#the explanation point Is in fact important to add. 2 me

[ohmydais]

I LOVE the line “It’s far too late find L. A., you know” SO much and I have no idea why

[tetsunabouquet]

Why Isha is the Most Misunderstood Character from Arcane S2: My Headcanons

A/N: After doing Sevika, I really just wanted to write this in defense of my little sweetheart, because the hate train against her is just dumb and occasionally downright ableist in how some people talk about her being mute. As a HF autistic woman, that shit just disgusts me so here I go!

-First of all, let's adress the hate towards Isha for 'magically fixing' Jinx. It's far less magical then you think. Ever heard of inner child work? Jinx might not have been working the classic techniques, as Isha acted as a proxy for Powder instead. That scene of Jinx just drifting off mentally as she does Isha's hair, talking about how she didn't do that with Vi? It very much gives off the vibe that Jinx would have liked to do the occasional girly things wih Vi as a child and that her inner Powder finally feels heard in that moment. They had been together for months at that point, so I doubt that was the sole moment Isha allowed Jinx to work through her problems by Isha being a proxy for her past self. -Secondly, let me adress the common criticism that she has no goal or whatsoever and is just there to idolize Jinx. You should all take some media literacy classes. She's very clearly set up as a mirror to a young Powder AND Vi, so why can't you see the obvious parallels?! Jinx has become like Vander, a symbol for the undercity and their fight against oppression but she doesn't wants to fight anymore. Isha isn't pushing Jinx into a hero role because she's a fangirl. But because she HAS a goal. Like Powder and Vi, she genuinely wants Zaun to be liberated and is trying to encourage Jinx to get back in the game just like Vi tried to do with Vander! Whilst the circumstances leading up to that were different, Isha even gets imprisoned for trying to make a stand for the undercity just like Vi did. I don't want to be hateful like you guys but seriously, do you Isha haters really need dialogue THAT badly to point out the obvious? -Isha's lack of voice also refers to her lack of family. Whilst she could be mute because of disability, there is also the possibility of her never having learnt how to properly speak as an orphan, as well as the possibility she became mute through trauma. As a mirror, it's highly likely Isha's parents were also brutally murdered. With 2 of the 3 explanations pointing into the direction of her being mute due to being an orphan, it's statistically likelier for this to be the actual reason. -Which adds an additional layer of tragedy to her character. Because going mute through trauma as well as being mute due to being a 'feral' child, can be dealt with! People tend to get over traumatic mutism and whilst feral children missed some important milestones, Isha could still be taught to speak basic sentences with the right help. This seems to be highlighted with how Isha learns to stand up for herself and be more assertive. She's crawling out of her shell and just when you could catch a glimmer of who she could become, she dies. With Sevika now being in charge as part of the Council, the aid Isha would need to regain her speech are now available to the children of Zaun. It's heartbreaking to think about the future Isha could have had if she had just survived the attack on Viktor's camp. -With how desperate Isha was to have a family- just look at how quickly she attached to Jinx and jumped at the chance to also be with Vander and Vi, it's clear the girl was dreaming of a home. Which brings me to her intentions to her sacrificing herself. If she was that desperate and traumatized, then it very likely could be that Isha rather wants to die then lose her family all over again. The fact her song ends with according to translations, 'for this is good enough for me', seems to imply that these months of having a family was what she dreamt of for so long and she can go in peace thanks to Jinx showing her love in the cruel world of the undercity.

[theorphicangel]

heaven can wait | satoru gojo x reader | chap. 2

pair: guardian angel! gojo x fem! reader

description: the last thing you had expected was to come face to face with your very own guardian angel to which you had no idea that they existed.

now you have to deal with an annoying six foot-something angel who leaves nothing but feathers and chaos behind him. but as time passes you begin to learn more about him and he finds himself bending the rules just to be around you a little longer.

however there is one rule that guardian angels like him must always abide by.

they mustn't fall in love. ever.

tags: strangers to lovers, no curses au, modern au, satoru is annoying but you learn to love him, forbidden love, semi-slowburn, i think, eventual smut, fem! reader, angel! satoru, more tags to be added

art cred: @aidonotknow, original work is here, please check out their art!!!

taglist: @therealisttheillest @ohmygeto @bunheadusa @czarixoxo @lalalandincraz @descargueestoporgojosatoru @emochosoluvr @celear @thoreeo @moxieisanalien @amberbalcom14 @13-09-01 @k-kkiana @tyyqqaaa @ehcilhc @entr4p3 @fushiguroooozzz @marajafarli @slutlight2ndver @twinkling-moonlillie @pickledsoda @satansthiccasscheeksreblogacc @worganmalker @rorel1a

let me know if you would like to be on the taglist!

chapter two: explanations

wc: 970-something

author's note: this is a little shorter and i was debating to add it to chapter one but whatever. enjoy.

playlist

series masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

You’re still choked up. 

Your palms are sweaty and clenched as you try to come to terms with the stranger sitting in your house. There’s a bag of takeout sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch that he’s sitting on. Or perhaps lazing should be the right word to describe this…person.

He’s spent the last twenty minutes explaining to you the entire brief history and concept of a guardian angel. It’s confusing but you're grateful for the theology and religion classes you picked for extra credit. He hasn’t explained the important things yet like who sent him to you or how long he’s here for but those are questions you’ll ask later if he ever stops talking.

“Therefore,” He drags on, “ I was the reason you didn’t lose your life out there.” He points behind him with his thumb and a cheeky smirk on his face. You don’t respond to him having decided to remain completely silent throughout his whole explanation. 

So. 

Guardian angels exist. 

This…man with giant angel wings is real. You’ve studied his face for the last few minutes but your mind still thinks that you’ve gone completely crazy. Maybe you woke up in the wrong universe today. Maybe you hit your head last night and haven’t realised that you’re living in a delusion. 

“It’s normal to be confused.” Satoru disrupts your thoughts, reading your expressions. “I know it may not make a whole lot of sense right now and you’re totally discombobulated but that’s completely okay, it takes some time to get used to it.”

He’s surprisingly gentle about it all. As if he’s explained this a million times before. And judging from the fact that angels are immortal he probably has. You wonder how many other people he’s looked after. How many people is he protecting right now? How long has he done this for? How does an angel become a guardian? 

There’s so many questions running through your mind at total speed and you can’t pick which one to ask first. 

You’re silent for a little while but your angel doesn’t mind this. He watches you try to comprehend your entire situation. 

“Satoru.” You test out his name on your lips. 

“That’s my name.” he grins. 

Your mouth opens. And then closes. The words you want to say out loud linger on your tongue, almost spilling out from your lips.

“I’m not sure how to say this but…”

“Go ahead.” he reassures, smiling to reveal a perfect set of pearly white teeth. What else would you expect from an angel from above? “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”

“How do I stop this?”

“Stop what?” He tilts his head in curiosity. 

“Stop you from being assigned to me.”

Satoru’s smile drops. This is a question that he’s never been asked of before, never in his many years of being a guardian angel. There’s something in his heart that churns at your sentence and at the tone of which you asked it. Sure, you don’t have to have anything to do with him but asking to end the contract with him was something he hadn’t expected to hear.

“I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t ask for any of this.” You explain in a rushed tone, “I don’t want someone watching me all the time and creeping me out and leaving fucking feathers everywhere in my home.” You rise from your seat. “I’m grateful to you for saving my life but I've survived perfectly well without a guardian before you arrived and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be just fine afterwards.”

At this point Satoru is confused. He’s never been in a situation like this, where you can’t even stand to look at him. Your tone isn’t asking but rather telling him to leave you alone. 

He looks down at his hands as he thinks, his wings swaying a little.  “I can leave but I can’t stop the contract put into place between us.”

“Well how does it stop?” you say impatiently. Your frustration is getting the best of you but you can’t help it, having a random creature in your house is enough to cause you to spiral after all you’ve gone through today. 

There’s a pause and within that pause Satoru’s face turns completely serious. This time he’s not afraid to meet your gaze and there’s something in his tone that bites. “How’d you think?”

Oh. 

The realisation hits you like a ton of bricks and you flop back down into your seat. 

For him to end the contract you’d have to…die.

“Look, this is my first day and I don’t want anything crazy to happen, else there’ll be a lot of paperwork to deal with upstairs if you know what I mean. And there’ll be questions and I’ll be downgraded and–

“Downgraded?”

Satoru hums. “There’s a whole system to it but it wouldn’t make sense to explain it to you right now.” He lets out a sigh. He’s not giving up on you but he hasn’t had a human put him through the ropes like this in – well – forever.

“Nothing makes sense to me right now.” You retort. 

Satoru raises his hands, “Look, all I’m asking is for you to trust me.” His eyes meet yours and the shade like blue diamond engrosses you completely. If anything he seems genuine and wants to simply do his job which is to protect you. If you’ll allow him. 

“Can you do that for me?”

[luka--lu]

Anthropological and philosophical analysis of Viktor’s story in Season 2 - Part I

Finally gathered thoughts that floated in my mind since Season 2 had ended. These will literally be my first posts ever, will be a bit chaotic, please be kind, I’m shy. But also very critical.

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not a person with a disability. I cannot claim to know this experience, because I simply don’t. I love Viktor as a character and it so happens he has a disability, it’s something I always consider when engaging with his story. Besides, his story revolves around his disability since S1 Act 2 and he kind of falls into the trope of ‘disability as character motivation’, but he’s much more than that. And that’s what I want to explore in these posts.

My analytical approach is obviously influenced by my experience as an able-bodied person. I’ve had extensive courses on disability studies while at university and focused my bachelor’s thesis partially on disability representation in media (I focused on scars and ‘deformities’, something many Arcane characters have, but that’s perhaps for another post). To people out there who have disabilities and wish to engage with this post - please let me know your thoughts, I’m genuinely trying to learn more.

I want to stress that in my analysis I’m not saying Viktor is entirely ruined as a character or is bad disability representation. I analyse his story from the perspective of philosophical, cultural and social contexts, and through disability studies theory. I’m not an expert and certainly can't speak on behalf of people with disabilities, I'm talking as an anthropologist and enjoyer of storytelling and art.

That being said, I’ll try to make it coherent and divided by topics, because these’ll be long posts. Some thoughts are a bit disjointed, I’ll be sharing some of my ideas for how Viktor’s arc could’ve been improved. Hopefully it makes sense as a whole.

TRANSHUMANISM & POSTHUMANISIM

Transhumanism as a philosophy and social movement originates from the notion that many people are forced to live worse lives than necessary and can’t reach their full potential. One of the most important thinkers of transhumanism Julian Huxley argued that application of science can prevent poverty, illness and change the world for the better. He literally wrote that ‘the man can manage evolution’. 

Viktor represents transhumanist ideology in a way that, in Season 2, he literally can’t refuse the job - he was forced the moment Jayce fused him with the Hexcore. Sure, he could have refused to use its power now residing in his body. But the writers chose to disallow him that choice. So Viktor ‘heals’ Huck and begins his Jesus Era. Viktor later asks Singed if the doctor believes in fate, which is followed by Viktor declaring evolution has a course - superseding nature. This way Viktor exemplifies Huxley’s idea of what transhumanism is:

(...) whether he [man, as in human] is conscious of what he is doing or not, he is in point of fact determining the future direction of evolution (...). That is his inescapable destiny and the sooner he realizes it and starts believing in it, the better for all concerned. (Huxley, Transhumanism)

If the Hexcore was actually sentient and controlled Viktor, then I guess it’s the soul of Julian Huxley.

The same way Huxley's work was grounded in a desire to make the world a better place, so is Viktor’s. His dream of betterment of his people's lives was the primary motivation of Viktor’s character, but it got hijacked by the magical mumbo jumbo of the Hexcore and Arcane powers in S2. His transhumanist ideology wasn’t developed organically, the story just jumps to act 2 and then 3 without proper explanation as to why he turned to this philosophy so radically.

Important to add, Huxley was a eugenicist. Kinda wild to take transhumanist ideas and write Viktor’s, a disabled man’s arc, the way they did. Viktor wanted to use technology to change the world, but writers said: ‘hmm, what if… magic?? And eugenics! because he has internalised ableism now!’ But more on that later.

Central question regarding transhumanism is who decides what’s an enhancement and what’s a limitation. The short answer is: it’s a personal choice, we can use inventions to improve quality of life if we wish. Yes, some things can be a choice, but in reality it’s kind of compulsory, because the society is built in a way that demands conformity.

Viktor changed himself instead of trying to change the world the way he intended to in S1. His arc was derailed from his initial will to act for the society that needed positive change. Progress for Piltover meant technological advancement in the name of scientific and economic gain. In Viktor’s transhumanist vision progress is about extending the self - to live without suffering, to cure physical and mental afflictions of Zaunites. It goes beyond his motivation to cure his disease, his actions in S2 don’t fit his characterization in S1. This is why I believe inserting parts of his original League Lore into Arcane would have made an amazing story with transhumanism as background.

Good part of technology is that it gives us opportunities for different forms of embodiment. Embodiment, important in phenomenology and feminist studies, means how we experience ourselves as a living body that feels the world as we inhabit it -  how we experience it in connection to us, simultaneously being influenced and influencing the world. There’re plenty of theories that tackle this concept, but let me go the short way.

Transhumanist philosophers talk at length about progress in relation to embodiment. Critics ask questions about the ethical side: who’s gonna get to use the technology to enhance themselves? What about people who can’t afford technology used for the enhancement? How will technology influence the embodiment of certain people? Specifically, what does this philosophy say about disability?

I will talk more about disability in another section, but transhumanists consider physical disabilities as something open to changes. Different technologies can be used as mobility aids, advanced procedures could help with improving the standard of life for people with disabilities.

But there still remains a question: what kinds of disability are considered in need of improvement? If technology changes a disabled person's body so they can function similar to able-bodied people, then is the category of 'disabled' even relevant anymore? Is there a definite line when it comes to influencing the body with technology? What kind of progress do transhumanists actually seek and for whom?

We don't hear Viktor’s stance on ideas similar to transhumanist ones until his talk with Singed, but it's a bit convoluted and isn't developed well enough to be an interesting take on a very controversial and fascinating philosophy that is transhumanism. It’s only indirectly addressed at the end by Old Man Jenkins Viktor when he says ‘There’s no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit’, meaning that the glorious evolution doesn't really have a destination, even though Viktor believed so.

The change transhumanists seek can never actually reach a final perfect end - who and when will decide what the end of human evolution looks like? What is the ultimate, trans- or even posthuman form we’re supposed to achieve? Arcane seems to argue that nobody will ever be able to decide, even with godlike powers and knowledge.

Old Man Jenkins Viktor calls back to primary belief of posthumanism, which Nietzshe wrote about:

Man is not the effect of some special purpose, of a will, an end; nor is he an object of an attempt to attain an ‘ideal of humanity’ or ‘an ideal of happiness’ or an ‘ideal of morality’. It is absurd to wish to devolve one’s essence on some end or other. We have invented the concept of ‘end’: in reality there is no end. (Nietzshe, Twilight of the Idols)

Posthumanism is another philosophy that provides an interesting context for analysing Viktor’s arc in S2. I first focused on transhumanism since his story originally involved using technology to change lives. But Viktor seems to mix transhumanism and posthumanism.

Posthumanism is more about getting rid of core values of humanism. it’s about going beyond what makes humans, well, humans, which is a lot of things (biology, culture, economy, science, politics, environment, religion, social relations ect.). Posthumanism states that humans aren’t really that special, and argues that there are many other creatures and things that are equally as innovative as humans. It’s a philosophy critiquing anthropocentrism. It dismisses the notion of humans as apex creatures that can control and bend the world to their needs and will. The will to extend ourselves and find power within us isn’t exclusively a human trait - all organisms and things on Earth have that potential (interesting that in the destroyed Piltover Jayce saw the flora and fauna still expanded at the top of the Hexgates).

Viktor’s story isn’t really about that, but it ties to posthumanism when Viktor declares that emotions clash with reason, humanity is a contradiction which causes destruction, so there’s the need to go beyond humanism. Viktor’s ideas about human nature aren't really posthuman. His thought as he was dying after Jayce's attack revolved around the humanist idea that humans actually have an unchangeable essence.

Posthumanism, as understood by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guatarri, states that there’s no essence of ‘humans’. There’s only the potentiality, which comes from an individual will to create oneself, apart from fixed rules of the world. Funny enough, Viktor speaks about similar ‘charge, potential, impulse', but I don’t think it’s in any way connected to Deleuze’s idea. The philosophy of Viktor in S2 seems all over the place with trans- and posthuman ideas underneath, but it's an interesting mix that I wanted to explore, even if only on surface level.

Deleuze is fucking difficult to understand, French philosophers are the demons that always kick my ass, but they had some good stuff to say. In Postscript on the Societies of Control Deleuze claims that society is made by machines, not only in technological sense, but also by different systems: social, political, economic, religious ect. Every system is a machine. In the case of Piltover and Zaun, the social and political machines categorize people and program them to inhabit certain identities and spaces. Human body is also a machine consisting of different anatomical systems. We are machines living in machines, the flow of information and experiences between us and the world is constant. In a way, even before Viktor tried to change everyone into machines, the world was already run by machines.

I also think that technological posthumanism is an amazing lens to analyse the usage of Hextech and its final destruction of the world in Arcane. Technological posthumanism states that humans use tools and technology as integral to our identity and functioning. Inventions are made by humans, but inventions also invent humans - we use tools, art, machines that extend us, that make us. Humans don’t make technology because they’re free and rational, rather they’re free and rational because they make technology.

Donna Haraway says we're already cyborgs, because tool-making and technology is always a part of our evolution - we incorporate the world into our bodies. We use tools, but according to posthumanism, tools use us in some sense, like a parasite. Interesting that Viktor becomes literally a mix of flesh and machine, influenced by the Hexcore.

Going further, posthumanist thinker Bernard Stiegler writes:

(...) the pursuit of the evolution of the living by other means than life - which is what the history of technics consists in, from the first flaked pebbles to today, a history that is also the history of humanity. (Stiegler, Technics and Time, 1)

Evolution's course is always directed by technology and tools. Stiegler asks: ‘Who’ or ‘what’ does the inventing? ‘Who’ or ‘what’ is invented?.

Jayce and Viktor invent Hextech. Piltover, City of Progress, is made by the development of Hextech. Hextech invents Piltover’s identity, makes its citizens and government free, rational, innovative and progressive, in opposition to Zaun, which supposedly lacks these traits. Is it really Viktor who causes the calamity in the end? Or is it Viktor and Jayce’s invention of Hextech that caused the end of Piltover? Was it humans using technology, or was it technology influencing humans? Technology can be human’s progression in evolution (as Viktor represented) but it can be the destruction of the world (as Jayce saw in the apocalyptic Piltover). There is no predestined essence or course, there is only the potentiality.

Viktor’s arc with the transhumanist/posthumanist Messiah plot fits a subgenre of these philosophies which states there’s a possibility of a Posthuman God. It means that humans, no longer limited by nature, flesh and emotions, will be able to grow into a god-like state of intelligence. It’s not about ascending to a literal god like Viktor did, but more about posthumans being so advanced and intelligent that modern-day humans wouldn’t be able to comprehend it. It is tied to Nietzshe’s Overman ideal, but that’s another long story.

Summing up, the writers butchered Viktor’s character and did something typical for the general transhumanist discourse. That our problems are technological, not political and social, it’s about science that changes our embodiment, and we need this change because the world is unfair. But why is it unfair? Too difficult of a question for the writers apparently… I'll be dissecting it further below.

* Interesting to add, transhumanists of today go as far as suggesting we’ll be able to upload our minds into computers/certain devices and this way live forever. Viktor sorta reminded me about that with his astral plane self. There was a movie with Johnny Depp with this idea, Transcendence. This movie is bad tho (*Wendy Williams voice* Guess who’s jealous of Viktor Arcane? … JOHNNY DEPP!)

DISABILITY

In The capacity of contract Stacy Clifford Simplican distinguishes two ways of thinking about disability: medical and social. Medical model means that people have a medical problem when we compare their state to fixed diagnostic norms. The social model is about how society creates disability by making the world adjusted to able-bodied people, while disability is an exception to the norm, an anomaly. 

What the social model explains is that the problem isn’t the disabled person’s body, the problem is that they didn’t have a chance to design the world that would accommodate everybody. Medical model is appealing to able-bodied people because it allows them to dismiss their anxieties connected to disability and the possibility of acquiring it. People would have to then face the fact that society is actually unfair, so the medical model allows thinking there’s a distinct difference between able-bodied ‘normal’ people and persons with disabilities. There is ‘us’ (able-bodied) and the Other.

The idea of a cultural Other is key in various theories, especially in post-colonial critical theories, disability studies, social stigma theory ect. It basically means that the dominant group considers everyone who’s an outsider or lacks certain attributes essential to the group, as inherently different, oftentimes meaning lesser, therefore considered ‘other than us’. The Other needs to be distinctly alien to the normative group or culture. In case of people with disabilities the line marking the difference is located in their bodies.

In season 2 Viktor literally crossed the line (haha see what i did there) by rejecting his disabled body and changing into the Machine Herald. By rejecting his embodiment, he wished to fit into the ‘perfect’ embodiment represented by the people of Piltover. However, I consider Machine Herald Viktor as the epitome of what Piltover society considers as the Other. At the end of S2, for people of Piltover the line between what’s worth saving and what’s dangerous yet again locates itself in the body of the Other. The body that originated from the embodiment of the disabled Zaunite.

Viktor’s body is central to his character. We see his embodiment is an experience of pain, struggle, not only physical (he feels his body eroding) and emotional, but also social, he’s a Zaunite in Piltover. He’s double stigmatised as an undercitizen and a disabled person. Theory of stigma tells us that problems disabled people experience oftentimes aren’t connected to the disability itself but to the unequal, negative approach, harmful representations and institutionalised practices that cause the stigmatisation. It all reveals itself in ableism. One of the most important authors of disability studies, Rosemary Garland-Thompson wrote at length about these topics, notably in Extraordinary bodies. I’ll be referring to her work a lot in this post.

Viktor changed his body in S1 and then again in S2, he became Machine Herald, what he thinks is ‘the most he’s ever been’. But Piltover still thinks of him as the Other, a threat - and we know that in their worldview ‘Zaunites’ equals ‘danger’. And here’s the thing - ‘disabled’ is a position you get in a concrete socioeconomic context.

Viktor’s Jesus arc and commune activities focus on ‘fixing’ people and allowing them to live on the outskirts, away from the stigmatising society. Paradoxically, he fixed Zaunites to be able-bodied, like Piltover’s society accepts, but Zaunites can’t join that society, they’re still on the outside. Arguably, they’re trying to create an alternative for the stigmatising society, a new ‘Herald’s vision’. But why does this vision involve getting rid of disabilities? 

‘Overcoming limitations’ isn't really about transforming the body. As Abigail Thorn said: ‘You're not gonna fix homelessness by turning homeless people into inspector Gadget’. Arcane S2 Viktor took the wrong angle on the whole ‘helping the Zaunites’ thing. The show for sure states that. And that makes me sad and mad because it’s just.. idk stupid? Viktor as he’s established in S1 is fiercely intelligent, has very strong morals and convictions. He acts recklessly and crosses ethical limits only when it comes to saving himself from literally dying. I don't see how he would go from ‘In pursuit of great we failed to do good’ to complete opposite and being SO misguided in act 2-3 in the 2nd season. They character assassinated him so hard it’s almost unbearable. Still love him, but gods, look how they massacred my boy. Anyway-

Viktor’s disability makes him significantly different from the rest of the cast - as Garland-Thompson wrote, the figure of Otherness is a result of interpreting and giving meaning to bodies. It gives categories and paradigms, which then give us identities. By making Viktor a person with disability the creators had the responsibility of understanding that their writing has real life consequences. Representation in art and media is a means of identification for real life people who relate to Viktor’s embodiment.

Disability is not only a physical state of being, a form of individual embodiment, but also an economic one. It’s true for Viktor - he self-described in S1 as ‘a poor cripple’, using the language of his oppressors, clearly to pinpoint how he’s perceived by the normative majority of Piltover. I’d argue this doesn’t tell us how he actually feels about his disability. We don't really get his thoughts on it. I see many people assuming he thinks of it as an imperfection from the start and point to S1 when he shies away from the spotlight and then more obviously in S2 Jayce basically confirms to the audience Viktor’s internalised ableism in The Speech.

But I’m not so convinced. Viktor in S1 strikes me as someone who hopes his work will talk for itself, so he doesn't crave the spotlight, but it absolutely could be argued that the reason he hides in shadows is to protect himself from the scrutiny of onlookers. It might be an argument for him thinking poorly about himself and Arcane is known for ‘show don't tell’, but I sort of… wish they told us?

Viktor talks about his disease and focuses on his incoming death, which is central to his character in S1 after act 1. Disability and actively dying are different things though, but in sociocultural contexts are often considered almost the same. It seems to me that the writers made such an assumption - treating Viktor’s leg and his disease interchangeably.

Viktor’s internalised ableism wasn't prominent, I'd say nonexistent, in S1, his focus was on preventing his death, not on getting rid of his disability. He experimented on his leg and tested its durability when running. Season 1 already established that it was the wrong choice (although the running scene is contradictory with its message because of the ‘victorious’ framing and music). Viktor changes his mind at the end of S1 and asks Jayce to destroy the Hexcore. Never, not once, in S1 Viktor declares that he wishes to help people of the Undercity with getting rid of disabilities or that he wants his own to go away. He only speaks about his general health deteriorating.

But then we get Jayce saying Viktor ‘always wanted to cure what he thought were weaknesses; his leg, his disease’. Um- no, not true? Viktor always wanted to invent things to make a change for the disenfranchised. He couldn't do so because of his terminal illness and Piltover’s politicians not giving a damn about Zaunites. We don't know how he feels about his disability apart from recognising it as a part of his social status as a Zaunite in Piltover. We get the scene when as a child he shows Singed his leg, meaning he can’t play with kids and is lonely. This could mean he’s either shunned or can't access places where kids play. That's an issue of accessibility and how disability is created by alienating disabled people. It’s not enough proof to argue that Viktor dislikes his disability to the point of wishing to fix it when he becomes an adult.

I argue that Viktor’s internalised ableism was forced onto him by the writers. This way they put the responsibility of dealing with ableism on the disabled individual instead of asking the real question: why is Viktor experiencing ableism in the first place? Why is it Viktor who has to bear the burden of injustice and feel bad about himself? Apart from the positive sentiment of ‘disability is a part of humanity and doesn’t mean you’re broken’, the message of the ending seems to be: 'it's sad you feel bad about yourself, you need to hear you’re valid and get over your internalised ableism or you’ll doom everybody, but we won’t be addressing systemic oppression you'd experienced'.

The feminist, lesbian, poet, mother, warrior and an icon Audre Lorde pointed out the issues that stigmatised people face, especially having to be representatives of their marginalised position, having to use their intellectual and emotional labor to address oppression. I can’t agree that Viktor taking on the labor of realising his internalised ableism thanks to Jayce’s Speech is amazing writing. His humanity was denied by the oppressors so much he ended up rejecting it all together? The framing of Viktor’s motivation after becoming Machine Herald is extremely detached from his original character’s. I can’t- it seems like they made him self-loath and cause harm just because the final battle would look cool?

I like Arcane’s message that erasing disability is like erasing humanity and love wins in the end. But it's so naive, because it’s done at the cost of the disabled character’s entire arc and positions him as the villain to a society of mostly able-bodied people. I don't vibe with that writing choice. If the writers had the guts and we didn't live in capitalism, maybe we’d get more seasons and something truly revolutionary.

Feminist scholars pointed out how people’s standpoints shape politics, how identity, personhood and body are cultural constructs that need to be questioned. Standpoint theory suggests that representation is always a political act and thus disability representation needs to be treated as such. I don't think Linke and others thought about it this way while writing Viktor. They created a great character though, so allow me to open my ao3 tab and look up canon divergent fics.

Because of Viktor’s arc in S2 becoming about having his autonomy revoked and his supposed internalised ableism, we unfortunately got an interpretation that Garland-Thomson notes as widely accepted - that physical disability is a part of lower social status and a personal tragedy. We could have had Viktor as a transformative example of a physically disabled person who exposes social institutions of power and questions the notion of othering as a rule that permeates the Zaun-Piltover conflict. For that to happen, it wouldn't be Jayce who affirmed Viktor as valid - it would be Viktor affirming himself.

And we know he had the capacity to do that. In S1 act 1 he’s self-confident and we know he got to Piltover thanks to his intellect and resilience. Why would he lose these parts of himself so radically in S2? I understand that he was severely depressed and dying, that did change his perception of self when his health deteriorated. Yet, I believe in S2 the acceptance Jayce talks about could have come from Viktor seeing his own value. Garland-Thomson calls it 'speaking with one’s voice’. To be seen and accepted means having autonomy and possibility to speak about our embodiment with other people. We don't get to see/hear Viktor do that. He speaks of his mortality and deteriorating body in the context of disease, not disability. And he doesn’t really react to Jayce’s Speech.

If the creators wanted a really empowering story about a disabled character, they needed to address that. According to Garland-Thomson, the body is a text that needs interpretation by their owners. Giving meaning to his body, affirming it (maybe choosing to change it only to stop himself from dying) would mean that Viktor frees himself from symbolic and systemic violence, and rebels against fantasies and anxiety projected onto him by the normative society. That would have been based as fuck.

I ship JayVik, but it doesn't mean The Speech is all fine. Jayce might understand some of Viktor’s struggles but he’ll never understand him fully. It’s true that Jayce experienced horrors beyond comprehension, saw how his dream destroyed the world, he starved, had to reflect on his decisions sitting in a dark cave and injured his leg. Him acquiring a disability to parallel Viktor is a very important moment, yet it’s not the same as knowing Viktor’s experience of embodiment.

Jayce didn't live with a disability all his life in the society that considered it as something inferior. Jayce didn't live with despair and desperation of struggling to prevent himself from dying of an illness caused by the actions of an oppressive state. Jayce’s speech is emotional and important for his relationship with Viktor, and I did get teary eyed when he expressed how much he adored Viktor. But they lost me with ‘fix weaknesses, your leg, disease, and there’s beauty in imperfections’.

The Speech is sweet on the surface level but it rubbed me the wrong way, because not only it didn't make sense with Viktor’s arc, but it also feels weird to say that disability and terminal illness are an imperfection in which there's beauty. Imperfection is a tad insensitive of a term in this context... Having Jayce - who was more privileged socially, essentially able-bodied all his life and acquired his disability only recently - say this to Viktor, is kind of an odd choice. I do see what they’re trying to say: such experiences shape us but they don't define us. That Jayce loved Viktor as a whole human being with every part as integral to who he is.

At the end Jayce frees Viktor from his loneliness. Lovely stuff and I like it on a personal level, altho the Speech was poorly worded. Narratively, it tells me that the disabled character needed another person to say he was all he needed to be from the start. But it ignores the social context of why Viktor was lonely. Jayce's speech shifts focus from systemic oppression and inaccessibility to interpersonal connection he had with Viktor and the emotional side of it. It's possible to both establish a loving bond and acknowledge the discrimination Viktor experienced. But that didn’t happen in the story.

Viktor’s actions as written in S2 seem to stem from an immense need for acceptance and a wish not to be lonely. Of course he has Jayce in the end. My JayVik side is kicking its feet in the air and giggling, but when I look at it from a representation perspective it's kind of bad. Jayce is after all a privileged man who has never experienced life long marginalisation, chronic pain and despair of accepting his death when there's so much work to do for a good cause. And he might have understood how lonely Viktor was, how Jayce neglected his partner but still, Jayce cannot fully get it if it's not his lived experience.

Viktor is defined by his body by the unfair society he exists in and it's impossible for him to ignore it, because that's what shapes him every day. It's understandable he’d want to be healthy but I dislike the ‘Magic Cure for disability’ trope they went with in S2 when Viktor merged with the Hexcore. The trope is widely considered regressive and even harmful when it comes to nuanced disability representation. Viktor's case isn't as obvious, so I'm not trying to pass any finite judgement here. But I generally don't vibe with it.

I wish we knew if there were people with disabilities or sensitivity readers at any stage of the creative process of making Arcane.

I’ll be referring to the topic of Viktor’s disability in other sections of my posts, so it’s not really the end of this subject.

THE RADICAL OTHER

As I wrote earlier, the concept of the Other is extremely important in anthropology. There’s a more expanded and emancipatory theory that I'd like to touch upon - the concept of Radical Otherness.

In itself, this concept is disruptive. When we’re faced with the Radical Other, we’re confused. We cannot relate to them, cannot ignore them, our predisposed opinions and structures of understanding are being postponed. It creates a cognitive dissonance, forces us to change perspective, create space for the Other and look for Otherness in ourselves. It can also cause bigger fear and cause us to alienate the Other even further than we initially did.

Experiencing Otherness touches our bodies and senses without us having prior notice of it. This experience disturbs us, it calls on us, it asks us to respond and to react. German philosopher, Bernhard Waldenfels writes in  Bodily experience between selfhood and otherness that people usually either welcome the Other as a guest or exclude the Other as an enemy. The Other is always transformed in a way that the normative society has disposal over them or they're available for the society's intentions. Radical Otherness, according to Waldenfels, is not available to anyone.

Viktor's disabled body is turned into a grotesque fusion of flesh and metal, then into an alien-like creature, not a cyborg which would be more in sync with transhumanist ideas of technological augmentation of the human body. The way Viktor looks in his god-like form is aesthetic but foreign.

What it means for disability visual representation is that Viktor either reinforces or rejects the sociopolitical relations that make the disability a kind of Otherness.

Interpreting Viktor the Machine Herald as rejecting oppressive notions, I’d say he symbolises what’s rebellious, exposing injustice and disrupting social order. He left Piltover behind and came back to cause a radical reinterpretation of the world. He looks absolutely different, strange, magical - and we know people of Piltover fear magic. But because he’s the villain and dies at the end, I'm more inclined to say the writers meant to show his transformation as a symbol of unpredictability, lack of stabilization, anarchy - and that’s both dangerous and brave.

Viktor as Machine Herald can be read as embodiment of personal freedom by rejection of cultural uniformisation. But if it were to be true, he should have rejected conformity while still disabled or at least not transform with Singed’s alchemy. By the time we reach the last episode his arc is a story of Piltover having to tame 'the freak’ as Garland-Thomson would describe it.

The freakiness of Machine Herald’s form is also an interesting choice, because it’s somewhat humanoid but unnatural. It reminds me of the practice of freak shows where people with unusual bodies and disabilities were displayed as freaks of nature, odd creatures. Able-bodied audience gawked at them and while looking in the face of the Others, they’d re-establish themselves as ‘the normal ones’. I hope you catch my drift and see how this is not a good look to have Viktor morph into an alien looking creature that all of Piltover fights in the end…

If I try to find positives in S2’s writing, I can speculate that Viktor becoming the Radical Other in an empowering sense would mean that he embodied an alternative to the status quo. Him leaving and in sense rebelling against domination of Piltover wouldn’t be an intellectual choice but a manifestation of his condition as a person. In this interpretation, his transformation is radical, it’s a positive marker of his individual story.

It’s still a story of oppression though - our Viktor doesn't save himself, Jayce does it for him. I’m not gonna be talking about Old Man Jenkins Viktor orchestrating everything to save himself by having Jayce sent on a mission to save main timeline Viktor. I’m focusing on the Viktor we got to know in S1. It’s beautiful to be seen and supported, the scene at the end was so loving and my AroAce ass relished it. I love JayVik, yeah, though I think the message of Viktor’s arc being so centered on Jayce’s affirmation of him made the message a bit less complex. They’re soulmates, your honor, but they’re so codependent it’s really toxic yaoi.

Jokes aside, it would be amazing if Viktor chose to become the radical Other. He’d make an autonomous decision to use his status of the Other as the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to the system. The system that overlooked him and prescribed him the identity of an undercitizen, ‘an outsider looking in’.

His arc would be even more profound if he recognised his internalised ableism and chose to become the Machine Herald the way he did in the League Lore. In League, his practices aren’t entirely ethical either, but that's besides the point. His decisions were made out of dissatisfaction with Piltover’s corrupt academia and politics, and the moral duty he felt to aid his fellow Zaunites in the face of calamities and everyday hardships. The old LOL Viktor is actually iconic for that.

The Arcane version of the Divorce arc could’ve made JayVik more complex if they let Viktor express disappointment with Jayce’s decision to weaponize Hextech and Council’s lack of interest in the Undercity’s issues. Then the 'our paths diverged long ago' would be more inpactful.

The character arc is a mess but I tried to reach and look for sth more interesting within it. I think the Radical Otherness of Machine Herald is a compelling angle. Not what writers intended, for sure not, I don’t think they taught anything through that deeply.

ENDING PART I...

I think it all could have been more interesting if Viktor wasn't influenced by Hexcore as we’re led to believe, because… this is cheap writing and yet again takes away his autonomy, which he was denied far too much in S2. The magical stuff took away from Viktor’s character and lost focus of his actual motivation.

I think what we got isn’t good enough, but I appreciate bits that can be read as more meaningful, that's where my idea for this 'essay' came from. I just wish the writers had the guts to let Viktor be angry, come back to Zaun, not do the cult stuff and just help people, join the rebellion, basically tell the Pilties: ‘I hope I confuse the hell out of you’.

That’s it for the first part of this analysis. Part 2 coming soon i guess. (Edit: Second paaaart here)

 literally me writing this fucking dissertation:

[lemon-russ]

More lore for my insane porn.

Why am I doing this? Does human pet smut need a backstory? If there were a merciful god, wouldn't I be stopped? Some things are never answered. The important thing is I am having fun ✨

Mortarion x F!Reader (prequel 2? Part 3??)

Previous || Next

CW: None for this specific thing. Many for the first one. Many for the future of whatever this is.

TAGS (no one participated in the prayer circle to stop me so it continues): @sleepyfan-blog @undeaddream @scriberye @lisikk @moodymisty

“Go on, pick.”

Mortarion holds you out at arms length, pointing you at a display of items in colors you couldn’t name, so bright and varied it made your head start to swim.

“Pick?” You parrot, “pick… what? What are they?”

You hear a small huff behind you. “They’re toys. Weren’t you saying you were bored?”

It had been boring. After a week of toting you around, quizzing you on your world, crops, government systems, and various other minutia, you found out that your world did in fact have a ruler, unbeknownst to a simple farmer like yourself, and had happily agreed to join the imperium of man, as it was apparently called.

All Mortarion asked for in payment was you.

“You entertain me.” Was all he had offered as explanation.

And thus you had been stuck in his quarters for two weeks, losing your mind at the lack of work to do. You’d taken up trying to draw, but that only entertained so long. You tried to read, but you were barely literate in your own tongue, let alone what your master called “high gothic”. What use did a farmer have for reading? You’d tried to clean up, but there was barely anything in the room to tidy.

You refocus on the colorful display, reaching out to touch one of the bright objects. ”It’s really soft...” You say, picking up one of the toys. It vaguely looks like some sort of animal, furry with stylized ears, but beyond that you can’t imagine a use for the thing.

“How is it a toy?” You ask, turning to try and look at your new masters face over your shoulder.

He frowns slightly. “What were toys on your planet?”

“Wooden blocks, mostly. Or the Hoop game.” You say, then add with a fond smile, “and dolls, made of water-reeds.”

He sighs. “Well, think of these as the… reed dolls. They are stuffed animals, you’re supposed to find them pleasant.”

You look back to the unnaturally bright creature in your hands. “what color is this?”

You yelp as you are dropped to your feet, stumbling a little.

Mortarion turns you around by the shoulder, face grimacing in disbelief. “I don't enjoy being teased.” He huffs.

You frown. “What-”

“You know purple.” He snaps, but it sounds less angry and more desperate. “You cannot tell me you don't know the color purple.”

You look at the thing in your hands. If you absolutely had to answer, life or death, what color it was, you'd only be able to say not red but not blue.

You look back up to see mortarion's face more stern. “your planet was quite brown and hazy, I suppose.” He said. “I can… understand that.” For a moment you see something flicker behind his gaze, but it is gone before you can guess it.

You tilt your head in a little confusion, intending to ask what he meant, but are turned back to the display instead. Mortarion leans over you to start pointing at the soft creatures.

“Purple.” He says, pointing at the one you held. “Pink, blue, orange…”

You pout. “I know blue-” you point at the pointy eared alien toy, “That's not blue. Blue has more grey in it.”

He sighs. “No, your rivers were not blue, they were just the only thing on that forsaken dirt ball that had a slight hint of blue in it. This is blue.” he says, picking up the bright, smiling creature and handing it to you.

Suddenly, you're being hoisted again, and tucked under the massive man's arm. “you're getting those two, I have chosen for you.” he grumbles. You think you catch him grumble something about doesn't know purple under his breath.

He forces you to pick out a blanket as well, as you'd been complaining about being chilly sleeping on the floor at night. That was true, but you more mean that it is a hard, metal floor, and wanted a bed. You had asked for some straw to weave yourself a proper mattress, but only got an annoyed look in response. He tossed you a pillow to sleep atop instead.

You chose a blanket in pink. You know pink too, but this one is an almost pastel, dusty version that you've never seen in nature. It was pleasant, and didn't hurt your eyes like the other new colors. Plus, it was quilted and full of feathers. He didn’t seem to mind buying something so lavish, so you figure you may as well be comfortable.

When you're finished shopping, Mortarion opens the large satchel he'd taken you out of his room in. You frown, looking up over the toys and blankets in your arms.

“Can't I just walk in…?” You ask.

He presses his mouth to a line. “No.”

You mimic the expression. “I promise I won't try to run again…” you say, referring to the ill fated attempt you'd made to avoid going into the belly of the flying beast when he'd first taken you.

He rolls his eyes. “No. In. And be quiet. I don't want my sons to see you.”

You sigh, shuffling up to the large bag and tossing your new toys inside first. “Can't you just tell them I am some sort of field hand?”

He shakes the bag opening at you. “No. We don't have those, and I don't want them getting strange ideas. In.”

“Stranger than this…?” You mumble to yourself as you crawl into the bag, curling up and situating yourself.

He peers down at you through the opening. “Don't talk back. And there's nothing strange about having a….” He glances away and back quickly, frowning. “A personal serf.”

Your scrunch your brow. “Serf…? But I don't do anything-”

Your words are cut off as he cinches the bag closed and hoists you up, making you squeak in surprise and have to scramble to reposition yourself where you can breathe.

“I said, don't talk back.” He grumbles, setting off on a quick pace that makes you jostle and swing as he walks.

[wandixx]

Ghost of fries and hero of cookies part 6

All work words count: 14 643

Words in this part: 2 686

Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay

Or

Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway

This part summary: Batman wants an explanation. His kids however, wouldn't be themselves if they did add some chaos

Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like

First part, Previous part

“Signal.”

Duke bit back a sigh as his last hope to leave Cave undiscovered disappeared. He shot Steph message of:

Having The Talk. Come as moral support

and turned around to face Bruce.

“Yes?”

B grunted in disapproving and ‘Signal report’ way but Duke decided to buy some time and answer only questions that were actually asked. He slowly sat at the briefing table and looked at the man expectantly.

Lift chimed and moments later Tim and Cass went to Batcomputer and training mats respectively. Duke was, like, 80% sure they were there to eavesdrop. He knew them well enough. He knew them well enough.

“The girl”

“Izzy?” Was Duke annoying on purpose? Yes. He really didn’t want to have this talk. Like, at all. Psychological warfare it was “I mean, I know she is civilian and you don’t approve but at least she isn’t doing anything illegal, right? Like, you know, robbing museums or killing people?”

Bruce looked repulsed and Tim snorted.

“Low blow Narrows, low blow” Jason announced through speakers. He was slightly winded as if he just finished a fight “Good job kid”

“So you’re listening too, great” Duke muttered under his breath before louder he added “Is everyone who wants in on a show, here already?”

“Give me a sec- here Dick you’re going live now”

“Thanks Babs, you’re the best”

“I know. Donuts, you know which one”

“Of course. Glad we’re finally going to talk about Duke’s kid”

“Shut up, she is not my kid!”

“Steph ETA 2 minutes” Cass interrupted.

At least Damian didn’t show up- as if summoned by this thought Damian stomped down the stares, Alfred the Cat curled in his arms. Maybe others had a point, calling him Demon kid and stuff.

“What is an emergency?” he demanded and Duke decided to take what little relief he could from the fact that Bruce seemed equally defeated by sheer number of people around for this talk. 

“It seems like… oh, literally everyone lost an adoption bet” Babs explained. Huh, so Steph didn’t change her stance.

Damian looked genuinely terrified as he muttered “No” eyes darting between everyone present in silent calculation.

“Oh, shut up” Duke whined knowing all too well his stalling had to come to the end. Maybe it was wishful thinking but he almost heard roar of engine of Steph’s motorcycle. Her presence would be double edged sword but she would help him advocate for Dani and that was more important.

“Thomas, what have you done?!” if it was anyone other than Damian, Duke would call sound he made a whine. As it was, he preferred his entrails to stay inside and since the boy showed up, called by thought, the older boy preferred not to take risks.

“Nothing, Babs is overreacting”

“Don’t deny it. She went about it kinda Tim Lite style but it worked”

“I don’t even know her surname, where she stays or really, anything about her life outside of our patrols, how do you expect me to go about adoption?!”

“B knew even less about me when he decided, yes this tire thief is my new son!” Jason chimed in and Duke knew he was grinning despite voice modulator.

“What from my origin story was lost to make Lite version?”

“Identities weren't breached as far as we're aware. Just ‘came one day and refuses to leave’ part and some light stalking. She was smart about it, invisible, keeping out of sight and to the hot spots. Wouldn't find her if I didn't know she was there”

“She could still just not tell, I mean I knew for years before telling anyone…”

“There is no way. Believe me, she has no brain-mouth filter, I swear”

“But-”

“She introduced herself by her first name,” Duke deadpanned ”She told me civilian names of heroes from her hometown, in context that didn't require me to do any actual research to clue me. I did anyway. I don't think she even realized she did it. If she knew our identities we would know already”

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the thought of just how gigantic breach Dani accidentally caused.

“Well, it's as good of a proof as we can get for now,” Babs bristled. 

“Who let her in on such secrets then?!” Damian sounded genuinely appalled and Duke wasn't too surprised.

Like on a cue, Steph stormed inside on her Spoiler in civies. Bruce looked about ready to get aneurysm. Duke was a bit glad that everyone was doing such good job in distraction department.

“IT’S OKAY, WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!” Steph yelled, jumping from before her vehicle fully stopped. She threw something small in general direction of Batcomputer “Timmy plug it in, I made a PowerPoint!”

Duke felt blood leave his face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Steph put together but he probably didn't. Tim opened it anyways.

WHY HOOPOE IS ADORABLE&CHAOTIC BEAN AND SHOULD BE PART OF THE TEAM

The title slide said, one of the clearest photos of Dani from before she started wearing mask in the background. It was close-up of girl smiling, bits of brownie on her cheeks.

“Was this photo taken with a goddamn calculator?” Tim asked with disgust so clear Duke could taste it. Metaphorically of course.

“Nah, just body-cam. Her powers mess with technology a bit”

Tim still looked displeased at the craftsmanship.

“Don't worry, it's not  a bad photo. Baby Bird is just being perfectionist,” Dick placated.

Duke didn't realize that Damian froze until he unfroze and made his way to the screen, stopping less than one foot away from it. His movements were rigid, his face scrunched with distress. Alfred the Cat escaped its master probably due to hoe tense he was. Everyone in Cave quietened as soon as boy took first step and expecting mood had to run through microphones because nobody from the on-line crowd quipped in.

“This is the green of Lazarus” he whispered finally, sounding actually scared. Jason swore. Bruce and Cass visibly stiffened. Tim choked and he wasn't even drinking. Dick did his whinny breezy name saying thing when he wanted explanation and felt lightly betrayed. 

It was Duke's turn to freeze because… it wasn't. Of course he wasn't all that well versed in the Pit, less alone its color but he did bust quite a few trafficking rings with Jason and he saw his eyes afterwards all raging, toxic, neon green glory and it wasn't the same as Dani’s. As much as he liked English and how good he was at it, it failed him at simple task of describing the obvious difference between each other. He'd have more luck describing tastes with set of color samples from IKEA or something. And really, even if he tried he would lose the fight of competence with Damian. Who wouldn't.  But-

“There is no way she has any connection with LOA”

“Why is that?” Damian seemed to misinterpret it as challenge like he always did when emotions were running high. Duke took a deep breath. Well, it was a moment to use all of his diplomatic skills and speak in the language of the demons.

“I've seen her fight. She would be utter disgrace”

“It does not prove-”

“It does” Duke interrupted with the tone and mimic of person who saw too much because he did ”None of you have any say until you watch a tiny and I mean tiny ten year old tackle five Joker goons like it's a joke, by sheer virtue of super strength and intangibility-means-I-can-ignore-bullets-Signal-don’t-be-such-worrywart. She should get shot, like, three times at least. And she kept laughing!” he was low key wheezing at the end because even after all this time (a week) it was fucking horrifying. Bruce made a huff that meant he was laughing and put a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support. Dick's lighthearted laugh sang from the speakers.

“Don't worry Duke, it never gets better” B said with mirth.

He refused to elaborate whether he meant ‘kids keep jumping into danger like there is no tomorrow‘ or ‘it's equally terrifying every time’ and Duke decided to reflect on that sentiment later. It put some things into perspective. A lot of things if he was being honest.

Also, he was not ready for stuff like that to become even semi-normal occurrence. He was ready to give her all of his Alfred cookies if it could change anything. He knew it wouldn't. 

“Do you have any other evidence that your new acquaintance does not just fake being less experienced to make you lower your guard?” Damian asked warily.

“I had to teach her out of putting her thumb in her fist,” he deadpanned. Several people hissed in empathetic pain. Steph coughed to bring attention to where she stood in front of Batcomputer, other slide of her Power Point open. Duke recognised video from his body-cam.

“Exhibit A” she announced. She played a video with Dani’s first mugging attempt he witnessed. Let it be said, it was a disaster.

“Exhibit B '' One of Dani’s most epic fails at side-kick that ended with her falling face first to the ground.

“Exhibit C” Dani fumbled with zip-ties, looking at him utterly at loss.

“Exhibit D” the talk about her prior training.

“What’s was that sound?” Dick obviously on the verge of cooing when girl on video growled. Steph stopped video.

“Very angry kitten” Tim stated with soft smile.

“Honestly, furious girl” Cass corrected “She was really mad at you”

“Yeah, I know but promise of Alfred’s cookies was enough to placate her”

“You gave her Alfred’s cookies?!”

“She started by giving me a lot of food on a really shitty patrol, had to repay somehow”

“Was it from your share or-” Dick asked like it was most important thing in the world.

“Miss Hoopoe was added to my plans after she picked her new name” Alfred explained and shit, Duke really should get used to how man just appeared sometimes. Jumpscare the original.

“Alfred, you knew?” Bruce sounded so utterly betrayed.

“I have yet to meet her but I was informed about her presence about two weeks ago”

“He caught me printing mask for her”

“About that” Steph clapped and skipped her slide show “Look at thi clueless child with such horrible disguises and codename ideas” There was whole list of every name Dani wanted to try out and photo of her bare face.  Duke kinda repressed his memories of it. It was worse than he remembered.

“Did she really tried kenting that?”

“Got it after her cousin. He used his first name as part of his alias for almost half a year” Duke admitted in carefree tone, knowing it would cause a mess.

“Cousin?!” several people yelled in surprise.

“Caped cousin?!”

“Yup. Small time hero from Illinois. As far as I’m aware she’s alone in Gotham but they’re in regular contact and she has strong believe that he can and will help her if she used her panic button”

“Who in their right mind let’s kid alone in Gotham?!” Jason sounded about ready to strangle Phantom.

“He seems to be fifteen himself. And has anti-meta parents if I’m picking things up correctly. She didn’t mention them much. I highly doubt she has present parents at all, so…”

“What the hell Narrows.”

“I don’t know, it’s just a wild guess”

“Does it call for the rescue?” Steph asked eagerly.

“We’re not going to Illinois to rescue Phantom if he doesn’t ask for it. He has means to it” Bruce interrupted with bone deep sigh.

“How do you know I meant Phantom?” Duke perked up because he never mentioned this name.

“He is from Illinois, looks almost the same as far as I can tell from the photos and they share a lot of powers”

“I didn’t know you knew about random kid hero from other state?”

“He dropped by on few Justice League’s mission. There is still dispute whether we should approach him in his city or not. He was very clear on his opinion that we should stay away. I think we really shouldn’t”

“How you haven’t gone or sent anyone there yet?” Tim teased.

Bruce just stared at him then gestured at mountain of cases they were currently working on. Yes, they were printed. Apparently for man it made it easier to work on them like that.

“Can we focus back on untrained child you let join you on patrol, Duke?”

“You act like I could stop her from doing her own thing if I didn’t  let her. Plus, even though she doesn’t have combat training, she can handle herself well enough. And has this damn intangibility that makes her really hard to punch”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t tell anyone other than Alfred and Steph and I wanted to wait a bit before leaving her to the wolfs”

“The bet”

“Shut up Steph”

“When did you plan on letting us know?” Bruce ignored what blonde insinuated. Duke was utterly grateful for that, he knew he would get lecture for that later but he was more than happy to leave it be for now.

“Somewhen next week. I hoped to introduce her gradually but apparently everyone knew already?”

“Kids tell me things. Hoopoe made a good impression on them” Jason explained.

“Hero sightings on Twitter” Dick admitted without a shadow of shame.

“What he said” Tim agreed “This person from crochet dolls made one for your kid too, so in public eyes she’s our already”

“For the last time, she isn’t my kid!” Duke groaned but as always went ignored.

“Nobody expected old man’s tendencies to rub on you so fast, Narrows”

“Shut up and this is half a reason I didn’t let you meet her. All of you”

“With all due respect Duke” Babs started teasingly “You gave us ammo yourself. You improved her diet, you brought her to The Food Track Of Mental Breakdowns, you teach her stuff, you check in on her almost as often as her cousin and their friends do…”

“How did you hack her pho- No, wrong question, why?!”

“We’re all paranoid bastards, I needed to check out the newest bird. She legally doesn’t exist btw so I suspect some shady stuff with her birth but otherwise nothing sus about her. Comms and trackers for her are waiting in drawer C19. You will give it to her tomorrow”

“Aye, aye captain Oracle ma’am” he joked.

“Wait, you showed her The Food Track?”

“She deserved it” he gritted out.

Before this could turn into a fight or something, Alfred demanded:

“Since we are all on the same page now, I would like to extend an invitation for family dinner to miss Hoopoe”

“We’ll eat it down here in full costumes”

“As you wish master Bruce. Master Duke make sure to let her know”

“Of course Alfred”

And he planned to do that but Dani didn’t show up. He hadn’t thought much of it because she was unpredictable like that. She tended to disappear from the face of the Earth for a day or two and return with tales of her “autograph hunting trips”

But then she didn’t show up on the next patrol too. It was unprecedented. And she hadn’t responded to the check in. Three times in the row. He was getting kinda sick from the stress.

He knew Dani well enough, she wouldn’t ghost him like that and in Gotham disappearing meant three things: getting kidnapped, trafficked or six feet under. To their knowledge, Dani didn’t have anyone who would pay ransom for her other than Signal and no demands were made so the first option was out.

Bats launched full fledged search.

Duke himself found and busted two trafficking rings in three weeks which was around how much he did in two months on a daily basis.

Thanks to Oracle, they found Dani’s utterly crashed phone in the dead end in the Narrows. It didn’t look any better.

Duke really hoped they wouldn’t be too late.

With each day it seemed more likely.

********

Bruce: *wants to have private conversation with his son about unknown child he's been working with*

All of the Batfam: Hello there

Duke: I managed to keep Dani secret my family of detectives!

Everyone other than Bruce: I knew for past two weeks, but goood job kid

Random o Twitter: I'm sooo disappointed with Signal for letting Hoopoe fight crime. She is just a little child, she shouldn't have to witness Gotham's worst

Other Random: Have you heard about Robin????? Have you seen teories that Signal is teenager???? With proofs????? Are you mad at child for not taking proper care of the other child????? That's messed up my dude/gal

Yell at Batman

Signal: You act like she isn't personification of feral cat I try to coax home so I can prevent her from getting in trouble. I dare you to try and stop her

Phantom: I do too, 100$ if you manage. It would save me from so much stress

Random: Now, who the f*ck are you?!

(Guess who never touched Twitter with 20 meters stick in her life)

Next part

Tag list: @pickleking8 @mynameisnotlaura

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I’m curious to know what makes you like Ladrien. What’s the appeal? I have my reasons for why I dislike them, so I’m definitely interested to hear all about the other side.

Absolutely no hate, I’m just super curious

Hi! First of all, thank you for giving me an excuse to babble on about Ladrien 🥰

I just want to preface this by stating that it is my belief that people who don't like Ladrien, are those who don't really understand the ship and/or the beauty to the ship, so it would be my pleasure to talk about why I love them so much:

1. They are the pinnacle of Lovesquare mutual pining

I personally am a mutual pining fiend. If there is mutual pining in a ship, chances are you can find me onboard. Mutual pining is probably my favorite part of a ship timeline, I love the angst, the bitter-sweetness, the confused and pained but still loving interactions, and my friend, Ladrien has all that and a bag of chips.

The thing is, Adrien is in love with Ladybug, Ladybug is in love with Adrien, but there's a certain impossibility to their love. Ladybug doesn't know Adrien well enough to love him, so it would never cross his mind that she would even entertain him as a romantic interest. Adrien has hardly even interacted with Ladybug, so it certainly wouldn't make sense that he would have feelings for her, forget about being in love with her.

What cements these beliefs is the fact that they both know the other in very different circumstances. Chat Noir and Marinette both know that the person they are in love with is not fickle about their feelings and is not shallow about love, they aren't just going to fall in love with some random celebrity. What's even more so is the fact that Ladybug knows that Adrien is in love with someone (circa season 3) and Adrien knows that Ladybug is in love with someone (circa season 2), making it so that they believe that the others' affections are tied elsewhere, seemingly making them unavailable (hence the pining).

I also want to point out that Ladrien is also void of the friendships of Adrinette and Ladynoir, meaning the pining becomes even more powerful as they don't even have access to the comforts of friendship. They are apart in every painful way.

This all creates an environment where every interaction between the two is filled with this yearning tension of wanting to be closer, wanting to move closer, but having to stop themselves because it doesn't make sense, because they fear rejection, because they just can't.

2. They have amazing on-screen chemistry and interactions

If you don't watch any season 2 Ladrien scene with a giant smile on your face, then you are missing out. I chose to mention season 2 in particular, because it's the season with the most Ladrien interaction, but honestly, you can find amazing Ladrien in every season.

The way they both stare at each other in wonder, in the first ever Ladrien interaction might I add, in season one's episode "The Mime", was the perfect way to set the stage for what we were to expect from this ship. They love each other, they are amazed by each other, they make each other dizzy and distracted, it's beautiful and hopeful, and directly contrasts the very difficult interactions that Adrien has in the episode with his father. Whereas Adrien's family is a point of pain for him, Ladybug is the light, the hope for him

Just discussing my two favorite Ladrien scenes, their chemistry and brilliantly portrayed relationship is obvious. Firstly, there is the catch scene in "Gorizilla". I don't think this scene needs explanation, but my goodness it is one I like to talk/think about a lot. The way he portrays implicit trust in Ladybug, the way he fully believes that she will catch him, is just so djaskljdaksljdkals, it's so sweet to watch. But then, she catches him, and even without talking about the trope subversion (though it is important), the way that they stare at each other, how their sole focus is on each other, how the catch was fast and sudden, but then Ladybug slows down to make the descent more comfortable for Adrien, it's all just *chef's kiss*. Adrien is then so enamored and lovestruck, that he forgets where he is, he forgets who he is, and nearly exposes himself by using a term of endearment for his love, which is just the most Ladrien thing ever jdksadjaskld

Finally, I want to talk about my other favorite Ladrien scene, which is the panic attack scene at the end of "Strike Back". Here we see Ladybug coping with the worst betrayal she has ever endured, and at the hands of the person who looks identical to the boy standing in front of here. And with all that uncertainty and mistrust, he stays there, he comforts her, he talks her through her panic, through her next steps. And when he offers her to detransform in his bathroom, with only a door to prevent her reveal, despite being unsure and cautious, she ultimately decides to trust him. She puts her vulnerability into his hands and allows him to see her emotional vulnerability and potentially have access to her physical vulnerability.

(there are more scenes to talk about but for brevity's sake I will stop here)

3. They very obviously love and support each other, despite the circumstances of their relationship

Just drawing back to the episodes that were mentioned in the last point, just from viewing those two scene alone, it is obvious that though they both love each other, she also trusts him and he trusts her.

The truth of the matter is, no side of the lovesquare exists in a vacuum. The sides bleed and meld and create together some amalgamated item that will only feel whole when the full square is revealed. As such, the knowledge and feelings that they have as Adrinette and Ladynoir, are going to have some presence while they are Ladrien.

My point of mentioning this, is that trust and sensitivity for each other is going to be present in their relationship, even if they didn't necessarily reach that development as Ladrien. On paper, Ladrien is a superhero and a model who have only interacted a handful of times. And yet, to both of them, their relationship is so much deeper than that.

They know each other, they're familar with each other, and yet, they're not. Adrien knows how Ladybug will take a joke from Chat Noir, but he doesn't know how she'll take one from Adrien, or why there's a difference. Ladybug knows how Adrien will react to a gift from Marinette, but she doesn't know how he'll take one from Ladybug, nor why there might be a difference. Adrien might know Ladybug's favorite drink order, but he doesn't know her birthday, her parents' name, etc. And Likewise, Ladybug might know Adrien's favorite color, but she doesn't know what he does at night, where the ring on his finger is from.

And yet, despite all of this, despite only being familiar with half a person, they take that half and choose to love them whole-heartedly. They choose to take the information they have and trust that person blindly. Despite, the impossibility of their relationship, they choose to continue to hope.

Because they admire each other, they care for each other, they love each other, and they will do everything in their power to continue to do that. And I think that's beautiful.

There are more reasons, but these are the main three, and I doubt you want to hear me drone on, so hope this sufficed!

Thank you for the ask! <3

[itslilacokay]

pls pls PLSS tell me about your NS? au i need to know as much as humanly possible...

sniff... i.... i thought no one would ever ask........... nows my chance...... to yap..........

AHEM.

ns?AVA (normalswap?ava) is my swap au! its not normal

victim and tco both take tsc's role, while tsc just takes victim's role

mercenaries swap roles with cg, though its not exact on which mercenary takes specific a cg member's role and vice versa, theyre quite jumbled around

though one specific stick in the cg doesnt take a mercenary's role and that's yellow, in fact he takes tdl's role! as for tdl he takes tco's role

"so in your au there's like only 3 mercenaries instead of 4?????" no i thought of something else to remedy that

you know that cloaked guy that gave king the command block? yeah hes a mercenary now

speaking of king........ he has a different role as well but that's in ns?avm, which i'll get to later because i need to explain more ns?ava things

so fun fact! the hollowheads have new names for this au

tsc -> The First Victim (tfv)

tdl -> The Chosen Lord (tcl)

victim -> The Return (tr)

tco -> The Second Chance (scn)

btw the animator is alexcrafter28, aka that minecraft kid in lush caves

for ns?ava lore, i wrote down what happened in ns?ava1-4 a few months ago so if you dont miiind

SWAP-AVA 1 -tfv becomes a rogue animation and destroys the computer -tfv finds the stickfight website and convinces the colorgang to destroy the computer with him, they agree -colorgang gets "ended", which makes ctv want to destroy the computer even more -ends like normal ava1 with the fla closing without being saved, since tfv is bound to that fla file he disappears with it

an extra thing to note is that if this were a video, there would be an ""animation error"" where yellow didnt get shown to be ended, an aucanon explanation would be that yellow managed to escape to the outernet, albeit on accident

SWAP-AVA 2 -tcl is made and destroys the pc, wow what a shocker -alex eventually traps him and just renders him powerless, though tcl's able to still wander around the pc

SWAP-AVA3 -yellow appears back in the pc and starts destroying it again -tcl tries to stop him but eventually joins him and also the code that disabled his power gets removed (yellow did it) -just like normal ava3, it ends with them both completely destroying the computer, ending with a blue screen of death

SWAP-AVA4 -starts like normal ava4, in the middle of an online chat -however, it starts in the middle of scn destroying the computer -scn comes across an fla file and finds tr and co -they hang out for a bit but alex eventually finds the fla with them inside -fight sequence -as soon as alex is about to close the fla a few flashbacks to (swap)ava 1 happen -they come up with a compromise, scn doesnt wreck the pc and alex lets him and his new friends hang out in said pc -a little while later it shows that scn, tr and co are in their own fla, with a house drawn inside it (similar to the stickfight website)

a few extra things i want to add before heading to ns?avm is that in this au, when tfv gets brought back from deletion he tries to immediately go back to the stickfight website in hopes of bringing back the cg

it works, but yellow is still missing

they then find out about the outernet and try to find yellow there

along the way they founded illustratiocorp

just to make it clear they dont care about the animator, or at least getting revenge on the animator is of less importance to them at the moment, for now they just want to find yellow

the reason why tcl is wanted is because he was suspected to have involvement with yellow somehow,,, and also the past instances/news of internet terrorizing but yeahhg

i think thats all for ns?AVA for the moment, now is time for ns?AVM!

so in ns?AVM, gold and king found purple and took him in (purple's lore up until that point still stays, orchid dies and navy leaves)

purple died in the minecraft event and gold feels severe survivor's guilt and now wants to destroy minecraft

unlike king, gold's ,.,,, a child so this hatred against minecraft is more severe

speaking of king, yeah he's still traumatized but he still has a bit of moral left and doesn't want gold to go through with this plan

gold then early on finds out how to enter minecraft because of the cloaked guy (gasp)

in this au, cloaked guy originally resided in the mac and later led gold to said mac

gold decided this would be a good time to start destroying a bit of minecraft currently on the mac, but accidentally ended up being a ruler of the mac village (definitely not because cloaked guy gave him the crown and silently left and the villagers took that as cloaked guy passing down the crown to this kid)

then skip to a whiiiile later, gold and cloaked guy are kinda working together and cloaked guy is also teaching gold how to work with the command block

now that golds more confident on working the command block, his plan to destroy minecraft can finally begin right after making a staff because he still liked his old staff during his time as ruler of the mac village

honestly i havent thought much about ns?AVM as much as i have with ns?AVA so maybe i'll post some other lorethings about ns?AVM after i think some more, but apart from that i thiiink thats about it yeah

[ninadove]

Hi Nina! Why transmask Felix and not transfem? Or you are fine with transfem too?

Hi Anon! Hope you’re having a wonderful day! 💖

I do like transfem Felix! In fact, I originally leaned more towards this option. The Senti-lore is extremely queer by nature, and I think it’s wonderful so many people can see themselves in the kids.

Really, it comes down to personal interpretation. Some notes below:

1. Colt Fathom is a massive douchebag.

Nothing groundbreaking here. We been knew. At first glance, you’d assume he would want a male heir for Toxic Masculinity Reasons™; but I think he would prefer a daughter, also for Toxic Masculinity Reasons™.

Colt is the kind of person who wants to elevate his own status in the world, and the solution he resorted to is marriage. This kind of alliances is frequent in the spheres he navigates, as seen in S5 with the Adrigami plot: as such, he would likely see his child not as an heir, like the GDV lineage would, but rather as something he could trade for even more power. A daughter of noble pedigree and born into considerable wealth would undoubtedly be a catch, and give him a leg up in his race against other rich jerks.

Additionally, we’ve seen how he acts around Felix — how he perceives him as a threat and a reminder of his own mortality. Peacock curse or not, asking for a son would have forced him to face the prospect of eventually being overpowered by his own progeniture every single day; but a little girl? Surely, there’s no threat there, right?

2. Felix’s first appearance gives us lots to think about.

Firstly, when it comes to Adrien’s reaction. When Amelie explains that she decided to drop by “so [they] could all be together” on the anniversary of Emilie’s fridging, this is the (adorable) face he makes:

Because he understands! If his aunt is here, surely his cousin must be here too. “All together” means all together.

Yet, when Felix actually appears, draped in dramatic lighting like the theatre kid he is, Adrien still looks strangely surprised:

Which Amelie immediately follows up by highlighting that they look “just like twins”. The characters should not need this comment — they were here the whole time the kids were growing up! Of course, there’s a doylist explanation to this line: we, the public, must understand that Identity Shenanigans Will Ensue (and ensue they did). But what could this mean in-world?

I propose that the cousins did not always look exactly like each other — that they were perfect twins as young kids, but became more and more different as time went by. Perhaps one developed more feminine features, while the other grew up to look more masculine. If the Agrestes did not witness the early stages of Felix’s transition (probably started right after Colt’s death, so only a few months before canon), it makes sense they would be taken aback by the newly recovered resemblance between the kids.

And, of course, it adds some depth to the Identity Shenanigans. Especially if you read Adrien as genderqueer or transfem.

3. Felix exhibits stereotypically masculine behaviours every chance he gets.

This goes from wearing what is basically the Official Rich Boy Uniform (waistcoat, tie, black and white palette):

To certain mannerisms, like putting his feet on Gabriel’s desk to assert dominance against the guy who could literally snap him out of existence:

To the way he perceives himself: a cursed prince from a twisted fairytale, who systematically places himself in the role of the protector (even if it’s not always appreciated by the people in his life).

To me, this sliiightly over-the-top behaviour is very reminiscent of a child who just figured out something huge about their identity and is exploring it to the fullest — to find out what it truly means to them, and which aspects they want to incorporate into their life.

Which leads me to the most important point:

4. The Peacock Miraculous! 💜🦚

Deeply associated with Felix’s reclamation of his safety, freedom and bodily autonomy. And when we think about peacocks, what do we think about?

Colourful feathers. Panache. Ostentation (this is literally what groups of peafowls are called). A concept of masculinity that is different from social standards in most of the Western world, but is there and bold and unapologetic.

We don’t get to see Felix using the brooch for the first time — even his mum, who he trusts with everything, is absent. He needs this privacy to come to terms with his powers and make them his.

But then, when we do get to see him transform — everybody else witnesses it too. Felix goes from hiding behind Adrien’s face, ergo disguising as someone he is not, to revealing his identity to both the audience and the entirety of Paris.

This is Argos embracing who he truly is, even if the world might call him monstrous.

And finally, one more point:

5. Why would Tomoe prefer a model over a quasi-prince as a potential match for her daughter?

I get it — she has a partnership going on with Gabriel. But the woman is leagues smarter than him (What? Like it’s hard?) and could most likely find another way to turn the world into her own little dystopian dream, should she want to. Not to mention, even if Adrien is a catch by most people’s standards, he is still the bane of the GDV lineage.

Felix is the heir. Felix is just as wealthy, if not wealthier than the Agrestes. Felix is the best at everything he does (chess, horse-riding, karate) and as such should be a perfect fit for Kagami, even by Tomoe’s insanely high standards.

Yet, she keeps referring to him as this corrupting influence: not because he is a supervillain (she hangs out with them on the regular), but because he might whisper dangerous ideas about ✨ freedom ✨ and ✨ bodily autonomy ✨ in her sweet daughter’s ear while they make out dressed as Adrien’s parents. We know how important femininity is to the Tsurugi lineage: Duusu forbid this monster talks Kagami into rejecting it in any form.

So, there you have it, Anon. I’m sure there’s a lot of evidence to support other interpretations, but this is the one that resonates most with my brain! 💜🦚🏳️‍⚧️

Can’t believe I almost forgot:

“Felix” literally means happiness and luck: a weird choice from Colt, and it’s unlikely Amelie had any say in the matter. So when Argos says:

“Isn’t it great? We have everything we need to be happy!”

It very much sounds like his first name could be a conscious reclamation on his end!

[vexy-hexy]

I hope this isn't a hot take, but Scott Cawthon is a shitty writer

The reason the lore makes no fucking sense is because he just randomly adds or retcons things with no explanation and, at this point, I think he just enjoys watching people (especially MatPat) go crazy theorizing

Like, the man may as well have confirmed dream theory a few years ago, only to go "wait, never mind, here’s Sister Location and everything is real, I promise"

I doubt even Scott understands his own story because it was written with the same grace and talent as an edgy middle school kid trying to write the next Jeff the Killer, so they shove everything they think is cool into the story, whether or not it fits

People say "oh, he didn't realize it would be more than (however many) games. He didn't plan that far ahead," but that excuse should only get you so far when you are writing a story

It's pretty clear that after at least game 4 (some say game 3, so I'm being nice), he stopped caring about the story and began just duct taping things he thought were interesting into a story that could've been wrapped up with MAYBE 5 games (1, 2, 3, 4, and pizzeria Sim with something in the other four to explain Baby and Molten Freddy, or get rid of them, I don't care), but instead it's a cluster fuck of weird details that DON’T MAKE SENSE

Look, I think a lot of us, myself included, can sometimes confuse a good CONCEPT with a good STORY

The storytelling of FNAF is dog shit, but the concept is just SO good, which is why people like the FNAF VHS tapes so much: these people are able to take a terrifying and interesting concept and make a truly good implied horror story with it in the way Scott NEVER could

And don't get me started on the books: First, they're not canon, then they're canon, but also, some stories may only be canon in another alternate universe or something, but if you actually want to understand something, you need to read some of the books

Your story should not have to be told across multiple different media for it to be even SLIGHTLY coherent. It's fine if you want to add in details that aren't too important to understanding the entire thing (like, we don't specifically need to know the names of each kid William killed, but it's a cool fact to know. Or maybe expand on how Freddy's and the incidents affected different people), but, as cool as it was, Golden Freddy being possessed by two children is a pretty crucial point to the rest of the series to be in just some activity book that so easily could've been overlooked as something fun to do related to FNAF (IMO)

Not to mention, we apparently can't even agree on the name of the Crying Child who, I think, was the catalyst for this entire story (because we can't even seem to agree if Elizabeth or CC died first)

TL;DR FNAF is a great concept, and it's been shown that it can make a great story by people who are much more skilled than Scott Cawthon (or maybe they just care more about this series than it's own creator, I don't fucking know)

Also, sorry if I'm incoherent or get anything wrong, I typed this while I was incredibly tired, but I did try to edit it as much as I could the past few days

[drawing-prompt-s]

GoFundMe - Apartment Transfer

Really did not think that I would be making one of these again. But yours truly, Prompt Prophet, cannot catch a break. Every time that I think I am it seems to them just be ripped right back away.

Note: any further proof you require, please contact me at my main, @prophet-rebellion, and I will do what I can to show you.

$400/$400

Links:

GoFundMe

PayPal

Venmo

Please note that this following update means that anybody who wanted to send additional funds for my current roommates cat - Do Not. I want nothing to do with her. Her cat did nothing but after all this I am done. Not funds had been sent for that cat yet but they had been inquired about being a possibility.

----------------

TL;DR - my apartment that told me they were moving my nightmare of a roommate with something called a forced transfer, then apparently reversed their decision (despite documentation) and did not tell me. The only way for me to get out now is to pay a $300 Transfer Fee + Applicable costs to get out as soon as I can. Giving up the apartment I have lived at for almost 2 years now.

The full explanation I gave is under the cut.

Please note I do not want to be doing this, and as soon as I hit $400 the GoFundMe is getting closed. People are struggling enough right now and I hate asking for monetary help when I know this much.

But god, for the sake of myself and my cat I cannot do this. I can't live here with her anymore, but I can't break my lease either.

FULL EXPLANATION (copied from GoFundMe):

Many of you know me for raising funds regarding my cats, either in the search for one of them as being missing, or more recently to raise funds for the other for ear mite treatment.

We reached the full goal of ear mite treatment within 24 hours of the fundraiser being set up - and it feels wrong in a sense to add the funds to that GoFundMe. The Ear Mite treatment is still happening and I fully intend to post an update photo of her at the vet there when I can.

However, to this end, so much as I do not want to be asking for help.

Living with my current roommate is hell. Cut and dry. She is vindictive, rude, loud, and confrontational. Her own cat has a tendency to attack my own and has on many occasions. This roommate was moved into the apartment in June, I have been here for more than a year and a half.

I will save you most of the story because there is an incredible amount, honestly, and I have cried more than my fair share today. My body is threatening more tears as I work through writing this now.

Incredibly important note: one of my old roommates is moving back in, she is a good friend of mine. However, given all that my current one has done, the original roommate refuses to move back if the current one is still present. I cannot blame her as the actions of my current roommate have driven me to locking myself in my room 24/7, along with my ESA. I wish that this was an exaggeration. It is not.

The brunt of the situation comes down to this:

We had mediation, my current roommate and I, and it was about as useless as you would believe it to be.

Nothing changed, in fact any things reverted back to the way they had been or seemingly got worse.

I went to speak with the property manager one-on-one to bring the full story to light along with evidence to backup what I was saying. I completely broke down at this point in time. I cannot break my lease, I cannot escape my current roommate - I am caged.

What was decided in that meeting was that they would be performing a forcible transfer of my roommate - she would be moving to another apartment, same layout, same size room, etc. But out. We would then phase my soon-to-be roommate back in (she had not originally renewed her lease because she was going to be gone for some time). This meeting was on Friday. I was told by the property manager that the following Monday she was going to have a meeting with my current roommate and inform her of this. The whole process would supposedly take about 2 weeks. (It should also be included that my current roommate has had multiple violations of her lease which I had documented). This decision was then further documented by an email they sent to my soon-to-be roommate stating that upon her arrival into the apartment, my current roommate would be gone. So this is an actual documented decision.

The two weeks was almost up and nothing had been heard, my roommate had not packed, etc. So yesterday (October 17th) I sent an email to which I got no reply. Today (October 18th) I went and spoke to the leasing manager (different from the Property Manager, whom is ranked just above her). the LM had no idea what I was talking about. She then spoke with the PM, who I had met with and called me back.

Apparently, the Property Manager, in her meeting the following Monday decided that actually we would continue to live together. My current roommate would no longer be moved out. This sudden change was not communicated to myself or my soon-to-be roommate who was refiling her lease under the impression the issue would be gone.

No curtsey to respond to my email, no honoring a DOCUMENTED decision. Etc. Just radio silence to me.

The only two options available are this - since they are now also giving my soon-to-be (hopefully) roommate a hard time about her income.

1. Myself and my soon-to-be roommate are moved from our original apartment to a different and fully vacant apartment.

(This is the decision we are going with on the grounds that my STB roommate be accepted).

2. My STB roommate does not move in at all and cancels her lease process, leaving me along in the apartment with my devil of a roommate and her cat that keeps attacking my own.

This second option is not sustainable. I am breaking, entirly. I am so tired, and so done with this all.

I do not want to give up where I have lived for almost two years becuase the actions of a vindictive new arrival. But I cannot stay here. If I could break my lease then I would. Because the Property Manager is the highest authority present at the office there is nobody I can go to above her that will hold her to her documented word and honor it. (I did but in a request to the corporation that owns my complex to speak with them about her conduct, but I doubt anything will come of it outside of retaliation).

The reality of option 1 however, is that it is no longer considered a forced transfer. Meaning that i have to pay the transfer fee listed in my lease of $300 plus applicable fees ("convenience" fee and card transfer %). I cannot move apartments until this fee is paid.

Therefore I am setting the amount at $400 to account for the percentage that GFM takes, and the amount that the apartments themselves will be taking on.

I have no set goal for how fast this will be filled, but by God, the sooner the better. I am not renewing my lease and remaining her after it ends in June.

[actual-changeling]

i am still looking at the arcadia house and ohhhh boy do i have more thoughts. this is about to be an unhinged meta ramble written at 2 am so buckle in folks.

i know the most likely answer is that no one considered this important enough to keep track of so fuck continuity i guess, but i am not here for the easy answers.

if we ignore the windows that open to the outside even though they

a) SHOULDN'T based on their architecture and

b) do NOT have any kind of handle

we still end up with one big mystery.

side note: these are the windows. if you can spot something i missed, PLEASE tell me. they gotta open somehow because they ARE open, but????? anyway.

my question is what the FUCK is happening with the front facing window?

in case you're not as obsessed with this episode as i currently am, i mean this one:

i am pointing out the position of the streetlamp for reasons that will become clear in a second.

now, what's wrong with the window? by itself—nothing. but once you add the view from the inside it becomes funky. we get a small number of shots at different times. here is the window behind the (about to be bludgeoned to death) klines.

it looks like some sort of mosaic which is a weird place to put it but okay.

side note: why is the bed right in front of it? the room is big enough for other options, but i digress. we've already talked about the atrocious architectural and interior design choices.

said mosaic is barely visible from the outside, you can kinda see the outlines here.

i now have several more questions.

firstly, WHAT do we see through the window? on the right, you can spot what looks like some sort of shelf, and since the mosaic colours do not add up to form that kind of pattern, it HAS to be something else.

you can spot it at different angles so it's not just a weird reflection, it stays consistent.

this non-existent object, however, is the least of my worries. before i tell you what caused me to write this post, i want to point out the direction said window is facing.

we can spot the sun BEHIND the building both in the morning and in the early afternoon. since we get a nice shot of mulder's watch, we can deduce that this is south.

while this opens more questions regarding continuity (it's february. why is the sun still so high at 2:20 pm???), it's more important that we can now say with certainty that our mystery window is facing NORTH. north-facing means it does not get any direct sunlight throughout the day.

remember the streetlamp? it is lower then the window and also at an angle, meaning that its light will barely if at all shine through said window.

which finally brings us to my problem: what the FUCK is happening here?

this is at night, and even if it were earlier in the evening, the sun sets at, what, 6 pm? it's DARK. so please explain to me why the hell this window is back-lit (???) by something and also what the fuck that pattern is because it sure as hell doesn't match up with the one we see with the klines. that window has not changed between then and now.

no, there are no plants outside that could cause these shadows.

no, there are no lights directed at this window at an almost 90° angle, which you'd need to get this kind of fully lit-up result.

no, there are no lights underneath the roof overhang, as can be seen here.

there is nothing weird or notable about the outside of the window.

where are the lights coming from????? it looks like some sort of LED back-lit decoration but we KNOW it is a north-facing window. we can SEE parts of the mosaic from the outside, so there is no barrier or whatever between two panes of glass (???). which would also be a weird fucking choice but this house is might as well have that shit too; i would not be surprised.

so what is lighting up this window? if anyone has an explanation that makes sense and aligns with the facts we already have PLEASE tell me because i cannot figure it out.

the real x file of this episode is the mysterious, spontaneous lighting up, mosaic window that can apparently also shapeshift. did no one give a fuck about any of this and that's why it's the way it is? probably. but again, not here for the cop-out answers.

that concludes my increasingly less sane meta spiral for the day, feel free to add your own thoughts!!

[charlotteharlatan]

A list (non-exhaustive) of why the 1941 flashback scenes are haunting both me and The Narrative, Part 2:

(link to Part 1)

6. There are additional scenes that point to 1941. The Ritz scene from S1ep6 where they toast “to the world” also echoes the S2ep4 1941 scene, because these are the only two instances where we see Crowley and Aziraphale “cheers” to something with their drinks and then take a sip at the same time - they are also the only two instances where they both consume the same substance at the same time.

(To contrast, look at the Rome flashback from S1ep3, in which they also “cheers” but only Crowley takes a sip of his drink afterwards. In fact, if you watch the entire Rome flashback, there’s never a time when their sips synch up.

I could go off on a whole other tangent about the peculiar significance of “ingesting substances” within Good Omens and how it serves as a direct metaphor for acquiring knowledge/losing innocence, vis a vis Eve and the apple, and Aziraphale with the ox rib, but that would be adding at least a few more paragraphs.)

There’s another element that famously features in the S1ep6 Ritz scene, a piano cover of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.” If we operate on the assumption that we’re meant to link these two events as well, then an inference that the song also played a role that night in 1941 now seems less like a leap, and more like a logical step.

7. We also can’t leave out the context clues within the S2 1941 scene itself. I’ve already mentioned the gramophone and the wine, but there’s another element in the scene’s background that seems to be hinting at something:

The lamps. Despite the candles on the table, there are lit lamps in the background. Again, the background is out of focus, but the lamps seem to be human figures, and they appear as though they might be dancing couples. Why have these lights turned on if you have candles lit? Our attention is meant to be drawn to these light fixtures in this moment; it’s possibly more foreshadowing.

(Of course, you could also turn it the opposite way and say the audience is meant to ask: why light candles when the lamps work just fine, for which there is very little explanation other than Aziraphale was actively trying to create romantic ambiance. Which would only add to the suspicion that something more may have happened between them in 1941 that the first two seasons left out.)

8. Chronologically speaking, the next time we see Crowley and Aziraphale together after 1941 is in 1967, when Aziraphale pops in on Crowley in the Bentley. One of the most striking things about the 1967 scene is that the emotional tone has shifted rather dramatically from what it was like at the end of the S2 1941 scene.

There’s awkward tension between them; every line of dialogue carries heavy hidden meaning. The repressed longing is palpable. Crowley is subdued and cautious, and Aziraphale is avoiding Crowley’s eyes and speaking in a stilted voice.

It could just be the subject matter that’s making things awkward - the holy water had been a matter of major contention between them - but there seems to be much more to this tension. We pay a lot of attention to “you go too fast for me, Crowley,” and we should (especially given that when Aziraphale is actually able to look directly at Crowley in this scene, he keeps glancing at his mouth), but there are other bits of dialogue that are important there too.

Crowley offers to drive Aziraphale “anywhere he wants to go” and Aziraphale turns him down. But from information we received in S2, we now know that the bookshop was literally across the street. We are being implicitly told that Crowley is offering a whole lot more than just a drive home, but we are also being primed to recall the last time Crowley actually did give Aziraphale a ride home, the last time they were in the bookshop together. Every context clue is contributing to the sense that we are missing something. The 1941 scene still feels incomplete, like there’s one last installment of it, which sets the stage to revisit it in S3.

9. Returning to the 1967 scene, after Aziraphale hands over the thermos of holy water, Crowley asks whether he should say thank you. Aziraphale responds with a grimace disguised as a polite smile and a rather curt “better not.”

This contrasts to 1941, when Aziraphale attempts multiple times to express gratitude to Crowley for saving him and his books, and for coming through for him at the magic show, including that rather suggestive moment in the Bentley where he insists “there must be something I can do for you…in return.” Why is the idea of expressing gratitude so loaded and weighty, when only twenty years ago (not that long, for them) Aziraphale insisted upon it? Gratitude has always been complicated for the two of them, but now that complexity feels compounded.

It gives extra interest to the moment Aziraphale thanks Crowley for removing the paint stain from his coat in S1ep2. And of course, we know what happens just a bit later in that same episode.

The Wall Slam, which echoes The Kiss, in that Crowley is the one to close the distance between them in both cases, taking Aziraphale by the collar.

It’s interesting to note that there have also been other times when Crowley gets into Aziraphale’s personal space. In the first two minisodes in S2, there are two separate instances of Crowley getting into Aziraphale’s face after the angel accuses him of goodness.

It happens in Job’s courtyard in S2ep2…

…and in the graveyard in S2ep3 after they (well, Crowley mostly) save Elspeth.

This is another of their patterns - Aziraphale acknowledging the good in Crowley, casting doubt on his evilness in a way that gets a rise out of the demon. At first it was unintentional, but Aziraphale tries to bait Crowley in this way multiple times throughout the series, possibly as a way to get physical closeness with him that he doesn’t get otherwise. The time in Job’s courtyard wasn’t intentional, but the time in the graveyard definitely was. Just look at Aziraphale’s pleased, indulgent expression when Crowley is telling him off.

Sometimes this tactic is successful, sometimes it’s not. One could argue that the Wall Slam was an instance in which he was very successful, even more so than he bargained for.

And: he attempts the same thing multiple times in 1941. He does it immediately after the church gets bombed, in the Bentley afterwards, and during their candlelit date. Crowley doesn’t really rise to the bait though. He gets a bit snappish, he dismisses and denies, but he doesn’t get into Aziraphale’s face - and my read of this scene is that you can see Aziraphale’s frustration that it isn’t working.

Aziraphale can be very stubborn when he’s decided to do something, and if he keeps pushing this particular button of Crowley’s to get the response he’s seeking, well. It wouldn’t be the first time. I could definitely see him trying this tactic one more time if we do get a continuation of 1941 in S3, and it potentially working.

There may be a part three to this, as I have a few more related items to discuss. (Shocker, I know.)

[acourtofthought]

I am rereading the full ACOTAR series and there is a scene where Elain is human and happy and she is wearing pearls . When I saw that scene I screamed, and then I remembered that pearls were the only other outfit choice she had in the Hewn City scene in SF, and I screamed some more. Nothing more has ever convinced me that Elucien is endgame but this!!!! Not even the fact that they are mates lol. It might sound stupid because pearls??? But I feel it in my gut and reading that Elain was wearing pearls when she was human, even before Lucien met her just proves it to me. SJM would not write Lucien getting her a pearl earring for nothing, especially considering we have little Elucien interaction, as it is, so to me every little detail matters for them.

Honestly, He sees her your honor and that gift just proved it. He could have gotten her a generic rose necklace because she “likes flowers” but still he got her pearl earrings because she wears pearls 😭😭❤️ (No hate Azzy but considering you have lived with her for 2 years you could have atleast not re gifted the necklace, even the gift he got for Nesta was more personal and heartwarming)

I can just imagine Lucien wanting to get her the whole pearl jewelry set, but thinking she struggles to accept my gifts and i don’t want to upset her so let me keep it small😭😭

He is so sweet to her and it’s so cute.

I am not sure whether Sarah put much thought into jewels that Elain wore "before" and how it ties into the after but I do think that she put thought into the meaning of pearls when Lucien gave Elain the earrings. "By the early 19th century pearls embellished more intimate or 'sentimental' jewelry to convey personal messages celebrating love" I also think it's a possible nod to Jamie Fraser who Sarah said Lucien was inspired by as he gifts Claire a pearl necklace that had belonged to his mother on their wedding night. And I do think it's important to note that Elain selected pearls to wear to the Hewn City which Lucien was not around for yet he got her earrings that would match something she already owned and chose for herself.

Az's gift to Elain the second Solstice (since he did not want to get her anything the first) was nice but he didn't vocalize any significance behind it. His thoughts were "when held to the light it's true depth would become visible" but he doesn't bother sharing that with her, he didn't say "I see how you love sitting by the sunniest windows and I thought you'd appreciate how the sun really brings this necklace to life". He didn't add any special words of connection, "oh when I saw this necklace it made me think of you because of XYZ". And if the answer to that is "well it's obvious why he got it for her" then it is kind of generic. When I was younger I loved koala's but years later, do you know how many koala things I got? Soooo many, lol. At a certain point I was oversaturated with koala things because it was the "obvious" gift to get me and giving Elain something with flowers is kind of the obvious thing to get her. It's not difficult to think "Elain would like something with flowers" but that does not indicate someone sees Elain beyond the surface. Tamlin got Feyre paintbrushes once upon a time. Was it a nice gift? Sure! But it's also not difficult to select it based on her known interests and after knowing her for nearly two years at that point you'd think he'd get something a little less generic especially when (as mentioned above), there was no explanation attached to why he chose that particular necklace for her. When Cassian gave Nesta her gift he explains that it's a Symphonia, a rare device from Helion's court. That it can trap music within itself and play it back. That it was originally invented to help compose music, but it never caught on. That he went and asked the musicians at the Hewn City to play the symphony for him plus some of their other favorites and to the taverns that she liked and found musicians there to play music for him. Even Lucien wrote a note explaining the gloves to her and since she'd begun pointedly ignoring him there was no room for him to explain his reasoning for the pearls while in the room with her at the second Solstice, by that point he'd learned to keep their interactions to a minimum. But Az was just like "here's your gift" and gave absolutely no reason behind the why he wanted her to have the rose necklace, what moved him to buy that particular thing for her.

And Elain's gifts for Az? I'd say her second was worse than her first. They were funny for sure but she gave him two things he'd most likely never use. Because he wasn't actually suffering from true headaches that needed treating when he was exasperated by the behavior of others and he's definitely not going to be using the gag gift earplugs. They are the gifts you give to a coworker at a silly gift exchange, things that eventually end up in the trash can because you realize they've just been sitting around for an entire year untouched and unused. They are not the gifts you give to someone you have deep feelings for.

[6qubed]

my current favorite killer build in DBD is running Vecna with Franklin's Demise, Weave Attunement, Hoarder, and Human Greed. I call this the "Learn To Share, Brat" build and with the Bone Chill event going on right now it's goddamn bonkers

(the power addons are less important and tend to be whatever odd thing but I like Pearl of Power and Boots of Speed, they feel good)

...it just occurred to me that I don't know if people who follow me play Dead by Daylight and thus don't know what those words mean. explanation to follow

first things first the name is a Dragonball Z Abridged reference. Vegeta.

so the only reason I used this with Vecna (aka The Lich) is because I haven't prestiged him yet and thus I can't use his Weave Attunement perk with other killers. for now.

anyway, quick summation of the perks/what they do:

Franklin's Demise: your basic M1 attacks knock items out of the survivor's hand, and the item loses charge the longer it stays on the ground

Weave Attunement: causes survivors to automatically drop items that they deplete the first time. I see the auras (outlines) of any(!) dropped items as well as the auras of any survivors that get close enough to them. if a player picks an item up, they become Oblivious, aka that survivor can't see or hear the normal visual/audio indicators that the killer is nearby

Hoarder: gives me a big loud noise alert whenever a close-enough survivor interacts with a dropped item or an unopened chest. adds two chests to the map

Human Greed: I see the auras of any unopened chests on the map, as well as the auras of any survivors that get near them. I also have the ability to kick an open chest shut again (but so far haven't needed to)

additionally, during the Bone Chill seasonal (christmas) event, there's these little doodads made of toes that do some unimportant stuff but ALSO add 1 chest each to the map, and all five players in the round can bring one

so what makes this build bonkers is that with all these extra chests dotted around the map acting as passive radar stations, I can see where the survivors are at any point in the round. using a toolbox to fix a generator? I get free radar as soon as they use it up. using a medkit to heal other players and/or themselves? I get free radar as soon as they use it up. I start chasing a survivor and get at least one hit in? I get free radar from the item I just smacked outta their hands. now Vecna already has the tools to counter "looping" tactics during chase, but this makes it trickier for survivors I'm chasing to use loops to escape, because if they try to hide behind a wall I can just shotgun some skeletons out to wallbang them, and if they try to go for a pallet I have Mage Hand to shut that shit down too.

the one big downside is that I have no direct method for slowing down or stopping generator repair, so I have no choice but to play super aggressive by rushing down any generators I can see being repaired, but being able to down and/or hook at least one survivor and then thwart any attempts to save them because I can see their angle of approach does provide decent passive slowdown just by dint of only having 1-2 survivors fixing generators as opposed to 3-4. and if by some miracle they catch wise to the fact that I can see them through items and chests, any time they spend opening those chests or going back to retrieve dropped items is time they aren't spending fixing gens, plus now they're stuck carrying a useless item and the very real threat of not knowing if I'm headed for them

I haven't even fully upgraded most of the perks for Vecna yet, and it's still giving good results. I don't imagine it'll be as crazy without Mistletoes, but so far I'm having a blast

[fishyrice]

ep.3

Micah?

I’m staring at the very distinct head of always perfectly done brown hair. That is definitely Micah. The blonde roots of his hair are peaking out, I tug slightly at Sofia’s skirt to make look in the direction I’m pointing.

“Micah?” she says, she’s as puzzled as I am , mainly because 1) Micah’s supposed to be sick and 2) Micah’s Jacob’s husband. There are probably a bazillion different reasons as to why he’s actually here but the one at the top it : he’s cheating.

Though it seems weird because Micah is practically the Virgin Mary personified-to an extent at least. Sofi’s making her way to him across the sea of people, it’s easy to follow her because 1) she’s really (really) tall and 2) she moves across the sea of people like a ballet dancer. It amazes me she hasn’t stepped on someone’s toe or fallen over yet.

I follow the dark sage green crochet sweater until we both are right behind Micah.

She taps on his shoulder. He jumps. He turns around slowly like we’re in a movie and he’s expecting a gun pointed at his head. He looks almost relieved it’s us. Micah’s startled blue-grey eyes relax, and he smiles nervously.

“H-hello you two” he says

“You’re supposed to be  sick” Sofia says, the way she says it makes you feel like you’re five and your mother is telling you off about throwing a boy then his brother into a ditch just because they pulled your hair and made fun of you.

“Surprise?” Micah says,

“What are you doing here?” I ask , I know Sofia would turn this into a good cop, bad cop roleplay and I do not want that.

“Trying to find Jacob”

You know that text you send to people when they type something you don’t understand, the multiple questions marks text-“??????” - , that is my exact face expression, thankfully Micah is one of those rare men who can actually catch a hint, whether or not it’s because he’s gay , I don’t really know.

“I’m organizing a party” he adds seeing my face expression, I don’t if the words organizing a party are supposed to help this situation.

“Right because that’s what you do  when you lie to your husband about being sick” Sofia retorts I can tell for a  fact that she’s confused.

“The person I have to talk to is a very private man, and I’d rather not mess up the preparations for Jacob’s birthday par-“

“Jacob’s birthday party?”

“Yes.”

“THAT’S TWO MONTHS AWAY YOU GIT-“

“BUT IT’S IMPORTANT!”

“SHUT UP YOU BOTH!” I yell, I will not let an argument ensue between Sofia and Micah. I don’t have the energy to let that happen today. I step on Micah’s foot. He cries out in pain hopping slightly on one foot. Sofia tries to stifle her laugh before trying to act stern and tick him off.

I can see how Jacob and Micah lasted for so long, they both are idiots. Gay idiots to be very exact.

One of them really likes glitter.

Sofia in the process of explaining something to Micah and I honestly don’t care, I think 15 minutes of our lunch break were spent on this specific issue, I do not want to spend any more.

Sofia’s saying something, something, I really-

“CASSANDRA, DO YOU THINK I’M RIGHT OR NOT?” by her tone of voice and expression I can tell  I should’ve answered the first time, I should not have pulled out my phone and stared scrolling baby turtle videos.

“uh-yea very right Sofi” I say , she nods happily and continues her explanation, I can tell Micah wants to be out this conversation, if this was any other person he could probably make an excuse and leave, however this is not any person this is Sofi.

I continue scrolling through baby turtle videos. I don’t think half of the animals I watch exist, if they do it’s probably in very small numbers in zoo’s or something , the only animals that are properly thriving are cats.

 It’s always cats.