#like man she JUST learned more facts about the time she killed her own mom why does she have to be immediately w/ child

[kingjasnah]

even if you knew it was coming (and i KNEW it was coming from the second i learned there'd be a timeskip between stormlight 5-6) the dull blow of the 'hinting at a pregnancy for your main female character right before a timeskip' trope still hurt a bit. bro she's like 20. she JUST learned that when she committed matricide as a child (a plot point that she repressed so hard that even though we the readers knew she killed her mom in book one. two? we learned new facts about it every single book as she unpeeled her own psyche) she kickstarted the apocalypse. can we give her a couple of years please.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

IMAGINE. working at ur stupid uhhh job or whatever. pulling into your drive way and ready to work on some crazy project in your garage. opening the door to the most unfamiliar silence. did your wife and kid leave for something? could you imagine knocking on your kids door, hardly getting an answer, and opening it to find the splattered remains of your wife across his room your child is scared! hes hardly consolable, in a state of shock and terror. you are too, but youre the adult here. you need to take charge. you need to protect him. you need to do something. you need to do something.

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

To Love You (Platonic Yandere!Child x Monster!Reader)

Chapter 1: This child needs me

[part 0, here, 2]

CW: femme bodied GN Reader, monster stuff, accidental adoption, description of nudity (non sexual)

Avery stood as still as the trees he hid behind while he watched the thing become a poor imitation of his mother.

If he barely closed his eyes it would have looked like her, but with his brown eyes wide open, staring at it's nude form, Avery wondered if the monster even knew what a human looked like. Their body was the right height, but the shape was off; it had no breasts, nor genitalia. The creature had taken a quick look at the clothed woman and guessed what her body looked like.

Everything about the monster felt off. Like a mannequin come to life. The skin had no texture or character, no discoloration or birthmarks. The hair was a slightly wrong shade and a little too long. But the worst part of the being was it's face.

It whipped around, staring at Avery with eyes slightly too wide, showing the whites above and below the iris. It's lips were an absurdly red shade, as though it thought the lipstick the woman was wearing was her natural lip color. But what made the face really off putting was the fact that it was too symmetrical. Avery couldn't verbalize that that was what was wrong, but it didn't have the same human inconsistency that his mother's face naturally had.

And for a moment, Avery remembered every single time his mother grabbed his arm a little too tightly.

She never would have killed him. And he told himself that she loved him. But it didn't matter how often she would buy him ice cream after a big fight, or how sweetly she smiled at him, it didn't stop him from flinching whenever she raised her hand.

He didn't know why he did it. Maybe it was the same reason he had grabbed the steering wheel earlier.

Avery rushed forward, and held the monster as tightly as he could.

(Reader) was filled with confusion. Not only was their disguise less than passable, but they were positive that the little boy saw them kill his mom. So why did he hold onto them as though they were the hero?

Their hand reached down and slid over his dirty back. Thoughts of ripping out his spine and eating him as well filtered through their mind, but instead they went on autopilot, as though their true identity had not been exposed already. "Let's go home."

Avery slowly released the monster, looking up at them with large, teary eyes. "Okay.. mommy."

(Reader) gently held the boy's hand in their own, and allowed him to lead them to the damaged vehicle.

It was much more advanced than the last time they saw a carriage, but this wasn't the last time they slept through major technological advancements. They would adapt. They always did.

Tiny frozen fingers squeezed (Reader's) hand to get their attention. "It's too broken to drive. But there's a coat in the back."

The monster looked down, remembering their nakedness. Unlike humans they did not feel the cold, and when they were in their true form they had no need for clothing.

Ripping open the smashed door with ease, (Reader) found a long winter jacket that when they slid it on fell to their knees. Avery still stood by their side, expectantly holding out his arm stiffly so he could hold their hand again. Although it always took a bit for the ancient one to get their mind in order after a long slumber, even they could see that the newly orphaned child was an odd one.

It wasn't customary to ask questions. They just killed people and replaced them. Those who learned of their true nature were also killed. And it had been that way for as long as (Reader) could remember. They had been both man and woman and those who were neither; they had spoken many languages in many skins and lived many lives. But this child was holding out his hand, knowing that they were not his mother.

"Which way is home?" They asked, their voice parroting the sound of the woman screaming her last words, calling out for her child.

Avery still held out his hand expectantly. "Down the road. It's really far."

The creature looked at his hand, then at his small legs, and realized how long it would take if he meant that they lived at the bottom of the mountain. They grabbed him under his arms and easily swung Avery onto their back. Perhaps they would keep him alive, just until they found a better family to cleanly assimilate into.

"Am I heavy?" Avery asked with a surprised tone.

"No." (Reader) almost found his question amusing. Did he not see them rip the car door off?

The six year old thought about when he was sick the year before, and purposefully acted more pathetic than he felt because he wanted his mother's attention. How he sobbed loudly because he was too ill to walk to his bed from the couch. So his mother left him to sleep out in the living room.

It was dangerous, but the idea that this creature was his savior, and not just a monster, gave the child more confidence than he should have had, given his situation. "Are you a girl?"

".. No."

".. Are you a boy?"

sigh "No."

"Oh.." The boy leaned down harder into their back, snuggling into their hair. They didn't smell like their mom's shampoo, they smelled like dirt after the first rain in a long time. "Can I still call you mom?"

(Reader) tried to recall if this had ever happened to them. Had there ever been a time that someone learned of their true nature, and still wanted to pretend like everything was fine? They remembered the last time someone figured out that (Reader) was a monster. The poor wife had snapped, months of little clues here and there had convinced her that her husband was not her husband, but no one would believe her. Not until she stabbed (Reader) in the chest, and the thing that looked like her husband did not die.

"Yes, you may." (Reader) didn't know why they were amusing the human like they were. But it felt very warm when he constricted his arms around their neck like a snake.

He smiled into their hair. Avery didn't know it, but he was just as confused as (Reader) was. "My name is Avery. Avery Jones. What's your name?"

The creature paused. They knew their name. It was the name of a human they took a long time ago. But they wouldn't tell that to this kid. That the only name they ever thought of as their own, was the name of a child who's life they stole, a child they lived as. It was the longest they pretended to be human. It felt nice. All those years ago. They couldn't remember now what that face looked like, nor why they were so attached to it, but they became (Reader).

"I am now your mother.. What is my name?"

"Luanne. Luanne Octavia Jones."

(Reader) mimicked a laugh, their smile equally as wide on their top lip as their bottom lip. "What a terrible name!"

"Oh..I'm sorry.." Avery tensed up.

"I think I'll prefer Mom."

They felt him relax again. The longer the two walked, the more intriguing the child became. (Reader) murdered his mother. They bit her head in half. They tore her apart, ripped off her limbs, and ate her while he hid not too far away. Perhaps he was in shock?

"Do you know what I am?"

Their eyes opened harder than what was physically possible. Why did they ask that?

Avery wiggled a little. "A hero? Like the Martian Manhunter?"

"What is that?"

"A cool hero from Mars! He helps Superman! And he can change into stuff!"

(Reader) could have scoffed. Them? A hero? But the situation was slowly starting to make sense. 'And so, I am a hero..'

His body was lighter than (Reader) remembered human children to be, and they wondered if it was normal. He wasn't much shorter than the average child, but his body was like a housecat's. "How old are you, Avery?"

"Six."

Older than I thought..

(Reader) carried the boy for well over two hours before another automated carriage passed by, slowing and pulling off towards the tree line behind them. Avery sleepily mumbled "It's the police.." as the monster halted their steps.

An officer stepped out, a younger man with hard eyes squinted in suspicion, and approached the two travelers.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" His green eyes glanced down at their bare legs and dirty feet.

His question woke Avery up, as though he only just then remembered that his mom was not his real mother. "We were in an accident." The boy stuttered out.

"An accident?" The officer looked up the road briefly. "Are you two alright?"

"Ye-"

"Ma'am, where are your shoes?"

He interrupted (Reader), and they immediately considered killing him. But it was a good question. What were they supposed to say? A mostly naked woman had been found descending the mountain with a child on her back, was strange, most definitely concerning and possibly nefarious. Could he tell that under the long jacket they were nude?

Avery was panicking. They could feel his breathing hitch and hear his heart speed up. "We flipped our car! And- and-"

"I hit my head." They responded more monotonously than they intended. "I don't remember the accident, and I don't know why I took off my clothes." (Reader) reached up and ran their hand across the back of their head. Obscured by their hair and the angle, only Avery saw as one of their nails grew quickly, slicing open part of their scalp, just enough to get blood on their fingers.

The policeman's eyes relaxed their suspicious gaze when they brought their bloody hand out. However, it almost instantly bounced back. "Have you been drinking tonight?"

"No."

"Have you taken any illegal substances? Any medications you've been prescribed?"

The questions were aggravating (Reader). "No."

"Any medical issues I should know about?"

"She's bleeding!" Avery cried out.

"Alright, calm down. I'm going to bring you down to the station. Do you consent to a blood test?"

The police were.. interesting. Having been so many people, the creature was not dumb to the inequalities humans forced upon other humans. They remembered how one body would be treated very differently than another body, but even with having experienced it, if they saw a naked woman walking along the woods, injured, it felt natural that sympathy would have been expressed. Or at least, sympathy for her presumed husband. It didn't matter. Luanne had not fully finished digesting. If they wanted blood for a "blood test" (whatever that was), they could easily supply it. They just hoped that Avery's mother hadn't been drinking. Which was another interesting development. Had the humans made alcohol illegal again?

No matter how unfair this treatment was, (Reader) knew it would get Avery out of the cold sooner. And if things went sideways, they could easily kill this man.

"I do."

Avery was nearly hyperventilating and his grip had tightened like a vice. "Why are you being so mean?!" Tears started to bloom as his voice wobbled. "We had an accident! My mommy was bleeding and took off her clothes! She was just confused, and, and, and that's why she can't remember!"

The man went rigid, and was almost uncomfortable. "Would you like me to call an ambulance?"

"YES!" The boy cried out, shaking against (Reader's) spine like a small dog.

He eyed their legs once again. "Why don't you wait on the back seat, and I'll grab you a blanket?"

It didn't take long for another, larger and brighter colored vehicle to arrive, with people who were much more sympathetic than the officer. One of the men even seemed to be berating the officer while another person checked (Reader's) body for injuries.

"She seems to have a concussion, so I don't know why you would jump to drugs-"

"Look are what she's wearing-"

"-I watched a young man take off his shoes and hide them in a cabinet when he suffered a traumatic brain injury, okay? People do weird things when they're in pain-"

"Still I think-"

"-She should be going to a hospital. They'll test her for alcohol there, but her head is still bleeding, and she has no signs of intoxication other than 'her clothes' and her lack of memory, both of which can be explained by trauma."

The blue clad worker shined a light in (Reader's) eyes, which (Reader) manually dilated to resemble a human's natural response. They continued focusing on their heart rate and breathing, mimicking Avery's as he leaned against their shoulder. "I think it would be best if we take you to the hospital." The person with short hair smiled kindly.

"I just want to go home.. I can't remember anything that happened today, but my son is tired."

"Well.. I can't force you to go to the hospital, but I can call someone to come get you? And recommend that if your memory worsens, or if you feel confused, if you start throwing up, can't sleep, randomly pass out, or develop a fever, you go to an ER as your concussion could be something worse, like an internal brain bleed."

"Someone you could call..?"

"Dad's still at work." Avery whispered.

Ah. So I am married. This new information didn't sit well with (Reader). They had been married before, plenty of times actually; but what kind of man was he if his wife was like Luanne?

Overhearing this, the paramedic chastising the policeman volunteered his services on the officer's behalf. "If you don't have anyone you can call, Officer Delaney can drive you home. But I do suggest you let us take you to the hospital."

"Thank you." (Reader) could see the two men shudder as they smiled at the both of them. "But I'm really tired. And I just want to go home."

"Alright then.. don't hesitate to go to a hospital if your symptoms don't improve." The man shifted his eyes uncomfortably.

(Reader) returned to the police car, Avery securely tucked under their arms and on their hip. Their attempt at human expression had frightened both the medical professional and the officer. "I will."

The little boy held on to (Reader) more aggressively than he ever remembered holding onto his own mother.

It was peculiar.

Had (Reader) ever felt this way before? They had felt attachments before. Held and loved, but those feelings were easily thrown away whenever their hunger reared it's ugly head. But this wasn't the connection of a family loving someone they assumed (Reader) was.

This little boy was not clinging to Luanne Octavia Jones.

Avery was clinging to (Reader).

[ravenofazarath2]

I’ve been seeing a fair amount of discourse over whether or not Ricky September was a good person, and I feel like a lot of it takes a very black and white view of Ricky as a character.

One of the recurrent themes in this season (and, well, a large portion of the show), is the importance of hope. And I think that’s what Ricky is supposed to represent.

Hope that there’s kindness in the world.

I think we can all agree that that was basically his thing, right? He didn’t have to help Lindy through the slug monsters, but he did. He didn’t have to try to save her life, but he did.

Everyone else we meet in FineTime is self-centered, vain. Their friendships feel artificial. And that’s probably because they are artificial since they never talk face-to-face. They literally live inside a spherical object that also acts as an echo chamber they can personally curate. That’s one of the most literal metaphoric interpretations of “in a world of their own” I can think of.

And right when it seems that life this way will be the death of them all, here comes this ray of sunshine named Ricky September. He immediately shows Lindy kindness even though she’s a complete stranger. And then they hug, what is likely the first empathetic touch ever in her life. Tells her that he spends most of his time unplugged and reading and learning. He does the Doctor grabs a hand and yells run thing. And when he sees that Homeworld was destroyed, he lies to Lindy so that he doesn’t kill the hope that’s keeping her running for her life—to see her mom again.

I know can’t be the only one who thought, “Oh, maybe his kindness will rub off on Lindy, and she’ll be a better person in the end!” That’s the hope.

That’s what Ricky represents; he’s the hope that, as long as empathy exists in this world, things will get better.

Hope that people can change.

The only shadow in this perfect ray of hope is the fact that, just like everyone else in FineTime, Ricky September is racist.

His micro-agressions aren’t as, well, aggressive as Lindy’s, but they are there. His hands are fidgety and he's distracted. He's giving awkward smiles and chuckles. He does seem uncomfortable working with the Doctor.

But we know that Ricky has empathy. He shows it when he saves Lindy, but I think the most jarring example is when he says he read about manual labor and said, "That life was tough." Lindy's response. "My sit at a desk for two hours and gossip with my friends job's not easy. I get chapping." And he learned this empathy through reading instead of spending all his time online. Which is where he learned about pulse codes, too. So he's empathetic and willing to learn.

(On a side note: Lindy's lack of empathy by this point should have clued us in that she was beyond redemption)

And that's I have no doubt that, had he survived, he would have pushed his biases aside and taken the Doctor up on the offer to travel. He would have worked to unlearn the institutionalized hate he was raised in. He's the hope that people—that we can change, become better people.

Unfortunately, Ricky is just different enough for Lindy to other him in order to justify sacrificing him to save herself.

The real lesson Ricky September teaches us.

Unfortunately, Ricky being a symbol for hope is exactly why he had to die by, essentially, Lindy's hand.

Hope simply existing isn't enough to bring change. If we just sit back and hope for a better world, nothing will get done. We have to act on that hope, be that hope, because if we don't, those trying to maintain the hate will snuff us out. And not just for ourselves, but for our fellow man.

If we just sit back and hope for a better world, nothing will get done. We have to act on that hope, be that hope. And not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors, too. If we show each other empathy, we can reach more, spread more kindness, be the change.

But if there's no empathy, then there's no hope for our survival.

And that, I believe, is the lesson RTD wanted us to see.

[gatitties]

HELLO

Can I request an Oneshot of One Piece with a marine teen reader (14 y.o) who is the daughter of Red Hair Shanks after a one-night stand? She was taken in by Garp when she was 11 when her mom didn't wanna take care of her anymore cuz the mom was absent the rest of the reader's life and Garp was the grumpy granddad and trained her into a marine..like 6 feet 4 muscular girl (and everyone is questioning what the hell did Garp feed her with. Then Shanks comes to visit his bio daughter at the hospital after the reader saved Ace from being killed by Akaniu (that one scene where Ace saved Luffy when he leaped in the way to shield his brother from Akainu as the admiral struck cuz she felt bad and went against rules) by pushing both of them away and burning her a bit and now she has huge burn scar in her left side of the body and half her hair is gone and has to add margarine to heal her scar just for a bit and then Garp ordered her that she should not get up the bed until she is fully recovered. Shanks being the dad he is tries to have a convo and help her stand up when the doctors order her to do some exercise to get her body moving again for example:

-move your fingers a bit

-try to stand up

-when you suicide try to take a few steps

-and more margarine when you go to sleep

-do not sleep on your left side cuz will cause your skin a damage

The reader is confused after receiving affection from her own dad, cuz she doesn't know how to receive it back and is very insecure about it Shanks on the other hand doesn't bother at all and comfronts her.

(Also Ace and Luffy come to visit her more often and thank her for saving them and having a small sibling relationship alongside Sabo and Uta)

and the reader is trying her hardest not to cry and Garp is jealous

(sorry if this is long I'm just trying to make it understandable..have a nice day/night!!)

─ Shanks x daughter!reader (Platonic)

─ Summary: Your bravery helps you save a person unfairly judged, this whole incident generates a drastic change in your pace of life where it seems that your father is ready to show himself.

─ Warnings: None

You stretched your sore body, letting out a soft moan due to your recent injury, weeks had passed and you still had a hard time moving, but looking back, the pain wasn't that much in comparison to your actions, not being ashamed of your actions against everythingn that you had learned at the marine academy, you were lucky that they considered your actions something of age, since you were young, they let it go with a couple of punishments, they lowered your rank and prohibited you from being on duty for the two following years, but you didn't care much.

Garp was not so happy with that decision, but he couldn't scold you when you had saved his grandson from certain death, he was glad to have welcomed you that day, he couldn't feel anything but proud to see that despite having been strictly instructed to follow established order and law, you had your own thoughts and values.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

If it weren't for the fact that you were hurt badly, Garp probably would have hit you for finding you pacing around the room, you grimaced as you tried to smile, a little afraid of his overwhelming concern.

"The doctors told me that I couldn't stop walking, even if it was difficult, I can't stop moving while I recover, it's not like I was running a marathon tho."

He mumbled a few curses, making you return to the bed, now beginning your arm stretches, which were more painful due to the burn being on the upper part of your body.

"Why are you here? I thought you would come to visit tomorrow."

"Yes, but I have decided to go ahead to give you a surprise" all your attention went to the word 'surprise' with enthusiasm, being the teenager that you were, of course you were more than captivated by whatever the old man had for you "Ta-dah!"

He took a pair of wigs out of a bag, your expression fell slightly since you expected something else, but that didn't take away your enthusiasm, the attack that Akainu made on Ace in that battle left more wounds than you thought, and the fire spread faster than you thought, you lost some hair and sometimes you felt helpless without hair covering some parts of your face.

"Thank you… you didn't have to do it, and I could have waited until tomorrow anyway, why the rush?"

Now it was Garp's turn to sweat as he looked at you, he didn't want to admit it, but since Shanks saved you in battle and visited you more constantly, he felt a little jealous, although your father was unaware of your existence until relatively recently, proposing to take care of you and be present in your life from now on, it was Garp who raised and guided you all these years, plus he preferred not to meet Shanks at this time.

You were just confused, you always thought that your father had simply abandoned you, that he didn't want to know anything about your existence like your mother, and suddenly he is by your side showering you with affection and gifts. You took cautious steps with all that sudden affection, Garp wasn't a bad tutor, but his way of showing love was sometimes… brutal, your father's soft hugs were definitely something better than grandfather's crushing ones.

"Hey hey, grandpa is here too, Hello, Hello! We brought a lot of food to help you recover faster."

"Idiot, people don't have the same metabolism as you, besides…" Ace, who was entering through the door with Luffy, took the banana that was for you out of his hand, he was trying to devour it "What's the point of bringing food for someone if you are going to eat it?!"

"What are you two doing here? You are in one of the marine hospitals."

"We are not just two, look good old man!"

Sabo smiled at his grandfather, who remained silent for a few minutes, before bursting out with a furious scream, even though Garp was not going to tell on them, he couldn't help but give them one of his love fists, it had been a long time since he had seen the three gathered in the same place. You laughed at the scene, you never saw Ace, Luffy or Sabo, you only knew anecdotes that Garp shared with you, but you definitely didn't regret having saved Ace, being judged for being the son of the pirate king was absurd, it's not like he had chosen it, you felt even better when you found out that you were the daughter of the infamous yonko Shanks, since you would have probably been put on the gallows if you weren't part of the marines for the same reason as Ace.

The silent room soon filled with life once the trio entered, breaking into the peaceful time Garp wanted to spend with you, as if the commotion of his three grandchildren crammed into your bed while ranting about their adventures wasn't enough, the door opened suddenly, revealing the person who was missing to spill the old man's glass of patience.

"Looks like I'm a little late, sorry, I had to knock out some marines to get in."

The first thing he did was push the three idiots away from your bed, then he left the bouquet of flowers that he brought to decorate your sad room and finally he kissed your forehead as a greeting, not used to this gesture you simply looked down, squeezing your blanket that covered your legs.

"How are you feeling? Are you taking your medication? Have you put the cream on the burn? Have you done your daily stretches?"

You felt even more dizzy when he bombarded you with questions than when you were talking to the other three idiots even though they were much louder, you nodded silently, smiling slightly at him, he returned the gesture with a wider smile, although it was quickly wiped away when Luffy attacked him, climbing onto his back like a monkey while laughing almost causing them both to fall to the ground.

As much as you wanted to join their little fight, which Ace and Sabo joined in on, with your current state you would have to hold back just watching while Garp tried to silence them or he would have to kick them all out of here, if it could happen he would grow more gray hairs.

You felt warm watching everyone interact, in the short time you had spent with them, you managed to create a great bond, even with Uta, who couldn't be present most of the time but who you also considered part of the family.

Things calmed down a couple of hours later, leaving only the two adults and you in a pleasant silence after all the commotion those three had caused, it was time to leave, but before, Shanks approached you, holding your hand, making small circles with his thumb on your skin.

"I know this is a bit sudden and that maybe you don't trust me… but would you like to travel with me, discovering new horizons?"

Your eyes shone with excitement when you heard him, your heart warmed, you didn't dislike the job as a marine, but an opportunity like this… it would make you feel much freer than in headquarters, it would make you feel like you didn't need to worry about so many things at such a young age.

"Don't put stupid ideas in your daughter's head! She's a good marine and she's just a teenager, she'll go far when she's a woman!"

"Woah, calm down old man, she can choose for herself, besides, I'm not asking her to be a pirate, I have to start taking care of my responsibilities as a father and I won't be able to do it if she stays here."

"You know very well that she will sentence her destiny once they see her traveling with you, her entire future as a marine…"

Garp fumed from his ears, feeling how all the work and effort he had put into educating you and guiding you on the right path was crumbling before his eyes. Shanks only stuck out his tongue in a mocking manner, making a mark of irritation appear on Garp's forehead.

"Like I said, she chooses."

The two looked at you with different emotions reflected in their eyes, although they could already imagine what you were going to respond after seeing your look of determination and enthusiasm worthy of a child receiving Christmas gifts, without being able to hold back, you sealed a large part of your future with your decision, but you didn't care much if you were a pirate or a marine as long as you kept your beloved and unexpected family.

[rachetmath]

Why RWBY Ain't MC?

(Okay if you already seen this ('Jaune More MC Ruby? 'https://rachetmath.tumblr.com/post/744057722669039616/jaune-more-mc-ruby) Then you should know where this is going.)

Jaune: And that's what is wrong with your characters.

RWBY: *shocked* 

Ruby: Oh crap.

Weiss: Oh God…

Blake: My people…

Yang: I am a basic bitch?

Jaune: Yeah you girl's characters are all over the place. Not just that… you have so much screen time yet do nothing with it. You're basically side characters to your own stories. 

Yang: Not true.

Jaune: Yes true. Look let's start with Ruby.

Ruby: Me?

Jaune: Yeah, because some of my character issues should have been yours, like killing Penny for example. Considering that was suitable punishment for what you have done. You lied to James. You drove him off the rails. You and your team made the mess. 

Ruby: Um…

Jaune: But that's too easy. Let's really go down the shit hole. Ruby, you have silver eyes. Yet you barely use them. You never trained with them. We still know nothing about them. And we don’t know if they’ll work on Salem.

Ruby: um…

Jaune: And you know that would have been answered back at Atlas if you went on the battlefield. Speaking of Salem, why the hell would you put Ironwood someone more of my problem than Salem, if I recall knows who your mom is.

Ruby: Well I had to protect Penny.

Jaune: Mhmm. Okay. Speaking of your mom what did you learn about her in The Ever After?

Ruby: Um-

Jaune: Not much. Yeah. And again no villain besides Cinder and Neo were interested in you. Not even you are interested in them considering you barely remember them. Like Ruby, you don't do anything. Like you fast but slow in the head. Hell even Neo ganging up on you, you still didn't deserve it. I actually deserved it.

Ruby: How?

Jaune: Again Pyrrha died. Ozpin died. All because of me. And even if you killed Penny it's still going to feel like my fault because I could've prevented it.

Ruby: Oh no. 

Weiss: Jaune-

Jaune: Nope. Your turn. You are worse than your father.

Weiss: I-

Jaune: You talk about how your father does business but you don’t do business. Nor do you know how to run a business.

Weiss: I mean-

Jaune: You lied to your sister’s face. Your sister who trained you and made sure you were able to leave Atlas. You got Klien fired. You threatened your own brother.

Weiss: Um-. I-i

Jaune: Oh let’s not forget how you destroyed your home and now your family is broke.

Weiss: Well at least I’m a good teammate.

Jaune: Didn’t you almost divide your team about two times? Also, how is everyone insulting me when you barely win your fights?

Weiss: Not true.

Jaune: Flynt Coal.

Weiss: Luck.

Jaune: Vernal.

Weiss: I was rusty.

Jaune: More like spamming.

Weiss: We defeated the Ace-ops.

Jaune: Neo and Cinder. The ones who were supposed to be on the same level as them. Did you win?

Weiss: Shit.

Jaune: You know what I should mention this. In Argus, I must have been under some stress or high as a kite, because now that I think about it, the deal Cordoven gave us, wasn’t that bad.

Weiss: Jaune she was planning to send me back to my father.

Jaune: Alright, then instead of accepting those terms and going to face your father, basically lying claim to your life, you cowardly avoided him and let your friends be what scares him. Not you. In fact, you were willing to endanger yourself and thousands of people to avoid him.

Weiss: … … ….

Jaune: Look I understand you don’t have to face everything alone. But there are some moments you have to deal with alone. Instead of having to escape your father like last time, you could have returned, stood up to him, and left out the front door from which you came in. Why? Because that’s how much you care about your friends and your freedom that you won’t let anybody, especially a man you can easily crush into ground beef take from you.

Weiss: By god. I am my father. 

Jaune: Yeah. Blake.

Blake: *looks at him*

Jaune: Blake, I would be concerned for my people if I were you.

Blake: Why?

Jaune: Well-

Me: Nope. Nope. I’ll explain. Blake, you remember the hound right?

Blake: Yeah.

Blake: A silver-eyed person.

Me: Look at his head.

Blake: “Look at his head”? I mean I see- oh. Oh my god.

Me: Yeah. A faunus. People who have animal-like features.  Again with silver eyes, we know nothing. But Faunuses on the other hand, we know where this could lead to.

Blake: Oh no.

Me: And you single-handedly divided the White Fang. And if hunters or people start siding with Salem, what does that mean for the Faunuses who are now venerable because of you?

Blake: Oh GOD! What have I done?!

Me: I mean I started questioning whether you cared about your people or not. Considering you didn’t bother staying in Mantle to protect them. You trust a criminal more than an official officer or hunter. Even though Robyn was doing the same crap Adam and Roman were doing. Good job.

Blake: *crying*

Me: Now for you.

Yang: Me?

Me: Yes. I never thought I come back for your ass. But here we are. Now then, what the fuck did Raven tell you to do?

Yang: Um.

Me: The same thing your father was telling you to do. Think. Don’t just follow orders. Don’t just act. Think! 

Yang: I did but-

Me: You didn’t think it through.

Yang: Look trusting Robyn-

Me: When you confronted Robyn what was your plan afterwards?

Yang: Um-

Me: Remember you didn’t tell her everything so she was still skeptical. She was tearing James a new one. So what was the point?!

Yang: Um-

Me: I mean, how were you going to chop Ruby off when ultimately you are more at fault than she is?

Yang: Um.

Me: Like at least Ruby was trying to lower the tension. You as per-fucking-usual added way more fuel to an already heated fire.

Yang: Well-

Me: I already mentioned how you are the biggest hypocrite, a simp and horrible sister. Now I might as well say you are the weakest link in your team– no, your squad.  

Yang: Hey-

Me: You've been losing fights.

Yang: Name-

Me: Mercury.

Yang: I beat him.

Jaune: Wasn’t that part of the plan to set you up though?

Yang: Yeah but-

Me: Round two, what happened then?

Yang: They double-teamed me.

Me: Before that you couldn’t land hit on him.

Yang: … … Adam.

Me: 2 v 1. He wasn’t even at his best. Bro was in his feelings.

Yang: The Ace-ops-

Me: Marrow, for one, could’ve ended that fight before it started. Second weren’t they arguing half the battle? Also didn’t Elm have your partner and for “reasons” she decided to let Blake go? Selling the match.

Yang: A win is a win.

Me: Okay Salem. Did you stand your ground and fight?

Yang: Um. Tactical retreat?

Me: She wasn’t even putting in effort. The cat.

Yang: I mean-

Me: Kilgore.

Yang: He does not count.

Me: Neo and Cinder. Again, on Ace-op level.

Yang: Come on, man, she-

Me: A win is a win right? So if you get a ring out or fall that is not victory. Neo won. Two to Zero.

Yang: … … …

Me: Raven… Raven trusted the lamp to you. Not Ruby. You! And you just… you just lost it like that. You fumbled- you fumbled so bad. And what’s crazy is I mentioned how you searched for the deadbeat instead of your “real mom” but it seems Raven is a better mom than Summer now. How? Not only is she alive. She knows what happened to Summer. And she saved your ass so many times. Three times.

Yang: Not-

Me: The train. Your first defeat.

Yang: … ….

Me: I’m not going to count Adam. But she let you leave her tribe camp alive, with your friend no less, knowing full well she didn’t have to help you especially when you came to her and was ready to fight when she wouldn’t give you what you wanted.

Yang: …. …. 

Me: And she let you walk with the relic. She could’ve killed you two times. But she didn’t. Why? Because whether she likes it or not, you are her DAUGHTER! And she LOVES you! 

Yang: Um…

Me: I hope- I hope Raven puts her hands on you because you earned the most savage ass whipping alive.  You basic bitch.

Yang: *shocked*

Me: Anyways y'all had plenty of opportunities to make your characters good. You all were given a good amount of screen time, however, the writers don't allow you to face your problems, shield you from consequences, and try so hard to prove you are always in the right all the time that you all might as well be Mary Sue. The worst kind of Mary Sue. The do no wrong type of Mary Sue.

Jaune: Damn. 

Me: Jaune, bro, I hope you survive this cause I still stand by this the writers did you dirty man. You didn't deserve that man. You didn't- you didn't deserve that. You and your team deserve better. 

[b3achysurfer]

I really wanna talk about this scene where “Logan saves Ashlyn” because I really believe it’s more than just that

I’m gonna be referencing mostly episodes 34, 35, 43, and 44 just in case you want to do your own digging 😋!

for starters I kinda bugs me when people brush this whole scene off as ‘Logan saving ash’ because 3 things:

1.) Logan saving Ashlyn didn’t really feel natural! mans was allllll the way in the graveyard, he was scared, it was dark, and he didn’t have any prior experience with using guns. but he still somehow did it in 1 shot. I honestly feel like that bit was so that he can’t be excluded from the later celebration and so that him being left behind had a purpose.

2.) ASHLYN WOULDVE SURVIVED WHETHER OR NOT HE MADE THE SHOT!!!!! if anything we’d probably learn a lot more about the phantoms if Logan had never shot his gun.

3.) I feel like Logan making the shot was suppose to distract us from the important lore aspect we see during the scene. we already know red loves throwing in foreshadowing and small hints for us. Especially when these hints get covered by other scenes so that we only notice them after we get the new information and we re-read old chapters. We can see an example of this in the same episode when Taylor offers to go see why Aiden was screaming and Tyler quickly takes action instead and sends her upstairs. it’s obvious that going back outside was the more dangerous option which is why Tyler told her she shouldn’t do it. But at the time many people brushed this off as Tyler caring about his sister as much as any brother would, and a part of his ‘jock/I’m bigger and better than everyone’ attuide seeping through. then later on in chapter 49, we learn about Tyler’s promise to always take care of Taylor and their mom, and we see how their safety is always his priority even if it’s to much for him. Taylor’s frown makes a lot more sense after we get this context.

Anyways what I’m trying to say is that I think Logan saving ash was suppose to draw away our attention to the whole reason he was even able to get the shot in the first place.

Ashlyn is convinced she’s gonna die here and this is her last effort to live. So very strong emotion. But pay attention to her voice box thing. It’s black and has the red streaks around it.

The phantom immediately pauses, as if it understands her. Also, it’s aggression vanished as soon as she spoke. This being LITERALLY TRYING TO KILL HER pauses and starts to question her!! In some twisted way Ashlyn can communicate with phantoms, or at the very least they can tell there is also a connection between her and them. This is literally so important and it’s not talking about enough. Even though no one has ever tried speaking directly to the phantoms before this, I do think this trait only belongs to ashlyn. For starters we already know that she has the strongest connection to the phantom world, and she’s the only one who can actually hear them. Her parents also said that they saw the phantoms after ashlyn was born. This is important for later on.

The only other time we ever see the black text bubble is here when Logan is mad (chapter 42) his shadow has also changed to his phantom world-self. Notice that even though his actions are connected to the phantom there is no red streaks next to his text box?

The fight obviously shows again that they affect the real world because their emotions and phantom and blah blah. This is all stuff we know. But hear me out! View their actions as if they are part phantom.

Ashlyn’s commanding them to do something while feeling strong emotions. Her text box is black with the red streaks again. Just like it was during the scene that ‘Logan saves her’.

And just like the phantom, all of them freeze and their violent behavior disappears. The fact that it’s all in sync and they all stop immediately shows that they didn’t just stop because their friend told them to. They stopped because Ashlyn’s commands have some strength to them. And remember earlier when I said think of them as part phantom? It makes sense why her commands would work, because it’s frozen a phantom before.

AND LOOK!!!! THEY SOUND JUST LIKE THE PHANTOMS! The fact that this guy doesn’t react to that statement means that his organization already knows this. They already know that the kids are partly related to the phantoms. Ashlyn’s especially.

I guess this can split into two ideas:

1.) Ashlyn’s becoming part phantom the fastest. And I don’t mean that she’ll eventually become a full phantom but idk how else to phrase it. Her words can already be understood by phantoms and they have enough impact to confuse and stop phantoms in place. The phantom tilting their head at Ashlyn was kinda like ‘how did you do that?’ .

2.) Ashlyn’s connection gives her semi-control over phantoms. This could be a skill she has to develop over time but the fact that her words were able to break that main cast out of their anger and brought them back into reality shows that they CAN listen to her commands. Either she’s not strong enough yet to control real phantoms or she can only stun them, ash was still able to communicate with the phantom.

That scene is such an important building block that people just brush over. I just don’t see a lot of people talking about the fact that Ashlyn can talk/control phantoms in a way. Or maybe she can’t and all of this means smth else but it’s still so important.

Also before ppl jump on me for saying Ash would’ve lived w/ or w/o logan:

Aiden was literally two seconds away from getting to ash. Plus the phantom was stunned. We don’t know if this hesitation would’ve lasted long or not, but it would’ve been enough time for Aiden to crawl to the top of the roof or for Ashlyn to kick it away. Ashyln was also in shock though so I’m not sure she would’ve been able to do much. But if Aiden saw the phantom on her he would’ve went crazy bro. Do not touch his girl ❌🙅‍♀️❌ All jokes aside though, we definitely would’ve learn more about the connection between Ashlyn and phantoms if Logan didn’t shoot. Not blaming him or anything but I’m just saying.

ANYWAYS THATS ALL THANKS FOR READING!!

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

So, had an idea for a fic. Ranted about it. Never gonna write it. Had a breakdown. Made a moodboard. Here ya go. 👍🏻

Mob Son Steve!

Who's father wishes he was better at it. His heart is too big.

And retired Mob Man wayne, raising Eddie. The mob family he belonged too was wiped out, Eddie's dad was leader, but he got everyone killed pretty much, so Wayne took Eddie and never looked back. Moved to a new city and opened a mechanic garage. Eddie fixes cars like he was born to. He takes after Wayne so maybe he was. And of course, Steve is sentimental about his car, his mom left it to him in her will. But it's old. Breaks down a lot. So he takes it to Munson's Garage. And meets Eddie.

Mob Boy Steve is still a bit of an asshole. But it fades fast, especially once he really starts talking to Eddie. And then mentions him to Robin one day and she's like,

"who's this now what's ahppening???"

Because Steve's face is a goddamn open book and he looks... mushy!

His assholishness is his shield. Because if he isn't an asshole, and hardened, the other guys would tear him apart. But can you imagine, his combed back hair and nice suits.

And Eddie is ALWAYS a mess. And Steve literally just wants Eddie to fucking grab him and ruin all his nice clothes and just make HIM a mess too. And like, it's only partly sexual, this grabbing, he just wants to be able to touch Eddie. And to be able to be dirty and not perfect and put together all the time.

Maybe Nancy works the front desk for the Munsons on weekends and Robin comes in with Steve once cuz she's with him when the car breaks down and her and Nancy meet and Wayne comes back from lunch to see Nancy and Robin all smiley at each other, and Eddie is fucking smiling at the ground and tucking some hair behind his ear as Steve laughs at something he'd said and Wayne's just like,

".... am I running some kind of fucking mob dating garage?" To himself of course, but what the fuck???? Why are there multiple Mob Babies in his shop??? Flirting with his NON mob babies!!!

~��~

Lets say he's definitely still a big ol flirt in this. But Robin always knows when he's flirting for info, and to be formal, and to like.. please his father and "the family" and when he's flirting for real. Cuz he's quiet and sweet when he's being real. And he gets just as flustered as who he's flirting with. And Robin has never seen him more flustered than when he's talking to Eddie.

And Eddie, bless his little anti social, awkward self, genuinely, for the most part, has no idea Steve is flirting with him. He just think he's interested in how Eddie is fixing his car. Thinks maybe he's trying to learn a little bit at least, so he can try and keep her together on his own.

And THAT makes Eddie a little flustered, because most people just want their shit done so they can leave. But Eddie thinks he wants to learn so he tells him stuff. About his car, and then also about cars in general. He's a fountain of car facts and Steve, bless his heart, drinks them up like he's fucking desperate to drown.

And he actually does retain a lot of the info, does actually get a bit interested in the work after he fixes a breakdown on his own once, the radiator needed water and Eddie showed him how to so that on his own in case it happened again cuz Eddie didn't have the part to fix it right then. Had to order it. But Steve remembered, and got it fixed and made it home on his own. And the grease on his hands made him feel like he actually did something of value.

So he listens more closely when Eddie talks after that, always leaning into his space cuz he does have trouble hearing. He loses a lot of fights. But you have to fight where he's from or you just get killed. So he leans close, both he and Eddie getting flustered by the closeness, but he likes it there, next to Eddie.

Because Eddie explains things, looks at Steve, and if he seems confused still, he'll explain it a different way. He'd done that 4 times one day for Steve. He'd been tired, and unfocused, and just a little lost. And Eddie just kept talking until it clicked, and Steve's eyes lit up, and he waved his hands all excited and was like,

"oh oh ok! It's like when-  yeah yeah yeah!!"

And Eddie gave him this huge beautiful smile as he nodded and moved on. And Steve was... not used to that. He wasn't used to anyone smiling after he got all excited like that either, but he tried not to think about THAT too much. He was already much too red in the face from Eddie's smile to be thinking about that.

Anyway. Like we said, Wayne would definitely try to keep them apart at first. Intercepting when Steve came by. Grabbing the keys from Eddie and meeting Steve out front when his car was done.

But one day, Steve shows up covered in blood. His own blood, his face all bruised and battered like someone had used him as a punching bag. He shouldn't have been driving, probably, but he'd made it. Wayne and Eddie had watched his car roll slowly into the lot, watched it stop. Wayne's arm out in front of Eddie stopping him as he tired to move toward the door, a small smile on his lips.

And then Steve opened the door, pulled himself out of the car, and almost fell into the dirt. Eddie was around Wayne in a second, breathing out a worried,

"Steve." as he shoved through the door.

He catches Steve easily, and Steve just leans into his chest, lets Eddie hold him there. Eddie almost crying trying to ask him what happened. Steve just mumbles,

"You should see the other guy." and gives a bloody smile before he sways on his feet, his eyes rolling back.

Eddie has him half way to the door when Wayne slides under Steve's other arm, helping Eddie get him inside, into the back building, which is technically their house. Eddie guides them to the bed in the living room, they set him down gently. Wayne watches Eddie push Steve's blood stained hair off his face, tears slowly dripping down his cheeks as he looks at Steve, and heads for the door. Eddie's on his feet next to him in a second.

"Don't hurt the car. It was his mom's. She's... she's gone." Eddie whispers it.

But those words tell Wayne the parts of the story he was missing. When you're in the business Steve's in, a dead mother isn't something you talk about with just anyone. It's also in that moment he realizes he's maybe not as good at keeping tabs on Eddie as he thought he was. He just gives Eddie's shoulder a squeeze and says,

"I won't hurt it. But we can't leave it out front. If anyone's after him they'll know he's here soon as they see it. I'll take it to the back lot. Move some stuff in front it. Cover it up". Eddie nods enthusiastically and Wayne nods back, once, before he gets to work.

He comes back to find Steve sitting up, his back agaisnt the wall, his jacket and waistcoat in a pile on the floor. Eddie's between his knees wiping at the blood on his face. Grimacing in unison with Steve everytime he hits a sore spot. He's got a bowl next to him on the floor, full of water. The water is red now. Wayne leans down, takes the bowl, and then gently takes the rag from Eddie's shaking hands.

"Lemme change this. Get a new rag. You sit with him. Make sure he doesn't fall alseep." Eddie's on the cot next to Steve immediately. His hand in his hair again, Steve turns slowly to look at Eddie, his lips a small smile though the two splits in them have to be stinging.

"Are you okay?" Eddie manages to not sound too choked up, his fingers reaching for Steve's face and then pulling back multiple times. Steve huffs a laugh and grabs Eddie's hand, drops them both to his thigh as he nods once.

"I will be. Sorry for makin a mess in your place." His voice is strained, from one of his many injuries, Wayne sets a new bowl of water in Eddie's lap as he says it, and Eddie's not sure which of them he's talking to, maybe both. Wayne dismisses him with a wave, tells Eddie he's gonna go back out front and watch the shop. Steve manages to mumble something about Robin before he sags into Eddie's side again. Wayne nods, says,

"I'll keep an eye out for her."

She shows up with Nancy when she arrives for her shift, both of them looking nervous. Her and Nancy both force themselves to stay calm as they walk to the back, both of them running as soon as their out of sight of the front window.

They find Eddie still sitting on the cot, Steve's head is in his lap now. He's awake, but just staring across the room. Eddie's fingers are in his hair. Robin hugs Eddie the best she can, thanking him for taking care of Steve. Eddie can tell she wants to hug Steve too, but doesn't know where to touch him. She settles down by his legs, Nancy squeezing in next to her. And they all just stay with him.

He stays there for a while.

Once Wayne finds out what happened, Steve tells them when he's back up on his feet. His father basically gave up on him ever being part of the family, "the right way". And had sent his little lapdog Billy to "deal with him"

Robin had shown up just in time. Done something dumb to distracte everyone, like set a fire. And her and Steve had both bolted. Going in different directions to lessen the chance of being caught. Robin had run to Nancy. Steve to Eddie.

They're a little predictable, Wayne thinks, but then again, he's not sure either of them have anyone else besides each other. And no one shows up to get Steve. So he thinks they're probably okay. For awhile. But he does know one thing.

If anyone lays their hands on that boy again, they'll have to deal with Wayne. And Wayne's got a past so drenched in blood it turns his stomach to think about. And he'd put it behind him. Raised up a good boy, for his sister. But he's got another boy now, and two girls as well, and he'd be damned if anyone was gonna hurt them. He watches Eddie and Steve making lunch, just pb&j's for everyone, but they're laughing, and bumping into each other and Wayne watches his boys and thinks, just fucking let them 'em try.

[dilanmoodboards]

The Winner Takes It All (Hartbreak)

Paring: Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels

Summary: Bret visits Shawn while he is recovering from his back surgery in 1999

Tags: Hurt/Comfort; Fix-It of sorts; Major Character Injury; Implied/Referenced Drug Use; Pining; First Kiss

Notes: I was listening to "winner takes it all" by ABBA and had the idea for this fic. So the rain really does make badly healed injuries flare up (I know from expirience). English is not my first language and I'm dyslexic af, so feel free to correct anything. Comments are always welcome.

Word Count: 1,706

I don't wanna talk

If it makes you feel sad

And I understand

You've come to shake my hand

I apologize

If it makes you feel bad

Seeing me so tense

No self-confidence

But you see

The winner takes it all

Shawn groaned as he felt a stabbing pain go through his knee. He was currently lying on his couch, having left the hospital only three days ago, meaning his back was killing him. At least in the hospital they were shooting pain meds straight through his veins, so the pain was bearable, but here at home… he didn’t know how much longer he could take. He could try and take more meds, but with his mom coming to visit everyday he didn’t want to risk her seeing him high out of his mind. 

But today he was really regretting this choice, the buzzing pain he felt emanating from his back, along with the sharp discomfort coming from his hip was only exacerbated by the stabbing pain that would come and go due to the rain. And to make matters worse his badly healed knee, due to years of wrestling, decided to join the party by hurting along with the rest of his body. 

Ever since his first big injury he learned to hate the rain, it seemed that the moment the weather shifted his entire body would decide to remind him of every bump, every botch, every badly healed wound. The rain was now a reminder of all his mistakes.

Shawn was so busy wallowing in his own self pity he didn’t hear the knock on the door. But whoever was on the other side seemed to be determined to talk to him as the knock went from a light tap to an insistent knocking. Shawn was confused to say the least, his parents had a key to his home, and Kev, Scott and Sean were all busy working. It could be Hunter, but his last few days with the man had been tense at best, he had acted like an insufferable prick during the months leading up to his match with Austin, he didn’t blame Hunter for not contacting him after that. There was also the fact that he was probably busy as the new leader of DX.

“Just a second!” Shawn shouted as he slowly moved from the couch, whoever was knocking was almost breaking his damn door down. He took one of his crutches and started the slow walk to his front door. The doctor had told him walking would help and for shorter distances he was trying to use only one of the crutches, his mother wasn’t really happy about it, she wanted him to use a wheelchair at least for the first week of his recovery, but he had told her it was either the crutches or nothing, so she begrudgingly agreed. 

Once he finally reached the door it felt like he had just finished an Iron Man Match, he leaned on his crutch and opened the door. To his surprise, standing on the front porch was a very wet Bret Hart, Shawn tried to close the door on the Hitman’s face, but his shock gave Bret enough time to maneuver his foot and stop the door from closing. “Come on Shawn, I just want to talk.” Shawn stared at the older man in disbelief. “What could you possibly want to talk about?” 

“Come on Shawn, don’t act like a child.” Shawn let out an exacerbated huff. “A child! A child! Look at me Hitman, I’m retired! I’ll be lucky if I heal completely from my injuries! And you come into my house, for what? To talk?” Shawn gave one step forward, his anger distracting him from the pain he had been feeling. “You know what Hitman, I think you’re here to gloat, so go on. Say that this is karma, that it was obvious I would hurt myself with, what do you call it, my disgusting Mexican style fighting.” 

“Shawn that’s not…” Bret wasn’t able to finish before being cut off by Shawn. “Oh so that’s not why you’re here? Give me a break!” Now Bret had always prided himself in his patience, but Shawn seemed to have the special talent of running it thin. “I don’t know why you’re angry at me! Last time I checked you were the one who screwed me, not the other way around!” Bret took a step forward, entering Shawn’s personal space. “I was also not the one who broke your fucking back!” 

Shawn knew Bret was right, but right now he was just frustrated and in pain, he was angry and the Hitman showing up at his door just gave him the perfect person to let out all his frustrations on. Shawn had never been an example when it came to his temper, and it got even worse when he was in pain. That is probably why he did what he did.

Letting go of his crutch Shawn tried to push Bret away, but Bret saw the move coming from a mile away and dodged which led to Shawn losing his balance and falling. But before he could hit the floor and completely fuck up his recovery a pair of strong arms caught him, managing to pull him into Bret’s strong chest.  

And in that moment, with his hands curled on Bret’s shirt and his face pressed against his chest something cracked inside Shawn. Tears sprang from his eyes as days, or rather years, of pent up emotion finally came out. Everything, from the pressures of being the champion during one of the company worst financial times, losing Marty, losing his only friends to WCW, the locker room hating him, Bret hating him, the constant pain from his body, the drugs, losing Hunter, the screwjob, being forced to retire. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He had given his entire life for this fucking business that throwed him out like trash the moment he was no longer useful and he was honestly tired.

Bret was a little surprised, but he held onto Shawn as the younger man broke down crying on his chest. In that moment Bret allowed himself to finally forget all the years of animosity between him and Shawn, and remember the old times, when they were friends. Before the business ruined them. He held Shawn close and stroked his blonde hair as he whispered what he hoped were consoling words in his ear.

It took a while but Shawn finally calmed down, allowing Bret to maneuver the both of them to the couch. Bret knelt in front of Shawn and stroked his tear stained cheeks, even through the clothing Bret could tell Michaels had lost a considerable amount of weight, a fact that was confirmed when he carried Shawn to the couch noticing the blonde was way lighter than he had been. Shawn also had bags under his eyes, that looked even more pronounced now that his eyes were red from crying. Bret felt the urge to kiss the younger man, something that he had suppressed for years. But here kneeling in front of Shawn, the urge was stronger than it had ever been.

“There, are you feeling better now?” Bret asked, brushing a strand of Shawn’s hair from his face and placing it behind his ears. Shawn nodded. “Why are you here? And please be honest with me.” Bret stared at Shawn's eyes. “To be fair I wasn’t certain, I guess I was worried about you.” “Why?” Shawn asked with a meek voice. “Because there was only one person who ever truly understood me and my love for wrestling, and knowing that, I knew you needed someone.” Shawn looked at him for the first time since they got to the couch, tears filling his eyes once again. “I’m sorry Bret.”

Bret couldn’t bear to watch Shawn cry, so he hugged the younger man once again. “I know.” Shawn weakly pushed at his chest, separating the two of them. “No you don’t… I was an asshole with you for years… you have every right to hate me, forever. I just… I wanted you to like me, to notice me and…” Bret cut Shawn’s rambling. “Hey, I know. I don’t blame you for that, I was an asshole too. Said some real fucked up shit, made fun of you, of your sexuality.” “But what about the screwjob? You didn’t deserve that!” Shawn raised his voice, he needed Bret to understand. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” Shawn started to protest, but Bret continued. “Tell me Shawn, if you had said no to Vince, do you really believe he wouldn’t have found a way of screwing me out of the title?” “That’s not the point Bret!” “Answer me Shawn.” Shawn deflated at that and shook his head. “There is only one person I blame for that, and it’s Vince. So stop apologizing”  

Shawn wanted to argue, but kept his mouth shut. “Still I wish we could have remained friends.” Bret hummed. “Yeah, me too. But it wasn’t just you, I had my reasons as to why I drifted away from you.” Bret had always been attracted to Shawn, and that terrified him. But right now looking at Shawn, his fears didn’t matter anymore, it was time to stop running. “I was scared…”. “What?” Shawn looked at Bret, confusion clear on his face. Once again he felt the urge to kiss Shawn, his bright blue eyes and plump lips calling him in. And this time he let go.

[11queensupreme11]

I have a question about mom Loki AU

How would the gods react to finding out that baby Percy's real mother is Sally?

How would the Nordic and Greek family react? What about romantic and platonic yanderes? Would they accept? Would someone secretly order Sally's murder?

I don't know if Poseidon would react well to learning that baby Percy was generated by another God, even if it is an alternative version of him, he will probably justify, to himself, that the alternative version continues to be his essence he is older so HE is the original version while PJ Poseidon is the copy so since baby Percy is made of half of that Poseidon's ichor she is also made of half of his ichor

What interests me most is Loki's reaction, I feel like he wouldn't accept it, this baby came from him so it's his daughter, accepting that your dear little baby only exists because of a human woman and that he was only a temporary charmer is an unacceptable idea

The humans' reactions would also be interesting because at the same time they believe that a baby should be returned to its family, they also realize how dangerous the PJ world is for baby Percy, why return her to a world where she will be where Will she have to initially grow up in poverty only to later grow up being hunted and killed? If her mother really loves her, she would agree to leave her daughter in a place where she will be properly raised with love and protection certainly their opinion was not influenced by being slightly platonic yanderes

And the valkyries would be desperately trying to convince Sally and PJ Poseidon to leave baby Percy in this universe, they know that if baby Percy is taken the gods will destroy this and the PJ universe trying to get her back

Shiva is fighting tooth and nail for baby Percy to stay so he can delight in the sight of her and his own son playing, no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE is going to stop this play date

not only would they be pissed as fuck, but they're also NEVER going to accept sally as percy's mom. eventually, they'd deal with the fact that sally was the first person to actually carry percy in the womb, but they won't ever accept HER. partly because they want baby percy and partly because sally's a human, so they're just never going to accept her or care that she was the bio mom. sally's human, she doesn't have any rights or say to them.

loki is downright disgusted at the fact that HIS baby's bio mom is actually a human who, more importantly, wants her back. he's not even gonna bother hiring an assassin or trying to kill her secretly, ITS ON SIGHT THE SECOND HE SEES HER. hell, he could be taking baby percy on a walk with a stroller and if he sees sally, he's jumping that poor woman with no hesitation 😭😭😭

poseidon is probably gonna be the second most pissed about this right behind loki. while loki's got beef with sally, he's got beef with pjo!poseidon lol. he will degrade the shit outta that man and point out every singly little flaw his counterpart has: he's practically a kid, he has a deadbeat to all his 1234282347 kids, his seas are filthy, his family's a mess, he's a serial cheater like zeus, he isn't even allowed to RAISE percy so why should he have her, etc etc. he actually brings up a LOT of good points, which is when the ror humans start to lean more for the ror parents

what really makes the ror humans go for ror!poseidon and loki is how demigods' lives work back in pjo verse. it's way too dangerous and the fact that the gods can't even interfere in their lives to protect them is ultimately what makes them choose the ror!parents over sally and pjo!poseidon. the same for the valkyries tbh. they'd be more sympathetic for them unlike the ror!gods, but they really rather percy stay in their universe instead since she would actually have a higher chance of survival

[takaraphoenix]

So @kimmycup and I wrapped up season 3A last night! And I have thoughts!

Stiles

Stiles, obviously, highlight of the season. As always. No but seriously, Dylan's acting kills me and the fact that he is pretty when he cries also kills me (so often, the act of crying just makes me cringe on screen but when he's crying I'm like "YES. MORE").

The way we spent over three episodes on Stiles' suffering about his dad being missing and wanting to bring him back? Allison and Scott also have their parents abducted but somehow Stiles is the one with whom it is presented as a trauma and who gets to suffer about it.

The fact that Stiles is at the center of the Hales actually makes me feel feral and unhinged though. He's the one to offer Derek comfort after Boyd dies, he's the one who asks about where Derek went when he disappears afterward (though I will admit I did like the Scott-Derek dynamic in this season too, the build up of trust there and Scott's guilt when they thought Derek was dead). Stiles working with Peter about the vault, interrogating Peter about Derek's past, saving Cora with Peter (but also, again, I did like the Peter-Scott team-up in the hospital that was a real surprise and actually fun). And obviously Cora. Oh, they were so setting her up as his love-interest. Nearly all of Cora's scenes were either with Derek, Peter or Stiles. Despite Boyd and Isaac being around too, despite Scott being set up to become head of the wolves, it's somehow Stiles who is at the center of the actual Hales, who interacts with them the most and I am living for it.

Also the Noah-Stiles this season! With his dad's abduction, the fact that Stiles died to save his dad (credit to Scott and Allison for dying for their parents too), that he finally told his dad the truth and that painful little "Mom would have believed me" that absolutely killed me. His constant fear of also losing his dad, even before the abduction, when he thought he'd lose Noah for telling him the truth.

Stiles is my absolute favorite fictional character, of all time, truly.

Peter

Coming in hot second place after Stiles, Peter really was the highlight of the season for me. I have come to deeply love this bastard man. His lil "I've always been the Alpha" I deadass went "made me feel very attracted to him and straight. That was unreasonably sexy of him.

But even before he did that? This whole season, spent kind of helping and kind of doing good, but never too much, just enough to keep being useful. Always manipulating with his silver tongue, the unreliable narrator of Derek's past trauma was a fucking masterpiece to me.

I still want to kiss him on the mouth for killing the most annoying Teen Wolf villain though. There are villains who are evil and villains I hate - in the "this is an effectively written villain! I hate them for their villainy!" sense - but Jennifer Blake was just annoying. She kept babbling on and not in a silver-tongued way but in the same awkward teacher trying to make a point way that she did in the classroom.

Death

Let's leap into that before I lose my train of thought, because Jennifer's death felt good. Even more so in contrast with Deucalion's not-death.

It truly, genuinely fucks with me that Scott and Derek let him go. He is why Boyd and Erica are DEAD. Two of your pack mates. Two innocent teenagers. They're dead because of him, but... Deucalion just... gets to walk free. Not even prison, not even human-standard punishment, not have his Alpha spark somehow removed, nothing. No, he gets rewarded by having his sight restored and is just sent on his merry way.

The same goes for Gerard. The man tortured teenagers for fun and killed countless innocent werewolves. But he just... gets to live. When only Chris was hiding him, I could somewhat excuse it with him being unable to kill his own father. But then both Allison and Scott learn where he is and it just pisses me off so much.

These people kill innocent and get no punishment at all. I'm not even necessarily saying "murder is the only way" (it is, to me, in these instances), but there is just nothing, they get to live on, free, not even imprisoned.

Makes me so damn mad and you just know if Deucalion and Peter hadn't torn out Jennifer's throat, they would have let her life and be on her merry way too.

Cora (& Derek)

I admit I fully did not remember shit about her. She was only in half a season and, clearly, I managed to block out most of it. But I really loved her! She... Yeah, they totally tried to replace her with Malia, because she has the same very direct nature and anger issues. Which only makes me sadder on account of those two never meeting or interacting.

I enjoyed her character and actually would have REALLY loved Stora? These two had good chemistry and I think the build up was definitely worth exploring what a relationship between them could have been like.

Her existence still drives me up the wall though because they really don't explain it. At all. How did she survive? How did she get all the way to South America? Hell, how did she even hear about a Hale Alpha again like what is there some kind of supernatural newspaper announcing these things?

And then she's gone again. And it feels... stupid. I think it would feel less stupid if Derek wouldn't return in season 4 either. Let me be clear, I love Derek and, as a viewer, am glad that I didn't lose him for good here by having him be written out. But internally, within the story, it would have felt much more rewarding to both of them if after all the trauma in Beacon Hills and the rocky relationship these two had, Derek had just fucked off from that hell-town to live with his sister somewhere safe.

But also, while I'm on Derek already. This boy really can not catch a break. He needs to stop falling for women, period. Paige's death was deeply traumatic, Kate groomed him and killed his family, and now Jennifer. At this point, the pack should get battle ready when he shows interest in someone...

Others

In a delightful twist did I actually grow attached to Ethan/Danny this time around and will be using more of those from hereon out.

I think one of the funniest bits of the season was Melissa meeting Peter in the hospital and saying "You're supposed to be dead" because I'm sorry he has been resurrected SIX MONTHS AGO and nobody told her that he is alive again? Really, Scott? Really?

[foggyfanfic]

Camilo Analysis

Bruh, who even is Camilo? He is arguably the Madrigal we get the least real characterization for, other than Teenage Boy, which is a very broad category of person. So as per usual, it helps me to get my thoughts in order if I write this stuff down.

First, Mirabel introduces Camilo through song and we right of way see him shapeshift into a young mother so he can sooth her baby while she takes a nap. That's actually a really great way to imply several things about his character (oh my god guys, this movie is so well written).

Thoughtful enough to offer a new mom a chance to rest

Comfortable caring for infants (probs helped care for Antonio?)

More patient than I would have thought, because taking care of a baby while the mother rests is not a quick and easy favor

Sort of implies that he likes kids

Then Mirabel sings he "won't stop until he makes you smile today" while he turns into multiple people and doing goofy stuff. Everybody already knows he's an entertainer at heart but I gotta add it to the list anyways.

5. Likes making people laugh

6. Plays around with his gift a lot

Moving on to Antonio's party, he's the guy greeting all the villagers by name, and he changes his energy to match each person.

7. Knows a lot of the villagers

8. Charming and personable

9. Respects his elders (kisses the old woman on the cheek)

He jokes around with Antonio, probably in an attempt to soothe his nerves, and teases his Pa. This reinforces points one, four, five and six. If this was a different list, I would talk about what it means that Camilo is clearly comfortable teasing his father, despite the seemingly stern reaction Félix has, but I digress.

He stands with Julieta while Antonio and Mirabel walk to the door, giving birth to a lot headcanons about them being especially close, and I'm going to roll with it.

10. Of his siblings, he's closest to Julieta.

Then he's very excited for Antonio as he discovers his room, it's actually the happiest we see him in the movie (other than perhaps when he's dancing in We Don't Talk About Bruno). So:

11. Supportive? Or maybe just enjoys seeing other people happy?

Plot happens, fast forward to breakfast when he pretends to be Dolores so he can get double the food. Then teases Isabela about Mariano, something he does a lot in the movie.

12. Likes food.

13. In his Little Shit era

Fast forward some more, all the way to We Don't Talk About Bruno. He absolutely kills it, and clearly enjoys the whole production. If you're like me and you headcanon that the musical numbers happen in universe then we can conclude:

13.5. Fucking loves living in a musical

And if you headcanon they don't:

14. Enjoys telling stories.

15. Probably hasn't thought through the consequences of telling everybody his Tío is a seven foot tall boogy man that feasts on screams. Which is very normal for a fifteen year old boy.

Teases Isabela about Mariano again. More plot happens. Time For Dinner. Dolores gossips to him as soon as she can, then he immediately gossips to his Pá. When Félix accidentally spits his drink onto Mariano, Camilo has to hold in a laugh. It's possible he doesn't really like Mariano, he keeps making jokes about the guy, at the very least he doesn't take him seriously. I wonder if he's the sort of guy that prefers to hang out with women?

16. Close to his sister.

17. Close to his father.

18. Shapeshifts reflexively/accidentally.

More plot. We see him try to soothe his mother.

19. Takes care of his Má. Pepa is literally unable to hide her emotions, so it would make sense that, through no real fault of her own, the kids slowly learn to take care of her as they grow up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all. On the flip side, the fact that sun beams come out whenever they get home from school or learn a new skill probs means the kids can never doubt that Pepa loves them. Plus, she likely has the easiest time transitioning from a parent-child relationship to a parent-adult offspring relationship of all the adults. So Camilo might be growing closer to his Má as he gets closer to adulthood.

The longer the plot goes on the less we see him. He's clearly frustrated with his gift glitching on him, but that doesn't really tell me much. It's a situation that would frustrate anyone and they don't show us how he handles those negative emotions. They also don't show us how he handles hearing the end of Mirabel's and Abuela's argument. Rude. They do show us him leaping to the candle's aid while the house crashes down around him so clearly:

20. Sees the Miracle as more important than his own safety.

The house falls, the candle goes out, in the background we hear him first remark on his gift being gone, then wonder how this will effect his little brother. We already know he enjoys using his gift, I can theorize he's made Being a Shapeshifter an important part of his identity, but all we have that's concrete is:

21: He doesn't just enjoy his gift, it is important to him.

22. Empathetic.

Mirabel runs off, resolution happens, Mirabel comes back. He is the one who cuts through the reunion to point out their house is gone, and even gets a little exasperated when he catches a bit of flack from Félix.

23. Not an optimist. Might be a pessimist, but most likely just not particularly sentimental.

For the rest of the scene he exists in a state of confusion. The hits start coming and they don't stop coming. Apparently Tío Bruno is just suddenly back now? And it kind of seems like half the family isn't surprised or asking any questions?! There's not a lot of conclusions I can draw from him being shocked and confused that Bruno just sort of appeared out of nowhere, I think most people would be. And unlike the parents or the older cousins, he doesn't have enough memories from when Bruno was around to be swept up in the joy of seeing him again. His reaction is relatable and endearing, but not very revealing.

The last character moment we get is when he tries to twirl the shovel around all fancy, almost drops it, then checks to make sure Mirabel wasn't watching. It reinforces things already mentioned, like him being showy, and wanting to entertain those around him, but also:

24. Wants to be seen as cool. Another very normal trait for a teenage boy.

It is interesting that the first person he looks at is Mirabel, I can't help but wonder if that would have been the case at the beginning of the movie. There's room for interpretation there, but regardless, by the end of the movie:

25. Respects Mirabel's opinion.

[midnightkolrath]

Dante and his deeper layers I've noticed in the 2007 anime

I originally meant for this to be a WAY bigger dig/analysis, as I want to go episode by episode...but I decided to minimize it for now because this anime gives me brainworms so often, lmao.

So, lets get into this light dig of added bits for Dante's character from the anime and just how neat the anime is on what it covers.

Early on in the anime, there's parts of the anime where Patty unknowingly berates Dante about having a picture of his "girlfriend" on his desk, not knowing its actually his mother. Same episode, she talks to Dante about her own mother, and how much she wishes to meet her, after being orphaned for unknown reasons (We learn why later but you know).

And BOTH times, Dante doesn't respond, save for a quiet distant stares off into space or seemingly ignoring her. For the first case, he very much likely excuses it with the fact that she's just not aware of the truth of the picture but not outright scolding her over it.

Like...he doesn't snap or correct her or anything. He just remains quiet. And we know how much Dante loved his mom (his color palette even matches hers for gods' sake) and how he got when facing Trish in DMC1 (which this takes place after). Shows just how those events really changed him afterwards. Especially since this is also after he thought he killed Vergil with his own hands...which the anime VERY MUCH shows the depression he has. He's in it deep for alot of it.

Back to the second part of the Patty thing though, as much as he pretends he isn't listening or doesn't care, he very much WAS listening to her, as later in that episode, he easily figures out where she went (into a trap where a demon disguised itself as her mother to lure her) due to the poster she was gazing at which reminded her of her mother, and the discussion they had right before she ran off.

Like, this man may be the way he is and PRETEND he isn't paying attention to people sometimes, but like...no, when its important, he VERY MUCH is. Speaking of which...episode 3.

This is one of the fun parallel episodes where the situation reflects a part of Dante's life...such as when a demon falls in love with a human, who was originally supposed to serve his master. Obviously, a parallel to Sparda and Eva's relationship, Dante's parents.

Even when its found out that the guy is the target dante's supposed to be after, Dante literally takes time to hear him out and question him over his love for a human woman. Dante's the result of such a relationship, so it makes sense he'd stop to listen.

In the end, he decides to go against killing this demon, despite what his client wanted. He sees firsthand and knows that this is actually a couple in love. Like...he gets it. For obvious reasons, but he also MADE SURE it was a true love relationship. Pretty wholesome actually.

An obvious one if you've seen the instruments and jukebox in his office, but episode 6 adds on that Dante 'gets' music and how it can touch/relate to people. I think its a cute additional touch. :' )

I wanna dig into this episode more eventually, but its obviously music themed. And Dante hangs out as a bodyguard for some fellow music enjoyers. Just one of those nice further looks on the general work Dante does, which this anime does a great job in doing.

Episode 7 onward is where shit gets deep into more parallels and just the kind of guy Dante is, while going through it this whole series. Helping a spirit get laid to rest by pulling a prison break and rescuing her brother (Episode 7)...

Having his status as the son of sparda ending up getting someone originally close to him (Supposedly anyway, its implied that Dante grew up with this guy and was raised by the same mother figure...which Dante denies, but we know how he can be, and he was likely trying to protect him in a way) hurt and said person thrusting hate on him for it as that was why a whole village got burned down...and the guy originally believed and had genuine faith that it wasn't Dante's fault (Episode 8)...

Meeting students (who are brothers, one older and one younger) of his father, arguably bonding with one of them and having to put both down in the end (Episode 10), which can be seen as a cruel parallel to himself and Vergil...(And even going through the effort of respectfully setting a grave site together for them)

And the final episodes, 11 and 12, are the conclusion of the whole arc that was built up in the background...but its also a show of Dante and Patty's relationship becoming so close as she goes to personally save him after he was impaled by the big bad. Its a pay off for the growing bits of them spending time together from episode 1, and later a neat easter egg nod in DMC5 where Patty calls to invite him to her birthday party, showing they still very much keep in touch. (And the novel Before the Nightmare goes more into why, exactly, he actually didn't want to go, but we'll dive more into that later one day).

I'll likely more deeply elaborate about the anime one day, but like...there's a reason why its such a gem in the series. Short, but did great with the episodes it had. A treat for those who want to see more layers for Dante. Its so SO good.

Like you may or may not like the 'slice of life' parts, but its necessary for what they were going for, I think. I know I skipped a few things, but I hope I got the big highlights atleast. Go check out the first anime, its a pretty damn solid ride.

[ryusaidate]

moving from twitter because yap yap yap

"iirc people say her voice acting makes her come off cartoonishly evil but as someone who spends far more time rereading the script than playing the game, the bar flashback is like... i don't know. human. i don't have anything smart to say about it.

"moms are just like this. and renju talking about his wife like a zoo animal and through it they are just people who made bad decisions it makes me want to lie down on the floor for a very long time

"i would say the eitoku high bitches and their horrible taste in partners* are one of my favourite parts of the game but i would then go down a list of related thematic points calling all them my favourite too. did you know i like this game?

"*the actual category for me is so, renju, and hitomi, and their narrative haunting dead wives. the third step down this line is "the narrative being haunted" (iris, mizuki, date) and all points on this chart run back to being about hitomi / saito parallels. Did You Know I Like Th"

something about shoko and saito being characterized as 'people who hurt their loved ones because they never learned the right way to love' against half the main cast either obfuscating the identity of a serial killer or Killing Someone for a loved one (and this being identified as a harmful act to both them and the people around them) is like. waves arms around violently!!!!

i am thinking about renju speaking so authoritatively about why shoko can't take care of mizuki then saying 'i can't do anything i'm too busy' to date who is so in his own shit about being horrible he still thinks the best thing he can do for mizuki is keep his distance from her despite the fact The Problem Was Emotional Neglect

god renju has so many Central Thesis Lines despite also sucking so bad he's incredible. "Mizuki is hungry for love" "But you can't think about revenge now. You and the baby can't lead a life like that." - guy who will not take care of his kid and watched old people get killed for money

i am thinking about the maid cafe, the guy who is never home making an artificial commercialised setting around it, i am thinking about his daughter spending most of her time there, i am thinking about his daughter finding his corpse there, and her mother's at the one place they made a happy memory, and her best friend's corpse in the same place she saw a dead body that looked identical to it a month ago. i am thinking about the completely fictional 'narrative dead girl' visual iris takes up (i swear by the fact iris route is peak if you look at it through this lens and the belief that you were meant to assume her eye is missing before she dies because the psync swapped her with annihilation route iris. swear to god.)

i am thinking about the boss - falco // so - saito isms.....

i am thinking about the fact the guilt has to go somewhere if you absolve yourself of blame, thinking about shoko blaming mizuki for being abnormal and mizuki blaming herself for her parents deaths because she couldn't be normal, thinking about so only taking the blame for what happened to saito far far far too late and manaka's death being the one 'awful thing' saito talks about like something he did that was his fault (when not deliberately playing it up to piss off date)

i am thinking about saito against hitomi letting revenge against 'the person who took away your love' become your only focus instead of building a new life i am thinking about saito digging his heels in to remain stuck in the past through every opportunity he's given trying to drag date back down with him despite the fact he's moved on and built a new life, hurling insults at a man who doesn't exist anymore because no, he has to still be falco because saito needs to kill falco to make it stop hurting, the way he killed his father, the way he killed manaka. i am thinking about the fact that the reason why what saito is doing is wrong, narratively speaking, is because he's fucking miserable every second of it.

i am thinking about 'someone you love' as a 12 or 6/30/40 year old roommate you talk about like a pet cat or a coworker or a coworker with amnesia in the body of a serial killer or an ai hamster, that's neither here nor there i just think it's good.

i think......................... the game is good.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Heyyyy I just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog! I actually never realised how much there is to know about Rohan until I stumbled across your blog and it's super interesting! (I'll most likely always be an elf-girl, but you never know and it never hurts to know more about other parts of Tolkien's stories)

So I wanted to ask you something: since I'm still very new to this part of the fandom but I'm very interested in it, I was wondering if you could give me a general overview of the most important people from Rohan and their function/jobs, maybe also your headcanons about them, because I'm honestly still a bit lost and overwhelmed by all the new names that I've never really noticed before. (Fun fact btw,😅 Éowyn was actually always one of my absolute favourite characters, so its funny to me how I never dived into the Rohan side of the fandom before)

And if you don't want to do that, that's okay too, just let me compliment your blog, because it's wonderful!

Aw, thanks!!! ♥️ Like you, I also enjoy learning more about characters from outside of my primary interest area, so I hope you find this helpful! I love your ask, but it could be a VERY long response and I fear that you’ll still find it to be kind of an overwhelming list of names. So I’m gonna limit it by focusing on the canonical characters that are in that sweet spot between “most people know who this is already” (e.g., Éowyn, Éomer, Théoden and Gríma) and “this is a person who is more or less just a name” (e.g., Herubrand or Horn). So I’ll give you a little canonical Who’s Who of the rest of them, with links for the ones where I’ve got HCs if there are any you’re particularly interested in.

Also, you inspired me to finally write out my HC for Grimbold, the Rohirrim who was allergic to horses, which I’ll post separately in a day or two, so thank you for that! 🐎

So, ready? *cracks knuckles* Here we go with the Who’s Who below the cut:

Royal Family:

Théoden’s father was Thengel, who had mixed feelings about Rohan and lived a long time in Gondor, where he met his wife Morwen.

Théoden had 4 sisters, but we only know about the youngest, Théodwyn, who was Éomer/Éowyn’s mom and died of sickness soon after her husband Éomund was killed in a poorly planned orc hunt.

Théoden’s wife was Elfhild, who died giving birth to their son, Théodred. He never remarried.

Théodred was killed by Saruman’s forces and had no wife or child, so his beloved cousin Éomer became heir in his stead.

Non-Royal Notables of Edoras, the Capital City:

Háma was the captain of the king’s guard and died at Helm’s Deep after aiding in the healing of Théoden by breaking some rules on Gandalf’s behalf. (I would die for Háma.)

Elfhelm was acting as the Marshal (the top military office) of Edoras at the time of LOTR and was involved in ALL KINDS of stuff but is most notable for not ratting out Éowyn when he found that she was riding in his éored (unit) to the war in Gondor.

There’s a whole gaggle of members of the king’s éored, most of whom die in Gondor with no backstory or detail. No one else would likely put them on this list, but they’re dear to me (and frequently discussed on my blog) so we’re including Guthláf, Théoden’s banner bearer, and Wídfara, who rode with the king’s company and scouted conditions at Minas Tirith.

Notables of the West-mark:

Erkenbrand was in charge of Helm’s Deep at the time of the war and helped save the day there before being left to rule Rohan while everyone else went to war in Gondor.

Gamling served under Erkenbrand and was an elderly man who was still a dope warrior and fought alongside his own grandson at Helm's Deep!

Grimbold was a military captain who, with Elfhelm, saw Théodred’s death and fought to keep orcs from taking his body before going to war in Gondor. Unlike Elfhelm, Grimbold died.

Dúnhere was Erkenbrand's nephew and served under Grimbold. He organized the muster of the Rohirrim to go to Gondor, where he also died.

Notables of the East-mark:

Éothain is really the only one here. He was a soldier under Éomer, and he was very suspicious of both outsiders and rule breakers.

Bonus Notable Ancestors of pre-LOTR Times:

Eorl was the founder and first king of Rohan who sealed the oath of friendship between his people and Gondor and tamed the first of the mearas (the ancestors of Shadowfax!).

Helm Hammerhand was king during the war/famine of the Long Winter. He’s famous for killing a dude with 1 punch and scaring the bejeezus out of enemies by stalking them in the night.

Freca was a lord of mixed Rohan/Dunland ancestry whom Helm punched to death b/c Helm was a hothead who felt threatened by Freca’s influence. Freca’s family later led an army against Rohan b/c they were pissed!

Whew! That’s not everyone, but I think it’s everyone whose name you’d be likely to come across outside of the big 4 (Théoden, Éomer, Éowyn and Gríma). It’s really striking when you write it all out and realize that you have to end so many with “but he/she died”! But the fact that they’re a little tragic and made so many sacrifices is a big part of why I love them.

I hope this was in ANY way helpful, even if it’s just a little cheat sheet that you consult when needed!

[accirax]

“Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth.”

As venus-is-thinking was rewatching DRDT’s Chapter 1 Free Time Events last night, she sent me screenshots of this one interaction between Charles and Whit, noting it as odd:

(She was right, btw. Whit, no matter how hard you try, you are not a normal man.)

Now, with the context of Chapter 2, we can probably assume that what Charles said here triggered Whit’s memories about his dead mom. There are a couple of options here, but the first one that jumped to my mind was that Whit was about to correct Charles, informing him that he actually learned how to cook himself. Obviously, he would then realize that saying this would bring up his mothers death, which he prefers to not mention, so he switches topics. While this option makes the most sense, given that Whit previously says, “teaching your kids how to cook is, like, the number one job of parents,” I would be surprised if Whit’s parents didn’t teach him how to cook at all.

It depends on how early in his life his mom died, I guess. And how long his dad has been away.

...wait, how long has Whit’s dad been away?

And then, an idea struck me. What if Whit’s dad doesn’t know that his wife is dead? What if Whit never told him?

This, of course, being a weightier spin on Whit’s secret, “Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth.” You omit that truth from who, exactly? People who already know what happened, or people like Charles and Teruko who don’t?

As I’m sure many people have assessed, Whit’s secret is comparatively pretty tame compared to the rest of the options. While his classmates are being revealed as manipulators and murderers, all we learn about Whit is a sad fun fact. But if Whit’s secret, in full, is actually “You never told anyone about the death of your mother, not even your father,” it becomes a much more severe secret.

Now, you might be asking, “if that’s the case, why wouldn’t Whit’s secret just say that outright instead?” Mastermind Whit interpretations aside, we have to remember that Despair Time is canonically a TV show. Assuming that Lin is watching his son on the big screen, as long as Whit’s secret says anything about his mom being dead, Lin would learn about his son’s concealment of the truth.

However, the question of why Whit’s secret wouldn’t be phrased like that for the sake of the other students remains. My best theory is this: it’s to make Whit suffer. I’m sure we all remember David’s heel turn in Chapter 2 Episode 11. After spewing his hateful monologue, he expresses how freeing it is to finally speak his mind.

For Whit, by not explaining what his secret is in full, they don’t give him the catharsis of expressing all of his thoughts and pain out loud. They still provide him the hopeful option of being able to salvage part of his story amongst the other students. While the motives of the TV show haven’t been expressly stated, it’s a pretty common killing game move to give the students hope just to rip it away and create despair, right...?

It’s like how Hu mentions that some secrets might be phrased unfavorably to make the students look worse. In this case, Whit’s secret could be phrased favorably with the intention of making him stressfully walk the edge of revealing the full truth and keeping it hidden. And, knowing Whit, there’s no way that he wouldn’t at least take a shot at repression.

Getting back to the secret itself, the way Whit talks about his family life also makes me believe that this could be the case. Through his dialogue, we learn that Whit lives a very solitary life. He talks about no one being home often enough to keep a pet, how lonely it would be to stay in the house all day, and how he’s befriended his neighbors’ dog and considers her family (but not the neighbors themselves?).

Sure, Whit is (barely) college aged, and college kids are typically considered able to live on their own. But Teruko and the gang believed that they were about to head to the Hope’s Peak entrance ceremony, so as far as Whit remembers, he only graduated high school very recently. If Lin knew that Elizabeth was dead, would he really leave his grieving teenage son completely alone in another country?

Because Whit’s dad doesn’t seem to currently reside within the United States, as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s just the Beetlejuice: The Musical fan in me, but I have to imagine that letting your kid grieve their dead mom whilst being completely isolated would be a very bad idea.

It would make sense to me if the reason why Lin allows this is because he doesn’t know. If Whit didn’t tell him the truth, either because it was too painful for him to say or because he didn’t want to jeopardize his father’s work abroad. According to Whit, his dad is “a real quiet dude,” so I could believe that he wouldn’t have any coworkers come up and console him for his loss, letting the cat out of the bag. The fact that he’s abroad further facilitates that idea-- how would Lin’s foreign coworkers even learn about Elizabeth’s passing when he himself doesn’t know?

You could run into problems if Lin went too long without seeing his wife, and started to wonder where she was. However, if Whit did something like impersonating his mom via text, it would be more possible for Lin to simply not notice that he hadn’t seen his wife in a while.

Venus also came up with the possibility that Lin is actually more of a deadbeat. He “works overseas” because, well, he lives there, having left his family behind. Whit could dye his hair blond not just to look like his mom, but also to look less like his dad. His skills as the Ultimate Matchmaker could have began at home with their split. It sounds a little implausible, but we know that Whit likes to ignore things that make him uncomfortable and put a positive spin on them.

At any rate, I believe this is a hypothetical worth considering. I definitely want to keep a closer eye on Whit’s backstory going further, as it’s possible that it’s not exactly what it seems.