#made this a bit evil and also as outlandish as possible so the people who havent played can just stare at me like im insane

[felldragon]

feel free to vote no matter how much xeno(saga) knowledge you have!! ^__^

[phoenixstartedthefire]

Coraline analysis

Okay so I may be obsessed with Coraline and fallen down a rabbit hole of the lore behind it and I find it super interesting and very cool. I’ve seen and heard a lot of theories about it and I wanted to talk about it. Most of these theories aren’t my original ideas. This will mostly be a mix of other theories I’ve seen that I like the most/make the most sense. Because some of them are just completely outlandish and make no sense. This will probably be a multiple part thing and I’ll probably add onto it as I delve deeper into the universe and have more thoughts. Don’t take these as facts as they are only theories. I just think it’s cool to delve deeper into the meaning behind these things. I would also be happy to hear some of your thoughts as well! Also trigger warning because I will be discussing death in parts of this so don’t feel pressured to read this if that makes you uncomfortable. That being said, get ready for some extreme over analyzing and a very unnecessary essay that I started at 4am. But if you follow me, you should know that I do that quite a lot. Essays are fun when you actually care about the subject.

Okay the first thing I wanna discuss is the idea of three universes of sorts. In which Coraline never returns to the real world. We know of the existence of the real world and the other world but what about the existence of a third world that you enter once you go return through the door? I’ve seen the third world called a limbo so that’s what I’m going to calling it as to be as clear as possible. In this limbo, the other mother still controls but doesn’t directly intervene as she does in the other world. We know that the doll that Coraline gets in the beginning is a spy for the other mother so she can see what’s wrong with Coraline’s life and manipulate the other world to solve those problems. But Coraline didn’t have the doll with her when she went clothes shopping with her real mother so how would the other mother know that she wanted interesting clothes? Also consider that Coraline never interacts with her neighbors until after she enters the other world for the first time. I believe that once she enters the other world and travels back through the door, she enters a limbo of sorts where the other mother can see her at all times. She only needed the doll in the beginning. And at the end, we see Coraline’s ideal world. Where her parents are loving and spend time doing things with her and her neighbors are eccentric but overall lovable. They pretty much do a complete 180 from the beginning of the movie. What caused the change of heart from her parents? They aren’t as perfect as they seemed in the other world. They’re just flawed enough to seem believable while still making her want to stay in the limbo. I hope that makes sense.

Now for the reason the other mother wants children in the first place. The film makes you believe that she eats the children after she sews buttons in their eyes but that’s not true. She doesn’t eat them in the physical sense but feeds on their souls. The reason she tries to lure them in by being their ‘mother’ is because she feeds on the love they feel. And that’s why the other mother is fine with Coraline staying in the limbo. Her ‘real’ mother doesn’t exist there but Coraline still believes she does and loves her like a child would love a mother. And the reason she doesn’t lure adults in is because they a) have more common sense and b) don’t rely as much on feelings like that. They’ve outgrown them for the most part. I’m not saying that adults can’t love their parents. But they don’t feel the same love for them that they did as a child. She of course would rather Coraline stay in the other world with her because it’s easier to feed on her that way but she is still content with her staying in the limbo place and puts up a big fight to make Coraline believe she’s going back to the real world and she can’t feed off her anymore.

I also want to discuss the button eyes. I think the main reason for them is so Coraline thinks she can tell the other world from the real world. There’s a point in the movie where the other mother poses as Coraline’s real mother with normal eyes so we know she’s capable of producing people with normal eyes. It’s all a trick. Now I don’t think that other than the trick the buttons are useless. We’ve established that the doll Coraline is given is a spy and uses the button eyes as a look into the real world. But once they’re in the other world, the buttons are just used as a trick so Coraline thinks she can distinguish the real world from the other world. 

Now for my second theory that’s pretty much confirmed if you actually pay attention to the movie but still a theory technically. That the well is another portal to the other world. Wybie says in the beginning that the well is so deep that if you fall down it that you’ll see a sky full of stars. It’s always night in the other world. Also the well is surrounded by mushrooms in a circle. There’s a belief from some people outside of the Coraline world that a formation of mushrooms in a circle is supposed to be an entrance into a magical world. It also has a negative connotation that it’s an evil magical world and it’s referred to as a fairy circle. So the other mother doesn’t actually die/get defeated in the end. Coraline essentially gives the key back to her. This theory is probably the most plausible one supported by the movie and general common sense that I’ll talk about here.

My next theory is about the other mother. I have a lot of those. The idea that she has complete control over everyone in the other world. Even the ghost children. Now you’re probably thinking, “but the other father, Wybie and the ghost children warn her about the other mother and help Coraline”. That’s kind of the point. The other mother is very smart and cunning. If she didn’t want that idea put into Coraline’s head that she was evil, why would she deliberately put her in the mirror with the ghost children? Why would she not stop Wybie from letting Coraline escape? And if you accept those, it’s extremely likely that the father was also under her complete control. She purposefully made it seem like they had free will so Coraline would trust them. Coraline would think that if the other mother controlled them, it wouldn’t make sense for them to rebel against her. The other father gave Coraline one of the eyes but we all know that even if she fullfilled the rules of the game, the other mother wouldn’t let her go.

I also think that the cat is under her control for the most part as well. I don’t think she fabricated him as she did with all of the other people but I think he serves as a sort of double agent, more so than the other father and other wybie. As with the mice but I won’t get into that now. The cat is there to trick Coraline into thinking the other mother has limitations to her powers. He takes her across the world and shows her that the pink palace is all she can make. But if you accept the limbo theory, you know that she can also fabricate the town/shop Coraline and her mother go into and the well which she seemed incapable of making in the other world. It makes the other mother seem less powerful and more easily beatable even though she had a grasp on Coraline as soon as she entered the other world. He is also the one to show Coraline the mirror with her parents in it and the doll of her parents to lure her back in the other world. He says that the other mother tries to keep him out of the other world but we never see this happen. There are a lot of theories about who the cat is. A lot of people think she might have been a human at some point. Which I’ll discuss in my next point.

Now I want to discuss the bowls of taffy that Miss Spink and Forcible show Coraline when they give her the seeing eye thing(I don’t know a better term for it). There are three bowls and all have different dates. 1921, 1936, and 1960. These are the dates the ghost children were taken. The pioneer girl in 1921, the boy in 1936, and Wybie’s grandma’s sister in 1960. Now a lot of people believe that there must have been another child between 1936 and 1960. That’s where the cat comes in. A lot of people believe that the cat was the fourth child but the other mother couldn’t successfully feed on him for some reason. So she turned him into some sort of spy. Some people speculate that it was Wybie’s great grandfather since we know his grandmother grew up in the pink palace and it would explain why the cat is so close to Wybie. He’s protecting him. I’m not sure where I stand on this as it makes the timeline a bit messy but I think it’s interesting nonetheless. 

Wybie says that his grandmother won’t let families with kids move into the pink palace. So why would she let the Jones family live there? I think the most plausible and most easily understandable theory I’ve seen is that she’s protecting Wybie. He is around the age that her sister went missing and while I don’t think the grandma knows about the other world, I think she does know that there’s more to it than her sister running away. So she was willing to let another child, Coraline, be taken if it meant that Wybie was safe. 

Now for the origins of the other mother. Some theorize that she’s a fairy, of course not in the traditional sense with wings and a magic wand, and that she created the other world. Others believe that she was once human and discovered the other world. The human theory is the one I find the most interesting. We know that the pink palace was built around 150 years ago when the movie takes place. It was confirmed that the story takes place in Ashland, Oregon and we can assume that the town was settled around 150 years ago. A lot of people believe that the other mother was the original owner of the house. It would explain why the garden is in the shape of her face which later takes the characteristics of Coraline. She was obviously very wealthy. Some believe that picture of the ‘boring blue boy’ that Coraline finds in the study is a picture of the other mother’s son. Some believe that he died and the other mother either was called to the well by some magic of the other world, accidently fell in the well, or purposefully jumped in the well. And we’ve established that the well is a portal into the other world. And the reason she lures kids in by pretending to be their mother is in part because she is trying to replace her dead son. She discovered the other world and took it over.

And now for the parents. The other mother seemingly ‘captured’ Coraline’s parents. Yet the parents have no recollection of it. And while her parents seem a bit neglectful, it’s unlikely that they would write the ‘help us’ message on the mirror. They wouldn’t put their 10/11 year old daughter in danger on purpose like that. She made it seem like she kidnapped the parents to give Coraline more incentive to go back to the other world. And again, if we accept the limbo theory, the snow on the parents’ clothing when they return would’ve been put there by the other mother to make it seem like she really did kidnap them. If she can control the limbo word, she would have been able to do that. 

Okay, that’s it for now. I have a lot more theories but this is very long already. I hope this was comprehensible. A lot of these are very complicated but I did my best to explain them. 

[kitkatopinions]

So let me get this straight: Hazel after killing all the huntsmen in Mistral and brutalising Oscar for most of v8 (and people dont come with "Ozpin took most of it" its still Oscars body???? Hello????) gets an redemption via death but Ironwood who we know since v2 and was always an ally and a really cool character till v8 dies as a iredemable villain???? How? Why? Its just so dumb... love you blog btw

You know, this reminds me of seeing posts that were like ‘RWDE posters are mad about Ironwood not getting redeemed and yet they don’t like Hazel or Emerald being redeemed???’ And just... Yes, Kathy, the two are incredibly different.

Ironwood has been a hero for seasons who has displayed flaws and made mistakes but was not ever treated as a possible future villain by the narrative, and he was treated as pure evil before he tried to do anything more evil than ‘saving the people he can since he can’t save everyone,’ but then started getting pushed into the maniacal heartless abuser villain role at lightspeed within one season + one episode of the show and (I cannot stress this enough) two or three days of in show time. Our main characters treated him like a monster without knowing about the more villainous actions for the better part of the season, without any of them wondering if there was some mistake, no sympathy given to the fact that Ironwood had his back against the wall or was suffering from mental strain or a horrible injury, no recognition of anything that the mains did badly that maybe contributed to the situation they were in. His ‘fall to villainy’ was outlandish, over the top, out of character, and lacking in any real emotional depth, they blamed him for all of Mantle’s problems despite him having done his very best to ‘go for both’ and Jacques Schnee and Watts being the actual ones responsible for the state of Mantle - as well as huge systemic issues that Jacques was purposefully trying to preserve. He then was (most likely) killed off by the writers who then laugh at how it was ‘always planned’ while no single person in the group of protagonists gives a care.

And on the flipside, you have Emerald and Hazel! Both of them spent seasons being three times worse than James at his worst (seriously, he at least had good intentions.) Emerald and Ironwood’s direct kill count is the same (one,) and Emerald contributed to the deaths of hundreds more at the Fall of Beacon, knowing what it would lead to, and only gives small, rare indications that she feels remorse for it (it’s almost sad.) And Hazel is hinted at being responsible for many of the deaths in Haven and spent his time blaming Ozpin for the fact he was actively trying to murder children. Both of them continued their villainy right up until the very season they got redeemed as they both continued working with Salem to bring down yet another kingdom and while Hazel was beating a fifteen year old, Emerald was eagerly volunteering to help Cinder try and murder Penny yet again. And then when it was revealed that Salem wanted to destroy everything including them, they turned out of self preservation without apologizing for their terrible, harmful, murderous actions. And then the narrative acts like Hazel was some martyr who taught Oscar a valuable lesson about not letting anyone else die and isn’t it sad he died before he could do the bare minimum to earn any sort of redemption. And Emerald winds up having friendly laughs and getting endearingly teased by the people she’s arguably hurt the most, with the girl she’d murdered right there laughing with them. And now she can get away with now being part of the group without any indication she’s changed, no apology, anyone that protests her involvement being scolded for their lack of trust...

One of these things is an incredibly badly handled hero-to-villain story, where they failed to get the beats of emotional depth for a fallen hero arc and rushed it instead without care, leaving it feeling out of character and out of the blue despite the small bit of groundwork that they had in place for the narrative.

The other two are incredibly badly handled villain-to-hero stories, where they failed to get the beats of emotional depth for good redemption arcs and rushed them instead without care, leaving them feeling very insincere and out of the blue despite the small bit of groundwork that they had in place for the narratives (mostly on Emerald’s side, Hazel gave less indication.) 

Also we weren’t playing Yankee Swap, we didn’t trade in James as a hero for Emerald or Hazel, we just had three characters who were all handled badly.

But yeah, it’s really weird that the same volume where the writers were trying to force us to sympathize with Hazel was also trying to force Ironwood into an irredeemable category. The thing is, if I didn’t know about James’ never-mentioned-in-show semblance, I’d not be down for a post volume 8 redemption because I think trying to kill children and actively wanting to torture people as a full grown adult is kind of hard to get redeemed from. But Hazel did that, Hazel is just as if not MUCH MORE evil than Ironwood, so why on earth did the series treat Hazel as redeemable and kind of right and just needing a hand of mercy extended to him? Why was James ‘keep soldiers off the battlefield, turn my gun around because I don’t want to hurt Qrow even though I think he’s trying to murder me, look away from the Grimm while I shoot it’ Ironwood treated as the 100% deserving of pain and death and treated as totally irredeemable villain no one could sympathize with?

When you factor in his semblance it really just makes even less sense. I literally cannot comprehend why the RWBY writers do what they do. Also, thank you so much for the compliment on my bog! Sorry to kind of rant there haha. XD 

[michyreadsthenwrites]

Plain Bad Heroines - Let Me Give You My Thoughts On This (Character Analysis)

**major maaaaajor spoilers ahead**

(Here we begin with the handful of characters from Danforth’s sophomore novel that have found their way into my heart and apparently, this Word document. It didn’t hurt that they were all women that love women. And I mean, they really loved women.)

 ·   Merritt Emmons is easily my favorite character. She’s got that dry, sarcastic humor and air around her that makes it really easy to love her and hate her guts all at the same time. (If she were here, she’d tell us that this was a talent, not a flaw.) I felt personally affronted when characters in PBH didn’t like Merritt, like they were overlooking the diamond in the rough right in front of their faces. Then, like most things, it became pretty clear: Merritt Emmons could be one hell of a bitch at times. But it really only made me love her more. I realized that I identified with her. Yes, about being a queer woman that really fucking loves other women, but also because she was a writer that wanted her writing to stay true to how she wrote it, especially with so many people traipsing all over it and trying to make it into something it’s not. That was where I realized I loved her early on; when she pitched a genuine fit over who was to play Clara Broward. It was something so petty and childish, something so very me to throw a fit in a packed room of professionals when you have no idea about that kind of world and what it demands. But she fought for what she believed in, alright. Until she didn’t. This made me love her some more, incidentally. We got to see Merritt’s character development throughout the novel, and more specifically, we got to watch her bounce back and forth between the person she was too scared to be but wanted more than she could ever admit, and the person she spent twenty long years being; the person she was oh-so-tired of introducing to people. This constant shift between new-Merritt and old, crabby, prickly-Merritt was a very raw and vulnerable thing for us to experience as an audience. Merritt was certainly a lot more refreshing than every one of the overdone-Hollywood-types we became acquainted with within the book. She was mean and arrogant and wildly insecure, yet somehow confident and sure of herself, when it came to her work or her knowledge or anything that had to do with any book written, ever. A walking paradox, that one. Merritt was a good way to remember that real people, not built-and-put-together-by-Hollywood-people don’t always have their shit together, and they can’t always get it together by the end of a novel, albeit a long, six-hundred-page one. I think I’ll cut myself off here, friends. Not that I want to, but I feel we have a lot to get to in these pages, and Merritt Emmons can’t be the star of all of them (lord knows I’d let her, though). To sum it up: Merritt Emmons was the star of this book, for me at least. And I hope for you too. (This means go get your ass over to your closest B&N and buy the damn thing).

  ·   Harper Harper is somewhat of a mystery to me. She was a major character in the story, as well as one of our three protagonists, our three heroines, and yet I have trouble finding her as authentic and outlandish as she tries to come across. What I’m still having trouble deciphering is if this is an intentional character flaw created by our Miss Danforth, or if Harper Harper really has nothing to her besides being completely reinvented and marketed by Hollywood. Even in saying this, I know I have to give Harper credit where it’s due. She’s a proud queer woman in the movie industry, as well as openly queer online and really with just anyone and everyone she meets. She’s known for various flings and love-interests of the week, which is still a gross misrepresentation and stereotype of (masc?) lesbians and how they’re emotionally unavailable and unfaithful, which again is a possibility of the author’s intentional writing, something that we can leave for further discussion. We do get a bit of a glimpse into Harper’s life – her real-life – about how her mother is struggling with her sobriety, how her little brother seems to be caught in the middle of her mother’s messy relationships, and how she really has mixed feelings about how she fits into her new movie-star life. That’s about all we get from Harper, though. And it really is almost enough realness to take away from the fact that everyone else in the world sees Harper as the face of Hollywood, as this thing of beauty and money and badassery instead of a real person. But still not enough. And I could be wrong, friends. I could be pulling all of this out of my ass because Harper Harper is a badass queer woman that took over the movie industry with barely any experience under her belt. Harper Harper took every room she walked into by storm, and she made everybody pay attention to her, and she became the character we had a little crush on, simply because she was that big of a deal. But nothing of substance, not really. Not ever. But perhaps she had been her most real self with Merritt Emmons, in between the quiet pages that we didn’t get to read entirely. Merritt, our dry and arrogant and favorite heroine, had been Harper’s favorite, too. The most credit that I find myself giving Harper is her aid in Merritt’s character development. She brought Merritt out of her shell in a massive way, though at times she did have a hand in driving her back into the said shell. It was flawed, their relationship, which is another authentic Harper Harper insight we saw, as little of it there was. They were hot and cold, on and off, but always so enthralled with each other. And while Harper seemed to have had an impact on Merritt (among other factors), it doesn’t seem like Merritt had the same effect on Harper. I could be wrong and do feel free to correct me, friends, but Harper Harper did not come out the other end of PBH a changed woman. She was not burdened with the weight of a life-changing revelation. She was Harper Harper, as she always was, floating and untouchable, the kind of woman you wished to know, maybe to be, but also the kind you see right through. They’re transparent, friends, that’s what I’m trying to get at here. And they tend to stay that way. And I realize as I’m nearing the end of this, that I sound harsh in my critiques and analysis of Harper. I don’t mean to come off that way, friends, I really don’t. The truth is I love Harper, she’s everything we wish we could be. She’s gorgeous and sought after, can land any girl she wants with the bat of her eyelashes and a lazy smile. But you have to remember, she’s everything we’re not. I can only speak for myself, friends, and I encourage you to speak for yourselves if you find you have anything to add. I never related with Harper the way I did with Merritt’s character, but that doesn’t mean that Harper isn’t a beautiful enigma waiting to be unwrapped. I just don’t happen to be the kind of reader that would know where to begin unwrapping her, if that makes sense. And because I’m afraid it doesn’t, I do believe it’s time to stop with the metaphors and wrap this up nicely for you, friends: Harper Harper is number two on my list of favorite characters from PBH, and that is not something done lightly or by accident. She was one of our three heroines, after all. And a proper heroine she was, friends. Don’t you ever forget it.

  ·   Libbie Packard broke my heart more times than I count, friends. You’ll notice I have kept her maiden name, then. This is intentional, friends, for our Libbie never wanted to be a Brookhants, not really. It wasn’t towards the end of PBH that we learned much of what we now know about Libbie, and how it came about that she had been married (to a man no less!), as well as the very young principal of an all-girls school. Throughout their chapters in the book, Libbie and Alex, her Alex, were seemingly at each other’s throats constantly. There seemed to be a mysterious tension that we as an audience weren’t privy to – but it didn’t stop us from speculating. I found myself drawn to Libbie more than I did her counterpart, and I still can’t point my finger as to why. Libbie seemed sad, right from our first introduction, and Alex always seemed angry and cynical (as a queer woman in 1902, is there any other way to seem?). This might serve as a dual character analysis yet, friends. I’m not sure how much I’ll have to say about our Alexandra Trills, but Libbie Packard deserves a long sentence, or two. You know when something finally clicks into place and you can’t help but just let out a long “ooohhhhhhh”? That’s a recreation of how I looked when I read the explanation of how Libbie Packard became Libbie Brookhants. Learning that she had become pregnant with a baby she didn’t want was mind-blowing enough, and it filled in the blanks of how young, gorgeous Libbie had become the wife of a rich, old, old man. Libbie gave up her child was because she didn’t want to be a mother, and she had originally rejected Harold Brookhants offer of marriage because she didn’t want to be a wife, regardless of false the marriage was. And for a while, Libbie’s new life was amazing; she got to live with her Alex in a beautiful house and became the principal of a promising school. This was the life she’d always wanted. Or was that just what we wanted to believe, friends? Only at the end did we learn that Libbie had rejected Harold Brookhants offer (to live a quiet, queer life with her lover and without the child she clearly didn’t want) because she didn’t want to be tied down; not to Harold, not to anyone. If you think about it, friends, this was exactly the life that she had been living for years to come now. The tension with Alex had much to do with the circumstances surrounding them at Brookhants and the evil that was unfolding before them, but it seemingly had even more to do with the fact that Libbie Packard felt smothered. She was hiding secrets from Alex, secrets that she felt could destroy this already fragile relationship that they had between them. How vastly different it was to read and experience their relationship at the beginning of their love; playful and full of joy, both women giddy with the promise of something new and exciting. To compare that kind of love to the broken, tight-lipped, empty vessel of the relationship they now pretend to have is heartbreaking. And yet, completely understandable. Alex had fallen in love with the Libbie she wanted her to be, not the Libbie she was. Our Libbie wanted to be eternally young; playful and happy, bouncing from city to city with Sara Dahlgren in a sea of eligible bachelors (and bachelorettes!). It was almost a shock to discover that this life Libbie tried so hard to defend and protect was not a life she had ever wanted for herself. Despite this, she loved her Alex and her students, and devoted her life to them. There was that whole business with cheating on Alex with Adelaide the housemaid (don’t even get me started on that broad) but I’d like to extend to you, friends, the fact that I won’t comment on this. Queer relationships in 1902 are definitely not what they are now, complete with century-old curses and dead schoolgirls. Libbie Packard became the 1902-lesbian-headmistress version of our stereotypical bored housewife, stuck in a marriage that she secretly wishes she could be free from. And my heart broke for her, friends, it really did. But she was a heroine all on her own. A deeply intelligent and remarkable woman. Make no mistake, friends. Libbie Packard and Libbie Brookhants differ by more than just a surname. Our young, vivacious Libbie disappeared the moment she accepted Harold Brookhants’ offer, and this is indeed the sad truth of it, friends: Libbie Packard was gone before she could ever find herself. But Libbie Brookhants was our gorgeous, brilliant, queer heroine that never got what she deserved. So, friends, let’s all have a moment of silence for our dearly departed Libbie Brookhants… wherever she is.

·   Alexandra Trills is a character that I don’t know where to begin with. Her end is not one that I saw coming, at least not in the gruesome and deranged circumstances that came to surround it. Or maybe, friends, I just didn’t want to acknowledge the clear downwards spiral that our Miss Trills had seemed to be heading towards. Her steadfast and growing obsession with the death of Florence Hartshorn and Clara Broward was apparent in every page we turned, and the following death of Eleanor Faderman did not aid in absolving Alex of her obsession with the one, single copy of a book they had all possessed at one point: The Story of Mary McLane. Alex grew hysterical in her investigation of the novel and whatever evil she believed it had brought to the students of her school. I remember feeling a bit hysterical myself at times, following along with Alex’s scrambled train of thought that never seemed to find a place to stop. She was right, you know, my friends. And now what does she have to show for it? A gruesome death and an eternity of haunting the same grounds, day in and day out? I may not have liked her, and felt like she had been the reason Libbie was so unhappy and stuck in a life that she did not want, but the way Alex’s story had ended really did take me by surprise and break my heart. She deserved a better ending than what she got; she deserved to reconcile and fix her strained relationship with Libbie. Damn it, they deserved to live quiet, happy lives with each other. Neither of them got the endings that they deserved, and God, did they deserve plenty. This, friends, is the hill I choose to die on tonight.

 Alright, friends, this is it for my character analysis of Emily Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines! I have a special place in my heart for book characters that you can relate with (or characters that just really make you love them). The way that Emily Danforth brought our heroines to life was remarkable and highly impressive (I say this because it’s decidedly been a while since any book character(s) have weaseled their fictional way into my little heart). It’s rare that I give a book five stars (check out my Goodreads reviews) (oh god, please don’t), and yet halfway through PBH, I knew that this book deserved it. Good book characters are the ones that stick with you long after you’ve closed the book on them, and our heroines are stuck with me. And believe me, friends, I’m certainly not complaining. 

[thecaffeinebookwarrior]

The Dos and Don’ts of Writing Smart Characters

Since I started this blog, one of the most common questions I’ve received has to do with the portrayal of intelligent characters.  This is also one of the most difficult to answer -- excluding questions about characters with specialized knowledge sets, which are fairly easy to answer with source compilations.  Most of the questions have to do with:  how do you portray a smart character believably?  How do you make the audience relate to them?  Can I still make them likable?  How do I avoid the pitfalls of popular media?

Well, I’m finally here to answer, utilizing examples from some of my favorite (and occasionally, not-so-favorite) media.  Let’s jump in to the dos and don’ts of smart characters!

1.  Do let the audience follow the character’s thought process.  

As demonstrated by:  Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders

Albert Einstein allegedly once said, “If you can’t explain it to a five-year-old, you don’t truly understand it.”  And the sentiment rings true:  true genius doesn’t need to dazzle with big words and technobabble.  Instead, it makes the complex appear simple.

The same rings true for brilliant characters.  BBC’s Sherlock (more on that later) ceased to satisfy in its later seasons because it began to rely too heavily on visual glitz to avoid actually explaining its mysteries and how they were solved.  Similarly, the biggest complaints with block buster franchises -- Star Wars, The Avengers, Game of Thrones -- is that they became obsessed with “subverting expectations” cleverly instead of leading the audiences to their most logical and satisfying conclusions.

Meanwhile, the smartest and most satisfying media dazzles not by staying over the audience’s head, but by illustrating how simplistic the solutions can be.

Let’s start with my boy Tommy Shelby, the charismatic, swaggering protagonist of the charismatic, swaggering crime drama Peaky Blinders.  Using only his intelligence (and complete disregard for his own life/suicidal tendencies, but that’s not the point here), Tommy claws his way up from the near-bottom of the social ladder (an impoverished Romani in early 20th century Birmingham) to being a decorated war hero, to being the leader of a feared razor gang, to dominating the race track business, to becoming a business mogul, to becoming a member of parliament and trying to assassinate the leader of the fascist party. He’s also one of the paramount reasons why I’m bisexual.

So how can such a drastic social climb be conveyed believably?  Because Tommy -- as the viewpoint character -- is placed in seemingly inescapable situations, and then proceeds to demonstrate that the solutions to those situations have been there the whole time.  I recently watched a brilliant video on how this is done, which can be viewed here.

Early in season one, for example, he responds to aggressive new methods by the police by organizing a mass-burning of paintings of the king, and uses the press this garners to publicly shame the methods of the chief inspector who’s been antagonizing him.  In the next season, he talks his way into a deal by bluffing that he planted a grenade in his rival’s distillery.  My personal favorite is in season four, when he responds to being outgunned by a larger, American gang by contacting their rival -- none other than an Alphonse Capone.

All of Tommy’s victories are satisfying, because they don’t come out of nowhere -- we have access to the same information he does, each victory is carefully foreshadowed, and we are reminded at every turn that failure is a very real possibility (more on that later.)  So when he wins, we’re cheering with him.

Other examples:  Mark Watney from The Martian, who explains science in its most simplistic terms and with infectious enthusiasm.  He would make every character on The Big Bang Theory cry.  

Also, Miss Fisher from the AMAZING Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.  The dazzling, 1920s, female Sherlock Holmes of your dreams.  I cannot recommend it enough.

To apply this to your own writing:  Remember you won’t dazzle anyone if you smack them in the face with a “brilliant” plot twist.  They want to take a journey with your character, not be left in the dust.  

Also, for everyone in my askbox concerned that they’re not smart enough to write intelligent characters, just remember how simple the problems confronting smart characters can be.  Put them in a difficult situation, and provide them with a means of getting out.  Then, just let them find it. 

2.  Don’t assume the audience is too stupid to keep up (or try to make them feel too stupid to keep up.)

As demonstrated by:  Sherlock Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock.

Say what you will:  there were reasons why everyone was so captivated by this show during its first two seasons.  It felt fresh.  People had yet to become frustrated with the inescapable thirst for Benedict Cumberbatch.  The writing was sharp, and the editing clever.  And it wove a tantalizing web of mysteries that demanded solution.  The problem was, there weren’t any.

The most frustrating for many was how Sherlock faked his death at the end of season two, after which devoted fans spent two years creating intricate theories on how he might have pulled this off.  The creators responded by mocking this dedication in the opening episode of season three, by showing a fan club spinning outlandish theories (one of which included Sherlock and Moriarty kissing.)  This might have been laughed off -- at the time, many seemed to consider it quite funny -- if the creators had bothered to offer their own explanation of how Sherlock survived.  They didn’t.  And so began a seemingly endless loop of huge cliffhangers that promised -- and consistently failed to deliver -- satisfying answers.

The most egregious examples occur in season four, which provided answers to questions no one asked, and withheld answers for things everyone wanted to know.  For example, did you know that the real reason Moriarty engaged Sherlock is because he was hypnotized by Sherlock’s secret evil sister?  The same one who killed Sherlock’s best friend, whom Sherlock convinced himself was a dog?  Yes, that was a real plot point, in the climax of the series.  It’s an effort to befuddle the audience with brilliant and unexpected writing, but instead pulled them out of a story they were already invested in and made them far more critical of its pre-existing faults. 

It’s pointed out in the brilliant (if bluntly named) Sherlock Is Garbage, And Here’s Why that Moffat can be a great writer, but is a consistently terrible show runner, because he’s more interested in dazzling the audience with cleverness than actually telling a satisfying story.  The video also points out that the show often implied Sherlock’s brilliance, without ever letting the audience follow along with his actions or thought-process in a way that DEMONSTRATED his brilliance.  

I highly recommend giving the aforementioned video a watch, because it is not only a great explanation of how Sherlock Holmes can be best utilized, but about how writing itself can be best utilized.

Other examples:  The Big Bang Theory.  As Wisecrack points out in their wonderful video on the subject, the punchline of every joke is “oh look, these characters are smart nerds!” which is repetitious at best and downright insulting at worst.

How to avoid this in your writing:  Treat the audience as your equal.  You’re not trying to bedazzle them, you’re trying to take them on a journey with you.  Let them be delighted when you are.  Don’t constantly try to mislead them or hold intelligence over their head, and they will love you for it.  Also, cheap tricks do not yield a satisfying story:  readers will know when you went into a narrative without a plan, and they won’t appreciate it.

3.  Do remember that smart people can be kind and optimistic!

As demonstrated by:  Shuri from Black Panther.

Yes, brilliant people can be unhappy and isolated by their intelligence, or rejected by society.  But remember that intelligence isn’t synonymous with a cantankerous attitude, or an excuse to be a pugnacious ass to those around you!  

Part of the reason why Shuri of 2018′s Black Panther was such a breath of fresh air was the fact that she subverted almost all preconceptions about how a genius looks, acts, and regards the world.  And it’s not just the fact that she isn’t a sullen, middle-aged white man that makes her stand out:  Shuri has an effervescent attitude, and genuinely loves contributing to her country and family.  She referred to sound-proof boots as “sneakers” (and then explained the pun when her brother didn’t get it.)  She’s fashionable.  She teases her older brother, and cries when he is apparently killed.  She’s up on meme culture.  This makes her unlike pretty much every other genius portrayed in the MCU.

Except maybe the Hulk.  He can dab now.

Shuri is also allowed to take pride in her genius, and can be a bit insufferable about it, which makes her more enjoyable and rounded.  But she is an excellent example of how genius can be explored and portrayed in fiction, and I will forever be embittered that she was underutilized in Infinity War and Endgame.

Why, for example, are all geniuses portrayed as arrogant misanthropes?  Albert Einstein battled depression, but he is also said to have enjoyed blowing bubbles and watching puppet shows.  He was kind to those who knew him.  Similarly, Alan Turing behaved little like his fictional counterpart, described as “shy but outgoing,” with a love of being outdoors.  Nikola Tesla fell in love with a pigeon.  Why do we have to portray these people so damn gravely?

Other examples:  Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds.  Also an excellent portrayal of an intelligent person on the autism spectrum, as he struggles to interface socially but cares profusely for his fellow human beings.  He is brilliant, and completely precious.

Also, Sherlock Holmes -- the original version, and all faithful adaptations thereof.  Anyone who thinks Sherlock is an austere, antisocial jerk isn’t familiar with the original canon.  He blushed when Watson complimented his intelligence, for God’s sake. 

Then there’s Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and Marge from Fargo.  Brilliant, upbeat, optimistic geniuses.

To apply this to your own writing:  If you have a smart character who hates everyone around them for no identifiable reason, ask yourself why this is necessary and what this adds to the plot.  Are they angry about injustice, towards themselves or others?  Are they frustrated with an inability to relate to people?  Do they want to protect themselves or their family at all costs, including politeness?  If not, question why your brilliant character can’t also be kind to those around them.

4.  Don’t make your character perfect at everything they do.

As demonstrated by:  Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Ah, Wesley.  Some call him the original Mary Sue, and it’s one of the only times I’ve seen the term applied with some accuracy.  He is somehow the most gifted and least qualified person on The Enterprise.  He’s Hermione Granger without the charm, jumping in to answer questions before any of the trained officers in the room have the chance to, always in the right.  His only obstacle?  Why, the boorish adults he’s surrounded with simply don’t understand his brilliance!

As early as the series’ very second episode, Wesley -- inebriated by an alien illness -- forcibly takes over the ship from Captain Picard, only to later save it from a threat with a reverse tractor beam of his own design.  

Wesley was obviously inserted as a means of attracting younger viewers, but failed egregiously, because he was too annoyingly perfect for kids to relate too, and not cool enough for them to be invested in.  I binge-watched the various Star Trek series in my youth for Spock, Data, and my wife Seven of Nine, not to watch seasoned military and scientific officers get lectured by an adolescent.  Even Wil Wheaton, who had the misfortune of portraying this character, expressed a dislike for him.  

Precocious children are great, if you get them right.  But get them wrong, and they can easily become your most annoying character, marring the face of otherwise great media.  The most important thing you can do for a brilliant character is endow them with weaknesses and flaws -- even something as small as Shuri’s fondness for teasing her older brother made her enjoyable, as anyone with siblings could relate to their dynamic.  

But, what if you want a supernaturally talented character who not only fails to be a ray of sunshine, but is something of an arrogant, antisocial jerk?  Can they still work, especially if they also happen to be a child? 

Yes, under one extremely important condition:

5.  Do keep your characters out of their depth!

As demonstrated by:  Number Five from Umbrella Academy.

Okay, he’s not exactly a child.  He’s a fifty-eight-year-old trapped in a child’s body, who’s traveled back in time from a post-apocalyptic future to warn his siblings of an incoming Armageddon.  In other news, Umbrella Academy is a weird show.  Unlike the comics, however, the apes don’t engage in prostitution. 

 The effect, however, remains the same:  a preternaturally talented child who talks down to everyone around him, including his (apparently) older siblings.  So why does he work while Wesley fails so egregiously?

For one thing, it’s demonstrated early on that Five has the skills to back up his sanctimonious attitude, with the delightfully ultraviolent Istanbul (Not Constantinople) sequence.  It also helps that he lacks Wesley’s squeaky-clean moral code, to the point at which he can get drunk in public or kill without remorse.  

But:  the element most vital to his success as a character is the fact that he’s kept completely, and consistently, out of his depth.  He knows the world will end in eight days, but he doesn’t know how this will transpire or how to stop it.  Ultimately, he fails again to stop the apocalypse, and must travel back in time with his siblings for another chance.  

Most authors have the impulse to demonstrate a character’s brilliance by allowing them to succeed against insurmountable odds, but the Umbrella Academy writers show tremendous wisdom in allowing Five to fail.  This allows the audience to empathize with him, and countermands the effects of his arrogant attitude.

This advice isn’t just true for pint-sized prodigies.  Look back over this list, and take notes of how often the most successful characters are allowed to fail, to have flaws, and to ascend past their comfort zone.  

Other examples:  Virtually every successful example on this list.

Tommy Shelby, a character of limitless ambition, conducts a new, perilous climb outside of his social rank each season, which almost always puts him in positions of mortal danger.  He faces threats both external (rival gangs, evil priests, and rising fascists) and internal (hello PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and crippling addiction) but either way, we understand that his fast-paced climb is not for the weak-willed or faint-hearted.  

Mark Watney is a brilliant scientist who has been stranded in an utterly impossible situation for which absolutely no one could be adequately prepared (spoilers:  it’s on Mars.)  We are drawn in by his plight, and how he could possibly escape from it, and there we come to admire him for his courage, optimism, and humor.

Shuri, though not the main character of Black Panther, is allowed to show off both tremendous gifts and vulnerability, as she is powerless to stop the apparent death of her beloved older brother.  She watches Wakanda’s takeover both as an innovator and a young woman, and a large reason for her success is that she is allowed to be both.  

How to apply this to your writing:  When portraying intelligent characters, take stock of how often they fail, their level of control over their surroundings, their vulnerability, and their flaws.  We don’t want to read about flawless deities.  We want to read about characters who embody and personify our humanity.  So remember they need to fall down in order to pull themselves up.

Happy writing, everybody! 

[beckyhop]

Yo I actually wanna hear about the satanic panic

Well, I hope you’re ready for a bit of a long read, then!

(TW for discussions of sexual assault, suicide, and CSA)

Back in the 1980s, there was a big moral panic that Satanic cults were on the rise and were brainwashing, kidnapping, raping, and killing people, especially children. I don't think there was one single reason this all happened, but a lot of factors played a part in it:

This was around the time evangelical, conservative Christianity was getting a mainstream foothold in politics (remember, this was the Reagan and Thatcher era), so people were listening to them more.

There were new, "occult" or "demonic" interests among teens and young adults, such as heavy metal music, darker superhero comics, and Dungeons and Dragons. Even G-rated fantasy/horror-themed cartoons like He-Man, Thundercats, or 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo got backlash from religious folk who accused them of promoting "occult" practices.

The New Age movement had introduced Eastern spiritual practices to the West, which naturally scared a lot of more traditional Christians afraid of "evil" foreign religions. In addition, Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible saw a big surge in popularity after its 1969 publication. There was probably also a lingering fear of cults in general in the years after the infamous Jonestown mass suicide and the Manson Family murders.

With an increase in working parents sending their kids off to daycare, there was a related panic that daycare workers were abusing children in basically every way possible, and several of these accusations conflated into "these daycares are actually covers for Satanic cults that sacrifice and recruit children". Now while it's generally a good practice to believe victims of sexual abuse when they speak up, it was found out in most of these cases that the kids had been interrogated very poorly, as they would just tell the adults what they "wanted” to hear so they could be rewarded and get out of the interrogation quicker. A prime example of this were the interrogations in the infamous McMartin Preschool case, where the therapist in question was unlicensed with no formal psychiatric education and pressured the kids into making up outlandish claims such as the daycare workers flushing kids down toilets and even making themselves fly.

Psychiatrists were learning how to deal with repressed memories and Dissociative Identity Disorder (then called Multiple Personality Disorder), but it's now believed that their then-poorer understanding of memory and DID may have caused some doctors to lead patients to remember Satanic ritual abuse that had never actually happened. One good example of this is the book Michelle Remembers, written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder, which details his patient Michelle Smith’s supposed memories of Satanic ritual abuse; it became apparent after the book’s publication that a lot of Michelle’s “memories” were outright lies, and some of the “Satanic” rituals were actually based on West African religious rituals. Also, Pazder himself would later marry Michelle despite being her therapist, so...ew. 

Because of all this, you had a swell of people accusing various groups and individuals of being child-snatching woman-murdering Satanists, sometimes with a touch of xenophobia or homophobia thrown into the mix. There were even prominent Christian figures who claimed to have special insight into the occult as "former" Satanists (the most famous example being Mike Warnke, who turned out to have made up his entire claim of being a former Satanic high priest before he became born-again). And yes, you would get the occasional real murderer who would claim to be Satanist, but how is that different from the numerous murderers who are associated with other religions? 

Side notes: One common claim as to how all these supposed sacrifices were occurring without drawing public attention or without bodies being found was “they eat and burn the remains!”. If you know anything about cremation, the temperatures required for the process, and what gets left behind after a cremation, you’d already see the holes in that argument. Also, a lot of panickers claimed that Satanists loved to drink/eat feces and urine in their rituals along with blood; I’m pretty sure that’s not common Satanic practice, but it does sound like something I’d have to turn off SafeSearch to find.

Eventually society calmed down as conservatives lost their grip on politics, mental health became better understood, the aforementioned "occult" media became more mainstream, and most of the daycare workers accused of abuse were found not guilty. You still had/have evangelicals get attention for screaming about "demonic" children's media (Harry Potter and Pokemon got that backlash in the late 90s/early 2000s, for example), but it's not really on the same level as it was in the 1980s/early 1990s.

Anyway, if you want some further reading/viewing…

A Vox article detailing the Panic even better than I can, which links to even more resources throughout

Retro Report’s videos on the McMartin Preschool scandal AND Dungeons and Dragons’ early controversies

In the early 90s, PBS’ Frontline produced a report on patients who left psychiatrists that had misdiagnosed them as being involved in Satanic ritual abuse, titled “The Search for Satan”

And if you want examples of some of the really off-the-wall propaganda the Panic produced...

Pretty much any Jack Chick tract produced during this time would count, most notably the infamous anti-D&D tract Dark Dungeons

Video guides were even made for police departments to combat this supposed threat, the most notable one being Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults (yes, this is the one Red Letter Media covered

The YouTube channel Occult Demon Cassette collects an amazing amount of old VHS stuff, and they’ve found so much weird Satanic Panic propaganda, including:

Deception of a Generation (the infamous video where two grown men speculate on how evil children’s toys and cartoons are)

Kids and the Occult

The Fantasy Explosion

Doorways to Danger

In the Name of Satan

Satanic Cults and Ritual Crime (another law enforcement guide!)

UPC Codes and 666 (again, I believe RLM found this one too)

Devil Worship: The Rise of Satanism (produced by Jeremiah Films, a practical factory of weird and wild anti-pagan anti-atheist “documentaries”)

The Pagan Invasion, Vol. 1: Halloween, Trick or Treat (another Jeremiah Films production!)

Even mainstream news media at the time got in on the action!

Most notably, Geraldo Rivera, he of the empty Al Capone vault, busted nose, and current bad Twitter takes, produced an entire TV special dedicated to how Satanic crime was supposedly on the rise titled Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground. Of note is that, out of all the interview subjects Geraldo features, Ozzy Osbourne is by far the most level-headed.

20/20 also produced a segment on Satanism titled simply The Devil Worshippers. Doesn’t get as bonkers as the Geraldo one, but it’s there if you want to see it.

In conclusion:

[haberdashing]

i want you to straighten out my tomorrow (5/?)

The last thing Jon remembers is working into the night in the Archives in early 2016. Now he’s in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, Scotland, with Martin Blackwood as his only companion. Obviously Jon’s missed something along the way here…

Inspired by beloved of jon, though it can be read separately.

Note: self-harm content warning for this chapter! More details on AO3.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5

on AO3

There were, in Jon’s mind, three possible explanations for his current situation and surroundings, three possibilities that he kept ruminating upon as he lay in bed, trying and failing to get some rest.

The first, of course, was that Martin was telling the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth, that every absurd thing Martin had said was nothing more than the unvarnished reality of his life in the years he couldn’t recall. It seemed unlikely on the face of it, but then, so did the situation Jon was in now to begin with, regardless of the underlying explanation behind it.

The second was that Martin was lying about all of it, that he was scrambling to explain the inexplicable and doing a rather poor job of it, and that the truth of the situation was something more sinister that Martin wanted to conceal at all costs. Martin certainly didn’t seem like some sort of conniving evil mastermind, but then, that’s exactly what an evil mastermind would want him to think, right?

The third was a combination of the other two, that Martin was telling the truth about the past in general but was also lying or omitting important details along the way. That made more sense, in Jon’s mind, than Martin lying about all of it, really--after all, if Martin wanted to come up with a lie to explain how Jon ended up here, surely he could have thought of something that sounded a bit more plausible. Martin might be infuriating at times, and incompetent at his job as often as not (though Jon knew that wasn’t exactly a Martin-exclusive trait), but Jon was pretty sure that he was not, in all actuality, a complete idiot.

Jon could try to logic his way through the possibilities, try to figure out what was most likely, but was there any way of knowing for sure?

Jon tossed and turned and thought and overthought, and every time he started to drift off into a nap he was jolted awake by a nightmarish image, though he couldn’t tell if it was the beginning of a nightmare or just a memory of the one he’d had that night. His head still hurt something fierce, and it only seemed to get worse the longer he lay there.

Martin had said that... that Jon had some kind of supernatural powers, right? If he could prove that that was true, it would verify... not everything that Martin was claiming, no, but a good chunk of it, including some of the most outlandish bits. But how could he go about it when he wasn’t even entirely sure what “powers” he was supposed to have, let alone how to activate them?

What powers had Martin mentioned? Something about... about making other people answer questions, tell the truth, right?

But Martin seemed to be the only other person around, and if Jon was hoping to find out if Martin was lying or not, asking him wouldn’t do much good. Maybe Martin would get supernaturally compelled to answer Jon’s questions, sure. Or maybe Martin would just pretend to be compelled to answer them, as part of his whole lying gambit. Jon couldn’t be sure either way, even if he did get that extra bit of evidence. He couldn’t know.

Jon wanted to know what was going on, not just to guess, but he felt like he knew nothing now. Christ, he hadn’t felt this unmoored even after uni, when Georgie broke up with him... he hadn’t felt this unmoored, he thought, since he was eight years old, since he’d learned the truth of the supernatural’s existence by nearly becoming one of its victims...

But wait, Martin had said something about- about him cutting a finger off and it growing right back, was it? Had used that as an example of how Jon was tied to the supernatural now, even, tied to some evil power he didn’t quite understand.

And even if Martin did have supernatural powers of his own now, the odds were good that those “powers” wouldn’t affect how someone else’s wound would heal...

Jon didn’t want to hurt himself, of course, but... but if Martin was telling the truth about all this, then none of it would last, right? Then he’d heal quickly enough with no lasting injury, and at least he’d have something approaching an answer. And if Martin was lying... well, he’d get his answer then too, and maybe having to seek medical help would lead to Jon getting help in other ways as well, or at least not being stuck in this tiny safehouse alone with his captor...

It was for the best, really. A little pain, a bit of risk... it was worth it, if it meant he would know what was actually going on here.

And he wouldn’t even have to cut his finger all the way off--that seemed a bit much, really--but if he went deep enough, kept a close eye on how the injury healed with time...

After all that laying in bed, Jon was very much ready to move, and he didn’t hesitate to get up, to move quickly but quietly towards the kitchen, to give the area a once-over and confirm that Martin was nowhere in sight (since Jon knew that, one way or another, Martin would be less than pleased with Jon’s current plan) before heading towards the knife block on the counter...

Jon looked over the knives for a minute, pulling each one out and examining it momentarily before returning them to the knife block, hesitating for a split second before picking the one that seemed most suited to the purpose he had in mind--it was thick, sharp, and clean, the metal blade glimmering even in the low light streaming in from the cloud-covered sun.

Jon picked up the knife, positioned it just so on his little finger (it wouldn’t be a glancing blow, exactly, but it wasn’t straight across the middle either, shouldn’t nick too many blood vessels along the way), took a deep breath and then let it out slowly...

Making the decision to cut into his own flesh wasn’t an easy one, and it took him a second to actually go through with it, to push the blade in until it broke the skin and sank in further, but once Jon had made up his mind, he wasn’t going back on it. It scared him, sure, but so did the not knowing, and he knew which he’d prefer any day.

“Jon, what are you doing?”

Jon hadn’t meant to cut quite that deep. He hadn’t been expecting Martin to pop up seemingly out of nowhere, though--perhaps he shouldn’t have lingered over the knives for quite so long--and the sudden noise startled him, made him lose control a bit.

And, as Jon quickly realized, there was a big difference between knowing that something would hurt and actually experiencing that pain.

The blood swelled up faster than Jon had expected, and while Jon had expected the pain, sharp and biting, it made him wince all the same, the combination of the sight of his ripped flesh and the cutting pain leaving Jon a little light-headed.

Jon only thought to actually respond to Martin’s question after a second or two, and all he managed was a weak, “Um...”

Martin shook his head. “Never mind, it- it doesn’t matter. What matters is you getting that cleaned up before it gets infected, because that’s the last thing we need right now.”

That we again. Martin and Jon being considered as one unit, one life. There was probably something worth examining there. Maybe Jon would examine it later, when the blood wasn’t running off of his finger and spilling stark red droplets onto the gray tile floor.

“Can you make it to the sink on your own, or do you need my help?”

Jon focused his gaze away from his finger, shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, took a tentative step and found himself none the worse for it. “I think I’ve got it.”

“Good, good. Uh, you should probably drop the knife before heading over there.”

Jon obediently dropped the knife onto the ground, it narrowly missing his foot and sending more blood splatters onto the floor, only realizing after the fact that Martin probably hadn’t meant his advice quite so literally.

“S-sorry.”

Martin shook his head again as he followed Jon’s lead in heading to the sink. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m- I’m not the one who got hurt here.”

Jon didn’t have a response to that, so he just kept moving in silence, keeping his gaze focused on anything besides the gash on his finger or Martin’s searching eyes. He ended up staring at the sink, his destination proving a neutral enough place to concentrate his focus, such as it was.

A few steps and he was at the sink, reaching up to turn the faucet on-

“You’re going to want to wash that with warm water and soap-”

“I know that much, I’m not an idiot-”

“I know you’re not, Jon.” Martin’s voice sounded... frustrated. Tired. Not angry, at least, which Jon supposed was a good sign. “But you shouldn’t get your finger more dirty first if you can help it.”

“What-”

Jon only then realized that he’d been reaching to turn on the faucet with the same hand that he’d cut, leaving a trail of blood splatters splayed across the sink in the process.

Jon took a deep breath and then turned on the faucet with his uninjured hand, putting his still-bleeding finger under the water. It hurt a bit, but then it hurt a bit without the water too, so he might as well go with the pain that came with a lesser risk of infection, right?

“I wasn’t thinking straight.” Jon noticed distantly that his own voice sounded a little tired now, too. “I’m sorry.”

“Again, you really don’t need to apologize to me. Actually...” Martin let out a long breath in a way that sounded a little like a sigh. “Maybe I should be the one apologizing to you.”

Jon’s eyes darted back to Martin’s face, his suspicions rising up again, only realizing that his hand had moved along with his gaze when he felt water falling onto the palm of his hand. He looked back just long enough to put his finger solidly back under the water before returning to meeting Martin’s eyes.

Martin still didn’t look angry, though, or... or like some sort of conniving evil mastermind. He just looked weary of dealing with the situation, and honestly, Jon couldn’t exactly blame him for that.

“What would you be apologizing for?”

“This...” Martin gestured vaguely to Jon’s hand, to his finger still under the faucet, though the water had stopped running quite so red now. “This is my fault, isn’t it? For, for what I said when you asked if you were evil now. I panicked, I, I didn’t choose my words well, but you’re not evil, Jon, I know you’re trying your best not to hurt anyone, and just because-”

Oh.

It hadn’t occurred to Jon how this would look to Martin: him picking out a knife to stab himself with, hurting himself for no clear reason right after such an emotional conversation...

“No, Martin, that’s not-”

“You don’t need to spare my feelings, obviously I didn’t-”

“Martin!”

Jon hadn’t meant to speak quite so loudly, had meant to use just enough volume to be heard clearly over the sound of rushing water, but, well, if Martin was staring at Jon with wide eyes now, at least he wasn’t rambling about his own guilt any more.

“This isn’t about me thinking I’m evil now. This was me testing what you said about how I grew back a finger.”

“O-oh. Okay.” Martin took a deep breath and let it back out. “That’s... that’s better, I suppose?”

“Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting it to hurt quite this much...”

“You stabbed your finger, Jon, I don’t know what you were expecting-”

Jon removed his finger from the water for a moment, giving it a good look over before bursting into laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

Jon held out his finger for Martin to examine; Martin hesitated before brushing against it softly with his index finger. (Was it just Jon’s imagination, or did Martin feel a bit less cold to the touch now?)

“It’s barely there. I’ve- I’ve gotten paper cuts worse than this.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration, though admittedly the statement said as much about Jon’s history with paper cuts (which was a long and storied one, a combination of being a bookish child and a bit clumsy when he got overexcited) as about Jon’s current injury. Still, there was no mistaking that the cut had healed significantly just in the few minutes since it was created--the bleeding had slowed to a crawl, the cut was little more than a shallow scratch...

Martin’s finger touched Jon’s for a moment longer before he pulled it away as he looked back up at Jon.

“You’d still better put some soap on this, you hear me? And I’ll get the first aid kit...”

“Whatever you say, Mum.”

Martin gave Jon a weird look at that, but as Jon made a show of rolling his eyes and Martin stepped away to get the first aid kit, Jon heard Martin let out a clear snort of amusement.

[mk-wizard]

Ratchet is not and never was a Decepticon

Hello, fans.

Today, we’re doing something a little different. Instead exploring how an obscure fan theory can possibly hold water, I am going to discuss how one is complete nonsense. It is one that was started back in the day when Transformers was still a new thing and characters only had bare bones backgrounds so we had to go by their words in conversation, very special episodes or behaviour as a means of putting together their story. Basically, people started to theorise that the iconic Autobot medic Ratchet was once a Decepticon. Why? Because he was an old grump who didn’t seem to like people. Because Ratchet is a fan favourite and deserves his own movie just like Bumblebee had his, I want to stand up for our favourite medic by clearing his name by debunking this outlandish theory.

Number one, Ratchet is not grumpy because he is mean spirited or sadistic. He’s grumpy because underneath it all, he is hurting and is in mourning for everything he lost during the war. And he also lives with tons of regrets because he’s not actually a warrior at all. He is a doctor and deep down, a pacifist. He actually abhors violence and wants to heal the sick and wounded, but he was cheated out of that career due to the war. And if that wasn’t enough, he lost his home, his life and who knows how many friends and family he lost. All of the Autobots are in fact mourning, but they don’t show it. Ratchet just happens to be the guy that does show that he’s hurting especially in the Prime continuity. Yet, even still, he is the most compassionate and really does care about everyone’s well being. I mean, he was firmly against the kids in Prime being part of the team and when you stop and think about it, he has a point. Kids shouldn’t be involved in war. Yes, sometimes, he takes this grouchiness too far especially in Animated where that version was at times outright mean, but even though I don’t condone it, it was never personal. Ratchet hates no one except the Decepticons and even then, he doesn’t have it in them to hit them back. In other words, his grouchiness is not because of some Decepticon programming (which might I add is phooey within itself because an “evil gene” doesn’t exist). He’s depressed. If anything, he is the guy that needs kindness most of all not these wild accusations of being a Decepticon.

Number two, Ratchet’s past has been established by his age and life experiences. Ratchet is older than Optimus who might I add is an older mech himself who is the equivalent of a human man in his early fifties. This makes Ratchet the equivalent of being in the mid sixties. It was stated that Ratchet received training in the Autobot way from way back when and has lived as an Autobot peacefully before the war. In some versions, he is either married with grown children or had a girlfriend (further proof that Ratchet is loving at spark). Plus, he has a lot of deep knowledge of Autobot culture which one would only have if they had lived their whole life as Autobot. So unless he was secretly adopted by his parents and was converted without his knowledge, it’s safe to say he was an Autobot his whole life.

Number three, it has been established that Ratchet has Autobot biology. You can tell by just looking at him. He looks like a harmless blue collar type of guy rather than a fighter.

Yes, he is a perpetual frowner, but even then, he looks docile and blocky. It has been confirmed that Decepticon biology works in such a way that they always look like warriors of some kind with pointy and edgy features. Ratchet has none of those. He has the standard Autobot features which are friendly, docile and made for work. Plus, even when Ratchet does look mad, he’s not scary and not all that aggressive looking. Just unfriendly. I have never once looked at Ratchet even when he was at his most livid and felt afraid of him. The most one version of Ratchet ever did was be unlikable which was the Animated version. The only time this medic ever scared me was when he was high on the artificial energon in Prime and in his defence, anyone’s personality can be warped to become scary when they’re on drugs. Decepticons (even good ones) will look scary when angry because that is just how their faces are put together. Animated Scrapper even looked threatening when angry and we all know he wouldn’t punch a dent in a wall when angry. Ratchet’s features are all Autobot and not one bit Decepticon in both body and personality.

So there you have it. Myth busted. Ratchet is an Autobot, he always was an Autobot and he always will be an Autobot. The only long shot, blue moon, one in a million possibility I could think of Ratchet ever having been a Decepticon was that he was born one, but underwent full surgical conversion as a sparkling. And even then, there is not one spec of evidence that suggests this happened to him. The only way I think Ratchet could have ever been a Decepticon is if someday in the future, Hasbro creates on specific version that is like that and even then, he would be exception not the standard kind of like Armada Starscream.

So let’s leave the poor old bot alone and not tarnish his good name, ok? While I am one of the few that believes there is nothing wrong with being a Decepticon, I don’t think it’s nice to suggest Ratchet is hiding such a thing. He’s not that type of guy. He may be grumpy, but he doesn’t have any skeletons in his any of his closets.

Ratchet is not secretly a Decepticon. This theory is just a baseless rumour.

[electro-elemena]

Random thoughts I just had about death note

this is very stream of consciousness and was written in google notes, so sorry for the format and grammar but I just need this to be out there. Also if some parts sound like they're spoken out loud it's because they were lmao

- media needs to be interesting (check)

- if you disagree with me go look at Ryuk and then come back

- love the concept of death note. Very *chef's kiss*

- tickles the part of my brain that likes unlikely and outlandish theories and scenarios

- however enjoyable media also has to be:

- not insufferable... Sufferable you could say

- OR insufferable enough to make it funny

- death note accomplishes the condition of the second

- never finished it, realized i was running out of fucks to give and looked for a reason to give more fucks or stop giving fucks

- spoiled the ending for myself, if you've seen the ending you know why

- spoiler alert for an old ass piece of media... Y'all have your reasons and if this bit doesn't fervently convince you to watch it then it will do whatever the opposite of that is

- misa dies too. Which is unfair

- she's a boss ass bitch and a whole model??? Like

- okay tangent

- light is not a good protagonist

- I'll take a potato chip... And eat it

- he's supposed to be one of those gradual unreliable narrators

- but past the first episode you immediately realize that he is in fact a horrible person

- you could argue that the capacity to kill people without consequence given to a teenage boy was destined to corrupt him

- and that's a cynical and bleh boring take

- (but likely)

- but tbh it takes a dormant god complex in the first place for him to turn out the way he did. He obviously already thought he was better than others

- loners are only loners if everyone thinks they're worse than everyone else or they think they're better than everyone else

- chicken or the egg first sometimes y'know

- so like if you have the death note to a kind person they'd like write down Jeff bezos or something and then hand it back

- or! They could be like "i don't trust you with this" to ryuk and just keep it (but secretly be like saving it for later in case they want to kill someone else with no consequences)

- or maybe they're just in love with ryuk. Which like. I'll squint at you, and judge you silently for, but won't say anything, because I'm a nice person and not because you possess the ability to kill me without consequences whenever

- anyways so he's a bad protagonist and objectively evil

- i say this even though I usually like the villains. I love the hero but I like the villains too

- i won't condone their actions but I'll think they're hot or cool or something

- cuz i always side with the protagonist, when they're not insufferable (wonder who that could be)

- but mass genocide is one of those rare things that's not "oh this is good but it could be gray if done for the wrong reasons" or "oh this is bad but it could be gray if done for the wrong reasons" it's very "no. This is not ambiguous. Throw the whole person away"

- far less forgivable than mass genocide, however, is how he's not down bad for misa

- like??? The only reasons I can think of for him to have been written like this are

- 1) he's gay or ace and they wrote him like that as queer coding and secret representation

- cuz i know that there are many characters like that and you will never KNOW if he is or isn't

- unless like the mangaka... What's his name... Comes out on Twitter and says so

Mini tangent

- i can not for the life of me remember asian names

- i was practically raised by anime and i still can not remember them

- does not matter how much I love the character or person. I will forget it at least once or twice

- every time someone mentions a mangaka i have to check the database

- i think it's mainly because I haven't learned any asian languages, and that's the only reason I'm referring to them as asian and not specifying, because asian languages have a lot of common denominators that they don't share with western ones

- anyways I can't pronounce them so I can't remember them

- or i think I can pronounce them and then the real pronunciation is just waiting to pounce on me and make me feel like an idiot

- had that ever happened to you? I mispronounced the word cicada until I was... 17

- i was walking with my best friend outside

- which never happened because we were hermits and we never left the cave

- and I'm like "oh you can hear the ciSAHdas"

- and he was like "..."

- "you can hear the what?"

- and it's funny that out of the two of us, the AP student was the one that didn't know how to pronounce ciSAHdas

- did i just say that right? Fuck

- ciKEIdas

- anyways Carson did not do well in school, because he's the type of person that, if he does not give a fuck, he simply will not do whatever you ask

- no matter what reason you have

- so the old ass institution that "educated--

- mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!

- "educated" millions of people crumbled at his feet, like the true being of chaos that he is

- although you could argue that it didn't do me any favors either, since, well, here i am

- and at least he knew how to pronounce cicadas! Damn!

Death note (ctd)

- anyways back to death note because we weren't FINISHED

- so he's gay or ace. My vote is for gay because of his relationship with L

- and L was another character that was treated poorly, he's way better than the early death that he got because he decided to be kind and less suspicious and i HATE that they did him like that

- for a show called death note they really did get death wrong

- funny how everyone around light ends up dying horribly

- you could argue that's because of the death not but I like to think it's because he's just that shitty of a person

- so back to light and how he's super fruity, there's actually a scene where misa is throwing herself on him as usual

- and i don't remember what she's saying, like i can't remember most of her lines

- and i don't know if that means I like her more or less than i would have

- anyways she's saying something suggestive to him looking hot as usual and he starts thinking about L

- like LMAO

- bestie, the closet is made of GLASS

- it is transparent. We can all tell

- 2) reason he could be written to treat misa like that is because it's a ha ha funny that he can't be bothered to give her the time of day, when she's a model

- he's murder sexual. He wants world domination, not pussy

- this is also a reason he could be considered ace but I just think an enemies to lovers with L is more interesting so that's my personal favorite

- anyways there's another scene where she's once again chasing after this toxic ass man

- which. Her main flaw is her absolute dog water taste in men

- so she's trying to get him to like her

- and he thinks

- LMAO

- he thinks "never before have I been provoked to HIT a woman"

- and he says it exactly like that

- which is hilarious for many reasons

- first of all

- i don't BELIEVE you

- you mean to tell me?? That with HIS PERSONALITY?? no woman had ever pissed him off as much as one being in love with him

- which, by the way, gay

- i would like to think this is possible not because of the previously mentioned "maybe he was a good person before given this power" bleh bullshit

- but because all the women had understood he was a fuckwad before interacting with him

- like they sent it to the group chat. The group chat? Yeah the group chat

- they were like bro. This dude? Bad news

- walk parallel to him at all times. Do NOT intersect

- cross the street if you see him walking towards you

- this is also why i like to think incels exist

- like they were already going to be bad and women just knew that and avoided them

- an alternative theory to the group chat phenomenon is that women instinctively knew. Like an edm... That's not the right word

- i know the word and that's not the right word

- e d... e p...

- like the thing you throw out as like a pokeball and it just makes all the electronics stop working

- like they take a break

- electromagnetic... Pulse... EMP!

- so that was sent to every woman's brain instinctively and they just avoided him

[happerni]

Class is an optional route

Summary: Linhardt and you decide to ditch class in a very creative way.

Can be interpreted as either romantic or platonic - Gender Neutral - House Neutral (no specific house picked)

Word Count: 803

~

The sun had barely started to rise, but you, together with a few other unlucky students, were already yawning at your desks, even the teacher barely holding themselves awake as they corrected a few tests before class properly started.

Truly, you had very little reason to even be there at that hour. It just so happened that you woke up a bit earlier that day and decided to experiment with being a morning person. It wasn’t all that bad, since you had some free time to do some light exercise and get the freshest of bread for breakfast, but now that the lost sleep was finally catching up, you wondered if the teacher would mind a little nap inside the classroom.

All of a sudden, to the surprise of everybody, a certain healer entered the room, with more energy than all of the rest combined.

“Professor, I am in dire need of a field trip to town, so I won’t be able to attend class today.”

It was absolutely otherworldly how energetic Linhardt was that morning, and you were sure that you weren’t the only one raising eyebrows at that. After all, Linhardt would be the one to LEAD the sleep during class, if he even appeared at all, and now he was ready for a field trip? That early in the morning?

“Linhardt, what do you mean?” The professor was the most confused however, and raised an eyebrow at the scroll given by Linhardt.

“My authorization for that. It’s for a project for Garreg Mach. Feel free to look at it.” Linhardt replied, his voice chipper and confident.

The teacher did just that, and after a few seconds, closed the scroll still looking a bit confused.

“Well, then… You are dismissed for today, but I will make sure that today’s assignment will be given to you later. Do you have anything you need for your… field trip?” the teacher asked, with much confusion added to the last part.

“I just need an assistant, professor, and any student will do. So…”

Linhardt started to look around the class, much to the panic of every student present, now all fully awake to see if destiny would be kind to them. Linhardt didn’t share the same reputation of outlandish experiments like Hanneman, but everyone in the room could see the little spark of evil inside his eyes that morning (other than the teacher, apparently).

And you were the lucky student to catch his attention.

“You! I will be needing your expertise for the field trip.” Linhardt quickly made his way to the entrance of the classroom, stopping to look back at you, who still hasn't quite registered what is happening exactly. “C’mon, get up. We don’t have all day.”

Maybe being sleepy has gotten into you. Maybe you really didn’t want to go to class that day. Maybe the stars were really just aligned for such a weird impromptu field trip with Linhardt.

You just got an easy out for the day. Why not take it?

You got up, and Linhardt took the lead, starting to talk about all the things you two were supposed to do, inclusind picking up a few books, getting until you were finally making your way out of the monastery.

As soon as you two hit the road, away from any other possible listener, Linhardt's shoulders suddenly slumped, suddenly enough that your eyes went wide for a second, a sudden bubble of worry forming inside your chest.

Linhardt let out a yawn faster than you could ask what was wrong, however, and quickly turned to you.

“How do people actually act so energetic like that all the time? I did it for 20 minutes and already feel like napping for the rest of the year…”

Your confusion seemed to need no words, since Lin just continued on, his sleepy face complimented with a tiny smile.

“Honestly, there was no field trip. I just wanted some time in town and got lucky the teacher didn’t pay enough attention to the fake scroll.”

His smugness was brief, but it was undoubtedly there.

“Then, why did you choose me?” You ask, not really understanding exactly where you fit in the plan. It's not like other students weren't as proficient as you.

“Well, first,” He started, already walking in the beaten path to the nearby town. “It’s easier to cover this little lie with two people. And also…”

He briefly looked at you, a sly smile appearing so naturally at his face. “...you seemed to really not want to be there. Am I wrong?”

You couldn’t hold back a small laugh.

Well, if it was going to be like that, then you suppose your morning could be worse. After all, worse comes worse, there was a really good bakery there, and both Linhardt and you could appreciate a good treat while you skipped classes or were being scolded by the teachers.

[kingofthecon]

@femmechanceux

#1 "You know what rhymes with Bugaboo? Me and you." It was a pretty boring night of patrolling so naturally Chat Noir decided to fill the air with anything and everything just to keep them both entertained. His vibrant green eyes focused more on the task at hand - keeping an out for trouble - than they did on his partner, but when his eyes did meet her form for an extended period of time he couldn't help but grin. Running around Paris late at night with a lovely lady by his side helped him to forget about his life outside of costume. It helped his mind come up with all sorts of entertaining ideas which drove away all the reality shattering ones that came with common sense - one of the recent things being what'd happen when they finally defeated Hawk Moth. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that one day they would actually catch Hawk Moth slipping and manage to not only take him down and retrieve his Miraculous, but also learn his identity and lock him away forever, but what would come next? They wouldn't be able to keep their Miraculous anymore, would they? Sure there would still be crime left in Paris, but that could be handled by the officers of the law instead of vigilantes like them. What did that mean for his friendship with Ladybug? Would they just...no longer be able to see each other? No, that was stupid. Ladybug might not be interested in him because of her crush on someone from her life outside of the mask, but that didn't mean they couldn’t be friends. They'd make a way. "It's been a lot of times recently where it's just been me and you, and though I do love spending quality time with my leading lady, I can't help but wonder when the ball's going to drop. I don't want to jinx it, but the last time we found someone who was akumatized it was Mr. Pigeon and that was nearly a month ago." He had most certainly been keep tracking. Between the photo shoots, collabs, and interviews along with school, his fencing class, and a few side activities, there wasn't much of any activity from Hawk Moth. He doubted the man had suddenly fallen off the face of the Earth, but there had to be something at play. Then again his sidekick, Mayura, had been hurt in her last confrontation with the rest of them. Maybe the two of them were an evil couple and Mothy had to take some time out of his akumatizing schedule to take care of her? It was sweet even though they were both evil - taking joy in turning people into their minions all in a vain attempt to get the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous. Then again, what if her sickness was the reason why Hawk Moth was trying so hard? Maybe the reason they'd shown their costumed faces was because of desperation, and Hawk Moth had gotten a mad power-up from her to boot. She hadn't been in the game until recently so maybe that was it? It was something he'd been speculating on a while now, but hadn't had enough evidence to support this theory which meant he hadn't said anything to Ladybug about it. He probably should at some point, but not even now seemed like a good time. "He's too annoying to just give up and go on vacation, so maybe he's wrapped up in some supervillain HR meeting where they talk about their failures and how to go about achieving their goals while eating muffins from the cafeteria." It was random and probably outlandish. The goal was to make her laugh, especially when he was about to say something that might cause a bit of an issue between them. Yeah, butter her up before telling her that he won't be around for a little while because a friend of his father had done some contest and had picked three kids from nowhere to take on as apprentices or something and Adrien would be with them for a while. It was just a publicity stunt and collaboration thing, but it was an extra added activity and with everything else he had to do something needed to be cut out, and it wasn't like Ladybug only had him to rely on considering she could dish out the Miraculous to other people. It would be fine. "I don't think there's any crime afoot tonight," he offered teasingly after they stopped near the Louvre for a break. He stretched both arms over his head and yawned before flopping down in a cross legged position. "Which is convenient because...well, I won't be uh, be around for the next few weeks at least." Best to just rip off the bandage. "My family is going to be particularly busy and I won't be able to get out of certain obligations so if there's an emergency you'll have to get one of the others. I'll try to sneak away, but you'll have to treat any threat that might crop up like one that I won't be able to help you fight in." Just saying that made him feel like crap. If an emergency came up and someone got hurt because he prioritized taking pictures with some contest winners over fighting crime then he would have to live with that guilt, but his father would be watching and if he even tried to get out of something like that the consequences would make him being Chat Noir period even harder when things weren't incredibly busy. If he wanted to keep being being a hero then he was going to have to do whatever it took to keep his father off his case. This was one of those situations where there were no good options to take. "I'd better head home. I have to wake up early. Well, earlier than usual." He turned back the way they'd come, which was in the opposite direction of his home actually, and ran off. He was out of his lady's sight he changed the direction and took a different route home. He de-transformed, fed Plagg a few pieces of Camembert and raced the rest of his way home - entering through the front gates and not stopping until he was in his room.

"Okay Sixer, how'd this happen?" Triplets Stanton, Stanford, and Stanley sat in their shared bedroom - Stanley and Stanton; or Shermie as he liked to be called - sitting on either side of their brother Stanford as he read the letter in his hand for the fourth time in silence. There had been a bit of a contest months ago created by a man named William Chiffrer. He was looking for individuals with a wide variety of talents that ranged from athleticism to intellect. Stanford had of course sent filled out the necessary forms on top of going above and being by writing an entire essay about why he believed he should be chosen...he'd also sent out the necessary forms for his siblings and tricked each of them into writing a bit of an essay of their own. He didn't think any of them would be accepted. William was a man of many talents, but what had caught Stanford's attention was the man's intellect. William had the ability to create his own language - something that he and his siblings had done when they were younger...little ciphers that only they could understand, but William? As far as Stanford knew the man had at least three different languages of his own under his belt, a company that didn't seem tethered to him, and ideas of deep sea and space exploration that he had no qualms with sharing to the masses. In other words, the man was an actual genius who had absolutely no problem flaunting it. Stanford was envious, intrigued and well, William was his idol. That meant he wanted to learn from him and this contest? This contest would be his one shot. He, however, didn't want to go in alone. The sound of someone playing with a paddle ball close to his face caused him to jerk to attention. His eyes traveled to his left where he saw Stanley, the sibling that was identical to him minus the fingers, waiting impatiently for an answer. To Stanford's right his slightly older fraternal sibling looked unimpressed already having an idea of what'd taken place though the chances of all three of them being picked was...highly unlikely. "It's not that difficult to understand," the middle triplet said as he pushed himself off the bed and paced the center of their bedroom floor. "More so, improbable. The chances of the three of us getting chosen for this opportunity of a life time is simply astronomical. It's--" "Not the question, Poindexter. Sherm and I didn't enter this sleaze ball's contest. I know I suck at math, but I'm at least a hundred percent sure that us not enterin’ means we both hadda zero percent chance'o winnin' anything. Howzat possible, I wonder." One look at his brothers had rooted to the spot - both hands behind his back as his started to get nervous. Stanley continued to play with his paddle ball, but his attention remained on Stanford while Shermie let out and exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking. Well, of course I know what I was thinking. It would be incredible to have William Chiffrer as a mentor. His vast knowledge of the world and its inner workings - despite being quite controversial - has merit and have been shown to be more than just plausible. This man has plans to change the world and the means to do it and it would be remiss of me to pass up the opportunity to work under the man himself. I just did not wish to go alone so I took the liberty of signing contest forms for the both of you while feeding you false information about an extra credit essay where you had to convince the President of the United States of why you would be a great addition to the White House." "Wait, that's not what you told me," Stanley said with narrowed eyes while slowly lowering the paddle ball. "Errhm, yes well, you having to convince a potential suitor's father of why he should let you date his daughter seemed more plausible than the Presidential angle, I'm afraid. Now, even if only one of us came out victorious in this raffle the winner is permitted a plus one! Had either of you won instead I would have hoped that you'd allow me to tag along." "And yet Pa calls me the shyster. I am so proud of you.” Stanley wipes an imaginary tear from his eye while Stanford glares at him before turning his attention towards Shermie who’d finally lifted his head. His expression was exasperated yet thoughtful making it clear that he, at least, wasn’t going to make such a huge deal of out it. Between Stanley and Shermie, the latter was much more academically inclined and when opportunity struck he tended to let it in and treat it like a friend. Paris, France was a place that these three boys from New Jersey would never in their wildest dreams imagine being able to visit - not with how much of a penny-pincher their father was. For a while all there had only been a pair of glasses between them which Stanley and Shermie had agreed to let Ford have indefinitely. ”This is a once in a life time ordeal, isn’t it?” Shermie questioned after letting the silence linger. They were teenagers with no real funds to their name. If they went to college it would have to be on a scholarship - Stanford had at least four lined up, Stanley could possibly go for football, and Shermie had his hands in a little bit of everything. Other than that, there was nothing for fancy trips to far off lands like France, so right here? Right now? Yeah, it definitely seemed as though this was going to be one of those once in a lifetime deals. The brothers looked at each other, Stanley sliding off the bed to punch Stanford in the arm before leaning against his shoulder while Shermie continued thinking. Finally he stood up and crossed his arms. "That was an underhanded trick you pulled Ford, but I can't say that I blame you and a trip to freaking France? The City of Love? We'd have to be crazy to pass up the opportunity." "Ugh, love," Stanley griped, immediately turning sour causing Shermie to look a little guilty while Ford rolled his eyes and elbowed him good-naturedly. His breakup with Carla McCorkle had been a messy one. Karma seemed to strike at both Carla and the boy she'd cheated on Stanley with, Thistle Downe, in the form of someone riding his van into a ravine. According to reports it had been someone dressed up in some sort of costume with a tail. Either way love was currently a big flaming no-no in the Stan Triplets's bedroom...except for Shermie. "Perhaps it would be in your best interest to invite Veronica along, Shermie." Ah, the turns immediately tabled as Stanley's frown disappeared to be replaced by the biggest, doofiest, mischievous grin he could muster while Shermie's face turned a nice shade of tomato red. He sputtered while Stanley darted out the room to make the call leaving Stanford to block his big brother in - the commotion the duo made their mother had to warn them about roughhousing in the house and to take that mess outside. Stanley snickered, his Ma gave him an idea. Outside and to his car he ran after hearing his brothers on the stairs. When they realized that Stanley wasn't inside the brothers raced outside to see Stanley checking his pockets for his keys. Suddenly Stanley was on the ground laughing after having been tackled by Shermie which left Stanford - innocent little Stanford - to head back inside and make the call himself. "Hello, Mrs. Carlyle? This is Stanford Pines. Is Veronica there?” There’s a particularly loud wheeze from outside that catches Stanford’s attention. He looks to his Ma and shrugs before going back to his call. “Hello, Ronnie? You won't believe the good news. Do you recall that contest I entered for the trip to Paris, France to study under THE William Chiffrer? Exciting news. Not only did I win, so did Stanley and Sherman. I...will explain later, but each of us gets to bring a plus one. I am cordially inviting you--"

Talon had seen the threat coming a mile away and he actually tried to draw attention to what was going on. With him being who he was he held rank in his uncle's organization, but it only extended so far especially when the side of evil thought they'd had the victory in the bag. It was the same song and dance time and time again. They thought they had the inspector, he'd goof around and somehow come out on top with the help of his niece, and then Claw would vow vengeance the next time they crossed paths. It got old, and Talon was tired. He was tired of constantly losing when he knew that he had the skills to come out on top. In fact, he was pretty sure he could overthrow his uncle instead of working as his underling, but as things were? His street cred had plummeted. All the losses caused by Penny and her uncle set him back time and time again. The villain circles he ran in started giving out awards for the most failed missions and he had somehow gained the lead. It was embarrassing and degrading and it was about time he'd think about his future. If he wanted to show the world he was more than just that bumbling oaf who happened to be Claw's nephew then he needed to branch out and re-establish himself, perhaps even go back to the drawing board. It was when he realized that no one was going to heed his words did he decide cut his losses. He'd grabbed Penny and her dumb dog and pulled them to safety with the parting words of, “Catch ya later, Penny,” before going back into the fray. He had a mini force field surrounding him which was, in theory, supposed to be strong enough to protect him from any type of explosion. He didn't think he'd actually be in a situation where he'd be testing this out, but he didn't have too much time. He was looking for something in particular before things went side ways. It was as though his eyes landing on his prize was the trigger which launched the explosion. He cursed, a bright light blinding him before he was propelled off his feet and backwards. He clicked his heels together until the rockets activated, and he hastily righted himself, but he still slammed against through the wall behind him. He should have snapped his back. He should have been covered in flames, but instead survived - barely able to get a handle on the situation. For one thing his force field was still holding up and he’d managed to what he’d gone back for - a bejeweled box which was what his uncle had been after. Luckily whatever he was holding was also covered by his forcefield. Not only that but this explosion was the chance he'd been waiting for - to get away from his uncle and lay low, preferably with a family member that was on the opposite side of the law. You know, a good guy. It helped that he’d been straddling the fence for months now - working with HQ a bit due to some sob story he’d fed Penny which meant he definitely had an alibi. People saw him save Penny. People knew that this scheme of his uncle’s had absolutely nothing to do with him. Whatever happened here couldn’t be pinned on him. Talon’s boots were totally ruined when he activated them - they only had a few seconds of righting him before the thrusters at the bottom went off in mini explosions that luckily hadn't harmed his feet - and found an agent of Claw that was roughly his size though totally unrecognizable. He removed his boots and shoved them onto the remains and dragging it over to a still burning flame. His forcefield protected his feet from the heat, but it wouldn't hold for too much longer. Even now the heat was already starting to penetrate and he had to run. With the forcefield having protected him from the brunt of the explosion some of his other tech remained as well. There was a prototype cloaking device he'd had installed that ran on the same 3D holographic projector tech he tended to use for a quick and easy disguise. He swapped modes and from his belt a little barely noticeable light extended, scanned his form, and bent the light around him making him appear invisible. He made it half a block invisibly before the forcefield conked out with the invisibility following next which meant that his 3D projector was also down for the count. He paid it no mind as he'd taken that into consideration and made sure to avoid any areas that seemed busy. He didn't need anyone to see him running around barefoot and covered in soot. Besides, no good villain worth their salt went around town without a cache of some sort and he was near his closest one. It was a rundown apartment building which, on the outside it just looked a little lopsided; could use a little TLC. On the inside? Oh, the building looked as though it should have been condemned before his Uncle Claw was born. It was perfect, and it was where Talon cleaned himself up, changed into a set of clothing that was not his typical purple though did include another set of rocket boots, and combed his hair flat on his head giving him those infamous "Boy Band Bangs" which were partially hidden by the hood from the jacket he'd decided to wear. He left the apartment and, despite knowing it was a bad idea, made his way back to the scene of the explosion. There were HQ agents, a bomb squad, the fire department and of course police officers everywhere as well as a crowd. He spotted Inspector Gadget who'd apparently made it out unscathed as usual, and he even saw a few of Claw's men being apprehended. He shook his head. There had never been a fight between him and HQ that had gone so far in as long as he could remember. He clicked his tongue and whispered, "C'est la vie," as he walked away - washing his hands of this botched operation as well as his Uncle Claw - for good. Once far enough away and pulled out his cellphone, took a deep breath and placed a call he'd never thought he'd make. "Hey Billy. It's, ugh, Tristan*. Is that offer for help still on the table?" William Thaw* sounded visibly confused on the other end of the line, most likely because he'd been sleeping at the time. When he realized that his cousin was in need of help he woke up just a bit more. "You need a place to stay, Mr. Big Shot Criminal?" That was not the tone that Talon was hoping to hear, but it wasn't entirely unexpected either. Most if not all of their family was evil including Billy's dad. Even their grandma was evil, but no one had really given Billy the memo so he turned out to be one of the good guys. With him and Talon being roughly the same age and having lived together with their grandma for a while, there was always some form of disagreement or the other, especially when Talon had learned of their family's history and chose to follow in their footsteps. It was why he'd swapped his name from Tristan to Talon as a sign of respect for his then role model Dr. Claw. "Is this the part where you give me a huge speech about right and wrong or heroism because if it is you can save it. I’ve branched away from Uncle Claw months ago and a good thing too because he messed up big time. I tried to tell him his plan was bunk from the get-go, but he went ahead with it anyway even after I warned him about a gas leak. Then I tried to tell the stupid henchmen that the explosives they were planting were going to trigger an even bigger explosion but I’m not on the payroll anymore and apparently a bigger explosion the better. They were so concerned with making sure they got Gadget - that’s their entire thing but...Usually no one gets fatally hurt and a few people did. That's not the kind of villainy I signed up for." For a moment he thought Billy'd hung up on him, but then he heard the ruffling of blankets and the clicking of what must have been a lamp being turned on. "People died?" "One as far as I was able to tell. I was caught in the blast too. ForcefieId tech saved me and I managed to get a few people out before the blast but yeah. I'm sure it'll be on the world news if it isn't already." "What do you want from me, Tris?" Hearing that nickname hurt. "I want to initiate protocol Redo." "Never thought you'd say that." The sound of Billy getting out of bed could be heard. Moments later the sound of a computer or laptop being booted up sounded through the line. "Tell me about it. I thought I had everything planned out. Didn’t take into account that Uncle Claw’s gotten senile in his old age." "Luckily we're both deceptively smart and plan for things that we don't think we'd ever need then, huh?" "You call that luck. I call that being smarter than everyone else. Even if you don’t think it’ll ever happen to you plan for it anyway, especially in this line of business.” ”Especially.” Talon finally stopped walking when he reached a twenty-four hour fast food place where he plugged in his phone and ordered something so that he wouldn't be bothered. "I assume you handled Talon?" "Died in the explosion that took out a few senior HQ agents and a few of Claw's henchmen. Identifiable only by his rocket boots." The line was silent aside from the clicking of keys. Talon ate silently while he listened to his cousin work. A few hours of Billy working he finally came to a stop. "Tristan Thaw is in the system once more. You did a thorough job of wiping him out. Can't say that I'm surprised. I've altered Talon’s files. You're now your own twin, congratulations. You were put up for adoption at a young age but there was a missing person's report due to you running away. Your file was closed because you were presumed dead. People will most likely stumble upon this now while trying to pull up information about Talon so...in the off chance that that happens. Call me, and I will say I've been hiding you in my dorm." "No. I can't do--" "You will, Tristan. Despite the incredible foolishness of this family it's the only one I have. Despite how everyone around me is a bad guy from the worst comic book tropes I've ever read, this family still manages to take care of each other. I'm in a boarding school because I didn't want to be part of the family business. Someone in the family is paying for me to be here. You've protected me inadvertently a few times, and Uncle Claw has taken me under his wing a time or two, and I am also the first person grandma taught her cookie recipe to. The point is, despite this family being nefarious in every sense of the word, we ALL protect each other, and you came to me for help. You did what you could to stop something horrible from happening, and it happened anyway. If worse comes to worse I'm sure Uncle Claw would help--" "Gonna stop you right there. I don't want his help, otherwise I'd have gone back to the lair. This is...let him think I'm dead. You're the only one who’ll know the truth." "Of course. Well, if you can manage to get from where you are to Paris there's an apartment that seems to have been paid for. Has been in my name for a while. I'm thinking Grandma made me a few safe houses just in case I decided to turn rotten, but you can stay there." "Thanks Billy." "You can thank me by not pulling this stunt again." "Or I'll just say thank you and move to your safehouse."

                                                               ---TIME SKIP---                                                           ONE MONTH LATER

When Billy told him about the safehouse in Paris he probably should have expected the place to be pretty well furnished and in a decent part of the city. It wasn’t exactly flashy, but it would probably garner the attention of his neighbors. Luckily he had a backstory figured out, a passport, a birth certificate and other documentation that he needed. Luckily for him there was nobody looking for him, and even if they were they certainly would have no reason to look for him in Paris. It was the perfect escape for him, and definitely gave him time to himself. He didn’t want to drop the villain thing, but if he wanted to become a huge contender then he was going to have to change his image. He was going to have to one up the competition and finally...he was going to have to down his uncle. For now, he had to start small. For now he had to blend in with the masses, build up a bit of a rep while staying in the shadows until he could build his own empire. Luckily for him he had a few connections already.

The three dorks staying across from him had arrived a few days after he moved in and made quite the impression. The one with the six fingers had bumped into him and apologized profusely for not paying attention to where he was walking and flailed his hands a bit. Talon, or rather Tristan made the faux pas of commenting on his fingers aloud which seemed to cause some embarrassment. Another boy, had to be a twin or something, heard the remark and was making his way over with his fists clenched causing Talon to remark that he’d never seen something so cool before. It seemed to be the right thing to say as all three of them somewhat relaxed while heading up the stairs. That’s where Talon encountered the third of them realizing that he was staying across from a set of triplets.  It was a bit awkward at first, before the boy with the glasses answered his question about what they were doing in Paris.  “I didn’t know that Willy had a contest going on. You guys must be pretty smart if he chose the three of you, and siblings to boot.” Of course Talon knew very well that Willy wasn’t exactly a good person. The guy was sophisticated in public, but in private he had a bit of sadistic streak and was pretty psychotic in some instances. Yeah the dude was an actual genius, but he also gathered great minds and exploited them. The fact that he’d gathered three brothers, triplets no less? Something was definitely going on. “You say that as though you know the man personally,” Stanford stated while his brother, the one with the slightly darker hair (Shermie) opened the door and Stanley carried some stuff inside. “Not at all,” he immediately shook his head. “I tried to enter his contest before as well. I actually made a hoverboard--” “Like from Back to the Future?” Stanley asked as he kicked his box into the room. Talon nodded and said,"Exactly like that," while Stanford looked skeptical. That was the start of their...he wouldn’t exactly call it a friendship but it was pretty close.                                                                --------------------- Adrien hadn’t been expecting to be invited to the triplet’s apartment building after their initial gathering and photo-op with William and his father, but he had accepted the invite anyway seeing as it would allow him to spend some time with teenagers his age while using his father’s tactics against him.  “I was supposed to meet up and help the Pines’s today for an hour before meeting Kagami for our fencing lesson? His father had simply nodded through the tablet monitor that Nathalie was holding. Adrien took off soon after that with G manning the car. When he’d arrived at the apartment it was to an open door and the triplets arguing over what they wanted to do first. There was also another boy there, arms crossed and back against the wall with a smirk on his face. Adrien had the feeling that he’d been the cause of this little argument. “Am I early?” he’d asked which drew the triplet’s attention. “Yer right on time, Aiden.” “His name is Adrien, be nice.” The identical brothers bickered between themselves while Sherman shook his head and beckoned for Adrien to come inside before closing the door. “Just go. It’s not a big deal.” All eyes turned to Talon who pushed off the wall and raised his hands.  “Of course it’s a big deal! He can take his girl all over Paris after we celebrate. We’ve been here for a week and haven’t burned our apartment down. This is a cause for celebration! Let the Pines Brothers party for a day,” Stanley argued with his arms crossed. Shermie just covered his face in his hands and sighed. "Or we can go get Ronnie since she may as well be a Pines, grab some snacks and celebrate here?” “Stanford Filbrick Pines--” The two outsiders watched in amusement as Sherman tried to grab the six fingered boy who ducked behind Stanley and then into the kitchenette practically dragging the loudmouthed boy with him.  “So um, who are--” “I live across the hall. Gotta admit these guys have been the best entertainment I could have possibly asked for. What about you, Mr. Agreste? Working a charity case here?” Adrien was partially confused and partially offended by the question. “Not at all. I was invited over.” “Oh, that makes more sense.” He hadn’t elaborated on that making Adrien narrow his eyes before the triplets re-emerged from wherever they’d been in the apartment. Stanley had his arms crossed while Stanford was scowling. Shermie looked far less ruffled than the other two which meant he’d proven his point.  "Sorry about that, you two. The plan is we’re going to call my friend to have her meet us here then head out for a celebratory get together. Since you two are the only people we know here we’d thought you’d be up to joining us?” The fact that Adrien had made three new friends who wanted to hang out with him brought a smile to his face, but then he thought about his obligations and the other friends he’d had to turn down. His smile turned a bit sad before he shook his head.  "I’m really sorry you guys, but I can’t stay for very long. My schedule is booked solid. The only reason I was able to slip out was because I told my father that I had to help you three for an hour before I have to practice my fencing.” Talon lunged at the air in front of him, swinging around an imaginary rapier before snorting, “Can you be any more of a cliche?” Even Stanley cracked a smile at that before lunging towards Talon with his arm out, the two of them swiping at each other with their invisible weapons, Stanley beginning to talk like a pirate while Shermie was in the process of calling Ronnie to let her know of their plans. “Ignore them,” Stanford said while giving his brother and Talon a glare that went completely ignored. “It’s what I do when they get like this.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” was Adrien’s annoyed reply. A second later he found himself being dragged into the sword fight by Talon before Stanley grabbed an unwilling-to-participate Stanford. “My first mate will absolutely swab the deck with ye’s!” “Stanley no.” “Cap’n Lee thinks he kin board me ship and spread ‘is tall tales, but we’s a learn’em.” “Tristan don’t encourage him!” Stanford’s words went ignored as Talon managed to grabbed a decorative pillow from the couch and chucked it at the six fingered boy yelling, “CANNON BALL!”. Taking it as an immediate out, Stanford dramatically fell to the floor, sat up and positioned the thrown pillow beneath his head, and then laid back again. “Nooooo, Sixer! I shall avenge ye!” He ran towards Talon only to be intercepted by Adrien as he slid in front of the other boy. Stanley’s eyes widened, surprised at Adrien’s speed, and he tried to stop before colliding. Adrien moved out of the way as quickly as he’d come while Talon remained there holding out another of the pillows which he used to smack Stan in the face as he came to a stop. Stanley dropped to the ground dramatically like Stanford had and made gurgling noises since the unwritten/impromptu rule was that the pillows were cannon balls. The four boys laughed before Stanford got up and put the pillows away with a shake of his head. Stanley was glad to have managed to get his brother to participate. It had been a long time since they’d done something like this and it made him think that this trip to Paris was a good idea, especially after having met “Tristan’ and Adrien.

[onisiondrama]

PART 2 - videos #3 & #4

(I just wanted to note: some of the things he’s saying are misrepresented or completely untrue, but I decided not to point them all out because it was taking me too long to get through the first two videos and I still have a lot to go.)

so...

- Not everyone handles controversy and drama the way he’s done in the past. Some people want to run away or stay silent because they’re sad or heartbroken. Some people say silence makes it look like you’re guilty. Says speculation isn’t fair. You shouldn’t believe what someone says about someone else without getting both sides, but when you stay silent when someone asks you about it people assume guilt. It’s unfair. People have to talk about unpleasant moments in your life otherwise people will talk about those moments forever. - It’s crazy you broke up with someone 7 times in 2011 and in 2020 people are still dragging it out. Imagine going on shows talking about things that already concluded years ago. - Shiloh never had to call the police on him because he was never like her. She would accuse him of things and he’d call the police so they could have a professional review it.  - There are two people he lived with who when he broke up with them, he slept against the door because he was afraid they’d kill him. They are so mentally unstable they’d rather you die then for you to break up with them. - He says his mom, his aunt, and Shiloh’s producer Damon saw how she was. He told Damon he felt bad for Shiloh because of her mental illness. Damon said she was evil and Greg disagreed because he loved her.  - Shiloh would admit to wanting to do illegal drugs. He doesn’t remember her actually doing them. She was sitting in front of her laptop and he saw her Skye history. She closed her laptop real quick, but he saw she said she wished she could go back and do illegal drugs with someone. - He says there is consistency with people in his history that lie and do illegal drugs. When a drug is illegal, you’re putting your whole house at risk - He was an air force cop until he was diagnosed with major depression. - Shiloh went on a livestream and said horrible things about him. He wants to respond but he can’t bring himself to watch an ex trash him. He’s sure she said horrible things. - Someone told him she said he’d self gratify to the sound of her crying. That’s the most absurd thing he’s ever heard in his life. It’s not true, but this is an example of someone making up a fake story. Instead of calling them out for lying, you keep asking them “and then what happened?” and their story keeps getting more and more outlandish and weird. He’s encountered a lot of people like that. He thinks that’s a sign of a disorder.  - He’s glad she never called the cops on him. She never felt in danger with him, but he felt in danger with her.  - Shiloh made a kickstarter for getting “Gregory” removed from her neck. He never told her to get that. She told him to get “Remember love”. She said she went to a tattoo artist in Toranto and the artist said they wouldn’t do it unless the name is of someone in her family so she told them it was her grandfather’s name. She came back and showed it to him and he felt nervous and panicky because he thinks it’s a bad idea to get someone’s tattoo on their body. She seemed happy and it was too late so he played along. Their relationship didn’t work out so that’s a bummer. He was told she got everyone to pay for her cover up, but he can’t confirm that. The irony is his name is James. - Apparently she got in an argument with Madison about what the point of the livestreams and he was told Shiloh got upset and abandoned the cause. She was upset Madison started beef with her. He saw a screen shot of the livestreams and saw Shiloh’s video got the most views. - Next video is Billie.

now

- Billie is a beautiful woman, she had blue hair. Kai was exploring his interests. Kai is trans but at the time identified as a girl because he didn’t explore himself too much. As he expressed himself Greg encouraged self exploration. They both wanted to explore polyamory because Greg worked too much and he felt like Kai could use a s/o that was there for him. Kai met a 19 year old and they hit it off. - He says he and Kai have their own phones. Kai has reviewed a lot of stuff on Greg’s phone, but that died off because Kai learned he could trust Greg. - Says cuddlegate happened. Billie came over and Billie would kiss Kai for a video and they would take selfies. He said it felt wonderful. Everything felt right to him. This is the way he wanted his life to be. One time they went to the water and Billie and Kai were hanging out and they looked so wonderful together and he was happy to be part of that. - Says Kai would get jealous of Greg and Billie talking and interacting too much.  - Eased into a situation where they were all kissing. He and Kai fought about Billie because Greg was hanging out with Billie too much. Kai got mad and left the house for a little bit. Billie and Greg decided to watch a movie about a guy that’s good with drums. He asked Billie if she wanted a massage. Before that when his mom was a massage therapist, she have him a massage and he was wearing no shirt and his underwear, so he asked Billie if that’s what she wanted and she was all about it. When he went to take off her bra, she warned him that she was flat chested. He said he didn’t care. She layed down and he rubbed her whole body, but didn’t pay too much attention to the middle area because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He says for some reason something clicked in his mind and he felt like a professional masseuse and he handled everything professionally and it felt comfortable. It was a nice experience because she never had someone do that for her before. “That was cool for me.” She showered off and came back and they cuddled. He says he heard someone said she grinded on him, he says that might have happened. He was laying down and she was on top of him and her legs were spread over him. They were laying and hugging. Says it’s a possibility rubbing was going on. He told Kai this happened and Kai freaked out and said they were done. Says Kai didn’t like Greg massaging and cuddling Billie even though they were kissing prior.  - Shortly after he asked Billie to kiss him. He says he should have not done that and it’s weird. He was just dumped by his husband. He was in a sad state, but it was ridiculous he was in bed with this woman and thinking about kissing her. Billie did something honorable, she said it felt weird and didn’t want to. He says he respected that and thanked her later on for saying that. What she said felt right. She was the voice of reason. They fell asleep in each other’s arms. - They were having a good time the next day, but Kai came back and tried to reason with him. Kai got through to him and Greg told Billie she couldn’t be there anymore. He says she apparently did a livestream with Ayalla and Social Repose and she was giggling about how she didn’t destroy a marriage, she just bruised it. He wasn’t hurt by that but other people were very hurt by that. - He and Kai worked things out and he made a video about it. Kai made a video about how Greg was an a-hole for that and Greg agrees. - Billie came back, they took her back to try a relationship. When it was good it was good, but Billie and Kai would fight over jealousy issues. There are romantic and things they did that are good memories for him. To share too much information, he did a thing with them and dog collars. Kai loves that. They got on their knees and was on a leash, it’s BDSM. He said everyone consented and he hopes Billie looks back at that fondly. He said they were kinky and would make out all the time, but later found out Billie wasn’t supposed to be making out with Greg as much as she was. - Says he likes telling this next story because it shows you how Billie was. He was in his tesla model x, which he had to get rid of later on. Billie put on a song about dating older guys and hopped in his lap. He says it was a really cool, hip song with a hip hop beat. They were making out heavily and he was so into her and he wanted to do everything with her, but according to Kai they were only allowed to do certain things as a group at the time. Billie would settle for grinding on him when he was sitting in the model x and other places. Those are great memories for him because she was so into him. She would look at him like he was amazing even though he felt ugly. He felt special around her and he felt beautiful to her. - They would go into his green screen room. She would close the door and hop on him and they’d make out. He told Kai this was ok but they couldn’t sleep together. He makes it clear he also made out with Kai.  - When Greg told Billie he was going to work things out with Kai, Billie texted “wait don’t”, not exact words but she wanted to be with him. He appreciates that but he was too broken up about his family and prioritized his family. Even though he screwed up Kai gave him as second chance and hes greatful. - Says you’ll find out why the making out thing was a huge problem in the next video.

[sokumotanaka]

Hear me out on Pink diamond.

God this subject’s been going around lately, and I’ve seen alot of people fall to the far side when considering pink as a character. rebecca stated when S.U was first being announced on CN that none of the characters are flawless; they’re characters with their own issues, problems and secrets, she was aiming for a morally grey especially so with pink.

Now I’m gonna need you to be open minded while reading this, hear me out and not immediately after this write a block about how wrong I am and how much you want steven to go to jail or whatever other grimdark fantasies some have. I don’t have time for it and there’s a point to this. (Lets move on)

And I’ve seen people make some outlandish claims, one person said the only non selfish thing she did was protect earth like that’s a small task on a bucket list.

Leaving steven with her mess to clean up and so many more zany things, they funniest part is these same people stan the diamonds people who wanted to blow the earth up, kept gems as slaves for pete sake, so it’s hypocritical to me that people are willing to stan them despite pink making steven universe possible, she was very much still a savior of many gems and this earth.

Let’s go down the line and see why pink was the way she was and try to put some rational behind some of this:

Pink on homeworld-

First Pink was raised and coddled by her diamonds, a child ruled over by three toxic mothers, it goes without saying that she would without bad intentions pick on on some of their bad habits on how they do things. Pink already wanted to do her own things and we have to remember spinel was presented as a toy to her, let’s real it back a bit.

Remember steven’s dream of playing with pink pearl? They had plenty of fun behind closed doors, P.P was her friend who laughed and played with her, and in the memory we see her slowly drift away, then an image of glass falling apart to reveal white standing over Pink. I assume they were caught at one point and her pearl was used as an example, I can picture white cracking her and beating it into pink that pearls are objects.

I mean look at what happened to steven when they went to homeworld, because he fused with connie and white pearl frowned Yellow and Blue went balsticia and started zapping and bubbling gems left and right and ended up putting them in a cage they almost STARVED in! (They asked for food and looking at them it was clear they were low on energy) Plus when they got to steven’s backpack they scarfed down that food.  

Who knows how long they put pink in there when she would act out.

So some time after pink pearl was taken, they gave Pink a garden and Spinel to keep her busy, Remember the other diamonds had no respect for pink as well; they didn’t listen to anything she had to say and as an impressionable kid she probably thought that spinel (again presented to her as a toy) was going to make them respect her less as a colony owner, Pink was very much a Diamond who wanted to grow up quickly because of the way she was treated. “You’re too young, you’re a child, your opinion doesn’t matter.” I mean it says as much when yellow and blue first starts accepting steven as pink and saying things like “you don’t know what you want.” I’ll be we all at one point heard that line.

But it’s also not that she was growing up why she left spinel, remember her last friend was cracked and had her mind taken over, spinel was clearly support to be similar to a court jester where if they failed to satisfy they get AXED and the diamonds would have done the same. “Oh pink doesn’t want her anymore?” Shattered.

Her transformation as Rose-

Pink never had all the answers, that was the point, she was a child making adult decisions, and when it came down to it she was both a genius and foolish. She was the only Diamond who saw what they were doing to other gems and gave up her status (if you could call it that) her rule and so on to protect earth’s life and the many gems so they could be who they want, she was a child vicariously living her freedom out through them.

And remember they also put a ban on traveling to homeworkd areas, the fight was never over, after a war, they had to collect the pieces, protect the humans, fight corrupted versions of her friends and family, fight her caretakers to the possible death to free gems she didn’t know, Humans she didn’t know “I know she saw beauty in everything, even in things like this, and jerks like you.”

And almost all of her choices were made because she didn’t have the right answer or the perfect one, we can all say we would but could we put it to the test and when it fails preach about how we thought what we were doing was right? Bismuth for example was a radical extremist who believed in shattering other gems and would not listen to reason, and she had better rallying power than she did, it’s stated in her episode that she could have gotten other crystal gems to agree, using a horrible enemy tactic a DIAMOND tactic at that.

Hell that could have been Lapis, could have been peridot or even amethyst imagine is bismuth was around when amethyst popped out, she would have killed her, it’s a possibility. Maybe rose didn’t have the answers for so like us she decided to set some aside.

Can’t reason with bismuth and her want to kill gems like spinel so she has to go, and the easy part is rose if she was a monster could have shattered both Bis and Spin, no one would find out, but she’s not a monster.

Our approaches to Spinel’s trauma-

At the end of the movie, I'm sure it was said to mask the pain for spinel but she jokes about how 6000 years she could have did that on her head and  Yellow states 6000 years is nothing in response to spinel, showing diamonds/gems perceive time differently, to rose it could have been a month or so and after the diamonds were gone they could have gone for her after said ban was lifted, but it’s stated early on in S.U that they were heavily outmatched, a small army vs an armada of constantly advancing tect and gems. so rose could have been fighting this forever and that was probably her plan, she didn’t have perfect answers, perfect solutions. It’s always easy to say “why couldn’t you do this or that.”

One of my favorites was “why didn’t she poof and bubble spinel?” this person listed this as a better alternative as if they problem would be erased because s he’d be floating in a bubble never to be found or rescued instead of the possibility of her coming back after the war. (Let’s be real innocent spinel wouldn’t survive the war.) Plus again we’re forgetting that because of her protecting the earth life exist; this I cannot stress enough.

I like that rose isn’t a pristine, perfect paragon that has all the answers.

The wrap up-

And lastly, people keep saying that she intentionally left steven with her problems, she didn’t!

She created steven out of love, love was very important to her, and while she kept her secrets she very much cared for everyone she interacted with, she just didn’t have the perfect solutions nor the perfect ways to fix and help them.

Heck the diamonds didn’t even touch the earth since they blasted it till peridot went down there and found out there was life on the planet; Yellow didn’t even know till peridot contacted her. “There’s still life on that planet?” “I want that planet to die.” Pink was the only good one out of the whole bunch at the time.

Does it mean she’s perfect like the crystal gems thought? No one's perfect.

Did she have all the answers? No but the life she made was able to give the answer she couldn't. Like hints on a wall from past passersby in a maze, they can offer you a solution to a puzzle or a way you yourself didn’t have and so on to the next person.

And I’m sure rose probably felt the same way about steven.

“I always thought I might be bad now I know that it;s true’ cause I think you’re so good and I’m nothing like you.” I could be reading too much into that line however, but Rebecca stated that none of these characters are flawless but they aren’t 100% evil either.

And her best decision was having steven, well all know that.

Thank you for reading this all out and I hope it makes people consider Pink diamond’s character, I’m not saying you have to like her, but understand what rebecca’s going for in her portrayal of her characters.

thank you.

[dixielis]

An Interesting Turn of Events [4/?]

Pairing: Jotaro Kujo x Noriaki Kakyoin Summary: There were three things Jotaro Joestar was completely certain about: One. 80’s rock was the be-all end-all of music. Two. The movie Jaws wrongly portrayed sharks as evil and blood-thirsty, and he did not stand for it at all. Three. Being an alpha while also part of the Joestar-lineage was an absolute curse. Warnings: Omegaverse with omega!Kakyoin and alpha!Jotaro There is some underaged drinking in this chapter A/N: It’s party time - part 1!

Read on Ao3 here: LINK

Kakyoin was well aware that he was overthinking things. He tried telling himself that it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal as long as he didn’t do anything too outlandish. And if it against all odds did turn out disastrous he could just make up an excuse and slip away, it wasn’t like many people there would recognize him anyways. It should all be easy enough to pull off.

He stopped his pacing in front of his dresser. What should he even wear? Did people usually dress up for parties? Or would he then come off as if he was trying too hard? But it wouldn’t be any better to be too underdressed for the occasion either. It would probably not be a great impression to turn up in one of the oversized t-shirts depicting some obscure 90’s anime that he normally wore around the house.

After some evaluating he settled for a pair of dark green pants that he thought showed off his body nicely, and an off-white button up. Kakyoin regarded himself in the mirror. Did this work, or did he look to uptight? He unbuttoned one of the top buttons of his shirt, showing a bit more skin than he normally would. Before he could change his mind he quickly moved on to style his hair. He decided to put an extra bit of care into it, making sure that every piece was exactly where he wanted it to be.

He checked the time on his phone. The party should have started by now. His plan was to arrive when things were already in full swing, to not draw too much attention to himself. He might not know a lot about parties, but he knew that showing up too early wasn’t considered a good thing.

He went downstairs and said a quick goodbye to his parents, throwing on his signature green coat before walking out the door. He doublechecked that he had the correct address, and that he knew which roads to go down to get there. It was pretty close by, probably just a ten-minute walk or so.

******

The house was not what he had expected.

It was huge. Kakyoin wasn’t even sure if it should be classified as just a house. It reminded him much more of a mansion than anything else. He could hear the bass from the music mixed with various voices shouting all the way down the street. The party was clearly already in full swing.

Kakyoin hesitantly made his way closer, stepping through the open gate and making his way to the front door. He pressed the doorbell and stood there awkwardly as he waited for someone to open, unsure of what exactly to expect. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all.

The door swung open to reveal an alpha that had to be equally as tall and broad as Jotaro. He was however wearing quite revealing clothes that Jotaro would probably not even be caught dead in. His hair was also an absolute mess, standing in all possible directions.

He also reeked of alcohol, already seeming to have a difficult time just standing up straight.

“Hey! Who are you?” the alpha practically shouted at him, his voice easily overpowering the blasting music.

“I’m Noriaki Kakyoin” Kakyoin replied “Uh, Jotaro invited me?”

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked him up and down, seemingly scrutinizing him. His expression then completely flipped and he instead shot Kakyoin a wide grin.

“Right! Jotaro did say he was inviting someone! I’m Joseph by the way, one of Jotaro’s big brothers.” The alpha stepped aside and gestured for Kakyoin to step in through the doorway.

“Just leave your shoes and coat wherever, and feel free to explore! The only part of the house that is off limits is the basement, since some drunk managed to fall down the staircase and break a leg a few parties ago. But other than that, make yourself at home!”

Kakyoin looked around the room as Joseph talked. From their position he could see into both the kitchen and the living room, both of which seemed to be crammed with people, all laughing and drinking.

“Any idea where Jotaro might be?” Kakyoin asked, before Joseph could slip back to the party at hand.

“He usually hides somewhere in a corner” Joseph let out a laugh. “Just search through all potential hiding spots you see and I’m sure you’ll find him eventually. But now if you excuse me, I have some mingling to do” Joseph gave him a slight pat on the shoulder and a quick smile, before he turned and walked over into the kitchen, immediately inserting himself into whatever conversation was currently happening.

Kakyoin decided to start looking around for any familiar faces. Most of the partygoers seemed to be a year or two older than him. While he could recognize some from passing them in a hallway once or twice, he didn’t spot anyone he actually knew. Which shouldn’t be very surprising, since his social circle was extremely limited.

He started weaving through the sea of moving bodies as he began his search for Jotaro. His senses were starting to get overwhelmed by the mixture of loud noises, unpredictable movements, and the many different scents coming off omegas, betas and alphas alike from all around him. He felt like he was slowly starting to suffocate.

That was when he spotted silvery hair, styled to stand straight upwards and towering over the majority of the partygoer’s heads. He recognized it as that of Jotaro’s friend Polnareff, who he had briefly met the other day. Kakyoin began elbowing his way towards him. Hopefully Jotaro would be somewhere nearby.

Then Kakyoin stopped dead in his tracks.

He almost didn’t recognize him at first. Jotaro wasn’t wearing either his signature hat or his coat. Instead he was sporting a tightly fitted t-shirt that left little to the imagination and which showed off the bulk of his arms. His hair had been slicked backwards, with a few pieces hanging freely to give it a bit more of his signature messy look.

God he looked gorgeous.

Some time during Kakyoin’s staring Jotaro had noticed him from across the room. He gave him a slight nod, which Kakyoin returned with a hesitant smile. He watched as Jotaro said a few words to Polnareff and Avdol before heading over in his direction.

Kakyoin’s mouth felt unnaturally dry as he straightened his back and tried to look like he felt more comfortable in the crowd than he actually was. He noticed that Avdol and Polnareff had huddled close together, and were watching him with matching grins, their arms crossed across their chests. Kakyoin’s face flushed as he quickly returned his gaze to Jotaro just as he stopped in front of him.

“Hey, you came”

“Of course” Kakyoin almost had to shout to not be drowned out by the commotion around them. “How are you doing?”

“I’m alright” Jotaro said and gestured towards the back of the room, beckoning for Kakyoin to follow him. The other partygoers were quick to get out of their way when they noticed Jotaro. He did seem to have quite the reputation even among his older peers. Kakyoin let out a slight sigh of relief as the two of them were finally far enough away that Kakyoin could hear himself think again.

“You look nice” Jotaro commented, his eyes fixed firmly on the floor where he was playing with the edge of the carpet. Kakyoin let out a small smile in reply.

“You too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your hat before” he teased. Jotaro finally lifted his gaze and directed it towards Kakyoin as he ran a hand through his dark locks.

“Jonathan refuses to let me wear it inside the house”

“And you do what he says? I thought you were supposed to be a delinquent”

Jotaro just shrugged in response. “I’m not really, it’s just other people that make me out to be that way”

Kakyoin pondered over his answer for a moment. “That’s true, a real delinquent would never pick Squirtle over Charmander”

Jotaro let out a slight snort. “And why is that?”

“He’s simply too cute! Only uncool people would pick Squirtle. Cool people would definitely always pick the fire-starter”

“You calling me uncool?” Jotaro crossed his arms and looked slightly amused.

“You made it your mission to collect Marills, Jotaro, it is literally a fat, happy mouse with cutesy eyes”

“…Fair enough” Jotaro paused for a moment. “But I doubt that any cool people actually play Pokémon in the first place”

“Rude!” Kakyoin exclaimed as he playfully elbowed Jotaro in the side, before bursting into laughter, with Jotaro soon joining him.

Kakyoin was surprised by how easy it was to talk to Jotaro. Even though he seemed intimidating at first glance he was a huge dork at heart. And the more they talked, the more of it surfaced. So they stood there, in the back of Jotaro’s living room, discussing everything from collage plans to what the meaning of life was, for what seemed like hours.

Their environment had gotten more and more rowdy as the night went on. A few people had collapsed black-out drunk while others were still staggering about, talking loudly among themselves.

Kakyoin’s attention was brought towards Polnareff as he suddenly stumbled past them, only to collapse and throw up all over the living room floor. Kakyoin’s face scrunched up in disgust and Jotaro followed his gaze. He let out a loud groan as he noticed the Frenchman lying face down on the floor.

“Fucking shit, not again”

“Is this a common occurrence?” Kakyoin asked, slightly amused by the clear exasperations in Jotaro’s voice.

“You could say that. I’ll be right back, if I don’t deal with this Joseph is going to murder me” Jotaro said as he gestured Avdol over. The two of them quickly scooped up Polnareff by each arm and practically dragged him out through the back door and onto the porch. Kakyoin could hear the two of them loudly cursing Polnareff out as they did so.

Kakyoin had a feeling that this would probably take a while, and decided that the most logical course of actions would be to walk around for a bit as he waited for Jotaro to return. His legs had gotten stiff from having stood still leaned up against the wall for the last hour.

Loud cheering brought his attention towards the kitchen. A significant group of people had gathered around the kitchen table, where an intense game of beer pong seemed to be going down. He recognized one of the men playing to be Jotaro’s older brother Joseph, who had Caesar standing right beside him, egging him on. Joseph was currently yelling loudly, clearly drunk, while showing several crude gestures towards a very muscular and very shirtless man with long, dark hair stood at the other edge of the table.

“Kakyoin!” Caesar seemed to have spotted him, as he was excitedly gesturing for him to move closer.

“What exactly is going on here?” Kakyoin stumbled slightly as Caesar gave him a hug, basically clinging on to him for dear life.

“Some typical alpha-behaviour bullshit. Something like this always goes down when these pieces of shits get drunk. Fighting for dominance or whatever the fuck it is they are doing” Caesar let out a triumphant shout as Joseph scored, throwing his arms up in the air and almost falling to the ground as Joseph practically jumped on top of him in excitement.

“Guess who is the winner winner chicken dinner this time! Fucking eat shit, Kars”

Kakyoin was close to being crushed as the cheering duo threw one arm each across his shoulders, jumping up and down. The other alpha, apparently named Kars, looked about ready to leap over the table and beat Joseph into the ground.

“There is only one big boy in this house and that is ME” Joseph exclaimed before hurrying over to sink and emptying his stomach’s content in it. Caesar snorted loudly.

“You’re so fucking disgusting, Jojo” Caesar elbowed Kakyoin in his side. “Tell him, Kakyoin”

“You are disgusting, Jojo” Kakyoin repeated. Caesar howled in laughter as Joseph stumbled over to them again.

“You are both extremely right, so I won’t- ooh it’s Jo-ta-ro!” Joseph interrupted himself as Jotaro  indeed came walking up to the group.

“Polnareff threw up on the carpet”

“NO!” Joseph practically screamed at him.

“I took care of it. You have any beer?” Joseph simply gestured towards the fridge, while he began a long rant about how the French were utterly untrustworthy and should not be invited anywhere. He mixed up several historical events in his rant, but Kakyoin did not have the energy to even think about correcting him. Jotaro soon returned with an open beer in his hand, slinking in between Joseph and Kakyoin.

“My brother bothering you?” he asked as he took a long sip.

“Not really. What did you do with Polnareff?”

“We normally just leave him to sleep it off outside whenever he does that.” Jotaro shook his head slightly. “It’s the fourth time it’s happened by now”

“Polnareff is a danger to society, you should watch out for him, redhead-boy” Joseph chipped in a little too loudly, leaning heavily on Jotaro’s shoulder.

“He has a name, you know” Jotaro commented as he tried to shake Joseph off of his shoulder.

“Hey, Jotarooo, why didn’t you tell me you made a new friend?” Joseph looked close to crying at the apparent betrayal of not knowing every single little thing about Jotaro’s private life. His expression suddenly shifted as his eyes lit up.

“Or is he you boyfrie-“ he got interrupted as Jotaro quickly shoved him off his own shoulder, and onto Caesar instead.

“You’re fucking wasted Jojo” Caesar commented as he struggled to hold the alpha up.

“Hey Caesarino, let’s go beat Kars up!”

“Oh fuck yeah, I’ll back you up so hard!”

The two men wobbled towards the still half-naked Kars, leaving Jotaro and Kakyoin alone once again.

Kakyoin let out a nervous chuckle, as he tried not to ponder over the fact that Joseph had just initiatied that him and Jotaro were a couple.

“Your brother sure is something, huh”

Jotaro let out a huff of breath and gulped down more off his beer. “He is. You want anything to drink?”

“Sure” Kakyoin shrugged. “What do you have?”

Jotaro gestured towards the fridge. “Anything and everything, just grab whatever you like. I’m gonna bring some water over to Polnareff real quick, don’t want him to end up dying out there”

As Jotaro ventured out of the room Kakyoin rummaged through the fridge for anything remotely drinkable. He found himself gravitating towards a mostly full bottle of cherry liquor. He grabbed it and took a big gulp. While it was nowhere near good, it wasn’t the worst thing he had ever tasted. It would have to do.

Bottle in hand he ventured out of the kitchen, and almost crashed into a stranger in the hallway. The boy was slightly taller than Kakyoin, his hair styled into an impressive pompadour. Clasped in his hands were a large bag of McDonald’s.

“I was never here” the boy said in a serious tone before quickly making his way up the stairs before Kakyoin hadn’t even had enough time to blink.

Kakyoin guessed that he must be another one of Jotaro’s siblings, and simply settled for taking another sip of the liquor. It was getting easier to get down the more he drank, his mouth numbing from the slight burn of the alcohol.

The living room was still just as packed as it had been before. A mass of people were engaging in some kind of drunken dancing, while others had started to strip of their clothes, while making out with the closest willing person. The mixture of lust and both alpha and omega pheromones made Kakyoin slightly dizzy, and he once again felt completely out of place.

He decided to simply stick to himself and keep drinking as he watched the people dancing, while trying to block out the overwhelming scents and occasional moaning. His heat must be getting close, he wasn’t normally so bothered by public displays of affection. He instead focused on his liquor, gulping it down a lot faster than he probably should.

Before he knew it his eyes started having trouble focusing and his footing began to feel unstable. Everything around him felt as though he was experiencing it through a muddled filter. But at least the various scents and noises were a lot easier to handle now.

Kakyoin was busy trying to figure out if the couch was indeed moving or not, when a hand wafted in front of his eyes, bringing him back to reality.

“You drunk?” He recognized the voice to be Jotaro’s. Kakyoin grinned from ear to ear as he met his gaze.

“A little bit, maybe, perhaps” He shook the bottle to make a point, but discovered that it was now completely empty.

“oh” he said disappointedly. “You have any more of this stuff?” he asked as he waved the bottle in Jotaro’s face. Jotaro’s hand grabbed a hold of his briefly as he took the bottle out of his hand, setting it down on the table next to the.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink for tonight. Let’s get you out for some air” Jotaro said with a slight smile. Kakyoin pouted at him and shook his head.

“Don’t wannaaa” he whined loudly. Jotaro’s hand came to rest at the low of his back and Kakyoin’s mind was racing at the feeling of the Alpha’s strong yet gentle hand upon his body. Maybe drinking so much hadn’t been the best idea after all.

“C’mon” Jotaro said and gave a gentle push, leading Kakyoin through the sea of people and towards the back door.

The air outside was not as cold as he thought it would be. The alcohol was most likely what he should be thanking for that. Polnareff still laid stretched across the porch, covered in a blanket and snoring loudly.

Jotaro held Kakyoin steady as he uncoordinatedly sat down on the steps to the porch, Jotaro soon sitting down beside him.

“Are you cold at all?”

Kakyoin shook his head. “Nope, quite the opposite actually”

Kakyoin closed his eyes as he listened to the music coming from inside the house. His head was still spinning slightly, but his hormones seemed to have calmed down. He was now feeling more tired than anything. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments.

“You have a beautiful home” Kakyoin commented, while he tried to refrain from swaying from side to side.

“Thanks. It’s been in the family for generations. Kind of a family heirloom at this point”

“Feels sort of risky to hold huge parties like this one if that’s the case”

“Joseph insists on having them. And they go without any major incidents most of the time anyways”

“Your parents don’t mind?”

Jotaro was silent for a minute and turned his gaze towards the ground. Kakyoin immediately got the feeling that he had said something he shouldn’t have.

“They can’t. They’re both dead” Jotaro’s voice was just loud enough for Kakyoin to make out the words.

Kakyoin opened and closed his mouth a few times as he tried to come up with anything to say.

“I- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up”

“s’alright, you didn’t know” Jotaro said, his voice having turned back to its original tone. His eyes however still had a tinge of sadness to them. His scent had turned slightly sour, something that only happened when someone felt distressed.

Before Kakyoin’s drunken mind had time to process what was happening, his inner omega had already reacted to the saddened pheromones wafting off the alpha, with Kakyoin’s head coming down onto Jotaro’s shoulder and nuzzling into him. It was an attempt at soothing the negative feelings that Jotaro was experiencing.

Both Jotaro and Kakyoin froze at the unexpected and unplanned contact.

“Oh!” Kakyoin exclaimed as he quickly withdrew from the other. “Sorry, my omega can make me act a bit spontaneously at times. It could sense some negative feelings and it just kind of… acted on its own”. He carefully avoided Jotaro’s eyes as he started twiddling with his own thumbs.

Jotaro stayed silent. Kakyoin could feel the embarrassment building inside himself. Stupid omegas always trying to comfort even when it wasn’t even wanted.

An arm looping around his shoulders brought him back to the present. His head once again fell to Jotaro’s shoulder as he was brought even closer, their bodies now fully pressed up against each other. Jotaro’s cheek rested against the top of his head, nuzzling into him slightly.

“Jotaro, it’s all right, you don’t have to-“

“I want to” Jotaro’s voice cut him off mid-sentence. “I think… I think I need this. Could we just stay like this for a while?” his voice was once again barely audible as it was mumbled into Kakyoin’s hair. Kakyoin could feel himself getting goose bumps at the combined feeling of Jotaro’s voice so close to him at the same time as his warm breath was hitting against his bare skin.

“Of course” Kakyoin managed to get out, voice barely more than a whisper. He closed his eyes as his body relaxed against Jotaro’s.

He couldn’t explain why, but he felt happy and safe in Jotaro’s strong but gentle presence. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking. Or maybe there was something else that could explain the warm feeling spreading through him like wildfire. Kakyoin couldn’t quite hold back the smile that broke out onto his face. He stifled back a yawn, his previous tiredness returning.

“I might fall asleep if we stay like this” Kakyoin mumbled, but stayed put against the alpha’s shoulder. Jotaro let out a slight huff of laughter.

“That’s alright. I’ve got you”

Those were the last words Kakyoin heard before he was lulled into sleep, with the slight smile still present on his lips.

[thewriterofmanythings]

Happy Endings

Day 4 of Widojest Week- Fairytale

Jester wants all her friends to find happy endings but confides in Caleb that she worries it might not be possible.

Probably the shortest of my works, at least for now. You can also read it on AO3. Thanks again to @3fling for the amazing support and friendship!

“Caleb, do you think fairytales are real?”

The camp was quiet, all of the Mighty Nein resting underneath Caleb’s dome. Jester and Caleb had taken the last watch for the night as they made their way through the woods. It had been a quiet couple of hours so far, only the occasionally rustle from the nearby trees as nocturnal animals hunted their prey. Caleb had spent his time practicing some of the somatic components of his spells while Jester had been focused on a book she had picked up in the last town, taking the time to doodle in the margins of the pages here and there.

“I do not know Jester. I think most stories do have a basis in reality, ya. So perhaps what you are reading is at least partially true.”

“No, I mean…” Jester paused here, sticking her tongue out and concentrating on one specific part of the doodle in the corner of the page. “Like all these fairytales are really similar. They have someone who has to face a great evil and then they outwit the person or the monster, and then there’s usually like a kiss or something at the end and everything ends up happily ever after, you know.”

Caleb let the silence linger, mulling over what Jester was trying to ask. The tiefling sat next to him, unmoving except for the corner of the page she was gently rubbing between her thumb and index finger. There was no tension, but the silence felt weighted, like an anchor starting to sink into the undiscovered depths of the ocean.

“I guess what I’m trying to ask Caleb is… do you think things will really turn out okay? Do you think we’ll all get to have a happy ending?”

Jester wasn’t looking at him, but he could tell how seriously she was contemplating the question. Caleb knew if she refused to make eye contact with someone she was trying to hide how much she was feeling, especially when she was in pain. Her head was tilted to strategically allow her hair to shield her eyes.

“Well Jester, that is a complicated question to be sure. I do not know if I have an answer…” He stared at her, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t break her heart. Despite how she sometimes presented herself to the world, deep down Jester was inexperienced. He hated the word naive; Jester knew about a lot of things naive people didn’t, but she hadn’t actually experienced so much of life due to her mother’s agoraphobia and desire to protect her daughter. Every day on her journey with the Mighty Nein Jester learned a little bit more, lost a bit more of her cheeriness. But she tried so hard to never lose her smile, to not let what was happening around them dampen her spirit, and Caleb adored that about her.

“Molly didn’t get a happy ending.”

The words cut like a knife across Caleb’s heart. He knew how hard Mollymauk’s death had hit Jester; if only she had been there, if only she had had a diamond, maybe he would still be here with them. Their brother in arms, her fellow tiefling, killed while trying to save Jester and the others and she never even got to say goodbye. Time had begun to heal Caleb’s wounds, but the scars on Jester’s heart were still fresh.

“Ya, Mollymauk did not get his happy ending…” Caleb paused, choosing the next words carefully. “But he died a hero. He was trying to save you, and Fjord and Yasha. Sometimes in fairytales heroes have tooooo, uh, sacrifice things for what they believe in.”

“But he died because of me. What if that makes me the bad guy?”

Caleb’s mind reeled from the words coming out of Jester’s mouth. The thought that this woman, the heart and soul of the entire Mighty Nein, could even consider herself a villain in someone’s story was outlandish.

“Jester, what are you even talking about?”

The tiefling sighed, setting the book down in her lap but still looking straight ahead. “I just want everyone to get a happy ending Caleb. I don’t want to get in the way of anyone’s fairytale.”

“Jester, I…” Caleb could feel tears welling up in his eyes and a raging fire began to burn in his chest. He wanted to burn the world that had made her feel this way, force it to be sorry for breaking her spirit and give back all the hope it had taken from her. But he knew Jester would never want that, would never be okay with it, so he took a deep breath and waited before finishing his answer.

“Jester, you will never get in the way of anyone’s fairytale. I know you blame yourself for Mollymauk’s death but he would never have wanted you to think that way. None of us could ever think of you that way either.” He paused again, contemplating the possible gestures of physical comfort he could express before settling on a hand resting gently on her wrist. “I cannot promise you that we will all find our fairytale ending, but I can assure you that none of us will ever blame you for it. It is up to each of us to be the hero of our own story, ya?”

“Thank you Caleb,” Jester said. She was silent for a moment, and Caleb thought he had made things worse, but then she dropped her book into her lap and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I hope you find your happy ending, Caleb.”

Caleb gently tilted his head to the side until it was gently resting against Jester. He wanted to tell her so badly what he had imagined a million times-his happy ending was with her, the two of them together, eating pastries and reading books on a rainy day. But he knew he could never tell her that. Instead he would enjoy this precious moment here in their little corner of the world, just existing with her so close to him, a little glimpse of his fairytale.

[foxydivaxx]

Bad Blood Chapter 1

Originally, this was meant to be connected to Young Justice: Demigods Arising but I have decided to tweak it a bit and make it the true Demigods Arising story of sorts. This is connected to the Osiris fic and whilst it is kinda Cassie-centric, it also focuses on other characters too. 

"Any news about Cassie?"

"Nah. No one has found her yet."

Tim sighs. It has been a month since Cassie disappeared after her humiliating defeat to Vanessa for the Wonder Girl title. Part of her regrets that decision to have said duel take place. She made that decision not considering what Cassie was going through then. The poor girl lost her then boyfriend Conner Kent and later got dumped by him. Sure, Conner returned but their relationship soon turned toxic to the point where the two engaged in a physical altercation in the School Hall that caused Cassie to get suspended for two weeks. As a result of this, Diana decided to punish her not taking into consideration Cassie’s physical and mental exhaustion at that point. According to Tatiana, Cassie overtrained herself and that led to Cassie’s humiliating defeat.

And now it is too late, Cassie has gone and would never return and if she ever returns, the girl would have joined the Dark Side which should not surprise anyone given her heritage and the negative influence of people like Ares. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cassie's younger twin sister Tatiana also followed suit. 

Adding more to the Cassie mystery is that she immediately deleted all her social media accounts on the same day as her defeat. That alone alarmed everyone as it is a well-known fact that Cassie loved taking selfies and playing around on social media and often talks to fans on there. But now that her presence is no longer felt, many began to panic, feeling that the poor girl might have committed suicide. This naturally led to the #JusticeForCassie campaign and #WonderWomanCancelled movement.

Please let Cassie not be dead.

Meanwhile in her room, Barbara was going through some files that she managed to dig up about HIVE case. So far she had managed to find some leads. Heck she can even say that she is far more competent and smarter than the entire Team as they are all a bunch of little kids. What was Batman thinking of putting little kids on a superhero team? Ok they are young kids, but they still could qualify for a wannabe superhero team since they all wear stupid outlandish costumes and use silly codenames, themselves and the so-called adults that call themselves Justice League. Seriously, what the fuck is that fucked up shit? Worst of the bunch as far as she is concerned is none other than Wonder Woman's little sidekick Cassie Sandsmark better known as Wonder Girl.

That girl is such a tragic trainwreck and a bitch. What did Tim and Conner ever see in her? What really pisses her off about the brat is that the girl reminds her of the stupid alien that Dick dated years ago. What was her name again? Oh yes Starfire. More like Hofire. Both of them are disgustingly beautiful. Starfire is a bit better because at least she can kick some ass. Cassie is completely useless that one forgets that she is supposed to be a fucking demigoddess yet someone like Damian can whoop her ass. She should even be able to go toe to toe with Supergirl and give her a nasty beatdown but nope, she gets her ass handed to her. Plus she dared to steal her Dickie from her.

Where did Diana find this child again? Oh yes, Diana did not find her instead the child fucking inserted herself into the Wonder Woman narrative just like Damian forced his way into the Robin title and never once earned nor deserved a single shit till recently. When will those brats learn? No wonder some people wished for Vanessa to take over as Wonder Girl. Ironically said girl is now Wonder Girl now how hilarious.

And alas, poor Cassie has disappeared and is nowhere to be seen. Well GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE! Barbara cackles evilly as she still plays around on her system.

Meanwhile at Gateway city, Tatiana was in her room with tears in her eyes whilst Donna comforts her. Cassie disappeared immediately after that defeat. One could understand why because that sort of defeat is very humiliating especially when the very girl that caused most of the unneeded drama in your life is responsible for it.

Making matters worse is the fact that many thought that Cassie was an irresponsible person and therefore unworthy to be Wonder Girl. This has been an ongoing debate for the past couple years. Sure Cassie has a temper but she can actually control said temper for the most part. The only reason that said rage has become more pronounced is as a result of Ares’ evil manipulation of his sister; something Diana and Zeus himself warned Cassie about. 

Cassie naturally took the bait since she had lost her powers during that time, not like anyone could blame her. Still the fact that many people bashed her for this, Diana included was horrible. Now after years of hypocrisy on the side of the heroes, no one should be surprised if Cassie suddenly and openly denounces them and exposes all their secrets or even goes all Superboy Prime on them or worse commit suicide.

Donna sighed. Sure Cassie has some shortcomings but Diana herself is a hypocrite, in fact everyone has been hypocritical when it comes to Cassie. A lot of the criticism being leveled upon the girl might as well be applied to other heroes as well like Conner or Tim for instance.

Ironically said hypocrisy has been thrown at Amon aka Osiris several times which is why said boy has distanced himself from the superhero community recently. Black Adam openly lambasted the League and everyone else for that and rightfully so. 

I hope you find happiness and peace Cassie. 

Just then Donna’s phone rings. She checks the phone and discovers that it is Kori calling her. She then answers the call. “Hi Kori.”

“Donna....you have to come down here quick!!”

A couple miles in New York, Cassie is standing on top of a rooftop, preparing to throw herself down and commit suicide. Now one would find it laughable since she is meant to be a demigoddess, until they realize one disturbing detailing: Cassie lost her powers yet again during the duel and has remained powerless ever since.

The rest of the Team bursts through the door. “CASSIE DON’T!!” Conner shouts. Cassie turns around with tears in her eyes. The others begin to feel guilty for making her feel that way.

“There is nothing left for me here. You have all made it clear that I do not belong here. So why waste my time when I can just elsewhere and find peace. Heck even Hell is more peaceful than here. I cannot stay with the gods because of they are going through their own drama and are killing each other anyway.” 

She takes a couple steps back. “Cassie I understand why you are mad at us and you have every right to hate us. But I want you to know that there are people that still love you regardless.” Kori says in the most gentle way possible.

It was at that moment that Cassie literally explodes. “LIES!! PURE UTTER LIES!! IF YOU ALL REALLY CARED, YOU WOULD HAVE ALLOWED ME TO PROPERLY EXPLAINED MYSELF!! YOU WOULD NOT HAVE ENCOURAGED TIM OR ANYONE TO BE ABUSIVE TO ME!!! YOU WOULD HAVE STOPPED BABS WHEN YOU SPREAD HER FILTHY GOSSIP ABOUT ME AND ALL OF YOU JOINED IN TO SLUTSHAME ME FOR YOUR PLEASURE!! YOU ARE AS BAD AS THE MEDIA!! PURE UTTER HYPOCRITES WHO ONLY CARE ABOUT HOOTING THEIR HORNS!! NOW I CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE LIKE JASON TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HUMANITY AND CHOSE TO DO HARDCORE JUSTICE!! YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE VERY FOOLS WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FROM YEARS!!”

Everyone keeps quiet. Cassie clearly had been waiting for this moment and she has now gotten an audience. “Oh and speaking of failures, how many times have we been supposedly, not I used supposedly in quotation marks here because that shows how stupid you all are, were ahead of the bad guys only for them to outsmart us and somehow win?”

Dick and Kaldur exchange looks. “You know, had it not been for my father, I would have rotted in jail. Oh and special shoutout to the Black Adam family, the only family that ever truly cared about me. Plus of course Donna and Tatiana. The rest of you can go fuck yourselves and leave me be!!” She turns her back to them and ignores them as she walks over to the edge.

“Cassie wait...”

She stops and turns around as Vanessa walks in. “Cassie, listen I know you are mad. If you want to lash out. Take it out on me.” she says calmly, hands raised. Before anyone could say anything, Cassie stomps towards her so-called rival and aims a punch at Vanessa who does nothing to stop her.

Fortunately for her, Cassie stops mid-punch and drops to her knees and begins to break down in tears. Vanessa bends down and hugs her predecessor. “Listen Cass. No matter what anyone else says, you will always be Wonder Girl. In fact you are way better than I am. I do not like the great divide that Diana has created. There are other ways this could have been done.” she says. Cassie simply sobs, feeling very bad for lashing out.

“I...I’m so sorry...”

Vanessa smiles softly. “You do not have to apologise. We are both victims in this. Besides, I told Diana that I quit.” Cassie stares at her in disbelief. ”You did not have to.”

“Yet I did.”

Cassie shakes her head. “No. You remain Wonder Girl.” Cassie then smiles. “Besides, you earned it anyways.” Vanessa giggles and hugs her back. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief.

Osiris who had just arrived makes a slow descent next to them. “Cass, I understand you hate everyone and whatnot but if you throw yourself down there, chances are you might end up worse than Todd the moment they choose to bring you back from the dead. Or if you choose down a dark path now, you might end up the way Adam did years ago.”

The girl simply nods. “ I might as well go clear my mind of things for a while.”

He comes closer to her. “You know, you could have simply asked and I would gladly take you home with me so that you can get some breathing space since quite frankly, you need some of that.’ She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Let’s go.’ She wraps her arms around his neck with him wrapping his arms aorund her securely and together they fly away.

“Wait....that was it?“ says Garfield, earning a smack across the head from Raven. “Oww!!” he grumbles. Tim meanwhile stares up at the sky with jealousy in his eyes which is funny considering his relationship with Stephanie. 

So she has choosen him hm? This whole shit was a setup to make that announcement.