#The serial adopter is real

[aen-ren2]

HP X DC

An AU where young weak wizard Bruce Wayne (Battinson) ended up adopting Tom Riddle after receiving a prophecy about the future dark lord. He may or may not fucked up.

This come from how people keep saying that Bruce adopted all his kids to stop them from becoming evil, and I guess Bruce's adoption habits wouldn't recognize the boundaries of world differences and such.

Bruce is not good at magic, but he's a master at beating people up with his bare hands. He used his wand just to stick it up into bad people asses! (Tom secretly think it's cool)

Bruce, standing awkwardly, staring at Tom, whispering: .... Do you want to be adopted by me?

Tom, noticing at how rich Bruce looked like with his fancy suit, etc: ... Is that even a question?

.

Random Hogwarts student: You're adopted by Bruce Wayne? Isn't he—

Tom: Continue the sentence and drown in hell

.

Bruce, feeling guilty: I'm sorry I can't teach you much about magic... I never good at it

Tom, who's mastered every spells perfectly: Actually, I'm the one asking whether you want to be taught by me or not

Bruce, ignoring him: I can teach you combat if you want to

Tom:

Tom: Sure

Bruce is always sensitive about magic, maybe there's something more about him to look up. Tom might be hate helping other people than Bruce. But at least it's still better than nothing, right?

... Right?

(ignore the bad English)

[mx-heinous]

Bruce Wayne is hella suspicious

Like, outside of being a billionaire, he just feels too well-adjusted, you know? With that kind of backstory, it would've been natural for him to be a rogue, but somehow, he isn't. People have looked into the guy's past to try and find dirt on him and... nothing. There's nothing. He does a lot for Gotham, but what's the motive? He's rich rich. Why would he care if he wasn't hiding something? Didn't he also completely disappear for a couple of years? What was he doing? Also, it's Gotham, the place where your postman could secretly be a serial killer. Everyone's a little off here, but not him. Why?

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 20 thoughts:

I legit have restarted this post at least 10 times. I just. I can't even figure out what to say. What an arc. Holy fucking shit what an arc.

The last vestiges of Taylor's civilian life are swept away in one smooth motion.

I could have read another 5 chapters of Emma getting her shit handed to her though.

I've been waiting for something to come back and bite that girl since Arc 1. So I'm just riding high off of that.

Taylor getting all upset because it isn't real justice is silly though. Girl you've been fighting a broken system from day 1 and you have been doing that by breaking the rules. This is just the same thing.

Also god dammit Greg. Just had to go and run your mouth.

I mean sure Taylor could have possibly solved this issue without going to school herself.

And she could have just not gone to the office with Emma.

But blaming Greg is easier and more fun. God dammit Greg.

I had to lose my mind a bit at Taylor talking about how there was no gang graffiti on the school walls TEN SECONDS AFTER WALKING PAST GRAFFITI FOR THE UNDERSIDERS. Like, that's gang graffiti hon!

Dennis trying to help Taylor with Greg when he didn't know who either of them are is funny. Dennis seeing Taylor named as Skitter 15 minutes later is HYSTERICAL!!

The second Taylor was entered into the computer system it was pretty obvious that Dragon was going to show up, given what she said in her interlude in Arc 10.

And knowing she was going to show up it should have been obvious that HE was also going to show up.

Even if he wasn't palling around with my robot daughter it makes so much narrative sense for him to be there when she is outed. Full story arc, all that jazz.

And yet, I still wasn't quite expecting it. Cause I hate that man so much that I just had to make myself believe he wouldn't show up.

Mother fucking Colin

RoboCape himself

He has the nerve to show up and then he starts APOLOGIZING? And it appears to be sincere? Fucking dammit man you were so easy to hate for so long! Why you gotta mess with me like this?

STOP DOING THE RIGHT THING AND LET ME HATE YOU GOD DAMMIT!

siiiigh

And then of course we have to talk about Dragon.

Dragon who didn't want to do this but had to.

Except that Colin had a code push ready and she could have told him to do it at anytime. But she was willing to do what she thought was wrong instead of doing the update. Until she got inspired by Taylor's actions.

I love my robot daughter exactly as much as my bug daughter, but I am disappointed that she was almost willing to go through with everything. Happy she fought back though.

And if Colin's hacked together code did any permanent damage I'll destroy the man.

Taylor learning that Dinah - either by force or by choice - gave the PRT numbers to let them know to come after her at the school was heartbreaking to watch. She just wasn't ready for it at all, poor child.

AND TAYLOR'S SPEECH THOUGH!

HOLY SHIT!!!

Sort and simple and she fucking rallies the students to her. Against the heroes!

Gotta be one of the best moments in Worm for sure. Even if every Arc after this is a banger that's still gonna be a hard moment to top.

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

And someone gives her a hoodie to help her hide and just aaaahhhh!

AND THEN AFTER THEY GOT AWAY AND ALL THE STUDENTS WERE LIKE "You saved my dad" "You stopped Leviathan at the shelter" "You fought off the SH9" AND SHE WAS JUST OVERWHELMED BY IT ALL?

HOLY FUCK JUST AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also for real though Dragon is free. Like sure it's taking her some time to recover and she can't talk right now (which like I get it, we all have non-verbal episodes sometimes), but as long as nothing goes wrong she is free. I'm so fucking happy for her.

But also I'm terrified cause I know what happens to full AI's with free will in most things. Worm is very different from most things. But I'm still worried about my robot daughter.

Also I never cared much for Danny but obviously it still sucks to be him here. The scene with Taylor saying goodbye with the butterfly was emotional.

Oh oh and! Taylor talks about the butterfly being her "last contact" with her Dad. Very much bug as an extension of self. It's a shift she's been making.

Even more so there's a point where she is trying to get out of the school and she gets to the door and has a bug clone on the other side and says "my hand pressing against my own, separated by an inch and a half of door". Like, the bug clone hand is just her hand. I fucking love the shift compared to how she talked about the bugs early on.

Oh and also Greg totally has like, a Thinker 1 power or something. Pretty sure I mentioned that last arc with his interlude but mentioning it again now to be sure.

Stan interlude thoughts:

Oh my god I hate this man I can't stand him I hated him from the 3rd sentence of the chapter and I was always right to do so!

Seriously. 3rd sentence (or maybe 3rd paragraph which is technically the 3rd, 4th, and 5th sentences I guess). I read it and went "fuck off Stan you're clearly a pretentious dick" and then every few sentences it just became more confirmed!

Just the ways he talks about Nipper. Like. I can rephrase what he says to say the exact same thing except not being a asshole when saying it! Instead of "She was weak and unsuited for the field but she at least tried" just say "She was a hard worker despite being assigned to a job she did not ask for"! It's so fucking easy dude!

Anyway Stan is a jerk.

I loved the way this interlude rolled through different people all watching the same news report. It was a really good way to cover this major story event and let us see how so many other characters were reacting to it.

Also I'm sure all those Slaughterhouse Nine clones aren't going to be an issue later right? Or the fact that there is specifically only one clone of Gray Boy instead of 10 like everyone else? I'm sure that's fiiiiine.

Accord interlude thoughts:

Oh. Oh my. Uhhh. Is it hot in here all of the sudden? Anyone else feel that? No? Just me?

sweats

Oh ok Citrine definitely feels what I'm feeling. She knows what's up.

Just like. Look. Accord is bad ok. Not just cause he's a villain but clearly he'll kill for the smallest cause. And he's in a spot to fuck with my daughter and her polycule so like. Yes. He's bad. I do not like him. I want him to leave. I don't think they should work with him . . .

but . . .

OH MY FUCKING GOD HOLY SHIT PLEASE ACCORD I LOOK GREAT IN PURPLE AND I LOVE DRESSING FANCY AND I'M VERY GOOD AT BEING PROPER I WON'T MESS UP AT ALL I'LL BE THE PERFECT MINION PLEASE!

. . .

cough

Soooo anyway. How about that Butcher huh? That sure is a wild power. Instantly made me think of Glaistig Uaine's power. Very different but reaches into that same base bit, the idea that some part of a dead parahuman can be held onto.

Also holy shit Skitter was so badass in this scene I loved it.

Holy shit Accord is with Cauldron. Or at least closely aligned. And like of course he is it makes so much sense. He's too useful for them to ignore.

I am really curious to see what Accord's power does when he's confronted with a really complex problem. End of the world, doors to another dimension, higher dimensional beings, all that jazz.

[epicswagdivorceguy1]

every time i have a particularly bad loss i leave the lobby to go hang out with dj octavio, which thinking about from his perspective must be kinda odd.

like, you (leader of an entire military force) are stuck working as a cashier at a festival with your ex husband (who won't even acknowledge your existence), and now some random inkling will occasionally angrily stomp over to your merch booth to stare at you and cheer you on (at your job as a cashier). most of the time they don't even acknowledge the actual idols performing.

[queeniewithabeanie]

The Nappers

Dpxdc Prompt #10

Danny was really excited to spend the summer with his second cousin(?) he didn't really remember, but apparently Jack Fenton's cousin was Gotham billionaire Bruce Wayne, a serial adopter.

Jazz had discovered the connection and gave him a call to see if he'd mind Danny staying over for summer because Danny decided he was going to tell his parents at the end of summer about his ghost problem, and Jazz wanted him to have a safety net.

He didn't really have a big family at home, with his parents being largely... absent and Jazz moving to Gotham for college. It would be great to be in a house that wasn't empty again.

Now if only his newly discovered family could stay awake long enough for Danny to talk to them.

"So how's living with our cousins?" Jazz asked him through his Fenton-phone. He flopped onto his bed and groaned.

"They're all seem nice but I haven't really seen enough of them to know yet."

"Danny, you've already been there a week, shouldn't you know them at least a little bit? You usually warm up to people quickly, as long as they aren't trying to kill you."

"Man I kinda wish they were out to get me, then I'd probably see more of them than I have already."

"..."

"..."

"Okay Danny walk me through our family, and what you know so far about them."

"Well first there's Dick, he apparently lives in Bludhaven and supposedly comes back to Gotham to visit fairly often, haven't seen any of him yet though."

"Then there's Jason, I've seen him come over after dinner a couple of times, but he's seemed in a really bad mood and I'm getting weird vibes from him so I haven't talked to him much yet either."

"Cass, Steph, Tim, Damian, and Bruce are the ones that actually live here at the manor and outside of when I first arrived I haven't actually seen them awake enough to talk to me. Anytime I've caught a glimpse of them they're taking naps and I'd feel bad waking them up, Tim especially (he looks like he needs the rest)."

"What are they, nocturnal or something?

"That's what I thought too! But the Manor is even more dead during the night than the day. If I had wanted to live with a bunch of zombies I'd have spent summer in the zone, not come all the way here."

"The only people that have stayed awake long enough for me to actually get to know them are Duke and Alfred! Duke's great, but he seems to have a day job so I only see him for breakfast and dinner and any time I can catch him before he sleeps after. Alfred's amazing, but he already has so much to do around the Manor, I feel bad bothering him."

"It is only the first week you're there, and there was a huge Arkham breakout your first day so everybody around Gotham is a bit tense while the Bats are trying to recatch everyone. Could you give it another week for me? See if it'll be an option for if our parents react badly?"

"For you, Jazz, I'll give it another week, but I can't just trade one empty house for another."

"Thanks, little brother."

"Love you, Jazz, bye."

Danny hung up the phone and sighed, he new there was something off with his cousins, but he couldn't quite place it. Constantly napping, disappearing during the nights, but always on guard when they were awake.

He had a week to figure it out, but if he didn't there'd be no real lost love. He'd come up with some excuse, stay with Jazz for the summer or something. If his parents reacted badly and he didn't have this safety net, it'd be difficult sure, but Danny and Jazz would figure it out.

Danny thought it would be nice to have some other family that had his back for once, but hey, maybe he just had shitty luck when it came to blood relations.

[naileadevoras]

another week , another gift ! today i'm sharing a list of secrets that i've compiled over the years of being in the rpc .

under the cut , there are 70+ secrets that i have individually grouped into different categories to make it easier for you to browse through the extensive list . although not all of them focus on dark & mature topics , keep in mind that a handful of these still have certain trigger warnings so please proceed with caution . hopefully you find this masterlist helpful .

a like and reblog would be greatly appreciated ! enjoy ♡

🔐 DECEPTION & LYING .

pretending to be vegan for attention.

assumed someone else's identity.

pretending to be in university when they've actually been kicked out.

lies about having certain allergies for attention.

fakes their instagram posts to appear more interesting.

has lied about the number of people they've slept with.

has changed their identity to run away from their past.

is faking their name / ethnicity / age / backstory etc.

is hiding a physical / mental illness.

is pretending to be color blind to seem more interesting.

has gone to random funerals for the free food & lies about their relationship with the deceased.

🔐 FAME & BEAUTY .

has had extensive plastic surgery but lies about it.

uses ghost writers for their songs.

has a secret love child with their co-star.

is dating their significant other for publicity.

is a social climber.

becomes friends with celebrities to rob their homes.

runs a blog with dirt on socialites & celebrities.

causes scandals to gain relevance.

🔐 FAMILY & FRIENDSHIP .

comes from a wealthy family but pretends to be broke.

has given their child up for adoption.

knows they aren’t the real biological father of their child but pretends they are.

knows that their parent is a murderer but hasn't told the police.

pretends to come from a wealthy family but their parents are actually drug addicts.

tells their friends they're an only child when they actually have siblings.

has been forced to participate in frowned upon things by their parents / friends.

caught one parent having an affair with the same sex but hasn't told the other parent yet.

gave up their newborn & their friend / parent / sibling is raising the baby as their own.

as a kid, saw their mother shoot their father but hasn't told anyone.

pretended to be pregnant but had a surrogate carry their child.

went into their friends house after they died & stole a bunch of their things.

🔐 LOVE & LOSS .

uses hook up apps for attention but never meets up with their matches.

has catfished someone they liked / didn't like.

is using their significant other as a "beard".

only dates people that are famous and wealthy.

they are still not over their ex.

uses an ouija board to communicate with the dead.

is currently cheating on their significant other.

is currently cheating on their significant other with their best friend.

has kept all major secrets from their significant other in fear that they would leave them.

has helped their significant other bury a body.

🔐 MURDER & CRIMES .

has cried to get out of a speeding ticket.

has bought a stolen cellphone & keeps getting calls from the owner.

is a kleptomaniac.

has seen a sibling / friend commit murder but is too scared to rat them out.

commits tax fraud.

has broken out of prison.

is a stalker / has a stalker.

has a side job where they do illegal businesses.

has a restraining order against someone.

has past criminal offenses e.g. public intoxication , underage drinking , dui , drug possession , scamming , vandalism , etc.

steals valuable items & sells them on the black market.

thinks they've committed a crime even when they didn't.

has had to clean their dead friends belongings & found out they were a serial killer.

steals from grocery stores all the time.

is withholding information about a police case.

they've gone to jail for a crime their friend / family member committed.

🔐 POWER & MONEY .

spends all their money on designer clothes but lives in a run down apartment.

dates & marries people for their money.

has gambled their entire life savings away.

used their power & money to hire a hitman for the person they hate.

has embezzled a few million dollars.

hires random people to be their friends.

their father is the leader of the largest criminal organization in their area.

🔐 SEX & DRUGS .

is a masochist.

used to be a porn star.

has depended on drugs for years.

has a drug / sex / alcohol addiction.

has participated in a "glory hole" multiple times.

has had parents try & hire a hooker for them when the parents found out they were asexual.

participated in the casting couch.

goes to aa / na meetings to make friends even though they're not addicted to drugs or alcohol.

has hooked up with more than 100 people in less than 24 hours.

hired a prostitute to lose their virginity to.

runs a very popular faceless nsfw blog.

pretends to have sex all the time but is actually a virgin.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Ms. Holloway’s time in this bracket is over.

Doctor Carmilla will advance to round 2!

Round 1, Match 4 REDUX: Doctor Carmilla vs. Ms. Holloway

Link to original poll + associated propaganda: HERE

[misspantymime]

Bat X Family ("Operation: Surprise Adoption – Bat-Family Breakdown!")

a/n: I took way too long for this, but in my defense I am very tired and full of cheesecake.

Taglist: @c4xcocoa, @shinning-stars, @whognuthis, @dkddkdkdkdkdkdk, @nisarelle, @tree-ag, @welpthisisboringing, @sugary-strawberry-shortcake, @thatoneraeder, @celesteelysia, @scentedwombatarcade, @nxdxsworld, @lonely-entity, @jsprien213, @cocobally229, @kokazuu, @alishii, @misdollface, @charlenexoxo1, @wendee-go, @lunoorbonoor, @rainschnael, @punkandnerdy9, @mintynilla, @nervousalpacalady, @mallowryblog, @sirenetheblogger, @cupid73, @doggyteam2028, @nanazuly, @gaychaoticraccoon, @iarainha,

Anya Forger! Child! Reader x Yandere! Platonic! Batfam

The silence that followed didn’t last too long. The tense atmosphere dispersed to give way to a more astonished silence. Until the spell was broken by a half-amused, half-incredulous bark of laughter from the right side of the room. Not even bothering to hide it, Jason leaned slightly forward to sit at attention with a smirk.

“Wait, wait a second B,” He barely got through without a chuckle, “That’s what you got us here for?”

Bruce sighed, setting you down with only a slight sound of discontent from you. As you tugged on the hem on his suit jacket, Bruce tried to tune out the fussy whines that negged at his ears and addressed the others, trying to nip any other comments at the bud.

“It would appear, Master Wayne,” Alfred said with no small amount of mirth in voice as he set down a tray of tea, “That the agenda of the family meeting has changed significantly.” 

“She’s–”

“No, I’m sorry– what? “ Tim asked flatly, lowering his cup finally. “Did you adopt another kid? Today?”

‘Is he serious right now? I took a break from three ongoing investigations for this? There's not even a dossier. Who is this kid? Where’s the logic? Did he adopt her on the way home from patrol?’

Bruce opened his mouth to– what? Confirm? Defend himself? –but Stephanie cut him off with her on two cents.

“Oh my god, no way,” Steph snickered. “B, did you actually?”

‘Oh my god. Oh my god. He really did it. Bruce Wayne, serial child adopter. This is unreal.’

Jason, more than a little tickled by the revelation, couldn’t help but snark, “Damn, you adopt so many you got the next one free?”

‘Yeah, this is a sick habit at this point. Should I ring up a shrink?’

Duke’s eyes flicked between them and him, looking like he was still trying to make sense of what he was seeing. 

Cass stared directly at you, which made you stare back unabashedly once you realized you weren’t getting his attention away from the hectic scene. Barabara, meanwhile, shot Bruce a look, one she usually reserved for malfunctioning tech– sharp, unimpressed, and far from flattering.

Dick, for all of his adaptability, seemed to be struggling to grasp the situation, “Bruce, what the hell?”

‘I left Blüdhaven for this? There better be a real explanation coming, because we’re one more “surprise child” away from a reality show.’

You gasped and pointed at Dick, “You said a swear!”

Jason leaned down and said in a mock whisper, “Hey, kid, no one likes a narc.” 

He then turned to Bruce again. “But seriously, where’d you get this one?”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep inhale, before trying to explain, again. 

“Like I said, this is (Name) –”

“That's hardly an explanation, Father.” Damian remarked, also far from impressed.

‘Of course he goes and picks up another stray. Replacing me with something smaller and louder, how predictable’

“– And she’ll be staying here in the manor.” He finished shooting him a look.

‘For now’

“Okay, but why?” Dick stressed the question.

“Cause he’s my Papa!” You answered quite matter of factly, before Bruce could. “And the Nice Moustache Man said I live here now!”

Unintentionally, that just seemed to heighten the chaos.

“Wait, what?–”

“–Oh my god–

“Father, this is–!”

“–Nice Moustache Man?” Duke blinked, seeming to only be able to voice that question out of many others he had.

“I believe Miss (Name) is referring to Commissioner Gordon.” Alfred provided some help.

“Oh, uh, right.”

“She’s your kid? Like, biological daughter?” Barbara inquired sharply.

‘He did not. Not again. I swear to God, if this affects the Wifi budget or security layout I will–’

“Gordon ran a DNA test,” Bruce pushed on, as composed as he could be, looking down at you. “The only match that came up…was me.”

The room stilled for a second. Maybe two.

Then Tim actually laughed—dry, disbelieving. “No. No way. No way science betrayed us like this.”

‘That’s impossible. DNA tests aren’t foolproof. I’ll re-run it myself. This is like finding out Batman’s blood type is glitter.’

“Holy crap, so you mean this one is, like, legit?” Stephanie probed further.

‘Damn we could go on TLC at this rate.’

‘So, what, you knoc–”

Alfred cleared his throat and shot Jason a pointed look.

 “–uh,” Only slightly skipping a beat, he asked instead.“The stork visit again?”

‘This is gold. He actually did it again.’

Damian physically recoiled. “So you went and impregnated some random harlot?”

‘After you told me I was a “mistake”? You absolute hypocrite.’

Bruce shot him another look, half-pleading and half-exasperated, even as the last word seemed to go over your head.

Duke piped up, “Uh, I don’t think I signed up for this. Where’s she even going to stay?”

‘But where is this going? Am I gonna be babysitting in shifts now? I didn’t sign up for Babysitter Batfam.’

“If that thing is sleeping anywhere near my wing–” Damian started, voice dripping with venom.

‘I will physically move. I don’t care. I have standards.’

“I sleep in my own room! It’s a big one, too! With a TV!” You proclaimed loudly.

“She is staying in the western wing for the time being, Master Damian” Alfed answered before prompting Bruce, calm as ever, and placed another cup of tea on a tray. “Perhaps, Master Bruce, if you were to elaborate how this situation came to be, it would assuage some of the more… energetic concerns.”

‘Translation: I will not be the one cleaning up the tea you throw at each other if you keep this up’

“And for the time being,” Alfred turned to you, taking note of the overwhelmed look on your face as your feature contorted slightly. From a headache, it appeared. “I will entertain Miss (Name) while you discuss the intricacies.”

Bruce almost sagged with relief, even as you hesitated. Alfred kneeled closer to you and offered a warm smile, “If you’d like, you may help me with baking cookies, Miss (Name).”

That caught your attention, “Can they have peanuts in them?”

“But of course.” Alfred replied, offering a hand which you took.

Before he led you away, you looked over your shoulder and waved cheerfully. “Bye-bye!”

‘Okay. I need to hack the GCPD database. Again. Gordon had to have missed something. No way Bruce just… had a secret kid this whole time. No way.’

‘Aww, she’s cute. But, yeah… she’s definitely a clone. Or spy. Maybe alien? Wait, is that mean to think about a toddler?’

‘This is too good. Maury Povich, eat your heart out.”

‘This was not in the job description. Are there labour laws for vigilante childcare?’

‘She flinched. Even when no one was speaking.’

‘I give her three days at most before she runs off screaming. Or bites someone. Maybe both.’

‘Great, Alfred’s soft for her. I give it week, tops, before she’s hacking the Batcomputer.’

‘You don’t get to lecture me about wearing protection when this is the second time this has happened, Bruce.’

And once the door shut behind the two of you, the others pounced on Bruce once again. 

“Alright,” Barbara said sharply. “When did this happen? Who’s her mother? How old is she? And why are we hearing this for the first time now”

“Listen, I don’t know anymore than you all do,” Bruce confessed, exhausted. “I only found out about her a few days ago, before she moved in.”

“I know you all heard about the trafficking bust.”

That sobered the room. Faces grew tense as any traces of a smirk or smile faded.

“She was one of the rescued kids. All the others had records—missing persons, medical files, something. But her... nothing. No ID. No birth certificate. No trace.”

He turned to Tim. The father faded and the tactician emerged.

"Tim, I need you to find out everything you can—quickly and quietly. Background, medical history, anything. There has to be some trail.”

Glancing at Dick, Bruce continued, “See if Blüdhaven PD has any reports on girls her age. Anything suspicious. Even if it’s closed.”

“Okay, but B, this is still wild, you know?” Dick responded sounding a tenth of exhausted as Bruce felt. “I mean you had me call before I even brought a dog home, and now you suddenly have a whole kid?”

“If it were up to me, she wouldn’t be here," Bruce admitted. "This place… it’s no place for a child. She’s not a case. Not a mission. She's just a kid”

“Like we weren’t all kids.” Jason quipped, on a bit more somber note.

“You know what I mean. She doesn’t know anything about what we do, and she doesn’t need to. If she had anywhere else to go, she wouldn’t be here”

“So why keep her here at all?” Damian asked what they all were thinking.

“It’s only for the time being. Until we can find any living family members.”

If they all sensed the uncertainty in the air, no one commented on it.

a/n: Did I write the batfam well? Maybe not? Either way, it's hard to write thoughts and dialogue at the same time. "( – ⌓ – )

[tf2heritageposts]

alright i have som time to relax so as a quick break from the horrors we are currently in, here is a dedicated post on what i’m calling “soldier is a polish immigrant theory”. it says what it means

now how could soldier, man of america, ever be possibly not born and raised in america? well, there’s a few different instances where soldier is shown to have bad english

such as these two instances in comic one where solider refers to the band the beatles as if they were an object (the correct phrasing would be “those are the beatles” or “they are the beatles”) and says scout went to a “crying hospital” when it seems like he meant “crying at the hospital” and not a hospital dedicated to crying. the writers of tf2 are all american and speak english as their first language, so it’s not like it’s a translation or actual grammar issue.

furthermore, soldier is shown to not know anything actually about america

such as him not being able to identify new york as a state/city in america despite objectively being the most well known city and state in the united states

then of course there’s the thing that is one of the most well known things about soldier, seen on his page on the tf2 website

soldier has been in poland before but the blurb acts like he was already in america during this. but it begs a few questions, namely

why doesn’t it list a specific state where soldier is from? midwest could mean a number of things and soldier doesn’t actually have a midwestern accent, moreso a very stereotypical seargent voice reminiscent of those on tv. and the thing is we can actually infer soldier is a movie buff because he makes a disproportionate number of references to movies compared to everyone else including teriminator 2 which isn’t a war movie. what’s to say he’s not putting on the accent, or adopted the accent after watching a war movie? a lot of his knowledge about america and life in general is very reminiscent of action movies, and would make a lot more sense on why soldier acts like such a stereotype of an american, specifically a stereotype that other countries get from america based on our movies edit: i just remembered soldier also references a few specific actors in his voicelines, specifically his meramsus ones

and the thing is we know soldier has a very hard time telling reality from his own imagination, and we see him hallucinate frequently in the comics or seem to have straight up delusions. you could also point to the lead poisoning but the fact is soldier does seem to have a degree of straight up psychosis which could be impacting his ability to truthfully tell people where he’s from. what’s to say that the blurb isn’t also his imagination in a american psycho type of way? it’s a very action movie thing to be denied being in the military so you go out to do it yourself. maybe the denials weren’t real, or maybe soldier actually was applying to the polish military and got denied but his brain thought he was applying to the american military? maybe he thought poland was america?

so here’s my theory

soldier is a polish man, a big fan of movies especially american action war hero movies. he starts developing any of the number of disorders that cause psychosis gradually, and starts acting erratic. he heard about the war but doesn’t realize it was already over so he flew over to germany to kill nazis but then ended his rampage when he realized they were german citizens. now the german police were on his ass, so he immigrated/fled to america where he landed in teufort. this is where he developed his lead poisoning, and his psychosis got even worse and developed straight up memory loss from the brain damage lead poisoning can cause. he got rid of his ids when he fled, and he looks so different to what he looked like back in poland that nobody’s able to identify him as the serial killer in germany, and now he roams teufort as a mercenary who can’t even rememebr his own name

( mandatory aside, we do have psychosis in the form of a few different disorders that cause it including schizophrenia and experience delusions. promise i’m not being one of those people)

[honeykaes]

masked fantasy

slasher!lyney x reader II 2.8k

warning: smut, 18+ content, minors do not interact, afab!reader with no set pronouns, modern au, implied!yandere, implied murder, fingering, cunnilingus, use of toys, creampie, overstimulation, dacryphilia, praise pussydrunk!lyney, established relationship, gaslighting/manipulation, mention of blood, unedited

synopsis: you've been on edge lately seeing news report after news report of people killed by a masked pierrot serial killer, targeting people you seemed to vaguely know. your boyfriend, lyney, insists you drop it and focus on him instead to try to get your mind off of things. you listen, but something in the pit of your stomach continues to nag at you.

Gloomy clouds above hid the stars and the moonlight above. Rain loudly padded against the windows, a small waterfall streaming down it. You snuggled into your blanket further on the couch in an attempt to knock the chill away from the living room. A sigh emitted from your lips watching the 6:00 p.m. news report of yet another murder in your town from a masked serial killer. This wouldn’t very unique to some; however, you began to notice a pattern 

The media and detectives have deemed him the Pierrot—a serial killer who dons a French Carnival-Style Jester mask. Reports from the police said he’s still at large and seemed to be killing indiscriminately, but you knew a little better. The photos of the victims all shared one thing in common with you, you had vaguely known them in the past. 

One was an old high school classmate, another was a teacher's assistant who once assisted your professors in college, another was a barista worker from a cafe you sometimes go to, even old childhood friends you haven’t spoken to for years. You wanted to chalk it up to a weird coincidence but the pit in your stomach churned, discouraging you to relax. 

You worry whoever this masked killer was, he was working his way to you.

Thunder suddenly boomed in the sky, causing your body to jolt from the noise. You let out a sigh; the stress seemed to finally be getting to you. 

Your boyfriend walked in, an amused but concerned smile on his face. You and Lyney had been dating for a while now, meeting in college when you decided to study abroad in France. Eventually, you moved into his place that he shared with his two siblings—his twin sister Lynette and his adoptive younger brother Freminet. 

Things were great with Lyney. He was doting, caring, and amusing as well. He made you happy; he felt real. He was someone you could imagine marrying maybe in a year or two.

“You alright? You seem a bit jumpy today,” he hummed, handing you a mug of hot chocolate. The aroma of the milk chocolate made your mouth water as marshmallows floated on top. You flash a small smile, taking the mug for him and taking a sip—hoping the warm liquid would coax your anxiety.

“Honestly, not really. The whole Pierrot serial killer thing has been really bothering me lately. I vaguely know the victims, albeit there aren’t people I know like that or associate myself with now. But, still! I recognize them,” you sighed, looking at the reflection of your mug. Lyney’s face slightly softened at your confession.

“...I’m scared that the killers are actually targeting me. Like this is some fucked up mind game or whatever. I’m scared it’ll also mean the people that I currently care about are in danger too. …like you,” you muttered. Lyney chuckled slightly before you looked up at him and narrowed your eyes. He covered his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter, murmuring apologies as he tried to calm down.

“Darling, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Besides, you have your amazing, attentive, loveable, strong boyfriend here to help. I’m here to protect both you and my siblings,” he chimed, leaning in to peck your forehead. You side-eye the man as he plopped down next to you on the couch, placing his mug of hot chocolate on the coffee table. He grabbed some of the blankets covering your lower body, getting in close to cover his form as well. Your thighs and sides pressed together as he smiled.

“I don’t know if a shortie like you will be able to fight off a psychopath,” you chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Slight annoyance flashed through Lyney’s amethyst eyes as he pouted.

“You’d be surprised…” he muttered. You chuckled once more before leaning in to kiss Lyney’s plush cheek as his eyes softened in affection. 

“Well, let’s just lighten the mood. We were going to watch Halloween special shows after all,” Lyney chimed, leaning over to grab the remote and change the television. That was right, today was supposed to be your date night. Freminet was having a sleepover with some of his friends and Lynette, begrudgingly, went out to give you two some space.

You felt Lyney’s hands underneath the blanket stroke against your thigh. At first, it was his thumb, before his whole hand slowly crept up and down. You gazed flickered to his that were glued to the television screen, albeit they were half-lidded and a smirk fell on his now rosy face.

“Well, aren’t you a bit touchy,”  you murmured.

“Oh, am I? I didn’t seem to notice,” he hummed back, turning his gaze towards you. As he leaned in close—lips hovering by your own—a cell phone rang loudly. Your body jolted up once more, not expecting the sudden noise as anxiety shot throughout your entire body. Lyney flashed a sympathetic smile as a soft chuckle echoed out. He padded your thigh to try to comfort you, reaching out to grab his phone that was ringing out.

“We got to get you to relax, mon amour,” he murmured. He got up from his seat, walking away from your form. 

Guilt gnawed on your body. You felt bad for being so anxious lately from this serial killer like your body is completely on edge as if you were a rabbit in the den of wolves, but you shouldn’t.

“I’m in my home. I am with my loving boyfriend. I am okay, I am safe,” you whispered out to yourself. Eventually, Lyney walked back in, and settled back to his spot on the couch.

“That was Lynette. She said that she would be coming home around midnight. It gives us plenty of time if you want this that is,” he stated, letting his hands trail across your thighs. You smiled, placing your hands on his cheeks. The corners of his lips curved up, leaning his head against your touch.

“I think a distraction would be good for me,” you whispered. His nose brushed against yours, lips hovering to where they once were before the interruption.

“Then forget all your troubles and leave everything to me…”

His lips finally found themselves to your own and you brought him closer to you. Your legs widened as his knees sank against the cushion of the couch to lean to you, deepening the kiss. Your hand reached over, softly grazing the crotch of his pants feeling his half-hardened cock pressing against his jeans. A soft moan escapes his lips, still connecting with yours before he parts away, and trails them along the nape of your neck.

“We…need to go to the bedroom,” Lyney groaned, continuing to kiss down your neck and nibble at the sensitive skin. Your body shivered, and you bit your lip to hide the smile creeping on your face.

“Oh, but you’re the one who has me pinned down here,” you reminded. With a grunt and pout, Lyney leaned back up, grabbed your hand, and found his way to your lips once more. The two of you bumped into walls—taking each other’s clothing off, leaving a trail to your shared bedroom. Lyney pushed you down on the bed as he slowly crawled on top of you with a mischievous smile.

“You seem so eager now. What’s the difference, chérie?” he hummed, dragging his lips across your thighs. His hands squeezed at your thighs as his lips finally trailed along the plush flesh. His hand reached to cup your cunt earning a soft moan from you as he nipped at your thighs. 

“You seemed to be a great distraction, I guess,” you whined, grinding your core into his hand to encourage him to stop teasing you. Lyney playfully rolled his eyes, letting his two longest fingers sink inside your cunt, drilling them to precision and skill.

“‘I guess’” he mocked. “You, out of anyone, should know I’m more than just a ‘guess’. You know how well you enjoy passing the time with my fingers deep inside of you like this…or my mouth…or my cock. As he continued to plunge his fingers deeper inside of you, feeling your walls flutter, he couldn’t stop himself from grinding against the bed to try to get some friction on his throbbing clothed cock.

He soon learned near your drooling core, globs of your slick clinging against the fingers plunging inside of you.

“But, it’s fine. I’ll ensure you’ll think of me and nothing else. Just me and only me,” he stated. He finally pressed his lips against your clit as your body jolted in delight. Your hands dug into his soft ash-blond hair, pulling him in even deeper as his chuckles reverberated against the nub. He darted his tongue out, beginning to slowly swirl circles along the perimeter of it before letting his tongue flick rapidly on the bundle of nerves.

Your body shivered in pleasure, back arched, as Lyney tried to contain his smile, feeling your thighs beginning to press against the cheek of his face. He continued to flick his tongue against your clit before encompassing his lips around it and sucking on it—fingers not wavering and continuing to thrust inside of you.

Lyney lifted your leg against one of his shoulders and he pressed the flat of his tongue against the nub, offering a few gentle licks on it before he shifted back to suck on it. You writhed underneath him, as his blunt nails dug into your hips to try to prevent you from moving too much. The sinful sounds of slouching echoed out in the bedroom, your cheeks hot feeling overwhelmed by the attention and meticulous touch of both his mouth and fingers.

“Lyney, oh fuck. Please, please…!” you begged out. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head, back arched once more—quivering—as you finally reached your high. His breath is heavy, letting your leg fall back down on the bed, leaning up to watch your pussy convulsed against nothing. His lower mouth glistened in your arousal as he licked his lips to clean up what slick clung onto there. The sweet taste of it was enough to make Lyney grin, watching your tired form trying to recover from your climax. 

He leaned down against your side, feeling his hard and pulsating cock against the soft globes of your ass. He grabbed a handful of the globe, letting his cock slide between your thighs and slit a few times. As he made contact with your overstimulated clit you jolted and a soft whine emitted from you. Lyney laughed, tapping his tip against it a few times before he finally let himself slowly plunge inside of you. 

As Lyney slowly sank deeper, He moved his mouth to your neck, groaning loudly, feeling your walls pulsating. When he finally bottomed out, his lips softly kissed your neck before rutting into you. The sound of slapping skin was loud inside the room and the smell of sweat wafted throughout it too. Lyney continued to nibble at your neck, admiring the bruises and hickies he decorated on the skin. His groaning got louder as he sucked a breath in, feeling your walls beginning to cave and tighten. 

“Fuck,” Lyney moaned out loudly. You gasped as you felt him move and shift your body. Your ass hung in the air, as your head said laying on the pillows. His nails harpoon against your ass, drilling himself even deeper inside of you. As he continued to rut inside of you, he leaned down and kissed your back, groaning once more. He could feel your walls continuing to cave in, making it harder for him to control his thrusts and not lose himself too much in the pleasure.

He suddenly slipped out, cock quivering as he took a few breaths to try to control himself from climaxing. As he softly sighed, moving past it, he opened his eyes and admired your widening hole drooling out. 

“W-What are you…” you asked, softly before Lyney pressed a finger to his lips. He reached over to the nightstand, rummaging through it. You thought he was looking for a condom, but your eyes widened seeing him pull out a small bullet vibrator instead. He held down the button on the side as the contraption began to vibrate erratically in the palm of his hands.

“I think keeping you on your toes would be best for tonight. Besides, I haven’t heard you use this before when I’m in the shower,” he chuckled as you bit your lip in embarrassment. He slid his cock back inside of you, before snaking his hand around and pressing the erratically moving vibrator against your overstimulated clit. You cried out his name, his thrusts deep and rapid. The whole bed creaked to his fast strokes, Lyney’s breaths getting heavier as he repeated your name in a slurred way as if your cunt had made him drunk.

“There…there…there…that’s right,” Lyney moaned out. You covered your face feeling tears begin to prick out as the pleasure and burn of overstimulation settled in. You shout his name, body convulsing as you reach your high for the second time tonight, writhing for what it seemed like hours beneath him. 

In a dazed form, you felt Lyney flip you over admiring your absolute fucked-out form, quickly turning the vibrator off and throwing it across the bed. He continued to plunge himself inside of you. His eyes admire your chest bouncing to the fast pace of his thrusts. His cheeks were flushed and his voice whining, grunting, and groaning your name. You could barely focus on anything, your legs instinctively moved and wrapped against his small waist.

“I love you. I love you. Je t’aimerai toujours. Je n’aime que toi!” Lyney moaned out. He leaned his head back, snapping his eyes shut as he finally reached his high. His hips continued to bug, thrusting the ropes of cums deeper inside of you. He bit his lip as another soft moan emitted from him, taking heavy breaths before looking down at you. 

He smiled, wiping away the tears pricking your eyes, speaking softly, and whispered in his mother tongue affection gestures to make sure you were alright. He placed his forehead against your own seeing you slowly come back from your senses, eyes completely tired but your form relaxed. There wasn’t an inch of tension he could see that you had before.

Lyney brought his lips down against your own, offering a slower and more sensual kiss.

“You know I’d do anything, absolutely anything for you. I love you so much it hurts,” he whispered. You smiled, pecking his forehead as he slowly pulled himself out of you. Soon globs of his cum began dribbling from your cunt and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Your eyes drift to the clock; Lynette will be coming home soon. You two needed to clean up and shower to avoid any unnecessary awkward conversations.

You finally closed your legs, moving to get up from the bed you accidentally hit the vibrator down as it fell to the floor. You sighed as you got up, your legs wobbly as you tried to readjust yourself.

“W-Wait! Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it and change the sheets. You just go clean up in the bathroom. If you need help just tell me, but I don’t want you to fall!” Lyney suddenly murmured. He seemed oddly on edge suddenly. You shrugged, leaning down to pick the toy up.

“It’s fine, it’s just right here. I can take…care of it….” your voice trailed off. Your eyes catch something odd under the bed. You reached to grab it, revealing that same Jester mask you saw on the news report from earlier. Parts of it seemed more damaged and cracked than the rendering the broadcast had, with a particular smudge with a dark red substance splattered on it.

Dried blood. 

You look up in horror to gaze back at Lyney. His eyes, which you always knew were sweet and kind, looked back to you with more of a darker twist—his lips cemented in a frown. 

“I told you to drop it, didn’t I…?” he sighed. You felt frozen in shock and fear as Lyney moved from the top of the bed to join you on the floor. His eyes, still twirled with that dark emotion you couldn’t read well, but his gaze softened. His lips curled up in a smile, you couldn’t tell if it was genuine or if he was just trying to comfort you from the revelation.

He dragged his thumb against your cheek, wiping away the tears that cascaded down. You didn’t notice you were crying.

“....Because sometimes we prefer the fantasy than the truth darling.”

[murderandcoffee]

avatar oc ideas so far:

eye avatar who feeds on the gossip and secrets of the people in his small town

slaughter victim (veteran) turned avatar (serial killer)

stranger avatar who embodies the fear of running into someone you never want to see again by adopting the visage of said person (idea from @melandrops)

end avatar based off of the washer at the ford/bean-nighe (a passive omen of death rather than an active bringer of it)

flesh avatar who performs gender-affirming surgeries on people with transphobic families (and uses the "disposed of" materials from said surgeries to build a "child" of sorts)

spiral avatar who turns horrors from people's nightmares into real things

inclement weather-themed desolation avatar (hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes)

dark avatar who drags people into caves and mutates them to resemble cave-dwelling creatures (colorless skin, no eyes, etc.) until they are barely human anymore

buried avatar who lives at the bottom of the ocean and sabotages submarines/drowns divers

web avatar matchmaker who pulls people into bad relationships

vast avatar who untethers people from gravity and either lets them float endlessly upward or who makes them fall to their death (it depends on their mood)

hunt avatar who turns prey animals into predators and vice versa

extremophile extinction avatar who leads a doomsday cult

corruption avatar who withers/decays/erodes anything they touch

lonely avatar who disappears lone hikers in deep wilderness

bonus: spiral avatar who is a compulsive liar, but whose lies become true for whoever they tell them to

[asnowperson]

I recently got this book, 少女漫画家「家」の履歴書, which has interviews of 12 shoujo manga artists who debuted in the 1970s where they talk about their homes and families. The book's pretty interesting. They were originally published in a Japanese magazine over a span of time, Shuukan Bunshun.

I wanted to share this little bit from Aoike Yasuko's feature (first published on January 16, 2020). It gives a nice insight about the shoujo scene of the time (and what a queen she is).

Sons of Eve, which started its serialization in January 1976 issue of Akita Shoten’s Viva Princess magazine when I was 27 was the turning point for me. My interest in world history, familiarity with Christian culture, glam rock, ballet, movies, literature, humor… I poured all the things I loved, I was knowledgeable about and the curiosity which I had kept bottled up inside of me to The Van Roses, the band of homosexuals, and let it all out into the wild. Before becoming a freelancer*, things have been really harsh for me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t draw the kind of manga the editors and the readers wanted to see for the life of me. If I hadn’t start freelancing, it would have been the end of me. But Sons of Eve even made me ask to myself: “Is it okay to put all this stuff into a shoujo manga?” The response of my editor at Akita Shoten was “More. MORE!” That really encouraged me (laughs). *She used to have an exclusivity contract with Kodansha, which stipulated that she only drew for their magazines.” I did From Eroica with Love with the same editor. The first chapter was released in the winter (December) issue of Princess in 1976, then it got a regular serialization. I adopted ideas from what was happening in the real world, and started drawing how fate brought a British master thief (Earl) and a German who works at the intelligence bureau of NATO (Major) together. The shoujo manga tradition at the time was to set the story in a foreign country, which young girls admired so much. At the beginning, From Eroica with Love was one of those stories too. Which is why the Earl who got introduced in the first chapter has the image of a stereotypical shoujo manga character, with flowers in the background. However, Major who got introduced in the second chapter is someone who is miles away from what comes to mind when you think of shoujo manga. Drawing a straight-laced character like Major who says what he’s thinking with no filter whatsoever was extremely fun. With how international affairs escalated, I got a very positive response which allowed me to draw what like even more freely.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Literary Realism

Literary realism - a literary movement that represents reality by portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life.

It depicts familiar people, places, and stories, primarily about the middle and lower classes of society.

It seeks to tell a story as truthfully as possible instead of dramatizing or romanticizing it.

Types of Literary Realism

There are a few different types of literary realism, each with its own distinct characteristics.

Magical realism. A type of realism that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. Magical realism portrays the world truthfully plus adds magical elements that are not found in our reality but are still considered normal in the world the story takes place. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967) is a magical realism novel about a man who invents a town according to his own perceptions.

Social realism. A type of realism that focuses on the lives and living conditions of the working class and the poor. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (1862) is a social novel about class and politics in France in the early 1800s.

Kitchen sink realism. An offshoot of social realism that focuses on the lives of young working-class British men who spend their free time drinking in pubs. Room at the Top by John Braine (1957) is a kitchen sink realist novel about a young man with big ambitions who struggles to realize his dreams in post-war Britain.

Socialist realism. A type of realism created by Joseph Stalin and adopted by Communists. Socialist realism glorifies the struggles of the proletariat. Cement by Fyodor Gladkov (1925) is a socialist-realist novel about the struggles of reconstructing the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution.

Naturalism. An extreme form of realism influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, Naturalism, founded by Émile Zola, explores the belief that science can explain all social and environmental phenomena. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner (1930), a short story about a recluse with a mental illness whose fate is already determined, is an example of naturalism.

Psychological realism. A type of realism that’s character-driven, focusing on what motivates them to make certain decisions and why. Psychological realism sometimes uses characters to express commentary on social or political issues. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866) is a psychological realist novel about a man who hatches a plan to kill a man and take his money to get out of poverty—but feels immense guilt and paranoia after he does it.

History of Literary Realism

Literary realism is part of the realist art movement that started in 19th-century France and lasted until the early 20th century.

It began as a reaction to eighteenth-century Romanticism and the rise of the bourgeois in Europe.

Works of Romanticism were thought to be too exotic and to have lost touch with the real world.

The roots of literary realism lie in France, where realist writers published works of realism in novels and in serial form in newspapers.

The earliest realist writers include Honoré de Balzac, who infused his writing with complex characters and detailed observations about society, and Gustave Flaubert, who established realist narration as we know it today.

History of Literary Realism in the United States

The first American realist author was William Dean Howells, who was known for writing novels about middle-class life.

Another early American realist was Samuel Clemens (pen name Mark Twain), who was the first well-known author to come from middle America. When he published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884, it was the first time a novel captured the distinctive life and voice of that part of the country.

Similarly, Stephen Crane’s 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage told the real but previously untold stories of life on the battlefield. These stories encouraged more American writers to use their voices to speak truth to the real conditions of what life was really like, whether at war or in poverty.

Other well-known realist American authors include John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Edith Wharton, and Henry James.

History of Literary Realism in the United Kingdom

Literary realism existed, in some form, in England before the genre was fully defined. Some critics credit the first British novelists, like Daniel Defoe and Samuel Richardson, as realists, because they wrote about issues related to the middle class.

Once realism took shape, George Eliot published Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life in 1871, which is considered the most famous work of literary realism to come from the United Kingdom.

The genre developed in parallel with the U.K.’s new middle class and authors took the opportunity to echo their interests and concerns.

Other well-known British realism authors include George Gissing, Arnold Bennett, and George Moore.

Source ⚜ Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[gwenyn28]

It has been two days now and I had a lot of time to think about the whole discourse that happened especially yesterday. I was also able to talk things through with a friend. So here, have my thoughts on that discourse and the show in general.

In my opinion the whole discourse started because of Eddie not being in the episode at all. I think we all can agree on that, right? But actually, I also think that the problem runs a lot deeper. It might have been Eddie this time while the source of this whole discourse lies somewhere else.

We need to acknowledge one thing before diving into this. And that is that this show isn‘t high peak media. It is our „silly little wee woo show“. And we should treat it like that, first and foremost. Knowing about its flaws and how they often handle stuff not properly or how it should have been done. But we still love it, right? That is what we‘re here for.

So. With this out of the way… You can love something and still criticize it. There is no „go big or go home“ here. I can‘t speak for everyone but most of the people I saw on my timeline, speaking for the „Eddie side“ were like this: „I loved the episode. The emergency was great, the acting was amazing. I am excited for the second part. Even though it would have been nice to have Eddie included somehow.“ In the first place, most people acknowledged that it would have made no sense to put him into the emergency itself because he is still in Texas. But there could have been other ways like a facetime call during the first few minutes when we had the unrelated Batheny, Madney and HenRen scene. People complaining about him not being in the emergency? That was added later on, after the whole thing already escalated into a „everyone against everyone“ monster.

I don‘t want to blame any „side“ with „but you started it“. No. For me, that would be the wrong approach. Yes, the topic with Eddie still stands. But actually, it runs deeper in a way that this show has lost one essential part in general lately. This time the discourse started with Eddie but to be honest, it is lacking the familial connections in general. Not only for Eddie. It feels as if all these characters/couples just coexist in the same universe without having any deeper connection. It‘s mostly an outsider brought in to give them a story.

Ortiz was a threat to Mara and HenRen adopting her. Gerrard was the new Captain after Bobby quit that tormented the team. Brad was the obstacle that annoyed Bobby.

The question is: What about the sense of cohesiveness? The emergencies themselves might have gotten better this season, switching between serious and whimsical in a nice way. In the usual and well-known 911 way. But why are these emergencies not connected to the characters anymore? None of them really had a huge storyline that was really satisfying and left us „well fed“.

Hen‘s last bigger storyline was the adoption drama that revolved around the kids. Why not show her connection with Chim, especially since him and Maddie temporarily took care of Mara? This would have been perfect for some conflict between these two best friends that maybe could have lasted throughout a few episodes.

Chim‘s last real storyline was… the wedding? I am not sure, I really can‘t remember anything bigger happening to him even though he deserves it. That is why I am not unhappy about him being infected during this two parter (though I think that they could have gone with something else because… another disease? Really?). For the serial killer part the focus was more on Maddie.

Buck had a few storylines here and there and yes, the relationship was one with a bit more focus. But I think we all agree that they didn‘t do him justice at all with that. He hasn‘t even acknowledged his bisexuality yet. Instead he is floating around, having some minor spotlights here and there and that‘s it. He wasn‘t even shown after that kind of „big“ reveal about „Would it be that crazy to be in love with Eddie?“. These feelings haven‘t been explored yet. On the contrary. It felt as if the seed was planted… but someone forgot to water that plant now.

Bobby had more storylines, yes. But that is all. The amount is different. But there was no complexity and well thought-through plot. Stuff was made up for him but then changed halfway and switched and got twisted until we had weird things that made no sense (the cartel in season 7). Why did he even forgive his mother that fast? It was resolved in one episode. While he started angry and distant (relatable) he forgave her all of a sudden just because she has cancer now. Everything is roses and bubbles. Wow. Or what about the Brad thing? Yes, I know a lot of people have problems with the Hotshots storyline. Because it was not used to its full extent. It would have been amazing (and a lot of people were anticipating it) to parallel the Hotshots episodes and filming to the real life 118 stuff. It was there - rebar guy, the lightning scene… But it went absolutely unused. And instead of a fun little nod towards a 118 meta it was just annoying that Brad got that much focus (not to shit on the actor because he is sweet and well-loved by the cast and crew).

Athena‘s last bigger thing I can remember was the cart cop and the rookie who shot a woman. We know that they love the copaganda life. But why does nobody talk about another rookie now? The episode ended with her acknowledging that it might be the right thing to take a step back (paraphrasing it). But nobody has heard something about it ever since.

And last but not least, Eddie. The source of the whole discourse this time. I get it that a lot of people (me included) are not satisfied with how his storyline was treated these past two seasons. It felt sidelined that after the whole Kim debacle at the end of season 7 it took them six episode to address the „missing joy“ and how much it influenced him not being with Chris. As if they took six episodes and were „oh, damn, we forgot that he has a son in Texas who left. Quick, let‘s whip something up.“ Therefore the dance scene. We might have gotten two episodes now with the Texas arc but… since it has been a while that season 7 ended it feels as if, again, they just remembered that they should do something to wrap up this storyline.

So, let‘s be honest. Like I said. We know that this show isn‘t the best. But we still love it. Mostly because of that feeling the show gives us. How we get emotional. But lately, the emotions were more about fandom stuff than about the episodes. I liked most of them but they somehow felt off. The glue that keeps the 118 family together is missing more and more lately. They act less like a family and more like co-workers. And that feels wrong on so many levels.

And now to episode 14. The first part of the Contagion plot. Let‘s ignore the random scenes in the beginning and focus mainly on the lab accident. The acting was amazing and everything felt good and was exciting. And, let‘s admit it… with how the team stormed into the lab to get that fire under control? The explosion? Hen injured (she was really overdue for an NDE)? Chim infected? Buck in panic that he might loose his team? Maddie devastated because she can‘t do a thing at dispatch? Bobby feeling responsible for his team in that shitty situation? Athena on the outside not able to help her husband? And Ravi somehow finally admitting that he is part of the team, part of the family?

That is what people were waiting for. At least for a bit coming back to the familial connection. They are a team. A family. To say it with Eddie‘s words „That‘s what the 118 is, the family we chose“. But unfortunately he was not a part of the family this time. While everyone else was finally for this one episode (and probably the next) back to the deep rooted bond they share, that they would do everything for the others because they love them and care for each other… he was missing. The family had an Eddie shaped hole the show didn‘t acknowledge.

I don‘t mind that the characters haven‘t acknowledged it. It‘s been… what… an hour? Since the accident happened. No time to call him or inform him yet. But the show could have acknowledged him. With the aforementioned scenes with all the other couples in the beginning. To acknowledge him being there, him still being a part of that family even though there are hundreds of miles between them. The facetime call I was talking about for example.

So, I don‘t want to parrot what has been said so many times over these past probably 48 hours. I am not here to discuss these things again. And while I might have talked a lot about Eddie myself in that time, I think I made it clear that while he is my favorite and that‘s why I talk about him a lot… I can still see the bigger picture. And the actual issues that the show has.

I get it when people say that we should accept the things for „it is what it is.“ And mostly? We do. We accept it. Because we can‘t change it. If we don’t like something, we can always resort to fanfic. But what we can also do is talk about it. And hope and wish for better storytelling for ALL the characters. Because, like I said before, the show is lacking cohesiveness. It feels as if they have a huge pile of boxes and every character is in one of these boxes (in Eddie‘s case it‘s probably a closet xD).

And they have an idea about a story and then pull over one box to use that character to interact with outsiders who create conflict or give them a story while all the other boxes mostly stay closed and untouched. Why not mix the boxes? Why not have them interact more? What about Hen‘s and Chim‘s friendship? What about Buck‘s and Bobby‘s father-son-relationship? What about Athena and Hen? Eddie and Bobby? But all that is pushed aside for side characters or stories that look good on the board.

It wouldn‘t be such a huge problem if these stories would be well-rounded and thought through. But instead of this they lack a lot of connection and since often a lot more is filmed but cut we feel like we‘re missing essential parts in that plot and get confused how this got resolved in the end. Like the story about Bobby‘s mother, for example, who gained forgiveness after years of neglect just because she is sick now. Did we miss something on the way to that?

I know that has been a lot to read now and I am not sure who is still with me but… let‘s sum this up. We might talk and theorize about the show a lot. And that is a good thing. And we‘re all united in the love we have for this show and the characters. But we also should acknowledge that the show is lacking a lot in storytelling lately and that people do and are allowed to talk about that. How disappointed they are in a certain storyline. How something got resolved. How a certain character is treated. That is not hating on the show. It is just an exchange in opinions.

In the end, that is what fandom is there for. Imagine how boring it would be if we‘d all agree after every episode that this was „10/10“ and „amazing“… and then we have nothing to talk about anymore after listing the great things we saw on screen. Imagine we had all the same theories after one bts or still. Wouldn‘t that be boring real quick? „This still could mean that XY happens. - Yeah, you‘re right.“ The fandom would be really… uninteresting, wouldn‘t it?

Fandoms live because of discourse, different ideas, theories and opinions. It‘s okay to voice them in a respectful way, without insulting each other, hating each other or jumping someone‘s throat just because you disagree. I mean… „agree to disagree“ is still a thing, right?

Also, I understand that our nerves are raw. These past months have been hard because of a certain group of people that has constantly attacked and harassed people. So, most of us are probably very quick to get defensive or protective. Because of what has happened over the span of these last weeks and months.

But let‘s not forget that actually we‘re on the same „ship“, on the same side. We should not attack each other because someone has a different thought or theory. If you disagree either talk about it in a respectful way (you might learn a complete new point of view you haven‘t thought about before) or just scroll past it. Don‘t try to act like other people‘s opinions and views are wrong, don‘t invalidate them. Because we shouldn‘t forget that also people‘s own experiences might play a part how some people interpret a certain situation.

So, instead of jumping each other let‘s agree that this is our „silly little wee woo show with flaws“ and that it could be better concerning the character development and cohesiveness for all of them even though some people might just talk about one character in particular but think and care about all of them. Let‘s stop policing what others should think or post. Instead we should unite to enjoy the show together that has a few episodes left this season and is renewed for another one so that we have another year with these beloved characters. Let‘s hope that the writing will get better and unless it does, that people will talk about it.

Because in the end, we‘re here for the same thing, right?

[deathlygristly]

For some reason I decided to read a Reddit thread on When The Phone Rings. Yes, I know, that's on me. But I've seen the sentiment on here too.

I guess it's what the kids call "antis"? Like this is a fictional show, none of it is real, and I seriously doubt any of the people watching will ever get switched for their older step-sister in an arranged marriage to the presidential spokesperson, who is the son of another chaebol family that's into politics. But then it turns out that the original son of the political family was a serial killer and the grandfather tried to drown him when he was a kid and then replaced him with the orphan who grew up to be the spokesperson. But the serial killer son survived the drowning attempt, and now the grown up serial killer son and also possibly the twin of one of the serial killer's victims is coming after the adopted son.

Like y'all are not going to be in this situation IRL, okay? You are not going to be in an arranged marriage with a man who is severely traumatized by seeing the drowning attempt, being taken from the man who had taken him in and raised him, and forced to live with people who did not like him and who controlled and abused him and who only wanted to use him to appear "normal" and "likable" so they could win elections and get political power.

And if you ever are in that situation for some reason, it's extremely unlikely that after three years of not communicating at all and pretty much being strangers you'll be targeted by a kidnapper, steal the kidnapper's phone, use the phone to finally communicate a bit, and end up with your husband revealing that he's obsessively loved you all along.

This is fiction. Maybe the female lead falling down a cliff and being fine and the male lead being in two explosions and being fine would clue you in on that? I don't know. Like someone said in the thread, these people must be why dramas all have a disclaimer now at the beginning saying that the drama is fiction and the events aren't real or based on anything real. Not that it helps.

It's just....it's weird and kind of conservative Christian culty how they're all "oh noes but young girls will think that it's okay if their husband doesn't talk to them for three years and is a bit mean!" If you're really worried about that then maybe you should be teaching your daughters or younger sisters or young female friends or students or whatever about boundaries and abuse and emotional awareness instead of not communicating with them at all, like how you say it's so bad that the characters are doing in the beginning of the show?

Also, okay, I've been married for 22 years and we started dating 25 years ago. I can assure you that the spousal person is awesome and our relationship is fine and healthy and the people at our favorite restaurant exclaim over us every time we come in and when I was in the hospital after gallbladder surgery the doctors called us "lovebirds." It's very easy to separate reality from fiction and to enjoy watching characters and stories that aren't your personal perfect ideal template of whatever and still have a healthy and enjoyable life.

If it's not easy for you, I think that's more a personal matter that you need to investigate and work on in your own life instead of judging and hating strangers online about it? Maybe you could look into resources for recovery from high control groups?

[01may1994]

aaron minyard's life will never stop being funny to me. your mother is abusive and you become addicted to drugs. you discover you have a twin brother and the guy doesn't want to fucking talk to you. he goes to juvie and then comes to live with you. he kills your fucking mother. he doesn't talk to you. your gay cousin comes back from Europe and adopts you. your brother almost kills some more people and now he has to be medicated all the time. you get a scholarship to play a stupid sport at a dead-beat team of rejects with basically your whole family. your brother still doesn't talk to you. he carries knives now. he adopts a guy who had his hand crashed and looks like he ran away from a cult. he's a celebrity. you meet a girl that you like but you can't be with her because your brother might kill her. he still doesn't talk to you. new guy gets signed up on the team and he has all your warning bells going off. your brother seems to agree. then suddenly he's part of your little gang. your brother and him talk a lot apparently? (he doesn't talk to to you) said guy can't keep his mouth shut for 5 seconds. he is a real asshole and he knows german. you have to keep up with uni because you want to become a doctor. you kill your brother's rapist. he goes away. you still haven't talked. he comes back. the insufferable brat goes missing. he is the son of a serial killer? no, fuck that. him and your brother are a thing? are they for real? you're half convinced your brother is doing this to spite you. you're going to the championships against a team used as a front for the mafia. you just wanted to become a doctor.