#now this could be funny or concerning based on how much time a trial actually takes

[pocketramblr]

fae court but it's a legal court, changelings are fae they leave in place of human jurors during the trial because it's the best way to prevent the trial from just becoming a bunch of fairies trying to one up the best bargain for their vote with the accused

[okthatsgreat]

Is it alright to ask how you think your DnD ocs would do in a Danganronpa killing game?

ABSOLUTELYYY IT IS???? WAITTT HOLD ON THATS SO FUNNY

also:

IM GONNA TRY GIVING THEM CHARACTER ARCS BASED ON IF THEY WERE IN DANGANRONPA RATHER THAN THEIR UNIVERSES which means they all will be starting out acting like they did when they first started the campaign. rather than dropping them into danganronpa with their "current" personalities (after a bunch of arcs). if that makes any sense :)

elese: HONESTLY I CAN SEE HER IN QUITE A FEW ROLES HERE but i think the one that makes the most amount of sense (UNFORTUNATELY) is the first victim LMFAOOO. she is REMARKABLY scared and really ill prepared but early-campaign elese will always try to shove herself into a leadership position no matter what and i think that still applies here. her charm is all shes got going for her and i definitely think that a situation like this would instantly bring out the worst qualities of her in relation to that charm, meaning she would be reallyyyyy pushy with enforcing curfews and be pretty petty with how she (and those who follow her) treats "rule-breakers". seeking any sort of power in a situation like this will ease her fears, she probably feels entitled to HAVE that type of influence over her class bc of how she was raised, and honestly she can be very convincing when she tries lmaoo. she still makes friends, and underneath all of that she's just scared as fuckkkkk, but pushing herself to the front like that would attract a lot of negative attention and she'd definitely be an early kill!! could possibly see chapter 1 blackened?? but most likely victim

finnea: i think out of this entire list finnea is the most likely survivor to me..... honestly could be a byakuya style antagonist survivor. I CAN JUST SEE HER ARC SO CLEARLY YKNOW?? verrryyy cagey at first but insanely cunning and has a way with her words. even if you dont like how shes going about things shes able to weave it in a way where YOU are even MORE in the wrong. finnea is somebody thirsty for control over her life, as well as being somebody who never expected to live long in the first place, which is an AWESOME combo to have going in. doesnt fear death, hardly thinks of how her actions will effect anybody but herself in the long run, fucks up trials and investigations so bad and makes everybody sooooo pissed at each other. AND she keeps flirting with you so now youre even MORE confused. but ultimately she would learn the harddd way that closing yourself off to everybody sucks bad and that she really did care for these people enough to TRY to NOT BE A DICK! ultimate saleswoman gotta be

nowhere: hmmmmmm honestly im thinking blackened here.... ACTUALLY BECAUSE SHES BUFF CHAPTER 4 BLACKENED LMAO. i can see her starting out as somebody pretty self-centered and only concerned with keeping herself alive, which means despite being one of the strongest people there she reallyyyy doesnt help out much lmao. very quick to start playing the game ruthlessly and doesnt spend much time trying to be chummy, mostly out of self-preservation but also bc its just hard to make friends lol. its also similarly difficult to get people to trust her in the first place because of how physically imposing she tends to be (and LOUD) which means those first few chapters suuuuuuuuuck!!!! but i really think it makes the most sense to end her character arc with this big heroic sacrifice gundham tanaka style. ultimate bodyguard would be very funny considering how LITTLE she fucking bodyguards in that game, and it could get revealed a little bit in the game that she actually bodyguards some pretty shitty people lol

null: bc its danganronpa chapter 3 blackened lmao. sorry to null but it is not escaping the dr serial killer trope. this is somebody who is extremely off-putting from the jump, scattered memories, no physical boundaries and just all around kinda creepy with it. theyre not intentionally closed off to others as much as theyre just a bit unsettling, however once people start getting used to her she does start making friends and offering comfort where she can without imposing much about her own religion. then that goes STRAIGHT out the window when it kills two people LMAO. ultimate priest/chaplain that is revealed to be secretly worshipping a death god 3/4s into the third trial

ordelia: hmm im actually not too sure?? ordelia is somebody that starts with a very strong moral compass and an incredible devotion to others (more specifically to one person, guardian angel style) so it is hard seeing a world where she lives just because its a bit harder to go through her whole "actually waitttt my authority figure sucks and i need to think for myself" arc in a danganronpa universe LMAO. honestly??? could be the traitor. agreed to help the mastermind in order to protect somebody and grows to really like everybody there (oops!!!). could even be sent BY the mastermind to go protect somebody and facilitate the game only to understand how little power she actually has and grow to resent it. chapter 4 victim sakura style?? literally no clue what her ultimate could be LMAO nowhere is already the bodyguard and also that title doesnt really fit her Ummm. dont want to make her a cop either soooooooo ultimate bounty hunter? who is very specific about who she takes down

tinni: shes either making it out of there as the survivor no fan likes or dying as the second victim in the chapter 3 trial who doesnt get a whole lot of fanfare BGHFD. so sorry to her but not only is she the worlds most scared animal she is also not sworn to any sort of oath which means a lot of the more interesting elements about her (ie her self-sacrificial nature to those she thinks she is sworn to protect, her immediate hostility to those who are "outsiders", etc) just wont appear a whole lot. but she is somebody who is very patriotic, raised in a military family, and has some weird ass views about what her life means!! shes just SOO scared. ultimate night guard

veil: urmrmmmmmm. this is a girl created to be manipulated and then die so immediately NOT LOOKING GOOD! chapter 3 victim orrrr i could see her getting pushed into taking the kill for somebody. as in a trusted authority figure who definitely stabbed a guy tells her to take the knife out of his chest which makes veil the killer on technicality. she's moody but a TOTAL POSER, tries to act real tough but is just really insecure and reaching towards any sort of guiding hand she can find. definitely unsettles quite a lot of people because she mistakes her fear as excitement a lotttt and gets really giggly at all the murder, but do not get her wrong she is SCARED!! and she definitely will NOT be laughing during her trial that is for sure. she says shes the "ultimate punk artist" and refuses to tell you what her actual ultimate is because she changed genres and really wants you to know that

[sergeantsporks]

Thinking about how Hollow Mind was the first time Luz ever saw a Hunter/Belos interaction. We, as the audience, are already used to the way Belos treats Hunter, so it didn’t come as a surprise. But Luz?

Aside from a few concerning comments about the emperor not being a merciful man (which could be assumed to JUST be applying to criminals, surely he wouldn’t be like that with his own guys), his general stress levels, and the fact that he’s a child soldier, Luz never really... had any indication that Belos was actively malicious towards Hunter. And let’s face it, Luz isn’t going to think too hard about Hunter being a child soldier, SHE’S doing crazy, dangerous stuff, and he’s actually older than her. It’s fine. Sure, Belos might be putting pressure on Hunter to do well, but that’s just how the emperor’s coven IS, she has no indication that Hunter is being physically abused by Belos, or even necessarily that he’s being emotionally abused besides the immense pressure and expectations.

Amity got a better grasp on the emotional abuse, she was able to recognize that “Hey! Hunter’s got some messed up stuff going on in his life!” but you know what? She’s still staying with her parents! While she advised him to find a support system, she doesn’t know that he’s not physically safe. Emotional abuse is just as bad, but Amity is sticking it out. She’s staying with her parents, who, as far as we know, she is physically safe with. The exception there is Escaping Expulsion, of course, but Amity could have left that fight at any point. The abomaton was after Luz. And none of the other shows every put her in any danger. So while she might note that Hunter’s not okay mentally/emotionally, she doesn’t know the FULL extent of what Belos is up to.

Gus and Willow got a better look at the physically abusive side based on the comments Hunter made on the trials he had to go through, but that doesn’t point to BELOS. That’s just messed up emperor’s coven stuff, and maybe Belos is the one who put all those trials in place, but it’s still general. No thought that Belos would single Hunter out specifically.

All that to say, Hollow Mind is the first time ANYONE other than the audience got a good look at what Hunter’s home life is really like. And there’s an IMMEDIATE tone shift. The first interaction Luz ever sees between Hunter and Belos is Belos snatching the key, making him actively flinch like he’s bracing himself for worse, then snapping at him. And everything changes. She was just trying to convince him that Belos was evil before, and despite the Horrors, it was still kind of... lighthearted. Teasing. Obviously the whole “Oh, man, I thought you were going to kill him” “nah, not for now” thing was concerning, too, but that moment was a shocker for her. A real dose of “Oh, our interactions aren’t just a funny little back and forth to him. Me tackling him in the middle of a mission, the fact that he let the Emerald Entrails go, all that is serious. This has active consequences for him.” She legitimately didn’t know what Hunter was going through. And then the moment she did, there’s an active shift in how she interacts with him. The teasing dropped. She offered him a place to stay. She started actively defending him. Trying to save him from getting sucked down into Belos’ mindscape, yelling at Kiki to back off, warning her friends not to “scare him off,” Everything changed for her the moment she saw how Belos treated Hunter. Sure, they still have a kind of “annoying each other relationship,” and she doesn’t have to worry so much about those active consequences now that Hunter’s away from Belos, but there’s definitely a gentler undertone to the way they interact now.

[ptergwen]

If you do smut can you do like stark!reader x peter parker (spiderman) are dating 3-4 month and y/n and peter had their very fluff first time then next morning y/n has hickies all over her neck and her thights stomach... and tony/ her dad sees it and is confronting them with it😂 i love your stories 🤤

just saying hi

w/c: 2.5k

warnings: veryyyy suggestive, swearing, some pretty embarrassing moments

a/n: thank you babe! i didn’t write the actual smut but y’all can guess what happened 😭 also this is super long i couldn’t help myself

-

it was everything. it was everything you ever wanted your first time to be and more.

you’d brought up to peter during a make out session one night that you were ready to go farther than you two already have. there was one base you didn’t hit yet. the fourth, the final. you were thinking about it for a while before that, and peter would be lying if he said he didn’t.

your love has always been physical, whether it’s you kissing peter’s cuts after a mission or him tracing hearts on you with his fingers. there’s also the more sexual side of things. that part, you both enjoy just as much, maybe even a little more because you know exactly how to make each other feel good after all the trial and error.

what better way to combine the two than, well, making love?

last night was your sign from the universe, your go ahead to do it. you had the compound to yourselves because your dad had taken all the “big kids” out for the night. you’re both well into college, but he refuses to see you as adults. that meant no peter and no you. you two were a little offended until you realized you could make use of your alone time.

you started off searching for a movie. that turned into you wrestling peter for the remote because you didn’t feel like watching back to the furure yet again. wrestling turned into you on top of him, which turned into you kissing him, which turned into peter throwing the remote somewhere and carrying you up to your room with his lips still on yours.

neither of you had to say it. you were on the same page, same wavelength, two brains in one as peter layed you down and trailed his kisses lower and lower.

peter was so gentle with you, except for when you told him not to be. those were the times he didn’t hold back. he was attentive and sweet and showed you quite a few times how much he loves you. you showed him just the same. yeah, it was really everything.

“morning, baby. you awake yet?” peter hums against the shell of your ear, arms wound comfortably around you. “kinda,” you mumble back with a goofy smile. he presses his lips to your ear and nuzzles his face in the side of your neck. “kinda... how’d you sleep?” you can hear the grin in his voice. his nose nudges your bare skin where a fresh hickey lies and makes you scrunch your own up.

“good, really good. always love sleeping with you.” you’re both aware of the alternate meaning that has now. “funny,” peter lets out a breathy laugh against you and brushes his thumb over your stomach where your shirt got ridden up. you sigh, enjoying his soft touch and reaching behind you to play with his curls. they’re a lot messier than usual from you tugging on them all last night.

peter removes his face from your neck and carefully turns you onto your other side. you’re facing him now, eyes trained on his concerned expression. “hey, just wanna check. how are you feeling? still sore?” a tiny smile stretches your face. he really does care about you and how you feel after everything. you know for a fact most other guys wouldn’t.

“i mean, yeah. you were... it was a lot, but i’ll be fine in a few days i think.” the mention of peter being a lot makes color rush to his face. you laugh quietly at that, cupping one of his cheeks that’s turning pink. “oh. i, um, i didn’t know that. sorry.” he smiles shyly as you smooth your thumb over his warm skin. “don’t be. it wasn’t as bad after i... adjusted a little,” you reassure him, making him lean into your palm.

“i really am sorry, y/n/n. can i make it up to you?” peter checks with you, eyes going up from yours to down your body. he hooks a finger in the waistband of your pajama shorts. “make you feel better?” the way he finishes his question with a bite of his lip is definitely tempting. so is your stomach yelling at you to put some food in it. you’ll have to wait.

“later. right now, you can make me breakfast,” you beam at him and take his hand. peter pushes his palm against yours, letting you lace your fingers together as he puffs some air out of his cheeks. “yeah, that’s gonna go well.” “i’m supervising. it will.” you capture his lips in a kiss, one he instantly reciprocates, free hand resting on your hip. just as it’s heating up, you break it.

“i’m hungry for actual food,” you giggle and roll out of his embrace. “ok, ok, ok. let’s go see what we have,” peter gives in with a chuckle, grabbing the same hand he was just holding and following you down to the kitchen.

he ends up popping some frozen waffles into the toaster, you sitting up on the counter with your phone out while he struggles through the different settings. “should i put it on bake? no, that doesn’t sound right,” he talks to himself with eyes squinted in concentration. “your dad made this thing so... detailed.” it’s an old stark industries toaster, one with options you probably don’t even need.

“yeah because he loves his toast, so maybe don’t break it. he’ll kill you or something,” you half playfully half seriously suggest. peter is one clumsy guy. he tsks at you and crouches down to read the words on the dial. there’s conveniently a setting for waffles, so he hits that one. he’s not sure how he hadn’t noticed it before.

since he’s down there, he takes one of your ankles in both hands and starts to kiss up your leg. it tickles when he gets to your knee, drawing a giggle out of you, but your phone still blocks his face. you’re doing it on purpose. “baby,” peter tries to get your attention in a soft voice. he presses a couple more kisses to your knee. you have to hold your breath so you don’t laugh again.

“baby girllll,” peter drags out, lips moving up your thigh. he nudges your phone with his nose much like a puppy would. “aye, i’m talkin’ to you here,” he says in a fake new york accent. you finally put it down next to you. “i’m listening.” you’re giving him a satisfied smile as he goes back to kissing you.

“just saying hi,” he looks up at you and moves your shorts aside while he kisses further and further to where you want. you scoot closer to him on the counter.

that’s when he stops. not only stops, gasps in horror. “what?” you ask quickly, his eyes fixed on your inner thighs. “i kind of, uh, marked you up. like, a lot.” he runs a finger gently over the bruised skin. you’re suddenly very aware of it now. it doesn’t exactly hurt, just feels bumpy and weird. you peer down at yourself to see the damage, eyes going wide.

“shit... they’re on my neck, too,” you remember, murmuring to him. you’ll have to cover these up before everyone gets home. worry flashes across peter’s face. “oh my god, i didn’t even realize. it- it was dark and you told me-“ “pete, it’s okay. it’s pretty hot,” you stop his rambling, reaching down and putting a hand on his shoulder. he frowns up at you.

“really? are you sure i didn’t go too far? because you can tell me.” you’ve always appreciated how much peter genuienly values your thoughts on things, in the bedroom and in other parts of your relationship. it does lead to a lot of second guessing, though. you squeeze his shoulder and let out a breath. “i’m sure, okay? it’s really not that serious. i’ll just change so no one can see.”

peter winds an arm around one of your legs, body relaxing ever so slightly under your touch. “okay.” he gives your thigh one final kiss, then rests his chin on it. “what about your neck?” “uh...” you hadn’t considered that yet. “makeup? a scarf?” you’ve seen enough tv to know neither of those work, but they’re your only options.

“yup. mr. stark is really gonna kill me now,” peter says under his breath, tensing up all over again. you furrow your eyebrows at him. “what? we’re literally grown adults, we can do whatever we want-“

tony claps loudly as he steps into the kitchen, announcing his return home. peter jumps up from between your legs faster than fast. he moves so he’s next to you, and you hop down from the counter.

“hello, daughter of mine. spider of man,” your dad greets you two, you pulling down your shorts with a plastered on smile. “or would it be man of spider?” he plucks an apple from the bowl on the table as he ponders his question. steve and wanda file into the room next. “second one,” peter replies, grinning a little too much to be normal. tony takes note of that.

wanda comes over to the fridge for a snack, which is close to where you and peter are. “how was last night?” you ask her to take the attention off you two. wanda settles on a yogurt and turns to you. “it was good. we shared a few hotel rooms, had our own party.” she glances over at peter, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. “seems like you two had a fun night of your own.”

peter’s mouth drops open. “how did you-“ he forgot she could read his mind and now knows everything that happened. you slap a hand over your forehead. “you couldn’t think about anything else? for, like, a minute?” you whisper yell at him. he uses his eyes to plead with you. “i’m sorry! i was looking at the hickeys-“ he realizes what he’s saying. “crap.”

shooting you a wink, wanda shuts the fridge and goes to join the rest of the team in the living room. lucky for you and peter, steve started lecturing tony about washing his fruit before he eats it. he didn’t hear any of that. there’s still the problem of your visible hickeys that you have zero seconds to hide.

“how the fuck am i supposed to cover these? they’re right in the center, peter!” you panic, your heart starting to race as peter fumbles for a dish towel. that’s the best he could come up with? “no!” you toss it back at him. he throws it on the counter with a pained look. tony and steve make their way over to you.

“oh, hush. a couple of deadly pesticides won’t shake me, stevey boy,” tony insists and takes another big bite of his apple. steve huffs in disapproval and crosses his arms. “you’re a big baby, tony. if you’re not gonna do the right thing, at least buy organic-“ with the world’s longest sigh, tony chucks his apple into the open garbage can.

“there. no more apple discourse.” steve shakes his head at your dad’s behavior. “that was a waste. you could’ve finished it.” “not with your nagging into my literal ear.” steve raises his hands in surrender before making his way out of the kitchen. tony side steps past him and over to you. “enough of that now. let’s have a welcome home hug from my girl.”

you share a look with peter, a look of pure fear that’s in both of your eyes. he’ll definitely notice the hickeys if he gets that close to you. he holds out his arms expectantly while peter scratches the back of his own neck. “sure, dad. welcome home.” an awkward smile on your lips, you bury your face in your dad’s chest and wrap your arms around him in one motion. this way, he didn’t have time to see you from too close up.

peter exhales in relief at the narrowly avoided disaster. that’s until tony makes a request. “missed me that much, kiddo, huh? come out of there.” “but, i’m so comfortable. i wanna stay like this,” you insist, a niceness to your voice tony immediately sees through. he drops his arms from around you, eyeing peter suspiciously, who averts his gaze to the floor.

“nuh uh, you did something. both of you,” your dad states, taking a step to stand between you and peter. peter gulps down a breath before speaking. “mr. stark, it was-“ tony holds up a hand. “don’t worry, kid. i’ll figure it out.”

he gives peter a proper stare, searching him for clues of some sort. it’s a good thing he isn’t wanda because the details of your night would have been exposed. he couldn’t find anything, so now it’s your turn. he’s a little disappointed you’re the one hiding something.

“oh, y/n. not you,” tony sighs as he gives you a looking over. he starts with your face, your eyes following down as his do. it’s when he gets just past your chin that he sees them. the little hickeys littering your skin, some already deep shades of purple. he rips off his glasses in disbelief.

“absolutely not.” he closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with the same hand his glasses are in. “i’m not seeing this. i’m not seeing this if i don’t look.” you scoff at his reaction. “dad, you know we’re together. you can’t expect us to not...” “don’t say it,” tony begs, getting the urge to hurl his half eaten apple. he turns and faces peter.

“parker, you really did all of that?” peter only blinks, nervously meeting the eyes of his mentor. “to my daughter?” tony adds on to scare him even more. “i- i-“ a burst of frustration comes out of peter. “you left two teenagers alone the whole night. what’d you think was gonna happen?” he’s shocked at his own words, his face showing it. tony raises his eyebrows. both your hands cover your mouth.

not wanting to deal with peter, tony addresses you instead. “i don’t care how you do it, cover those up. don’t let me see them ever again. understood?” you nod a good amount of times and reach for peter’s hand. he’s about to give it, then tony glares down at what’s happening. peter pulls back immediatelty. “understood. we’ll, um, do better next time,” you agree, tony winching at the idea of a next time.

“you, parker... treat a lady with a little more respect, eh?” tony clicks his tongue at him. he’s referring to all the hickeys. peter’s lips form a line, a sarcastic one that says oh well. “i tried, mr. stark, but y/n wanted me to-“ “christ, that’s enough.” tony furiously shakes his head and starts to walk away from you two. “never again!”

you’re thanking god when he sets off for the living room, you hiding your face in peter’s chest, his face in your hair. “that was terrible. that was the worst thing ever,” you say into him. “i’m sorry, baby. we gotta be more careful.”

it’s not over yet because then, the toaster dings. you’d completely forgotten about the waffles. you and peter both separate with your millionth shared look of terror. tony comes rushing back into the room, very familiar with that noise.

“first you destroy my daughter, now my toaster? pete... you’re in for it, kid.”

[irrealisms]

c!Tommy is annoying (and that’s important)

I have... a lot of feelings about c!Tommy in s2, from the start of the exile conflict through the Green Festival. I also think the fandom tends to mischaracterize him--I know I’m guilty of this, and as a c!Tommy lover I’ll be mostly addressing a thing that I and other people who love his character don’t focus on as much--which makes me sad because the aspects of his character that tend to get glossed over are also some of the ones that are most personally meaningful to me. (rest of the post is /rp, because “c!” gets annoying to type.)

Specifically: Tommy is loud. He’s abrasive. He’s annoying. He threatens, he griefs, he steals. He lies, blatantly, all the time. He tends to be self-centered (despite being deeply selfless). He lashes out at people who are trying to help him.

He is, in short, a bad victim.

And this is precisely what makes him vulnerable. 

Some people on the server were opposed to and sad about exile, sure. But a lot of people? Thought it was funny, that it was natural consequences, that it was deserved. Sapnap came and laughed, Technoblade came and laughed, Lazar came and laughed, Quackity came and laughed. Now, we don’t know what would have happened if Ranboo was the one being isolated and abused; maybe it would be the same. But I don’t think it would have been. A lot of characters have issues with Tommy or simply find him unpleasant to be around, and I would imagine that a significant number of them were probably, on some level, kind of relieved that he wasn’t their problem anymore. To be clear, I don’t entirely blame them for this! Tommy is... a lot, and they (mostly) didn’t know the full extent of what Tommy was going through. Even those of them that tried to visit with good intentions often got their gifts burned and called “pity gifts”, got insulted or yelled at by Tommy, etc.--or in Jack Manifold’s case, actually killed! The first time I watched the leadup to exile arc, I found Tommy difficult to sympathize with at first--he lied to L’Manberg before his trial; he refused to cooperate with probation while he was on it, even though Tubbo was pushing for it as an alternative to exile; at the beginning of exile, he would sometimes log on to visitors, drive them away, and then complain that he was lonely. As much as it’s obviously ultimately Dream’s fault, it’s easy to look at Tommy and not feel much sympathy for his position or feel that it’s partially self-made. It’s easy for outsiders to look at a Tommy who isn’t stealing, isn’t griefing, who is comparatively quieter, who isn’t their problem anymore, and be relieved rather than concerned. 

Exile arc makes it obvious that they’re wrong.

(Incidentally, I have a lot of sympathy for what Dream’s going through in the prison.)

And not only are they wrong, but exile makes the consequences of this painfully, horrifyingly clear: the abuse gets worse, Tommy gets more and more depressed, and at the climax of it all Tommy attempts suicide. 

(Although notably to me, he’s not the stereotypical victim during exile arc, either--he doesn’t cry on stream, he’s still trying to make dumb jokes, he’s not strategic, he refuses to listen to people, he switches wildly between fight and fawn responses without much correlation with who he’s talking to or how he’s being treated.)

Tommy’s recovery arc, after all of this, starts with him stealing valuables from Technoblade, building a secret basement underneath the existing basements, and then loudly asserting that it’s his house and Technoblade is trespassing.

I could talk about how these things are rooted in trauma. I could talk about how his constant eating of golden apples comes after a period of food insecurity, appetite/disordered eating problems, and physical abuse. I could talk about how he’s regained some of his energy after a period of depression but has nowhere to let it out in a small basement room. I could talk about how he repeatedly annoys Technoblade--quite probably the best PVPer on the server--perhaps in part as a test of how far he can go before he gets abused again, and in part as a sign that he feels safe enough to be annoying without being abused.

But that’s... not the heart of it, at least not to me. The heart of it is that before exile, Tommy would have stolen from Technoblade without a second’s thought, and during exile, Tommy didn’t steal from Technoblade because “Dream wouldn’t like it”, and afterwards, he steals from Technoblade again. 

Sure, he’s being annoying. But more importantly, he’s being himself again. Before exile, I might have rolled my eyes, because Technoblade worked for those potions and golden apples and armor and so on, and Tommy’s totally ruining his chest organization system. After exile? I cheered. Tommy’s being Tommy again. And, yeah, that means that he’s being annoying, he’s stealing, he’s ruining dramatic moments. So what? None of that stuff is actually all that bad, in the grand scheme of things. He’s not depressed, he’s not suicidal, he’s not being abused. He’s a teenager and he’s having fun. Technoblade will tease him for it, but he won’t hit Tommy, won’t take his stuff, won’t threaten him, won’t isolate him any further. That’s what a proportionate response to finding Tommy annoying looks like: teasing. 

I’d also like to address one more thing, which... I couldn’t figure out how to fit in the rest of the post, but it felt incomplete without it. Right before the meeting that ends with Tommy pulling out Spirit, Tommy asks everyone what the plan is, and is basically told that the plan is for him to be quiet. He says “you guys, please, for the love of God, you know I’ve watched for this long, I’m not going to be quiet.” He reiterates this throughout the conversation: he can try to be quiet, but it is not, ultimately, as easy for him as “be quiet”. This is also the source of Tubbo’s anger at him-- Tommy can’t do “one simple thing” for him. I’m not claiming Tommy is neurodivergent, but... as a neurodivergent person, Tommy repeatedly saying “I cannot do this thing that is simple for you, I can’t, empirically every time we have tried this in the past it has failed, if you make more plans based on that then they will also fail, have you met me” and having this seen as evidence of me not caring or trying... resonated with me. Which isn’t to say it’s not a flaw--almost all character traits can be flaws in the right (or, well, wrong) situations--but it does show that Tommy has some level of self-awareness about his flaws, which is something I appreciate about him, and it frustrates me when that goes unacknowledged. Tommy knows he’s annoying. He jokes about it. But he can’t actually... turn it off. Whether or not he should (and I would argue that he shouldn’t have to) isn’t even in question: he can’t. This is who he is. The only time we see him less loud and more capable of being obedient is exile, when he’s severely depressed and being abused. That’s fascinating to me, as a character trait!

In my experience, there’s a specific archetype of abuse victims in fiction that is... overrepresented. I can’t quite find the words to talk about it in a way that doesn’t technically include Tommy, but... the ways Tommy is important to me is the ways that (a) he doesn’t fit that archetype (b) not fitting that archetype makes him more vulnerable to abuse. He’s not always easy for other characters to talk to or sympathize with... which makes him uniquely easy to isolate and victim blame. That’s important. I think I tend to downplay Tommy’s annoying tendencies because I want to emphasize his sympathetic traits, and that’s fine, but it’s important to me that... Tommy’s a victim, and he’s annoying. Annoying people can be victims just as much as shy rule-followers can. Not only that: Tommy’s a victim in part because he’s annoying. Him being annoying is a risk factor for abuse, not an excuse for it.

[redrobin-detective]

Ben 10 lore that exists in my heart regardless of canon

- Ben’s personality in his mid-late teens is a mix of his Alien Force and Omniverse self. On the surface, he’s very cheerful and kind even if he is a bit of arrogant showoff. He makes jokes and plays around and acts as if he isn’t bothered by the things in his life. Those who know him best understand a good portion of his outward confidence and cockiness is just a facade to cover up his insecurities and to project the ideal, effortless hero. While sometimes seen as immature, most beings know Ben 10 means business as he takes his unofficial job and people’s safety very seriously. He’s clever, adaptable, charismatic and empathetic which makes him a formidable opponent and a loyal friend. Doesn’t open up easily but if you get to him, he become so dearly attached. 

- Drinks smoothies so much for several reasons. Comfort food go brrr, reminds him of the good easy times with him Gwen and Kev. It’s also a light but generally nutritous food to give him energy for heroing. Anything too heavy and he’ll be puking (both from physical and emotional stress). Though he jokes about his mom’s health foods, his are a crazy concoction of add in proteins and vitamins/minerals bc he knows he’ll out and out collapse without it. (Still has on occasion bc boy still doesn’t eat right/enough)

- While Fame is exciting for him at first he soon begins to detest it. Not the fans, no, he can’t bring himself to hate the people who look up to him. But he hates the constant attention, that he can’t walk outside without being mobbed. the only place he feels safe is his hometown where most people are so used to him and his weirdness that they don’t react much anymore. Takes to wearing a cape and face shield when going out anywhere so he can actually get things done without being recognized and mobbed.

- Part of the reason Bellwood isn’t concerned with Ben is partially because ben’s been weird and alien for as long as they can remember but also many don’t realize how famous/powerful he is. Yeah that’s just Ben Tennyson over there, sometimes he turns into funny creatures- wait what do you MEAN he’s the savior of the universe?? He cried over a spilled smoothie the other day.

- Does mostly online schooling by the time he’s 15. At first he tries to do half day things to maintain something of a normal life but it quickly becomes overwhelming and dangerous him/the school. Finishes his GED early but the Plumbers and Azmuth make him take additional college level and alien courses to prepare him for his future role. Ben gripes but really does love learning all these things, especially on his terms (ADHD and stress + the public school system do not always go hand in hand). He’s a quick learner when he deems the information important and is made accessible to his learning needs.

- Ben definitely has ADHD speaking of which, it was nearly uncontrollable as a child bc his free-spirited parents didn’t believe in medicating. Ben convinced them he needed it and after some trial and error, found meds that worked. As he became more involved in heroics/growing up he had to change his medicine regimen (resulting in him being a bit more off the rails in OV) and needed antidepressants and therapy to manage it better. As an adult he has a whole litany of coping mechanisms (good and bad yes) and regularly checks in with his therapist and doctors to keep things under control. 

- Has a complicated relationship with his necrofriggian children. Considers himself their mother and worries after them. They too feel a connection to their parent despite this being unusual for their species. A few visit (some more than others) while they grow while others maintain distance. Ben never breathes a word of them to the media for fear of them being targeted. Still he keeps an eye on them and ensures all 14 mature to adulthood (another rarity for the species). Checks in every now and again with the ones who don’t want to see him and those that do. Two join the Plumbers and Ben is both proud and worried. His youngest becomes partners with Rook Ben.

- Just in general loves kids, they’re his favorite fans and while he’ll grumble at pushy adult fans he always smiles and kneels down for the little ones. Not so secretly wanted to have children of his own but knew it was a risk overall and used a lot of that energy with mentoring and teaching. Eventually had Kenny later in life (late 30s-40s) and was over the moon, becoming such a loving and doing parent or as much as he could be with his hectic schedule. 

- Omnitrix can’t come off, never has at any point since it first latched onto Ben’s arm. Azmuth tried and failed to get the device off, doesn’t let Ben know for many years as he feared the consequences. The watch loves and protects Ben even beyond it’s programming making him much more durable to damage and releasing energy charges when he’s threatened. Not even removing Ben’s arm would separate them. They’re stuck for life.

- Ben does have Anodite heritage but the Omnitrix actively suppresses it and uses the built up energy to power the transformations which is why ben is mostly unaffected by what should cause a massive energy drain on him. Theoretically if Ben learned to harness and safely use his Mana at an early age like Gwen he would have been fine but letting it build up without safe outlet meant activation would have killed him. Omnitrix Ben, however, went his whole life not knowing of his latent abilities and how the watch saved his life.

- Ben’s eyes get more green and glowy as time passes from the Omnitrix. At first they think its a trick of the light but by the time he’s an adult his eyes are pretty much glow in the dark. His veins light up too after long stretches of using the Omnitrix. Its vaguely unsettling to people who aren’t used to Ben.

- Max and the Earth Plumbers work so, so hard to keep teen Ben on Earth when half the universe is blowing up their comm lines asking for The Ben 10 to help with whatever problem of the day. Ben himself doesn’t quite understand when he’s younger the prestige and expectations on his shoulders. Max throws up a million and one roadblocks so Ben can live as normal a life as possible while he still can. Still, while doing that he Still overloads Ben with expectations and responsibilities on earth and beyond. He becomes a soldier again with Ben as their greatest weapon. He never forgave himself of losing sight of his grandson underneath the hero esp after Ben’s breakdown. 

- Rook partnership with Ben ends not long after Omniverse with his promotion to Magister. Ben tries to play it cool but the thought of another loved one/teammate leaving his tears him apart. Max revealing that Ben most likely wouldn’t get a new Plumber assigned partner since he’s almost an adult and won’t need it and Rook accidentally missing their last smoothie run due to a scheduling mishap causes Ben to snap and have the nervous breakdown that had been building for almost a decade. He completely loses it for a little while and needs to take an extended leave of absence from school and heroics that lasts about a year. Spends time recovering both on Earth and Galvan Prime, does some diplomatic training, learns about aliens, actually confronts the stress and loneliness of his life. He comes out the other side stronger but still fragile and exhausted.

- Ben’s above mentioned breakdown brings him closer to all his friends who didn’t quite realize the extent of Ben’s burden. Rook had been under the impression Ben didn’t like him all that much so the knowledge that his departure was the final straw for friend/hero’s collapse was shocking. Ben and Azmuth also become closer, the Galvan becoming fiercely protective of the boy seeing as his Earth family didn’t do well to keep him safe. It takes years for him to get over his anger at Max for putting so much on his grandchild. Ben makes more friends, in and out of the hero business, finally gets a therapist and gets some of his burdens eased a bit. It’s not a sure fire fix and Ben has several smaller breakdowns the rest of his life but its something.

- Azmuth was straight up suicidal before he met Ben for the first time. Ben gave him back hope for the universe and his ability to create items for peace not weapons. The boy infuriates him, frightens him, frustrates him but Azmuth cannot deny in his heart of hearts that he loves Ben dearly. He’s very upset at Ben’s breakdown and doesn’t know how to handle the worst of the initail outbursts. Azmuth talks Ben down from a suicide attempt. He reaches out to Ben that he Too felt overwhelmed by pressure, thought himself only good for war. Ben’s arrival in his life saved him and now he will do the same for Ben. It’s the first positive step forward in Ben’s recovery.

- For no other reason than I like it, Azmuth primarily refers to Ben as Benjamin (mostly to annoy the kid but he likes the way it sounds too) and Ben in softer, more serious moments. 

- Professor Paradox continues to flit in and out of Ben’s life. He says its because Ben is the most equipped to handle universal peril (true) but he’s also just very fond of the boy. Ben, existing in so many forms and having such importance also exists a beat outside of normal reality which Paradox identifies with. Ben is naturally attuned to time related problems because of this (instantly IDing Spanner as from the future before being told later deducing him to be his unborn son). Plus Ben named him, way back when. He’s just drawn to Ben.

- Adult Ben, while being seen as an impressively skilled fighter and champion, really has his strength as a universal diplomat of sorts. Based out of Earth, he helps mediate and defuse conflicts, advocate against tyranny and overall preserve peace and balance. He’s not perfect, he makes mistakes and sometimes is forced to become violent (and yes kill) but overall is regarded as a peacekeeper, something younger ben simply couldn’t understand. 

- Gwen gets her degree and primarily does work with advocacy and teaching about magic/alien culture. While she and Ben are still close, there’s a bit of a frustrated divide in that she isn’t helping him share the burden of the universe. Gwen never wanted to be a hero and has enough worth to not shackle herself to a job that’ll burn her out. Ben loves heroing but gives too much of himself away trying to fix everything. They get into screaming arguments that it wouldn’t be so bad out there if she just helped him but she refuses to budge and says he shouldn’t make himself do so much. They always make up and thy still are each other’s closest relationships.

- Ben marries Kai in a political move, Kai is Asexual and Ben Aromantic. They didn’t love each other but they got on well enough and Ben was really feeling the stress of carrying the hero burden so Kai also being involved made him feel like he wasn’t alone. Both were also so tired of the universe constantly asking about their love life and said ‘fuck it we’re married leave us alone’. Gwen was always mad about it feeling Ben deserved better but the two of them were happy with it. They had separate rooms, mostly separate lives but they became strong friends and supports with their strictly platonic marriage. They had Ken via Invitro in an incubator and were loving if extremely busy parents. 

- Also from the moment he appeared, Ben knew that Spanner was his future son, Kenny. He played ignorant and then was kind of deliberately teasing him in future encounters. He knew the rules of time and didn’t want to disrupt things further even if he was angry and worried as heck about why Ken felt the need to time travel. When future Ben catches up in the timeline, Kenny gets SUCH a lecture. 

- Ben isn’t quite immortal but he’s also not entirely human anymore either. The Omnitrix not only keeps him safe from most harm but it lightens the effect of aging. Ben 10 is active many, many years when most humans would have been forced to retire. He’s not sure how long the watch will keep him alive and it terrifies him. Gwen too is functionally immortal however she ages like a normal human, then when her natural death came, shed her skin and became a fulltime Anodite. So in the end, it was her and Ben together wondering which of them will die first. Gwen has trouble retaining her humanity as pure energy and swears she’ll let herself fizzle out when Ben goes. When that’ll be however...

[chaotic-theatrical-weaver]

Rereading To Kill a Mockingbird and just finished Part 1!

Most of this is me just reiterating things I said two years ago when I read this for class and marveling at them, though I expand somewhat in some areas. I don’t think my perspective changed as drastically this time around compared to the way it did in between my first and second reads, but that’s probably because when I read it first, I didn’t quite catch every single implication, whereas upon reading it for class, my teacher explained a lot. Anyway, without further ado:

The narration by an adult Scout? P E R F E C T. She gives so much insight into the mind of a child while also being able to provide us readers with more insight than her younger self could.

The children...oh my goodness, them and their superstitions as a motif in Part One? That really contrasts Part Two. From an adult perspective, their fears are irrational, and rather than relating to large, abstract evils like racism, they’re more related to smaller, concrete things that they’ve judged as evil based on folklore and rumors and half-truths. 

This proclivity towards judgment is almost innate, as children this young are engaging in it. While it’s low-stakes and less harmful for children playing games, it’s still destructive, which is why Atticus cares so much about weeding it out early and preventing them from making fun of, bothering, or otherwise othering Boo Radley. This almost-innate tendency to judge is something the racists of Maycomb encourage, and he will not stand for the town corrupting his children.

Honestly, I love that Part One largely chronicles the children’s carefree summer romps and really only contrasts it with school when necessary. Within this contrast is another contrast between knowledge and experience, textbook learning and life lessons. It’s very telling that Scout remembers more of her firsthand experiences and lessons from life than the ones from school.

The constant reiterations from Atticus about empathy. Just the constant reiterations about empathy. They’re everything and I love how Scout spends the entire novel trying to refine and apply her knowledge.

In one of my web weaving posts, I used that quote from Atticus about real courage being “knowing you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” and how “[y]ou rarely win, but sometimes you do.” It just hit me that perhaps the children still believe Atticus can win because they saw Mrs. Dubose win, and Mrs. Dubose wasn’t even the best of people, so how much more capable is Atticus of doing the same? Sadly, their innocence means that they don’t fully realize just yet how severely poisonous racism is and how it can overpower and shout down the words of good men, and once they realize, it’s devastating.

These lessons are largely preparations for the trial in Part Two, as Atticus hopes he can get his children through it with their hope for the world and beliefs in equality intact--he doesn’t want them to become bitter or racist, and that’s really what marks him as a good parent.

Jem’s line, “I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now!” always gets me--even if it’s disrespectful, it’s actually pretty funny. It got me when I read it the first time at my mom’s suggestion, reread it for class two years ago, and am rereading for class now.

Dill. Just everything about him and how he copes with humor. It’s kinda sad when you think about it.

Love love love Miss Maudie, as always. She’s just so sweet and caring...also, while we’re at it, can I give Calpurnia a shoutout for being so protective of the children and of the town in Chapter 10 when the rabid dog Tim Johnson becomes a threat? 

The rabid dog as a symbol of the town’s racism and how the trial later parallels Atticus shooting the dog...how both attack when least expected and in the least expected ways and it’s on Atticus to fight back...how the dog is an immediate concern but racism in Maycomb is far more extensive and widespread with serious, long-term ramifications... And I think that’s all I have to say for now.

[intheticklecloset]

The Cure for Insecure (Haikyuu!!)

Primary Universe

Please don’t pass out, lol. I originally wrote these two prompts separately, intending for them to stand on their own. But the subject matter was so similar and the lee in question was the same, so I decided to combine them. I think it worked out really well. Enjoy!

~

Hinata was able to chalk up the first couple of sniffles to someone having an itchy nose in their sleep or something ordinary like that. But by the time the fourth and fifth ones rolled around, he sensed something was off. He rolled over to where Yamaguchi was lying beside him, surprised to see that Nishinoya – who was on the other side of his fellow first-year – was in the process of propping himself up. Even in the darkness Hinata could tell he was concerned, so he sat up, too.

Noya glanced at him, frowned, and shook his head slightly. Hinata frowned back and scooted forward, trying to get a better look at their friend’s face, but it was difficult when it was dark in here and he was faced away from him.

“Hey,” he whispered, trying not to wake their other teammates. “Yamaguchi?”

The sniffles stopped, but Tadashi at least had the decency to admit he was awake. “Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” There was a bit of a pause that spoke more volumes than his words did. “I’m fine.”

“Are you crying?”

Yamaguchi quickly swiped at his eyes. “It’s nothing.”

So you’re not fine, Hinata thought, pushing his blanket to the side and scooting further forward.

Noya spoke up next, also in a whisper. “Do you want to talk about it? We can go outside if you want.”

“It’s late,” Tadashi countered.

“So? I don’t mind. Do you, Hinata?”

“Nope,” Hinata replied.

“No, it’s…it’s okay, really.” Yamaguchi finally turned his face to look at them both as best he could manage in the darkness. “I’m just a little…I don’t know. Overwhelmed, I guess.”

“By what?” asked Noya.

“Everyone.” Tadashi curled up on himself under his blanket. “You guys are all just so amazing out on the court, and I’m—”

“Also amazing,” Noya interjected quickly, firmly.

“Yeah!” Hinata struggled to keep his voice down. “Your serves are way better than mine. That’s why Coach has you pinch serve for me, remember?”

“But…” Yamaguchi’s voice sounded tiny, even while whispering. “That’s all I’m good at.”

“If that’s all you were good at, Coach wouldn’t even let you on the court at all,” Noya said. “Serving is what you’re best at, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you can do well. Plus, you’re a first-year. You’ve got so much time to improve it’s almost unfair. You’re doing great, dude. Don’t tell yourself you’re anything less than awesome. Okay?”

Tadashi sighed, pulling his blanket up to his chin. “I guess.”

Hinata couldn’t help but notice that by pulling his blanket up, his friend had left one of his feet exposed. He grinned, seizing the moment before really thinking it through. He reached down to scribble his fingers along the bare sole. “Cheer up, Tadashi!”

Yamaguchi gasped and yanked his foot away, rolling over to face him. “Don’t do that,” he whispered frantically. “I’ll wake everyone up.”

If anything, that only encouraged Hinata to do it again. Beaming, he grabbed the base of his friend’s blanket and pushed it away, latching onto his ankle and tickling his foot again. Yamaguchi jerked, trying to use his other foot to kick him off, but then Noya decided he wanted in on the fun and started gently digging into his sides.

“No, s-stop!” Tadashi pleaded, giggling as softly as he could manage. “P-Please, I c-can’t keep q-q-quiet like t-this!”

“We just want to see you smile,” Noya teased. “Come on, man, stop being so hard on yourself. You’re awesome!”

“S-Stop! N-Noya, Hinata, p-plehehease!” Tadashi slapped both hands over his mouth to muffle himself before he got any louder, but kept kicking at Hinata as much as possible while rolling around on his bedroll helplessly.

Noya and Hinata grinned at each other in the darkness, keeping up their gentle tickling for another minute before deciding to show mercy, allowing Yamaguchi to catch his breath. The uncontrollable smile on his face was reward enough for their efforts.

“Feeling better?” Hinata asked.

Tadashi let out a couple of leftover chuckles. “Y-Yeah…actually, yeah. Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Noya nudged him gently, then lay back down. “Take it easy, okay? Get some sleep. We’ll need you tomorrow.”

Hinata also settled back into his own bedroll, while Tadashi rearranged his blanket and snuggled up in the fetal position, still smiling, feeling leagues better. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait for tomorrow to get here so he could play more volleyball with his friends.

*

“I heard you, you know,” Tsukishima said.

Yamaguchi looked at him, confused. “What?”

“That night at training camp. I heard you.”

“Oh.” Tadashi blushed, glancing away. “I’m sorry. I was trying to keep it down, but it was kind of hard with them both tickling me like that.”

“I meant I heard you crying.” Tsuki frowned. “I didn’t care about the other stuff. It was actually a relief after I’d been worrying about you.”

Tadashi opened his mouth to reply, but didn’t know what to say, so closed it again. He glanced around the gym nervously. They’d gotten back from the training camp yesterday, so today’s practice had been a little easier. Everyone was getting ready to head out for the night – save for Hinata and Kageyama, of course. Yamaguchi had met up with Tsuki as per usual, and now they were having this conversation by the gym doors, ready to leave but not going anywhere.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered at last. “I didn’t mean to make anyone worry, least of all you. I was just having a rough night.”

“You played better the next day, though,” Tsuki observed, glancing at him in his trademark, critical way.

Yamaguchi suddenly felt like he was on trial. He hurried out the doors into the cool night air. “Come on.”

“Why is that, Tadashi?” his blonde friend continued, following right behind him. “You’ve been encouraged before and never done that much better the next time you played. I assume they were encouraging you.”

“Yeah,” Tadashi murmured. “So what?”

“The only different factor was that they tickled you.”

“So what?” All of a sudden Tadashi felt Tsuki grab onto his shoulders and turn him around, gazing intently down at him, mouth set in a firm line. Yamaguchi wanted to be literally anywhere else. “L-Let go of me.”

“So,” Tsuki said, ignoring him, “the logical conclusion to my observations is that you played better because they tickled you. Is that right?”

Yamaguchi felt so cornered he went into panic mode and did something he almost never did, especially to Tsukishima. He shoved him away and started yelling at him. “So what, Tsuki? What does it matter? You make it sound like it’s such a crime that it made me feel better! Leave me alone, already! So I’ve got insecurities and their messing with me like that made them go away for a while. Who cares?”

Tsuki straightened. “I care.”

Tadashi hated this feeling of being trapped in a conversation in which he was being made to feel like he was in the wrong, so he turned and started walking away again.

Again, Tsuki followed him. “Do you like it? Being tickled?”

“I don’t know, okay?” Tadashi felt close to tears, and he hated that even more. Why was he so bothered by this? “It just…it helps me forget for a while, that’s all. I like forgetting.”

“Would it help if I started tickling you?”

That made him panic even more than he had earlier. Tadashi whirled on him, glaring up at him through the first tears. “Stop teasing me about this! It’s not funny. You’re making me freak out. Like I don’t already feel like such a child about this as it is. Just leave me alone!”

Something in Tsukishima’s features changed then. They grew a little less intense, a little less critical. He paused, then reached forward and dug his fingers into Tadashi’s sides.

“Ah! No! Nonono, wait!” Yamaguchi sputtered, trying to back away, but Tsuki followed his movements and after a moment the smaller teen found himself pinned against the outside wall of the gym, trapped for real this time. A few panicked giggles escaped him. “Tsuki, nohohoho!”

“You said this helps with your insecurities, right?” Tsuki asked. “Well, I don’t want you to be insecure talking to me about this. So let’s take that out of the equation.”

“P-Plehehehease, wait!” Tadashi snickered, squirming against the wall. “Tsuki!”

“I don’t think you’re being a child,” the blonde said, as serious as always. “If this is what helps you, then I want to use it.”

The fact that his closest friend was being his normal, honest, straightforward self even in the midst of this silly activity told Yamaguchi he was being serious about it, despite the subject matter. And that finally allowed him to give up and let the gentle tickling work its magic on him, taking his insecurities about everything and evaporating them into the night air.

When he’d tickled for a couple of minutes and it didn’t seem that Tadashi was fighting him or the activity itself any longer, Tsuki gradually slowed to a stop, inwardly marveling at how his friend’s smile seemed plastered to his face at this point. “So,” he asked, “would it help if I started tickling you?”

Tadashi blushed, averting his eyes, but still smiling. “I-I mean…maybe?”

“Do you feel better now than you did a couple of minutes ago?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Tsuki finally allowed himself to smile in return, both to make his friend feel more at ease and because this whole situation was amusing to him. “Okay. Then I’m putting this at the top of my list of ways to make you feel better. Sound good?”

Yamaguchi finally met his eyes again, surprised, and the relief and excitement was clear in his voice when he spoke. “R-Really?”

“Really.” Tsuki considered a moment, then smirked and grabbed Tadashi again, resuming his gentle, ticklish assault, satisfied when his friend started giggling once more, brighter and freer than the first time. “I’m not usually a fan of tickling in general, but being tickled looks good on you, so I think I can make an exception here.”

Tadashi whined. “Dohohohon’t tease me!”

Tsuki chuckled. “Don’t tease you? Please.” He started scribbling wildly all over his friend’s torso, enjoying the squealing laughter he got in response. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

[iamanartichoke]

[please blacklist spoiler tags: #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, #loki spoilers]

I need to talk about the Avengers. 

I just want to express how much I hate that the Avengers aren’t on the hook for all their time travel nonsense bc they were “supposed to” do it and Loki is on the hook bc he wasn’t. 

I mean, I am glad that they addressed it right away - that Loki was inadvertantly caught up in the Avengers' time meddling, and that apparently they were doing what they were supposed to and that's why none of them were on trial, but - there are two things going on here that I have issue with. One is, of course, the scapegoating of Loki once a-fucking-gain, but the other is that there's a legitimate problem inherent in framing the Avengers' deeds as The Right Thing So There Are No Consequences, especially because it directly leads to Loki (and only Loki) being scapegoated since, apparently, someone's got to answer for all of this. 

Why Were The Avengers Supposed to Undo the Snap?? 

Of all the possible options they could have gone with (such as reversing time back to just before the Snap happened), going back through time to gather the stones and use them to undo things five years later is, like, one of the worst?? Best case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously incompetent in managing the sacred timeline and worst case scenario, it implies that the TVA is ridiculously adept in managing the sacred timeline, if their goal is to have it be the worst possible timeline anyone could end up in. 

The Avengers may have done an arguably good thing in undoing the Snap - I don't disagree that those people should've lived - but they also royally fucked over a lot of things in the process and left Earth (and presumably many many other worlds) in total post-Snap chaos while fucking off to die be with their families and/or start new lives. 

This goes back to the plan itself. One of my many issues with Endgame is that not only is the plan convoluted and, frankly, stupid, but also I have a real problem with the concept of the Avengers just saving the world as they see fit, regardless of whether or not that's actually the best thing to do. (If the Russos hadn't done such a shit job with explaining what the Accords were actually supposed to do, then maybe this could have been addressed somehow - like, okay, together we may have the brains and resources to carry off this plan but does that mean we're the ultimate authority on whether or not we should? Maybe we should check with, like, the UN or something about this? [and it’s entirely possible the UN was mentioned and I have forgotten it bc I’ll be honest, I watched Endgame once and have bitched about it ever since.] I digress.) 

The narrative in Endgame and into the MCU beyond plays like the Avengers only care about saving the world when they stand to personally gain from it (they want their friends and family back, they want to feel like they didn't fail, they have unilaterally decided that what they want is the Best Thing for everyone) and once the Good Deed is done and the smoke clears from the battlefield, there's no concern with saving the mess of the world they created. 

TFatWS addressed so many of the problems with the post-reverse-Snap, which implies that the MCU (both in-universe and out) is aware that things are fucked up now. People's lives were literally ruined by what the Avengers did. Refugees are displaced. Humans are coming back to a world where they've been dead for five years and their loved ones have moved on and their homes have been sold and their bank accounts have been closed and they have no jobs. And that’s just on Earth. Yet no one (again, both in-universe and out) feels the need to hold the Avengers accountable for any of this. 

Plus, what about the people who died as a result of the Snap but not from the Snap directly? What about the planes that fell from the sky when the pilots turned to dust? The cars that crashed and collided when the drivers poofed? Etc. Like, fuck all of those people I guess? 

And who, exactly, is "supposed to" clean up the Avengers' mess now that the actual Avengers are either dead, old and living on the moon, or retired? Is it on Sam's shoulders alone (or, rather, Sam and Bucky's)? Is Peter Parker (yknow, the 15 year old Nick Fury went and recruited bc there was no one else) supposed to be fixing things? 

The TVA takes responsibility for none of this. They sit back in their nightmare DMV-esque office and claim that all is as it should be but my question remains: please explain to me how the outcome of the post-Snap universe is ultimately satisfactory to anyone besides the Avengers? 

There's also the fact that Loki figures out right away that the Avengers were engaging in some time travel shenanigans ("the cologne of two Tony Starks is hard to miss” lmfao Loki you snarky shit). Loki recognizes that there's been an opportunity created of which he can take advantage, but he isn't responsible for creating it. The Avengers messed up and created that opportunity so, even if they were supposed to be doing what they were doing, there are still no consequences for the fact that they made a mistake that allowed Loki to then branch off and create a new timeline. 

Let's also say that we accept that the Avengers were supposed to undo the Snap exactly as they did. Okay, sure. BUT: 

- Was Steve, then, also supposed to decide to fuck back off to the 1940s and marry Peggy (which created two Steves, right? The one who was married to Peggy all along and the one who was in the ice?? The TVA is just okay with two Steves?)? 

- What is the actual point of Stephen Strange having the time stone and using the time stone both to gain the advantage over Darmammushumuuyourmom (I’m sorry, I can’t remember his real name) and to look at all the possible timelines to figure out how to defeat Thanos? 

- How is it possible that there are 14 million potential timelines in which the Avengers failed if the TVA’s entire thing is that there can only be one true ring timeline to rule them all? The fact that Stephen can look ahead and determine so many outcomes based on the choices they're making would mean that people do have free will and that their actions aren't automatically dictated by what's “supposed to” happen. They had to make the right choices in order to get to the one timeline in which Thanos failed. 

- What’s the point of Stephen having to protect the time stone, anyway, if there are presumably a few others in Casey’s drawer?

- On that note, if there are a lot of infinity stones hanging around in the TVA’s desk drawers, what makes the original six the specific, correct ones that Thanos had to collect in order to pull off the Snap and why is it then those specific six the ones that the Avengers had permission to go back through time to get in order to undo the Snap as the Timekeepers intended?

- And actually, in fact, if there’s only one sacred timeline and anyone who fucks it up without permission gets “reset” (aka made nonexistent, along with their timeline branch) then, again, why does Stephen have to protect the time stone? Either anyone who steals it was supposed to, or their timeline gets eliminated and the theft ceases to matter. 

- Less significant but also still kinda significant is how Agents of SHIELD figures into all of this. The TVA knows that Loki killed Coulson but they don't know (or don't care?) that Coulson was brought back to life and proceeded, with his team, to go on and get heavily involved in time travel and going back and forth and bringing people from the past into the present? So the TVA is okay with Daniel Sousa leaving his timeline but not with Loki leaving his? 

... I have literally confused myself with all of this, so if anyone followed my train of thought here, congratulations and maybe you can explain it to me lmao. 

But here's my ultimate point: the sacred timeline that the TVA is tasked with maintaining is not sensical or linear. It's full of gaps and holes and people taking matters into their own hands to determine both their own fates and the fates of others. As a result, a lot of people suffer kinda needlessly based on the events in said timeline, and apparently it's perfectly fine for all of this nonsense to occur so that everyone else has some element of control - 

- but Loki is literally the only one who is told uh, actually, no, you are supposed to live a shitty life and die a pointless death and there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it bc it's supposed to happen. 

What in the actual fuck kind of logic is that??? 

Thus, either the TVA (and the Timekeepers) are grossly incompetent, or else they're extremely competent and also really fucking shitty beings who just enjoy the needless suffering of others. 

And somehow this is all Loki's fault!!

And then Mobius has the fucking audacity to say, to Loki's face, “you only exist to prop up everyone else and you, Loki Odinsonson Laufeyson mischief god and king of space lol, do not have any inherent worth or value as your own person. You were born to be a scapegoat and you will die a scapegoat and there's no getting around that, if we have anything to say about it.”

To quote Loki, in a very twisted way - yes, it's funny. It's absurd. 

Does, uh, does this make sense? At some point I crossed over from meta-writing into straight up ranting and so, well, here we are. 

[mca-attack21]

Words Unsaid

AN: This is loosely based off of The Final Problem and is Sherlock x Reader. There is violence and death, so consider yourself warned. I hope you enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated. 

Emotional Context. Sherlock had once been able to deny its importance, instead, governing himself with logic and reasoning. However, his connections with his friends and the people who cared about him had started to change his mind on such matters. This came with both benefits and negatives as it had opened him up to new vulnerabilities and pain, especially now. As it was during this time that he discovered that his sister was more than just a suspicion. In fact, Eurus was a secret that scared his dear brother Mycroft more than anything else. 

Sherlock struggled to retrieve any memory of her. That was at least until the name “Redbeard” was brought up. He had loved Redbeard his faithful dog and childhood best friend. He couldn’t remember what had happened to him, at least not until Mycroft filled in the gaps. Since that discovery, he, his brother, and John had left to check in on Eurus’ security. Sherlock and John wanted to prove that she had left multiple times once impersonating as a girl that Sherlock met during a case, and once as John’s new therapist. Mycroft was insistent that this was impossible, so they went to settle the matter once and for all. What they were not expecting was for it all the be a trap.

They were soon captured and forced to complete trials that tested personal morality and will power all centered around Sherlock. It seems that Eurus was fascinated by her brother and wanted to better understand him. It didn’t help that she had previously formed an alliance with Moriarty and knew more about Sherlock than he did her. But that was all Mycroft’s fault now wasn’t it? The first challenge forced Sherlock to choose either John or Mycroft to shoot an innocent man in order to save his wife. Both inevitably refused and the man in a last-ditch effort took his own life in front of them. Eurus didn’t hesitate to kill the wife, questioning the three whether or not keeping their hands clean costing two lives was any better than taking one life and leaving one to survive. She then ordered Sherlock to collect the gun, which now only had one bullet, and continue.

The next trial was equally grim. Sherlock was forced to deduce which of three brothers was a murderer provided only the gun and three pictures. To add to the suspense, she presented the three brothers hanging over the ocean tied up with weights. If they dropped they would inescapably be drowned. Sherlock made the correct deduction much to everyone’s relief, but Eurus dropped all three explaining that the life of an innocent weighs no less than the life of the guilty.

The third trial was where it got personal. There was a small wooden coffin. It was nothing special about it. Sherlock quickly deduced that it was built for a woman, one with no close family, one who was sensible, one that- he was interrupted when Mycroft brought over the lid which had a mere two words on it, “Words unsaid”. 

“Whatever does that mean?” John asked.

But deep down Sherlock knew and he feared what was about to happen next.

“It’s Y/n,” he replied.

“Y/n? What does she have to do with this?”

“Why quite a lot Mr. Watson, and very good Sherlock. Now then, this ought to be fun. In a moment, I am going to give her a ring. She’s alone in her apartment which is hooked up with explosions. Now then brother, you will have two minutes to get her to say the magic words. The catch? You can’t say them yourself, you can’t give her any indication that you or she is in danger. Just play your mind games like you used to,” Eurus grinned.

“What are the magic words?” Mycroft asked.

Sherlock’s face fell into a pained expression as he considered the task at hand.

“He has to get her to tell him that she loves him,” John realized.

“Yay! Now that everyone is on the same page, let’s give her a ring.” Eurus cheered, “Oh and for added fun,” she clicked on the tv showing video of you in your flat.

Sherlock studied the video feed, you looked horrible, something had clearly upset you. He could tell that you had recently been crying. As the phone rang he prayed that you would answer it. The clock seemed to loom over him as it continued to click down. He watched as you slowly retrieved yours and glanced down at the name answering it almost immediately.

1:40

“Sherlock?”

“Ah, Y/n, I-” he started.

“I ought to kill you for giving me such a scare. Baker street exploded it’s all over the news and I’ve been trying to get ahold of you ever since. Are you okay? Is John okay? What happened?”

“We’re fine, just a little accident,” Sherlock replied calmly.

“I thought you were dead, the least you could have done was sent me a text” she whimpered.

“Oh come on now, you know I’m more clever than that, besides I’ve been busy, you know how it is” he mused.

1:20

“Y/n, do you remember the phone call we had just before Reichenbach, right as Moriarty had begun his master plan?” he asked feeling rushed.

“Of course I do, I still have nightmares from that call,”

“Well, I need you to tell me what you said that day,”

“There’s no way in hell,” you replied. Sherlock was able to see how much this upset you and clenched his eyes shut feeling the pressure.

“Please Y/n, I really need to hear it,” he begged softly.

0:60

“Sherlock, is everything alright?” you asked concerned at his unprecedented demeanor.

Eurus warned her brother to remember the rules. 

“Everything is fine, I just need to hear you say it,”

“Why? This better not be one of your experiments,”

“It’s not, I promise. I wouldn’t do that, not to you,”

“I don’t get the big deal,” 

“Please Y/n,” 

0:30

“I-I can’t”

“Why not?”

“Because you didn’t say it back,”

0:25

“If you meant it then, if there is any chance that you mean it now, please say it again,” he begged.

“Sherlock,” you pleaded

“Please Y/n, please tell me what you said that day on the phone, our last call together before the fall,” he said with such sincerity and emotion.

0:18

“You called me to tell me that everything had been a lie, that Moriarty was right. You told me that  you only had one choice left. I begged you to stop, to wait until I could get to you, that together the two of us would figure something out. But you said it was too late,” you recalled tears streaming down your face.

“And then…” he prompted.

0:12

“And then I pleaded with you not to do it,”

“Why? What was your reason?”

0:08

You hesitated for a moment, “ because I cared about you,”

“That’s not what you said Y/n, what exact words did you say?” His own eyes were betraying him at this point.

0:03

“I told you that I loved you, that fake or not, I would still love you” you cried, “And you didn’t say it back.”

Just then the phone clicked off as Eurus ended the call. 

Sherlock redirected his attention to Eurus’ screen, “Okay Eurus, I won. I made her say it. What now, what happens next?”

“Funny isn’t it? I don’t recall her actually saying the words ‘I love you’. She said ‘I loved you’ and ‘I would still love you’ and while close, I just don’t think that cuts it for me.” 

“Wait!” Sherlock screamed launching forward as Eurus hit a button and he was forced to watch your apartment explode. All that Mycroft could manage was staring in shock as the tv quickly cut to black. John went to his friend who had sunk to the ground staring vacantly.

“You didn’t tell her before Reichenbach and now you’ll never be able to, tell me Sherlock, are all those complicated little emotions worth it? Because to me it seems that the emotional context is what destroys you. Now pull yourself together as the next challenge is even more enduring.”

She paused for a moment before adding, “take your time,” and shutting off her screen. 

Sherlock rose to his feet and John and Mycroft hesitantly went towards the next door, turning back when they heard him whisper “no” before aggressively attacking the empty coffin taking out his rage and immediate grief. After annihilating it, he sat back against the wall. 

Regretting that he could not properly console his friend, John forced himself over to Sherlock handing him the gun saying, “I know this is beyond difficult and you are being tortured, but you have to keep it together, we have to keep moving”

“This isn’t torture, it’s vivisection, we are experience science from the perspective of lab rats,”

“Right now, we are soldiers who just need to survive, this is not the time nor place for mourning,” John said firmly.

“Alright,” Sherlock agreed and John helped him up.

The three men continued to the next room where Sherlock was tasked with choosing whether to kill John or Mycroft. He made his decision, Eurus’ game was over, and he pointed the gun under his own chin taking a calculated risk.

When he awoke, he was alone in a small cell plastered with pictures from his childhood. He quickly called out for John and Mycroft. John answered explaining that he was in a well, but otherwise seemingly fine. There was no response from Mycroft.

Sherlock quickly figured out that he was not actually in a cell but rather in a collapsable structure outside his childhood home. Eurus tasked him with discovering the location of Redbeard and upped the stakes as she started filling the well that John was chained to the bottom of. Sherlock racked his brain trying to solve the same problem who’s solution had evaded him as a child. That was at least until in an escape attempt, John solved an important piece of the puzzle.

Redbeard was never a dog.

Sherlock suddenly remembered his childhood best friend Victor Trevor who his brain had so cleverly disguised to help preserve his psyche. With this new information, Sherlock was able to figure out the Eurus’ song corresponded to the gravestones with the weird dates. He quickly deciphered the message and went to free John who was running out of time.

Outside of the well, he discovered his sister, “I’m so sorry Eurus,” he spoke sincerely.

“You needed me and I abandoned you, I could have saved you,” he added.

“I just wanted my brother,” she replied childishly.

“I’m here now, and we can fix this, just free John, don’t make the same mistake you made with Victor,” he pleaded.

“I don’t want to quit playing the game, I don’t want you to leave me again,”

“I’m not going to leave, I’m going to save you,”

Not knowing how to respond she simply stepped back and allowed Sherlock to save his friend. He dove into action turning the water off and then retrieving a key carefully tossing down to John so that he could free his ankles. He searched for a moment to find what Eurus had used to get John down there to begin with and found some rope that he leveraged against a tree and tossed down to his friend. 

It was as John was climbing over the side that the police cars and helicopters arrived. Mycroft’s people were there to collect Eurus, who went with them peacefully. Sherlock and John were both checked over by the EMT’s and given shock blankets. They were informed that Mycroft was safe and simply left back in Sherrinford. Once he regained consciousness, he his people and sent them in helicopters to take care of Eurus. But then? Who called the police?

“William Sherlock Holmes” you yelled slamming the door to Greg’s station car.

John and Sherlock had never turned around so fast in their lives. How were you here? Hadn’t they both watched your apartment go up in smoke? Or, was that merely another one of Eurus’ tricks?

“You’d better have a good explanation for-”

“I love you too,” he interrupted shocking both you and John.

“What?” you asked in disbelief.

“I said I love you too, I wanted to say it during that call two years ago, and I wanted to say it earlier today. I promise I will explain everything, and I understand if you no longer fill the same way, I’m sorry for not saying it before,” he confessed. 

You stared at him in awe, taking a step closer still staring at him. You closed the remaining gap between the two of you and smoothly connected your lips with his allowing them to communicate for you. After an instant of shock, Sherlock reciprocated allowing the blanket to fall off of his shoulders as he pulled you in closer. When he pulled away, both of you were slightly dazed and smiling. 

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” you whispered.

“That I do,” he answered.

From there, Greg dropped John and Sherlock off at John’s place where he happily greeted Molly and wasted no time collecting Rosie. The next day the three of you would meet up at 221B Baker Street and begin cleaning and repairing that flat as Sherlock did as promised and explained everything. After two weeks the renovations were complete and John and Rosie moved back in with Sherlock who had decided to utilize space in 221C for experiments to keep Rosie away from them both for her safety and his sanity.

You became more than a frequent visitor and eventually moved into one of the bedrooms of 221C however you spent far more time in Sherlock’s bed than in your own. You watched Rosie as the boys went out on cases and would occasionally tag in for John. Being in a relationship with Sherlock was interesting to say the least, but you wouldn’t trade a second of it. 

[astrologista]

Kristoph Gavin Character Analysis I

Part 1 of... fucking infinity, I hate this bitch so much lmao.

Well, it's Halloween time and I just thought, why not. So let's answer this question.

What makes Kristoph Gavin a scary character/villain? A soft spoken gentleman with a deadly secret... the Devil, who lives in his hand, that crazy evil scar thing, his creepy music theme... damn, he’s a scary dude. But scariest of all? His psychology, as we all know. (This is mostly gonna be headcanons. but ya know what, I have a license (hands you a piece of paper that says ‘i can do what i want’))

Kristoph seems like a person who is very aloof, particularly when it comes to personal relationships. At first he kind of just seems like the typical anime glasses guy whose main emotion is like whooa he does the glare thing with his glasses sometimes. But... what is he really about?

You know, let me digress for a moment, what's really interesting to me about the AA characters is how much depth they have in their writing. Case in point, Adrian Andrews. There's a character who you assume is just going to be the typical "anime glasses girl" who is a career woman who don't need no man, and is very aloof, cool, and as she says, not concerned with irrelevant topics or things. Later you learn about the true depths to her personality. The fact that she is codependent, that she needs other people telling her what to do in order to survive. Just because she masks these emotions doesn't mean they don't exist. I felt that really gave a lot of depth to her character and added another dimension that stories in this genre don't often address as boldly or fully (especially when it comes to a female character). So the quality of the writing is always really top notch with only a few exceptions. Take this as context...

Now getting back to Kristoph Gavin. Typical anime glasses dude, right? But no, though. One of the reasons why he's so interesting to me is how his emotional understanding of personal relationships really works. Or seems to, anyway. Based on the endgame testimony and his crimes, Kristoph Gavin is extremely dangerous because, should you get involved with him in any way, he will never, ever let go of you, ever. Once you are entangled with him he wants you to stay entangled, not unlike an overbearing parent who refuses to let you go. It's partly that he thinks he knows what's best for you (that is, to stay completely loyal to him). And also partly... because he is pretty dependent on what other people think of him. So he needs to keep them around him closely.

Kristoph's biggest fear was his lying being exposed for what it was. That Phoenix was really the honest, straightforward attorney, and not him. Kristoph would do anything to perpetuate his own false reality. He kept it going for seven years. His absolute worst fear of all was losing his reputation. Being seen for what he truly was in front of others. He could never accept that. That fear drove all of his murders. Fundamentally, he sees himself as benevolent... when nothing could be further from the truth of how he was hurting everyone who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

Kristoph has a need to perpetuate this false identity of himself above all else. A very adjacent second goal to that is to keep all of his personal associates very close and under his control in order to keep the first goal intact.

Reject him and he will stalk you until you are dead. By his hand, or otherwise. Slight him, and he will get you at the first opportunity, case in point, Zak Gramarye. (He only had to get a quick glance at the guy and his fate was sealed. Turnabout Trump is a chilling case.) Replace him, and he will tear your life and livelihood up into little itty bitty pieces. He will then continue to stalk you aggressively for seven years while pretending he is your best friend. Case in point, Phoenix Wright.

Create false evidence for him and you become a loose end. So does your daughter. Like I said, just don't get involved with him. If he feels threatened, Kristoph Gavin will not hesitate to end you. It's definitely an obsession. I mean the first word that comes to people's minds when it comes to Kristoph usually isn't "obsessed", because he gives off the aura of being calm and uninterested. But he is, he's obsessed. You have to be obsessed to do what he did. This shit consumed his every waking hour, and that's what he won't admit. That he was so sick, he completely lost the plot. Phoenix was already living in his head rent free the day he ordered the forgery. And even though Phoenix wasn't physically present at the Misham trial and was only watching everything by video camera, you can bet Kristoph was seeing Phoenix. Hallucinating him, images of him. Probably multiple images of him. That's how obsessive. Imagine letting something or someone control you to that extent. Imagine thinking that you're so important, that Phoenix taking Zak Gramarye's case at all was meant to be a slight against you personally. (It's funny because Phoenix mentions not even knowing Kristoph at all until after the disbarment. So Kristoph's own logic in thinking that Phoenix was just out to shame him absolutely doesn't track. Ob-sessed, dude.)  

It's actually pretty astonishing that someone like Apollo made it out alive. On a side note, I really think Kristoph enjoyed having someone to mentor. He sought someone like Apollo out. Someone naive and new to the field for him to indoctrinate. And maybe I have a post about that later, cuz that's a whole 'nother barrel of monkeys right there. (It kind of involves Apollo’s naivete (also, daddy issues, hello.) being a huge reason why he would gravitate towards having a mentor known for having a “caring” personality. And I think Apollo genuinely liked that about him, which makes the end result so much more awful for Apollo to deal with because to him, that was real.)

But now think of Klavier, right. Being forced to grow up with that. To live with that your entire life. To have a familial relationship that is that smothering, that suffocating, that strangling. That controlling, to criticize every single thing that you do or say right down to the way you say it. And remember... He's never letting you go. I would go on a world tour as a rock star, too. Anything to be anywhere he isn't. This is horror movie tier stuff. (now im imagining a horror movie trailer for aa4 focusing on gavins stuff... eep!)

And Kristoph Gavin markets himself as someone who simply doesn't care. He's the coolest defense in the west and he doesn't care for what you may think about it. Except... he does care. It totally consumes him. Your perception, your opinion, is everything to him. He has shitty self esteem, deep down, because he knows Phoenix is better than him. And tries to mask it with narcissism as the two duke it out. Appearances are everything, evidence is everything. What people think is true is the only thing that matters, truth doesn't. And it makes sense that his closest contacts and associates are the targets for his constant narcissistic abuse and gaslighting. Their opinions matter even more than the common crowd - of course, Kristoph hates them. Which makes it even worse for him when the jury decides unanimously that Vera is innocent (and by implication, he is therefore guilty). The jury verdict was kind of like the ultimate confirmation that guess what, the evidence doesn't matter. The common and boorish masses have passed judgement, no matter how "mindless, emotional and irrational" they are, even they can see behind his crappy little facade. Even a blind woman like Lamiroir can see that insecurity; even a common person can understand it just by looking at the facts. That's what absolutely wrecks him... that his “poker face” couldn’t hold a candle to Phoenix’s. And he loses the “hand” again (because of his “hand”... get it??).

The identity that he needs to maintain is part of how he sees himself in his mind. As Phoenix's protector, not as his stalker. As Klavier's benevolent big brother, not as his abuser. As Apollo's teacher and mentor, not as someone guiding him into ruin. He lives in a false reality.

Try to bring this up in any way, shape, or form and he will write it off. You're just imagining things...

Because at some level, Mr. Black Psyche Locks himself doesn't even realize. (I feel like that might just be basically canonical fact, based on Pearl’s explanation of how black psyche locks are supposed to work.) That’s pretty freaking terrifying.

At the end of the day this is a big part of the reason I think his character is just so interesting. In a very messed up way, Kristoph is one degree away from being such a good person. He could've been obsessively protective of Klavier - the way a big brother is supposed to be - instead of abusive, could've actually been very caring of Phoenix instead of manipulative. Terrible people can have good traits, just as good people can have awful traits. His attention to detail and understanding of psychology (like getting Vera those gifts she would like so much) could've been used for genuine good. He could've been someone who cares deeply about other people because he does care deeply about other people. But only in terms of their relation to himself, what do they think of him, how are they useful to him.

Maybe this is why I kind of like his character. Intelligent, semi-neurotic protective characters are just my ish. But, no, he has to have a narcissistic bent that skews everything into complete abuse. That’s what makes him awful... that he’s devoid of a moral compass or true compassion for other human beings.

So in closing, fuck off, Kristoph Gavin.

Postscript, he's also such a good foil for Phoenix for this reason. Kristoph does everything for himself. Phoenix does everything for Trucy, because he's a dad and he understands the weight of what it means to really care for someone. Kristoph couldn’t understand motives like that. And Phoenix can't help it if he's an order of magnitude smarter and more mature than Kristoph is. He was just born like that. Classy as fuck. You know what, Kristoph Gavin is like the dollar store version of Phoenix Wright as an attorney. Has many of the same functions but actually doesn't have a leg to stand on and will fail you when you need it. And is revealed to just be a cheap knockoff of the real thing.

[auncyen]

two snippets from an early draft of “when the Cat Dragged in the Trickster” that had more buildup covering the school year and the repeat requests for Ren to be given a change of heart...because I’m deleting old docs to clean up but I still like them.

The first time they checked the MetaNav because Amamiya had been requested on the Phansite, Morgana crowed at the negative result. "See! He doesn't have a distorted desire! If he was wicked before, he has clearly reformed."

The second time they checked the MetaNav because Amamiya had been requested, Morgana rolled his eyes before explaining to a mildly curious Yusuke that people were only scared of Amamiya because of his dubious past and that they weren't paying enough attention to his current impeccable conduct. Ryuji then filled Yusuke in on what said dubious past was. Ann informed everyone the result was still negative. No distortion.

The third time Amamiya got requested, Ryuji shook his head when Makoto started to bring out her phone. "He ain't gonna be on there," he told her.

"You're certain?" the student council president asked. "With a record like his..."

"He's been on the site before, I believe," Haru said. "Was he already given a change of heart?"

Ann sighed in aggravation. "No, but we've checked both times Mishima's forwarded the requests before, and he hasn't shown up then either. I mean, yeah, you'd think if he assaulted someone out of the blue, he must be distorted, but he got arrested and put on probation for it. That'd be enough to make most people reflect on themselves, right?"

Haru nodded, accepting the logic, but Makoto still said aloud, "Amamiya Ren."

"Candidate not found."

Morgana huffed. "See?" He jumped up on the accessway's railing. "Lady Ann, I say we tell Mishima to not accept these requests anymore. They clearly have no basis."

Ann frowned, thinking. It'd be a little hard when they were still trying to keep some plausible deniability with Mishima, but she could probably...drop a heavy hint. "Okay--"

"Wait," Makoto said. "You only think it lacks basis because of the app. We don't know where it's from or how it was made, so how can we trust it to be accurate?"

"Do you think the accusation has merit, then? That he threatened the writer?" Yusuke asked. Morgana gave a loud, exasperated sigh.

"I...don't know," Makoto said slowly. "Honestly, I'd prefer if Ann's explanation was right. If Amamiya's reformed, it would mean the justice system at least works sometimes. It's just...what if these are serious? Haru made multiple requests, and you still nearly missed them before I brought them to your attention."

"By blackmailing us," Ryuji muttered.

Makoto's cheeks colored. Haru squeezing her hand as gentle reassurance didn't help. "...That's besides the point. I just want to make sure no other victims slip through the cracks either."

Ryuji and Ann exchanged looks. Ryuji shoved his hands in his back pockets and leaned against the railing. "Honestly, I kind of wonder if I'd be on the Phansite if it'd gone up before Kamoshida went down," he said. "People mostly just leave me alone now, but last year there was talk about how I was gonna haul off and hit the next person who looked at me funny. Shit made me want to quit school for a while."

"You called Amamiya-san 'the guy who stabs people'," Morgana reminded him.

"Well, that's how I knew him! And I wasn't spreadin' anything--Ann had already heard about him, and who were you gonna tell?" Ryuji shot back before a gesture from Makoto reminded him to lower his voice. "Look, I know the guy's done something bad once before, and from what I've seen of him, he's a little weird. Like, I can't get a read on him at all. But none of that means he should be harassed. I guess...we should check to be sure nothing's going on...but can we do it without bothering the guy?"

"I think...both Mako-chan and Ryuji-kun have a point," Haru said slowly. Since we don't know much about the MetaNav, we can't know for sure if it's always working correctly, can we? So I think we should do some questioning ourselves to make sure Amamiya isn't involved in anything suspicious. But we must be discreet, and if we find nothing, we ask the administrator to not accept any more requests about him. I wouldn't want us to be used as a tool for harassment. People deserve second chances."

"That seems reasonable," Yusuke said. "I agree with the proposed action." Makoto nodded, and Ryuji shrugged. Ann hesitated for a moment, but...if there was a victim...and if there was a chance the MetaNav didn't always work, they needed to know, considering how much they relied on it. She nodded.

Morgana held out for a couple of tense minutes, his tail swishing in agitation behind him, but at last it slowed. "I guess...it'd reflect badly on the name of the Phantom Thieves if we ignored a request that turned out to be legitimate... very well, then. We investigate, and then we tell Mishima to reject any further requests."

Morgana's phrasing made it obvious he expected Amamiya to be found innocent. Fortunately, he seemed to be right. Morgana tailed Amamiya from a distance. Yusuke kept an eye out for Amamiya when he people watched at the station. The four Shujin students kept an ear out for any current rumors that might have any basis. Ann asked Mishima if he would be able to find more details about Amamiya's record, since the original leak appeared long-deleted and he was good with the internet and searching for information.

Mishima was more than happy to help her find information--he actually pulled up the record itself for her. The details on the trial were sparse, with the victim's identity completely missing from the record. Was that normal...? Ann hoped it was, to protect victims. It seemed the assault conviction was legitimate enough, anyway. Amamiya had pleaded not guilty, but there was an identified witness who had testified that he had attacked the man she'd been with out of the blue. The judge had made a quick ruling--Ann guessed it was a fairly open-and-shut case. The most troubling thing was that the transcript of the proceedings gave no hint into what had provoked Amamiya to assault that man, who seemed to have been a stranger, besides the allegation that he had anger management issues. That lined up with a few of the rumors, but...the rumors were based on his record to begin with. And they were all old--nothing they turned up sounded that different from what they'd heard in April. Yusuke and Morgana had nothing suspicious to report, unless Amamiya holding three part-time jobs, one of which seemed to be where he was living, counted.

It was...weird. No, she guessed it made sense if Amamiya had reformed and was working to control his temper. They ended the investigation. Ann dropped hints to Mishima that the Phantom Thieves weren't after criminals who'd already been punished.

Mishima seemed seriously reluctant to take those hints, considering they got a fourth request for Amamiya while they were waiting for Futaba to wake up. Ann hadn't even finished reading the message before she deleted it in aggravation.

-

The second snippet being a slightly different form of investigating with interesting/concerning results:

Haru and Makoto were in agreement from the beginning, with Yusuke agreeing it seemed reasonable enough soon after. Ann was the first to be won over from skepticism. Then Ryuji. Finally, Morgana's ears drooped. "We really don't know how that thing works," he said with a glance at Ann's phone. "It'd be terrible if we accidentally ignored someone in danger...all right. We investigate, and then we tell Mishima to reject any further requests."

Morgana's phrasing made it obvious he expected Amamiya to be found innocent, and Ann was a little worried what would happen if he was wrong. Still, for now, they had a unanimous vote. They started an investigation.

Makoto tailed Amamiya, with Ryuji at a distance just in case she was confronted. All she learned was that that Amamiya worked at both 777 and a beef bowl shop and seemed to be a decent employee. Yusuke kept an eye out when he people watched at the station and spotted Amamiya a few times, but never saw him do anything or go anywhere unusual, and most of what he had to say about finally seeing the transfer student for himself was "his aesthetic is appallingly drab". He also figured out somehow that Amamiya's glasses were fake, but Ann didn't know what that information had to do with anything, even if Yusuke found it the one interesting thing about Shujin's transfer student.

Morgana also tailed Amamiya, and by 'tailed' he really just strutted up to Amamiya, meowed and acted like a lost cat, and let Amamiya take him home for the night. It was a lazy approach. It was also the most informative, though not in the way Ann had expected.

Amamiya returned Morgana to Ann in the morning. That, she'd expected: either Amamiya would be conscientious and return a cat he'd recognize as hers, or Morgana would eventually slip away and return on his own. What she hadn't expected was that Amamiya looked nervous--really nervous--when he let his schoolbag down on his desk and showed her Morgana, safe inside. Morgana looked upset.

"He...must have gotten out somehow? I found him in Shibuya, after my work shift--"

"He thinks you'll think he stole me," Morgana blurted.

"Okay, okay, come on," Ann said, reaching into the schoolbag to extricate the smallest thief. She was confused. Why on earth would Amamiya think she'd suspect him of kidnapping Morgana? He'd gone up to Amamiya himself--

Well, though...if Ann didn't know that, if Morgana was a normal cat--oh. Yeah, it might be suspicious that Amamiya of all people had 'found' him. Shoot. She immediately looked up at Amamiya and gave him her brightest smile. "I'm glad you found him! I was sooooo worried about this little guy. Thank you."

"'Little guy'?" Morgana muttered, but he clambered into her desk and turned himself about, his blue eyes focusing on Amamiya. "See? It's fine. Calm down."

Obviously, Amamiya couldn't understand Morgana. But he did seem to be relaxing. He smiled back a little at Ann, an awkward thing, and she felt so lost. What had happened to the guy who'd intimidated the entire class just to let a cat sit in a desk?

[if-the-crown-fits-translate-it]

Discord pt 93

[Date: 18/03, 05:45 PM GMT - 18/03, 06:29 PM GMT]

[Prior to the below conversation, Maxwell and the people from the server were discussing how the liquid from the cut-off bud from the previous day appears to be red to Maxwell, yet it had appeared as white in color to Marcus and the others after the bud was cut. The bud was also fairly large, about half the size of Maxwell’s thumb, and may have been one of the calendula marigolds, not the freesias. The flower petals can be around like a normal petal, but they’re still metal. The bud hadn’t wilted]

Maxwell: “so....

whats this about”

|[Little-K1ng: “I wish I hadn’t snapped at fetch like that… maybe when he comes back I can give him a proper apology”

Maxwell: “hm perhaps that would be good

family should get along”]|

Marcus: “.....

..we didn't want to worry you”

Jack the Observer: “that was the spoilered image from yesterday afternoon. Mona decided it would be beneficial not to let you know.

you know. seeing as it was rather uncharacteristic.”

donti (e): “... yea”

Marcus: “...seeing as you had already spoken ender”

Maxwell: “i...i dont remember saying that”

Jack the Observer: “i doubt it was actually you who said it.

much more likely it was some partial incarnation of Page.”

Marcus: “....it didn't sound like you”

Maxwell: “the fuck do you mean it didnt sound like me

I....”

Marcus: “i mean it didn't sound like you, Max”

Maxwell: “why didnt you tell me!”

Marcus: “we didn't want to worry you!”

Maxwell: “want me to worry?! about what! that Im gonna end up back with crown even if I dont wanna be! I already know that!”

donti (e): “heey hey they.. didnt want to worry you

everything else was already stressful..”

Marcus: “...”

Jack the Observer: “donti.

your goody goody nice-talk is not helpful here.”

Marcus: “max”

donti (e): “... alright.”

Marcus: “im sorry”

Maxwell: “.....

look i just

i hate being treated like a child

i mean

Its like the whole circlet argument all over again!”

Marcus: “....the

max?”

Maxwell: “what”

Marcus: “how do you

how do you know about that argument”

Maxwell: “I DONT KNOW OKAY”

Marcus: “max what else do you remember”

Maxwell: “IVE-- ive been remembering random things while forgetting others i cant tell anymore”

Marcus: “......

why didn't you... tell us?

how long”

Maxwell: “I just thought they were dreams or nightmares

i dont know....ever since the trial maybe?”

Marcus: “..

max”

Maxwell: “what...”

Marcus: “i'm sorry”

Maxwell: “FOR WHAT WHY CANT YOU JUST TELL ME”

Marcus: “everything

for everything okay!

i'm sorry we didn't tell you about the voice thing last night

i'm sorry fetch tried to lie about the buds in your hair!

i'm sorry that you and i got into that stupid argument and that we had to leave our family because i wouldnt tell you something!”

Maxwell: “I hate this....why does everyhting think they have to keep things from me”

Marcus: “I'm sorry”

Maxwell: “I aint a god damn kid....i havent been for a while....”

Marcus: “I know that Max

I know”

Maxwell: “.....you....”

Marcus: “....”

Maxwell: “marcus

stand in the light for a sec”

Marcus: “im sorry

what?”

Maxwell: “please please just stand in the sunlight for a moment”

Marcus: “max..?”

Maxwell: “.....I think I know why you've been so tired....���

Marcus: “stress?”

Maxwell: “no...

i...im sorry me getting made probably brought it on im so fucking sorry--”

Marcus: “..max?”

Maxwell: “the leaves”

Marcus: “the what”

Jack the Observer: “huh.

marcus is also growing a wreath.”

Maxwell: “the leaves have sprouted”

disks and the color red |Stars: “thats unfortunate”

Maxwell: “im sorry im sorry im so fucking sorry”

Jack the Observer: “interesting”

LLyr: “max, this isnt your fault”

Marcus: “i...”

donti (e): “heeeyy thats kinda rude guysss”

Marcus: “max why would this be your fault”

LLyr: “there’s no way you could have prevented or made this happen”

Jack the Observer: “[i whisper to dave] i wonder how much it will effect him, considering the circlet did little to nothing”

Maxwell: “but it happened after we started arguing after I upset you im so fucking sorry oh my god”

[donti (e): “heeeyy thats kinda rude guysss”]

LLyr: “thats just how they are :3″

emuhlee: “this isn't very pleasant :(”

donti (e): “yea.”

Marcus: “max it isn't your fault”

Maxwell: “but arent you in pain?!”

Marcus: “um

not..really?”

Jack the Observer: “well. it makes sense that the "happiness wreaths" grow off of negative emotions.”

Maxwell: “......what...”

Marcus: “i didn't even notice it happened”

Maxwell: “you...how--

syd screamed in pain I had headaches for days and even fetch is hurting...”

Marcus: “i dont... i don't know max

i don't have answers”

Jack the Observer: “oh, you're only partially immune”

Marcus: “immune???”

Jack the Observer: “should've guessed – you still lost your memories after all.”

Raeva: “It could be because you've spent much more time with Crown than the rest of them”

Jack the Observer: “the circlet only worked partially. of course this wreath only works partially as well.”

[Jack the Observer: “[i whisper to dave] i wonder how much it will effect him, considering the circlet did little to nothing”]

disks and the color red |Stars: “dunno. i still think he wont go with the rest of them though [he whispers back]”

Marcus: “.........”

Jack the Observer: “if that were the case, the circlets should have less effect on Prince and Baron as well

not to mention Countess.”

Marcus: “....oh that's your assumption...”

donti (e): “... they didnt need the laurels though”

Maxwell: “hm...”

Jack the Observer: “based on historical evidence, i would guess that Crown effects you less, in particular”

Marcus: “max...

max what are you humming?”

donti (e): “uh

Jack the Observer : “if you're taken again, remember morse code :)”

Maxwell: “....what...”

donti (e): “... didnt crown figure out the morse code?”

Marcus: “..hm..hm...”

donti (e): “he used it in an ask of his own?”

Raeva: “Now you're both humming?”

Marcus: “max how do you know that tune?”

Marcus: “you've never...

max?”

Maxwell: “......know that I'm with you the only way that I can.....”

Marcus: “....Until you're in my arms again....”

disks and the color red |Stars: “...interesting”

Maxwell: “.....remember me.....”

Marcus: “.....max”

Maxwell: “.....i dont know....

i cant tell whats my memories and whats....his”

Marcus: “....sometimes I can't either”

Maxwell: “I hate it....it hurts...”

Marcus: “...I'm sorry”

Maxwell: “its not you...I'm....Im happy I met you guys...”

Marcus: “i'm glad i met you too..”

Baroness: “Hello Page and Viscount. :)”

Marcus: “the real you”

Maxwell: “ugh god, fuck off baroness...”

Marcus: “what the fuck are you doing in here”

Maxwell: “we aint in the mood”

Maxwell: “okay wait how the fuck did you get into the god damn house”

Baroness: “I just thought I'd come by and see how things were growing. It looks like we're becoming a family again. :)”

[Maxwell: “okay wait how the fuck did you get into the god damn house”]

Baroness: “Hmm, i think the door was unlocked. Funny that. :)”

Maxwell: “what”

Maxwell: “oh....mona left it unlocked in case fetch came back...”

Marcus: “......”

emuhlee: “.... :(”

Baroness: “So, it looks like you're starting to bloom Viscount. Are you excited? :)”

Marcus: “.......”

Maxwell: “leave him alone you piece of shit

or else ill be the one biting at you”

Marcus: “..max”

Maxwell: “STOP CALLING HIM THAT”

Baroness: “Calling him what? his name? tell me, do you feel more like a Page or a Maxwell right now?”

Maxwell: “maxwell you dumb bitch”

Marcus: “.......”

Baroness: “Alright. I'm sure that will change soon. :)”

Marcus: “Pa- max don't antagonize her, please”

Maxwell: “you piece of shit you do anything to my family [deleted shortly afterwards] friends AND ILL KILL YOU”

donti (e): “heeey maxx chill

we should.. not do anything.. we will regret

haha

hi baroness”

Marcus: “...”

Baroness: “I'm not doing anything.

The bloom will happen and spring will come.

You can't stop the changing of the seasons. :)

donti (e): “very poetic.. thank you”

Baroness: “I'm just here to tend to the flowers. :)”

LLyr: “i mean with that logic winter will come eventually, won’t it?”

Maxwell: “no BUT I CAN SHOVE MY FIST DOWN YOUR THROAT”

Marcus: “Page- Max please stop yelling”

Maxwell: “.....”

donti (e): “hEYyyyYYYYyyyyyyyy heeeyyy everyone caaaallllmmmmm dooownnnn no need to yell”

[Maxwell: “no BUT I CAN SHOVE MY FIST DOWN YOUR THROAT”]

Baroness: “Page, Page, Page. Is that any way to speak to your family?”

Maxwell: “YOU AINT MY FAMILY YOU PIECE OF SHIT”

Void: “for someone so concerned with a happy family baroness is awfully good at sowing discord and unhappiness”

donti (e): “heyy heyy no need for sniping comments”

Marcus: “..not the time for puns, donti”

[Void: “for someone so concerned with a happy family baroness is awfully good at sowing discord and unhappiness”’

Baroness: “Sometimes you have to snip a few weeds for beautiful flowers to grow. :)”

Void: “hm. don't like that.”

[Maxwell: “YOU AINT MY FAMILY YOU PIECE OF SHIT]

Baroness: “:)”

Marcus: “.....”

[a-crimson-lion]

Katsuki Bakugo And Minoru Mineta Are Funny For All The Wrong Reasons

In this essay I will

No, but seriously, this is a problem. Spoilers and all that jazz. Let's start with the obvious.

Minoru Mineta

Minoru is the poster child for this topic. He's a complete scumbag, but is kept around because he's funny, when in reality he'd probably be expelled somewhere down the line.

While he does have some funny moments, there's only a small amount that don't come from his perversions, which is highly concerning.

His brand of humor isn't particularly inspired either. Let's go through some of his moments.

Hero Costumes

Minoru flashes his thumbs up when he looks at Ochako's uniform, stating that he loves the school. This is less funny and more unsettling, but it gets a pass 'cause Minoru is still relatively new to viewers.

USJ

Minoru grapples onto Tsuyu's breasts twice. He gets dunked on the first time. He gets nearly drowned the second time. We laugh... but it's not because Minoru is funny. Seriously, dark humor is one thing, but Minoru's actions are just plain creepy and borderline sexual harrassment. The fact that he nearly has to die to get us laughing doesn't help matters (he's scum, but scum should face long lasting consequences, not temporary bouts of comedic violence).

Changing Rooms

Almost forgot about this one. Minoru tries to peep on the girls. Kyoka notices and skewers his eye. We laugh. Not because Minoru's funny, but because we're suppose to enjoy his suffering. Imagine if everyone DIDN'T bash him upside the head! (There would probably be content apathy if there wasn't at least a small outcry for reprimands, to be honest.)

Obstacle Course

Minoru clasps onto Momo's gym uniform to pass the Obstacle Course, and he has a nosebleed. Momo calls him the worst. Again, relying on the fact that "Minoru sux" in order to get a laugh. That's sad.

Class Rankings

Mina says it best: guys like Minoru are only endearing when they're stupid, or something along those lines. If they're stupid, that lowkey implies that he has the potential to learn better. But Minoru already knows a lot, which os MORE unsettling than the alternative. Now, common sense doesn't equal intelligence, but the fact that Minoru is considered smart when he continually makes the stupid decision to try and get some in horrible ways is just... the worst.

Swimming Pool

Minoru and Denki collaborate on getting a view of the girls in swimsuits. (Before you bring it up, yes, Denki is also a perv character, but unlike Minoru, he actually has more going for his personality instead of just having a running gag joke define 90% of his character. And the most Denki's done on his own is attempting (and failing) to flirt with other girls.) Denki and Minoru are shocked when the rest of the boys show up, and Denki is disheartened to find that the girls are wearing school-issued swimsuits. Minoru, of course, finds the scene nice nonetheless. This is less of a "HAHA!" moment and more of a "*groan*" moment.

Hot Springs

Minoru tries to violate the girls' privacy just so he can see them naked. Luckily Kota is there to stop him. He swats Minoru off the wall, leading him to fall pathetically back to Earth. And we never speak of it again. You see a pattern with his stunts yet? Also, Tenya did not deserve what he got at the end of that scene.

Provisional License Exam

Granted, this is where Minoru is at his least perverted, but he still finds a way to be annoying. "The hierarchy is falling!" Oh gee, it's not like you had a tragic backstory and underwent actual character growth which helped you grow as a person, Minoru. You being smug is doing nothing to help your character.

Before The Interview

In the anime exclusive season premiere of Season 4, Minoru starts creepily talking about a potential female reporters breasts, before he gets restrained by Mr. Aizawa. While most of us thank him for stopping the pervert's actions, keep in mind that this is the one of the few times Mr. Aizawa ever tries to actually do anything to curb Minoru's behavior. Then again, since Horikoshi likes Minoru and Katsuki, they basically get immunity from Mr. Aizawa's actual character.

Joint Training Arc Aftermath

Sometime during the JTA, Minoru ricochets off of Mina's chest. Mina (rightfully) calls him out at this, and we're later treated to a scene with Minoru in a straightjacket with his eyes forced open while Mina keeps an eye on him. Physical punishment will do nothing to Minoru; at this rate he'll develop an immunity. What he needs are concrete consequences that will actually get him to think about not being perverted.

Izuocha Reaction

This moment is... admittedly tame. After Izuku and Ochako share a fist bump in Chapter 256, Minoru makes this weird gremlin face while asking himself what's going on. It's harmless at first... until you remember that Minoru is a shameless pervert who has a vain physical infatuation with most girls, Ochako inclued. Minoru's reaction is basically an entitled Lv. 1 gamer looking at an experienced Lv. 50 and going, "Why the hell isn't that me?"

Of course, there are other moments where Minoru is perverted, but it isn't funny, a la he hopes to see Eri again in 10 years or something like that. I've heard he's been mellowing out a bit more in recent chapters, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic for now. The fact that his main shtick is that we should despise him, and therefore laugh at his karma, is... kinda sad. That type of thing could work for a villain or a really unlikable character, but the fact that Minoru is a supporting character who we see progress with his classmates with very little growth in his character? What a waste... Moving on, then.

Katsuki Bakugo

Ah, King Explosion Murder. Most of you will know how I despise him. And unfortunately, part of the reason is similar to why I don't like Minoru:

His AnGeRy BoI tantrums get old really quick. Let me explain.

Catchphrases

"DIE!" "I'LL KILL YOU!" "EXTRA!" If you've been paying attention to Katsuki, he says these things s lot. He's been letting go of "extra" recently, but he'll still spew the first two comments without hesitation. He probably doesn't mean it literally, but that doesn't warrant his excessive aggression. It's one of the worst character traits I've seen in a while to be honest, and it's heavily concerning that a 15 (now 16) year-old has this kind of mindset. The fact that it's played for laughs ("DIE!" or "GO TO HELL!" while Izuku states deadpan off to the side) isn't any more assuring.

Gremlin Face

Katsuki will do this for a multitude of reasons. His base appearance treads a fine line between pretty boy and disgruntled madman, but when Katsuki gets more pissed then usual, he goes full gremlin. The faces are somewhat funny out of context, but they're kind of petty in context.

Bus Ride

The kids call out Katsuki on the bus ride to the USJ. This is basically a way to tell the readers that Katsuki isn't much of a big shot anymore, but the fact that it ultimately holds no water later down the line is... disappointing. Within several chapters, people will be flocking to him, regardless of his garbage personality.

Eijiro's Analysis

Eijiro brings up how Katsuki should be all "DIE! DIE! DIE!" while they're fighting villains, to which Katsuki ironically responds in kind. It's a "Bakugo sux LOL" moment, but the fact that this is how likely most students see him and they STILL flock to him is just... wut? Plus, Eijiro was originally skeptical of Katsuki after the Battle Trial, and his sudden support of Katsuki here is... half-heartedly executed. And while Katsuki has shown that he treasures the relationship he has with Eijiro to a degree, it's pretty clear that Eijiro holds it in a much higher regard.

Less Than The Best

Gremlin face returns when Katsuki gets 3rd (and therefore not 1st) in the Sports Festival's Obstacle Course. Katsuki screams when he gets 2nd (and therefore not 1st) in the Cavalry Battle. It's "funny" now, but I fear for the day when this guy has to regularly do interviews and doesn't get the Number One Hero spot for the first few months (if he ever gets it at all).

Sore Winner

This is probably the one joke I can say is the least funny. Everybody remembers the whole Katsuki in bindings and acting like an animal bit, right? Yeah, no one is sane in this universe... And even if Katsuki's desire to reject the first place medal is understandable, he isn't exactly cordial about the whole thing (I mean, I'd be miffed if someone had be bound like that, but I doubt more growling is gonna get him out... the teachers need help). And then we still see him with the medal in his mouth sometime later, and Gremlin face show up when the class is talking internships. Where's the therapist again?

Teeth

Katsuki telling the germs in his mouth to die as he's brushing his teeth. It's only funny because of the absurdity of the notion. In reality, telling microscopic organisms to straight up die in such a threatening manner is hella concerning. See "Catchphrases" for why I still don't think this is okay.

Knife

One of the more tame jokes. Katsuki's good with knives, Ochako brings it up, Katsuki is offended. Honestly, I'd prefer more of this type of humor compared to... whatever Katsuki's doing right now.

I'll Kill Him

It's an exam, Katsuki, AN EXAM! This moment during the Provisional License Exam is only funny for a moment, because when you think about it, the purple dude has a point (even if he's still a stuck-up elitist) and Katsuki would have failed if Eijiro and Denki didn't follow after him. Still, does he think he can get away with saying he'll kill villains in the actual Hero world? Good gravy...

Stop Being Nice

This is a trend we've seen post-Deku vs. Kacchan 2. Izuku complements Katsuki or makes a remark about him. Katsuki proceeds to tell him to back off in some or fashion. If it's his winter costume, Katsuki will chew the speech bubble. He'll reflexively tell Izuku to get out of his way. When Izuku mentions Katsuki's technique, Katsuki will tell Izuku to stay away from him. I know some of Izuku's habits are borderline-stalking, but he's not being overtly creepy. And in a narrative where Izuku and Katsuki are supposed to be "good friends," this does a poor job of showing it.

Ninja Star

Katsuki looses his temper when Izuku brings up Blackwhip, and throws one of his head pieces at Izuku like a ninja star. Izuku gets injured, but the entire thing is played off like a nice joke. Except it isn't. Izuku wasn't about to spill anything about OFA when he talked about Black Whip; Katsuki's just stupidly jealous and annoyed when anyone like Izuku talks for too long about their achievements. It's basically telling readers that Izuku's gonna get shoved around for having pride in himself. That sucks...

I Win

The latest incarnation of Gremlin face, and Katsuki's stupid winner's complex in general. I've already talked about it in this post, but Katsuki's assertions in Chapter 257 were highly immature and disrespectful. All Might tells the boys about the OFA users and their short lives, how they weren't chosen ones but were still entrusted with the Quirk, hoping to pass it on and hoping to beat AFO. What does Katsuki say about them? They had lame Quirks; they were a bunch of nobodies. He goes out of his way to tell Izuku he'll lag behind while mastering the next Quirk while Katsuki ensures his victory. All if that "character development" and he still pulls stuff like this. How do I put this?

A few steps forward followed by long periods of regression is not character development, that's bad writing.

Katsuki's seemingly humorous outbursts would be terrifying in the real world. He's got serious issues and he needs help. His anger is no laughing matter. It'll hurt him, or rather, continue to hurt him. It's already hurt other people, and continues to do so.

TL;DR Katsuki and Minoru's one note humor is damaging to the narrative and to their characters, and unless it's properly addressed, it will continue to do so. Thank you for your time.

-Crimson Lion (19 January 2020)

[freelancearsonist]

Poe fic based on RAIN by Ben Platt?? Pls I’ll love you forever

(UPDATED) 400 Follower Celebration

This is such a beautiful song! Thank you for sending this in. I’ll be gentle with your eternal love ;)

It’s storming like hell when Poe lands on Ajan Kloss. “Land” is an optimistic term, really, because with the way the weather’s acting up there’s no way anyone could’ve done much better than skid to a halt on the blacktop. And that’s exactly what he does, ignoring the choice beeps that come from BB-8 at the rough grate of the x-wing’s legs against the concrete.

“You should’ve waited for the storm to let up,” your concerned voice grumbles at him the second he makes it inside..

“Good to see you, too, sweetheart,” he chuckles and you gently punch his arm at the nickname.

“Smarmy, condescending bastard,” you growl, but you can’t keep the smile off your face because you’re happy that he’s back in one piece. It wasn’t a necessarily dangerous mission, but you had still worried. He was one of your best friends, after all. It was your job to worry. “Finn’s waiting for you, General Dameron.”

For some reason that he doesn’t understand, you love hanging his relatively new title over his head. You have no clue that it sends a shot of adrenaline to his heart every time it rolls off your lips.

Poe smiles slightly. “Right. How’d he do while I was gone?”

“Better than he does when you’re here,” you smirk slightly. “We all did, actually. Personally, I thought it was nice not to have you breathing down my neck constantly.”

Poe just rolls his eyes at your playful ribbing and lightly bats your shoulder. He knows he’s a bit… clingy when it comes to you, but he can’t really help it. You’re intoxicating, and he wants to spend as much time with you as he possibly can. Maybe he’s harboring a teeny tiny crush on you. But it’s small. He definitely doesn’t stay up at night plotting ways to ask you out. He definitely doesn’t space off during meetings thinking about how your lips would feel against his. He definitely doesn’t have trial runs of conversations with you and force BB-8 to play your role. It’s just a small crush. Minuscule, really.

“C’mon, I can tell you missed me.”

“Maybe a little bit,” you sigh with a mock-annoyed expression. “Only because it’s so quiet without you here. Don’t let it go to your head.”

It’s too late. It goes to his head before you even finish speaking. He just smiles genuinely and lets himself believe that maybe there’s a chance you like him, too.

“I probably shouldn’t keep Finn waiting. You know how he gets,” Poe chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. He knows he should go check in with his co-general, but he wants to linger with you just a little bit longer. “You wanna catch up later? You didn’t hear this from me, but I may or may not have picked up a case of Corellian whiskey while I was out.”

You practically snort at that. Of course he managed to secure some high-shelf booze while he was away. You wouldn’t expect any less from him. “I wish I could. I have a date tonight.”

Poe wonders, vaguely, if you heard the sound of his heart shattering. He certainly did. 

Okay, so maybe his crush isn’t that little. Maybe there’s a chance that he’s completely head over heels for you. 

He pretends to be excited for you nonetheless. “Oooh, a date? With who?”

“No one, really,” you wave your hand dismissively. “One of your newer pilots. Kato.”

He knew exactly who you were talking about, and he also knew exactly where the pilot in question slept. He took a deep breath and shook his head a little bit, reminding himself that murder was a completely inappropriate response to the situation. “Right. Well, have fun.”

Poe looks disappointed as he leaves, and it pisses you off more than anything. You’ve been pining for Poe since the day you met him, and you’re more than aware that the feeling is mutual. Honestly, you aren’t even that attached to Kato. You were hoping Poe would try to stop you from going out with another guy, but clearly he’s still too much of a coward to admit his feelings. You’ve been tempted to just get it over with and ask him out, but something stops you every time the thought crosses your mind. Maybe it’s your pride. Maybe it’s your fear of rejection. Whatever it is, it’s keeping you from making a move on Poe Dameron.

Finn tries to be patient with Poe, but Poe can be so infuriating. Especially now, when Finn’s trying to explain something to him and he’s not listening to a single word.

“Poe!” Finn snaps his fingers in front of Poe’s face, and the pilot’s pouty expression vanishes for a moment.

“What?”

“If you’re not gonna pay attention, I don’t know why we’re even talking.”

“Sorry, buddy,” Poe grimaces, running a hand over his face. “Just… jet-lagged, I guess.”

Finn gives Poe a knowing look. “With all due respect, bullshit. You gonna tell me what’s really happening?”

Poe exhales heavily, his bottom lip tugged between his teeth. Sure, Finn is his co-general. But Finn was his friend before anything else. “It’s (Y/N). She has a date. With Lieutenant Rourke.” Poe doesn’t know why the hell Finn has the audacity to laugh at that, but Poe doesn’t find anything about the current circumstances very funny. “What? Why are you laughing?”

Finn can barely breathe, he’s laughing so hard. “Maker, you’re an idiot! You really don’t see it, do you?”

If Poe wasn’t confused before, he certainly is now. “What? See what?”

“She doesn’t actually want to go out with Kato,” Finn states like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “She wants you to stop her, Poe. She’s giving you an ultimatum.”

Poe pauses for a minute as he lets his friend’s words sink in. “Oh, shit. But…”

“No buts,” Finn sighs, rolling his eyes as his laughter fades into a smile. “Go get the girl while you still can. Work can wait.”

Poe shouts a frantic “thank you” before sprinting out of the room. The only problem is that he has no clue where you are. He decides to check your quarters first, and halfway across the clearing he sees you. Maker, you’re gorgeous. Poe doesn’t even mind that his clothes are getting soaked by the heavy downpour because he’s so enraptured by how amazing you look in that flowy, light blue dress. He doesn’t even realize that he called out your name until you stop and turn to face him. When he sees the involuntary smile that spreads across your face as you spot him, he realizes that Finn was right.

“If you go on that date, you’re gonna break my heart,” he confesses as soon as he’s standing within arms reach of you. “And I guess what I want to say is…. Ah, fuck me. Break it. Break my heart over and over again if you want. It’s only ever been yours to break.”

Poe pulls you into a tight hug, one hand behind your neck while the other presses against your lower back to pull you as close as he can. You’ve never hugged someone so intimately before, and in that moment you know that your heart belongs to him. But the thing that really seals the deal for you is his lips gently pressing against your hairline as he holds you.

When you pull away Poe’s heart breaks a little bit, but then you’re pulling his face to yours and his heart mends itself back together as you kiss him, completely ignoring the terrible storm that’s waging around you. For a moment, it’s just you and Poe, and you’ve never been happier before.

Song Fic Masterlist

[haec-est-fides]

Filodox’s Trials of Apollo Reactions [Part I]

Welcome to part one of a reflective journey through Trials of Apollo ft. my original ebook annotations! I’ll be your host, 2020!filodox.

For this first episode, we’ll be going back to May 2016, the beginning of it all: The Hidden Oracle.

Annotations for this round are brought to you by 2016!filodox.

Is there anything we should know before we begin, 2016!me?

2016!filodox: I swore on the Styx never to read another Riordan book after he killed Octavian. And yet here we are.

... Alright then! Let’s get started.

But first, a more detailed overview on how this series will work: I will excerpt bits and pieces of the books based on what I highlighted / annotated on my first read. Beneath each quote, I will share what I wrote in the annotation. Below that, I will (occasionally) laugh at my past self, clarify the note, or say how my view has changed.

I encourage questions, comments, and concerns (of which there may be many), so go ahead and use that replies feature if you feel so inclined! However, these are just my opinions and (occasionally) emotional reactions, so no hate pls. <3 (Or, if you do send hate, pls make it funny.)

Now, diving right in with Riordan’s dedication!

To The Muse Calliope. This is long overdue. Please don’t hurt me.

2016!filodox: Hurt him. He didn’t even name the chapters.

As you can see, I had yet to experience Lester’s haiku and was already mad based on the table of contents alone. I went into this series very salty...

I inflicted a plague on the Greeks who besieged Troy.

2016!filodox: At least he did something right. Once.

I was just,,,extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill. (Though I was a huge Troy / Aeneas stan before all this, just to be clear.)

Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?

2016!filodox: I actually find this particular god crashing into a dumpster quite amusing.

I also blamed Apollo for what happened to Octavian. I think that had a lot to do with how Apollo acted on Delos in Heroes of Olympus, basically disowning Octavian and whining about how some “creature” scammed him? That was bullshit. Apollo needed to own the fact that he blessed Octavian, but he just abandoned him and denied all the blame. TL;DR I had a grudge, okay?

My mind stewed in confusion, but one memory floated to the surface -- the voice of my father, Zeus: YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.

2016!filodox: Wait, is this bc everyone blames Octavian and therefore Apollo? Bc lol but also no?

*cough* Octavian did nothing wrong 2k16 *cough*

Zeus will reconsider, I told myself. He’s just trying to scare me. Any moment, he will yank me back to Olympus and let me off with a warning.

“Yes...” My voice sounded hollow and desperate. “Yes, that’s it.”

2016!filodox: Apollo is a self centered frat boy, I forgot...but it is slightly...endearing? *narrows eyes*

Ah, how close I was to stanning Lester in the first chapter, when he was at his most “goddy”. You know, I actually made a rule for myself when I started reading Trials of Apollo that I would not under any circumstances stan Apollo. That was a naive goal, because it was never really a danger.

Regardless, Zeus had held me responsible for Octavian’s delusions of grandeur. Zeus seemed to consider egotism a trait the boy had inherited from me. Which is ridiculous. I am much too self-aware to be egotistical.

2016!filodox: I am going to Murder him.

*chef kiss* the hypocrisy ! the lack of self-awareness !

“I just...I assumed -- I hoped this would be taken care of by now.”

“You mean by demigods,” Percy said, “going on a big quest to reclaim the Oracle of Delphi?”

2016!filodox: That sounds like a decent quest, or you know, QUESTING FOR THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS

I’ve always said I can see the future but an inch to the left. Also, I don’t like Ella.

It warmed my heart that my children had the right priorities: their skills, their images, their views on YouTube. Say what you will about gods being absentee parents; our children inherit many of our finest personality traits.

2016!filodox: AND HE’S MAD ABOUT OCTAVIAN?!

I mean ?

Apollo, when Austin and Kayla show ambition: THEY GOT THAT FROM ME <3

Apollo, when Octavian (or Nero, or Caligula) shows ambition: srry i don’t know him ??

He had a weak jawline, an overlarge nose, and a beard that wrapped around his double chin like a helmet strap. His hair was curly and dark like mine, except not as fashionably tousled or luxuriant. His lips curled as if he smelled something unpleasant. Perhaps it was the burning seats of the bus.

2016!filodox: Nero ???

Not quite sure how to feel looking back at this moment. Call out post @ myself for instantly recognizing Nero, when afaik this scene was before we had any hints that Roman emperors were even a plot point? But here’s the thing: I don’t remember why I could recognize him so easily. I don’t remember where 2016!me obtained this ancient Rome knowledge. A mystery.

On another note entirely, did Nero really like,,,astral project into Apollo’s fever dream to address him directly? Because Rhea does. And sometimes Python does. But Nero? Can he do that?

The man laughed as flames licked at his purple sleeves. “You’re not sorry yet, but you will be. Find me the gates. Lead me to the Oracle. I’ll enjoy burning it down!”

2016!filodox: I too enjoy burning things down. # Nero confirmed

My only comment here is “oh you sweet summer child,,,”

Oh. Perhaps some of you are wondering how I felt seeing [Will] with a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend.

2016!filodox: No, actually. I wasn’t wondering. I was plotting how to kill you, them, and quite a few other people. Do you think I could trade you for Octavian?

Oh man, back at it again with the salt. XD

I could only remember my conversations with Octavian, the way he’d turned my head with his flattery and promises. That stupid boy...it was his fault I was here.

A voice whispered in the back of my mind. This time I thought it might be my conscience: Who was the stupid boy? It wasn’t Octavian.

2016!filodox: I can’t really...explain my emotions upon reading this. I’m still not quite okay, but this...it’s bittersweet in a way. I don’t know if this is a poor attempt at a proper closure, the author’s way of beating a dead horse, or just a way to make Apollo seem pitiable. Whatever it is... Octavian was important enough to remain in Apollo’s mortal memory. He somehow made promises to a god and had Apollo wrapped around his finger. And despite being so much like Apollo, the god blames him. Like everyone blames him. But Apollo also realizes, accepts on an infinitesimal scale, that “it wasn’t Octavian”. He wasn’t perfect, but neither is Apollo. Apollo is (at least) subconsciously admitting his own guilt in the whole affair.

...yeah. I will note that this bit isn’t meant to develop Octavian, but rather uses Octavian as a prop to support Apollo’s development? Which is why it still stings. Like thanks, I guess.

“Your judgement in the past has been...questionable. I wonder if you have chosen the right tools for this job. Have you learned from your past mistakes?”

2016!filodox: Nero has made plenty of mistakes to learn from

Love how I just assumed it was Nero back in chapter 10 and went with it, zero hesitation. Also love how I heard Python say Nero has made mistakes and went “oh absolutely”. In fact, here’s something funny in retrospect that will become more and more apparent: I did not like Nero in 2016. Or, at least, I thought I didn’t. There’s something really odd going on here that baffles me, looking back...

“A triumvirate is a ruling council of three,” I said. “At least, that’s what it meant in ancient Rome.”

“Which is interesting,” Rachel said, “because of this next shot.” She tapped her screen. The new photo zoomed in on the building’s penthouse terrace, where three shadowy figures stood talking together....

2016!filodox: Is it bad that I’m smirking? Because it’s getting interesting ~ *clear malicious intent*

Wow, edgy. Triumvirates are just a neat, Roman thing and I stanned.

“The last triumvirate I dealt with included Lepidus, Marc Antony, and my son, the original Octavian. A triumvirate is a very Roman concept...like patriotism, skullduggery, and assassination.”

2016!filodox: THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE. MODERN OCTAVIAN IS A VERY GOOD ANCIENT ROMAN. POLITICS, ESPECIALLY SHADY AF POLITICS AND POWERPLAYS, ARE QUINTESSENTIALLY ROMAN. Also, I’d like to note that it’s confirmed, in this universe’s canon, that Augustus was a son of Apollo.

Ohhhh, wait. I think I’d watched the HBO series Rome by 2016, which would at least partially explain my ancient Rome knowledge. (Amazing tv show btw!)

“He heard them talking in Latin.”

“Latin? Were they campers?”

Pete spread his hands. “I--I don’t think so. Paulie described them like they were adults. He said one of them was the leader. The other two addressed him as imperator.”

2016!filodox: !!!! (obligatory 💕)

I was such a simp for Latin in high school. And the Roman Empire. Still am, but hey.

“The Beast is planning some kind of attack on your camp. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to be big.”

2016!filodox: Runs in the family I guess

The Octavian / Triumvirate parallels are everywhere... 👀

“The emperors made themselves gods. They had their own temples and altars. They encouraged the people to worship them.”

2016!filodox: # deify me

*smacking my past self with a stick* You stop that! Edgy child!

Anyway, a much better point here is like,,,the Imperial cult was huge in the ancient Roman world. Looking at Apollo’s explanation here, why did only the “worst” three emperors get to be immortal? Did famously “good” emperors like Augustus and Marcus Aurelius have the option of becoming minor gods, but they chose Elysium or something? Are there slightly less infamous emperors just hanging around anywhere as minor gods? A lot of Roman emperors live on in human memory is all I’m saying.

“Wait!” Will said as I reached the door. “Who is the Beast? Which emperor are we dealing with?”

“The worst of my descendants.” My fingers dug into the doorframe. “The Christians called him the Beast because he burned them alive. Our enemy is Emperor Nero.”

2016!filodox: I honestly can’t believe it took this long to reveal this? Was anyone surprised?

Nero’s reveal is rather late in the book compared to Commodus, Caligula, and even Tarquin iirc? But it makes sense, being the first book of the series. Also love how 16-year-old me was like “this reveal is silly because everyone, like me, recognizes Nero on sight” and didn’t question that assumption at all.

“Germani.” Instinctively, I moved in front of Meg. The elite imperial bodyguards had been cold-blooded death reapers in ancient Rome. I doubted they’d gotten any sweeter over the centuries.

2016!filodox: BITCH. See? This is why I love Rome. They knew what they were doing.

Ngl, as someone of Germanic heritage, I felt really represented by the Germani, which is hilarious on so many levels.

He tried to compensate for his ugliness with an expensive Italian suit of purple wool, his gray shirt open to display gold chains. His shoes were hand-tooled leather, not the sort of thing to wear while stomping around in an ant pile. Then again, Nero had always had expensive, impractical tastes.

2016!filodox: I don’t exactly like Nero, and actually think he was quite the shitty emperor, but I guess I mildly respect and “like” him on principle (in this book at least).

OH YOU SWEET SUMMER CHILD. I was so convinced that I didn’t actually like Nero, despite all of the lowkey evidence to the contrary? Who hurt you, past me? (Lmao, it was Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio.) My working theory is that I was too much of an Emperor Augustus stan at the time to admit liking Nero. It’s hysterical. Look at me equivocating like a champ.

I’d been so proud of my son, the original Octavian, later Caesar Augustus. After his death, his descendants became increasingly arrogant and unstable (which I blamed on their mortal DNA; they certainly didn’t get those qualities from me).

2016!filodox: I’m glad Apollo and I can agree on something. Augustus was amazing and those who came after him...significantly less so.

See! The propaganda really got to me, what can I say?

Nero clasped his hands as if in prayer. “Oh, my. It seems we’ve had a slight miscommunication. You see, Apollo, Meg brought you here, just as I asked her to. Well done, my sweet.”

2016!filodox: This was obvious but I still find it...gods, the only word I can think of is “delicious”

. . .

“The Beast killed my father. This is Nero. He’s -- he’s my stepfather.”

I could not fully grasp this before Nero spread his arms.

“That’s right, my darling,” he said. “And you’ve done a wonderful job. Come to Papa.”

2016!filodox: Okay, but we should have known this since it became apparent her weapons were Roman. Also, oof. Also also, WHY did Riordan feel the need to add that last line? Why?

ASDFGHJKL: I CAN’T

“After the fire, we’ll rebuild,” he said. “It will be glorious!”

2016!filodox: The amount of times I have used this very logic is worrying.

For (some) context, Firelord Ozai is my favorite character from AtLA. <3

The scene might have been funny except that the Germani were now back on their feet, five demigods and a geyser spirit were still tied to highly flammable posts, and Nero still had a box of matches.

2016!filodox: Oh, I find this plenty amusing!

The emperor stared at his empty hand. “Meg...?” His voice was as cold as an icicle.

2016!filodox: The various ways his tone / voice have been described throughout this conversation are just 💕

*looks at camera like I’m on The Office*

Seriously, though. Nero’s voice is like the central descriptive element of his character because he’s so manipulative. It’s really cool and a great use of detail.

[Meg] turned to Nero. “You told me never to lower myself to my enemies’ level.”

“No, indeed.” Nero’s tone had frayed like a weathered rope. “We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration -- flames stoked by blood.”

2016!filodox: Real 👏🏻 Gods 👏🏻 Require 👏🏻 Blood👏🏻

I was way too enthusiastic about this whole situation, wasn’t I?

Nero grinned. “Good-bye, Apollo. Only eleven more Olympians to go.”

2016!filodox: Wait, shit, WHAT

Having read Tower of Nero, this probably had something to do with Python interfering with the Fates, huh? But does that mean it’s more Python’s plan or Nero’s? If this was Nero’s plan (with his 12 kids literally replacing the Olympians) that’s,,,really fucking bold.

Then I heard the screaming from Camp Half-Blood.

2016!filodox: Music to my ears ~

I’m presenting every edgy detail of my annotations so I have a proper case file when I inevitably have to face the question “On a scale of one to ten, how relatable is Emperor Nero and why should you have realized it’s a ten sooner?”

In a flash of silver light, the camp’s magical barriers collapsed. The Colossus lurched forward and brought his foot down on the dining pavilion, smashing it to rubble like so many children’s blocks.

2016!filodox: Payback! Dear gods, I can’t stop smiling! I’m just like “YES!” I know this will all probably get fixed or whatever but I’M HAVING A MOMENT.

I’ve learned to appreciate the small wins. <3

Percy grabbed one of the crown’s sunray spikes. He sliced it off at the base, then jabbed it into the Colossus’ forehead.

2016!filodox: As much as Nero is FAR from my favorite, I really don’t like defacing ancient (or replicas of ancient) statues and art...

This is where I just start laughing at myself tbh. I was so insistent on not liking Nero. Like, I sound like I’m in denial. Peak equivocation. What happened to that heart emoji a few chapters back? Why did I suddenly make it about *checks notes* ancient art? Updated translation: nooo don’t ruin the Colossus Neronis it’s so sexy aha

Just as the [arrow] reached its apex and was about to fall back to earth, a gust of wind caught it...perhaps Zephyros looking kindly on my pitiful attempt. The arrow sailed into the Colossus’ ear canal and rattled in his head with a clink, clink, clink like a pachinko machine.

2016!filodox: HOW MANY EX MACHINAS IS THIS ?! The dryads, the arrow, Percy, the enchantment, and THIS ?

One of my criticisms of Trials of Apollo in general is just that the stakes are so much higher and Riordan usually solves that problem by having his heroes win on long odds. The chances of them succeeding at like,,,anything they attempt are astronomical, but of course they manage. It’s not surprising but it does get a little tiring.

“Yo, Nico,” Leo called, “please tell me that’s it for the physical abuse.”

“For now.” Nico smiled. “We’re still trying to get in touch with the West Coast. You’ll have a few dozen people out there who will definitely want to hit you.”

2016!filodox: Oh I’d love to hit him. With the flaming, Imperial gold payload of an onager. Preferably WITHOUT the Pontifex Maximus attached to it -- unless of course you mean the false pontifex, Jason Grace.

Leo was the salt in the wound for this one, ngl. He rekindled my undying ire over Octavian’s death. As I said at the beginning of this, I was extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill after Heroes of Olympus. That sentiment sticks around for a while...

And we can call that a wrap!

Though it may seem like it, my annotations are not, in fact, a compilation of Nero’s greatest hits. There are a lot of scenes of his that I love (naturally) but I didn’t have anything to say about them when I first read the series. Maybe I’ll share those another time.

In any case, I hope you got something out of this ridiculously long post! Until next time! <3