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seancamerons · 1 year ago

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What are some of your favorite headcanons about Sean?

dude you have no idea, so if you don't know, when i love a character I make up entire elaborate backstories and the rest under the cut/read more.😊

first we got -

sean is 1 of 3 brothers. when his veparents were hs seniors they had 9 months later a baby boy, his name was carson. they shortly married at their local church strong armed by family. so that's the oldest. they were estranged for a long time. he'd been incarcerated since he was 18, for drugs and petty theft but he went away bc his friend hit a guy drunk driving and was charged with 3rd degree vehicular manslaughter or something like bad, like a 6 year thing, the person died etc so he was in jail most of sean's forminative years. he screwed up and he paid for it and sean was without being bullied by his older brother and such. tracker was also but they don't like talk at all. at least sean and carson had good times even when he was terrorizing him and tracker. tracker never let it happen he'd protect sean from carson's moods, unpredictable and violence. im not sure how this story came about but it only deepened when i started getting into shows in the teen drama variety and remembering things from the show contextual clues and whatever. so three bros, jail, hardworker and all drop outs - but sean was supposed to be the boy to finally graduate and make everyone proud and get out of wasaga. that were his goals. he had all that but the graduation and instead enlisted but idk how that all went. i assume good. i can see it going a few was. i think sean is alive and doing well. he works, till works out still handsome maybe has facial hair.

so more specificly - sean is the baby of his family. the bonus child, sad. totally a whoops, but still loved and maybe even coddled more the parents know they've been neglectful but he's loved and considered and has friends doing good, but maybe not as than perhaps the oldest carson who was when they were teens themselves and didn't know what they were doing, tracker who came later who at first were fine but their addictions to alcohol at home started later and sean bore the brunt and saw their parents at their absolute worse. totally a shitshow. by then carson was fucked up and incarcerated, his parents still doted as he was their oldest son and they kind of were young and should've never been that out of control but he got a rough hand and i kind of base that like how ryan atwood from the oc had this brother who was in jail the reason he even was in newport in so many ways but by then ryan had changed and trey i assume - similar to carson. this makes tracker the older, a bit wiser, less in trouble, family duty kind of good guy who tries his best but maybe is also cursed with the cameron destructo genes but also made it a good life for himself, helps his young brother after his brush with violence and such and put him out of harms way, at his mom's request to him. i don't think this was selfish NOW WE CHILDFREE WE CAN DRINK ALL THE TIME. no i don't think they wanted to drink, i think their body craved it so bad they NEEDED to drink but they ost the 'fun' of being buzzed or blitzed and rather needed it to stop feeling pain and numb, self medicate even if it's bad for them and the reason for 90 percent of their misfortunates like it or not. realistic, bleak and fucking dark. i also set some of my stories up to where they're adults dealing with this stuff because like it or not this fandom has a lot of adults and im sure they don't want a fluff fest where people are all honky dorey. i hate perfect people, so all my girls and guys are flawed but some people are super good people but live and exist in bad times or bad situations like 90 percent of people out here like it or not.

so for example in the story (backtrack) carson plays more of a active role in from his start, he wants to do better and change like trey atwood did after everything with getting released but then he started bad habits and hanging out with that girl and coming onto Marissa who just wanted to be nice and help him out, but he actually commits to it and finds happiness and becomes close with sean over a time. as kids he was tormenting him and calling him what he assumed a mistake and it explains how sean is because he's very mean to himself. he bullies himself or makes himself feel bad when good things are happening. anway carson based on sean. tracker is named after the father but like leave it to beaver - baby sean couldn't say scott but loved calling him tracker because of his tractor pajamas or his love of vechiles and his name kind of stuck. even now it's tracker, scott is their dad. tracker is tracker, sean's middle name in his backstory had been hope. so sean hope, i assume his mother watched soaps and watched ryan's hope or something (it used to be on soapnet i swear its related!) it's older than old but it's an older show about a young Irish family who settled in the Americas but in the present so they've got these thick Irish accent and they own a pub or at least someone does when they immigrated and all congretate and drama ensued.

i just wanted to sidebar this and say i did watch a lot of soaps as a kid, perhaps that's why i love making up stories. i used to do with my barbies too. when my mom would watch court tv for like OJ Simpson i'd be playing with my dolls and creating plots for them like it was days of our lives or all my children in my barbie dream house. i was kind of made to do that stuff. even with the grusome details and gory things i heard or didn't 'get', it was weird juxtaposition of adult shit and adult shit i assume is romantic adult shit. this is no different.

i watched days and all my children (my mom preferred amc)

i also used to watch springer and maury in the summer or when i was ill! so like the drama is still seared there, i mean with mary from paterinity or bad kids BootCamp kind of episodes, there was the maury drama stuff. also the weird competition reality shows like rock of love and flavor of love or the reformed ladies of both of these shows would be on the charm school and such and then Megan wanted a billionaire and got a murderer and the whole shebang fell apart. now vh1 plays trash. I'm obsessed with the 1980s thanks to that channel i love times like that you know, when i wasn't alive but would've loved to live at that time/place.

okay end rant.

so that's just one big large explanation. in short i can go on forever. is shared a lot of headcanons but that's one. ask if you want to hear some more. this is a bit weird bc i shouldn't think this deeply about the fictional but hey.

okay fine, you caught me in a good mood, and i think you're awesome - one more headcanon for sean:

the tattoo is real. jay's too.

i love platonic as well as romantic friendships or love between close friends, but in a strictly platonic way and of course romance in every sense but the point is, you can be soulmates in a friend kind of way. i believe that's true for jalex. they were best friends i think. the show establishes them as young kids, in love or affectionate, but also had history for a long time and maybe there's a lot we do not know about their lives pre show or after. do they talk? 100 percent.

so jay and sean got tatted. sean has a lot of friends in wasaga (in degrassi he has none) so when he first came back to degrassi and had all these friends, one big bad bully tyler (the guy who got him back over to) and of course you knew what comes next.

one of sean's friends is like a tat apprentiece. she's new and she wanted to ink a friend. sean trusts her judgment and he agreed, jay and him had a "if you do it, I'll do it" when asked what they wanted they were told, "Make sure you love it and have no regrets because it's perminant." by this time in his life this is between season 4 and season 6 a lot had happened but over that time sean had realized he cares about emma way more than a friend and she had like it or not moved on but at this time he had no idea about that. jay was instrumental but didn't tell at that time. he'd visit him and give him the low down. so the friend who is an artist apprentice who needs to practice took it, and she's still got to get used to skin as opposed to lettering and details so it looks mighty rough. but they both said out loud from their room one guy was on one side, and the other guy was in the other chair.

"emma" sean quietly answers. "spelled e m m a"

"alex" jay announced. "self explanitory."

sean's friend her name is sabrina, often called brina or bree asks them as she's working on the lettering and they're sitting tight in the office. jay actually doesn't tease sean about emma or getting inked. by this time ellie hadn't been a blip on the radar, but emma had been on his mind. she was the first face he saw as she drove away, and the first face he wanted to see if and when he comes back to town.

they talk abiout the girls in their lives. by this point jay had alex had been split up and he more than anything wanted to be like before, before when they were everything to each other. he didn't want to forget her. he didn't want to not be her friend, and he fucked up their relationship and this was his way of memorializing their relationship.

for emma she was close to his heart, hence the chest as the location of this tattoo and he truthfully feels like connected even if they're apart.

long story short, the tats were a secret. emma unless they bumped uglies probably never found out about the tat, unless they had the kind of secs where he wasn't shirtless but it's sean cameron of fucking course she's gonna have no shirt in that (sorry just a headcanon) i mean there was a reason he was often at home dressed like in wifebeaters or shirtless playing sports with the guys) im sure at home he dresses in as little as he can so shorts/tank top no hodies unless its cold and he works out frequently in his non heated/non ac or hot apt. im sure air is expensive fans are expensive and water is expensive so he's living in the now for sure but once he returned back to 'get the diploma;, he justified setting his eyes and heart onto emma. i do believe he had goals, but he truly more than anything missed emma.

say what you will but his heart is often found in the right place. he might have flaws, but he is deep down a wonderful guy with a sad life. six was a disservice to him and his legacy for being a little bit mushy in the inside heart of gold, hero complex but also a great guy to have in your corner. that's him.

so when he said (paraphrasing this) he didn't want to come back for all the things he'd said, what he really wanted was love from her. he loved her and he also hurt her. sometimes he hurt the people he loved, or who loved him, and felt bad later because in the heart of the moment with his words he burned all those bridges. such as when he stole from Simpson. i don't know if emma was ever proven right to her face, she sounds like assuming without knowing but assuming that something was said. he says to her, he pretty much came back to be around her again.

i do believe the scene in the basement in the 2nd part of "here comes your man" clearly he wanted to confess a little bit about that but she kind of set the boundary she can't care about it because

1. she's got peter/he needs her even if they'd had a lot of build up and yet she can't be her real self.

2. manny clearly has something against sean over peter (what even was that?) i wouldn't be nice to him either tbh.

3. i don't think she doesn't care, it's that it's hard for her to imagine that because she'd been burned in the past not just by him, but his departure, or indirectly through hurled insults and other things throughout her life experience/lived experience attending degrassi!

4. a secret option idk combination of 2/5

5. all the above!

either way this kind of breaks sean's heart (teeny bit) and she begs him to turn himself in, or suggests this is the only way but that was a sad thing. he got hauled off and shit and peter got what? slap on the wrist - why did the writers love him? he sucks. peter got away with too much.

the worst thing sean did wouldn't equate peter's worse - like what he did to manny? inexcusable. what a bad guy. why was manny defending him, and i don't wanna hear the obvious, "oh he stood by your side during your eating disorder!"

no, i aint buying they're doing the sexy shit either. so seeing sean, who i believe she was attracted to him beyond looks but they sure didn't make it a issue because he had the package - handsome and such, but also messing up a bit bc the street races were illegal and what they were doing was no question illegal and morally grey.

also why tf jay sabotogue sean like that and tell him to run? when is any vechiular thing warrant them to idk. but he did and stuff and we all know it was nothing. either he didn't know that running from the scene as his friend told him to do bc that there is a hit and run OR jay wanted to cause sean grief for some weird reason or things just went down and he panicked and didn't want sean to go to jail, and thought it'd be better if he ran but still. so i gave you a bunch of things to sort through.

💐��ty for the message!

#asks #seancameronism #i've been wanting to answer this but i been so busy tryna figure out what headcanon i sit on would be the best of the options #i have 1000s narrowed it down tho thanks!#💌 tysm for the ask!!#headcanons #stories #fic #writing #writing tag #ideas #sean cameron #degrassi #semma #emma nelson #jay hogart

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masterofd1saster · 7 days ago

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CJ current events 7nov24

Society: Jordan's untouchable; you deal with him

Police detected a pulse on homeless man Jordan Neely after he was put in a chokehold by Marine veteran Daniel Penny, bombshell new bodycam footage reveals. The video became public today as Penny's manslaughter trial began in Manhattan. *** NYPD officers arrived on the train at Fulton Station at 2.33pm. Two police officers confirmed that Neely still had a pulse when they arrived. 'I got a pulse,' one said. A second police officer confirmed that he too felt a pulse. Neely was unconscious, lying on the subway car floor. When asked how Neely ended up there, Penny replied: 'I put him out.' Despite initially detecting a pulse, they issued Narcan - the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses - to Neely - and started CPR at 2.38pm. Paramedics from Northwell Health arrived on the train at 2.48pm - 15 minutes after the police. At 3.13pm - almost 45 minutes after police first arrived - Neely was still on the train, by then surrounded by paramedics. The bodycam released by the court today ends then. *** Among witnesses on the first day of evidence was an NYPD Sergeant who testified that none of his team performed mouth-to-mouth on Neely because he was a 'drug user'. 'He seemed to be a drug user.. he was an apparent drug user. He was very dirty. I didn’t want them to get… hepatitis. 'If he did wake up he would have been vomiting. I didn’t want my officers to do that. 'He was filthy. He looked like a homeless individual. You have to protect your officer, 'I wouldn’t want my officer to get sick if the person throws up,' he said. *** [Prosecutor told jury] ‘We pass people like Jordan Neely every day. As New Yorkers, we train ourselves not to engage, not to make eye contact, to pretend people like Jordan Neely don’t exist.’ Yoran told jurors that another man who helped to get Neely to the ground repeatedly told Penny that he could let go because he had a strong grip of his arms. ***

***

Crips are wonderful dirtbags

Denver teen found guilty of killing woman with AR-15 after fender-bender on Colfax

Prosecutors argued during a seven-day jury trial that Remi Cordova opened fire after a minor crash and killed Pamela Cabriales in an attempt to earn status within the Eastside Crips gang.

***

Gadsden Flag worthy

Note where this report was published. New York is world famous for stupid, petty cruelty.

This week, New York officials seized and euthanized a pet squirrel named Peanut, sparking outrage from his owner and a large social media following. Peanut, along with a raccoon named Fred, was taken on Wednesday from Mark Longo's home in Pine City, near New York's Pennsylvania border.*** Peanut was a social media sensation with almost 600 K followers on Instagram. Owned and cared for by Mark Longo, Peanut’s life was documented through 1,400 Instagram posts, showing him enjoying waffles, jumping through hula hoops, and bonding with Longo and his cat, Chloe. According to Longo, Peanut had become a central figure in P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, the non-profit organisation he founded to rescue neglected animals. The sanctuary currently shelters over 300 animals, with Peanut serving as its beloved symbol.*** The county health department and New York Department of Environmental Conservation reported they received complaints about “potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies” and the “illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.” According to NBC News, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) received multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut and dispatched "at least six officers" to Longo's home to seize Peanut and Fred.***

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/114908967.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

What judge signed a warrant for a squirrel?

+++

***

You've never changed your mind?

CV NEWS FEED // As of October 30, patients in Quebec, Canada, who meet certain criteria no longer need to confirm that they want to undergo physician-assisted suicide immediately before they die. The patient can now request and provide “consent” for the assisted-suicide in advance, if he or she has been diagnosed with an illness such as dementia. The government of Quebec adopted the law in June 2023, and it went into effect earlier this week. The government’s website specifies that patients who meet the right criteria can fill out an “advance request” for the assisted-suicide program called “medical assistance in dying,” or MAID. The “advance requests” can only be made by persons “who [have] been diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity,” such as dementia, according to the website. ***

***

I'm sure he has a suit of armor and he'll obey the King's commands and rescue damsels in distress

hit piece in New York Magazine

Even when it’s not Halloween, a certain breed of religious traditionalist longs for the days when men donned capes and cloaks decorated with symbolic sashes and ribbons, got knighted, laid holy swords in caskets lined with red velvet, and pledged oaths to monarchs and popes. *** It turns out the last time Donald Trump was president, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito*** added a knighthood to his own résumé, pledging an oath to the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. ***

Oh no, maybe he'll pass out tootsie rolls like the Knights of Columbus!

***

tues

The law is sexist

A young woman in Iran removed her clothing and displayed her hair outside of her university to protest the “abusive enforcement” of the strict dress code. For this crime, she was swiftly and violently arrested, with footage showing her struggling beside a car with a group of men. Human rights organizations have called for an investigation into allegations of beatings and sexual assault during the arrest. Iran requires all women to wear a hijab in public, a mandate enforced by the country’s “morality police.”

***

The whole world is an impact area

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it uncovered 62 pages of records from the Department of Homeland Security thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit which show, contrary to what it told media, at least one U.S. Secret Service agent broke in to a hair salon and taped over the salon’s security camera in Pittsfield, MA, during a July 27, 2024, campaign fundraising visit by Vice President Kamala Harris. The records also show one agent telling colleagues that by covering the hair salon’s external security camera with tape, the Secret Service was “mitigating threats.”*** A Secret Service agent in the New York Field Office states in a July 28, 2024, email to an official on Harris’s detail whose name is redacted:

The owner [redacted] called the NYC Duty Desk stating she has pictures of agents going into the house, covering up cameras and using the bathroom. The address in question is 54 Wendell Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. She just wanted to know who had given permission to go inside and use the space.

***

Peanut, the legend continues - Police may have been searching for pr0n.

Mark [Longo] tells TMZ when officials showed up they asked questions that had nothing to do with the animals. Mark says one of the first questions -- "Do you have any cameras in your house?" This seems telling, because Mark and his wife are big on OnlyFans and have done porn on the platform. *** the search warrant says there was probable cause to believe Mark committed a crime, he was issued no citation or other violation of law -- nothing.***

"Longo, a 34-year-old OnlyFans model, said the raid lasted about five hours and left his house in disarray."

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/dec-staff-work-home-amid-furor-peanut-squirrel-s-19887313.php

***

Maybe the fact there's so many means you're guilty

Discovery process continues in child pornography case against former Recount editor By Amanda Burke Verified|The Berkshire EagleVerified PITTSFIELD — The criminal case against former editor Slade Sohmer remains pending in Berkshire Superior Court as attorneys review thousands of images of child pornography Sohmer allegedly possessed. First Berkshire Assistant District Attorney Marianne Shelvey said the review may take until the end of February due to the volume of the images, which were uncovered during a police investigation into Sohmer for alleged child pornography possession.

***

Cali gets smart, etc

Prop 36, California’s tough-on-crime amendment, passed with overwhelming support. The ballot measure reverses Prop 47, a 2014 law that downgraded felonies like thefts of under $950 and drug violations to misdemeanors. Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón, a mastermind behind Prop 47, lost to law-and-order candidate Nathan Hochman.*** Massachusetts failed to pass a ballot measure that would have legalized psychedelics, including psilocybin (mushrooms) and DMT. If the ballot measure had passed, the state would have joined Oregon and Colorado as the third state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of psychedelics.*** On what the next president should do to unite America: “Promise to protect pet squirrels from government overreach.” —Kat Rosenfield***

***

Ann Arbor, of course

CV NEWS FEED // On November 5, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a 25-year-old man who has since been charged with allegedly sending a message threatening to attack conservative Christians with an AR-15 if Donald Trump is elected president. Isaac Sissel, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with sending “a threatening communication,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. On November 2, the FBI National Threat Operations Center in West Virginia received an anonymous online message that in part read, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan reported: “I shall carry out an attack against conservative christan, (sic) filth in the event trump wins the election. I have a stolen ar15 and a target I refuse to name so I can continue to get away with my plans. Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there’s not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack.”***

***

New BJS pub on deaths in federal custody

In FY 2022: Homicides accounted for the largest portion (41%) of arrest-related deaths, followed by accidents (28%) and suicides (23%). In arrest-related deaths, 98% of decedents were male, 75% were white, and 53% were ages 25 to 44.***

***

How fed up are Californians with crime?

CV NEWS FEED // California Proposition 36, a ballot initiative aimed at substantially reducing the amount of crime in the Golden State, passed with over 70% of the vote on Tuesday. Voters in California backed the measure by a landslide despite the fact that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democratic Party had vehemently opposed it.*** By Wednesday afternoon, with over half of the vote in, an overwhelming majority of voters in all 58 counties of the reliably blue state backed the measure – including even deep-blue San Francisco County, where voters favored Proposition 36 by a two-to-one margin.*** Newsom had emerged as perhaps the proposition’s most high-profile opponent. At a September public event, the controversial governor urged Californians to vote against the initiative. “It’s about mass incarceration,” he claimed. “It’s about bringing us back to a 1980s mindset. The impact it’s going to have on the black and brown community is next-level.”***

Gavin is saying black and brown people steal more.

***

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agentcable · 2 months ago

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Chicago Fire Season 6 Ep. 15 "The Chance to Forgive"

Firehouse 51 responds to a call of a fire in a home. Gunshots are fired and Otis is injured. The gunfire came from the family's teenage son's ammunition. Brett learns she's pregnant but Antonio was set up on a blind date. Casey makes Severide show his feelings for Kidd. After the mother dies in the house fire, the teen is charged with a crime and released.

If you want to watch the series for yourself, stop reading! This post contains spoilers to the storyline.

Another house fire. A guy runs out of the house. The pipes burst, and his folks are still in the house. They find the father, who seems OK, despite the flames. Shots are fired inside the house. Otis and Stella are upstairs where the shots are coming from. Stella tries to get up to check on Otis, but it's hard because there's still shooting. Another victim is found. It's the mother, with gunshot wounds to the back. Otis has blood around his head. He is on the floor. Stella calls and says Otis is hurt. Kelly wants to run in, but the chief stops him. The man who came out says there is no shooter. It is his weapons and ammo from his room that are going off. They get Otis out of the houe and take him to the hospital.

Otis is OK, but Cruz goes with him to the hospital. Cruz is angry that the kid had so much ammunition at home. Otis just got out of surgery. He's going to be OK. He's stable for now. The bullet is near his spinal cord and there's a blood clot. Lilly and Cruz go to see Otis. Cruz tells him the firehoue is there for him.

Sylvie and Gabby are sitting together. Sylvie says she thought she was pregnant and had her future with Antonio mapped out.

Stella is a little shaken but OK. Kelly tried to walk over to her, but the chief called him over and told him he wasn't happy about disobeying a direct order by running back inside the house. Kelly says he can't go through this again. The cops let the kid who owned all the ammo go. Cruz freaks out.

Cruz tells Otis there were guns in the house and that's how he got shot. Otis is worried about Stella, but Cruz says she's fine and that the kid who did this will pay.

Sylvie is making a list of things to bring Otis from home. Gabby tells her not to tell Antonio about the pregnancy test. Sylvie wants him to be exclusive. She wants to make their relationship work. Sylvie leaves the bar and bumps into Antonio. He says he has a date. She is upset.

Cruz is at the chapel. The kid's father comes in. Kelly goes to see the chief and says he was wrong and won't do it again. The chief says that the mother has died. Cruz is angry and asks if her son will be arrested for manslaughter. The Chief tells everyone to calm down and do their job.

The alarm goes off. Another house fire at the same house where Otis was shot. This time it is coming from the garage. They can't open it, but Cruz gets under the door, gets in, and removes the kid from his car. He was committing suicide. Cruz gets him out and he's not breathing. They get a pulse and Cruz tells him his dad needs him and knows he didn't mean it.

Otis is out of surgery. The doctor tests Otis's feet for feeling. It seems he doesn't have feeling in his feet. Sylvie is throwing things out of her locker, especially things that remind her of Antonio. Stella is taking inventory at the bar when Kelly shows up. She asks him why he's avoiding her. Kelly kisses her.

#USA #TV Serie #Action #Emergency #Drama #2018 #One Chicago #Chicago Fire

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televinita · 2 years ago

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Power Rangers: Once & Always

My husband and I watched this last weekend because we have shared childhood nostalgia for the OG series, which was extremely fun, and now I have thoughts! A random list of thoughts!

Thoughts Like:

Me literally every second Kat was onscreen: screaming, crying, hearts streaming out of my eyes, etc. MY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are an equal-opportunity Red/Pink Ranger shipper in this house so as clumsy and awkward as I found most of the reminders that he and Kat are married*, I ate them up with a soup ladle.

(*were? idk feels uncomfortably like you could read this equally well as them being co-parenting divorcees on friendly terms, perhaps to appease the rabid OG shippers without pissing off canon purists, but in the absence of Amy Jo, NOT TODAY SATAN).

I was...Not expecting Trini to die on screen, even just by being hit with a blast and dropping out of sight. YIKE.

Although I did appreciate how much that made this movie feel like a fanfic that magically got filmed.

Uncle Zack just rolling up to move in and guardianship Trini’s daughter full time, SURE!!!!!

Was her name always pronounce Tree-nee?? I know I didn’t watch as much of the original lineup compared to Zeo and Turbo, but it’s always been in my head as “Trinny.” It was so jarring, every time. Is my memory that bad or is this like a Modern Day Fix where they got schooled by actual Vietnamese people.

I still require more explanation as to why they have ranger powers at this age. I thought Passing Them On was sort of...a key part of being rangers? I mean I don’t know that much about the mythology because this was strictly a teen drama to me and I fast-forwarded most of the fight scenes and battles but...

Trini’s daughter is

adorable

and I would almost commit to watching a season she was part of. The 2017 reboot film wants what this character’s energy has.

IMMENSELY hilarious to me every time Zack acted like it was unreasonable for a teenager with homework to want to be a ranger, btw.

I will say that her fight against the putties all alone really drove home how young the characters were always supposed to be. Wild visualizing rangers being actual minors.

I was never very attached to Billy and even less attached to Zack (truly the only person who was a greater non-entity to me than the latter was Rocky or perhaps Jason), so kudos to this movie making me care about them. Especially Billy. Oh my god I loved that final forgiveness convo so much.

Husband, howling with laughter at the cringe-worthy single DIVERSITY! moment: “Would you commit vehicular manslaughter for gay rights?? Only true allies need apply.”

I LOVE THE MONSTER DUDES. Especially the snakey guy, my beloved. It was very hard to root for them to be defeated, let alone straight-up murdered. (which, for all Zack kept scolding about, sure looks like revenge to me!! my husband kept trying to explain to me that it was justice and there is a difference, but everyone who claims that is wrong)

Robo Rita is also most excellent.

This movie was way more stabby than I remember the tv show being. did they always have daggers??

I know I said that I mostly skipped the fight scenes/battles, but sometimes I made exceptions for the OG series because the animal zords were actually pretty cool, unlike the later cars. Until they become a giant robot, at least, I kind of love them, so that was fun to see. I also really like the power disks w/ the animals etched on them.

...MEMORY BLAST we used to have a bunch of those from McDonald’s happy meals, I think when the OG movie came out? Now I am weirdly sad they’re all long gone.

I don’t actually remember the episode they used the nostalgic clips from at the end but oh my god that was a perfect choice. Moderately hilarious that after a whole movie of reminding us that Tommy has a kid with Kat, the clip is clearly as much Tommy Makes Heart Eyes At Kimberly as anything else, but again, equal-opportunity shipper here so it’s cool and I appreciate the gift. Also a good reminder I need to go listen to her music again, her voice is so pretty.

In conclusion: basically we got a bonus 3-part episode 30 years later and I think that is very special and my heart is very full. No complaints. :*)

#power rangers #episode reactions

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andithiel · 3 years ago

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New fic: Perfect Fit

Pairing: Drarry

Rating: Teen

Length: 2,6 k

Tags: EWE, established relationships, magical mishaps, banter, bickering, friends helping friends, marriage proposal, (a bad one), attempt at humour

Summary: Harry has admittedly been in sticky situations previously in his life. But the idea that he’d be literally stuck inside his boyfriend had never crossed his mind, nor that they’d have to ask their friends for help.

Excerpt: “Okay, let me see if I can get this straight;”

Pansy stands by the fireplace, one hand holding the mantlepiece, the other one pinching the bridge of her nose. Harry has never seen her looking so done with everything. She draws a breath to speak, and Harry braces himself for what’s to come, only for her to be interrupted by Ron snorting somewhere behind Harry.

“Nothing about this is straight.”

Arms falling to her sides in disbelief, Pansy gives Ron an even wearier look. No, weary is the wrong expression, Harry thinks, her eyes are practically throwing an Avada Kedavra at this point.

“Yes, obviously, Ronald, since we’re talking about the gayest wizard in the entirety of Britain, and his boyfriend. It’s an expression.”

“Where did that expression come from, by the way? Seems kind of exclusionary, don’t you think?”

Behind her, Blaise is trying and failing to suppress a giggle, but Pansy looks like she’s about to stomp over to Ron and strangle him with her bare hands. Perhaps an Avada Kedavra would be too quick and merciful a way to murder someone in her opinion. But before she’s able to retort, or commit manslaughter, Draco interrupts them.

“Are the two of you quite done philosophising over the English language? We do have a situation here.”

A/N: I’ve had a hard time finding the joy to write lately, and writing something that feels like it’s not crap. And then I found this WIP all dusty and forgotten in my folder, and when I read it again it made me smile, so I wanted to finish it to hopefully make others smile as well. Thank you to @scarshavestories and @crazybutgood for helping me with the beta and encouragement 💖💖💖

Read on AO3

#drarry #drarry fic #magical mishaps #ancient family curses #pure blood traditions #I’m so sorry for being so inactive lately #I feel like this is becoming a one way street blog #but it’s what I have the energy and headspace for rn #andithielwrites

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doodle-empress66 · 4 years ago

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Hazbin Hotel: Perma Frost Full Bio

General

“It’s BULLSHIT that I’m down here! Stuck in this ugly ass form! I did the shit I did to SURVIVE! No one has ever watched out for me! So I watched out for myself the best way I knew how!”

- Perma Frost to Charlie

Full/True name: Petra

Nickname(s) or Alias:

Perma Frost, Perma

Perm

The Killer Frost Demon

Kid (By Husk)

Ice Queen (By Angel)

Little Girlie (Niffty)

Young Miss (By Alastor)

Bruja de hielo (By Vaggie)

Gender: Female

Species: Human (formerly), Ice Demon

Age: 14

Birthday: Jan 6th

Sexuality: Autochorisexual-Aegoromantic

Nationality: Icelandic

City or town of birth: Vik, Iceland

Currently lives: The Outskirts of Pentagram City

Native language: Icelandic

Relationship Status: Single

Appearance

Height: 5'5

Figure/build: Slender, somewhat curvy build, with long, dark blue icicle-like fingers. Powder blue skin

Hair color: Light Blue (Normally), Transparent light blue (when angered or frightened)

Hairstyle: Long and unruly

Eye color: A glowing icy blue hue that shifts

Tattoos: A snowflake on her back

Preferred style of clothing: ALWAYS wearing a large hooded jacket/coat that covers the entire top half of her body. Large black snow boats. And navy blue tights

General Past life

Human Name: Petra (She renounced her last name)

Birthday: 6th Jan 2005

Age of Death: 14

Cause of Death: Froze to death/Blood loss

Death day: 23 Aug 2019

Personality

Perma is an intense, cautious, volatile, and resentful teenager. She’ll do whatever it takes just to make it through the day regardless of who she has to harm or fight. She loathes adults and doesn’t trust them or their judgement, and always believes they're going to hurt her. Nor does she like being told what to do. So she often gets into a lot of fights with older demons, Perma will at times rush head first into a fight without thinking things through due to being blinded by her violent nature and past trauma. She has little to no friends or acquaintances because of the sheer brute force of her powers, somewhat lack of control and unwillingness to listen to people. Despite being unapproachable most of the time, deep down Perma wants a kind soul to turn to for love and guidance. But, pushes away this feeling due to the bad hand life and death has handed her.

History

Born in Vik, Iceland in 2005, since she could walk; Petra knew nothing but misery and neglect. Abused and mistreated by her egg and sperm donor, growing up in a strange cult certainly didn't help little Petra. Forced to deal with going hungry and cold from the old shredded clothes she was forced to wear. As well as participating in her mother's questionable practices. Her family often took part in the ancient art of Icelandic witchcraft. Writing questionable symbols everywhere in the blood of animals they caught. Reading from old books with disturbing otherworldly images. Even carving up their own bodies as a sign of devotion to some strange dark entity. Petra didn't understand these events but knew only bad things could come from it.

Life didn’t get much better for the young Icelandic when she was set up to be a sacrifice in one of the cult's shamanic ceremonies, she managed to slip away and ran until she arrived at an old rundown village. Only 9 years old at the time. From there, the next 4 years were awful. Petra had to survive on scraps she found in the trash or steal food and clothing from unsuspecting villagers. Years on the street, being treated like dirt from those around her, a child no one wanted around, caused Petra to grow hateful to world and the vile people who inhabited it. No one had any concern for her. No one cared about her. Her life meant nothing to ANYBODY. So after that, the lives of others didn’t mean a damn thing to her.

At 11, Petra committed her first murder. She was low on scraps and slowly starving. Following a frail elderly woman with a bag full of food, Petra took out an ice pick she had swiped from some workers and drove it into the back of the woman’s head.

Soon after, the dreaded streets Petra wandered were now becoming littered with the bodies of the people she stole from. Little did she realize, these malicious acts were changing in ways that were beyond human understanding. Something malevolent and cold started growing inside her body. Warping her soul.

Two years, this continued...until Petra chose the wrong target. A lanky young man, who looked a few years older than her, was smoking in an alley. Driven by survival, bloodlust and greed to what type of goods the man had on his person, Petra struck with her signature ice pick. Too bad, the man wasn’t unarmed. Nor was he alone. That’s all she remembered from that specific day. And how she wished she just kept walking.

The man was part of a group of sex traffickers looking around for young girls and women to add to their market. And 14 year old Petra was added to that collection.

The following year was a new level of Hell for the young girl. Beaten, abused, used in the most vile of ways by these men and others. Petra resisted at each turn but the suffering increased more and more. Then the vile concoction, meth they called it, they forced her to take each day. Told her that it would make her more “enjoyable company”. Some days and nights blurred into each other. This...drug made her forget the pain, the misery, the horrid existence she was subjected to. But reality came back full throttle to punch her in the face once it wore off. It made Petra feel disgusting and free at the same time. Just like the girls around her, empty shells with blissful smiles on their faces.

She was right at the edge of just ending it, but the stubborn part of her refuse to give her tormentors the satisfaction. One night, while she was getting prepared for a client, Petra managed to break away and shank one of the guards with an icicle she snatched from outside of a window. That kill was easy, but the second guard managed to let out a shout before Petra rammed the spike into his eye.

Petra rushed out into the winter forest, away from the building she was held captive. Wearing nothing but a pair of booty shorts and a flimsy tank top and armed with a bloody icicle. The traffickers hot on her trail with guns and rope. Each day of hiding, running, and avoiding bullets was made worse with trying to fight the freezing cold. One bullet managed to pierce her side. On that night, Petra finally found a small cave to duck into, her feet and hands black and swollen. She was practically a light blue.

Using the last of her strength to make a small, pitiful fire, Petra packed her bullet wound with snow as a sad attempt to stop the bleeding. She leaned against the cave wall and closed her eyes. Thinking back to all the events that transpired that lead her to this. The memories slowly getting darker and darker...

She woke up abruptly from crashing down onto the ground. The teen shot up, disoriented and looked around. Her eyes fell onto a large sign reading, “Welcome to Hell.”

Sins committed to get into hell: Theft, Murder, Assault, Manslaughter, Prostitution (Not her choice)

Any regrets in what they have done: No...depends

Likes:

Doing whatever she wants

Warm food

Parkour

Heavy metal music

Necessary Violence

Beating up adults

Animals

Children

Being left alone

Dislikes:

Adults

Being touched

Limited freedom

Being told what to do

Guns

Silence

Drugs

Anything sex related

Short clothing

Frozen Food

Fears/phobias:

Men touching her/being near her

Being tied up

The sight of her own blood

Dark rooms

Cults

Sexual acts of any kind

Being drugged

Favorite color:

White

Hobbies:

Ice/snow surfing

Brawling/Street Fighting

Reading scary stories

Parkouring

Stealing

Talents/skills:

Great at the drums

Ice skating (lol)

Parkouring

Intimidation

Fighting

Very Observant/ Quick Learner

Favorite food(s):

Skyr (Yougurt)

Harðfiskur (dried fish)

Reykjavik's Hot Dog

Favorite drink(s):

Slushies

Pineapple Soda

Hot Chocolate

Significant/special belongings:

Her icepick

Spiked choker

Combat

Fighting skills/techniques:

Very good street fighter/brawler

Excellent stabbing and hacking skills

Weapon of choice (if any):

Ice Pick

Unique Abilities:

Cold Magic- is able to perform a form of magic that allows them to utilize cold, either magically manipulating it

Cryokinesis- can create, shape, move, control, interact and manipulate ice.

Cold manipulation- can create, shape and manipulate cold by reducing the kinetic energy of atoms and thus making things colder

Atmospheric Freezing- an freeze the air/atmosphere itself regardless of air quality, abundant and trace gases, air temperature, etc., allowing her to either convert that air/atmosphere directly to ice or simply super chill it.

Absolute Freezing- can freeze anything, from tangible targets to intangible energy such as fire, or concepts such as time, even a person's mind.

Cold Embodiment- acts as the personification or manifestation of cold in their reality and has limitless control over coldness and can use coldness in different ways.

Cold Breath- able to generate and manipulate cold energy within her in a way that allows her to shape the exhaling of the effect.

Cold Presence- has the ability to project a field that lowers the temperature around her, creating a constant chill.

Cold Weaponry- create or wield weaponry with power over cold, which grants Perma a wide variety of cold-based abilities, including slowing down molecules, freezing a target solid, and limiting healing.

Cryo-Phasing- combines intangibility and ice powers to freeze the objects she passes through.

Cryogenic Bodily Fluids- possesses freezing cold bodily fluids (blood, sweat, saliva, etc.

Cryokinetic Creature Creation- is able to create beings of ice or shape existing ice into wanted shapes and purposes. She can grant the beings varying levels of independence (controlled, automatons/programmed, semi-independent) and existence (momentary to permanent) and delete the creature once she is done with them.

Cryokinetic Claws- can project and retract razor-sharp claws of ice from her fingertips for offensive purposes.

Cryokinetic Combat- able to utilize ice manipulation with her physical combat, allowing her to both create tools and weapons for attack and manipulate the environment for her advantage

Cryokinetic Cloning- can create clones of herself, others and/or objects by using ice.

Cryokinetic Surfing- controls the ice in a way that increases her ability to move and/or maneuver either by granting her abilities she otherwise lack or allowing them to ignore normally needed equipment.

Cryokinetic Regeneration- can use ice to regenerate her bodies with the amount of ice used defining the speed of healing.

Demonic Ice Manipulation- One of her most powerful attacks. She can generate and manipulate mystical demonic ice, which cannot be melted by mortal means, drawn straight from the darkest fears sentient minds have about winter, ice and arctic areas, including the fears of treacherous ice breaking, burying/devouring, damaging or tripping the victim in malicious awareness.

Demonic Ice Breath - able to generate and manipulate demonic ice within her in a way that allows her to shape the exhaling of the effect. These shapes can include bursts, streams, spheres, even a mist of it from the mouth.

Dark Ice Manipulation - More powerful attack. She can create, shape and manipulate the ice of a darker, detrimental nature; that which damages, destroys, and consumes anything/everything she comes across, representing the hazardous destructive side of ice, which in turn ignores most of the limitations and weaknesses of the normal ice. In essence, this is about solely controlling the negative dark powers of ice.

Frostbite- can freeze up any part of an enemy's body where she can turn the tissues and flesh into solid ice making the victim shatter into pieces due to freeze drying, or cause a swelling making it hard to move for the victim.

Frozen Surface- can cause surfaces (often floor) to emit ice/cold, causing ice/cold-damage on anything in contact with her or the ice.

Hail Generation- can generate and project hail.

Ice Aura- can release and surround herself in/with ice/cold for defensive and/or offensive purposes, possibly becoming almost untouchable and granting her various abilities/attacks.

Ice Vortex Creation - can generate spirals/vortices composed of ice. The vortex can be projected as a long ranged attack or as a tornado of ice for both offensive and/or defensive purposes.

Omnidirectional Ice Waves- can release massive amounts of ice in every direction at once for almost unlimited scales. This power allows Perma to dispatch many foes at once and destroy large areas like cities/villages.

Snow Ball Projection- able to launch spheres of snow at targets with varying degrees of force.

Snow Solidification- can solidify or give solid-like properties to snow-based substances with the level of solidity going from loose jelly to metal-like hardness or beyond. Alternatively, Perma can also harden snow to make it denser and harder to break.

Un-melt able Ice- can generate and project snow/ice that is extremely difficult to or cannot by melted by normal means, such as extreme heat or fire.

Weaknesses in combat:

Intense heat/fire

No control when pushed too far

Turns to solid ice when she goes overboard

Due to her constant chill, she can’t sneak up on people

Strengths in combat:

Wide and short range attacks

Nearly indestructible ice walls

Hidden demon form

Wild unpredictable street fighting style

Can create ice creatures, structures, and weapons

Relationships

Past life Relationships

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: None

Other Important Relatives: None

Children: None

Best Friend: None yet

Other Important Friends: None yet

Acquaintances: None yet

Pets: None but wants one

Enemies:

Anyone who tries to mess with her.

Alastor (Frenemy-ish)

Hazbin Relationships:

Charlie- Put off by her eagerness and determination to redeem sinners. Didn’t trust her at first and kept her distance. Slowly warmed up to Charlie’s kindness and learned to trust her and others.

Vaggie- Disliked her attitude, and authority. Would tick her off with snide comments and constantly freezing her and/or Charlie. Started to bond over their dislike of Alastor and men a bit. Told Vaggie of her life and hardships, now have a big sis/little sis connection.

Angel Dust- Because of his sexual nature, she was terrified of Angel and avoided him. Even freezing him solid a few times out of fear/self-defense. Calm down a little once, she learned that he’s gay. The two became close once Angel shared his own stories of abuse. Also adores Fat Nuggets.

Alastor- Instantly loathes Alastor due to his disregard for personal space and creeper smile. Sees him as a closet pervert and often talks trash about his radio broadcasts and calls him an "a limp dick old man". Perma was unaware of Alastor's reputation, but sees him as a sicko who likes to inflate his own ego and harrass those he sees as beneath him. One of the few demons who doesn't fear Alastor, but that's due to her own ignorance and inexperience. Often tries to start fights with him by crude derogatory comments. Or freezing him.

Husker- Didn't think much of Husk at first, but liked the fact the he's a cat. The two barely interacted until she sang to herself in German and Husk responded back. They slowly began to converse with each other more and more. Husk actually listening to her woes and offering some advice. Vice versa. Due to Husk keeping to himself and respecting boundaries, Perma respects and listens to Husk more than anyone. Calms down whenever he's around. The two soon form a father/daughter like relationship.

Niffty- Was put off by Niffty's persnickety and energetic persona. Also irritated her by the frost she leaves behind. But they grow to tolerate each other over time.

Trivia

Sin - Wrath

Can speak 5 languages: Icelandic, German, Polish, English, and Dutch. This is due to the men she came in contact with during her time on the streets and while trafficked

The spiked choker she wears was a gift from one of the older trafficked girls. It was the first time she was given ANYTHING nice.

Speaks with a thick Icelandic accent

Her lips are dark blue from her cold

Given her sexual abuse, Perma doesn’t just hate sex, she’s TERRIFIED of it.

Perma keeps to herself and talks to no one unless confronted.

She knows nothing about the Overlords or power scale.

She keeps her distance from friendly people. To her, everyone is out to get something.

Perma loves heavy metal, it helps her release the pain and fury she feels

With enough patience and practice, Perma could fight on par with an overlord

She likes animals, they never harm you

She eats warm food, to feel ‘alive’.

One negative act towards her, no matter how small, can set her off

#hazbin oc #hazbin hotel oc #hazbin hotel #vivziepop #perma frost #my oc #bio page

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imjeralee · 4 years ago

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Comfort in Despair: Chapter 26 - Away From the Maddening Crowd

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

NOTE: Again I have let Genshin Impact to consume my soul so I updated this on Tumblr a bit late sorry!!!

Rating: General/Teen

@marydragneell here is the latest update

Away From the Maddening Crowd

…

[Aura:

1. A form of spiritual energy described as the essence of every living creature.

2. There were humans who could sense Aura and control its power. These humans were known as Aura Guardians and they traveled around doing good deeds and passing on their skills to those who also possessed this innate ability. However, they also disappeared from history, for some undisclosed reason.]

…

In the early morning, you head to the cemetery to find Ezra, only to discover it is empty and the stone steps to the mausoleum have been destroyed.

Whilst you wonder what could have happened, a note weighed down by a rock near the abandoned mausoleum is your clue and you peel it off, scanning the contents. It’s been written in Ezra’s messy handwriting and it says:

[I’m on a case and have gone out to do some investigation. Be back soon.]

“I hope he's okay,” you utter under your breath as you pocket the note; it occurs to you that you don't worry about Ezra often unless it's to do with his general wellbeing and health. He's never bothered you with his own missions and you don't doubt his proficiency in handling evil spirits.

You had wanted to ask him about Gossamer Cave but it looks like you’re on your own for the time being so you return home where Magnolia has some nice, piping hot breakfast waiting for you when you announce your return. You will also be going shopping with Sonia later to find a dress for the party Leon invited you to.

At the table, you sit with various atlases and maps in front of you, along with your laptop propped open as you drink your soup and munch on toast.

“What are you doing?” Sonia asks, as you bury yourself nose-deep in a book.

“Ezra took me to a place called Gossamer Cave in the Wild Area several years ago, I can’t seem to find it anywhere on any maps.”

“I don’t recall there being a place called Gossamer Cave in the Wild Area,” she replies as she casually spreads some cheri berry jam over her toast with the knife. “Why are you looking for it?”

“Never mind,” you utter quickly, “it’s probably changed names or something.”

Strange thing is, none of these atlases or maps show any caves or sinkholes within the Dusty Bowl area at all.

Frustrated, you put down your work to focus on your breakfast, though today’s newspaper headline becomes your next highlight.

The front page is covered with content about Flora’s murder. You read all about it: her mother has been found guilty to manslaughter. Hank has been released, and Frankie will be returning to boarding school...though you didn’t receive any further follow-up from her.

A section concerning Leon’s upcoming match with Volkner is also squashed beside the article. You skim through it and turn to the next page, spotting a large photo of Leon so you grab some scissors and snip it out carefully.

Sonia giggles as you slip the photo into your journal. You’ve begun a small collection to show unwavering support for your boyfriend, cutting out any articles or photos about him from all sorts of magazines or newspapers you come across.

You’re certain his mum and Hop do the same so it’ll be interesting to share what you have collected in the future.

Meanwhile, Magnolia wanders around the kitchen, asking, “Has anyone seen Sunkern and Cutiefly?” She’s checking the cupboards and under the table. “Sunkern? Cutiefly? Where are you?"

“Did you check the conservatory?” Sonia asks.

“I already did, they’re not there.”

“Where was the last place you saw them?” you ask.

“I left them playing together over there,” Magnolia replies in confusion, gesturing to a potted plant near one of the windows, “and now they’re gone.”

You and Sonia leave your seats to assist the professor with the search but unfortunately have no luck locating the two pokemon and Magnolia gives up for the time being. Maybe they have managed to bounce off somewhere to play and will return later. The pokemon have gone off to play before.

“Sunkern, Cutiefly, are you upstairs?” Magnolia can be heard as she disappears up the staircase.

After breakfast, you and Sonia get ready to go out until the doorbell rings and Runerigus stops washing the dishes to float over, opening the door.

“Oh, hello there, sir!” exclaims a cheerful voice and both you and Sonia leave the room and into the landing, peering over the railing to see Leon’s mum at the doorstep with Hop and Wooloo by her side. “I’m looking for…”

She says your name and you and Sonia exchange glances before quickly heading down the stairs and Leon’s mum spots you; she smiles widely at your arrival, waving cheerily and Runerigus hops backwards to give you more space.

“Hello my dears!” Leon’s mum greets you two, “how are you?”

“We’re fine, thank you.”

After the pleasantries and small talk are over, she says, “I have a favour to ask you-“

“Muuuuum,” Hop whines in the background as she grabs him and steers him towards your direction, smiling widely.

“Can you please look after my Hip-Hop whilst I take the grandparents to the community centre?”

“Mum, I’m old enough to look after myself,” Hop wails, only to be ignored.

“Sure, Sonia and I were going to go out shopping so Hop can join us."

Hop’s eyes brighten up at once. “You are? Where are you going?”

“Wyndon Shopping Centre,” Sonia replies.

“Take me with you!” Hop abruptly yells, pumping his fists into the air and Wooloo bleating happily beside him.

Leon’s mum claps her hands together with glee. “Excellent, I’ll leave Anthony Hop-kins in your care then.”

“Muuuuum!” Hop wails in horror, his face reddening whilst you and Sonia giggle.

“Goodbye!” she says after pecking Hop on the cheek and ruffling his hair, before she dashes to their car which is parked in the front lawn near the bench. It resembles a Charizard. “Have fun, Hop! I’ll be back to pick you up by five!”

“Okay, bye mum!”

You watch as she steers the car out and onto the main road, chugging out of sight in minutes.

“Well, looks like you’re stuck with us,” Sonia says, and Hop turns round to you with a grin, folding his arms behind his head.

Hop nods. “Are we going now?”

“Yep!”

“Awesome!”

You quickly don your shoes whilst Sonia fetches her car keys; she will be driving you to the shopping centre. Magnolia sees you off and you’re about to enter the car when a stone smacks into the door from out of nowhere, just inches from the handle and promptly drops to the ground.

A look of annoyance crosses Sonia’s face at once as the stone rolls close to her feet and she looks up and around. “Hey! Who did that?! Who’s there?”

Another stone is tossed at the car, this time, aimed at one of the lights and your group turns round to see a little boy emerging from one of the bushes close to the house with a pile of stones in his hand.

“Witch!” he yells, pointing at you accusingly.

You remember this youngster; he was part of the trio who had ambushed you outside the lab the night when Leon had gifted you the flowers. You had spared him (although you thought your pokemon had taught him a lesson but it seems unlikely) and now he’s back with a vengeance.

“Hey, what gives, Johnny?!” Hop yells furiously, before he rolls the sleeves of his coat higher over his arms and promptly marches over.

Johnny? Must be a classmate of Hop’s.

“Hop, wait-“ Sonia says, but Hop’s almost nose-to-nose with the smarmy-looking kid.

“Shut up, Helmet Hair!!!” the boy yells; it dawns to you that this child and Hop are potentially the same age, being almost the same height and all.

“H-helmet hair?” Hop croaks out, wide-eyed.

“Hop, ignore him, let’s just go,” you mutter, but he shakes his head rigorously.

“No way! I’m defending your honor!” Hop yells. “Leave her alone! What she’d ever do to you?”

“My mum and dad says she’s an evil witch and must be destroyed! Anyone helping her must be destroyed too!”

“What?!” Hop and Sonia exclaim in unison.

“Go Spearow!” yells the kid; he tosses a pokeball into the air to reveal a small but familiar and rather mean-looking bird who flaps its short wings in the air before it quickly zooms towards Hop and Wooloo. “Quick Attack!”

“Dodge it, Wooloo!” Hop yells, and Wooloo acknowledges the instruction with a bleat and rolls to the left, successfully evading the assault. Hop scurries to the side, taking an offensive stance and placing some distance between him and his opponent.

A mini battle is taking place; Hop’s skills are impressive as he coordinates with his pokemon and swiftly instructs Wooloo to attack. You and Sonia quickly rush to a safe spot to observe with Sonia actively cheering for him.

“Go Hop, go!” she exclaims, and Hop tells Wooloo to counterattack with a Tackle.

The Spearow avoids by flying to the right and responds with a Peck attack. Wooloo cries out, squeezing its eyes shut as the bird pecks at its head aggressively.

“Wooloo, no!” Hop yelps, as the sheep struggles.

“Spearow, finish it off with a Fury Attack!”

“Not on my watch!” Hop shouts, “Wooloo, use Defense Curl!”

The sheep abruptly rolls into a tight ball and Spearow’s attack bounces off its large and fluffy hide, reducing the attack to nothingness.

“Now use Tackle!” Hop instructs and Wooloo springs out of its curled form to rapidly ram itself against the bird that had come too close for comfort.

Wooloo successfully knocks out the rampaging Spearow and it flops to the ground, out cold and unmoving. It was a critical hit!

“Well done, Hop!” you and Sonia cheer, whooping loudly whilst the punk kid named Johnny growls under his breath and returns his fainted pokemon into its capsule.

“Y-you’ll pay for this!” he yells before he rapidly spins on his heel and sprints down the path and out of sight.

“I won!” Hop cheers and everyone exchanges high fives when he rushes up to you happily. “That was sooooo awesome! And Wooloo!!! You were amazing!”

He picks up the sheep and throws her around in the air and in circles. Wooloo bleats loudly in response and they both share an embrace.

“Hey, he didn’t give you any prize money,” you pipe up.

“Eh, it’s fine.”

“Alright, shall we go? We’re running late,” Sonia says, nudging her head to the car and opening the door; Hops scrabbles into the backseat with his pokemon.

“Come on, let’s go!!” Sonia honks the horn whilst Hop pokes his head out of the window.

“Yeah!!! Let’s goooo!” he echoes loudly.

“Coming,” you reply.

…

When the car has left and is out of sight, a pokemon emerges from its hiding place in the shadows.

It had been watching your group the entire time before it stares at the direction where the boy had run off to. It had wanted to follow you, but it cannot pass up on this opportunity.

Hovering in the air, it floats silently towards the boy’s direction with a smirk, having found its prey.

…

Sonia’s brought you to a boutique which is immensely popular and trending in Galarian Chatot and so the shopping excursion begins. Hops lags behind with his arms folded behind his back, glancing around inquisitively.

“Well, what do you think?” she says with a cheery smile plastered on her face.

“It’s so bright and shiny here,” Hop remarks with a groan.

“It’s huge,” you blurt out, glancing around.

“Yep!! Let’s begin!”

The store is beautiful, with décor out of a fairytale book or a princess castle. With pale pink walls adorned with lacy drapes and fake roses, plush white rugs and plastic models of fairy pokemon standing beside mannequins, saleswomen and men dressed in exceptionally smart suits and skirts rush to the aid of their well-off patrons whilst you and Sonia head unnoticed to the dress section.

You had told Sonia you were wanting to wear something red (but not as flashy as the Miss Motostoke dresses) so she quickly locates where all the dresses of a variety of plum, crimson or scarlet shades have been grouped together.

Bored, Hop sits down on the plushy ottoman provided and Sonia begins rifling through one of the racks. You’re not sure where to begin exactly so you start at the opposite side and browse on your own.

Recalling Leon’s outfit in your mind, you hope to find something suitable but all you come across are styles that are simply too girly, too lacy, too short, too long, too pink or too purple or too peachy for your liking.

“Here, try this one,” Sonia approaches you with several dresses protected by plastic covers looped over one arm. “This one too.”

She hands you two dresses.

“And this one.”

A third is placed under your care.

She lifts up a fourth; it’s scarlet and full of ruffles. “Hmm, not this one. Let me put it back…”

A saleswoman rushes over to help you out. “Let me get those for you, madam…” she says, scooping them out of your hands.

“Thank you.”

“Can I help you with anything?”

“Nope! We’re good,” Sonia says, returning to your side, “here, you should try these on.”

The dressing rooms are an equally pink abomination, with thick white drapes and an abundance of fake roses sewn over them. Sonia squeals with glee and takes several selfies with the curtains whilst Hop and Wooloo sit down on the white leather couch in front of your cubicle.

“You okay, Hop?” you ask, and he nods. “Are you hungry?”

“Not yet.”

“We’ll get something to eat afterwards.”

“Okay,” he replies, before he grins widely at you. “I am kinda thirsty though.”

You remember there was a smoothie bar outside the shop and you fish some money out of your pocket, handing it to him. “Here, get yourself something to drink.”

He blinks his golden eyes before his cheeks turn pink. “Oh, um, I-I shouldn’t…mum says I shouldn’t-“

“It’s okay, Hop, go ahead.”

He grins widely at you in response. “Thanks, mate!”

You smile and watch as he sprints off, then you disappear into the cubicle and pull the curtain back, lifting up one of the dresses to eye level. Sonia has chosen an exquisite one-shoulder cardinal red dress. You hurriedly slip out of your clothes and slip it on, the silky material slinking over your belly and hips.

“Wow,” you cannot help but croak out; you’ve never worn anything so fancy before in your life.

As you stand in front of the mirror, you hear Sonia saying, “So? How is it? Let me see!”

“Okay, hold on,” you murmur, before you pull the curtain back.

Sonia is lounging lazily and sits up properly once you appear; Sonia lets out a gasp of awe, her eyes lighting up. “You look great!!”

“…I’m not sure about this one. Let me try on the next one.”

Disappearing inside the cubicle for a second time, you shimmy out of the dress and put the next one on; outside and you can hear Hop returning.

“Hey, what’d I miss?”

“Nothing much,” Sonia replies with a giggle, and you pull the curtain back, stepping outside.

Hop is sipping on a large smoothie and he looks at you up and down.

“What’d you guys think?” you ask.

“I like it!” Sonia exclaims.

“Are you sure? Something doesn’t feel right,” you utter. “Hop?”

He puts a hand under his chin. “I agree. It’s not Lee’s style’s either.”

“Exactly. Too lacy, I think.”

With that, you pull the curtain and step out of the dress as carefully as you can, hang it back up properly and grab the next one in the queue. It’s mulberry red and off-the-shoulder. You also show Sonia and Hop for their opinions. On this occasion, Sonia dislikes it but Hop shows a thumbs up.

You’re also personally not too keen on this one either so you move onto the next dress. The next one is cinnamon rose, A-line and asymmetrical and the moment you don it, you stare at your reflection and realise it’s perfect; this is it.

This is the one.

Pushing the curtain apart for the final time, Sonia and Hop rise from their seats to gawp as you stand before them with a grin.

“It’s this one,” you say, “I’ll take this one.”

…

It's the day of Leon’s battle with Volkner, and the entire Galar region is abuzz with anticipation.

The TV blasts adverts about the match, informing people to get their hands on tickets as soon as they can as it is the ‘match of the century’ (despite all tickets being sold out six months prior). Convenience stores begin selling Leon and Volkner merchandise. Their faces are slapped everywhere you look – on milk cartons, train tickets, billboards and posters. Everyone’s celebrating.

You realise it’s rather nice to be part of something as important as this, as you queue in the stadium with your VIP pass in hands.

Prior and you did tell Volkner that you had given your ticket to Jace since you already possessed a Wyndon Annual Pass. Your seat for the match is front row, in a block on Leon’s side, which is considered one of the best seats of the entire stadium. Leon had really gone all out to ensure you would be able to get a good view.

The party begins two hours or so after the match, and you aren’t sure if that gives Leon enough downtime but you presume he must be used to this kind of busy schedule.

You’re rather excited; you had purchased a pair of matching shoes and some accessories, namely a white corsage that will go with Leon’s outfit.

Everything’s going as you had planned.

“This is so exciting!” Jace exclaims as he waits beside you, holding a large box that’s carrying a carton of popcorn and a massive drink within. Joltik sits on his shoulder, with some kernels stuck to his fuzzy body and legs. “I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to actually go in the stadium as a spectator! And we’re watching a match together!!!”

He proceeds to whip out a glittery blue and yellow sign that says “Volkner #1”. He’s not alone, you see a large group of Volkner fans up ahead, chatting loudly and wearing Luxray hats; they can be heard animatedly discussing his strategies and his pokemon. Meanwhile, Leon fans wearing copies of his signature snapback and Charizard hats pass by, holding up signs that says ‘Leon #1’.

“I’m sorry, chuck, but I gotta cheer for Volkner, ya know?” he says.

“It’s fine, I’m going to be cheering for Leon.”

Jace scoffs whilst you crack a grin. “I don’t think we’ve hung out like this before, not for a long time anyway,” he says, before he scratches the back of his head. “…Actually, I have something to tell you.”

“What?”

“Volkner asked me if I wanted to work in his gym. He tried to get me a position a few years ago but I had moved to Galar by then,” he says quietly, and somehow you’re not liking where this conversation is leading.

“Are you leaving, Jace?” you ask.

Jace blinks blankly, before he nods.

“……..Oh,” you squeak out.

The stadium grows quiet.

The screaming fans, the chatter, the music in the background, the flashing videos….

None of those seems to matter to you anymore.

“Chuck?” he nudges you by the shoulder, “don’t worry, I’m not leaving immediately…so cheer up and let’s enjoy the match!”

The doors open and security begin to allow patrons to enter, causing many fans up ahead to scream and shout and the line begins to move quickly.

You breeze through security who checks your bag and you’re allowed in. Inside, fans can be seen running around with their friends and families and pokemon whilst stadium assistants divert lost fans to their seats.

With Jace, you find your block and navigate to your seat; the stadium is already alit with chanting fans and music from the massive TV screen that’s blaring various Macro Cosmos adverts. Very soon, the remainder of the seats soon begin to fill up and you are surrounded by thousands of adoring fans.

Jace swaps seats with the person beside you so you can be seated together and soon, the stadium lights go off and the crowd goes wild as a swirl of lights form on the pitch from the ceiling flicker on and circle wildly before a blond man with a moustache donned in a white and black football jersey arrives, cruising on his Aegislash.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Wyndon Stadium! My name is Dan and I will be your host today!!!”

The crowd erupts into cheers as he continues to introduce and outline the match before he gestures towards your direction.

“Welcome to the annual Galar-Sinnoh exhibition match! Today, we have Leon, our beloved Champion of Galar, who will be representing Galar’s finest trainers! Tonight, his opponent will be Volkner, who has come all the way from Sunyshore City, representing Sinnoh’s very best!” Dan introduces. “Please put your hands together to give a very warm welcome to Galar’s very best, the one and only….LEON!”

The stadium is booming with cheering and applause as Leon appears; you see his face shown on the TV screen as he strides onto the pitch, waving to the crowd. You can hear lots of high-pitched screaming.

“And now, please welcome the ultra-charismatic, the cool and collected, electrifying VOLKNER!!!!!”

At the opposite end, Volkner appears. He looks calm despite the sheer madness. The boisterous cheers and applause do not stop as the Champion strolls towards the middle of the pitch, ready to meet Volkner. You feel strange towards Volkner now, knowing that he’s offered Jace a job.

You’re happy for Jace, but this means he will be leaving Galar…

“Leon Leon Leon!” chants a row of girls nearer the back, and they break you out of your thoughts; they’re holding massive signs with Leon’s face on it, decorated with little lights and cardboard lovehearts.

“LEON!” someone screams in another block, “LEON, FUCKING MARRY ME! AND HAVE MY FUCKING BABIES!”

“LEEEEEEOOOOOOOONNNNN!” another fan roars, as though they are imitating a slow-motion reel.

You cannot tell if Leon can hear his loyal fans shrieking though he does look up and around with a smile as the camera flashes and the cameras roll from all over.

He offers a little wave and the audience goes wild.

You hold your breath as Leon and Volkner are finally within vicinity of one another, and they shake hands.

They exchange some words which you cannot hear due to being too far away, but when both turn round, Leon spots you in the crowd and grins.

You smile in response and wave.

Dan steers his Aegislash between the two contestants, holding up two flags – one black and one white. With a blow of the whistle, he raises his arms, the flags in the air.

“Match, begin!”

….

It’s time for the party.

The match is over.

Volkner lost.

You leave the stadium, hoping to get the chance to see or speak to Leon but from his forced smile and the slightest drop of his shoulders which he quickly corrects before anyone catches on, you can tell how exhausted he is and as he enters the corridor and out of sight, you see a group of reporters and their camera men trailing after him, shouting and yelling over each other, desperate for post-battle interviews and photos.

Leon is shortly followed by Chairman Rose and Oleana and they’re also surrounded by the paparazzi, but they ignore the group and venture off to where Leon had disappeared.

It’s not the appropriate time to see or speak to him. You will meet him at the party so you and Jace leave the stadium together before splitting up; you have to get ready for the upcoming party now and will find another time to catch up properly.

With Sonia’s help, you leave the house once you’re ready and take a Corviknight taxi to the Rose of the Rondelands where the party is taking place, arriving at reception just in time.

You find your name on the list, sign your name on the book and hand it back to the staff, who in turn, provide you with a black leathery mask.

“What’s this for?” you murmur.

“It’s for all the guests. Optional, of course, but part of the mystery and intrigue,” says the concierge, grinning.

“Cool.”

With the mask in hands, you lift it up and over your eyes, then tie the straps securely over the back of your head.

A set of double doors manned by two smart-looking gentlemen in suits is your next destination and as you approach them, they open the doors for you and you step inside where a large and grandiose hall awaits you.

The interior is simply breathtaking, painted a crisp white and covered with classical antique paintings framed in gold of all shapes and sizes. Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings, casting little pearls of glittery light on the rich lush rugs under your feet. You stop to stare, soaking in the view with awe.

The hall is alit with the gentle chatter from the guests within and as you look around, no-one pays attention to your presence. Half of the guests are also wearing their masks, mostly the women. There is no-one here you recognize, mask or not, and you certainly blend in with no qualms.

A live orchestra plays in the corner, an ethereal but seductive melody emitting from their instruments. A few waiters and waitresses weave past you, asking if you are interested in champagne and canapes. You help yourself to several questionable-looking snacks that apparently costs four to five figures per piece and as you chew and swallow, your mouth is alive with unique flavors and tastes you have never experienced before.

It’s simply the best thing you have ever tasted; the food is exquisite.

Begrudgingly, you admit that Rose knows how to take care of guests.

As you ponder where Leon is, you scour for him silently until you spot a very handsome man standing behind the balustrade of the grand staircase at the far end of the hall; it’s none other than Leon and he’s dressed in the red outfit he had shown you the other day with his long hair neatly brushed and tied into a ponytail with a ribbon, a black mask securely fitted over his golden eyes.

You take a moment to admire how ravishing he looks, until he shifts to address a guest and you see an individual to his left; he’s not alone.

Miss Galar stands beside him…

…wearing a red dress.

There are other guests donned in crimson of course, but as you cautiously throw a quick glimpse to yourself, it occurs to you that you are both wearing a dress that are of similar shade. Against your control, you flit your gaze to her again to scrutinize her clothing; her dress is obviously far more expensive and shinier than yours.

You tilt your head to the side, feeling somewhat challenged somehow, and it’s an unfamiliar sensation to you; all in all, you wished she wasn’t wearing red either.

Leon finishes speaking to his group and he averts his gaze to the great hall; his eyes wanders the hall until he spots you looking up at his direction and your gazes meet. He studies you quietly, subjecting you to a sweeping look from head to toe and you hold your breath as the world shifts; everything seems to grind to a stop and time appears to have slowed down. Every individual in the hall dissolves into the background, grouping together into undecipherable blobs and blending with the walls, disappearing one by one, until it’s just you and Leon.

He stares at you for a long time, before he grins.

And he departs from his group, excusing himself politely, though Miss Galar looks like she wants to follow him.

He’s heading towards your direction and your heart flutters with anticipation; you watch as Leon strolls down the stairs, his eyes on you only.

However, the live orchestra crawls to a stop and a bright spotlight suddenly shines on Leon as he reaches the last step, effectively halting him in his tracks. The rest of the lights in the hall also disappear in a split second, bathing you and the remainder of the guests in darkness.

Leon throws his glimpse over his shoulder to see Rose standing at the top of the stairs, dressed in a sleek and shiny black tuxedo.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen,” he begins, and the conversation dies down and the hall gradually simmers into silence as Rose makes his way down the stairs.

Talk about making a dramatic entrance, you think, as Rose thanks everyone for attending the party and goes on about something you don’t exactly care about.

He has Leon stuck under the spotlight and Leon has no choice but to smile at the guests.

Rose finally joins Leon’s side; they talk for a brief moment about the League, the exhibition match and Galar’s energy plant and some deal they had signed with Sinnoh’s Sunyshore gym. The guests applause and a toast is raised.

With all the formalities over, Roses smiles widely and holds an arm out, “Very good. Now let’s start this wonderful evening with a dance; our beloved Champion and our wonderful Miss Galar.”

Leon grows still; the mask does not cover the acute surprise evidence on his face.

Rose snaps his fingers, the conductor taps his baton and the first violins begin with a vibrant but complicated, fast opening before the rest of the orchestra joins in, playing a romantic waltz.

The guests begin to murmur to one another as Miss Galar smiles and heads for Leon’s direction; she gracefully steps down the stairs and as she appears by his side, Leon looks at you, then at Miss Galar.

She’s waiting.

You slide your gaze to the floor, dejected.

First dance or not, you had hoped you would be the one dancing with Leon, not her.

Miss Galar performs a curtsy, clutching the flimsy material of her dress in hands as she crosses one leg over the other and Leon bows, closing his eyes with one gloved hand on his chest and the other behind his back. He throws one look at Rose, who smiles widely at him in response.

Miss Galar giggles as Leon offers her his arm and they both head to the dancefloor; the crowd dissipates for them to allow them through and once situated in the middle, he slides a hand over her waist and she eagerly slips her hand into his and in tune to the music, they start dancing.

You watch the scene limply from your little spot until a tall man steps in front of you and blocks your view. You make no effort to move to a new place for a better view and head for the tables.

Leon and Miss Galar are soon joined by other guests and the ballroom becomes full with waltzing couples whilst the remaining guests stand, watching.

There is no intention for the waltz to stop anytime soon so you find an empty seat and sit down.

This really wasn’t what you had in mind for the party.

A waiter saunters up to you with a tray of champagne glasses. “Would you like some blanc de noirs, madam?”

“Yes, please,” you utter, even though you have no clue what blanc de noirs actually is, and you help yourself to a flute glass, tipping the rim to your mouth and downing a sip.

It burns the back of your throat but you welcome it and suddenly, a familiar voice says, “May I have this dance?”

You look up to see a familiar blond man before you. He’s dressed in a dark, navy blue suit with a matching gold, paisley pattern tie. “Volkner?”

“Good evening,” he murmurs, before he switches to a more informal tone, “Well. Shall we?”

“I’m not very good at dancing.”

“That’s not a problem for me.”

You smile at him in response as he holds his hand out to you. You debate whether it’s right to be dancing with another man, but it’ll be rude to refuse also so you take his hand and you both head for the dancefloor where the lights are brighter, and the couples are actually dancing faster than you realized.

It’s too late to back down now, as Volkner stands before you, slipping his hand around your waist and holding your other hand with his firmly. He leads and you’re a little stunned at how easily he guides you around the floor beside the other couples. You do your best to step in tune to the music from your practice with Leon, determined not to mess it up.

“I’m sorry about the loss,” you say.

“It’s fine, I’ll just have to try harder next time,” Volkner remarks.

“You were so close; one more move and Charizard would’ve been KO’d.”

“Indeed.”

You aren’t sure whether to mention to him that you’re aware he offered Jace a job but before you can get the chance to mention it, the beat of the music alters slightly and the women begin to twirl.

“Wait, what’s going on-“ you begin, but Volkner helps you spin a circle and back. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

You’re somehow close to Leon and Miss Galar from the twirling maneuver that shifts you closer to them than you would have anticipated, and Leon notices your presences immediately.

Leon’s eyes widens and in mid-dance, he twists his head round to stare.

“Leon, what’s wrong?” asks Miss Galar, but he doesn’t reply.

Volkner flicks his glance over to the astounded Champion whose gaze is pinned on your form, and smirks.

“What is it?” you ask, oblivious, but when the music changes again, Volkner twirls you in a circle in tune to the music and on this occasion, his hand leaves your waist altogether. He steps backwards and you say, “What’s going on?”

“We’re changing partners.”

And on cue, a young woman in a pale dusty blue dress twirls towards him whilst her partner steps towards your direction.

You weren’t aware of this arrangement and your new temporary partner offers his hand; you have no choice but to participate in this group dance and the music isn’t stopping.

From this, you learn two things – firstly, the women are required to spin twice with their partners before they swap. Obviously you and Volkner joined halfway in which is why you danced for such a short time with him. Second, and that being said, Miss Galar had hogged Leon all to herself for numerous twirls.

Either way, if that was deliberate or not, perhaps they are an exclusive pair or weren’t supposed to change partners or something…you’re not sure but either way, after your third or fourth partner, you see Volkner with his current dance partner making his way up to Leon and Miss Galar and you recognize the buildup of the song that indicates it’s time to twirl and change partner once again, your current partner spins you around and you wonder who your next partner is.

It’s probably that guy with the mousy brown hair who has started to eye you up from the side – but you’re finally free as your partner lets go, slides away and someone grasps your hand gently and a grip settles on your waist; you’re twirled round and into someone’s arms but this time, your partner curls his hand around you in a rather intimate manner which neither of your previous dance partners had done before and he pulls you close and against his chest, your faces millimetres away.

Looking up, your eyes widen when you realise who it is.

“Leon!” you exclaim, your lips spreading into a wide smile.

The Champion answers you with a wink.

From the corner of your eye, you see a rather confused Miss Galar being grabbed by Volkner before he spins her into his arms.

The music starts up once more and with your hand tightly with his, Leon guides you around the dancefloor; your heart speeds up and you cannot stop smiling. His gaze never leaves you. This must be a dream, but an affectionate squeeze on your waist tells you otherwise.

Up ahead, and there is a rather wide opening within the circle of observers. Leon’s brows quirk up and he nudges his head to the opening which you spot as well. And as you turn, he expertly whisks you away from the rest of the dancers and into the crowd.

They are too busy to notice so you both slip unnoticed and Leon relinquishes his hold on your waist, your hands looped tightly together.

Away from the maddening crowd, you and Leon make your way out of the great hall and towards the large set of double doors that are now unmanned.

They lead to the garden and you both slip outside into the night, grinning widely; the Rondeland's garden is equally impressive as the great hall, with a huge stretch of grassy land filled with multicoloured flowers, lit up by lanterns strategically placed from one another to provide a dimly lit setting.

A large but impressive, neatly-trimmed hedge maze and a massive fountain stands in front of the steps where Goldeens and Seakings made out of stone leap and frolic in the air, water bubbling out from their mouths. The gurgling flow of rushing fresh water is accompanied with the vibrant buzzing of several wild bug pokemon that flutter past.

Stopping in front of the fountain, you’re panting as you both turn to each other; your eyes meet for a second time and Leon’s grin widens as you proceed to lunge towards him, pouncing onto his chest and throwing your arms around his shoulders.

He bundles you up immediately, pressing you hard against his chest as he comfortably encircles his arms around your waist and buries his nose into your neck. You laugh as his hair tickles the curve of your cheek and Leon picks you up and off the ground an inch or so to spin you around in a small circle before settling you back onto your feet.

He's grinning widely from ear to ear, looking at you up and down and soaking in the sight.

"You look lovely," he murmurs.

"Thank you," you reply shyly, your cheeks feeling warm as you reach up to fiddle with the hem of his white cravat absent-mindedly. He watches your actions with interest as you utter, "And you look very dashing tonight, sir Champion. You really suit the colour red."

Leon chuckles as you silently preen him and gently sweep away some of his long hair. You dust and brush your hands over his broad shoulders before you run your fingertips over the impressive black lining and stitches of his coat and the gold buttons.

Before you pull away, he catches your hand with his, lifting your knuckles to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss over your skin. You blush heavily in response as he nudges his head towards the garden with a smile.

"Shall we go for a walk?"

With a nod, you're both grinning widely as you loop your arms together and proceed to walk down the steps and towards the fountain.

"What if someone notices you're missing?"

The music from the grand hall is growing fainter as you stroll further into the garden with the Champion by your side but it doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.

Therefore, Leon shakes his head and says, "No, they'll be dancing for another hour or so."

"What if someone sees us?"

"Then I'll introduce you," he replies. "Did you find anything else about Gossamer Cave?"

"Unfortunately, no. I went to find Ezra this morning but he'd gone to work on a case."

”I was thinking,” Leon says, “you said you saw a shiny Lucario in the cave.”

”Yeah.”

”Lucario are known as the aura Pokemon. They also hold powers no ordinary humans possess. Do you think that’s what Ezra could have meant?”

You pause slightly, before turning to him with a smile. “Leon!” you utter, “what a brilliant observation.”

He blushes, cheeks growing red. “Ah, well... I wanted to help so I looked up as much information as I could find for you.”

“Thank you.”

You're halfway through the garden, venturing down the path which is lined with professionally-clipped hedges fashioned into Roselias and Roserades and you arrive at a small clearing with a pond and you leave Leon's side to hop onto a rock and despite your high heels, you carefully step over them, maintaining your balance by holding your arms out. A Goldeen and Barboach lurking within the murky depths look up at you for a split second or so before quickly zipping away from the surface to hide within some tall reeds, leaving behind shimmering ripples in the water under the moonlight.

Leon promptly comes scurrying after you with his arms out. "Be careful," he says as he grabs your hand; you neatly finish one lap and hop off and into his awaiting arms with a grin.

He gives you a lopsided smile in return and you're suddenly aware of how close you are standing together and he hasn't looked away from you.

"I missed you," you murmur.

"Me too," he replies.

He holds your gaze and you daren't look away; his honeyed eyes pinned onto your form. It's quiet now, the faint music emitting from the hall has slowly ebbed away into nothingness as you and Leon stand close and all you can hear is your beating heart. He takes one step closer and gently cups your face with one hand; he begins to lean forwards, his eyes closing.

You allow your eyes to close in anticipation of a kiss. Yet before your lips can meet, a tiny crystal blue light gently bobs its way into the little gap between you and the Champion, hovering up and down in the air playfully. It's unwarranted presence causes you both to stop as it's soon joined by other little lights of various shades, twinkling in the dark in beautiful colours of red, pink, yellow and green and as you and Leon glance around, more and more of the lights appear. In seconds, you are surrounded and illuminated by the small lights that have seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"...Aren’t these the same lights we saw in the Slumbering Weald?" Leon utters.

As you peer at the little blobs inquisitively, you nod and lift your arm with your palm out, allowing a small cluster to float over and settle in the base of your hand, illuminating the base of your chin with an iridescent, warm glow.

"They are. I wonder what they're doing here?" you reply, smiling as you prod at the orbs with a fingertip.

It sends them flying into numerous directions before they gently float backwards and towards you; they continue to swarm, bathing you and Leon with their ethereal light.

"They're attracted to you," Leon says.

”...Maybe I got it wrong, maybe they’re not just fairy lights, but...aura?” you mutter under your breath.

Whilst you ponder the true nature of the lights, Leon watches you for a brief moment before he leans forwards and presses a gentle kiss over your forehead. You stiffen slightly, as he proceeds to tuck a stray strand of hair from the side of your face to behind your ear. Your heartbeat soars, and you look up as the side of his palm brushes against your cheek.

”Leon?”

"I never told you how beautiful you looked that night," he murmurs, and you smile.

With his hand over your cheek to keep you in place, Leon brings you forwards and leans down to meet your lips in a passionate kiss.

...

9 notes · View notes

butterflyinthewell · 4 years ago

Text

I’m gonna lose followers. Oh well... a rant by me.

People who harass others about SHIPPING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS are irksome.

Preface: if you say you don’t want someone role playing a NOTP with you or sending asks about it, or you don’t want secret Santa stuff containing it, if you ask people not to suggest fics with that pairing for your fic collections, if you stay out of your NOTP’s pairing tags, if you choose not to interact with material related to your NOTP, if you blacklist the pairing tag and ask people not to tag your fanwork with your NOTP, if you heed warnings and don’t click something with material you don’t like, I do not have a problem with you.

But if you write novel long posts about why a ship is gross to you and tag the pairing so shippers see it, send people hate over their ships, reblog fanworks of your NOTP with nasty messages to the op of the post, if you make a blog all about hating that ship and anyone who ships it, claim it must be grooming, or if you call people pedophiles or abuse apologists because they wrote something morally heinous in fiction that they will most likely never do irl, I’m not gonna have much respect for you beyond you being a fellow person.

Guess what? Shit you hate is going to exist on the internet. If someone tags their work appropriately or tags with appropriate warnings, you should not be clicking on it and harassing them! They have done what is necessary to protect those pearls you want to clutch.

Banning all questionable material is not going to save people who are targeted by predators and criminals.

Calling people pedophiles because they ship a fictional minor with a fictional adult gives actual pedophiles who go after actual minors a hiding place. These days you can’t tell if someone is an actual pedo or got called one over a ship they ship. Pedos are totally banking on that.

Fiction is supposed to break rules and let people explore dark subjects that are morally messed up because you can close a book or close a website if it gets too weird for you. A child with a predator’s hands on them right this moment can’t click an x or close a book to stop it.

Think about that.

No one is forcing you to go read morally messed up stuff. Not clicking on someone’s creepy fic with your NOTP is nowhere in the same realm as turning a blind eye to actual predators predating on someone.

Running someone off a website because your ass is on fire about them writing a pairing you hate or whatever is not going to stop the bad shit happening in the real world.

Predators and criminals will use anything, so someone’s freaky babyfur smutfic that they wrote to troll a fan website in 1999 is hardly going to normalize bad behavior.

I swear some of you insult the intelligence of people with your moral abuse garbage.

Teaching people to recognize predatory behavior and what to do about it will actually help. Teaching people what is and isn’t a healthy relationship will help.

Remember how people called out Twilight for how unhealthy Edward’s behavior towards Bella was? I’m sure a lot of preteen and teen girls learned to open their eyes a bit more. And I’m sure others still enjoyed the books and movies anyway because it’s fiction. It is the job of parents and guardians to teach their children what is and isn’t healthy in a relationship, but the unfortunate problem there is that can fail if the parents aren’t in a healthy relationship.

That’s why there needs to be more discussions about “this is healthy, that might be fun in a story, but that is not healthy in the real world and anybody who treats you like that is waving abuse red flags” rather than attacking somebody by saying “you’re a monster for shipping that”.

The whole point of art in any form is to create an emotional reaction in the audience.

Fucked up fictional shit exists on the internet. Get over it. I think the fact that people get freaked out by weird stuff in fiction is a clear indicator that it’s not being normalized by that piece of fiction. Flailing about it is not helping anything except your ego. It’s not gonna help survivors who write messed up stuff to cope, it’s going to make them go more silent.

Imagine being someone with an abusive pedo parent who takes comfort in the SessRin ship and being called a pedophile for it, or seeing people in the tag call Sesshoumaru a pedophile. That’s triggering as fuck for somebody.

Imagine being a Starkster going through sexual abuse who takes comfort in the ship, and being called a pedophile for it. Imagine seeing people in the tag call Tony a pedophile. That’s triggering as fuck for somebody.

Imagine having the heinous thing that happened to you being turned onto you as an accusation by people on a moral high horse who forget what pedophile means. That is triggering as fuck for somebody.

Nobody owes you a trauma history in order to be ‘allowed’ to create and post morally messed up fanworks. It’s on YOU to check for warnings and keep scrolling if it’s so offensive to your sensibilities.

What’s better? Discussion of tropes that are harmful if done badly. That’s a place to start. Save the accusations for people who are knowingly doing harm to people and not caring that they’re doing harm.

Go after shit that is actually exploiting actual people right now instead of harassing creators whose trauma you don’t know. Tell pedos their attraction to kids is not a sexuality and they have no place in the LGBTQIA+ community. Warn minors away from MAPs/NOMAPs. Expose predators who have exploitative materials of actual real children. Teach people to recognize predatory behavior like grooming. Find ways to get people out of human trafficking. Question adults if you see them touching or treating a child in a way that doesn’t look right. If you’re a minor and somebody keeps sending you porn material or pictures of their genitalia after you said stop, remind them that you’re a minor and expose the shit out of them. If you’re an adult and know somebody is doing that to a minor you talk to online, help them expose that person. That’s not all you can do, but I can’t think of everything. There’s a lot you can do that will actually help people!

But telling someone not to create something questionable because a predator might misuse it is utter horseshit.

I can bet you anything that every single person who hounds others about their ships has a whole bunch of fucked up stuff they read and never talk about because they know it will get them run off by the same people they use as shields against scrutiny.

I’ve read fucked up shit that I enjoyed because it was done well, but I can grasp that it is not okay to do the same thing in the real world and I would be horrified if I saw somebody doing the same thing in the real world. I am able to experience that moment of being horrified, sit with it and see where the fanwork takes me with that feeling.

I say this after I have just read an awesome morally gray Inuyasha fanfic called “Devour Prometheus” by ladybattousai on AO3. It’s gorey, there is murder, there is abuse, there is exploitation, there are allusions to animal trade and it’s the darkest thing I ever laid eyes on. My stomach twisted several times. It’s a fantastic lens on society right now. (Sesshoumaru’s speech about “don’t hold me to your hypocritical human morality” was epic af.)

And some of you are going to think the author is some kind of violence glorifying freak based only on that.

I feel like a lot of anti shippers and antis in general can’t get past that horrified feeling. They yell that they can’t enjoy the fandom if the material makes a hated pairing canon, so it’s like they don’t want anyone else to enjoy the fandom or the pairing. It’s very immature and scorched earth, and it hurts everyone.

Hey, guess what? I have written pairings with hella huge age gaps. Oh, the horror!

OptimusxMikaela? I headcanon Optimus as being 10 billion + years old, and Mikaela was 18 when they hooked up. Mikaela ages as the stories carry on through the years as my Danceverse series, so she’s in her 30s currently. They fucked and still fuck explicitly.

UnicronxStarscream? Unicron is as old as the universe, so 13 billion + (headcanon), and Starscream is probably 11 million or so (headcanon). They fuck explicitly.

Whouffaldi? The 12th Doctor is 2000+ and Clara is in her 20s. They fuck explicitly.

BeastGojixMiki? Godzilla has been alive for probably close to 65 years in the story, but he acts more like he’s in his 20s and he looks to be in his 20s when he turns back into a human. Miki is 18. They fuck in the story, but it’s written non explicitly.

Bowser JrxOC? Cherry is an oc who is 19. I aged Junior up in that story to be about 20. Their ages aren’t specified, but they’re mentioned to be adults. They fuck in the story, but it’s written non explicitly.

I have written fanfics with rape, abuse, murder, manslaughter, bdsm, stuff that’s morally messed up, etc, and I’m not a murdering rapist who eats children now, am I?

No, because I have no desire to do those things in the real world (because some are not possible...cuz I would date Optimus 😛) and I can distinguish fiction from reality. I can grasp the concept that fiction / art is not always endorsement.

Now get a grip on yourselves, put the pitchforks down and stop policing people’s imaginations.

#hypocrisy #purity culture #shipping wars #ship wars #fandom #anti antis #antis #swearing #pro shipping #tw csa #tw p e d o mention #IF I HAD A TARDIS I WOULD MESS UP SPACETIME SO BAD #if a MAP is getting help and stays away from kids then whatever #but if they parade around proud of it and see nothing wrong they better stay the f away from me or kids #if you are a p e d o harming real world children I will take your eyeballs out through your butthole

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samueldays · 4 years ago

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A persistent elision

Related to that previous post, let’s look a bit more closely at how consistently the Pulitzer-Winning Respectable Sources lie by omission. I’m going to look at the NYT in particular. Here’s a formatted Google search which finds their mentions of “Trayvon Martin” in the past year, so you can experiment yourself with filters and personalized search results.

https://www.google.com/search?q=trayvon+martin+site:nytimes.com&tbs=qdr:y

How often do they say Martin was committing violent assault upon George Zimmerman, and Zimmerman shot in self-defense? Surely that’s an important fact that should prevent one holding up Martin as a poor innocent victim and an example of the terrible racism supposedly keeping blacks down.

The first is a meta-page with no content, just links to other pages.

The first page there doesn’t mention Martin’s assault.

Since the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, Mr. Leonardo, a Queens-born artist, has focused on social justice art, dealing with issues like the numbers of black and Latino men in prison, racial inequality, police use of force. “I Can’t Breathe” is a self-defense workshop where participants learn how to escape the chokehold that killed Mr. Garner, as Mr. Leonardo tells them that police will interpret self-defense as resisting arrest.

Not the second either.

Since Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012, the deaths of black people at the hands of law enforcement or white vigilantism (and the drawn-out cases that result from them) have consistently dominated news cycles, often graphically so. Cellphones, Facebook Live and even Snapchat have been crucial in uncovering how these events occurred.

The third also ignores the assault, tangentially mentioning Zimmerman:

After Mr. Martin was killed, the police invoked the Stand Your Ground law when they initially declined to arrest George Zimmerman, who had fired the weapon. Mr. Zimmerman argued that he acted in self-defense but did not offer a Stand Your Ground case. He was acquitted when a jury found he was justified in pulling the trigger.

The fourth is the most honest so far, and I credit it:

The Florida law came under scrutiny after the police invoked it in declining to arrest George Zimmerman after he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Mr. Zimmerman said he shot Mr. Martin in self-defense after the teenager punched him, slammed his head against the sidewalk and knocked him to the ground. A jury found Mr. Zimmerman not guilty of murder or manslaughter charges in 2013.

The fifth is right back to wringing its hands over the poor innocent dindu nuffin in a way that ideally should discredit BLM, but in practice credits Martin. “Confrontation.”

Mr. Arbery was killed three days before the anniversary of the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African-American teenager whose confrontation with a Florida neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, helped ignite the Black Lives Matter movement.

The sixth, again, shows how Martin’s thuggery is largely irrelevant to his iconization.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem called the team meeting. They had been talking about the killing of Trayvon Martin for a week or so, mulling over what it meant to them as black men, processing it as fathers, trying to formulate a response to it as athletes and role models. [...] “We are Trayvon Martin,” James captioned the photograph they took there, heads bowed and hoods up. The Heat would take the floor that night with calls for justice, and Martin’s name, scrawled on their sneakers. Other players in other cities soon added their support to the campaign.

The seventh google result I get is just the first link from the meta-page in the first result, which I covered already.

The eighth:

“Mom,” I said, “we are refugees.”

In 2013, when George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin — a black child gunned down in his own neighborhood, branded a thug in a hoodie — I knew I had to leave America.

The racism that had become all too familiar to me as a black woman was too much to bear.

Ah, yes, the racism of shooting people who are beating one’s head in. Can you not bear the thought that you might accidentally knock a man to the ground, climb on top of him, punch him in the face, and then get shot by racism?

But I should blame the NYT, not the paranoid interviewee. This fear of “racism” is to a great extent driven by NYT and other propaganda.

The ninth article:

MIAMI — The mother of Trayvon Martin joined hundreds of demonstrators at a rally in downtown Miami on Sunday, demanding racial equality following the death of George Floyd last month at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota.

Sybrina Fulton joined the demonstrators who carried signs that read “Stop Killing Us” and “We Are All Equal” at the Torch of Friendship, a 60-year-old monument erected as a welcoming beacon to the city’s Latin American and Caribbean neighbors. The protest organized by several churches was one of several across Florida on Sunday.

Fulton’s unarmed son, Trayvon Martin, was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, while walking back from a central Florida convenience store in 2012. The teen’s killing helped plant the seeds of the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.

“unarmed” and “while walking back”. (contemptuous spitting noises)

Finally, the tenth is by a law professor, rather than a garden-variety urinalist, and it’s still deceptive.

Despair over Michael Brown’s death and the fact that Mr. Wilson faced no criminal consequences for it catapulted the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter — first used in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin — into national consciousness. It catalyzed a cultural renaissance by drawing attention to the problem of police violence against and abuse of African-Americans and, more broadly, by celebrating blackness and protest.

If you hadn’t followed the evidence at trial, you might have concluded from this article that Zimmerman was getting away with murdering children, rather than Zimmerman being acquitted because Martin was first beating Zimmerman’s head hard enough to cause a fracture and two black eyes.

#all #journalism #journalism delenda est #martin-zimmerman

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chasingshhadows · 6 years ago

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RNM S01: A Progressive Review

I want to talk about diversity, representation, social issues, and the way Roswell New Mexico succeeds and fails in that particular department. It’s 2019 and we no longer live in a world where it’s acceptable to ignore the societal implications of the media we consume. That said, it’s also 2019, and Roswell is doing some things that place it far ahead of its peers in media in ways that make it an absolute pleasure to watch. Like honestly, I’m fucking thrilled with this show ok.

I’ve read and skimmed a lot of discussion about the ways in which RNM has failed to be this perfect paragon of progressive representation, and I’ve read/skimmed far less discussion – by both fans and TPTB – about the ways in which the show is trying to be better than its forebears.

However, there seems to be a wide divide between people recognizing the former and people recognizing the latter, and I very much believe it’s irresponsible to try to focus on either one without at least acknowledging the other. So I’m going to talk about those failures and successes, and I’m gonna zig-zag that line so that if you want to read about how I feel about one of those things, you’re gonna have to at least skim the other.

[read more]

I tried to be as concise as possible, but even so, this is rather long, mostly because I didn’t want to make several posts about this. I want to say what I have to say on the topic and then get back to the story because that’s really why I’m here.

Also to note: I understand – and I hope we all understand – that we are in the first season of this show. This means that they should have plenty of time to follow through on or fix many of the issues I will point out, but that also leaves room for them to torpedo many of the positives I’ll discuss. Just – please know that I know we’re only one season in, and anything could happen.

On lived race

This show does a fabulous job exploring how race intersects with these characters’ lives and how it plays an active role in shaping not only who they are, but how their story lines play out. With Liz & Arturo, their race – and immigration status – are openly discussed on screen and inform their decisions and how they present themselves to others, as well as how they are received by their town. This is, in fact, a major aspect of the first season arc/plot as a whole, not just as it pertains to Arturo & Liz (and Rosa), but as it pertains to all the characters, so it’s worth emphasizing.

With Maria, we see her discuss her race as a factor in her isolation from her hometown, as well as seeing how she owns it in the face of racist customers. With Kyle, we see his compassion as a fellow child of immigrants in treating Arturo off the books, and with his mother, we see her perspective on that situation based on her own experiences as a Hispanic immigrant. And with Mimi, we see, tho tangentially, how the intersection of her race and gender and the stereotyping around those have had a negative impact on her healthcare. Even what little we saw of Arizona was washed in her experiences as a Native woman, and her (rightful) disdain for white people.

On the other side of that coin, we have white characters, namely the three alien siblings, whose White Privilege plays an active role in their actions and how they conduct themselves. I know some people have frustrations that these three main characters were all cast as white, but I’ll be honest, after having seen 1.06 (Smells Like Teen Spirit), I would not have bought that any of these characters were a POC. Can you imagine a Black or Hispanic teen being thoughtless enough to frame a WOC – who also happens to be the daughter of a known undocumented immigrant – for the drug-induced vehicular manslaughter of two white girls and not expect the entire town to then turn on that family? Even as a teen, no POC would be race-blind enough to not have had that forethought. It would not be believable, without an immense amount of heavy lifting in the backstory, for a POC to have framed Rosa instead of either of the white women, to have made the decision to put her in the driver’s seat over the other two.

And in this way, the show also does an amazing job in showcasing how good, liberal white people can still be thoughtless where it concerns race. Especially at 17. The White Privilege of the alien siblings, and their lack of awareness of it, serves as a major negative driver of the show’s plot and is the root cause of much of the conflict throughout the first season. That’s real, that’s believable, and that’s important to show.

This, all of this, is vital in portraying accurate, true-to-life representations of how marginalized racial communities interact with each other and white populations, and also gives those communities characters they can point to that not only look like them, but also share their experiences – experiences which are unique to POC and also give white viewers a clearer picture of what it’s truly like to live in this country as a person of color.

On meaningful racial representation

I feel rather let down that the show didn’t follow through on Alex’s heritage in any of the meaningful ways that they did with the other POC on the show (see previous section). All of those characters had clear and explicit aspects of their narrative which centered their race as an part of their story – again, rightfully, as that is how it’s lived IRL. We got to see them express and experience their race as more than just the color of their skin. We didn’t get that with Alex. (or with Noah, but he’s a whole other story)

It’s particularly disappointing considering that Alex is the only POC on the show who passes (that we know of, ofc). Many people will be upset at my bringing this up, but it’s true and we should be talking about it. His ability to pass – the ability for anyone to look at him and not know immediately that he is of Native descent – does not in any way negate his POC identity. Not even remotely. Not a little bit, not at all. All it means is that as a POC, Alex has the ability to be spared from certain microaggressions experienced by others in his community. Not all, not even most, but some. But it also means that he is subject to microaggressions that others in his community will never experience – such as someone making disparaging comments about Natives as tho there aren’t any in the room, or by people assuming he’s “basically white” bc he looks white and erasing his heritage entirely. Those are experiences unique to his race that other Natives who don’t “pass” would never experience.

Roswell didn’t follow through on that this season. We saw no indication, other than the casting of his brother as a Native actor (which I was very pleased about, mind you), that Alex Manes is not as white as he appears. Portraying and giving accurate representation to POCs who pass is just as important as giving it to POCs who don’t.

On consent

WOW this show does a marvelous job at portraying how people should approach getting active and explicit consent from those around them. Active consent is so deeply ingrained in the foundation of this show that its absence is used as an indicator to the audience that something is very very wrong - and on more than one occasion. In order to pull that off, the show has had to set an abundantly clear standard for the type of consent that these characters should expect from each other when things are not horribly wrong, and that standard is appropriately high.

Max and Liz are the obvious duo with which this is explored. From the first, when Liz wants to kiss Max outside of the cave, he stops her because he’s concerned that her judgement may be impaired or impacted by the effects of his powers. He refuses to take advantage of that state, making a direct call to the behavior women wish we could expect from men when our own judgement may be impaired. This continues later when she asks to be left alone and he just immediately backs down and away, not pushing or persuading. He treats her word as law, as he should. We see even in his past, as a teenage white boy in 2008, that he consistently asked for Liz’s consent to even be in her presence.

We see it between Michael and Alex in very different but still very present ways. A lot of Michael and Alex’s communication is silent and, as such, so are their consent check-ins. Before their first kiss, you see Michael checking in with Alex, watching Alex’s body language as he approaches and making sure Alex is receptive before he goes for the kiss – and Alex is, clearly. Michael asks what Alex wants and Alex says that doesn’t matter while stepping toward Michael. Michael stops and looks at Alex and Alex continues to move closer, looking back and forth from Michael’s eyes to his lips. This type of silent communication and consent checks continues throughout the rest of the season, from the scene at the drive-in to the teenage scenes and on.

We also see clear attempts at getting explicit consent between Liz & Kyle, between Cam & Max, and even when Michael was guarding Maria at the gala (I can go get Liz if you want me to leave) and later when he approaches her following the events of 1.13.

This has honestly been so fucking cool to see like this, on a CW show especially, to see how easy and essential it is to get that consent in all situations. It’s an important representation that we don’t see laid out clearly enough in media today and I’m so fucking proud of Roswell for doing it so effectively.

On disability & erasure

This show started to do something that was really incredible in portraying one of the main characters as an amputee. We see his crutch, we see the way he moves with it, we see how he struggles with it, and we see how he is determined to life his life as an amputee, and not just despite it.

There was certainly plenty of room to improve in even that regard - specifically where it concerns coaching on exactly how a recent amputee might move their body and center their weight and whatnot, even, or maybe especially, if that person were trying to hide their struggle. But it’s clear that the show was trying to represent a type of character we don’t get to see often.

But then Alex loses the crutch. Rather suddenly and very cold turkey. This is not an accurate representation of how someone with a recent loss of limb would experience their recovery, no matter how much that person may want to hide it. Recovery takes time, it takes practice, and it includes bad days. We didn’t see any of that.

It's particularly frustrating considering the show gave themselves the perfect opportunity to do this transition far better and didn't take advantage of it. There was a six-week time jump between episodes 8 & 9. Had we seen Alex try to go without his crutch when he confronted Liz in ep 7, and then have to return to using it after the long day out, and again in episode 8 with his father - wouldn't it have been so amazing to see him collapse in his chair after Jesse leaves and rub his leg because he's been ignoring the pain all day in an attempt to intimidate his father? And then we could see him moving more independently after that six-week jump.

The show dropped the ball there, in my opinion. In a big way. That beautiful representation was given and then promptly taken away. And then the show set itself up perfectly to explore how the invisibility of disability can be experienced, and has not followed through on that at all. Quite literally the last indication at all that we get of Alex's amputation is Michael commenting on his having lost the crutch in episode 9.

One of the harsh truths of disability is that no matter how much one might try to ignore and hide that aspect of who they are, it will always be there and it will make itself known. It might be invisible to others, but Alex will experience it anyway, will be affected by it anyway. He may be able to do anything that anyone else can do, but he’s gonna have to work ten times harder at it. We should have gotten to see that.

This same problem of erasing disability happens with Michael’s hand in the last episode. Michael’s scars, what they prevented him from doing, how they affected his work - all of that was so important to see, and then he gets the unconsensual healing power of magic and suddenly he gets his happy place back. And as happy as I was as a Michael!Stan to see him find that, this sends a bad message, that people with disabilities just need to be “fixed” to be happy. And as I mentioned above and in other posts, it is wildly apparent that Max healing Michael’s hand without his consent is meant to be an indicator that Max is Very Not Okay and is a prelude to him literally going so mad with power that he kills himself to resurrect Rosa. That noted, from a representation standpoint, I wish another mechanism had been used to show that.

On unapologetic politicism

Roswell makes it absolutely clear where it stands on the political spectrum and who this show is for. This show exists in the post-2016 election, post-#MeToo era and it embraces that culture and does not shy away from being political, on everything from race, sexuality and misogyny to immigration status, gun control, and even research science. It uses context and even hero dialogue to make the audience aware of what is right and what is wrong on these topics, and it does so without ambiguity or nuance.

It (appropriately) paints ICE as the enemy of good, hardworking people in literally the first scene of the show. Liz starts ranting about being stopped because she’s Latina and I just did a little dance inside because Yaassss, these are my people. And the show doesn’t let up there - the shadow of ICE hangs over Arturo’s - and by extension, Liz’s - head the entire season in a way that makes the audience uncomfortable and angry on his behalf.

The show consistently, from multiple characters both in law enforcement and not, refers to undocumented immigrants, the homeless, and prostitutes as “the most vulnerable members” of society, and not as a scourge or a menace to that society. These are good, worthy people deserving of protection and justice. The show paints anyone who views differently as firmly In The Wrong, from the disgusting Wyatt Long to the self-righteous Sheriff Valenti.

The dialogue calls out everything from subtle racism in police descriptions to building a wall to #AllLivesMatter to fake news to the terrifying ease of buying a gun to homophobia to the president himself - it does not hold back and it does not leave room for excuses or sympathy on the part of the more conservative characters.

Most of the dialogue on the show that wasn’t explicitly Alien-centric feels very organic in the ways that it makes offhand quips about immigration and racism and sexism and everything in between - that’s the way I and my friends speak and converse. That stuff just filters into our conversations about really anything because it’s always at the forefront of our minds. We call those things out when we see them and talk about idiots like they’re not sitting right in front of us (“I think that’s Hank speak for ‘he wasn’t white.’”) There aren’t a lot of shows that nail that so perfectly and the only one that’s coming to mind at the moment is Dear White People, which was the first I saw to pull this off so well.

This is media that doesn’t try to paint a picture of “there are good people on both sides.” This media isn’t playing middle ground, or trying to please everyone. It’s making a statement in these choices and it doesn’t shy away from pissing off toxic people - this media isn’t for them. Most popular successful media (*cough* MCU *cough*) achieves that status by very carefully toeing the line between left and right, by using subtext to attract progressive viewers while keeping the explicit storyline clean and moderate. Roswell doesn’t do that - its progressivism is explicit and unmissable, as it should be. And that makes it, truly, an absolute joy to watch.

On Maria’s arc

Maria DeLuca did not start this season as an extension of Michael’s - or anyone’s - storyline, and I’m incredibly frustrated that, narratively, that’s how she ended it. That’s easily my biggest disappointment regarding the season as a whole, exaggerated by the fact that Maria is a black woman and because of that, her storyline carries more weight than many of the others. This post does a good job of discussing why POC rep matters more, and while it focuses on race-bending (which this show has also done with Maria, in a positive way), I think it still makes the point that Any POC Rep will just always hit harder, good or bad.

When that Rep is good, it’s fantastic. When it’s bad, it’s terrible.

And for most of this season, it was hitting very very good well. Maria throughout most of the season was this fierce, beautiful firecracker of personality and suppressed issues. She had a history and a deep well of issues both pre- and post- the loss of one of her closest friends, followed by the physical separation from her other two best friends. She’s got an amazing relationship with a mother who is slowly losing grip and slipping away from her. Those things, how they shaped her, and how they expressed themselves made her relatable, tangible, and easy to love.

That was actually one of my favorite parts about her hooking up with Michael, that these were main characters seeking comfort and distraction in one another, rather than just with throwaway characters. Maria is her own person with her own story that we had already seen explored as an independent arc from any of the other main characters

However, that arc never quite got the same attention as Kyle’s or Alex’s and certainly not as much as Liz or the Pod Squad. A lot of that likely has to do with her ignorance of the alien presence in the town (which appears to be coming to a close, but I won’t speculate on that) and that makes sense, narratively. As she couldn’t be actively involved in pushing the alien mystery plot forward, there was only so much the show could do with her, and I think they did take advantage of what little wiggle room they had there.

That said, given that she’s the only black woman on the main cast, it’s very disappointing that she rounds out the season by being drugged, possessed, and either talking about, pushing away, or engaging with Michael. My own perspective on this show may revolve around Michael, but that doesn’t mean I think our black woman should share that fate narratively.

And I’ll note that characterization-wise, I understood the ways Maria’s thoughts and actions could become consumed and fixated on a love interest. Oh, holy wow, have I Been There. But allowing that - and essentially, only that, narratively for Maria at the end of the season, as the only MC black woman on the show - is a disservice to her character and the community she represents. Which is not to say that I take issue with how Michael and Maria come together at the end, either from a narrative or a character development standpoint; what I take issue with is that that is all we get of her in the later episodes. Maria deserved more, and so did we.

On fighting for WOC

One of my favorite things about this show is how the characters on this show again and again come to bat for the two main WOC, despite that both of them are portrayed as absolutely capable of fighting for themselves. Both Liz Ortecho and Maria DeLuca are shown to be strong, multifaceted, beautiful (neither because of nor in spite of their race - just beautiful, end of story), desirable, and worth fighting for - and unapologetically and undeniably women of color.

Our “main hero” Max makes it absolutely clear that he will Throw Down for Liz Ortecho. He risks his own life and the lives of his siblings to save her, and nearly torpedos those relationships entirely on her behalf. He loves her absolutely, flaws and all. And he acknowledges those flaws - he doesn’t put her on a pedestal or pretend she’s perfect - she doesn’t need to be for him to love and respect her.

We see Alex and Michael and Liz all show up for Maria at different points in the story, fighting on her behalf, defending her, and making the statement that Maria is precious and should be protected. More than that, through Michael’s eyes, we stand in awe of Maria DeLuca - she is a standout, she is impressive, she is powerful, and she is her own savior, every time. And through all of that, she is beautiful and desirable and absolutely worthy of being the center of attention.

These storylines and characterizations are unfortunately still incredibly rare for women of color in modern media. Women of color rarely get to be these fully fleshed out characters with their own backstory and own motivations, and even more rarely do we get to see them be viewed by others as special and valued. Roswell isn’t sidelining its WOC or centering their storylines around white men (my comments above re Maria’s last couple episodes notwithstanding). And that’s amazing and should be celebrated.

On aesthetics

No matter how important something is to the plot or how in-character it would be, the sociological aesthetics of media are still relevant. Plot-wise, the roundabout Wyatt leading to Maria leading to Noah was an interesting mechanism, and it makes sense, character-wise for Cam and then Isobel to suspect Maria’s involvement. And it makes sense, character-wise, for Liz to then defend Maria against those suspicions.

But - aesthetics matter. And watching a scene in which two white blonde women accuse a WOC of horrible crimes at another WOC is immensely uncomfortable and very tone-deaf. That wasn’t fun or engaging to watch, I don’t feel drawn into the mystery of it all in that moment, I feel pretty grossed out, actually. Because this show has set a standard for itself of being better than that, and in that scene, it failed its own test.

On bisexual representation

This one I’ve already talked about at length and having finished out the season, my feelings haven’t changed. This show does a damn fine job showing us a bisexual character living out his life, his pain, and his unhealthy but entirely relatable coping mechanisms. They don’t try to portray him as perfect because he’s not and he shouldn’t have to be for us to respect and love him.

On bi-baiting

I’ll admit to being disappointed that Isobel’s feelings for Rosa turned out to be artificial and driven by the man living her in mind. It took the whole situation from amazing bi rep to aggressively heterosexual. Not only was our queer woman not actually queer, but all of those feelings and attraction toward another woman were actually driven by a really toxic man that was actively violating Isobel to pursue that attraction.

Once again, the show started to give us something really fucking amazing - two bisexual main characters - and then appeared to take that away. We’ve been given no indication that Isobel’s attraction to Rosa was anything more than Noah in her head or that she herself is anything other than Very Straight.

This doesn’t diminish the amazing bi representation they’ve given us with Michael, but that amazing representation does not excuse or erase our having been baited into falling for another bisexual character only to find out it was all very likely a sham. While there are certainly not enough bisexual men in media, there is also not enough queer women at all. So dangling that in front of the audience before yanking it away is frustrating.

On respecting survivors

*Content Warning: sexual assault*

So I’m going to talk as a survivor for a moment and explain how Holy Shit Muther Fucking Important it was to see another survivor being told that other people’s feelings and needs didn’t matter. What She needed mattered. I was sobbing through that scene because no one has ever told me that. No one ever told me that what I needed trumped other people’s comfort or anger or needs.

But Isobel got to hear that. She got to hear that her brothers’ needs Did Not Matter (and that, particularly, hits hard for me). The only thing that mattered was whatever She needed to get through this, to feel better, and to heal. She got to hear that taking care of herself was the most important thing, that she was allowed to be selfish and think of herself. She didn’t have to put others first, or make sure everyone got what they wanted. What they wanted is nothing compared to what she needs. I needed to hear that just as much as Isobel did.

The show did not shy away in facing just how violently violated Isobel was by her husband - body and mind. It doesn’t brush off what he did as just another evil act by an evil man - this was invasion of Isobel in every possible way by someone she loved and trusted.

And it doesn’t try to artificially portray her as too strong to care, or too weak to handle it. She’s strong, but she’s affected. She’s shattered inside, and she’s handling it. A lot of us know what that’s like in ways people that haven’t experienced it never could. And as someone who finds therapy in being understood, in seeing my experiences in media, this scene was everything I needed.

On villainizing POC

This one has sparked a lot of valid discourse. Media has a really ugly history of telling society who is good and who is bad based on casting choices and always always always making the villains the POC, particularly MOC. It’s unconscious bias leading to more unconscious bias, teaching viewers that we shouldn’t trust POC bc they’re always the bad guy.

It’s a problem and every additional casting choice like this contributes to that problem. No show or movie is immune to it simply because they had a good reason, or even because they wanted to give a POC a job. Studios can give POC jobs by writing roles for them from the beginning, rather than slotting them into damaging stereotypes.

While I do acknowledge that it is unfair and in many ways problematic to deny an actor a role simply because of their race, aesthetics matter. There has to be some forethought in the casting choices regarding the message that choice will send. If the desire is to have more POC characters, then write more POC characters.

And that’s another way in which Roswell doesn’t really succeed with Noah. While there’s at least mention of Noah’s race on the show, he falls into the same category as Alex in that we never see his race expressed or lived. They cast a South Asian actor to play a raceblind role, which means they cast a POC actor to play a white role. POC characters have different stories than white characters - Roswell dropped the ball on giving us that with Noah.

Roswell does a lot right where it concerns race on this show, and it is refreshing that our POC villain is far from the only POC on the show. That said, I was taught something in college that I will never forget: oppression is a moving sidewalk. In order to work against it, you cannot stand still (i.e. casting POC on both sides). You must actively walk the other direction in order to affect change.

Like with the issue of Isobel’s baited bisexuality, giving us amazing representation in one hand doesn’t change that you’re using the other to flick our ear.

On centering queer stories

*hugs myself in delight* This is a big one and is probably the aspect that Roswell gets the most right. Both in impact, screen time, and even in literal scene-splitting, Roswell again and again makes it clear that Michael & Alex’s love story is just as vital and central to this story as Max & Liz’s. They intercut their scenes at numerous points, and characters even within the show compare how similarly their stories have played out. The two relationships experience major milestones on the same day on more than one occasion.

Michael and Alex’s relationship has depth. It has conflict, it has history, it has heartbreak. There is tension and pain and softness and love. It has laughter and safe spaces; it has big gestures and powerful words. These two men who crash together and fly apart but whose whole beings seem to orient toward the other and who, at the end of the day, are willing to let themselves be destroyed for their love.

This queer love story playing out on season 1 of Roswell has more foundation, development, chemistry, and payoff than some of the most romanticised straight couples in media history. It’s been a week since the finale and I’m still just utterly in awe at what we’ve been given here. Roswell is absolutely succeeding in giving us thorough, relatable, meaningful queer representation with Michael and Alex. They are not holding back or sidelining or tokenizing. And they are following through on narrative promises instead of just baiting or relying on subtext. And that’s…. so fucking insanely satisfying to finally get to see.

Ultimately, I’m far more happy with how the show treats its underrepresented identities and modern social issues than I am critical. Most of the content on this show is akin to looking in a mirror and seeing my own worldview reflected back. I am a queer progressive woman and a survivor, so many of these issues are personal for me.

But I’m also white, and my disabilities are not physical. As such, I am not and should not be the authority on some of these issues. I am more than open to feedback from those who feel I was either too harsh, or not harsh enough, where it concerns those issues.

But for now, this is essentially Chasing’s Progressive Review of Roswell New Mexico, Season 1. And now I’m gonna go roll around in meta and fanfic and gifsets for the next several months cuz I sure as hell ain’t done talking about this show.

#roswell new mexico #malex #echo #michael guerin #alex manes #max evans #lix ortecho #maria deluca #noah bracken #isobel evans #kyle valenti #candy #rnm #i just have a lot of feelings #rnm meta #chasing's progressive review of rnm season 1

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miyomiikonran · 5 years ago

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Just as I promised, I can present you a lil simple map that ilustrates my creation process on example of Takashi and Shinuo, who have the highest number of universes among my all OCs c: I had two more but didn’t add them as these aren’t really developed for now.

Questions next to arrows are supposed to show what main thought I had in mind when I was developing each of their versions. Beware the rest of this posts as notes about each universe got quite long.

Numbers show order in which universes were created but only in their case, as sometimes they were reason to create some of the worlds, while other times they were just added to already existing world because me or @ironic-artist got sudden idea.

With names, you have to forgive us, but these are just how we call them, even if these sound weird :’)

1. About Wakfu universe I already talked a lot, but it’s basically their main universe as they were created for game and animated series Wakfu. I love it’s world and individuality of each race. Here, here and here you can read about Takashi and Shinuo’s whole story. Takashi in here became a guard to make sure his father’s attempt to make their home island safe won’t go to waste and to prove himself. Shinuo, haunted with guilt for everything he was forced to participate in by his kidnappers and being aware of his healing talent, became skilled healer.

2. Basically their story thrown into modern world but because of how orphanages work and how cruel reality can be for orphaned children, it got named “bad” as Takashi turned much worse compared to his Wakfu self. Angry and impulsive Takashi decided to answer with violence to all his problems, like bulling or feeling alone and misunderstood by everyone around. Shinuo spends most of his life in hospital as stress and loss of family made his immune system issues worse. But he grew up greateful and decided to become doctor himself.

3. Purely made to enjoy our characters be happy, which in their case resulted in “what if they parents lives and could raise them?”. One of the universes where they aren’t separated for so long, but they went to different schools as Takashi is more interested in physical activities and Shinuo’s more interested in science, biology and medicine. Slight conflict frows between them because Shinuo is their father’s favourite, being the smart one. Result of me being mean, as most of the time it’s Takashi taking the spotlight :’)

4. Direct follow-up from Bad Gakuen, in which Takashi had been given a guardian by court after he badly beaten one of his classmates, but in this au, this one event got changed to more serious. Shortly speaking, Takashi got drugged during a party in the club so one of his classmates could get revenge on him by beating him up and getting some photos of him drugged. What they didn’t expect was for it to work as additional fuel for Takashi’s impulsive personality. He lost control over himself and it ended in such severe damage done to that kid, thet he died in hospital. Takashi instead of getting a guardian, got a sentence for accidental manslaughter and spent 4 years in youth detention center. It started a series of events that led him to working in mafia when he got out of it at 21 y.o. He also cut Shinuo out of his life to protect him from himself, but Shinuo’s been too stubborn to give up on him. After over 2 years of searching, he refused to let go of his crother no matter the cost and started working for the same group as Takashi, but as underground doctor, while still working legally in hospital.

5. We just like elves, so we created a world in which they’re both elves born in noble family, but with quite clash as Takashi’s all about seeing humans as inferior, but Shinuo tries to help these kept as slaves in their country- direct result of many wars and people taken captive by both sides. Shinuo also got more spotlight in that universe. In order to really help those in need, he had to stand up to their own father so he can organize a clinic which is a cover-up for hiding spot for humans and then mingle in politics to make laws a bit easier on humans, which helped him get some of them out of country, back to their homeland.

6. Au made mostly for entertainment rather than actual plot, but it’s funny to match all these characters and somehow make that circle of gods work :’D

7. Some of characters you can see in previous post and in links I gave there. Characters here have little to do with their original story versions but are rather kept intact with their personality. Takashi and Shinuo lost their parents of course, but as orphanages are almost non-existent in this universe, they were left in the streets. Shortly after were separated when their parent’s murderers tried to finish their job. Takashi ran away, while Shinuo got rescued by city guards. Afterwards Takashi worked in bar with casino despite being underage, as typical errand boy. Here he met Hidemichi who later took him in and acted as his older brother. Shinuo stayed on streets, unable to find his brother and got cared by group of gypsies and homeless people, who decided to stick together in their attempt to survive day by day. As a young teen he discovered he has some sort of healing powers, which helped this lil community greatly. This fact put him in the centre, being heart of the group and acting as sort of leader as young adult. He met Takashi while he was under Hidemichi’s care, but decided to stay with his new family, after Takashi insulted them. It’s also one of two universes in which Takashi cannonically ends up with Hidemichi, for who he fell as young adult and had a hard time with convincing Hidemichi to give it a chance despite their age difference and past connections.

8. In this one Takashi and Shinuo died with their parents, but their souls turned into yokai, about which I talked here. Takashi’s Yokai of Luck and Shinuo’s Yokai of Health c: They got included in main story when Shinuo got turned into demon by their leader, Shadow. Takashi cooperates with Shinigami trying to get his brother back, but we didn’t develop more of it for now. Whole idea had it’s root in my thoughts about some sort of evil version of Shinuo, who’s always such cinnamon roll in other universes~

9. Similar to happy gakuen and elve ones, this universe goes with idea of their parents being alive and them being raised as nobles, but with piracy included. All characters are aged-up so it makes sense for them to be where they are, Takashi being capitan of his own ship, serving in royal naval fleet and Hidemichi to be experienced pirate. Their relationship got very complicated as they stand at opposite sides, but while Takashi’s very serious about his duties and raised in respect for authority, while Hidemichi’s carefree and treats Takashi as rival rather than enemy, even falling for him in meantime. Which makes it second cannon universe for them together, as Takashi later gets doubts about good and evil sides and spares Hidemichi’s life despite being ordered to finish him after he got finally caught.

10. Just as question stated, what if they were androids of the same model but different kind designated with different purpose, in the world where androids are at inferior position compared to humans and struggle to survive? To be precise, they were prototypes that didn’t fulfill their designers’ expectations and were supposed to be taken apart to save parts. They attempted to ran away and got damaged in result, Shinuo getting critical hit and being unable to go with Takashi, who managed to get away. Shinuo was taken to the waste dump as his parts were qualified as too much of a problem to harvest after taking damage. His sight stopped working, his hearing got worse, his memory malfunctioned as well as sense of balance and he couldn’t leave on his own. In the end he was found by Rizou (by @ironic-artist) and slowly put back together despite it being very time consuming, because Rizou simply liked his rare albino appearance. Usually Rizou was coming here to harvest parts from androids damaged beyond repair and sell them or use them to repair androids in his workshop, till he found lil gem waiting for someone to help him :’)

Okay, that’s the end, I could add more details but I’m too tired after writing all of this ;u;” Let’s say it’s for all this OCtober delay I have.

#multiverse #creation process #oc-tober #october #oc #original character #wakfu #bleach #circus au #criminal au #takashi #shinuo

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robininthelabyrinth · 6 years ago

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Fic: An Internal Affair - Chapter 9 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: The Flash Pairing: Leonard Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: Leonard Snart, the CCPD Captain of Internal Affairs, is known as Captain Cold for a very good reason: He hates corrupt cops with a merciless vengeance, and once you’re on his list, you’re in serious trouble.

His next target?

A CCPD lab tech named Barry Allen who’s developed a suspicious habit of disappearing at random intervals.

—————————————————————————————————

"You're doing it again," Danvers says gleefully.

Len puts his phone down. "No idea what you're talking about," he lies.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Nope."

"You're smiling. You never smile."

"I smile."

"You really don't, boss," Danvers chides. "You should. It's a good look on you."

Len arches his eyebrows at her.

"It is!" she insists. "I mean, sure, okay, you've managed to convince at least six people here that you're about to purge the department, but that's just because you look kinda smug and demonic when you smile -"

Len grins, with teeth.

"Stop that, it's not a good thing."

Len's not so sure about that.

His phone buzzes.

Len can feel his vicious grin melting into a softer, fonder smile.

"Go on," Danvers says, her own smile turning positively wicked. Len's proud: that's entirely his influence. "Don't leave your boyfriend hanging."

"We went on one date, Danvers."

"Oh, it was a date, now; I thought it was just an information-gathering dinner..."

"It can be both," Len says with great dignity. "Please ignore all previous statements to the contrary."

"Boss..."

"I know, I know," Len says, holding his hands up in concession. "Don't worry, I'm not crossing any lines with it. It'll stay platonic - at least until I clear him, anyway. Then we can be boyfriends."

“Woo hoo!” Danvers cheers. “One very cute guy, in the bag –”

“And how would you know that?”

“I went to sneak a peek at him, obviously,” Danvers says, absolutely shameless. “Have to know what’s good enough to catch my boss’ eyes, don’t I?”

"Oh, shut up," Len tells her, but his attention is back on his phone, reading Allen's latest ridiculous story about his (highly implausible) workday. The most recent twist involves several long paragraphs regarding his newly discovered dreams of retiring to a goat farm.

Allen texts remarkably fast.

Must be a millennial thing.

It's nice, though; Len's used to being the talker, the chatty one, but Allen (should he call him Barry?) has a motor mouth that puts Len's to shame.

(Mick would find it hilarious and say it’s exactly what Len deserves.)

At least Len's still winning their pun-off hands down.

Not literally hands down, of course, since it's happening largely through text.

Heh, he'll have to mention that one to Allen...

"When are you going to see him again?" Danvers asks, interrupting Len's pun-related reverie. "For a date, I mean; not for an investigation."

"I'm still investigating him," Len reminds her. And himself.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you’re still investigating, of course you are," Danvers replies, flapping her hands at him. "You're way too paranoid - what you told me about Allen investigating the Flash makes perfect sense to me. Especially since we've managed to correlate a lot of Allen's mysterious disappearances and out-of-field conversations with all the stuff the Flash is up to. We just need to prove it and bam! Dating free and clear."

"Bam? Really?"

"I watch a lot of Food Network," Danvers says. "Shut up. Seriously, though, you're not going to wait until the investigation is done to go out with him again, are you? Tell me you're not!"

"I'm seeing him again tonight," Len admits.

Danvers literally punches the air.

"You're overly invested in this," Len tells her. "Seriously over-invested."

She rolls her eyes at him. "You tell me all about it! All the time!"

"You're my secretary! I need you to make sure that I don't double book over any MR days or anything."

"A, it’s admin assistant, not secretary. B, you went to see Mick yesterday," Danvers says. "Because Allen was working late to make up for taking the day off after being at court in the morning the day before. You know perfectly well that you're not missing anything; you just want to gloat."

Well.

She's not entirely wrong.

Though Len still feels obscurely guilty about how much time he's spending on Allen instead of his usual work, even though the DAs have suggested that they’re appreciating the break.

Or maybe the guilt comes from the fact that he still hasn't figured out exactly how, or why, Allen faked the coma business, and how that ties in with whatever STAR Labs is up to with the Flash - a question that will only be answered either by Allen himself, or with the arrest of the Flash.

Both, ideally.

(No, Len does not have daydreams of presenting the Flash handcuffed to Allen on a silver platter. Really. At all. That would be unprofessional and unproductive, and anyway he probably won't be the one making the arrest if everything goes well; that honor would be going to Detective Thawne, him being an actual detective and all.)

He really hopes Allen is clean – well, clean of everything but a bit of insurance fraud, but insurance fraud in the pursuit of his mother’s murderer; surely that’s somewhat more understandable, right?

Mick would understand that.

Len thinks Mick would like Allen.

He confessed the whole thing to Mick during his visit the day before: how wonderfully their dinner (date) had gone, how they'd connected and talked and kept talking, how Len's infatuation was moving from a mostly physical attraction and a slight appreciation for Allen's niceness towards something far more dangerous...how he was worried that he would let his feelings interfere with his investigation.

How he knows they already have.

They have been from the start, when he began investigating Allen as much because of Mick as anything else, and they are now, with his fondness for Allen leading him to want to find a result that will exonerate him.

Yes, the Flash theory makes sense, but it isn’t the only possibility. After all, Allen could still be an accomplice.

He could still be corrupt.

God, Len wishes he knew what STAR Labs was up to.

He just can’t figure out what the Flash's deal is.

The guy claimed that he isn't seeking glory, and despite himself Len thinks he believes him, so it’s not about that. Nor does the Flash seem motivated by revenge, the way the Hood/Arrow's vendetta against crime had obviously been at the start. And it certainly isn't some idiot joyriding around on some new technology, either.

Len would be willing to give the Flash the benefit of the doubt and say that the whole thing really is stemming from an overdeveloped sense of public duty, but every time he considers it, he thinks about Allen, and more than Allen, he thinks about all those damn disappearances.

Far too many people seem to disappear without a trace after an encounter with the Flash, or at the very least streaks of lightning that suggest his presence.

The latest disappearance: LaShawna Baez, an ex-medical student that'd gotten tangled up with a bad boyfriend with Family ties.

Of course, they all suspected the boyfriend was responsible when he'd gotten caught, but when questioned, he swore that he'd left her behind to be captured by the cops or the Flash when their little Bonny-and-Clyde streak of robberies went off the rails.

Heh.

Streak of robberies...

Either way, another disappearance like that, right around yet another Flash sighting? Not good. After all, at most, Baez would have been guilty of grand robbery without any aggravating factors, like use of arms or felony manslaughter, and that sort of crime doesn't come with a death sentence. If the Flash killed her, then there can be no doubt that he is perverting the legal system in the worst of ways.

And if he isn't killing them, then where are they?

A mystery.

Unlike many people, Len didn't become a cop because he likes solving mysteries. He became a cop because he wants to see justice done. Mysteries are nothing but an impediment to that goal.

Len's phone buzzes again.

Not Allen, though; it's a text from...Danvers?

It reads: "Where are you taking him?"

"Very funny," Len tells her, looking up and rolling his eyes at her.

"Hey, since it seems like you're only accepting messages by phone today, I figured I'd follow protocol," Danvers says, laughing and putting down her own phone. "But seriously, where are you going? Not somewhere outside, I hope; the forecast is for intermittent bursts of rain."

"No, not outside. He's picked a restaurant downtown," Len says. "Hole-in-the-wall in an iffy area, but supposedly the best pasta you can find in the city."

"Better than Antonio's?"

"Doubtful -" No one's pasta is better than what the seemingly immortal Antonio served up in his eponymous restaurant, and Len's not just saying that because he more or less survived his pre-teen years on Antonio's willingness to trade extra bowls of pasta for help washing up the tables that Len suspects he didn't really need. "- but it's always worth a try."

"Have fun," Danvers says. "Though - if it's an iffy part of the city -"

"I'm not wearing the mask on a date, Danvers," Len says sternly. "No. Just - no."

"Fine," she says, pouting. "But you take two phones and an emergency alert, got it?"

"Danvers -"

"No, boss. This is non-negotiable. You're still basically number one on the Family hit list. Just because they've left off a bit now that you're doing internal affairs in the middle of a police station most of the time doesn't mean that they'll hesitate to shoot you if they see you on their turf."

"I'll be careful," Len promises.

Danvers doesn't look entirely appeased, but it's the best she's going to get, so she takes it.

Len kills the next few hours with a combination of texting with Allen and finishing up the paperwork to get warrants on the next batch of cops under suspicion.

He's a little worried that all that texting means that they won't have anything to talk about during dinner, but that fear turns out to be totally misplaced: the conversation flows as easily as the endless refills of soda that Allen keeps draining in his infectious excitement.

(The pasta's no Antonio's, but the breadsticks are definitely out of this world. He'll have to tell Danvers.)

Len's not even sure what they talked about: everything and anything, from the deplorable state of politics in Central to the perils of paperwork, the need to improve infrastructure in the slums without it resulting in gentrification and the eviction of the current residents, to the trials and tribulations inherent in finding just the right present for their respective siblings/best friends.

They're both laughing over some dumb joke Len made - some unnecessarily complicated and definitely not-actually-that-funny thing about the Central City Combines and the Transformers cartoon/toy series - when they leave to go home, with Allen laughing so hard that he needs to lean a hand against Len's shoulder to steady himself and Len wiping tears of amusement out of his eyes.

That's probably why he doesn't see the guy sliding out of the darkness to cut off the exit to the alleyway that's the only way in or out of the restaurant.

He definitely hears it when the guy snarls, "Put your hands up and no one'll get hurt," though.

They both stop laughing at once and turn to look at the mugger.

He's of average height and build, dressed in baggy clothing of assorted colors that have faded through over-use. He seems moderately well-put together, though, despite the stringy brown hair that seems to be trying to form white-man's-dreadlocks - which is to say, knots.

He's holding a switchblade on them.

It's not even a gun.

"Seriously?" Allen says. "Seriously? You just – to – right in the middle of – jeez, some people just have no luck."

Len couldn't agree more. What sort of unfortunate luck must a mugger have to pick not one but two CCPD employees, a cop and a CSI, to try to rob?

Of course, Allen doesn't know what Len does, and Len doesn't want it to come out this way - then he'd have to confess to the yet-unfinished investigation, because there's no way that he works at the same precinct and doesn't know about Allen.

If anything, that restriction cripples him more than his current need to use a crutch.

"I mean it!" the mugger insists. "Now!"

"If you need money, there's a cardboard brigade outpost not far from here," Len tells him. "I can point it out to you if you're not familiar. But robbery's only going to get you thrown in jail."

"Seriously," Allen says again, this time in emphatic agreement. He's shifting from foot to foot, looking as though he's torn between options of what to do - Len can't blame him; a middle-class kid like Allen's probably only been mugged once or twice in his life. He's probably debating whether fight, flight, or concession makes the most sense.

Not unlike Len, who, despite many years of experience on the wrong side of muggings, needs to decide if it's worth discarding his disguise and revealing his secret to get them both out of this.

The mugger's eyes fix on Len and abruptly narrow. "Hey," he says. "Don't I..."

And then he grins.

Len doesn't like that grin, nasty and cruel and planning nothing good for anyone.

"Oh hell no," Allen yelps as the mugger, without any other warning, suddenly lunges forward, knife extended, straight at the two of them.

A second later, the knife clatters to the ground - Allen must have swatted it out of the mugger's hand at remarkable speed - followed very quickly by the mugger himself, because Len balanced on his good foot and used the crutch in his other hand to bash the mugger right over the head, knocking him out.

They both look at each other.

And burst out laughing.

"My hero," Allen chokes out.

"You're the one who went for the knife," Len reminds him, sniggering. "Right back at you."

"Oh, sure, I went for the knife, yeah, but you broke out the crutch-foo -"

"Hey, a man's gotta know to defend himself! It's a hard world out there!"

"What the hell's going on here?" a voice bellows from behind them.

They turn, still laughing; it's the maître d' from the restaurant.

"Sorry," Allen manages to get out between hoots of laughter. "This guy tried to mug us -"

The maître d' glances down at the unconscious mugger. "Oh, great, him again," he says with annoyance. "All right, get out of here, both of you; I'll call it in to the cops."

He probably won't, if he knows the mugger personally, or at least he'll give the mugger a chance to wake up and flee the scene first, but whatever; Len's on a date he doesn't want to disrupt, and he never much liked arresting poor people even when they clearly deserved it.

He glances at Allen, who nods and thanks the maître d', and with that they both leave the alleyway behind.

"Well, that was a terrible ending to a pretty good dinner,” Allen remarks.

"It wasn't that bad," Len says. A bit of unexpected excitement goes a long way to making even the dullest dinner interesting, in his view, and this was far from the dullest of dinners.

"I don't know," Allen says ruefully. "I take you to a restaurant I like in a sketchy part of town and then, for the first time ever in my experience coming to this place, someone tries to mug and then kill us? I don't see how it could possibly be worse."

The second he says that, there's a roll of thunder.

No. It can't be. The world does not love anyone enough to give them such perfect timing.

It is.

The skies open up above them, rain sheeting down in one of Central City's infamously abrupt downpours.

Len's heart is going to explode out of sheer what-wonderful-timing glee.

"You had to say it," he tells Allen, beaming.

"I had to say it," Allen agrees, starting to laugh again.

Allen - Barry - looks so happy, standing there with the rain sheeting down on him, soaking his clothing and plastering his hair to his skull in what really ought to be an unattractive wet-dog look but really isn't, that Len finds himself taking that extra step forward and pressing their lips together.

A second later, he abruptly remembers himself - and his investigation! - and pulls away. "I'm sorry," he says. "I should have asked - we said this was just about getting to know each other -"

Allen reaches out and pulls Len back into the kiss by his jacket lapels.

Oh, Len really shouldn't. He really, really shouldn't.

But he's happy, damnit, and it's been so long since he's been happy, really truly unabashedly happy - not just with a possible romantic partner, that's been forever and a half, but with anyone at all, months and months -

God, Len is so screwed.

He leans into the kiss, reaching up to grab Allen by the shoulders to pull him in -

His side gives a sharp, sudden stab of agony as his crutch falls to the ground.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry!" Allen exclaims, breaking away, taking care to steady Len on his feet before squatting down to pick up the crutch again. "Man, I should've been thinking -"

"If you were thinking, we were both doing something wrong," Len says dryly, trying to recover himself while also clutching at his side a bit. He's familiar with pain, has a great pain tolerance, but even he gets tripped up by it sometimes.

Allen smiles at him as he hands over the crutch. "Yeah," he says. "I - don't think we were. I mean. If you don't."

Len's still hurting - joy and love making pain go away is the stuff of fairytales and romance novels - but he does end up smiling helplessly back. "No," he says. "Though maybe -"

"We go slow?" Allen suggests.

Len nods.

"That works for me," Allen says. "Like, really. I've got some stuff I need to work through - stuff I want to work through. I - I like you. A lot. And I'd like this to work out. But for that to happen, I need to get over some stuff. So, uh, yeah. If slow works for you, slow works for me."

"Slow works," Len agrees, smiling. "I've got some stuff on my plate, too -" That stupid investigation, for one. God, he wishes he could just get over himself and decide that Allen is innocent, but that's just not his way. Not until he's proved what happened. "- so, yeah. Slow works great."

Allen laughs. "This is kind of ironic in ways you don't even know about yet, but you will," he says, a promise dancing in his eyes. "And, uh, yeah. Good. I'm glad we're on the same page. Want me to catch you a cab?"

Len manages, through valiant effort, to keep them to a single kiss good-night before he gets into the cab and goes home in an utterly fantastic mood.

He'd say that it's the sort of mood that can't be brought down, but that would be a lie, because limping into his supposedly secure apartment and finding Charlie standing there browsing the cookbook section of his bookcase does the trick pretty well.

"What the hell do you want," Len says flatly.

"That's not nice," Charlie says peaceably, continuing to browse. "You should be nicer."

Len rolls his eyes. Charlie is an old - is friend the right word when you can't stand someone but put up with them anyway out of long-standing habit? Probably not.

An old contact? That works.

Len has known Charlie since they were both in juvie together. He was mildly unsettling back then; he's positively creepy now.

It's the way you're distinctly aware of those priors for cannibalism (technically, disgracing a corpse) and possible kidnapping the entire time you're around him, even if you don't actually know about them.

Still, while, despite that fact, Len generally considers Charlie to be harmless - he's usually willing to accept a firm 'no', bizarrely enough - that doesn't mean he wants Charlie appearing in his apartment.

Len sleeps here.

"Who let you in?" Len asks.

"Your house-cleaner," Charlie says promptly. "She remembered me from last time."

Len's going to have to have a word with her.

"And why are you here?" Len prompts, since Charlie seems to be getting distracted with a book on large-scale barbecuing that Len'd gotten for Mick as a present one year.

"I was wondering if anyone had tried to kill you yet," Charlie replies.

Len stares at him.

Charlie blinks back. "Hasn't anyone told you about the new bounty on your head?"

"No, Charlie," Len says, keep his voice mild and controlled. "You're one of my contacts, remember? You're supposed to tell me about these things - I don't know them if you don't tell me them."

"Oh. Right. Well, they only put it up a day or two ago. Hasn't anyone tried to kill you yet?"

"No, I don't keep a regular schedule, which makes it harder to -" Len pauses.

That's his usual answer, but it's not true, is it? Someone did try to kill him.

Sure, a random probably-high mugger acting on impulse, not a Family assassin, but now that Len considers it, the guy had stared at Len, recognizing him, before escalating from a mugging to attempted murder.

If there's a bounty on his head, with a picture attached, that would explain the recognition.

"A Family bounty?" Len asks.

"Of course," Charlie says. "They really do hate you, you know."

"I do know," Len says. That doesn't mean he's not puzzled, though. "Still, recognizing my face...I thought they'd put the bounty on the backburner for a while? On account of them not wanting to start an outright war with law enforcement?"

Charlie shrugs. "It's back on. Or, well, it was never off, but notice of it was redistributed. I heard a rumor that you crossed one of their assassins and they made a request."

Assassins? Len hasn't been allowed anywhere near anything Family related, much less one of their trained killers.

Maybe one of the corrupt cops he'd taken down?

But the only one in the last week or two was Cichowski. That seems highly unlikely.

Besides -

"Why wouldn't an assassin just take me down themselves?" Len asks, a little skeptical. "Seems the most straightforward approach."

Charlie shrugs again. "Laziness, vanity, doesn't want his name associated with it - who knows? Could be plenty of reasons."

Point well taken.

“How good a rumor is it, that it's one of the Family assassins' behind it?” Len asks. "Rather than one or another of the Family's brass getting a bee in their bonnet for some reason or another?"

“Just a rumor.”

That’s not worth much.

“Let me know if there’s anything more in that?” Len asks.

“Of course,” Charlie says. “I’ll ask around. But you should be careful.”

Len's lips twitch. "No one gets to kill and eat me but you?"

"If I kill you, I'm going to eat you, yes," Charlie says, as mildly and peaceably as ever. "Same thing if I find your body in a well-preserved state. But you're my friend: there's no reason for me to want you to go before your time."

That's almost heartwarming, if you ignore the kill-and-eat part. And possibly the "before your time" part; Len's going to have to check that Charlie hasn't hatched another plan to kidnap, murder, and devour him again, especially now that he doesn’t have Mick to keep an eye out about it for him.

It's a good thing Charlie's plans are invariably crap.

"Well?" Charlie says expectantly.

"I'll be careful," Len promises. "Now get the hell out of my apartment."

Charlie does, taking with him one of the cookbooks - not the barbeque one, which he knows is off limits, but one of the how-to-make-macrons ones, which, uh, what?

"That's not nearly as funny as you think it is, boss," Danvers informs him the next morning, when he tells her the story. "Can we get back to the part where your life is in danger?"

"It's just a bounty," Len objects. "There's technically been one on my head this entire time."

"Yes, but you haven't had random muggers escalating to attempted murder the second they recognize your face!"

Oh, boy. Danvers is breaking out the increased emphasis.

"It wasn't a serious attempt -"

"Boss!"

"I'll keep wearing the mask when I go out on Flash business, okay?" Len says. "I promise."

Danvers crosses her arms and glares.

Len swears he can feel the hair on his arms start scorching.

Time to use his trump card.

"I also promise that I'll stick to Jitters and other well-lit areas for any more dates with Allen," he offers.

Danvers keeps glaring for an extra second to make sure he knows that she's only going to fall for his bait because she wants to, not because he tricked her, and then she grins. "You're going to have more dates?"

"We are," Len confirms, unable to keep himself from smiling back. "Going slow, though - he's getting over somebody, and I need to finish the Flash investigation first."

"If you get the Flash, then Allen can stop doing all the suspicious things he's doing," Danvers agrees. "And you can scratch the whole thing off as well-meant but misguided over-enthusiasm."

"Well, not the whole thing," Len demurs. "I'm still going to make him deal with the insurance fraud aspect of it all. But yes, if he's not corrupt, that makes things much easier. But remember -"

"Yes, yes, I know, people on your list are guilty until proven innocent."

"No," Len says, rolling his eyes. "Just Occam's razor: corruption is unfortunately still the more reasonable explanation. Do you really want me getting in deep with someone with an asterisk by his name?"

Danvers softens. "Yeah, okay," she says. "You sure it isn't too late for that?"

"I'm infatuated, not in love," Len says. "If we find out that he's no good, I'll live."

He'll be disappointed, sure, even maybe a little heartbroken, but whatever.

"What's on the agenda today?" he asks, changing the subject. His resolution to practice talking about his feelings with Danvers so that he doesn't choke up when apologizing to Mick after he wakes up (if he wakes up) aside, he still doesn't enjoy it. Give him work to do instead any day.

That pesky work ethic is probably why he was Central City's most successful freelance thief for over a dozen years running, possibly more, depending on how you count these things.

"Let me check," Danvers says, sliding back over to her computer. "Looks like a pretty light day - you've got some meetings in the afternoon with the DAs to walk them through some of your evidence again so that they don't get cold feet about bagging a cop, again -"

"In an election year, with only a short while to go before the primary? They ought to be happy that I'm giving them so much law-and-order cleaning-up-the-system cred."

"I'm not the one you need to convince of that," Danvers says dryly. "Anyway, that left this morning pretty open, so I took the liberty of arranging an informal powwow on behalf of the Anti-Flash Task Group -"

"It's not actually called that, you know."

Danvers rolls her eyes at him.

"That sounds great," Len adds. Some solid investigative work sounds right up his alley right now. "They're coming here?"

"Detective Thawne and Miss West, yes," Danvers confirms. "I figured you didn't want every street cop who's potentially on the task force personnel list."

"Definitely not." Len pushes himself back from his chair and up to a standing (well, leaning) position. "I'm going to practice some PT in my office; let me know when they get here."

The joys of healing.

Thawne and Iris - she'd insisted, by virtue of refusing to answer to anything else, and anyway he needs to distinguish her from the other, less amiable West that stalks the precinct with a grim scowl like he thinks that alone would drive Len away - arrive an hour later, when Len's finished and already put his leg up to rest while he grimly drains a green smoothie designed to feed him nutrients he needs.

He hates green smoothies.

All those vegetables –

(They don’t taste like the ones Mick made him eat at all. He wonders if Allen likes veggies...)

"Hey, sorry, are we late?" Iris asks, looking around the mostly deserted conference room that doubles as Len's part of the precinct. "Or, uh, early?"

"Right on time," Danvers chirps. "Please, have a seat anywhere you like; as you can see, we've got the space but not the personnel. Captain Snart will be out of his office momentarily."

Len's mostly glad about the excuse to toss the smoothie.

Danvers glares at him when he comes out to the main room - she always knows when he's thrown away his smoothie, it's uncanny; he swears she can see through walls - but he ignores her and hobbles over to greet his guests.

Teammates?

Whatever.

"I look forward to working with you, Detective Thawne," Len says, sticking his hand out. "I've heard good things."

Thawne looks surprised.

"Eddie!" Iris hisses, elbowing him in the side.

He abruptly remembers himself and belated reaches out to shake Len's hand.

"Don't worry, I get it," Len says dryly. "The fire-breathing gorgon with snake for hair's a lot less intimidating in person, yeah?"

Thawne flushes a bit, but smiles ruefully. "I think ice breath is the more common story."

"Ice? How would that even work - am I breathing it out in solid form?" Len asks, amused. "Or is it more like sneezing snowflakes?"

"Probably more like an artic wind gust, using the Joule-Thompson effect," Danvers volunteers. "Compressed air through a small opening drops the temperature significantly; that, in combination with saliva acting as a freezing agent, would lower the temperature of the exhale to such a negative degree that anything that's hit by it gets iced over."

They look at her.

She blushes. "I mean," she says. "If he had freeze breath."

"No, I like that," Len says. "That would actually be really cool."

Danvers, far too used to him, groans.

"Was that a pun?" Iris says, starting to grin. "Captain Cold makes cold puns?"

"Captain Cold makes all puns," Danvers says.

"This is a non-discriminatory office," Len agrees.

Thawne snorts, and Len can see him finally starting to relax. "Glad to hear that," Thawne says. "Sorry about my reaction. I'm actually really looking forward to working on this task force; it's my first time leading an investigation without a senior partner."

"Isn't Captain Snart your senior partner?" Iris asks.

"No, I'm his boss," Len says. "That's different. Still, glad you’re thinking that way, Thawne; I'm hoping that you'll be able to take a lot of solo lead on this investigation." He nods at his crutch. "I'm ain't exactly my old mobile self these days."

"Not to mention on a Family hit list," Danvers pointedly mutters to no one in particular.

"A Family hit list?" Iris asks, sounding interested. "Really?"

"I used to do undercover work," Len tells her, a little charmed by how impressed she looks by it. Undercover work didn't allow for much bragging, for obvious reasons. Besides, even if he’d had someone to brag about it to, he'd been too angry to really get any joy out of it before now. "The Families don't appreciate that much."

"That's pretty awesome," Iris says. "What did you do when you were undercover, if I'm allowed to ask?"

"Oh, don't ask him that," Danvers says before Len can reply. "He'll be showing off his pickpocketing skills for days; it's unbearable."

She's grinning, though, and Iris grins back. "I don't know," she says. "That sounds like it could be interesting."

"Could be," Len says, and hands her back her wristwatch to an exclamation of delight. "But we should probably focus on the Flash."

Iris straps her watch back on, grinning even more now. "Yeah, probably. We're still agreed on not treating him like a criminal, right?"

"No, we're agreed that we're withholding judgment pending further investigation," Len corrects. "But yes, innocent until proven guilty's still a thing, if that's what you're asking. I won't hold anything wrong he's done against him until I prove he's done it."

"What's he done to make you think he's done something wrong at all?" Iris challenges.

"Other than being an unauthorized vigilante and however many counts of assault on purported 'criminals' - yes, purported, they're innocent till proven guilty, too - you mean? The disappearances."

Iris blinks. "Disappearances? What disappearances?"

"Serial disappearances," Danvers clarifies. "I've been logging strange events in Central City, and a number of them can be correlated with your map of Flash activity."

"That doesn't mean the Flash is behind them," Iris objects.

"He could be trying to solve them," Thawne suggests, though he looks more dubious than Iris.

"Not exactly his job," Len reminds them. "But that's what we're here to figure out. If the Flash really is a do-gooder, and not involved in these disappearances, then we can see about getting him some legal backing - a badge, and the ethics course that accompanies wearing that badge."

"Ethics?" Iris asks dryly, arching her eyebrows in mock surprise. "In Central?"

"Yes," Thawne says, and unlike Iris he's utterly serious. "Just because lots of people don't have any doesn't mean we shouldn't be aiming to do better."

"You sound like a politico before their first reelection campaign," Len says. "But as it happens, I agree. I love this city, dirt and all, but just because it's always been dirty before ain't no reason to tolerate it. Corruption's the root of all the problems we've got, and it starts with people thinking ethics are optional because this is Central. It might be Central, but you gotta put your money where your mouth is when it comes to ethics or else what’s the point?"

Iris nods, while Thawne looks thoughtful. "You really mean what you say, don’t you?" he says. "It’s not a grudge or anything – you're really trying to clean up the city."

"One traitorous cop at a time," Len agrees, even though it’s not entirely correct: he’s one hundred percent fulfilling a grudge, but there’s no reason he can’t clean up the city at the same time. "Well, assuming the Families - or the cops - don't shoot me first."

“Oh, no,” Iris says. “You’re not allowed to get shot before I get to the bottom of these disappearances and prove you wrong about the Flash.”

Len smirks.

Sounds good to him.

#coldflash #leonard snart #barry allen #kara danvers #iris west #eddie thawne #my fic #an internal affair

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kittyit · 6 years ago

Text

on lying

introduction

i need to write an essay about compulsive liars. the main reason is because i am a recovered one.

first, let me establish a few things. this essay is about and for female people, my feelings are simple about male compulsive liars - run, and don’t look back. but this isn’t to say the same advice can’t apply to female liars. i will be expressing a sympathetic view towards female liars in this essay because my own feelings toward female liars are partially sympathetic, but certainly not without exception. i just want to be clear that if your life has been fucked up by, or if you’ve been controlled and abused by a liar, you are under no obligation to feel any sympathy towards liars. the same for if it hasn’t been and you just dislike liars for any reason! i know i hold these views for a specific reason and my analysis comes through a specific lens. please don’t think i am excusing the damage liars do by talking about some of the inner workings that result in the lies. there will be a section of how to spot liars that may be helpful if you want to just skip the rest.

so with that groundwork laid, the first complication is that i separate liars into two types of categories. the first is the kind of liar i am recovered from being, the kind i call a compulsive/habitual liar and exaggerator. the second is a sociopath or narcissist. this is tricky because i believe that lying all the time results in a certain loss of empathy for what it means to be lied to. the lack of empathy that would normally separate sociopaths/narcissists from non-sociopaths/narcissists is blurred. there are two categories i name within compulsive/habitual liars & exaggerators, and there is more on this in the section how to spot a liar.

this is a very difficult and intimate essay to write and i hope it helps at least a few women. if you have clarifying questions or want to discuss this further, feel free to message me. what it was like to be a liar

"the liar fears the void." adrienne rich, on lies, secrets and silence (read here)

i’m completely sure of the first time i lied or why, but i think it was this: as a child, i witnessed another child being struck by a car and killed. i believe this witness of traumatic death and the response i got for sharing about it is the root of my lying. i remember being at a children’s church event where the event had been discussed, most likely to ask for prayer for me, and i was cornered by two older boys and grilled about the experience. they wanted to know the details, but above all, they wanted to know if it was cool to see someone die. it hadn’t been, and they weren’t impressed by the details. they recounted for me more gory examples they’d seen on tv and left me sitting on the ground, stunned. there was no big decision from a little girl to stop being vulnerable by telling the truth, but that’s exactly what happened. i had gotten the message that what happened to me was not a good enough story, and i would carry that into adulthood.

i tell this intimate story to present one of the core concepts of my understanding of compulsive/habitual liars & exaggerators: they lie because they believe the truth is not worth telling - “nobody would care about me if i told the truth.”

i started telling exaggerated, gory versions of the story to other kids. the reactions were much more intense. this resulted in intense, conflicting emotions; it was much more satisfying to have a reaction that mirrored the intensity of what i felt, but it was also compounded by the pain of feeling like what i went through wasn’t good enough and the knowledge that i was lying. this is another core concept - liars are unable to feel/receive the genuine empathy/sympathy they are being given because it is being given to a false, constructed personality & a falsified trauma history. this compounds the feeling that “nobody would care about the truth if i told it.” this results in someone who cannot move forward in their trauma healing even with support, even with the appearance of moving forward, because not only are the actual wounds not being addressed, the liar is stuck in a self-perpetuating cycle of minimizing their own actual experiences by presenting exaggerated narratives with the same core.

so, with these seeds of becoming a liar planted, i discovered the internet, and that’s where things started to well and truly get out of control. at a very early age i had grasped the basics of catfishing and encountered (although i didn’t realize it then) different online communities that were full of liars. it was like a battlefield of who was having the worst life. i spent a lot of my preteen and teen years on livejournal in toxic communities, trying to keep up with all the lies. i believe this is when lying transformed from a defensive mechanism into both a compulsion and a method of control.

by lying, i could control two things one conscious, one unconscious. it was obvious to me i could control how people thought of me, but i didn’t understand i was also controlling how i thought of my own life and trauma. things had extended well past the root trauma of witnessing vehicular manslaughter and had extended to varied childhood sexual trauma and physical and emotional abuse. the false narratives i threw up around the actual experiences and the reactions they got made me believe “a lie is better than the truth”.

things grew from there and began flavoring my relationships with people i wanted a friendship with in earnest, not just brief or shallow encounters with strangers online. it became more and more compulsive and habitual to lie and exaggerate. i started using the lying to avoid accountability in situations where i’d done something wrong - for example, in fleeing a situation, i left a room a friend had let me stay in for free during a period of homelessness incredibly filthy and damaged, but in the retelling it became that he’d kicked me out because of my “bad mental health” and i became the blameless victim. while there were instances of him being cruel to me about mental health struggles during this time, the fact remained that i did not hold up my end of the deal he offered (cleaning in exchange for staying there) and fucked up his home before running away from the situation. to avoid dealing with the shame of my responsibility, i simply lied it away.

many liars become functionally addicted to avoiding accountability, blame and shame. when the process of rewriting a narrative has already been established, it’s a pretty easy & natural leap from making your trauma seem more “worthwhile” to making your SELF seem more “worthwhile”, all the time while having the internal experience of your experiences and self being seen as utterly worthless without the lies. one pattern that was the most difficult to shake was the habit of exaggerating. i think of exaggerating in this context as the process of intensifying a real experience. i'll share an example i find particularly shameful - i had a pattern of being given upsetting looks or being laughed at in public and, when reporting those incidents, exaggerating them into outright, blatant street harassment, being pointed at, or approached. never mind that i HAD sometimes experienced outright and blatant street harassment, being pointed at, or approached, it needed to be every time something happened for me to feel comfortable reporting how fucked up it made me feel.

the longer you lie, the more distorted your thinking about the truth is. by the time i got around to recovery, i genuinely believed that the things i had gone through were insignificant because of how they looked in comparison to the lies. i also believed no one could love me knowing that i’d lied. i was also totally incapable of trusting anyone else because of my untrustworthiness. i'd also begun lying about insignificant things in a compulsive way. the habit of controlling the narrative had gotten so far out of hand that i was unable to reliably report something as simple as how many pieces of toast i had that morning or what color a cat i saw was. the positioning of lying as safety and telling the truth as vulnerability was completely in control of my life and my ability to communicate with other people.

i did not start recovering from a lifetime of lying until about 4 years ago, about a year into my current relationship, and a year before i joined the gender critical & radical feminist community. how to spot a liar

i said in the introduction that i believe this is an essential discussion in our community of women, and i hold that belief whole-heartedly. within the category of compulsive/habitual liar & exaggerator, i think of there being two more subcategories: controlling liars & passive liars. i think that my names for these categories are not ideal but i'm not sure what else to call them. i know that one category named as "controlling" seems to imply that there is a way you can lie about that is not wrong, hurtful and harmful, but that is not my belief. the difference between the two is how the lies are used.

passive liars lie when asked about or offering stories about their life, whether on a larger scale (life stories) or a day to day basis. they lie in conversation. the control they exert is over the narrative. controlling liars do all the same things, but extend to using the controlled narrative to control other people. i understand that some people consider and categorize lying itself as an inherently abusive act, and i would never deny the trauma that can come from finding out you've been lied to. the difference between a controlling liar and a passive liar is an active process of abuse and control instead of the more "passive" effects of lying that come with all lies.

i am mainly writing this section of the essay to try to raise awareness on the tactics and processes used by controlling liars so that potential victims of them can spot them. controlling liars wreak havoc in communities and many abusers are controlling liars. they are frequent and often skilled utilizers of emotionally controlling a situation, gaslighting, and many forms of manipulation. however, by saying that they're skilled, i don't want to imply that any given controlling liar could successfully con and control any person. controlling liars thrive in communities of traumatized, hurting, loving women. women who have been hurt and believe other women about being hurt are perfect targets for controlling liars. controlling liars are discerning in who they select to groom and eventually control, abuse and target women who are naive, compassionate, and/or generous.

one of the first things a liar (controlling or passive) often does when entering a relationship is testing their possible victim. this generally involves dropping a very intense, painful story of trauma in the lap of the person they're lying to and seeing how they react. i find that many passive liars do this in a much more subtle way, but controlling liars will lead with it. they are looking for big responses, an outpouring of sympathy. if they get it, they will often share several more traumatic events in succession, sometimes slowly increasing the severity or unlikeliness of these events. they are counting on empathy, compassion, and guilt (of doubting a woman's trauma) to keep your skepticism and analytical mind in check. it's very difficult to talk about this part of the process because it is undeniable that many super traumatized women do not have well-made boundaries of where and when and how much it is appropriate to share trauma - just because someone dumps a ton of trauma on you with very little warning doesn't necessarily mean they're a liar. and as i tried to establish in the first section, it also doesn't mean she's not traumatized even if she is lying.

if someone is doing this trauma dump on you and you suspect she's lying or exaggerating, there is no need to tell her that. i recommend strongly against it because of the damage that could to do to a woman who isn't lying. one thing i would suggest for handling this type of situation is setting a boundary within it. controlling liars (and really, any kind of abuser), hate boundaries. saying something like, i really feel for you but i don't want to talk about this right now, or other boundary-setting and then watching her reaction both in the short and long term can be very helpful. controlling liars will often react to boundaries with anger and hurt that lingers throughout the whole relationship, attacking you for setting the boundary (how dare you, you don't know what i've been through, etc.), by threatening suicide or other extreme declarations of worthlessness (i guess i'll just kill myself, nobody can help me, i'm beyond saving) or by guilting you in other ways (i thought you were actually going to care about me but you're just like everyone else, etc.)

controlling liars can be extremely sympathetic and kind at first. if you are mutually talking about your traumas, they will often share very comparable situations to your own. it can feel amazing to meet someone who you feel like understands you so well and has such parallel experiences (meeting someone like this for real is a life-changing experience!). there is often an outpouring of details and information on both sides. this is extremely dangerous for the woman who is talking to the controlling liar. the liar's victim doesn't realize that the authentic connection is one way and that the information they have shared is now a liability.

one very important thing to understand about controlling liars is that they are often very easily able to display emotion that reads as authentic or even IS authentic. as i said in the introduction of this essay, the kind of liars i'm talking about have a traumatic core to their lies. there is genuine pain inside a liar, but i can't stress enough how THIS IS NOT YOUR CONCERN when dealing with any liar, controlling or passive. liars choose to lie, and controlling liars choose to use those lies to control and abuse people. but i point this out because especially in real life, it is very hard to keep up an analytical or critical lens when someone is sobbing in front of you or displaying other distressing behaviors. the presence of genuine emotion does not mean the absence of lies.

controlling liars escalate their behavior within the relationships, beginning to use their false trauma narratives to justify cruel and abusive behavior. of course, people also use TRUE trauma narratives to justify their abusive and cruel behavior, but the unique and flexible nature of being a compulsive liar adds specific control tactics. there are a few red flags for these controlling behaviors. one is if someone's trauma (or illness) constantly one-ups yours. this constant one-upping can be subtle or extreme. many liars (from both categories) like to position themselves as the most hurt/damaged/suffering of all, as this gets them the maximum amount of pity, allows them to feel generous by assuring you that your lesser trauma is "still bad" and/or always having a leg up on you if it comes down to a pissing contests.

when you have upset or hurt a controlling liar or you are trying to confront them about something they've done to hurt you, they will immediately begin constructing a narrative to you in which they are absolved and you are not being properly respectful of their illness/trauma. this is often when the sharing that you've participated in earlier will come into play. controlling liars have no qualms about using the things you've shared against you in a variety of ways. they may express a previous abuser was right about you being an awful person (etc.), compare the details of your trauma and their trauma narrative, and just generally do everything they can to gain control in the situation and get you feeling guilty and apologetic.

another red flag of controlling liars is using new, undisclosed details of their trauma as a control tactic, whether it's derailing a situation to put the focus back on them, generating hype and sympathy if they feel like your interest is waning, or just further testing the limits of your loyalty and what they can make you believe. their stories get bigger and bigger, bit by bit. this is also part of how a controlling liar can slow boil you, starting with more reasonable stories but revealing more and more as time goes on and you're acclimated, so a story that would raise eyebrows if given at first just becomes natural, because you love this person and believe her incredible story of suffering and pain.

the last thing that controlling liars are very prone to is isolating (like most abusers) but also triangulating. triangulating is used for a few different things within the language of psychology (here's a writeup on its use in trauma informed therapy and two about its use in discussing narcissistic abuse) so i'm just going to explain what i am specifically using it for here. triangulating is a manipulation process used by controlling liars (and many other kinds of abusers) in which 3 people are involved. sometimes the controlling liar goes back and forth between two people, telling each that the other is mistreating the liar. this way they gain double sympathy and always have one of the people to fall back on if the other one gets out of the cycle. this can be used as a grooming tactic from leaping from one relationship to the next - a controlling liar says they are being abused and positions the person they're grooming as a savior, making it possible to begin abusing the savior as soon as the time/sympathy/support in their current relationship has run out.

i cannot emphasize enough that controlling liars prey on loving, compassionate, traumatized women. it's so horrible to me that having a kind and believing heart can be such a liability in a group full of women who are hurting and isolated by patriarchy, but i have watched controlling liars burn down the lives around them several times within this community, and countless times in other close-knit communities i've been in. once a controlling liar has you, it is incredibly difficult to extricate yourself from the situation, so i'm hoping this guide provides a framework for staying thoughtful and critical even in very emotionally intense situations with other women who are sick and/or hurting.

for more information on big name controlling liars, i would highly suggest these two documentaries: The Woman Who Wasn’t There and TalhotBlond. it's hard to find examples of controlling liars because the lines between them and sociopaths/narcissists are blurred. i think all sociopaths/narcissists are controlling liars, but i don't know if all controlling liars are sociopaths/narcissists, even if their actions are sociopath and/or narcissistic. i think that maybe the distinction isn't all that meaningful except within the context of addressing compulsive lying as a whole. how to stop being a liar

while the last section was addressing the tactics and details of dealing with controlling liars, this section is addressing passive liars directly. it is a very good sign if you read this far that you can, and should, stop lying. here are some of the steps i took.

the very, very first thing i had to do was face the harm of lying, both the harm to myself but especially the harm to other people. for a long time i didn’t really think about my lying and exaggerating that much. i just did it. i felt permanently, inescapably alone. no one except another liar knows how alone you are with your lies, and i’m telling you, i know. i was in a prison completely of my own making telling people who genuinely cared about me a bunch of fake shit to selfishly try to protect myself. it is selfish to burden people with false stories. it turns something that can be intimate, healing, and beautiful into a farce. on the side of it being harmful to myself, there was a reason i felt alone - because i was. if nobody knows the real you and what you've actually been through, the real you is incapable of accepting love, understanding your own experiences, and ultimately moving forward in the long, hard process of healing trauma.

it comforted me that i wasn't a controlling liar, and for a long time i'd felt superior about not using my lies to control people in the ways i've described above. this was a bullshit thing to feel superior about. facing that my lies still had the ability to control and hurt was one of the hardest things i've ever done in my life. i was lucky enough to have a loving, supportive partner and supportive and understanding friends. once i'd told the people i was closest with that i was a liar and had misrepresented a lot of things from my past, the processing of stopping lying and untangling lies from truth began.

one thing i didn't expect to deal with was a surprising amount of confusion about what was false and what was fact. the combination of lying from an extremely early age with the distorted, cracked, and gapped memories of a traumatized child and young adult who often abused drugs that affected memories meant that this process was painstaking and confusing. the shame was intense - to admit the reality of situations in which i'd lied about to disguise the actions i'd taken and the blame i'd shared was so difficult. to be vulnerable about the things that had actually happened to me instead of the narratives i'd hidden them behind was terrifying on a level i can't describe. the worst was realizing some things i'd told myself were lies weren't lies at all.

i feel frustrated because writing these few short lines can't tell you, my fellow liar, what it would be like if you decided to confess you're a liar and try to stop lying today, right now. it feels fucked up. you will have to face not only the breaking down of the internal walls that have kept your secrets safe for all these years but also the reality that you are not a trustworthy person and that people may not respond to you as a trustworthy person after you tell them that you're a liar. when i was lying, i was found to be extremely trustworthy, and giving that up hurt so badly, but i'm both pleading with you and challenging you to do it.

i can't describe to you how incredible it feels to tell the truth. the truth will genuinely set you free. knowing that what you're saying is true and that you fought hard to say it is one of the most fulfilling feelings i know of. working hard to speak and act with integrity and regaining trust from some people feels amazing too. i have made more progress in these few years that i've been recovering from compulsive lying than i did during the rest of my life. i have friendships in which i've never lied now. there are people who only know true things about me. when i feel the compulsion to lie, i've gotten to a point where 99% of the time i can simply say, "i feel like lying about this but, (telling the truth)." when i do tell a lie, i try to admit to it as quickly as possible, within the day, and apologize and explain why, and 99% of these lies are strange, inconsequential lies that might be categorized as "harmless" by some people. i don't know if i can categorize them as harmless, because of what they mean for the way i've acted in my own life.

it's hard to tell you how to stop lying in a list of steps or bullet points but i'll try to sum it up

- face the harm you've done and decide that it matters - tell the people you've lied to that you've done so - understand and accept that people may be angry with you, not want to speak to you, or hate you - do the internal work of facing the truths behind your lies - take responsibility for the things you're responsible for - call yourself out when you want to lie - stop lying & start telling the truth

if you didn't read that adrienne rich essay before, read it now. i was lucky enough to be recommended it pretty early on in my radical feminist journey. i'll leave you with this excerpt

"Truthfulness, honor, is not something which springs ablaze of itself; it has to be created between people.

The possibilities that exist between two people, or among a group of people, are a kind of alchemy. They are the most interesting thing in life. The liar is someone who keeps losing sight of these possibilities... The possibility of life between us."

the indescribable joys of genuine connection, integrity, and honesty await you. thanks for reading.

#compulsive lying #radfem #abuse

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