from patreon in a week than I was making from webtoons in a month.

Personally, while I don't really regret my time with Webtoons and met some great people along the way, I honestly don't think any artist should work with them. You will be severely overworked and underpaid, and will barely be featured in ads unless your series becomes an instant hit immediately. It doesn't really matter how successful you are, you're just a product to Webtoons, put yourself above the corporation.

I have tried my best to provide you all with a satisfying conclusion to Bugtopia, even if some episodes may feel rushed or incomplete, but I completely understand if the conclusion isn't to your liking and I do apologize, but I could not continue working on this series if this was the mistreatment I was going to continuously get. I owe a massive thank you to my editor and assistants for helping me complete the series, I truly don't think I could have ever finished it without them.

Though I am done with Bugtopia, that does not mean I want to stop projects entirely, so please don't feel bad for me. I have a lot of upcoming projects and ideas in the works, and I'm still continuing the Monsters and Girls series.

Will Bugtopia ever return... possibly. I retain complete ownership of the series after a few years, and I wouldn't mind continuing the canvas series (or possibly starting over). Unfortunately I don't think I can continue the Webtoon Original as it belongs to webtoons now, but never say never I suppose!

[ha-rinrin]

"Is there something wrong with my pants?"

Summary: Jinx's comes home after getting half of Zaun out of Stillwater with a doubt on her mind.

Pairing: Jinx x fem!reader

Wordcount: 1.4k

Authors note: I laughed so hard at this scene that I had to write something based on it. Also, guys, I'm absolutely refusing to accept the ending of episode 6 for my own mental health.

masterlist

The hideout is still, the quiet hum of the machinery and the flicker of a dim lamp your only company. You've been waiting for Jinx, trying not to imagine all the chaos she’s causing out there. You know she’s been working on something big, but you’re never quite sure exactly what until she shows up.

The door slams open, and in she bursts, her energy almost tangible as she steps into the room. Jinx is practically glowing, a grin stretched across her face that matches the wild sparkle in her eyes. Her clothes are messy, but she’s hardly bothered by it, her usual chaotic aura taking over.

“Guess who just pulled half of Zaun outta Stillwater?” she announces, her voice thick with excitement. She practically bounces in place, her fingers twitching like she’s about to explode with more energy.

You blink, surprised. “Wait—half of Zaun? You mean you—”

Jinx nods, cutting you off with a quick motion of her hands. “Yeah! I snuck in, all stealthy-like, dodged the enforcers, and got them out. No one even knew what hit ‘em! They’re gonna be talking about this for ages, trust me.” She leans in closer, her face lighting up with that grin that’s both wild and contagious. “I’m like their ghost, except, you know, way cooler.”

You can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, though a small part of you wonders how she managed it without being caught. She’s reckless, but she’s also clever in her own strange way.

Her voice drops a little, a mix of excitement and something softer underneath it. “It felt good, y’know? Being the one who saves the day for once.” She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, glancing at you like she’s half unsure if you’ll think it’s stupid.

You step forward, catching her eyes with a soft smile. “I’m proud of you, Jinx. You did something good today.”

Her eyes widen slightly, a little surprised at the words, before her usual grin returns, if a little softer now. "Well, I don’t always blow things up, y’know." She shrugs, still trying to play it off like it’s no big deal, but you can tell she’s pleased.

“Yeah, but you always make it exciting," you reply, stepping closer to her, your voice warm. "Only you could pull something like that off and get away with it."

Jinx laughs, her energy rising again, and she twirls around once more, feeling the high of her success. "Well, they won’t be calling me ‘crazy’ for much longer! They’ll be calling me a hero soon enough—just wait!"

You smile, watching her, knowing that her idea of ‘hero’ is always going to be a little different from the norm. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

After the rush of adrenaline begins to fade, Jinx’s usual wild energy starts to settle, leaving behind a quieter, more tired version of her. She lets out a long breath, her grin softening as she moves to the couch, her steps a little less bouncy now.

“You know,” she says, her voice much softer than before, “sometimes, all that sneaky, saving-the-day stuff takes more out of me than I thought.”

She drops onto the couch with a sigh, sprawling out, but then pats the empty space next to her, glancing up at you with a mischievous smile. “C’mere. You’re not gonna leave me hanging after all that, are you?”

You raise an eyebrow but walk over anyway, sitting next to her. As soon as you do, Jinx pulls you down beside her, her arms wrapping around you like a vice, dragging you closer as she snuggles into your side.

“Perfect,” she mutters, resting her head against your shoulder with a contented sigh. Her usual wild energy has faded, replaced by something softer, something that only ever seems to appear when she’s with you. She lets out a small, satisfied hum, clearly enjoying the comfort of just being close to you after everything.

“You know, you’re the only one who doesn’t think I’m a total freak," she says after a few moments of quiet, her voice more vulnerable than she usually lets on. "You’re the only one who gets it… and me." She nuzzles into your side, her arms tightening around you slightly.

You smile softly, resting a hand on her back, your fingers gently tracing the familiar lines of her jacket. "You’re not a freak, Jinx. You're just... you. And that’s all I need."

She glances up at you, her eyes bright, but there’s something softer there now, something deeper than the usual spark of mischief. "Good," she mutters with a quiet chuckle. "’Cause I’m never gonna change." Her grip on you tightens a little, and she settles further into your side, clearly at peace now. “So, I’m gonna stay here and cuddle until the world falls apart again. You cool with that?”

You chuckle, feeling the warmth of her body next to yours, the chaos of her day finally falling away as she rests against you. “I’m more than cool with that.”

Jinx lets out another satisfied sigh, her eyes fluttering closed as she relaxes even more, completely at ease in your arms. And for once, everything feels calm—just the two of you, wrapped up in each other, in a world that’s spinning too fast for anyone else to catch

Jinx stays nestled against you for a while, the chaos of the day melting away in the quiet comfort between you. Her breathing has slowed, and she feels more relaxed than she has in hours. The soft hum of the hideout is the only sound, but then, out of nowhere, she shifts slightly in your arms, her mood taking a subtle dip.

You feel her tense, just for a second, and her voice comes out a little softer than usual. “Hey… um… do you think there’s something wrong with my pants?”

You blink, not sure if you heard her correctly. And then, you glance down at her—her eyes wide, her lips pressed together like she’s genuinely worried. It’s such a stark contrast to the wild, unpredictable energy she usually exudes. The sudden vulnerability in her face, combined with the seriousness of her tone, is almost too much.

And before you can stop yourself, you burst out laughing. It’s not mean-spirited, just genuine, surprised amusement. The ridiculousness of the question, paired with the look on her face, catches you off guard.

Jinx blinks at you, her eyes narrowing slightly in confusion as she watches you laugh. “What?” she asks, her voice a little defensive, though the corners of her mouth twitch in response to your laughter. "Is it really that funny?"

You try to catch your breath, still chuckling. “Jinx… you—" You wipe your eyes with your sleeve, grinning. “You’re worried about your pants? Look at you! You’re the last person who should care about that!”

She pouts for a moment, her arms still around you as she pulls herself a little closer, almost like she’s trying to hide. “It’s not funny, okay?” she mutters, her voice quieter now, though there’s still a hint of that pout on her lips. "That enforcer made me feel stupid... and I didn’t like it."

You stop laughing, realizing just how much it’s bothering her. You gently tilt her chin up to look at you, the playful tone fading as you meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jinx,” you say, your voice soft but sincere. “It’s just… you’re telling me this, and then I look at you, and I’m like— … Who cares what she thinks?”

She stares at you for a moment, the pout fading as she lets out a small breath. “Yeah, but still...” she trails off, still fiddling with the fabric of her pants.

You grin, brushing a hand through her hair as you pull her back into you. “You’re perfect, Jinx. Those pants? Totally you. No one else could pull them off like you do.”

her head resting against your chest as she lets out a soft sigh, the weight of her earlier worries starting to ease away. “You’re the best,” she murmurs, her voice barely audible. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

You smile, kissing the top of her head. “You’d probably blow something up, but I’d still be right here.”

And just like that, the tension fades. She’s back to her usual self—still a little quirky, but reassured and relaxed in your arms.