#they even have my favorite characters atm

[aleixis]

awwwwjsjshd thank u for the tag miro this is so so cute !!!

how do you spend your free time ?

watching video essays , listening to podcasts ( creepcast ^_^;; ) , drawing , watching anime , and napping !!

what are your hobbies and how did you get into them?

i really like writing & drawing and creative artforms ( ?? ) n i've been writing n drawing for a longggg time ! i always need to listen to something while doing work / drawing / writing / anything , and i also like horror , so i got introduced to wendigoon n creepcast ! a friend introduced me to anime ( ohshc ) when i was in ... 4th grade i think ?? and i've been a huge nerd since :3

what book or movie had a lasting impression on you ?

all quiet on the western front no questions asked , but dead poets society is a close second ! they're both amazing movies , but aqotwf is pretty graphic , so watch out !!

what kind of music do you enjoy ?

... i listen to a lot of different genres ( i think ) , but i love bands !!! arctic monkeys , rammstein , the last shadow puppets , thoughts on bowling , n similar bands ! i also loveeee laufey , bea , clairo , faye , the marias , and w2e !!

who is your favorite character ( all time or atm ) and why ?

do i even have to say anything ... ALEXIS NESS FROM BLUE LOCK !!! i have so many reasons for why i like him sm , but it's mainly bc he's so relatable !! the loyalty to kaiser even when kaiser treats him like shit , the jealousy , trying to win back kaiser after he told ness to follow a new king , being seen as a meatrider , the abandonment issues , he's literally so me AND I CAN FIX HIM !!!! he's so so sooo relatable he's so similar to me whenever i'm in a relationship / talking stage / have a crush it's so crazy haha ^_^;; he's also sooo cutie n adorable i love his stupid face SJJDHDJJSJ ness comeback 2024 pls ;_;

no pressure tags : @littlemissemeritus @eliasorchard @egoistars @ayaswrld @thebestsetter + all my other cutie moots !!!

tag + q&a game ₊˚ෆ

hello! i thought it would be cute and exciting to do a tag game with all my mutuals to not only talk about themselves, but have fun! so here is my short little game:

alongside this picrew, share 5 things about yourself!

• how do you spend your free time? • what are your hobbies and how did you get into them? • what book or movie left a lasting impression on you? • what kind of music do you enjoy? • who is your favorite character (atm or all time) and why?

i will start first!

my name is rurumi and i enjoy spending my free time writing!

some of my hobbies (outside of writing) includes: drawing, building gundams and keyboards, and fashion! i got into most of them on a whim and became instantly hooked. aside from self-expression, being into fashion also helps with making friends in college because you always have something to talk about!

a book that left a lasting impression on me would have to be either kafka on the shore by haruki murakami or before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi. both stories have kept me up at night thinking a lot about the 'what ifs' in life.

i enjoy soul/r&b alongside anything of jrock influence, but i will basically listen to anything that sounds good. i am currently listening to 'so what' by lucy!

my favorite character at the moment is rin itoshi from blue lock because hes so ridiculously edgy, but at the same time i sympathize with him a lot. on the other hand, my favorite character of all time is suletta mecury from the witch from mercury series, she's an absolute ball of sunshine that i aspire to be.

tagging (+ no pressure) ₊˚ෆ

@kaiser1ns @naenaex0xx @shomatoriashi @choccorin @ryescapades

@rindreamery @soleillunne @kissxcore @rainswept @mitsvriii

anyone can join as well <3

[sugar-plum-obito]

gang i hate to admit it but apple actually made a very good series😔😔 hopefully no new seasons come out bcs the story is lowkey closed

[letsdontdie]

They must've had some wild dreams right after the kfc incident

[xxplastic-cubexx]

one of my fave traits about erik is how sassy he is so i dont understand how im always surprised to find during rewatches of the xmen movies that he is So Sassy at like. any given moment

[tulipsnflowers]

Hey everyone go read seasons of change by @zscyber if you like long fics. Seriously.

I realize this is not for the last chapter but if I drew anything for that it would be me punching the lights out of Xanders so let's not

I already ranted about it in a different post but by God is the fic great! I can't wait for TDAD. Mostly because of James but there's going to be so much angst in general.

[bonestrouslingbones]

also i wanted to see if i could gather enough fullbodies i've done to make a kinda height chart and that fact that it makes such a nice gradient is so funny to me actually. i might have to make someone in the crime gang like 5'8" just so i'll have a single skeleton with a normal fucking height

[halflingkima]

recent google searches: how to gently explain to booktokkers that i don't disregard their fravorite "smut" bc i'm a prude, but bc it's bad writing

[mimiruku]

Hello JoJo! Me plaguing your ask box as always

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

and

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

█  𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐎𝐂. ⸻   ( ⚝ )

Myell , Thank you! Please plague me all the time. ( You're more of like a blessing! hahaha )

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias ?

╰┈➤    Not a lot of things can disturb him enough to debilitate, often he's able to carry himself even through frightening & uncomfortable situations , though not by means of bravery. Miruku is one of those unfortunate types that shuts down completely during times of incredible stress, during this lapses, Miruku is unable to recognize or comprehend how badly hurt, scared and disturb he truly is and as a result, is able to go on relatively unaffected.  ⸻ There is one thing that he does have immense trouble with and that is romance ! He's tittering close to repulsion when it comes to ' romantic love ' and often finds himself responding to it with confusion and dismissal at the very least or disgust and bewilderment at his most worst. He is unable to comfortably be in the receiving end of this sort of affection , likely if he does not know you well enough / trust you in some capacity, he'll think it is a premeditated attempt to hurt him... or that you are being very mean to him. ( you could say "i love you" and he'd reply with a frightened "please don't hurt me." )

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC ?

╰┈➤     Most of all ? The silly aspects of Miruku's personality! I enjoy quirky little characters who are unserious at first glance, who comes off like a comic relief character ( admittedly, that is what I was going for, aside from the ' npc ' behavior ) — with that said, it's also enjoyable for me to slowly integrate his thoroughly skewed personality , that beyond the funny haha's something unplesant might dwell somewhere in him ! cathartic!

[crescentfool]

going to keep this vague on purpose but playing reload has reactivated brain chemicals in me that i forgot i had.

i think i'd want to make a more thought out post later, but i think my favorite thing about reload (aside from seeing minato in full HD glory) is how much it's made me think about video games as a storytelling medium- specifically with what mechanics and game design imply for characters.

there's a lot of quality of life features added to reload that help players easily enter a flow state and get immersed in the gameplay (most notable with tartarus)! which is so dope! reload has been such a nice blend of the mechanics from both FES and portable and it feels like a love letter to persona 3 fans.

there are definitely mechanics i miss from FES (minato's ability to wield multiple weapons being one of them). i can't deny that FES has some dated mechanics that don't necessarily feel fun for the player experience... but!

i think i mostly miss things from FES because i feel like so much of minato's characterization (for me) was informed by the gameplay experience and mechanics (e.g. fatigue system). obviously there's still other ways you can put together his personality (his dialogue responses), but i think game mechanics are a bit part of it, for me.

but in spite of that, i think reload is a really nice introduction to persona 3, it's so much more accessible and has a bunch of things to help make it more fun :) so far i think i'd recommend it to people :D

[protagonistscum]

realized one of my top favorite ship dynamics is leader and their trusted right hand/servant/knight/protector

[six-improbable-things]

Soooo.... we ended up not actually testing ship combat... We spent 2 hours talking about the rules and making sure we were both solid on them and on the same page, and then the DM asked me a very unrelated question and we talked for almost 4 more hours and never tested ship combat. [*sigh*] Nah, I'm not mad I genuinely had a ton of fun talking to him. (We're very similar in some ways and complete opposites in others. It makes for interesting conversations.) Plus it gives me time to actually make the Tide Breaker's map... Since I didn't have that done for this week.

The dnd ship combat doc I made for my DM is 2.5 pages long now... (but that might be in part because I do not know how to be concise.) I know dnd is not the system for sea combat or extensive sailing. But it's happening anyways (blame me, ofc), so I'm going to make it work. Me and the DM are doing a trial run of ship combat tonight, and since I wrote the rules and also will be playing the captains of the ships we'll be on, I'm basically becoming co-DM for these fights, which is gonna be great.

[sylvia-plaths-fig-pie]

♡ my fav fics masterlist ♡

This is just a collection of some of my favourite fanfics, all of these writers deserve so much credit go and show them some love xoxo

Sam winchester (spn)

New years day by @alluvthegurlz

Closer than friends by @stylesparker

Three seconds by @prentissluvr

Warm brown jacket by @prentissluvr

Take my breath away by @prentissluvr

Something about being close by @prentissluvr

True blue by @mxltifxnd0m

late night chess (drabble) by @prentissluvr

Caught by @samsno1

Motel couches and hair cuts by

Teach me by @sylvia-plaths-fig-pie (me lol, shamless self promo)

Fall nights (drabble) by @prentissluvr

You are in love by @castiwls

Gold rush by @castiwls

We're endgame by @kaleldobrev

Coffee Stains and Stolen Jackets by @writersblockedx

new year's day by @alluvthegurlz

second chance (at love) by @stylesparker

brotherly advice by @mickandmusings

Luke alvez (cm)

my boy only breaks his favorite toys by @prentissluvr

rival lawyers (drabble) by @prentissluvr

so it goes @castiwls

Vice by @violentdelightsandviolentends

Statistical anomaly by @to-thelakes

mi cielo by @prentissluvr

Concussed by @thelukesalvez

Cariño by @prentissluvr

anything for you by @prentissluvr

closer, and closer still by @prentissluvr

built to fall (series) by @to-thelakes

It's About Time by @thelukesalvez

Five Feet Apart by @thelukesalvez

Wintery music (drabble) by @prentissluvr

The games we play by @sylvia-plaths-fig-pie (another shameless self promo)

Inferno by @sinfulspencer

Hold you to that by @imaginesfordifferentfandoms

Five Feet appart by @thelukesalvez

Spencer Reid

The Very Essence of Love @reidscanehand

The story of us @can-youimagine

Soulmates @radiant-reid

Wanna teach me? @literaila

Bookish @readingbookelf

Decoy @violetrainbow412-blog

Minor detail @reidingmelodies

White lies @violetrainbow412-blog

Aaron hotchner

While I brethe I hope by @confused-pyramid

Jake "hangman" sesrin (top gun)

Who did this to you by @justfandomwritings

Brothers best friend by @tongue-like-a-razor

I just want you to like me by @adamstnheights

If You Please by @the-authoress-writes

Just Friends by @say-al0e

I also love @everlovingdeer on Ao3, their fics always are so incredible, I love them even tho I'm not appart of the famdon they write for anymore, honestly incredible writing.

As you can probably tell I also love @prentissluvr on tumblr their writing is incredible (it also helps that they write for two favs atm (Sam and luke)). The characterisation is always spot on and the writing is phenomenal.

Please give me any fic recs you have, litrally for any character, I'm deprived of content lmao

[staytinyville]

Towards the Light Masterlist (2K Followers Special)

↣ Summary: You’ve lived eight different lives, all of which they couldn’t save you. Now they will do all they can to keep you alive and within their arms. 

↣ Characters/Pairing: Fallen Angel!Ateez x Reader

↣ Genre: Mature

↣ AU/Trope info: Fallen Angel!Au, Reincarnation!Au

↣ Word Count: N/A

↣ Warnings: Topics of suicide in one of the one-shots, mental illness, violence, marital abuse and violence, murder, smut (More warnings apply within each chapter)

↣ A/N: This was just one of the few stories I was inspired to write after my concert. It was one of the greatest things I got the chance of experiencing and I am so excited to see them again. I don’t know when but I am hoping to. Tell me what were your favorite parts of the concert!

Staytinyville’s Permanent Taglist

↣ Affiliates: @cultofdionysusnet , @cromernet , @monsterfvckersunited , @pirateeznet , @k-labels , @k-vanity

↣ Special Thanks: Thank you @saradika-graphics for the amazing banners! Please go check her out if you have specific banners in mind. She is great!

Was there really someone watching over you? Someone who would protect you from any harm? The idea that someone–something–would drop everything just to see you live another day, was beyond comprehensible. Was their love for you so powerful they would ruin their grace for you?

**

You could remember the time when things seemed to have changed within your soul. It had been when your family was slaughtered within your home by the invaders. Or could it have been when you had gotten sick and landed in the hospital? No, it must have been when you proverked those men to attack you. No–No–

There were so many things that led you to be confused when you truly felt like things were taking a turn. You weren’t too sure what was real and what was just a story you might have heard. You couldn’t even decide if you were a real person living in the modern day world. The only thing that kept you going was the fact that others still acknowledged you at one point or another. 

You didn’t live in a village. Didn’t live in Victorian era London. You for sure weren’t married. 

You lived on the 12th floor of a high rise building. You had a fridge that held all the food you would eat for the week. You had a fat cat that owlishly blinked at you from its perch on the window every time you came in frazzled from work. You had a plant in a pot that would sometimes smell from the water you had given it the day before. 

No–No. You lived in modern day times where genocide was a war crime. Where medicine was now able to contract a sickness you might have. Where women had more voice than ever before. 

Where looking over the side of a building caused for concern from your peers because suicide was not something to be taken lightly. 

It was modern day times, and yet you still always thought about the past. 

You weren’t a skeptic but you were a paranoid person for some reason. You felt like you were being watched for years–even going as far as seeking help for schizophrenia. But your paranoia never changed, however your feelings did. 

You grew used to looking behind your shoulder in hopes of catching whoever was looking at you. Feeling the shivers go down your spine as someone gets too close. But the moment you let your guard down, that was when the dreams started. 

One by one you saw them each in your dreams–each more different then the last. But still always watching you.

1960s - Jongho - October 1

1910s - Wooyoung - October 5

1880s - Mingi - October 9

1830s - San - October 13

1740s - Yeosang - October 17

1700s - Yunho - October 21

1690s - Seonghwa - October 25

1620s - Hongjoong - October 29

2024 - ATEEZ - October 31

Be sure to apply to my Masterlist on Google docs if you would like to be tagged in the series. I was gonna do Kinktober but bro I didn’t catch up quickly. I don’t have time because I’m going on vacation in October so yeah. My smut writing is trash atm bro. I can’t

[jadecantcreate]

presenting a (very) self-indulgent silly gecko wizard!

she doesnt have a name yet…unfortunately i suck at naming characters (if you have any suggestions lmk!!) more details under the cut

she’s an ouaw oc (based on my pfp…look I had no other ideas) who lives in a tiny run down wizard tower in the mountains of yon because she was banished for (accidental) arson (ALLEGEDLY/ref) and mostly just hangs out with her little duck familiar Quacksmire P. Duckton XIX, studies magic, and makes little arts and crafts projects (lots of quilts and blankets, paper dolls and plushies too — she’s not very good at any of it but they’re made with much love)

her working personality traits atm are awkward, curious, and sweet. she’s obsessed with astronomy as well as freedom (mostly manifests as chaos) and beauty, which is why stars are her favorite thing ever (after quacksmire, of course)

very very cowardly girlie also, just a mess in general. the place is super disorganized (there’s a system there but only she understands it. sometimes)

since she’s been pretty lonely, as soon as she detected the party* (who would probably be on their way to endelyn’s theater thing) and realized they weren’t a threat she’d insist on taking them in (+ possibly bond with kremy over being lizardfolk, twig over liking to knit, and gricko over strange naming conventions?)

she would definitely offer to take care of twig / hootsie / the little piglet they got from loomlurch if it came up also but other than that shed just be very much a minor npc

*I like to think itd be a heimerdinger (arcane) esque introduction…her shadow on a cave wall or something is huge but you see her walk up, shaking and quaking in her boots because she’s terrified, and!!!! she’s just a little guy!!!!!! just a little creature, even

[enden-k]

btw sry to the ppl who came for fanart and get blasted w all the oc stuff LMAOOO

its nothing new but i fell out of a few fandoms, gnshn mainly. due to all the ongoing drama w hoyogames caused by the fandom over the stupidest things (im not involved or get involved in any of that but it always happened i saw stuff here and there on my tl and its just wow), then all the stupid shit hyv pulled in the past months and get away with constantly, then how extremely time consuming and demanding and repetitive everything became etcetcetc i kinda have issues with playing their games. theres jsut no energy or interest left bc all this above is kinda outweighing anything that made me enjoy it before?

(i still adore a bunch of characters and might draw some again but i really am not sure if i will get into the game itself again. im just tired and nothing keeps me there anymore tbh)

zzz is enjoyable as its v chill on time and the team behind it is a new one so the game is sm more different it rlly doesnt feel like a hoyo game anymore. hsr is also ok tho i dont always keep track w it lately, sometimes i just get a bit bored of it when theres nothing interesting baiting me into finishing story stuff lol

whaaat i mean to say is thats kinda why im not rlly doing much fanart lately??? since there was no major thing that had my constant attention and kept me drawing 1000 things at a time lately. i jump from interest to interest rn when it comes to fandom stuff and draw whenever inspo strikes i guess

rn im going back to old fandoms again and rewatching/rereading/replaying all my most favorite things for some happiness. im currently hyperfixating real bad on my fav animanga once again so i might post some doodles of that or other shows i rlly enjoyed and rewatched, maybe even fate or FF stuff again

i rlly have to say since i stopped actively playing gnshn/spending so much time with keeping up with hoyogames and do all my stuff there every single day, i feel mentally SO MUCH better and suddenly have sm good time to use for other things (also ngl i feel like having to keep up daily w those type of games/playing sm gacha turned me really stupid and impatient over the years)

i even got back to draw OCs and create a new comic again after almost 6 YEARSSSSS of not working on my own stories. im feeling really happy rn, drawing stuff that is not gnshn/hyv related be it my OCs or other things i rlly enjoy like alnst etc (its prolly also another reason why im going back to old, favorite things rn bc i wanna create for everything that is dear to me and i didnt do before bc i didnt have my artblog back then yet)

anw sorry for rambling sm LMAO i guess you can consider this some kind of an update/explanation!! OC art and mixture of hyperfixations, favorite things and whatever im into atm, NOT a gnshn only artist

[avianconcept]

Lucas Johnson, and why he was one of my favorites in TSC.

I see a lot of people hating on him for his reactions + actions towards Jean in TSC, which is fine! Everyone’s allowed to not like characters, and we’re all on Jean’s side! Lucas enabled a really traumatizing and dangerous situation. But I keep seeing these posts referring to him as an asshole who Jean should have revenge of some sort on, and I’m like ??? 

I thought Lucas had one of the most interesting arcs in TSC, and tied in really well with one of the central messages of the story. I think he’s a character who is in a lot of distress that he is unprepared to handle, and is still seeking the painful truth. Yes he was a dick to Jean several times, but I don’t think this makes him an Evil Antagonist or a little shit or whatever else he is referred to as. I found Lucas and Jean’s plotline to be one of the most compelling in the whole book. It made me think about how much knowing the truth matters, even if it can’t change the scenario. This is going to be a long and unstructured mess that is sort of about Lucas, sort of about the Ravens vs Trojans, sort of about themes. I apologize in advance, but this has been kicking around in my brain since I finished TSC the day it came out. 

I’m going to start with the straightforward bit: why I personally think Lucas is over-hated, and why I liked him. 

I think most of it comes from the fact that we as readers forget that not all characters are operating with the same information and perspective that we are. Our perception of the situation is informed by Jean’s POV– in a lot of ways, his perception is ours. So we have known from pretty much minute one that Jean isn’t an asshole, that the rumors about him aren’t true, and that Grayson is a serial rapist. So when we see Lucas not believing Jean, questioning him or calling him a whore, we see it the way Jean sees it: a nosy, rude, foolish man who is going out of his way to make Jean’s and his own life difficult unnecessarily. 

But when you think about it from Lucas’ POV, remembering that Lucas does not know the things we know about Jean and Grayson, Lucas’ actions make a lot more sense. 

Imagine, for a moment, that you have an older brother. You grew up together, you played the same sport, you loved him. And then he leaves, and goes no contact out of the blue. You try and try and you can’t get a hold of him, even when you join a college team yourself. But then one day, after his team falls apart, he comes home. He comes home angry and wrong and you can barely recognize him.The only way you can get him to engage with you is about this ex teammate of his. He gets angry, attacks you, hits you until you lose teeth. The rest of his team is being put in inpatient care in psych hospitals. You’re not sure whats wrong with him, only that this is not the brother you loved– there is something very wrong with him, and the only thing he’ll talk about is Jean Moreau. 

I feel like when we see it this way, it isn’t hard to get why Lucas came out so hostile when he met Jean. Jean was already surrounded by this (false, unfair) media perception, and then Grayson talks about how much he hates him. When you bear in mind that Lucas has known Grayson his whole life (minus the last four or so years), and Jean for about two minutes– it doesn’t surprise me that he does not immediately take Jean’s side. I’d even go so far as to say that it would make no sense if he did. ESPECIALLY when from Lucas’ POV, Jean starts saying all of this horrible (true) shit about Grayson, which has got to be a sore spot for Lucas atm. Because Lucas doesn’t understand that 

Sidebar: I don’t say any of this to blame Jean, or say that Lucas is without flaw– I say it because it’s a really well written conflict. In both characters' heads, they’re each making perfect sense. It’s irritating to me in books when the author has thrown in a conflict for drama only, by making two characters hate each other for no reason. This situation is really compelling to read about for this reason. 

I’ve seen a few of takes along the lines of, “How dare Lucas keep pushing Jean for answers/bring Grayson to the Gold Court/not believe Jean when Jean is CLEARLY traumatized.” And I get it– it was painful and frustrating to see him not understand. But also I think we as longtime lovers of AFTG have had ten-ish years to get used to the Foxes, and their understanding of trauma. For them, the parts of trauma that are triggers and erratic behavior and strange boundaries are navigated almost instinctively because it is all of their lived experience. They all (mostly) learned the language of when to push and when to back off because they have areas themselves that they don’t want to be asked about. Though they don’t use therapy speak, and though the way they deal with it often ranges from unorthodox to downright problematic, they have an understanding of the weight of what they’re working around. 

Lucas Johnson does not come from this world. He does not have this understanding– it is likely that the first time he was afraid in his own house was when Grayson came home. Now, compared to how gently and tactfully some of the other Trojans handle Jean, like Jeremy, Cat, and Laila, or even Cody and Xavier knowing to back off about Jean’s scars; Lucas isn’t doing so great. He could have been better. There are a few things to consider though. 

One: None of Jeremy, Cat, Laila, Cody or Xavier have as much of a personal stake in this situation as Lucas does. For them, it's an issue between two teammates, not the brother they’re slowly realizing they don’t know anymore. 

Two: There’s been two instances of drama mentioned, one being whatever Cat’s freshman year drama was, and two being whatever Jeremy’s banquet situation is. So the floozies might actually have a little more of a clue about how to deal with difficult situations. 

Three: Lucas is also undergoing trauma. He had the shit beat out of him by the brother he so desperately wanted back. He’s realizing the brother he loved may actually be dead. That is traumatic and painful and does not make someone act like their best self. 

All of this to say– he goes about the situation in a really indelicate, inexperienced way, makes some really bad judgment calls, and I think that makes a ton of sense! 

ANYWAYS. God. 

The reason I think Lucas ties in really well with one of the main messages of TSC is how he reacts as he finds out more and more about Grayson. In his final conversation with Jean, he is grieving, afraid, and in shock, but he is willing to accept that Grayson is not the man he knew anymore– that Grayson turned into something horrific. 

Lucas, upon realizing this new information, doesn’t cling onto his old world view. He doesn’t try to find ways to spin it to keep his brother in the right and Jean in the wrong. He faces the evidence in front of him, and makes an effort to realign his perspective with what he now understands the truth to be. Put a pin in that for a second. 

One of the messages of TSC seems to be that to look away when you know something malignant is going on is an act of violence. 

Jeremy is the one who outright says it, I will not look away, but that sentiment is echoed in the actions of so many characters. Cat and Laila’s continued rejection of Jean’s scrimmages excuse for his injuries. Neil looking for more than a second at the state Jean was in after Grayson’s attack and realizing something was wrong. Lisinski not brushing off Jean’s reaction to the water and banning him from swimming, to keep him from doing it anyway. Xavier, Cat and Cody’s reactions to Jean's scars. Over and over again we see people refuse to look away. 

Think about the Nest, about the sexual assaults Jean’s freshman year. The backliners who assaulted him all knew Riko put them up to it, but none of them ever said it outright. This implies that everyone outside of the backline doesn’t know. Jean caused a stir because of his age and how quickly he changed partners– which means the Ravens knew he was sixteen. The Ravens, though they are psychologically screwed now, came from normal lives. Even though they didn’t know about Riko’s involvement, at least a few likely understood the concept of statutory rape. We know Thea at least saw what was going on, we know Zane KNEW about the assaults, Kevin apparently understands ‘half the truth’; either way, at a certain point, metaphorically or literally, they all turned away from the truth. 

This extends to Riko’s abuse of Jean and Kevin, too. Jean mentions that he and Kevin went to great lengths to hide what Riko was doing to them from the Ravens. But, given the level of forced proximity on the team, I think that even with these layers of secrets, it isn’t insane to think that the Ravens likely saw clues. They apparently knew Riko was violent. They know Tetsuji is, so really, how big of a stretch would it be? In Lazarus, Renee notices that Zane sounds hesitant when he says that Jean was with Riko, which implies that he does have a clue what's going on in that sense.

I don’t say all of this under the impression that the Ravens could have stood up to Riko or Tetsuji, or put a stop to much of it. I say this to point out the significance of the truth, and acknowledging or avoiding it. 

The point is– for these lies to work, for the story to hold, everyone around them had to reach a point of Looking Away. 

Looking away from someone in distress and accepting the simple narrative is easy, but the right thing is always to not look away. To keep looking until you see the whole picture, because the person you’re looking at is worth it. Even if it can change nothing, the truth matters.

To me, Lucas does this! When you think about it from his POV, he has SO MUCH MORE of a reason to believe Grayson. He was a reason to want Grayson’s version to be true. If Grayson is telling the truth, then Jean is a whore and an asshole and maybe, just maybe, Lucas can still have his brother back. Sure, Grayson’s hurt him, but that could just be stress and Raven related trauma. Not acknowledging that Grayson has crossed irredeemable lines leaves the door open for Lucas to keep the version of his brother that he dearly loves and misses. It would be easier for him to double down, to deny and defend. To buy the easy, common story  And yet he doesn’t. He questions and starts to see his brother differently- he BELIEVES that his brother could be different than the man who left four years ago. He does not blind himself to the things he's seeing and hearing in favor of holding onto some false, memory version of Grayson. To me, that takes an immense strength of character, and a commitment to what is right.  And that is why Lucas was one of my favorite