#so caring about the ethics of the fanfictions people write for the show seems like a REALLY strange thing to be fussed about

[dr-robert-chase-apologist]

"hannibal fics"... "proshippers dni"...

"I can accept cannibalism, but problematic relationships/darkfics are where I draw the line."

[honey-kki]

RE discourse since I guess literally everyone's opinions matter

didn't think I'd want to add to this or die on this hill but here we are I guess :D there's been so much discourse for Leon x Reader and it boggles my mind how naive some of you are of the internet, fanfiction, and fiction in general. But I'm gonna make a bullet list and hope this doesn't get too long

Don't like it; don't interact with it

Simple, there are block buttons for a reason but no you all want to be ethically and morally superior and complain on a website where most of the user base are adults. You curate your own experience on the internet, the blogs who write dead-dove state what it's going to be about before you read it. You only have yourself to blame.

What about the kids?

Honest to god who cares. Are they your kids? Do you know these kids? There used to be porn on here. Don't act like kids are so naive and need protecting. Most of the kids on here are probably tweens or young teens and they definitely know about sex. And if they are actual children, it is their parents responsibility to keep an eye on their child. and I have faith these kids are not illiterate and they can google anything that they don't know in the tags. They are also responsible for curating their internet experience. You gonna go to ao3 and ask what about the kids? Many places on the internet are not meant for kids and honestly it should be kept that way.

Dead-dove will influence others and propagate pedophiles, rapists etc...

No. I hate to break it to you, but people who are legitimately terrible morally corrupt people will just go out and do it whether or not they read fiction. They're not lurking on Leon x Reader tag when there's also just actual terrible published novels that are essentially all dead-dove, but worse because there's no warning before you read them. The policing of fiction on one website will not stop or drop SA rates and if you truly believe so, show me an article/journal/study that links the two besides an odd case here or there.

It's no ones kink!

Have you been on pornhub? I guarentee you it is someones kink, and as distasteful as that may seem to some of you, guess what? No one is forcing you to be into it. I'm not into some of the dead-dove stuff but also I'm an adult and I realize that and I can move on. But also, fiction for many i imagine is a form of catharsis. To help deal with trauma or work out dark thoughts. You can go around and accuse blogs of being morally terrible but when the only evidence you have is they wrote fiction, about a character that doesn't exist, it's a weak argument.

You don't need to voice your distaste in everything

Recently, there has been an uptick in dead-dove content. But also for the most part, there are so many other blogs that don't write that. You are focused on a minority and your complaining about ethics and morals are only performative. You want to gate-keep fiction? You don't like non-con, fine. What if a story has a pivotal moment but there's non-con. What if there's a genuinely good series but there are dead-dove elements. You want to laud over these blogs and look better but banning content is a slippery slope. ao3 doesn't do it, and people love ao3. It trends when it goes down. Just because something bothers you, you don't have to do a whole crusade. If it really bothered you, you wouldn't be complaining on the internet. Go out there, form help-groups, you could even do a degree is psychology or criminal justice. You're all so worried about the impact of dead-dove but you only care because it's in the leon x reader tag. and let's be honest, most users following this tag are women. Living out a fantasy.

In closing:

Everyone pressed about dead-dove should be grateful that the blogs even put a warning. And if you truly cared about the issues you raise in your arguments, you would understand that reading fiction is the lowest cause for someone to go out and commit crimes. Not when certain religions exist, or manifestos, or even cultural norms. The internet, and even writers in general, cater to a lot of things. Tumblr has a block button, use it and stop trying to police others unless you plan on applying the same rules to every site you interact with.

[semiweirdshipper]

I'd like to talk about Mr. grumpy sunglasses man and what my plans are with writing him in the future.

So I've done research and Wesker seems like a pretty cool bad guy. He's arrogant, precise, observant and smart, and easily adapts to complicated situations. Just think about what he'd be like as a loving husband? Kind of dreamy, right? But we'll get to the lovey details in a minute.

I read as much fanfiction as I could with Wesker and I wasn't able to find much besides smut- including quite a bit of rape- which is fine, you know, I respect people's decisions to write however they desire. It's just not what I'm looking for. We all know that I'm the world's slowest burner when it comes to building relationships in my stories. My sap is thick, people. And Wesker could be a wonderful bad guy to write as an emotional supporter.

I think Wesker is the type of person to set high standards and expectations. He probably sees most people as mere ants beneath his feet. It would take something particularly special to gain his interest. Lucky for him, all of my reader inserts have been special. In the Dead By Daylight world, his variety of potential interests' is significantly lessened, and he won't have as much freedom to reign. He will have to calm down is attitude and start getting along with people for his own sake. No killing people at random, Mr. Sunglasses.

Because of his high standards and arrogance, I think Wesker would most likely be interested in a real challenge. Say a reader who is uniquely skilled during trials, quiet, and tries to stay away from him. This reader is unlike the other survivors and has great work ethic, respect, and intelligence. In a way he feels rivaled. He might even try to tease and/or flirt with the reader, but it won't have any effect that he knows of.

Due to past trauma, this reader is greatly introverted and doesn't set their bar too high. They prefer to stay away from people and not get involved with drama. Perhaps they're a bit awkward due to communication issues? Imagining Wesker being interested in them sure was one heck of a fantasy. But why did he keep showing so much interest in them? Talking to the other survivors for advice will only get them humiliated and turned down. Back into hiding they go!

Wesker will begin to grow impatient and frustrated with the reader's lack of reactions, but he's not giving up. There was something special about them, something unique and juicy and he wanted to find out what. Along the way, breaking their shell, he'll begin to fall in love. And that love will guide him into providing the reader with the care they've always deserved. Let's rehearse their vows!

And that's my interpretation on how Mr. Grumpy sunglasses works in an emotional support relationship. I really hope to write more with him in the future. We'll see how everything works out.

[melanielocke]

New WIP snippet

I started writing a new book last month and am currently nearly 40.000 words in, and I thought I would share a part, something I added today to to an early chapter.

The book is an adult fantasy romance and is set in a world inspired by the Roman empire and ancient Greece, though I took a lot of liberties and made a lot of stuff up.

About twenty years ago, Kristeia was conquered by the Vallerican empire. Marius is the son of the governor of Kristeia, a man who had betrayed his homeland to Vallerica. He's married to the current emperor of Vallerica, Ambrosius, and through his marriage he hopes to help his people. After an uproar in Kristeia, Ambrosius sends Marius to his homeland to prevent an uprising.

Lysander is a gladiator, and a rebel. He wants to fight for the freedom of his people rather than for entertainment, and when the emperor's husband arrives in Kristeia, he seizes his chance and kidnaps Marius.

Marius is going to have to make choice, continue to try to negotiate for his people by appeasing his husband, or helping the rebels free his homeland.

He sought out the philosophers next. There were a couple of them, they regularly met in the marketplace to share their ideas, and to convince regular people to engage in dialogue with them. Many people found them annoying and avoided them at all costs, but Marius had been fascinated since he was a young child. He hadn’t had many friends and one of the philosophers, Phaedros, had been one of his teachers in school. Phaedros had been his best friend, always eager to discuss ethics with him. Phaedros was a lot like him, people thought he was weird, he often felt like an outcast. Marius had rarely felt the need to reverse time and undo mistakes with him. Those had been simpler times, when he could simply dream of what was right, although it had forced him to reckon with the fact that his father was not a good person.

Phaedros was there, talking with a young woman, who seemed interested in what he had to say for a change. She said her goodbyes and left and Marius approached his old friend.

‘Phaedros, it is good to see you,’ Marius said. ‘It has been so long.’

‘Oh, and what has brought you back to Lidaea, Marius?’ Phaedros’ tone was cold, hostile.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. He’d thought they were friends, but that had been a while ago. Things had changed, and Marius hadn’t even known.

‘I’m trying to find out what’s making the people of Kristeia upset, and how to help,’ Marius said. ‘We heard about the unrest…’

Phaedros shook his head. ‘You used to be one of us, Marius. But you’re nothing but the emperor’s pet now. Enjoy your imperial palace and your attendants and leave the rest of us alone.’

It was a blow Marius had not seen coming, and he forced himself not to let it show. He had plenty of experience concealing his emotions by now. Most people wouldn’t dare speak to him in such a manner, but Phaedros had never cared much for hierarchy, and Marius had never cared for using his title against people.

‘If that’s how you feel, then I won’t bother you any further.’

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

[chelleblack]

✖Unhealthy Hypersexualization: Draco Malfoy vs Fanfiction✖

This is an official complaint to all the random Harry Potter writers who have been savagely and ruthlessly destroying the essence of Draco Malfoy. For years, and they've been hiding behind: "He's a fictional character, he's not bad."

After reading so many fanfictions of Dramione / or Draco being the protagonist as such. And, apparently it has become a general rule when writing and bringing Draco Malfoy to life, being that it is not his canon in the first place, (although they defend themselves saying that they want to make it as real as possible, and that is why they have created and reproduced this horrifying image). Second; this is twisted and much more because we are talking about a teenager, not an adult. Without exaggeration, 80% of the fanfics that you find of Draco; he's a sex symbol, despite being a minor in most of those stories. And it's not okay that they want to cover this up just because he's a fictional character. It's still noisy, and troublesome.

The first story I found (and I won't say the name of the fic, or author) had this "trope", it surprised me because I had recently finished reading the HP saga, and the image of Draco, the real personality, was still fresh. So even though it disturbed me, I continued reading for a bit and then gave it up because I was annoyed by the hackneyed badboy cliché they imposed on it. And I thought, "Well, not everyone writes about Draco Malfoy like that, I just had a weird experience, and that didn't mean that everything I would get to see about the Slytherin boy would be like this."

So ... I venture into Fanfiction, I go to Ao3, I give Wattpad a spin, I have a look on Tumblr, I even get into a lot of potterfic forums, a lot of potterfic forums and blogs. And guess what?

It turns out that in an extremely terrifying way, the fandom has turned Draco Malfoy into fanfiction; into a sex symbol, and no one is complaining or even stopping this. What the hell?

Why are all the most famous fanfictions written have this trope? When the hell was Draco Lucius Malfoy Black in the JKR books a playboy? AT THE AGE OF 16!?

Because when it comes to developing a character as deep and complex as Draco: the most interesting and complex thing they do with him is to be a mediocre womanizer, and with a very bad sexual education, very worrying and alarming. I know that in the world of HP, there is machismo, I know that in the Slytherin house they didn't even let women play Quidditch. But still, where did this come from? And why has Draco been the worst hit victim in the fanfic genre? The boy literally never had a girlfriend in Hogwarts days, or talked dirty about women. The only girl in Hogwats who was next to him was Pansy, and although they refuse to accept it; Draco was really fond of her, and he never disrespected her, he seemed rather very reciprocal.

The only character who is constantly sexualizing and speaking macho about women is Ron. But hey, that's another topic.

The real Draco, is the complete opposite of the macho that they have established in the fanfics. Draco is a boy who comes from a strict family, with retrograde ideals, what is the most daring that we have seen of him in the Harry Potter saga? That is, with Hermione in the fourth book when the Death Eaters sabotaged Quidditch and injured several children of Muggle parents; Draco told Hermione that if they saw him they would cast a spell on her and her panties would be exposed as well, hinting at an event they were witnessing with a poor woman flying through the air.

But hey ... Because of that aforementioned scene with Hermione and the "Half-Blood Prince" wagon scene where Draco has his head resting on Pansy's lap and she's stroking his hair and he looks relaxed. They have been the reasonable enough reasons of some writers to create according to the "true personality of Draco Malfoy". I'm not exaggerating, when I discussed this on Reddit, these were the "strong justifications" they gave me.

It is completely ridiculous to claim that Draco is a misogynist because he practically warned Hermione to be careful because he could see her, and they would also blow her up in the air and show her panties, why is this alarming everyone? This is literally how the woman they bewitched looked like, Harry Potter describes her like that, Draco just made a comment on that. And about Pansy, it is already very degrading that they sexualize that scene in the wagon, very personal comments were taken very out of place from Harry. (Which should be noted that Harry always had very out of place comments about other people, but that didn't mean they were good or real)

So, back to the point of the issue of sexism and objectification.

Why didn't they act equally alarmed when Harry began to view Ginny too sexually? Or when Ron used Lavender just to calm his hormones? Where were you to point out the clear objectification of the woman's body? Where were you? They clearly existed hideously in regards to Lavender and Ginny.

However, hypocrites, is Draco alone the only moral and ethical target to escrack on?

In his life Draco Malfoy verbatim according to the books, he only dated more than two girls. His Malfoy-Black family is super traditional; They come from marriages arranged from an early age. Possibly Draco was raised in the most prim way possible. And as he got older, he had more important things to do than act like a hormonal jerk. He had manners and used all his neurons.

Is it very difficult to write about Draco like this? Is that the real boy, is he not a Don Juan, or did he have a long list of exes (and why does this seem strange to you? Draco just turned 18 at the end of the saga, they need to calm down wanting to see that the teens have more partners than the average adult in the first place, that's not normal). The real Draco hardly had any friends, he was an insecure and damaged boy who hid behind that rude and immature behavior that in the end paid dearly. I don't think it is very difficult to overexploit an insecure and complicated boy with too many things and responsibilities. It didn't cost JKR that much.

Or is it that writers find it difficult to write about a man who is not macho and super heteronormative? It's sad to see how they continue to reproduce this crap, and it's very hard to see that they don't hyper-sexualize with a teenager, because they've practically turned him into a bad boy sexual fetish on Fanfics.

They've done it, they've ruined Draco Malfoy. And they are demonizing it even more.

Draco, who is a completely intelligent boy, had one of the most powerful young minds of his generation, apart from Hermione Granger; since apparently they forget that he was for the second in class with her. It has a lot of potential to write a complete saga. And no, it is not necessary to hypersexualize it to develop it. It is not necessary to write about a man who has a fragile masculinity, or who is heteronormative. Although they do not believe it.

I know Draco's character has a very, very vague development in HP, he was missing his historical arc, we all know that. And everyone is free to turn it into a story, and whatever (even if it's annoying and boring to see its canonical image spoil). The problem here is that this type of "trope" is the one that abounds, and Draco is the one that is used the most, nor does he want to use other characters, they only do what they do with Draco, they just continue to idealize him in this way. And it's already reached a point where Fanfiction is making it canon in Fandom, something JKR never wrote, but you keep reaffirming. You random writers took things out of context, made guesses without concrete material. And it seems more like a wave of people hating this guy and looking for the need to make him more dirty, and they can only cope with it by sexualizing and dehumanizing him. They know he has a story with potential, but they hate him so much that they don't want to be nice or treat him like a human.

It is time to accept it.

Because you do that? Could you stop writing like this? It is practically decent. And writing about decent men, what Draco Malfoy really is like, is what it takes; because that's what it really is. Stop apologizing that he's just a character, show how much you need to stomp on him, and keep dehumanizing him.

If you hate him, you better not write about him, you are only causing that poor boy to be killed. And rather it would be very good for you a writer, because firstly, why do you write about someone you hate?

[blackbulletsblackheart]

Haven't blogged in a while but here it goes since everyone is getting their two cents out there, I feel like just putting all my thoughts about this thing out there while everyone is talking about it.

So let me just start with, I haven't watched the last 5 episodes of Supernatural yet, my laptop fucked up when it started and I don't have anywhere else to watch it right now. But I have heard more than enough and seen enough clips from episode 18 and 20 to know what a shit show it ended up as.

When I first started watching Supernatural 7 years ago when there the 8th season had just finished, I really didn't pick up on Destiel as much as a lot of other people did. I didn't see it personally but I'm not someone who's going to fight against people's ships. Unless I find it's one that's ethically bad or a toxic pairing. Otherwise, everyone's ships to themselves. When I started rewatching Supernatural from the beginning before season 15 started, I did pick up on Destiel a LOT more especially since I had the later seasons to compare it to. And I don't mean just the "angel who's in love with you" jokes, I mean the genuine chemistry and some of the earlier moments between Dean and Cas. The difference between their relationship with each other and their relationship with every other character, even Sam.

Then I realised that after season 8, even more after season 9, that bond seemed to barely exist anymore. There were times that Cas seemed more like a burden to the main characters rather than the long lasting ally, friend and powered being protecting them that he used to be. As much as he still was, he didn't feel like family to the Winchesters anymore.

Then season 15 was coming around and people hoped that just maybe, finally, the Destiel fans would be given what they had wanted since "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition". There were some good scenes at the beginning that had some of that Destiel power that those earlier seasons did but most of the time it didn't feel as strong as those earlier seasons. I felt a lot from Cas in the "What about us is real" scene and from Dean in the Purgatory Prayer scene but otherwise, it just wasn't there anymore.

In my opinion, I thought that if they'd confirm Destiel in season 15, it would have to happen in the first half to pay off and feel worth it. When it got to the point that there were only 5 episodes left, I just kept thinking it would be a pisstake to confirm it now right and the end and such a cheap, inconsiderate way of doing it. We knew since season 13 that Cas was going to die by the end of this last season because of the deal with the Empty. Making Destiel canon in Castiel's final scene as being the only thing that would make Cas feel truly happy felt like being stranded in the desert and only given a drop of water to quench your thirst by the person pretending to rescue you.

It got to a point where I thought they really just shouldn't do it anymore. Leave Destiel to the fans who have done so much better with it in their fanart and fanfiction. Destiel was done better in that "Cas, get out of my ass" line than it was in that dying declaration.

It definitely has a lot to do with who is working behind the scenes on the show too. They are the ones who decide how the scripts and the big stories go afterall. And there was definitely more Destiel when Eric Kripke and Sera Gamble were still around. They were dedicated to fleshing out every character, making them grow and making the audience continue to care about them after so many years. After they left, the main characters became so two dimensional compared to what they were before. The actors may have been great but the writing had become more wooden, no matter how good the overarching season storyline was. The only characters that seemed to develop well over the last few seasons were Crowley, Rowena and Jack, the latter two because they were entirely new characters.

It's really shitty of the CW to have Misha make that statement yesterday too. They've always put this emphasis on the show being Jared and Jensen's, I get that they were what the show started with, but Misha has been as important to them on the show for years yet the only time the CW has made him a prominent figure of the SPN Family was to put out this statement to cover their producers asses. Not Jared and Jensen, their favoured faces of the show, but Misha, the one who was kept around because of how much fans loved him and how much the show tended to fail when he wasn't around. (Remember how ratings dropped with Misha's absence and picked up again with his return in season?) Putting that on Misha - the most LGBTQ+ and Destiel supportive member of the main cast, the guy who didn't want to marry his bisexual wife until she had the right to marry a woman if she wanted to - to make that statement was fucking disrespectful.

And the ending of the show? I was worried it would be bad, I hoped it wouldn't be, but I didn't think it would be THIS bad! I'm so worried about watching the rest now because of all the awfulness and cringeworthy scenes I've seen clips of or heard about but I know I still will watch it soon.

[blood-orange-juice]

I guess this is multifandom now.

A rant about FF XIV, major spoilers for 5.3. Tl;dr: Square Enix are overdoing the fanservice, a certain character doesn’t seem like himself and this makes me sad.

I feel like authors have done G’raha a disservice by “resurrecting” him the way they did. Ethical arguments aside, the end result feels nothing like the G’raha I love.

Part of his charm as a character was us seeing him grow. How he went from a self-important little brat, full of false bravado, to someone quietly badass, considerate of others and suffering from an impostor syndrome. How it was still unmistakably *him*, just older and wiser and a bit worn down. 

In a foreign dying world he felt like home without me knowing it was him.

It was so believable. It was so natural that he grew to be like this. Working on large projects does that to you, simply because of how much you have to be dependent on other people and sometimes dumb luck, and his “project” was 200 years long.

I expected to see someone just as recognizable back on the Source but whomever we got in 5.3 is not G’raha. He’s nothing like his older or younger versions, not even a mix of them. He feels like bad fanfiction or a cutesy twitter fanart of a generic catboy.

He was also a Le Guin-tier character in terms of depth, a nod to all the old sci-fi lovers. A time lord poking at the very fabric of the universe and technically barely human anymore, but also imperfect, fragile and very humane in how he treated people.

This guy had witnessed unspeakable horrors,  founded a city, raised an amazing daughter, assisted in creating technologies previously unheard of, saved two worlds, and nearly died at least two times (that we know of, probably more). All without losing his lightheartedness and compassion for others. That’s some insane strength of character. And he is now reduced to a blushing fanboy with zero personality. 

Squeenix, really?

One could argue that he now doesn’t care about what others think and can fanboy all he wants, but I’m still not convinced. He always had style, whether he tried to show off or not, and now he doesn’t.

I don’t know if it’s lazy writing or maybe there’s just no way to write him realistically after 5.3.

And don’t get me wrong, I wanted G’raha to live and the “at memory’s end” monologue still gives me goosebumps. But the end result feels... wrong. I wish they had gone a GitS route for him. Made him a spirit able to hack Allagan technology assisting young G’raha (idk, they could merge later, would have been a fun plot). One doesn’t need a human body to be alive.

Right now it feels like my G’raha is dead and replaced by someone else. And I’m supposed to be ok with it because he is cute and SE did good at animating his ear twitch.

Well, I’m not ok. And the game didn’t even give me a chance to mourn properly.

I don’t go into the Crystarium anymore unless a quest requires me to. I can’t stand being there.

Duh.

I like his Endwalker art tho. Maybe there’s still hope.

[goodshipsherlollipop]

Self-interview (but not really) Part 2

Thanks again @sherlollyappreciationweek

Comp1mom

Q: What made you decide to create a “Christian” version of Sherlock?  According to the BBC version, he is a self-avowed atheist.

A: When I look at Sherlock’s true nature, I see such potential for him as a Christian.  He exhibits so many characteristics that we, as Christians, try to show - forgiveness of wrongs done to him (note how he doesn’t fight back when John assaults him); sacrificial love (his willingness to die for others, as in TRF); the desire for true justice, the way Moriarty says he’s  “on the side of the angels”.  At least for me, I was intrigued by the idea of converting him to Christianity, to give him a true purpose for his life that has eternal consequences.  

Q: Do you think that portraying Sherlock as a Christian is important? Why or why not?

A: I am always hopeful that people will read and see the validity in my reasoning for him becoming a Christian, given how often he has escaped death.  Quite often, in stories, Molly puts the question to him - Why are you still here?  Why have you escaped death so many times?  That should be enough to make anyone reevaluate their life’s purpose.

Q: Molly Hooper is the one who proselytizes him, right? Why do you use Molly? Why not John, who must be a believer in Christ in some way or he would have had a problem with christening Rosie?

A: For me, it HAD to be Molly.  Her character and the way she behaves in the show is consistent with the behaviour of a Christian.  She loves Sherlock unconditionally; she sees beyond the detective persona to the real man beneath.  She needs to be the catalyst for Sherlock to be open to the idea of Christianity, because he loves and trusts her.  John, although he certainly believes in God and has some Christian (or Catholic in my story canon) background, does not live a life that is consistent with Christianity and its ideals.  He has multiple sexual partners.  Although I think he is an ethical man, I don’t believe he has the kind of sexual morality that is typical of committed Christians. Identifying yourself as a Christian because you were raised in a Christian home and went to church, does not make you one if you display behaviour that is contrary to what the Bible teaches.  Either you’re committed to what you believe and try to follow what the Bible teaches, or you are not really committed to your faith, (not that Christians are perfect - far from it, but we do try to follow what the Bible teaches, and we feel guilt when we fail).  There’s a difference between being a Jesus fan and a Jesus follower.

Q: What evidence does Molly use to convince Sherlock of a Higher Power?

A:  In various stories, Molly points out the beauty and balance of creation, that it does not make sense for that balance to have occurred spontaneously.  She also points out the complexity of the human body and how it is built with all its systems designed to work in harmony.  Personally, I believe these two facts are huge considerations, and that it takes far less of a leap in logic to believe something created this beauty, rather than it happening spontaneously.  Molly also points out the fact that Sherlock has been spared from death so many times and asks him to question why that is so, whether there is a higher purpose to his life because of that.  

Q: How do you maintain Sherlock’s acerbic wit and still have him believe that Jesus Christ is more than a swear, is a deity, the Deity?

A:  I try to show that Sherlock is not the “perfect” Christian.  He has many years of conditioning in one type of behaviour, and that is something that is going to come out from time to time. I don’t find it as difficult to write him as someone who does not use the name of Jesus Christ in a profane way, because he doesn't talk that way in the show (unlike John). Personally, I am also not comfortable in writing (or reading) stories that use the name of Jesus Christ as an expletive.

Q: What does belief in Jesus Christ do for his detective work? Or does it influence his detective work?

A: Oh, I definitely think his faith adds an element of compassion to Sherlock’s detective work.  He is no longer answerable only to himself, but he is trying to behave in a way that displays his faith and pleases God.  That means thinking before he speaks, caring about the people involved in the case, rather than just the case itself. His motives, to glorify God in his work, are his priority.

Q: Is there any evidence in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing that Sherlock Holmes believes in Something Higher than himself?

A:  I absolutely believe ACD’s Sherlock believed in God, which is one of the reasons I felt it believable to change BBC Sherlock’s atheistic stance.  ACD’s Sherlock mentions Providence, as evidenced in this quote from The Naval Treaty.

“Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.”

Also, in The Boscombe Valley Mystery, when Sherlock lets a dying killer go, he says, “You are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes.” This implies God will judge the man after he dies.

Penelope Chestnut

Q: How long have you written  Sherlolly stories? What made you start writing?

A: A dear friend of mine recommended watching Sherlock, and my husband and I binge watched it in the summer of 2017.  After the final episode, I was so sad that the Sherlock and Molly dynamic was not resolved, I was moved to write a happy ending for them.  My daughters have been involved in fanfiction for years, so I knew people did this kind of thing.  My intention was to write a one-shot happy ending for them, just for my own satisfaction.  After I wrote it, though, I found I didn't want to let the characters go.   I had fallen in love with their story, and I wanted to keep writing for them.  60 chapters later, I decided to start publishing my story, A Journey to Love, Faith and Marriage.  This was just over 3 years ago, on November 7th 2017,  when I joined fanfiction.net.  I later joined ao3 as well and was publishing on both sites for quite some time.  I've had a better response though on fanfiction.net, so have pretty much limited myself to that site over the past year and a half.  I continue to make revisions and correct errors on my fanfiction.net stories, while I don’t really do anything on ao3. I have been likened to a writing machine on a couple occasions.  To date, on fanfiction.net, I have published over 1.9m words.  Putting that in perspective, in three years I've published the equivalent of more than 7 volumes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the longest book in her series), or close to two and a half volumes of the Holy Bible.

Q: Do you have a certain routine you follow when you write?

A: I don’t have a set daily routine, but I do set myself a goal to complete a certain amount of work per week.  This has changed over time.  Currently, I set myself the goal to write at least one chapter of a story each week, to keep myself in line with my publishing schedule of one chapter per week.  If I am writing an installment for my COVID-19 series that is published in addition to my regular publishing schedule, I still try to write that in addition to my usual chapter writing for the week.  So, at times I write more in a week than other times. I am also working on revising one of my AU’s into a Christian historical romance I hope to publish professionally next year.  

Q: What is it like being a Christian author?

A: It brings me joy to spread a Christian message through my work, but, like anyone else, at times I do suffer self-doubt.  I've questioned in the past whether my limited audience makes worthwhile the enormous effort I put into writing these stories.  It can definitely be discouraging to get very little return on your work, and I have a bad habit of comparing myself to more “popular” writers in the fandom.  I am, however, getting better at recognizing my own self-worth, having confidence that the lack of readers is not a reflection on my ability and talent as a writer, but more a reflection on the general lack of interest from the majority of Sherlolly fans in reading stories with Christian themes and the values that go along with it (particularly sexual purity outside marriage). Just as I don’t care to read stories of characters with a colourful sexual history because I don’t agree with that kind of behaviour due to my Christian beliefs, I imagine those without similar beliefs are probably not interested in reading about sexual purity or abstinence before marriage, as it is not something they can relate to. Thankfully, I am blessed to have a small but vocal support group who really give me the impetus to keep writing these Christian stories.

Q: Are there any devices you use in your writing as a legally blind author?

A:  As I mentioned earlier, I absolutely would be lost without my iPad.  Actually, it is the larger sized iPad Pro.  I would also be lost without programs that give me the ability to resize the font so I can read it!  Thank God for technology!

If you made it to the end of this two-part interview, I hope you enjoyed getting to know my writing journey better.  God bless!

[fatebreaking-a]

☀️

I like how this is literally indecipherable on desktop, so I had to go onto my phone (where it was still indecipherable) and then open it in safari to figure out which one this was.

☀ What’s your rp pet peeve?

It’s this one and not the other one right above it that also looks like a sun.

Emoticons, man.

Well, that was fun and all but- rp pet peeves. Stuff under the cut. Pour one out for the entire community, because I’m about to take a pound of flesh from everyone.

There’s a lot of stuff in here that boils down to just being a good writing partner and all that, trying to advance the action in a natural way, and so on… and I think a lot of it can boil down to either a lack of awareness or a lack of experience. People get better at writing by writing, so I find it hard to really be frustrated and stay frustrated by someone who falls into some of these pitfalls. So you’ll notice I don’t really target things that have to do with writing skill as much as I target ‘attitude’ and ‘conscientiousness’. There is a lot that bothers me though, so here’s a short list.

Criticizing the way other people have fun. This is a big one. What this boils down to is conversations about how “this ship isn’t realistic” or “your ideals on writing are dumb” or “you take writing too seriously/not seriously enough.” I’ve seen all of these. And I used to know someone on a forum-based RP site that would actively go out of her way to criticize that people would include a lot of introspection in scenes that were fast paced. For instance, using poetic language, or talking about how they’re feeling, what the situation was, “he felt like he was up against the tide, that his heart was being torn in two, a cut made deeper with every clash of their blades” - stuff like that. She hated it. And she made sure everyone knew that she did not approve of how much they were writing, because it was ‘not realistic’. And yes, there is definite merit to the claim that people do not have time to introspect about their entire lives and their relationship to their allies and enemies between sword swings... But so what. I don’t think it’s wrong to advocate for shorter, simpler posts with less descriptive text, and to manage in 200 words instead of 600. That’s great. Simplicity has value, being concise is great, ‘brevity is the soul of wit’, whatever. But the problem, the problem was that she would criticize others for writing in a way that they enjoyed. No one got on her case for writing less, but she was so grating on this point that eventually people just did not want to be around her.

It was something I’ve experienced even here. Finding the balance between “writing to improve your ability to write” and “writing just to have fun” are two separate matters. People forget that individuals exist from both camps, and I have known people (multiple) who say ‘this is important to me, I’m growing my skills using RP as a medium’ but fail to empathize and recognize that not everyone has the same viewpoint. Caring about things that make you feel something over technically good and well executed writing does not make you a problem.

And as a big follow up, I find that this is a big issue in life in general. I think that people often forget how much time it took them to learn a certain thing, recognize their own investment, or recognize the disparity between their own idea of ‘common knowledge’ vs actually common knowledge. When I joined the community, I did not know what private, selective, independent, mun, muse, or mutuals meant. For someone who’s brand new, these are terms that can be hard to decipher. And it’s the similar with ships - I think that people forget that not everyone who comes to RP is from a writing background. Some of them may just have enjoyed reading fanfiction, or may have enjoyed their favorite bot lane duo, or they have a main and their partner has a main and they like the aesthetic. So long as it’s not inherently problematic (incest, pedophilia), it’s cruel to degrade someone and call everything that doesn’t make perfect sense a ‘crackship’. Fanart also has a big role to play in this. Do I personally like Sona with Ka/yn, Yas, Sy/las, Jh/in, or Dra/ven? No, I don’t. I don’t, but equally, it’s not right for me to get in someone’s face for liking it. If you love MF/Sona because it’s a fuckin’ sick classic wombo combo bot lane... that’s cool, more power to you. I wish people would ease up and remember to just let people have their fun. There’s a Jh/in that follows me, who politely asked if I shipped it and I said no, and then there was no hard feelings at all. And that is ideal for me. Really.

T h e f t.

And being ultra conscious of it. I am in a very unfortunate circumstance that many of my Sona hcs are very similar to another blog in the space. I found that out by accident, and we reached similar (but also different!) conclusions. But now I am terribly terrified of ever speaking to them, because gods above I want to lift all my duplicates into the air, kiss them, and scream about them... but I don’t want anyone to feel anxious that I’m copying them. It’s also why until about a week ago, I only followed one other Sona blog ever - written by one of my very, very close friends. I never want people to feel like I’m stealing from them, but I also want my duplicates to feel comfortable on my blog! I want them to feel okay about reblogging art of their characters if they like it or talking to me about things... And I’ve put in a lot of effort to be very divergent with my portrayals, but I still ended up in this situation. I won’t name names ( and I really hope that no one bothers that other Sona, because she’s a genuine sweetheart and deserves love and appreciation ),  b ut... This is a big issue for me.

And it’s exacerbated by the fact that some people are lazy as fuck and actually just straight up steal ideas. It’s not ‘inspired by’, which I usually take care to do, giving proper credits or speaking about where I got information from or from whom or that it is on some level almost collaborative (because this is a collaborative space where we interact with each other, but that’s another topic). But I mean some people just recklessly steal and because we all have anxiety (TM), the line between coincidence, inspiration, and theft blurs. Understand that on some level, plagarism is an ethical dilemma, and I exist in the camp that says “hey man that’s cool come talk to me” - but I can exist in that camp because I insist on a very divergent interpretation that is almost ‘theft-proof’. I do not think any other Sona blog will ever have this combination of headcanons: “is a construct inspired by a house spirit, made up of one part crashed titan goddess, three parts demons, and each demon is represented by one of the strings of the instrument, which by the way shattered because bad reasons”. But if you’re not me, it’s hard to... stay loose about it.

And it’s hard to not get jealous.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. Alright I wrote down a list when I actually got this ask, so let’s run off that. ( Yuki, you fuck, you’re not done? Fuck no I’m not done. ) These next ones are big for me.

MISREPRESENTING YOUR WANTS / YOURSELF

what does that mean, you ask me. It means this. It means pretending to be interested in ideas or interactions, even if you’re not interested. I do not ever want to be in the situation where I am happily chugging along, talking about a dynamic, and then find out that the other person isn’t as interested.

It’s fine to be mellow about it dude. I would rather know that you’re like... just okay on it all. I don’t want you to be polite and ‘spare my feelings’ and force yourself.

I want you to have fun. Have fun. God just have fun, you know? Please. There are a ton of interactions I’m “just okay” with, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I can be just okay with stuff and it’s fine. Not everything needs to click instantly but like...

Only showing interest to appeal to me or spare my feelings kinda sucks. It doesn’t last forever. It feels really bad. And eventually when things fall apart, it feels even worse. Like oh you really just did not care that much. Or you didn’t enjoy writing with me? Or what is it? See: jealousy/anxiety. Just be honest.

I think you especially have seen this with me, but I have a penchant for just being sincere and honest about how I feel about things. At least a little bit.

Don’t share things people tell you in confidence.

Fucking duh but it needs to be stated. Sometimes people gotta vent. It happens. And I get that ‘talking behind someone’s back’ is not great, but expressing frustration is a real thing that has real value. And then finding out that those things were shared. If I didn’t bring it up with them myself, I didn’t want them to know. Duh. I’m not talking to be catty but because I’m upset. S h i t. Some of the drama that I’ve seen happen from others doing this (and not to me, but in various cases) was entirely unavoidable. I’ve seen so many variants of this. It’s dumb dude. It’s dumb.

Hard vs Soft statements (Stating opinions as facts)

This is another one that gets me. I come from a world where we write, ‘Sona tries to’ and so on to others. Tumblr as a whole doesn’t seem to conceptually engage with the idea of ‘interrupting actions’ and accepting that interactions are a little malleable. And it in turn reflects how others speak about characters.

I never see, “I think Sona is”, I see “Sona is.” This is such a minor little thing, and I’ve come to accept that it’s part of the culture, but it can be terribly frustrating when others speak about your characters. I often say things like “I see Sona as” or “Because of xyz, Ori/anna would probably-” etc. But that isn’t something that I see here from some people. I know that I do this a lot less these days, in part because I have acclimated to the culture.

Incidentally, there are some joke versions of this that are also frustrating. People can really think they’re being funny, but end up just shutting you out of the conversation entirely when they say ‘No’. I might be a little too sensitive to this though, in that I often disengage from conversations because “it’s not really about my interpretation, so it’s better if I not say anything because it’s not relevant and doesn’t contribute.”

Really, I’m just a weenie baby, but I know when someone’s being rude vs when it’s just my own anxieties. I don’t expect everyone to have unshakable confidence, I also don’t expect that everyone be quivering in their boots. Some people can be really, really dismissive and it’s kind of not so great because it comes along with them otherwise being pretty neat.

Last one: Misrepresentation of data / using a ‘preponderance of evidence’ when there really isn’t that much.

How do I even put this.

CONJECTURE IS NOT FACT.

CONJECTURE IS NOT FACT.

CONJECTURE IS NOT FACT.

Phew. Okay that’s done. That right there is a big problem (and in combination with the pet peeve before that, it gets worse.)

Something to understand is that sometimes there is no good reason to pipe up to correct someone. Often, people are having a visceral, gut reaction and it’s very emotional. Criticizing that ignores the intent (that they’re frustrated), so it’s often a good idea to let it be.

But that doesn’t stop me from seeing that facts are poorly stated or misrepresented. The community likes to talk about league so I see it in OOC posts, and I also see claims that are just wrong. They’re misstated, exaggerated, or phrased in such a way that you could accept them - except one fact check will prove otherwise. But again, why get in someone’s face when they’re frustrated?

But this leads to some people feeling ‘complicit acceptance’. Which is in itself another problem that I won’t get into.

I as a person tend to be pretty rigorous. If I see facts and I can check them with a quick google search, I often do - especially League. It’s so easy to check a champion’s win rate or popularity. Other people do not always exercise this rigor.

“Alright fuckface but that’s talking about league and not rp.”

Yeah okay you make a fair and valid point, except for the part where you missed bullet points 2-4. I’m more talking about the general attitude people have but let’s talk specifically more about RP.

There’s content. A lot of content. And most of it is really vague, because that’s how R I O T G A M E S does things. We still can’t get a straight answer on whether Sona’s adopted mom, Lestara, is alive or not. H u h?

And this often leads to us making connections and conclusions based on the limited data we have. We’re extrapolating, taking what we know and trying to figure out something new.

Except when we get a new data set, sometimes our extrapolations don’t work anymore.

Except we just spent three months world building around our guesses ( because that’s what they are)

Oops I’m divergent now.

That happens. A lot. My entire blog was evidence of that, where I made extreme guesses and then accidentally got validated as Demacia went full grimdark. But it even happened last year, when suddenly we gained new information! Mage registration! That’s a thing! And it changes how we perceive things.

And you may be thinking, ‘ok fine but what does that have to do with misrepresentation’ and it has this to do with it. People will make conclusions based on their own view, then solidify these conclusions as ‘fact’.

For example, I wrote a small article on how “magical sight was not a reasonable power to have” and then soon after, Mageseekers appeared. Oops. Oops.

And these extrapolations get treated as though they are really fact. The line between what is ‘real’ and what is ‘assumed’ blurs. The truth is this. Unless it’s directly and unambiguously stated, it’s basically not fact. “But we can conclude-” I know. And then we’ll get new information and that’ll change. Ideas in this fandom are like balloons, you need to tie them down with text evidence or they’ll just float away before you even know it. I can talk about how Sona is a literal genius level intellect all day, and tomorrow I can be proven wrong by one little shift or clarification in the lore. ‘Within months’ - okay how many months? Fifteen months? Three months? Unknown.

And this leads me to preponderance of ‘evidence’. This one is long because it bothers me a bunch.

‘Preponderance of evidence’ (quotes required) is basically the situation in which someone goes and tells me:

“Listen buddy, I have these seven pieces of evidence, so I can reasonably conclude that [x] is true.” And that’s solid conjecture and extrapolation and I accept that.

Except that maybe you seven pieces of evidence aren’t all solid pieces of evidence.

Oh.

Oh no.

And that’s happened. I have seen evidence pieces one, two, four, and six all be good. And pieces three, five, and seven are a stretch at best.

But because they have so many pieces of evidence, it’s hard to critique back. Because they still do have four good pieces of evidence!

But the strength of the conclusion increases with more accurate and valid data points, and if your data points aren’t-

And that’s the rub, basically. Sometimes I see people fit evidence to their conclusion without even realizing it. Some of the most intelligent, rigorous, and well-versed writers on this site I’ve seen do it.

And it sucks.

And it’s a peeve because here’s  the truth.

The truth after all this talk is this very important fact.

I don’t say anything about these things to people because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s fun or engagement.

People make mistakes and say many things because they are passionate about what they’re talking about. Often that’s the case. And harmless conjecture misunderstandings are not the end of the world because this is not academia.

except that one time I wrote a writeup on how Aphe/lios isn’t mute but whatever.

And so while I have said all these things and have a lot of these feelings, I also think there’s no point to saying most of them directly to the person that bugs me. What good will it do? To someone who is reacting with their emotions and just wants to get their frustration out, or is speaking passionately about something... Just let it go.

And so often I let it go, even if I disagree. I have an opinion, but I don’t go out and toss it back in your face. I just get mad quietly and grump about it.

And that’s why I end up being a very ‘stay in my lane’ person.

The end.

If you read all the way through this, I’ll give you a cookie tbh. Many cookies. This is almost 3000 words and 7 pages.

[selenecrown]

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts x Female!Reader (A Rumor Only Lasts Seventy-Five Days)

Author's Note: Hey, look, another Phantom Thieves of Hearts x Reader! Sorry Anon this isn't an Akira Kurusu x Reader or an Goro Akechi x Reader, but I worked really hard on this for you! And for everyone else who needs to know I'm still writing  fanfictions, even after all this waiting!

This fanfic does take place in an AU, where The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are actual, real thieves that steal from the rich and give it to the poor, and punish corrupt people and help out the weak. And so, the Metaverse doesn't exist. So, Morgana can't be a cat, he's a person. So, be ready Morgana fans! Because probably from now on I'll be more comfortable using a human!Morgana

This is 110% inspired by the new outfits from P5A Masquerade Party ---Detective Daylight--- and P5A Masquerade Party ---Phantom Midnight---, so, yeah. I'm not even going to lie, that's the reason I did this fanfiction in the first place. So, get ready for a masquearade party full of shinnagans and your local Phantom dorks with those specific outfits. I will make one modification, though. All the mask will be full on masks, not half masks like in the art because it ruins the fun of identities. 

Also, please listen to Meet Me by Mickey Valen Feat. Noé. As, I almost made this a songfic but I decided against it later on because it seemed awkward and out of place. But, please do listen to the song. It's worth it! 

Also, this does get a whole lot darker later on, but I can't tell you because. . . Well, it ruins the surprise of the Palace the Phantom Thieves are targetting. But, I'm warning you guys, it gets dark real fast. So, prepare for some feels.

"They sent us a calling card?!" A woman exclaimed in the middle of the night into an almost empty room. "But. . . Why?!" 

She knew exactly why. 

She's a liar.

"It will be alright. It's not the Man in the Black Mask, at least! If it was him, we'd be dead for sure!" A man said to the woman, putting an arm on her shoulder for comfort.

That part is true. If it was him, you two would be screwed with a capital S.

"True, but. . . What about the money? Our property? The workers? What are we going to do? They're going to steal everything with what we have!" The woman wailed into her hands.

Oh, stop being such a bitch about it like you actually care. 

Because, I know you don't. 

"It'll be alright. We know their tricks, they can't deceive us!" The man assured her.

Oh, he's lying now, too.

Great, the more lies, the worse this gets.

The Phantom Thieves, were a well-known group of thieves that stole from the rich and corrupt, and gave it to the poor. 

They were a group of dangerous individuals who claimed to give justice to those corrupt people untouched by the law but was controversial as to if that was the truth. As, the only people who had seen them where severely hurt and often couldn't remember any faces of the people who had robbed them. 

But, other than that, the only thing that could even give the public a clue as to who they were. . . Was rumors sprend by the masses.

That's right. 

None of the group had ever gotten caught, so only rumors could satisfy the public's thrist for answers.

Sure, there was a few people who did know the Phantom Thieves, but the police was on thin ice with all the failures to capture the illustrious group, so anyone even suspected was often arrested if reported to the authorities. 

So, not only was corrupt people was afraid of being found out, but so was the average citizen if they where reported. 

Everyone lived in fear of the Phantom Thieves. 

And yet. . . They were popular with the youth. 

As a symbol of rebellion against corrupt laws and tyrants, which is why even though the group had revealed little to no information about themselves to the public, many companies would make products about them. From personalized Calling Cards to themed attractions, the Phantom Thieves turned from a urban legend to a worldwide media phenomenon. 

The group had a site that you could request for them to target someone's "heart", or their reputation. Officially called the Phantom Aficionado Website but nicknamed "The Phan-Site" by the public, anyone could request for anyone else to be taught a lesson. From new, petty crime-doers to other thieves on the prowl. 

But, despite being so illustrious and uuntouchable to the public. . . You knew all of them personally. 

That's right. 

You knew the people behind the masks. 

The only thing is. . . You didn't know you knew them. 

Because they had kept you naïve to any knowledge of the group. 

But it's hard to do that when they're the talk of, well, everywhere.

"Today I will be not be teaching you today, you will be reading from your textbooks and answering the comprehendsion questions on page 194, 198 and 200." Your Japanese teacher, Miss Kawakami, said plainly. 

"It is all review, because next to none of you have been doing the homework at all recently and I'm not happy about it. And since most of the class is not listening to me during lectures, you'll have the textbook to work with instead of me." She said in an annoyed tone, as if she honestly just wanted to leave the class right now and not deal with any of you.

"For those of you who did the homework. . . You are to come speak with in the hallway." 

Come in the hallway? But Miss Kawakami almost never asked for that sort of thing, she'd just give you free time when this happened. What was the matter this time?

You got up from your seat, and walked out of the classroom. But before you could leave, Ryuji Sakamoto stopped you by grabbing your arm. 

"Wait, you did the homework?" He asked from his desk. 

You were in the same homeroom as Ryuji, so the two of you often hung out then since you guys were friends.

"Yes, I did, why?" You replied him. 

"Ah, whatever. Can you give me the answers later?" Ryuji asked you, but you shook your head. 

"Ryuji, the comprehension questions was the homework, so you have all the answers. Kawakami is just giving you the homework as classwork now." You sighed at him. 

"For real?!" 

"Yeah. Oh, that's right, you ditched yesterday, didn't you?" You asked him.

"Yeah, but I was helping Akechi with his house with Futuba and Morgana." Ryuji shot back. 

"Okay, okay." You putting your hands up in surrender. 

"(First/Name)! Come on, I know you did the homework! Ryuji! Quit bothering her and get back to work!" Miss Kawawkami yelled at you two.

"I'm coming!" You said back to your teacher. "See you around, Ryuji." 

"See ya." Ryuji repiled, as he pulled out a textbook and a piece of paper.

You walked out the classroom to find. . . Two other people standing out in the hallway with you. They seemed just as confused as you were, but before any of you could speak, Miss Kawakami spoke up. 

"So, since you actually did your homework, I'm giving the three of you permission to ditch this period, or at least slack off for the period. But, I need some help grading papers, can one of you help me out?" She asked.

There was silence among the three of you. Then, you spoke up. 

"I'll do it." 

"Thank you," Miss Kawakami smiled at you. "The two of you can go do what you want. (F/N), come with me." 

You followed her to the teacher's office, to find a few other teachers there. Miss Kawakami sat you down at her desk and gave you an answer sheet, and simply told you to mark an answer with a slash if they got it wrong, and a minus a half if the person got the idea of the answer, but didn't answer it correctly. Then, she left you to your own devices in the office. 

You where grading the tests of another class, which must have been Akira and Ann's class, as when you went through the papers, you noticed Ann's and Akira's tests in the pile of ones you graded. When you were almost finished grading, with only one left the pile, you felt a tap on your shoulder. When you turned, there was Makoto. 

"(F/N)? What are you doing here?" She asked you. 

"Miss Kawakami asked me to help her out with grading papers, and since I had nothing better to do since I finished my classwork, why not?" You said. 

"Ah, I see. Did you see Ryuji doing it?" She asked, seriously. Her face got dark, almost like she was going to beat Ryuji up if he didn't. 

Makoto Niijima was the student council president of Shujin Academy, and Ryuji was a local delinquent. So, the two often came into conflict when it came to school work and ethics. But outside of school, you won't know that with how they treat each other. Even though Makoto seems to not show Ryuji much respect, she does deep down have some for him. Even you could see that.

Ryuji was a sweetheart and a great person outside of school. He really was, it's just he can't stand adults who abuse their power. That's why he strongly supports the Phantom Thieves and what they do, since he believes that the justice they have is truly justice. Makoto also had a strong sense of justice as well, almost as strong as Ryuji's sense of justice. She believes that justice is, in a way, absolute and no one could escape it. And, you couldn't quite blame her for having that sense of justice, since she wanted to be a police commissioner and her sister was a public prosecutor, it made sense. 

"I think so. I saw him with half of the work done. He asked me a few questions about the work before Miss Kawakami called me out of the room." You lied to her. 

Makoto. . . Was not a good person to piss off, to say the least. Even for a student council president, she was scary angry.

In being a friend to Ryuji, you decided to cover for him.

"Oh, that's good." She said. Her dark look on her face faded into a cheerful smile. "That's wonderful." 

Makoto. . . Your smile. 

You've had that same one when. . .

"When you've finished, can we talk?" She asked. Her cheerful smile turned into a sincere smile. Like she was. . .

"Yeah, sure." You responded.

"Alright. Meet me by the student council room, okay?" She smiled, and you nodded and she left the room. 

That smile had on her face. . . That was the same smile when you found out her sister was given a calling card. 

In other words. . . She was definitely hiding something from you.

"Well, whatever." You sighed, turning back to the ungraded paper left untouched until then.

After you had finished, Miss Kawakami came in and asked if you had been told that somebody wants to see you, like as soon as possible. You told her someone had dropped by asking you to talk with them in the student council room, but you told them you wanted to finish your task first, to which they agreed. Kawakami thanked you for helping her and dismissed you to go see Makoto.

When you opened the door, only was Makoto there. She was waiting patiently on a table. 

But there was one thing you noticed: 

She had an earpiece in her right ear. 

It was hard to notice with Makoto's usually neat hair not tucked behind her ear, but you saw an earpiece through her brown hair. 

"Please, take a seat." She smiled warmly at you, and moved her left hand to a seat. But, that only made everything even more chilling than relaxing. 

You nodded and was going to sit down when you saw something else Makoto did: 

She quietly locked the door out of the room.

And then she turned back to you as you had sat down in the seat offered to you.

She smiled warmly again at you, like an mother looking after a beloved child. "I know this isn't something I should be asking, but. . ." 

She stopped speaking for a moment and you heard something faint come from somewhere and then Makoto said, "Your last name is (Last/Name), correct?" 

"Y-Yes, why?" You asked, scared by Makoto's calmness in the situation. 

Makoto has never asked you about your family, so why is she---?

"Are you, by chance, related to Aeron and Mara (L/N)?" Makoto asked.

Who?

Your brows knitted together, and your head tilted to one side, as you face scrunched up. 

Ae-ron And Mar-a?

Are those English names? Maybe?  

"Who?" You asked Makoto.

"The people who where on the news the other day. It is suspected they are having affairs within their marriage to one another. . . And I thought they where your parents since you had the same last names." Makoto said.

"No." You answered, firmly. "My parents have Japanese names, I've never heard of those names before."

"I see." She nodded her head, as if she had learned something very important and vital. "Then, can you tell me your parent's names?"

"Hinata and Kasumi (L/N)." You stated.

"Can you tell me more about them?" She asked.

Why? 

Why does she suddenly care about your life at home? 

"They're both workaholics. Most of the time, they work all day, all night without stopping. They both are nice people, They're just. . ." You hesitated for a moment. "Distant. We don't talk much since they're busy most of the time."

Makoto nodded. "One last thing. . . Why do you have bruises on your hand?" 

"Huh?" You said, looking at your hands. You had brusies on your hands, but that weren't all that bad. "Oh, these? I got those because some kids where throwing stuff across my yard for fun. And, while I was lucky in not getting hit, my hands weren't as lucky." 

"Oh," Makoto sounded surprised. "Sorry, the brusies worried me. Do you want to stop by the nurse's office?" 

"Makoto, they aren't hurting me that badly." You said. 

"You sure?" She asked, one final time.

"Yes. It'll go away soon." You said. 

And just like that, Makoto let you go for the day.

When you went back to class, you had about 10 minutes before your next class would start. So, you pulled out a book to read. But, Ryuji came over almost as soon as you opened the book. 

"When did you get these?" He asked, picking up one of your hands that had brusies all over. 

"Some kids where throwing stuff across my yard for fun yesterday and I cleaned it up. But, most of the things I cleaned up was not easy to pick up and move." You told him. 

"What did the kids put in your yard?" 

"Many different thing, from heavy weights to a toilet." You said. 

"The hell." Ryuji sighed, and then let go of your hand. "People these days. Argh, it just makes me wanna---!" 

"Want to what, Ryuji?" A girl asked. When you turned, there was Ann. She was eating a package of Jagariko, and Ann sat right smack-dab in the middle of your desk. In the process, taking the book out of your hands. 

"Y'know, beat some sense into them! Why the actual hell would people do something like that!?" Ryuji growled. 

"I dunno. Maybe she has a really big yard and people use it without asking for permission?" Ann said.

"That doesn't make any sense, either!" Ryuji exclaimed. 

"Well, what do you expect? The situation doesn't make any sense." Ann sighed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Another voice said. 

That, was Morgana.

Morgana was a small boy, even smaller then Futuba albeit by not that much, but he certainly he a big ego. Probably the biggest one of the group. Morgana had hair like Akira's along with bright blue eyes, and he didn't seem follow the school dress code. He often wore a yellow bandana over his neck, and wore a t-shirt with a crude joke on it.

"Nothing important. Are we ready?" Ann said. 

"Ann---" You almost said something, but then the bell rang to dismiss the class. 

"Let's go. Come on, let's beat Akira there!" Morgana blurted, as he rushed out of the classroom. With Ryuji tailing him.

Ann, meanwhile stayed behind to help you pack up. And when you two left the classroom, Akira appeared to greet the two of you and followed you both to the roof. 

"Ah! Smooth, Akira! Escourtin' two ladies here!" Ryuji teased Akira. Causing Morgana to give a hilarious face of shock and for Akira's face to show a beam of confidence. 

He pushed up his glasses and smirked, "Haha. You have much to learn in the ways of gentlemanly attributes, Morgana Velvrule." 

"Shut up!" Morgana shot back. "I was-I was just making sure Ryuji doesn't try anything!"

"Hey!" Ryuji exclaimed.

And with that, the door to the roof opened. And out came Makoto and Haru. 

"Ah! There you guys are!" Morgana changed the subject. "Come on! I got sushi today!" 

Pretty much after lunch, the day went by in a blur. You and Ryuji normally walked home together since the two of you lived not far from one another, but Ryuji said he needed to do something. 

Leaving you by yourself to walk home. 

"Alright, everyone's here. Ryuji, did (F/N) get home safely?" Morgana asked Ryuji. 

"That's what she said." Ryuji said as he went through his text messages, to check if anything had changed from the last time the two of you talked.

"Good, now let's get down to business." Morgana stated. "Makoto, Akechi, is she related to them?" 

"No. She said she had never heard those names before. She said her parents are named Hinata and Kasumi, not Aeron and Mara." Makoto said. 

"And from what I could tell, she wasn't lying, either." Goro added.

"So, as far as our sources says, she is safe, correct?" Morgana asked.

Futuba nodded. "Yes. She wasn't invited, or on the guest list at all. And, there is no one else who could invite her to it now because of the couple's paranoia. So, chances are high she's way out of the question now." 

"Alright. Then, let's move on. We definitely need a plan for infiltrating the place, we will have to do it in advance, am I correct?" Akira tried to confirm from the group.

"Yes, the place is pretty big just from the outside." Goro stated. "I couldn't get too close, but the place was much bigger than it looks, that is for certain." 

"So, when can we infiltrate the place? There's so many people there it will be a big problem, and with them on high alert, it makes it much worse." Ryuji stated. 

"We'll have to either do it late at night, or when everyone is out of the house." Morgana said.

"So, which one?" Ann asked. "Either works for me." 

"Let's do the second one." Haru suggested. "It's just easier for everyone. And, It lessens the chance of being caught." 

"Yes, that would be something to prioritize." Yusuke said. 

"Are we in agreement, then?" Morgana asked. "Then, now we need to figure out the schedule of the couple and see when out next chance will be." 

When the Phantom Thieves had gathered that much information about their target, they had found out the house was normally empty on Saturdays. And this coming Saturday both had meetings to go to, so the chance was wide open to them. 

So, they set a date and was ready to infiltrate the targeted place.

Which, this time, was a mansion, and a small house right next to it. 

The mansion seemed. . . Overly luxurious, even for a mansion. But despite it being luxurious, the group discovered rooms that weren't as luxurious and where downright gross to be in, or just not great rooms in general.  Futuba, because she wasn't sure what was going on, set up cameras in certain areas, to see the purposes of them are. Then, they went to infiltrate the small house next to the mansion, they found it actually was supposed to be a shed full of tools, parts of many things, and a whole bunch of weapons. But, there was someone living there, because there was food in there, certain electronics that people often had where also present, as well as other signs to show someone was living there.

But. . . The place had no running water, and not that much electricity, either. 

So the person who was living there. . . They where not in a good place at all. 

All your friends where gone today. 

Of course they where, they always do this at least once a month.

And whatever reason may be, they leave you to fend for yourself.  No contacting you til the end of the day. No matter how much texting or calling you do, it doesn't matter. They ignore you until the very end, and then they answer you.

But, you couldn't care less about it now.

Because the disappearances had a pattern to it, making you able to predict when they would disaapear.

The good thing was, no one asked you to pick up homework or classwork this time. 

On the night of the heist, Aeron and Mara was hosting a party celebrating the success they have had recently in their business. 

Security was tight, and yet. . . It was a masqurade party. 

Where no one knew another's face for certain unless they knew before hand. 

And the couple had some nerve to think a masqurade party was a good idea, even after getting a calling card. 

They either where foolish, or had a trick up their sleeves.

Getting an invitation wasn't to hard, but fitting in was harder with wealthy nobleman among the general population of people. Luckily, everyone had fancy enough outfits to match the outfits of the adults.

Akira was wearing a red suit with a long tailcoat, but the inside of the tailcoat was black. The tailcoat also had two golden buttons to pull the coat together if wanted, and it also had a breast pocket with a fancy white handkerchief sticking out. Akira had a black waistcoat to match the inside of the tailcoat, with a white dress shirt underneath with a white ascot tie with a small blue jewel on it tied around his neck by a black strap, with a pair of black dress shoes, as well. Akira wore a black and red mask, that looked like a regular mask but with large horns coming out the sides of the mask, with two other sharp edges sticking up as well. The mask was mostly black, but there was red across the mask that showed details of a horn. But, it also made a shape of eyelashes on both sides of the lower half of the mask. The mask itself was big enough to cover Akira's forehead.

Morgana was wearing an all black suit, expect on the inside of the tailcoat, which was dark purple. He wore a yellow bow tie instead of a yellow bandana. Morgana also wore brown dress shoes, and he had an actual sword on him. He was using it as a cane but it was an actual foil sword. Morgana had a black mask two dark blue tusks coming out of the mask with a yellow line above the eye slots of the mask, as well as little spots of purple at the top of the mask. 

Ryuji was not wearing a full on suit unlike anyone else, but he was wearing black dress pants held up by a black belt with a buckle with a pair of crossed swords on it, a grey dress shirt and a black and red waistcoat, with the front of the coat being black and the backside being red with three faded golden buttons keeping the coat together. Ryuji wore a yellow and blue sailor tie with skulls and crossbones across the tie. As well as a pair of brown loafers and a silver chain with a decoration at the end of the chain. Ryuji also wore a torn-up white cloth as a bracelet on his left wrist. Ryuji's mask was a skull was an eye-patch on the right eye that also had a skull on it. Despite what it looked like, Ryuji could actually see through the eye patch, because that was actually just a special lens Futuba designed for Ryuji, since he was the muscle of the group and sometimes needed to see in the dark.

Ann was wearing a red sleeveless dress with a small pink sash around her waist along with a black stripe at the bottom of the dress with a yellow stripe below the black stripe that was at the bottom of the dress, which went to about over her knees. She wore a pair of black pumps with a red rose as a decoration on the shoe as well as the bottom of her shoe was red instead of black. Ann wore a light pink see-through cloth with dark pink leopard prints on it that she wore around her upper arms. Ann had her nails painted red, and she wore red earrings to match. Ann also wore a black choker with a red heart charm on it, she also had a giant red rose in her hair, which was in raised pigtails. Ann's mask looked like a black cat mask, with pink leopard spots at the top of the mask, the mask also had upside down hearts where the ears where that where a little lighter color of pink than the leopard spots. But around the eyeholes of the mask was a blue stripe on top of the eyeholes and orange stripe on the bottom.

Yusuke wore a suit similar to Akira's, in that he had the same types of clothes on as Akira, but other than that, Yusuke's outfit was very different. Yusuke wore a dark purple tailcoat with a light purple on the inside of the coat, on the coat, there was a red handkerchief in his breast pocket. Yusuke also wore a waistcoat with black symbols that looked like a G, with a white background making the symbol easy to see. Underneath that, Yusuke wore a light blue dress shirt, he also wore a white and purple tie. Yusuke wore a pair of white dress pants and a pair of dark brown dress shoes. Yusuke had a white cane on him, with a golden fish on it as a decoration, but it also had a golden tip on the end of the cane as well. Yusuke's mask was light blue on the furthest left and right sides of the mask but then was cut off by a red stripe which then had white until it it went up to the eyeholes of the mask which had a redish-purple around the eyeholes. On top of the eye hole was purple. But, the mask itself was shaped much differently than most masks. It was cut off so you could see a person's nose, not the top of the nose but the sides of the nose, close to the eyelids and around the mouth. But, covered everything else. 

Makoto wore a long dark blue illusion dress that went to the floor. The illusion dress held the dress up around her shoulders but had no decorations on it. Makoto wore a silver diamond dance belt around her waist that had no jewels on it, but instead was empty. Makoto also wore a pair of cream white ankle strap heels underneath the dress, that could be seen thanks to a slit in the dress on the left side of the dress. Makoto also wore a long silver cuff bracelet on her right arm, and Ann had helped her paint her nails dark blue to match the dress. She also wore a simple black headband. Makoto's mask was a light blue that covered her face and had a pattern of woman with closed eyes under a protective screen or something along those lines. It also had more lining on the sides of the mask to make the mask bigger on her face. 

Futuba wore a loose black sleeveless dress with a line of cloth across her shoulders, a line of cloth as a replacement for the absence of the sleeves. Near the middle and the bottom of her skirt and the cloth acting as sleeves had strange light green symbols all over those areas. From numbers, lines, shapes, and who knows what else was on that dress. At the end of the dress was an aquamarine lace, or, that's what it looked like, around Futuba's waist was a design that matched the other symbols that was on the dress. Ann had painted Futuba's nails a light green to match the symbols on her dress. But, other than that, the other decoration Futuba had was a small black hat on her head with similar symbols as on the dress, and a faded green bow to add the the hat. Futuba wore a pair of black platform pumps with ankle straps with light green heels that made Futuba look tall, but it must have hurt to walk in. Futuba's mask was black and looked like a bat's wings with horns coming out the top of the mask. But, it seemed modified so it could cover the fact Futuba wears glasses. 

Haru was wearing a sleeveless pink ball gown that went down to her knees, with more of the dress lower than that which went to about just above her ankles. Around Haru's chest, the pink was actually a very dark pink that had decoration on it. But, there was a light pink veil over the dark pink upper part of the dress that was covered in decorations of flowers and other things, but, at the top of the veil was a string of golden flower decorations that connected the veil to the dress and wrapped around Haru. At Haru's waist was a small white bow wrapped around the waist. Around the bottom part of the dress was also pink veil that had lacy at the bottom. Haru had light pink nails painted thanks to the help of Ann and she wore gold bracelets on her left wrist, as well as golden earrings with light pink jewels on it. Haru wore a pair of black flats with gold lining on the edge of the shoes around the foot. Haru's mask was on a stick on the right side of the mask, like traditional masquerade mask, which was pink with gold lining on the edge of the mask with lines coming off the the lines. Around eye hole was also gold lining that looked like eyelashes. But, on the right side was a blue flower and a little orange cloth at the bottom at the flower. 

Goro's suit was mostly white. His tailcoat, white dress shirt, his dress pants, his gloves, even his dress shoes were white. His tailcoat had golden lining along the lines of the coat, including the sleeves. The inside of that coat was a dark blue, and in his breast pocket was a blue handkerchief. Goro wore a grey waistcoat with golden buttons, as well as a red ascot tie held up by a golden band. Goro had a mask that was somewhat similar to Yusuke's, in that it wasn't a mask you would see everyday. The top of the mask above th eyeholes was red, while right below the eye hole was a small amount of grey, while everything else was gold. Unlike Yusuke's, the mask covered most of Goro's face, minus the mouth and right underneath the nose. But, on the left and right sides of the mask was something that looked like fins. Golden fins, but it looked somewhat odd on the mask. 

The couple had hosted the party in a section of the house that was the kitchen, the living room, the gaming room, a movie theater and a few rooms around there. The house was well decorated with many flowers, banners, and other decorations pertaining to a theme of a masquerade party. The colors most present was blue, green, and brown. Which happened to be the colors of the company Aeron and Mara founded and are the current CEOs of. The food seemed to be mostly desserts and filling. Not actually suited for a meal. The couple heavily encouraged the guests to take as much as they want since the chef made a lot more than expected. Most of the crowd was in the living room, and among the crowd was undercover officers, because the couple asked for them to be there. Which is how Goro got into the party with Makoto, because she claimed Sae wouldn't be able to come tonight due to another case she needed to take care of. Haru was invited to the party because of her status as a wealthy woman. Everyone else had made up names as wealthy people or people of status.  

The group had decided to hide Futuba and the escape car on the back of the property close to the house, to make it look inconspicuous. As a bonus, there was no security back there and the couple seemed to let no one back there. The car itself was a black Citroën H Van, that was painted to look like any other car. While Futuba was left by herself, the rest of the group went to split up and search the house for money, jewels, whatever they could find. Well, Yusuke and Ryuji was taking a whole bunch of food from the buffet. And when Ann found out what the boys where doing, she snuck some, too. 

But then, something happened the group didn't expect.

Someone noticed the car and went to investigate. 

Which shocked the team when Futuba heard someone coming her way. And everyone started to panic.

"Oracle, hide!" Ann said.

"Oracle, you need to leave, right now!" Ryuji said. "Forget us! If you get caught, you're dead meat!" 

Futuba panicked even more as she tried to hide her things, and then a door opened. Which caused Futuba to jump to the back of the car.

"Whose here?! I know someone's---!" A voice called. 

Then a buzzing noise was heard and then something fell.

"Geez. Who the heck does something like this?" A female voice sighed. "What a creep. He must have tried to take another child into their Ring, or tried to rape them, disgusting."  

The Ring? 

What was she talking about? 

"Hello? Is anyone here? I promise I won't hurt you!" The female voice called. "I'll help you get out!" 

Futuba then popped her head out from the backseat. When she did, she saw a man wearing a security guard outfit slumped over and a girl looking throughout the car.

The girl wore an old cream colored Komarov Drape Chiffon dress that looked quite nice on her. She wore a basic white mask that was shaped in the form of a crescent moon. But the girl was also covered on bruises and cuts, or that's what it looked like. When the girl saw Futuba, she spread her arms. 

"I promise I won't hurt you. I can help you." She said. "It's okay." 

Futuba then ducked back into the seat and popped on her mask on. And then said into her earpiece, "I'm turning off my ear piece. My situation was taken an odd turn." And then turned off her eyepiece. 

And then Futuba got up, and walked towards the girl. 

When Futuba got to the girl, the girl moved the man into the outside of the car. 

"Are you okay?" The girl asked. 

Futuba nodded.

"Can you come with me? We need to get you away from the car. It's better that way, right?" 

Futuba nodded again. 

The girl lead Futuba into the small house, and into the living room of the house, which was just an empty room filled with junk and an old couch. The girl sat Futuba down on the couch. The room was somewhat dark thanks to it being dark outside, but there was a small lamp that the girl brought over. 

She also brought a pencil and sheet of paper. 

The girl brought a small plate of food for Futuba, that mainly seemed to be a type of meatloaf. 

Not long after the two appeared, a black dog appeared and started growling at Futuba from the girl's side. But the girl tried to shush the dog with,

"It's okay, it's okay. She's won't hurt you. She's lost, too." 

And not long after the dog stopped growling at Futuba, instead seemed to try and comfort Futuba too by rubbing againist her arms and surrounding her back.

"Can you tell me your name? Where you're from?" The girl asked.

Futuba became nervous now. She either needed to think of something fast, or get out of there.

But Futuba was smart. She picked up the piece of paper and wrote a fake name and then showed it to the girl.

"Your name is Hamuko, is that right? Where are you from?" 

Futuba wrote down the first place she caught think of. Akihabara.

"Around Akihabara? That's pretty far from here. But, can you speak? It's much easier than writing everything down." 

Futuba shook her head. And then wrote down an excuse: She had really bad social anxiety and she couldn't speak with strangers unless it was by paper. 

"Social anxiety, huh? Alright. That's a good excuse." The girl sighed. "Tell me what happened to you when you got kidnapped by those guys." 

Kidnapped? 

Wait, the couple also had a kidnapping ring?

Is that what she was talking about? 

Futuba wrote down a method they had used to kidnap people: Using chloroform. 

"You think so? Well, it's not unlikely for them to do that. Are you okay? Does your head hurt or anything?" 

Futuba shook her head. 

"That's good. . . Wait, why are you wearing a dress? Are---?" 

Futuba then immediately scribbled down something that went like: My family was going to go to a party. But I got separated from them and then those guys showed up. 

"Really. That's pretty interesting to happen on tonight, of all nights. But no matter. Where from Akihabara are you from? Can you use my cell phone to call your parents?" 

Futuba nodded. 

The girl then handed over a cell phone. 

It was hard to see what the phone looked like in the dark, but Futuba used it to call a group of numbers: 

The number for the Phantom Thieves. 

Inside the mansion, eight phones went off. Goro and Makoto asked to be excused to take the call, while everyone else simply just picked up the phone from where they were. 

Futuba spoke first, "Hi, guys." 

"Oracle! Are you alright?" Akira asked her.

"Yes, I'm okay. I'm. . ." Then Futuba asked the girl where she was.

"Over by the (L/N) estate. Not far from Sibuya." The girl said. 

". . . By the (L/N) estate. By the back of the mansion, I think." 

"Oracle, are you in that house? Does someone live there?" Morgana asked.

"Yes." Futuba responded.

"Who? Do you know?" Makoto asked.

"I don't. But she's nice and has a nice dog." Futuba said.

"Alright. She's not hostile? Can we come and you're sure she won't tell anyone?" Ryuji asked.

"I think so." Futuba responded.

"Then, we're on our way." Akira said, as everyone hung up.

"Is someone coming?" The girl asked. 

Futuba nodded, and wrote down something.

The Phantom Thieves are coming.

"What? But, I'm pretty sure they don't do that sort of thing." The girl said. 

Futuba shook her head. And then wrote down: Well, this is an exception.

"An exception? What on earth does that---" 

And then, a door creaking was heard through the house. 

And into the living room came eight people, each with different outfits and masks covering there faces, making it hard to tell who the people were. 

One of boys, the one wearing the black mask kneeled before the girl and took one of her hands and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her right hand. While Futuba went to everyone else who asked if she was alright and what had happened. 

The dog, simply stood up from where he was and went to the girl's side, as if to protect her. 

"Thank you, my dear." Akira said, "You have protected our Oracle from certain danger, and all of us are thankful to you for that." 

"Huh? Oracle? But---" She was about to say.

"Shh." Akira said, putting a finger againist her lips after he had stood up. "Tell nobody what happened, and we will spare you the trouble of the police." 

The girl simply nodded. Then, the others turned to leave. 

"There's my girl. I bid you a good evening, we will meet again." Akira said, after placing a quick kiss on the girl's cream colored mask. "And if you don't mind, we will take the car from your hands and that man on the gravel is coming with us." 

The girl simply nodded again. 

And then, the Phantom Thieves disappeared into the night.

After that close call, the group decided to check up on you. But, you didn't answer and group figured out why. It was almost one in the morning. 

They each left a message saying how sorry they were for leaving you, and how they would make it up to you. 

When you woke up, you made breakfast for yourself and put on your uniform and went to school. On your way there, you bumped into Ryuji.

"(Y/N)! Hey!" He called as you turned around. 

"Good morning Ryuji." You said.

"Where you okay last night?" He asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I was. I did homework and went to bed early. Why?" 

"That's good. . . Where you. . . Lonely?" 

"Huh? Why would I be? You guys didn't do anything without me, did you?" You teased.

"What?! Hell no! Why the hell would we do that?!" Ryuji exclaimed. 

You giggled a little. 

"Hey! Don't scare me with that shit! That actually scared me!"  Ryuji sighed.

"Pfft. You sure?" You asked him. 

"Hell yeah I'm sure!" He said. "Nevermind. Forget it." 

You giggled again as the two of you bumped into Akira and Ann. 

The day passed by faster than the group had expected.

When the time came for lunch, your friends packed up and lead you out of the school. But you stopped before you could leave the gates. 

"Where are we going?" You asked.

Everyone seemed to stop with confused faces. Then, Ann made an "Oh!" noise and went to you.

"I forgot. Goro wanted to eat lunch with everyone today! I was suppose to tell you last night, but I forgot." She wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

"Why today?" You asked.

"He said he had a scary interview coming up, and he needs something to calm his nerves." Makoto stated. "So, he wanted to invite everyone over to the TV station to a company him." 

"Even Futuba?" You asked Makoto.

Makoto nodded. "We're going to go get her. After we go get Yusuke." 

"But if we do that, we'll---!" You exclaimed.

"Get in trouble? No, not really. Not if we have Akechi give us an excuse." Akira said. 

"But---" You protested.

"We'll be fine." Haru said. "Let's just have fun today. Is that okay (Y/N)?" 

You sighed. "I guess." 

"Yay!" Ann said.

And the six of you went to find your others members of the group. 

After you had picked up everyone, your group headed towards the TV station. 

Oddly enough, Goro was waiting outside and he escorted everyone into a back room to reveal a spread of seafood. From traditional sushi to cooked fish. It looked like almost every types of fish was here. 

"Thanks for the food!" Morgana said, as he ran for the sushi. 

"Hey, you better not eat everything!" Ryuji said.  

"Then get over here eat something before I eat everything!" Morgana shot back. 

And just like that, lunch started.

Goro had treated everyone to lunch, and after everyone gave him some encouragement to do his interview, escorted everyone out of the building. 

And when you guys got back to school the day was almost over. So, everyone had just decided to go home for the day. 

But then Futuba asked everyone to come over for dinner at Leblanc. Which everyone agreed to doing. Even after everyone had lunch together, it seems nobody could deny the wonderful food that. 

Goro arrived first. 

Ryuji arrived next with Yusuke right behind him. 

Ann came not long after. 

Then Makoto and Haru came in. 

And lastly, you came in. 

Sojiro Sakura closed up shop early that day and explained he had much more ingredients for more curry and coffee than he needed, and Futuba said they could get rid of it if they invite everyone over for dinner. 

So, here everyone was. 

Later, everyone moved upstairs since everyone had plenty of time before it got dark. 

But then your phone went off and you went to take it, since it was from someone you knew.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Sojiro asked you. "AKIRA! CALL TAKEMI!" 

"Sojiro? What's the matter---? (Y/N)!" Ann yelled at you. "Oh my God! Call an doctor! Hurry!"

The Phantom Thieves had flipped their shit. 

You had passed out in the middle of Leblanc. 

When Takemi came to check you out, she said you didn't look physically unheathly but there was something going on, so you must have passed out due to stress, or maybe getting stress relief, she said. 

But it was clear that you must have been dealing with something stressful rather than something physical. 

Tae recommended that you stay here for the night since she wasn't sure when you would wake up, and you were mostly okay to do so.

The person who had called you had hung up, and the person you had talked to was your mother. When they tried to call her to tell her what had happened, she wouldn't pick up. 

So, Akira picked you up and carried you to the couch upstairs and wrapped a blanket around you. Everyone gathered around you and whispered to one another. 

"What happened?" Futuba asked. "Did something happen in her family? Did her family get death threat because people think she's in that family?" 

"Who knows." Ann sighed. "Hopefully she didn't get a death threat." 

"Whatever it is, it definitely is causing her problems." Goro said. 

"Whatever happened, we'll need to keep an eye on her." Makoto said. "We can't let that happen again." 

"You're right." Akira said. "We'll need to keep an eye on her from now on." 

When you woke up, you remembered what happened last night but then. . .

"Am I sick?" You asked yourself, and then sighed. "Well, whatever. What time is it?" 

You didn't see a clock in the room you were in, so you got up from where you were, to find you were in Akira's room, but Akira was nowhere to be found. 

So, you went downstairs to the café Leblanc to find there was some costumers there, but Sojiro was tending the shop. Sojiro seemed to notice you first before any costumers did and gestured you come over to him. You did, and Sojiro had explained what happened last night.

You had passed out, and the doctor said you should get some rest today since whatever caused you to pass out wasn't physical, rather psychological. Since it was about lunch time, there was no reason to send you now. So, instead he asked you to go over to his house for the day. You simply nodded, and followed the direction he gave you to his house. When you got there, Futuba seemed more than happy to let you stay over for the day. Everyone not long after checked on you to make sure you were okay. 

Futuba mostly stayed on her computer most of the day while you were charging your phone and relaxing on Futuba's bed. But, Futuba did once in a while go to you and stay close to you for a little while. She wouldn't cuddle or anything, she'd just stay close by, like she would nap beside you. From what you saw, Futuba was very smart with computers and technology in general, like everyone had described she was like. There was a lot of things around her about cognitive pscience, which you didn't get, but you didn't quite care then since you were distracted by your phone most of the day.

When school was out, everyone stopped by to check on you. Ann practically tackled you with a hug, with Ryuji in second place of doing that and Morgana right after. Makoto, Yusuke and Haru asked you many times if you were sure you were okay. And Akira. . . Well, refused to leave your side for a while. He wasn't clinging to you, but he wouldn't leave you be. Goro almost seemed to do the same thing.

But after a few hours, everyone allowed you to go home. 

And, they seemed like they needed to do something, so you left them to do whatever they needed to do.

The group of teenagers let you leave to go home, and then they went over to the Leblanc attic to discuss what had happened a few nights before. 

"So, Futuba got saved by the owner of that house, is that right?" Ann asked.

"Yes. And it seems she knew something was up with the couple. She said they had a kidnapping ring." Futuba answered. 

"They have a Ring? And they kidnap people? For what?" Haru asked.

"It could be those two are even worse then we thought. We'll need to do more investigating to find out why." Goro said.

"Do you think they have a drug ring or something?" Morgana asked.

"No. It sounds more likely they have slave ring." Goro answered 

"What?!" Ryuji said. "For real?! That's effed up!" 

"But it makes sense if that's why that girl was trying to get Futuba out of the area as soon as possible." Goro said. "But, why would they need one? It doesn't make sense, the couple is well-off, have good social status, so, why would they need slaves?" 

"Because they're insane. Nobody would do that to another person these days unless they are truly horrible people. And from what it sounds like, the Ring has been around for a while. So, it's not new, which annoys me even further." Yusuke answered.

"Maybe. But we need to look more into the couple because of this, otherwise they won't repent for all of their crimes." Makoto said. 

"So, we need to plan another infiltration, am I right?" Akira said. "It seems (Y/N) will have to wait a little longer for us, huh?" 

A few days later, the group infiltrated the mansion again. This time, finding people locked up in prisons who told them they had been kidnapped and forced into doing very horrible things. From killing people, to prostituting themselves so the couple could get information about certain things. 

But, there was something strange. 

Almost every single person said the couple had a child, and they needed to get the child out of that house, but when asked why they needed to, they couldn't give a clear answer.

When investigating the area, there was no sign that the couple even had a child. No photos on the walls, no signs of another decent bedroom, or even a way for more people to live in the mansion that wasn't inhumane. They even checked the house, but nobody was there. Not even the dog was there.

When everyone went back to school the next day, you where absent. Ryuji asked his homeroom teacer if you where here yesterday, but Ryuji only got back an ominous answer.

"Yes, she even came to school early. But, she said she wouldn't be at school for some time because of very serious family problems. I wonder if her family's been getting death threats and she can't come to school because of how scared the family is." 

When the group met up, Ryuji told them the ominous news.

And this scared the heck out of them. 

This caused the group to try to contact you. 

To no avail.

Now, they where all sure something was up.

There was no mistaking it. 

Something was definatly going on here.

But, what was it?

What was going on here? 

Now that the dear friend of the Phantom Thieves was missing, it wasn't hard to tell the group was. . . Upset and. . . Angry.

They wanted an answer to what was going on.

And more importantly, they wanted their precious ray of sunshine back.

They wanted you back with them.

You were a reason to live on to them.

Now that you were gone, there was something missing within the group. 

Their hopes for a brighter future that they would create for you and the rest of the world to enjoy. It seemed. . . To be duller without you in it.

Their personal healer for when they were about to fall down or die. Your pleas and cries for their safety you would say before mission would bring them back home safely.

Their personal cheerleader when things got tough during missions. Your cheers and encouragement would bring hope and vigor into each move the group made when they fought.

But you were gone now.

You where stuck and couldn't give the Phantom Thieves the courage to go on before a mission. 

You were unable to help your friends do their job.

And now, the couple was going to pay.

They where going to pay for forcing your family to hide you from the world to protect you from the dangers of this harsh world. 

And taking you away from the safety they had you under.

But upon more research and sneaking around, they found the answer to their question.

And you, in the process.

Aeron and Mara held another party that month. 

This was because they thought they had won againist the Phantom Thieves. 

But, the Phantom Thieves to ruin their reputation in gruesome way. 

Even more cruel than the couple had been. 

The night of the party, the preparations were set in place, and the time was almost right.

Everything was set.

"Alright, are we ready?" Akira asked the group. "Then let's wipe these two out." 

"Alright!" Aeron and Mara spoke through the microphones they had in their hands. "Let's party all night til the sun comes up!" 

The crowd of drunken corrupted people cheered. 

"Oh? At the expense of who this time?" A voice spoke from the speakers. "Is it your workers? Or your daughter?" 

"What?! Who said that?!" Aeron spoke. 

"You know full well who. After all, the party is at our expense." Akira spoke as he walked to the stage, as the crowd looked at the area around them. 

Even though the group was already here.

"Well, that's what it is for, is it not? Or is it for your daughter's murder at your hands?" Goro spoke, with disappointment in his voice. 

"Daughter?! We don't have one! You're a liar!" Mara yelled into the group of people. 

"Are you sure? Then, tell me, who is this?" Akira stopped walking to the stage. 

And then, a screen appeared behind the two. 

And, a video played. 

The video seemed to be in the kitchen of the house, with Aeron and Mara in the shot, with a girl covered in blood and bruises on the floor. At the moment, it was hard to tell what the girl is doing. But it was clear what the couple was doing. Both had knifs in their hands, and cups of white crystals as well.

"You worthless bitch! How many times do I have to say it?! Your life is meaningless without your servitude to your parents! Children are useless unless they serve their parents!" Mara said, stepping on the girl. 

The girl let out a blood-curdling scream in response. The scream rang loud and clear in the room. And, caused some people to jump back in suprise.

"NO! MOTHER, PLEASE, STOP!" The girl begged, but instead she was kicked in the stomach from Aeron. Causing blood to splatter all over the kitchen floor, as well as the appliances. 

In response, some people screamed and gasped in horror. As, the video hid nothing as to what happened to the girl. 

"And why would we do that?" He said. "You've broken our rules. And we cannot let you live because of it. It is justice, after all." 

And then, the couple sprinkled the white powder on the girl, and she let out an even louder scream than before. Making clear what that white powder was. 

Salt. 

"Ha! Scream louder, and maybe we'll call an ambulance! But, that would be a problem, wouldn't it?" Mara said, as she stepped on the girl. 

"Ah! Who cares?! She'll never be able to call for help now! And, if we say to the police she tried to kill herself, they won't know the difference! The police are fools, anyways!" Aeron replied. 

The girl then seemed to have died, because she then fell to the floor, motionless.

When the video cut out, some people passed out. Others threw up, and the rest seemed paralyzed in horror. 

All but nine people. 

When the video finished, the nine people walked to the stage. Causing Aeron and Mara to take a fearful step back. 

Akira got up first. He immendiately ran up to the couple, and knocked them down by kicking their kneecaps.

"You're going to pay dearly for killing her. And you're going to know the exact same fear (Y/N) knew every single time you beat her." Akira growled at the couple.

"No! Please! HAVE MERCY!!" Mara screamed at him.

"Why would we give you that?" Ryuji asked them, as he raised his bat.

"You both are pathetic lowlifes who don't deserve to see the light of day." Makoto said. Pulling out her brass knuckles. 

"Parents are suppose to help their children. But neither of you have done that from the start, Hinata and Kasumi (L/N). So, you have failed as parents, and as humans!" Ann growled at them. As she readied her whip.

"Therefore, you will never see the light of day again!" Yusuke growled, as the group charged at the couple. 

According to the news report, the (L/N) mansion was found to be trapped full of terrified people claiming Aeron and Mara (L/N) had murder their own child. 

When the police investigated, they found more people in horrible conditions claiming they had been kidnapped and forced into slave labor. 

And, they found a calling card from the Phantom Thieves that was a month old. 

But, police did not mention anything about the child, exept she was in critical condition in the hospital. 

You. . . Could hear them. 

They were to calling you. 

Your friends where right at your hospital bed, crying, begging, and praying you would live that horrible event.

And, you could hear them. 

They each called you, by name, to wake up.

And you could feel them. 

They where here!

You could feel their bodies hugging you, shaking your body in effort to wake you up. 

You wanted to go back now. 

You wanted to see them. 

Move! Come on, move!

When you were able to open up your eyes, there were wires and machines everywhere around you. The room was mostly white, brown and green, with the machinery being grey. The room was modestly big, and there was a window to your right. You stood up to look out the window when suddenly you heard a door open. 

When you turned, there was a doctor standing in the doorway, who looked stunned. Then, the doctor cautiously walked towards you. "Miss (Y/N)?" 

You nodded at her, "Yeah, what is it?" 

The doctor then turned around and said to you, "Stay here a moment okay? There's people who need to see you." 

And then she left the room. 

Not long after, you heard yelling in the hallways and footsteps rushing in your direction. And not long after people came rushing into your room. With cameras and microphones and bright lights.

Oh no. 

It's the press.

"Miss (Y/N)! You're awake! Tell us what happened!" One person shouted. 

"Yes, yes! Is it true you were abused by your parents?" Another said.

Before they started flooding you with questions and bright lights all around you, when you tried to block the lights so you could see, another light came and and blinded you once again. And when you tried to move your arms to block the bright lights, the wires on your arms stopped you.

Then you heard more footsteps coming your way and then you heard, 

"Can't you all have some decency?! Get out!" You heard a familiar voice yelled at the press.

And there stood Goro Akechi.

But. . . Something had changed about Goro. 

For one, his hair was shorter than the last time you saw him. He wasn't wearing his tan peacoat, instead he wore a dress shirt with his black and white tie with black pants and shoes. And. . . Something about him was different. You couldn't tell what exactly was different right then and there. But something had changed about him. 

Goro cleared the room of the press by kicking them out and slamming the door on them and then turned to you. 

And then, he smiled. 

That's what was different.

His smile seemed genuine and real now. Like he had dropped heavy baggage off of his back while you were gone.

He walked over to your bedside and sat on your bed. He reached out one of his hands and placed it on you left cheek.

"It's been so long. I missed you so much, (Y/N)." He said.

"What do you mean?" You asked him.

Goro hesitated at that. "It's been almost a year since you almost died."

Goro explained what had happened over this past year. Akira's now permanently moved in with Futuba and Sojiro Sakura, with Morgana as well, Ryuji's now less of a delinquent and Ann's become famous fashion model now, Yusuke has become a famous professional and street artist, Makoto's an intern at the police station while in college, Haru's taken over her father's company and your familes as well, and he's in college and doing well at his job. As well as the Phantom Thieves were still alive and kicking.

"I'm so glad." You said, as you started to cry, "That everyone's doing alright after all this time." 

Goro seemed to jump at the sight of you crying. "Of course we are. After all, we're not giving up on you now that you're back."

It took you some time, but you where released from the hospital and adjusted back to your normal life. 

And this time, knowing there was a group watching over you.

[rainoverthemountains]

So I wrote a Twist-story

I absolutely adore @itsladykit ‘s boy Twist from her Twistfell AU. Actually, I adore all of her boys from all of her AUs, so much so that I wanted to write a story about them. Unfortunately, the more I love a tough and cool character, the more I love hurt/comfort involving that character. Fortunately, Lady Kit is fantastic at providing that. Unfortunately, I wanted even more, and I was also sad that Twist is so hopeless about his LV problem, so this story came to mind. It sprang from Lady Kit’s story Bucket List (the AO3 version), so it makes more sense if you read that first (although if you’re considering reading this and haven’t already read Lady Kit’s stuff, what are you doing here? Go read her stories, she’s incredibly awesome).

I’m hesitant to write it because it seems strange to write hurt/comfort with someone else’s characters (ignoring the fact that all fanfiction uses someone else’s characters) but Lady Kit does like hurt/comfort and has stated that people are free to write in her worlds, and it doesn’t get into any subject that she has stated she wants to avoid, so I decided to give it a try. I also don’t know what I’m doing with writing a story and posting it to the internet, but we’ll see how it goes. Lady Kit please don’t hate me if you see this and don’t like it.  I’ll take it down or change it if you want. I’m sorry I’m awkward. 

So now I will post this and go hide.

Summary: There’s a cure for LV (probably). It’s completely safe (probably). It’s a highly unpleasant experience (definitely). Twist only cares about that first statement. He probably should have paid a little more attention to the other two. But what does it matter? He’s getting what he wants, and he has the best friends and family in any universe to help along the way.

Chapter 1

“Gah! What the hell is their problem? Don’t they realize what I have here?” Iggy snarls at the review panel’s response to her official report, slamming her bowl of ramen on the desk before sheepishly wiping up the noodles that spill over the side. After the sudden increase in funding from an anonymous donor, the LV reduction project has progressed beyond her wildest dreams. She’d honestly been losing hope just a few months ago, but access to any resources she can imagine has changed things. Well, access to resources and a little creative bending of surface laws on ethical treatment of research subjects. 

“Those damn laws,” she growls. She’d looked into them at the urging of her Taleverse counterparts, and, fine, maybe some of her methods are just a little bit illegal here. But those laws just don’t take into account the importance of her work! Following all of the required procedures could delay the project for years, maybe decades. Monsters don’t want to wait decades to get rid of LV, and that includes her research subjects. A few might have melted in the process, but that was only in the beginning and those monsters were too far gone into their LV to care anyway. Besides, that problem is long since solved. While her more recent subjects didn’t particularly enjoy the treatment, they all came out of it alive and with lower LV. They got what they wanted, however much they might have complained along the way. The point is, she’d created the impossible, a drug that can dissolve LV without dissolving the rest of the monster. 

“It doesn’t even do any permanent damage to the subject’s soul anymore! What can they possibly have to complain about now?” she mutters, reading further into the report.

“‘Promising, but requires further testing,’ my ass.” She’s done the testing. She’s shown that it works. The subject pool is a little limited, but the trends are consistent and easily extrapolated. Of course, ‘Extrapolation outside the range of available data is not sufficiently reliable to support approval for mass production,’ according to several reviewers. 

“Well, maybe they have a point there,” she allows. “A slight one.” Extrapolating from an LV of 9, the highest of her successful test subjects so far, to the full range of monsters who need the treatment might be going a little too far. 

“Well what am I supposed to do about it?” She throws up her hands in exasperation. They want all research participation to be voluntary, but they also want the treatment tested on high LV monsters. “Have they ever met a monster with high LV!?” Not exactly the most cooperative research subjects. Some of them might say they want to get rid of their LV, but just try sticking a needle in their soul and see how long they keep cooperating. An uncooperative high LV monster can cause a lot of trouble. She shudders. There’s no way she’s dealing with that again. Then there’s the subjective data. Monsters on the edge of losing their minds are terrible at answering questions about the experience during treatment, and the panel refuses to accept her results without some form of patient report.

Ugh. Those self-righteous assholes want to deny her brilliant, revolutionary cure to all of monster-kind on the basis of a few technicalities. She taps her claws against the desk, fuming. “There has to be a way around this.” If she can just find someone, anyone, with high LV who is reasonably sane and would be motivated enough or have little enough sense of self-preservation to be a cooperative research subject…

Oh. Well of course there’s Papyrus. Well, a Papyrus, the one from her universe. The crazy one who goes by Twist now. That bastard has been on the edge of losing it for years but has never quite tipped over the edge. She nearly had him a few years ago, back when she first started her work underground, but his brother talked him out of it. Undyne kept trying to convince the little fluff ball for her, but eventually they’d given up. But now… Things are different now. Not with the fluff ball, but if she can just go around the fluff ball…

Twist is losing his mind. Anyone even tangentially acquainted with that multi-universal pack of skeletons knows that. Anyone with any basic understanding of LV should know that. The fact that he’s kept it mostly together this long suggests a level of determination or attachment or stubbornness or something that most monsters don’t have. Maybe enough of it to actually go through with the treatment? And based on some of the stunts she’s heard of, a high sense of self-preservation won’t be a problem. So, highly motivated, unlikely to be scared away by any necessary unpleasantness, really not much to lose given the deadline he has to know he’s living under, and LV high enough that no one can say she’s extrapolating outside the range of her data. He’s perfect. Now she just has to get to him where no one else will have a chance to talk him out of it, at least until it’s too late to change his mind.

***

All that being said, it seems best to approach Twist at work, away from all the others. Undyne still keeps track of all possible troublemakers from their universe so it’s easy to find out where he works. That’s how she finds herself greeting a pair of skeletal legs sticking out from underneath a car.

“Twist? Is that you under the car?” she calls.

“Yep, I’m the only skeleton workin’ here so if yer talkin’ to a skeleton under a car it’s prob’ly me.” He rolls out from under the car and waves. “Hey, Iggy. Whatcha doin’ ‘round here? Havin’ car trouble? We’ll getcha fixed up in no time.”

“No, no car trouble. Actually, I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal?” Twist teases with raised browbones, “well now ya got my interest. Does yer girl know ‘bout this proposal? I’m up fer anythin’, but I’m not so sure she is.”

“Not that kind of proposal!” Fellverse monsters shouldn’t blush this easily.

“What kind of proposal it is, then? Does everyone have ta be dressed, or is that negotiable?”

“It’s not that kind of proposal! Forget that I said the word proposal. It has nothing to do with a proposal. Can you please try to be serious for one minute?”

“Proposals can be very serious.” Iggy glares and Twist grins. “Fine, fine, what’s this not-proposal ya got fer me?”

“You know what I’ve been working on since Asriel’s coronation, don’t you?” Twist abruptly loses his teasing air.

“I do. Think I’ve told ya before that I’m not really in’erested in meltin’, though.”

“Oh, no, the research is way past that point. No one’s melted in months, well, I mean a little bit, but not melted, melted, and I’ve got that part worked out too. Actually, that’s what I came here to tell you. I’ve found a cure!” Twist’s jaw drops.

“What? Ya found… what?”

“A cure for LV! Money from a new major donor gave me access to equipment and materials that I never dreamed of, which let me break through a few major obstacles that had stumped me for years, and now the treatment is already in clinical trials and it works! It really works!” Twist stumbles against the car and decides to sit down before he falls down as his legs give out in shock.

“Are, are ya serious?” Iggy nods enthusiastically. “Yer not exaggeratin’, or brushin’ over some technicalities, or playin’ some sick practical joke ‘cause I swear if you are ya won’ leave this place alive, or…”

“No, no, no, none of that. It’s not an easy cure like ‘take a pill, then get all better right away’ easy, and like I said, it’s still in clinical trials so it’s not approved for the mass market yet, but it’s real and it works.”

“When can I have it?”

“Once it makes it through clinical trials it will have to be approved by a review board and the sovereigns, so whenever all that is done is when it will be available to the general public.” She’s got him. She’s definitely got him. Now is the time to reel him in.

“An’ when’ll that be?

“I don’t know. The real holdup is the clinical trials. I need to show that it’s safe and effective in monsters across the whole range of possible LV, and volunteers with high LV are hard to find. The highest I’ve had so far is 9.” Twist’s sockets narrow. He’s clearly caught on to what she’s doing.

“An’ I suppose ya came here today hopin’ ta find a volunteer.”

“Well, yes. I didn’t think you’d mind. It would give you access to the treatment months or even years earlier than you’d have it otherwise and I know LV is a particularly time-sensitive issue for you.” 

“Mhmm. Can’t deny ya’ve got a point there. An’ can ya guarantee I won’t melt?”

“Absolutely no melting. I’m not saying the treatment will be fun. It’s actually pretty painful and can go on for days, even weeks to get rid of as much LV as you have. You’ll probably want to come up with something to tell your friends and family unless you want them worrying about you the whole time. But won’t it be worth it to come home free of LV and having paved the way for everyone else to be free of LV too?”

“So that’s the whole story, huh? I come with you, get this ‘treatment,’ be miserable for a few weeks an’ then I‘m cured? Why do I suspect yer leavin’ somethin’ out?”

“I’m really not. I mean, I haven’t explained every detail, but I will if you come back to the lab with me. I’ll explain the whole process and you can back out at any time before we start, but I know you’re not going to want to because I know you want this. Come on, do you really want to wait around until you hurt someone or lose your mind? I’ve worked with plenty of monsters who lost themselves to their LV-”

“An’ melted quite a few of ‘em.”

“-and that’s not something you want to go through, or put your little brother through. I know you two are close. Just imagine what it would be like for him if one day you attack him, or if he finds out you just went crazy one day and you’re never coming back, or if you kill yourself to keep that from happening.”

“Ok, yes, I get it! I don’ need ta hear it, I already know all that shit!”

“Now imagine coming home to him and telling him truthfully that none of that is ever going to happen, that all of your LV is gone and you can live the rest of your lives without ever worrying about it again. Imagine the same for your friends, each of them losing the LV that’s been weighing on them or their loved ones for years. Imagine what it’ll do for monster-human relations when humans can no longer point to high LV monsters to prove that all monsters are dangerous and shouldn’t have any rights. Imagine-”

“That’s enough! Ya think I don’ know what gettin’ rid of LV would mean? Think I don’ think about it every fuckin’ day?”

“I know you do. That’s why I know you want this. If you want to eliminate LV, and I know you do, then come help me get rid of it. We have the power to do something completely, unequivocally good, here. Just come to my lab and we can do it. We can do it today!”

“Ok.”

“You know you want to-”

“I said ok!” Twist snaps. “You can stop yer grand speech. ‘M convinced. Let’s go cure LV. Jus’ lemme finish with this car an’ I’ll go take off work an’ tell my bro that ‘m going on vacation fer awhile. He’ll be annoyed I didn’t warn him but he won’ be that surprised that I went off on some random trip.”

chapter 2

[sineala]

I'm in the process of writing my first ever Marvel fanfiction, it's supposed to be early 616 but I feel like I don't have Tony's characterisation down... it's all over the place really, a friend of mine said she can detect a ton of MCU Tony in it too (this is a downside to having so many different versions of your favourite character). How do you think I could improve it? How do you write Tony (his traits, the way he talks) etc?

First off, I want to congratulate you on writing your first Marvel story and also for having the excellent taste to pick early 616 as a setting. It’s what I did!

Without having read your story it’s hard for me to give you specific advice, but in general a good first step is to read a bunch of comics, so you can get a feel for the characters’ voices. I haven’t actually read a lot of early IM/ToS -- though it’s on my list for something I plan to write -- but I have read a fair amount of early Avengers. Either way you get a fair amount of Tony. A good second step is to get a beta who has also read the comics, and ideally who has read more than you have. (Once again, I recommend the good people of the 616 Steve/Tony Discord server, but I would.) And also honestly I recommend following @flange5 because she likes to read older comics and post panels of them.

When I’m writing early 616 I generally try to aim for something that feels a little retro in style but not exactly like the actual comics. Slightly less corny. (I also, you know, try to elide the racism, the sexism and usually the Commie-smashing unless I am trying to write something that actually deals with the 60s as a historical setting.) Probably nobody swears, for example, and the characters are generally a little more bright and earnest than they might be in later years. You can throw in maybe a few references to Tony and his love for transistors and so on, which helps the setting. 

As for the style of speech, I don’t think there’s anything in particular you should try to copy, because I kind of get the impression that a lot of Tony’s speech is things like Tony explaining to himself how his wondrous transistors power his roller skates. A lot of it is used instead of narration as a stylistic thing, is what I am saying. So I think if you just make him talk like a smart, educated guy, you won’t ping anybody as being too off. The one thing that will make your Tony voice ping as MCU is probably quippiness, because 616 Tony basically... wasn’t. Until recently, when they’ve tried to work MCU into his characterization. I mean, sure, he’ll trade snarky comebacks with villains, but it seems like the majority of his sense of humor (which doesn’t really show up until later, IIRC) is self-deprecating. He doesn’t really do the zingy one-liners and pop culture references, or at least he didn’t.

One of the things that really characterizes early Tony is his work ethic and his devotion to his employees. He is intentionally the benevolent face of capitalism, so as the head of SI he is basically the best boss you could ever imagine having. He’s very kind to his employees, and he’s the kind of guy who goes out of his way to learn everyone’s name, care about their personal circumstances, and so on and so forth.

As for his characterization more generally, the one trait I would keep in mind for early Tony is... loneliness. This guy is desperately, desperately lonely. He’s relatively young. His parents are dead and his only family is a cousin who hates him. He was injured in Vietnam and as far as he knows he’s going to have to wear this chestplate the rest of his life. And not only can no one know he’s Iron Man, no one can know he has the chestplate, so he’s pretty sure he can never be close to another human being ever again. (He has a retconned-in fiancee who left him when he decided to be Iron Man; until he has a heart attack at a Senate hearing, she’s the only person who ever knew about the chestplate.) And, sure, he pretends to be a playboy, but it’s an act. He ducks out of parties because he has to go charge the chestplate. He is pretty sure he is going to die relatively soon and decides he’s better off not getting close to people because it would just mean they’d be sad when he died. There’s a panel somewhere where he bemoans the fact that he has so much love to give. Basically, it’s all an act and he is very, very sad inside.

Basically, Tony looks like he has everything, to people who aren’t Tony, but he is trying to process massive trauma and keep it all a secret and keep everything to himself and he is very sad.

[rtcessays]

Essay 1

I heard you killed your only friend last year Disarm The fog won’t lift in your town

Q’s for Lise

What inspired you to sit down and write, what it sounds like you assumed would be a one shot, or at the least the start of a very short and sweet ‘verse?

I definitely initially thought it would be a one-shot, and honestly as I wrote it I didn’t even know that I was going to publish it. I can’t exactly remember what I was thinking - pretty early on after watching The Avengers for the first time my girlfriend started me thinking about Steve and Loki, though initially not necessarily as a pairing - just as a pair that might have interesting interactions. The plot mostly came from needing an excuse for them to interact and having a deep, abiding love of whump.

Basically, “how do I put Steve and Loki in a place together and get them to have a conversation? Oh, I know, I’ll just beat Loki up.”

Was there a clear point where you said something like, ‘Hey, there might be more to this than I originally thought?’ through this first series of installments?

Yes.

Disarm mostly happened because I felt like I’d left some hanging threads, and started imagining what the next meeting between Steve and Loki - on more equal footing - might look like. So I wrote that one, mostly thinking “well, I’ll just see what happens here”, hit the end of it, and went “wait, there’s definitely more here that I want to write.”

It seems like pretty early that I knew I started shipping them - already Disarm is marked as pre-slash. But I don’t think I started out with what became sort of the goal of this first segment of fics: getting them to a point where they were really in a relationship. I think it wasn’t really until I was midway through the third fic that I realized where this all was going and started to think I might have tripped into something.

a/n for the essay from ‘I heard you killed your only friend last year’:

I am still hilariously new to all things this fandom and sincerely apologize for any inaccuracies.

Where were you at when you first started? Had you been reading comics your whole life, or was this your introduction to these characters?

The only comics I’d read at the time I started writing RTC were a few scattered Batman comics, Sandman, Lucifer, and some fables. I hadn’t opened a single Marvel comic in my life, and while I watched Thor in 2011 nothing really came of it. I don’t remember watching any of the other movies when they came out, though I might have and just not really left an impression.

Then I went to The Avengers in May of 2012 and just got - slammed. Suddenly I had all these feelings about characters, especially Loki, with a whole new amount of intensity. I started writing fic for the MCU almost immediately after I got out of the theater, of which I heard you killed your only friend was a very early one. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing. I mean, I went back and watched everything over again, and began my deep dive into comics fandom (starting with Black Widow), but...May 2012 was really where my MCU pit started. --

Remember This Cold has humble beginnings in I heard you killed your only friend last year. What eventually becomes a richly filled ‘verse begins almost as a writer’s exercise. How does character A respond to character B, and vice versa. It is a laboratory environment, poking and prodding at the two in order to determine...well, we’re not sure exactly, at first. And that is for the best, as we have the pleasure of unfolding this particular mystery as the author does.

The back and forth of Steve and Loki’s interactions, sizing one another up  through the fic, is reflective of the author feeling out the belief that Loki and Steve are viable as a pairing, and investigating how their beliefs, morals, and cadences fit together. Lise has come to be synonymous with Loki, but her voice for Steve is dead on accurate, right from the start. Also, her understanding that Steve is layered, and has a depth that goes overlooked in the source material (remember this was written post Avengers).

There’s a magnetism to this iteration of Loki that the reader feels through Steve. Steve Rogers is an upstanding gentleman through and through, known for doing the right thing. There’s no grappling with this for him, as he quietly insists on taking care of someone who just leveled Manhattan. But is there more to it?

“Just something to think about,” Steve said, after a moment. “If you get tired of running.”

Its a nice set up for further exploration, which follows in Disarm, wherein we begin Loki’s penchant for showing up unannounced. For those of us waiting for the romantic elements to be included, the rapid slow burn is tantalizing from the first scene. Steve is playing ethics with Loki, to a degree, and Loki...well, Loki is kind of slippery. Being from Steve’s perspective, Loki’s machinations are secret and therefore, more captivating.

For new readers, its almost a requirement to travel back in time in order to picture this Loki. Deliberately made out as a menacing villain, it is a largely flat characterization. The beauty of fanfiction, of course, is we can breathe life and breadth into a character. Making room for an eventual romantic focus is secondary to making room for a more rounded out individual who might be capable of such a thing. We just begin to see it in how Steve’s tempered treatment seems to get under Loki’s skin.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. Steve’s thoughts may be preoccupied with Loki, but upon being confronted by them, the reader imagines he might feel like a mouse being batted around by a cat. Loki’s speech is a rabbit warren of clues and suggestions, none of which Steve has the conversational skills to navigate. But, that doesn’t do anything to assuage his patience or curiosity. The questions of ‘how can Steve stand by and allow this to go on’ may start to come up. Is it unfair that he treat Loki with some kind of deference? Maybe it is. Maybe, just maybe, Steve Rogers has a flaw or two. Alternatively, its possible there’s more to Loki than meets the eye, and Steve’s instincts are serving him well.

Almost too literally, Steve gets a peek at Loki’s true state and when he pushes, he only gets Loki’s verbose command of language. That all changes when Loki shows his underbelly, and Steve sees what being dogged by (presumably) Thanos or the Chitauri has cost him. Loki views Steve as a safe place, that much is obvious, but the reader is left to wonder why. Is it because Steve would do the right thing and Loki knows it? Is it a sign of something more? Hmm.

The notion that this is a thought exercise is expunged by the time we reach the fog won’t lift in your town. It’s subtle, but the potential transition to something altogether not platonic is illustrated in this first sign of attraction:

He [Loki] glanced down at the pear and took another bite of it, eyes drifting closed in what looked like blissful delight. “Mmm,” he said, head tilted slightly back, and Steve felt the inexplicable urge to look away.

Its a brief interlude, perhaps almost a foreshadowing. The m/m reader is sitting up straight, now; the author has our attention as themes might begin to shift.

“You would not. You will find, Captain, that believing a thing, no matter how passionately, does not make it so.”

Loki says this, and it is a moment where you can see past his dramatic airs to find a truth of his. And it’s of course as cynical as Steve is optimistic. These little morsels we get in the back and forth that’s flavored the series so far are gems that keep you hooked, and allow you to truly begin to fall for a character.

The stakes are raised when their conversation, as it sometimes does, turns into a concern over who’s allowed to do what. Steve can’t turn his back to Loki, Loki can play the puppet master and toy with Steve. Expressly forbidding it, Steve makes to leave and Loki’s having none of it. Though, once Steve does in fact stay, we get another one of those morsels when Loki admits it is easiest for him to be cruel.

Then, he’s more or less threatening the Avengers should Steve not keep his repeated presence a secret, and we’ve snapped back to the persona Loki has been favoring. Steve, as ever, doesn’t care. He presses on, and claims his debt in the form of Loki doing a good deed. Sometimes it's hard to determine if Steve is deluded, or if Loki is the one who doesn’t truly know himself.

Good deed or no, one has to wonder why Loki chose to text Steve. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Loki is adding another way to communicate with Steve, only to show up in person once Steve has seen the news coverage. Its another subtle nod to what’s to come.

A noted marker of more of the same is the epithet of ‘my Captain’. Without Loki’s perspective, we can only guess at where he’s coming from...which in itself is a quagmire. We’re best left to trust the author and continue enjoying the ride.

Take a risk, he [Steve] told himself, and tried to ignore the little voice that said he was taking too many.

This in response to Loki bringing up Steve’s potential melancholy for things that were, it is notable in that Steve is becoming maybe a little conscious of how he is compromising himself. Let us not forget that that is, contrary to some belief, not entirely out of character for him. Taking risks got him to where he is, in countless variations on a theme. His willingness to be vulnerable pays off, as Loki admits simply that there are, in fact, things he misses about Asgard.

As we continue, Steve grows more bold and Loki somewhat more callus. He brings up Bucky Barnes, and though initially not by name, it’s obvious who he’s referring to. It is here that Steve tries drawing a line in the sand.

“Don’t try to tell me that,” Steve interrupted. “You don’t like something I say, say so. Don’t just – don’t just take off and then come back determined to have some kind of revenge. You can’t – go around hurting people just because they hurt you.”

“Why not,” Loki said, his voice lofty, but there was something low and vicious underneath. “That is the world, is it not? Give and take. Action and reaction. Strike and retaliation.”

And here we have two opposing sets of beliefs. Steve proceeds to shut down the conversation, and that is how the scene ends, before opening up into a new scene, a slow revelation that something happened and Steve has been hurt. Loki is there when he wakes, which is maddening! How long has he been there with him, one wants to know, and do the other Avengers know? Loki is clearly distressed. Here we have some explicit emotional whump, as Loki insists he’s simply not trustworthy. Steve might be tired, hurt, and out of it perhaps, but it bears out more of his emotion.

“No, and I was wrong.” He needed to salvage this, and wasn’t sure why it was so important, only that it was.

It’s important because Loki has become part of his life, and Loki needed to understand Steve saw things in him Loki probably refused to believe he could ever possess. Our final segment concludes on a very good recap: 

Still. He couldn’t help but feel a little twinge of something like hope. Maybe just a little. Four steps forward, three steps back.

Even if he still didn’t know where they were going, or if, or why. It was still something.

[galaxina-the-pyro]

Honestly, this seems like FAR from an unpopular opinion - there’s not only fanfictions about Phineas turning evil, but even the show itself seems to like to hint at the idea. 2D-Doofenshmirtz threatened to turn Phineas into a Boyborg along with gaining a second Platyborg - instead, he eventually (supposedly) turned FERB-2 into a Boyborg in “Tales of the Resistance”. Then there’s the fact that FERB was hit by the Sithinator, and his goal was to have Phineas share the same fate - and yet that never comes to fruition.

It almost seems like Dan and Swampy both KNOW that we’re all interested in seeing a dark side of Phineas, and that they might even know what that LOOKS like - but they just don’t bother to go for it because there was never a reason for them to look into that half of Phineas. Though Phineas is, in my opinion, a deep, complex character, a lot of his traits are rather subtle. People tend to focus on how happy and optimistic he is that they completely ignore the fact that he is a TOTAL weirdo with nearly zero impulse control - though he CARES for people, he will and HAS done things that aren’t exactly ethical. The dark side is DEFINITELY there - we just don’t think about it because the fanbase has chosen to believe that Phineas is the pure one. Which isn’t a LIE, because he IS pretty pure, and sweet, and good-natured - he’s a mirror to Doofenshmirtz in it that they’re both actually very similar, but because of different upbringings they have different goals and morals. But turning Doof good was NEVER a difficult task - in fact, all it takes is a small conversation or even Doof himself thinking “Hey, you know what this inator not working tells me? That I’m meant to be GOOD instead of EVIL”. In THAT sense, how interesting would it be for Phineas to just wake up one day and be like, “Hm...you know, I kinda wanna see what it’s like to be a supervillain”, or the like.

I could also go on an talk about how much I hate that scene where Candace hesitated to choose between evidence that could convict her brothers and her brother’s life even though it’s not actually a bad scene and I only dislike it for personal reasons, but I’mma talk about that another time cuz I tried to talk about it before but then I accidentally tapped a notification for tumblr on my phone and ALL my progress got deleted, so yeah.

All in all, we need more Evil Phineas content, and one day I will write that episode where Phineas wakes up and chooses evil and everyone just tags along on his journey to take over the entire world.

This maybe an unpopular opinion but near the end of the PnF Star Wars special I honestly wanted Ferb to shoot Phineas with the Sith-Inator. Just so we could get an evil brother duo or something. Maybe Storm Trooper Candace could have had to fix them in a redemption type arc. Like she was already saved by Phineas so she'd probably feel super guilty just leaving him like that.

And that's another thing. Candace is definitely a selfish person. Like in the episode where Phineas almost falls of a BRIDGE she still had to like triple guess what she should do. But when she was slipping in the death star Phineas didn't even hesitate to save her. Even though she was just chasing and shooting at him.

I don't know where I'm going with this, I just want it put on record that I wished Phineas was shot with the Sith-Inator and allowed to express his more violent? not the word im looking for but whatever desires. While Candace was forced to be completely selfless and acknowledged her past mistakes.

[looktotheants-a]

what’s a weird headcanon you have for each of your muses?

hnak has blogs indulge me | accepting

each? well okay

okay this is gonna go under a readmore because i have a fuckton

-takes a deep breath-

hank: probably the weirdest headcanon i posted for him was that his helmet lets him talk to bug identifying otherkin because the comics define bug so broadly that why the fuck not

finesse: very deep into how-to videos on youtube. watches them constantly

cory: compound eyes are really trippy to see through while high

maria: uses a spear in modern day combat for some fucking reason

topher: wears so many sweatervest because he likes the knit textures but hates being given them as gifts because 

doris: might be an angel???

monique: is a connoisseur of energy drinks

success: is actually the least powerful of her family of superhumans, but the only one who ended up a superhero because of some bad luck

mai: deliberately has an obnoxious laugh because she hated her laugh for a long time, then decided to embrace it instead and fuck everyone else if they don’t care for it

slipknot: can tie knots with his teeth or feet if he’s barefoot

kavita: finds starfish inherently funny

mama sharpe: not really a headcanon but one of the weirder plots i had on her for a while was she was trying to make billy turner aka scout into a model because he had one arm and she wanted diversity points

shachath: constantly surrounded by dead bugs that land on her

william: comically unambitious

rose: loves kitschy shit

steven: goes through phases of collecting things but then loses interest and goes for something else so he has a lot of medium-to-large but still incomplete collections of various collectables

cecilia: collects interesting looking wine bottles. also saves ones from important events

zeke: struggles with buying cigarettes or buying comic books every wednesday and always caves into the former

ned: hates the concept of cream pies, but makes them anyway

scott: buys mini m&ms because he swears they taste better than normal ones, but grows them to the size of regular ones so he has more chocolate

bumblebee: has a box of naked barbie dolls tucked away somewhere

june: not a headcanon because this was real canon but she ran over her dad with a tractor

jenny: hates the power rangers because every year for halloween someone suggests she dress up as the yellow power ranger because it’s basically the only costume that can work with her containment suit

beryl: not a headcanon but my weirdest plot wishlist thing for her is i want her to lose an eye because her fc has a strangely large number of movies where she’s got an eyepatch so???

quinn: buys a lot of faer regular clothes at post-halloween sales bc fae includes a lot of ridiculous theatricality in faer wardrobe

maurice: man idk fuck this guy tbh. i guess he’s just really bad at coming up with psych experiments which would be ironic except that his solution is so just throw out ethics altogether so instead of ironic he’s jsut bad

quarrel: puts too many veggies on pizza. basically makes salad on a bread plate

monica rappaccini: hate earnest hemingway bc he was an ass but also quotes him a lot bc he’s just quotable

jason & ian: get about four hours of sleep max every night and run almost entirely on caffeine and cocaine respectively

jericho: will wear as few clothes as any particular situation allows. also her superhero costume is literally leftover costume pieces from theatre

iraceus: his name is actually a portmonteau of his name and his dead twin’s name which is weird if by weird you mean sad

monica chang: has a secret lego collection in her parents’ attic

alice: has a huge collection of trash from neighbors which she shrinks so she can transfer the mass to food and stuff

relinquish: uses diplomatic immunity to fly hot air balloons without a license

aya: prefers to address people with more formal terms because she wants to show that she is polite and nice

kita: wears a lot of sunglasses, like he’s trying to hide something about his eyes even though they look 100% normal but he wants to be more ~mysterious~

jocasta: annoyed by humans a lot of the time and doesn’t want to be seen as human because she’s not, but wants to do human things like have a baby

skyler: surprisingly okay with weed, privately, but wouldn’t say so now after walt

jeremy: uses his powers to make THC

kelly: was ridiculously busy in college because she was doing gymnastics and majoring in marine biology. also i kinda bent the laws of time for her because i decided she had puberty blockers, which wouldn’t have been available at the time but FUCK IT i do what i want

sam: literally everything about them is weird. they’re from night vale. they’re very emotionally attached to their shotgun

daria: not really weird but i think i read way more socialist/communist ideology into daria’s beliefs than the writers necessarily intended

aaron: likes to keep fish and when he’s traveling, he’ll create temporary fish tanks in his hotel rooms

friday: exists in a world where commercial mascots are real and has interacted with at least a few. probably fought the noid from domino’s

lillian: world’s clumsiest vampire

trauma: has a lot of opinions about the difference between goth and emo

elisa: got into psychology as part of a plan to take over a country which isn’t really a headcanon but it’s also just like a weird plan for taking over a country

miguel: pays too much in rent for his apartment tbh because he spends more nights at work than at home

lauren: tries very hard to have a personal life that’s separate from work, but it’s difficult bc she also has to babysit miguel

justin: likes swedish fish bc they’re vegan

xerxes: pretends to not like broadway shows, but does, and also prefers to sneak into them

hiroshi: pretends to be very proud of dropping out of an ivy league school because that seems like a cool counter-cultural thing to do, but actually super regrets it bc he can’t remember why it happened (kita up there was responsible, back at number 36)

yellowjacket: surprisingly nit-picky about cleaning and organization, the opposite of hank

ambrose: i mean this isn’t really weird, to me, but i guess it’s weird to other people, but like one of zir special interests is death positivity

janet: again, not actually that weird, but janet actually likes bugs. like she’s not an entomologist but i hate how often girls are depicted as thinking of bugs as icky, especially superheroines that are named after bugs like wtf

guy: local pyromaniac doesn’t know what to do with his hands

geoluread: laughs in the face of disaster because it probably won’t hurt hues

karnilla: can turn into a motherfuckin’ dragon

tomi: mm idk she’s more of a switch than anything else, but because of her job as a dominatrix and a lot of trust issues, she doesn’t get a lot of opportunity to sub ono

stonewall: literally became a superhero by accident bc she saw a fight at a protest and just threw a pride flag over her face to hide her identity to help the protesters and then stumbled into superheroness from there

winged victory: very socially awkward, despite her very public identity and good speaking skills

guard: speaks like eight languages but will play dumb about that as often as benefits him.

brad: originally had him born in the 60s but i aged him up about 20 years so he could be alive to write kirk/spock slash fic in the early days of fanfiction

kaiba: really way too in love with that fucking dragon

schrodinger: hmmm well i guess like. idk most of my things about schrodinger are tragic or a thinly veiled critique of moderate white liberalism. he likes marmite which i guess is weird

[condensed-theorem-shop]

A question I periodically wonder about: why is there ever bad writing in big-budget movies?

I’m thinking of something like Marvel, here, where they have an absurdly large amount of money to pour into making the movie, and are exhaustively optimizing it to make As Much Money As Possible. These movies spend absurd amounts of money on thirty-second cameos from big-name actors, and fancy CGI, and shooting on-site in a Buddhist monastery in New Zealand or what have you. It seems like the marginal, oh, ten thousand dollars spent on that has to have essentially no effect.

On the other hand, getting a good scriptwriter seems like it’s got to be dirt cheap by comparison. How many unemployed creative writing majors are there in the country, who would love to do that job for peanuts? And some of them are genuinely good. (Evidence: think of your favorite fanfiction/self-published work.) Hire ten of the best, have them write you the most brilliant script you can imagine, cut out one explosion in the background of your Big Fight Scene to pay for it.

And yet, big-budget movies evidently do have bad writing in them, fairly regularly. Gaping plot holes, lines that fall flat, Clever Witty characters who manifestly fail at being either Clever or Witty.

Why?

I have a few theories, but I don’t find any of them really satisfying. Here’s what I’ve thought of:

Hypothesis 1: The writing is already optimal.

This one’s really tempting, and I think it has some truth to it. The people complaining online about how dumb some line was, or pointing out all the plotholes, or discussing how someone’s characterization is completely inconsistent, just aren’t the marginal viewer. They’re a vocal geeky minority.

The marginal viewer wants to go to some movie with their date, maybe, and they’re deciding between Comic Book Action Movie #7 and Crude Comedy #15. Who gets their money depends on how accessible Comic Book Action Movie manages to be to people who haven’t been keeping track of the franchise, and whether Crude Comedy has a good shot to put in the trailers, not on whether CBAM #6 completely negated all the character development that happened in CBAM #4.

So on this theory, the reason that we get flimsy plots with glaring flaws in the hero’s plans and no intelligible motivation for the villain is that that’s what the average viewer really wants. And, again, I think there’s some truth to that. It’s easy to forget that People Who Discuss Nerdy Movies On Tumblr is a very small noncentral subgroup of People Who Watch Movies.

However -- this doesn’t seem to have sufficient explanatory power. Maybe the average viewer genuinely prefers a one-dimensional caricatured Captain America to the intimately drawn Steve Rogers you can find in the best of AO3; but, evidently, there are some kinds of writing the average viewer does care about, and big-budget movies don’t consistently have those.

I want you to think of Joss Whedon, here. People Who Discuss Nerdy Movies On Tumblr have lots of opinions about how he portrays female characters and goes for cheap plot twists &c &c. But he does genuinely write really funny, sparkling, memorable, witty, banter-y dialogue. Give me half a dozen quotes off the top of your head -- you can, can’t you? “Seeing as it’s a stupid-ass plan, I’ve chosen to ignore it.” “Puny god.” “It seems to be powered by some kind of electricity.” “If the apocalypse comes, beep me.” “There’s only one thing in this world more powerful than evil, and that’s us.” “Big damn heroes.”

People like that. People love that. The marginal viewer definitely loves that. It gets quoted for years after, it gets made into gifsets and reaction images, it shows up in all the trailers, it gets everyone talking about the movie, it’s memorable, it gets reactions from packed theaters. That has got to make money. There’s a reason Joss keeps getting hired.

And yet -- not every movie has that. Even movies that would definitely benefit from it.

Why not?

Why doesn’t every movie have witty banter, heroic declarations, moments of bad-ass and heartwarming and grief as powerful and resonating and poignant as something Joss Whedon scripted?

You can’t tell me there aren’t a hundred unemployed writers out there right now who could be writing that. You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be profitable for Marvel to hire them. So why haven’t they?

Hypothesis 2: Hindsight is 20/20.

So maybe they’re trying to hire these people, but they’re hard to actually identify. Maybe it’s much harder than I’d expect to find the potential Joss Whedon among the crushed dreams of ten thousand English majors. Maybe they just can’t figure out which lines will be “curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!” quotable, and which will be “brain and brain, what is brain” stupid, until the movie actually plays.

But this seems hard to believe. I mean, test audiences are a thing. And it just doesn’t seem that hard to identify funny dialogue that will play well with the average viewer. If they were trying to find Great Writing, maybe -- there’s a thousand stories about Great Writers not recognized till after their deaths -- but we’re explicitly looking for writing that plays well the first time you hear it. Surely that’s definitionally easy to identify.

Hypothesis 3: Status games.

Maybe they’d love to hire the gifted-but-penniless creative writing majors off the streets, but they can’t, because in order to get a movie into production at all you have to do things in the Correct Way. Maybe you need to have a known name on your credits, or maybe you owe people favors and so you hire their nephew to write your script, even if it’s going to cost you at box office.

Again, though, this feels unconvincing. A couple big names like Joss aside, audiences don’t seem to really care about who the script-writer is. This isn’t like hiring Ballycoot Corridor to play the protagonist for the name recognition and to get the fangirls to turn out. I really doubt most people could name the writers for the last half-dozen movies they went out to see. I certainly couldn’t.

Within-industry stuff seems maybe a little more plausible, but still insufficient. Ghostwriting is a thing; put someone’s name on the credits, hire someone else who’s actually good and put them under “miscellaneous consulting,” you can’t tell me that ethics are going to stop Hollywood. In general, I’m having trouble believing that anything is going to get in the way of big franchises doing the optimally profitable thing.

So ... what is happening? Why does bad writing exist? I really don’t know.