#so she kills them to protect him and they're just left with this kid who was an akuma

[thetardisisnotourdivision]

I really hope that they don't just do a complete character assassination because you know what would be cool? Because, to our knowledge, the only reason Nathalie stopped helping Gabriel was because he went insane. In the next season, I reckon something needs to happen - Adrien being put in danger, or even just at risk of finding out who his father was - and Nathalie does something truly awful in order to protect him. Because we still know so little about her past! My best guess is some kind of Indiana-Jones style freelancer, but we could really look into whether or not she is a good guy or not with this sort of thing, plus as you say she's going to be so pissed off with everyone venerating Gabriel as a hero - exploration of trauma. It's like that one quote from Sherlock - 'I am on the side of the angels but don't assume for one second that I am one of them' (misquote) - just because she is technically on Ladybug's side now doesn't mean in any way that she'll follow Ladybug's rules.

Idk I just really love the idea of a genuine moral dilemma where Ladybug has to turn to her new ally and say 'what the fuck did you just do', and actually we as the audience are reminded that it was Nathalie who was the brains behind Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth.

I just think it'd be neat.

I wonder in season 6 are we gonna get a storyline about nathalie rebuilding her life , get a new job , new friend maybe love interest or the storyline about survival guilt over emilie. And does she still remember that Gabriel is Monarch? And how she so damn piss everyone think he's good guy. Like theres so many thing you can do with her. I hope they're not gonna make her a boring good mom.

[coldilikeit]

Yandere Batfam x Camp half-blood (Neglected reader)

Dc x Pjo

Part 5

________________________

Diana is seething, she's filled with rage, the lies Bruce fed her?

"I'm very worried for their wellbeing..."

"I miss them very much"

"they're so young, I don't want anything bad to happen to them"

Asshole.

She kicked the door of the justice hall down, startling the kids who had gone back on patrol from trying to find (Name)

"hey what gives?" Flash asks

Superman raised his eyebrow "you left so suddenly, mind telling us where you've been?"

She looks at batman's sidekicks and then at him, while staring him straight in the eyes "the kid is dead" she says

"what?"

A silence washing over the entire room

"the lady who attacked your house, that wasn't an ordinary lady, in the eyes of mortals she may look normal, but in the eyes of divine beings... It's a monster, that monster was an empousa, a poisonous fire breathing monster who feeds on the blood of mortals and divine beings alike" Diana thinks about how she'll explain everything to J'onn later, but figure that he's probably reading her mind right now

Her suspicions are confirmed as J'onn nods at her

"your kid, (Name), they're a demigod, because of that they're a target for monsters, they're gone, eaten, sorry Bruce"

Crap Diana thinks, was she too harsh? She was just too angry

Ignoring the fact Diana just announced Bruce slept with a god, Superman placed his hand on Batman's shoulder "My condolences Bruce"

Everyone was giving their apologies to the bats

She didn't look at the widened eyes of batman's sidekicks, she noticed but chose to ignore the sound of Dick collapsing into a chair, she heard didn't pay attention to the footsteps of Damian who had to run out of the room

Cass stiffened up, she trembled as if resembling a cracking statue, Steph wants to cry, but she knows very well that she doesn't deserve to cry over you, Barbara just- it's like she just stopped working

As much as she feels so cruel right now, she knew it was the only thing that will keep you hidden, if not, they'll keep trying to find you

Green arrow crossed his arms, but it was clear he was disturbed by the death of a 12 year old kid "Diana, please elaborate"

"Bruce here, had intercourse with a god, that led to (Name) being born, monsters attack demigods, people who are half god half human such as myself, without proper protection monsters kill demigods easily, and (Name) suffered that fate, monsters attack demigods while they're young and tasty and leave them alone as they grow older, they don't feed usually on humans, just animals and demigods"

It seemed like Batman or more appropriately for this situation Bruce wasn't even listening, his mind still stuck at the announcement of your death

"If it'd make you feel better, you can take a break for a while... I know what it's like to lose family, we all do, let yourself grieve Batman, you might be a hardcore vigilante but you're still a father" (to everyone but name) Barry suggests

Starfire has been trying to calm Dick down, his breathing has become irregular and unstable, switching between deep and short breaths

_________________________

Jon runs after Damian, it looked like any second, the unbeatable demon spawn fell to his knees

"Damian! Are you okay!?" Jon asks

"I-i thought it'd only last a few days... Maybe a week if they're incompetent, or maybe months if we're unlucky" Damian started to cough

He took off his robin mask and took a deep breath "Since there was no body, I was fine, I thought they're okay, maybe a few injuries here and there, but they're alive so it's fine, but- the reason there was no body... Was because she was eaten- by stupid, how'd -" Jon didn't know what to do, between the both of them, Damian was the composed one

Then two of his siblings came, Jason and Tim

"what the fuck? Demon spawn?" Jason was surprised, and immediately glared at Jon, accusingly looking at him for making his brother this way

Jon put his up defensively "I didn't do anything, promise, I'm trying to comfort him!"

Tim knelt down with Damian "what happened?"

"(Name) is dead"

And suddenly it feels like nothing matters anymore

____________________________

"okay! And this'll be your bed!" Selina ended the tour of the cabin

Selena Beauregard, Daughter of Aphrodite, she was your sister, Gosh you have a sister! And she was nice! She wasn't like Cass who for some reason, closed her eyes everytime you tried to communicate with her

Barbara pretended to be busy, too busy, what do you mean you have to work? Didn't your workplace get burned down by two-face two days ago?

Steph- at least she was honest, she straight up told you she' didn't want anything to do with you

A guy with blonde hair and blue eyes walked out of the bathroom, a nice change from the black and blue eyes you're used to

"hey! You're our new sister! The one who was flirting with that Hephaestus kid-"

"Aster! (Name) Told me they were just friends and if they were flirting what's wrong with that? Love is love" Selena came to your rescue

Aster tilted his head confused with the way you're shifting "what's wrong?" He asked

"aren't people in Greek mythology who are named after flowers turn into them?" You nervously fiddle with your fingers

With that some of your siblings who are in their respective spaces burst out laughing and Aster is hugging you laughing whilst explaining that in Greek mythology "the people came first, not the flower"

That seemed to calm you down a bit, then another girl, whose name is Drew spoke up "so (Name) who's your mortal parent?"

You freeze up at this question but the other kids seemed normal about it

"don't worry (Name) it's some game we play, cause mom's standards are high, we compare mortal parents" Another one one your brothers said, his name is Castillo, he had a faded hair color of blue to purple that reminded you of Ramona flowers

(this is actually canon in Pjo, lmao)

He continued "my father was a famous k-pop idol" he bragged

A little girl then shouted "My dad was a model for Designer clothing!"

Selena rolled her eyes "So whose your dad (Name)?"

You didn't want to answer that, but at the same time- this is the first sibling playing you've ever been in, you're included here!

"my dad is Bruce Wayne... You can look me up on Google- but he, he really wasn't the best- umm dad"

"THE BRUCE WAYNE?" Someone gasps

"i thought his name was Brucie?"

You hear in the background

"I didn't know he was an asshole" Aster muttered

"come on bro, the guy parties all day and he's with children, how could you ever think that guy's a good father?" Castillo shrugs his shoulders

"that's okay (Name), a lot of mom's lovers are vain, taking it too seriously in their heads that they slept with the goddess of beauty, that's why mom stopped revealing herself, there are rare moments, but they're rare" another sister of yours says

You honestly feel so at home here...

________________________

I'm now realizing that the "Neglected daughter" fandom is literally so small, I just saw like three of my readers in another fic I was reading XD

Let's support each other!!!! :3

Also the characters without description are canon characters, people who are actually in pjo

The one with descriptions are OC's!

So Drew and Selena are canon characters! :3

Callisto and Aster aren't

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

@wpdarlingpan @mountvesuvu @nathaly36 @delias-stuff @vanessa-boo @bat1212 @sadslasher13 @ellaprime7

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 9 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

the river flowing. mushrooms and lichens growing from a fallen tree. nicky's other mom is always with them.

agatha clearly loves teaching nicky all she knows about magic, because she is a teacher at heart! and he's literally the first person she gets to pass her knowledge on to, she's relishing every minute of it.

meanwhile poor nicky is just hungry. because the fucker makes him live in the woods.

and I guess she finds it easier to be honest when it's about explaining how magic works.

oh no the way they're whispering is so cute??? and she'll keep calling it her purple long after nicky's death.

and this has been pointed out many times, but when nicky smiles you're sure reminded of how they went out of their way to find a kid who looked like aubrey plaza too

another thing that has been pointed out ad nauseam and it will be repeated again, because it's so good: I cannot heal you, like jen would. I cannot protect you, like alice would. and I cannot divine, like lilia would.

could a real coven have healed nicky, protected him, saved him from his fate? did she kill him sooner than necessary by keeping him cold and starving in the woods? agatha will never know, because despite all her love, she put her own fear over his safety. maybe nicky would have died anyway, but it's still cruel and unfair that he had to spend the little time he had on earth in such a lonely way.

agatha, despite all the mind tricks she plays on herself and on others, is simply too smart to not see that what she's doing is selfish, harmful to nicky, and ultimately futile. this is why she'd rather blame rio, and it's why she can't go to nicky in the afterlife: she can't face her own guilt.

(also, she's afraid she'll find a version of him that can now understand what she did and will hate her for it.) (and I imagine that a grown up nicholas would have had a hard time coming to terms with his childhood too.)

and still. and still. this whole mess of a person doing a terrible job at raising her son? she's also the daughter of an abusive mother who is trying to be better, she is trying to give him what she never had - love, support, knowledge. her selfish choices don't negate all the love and joy she gave him too.

and on top of everything else, nicky is about to freaking die! in modern times we'd say he has a terminal illness, she doesn't know how much time she has left with him. that is an impossible lot to navigate, especially for a person alone and carrying with her so much baggage and trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms. keeping nicky so isolated is the only way she feels like she has an illusion of control over the inevitable.

agatha is not only denying nicky a coven, she's denying herself a community that would have helped her carry this burden, that would have taught and encouraged her to do better, that would have ultimately shared her pain in mourning. isn't that another tragedy within the tragedy? knowing what could have been?

agatha teaches him magic, even though he doesn't have any. maybe he was still too young, maybe he really was just a regular kid. still, she teaches him.

NOT THE DANDELION. i'm about to bite my screen in anguish

sure, sure, the time has come to go. I'm fine, I'm totally fine.

aaaaaand some more scamming!!!

agatha the ham is one of my favorite agathas. but wait, I'll make you sad again now! they're doing this shit because they don't have any money to eat. and nicky is clearly sick, and agatha is still making him do it. because they don't have any money to eat.

meanwhile witches everywhere are getting curious about the Ballad. (doesn't she look a bit like sadie sink?)

for the THIRD TIME a witch notices nicky coughing / how sick he is and offers her coven's help.

nicky looks agatha straight in the eyes and refuses to lure witches to their deaths. he stands up for himself. he disobeys.

and yes, the obvious double meaning: my other mother needs me home.

agatha forgets all her scheming and runs after him in a panic. she is losing control over him. she is losing him.

go to episode 9 part 4

[saltywinteradult]

“there is no way in hell Alicent is going to abandon her children” why not?

Aegon’s a rapist and Aemond’s a sociopathic kinslayer, why should Alicent be forced to stay loyal to them?

I understand Rhaenyra why loves Jace, Luke and Joffrey because what’s not to love, they’re perfect. But I cannot see Alicent genuinely loving Aegon and Aemond after everything they’ve done.

It would be 100x more radical and feminist for Alicent to choose Rhaenyra, to put herself first, to stop letting men control her.

Goodness me, I hardly know where to start with this.

I don’t know how you think parental love works, nonny dearest, but it sure as hell isn’t "I won't love my children if they're not perfect people". That’s generally not how parenthood works. And Alicent loves her children. She was sold as a child bride and endured years of rape for the sake of producing those children. Raising and protecting them has been the main purpose of Alicent’s life for twenty years. How could she not love them?

In case you need proof, Alicent physically attacked Rhaenyra, arguably the big love of her life, because she was that angry (and rightfully so) about her son being maimed. Alicent went along with usurping Rhaenyra's throne, despite knowing it would lead to war and ruin what little chance she had left of mending things with Rhaenyra, because she loves her children and is desperate to keep them safe, and she believes that Rhaenyra would kill them to secure her claim to the throne. (Whether that is true is a different discussion - what matters here is that Alicent believes it.) Alicent stepped in front of a dragon to protect Aegon, for crying out loud. Aegon being a rapist clearly tarnished him in her eyes, and yet she still stepped in front of that dragon to protect him. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about Alicent's love for her children, I don't know what will. So I don't know that this is a case of Alicent being "forced" to stay loyal to her children, as much as it is Alicent choosing to stay loyal to the people she loves most in the world.

I would also like to point out that Rhaenyra's children are very much not perfect. Jace and Luke both participated in bullying Aemond. In case you forgot, it was Luke who literally mutilated and permanently disabled Aemond. It doesn't matter if Aemond was in the wrong for claiming Vhagar or calling the Strong boys bastards. He wasn't, but even if he was, cutting out someone's eye is not a thing that good people do. So I don't know where you got the idea that Jace and Luke are "perfect", nonny dearest, but it sure as hell wasn't from HotD.

I'm not going to argue over whether Luke maiming Aemond is more or less bad than Aegon raping Dyana or Aemond killing Luke (which is his fault, even if in this version of the story he didn't intend for it to happen). That's not the point. And please note, I am not making a single excuse for Aegon raping Dyana or Aemond killing Luke. I'm simply pointing out that it is extremely hypocritical to claim that Aemond and Aegon are unloveable because of the terrible things they do, but Jace and Luke are loveable when they both do terrible things as well.

And here's the thing. Rhaenyra clearly loves Jace and Luke anyway. Why wouldn't she? They're her kids and she loves them flaws and all. So why is it any less believable that Alicent would love Aegon and Aemond? Why are Jace and Luke loveable despite their terrible deeds, but Aegon and Aemond aren't? And if Alicent choosing Rhaenyra, whom she loves, would be a feminist storytelling choice, why would it be any less feminist for her to choose to stay with her family whom she loves just as much? Why are Alicent's choices only Feminist and Radical when they benefit Rhaenyra?

Even if it were true that Alicent abandoning her family and becoming lifetime president of the Rhaenyra Fan Club would make for a more feminist story - which, to be clear, it isn't - my first priority is not for the story to be The Most Radical And Feminist™. I want the story to be good. And I do not think that making Alicent abandon her family for Rhaenyra would make for a good story. It goes completely against Alicent's characterisation to have her abandon the family we're shown time and time again that she loves more than anything else. Not only would that be a betrayal of her character, it would undermine the narrative as a whole.

For better or worse, these two women and their relationship have been made central to this story. They are foils and they've each been made into the figurehead of their respective teams in every way, down to the marketing of the show. It would simply be bad storytelling to throw off that narrative balance by having them team up. It would completely upend the story being told. The point of making Rhaenyra and Alicent's relationship so central to the show is that despite their love for each other they were still driven apart and forced to become enemies. Having them reconcile would undermine the point that this story is a tragedy.

[whereserpentswalk]

You sell items to adventurers for a living. It's relatively easy to get business in a frontier city like the one you live in. You were planning on becoming an adventurer yourself but an injured leg when you were young prevented that. But because you already know how to find items, and how they should be fairly priced, so it's a good living.

Not everyone who thinks of themselves as adventurers actually are adventurers. You sometimes have to sell weapons to naive groups of kids, who have no idea what they're doing. Useally you humor them, they tend to go off into useless places with no gold to be found, an old mineshaft that's been explored a thousand times over has become famous for such things. If they seem like they'll go somewhere way more dangerous than they should, you point them to the mineshaft.

Of course, most of your business is from actual adventurers. They tend to be wanderers, foreigners, a lot of ex merchants or ex millitary, or children of nobility who cant inherent, the type of people who never had the chance to make a safe living. Most of them are nice to you, and if they're not you know how to get them to leave.

You also know how to become a protecter for the adventuring parties who need it. Your shop is basically the center of their community in this part of the city. If a spellcaster is part of an illegal religion, or performing banned practices, you know what symbols to sell them to help them hide themselves. If someone is clearly a runaway slave or serf, or from a race that's considered a monster in this part of the world, you know how the forge the right documents. There was a hobgoblin who frequented your shop for a long time, who you sold weapons to, who you had to testify in front of the city sherif was not a hobgoblin but was infact a member of a rare subrace of elf that you made up to protect him. You may have also recently made an entire fictional category of magic legally real for the sake of protecting some necromancers you know.

There are some people you never sell to. It's not considered good principle to sell to people who would gladly kill your other clients. There was a group of warriors weilding holy magic who talked a lot about punishing sinners, they came back with the heads of goblins and hobgoblins a lot, and vampires, and humans of religions other then theirs. After they started bringing in more of their freinds you cut them off.

There are people who you wished you hadn't sold to for other reasons. There was this human noble girl who you sold a suit of armor to, she had run away from an arranged marriage and joined an adventuring party so she could be as far from her parents as possible. She seemed so excited to be in a big city, to be out in the world, she chatted with you for hours about an epic poem from ages long gone that she liked. When she came back to your shop after her first quest she had turned undead, something happened in her first dungeon that changed her, her skin was pale, and her teeth had turned sharp, you just remember her shivering and trying to cry, and muttering about how cold she was. Her other party members said they were happy she was more durable like this, they didn't seem to care about her outside of that.

And of course, there's the fact that every adventurer you know, useally doesn't come back eventually. When a full party goes you can assume they left town, but when just one or two from a party is missing there tends to be one explanation. Most adventurers don't have long careers, and mortality especially high for rookies. But you don't tend to ask if anyone is dead, it's better to just assume they went home, as implausible as it may be.

[proheromidoriyashouto]

Rookanis Accidental Baby Acquisition AU

Zara Renata was about to call Illario "amatus", right? Lover? Wouldn't it be fucked up if they had a child. Like in a back room or office or something and Rook's team and Lucanis found them before they left the Ossuary.

Assuming Zara had real feelings for Illario, maybe she felt bad to had "killed" his beloved cousin and was like "Here. Another of your bloodline to love." Which for blood mages is probably of some significance.

And Illario couldn't bring this bastard Dellamorte home to Caterina. There's too much at stake at the moment. He'll come for them after making himself the First Talon and eliminating the threat of the Crows. His regime was going to align with the Venatori anyway so it's just a waiting game. His claim will be stronger when he reveals an heir with Venatori ties, too.

Except maybe Zara locked their child away before fighting Rook's party- for protection- so Illario had to make the call to leave them behind, intending to return after they'd left, only to find that Rook and company have already come to the rescue.

What does he do? He can't accuse Rook and Lucanis of having his secret Venatori bastard in their possession. He doesn't even know that for certain. Another Venatori could have made the rounds and taken them along to another facility.

He's panicking because his cousin he tried to have assassinated is very much alive, furious about it, and his own infant child is out in the world somewhere lost, possibly in the possession of mages who work for the Blighted gods, and the Crows are bound to find out--!

Meanwhile, Rook and company have a baby now. Even if they can't be 100% sure Illario is the father, they can't just leave this kid at any orphanage. Their mother was Zara Renata, infamous Zenatori blood mage, with no shortage of enemies who could possibly do something terrible blood-magic-fucked-up-style to a baby.

Despite Lucanis absolutely denying Illario's possible paternity, the child is obviously Antivan with big dark brown eyes and the thick wavy hair. Lucanis cannot handle the much more at this point. He was just freed from imprisonment after a year of being tortured and fused with a demon, certain someone in the Crows has betrayed him, he does not sleep, he's so tired. He's a man on the brink. He can just agree that the child is better off with his new employer than a blood mage prison or without protection out in the world.

He does not stay up at night thinking about the familiar features of his cousin brother on a small round face just a few rooms away. He has enough on his mind, Spite! And if he thinking about the baby, it's only because he can't comprehend how a monster like Zara Renata had such an innocent creature in her clutches in that gods-forsaken place.

The team is hesitant on how to even start taking care of a baby, but Rook is into it. They're so cute! And sure babies cry and poop and test one's patience, but it there's anyone who is going to understanding about it, it's going to be the optimistic team leader who made the call to take the child with them in the first place. Rook made that choice and they're going to stand by it. Besides, the child needs someone to be a consistent caretaker right?

While the team helps in the day time, nighttime feedings and diaper changes are mostly Rook's responsibility. And the milk station is in the kitchen where Lucanis just so happens to be most nights.

Reluctant baby bonding with Lucanis every night. Talking in soft tones over the sounds of infant suckling at a warm bottle in Rook's arms. Lucanis offering to burp them over his shoulder, nose buried in their soft hair, Spite quiet for once. Rook sitting next to him and telling he's good at this, taking care of others. Something he's never been allowed to do with Caterina all but caging him within the confines of Crow duty and terror as surely as any mage's prison.

Hands touching as the baby is transferred from one another. Rook catching Lucanis' soft, unguarded smile looking down at the babbling baby, little hands reaching for his face. Lucanis scolding the baby in a playful voice when they tug at his beard and hair. That kind of dexterity will be good for handling kitchen knives later.

Maybe he could teach them to bake? They might make a good kitchen assistant if he starts tutoring them now before the team can pass down bad habits. He tells them never to follow Harding's cooking advice or develop Neve's preference for Tevinter coffee. They will be a good little Antivan chef, yes.

Shared glances over late-night coffee and cioccolata calda and an empty milk bottle. Giving unhelpful advice on how to properly change a cloth diaper, knocking shoulders. Exasperated sighs as they take turns bouncing the crying baby trying to soothe some unknown hurt for hours. Spite's wings fascinating the baby, who stops crying to reach for black feathers that disappear as they brush against their skin. A first kiss shared over a sleepy child cuddled to Lucanis' chest.

Even after accepting the truth, Lucanis can't bring them to Caterina. Can't stomach this child going through the same conditional love and training to be a Crow that he went through, and that will inevitably happen if he, or Illario, come forward about it.

So he makes the decision to lock up Illario just so he can approach him in private to imply that the child has been found and is safe in Rook's hands. Because Lucanis still loves Illario, and Illario does care somewhere deep down about his child's life. Lucanis can't afford to lose the family he's finding for himself now, not even for the family he used to have. It's a tenuous balance.

And in the years to come, if that child lives in a Lighthouse in the Fade, and squeals a delighted papà! as soon as they see Lucanis returning from Treviso. Well. That's Veilguard, not Crow, business.

[theoriginalkaminari]

Would you ever write what Yandere Aizawa or Present Mic would be like? Also I love your writing!

Thank you so much! I appreciate you!

Also, would you like both?

Because like goddamn, there is no escape from EITHER.

Imagine you're a fellow teacher at U.A hero academy.

You're literally the perfect thing, beautiful, (handsome), kind, innocent and intelligent. Who wouldn't like you?

When you first got a job at U.A, Shota Aizawa was pretty distant towards you. As he is to most people.

"Aizawa, would you like to-"

"No."

"But I didn't even-"

"No."

So yeah, at first Aizawa had no interest in you or what you had to offer. But you were so nice...and every kid in his class looked up to you because of how amazing you were...and Aizawa just couldn't ignore you for long. He would often hear his class talking about you in class.

"Y/N-Sensei looked so cool today!"

"How did they get their quirk to be so strong, ribbit..."

"Man!! They're so manly!"

"Tch. Whatever. Their not that strong."

"Huh? Oh, come on, Kacchan! You know their awesome! Just admit it!"

"Shut it, dunce face, before I toss you out the damn window."

These were just some of the conversations Aizawa heard about you. Most of them talked about how strong you or your quirk was, with the occasional pervy comment left by Mineta.

Aizawa gets more and more interested in you day after day. The way you dress, how you talk, he slowly but surely starts becoming more and more protective and even possessive over you.

He gets closer to you, listens to you ramble about your hyperfixations, or just anything, really.

He stil trys l convinces himself that he doesn't love you, but that ends quickly when you start dating a pro hero.

Aizawa was fucking furious. Why would you waist your time on a person who loves the spotlight more than they love you, when you could be with him?!

The only reason the person isn't dead yet, is because Aizawa doesn't want you to be upset.

So instead he just makes sure that pro hero can't climb up the hero ranks. For your whole relationship with them, that pro hero is stuck at the 30th spot.

But that all changes when you don't come to work one day. Because Aizawa is a good person, he goes to your apartment to make sure you're okay.

You end up spilling your guts out to him, cryong as you say you found out the pro hero you were dating cheated on you with a hotter co-worker.

All laws about murder, prepare to be ignored!

The raven haired man kills him, obviously. Not like a lot of people would be distraught, he wasn't popular at all. Thanks to him, of course. Hardly anyone cared, even you. That asshole treated you like shit, but you still felt bad.

Doing you a favor, Aizawa even made it seem like the girl that pro hero cheated on you with was the one who killed him, and she was sent to the slammer.

But he still didn't have you.

"Heya, Shota!" Hizashi smiles brightly as he takes a seat next to his friend in the teacher's lounge.

Aizawa simply nods at him. Hizashi tilts his head, leaning back on the chair he sits in. Hizashi isn't stupid, he can see that something's bothering his bestfriend. "Somethin' wrong, Shota?" He asks in a quieter tone, which isn't saying much.

Aizawa nods again.

Hizashi looks around the teachers lounge, making sure its empty. He leans in closer, a devilish smirk on his face. "Ya know, Shota." He whispers, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"I know what you did." He whispers in his ear, making Aizawa freeze. Aizawa panics inside, but he remains a calm exterior so Hizashi doesn't suspect anything. Maybe he's talking about something else.

"I know you killed that new hero, didn't you?" Hizashi finally whispers again. Aizawa freezes again. No. Hizashi...wouldn't report him to the police...would he? He wouldn't expose him! Would...Aizawa have to kill him too?

Suddenly, Hizashi smirks. "Hey, hey, don't panic." He laughs, pulling off him slightly. "You did it for L/N, right?" He asks in a very quiet tone.

Aizawa glances at him. Now he was confused. What? Why was he asking? "Why does it matter?Don't tell me I'll have to kill you too." Aizawa says in a threatening and quiet tone.

Hizashi smiles and shakes his head. "No, no!" He leans closer again. "In fact," that same devilish grin appears on his face. "I want in." He whispers.

Thats how Eraserhead and Present Mic became partners in becoming incredibly obsessed with you.

Now, Hizashi was a lot different than Aizawa, and 10 times more obsessed. He's a lot more manipulative and controlling, and very very very clingy.

Together, they work together. Aizawa kills, and Hizashi covers it up.

Hizashi puts secret cameras in your office and Aizawa watches the footage. Honestly, you should really lock your doors...

...because they also enjoy watching you sleep in person.

I mean, what?

[jelzorz]

188.

Ezran has a go at them both when they get back. Rayla doesn't blame him—most of it is motivated by grief and a kingdom is a lot to lose indeed, but it's also because they were there, they were so close to home, and what were they doing? Runaan is essentially her father, yes, but he'd still killed Ez's dad, and they'd released him while Sol Regem was burning Katolis to the ground.

Rayla would be mad too, if it were her. If the Silvergrove was destroyed and the people closest enough to help were freeing criminals instead, she'd be furious. She makes no excuses, not for them nor for Runaan, who should have known better, who did and killed Harrow anyway, but it's still heartbreaking to see Ez in so much pain and to see the castle that was very quickly becoming home in ruins.

They're camped by the temples now. They still have supplies from their trip and there are civilians who need the space and the bedrolls more. Callum doesn't want to be around Ez right now anyway, not after the screaming match they'd had at the ruins, and as much as Callum had tried to defend them, he knows, deep down, that Ez is right. He sulks the evening away, poking aggressively, guiltily at their fire while the clerics dish out what little dinner there is available.

Rayla leaves him to it in search of something to do distract her from her own guilt and winds up helping Soren and some of the other soldiers pitch tents in the fields as an alternative for something more long term. She's tightening a guy wire when Ez finds her.

"Can we talk?"

Rayla twitches her lips. "Sure."

There's a pause. Ez can't quite look at her and Rayla swings her arms awkwardly, her throat tight. In a rare show of reading the room—or lack thereof, Rayla supposes—Soren makes himself scarce, claiming he needs Opeli to check the stitches on his forehead, and then it's just her and Ez and the distant sound of chatter in the night.

"Are you angry at me too?" asks Ez at last.

Rayla stares at him. It's not what she expected at all. "Why on earth would I be angry at you?" she says stupidly. "You were right. We were closer and we should have come back sooner. We shouldn't have—" She cuts herself off and glance away, not quite able to regret it completely. "I'm sorry we weren't here," she says instead. "You have every right to be angry at us."

Ez shakes his head. "Katolis is my responsibility," he mumbles. "It doesn't matter what you were doing. I should have been here. I never should have left."

"Ez, you couldn't have known—"

"It doesn't matter," he snaps. "I'm supposed to be king. I'm supposed to protect these people, and instead—" He hiccoughs and shuts his eyes. "I should have known something was wrong when Sol Regem didn't show up for Queen Janai's brother. We should have gone looking for him, we should have—"

"Ezran, stop it," says Rayla sharply. "This isn't your fault."

"It might as well be!" snarls Ez. "Why wasn't I here, Rayla? Why couldn't I have done something to stop this? All those people dead, friends, family, brothers and sisters and moms and dads and kids lined up in the square, why—" He cuts himself short, knees buckling, shoulders shaking with every shuddering sob. Rayla's heart shatters for him, and she crosses the distance between them and pulls him into her arms, all of the anger between them be damned. "Why couldn't I protect them?" he sniffs. "Why couldn't I have been a better king?"

Rayla shushes him, her arms tight and steady around his shoulders. "It wasn't your fault," she says firmly. "You didn't cause this. You couldn't have stopped it. You're a good king, Ez, and we need to focus on protecting whatever's left, okay? The survivors. The people who are still here. They need you."

"They need someone better than me."

"No," snaps Rayla, "they need you. A king who ends wars, not one who keeps fighting them. A king who wants his legacy to be a narrative of love. You're going to pull through this. You and the rest of Katolis. It's going to be okay."

"It's not now."

Rayla grimaces. "No. It's not now. But it will be, and you have to believe that. For them. Okay?"

There's another pause. Ez sobs into her shoulder, a child more than a king, and Rayla holds him tight, swallowing her own tears and heartbreak because it's not fair that he should have to deal with that too. She lets him cry for ages because he needs it, because the grief is too big and too heavy to bottle up, before, finally, he raises his arms and hugs her back.

"I heard you and Callum are okay now," he mumbles against her shirt at last.

Rayla almost laughs. "We were always going to be," she chuckles in spite of herself.

"Good," says Ez quietly. "I'm glad there's one thing in amongst all of this that's still intact."

[mhsdatgo]

Do you think the show is biased against the Greens vs. Team Black? If so, how should the show have demonstrated that both teams are awful, in your opinion?

Hello anon!

I've got a lot to say on this one.

First of all, yes. I totally think that the show had some obvious kind of bias towards the Blacks. Not necessarily with the way the Greens were treated as devils with no likeable qualities except for Alicent (even if there are several instances of them doing so) but more because of the way the Blacks were whitewashed.

Rhaenyra.

Look, you'll never catch me not expressing my contempt for this woman, no matter the fact she was brought up by a man who did nothing but spoil, enable and indulge her in everything and anything she says and does. I can see the path they're taking in the show by adapting her as an irresponsible woman who flees at the minimal inconvenience and cowers to her dad at any minor inconvenience, but literally everything that makes her Rhaenyra Targaryen, Rhaenyra Targaryen, is removed.

She just looks like the next girlboss Targ Dragonrider queen after Daenerys. They basically made GOT season 8 and sent show!Rhaenyra as an apology. But in doing so they basically made her... Boring. Her and her children, which I don't love or hate. (The closest one I am to "liking" is Jace, I guess, but the leaks are just making me rethink everything again.)

I would've loved it if they had given us ONE pre-Dance book!Rhaenyra scene that would've made her appear more ruthless than what we have on the show, and not just the time when she offered 10 year old Aemond to be tortured. Make her ask Daemon to go after Vaemond (sorry pookie) like she did in the books, make her feed his corpse to her dragon. Sure that wouldn't have made me change my mind about how much I dislike her bUt it WOULD'VE made me go "damn she stands on business."

I wanted her to act out of grief and insist on going to war when she miscarried Visenya and lost her father, because although I don't think that the Greens did kill that poor little girl (she had dragon features and was likely going to die anyway) I do think that Rhaenyra should've been allowed her pain and the irrational and impulsive thinking that comes with it.

Alicent.

OH BOY.

Where do I even begin with this one?

Olivia Cooke SLAYED. Lemme just start with that. She took the whole cake and ate it too and left no crumbs. The direction they've taken with her is a realistic one, at least for the actions and decisions she's taking. Reckless, for sure. Risky, deathly even. Her fear is realistic, even for someone as Alicent Hightower no matter how much determination had protected her from dread.

What I don't like is the way she was treated as everyone's object and her shutting up about it. From Rhaenyra to Larys, everyone uses her for their own disgusting pleasures or outlet of frustration. And she's made to take it without fighting back even once. The one time she does, bless her, she's treated as a woman who's gone mad.

Now, I would've been fine with her taking all these hits if only they knew how to make Alicent change properly and completely from there. If it was me, the incident at Driftmark would be my start to revenge. No longer would I look at Rhaenyra with hope to reconcile with her. No longer would I bear any more of Viserys' shit when it's clear his first daughter (the image of his first wife) bears way more importance to him than me and all the four kids he forced me to have combined.

They'd have to nightly talk me out of suffocating him with my pillow a minute more for every wince and ache my now eyeless son suffers, for a month straight if not more. I wouldn't eagerly stand by his side and listen to his last words only to mistake them for permission to go along with my plans. I'd stand there passively at best, waiting for him to be done, before leaving the room.

Everything else can just be left the same way it was. Her fear when she realizes the effect Viserys' death has on her and her children is realistic. I'd break down for a moment too. I'd act as soon as I could too. I'd cry tears of relief, dread, grief (depends on how you interpret that scene) too. After letting his stinky ass rot for a fortnight. I would've preferred this to be a "there was a plan, but we weren't ready to act it out" situation more than a "what the fuck is going on" situation.

I'd also slap that "you toil in service of other men" dialogue from Rhaenys right back in her face (sorry grandma) since if we're talking about the show, it's literally the only thing she has done throughout the season.

House Velaryon.

HEAVY on this one. They have been done so wrong on so many levels. Every single one of them.

Laena was made to "pursue" Daemon, she changes from a precious, small and shy little girl to a confident, seductive young woman (teenager for fuck's sake, screw everyone who thought making her change this way would've been good) and later on a side piece, "the one Daemon settles for because he can't have Rhaenyra" even if it was known that she was the only one he was never unfaithful to, "she's made her peace" (WTF???????).

It apparently never hits Corlys that the bitch who he believes has made him childless (I AM TALKING ABOUT DAEMON) deserves no support from him and his house or that Luke should actually become a ward there at Driftmark if he's so adamant on keeping this farce that he's a Velaryon and the next Lord of the Tides.

Vaemond is seen as the odd, evil and power hungry one for pointing out that his house is falling into an OBVIOUS bastard's hands whether this kid likes it or not (even as my support for this claim goes as far as questioning Luke's parentage) and to add insult to injury he's made to say Rhaenyra is a whore, which never happened in the books.

The Silent Five are removed completely, Vaemond's sons as well (@redrosesandcharmingsouls knows I was FROTHING at the mouth waiting for Daemion Velaryon to make an appearance but the motherfuckers couldn't even give me that) so that we don't have any kind of reason to believe an execution so brutal and unjust had any repercussions on the support House Velaryon has on the Blacks overall. They are made into Rhaenyra's cheering squad through and thorough, even if they have every reason to be anything but.

The Laenor situation is actually really fucking funny. They made him leave instead of killing him to not bury the gays and they aren't aware that this has totally fucked everything up. Like thanks for telling me ALL of Rhaenyra's children are bastards. Cool, HOW THE FUCK TO YOU HANDLE SEASMOKE NOW?

Aegon II.

No this isn't an apologist post. I'm actually slithering on the ground on my knees for TGC daily but Aegon is a clusterfuck right now, no matter how you look at it. They tell us he's a psycho drunken rapist and he likes to watch children fighting every Sunday and when you actually see his adult version he's a crying love starved bitch of a man and he winces and frowns when Vaemond's head is cut off.

Instead of taking the throne to protect his children, he takes it because he's forced. And that makes Alicent the villain in everything once again. Now it doesn't matter if you look at the book version or what we see of the show version, everywhere you look this is just out of character.

It's inconsistent. He's made the worst thing ever so people can say "See??? They believe a rapist is better to put to the throne than our girlboss virtuous heir!!!" you either make him a psycho or a touch starved baby, why make both?

So yeah, I think this is all. For now. We'll have to see how this show progresses to see if I change my mind in any way.

Thanks for the ask!!!! ^_^

[aroaceleovaldez]

Do you have any headcanons in regard to Cassius as a Grace sibling? Like Thalia's (and Jason's) reaction specifically?

Also just Nero's stepchildren, do you have any relationships between them that you particularly enjoy thinking about?

YES!!!! I have SO many thoughts about this. first and foremost, Cassius as a Grace sibling:

His age theoretically matches up with him being extremely young (about 1!) when Beryl died (cause Thalia says Beryl died about three years prior to TTC, at which point Cassius would be 4). Which relatively fits with what we know of the other Tri kids. It also potentially implies that the Tri intentionally killed Beryl and made it look like an accident, which is potentially very interesting particularly relating to Thalia and Jason's relationship with their mother and just Beryl's character in general.

Also interesting - Cassius would have been born after Thalia was turned into a tree!

I've mentioned before my theories about him being a child of Zeus or Jupiter, given his name being one letter off from an epithet of Zeus and his description comparisons to Jason (which could also lean into Cas as a Grace sibling!). I personally like to think he's somewhat symbolic of Zeus' childhood - being raised apart from his siblings/his siblings being taken from him before he was even born, perhaps his descriptions of being associated with having juiceboxes being associations to Zeus as Kronos' cupbearer, etc etc.

I think Thalia and Jason would be HORRIFIED about how Cassius ended up in the Tri's hands. Also just Cassius' situation in general. They both have very complicated relationships to their mother and the idea that they had yet ANOTHER long lost sibling? Who similarly up until that point had led a tragic life like the two of them and they had no idea and were thus unable to help him all this time? The DREAD!!!!

Once they find out about him I imagine they would, of course, become FIERCELY protective of him. They've both lived such brutal lives and this poor kid has already been through so much and they are going to do their darnedest to ensure this kid never has to deal with anything else like any of that ever again.

I also imagine they'd probably similarly worry over the rest of the Tri kids a bit, when it sets in that they've all lived lives like that. They're both a little sensitive to the concept of kids being taken from their families and molded into this idol of a child soldier due to Jason's experience so finding like twelve kids going through that (and one of them is their FULL BROTHER) is like a personal nightmare for them.

As for the Tri kids in general - yes!!! I have some general thoughts about the Tri kids [here] and designs [here] but some specific ones:

Lucius and the Artemis kids are bffs, for obvious reasons (Apollo and Artemis). I imagine they're both left to their own devices and encouraged to be a bit feral (Nero fostering analogies to the more wild and destructive aspects of Apollo and Artemis) so they've got a lot of issues, but they're sort of each other's rocks.

Besides Lucius, I like to think the Artemis kid's other closest sibling is the Poseidon kid (Cause moon and tides :D). He's pretty much the only other one who can get her to mellow out/calm down.

The Aphrodite and Hephaestus kids are also bffs. Intense solidarity between those two.

The Hera kid wants absolutely NOTHING to do with Cassius. I hc Nero generally tried to get the kids to replicate dynamics between the Olympians and have a few of them form little duos and such, so the Hera kid and Cassius get nudged together a lot. Cassius doesn't mind cause he's everybody's friend but Hera kid HAAAAATES it. She doesn't necessarily hate Cassius but she doesn't want to be forced into a duo.

Most of the rest of my thoughts for the Tri kids is just them being encouraged to replicate dynamics between the Olympians or the Olympians themselves and what effect that has on them.

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

There is a voicemail on the answering machine when Steve gets home that night. It's from his Uncle Phillip, stumbling through a clumsy message about Chrissy's death, all while he can hear his Aunt Laura wailing in the background. He cuts the message off halfway, rewinding it for his parents to listen to when they return from wherever they've been. Whenever they return.

He picks up the phone, dials Gareth's number, and immediately hangs up before anyone can answer. This is a phone call that needs to wait. Even though all of Steve is itching to reach out to the family that still matters to him, he can't. He can't offer comfort or kind words or even offer to just be there. He's got the Upside Down to deal with first.

The Upside Down has returned and they don't have El and her powers. They don't have Hopper or Joyce. What they have is Steve. Steve is the only adult left in Hawkins that knows anything. It's his job to protect them all, somehow. Someway.

He's the adult.

Fuck. He can't think about this anymore tonight. He's so fucking tired. Instead of climbing the stairs to his room, he flops onto the couch in the living room, falling quickly into sleep plagued by nightmares.

Meanwhile, across town, Gareth has finally pried himself free of his mother's grip and slunk to his room. He flops on his bed and rolls to stare up at the ceiling.

He feels numb.

Chrissy is- she was- and in his best friend's house. And now Eddie is missing. What if whoever killed Chrissy kidnapped Eddie? Is something worse going to happen to Eddie?

And his mom and dad. They wouldn't say it to his face, but he can tell they blame Eddie. Maybe not blame, as in think he's the murderer, but certainly blame, in that, they think it's his fault Chrissy's dead. That whoever murdered Chrissy was really out to murder Eddie and Chrissy was an innocent bystander turned victim.

When his uncle called with the news it was unbelievable. His parents had seen the news, knew about the murder, but the police hadn't stated a name yet. He'd been asked so many questions, mostly about who Eddie knew that could have been over, but Gareth didn't have answers. Eddie hadn't mentioned anyone that was going to go to his house.

The police didn't take long actually identifying Chrissy, because they're reached out to next of kin and then Uncle Phillip had called, spoken to his dad and it's-

Well, it's all unbelievable. Hawkins has always been so dull and boring. Nothing happens here! Well, beyond that time the Byers kid went missing, then was dead but then not or whatever. And the fire at the brand-new mall but that was an accident, so even though a lot of people died, it was- it wasn't a murder.

Eddie is missing.

Chrissy is dead.

And Gareth is here, finally alone, in his room. His parents hadn't let him out of their sight since the phone call, and he can't really blame them. The death of someone in a family always makes his parents cling tighter to him but never before has the person who's passed been younger than his parents. He's been to the funeral for an uncle on his mom's side, which was her older brother, as well as for both his grandparents on his father's side.

Steve's side, he thinks. He knows Chrissy's dad called Steve's house, but his aunt and uncle probably aren't even in town. They barely were when Steve was a minor. Now that they can legally abandon him, they probably won't hear about Chrissy until Thanksgiving.

Jesus. Is Steve doing okay with the news? He knows he's got a best friend who stays more nights than not but are they there now, or is Steve alone?

Tears build in his eyes again as he thinks about when they were all younger, each just a year apart in school but all each other's first best friend. It used to be Steve, Chrissy, and himself against the world. Why had that changed?

Oh.

He knows. He changed it, heading into his freshman year. He told them he didn't want to hang out with them in high school.

And now Chrissy's dead and he realizes he no longer knows her -knew her- well enough to know why she'd be at Eddie's. Were they friend? Was Eddie her dealer? Did Chrissy even smoke weed? He knew she was dating Jason Carver but- was she also into Eddie? Chrissy had never seemed the kind of person to cheat, but what did Gareth actually know about her at the end of the day?

At the end of her life?

He rolls onto his side and sobs, curling into himself with all these unanswered questions running through his mind until he cries himself to sleep.

Steve has been awake for maybe ten minutes before Dustin is calling. The Upside Down waits for no man, so Steve finds himself picking up Dustin, Robin, and Max, and then they go to Cerebro to eavesdrop on the police.

Dustin talks him into handing his wallet over so he can run into the store and buy Eddie something for breakfast.

They deliver bad news to Eddie, follow a police car, meet up with Nancy, Robin and Nancy go to the library, he drives Max and Dustin first to Ms. Kelley's house, then the school. Once Robin and Nancy join them, Max fills them in on some depressing news before noises from the hallway draw their attention.

It turns out to be Lucas, here to warn about Jason.

Steve isn't meaning to eavesdrop when Lucas saddles up next to Dustin on the way to Steve's car and says, "Jason. He, uh, he went to Gareth's. Looking for Eddie. And he. Did you know Gareth and Chrissy Cunningham were cousins?"

Steve stumbles but if anyone noticed they don't call him on it.

Dustin says, "no. Oh, no. Don't tell me-"

"Yeah," Lucas confirms an unspoken question, "he's joined Jason's hunt for Eddie."

"Shit," Dustin and Steve say at the same time.

Unlike Steve, Gareth wakes late. It's almost noon before he drags himself from bed and to the bathroom.

A half hour later, he's clean and fed, and dialing Steve's number for the third time in a row, to get a third answering machine pickup.

"Answer the goddamn phone, Steve!" He snarls into the receiver this time, not having left messages the first two times. Just hung up and dialed again, then. "Have you heard about- I need you, so answer your fucking phone."

He slams the phone back into its cradle. His parents are still lost in their own fear and sorrow, because neither of them scold him for his language or the treatment of the phone.

He calls Jeff, and then Frankie, to cancel practice. They're worried but don't push when Gareth blames his mom. Then he spends another two hours trying to get a hold of Steve, and even Wayne a couple times, but no one answers.

He is surprised, and a little annoyed, when he mom comes to his room a bit later in the day to let him know he has guests at the door. He hauls himself from his bed, ready to tell the guys to fuck off, but when he steps outside to Chrissy's boyfriend instead of Jeff, the words die on his tongue.

Carver, some other guys from the basketball team, and Lucas Sinclair standing in the way back, are waiting for him on his lawn. Gareth closes the front door before slowly stepping off the porch. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Eddie. He here?" Carver asks.

"No."

Carver nods, hands shoved into his letterman lifting and dropping, like he was going to make a 'what can you do' gesture but forgot his hands were in his pockets. "Know where we can find him?"

They're looking for Eddie. This is -was- Chrissy's boyfriend. He probably knows the truth as much as Gareth does. And, he wants to know more. He's sure, judging by the tension in Carver's stance and how Lucas is shaking his head no behind them all, that Carver's probably convinced Eddie did it. So, if Gareth wants the truth, he needs to find Eddie, too. "You try Dustin Henderson's house?"

Carver looks surprised by the freely given information, and Lucas looks betrayed. "No. But we will. Thanks."

"I'm coming with."

Carver, who had turned away, turns back slowly. "You think so?"

"She's my cousin. Chrissy. So, yeah, I think I'm coming," Gareth hopes it's enough to get Carver to agree. If Eddie's innocent, Gareth wants to be there to help him. And if- if the fucking worst has happened and Eddie did it.

Well. He wants to be there to help with that, too.

[amiizuki]

it will be forever funny to me how the flashback portraits of Wittebrothers made Caleb seem like he's had packing peanuts for a brain

(this post ended up becoming quite lengthy, and so did the tags somehow, because I kinda devolved into a rant closer to the end of writing this whole thing, so bear with me here)

so we know that Philip and Caleb became orphans when both of them were still kids. after that, they ended up in Gravesfield and, to fit in with everyone else who lived there, picked up witch hunting and started thinking that witches are pure evil. Caleb knew perfectly well that he's the only family Philip's had left and that he even may be his his only friend, since, judging by the portraits, they've only ever hung out with each other and we don't know if those two ever made any other actual friends.

until one day, during a witch hunt he and Philip were both a part in (something Caleb seemed happy to do, judging by his smirk there), he met a witch – Evelyn – someone he's been taught to hate and want dead by the townsfolk. someone who, again, in his mind, should be evil.

but he just suddenly does a 180 and goes "damn, you can make fire with your hands, you're actually pretty cool"

and then a few days (?) of talking to her later, he's running off to live with her in the Demon Realm, while simultaneously not giving a single fuck about the brother he's abandoning.

(he even runs off with a smile, with a literal :D face, I fucking can't lmao)

Philip ends up seeing Caleb get dragged off through a weird portal and later follows along, thinking something like "no, my brother wouldn't just up and abandon me without saying anything. he probably got captured by that witch we saw together that one time! she probably used some demon magic to bewitch Caleb and took him through that portal to kill him or worse! I gotta go save him!". and, after spending god knows how long in that realm, searching endlessly for his missing older brother, he eventually finds him. but he also finds that Caleb is not only perfectly okay and not hurt in the slightest, he's also peacefully walking together with the same witch who "captured" him, even holding hands with her.

and when enraged Philip tries to attack Evelyn, to protect Caleb from the witch who took him from his home, from his brother, still thinking that Caleb's under her control, Caleb just... gives him a hug and goes on to introduce the witch as his new wife to him (I'm assuming that portrait is the same day as the other three, if not the same scene), also adding on top of that that they're having a child. all as if nothing happened. treating the whole thing like everything's perfectly okay and just another normal day, fully ignoring the fact that he threw his brother away with no care or thought, leaving him completely alone, a full orphan, now with zero actual family left (in TTT, during their backstory, it's said that "Caleb did his best to take care of his younger brother", meaning that either they never got adopted in Gravesfield, or whoever adopted them didn't give a shit about the two, so they still mostly had to fend for themselves), all to go smash some random 5 out of 10 witchussy he talked to, like, 3 times. no fucking wonder Philip killed him!

(btw, jokes aside, it didn't seem like he intended to kill Caleb, because in that portrait where he's ready to kill with a knife in his hand, he's facing forward, while Caleb is actually to his left. so it just looks to me like Philip was gonna try to kill Evelyn again, and Caleb either jumped in front of her to protect her and got accidentally stabbed or he attacked Philip back, to, again, protect Evelyn, and Philip ended up winning that fight. but that's just my theory)

my brother in literal christ and literal titan – why in the FUCK are you just hugging it out with a smile on your face??? you ran off while giving absolutely no warning to anyone, especially your younger brother! why do you think he's here and actively trying to attack you and your new wife? you're not even trying to address the fact that you left him! at least when Luz ran off to a different realm without warning, she had a "I'm still at the camp" cover, so Camila wouldn't worry that much about where her daughter is, and even then she still felt bad for leaving her mother and planned to go back home once summer was over. this chucklefuck, on the other hand, just permanently portaled away to the Boiling Isles, knocked up a witch and fully settled down there, walking around with a big ol' smile and no care in the world. "Philip who? never heard of him"

the only thing that would sorta make this situation seem better (as in, not make Caleb seem like an overly naive ignorant brick), in my opinion, is if they added one more portrait – after the one where he meets the witch, but before the one where he leaves. in that portrait, Caleb would look like he's trying his best to convince Philip that witches aren't actually evil, and perhaps even try to get him to go live with them in the Demon Realm, all the while Philip's looking at him with either disagreement/disappointment/disgust or just rolling his eyes and full on ignoring him, while sharpening his witch hunt tools or something. then it would look like Caleb at least tried to make his brother change his mind, like he tried to offer him a chance to go with them. but no. with the way the portraits look in the final version it just seems like Caleb was fully on-board with killing witches since he was young, even pulling his younger brother along to think the same way, Philip also thought that Caleb was perfectly fine with killing witches, but once he actually meets a real witch (assuming they've never met one before) he instantly pulls an uno reverse card and just runs off with her, without so much as telling his brother beforehand.

I'm not trying to say that "Belos should've been redeemed, because he's the victim here and Caleb is bad and it's all his fault". he still murdered his brother and went on to manipulate everyone on Boiling Isles for centuries, with his end goal being the death of all witches, while simultaneously being stuck in the loop of "denial" and "bargaining" stages of grief – repeatedly trying and failing to recreate a perfect copy of Caleb, but also killing each one that came out wrong or went against him. Belos not being redeemed in the end was the right choice (ignoring the "Belos was always le bad" from King's dad), I agree with that. frankly, if he actually got redeemed in the end, I'd probably be seething for the next 3 to 5 years, like how I did after the Diamonds' "redemptions" in SU (yes I'm still pissed about that lol). I'm just saying that, from what was shown to us, Caleb didn't seem like that good of a person either, not as bad as Belos ended up being, but still not that great. and, once again, seemingly had a raisin for a brain.

(off topic, but during Masha's retelling of Wittebane's backstory, their "sounds like big bro got a hot witch girlfriend and little bro got upset" line was so fucking cringe, it gave me a fever for 3 days the first time I watched the episode)

k, rant over, I dunno what else to add

TL;DR: I think Caleb was dumb as a brick, because, from what was shown to us in their backstory, he seemed to have run off to Demon Realm and abandon Philip without telling him anything beforehand. when Philip came to BI to look for his brother, who he assumed was under control of the witch who "took" him, since he thought his last living family member wouldn't just abandon him, and when he eventually found him, and it turned out he wasn't in any danger at all, Caleb just brushed the whole "I left you for witchussy" thing under the rug and pretended everything was and is perfectly fine, even though it clearly isn't. rip bozo

[carrymelikeimcute]

If we take the actor's actual ages as canonical there's a 9 year gap between Izzy (57) and Ed (48). Mateo Gallegos, who plays 'young ed' is 17, but was 16 in 2022 when s1 came out.

Which means if Ed went to sea immediately after killing his Dad, and met Izzy right away, that Ed and Izzy met when Ed was 16 and Izzy was 25.

Which would mean Izzy has known Ed for more than half of his life. And Ed has known Izzy his entire adult life.

Imagine you spend 32 YEARS with someone, probably protecting them to start with, then being equals, looking up to them. You watch them turn from a boy into a man into a pirate into a captain - your captain - you kill for him and nearly die with him and you spend every. single. day. together for decades - and then one day he turns to you and says he don't want the life you share anymore. He's bored. He's done. He'd actually rather be DEAD than carry on as you are??

And then bang. He hears about some guy and pursues him and less than like a week later they're living together and you're barely able to get five minutes to talk to him. He doesn't even look at you or listen to you properly. You're losing your boss, your only friend, your family, your home, the person you love and the axis of your existence - all at once. And you never told them what they were to you, so you're to blame but now it's too late. Much too late.

Fuck me, I'd be shattered. Furious.

To add perspective, Stede ran out on his wife and kids. The actress who plays his daughter was 13 in 2022. Meaning, if he and Mary conceived her fairly soon after the wedding (which, as per convention/obligation, they probably did) he's been married to Mary for LESS THAN HALF the time Ed and Izzy have been together.

Stede left a 14-ish year marriage and she only got a letter, but christ she had friends and a house.

Ed side-lined his 'wife' of THREE DECADES and just...sent him off in a rowboat like he was nothing because he challenged Stede to a duel and couldn't just accept how things were now.

When Izzy calls Stede Ed's 'boyfriend' at the end of S1, it feels so aggressive but that's what Stede is - he's an infatuation, a romance, a whim. He's a boyfriend of a few weeks compared to DECADES of complicated, deep dynamics. Ed's pining, but Izzy's so far beyond that for him and watching him mourn the loss of Stede, but not the loss of them must be agonising.

[iilmunchkiin]

Hey just to let you know long ask incoming, put on your helmet and duck below the trenches

OKAY. WHOA. YOU WEREN'T KIDDING.

Had to put it in screenshots cuz it'll flood but oh my god you mad man. I was giggling the entire time reading this, knowing there's people who are still interested in the DD!AU despite having little to no updates hsajdhsajdas 〒▽〒

Sorry it took a while for me to answer this, I've been trying to find a way muster up a proper response so here I go!

"...did he ever really care about her? All she needs to do is perfect the serum."

Okay, putting my bias aside, yes, he did in fact love Ceroba but that's it, they love each other a lot. He just wanted to pursue his work more. Motherfucker is no less delusional than Starlo, he thinks he can save monsterkind if he can just perfect the serum and take revenge on the humans and it makes me sick knowing he planned to have a big family with Ceroba, have you seen how huge the manor is? He can't even take care of one child and yet he wanted more. That's Chujin Ketsukane in a nutshell, he wanted more, he wanted to pursue more because of how ambitious he is. He's unarguably worse than Starlo, he thinks he can save everyone, built a secret underground basement that he hid from his wife, and passed on his dying wish to said wife when he barely even finds time for her because he prioritizes his work more, he KILLED a CHILD and literally broke the laws of robotics, left said wife to work all by herself to stay afloat, the list goes on you get the point. Bias is back, there's nothing you can do to convince me to like Chujin, I will admit he's a good character but that's all you're going to shake out of me, I don't like him, he seems to be the type to have a superiority complex.

"Notably, when Kanako collapses, the first question she asks is 'Why did I work on that serum !?', it's 'Why didn't it work !?'."

I'm going to assume you meant Ceroba questioned why the serum didn't work instead of her coming to her senses and why she worked on it in the first place? Her blind adoration for Chujin baffles me when all he's ever done was pursue his career and what he stood for, but what baffles me even more is even Chujin himself said not to use the serum on Kanako and yet SHE STILL DID. She went against her husband's wishes, and still… what… okay I'm genuinely stumped on this part my brain just shut down.

"if i cannot be wanted, i will be needed and if i cannot be needed, let me be used until there's nothing left of me"

NO BECAUSE THAT'S LITERALLY EVERYONE Dalv - wanting to protect Kanako but failed (also adding he wants to be a teacher) Martlet - wanting to be useful so she joined the royal guard Starlo - wanting to distract everyone from being trapped underground Ceroba - wanting to pursue Chujin's legacy underground and making them happy Clover - their parents

"And she realizes she was so tunnel visioned that she didn't see Clover for what they really were - a lost child out of their depth, someone with nobody to look out for them."

THIS. THIS THIS THIS THIS POINTING VERY LOUD. CLOVER IS JUST A CHILD!!!!!!!

What bothered me a lot about Clover was they seemed so mature for their age, that was the impression I got from them the entire time playing uty, the way they handled everything just broke my heart, especially with pacifist Starlo's boss fight, they knelt down and surrendered in front of him, from the very beginning Clover was ready to offer their life and that was before even finding out about Ceroba's plan which happens right after that when they go to the Steamworks. They're so nonchalant about everything (imagine my surprise when I saw people drawing them all energetic and cutesy hihi ^^), and the fact that some bits and pieces of their hinted neglect at home just, augh. Just paint a picture with me, your entire life you were emotionally neglected, you're just a mere child who's trying to make it through life, doing the chores all by yourself, eating things you shouldn't, and your damn favorite TV show is just pure static until you decide to go to Mt. Ebott and jump down a hole holding a missing poster to look for the missing children, not knowing you could be next (and you were). To your surprise you see the world of your dreams, there were monsters, but these monsters cared and loved you, there were a few bumps on the road but in the end, they all genuinely cared, even offering you to stay with them, but after you find out about their situation… you offer your soul for their sake. Isn't that so cruel? You finally have a chance to be alive, experience what it's like to be loved, and finally act like a kid only to die on the same day? Such a tragic and twisted fate.

"It was Clover's choice and it was Kanako's choice too, and Chujin's, and if Ceroba's not careful it'll kill her next."

heh

[jakeotters]

Raymond Leon x Reader ask? Leon doesn't seem to have many friends, real friends in the movie. Maybe he once did but they're all gone now, timed out or killed because they couldn't get out of the ghetto like he did. Can you write a drabble where he makes an arrest and criminal/reader winds up being the only kid of one of his old friends and he feels protective because she's the last piece of a life he left behind? And of course he catches accidental romantic/naughty feelings!

i absolutely adore raymond, thank you for requesting him 💖

lonely (raymond leon x afab!reader)

warnings: age gap (obviously, raymond is ???? and reader is in her 20s-30s), mentions of death, slight nsfw/mentions of smut (just raymond’s thoughts, nothing actually happens)

author’s note: we as a society need more raymond leon fics 🙏

wrote this at 1 am so i apologize if it’s not the best

it wasn’t uncommon to see raymond taking late night walks by himself or sitting at a restaurant table alone, his apartment was too big; too quiet. outside of his work, raymond was lonely. he’d never admit it, but it was a loneliness that dragged on along with him, creating an empty, clouded space in his life.

once upon a time, raymond wasn’t so lonely. he had people he considered friends, people he cared for.

some would say that he was the last of his kind. that he was the lucky one, the one who got out of the ghetto and was able to make a life for himself, unlike those he had to leave behind. his memories of them were distant and scattered, replaced by the loneliness that had started to consume him after their deaths.

when he’d first met you, you’d been caught for time theft.

you hadn’t meant to steal time- in fact- you didn’t steal it. you’d run into a man in a bar and he offered it to you. it wasn’t until after he’d transferred 50 years to you that he began exclaiming that you’d stolen it from him. drunk or insane, you didn’t know. you figured both.

raymond looked at you as he took your arm, transferring the “stolen” time, and cuffed you. your face was familiar, your eyes holding a familiar light that he once saw in someone else. he shook the thought out of his head, leading you to his car.

when he asked for your name, you told him. he immediately stopped walking, freezing in place. he told you about how he’d known your father.

your eyes widened as he spoke. you’d never met anyone who knew your father- your father had died when you were young. your memories of him were just as distant and scattered as raymond’s.

“you did? but you’re a timekeeper-”

you looked at raymond for the first time. his hair was black, slicked back and his pale blue eyes staring into yours, his hands gripping your arm so tightly you swear you could see the white in his knuckles.

“i grew up in the ghetto. i got out.”

raymond was short with you. it was obvious to you he didn’t like talking about his past, or maybe he’d just never had anyone to talk about it with. you understood, though, that he’d lost people. you didn’t push, going silent once again.

he loosened his grip on your arm, carefully transferring the time back to you.

“when your father died, i’d lost the last of everything i knew. why waste such a pretty little thing like you?”

-

eventually, you’d started staying with him. he was gone most of the time anyways. when he returned home at night, he’d find you asleep on the couch. he’d gently pick you up and carry you to bed, laying you down.

raymond always thought about you. his thoughts plagued him, distracting him from his work and making it hard for him to focus.

when he laid down in his bed and closed his eyes at night, he could only see you. the way you’d look underneath him, your body exposed and just for him to feel, to kiss, to hold as he thrusted in and out of you.

on top of all of this, he had an unyielding feeling to protect you. to protect this last piece of life he had, this last reminder of his past.

he let you stay with him because he knew it was dangerous for you to walk around with that much time. you didn’t mind, you figured if anyone was skilled enough to protect you it was him.

but, you gave him something so much greater than all of the time in the world could give him. for the first time in as long as he could remember, he wasn’t lonely. his apartment was no longer too big and too quiet for him. and, for the first time in his long life, he felt something else: love.

masterlist

[squarebracketsmileyface]

how did you decide Birdie would call Tim papa, not daddy (assuming it's the single dad au Tim)?

Honestly it's mostly a left over from the version of PGPau where Jay lives and he and Tim raise Birdie together (there's now also a very rough version of that Au where Jay lives but vanished Brian style and shows back up in Tim's life years later with a bunch of stuff figured out. This fic has too many au's. So much for me trying to give 'the' au a name so I could keep it straight in my head, now PGPau has like three aus behind it, it's just anything post canon now, whoops. Oh well ����)

Anyway, Jay just seemed like the dad/daddy parent, and that made sense to me with the whole trans Jay thing, Jay going from dad/daddy to mum/mummy was just too perfect y'know? So Tim became papa because of that, and then I decided Birdie would be 'canon' to Sorry It's Locked and went "well Jay's still gonna die because I love angst too much to give that up" and just ended up keeping papa for Tim even in the more 'canon' single dad Tim au because I just feel like it suits him. Y'know?

He just seems like a papa to me. He's a big loving mamabear to his very tiny very weird daughter, y'know? Ridiculously protective of her, if you hurt his baby he will rip your arms off, but also incredibly soft with her because she's his kid and she survived so fucking much with him even before she was born and he wants desperately to give her the childhood and family he never had. Even if that family is just him and her.

He's a mamabear protecting and loving his cub, except he's a guy, so he's a papabear but you know what i mean 💀

I just love it. Papa suits him, y'know?

Jay's dad/daddy and then mum/mummy, Tim's papa the whole way through, and Brian is Mr. Thomas then Brian, then quickly becomes bubba.

I love it. They're just all so cute.

Okay, I went off on a tangent about Alex here for some reason so I'm putting it under a thingybobber 💀

And with the whole "everyone lives" thing even Alex would probably end up with like, not a family title like the others, but he'd be part of their family in a friend way, y'know? Like, in everyone lives, everyone lives, y'know? And that includes Alex. And obviously he's not just walking around free, but I see him being in like hospital prison y'know? I can't remember what that's called, but anyway. He's in hospital prison and he can't leave because of what he did, but he's not in normal prison because he really wasn't in control of his actions when he killed people, not really.

At first only Tim goes to visit him, and even then he doesn't go super often because it's hard on both him and Alex (though mostly Alex). And he mostly goes because he understands what Alex was going through the best. He understands that if he hadn't had his medication he could easily have been the one in Alex's place. He wasn't "better" than Alex or more resistant to the Operators influence, he simply had people around him who could help (that being his doctors).

Then after a little while it's both Tim and Jay who go to visit Alex, still only very occasionally because, yeah it's a lot, none of them can really cope with seeing each other more than a couple times a year at first, but over time it gets easier and eventually Tim and Jay end up visiting him once every one to two months or something, once Alex's doctors or whatever are like "yeah I think that'll be okay, he's starting to cope better and relapse less when you come to visit him now. We genuinely think it's helping him."

They tell Alex about their life together and eventually Birdie comes up. So Alex knows about Birdie.

And Birdie knows about Alex because obviously she asks about how her parents met, and she asks where they went when they've had a day out, and they don't wanna lie to her, so they tell her about MH in the most kid friendly way they can, and tell her they're visiting this friend who's in hospital and can't leave because he tried to hurt people when he was younger. And like, obviously they are like, "we don't blame him for it, he was really, really sick and didn't realise that what he was doing wasn't 'saving' people like he thought it was" or whatever. They talk to her about the good sides of Alex, as well as very carefully addressing the bad sides, and eventually Birdie starts asking to go with them to see him. And like, at first it's a flat out no, because Jay and Tim have no damn clue how either Birdie or Alex will react to meeting each other, and even just seeing Tim and Jay used to fuck Alex up pretty bad and it took ages to get to the point they're at now. Like, they don't wanna undo that progress.

Anyway, eventually Brian comes back into their lives too, still the same way, with him starting out as a new teacher at Birdies school and then meeting Tim and Jay (well, Lark at that point but y'know) and eventually ending up dating the two of them and Birdie just kinda naturally migrated to calling him bubba, because it's not quite a parent name, but it's that same sort of sound, y'know?

Then like, Tim and Lark have been talking to the people in charge of looking after Alex and trying to figure out if there's a way he can meet Birdie. And like, with Brian back in the picture that's another thing for Alex to deal with so the whole "meet Birdie" thing gets pushed back again because finding out Brian is also alive is just, a lot for Alex, hugely conflicting and all that. Like, he's both glad Tim didn't kill Brian (or Brian didn't die running away from Tim whatever) and also very upset because he failed to "save" him. But eventually, ages and ages later, Birdie and Brian both end up going to see Alex too (after like, much therapy for them both to help them get ready for that, especially Brian) but like, yeah. Idk Birdie's probably like 15 by the time she meets Alex and it's all mostly fine honestly.

Idk I just like the idea of Birdie getting to meet Alex and it just kinda being fine? He's just a guy who got very sick when he was younger, and that changed the way his brain worked so that he couldn't fully comprehend the fact that killing people wasn't necessarily the best way to save them, that they could live with the Operator's presence like Tim had and still be okay. Like, it wasn't his fault. The Operator was literally changing the way his brain worked and without any medical intervention like Tim had, Alex was pretty much doomed from the start. He couldn't fight that. The operator was like a malicious, sentient, intangible tumor pressing on his brain and changing his personality, except it was taken to the extreme, because supernatural monster, y'know?