#keeping everyones motivations clear is fine and good but then having their actions have consequences across the story and having to figure

[d100system]

never write a three pov story it will make you want to chew on cardboard

[definitely-not-an-alb]

ooh, how do you think molly would grift essek?

Alright. Let’s grift Essek.

First I need to note that any objection along the line of ‘Essek is too intelligent to fall for grifts’ is unnecessary, because whatever you think of Essek’s specific characterisation, assuming you are to intelligent to fall for a grift is one of the major ways people fall for them, in a ‘renowned high pressure social group researcher proclaiming on twitter that Sissy Porn is real and dangerous’ kinda way (look it up it’s some hysterical terf bs).

Gonna use that joke as a sidenote that if I am conflating grifts and high pressure social groups in this, it’s ‘cause as far as I care the difference is how self-aware the people running the show are. Watch any MLM-Doku (and I think we can all agree MLMs are grifts) and you’ll inevitably get to the part about weird aspiration culture bs and group pressure. It’s all one soup.

With that out of the way, let’s establish a baseline: What’s Molly’s reason for grifting Essek? Probably money and also the fun of it/being bored. Considering Kingsley abandoned his perfectly fine shipping company job to run off to be pirate king, I don’t think ‘Molly keeps grifting long after the M9 have become financially stable for shits and giggles and because Jester enjoys it’ is too outlandish a projection. Additionally, I don’t think Molly is great with impulse control nor this whole thing where current actions cause future consequences.

Now; why would Essek fall for a grift. Grifting relies on the dupe wanting something more than having good sense about it. Most people want money, so most girfts are structured around greed, but we know money is no object to Essek (though this does make him a juicy target – what he would barely miss might make a good haul for any grifter). We do know he is primarily motivated by knowledge instead, as well as a desire to be recognized as intelligent and exceptional. Additionally, we know he needs (in the character development sense) The Power of Friendship. Lastly, I think it’s fair to say he subconsciously longs for excitement (happy, fulfilled bureaucrats don’t become heretic spies; nor do they befriend a gang of mercenaries; implicitly, Essek is happier living the life of a wayward refugee-adventurer wizard than that of an Evil Gay Vizier Court Wizard or whatever papers a Shadowhand stamps nine-to-five.).

Being a paranoid bastard makes him a harder target, though the fact that we know he has fallen for someone’s bs before (I’m counting the spectacularly bad decision that is him allying with the Assembly as falling for a grift here. That’s a stupid decision to make!) makes him an easier target. Being so socially isolated makes him an easier victim, too, though his general rejection of people and clear discomfort with social interactions makes him an unlikely target for something like a romance scam. Essek’s relationship to tolerating bullshit is a weird one; on the one hand, he does put up with Jester’s (and the rest of the Nein’s) shenanigans, on the other he clearly knows how to and dares to tell someone to fuck off, and there’s that time he just ditches everyone via teleport (hilarious). So boundaries-wise, he could go either way. Lastly, I’d argue he’s at least somewhat impulsive or at least not risk averse. Always remember we are looking at an NPC next to Sword’n’Sorcery Adventurers – Essek might look cautious next to ruin-trawling wizards, but compare him to Gundula, 55, who works in Insurance and just clicked on a phishing link to claim her Totally Real Oilve Garden Gift Card, and you’ll see what I mean – most people are too risk-averse and unimpulsive to, again, commit treason via international conspiracy and then run off without a moment’s notice to dig around a cursed-ass ruin to save the world from a Cronenbergian nightmare.

Conclusion: He’s rich, he’s bored, he loves pretending to be a spy or grand discoverer, he wants to buy your dodgy foreign papers and incredible discoveries about the Luxon so, so badly and he has absolutely no one left in his life who’ll tell him it’s a bad idea.

So, for example, Molly could Voynich him. All he needs is a battered notebook and some writing supplies, whatever knowledge of what wizards’ and alchemists’ and spies’ scribbles look like he can easily pick up from traveling with the Nein and an opportunity to ask Essek to have a look at this encoded notebook he’s been lugging around all over the continent with him, why, he was at this party in Zadash and everyone else was some boring old pompous wizard (such a bore!) so he pickpocketed one of them, just for the fun of it, but, well, turns out neither Caleb nor Beau can make head nor tails of the weird sign code it’s written in (how tragic, if only someone happened to be so much cleverer than both of them!) and if Essek wants to have a look Molly would be more than happy to lighten his pack. For a small pittance, of course.

What’s small change to Essek is probably pretty nice to have for Molly, even by that level and especially if we’re mostly doing this for the fun of it. Essek gets to fall face first into his desire to show up Caleb, Beau and potentially an unknown Assembly member with his clearly superior decoding, espionage and wizardly skills and gain Secret Knowledge, maybe even Assembly Secrets on top of that.

Arguably, this one does rely very heavily on the fact that it’s hard to prove a negative, or in this case, hard to prove a barely-literate conman’s scribbles are just that. Do keep in mind Essek doesn’t know Molly is a habitual conman, but even so, it’s not a fantastic con (Essek isn’t dumb and knows his arcana after all and Molly doesn’t, or at least not enough to make a proper Voynich).

You could make it a better Voynich by getting Caleb in on it, but instead let’s pep it and turn it into a proper Real Stradivari by changing the hints that this manuscript might be legit to being alchemy-related and adding in a shill. Let’s go with Jester, because she’s down to clown, can lie and has a way with Essek’s boundaries.

So this time around, we aren’t asking Essek outright to buy our bogus notes – instead Molly gives him the whole spiel, hands him the notebook, fucks off with as little time to actually look at it as possible before Jester enters the scene to ask what THAT is and go oh it’s about ALCHEMY well, that DOES look like the signs she saw around Yezza’s house, pretty suuuure, oh, do you think it might be Yezza’s? Do you think Yezza might want it? Do you think she should ask Molly to sell it to her so she can give it to Yezza as a present to be nice because she’s such a nice friend who does nice things?

Honestly, the money part is optional if this is wholly about making Essek look up to see if the ceiling does indeed say gullible (and if Jester is involved, it might well do so! Always better to check, with her!), but a proper Violin Drop concludes with the Grifter returning to take their worthless thing back only to be asked to sell by the victim, who thinks the grifter doesn’t know what worth he has. If it was real, offering to buy the notebook would mean Essek outsmarted a minimum of three people (Beau and Caleb can’t crack the code, Molly is too dumb and illiterate to know valuable research notes from the morning paper) and gets his hands on potentially unknown-to-him luxon-related secrets! Alas, it’s not real, as he will realize soon.

So these are two (related) ways to scam Essek. But there’s a third one I want to mention one that is a lot of cinematic fun and I didn’t know had a name until Wikipedia told me no one does it irl (boo! That’s no fun!). It takes a lot of prep, math, and a lot of people and combines Essek’s obsession with the Luxon’s secrets and Molly’s penchant for passing himself off as psychic.

Molly would need something people in Rosohna bet on, like some kind of sport, preferably one with only two results and places people do said betting on said sport in groups. I’m assuming this exists on account of gambling and sports being culturally pretty universal concepts that love to go together.

Anyway. Imagine you’re Essek Thelyss, and one day a bunch of weirdos show up in court with a piece of the god you’re atheistically-heretically obsessed with. A few weeks later, you, having your ears to the ground about new developments regarding said not-god-pieces, hear one of the weirdos has made a name for himself as a outright oracle, correctly predicting the outcome of Fantasy-Dodgeball (Rosohnas’ favourite sport) perfectly six weeks running. He swears it’s because proximity to the Luxon amplified his inborn and long-trained psychic powers to predict the future.

Now, this is obviously bullshit. Except if Essek, being regrettably acquainted with the weirdos, were to ask, Molly would certainly confirm that sure, he has mystic powers and certainly they were amplified by the Luxon and predicting sport results is a hobby of his wherever they go, does Essek want to see? and lead Essek to a bar where every regular can swear on whatever he likes that Molly has correctly predicted the results of Fantasy-Dodgeball since the first week of being in Rosohna, in fact since before he himself knew the rules or track-record of any of the teams. Not only that, but there’s a second bar full of people Molly can introduce him too. And if he wants, he can certainly come back for a drink in one of them again next week when Molly has done it once more. Just call on Molly, he’ll tell you the time and date to meet some true believers, not all of whom can possibly be his shills.

(And, incidentally, barely worth mentioning, really, since Molly’s psychic blessings from the Luxon are so accurate, he has Exciting Business Opportunities for anyone willing to place more than their weekly betting budget in his trust, and he’d love for Essek to take a look at his powers. For a small compensation of his time, of course.)

Of course Molly can’t predict the results of Fantasy-Dodgeball. Instead, the first week of downtime in Rosohna, he found out what people like to bet on in Rosohna and where, picked one or two places in each district, go there and make predictions with a fifty-fifty split, then eliminate each watering hole where he was wrong each week, slowly cutting his audience back to only people who are getting to know him as That Outlander Who Always Knows The Results of Fantasy-Dodgeball, all the while escalating the story from him being just some dude betting and drinking with the guys to the whole Chosen By The Luxon thing. Considering this is a double-scam involving a faith aspect, he might very well still cash in in places he’s been wrong once only since victims of faith-based scams are very likely to overlook inconsistencies in their scammer’s stories or promised results. By the time Essek gets involved Molly’d be down to one or two places of true believers coming to him for ‘always accurate’ tips and a bunch of other people all over Rosohna he might get some money off based on the faith-aspect. And now perhaps one intrigued high-ranking government official who’s more than willing to overlook the hereticism inherent to the whole thing and is instead very likely to fall in the academic glue-trap of trying to disprove something clearly bogus that you do kind of want to believe in because like.

Wouldn’t it be cool? If the Luxon had more awesome powers? And one of them happened to fall in Essek’s hands, with no oversight and no need to cooperate with someone like Trent or Ludinus? Would he not want it to be real?

Anyway. The real answer to this question is: Enlist Beau to send bogus stuffed bills to Essek’s secretary. Bureaucrat on bureaucrat violence, let’s go.

[linkspooky]

Tall Buildings Falling Down

It’s especially important that Uraraka was the one to hear this, a hero overhwhelemd by the demands of saving people, deciding to just give up and quit his job. Important because, out of all the characters in class 1-A Uraraka is unique for two reasons. One, Uraraka is perhaps the only student in her class who admitted she’s in the hero business for the money, she joined because it’s a lucrative job. 

Second, despite the fact that Uraraka only wanted to become a hero for the money, she idolizes heroes just as much as the rest of her class does. This has led Uraraka to question herself as times, because she doesn’t believe her motivations for being a hero are as good as the rest of her classmates. 

Uraraka is also attached to the overly idealized image of heroes that was sold to the rest of her classmates, that heroes always save people, that heroes are righteous, heroes are good and everything that gets in the way of heroes is bad. Heroes are here to protect us, heroes make people happy. Uraraka carries this overly idealized image of heroes inside of her.

However, ideals always fall short of the reality. When Uraraka saw Deku struggling with all of his might, that’s when the first cracks began to appear. Because Deku, he was hurting himself even as they fight Chiaki. 

Who protects the heroes when they need protecting? I think Uraraka means this especially in regards to Deku. Being a hero is hurting Deku. Deku pushes himself to such an extent that he breaks his body over and over again. Being a hero is supposed to be a good thing, but under the current system even being a hero causes Deku to suffer because it requires so much out of him, he must continually break his body again and again in order to keep up with the others. All Deku thinks of is saving others, he’s more heroic than most, and yet, the current system isn’t designed to stop this behavior. More than anything else it’s focused on strength, on Deku learning to strengthen his quirk, not learning how to take care of himself. The system values powers over people, but Uraraka is so empathic she sees Deku as a person and notices that he’s suffering because of it. All Deku wants is to be a hero, but what is a hero under the current system? Someone strong enough to win and beat all the bad guys. 

It’s clear that in hero society, heroes are valued much more for winning, rather than saving. When saving is what is needed especially in this chapter. Uraraka sees someone who became a hero for all the wrong reasons, just giving up and quitting. In the same chapter where Uraraka’s thoughts are literally just, there must be more people, there must be more people I can save, just over and over again. 

Uraraka herself has become more and more selfless, as she’s progressed as a character, more focused on saving people especially after watching Deku push himself to such extremes in the name of saving others. However, that’s not necessarily true for the adults around her. Uraraka who began all of this by just seeing heroics as a job, sees an adult who just treats it like a job too, giving up. 

As buildings are falling down all around her, Uraraka’s idea of heroes begin to fall too. To be fair, no one person could ever deal with a disaster of this magnitude all on their own. Society’s expectations of heroes were too high in the first place, no one can be perfectly selfless all the time, the perfect savior that saved everyone that all might tried to create was never going to save everyone. However, at the same time heroes get away with a lot, because people uncritically see heroes as “good” no matter what they do, to the point where the kids rejected any and all criticism of the heroes around them. However, in this chapter after fighting with everything they had to defend those same heroes, they meet the disappointing reality. 

The same adults who brought Kaminari Denki to the battelfield when he wasn’t ready, because they weren’t strong enough to fight the evil on their own, who insisted that they needed to fight the villains in this surprise ambush and start with war. 

The same adults that told them everything would be alright, that the heroes would always win, that they would go home and go back to school after all of this are now lying dead in the ruins of the cities they failed to save. 

ANd, what are we meant to take from this? Heroes can’t save everyone, that’s obvious. Heroes are flawed and make flawed choices. However, the students in looking up to their teachers idealize them a little too much, to the point where it becomes impossible for them to accept any criticism of the heroes. 

However, the kids are starting to see that heroes aren’t perfect. Theymake mistakes. They’re flawed. The problem with the kids isn’t that they liked heroes, it’s that their ideals were completely black and white. Heroes good, villains bad. Heroes always save people. Heroes can’t ever be selfish, self-serving, or flawed as the rest of us, because well they’re heroes. 

If heroes are supposed to save people, then what about the people they don’t save? That’s the question that Himiko brings to Uraraka, however, Uraraka can’t even understand the question. In Uraraka’s idealized reality there is no situation where heroes fail to save someone. Heroes are always well-meaning. Heroes always do their best to save others. There’s nobody who’s been failed, or even hurt by heroes. Uraraka doesn’t understand that people like Himiko have been disappointed and failed by heroes over and over again, and some of them like Dabi have been outright abused. Uraraka cannot understand that the heroes that are helping her, the quirk therapy system that never hurt her, could have harmed someone so thoroughly as it did Himiko that she believes that the only way to survive is to fight back and even kill. Uraraka just hasn’t seen a reality where heroes fail to save people. In Uraraka’s world, heroes are good, heroes are selfless, heroes are kind. Himiko can’t possibly have a reason. If Himiko wants to hurt people, she must have chosen to do that on their own. If Himiko wants to hurt people then she must be a bad person.

Heroes save people, so if Himiko questions heroes, or tries to fight back against them, then Himiko is just getting in the way. Then Himiko is just being selfish. She’s putting her own needs, and her own hurt feelings over all of those innocent people that are in need of saving. See, Uraraka can’t understand that heroes can hurt people too, so she doesn’t understand that someone like Himiko who has been hurt by the heroes, by the people supposed to save her, might be in need of saving. 

Uraraka can’t perceive of a reality where heroes would disappoint, or would hurt others. So, Uraraka’s declaration is partially made in ignorance. She says that Himiko has to live with the consequences of her actions, but Uraraka at the same time isn’t living in the same reality that Himiko is. She’s been protected, sheltered so far, and her point of view comes from that fact. The same system that helped Uraraka, has also hurt Himiko, and Uraraka can’t grasp that. Uraraka first fails to save Himiko, and then this chapter she’s met with the same thing. 

Uraraka learns the harsh truth in this chapter. That not all heroes are invested in saving other people as she is. That not all of them are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. 

If a hero can stare at this wreckage where so many innocent people are screaming for help, and then just give up. Just say, it’s too hard to save all these people. How many kids in this wreckage are going to get helped? How many are the heroes going to take care of? How many are they just going to give up on because it’s too hard? The thing is, every single kid in this broken down city could turn into another Himiko, because people aren’t good or bad. Circumstances are good and bad, they shape people in good and bad way. The same way that the children asking for help in this city are victims of circumstance, Himiko too was just another victim of circumstance, just another child that didn’t get saved. The only difference between her and the others is that she grew up and fought back. 

Heroes don’t save everyone and something needs to be done about that. Heroes aren’t perfect, however, closing your eyes to that reality and pretending they are, pretending that everything just fine means that nothing is going to change and nothing is going to improve. It’s only when the kids see the flaws in the adult heroes around them, that they can see how they as the next generation can be better than them. Go beyond plus ultra, right? If this manga is about becoming the best hero you can be. Then, the kids should be thinking about how they can save, even the ones that the adult heroes have given up on saving. 

[aeempress]

Apritello Express Evidences, part 2

Khem-khem, ladies and gentlemen, we shall continue out praising Apritello's episodes. And yeah, this part will be dedicated, in entirety just one episode.

Purple jacket. April and Donnie's episode.

I really love this piece of masterpiece, because it show April and Dee relationship, better reveals them as characters, and demonstrates their connection. (My previous points at this whole situation)

The episode begins with Donnie sneaking into April's school under the pretext of helping her. Soon, April stated the reason why she called D - her science computer project. Actually, she could take a photo of the code and sent it to Donatello, and I'm sure, he would send her the correct one right away, he's coder, he's prodigy, no probbles.

But still, April just asked him to come over and help her without stating any reasons. And he, indeed, came at speed of the light.

I want you to understand what exactly does that mean.

First: April is aware how much Donnie is into human culture. He wants to study in normal human school, do some average teen stuff. Especially, he is loving school and science-related stuff, all these science school projects, visits to botanical gardens, experiments and laboratory work. Because it's his field. It's exactly his domain, where he's good at. His family does not share his interest in science, and April is only one who can understand him. Probably.

Also, April know, how badly Donnie wants to go to school, which gives him an excuse, even if not the most solid one, but an excuse, nevertheless, to visit her school again.

Why again?

Because he has no problem navigating there. Donnie went directly to April's computer class.

He loves this place. And he'd already helped April with her projects.

Even so, knowing that every time she asked guys, especially Don, for help, it turned into a cataclysm, April still called him to help.

It's just a weird, indirect way to say, " Let's hang out, I know how much you like this whole situation with science, school and etc. Here ya go, buddy"

It seems like April did that to make something pleasant to him, something small, but nice to make him feel better. Because, as I state before - he likes to help April (praise, doing something useful for April - still counts as a motivation) and he likes school.

Second: khem-khem, D came at her school, as it seems, right away she called/texted. He didn't even know the proper reason, but c'mon: April ask for help, plus, her school. Sounds legit, don't you think?

Anyway, April has always been being the reason and excuse for teetles, but especially for Donnie. Clear? Clear. Good.

Donnie also tends to not think things through when he is excited. Because he went at the daylight in place, full of people just to help April.

ROTTMNT shows us how turtles were really afraid of human reaction and possible consequences. They have plan "H" to pretend they are going to Galaxy Con, brothers have explanation why they look weird and it's definitely not because boys are mutants, uh-huh, no, plus, guys go on surface at evening or night hours, when there are not so many people, and it's dark, obviously, to cover them and keep unseen.

Yeah, of course, Donnie seems more capable then his brothers to handle the surface (he has cash, D's dressed up as old ladies more than once, according to Leo, he was in April's school before, so yeah, no big deal) and I suspect that his friendship with April is one of the reasons.

Third: do you remember how April worried about looking "normal" when she was finally invited to a school party? She even forbade Mayham to appear nearby, just not to look like the lizard boy. Because cool kids don't bring pets to school. April doesn't have many friends, or rather, there are none at school, and she's been trying to solve this problem by getting close to Taylor Martin, the coolest girl in school.

And April O'Neil just calls Donatello, an objectively strange guy (since when is it normal to be a fan of school? Pretty questionable) in place, where her reputation is hanging in a balance. Our girl does not try to hide Dee, as it usually shown in shows for kids, and April do not pretend that she sees him for the first time in her life because, you know, Donnie will catch everyone's attention being himself and may embarrass her in front of her classmates. But no - April says with all her actions: "Yes, I know him. Yes, that dork is with me. And I don't give a damn about your opinion. Your problems, not mine. And yeah, I'm fine with him being here."

I mean it, guys. The devil is always in the tiny details.

The way they behave around each other.

Donatello is way more, MORE relaxed and just being himself: dramatic dorky nerdy ninja with current obsessions. The way he sneaked in school and April's classroom, the way he behaves alone with her is contrasting the way of his attitude while his brothers are near.

Don has a specific way to shown up. Instead of texting her, Donnie used shurekens. Yes, he almost fell off the lamp, but still, that's... quite an entrance he makes there.

April worries about him, when he fell from ceiling.

Our girl feel relaxed enough around Donnie, so she winks at him.

A wink is a fairly casual gesture that shows some expression of sympathy, trust, and togetherness. It's both good for saying "We're in same boat, we're team" and show the playful attitude towards someone. Isn't that an indicator?

Ironically, that being the best friends April and Donnie do not have any secret handshake/brofist/special greeting, as it usually the besties have at kid's series. Like Kendra and Jeremy have.

I can do only one possible logical conclusion: their relationship is far beyond "friends," "best friends," and "family".

Btw, about this certain phrase about secret five.

- Nay, fair April. A secret five[...].

Once again, nice wording, Donatello. Fair April? Maybe I'm too critical, but often when someone wants to convince their interlocutor and at the same time show one's condescension to them, it's usually uses "my dear ..." or something like that. I understand that semantically the difference is not very big, but in the first case, you can feel Donnie's personal attitude, even though he uses a book word. The second is just formal politeness, which emphasizes the difference between the rightness of the disputants.

This phrase were interpreted on official Russian dub as (okay, it's really hard to choose the correct word, because there's a lot of synonyms in English that sits quite well, while on Russian it's just one word, damn) "Нет, милая (No, honey/sweetheart )". Actually, a strange choice of wording, 'cause this is not what usually friends use to say to each other. We prefer use words like " my darling", "my dear", to demonstrate leniency. And again, most often this prerogative belongs to the older generation. Russians rarely throw around such words as "honey", "dear", "sunshine", because this deprives these endearments of any meaning, and a person using them, as a rule, is familiar. Of course, there are people who use them on a regular basis, but I HIGHLY doubt that Donatello is one of them. It's not his style.

But still, maybe I just too critical at this point.

April, as it is shown, have some kind of power to cool and calm him down and bring Donnie back to life reality.

1. Don awakes from his daze while heard April's voice

2. He's literally coming back to life, when April said about his broken jetpack.

3. Dee obediently interrupts his touching farewell to the jacket when April yells at him.

Oh, and his face. I remind you, fellas, we're talking about Donatello, "I really do not like to express emotions"-guy and "I will die if someone broke my bAbEyS"-guy.

And what do we see? Donnie's emoting. And feels free to do that. He's even drooling. (What seems kinda interesting without context, if you're understand what I'm talking about ;))

Dee doesn't seem angry about broken jetpack. And his wide smile, while he's assuring April he can fix it? A few minutes ago, he was steamed when his stuff was stolen, but when the jetpack was broken, he doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Very eloquent.

April is his support

April also supports Donnie whatever he's up to. Yes, she hadn't been excited when Othello had expressed a desire to join the club. However, she also introduced him to Kendra and company. Yes, she showed by her whole appearance that she did not share his joy, but nevertheless, our loyal captain O'Neil was there for him, by his side all this time.

And her sweet facial expression. From "Srsly? Join this jerks?" to "If you dare to even think about to hurt him, I'll smash you".

And one more cute detail about Dee. Even if he does whatever he wanted so badly, Don constantly looks around at April, looking for her approval.

- Be honest, April, do I look fantastic, or SUPERBLY fantastic?

- You look like you drop a juice box in a laundry. (Play nice, April, don't be mean)

He cherishes her opinion.

April had even called him late at night just to, technically speaking, say that his tech were stolen. And what's the big deal with all his outfit? It's late night, they can just sneak out into Nakamura in their usual form. But noooo, April give a special ride on her bicycle. Just. You know. Our girl carried her own weight and his all the way without stopping. And then she went up 53 + floors running non-stop because Donnie's equipment was stolen. And then she had to chase the her classmates, dodge and jump out of the window. Because Purple dragons stole Dee's tech. Like shooting fish in a barrel, no big deal at all.

And it's definitely not because he will be totally crashed or he'll do stupid things during his anger, which will then come out sideways.

And April comes along with him to very end.

By the way, their phone conversations.

Donnie is the very case when "Call at any time of the day or night and I will pick up the phone".

When April called him when he needs D's help with Albearto, when something is definitely going on behind.

As it says in transcript of the episode:

[April takes out her phone, scrolls to Donnie’s listing and calls him. Donatello appears on screen. Behind him a flying microwave wearing boxing gloves shoots lasers at his brothers.]

Don: "You are conversing with Donatello."

April

[Crouched on floor in hiding.]

Dude, I need your help."

Don: "For you, anything. As long as it does not involve bees, or spiders, or beach balls.

[There’s an explosion behind him and his brothers cry out, which he ignores.]

And yeah, he took her incoming immediately, he ignores absolutely and totally everything around him, because... April? Expositions, bloody flying microwave bot turned to destroy mode, his brothers screaming and being in life-threatening situation? Naaah, it can wait.

Donatello was at Todd's, building "the puppiest place on Earth" and was very enthusiastic about to finish this thing. But he paused anyway to answer April.

We already know how obsessive with work Don can be: if something interesting gets into his field of view, he begins to do it all day long. Remember "The Purple Game" - a very revealing case. Yeah, we weren't shown how much Donnie is into engineering, but I can guess that point remains the same.

April called him at late night and Donnie picked up the phone.

April, unlike Donatello, is a teenager who is burdened with social relationship such as family, school, and work periodically, which implies a more or less strict schedule to follow and some conventions, such as " April, you can't go out late at night to catch robbers, you are underage and you have to go to school/work tomorrow). However, she was watching the news late at night, so she called Dee. ( I have a lot of questions, but I'll never get answers, as it seems)

D, in turn, doesn't have so many contacts with the outside world. I highly doubt that anyone else outside of the family and April has his number. And yet, when he hears the call late at night he takes it. Yes, he had awaken from the nightmare, but still.

And what's up with his usual "You're conversing with Donatello"? He didn't even understand what's going on, as it seems, he's too sleepy to play his usual image and playfully attitude as we could see in "Hypno Part Deux" and "War and Pizza".

Adorable couple-like D&A arguing

April very rarely uses "I told you so" against anybody, or rather, this is almost the only case. This phrase is more suitable for Leo or Donnie, and you know," I told you so! " we usually use on people we know well, and we want to tease 'em about them being wrong. Which, in fact, once again highlights and proves how close D&A are. And I don't even get started about the fact that this is more like a couple's quarrel, not a friend's.

And one more time - in the end, when April suggests using the jacket to stop Kendra.

Their teamwork

I stated that before, I'll tell it one more and more times. The chemistry of their team interaction is incredible. It's as if they can feel each other, and each knows what the other is capable of doing in the next moment. April easily adapts to Donnie's attack, realizing his plan.

Donnie also throws them both out of the window in order to continue the pursuiting Kendra on the jetpack. Don is one hundred percent sure of April, that she will understand what he wants to do, Dee trusts her with his life without hesitation, and she has never used his jetpack. He just puts her before the fact: April will be using the tech.

Up for Donnie!

I really like how this scene was made. Donatello struggles with his own tech, somewhat he made by himself, having invested almost whole himself and his soul, but what "betrayed" him in end. When Dee finally managed to shake one of his battleshell, which almost choked him, Donnie feel so scared and unsecured. We can see his anxiety - Dee's coaching position with covering his head with his hands and tucking his knees.

Defenseless, helpless, and mostly lost, and then, just in time - hero comes to save his life. She uses Donnie's name as battlecry, look how furious she is.

Funny fact: on Russian dub April yells "Don't touch Donnie! (how dare you, madafaka)

April fits in Donnie's type of girls. She's cute (obvious) and mean (not so obvious).

I can't say that meanness is the main feature of April's character, as we can say about Kendra. But this personality trait is still present in her and sometimes it does not manifest itself so widely. April's meanness is not so pronounced, it is much softer and smoother, and it is not exposed.

But April becomes really mean when someone messes up with Donnie.

She's his support and prop. Literally. Just look at first frame, okay-okay, jokes aside

She's genuinely enjoying of kicking bad guys ' asses, even letting go of witticisms and barbs.

Last scenes

Don survived a rough night: he was used, his tech was stolen, so he and April had to chase the satin robed punks. Donnie was hit in the head with a hammer, he fell from a bird's-eye view, passed out and then his battleshell tried to strangle him. And April is here to comfort him, to cheer him up.

Yes, we don't get any hugs (because it's kids show, bleh), the tactility is kept to a minimum, except for April's comforting hand on his shoulder, but they don't even look at each other. But the softness of her voice, the intonation with which she utters a phrase (that is usually sent to the friend zone, but "pal" is really neutral word, and the most important how she said that) turn the scene upside down. It is not what April did to comfort him matter, it's how she did this.

I said "yes" to you way too often

April mirrors Donnie with his "Anything for you". Yes, of course, she said this with a certain amount of grumbling, but her voice and her demeanor suggest otherwise - she is not at all averse to going to giving in him.

And the way they're look at each other.

This one

And one more detail

It's really tiny, it's hard to catch from the first watching the episode, but still, it's possible. I'm talking about graffiti on the walls of the alley where April and Don had landed.

This one

Yeah, if we speak about reality it's quite normal to see graffiti like this. But we talking about TV-series, where everything has its own place and meaning. And if there something, it must be there, it's not just whim of artist who put it in there. But this little graffiti changes the mood of scene.

[ladyofthenoodle]

Ramble anon again - I am so so sorry it accepted the whole post all at once - I honestly thought it was going to reject it and give me a character limit to split it into 😭

But yes! Thank you for responding!!

You’re right in that Ladybug has attempted to check in on Chat Noir only for him to deflect and say everything is fine - he even does this way back in Lies when Ladybug yells at him for sacrificing himself again; instead of responding seriously and answering her concern, he deflects with a flirty line, though both of them obviously seem exhausted by the exchange. Neither is able to successfully reach out to the other because neither is accepting the hand reaching out to them. They’re partners but neither knows how to handle the dynamic change that has unbalanced them, which is completely understandable since neither of them really wanted it to change in the first place. But yeah, they have to start learning how to handle the communication between them honestly instead of trying so hard to protect each other that they shut each other out.

I love the word genuine, especially in the context of Adrien’s character - him learning that the moments he is genuine is when he’s being the himself he’s come to wonder about this season is a wonderful concept for his development and I am super looking forward to it! Also sorry if I end up talking more about Chat Noir/Adrien and tend to focus more on his point of view - he’s the character I connect to the most, so he’s the one I tend to end up defaulting to think about. ;-;

Shaking the soda can is a good analogy! Marinette has definitely lost her temper and made her feelings clear more than once, and it brought about change - Adrien just needs to learn that allowing himself to do the same thing won’t end up with negative consequences the way it does with his father. He’s seeing a lot of parallels between Ladybug and his father, and he’s lived so long under his father’s thumb that he’s still learning not everyone with a position of power over him will react the same way - he needs proof that Ladybug won’t react by taking things he holds dear away from him, but he’s too afraid of the possibility of it happening to let her get that chance to prove it. Instead he’s expecting that being Chat Noir won’t be permanent, that she’ll start phasing him out, and from his perspective it probably seems like she’s started phasing him out already - being part of the duo is important to him, and he’s already feeling like that’s being lost to him - whether he sees that as purposeful on Ladybug’s end for him messing up and failing to show up and this is his punishment... - it’s not, it’s just a series of fear motivated misunderstandings, but I wonder if he doesn’t think that it’s only a matter of time until she’s fed up with him completely - like with the trash can scene at the beginning of Glaciator 2 and his fear that Ladybug hated him because of the action, and fears that her keeping him out of the loop is proof of that. Ladybug is not his father; she cares about him and wants him to be her partner and nothing she is doing is being done with the intention to hurt him or keep him under her thumb; she doesn’t want to lose him, but hearing that and believing that enough to challenge his current spiraling world view are two different things... It’s going to be very, very messy ;-; but once that soda can explodes and Ladybug is allowed to prove that she wants him to stay and they get past the mess, they’ll better know how not to shake the can too much in the first place and to clean up the mess together, hopefully. That will be an incredibly important development for when they do finally get to take down Hawkmoth and all the shocking secrets that doing so will reveal - if Chat Noir has Ladybug as a solid and healthy pillar of support and has started building his own network for support within the heroes and his civilian friends, he’ll be harder for Gabriel to try and manipulate when taken by surprise. Adrien letting the soda can burst will be exactly what they need to better avoid another Chat Blanc or Ephemeral, which will hopefully take some stress off of Ladybug’s shoulders both leading up to and during the inevitable showdown.

I am excited to see where they both go next in the narrative; I will likely cry for a good portion of it, but I am very much still excited!

Dangit I ended up rambling a lot again, I’m sorry ;-;

no worries on the length, that was a reasonable assumption on your part 😂 i’ve gotten far shorter asks that tumblr split into multiple asks so clearly you’ve unlocked some sort of tumblr bonus, congrats 😜

and yes you’re so right that they both have trouble accepting help, even if it’s for very different reasons—ladybug’s scared to rely too much on others because she’s been told she needs to do it all on her own, while chat noir worries he’ll become too much of a burden. and 100% that both of them need a chance to prove that the other’s assumptions are wrong. they’re both taking baby steps towards challenging their own assumptions, marinette with relying more on alya and adrien with opening up to marinette in glaciator 2 as chat noir, but they’re both still too scared to do it with each other just yet and unfortunately they’re reaching their limit on how long they can avoid it

dont apologize for rambling about adrien either, because again i totally agree with you on his experience here. usually i relate to marinette more but i’ve definitely struggled with not wanting to express my feelings for fear that it’ll be too much and drive people away… and also deflect with clownery so fhdkjfjfh i get why he’s reacting this way but also know from experience that he is not doing himself any favors here 😭 adrien baby you don’t need to prove anything to ladybug, please let her prove to you that you’re important to her—but you have to ask her because she thinks you already know

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Sdra2 boys reacting to s/o being the blackended?

Ohh :3

........

Yuri

“N-No..it’s not true!! You’re all wrong!!!”

Although he knew it was you, he tried denying it as much as he could, even taking the blame for your murder plot. 

He yells at Sora, insisting a mistake was made, only to fall silent as you speak.

“Yuri...c’mon. It’s not like you to shout at ladies.”

He turns to you, tears falling from his eyes as he begs for an explanation.

Regardless of your motive, he forgives you immediately, refusing to let Monocrow take you away. But he can't stop your execution.

He feels empty in the days after the trial. No amount of flirting with the other women could ever refill that void in his heart.

Teruya

He doesn’t even try to hold back the tears as he realized it was you. 

Now you were going to die like everyone else he loved..

“No, I-I can’t do this again. Not again..n-not after all I lost--!!!”

In the midst of a near-panic attack he sees you in front of him, taking his hands to calm him down.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you save them, Ruya. Just stay alive for me, okay?”

But in the end, he couldn’t keep that promise.

Though as the poison ran its course, he could only think of finally reuniting with you...and that made him smile.

Shinji

He argues with Sora every time your name is brought up.

But you can only watch him deny it for so long..and you finally snap in frustration.

“SHINJI! Please stop..I killed someone. It’s true.”

“Y-You..did..? But why...?” His smile falters as he struggles to understand your motivations.

He still believes you’re a good person. You were only forced to kill. You wouldn’t kill anyone had it not been for Mikado!

In the days following your execution, he tries keeping his spirits up for everybody’s sake.

But only when he’s alone does he weep over his failure to protect you.

Hajime

"No wait..this is bullshit!!" He tries protesting.

But the evidence lines up and..he can only look at you, heartbroken as you confess to the crime.

"Hajime, it's alright..this was my own fault. I was an idiot-"

"You're not an idiot, s/o." He removes his glasses, revealing tears in his red eyes.

Time is running out for you, so he just pulls you into one final hug, begging you to be strong as you're pulled away to your execution.

Yuki

He's already crying his eyes out.

"N-No...no, no!! Why?!!" He grips the podium as he stares at you. "Why would you do this?!!"

With everyone around you two dying, he was scared to lose you.

But he was about to lose you in the worst possible way.

You just hold him as he sobs, hushing him and telling him to be brave and survive.

Next thing he knew he was hugging air.

Without you by his side, things feel so much more hopeless..

Nikei

He's frantically searching his notepad, looking for something...anything that could clear your name.

"Nikei..I'm the killer."

"N-No..you can't be..!"

"Nikei stop it-"

"NO!! I'M NOT LOSING YOU, TOO!!" Suddenly his void eyes flare up, tears running freely down his face.

He already lost his leadership, his dignity..and now he was gonna lose you to that bastard wizard.

But somehow you aren't afraid as you kiss him, promising you two will meet again soon as you're dragged off.

Shobai

He already knew, but he just stood in silence, rage, and confusion the whole time.

He goes through a lot more cigarettes than usual.

Only when you finally confess does he snap.

“Goddamnit, s/o...why did ya have to go and do something that stupid, huh?!”

In the end, he can’t hate you. He just thinks you’re plain stupid for thinking you could get away with murder.

Yet he stays for your execution, bewildered as you smile through it.

You were an odd one, but damn...he was gonna miss you.

Mikado

To everyone's surprise, he actually praises you for your ability to kill.

He was expecting Void to do the work--not someone like you.

But he was sad to see you go.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, Mikado--" Monocrow starts.

"No, no. It's..It'll be fine. S/o knows the consequences of their actions...forgive me, my love.."

But it's not fine, as he bends the rules so that your execution fails and he pretends to be confused, too.

You're not gonna leave him like this. Not yet.

[animated-antagonist]

Qibli has a terrible arc

HEAR ME OUT.

Before you attack me for this, I genuinely don’t care if you like or hate him. I never loved him, but he wasn’t as bad as moon. Sometimes he’s funny, I like his interactions with winter, but I never really cared about him. But the way his mind was described in moon rising made me excited for his pov in book 10.

Then I read it and realized that he’s a boring, whiny, obsessive character who I was immediately sick of.

Darkness of dragons as a whole is a fucking mess from start to finish. And because I have nothing better to do right now, im going to explain why.

This is all my opinion, and it is based on story structure and character arc guidelines and stuff that I have learned recently. Feel free to disagree. Qibli is a decent character with his charm and humour, but he has the worst character arc out of all wof books. Yes that includes the hive queen and dragonslayer.

 Ok so first, what I like about qibli: like two things: his relationship with winter, and his sense of humour. I like his playful banter with the shiny ice dragon prince. It’s entertaining. And he does have the occasional joke that manages to somewhat amuse me.

 Literally everything else about him is awful. So let’s talk about that.

 Memorable characters are driven by three main things: desire, fear, and misbelief.

 Winter’s misbelief is that his life’s worth is determined by a ranking on a wall and what his tribe thinks of him. This also results in him believing that working with others and expressing love and trust are signs of weakness. He’s afraid of being a disappointment to his tribe because he’s experienced that feeling in his past already, and never wants to face it again. And yet … he does want more. He’s more open and caring than the rest of his family, and in the two backstory scenes we get, it’s clear he’s far more willing to bend the rules to be even a little more free.

 Peril’s misbelief is that she’s too dangerous to make her own decisions. Therefore, she’s instantly loyal to anyone who expresses a hint of interest or affection to her. This leads to her being easy to manipulate, and Scarlet does just that. She’s afraid of displeasing the people she’s loyal to, but she does want to be free. But her backstory and eight years of living by Scarlet’s orders and not having a single thought of her own has lead her to subconsciously believe that she constantly has to have someone make all her choices for her. She doesn’t go after Scarlet for her own benefit, it never crosses her mind once. She’s doing it because she knows it will make Clay happy, and not herself.

 Turtle always wanted to be a hero. That’s literally in the book blurb. But the Snapper incident in his backstory makes him doubt that he will ever be anything more than just another SeaWing prince. Thanks to his mother’s stories, he believes that in order to be a real hero, he has to do great, epic things like slaying whole armies by himself. He wants to be a hero, but his misbelief and fear of being noticed get in the way of his wants.

 And they all grow and overcome their fears and misbeliefs. Winter realizes that his friends would never hurt him the same way his family would. He realizes that it’s okay to love and be loved, to trust and be trusted. He goes back to his friends because he knows that, even if they can be annoying some times, it’s so much better than having his worth determined by a family and tribe that never approved of him and probably never will. Peril discovers that her misbelief is leading her to make the wrong decisions. Her growth is so strong that she can take off an animus touched object. She knows she’s right. She can make her own choices, and she’s done letting others use her as a toy. Turtle saves his sister, not by taking down an army, but by tossing her his enchanted stick to keep her hidden from Darkstalker. In doing that, he’s proven that he’s evolved and changed as a character. They all still have doubts at times, but that’s normal. These three characters have some of the best arcs I’ve ever seen.

 Now back to Qibli.

 His family told him he was worthless and couldn’t do anything as an ordinary dragon. This sparked the misbelief that he has to have power, or in this world animus magic, to have worth. He’s afraid of being worthless, and wants to feel valuable. That’s a great setup for a great character. Qibli could have, and should have, been one of the best wof characters of all time.

 But no he fucking sucks.

 I’m going to focus on him as a character here. The Vulture stuff is boring as hell and I don’t care to talk about it. The whole book is shit and I will never read it again, so let’s continue.

 Again, Qibli is set up to be an excellent character. When he goes to find Ostrich, he brings with him Anemone’s bracelets, which makes perfect sense. He doesn’t want to be powerless, so of course he’s going to bring that magic, that power, with him. More setup that goes no where, because when he uses them, he doesn’t even face consequences.

 Pausing here because I hate it so much.

 CONSEQUENCES ARE WHAT MAKE CHARACTERS GROW. If they face ZERO consequences for their actions, they won’t LEARN anything. Qibli using the bracelets works for his character, but I just cannot believe that Thorn would just let him walk away after burying the ENTIRE FUCKING KINGDOM in sand. I hate it so much. Qibli just getting a free pass and facing no consequences is so bad. He doesn’t even express that much remorse or guilt. That could work for a negative character arc (which I genuinely would have preferred from Qibli but I’ll get to that later) but for a positive arc? The magic and power he craves so deeply just got his entire kingdom buried. He should have so much more internal conflict now, because the thing he wants so badly just did more harm than good.

 Okay. Next part. This one isnt’ really related to his character arc, just more of him being a kinda jerk for a few seconds. Winter expresses great concern over travelling over Darkstalker’s teeth, and Qibli just teases him about it. Winter has known about Darkstalker’s malice his whole life, was brainwashed by him, and is truly terrified of him. If Qibli had teased him about anything else I wouldn’t have an issue, but Winter was scared for his life in this moment and Qibli just completely ignores it. Or maybe I’m wrong I haven’t touched the book in years because I hate it that much.

 Back to his ‘arc’.

 Wait no this is an issue I have with the book: the cliffhanger of book 9 was Turtle losing his animus magic and they just kinda fixed it in two seconds here. It’s very upsetting and kinda comical that they fixed it so effortlessly lmao.

 Back to Qibli.

 Uh nothing happens for a while. Just boring Moonbli WHICH, might I add, is the worst wof ship (excluding problematic ones ofc). They have zero chemistry and honestly I find Qibli a bit obsessive. He always thinks ‘what would Moon do’ or ‘will Moon love me if I do this?’ which yeah it ties into his ‘I want to be loved and have value’ motivation but it still feels a bit excessive and annoying at times. Pair that with his constant nagging about how ‘oh no if only I had that gosh darn scroll!’ or ‘how can moon ever choose meeee when she has winterrrr’. Moon described his mind to be fast and full of commotion, but we never see any of that in this book. It’s just constant whining and complaining.

 Then he goes another step further and blames Winter for getting angry at Moon for??? being friends with the dragon who just tried to murder his whole tribe???? Moon’s a fucking idiot for continuing to be friends with Darkstalker after everyone keeps telling her how bad he is. KINKAJOU, HER SUPPOSED BEST FRIEND, tells her all about what Darkstalker did to Turtle, and Moon’s just okay with it??? And then when Winter confronts her about still trusting Darkstalker after everything he’s done not just to the IceWings, but her friends as well, that Darkstalker brainwashed Winter and he’s not okay with it, Qibli calls him self-righteous for exploding with fury. What else do you expect?? This moment killed all three ships for me. It was an unnecessary event that’s only purpose was to give Tui a reason to make Moonbli canon instead of Winterwatcher.

 Onto the climax (which by the way is like the only semi decent part of this whole book). Qibli again uses his power to save the day. SERIOUSLY??? Ok fine it makes sense because this book has zero structure whatsoever. Qibli doesn’t have to make the impossible choice at the end of act one. He doesn’t face a goal shift at the midpoint. He doesn’t look a disaster right in the face. You cannot convince me that he’s changed at all over the course of this book.

 Because he doesn’t. He uses magic at the climax and boom everything is fixed. I like the concept of the empathy spell but it just doesn’t fit with this kind of character arc, unless it comes before the dark moment and fits into the supposed victory plot-point (thinking again now I think it sort of does but I’m too lazy to go change things so deal with it).

 And then oh no we get the temptation plot point! This is often my favourite plot point in stories that have it because we get to see the protagonist drop their misbelief and refuse the offer because they’ve changed! Reading this and thinking, oh wow he’s going to refuse it because he’s gone through a super dynamic character journey and arc!’ … then realizing no he’s not, because Tui forgot to include that and now makes Qibli refuse the offer for completely different reasons.

 See in a book with a good character arc, the character will refuse this offer because they’ve outgrown it. They no longer see value in it because they now have something greater to live for. I like this plot point much more than darkest moment if I’m being honest. So Darkstalker offers Qibli all he’s ever wanted: animus magic. Will Qibli accept, or decline? And why?

 He declines. But not for the right reasons.

 Qibli doesn’t refuse Darkstalker’s offer because he’s changed or grown. He doesn’t refuse it because he now sees no value in this because he’s seen happiness anywhere else. He refuses because he knows he can’t trust Darkstalker.

 … wow.

 i hate this book so much istg

 If Qibli had gone through a dynamic arc, he would have refused for better reasons.

 It’s just so disappointing. He has no reason to refuse that other than the fact that Darkstalker is untrustworthy. Holy shit.

 I take character arcs and story structure very seriously, and Qibli is just AWFUL when it comes to this.

 After three books that had such epic, emotional character arcs, DoD feels like a downgrade. And that’s why I think Qibli is a terrible character.

 But hey you know what COULD have worked?? Giving Qibli a NEGATIVE arc instead!

 I know he’s Darkstalker’s foil. That’s cool I don’t care. GIVE HIM A NEGATIVE ARC!! I would have LOVED IT SO MUCH MORE if Qibli accepted Darkstalker’s offer and arc 3 was all about all the other protagonists coming together to stop him and Darkstalker. That would have made a much better third arc. And you can bring in the other tribes if you want to I don’t care just find a way to make it work.

 It would have made so much more sense and fit the story so much more if Qibli accepted Darkstalker’s offer and became an evil animus alongside him. It also could have given Moonbli more time and chemistry! I still would have shipped Winterwatcher because well, Winter, but I probably wouldn’t hate Moonbli if this was the way the story went. Or maybe Qinter could be a thing. Imagine like a really emotional moment where Qibli is about to kill Winter and Winter just talks to him or something idk something romantic and sad. Would be great because there’s zero mlm rep in wof.

 Fuck it I’m gonna make an au about this.

 Yeeah that’s my rant over. I don’t hate Qibli as a character and I think he had so much potential but the way the story is written, I honestly thought he would have a negative arc instead. Wow I really want that au now I can’t stop thinking about it haha. But yeah Qibli is charismatic at times and a bit fun but his arc is terrible. Moon had a better arc than Qibli. MOON.

Sorry if this came off as aggressive at times I just wanted to voice my opinion. If you like him, that’s cool! I just don’t. He’s not one of my favourites although he could have been. Missed potential in my opinion. This is a very long rant so if you’re still reading this … thanks lol.

 Have a good day/night. Im gonna make that au now lmao.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Miraculous Salt: Bustier

Fair warning: There are some dark and potentially triggering things discussed. Assault, domestic violence, drug use, overdose, and attempted murder are implied if not outright mentioned.

“Today, class, I’ve asked a special guest to come speak to you!” Bustier greeted them all with a smile. She gestured to the woman next to her, a young adult they hadn’t seen before. She seemed a bit nervous awkward, but was dressed professionally and tried to appear confident.

Bustier clasped her hands together.

“Vivienne is a former student of mine from a few years back. She going to talk to us about positive examples and appropriate behavior in the classroom.”

Marinette slumped in her seat, already knowing what this was about and just whom this lecture was meant for. Bustier’s frequent looks at Marinette weren’t even necessary. The fact that several of the other students shot glances back to her made it clear they knew as well.

Apparently Bustier’s lectures to Marinette about the high road and helping her classmates weren’t enough anymore. Now it just felt like she was making a spectacle to prove a point.

The woman, Vivienne, looked to Bustier in confusion.

“I thought I was supposed to give a lecture about preparation for the future?”

“Well certainly.” Bustier agreed, smiling brightly and indulgently. “And about how a good future for everyone can be started by setting an appropriate example in the here and now.”

Several of the students around her nodded. Lila sent a smug look back at her. Marinette merely wanted to crawl under her desk.

The woman stared at Bustier in open-mouthed surprise.

“Are you joking?”

Bustier appeared startled. “I’m sorry?”

“Are you actually joking? Did you mean to tell me you brought me here. All this way. On a weekday. To give a lecture to students about your downright toxic classroom habits?”

Everyone’s eyes widened. Their mouths opened. Because…no one just talked to Bustier like that. She was a teacher! And she was so nice!

Bustier herself was frozen in shock.

“Excuse me?”

“No. No. You’re right. You had me come to give a speech to your class. Fine. I’m going to talk to them.”

She cleared her throat and turned to the class.

“Listen to me. All of you, but especially you in the back because it seems you are Bustier’s target of the year.” She said, looking around to everyone in the class though her eyes remained mostly on Marinette. “You have the right to feel angry when you are wronged. You have the right to be upset when someone hurts you. You have every right to not forgive the one who does it. It is not your fault when someone does wrong. It is not your responsibility for someone else’s choices. You are under NO obligation—ABSOLUTELY NONE to make the person hurting you feel better about it! And at some point, you need to consider what is best for yourself and your life, even if it means cutting people out of it and letting them face the consequences of their actions.”

“What are you doing?” Bustier demanded, outraged.

“Telling them the truth.” Vivienne stated flatly. “It’s the least I could do after what you did to me and my class thanks to your ‘approach’.”

“But you were a great example for your classmates.”

“No, I was their stepping stone and in some cases, their punching bag. And look how well that turned out! I’m STILL in therapy because of you!”

Bustier gaped in horror.

“Yeah, turns out that constantly pushing myself to take on the burden for everyone else’s choices isn’t actually healthy! Either for me OR anyone else.” Vivienne huffed. “And I have you to blame for a huge part of that.”

She pointed at Bustier in outrage.

“Because of you and your lessons, I lost my ability to be assertive. I became passive to the point of being a doormat, and it’s something that STILL affects me today! Because under YOUR guidance, I was taught that other people’s behaviors were MY fault. That if someone was being cruel or hurting me, it was because I wasn’t trying hard enough. That it was MY obligation to make bad people better rather than their own. And that if I tried to speak up for myself, I was the one in the wrong. Especially when you dragged my parents into things and portrayed the entire mess like it was my fault for not being okay with my treatment instead of concern over how I was being treated.”

“Now now, you’re over-exaggerating.” Bustier argued in that annoyingly placating tone.

“You made it MY job to try and better people who didn’t WANT to be better. I was thirteen! I was a student in your care! How was that supposed to be MY job? My only job was supposed to be to learn, and because of you, I’ve learned all the wrong lessons!”

She rubbed her face, frustrated and exasperated and just done with this whole thing.

“I don’t know what’s healthy or not. I don’t know when I’m being selfish or when I’m supposed to let something go. I still freeze up when dealing with people because even years later, I still have your voice ringing in my head about how I need to be ‘the better person’ regardless of whether I actually CAN.”

She stopped and took a breath. Then turned on Bustier, appearing truly angry with the woman.

“You pushed me to the point of self-destruction and said that was love.”

“I’m sorry that you apparently had a rough time of things,” Bustier fumbled. “But I can’t be held responsible for how every student turns out.”

“THEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BECOME A TEACHER!”

Bustier reared back as if struck by a physical blow.

Vivienne breathed deeply, trying to get herself back under control.

“You had a position of power and authority over me. And you used it to push your responsibility on me. To push the responsibility for EVERYONE in that class on me. On top of my own schoolwork. My own issues. My own responsibilities. I had to deal with yours and everyone else’s. Their well being. Their futures. Their selfish little wants and requests I didn’t have time or energy for but was still expected to fulfill. All of that. On me. And now you’ve even gone so far as to bring me here to advocate for you doing the same thing to someone else? And you don’t see anything wrong with that?”

Vivienne gestured to her chest, agitated and hurt and just…finally letting years worth of frustration out.

“Doing what you did? Pushing things the way you did? You put an unreasonable burden on a child. All in the name of being a ‘good example’ for how other people should be. Guess what? The only thing being a ‘good example’ accomplished was showing people what to expect from others rather than anything they should expect from themselves.”

She glared at Bustier.

“I did some reading on psychology after leaving your class. Turns out the thing you missed about modeling is that it’s the ADULTS who are supposed to model for their kids, not other kids under their care and especially NOT the ones being victimized.”

Bustier forced herself to speak. “But…everyone deserves a chance.”

“You have students that struggle. It’s common. They need extra care. That’s understandable.” Vivienne agreed. “The problem is that instead of being the teacher you are supposed to be and giving them that care yourself, you instead push that responsibility on your other students when it should never have been their responsibility in the first place!”

“They can’t change and do better if everyone is expecting them to fail.” Bustier reasoned.

“Maybe so, but they’re certainly not going to change if they don’t see a reason they should. Giving bullies a free pass and then lecturing their victims on ‘being the bigger person’ after they’ve been hurt because of the bullying is NOT going to motivate the bully to change anymore than it’s going to motivate the victims to keep trying! Was it any wonder so many of your students just gave up?”

Bustier’s eyes widened in shock.

“What?”

“Yeah, it turns out that I’m not the only student who left your class with problems down the line. Big surprise, but being reprimanded for feeling hurt and being told that their feelings are less important than those of the ones harming them isn’t exactly motivation to keep going out of their way to do their best. Not in grades, which unsurprisingly fell amongst students in your class by the final year. Not in activities, which—surprise surprise! Your students stopped being invested in because you kept pushing for everyone else to work twice as hard for something that you were letting other students get full advantage of with nowhere near the same effort! Was it any wonder that I was the only one you were able to browbeat into doing anything by the end? It was because everyone else got disillusioned and stopped trying! Because you rewarded the bad students and admonished the good students if they took issue with that. They weren’t blind! They know favoritism when they see it!”

The class was staring. Unsure what to say. Or if they even should speak.

“Oh, and on the subject of favoritism. You surely remember Candace—my bully whose behavior you defended and minimized? Yeah, she’s in jail. Again. For causing a scene in a public setting. Again. And even assaulting police, which is actually a new one for her this time around. But it’s her standard behavior. It’s all she knows how to do. Because you and people like you catered to her tantrums and brattish behavior, gave her whatever she wanted, and admonished anyone who complained about how she treated them.”

“Well…” Bustier simpered. “Treating her cruelly isn’t changing her now, is it?”

“Because she’s an adult used to getting her way!” Vivienne exclaimed. “The time to teach her better was when she was young. It was when she was still a student under YOUR care! Instead, you solidified her into the messed up adult she is today! Speaking of messed up adults, how about dear old Henrik? You remember him?”

“He…he was…a perfect student…” Bustier muttered, uncertain and wary.

“Sure was. Your model student. He sure road your high horse all throughout school and even all the way to his own wedding to Delia—your OTHER favorite student to coddle. You must have been so proud of how that turned out. And even after she’s cheated on him. Among other things. He’d be the picture of domestic violence at this point…you know…if he could actually acknowledge that the relationship is even abusive.”

She sighed.

“But he still insists he can ‘change her’. That he can ‘help her be better’. And some other reasons about ‘make a bad person be good’ that sounds like the sort of tripe you fed him. You know, most of us just thought he was a wannabe stud who like having girls rubbing themselves all over him. It never occurred to us that he was uncomfortable and just didn’t know how to ask them to stop.”

Several of the students gasped in shock. Adrien in particular appeared uncomfortable, like the story was a point for him in particular. Remembering the way Chloe and Lila hung off him, Marinette had to wonder if Adrien and this Henrik didn’t have a few concerning things in common.

Vivienne, however, continued. And even started to tick off on her fingers. “Elodie joined the police force and is so caught up in her own brand of ‘justice’ that she jumps into things without thinking and a number of her arrests ended up going free regardless of the charge due to her not following procedure. Arthur was always the sort to ‘go with the flow’ rather than stand up for anything, so he ‘went with the flow’ all the way to a strip club where he spends his nights, still waiting on some new job opportunity Delia promised him years ago. Kent and Morgan were arrested for embezzlement of some charity’s funds. Michael works at a repair shop, so he has a steady job at least. Sam’s charged for property destruction from illegal street racing. Again. Vincent is claiming some close relationship with Jagged Stone that I don't even want to consider. Randall died from drug overdose last year, otherwise I’m sure you would have called him up instead of me.”

Everyone gaped at her in growing horror. Alya and Max both seemed to be looking at their phones, only to wince or appear more agitated with whatever they found—Marinette assumed it was likely proof of Vivienne’s claims. Bustier looked almost ready to faint at the news of what’s become of her former students.

Vivienne just tapped her chin.

“And you know, now that I think about it, it makes sense that you called me out of everyone to come lecture your class because I think I’m probably the only former student NOT a complete wreck—if only because I’m a few steps away from it thanks to therapy.”

She sneered at Bustier in downright disgust.

“All these people you said it was my job to save. All of them—every single one of them fell apart when I finally gave up. Though they were admittedly barely hanging on as it was while they still had me to dump on. And I’m pretty sure that I could have been a millionaire by now if I’d held firm on charging people for the things they wanted from me instead of bowing to your insistence on doing things for people for free to be ‘nice’. Or, you know…NOT wasting my time and giving up on my own opportunities to pull everyone else out of the fires they kept starting.”

Feeling the weight of everyone’s gazes on her, Bustier spoke up to attempt to defend herself.

“To make a healthy classroom—”

“Your classroom isn’t healthy!” Vivienne shouted. And it was only now that Marinette realized there was a growing number of people hovering outside the door and listening in. “It says something that we have a magical emotion-based terrorist running around and his most frequent targets other than a guy obsessed with pigeons have been your students! Hell, in the past year the majority of akuma attacks have all been from this very class! If i didn’t already know you were doing this all along, I would think you were grooming these kids to be taken by Hawk Moth!"

“They’re not...that bad...” Bustier weakly defended.

“One of your students is the girl who tried to CRASH A TRAIN! And it didn’t take me all of five minutes after entering to see you catering to what can only be a chronic liar.”

Lila immediately started the waterworks. “How could you say that about me?”

“Actually, I hadn’t pointed you out. But thanks for doing it yourself, and while we’re on the subject, GOOGLE. Five minutes is more than enough to debunk your stories. Anyone could do it if they bothered to. Which might have gone a long way in preventing the classroom from becoming toxic, Bustier, if you had helped to develop your students’ critical thinking skills so they could figure things out for themselves instead of demanding they become doormats to make other people ‘feel better’.”

“I—I—” Bustier looked almost ready to cry.

“Couldn’t be bothered to tell them they’re being lied to?” Vivienne asked, sarcastically.

“She has a condition! I didn’t want to impair her ability to make friends!” Bustier exclaimed, making the class stare at her in growing horror. Others turned on Lila in outrage at the confirmation. Lila in turn started to shrink in on herself, realizing that this had not been the best time to draw attention.

“So you protect one student by letting the rest be used and manipulated. It’s not like that can go wrong! Just ask Henrik…as soon as he gets out of the hospital.”

One student—Rose—actually raised her hand. “What…what happened to Henrik?”

“Officially, food poisoning.” Vivienne replied. “Unofficially, Delia only married him because he’s rich and good as arm candy, but she only needs him alive for one of those two things and his moral righteousness makes him less appealing as the latter.”

Bustier wobbled, her strength giving out. She quickly made it to her chair and almost fell onto it as the sheer magnitude of what was happening hit her.

“But…I don’t understand. It can’t be me. I’m…I’m a good teacher…”

“No.” Vivienne interrupted. “You’re a nice teacher. At least to certain students. For everyone else, you taught pretty words and preached about love and kindness to help build up a rose-tinted view of the world and the people in it. It’s no wonder nobody knew how to deal afterwards.”

“But…it can’t be my fault.” She insisted. “I’m only one influence! There are parents! Guardians!”

Yeah, no. Vivienne was not letting her pass the blame.

“Whom YOU spoke with. Whom YOU influenced with your position to put focus on the wrong problems—not what needed to be addressed but what you wanted to make your classroom easier for you. Parents don’t know what their kids are doing during school hours other than what they’re told is happening. And when they’re told that their kid is ‘problematic’ or ‘causing conflict’ or ‘not a team player’ but they’re not being told WHY? Or not being told that their kid is being mistreated, bullied, or outright assaulted? And those parents then turn on the kids?”

She shrugged.

“Honestly, what were we supposed to think?”

Bustier shook her head, now crying.

“I can’t fix everything!”

Vivienne stared, solemnly.

“But you could have helped. You just…choose not to.”

She looked back to the class.

“Don’t trust blindly. Stand up for yourself without pushing on others. Remember that you are allowed to have limits. And sometimes…” Her eyes fell back on Marinette. “Sometimes, it’s better to just cut out the weeds than hope flowers grow.”

With that, she turned and left the classroom, the various students and faculty listening in parting before her.

It was cold outside. Almost matching the feeling in her chest.

And yet, she let out a sigh.

“Now that’s the closure I’ve been looking for.”

And she carried on.

[merrilark]

Thoughts about TUA S3 so far... 3 and a 1/3rd episodes in. Spoilers below!

So far, I have pretty mixed feelings about this season. I definitely like it more than S2, and mmmmaybe even more than S1, but it’s a bit early to tell. I just think it’s been super fun so far. 

The parts I’ve really enjoyed so far are things like: -The dance battle, which was goofy as heck but it felt like serotonin shot straight to my brain lol. I loved it. - I’m LIVING for the sibling energy we’re getting with Klaus and Diego, and Klaus and Five, that’s fantastic. - The soundtrack is always superb. - Five is always superb. - Klaus is delightful in every scene and I adore that the writers are leaning more into his softness and not entirely making him comic relief. - Alphonso is just such a mood. I love how he’s just vibing in every scene. Man just wants to eat snacks, make jokes, and watch everyone fight. - KLAUS IS AMISH!!!! - Viktor and Allison have some really really good moments, and I enjoy how they’ve handled Viktor’s transition. I’m not trans, but I think those parts were really, really sweet and moving.  - Dad!Diego actually isn’t... so bad? He has some moments and while I still don’t like Diego/Lila, Stan is actually pretty charming. I’m not sure if I trust him, though. Something seems fishy about him. But I like him anyway. - I also love that we’re finally getting to see Allison crack and deal with some of her anger and trauma; it’s been a very very long time coming.

And this is great! But there are a few big points that I’m iffy on, and it’s primarily Reginald and the Sparrows.

The Sparrows seem to have an almost dystopian hold over the city, and have completely whipped Reginald through abuse and keeping him drugged. He’s become softer, almost timid under their treatment, and a fraction of a fraction of the cruel, spry egotist that we saw in S1 and S2.

It’s... interesting, to say the least. And Klaus’ desperation to have a loving father even now is painful. He wants a normal, happy family SO badly. This almost seems like his chance to have that, but I’m skeptical.

On one hand, I do want Klaus to have his ideal life with a family, and maybe even Sarah Beth. But I really, really, really do not want Reginald to be included in this family. 

So far, Reginald’s depiction is sympathetic, which could be a problem, but the poetic justice of his situation can’t be ignored. He’s being treated as he treated Viktor, if to a yet seen lesser degree, and... gosh, while he does deserve worse, it’s impossible to miss that this is a clear representation of abusive parents suffering the consequences of their actions. Their children don’t love them, they don’t treat them like parents, ignore them, and, in some cases, abuse them in return, and the abusive parent just doesn’t understand why their kids don’t want to see them anymore. 

Regardless of how soft or even almost likable this Reginald is (or seems to be, I’m still not sure it isn’t an act)... this still feels very realistic and tbh I can deal with that. My only qualm is that I have no idea how OUR Reginald could just take it and be so genial about being bossed around (assuming it isn’t an act). And I really hope some of that is explained, that we have some confirmation that Reginald was abusive to the Sparrows, giving them motive, or some sort of reversion back to our Old Reginald, because at the moment, it feels very OOC.

Like... alright. I am a firm believer that any character can have a redemption arc. Yes, even Reginald Hargreeves, horrible, awful father that he was.

To say that redemption is only exclusive to those who are “deserving” is a dangerous narrative, and I’ve... never really been fond of anyone saying that unironically. People should be allowed to grow and better themselves. ALL people. And, yeah, I know Reg isn’t real, so that doesn’t have to apply to a fictional character, but... if TUA is trying to redeem him, then I think that’s fine. That’s my point.

However, redemption does not and should not necessarily include acceptance or even forgiveness from those who have been hurt. Rather, redemption, especially for Reginald, should look like genuine regret and effort to change, preferably while acknowledging to the Umbrellas that he was not a good father. Then, I would hope, the Umbrellas would only work with him if necessary, and drop him for their own health. They have grown away from the Academy, and now it’s time that they cut off the source of their trauma: Reginald Hargreeves. I want to see him be a better person, but I also want the Umbrellas to know that they don’t have to keep him in their lives. They don’t NEED to associate with their abuser, even if he develops into a kinder man.

I could also critique my problems with Diego/Lila and Stan, or even Luther/Sloan (which btw I don’t have a problem with people who ship them, it’s fine, but I don’t particularly think either are healthy or well-written; they’re just not my cup of tea)... but for now, Reginald is my greatest narrative concern.

I guess we shall see.

[itsclydebitches]

V7 e2 ironwood: "the people will hate you" "thats a price im willing to pay" V8 e14 ironwood: "Why doesnt anyone appreciate meeeee" (RT: We can’t have him accept hatred for his actions guys, we have to make sure every aspect of his character is irredeemable so anyone who even remotely defends his characters will be shat on!)

You know, as much as I despise that line - especially coming off of a bomb threat - I can't blame Ironwood for it if we read "anyone" as his former allies. Ironwood, despite what Volume 8 would like us to believe, is not some automaton. His desire to instill pride and reap support from his allies read loud and clear throughout Volume 7 (as well as since his introduction), everything from his excitement over potentially seeing Ozpin again to him outright acknowledging that he couldn't do any of this without Winter's help. Back in Volume 7, Ironwood was willing to shoulder the hatred of the people because they were entirely ignorant to the context of his choices. He understood that their hatred stemmed from not understanding why he did these things - to create long-term protection from Salem - and the crucial difference between the nameless people of Mantle and the rest of our cast, his allies, is that the latter DO understand his motivations. They, unlike the people, are fully informed. What happened when Ruby and co. learned why Ironwood was taking resources? They supported him. Doesn't matter if they complained about everything not coming up roses, they actively assisted Ironwood in continuing this plan. What happened when Robyn learned why he was taking resources? She joined him, seeming to agree about the Amity idea and standing with Ironwood before all of Mantle. What happened when things got even more dicey and Winter learned that they were being recalled before evacuations were complete? She supported him because she understood why he was making this incredibly tough call. Time and again Ironwood was surrounded by people who had that context, knew that there were only hard choices available, and stood by him, even when they hated that there was no better solution. Even when some did step away (the group) at least others remained. There was, in the background, constant appreciation for his hard choices from at least some of his allies all the way through to Winter's betrayal, simply by virtue of those allies agreeing to continue helping him. Every time Ironwood looked up, there it was, someone who actually understood the situation overtly or silently saying, "This is indeed what we have to do, no matter how hard it is. I support you in this decision." And with that approval comes a certain amount of relief. Someone else gets it.

But, because of Volume 8's insistence on making Ironwood 110% irredeemable, that support was slowly stripped away. First Blake and Yang betray him. Then Ruby sides against him. Penny leaves. They tell the whole world he can't be trusted. Then Marrow goes. Then Winter. Then finally the rest of the Ace Ops. This revolving door of allies leaving might have been poignant if their departure was actually timed with Ironwood's horrific acts - Ruby leaves because he shot Oscar, not because he's trying to save people by leaving; Winter leaves because he murdered the councilman, not sticking around for two days after that because killing is fine, I guess, etc. - but instead it just reads like no one ever cared. We disagree with Ironwood? No sense trying to talk that out. Nobody cares enough to put forth the effort (Oscar being an incredibly rare exception). So yeah, by the time everyone has left, and they've left for reasons that feel ridiculous and petty, and then they're actively twisting these events to absolve themselves of any responsibility... I can see why Ironwood in that moment would go, 'Omfg I can't believe that none of you appreciate this.' Because you understood what was happening. You are a part of the morally gray war that demands only awful choices of us. You lied, and hid, and betrayed, and did all these questionable things right along with me. Out of everyone in Remnant, you were the only ones who could appreciate why I made the hard calls when I did. You alone were in a position to understand and, for a while, you did.

Obviously I'm not talking about stuff like the bomb threat... but then, neither was Winter. Her grievance was "squeezing Mantle" so, yeeeeah, she and the other heroes should appreciate what he did there. They don't have to like the overall shittiness of the situation (who would?) but because they went along with it, because they understood his motivations, because it was all in service of helping the world, and because they knew Ironwood has been shouldering the consequences of that sacrifice since the Fall of Beacon... they are indeed the ones who should have at least the teensiest bit of appreciation for his attempts, even if those attempts didn't turn out well. In the same way that, I expect, Ruby would want appreciation for saving the Kingdom of Atlas... even though she destroyed it. Yang and Blake would want appreciation for gaining an ally in Robyn... even though they betrayed all of them to do it. Jaune would want appreciation for keeping the Maiden powers safe... even though he killed Penny. This cast is made up of characters doing horrific, incredibly questionable things in the name of serving a greater good and all of them approach those choices with the belief that those in the know - their allies, friends, and family - will understand why they had to make those choices and will appreciate the various sacrifices they went through in order to do what they thought was right. Ironwood is no different in that regard.

[kitkatopinions]

The only way I can see RWBY recovering in quality is if the island arc in volume 9 ends with seemingly days passing in the island world and a time skip in Remnant. The world of Remnant and their friends have moved on from the loss of RWBYJ in Atlas and have been dealing with Salem for 3 years or so. Gives the world time to heal from the damage RWBY+ caused in Atlas and with the broadcast and realize how much they fucked up following Ruby Rose blindly. Solves the age gap debates of Rosegarden if that's the ship they want to go with for Ruby and Oscar. Let's Sun move on from Blake organically and allows Blake to come to terms with any romantic feelings she had for him and how that chance is long gone. An opportunity for Salem to take control in a way that might not have been possible were it not for RWBY+'s actions in Atlas. Shows that the protagonists can fuck up and suffer consequences.

Ahhh, see, I specifically don't want a time skip because I think it likely will be a way to remove the affects of a bunch of the stuff that I want pay off for. You say that having the world have time to heal from RWBY + actions would be a good way to show the consequences, but I disagree with that. I think that'd actually be the quickest way to make Ruby's actions not matter and not seem important. Having her forced to see the full effects of her actions as the suffering is unfolding in front of her would be a way to get her to actually see for herself that maybe she's made some massive mistakes.

Can I paint a picture for you?

Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Jaune get back from the island quickly, only a day having gone by for the people in Remnant. The refugees have just arrived in Vacuo, they lost tons of people trying to get through the desert, everyone is staggering with exhaustion as they move through the Vacuo streets, parents carrying their sobbing children, there are people throwing rocks at Winter and people trying to beg her to save them because they saw her fly through the gates and guessed that she was magic, there's sirens over a comm system in the city, trying to alert everyone to remain calm that's been going on for the hours it's taken to try and get everyone in and calm-ish in the first place. On top of that, the gates are flooded with guards working around the clock to keep Grimm out of the city, some of the exhausted Atlas hunters have gone there as well, Ren and Fiona and Team SSSN are desperately defending the last few hundred stragglers as they arrive. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune are shocked, dismayed, they manage to get to the Academy where Nora is there with Oscar and Theodore, Theodore trying to get in contact with the Vacuo council in clear distress. Oscar tells them that everything has gone wrong, that everyone is panicking, that Vacuo was already struggling with keeping the Grimm away from the city when Ruby's message came, and with the addition of the refugees, the Grimm are coming in by the hundreds - by the thousands - almost more than the Vacuo authorities can fight back. Ruby is so confused, she'd been trying to reunite the world! But she just brought panic instead, and she now has to contend with that while seeing the immediate aftermath. She knows Qrow is missing, she tries calling him on her scroll, hoping she just missed him among the refugees. She and Yang are going crazy with worry, they think he might've been stuck in Atlas, he might be hurt, he might be dead, he might get captured by Salem, and they both have to face that. Being assigned by Theodore to help get refugees to the homes they've been temporarily assigned to squeeze into, Ruby is confronted by grieving families who lost everything, parents who tell her their daughter was one of the Atlas soldiers who died fighting on the front lines at Atlas, a couple with four kids spit at her and refuse her help because to them, her broadcast felt like a death sentence for Atlas while she called for hope for the rest of the world like they didn't matter. As she's traveling, Ruby runs into Neon and Flynt. They're angry and bitter too, coldly telling her that Ivori and Kobalt died in the fight against Salem. Ruby leaves that encounter wiping away tears. She wants to break down, but then gets assigned her next family to move and has to push it down and get back to work trying to do her job. Meanwhile Weiss has to deal with a brother who still clearly needs someone to help and take care of him when their relationship is somewhat rocky. Nora and Ren have to have distance and sort through what they want in their relationship and we see that and the immediate affects of their breakup. Salem has two Relics and Ruby has to explain that to Ozpin and maybe admit some mistakes and apologize while it's still relevant enough to matter to him. Emerald sees the affects of a lot of what she's done and has to contend with the fact that Mercury will be in Vacuo and she has to choose whether to try and help him or fight him instead. Mercury and Tyrian have to react in real time to the fact that the Atlas plans went completely sideways and now there's tons of people from Atlas here ruining whatever plans they have for Vacuo. Team RWBY work with Team SSSN while his and Blake's relationship is still clearly going to matter to him and he wants to continue where they left things and she has to explain her shift in feelings. Oscar is still contending with the fact that he and Oz are going to merge someday, asking questions about that. Salem must regroup now with so few people, and Cinder is going to have to try and keep up her lies in real time. Neo (if she survived the

island) is going to actually have to either get scrapped as a character or grow beyond her motivation of just wanting revenge. Winter is dealing with powers that are still new (remember, Maidens being 'new' is supposed to mean something) and having her whole world crash around her, while also maybe finally interacting with the family members outside of Weiss who have just had their entire way of life gone and now must adjust to sudden poverty. Qrow, Robyn, and the Ace Ops might have a storyline where they deal with what just happened themselves, maybe launching rescue for some of the people who didn't make it through the portals (like Pietro and Maria.)

These are all really important things that we should be expecting pay off for that should get focus and development. Ren and Nora's relationship problems, Oscar dealing with merging with Oz, how Cinder is going to regroup now, what will happen with Mercury, what the Schnees will do now they've suddenly lost everything, how Emerald is going to go on from her 'side switching,' how Qrow and Robyn reacted and where they'll go from here, whether or not Vacuo can even take in refugees, what the people think of RWBY and what consequences they've had to go through, and especially RWBY seeing the aftermath of the things instead of being allowed to just move on to the next thing and write it off as a victory like they did with Haven... All of that is something that we're likely to miss if we have a big time skip.

What I really don't want is for everyone to get back to the world after three to five years have passed only to see that it's doing pretty okay right now. Vacuo thriving with the Grimm population under control, and everything a little crowded, but most of the Atlas population settled in their new homes at this point, many of the important relationships of the side cast have been solved off screen and Maria, Pietro, and Qrow are already in Vacuo and have already adjusted to their various losses (both real for Pietro and believed for Qrow,) while (like you suggested,) Sun has just moved on from his dead former love interest he never got closure with that he promised to see again, because it has been years, and BlackSun fans like me see him in some relationship with someone he's never had any growth at all with (or maybe Neptune, which is... the preferable option over someone Sun's never actually talked to before.) Now Ruby doesn't see that her choices have caused major problems, instead she sees a city doing fine and if anyone is angry at her for causing them problems three to five years ago, they're mean. She's been supposedly dead for years and that person is just fine now! How can they yell at her? Now she doesn't see people suffering and Grimm flooding, she sees that her plan worked out in the long run, everyone just needed to hold on and have faith. She doesn't see a giant economic crash and families uprooted and soldiers dead and Pietro's reaction to the death of his daughter and people panicking over Salem... Ruby sees people talking about Salem as common knowledge, amassing troops to go after her now that the 'hard times' have started to pass, and she's validated. She knew it would turn out, she knew if she just believed, things would start working out!

I don't think the writers could save this show with a time skip, I think they'd just use it as a way to jump past the immediate affects of Ruby and her group's actions and avoid organic growth and problem solving while 'not being unrealistic' about it. If they brought RWBYJ back to Remnant within days, weeks, or even months, people expect real repercussions for the things that happened in the previous couple of seasons. They won't be able to just pretend none of it happened - or they might, but then most people will (hopefully) realize that's stupid.

So their choices are 1. just waving everything away and pretending there aren't any consequences to actions, 2. bring RWBYJ back in days, weeks, or months and address and deal with problems in a way that feels natural, 3. have a time skip so they can bypass the affects and consequences and avoid giving pay off for much of the things that fans have been expecting and waiting around for.

[idk-my-aesthetic]

Let’s talk about Azula

For a long time I’ve had really really mixed feelings about her. She’s a kid, only 13 years old, and was abused by Ozai just like zuko was. Only in a different way. She’s a victim in her own right, the show makes that more than clear with her and Zuko’s final battle. It’s a tragedy that these two are fighting, not a triumph like the airship battle or the battle between Ozai and Aang.

But also.... she’s toxic. She controls people by fear, even her friends are terrified of her. She smiles when Zuko’s burned, and she suggests destroying the earth kingdom. She tries again and again to kill zuko. I never thought it was really her fault or who she really is, but I also thought she was just too far gone. that her mind had been too poisoned by Ozai and that she was by that point just a tragic image of what could have happened to zuko

Even saying that, I really wanted her to be redeemed. I’d read some fics with it but it never felt quite right or in character. I thought she was just too far gone to be redeemed

And then I rewatched the finale

And honestly.... I’m realizing I was wrong about her

I think that there are kinda a lot of misconceptions about Azula. In part bc the fandom in general is..... not really nice to her. Which I get!! Her character and the abuse she went through is even more complex then Zuko’s (which is saying a lot). The show focuses almost exclusively on her toxic side, and we don’t really see the more hurt/broken side of her until literally the final episode. Plus we don’t really see who she was before Ozai’s influence like we do with Zuko.

All of which is an unfortunate consequence of a real redemption arc being planned for her and then later cut for time.

So bc of all that her character is really really complex. And I think that with how difficult she is to understand + consuming fan content with how a lot of ppl misinterpret her, she ends up becoming a straight villain like Ozai in most people’s mind’s

Which, again, I don’t blame ppl for. I had the same mindset for a long time

And it’s easier that way. In order to understand her you need to put a lot of energy into trying, and most ppl don’t want to. And I don’t blame them. Azula as she is in the show is incredibly difficult to like

But I think if you do take a look, specifically at the things she says in the final episodes, you’ll see that deep down she’s just a scared kid. A lot like zuko.

If you look closely at Azula everything she does is motivated by fear. Fear others have for her and fear she has of her father

Azula is terrified of their father. In a way I don’t think zuko even is. Because he at some points wants their father’s love but Azula never seems to want that. His favor, yes, but never love

There’s a handful of scenes during the Sozin’s comet 4-parter that I think explain who Azula really is.

First, when Ozai starts to tell her she’s being left behind on the day of Sozin’s comet she panics. She’s terrified that she did something to lose her father’s favor, and starts desperately explaining why she still deserves it

And she says something insanely revealing. “You can’t treat me like zuko”

And I think that explains so much about her relationship to zuko. She grew up seeing how much her father hurt him. And she was so terrified of her father.... she didn’t want that to happen to herself

So she had two options. Be “weak” like zuko, or hurt him to gain Ozai’s favor and protect herself. I think it’s pretty clear what she did.... though I can’t really blame her. She was a scared kid trying to survive.

The whole reason the two of them have such a bad relationship is because she wouldn’t let them have a good one. She couldn’t let them have a good relationship, not if she wanted to survive living with their father

And when I say survive, I mean it. Azula does not love him or follow him out of a sense of duty like zuko. She relizes way earlier than zuko does that Ozai is a cruel horrible person. Everything she does is an attempt to not get on his bad side.

She literally says to the hallucination of their mother that the only thing that can control people is fear. And there is only one person who Azula will listen too. Her dad is the only one to have any control over her because he is the only person she is afraid of

And Azula doesn’t like doing this. She doesn’t enjoy being cruel. She convinces herself that she does, because if she acted differently she’d lose their father’s favor

How do I know? Literally look at the whole deal with her and Ursa. Azula knows Ursa was uncomfortable and unsettled when she started acting like Ozai. she kept doing it to protect herself, but when she talks about how her mother “thought she was a monster” she clearly hates herself for it.

She doesn’t want to act like this. She does it to protect herself. And then she justifies it again and again and again because she knows it’s wrong but she wants to be right. she wants to be good

She tells herself she has to treat zuko badly because he is bad at everything. That he deserves all the things that happened to him bc he isn’t worthy, or he’s untalented, or he’s a traitor, or he’s weak, or whatever.

She tells herself that she can’t have friends. That the only way she can control people is by making them fear her. That if they fear her, like how she fears her father, then they can’t betray her

She tells herself that love and kindness are weak, and that the only way to survive is to be cruel and ruthless

She makes herself believe all that BS and completely internalized it, all to seem strong to her father. All because she’s afraid of him.

And the second that those beliefs, beliefs that have kept her safe from her father’s wrath, are challenged, she snappes. Because mai and ty lee aren’t scared enough of her. They betrayed her.

She’s not terrifying enough to be safe. She’s not terrifying enough that people won’t hurt her. If they’re not afraid of her, then they’re going to hurt her.

She slowly unravels through the final episodes. She’s convinced everyone in the palace is trying to hurt her, because she’s not terrifying enough to be invincible.

And she’s struggling. She’s confused. Because if fear isn’t keeping her safe, then what was the point of all this? If it’s not keeping her safe, then turning into a monster that her mother hates was for nothing

But also.... maybe she was just weak. Maybe she just needed to be stronger, crueler.

And the whole time she’s walking on ice. Terrified of her servants and the dai lee and lee and lo. But she needs to keep her composure, needs to pretend every thing is fine.

Because she is so, so much more terrified of her father. Terrified she’s not composed enough, not cruel enough, not strong enough for him not to hurt her

So. Yeah. Sorry for the angst. But.... Azula is a very complex character. And most people try to just turn her into Ozai jr and... she’s not. She’s pretending she is, so well that she’s convinced even herself

Edit: BTW I’m in NO way saying that this excuses any of her actions. I’m just saying she deserves a chance at redemption while others like Ozai do not. And trying to bring attention to some aspects of her personality that I think are less noticed or misinterpreted

[arvandus]

The Todoroki Family Arc: Dabi and Representation for Abuse Victims

Something I’d like to address regarding all of this Todoroki family discourse is the importance of representation for abuse victims, specifically when it comes to the topic of forgiveness.  Many of us who are victims of abuse aren’t willing to forgive our abusers, and there is nothing wrong with taking that stance.  The concept of forgiveness of abuse is an especially hard pill to swallow when that forgiveness is for the sake of the abuser and not the victim (i.e., in this case, forgiveness for the sake of Enji’s redemption arc).  So this makes the current Todoroki family/Endeavor redemption arc so incredibly difficult to read, as all of the ‘good’ Todorokis are either already willing to forgive (or on their way to forgiving) Enji's long-term, narcissistic abuse.

It’s true that in canon Enji has explicitly stated that he’s not asking for forgiveness and that his family members don’t have to forgive him.  Whether or not he truly understands what that means is up for debate (I’ve got a lot to say on Enji’s redemption arc, but that’ll be for another post).  But for the sake of this post, let’s state that he genuinely means it, which would be great as it shows an awareness on his part of how unforgivable his actions are.  This great and all, except the words lose their weight/significance when every single ‘normal’ family member is on track to forgive him.  It would hold much more weight to show he doesn’t get forgiven by everyone, which will require him to at least to some extent, live with the consequences of his actions (e.g., being alone/ostracized from some family members).

So, let’s go through the Todoroki family members who are in the process of forgiving, have already forgiven, or are on their way to forgiving Enji, and how I personally respond to their forgiveness. Of course, all of this will be heavily influenced by my personal opinions and personal experiences, however I think that’s fair – as a person who’s endured long-term childhood abuse from a parent, I’d hope that my opinions (and others like me) will have some weight in the conversation surrounding domestic violence, even within the context of fiction.

Rei:

Rei has shown signs of starting to forgive Endeavor as evidenced by defending him to her children.

I do appreciate that she states that she’s still too scared to see her husband, and that the doctor states it’s not a good idea.  That all makes perfect sense.  But the idea that she’s willing to give him a chance to redeem himself because he sends her flowers?  I absolutely cannot identify with this in any which way.  Her marriage was forced by Endeavor, her sole purpose to bear him cold/hot quirk children.  She may have later grown to love him, who knows; we do know she was willing at least have Fuyumi with him, since she suggested it… (although there is a lot to unpack around that too, which I’ll also save for a different post). Even if she did love Enji (and a part of her may still love him, as some of us may feel towards our abusers) she went through YEARS of abuse to the point that she had a psychotic break and had to be institutionalized.  To suggest that she’s willing to begin the road of forgiveness because he sends her flowers is just completely unrealistic, and I personally can’t identify with her at all (also, as a sidenote: if my abuser and the cause of my psychosis, who I’m too afraid to see, is sending me gifts, the last thing I would want would be to see those gifts displayed in my room as a constant reminder of them).

 Fuyumi:

It’s clear that Fuyumi is well on her way to forgiving her father (if she hasn’t done so already).

Fuyumi wants nothing more than to piece her family back together, which is entirely fine if that’s what she wants.  What bothers me however, is that she’s willing to do so by sweeping the family drama under the rug in an attempt at keeping the illusion of a healthy, loving family (i.e., one that’s not broken by abuse). Why can’t she have this happy family with her brothers and her mother?  Why does she feel the need to have Enji in that family picture, considering all he’s done to them?  Her whole “it would make your sister happy” is, in my opinion, guilt-tripping and selfish. I don’t think she’s a mean person, and she may not be aware that her behavior could be damaging.  But her motivations are clearly self-focused, as she’s not willing to address her family’s issues in a way that validates everyone’s feelings. She just wants everyone to ‘play nice.’

It’s this dismissive behavior, a willingness to overlook the harm of the abuser for the sake of trying to keep a semblance of normalcy when things clearly aren’t normal, that has me label her as an abuse apologist. It’s not intended to be malicious of course; I do think she believes she means well.  But how does ignoring the abuse her family endured help anyone?  Will this ever get addressed by Horikoshi?  TBH, I doubt it, but we’ll just have to wait and see.  But one thing is for sure, she’s definitely the most forgiving out of all of her siblings.

 Natsuo:

I love this guy.  Truly.  So far, he’s probably the MOST relatable for me…

Look at that.  Beautiful.  I love it. It’s everything I want.  He’s unforgiving, holding his long-time abusive father accountable (regardless of how good of a hero he is), while still being a good person (lookin’ at you, Dabi…) all in one breath.

SO… why am I including him in this? Natsuo so far seems to be holding out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Horikoshi writes him in the direction of forgiveness, especially after this Dabi/Touya reveal. I feel like there’s already been hints at it, and it’s just a matter of time before he inevitably gets written as forgiving his father as well.

Here, you see his mother’s words getting into his head; he’s thinking heavily about what she’s said to him.  He doesn’t like the idea of his father looking for redemption, and holds his own disbelief around his father “trying to make sense of it all.”  But clearly he values his mother’s opinion on the matter, which will have an impact on his own views/beliefs.  Plus, the added pressure of seeing his other family members forgive his father will also have an impact on his stance, either by making him dig his heels in further in resistance, or by accepting their stance on it and as such be one step closer to forgiving Enji himself.

Here, he’s hearing Enji’s words and recalling Midoriya talking to Shouto earlier in the evening. He’s drawing a parallel between what it means to be a kind person and what it means to forgive. It’s followed up by his father’s confession of atonement, which clearly has an impact on Natsuo.  His experience here is visceral and entirely relatable; while Enji’s words may sound nice and genuine, it does little to assuage Natsuo of the painful memories he harbors and the damage that his father has caused over the years.

He’s still holding stubbornly onto his anger, unwilling to forgive… but the way it’s playing out, it’ll only be a matter of time. Maybe it’ll be yet another near-death experience for Endeavor, this time by Touya’s hand.  Or maybe he’ll feel that deep cut of betrayal from Touya/Dabi that makes him let go of his own anger/darkness in his heart out of a fear of letting it consume him the way it did his older brother.  Either way, I see it ending up there.  We don’t know for certain yet, of course… but my money is on Natsuo forgiving his father by the end, so I’m holding back on getting too attached.

 Shouto:

Shouto also seems to be becoming more open to forgiveness, despite all he’s gone through (and witnessed his mother go through). There’s a lot surrounding why this may be… perhaps it was watching the near-death experience of Enji in the battle with High-End… (which, hey, watching someone you care about nearly die, even if that person is your abuser, would be rough to watch).

Or watching his father be a badass hero (because let’s face it, Enji is an excellent fighter) that the public looks to for hope. Keep in mind, this happened after Enji had told Shouto he wanted to be worthy of the #1 position and  of being Shouto’s father; so Enji has just shown to Shouto that he’s (at least by Hero Society’s standards) worthy of being #1, and now he’s trying to make amends with his family (mm, check out that need for validation…).

 Clearly, Shouto is giving his father a chance to redeem himself.

And, of course, we have this page as well, which draws the comparison of being a kind person also being a forgiving person (which, quite frankly, isn’t true - you can definitely be a kind person and still not forgive someone who’s done long-term harm to you).  Regardless, it’s clearly being shown that Shouto is obviously heading into forgiveness.  Once again, the forgiveness itself isn’t bad… it’s how it’s being portrayed.  As someone who’s been abused by someone who’s supposed to take care of them and love them, I can say with certainty that you don’t really care that much about how good that person is at their job. It shouldn’t matter that Enji is a great hero; he’s always been a great hero (that’s why he was second only to All Might). What matters is how Enji is as a father, and it’s well established that he’s failed his entire family, by choice, for years. Shouto states as such to him, saying he’ll watch to see what kind of father he becomes.  But this follows immediately after the battle with High-End, which implies that Shouto is basing his willingness to forgive his father off of Enji’s heroics and public acceptance as the symbol of hope.  Why this would sway Shouto’s view of his father enough to consider forgiveness for years of physical and psychological damage escapes me.

Now, let’s be clear that forgiveness of an abuser isn’t impossible, but it’s certainly not an easy task.  Additionally, the decision to forgive hinges on a lot of things, including whether or not the abuser is worthy of forgiveness (i.e., are the crimes he’s committed against his family redeemable?  Is he truly genuinely feeling guilty about what he’s done? Does he understand the magnitude of what he’s done?  Is he acting selflessly, or is his quest for redemption rooted in selfishness (e.g., need for acceptance, a way to hold onto one’s power/importance within the family dynamic, etc.)?).   In many cases, especially cases where the abuse is long-term as it’s portrayed as being for the Todoroki family, and as mine was growing up, forgiveness isn’t really on the victim’s mind.  The damage done by the abuser is so long lasting, leaving a permanent imprint on how we think, act, and behave.  It shapes us, especially when it occurs in the formative years of childhood, affecting how we connect with others and how we view ourselves.

So, sharing a few contrite moments with the abuser (in this case, Enji) and seeing some positive situations (e.g., watching him kick ass on TV, be kind to his kids, etc.) do little to persuade me into forgiveness of a man who willingly, repeatedly, chose to abuse his family for at least a decade.  His abuse was physical, mental, and emotional.  Even if his desire for redemption is genuine, the quickness with which the good characters here begin to forgive him feels slightly forced for the sake of his redemption arc, and is therefore unrelatable.  And that is the crux of the issue.  Enji’s redemption should be just as much about the healing of his victims as it should be about him (if not more so).  However, that doesn’t seem to be the case.  So, what we get is a family portrayal that is in favor of the abuser.

So, all of the ‘good’ Todorokis are working toward forgiveness of their abuser.  Great. So, where does that leave those of us who aren’t on board with forgiveness? Those of us who see our own abuse, our own history, within this story and are not (and will not) ever forgive our abuser for entirely reasonable and justifiable reasons? Where is our representation in a story that, for all intents and purposes, is meant to be about the ramifications of abuse (and by proxy, victims of abuse)?

Our only remaining choice?  Dabi, of course... the psychopath who’s bent on destroying his abuser’s life and the hero society that’s, in some ways, created and supported him.

I think a major reason Dabi is so loved by some of us is that we can identify with that anger, that need for retribution/justice.  Are all of us entirely on board with how Dabi has decided to go about this retribution by doing whatever it takes no matter who it hurts or what innocent lives are lost? No, of course not.  But in a story where we’re looking for a sense of justice, where the long-term serial abuser DOESN’T get to walk away free with his abused family still by his side/supporting him, what other options do we have?  He’s the ONLY ONE who seems to be willing to hold Enji accountable for what he’s done and who sees the hypocrisy in his position as a symbol of hope in contrast to who he has been behind closed doors with his family.  So THAT is what we’re defending when we defend Dabi.   We’re NOT defending his murders, or him attempting to kill his brother, or ANY of that.  We might understand where that darkness is coming from/what’s caused it and empathize with it, but we don’t EXCUSE it.

Now, obviously the story isn’t finished yet, so there’s no way to know for sure where Horikoshi will take this redemption arc. We don’t know if all of the family members really will forgive Endeavor or not, and if Enji will ever be fully welcomed into the family fold.  The airing of the Todoroki family’s dirty laundry and its impacts on shining a light on the cracks in hero society give me hope. Also, the diversity across the Todoroki family of how each person copes that that abuse is also well done. That’s why I’m still invested in this story, that’s why I’m still reading it. But we only have what we’ve been shown to go on, and at the moment, there are major aspects of this story that are lacking.  The diversity in how each family member handles their abuse and their relationship with their abuser starts to lose its impact when that diversity is gradually washed out in favor of universal forgiveness. 

Also, where the manga is currently at gives me concern about the kind of message this story is sending to its readers.  I often see others say: “it’s just fiction, relax.”  Yes, it is fiction.  And when we read fiction, we all search for a piece of ourselves within the story.  You can’t have a story that centers around domestic abuse and not have abuse victims gravitate towards it, hoping for accurate representation.  And most importantly, even though this is ‘just a story,’ what message is it sending when the only person not willing to excuse/forgive Enji is a psychopath who’s been driven insane by his father’s abuse (and possible by his family’s inability/unwillingness to address said abuse)?  What message does it send to abuse victims? What message does it send to those who have never experienced abuse and are learning about it through this fictional representation? To say that this isn’t relevant in a real-world way is inaccurate at best and damaging at worst; and even if it may not hold relevance for some within a real-world setting, for many of us it does and as such the implications and impacts of it should be respected, even if you may not agree with it.  In short, for some of us, this is personal.

Now, do I think that every family member should curse Enji into the sun?  No, as satisfying as that would be for me.  I’d be perfectly happy if some family members forgive and some don’t.  Why?  Because it’s realistic.  It makes sense, because it depends on each character’s unique, personal experiences. Some will forgive, some won’t, and some will continue to defend and provide excuses for said abuser – all of these positions within the abused family dynamic are real and exist.  I just wish BNHA would also allow a space for us abuse victims who aren’t willing to forgive – a space that isn’t villainized.

[5ro4]

Dark makes no sense [Spoilers of the whole show]

I thought Netflix’s Dark season 3 was disappointing, boring and made no sense. From its first few chapters I was wishing for it to end already, but it kept going, simultaneously being a convoluted exposition dump while actually explaining nothing, then pulling an ending out of nowhere long after I had stopped caring.

It’s kinda hard to find proper criticism for the series last season; most people just praise how it’s the best possible ending and everything makes perfect sense, so I decided to write my thoughts and criticism.

I’ll clarify that I enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 a lot. They are convoluted in a good and interesting way, where everything seems to fit nicely together, to have been properly planned all along, and it carries the promise that the deeper mysteries that remain will be explained later on.

But then season 3 happens. I still think overall it’s a good show, interesting and worth watching, but season 3 is disappointing and the show as a whole is certainly no “perfectly written masterpiece”.

Massive spoilers from now on.

Even if it made logical sense, season 3 is bad.

Most of the charm of the first 2 seasons is watching how every action fits in a single linear timeline and how every cause had an unexpected consequence that makes the timeline more and more complex while maintaining perfect coherence. It’s hard to follow, but it’s doable.

Then season 3 ruins the charm by making everything so convoluted it’s impossible to follow and unsatisfactory to even try.

Complexity is enjoyable up to the point where anything can happen. Why would you still care then? How could you? A mystery is intriguing because it needs to be explained by the rules of the world; the rules you know and are able to follow. If the explanation could be “a witch did it”, then none of the mysteries would be intriguing.

So we have a character that dies, and it’s intriguing because we know he’s alive in the future, so how can this be possible? Well, there’s actually 2 parallel worlds, so he’s alive in the other world. It’s a surprising twist, but the rules have been broken; now almost every mystery can be explained by the existence of a parallel world.

But then a character dies in both worlds! How can that be? Well, in the second world there’s actually two intertwined timelines, so they died in one of them but no the other.

How are you supposed to care about anything that happens from this point onward? No mystery is that mysterious when the possibility of a convoluted explanation involving multiple worlds and timelines is always there. And why even bother trying to make sense of it when they could pull out a fourth timeline or a third parallel world at any moment (and they actually do)?

Character’s motivations are impossible to follow because everyone is lying and being double-crossed by alternate reality characters all the time.

Half of the characters you are following now aren’t even the original characters but their versions from another world or another timeline inside that second world, so it’s really difficult to keep caring about any of them.

I’m not even going to attempt to criticize any of the fine details or possible loose ends because when characters can jump between timelines and realities at any time and all of them are either lying or being lied to, I’m pretty sure that by watching the show 3 times and reading the wiki you could find some plausible explanation for any small inconsistency, but at this level of complexity who even cares.

However, I think there are major, big picture flaws that somehow seem to have gone over most people’s head.

1.- The end is the beginning, therefore every action is an explanation for itself.

Most of the plot and almost the entirety of season 3 could be summed up as: A ton of people do nonsensical things because they know their future selves did those things, so they must repeat them because time is linear (except in the end it isn’t).

The bootstrap paradox is the cheap way this show has to explain any mystery and any character motivation: It happened the first time, so it must happen the second one too. Since this is a loop with no beginning, there is no need for any action to have had a logical explanation at one point.

It becomes useless to try to understand why any of the main mysterious characters do anything or what their plan is, because it can always be explained (and often does) as just “this is what happened the first time, so it must happen the second one too”.

There’s a point where one character is compelled to kill himself just because a character from the future saw him kill himself, so he must kill himself now so the future is consistent, even though there was never an actual reason for him to kill himself.

This is cheap and lazy because you can have any character doing any mysterious thing and no explanation is needed. Why do Noah and Helge drop dead kids at specific times and locations? Because they are just repeating what their future selves did, and since the loop has no beginning, no original reason exists.

2.- Adam, Eve and Claudia’s plans and motivations make no sense.

Adam and Eve’s motivations, and to some extent Claudia’s, are extremely unclear. They are the ones who explain to everyone else how time and parallel worlds work, except they are always lying and opposing their younger selves, and they are actually wrong about how all of it works.

This makes it hard to actually know what their actual motivations are, since the show doesn’t clearly show when and how they arrived at their current understanding of the world. It’s somewhat clear what they are trying to do, but not why they are trying to do so or what makes them so confident about their knowledge.

The show presents Adam and Eva as opposing forces trying to control time, while Claudia helps one or the other at different times for different reasons, yet most of the time all of them are actually doing exactly the same thing: Trying to make everything happen as it happened the last time.

So the story goes something like this: Following Adam’s instructions, Young Jonas tries to change the past by preventing himself from being born. Claudia stops him, tells him he must fight against Adam and therefore he can’t stop existing, so he must let history repeat itself. Jonas works alongside Claudia and somehow eventually ends up becoming Adam, whose plan, according to the Dark Wiki (dark-netflix.fandom.com) is to keep the cycle going.

This makes no sense, but that last part is actually wrong, at least to some extent, which shows that even the people writing the wiki don’t really know Adam’s motivations.

By the end of the show, it’s clear what is the ultimate thing each of them are trying to accomplish: Adam wants to destroy both worlds, Eve wants to keep the cycle going to avoid Adam destroying the worlds, and Claudia wants to save her daughter in at least one world. None of them seems to actually care about the apocalypse, although that was supposed to be the main conflict to avoid.

But how did Adam and Eve reach those conclusions? That’s never properly explained and their whole development seems nonsensical and contradictory: They try to change the past as their younger selves, they grow old trying and realize it’s impossible, so they turn around and try to prevent their younger selves from changing it.

At every chance they had to actually change the past someone appeared to stop them or convinced them not to do it, yet they somehow end up with the belief that time cannot be changed, while simultaneously doing their best effort to ensure time is not changed.

This is a total contradiction. Either you think time can be changed and try to do so, or you think time can’t be changed and do nothing about people trying, since you don’t need to prevent anyone from doing what you believe to be impossible.

Adam’s plan is to kill Martha and her baby, since her son is who ultimately will put the whole cycle in motion. If he is successful, he will create a paradox where the cycle was never put in motion therefore none of them exist, and thus they will cease to exist*. To do so, he needs to make pregnant-Martha go through a time travel portal because quantum shenanigans say that’s the only way to remove her baby from existence.

* “A paradox happens therefore we suddenly stop existing” makes no logical sense, but since it’s a common trope, let’s ignore it for now.

Eva knows of Adam’s plan and disagrees. For some not properly explained reason, she would rather have and infinite loop of people repeating their same miserable lives rather than ending the loop and making them disappear,  thinking this is equal to them never existing, although they clearly existed. There might also be motherly instincts mixed in; the love for the son she is never shown having a conversation with before turning him into a murder machine to prevent him from not existing.

Eva’s plan is pretty stupid and evil, while Adam’s plan is contradictory, since he is preventing people from changing the past or creating a paradox in order for him to create a particular paradox as a last resource after failing to change the past.

Meanwhile Claudia is trying to repeat the timeline with the intention of actually changing everything at some point, but I don’t care to try and guess what her plan actually was all along.

3.- There’s no way Claudia could get her final revelation.

The characters are supposedly repeating the same cycle over and over, so nothing should actually change, but let’s say it can somehow because they explain something about moving grains of sand.

Concluding that a third world must exist because “there’s always a third dimension” is already a wild logical jump, but even so, how could she ever conclude that the third world was an original one that got destroyed and divided into two parallel realities, and that the reason was the clockmaker failed to make a time machine? It is completely impossible for her to conclude such things.

4.- The creation of the two worlds makes no sense.

So, there was an original world. A clockmaster tries to make a time machine, but instead destroys his world creating… two parallel worlds with 3 timelines that are interconnected in an extremely convoluted loop without beginning? And neither of those worlds actually spawns from the moment he activates the time machine, since he is intercepted years before that by those world’s time travelers?

This is a total cop-out that’s not a better explanation than “magic”. A dude made a machine that destroyed the world and spawned 3 seasons of a completely arbitrary but conveniently interconnected mystery thriller.

5.- Time rules are inconsistent

There’s a scene in which time is proven to be so deterministic that Jonas is literally immortal. He can't be killed because that’s not the place and time where he’s supposed to die in. This is both dumb and inconsistent.

The concept makes sense to a certain extent: If the character is alive in the future, it means he didn’t die in the past. However, that only works as long as the character is not trying to kill himself to prove a point. It only works somewhat elegantly in the show because Jonas accepts it as truth and doesn’t try to push it further, but what if he didn’t? What if he kept trying to kill himself just because he knows he can’t? Would knives break and guns keep getting jammed? It’s dumb because it implies time is a sentient being that will go out of its way to prevent things that aren’t supposed to happen from happening.

Also, it’s inconsistent because it’s latter confirmed that the past can in fact be changed.

6.- Conflicting beliefs are held at the same time.

Eva devotes her life to ensure everything happens as it should happen while simultaneously being 100% sure things will happen in the present as they happened in the future and there’s no way to avoid that. She is dumbfounded when Adam doesn’t kill her the moment he was supposed to kill her.

I’m pretty sure Adam and Claudia hold these same contradicting beliefs at one point or another, simultaneously believing the past can’t change while making their best effort to ensure it doesn’t change.

7.- Time stopped for a brief moment.

Claudia literally says that time stopped for a brief moment when the clockmaster activated his time machine or something.

Think about that. She’s telling you that time stopped during a small  period of time. She's using time to mesure the lack of time.

Also, how could she ever know if time was stopped and for how long (hah), and how does it make any sense that her plan is to do something while time is stopped.

8.- Deep meaningful answers for the gullible.

This is not a plot hole, just a criticism to the writing and the development of the plot: Almost every time a character makes a crucial question to the character that holds the answer, they either don’t respond because of the bootstrap paradox (“my future self didn’t explain it to you so now that I’m in the same situation I won’t explain it either to avoid changing the past”) or they quote a philosopher or something in an attempt to seem deep while giving a non-answer that’s completely unrelated to the current conversation.

This is an actual conversation from the show:

- Why are you storing barrels full of nuclear waste inside an underground cave? - What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean.

OK! No more questions then!

9.- Blind trust in the wrong person.

This is also a relatively minor nitpick I just want to get off my chest.

Characters, particularly Jonas and Martha, blindly trust anyone who appears before them and tell them they have been lied to, even after discovering that the last three people who supposedly revealed the truth to them was actually lying too.

This could still be believable given the circumstances until we get to the point when they would rather trust a total stranger over their future selves. Why would you trust anyone over your future self? Even if they are lying, you will become them in the future; their plan will be your plan, no matter how hard is it to understand now. Yet Jonas doesn’t require any proof from Claudia before trusting her completely over Adam.

10.- Why are Jonas and Martha needed to stop the cycle?

This is never actually explained beyond some vague idea of them being at the center of everything. Claudia could have traveled to the original world herself. Jonas could have done it too without taking Martha with him.

How do they even tune the machine to take them to a world that no longer exists?

11.- The whole time tunnel with Jonas and Martha?

???

12.- The resolution is a paradox, and thus impossible.

In order to stop time travel from ever existing they need to travel in time and prevent time travel from being created, thus making their existence a paradox, which makes them slowly disappear in a cloud of gold dust.

I know this was done for the visual spectacle, but still.

So much struggle against determinism, so many exposition dumps, so much care to make every piece fit perfectly in the timeline, just for the final resolution to be a blatant paradox. Pretty, but not really fitting.

Even though multiple universes with multiple timelines are shown to exist, somehow the rules of time only allow for a single timeline to exist in the end, even if that timeline contains an impossible paradox.

[bookwyrminspiration]

(pyro here! i feel like this is...very ramble-y and i apologize if this doesn't make sense, and no obligation to post if it all feels like i'm just going in circles or for any other reason)

this could just be me, but i find keeper to be so interesting in so many ways but mostly because of how little actual good guys and bad guys there are, if that makes sense? it doesn't seem like it on the surface, and the story seems rather clear-cut if you don't think about it too hard, but there's no character or group in the series that's completely perfect and hasn't done anything wrong ever, iirc? like, the council is very obviously not too pressed over whether their actions are morally right and they're the government of a species that's supposedly all about being righteous, and neither are the black swan nor neverseen, which i find really interesting to look at, especially when the protagonists start to realize these things and question them, outwardly or inwardly.

and even any developed individual characters aren't clear-cut. yes, sophie is our protagonist, but she's also an arsonist that frequently breaks the laws of her world and has nearly started a war by breaking a treated because she was curios as to what was in an ogre king's mind. linh is- well, she's the token nice asian girl, but she also flooded an entire city, twice, and has most definitely killed people. dex may not have done anything really wrong, but he still created the ability restrictor, a device that put his best friend through days/weeks of torment, all because he was happy to recieve attention from the council. and that's just three of the main characters.

and i'm under the impression you really don't care about the council (which is fine and totally valid!) but it's still so interesting how the three important characters from there follow this as well. oralie was revealed to be sophie's mother meaning she committed treason and should probably be in exile, kenric was actively hiding important information from oralie (and knew about her being sophie's mother and therefor was a willing accomplice to treason and should also be in exile), and bronte has gotten...better(?) in the later books? maybe?

i suppose im wishing that shannon will deliver on this in the future, but im not really getting my hopes up. sophie is very interesting, but the books have always framed her actions as the right ones to take, no matter how terrible the consequences could've been, and they definitely frame the rest of the "good guys" as, well, good people who do good things, which isn't exactly true in most cases. i just...i guess i find it really interesting. i'd also be interested to hear your thoughts on this! on the surface, keeper really does seem like a rather basic series, but it's cool how if you dig even just a little deeper you start getting messy.

hello pyro !! nothing to apologize for, I love rambling! and you are in luck because I happen to have so many thoughts about everything all of the time.

and I agree with you! When you first think of keeper—or at least when I do—I seems very black and white, even bland at times in terms of the interest of the characters and the aspects of their world. Especially when you’re an older reader and have since read more adult books with more complex characters. Which is common. Because these are middle grade series and there’s more limitations of what topics authors can reasonably cover. They’re being careful. Because their audience are young and impressionable and despite their best efforts may be influenced subconsciously. So they have to lay things out more clearly, explaining that actions are bad when adult readers can put that together themselves.

(I know there are a lot of younger people in this fandom so let me clarify: I am not saying you are incapable of critical thought. However, thorough analysis becomes easier with experience, and adults and older readers will often have more experience with this than you. We’ve also had more time to figure out our own opinions and morals. This is not meant to put you down, just remind you that there are inevitable differences between us).

Back to what you were saying, pyro, despite its appearance, when you take a closer look there’s actually not a lot of black and white—or at least not as much as you’d think. I know there’s a canon line where Sophie says something like “the Black Swan were…the good guys?” (paraphrased from the first book). Which makes sense because at this point in time she’s twelve, where it makes sense for her to have that very black and white mindset. Good and bad. Pleasant and unpleasant. it’s a very all nothing mindset, which I know I also had at that age. But as she’s grown older in the series, she’s thinking about things from a more mixed perspective. She’s bargaining with herself and deciding what’s worth what and if the consequences are worth the risks, making decisions she likely would’ve condemned earlier in her life. Like setting the storehouse on fire. That’s a very loaded and controversial decision from her. It’s neither good nor bad. It accomplishes something she wants—sending the Neverseen scrambling and setting them back—and she decided that was worth the consequences—burning potential information and doing something that might’ve been previously against her morals. It’s not the “right” decision to make. It’s just the decision she makes.

We see this a lot with Black Swan too. I’m actually going to bring their oath into this: “I will do everything in my power to help my world.” It seems simple and straightforward at first, but thinking about it, there’s no qualifications for what “help” means. And there’s no limit on what they’ll do, just that they’ll do it if they’re capable. This leaves it open for a lot of morally questionable decisions, like creating Sophie. Did creating Sophie help their world? She’s already started to make positive changes (like at Exillium) and she’s not done yet, so you could say yes she’s helping. And they were capable of bringing her into existence. So they did. It was in their power and it helped, so they did. Despite using Emma’s body, despite forcing Sophie into this situation.

with the Neverseen, they seem more like misguided anti-heroes (if I’m using that term right), doing “bad” things for “good” reasons. Fintan is making these bold statements and undermining the council, actions viewed as negative, to try and highlight the unfair discrimination in their system and reform it—a motive one could consider reasonable and positive.

as for the council, the most notable event this applies to is Sophie’s ability restrictor in Everblaze. This was not supported by everyone else, actively hurting out main protagonist, but their reasoning was generally sound. Sophie had already broken several laws at this point as was causing unrest in their society, the one they’re supposed to govern. And she’d used her abilities yet again to go against those rules, this time with incredible serious consequences. So if she refuses to listen, what do you do? Take away those abilities. Keep her from hurting this society further. There are more specific examples of this, like Oralie and Kenric’s cache, but this is getting long so i can talk about those later if you’d like /g

part of what is intriguing about these characters is how they’re not so black and white on the surface despite the world seeming to be so easily divided into good and bad, so it’s fascinating to talk about how those parts are actually displayed. You brought up a lot of really good topics and I love talking about this!! /g

if you’d like me to expand on any specific part more or have more thoughts of your own to share, you’re more than welcome to send another ask <33

[mostlycompetentwriter]

Limitless - Chapter Seven

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Johnny (side pairing: Y/N x Jaehyun)

Word Count: 4K

Warnings: Language, and lots of angsty feelings

Genre: Hogwarts AU; Fantasy AU

Summary: The aftermath of the werewolf attack...

Taglist:  @jae-bread​​,  @lanadreamie​​, @do-you-like-riddles​​, @ki-aechan​​, @the-usernames-i-like-are-taken​​, @dru-shadow​​, @completencttrash​​, @haechans-sunflower​​​, @neocultech-baby, @jaectizen​​​, @yutamist​​​, @lunavbm​​​, @seriousballoon​​​, @lerissa​​​, @kickin–it​, @xiaojunssmile​

“You are protected, in short, by your ability to love” - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The infamous night in question, in which my step-brother and his friends were attacked by a rogue werewolf because of a stupid prank, remained the topic of conversation around the Castle in the days proceeding the event.

Fittingly, all of those lofty rumors continued to evade the truth, and it was apparently predicated on the disparate accounts presented by Jisung and his friends because they were all first-hand witnesses. Yet, when it came to corroborating their testimonies, there were small details that were disregarded, and I still couldn’t convince my step-brother to tell me everything that he remembered. Apparently, it was too difficult to relive, but I had a sneaking suspicion that ulterior motives were preventing the truth from coming out.

Subsequently, I wasn’t the only person convinced that something important was being withheld, and it was a sore spot for our Headmaster who claimed that nothing was coming together. Unfortunately, it only severed his perception of the younger students, and I could tell that it would be difficult to convince him to lighten their impending sentences. Plus, in spite of my protests, our Headmaster was insistent on punishing Jisung and his friends to the fullest extent.

“The consequences,” the man seethed. “They’re far-reaching, and Mark will have to deal with the lycanthropy for the rest of his life!”

I winced at the harsh tone, turning to look at Johnny with a pleading expression. In return, the Slytherin Prefect sighed. “Sir, I understand the situation-”

“No!” the Headmaster interrupted. “I’ve made my decision, Mr. Seo, and I’m sure that you won’t like it. Detention for all of them every night until the end of this term! Plus, an additional 50 points will be taken from each of their houses.”

“Fine,” Johnny growled. “But don’t send them anywhere with Mr. Lee - he already has a personal vendetta against Haechan.”

“Well, maybe if your cousin didn’t cause him so much trouble,” the Headmaster rebutted. “I think I’ve heard enough for you, Mr. Seo.”

I quickly intervened because Johnny was getting nowhere with his arguments. “Sir, if you insist on detention, then perhaps we can turn the occasion into a learning experience.”

The Headmaster frowned, but didn’t immediately protest. “Go on.”

“The greenhouse is expecting new growth in the spring,” I said. “The school usually relies on volunteers, but perhaps the boys can shoulder most of the work? Jungwoo and I can supervise them.”

“I’m not surprised that you have a plan, Miss Y/L/N,” the Headmaster remarked, but his tone had softened. “I’ll consider your suggestion, especially in light of everything that’s happened to your younger brother. I can tell you care about him very much.”

I nodded my agreement, training my gaze on the ground while the Headmaster returned to his desk. “I’ve heard conflicting accounts of the events that took place over a fortnight,” he said. “I’m still not sure that the entire truth has been revealed, but since these boys can at least demonstrate some inkling of remorse, I’ll consider your proposal. Perhaps they can learn a thing or two about responsibility for one’s actions.”

“Yes, sir,” I agreed quietly, and when it was made abundantly clear that the Headmaster had nothing left to tell us, I dismissed myself from the office with Johnny hot on my heels.

“He’s harsh because he cares,” Johnny said, cornering me quickly against an alcove.

“I care too,” I said. “But you don’t see me forcing those kids to lose the rest of their first and second years.”

“They’re not losing anything,” Johnny said, but then he sighed when he recognized my resolve. “Fine, but there’s nothing we can do to change his mind.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “But he did make one good point about this whole mess: we still don’t have a cohesive account from that night, and it feels like you’re hiding something from me.”

Johnny scoffed at the observation. “I’ve said everything that I remember.”

“Really?” I muttered, crossing my arms in a decidedly petulant manner. “And if I were to ask everyone individually, all the accounts would line up together?”

“What do you want me to say?” Johnny asked, but it wasn’t as hostile as his tone suggested. “You heard everything you need to know.”

I rolled my eyes at the careful phrasing. “The truth always comes out.”

“There’s nothing left to tell,” Johnny insisted, and he shook his head before letting out a harsh exhale. “You’ll still meet me tonight?” he asked instead with a hopeful expression.

Despite the lingering suspicions laying heavy in the air between us, I forced myself to nod because Johnny still deserved that much since he had saved Jisung. Even if I still felt ostracized from whatever secret they refused to share. “I promised, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but it feels like you resent me,” Johnny said, and his gaze was searching. “I have something important to tell you, and I want you to let me explain everything before you react.”

I narrowed my eyes at the demand. “Johnny-”

“Please, Y/N,” he interrupted with force, and I almost staggered backwards at the lofty interjection.

“Okay,” I eventually relented. “I’ll listen.”

“Thank you,” he said around a relieved sigh, glancing back and forth between opposing directions of the corridor. “I know your brother will want you with him, but I expect to see you outside the Slytherin common room.”

“I already said that I would,” I reminded him, and Johnny chuckled before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

I’m sure there was more to discuss, but I would wait until the designated hour to push Johnny for as much as he was willing to give me.

I would never force Jisung to do anything that made him uncomfortable, but it was hard to keep myself from breaking down and demanding that he recall the events of the unforgettable night that had landed his classmates in so much trouble. 

The biggest issue was the discrepancies between their versions of the events, and the truth was a confusing puzzle, but I was missing several pieces around the edges. “How do you feel?” I asked my step-brother when I stopped to visit him between classes.

“I’m okay,” Jisung replied, and he tugged on the sleeve of his hospital gown. “The medicine helps.”

“Oh?” I remarked, reaching for the bottle on the side table. “Are there any side effects?”

“Not really,” Jisung said. “Plus, they help me sleep.”

I sighed at his morose tone. “Is it hard to close your eyes?”

“I see everything in the dark,” Jisung whispered. “I remember everything.”

“You’re not meant to suffer like this,” I said. “That's now how memories are supposed to work.”

Jisung nodded, even though his gaze was distant. “Johnny said that you spoke to the Headmaster with him.”

“Yeah,” I said, and I wondered when Johnny had found the time to visit before me. “I-uh-I managed to convince him to let you and your friends work in the greenhouse under my supervision.”

“Really?” Jisung asked, and I was pleased to see the ghost of a smile press across his lips.

“Nothing’s set in stone,” I continued. “But he promised to think about it.”

“Thank you for trying,” Jisung said, and he reached out for my hand while reclining against his bed frame. “I’m tired of staying here.”

“It’s not very lively,” I agreed before clearing my throat. “What about the rest of your friends? Are they doing better?”

“Chenle and Renjun are fine,” Jisung said. “But I haven’t seen Haechan in a while, and Mark...” Jisung trailed off with a choked sound, glancing down the line of medical cots to the last bed curtained off from everyone’s view.

“He’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure him even though the words weren’t good enough when the situation could only be fixed by reversing time.

“I think Jaehyun’s looking for you,” Jisung said, and I followed his gaze to the unexpected appearance of the man in question. Jaehyun smiled as he beckoned me closer to the entrance of the medical ward, and I squeezed Jisung’s hand before joining the Gryffindor Seeker.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” I said, but Jaehyun simply shrugged in response and encouraged me to follow him outside.

“I thought we could walk together to class,” Jaehyun said. “Is Jisung feeling better?”

“I’m not sure,” I told him, speaking of the conflicting tightness that was incited by everyone’s never-ending concern for my younger step-brother. “He’s despondent, but I’m not surprised.”

“He’s a good kid,” Jaehyun said. “He’ll bounce back when he’s ready.”

“My father offered to send him home,” I said. “But I don’t think Jisung really wants that.”

“They’ve all been through a lot,” Jaehyun agreed. “Maybe we can keep giving them space and they’ll come around.”

“It just bothers me,” I said. “He won’t talk about anything that happened, and Jisung is always honest with me.”

“From what Chenle tells me,” Jaehyun said. “Which is very little, but Jisung was the most eager to join those older students. Maybe he feels bad about it.”

I blinked slowly at the suggestion. “I guess that might explain why he doesn’t want to share with me.”

“He trusts you,” Jaehyun said. “Give him some time to process everything for himself.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, but it was a half-hearted conviction. 

“Maybe you could talk to Chenle or Renjun in the meantime?” Jaehyun said. “They seem to be feeling like themselves, and even Haechan might discuss that night with you.”

I shrugged because it seemed awkward to approach Johnny’s cousin. “I don’t know...maybe everything will work out on its own.”

“I’m always here,” Jaehyun whispered, bringing me back to our surprisingly intimate conversation from the Three Broomsticks.

“Thank you,” I said, hesitating only for a second before accepting his outstretched hand. 

It was close to curfew when I left the Hufflepuff common room, navigating the changing staircases to the dungeons where the Slyhterin’s kept to themselves for the most part.

Everything was quiet, and I kept my eyes wide open in the expectation of finding Johnny somewhere close to the common room. But his voice still broke through the barrier of silence, and I paused at the sound of his voice. “Y/N.” Johnny whispered, summoning me to the opposite end of the corridor where he sat on a bench situated beneath the sole window allowing moonlight to seep into the quiet space.

“I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” I said, but Johnny shook his head in response.

“I’m really glad to see you,” Johnny said, and his tone was unusually bright as he invited me to sit down next to him on the bench.

“I haven’t been down here much,” I remarked, but Johnny didn’t seem interested in light-hearted conversation, and there was something heavy in his gaze as those penetrating eyes briefly flickered down to look at my lips.

“How’s Jisung?” Johnny asked.

“He’s doing better,” I replied. “I saw him earlier, and I promised to meet him in the morning before my first class.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Johnny said. “They went through a lot, and I don’t think many Hogwarts graduates have experienced something so dark.”

“It was a stupid dare,” I grumbled. “I’m glad the Headmaster sent those Fifth years home.”

Johnny nodded, and my attention was distracted by the reflection of the moonlight touching the outline of his profile. “I have something important to tell you,” Johnny said, and his tone was hushed as if he was protecting a secret of significant importance.

“I promised to listen,” I reminded him, and the words seemed to help Johnny relax as he glanced out the window overlooking the grounds.

“When we were younger,” Johnny began. “I chose to be your friend because I genuinely liked you. It had nothing to do with our parents.”

“Oh?” I offered in return, wondering why Johnny had been prompted to include that unexpected anecdote.

“I heard about you and Jaehyun from some other students,” Johnny said, holding up his hand as a reminder when I opened my mouth to interfere. “I’m not stupid. I know that he’s interested in you, and that’s okay because I can’t really blame him, even if we don’t get along these days.”

Johnny sighed as he finally looked at me - really looked at me with a studiousness that rivaled Taeyong’s at his best. “I love you, Y/N,” Johnny whispered. “I need you to understand that my feelings are genuine, and I want you to choose me instead of Jaehyun.”

He was silent then, but his words bounced around inside my head - taunting and mocking - and I released a ragged sigh before laughing in return. “You can’t be serious, Seo.”

I didn’t mean for my tone to sound so ragged, but I could see the moment when Johnny’s expression morphed from affectionate to something a lot colder. “What do you mean?”

“First, you gave me all kinds of bullshit at that stupid Christmas party about my mother, and then when I try to be more amiable, you throw it back in my face like the arrogant asshole that you are!”

“Arrogant!?” Johnny growled, and he suddenly appeared a lot more hostile as he crossed his arms. “Y/N, I’m not trying to take advantage of you. I want you to know how I feel.”

“Well, that’s great,” I chirped, standing up from the bench with a sigh. “Let me know when you’re ready to act like a mature adult again.”

“Where is this coming from?” Johnny asked, reaching out to snatch my arm before I could leave. “Holy shit, you’re one of the most frustrating people I’ve ever met, and I still don’t understand why you think I’m joking?”

“Isn’t that what everyone’s doing?” I snarled before jerking my arm back. “Ever since that night, I feel like I’m being treated like an outsider who needs to be coddled. Why the hell is everyone lying to me?”

“Nobody’s lying,” Johnny said, but he only served to infuriate me even more.

“You’re so dense, Seo! There’s still something nobody is telling me,” I snapped, leering down at Johnny. “I think there’s more to the circumstances. Werewolves have never attacked so close to the Castle!”

“Fine!” Johnny exclaimed, and his eyes were dark with rage. “You want to know? I didn’t think you’d press so hard when it clearly made Jisung uncomfortable, but I guess you never stopped to think that he feels guilty for summoning that werewolf in the first place!”

Summoning?!?!

“What?” I immediately questioned him, and my mind was swirling with possibilities as Johnny paused when he realized his mistake. “Jisung summoned the werewolf?”

My heart thundered against my chest, and I reached out to place my hand against the wall because it felt like my entire world had just turned upside down. And I had no control over the dizziness competing with the rushing blood roaring inside my ears.

“Fuck, Y/N.” Johnny sighed. “Is that what you want to hear? Yes, Jisung summoned the werewolf because those fifth year pricks dared him, and maybe I was trying to save his reputation and protect him because I care way too much about his older sister!”

I swallowed hard, stunned by the confession. It turned out that the truth was a bitter pill to swallow, and I had no words left to counter Johnny’s demanding presence. 

“Y/N? I don’t know what you want from me,” Johnny finally said to break the tense spell of silence. “You keep making me think that there could be something more between us, but every time I take a chance, you always do or say the wrong thing and it makes me want to forget my feelings for you.”

“It wasn’t my intention to lead you on,” I said in return when I managed to control my ragged breathing, and it was very difficult to look at him. “I also wouldn’t have pushed you on Jisung had I known-”

“Really?” Johnny scoffed, interrupting me before I could continue. “That’s bullshit, and we both know it’s a lie. You’ve been pushing me ever since you saw me that night in the infirmary, and I tried to tell you to leave it alone, but I guess you don’t have it in you to just leave some things unsaid.”

“Maybe not,” I said in response. “It looks like you don’t know me as well as you thought.”

“I never insinuated that I pretended to know you,” Johnny retorted.

“Oh? What would you call our conversation from my father’s party, then? When you cornered me in the gardens and gave me a very inaccurate assessment of my character?”

Johnny laughed, and it wasn’t out of humor, but something darker and far more menacing. “The problem with you, Y/N, is that you don’t like to be told that you’re anything less than perfect! You try to mold this untouchable image of yourself, and it manifests into something obsessive! But since you’re so obsessed with the truth, then you should know that you’re far from perfect! In fact, you’re one of the worst people I’ve ever met, and I feel sorry for someone who can’t recognize their faults.”

“You’re no saint either, Seo,” I reminded him, even though the statement itself felt petty. 

“But at least I don’t try to deny it,” Johnny gritted out, and he shook his head while his raging expression settled into one of stoic intensity. “Forget what I said tonight. I’ve heard enough to change my mind about you.”

“Good,” I retorted, frowning when he started walking back to entrance of the Slytherin dorms. “We’re better as enemies.”

But Johnny didn’t say anything to counter the aggressive statement, and I chose not to linger for another moment in the proximity of someone who had just proven himself to be against me.

But my brain wouldn’t allow me to forget the revelation of Jisung’s mistake, and I could tell that my step-brother was surprised when he woke-up the next morning to find me sitting next to his bedside.

“Y/N?” he questioned.

“I think we should talk,” I said, and Jisung could tell that I was serious as he immediately fisted the bedsheets between his hands.

“Is something wrong?” he whispered, and I sighed because the conversation would be hard for both of us.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” I started. “I feel like you’ve lied to me about that night.”

“I never lied,” Jisung said, and I rolled my shoulders back to try and dispel the mounting frustration threatening to explode at any moment.

“You kept something important from me,” I said. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Did Johnny tell you?” Jisung asked, and his tone matched the betrayal written across his features.

And since I had no obligations to defend Johnny, I nodded in response to Jisung’s question. “But I don’t trust him, and I want to hear it from you.”

“I didn’t mean to, Y/N,” Jisung said, and there were fresh tears threatening to fall. “I would never hurt Mark on purpose.”

I looked straight ahead, measuring the rays of lights falling through the curtains. “So, you did summon the werewolf.”

“Yes!” Jisung sobbed. “But I wish I could go back and undo everything, Y/N! The older students told us that we had to do it-”

“Do you obey everyone who asks for you to endanger yourself?” I snapped, and Jisung was caught off-guard by my dark tone. One that I rarely used around him.

“Y/N,” he whined. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

I closed my eyes because I was furious that he would burden me with that knowledge - the real reason for the cruel predicament that had befallen the first and second years who left their rooms to entertain the damning pranks of a few immature boys.

“If the Headmaster knew, then you would be suspended,” I said, and Jisung sniffled as he nodded. “I won’t tell anyone, but you need to understand that this isn’t something that will just go away over time. Because of what you did, Mark will have to deal with the lycanthropy for the rest of his life. On every full moon night, he won’t even remember his own name...”

“Stop!” Jisung cried, and he was rushing to swipe at his eyes. “Why are you being so mean?”

“Mean?” I scoffed. “Jisung, I’m being honest with you.”

“But you act like I don’t care!” Jisung said. “I hate when you talk to me like a kid. For once, I just want you to treat me like I’m not stupid. Because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, okay? How am I supposed to face any of my friends again after what happened? When I see Mark...” He broke off with a choked gasp, clutching at his throat while exhaling. “I can’t sleep knowing that I hurt him, and I don’t know what you want from me!”

I froze at his final declaration because it reminded me of my confrontation with Johnny -  “I don’t know what you want from me.”

But Jisung’s outburst left me at a loss for words, and I could feel a huge chasm growing in the limited space between us while my younger step-brother crossed his arms and turned away from me. “We’ll talk about this later,” I eventually whispered.

“Much later,” Jisung said. “I don’t want to see you right now.”

“That can be arranged,” I muttered, and I ignored every instinct screaming at me to stay next to his side when I left Jisung alone to suffer with his guilt.