#when critical thought and empathy are the enemy

[subtract-me-from-your-heart]

Tbh I would need a substantial amount of proof in order to believe an evangelical Christian could be a good therapist

[wtfaniii]

Req for a Hwang In-ho os with kind off parenting scenarios like what if by mistake a toddler was brought to the games and he ends up in the caretaker roll (and yes he gives off daddy vibes ya know !)

God I loved this one, I feel like him would be great protector.

¿What if...? a little girl entered the games

little girl x Hwang In-ho father figure

Summary: Your eleven-year-old self is taken to an island believing you'll be a little entertainment.

Warning: In-ho may not be that attached to the original character ¡this man will be a big hug bear here!

Note: I do my best to answer the rest of the requests, thanks for your support!! And if I make a mistake I accept constructive criticism!

You lived alone on the street, you didn't know anything about your parents and every day was a struggle until one day you saw a man in a suit playing Ddakji with another person, when you saw that he gave money as a reward if you beat him quickly went to him.

At first he ignored you and walked away with you right behind him but you were so persistent that after walking a few blocks he finally turned to with a raised eyebrow.

You played with him and won every time, received money and a card to continue playing for more money.

You didn't owe anything, he knew that, but he thought he was doing you a favor by opening the doors to the slaughterhouse, maybe it would be better than you continuing to sleep in a box and eat leftover food.

"She's going to die anyway, I'm just making her suffering shorter" thought the salesman.

What he didn't know is that a certain man would take a liking to you as soon as he saw you.

You played "green light, red light" and managed to get through without a scratch, you were scared but Gi-hun made sure to keep you safe during this game.

—¡They are bastards! ¡They brought a little girl for the love of God! —456 screamed to the sky as the ceiling loomed over their heads, the other player 390 covered your eyes so you wouldn't see all the carnage they left behind in the first round.

Meanwhile... The Front Man's firm footsteps echoed through the hallways as he made his way to the control booth, when he arrived, he spoke in a voice that chilled the blood of his employees.

—¿Who let her in?

He knew the salesman, he knew the heartless idiot had no empathy for even a puppy but the fact that these guards had dressed you up and put you in that arena gave him a headache.

When he was given the number of the one who allowed you to get into the first game, he personally took it upon himself to put a bullet in him head.

He thought about getting you out immediately but considering the fact that he would also be infiltrating there and how after that massacre you were playing and talking non-stop with 390 and 456 as if nothing had happened, he let you continue but this time under his personal supervision.

It was quite easy for him to infiltrate and join Gi-hun, keeping his enemy close would be very useful but he also kept his eyes on you.

—Eat this too —In-ho handed you his can of food when he saw how quickly you had finished the rice, sausage and egg.

—No thanks —The smile you gave him almost made his hard heart beat—You should eat too, but if you insist so much you can give me the sausages.

You finished with a smile, to which he returned the gesture and gave you part of his portion.

During the night he took care of covering you with the blanket so that you wouldn't be cold and of laying you in bed next to him in case you had a nightmare, but to his surprise and that of your new friends, you slept all night without interruptions.

When it was time to go to the next game, In-ho kept you by his side so that you would be on his team with Gi-hun.

His team made it to the end so he wasn't worried if they lost, if they did neither you nor he would have died and there would be no witnesses.

He would break just a few of the rules to stay you alive.

Every time some players were eliminated, you covered your ears and closed your eyes tightly, something that moved him so much that he also distracted you by talking to you every time the guards removed the bodies to prevent you from seeing all that show of death and blood.

After the second vote Jung-bae was sorry for choosing the circle so he apologized to you and Jun-hee.

—It's okay, as long as we're together ¡we'll win! —You said with a beaming smile as Young-il ruffled your hair in excitement.

The day seemed long in there, but you didn't get bored with Young-il. He told you some children's stories and played with you.

However, when you were playing with the empty milk carton you accidentally hit the back of player 100.

—Oops, sorry sir —You said politely, reaching out to grab the little box from the floor, but before you could do so, he stepped on it hard, stepping on two of your fingers of the hand in the process.

Your cry of pain caught In-ho's immediate attention, he cut off the conversation he was having with Gi-hun and went to you.

—¡¿How is it possible that you are still alive?! ¡You are just a little brat!

In-ho effortlessly picked you and hug against his chest.

With just one look he silenced the man, it wasn't a warning, it was a threat, that man had hurt you and he would make sure him paid the consequences, not now, but he would definitely suffer.

—I told you not to stray too far from me —He said as he walked back to his place with the others.

You just nodded still with tears in your eyes and hugging him by the neck, he left you on the bed and took your hand to analyze the damage.

—You didn't hurt yourself much, you'll be better after pouring cold water on yourself in the bath —He said trying to calm you down, he dried the tears from your cheeks and kissed your forehead, it was an act he did on impulse and it even surprised himself a little.

"You'll be a great father" Gi-hun told him when you were sleeping, which was strange, the last time he heard that was when his wife talked to him about starting a family, he silently thanked but deep down he felt different, as if you had been able to reach the light inside him, a light he had considered extinct.

During the third game he stayed close to you, every time it was time to team up and run into a room he made sure to hold your hand.

Until the time came to form a team of four, there were many in his group so you and he separated, the counter reached zero and In-ho managed to get you two into a room and close it.

—But we're missing two —You said somewhat nervously and scared while the shots rang out from outside.

—Listen to me —In-ho knelt in front of you and held your shoulders —I need you to keep this a secret,

He gave a quick glance to the camera in the corner, they weren't going to kill them even if they cheated but now he needed no one else to find out about this.

—But it's cheating... —You murmured, confused and still a little scared.

—Promise me you won't say anything about this, not to Gi-hun or the others.

You nodded silently, you didn't say anything and that, without knowing it, would cost the lives of some of your friends.

That same night, there was a rebellion organized by 456.

You wanted to go with them, believing yourself strong enough to help them, but Young-il opposed it.

—I'm not going to let you come with us—He said firmly as he took you by the hand and led you back to the rest of the players —It's dangerous, you will stay with them until we return.

He left you in the hands of 149, 222 and 007, the older woman was the one who had the most empathy for you so In-ho knew you would be fine until his guards came for you.

[...]

After returning to his place as Front man, he sent a group of guards to control the rest of the players in the room and get you out of there.

"Player 398, you must come with us" when you heard that and saw the guards coming towards you, you hugged 149, you were scared, after all you were a girl and didn't know what was happening.

Geum-ja also held you tightly to prevent you from being taken away but it was useless, In-ho was surprised by how you won the affection of her, Jun-hee, Hyun-ju and Myung-gi to the point that they were able to stand up to his soldiers.

As were led through the colorful hallways you bit the hand of one of the pink guards and kicked the other to escape, you had spent entire short life on the streets so escaping was one of your skills, the first thing you did was call some of your friends, including Young-il.

But there came a time when you started to cry, believing that they were dead and you sat on the ground, you remained there scared and worried until once again two guards found you, this time accompanied by a man dressed in grey and a black mask.

When you looked up, he could see your watery eyes and red nose, which made his affection for you grow and not caring about his own rules about secret identity, he took off his mask and crouched down to be at your level.

He didn't know what to say to you, how to handle this situation in which you were so confused and overwhelmed, so when you hugged him he just returned the gesture and got up from the floor with you.

—It's okay, you're going to be fine —He whispered to you calmly while caressing your hair.

In-ho didn't know anything about being a father, he hadn't thought about being one since his wife died but he would do everything possible to take care of you from now on, for a few seconds he thought about sending you with Jun-ho and his mother but he preferred not to, besides, you didn't want to leave him alone for even a second.

He would teach you how to use weapons and defend yourself, he would also try to get you to accompany him everywhere or remain under surveillance, you quickly became a weakness so the safer you are the safer he will be too.

He didn't explain everything to you in detail, much less what role he had in these games, he believed that you wouldn't forgive him so the less you know the better for you, but you weren't stupid, the life you had before meeting him made you analyze things better than many others.

You knew that whatever his job was, it wasn't good but you didn't judge him or talk to him.

To you, he was like your father and that would make you defend him tooth and nail from anyone who wanted to hurt him.

In case Gi-hun ends the games, Jun-ho would probably take responsibility for you and let you visit In-ho in prison, (when you're older, you'll probably help him escape and move to another continent).

But if not, you will probably be given the front man position when you grow up because you are trained enough by this man, you will be calculating and probably a younger, female version of him.

N/A: Ok, I hope this is what you expected and thanks for this idea!

I honestly think In-ho wouldn't canonically take responsibility for a child, maybe he would protect sometimes like 222, but I don't think he would care afterwards, that man is beyond help 😭

[velvet-thirst]

"I remember when we used to be able to agree to disagree and didn't cut off friends and family over politics"

Okay. Let entertain this idea.

Lets act like its 'just politics' and not a difference in morals, empathy, and character. Let's pretend this isn't a matter of human rights and safety but a matter of opinion.

Theoretically speaking, lets say we 'embraced each other'

Are you going to pay for my medications if Trump cuts Medicaid?

Are you going to pay for my Dr's appointments? My specialist appointments?

If they cut the program for the home healthcare job I have are you going to pay my bills? My rent?

If this country becomes unsafe for me and my wife because we can't be married, live together, safely hold hands in public without fear of being attacked, spied on, or killed are you going to pay for us to flee the country? Are you going to pay for my pets to be safely quarantined until they can be brought over?

Or, forget the money, will you accept and admit when he is wrong?

When he says things that are blatant lies and riddled with bias? When he and those he puts in power hurt people, hurt our county, send us to war with our allies and unite us with our enemies. Will you speak out? Will you openly criticize him? Or will you stay silent because you either agree, don't care, or fall into a political sunk cost fallacy where you feel like you have to continue to support him because you've staked so much on it?

Or are you going to claim to love and care about and support me while you continue to vote against my life and watch me drown while all you offer are... thoughts and prayers?

[brucewaynehater101]

Warning: Dark, Suicidal Tim, etc. Also small spoilers for the Injustice movie

Had a random thought, slightly inspired by the Injustice movie: what if Tim, in a mental health slump, decided to teach the bats a final lesson? Every time he defends himself against Damian’s attacks, he’s criticized for it. So one day, he just doesn’t.

Damian gets angry and decides to take it out on the person he won’t be criticized for attacking. After Tim doesn’t respond to his taunts, he gets physical, and throws a knife or slashes his sword, expecting Tim to get out of the out of the way or block the blow, and Tim doesn’t. The sound of a blade parting flesh and a body falling to the ground gets the other bats attention, and they turn to see Damian standing there with blood on his blade and Tim’s body on the ground.

(Inspired by the scene in the Injustice movie where Damian kills Dick by throwing a baton (escrima stick? IDK) at him, expecting him to catch it (which, earlier in the movie, he did), and Dick, being distracted, doesn’t, and it hits him directly on the temple. Accident, sure, but caused by recklessness)

Basically Damian needs to learn that attacking other people because you are angry is NOT OKAY. Seriously, if you’re pissed, go beat up a training dummy or scream into a pillow.

Does Damian learn the lesson? Or not? What about B and Dick and the others? How do they react?

[Thank you for the TWs! WARNING: This is bad batfam. I love them, but we're chucking them under the angst crack bus for this]

Tw: Dark/Suicidal Tim, domestic abuse, psychological warfare, manipulation, mentions of suicide attempt

Tim is tired of constantly fighting back and defending himself. He's tired of Damian and Jason attacking him. He's tired of Dick and Bruce pushing his boundaries.

If Tim just allows Damian to stab him, *he'll* be the one to get lectured for not dodging. It will become Tim's fault, as a trained vigilante, for not preventing himself from being injured.

What does he decide to do?

Resist with extreme psychological warfare no matter the damage to himself.

He starts small.

He curates cases/stories of sibling abuse and starts to leave them in places Dick will find (hacking/messing with Dick's fyp, newspapers around the Manor, files on the batcomputer, a case Babs is informed about, etc). They aren't reflective of Tim's experiences, not yet, but they show common patterns: adult figures not stepping in, siblings being pushed to compete, escalation, negative behaviors transferring to people/things outside of the siblings, etc.

For Bruce, Tim tricks the man into reading an intimate relationships psychology textbook by stating it was necessary for a case. He then keeps tricking the man into reading gentle parenting, boundaries, and other such information.

Jason is much easier. Tim just leaves books of various siblings relationships within the man's safehouses (healthy ones, distant, cruel, enemies, abusive, recent siblings [like adoption], etc). Jason doesn't know Tim is the one leaving those books, but he is intrigued by the "recommendations." A lot of them have other lessons Tim has prepared mixed in as well [which, if Jason finds out Tim is the one who recommended the books after he starts getting along with him, then they can have book clubs ^^].

Tim sends a ton of empathy animal related movies/shows Dick's way so that the older one ropes Damian into watching them.

This takes months, but at no point does Tim relate the lessons to Tim himself yet.

He then starts pouring in warnings. When Damian tries to hurt him again, Tim asks Dick, "What if I was too tired to dodge it?" This is the only time he asks. Dick waves it off cause Damian "knows better" now. I

Tim almost gave up the game right there and then to prove a point. He held back, though.

For Jason, Tim throws in shock-value trauma dump phrases when they meet up to prevent the older one from attacking.

Jason: *pulls out a gun*

Tim: "Damn. You'd think after threatening to kill myself to prevent my future from occurring that I'd be okay with guns. For some reason, they still make me nauseous."

Jason: *holsters gun* "What the fuck?"

Tim: *nods and then disappears*

It kind of trains Jason from attacking Tim unless he wants to hear really fucked up shit that will have his mind spiraling for days.

For Bruce, Tim just points out how and when the man crosses other people's boundaries (but doesn't point out Tim's). He doesn't put any expectation or remedy out. He just indicates it to start Bruce's thought process of "Did I just cross someone's boundary?"

Then Tim feels that it's ready. He won't get blamed for not dodging Damian's attack.

So, he lets himself be seriously stabbed.

This cues Damian into having a mental breakdown. Dick and Bruce oscillate between blaming everyone else and then themselves. Jason, after seeing the shitshow of these reactions, assigns himself (without telling the others) to suicide watch Tim [those trauma dump phrases are working against Tim here].

Once Tim awakens and realizes the mess he's created, he fucking regrets it all. He doesn't want to have to clean it all up and manipulate them into being better. He's also kind of pissed at Damian for not aiming for his heart or something. Damn.

[mswyrr]

kanthony thoughts: rivals to lovers done right

I usually prefer Enemies to Lovers to Rivals to Lovers. What is the difference I see there, you might ask? Enemies are on opposite sides of a serious, life and death conflict, and rivals have issues with each other, but their rivalry takes place within the realm of everyday life. For me, I can forgive bad behavior within a serious conflict more easily than if the Rivals to Lovers couple goes over the top in a less serious situation.

I said all that to say: Kanthony is Rivals to Lovers done right. Below are the reasons I see for why.

1- The writers keep putting them in situations where everyone around them is feeling competitive - horse racing, the yearly Bridgerton pall-mall game, the hunt. If everyone around them has their blood up and is vying with each other, it's understandable that the situation brings out the competitive energy and Belligerent Sexual Tension they're both feeling for each other. They don't seem to be going over the top because of some inner excessive pettiness; they're caught up in the spirit of the thing and it's unleashing their repressed feelings for each other.

2- They are both competitive but also "good sports" - they conduct themselves honorably in these scenarios. No cheating, no getting too personal in their swipes at each other. They both love to compete and to win and hate to lose and they're bubbling over with repressed passion for each other, but they'll accept defeat without being childish or over the top mean. They maintain a sense of perspective, even when they're being passionate.

3- Their banter is either sincere or appropriately artful. Example: at the soiree, after Kate hears Anthony talking about ladies as chattels to the other men, she takes a huge risk in confronting him about it- this is a very rich and powerful man and she is a smart person, she knows keeping her secrets close is the safest and best way to do things in her situation. But she cares about him and hates that he'd talk like that - so she speaks up. She longs to connect with him, to understand why he could say such a thing. For his part, he cares that she's so hurt by what he said, he cares about her opinion of him. They matter to each other. This is the "sincerity" category of banter.

Kate saves her sharpest words for when they're alone, communicating two things (1) she likes this man enough that she's willing to risk being alone with him and tell him her truth and (2) he's eager to interact to the point of being willing to take that from her. He's willing to say "why do you hate me?" and truly want to earn her good opinion.

The other kind of banter, the appropriately artful kind, is told indirectly through the competitive games they play. For example: at the horse race she uses talking about horses--and how Anthony has simply chosen the one everyone is choosing--to criticize him for seemingly choosing Edwina simply because the Queen has named her the diamond of this season. But their byplay is all indirect - neither is aiming to wound or publicly humiliate the other. They want to win, but not destroy.

Good "Screwball Comedy" era films (1930s-40s) did Rivals to Lovers this way too - the couple would banter *over something* with subtext going harder but the surface not being too personal - that's the art to good Rivals to Lovers, the delicate balance. It can't feel too much, too mean, or too little.

4 - They are quick to have empathy and compassion for each other. They try to truly listen and see things from each other's point of view. The best example of this, to me, is the end of the pall-mall game - sure, they've been competitive. But Kate shares that she sees herself as a guardian for Edwina, like Anthony is for his sisters. And Anthony not only respects that - he says he sincerely wishes to earn her good favor. For her part, when her parting shot of the ball goes awry, landing near Anthony's father's grave, Kate senses something wrong and cares - she tries to understand how Anthony is feeling and why. She regrets if she "crossed the line" and went too personal - she's aware there IS a line and their rivalry doesn't justify wounding him deeply, even unintentionally. Anthony treats her with the same consideration as well.

This point is VITAL to cross from rivals to lovers - they both want to understand and have compassion and empathy for each other. As they learn more and connect more, the rivalry part wanes (though they'll always love being competitive together - in a sportsmanlike way!) and the desire to connect and understand intensifies. It feels organic as the shift happens because both components have been part of things all along - the urge to compete and the urge to care and understand.

5- They are explicitly paralleled as similar people who have hurt the same way (and tried to cope with that pain similarly). This is true of my favorite EtL ships: the baddie is often symbolically representing part of the goodie or a dark mirror of them etc. RtL often foregoes this so the rival is, like... just some random jerk?? But when they're mirrors or connected on a deeper level, compassion and empathy for the other is compassion and empathy for themselves too - vitally important with two people who don't "listen" to their own hearts like Kate and Anthony. They've buried them deep - but they can "hear" by listening to each other and caring. They can process their own feelings that way and learn self-compassion and self expression.

It's really good and if more Rivals to Lovers was done this well I'd love it! The writing here is certainly a template I'd turn to for inspiration if I ever write an RtL pairing.

[laceylavender]

Gale and Katniss are proof that you can grow up in the same circumstances and still learn to see the world in a different way.

Growing up in famine, abuse, violence, poverty and under control of a corrupt government gave them similar circumstances to grow up in: being the oldest sibling, their fathers dying in the mine, becoming the providers of the house at an early age, losing almost everything to said government. While Katniss developed a sense of empathy for everyone affected by this government (whether they were more privileged than her, or not), Gale developed a sense of hatred and thirst for vengeance because the people that weren’t his people had privileges that no one should have, while his family and his friends were being starved, or killed.

That’s why from an early age (pre-teen to full blown teenage years) he had always been thinking with the mindset of a hunter, only he wasn’t only hunting in the forest for prey and food, he was hunting in the real world and he was hunting his enemies, perpetrators and by-standers who did nothing to stop them, they all fit in the same category for him: the enemy. He grew up thinking of ways in which he could kill them if he could, that’s why earlier in the books he tells Katniss he would kill the Capitol citizens if he could, they were nothing to him.

When Gale sees the Capitol bomb and fire his district and kill his people, then gets evacuated to district 13 and has the opportunity to do something, to be of value and design strategies that can help kill said enemy, he does it. No second thought.

The thing is, both Katniss and Gale were right in certain aspects, especially in those they couldn’t agree on, and for me is easy to see from the perspective of both.

In war it should be common rule to offer the possibility of surrender first, but when your enemy doesn’t surrender and you see your own army lose more and more members, you attack - most of the time these are “last resort” attacks that end in lots of human life lost, but when you still give them a last chance to surrender like they did with the train in 2, it still shows a little glimpse of hope and empathy, that not everything has to be lost to war, and this is the part Gale didn’t understand, because if he paid too much thought to it, the lines would get blurred in his head, it was easier to see in black and white.

Personally, I’m in a grey zone when it comes to both of their thinking, and that’s why as a world with increasing and escalating issues we’ve created mechanisms like humanitarian law, war law, international human rights, etc, etc, we need to draw the lines, this is the playbook Katniss was referring to. What’s too much in war? A bullet to the head? Burying people in a mountain just for the sake of killing them? Where’s the line? Hijacking and manipulating people, stripping them of their consciousness and identity? Sending children into an arena to murder each other? Human trafficking? Sex trafficking? You see where I’m going? This is not about Gale, it’s about war.

Look at history, look around you. What do you see? What do you make of it? And please, use critical thinking. Is it acceptable to kill group B if they’ve killed people from group A? Do people from group B deserve a second chance, although their victims didn’t? Your opinion and reasoning depends a lot on the morals you have, and your own experience with war and abuse, which, if you’ve been lucky enough not to have a first hand experience with it, you should also take it into consideration before saying something. Just think, consider, see beyond yourself, see from different points of you, keep the definition of good and evil close to your hand and take note where they start to get blurry. What do you see?

[sunnysideaeggs]

some criticisms i have of episode 2. read the tags first please.

disclaimer: i am a targtowers’ stan first and foremost. that means: aegon, helaena, aemond and daeron. they’re my favorite characters. that’s where my ‘loyalty’ stands. everyone else (including alicent) comes after.

helaena’s grief should’ve been a bigger point in the episode. this is HER episode and aegon’s (i’m not complaining about him but her screentime was so low). everyone else, rhaenyra, alicent, yada yada is secondary.

alicent can light up candles for her enemy’s son but can’t even attend the funeral of her grandson 🙄 she doesn’t cry, curse the blacks, want to bathe in the blood of jaehaerys’ killers, or can even bring herself to say his name.

i love aegon’s performance. i love all of his grief manifested in rage and anger. he cries but he will kick everyone later. tom go get your emmy.

girl your daughter just lost a son and you want to talk about you fucking your bodyguard. i’m tired of her. helaena is with all right of ignoring her.

once upon a time there was a boy that loved horses 😭 jaehaerys my dear

a larys/aegon scene is all i could wish for. the cold mastery of secrets and torture combined with the unstoppable wrath of a wounded man. i need more of them.

i like how the funeral seems, by all accounts, normal but by helaena’s viewpoint everything is too much. the people claim for her showing support but it’s all noise. the carriage showing her little boy so that people know who to blame but it only reminds her more of what happened. he even looks like he’s sleeping.

tbh this scene shows how rhaenyra doesn’t fucking care about helaena and her children. the first thought she had when she heard of the news wasn’t to have compassion or empathy, but to do damage control and worry about her reputation.

lmao i don’t have a clue what daemon’s intentions and rationality is. he only cares about looking mighty and dangerous to other people even when he does dumb shit, then justifies it. he lives only for other people’s opinions but then everyone hates his ass lol. dilffailure.

also he’s the embodiment of living for a dick measuring contest he ends up losing. all of daemon’s behavior can be attributed to erectile dysfunction.

how the writers found time for an oc prostitute having a mommy kink scene with aemond but didn’t have more time for a longer scene with helaena and literally anyone is beyond me.

aemond talking about his regret for luke but not about the death of his nephew 💀 luke died like three years ago condal pls get over it. aemond would care more about jaehaerys than poor little luke.

some much needed baela character development. i love characters that are like the female version of their dad but then also fucking hate their dad lol

i liked the tidbits of the dragonseeds during the episode. i’d like some nettles too :) but i guess the only female and canonically black character is a little too much for this show amirite :)

of course daemon would never be able to bend to anyone he considers inferior, much less rhaenyra, who under any other circumstance would be seen as ‘lesser than him’. it reminds him of his failures. i’m glad we’re on the same page.

aegon never had a chance right? aegon was literally raised by hightowers in love with targaryens. he never would’ve been able to surpass viserys and rhaenyra in otto and alicent’s eyes. nothing he did could’ve changed that.

otto’s little laugh cost him a job lol. i’m sad we didn’t get his cats.

the focus on rhaenyra in the arryk/erryk fight is too much for me. once again, leave secondary characters have their moments instead of shoving r or a down my throat please. this is their especial moment, their last moment. rhaenyra being all 😨🧍🏼‍♀️ between their shots does nothing for the scene.

otto’s realization of his life’s work being flushed down the drain is so touching and painful in a way to me. he’s like tywin if he lived long enough to see cersei and tommen fuck everything up.

‘i have sinned’ ‘i do not wish to hear of it’ that’s peak cersei and tywin from that one scene when she confessed the incest.

daeron exists? yay. and once again i’m fucking tired of alicent not reacting to mention of daeron, not comforting helaena, bashing aemond, ignoring aegon. where’s the love for her children?

the scene of otto putting resting his face on his hands? chills. it should’ve lingered there. showcase otto’s regret? grief? idk. pity it just lasted half a second because we needed to see alicent once more.

from now on, alicent is cancelled for me. i don’t care anymore about her. any parent that leaves their child in distress to go fuck can eat shit. i gave that treatment to daemon in laena’s funeral and i’m giving it to her.

we have more sex scenes of alicent than we have of daemon and aegon combined. yet she’s the pious queen and they’re the lechers. condal please write accordingly.

how do i watch a show when i don’t care for the two main characters, because they’re cardboard cuts of women who don’t do anything? i don’t know.

[gardenschedule]

A collection of Beatles quotes about the breakup

I know I'm preaching to the choir on tumblr.com because people here examine the breakup with empathy, nuance and critical thought. BUT these quotes are convenient if you ever get caught up in frustrating arguments online with male boomer beatle fans who think John and George hated the band and couldn't wait to escape while Paul was desperate to get back together. Sorted by band member and chronological order.

Quotes from/about Ringo:

1969:

People really have tried to typecast us. They think we are still little moptops, and we are not. I don’t want to play in public again. I don’t miss being a Beatle anymore. You can’t get those days back. It’s no good living in the past.

Ringo Starr, 24 March 1969 while filming The Magic Christian in New York

1970:

Ringo?  He was the peacemaker for John, George and himself to Paul and was shaken to find Paul intransigent to the point of saying some pretty blunt things.  But none of the Beatles is vindictive, and pettiness is their natural enemy, and when Paul released his album, Ringo sent a telegram congratulation him on “Maybe I’m Amazed” (one of the tracks) and meant it.  Ringo has a lot of heart and more soul than most and since he knows he will be a Beatles to the grave, he will cooperate should it all come together again.

The Party's Over for the Beatles - written by Derek Taylor

“The Beatles have not split up. We are waiting for John to get back and then we will have a friendly Beatle chat and see what we are going to do. I keep looking around and thinking, ‘Where are they? What are they doing? When will they come and talk to me?’ This is supposed to be a press conference to promote my new film. The other Beatles aren’t here, so I don’t want to be answering questions for them. I hope to see Elvis in Las Vegas before I return to England. But, I will not be in the States for very long.”

The Beatles Off the Record (Keith Badman)

1971:

The Beatles might yet stay together as a group. Paul is the greatest bass player in the world. He is also determined. He goes on and on to see if he can get his own way. While that may be a virtue, it did mean that musical disagreements inevitably rose from time to time. But such disagreements contributed to really great products. […] I was shocked and dismayed, after Mr. McCartney’s promises about a meeting of all four Beatles in London in January, that a writ should have been issued on December 31. I trust Paul and I know he would not lightly disregard his promise. Something serious, about which I have no knowledge, must have happened between Paul’s meeting with George in New York at the end of December. […] My own view is that all four of us together could even yet work out everything satisfactorily.

Ringo Starr’s affidavit – From “The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001” by Keith Badman

No one doubted that Starkey would go along with the majority.

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett

Later/unknown year:

RS: But that’s only Imagine. You know what I’m saying? Paul with his Band on the Run. We all started on a bus and small clubs and things like that, but Paul is that type of person. Paul wanted to do it all over again, and he did. And he went through hell. He went through hell. I mean, now he’s not talking to me and that’s too bad, but he started again from the bottom to do the Paul McCartney show. I don’t wanna do it anymore. I did it once.

All You Need Is Love – Peter Brown & Steven Gaines

Quotes from/about George:

1969:

“Yeah, quite definitely, but I’d like to do it with the Beatles but not on the old scale, that’s the only drag. With the Ono Band and me playing with Delaney and Bonnie there’s no expectations because it’s really quite anonymous, you just go and do whatever you can do. Once the Beatles are advertised and all the crowds come along they expect too much. I’d like to do the Beatles thing, but more like Delaney and Bonnie with us augmented with a few more singers, and a few trumpets, saxes, organs, and all that"

Interview conducted by Roy Carr, NME, 20 December 1969

1970:

George was greatly disappointed that Paul should come off like he was injured by Klein (business manager) whom George believes to have greatly eased the effects of the present and insured the safety of the future. George view is “Did you have to be so nasty. You can go so far but you can never get back, and you can say things which get in the way forever. For me, I would be glad to play with all of us again.”

The Party's Over for the Beatles - written by Derek Taylor

Q: “You think the Beatles will get together again, then?”

George: “Well, I don’t… I couldn’t tell, you know, if they do or not. I’ll certainly try my best to do something with them again, you know. I mean, it’s only a matter of accepting that the situation is a compromise. In a way it’s a compromise, and it’s a sacrifice, you know, because we all have to sacrifice a little in order to gain something really big. And there is a big gain by recording together – I think musically, and financially, and also spiritually. And for the rest of the world, you know, I think that Beatle music is such a big sort of scene – that I think it’s the least we could do is to sacrifice three months of the year at least, you know, just to do an album or two. I think it’s very selfish if the Beatles don’t record together.”

WABC-FM, May 1, 1970

The Harrison quote that went around the world that spring was purely optimistic: 'Everyone is trying to do his own album, and I am too. But after that I'm ready to go back with the others.'

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett

1971:

The only serious row was between Paul and me. In 1968 I went to the United States and had a very easy co-operation with many leading musicians. This contrasted with the superior attitude which, for years past, Paul has shown towards me musically. In January 1969, we were making a film in a studio at Twickenham, which was dismal and cold, and we were all getting a bit fed up with our surroundings. In front of the cameras, as we were actually being filmed, Paul started to ‘get at’ me about the way I was playing. I decided I had had enough and told the others I was leaving. This was because I was musically dissatisfied. After a few days, the others asked me to return and since I did not wish to leave them in the lurch in the middle of filming and recording, and since Paul agreed that he would not try to interfere or teach me how to play, I went back. Since the row, Paul has treated me more as a musical equal. I think this whole episode shows how a disagreement could be worked out so that we all benefited. I just could not believe it when, just before Christmas, I received a letter from Paul’s lawyers. I still cannot understand why Paul acted as he did.

George Harrison’s affidavit – From “The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001” by Keith Badman

“In a “Come back Paul, all is forgiven” mood, George Harrison said this week: “I wish we could all be friends again. It’s a drag that things are as they are, because Apple is now becoming much more what we originally wanted it to be. “Personally I’d like to see Paul back at Apple and let him do what he wants to do. After all the new studio is his studio, too, and I’d like to see it all happening for us all.”

October 1971 Record Mirror

When John finally hinted that he would be willing to play with George when he appeared at Madison Square Garden. “Well, maybe I can come and help ya,” he said. “That’d be nice.” George glowered at John. Then George’s anger really burst forth. “Where were you when I needed you!” he snapped. It was the first of a series of explosions, each of them followed by moments of tense silence. “I did everything you said. But you weren’t there,” he repeated. “You always knew how to reach me,” John would reply evenly to each of these outbursts. There was no doubt in my mind, watching those two, that George’s anger with John had been accumulating for years. It was exactly the kind of situation that John usually ran from. But I could see in that moment that he loved George enough to remain calm and still as George drilled away at him. George said that repeatedly in the past he had sung what John wanted him to sing, said what John wanted him to say. Because John wanted it, George had gone along with the decision to go with Allen Klein. In the nearly four years since, John had virtually ignored him, a fact that pained George deeply. George’s voice grew even more harsh as he blasted John for his sudden appearance, as if out of nowhere, to offer an evening’s worth of help. Yet again George said furiously, I did everything you said, but you weren’t there.”

May Pang, Loving John

1973:

"George came into the office and said, 'I wanted you to know before anyone else. We're leaving Allen.' I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'We'll never get together again with Allen managing us.' And that was it. They left. George always had that distant hope."

Allan Stecker, Mojo interview 2023 (on Monday April 2 1973)

"[Allen Klein] made [John, George and Ringo] feel financially and artistically secure,” Steckler reckoned. So why did they decide that Klein had to go? Steckler believed he knew the answer. “George called me and said, ‘We’re not re-signing with Klein,’” he recalled. “I asked him why, and he said, 'The only way The Beatles can get together again is if Allen isn’t there. I’m ready to do it, so is Ringo, and I think we can persuade John to go along with it. But if we’re going to work with Paul, we need to get rid of Klein.’"

Peter Doggett, You Never Give Me Your Money

1978:

Personally, I’m not opposed to the idea, if it’s done through mutual agreement. But the pressure seems to be bigger than any of us, and when they talk of sums like $50 or $60 million, it’s almost a farce. I know Paul’s booked for the next few years, and John may have lost interest in the idea. Ringo and I are closest on it; we both feel it’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely, if only because of the legal and business maze that would have to be resolved before the four of us set foot on stage together.

M. George Haddad interview with George Harrison for Men Only magazine (Nov. 1978 issue)

Quotes from/about Paul:

1970:

On the eve of the release of the Beatles new movie and album “Let it Be,” Paul McCartney said, “I quit,” or “I think I quit,” which is roughly the same thing. As a publicity stunt, it’s as good or bad as any stunt they ever appeared to pull. But like every stunt they never did pull, this isn’t one either. McCartney’s declaration of independence was entirely impromptu, spontaneous and personal and so far had the group’s lines of communication become crossed that none of the Beatles really knew when the album would be out, or whether, nor did they greatly care.

...

I guess the way it stacks up now and the way it was around the time when Paul dropped the big on is that he wants right out of it all and they don’t.

The Party's Over for the Beatles - written by Derek Taylor

"John's reply was that I was daft!" He then said he wanted to leave the Beatles and wanted an immediate divorce. None of us really knew what to do about the situation, but we decided to wait until our film 'Let it Be' came out in April. I got bored and made 'McCartney' instead!"

Paul McCartney, in his first magazine interview since the split, tells FLIP's Keith Altham... "THE BEATLES ARE FINISHED!"

When we had to go to the studios, Linda would make the booking and we’d take some sandwiches and a bottle of grape juice and put the baby on the floor and it was all like a a holiday. So as a natural turn of events from looking for something to do, I found that I was enjoying working alone as much as I’d enjoyed the early days of the Beatles. I haven’t really enjoyed the Beatles for the last two years.

Paul, Interview for Evening Standard • Tuesday, April 21-22, 1970

Klein tells George he will get him more money and he tells Ringo the same. He tells them all that there are four first-class Beatles, not two and John doesn’t mind being told this. Paul doesn’t like any of it, none of it. He has a father-in-law who is also from New York and his name is Lee Eastman. Lee Eastman is also a toughie, but his manners are more formal than Klein’s and some people like him. Paul would like Eastman to be the Mr Big Apple needs. John wants Mr Klein to be Mr Big. A year passes. It is 1970. Paul still doesn’t like Klein but John digs him more than ever and George digs him more than that and Ringo doesn’t mind him. Paul? He is so uptight about Klein he only leaves the Beatles, that’s all.

As Time Goes By - Derek Taylor

1971:

Klein: “If Paul McCartney doesn’t get his way, he bitches. He may have a choirboy image in the press and with fans, but I’m here to tell you its bullshit. If anybody broke up the Beatles, it was him.”

Allen Klein, Playboy: A candid conversation with the embattled manager of the Beatles. (November, 1971) (note: obviously we should not trust a word Klein says, but at this point why isn't he repeating John's party line that he wanted a divorce?)

I think John thought I was using this press release for publicity-as I suppose, in a way, it was. So it all looked very weird, and it ruffled a few feathers. The good thing about it was that we all had to finally own up to the fact that we'd broken up three or four months before. We'd been ringing each other quite constantly, sort of saying, 'Let's get it back together.' And I think me, George and Ringo did want to save things. But I think John was, at that point, too heavily into his new life-which you can't blame him.

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett

1972:

“We planned a big festival for one afternoon in Central Park, and ‘Imagine’ was the theme. Each retarded person from an institution would be paired with one able-bodied volunteer – twenty-five thousand people in the park. The issue arose whether the retarded should come to the matinee concert at Madison Square Garden. Obviously it would be a huge revenue loss. So Allen Klein and John just bought $50,000 worth of tickets and gave them to the retarded kids and volunteers.” Suddenly John got cold feet, after the concert had been sold out for weeks. “John said he didn’t want to do it,” Rivera recalled. “He said he hadn’t played in public for years, he hadn’t rehearsed with a band, he was just too nervous. …When they had that rush of insecurity, Yoko told me that she and John called Paul and Linda. They said, ‘Let’s bury the hatchet and appear together at the concert.’ Why Paul said ‘No’ I’ll never know.” Rivera and others managed to calm John’s fears and get him to start rehearsing with Elephant’s Memory.

Jon Wiener, Come Together: John Lennon in His Time. (1984)

“A few months ago, John asked us to do a concert with him at Madison Square Garden (note: same concert as the above quote) and it’s a pity now that we didn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it at the time but we will do things, I’m sure. I don’t see any reason why all four Beatles shouldn’t be on stage at some time all playing together and having a good time. I don’t think you’ll ever get the Beatles reforming, because that’s all gone. The Beatles were a special thing in a special era and I really couldn’t see it all coming together again. But I think it’s daft to assume that just because we had a couple of business upsets we won’t ever see each other again, or that if John has a concert some time we won’t go up and play on it.”

Paul McCartney, interview with Ray Connolly in The Evening Standard, December 2, 1972 (source: The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive)

“Don’t ever call me ex-Beatle McCartney again. That was one band I was with. Now I’m not with them. I’ve got another band. We won’t do things the same way any more. We’re not so bothered in trying to please other people all the time even though we obviously don’t try to displease them. All we want, in Wings, is to please ourselves with our music, That’s all.

“If people start fan clubs for us, do that kind of thing from the past, well, fine. But we won’t start one. I just get irritated by people constantly harping on the past, about the days when I was with that other band, the Beatles.

“The other Beatles get together and that is fine, but I’m almost always in another part of the world. The Beatles was my old job. We’re not like friends – we just know each other. But we don’t work together. so there’s no point keeping up old relationships.”

“All I know for sure is that I’ll never be conned again. I’m 30 now and, after what I’ve been through. I should know my way around. I get angry with fans, who interrupt my life, even now. I get fed up with the feeling that I was losing my identity, becoming some kind of legend, not a person. And I’m downright angry with the people who keep trying to get me back with the others again.

Paul McCartney and 'that other band'' by Peter Jones, in the Liverpool Echo, 13 December 1972

There’s no hard feelings or anything, but you just don’t hang around with your ex-wife. We’ve completely finished. ’Cos, you know, I’m just not that keen on John after all he’s done. I mean, you can be friendly with someone, and they can shit on you, and you’re just a fool if you keep friends with them. I’m not just going to lie down and let him shit on me again. I think he’s a bit daft, to tell you the truth. I talked to him about the Klein thing, and he’s so misinformed it’s ridiculous.'

Paul interviewed by student journalist Ian McNulty for the Hull University Torch, May 1972 [From The McCartney Legacy, Volume 1: 1969 – 1973 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2022

1976:

“The truth is very ordinary. The truth is just that since we split up, we’ve not seen much of each other. We visit occasionally, we’re still friends, but we don’t feel like getting up and playing again. You can’t tell that to people. You say that and they say, ‘How about this money, then?’ ‘Or how about this?’ And you end up having to think of reasons why you don’t feel like it. And, of course, any one of them taken on its own isn’t really true, but I was just stuck for an answer, so I said I wouldn’t do it just for the money anyway. And I saw John last time, he says, ‘I agreed with that.’ But there’s a million other points in there. A whole million angles. “I tell you, before this tour, I was tempted to ring everyone up and say, ‘Look, is it true we’re not going to get back together, ‘cause we all pretty much feel like we’re not. And as long as I could get everyone to say, ‘No, we’re definitely not,’ then I could say ‘It’s a definite no-no.’ But I know my feeling, and I think the others’ feeling, in a way, is we don’t want to close the door to anything in the future. We might like it someday.

Paul McCartney, Rolling Stone: Yesterday, Today, and Paul. (June 17th, 1976)

Later/unknown year:

“John phoned me once to try and get the Beatles back together again, after we’d broken up. And I wasn’t for it, because I thought that we’d come too far and I was too deeply hurt by it all. I thought, “Nah, what’ll happen is that we’ll get together for another three days and all hell will break loose again. Maybe we just should leave it alone.”

Paul, November 1995 Club Sandwich interview

“ELLEN: So was there ever a time when both you and John Lennon wanted to reform the Beatles? PAUL: There was a time… let’s put it this way: there was never a time when all four of us wanted to do it. And each time it was always someone different who didn’t fancy it And I’m actually glad of that now. Because the Beatles’ work is a body of work. There’s nothing to be ashamed of there. In the end we decided we should leave well enough alone. The potential disappointment of coming on and not being as good as the Beatles had been… that was a risk we shouldn’t take

Paul McCartney, interview w/ Mark Ellen for Radio Times. (October 20th-26th, 2007)

Quotes from/about John:

1969:

JOHN: The point is, if George leaves, do we want to carry on The Beatles? I do. [inaudible; drowned out by mic feedback] And I’d just get another member of the group and carry on. But if The Beatles split, well, I’ll get another group. [to Paul and Yoko?] I’m a singer not a dancer, baby! Woo-hoo!

January 10th, 1969 (Twickenham Film Studios, London)

Friday, 21 March, John: “Everything we do, we shall be doing together. I don’t mean I shall break up The Beatles, or anything, but we want to share everything.”

The Beatles Off the Record (Keith Badman)

MICHAEL: But funny enough, the other day, when we were talking, he said that he really did not want not to be a Beatle. He said he really looked forward – not, you know. Meaning he didn’t want that screwed up.

[T]he Beatles are always discussing, “Should we go on or shouldn’t we? Why are we together for now?” And what it gets down to is I like playing rock n’ roll and I like making rock n’ roll records. Now, I’ve got either the choice— if I want the whole LP to myself — is to get a few musicians together. Now, I know that— I’ve played with other musicians — just very rarely, but occasionally I’ve played with them — and it needs some work together to get anything going. I don’t like session men, so I try not to use them. I don’t like violinists or anything these days. I try not to use anybody but the Beatles. And if I wanted to make a record I’d chose the Beatles! I can say, “Give me a ‘Be Bop A Lula’”. So therefore, we’ve got that going. And even from a commercial point, when we discuss it, “What’s the biggest selling name? Beatles or John Lennon and The Fabs? Or George Harrison and The Fabs?” Which— Where’s our biggest market? It’s Beatles! Who are our closest friends? Beatles! Who do we have the most arguments with? Beatles. So Beatles is it!

John Lennon and Yoko Ono give a series of interviews at the Apple Corps building at 3 Savile Row, London (Friday, 12 September 1969).

JOHN: See they’re growing up too, you know. And uh, we all want Beatles still cause it’s, it’s a big power and it’s good power, you know. And we’ve no intention of splitting it, you know. Any of us. I can’t be specific about it, you know. But obviously, I’m deeply involved with Yoko, it has some…you know, maybe less reliant on the others but so it goes for the others too, you know. That as we’re all sort of branching out. Which we were occasionally all the time, you know. Like I did How I Won The War, I wrote In His Own Write and Paul wrote the music for Family Way, etc. and George went off to India with sitars and that. So it’s only, you know. We nip off and come back and do some work then nip off again, you know.

John and Yoko gave several interviews on September 12, 1969

[Will] The Beatles split up? It just depends how much we all want to record together. I don’t know if I want to record together again. I go off and on it. I really do.”

John Lennon, interview w/ Alan Smith for NME. (December 13th, 1969)

JOHN: I was really losing interest in just doing the Beatles’ bit – and I think we all were – but Paul did a good job in holding us together for a few years while we were sort of undecided about what to do, you know. And I found out what to do, and it didn’t really have to be with the Beatles. It could have been, if they wanted… But uh, it got that I couldn’t wait for them to make up their minds about peace or whatever. About committing themselves. It’s the same as the songs. So I’ve gone ahead – and I’d have liked them to have come along.

YORKE: Did you ever try to get them into the peace scene?

JOHN: I did a little at first, but I think it was too much like Yoko and me and what we’re doing and trying to get them to come along; and I think they reacted. I hassled them too much, so I’m really leaving them alone. Maybe they’ll come along, wagging their tails behind them, and if not, good luck to them.

John Lennon, interview w/ Ritchie Yorke. (December 23rd, 1969)

“This is why I’ve started with the Plastic Ono and working with Yoko . . . to have more outlet. There isn’t enough outlet for me in the Beatles. The Ono Band is my escape valve. And how important that gets, as compared to the Beatles for me, I’ll have to wait and see.

NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS DECEMBER 13, 1969

1970:

Why do you think he [Paul] has lost interest in Apple?

That’s what I want to ask him! We had a heavy scene last year as far as business was concerned and Paul got a bit fed-up with all the effort of business. I think that’s all it is. I hope so.

John Lennon interviewed by Roy Shipston for Disc and Music Echo (February 28, 1970)

John’s view is: “Okay. If this is it, this is it. We’ve all left the Beatles anyway.” If Paul were to approach him and say, “Let’s do it together again,” he probably would; with no more words, he probably would do it.

The Party's Over for the Beatles - written by Derek Taylor

Now even Lennon was prepared to hint at a positive outcome: 'I've no idea if the Beatles will work together again, or not. I never really have. It was always open. If somebody didn't feel like it, that's it! It could be a rebirth or a death. We'll see what it is. It'll probably be a rebirth.'

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett

'Eventually,' McCartney recalled, 'I went and said, "I want to leave. You can all get on with Klein and everything, just let me out." Having not spoken to Lennon for several weeks, he sent him a letter that summer, pleading that the former partners 'let each other out of the trap'. As McCartney testified, Lennon 'replied with a photograph of himself and Yoko, with a balloon coming out of his mouth in which was written, "How and Why?" I replied by letter saying, "How by signing a paper which says we hereby dissolve our partnership. Why because there is no partnership." John replied on a card which said, "Get well soon. Get the other signatures and I will think about it.” Communication was at an end. Yet the press continued to believe, fired by hope more than evidence, that it was only a matter of days before the four men healed their wounds. The stories taunted McCartney, who fired off a letter to the prime offender, Melody Maker: 'Dear Mailbag, In order to put out of its misery the limping dog of a news story which has been dragging itself across your pages for the past year, my answer to the question, "Will the Beatles get together again?"...is no.' He had finally pronounced the verdict that was missing from his self-interview in April: the Beatles were no more.

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett (note: John is stalling)

For McCartney, and maybe Harrison and Starkey as well, this signified hope. ‘For about three or four months,' he recalled years later, 'George, Ringo and I rang each other to ask, "Well, is this it, then?" It wasn't that the record company had dumped us. It was just a case of: we might get back together again. Nobody quite knew if it was one of John's little flings, and that maybe he was going to feel the pinch in a week's time and say, “I was only kidding.” I think John did kind of leave the door open. He'd said, “I'm pretty much leaving the group, but...” McCartney testified in 1971, ‘I think all of us (except possibly John) expected we would come together again one day.

You Never Give Me Your Money – Peter Doggett

John: George was on the session for Instant Karma, Ringo’s away and Paul’s – I dunno what he’s doing at the moment, I haven’t a clue.

Interviewer: When did you last see him?

John: Uh, before Toronto. I’ll see him this week actually. If you’re listening, I’m coming round. (Note: as AKOM point out, Toronto was before the divorce meeting. Why is he pretending it never happened?)

Feb 6th 1970 (audio snippet approx 1:14:00)

Interviewer: What about the Beatles all together as a group?

John: As soon as they’re ready, you know, we had half the Beatles on again at the Lyceum Ballroom. Uh it was George and me but we also had Delaney and Bonney and 17 piece band we had on, it was a great experience. Uh it should be like that you know, if we were doing that and all the Beatles wanted to come it would be great, and it would be no great thing about ‘oh the Beatles are coming back on stage’ like they expect, sorta of, Buddha and Mohammad to come on and play. I keep saying that, but that’s the fear the Beatles have, including me as a Beatle, about performing. It’s such a great – so much expected of us, you know, but you see George has been on tour with Bonnie and Delaney playing and I’ve been drifting around playing, it’s just playing isn’t the hang up. It’s going on as the Beatles that’s the problem for us.

1970 (audio snippet approx 1:23:00)

Interviewer: Do you care about making another Beatles album?

John: I think Beatles is a good communication media you know, and I wouldn’t destroy it out of hand or dissolve it out of hand. So that’s what I think about Beatles.

1970 (audio snippet approx 1:41:00)

Interviewer: Why do you think rumours like this start?

John: Because there was a lot of tension around the Allen Klein coming in days and the ATV thing going on, and the Beatles were under a lot of pressure and we had to be together all the time, fighting and arguing and listening to all the different business things. And so we’re taking a break from each other like we always did after a tour end. The business thing is like a heavy tour, in it we may get back in abbey road and a couple of singles and under a great strain you know, doing that business. And so now we’re just taking a break from each other.

1970 (audio snippet approx 1:41:00)

You can’t pin me down because I haven’t got- there’s no- it’s completely open, whether we do it or not. Life is like that, whether I make another Plastic Ono album or Lennon album or anything is open you know, I don’t like to prejudge it. And I have no idea if the Beatles are working together again or not, I never did have, it was always open. If someone didn’t feel like it, that’s it. And maybe if one of us starts it off, the others will all come round and make an album you know.

1970 (audio snippet approx 1:43:00)

In 1964 I produced a book, they were asking me that then, and why should I not write a book? The Beatles wanted me to do it, they wanted me to do these LPs, you know, they have nothing against it – I want George to produce and record any records he wants to. It doesn’t interfere with Beatle time, I use my own time to do other things and so do they. The Beatles will remain, there’s no doubt about that. And we’ve been saying it since She Loves You, we’re together and that’s it.

1970 (audio snippet approx 1:45:00)

I just uh I wanted to do it [announce the breakup] you know, should’ve done it. I think damn, shit, what a fool I was. But there were many pressures at that time, I think Northern Songs and all that was going on, it would’ve upset the whole thing. (Note: again as AKOM point out, the Northern Songs fight ended the day before the divorce meeting. Why would the pressure of Northern Songs impact John's decision not to announce the breakup?)

Lennon Remembers

1971:

INT: I asked Lee Eastman for his view of the split, and what it was that prompted Paul to file suit to dissolve the Beatles' partnership, and he said it was because John asked for a divorce.

JOHN: Because I asked for a divorce? That's a childish reason for going into court, isn't it?

John Lennon interviewed by Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld at the St. Regis Hotel, September 5, 1971

Well, there was this Japanese monk, and it happened in the last 20 years. He was in love with this big golden temple, y’know, he really dug it, like—and you know he was so in love with it, he burnt it down so that it would never deteriorate. That’s what I did with the Beatles.

John Lennon, interview w/ Alan Smith for NME: At home with the Lennons. (August 7th, 1971)

MCCABE: Let’s talk a bit about Paul’s aversion to Klein. From what we’ve read it seemed as if this wasn’t there in the beginning, even though Paul wanted the Eastmans to run things. But it came on later as things progressed. And yet despite this, we gather that Klein was still hoping that Paul would return to the group.

JOHN: Oh, he’d love it if Paul would come back. I think he was hoping he would for years and years. He thought that if he did something, to show Paul that he could do it, Paul would come around. But no chance. I mean, I want him to come out of it, too, you know. He will one day. I give him five years, I’ve said that. In five years he’ll wake up.

MCCABE: But Klein is still hoping?

JOHN: He said to me, “Would you do it, if we got your immigration thing fixed? Or if we could get rid of the drug conviction?”

YOKO: And people don’t understand, you know. There’s so many groups that constantly announce they’re going to split, they’re going to split, and they can announce it every year, and it doesn’t mean they’re going to split. But people don’t understand what an extraordinary position the Beatles are in, you know. In every way. They’re in such an extraordinary position that they’re more insecure than other people. And so Klein thinks he’ll give Paul two years Linda-wise, you know. And John said, “No, Paul treasures things like children, things like that. It will be longer.” And of course, John was right.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, interview w/ Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld. (September, 1971)

It was true, that when the group was touring, their work and social relationships were close, but there had been a lot of arguing, mainly about musical and artistic matters. I suppose Paul and George were the main offenders in this respect, but from time to time we all gave displays of temperament and threatened to ‘walk out’. Of necessity, we developed a pattern for sorting out our differences, by doing what any three of us decided. It sometimes took a long time and sometimes there was deadlock and nothing was done, but generally that was the rule we followed and, until recent events, it worked quite well. Even when we stopped touring, we frequently visited each other’s houses in or near London and personally we were on terms as close as we had ever been. If anything, Paul was the most sociable of us. From our earliest days in Liverpool, George and I, on the one hand, and Paul, on the other, had different musical tastes. Paul preferred ‘pop-type’ music and we preferred what is now called ‘underground’. This may have led to arguments, particularly between Paul and George, but the contrast in our tastes, I am sure, did more good than harm, musically speaking, and contributed to our success.

If Paul is trying to break us up because of anything that happened before the Klein–Eastman power struggle, his reasoning does not make sense to me.

John Lennon’s affidavit – From “The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001” by Keith Badman

JOHN: Yeah, Gilbert and Sullivan. I always remember watching the film with Robert Morley and thinking, “We’ll never get to that.” [pause] And we did, which really upset me. But I never really thought we’d be so stupid. But we did.

WIGG: What, like splitting like they did?

JOHN: Like splitting and arguing, you know, and then they come back, and one’s in a wheelchair twenty years later—

YOKO: [laughs] Yes, yes.

JOHN: —and all that. [laughs; bleak] I never thought we’d come to that, because I didn’t think we were that stupid. But we were naive enough to let people come between us. And I think that’s what happened. [pause] But it was happening anyway. I don’t mean Yoko, I mean businessmen, you know. All of them.

October, 1971 (St Regis Hotel, New York)

Q: "Did Klein hope to get Paul back into the group?"

JOHN: (laughs) "He came up with this plan. He said, "Just ring Paul and say, 'We're recording next Friday, are you coming?' So it nearly happened. Then Paul would have forfeited his right to split by joining us again. But Paul would never, never do it, for anything, and now I would never do it."

St Regis Hotel Interview, September 5th, 1971.

John would say things like, ‘It was rubbish. The Beatles were crap.’ Also, ‘I don’t believe in The Beatles, I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in God.’ Those were quite hurtful barbs to be flinging around, and I was the person they were being flung at, and it hurt. So, I’m having to read all this stuff, and on the one hand I’m thinking, ‘Oh fuck off, you fucking idiot,’ but on the other hand I’m thinking, ‘Why would you say that? Are you annoyed at me or are you jealous or what?’ And thinking back fifty years later, I still wonder how he must have felt. He’d gone through a lot. His dad disappeared, and then he lost his Uncle George, who was a father figure; his mother; Stuart Sutcliffe; Brian Epstein, another father figure; and now his band. But John had all of those emotions wrapped up in a ball of Lennon. That’s who he was. That was the fascination.

I tried. I was sort of answering him here, asking, ‘Does it need to be this hurtful?’ I think this is a good line: ‘Are you afraid, or is it true?’ – meaning, ‘Why is this argument going on? Is it because you’re afraid of something? Are you afraid of the split-up? Are you afraid of my doing something without you? Are you afraid of the consequences of your actions?’ And the little rhyme, ‘Or is it true?’ Are all these hurtful allegations true? This song came out in that kind of mood. It could have been called ‘What the Fuck, Man?’ but I’m not sure we could have gotten away with that then.

Paul McCartney, on “Dear Friend”. In The Lyrics (2021).

Q: “If you got, I don’t know what the right phrase is… ‘back together’ now, what would be the nature of it?” JOHN: “Well, it’s like saying, if you were back in your mother’s womb… I don’t fucking know. What can I answer? It will never happen, so there’s no use contemplating it. Even if I became friends with Paul again, I’d never write with him again. There’s no point. I write with Yoko because she’s in the same room with me.” YOKO: “And we’re living together.” JOHN: “So it’s natural. I was living with Paul then, so I wrote with him. It’s whoever you’re living with. He writes with Linda. He’s living with her. It’s just natural.””

St. Regis Hotel Interview, September 5, 1971

1973:

My last question was inevitable… Any chance of us seeing the four Beatles on a stage or record together again? “There’s always a chance,” grinned John. “As far as I can gather from talking to them all, nobody would mind doing some work together again. There’s no law that says we’re not going to do something together, and no law that says we are. If we did do something I’m sure it wouldn’t be permanent. We’d do it just for that moment. I think we’re closer now than we have been for a long time. I call the split the divorce period and none of us ever thought there’d be a divorce like that. “That’s the way things turned out. We know each other well enough to talk about it.””

John Lennon, interview w/ Chris Charlesworth for Melody Maker. (November 3rd, 1973)

MINTZ: Would you want to initiate that happening?

JOHN: Uh… Well, I couldn’t say. [long pause]

MINTZ: If you could, I mean is it something you would like to see yourself doing?

JOHN: If I could… I don’t know, Elliot, because you know me, I go on instinct. And if the idea hit me tomorrow, you know, I might call them and say, “Come on, let’s do something.” And so I couldn’t really tell you. If it happens, it’ll happen.

MINTZ: So it’s not something that you would totally rule out as never taking place again?

JOHN: No, no. My memories are now all fond and the wounds are healed. And if we do it, we do it, if we record, we record. I don’t know. As long as we make music.

November 1st/10th, 1973 (Malibu, Los Angeles): For Eyewitness News on KABC TV Los Angeles, Elliot Mintz

1974:

“No, no, no,” he answered and he meant it. “I’m going to be an ex-Beatle for the rest of my life so I might as well enjoy it, and I’m just getting around to being able to stand back and see what happened. A couple of years ago I might have given everybody the impression I hate it all, but that was then. I was talking when I was straight out of therapy and I’d been mentally stripped bare and I just wanted to shoot my mouth off to clear it all away. Now it’s different.

“When I slagged off the Beatle thing in the papers, it was like divorce pangs, and me being me it was blast this and fuck that, and it was just like the old days in the Melody Maker, you know, ‘Lennon Blasts Hollies’ on the back page. You know, I’ve always had a bit of a mouth and I’ve got to live up to it. Daily Mirror: ‘Lennon beats up local DJ at Paul’s 21st birthday party’. Then we had that fight Paul and me had through the Melody Maker, but it was a period I had to go through.

John Lennon, interview w/ Ray Coleman for Melody Maker: Lennon – a night in the life. (September 14th, 1974)

John seemed to be in a very strange state of mind about the dissolution. From the hints he had dropped since we had been together, I had learned that John’s departure from the Beatles had essentially been Yoko’s idea. Without Yoko to drive him forward, he felt strangely ambivalent about officially ending the Beatles at that moment. By nature, also, he felt inclined to take a position opposite from that of Paul McCartney. Paul desperately wanted that agreement signed. Whether or not it was the best thing for him to do, John, on principle, was inclined not to want to sign it.

May Pang, Loving John. (1983)

I’ll tell you exactly why I said that. We had a business meeting to break up The Beatles, one of the famous ones that we’d been having — we’re still having them 17 years later, actually. We all flew in to New York specially. George came off his disastrous tour, Ring of flew in and we were at the Plaza for the big final settlement meeting. John was half a mile away at the Dakota and he sent a balloon over with a note that said ‘Listen to this balloon.’ I mean, you’ve got to be pretty cool to handle that kind of stuff.

George blew his cool and rang him up: ’You fucking maniac!! You take your fucking dark glasses off and come and look at us, man!!’ and gave him a whole load of that shit. Around the same time at another meeting we had it all settled, and John asked for an extra million pounds at the last minute. So of course that meeting blew up in disarray. Later, when we got a bit friendlier — and from time to time there would be these little stepping-stones of friendship in the Apple sea — I asked him why he’d actually wanted that million and he said, I just wanted cards to play with. It’s absolutely standard business practice. He wanted a couple of jacks to up your pair of nines. He was one great guy, but part of his greatness was that he wasn’t a saint.

Paul McCartney: An Innocent Man? (October, 1986) (note: John is STILL stalling)

At that moment, John was at his most unpredictable. Suddenly his fears that his money was going to be taken away from him, that he was going to be cheated, that he had to have as much money as possible, had all come into play. This was also John’s way of resisting the reality that the Beatles were officially about to come to end, and that Paul was about to prevail.

Loving John, MAY PANG (1983)

1975:

“At the time I was thinking that I didn’t want to do all that Beatles—but now I feel differently. I’ve lost all that negativity about the past and I’d be happy as Larry to do ‘Help’. I’ve just changed completely in two years. I’d do ‘Hey Jude’ and the whole damn show, and I think George will eventually see that. If he doesn’t, that’s cool. That’s the way he wants to be.”

John Lennon, interview w/ Chris Charlesworth for Melody Maker: Rock on! (March 8th, 1975)

1976:

“I’ve always felt that splitting up was a mistake in many ways” John Lennon has said, and he believes a Beatles revival “would undoubtedly produce some great music.”

Australian Woman’s Weekly, 1976

1980:

“I and the other three former Beatles have plans to stage a reunion concert…” (Part of a statement in the legal disposition brought by Apple Corps against the ‘Beatlemania’ stage musical for trademark infringement. John was referring to an event that was to be filmed for a documentary being put together by Neil Aspinall. It was abandoned/shelved after John’s death, but ultimately became the Anthology project)

John Lennon, 1980

“Just days before his brutal death, John was making plans to go to England for a triumphant Beatles reunion. His greatest dream was to recreate the musical magic of the early years with Paul, George and Ringo … (he) felt that they had traveled different paths for long enough. He felt they had grown up and were mature enough to try writing and recording new songs.”

Yoko Ono, quoted in The Beatles: The Dream Is Over - Off The Record 2 by Keith Badman

[silcobrainrot]

Blink Once For Yes, Twice For No - Chapter Three

Words: 5,907

Fic Summary: In the year following the cannery explosion, Jinx struggles with nightmares making her relive the trauma over and over. Silco should feel triumphant after killing his worst enemy and taking control of the underground, but his dreams are no kinder to him than hers. And then an old affliction he thought he outgrew long ago resurfaces to make sleeping a living hell.

Chapter Summary: Silco can't pretend his dreams mean nothing anymore, but he tries anyway. A gunshot in the direction of Jinx's bedroom forces him to take it seriously.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63015346/chapters/162550435

The setting sun brings out the jaundice yellow tinge of the Pilt. With its slow current, the stench hangs in the air thick enough to coat your esophagus with foul chemicals. Silco can’t help but wrinkle his nose at it. Vander better have a good reason for asking to meet all the way out here.

Vander waits for him near the end of the dock. When he’s within earshot of a low tenor, Silco jokes, “perfect place for an execution.”

Vander hums without an ounce of amusement or good humor. Silco puts his hands in his pockets when he stops. “That bad, then.”

Vander inhales deep and lets it out in a sigh, a behavior that—without fail—precedes something critical that the other person won’t like. He has to stare at his feet to get it out. “I’m done, Silco.”

Silco holds back the panic response, but one foot drops behind the other as his heart rate increases. “Done with what?”

“Zaun. I’m done with Zaun. I can’t do it anymore.” He looks up, but still can’t meet his brother’s eyes. “Those girls, they’re my kids now. They need me with them. I can’t be a parent if I’m dedicating my entire life to this.”

Silco gawks at him with disgust. “You think you need to choose, and you’re choosing them?”

“Yes.” Vander meets Silco’s eyes at last. “It’s my fault they lost their parents. If I hadn’t tried getting across that bridge, they wouldn’t have needed me. But I did, and I owe it to them to protect them the way their parents would have.” His hands ball into fists at his sides, and he forces them to uncurl. “Fat load of good it would’ve done us to reach the other side. There was nothing waiting over there. That day was a mistake they will pay for the rest of their lives.”

“Everyone down here loses their parents too early,” Silco says, incredulous, “you did, I did. That’s what we’re fighting for. Those girls wouldn’t have lost their parents if the topsiders weren’t slaughtering us like vermin. It’s not your fault any more than it is mine or Benzo’s.”

Vander shakes his head. “You’re not listening, Silco, I —”

“I’m hearing you just fine. You’re spewing immature drivel.” He takes his hands out of his pockets so he can gesticulate. “This has been our life for years and we’re finally starting to make progress. The Lanes are working, Vander. People have businesses that are easily accessible to one another, and they need employees. More people have money coming in. And the people are socializing instead of keeping to themselves out of fear. For the first time, we have a real chance of uniting all of the underground, and you want to throw that all away over two children?”

Silco glowers and bares his teeth while Vander clenches his fists again. He tries empathy this time. Honesty. “I can’t do this without you, Vander. We’re strongest when we’re together. One unit.” Emotion catches in his throat. “Brothers.”

“Aren’t you tired?” Vander breathes. “Because I am. I’m tired of fighting them. All we do is lose people. There’s got to be a better way, a way that doesn’t always lead to our people dying out there.”

Silco’s mouth hangs open, dumbfounded. “Pacifism? You think pacifism will win us this war? You?” He scoffs. “The Hound of the Underground wants to muzzle himself. How will willfully handing them even more power over us protect your precious children?” Venom drips into his tone. “You want to bring words to a gunfight? They’ll die painful deaths like half the kids down here while you refuse to act. You’d try to protect them with absolutely nothing.”

“And you see everyone else as expendable?” Vander snaps. “How many of us are you willing to sacrifice? How much blood is too much?” He inhales through his nose, exhales through his mouth. “The blood I saw on that bridge was too much. You can’t change my mind about this. I’m done. It’s over for me. I have a family, now, they need me at home.”

Feeble tears sting in Silco’s eyes. “Am I not your family, too?”

Vander approaches, clasping one giant hand on Silco’s shoulder. “You are. You always will be.”

Their eyes meet from a foot apart. Silco searches his face for any sign of the real Vander. His brother in arms. His only family. The most important person in his life. But he finds… nothing. Nothing familiar at all. He yanks his shoulder out of Vander’s grip and steps away.

Letting his hand drop, Vander starts the walk back up the dock. “I’m sorry, Silco.”

Silco stares, disbelieving, in the opposite direction. This emotion, whatever this feeling, doesn’t have a name. Shock. Disgust. Despair. Betrayal. Rage. Oh, the rage he recognizes. He uses it to unclench his throat and get the words out.

"I'm doing it, then," Silco says, voice frigid. "If you're out, you don't get a say anymore. I'm bombing the ventilation shafts. We're going to sink their side of the riverbank down to our level. No matter how many topsiders it kills."

Vander stops. He hadn’t gotten very far. Turning around, he stomps towards Silco with long strides. Silco barely has time to register him approaching before Vander’s right fist makes contact with his eye. His skin splits, spilling blood down his face, and he’ll swear later he felt his eye hit the back of its socket. Another punch below his eye, splitting skin again and grazing the gum line of his mouth. The taste of iron accompanies a fist reaching out to seize his throat and constrict.

Not even his attempts at choking escape Vander’s grip. His pitiful effort to claw at the hand and arm holding him down does little more than scrape off some skin.

Vander pulls him to the edge of the dock and plunges them both in, dragging Silco along like a rag doll to get far enough away from the dock so he won’t have time to reach it if he escapes. With a feral roar, Vander pushes him under the surface, holding him down with his full strength.

Blood and filth. His blood mixing with the river in its sluggish current, heavy and thick and merciless. He struggles and fights with his full strength—a mistake, he’ll later understand. As his thrashes get weaker, and the water calms around him, envelopes him, he hears that voice whispering to him from all directions.

Have you had enough?

Yes. Enough. The last of the air in his lungs vacates in a weak hiccup. His eyes close for the last time. Peace unlike anything of which he could dream. Silence, stillness; the river enveloping him feels so warm now. Somewhere far away, in someone else’s body, a hand feels its way around for a familiar target, where it knows stays holstered on Vander’s belt. Fingers graze something solid. The handle. The voice asks again:

Have you had enough?

No.

Silco’s fingers wrap around the handle of Vander’s prized knife. He pulls his arm back, then snaps it forward, burying the blade deep in Vander’s gut. The shock and pain of it breaks Vander’s hold on Silco’s neck. Silco pumps his arms and legs to get his head above water. Splashing up to the surface, he sucks polluted air and water into his lungs as he gets his feet underneath himself.

A massive hand grabs his shoulder, the other trying to wrap around his head to get him in a headlock. Pure primal survival instinct changes Silco’s hold on the knife and takes advantage of the gap between their bodies. He slices as deep as he can into Vander’s forearm. Vander screams. Silco runs.

As he reaches the docks and readies to lift himself on, a shadow materializes and tackles him back under. The knife does nothing to it. Under the surface, he sees his own face again trying to drown him. He fights with renewed strength. If he escaped Vander, he can escape himself. The bastard alter gets the knife out of his hand and stabs him with it.

His eye snaps open, awake in his bedroom and unable to move. If he could groan, he would; this shit again. The idea almost bores him after the memory he just relived. He scans the room as best he can, searching for his nightmare.

Iridescent caustics rippling on his ceiling signal his demon’s arrival. It rises in to view next to the bed: a solid black humanoid shape, no face, or identifiable features beyond a looming sense of dread radiating off it. While not appearing very intimidating, icicles drip down Silco’s spine and his whole body screams with the certainty that engaging with this creature will kill him. Don’t look at it, don’t speak to it, just run. Run or hide. Get away now.

He ignores every alarm bell to glare at the damn thing. None of the curses he wants to spit will leave his mouth with his muscles still paralyzed, but he yells them anyway.

The trickster mounts the bed, and Silco prepares for it to take its old favorite position on top of his chest. When it does, the shadows evaporate off of it, leaving Jinx in their wake. Silent tears stream down her face, sniffling with her teeth bared; same as the night he found her.

He tries to reach out to her, reassure her he won’t let that devil harm her, but his body won’t cooperate. He has to watch, frozen and helpless, as she sobs.

“You took everything from me,” she says. His eye widens. “You made me kill my whole family. You killed my real dad. You wanted to kill me.”

Moving to straddle him, she puts her hands around his throat and starts to press. “You’re the reason I ended up alone in the first place.” Through clenched teeth, she pushes with all her strength and hisses, “You’re the reason Vander left you. You’re the reason he gave up the fight. He couldn’t stand to be around you anymore. He replaced you with a real family.”

Tendrils of smoke fog his vision. He writhes against the spell that holds him prisoner until it shatters. He lunges for her, grabbing her by her shoulders and flipping them. Feet planted, he plunges her under the river, looming over her in the waist-high water. She thrashes in desperation, and he pushes her deeper into the filth to stop her limbs from splashing him. He doesn’t have Vander’s strength, but a child has no chance against him.

He can make out parts of her face beneath the murky water. Terror. Pure terror. Her worst nightmares come to life. The hands she trusted to care for her, now trying to murder her. Another monster added to the hoard of beasts that plague her. He tries fighting against the spell forcing him to drown her, but he needs her to stop talking. She doesn’t get to put truths in front of him from which he has spent so long running away. Stop. Stop. Please stop.

Moving his hands to her throat, he squeezes until cartilage snaps under his fingers.

His voice shouting “NO” and the most violent struggling he can muster breaks the paralysis. He sits upright in bed, coated in sweat and hyperventilating. He throws his legs over the edge of the mattress and stands, smoothing his hair out of his eyes, then running that hand down his face. Her fragile neck snapping under his hands still lingers in his muscles, his fingers. They quiver with the memory. The thought of harming that child in any way…

He throws his eye protector back onto the bed and marches to the living room. He rarely leaves the bedroom still in his night clothes, but his thoughts care only for the box of cigars and decanter of whiskey under the window. The tinkling of a generous amount of amber liquid filling the glass provides its own relief, as does the satisfaction of cutting a fresh cigar. Holding it in his teeth, he grabs the lighter, cups his hand around the flame, and inhales deep. The acrid burn in his lungs feels too similar to the dense fumes of the mines for much satisfaction in the act, but the nicotine calms his nerves, and the whiskey can do the rest. Exhaling a cloud of smoke, he takes the glass to sit on the couch, taking a sip with forced composure.

He swirls the whiskey in the glass as he takes another drag, studying the liquid. The idea of dreams having any sort of meaning earned his insult in the past. The mystics and dream divinators of the Lanes have his respect insofar as conning gullible topsiders out of easy money, but it is a con. His thoughts on that haven’t changed, but dreams as a means of processing one's thoughts…

Groaning, he rubs his temple with the hand still balancing the cigar between its fingers. He can’t run the entire Underground while scrutinizing every shadow. The shit he puts up with daily now fills his quota for unpleasant encounters and nightmare scenarios.

His pulse throbs behind his eye, and in the delicate veins within. Another drag on the cigar, then another sip from his glass, and a thought occurs to him. Shimmer. The doctor made him a new medicine for his eye, a diluted variant of the Shimmer formula that should stop the infection from spreading. And, he hopes, stop it from losing any more of its function. Where his old medicine only hurt from the needle piercing his eye, the new drug sears through the sensitive tissue almost as bad as the toxins that mutilated it. Brutal, but he stays pain free for longer, and experiences less double vision and other aberrations.

He chuckles to himself, downing the last of the whiskey. He knew Shimmer’s aggressive nature going in, but the idea of it affecting his dreams, he hadn’t considered. Mystery solved, at least.

Cracking gunfire and splintering wood jolt him out of his seat, the glass clattering to the floor and rolling under the sofa. He smashes the cigar on the nearest surface before letting it fall and running to Jinx’s room.

The front door to their living quarters bursts open as he passes it—Dustin and Rain, his night guards for tonight, responding to the sound, armed with chemtech weapons he’ll shove up their rectums if someone got inside. They try entering her room ahead of him, but he pushes to the front and slams a fist against the door.

“Jinx, it’s me,” he announces before throwing open the door.

A terrified yelp precedes a shot that hits Dustin in the leg. Jinx stands by the foot of her bed, aiming a rattling pistol in their direction. Hyperventilating, tears glistening on her cheeks, her whole body heaves as she moves the gun between Silco and the two guards.

Silco stops Rain from raising her weapon at Jinx. “Check the other rooms,” he snaps. Dustin limps around the room to clear it, while Silco bends down to speak with Jinx, hands out in front of himself. “Jinx, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

The gun snaps between him, Rain leaving, Dustin checking her closet, and a fourth target Silco can’t see. Sobs hiss and whine from behind her clenched teeth, her frantic eyes darting around the entire room. No light reaches her eyes when they meet his, no recognition or comprehension registering on her face. She stares clean through him.

“Jinx,” he approaches her with care, lowering himself with each step to not loom over her. “It’s me, it’s Silco. Everything’s okay.”

As unfocused eyes pass over his face, Dustin knocks something over in the room behind them; the absolute moron. Silco reaches out as she whips around, covering her hands with his as gently as he can to direct her shot at the ceiling. The idiot ducks for cover and trips on whatever he knocked over.

“Any monsters under her bed?” Silco asks, trying to sound lighthearted instead of irritated, for her sake. Jinx makes a sound somewhere between a whimper and a giggle.

“Uh, nuh uh,” Dustin says, putting all his weight on his good leg to get back on his feet.

“Then get out.”

Dustin limps out of the room as fast as he can, with Silco rolling his eyes behind him.

Kneeling in front of Jinx, Silco lowers their arms, softening his features while his fingers work to loosen hers from around the gun. “It’s only us, Jinx,” he says. “There’s no one else in the room. You’re safe.”

Tremors rack her entire frame, her chest still heaving as fresh tears sting her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Her neck snaps to the corner by the door, and with a feral screech, she opens fire again.

He tilts his head away from the muzzle blast enough so it won’t clip his ear. Tightening his grip around her hands, he places a finger behind the trigger to stop her firing again. “Jinx, I need you to put the gun down.”

“‘Jinx,’” she chokes out, “Ruined everything, jinxes every job, leave her behind, every time, every tiiime.” She hisses seething hatred at an enemy he can’t see. “Stop it stop it SHUT UP!”

He pushes back against her attempt at squeezing the trigger and keeps his voice mellow. “Jinx, listen to me. We’re alone in this room.” He looks over his shoulder to prove it. “There’s no one there, Jinx. Whoever’s voice you’re hearing, you lost them long ago. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

She looks at him without seeing him. Even if she could register his presence, the heavy tears in her eyes blur his face beyond recognition, save for the glowing ring of his left iris. Snot joins the tears streaming down her face as she stammers, “I only wanted to help, I only wanted to help. I only wanted to help I only wanted to help—”

“I know,” he whispers as she continues repeating those words. Shame and fatigue loosen her grip on the gun, and he manages to slip it out of her hold. The unusual barrel shape won’t tuck into his waistband the way a revolver could, so he sets it on the floor under his legs for now.

Her arms fold up and in on herself when she loses the gun. Grief drains her voice of its strength and volume. “Please, please, please, Violet, please…”

He bristles, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, but his voice stays soft. “You’ve gone very far away, haven’t you, child?” He asks, his heart both aching and fuming for her.

Reliving the past, like the cave madness the children in the mines suffer. Begging her sister’s forgiveness for an accident no one could ever have anticipated. Her sister’s cold, unfeeling fist cracking against Jinx’s teeth and knocking her onto her knees. Still, Jinx—Powder, then, though not for much longer—pleaded for forgiveness, until Vi left her line of sight and never came back. She told him the full story of that night a few months ago, and yet, she still catches him off guard.

“I told you to stay AWAY!” An open palm strikes him across the face with enough force to throw him off balance. He catches himself on one hand, the other raising to cover the irritated skin. When he looks up at her again, her eyes find him. And see him.

Horror replaces anguish on her face as her mouth hangs open. Then her hands fly to her head, ducking her chin and hiding her face behind her arms to scream. Her fists clench tight enough to uproot strands of hair. She hits herself with her knuckles and the palms of her heels. Her breath comes in painful snaps of her diaphragm, whimpering between wheezes, until her body gives up. She screams again, blood-curdling and feral, and lets her legs give out, crumpling the same way she did that night. Screams and screams until it irritates her throat too much to continue, then rasps out whatever sounds take their place.

Kicking the gun across the room, he runs a hand up her back to rest on her shoulder. He doesn’t want to do too much. He’s never seen her this scared and doesn’t know if his usual comforting touches will backfire. “It’s okay,” he says, “everything’s okay.” He slides his other hand across the top of her back to take her other shoulder, giving them the faintest tug. Enough to send the message, not enough to move her. “Come here.”

It takes a few more full-body sobs for her to try sitting up. She flops against him, sliding until he catches and holds her against him. Gathering her in his arms, he gets to his feet and carries her to sit on her bed. Long limbs constrict around his chest and waist. Pinpoints sting across his back from her nails digging in, anchoring herself to him to ride out the storm. It surprises him every time how a child so small can convulse so violently. He holds her in a loose embrace so she can fill her lungs to capacity.

As her sobs subside and her body gives in to fatigue, he starts to hear words. “Ruin—everything—hurt—everyone—Mylo—wasright—justa—just—”

One hand finds her hair as he rests his head on hers. “You didn’t hurt me. You could never hurt me.”

“I will—I always—do—you'll—hate—me too—a jinx—hurt—everyone—”

He rubs her back in silence, breathing slow and even in hopes she’ll mirror it. Her diaphragm spasms when she tries; deep and ragged, but slowing down. The hiccups subside, her breath evens out, and her throat relaxes.

“I’ll ruin your life,” she sighs with utter defeat. “And then you’ll leave me, too, and I’ll have no one left. But you’re better off without me and I know it.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“You’ll die too. Everyone close to me dies and it’s my fault.”

He grumbles to himself, rummaging about in his mind for the solution. Spending the night with him won’t suffice on its own, not this time. She needs more than a hug and a shoulder to cry on. He sifts through the options available to him in their home, trying to match one with her current crisis.

He pats her shoulder before standing. “Come with me.”

When she doesn’t get up, he waits at the open door, nodding towards the hallway for her to follow. Reluctance makes her hesitate, but she pushes herself off the bed. Her arms draw up in front of herself and her eyes stay on the floor as she makes her way to his side.

He gestures for her to sit on the couch while he turns on all the lights in the living room, then he sits next to her. Bringing her legs up onto the seat, she hugs her legs into her chest and ducks her head so only her eyes stay above her knees. His syringe lies on the coffee table in two pieces, which he takes in hand.

“Have you seen me use this before?” He asks. She nods. “I have to inject Shimmer into my eye at least once a day to preserve what’s left of its function, and to stop the infection from spreading anywhere else.”

She turns her head to him, resting her temple on her knees. “It’s like that because of the river, right? ‘Cause the river’s so gross?”

“Yes. When Vander tried to drown me, he held me under for quite some time, and all the chemicals and pollutants got in to an open wound.” He holds the two halves of the syringe towards her in the light. “The Shimmer goes in the bottom. Do you see the needle inside the barrel?”

She leans closer. “Yeah.”

“They connect like this,” he couples the pieces, gliding his index finger through the ring and palming the lever out of habit, “and this lever moves the needle.” He compresses the handle and holds the needle to its full extension, before relaxing his grip to show where it should make contact with his eye. “There isn’t a spring, or anything to stop it from going too deep. I have to be precise with how hard I press and how quickly I release.”

He pauses to make her look up at him. “Shimmer works better than the medicine I used before, but it’s much more painful, and it’s making this difficult for me to do on my own. If you’d be comfortable helping me with this, I’d like to show you how.”

Her eyes widen. “That is a horrible idea. That’s, like, the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

“I disagree.”

“I’d rip your eye out eventually.”

“I don’t think you will.”

“It’s all I ever do.”

He pans her chin back to him until she meets his eyes. “I know you can handle this, Jinx. I trust you.”

Micro-movements snap her round, panicked eyes across his face. Searching for a reason to turn him down, desperate to believe he tells the truth. He remains calm, holding his gaze steady while she wrestles with her insecurities. When she swallows, he offers her the syringe from his open palm.

She tries to mirror the way he held it, but her hands are too small to wrap around the handle without needing to squeeze it. She experiments with different holds, and practices compressing the lever to move it to the same position he showed her.

“This much?”

He leans in to see it. “A little less.” She relaxes her grip. He smiles. “There.”

She squeezes and releases several times to bring it to the same point, over and over until she feels somewhat confident she won’t go too deep. When she looks up at him, apprehensive but willing to try, he straightens out and leans flat against the back of the couch.

“You can press it against me to balance it,” he explains. “You’re not aiming for the center. It can inject anywhere except through the pupil.”

“What if I’m not fast enough?” She asks. “Will it give you too much?”

“No. It’s better to go slow than to go too deep, so concentrate on that.”

She exhales. Lifting up on her knees, she moves in close to press the cage against his face. She peers around the side to inspect the needle, adjusts her angle, and depresses the needle to see where it will touch down. She changes her grip and her angle again, then repeats, stopping before the needle reaches his eye.

“Your eye keeps moving,” she says, anxiety making her voice quiver.

“There’s a sharp object near it.”

“Well, ignore it,” she says, earning a chuckle from him. “I’m aiming for under your pupil so just don’t look down, I guess. And don’t blink.” Nervous giggles bubble up from her chest when he groans and side eyes her. The little joke helped her relax, though, so he doesn’t retort.

When the metal on his face starts to shake, he takes her wrist between the pads of his fingers to get her attention. She lifts the syringe away from his eye. “This is going to hurt me no matter how well you do. I don’t want you to panic when I react.”

Nodding, she cups the barrel around his eye again. She inspects the angle this way and that, adjusts her grip, and moves the needle up by a hair. Her breathing stops. An anxious whine breaks her concentration, and she lets the syringe drop away from his face.

He opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it again when she climbs onto his lap. The cage envelopes his eye: she looks at it left and right, tilts it up, inhales, and exhales. She compresses the lever and pierces his sclera at the perfect depth.

The chemical sears its way through layers of fragile tissue, liquid magma flooding every capillary and vein. The light around them distorts into singular flashing colors. Grunting in pain, he jerks away from the syringe. His mind’s eye shows him how to claw and tear the organ out of his skull, rip and twist and snap the optic nerve to free himself from this ritual.

When he regains control of his labored breathing, he wipes away the droplet of Shimmer that dripped down his face. His vision regains focus to show Jinx still in his lap, cradling the syringe against her chest, doing her best not to panic. His lips pull up in a soft smile.

“I’m alright, Jinx. You did it perfectly.”

“I did?” She looks surprised.

“Yes, you did. Thank you.”

She snaps forward to wrap him in a hug, still holding the syringe. “You sounded awful, I really thought I messed up.”

He returns the embrace with a featherlight touch. “I’m going to sound awful no matter what. I think you did it better than the last few times I have.”

Arms still around his neck, she leans back to look into his eyes. “Really?”

“Yes.” He smooths away a stray lock of her hair. “Just like I knew you would. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.”

She grimaces. “There probably should have been.”

He shakes his head, still smiling. “I’ve seen you handle a soldering iron.”

“That is… not even remotely the same thing did you hit your head or something?”

“If I did, I’ve forgotten it.” He brushes her bangs out of her eyes, letting his hand linger to cradle her face. His thumb on her back rubs lines between her shoulder blades.

Leaning in to his touch, she breathes a sigh of relief, and smiles for the first time tonight. Strings constrict around his heart. Serenity replaces the fear in her eyes, their pinched corners and creases relaxing with the rest of her.

Her expression dropping a moment later almost makes him jump out of his skin. “Is it… still okay if stay with you tonight?”

The wave of relief that washes over him seems disproportionate to the situation, but he feels dizzy with it. He tries to disguise it as bemusement. “Of course it is.”

Beaming, she puts the syringe back on the table and climbs off his lap to run to his room. He stares after her in amazement. Before joining her, he collects the cigar and whiskey glass he discarded earlier and puts them away. He can clean the glass in the morning. He turns off all the lights, heads for the open bedroom door, and shuts it behind himself.

Jinx turned one light to its full luminance. Thinking of it as the one on her side of the bed wipes the slate of his mind clean, and he has to hum for her to repeat what she just said.

“How long have you been awake?” She asks. She sat on top of the blankets to wait for him. “I thought me firing the gun woke you up—sorry, by the way—but the lights in the living room and in here were already on.”

“Not long.”

When he crosses the room, she throws back the blankets for both of them and slides under. He turns off both lights before settling in next to her. The blankets and mattress shift while she wiggles closer to him, the tip of her nose touching his. Her features materialize as his eyes adjust to the dark.

“Remember how I told you how I found those blue stones?”

“Mmm.”

“I dreamed Vi died in that explosion. Mylo hated me, Claggor wouldn’t speak to me, Vander was so angry. None of them let me hear the end of it. Mylo wished I’d died instead of her because she was the better of us.” She hides the tremor in her voice well, but he still hears it. “One time after the accident, he told her she was twice the person at half my age, and she agreed with him. Every little mistake I made he was always judging me for it, always bringing it back up whenever he could. In the dream every one of them was just more reasons why I should have died.”

She sniffles. “Then we were in the factory again. Except Vi wasn’t there, ‘cause she was already dead. Mylo saw me when he was trying to free Vander, and he screamed at me to go away, I’d only ruin everything, they were so close to getting him out, I’d only jinx it.” She draws the blanket higher over her shoulder to hide her face from the rest of the room. “I ran around the building after the explosion knocked me down like I did in real life to look for them. Claggor and Mylo were dead, and Vander was furious. He called me a jinx, and when you came around the corner, he killed you, and said it was gonna happen anyway.”

She shivers. “Then I woke up, and Mylo was still here. He was mad I got rid of his bed. He’s always mad I got rid of his bed, that’s nothing new. But then he said he was gonna kill you, ‘cause I didn’t deserve someone still taking care of me. He sounded so much clearer than he usually does when I’m awake. That’s why I tried shooting him. I don’t…remember the rest. How we ended up on my bed. It was like I was asleep again, but I knew I was awake, too.”

He catches a cascading tear with his thumb. “The more you tell me about him, the less remorse I feel for his fate. It was an accident. You’re not to blame. In a way, it sounds like it freed you from an abusive older brother.”

He swallows back any biting remarks at Vander’s expense. Did the oaf do nothing to protect her? Then again, with his track record for attacking those he considered family, he may not have objected to the boy’s harassment of her. Anger bristles under his skin.

“You are more than your mistakes, Jinx, and no mistake you ever make will be beyond fixing, not with me.”

She puts her hand over his to stop him from taking it away. “He wasn’t wrong, though. Everyone who makes the mistake of caring about me dies.”

He pulls himself forward to rest his forehead against hers. Inhales shallow, exhales deep, and lets the seconds of silence give his next words their gravity. Sentiment of which he should no longer be capable, laid bare like the easiest truth in the world. It should terrify him. Horrify him, but the words out of his lips ring calm and confident. “Caring for you is the best decision I’ve ever made. Nothing’s taking me away from you anytime soon.”

Moisture tickles his thumb, still held captive against her face. “Promise?”

His heart lurches. The strings around it constrict until it threatens to burst. Waves of warmth smooth over the prickling in his extremities. He forgets his selfish hatred of the bullies of her past he’ll never meet, his anger at Vander, at the friends who abandoned him following the betrayal, even at Piltover. With both eyes starting to sting, he kisses her hair.

“I promise.”

[fipindustries]

and while we are on the topic of dehumanizing, this reminds me of a shower thought i had the other day regarding harry potter.

yes, this is going to be yet another take about re-examining an element of that blasted series under a much more critical light now that i find the author to be a horrible person, but bear with me.

to my defense, i actually genuenly did thought this back when i was a kid reading these books, way before i knew anything about rowlings opinions on trans people, or indeed about trans people at all!

it always was a little weird to me those moments where dumbledore tries to stomp out of harry any inkling of empathy or mercy he might have towards voldemort.

i can think of three specific instances.

first instance is in book 6 when harry is feeling weary about the idea that he is predestined to kill voldemort because of a prophecy. dumbledore then exclaims something about how of course that harry has to kill voldemort, but not just because the prophecy says so, rather because of all the evil things he did that make him deserving of death. so harry thinks of all the crimes voldemort commited and he feels uplifted by what is descrived as "righteous anger"

the second instance is also in book 6, right after harry learns about the tragic story of voldemort's mom, where he actually feels kind of bad for her and asks why she had to die. to this dumbledore immediatly asks harry, almost incredulously "are you feeling pity for voldemort's mom?". to which harry instantly corrects himself and tries to spin it as somehow her fault for not using her magic to save herself and thus abandoning her baby.

then the third instance is near the end of the final book when they are at king's cross purgatory vision, where harry finds voldemort's mutilated soul, that looks like a wounded baby that was skinned alive and is desperatly crying. harry's first instinct is to want to help him but dumbledore steps in and is like "you should step away from that". when harry asks what is it dubledore is like "ignore the baby harry, he is beyond help". after a while, harry stops feeling sorry for the baby and he starts to find the baby's desperate cries of pain annoying.

so in here we see three instances where dumbledore's advice makes harry more callous towards voldemort.

and to be sure. voldemort is ontollogically evil. he is the devil. as evil as evil gets. kind of the whole point is that this is the uncomplicated fully evil villain against whom all scorn and harm and violence is morally justified.

not saying this is like the worst message ever. having absolute evil that has to be vanquished by any means and against whom is really not worth to waste time considering their humanity is like, normal everyday stuff. this is a children's story so is not aming for moral complexity here. but still, as a kid i was not used to seeing a child hero that was presented with a Hated Enemy that he was fully justified in killing no questions asked. even aang, who is told by every mentor he has to kill ozai, he at least struggles with the question. luke tries to redeem vader at every turn. frodo makes a genuine attempt at being nice to smeagol and lets saruman go after the take back the shire. superman never ever killed. and then comes harry, a child hero from a children's story and the message is "yeah some fuckers just need to fucking die, the end"

[cosmics-beings]

You know, I’ve been thinking about Starscream’s feelings towards OP and Megs in Earthspark, and I genuinely feel like he might respect and like Optimus more, despite his working for GHOST, solely because Optimus was on the opposite side, and if Starscream had been in his position, he would have done the same, and he’s not gonna pretend he wouldn’t have. But Megatron? He was their leader. He was the one they followed, who they believed in, who they gave their loyalty to. And he broke it. Abandoned his old cause and threw his soldiers under the bus for a new one, not caring what happened to them (remember that line in Age of Evolution where he told Nova Storm and Skywarp that their freedom put his cause at risk?). It’s just something I really hope will be explored in Season 2, how the enemy leader imprisoning you is way different than YOUR OWN leader imprisoning you, and I’d love to know Starscream’s thoughts on particular, especially in your AU.

I like this ask because it genuinely points out just WHY Starscream is angry and distrust Megatron. While their past between them is a HUGE part of it, a lot of it is because in his mind Megatron failed the Decepticons as a leader. And I think people missed that. Starscream actually cares about the cause, and in his mind, Megatron is a coward. And that is inevitably why he hates him, because of what he did to the other Decepticons.  In the deleted scenes, it is very very clear that Starscream’s true anger and hatred for Megatron is rooted in the fact that Megatron is up top, colluding and being happy with the Autobots and living a decent life, whereas the rest of the Decepticons are trapped underneath undergoing experiments. So the idea that  Starscream respects Optimus more as a leader isn’t too far off. In the show, he never directly speaks against Optimus’s leadership skills the same way he does Megatron.

Starscream’s thoughts are pretty much how you’ve described them in my Starop ES AU. He is pissed, he thinks Megatron is an awful leader. While he doesn’t 100% trust Optimus and while clearly he doesn’t believe in any sort of Autobot cause, he appreciates the fact that Optimus would never do what Megatron did, and more than likely, if Optimus was a Decepticon leader he would’ve either been in prison with the rest of the cons, or he would’ve done everything possible to get them out.

He respects Optimus as a leader.

And, I also wanna highlight something about how Megatron in general treats Decepticons that don’t bow down to him. The lack of empathy he has for Decepticons who aren’t worshiping the ground he walks on, or don’t see nuance in his decision (because they are you know, being torture <3) is very telling. We saw it with how dismissive and cruel he was to the Seekers, and I’m not talking about Starscream. But we also saw it with Soundwave. When Soundwave actually caused him to think critically about his betrayal against the Decepticons, he turned violent toward Soundwave; the same way he treated Starscream, Nova and Skywarp.

He likes Decepticons, as long as they are empathetic and aren’t critical toward him. As long as they are able to see him through the same lens as the Maltos. But when they don’t….

[touchoffleece]

EnReco is all about RP so there is no "main" pov or Main Character but Gonathan (GiGi) is not escaping the Main Character allegations

I saw someone on the Hololive Reddit explain how CC lead to the two competing Queens to bury the hatchet and decide to Marry while disposing of the Corrupted King, but their explanation is missing context that circles back to Gonathan inadvertently helping solve his Queen's issues, and helping Libestia. I don't have, and I don't want a reddit so I'm explaining this here.

the reddit post and news clipping (twitter image) depicting the Queens Union:

by test__plzignore:

Everyone out here sleeping on CC who may have just reconciled the queendom fight for a measly 269 gold coins. For context: Queen Mario and CC broke into the Queen Tam Gander’s guild house (by glitching their horses through the closed doors). CC, (Scarlet Wand member, knight, lawyer) in her quest for leeching money off of everyone, charged Queen Mario 200 gold for a critique of an art piece. Later, in Queen Tam Gander’s room, CC reviewed another piece of art for Queen Mario. It depicted two characters who appear to be fighting and CC said it was named From Enemies to Lovers. Reflecting on CC’s critique, Queen Mario had the realization that the painting in Queen Tam Gander’s room must depict their struggle and that Tam must really love Mario. And that the feud must be ended with their marriage. CC (Scarlet Wand member, knight, lawyer, art critic, relationship advisor) then charged 69 gold coins for her help in the matter. CC then got lost for a while and ended up playing minigames for a long time.

But something that was missed in this is what CC, Raora, and their Chat thought was the "Queen's" Bedroom, was actually Gonathan's bedroom, gifted to them by the Queen who decided to gift the whole top floor of the Cerulean Cup's quarters to Gonathan for being such a staunch Knight to her and encompassing so much EMPATHY representing their guild. So, Gonathan's room painting lead to his Queen, and her Rival to find company in each other after their Rival arc. 😌 On another level of meta irony humor, Kronii aka Queen TAM, aka The Azure Maiden, had a budding romantic interest with Irys (the Hot Pink One) but was heart broken when Irys proposed to Ina. While chatting with "the voices in her head" aka chat, some chatters jokingly said something along the lines of: "There's still the Hot, Pink one.", meaning Raora. Since Kronii was set to leave for a vacation, no one really paid much interested in the idea, but lo-and-behold the throw away joke became true.

The moment where Kronii confesses and you can start to see Chatters mention Raora for a romantic interest for TAM. (around 2h 17m 30s)

[patrickjanebrain]

Red Hot: The Slow Slow Burn of Jane and Lisbon (Walter Mashburn Edition)

I just finished re-watching Red Hot (3x07), and I have some thoughts about Lisbon and her aborted love affair with Walter Mashburn.

I admit that I didn't like it that [spoiler] Lisbon had a one-night stand with Mashburn. I enjoy the character. Mashburn was entertaining, charming, and likable in a whimsical sort of ruthless way, and Currie Graham had great chemistry with both Simon Baker and Robin Tunney. It would have been interesting if he had made more appearances on the show. But I felt it was out of character for Lisbon to just take him for a quick spin and then never see him again. And obviously he's a horrible romantic bet. The writers make that clear when they introduce him.

And then I realized that's the point.

During the 7 seasons of The Mentalist, in the course of their investigations, Lisbon and Jane meet hundreds of people, and Walter Mashburn is quite unique among them. He and Jane hit it off right away, despite the fact that Jane suspects him of being a possible murderer. Mashburn immediately understands exactly who Jane is ("You're a psychic, aren't you?").

He succinctly sums up Jane's entire raison d'etre the second time they meet.

Walter Mashburn: Oh, I know you're a charlatan as I said. You lost your wife and kid to a serial killer, your fault you think. And now you're on this hopeless quest for redemption. Battling evil and injustice, right?

Patrick Jane: Close enough.

Walter Mashburn: You play mind games with people. You size up their weaknesses, and then you give them the rope to hang themselves.

Patrick Jane: Oh, you make it sound so cool.

Mashburn happily goes along with all of Jane's schemes because he's essentially bored being the smartest, most danger-seeing, risk-taking person in the room all of the time. He enjoys new experiences.

Mashburn also has a thing for revenge. When we meet him a second time it's because he's in the process of destroying an old enemy, Yuri Bajoran. He's maneuvered a hostile buyout of his business, Yuri's "baby," because Yuri once stole the woman he loved away from Mashburn.

Playful. Ruthless. Brilliant. Charming. Hedonistic. Risk taking.

You get where I'm going here. He's Patrick Jane. Minus the trauma.

Mashburn is what Jane was trying to become before his wife and child were murdered. He was chasing fame and fortune. He was ignoring his wife's desire to live a straight life because he was having too much fun indulging himself.

And then, because of Jane's arrogance and carelessness, Red John deliberately targeted Angela and Charlotte for destruction, and Jane had to do a massive internal restructuring of his priorities.

When we first meet Jane, he's still playful, charming, ruthless, brilliant, and risk taking. But now he has a mission, and that suicide mission for revenge takes precedence over ever other thing. He's no longer self indulgent. He's sublimated his hedonistic urges, including his sexuality, to give himself greater focus. The only thing that matters is hunting down and killing Red John.

Then he meets Teresa Lisbon.

Lisbon is a soulmate. She has survived her own crucible of trauma, and she has a critical understanding of (and empathy for) broken, hurting men. She understands that Jane is off-limits romantically. He's shut down. He may flirt and charm out of habit or need, but the part of him that could give something to a relationship is no longer operational. There is an attraction between them, but it's impossible.

That impossibility is the reason they allow themselves to get so close and eventually care so deeply for each other.

Because Teresa is extremely skittish. She's a bolter. She left Chicago because she felt tied down taking care of her father and brothers. She abandoned her fiance when things got too serious between them. She's afraid of commitment. To her commitment feels like slavery, and she doesn't want that. She's afraid of that.

But that doesn't mean that she's not attracted to Mashburn. She has a type: she likes charming, ruthless bad boys who don't follow the rules. She knows they're bad for her, but she can't help it. That's her thing.

When she meets Walter, he immediately tells her he's attracted to her and available.

He asks her out. He says he'll fly his plane to Sacramento to see her. Jane finds all of this amusing. He agrees with Mashburn's assessment of Lisbon's appeal and compliments him on his style. And later he tells Lisbon that she should have taken him up on his offer, that a little empty glamour would be good for her.

When you realize that Mashburn is a stand-in for Jane, the whole thing is quite funny, really. Lisbon being attracted to Jane. Jane telling Lisbon that he'd be good for her, loosen her up a little.

When they meet again in Red Hot, Lisbon does take Mashburn up on his offer. She enjoys herself, and then like the skittish filly she is, she never sees him again. It's too much. Too tempting, too out of character for the person she wants to be. And Mashburn could overpower her emotionally. She doesn't want that.

The trauma, their mutual trauma, is what Jane and Lisbon share and bond over. It's what keeps them apart, and what eventually, after that slow, slow burn, brings them together. The attraction was always there. It's takes time to build that complete understanding and utter trust, and it never would have happened if Jane had been available to begin with.

@tmsource @robntunney @tresalisbon

[angerfist08]

Evangeline Frye

Now Playing: The Darkest Hour (The Clock) By D- Block and S-Te-Fan

“Evrey Assassin knows that they are not an ordinary assassin in the shadows, they are the shadows”

Name: Evangline “Eva” Frye

Age: 19

Nickname(s): Eva (By her Siblings Jacob and Evie)

Gender: Female

Alias(es): N/A

Time Period: Victorian, Industrial Revolution

Birth Date: 09/12/1949

Death Date: N/A

Occupation: Member of the Assassin Brotherhood

Affiliation(s): Assassin

Appearance:

Hair: She has black hair with long forehead bands, She has a hairstyle with low space buns

Eyes: Evie and Jacob She shares the same intense grey-blue eyes as her siblings,

Facial Features: She has really similar features to Jacob and Evie, she is mistaken for their child but she's actually the third sibling

Body Type: hourglass body standing in 5, 2

Clothing: She wears a modified version of the traditional Frye family Assassin outfit. Her jacket is black, but with some unique personal touches — perhaps hints of dark green or deep burgundy detailing to reflect her individuality. The outfit allows for both practicality in battle and elegance, similar to what her siblings wear, but her look is more refined and sleek. Her clothes are functional yet fashionable, enabling swift movement during combat and stealth missions.

Accessories: hidden Blades, Throwing knives, A bollock dagger,

Personality:

MBTI: ENTJ

Ennegramn: 8

Pros

Leadership Skills: Commands respect and attention by nature, which can be a powerful force amidst the Assassins.

Strategic Thinker: Plans missions with a methodical mind that contemplates the long-term outcomes and missions.

Resilient and tenacious: Confronts challenges head-on, showing fearlessness under adversity.

Protector of Loved Ones: Loyal to siblings and friends, her drive will go to great extents in providing protection, even at a high personal risk.

Cons:

Controlling: Overly bossy at times, struggling with the need to cede control and entrust critical tasks to others.

Emotionally Guarded: Finds it challenging to get vulnerable emotionally and open up, knowing it may alienate her from everyone.

Impulsive Under Pressure: Tendency to act rashly when stressed at times leads to overlooking important details.

Inability to Accept Weakness: She does not necessarily like being at the mercy of psychosis or schizophrenia, be it some turmoil in her inner mind.

Likes :

Strategic Planning: She likes the feel of plotting a complex mission and thinking a few steps ahead.

Combat Training: She feels cleansed and empowered when training in hand-to-hand combat and perfecting her weapons skills.

Protecting Loved Ones: Loyal to a vault to her siblings and close allies, she will go through hell to protect them.

Nature & Solitude: Quiet time in nature is when Evangeline recharges and collects her thoughts.

Dislikes:

Vulnerability: This encompasses an inability to show weakness, especially because she had been through so much with her mental health.

Treachery: She does not take betrayal or lies from trusted associates very well at all.

Lack of Control: The situations she cannot be in control of, or where she cannot predict the outcome, are those she does not like.

Gratuitous Violence: Despite an Assassin, she does not relish cruelty or violence that does not serve a purpose.

Habits:

Playing music(She plays the flute)

Going on an adventure

Hanging out with her siblings

Strength(s):

Creative Problem-Solving

Evangeline has a natural talent for thinking outside the box. She approaches problems with innovative solutions, often finding ways to outsmart her enemies or handle tricky situations with finesse and ingenuity.

Empathy and Compassion

Evangeline deeply cares about the people around her, making her a compassionate ally. She is able to connect with others emotionally, which helps her form strong bonds and gain the trust of those she meets, whether friends or strangers.

Adaptability

Quick to adjust to new environments or challenges, Evangeline thrives in unpredictable situations. Her flexibility allows her to navigate the complexities of her world with ease, whether it’s on the battlefield or in social settings.

Strong Moral Compass

Evangeline’s sense of justice is unwavering. She is committed to doing what’s right, even when it’s difficult, and her passion for protecting the innocent makes her a fierce fighter for justice.

Charismatic Leadership

Evangeline’s warmth, energy, and charm make her a natural leader. She can inspire and motivate others with her enthusiasm, leading her team or allies with positivity and confidence.

Intuition

She has a sharp sense of intuition that helps her assess people and situations quickly. This instinct allows her to make snap decisions on missions or in conversation, often with great accuracy.

Optimism and Positivity

Even in the darkest of situations, Evangeline maintains an optimistic outlook. Her positivity can be contagious, helping lift the spirits of her companions when morale is low.

Resilience

Evangeline can recover from setbacks with determination. She learns from her mistakes, and rather than letting failure bring her down, she grows stronger from the experience.

Strong Social Skills:

Her outgoing nature allows her to easily engage with people from all walks of life. Evangeline has a gift for diplomacy, knowing how to smooth over conflicts or navigate complex social situations with ease.

Resourcefulness:

Whether it's using her surroundings to her advantage or making quick decisions on the fly, Evangeline is resourceful in any situation. She can improvise in the heat of battle or during covert missions, often surprising her enemies with clever tactics.

Passion and Drive

When Evangeline sets her mind on something, she’s fully committed. Her passion drives her to be persistent and focused on her goals, and she’s always eager to see her missions through to the end.

Quick Thinking in Combat

Like her siblings, Evangeline is a skilled fighter, able to think on her feet during combat. Her agility, combined with her intelligence, allows her to react quickly and effectively in high-pressure situations.

Weakness(s):

Impatience

Evangeline’s energetic and action-oriented nature can make her impatient, especially when things aren’t moving as fast as she would like. She often feels frustrated when others are too slow to act or when plans take too long to unfold.

Over-Commitment

Evangeline can take on too much at once, spreading herself thin. Her enthusiasm can lead her to say "yes" to many responsibilities, which can overwhelm her and result in burnout.

Overly Emotional

While her empathy is a strength, Evangeline can also become overly emotional, letting her feelings cloud her judgment. When someone she cares about is hurt or in danger, she may react impulsively or take risks that aren’t always calculated.

Dislike for Routine

Evangeline has a low tolerance for monotonous tasks and rigid routines, which can cause her to overlook important details or rush through tasks that she deems boring. This can sometimes lead to carelessness or mistakes.

Difficulty with Authority

Though she respects people she admires, Evangeline struggles with figures of authority, especially if they impose restrictions or don’t align with her values. This can cause friction when she’s expected to follow orders she disagrees with.

Restlessness

Evangeline craves excitement and novelty, which can make her restless when things are too calm or uneventful. Her desire for adventure can sometimes lead her to take unnecessary risks or get involved in dangerous situations without fully thinking them through.

Overly Idealistic

Evangeline often views the world through an idealistic lens, believing in the best possible outcomes. This optimism can make her naive at times, leading her to overlook potential dangers or fail to see the darker side of situations or people.

Struggles with Criticism

Being passionate about her work and relationships, Evangeline can take criticism personally. When others question her abilities or decisions, she may become defensive or doubt herself, even if the feedback is constructive.

Avoiding Confrontation

While she doesn’t shy away from physical fights, Evangeline can struggle with emotional confrontation. She prefers harmony and may avoid difficult conversations or ignore problems in her personal relationships until they escalate.

Fear of Being Trapped

Evangeline values her freedom, so any situation that makes her feel trapped—physically or emotionally—can cause her great anxiety. Whether it’s being stuck in a confining situation or feeling tied down in her personal life, she may react by trying to escape.

Difficulty Focusing on Details

Evangeline’s big-picture thinking means she’s not always the best at focusing on small details. This can make her overlook important information, especially when she’s more interested in the overall goal than in specific processes.

Impulsiveness

Her spontaneous nature can sometimes get the best of her, leading her to act without fully thinking things through. This impulsiveness can result in dangerous situations or cause her to make decisions she later regrets

Fear(s):

Fear of Losing Loved Ones

As someone who values deep connections with her family and close friends, Evangeline fears losing those she cares about. Given the dangerous life of an Assassin, this fear is a constant shadow, making her overly protective and sometimes reckless in defending her loved ones.

Fear of Failure

Evangeline holds herself to high standards, and the thought of failing in her missions or letting down her family weighs heavily on her. She fears not being able to live up to the expectations set by her siblings, Jacob and Evie, who are highly respected Assassins.

Fear of Confinement

Evangeline has a strong desire for freedom and independence. She fears being trapped in any situation—physically, mentally, or emotionally—whether it's being imprisoned by an enemy or feeling stuck in a restrictive lifestyle.

Fear of Being Alone

Despite her strong, adventurous personality, Evangeline has a fear of loneliness. She thrives on social connections and fears being isolated or abandoned by those she loves. The thought of being left behind or forgotten terrifies her.

Fear of Losing Control of Her Emotions

Evangeline can feel overwhelmed by her emotions at times, and she fears letting them spiral out of control. Whether it's her anger, sadness, or even love, the idea of her emotions clouding her judgment or leading her into a vulnerable state is a deep fear for her.

Fear of Injustice

Raised in the shadow of the Assassins, Evangeline has a strong sense of right and wrong. She fears witnessing or being part of any form of injustice, especially if she feels powerless to stop it. This fear often drives her to take bold actions to ensure justice is served.

Fear of Becoming Irrelevant

Given the legacy of the Frye family, Evangeline fears being overshadowed or forgotten. She wants to carve her own path and make a lasting impact on our the Assassin Brotherhood. The idea of not leaving a mark on history or being seen as the "weakest Frye sibling" is something she dreads.

Fear of Losing Her Sense of Purpose

Evangeline thrives when she has a clear mission or cause to fight for. She fears reaching a point where she no longer knows what her purpose is or where she belongs, which could leave her feeling directionless and lost.

Talent(s):

Master of Dual Weapons

Like her brother Jacob, Evangeline is highly skilled in dual-wielding weapons, particularly knives and small blades. Her agility and quick reflexes make her deadly in close combat, able to switch between offense and defense fluidly.

Stealth and Infiltration

Evangeline excels at stealth missions. Her small frame and quick, light movements allow her to move undetected through enemy territory. She has a natural ability to blend into crowds or shadows, making her a master of espionage and reconnaissance.

Parkour and Free-running

Evangeline is exceptionally talented at parkour, using the urban landscape of Victorian London to her advantage. She can scale buildings, leap between rooftops, and evade enemies with ease, turning the city into her personal playground.

Charismatic Manipulation

Evangeline has a natural charm and charisma that she uses to her advantage. She can easily persuade or manipulate others into revealing information or assisting her in her missions without them realizing it.

Expert Lockpicking

Evangeline has a knack for lockpicking, able to unlock even the most complex locks with speed and precision. This skill proves invaluable during missions that require quiet entry or access to restricted areas.

Strategic Thinker

Although she thrives in action, Evangeline is also a keen strategist. She’s quick to assess situations and come up with creative solutions, especially when under pressure. Her ability to think on her feet allows her to adapt to changing circumstances during missions.

Social Engineering

Evangeline has a gift for reading people and situations. She can easily navigate social circles, often gaining information by befriending or deceiving key figures. Her friendly, approachable nature helps her gather intelligence while avoiding suspicion.

Disguise and Acting

Evangeline has a natural talent for disguises and acting. She can easily slip into different personas, whether it's posing as a common street thief or a high-society woman. Her ability to adopt new roles and blend in with various social classes makes her invaluable in undercover missions.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

Evangeline’s deep sense of empathy allows her to connect with others on an emotional level, often earning the trust of allies and strangers alike. This emotional intelligence also helps her understand her enemies' motivations, giving her an edge in anticipating their moves.

Tracking and Hunting

Drawing on the legacy of the Frye family, Evangeline is a skilled tracker. She can follow leads and clues with precision, whether she’s tracking a Templar target through the streets of London or hunting someone in the countryside.

Multilingual

Evangeline is fluent in several languages, allowing her to communicate with different groups and navigate international missions with ease. Her linguistic skills also help her decode messages and documents that others might overlook.

Knife Throwing

In addition to her skill with close combat weapons, Evangeline is an expert knife thrower. She can hit targets with deadly accuracy from a distance, making her lethal both up close and from afar.

RELATIONSHIPS

Love Interest(s):

Friend(s): Henrey Green, Alexander Graham Bell, Clara O Dea, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickins, Fredrick Abberline, Ned Wynartt, Pearl Attaway, Queen Victoria

Enemy(ies): Templars, Crawford Starrick, Lucy Thorne, Maxwell Roth, Blighters gang, Phillip Twopenny, Pearl Attaway, Lord Alastair Whitlock

Abilities

Weapon(s):

Dual Hidden Blades

Preferred: Like her siblings, Evangeline would carry hidden blades.These are standard for any Assassin, and she would use them for quick, silent kills.

Unique Feature:Her blades could have a special modification, such as being slightly smaller or more agile for her quick movements, emphasizing her speed and precision.

Cane-Sword

Preferred: A weapon she would favor for its versatility and elegance. The cane-sword allows her to blend into high society while still packing a deadly strike. It could also be her go-to for open combat situations, balancing grace and lethality.

Unique Feature: Evangeline's cane-sword might have a slightly more delicate design, with a lightweight but sharp blade suited for her quick, agile fighting style.

Throwing Knives

Preferred for Long-Range Attacks: Evangeline would be proficient with throwing knives,preferring them over firearms for silent, long-range eliminations. They fit her Assassin style, allowing her to take down enemies without drawing attention.

Unique Feature: She could carry more knives than Jacob or Evie, perhaps having a quick-draw system to make them more accessible in combat, reflecting her preference for ranged stealth.

Rope Launcher

Used Often:Like the other Fryes, she would utilize the rope launcher for scaling buildings quickly and moving across London’s skyline with ease.

Unique Feature: Evangeline might use the rope launcher more creatively, possibly incorporating it into combat or making quicker, more daring escapes, due to her agility and speed.

Brass Knuckles

Situational Use: While Jacob likes using brute force and Evie likes stealth, Evangeline could be a balance of both, even carrying brass knuckles for when hand-to-hand combat gets intense..

Unique Feature: Hers could be lighter in weight and designed more for quick jabs instead of heavy blows. Fitting for her smaller frame, it could still allow her to deliver enough force to take down an opponent with speed.

Revolver

Occasionally Used: While not her preferred weapon, Evangeline might carry a revolver for situations where stealth isn't an option or when a firefight is unavoidable.

Unique Feature: She may have a smaller, more compact revolver that reflects her need for agility and speed rather than raw firepower.

Poison Darts

Occasional Use: For quiet, incapacitating strikes from a distance, Evangeline might also use poison darts allowing her to disable or kill targets without drawing attention.

Smoke Bombs

Used in Stealth:Like all Assassins, Evangeline would carry smoke bombs to create diversions or make a quick escape when necessary.

Preferred Weapons

Cane-Sword: This is her primary weapon because it is versatile and elegant, making her unique among her siblings but just as deadly.

Dual Hidden Blades:A core Assassin weapon, her agility and speed make her proficient in quick, lethal kills.

Throwing Knives:Her favored long-range weapon for silent and precise attacks. She would use these more often than firearms to maintain stealth.

Fighting Style: MMA, And anything that is

Eagle Vision: Yes

Agility: 9/10

Hand-to-Hand Combat:8 /10

Defense: 7/10

Quick Reflexes: 9/10

Assassination: 9/10

Stealth: 10/10

Long Range Accuracy:8 /10

Family Background

Birthplace: Crawley, England

Family:

Father: Ethan Frye

Mother: Cecily

Brother: Jacob Frye

When it comes to Jacob Frye,He’s more protective over her as she kinda thinks it’s annoying they still love each other like amazing siblings

Sister: Evie Frye

When it comes to evie,They have a close relationship considering their both girls

Character Background:

Evangeline Frye is the youngest sibling of the Frye siblings, brought up in Crawley, England, with Jacob and Evie, her siblings. She was born into a very deeply Assassin-influenced family known as the Assassin Brotherhood and was trained by her father, Ethan Frye. Who rescued her when she was kidnapped,Hurt and tortured by a group of templars when she was 4, and after she was saved she wanted to learn the ways of an assassin

Shortly after Ethan’s death the three moved to London to defeat the templars and Crawford starrick,Her brother Jacob leading the rooks,and so forth, after they killed starrick and got the shroud back they go their separate ways as Evie relocated to India and married Henry,Jacob becoming the leader of the British brotherhood of assassins, Evangeline was still an assassin and having a mission to defeat Lord Alastair Whitlock,A stronger and more evil human Templar then Starrick

HER OC STORY ASSASSINS CREED: VENDETTA

After the events of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Evie marries Henry, and Jacob continues his assassin doings in London, Evangeline finishes Evie and Jacobs's doings in Manchester,England by tracking down a stronger Templar than Starrick or Lucy, Lord Alastair Whitlock who is also hunting her down along with his Templar minions. now all by herself without Evie and Jacob doing the work for her has to kill Templars, The Blighters, hunt down another piece of Eden, And them killing Alastair Whitlock all in the same time but will it work out

TRIVIA

Her face claim is Jenna Ortega

Her name means good news

She's a schizophrenic but it triggers when she's really stressed

[usagirln12003]

Floch Forster: Hogwarts AU

Floch Forster was a Pureblood wizard that was born on the 8th of October 1980 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1992, being sorted into Slytherin House.

He had a Beech wand with a Dragon Heartstring core.

His Patronus was non-corporeal.

His favorite subject was Potions and his least favorite subject was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Floch had confidence and conviction as a Yeagerist leader. As an auror recruit, however, Floch was, by his own admission, a coward. Part of Floch's cowardice seemed to stem from a belief that his death should not be "meaningless," as he expressed during the Battle of Hogsmead. Despite this, Floch had proved himself to be capable of acting courageously. He was willing to participate in Erwin Smith's suicide charge against Zeke Yeager, despite his fear, and was willing to stand up to his fellow coworkers when they suggested allowing Erwin to die in favor of saving the life of Armin Arlert, even going so far as to risk being attacked by Mikasa Ackerman to keep her from taking the healing potion from Levi.

One of Floch's most evident personality trait was his respect for Erwin Smith. He argued passionately for Erwin to receive the life-saving potion, believing that only Erwin was capable of making the choices necessary to guarantee victory for humanity. He openly criticized the choice to save Armin over Erwin, and claimed that the choice was a result of those involved allowing their emotions to cloud their judgment.

Floch was also very honest with others, to the point of being insensitive. He admitted to Hitch that Marlowe must have regretted becoming an auror in his final moments, and informed Armin that most Ministry personnel who had read the Aurors' report from the Hogsmead battle agreed that Armin's survival was a mistake. It was possible that Floch's value of the truth stems from his experiences during the war, as he insisted that any future recruits be informed of what they will be signing up for, so that "cowards" like him will know not to join.

He believed that those who cannot give up something important to them for the greater good and refuse to listen to reason are childish. By that virtue, he thought of those who knew when to back off and restrain themselves from acting on their emotions as "adults." This is evident when he criticized Eren and Levi on their decision to save Armin instead of Erwin, while praising Mikasa, who though acted on impulse at the start, reigned herself in eventually and made the logical choice.

Four years after the end of the Fourth Wizarding War, Floch adopted a more vindictive attitude towards humans without magic; he was open to conducting scorched earth tactics and was not concerned with collateral damage; he did not hesitate in burning entire city blocks in Londo to the ground, simply to deny resources to the enemy with no thought of the casualties that would result from it. He also pointed out Eren's willingness to act as a demon by killing civilians and children as an example of their comrades’ willingness to take on the enemy ruthlessly.

Once joining the Yeagerists, Floch became even more open to using violence against anyone who was not magical or resisted the efforts made by Eren, whether they were muggles or even his allies in the Aurors office. As his views had grown more radical he displayed an overall lack of empathy or remorse for his following actions, going so far as to view all outsiders as enemies to the Wizarding World. This would be seen with his growing nationalistic behavior towards the Volunteers, namely Onyankopon, and the Japanese engineers. Floch has shown that he has no qualms of harming and killing former allies without hesitation, evident by his attempted shooting and successful beating of Shadis and his willingness to kill Levi while he was mortally injured along with the other Yeagerists. He was also willing to kill his former comrades, although this had more to do with the fact that he perceived them as traitors to wizarding kind, since he was not hostile towards Jean and Mikasa initially.

Floch appeared to fully revel in Eren's destruction of the world, gleefully telling Kiyomi Azumabito of Mahoutokoro's eventual destruction. While he seemingly acknowledges Kiyomi's words of the prospect of their plan leading to eventual infighting within the Wizarding World and displays unease of this, he quickly shrugs it off and further threatens Kiyomi and the Japanese engineers with death. Floch harbored a great fear of retaliation from the muggle world, believing that Eren's death would lead to the eventual slaughter of everyone from Hogwarts and urged his fellow Yeagerists to dedicate their hearts to protect their country. While injured in the following battle, Floch showed great determination to stop his enemies from reaching Eren, clinging onto their boat for two days and shooting the flying boat before he was mortally wounded by Mikasa. Until his dying breath, Floch still fully believed that a full-scale massacre of muggles were the only way to save the Wizarding World, going so far as to beg a nearby Jean and Hange not to board the flying boat to reach Eren. Showing that despite his immoral actions, he still fully believed in protecting the Wizarding World to the end.

[asparagus24]

Guarding hearts 🖤

Chapter-2

Pairing- idol!seungcheol x female bodyguard!oc

Tags- enemies to lovers, bickering, SVT group dinner(?) idk if I can put this as a tag

Warnings- woman walking alone at night, very mild violence, cursing

A/N- i really hope you guys like it and I would really like it if ppl commented and such, criticism is always welcome :) and u can also suggest things you’d like to see maybe I can do a Drabble for this too on the side

Seventeen, the popular South Korean boy band, had been working tirelessly for months. Their hectic schedules left them with little time for themselves. However, they had managed to convince their managers to grant them a rare day off, and the members were excited to spend some quality time together.

As evening approached, the members of Seventeen gathered in a bustling part of the city to have dinner at a renowned restaurant. They were relieved to be free from the constant scrutiny of fans and the demanding spotlight of their careers. The night promised to be one of relaxation and enjoyment.

Seventeen gathered around a large table in the cozy ambiance of the restaurant. The air was filled with a sense of relaxation and camaraderie as they savored their well-deserved free day. The dimly lit room provided a perfect setting for intimate conversations among the members.

As the group settled into their seats, Seungcheol couldn't help but feel a pang of unease deep within his heart. Despite the joyous atmosphere, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his future and the possibility of finding love.

The conversation flowed freely among the members, each taking turns sharing their dreams and aspirations. Seungcheol admired their openness and honesty, but a nagging doubt lingered within him. He yearned for a family of his own, but a voice in his mind whispered that love might not be meant for him.

As the topic of relationships emerged, the members exchanged knowing glances. Jihoon, spoke up first. "You know, guys, I've always envisioned having a family someday," he confessed, a soft smile gracing his lips. "The thought of coming home to a loving partner and children warms my heart."

Mingyu chimed in, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I can totally relate, Woozi hyung. I've always dreamed of being a father and a husband, marrying the love of my life and watching my kids grow up, It's something I'm looking forward to in the future."

Seungkwan nodded in agreement. "I want that too. The idea of a loving family, a home filled with laughter and love... It's truly something to strive for," he said, his voice reflecting his deep longing.

Seungcheol listened intently to their words, his heart feeling heavy. The desire for love and a family was something he had always craved, but his past experiences had left him questioning if he was meant to find such happiness. Doubt crept into his mind, clouding his thoughts with insecurity.

The conversation continued, and the other members shared their own dreams and desires. Each story painted a vivid picture of the future they hoped to build, one filled with love, happiness, and a sense of belonging.

As the evening progressed, Seungcheol found it increasingly difficult to suppress his growing unease. He decided to confide in Joshua, who sat beside him, a sense of vulnerability etched on his face.

"Joshua, can I talk to you for a moment?" Seungcheol asked softly, his voice tinged with a hint of uncertainty.

Joshua turned to him, concern evident in his eyes. "Of course, Hyung. What's on your mind?"

“Joshua sometimes, it feels like love is just out of reach for me," Seungcheol confessed, his voice laced with a tinge of sadness.

Joshua leaned forward, his expression filled with empathy. "Hyung, I understand that feeling all too well. It's natural to have doubts, especially when you live a lifestyle like ours, But let me tell you something important—love has a way of surprising us, even when we least expect it."

Seungcheol's eyes widened with curiosity, his attention fully captured by Joshua's words. "What do you mean, Shua? Love can find us in unexpected ways?"

Joshua smiled, his voice filled with warmth. "Well, think about it. Life is full of twists and turns. Sometimes, the most beautiful love stories unfold in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times. Love doesn't always follow a predictable path. It can be found in the most ordinary of moments or even during times when we least anticipate it."

Seungcheol pondered Joshua's words, a glimmer of hope igniting within him. "So, you're saying that I shouldn't lose hope? That love could come into my life when I least expect it?"

Joshua nodded, his eyes filled with unwavering belief. "Absolutely, Seungcheol. Love has a way of finding those who are open to it, even when they believe it's impossible. Sometimes, the person who holds the key to your heart is just around the corner, waiting for the right moment to step into your life."

Seungcheol's lips curled into a small smile, his doubts slowly fading away. "I guess I've been so focused on the idea that I might never find love that I've closed myself off to the possibility of it even happening. But hearing you speak, Joshua, makes me realize that there still might be hope."

Joshua reached out and placed a comforting hand on Seungcheol's. "Coups hyung, never lose faith in the power of love. Keep your heart open and embrace the journey. Who knows what surprises life has in store for you? The most extraordinary love stories often arise from the most ordinary or even the weirdest of moments”

Seungcheol's gaze met Joshua's, gratitude shining in his eyes. "Thank you, Joshua. Your words mean a lot to me. I'll trust that love will find its way into my life, even if it takes time."

Joshua squeezed Seungcheol's hand gently, his voice filled with sincerity. "That's the spirit, Hyung . Keep your heart open, embrace the unexpected, and believe in the power of love. I have no doubt that when the time is right, you will find the love and happiness you deserve."

After a delightful meal filled with laughter and delicious food, the group bid their goodbyes and stepped outside into the cool evening air. They were eager to head home and make the most of their remaining time off.

Just as they were about to part ways and head to their respective cars, a large group of fans suddenly materialized from the nearby streets. The fans, elated by the unexpected encounter, swarmed around the members, desperate for a chance to interact with their idols.

Caught off guard by the overwhelming number of fans, the members of Seventeen were quickly separated amidst the chaos. The fans surrounded them, bombarding them with questions, requests for autographs, and declarations of love. The situation became increasingly chaotic as the fans' excitement grew.

Seungcheol, found himself caught in the middle of the crowd. Despite his best efforts to navigate his way out, he ended up being swept away from his fellow bandmates. The maze of fans engulfed him, and he was carried along the bustling streets, struggling to maintain his footing.

As the crowd dispersed, Seungcheol found himself alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood. The once lively streets were now quiet and empty, illuminated only by the dim glow of streetlights. A sense of unease crept over him as he realized he was lost and separated from his friends.

Lost in the unfamiliar streets late at night, Seungcheol's heart raced with a mixture of anxiety and desperation. He kept his eyes peeled, hoping to spot someone who could help him find his way back or at least direct him to a nearby bus stop.

——————————————

As he turned a corner, he caught sight of a woman walking briskly ahead of him. Relief washed over him, believing he had finally found someone to assist him in his predicament. Seungcheol quickened his pace, intending to catch up and ask for directions.

However, before Seungcheol could even utter a single word, the woman abruptly turned around, her face filled with alarm. Reacting instinctively, she lunged towards him, pinning him against the nearby wall with surprising strength. Seungcheol winced in pain, letting out a string of exclamations.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW WHAT THE FUCK????”

Seungcheol managed to blurt out, his voice laced with both surprise and pain.

The woman's eyes narrowed, her grip loosening as she registered his words. She took a step back, her defensive stance softening slightly. "Why were you following me? What do you want?" she demanded, her voice tinged with a mix of suspicion and confusion.

Seungcheol, still recovering from the shock of the sudden attack, felt a surge of defensiveness rise within him. "Following you? Are you out of your mind? I was lost and trying to ask for help!" he retorted, his voice laced with frustration.

The woman's expression hardened, her defensive posture returning. "Lost? Excuse me for not believing you right away. In this day and age, it's not uncommon for people to have ulterior motives," she shot back, her voice dripping with skepticism.

Seungcheol's brows furrowed, his annoyance growing. "Ulterior motives? Seriously? I was just looking for a bus stop or someone who could tell me where I am. I didn't expect to be ambushed by a random stranger!" he exclaimed, his frustration evident.

The woman crossed her arms, her gaze unwavering. "Well, you certainly startled me. But if you're not following me, then why were you walking so closely behind?"

Seungcheol took a step forward, his voice tinged with exasperation. "Look, lady, I was just trying to catch up to ask for help. I didn't mean to startle you, and I certainly didn't expect to be attacked for it!"

The tension between them hung in the air, both Seungcheol and the woman standing their ground, locked in a battle of misunderstandings and defensiveness. Neither of them seemed willing to back down, their frustration fueling the animosity.

After a moment, Seungcheol's frustration got the best of him. He let out a deep sigh, his voice filled with weariness. "Okay, look, I understand that we had a misunderstanding. But my phone is dead, and I'm completely lost. I just need to know where the nearest bus stop is. Can you please help me with that?"

Jaehee's defensive posture softened slightly, her expression shifting from anger to contemplation. She studied Seungcheol's face, noticing the genuine frustration etched on his features. The tension between them slowly dissipated as understanding replaced their initial hostility.

With a resigned nod, Jaehee finally relented. "Fine. The bus stop is just a few blocks down this street”

“You couldn’t have said that a few second ago” seungcheol murmured under his breath

‘What an asshole’ thought Jaehee while continuing on her path

As Seungcheol made his way to the bus stop, his mind was still reeling from the encounter with Jaehee. He couldn't help but reflect on the unexpected turn of events that had transpired. It was a reminder that life had a way of throwing curveballs when least expected.

Meanwhile, Jaehee walked in the opposite direction, her thoughts consumed by the encounter as well. She couldn't shake off the lingering unease from her initial assumption about Seungcheol's intentions. It was a stark reminder that she needed to be more cautious but not let her past experiences cloud her judgment entirely.

Little did they know, their paths had crossed for a reason. The universe had orchestrated this encounter, not as enemies, but as two souls who were on the verge of embarking on a life-altering journey.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, both Seungcheol and Jaehee found themselves navigating their own separate lives. Seungcheol's search for love and companionship persisted, often plagued by self-doubt and a lingering fear of rejection. Meanwhile, Jaehee remained focused on her personal aspirations, nurturing her own dreams and independence.

Yet, unbeknownst to them, destiny had a way of intertwining their stories once again. The wheels of fate were turning in the background, setting the stage for a serendipitous reunion that would challenge their preconceived notions about love and forever change the course of their lives.

Neither Seungcheol nor Jaehee could have predicted the events that lay ahead. They were oblivious to the fact that love, in all its unpredictable glory, was preparing to knock on their doors when they least expected it. The lessons learned from their initial encounter would serve as a foundation for the unexpected connection that awaited them, teaching them to embrace vulnerability and trust in the face of uncertainty.

Love, with its mysterious ways, was about to weave its intricate tapestry, entwining their paths in a web of chance meetings, shared laughter, and heartfelt conversations. Both Seungcheol and Jaehee were about to embark on a journey where they would discover that sometimes, love could be found in the most unexpected turns of life.

Unbeknownst to them the clash of misunderstandings had merely been the prologue to a story that would redefine their understanding of love, pushing them beyond their comfort zones and leading them to a profound connection neither of them could have ever imagined.

And so, their separate paths continued, unaware of the twists and turns that lay ahead, waiting to bring them together once more. Love, in all its enigmatic splendor, was preparing to unite Seungcheol and Jaehee in a way that would surpass their wildest dreams, proving that sometimes, the greatest love stories are the ones we never saw coming.

Tag list- @shinetogether17

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