#Because you realize: “Hang on—shouldn't *all* these characters be talking like they're living in the medieval era?”

[ffcrazy15]

Someone needs to do an analysis on the way the Kung Fu Panda movies use old-fashioned vs. modern language ("Panda we meet at last"/"Hey how's it going") and old-fashioned vs. modern settings (forbidden-city-esque palaces/modern-ish Chinese restaurant) to indicate class differences in their characters, and how those class differences create underlying tensions and misunderstandings.

[pinkandpurple360]

Even being the Fizzomdous trash as I am, I'm starting to get worried about some of the ask of those trying to defend it.

Both Fizz and Ozzie are grown men, not children. Yeah, if Fizz and Ozzie broke up: they'll get over it eventually because life goes on. Sure one of them may have a harder time than the other due to attachment issues but if you lived for thousands of years you had to have friends come and go and yeah, I refuse to believe Fizz is the first person he fell in love with. You live that long you more than likely had crushes or grew feelings for someone (unless you're aro and even then platonic queer relationships exist).

That and it's unhealthy to have your life devoted around one person and no one else. The problem I just realized about Viv's pairings in the show is that it seems that both are supposedly completely 'in Love' with each other but don't have a life outside of that. Millie and Moxxie are glued to the hip but are you telling me neither of them have people they hang out with outside of work or their relationship? How often does Millie see or talk to her family? Where's her friends? Does she even have any? Same with Moxxie? Do they have hobbies they both like when they're not together? Even couples are gonna have different interests from each other. Granted, I'm not saying we need to see every part of their life but my point stands that even in healthy relationships, couples do have lives outside of each other. Isolating yourself and spending time with only your partner and partner alone is going to lead to some codependency and I don't know about you, that ain't romantic.

Also people saying that Ozzie and Fizz can't break up for Fizz to be with Blitzo: Um, all three of them have two hands? And damn does Blitzo need a partner that isn't going to talk down to him and see him as a sex object. He gets two loving boyfriends for the price of one! Everyone wins but Stolas but who cares about Stolas he proves he shouldn't be in a relationship right now with how he treats others around him. Heck Blitzo already has more chemistry with Oz than he does with uwu sad owl boi. I know poly isn't for everyone but c'mon people think outside the box!

(and I'm sure Ozzie is more than down for a threesome. just saying).

Seriously, some of you who are grown adults really have a childish view on relationships.

I’m a fan of them myself. And I have no problem just enjoying the story as it is. I’m just trying to take a critical view on it and keep in mind the fact that this show is supposed to be on the maturity level of Bojack, soo what’s with all these heroic masculine characters rescuing feminine characters from all their troubles.

Why are people talking about “soulmates” — a concept I don’t really believe in. Two people can meet at the right time and fit perfectly, or they can just barely miss each other, the attraction and compatibility either gets stronger or weaker with time. That’s why love is so special when you do have it. That’s just my experience though if people don’t like that I won’t force it on them.

Going back to MnM, nobody has dethroned them yet. Not even close. Millie and Moxxie are so so different but they met at the perfect time for something beautiful to blossom. But if Moxxie, a terrified impressionable person in the past, met Millie, a once violent unforgiving person, they wouldn’t have clicked. It would have been the wrong time. Now however they are very much compatible and in love but slowly leaving the honeymoon phase. That transition is very difficult. It explains perfectly why they’re still so rosy cheeked and gleeful to be around each other. The two are newly weds.

Exactly exactly, that annoys me too. So. why don’t the two of them have other friends? It’s all entirely each other or their boss blitzø. But B actually does have friends he used to party with. And probably connections in lust? but we never see them. Wouldn’t it be nice if Millie had a favourite western themed bar with a small social group and knife throwing tournaments? Maybe Mox knows some people from the shooting range or from the opera theatre he loves so much. Idk. Just ideas.

Oh yeah polyamory. What a concept. Blitzfizzarozzie is such a perfect ot3 and you’re right. Asmodeus built a mutually respectful trust with Blitz in what..? Ten minutes? With a foundation that they both love and protect Fizz. And it’s probably been over a year and stolas can’t even have one conversation that is non hostile and non sexual with him. Not one.

I’ve heard rumours that allegedly Viv gets the ick from polyamory. That and her alleged hostility to trans men…so much for a “queer” show. I really really wish she’d put out a statement about how she doesn’t believe this anymore, ‘was in a bad place’ or something, instead of running from it. I wouldn’t be so quick to let it go personally considering how much denial and dishonesty she was in, but most fans would eat it up.

If she has addressed it let me know actually, might be wrong.

[aranarumei]

you listed gsnk as an option and my dopamine receptors lit up. What dyou think about mikorin and mayu

ask me about a ship and I’ll give my opinions + classify them as does / doesn’t make sense, does / doesn’t compel me

heyyy surprise for you. yeah i actually was cleaning up my notes app today and realized I'd answered this and never posted this lol. gonna start off with a does make sense, does compel me and continue under the cut.

okay. hear me out. for a period of time I genuinely believe mayumiko was the gsnk duo closest to being, like, romantic. in a sense. horikashi, nozachiyo, and wakaseo have sure got a lot of development since then (in ch 60, kashima avoids hori and we get a REALLY good moment out of it) but like. just one chapter before that, we have ch 59. one of my favorite chapters. and at that point, I feel like the main couples have had their setup and they're really fun and comedic, but there hasn't been much... advancement, in a sense?

and then we hit ch 59, where "mayumayu" (nozaki mayu, who's been conned into posing as a girl) and "mamiko" (mikoshiba mikoto, who's posing as a girl so that he's not a creepy guy commenting on mayumayu's blog, unwittingly using the name of the protagonist of let's love by nozaki umetarou under alias of yumeno sakiko without knowing that he's the inspiration for the character's personality) basically immediately hit it off over text. seriously, past the first couple of texts where there's a bunch of people commenting on it, all they say is that they'll instantly reply to any texts that come their way. what commences is a hell of texting, probably, but it is a LOT of texting that happens. and that's not something that can be empty! both mikoshiba and mayu seem worn out by the amount of time they spend on it, but they don't seem worn out by each other in the slightest, judging by the fact that in ch 89, not only is mikoshiba still regularly checking mayumayu's blog, he's getting texts with extra art and well-wishes for his exams! they talk to each other about their lives! and it's not something that exists only online, too... mayu and mikoshiba are genuinely and obviously good friends outside of their online identities.

I'm aware not everyone sees it that way, but like, to me, ch 59 was like the most outright romantic the series had gotten. so it's very special to me. so is mayumiko! mayumiko’s so fun because they’re both soooo cool and soooo uncool. but while the mayumiko situation is objectively hilarious, the way they're friends is like... surprisingly understated? it's just something that happens and it works for both of them, even when it seems like it shouldn't. like, let's be real, mikoshiba can be kind of annoying, and mayu can be kind of grating. despite that they end up being really comfortable with each other. like. no wonder they could keep up that texting chain. they just click in general.

so we meet mayu in ch 33, and in ch 37, mikoshiba runs into him, and they've got this fun chapter together where miyako both compares them to cats. then in ch 49, mayu gets mikoshiba to lend him his... questionable? sure. questionable manga. calls him mikoto-san. and it just kind of... happens, them being friends. since they both hang out at nozaki's place. it's neat. in ch 64, post-The Incident, mikoshiba's comfortable enough to ask mayu for help with working out. and mayu knows mikoshiba enough to shout out the specific name of the fake high school from one of the games mikoshiba likes (sure, it's a super popular galge, but that's a strange thing to know well! especially for a guy who's traditionally lazy about everything but judo)

then of course we get to the mayu chapters where he's just so. iconic. in ch 76, mikoshiba needs to bring a guy to the mixer and then after nozaki rejects him sakura's like, ask mayu, who's been on the floor this whole time. side note i think its cute that when mikoshiba asks mayu, he calls himself "mikoshiba-nii-san." and mayu rejects him at first (also using "mikoshiba-nii-san" lol), but he ends up going once he's told he doesn't have to do that much work. and then he grills a girl about her boyfriend bc she says he does judo. and then tries to get some guy's number because he's apparently strong. judo freak (affectionate). and then, of course, as mikoshiba's thinking that "ah, they totally think mayu likes guys, but i guess it's fine since he doesn't seem to care" and when he's surrounded by girls mayu jumps in and says "he's mine," just like nozaki's shoujo manga advice had told him to do. love that for them. in ch 81, though it's a pain, mayu goes along with the idea that all the stuff in the back room is his and not mikoshiba's (though maybe he thought it was more of a pain to explain) and when talking about dating sims, mayu says, "well, guys or girls, both are pretty similar." love that guy for real.

then, in one of the moments of all time that make me insane, in ch 94, seo's pinning mikoshiba, and suddenly goes, it's boring without waka (makes sense! he's normally the guy she pushes around like this) and mikoshiba's like. oh! that's right! I haven't gotten a souvenir for mayu yet! (makes... sense...? because. because he's getting PINNED??? and we KNOW that mikoshiba hasn't done judo with mayu because it happens for the first time in ch 135, where after some really nice moments, mikoshiba sheepishly asks if mayu wants to try throwing him around too. it's a weird expression of care and also the fact that they're still friends after this fact, considering the violence nozaki translates it as, is a testament to their friendship.)

also in the extras for that volume, we see mikoshiba got him a smartphone case, which sucks because mayu's got a flip phone (though it's better than the hairpin nozaki got mayu) but then when mayu figures out a use for that smartphone case, he runs to mikoshiba to give him the good news! 'cause mikoshiba was sulking before... they're fun.

i think I've already said this but they really are close. and i think mayu's kinda clingy. in ch 114 when kashima rei asks to talk to him again, he's like, "go through mikoto-san." in ch 128 we find out that mayu shows girls in his class photos of mikoshiba so they make sure he doesn't get caught napping. this begs the question: HOW did this arrangement exist in the first place? because there's no way I can think about it that doesn't involve mayu and mikoshiba being at some level of closeness. and there's no way mayu can get so many nice looking photos of mikoshiba without being close to him. and in that same fucking chapter when nozaki’s making posts for his blog and turns mikoshiba into a girl, people think that he and mayu are dating. like oh my god. even in gekkan shoujo nozaki-san, when the main cast is meant to be a bit older than the canon timeline, mikoshiba and mayu are hanging out together at nozaki's place. and when mikoshiba and nozaki are getting all chummy with miyoshi, mayu walks in and he's like. ah. a challenger emerges (because he presumably wants to be pampered instead). my point is that they're close they just hang out. it's comfortable, which says a lot for both of them.

in ch 59 mayu's friends are like. his type is 1) someone who's stronger than him at judo or 2) someone older who'd take care of him and. mikoshiba's not #1 but he is #2. those two can be pretty sweetly considerate actually. as we see mayu gets dragged into quite a bit of stuff and does it. in ch 101 he actually finishes up the chapter of let's love while everyone's fallen asleep. and in the vol 14 extras mikoshiba gifts a water plant to a guy he barely knows. just because. so I feel like they're both sweet people underneath it all. and extra fact about ch 59 i know you'll feel crazy about. kobayashi (the guy who actually runs the mayumayu blog) calls mayu maa-kun. i am not joking.

anyways to me mikoshiba and mayu are both this weird security to each other. mayu’s someone who doesn’t care abt social graces and mikoshiba’s someone who cares too much. but when they’re weird to each other it’s like they accept everything. and I just think. despite all of the mistaken identity drama it’s like. idk. they just like each other. they just get along well. and for mikoshiba who’s so awkward with girls, this works out well. also the way that in ch 144 his fav ever gacha character is this kind of gloomy and lazy girl… fascinating thing you’re being charmed by. what a taste you have.

so in the end despite all of the wild situations i think it’ll be simple. mikoshiba will think a little too much and mayu a little too little. but they've gotten along well for so long that I think this will go pretty well, too. it'll just be a feeling that grows kind of slowly until it works for the two of them.

[pcptpf]

A small rant as a religiously traumatized individual regarding Good Omens

TW: Talks of religion, trauma, manipulation, all that good stuff I guess

**********************************

So I honestly just finished good omens s2 a couple days ago. And obviously the brain rot set in. I'm so in love with all of the characters and think they're just lovely. There is one thing that bothers me though and it's the reaction of Aziraphel's exit of this season.

I see a lot of people being pissed at him and rightfully so they've been a dick but Aziraphels also a very very traumatized angel.

We got tidbits of the abuse they endured by the hands of many of the angels. With the nice touch of being told to "shut up and die" by someone he looked up to. This was of course witnessed by Crowley who I think realized in that moment just how bad it's been for their angel up in heaven.

Now onto the trauma bits. I have my own personal experiences with religion and it's not great. I was born into a religion and was forced all my life to serve in it. Told I didn't have a choice and shouldn't want anything else. I was told that as long as I lived under my parents roof I had no choice but to serve.

I wasn't allowed to have outside friends and definitely not hang out with them. I wasn't allowed to be seen with certain people as it would spoil my family's reputation. I was told that eventually all my wordly friends would die so I shouldn't get too attached to them.

So when I saw this very deeply traumatized angel I was like lol me too. One thing about religious trauma and trauma in general is that it never leaves you. When someone spends years and years telling you that you're nothing without the religion. The only people who truly love you are here. They don't give a shit about you but we do. They're all just going to be destroyed one day. They're not good people. It kinda gets set inside of you embedded in you if you will.

So no matter what Aziraphel is going to think this about himself. I've only experienced this for 18 years as Aziraphel has had this happening to him for much much longer. He has been beat down and told to stay there as it's the only thing they should be doing.

Let's talk the authority problems too. If you notice in the scene where Gabriel and Beelzebub are running away together and talking about their love Aziraphel looks so excited. They grab Crowley's shoulder as in saying"that could be us." This is all absolutely shattered the moment metatron opens that door. Everything Aziraphel might've been thinking about fell away the moment he saw the one person he's been looking to be seen by for his entire existence.

Aziraphel spent so long being beat down and oh god here comes fucking Metatron with his stupid coffee. Metatron told Aziraphel everything he knew he wanted to hear. Told Aziraphel everything they wanted to hear. That they were the perfect angel for the job and oh he even thought of them immediately.

The straw that broke the camels back was Metatron telling Azi that they could bring Crowley along. To Azi this was astronomical. They were told for so long (as toxic religious people often say) "stay away from Crowley she's a demon" "demons are horrible nasty people they're awful" and for Metatron the direct messenger to God to be telling Azi he could bring his favorite person to heaven. This was their breaking point.

Also the subtle jabs at Gabriel that were thrown in there too just to spice it up a bit. Metatron knew exactly what he needed to say to get into Aziraphels mind.

Crowley knew the extent of what would happen to Aziraphel and they were terrified for them. But Aziraphel was so sure that ohh yes they've done awful things but now they're changing I mean look Gabriel is leaving so everything can change between us too.

Aziraphel is seeing it as "oh it's finally changing I don't have to choose anymore we can be together and be angels we dont have to pick sides anymore because this side is welcoming us with open arms” when in reality they're not.

To others it may seem like an obvious decision “oh they’ve been so horrible to him” “they’re such toxic people why would Aziraphel want to be with them” but this isn’t how Aziraphel sees it at all. It is so hard to walk away from something after you’ve been told for so long that if you walk away you’re a horrible person and you’re losing everything. Aziraphels choices were always either “Choose Crowley and be an outcast or choose us and be up in heaven and be “good” and “faithful”” and for those choices to be combined into one is all Aziraphel ever wanted. It’s not an obvious choice to him it’s the only choice he thinks will keep him from losing everything that ever actually mattered.

[lake-archive]

Drabblecember Day 3 - Decorating

Prompt List - Fling Posse Selfship / Yumeship Masterlist

Fandom: Hypnosis Mic

Characters: Ramuda Amemura, Ann Wolff (OC)

Pairing: Ramuann (Ramuda/Ann)

Words: 600

“Hey Ann–Chan! Can you help me pick out some cute decorations? The studio's looking suuper dull! I wanna make it more lively! Ah, you will? Oh, just come over after your classes! I have some designs to finish anyway~ Thank you! See you later!” That had been the request they had received early in the morning. It was on short notice but it was not an outrageous request so they saw no reason to decline. Although, why did Ramuda think of asking Ann for their help? They aren't the best judge nor could they compare to a literal fashion designer!

So once the time came they felt literally useless in terms of picking stuff out. All they could do was agree because… Well, the decorations picked out were very cute, yeah. Soft yet vibrant colors, shapes like snowflakes or tiny fir trees and lights which could glow ever so softly to make it more cozy in the dark – All to fit into the winter theme. If you asked them, Ramuda was doing just fine on his own in that regard. At most, Ann was just busy placing decorations in spots he couldn't easily reach, given they were the taller one.

“Am I even needed here?” They mumbled, sighing while trying to adjust a garland properly, a little too focused perhaps. Then again, they did not want it to fall down out of nowhere. And yet it would just hang there for a short moment when hearing the following from Ramuda's mouth:”Yes! You being here is very important!” They had turned around as he spoke, spotting a slightly more serious expression on his face alongside a light pout. He even crossed his arms. “We're working together right now, aren't we?” They couldn't help but blink in confusion when hearing this.

“But–” They were about to counter but were shot down fairly quickly. They had no chance to talk back in fact! “No buts! Besides, if I did this by myself it wouldn't be as much fun.” That had Ann stare with wide eyes as they repeated the last few words of Ramuda's. The realization had kicked in, making them blush like crazy. “Wait… So this–” “Oh, you caught on. “ He interrupted, chuckling even. “Exactly! I just needed help reaching some spots!” Huh!? Wait a moment… This had Ann dumbfounded all of a sudden, and thus staring at him. “Come again?“

“I can't reach some spots easily. So I need the help.” He explained something so obvious. They knew and yet… “Wouldn't it have been better for you to ask Dice or Yumeno–Sensei then?“ They sighed. “Hmm… I guess but I didn't wanna. “ Ramuda responded before pouting again, almost like a little child. "It had to be you Ann–Chan.” “But they're taller than me.” They would counter though flinching shortly after once he shot a glare at them, not very amused. “Stop being dense already.” He then stepped a bit closer, almost tiptoeing when close to Ann to be somewhat eye–to–eye.

“Dense? But–” “I also wanted some alone time with you!” He interrupted, almost pouty yet whiny sounding while speaking up. “Yeesh! Stop being a dense dummy!” Ah– That made their face lit up again. They had no words left, even if this shouldn't surprise them in the slightest. And yet, it may as well be the case. “No promises…” They only managed to respond while turning their head to the side, wanting to hide their blush. Not realizing this sooner made this situation more embarrassing than it had any right to be! Yet… It also felt kinda nice to know.

[data-draws]

I'm sorry for this spam/rant but I have no other outlets...

I know to a lot of you this is going to sound super pretentious and cringey, but I mean this with my whole heart. Watching Sandman with my parents has shown me just how pathetically different we are as people, I mean, down to the very morals and way we view life. It may be hyperbole to suggest that it was sandman alone that made me realize this rift between us, but it was definitely the straw that broke the camels back. I have been trying for YEARS to talk my parents out of their extremely small minded view of the world, and I've definitely made progress, looking back it becomes clear to me that the progress I have made is only because it has become socially popular to be performatively progressive, when I came out as transgender, my mother literally mourned me, I was sitting in front of her and she started crying because she, and I quote "thought I had killed my daughter" how fucking pathetic and selfish of a mindset is that? It gets worse, even after their supposed later acceptance of me they are still very clearly *yet subtley* racist and homophobic, my father goes on rants about how there are too many interacial couples and gay people in the media these days, how its unrealistic and if they genuinely wanted to have representation it shouldn't be visible or should be literally the exact. same. percentage. as the percentage of minorities there are in society, meaning he wants only 12% of all media to show black characters because in the country we live in there are only 12% of black people in the larger population. it gets worse though. we sat down and watched episode five together, in the back of my mind I knew they were going to hate it and say something about it. so after it ended I decided to try and explain some of it, you know, atleast some of the BASIC metaphors and imagery used throughout the franchise to try and quell what I knew would be a bigoted throw of hatred if I didn't. my father left before I could start, but my mother instantly pulled up facebook and mentally clocked out, I continued talking though, giving her the benefit of the doubt and hoping she was still listening, she of course. obviously fucking wasn't and im an idiot for having this much faith in them for so long, I called her out on this and she repeated what I had said to "prove" that she was listening, except she twisted up my words to mean the opposite of what I was trying to get across, I then explained that what she repeated told me that she actually wasn't listening, she was just pretending to, and only "hearing" me, not absorbing a single word that came out of my mouth. I could continue ranting, and I actually want to, but now that the rage that I had internalized is subsiding to sadness and embarrassment I wont. I'm actually disgusted I was raised by these people, they can't have ONE FUCKING CRITICAL THOUGHT. its so exhausting being around them, I have to sidestep major misinformation and lies nearly everyday and pretend for their sake because they are highly spiritual so if I say anything that even somewhat questions their ridiculous pseudoscience I get blasted and shamed and embarrassed publicly, if I ever invite them to have a conversation beyond simply "dunking on the other guy" politically and repeating half-truths and propaganda they look at me like im an extremist and once again intentionally misinterpret my words to make me seem like a genocidal maniac. im fucking sick of this, why do I still hang around them when they can't understand the absolute bare minimum of what it means to be a real human being? I've met literal. ACTUAL 12 YEAR OLDS WHO HAVE BETTER CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. im so exhausted and dumbfounded that I ever deluded myself into believing they were anything more than the farcical watered down image that I was trained to become. I'm glad I failed to be like them, they're genuinely horrid people. and the worst part is, they think because they aren't cult-members/terrorist sympathizers like my grandparents, they think they're amazing people, they genuinely don't register that they have severe moral failings.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Top 10 unpopular opinions that you think are correct?

10. The problem with religion isn't religion per se. It's the power and privilege it gives to religious people.

9. There's no such thing as "the" "natural language" – we just don't know what most of what goes on in the mind during speech is.

8. The idea that people will have to do work to get stuff done to their liking is a lot of what keeps people in school and in the rat race. (This is, unfortunately, more or less true for many "nonwork" things, too, such as college, or playing video games, or hanging out with friends on weekends, and so forth.) I know there's a tendency for people to call this a "work ethic," which is annoying but not really inaccurate, but I'm talking about something more fundamental here. In a perfect universe, the whole point of education would be learning how to learn things and do things, and people would be able to do stuff they actually wanted to do, and everyone would be able to relax and be happy. But we have a society that doesn't really allow for that, and therefore we've got all these ridiculous barriers and "work" and "study" and "prepare for life" and so forth, because people think they have to do these things just to get stuff done, when in fact, the real cost to them is very high. (The idea of "the student loan crisis" is another example of this phenomenon.)

7. We shouldn't have a political or legal system in which everyone is equal before the law. It's just inherently stupid. This has been proven over and over again throughout history, both in the literal sense of "the laws were violated" and in the sense of "all these people were very smart and could do things they weren't supposed to do." We would be better off if everyone was on an equal legal plane, in a world that could easily make it work. We don't have that world, and we need to make it happen. And I mean it. I don't like saying this; it feels a bit "inconvenient" – for some reason, I still feel like I don't get it (despite the fact that I've been saying and writing about this for quite some time now, it still bothers me when I say it). But this is just the facts.

6. The world would be a much nicer place if it had less competition. If there were more ways for people to just say "no," and if there were less ways for people to say "yes" – to make things into a battlefield of resource-grabbing, or status competitions, or whatever – then a lot of problems would go away. But we don't actually live in that world. The more I think about it, the more I realize there's only one way for this to end, and so we need to do something about it now.

5. People who seem to be more "woke" or more "cultured" than I am – people who seem more "sophisticated" or who "get things" or "understand politics" and so forth – generally turn out to be kind of full of it. I don't mean this in a derogatory way; it's just true, and it's bad. And it's the case for all of these traits. I know that there are some ways to mitigate this problem, but we just haven't figured out how to do this yet (and I'd say that a lot of "sophisticated" people haven't figured out how to do it). The alternative is for everybody to accept the idea that, as with any trait that's seen as positive, we have to be on guard against people who act "inappropriately" or "like a cartoon character" when we encounter them.

4. If your primary purpose in life is to get stuff done, you will always be bored. Or, perhaps, more accurately, you will never have a break. You will have to do "work" at every moment, all the time, no matter what. If you need to have a break to get started, you're doing it wrong. (This is, unfortunately, something I've had to learn the hard way. I'm also not saying this is a thing everyone should have to experience. Everyone seems to have to at some point. But I am saying that if you don't have the experience, you're probably not doing it right.)

3. Human beings aren't very good at working together, and they're not very good at it any time they've been forced to work together in large numbers. It's hard to do a thing, and then someone else comes along who's even worse at it, and everyone starts doing the thing even worse, and eventually the thing stops working and nobody knows why, and then you have to figure out why you were doing the thing in the first place. And no matter how hard you might be trying, it's hard to work with a group of people who are better at the thing than you are. (See also: 1, 2, 4.)

2. It is very difficult for people to actually tell the truth about what they're doing, especially in a group environment – it takes a lot of "practice" and social skills, and it is not a good idea to expect people to just be completely honest about their motivations. Even good people can be terrible at it, and there are really easy ways to fool others, which makes it a very hard thing to do. (See also: 1, 3, 5.)

1. Everyone wants to be good at stuff, and people who don't want to be good at stuff – people who are bad at stuff, and won't or can't do stuff – are annoying and should go away. There's only so much room in the world for people who are really bad at stuff. (See also: 1, 2, 4, 5.)

[syndromealice-blog]

Why Lily was a bad friend

I always read something like: Lily was a good girl, the best friend, but Snape was a Death Eater and he was obsessed.

I didn’t notice her like a character at all, she was more a neutral to me, because everyone said, that she was so good and so beautiful and so awesome. She was Harry’s mother and I understood that she is an important for Harry and to some people. But then I read The prince’s tale. Oh, well. How can I start? The first thing, that I didn’t like: she used Severus even they were a children. He told everything about Hogwarts and Wizarding World. I think that was a reason why she wanted to be his “friend”. Lily lived with her sister, who hated her and when Lily realized that she is a witch, she was happy, because now Lily has some privileges.

When Lily came to Hogwarts Express, there was a scene:

"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."

Petunia turned scarlet.

"Beg? I didn't beg!"

"I saw his reply. It was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read " whispered Petunia, "that was my private ¨how could you ?"

Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"

"No" Now Lily was on the defensive. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all!

Okay, now it seems, like she actually defense Severus, but no. She said, that Severus did that. Severus saw, Severus found... why? She defense herself, not Severus. I had the same situation in childhood and I defended my friend and said it was my fault. Lily literally enjoyed this moment, when she can show to her sister who is a muggle and who is a witch.

Then in Hogwarts:

"...thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape was saying, "Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"

Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.

"That was nothing," said Snape. "It was a laugh, that's all"

"It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny "

Yeah, Lily, it was a dark magic, but why you wasn’t terrifying, what James and Sirius did to your “best friend”? Or you are so good and so kind only to rich boys? Or maybe you just didn’t care.

Severus asked a logical question:

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" demanded Snape. His color rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.

"What's Potter got to do with anything?" said Lily.

Oh, my God. Of course, you don’t know.

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?"

"He's ill," said Lily. "They say he's ill "

"Every month at the full moon?" said Snape.

"I know your theory," said Lily, and she sounded cold. "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"

He is obsessed? No, Lily, you are obsessed with defense. They bullied him all years in Hogwarts. Of course Severus hate them, it’s a normal reaction. I know, people can say, that Lily was a child, but when I was a fifteen years old, I wasn’t so stupid.

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."

The intensity of his gaze made her blush.

"They don't use Dark Magic, though." She dropped her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there.

“LILY, THEY TRIED TO KILL ME DOWN THERE”

They don’t use Dark Magic though

“LILY THIS MAN ON THE STREET TRYING TO RAPE A BABY”

He don’t use Dark Magic though

"I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag," she said, cutting across Snape. "I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

A boy, who bully others not a bad, he is just a toerag. Mmmmmnmmmm

Then was a mudblood scene. She literally smiled, she didn’t help, she said: LeAvE hIm aLoNe. What? If my friend was hung upside down, I certainly wouldn't say leave him alone. I would curse the bully properly and go straight to the headmaster or at least to the teacher. Why Lily didn’t go to the headmaster or to the teachers earlier? She just didn’t care about Severus at all. Because I can’t explain, why fifteen years old girl, who sees every day, that James Potter bully her “best friend” and she does nothing. Then Severus called her a mudblood. I have one theory and I believe that’s a canon. Levicorpus was Severus’s spell. He created it. And why Lily had a successes in potions? I am sure, that Severus gave own book to her and she saw all spells. Levicorpus is non-verbal spell and no one can learn it just by hearing. So, Lily gave book to James. He read this spell and used it. If this is true (at least it seems logical), so Lily is a fucking piece of shit. She gave best friend’s book where were a hints to his bully.

Then Lily was angry and said:

Fine,' she said coolly. 'I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.'

Later, when Severus try to apologize, she said:

To call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

Yeah, girl. Like YOU, rich and beautiful human, said to poor, ugly friend wash your pants. It was a classism.

"It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends ¨ you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

Okay, if you already saw that he is so bad and awful, why you continued this “friendship” Why? Nobody actually forced you. Why? If he wasn’t good enough, just say: Sorry, but I think, I don’t want to be your friend anymore. That’s it. You literally can do this.

Three years later Lily was married with James, who was “ an arrogant toerag”. Hmmm, okay. Sirius and Remus said, that James didn’t bully anyone but Severus. Lily didn’t know about it. Sorry, I don’t believe.

Results:

Lily didn’t care about Severus and their “friendship”. She gaslighted him all the time. She saw how difficult was his childhood, she saw his abusive father and their life before school. She didn’t help when James bullied him. And no, saying LEAVE HIM ALONE is not a help. If she wanted to help, she did it. Lily used Severus in Potions, before school, when he told everything about Wizarding World and then she gave his book to his bully. She is not a friend. She is just a girl, who wanted something from Severus. And yes, everyone say: IT’S NOT HER JOB, HE BECAME TO A DEATH EATER AND USED DARK MAGIC. She knew that all the time. If this was a problem, she could leave. If she was terrified about death eaters shit, she could talk with him. She knew how difficult life he has. It’s not her job, that’s right. Or maybe she is just a shitty friend?

[crossdressingdeath]

As much I agree that JZX had the right to want to hate his engagement with JYL I stil don't think WWX was at fault for how he handled the situation. CR is where the cultivation elites get a chance to learn. For JZX to hesitate when asked who he thinks is a beauty/likes when he's engaged is insulting to his fiance in itself. He just stands there uncomfortably until someone else mentions that he's engaged to JYL. So of course WWX is pissed, they're literally surrounded by the other elites of their society and JYL's fiance is showing his displeasure with her. When given a chance to correct himself he doubles down and further insults the Jiang clan. Honestly if they weren't teenagers that could've easily spiraled into a political disaster. Luckily for the characters the adults realize they're hotheaded kids and JFM doesn't want to make another unhappy marriage.

I 100% that people shouldn't be forced into marriage and JYL agrees too. So I don't like the way some of the commenters are framing her. She even mentions that she was in love with the idea of JZX not the real him and hopes to find someone who actually likes her. I think you guys mentioned it before but JZX problem was that he felt his life was being controlled so he showed his anger at the person that was easiest to target---JYL. While it's understandable for him to feel that way he was still an asshole to her in public which is why I don't consider WWX to be the one who escalated anything.

I want to start with the obvious point: WWX by definition escalated the situation when he punched JZX in the face. This isn’t a reasoning thing, he turned it from a verbal confrontation to a physical one, that is escalating it. ...And he also escalated it by challenging JZX on his attempt to sidestep the question, given he for sure already knew why JZX didn’t want to talk about his betrothal; he could’ve just left it, that would’ve been fine.

Alright, with my pedantry out of the way... when is it said that JYL agreed that people shouldn’t be forced into marriage? Yes, she puts on a brave face after the engagement is broken off, but she seems super down for it before then and really broken up about it afterwards even though the evidence suggests you’d have to be living under a rock to miss the fact that JZX really, really didn’t want to marry her. I get that JYL’s great and all, but all evidence suggests that she very much took after her mother in this (thought to a lesser extent) and was perfectly content to marry JZX even knowing that he really, really didn’t want to until she was forced to accept that he Was Not Interested. And she grew out of that! Character development! It’s good! But suggesting she was entirely innocent in the whole affair and did nothing wrong is... inaccurate, I’d say.

And... here’s the thing. Yes, maybe it was a bit of an insult for JZX to stay silent and not immediately start praising JYL because She’s His Fiancée, but... he’s at most sixteen years old and has had this marriage hanging over his head his entire life? And everyone already knew he didn’t want to marry JYL anyway, so it’s not like it would’ve been a big insult? And it’s not like he mentioned someone else or anything like that? I think we can cut the teenager not wanting to lie to preserve the face of the woman he’s being forced to marry against his will and who is openly infatuated with him despite not knowing him (whether she realised her mistake later or not doesn’t change that she was infatuated with a false impression of who JZX was) a little slack, here! Especially given... yeah, if WWX hadn’t challenged him on it despite knowing why he wasn’t saying anything it never would’ve reached the point of JZX being an asshole to her, even if he had been; reminder once again that JYL was not there, as far as we know JZX never insults her to her face aside from maybe telling her off while under the impression she stole credit from a servant (and there’s no proof he insulted her there either, aside from the fact that he assumed she was stealing credit). And note that he doesn’t start passing judgement on JYL until WWX challenges him; he could’ve passed it off as being shy or something, being embarrassed about already being engaged; it was WWX who forced him to explain himself, at which point JZX’s temper was engaged and so he had no interest in lying for JYL’s sake. And when does JZX target JYL? He doesn’t really target anyone! A refusal to pretend to be super impressed with the woman he’s being forced to marry who has (let’s be honest here) nothing going for her in terms of being a sect leader’s wife isn’t him targeting her! WWX asking him what his issue is and him giving a straight (and... painfully blunt) answer isn’t targeting her either!

At the end of the day... could JZX have been nicer? Yeah, sure. But he’s a teenager being treated like he’s an arrogant piece of shit for not being able to lie and claim to be overjoyed about a marriage he doesn’t want! Of course he’s not going to be super nice about it! And honestly? I suspect that if JZX (or even just an outsider in the whole affair instead of JYL’s shidi) was the protagonist and he and JYL were gender-flipped the fandom would praise him for being so furious about being forced into an unwelcome marriage, even with him refusing to praise his unwanted betrothed. Basically JZX gets a lot of shit in this fandom for reacting in a very understandable way; the situation wasn’t great for JYL either, but JZX definitely came off worse due to not wanting to marry her and him reacting accordingly is in fact fair.

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 10

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez x Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Word count: 3.1k words

Warning(s): Mature | Gun phobia, stalking. Diego and Healy get POVs in this one while Jazmine gets some R&R with the help from her mother. This is a plot only chapter, sorry. Previous Masterlist Next

Author’s Note: No beta reader and I’m far too exhausted to edit properly. After this story, I’m gonna adjust exactly how I format my fics. My million other fic ideas plus my debate over participating in NANOWRIMO this year have been keeping me from working on this too much, I figured it was time to put this up since the last chapter was posted in September... 

The rest of the day went by with a subtle ease. The temperature was just perfect for a coat and Diego seemed to have nowhere to be. Bordering on the miraculous, it was the man himself who asked her if she wanted to go out and have fun. Feeling caught off guard, Jazmine elected to throw caution to the wind and suggest something other than a fancy nightclub to hang out in. And when Diego heard the name, his jaw dropped. 

Two-Bit’s Retro Arcade. 

He did not ask why (though he did scoff, but more so in amusement than derision). Julio was elated to hear the address (apparently he’d been before), and Miguel looked crestfallen to have to stay at the penthouse. The journey from ritzy apartment to 25 cent arcade felt like being washed in time, stepping backwards into her past with a piece that didn't belong in that memory. 

The place was decently busy, there seemed to be no parties bigger than five. A collection of young kids took up the classics section, rotating between Dig Dug, Pac Man, and Tapper Light. The young man who played pinball every day was there. She didn't know his name but she knew his three letter handle because he had the highest score on every pinball machine in the arcade. The rest were small and easygoing groups, buying beers and gathering around prize winning claw games or Dance Dance Revolution. 

"Do they have air hockey?," Diego asked over her shoulder. He was dressed down per her request, in a simple hoodie and jeans. She kept glancing at him, feeling drawn to the simplicity of liking a simple man. 

"Over here." She had no intention of hiding how familiar she was with this place. Diego gave Julio a nod and the man dissolved into the background but was never out of sight. Suddenly, Jazmine became very aware that there were now at least two guns in this public space. Air hockey was... occupied. "Looks like a college tournament. Come on, we're not going to be able to play for like a week." 

She grabbed his arm to guide him away, but the man didn't budge. He stared those college boys down, looking for a fight. If he started something… 

"Diego. Diego! Please… it's just a game, I know a better one we won't have to share." 

At last he acquiesced and followed behind, never more than a foot away. She didn't realize she was holding her breath and wondered if those guys noticed his staring… they probably thought it was normal though. 

Jazmine brought Diego to the darkest corner of the arcade where nobody was or needed to pass by. If she stopped dead in her tracks, Diego would have tripped over her immediately for how close he was, but now that he had her exclusive attention, she didn't mind. She gestured to her favorite game and smiled. 

"Welcome to Marvel Vs Capcom: Clash of Superheroes," she announced. "Nobody plays this version because there's a huge glitch that sometimes makes one character untouchable." 

"OK." Diego wore a sly grin. No doubt he intended to find the cheat character and win all matches, but Jazmine knew all of this game's little secrets. 

Unsurprisingly, Diego's first pick was Wolverine. Jazmine refrained from rolling her eyes and let him work through the board of player characters, picking her own at random and sometimes picking the one she knew would fair better against his character to make it an even game. She watched his brow grow tighter and tighter as he couldn't find the broken character. He even switched up strategies– picking the characters that looked the least strong and working up from there (the opposite of his earlier choices). At last, he picked Chun-Li, having not noticed Jazmine picked it three times already, and he glanced at her face once more to see if she reacted, but the woman gave nothing away. Not until he looked towards the screen did she crack a smile. 

The way the smugness drained off of Diego's face made her smile broaden. He looked at the controls as if they were to blame, then to Jazmine and back to the screen where Chun Li had walked off of the edge of the screen. Annoyed, he leaned over the controls menacingly and waited for an explanation from the Cheshire cat grin on his partner's face. 

It took her awhile to answer him– she was trying really hard to fight the bubbling laughter in her belly. "Yeah, that um… that's what I was talking about. If you play the same character four times, the game breaks. You can't be hit but you also can't hit and you need to hold down the joystick to keep from walking off the edge of the screen… if you let them get away, well… you have to unplug the whole system." 

Diego looked pissed. He stared her down for so long she gulped but eventually, he freed her from his penetrative gaze. His hand slipped under her jacket and found a home at the base of her spine, and suddenly she was being whisked away towards the bathrooms. 

"Where are we–" 

Diego wasted not a breath and pushed her into the women's bathroom (unsurprisingly closet sized), before crowding her space to step inside and lock the door behind. Her heart began to pound against her chest as he turned and fixed her with a commanding glare. He moved as sly as a big cat, forcing her to find purchase against the tiny wood counter with the sink and leaning over her with his lips pressed to her nose. 

He said something softly in Spanish that she didn't understand, but it sounded sultry and it sent a pleasant shiver down her back. She thought he was going to kiss her, but then there was something hard and heavy he pressed into her hand. 

A gun. 

Her eyes bulged– glancing quickly between him and the shiny dark metal of the killing contraption– and shook her head minutely. 

"Take it," he said. She just kept shaking her head, hiding her hands beneath her arms and feeling dizzy, on the verge of passing out. He growled. "I wasn't asking." 

If he wasn't pressed against her, she would be rocking for comfort. Jazmine did not like guns. Her eyes misted over as she whispered, "why?" 

"They've been following us since we left." He slid the wretched mechanism up along her arm and let it rest just below her collarbone. "Haagen's men probably. They're getting bolder– probably by their master's orders." He tilted his head as if he was speaking of something completely mundane as he said, "did you really think those air hockey guys were college students? It's a Thursday." 

Jazmine didn't mean to whimper, but she managed to keep her tears at bay long enough to touch a finger to the gun, not quite taking it, but letting him know she would. She let him show her the safety and slipped it into the back of her pants, careful not to hurt her and demonstrating an awareness of her southpaw. He was almost hugging her when he finally stepped back (as far as the little toilet would allow). When his heel clinked against the porcelain, he turned to make sure he hadn't stepped in a mess, and Jazmine bolted. 

~

"Hello?" 

There was no one else's voice she wanted to hear more than that of Lashawn Mann. Jazmine felt guilt well up alongside the anxiety that had been threatening to consume her for weeks. 

"Mama?" Her voice sounded so small in her own ears. "Can I come over and see you?" 

"Of course, baby. You can come see me right now: I'm at your place." 

Jazmine caught a cab from Essex street home, and though Diego possessed an acute lack of awareness for personal space or feelings, he did leave her alone for a while. No SUVs with fake licenses trailed her home, no voicemails and no texts came through. She put it in airplane mode to make sure things stayed that way. She had a thought to drop Healy's hearing aid down a drain but put it in her pocket instead. 

Lashawn was waiting with Hercules. The tiny bit of annoyance Jazmine usually felt about getting slobbered on washed away the instant she saw her furry grey friend. The woman plopped her butt onto the ground and let the dog run amok in excitement to see her again. 

"Mom…" Hercules settled down in her lap and weighed her to the earth like an anchor for a ship at sea. "If something happens to me, will you take care of her?" 

"What do you mean 'if something happens to you'? Child, I ain't heard from you in two months and you come back with that?" Lashawn sat down on the floor despite her bad knees and leaned on her daughter's shoulder. "Baby, what's going on with you?" 

~

Estupido. She shouldn't have run away like that. 

Diego was overthinking in the backseat while Julio sat in perfect silence. The driver would have preferred the radio on, but his boss demanded the proper atmosphere to brood in. Taking what little he knew of the woman, Jazmine was probably going to retreat to her apartment since he lived in the only other place she was safe. Whatever– she would return in her own time. Unless her own time hindered their operation. 

We can't lose this opportunity. We are so close to Porsche and revenge. Hurry up, cariño. Make our next move. 

Diego was stuck deep inside his head even as he stood with his sister hours later in yet another huge warehouse with examples to be made of. Alicia wiped the blade of her knife onto her bodyguard's sleeve, then turned the blade over to her brother. 

"Finish the last one, will you?" 

Diego hummed, distracted by the conversation at the edge of the half circle. He did not like what he heard. He dug the blade straight into the crying man's heart, then cut his throat just for good measure. The blood on his hands was drying before he was able to speak again. He and Alicia were sat in her limo across from each other. She tactfully ignored his piercing gaze, while he worried the stickiness between his fingers mindlessly. 

"What's this I hear about you staying in New York?" 

Alicia glanced coolly up from inspecting her nails. "What do you mean? Someone needs to run the business." 

"That's what that idiot and your little fuck toy Dre are for. They deal with shit here while we get Porsche back, and then we go home. Together." 

"No," she shrugged. "Dre can't be trusted, Diego. I'm staying, you're going back to Mexico. We can split parent: the girl comes to live with me for a while and then with you. Every month or so…?" 

Diego's hands ball into fists and his teeth hurt from the pressure of keeping his jaw closed. Fucking puta, he thought as the car slowed to a stop. Exiting the car, the man pulled himself up to his full height and reveled in the brief moment of fear that registered on her face. 

"I'm not your errand boy, hermana. I don't do things because you think it's convenient. And I won't be sent away like an annoying pest so you can trounce about in luxury while I'm stuck doing peasant work. Am I the only one worried about that little fucking girl?" 

Through the marble stonework of her mask, he saw the cracks in her armor. "We can talk about this later, Diego." 

"Do you even want her back?," he sneered. 

"Stop it!" 

Alicia pushed him out of her way and disappeared quickly, her entourage scurrying to follow her. Diego looked to his men to find them with their eyes cast down as if they were witness to something they should never see. He stormed away with his head full of rage and more questions than answers. 

~

Meanwhile in a stuffy police office space, Healy was getting chewed out. His superiors figured him out, and now he was sat in interrogation with a furious pair of agents awaiting an explanation and disciplinary action. 

"You took it too far, Healy," his boss said. "I mean, you have really outdone yourself this time." 

"Yes sir." 

"Fucking A, right!" Agent Brasa slammed her hand on the table. No doubt she was chewing a huge wad of nicotine gum and gunning for his immediate firing. "This was our case, Healy, ours. Mine and Holbrooke, not yours!" 

Holbrooke remained ever brooding, silently leaning against the wall and watching the scene unfold. Though they made remained neutrally poised, he could tell by the pinch in their brow they were just as angry as Brasa. Healy had given up trying to talk to Brasa, and instead appealed to Holbrooke this time. 

"You two have every right to be angry with me–" 

"Oh do I??" Brasa cut in, "I didn't realize I needed your permission to be pissed off!" 

"-- but I did it because I had an 'in.' I saw an opportunity that only I could have seized, and–" 

"Are you really going to let him get away with this, Stahlworth?" Brasa looked accusingly at their boss, who merely scratched at his neck and closed his eyes as if keeping them open pained him greatly. 

"Brasa. Holbrooke. Out. I'll handle this the way I see fit– and don't argue with me, Marie, or I'll put you on suspension." 

The two stormed out into the hall, and finally Healy was able to breathe. As soon as he had been confronted by Stahlworth, he had come clean– setting up a covert op without agency permission and using a civilian to distract the perp while he slipped a mole into the organization and collected information. Brasa and Holbrooke had done amazing work– they discovered Haagen was the head, profiled the victims, and knew many of the locations of the exchanges– but they couldn't get any further to seizure warrants or when the exchanges were taking place. 

Healy looked pleadingly at Stahlworth. "They didn't have the resources to cover all those locations with proper 24 hour surveillance, Jack. Haagen is always one step ahead of them– of us– anyways because someone in this very organization is on his payroll. I don't need the glory, I don't want the case to myself– I just want this fucker behind bars. If you have to suspend me, I understand, if you have to fire me, I get it– but please don't throw out my evidence. People's lives are on the line, and Brasa and Holbrooke need this info–" 

"Who's your informant?" Healy snapped his mouth shut as the dreaded words left Stahlworth to hang menacingly in the air. "Healy? Who. Is your. Informant? Who are you working with? Give me a clearer picture of what you've been up to, and maybe I'll ask the DA to go easy on your ass." 

Healy gritted his teeth and dug his heels in. "I can't tell you any of that. A mole for a mole, I can't afford to trust that the eyes and ears in this very room are sound. Now if you want to pass this case back over to the agents it belongs to, I just have a few conditions concerning the safety of–" 

"Is this about Meghan?," Stahlworth asked. 

Healy's voice died in his throat. A lump formed and he had to swallow it down before it consumed him completely. Standing from his chair, Healy buttoned his coat and came face to face with his boss. 

"This is about the kids I can still save. Sir."

~

After LaShawn helped Jazmine pack her belongings, the daughter decided to take Hercules to the park for some fresh air. Her mother had made it clear she wanted Jazmine to move back in with her since she'd lost her job, but what she didn't know was that before Healy and Haagen, Jazmine was two months behind on rent, and she should have lost the lease to her apartment weeks ago. As it stood now, the landlord hadn’t bothered her once– so someone was paying her bills. Exactly who would remain a mystery as Diego, Healy, and Haagen possessed the means and the interest in keeping her in New York City, so she tried not to think too hard about it. 

Jazmine picked a spot in the grass and let Herc off the leash. She threw a beat up tennis ball with a little cheap plastic arm and watched her happy grey pupper zip around picnickers and other dog walkers, always stopping to be petted by every little girl and boy who squealed happily to see her. The woman was jumpy and constantly on edge, but for some reason she barely flinched when Diego sat down next to her. 

"I'll be honest, I'm glad you're here," she said without looking his way. 

He took the plastic arm and threw the next ball watching Hercules trot over hill and dale for this throw. "Did Healy tell you about Porsche?" 

Jazmine turned to see the dark bags under Diego's eyes. "He said something about a missing baby… is that what you mean?" 

The man leaned into her shoulder. "Yes." 

"I'm sorry, Diego." 

"I want my baby back, Jazmine. I want to watch her grow up happy and healthy and loved." He turns to look at her with an expression of maturity she didn't think he was capable of. "That's why I need you. We need you. You're probably scared, but you can't be more scared than that little girl is right now." 

It felt like a punch to the gut. Part of her was annoyed by his dismissal of her fear, but for the most part she understood. It wasn't hard to figure out what happened to older girls and boys in Haagen's ring, but what the fuck was he doing with babies? The thought twisted her stomach until her head ached from nausea. 

Diego continued, scratching at his eye to cover the build up of tears that threatened to spill out. "Healy said he found evidence of sales for kids under 13 that looked more like adoption papers than anything. Requirements for private education and a separate bedroom, things like that. He said he has a stack with no names but six of them are around her age with the name of the adoptive parents on it. It's a start." 

"It's a very good start." Jazmine placed her hand on Diego's back and let him curl into her side with a sigh. "It means she's still alive, that's fantastic... do you think Haagen noticed the papers were missing? He probably has so many…" 

Diego shrugged noncommittally and dragged her down to lay in the grass with Hercules. As he did, she felt the gun in her pants dig into her back, tightening that fist clenched around her heart. She was safe for now, in this moment. But would she ever be again?

@mental-bycatch @nicke0115 @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @kid-from-new-zealand​

[bethhxrmon]

do flowers exist at night? -chapter seven

Chapter Seven: Hands Clean

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC

Chapter Summary: After the initial shock of the events surrounding Halloween and the days after, Steve and Annie both start to realize they may be wrong about how to cope. Their friendship also manages to strengthen in the process

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of trauma, might be filler but I call it the beginnings of pining soooo

A/N: Hope you guys really liked this chapter because I thought it was a decent break from all that angst I lumped on pretty early into the fic. It would be fantastic if you guys could let me know your thoughts, I live for it! Anyways, you can find all the other chapters here!

~*~*~*~

Admittedly, Steve could have handled himself alone in the house long enough for Annie to go to school. However, when she pretended to be both her mom and his, he didn't stop her. Not until he was okay enough to drive.

How school would work was a question both of them asked. Steve's bruises were faded enough for Annie to try and cover them up with makeup. That was what she used almost too much of on the cut on her cheek. Sure, she could hide it with her hair, she already did that, but it wasn't enough for her. Nothing was really enough.

Being near Steve wasn't enough to stop her from reliving everything in her head. Besides, she eventually had to go back to her own house. It was safe and she was sure that Steve could use some alone time. Though, she couldn't stand the quiet of her house.

None of that stopped Steve from picking her up on a chilly Wednesday in November. Frost crunched under her boots instead of leaves. It was clear that nothing was going to stop time from passing. She wished it would pause just so she could catch up, but she wasn't sure that would be enough either.

Going back to school gave Annie the same twisted feeling in her gut as her first day. Maybe they found someone else to poke fun at or to joke with. She didn't have anything to defend herself with. Her switchblade was somewhere in the Byers’ house, but she hadn't asked anyone where it went.

"You ready?" Steve asked, looking at her.

Annie took a deep breath and nodded, "It's just school."

They both knew it was more than that. After a few days of hanging out, it became pretty clear when Annie decided to put on a front. Her back would straighten up a little bit too much and she would appear to tense up all over. It wasn't something Steve pointed out, and Annie assumed that he, of all people, would understand.

She could only imagine what seeing Nancy with another guy would be like for him. Though, a part of her wished that a broken heart was all she had to walk into. Seeing Billy was a reality she knew that she would just have to face. However, she tried to avoid it.

Since Steve was feeling better, she knew that she couldn't convince him to stay back. And maybe doing this with a friend would be easier for her. She wiped sweaty palms on her jeans before getting out of Steve's car.

It was going to be okay. That was what she kept telling herself on a loop. Just eight hours, seven if she took out lunch, and then she could go right back home. She could lose herself in a book or maybe try to catch up on some sleep she could never get enough of.

People stopped staring at Steve, and Annie wished that being shorter than him meant that she was safe too. Except it didn't. Nothing changed. There were stares boring into her as she walked to her first class. She didn't bother with her locker. That was something which obviously hadn't changed. Giving other students the satisfaction of walking up to it every day was the last thing she wanted to do.

There was a rumor going on about how Billy slept with her. It wasn't followed nearly as closely as everything with Steve a few days ago. Still, all of that led her to looking forward to lunch.

Sitting in the cafeteria was not an option. The first day back, they both sat in his car. They tried a few more places. By the end of the week, they were sitting in the auditorium. There was something about eating on a stage that calmed Annie a little and Steve was just glad it was empty.

"So what's going on there?" he asked, nodding at her copy of War and Peace.

Annie looked up at him, "Well... how do I explain this... there's this Pierre guy, and he kinda tied a bear to someone."

"What?!"

"In his defense, he was drunk?" she offered, laughing a bit.

Steve shook his head, "Didn't realize books like that were so interesting."

"You're kidding!"

"Every time I try the words don't really make sense or I get distracted by something else."

She nodded, "I get it. I mean, I'm sure you had a lot of other stuff going on."

"Not really. Come on, you lived in Seattle and New York. That's gotta be way more interesting. No wonder you didn't wanna talk to anyone," he chuckled.

"I didn't avoid everyone because I was trying to be pretentious. I gave up. There's a difference."

"What? How? You... you seemed pretty okay."

Annie sighed, "Well, you should've figured out I'm a fair actress by now. It wasn't like I had a say in whether or not I moved. I had to go with my mom or my dad, and well, my mom was the only decent option."

"Well, you can't say you don't have any friends now," Steve said, nudging her a bit.

Annie smiled a bit, "You've got me there."

"Could you read that part, though? With the bear?" he asked, "It just sounds like you're screwing with me."

She nodded, "Gladly, and I can tell you that I'm not screwing with you."

As Annie read the passage out loud, she couldn't help getting into it. Not wanting any of the details to seem boring, she tried her hardest to make all the characters sound different. Not that she would have needed to do that to keep Steve's attention. He looked at her so intently as she read. Of course, it wasn't anything she noticed since she was too caught up in what she was doing.

Lunch was the only real time Annie and Steve got a break from the school. Though, the only people who really cared about what they did were Tommy, Carol, and Billy. The perfect trio to constantly leave Annie feeling like she was going to vomit. 

Annie had to stop carrying her books around in her hands. That was something she learned when her copy of War and Peace got snatched from her hands. Tommy didn't have the strength to rip apart the hardcover book, but she didn't want to take any chances either.

"So is it true you fucked Hargrove?" Tommy asked, cornering her in the hall when she was a bit slow to get out of the school.

"No, I think that was you," she said, trying to think of a quick getaway.

Steve sauntered up to both of them, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, just having a chat with your psychobitch slut of a girlfriend," Tommy replied.

Steve nodded, "Right, I think you're done having a chat."

"No, I'm pretty sure I was just getting started," Tommy insisted, starting to get closer to Steve.

Annie was quick to move away from Tommy and grab Steve by the wrist, "You know what? I think we're done here."

She led Steve out of the school, promptly letting go of his jacket. Something told her that wouldn't be the last time they had to deal with something like that. It was the weekend again, though, and Annie was relieved that she hadn't completely fallen apart while at school. Getting through a full week sounded like it was out of the question.

However, that wasn't on either of their minds when they were sitting in Steve's room again that Saturday. She looked through his closet and sighed.

"Is it that bad?" Steve asked, sprawled across the bed.

Annie tossed a shirt to the side, "I just didn't know anyone could own this many polos. How were you so popular again?"

"Hey! It's because I'm good with the ladies, duh," he said, "What're we listening to right now?"

She found yet another polo and turned to face him, "West Side Story, the most heartbreaking musical I've ever heard in my life."

"I don't get it."

"Well it'd make more sense if we watched it. They're meant to be watched, but I don't have it and Family Video had it rented out already," she tossed aside the eighth polo, "I don’t get why you have so many polos."

He shrugged, "My mom told me they looked good on me and Nancy never minded."

"Well... I don't mind it, just... have you ever thought about what you like?"

"A little? No one really asks me, though."

Annie sat on the edge of the bed, "Do you like having all those polos?"

"Not really... I don't care, though. Same thing with the room," he shook his head, "Do you even know what you like?"

She thought a moment before speaking, "It took a while, but yeah. I don't have anything in my closet that I don't like."

That was a lie. What she wore that night with the demodogs was something she hated now. A part of her wanted to burn it, but she used to love that flannel. But now, it reminded her of everything so much. Mainly what happened with Billy. Shouldn't she have gotten over that by now? She didn't talk to anyone about it after she broke down that one time. A part of her wasn't sure if Steve even remembered.

As helpful as he had been that night and the day after, she knew he wasn't at his best. It was a relief that he was, for the most part, okay in the first place. 

"How do you do that?"

She shrugged, "You try different stuff until you find what you like. And you'll know when you like something, trust me."

They stayed in silence for a little while, just listening as "America" played in the background. By all rights, Annie should have just been at her house. Her mom would be home tomorrow, but until then she didn't want to be alone in her house if she could help it. Though, she tried to stay the night at her own house.

Never mind how it had barely been a week and the only thing keeping her from losing it was that her cat would curl up in the middle of her bed with her. She didn't know how to go about talking about it. Though, if he wasn't going to comment on how she probably wasn't sleeping or eating much, then that was fine by her.

"So... what did happen with your parents, anyway?" he asked, "I mean, I get the cheating part, but my parents are still together and my dad’s not much better."

Annie stayed quiet for a few minutes as she tried to think about how to explain herself, "They tried making it work. We moved across the country so that could happen. My dad got a guy for a TA and everything. Still, they kept fighting and they wouldn't stop, and I was getting sick of it. I'm sure the neighbors were too, and I tried to get their attention. The only way I could do that was by talking about hurling myself off the roof of the apartment building."

"Shit... did you um... were you-"

"I didn't mean it, I was just frustrated," she said, thinking that was true, "But they agreed to go to family counseling. It just brought up all the problems my parents had and taught me that I was way more screwed up than I thought. We only went twice before my parents decided on the divorce."

Steve sat up, "That sounds awful."

"Yeah, it kinda was at the time... but my mom's doing the best she can and I appreciate that," she let out a long sigh.

He shook his head, "You shouldn't have had to do all that just for them to listen, though."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, I know I'm not perfect, but you can talk to me about this stuff. Not that you have to tell me anything unless you really want to, but I just know that not talking about it ended up hurting Nancy a lot," he looked at his hands.

She nodded, "I know- but did it occur to you that I don't wanna talk about it? It's already bad enough just thinking about everything, talking about it? Forget it."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't know what you're normally like since we kinda met a couple days before everything went to shit but," he sighed, thinking of the right words, "But you don't seem right."

"And maybe I'm not, but that's not your problem. That's mine. Let me deal with that on my own time. It's a lot easier to just make fun of how preppy you are."

"Hey!" he tossed a pillow at her.

Annie laughed, feeling the pillow hit her side, "What? I'm right!"

Really, talking about anything else was easier. It wasn't that she wanted to make Steve worry about her, but she couldn't help reacting to everything the way she did. Besides, Annie knew that he wasn't reacting the best to it either. Though, there was a lot more than just demodogs that he had to go through. Losing the girl he still seemed to love had to take a lot out of him.

On the outside, it probably looked like she simply stuck around out of pity or for some form of social protection. Maybe there was some truth in that, but she genuinely thought that Steve was fun to hang out with. He was funny and kinder than he gave himself credit for. Obviously there was a part of her that knew if she didn't stick around with at least someone, she would end up being more of a victim to ridicule than she already was.

All of that pissed her off more than she cared to admit. A part of her really did wish Billy Hargrove were dead. The way he would look at her made her want to run to the bathroom and throw up for hours. What if she had actually tried to cut his throat? No, they would be in a bigger mess than they were already. There was no need to add murder to the mix.

She wanted him dead in almost the same way she wanted her dad dead when she found out he was cheating on her mom. It wasn't something she actually wanted to happen. Death was so final yet uncertain. Saying that she wished that she wanted someone to still be alive but never come near her in any way, shape, or form was a bit long-winded and less catchy. That was more accurate to what she wanted.

"I know you don't like it when people touch you," Steve said, changing the subject back.

Annie shrugged, "Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, but... but you're really specific with it. I don't need to know why, I just need to know what you're okay with. We're friends, I need you to at least explain that."

"Um... I mean, I don't know totally, it depends," she paused, "Like, being snuck up on? That's a huge no-go, obviously. I mean, it's not that I hate touch or anything, I just- I prefer to be the one touching someone else. Or if it's, like, one of the kids, that I have a way to get out of it easily. It's mostly with people I'm uncomfortable with. Like you, at first, but it just- it depends, I'm not sure how else to tell you."

He nodded, "That's fine, I just don't wanna end up hurting you on accident or, like, one of the kids or something."

"Well, since you asked me something super personal... do you think you're getting over Nancy at all?" she asked, moving so she was criss-cross on the bed.

Steve frowned, "I guess? Seeing her and Jonathan together sucks a bit less every day. It's only been a week, though. And I'm not dumb, I know she's liked him for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. After what I did last year when I saw them sitting together, I didn't wanna be the asshole jumping to conclusions again. I thought if she didn't love me that she would say it when she was sober. I put in so much effort for her and she didn't even care."

Neither of them brought up how obvious it was that Nancy and Jonathan probably did something when they were off getting some Murray Bauman guy to help them. Annie wasn't going to say anything if Steve wasn't. A part of her thought he knew, but she didn't want to hurt him even more if he hadn't put it together.

"You know she didn't leave you because you were a shitty boyfriend, right?"

"Now that's bullshit."

Annie tossed the pillow in her lap right at Steve's face, "No, you're gonna listen to me. The only one who's bullshit here is Nancy. If she didn't love you, then she should've said so. You were obviously a great boyfriend. You went to her dead best friend's parents' house when you didn't even know them. And you let her go, if you were a shitty boyfriend, you wouldn't have done any of those things."

"That's nice, but I called her a slut and I didn't even really like her much at first."

"If all that bothered her, she could have stayed broken up with you after everything a year ago," she pointed out, "You made up for all that. Not everyone does, and you obviously love her."

They both sat there, not saying anything. Instead, they both just let the music play in the background. Annie knew that she didn't have feelings for Steve. For all the bad luck she had with guys, they were too good of friends for her to mess that up. Because of that, she couldn't let him get over Nancy on his own. And she knew that for as moody as Steve would get at times, he would have told her if he didn't want her around.

Taglist (lmk if you wanna be on it!): @dungeons-and-demodogs​ @nxncywheeler​ @ilovebucketbarnes​

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: The Haunted Mansion

Welcome, Foolish Mortals To Our Final Monsterween Review Of The Year (Evil Laughter)

I Am Your Host, Your Ghost Host...Okay, I Am Not Going To Do Haunted Mansion Dialogue Throughout This Entire Review But I Think It's Obvious What We're Doing Today...

With The Mansion's 50th Anniversary Happening Earlier This Year, I Thought Now Might A Good Time To Look Back At The 2003 Film, Which Sees A Real Estate Agent (Played By Eddie Murphy) And His Family Being Summoned To A Manor In Louisiana To Try To Sell The Mansion At The Owner's Behest, But Discovering That The Mansion Is Haunted And That The Owner And His Staff Are Dead, It Leads To Wacky Shenanigans Where The Real Estate Agent Learns A Valuable Lesson About Neglecting His Family...

Will The Real Estate Agent And His Family Escape?

Let's Find Out As We Watch, The Haunted Mansion...

The Film Starts With The Same Introduction As The Ride And As The Credits Roll We Get Some Fantastic Scenes Of The Backstory Of The Movie And The Costumes In This Scene Are Just Well-Done...

I Would Tell You About The Backstory In This Scene But They Go Over It Later In The Movie So, I'll Just Go Over It Then..?

But Fast Forwarding A Few Years Later We See A Paper Boy Arriving At The Gate Only To Be Scared By What Appears To Be Terrence Stamp's Character...

Fun Fact About The Film: The Director Who Directed The Film, Rob Minkoff Chose His Son To Play The Paper Boy In This Scene...

With The Camera Panning Down We Get Our First Image Of Eddie Murphy And His Wife (Played By Marsha Thompson) But Mainly Our First Image Of Eddie Murphy As He's In The Next Scene...

Murphy Plays Jim Evers Of Evers And Evers Real Estate Who's Trying To Sell A House To Rachael Harris And...

Only For Doyle! To Say That The Place Doesn't Have Enough Plugs...

But With Jim Pulling A Trick On The Phone While Talking With His Wife About Their Anniversary Dinner, Harris And Doyle! Decide To Buy The House...

Later At The Bombay Bicycle Club, Jim Closes A Deal With A Couple That Is Very Annoying And That Is Probably The Only Complaint That I Will Have About This Movie...

After Leaving The Annoying Couple To Have Their Drinks, Another Couple At The Bar Asks Jim If He Sold Their House Because If He Did They'd Be Interested In Buying...

So, In Talking With The Couple, Jim Misses His Anniversary Dinner...

Attempting To Make It Up To His Wife, Sarah By Giving Her A Teddy Bear...

Least It's Better Than A Gigantic Bunny Rabbit...Tony?

And A New Watch But She's Still Mad At Him Not For Missing Their Anniversary But For Missing 3 Soccer Games, 2 Birthdays And 2 Barbeques...

I Admit Sarah That The Birthday Parties And Soccer Games Are Important But The 2 Barbeques Are Nothing And Can Be Done Another Time...

Realizing That He's Missed A lot, Jim Decides To Take His Family On A Weekend Adventure To The Lake...

Going To Tell Their Kids, Michael (Who Is At The Moment Afraid Of A Spider On His Window) And Megan (Who Ends Up Killing The Spider) About The Vacation They Seem Excited But When Sarah Gets A Phone Call From Someone Who Wants To Sell Their House, Jim Looks At The Address And Realizes That The Place Is A Big Mansion...

So, They Decide To Put Their Vacation On Hold To Check Out This One House. Arriving At The Mansion, They Park At The Gate Only To Discover It's Locked...

But What's More Interesting Is That The Lock Is Shaped Like Either Mickey Mouse Or Winnie The Pooh, Me? I Say It's Mickey But It Looks Like Either One...

With The Gate Unlocking, The Evers Drive Up To The House And Look Around Only To See A Gigantic Graveyard And I Mean Gigantic, It Looks Like It Could Go On For Miles...

But When It Starts Raining The Evers Seek Shelter Inside Of The Mansion To Which They Succeed As The Door Opens To Reveal A Well-Designed Foyer, Everything About The Mansion In This Movie Is Just Well Designed And Frankly I Wouldn't Mind Living There...

Hearing A Door Creek, Lightning Strikes Which Leads To The Introduction Of Ramsley The Butler (Played By General Zod Himself, Terrence Stamp) And Yes, A lot Of People Including The Nostalgia Critic Have Made Fun Of Stamp's Voice In The Film But I Think It's Just Spooky And The Way His Face Looks In The Film, I Don't Know What They Used Makeup Or CG But I Absolutely Love It...

With "The Master" Wanting To Discuss Things Over Dinner, Sarah And The Kids Are Hesitant At First But Jim Tells Them That They Shouldn't Be Rude And Just Go With The Flow...

And Entering The Dining Room, It's Just...

Damn, Murphy Beat Me To It...

Taking A Look Around The Room, They Eventually Meet "The Master", Master Edward Gracey To Be Exact (Played By Nathaniel Parker, Who Is Probably Known For The Inspector Lynley Mysteries) Who Joins Them For Dinner However As They Talk Ramsley Tells Them That The Storm Outside Has Flooded The Road And There'll Be No Leaving The Mansion Tonight...

With Sarah And The Kids Mad Over This Happening, Ramsley Shows Them To Their Rooms, Which Leads To Sarah Taking It Out On Jim Because He Had To Come To The Mansion Instead Of Going On Vacation With Them...

But As Sarah Locks Herself In The Bathroom, Ramsley Visits Jim To Tell Him That Gracey Wants To See Him In The Library. Taking Jim Downstairs We See This Massive Library, Not Beauty And The Beast Massive Library Of Congress Massive But Still It's Pretty Big...

Offering Jim A Drink, Jim Asks Ramsley A Number A Questions Before Ramsley Tells Jim That His Master Is Not Well And Must Move On Or He Fears The Very Worst Which Sounds Like Gracey Must Move On Or His Spirit Will End Up In Limbo Forever...

With Ramsley Eventually Leaving, It Leads To One Of My Favorite Lines From Eddie Murphy In This Movie, Before He Finds A Statue That Opens Up The Secret Entrance To The Batcave!...

To The Batpoles, Robin!...

No, I'm Just Kidding But It Is A Secret Room...

Meanwhile, Michael Opens Up A Music Box Which Has Gracey And Elizabeth Dancing Which Causes A Ghost Ball To Appear...

With Megan Seeing It, Both Her And Michael Decide To Follow It...

Looking For Jim, Sarah Runs Into Ramsley Who Tells Her That He Left Him In The Library, Finding Gracey There Instead Of Jim, Where She Asks Him Why He Would Want To Sell The Mansion Which Leads Him To Explain That It's Because That The Mansion's Walls Are Filled With Painful Memories...

Which Then Leads Gracey To Explain To Sarah Why Telling Her That Despite This House Once Being Filled With Dancing, Laughter And Hope It All Changed When He Met A Girl Named Elizabeth...

Still Following The Ghost Ball, Michael And Megan Discover A Hidden Elevator And Decide To Follow The Ghost Ball Up To The Attic...

While Jim Ends Up In A Hallway That's A Mixture Of The Hallway With The Shapeshifting Portraits And The Busts That Follow You Wherever You Go And The Hallway With The Doors That Knock And Try To Open At You From The Ride Only What Jim Is Dealing With Is Like A Door That's Breathing...

Cutting Back To The Kids And The Ghost Ball, They Go To The Attic Only To Find A Wedding Dress And A Picture Of A Person Who Looks Like Their Mom, But Running Into 2 Servants Named Emma And Ezra (Played By Dina Waters And Wallace Shawn)...

Who Besides Being The Comic Relief In This Film, Explain To The 2 Kids That The Person In The Portrait Is Elizabeth, Before Hiding Them From Ramsley, Who Talks With Them About How The Children Are Missing And About How Mad He Is That Sarah Brought Her Kids And Her Husband With Her...

Saying To Them That If They See The Children To Bring Them To Him, He Leaves Saying That Nothing Will Interphere With The Master's Plan...

Cutting Back To Jim, He Meets Madame Leota (Played By Jennifer Tilly) Who Tells Him That There Is A Curse On The Mansion And It Seeks To Destroy Him And His Family And How Only The Light Will Lead The Lead The Way Home...

Being Chased By Leota's Musical Instruments, Jim Eventually Loses Them And Reunites With His Kids With Ezra And Emma Who Explain That Sarah Is In Danger As They Show Him The Picture Of Elizabeth...

Cutting Back To Sarah We Get The Backstory On Gracey And Elizabeth, As Gracey Tells Elizabeth That He Loved Her More Than Life Himself But They Were From Different Worlds And Couldn't Be Together. Realizing This, She Poisoned Herself Which Led To Him Hanging Himself (With That Scene Based On The Hanging Skeleton In The Stretching Portrait Gallery)

Hearing The Entire Conversation Between Gracey And Sarah, Jim Is Mad That He Was Only Brought Here So Gracey Could Get "Jiggy" With His Wife And Not To Sell The Mansion. Asking If Sarah Is Elizabeth, Leota Tells Emma That While Elizabeth Walks The Mansion's Halls, She Warns Her Not To Be Deceived As Things Are Not As They Appear To Be...

Telling Them That For The Curse To Be Lifted The Truth Must Be Known, Leota Tells Them To Find Find The Key In The Black Crypt With No Name, But With No Way Out, Emma And Ezra Offer To Take Them To The Graveyard Which Is Just Awesome I Mean This Is Just Fan Service Central...

I Mean We See The Dueling Portrait Ghosts, I Believe The English Ghosts Are There, We Have The Ghosts On The Seesaw, The Cryptkeeper And His Dog Are There But They're Ghosts (Though Originallly They Were Supposed To Be In The Picture With The Cryptkeeper, Played By Of All People Don Knotts), We Have The Executioner And The Headless Knight There And Finally One Of My Personal Favorites...

The Hitchhiking Ghosts...

All While We Get A Shaymalan Reference...

Taking Elizabeth To The Attic, Gracey Shows Sarah Elizabeth's Wedding Dress While Jim Meets My Other Personal Favorites The Singing Busts...

I Know A lot Of People Find This Scene Annoying But I'm Sorry I Love This Scene I Can't Help But Laugh At It...

Eventually Finding The Mausoleum, Jim Goes Down Only For Megan To Follow Despite Leaving Michael Upstairs Because Of Course He's Too Scared...

Finding The Black Crypt I Half Expect Someone To Go "Let Me Out! Let Me Out!" But Instead They Open Up The Tomb And Grab The Key. But Instead Of Closing The Tomb Like A Smart Person Would They Leave It Open So A Zombie Can Come To Life To Get Them...

Losing The Key, Megan Goes Down In The Water To Find It While Jim Finishes Off The Zombie Only To Wake Up Another Million...

Though I Will Say That These Zombies And Most Of The Ghosts Were Very Well Made Up By Rick Baker To The Point That If Anyone Deserves To Be Called The Master It's Him...

Eventually Finding The Key, Jim Gets Megan Up On The Bridge Before The Zombies Can Eat Her So They Can Go Upstairs, But Before They Get Out The Door Shuts On Them And Locks Them In, Leaving It Up To Michael To Save Them Only Problem Is That There Are Millions Of Spiders On The Door...

Realizing That He Has To Face His Fears To Save His Father And His Sister, Michael Does Just In The Nick Of Time. Taking The Key To Leota, She Tells Jim To Find The Trunk Which Pisses Him Off To The Point That He Carries Leota Off With Him To Find It As He's Tired Of Playing Games...

Taking Him Up To The Attic, They Find The Trunk And Discover A Letter From Elizabeth That Reveals That Elizabeth Had No Intention Of Killing Herself But Instead Wanted To Be With Gracey To Which Ramsley Reveals Himself As The Culprit...

Asking Ramsley Why He Killed Her, Ramsley Tells Him That It Was Because Gracey Wouldn't Listen To Reason And That Despite Having Despite Having Everything In The World He Was Going To Just Throw It Away For Love...

Stating That Running Away With Elizabeth Would Have Destroyed The Mansion And Everyone Around It, Jim Decides To Tell Gracey Everything, But Ramsley Has No Intention On Letting That Happen And Instead Places Michael And Megan In A Box While He Throws Jim Out Of The Mansion In A Fall That Should Have Killed Him...

Taking Sarah To The Ballroom, Gracey Reveals In His Own Way To Sarah That He Is His Grandfather That He Was Talking About And That He Believes Her To Be Elizabeth (And While They're Talking During This Scene We See The Dancing Ghosts In The Ballroom In The Ride Appear Here) But Believing Him To Be Crazy, Sarah Runs Off, Returning To Her Room...

Starting To Believe That She's Not Elizabeth, Ramsley Appears To Tell Gracey That To Not Despair For She Will In Time (Despite Her Not Being Elizabeth Being True)

Appearing In Sarah's Room, Ramsley Tells Her That Gracey Is Expecting Her And To Put On Her Wedding Dress, Saying Again That She's Not Elizabeth, Ramsley Tells Her In His Own Way That She Better Act Like Elizabeth Or Else He'll Kill Michael And Megan...

As The Wedding Begins, Jim Tries To Break In But All The Windows Appear To Reform With Every Hit, So Believing That Hope Is Lost, Leota Rolls In To Tell Jim That Even Though He's Made Mistakes It's Never Too Late To Fix Them, So Getting In His Car With Leota, Jim Right Through The Window...

Entering The Foyer, Near The Hallway To The Ballroom Jim Has To Go Through Ghostly Knights To Save Not Just His Kids, But His Wife Too!...

Saving Michael And Megan From The Knights, Jim Enters The Ballroom To Put A Halt On The Ceremony. But Having No Intention Of Losing Elizabeth Again, Jim Tells Gracey The Truth And Gives Him Elizabeth's Real Letter...

Asking Ramsley About This, He Tells Gracey His Reasonings Stating That He Tried To Warn Him But He Wouldn't Listen...

Ramsley Summons Evil Spirits To Make Them...

But Said Spirits Turn On Him, And He Tries To Take Jim To Hell With Him But Luckily Gracey Saves Jim As Ramsley Goes To Hell...

But While Jim Was Saving Michael And Megan, Sarah Drank Some Of The Poison That She Was Supposed To Drink To Marry Gracey And Now It's Taking Effect...

Saying That He Loves Her, The Blue Ghost Ball Approaches Jim And Goes Inside Of Sarah, As A Portal To Heaven Appears Above Which Causes Sarah To Float Like Exorsist (But This Time It's A Good Thing Not A Bad Thing) As It's Revealed That The Ghost Ball Was Elizabeth...

Who Reveals That The The Truth Had To Be Known For Her To Be Released, With Gracey Reunited With Elizabeth, There's Only One Problem Left, What About Sarah? Well, She Doesn't Die And Jim And Her Make Up As Gracey Gives Them The Deed To The Mansion For Them To Do What They Must With It...

With Gracey, Elizabeth, Emma And Ezra Going To Heaven Most Of The Ghosts Seem To Follow Suit Except For Madame Leota And The Singing Busts Who Go Off To Live With The Evers Family Which Ends Our Movie...

But We Do Get A End Credits Scene As Leota Says The Famous "Hurry Back" Line From The Ride...

And That's The Haunted Mansion And...Well...

It Has It's Problems With Story And Characters I Will Admit That But I'm Sorry, I Like This Movie, The Sets Are Fantastic, The Costumes Are Well Done, The Make Up By Rick Baker Is Fantastic, I Know It's Not Enough But Those 3 Reasons Alone Make This Movie Worth Watching I Mean Eddie Murphy, Yes Some Of His Jokes Aren't Funny But That Alone Doesn't Make Him The Worst Thing In This Movie, Jennifer Tilly, Yes, She's No Elenore Audley But Honestly Try Picking An Actor As Good As Elenore Audley To Be Madame Leota, Yes, The Ending Isn't Great, It Looks Like A Damn Pureflix Or Kirk Cameron Movie But I Can Live With It....

The Haunted Mansion Is One Of My Favorite Rides At The Park And I'm Sorry If I'm Not Hating On It As Much As Everyone Else Is But For What It Is I Can Live With This Film...

You Want To See People Hate On This Movie Watch Some Jerk With A Camera's Review With The Horror Guru And Count Jackula On The Film Or The Nostalgia Critic's Review On The Film Both Of Those Are Funny...

But As For Me, I Say See It...

And That Finishes Off Our October Monsterween For This Year Tune In Next Week For The Beginning Of Our Yultide Reviews, Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...