#will i have to make a new cosplay or will i get away with altering my old one!!!!!!

[2ghosts]

i love him!!!!!!!!!!!

[findmeinthefallair]

I hadn't spotted these a year ago:

Oh my god, guys???!!! Parallels:

2. These are the same face - the Depression Face.

It tugs at my heart like nothing else, because...

3. Oooh never paid attention to this:

4. These lil' guys were moving and animated while sleeping here, aww:

5. The screenshot below, to me, is foreshadowing that Hunter may have expressed his wish to study at Hexside...but once that wish is actually granted, he too is gonna be depressed - at school, specifically - for months, and frustrated that he simply cannot be enthusiastic about classes the way he initially hoped. He'll push and push himself and judge himself for why he "can't even" enjoy lessons he's supposed to be excited about:

6. Do you think they took Hunter to the zoo's bird hall, before he carved Waffles (I personally view it as a good element of exposure therapy)? :

7. People usually put the S1 screenshot of Luz drawing light glyphs, next to the one with Flapjack fading away...but I saw this too:

It makes me wanna chew extra recycled cardboard about Luz and Flapjack parallels, specifically. Because of what they both offered to the world, if you think about it:

8. If Camila went through an outfit change like this in her nightmare:

Imagine the mayhem of Hunter's many nightmares with his many outfits :S

9. A really good reference for how Hunter healed pre-timeskip, is this sequence, where the order has been altered a bit below:

(who knows, maybe Willow recorded a lot of vids of him on her scroll T___T)

10. Wow this sums up the show doesn't it:

11. Ugh you can't tell me that...they wouldn't have had a similar-ish mirror scene with Waffles and older Hunter to these, if we had a full S3 or more seasons:

Him approaching a mirror with no palisman beside him...I can't imagine how that was in those horrible months. (Maybe he does this before heading out to conduct a Palisman Adoption Day)

12. I feel really happy, confidently believing that he unlearned this body language:

in the presence of adults, especially his new parental figures. Coercive control wasn't a dominating theme in his life anymore. And while we didn't see it onscreen, he would've found the space to even initiate connection via physical touch with his parents, like what Luz naturally does here:

I say "physical touch" specifically, because to quote @idlescree's amazing video analyses, Hunter's own physical body - not just his mind - was the ultimate and most intimate battleground for Belos to exert control, by possessing Hunter and using him as a puppet in the most direct way possible. So for Hunter to get physically close to family to express love after Flapjack's death, in spite of terrible spooky thoughts that he might still gravely injure others...that isn't a small feat at all.

13. I think his casual sweater is a plain gold colour, and his cosplay outfit has its yellow colour: because he's still influenced by Belos.

The black of the wolf tee and in the cosplay, feel to me like foreshadowing of his post-possession grief. Even after Flapjack is gone, Hunter still thinks about Belos and is still walking around in the same cosplay outfit. His newfound freedom and healing is reflected in his timeskip design (calm midtones of orange and blue): when Belos has no more hold on him via a painful history. We would see a progression from the predominant darkness of the black colour to those peaceful midtones on his clothing.

14. Best one saved for last! It's a headcanon, but I draw a few connections. @childlikegoblinqueen and I were talking about him likely returning to the place where poor Flapjack was slain, even if it takes a number of years before he can do so. Waffles will be with him.

Imagine...instead of running frantically in the night:

he calmly strolls during a beautiful Halloween evening, with autumn leaves blowing in the wind once again:

There are no horrors awaiting him, and very importantly, he can believe that.

And he visits the spot at the lake, and puts his hand to his chest:

but for once, he can smile while doing that specific gesture. All the times that he has put a hand to his heart in the show, he wasn't smiling (link). He then leaves and then returns to his family (walking in the opposite direction of the portal above) to have an actually joyful Halloween celebration.

[sol-consort]

How do you think the mass effect depicts would react to trick or treating? (Sorry if it’s been asked before and I missed it)

Halloween Pt.1

[Part 2]

Dw, you're good it's never been asked before. Even then, I don't mind repeating prompts if I had something new to add... Otherwise I just let it marinate in my inbox in shame.

Gonna assume this is about Mass Effect alien species and not specific characters since that's what I'm mostly asked about. If anything, it shows how impressive the world building in the franchise is for the whole foundation of my blog to be set upon mostly just the species content.

Asari

They think it's a little novel of a holiday

Surprisingly down to participate in it, both to "welcome our new human neighbours" and because they're genuinely intrigued

Most asari are hardcore

They take the costume making part of Halloween very seriously

A good handful of them do end up dressing up as Aria

Doesn't end well.

The first year of Halloween to them is a big hit

Becomes a whole trend and the Next Big Thing

Then like all trends, it ends up simmering down with time

A couple decades into the future and only some asari still celebrate Halloween, mostly the ones with human relatives or friends

But a lot of houses, stores, and even offices keep a honorary candy bowl for humans during this time of year

More as an accommodation

Human demand free candy from you during this one day, it's a given fact across the galaxy

And the asari are nothing but courteous and considerate of other species' customs.

The asari only ever hand out asari candy, absolutely refuse buying anything else.

-

Turians

You give the war nerds a chance to dress up as their favourite hero and expect them NOT to jump on it?

They even use real guns and weapons in their costumes

Aren't in it for the candy

Frankly they can't even eat 90% of it, and houses rarely have dextro candy soo...

They're content with being the person with the most badass Halloween costume in the room

Get too into character, however.

Especially the ones cosplaying as a specter

Especially the ones cosplaying as a certian specter Sniper from an infamous Normandy team

Turians think humans have the right idea about Halloween but the wrong execution

Everything is too easy it's...too boring

Where is the pizzazz? Where are the stakes?

The tricks. Oh yes the tricks

Instead of freely offering candy, you must impress the whole turian household first before they deem you fitting of receiving their favour

Sometimes whole competitions are put in place

They like it enough to incorporate an altered version of trick treating into their own holiday calendar

At least the human Halloween parties are fun

Turian houses hand out energy candy bars and dextro candy, which is...poisonous to humans.

-

Angara

So why can't they just give you the candy right away?

Why do you have to wait and dress up?

You can just ask, they'll give you free candy any day :)

Despite their words, they're the most likely species to pick "trick" when approached

They're just curious, they wanna see what trick you have up your sleeves

What do you mean "it's just a saying"

You don't have anything prepared? Then why did you offer in the first place

Now they're just disappointed, human.

They find the holiday a little strange, some are sceptical of how it could be enjoyable, others are very intrigued and excited

Chances are the angara would just observe the humans from afar

At least in the first Halloween year before deciding to take a dip in the pool

Others straight up immediately canonballing into the whole Halloween thing from day one

They end up enjoying it more than they thought. Going door to door and seeing their neighbours, meeting other friendly faces

They still don't see a point for the rehearsed lines, why not just ask directly for candy?

A lot of Angara do actually bother to prepare a trick

Ringing the doorbell to an angaran household, the door opens for you to be greated by one of the mothers looking at you in endearment

She compliments your costume, little nitpicky with the details, but hey, it's her sincere opinions

Lifting your candy bucket up in anticipation

You receive!

Goob

A scoop of yummy angaran goob piped into candy wrappings

As your treat

[cerastes]

Hey, would you recommend nabbing Gnosis or nah?

For context, I'm a Day 1 Player with 289 total Operators. Mainly just missing Gnosis, Archetto, Swire Alter and Ejya Alter.

I'm like 5 certificates away from affording him in Gold Cert shop, just trying to balance the scales on to use them for him or continue to hoard the monthly headhunters like a dragon sitting a top their funny little gold.

Hey, dope icon first of all.

Yes, but I need to elaborate on that yes a little: I'm very biased in favor of Supporters, and specifically I like Gnosis a lot, both as a character (fail INTJ garbage guy) and as a gameplay element.

So, why is this a Yes with an asterisk? It depends on how you go about your gameplay, really. Specialists and Supporters, or as I call them, "Also Specialists", are the classes that most heavily fall into "some players may not even use them". They are powerful, but generally require more than activating Thorns S3 twice and calling yourself the strongest Doctor in the landship.

Now, Gnosis himself: Is he powerful? Very much so! His Freezing crowd control and how easily he can inflict it, in addition to the immense Fragile he inflicts on Frozen enemies, his Hexer range, and the ability to knock low altitude hovering enemies with Freeze make him a valuable unit is a ton of different situations. In SSS, if you stack ASPD on him, he permafreezes (and thus, permafragiles) his target. In IS, he synergizes with a baffling about of items, with S1 and S2 being Spinach skills, benefiting from every CC buffing item besides the new Levitate items (so, he benefits from extended duration and Arts dmg during Frozen very easily), and in general gameplay, Hexer range is very good, and can enable incredibly solid killboxes with S2 and S3.

His obvious weakness is Freeze-immune enemies. He's not completely useless, because he can still land Cold on them if they are not Cold immune, but still, that's where his weakness lays. Still, even in those cases, it's important to note that he's still very good at dealing with every other enemy in the map, since bosses don't come alone in a vacuum. For example, the Trees of Rot enemies, the ones that become stronger the more enemies you kill before they bloom? When those start getting out of control due to engaging them late, Gnosis is god tier at handling them with constant Freezing and Fragile. Again, Supporters are Also Specialists, and when they are in their zone, they perform.

The trick to Gnosis is that, for single priority targets, you want to activate uncharged S2 right after he uses an autoattack. That way, that enemy will be frozen for 4 seconds (at S2M3) on a charge of 6 seconds. That makes that particular enemy actionable for (approximately) 2 seconds and then on Fragile Timeout for 4 seconds before repeating. That's very powerful! If you have many enemies in range, you let the skill overcharge and Freeze everyone, making a nice, nice Fragile killbox for Fia, Horn, Firewhistle, Dusk, Mostima, Omertosa S3, you name it. Please keep in mind that enemies Frozen in Gnosis E2 range receive 50%(!!!) Fragile, 60% with Module and no Potentials! That's a lot of Fragile!

So, if you're going to use him? Yes, he's a stupidly powerful support unit. If his gameplay or inclusion to your general playstyle doesn't spark light in your heart? You should continue cosplaying Reed and sitting nice and cute on your golden hoard. I personally use him a lot, as people that come to my Arknights streams can attest to!

*As an extra: Enemies with Cold have -30 ASPD, and enemies that are Frozen have -15 RES.

[onegirllis]

So, about the new LIS trailer

It took me some time, but forgive me for the delayed response. I had to dig myself out of the fandom grave to actually look around and notice what the hell was going on. I spent another moment pondering if I still care, and with the answer "barely," I came here to write this post.

1) For whatever reason DickNein (yes, I didn't miss the scandal, who is the nazi now?) still doesn't understand what made LIS 1 so successful. It wasn't the diversity; it wasn't the same copy-paste lines; it wasn't the murder; it wasn't the superheroes from small towns with different powers. It wasn't even the lesbians (I know, shocking!). There were merely a few elements that made LIS special: - Magical Arcadia Bay with its residents - The rewind time superpower, which was one of the best mechanics in narrative games since the genre was born - Max, Chloe, and Rachel (not necessarily in that order), and you need at least two to make it work, preferably with Chloe at least somewhere there. - the specific art style and saturated colors (butchered a bit in BTS but then going full SIMS 4 for the rest of the games) - and most importantly - the soul Sure, DontNod could get away with alteration, to no fanfare and sometimes to no success, but their experiments came from the right place. This shit ain't it.

2) For whatever reason, Chloe is now a dog. I know. I know. I understand. Listen, my fellow comrades, I know how it feels when the devs pull put shit like, "Oh, they were just friends and grew apart, but now she named her squirrel after the love of her high school life".

3) Max had plastic surgery. She also decided to be entirely anonymous so that she looked like everyone else. Every model looks the same, and I hope they will have their names spelled above them as they walk around. Otherwise, I have no idea who is who. Frankly, she looks a little bit like Steph had a lot of fun with the entire cast of Sims 4 and then had a baby.

4) On top of everything, the new Max, however, probably now goes as Maxine, is teaching her Polaroid skills at a university. Now we know we are in an alternative universe all along. I hope the tuition matches the useful photography skill set you obtain there.

5) For any other reason unknown, she can dress up as Chloe, who can be dead (see the Ultimate edition). I know Max has a long tradition of dressing up as dead people, but I hoped it would go away with her Botox and other plastic corrections. But hey, we survived Chloe dressing up as Rachel and cosplaying as her dad, too, so I guess I shouldn't even be surprised. Not that it's a low-budget movie, and they have a limited wardrobe. It's a video game, but the tradition of having a mental stroke is still strong.

6) Oh no, another murder I gotta solve! I shall use my powers. Why now? Is it another girlfriend who is into printing photos? Or is it her student? Or both? Max becoming Jefferson would be a nice twist, even if not loved among the community, but I don't think it would get anywhere that dark. It just will get stupid.

7) This is supposed to be a fanservice a little too late and on the wrong foot. I know y'all missed Max. I didn't, but I understand the hype on seeing her on the screen. Although following a teenager in Arcadia Bay was interesting, simply by the shot of nostalgia with every step, here we are following a middle-aged single art teacher (or someone who looks middle-aged to the point that they decided on fixing their face). NO ONE WANTS TO FOLLOW THEIR ART TEACHERS WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

8) The Nazi problem (well, well, well, the turntables). I know DeckNein had to do some cleanup among their staff. I hope they did, but somehow, I doubt it was done for the right purpose. Therefore, I'm uncomfortable giving them any of my money, now or ever. I know, there are worse studios. I know it's stupid, but LIS was always special, filled with this little genuine spark. It just doesn't feel right.

9) The game has the worst UI in the history of modern gaming.

10) And to finish my rant on something even worse, LIS4 is coming just before DontNod's new game, most likely to compete with it on the market. A bit sus, don't you think?

Anyway, dick move, my friends. All of it. Actually, waving dicks around in the air all along. Despite our differences, this ain't right. And God knows how much worse it could be.

[tobyfoxfacts]

SHOULD TOBY FOX BE PRESIDENT??

Heres the pros and cons

Pros

1. He made a game all about befriending your enemies.

He's a natural at building bridges so he may be able to repair any hard feelings between countries that the US cut off in the past.

2. He's a business man

Toby is self employed and has people who works under him. He started from the bottom. He worked on his first game in someone's basement. He earned his success.

3. He's great at money management and project planning

He made undertale pretty much on his own and organized any assistance he needed. He's great working on teams and had done many collaborations.

4. He likes the girls and the gays!!

Toby would let us all be trans and queer. He has 2 lesbian couples in his games, a non binary main protagonist, and is a total mommas boy. He wouldn't wanna take away her rights.

5. He doesn't hate drag queens

Toby has been seen wearing skirts and dresses as costumes or cosplays. He's worn makeup and dresses for costumes.... so he wouldn't hate someone for doing the same.

6. He supports the environment

Toby has a degree in environmental science. Why would he get a degree in that if he didn't believe in global warming? He would help repair the environment and make our country more echo friendly. As a science major he knows vaccines aren't fake and would be a great role model.

7. He slips under the discrimination radar

This is cynical, but based on Toby's appearance, he has advantages in the political world. "Straight looking," pale skinned, rich, Christian, cisgender man who went to a prestigious college. So, heck... he'd get a chance even if he genuinely sucked because politics are rigged. Even if he thought Hulu was part of Hawaii and they made a streaming service... he would still make it to the finals.

Don't let anyone find out he's a dress wearing autistic furry that makes songs about mpreg.

8. He has a great education

Toby went to a college that focuses on law and business. There's a chance that he took some classes on the side about those subjects.

9. He's a level headed guy and stays out of drama

Toby's never gotten caught up in drama and he's not a trouble starter. He'd never initiate a war.

10. G-n outlaws

We already know that Toby isn't enthusiastic about violence and believes in thinking before hurting. He would totally make more anti g-n proposals

11. He loves animals

He'd totally help prevent animal cruelty and k1ll shelters. Toby literally thinks he's a dog...

12. He hates taxes

He grew up in New Hampshire so moving to Boston must have been a shocker. He might be able to make taxes more reasonable, or do something useful with the money.

13. Japan loves him

His buddies in Japan (zun, sakurai, etc) have said Toby blends right in with the people in Japan. He's very polite. SUPER important.

14. He's young

He's level headed and isn't fucked on dementia medication while making life altering decisions for the next generation. He's involved and up to date with modern culture, and knows what people want.

15. He's a cutie

Must I say more?

16. He's a cultural icon

Gen z would vote for him cause they already know Toby's great. Plus everyone who doesn't care about politics would find it hilarious to see toby in the white house.

Why toby shouldn't be president

1. He's too short to see over the podium

2. He's stage fright

3. He'd eat the declaration of independence

4. He doesn't want to be

5. No more delrarune :(

[artzychic27]

MHA characters in aus

YES! I HAVE MANY LINED UP, TAKE YOUR PICK! (It’s mostly Deku-centric… It’s all Deku-centric)

Dad For One AUs

Villain in Training: Izuku was raised by his father after his mother’s unfortunate death due to a hero. Since that day, Izuku’s grown to hate heroes, and his father is just thrilled. He introduces him to the world of villainy at the age of four, and at age five when Izuku doesn’t get his quirk, All For One let’s him pick out whichever quirk he desires

Vaulted: Izuku was kidnapped from Yuuei by All for One, but before he could fight back, he has his memories altered so he believes that he was taken away from his father by heroes after they accused him of being a villain. And now that Izuku is back in his doting father’s care, there’s nothing separating them ever again… Except maybe a two ton steel door, but that’s just to keep the heroes away from Izuku

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Father Scorned: Hisashi never left, and he’s glad he never did so, because he never would have seen the horrors those brats and that “teacher” inflicted on his son. Well, if they’re going to use their quirks in such a way, then he’d be doing society a favor by taking them. So the next week at school, every student and teacher at Aldera find that they are now quirkless and Izuku somehow developed a pyrokinesis quirk over the weekend. Sweet karma

Izuku Born with a Quirk AUs

Medusa Quirk: Izuku has snakes for hair, and when he looks into the eyes of someone while activating his quirk, he can paralyze them for up to ten minutes, but it really depends on how much energy he has.

Addams Quirks: Based on the hit gothic comedy from the pre-quirk era, Izuku’s quirk alters him mentally and physically, making him desensitized to all thing gruesome, making it so poisons don’t kill him, and making him much paler while his hair becomes darker. He seems to be able to teleport, has visions, and plants die around him. Izuku and Tokoyami have seances on Wednesdays

Isabella’s Gift: Always teased for his “girly” quirk, Izuku never let that stop him from trying out for Yuuei’s hero course. After one bad day thanks to some assholes who just wouldn’t leave him alone, Izuku snaps, yells, and a cactus spurts right in the middle of the floor. Cue “What Else Can I Do?” He practices the new aspect of his quirk over the course of the months; and by the time of the entrance exam, he create weapons made from vines and stabs the zero pointer by having a massive cactus grow from under it. Anyway, he’s in the hero course, and over the first few weeks, gives life long lasting flowers to those he sees as his friends based on their meanings and creates a blue and white rose for Shoto

Misc.

The Midoriyas and Yaoyorozu Have Money Fights on Saturdays- The Midoriyas are modest when it comes to their wealth. They live in the same apartment building as their many tenants, they shop for groceries at some of the stores they own, etc. Izuku and Momo have been friends since they were three and even after Izuku didn’t get his quirk. Screw that. Brains beat brawn any day. They go shopping, do each others hair, threaten Izuku’s bullies with their wealth, look fabulous while flipping off some quirkists, and take the recommended exam in designer gym clothes

Seamstress Izuku: Izuku is in the Support Course’s design department. He learned how to sew at the age of five from his mom when he didn’t get a quirk and needed an outlet for his pent up frustration. By the time he was six, he was sewing ball gowns and selling them for huge amounts of money, and was able to get him and his mom their own home. Now, every time he comes home from school, he doesn’t cry. He sews. He created an Instagram account to show off his work and cosplays as heroes and villains while critiquing hero informs and making them much more practical than they are and creating upgraded versions of their support gear. He gets a DM from Nezu one day, offering him a chance to try for Yuuei’s design department. Of course, he gets in and redesigns all the hero course students’ costumes, ‘cause they were trifling, especially Yaoyorozu’s and Hagakure’s. They all step into battles looking fashionable but also having functional clothing that doesn’t tear so easily and isn’t skintight on young girls’ bodies. He even redesigns Midnight’s outfit, using zippers instead of that tear-away fabric. And when he’s not designing new hero uniforms, he’s having the students (and teachers) model some dresses he made.

Izuku: Do you or do you not feel pretty?

Katsuki: *In a black ball gown* … I do feel pretty.

Izuku: Wonderful! Because you look pretty!

Izuku gets adopted by every Pro Hero- One day, Inko is late to pick up Izuku from school, and before his bullies could try anything, Death Arms swoops in and offers to walk Izuku home while reprimanding his bullies. Even when they explain that he’s quirkless, he shrugs and walks the greenette home. It happens again, only this time, it’s Miss Midnight. She takes him out for ice cream. Then Recovery Girl sees some assholes ganging up on him and strikes them with her cane, heals Izuku, but not them. While Izuku’s at the grocery store, some jackass who knows he’s quirkless harasses him until Best Jeanist steps in. He even buys Izuku’s groceries. Seeing their car broken down on the side of the road, Endeavor surprisingly gives them a ride home. And on the way, he receives a harsh lesson on parenting from the Midoriyas. Over the years, just about every Pro Hero has decided: I want to be Midoriya Izuku’s aunt/uncle/auncle. They go to the apartment in formal clothing, surprised to see the other pro heroes there and hand Inko the adoption papers. Now Izuku’s got like a hundred new family members who all share custody of him, but Inko gets more time because she’s the mom, of course

Izuku gets Adopted by Every Pro Hero, only Inko’s Dead: Twelve year old quirkless Midoriya Izuku receives terrible news: His mom is dead. No orphanage will take him in, he can’t get a job to pay rent, and he refuses to stay with the Bakugous. Things seem bleak until Pro Hero Recovery Girl hears about his dilemma while doing her rounds at the hospital, and he hears the boy saying goodbye to his mother. She heads back to Yuuei and explains Izuku’s situation, and immediately, every staff member wants to adopt him. Present Mic prints out the adoption papers and runs to the hospital while the others try to stop him. It becomes the custody battle of the century with dozens of pro heroes wanting to adopt a quirkless boy. They each state their reasons for wanting to do so until Izuku speaks up and suggests shared custody. The judge would’ve dismissed the idea of not for All Might threatening to Detroit Smash his ass into oblivion

[artikgato]

10/15/2023

Well, it was raining yesterday, so I didn't go out for the jogwalk. I did today, though! It took me until like 10:30 but I did do it!

I was also up until nearly 1am last night...reading a fanfic. A Slayers fanfic. A 60+ chapter Slayers fanfic, currently unfinished, in the year of our lord twenty twenty-three. I have no excuses. I make it a policy to almost never read unfinished fanfics, for one. I also knew exactly what I was getting into when I saw the chapter count and just shrugged and went YOLO I guess?

Okay, so it all started with Anime Weekend Atlanta announced, less than a month out from their con by the way, a whole slew of new guest announcements. The schedule is out now and it's less than two weeks to the con so I think they're done doing that now, but I digress. They announced Veronica Taylor as a guest. Well, years ago I already had the honor of meeting her and getting her to sign my VHS copy of Pokémon The First movie, so I don't necessarily need her autograph on any more Pokémon stuff. But of course she's in plenty of other things, including Slayers, which is one of my absolute favorite media franchises, period. So naturally I have to get her to sign for Amelia! And Lisa Ortiz, the voice of Lina, will be a guest at a convention I'm going to in March, so I can get her to sign, too! Fantastic!

And then, because I haven't really thought about Slayers in a long time, my brain went I should cosplay from Slayers again. I've been wanting to for a while. I cosplayed Filia (from TRY) waaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day, maybe I could remake her? (I do still want to do that, FYI, talk about obscure characters though am I right?) Or despite being so tall, I've always liked Lina's character design, she'd be great. I can probably pull that off before Khromakon in March, but absolutely not before AWA. But do you know who I could pull off before AWA?

Yeah, so I actually cosplayed Xelloss all the way back in high school. I never wore him to a convention, and it was a very bad cosplay. Technically, my first cosplay. (Technically, because my actual first cosplay was a very, very very bad closet cosplay of emperor Hotohori from Fushigi Yuugi the year prior, my junior year of high school. Our high school banned Halloween costumes but a gaggle of my stupid friends and I decided to see if we could get away with just wearing regular clothes but clearly being in cosplay. So I was Hotohori, a friend braided her hair and was Duo Maxwell, etc. etc.)

Anyway, my aunt made the cloak for me, and I still have it all these years later. The rest of the cosplay would be easy, because of how skilled I am now. I can 100% do this cosplay in time for AWA, and it'll be fun! He's a pretty recognizable character from a classic anime, so while I'm sure The Kids won't recognize me, I'll get at least a few people excited to find someone else that remembers Slayers. And hey, I already cosplayed one evil purple-haired anime prettyboy this year (Okada Izou) so why not two?

So anyway, I made a deal with myself. I would go to no more than three thrift stores after work one day and see if I could find a yellow turtleneck. If I could, I would proceed with the costume. If I didn't, oh well, it's not like I don't have a closet full of cosplays to wear. And wouldn't you know it, I found the turtleneck at the third Goodwill. So I ordered a wig, and now I just need to do a few minor alterations and possibly make the staff.

And so, with Xelloss Metallium now fully on my brain, I remembered that, oh yeah, Xelloss/Filia was one of the OTPs for me back in the day. One of the very first ships I got really, really invested in. And I wondered if, in the fifteen or so years since the least time I probably looked, any good new Xel/Fil fics had been written. I mean, the last time I was really invested in the ship, Evolution-R and Revolution hadn't even come out yet! A03 didn't exist yet! What was the harm of taking just a little, tiny peak at A03, right?

And that's how I ended up binge reading a 60+ Slayers fanfiction, in the year of our Lord Of Nightmares 2023. I'm not even done reading, but I've got shit to do today!

Time: 21:41 Weather: 63, sunny Humidity: 60% Song of the Day: Ghost, Mystery Skulls

[uidbmgmt]

Trigger Warning: PTSD, DID, CSA, RA

I’m back, bitches! House sitting in Ohio was just wonderful. My roomie’s family is super nice, open and accepting. Their pets, Connor and Sophie, were such a treat to watch. No issues whatsoever. We were pretty much alone for two weeks, just my roomie, her girlfriend, and I, and we enjoyed the open house instead of a shitty mobile home for once. We were able to sample some of the local food and were able to travel to places we wanted to go.

Sadly some of the places we went to didn’t work out, but that’s okay. Stuff happens and I’m not gonna let it get in my way.

I’m happy to be back now. I got home from the airport at about 11:30 AM, started unpacking my stuff and got thrown smack dab into a full on PTSD flashback. It was terrible, a memory I had forgotten about, or had blocked from me. So I was definitely told by my [redacted] that I was going to hell if I ever told anyone, but since I’m not a good listener, I didn’t listen and I told my parents. They both yelled at the [redacted] while I was in another room, but I could hear their raised voices.

The feeling in my body was powerful. I was fuzzy all over and my head felt like it was going so fast it would just explode. I remember feeling very small in a big, open space, probably the smallest I have ever felt. Being relatively new to the system, I had not felt anything that intense before, it was scary. I feel so sorry for my child alter, because they’ve been sitting on this shit for YEARS. I wish I knew how to help them through this, except to offer hugs and reassurance that it wasn’t their fault and they’re not going to hell.

It took hours to come down from this and it did not go away. I feel so sorry for people who have these intense flashbacks on a constant, because they are gnarly and terrible. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I felt so helpless and pathetic under all that burden. My dear, child alter, you are not broken or worthless. You are worth so much love and compassion. You deserve happiness. I will not forget your pain.

I also made a realization! My child alter, Laura Lorraine, and my teenage alter, May Vashal, both feel like boys inside their hearts. They wish they had been able to live life they way they felt inside. I know I can’t redo the past, but I can make the future more comfortable for you. Got a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy in my future. I look forward to it, along with most of the system. I gotta start listening to my heart more instead of just my head.

On a brighter note, I was able to open the many packages I had waiting for me. Half of them were for my friend’s cosplay but I got some goodies. A tote bag, a Moon Knight keychain, wings for my cosplay, and a build a bear we’ll be making for my Bitch Buddy’s bachelorette party this weekend. I have so much going for me right now, it feels almost shameful that I don’t feel the enthusiasm I wish I did. I guess the PTSD flashbacks took a lot out of the system, but important things were learned and I won’t soon forget it.

I hope you all weren’t too bored without me, not like I post much, and I’m happy to be back home amongst my stuff and my friends. Shop is back open now, however commissions will remain closed for a short bit. I’m working on a lot of stuff before Everfree next month and I wanna make sure I finish all that before I even consider opening commissions again. I’ll probably open them back up around Everfree.

Thanks for listening to my story. It helps me to put it out there, maybe I can learn from someone else’s experience, or someone will learn something from me?

[mutable-manifestation]

#jack looks more like superman than clark kent does

#which is fucking stupid but true

#clark and jack wander the watchtower out of uniform and half the league greets the wrong onw

#clark is mortified people deadass think he’s just ‘largest person available’

#bruce tells him it’s just because that’s who he is to people; a hero larger than life

#diana is laughing her ass off

#none of their actual friends ever make the mistake but damn there’s a lot of members of the league

Clark Kent just has "getting third place in a cosplay competition of urself" energy

As for Lex "superman wouldn't have an alter ego" Luthor...

this needs to be a "Clark Kent pretends to hate Superman" AU

I need him to be making news article-equivalents of diss tracks because I desperately need Jack "can't recognize my bio son with a palette swap" Fenton to run into "Clark Kent" on the street and starts chewing him out for writing mean articles about his son

Listen their interactions were mostly on the Watchtower. They spent a lot of time on the dimensional-portal so the Fentons could visit as they wished. Jack barely left his workroom other than to hang out with Supes in the cafe when he was free, because he knows the rest of his family is worried.

So the whole "oh yeah my alt is Clark Kent" just never came up.

Idk how Jack ended up in Metropolis again in this situation - maybe he went there for parts bc it's the one city he knows at all, maybe the whole family came over and Danny flew them down bc "that's where I met your new brother so he's probably there!"

Jack is just absolutely chewing him out for slandering his "precious baby boy"

If Danny is there he absolutely clocks Clark's expression as "I cannot believe this is happening that's me you're talking about" but he doesn't help. Just shit-eating grins at him and joins in. "How could you be so mean to my baby brother?"

Clark: Baby brother!? Aren't you like twelve???

Danny: I'm seventeen! And he was adopted way after I was born which makes me older in brotherly terms.

Clark: That is not how that works

Danny: It is tho

Clark: It isn't

This devolves into a stereotypical sibling back-and-forth, which is what tips Jazz off. Unfortunately Jack wouldn't know the word subtle if he was force-fed the pages on it from every dictionary on Earth, so telling him won't help. She's the one who manages to drag the family away and explain.

Except now? When they find him again?

Worried about his self-esteem. "Why are you saying such awful things about yourself!?" and "None of that is true!" and even Jazz is like hmm they do have a point "It's bad for your mental wellbeing" and "there has to be better ways to safeguard your identity" and "you have a whole organization of hero buddies can't you find a body-double to help you?"

Just Clark getting absolutely scolded about saying so many mean things about himself and it devolving into a critique of how he safeguards his secret ID as a whole.

Batman is in a nearby shadow taking notes - he knows most of these options but some of them are creative.

Also these people clearly take secret IDs seriously (even if SOME of them are... bad at it. They're trying). Some members of the JL should take notes. *lurks judgementally*

Hey it’s important to me that you know this Jack Fenton is six inches taller than Superman

Superman is 6’3

Jack Fenton is 6’9

Jack Fenton can fully big spoon Superman like a delicate wee lad

You’re welcome

[j1mmyr]

Oop I seem to have gained some new people! Sorry I’ve not been too active lately XD

UH…a small “get to know me” though I guess!

- My IRL name is Jonny so you may see close people using it but my online name/art name/alter ego is Jimmy sometimes stylized as J!MMY and it comes from a long story inside joke! Sometimes I tack on my last initial (R) depending on the situation

- I’m a guy, my pronouns are he/him/his!

- I’m trans and have been out since 2013! I’m 5-6 years on T (I honestly forget the exact year off the top of my head) and am almost two years post-op! I don’t label myself as a “trans guy” exactly though and usually just say “guy” because frankly trans or cis doesn’t matter because I AM A GUY lol

- I’m an artist first and foremost and draw…well, kink and nsfw mostly XD I have an original comic about two fat BDSM gimps in a cyberpunk world that fall in love…sort of :U It’s complicated. They’re names are Scream and Candy and they’re my main OCs. You can see more of them and my art at my art blog @electropuz or send them asks at @spandexspaceman though that blog isn’t exactly ready yet!

- Other hobbies include writing, RPing, and cosplaying! And sometimes making said cosplay though my skills aren’t great so I usually end up buying cheap cosplay and fixing it up lmao. I also like gaming sometimes and wanna stream myself playing them or do “let’s plays” as a side thing for fun!

- Possible trigger warnings! I am mostly “spiritual” but openly identify as an atheistic Satanist! I also am a heavy drinker and a stoner so it’s hard for me to always tag things like drugs and alcohol! I’m also pro-kink BUT within limits!! I DO NOT support pedophila, incest, and other such things! Just keep all this in mind before following and minors DO NOT INTERACT at all! Btw if you’re a minor and I interact with you first out of accident first just tell me and I will quit right away!

- Otherwise I have three (technically five…long story) awesome cats that I love very much and put before all else! They’re names are Cirice (black, female, we pronounce it Cirrus due to a Ghost video we watched early in the fandom years ago), Dewdrop (cream/light orange, male, named after the unofficial name for Ghost’s lead guitarist), and Mochi (sphynx/hairless, male, named because he looks like he has rice ball skin lmao). The other two cats mentioned are cats I had when I lived with my grandpa and had to leave behind when I moved out! I still visit them frequently and make sure they’re well cared for though! They’re names are Wade (fluffy gray and white, male, named after Deadpool because he’s my hero) and Bruce (white, male, named after Batman to match Wade being Deadpool). All are spayed/neutered and three are shelter rescues!

- My personal triggers are cat deaths, harm, etc. so please tag them if we become mutuals! It’s not that other forms of animal death/abuse aren’t important (they bother me too), they’re just not a full blown trigger. Cats specifically send me into episodes of severe anxiety and depression

- My “just talking” tag is “the rest is all bullshit” so feel free to blacklist that if you’re just here for cats or memes or something!

ANYTHING ELSE?? I guess just ask me! I love to talk and my favorite things are currently the band Ghost, Walt Disney World, Ghostface (both Scream and DBD), and talking about my OCs! Also aside from Ghost my big fandoms are OFF, TF2, Rick and Morty, and MHA! There’s also a handful of nostalgic fandoms (like Homestuck) and various characters I adore, it’s just hard to list them all right now XD

OKAY I THINK THAT’S FINALLY IT!! Welcome to my blog!

[devildom-drabbles]

You know what would be fun? A power rangers MC. Requesting a snippet scenario of the brothers and others reacting to finding out the MC is a power ranger. Maybe Mc sneaks off on missions, or they accidentally summon their power ranger powers when in danger.

I mean, MC can be whoever we want, so why not? This was fun! Thanks for the prompt!

How would everyone react to MC being a Power Ranger?

(Assuming MC is in the Devildom when each character finds out, they’re fighting solo since the rest of their team is in the human world.)

Lucifer was making his evening rounds to ensure that his brothers and MC were still in their rooms at HoL after curfew. It was then he found MC trying to sneak out while dressed in a strange tight-fitting outfit. He dragged them back to their room and demanded them to explain what was going on. He didn’t believe MC at first; he figured they were cosplaying for a convention like Leviathan does and ordered them to go to sleep. A few days later, as he was reading the news, he spit out his coffee when he saw a headline with a picture of someone in the same get-up. He definitely needed to have a serious long talk with MC about their alter-ego, feeling mixed levels of concern about their secret crime-fighting life.

Mammon was annoyed that MC hadn’t been responding to his texts, so he barged into their room unannounced shortly after they had snuck back into HoL late one night in their Power Ranger gear. The two of them stared at each other in an awkward silence for a bit until Mammon started spewing questions about what was happening. MC was forced to explain in order to get him to quiet down and begged him to keep it a secret. He tried to, but he kept accidentally mentioning it around others, so MC would have to cover his mouth and change the topic each time it happened. When Mammon found out that their Power Ranger form was famous, he pitched them several marketing ideas, like meet-and-greets and action figures. Come on, MC! He’s keepin’ it a secret (mostly), ain’t he? The least you could do is help him earn some more Grimm!

Leviathan was in awe to discover a Power Ranger, a hero so similar to the popular Japanese Super Sentai, fighting off some strange monsters in the Devildom on a LIVE DevilTube video. Deciding it was a good enough reason to leave his room, he went to the location where the video took place to see if he could get an autograph from the Power Ranger. By the time he got there, though, the fight had ended and the Power Ranger had snuck away from the crowd. Disappointed, Levi started walking home until he noticed the hero in an alley, so he hid nearby, trying to work up the courage to speak to them. “MC?!” he gasped after witnessing the Power Ranger return to their true appearance. He had so many questions, one of the first being for an autograph. He vowed to keep their identity a secret and chose to assist them behind the scenes from his computer, helping them track down enemies and accomplish their missions through an earpiece.

Satan felt both upset and worried when MC hadn’t shown up at the bookstore where they promised to meet him. What could have happened? He wanted to find out, so he left the bookstore early, only to discover a monster attacking the area. He feared MC might’ve been caught in the crowd, so he hurried to search for them among the swarm of low-rank demons. Distracted, he hadn’t noticed the monster about to strike him, but a Power Ranger swooped in just in time to take the hit. Once he heard the Power Ranger’s voice--asking him to help keep the citizens away from the fight--and studied their size, he realized it was MC. Now he was pissed. He made sure the crowd was far enough away before assisting MC in taking down the monster. Afterward, before anyone could get to them, Satan pulled them away from the scene. When they were alone, MC told him about how they were secretly a Power Ranger and apologized for not showing up at the bookstore on time. Satan was baffled by all the information, but he accepted that this was a part of their life. He gently placed his hand on the spot where they had taken the monster’s hit to protect him and cast a spell to heal them, requesting that they be more careful from now on and don’t keep such big secrets from him anymore.

Asmodeus was out shopping when he stumbled across a battle between a monster and a superhero in the middle of town. When the monster noticed him, it was immediately drawn by his beauty and decided to take him as a hostage. Could Asmo have fought it off? Sure, but he liked the attention he was receiving, especially since a dashing masked hero was coming to his rescue. After the Power Ranger saved him, Asmo took a picture with them to post on Devilgram and asked them to take off their mask so he could give them a kiss. They nervously declined and sprinted away, but Asmo was persistent, chasing after them. How dare someone refuse him! Once they were in a secluded place and thought they had gotten him off their trail, MC transformed back into their normal self. However, Asmo saw them just as they finished changing back. Before they could say anything, he squealed in delight and covered their face with kisses. He wouldn’t tell anyone else about their identity; MC was his secret hero!

Beelzebub was upset to find that Hell’s Kitchen was closed due to a strange masked hero fighting against a monster that was attacking the place. He unintentionally helped the Power Ranger bring the monster down by turning into his demon form and going on a rampage due to his intense hunger. He was mad at the Power Ranger as well, however, so he pursued them as they escaped, only stopping when he had cornered them and they revealed themselves to be MC. Beel relaxed completely once MC promised to get him some take-out food in exchange for keeping their identity a secret. Still, now that he knew about MC’s alter-ego, he worried about them often. He made sure to check in with them frequently to see if they were hurt and if they were hungry from their missions, a snack already in-hand for them.

Belphegor awoke from his slumber when he felt MC escape his hold and quietly leave the room. Um, excuse you, MC?? You promised him a cuddle session, you can’t just leave like that! He wasn’t allowing it, so despite his drowsiness, he went after them. Outside of HoL, he witnessed them transform into a Power Ranger and hurry into town. Was he dreaming? This was too troublesome for him to deal with right now, so he decided to nap in the entrance hall until they returned. The sound of their footsteps after opening the front door pulled him out of his sleep, and he glared at them as they apologized for leaving him. He said he’d forgive them once they returned to their cuddle session and answered his questions about their weird transformation earlier. He promised to keep what he saw a secret, but he definitely teased them about the skin-tight suit. Also, anytime they needed to be a hero while they’re together, he would either try to prevent them from leaving or expect them to make it up to him once they got back. Besides, they ought to rest well after all the fighting, right? He’ll gladly help in that regard.

Diavolo was blown away when a Power Ranger came to his rescue from a sudden monster attack in the Demon Lord’s Castle. Sure, as the most powerful demon in the Devildom, he could’ve handled the monster by himself, but couldn’t help watching in awe as the Power Ranger protected him. He had heard about this mighty, colorful team from his recent trips to the human world, so how had one of them appeared in the Devildom? He wanted to thank the hero properly for their aid, so he begged them to reveal their face and name. Worried about the consequences for refusing the future demon king, MC transformed back into their normal appearance. He hadn’t expected it to be his human exchange student! Diavolo was impressed with MC’s strength and bravery, and he promised to keep their identity a secret from everyone. No one could understand why Diavolo kept staring at MC with a twinkle in his eyes anytime he came across them.

Barbatos can see anywhere in time and already knew about MC being a descendant of Lilith, so it’s no surprise he was aware of their Power Ranger life. Still, he knew it was meant to be kept secret, so he never said anything to MC. However, when they were late coming to visit the Demon Lord’s Castle for tea and he took one look at their bruised face when he greeted them at the door, he couldn’t hide his knowledge anymore. He brought them into his room to treat and cover their wounds before having tea with him and Lord Diavolo, explaining what he already knew to them. MC thanked him for keeping their alter-ego a secret from everyone and apologized for showing up in such a crummy state. He simply shook his head saying that it wasn’t any trouble. Rather, from then on, he wanted MC to contact him if they were ever having difficulty with an enemy or needed to be healed from a fight.

Simeon was fascinated by the news articles detailing the feats of the Power Ranger that had shown up to defeat the slew of monsters that had been appearing in the Devildom. He wished he could talk to the hero to learn more about them; he’d love to write a story inspired by them. His wish came true one day when MC suddenly said they needed to leave early from their visit at Purgatory Hall and had left their D.D.D. behind. He went after them to return their phone, which was how he found them transforming behind the building. They were in a panic when they noticed Simeon, but he just smiled and told them to be careful while handing them their phone. He called them later to ask if they were okay and if they could meet with him the next day to discuss their alter-ego. Simeon was thrilled when they agreed, plot ideas already swarming his mind.

Solomon had his suspicions about the true identities of the Power Rangers from the human world, and now that one of them was in the Devildom, it was easy for him to figure out it was MC. He would bring up the Power Ranger occasionally within his conversations with MC, looking for a reaction. Soon enough, he admitted to them privately that he knew about their alter-ego but had no intention of telling anyone else...as long as they told him more about their abilities so he could compare it to magic. He might even suggest spells and curses they could use in combat to enhance their powers.

Luke was very surprised at first, witnessing MC transform and suddenly have the strength and combat skills to take down a monster that was trying to harm the two of them. After the fight, though, he gazed at MC like any child would at a superhero. They asked him to keep this a secret from the others, and he willingly agreed. From then on, Luke always looked at them with admiration and, when they were alone, would ask them to tell him more about their powers and the kinds of missions they go on. Without a doubt, he’s MC’s #1 fan.

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hello. I had a question regarding your post about blind characters. I have a character in my WIP that must cover their eyes.. but it’s blind. He may need to tell people he is blind to explain why he covers his eyes though. I was wondering how I might write this character without offending. Thank you :)

I think I want to start by explaining the “covering blind eyes” trope and why it has become a harmful trope. I think understanding why it’s hurtful helps everyone learn how to handle it better.

I would guess that the “blind people wear sunglasses” trope comes from Hollywood for the specific reason of 1. wanting to signal to the audience that the character is obviously blind and 2. avoid breaking the suspension of disbelief by preventing the audience from catching the sighted actor look at visual stimuli (because disabled characters are almost always played by able actors).

But this changed the way the public expects to experience blindness. If watching a sighted actor wear sunglasses and say he’s blind is all the exposure to the blind community a person has had, that’s the only model of blindness they’ll recognize. If they meet a blind person in real life who doesn’t wear sunglasses, it’s going to break this built perception and cause an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance. 

And then there is the common “cloudy-white blank gaze” that pops up in media. It stems from the fact that cataracts is the most common cause of blindness and the appearance of severe cataracts is a cloudy film in the eyes obscuring the iris and pupil. It can also alter what color a person’s eyes appears to be, making them appear paler and grey in the beginning and then as the cataract advances it becomes more yellow/brown and alters a person’s vision to appear more yellow tinted.

There are lots of other eye conditions that makes the eyes look visibly different. Albinism for instance affects the color and structure of the iris. Eyes might be congenitally misshapen. The muscles might be weak or not work and one or both eyes point significantly outward. Someone who was born blind and experienced no visual stimuli might also have weak muscles around their eyes because they never had a reason to focus their eyes on anything.

And unfortunately humans have the habit of feeling uncomfortable when they meet someone who looks very obviously different from the norm, whether that’s a personal style choice (hair color and style, tattoos, clothing choices) or something they can’t help (a visible disability, skin color, scars). 

To the paragraph above, @gothhabiba replied with:  “it's very weird & ahistorical to claim that racism or ableism are some kind of natural "human" trait.. like frankly it's apologia”

You’re right, I wasn’t thinking beyond that generalization or assumption.

Perhaps a better way to put it is: I was raised in a society where I was taught from childhood to think that there was only one kind of human being to be. White, cis, straight, abled, conservative. That’s a very western thing and that’s a thing I’m going to constantly be unlearning.

Racism and ableism and homophobia aren’t innate, that’s a western thing that was forced onto the rest of the world by colonialism. And because western media created this idea that the world is white, abled, cis, straight, and Christian-value leaning, it taught people to think that was the norm so that seeing someone different from that archetype would cause a cognitive dissonance, which causes discomfort.

And instead of working past that cognitive dissonance to learn more and realize there’s so much more to life than media taught you, society encourages you to ignore that cognitive dissonance by sticking your head in the sand-- or TV screen.

So combine these two tropes or common beliefs together and you get something a little dangerous: the idea that blind people cover their eyes because they look obviously different and they’re ashamed (or should be ashamed) of that.

And if you’re someone who’s just gone blind or who was born blind and you have little to no contact with the blind community, then this societal belief that you should be ashamed of how your eyes look becomes detrimental to your self-esteem and further builds internalized ableism.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read or watched a blind character cover their eyes with sunglasses because they were ashamed of how their eyes looked. And I distinctly remember a few times where a sighted friend of the character was trying to convince them to stop wearing sunglasses because there’s nothing wrong with looking different--which is true, but it plays into this fantasy of being the perfect abled ally who saves the blind character from being miserable. 

In an ideal world, the character has no reason to believe looking different is a bad thing or diminishes their worth or makes people dislike them. And if they develop this belief, it’s more likely that someone more involved in the disabled community, most likely someone disabled themselves, will set them straight. Or that the character will learn to accept themselves on their own, looks included.

But there are some perfectly valid reasons for any blind person to wear sunglasses. They might have an interest in fashion and sunglasses complete the look they’re going for. They could want to protect their eyes from UV rays while they’re outside. They may experience light sensitivity and sunglasses reduces any discomfort or pain. Those are incredibly common reasons to wear sunglasses whether you’re sighted or blind.

But there are some more complicated situations.

In your words, your character must cover his eyes. You never specified why, so my primary guess is that he has some kind of power that is unpleasant or has devastating affects and the only way to prevent it is to keep his eyes covered. My primary guess stems from this post where an anon and I discussed a retelling of Medusa, a hypothetical blinding of oneself to avoid ever killing anyone ever again, and what I think I would do if I was in that scenario.

So how do you write a blind character who must cover their eyes and avoid some of the complications?

1. Your character must always have the ability to say “fuck off, it’s my business, I don’t have to tell you why I’m blind or why I cover my eyes.”

Most blind people really, really don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of why they’re blind and how they feel about it and what it’s like being blind with a stranger they’ll never see again or a new acquaintance they don’t know well yet. You have exceptions to that rule where sure, educating the public about blindness is a thing you want to do and you’re committed to helping your community, but I still have days where I don’t want to talk about being blind or disclose my medical crap.

And if someone doesn’t respect their right to their privacy or pushes too much, the blind character is allowed to be angry, is allowed to tell them off and complain without anyone else in the situation vilifying them or saying they’re “overreacting” and “should have just disclosed private information because big deal or whatever.” If they are angry, that’s their right, and it’s not unreasonable, it doesn’t make them a bad person.

2. Your character should not be ashamed of being blind or of covering their eyes. It is a part of their life, they’re used to it by now, even if they weren’t in the beginning.

The shame and internalized ableism is something that should be written about, but that’s for an own-voices story with a blind author. I don’t think an abled person will ever be able to understand how much society expects you to hate yourself and your disability because “being disabled is a tragic thing that ruins your life” and how that does affect your mental health, self esteem, your relationships with others, your medical care, and what kind of accommodations you can get.

3. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few sarcastic lines in response to uncomfortable conversations.

Stranger: so what’s with the...

Blind Character: what’s with what?

S: the... you know

BC: you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific

S: Your eyes?

BC: They’re... eyes

S: but you’re...

BC: Blind?

S: uh...

BC: yeah, I’m blind. *walks away*

Or this conversation:

S: *to some other character* so why are his eyes covered?

(author’s note: which, honestly, that’s fucking rude. At least have the guts to ask me yourself)

BC: If I look anyone in the eye they instantly perish.

*awkward silence*

BC: instantly.

Friend: It’s truly tragic

BC: *melancholic* that’s how I lost my sister. *chokes up* She was so young

Or this conversation:

S: Why are you wearing that?

BC: It’s called fashion Karen!

Or this conversation:

S: are you like... blind?

BC: yes?? why wouldn’t I be?? Wait, are you sighted? Are you one of those sighted people? You poor thing! What caused you to gain your sight? Do you have a car? A bike? Were you born sighted? What’s it like to see color? Do you miss not having to see 

God, I want a chance to try that last one. I haven’t interacted with a stranger in almost a year. One day...

4. Honestly, it’d also be cool if someone’s reaction to your character covering their eyes was like, “cool sunglasses,” or “cool *insert random character, even one you made up* cosplay,” (which is ten times funnier if this character is a notable figure in modern society like an actor who people might cosplay). 

5. You know, if he’s covering his eyes with some kind of blindfold, he should totally have custom blindfolds for his moods. Like, I have a mask that says “suck it up buttercup” and another that says “not today” because sometimes that’s the mood. And sometimes the mood is one of my floral masks, and sometimes the mood is my cat mask.

So, just some thoughts. I hope that helps.

Edit: a commenter said: “op, unless i'm mistaken this kind of reads like anon meant the character ISN'T blind but lies about being blind to explain covering their eyes? it seems like they made a typo on the word "isn't"”

So my original response to the question was based on the assumption that the character is blind. However,

If the character is not blind, then do not under any circumstances have them lie and say they’re blind to escape a mild inconvenience. 

It’s better to have the character actually explain the situation or straight up leave the conversation or invent a more ridiculous lie than to perpetuate the very real stereotype and misconception that there are people who fake being blind and therefore it’s okay to discriminate or harass them if you even suspect they’re faking.

Do not under any circumstances perpetuate that stereotype. Do not harass someone because you don’t think they’re blind enough.

[randomshipshere]

Villainous Quartet (Jin Guangyao, Xue Yang, Su Minshan, Mo Xuanyu) + tiny bit of Chengyao : Part 2

I suck at writing villains so take my dumb Modern AU headcanons:

There's a pole dance room for four in their house because JGY does pole dancing in order to stay in shape, and teaches the other three how to pole dance. XY uses what he's taught at the strip clubs and MXY uses it when he's creating gay porn 3d videos online. SMS does it at the regular gym that has a fireman pole. It's meant for decor, but the staff allows him to use it. He gained popularity, which led to a fitness pole room to be built.

JGY and SMS practice Han Buddhism, so there's an alter, scriptures, statues and more in the house. XY and MXY don't believe in religion.

The company JGY works at is an up and coming marketing company with no relation to the big families: Jins, Wens (run by Wen qing now), Jiang, Nies or Lans. The CEO plans on handing him the company after retirement in a few years.

Since this is modern au where nepotism and filial piety isn't as concrete and social media exist with therapy available, JGY isn't big on gaining his father's attention. He remains and prefers to be estranged from his father, and refuses to take on any Jin project since he's all too aware of their shady business through MXY.

JGY is the oldest of the four. SMS is the second by a few months. XY the third by a year, and MXY is the youngest by three years.

XY and JGY are childhood friends and neighbors who grew up in the slums. JGY was able to get into a wealthy private academy through his grades (since public school is a thing) while XY dropped out of middle school and worked odd jobs.

XY became an orphan when he was 8 because of police brutality. He was taken in by JGY's mother when JGY asked her to. Sisi is around to help pay the bills and is the one to keep XY on the straight and narrow to attend beauty school like her once he was of age.

Meng Shi is alive since medicine has improved, and JGY was able to work off her debt once he entered the work force.

Meng Shi does want JGY to be recognized by his father, but she doesn't force it, especially when JGY tried to talk her out of it. She currently works with Sisi at their beauty salon.

JGY met SMS at the private academy in the same grade, and the two became close friends after being paired up for gym.

MXY is from an upper class family, but like in ancient times, is treated poorly by the main family for being the grandson of an affair between the master and servant.

He meets JGY and SMS at the same private academy. SMS came to his rescue when he was being bullied, which he's done for any other kid in the school as if he was a hall monitor. This one was different since JGY and him were brothers, so MXY clung onto them to keep the bullies away.

XY would tease MXY when they were younger, but MXY didn't mind since XY's own was harmless compared to the hostility he faces from the main family and classmates.

Unlike JGY with Meng Shi, MXY is actually not close to his mother at all like many kids with mothers who were more concerned with image than actual happiness. He still sends her money and gifts weekly, but doesn't see her in person unless she requests for him to make a public appearance. He forces himself to for the sake of her health since she would become hospitalize if he doesn't try to see his father when possible. His mother would gloat about her son's freelance work for important companies, which is worth speaking of since despite being a shut in, MXY's tech work is no joke.

If MXY didn't meet with JGY, he would've worked for his father after obtaining a degree in computer science because his mother told him so. But since he did, he avoids his father, cuts off all connections with the main family, and is living a happy life with his new family.

Since all three have jobs except for SMS, they split their spending this way: JGY's money goes into mortgages, daily necessities like food, and bills because of his job is stable, which is why he is the declared breadwinner. MXY's money goes into buying new tools or appliances, especially the newest versions, and any possible home repairs. XY's money goes into home decor and vacation trips since he's always the one to decide where they go. SMS is the one to directly handle all finances since he's the househusband.

XY makes them go to Anime con in cosplay EVERY YEAR. It doesn't matter what is happening in any of their lives. THEY HAVE TO GO. So JGY always makes sure to always mark that week free and get all his work done. MXY books the business class plane tickets with the first class hotel rooms. SMS prepares the luggage so that absolutely nothing is forgotten. XY is the one in charge of preparing their costumes, and they wear different cosplay outfits for all four days to make the most of it.

MXY loves birds and absolutely hates cats. He pretends to be allergic to cats, so as to avoid them. For birds though, he has the backyard of the house become a bird utopia filled with bird baths, feeders, homes, and plenty of bird first aid kits. He also doesn't eat chicken but doesn't mind it if others do. If he does eat chicken by accident, he bows to his bird utopia for forgiveness since he doesn't like wasting food.

For his drawings, MXY would usually look up photo references, but when he is unable to find the correct angle or lighting, he would have the three help him by modeling. And since they don't have any female friends besides JGY's friendship with Yanli, they have fake boobs and vagina underwear. JGY is unfortunately the main victim to wear these things. But MXY has them do it in a secure location, always makes sure to photoshop his face out of it, destroy the original, and then treat him to whatever he's in the mood for.

When JC discovers the vagina underwear, JGY threatens to murder him if he ever speaks of it to anyone else. And JC doesn't think that he's kidding that even when completely drunk out of his mind with Wei Wuxian and his mouth is about to speak of it, he remembers the threat and shuts up immediately.

[vetlan]

Summary: Nothing says "Impromptu Darkwing Duck Reunion" like being arrested for something a group of lookalikes did, and then being bailed out by a… Darkwing Duck cosplayer? Fanboy? Well, there were odder things that happened in relation to that cursed show.

Characters Present: Megavolt ( Actor ), Quackerjack ( Actor ), Liquidator ( Actor ), Bushroot ( Actor ), Darkwing Duck ( Drake Mallard )

Notes: The Actors are named after the original Voice Actors! Also this isn’t meant to make much sense, I just sat down today and chose violence, and by violence I meant a “short” humor fic based on the idea of the old actors seeing their villain alter-egos on the news. Serisouly how did this turn into writing almost 5k words in one day...

---

Dan Rattus-Sphynx was having a bad day, but not a terrible one. He was stuck in traffic on his way home after a long day at work, thinking on the cold tv-dinner he'd be indulging in while wondering what was causing the hold up -- unfortunately, if he'd been listening to the news on the radio, he would've been tipped off to the one fact that was about to turn his bad day into a terrible one: the old cast of Darkwing Duck was to be brought in for questioning. After Jim Starling's little explosive breakdown, when mirror-perfect images of the old actors started looting and terrorizing the city, the mayor wanted to take no chances.

And maybe then he wouldn't have laughed and asked the cops if they were a fan of his work as Megavolt -- he was pretty sure now, sitting in his cell, that they took that the wrong way.

He was the first to be apprehended.

Next came Michael Peckbell, once known as the actor behind Quackerjack, who was embarrassingly enough, arrested in a clown costume. Dan genuinely tried to hide his snickering as the old clown jingled miserably into the cell, done arguing for his innocence. It is only after he threw a dirty look at Dan that he recognized who he was sharing a cell with, and his annoyance turned to recognition and then confusion, head tilting to the side and making his hat jingle.

"Wait, why are you here?"

"Same reason you are, I guess… There's a warrant for our arrest because some lookalikes decided to rob banks while cosplaying as our old Darkwing Duck roles."

"No, seriously, Dan, why are we here? I was at a brat's blasted birthday party when these BRUTES went and tackled me!" Hands on his hips, Michael didn't look particularly amused as he tapped his foot, and Dan tried his best not to get short with the ex-actor turned party clown.

"Hey, I am serious! It's all they're showing on the news, I got taken while driving home! Wait, shh, do you hear that--" "Oh no, you're not shutting me up--" "I'm serious serious Mike, listen!"

Holding the duck's beak shut, which earned him another dirty look, Dan shuffled them closer to the holding bars so that they could listen to the news from the dingy little tv at the start of the holding cells corridor. Seriously, couldn't they turn the volume up a little? Luckily, as if hearing his silent wish, they do turn the sound up.

"... we interrupt this segment to bring an update on the current string of robberies and break-ins that have been plaguing St. Canard to inform that massive plant growths are starting to block off city exits, we strongly recommend that you resist fleeing the city and instead head home where it is safest -- ah, I am now getting reports of streets being flooded! Again, stay indoors and do not head out until further instructions! Your city's law enforcement is currently working with Darkwing Duck to apprehend the criminals behind this!"

"Oh quack, actual super villains, we're doomed!" A wailing voice can be heard from the front of the police station, paired with a stern: "GET IT TOGETHER, they have Darkwing Duck on the case!" The commotion paired well with the confused and genuinely taken aback look Dan and Mike shared.

"Drkwng dck?!" Mike tries to get through his beak, then realizing Dan was still holding it shut and slapping the hand away. Probably for the best right there, as that exclamation would've been much louder otherwise. "Has the world gone cuckoo? He's fiction! We're fiction! Well, not us, we're not fiction, but the characters we played! They can't be serious, this why we're here? Hah! Give me a break!" The party clown jumps on the cell bars, shaking the door and making a ruckus, refusing to believe a single thing he's heard: "Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny, now let us out!" Each 'laugh' is punctuated by a vigorous shake and increased irritation, visibly huffing from anger from his beak… and absolutely not helping their case. One policeman dared peek over their way, and he squealed!

(Jeez, what is it with clowns and short tempters?)

"Would you cut that out? You look deranged! Is this what you do at birthday parties?" With a sharp tug at the back of the collar, Dan manages to pry his ex-co-star from the bars, who seemingly immediately deflates and jingles to one of the benches, sitting with his elbows on his knees and his cheeks in his hands, absolutely pouting. "I'm not any happier about this than you are, you know! But it makes sense! Almost! It explains why we couldn't get any work done at the office today, our system kept going down like someone was messing with it!" That earns him a scoff from his current cell companion, and Dan can't help but throw a look in the clown's direction. "What?"

"You, work in an office?" The question can come across as derogative, but there's genuine curiosity there. "I thought you were big into the acting thing, had your big break and everything as a villain or something." A pause. "Well, bigger villain than before."

There Dan pauses, brings up an index finger as if he's going to make a point, then just sighs and practically collapses into a slouch. It has been a while since the last Darkwing Duck meet-up, huh? No wonder Mike was so out of the loop.

"Yes, well, I gave it up. Want to hear a secret?" An earnest jingly nod is his reply. "I was asked to return for the Darkwing Duck remake… reboot… whatever movie they were making, but I just said no. I feel like I got typecast into the 'weasely evil rat' archetype, you know? After a while, I just started to wonder if people were laughing with me or at me. At least you made it work out somehow."

"That's exactly my deal! People kept making me into the laughing stock so I figured I might as well be an actual clown and beat them to the punch. The brats are annoying, but it beats the circus I was at before the show. Keeps me from getting rusty, even if I'm just going through a checklist of party-tricks at this point." From his pout, Mike perks up, banging his fist on the bench to his side before standing up again, seemingly bracing himself for -- ah, he twirls into a handstand, and Dan claps in genuine amazement.

"Wow, you still got it!"

"Eh, it's nothing. Unlike you guys, I had to work with Jim directly, by his rules. No doubles allowed, or I was a puffy-tailed coward. Quackerjack had no real special effects, remember? Just toys and acrobatics to use against Darkwing Duck." He could do it, but admittedly his endurance wasn't what it used to be. Still, to be a bit of a show-off, Mike stays like that for another minute before twirling right side up, trying to shake off the dizziness that came up with it -- only to stumble and be steadied by Dan when the lights in the entire station flicker and a distant rumble shakes the entire street, and suddenly they remember their current predicament. Yeap. Whatever was going on was very real. 

"Hey, cut that out!" Someone calls from the front of the police station, and Dan tries his best not to sound absolutely peeved off when he answers back. "It's not me, you bumbling meatheads!" He genuinely tried.

The silence after that is frustrating and uncomfortable. Meeting up was nice and all, but no one was talking to them, they didn't know if their friends and family were safe, and apparently, the city really was being overtaken by super-powered criminals based on characters they played in a kid's tv-show. So Dan sat on the bench, momentarily stunned by that fact even though he was the one trying to convince Mike it made sense, all the while the clown decided to tire himself out further by continuously jumping up to try and look out the tiny cell window they had.

"Would you STOP your jingling about!?"

The only answer Dan got was a raspberry blown in his direction. Real mature.

---

Tino had made his mind up the moment he caught sight of himself on live tv robbing a bank: he was turning himself in. For one thing, it would immediately prove his innocence because he couldn't be robbing banks if he was in captivity, and then he'd hopefully be safe from these super-powered evildoers! Alright, so, well, his initial plan was to flee the city, but then his green lookalike decided to go and BLOCK every exit to St. Canard just as he was trying to drive away. It was almost impressive, really, to see what a bigger budget could have gotten them back in the good old days, but it was mostly terrifying that the guy behind these massive green growths was out there. W-w-what if these copycats had some sort of personal vendetta against the originals?! He wasn't sure why they would, but he wasn't taking any chances! He was driving to the nearest police station and that was it!

Only one road is cut off, the other is flooding towards him and it takes all his composure to slam on the reverse and scream at the same time, and instead, Tino decides to just head for the high ground at a park and go from there. Tino might have been speeding for the first time in his life just then, but he figured that it was fair -- and hey, maybe a cop would come and arrest him! No such luck, however.

The mallard duck looked positively green in the face ( no pun intended ) as he thought over his options, though it felt more like he was frozen in shock, just sitting there with his hands on the wheel and looking straight ahead. Was that… the ground shaking? If he looked at his bobblehead of Bushroot (which he'd be tossing out after this endeavor, thank you very much), he could take note of how it kept shaking as if with the steps of a giant duck --

The passenger door to his car opens, a figure jumps inside and Tino screams like a banshee and just tosses his wallet and car keys at them, fruitlessly trying to open the door and escape after he reactively locked them with the press of a button.

"TAKE IT, I DON'T NEED IT, I'M A POOR COLLEGE PROFESSOR SPARE ME --"

"JUST CALM DOWN, I DON'T WANT YOUR DANG -- wait Real? Tino Real?! It's me! Jack Pumi! Old co-star?!" And as if a switch had been flipped inside Tino's head, first his voice gives out and then his beak shuts, and his feathers unruffle themselves. Yes, he knew a Jack Pumi, that's right.

"Oh, sorry friend! You really shouldn't sneak up on a duck-like that, I feel like I almost laid my heart there!" Tino practically melts into his seat as his stress is wrung out of him at the sight of a familiar face during these scary times. "What brings you to… my car?" Hey, why did Jack get into his car?

"Ah, don't sweat it old chum! We're all a little jumpy nowadays, criminals on the run and all that." The Bushroot bobblehead is starting to shake with considerable vigor, but this is missed by the two as Jack pats Tino on the shoulder. "As for why I'm here --" A look in the rearview mirror, the surprisingly unmistakable sound of a car being stepped on not too far behind them by a giant clown robot. "DRIVE!"

You didn't have to ask Tino twice, even if they both fumbled with the keys back and forth before finally taking off as a massive foot concaved the ground where they just were, but it was best if they focused on that later. Right now, they were flooring it to… somewhere.

"Just like the good old days, don't you think? So, what's the plan, captain?" As Jack tried to hold on through Tino's panicked driving, he felt he might as well make some small talk -- not to mention that he talks when he's nervous.

"In the good old days, we were the bad guys squashing innocent civilians, and I have to say, it isn't much fun when you're on the other side of it! And p-plan, well, I don't know, drive until it leaves us alone? Until the deranged clown gets bored?"

"If I recall, boring that quacking menace is the last thing you want to do…"

"Well, what do you suggest?! Ohnononoit'sgettingcloser!" And the laughing is getting considerably irksome, if not straight up giving the both of them goose-skin.

"Where were you going before I showed up, why were you just sitting there at the park?"

"I was thinking of driving to a police station and hiding there, but the streets got flooded so I drove to higher ground and then… I froze in the existential terror of considering that a super-powered copycat of myself was wreaking havoc."

"First: beats driving in circles trying to lose this clown, second: boy I feel ya, but now's maybe not the time to focus on that pal-io! How's about you really step on the gas and see if we can't throw it off? There, right there! Turn!"

A paired screaming match occurs when Jack just grabs the wheel and sends them on a sudden turn right, Tino struggling to regain control of the car before laughing hysterically with nervous energy as Quackerjack's mech kept going straight… before turning to look at them again. They screamed again and floored the gas as far down as this crusty old car could go.

Meanwhile, Quackerjack just let out a singular 'huh' at the realization that there was a car under him the whole time… before devolving into a manic fit of giggles at the realization of the terror he caused to the two little bugs hidden under his massive robot's beak. Oh, he loves being a bad guy. Endless fun!

---

"I'm TELLING you, that's a giant Quackerjack robot! Look! Look!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I can't jump that high?!"

---

The rest of the drive was… surprisingly peaceful. Sure, there were random root systems on the road that pretty much served as speedbumps every so often, but outside of that there was no sign of any evildoers, only the ominous red glow in the sky coming from some skyscraper or other, neither Tino or Jack cared much for the fancy science labs uptown… but that probably explains the commotion going on! The bet was on if it was science or magic behind this mess, and Tino was feeling pretty sure about his bet on magic.

Alright, so maybe peaceful wasn't the word, more like… eerie. But it beat constant panic 100%, so Tino wasn't complaining! About that, at least. He was most certainly complaining about his current treatment at the police station -- they wouldn't arrest him! Which wasn't a complaint he thought he could make.

"We're not looking for fanboys, we're looking for the actual actors to turn themselves in!"

"F-fanboys!? Why I oughta -- do you expect me to grow a plant on top of my head? I'm Tino Real, I played Bushroot, this is Jack Pumi, he played the Liquidator. What's next, you expect him to turn into liquid?"

Perhaps a bad choice of words, as that's exactly the footage that was shown through live news on the tv right then and there, Bushroot and the Liquidator teaming up and just wiping the floor with what appeared to be… Gizmoduck. Huh. Oh well.

"Honestly, yes. We already caught the other two, and they're not causing any problems anymore."

"Wait, other two? Do you mean Dan and Mike?" Jack interrupts, only to be interrupted himself by the officer that had just been speaking. "Quackerjack and Megavolt," the officer corrects.

Tino can't resist facepalming.

"You can see Quackerjack in the distance from here…" It was true, it looked like he was headed for the building emitting that ominous glow, for whatever reason, but there's no missing that giant clown robot-toy thing. That murmured exasperation does give the officer pause, and he holds up an index finger telling them to wait where they are… which they do, with a tap of a foot and impatient crossed arms, as he walks around his desk, doggy tail impatiently swooshing behind him… before quickly tucking between his legs as he hurried back inside, seconds before the lights inside the station all shut down, emergency generators kicking in seconds after.

"Quackerjack, Megavolt, accounted for. You were right." Snout pale, the dog looked like he was sweating underneath his coat of fur, licking his lips in nervousness. So maybe they shouldn't have been quite as ruff when apprehending the first two… Oh well. "I don't care anymore, you can share a cell with the other washed-up acts." The green duck said something about it being safer in than out, and well, the police dog couldn't exactly argue against it. Besides, the mayor said to apprehend them, right? Hopefully, no word about them trying to turn these two away would surface…

---

"Dan, Mike, buddies, remember me?!"

That got the two sitting in the cell snap their heads up so fast, one could almost hear a whip crack, and Mike punches Dan in the shoulder, a large grin on his face. "See, what did I tell ya, they got caught too, which means they know we're innocent, so they have to let us out. That, and you owe me 20."

"Funny joke, clown, they're joining you, not the other way around."

One click, two click, and Toni and Jack join the other two actors inside the cell, and Toni nearly kisses the floor he's so glad to be inside and safe. Well, safe-ish.

"Haha, don't mind him, we just had a rough trip on the way over, traffic was absolutely killer!" No, Jack couldn't help it, he had to make that joke. "We would've gotten here sooner, but we spent like ten minutes driving away from a killer giant robot that looked like… what's with the clown costume?" It wasn't Quackerjack-y, but that was definitely a clown outfit.

"Oh, was that your car?! Ahahaha -- sorry, sorry, but that's all I could see from that window -- he almost crushed you two a good five times! And I'm a clown. End of story." The tone of voice certainly said so, but then it quickly turned to confusion. "Wait, what do you mean 'gotten here sooner'? You want to be in jail?"

"Well, we, we, we were going to turn ourselves in! And we did! It's safer to be in here than out there, you know! You watched us almost get crushed!"

Mike looks like he's about to say something, and then he realizes Toni definitely had a good point there, so he settles on shrugging his shoulders, looking at Dan and hoping he'd have any sort of opinion on this other than just 'meh'.

"So…" Dan starts, feeling particularly coerced by Mike's incessant staring, but not having anything interesting to talk about.

"So…" Jack copies as he looks around their holding cell before slapping his hands together. "We're staying in here until this all blows over, as I'm pretty sure they know we're not the ones causing the big old ruckus. Kind of slaps me with a terrible sense of deja-vu, to be quite honest. The Fearsome Four, back together!"

That does bring up some amused mumbling from the group, even if the mere mention of the show had since gotten stale thanks to Jim Starling's obsession with it, mentioning it wherever he went.

"The only thing that's missing is Dorkwing Duck, huh?" Mike adds, snickering to himself, before pausing with a pensive look on his beak, and Toni can't help but regret what he's about to ask:

"What's on your mind, Michael?"

"Just thinking, really, but… What if this is Jim's doing? You all heard how he went crazy about the movie, right? Single handedly got it canceled, got into a fight with the new guy playing Darkwing Duck. What if this is him trying to reboot it on his own now?" Ignoring the fact that it sounded like a conspiracy theory, it almost made sense. He hasn't been seen since, so what if he was planning his comeback all this time?

The four occupants of the cell look at each other, and then break down laughing.

"As if! That thick headed, self-centered dimwit couldn't plan something this far ahead!"

"Where would he find these super-powered copycats, anyway?!"

"You'd think he'd come for the source material, if it came to that!"

"Ahaha, I know, right!?"

And just like that, the ice was broken, and the four of them made themselves as comfortable as they could in their current situation, deciding to look at it as a surprise reunion. Funny how most of their problems with the old show stemmed from Jim…

---

A large explosion echoes through St. Canard, and Mike wastes no time in trying to peek out the tiny cell window while a commotion began at the front of the police station. The ominous red glow faded from the sky, the plants withered, lights flickered back on through the city, and floods ran down drain pipes.

Whatever it was, it was done. Hopefully.

---

The next morning wasn't exactly glamorous. They were served their breakfast slop and told to wait until they fixed the bureaucracy involved in this mess, because apparently there was no paperwork for "interdimensional villains from an old live-action hero show", and there was no real proof they weren't connected somehow.

"Outside of the fact that we spent all night in here?! Let! Us! Out!"

"Seriously, what is it with clowns and short tempters…" Dan mutters, but all that Toni and Jack offer him is a vague shrug. Mike was just like that, why else would they pick him to play Quackerjack?

"Experts agree, stressing yourself out won't get you anywhere, friend!" Jack starts, even if he's not exactly sure who the experts would be in this case. It does make the duck stop trying to strangle or otherwise pry the cell bars appart with sheer physical strength -- that, or someone was finally coming to see them. Turns out it was the later, but Jack would like to believe he helped anyway!

No words of acknowledgement, just the same cop that greeted Toni and Jack yesterday, but now, instead of a scared look on his face, he looked positively starstruck. Which would be nice, if he hadn't made it clear that he didn't care about their acting careers, so what gives? The four of them look at each other, and after a vague shrug from Dan, they file out of the holding cells and make their way out. Or plan to, at least, until Mike comes to a full stop and forces everyone behind him to stumble over each other.

"Hey, what gives --!"

"JIM!? I WAS KIDDING WHEN I SAID THOSE THINGS YESTERDAY, I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS ACTUALLY YOU BEHIND THIS --"

The clown-attired duck rattles off, and that startles both the party behind him and the supposed Jim, who jumps a whole foot into the air and stretches his hands in front of him, trying to calm the shocked duck down.

"N-no, no, you got it all wrong, I'm Darkwing Duck! The one and only! Technically based on the remake but we don't talk about it! AlsoI'mabigfanandIwaswonderingifyouwouldn'tmindsigningthisposter--"

The first part wouldn't be unbelievable if it had been Jim, but the mention of a remake knocked it down a peg, and then saying he's a fan and asking for an autograph, even if said all in one breath, definitely meant it wasn't Jim. The (once) Fearsome Four let out a shared sigh that they didn't know they were holding as they surrounded this… cosplayer, for lack of a better term.

"Could've fooled me, you're his splitting image, I tell you what… Well, no, you're smooth. He was more…" Mike takes a second to mess up his face feathers, making it look like he'd been sleeping face down for a month. "Gruff, yeah? You look like a baby in comparison."

"Hey! I'll have you know I saved this city from complete annihilation!"

"What was that about a poster, kiddo?" Jack interjects, leaning over Mike's shoulder. "I guess it's the least we can do for saving our city, and in turn us. Not going to lie, it's been a while since I've signed a poster, ever since I started selling --"

"Tupperware?! I have your entire collection, you weren't lying when you said those things could last!"

Jack had to stop and blink for a second, even if his brain automatically had him fetch a pen from an inner pocket. The guy was a "hero", yet here he was fanboying over a tupperware salesman. "Haha, well, I don't like having my face attached to cheap products, what can I say. So, who do we make it out to be?"

"Uh… Darkwing… Duck?"

"Creative," Dan adds with a snicker, but takes the pen from Jack anyway to sign the poster.

"Short notice, what can I say, I came as soon as I heard that they had you guys locked up in here, after making sure the interdimensional evil-doers were in their respective places of course!" The masked duck before them poses in what they guess he thinks is a heroic pose, and out of politeness they don't mention that it makes him look like an absolute tool.

"So those… look-alikes, they're gone? Oh, I never realized quite how frightening our characters were at the time, it was just a silly children's cartoon…" Genuinely, all that Toni wanted now was to crawl home and pass out for a week straight, even if he might miss a weeks worth of work. He felt like it was only fair!

"Darkwing Duck guarantee! I would tell more in hopes of assuring you, but it's all classified, I'm sure you can understand. Just know that there's a real hero watching St. Canard now! Petty thug or super-villain, I'm your guy!"

The poster goes from hand to hand, and they all sign it before giving it back, and the excitement the masked duck shows for it is a little nice, as Jack had mentioned previously. Usually Jim hogged all the attention at fan meetings, whether the fan wanted it or not.

"Oh Launch… I mean, LP is going to eat his scarf when he sees this! You guys have just made a hero's day! Say, would it be too much if I asked for a h--"

"Yeah, no, too much." Dan deadpanned, and everyone agreed wholeheartedly, instead offering a handshake instead, which is gladly taken.

"So, what are your plans now? I could give one of you a ride!" Wringing his hat between his hands, this Darkwing Duck wannabe looked like he wanted to tag along with them, as if he expected them to act like they did on the show, and an awkward look was shared between the four of them. How to gently let this guy down… Seriously, they didn't need a vigilante deciding reality equals fiction -- IGNORING THE EVENTS OF LAST NIGHT.

"Thanks but no thanks, my plan is to go home, pass out, and forget this ever happened." Answer, you just don't, it's a grown man for quack's sake. Mike drops the cape corner he was inspecting and waltzes out the door, his hat jingling behind him.

It didn't take much for everyone else to follow after.

"Pretty much." "Ditto." "I'm still not certain it wasn't an overly elaborate dream."

Not taking a hint, Darkwing Duck follows after them, waving as they all squeeze into Toni's little car. "Good thinking, guys! Just remember, if there's trouble --"

"You call DW!" Alright, he could have that one freebie on the house, Jack decided, even if everyone else in the car stink eyed him for indulging the masked weirdo. "What, it is a catchy tune!"

The car wasn't the only thing grumbling as it drove off.

[fallroute]

This is a headcanon that is diving into darker territory for Nimue. Trigger and content warning for the following: Groping, attempted rape, actual rape, victim blaming, namecalling, acephobia

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT IS WRITTEN HERE. IT’S AWFUL. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Nimue feels heavily uncomfortable in dresses and skirts. This stems from her prom night in high school, where she’d made herself a casual but pretty dress to wear. Her date, a well-known jock with an ego a mile wide, had a lot of trouble keeping his hands to himself.

Especially on the road home. He was fondling her breasts, her butt, anything he could get his hands on to get her in the mood for what he wanted. He’d pulled over and tried to rape her. Torn her dress, tried tearing off her bra and panties, pinned her down and tried to rape her.

The key word is tried. Nimue, at that point, had been taking self-defense classes for years and had also been training herself in parkour and acrobatics to take the role of Ignis later that year for a group cosplay. She’d used what she learned to get herself free and grab her shoulder bag purse before high-tailing it out of there. It left her feeling dirty, gross and alone.

It didn’t stop there, though. She called her dad, crying, trying to tell him what happened. He believed her right off, taking the rest of the night off work and picking her up with spare clothes he bought as quickly as possible so she didn’t have to stay out in the cold for long. It was just a dress shirt and a pair of jeans, but they were the safest thing Nimue had ever put on. Her dad promised he would take care of it once he was certain she’d be okay. Her mom also promised she’d take care of it, and her stepdad could be heard yelling “who the fuck put their hands on my wife’s child?!” in the background.

But her stepmother...

“He was only trying to make his night special. Why did you have to ruin it by being a prude?”

....didn’t believe that it was rape. She thought Nimue had lead him on until she decided that she didn’t want to anymore, putting the full blame of the incident on Nimue. No matter how hard they tried to tell her otherwise, her stepmother didn’t listen. She would throw slurs around, calling Nimue a slut, a whore and a cum dumpster, despite the fact that Nimue was still a virgin.

She would shame Nimue for not letting herself get raped by the boy, constantly inviting him over when her father was gone and then leaving. Trying to get Nimue raped, as the jock would attempt each time he was left with her. Nimue would tell her father, her stepmother would lie and say that Nimue invited him.

And when Nimue told her that she wasn’t interested in sex at all, and that it was definitely an attempted rape that night, her stepmother wouldn’t believe her. At all. It was her stepmother who orchestrated Nimue getting raped, as she tied Nimue up and then called the jock over. Stood there, smiling smugly as her stepdaughter was raped over and over again until the jock was satisfied. And then had the gall to ask her if she enjoyed what she’d been wanting this whole time.

Nimue blamed herself for it all. She wasn’t the same for a while, and her dad eventually figured it out when her stepmother was bragging about it to some of her friends. About how her “prudish stepdaughter” had finally lost her virginity and “found the right man” to “cure her supposed asexuality”.

All hell broke loose. Her dad rightfully wanted a divorce, her stepmother constantly refused and exclaimed that Nimue was to move out with her new boyfriend. That they could be together now that Nimue was “cured of her ‘ailment’”. It ended up with Nimue, her father and her stepmother’s daughter leaving and moving elsewhere to get away and serve her divorce papers.

Though traumatized from her experience, Nimue kept a brave face until she couldn’t handle it anymore. Developing Dissociative Identity Disorder in response to her trauma, Nimue formed two alters.

Said alters ended up being mainly fictive alters. Ignis formed first and became the main personality when she would dip out due to trauma. He ended up being in charge of most day-to-day tasks and keeping her father and stepsister appraised of the situation.

Gladiolus formed next. He was her protector, who fronted immediately and forcibly when she met the jock as he’d been sent by her stepmother to take her back. When she finally resurfaced after the forceful switch, he was begging her to stop, to let him go. And she did, staring as he ran away. Wondering what she did while she was out.

The switching wasn’t constant, but was enough for Nimue to finally seek help two months before she was due to go to the convention. In therapy, she learned of the existence of Ignis and Gladiolus, the two alters who had formed in response to her trauma. Though fictives were rare, hers were developed as a way to keep a line of normalcy for herself.

She learned of how Ignis kept things going when they switched, how he attended her classes for her and took pristine notes of each subject, interacted with her fellow classmates as if he was her.

Gladiolus admitted his part: he had beaten down the jock when they’d met. Protected her from him harming her ever again. She learned, from him, that she had more strength in her body than she realized thanks to all her self defense classes and self-imposed training sessions. Enough to beat up a teenager with a superiority complex that was taller than her.

She learned how to live with them as a part of her, and learned her switching triggers to lessen the times the three of them switched with one another. There were times when Nimue would allow Ignis to front to give herself a break from everything for a bit, or when Gladiolus would want to front to protect the three of them from any form of harm. Even if it meant getting rough.

The three of them worked like a well-polished system, a rarity in itself. Nimue knew that she had to learn how to work with her alters, and so she did. Even to this day, Nimue continues to work in tandem with her alters to make life easier on her.