#so he assigns each of his friends a family role based on how he sees them and YEAH its mostly played for giggles and tamakis

[puppyeared]

Ouhhhh friendship I love friendship……..

[fumifooms]

Dungeon lord Chilchuck

What would his wish as a dungeon lord be? What would he be like? Headcanons & speculation post for fun. But I’ll start with analytic lead up because that’s always fun for me, though feel free to skip and skim.

When it comes to what Chilchuck’s dungeon lord desires could/would be like we have mainly 3 hints: His nightmare, his succubus and what the winged lion says to him.

Why: — From what we see nightmares are based on the person’s worst fears and insecurities, both Laios’ and Marcille’s nightmare were closely tied to their dungeon lord wishes (Laios’ dream monster being summoned to crush the ghosts of relationships that represented the pressure to fit in and belong, Marcille seeking control over death and aging through magic to avoid loss), the fuel behind their desire/goal if you will. Fear and deep-seated desires are seemingly closely tied, something also supported by Thistle and Mithrun’s reigns as dungeon lords (Thistle proving his worth through fulfilling his given duty + protecting his loved ones, being listened to instead of having to listen, Mithrun escaping rigid two-faced elven society and living in a wonderland where he has no enemies and he’s loved, free from everyone he knew yet propped up by the person symbolizing his brother being chosen over him, the bastard child).

— I’ve talked about the significance I assign to the succubi often by now, but rundown: What we see of each character is all very telling if you care to listen, it shows not only someone’s "ideal form" but what they want from it. Izutsumi’s is familial, offering a hug and comfort, Marcille’s is romantic with a character she knows and loves, offering a kiss on a hand and a connection regardless of how distant it actually is, and Laios’ is platonic, arguable at first but then Laios’ fear of judgement is placated and he is offered the picture perfect friend group that accepts his interest (if you want my full look at Laios’ succubus go here). They take on the most alluring form, most ideal person of their victim, even uncovering deep subconscious desires, so precisely and effectively to the point it leaves victims physically frozen before the object of their desire. Succubi and the demon are themselves tied in lore and it’s easy to see how similar their core skill are. Succubi don’t give a good idea of what a character would wish for on their own but they certainly give hints on what they crave, regardless of how you want to read it.

— Last bit is self-explanatory. To placate Chilchuck and win his compliance over, the monster that reads your soul like an open book offers to give him something specific. But! It’s also important to remember that the lion isn’t offering to fulfill Chilchuck’s dream world wish here, it’s a second prize, because his goal with what he promised Laios is that they’d stay in this world, away from everyone and everything else. Chilchuck wants to get away but is kept back, and it’s here the lion placates him with "hey it’s okay! You can’t do that but I can still give you this! This is enough right? It’ll make everything easier on you".

What each bit says: — Long version in another post. Tldlr: His daughters and family are obviously important to him, and this reinforces that he takes on the role of protector a lot, he’s constantly worried for his party members’ lives and implicitly his family’s. Safety and stability, both economical and otherwise, are his core values and goals, and he berates both others and himself if someone fails on those fronts. Here, there’s the fear of not being enough, of not having been able to protect, and of course of loss.

— Chil’s succubi are obviously sexual, and not only that but agressively and straightforwardly so. It’s not like Marcille’s where there’s personality involved, all they do is give him sultry looks and pretty smiles before jumping on him. His succubi aren’t like Izutsumi’s, always the same exact person and appearance, so it’s not someone but an appealing general idea. The idea of a sexual being he can regard as simply a gorgeous piece of meat and a good time no strings attached. In my interpretation, especially with my reading of Laios’ succubus where even with deep-seated desires negative emotions can be too intense to effectively freeze a victim, I think this doesn’t contradict his character. Relationships have been painful to him in the past, in the succubus scene when his wife gets mentioned his immediate reaction is to yell "Don’t bring her up now!", like with his habit of drinking and as a tallman liking his senses feeling dulled, it’s about not having to feel emotions with how difficult they are to deal with sometimes and just feeling good, or at least not having to think, for a while. If a succubus showcases someone’s ideal connection with an ideal person, then Chilchuck’s is with a pretty person that doesn’t stir any negative memory or drama, someone low stakes and low maintenance that doesn’t require him to manage or talk out feelings because there’s none involved in the first place.

— Once more, wife and family are important! He does long for his family, not only his wife but his daughters, and vice versa. This suggests not only that he wants good relationships with them but that he wants them to be with him, a family life. Far from the cut communication they all more of less have during canon, and perhaps far from their life pre-canon when he worked away from home a significant amount of time. We’ve seen recreations of people by the winged lion before with doppelgangers and monsters (naga), and though he claims he can make satisfying imitations, what we’ve seen is that they base themselves on the best memories of that person, like with Marcille’s dad, or twist behavior to be more pleasant, like Mithrun’s lover (and possibly twist appearances depending on the person’s view of them, but that’s Mithrun analysis). The line does suggest Chilchuck would want his family members as they are in reality and not idealized versions, but the circumstances are chaotic and urgent enough in the scene (and again the lion isn’t fulfilling Chilchuck’s wish but trying to make him content for Laios’) that it could just be the winged lion saying what he needs to to convince him the fastest possible, and like we see with Laios that can crumble to give way to deeper or more complex desires.

On top of that we just have general info on Chil. How does Chilchuck deal w his issues? What does he like to do? He likes alcohol and ignoring his problems. We have to remember there is a split between what someone would consciously wish for and what their soul uncontrollably irrationally craves. As always with Dunmeshi, there’s a narrative of irrational deep-seated desires vs active wants, what you crave vs what you strive for, what you dream of vs what’s actually good for you, the animal vs the human inside you, heart vs mind. Chilchuck craving a harem of hot babes in his fantasies but wanting his family life & wife back again is not mutually exclusive. You may crave becoming a monster and tasting what humans are like a little but still want to save the world & your friends more.

Btw can we adress the irony of him terrified of being the last one alive, of being left by his daughters and wife, of having left and coming back home one day to see everything gone or rampaged, yet not caring about dying of liver failure himself, knowing every time that he enters a dungeon there’s a real risk he may not come out. Die somewhere I can’t see you. I prefer leaving you than being left behind. He’s selfish and shortsighted like that… Chilchuck is selfless in many ways of course, but perhaps also due to his own relationship with his parents, he often undermines the effects he has on others in his relationships, both the good and the bad (he talks himself down about being cowardly and greedy yes, but never hints at his bad health habits, alcoholism and starving himself, may have affected his loved ones, doesn’t question his wife falling into a bad mood the night before she left, and talks about the possibility of dying here and there very casually, though obviously he tries his best to stay alive when it doesn’t concern his health).

Chilchuck king of "Let me just avoid and ignore my problems surely they’ll go away, things might work out and if they don’t well tough luck I’ll survive and I probably deserve it anyways". If I don’t look at it it will dissapear <3 Why care when you can simply not think about it.

You might not understand Mister "my love will stay strong through months of work travel and also 4 years of separation" and Mister "well idk my siblings and me are kinda strangers and my dad is dead but that’s kinda whatever", but typically relationships need some form of maintenance and emotional availability…

The actual headcanons finally

I kinda have 2 routes in mind for dunlord Chil and both of them are centered on "I care too much, i wish things were easy", so first is a lot like his succubi, it’s full on indulging in his guilty pleasures like alcohol and bodies and it’s to keep him in a constant state of thrill and euphoria and distracted, unfeeling about stuff that really matters. "Nothing matters except that I’m enjoying the moment!" vibe. He gets to live a life worthy of Dionysus, with alcohol and women and debauchery and like— never having to think again, never having to feel anything but pleasure again, never have to feel guilty or shitty or angry or sad. He has a harem and gets everything on a silver platter.

Breaking news demon magic-induced rush of euphoria and power still not enough to cure this man of his self-hatred nor his capacity for thought!! But in his case a state of euphoria is what he seeks I think, to kinda mask or replace the Everything Else.

The other is what I think closer to what canon suggests, with what WL implied too with "I’ll make you a new wife and kids like the originals!! 😊", it’s a (spoilers) Wandavision type thing where it’s a slice of life where he’s never at work and always at home and the family eats lunches at the dinner table together and everything and everyone at any moment is just. Happy. No issues. It was all a dream, this is real and everything is fine and your family is perfect and happy. I like to think the timeline would be wonky, his daughters would fluctuate in age, but he’d want to be there for what he missed, would want them to still rely on him and look up to him like when they were young, would like to forget that they’re now independent adults and the distance that grew between Chilchuck and his siblings is happening between them as well. Chil would want doppelgangers of his family imo, at its core just a general wish for a peaceful happy family life with no drama, no need to compromise, a little paradise of unconditional love and no consequences. It’s for sure straightforward, but Chilchuck is a man with straightforward desires…

But see Chilchuck is a greedy man, and he wants it both ways without having to sacrifice anything or expanding any efforts himself. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. I think playing with these two opposite directions and mixing and matching is most fun. Him leading a life where he indulges in all his worst habits while still having everything he wants… Him getting to have BOTH his wife and any woman he can imagine up, his life like two sides of a coin he can flip at any moment where he’s partying then he’s at home enjoying the quiet and his toddler daughters playing with toys on the carpet. Christ when you remember it’s all an illusion that’s terrifying, the doppelgangers and succubi from the winged lion playing chilchuck ping pong.

A safe little haven both security-stability wise and emotionally. Gets to have both the relaxing and the thrilling in any dose he wants, mixed or separatedly. What I’d argue he had pre-canon too: Can live it up in taverns away from home, stays away from home for long periods of time, and can come back to home aka the symbol of relaxation and safety whenever he decides to. Something he can leave and come back to at will, an anchor he can trust in (until it’s taken from him and his wife leaves. Or in his worse nightmare people rush in and kill his daughters). The ideal of a house and family to a working man, perhaps…

I think it’s fun to think on wether or not these desires would be interesting at all to the winged lion… In canon he seeks out "rare/complex desires", common simple things like I imagine riches, sex, substances and pleasure would be are boring to him, he’s eaten those so many times already. So perhaps he wouldn’t last long as a dunlord, the WL would want to eat him fully quick, can’t keep him interested or waiting long for a meager meal, too much effort raising the cattle and too low quality meat. By making it more twisted or layered Chil’s desire would become more desirable to the demon, it’s part of what’s fun with the third option to me. But whatever. Has he ever eaten a guy with this much repression and self-sabotage... Like trying to get the meat out of a walnut, enrichment…

Other dunlord Chil takes I’ve seen that are fun and good:

@feelo-fick and @pluvio-floret have a dunlord Chilchuck AU project dubbed "tragedy AU" where Chilchuck is said to be "on vacation", in a weird delirious state, only half-there half of the time… From which he doesn’t want to wake up </3 Quoting Feelo, this is why the vacation thing is only a half-joke cause he is 1) letting all his responsibilities go 2) indulging in himself and 3) "spending time with his family" <- lie but you get what i mean. Additional comments that have me vigorously nodding: because changing is hard why cant things just be okay right now without the effort !!! Life is hard he’s so so tired he just wants to feel good… he just wants life to feel nice and easy for a sec while he can learn to breathe again and lose the stress and trauma he’s accumulated…….. spoiler alert yes !!! in fact a depressed person can suck themselves into their job and lock out the world who wouldve thought !!!

And then Cabinette I know posted about his dunlord take once but I don’t have the link, in which Chil has a lot of nosebleeds because of mana overload which is fun and interesting to think about imo~

In dunmeshi, where characters get underground pockets of the world as their playground disconnected from everything outside and the rest of the world, it’s important to remember to face reality even if it has conflict and people with different views and stances from you, it’s something Chilchuck and Marcille and everyone needed to learn, and the thing with a dungeon lord AU is that you imagine a timeline where he fails to <3

A timeline where his dungeon lord wish is to desire nothing bc hope and want has only ever hurt him would also go so hard. Very universal thing though I suppose.

… And this is why a Chilchuck-centric Coraline AU is really really interesting and fitting and topical— Ok that’ll go in a separate reblog/post at @Fumiku I need to let this end

[celli-ohs]

and scene!

A seven-part written series taking place at EN High School, featuring Enhypen, with supporting roles from Tomorrow x Together, &Team, BoyNextDoor, Fromis_9, Le Sserafim, NewJeans and Illit. Loosely based off of Enhypen's official series En-Drama.

Author's Note: this is going to be a rollercoaster folks! I wanted to basically make a crack/fluff version of En-Drama. I thought the stereotypes they put the members in were cute and fitting of them, but was like "what if I made them all losers lol" and that's how this series was born! disclaimer, the plots for my works are not the same as En-Drama, this is all just for shits and giggles! btw, everything is connected, so stay tuned for each member! lmk who you're most excited to read!!

Status: ongoing

ATTENTION: reply/comment for taglist

and scene! masterlist

I Can't, I Have Rehearsal

socially awkward!park sunghoon x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

What happens when you get seated right next to the most handsome boy in your entire grade? Well you thought it'd be a great excuse to get to know him better, but the guy won't even talk to you! After a mishap in the science lab, you come to find out that Park Sunghoon, the cold-hearted prince of EN High, isn't in fact rude, he's just afraid of women.

Show Must Go On

secret softie!park jongseong x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

When you told the waitress to give your compliments to the chef, you didn't expect the chef to come out and thank you personally, and you really didn't expect the chef to be your classmate Park Jongseong. Realizing how bad this could be, he has you keep it a secret. That shouldn't be too hard for you to do he thinks, but you're full of surprises- and slip ups.

Lights, Curtains, Action!

popular!sim jaeyun x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

You weren't a very sociable person. Sure you had some friends, but you preferred to stay home on your days off. Your family has other plans though, and you're forced to explore the great outdoors during summer break. On your adventure, you never thought you'd find rowdy Sim Jaeyun, otherwise known as Jake, sitting patiently at the docks waiting for a single fish to bite his line. You also never thought he'd reel in your missing shoe before an actual fish.

All the World's a Stage

younger!kim sunoo x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

You've known Kim Sunoo since middle school when your friend Jake introduced him to you as his 'little brother'. He was a sweet and funny boy. But over the summer, something changed with Sunoo and suddenly you feel your heart skipping a beat every time he looks your way. You'd think he's finally grown up and matured, but there he goes again, quoting some random romcom and you're reminded he'll never see you the way you do him. Or does he?

Tough Act to Follow

loser!lee heeseung x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

This had to be a mistake. It couldn't be true, how could you end up being seatmates with the biggest loser in school, Lee Heeseung?! You can feel your social status plummeting with every word he speaks to you. But on a late walk from the convenience store, you witness something that changes your view of Heeseung drastically. And maybe he's right, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is actually kinda good.

Break a Leg

tease!nishimura riki x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

Nishimura Riki was the bane of your existence. You can't tell where your hatred for him begins and ends. Every day is a constant battle of teasing between the two of you, and you have had it. One day after an accident, Riki shows his true colors and now his insults start to make your heart race, and it's not because you're angry. Surely you've caught something, right?

No Business Like Show Business

student body president!yang jungwon x reader; high school au; crack, comedy, fluff

When you flunked that math test, you didn't think it was that serious- until your teacher assigned you a tutor: Yang Jungwon, student body president. Honestly, you didn't really know the guy, he seemed like the type to be strict and responsible. Except he isn't, Jungwon is just some guy. You'd argue he's even worse at math than you. His friends thought it'd be funny to elect him as president when the poor boy was out for a pee break. So now you're wondering if you should get a tutor for both of you.

[novlr]

I'm working on a monster apocalypse story, but I'm struggling to make it unique. My focus is on the main character finding happiness and peace with his teammates, even though I plan to kill them off. I want to explore how he will overcome his past abuse and traumas while not just portraying the team as a family. I want to depict them fighting together, growing stronger, and forming closer bonds because they have all lost their families at the start of the apocalypse.

What do the series Friends, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson all have in common?

The Found Family trope.

Found family is a classic trope in stories. But that doesn’t mean it’s overdone and can’t be used to get deep into your characters’ interiority. In fact, this trope can pack a deeper punch than most think.

Sure, it’s easy to have a group in the story with you, the writer, telling how the characters work together–like how one is easily the “mom of the group,” for example. But if you want something much deeper between your characters, and want the trope to work on multiple levels of storytelling, you must show those group connections forming and existing. Get deep with the what, why, and how your found family became a tight-knit group and work well together.

To do this, there are a few questions to ask while creating your characters. These questions flow from basic character knowledge, to in-depth details as an exercise you can do at any time, and with any story or pair/group of characters.

Let’s get started!

What is each character’s personality/identity, and what role in the group are they assigned to because of it?

From friends, to couples, to even crime-fighting superheroes, each group is made up of personalities that fit into a role the group dynamic needs. And in most cases, it’s natural.

For example, let’s say we have two characters dating each other as a couple. One character is more savvy with their finances while the other is not. This can lead to the money-savvy character filling a role for the couple as the money manager (or one with money advice, if the other character wants to learn how to better manage money instead).

You can also have a kind-hearted and loving character act as a parental figure in the group. That is, if other characters tend to get into trouble often, are opposite of kind-hearted, or are without their real parents.

First, It’s important to know exactly who your characters are , how they act, how they respond in a crisis, and so on. Only then can you put together what each character can provide to the group.

It’s just as important to make each character in your group unique. Two jokers in a group is fine, but if they act exactly the same way, and think the same things, you may actually have two characters needing to merge into one, for the sake of redundancy.

Let’s use my book’s found family of superheroes for further example. I have:

A broody, loves-to-research-type soul who’s stuck over the mysteries of his past.

His twin sister, highly personable, yearns for outside validation, and prefers the past to stay as far away as it can.

Their hot-headed childhood friend, who takes no issue picking fights and rises above any occasion with sheer tenacity.

The oldest, but cheery and justice-oriented friend, says “dude” a lot, and is like a child stuck in a man’s body.

His wife, a doctor with a heart full of gold, sass, and sees the team as misfits who are in trouble without her help.

Finally, the reserved intellectual who keeps her words short, unless you start her on science, engineering, and intel gathering.

With this make-up, I can naturally set up the characters’ roles in the group, based on personalities alone. I label the broodster as the detective and problem-solver, his sister “the public face” of the group, the childhood friend the quick-witted action-taker, the oldest “dude” the honorable leader, his wife the classic “group mom” with extra flair, and the quiet one the scientist.

Notice how each character has their own core identity, and how that creates the role they play in the group. Yes, some characters, like my twins, will likely have a small overlap of quirks–just for being family. However, it’s still important to focus on what makes each character internally different. Otherwise you lose the chance of uniqueness in your group dynamic.

As a group, what is the primary goal they want to accomplish, and why?

As you finish putting each character together with their core identity and role, another question to ask is what goal they want to accomplish together.

Here’s another way to phrase it: Why are they together in the first place, and what stops them from going separate ways?

The Avengers band together to save New York against Loki and an alien invasion. They can’t do it by themselves . Harry Potter needs new relationships upon entering wizarding life, fueling him to face Voldemort. In season one of The Mandalorian, Mandalorian Din Djarin and Grogu must face Moff Gideon together, or die trying to face him alone.

None of those groups can separate because the stakes are too high to tackle alone. Each Avenger, Harry Potter, and the adorable Star Wars father-son combo will fail their missions without their found family.

What needs/desires do each character fulfill for one another in the group?

This is where we get into the juicy character interiority and backstory. Despite how it looks, the Found Family trope is much more than what “role” characters fit into for the sake of group dynamic.

It’s also how that dynamic affects each character; and how each character relates, or fills a need, for another.

Let’s go back to The Mandalorian for this example. Din Djarin is a lone wolf mercenary who lost his family at a very young age. While he found a new purpose as a Mandalorian, it’s still not what he needed: love, family companionship. This is where Grogu came in, and why Din was unable to hand Grogu over and complete a mercenary job.

We’re talking internal plot with characters–as in, what they need so they can accomplish their goals. Not what they think they need, and not just overcoming the external plot (in this case, facing Moff Gideon).

Din needed love and family, just as Grogu needed to discover his true self. These personal goals were accomplished with the help of the other. Grogu became the “son” that helped Din overcome self-limiting beliefs about newfound companionship, while Din provided Grogu the safety and protection to discover himself and his force powers.

Maybe you have a character who, on the outside, loves to goof around and tell jokes. But what do they really need as a human being to grow? Do they need a coming-of-age-moment that only one character in the group can provide? Do you have two characters, a childless mother and an orphaned boy, who seek a second chance of love, and can find it again through caring for each other?

Captain America may be the stoic leader butting heads with playboy philanthropist Iron Man, but even those two fulfill a desire the other has: Belonging. Acceptance. Companionship.

So take a look at one of your character’s backstory, and see what other members of the group can do–in their own individual way–to help that character heal and grow.

This, ultimately, is what gives the Found Family trope unique meaning and depth in your story. Because once you truly incorporate this trope into every aspect and detail of your characters and story like this (external plot and all), it cannot be done the same way again–because only you can write your story the way you can!

How to add further depth in the Found Family trope

There was no way I was answering this question without mentioning the one thing that could add even more connection and depth between characters.

Conflict.

Just as conflict is the best method to writing a story that works, it’s also the perfect tool for establishing a found family. There are two ways to do this:

Have two or more characters in the group start as rivals or enemies, before adopting each other as a found family.

Have your found family be completely dysfunctional at the beginning. Let the characters form a group, but act unsynchronized with each other; thus failing challenges together until they finally accept one another, their talents, and grow as one to achieve their goal.

Depending on how you write your found family, these points can be one and the same. But I felt it vital to differentiate between them for the sake of being thorough in explanation.

Conflict against a character in the story is what provides opportunity for growth (or failure, if writing tragedy). The more conflict the character must face, the more opportunities they have for the growth, and thus, the deeper the character development.

This is why so many people love edgy characters and redemption arcs (like Zuko in Avatar). For edge and redemption, a character must already be at a low point in order to rise back up from their failures, and succeed.

This same concept can be done with rivals/enemies in your found family. The relationship between two characters is at a low point, which then provides all kinds of conflict, and therefore creates growth for your characters (and found family) to experience. This is also why many like the enemies to friends/lovers tropes. The character development in the journey from rock-bottom to top, if done right, is a highly rewarding story.

For writing your found family as dysfunctional at first, the story is the whole group at a low point for not being able to work together properly. And they must face extra conflict for extra growth before they can accomplish other goals as one.

All in all, the more effort your characters must give to bond with others, the deeper the drama becomes, and the more rewarding the final bonding and connection. In most cases, it’s too easy, and not as fulfilling for a reader, if all characters already start off as good friends, or become friends quickly upon joining a found family. Give one character a trait or two another character doesn’t like. Have one character forced to learn and accept another for who they are. How their abilities, quirks, or other aspects can actually be a benefit.

This kind of conflict set-up matches perfectly with any story theme that involves one needing to set aside differences with another in order to succeed and/or survive. Once more, Avengers is the perfect example of it. They were a dysfunctional group of people that didn’t trust each other. But, after losing Coulson, only saving the world mattered.

And there you go! The simple, yet meaningful basics of how to write the Found Family trope and make it work for you. If you need more examples, a quick google search will hand you a plethora of stories you can use for reference and research.

Otherwise, I look forward to seeing your found families emerge in your story. Happy character plotting and writing!

written by Lindsay Sfara

[alpydk]

Eclipse (Part 7) - "Contact Other Plane"

GalexTav (F)

Elminster stood at your door, or what you believed to be him; the subtle glow at the base of his boots, giving it away that this was most likely another simulacrum sent your way with news.

Ao3 Link

You paced the living room waiting for Corlin’s visit, bags under your eyes from little sleep and your mouth dry from neglecting to eat or drink from stress. …I’m very much among the living. He’d confirmed it, he’d confirmed it was him, but again had not recognised your voice. Maybe age had changed you or the years apart had made him forget the little details about you. If he could see your face, or you could get more information to him, then maybe he would be reminded and together you could work out a plan to reunite. But would he even still feel the same? You thought of what he had said to you one evening, how he had declared his love for you with a proposal, conjured stars and poetic language. Had those moments now been lost as well?

You’d seen him together with Astarion, heard snippets of their conversation, the way they talked with each other with such familiarity, and you couldn’t help but worry that maybe over the years you had just been replaced; by Mystra, now by the magistrate. You pushed aside the doubts and let your mind wander to happier memories, ones that would keep you going until Corlin’s arrival later that day.

One of which was another time amongst books. Gale had complained most of the day you’d tried to sneak around the library at Blackstaff Academy in search of a scroll to help with an assignment. Not only was it something that could make your potion considerably more potent, but this brief excursion also gave you the chance to use invisibility spells you’d recently been approved to use outside of the classroom. He griped frequently as you skulked the corridors before eventually ending up in a small alcove amongst the tall bookshelves; another pleasant memory of exploring hands and the use of silence spells. You’d both forgotten the scroll after the distraction, but it mattered not as you returned hand in hand back to your dorm room.

---

Elminster stood at your door, or what you believed to be him; the subtle glow at the base of his boots, giving it away that this was most likely another simulacrum sent your way with news. Still, he played the same games of asking to be waited on as you sat impatiently wanting to know why he was in your home after so long. The last you had seen him was as he had left you in the dark ten years ago, barely holding on to reason.

His voice was exactly as you remembered it, polite and unassuming. If you didn’t know better, you’d have guessed he was somebody’s grandfather, just popping by for some company on a weekday afternoon. “A cup of tea would not go a miss, m’girl.”

You judged his behaviour, your face showing nothing but contempt for his presence, but you stood and brewed the tea, your teeth gritted trying to hold back the words you wanted to shout at him. As you laid the cup down in front of him, you saw the familial smile you’d grown up with; the one you recognised as that of the father you had never had in your life. The topic of parents was one you and Gale had bonded over quickly when you met, both lacking the male role model in your life, and so when Elminster had approached your friend regarding his magic, you too had been quick to take notice and follow in tow.

Before speaking, you distanced yourself from the reminders of better times, not wanting to give anything more of yourself than you had to. “You have your tea. What are you doing here?” A level of guilt for the way you spoke to him rose in you, the powerful and renowned wizard who had shown you nothing but care and concern, gazing at you with sympathy. Of course he had heard about what had happened, word having spread quickly after Corlin’s report, or worse, Mystra’s interference.

“You know why I am here. She sent me.”

You felt the bite of your tongue. Mystra would not let Gale go lightly after all this time, keeping him hidden from you, and now that there was even a chance of you finding each other, she would pounce. You wondered why she hadn’t snatched him up instantly, taking him back to her plane, or blocking all your spells so you’d never found out about his existence. Was this another one of her games? Toying with those lesser than her? “Is it to tell me he is to be taken from me again or that he was not gone to begin with? I care little for pleasantries, if that is the case.”

His eyes darkened with an impatience you had only seen briefly when growing up, times where you had belittled important matters of magic or life itself. “Young lady, if the hands of time could be but puppets to our will, many a tale would unfold differently. Yet, here we stand, amidst the currents of fate. It is as you say, Gale’s return, a harbinger of storms unseen, intertwines our paths once again.”

“And where do those currents pull us again, Elminster? Speak plainly and tell me what is going on?”

He sighed, wishing for this instant to go easier. “In this moment, the mysteries of fate remain veiled to my sight. However, I have been bestowed with a measure of power, a conduit through which you may commune more closely with young Gale, to stand vigilant in my place and safeguard his journey.”

Your face was one of shock as he spoke, taking in the words spoken to you; to see Gale freely as you wished, to watch over him, was quite the offer. “And this is no trick? This is not another of Mystra’s ploys?”

Elminster glanced at the crystal ball lying on the table between the two of you; its light dimmed, showing only the reflection of the two of you. “Rest assured, this is no deception. Through this granted boon, your vigilance shall be unbroken, akin to an ever-watchful eye upon his path. The sending spell bestowed upon you shall serve as a bridge of communication, allowing him to reply should he deem it necessary or seek guidance along his way.”

Your heart increased its rhythm as you watched the elderly wizard place his hands over the ball, a faint light passing into the glass before fading into the picture of a hastily built campsite and the afternoon light shining down on the tents. You could see the movements of what appeared to be a burning tiefling dancing and as you glided your hand across the image, more figures came into view; the half elf with the dark braid, Astarion turning the page of a heavy book, Gale cooking next to the campfire. You gave a small laugh, knowing whatever he made would probably be terrible, memories of your ushering him away from the kitchen, and now tears of happiness burning at the corners of your eyes. “Thank you…” you managed to utter; your eyes glued to the face in the glass.

You didn’t register the nod from Elminster or his own smile at seeing Gale alive and well on Faerûn, you only caught his words as he left, the spark of hope now burning as brightly as ever.

“As you embark upon your journey to reunite with Gale, may the winds of fortune guide your steps, and the wisdom of ages illuminate your way.”

---

You spent a lot of your day just watching his activities. Listening as they all spoke to one another, staring in suspense as they fought ghouls along a winding path. You wondered why he did not just flick his wrist and have done with them, or why every few hours he would stop, appearing as if to be in pain. Even when he was younger, he would complain about his knees, and it was good to see that at least that little trait had not changed. The pains he felt now, though, the ones you saw as he dug through his bag before the glow in his chest appeared; these were much more than the little creaks and groans you knew so well; these were ones you wished so desperately you could heal for him.

“So, do you have loves waiting for you once this is all over?”

Your ears perked up at the conversation the vampire had started. Now you could hear if he would speak of you or another, or of Mystra…

“You know what - that is not the easiest of questions for me to answer.”

Confusion hit you as you heard his response, and you wondered what exactly he meant. The conversation trailed out after some criticisms towards him, and you sat frustrated with what little you were learning over this time. You could watch, but you could not interact, and that in itself was its own form of torture.

At one moment in the late afternoon, you saw Gale enter his tent alone, and you pushed the sensor in after him, your lips curling, thinking back to those days of invisibility within the library. The magic artefact he held vanished in an instance into the glowing markings of his chest and your heart broke as you saw the agony on his face. As he regained his composure and lay down, you spoke, hoping your voice would bring him a little comfort during this dark time.

“Gale?” You saw him sit up in recognition. “It’s me, Tav. Elminster has given me a way to watch over you. Are you well?” Despite your hesitation, you knew you had to say the last words before he confirmed his knowledge of you, as not saying them would lead to only greater regret. “I miss you. I love you.”

You watched as his face seemed to go through a multitude of emotions, ranging from comfort to determination and confusion. If only you could have said more, then you could have explained everything to him; you both could have all the answers you sought. You sat looking into his eyes and you longed to kiss him again, to touch the beard you had never envisioned him to have before. If he wouldn’t answer again, then so be it. At least now you could see him; it was a start.

“Tav? I’m sorry, but I believe you may have the wrong person. I know nobody of that name. Elminster, however, I require a meeting with.”

He did not remember you. You could see it on his face as he thought through the words to say, as he tried to let you down gently and succinctly, the spell’s limit not allowing him to speak more than what was necessary. The burning flames of hope within you began to diminish, feeling as if you were losing him yet again, but you knew now you could not give up on him. Tomorrow you would prepare two spells and again try to remind him of who you were.

You knew that Elminster would come across Gale now that it was confirmed he was alive; it was only a matter of time and you hoped their reunion would help your chances as well, or at least that maybe Elminster would not be as heartless as to take him from you again. Regardless, you needed answers about Gale’s whereabouts these last ten years and why you believed he was dead, as well as why Mystra had lied to you.

---

That evening, you placed your head on your pillow; the crystal ball resting on the side table next to you. Time had passed since Gale had spoken to you and you’d had time to relax a little again, watching as he ate dinner with his party, as they enjoyed the meal he had salvaged together for them. When had he learnt to cook? You questioned to yourself. You saw the way Astarion gently touched Gale’s arm, trying to lure him towards his tent and you smirked when Gale turned him down, instead choosing to lie in bed reading lines of poetry to himself. Still, he wrote prose about the one thing he loved more than you, the Weave, and you mumbled the line he had mocked you for long ago, claiming that the Weave was nothing like a spiderweb before running his fingers up your leg.

As you both slept alone, you listened to his breathing, envisioning yourself lying next to him, your head nestled on his chest, and his arms wrapped around you. You longed to feel the warmth of his body next to you and have the soft kisses placed on your forehead as you lay there with him. If only he could hear it when you whispered, “I love you,” and respond with the words you so desired to hear after so long apart.

[kale-of-the-forbidden-cities]

KotLC OC tournament info post - 18/24

Ariadne Varil

Name: Ariadne Varil

Species: Elf

Gender/Pronouns: she/her

Creator: Swan @an-ungraceful-swan

Short desc: Ariadne is a former/partially retired Council informant who grew up as part of the nobility. After going to exillium on an assignment as a coach she fell for an actual coach. Ensue a messy breakup as her intentions are revealed which she’s still not over

Backstory: Ariadne Varil was born into a lower noble family, as the middle of her siblings, never quite old enough to run with her older sister’s friends, most of whom were in the elite levels by the time she started tutoring, and too reserved to ever really fall in with her brother’s friends, all of whom were menaces in their own right, despite being only a year younger than her. She manifested quite young as a flasher, though never had much talent in her ability and excelled more in her other classes and areas of study. Her father was a low ranking regent, but his meager connections were enough to get her an internship type job going into the elite levels, working under the then Emissary Clarette.

As her education became more focused, she took more classes focused on politics and history, and had quite an affinity for seeing through the glitz and glamor in the upper echelons of the elven world and being able to analyze what it was and understand people’s positions. When she graduated she officially became an assistant to an older Emissary, one who’d long since established himself at the crux of Elven politics, though continued discrete communication and under the table work for Clarrette. She was never especially close with her family, and moved to an apartment in Atlantis nearly immediately after graduating. Her matching was handled as a quiet affair, she simply got her list, sat down for dinner with the eligible suitors, and talked it through with them. She never saw it as anything other than a necessary part of maintaining her status among the nobility and blending into the masses, and made that fact quite clear to her potential spouses. She eventually married her husband, though they continued living separately, leading their own lives and really only presenting as a couple when strictly necessary, especially for the first hundred years or so of their marriage. They each had their own aspirations and affiliations, and that was quite enough for them.

She was just over 200 years old when Clarette became a councillor, and she had been serving as a regent for some time. Her role got elevated to that of an Emissary and she was trusted with her first more important project than simply passing along the little whispers she could scrounge up. Without any official ways to keep track of elves that had either left or been banished from larger society, she went simply to gather information in one of the larger communities, posing as someone who had become disillusioned with the Lost Cities and couldn’t “stay in their crystal palaces” anymore. The plan had been to stay for a century, long enough to engrain herself and pass along valuable information, but it got cut short when her cover was blown less than halfway through her assignment. She managed to get out and return home, but not before picking up some rather obvious scarring. Ariadne moved in with her husband for the first extended period of time, and took quite a bit of time to herself, recuperating on her new estate that she’d been absent from up until that point. She was a bit conflicted, after all despite her unfortunate parting spending time away from the Lost Cities had been eye opening to her and it was odd being back without anyone to really talk about what she’d seen. It’s why when she was presented with the opportunity to work on another longer term mission, this time based in Exilium, she agreed, becoming one of the coaches of the program. There she met fellow Coach Nikola, and took an immediate liking to her for how genuine she seemed. It was refreshing after her time spent back in elven upper society, and rarely did Niko ever mince her words or hide what she was feeling. Ariadne’s job at Exillium was simple, be eyes to report back anything that might be happening among the students and fit in as a coach, but growing closer to Niko she saw just how much the other coach cared about the kids, even if the culture of the program dissuaded her from showing it. Seeing someone with such passion for carving their own path against the grain, trying against all odds to do good, when Ari had simply been skating along and following orders her whole life, dealing with information she was rather detached from, it was a change, and a bit of a wake up call. She wasn’t really all that surprised as she developed feelings, she’d had feelings for colleagues and acquaintances before, but her marriage for the match and duty to her job had always prevented her from doing much more than acknowledging them. Here, under a name that wasn’t quite hers, with someone quite interested in holding her accountable, she had no such obligations, and fell into a relationship of sorts, even partially moving into Niko’s apartment after some time had passed.

Of course all things come to an end, and some of the students at Exilium had been not so discreetly planning some illegal activities as a way to get back to the council. It’d come to the coaches attention, and consensus lead by Niko was to let it diffuse naturally. Of course the kids were bound to be angry, but they were all talk and needed a place to vent their righteous frustration. Privately, Ariadne disagreed and after a bit of internal debate reported it up through her pipeline. It was dealt with by the proper authorities, resulting in punishments being meted out and the kids written off from most chances to rejoin the lost cities, but in the process Ariadne’s role in it was revealed and Nikola realized she had just been there as an informant and thus felt rightfully betrayed and angry. They had a singular blow up fight before Nikola resolved to icing Ariadne out, something that worked as Ariadne was back in the lost cities within the year. She now has whatever the elven spy equivalent of a desk job is, attending functions and keeping an ear to the ground, but otherwise has very little to do. Despite time having passed since, she’s quite conflicted about the whole thing, feeling just bad enough to have the seeds of discontent slowly sowed. Angsts about her estate, is rather dramatic with the whole situation and feels isolated at this point. She’s currently working as simply someone with her ear to the ground at galas and whatnot, the elven spy equivalent of a desk job, but is a bit resentful of the whole thing not quite sure how she feels about it all.

If you would like me to edit anything on this post, let me know!

...i was plagued by this the entire time while making this so i had to add a few breaks in the paragraphs

[egg-emperor]

Feels like some want to put emphasis on family in almost every relationship in this series; and quite a bit of others where it's not biggest theme. Occasional maybe, but not the whole aspect. (And for something that is complex as family; biological, found or otherwise, people seem keen on making each one virtually the same in concept.)

Gonna drop a hot take and I fear angering a bunch of people at once, I just hope they hear me out all the way through first lol. But I wanna be honest about how I feel about this

They really do. There's a huge push for every dynamic between the characters to be familial and for all to have family of some kind lately. You have tons of people going "x and x are literally related and found family/adoptive family and everything else is wrong", acting like it's undeniable canon, in places where it's never been explicitly labeled as such, or doesn't exist at all, or is only somewhat resembling of a family dynamic but still up to interpretation, or is a lot more complex than the typical expected nuclear family structure and simplifying it removes what's interesting.

For example, I can see how Charmy is like Vector's son if you consider he's taken him into care and the dynamic they have in games but even then it's not said outright. But then people act like Vector signed adoption papers and with Espio as his other son and Charmy's brother even though he doesn't have anything like that dynamic with him in the games at all, and say it's "literally canon"... Why is Espio forced into that box? People decide on ages alone as if they've ever been a huge important point in the series but they're barely acknowledged

Then there's a push for Team Dark to have Rouge as a mom/sister and Shadow and Omega as kids/brothers when none are implied. Rouge isn't motherly just because she cares for Shadow, she's only 18 (plus in a bio they considered her having a thing for him so) and isn't sisterly either. Shadow treats their team ups and interactions like business with the objective in priority and goes off and does his own thing when it's over, he's not implied to live a domestic family life with them. And Omega is Omega, he doesn't think of himself as family to Rouge nor Shadow just because Robotniks created them, he just wants to destroy Eggman's shit lol

Team Rose is what I think of being one of the more familial types, but again only really from how Big acts like their big brother in the Heroes saying he's gotta get tough for them and looks out for them like that. But even then that's not set in stone as they're barely together as a team and it's all just based on vibes and they only call each other friends. But there's definitely more of a logical case than the other teams, but again I think as only in a much more casual and mild way than what people want. So I just think of them as being good friends with things in common with family dynamics but it not meaning they're literally family.

I even think of Team Sonic as all friends first, despite brotherly esque interactions depending on how you view Sonic and Knuckles interacting maybe, and how Tails was said to be seen "like something of a" little brother to Sonic in a bio and called his bro a couple times in game. But people kinda overemphasize there too as it's much more casual and not in the way they signed adoption papers to play strict family roles. For the most part, it feels like they're friends and parts of their dynamic can resemble the dynamics but it's not a strict family structure and role assignment.

What's funny is Silver and Blaze were stated to have a sibling like dynamic, with Blaze seeing Silver as a brother in a bio and people get mad when it's brought up because they ship them. That's when they stop caring about family type dynamics, if it gets in the way of their ship lol. I have no problem with people who wanna ship them as they're not literally adoptive like I said for the others so do your thing. But people getting mad and rejecting the idea that's official if it gets in the way of their ship, yet claiming other family type bonds are official when they aren't is ironic XD

And now with Eggman just because of Sage, people act like literally every single robot ever of his are all canon sons and daughters and he's the best wholesome dad and nothing more than one and all he does is play with them and have family days out and isn't his own person anymore. Kinda heavily reminiscent of the nuclear family dream propaganda pushed all the time that irks me as a gay guy who had had that forced onto me incessantly... Seeing a comfort character forced into all the things he's helped distract me from by fans when it doesn't exist like that in the games is rough.

Plus it involves ignoring the specific selfish, egotistical, and shallow reasons that Eggman accepted Sage as being as a daughter and why he half-heartedly entertained her desire to see Orbot and Cubot as brothers, which are very different reasons than "he was lonely and had no purpose in life so he wanted to become the nuclear family stereotype of a dad and thanks to Sage he is and he's actually a good likable character for it now!" It pushes the idea that everyone needs a romantic relationship and/or family to be whole and worth something and it's uncomfortable :(

Even more for how shallow, manipulative, and conditional his dynamic with Sage is and how he treats Orbot and Cubot like shit which, if he entertains the dynamic of them being Sage's brothers, it makes him an absive father already and doesn't magically undo that. (Plus in games past Frontiers he continues to be cruel to them.) And he's never seen other creations as kids, closest is calling the E Series brothers but only referred to himself as their creator, not dad. Calling himself Metal's dad is IDW only and doesn't make sense to be canon. But even if it was, the dynamic is a casual silly thing and not a deep meaningful thing there, just like it wasn't with the E Series so it worked.

But people want Eggman and his creations to replicate a nuclear family structure and dynamics one to one, as if his bond with Sage isn't anything but ordinary and he isn't terrible to his creations. He doesn't see all of them as his kids and all of them don't see each other as siblings. It's even more clear in how I see people asking members of Sonic Official like "will Eggman get a girlfriend/wife so Sage can have a mom" and it makes me feel ill. It's clear they don't understand Eggman's dynamic with his creations and why it exists and just want him to replicate the nuclear family dynamic, get a romantic partner, and conform to the life script because they think he's better that way.

And man one of the many reasons Eggman is special and appealing to me is he's a middle aged man that doesn't show an interest in biological family or romantic relationship, instead happily living without that, embracing his commonly considered childish passions and unconventional dreams. You have no idea how happy I was about in character terms of Eggman and Sage's dynamic in the game and how he expressed aversion towards biological natural reproduction. That's special to me. Not to be dramatic but seeing fandom act like he's not good or likable until he perfectly replicates the life script nuclear family structure dream instead is kinda heartbreaking.

-

Like even if you want to look at any of these bonds of a case of found family, why does it all have to be in the structure of nuclear family dynamics and all these specific strict labels and dynamics forced onto them where they don't even exist, or at least are much more casual and still more friendly than familial? Why does it need to have everything about it be exactly the same aside from the biological blood relation? Like you said, there's way more forms and complexity than that. It can be way more interesting and meaningful to show how it can transcend that, how it doesn't have to follow the guidelines of the expected life script and nuclear family structure just with a different coat of paint.

Intentionally or not, it pushes the idea that one has more purpose and worth if they create the nuclear family structure in one way or another, that one is missing something without it, and life has more meaning and is better with it. It gives the vibe of conservatives and those that feel we should all follow the life script and have more purpose and meaning when we create a family- because it's helping make virtually the same concept look appealing and pushing the idea it's always needed. It can still serve as propaganda that can give an impression to the audience they should comply, find it or create it to have more meaning in life, and put pressure on them the same way instead of it being optional, because it's been shown to them exactly the way biological relation ones are.

If it was presented that way in canon, it would be propaganda and that makes it uncomfortable to me being aro and gay. Not saying everyone has to agree and appeal to me, I'm not the main character of the universe lol. But I don't like to see romance or forced family dynamics from nowhere or being made to replicate the nuclear family structure they're expected to end up with. That's just like if they had gotten into romantic relationships, without the relationship but still the results. With the way fandom has been pushing it, it's no different to the concepts displayed in nuclear family propaganda, only biological relation aside. And that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable for how it replicates it otherwise, it's just the nuclear family structure disguised at that point and can have the same effect.

I like how the series has a big focus on friendship instead. Romance is very rare and small in this series focus and there was very little focus on family before Frontiers too. It was always the power of friendship overall. You can be friends without being anything like a family and it's just meaningful, in case everyone is forgetting. What was once the people saying "stop shipping everyone with each other, not everything is romantic" are now like "ALL the characters are all/should be family, everything is familial". And I dunno man, I kinda just like them all being friends like they're literally meant to be for the most part lol

Of course people can do what they want in fanon but the insistence that its all literally canon or the push for it to be played that way in it if they acknowledge it isn't feels bad with all this in mind. But again that's just my opinion and I'm not demanding everyone to cater to me with their fanon creations. I'm not focusing or hating on specific creations, just sharing my thoughts on the general concept and dynamic that I'm free to dislike just like anyone is free to like, and talking about why I wouldn't want fandom's take on all of it to ever become canon to the series. Some that get mad may twist my words either way but just wanna clarify anyway.

But yeah, tldr the way people are really just using the idea of found family and characters having any kind of familial esque dynamic between each other as a way to replicate nuclear family structures exist in them because they think it's "better and more interesting" that way is starting to make me really uncomfortable and dislike it for how it simplifies and waters down the dynamics to force them into that box. I know there are plenty of good ways to present and explore such dynamics without it going that route, it's just that this has become so much more common instead and people get mad if you're discomforted or not a fan for any reasons and it sucks.

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 2, EPISODE 10

 We open in the hallways of a private school. A blonde teenage girl in a uniform struts down the hall with her nose in the air and a look of smug superiority on her face. At her locker, a mousy, plain, brown-haired, and timid Emma Frost is terrified of her as she approaches. 

Emma awkwardly greets the girl, whose name is Matilda, unable to even look her in the eye out of fear. Matilda mocks her for being such a little wimp. She’s an embarrassment to girls everywhere. 

MATILDA: “And with how you looked after getting your report card just now, you must be a disappointment to your family too.” Emma hugs herself, ashamed of her failures. “All the money in the world can’t make a loser anything else I suppose.” 

As Emma whimpers, we cut between a rapid montage of Emma swallowing pills, drinking, and snorting substances. 

Still in the past, at Emma’s family’s old estate, Emma sheepishly tries to sell her B-filled report card to her father as a good thing, only to get berated for her continued failure, nothing like Adrienne. As she’s on the verge of tears, she looks to her mother for support. Her mother sees her looking her way but only sips her whiskey. 

Emma runs off in tears to her room…where she shrieks as she finds all of her stuff broken. 

Behind her, a pre-teen girl snickers. 

CORDELIA: “That’s for telling Mother and Father I snuck out last month.” 

As Cordelia laughs and walks off, Emma falls to her knees, hugging her torn-up stuffed bunny. 

Another rapid montage occurs, with a glassy-eyed Emma continuing to spiral via drugs and liquor. 

A few years following her high school days, Emma sits in a dressing room, having just finished a performance as a stripper. As she’s getting ready to go home, Sebastian Shaw barges in. Before Emma can ask what he’s doing, he grabs her and smashes her face into the mirror, screaming at her for daring to invade his mind with her illusion. 

Emma, no longer a child, doesn’t cower, but instead forces him to let go and step back with a psychic attack. This is exactly what Shaw hoped would happen. He got the feeling she was extremely powerful when she was in his head. At his side, he could show her how to use her abilities for so much more than simple survival. And together, they could take over the whole world. 

Emma’s eyes fill with uncertainty and fear before she smirks evilly. 

Hard cut to a Hellfire headquarters, where Emma and Shaw, nearly naked, laugh as they sip their drinks and watch Hellfire soldiers chase down a completely stripped Matilda with machine guns. 

In the present, Emma tosses an unconscious Storm onto the floor of a Hellfire base, surrounded by 18th-century regalia. She declares that with her finally dealt with, they can proceed with destroying the rest of the X-Men, transforming Cyclops into the perfect White King, and taking control of the entire next generation of Mutants. 

She’s joined in cheers of victory by Shaw, Selene Gallio, and Emmanuel Da Costa. 

At the Grindstone, Luna is chatting on the phone, twirling her hair. The friend group is seated in a booth, and Brian and Cessily are role-playing as her and who she's talking to, acting over-the-top lovey dovey. 

Sooraya tells them to knock it off. She's happy Karma found a girlfriend. 

JULIAN: "She deserves better than some Flatscan."

NORIKO: "Yeah, Luna's a pretty chill boss, but he's right."

Sofia narrows her eyes at the two. 

SOFIA: "Did you two find Magneto and take a class with him when we weren't looking?"

JULIAN: "Something like that. So, what are we doing this weekend?"

Cessily and Roxy gleefully remind everyone that they're gonna be out of town filming the Washingtons' music video, Noriko is working, and Sooraya is going to be getting ready for finals so she doesn't need to cram in a few weeks, while also helping Brian, and Laura was assigned a solo mission by Ms. Frost. 

Julian and Sofia turn to each other as they realize they're the only ones without plans. Julian shoots her a small, boyish smile, with her turning her head away, blushing. Noriko cringes, only to snap at Laura as she notices her staring at her, asking what she's looking at. Laura shrugs. 

Back in the Hellfire base, Emma informs her companions of the next steps, as the audience sees them play out. Storm was the biggest hurdle she needed to overcome because she's more powerful than her, she didn't trust her, and she has the strongest psychic defenses she's ever seen in a non-telepath. The rest will fall much more easily. 

Iceman's psychic defense is substantial thanks to Xavier's personal tutoring, but the poor fool actually trusts her. At a club, Emma casually subdues Bobby as they drink together. 

Wolverine's only advantage is that her dear students will worry about her if she goes missing. Hence why she's told Laura, who she knows will tell her friends, that she's been assigned a mission along with Storm and the other easy targets. Emma knocks Laura out as she heads into one of the X-Men's jets. 

EMMANUEL: "What of my son?"

SELENE: "And the demon. Perhaps I can play?"

Emma shakes her head. She assures Emmanuel that she can handle Sunspot, and that they'll help him see the light in due time. Roberto may be cautious, but Cable hardly spent time on training his mind. He goes down without any trickery on Emma's part. 

As for Magik, her mind is strange and difficult to play with…but a subtle suggestion to stay in Limbo for a little while should be doable. By the time she returns, she'll be too late. As Magik passes by Emma in the hall, her eyes glow blue, and she opens up a stepping disc, returning her to her domain. 

EMMA "Besides our future King, that only leaves one of them remaining. The only one besides Storm who could potentially ruin everything for us."

Emma takes a dagger, and stabs a picture of Kitty belching with it. 

At the Institute, Kitty, with Lockheed on her shoulder, barges into Scott's office, phasing through the door, and asking what the deal is with this mission Storm, Iceman, Magik, Sunspot, and Wolverine were sent on. Why isn't she with them, why aren't he and Emma, and why hasn't she seen Ororo since the France trip? 

SCOTT, sipping coffee from a "World's Most Acceptable Boyfriend" mug: "Good morning to you too."

Kitty and Lockheed both stick their tongues out at him. 

Scott explains that they received word from Wakanda that Shadow King was back. He's always been a personal matter for Storm, so he let her take a team to deal with him. She just thought after dumping the school on her, she could use the rest. 

Kitty doesn't appear convinced, but Cyclops asks her to just trust him again. Things have finally been put to bed between him, Storm, and Emma. He wants things back to normal for them too. 

Kitty glares at him with narrowed eyes. 

KITTY: "We'll see."

Kitty walks out, telling Lockheed he can poop in the Blackbird if Scott's lying. Once she's gone, Scott gets a headache. 

SCOTT: "Wait…when did Ororo and I last talk? Didn't we–"

Scott's train of thought is interrupted as Emma enters the office.

Emma: "Not another headache." Emma makes her way over to Scott and sits in his lap. "I'll have someone fetch an aspirin. Let me in, and I'll soothe what I can while we wait."

Scott pulls her into his arms, groaning as he thanks her. Jean used to do this all the time for him too. As Scott allows Emma free reign in his head, Emma sneers. Scott's eyes glow blue.

SCOTT: "Actually…this is much better than when Jean did it."

Emma: "I know, Darling. I know."

In the school’s dance studio, the Cuckoos are performing a routine. Dazzler watches and assesses them while nodding and sucking on a lollipop. As the Cuckoos finish, Dazzler shuts of the music and gathers the girls around. 

Allison has to admit, she’s a little surprised. She thought the bad attitudes they have were compensating for a lack of talent, but they’ve actually got something. 

ALLISON: “Poor taste in music aside, but we can work on that. Other things I noticed…” 

While Dazzler gives critiques of their performance, the Cuckoos ignore her, speaking with each other telepathically. 

PHOEBE: “She’s insulting us.” 

IRMA: “She just told us we did well! DAZZLER thinks we have talent!” 

ESME: “Then she shouldn’t be speaking like this right now. We should make her forget how to speak.” 

CELESTE: “Sophie?” 

Sophie narrows her eyes at Dazzler, but rather than do anything to her, she lights up her own eyes, as well the those of her sisters. They postures all become more at ease. 

Dazzler finishes speaking. 

DAZZLER: “Any questions or are you ready to run it again?” 

The Cuckoos smile politely as Allison. 

SOPHIE: “Thank you, Ms. Blaire. We’re ready.” 

Later, out in the hall, the Cuckoos are quietly excited with what just happened. They actually kept a lid on their cruel impulse. Dazzler definitely didn’t like them at the start, but she actually seems to be warming up to them. 

CELESTE: “Ms. Frost will be thrilled.” 

SOPHIE: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We still have a lot of work to do. But maybe we are ready to try setting things right.” 

That night, Kitty is in her classroom grading papers. She sighs in disappointment as she has to give Noriko another D. She knows she can do better. 

“Never had to worry about that with you, kiddo!” 

Kitty jolts up to her feet. 

KITTY: “Daddy?!” 

“Not just the book stuff,” she hears Logan’s voice say. “You were a natural at everything.” 

KITTY: “Logan?” 

Kitty tenses up, but quickly exhales. 

KITTY: “Whoever’s messing with me…whatever supervillian is trying to use my dad to get to me, you better hope I’m not the one who finds you.” 

Kitty rushes out of the classroom, contacting Cyclops on her communicator. She wants his location so they can rendezvous. Someone’s messing with her mind. Maybe Shadow King. Emma needs to run a scan of everyone in the school immediately. 

There’s no response. 

KITTY: “Oh come on, Scott. Please tell me you aren’t in b…” 

Kitty trails off as she screams. As she enters the common area, she finds Dani, Xuan, Kurt, Hank, Jean-Paul, Allison, and James dead and hung on meathooks. 

Kitty stumbles back and her heart pounds. She reminds herself that there’s nothing to be afraid of. She’s seen this kind of thing a million times. None of this is real. 

“Oh, I’m afraid this is very, very real, Kitten.” 

Kitty spins around and sees Emma, who appears most pleased with her handiwork. 

Kitty clenches her face and her fists. 

KITTY: “I may not trust Emma, but you have to be pretty dumb to think I believe she’d ever do THIS.” 

Emma proceeds to blast Kitty into the wall with her psychic lightning. As Kitty’s eyes fill with panic, she phases through the floor. 

EMMA: “Oh. How fun. A chase.” 

In Sofia’s room, she’s lying in bed with a notebook and pen in hand. On the pages, there are countless potential nicknames for her followers she’s crossed and scribbled out. There are also various swears written above, below, and next to them, in both English and Spanish. This might be getting to her a little bit. 

SOFIA: “I will figure this out if it is the last thing I do.” 

Her eyes glow blue, prompting her to put the book down and leave her room. 

Julian is in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, and lamenting the fact he’s running out of his skin cream and is going to have to start buying cheap shit. He should ask Ashida where she shops. 

His eyes flash blue, and he leaves the bathroom without any of his things. 

Sofia and Julian end up wandering over to the same spot in the hallways, where their senses return to them. The two are both flustered to see each other and unsure of how they got here. 

JULIAN: “Wait…I know which hall this is.” 

The door they’re at opens, revealing Phoebe, who welcomes them both and asks them both to come inside. 

SOFIA, pissed: “What do you think you are doing?” 

JULIAN: “Taking control of us AGAIN? What is your damage?”

PHOEBE: “We know that you hate us. We understand why. But we wish to make amends. And we knew you wouldn’t speak to us if we came to you.” 

Julian and Sofia exchange an uneasy glance, unsure if they should trust this. 

Through the dark hallways, Emma stalks Kitty, her heels clacking against the wooden floor. 

EMMA, telepathically: “You aren’t going to find help, Kitten. The teachers are dead, Cyclops is elsewhere, and the rest of the X-Men have already been taken care of. Unless you plan on endangering our dear students, you’re all alone. Don’t fear for the children though. This is for them. Under Hellfire’s guidance, they’ll all have bright futures to look forward to.” 

Emma stops in front of a mirror and dons a slasher smile. 

EMMA: “Did you really think you could hide from me?” 

Emma is met with a punch to the face as Kitty phases her fist through the mirror and breaks Emma’s nose. 

EMMA, stumbling back: “Why you–! Do you have any idea how much that nose bloody cost?!” 

From beneath her, Kitty comes up through the floor and kicks her upside the chin. Kitty’s face is red and she’s sobbing in rage. 

KITTY: “WHY?!” 

EMMA, wiping up the blood on her face: “Oh, please. Don’t act so betrayed. This was the plan all along. You X-Men and your ineffective methods will never cost our people their lives again.” 

Emma tells her it’s not too late for her though. Scott will be ruling their new Mutant-run world alongside her, but they’re also planning on turning Laura, Bobby, and Beto to their side as well. And if Kitty joined them, Magik would follow suit. 

EMMA: “Come. Be what you were born to be.” 

There’s a moment of tension, but not an ounce of consideration from Kitty. Kitty rushes Emma. Emma tries to put her down with a psychic attack, but all she can do is give Kitty an equally bloody nose. She’s forced to send her flying with telekinesis. 

EMMA: “You’re out for blood, aren’t you? Good. You touch my chest or head and I’m dead. Go ahead. Keep trying.” 

Kitty, realizing there’s no point in continuing to try upfront assaults, slams her hands down on the floor and makes the parts directly underneath the two of them immaterial, causing them both to fall through it. 

In mid-air, Kitty runs on the air toward Emma, who’s been caught off guard. Emma still manages to react in time, however, tossing her away again, but Kitty pushes down against the air so she can hit the floor a split-second faster and phase them both through it. 

Emma is once again forced to hesitate, and this time Kitty launches herself off the air flinging herself at her opponent. But once again, she fails to reach Emma as she unleashes psychic lightning from her whole body, blasting up their surroundings, as well as Kitty. Kitty, slowed down by her injuries, isn’t able to phase the two into the basement before Emma goes into her diamond form and smashes the floor, this time catching Kitty by surprise. Emma catches them both in mid-air and takes the opportunity to once again strike as Kitty telepathically. 

Kitty screams in agony as blood drips out of her nose and eyes. 

EMMA: “Last chance.” 

KITTY: “F…ff..fuck you.” 

Kitty utilizes the Red Triangle to send Emma’s attack back at her. They both fall to the floor, but Emma lands on her side, while Kitty, although her knees are buckled, lands on her feet. Kitty approaches her. 

EMMA, her eyes practically mocking Kitty: “Go ahead…do it.” 

Kitty looks down out at her with burning hatred. 

KITTY: "You are everything that is evil and wrong. I won't let you hurt anyone else…ever again!"

Kitty sticks her hand inside Emma’s chest, but before she can do anything, her eyes glow blue. She harmlessly phases out of Emma and falls unconscious. 

Emma pants in relief as she stands up. Kitty almost had her. But the mind can’t fully defend itself while consumed with rage. 

Shaw enters the basement. 

SHAW, condescendingly: “I thought you were going to require some assistance.” 

EMMA: “Oh, do shut it.” 

In the Cuckoos’ room, the rest of the sisters thank Julian and Sofia for giving them a chance. Sofia asks why they decided to do this so late, with Sophie answering that they didn’t wish to speak to the rest of their friends yet. 

Sophie further explains that, when the sisters first arrived at the school, Ms. Frost had intended to introduce them to Hellion and Wind Dancer. She thought the best should mingle with the best. But they had their own plan. That failed. And they made another plan. That failed too.

SOPHIE: “We’re tired of failing.”

ESME: “It isn’t what Cuckoos do.” 

PHOEBE: “If you’re willing to give us one more chance, we’d like to start over.” 

CELESTE: “Do what we should have done from the start.” 

Julian can’t believe them. After how they tormented them, their friends, and the entire school, they think they can just start clean? 

SOFIA: “I believe in second chances. If you all want to turn over a new leaf, and this isn’t just a trick, I am rooting for you. But I’m not sure what you want from us is possible.” 

Irma promises them this is no trick. 

IRMA: “We only wish to stop being alone together.” 

ESME: “To be loved, not hated.” 

That last part naturally connects with Julian, whose disgusted sneer morphs into a look of frustration. 

JULIAN: “Well…maybe we could–” 

Julian is cut off as the Cuckoos scream. He and Sofia ask what’s wrong as the five-in-one pant. 

PHOEBE: “Something on the astral plane.” 

SOPHIE: “Something…is very wrong with Ms. Frost.” 

A limo drives through the city underneath the sky. Scott sits in the back. A peaceful, but joyful smile is on his face as he scrolls through pictures of him and Emma having fun on their France trip. As he flips through, however, he gets a headache, and he starts seeing things. 

When he looks at a picture of the two of them eating in a fancy restaurant, he imagines the two of them back there, only he makes Emma laugh by blasting away the waitress after she doesn’t get what she ordered. When he looks at a picture of the two of them by the water, he imagines Emma making him laugh by mind-controlling someone and making them jump in the river, and whispering in his ear that she made him forget how to swim. Finally, as he looks at a picture of the two of them on the helicopter ride he enjoyed so much, he imagines holding Emma in his arms and telling her that, one day, this will be theirs. 

EMMA: “That goes for the whole world, Darling.” 

As Scott experiences each of these flashes, his outfits become more and more white. 

Scott’s head is throbbing as the car stops. 

SCOTT: “Wait…where am I right now?” 

Bumpkin opens the backseat door and tells Mr. Summers he can go inside. Ms. Frost will be meeting him here soon. 

BUMPKIN: “I hope you have any idea what Ms. Frost is doing in a place like this.” 

Scott steps out of the car. The audience doesn’t get a clear look at where he is. 

SCOTT: “What the Hell?” 

Back at the school, Emma is on her way out, telekinetically carrying Kitty’s unconscious body behind her. Honestly, a part of her is going to miss this place. It was fun while it lasted. 

Emma psychically opens the door, but before she can step through it…

HELLION: “Ms. Frost! The Cuckoos felt something was wrong with you. Are you okay?” 

SOFIA: “What happened to Ms. Pryde?” 

CUCKOOS: “And to your nose?” 

Emma places Kitty down and turns to face the eight children who just rushed into the foyer.

EMMA, with a large, bright smile: “Just the bright, incredible children I was hoping to see. Come along. I shall explain on the way.” 

HELLION: “On the way where?” 

Emma asks if Julian and Sofia remember that little scheme they helped her with last semester. Well, that was only one part of a much greater plan. She’s taken her place back as the White Queen of Hellfire, the world will soon be hers, and she’d very much like her favorite students to join her. 

EMMA: “All of your friends and classmates will get to be a part of the dominant species on Earth. And the eight of you will enjoy lives of unimaginable wealth and power. I promise this is no trick, no game.” 

The Cuckoos seem to be tempted and Julian is just confused, while Sofia…

SOFIA: “Is that what happened to Ms. Pryde? You made that offer to her and she said no?” 

EMMA: “Yes it is. You know that I always wanted to teach her as I do you. And I know that you’re all much smarter than–” 

Emma is cut off as Sofia raises her hands and blows Emma back into the wall with a fearsome wind. Julian is shocked, in disbelief that she’d attack Ms. Frost, but Sofia reminds him that they’re X-Men in training, and she just admitted to being a supervillain; they HAVE to stop her. Emma looks at Julian with judgmental eyes, hoping he’ll see reason, but he just lights up with TK energy, still shoulder to shoulder with Sofia. 

JULIAN: “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t believe one word out of your mouth. This isn’t you.” 

Emma sighs in annoyance. 

EMMA: “Girls, please take them out.” 

The Cuckoos glare at Emma. 

SOPHIE: “Sorry, Ms. Frost.” 

PHOEBE: “We’re following your previous advice.” 

CELESTE: “Being better.” 

Julian and Sofia’s eyes turn blue and stay that way. The Cuckoos tell them they aren’t powerful enough to harm Emma psychically, but they can shield the two of them from her telepathy so they have a chance here. 

EMMA, shaking her: “Foolish children. Please do not force me to harm you. This isn’t a fight you can–” 

Julian telekinetically smashes a vass into Emma’s head. Emma seethes, going into her diamond form. 

EMMA: “Fine. Disciplinary measures are necessary. Prepare yourselves, my students! Class is in session.” 

In a dark, unknown location, Iceman’s eyes flicker open. Realizing he’s shackled against a wall by his wrists and ankles, he tries to go into his ice form, but his powers don’t work. He tries again in frustration but to no avail. 

“Don’t bother.” 

Bobby sighs, happy to at least hear Ororo’s voice, and hoping she has some idea what’s going on here. Storm asks Bobby if he’s dressed. Bobby looks down at himself and realizes that, no, he is not. 

BOBBY: “Hellfire?” 

STORM: “Emma."

Bobby asks what she’s talking about, with Ororo explaining how Emma tricked her into lowering her guard back in France. Before she was knocked out, Emma took the time to mock her. She’s been planning on betraying them from the start. He doesn’t believe that, as he’s been…

BOBBY: “Well, not friends, but not enemies either…” 

…with Emma longer than the rest of them, but Storm is sick and tired of people trying to excuse her, even now. 

Bobby turns his head and sees that, along with him and Storm, Wolverine and Sunspot have also been captured and stripped, but are still unconscious. Bobby casts his head down. He doesn’t get it. She went out of her way to recruit him. Why would she power up the team if this was her endgame? 

Storm doesn’t know and she doesn’t care. She’s putting her full faith in Kitty, and in Scott finally opening his eyes, and trusting the two of them will stop whatever she’s doing. Then, after she herself has had the chance to beat Emma within an inch of her life, and seen to it that she will never trouble them again, they need to start over. 

STORM: “Sunspot and Wolverine have done well…but we must return to what worked best.” 

She wants Laura to go back to being a normal student, Sunspot to be allowed to do whatever he wants, just not with the X-Men, and the remaining team to find a way to deal with “Magik” permanently. 

STORM: “There is so much darkness for us to purge”. 

And once that’s done, the two of them, Scott, and Kitty can rebuild the X-Men properly. No “New X-Men”. Just their family. 

STORM: “I know this will be difficult, Robert. For all of us. But for the good of everyone, it must be done.” 

Bobby is hesitant, but quickly nods in affirmation. 

Back in the school, Hellion and Wind Dancer float themselves and the Cuckoos into the air to keep them out of Emma’s reach, knowing that she can’t use any of her other powers while she’s in her diamond form. But with the strength Emma possesses in her diamond form, she’s able to simply kick herself off the ground. Hellion creates a shield, but it’s easily shattered by Emma. He’s only saved from her fist himself thanks to Sofia blowing him away. 

Emma, knowing that her other non-telepathic abilities can’t keep up with the children, elects to not catch herself in mid-air, instead choosing to fall back to the floor. 

SOFIA: “If you were a villain all along, why did you work so hard to train us as X-Men?” 

EMMA: “I was TRYING to open your eyes to how useless they are.” 

In the corner, Shaw, now joined by Selene, snickers. 

SHAW: “That’s not a very good answer.” 

SELENE: “What WERE you thinking?” 

EMMA, turning her head to them: “Silence!” 

Sofia and Julian exchange a confused glance. 

Frustrated and off-kilter, Emma sets her eyes on the Cuckoos. 

EMMA: “Sorry, girls.” 

Emma throws herself at their airborne Cuckoos. Julian drops them down to the floor before Emma can reach them, while Sofia creates a wind in mid-air to keep Emma from returning to the ground. At the same time, Julian directs all the energy he has stored up into his hands. If she goes back into her human form for even a second to use her telekinesis to escape, Julian will take her out. 

Emma glares at the two, as well as the terrified Cuckoos below her, before exiting her diamond form and NOT using her telekinesis. 

EMMA: “Don’t shoot!” Emma wells up. “Please. Let me explain. Honestly.” 

SOFIA: “Don’t believe her, Julian.” 

JULIAN: “Obviously. But there has to be something we don’t know. None of this makes sense.” 

Emma sniffles. When they went to Manchester with her, they helped her stop her older sister, Adrienne. But she isn’t her only sister. She has a younger one. One far more chaotic. She didn’t take her for much of a planner but now…now…

JULIAN: “Now what?” 

EMMA: “Now…” Emma grins evilly. “She’s in Hawaii.” 

Emma breaks out of Sofia’s winds. Julian, getting really sick of this, blasts at her, but that’s exactly what Emma was counting on, once again taking using a split-second advantage, and telekinetically tossing the Cuckoos into the line of fire, blasting them not into a wall, but through one. 

Julian and Sofia both scream in horror, unsure if they’re even still alive, but their fear isn’t given the chance to last long. With the Cuckoos out of play, it only takes a thought for Emma to put Hellion and Wind Dancer to sleep. 

Emma descends to the floor and clutches her heart. She hadn’t planned on two consecutive fights. 

EMMA: “Rest easy, children. You shall wake up to a brighter tomorrow.” 

Emma looks down at Julian and Sofia. Her expression softens. Guilt overwhelms her. 

EMMA: “Goddess…what am I doing?” 

Emma hangs her head, but before she can think on this any longer, Shaw puts his arm around her shoulders. 

SHAW: “The only thing you’re good for.” 

Emma is shaken but steels herself. Shaw is right. 

Leaving the kids behind, she picks Kitty up, and the Hellfire members make their way out. 

In the luxurious Hellfire base, Emmanuel plays the piano. Emma, with Shaw and Selene behind her, enters and tosses Kitty down on the floor, having already equipped her with depowering handcuffs on the car ride there. 

“Emma!” 

Emma proudly smiles to greet her guest of honor. 

EMMA: “There’s my king.” Emma saunters over to Scott and places a gloved hand on his face. “I hope the servants have accommodated you well.” 

SCOTT: “Serv…?” Scott pulls Emma off of him. “What is going on here? What did you do to Kitty?” 

Emma casually dismisses his concern and says she’s alive. What matters is how he’s feeling. 

SCOTT: “Like I need you to answer my other question.”

Emma is annoyed. She couldn’t WASTE her opportunity to take out Storm, but her work with Scott wasn’t finished yet.

SELENE: “I warned you.” 

EMMA: “And now, I have to rush things. Believe me when I say this is for your own good.” 

Emma psy-blasts Scott, filling his head with thoughts of not just what she’d put in there during the car ride here, but thoughts of leading a powerful mutant army across the globe, interspersed with sexual thoughts of the two of them. 

Scott falls to his knees as he tries to resist. Emma tells him not to fight it. With Hellfire’s help, she is going to do what she’s dreamed of since she was 22 and take over the world. And the only thing she wants more is for the only man to ever be her equal to be right alongside her. Become her White King and rule at her side. 

Scott’s breath weakens and his muscles shake as Emma grins. But Scott grits his teeth. And the visuals in his head are replaced with ones the audience has seen before. Emma walking into his office on that first day of school, bringing her back onto the team after he fired her, when they first started talking for real, killing Stryker and saving her from the Sentinels, their first time sleeping together, executing Nova together, becoming a couple, the highs and lows of their mission in China, the gifts they’ve gotten one another and all the genuine fun they had in France, and, finally, something we haven’t seen before: Emma shielding Scott on Genosha from the sentinels, from Scott’s POV. 

Cyclops breaks free from Emma’s attack and blasts her back. 

Emma is outraged that Scott would strike her. 

EMMA: “Can’t you see everything I’m offering you? The X-Men are gone, defeated all by my hand. Right here is where you belong!” 

SCOTT: “Right here?! Right HERE?!” 

EMMA: “Yes! What is the problem?! Would you like to move to a different room? For Shaw and our other partners to leave and give us some privacy? Would that make you feel better?!” 

Scott’s face falls. He isn’t angry. He’s scared. 

SCOTT: “Emma…where do you think we are right now?” 

The audience stops seeing this room from Emma’s perspective and sees it for what it is, as the piano music abruptly cuts off, replaced with nothing. Scott and Emma aren’t in a Hellfire base. Shaw, Selene, and Emmanuel aren’t even really there. 

The two are in a defunct factory. One which, based on what’s all around them, used to produce sentinels. 

Emma’s smile and confidence disappear in a flash. 

EMMA: “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Scott says he’ll explain then. He doesn’t know what’s going on with her, but right now, they’re in an old sentinel factory. He’d questioned why Emma would have her driver bring him here, but she doesn’t realize what she did, does she? 

Scott slowly approaches Emma, but she screams at him to say back. She’ll crush his mind like a bug if he takes one step closer. 

Scott stops for a moment. And then takes a step. Emma roars as blasts him with psychic lightning, tormenting him physically as she also assaults him mentally, reducing him to a curled-up ball on the floor. 

EMMA: “I know exactly what I’m doing! I know exactly where we are! And I know exactly what needs to happen here! I am the White Queen! Enemy of the X-Men! Taker and destroyer of countless lives! I am the evil villain of the story, and you the bold, noble hero. Yes! We’re in a sentinel factory! But not the one we destroyed together, no, no. This one’s close to home. This is one I helped fund. One of several! Because someone as heartless as me only cared about the money to be made from it. No matter how many of my own people they murdered.” 

Emma halts her attacks. Scott vomits up blood and pants, unable to get off the floor. 

EMMA: “Here’s the situation! I’ll explain it like one of your training scenarios. Your X-Men have been captured by the White Queen. You stand alone. If you fail to save your team, they will all be killed, and the world will be crushed under her heel. What do you do?!” 

Scott tries and fails to speak, coughing up more blood. Emma gives him a boost by standing him up. 

SCOTT: “D…do…” 

EMMA: “Either skip the talking or spit it out!” Emma sneers. “Better yet, I’ll make this easy for you.” 

Both of their eyes glow, as Emma travels inside Scott’s mind. 

Inside Scott’s mindscape, the two stand in an endless red void where faded memories swim across the non-existent walls. 

EMMA: “Tell me, Cyclops. Tell me what you do.” 

Scott takes a breath. 

SCOTT: “See that’s a tough one. Because I don’t know if you want me to kill you or kiss you.” 

EMMA: “What?” 

SCOTT: “One second, you’re acting like you want me to be your “king”. The next you’re trying to make me fight you. Either take us out of my mind and let me see yours or talk to me. Please! Talk to me.” 

Emma finally snaps completely. Of course he can’t understand her! No one ever has! That’s by design. She is a diamond, by definition her own best friend, and cold, and hard, and sharp. 

EMMA: “I am a monster, Scott Summers! That’s why I’ve hurt and killed so many, and relished every moment of their pain! That’s why you’re the only man, only person, ever to be stupid and naive enough to care about me! That’s why every man, woman, and child I try to protect always dies!” 

And just like that, Scott puts it all together. 

The mindscape fades away. In the real world, Scott is on his feet, breathing normally again, while Emma is sobbing on her knees. 

EMMA: “All I’m good for is being the villain. And if you, the remarkable idiot I don’t deserve won’t be one with me…then just keep me from ever hurting anyone again.” 

Emma apologizes. To the Hellions. To Synch and Skin. To the Genoshans. 

EMMA: “I will burn with you all soon.” 

Scott bends down. His visor lights up. Emma prepares for the sweet release of death. But it doesn’t come. Cyclops removes his visor, but no lasers come out. He just looks Emma in the eyes. 

Emma is confused, before realizing she’s an idiot too. Scott’s as well trained mentally as Storm. They’re still in his mindscape. 

Scott tells Emma that he’s sorry…

SCOTT: “...and before you can question, “What the bloody Hell are you talking about?”...

…he explains that he’s sorry he wasn’t able to earn her trust to a point she felt like she could talk to him about these thoughts, whenever they stated. Because if she had, he would have told her he sometimes thinks about himself like this. 

SCOTT: “I’ve never been a “villain”. but we’ve both been people we don’t want to be anymore. Both sculped by people who only saw us one way…ones who hurt us. Both carrying the guilt of 16 million deaths on our shoulders. Both responsible for the deaths of all the people who’ve looked to us for guidance. Who loved us. Who we loved. I look at myself in the mirror every day, and I’m not questioning who I’m looking at, I’m questioning why I should even keep going after so many failures. And that’s what amazes me such about about you. Even after all those failures, everyone you’ve lost…you still keep fighting.” Illusions of Julian and Sofia, followed by the rest of the squad, and then the entire student body surround them. “For them..” 

Emma tears up as the tiniest hint of a smile breaks through her rage and desperation. 

Whatever you’ve done in the past, whatever you blame yourself for, however you see yourself…I don’t care. You are the most narcissistic woman I’ve ever met, you look down on everyone around you, you can be needlessly cruel, you refuse to be open about anything…and there is no one I’d rather have at my side, defending our people. Maybe I am an idiot for this, but I love you, Emma Frost.” 

Emma shrieks at the top of her lungs, letting it all out, as she becomes a sobbing mess in Scott’s arms. The mindscape is shattered, as the two hold each other in the real world. 

EMMA, barely audible: “I love you too.” 

Scott holds her tight as he kisses the crown of her head, and presses their heads together. 

Morning finally arrives at the school. It’s shown that the teachers were never actually killed, that much was an illusion, and they’re all now just waking up. A grumpy Magik pops into Dani and Karma’s room from Limbo to shout about killing whoever messed with her mind. With somber expressions, Storm, Kitty, Sunspot, Iceman, and Wolverine sit in the teacher’s lounge sipping coffee and tea. Laura ends up spitting hers out. She forgot she hates coffee. That’s enough to make everyone laugh a little…except Storm. 

In the med bay, Julian and Sofia wake up. Beast welcomes them back, but also calls out Julian, asking him to PLEASE stop ending up here; it feels like it’s every other week. 

As Beast departs, Julian and Sofia turn to each other.  Everything seems normal. Was it all just a dream? 

“I wish it were that simple.” 

Julian and Sofia tremble as Emma enters. As they do, they notice the five-in-one are also in the med-bay, and haven’t woken up. Julian panics over if they’re okay, but Emma puts his fears at ease. Yes, his attack very easily could have crushed every bone in their bodies, but Emma put a psychic field in between them and the TK blast, so they were merely concussed. 

SOFIA: “You protected them? So WAS this another of your schemes? Or were you possessed?” 

JULIAN: “It had to have been something, right?” 

 Emma sighs, and mentally projects the cliffnotes of what’s gone on into their heads. Julian and Sofia are speechless. 

EMMA: “I am not well. And there are no words to express how sorry I am for harming all of you. Cyclops and I have called for Professor Xavier. He will be arriving soon to me ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Emma tells them that she will do anything she can to make this up to them. And that she completely understands if they would like her to step down as their co-mentor. 

EMMA: “I have run away from my students after hurting them before. I will not do that again. But I will walk if it’s what you want.” 

Julian is the first to speak. He doesn’t get anything about all that mental health crap, but it sounds to him like she brainwashed herself. She wasn’t herself, and that means there’s nothing to be angry about. Besides, she still took out the X-Men while not even in her right mind. Why wouldn’t he want to learn from someone who can do that? 

Emma is silently pleased her boy still trusts her. As for Sofia, she insists that Julian is wrong. Everything Ms. Frost did was done by at least a real part of her, no matter how much it was hurting. 

SOFIA: “But I remember what it’s like to almost lose yourself. What’s important is that you stop before it’s too late.” She looks lovingly at Julian. “Or that you have people who care enough to stop you.” 

Emma thanks the two for their forgiveness. And, if that’s all the case, then she hopes they won’t mind hearing how proud she is of all of them. 

EMMA, eyes on the Cuckoos: “The Cuckoos stepped up. They did all they could to assist you in stopping me. I wasn’t sure my lessons with them were bearing fruit.” 

EMMA, eyes on Julian: “Hellion, your loyalty and belief in me did not go unnoticed. Nor your bravery in being willing to fight in spite of it.” Julian grins as Emma turns to Sofia. “And you, Wind Dancer, impressed me most of all. You assessed the situation, you struck first, and you brought the others in line with you, despite knowing you stood no chance. That sounds like a future X-Man to me.” Sofia grins as well. 

Emma thanks them once again, and apologizes once more as well, and tells them to come see her when they’re feeling up to it; their lessons are about to get much, much more difficult. 

Once she’s gone…

JULIAN: “So, um…”

SOFIA: “No, me first. I just wanted to say that we–um…

JULIAN: “Maybe I should just say that I–” 

The two laugh together. 

Julian telekinetically moves one of his hands right over to Sofia’s so she doesn’t need to strain herself by moving. 

JULIAN: “Wanna catch a movie this weekend?” 

SOFIA, taking his head: “That sounds nice. But I guess I’m the one paying now.” 

JULIAN, cringing: “Ashida told you.” 

Sofia laughs again. And Julian can’t help but laugh with her. 

In Scott’s office, the 8 X-Men are gathered. Everyone has been made aware of the situation. And now, they must decide what to do about it. 

Cyclops knows everyone has to be angry. Rightfully so. They were hurt. Physically. Mentally. Trust was broken. And that can’t always be rebuilt. 

Storm looks over at Emma with a smug, victorious grin. Finally, she will be forced to face consequences. 

CYCLOPS: “Some of you already hated Emma. Some of you may hate her now. And as leader of the X-Men, all I can say is…I don’t care.” 

Storm’s face falls as Emma grins back at her. 

No matter what any of them have to say, he and Emma are partners. She isn’t going anywhere. 

Ororo forces Scott’s desk out of her way with her winds. She walks right up to him. Her expression becomes more gentle. 

ORORO: “Please do not do this, Scott. I can pity what she went through, but that does not change that what we faced is who she still is on the inside. Who she will always be. If you care for her so deeply, I cannot stop you. But the time to remove this cancer from the X-Men is now. Before she dooms us all.” She touches Scott’s face. “Please, brother.” 

Scott looks at Ororo’s heartfelt eyes, but all he can do is apologize. 

SCOTT: “I’m sorry, my sister. No.” 

Storm, welling up but holding her emotions back, breathes. 

STORM: “Then my time here is done.” 

Kitty, Bobby, and Roberto are shocked (Laura and Magik not so much). Ororo tried to make this allyship work, but her mistrust has only proven right again and again and again, and yet Scott remains blind. 

STORM: “Long ago, I challenged you for command of the X-Men. Even without my gifts, I soundly defeated you.” Scott hangs his head in shame. “We will not do battle again. Because this isn’t just about our family. It’s about all the children we look after. Simply striking you both down and taking your place? That will not work.” She glares at Emma. “Especially not when our future X-Men are all loyal to her.” Emma, enjoying this, gives a mocking shrug. “There are other Mutants who need me. If you need me, you will find me among them.” 

Cyclops, stuttering, says he doesn’t accept that resignation, but Storm says his words are no longer of meaning to her. Storm turns around and exits the office. A distressed Scott falls into his chair, while Kitty and Bobby chase after Ororo. 

Emma put her arms around Scott’s shoulders. Scott puts his hand on hers. Roberto and Laura aren’t sure what to say. Magik found this all hilarious. These guys are great. 

In the hall, Kitty asks Storm what the Hell she’s doing, with Bobby following up that she didn’t even give them the chance to back her up; she knows they would have. 

STORM: “Yes. You would. For you are both heroes of the highest caliber. And that is why we must part ways for now.” 

Ororo explains that, although she can no longer bring herself to be a part of it, and she believes it will fall apart in due time, right now, the X-Men are still Mutantkind’s first and best line of defense. Were they to lose Kitty’s brains, Bobby’s strength, and both of their hearts, the team would fall even sooner. 

Bobby doesn’t like it, but he gets it. And he respects Ororo’s choice. Ororo shakes his hand and wishes him well. 

STORM: “Good luck finding yourself, Robert.” 

With that, Ororo asks for some privacy with the now-crying Kitty. Bobby obliges. 

KITTY: “Don’t go. I’ll hate you if you leave.” 

STORM: “You mean like you hated me after I cut my hair?”

KITTY: “Yeah.” SNIFFLE. “Just like that.” Kitty sobs. “Please let me come with you. I can’t do this without you.” 

STORM, brushing her tears away with her thumb: “Do not be ridiculous. You are Kitty Pryde. The best of us. You can do anything.” 

A hysterical Kitty wraps her arms around Storm, who hugs her back. 

STORM: “You are the heart of the X-Men. The one person Frost could never hope to corrupt. Do what I couldn’t. Save Cyclops. Save our students. Save the X-Men. And kick Emma’s teeth in.” 

Kitty pulls away. She composes herself and nods. 

KITTY: “I will. I promise.” 

Storm leaves her with a gentle smile and a comforting breeze. 

As Storm flies away, the visuals are intercut with Scott and Emma going to bed together. Ororo tries to remain stalwart, but she can’t help but shed one last tear. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAST CHANGE:

ORORO MUNROE AKA STORM: No longer part of the main cast.

[m34gs]

An Anon ask from someone you definitely don't know, I swear.

Tell us your head canons for Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach 👀

Well, I wonder who this could be from. Hmmm. Not a clue. No idea at all. (based on this post)

Thank you for the ask, anon! It's been a hot minute since I talked about Bleach and Ichigo Kurosaki :D I have a few headcannons about Ichigo and I am rather excited to share them! (some of these are pretty heavy and serious headcannons...sorry, not sorry😅)

PTSD and Night-terrors: Ichigo has both. From flashbacks, to angry outbursts, to panic attacks, to waking up screaming in the middle of the night from a dream he can't even remember. Sometimes it's things directly related to Aizen, Ywach, and the wars. Sometimes, it's little things: a flash of something shiny moving too fast in the corner of his vision, an innocent noise from a tv show that sounds like a hollow, or even just not knowing where his sisters are when they're late in coming home. This boy literally died and became a hollow (briefly). There's no way he doesn't struggle with PTSD and/or night terrors.

Fear of Becoming a Parent: Let's be real. Even with a loving father, and knowing how much his mother loved him, Ichigo is probably gonna have issues. He's going to worry about another life to protect. He's going to stress and probably think "How can I be a dad, when I can barely get my shit together" every time he has a melt-down from one of his PTSD triggers. I would find it highly unlikely that anyone who's been through what he has would feel really confident in parenting. There's also the fact that Isshin, while definitely trying his best to parent and at the same time pretend he doesn't know anything about Soul Society, wasn't exactly the greatest dad to Ichigo. I just don't think he gave his son a lot of emotional support through the series, and I think that really messed with Ichigo's head. I don't think Ichigo would see him as a role model for parenting.

Substance Use Disorder: in the form of: addiction. I think, building on my other headcannons, Ichigo is probably not gonna cope very well. (We've seen how badly shit went down in the Fullbringer Arc. This boy has Issues and No Coping Skills whatsoever.) Whether he gets an addiction to some sort of drugs (probably pain killers or something else he has easy access to) or alcohol, I think he'll need a serious wake-up call (probably from Chad) before he's able to get through the addiction.

Fear of Being Alone: I think he would be very afraid of being left out and alone again. Especially after the Fullbringer arc. He can't handle not being able to protect his friends or family.

Let's have a couple slightly more light-hearted, not-so-heavy ones, lol:

Forgetting what's normal: I think Ichigo has been so wrapped up in fighting Hollows and Aizen and working with Soul Society for so long now, and through so many large events with so many people changing sides, that he sometimes forgets what is normal conversation for regular people. This leads to some very odd/concerning conversations that leave others wide-eyed and going 'what the fuuuuuuuck' and leave us, the audience, in stitches laughing. ("How did you and Grimmjow meet, Kurosaki?"/ "He tried to kill one of my best friends and then kidnapped the other one. We beat the shit out of each other"/ "...what")

Suspicion: Ok, so Ichigo has been burned so many times by someone promising him something or pretending to guide him, only to then turn around and demand something or betray him or some other form of deception. So, I think he'd be Extra Suspicious of people, especially in positions of authority. Which means, I'm picturing him going to university and the prof going "this assignment is worth 10% of your grade" and Ichigo going "Is it? Is it really? You're not gonna make it 20% at the last minute, are you? Hmmmm??? HMMMMM???????" except you know, in his Ichigo way. Meaning. He'll probably corner the prof after lecture and intimidate the shit out of him. Poor little old professor. Or: Other Professor: "As long as you follow what I say, you will do just fine and pass this class easily". Ichigo: "Fuck that" /does the opposite. gets a bad grade. Shocked Pikachu emoji/ LOL.

Tiredness x 1000: Ok, so this one is kind of not funny but also kind of funny. I think that due to being wired all the time from adrenaline and such, and not being able to get a good night's sleep, Ichigo is exceedingly tired. Always. And that leads to slightly funny (but also realistically dangerous) things on the surface because he becomes That Friend who will fall asleep on anything as long as the surface is vaguely horizontal. In class. In the cafeteria. While shopping with friends. On a train. On a bus. On the sidewalk. In the Park. On a bench. In a pool. Upside Down. One time, he falls very deeply asleep in the middle of a spar with Grimmjow, and Grimmjow freaks out and thinks he's actually killed Kurosaki. Grimmjow panics and starts planning the funeral to calm himself down. When Ichigo wakes up, Grimmjow is so relieved but also annoyed because how Dare he fool Grimmjow, that he kicks Ichigo.

Thanks again for the ask, anon! Hope you enjoyed these headcannons!!!

[anawkwardlady]

Honestly as much as their marriage sucked I feel like natsuhi's and Krauss's relationship could have worked if they didn't have all of those heterosexual pressures

Like, instead of dividing the work based on what is suitable for a man/ woman they could have been such a strong couple if they divided it based on theor individual strenghts- if natsuhi was the one to managed the financials since she is good at judging character and forming long term plans and Krauss handled the work that required more social graces due to how good he is at projecting a larger than life image they (well, mainly krauss) wouldnt have gotten themselves in as much trouble

They wouldn't even have to stop pretending to be heterosexual since they could just pretend krauss is making all the descions while natsuhi is advising him

Like, there's clearly love between them, it's just nor that type of idealised straight love, what with them sleeping in seperate rooms and krauss always gushing about his financial buddies, (I know what you are krauss ushiromia)

(That’s also why I don't like shipping natsuhi with eva, natsuhi is ace as shit, she even wears the aroace colours)

If they just allowed themselves to be themselves rather than trying to fit themselves into a mould this would also mean that jessica would feel more comfortable within her own home, you know?

Basically, krauss, stop trying to emulate your father and ask for advice from your wife. She clearly knows this shit better than you.

The thing is that it's incredibly hard to built a healthy marriage when it's based on the resentment of being a forced one (also that thing about women not being able to see their family once they move to their husband family registry thats hm... thats not helping). They definitely could have been a better team (and with ALL thats happening, it could ALSO have been worse) but they just follow the rules they're being given, if they were to do otherwise, I think they would also crumble under the shame of failing at their assigned role even if they find more pleasure at doing something they're actually good at. Its complicated. And Kinzo's shadow is just way too big. They just represent a traditional couple thats slowly is being replaced by more modern dynamics.

For the love and sexuality part, I think they do have love for each other as partners who were together for years, not a romantic one like you say. The thing about sleeping in separate room I think it's more of a traditional thing that specific choice.

I don't really want to weigh too much on Natsuhi's sexuality, or a lot of other characters very hard tbh (I see that as a catbox too a lot of time, happy for the EvaNatsu and those who don't like it. And some of my friends are EvaNatsus i support with all my heart lol) because theres also a lot of cultural and time period context to take in consideration. There was a lot of expectations around a woman's sexuality that usually normalized being repressed and unsatisfied (whether they were het or not but if they were not, it was even harder to figure it out because "well i guess its normal for a woman to never find pleasure with a man/never have desire for a man because they have natural low sex drive and sex is just useful for kids" kind of thing.) so she could be ace, or lesbian or both or something else, totally, but theres a lot of baggage around it. I'm not going to debate all of that lol.

As for Jessica, I think she especially suffers from them not being able to communicate with her outside of criticisms (especially from Natsuhi). I think Natsuhi is trying to connect with her daughter (conflict is a way to maintain a relationship), she just... doesn't know how to convey her thoughts... Which is too bad :(

[justwordsandrants]

Kei was passing a salt shaker to Air when a dove dropped two envelopes on top of their tables. By some miracle the papers did not fall into a salat bowl nor any of the steaming coffee cups.

They stopped moving for a moment in surprise, then both noticed the emblems, and threw themselves forward, squeaking and pushing each other in a competition to grab their respective letters first.

Kei managed to tear her letter open first and run her eyes across the page.

"Princess helper!" - she exclaimed excited, grinning at Air. Then she froze - "...what's wrong?"

Air kept rereading her letter; her eyes suddenly felt tired and heavy as she realized what the text says.

"A... it says, a minor villain, details below," she stumbled, and did not dare to continue or to look up at her sister. What could have caused it? Even without looking, she felt a seed of new cold icy distance materializing between them.

"I... I don't have to do anything do I? I can continue to be just as I am!" Air said, but that only brought out a look of horror in Kei's eyes.

"No! You know we cannot ignore our assignments!"

"But... why? Why do I need to spend the rest of my life hurting people? What did I do wrong?"

"I... I don't know. But. You know you can't ignore the orders!"

"We could still be friends. We have good life here, lot's of friends..."

Kei eyes got watery, then sharpened.

"No! See... a good person... wouldn't think of denying their assignment! See, you are proving the assignment is right."

"I.... I never did anything wrong. I did not hurt anyone. I am doing my chores, I get good grades. There's nothing other than my bushy browns that makes me a villain material!"

"You... you are weird. You get... too thoughtful!" Then she stood up "I shouldn't speak with you anymore. I... I hate you."

"Where... where does all that comes from? Just because some letter says I should have a bad role, you suddenly hate me?!" Air realized she thought about this for a while, but did not feel allowed to express her opinion. They never debated the purpose of the system. Every teenager, based on judgement made by a network of observers that you may or may not have met, gets assigned a societal role to fulfill in the tightly woven structure of their society. "A guardian of the weaker", "a leader", "an acolyte", "a family head", "an entertainer"... or "a traitor", "a villain". People to hate. People to oppose. She thought of all the times when they felt they made mistakes, that they failed, and then they found reassurance in how good _they_ are compared to _those_ people. They knew they were recognized for what they are, and that they existed because their society knew they are also at some level needed. Because their society was merciful enough to let them exist and help to make the _good people_ more fit. But never once have they questioned, if the people chose were _really_ rotten and helpless. If they had a choice. If they also strove to be their best selves and contribute, before they were "chosen" to be this society's villains.

"I... I loved you. Just so that you know." Air stood up from the table. Was it because they knew she had those thoughts? Was... could it be that questioning the system is enough for this? Just as the books she found said... The books written by villains whose names she couldn't even remember.

On her way up to her bedroom, she passed a room in which her father worked by a desk, his broad shoulders back to her. "Dad?" she said quietly, not wanting to disturb him too much, not to drop the tiny electronics he handled. He turned around.

"What's the matter, kid?" - and then he looked at her and something went through his face. Some emotions left his eyes, he tensed. "Oh... I was preparing, in case... right!" She watched the transformation, not understanding. But he stopped working, and her his attention, reciting as if he was prepared. He proceeded to ask her if she did her chores and work... except there was a lot more of it. He asked if she did things she never before was supposed to do. He went back to her failures, from the time she tried to take her sisters sweets, through the dramas of her school, through the times she felt too tired to dance with her grandma, though how they were scheming, _together_, to scare their mother a day before Halloween, as they thought, it'll be better if she does not expect it. They got their scolding back then for disturbing the family peace. And _order_. A seed of rebellion against the family peace, order, and loyalty to the society. Actually... she stood shocked and tried defending herself - where did all this come from? Aren't these... trivial? Blown out of proportion? She did not even know, how did he suddenly make everything sound as if her whole life, she was... bad? Self obsessed? Manipulative? She was sure up to this point they all loved each other and nothing was bad in their quiet, orderly lives.

She cried. She felt her mind go blank. She could not think or find herself under the accusations. It was the first time in her life, that she was wrongly accused... Was it really wrongly? And by her loving dad. How did he know? Is it showing on her face?

Later, she slowly understood, how the villains were made. How when people missed somebody to hate, they fabricated them. How they turned that into a system, to give their society a reason to be angry and act on that. And she realized, if she was good, she wouldn't know that. She was disgusted with herself, and she knew, it was just the beginning. Just a first, trivial afternoon of the rest of her life.

She will fight the urges, she will ignore the violence she now expected, she will try to be her best self. But without acceptance of her goodwill... won't she fail? Is anyone good enough against these expectations?

She remembered, where she found the books. She... she needs to meet the other villains. She needs to understand, what it is in her that provokes these reactions. How do they know. She always knew, too...

[erigold13261]

What would happen if Sayu crew died in the FRAU?

Depends on who dies, how many, and stuff like that.

Talks about suicide and like some mention/implications of physical abuse from family.

If they all die (some kind of accident where they were all together) then NSR would take over the behind the scenes of Sayu and keep her running until it wasn't lucrative anymore and slowly ween her out of the public eye. Then a new charter would be put in place.

In this scenario, Tila's family probably tries to milk their daughters death (probably happens in most scenarios honestly), Sofa and Dodo's families are actually sad (probably don't realize how terrible they were to their kids but they still mourn the loss of them), and Remi's family probably is the same as Sofa and Dodo except maybe this is a wake-up call for Eve and she kinda snaps out of her own self hatred for a bit (she doesn't care for her dad or his wife's pain, but now she at least has some kind of connection with them from a shared emotion).

If only one survives, doesn't matter who, but Sayu would be given to NSR with only some input from the survivor based on their talent. Tila would continue to be the voice of Sayu, Sofa would be the lead editor to keep the Sayu feel of videos the same, and Remi would still be the main artist behind Sayu. The only one I can see not even wanting to continue with Sayu would be Dodo if he was the only survivor, and it's easy enough to just get a new mo-cap person behind the scenes, so if Dodo is the only one alive then Sayu officially belongs entirely to NSR and he just goes to living with his parents and trying to restart his life over.

Then there's the possibility that only 2 survive and 2 die. I'm not gonna go into each combination, but most likely the 2 that survive stay and continue working on Sayu. As a way to cope, keep their friends memories alive, and to just escape reality some more, trying to hide from the pain they feel. NSR would find some people to fill in the roles of whoever ended up dying (so like a new artist and editor if Remi and Sofa died, or voice actor and mo-cap person if Tila and Dodo died).

All the deaths up to this point were accidents that caused 2 or more of the Sayu Crew to die. However, if only one of them die, it would be a different story.

Sofa dying would probably be an allergic reaction and not having their epipen on them. In that case I can kinda see Sayu almost falling apart since Sofa is one of the most important members of the team and the Crew would probably not want to immediately replace Sofa, only for them to realize they have no idea what the fuck they are doing and have to have Tatiana assign them a new editor.

Dodo's death is probably some kind of accident. Maybe a medical one because his parents want him to get another non-mandatory surgery for whatever reason (thinking it would help him in life) and he ends up dying from complications. I can see Tila taking over Dodo's position while also being the voice actor (a lot of people probably even see improvement with Sayu's movement and voice acting, making people praise the change in direction which makes the crew feel horrible, especially Tila).

Remi's death is... idk. At first I was gonna say his dad or mom might have done something to him, but honestly I want to move away from that storyline with Remi. He still feels like he can't come out because his parents aren't very supportive, but I'm seeing them now as more neglectful than abusive like I initially made them. So anyway, I can probably see Remi trying to run away from home, trying to find a place to be accepted but can't go to the rest of the Crew as their fams would probably make him go back to his family (Sofa's family probably would have taken Remi in). So Remi ends up getting hurt in the street or something and ends up passing away.

At that point I doubt Remi would have been working with the Crew for a bit, only letting them know he ran away and wouldn't be coming back. So Sayu at that point has been using premade art that Remi made before leaving but once his death was announced then the Crew were given a new artist (someone who could copy Remi's style pretty well so fans weren't hit with another dramatic shift in style). The Crew takes it hard and I can see Eve probably taking it hard too since Remi would have left a note saying why he ran away with not having support from family, especially Eve, as some of the main reasons for his departure. So this would be another way that might make Eve snap out of her pretty selfish mindset and try to think about her actions she had towards Remi all his life.

For Tila, I see her as either dying by her family's abuse or killing herself as the main ways she dies. Either way is a tragedy and no one knows "why" it happened since the family would have did their best to cover both ways up. Honestly if Tila is murdered they would make it look like a suicide, and if she killed herself then the family would hide any note or whatever she would have tried to leave behind. The public would just be given a story of how Tila killed herself because of her schizophrenia or something like that to make people unsympathetic to her (yes, her family is not above weaponizing their daughter's mental illness).

Tatiana probably thinks something more happened, but she doesn't go prying because the public and police believe the families story so there's no real reason to doubt the claims in possibly make NSR look like they are harassing a grieving family. She just gets a new voice actor for Sayu as quickly as possible (though honestly I think in this scenario the rest of the Crew would be willing to just give NSR all the rights to Sayu and quit because of what happened to Tila).

So yeah, that's basically what happened. I didn't really go into any other characters' reactions because they'd all basically be the same. Mama is sad for the death of all/some/one of the Crew, Yinu has very conflicted emotions, Neon J is devastated (probably the only one who tries to get any justice for the more shady deaths of the Crew), 1010 doesn't care because they are too worried about themselves now that possibly Sayu is going to be decomissioned (depending on who died), Eve is mainly neutral except with some of Remi's deaths but even then she is still pretty numb, Tatiana sees their loss as an awful tragedy but still has to continue looking to the future and having to either continue Sayu or get a new charter, and DJSS is probably really upset (especially in Sofa's death scenarios) since he was kinda close with some of the Crew before being fired.

I don't know, this is the best you're gonna be getting I guess. I'm kinda getting tired of talking about what would happen if a character dies and how people would react. Most of the answers are just gonna be the same. NSR tries to continue the charter (in Sayu and 1010's case) or just gets a new charter entirely. None of the cast are really close in this AU so a death of a co-worker (or even family in Eve's case) isn't really going to change how people feel, just make them a little sad for a bit before moving on with life.

[writethesleepaway]

Every Girl But One - P2

Summary: Growing up with Steve Harrington as your best friend meant that you saw each other as family. Watching that role stick after your feelings for him change can only hurt.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

WC: 3328

Warnings: angst, fluff, happy ending!

A/N: based on a true fucking story because god i fucking hate 'being one of the boys' but i didnt have a happy ending LOL

(divider by @delishlydelightfuldividers)

To say that you were confused was an understatement. You didn't know that someone could go through as many emotions as you did in such a short amount of time. How dare Steve react the way that he did, how dare he break your heart the way that he did. It wasn't even the fact that he just left which made you upset, it was the fact that he said he 'feared' your confession. You knew he wouldn't see you as anything more than a friend but to think that little of you to the point of being scared of the possibility of anything more? That was past weird, now it was rude.

You cried your heart out to Robin, who thankfully walked you to your house, told your parents you were staying over for the weekend, grabbed a bag full of the essentials and walked you to her place, where you stayed up the whole night talking and eating ice cream. She left at around 9 am, claiming she 'knew a guy' and came back with 2 rolled joints, a couple of beers, and some guy with shaggy hair trailing alongside her like a lost puppy.

"I know it's only 9 am, but I got weed, beer, and Eddie!" she exclaimed as she held her hands out to show off the guy.

"Who the heck is Eddie?" you asked, in between sniffles.

"Me! I know we've never met but Robin said she needed a guy's mind to tackle a problem, and trust me, anything with King Steve is definitely a problem." he explained as he sat down next to you, offering his hand out for you to shake.

The mention of Steve's name only made you cry harder, making Eddie pull back his hand and look up at Robin worriedly.

"I'll let her explain." Robin stated as she started to light a joint.

"There's not much to explain, really. There's just this guy who I've always been best friends with, then I caught feelings like an idiot, then we stopped talking because he only had eyes for his girlfriend, and last night she dumped him so I confessed my feelings and he had the nerve to say 'You've said the one thing I've feared for so long.'"

"Wait, feared? Why would he fear that?" Eddie asked as he blew smoke from his mouth.

"Dunno. He said now we'll never go back to just being friends."

"Jesus, this guy is stupid. Is there anything more you need to say?"

"Not really..."

"Wonderful! I propose we get high, drunk, and listen to music!"

"Absolutely not! Eddie, your music taste is just noise, we're listening to Y/N's music."

"Robs we didn't bring any to your house..."

"HA then metal it is!"

Eddie laughed as he brought out a mixtape from his pocket while Robin groaned and you giggled at their interactions. As much as you were still upset over Steve, it was nice to have them as a distraction.

This dynamic continued for longer than you had expected. It took a few weeks to get over Steve but you found yourself back into the swing of things, and with a new friend now, Eddie! Eventually you graduated and even got accepted into University of Notre Dame. The move was good for you, the weight lifted off your shoulders as you became occupied with living your life on your own. You were a bit upset because you couldn't spend as much time with Robin or Eddie anymore, but you felt yourself evolve into a more mature and career orientated woman. The independence was necessary, as you'd say.

You always said you'd go visit Robin, but that happened less than you had hoped for. Either some teacher assigned insane amounts of working practically trapping you in the library to do research or you had some other friend to go visit. Time escaped your mind and you found yourself planning to finally go back to Hawkins in the summer of 1985. With just a few phone calls, your parents had cleared out your room for your arrival, as they asked about all the details of their college girl. While you tried to be positive and talk about your experience, you couldn't help but feel a bit sore. Hawkins was your home, it was also home to the one boy who kinda made it miserable. You weren't sure if you were ready to face him again, but you were determined to forget about it, you had better people to see anyways.

The drive back was quiet, you slept for most of it, trying to ignore the overthinking that plagued your mind. Even when you got back home, you flopped yourself on your bed, waiting for the evening to come so you could surprise Robin and Eddie.

"Y/N? Y/N!" a voice called out from the street. As you rushed to wipe the sleep from your eyes you wondered who was yelling at you with such frenzy. You pulled the door open to reveal your father who was waiting for you in the car.

"What is it?"

"We gotta go now! There's been a fire at Starcourt!"

"Starcourt? The mall?"

"Yeah, now let's go!"

"Wait hold on, why are we going to a mall that just burnt down?"

"Honey, you didn't know?"

"I didn't know what...?"

"That's the mall where Robin works! Now le'ts go!"

You felt your heart drop at your father's words. Without thinking you ran out to climb into the car, temporarily forgetting that you were still in a tank top and your flannel pants. Panic rushed through your mind as you thought of all the things that could have happened. The sound of sirens grew louder as you approached the mall and you ran out of the car, not even bothering to close the door.

"Robin? Robin! Where are you?" you yelled as you ran around trying to spot your friend. You made out a vague blur of teenagers who were all sitting on the edge of fire trucks or ambulances but you still couldn't find your friend. That was when a certain voice pulled you out of your head, causing you to turn around.

"Y/N...?" he whispered as your jaw dropped when you saw his face. Steve was sat against some wrecked car, holding ice to his face.

"Holy shit, Steve? What the hell happened to you?" you asked. You felt your body instinctively run towards him and reach out to touch his wounds, yanking your hand back when he winced.

"Y/N what are you doing here?"

"Not now Steve, I'm glad you're not dead but, I need to find Robin!"

"Y/N, I'm here!" she called as she limped over to the two of you, immediately pulling you into a hug.

"Robin what the fuck? I come home from college to find out the mall burned down and now you're here? What happened?!"

"Oh my god Y/N you won't believe this, so I started working at Scoops with Steve and then turns out the Russians were hiding in our mall so we had to decoded their message and then the Russians caught us and they drugged us and Steve and I were tortured, well Steve was tortured, and then Billy got possessed and then there was this huge fucking monster and we almost died but we didnt!"

"Robin... what."

"I'm serious Y/N! I'm fully serious!"

"Okay, let's get you home."

"What about Steve?"

"What about Steve?"

"We can't just leave him here!"

"I'm not entirely sure when you became friends with him, but I'm not friends with him. He can figure out how to get home, my ride deal only stands with you."

Robin looked over at Steve who had his head tilted back as he held the ice to his face. You stood firm in your decision and your father was waiting by his car, asking if people were okay as they walked by.

"Y/N, I promise I will explain everything, please just, come over to my house tonight. Or better, let's go to Steve's and we'll explain it all."

"Steve's? You have got to be kidding me Robs do you not remember what he did to me? I go for one year and I come back and you're besties now?!"

"I promise it's not what it looks like, I swear! I will explain everything, please, just trust me."

Robin put on the puppy eyes that you knew you were too weak to say no to, so you slapped Steve on the shoulder and told him to follow you and her to your dad's car. You explained that you'd take care of the two at Steve's house, which he thankfully agreed to with no questions, and dropped you off in front of Steve's home.

When you entered you let out a breath of relief at seeing an empty house. Some things just didn't change no matter how long you stayed away. You pushed Robin and Steve onto the couch as you looked around for a first aid kit and grabbed glasses of water for the pair.

"Someone better start talking right now." you muttered as you took out disinfectant and poured it onto some cotton balls.

"Hawkins is fucking cursed." Steve whispered as he stared off into the distance.

"Elaborate."

"Remember that Byers kid? Will? The one who went missing?"

"What about him?"

"He didn't go missing, he was kidnapped by some fucking monster."

"Those monsters came from the same place the monster that attacked us at the mall! The same one that possessed Billy!" Robin added.

For the next 40 minutes they explained the whole situation of how the Upside Down came to take place in Hawkins, starting with Will's dissappearance and up until the burning of Starcourt. You took your time to clean Steve's face, slapping his arm every time he winced or hissed at the pain.

"So, the supernatural are in Hawkins, Steve you've been fighting them for like a year and a half, and you almost died fighting another at the mall last night?"

"Yeah pretty much." Steve whispered, now leaning on his side.

"Y/N I swear Steve has been nothing but good to me. At first I really didn't wanna work with him because I know what he's done to you but just trust me when I say he's a better guy now."

"Okay."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. I trust you Robin, I'm just glad you're safe."

Robin teared up as she pulled you into another hug, earning a chuckle from both you and Steve.

"Now chop chop, it's bed time for the both of you."

You ordered Steve to say seated as you went upstairs and brought out clothes for Robin to change into as well as a blanket for her to use on mattress in the spare room. It felt somewhat natural, being back in Steve's house and moving around as if it was your own. Yet another part of you felt like a fake, like you were playing the role of someone who knew what to do, when really you didn't. You weren't ignorant, you knew that Steve's eyes were on you the whole time, you knew he was watching you, but you were more focused on Robin. By the time you tucked her into bed and promised you'd be right up, you had expected Steve to go up on his own, prompting you to come back downstairs for a beer, you definitely needed one.

"Does it feel natural, to be back in my house?" he whispered from the darkness surrounding the couch, inticing a yelp from you.

"Christ Steve I thought you had gone to bed. I don't need to tuck you in you're not a little boy."

"It's been a while, since you've been here. I've missed seeing you here." he continued.

"Steve, I don't know what the Russians injected you with, but you need to sleep it off. Come on, up you go."

"I don't wanna go. If I sleep they'll get me, they'll get me in my sleep."

"Who'll get you?"

"Everything, everyone. The demogorgon, demodogs, Billy, the mind flayer, the Russians, they'll all get me."

"Okay Steve, come on, I'm serious now. Go upstairs and go to bed."

"Goddamnit Y/N can't you see that I don't wanna sleep? I wanna talk to you!" he yelled, making you choke on your beer at his sudden outburst.

"Why the hell do you wanna do that? You must be exhausted, you need the sleep!"

"I don't need sleep I need you." he deadpanned.

"What did you just say?"

"I need you, Y/N."

"Steve, you're high."

"I don't give a fuck if I'm high. I was so fucking stupid and I lost you once, I won't lose you again."

"What in god's name are you talking about Harrington?"

"I know you know what I'm talking about."

"I don't, to be frank, I have no clue what you're talking about. Because I refuse to believe that you think that you lost me, that one night after the party. You didn't lose me, dumbass, you fucking left me, you pushed me away. Said you feared me having feelings for you."

"I know. And I regret it so much."

"We are not having this conversation right now oh my god."

"For fucks sake Y/N yes we are. I haven't been able to see you in a year and you're all I've been thinking about. I have dreamt of the day that I'd be able to talk to you again, to hold you, to love you, so for crying out let me explain."

You felt your mouth open and close like a fish, but you couldn't find any words, so you just kept quiet.

"I know what I did. I know I pushed you away, I know I said horrible words, but I did not mean them. Actually know, I did mean them, I meant them because nothing in this world, no demogorgon, no demodog, no mind flayer, no nothing, could fear me more, than the thought of losing you. I loved my parents, and now they're never home, I loved Nancy, and she dumped me, everything that I have loved, I have lost in some way or another. And I do not think that I would be able to continue in this world if I had lost you. I was scared, damn it, Y/N, I was so scared. I pushed you away because I thought that if you stayed away, I wouldn't be able to lose you for good. And then all the shit with the Upside Down happened and the last thing I needed was for you to get involved, so I did what I had to do. I thought if I broke your heart for good you'd be safe."

You heard Steve's voice crack as he started to cry. It took such an immense strength to not cry yourself. You wanted to run to him and hold him, tell him that you still loved him and that he would never lose you, but that part of you was fighting the more logical part, who knew that he could have explained this to you, he could have said something instead of just trashing you away the way that he did.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was worried, scared, a coward, fucking stupid. I was all these things fit into some dumb highschool teenage boy who thought that the world was about pretty girls and basketball. And then a few days later I tried to make it up to Nancy and I fought a fucking demogorgon."

"I'm not sure what to say Steve. I've grown up myself, I'm in college, I have goals, I'm not the same Y/N I was almost two years ago."

"I know, and if anything I love this new you. You're more assertive, more confident, more knowledgable. It's attractive, don't get me wrong, but I'm more proud. You don't put up with shit anymore, especially not mine."

A comfortable silenct fell upon you two as you just sat staring at each other whlie you occasionally took sips from your beer. Even when you had finished it, you kept raising the bottle to your mouth, hoping there would be a little bit that you missed. Hundreds of thoughts whizzed around in your mind as you thought of what this meant for the future of you and Steve. At the end of the day he was still one of the closest friends you'd ever had.

"Y'know what, let's restart." you said after a while. Steve cocked his head to the side as he looked at you with a confused expression.

"Restart?"

"Yeah. We're two different people now, so let's restart. Hello, my name is Y/N Y/L/N. And you are?" you explained as you walked closer to him, holding out your hand to shake his. Steve still looked skeptical but couldn't hold back his smile at being able to touch you.

"I'm Steve Harrington, nice to meet you."

"Oh but, can we just go back to the part where you said you said you wanted to hold and love me again?"

"Uh excuse me? I don't think I've ever said that to you, afterall, we just met 30 seconds ago Miss Y/L/N!" Steve joked as he pulled you down into him, leading to you falling into his lap and against his chest. He wrapped his arms around you tightly and pressed a kiss into your hair.

"Bold of you to be hugging a person you just met Mr. Harrington." you whispered, pulling yourself back just enough to see the pout on Steve's face. You cracked, wrapping your own arms around him and squeezing. Sobs wracked through his body as he held on to you, he didn't expect this moment to make him so emotional, but he couldn't help but cry.

"So what now? I know we restarted but, we have so much history, and, I still love you so much..." Steve muttered into your ear as he held you.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow Steve, I'm here for 2 whole months, we don't have to go through this now. You need to rest."

"I don't wanna sleep alone..."

"Are you asking me to sleep with you? Jesus Harrington you're fast!"

"Oh cut the crap Y/N let me cuddle my girl."

"Your girl?"

"Uhm, that is if you want to be."

"I've always been your girl Steve, just different meanings of that phrase. We'll talk about it tomorrow, I promise, but let's get some sleep now okay?"

"Let's? As in us? As in you and me?" he asked excitedly as you pulled his wrist and dragged him up the stairs.

"Yes Steve, you and me."

When you reached his bedroom, you crept away for a moment to check that Robin was safe, smiling when you saw her passed out and snoring in the bed. You turned back to Steve's room to find him tucked in, holding the blanket and his arms out as he was waiting for you to join him. Kicking off your shoes, you slid in next to him, and Steve wasted no time in pulling you close into his arms and nuzzling his face into yours.

He fell asleep quickly, but you stayed up for some time. You couldn't help but scold yourself for folding so quickly, you had hoped that you had more strength when it came to Steve, but another part of you was glad that things were on the mend. You knew that realistically you would start dating, which would suck given that you'd have to go back to college, leaving Steve in a dangerous town, but you decided that that would be a concern for tomorrow. Before you fell asleep you smiled to yourself, happy at being in Steve's arms again, where you belonged.

Taglist:

@fujiihime @avarose06 @khaylin27 @dzidziti

[incorrectbatfam]

Stepmom!Selina?

She sees what she's getting into from a mile away, but she welcomes it because Bruce's kids are a part of him, and she loves all of Bruce.

The kids all see it coming too, and while some (Damian) take longer to warm up to her, she's welcomed into the fold with open arms.

Selina's got a heart as big as her partner and while she's not always perfect, you can see how much she cares.

As a former foster child herself, Selina understands Duke's unique experiences and traumas from the foster care system, so whenever he needs to talk, she's the first one he goes to. Sometimes he doesn't want to (or need to) talk, so they'll watch boxing matches or she'll teach him little bits of Mandarin. If the kitchen isn't busy, they'll try their hand at new TikTok recipes, and film themselves either succeeding or debunking the original poster.

Being raised in isolation to be a human weapon meant Cass missed out on a lot of the things daughters typically learn as children/teens. The evening of Cass's first gala, she didn't know the first thing about doing her own hair and makeup. She's braved assassin armies, but her self-made disaster of bobby pins and eyeshadow nearly drives her to tears. Selina swoops in, wipes Cass's face with gentle reassurances, and walks her through step-by-step.

Selina considers it a privilege to have watched Dick grow from the spunky little Robin to the man he is today. Even though he's taller than her, she still ruffled his hair when he does a good job. She also keeps the first ever birthday card he gave her, which includes a pop-up bat signal and scented stickers, and remembers all of his favorite radio stations. Also, when Bruce does something, Dick goes tattling to Selina.

For a while, Carrie mooched off of her siblings' Netflix profiles, but everyone got tired of her messing up their algorithm and she was forced to make her own. She soon realized how much freedom she had because no one could see what she was watching. Selina caught on to the power trip and started researching and watching snippets whenever a new show comes out. That's how she stopped a bunch of preteen girls from watching Squid Game.

Tim often gets overlooked as not just the middle child, but the child who appears put-together and regularly takes on adult responsibilities. Selina, however, remembers that he's still a teenager. She regularly checks in and gradually teaches him that it's okay to let go and act his age. Selina encourages him to call his Young Justice friends outside of missions and take small acts of rebellion against Bruce. When Tim and his boyfriend snuck out to a famous lover's lookout, Selina gave them the car keys and covered for them.

She noticed that Jason really enjoys hanging out with Harley Quinn, bonding over not just Joker trauma but other shared interests like music taste. After Harley turns to the antihero side, Selina discusses with Bruce and they start inviting Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy to dinner. The first time they do that, Harley is so excited that she baked a three-layer cake just for Jason. Literally, in strawberry frosting, it said, "THIS CAKE IS FOR JASON ONLY." Finding someone that Jason can relate to remains one of Selina's proudest accomplishments.

She's trying her best, but she makes mistakes too. For instance, although Wayne Manor has plenty of kitchen space, Selina does her cooking at Harley and Ivy's because Ivy can offer her fresh plant-based ingredients that suited Damian's needs. When Alfred's not available, she sends Damian to school with healthy, flavorful vegan lunches shaped into Cheese Viking characters. One time, she was tasked with bringing brownies to a PTA meeting. Incidentally, Harley was simultaneously baking a... different kind of brownie for a block party (you can see where this is heading). When an angry superintendent demanded to know who was responsible, Selina wisely kept her mouth shut and thankfully, so did Damian.

Cullen loves concerts, but he's a huge introvert who gets anxiety when he's left alone in a crowd. Selina becomes his concert buddy, and she'll go as all-out as he does. Sometimes that's showing up to a garage band dressed-down in hoodies and sunglasses. Other times it's painting their faces and looking like they just came out of a Hot Topic blowout sale. She even listens to the discography beforehand so she can blend in. Selina learns a lot about Cullen through this, because nothing says more about a person than the music they listen to.

Harper, though looking rough around the edges, turns into a giddy little kid at interactive science museums. During one of these trips, Harper got distracted by the giant Newton's Cradle so she didn't notice a fourth grade field trip sweeping up Selina. When they reunited at the gift shop, a chaperone had given Selina a school t-shirt and she was put in charge of grading ten kids' assignments. Harper laughed so hard that she spewed lemonade on the museum owner. Neither of them will let the other live that day down.

Selina and Barbara openly talk about guy stuff, and Selina is more than happy to offer advice in times of need. They're both pretty liberal talking about that stuff, and one time they did a tier ranking of all the Gotham Rogues based on how effective their gimmick is (Joker was the only S-tier). They then proceeded to get into a debate on whether or not Man-Bat and Killer Croc should qualify for the list, which led to them staring each other down at dinner while the other family members sat around them confused.

Steph's school offered a Mother's Day breakfast. Although Crystal Brown was doing her best and wanted to make it, she was scheduled a double-shift that the breakfast fell right in the middle of. Selina reached out to Crystal and with permission, went in her place. Afraid that Steph would publicly reject her, Selina sat in the parking lot for ten minutes as Bruce amped her up over the phone. Steph, thinking that no one would no up, was ecstatic and said that she couldn't have thought of anyone better. They enjoyed stacking up waffles and making the girls who bully Steph envious.

Long before she and Bruce got married, Selina made it clear that she would not be relegated to the gender-typical role of a homemaker, and Bruce happily concurred because it's 2021. They knew that to give Alfred a break, they'd have to take on some chores themselves. Instead of dividing up a boring old chore chart, they find ways to make cleaning fun and collaborative. They'll dance around the halls in mop slippers, play "guess the stain", and race their roombas. The kids see this and start modeling the behavior in their own ways—Dick swings from high places to dust them, Damian trains his pets to pick up garbage, and Cass and Duke compete to see who can clean the most bathtubs.

Some parts of the Manor are due for redecorating, so Selina and Alfred make a day trip out of interior design sketches, flipping through furniture catalogues, and looking at paint swatches. It sounds boring at first, but the menial tasks meant they had plenty of time for conversation, and she finally understood why everyone respects him. They also made room in the afternoon for a stroll through the park and afternoon tea, where he told her and her only the secret to a perfect scone.

The other Justice League partners welcome her into the group too. Whenever Selina's in Metropolis, she joins Lois and Ma and Pa for Sunday brunch where they share what their kids have been up to. Iris shows her life hacks to cooking large batches of food in a short time. Selina and Dinah discover an online store dedicated to selling vigilante gear and go on a Cyber Monday spree for their whole families. Steve Trevor, Diana's partner, teaches Selina how to fly with the invisible jet so she can surprise Bruce with the batplane.

After overcoming their initial conflicts, Selina and Talia hold a high amount of respect for each other. Talia sees Selina as not just a capable combatant, but a worthy partner to her former beloved and stepmother to her son. Selina, after spending all that time with the kids, understands the motherly love that Talia holds for Damian and makes it abundantly clear that she would never try to replace Talia in the boy's life. Regardless, looking after all those kids is hard, so they are very much open to the idea of co-parenting.

(Selina doesn't know it, but all this makes Bruce fall in love with her all over again.)

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: Buck Misunderstood the Assignment

The Assignment: You don't find love, you make it!

Buck misunderstands a lot of things especially when it comes to love. Since he didn't receive emotional support from his parents while he was young, as an adult he's spent several years having sex with random people just so that he could feel like someone cared for him, even if it was just for that moment.  While he ended up in relationships with three different women, none of them included him being the recipient of the kind of love he's been searching for.  The first woman abandoned him on 1x10 "A Whole New You "; the second woman broke up with him in 2x18 "This Life We Choose" and he broke up with the last woman in 5x18 "Starting Over". He spent so many years trying to find love that he hasn't realized he's spent the last four years making it and a family with his work partner.

Buck was given an assignment in season 2 while he was on a call. In 2x8 "Buctually", Thomas told Buck about the love he and his life partner Mitchell shared during all of the years they spent together. He explained how it was Mitchell who would run into danger and how he would always follow. Buck said, "I guess I can only hope to find something that good" and Thomas replied, "You don't find it son, you make it".  Both Buck and Eddie were present during that call but only Buck had the conversation with Thomas; therefore he was the one to receive the assignment.  And even though Eddie didn't hear their conversation, he saw the result of Thomas and Mitchell's love for each other along with Buck.  He saw a real life example of the type of love relationship he was longing to build with Buck in addition to the family they started building in 2x4 "Stuck".  He then saw how hurt Buck was after Thomas died and that's why he comforted him by placing his hand on Buck's shoulder. He also heard Buck say "That's love" after they both saw Thomas holding Mitchell's hand when he couldn't be resuscitated. They lived, loved and died together and that's what Buck has been searching for.

Based on the way Thomas described himself and Mitchell, Mitchell would run into danger and he would follow; therefore as partners Buck's recklessness illustrated how he was like Mitchell and Eddie's ability to follow the other into dangerous situations illustrated how he was like Thomas.  And that friends is why Buck misunderstood the assignment. He was talking to the life partner (Thomas) who was like Eddie instead of talking to the reckless one (Mitchell) who was like him. At the time he couldn't comprehend it but after years of being on the receiving end of multiple breakups, in season 5 he finally started to understand what Thomas told him. If Buck had been speaking with Mitchell instead of Thomas, he probably would have understood the role he played in the assignment a lot sooner.

More than four years later, Buck was finally starting to put the puzzle pieces together.  In 5x14 "Dumb Luck" he gave Eddie his drawing of a heart that he worked on while Christopher drew an anatomical heart for his homework assignment.  When Eddie said "Chris drew this?" Buck said, "No uh, that one is mines. I misunderstood the assignment".

The assignment was to make it. He is supposed to build the love of his life type of relationship with the person he sees himself growing old with all while loving every minute of the process.  Buck was already doing that with Eddie even though he didn't realize it.  In 2x4 "Stuck", they had already started building a life and a family together.  Thomas didn't tell Buck he had to suffer through failing relationships hoping that things would work themselves out.  He also didn't tell him he had to learn to live with whatever the person he was supposed to be in love with offered him.  Being abandoned was also not included in Thomas' explanation. Therefore the romantic relationships Buck had after his conversation with Thomas couldn't have been included in the assignment.

Buck and Eddie have always wanted to go together just like Thomas said that was all he and Mitchell ever wanted. They've saved each other on and off the job numerous times and the thought of losing each other terrifies them.  Buck has watched Eddie be on the brink of death too many times (3×15 "Eddie Begins" The Well; 4×13 "Survivors" The Shooting; 5x6 "Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1" The Hostage Situation; and 5x13 "Fear-O-Phobia" The Breakdown) and Eddie has almost lost contact with Buck more times than he had ever wanted to experience (3x5 "Rage" After Buck filed the Lawsuit and 5x11 "Outside Looking In" After he told Buck to Move On).

By the end of 5x18 "Starting Over", it didn't seem like Buck had fully understood that the type of love he's been searching for is already available to him. During his conversation with Maddie it appeared he was getting closer to a realization because he described what love should be when he said "Is that really love? Right? Shouldn't it be when you're at your worst or they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up and you still decide you want to try again?" 

Everything he said described his relationship with Eddie.  They have seen each other at their worst but they still stay by each other's side. 

Will he finally realize in Season 6 that he could have it all if he and Eddie confess their feelings for each other? Only TPTB know the answer to that question.

[ohnominamino]

An Essay on Love in Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is a movie about love in all its forms. From the love of family, friends, and neighbors, to the compassion we feel for people we have never met. The movie reminds us that love is something we continuously gain, lose, and choose, again and again. Which love is greatest? In my opinion, the answer to that question is left up to interpretation. In this essay, I will give my own personal interpretation on certain character interactions and what I believe we are meant to take away from their Rebuild portrayals. 

The character I will start with is one I’ve noticed the most outrage over from people who haven’t seen the movie and read out-of-context spoilers: Kaworu Nagisa. 

Kaworu is a beloved character among many Evangelion fans, especially those who are members of the LGBT+ community. He is a canonical love interest of Shinji Ikari and I want to reassure people that this final movie does not change that fact. However, it does not make the couple blatantly endgame either. This skirting around the couple might make some fans upset, and while their feelings are completely valid, I do not think they fully understand the difficulties faced by LGBT+ people in Japan, nor do they understand the way that romance is typically conveyed in Japanese storytelling. (I recommend watching “Is ‘Yuri On Ice’ Good Gay Representation?” by James Somerton for more about storytelling nuances.) 

What have we been shown about Shinji and Kaworu’s love? The good news is, anything you read into the original TV series and End of Evangelion is completely true for the Rebuilds— because Kaworu is the same Kaworu. This movie proves Evangelion is a single universe set on repeat, and that Kaworu and Shinji meet each other every loop, and in each, Kaworu is trying to make Shinji happy. Within the final movie, Shinji becomes aware of the loops and chooses to break the cycle and free Kaworu from his pain. 

What does the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu teach us? I believe the purpose of their love is to show the audience that first, in the words of Kaji, “love has no gender.” Second, I believe Kaworu’s love in particular is a warning about basing your own happiness solely upon another person. There are parallels drawn between Gendo/Yui and Kaworu/Shinji. Gendo could not exist without Yui, and so he was willing to destroy the world to be reunited with her. For Kaworu, it was not the destruction of humanity, but the destruction of himself that defined his tragedy. What’s important within the final movie, in my opinion, is that Shinji does not reject Kaworu’s love. With the insight he’s gained from remembering past loops, he sees Kaworu’s love and appreciates him, but he also sees his suffering and wants to ease it. He helps Kaworu into a new world where he can seek his own happiness and find balance in his life (something his father did not have). 

While Kaworu and Shinji are not seen as an explicit couple at the end of the movie, it’s significant to note that, when he sets Kaworu free, Shinji holds out his hand to Kaworu as a promise to stay together. Over the course of the movie, Shinji comes to accept his connection to others through accepting touch (in the form of hand holding and hugs from Rei, Misato, and Gendo); however, Kaworu is the only character in the movie who Shinji initiates physical contact with and that speaks to how much Kaworu means to him. This simple gesture, in my opinion, keeps the door open for Kaworu and Shinji to be a couple one day, after Kaworu has found more balance in his life. 

If I were to write an entire essay about Kaworu, it would be titled, “Out of the Coffin: How the Resurrection of Kaworu Nagisa Buries the Tragic Lovers Trope” because this movie truly does just that. 

Another potential love interest for Shinji for many years was Asuka; however, unlike with Kaworu, the nature of this relationship is not left up to interpretation by the end of the movie. Before her big final battle, Asuka tells Shinji, “I think I loved you back then” (regarding their time in middle school) and Shinji, during Instrumentality, tells Asuka, “Thank you for saying you loved me. I loved you too.” It is past tense. 

What does this relationship teach us? It’s a beautiful way of showing that we can love people, and grow and learn, and let go when we no longer fit each other. Letting go is an integral part of life. Whereas other Instrumentality scenes involve touch, Asuka’s, mirroring the ending of End of Evangelion, has a distinct lack of touch. Shinji sits with his arms around his knees and Asuka turns her body away from him. He gives her his thanks and he sends her off to find her peace. Asuka and Shinji teach us that it’s okay to grow out of relationships. You can appreciate what they were to you at the time they happened and move on. 

What about Rei? To be honest with you, this movie is less about Rei’s relationship with Shinji, and more about her relationship with the world. Rei teaches movie viewers about the simple pleasures of living. While Shinji is in mourning for the first quarter of the movie, Rei (as “Sokkuri”) is learning about crop growing and community, the wonder of babies and kittens, the joy of the bath after a long day of fruitful work, and the power of words and picture books. At the end of her life, she only regrets not having more time to spend with the people she loves. In Instrumentality, Shinji accepts her hand when it is offered to him, which I hope signifies he is ready to see life as she had come to during the final movie. 

Rei teaches us that we can love living and to not take our limited time for granted. 

Next, we move on to parent figures: Gendo and Misato. I think they both represent people ill suited to the role, who do the best they can despite it. Gendo, as mentioned for Kaworu above, is a warning about defining yourself by your relationship to another person (Ikari, afterall, is Yui’s name). He is also a lesson in how people mourn and how they can lash out. Misato, like Gendo, felt herself a poor parent, and while mourning the loss of Kaji, she gave up her child to be raised by other people, but, unlike Gendo, went forward to put all her energy into protecting humanity. Both of them reach out to hug Shinji within the movie and he accepts them where they are. 

While I wouldn’t say the movie shows that Shinji forgives Gendo, it does show his making an effort to understand and make peace with what others have done. For Misato, it is fair to say we can still hope for a better future, even when it feels like everything is crumbling around us. Her self-sacrificing love for her son and the whole of humanity is what enables Shinji to then save the people he loves (via the spear of Gaius). 

In the movie, we are also shown friendship. Touji, Hikari, and Kensuke are important members of their community who maintain open communication with those around them and respect others’ boundaries. They are patient and kind and represent the importance of being present. They teach us to meet people where they are and support them how we can, whether it’s giving them a warm meal or giving them space when they need it. 

There are many more characters that could be talked about, but today I am going to end on Mari. Mari’s love is physical. She enjoys being in people’s personal bubbles. She cuddles Asuka and helps trim her hair, she gets into Gendo’s space at college, and at the end of the movie, she reaches out her hand to Shinji to help him stand up from his seat. Upon first glance, some viewers might take Mari and Shinji’s final scene to be romantic, but the reality of it is this: We do not, and cannot, know what kind of love she is meant to represent in his life.

We do not know Mari’s relationship with Shinji because they hardly interact in the movie. She clearly cares about him, but in my opinion, it comes from a place of duty and compassion— Mari was friends with Gendo and Yui. She has been there since he was born. (If we take the manga to be canon, then Mari even had romantic feelings towards his mother. Her hairstyle and glasses are from Yui. At the end of the movie, Mari has changed her hairstyle, which to me implies she has moved on, and “getting” with Shinji would be a thematic break.)

Additionally, their conversation, while flirty, is very much one that implies they haven’t seen each other for a while. Mari is someone who is very physically affectionate. With everyone. If someone ignores that and focuses on the fact she gets into Shinji’s space and claims that’s romantic, they better acknowledge it’s possibly romantic with Asuka, who we see far more intimacy with. When Mari flirts, Shinji flirts back and her initial reaction is surprise, “Wow, you’ve learned to talk back!” Her purpose is clear. She is there to remove the DSS choker from his neck. 

Personally, I love that Mari is the one to close the movie, for the exact reason that we do not know her relationship with Shinji. For Mari to have an assigned role would be to say, “This kind of love is most important,” when the entire movie was spent showing us each love is of equal importance in the balance and building of our lives. (It’s wonderful to see those types of love embodied across the platform from Shinji at the end of the movie: Rei and Kaworu, who, just like in End of Evangelion, could signify the ability to connect with others and be loved.)

If you view Mari as a romantic love interest, then I think it speaks to the value that you as an individual give to romance rather than what the characters themselves are feeling. To me, Mari, the character who was created to “destroy Eva,” is a symbol of all love. When Shinji takes her offered hand and then pulls her to run into the new world, it’s a symbol of balance. The give and take of any kind of relationship. 

We are the product of every relationship we have ever had, from our parents to the people we once loved, from our friendships to any other person we want to stay connected to. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time is a story about these relationships. It is a story about love.