#people who just happened to escape from the awful situation at the same time

[glsneeg-enthusiast]

What is RGB if not a found family?

people in a cult

[stringsbasement]

Your art of peri and your Villain AU of him? perfection. I read your twt thread and I'm greedy for more, im so serious like If there was a 100k word fanfic of your au I would read it in a heartbeat!! THATS how much im obsessed with the concept

thank you so much! i didn't expect there to be so much interest in my thoughtless doodles and rambles. luckily, i already have a draft for a rant i formulated about this version of peri's possible motivations, and now i have an excuse to share it!!

also, as a bonus, have this silly doodle :)

[his hairstyle is his attempt to separate himself from his parents, but no matter what he does with it, he can never get it to sit without that stray tuft and curl at the very end.

also, his bowtie is in reference to chloe and my initial art of irep before his design was revealed. the latter almost makes it seem like they "swapped roles."]

the thing is, it's hard to imagine peri as someone purposefully wanting to harm others for his own pleasure. for a "bad" au of peri to occur, he'd have to take after timmy, and seek chaos the same way he did

now, timmy is a good person at heart. his fairies love him, and he loved them in turn. that's undeniable. however, timmy was so stressful he affected cosmo and wandas marriage, and they had to retire right after him to rekindle their love and stop being so awful towards each other. timmy was simultaneously one of the best and worst things to ever happen to them

so it's not that much of a stretch to think he'd affected peri during his development, to the point he unknowingly influenced peri's core beliefs, which he'll carry over later in life

timmy used his fairies to escape from his regular life. he was incredibly reckless, and shirked responsibilities till the consequences got him back tenfold. a dangerous, but fulfilling way of living. he might've mellowed out in the later years, but considering he chose to keep vicky around to purposefully make himself miserable and keep his fairies instead of facing reality, maturity wouldn't be a straight or easy path

peri, adopting this way of thinking, believes the best way to live life is taking risks. ignoring your present problems in favor of escapism. he would insist this upon his godchild, and be blind to the complex nuance of dev's situation

dev's parental neglect differs from timmy's, and thus requires different treatment. but peri doesn't realize that, and dev is a child who cannot comprehend how awful he really has it, let alone communicate it in a way that isn't just lashing out and throwing tantrums

for classic peri, this is an annoyance. for this peri though? he'll enable it, because he thinks dev needs to get it out of his system. like timmy. which is in some way correct, but it's a flawed, only temporary solution

and it's in this way a path of deeper exploration opens up about characters similar to cookie, highlighting how flawed the godparent system can be when a child is assigned a godparent who cannot fulfill what they truly need

starting a ghost apocalypse is nothing compared to the wishes that has been granted before. and, honestly, dev taking viozalia's staff to use against her is a clever move. this peri wouldn't be downtrodden like he was in the original scene, but impressed. he would say as such, and dev, being the emotionally starved 10 year old he is, will soak those words up like a dry sponge

(slightly off topic: i like to think a little quirk this peri would have is, instead of looking to da book of rules for guidance, (cosmo, wanda, and his classic self do this multiple times in the show when in unique situations,) he'd be searching for anything that states what can't he do. "what to do when your god kid tries to start a ghost apocalypse... nothing? sweet!")

this would naturally allow him and dev to bond a little more. even if it's just shit talking other people and how they're totally better than everyone else

it doesn't mean they get along splendidly. dev is still pissed that he can't make the wishes he wants, and peri overcompensates by allowing him to throw himself into situations that just narrowly avoids sanction. because, oh yeah, peri would not appreciate being forced to follow the rules which includes wiping the godchild's memories after the godparent's term has passed

(if anything, he'll find a loophole out of it. he learned from the best, after all)

this is also where peri's spoiled nature would shine through. being offered everything just because he was a baby would make anyone entitled

he and dev are too similar for their own good. they have have access to anything they could ask for, but are unable to get love from one person they want it from. it's almost pitiful

to keep those thoughts out of dev's (and his own) mind, peri resorts to pushing dev out of his comfort zone, which would ordinarily be a good thing, only, he goes way too far to the point of regression

you know, it really doesn't help that dev looks a lot like timmy. i mean, look at them...

that's timmy with slicked back hair and a white jacket. c'mon

but even with all of this, peri doesn't really become a villain. he's antagonistic at most, with his strained relationship with his parents and his help in making things harder for hazel. luckily, the latest episode has given me a few ideas

when peri inevitably comes to care for dev, he'll obviously has to do something about his constant unhappiness. dev has a point in complaining about the fact hazel has two godparents and he only has one, even when his life is "worse" (another unhealthy way of thinking,)

hmmmm. so how can dev have two fairy godparents, and how can peri break da rules without putting himself at risk?

who other than a mirror of peri's own self?

a shift inevitably took place, one where peri became more intense and irep more soft. it's so subtle it goes unnoticed until thousands of years have passed

irep has become timid, soft, and well-meaning. if peri either quits his position or gives way for another slot and puts dev under a sort of split-custody, dev will be able to use anti-fairy magic, which can completely bypass any of the rules regular fairy magic is withholden to

irep will get what he wants as well. in this post, i answered an ask in which i speculate that irep genuinely does want a godchild, and the love and appreciation that comes with it. that much would stay the same for this au

and, well, unlike irep, peri has always been willing to share

this would make way for a bunch of whacky hijinks, potential plots, and new threats. consequences piling up until they become too huge to ignore. not to mention the full implications of a fairy and anti-fairy switching roles. of course, this is just a fun idea i came up with on the spot, and i haven't thought it out too much, so pointing out any plot holes that would come from this is appreciated!

i have more to say, mainly about peri and his parents' initial separation, as well as the parallels that can be found with this version of peri and hazel, but i feel it would be best to end it here :)

thank you for making me write all of this!

[ckret2]

Do you believe bill will eventually get better, even if it takes close to an eternity? Or do you think that is just his destiny, to forever be in denial of his mistakes?

I think on a long enough timeline change is inevitable. One way or another, Bill can't stay the same for an eternity.

He isn't necessarily getting better, though. Meds could leave him brain damaged, brain dead, or dead-dead—that's a real risk in psych wards from overmedication, errors, or adverse reactions to drugs, and I doubt Bill would have complained about the place being overmedicated unless the drugs were actually doing something to him. He could crumble under the stress and end up complying with whatever it takes to get him out of there and leave as a broken husk of who he once was. Or he could get more traumatized, more angry, more defiant, more hateful, spiraling on into infinity.

Psychiatric hospitals are, by and large, awful places to be. In fact the only time I've ever seen positive reviews of a psych hospital are from people who have been to multiple and are relieved their latest one is so much better than normal. A very common happy outcome of a psych hospital stay is literally "I absolutely needed to be there and going was the right choice, and I'll be traumatized the rest of my life because of it." And that's when the psych hospital did well.

The Theraprism uses solitary confinement + total sensory deprivation—which humans use as a torture and interrogation technique—as a punishment. I don't think they're doing it well.

I think Bill can improve—mainly because, frankly, at this point there's not a lot of ways left his situation could get worse—but if he does, at this point? It'll be in spite of the Theraprism, not because of it. It's pretty common in psych hospitals (particularly forensic psych hospitals, where all the patients also have the stigma of being criminals) for the treatment to hold patients back more than help. Things like patients that have committed more violent crimes being scrutinized much more than other patients and thus rated as more unwell than other patients displaying the same symptoms. Or patients objecting to taking a med that makes their mental condition worse, and being written up as noncompliant for it and pushed further back from being released until they agree to take the drug that makes them worse. Or patients having innocent behaviors reinterpreted as signs of mental illness ("keeps a journal" = "pathological need to write").

But he could improve. Maybe being cut off from his powers & his enablers will cause him to think over his life for the first time; maybe he'll make actual emotional connections with fellow patients that help him improve; maybe he realizes "this is the worst place ever, I've GOT to turn my life around" and starts checking out self help books from the hospital library. There's even a very slim chance he might get a competent psychiatrist who listens to him, doesn't assume he's incapable of self-insight just because he's mentally ill, and sees him for more than fifteen minutes once in a blue moon—all of which aren't traits you find in psychiatric hospitals as often as you might hope.

Dandelions can grow from the cracks in sidewalks, and people can improve in shitty psych wards.

But I expect the Theraprism will have to reform before Bill reforms.

I expect even more that Bill will find a way to escape before either thing happens.

[azulsluver]

I just want to ramble a little bit but- My personal scenario/headcanon for Bully au (which by the way, I love your writing) is that maybe one day reader decides to disappear, even if for a little while, maybe they just hide in some place for a long period of time (or hilariously and sneakily find a way to avoid their bullies throughout an entire day, or even crazier a whole week!!). They're so emotionally destroyed that they start to actually believe their insults and awful treatment they endured, and so they decide to just isolate themselves further somewhere no one can "be burdened by me"- Which in turn causes everyone else to at first get pissed off and then more and more (slightly, very slightly) worried that their punching bag is missing.... Perhaps, even have escaped them? 👀 I would love to see who loses their composure first, even if they don't admit their obsession at all lmao

Anon you don’t know what you’re doing to me //0//

tw. Bully!characters, no one takes you seriously kinda, yandere, stalking, baby tantrums.

This was more crack than anything serious…idk what happened but rants bellow!

They genuinely start tweakin:

Riddle, Deuce, Kalim, Malleus, Jack, Silver, Ruggie, Idia, Vil

They’re the ones that usually have their eyes on you, to find out that you’re missing and not at a place they SPECIFICALLY told you to be/stay flares their attention. Sure they can last a couple of days without you but a week? Nuh uh, they think they’re responsible for whatever you do, once they find you you’re getting a whole lecture. Telling you they’d get in trouble if they hadn’t found you sooner but let’s be real here.

But if you hid in a place far far away from them (which is impressive and impossible tbh) they’re already having a meltdown. Biting fingernails, aggressively running their fingers through their hair. All of that, and the ones who usually stay composed in situations like these (Ruggie/Riddle/Malleus) start to overthink so bad that they look beyond stress. It’s the thought that maybe you ran away from them or worse got kidnapped or lost. Which makes them have more of a reason to keep a tighter leash on you.

Ok but Kalim, Idia and Deuce cry like babies and throw tantrums.

Let the imagination work so think of Vil sitting on the kitchen table with his hair tied up and a face mask on while wearing a robe, a cup of coffee in his hands as he stares off into the distance that looks like he’s about to stab someone. He deadass thinks he’s growing grey hairs and has eyebags because his favorite punching bag is missing after two weeks. Who is he gonna step on now..

Gets pissed off:

Leona, Ace, Azul, Sebek, Epel, Jamil

“But why?” Is what they said when they perfectly understand the problem. Do they feel bad? No. In fact people like Leona and Azul can go through days without you because they’re always busy with something rather than terrorizing you. BUT you have to understand that as much as they pretend to not care they aren’t willing to clean up the mess after your pity party.

Jamil and Sebek are only mad about you disappearing is because of Malleus and Kalim’s whining. Please save them.

Ace and Epel are the ones who are mega mad as in a corny way. “How dare my punching bag run away from me and disappear for days!!” Typa stuff. Unbeknownst to them they double the insults and it makes you even more depressed lmaoo.

Ehhh Jamil may actually panic as well, because when Kalim isn’t happy no one is. And he does misses you personally, worries when he finds you (which is really scary to [Name’s] pov bc why is he so caring??) he’s all over you to make sure you aren’t injured or anything. Still pissed so he might slap the back of your head a couple of times and lecture you + same thing goes when Sebek finds you except he doesn’t comfort you.

Thinks it’s amusing:

Rook, Jade, Floyd, Trey, Cater, Lilia,

“Ohoho did I go overboard?” Yea you did. Anyways little shits don’t feel bad in fact they think it’s funny and cute that you disappeared because you couldn’t handle the insults and took it for granted. Lilia and Jade giving you false comfort just to do it all over again when you make a mistake. They probably already know your hiding spots and camp there to experiment how long it’ll take for you to come crawling back.

Maybe, just a little bit that Trey feels bad. He coddles you for a while then goes right back to gaslighting because he’s always right and when he says these things to you it’s because you’re wrong!! The type to restrict his affections if you decide to go into another episode of running away and crying. Cater knows where ya at bc you have location on.

At first Floyd was pissed because his resting place is missing, like bae where you go? But eventually he understands where you went because for some reason he’s bullying everyone around him and stalking your location to see where ya at. Mocks you once he finds you, really mean but it wasn’t “entirely” intentional. Like he knows he’s at fault and is trying to cheer you up by mocking your “problems”. Ok but don’t do that again or he’s going on the genuinely tweakin box.

We all saw Rook being in this section no surprise. Knows every little place you could be right now, has his eyes on you 24/7. “My love I didn’t mean to say your lips are chapped and you can use some Vaseline but the whole thing would be gone isa joke :(“ it’s not. Purposely picks out your insecurities so you can do another runaway.

[ikamigami]

I'M LEAVING SAMS FANDOM

And I won't continue watching any of these shows..

I decided that I can't enjoy Sun and Moon Show anymore when Davis and EC decided to mock me (and many fans with mental issues) instead of just post something on social media that would clarify everything.

Regardless of their true intentions people were hurt and it doesn't seem like they plan to apologize for this.

They want us fans to feel sorry for the fact that they decided themselves to post these episodes daily and because they're a small team they don't have a time to make their story more clear.

Many people who were self-projecting onto Sun and who made headcanons or just saw him as suicidal did that as a way to cope with their own mental issues and trauma. None of us were forcing anything on Davis and EC.. I definitely wasn't doing that - I don't know them.. I don't even know where they live.. I don't know who they're friends with.. I don't even follow (in a sense that I'm checking their social media) their social media - I only ocassionally see some posts on X from Davis because I followed him but like I said I don't spend my time to see what Davis and EC are doing.. I have my own life, my own struggles to care about and I thought that Sun and Moon Show can be a fun escape for me which turned out to be the opposite..

It hurts a lot because thanks to this show and thanks to Sun's character I finally reflected on myself and my own experiences.. and I was finally able to put together the broken pieces of myself..

They say that we're assuming something about Davis and EC but they're doing exactly the same thing when they portray us as creepy and disturbing fans.

Many people felt disgusted by that episode. And yet they didn't even care to make any clarifications because they don't give a damn.

I'm sorry that I didn't believe those people (who used to be fans of these shows) that Davis and EC don't treat mental issues with respect and that they mock people who have these mental issues.

I'm saying all of this as someone who really tried to defend Davis and EC's decisions many times. Trying to defend the way they portray mental issues. Trying to support them.

And what it left me with? The awful mockery.

I'm sure that they assumed some horrible things about me because of some well known fans in this fandom who were trying to paint me in awful light - that I'm disturbing for relating to Sun in more dark way (I saw Sun's behaviour and thought to myself that he act like me in many situations and the things he went through reminded me of my own experiences hence why I thought that he might struggle with similar mental issues to mine which also include being suicidal - I was passively suicidal for quite some time). These bigger names were laughing at my theories just because they didn't turn out to be true but they didn't care that the topic of suicide is something serious to me. They were bullying me. They also lied that I dragged anyone into discussions about this topic when it never happened. I'm talking mainly about a person behind Twinanimatronics blog. They told this lie when they assumed that I posted something on Tsams Confessions blog - where in fact someone just tried to defend me. And they did all of that behind my back - because they blocked me.

I was spiraling into despair and my mental state worsened when I've seen these awful accusations about me..

This fandom is toxic. Davis and EC can't act like adults but decide to mock fans.. even though the way they portrayed their characters drawed fans who has mental issues because they saw themselves in these characters.. and what they got is awful mockery..

My advice is to avoid Sun and Moon Show and any of these shows especially if you suffer from mental issues and especially if you struggle with suicidal thoughts.

I'm grateful that I met in this fandom some amazing people who showed me tons of support ^^

I can't thank enough to any of them for their support and kindness and lots of care they showed me 💗 Thank you ^^

I'll still keep in touch with my friends who I met through this fandom ^^

[theerurishipper]

This is just an unstructured, incoherent vent post, but I've seen a few posts recently about how Adrien would definitely forgive Marinette for keeping secrets from him because he loves her, or that he would blame himself for not noticing what was going on and not her. And those aren't wrong, per se, but this is what I mean by the show taking away Adrien's agency. Ultimately his choices are allowed only as far as they do not inconvenience Marinette or anyone else the narrative cares about, like Felix or Nathalie. Which is why Adrien is not allowed to grow, he is not allowed to prioritize his own feelings and emotional needs. Any wrong done to him is resolved by him putting aside his own feelings to forgive the people who wronged him. And yes, he has been taught that his feelings don't matter by Gabriel and that he should bend over to the whims of everybody around him. And that kind of makes it worse, how the effect of Gabriel's abuse is used to convenience everyone around him. I think it's gross.

Just look at the Ladynoir conflict from Season 4. Adrien brings up his grievances with Ladybug's treatment of him a few times, but ultimately, he ends up putting it aside to focus on her emotional needs when she is at her lowest. Kuro Neko gave us the message that it wasn't that Ladybug was treating Chat Noir unfairly, but that Chat Noir should stop expecting to be treated with respect and should stop having emotional needs. And at the end of Strikeback, nothing is resolved, Ladybug hasn't apologized to him or resolved to do better by him, but he still shows up to her side to comfort her. No, she didn't apologize to him. She admitted her mistakes but did little to correct them even after the fact. That whole arc ended with Chat Noir being treated poorly over and over, and yet coming back to Ladybug's side because he's such a good partner and he loves her so much.

And Adrien, a character who has been forced his whole life to bend to the whims of others to please them at his expense is doing the same thing to Ladybug. Adrien exhibiting this behavior is 100% a trauma response. Ladybug is supposed to be his escape from his abusive homelife. And yet, the show writes him falling back into his trauma responses with her (Kuro Neko) and does jack shit to portray it as a bad thing. And the Season 4 finale is once again Adrien putting aside his feelings and showing up to support her. Adrien's emotions are not validated, they are tossed aside. Ladybug admitted her mistakes as she did several times through Season 4, but she still did little to correct them. That admission in Strikeback doesn't do much, because we never see her do anything to fix her mistakes after that. What happened was that Chat Noir saw her in distress and decided his feelings were unimportant because she needed support.

This is not healthy. Adrien should not be invalidating his own feelings so that he can offer comfort to others. He shouldn't forget and forgive so quickly without the other person doing anything to correct their behavior towards him. Once again, this is how Gabriel has taught him to behave, to stop "being so emotional" and to conform to his expectations. And Adrien continuously downplays his own issues for others' sake. And obviously, we would understand that he can heal from this, that he can learn to take care of his own emotional needs first.

And quite frankly, all the posts about how we shouldn't want Adrien and Marinette to break up, or how we shouldn't be so hard on Marinette, or that she is just a child in tough situation, or that she is doing it out of love and that Adrien would forgive her kinda make my point. Because let's be real. What Marinette did is a serious breach of trust. I do not understand how anyone could forgive something like that quickly. And I understand why she did it. I don't think she is a bad person or anything like that. But it's still an awful thing to do. And frankly, I don't see how Adrien could just... instantaneously forgive her without invalidating and downplaying his own pain and hurt. If he did, I would seriously question his self-worth. And while I don't think Adrien would never forgive Marinette or that he would stop loving her, frankly, I would like to see more acknowledgement of his feelings and his emotional needs both from the fandom and the show. I would like to see that his feelings matter, that he is allowed to be angry and that he is allowed to hold people accountable and call them out. I would like for him to not forgive some people. I would like for him to require distance and space from them. That would be development for Adrien, to let himself be emotional and not feel the need to put his own needs aside for others.

But for Adrien to prioritize himself, it would mean acknowledging the harmful things characters like Marinette have done to him. And that can't happen, because all the purpose Adrien serves is as a plot device to connect Marinette to Gabriel, and actually having her be held accountable by the narrative for her choices is a big no no. Growth for Adrien would mean that he lets himself be angry at Marinette for how she kept secrets from him, never apologized for it, and ultimately ended up keeping the greatest secret of all from him about his father and the fact that he is a Sentimonster. But as the writing to this point shows, Marinette isn't a safe space for him where he is allowed to be himself. She is someone who also elicits his trauma responses from him. He doesn't let himself be angry with her, he always puts himself last when it comes to her.

I am not saying Marinette is in any way comparable to Gabriel. She is nowhere as bad as him, she does not come close to that in any way. Marinette is a good person. But what she did in the finale, is explicitly something that Gabriel wanted her to do. Gabriel wanted to continue to dictate his son's emotions and perceptions, and Marinette helped him do it. That's not a healthy relationship. And looking at all the Marinette-Gabriel parallels in Season 5... it's not a good look at all. The show portrays Adrien as someone who has been denied autonomy his whole life, and as someone who is expected to cater to the desires of the people around him and be perfect for them while neglecting his emotional needs, and made his arc one of finding independence and his own identity and learning that his feelings and desires matter. But also, they only matter as far as they don't inconvenience Marinette. Adrien shouldn't downplay his feelings, but if doing so would help Marinette, then he should do it actually. And it's hard for me not to see it as Ladybug benefitting from his trauma from his abusive home. It sounds harsh, but that's how it feels.

And all the talk of how Adrien would never hate Marinette and that he would forgive her is... disappointing to me. Because I don't necessarily disagree, but it still is about prioritizing Marinette's feelings over Adrien's. What is focused on is not how Adrien might feel betrayed, but how Marinette might feel sad about Adrien feeling betrayed by her, and reinforces that Adrien is so good because he would not hold it against her. Even though he should, even though it means he would be downplaying his pain massively if he didn't blame her for that. If Adrien's character should develop, he should be allowed to realize that he has the right to get angry and that he doesn't have to downplay his emotions or feel like it's all his fault. He should be allowed to do that without people jumping to Marinette's defense and excusing her of blame.

Throughout the series, Adrien has been the person to help Ladybug through her problems, and the narrative has never allowed her to do the same for him. And I want to see focus on Adrien for a change. I want to see someone other than Plagg reassuring him and supporting him, especially his partner. I want to see the narrative be less about "oh, Adrien would never hold anything against Marinette because he loves her and would understand her always," and be more "actually Adrien is allowed to prioritize his feelings and want distance from Marinette after she betrayed him in such a personal way." That would be development. That would be reclaiming his agency. That would be free will and autonomy. I would like to see focus on this in the show and the fandom.

Adrien is not obligated to forgive Marinette. He is not obligated to understand her reasonings for why she did what she did. He is allowed to be angry at her and express his hurt because of her actions. Seasons 4 and 5 have regrettably established Marinette as someone else who denies Adrien's agency and around whom he reverts back to his fawning trauma response, and quite frankly the best thing for him to do would be to break up with her and go find himself on his own terms. I want his character to develop and grow, and unfortunately, Seasons 4 and 5 proved to me that it would not be possible as long as he is around Marinette, both from a character and narrative standpoint.

I just wish people would acknowledge and validate Adrien's perspective and feelings more. Even if it means calling out Marinette. Gabe is Adrien's abuser but he isn't the only one who has hurt Adrien in the story. Marinette is an incredible and amazing person but as far as we've reached in the show, she is hurting Adrien. And she has done many things across these two seasons that violate Adrien's trust. It's not even that this is a mistake she could learn from, but that she has done several such things over and over. From keeping secrets about the Miraculous holders' identities even though Hawkmoth himself knew, to Rena Furtive, to trying to trick him into an identity reveal in Ephemeral, and now keeping the fact that he is a Sentimonster and that Gabe is Monarch from him. It's gone from secret keeping to outright lying to him. It is not healthy. And it is a sign of stagnation and regression in Adrien's growth if he continues to keep forgiving her over and over again despite her never fixing her behavior.

If Adrien's arc is about finding autonomy, then he cannot be with someone who is complicit in denying him the ability to make his own choices. If Marinette was supposed to be the knight in shining armor, they shouldn't have given her the key to the tower and have her hide it away. If she was supposed to save him, they shouldn't have had her condemn him further. If Marinette was supposed to be the one who helped Adrien regain his self worth, the person whom he could trust and rely on the most, they shouldn't have made her side with Gabe, deny Adrien his agency, and violate his trust so many times.

It didn't have to be written this way, but these were the decisions made by the writers. They chose to portray Marinette like this for no discernable reason and refused to acknowledge it or deal with it meaningfully. Adrienette is so profoundly unhealthy now that if Adrien's character is to grow, the only way for him to do that is to break up with Marinette. But the show has also made it very clear that Adrien is only a plot device and a trophy for Marinette at the end. So I have no doubt that all will be forgiven in a matter of minutes, and the narrative will praise Adrien for being traumatized and denying his own emotional needs to comfort Marinette as she feels bad for hurting him. And it's sad, but I guess it is what it is.

[allwormdiet]

Interlude 3½

Nazi capes fuck off

Kayden automatically gives such awful vibes, ~ooh my daughter is still pure and uninfected by any of the things wrong with society, not that I contribute to that in any way by being a fucking Nazi~

So obviously this is my second go-around on this chapter so I know who Theo is in context, and can I just say, poor fucking kid. Truly what a nightmarish situation to be born into and have no control over

Good kid.

Fucking rancid adult. I'm glad it hurts you that he doesn't want you to have any luck, Kayden, you fucking dirtbag

Frankly I wish she would have a moment of doubt or hesitation, maybe it would mean she stops being a fucking Nazi. Or maybe she wipes out after taking a fifteen-story swan dive, either way that's a problem solved

And oh yeah, of course she just happens to be targeting the ABB, not like she could pick a fight with Coil or something

...The description of her realizing that they're closing ranks and getting stronger is a neat instance of showing Bakuda's influence from another perspective, at least, get something out of this rotten POV

It's been one week of mediocre results and you're going back to him. What a pillar of moral strength you are.

So the leader of a neo-Nazi street gang is, like, the CEO of a company that's big enough to have its own building with a logo on it.

...Does that feel a little small potatoes to anyone else? I feel like if you're an evil CEO with superpowers and Nazi sympathies you could do a lot more damage than that. Like I know Green Goblin basically only terrorizes New York City but that's because the city is outrageously dense with superhero bullshit, it takes a fucking escape velocity to leave for even an issue, and even then Norman Osbourne still found time to do the Thunderbolts thing

God this man's vibes suck so hard. Like obviously they suck, he's a fucking Nazi, but clearly that wasn't enough for him

Quick q, what does the CEO of a company need with the profits from extortion and theft? He makes more money by sitting in a board meeting, and you can't tell me that there's no way to launder money available to him

And yeah fucking, of course she's still only beating up nonwhite criminals, she's a fucking Nazi

Excuses excuses, Kayden

And yeah of course you can't shake the perspective that "the same kinds of people" are all the worse criminals, you spent a decade believing that and haven't really challenged yourself on that

Honestly I'm willing to believe that her split with Max here wasn't even a matter of ideology, just that she didn't want him to fuck up their kid

And here we see why Kayden fell into becoming a fucking Nazi, I suspect: it's that she's also a goddamn sucker. Max is playing her like a fiddle, and she knows full well that he is, but she falls for it anyway. I'd almost feel bad for her, if she wasn't a fucking Nazi

Cry me a fucking river, Kayden

Current Thoughts

Let's get back to the characters worth anything

[the-derpy-duck]

Ok here’s my long ass post about Earthspark Starscream.

None of this is even getting into the final episode of season one because I can’t right now. This show really did body horror and I love it so much.

I love him so so much. I love that the show doesn’t make an excuse for the way Megatron treated him and I like that he was nice. He does bad things and is selfish but also he’s not at the same time? Like horrible friend no doubt but when he was trying to escape he helped his seekers. He lead a jailbreak and he cares at least a bit about the other seekers.

He puts himself first always but also Skywarp was angry at him for not helping. Which would almost imply that at some point he used to help. He shoved her out of his way but he also pushes her out of the way do the energon monster. Was it intentional? Idk. But he did do it. And later in the episode he proves that he can be selfless. He responds well to people showing him kindness. He’s willing to work with the Maltos and follows there plans. He doesn’t even attack them at the end.

Also the fact that no one is like “yeah but you did shitty things so you deserved to be abused” is nice. ‘We’ll obviously no one would say it like that’ have you ever read a transformers YT video comment section? People like finding a way to justify the abuse others go through if they are attempting to fight back and this show says ‘no we aren’t gonna do that. Megaton was wrong to treat his subordinates the way he did.’ Starscream is a bad person, but honestly Megatron is too. His advice to bumblebee on teaching was to use fear because that’s what he did. Optimus tells him ‘don’t use unnecessary force with Starscream’ and guess what he does! I mean you could argue that he technically wasn’t using excessive force but the fact that OP felt the need to tell him not to do that shows something. Like I love this Megatron so much but he still was the leader of a glorified terrorist group. He had good intentions, but it still ended with him leading a group of terrorists.

And the bit where Megatron says he’ll take Starscream somewhere that’s safe and Starscream says ‘no where is safe with you’ is the most thing ever. I love that bit so much. Even if he’s wrong he’s still right because how could he ever feel safe near Megatron or if he knew where he was? The fact that he also automatically assumes the worst in others and is so surprised when Hashtag believed him is so sad to me. Like he’s awful and terrible but he’s also a person who has been hurt by someone who is, from his point of view, helping lock up himself and his subordinates. Starscream is a selfish traitor but Megatron has also betrayed him, his cause (typically, not that applicable to this Megatron), and his people. Also Starscream is telling Megaton to fuck off which I love.

He has the ability to emphasize with Hashtag and he doesn’t want the others to die but he’s spent so much time in an environment that fosters betrayal and constant lying that he can’t just go back for them even if he wanted to. I don’t think he cares either way, but Starscream’s backstabbing nature probably only got as bad as it did BECAUSE he was forced into situations where he could either throw someone else under the bus or be run over. He doesn’t respond as warmly to Skywarp or Novastrom when they showed up (compared to Hashtag) but he had a response. He’s almost apathetic to them but he relaxes slightly and has an almost positive reaction.

Hashtag telling Starscream that bad things happen and it isn’t always their fault was just— AHGHH! I love this episode so much. It’s looking you in the face and saying “hey. that thing you do, where you say this person deserved the abuse they got? Yeah that’s messed up and wrong.” Because people DONT deserve to be abused and no one ever does. ‘Starscream tried to kill Megatron multiple times’ then just imprison, exile, or kill him. And I know that it’s not that simple but if you try to simplify Starscream’s actions then I’m gonna simply Megatron’s possible responses. They both did bad things, we don’t see them doing the bad things in this episode so making an actual judgement is kind of hard but the episode is strongly implying that Megatron abused SS or otherwise unfairly hurt him. I mean SS kind of says it.

Starscream manages to be a really nuanced and complex character without taking away from the others around him. Like Hashtag telling Megatron to leave Starscream alone and Megatron almost shooting Starscream gives all of them more character. Megatron isn’t really WRONG for attacking SS IN THE CAVE. Because if I was Megatron I would assume he would attack the terrains. Hashtag is also a character I didn’t think I’d like as much as I do (her fake evil bit was fun). She cares so much about the people around her and is able to feel empathy for people she shouldn’t and that probably sucks a lot. It’s not a good feeling to feel bad for people and Hashtag is empathetic.

I hope he (SS) will show up more in season two as a neutral force almost like TFP. Because I don’t see him going after the terrains just because they sided with Megatron but he’s also not gonna just join the Maltos. Also Thundercracker pls pls pls. Even if he’s just like ‘fuck this noise’ and then leaves and never shows up again. Just put the Blue guy in.

Twitch trying to recruit more decepticons to Megatron is funny I love her so much.

[days-until-burnout]

Day 5 -

Characters - Etho & Joel (Cub & Scar play smaller part; Grian mention) Words - 1,592 Time - 60 mins Content - Superhero AU | unlikely allies

Competition. 

This was all about competition. 

Well, not his competition, really. Not to brag, but as a hero, Joel was great. Amazing, the best of the best. There wasn’t any real competition for number one, after all, their whole deal was saving lives and protecting the people. That, he was plenty good at. Although he wasn’t allies or friends with all heroes, they all shared the same goal, and sharing space was easy. 

But villains? Now that was an interesting dynamic. Joel heard about it, turf wars, the city cut up in sections, warnings and consequences of crossing those invisible yet written lines. 

It got ugly when it happened. Those were the days he and other heroes allied, finding strength in numbers. 

Unlike them, villains rarely worked together. 

But when they did—

“Aw, you hurt me, am I boring you?”

Stratos snapped back into situation, Shade looking down at him with a raised brow, and a very loud smirk on his covered lips. He yanked on the shadows, felt how they dug into his arms, his wrists. But a spark ran down his arms into the pavement, then it ran back into his arms, and he yanked again, breaking the shadows for his freedom. 

Electricity concentrated in his hand soon becoming a lighting ball. He threw it—Shade evaded it on the last second, but not fast enough to escape the field of electricity. Stratos smirked when he heard him groan, smirked wider when Shade glared at him. 

“You’ve got my attention now!”

Stratos laughed, and the chase began. More than a fight, this was a… well, like Grian called it, ‘play fighting’. He chased after Shade, attacks thrown but they were too weak to cause more than a zap. This was their deal, unspoken, but it was present between them. They could do whatever to each other, but they couldn’t touch the city. Not that Shade cared about property damage, Shade tended to lay on the more cautious side, on the shadows. 

And it was Stratos, it was Joel, who brought him into the light. 

So they would fight. So they would play. 

Really, if Joel stopped to think about it for more than a minute, he’d realize how stupid their whole arrangement was. Maybe he truly fried his braincells with all those stupid stunts he pulled as a teen. 

A whip materialized in his hand, sparking and bright, feeling solid in his hand. He lassoed Shade’s arms to his sides, causing him to yell out when he shocked him. As he pulled him in, both of them standing on different buildings, blinded by his momentary victory, he failed to see Shade raised his hand. It was too late, only realizing when something punched him in the back, enough to knock him forward and letting go of the whip. 

Before Stratos could recover, he was hit again, much stronger and solid now. He toppled over the edge of the building.

A wire shot out from his left, hooking into the building. He grabbed it, grunting as he pulled a muscle. He looked up, Shade peeking over the edge then disappearing before he could say anything. He turned to the other side, HotGuy standing on a ledge, lowering his bow as he also realized Shade was gone. 

“Need a hand?” HotGuy asked, playfully, securing his bow behind him. 

“I just might!” Stratos laughed back. 

>>>

“Watch out!” Stratos yelled, materializing a weapon too late, watching a robotic tentacle swipe HotGuy down. He growled, concentrated his electricity and attacked, throwing a lighting ball onto the robot. 

It was supposed to work. But it didn’t. Cub on comms yelled that it wasn’t made of metal, even though it looked like goddamn metal to him. Everyone thought this was going to be an easy fight, but his powers were rendered useless unless he could charge up enough to shock it down. 

Which he couldn’t do. 

There were too many of them, overwhelming HotGuy and him. 

“Cub! When are the bloomin’ back-up coming?!” He shouted on his comm, jumping out of the way from a tentacle. His eyes followed its path, watched how it decimated a car into the side of the building. He prayed the city got evacuated fast enough, that he and Scar distracted the damn robots long enough for evacuation. 

‘CuteGuy is still five minutes away. Everyone else is ten, coming as fast as they can.’ Cub replied, and Joel could hear the desperation in his voice too. The feeling of exasperation, the powerless feeling of not being able to do more. It was all the same through him, and everyone. 

“Damnit, Cub, I’m almost out of arrows here!” Scar yelled on the other side, gasping for air. Joel was breathless too, whole body aching. They were exhausted, had been holding their ground for almost an hour. It was incredibly— “Oh god, I think there is an—”

“HotGuy!”

Both screamed at the same time. Joel ran up a tentacle, got high ground and desperately looked for Scar. The military were doing their best too, shooting rockets and whatever explosives they could throw. It was chaos, the city being destroyed slowly right in front of them. And them, the only ones available, were in the middle of it all. 

“HotGuy!” Stratos called, gathered enough electricity to punch the head of one robot. Its whole body shook and sparked, overheated then shut off, smoke coming out of joints. The tentacles exploded, from the body outwards, and Joel jumped onto a nearby helicopter, barely grabbing onto the landing skids before they flew away from the explosion. The blast pushed the vehicle, created yet another crater on the ground, but they survived. 

Stratos climbed inside, took a moment to gather himself. He held onto the handrail, looked out in search for Scar. His heart was pounding, his mind racing. His comms crackled, surprisingly still working after another shock he released. 

‘EVeryone is on scene now—’

“Where?! I don’t see—”

‘It spread much further, Stratos. They are fighting the nearest robot. CuteGuy is closing in. Stay in the air, recharge. CuteGuy will look for HotGuy. This is an order, Stratos.’

Before Joel could argue, Cub was gone, and he watched as the world below him became smaller as they flew higher up. He understood why he needed to be away, but he couldn’t simply ignore the impotence, the feeling of uselessness being in the air doing nothing while everyone else fought underneath. 

Maybe, when all this was over, Joel would get someone like The Puppeteer or False or Stress to smack him right in the head, because the next thing he knew was that he was grabbing the pilot and jumping out of their falling helicopter. 

He had barely any time to grab the parachute and the unconscious pilot, so actually triggering the parachute was no easy tasked. Their fall slowed, but they were still falling too fast, too dangerously fast.

What a stupid way to go—

The world, everything blacked-out. He wasn’t falling, or maybe he was, he wasn’t sure. Involuntarily, his body sparked up, electricity running through him, stronger than he could control. And he panicked, which made it worse. The pilot— No— 

“Let me out!” He yelled into the void, and it listened. It listened. Light poured in, fire and destruction consuming the world, so not dead at least. He rushed to find the nearest military vehicle, passed the unconscious pilot to them, ripping the parachute and bag off himself. 

He didn’t know what prompted him to call, but he did. 

He called and he answered. 

“Shade!”

“Kinda busy!”

Joel turned in the voice’s direction, finding Shade behind a shadow shield. Before he could help him, the shield vanished and Shade ducked, the tentacles shooting above him. With a swift uppercut, shadows rose and cut the tentacle, causing the remaining bits to retreat.

Their eyes found each other, and it was like they had a whole conversation. Shade rushed to him, blocking him the shadows, protecting him from attacks. When they were close enough, the black-out happened again, the void surrounded them—

“You need to get out if we’re doing this,” Joel said quickly, sparks and electricity running through him already. It circled his limbs like vines, grew stronger and stronger. He stared at Shade, stared into those icy eyes. “You will die!”

“It’s fine!” Shade yelled back, closer now. And Joel could see determination in his eyes, the fire of a good fight, the moment someone realized they needed to put their lives on the line to save everyone else. “It’s more stable like this, with me here. Can’t risk it bursting. Name’s Etho, by the way.”

“Eefo?”

Shade chuckled, “Yeah, sure, Eefo.”

“Shut up! And I’m Joel!”

So they stayed there for a moment, neither sure how much time passed. Joel gathered energy, Etho contained it inside the void, both determined to see this attack through. Joel never thought he’d work alongside a villain, or anti-hero, or whatever Etho was, but he wasn’t going to start rejecting help right now. 

Then it was becoming stable, Joel was, too much energy he couldn’t contained. They needed to time it right—Etho needed to open the bubble at the right time, Joel needed to strike the ground at the right time. With a stranger, but not quite. 

Without conversation, as their hearts become on in the void, they made their respective moves.

Joel didn’t see much, the world lighting up too suddenly, so bright, but he vaguely remembered seeing the pride in Etho’s eyes as he striked down. 

_____

ive been having some action packed writing these past few days, so you get some action too. also, boat boys because ao3 upset me ealier and wouldnt let me publish a fic. but yknow how it is. we cope also, like, i dont know if i mentioned this, but this is barely edited lol also also, i rushed this, posted like 2 minutes before midnight ;n;

[regsluvrboy]

biker! a.donaldson x gn. reader word count; 1.1k a/n; chapter 2!!! yippee!! please do excuse any grammatical errors in here, english is not my first language so I may make a few errors (though it has been proofread, i assure!!) anyways, enjoy <3 index. chapter 1 -> chapter 3

"Ticket?" The bouncer asked you, looking you up and down. You pulled out your ID from your back pocket, "Patrick Zweig's mechanic, he's competing today." The man tsk'ed, looking at you, "so, no ticket? No ticket no entry, sorry." 

You sighed in annoyance, this wasn't the first time this had happened, and you knew better than to think it would be the last. Just as you were about to call up Patrick, waiting for him to pick up, you noticed a bunch of people screaming behind you. You turned around to look, and there he was, in the flesh - Art Donaldson. 

You walked to him, trying to stifle the scoff that threatened to trace your features as you walked to him, squeezing between the crowds. "Art!" you called out, hoping he'd hear. Lucky for you, he did, and he turned around, meeting your gaze among the crowd before smirking cockily and walking ahead like he didn't hear you.  Yep. He was still an asshole.

You'd left Patrick 13 missed calls before he finally picked up. You explained your situation with the bouncer and he immediately came up front to the ticket station, smiling at you before talking to the other man. The bouncer suddenly had a sheepish look on his face, letting you both in. 

You told Patrick about you run-in with Art, tone laced with annoyance as you spoke. The brown-haired man laughed, letting you rant. He walked you to your section in the box before immediately running off to go to his locker room. 

Almost a half hour later, you saw the pair on the track with 10 others. They were racing for the same team, sporting matching gear and jackets. Your eyes almost gleamed in awe when you noticed the 25th edition Hayabusa that Art was seated on. 

The sheen of the orange glaze, paired with the black highlights and the black logo on the glorious hunk of metal had you grinning ear to ear. You couldn't wait to see it in action, even if Art was going to be the one riding it. 

Your eyes were glued to the vehicle as it revved, with Art on top, waiting to race as his knee gripped the fuel tank. Just as the countdown finished, Art took off, immediately leading. You watched him eagerly as the wheels of his bike smoothly navigated through the curves of the track.

Your eyes shifted from the wheels of the bike to his figure when he was racing. Art's movements were sleek, just like his bike's. For a brief moment, your gaze was focused on him. How on earth did did he manage to make it seem like he was basically floating above the ground? You stared at him in awe before snapping back to reality when the commentator announced Patrick was leading, cheering for him with the others in your section.

Two rounds later, Art had won, with Patrick leading closely behind him. You walked to the locker rooms, going to congratulate Patrick, and to get a peek of the new bike, like he'd promised you. 

Art was shirtless when you walked into the locker room, in the middle of changing into another set of clothes. He noticed you, looking you up and down with a smug grin before calling for Patrick, "Pat, they're here!" he yelled to the other, who had just come out of the shower. 

Patrick smiled at you when he noticed you, sliding on a pair of pants over his boxers before he looked at you. "What'd ya think?" he grinned. You smiled subtly, rolling your eyes before chuckling, "yeah, yeah, you were good." 

"It was a close match though," Patrick pointed out, now looking at Art who turned around to face you both. "Huh? Yeah, it was. I would've beaten you if I wasn't new to the bike, y'know?" The blonde smirked cockily. 

A scoff escaped your lips before you could stifle it, "A bad artist blames his tools. That bike is quite literally one of the best in the market right now, you should be grateful that you got the damn thing in the first place." An unamused expression traced your features, and your retort may have been a result of the lingering annoyance you had because of the ticket counter incident. 

Art's eyes widened, an amused smile pulled at his lips as he looked at you. "Okay, well, all I'm saying was, I would've won if it wasn't for the fact that I wasn't used to the new bike." Suddenly it hit him that this was his first time talking to you in almost three years. He cleared his throat, looking you up and down, "so was coming here an excuse to see Pat or did you really want to take a look at my bike?"

You scoffed, "I see him more often than I'd like to," ignoring Patrick's pout, you continued, "and yeah, I did want to see the bike." Patrick looked at you and Art with a grin before casually turning to leave the room. You immediately noticed and looked at him with a look that screamed 'do not leave me here!'. 

Art was the first to ask him about it, "Where ya' going? Didn't you want to show off the bike?" He smirked. The brown-haired racer nodded, "Yeah but I gotta' talk to Tashi, she said she wanted to meet me after the match." Art's expression matched yours as he looked at Patrick, "Well- I could come with." You nodded, "Yeah, yeah, you should probably talk to your manager together, y'know? I can wait." Patrick cleared his throat, "I kinda' have to go over to her place? Like right now, actually. Oh also, Art, could you drop them home? I promised I would, but y'know." You sighed, "no, it's fine I could always take like- a cab or something." Art looked at you, exhaling, "No, it's fine. I'll drop you." Patrick looked at you both, grinning at you and then hummed with a nod, "'kay then, see you tomorrow, Art. Oh and text me once you get home, yeah?" His gaze shifted from the blonde to you. The both of you nodded before he left the room. "Just wait here," Art sighed, going to go grab his bag, leaving you alone in the locker room. You were not looking forward to this interaction at all. Oh he definitely did this on purpose, you made a mental note to yell at Patrick for it when you had the time.

© REGSLUVRBOY 2024 — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DO NOT PLAGIARISE MY CONTENT AND POST ON DIFFERENT PLATFORMS.

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Hey.... Heyyyyyy.... How y'all doing.... take the Nimona headcanons that have been rotting in my notes app for the past four months

Ambrosius has kept track of the weirdest things he’s signed for a fan

At the very tippy top is a dinner plate a dog crate and a baby

And by baby I do mean living breathing crying baby

He tried really hard to find something else to sign but for some reason the parents were really insistent on it being their baby

And for some reason he did it

There are hundreds of photos of this infant with a signature on his forehead 

And that kid to this day will whip out his baby photos and show people that he was that baby 

Multiple knights (cough cough Todd) tried to recreate that situation but it didn’t have the same effect 

I feel like Bal gets really bad migraines (which kind of comes with the territory of using your head like a bartering ram) 

And when they do happen Nimona and Ambrosius do everything in their power to make sure that it doesn’t get worse 

I feel like Ambrosius is stupidly good at video games 

I have this little headcanon that books and games were kind of an escape for him

His own personal little oasis from being the golden child with a million expectations and responsibilities on his back 

He's not very good at playing with other people tho because he was always scared people would figure out who he was just based on his voice alone (and he’s not wrong for thinking that)

Nimona is also really good at video games (I mean she’s also half of the reason they were invented but that’s a long ass story) 

So because I’ve been away for so long I wanted to bless you with my friend's reaction to the movie

Just for some context tho it did take us months to finish because we all have work and school and we couldn’t see each other for a while so if I missed some stuff I’ll add it later

“Aw boyfriends” (When they were on the catwalk)

“Why are they so cute” “they’re literally my otp” and “they have cute banter” (The entire time before the knighting ceremony)

JB: “Oh she’s got Daddy issues huh” Me: “why do you say that?” JB “cause why else would she follow a man”(As they’re walking through the kingdom)

JB: “God what a fake fucking bitch I hate the way she talks” (As the director is scolding the knights)

“He knows him so well”(He hates freestyle jazz)

“It’s his boyfriend” “aw bae why’d you throw a smoke bomb at me” “look how frantic he is to find him” “he can’t shoot look at that face” (the entire subway/market scene”) 

JB: “I think this scene is curing her daddy issues and yours” (the alley scene)

(Same scene) KO: “why is he acting like it’s hurting him more?” Me: “Cause that’s his kid” KO: “wow this really is healing your daddy issues” 

JB: “What am I even watching?” “I fucking knew it she was such a fake bitch” (The squires video) 

“Oh my god he’s so embarrassing” “is he really jealous of a kid” “oh my god the director really doesn’t give a fuck huh?” “He didn’t say that out loud” “but does she?” “No” (Ambrosius freak out) 

JJ: “oh my god this is like Archane” Me: “shut the fuck up about Archane” (in my defense he kept mentioning Archane the whole time)

“If I could turn into a dragon I’d never turn back” “same I’d love to breathe cereal” (during the fight) 

“He’s so embarrassing why is he dying that dramatic” (proceeds to make fun of Ambrosius' “death” the whole time) 

“Did they really upload her confession to their version of YouTube” “is his account name really BalliSTAR?” “Why are they dancing?” “His username is Loins_of_gold? Why is he such a dork??” 

JB: “Awe nachos are totally their thing” “he remembered he’s allergic he still loves him!” 

JJ: “he’s a knight?” Me “have you been watching this movie with your eyes closed?” 

And then we freaked out about Ambrosius saying I love you and Bal not saying it back 

We said nothing when Bal pulled a sword on Nimona they kind of just sat shocked 

JB kept mentioning the flashback and after it happened all I said was “you wanted the flashback there’s your fucking flashback” while she sat in sad silence

They also just kept saying in shock “that’s her? That’s Gloreth” while I laughed 

We kind of spent the rest of the movie in silence until Bal and Ambrosius kissed at the end and then everyone collectively lost their shit

They lost their shit again when Nimona showed back up and JB went upstairs because even tho Nimona came back to life she was still sad

[auncyen]

Same anon with the mira and bonnie ask, lobed your response but felt weird to just put it in w/o a question so if you don’t mind:

what do you think siffrin’s life was like before joining the party? Could be pre- or post- forgotten island. Idk to me its fascinating bc they were loved in some measure (cloak, jokingly running away bc of veggies) and are p in touch with their culture when they remember it, but at the same time siffrin’s mindset is pretty unhealthy. Like even before looping/during act 2 loops, they seemed unconcerned about serious bodily harm and death that would happen to them + just seems to have. A very strange relationship with people feeling sad instead of happy around them? Idk i just don’t think that’s from just the memory loss.

See I think kid Siffrin was pretty happy. As Isabeau notes whoever gave them the cloak and hat must have really loved them. When Siffrin recounts running away it's in a carefree way--he knew he could give his parents a scare and it'd go down as "just a prank". Basically their home life was really good. There are questions I have about the island's beliefs / values that might be troublesome, but I don't really think that sort of thing grates on a kid with a happy home life too much. (And also as a little note the only glimpse we get into the island's beliefs/values are through Siffrin and King, two individuals who cannot recall those things completely and are very traumatized, so like. Should probably take a grain of salt on how they portray the beliefs anyway.)

Post-island I admittedly read a LOT into how Siffrin finds Vaugarde's openness weird and had kept their hair dyed up until a few months pre-game.

In his experience, other countries are not as welcoming. So I imagine their teenage years were probably pretty lonely. This isn't to say other countries were completely awful--he obviously enjoyed Poteria's plays!--but they were juuust old enough where few would assume just by looking at them "uh, you're on your own, do you need help?" If they stayed long enough in a spot for people to figure out something was wrong it'd invite questions like "where are you from", "where are your parents", basically questions that'd make Siffrin's head hurt and probably lead to them cutting off the interaction if the other person doesn't walk away first because they're put off or alarmed by Siffrin's reactions. Basically, there probably WERE well-meaning attempts to help Siffrin. They backfired because people didn't know what was wrong with Siffrin (Siffrin didn't know what was wrong with Siffrin). Siffrin probably beat himself up for it when he knew the other person was trying to help and he was just too "broken". As a teenager he probably stayed longest in places where adults assumed he was a runaway that didn't want to talk about it and maybe helped him out in a more "hands-off" way--"hey, run this errand for me and I'll give you dinner and a roof for the night". Which, great! Because Siffrin finds a way to get by. But it doesn't deal with any of the emotional issues festering inside.

I also feel like, while this may be a bit dark for the fantasy setting, Siffrin probably got targeted at times for being a young traveler on their own. I mean I also headcanon that Siffrin was very good at escaping dicey situations, partially because they'd start Wish Crafting unconsciously if they were really scared, so they were never seriously harmed. But they weren't good experiences to have!

I also kind of headcanon that pre-canon with not knowing who they are like--they loved plays. But also, like. I can see them at times hurting when they think about plays, how they'd be portrayed in a play. No true name, no past, no home, no relations. At best they're the jester who mocks a King gone wrong and makes the audience laugh. At worst they're a side character killed off-stage in a tragedy, barely important enough to devote two lines to. What kind of play would have a protagonist with zero emotional stake in anything?

They try to be the jester, at least. Sometimes, when he's feeling brave enough. It tends to fizzle pretty quickly. (And then he meets someone who doubles over laughing at a bad pun.)

So yeah I feel like Siffrin pretty much mastered the art of getting by and also as in this post actually being pretty good at fighting pre-canon, but socially well. They can ask directions in at least half a dozen languages but can't be honest about how they're feeling or what's going on with them in a single blinding one. Then they meet a group that's in desperate need of another fighter and 2 of them are Vaugardians who are willing to accept Siffrin's eccentricities as just part of them and not ask questions and Odile's pragmatic enough to not rock the boat unnecessarily. I pretty much do view the group as being the first chance Siffrin remembers getting to bond with people without it going south by them wanting to know their background. Of course he loves them. Of course it doesn't really matter what happens to him, who's going to miss him?? They have homes and families and friends. They're the real heroes. He's just supporting cast.

...So yeah tl;dr pre-island vanishing I think Siffrin's life was just fine. post-island was an incredible amount of loneliness and the Universe putting his brain in a blender and idly hitting the pulse button every so often. This is not even getting into experiencing the physical side of puberty while not knowing who you are or who to ask for help, which, yikes.

[am-i-obsessed---maybe]

Disordered (Shadow Of A Bluejay Ch.9)

Whoooo, angst (light angst but angst) in general it's a shorter chapter because it's mostly reformatted from Shadow Of A Bluebird seeing as it covered much of the same ground.

My current plan is three more chapters (including the finale) and a few more mini chapters to cover the remaining episodes and milestones we need to hit to be ready for the finale one of which is gonna be Blue's first time meeting their fellow sidekicks!

Wordcount: 1.2k

Series masterpost

Mount Justice October 23, 17:30 EDT

It’d been a week since Batman put you and the team through a train for failure mission. A week to sit on everything that occurred in the increasingly horrifying experience where no matter what you did the situation kept getting worse. You refused to speak after the exercise. You didn’t leave the cave. You simply trained, and trained and trained while rerunning what had happened in the exercise in your mind.

Simulation Alien Mothership October 16th

Artemis was dead. Kaldur was dead. Connor was dead. Dinah was dead. Ollie was dead. Roy was probably either dead or dying and you felt anger that you haven’t felt in a very long time. You were full of rage, rage that bubbled under your skin as your friends and everyone who tried to help them died before your eyes and it bubbled until you reached the boiling point.

Once you, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter were almost out of the mothership. Almost saved the world you snapped. Not at your allies but at the aliens that surrounded you. The strange bug like creatures surrounded your and you let your anger take control and you stormed the Aliens, screaming a battle cry.

“How dare you?! You killed Artemis! You killed Dinah! You killed Ollie! You killed everyone, and I’m going to make your deaths painful!” You sneered, you jumped into action. Muscle memory took control and almost every blow you landed hit hard. Energy consumed your veins and you began zapping or electrocuting the aliens, it was unclear to you. It didn’t matter though and your rage filled alien murder spree continued. Robin forced the Martians to escape and joined your fight only for you to be zapped by an alien he was fighting.

That’s when you woke up. You looked around, you listened to the explanation and all you could do was look down at your slightly shaking hands in guilt.

You stayed away from the rest of the team after that, refusing to talk to anyone. The only person you talked to was Dinah and only to tell her you were fine and didn’t wanna talk about it.

Mount Justice October 23rd

Kaldur had gone in to see Dinah, Connor and Artemis already spoke to her and M'gann felt too bad to look any of you in the eyes. all had left the room, leaving only you, Robin and Wally sitting in the lounge.

The TV was black and silent and the three of you just sat there.

The three of you had all "died" together in the simulation. Wally was your best friend and Robin was his and leaving you three alone well...

"Blue, your floating again" Wally said. He sat on the couch opposite you.

"Sorry, my mind was drifting" You said, falling back onto the couch with a lack of grace the two had never seen before.

"This is awful" Robin said.

"Do you ever think, maybe we shouldn't be doing this?" You asked.

"What do you mean?" Wally asked.

"I know we're the good guys but maybe we're too dangerous to be so freely fighting, I mean, you saw how quickly all of us became soldiers in there" You said.

"Is this because of that weird laser thing you did on the mothership?" Wally asked.

"It's because we're dangerous! Because if we're not careful, if we don't control ourselves we could so easily hurt so many people" You said.

"I mean, Wally you could theoretically break the sound barrier, and Robin and I could kill someone with just our bare hands" Yo looked down at your hands.

"Is it really safe for the people around to us to be around us?" You asked.

"Of course it is" Robin said.

"Yeah, we'd never do anything to hurt anyone" Wally added.

"But it would be so easy for us" You said.

"Is this because of your um... meltdown in the simulation?" Robin aske.

"No, just forget it" You said, getting up and walking out.

Mount Justice October 23, 20:03 EDT

You sat in front of her in a green chair and took off your glasses.

“I’m glad you chose to come talk to me Y/N” She said and you laughed dryly.

“As if I could ever escape it” You joked but Dinah stayed silent, waiting for you to speak. She knew you. She knows you. She knows that those dry, sarcastic jokes are a sign you’re going to open up.

“It was weird at first. I didn’t feel bad after seeing you and Ollie disintegrate but when Artemis died, or when we thought she did this feeling in my chest just appeared. Like a promise or an oath I had to uphold.” You explained and Dinah nodded. “And what was that promise?” She asked, you answered, though still didn’t look up from your hands.

“To get revenge. To painfully tear apart those who killed her… And you and Ollie.” You answered truthfully and finally looked up at her. “And I did. I killed them, so many of them.” Your voice started to shake and you looked back at your hands.

“Did you try to hurt them when you killed them?” She asked and you nodded.

“I wanted to— I did enjoy seeing them squirm as I did it. And seeing them all explode, it just felt…” A single sob escaped you. “It just felt right.” You confessed and you looked down at your rapidly shaking hands. “I promised— I said I’d never do it again. I’d never take a life like that again, but I felt good as I did it.” Warm tears began to flow down your face but you didn’t try to wipe them. You simply stared at your hands, trying to stop the shaking by tightly gripping your knees and Dinah simply sat. Waiting for you to feel good enough to continue.

"You're not at fault Y/N" Dinah said.

"Aren't I though? Four years of progress and yet all it took for me to snap was some stress" You said.

"It wasn't just stress. M'gann's mental state infected you. You thought you lost everything. In a situation like that regressing is natural" She said.

"It's not just that, between the mission in Bialiya, my mission with Roy and this, it feels like, like it's all coming back to haunt me." You told Dinah, though that wasn't the whole truth. You didn't tell Dinah about your meeting with Lady Lilith. You didn't tell anyone that.

"Is it really coming back to haunt you or are you scared it will? Your past will always be there Y/N but you have friends, close friends who care about you. Maybe it's time you told them at least some of it" Dinah said.

"No!" You yelled.

"Absolutely not. They'll hate me" You said.

"Y/N, we classified your file to keep you and everyone around you safe but it's been four years and they haven't come after you. perhaps it's time we think about declassifying some of it?" Dinah suggested.

"No. Not yet." You said and reluctantly Dinah nodded.

"Whatever you decide. You set the pace." she said.

The next week was rough, Canary let you off school and you spent a lot of time in the cave and with Roy. Ollie wasn’t joking when he said that even Roy was worried and he came by to help you try and return to normal while you coped. You were incredibly grateful for the distractions and to spend more time with him. It had been four months since he went solo and in that time you didn’t get the chance to hang out like you used to before. Unfortunately not everything was going great.

[lassieposting]

I think the most important think to as qustions about us how we got the first letter and tape to begin with,someone had to have wrote it and sent it in the mail and had have to known the protagonist address,but maybe I'm just overthinking it ,its just a way to start the game, btw I think the only info about the protagonist or the player from the developers is their height 5'10 - 6' idk how canon it is ?

Do you think poppy is "evil" ?

Hmm...no, I don't think Poppy is evil.

I think Poppy is traumatized and misguided, with quite a naive outlook on morality, and her actions are guided by that and her limited experience of the world and humanity for the past like, fifty years.

Ultimately, both Poppy and the Prototype want the same thing - to put a stop to the atrocities committed by Playtime Co. They agree on that. But they're implied to have had vastly different experiences with Playtime, and that is very relevant to how they approach their shared cause.

It's worth noting here that these two have, potentially, been trapped in that facility for half a century or more. The word prototype suggests that he was the very first test subject to survive having his brain and nervous system grafted to a constructed, partially organic body. If his name is correct, he should predate Poppy. He is the template they used to create and refine the process to make her. She is the "perfect" version of him, the finished product. He is a rougher, less polished first draft.

And Poppy was created in 1950. Since you can't have a living doll walking around and living her life in the outside world, that means she's been inside the factory for 55 years, 10 years of which she spent locked in a case. And if the Prototype is rightly-named, he's been there even longer.

And look at how different their situations are:

Attitude Towards Procedure

In Poppy's cut dialogue from the end of Chapter 2, she explains to the Player that:

"Terrible things have happened, and I am the cause. Being able to exist as a doll, it has killed so many people."

Her choice of words here is interesting, because it implies that there's a fundamental difference between Poppy and the other Bigger Bodies experiments. Specifically, it implies that Poppy was a willing test subject. She uses positive phrasing to describe her experience. Being able to is a phrase that suggests that existing as a doll is a desirable state. She could have said existing as a doll. She could have said making me a doll. She could have said turning me into a doll. All of those are negative phrases I'd expect from one of the unwilling test subjects. But Poppy uses being able to, and I think that's significant. I think what we have here is someone who has a more positive, favourable view of her current existence than the others - someone who sees toyhood as either a second chance at life, or a second chance at childhood.

The Prototype, on the other hand, is strongly implied to not be a willing volunteer - quite the opposite. He's highly aggressive towards Playtime staff. He's uncooperative with Playtime scientists. He's actively trying to escape the facility in the backstory. That is not the behaviour of someone who consented to his procedure.

Containment & Care

When we first find Poppy, we see that her living situation is actually pretty good.

Like. Yes. She's locked in a case, ripping off Annabelle like her little heart depends on it, but we know that's not where the Playtime staff kept her - she explicitly attributes that to the Prototype:

"He's the reason I was trapped in that god-awful case for so long."

(We can even make an educated guess as to when this happened and why. Poppy was in the case during the Hour of Joy - she remembers hearing it all happen, but not participating. Given that she was firmly opposed to the idea, it's likely that Prototype sealed her away ahead of time to make sure she wasn't able to interfere. It was a tactical manoeuvre, so it would've happened shortly before the Hour began, so that no staff had time to discover her and remove her from the case.)

So anyway. Ignore the case. Look at everything else.

We find Poppy in a section of the factory that's been refitted to look like a house, in what looks like a child's playroom, full of toys, cushions and furniture. If this is where Poppy has been living all those years, that suggests she's well-cared for, well-treated, and kept mostly happy by the company - we know, of course, that she wasn't entirely spared from the trauma; her maintenance tape is pretty horrific. But she's definitely been treated more kindly - or at least kept more comfortable - than some of the other experiments, and that's reflected in her feelings on the Hour of Joy: she's seen humanity in the Playtime employees who've interacted with her, so she sympathises with the terrified workers.

(Which? Actually makes me wonder if there was a reason none of the other experiments ever came to let her out in the ten years between then and the beginning of the game. Poppy's perspective is very different to that of most of the toys who were created from frightened, imprisoned children, experimented on against their will, and it would make sense for them to feel resentful or angry about it. Mommy Long Legs is mocking and lowkey aggressive towards her, and her avoidance of CatNap suggests he would be, too. Maybe her opposition to the idea of the Hour of Joy made her unpopular with them. Though she seems to have made up/never fallen out with Kissy Missy, at least.)

This is a huge contrast with the Prototype, whose entire experience with Playtime is one big human rights violation. He's kept in a prison cell in the labs under 24/7 surveillance, in almost complete isolation - CatNap, who's allowed to socialise with him, isn't created until the 90s, and the only other time we see or hear of anyone interacting with Prototype is in his regular sessions with Harley Sawyer, who spends that time coldly torturing him in the name of science. And that's given him a very different perspective - that nothing will change at Playtime without drastic and violent rebellion on the part of the experiments. Playtime doesn't care about their experiments' quality of life. They don't care about their feelings. They know that the toys have no rights, that they can't safely leave the factory, and that post-transformation, they have very little recourse against their tormentors. He knows that he'll spend the rest of his life a slave unless he's willing to kill.

(The other experiments also seem to have fallen closer to Prototype's end of the containment spectrum than Poppy's. There's a literal dungeon beneath the playhouse, with enough cells for each of the Bigger Bodies Smiling Critters. We know CatNap was locked away in what is explicitly described by a Playtime worker as a prison, when he's not doing his duties in Playcare, and also segregated from the other Critters - his cell is outside their dungeon. Playtime's idea of "protective custody" for Thomas Clark - now in the body of a Bron toy - was an empty padded cell with no company or stimulation, and he was a loyal employee who'd dedicated like 40 years of his life to the company. When Thomas was placed in with the other experiments, it appeared that they were all thrown into a "genpop" situation together in a big room. Like, Poppy is the only toy getting special treatment, accommodation and enrichment here. It's no wonder almost nobody stood with her against Prototype - he's "one of us", and she would've seemed like "one of them".)

The vibe I get is that like. Both of them are activists, of a sort. But Poppy, before the Hour of Joy, is the "middle-class white woman" moderate sort of activist. She will write a strongly-worded letter of protest to her local Head of Innovation. She will wave a colourful poster at a peaceful rally. She thinks that compromise, diplomacy and patience are the ways to solve her chosen cause. And she can afford to wait for compromise, diplomacy and patience to work, because while she is affected by the oppression she's protesting, it's a bearable situation for her. She has parts of life she enjoys. She has reasons to keep living. Whereas Prototype is a "frontline" kind of activist who's willing to lock horns with riot police in the street armed with only a brick and a smashed bottle, because he's part of the group whose lives have become so unbearable under the oppression that they have nothing left to lose.

Neither is evil. Neither is undeserving of empathy or understanding. Neither is morally beyond reproach. Both their viewpoints have been shaped by experience - Poppy's by her "privilege" (in comparison to the other experiments), Prototype's by his abuse. They're not even truly on opposing sides. The difference between them is simply a matter of degrees on spectrums. Patience/desperation. Optimism/cynicism. Idealism/realism. Hopefulness/hopelessness.

And that's what's most tragic tbh. Poppy believes Prototype is just as evil as Playtime, not realising just how easily she could have been him, or become him, had she been treated the same way he was.

(As to how we got the letter...honestly, I'm not sure. The childish writing suggests Poppy wrote it, but she couldn't possibly have walked it to a post box. Maybe Prototype's mind control reaches far enough to have a postperson collect it from outside the factory's front door? For that to be the case, Prototype and Poppy would need to be working together, but I do have a few disjointed thoughts about how that could turn out to be the case.)

[nikethestatue]

Gwynriels think that Gwyn is related to either Beron, Eris or Lucien. They think her grandfather could be one of them 🤷‍♀️ Some even think that since she was conceived in Calanmai, her father could be Lucien. Others claimed her father could be Rhys but we know that’s impossible because he was UTM when she was conceived.

Yeah, I know what they think.

The thing with Eris and Gwyn is interesting. It's a thread that I am trying to unravel in my head.

Because there is something interesting that could be happening there. What if BOTH Azris and Gwynriel are just two misaligned ships?

Because hear me out:

Both Eris and Gwyn are suffering from the same guilt--the guilt of not having been able to do something in time. Gwyn, with her sister. Eris, with his mother, Lucien, Jesminda...

Eris's greatest regret, I think, is his inability to protect his mother from Beron. Years and years, centuries really, of abuse, that he was forced to watch and not be able to do anything about.

I think the reason so many people latched on to the Azris bandwagon is because in many ways, Eris and Azriel ARE similar--two sons, unable to protect their mothers from viciously awful fathers. Two sons abused and hurt by their fathers.

But Azriel managed to escape--he literally and figuratively SOARED--out of his circumstances. Whereas Eris is still stuck, but his allyship with Rhys is his step to get out and change his life. He also wants to soar.

Azriel has been sensitive to the plight of females and has been saving them and training them to the best of his ability--because he CAN. Eris, on the other hand, cannot. He failed with his mother, he failed with Jesminda. And he ALMOST failed with Mor. But he didn't. Mor is his 'win'. Mor was his rebelling, as much as he could do in that situation. And it frustrates him that Mor doesn't acknowledge what he'd done for her.

And then we have Azriel 'saving' Mor, bringing her back. We also have Azriel coming upon Gwyn's rape and saving her.

What if this is a weird parallel that SJM is beginning to build? Azriel saving Mor FROM Eris (presumably). Azriel saving Gwyn FOR Eris (in the future).

Both Eris and Gwyn on the same trajectory, on the same journey--they are rebelling, they are taking charge, they are carving out their own futures despite their pasts.

What if they go on that journey together? Gwynriels love talking about 'healing'. But what if the healing is between Eris and Gwyn? Because let's face it, Azriel isn't on any similar journey to Gwyn's. He doesn't need to be 'healed'. And he is deeply unavailable emotionally and mentally for Gwyn, because he is literally obsessed with another woman.

Now, the most interesting thing here is the potential misdirection of what SJM had written: the connection between Gwyn and Autumn. It's there. On page. In canon. But, what if the connection isn't about the past, but about the future?

What if, down the line, Gwyn finds a mother in LOA that she'd never really had with her own mother? But also, takes LOA on her own healing journey? Because Gwyn had just gone through it herself.

We also have a weird connection between Eris and Nesta, who is Gwyn's best friend.

I don't know...I think sometimes like with Chaol and Yerene, SJM sets up things which don't at first make sense, but then do.

Eris and Gwyn, to me, make sense.

[td-yuri-takes]

I LOVE SAMELLA...... read twinning with a twist and havent been the same since but they really do just work really well together if you think ab it. with both coming from bad family situations (only implied for ella tho i think) and needing everyone to like them all the time. sammy is really hurt that she's always painted in a bad light no matter how hard she tries to fix it, while ella doesnt realize how she comes across as annoying and that people dont really like her until sugar flat out tells her, and she starts spending so much time trying to get sugar to like her. its just interesting bc sammy feels defeated and ella is just determined to both be herself and be someone who everybody likes.(though, and this might just be pulling from twinning with a twist a lot, it does feel like she uses her princess fantasy as escapism. possibly partly bc shes Not oblivious i bet she realizes people dont like her that much, she just doesnt know what to do about it. if they dont like her when shes trying to be the perfect princess and polite and kind what is so bad about her that even if shes nice they dont want her?) sammy IS nice, and she doesnt hide it, but somehow ends up taking the fall for amy's behavior (even tho amy was outright awful to everyone?? this plot confused me so bad. but i guess scarlett and amy dont care, topher probably just doesnt care or Loves to stir the pot, max and rodney are probably too dense, and we know how jasmine reacted) and she has such a complex about it its Bad. i honestly love sammy i wish they treated her better. i think ella shouldve also had a last straw snap like sammy did, just absolutely go off on someone about why they dont like her. isnt she trying hard enough? whats wrong with her? and sammy might see that as inspiration and really admire ella for it, and spend more time together (without amy this is important.) then later maybe sammy asks ella for tips and she tells her that she seems like a really nice person !! and maybe likens sammy to a princess as well, because ella didnt have amy on her team influencing her perception of sammy. so that like shocks sammy and she realizes that if ella can do it she can, and if ella sees her as someone worthy just knowing Sammy, then maybe she is, and has worth on her own outside of amy. i love jasmine but i dont love the way she just lets it happen either. i think sammy believed jasmine when she said she was good, but couldnt help but feel like its only because she feels sorry for her, and not really based on her own merit because amy has never let sammy have anything for herself, not even her friendship with jasmine. so being on different teams from ella and still bonding could give them a chance to establish that connection without amy at all, which might make sammy feel more secure that ella truly means what shes saying. i think one of the conversations would happen after ella is voted off, and sammy would get mad, saying that ella was genuinely sweet and they couldnt see past the fact that she was also 'too weird', and then say her situation was similar in that they judge her on the surface of what amy tells them without ever trying to get to know her at all, and she tells amy shes done trying to compete with her. her worth shouldnt depend on whether amy or their mother thinks shes good. maybe this could also relate to ella's brief crush on dave, and how she feels betrayed by sky for being so excited when she was clearly upset about it when she thought they were friends, and she also realizes dave didnt fit the mold she wanted him to. i think sammy would comfort her after, and this shouldve been the start of ella accepting she cant spend her whole life in a fantasy or she wont make real connections. and later when they get together sammy might confess she worries about not being enough for ella, not being able to fit the princess life. but ella tells her that their relationship isnt a fantasy, its real. she wants to take it slow, and not put any expectations onto her. like, character growth. IDK sorry for the rant i just like them

this might just be my favorite thing