#also also also: sid is not the only one who does this it’s such a prevalent problem

[dreamsy990]

wait can you explain to me the difference between roxas and sora i thought they were the same person

OKAY SO SORRY TO ANYONE WHO UNDERSTANDS KH LORE IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG BUT I WILL DO MY BEST

so in kh when you lose your heart your heart becomes a heartless and your empty husk becomes a nobody. if you have a strong will (morality is irrelevant) your nobody is basically just a person.

so in kh1 sora temporarily releases his own heart for plot reasons (dont worry about it) and so he became a heartless briefly WHICH ALSO CREATED A NOBODY!!!!!!!!!!! and that nobody is ROXAS.

they are separate entities who are connected. as namine puts it, roxas "holds half of what sora is". whatever the fuck thats supposed to mean. they share some memories i think? and by that i mean roxas has flashbacks to sora through dreams and sora gets deja vu after he and roxas reunite (and by that i mean sora eats him like a twin in the womb but dont worry about that). but theyre different people!!! also they have slightly different personalities but you can just read their wiki descriptions because i do not feel like describing them in detail

sora and all his sortas are all different people. also ventus and roxas are not the same person despite being identical. dont worry about it its fine i totally know whats going on <- (lying)

[freebooter4ever]

😭😭😭

[crossbackpoke-check]

Sid just punching Seids in the face 😅

yeah we don’t love that 🫡 to forever quote YCDT, no ethical consumption under late-stage nhl,,, the nhlpa is a farce and needs to develop standards for head contact,,, fighting in hockey is antiquated and one of the potential methods for growing the game is to showcase individual players and remove some of the contact to allow skills to be at the forefront like in woho,,, this is a multi-faceted issue and heavily debated in hockey because of the way fighting is so ingrained into the idea of what hockey *is* (regardless of whether or not it should be) and especially with everything that’s been coming out about power dynamics and violence in/around hockey i think there’s something to be said about how the normalization of violence on the ice translates into hockey culture and outward behavior because there isn’t really foundational support coming from the league and guidelines that would delineate expectations surrounding off vs on ice actions

yet also, i a) grew up with many blood feuds and a detroit reputation for bench-clearing line brawls, which happened at the first game i ever went to, b) am a simple stupid creature easily delighted by the big skate boys dropping gloves and c) no one got injured, which does not make it okay but makes me feel like i can have a little violence, as a treat. usw usw everything is complicated there’s a million theses on it this is not the post for that, this is the post for me to show you moritz seider my beloved BODYING sidney crosby and one of my favorite mickey redmond quotes about him which is just “seider, as we’ve seen before, doesn’t care”

(source)

[svtskneecaps]

now that i think about it the kingdom hearts games have done a really shite job of convincing me that riku and kairi are friends for any reason besides sora. like they both saw that kid and thought the exact same thing and while i couldn't tell you what it was, i have been given no indication of any reason they'd be friends outside of their mutual affection for Mr McSunshine Ass and i think it's hilarious

[c0nfessions-of-a-writing-freak]

Protective Flower

Pairing: Harry Hook x Fem!Reader

Wordcount: 1.4k

Summary: While making your rounds of the Isle making sure everyone still fears your name, you run into an old acquaintance. Someone oversees this and doesn't take lightly to others touching what is his.

Bingo: @eclipsingbingo with the square 'Jealousy'

*Gif does not belong to me

Boots clicking with every step, you had not a care in the world as you walked through the Isle of the Lost. Why would you? You were the daughter of Madame Gothel, the Mother Gothel. Everyone on the Isle knew of your mother's story and with that came protection, a blanket of safety that her name alone offered you.

That didn't mean you let the glare on your features fall or had your back turned on anyone for too long. With brisk steps you passed through different sections of the Isle, never staying for too long. It was only when you saw the back of someone's head whom you never thought you'd see again.

"Jay?" You slowly question, your voice hesitant in case who you thought was in front of you was an illusion or just an insanely good look-alike whom you've never seen before that day. It was only when the boy's head of long brown hair turned and a whisper of your name left his lips that you knew it was him. "What are you doing here? I thought you had gotten off this island and were at Auradon."

"Some circumstances have changed," He muttered with a coy grin, bounding his way over to you. The fast approach made you take a few small steps back, trying to put distance in between the two of you in case he decided to try something, though Jay bypassed this easily, one of his strides making up for three of yours as he wrapped his arms tightly around you. "I've missed you. We all have."

You froze immediately as you were engulfed, not expecting the embrace and hardly knowing what to call it. The feeling that arose from being trapped within Jay's arms was odd, almost comforting. That didn't matter though as you kept your arms glued to your side, not raising them to return the gesture.

"I'm sure it would've passed," You mumbled, voice gruff as you remembered what it had been like before Jay, Mal, Evie and Carlos left the Isle. How things have changed since then. Your words caused Jay to finally pull back, which you were both grateful for since the action was weak, though also longed for it to return, the simple contact something you have never experienced on the Isle evoking something within you. It must have been some trickery Auradon had taught them. "You never did say why you were here. And if you're here, I'm assuming so are the others."

"About that," Jay trailed off, hand sheepishly going to rub at the back of his neck. The action instantly had you quirking an eyebrow, never before seen such an action from the taller VK. Or former VK. "Carlos actually sent me to come and find you. We were wondering if we could use your help. Like old times-"

"What do we have here?" A taunting voice called out, cutting off the end of Jay's sentence, not that you needed to hear the rest of it to know what he was asking of you. You didn't even bat an eye to the new voice, coming well accustomed to it in the past year, more so than before Jay and his little redeemed squad had run off. "Runnin' into ya two times in a day has got ta be a good omen."

Jay's whole deemer immediately changed at not only the sight of him but also the sound. Turning an annoyed glare that held more heat than you knew Jay could still muster onto the newest arrival, Jay greeted him with a less than pleased grunt, "Hook."

Harry Hook, in all his glory, came out from the shadows he had previously lurking in so the deranged grin he was flashing could be seen by all.

"Don't sound so sad ta see me," Harry's laugh felt as if a harsh bite had sunken into you. It wasn't unwelcomed but such a stark contrast to what Jay had offered you moments ago. His eyes fell on you quickly, blue irises sucking you in as he walked closer, sealing his spot at your side as he wrapped a tight arm around your waist and pulled you flush to his side. "I was wondering when the two of yer would meet again. It was only a matter of time I suppose."

Jay's eyes locked in on the hand on your waist, Harry's fingers flexing at the sight as they curled in tighter. The sensation didn't hurt, not when you've felt it before. It was almost comforting, though in a different way to how Jay tried offering it. You weren't oblivious enough to not understand that Harry was staking his claim, however, making it known to Jay how things were running this time around.

"I didn't know the two of you had buddied up since we've been gone," Jay had to drag his eyes away from where the two of you were connected, never taking his eyes off of you as he refused to look into Harry's.

"Things have changed since you and the others were taken off the Isle," You shrugged your shoulders up as you spoke, giving it to Jay plainly. After he and the others left you were without a gang to call your own, leaving you to resort to other means of getting by. "Not all of us were whisked away to be Princesses and Princes."

"I can see that," Jay breathes out as if the words were vile on his tongue. You weren't ashamed of this. Just because you had grown closer to Harry and his crew in his and the other's absence didn't mean you were going to flip a switch now that they were back. "It was nice catching up with you. If you want to talk more, you know where to find us."

"I'll see you around Jay," You bid your farewell, surprised that Harry was able to remain as quiet as he did. Not sparing you another word, though his eyes flickered down to where Harry kept his hold on you, Jay turned away so he could make his way back to the hideout he must've come from.

"Now wasn't that a lovely chat," Harry chirped, rounding on you once Jay was out of sight. His other hand came down to your hip, resting there tightly as he slowly began to back you up. "I was just on my way to warn ya as well of Mal and her little crew's arrival. Somehow ya always beat me to it though."

"I must just be lucky at sniffing out people with pretty faces," You say, not a second later your back came in contact with the wall behind you, a small huff leaving your nose at the contact. With a cruel quirk of your lips, you bring a hand up to pass through some of his hair. "Maybe that's how I found you all those months ago."

"Cute," Harry barked out a bitter laugh, bringing his face closer to yours. Some of that bitterness seeped into his face as he looked down at you, his next words coming as a sting. "Uma doesn't want ya going near them. Who knows what they've brought from Auradon. And we all know how close ya were with them before they left."

"Good thing Uma doesn't control what I do then," You dipped your face to the side as Harry tried to trap your lips in a harsh kiss, his teeth ready to make an appearance. Instead, a kiss was left on your cheek, the pirate recoiling back once he realised. With a smirk of your own, you leaned in, trailing feather-light kisses across his neck and jaw. Your lips ghosted his skin, never staying in one spot for too long. "Though I'm sure an exception could be made if you asked nicely."

"Stay away from Jay and his friends," Harry spoke lowly, lips chasing after yours as you continued to evade him. With a raised brow, you stared at him as if you were waiting for more, leaning back so he couldn't reach you. With an eye roll from his dark eyes, an abundance of eyeliner smeared around them, he grinned out, "Please."

You waited a few moments, bringing both of your hands up to cup his face. Dragging him slowly, you brushed your lips quickly against his, muttering before finally giving him what he wanted, "I'll consider it."

[impactedfates]

Hi it's me again. Incoming massive word vomit alskdlfkdjfkj sorry! :')

Can I request a platonic fic of Dan Feng and a very young, quiet and stressed Vidyadhara!reader who frequents the Alchemy Commission? Basically, Reader is an Emanator of the Hunt with an armored form (but it's draining so she can't maintain it for very long).

Those injuries that she shows up with? They're not from fighting bullies, they're from fighting small-scale invasions of Abundance monsters when the Cloud Knights aren't able to (for whatever reason).

Her Emanator form that takes stamina to maintain? Probably why she is constantly exhausted. Kiddo's burning too many calories while on an atrociously light diet. Probably passed out from hunger and lack of sleep a few times.

She hides it all and no longer hangs out with her friends because there was a time when a friend was targeted to draw her out and that just—it wasn't fun. :') Now she's one of the Luofu's worst bundles of anxiety...

You decide when and how Dan Feng finds out. 8')))))

(My friend was reading over my shoulder and they said that this feels like a Spider-Man & Aunt May situation AKLSDJFLAKDJSFLKJDKFJ)

★ A/N: Haha, it kinda does actually, this isn't as long as some of my other fics but I hope this was alright anyways anon!! Sorry it took awhile

☆ Genre/Trope: Platonic + Hurt/Comfort? (Kinda, not rlly at the same time)

★ Format: Fic (W.C: 1073)

☆ Warnings: Mentions of passing out

★ Extra: Request had she/her pronouns used but reader in this is still GN with they/them // Possible OOC Dan Feng

Being granted power from the Aeon of Hunt themself is a blessing many may have stated. Others think otherwise, but one thing is for sure. Anyone who has been lucky to be blessed with power from any Aeon was powerful.

Many also believe a teenager should not be blessed with this power, and if they are to inform someone. The power given cannot be taken lightly, yet you. You refuse to let anyone know of your status of being an Emantor.

Nor let anyone know why Scalegorge Waterscape has never seen another Abundance Monster invasion. Everyone enjoys the peace and no one questions it. The only time it was finally addressed just who was responsible for keeping the area safe was when someone was being attacked and someone quickly stepped in.

No one knew who it was, no one knew it was you saving them. No one knew it was your friend who had been attacked and you had to quickly step in to save them. And that was fine by you, you didn’t WANT anyone to know your identity.

From that day alone you knew if people knew who you were, that meant the Abundance  Monsters could find out and will target someone even dearer to you. You didn’t even know how they found out who you were friends with, but all that matters was that the less they knew about you. The less your loved ones would get hurt.

It’s no wonder why many advise younger people of the Xianzhou to inform someone if they ever become an Emantor. Just looking at yourself in the mirror, seeing how tired you are. How much this “job” has taken a toll on you was enough to tell you, to remind you that you should’ve told someone.

It was too late for that anyways, you still had to save people. And when you were returning back from your trip to the alchemy commission, you spotted a Foxian about to be ambushed, so as always. You stepped in with your Emantor form. Unbeknownst to you though, that may have been the last straw for your body, as you bid the Foxian goodbye and you turn to leave, your body finally gave way and all you could see after that was black

. 

.

.

.

.

You may have escaped the many questions thrown at you when asked why you were home late or when people point out the injuries you’ve just sustained. But perhaps your luck was running thin as now you were in front of the High Elder Dan Feng himself. To make matters worse, he did NOT look pleased.

Okay so maybe you weren’t in front of him, at least not standing. You were laying down and with one head turn to the side you caught the eyes of a very displeased High Elder. He arose from the seat he had taken and looked at the Vidyadhara near him.

“Leave, I need to talk to them”

The woman nodded before leaving the room, quickly his eyes turned back to you. Slowly you sat up and your body and slightly moved away.

“H-high Elder…w-what are you doing he-”

“Are you feeling okay?”

He quickly cuts you off. Staring at you, his eyes soften a bit as he reaches a hand out to check your forehead.

“The healers said you had many injuries covering your body. Why is this?”

“...Just some bullies, nothing to be worried about”

He stared at you before removing his hand and crossing his arms. Silence filled the room quickly. Your eyes trailed away from his realising he wasn’t going to believe you.

“I found you, passed out on the ground…and from people who were in the area. The famous ‘Emantor of the Hunt’ was there saving a Foxian, no?”

“...”

“...You’re the Emantor aren’t you?”

He could only sigh as you continued to have your lips sealed, unwilling to speak. Unwilling to give away your secret. But that was all he really needed to know the truth. You felt the weight of the bed shift as he sat down near you. He closes his eyes as he takes a small breath.

“You should’ve-”

“I know…I’m…I’m sorry…I just”

“It’s okay…but…you’re going to have to tell someone, your parents”

“B-but if I do, t-the abundance beasts…t-they’ll know. They’re gonna h-hurt my fa-”

Dan Feng quickly casts his gaze toward you, promptly shutting you up. He sighs a bit. He knows why you won’t tell, he knows people who are young don’t always follow advice people tell them when something happens. So he understands, at least he’s trying too.

“I will deal with the Abundance Monsters, I’ll get Cloud Knights and some of my friends to do so. You are still a kid. You shouldn’t be handling this kind of responsibility. And as your High Elder, I urge you to tell your family”

“...but-”

“But nothing, you don’t have to tell them right away but you will eventually…you will also no longer be fighting these monsters. Not until you're old enough…if you truly wish to continue helping, then wait till you're older. Then you can come to me and I’ll take you in as my pupil. I’ll teach you how to manage your abilities and how to fight even without your form”

You stare at him for a while. A good while before casting your eyes down, playing with your hands. Still unsure about the decision you didn’t get to play a part in. A part of you wants to rebel, the other part knows. Knows that what Dan Feng is saying is correct. It knows he only wants the best for you, still no words can be formed. You were still tired, all you could do was weakly nod.

Even if you were to refuse, Dan Feng is a stubborn one. He nods approvingly before standing up and walking to the door, he looks back at you.

“I’ll get you a meal, what would you prefer?”

You gave your answer and soon he left. You slowly laid down on the bed once again. Closing your eyes and slowly you were sent to the land of dreams.

When Dan Feng comes back with your choice of food, he spots you asleep on the bed. Resting the blood on the table next to yours, he sits down back on the chair, watching you. The peaceful look on your face gives him peace of mind.

“Sleep well then little one”

Finally cleared out all my requests haha. They'll still be closed for now though. Thank you anon for being patient with me and I hope you enjoyed.

[shinidamachu]

Sid, why do you think people think Kagome is “so annoying” and “whiny?” How exactly did she earn this reputation among her (rather dumb) haters.

The world is not kind to 15 years old girls, and what is Kagome, if not the perfect representation of one?

People forgot they can dislike a character just because and then move on. They'd rather grasp at straws to try and justify themselves, that way they can pretend they're being rational about the constant hate they're spreading when, truthfully, they're just being miserable.

Kagome specifically is in even greater disadvantage because her critics are, mostly, people who haven't read the source material and are instead basing their takes on a biased adaptation – which they probably watched ages before developping any critical skills – or people who see her as a threat to their ship and therefore are already prone to hate her.

The first group won't ever bother going out of their way to try and get a better grasp of her character by reading a 558 chapters long manga and the second group won't change their minds either way.

That's why they call her out for using the beads of subjugation even if: it wasn't her idea in the first place, it served to balance her relationship with Inuyasha at the beginning – since he was powerful and violent while she wasn't –, the rosary became a symbol of their bond, it saved Inuyasha a couple of times and he was always more annoyed than hurt by it, not to mention Sunrise blowing it out of proportion compared to the manga.

You never see Inuyasha getting bashed for hitting Shippo every other episode or Sango getting any heat for constantly slapping Miroku, because funnily enough people seem to understand it was just dumb, outdated, slapstick comedy, a courtesy they refuse to extend to Kagome.

That's also the reason they call her “annoying” and “whiny”: Kagome’s most important lesson was that it's okay to have feelings, so naturally they twisted that into a bad thing in order to keep hating on her. It's not about how her character was written, it's about people using of bad faith and deliberately mischaracterizing Kagome to pass their internalized misogyny as valid criticism.

I know part of the issue is that audiences nowadays are under the impression that for a female character to be strong, she can't cry or be feminine, but you don't see anyone hating on Sango even though she does cry and she can be as feminine as Kagome depending on the circunstances and on her mood.

The truth is that Kagome is playing a game she can never win, because the refs have decided they want her to lose before the match even starts.

If she stands up and sets boundaries for herself, she's annoying. If she doesn't, she's a doormat. If she feels jealousy, she's a bitch. If she shows kindness, she's boring. If she fights, she's overpowered. If she doesn't, she's useless. If any other character cries, it's heartbreaking. If she cries, she's whiny.

If she goes back to her own world, she's selfish. If she leaves that world behind to live the life she wants for herself, she's a stupid girl who left her family for a boy. If she does something grand, that's only because she's someone else's reincarnation. If she messes something up, the fault is hers and hers alone. She is, somehow, simultaneously a Mary Sue and a toxic abuser.

I've personally seen people slut shaming her because she got hitted on by Koga. I've personally seen people call her a "pick me" girl. Kagome. A pick me girl. Kagome.

And none of this is fair, because she is the kind of character who does her best to see the good in others, to understand the reasons why they act the way they do and to offer them some grace, but she gets very little of that in return, be it in canon, be it in fandom.

They always hold her up to such an impossible standard, but they completely forget to ask themselves: would the characters I stan be able to match the expectations I set for Kagome? Scratch that: would the characters I stan even be able to deal with things the way Kagome managed to do? Would I? The answer is most likely no, so how about cutting her a slack?

You ask me how did she earn this reputation among her rather dumb haters, my answer is: she didn't. They're just incapable of understanding that if a particular nuanced, well written, female character is not their cup of tea, they can simply ignore her and focus their attention on the characters they do like instead of spreading their baseless, misogynistic takes on the internet.

[8siangemini]

You Sly Cat (Miles Morales x Black Cat!Reader)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

This trope was initially from @midnight-fairee and I absolutely loveeeddddd the idea so here’s Miles x Black Cat!Reader!! Also I’m planning on making this a slow burn multi-part series so y’all be readyyyy

Word Count: 2.5K

Summary: A new villain begins to rise to the scene of Brooklyn, Black Cat. Sly and leaves no trace except for one fact, your love of jewelry and diamonds. Just as this villain rises to the scene the great Spider-Man develops feelings for the new girl at Visions Academy.

Author’s Note: OMG I LOVE THIS TROPE IDEA I JUST NEEDED THISSS!!! THE TENSION IS JUST SCRUMPCIOUS AND CHEF’S KISS

Your life was perfect and rich. Beautiful and stunning, great at acrobats, perfect completion, wealthy, perfect grades and great education, perfect family, the golden new girl at Visions Academy. You were the dream girl a mother could wish that her son brings home. Everyone knew of your perfect girl reputation, it was gold and diamonds, no one could touch it.

But no one dared to try and court you. Everyone had a fear that they would not meet up to your perfect standard no matter how hard they tried. Even though your life was perfect you had no one to share that with. As much as you wanted someone by your sid you knew you could not, not with the rotten aspect of your life.

Golden Girl by day, Black Cat by night. The only time you felt truly alive. The fact that you had this reputation of being perfect the idea of having a secret life full of burglaries, robberies, and many more life-ruining experiences in your life, it made you feel exhilarated. And the fact that you also get many beautiful and expensive jewelry pieces and high fashion clothes made you love it even more. No one would expect someone so rich and living life wealthily with generational wealth to be stealing such high-security places with expensive items. It was perfect, no one would bat an eye.

While in AP physics you sat in class with your head in the clouds as you finalize your mental plan for tonight’s robbery at one of the biggest jewelry stores in Brooklyn. You continued daydreaming until your friend, Roxie who sat behind you, tapped on your shoulder. You looked over your shoulder slightly to make sure the teacher does not see that you are not listening to his lecture. She has a folded-up piece of paper in her hand and you quickly take it and place it on your lap. You keep your head up facing the teacher but your eyes looked down at your lap while you unfolded the note your friend passed to you with your hands covered in rings.

‘Morales’ was all on the note.

You scan around the room and in the same row as you on the outer edge of the many desks sat Miles Morales. Miles had his head resting in his palm with a pencil in hand while staring at you. Once you make eye contact with him his eyebrows rise and he straightens up his slouching position. You give him a small smile and wave to him lowly which makes his dark handsome face become red. He quickly waved back to you and turned his direction back to the teacher.

You let out a small chuckle and like ok back down at the note. You take your pencil and begin writing on the note between you and Roxie.

‘Ngl he’s hella fine’ you write with a smirk and fold it up and pass it back to Roxie who took it.

You hear Roxie let out a small chuckle and soon the bell rings. You began packing your notebook and pencil into your backpack until in the corner of your eye you see a paper plane land on your desk and two students quickly run out of the class.

You look at the paper plane on your desk, then the door, then at Roxie who was standing as she was packing her bag. She was looking at you just as confused as you were. You rolled your eyes in disgust. You hated some high school guys’ childish attempts at flirting nowadays. You wanted a guy that gave the old-school kind of love.

You wanted a guy that gave you roses, you wanted a guy that would write you handwritten notes, hold the door open for you, make sure you would never walk on the sidewalk closest to the street, you wanted a guy who would draw you, you wanted a guy that could swoon you.

You began unfolding the piece of paper while looking at Roxie.

“I bet it’s a stupid, “here’s my snap snap me’.” You say to Roxie as she hovers over, waiting to see what the note says.

You continued mumbling how much you hate how guys nowadays try and flirt and none sense. That was until you opened the paper and you were completely speechless.

It was a beautiful sketch of you in graphite of your side profile. Around you were a couple sketches of roses filled in with marker. It was beautiful and soon a heat rose to your face.

“Oh my god girllll.” Roxie exclaimed as she began shaking your shoulders. “Who is it from?”

You begin looking around the sketch and see a small signature at the bottom corner of the paper. A large prominent M was shown with some smaller scribble after it. Once you saw the M it immediately clicked in my head. Miles.

“Morales.” I said simply. Roxie begins shaking me as I folded the drawing neatly and put it inside of my backpack.

“Ouuuu Morales has a crush on golden girllll.” Roxie teases as you two walk out of the classroom.

Miles was the first boy to even dare to try and swoon you and it was starting to work. A little. Until you remembered what your standards were with men, no one. No one is suppose to reach your standard, your reputation. But was that what you really wanted? You were always sweet to everyone you crossed unless they gave you a reason to not be. But even though you knew many boys had crushes on you not one of them would respectfully court you.

But even then you could not help but put the drawing pinned to the pinboard in front of your desk once you had gotten home.

You smiled at the drawing as you turned around to face your large victorian style room filled with white, gold, and silver decorations. The windows reached from the floor all the way to the ceiling with cream curtains matching the cream walls.

The room was dark with just the moonlight sparkling the chandelier in the middle of the room. You smiled at the window as you heard no sirens in the distance, perfect. You headed towards your closet door and flipped the lightswitch on to reveal a large closet with racks and racks of clothes in white and glass cabinets and multiple shelves holding purses and shoes ranging from Jordans to Red Bottoms.

You close the door and head towards the center of the large closet that had a glass display of many and many assortment of jewls and diamonds in jewelry. Many being handed down or bought but much more underneath that were stolen.

You press your index finger to the finger pad on the bottom of the large display and the glass begins to open up and the shelves and containers of jewelry begin to open like a butterfly. At the bottom level of the contain laid more jewelry that you had stolen. You remove the compartment and a hand print scanner is revealed. You place your dominant hand on the pad and after the light scanned your hand up and down the whole display begins to colapse neatly to the ground and up rises a glass display holding your suit.

An all black tight suit with silver armor padding on the forearms and shins with matching cat claws. The suit reached the middle of your neck with a v-neck line covered in white fur and an armor piece wrapped around your torso and covered your breasts. It was deadly, it was beautiful.

You put on the suit as you look at the full length mirror and you finally grab your mask. You look at yourself in the mirror as you press the black mask onto your face. You smirked at yourself and as you opened the door the jewelry display began to go back to its original form. You grab your black compact athletic backpack and placed it onto your back.

You ran out of your closet, dashed towards the open balcony, and leaped out of the window. You land on the top of another building and began your next heist. Your formal debut to the media.

As you began running towards the center of Brooklyn more and more sirens came to your ears. You knew of a Green Goblin attack happening in the center of Brooklyn so you planned a heist to rob a jewelry store far enough that it would give you enough time to get the things that you want but not too far that it would not bring a little bit of cops, not too far that it would not bring Spider-Man. And coincidentally the jewelry store of perfect distance was the third most popular jewelry shops in Brooklyn.

You make it to the shop and it was long after store hours. The street was empty and dark in the night. As you stay perched on the top of the store you pulled out your tablet from your backpack. You pulled up the prehacked security system on your tablet and once you activated it you saw the constant moving cameras drop down and their on light go off.

You smirked as you put your tablet back into your backpack and balanced yourself onto the balls of your feet. Now it is just the two bodyguards right in front. You take in a deep breath and hop down of the building towards one of them. You land a kick to the back of his next, knocking him out immediately. And as the other guard charged at you you quickly ducked down and dashed under him so you were now behind him. You land a deep cut into the back of his neck and land a harsh kick to his stomach, knocking him out too.

You turn to the store and you begin stratching a large circle in the glass with your claw and kick the glass, shattering a hole.

You run inside of the jewelry store and begin grabbing the items you wished to steal and more.

After a couple of minutes there was still no police but once your back was turned you heard a crunch of the glass on the ground being stepped on. You stopped in your tracks as a smirk formed on your face, already knowing who it is.

“Why hello Spider-Man.” You greet him in a sultry tone as you turned around. Necklaces made of diamonds and pearls dripped on your claws. “It is so nice finally meet the one and only Spider-Man.” You say as you bow down to him.

He was taller than you, lean but built, he was set on alert. You batted his eyes at him, finally getting the chance to make your secret life even more exilerating.

As you slowly drip the necklaces into your backpack and swing it back onto your back you begin slowly walking towards Spider-Man, hips swaying back and forth. Even though he could have easily caught you in his webs now he couldn’t, he just couldn’t. He was in a trance in your cat-like eyes in the dark. The way you were looking at him, the way your body moved as you walked up to him, it was like a siren call to him. You had the Spider-Man in a trance.

“Black Cat I pressume?” He asks you as he begins to be at ease as he stood there with his arms at his side.

You walk up close to him and reach your index claw gently to his jaw and gently caress his jaw with the tips of your claws.

“The one and only.” You say at almost a whisper as you look up at his masked face through your eyebrows.

You begin walking around him as your claw dropped down to his muscular shoulder and began to trace his built back. You head hovers above his left shoulder as you stood behind him with both of your hands on both of his shoulders.

“Where those spidey senses of your’s go?” You ask him through a smirk. “I want a cat fight.” You whisper into his ear as you begin to step away from him giving some distance between you two.

He turns around as you begin to squat down with a hand on the ground balancing you low to the ground, ready for him to attack. He gets to crouch down and has one hand in front of him with the other behind him.

“Aww come on, why don’t we dance?” And with that he shot one web aiming at you.

You quickly jump up towards him and immediately connect a punch to the face. He stumbled back a little as you landed close in front of him. You opened your hand and began to try and claw at his chest but he kept blocking by your forearms. He quickly ducked your slash and grabbed at your waist pulling you close to his body. His other hand traveled up your arm up to your hand and held you hand. He turned you around so swiftly, just like you two were dancing. He then bent you over one of he glass display cases and held your right arm over your head and your other hand being pressed agaist the glass next to you. His chest pressed against your back and you began to try and squirm but his grip was strong.

“I said we should dance, why are you fighting that?” You could hear his smirk through his face. The close proximity between you two made you heat up inside which brought a smirk to your face as you looked over your shoulder at him.

“Oh but we are darling,” You were finally able to dig one claw into his left hand which made him draw away and pain.

You threw your elbow back at his face and he finally let you go, the warmth of his body leaving your back.

“I just wish you would take me to dinner first.” You quickly drop down, slide behind him, and connect a claw to his left calf.

You kick at his other leg and he immediately falls to the ground. A semi-deep gash formed at his left calf and some blood began to pour out. You begin to stand up and walk over to the fallen Spider-Man. He looked up at you as you began to crouch near his head.

You roughly flip him onto his side and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from your bag. And even though he kept trying to restrain you were able to successfully cuff him. You flipped him back onto his back as he winced at your aggressiveness.

You begin caressing his cheek with the backside of your finger as a smirk came to your face.

“Till we meet again, Spider-Man.” You say as you bend down and place a kiss to the corner of where his lip is located on his masked face. “Maybe then you can take me out to dinner.”

You pull out a large green pill from a small pocket from your backpack as well as a prewritten sticky note, simply saying ‘courtesy of Black Cat’. You drop the pill onto the ground as you walk away from Spider-Man. You quickly place the sticky note on his chest as he struggled to try and get up. You stepped onto the pill and a green smoke began crawling the floor.

You quickly run out of the jewelry store and as you look back you se Spider-Man quickly knocked out from the gas. You use your small grappeling hook that was on your wrist and shoot to the top of the building across the street. You hop onto the top of the building and began running and hopping onto off other buildings until you were about a block or two away from the scene. You plant yourself on the top of one of them as you watch the delightful sight.

Multiple police cars driving up to the store and going in to examine it to just run back out realizing the gas that was crawling the whole store. A smirk comes to your face as you continue running from the scene going back home. Your job here tonight was done, your formal debut to the criminal world.

[everykindofnerd13]

Trolls Human AU but it’s college student snack pack raising Tiny diamond as all of their kid when Guy Diamond finds himself with a child at the rope young age of 19.

The crew having a schedule of who watches Tiny at any given time on any given day. (It is extensive and color coded and Branch had a great time making it.)

Everyone explanding tiny diamonds repertoire of skills before he can even comprehend his own existence. Like.

Suki who holds a one year old Tiny on her lap while she works on mixes.

Cooper and D who switch off holding Tiny in one of those chest carrier things while they play DDR.

Poppy who will give Tiny a bag of scrap paper and tell him to make a picture inside it. (She doesn’t want to let him actually touch the paper, lest he ingest it.)

Branch who puts on science kids shows like Wild Kratts and Sid the Science Kid on the background while he and Poppy have Tiny so that he kid can start learning fun science stuff early.

Sati and Chenille who started by dressing up Tiny in their studio, but ended up just letting him use his creative guidance on them. (They hold him above a pile of fabric and whichever two he picks they have to make work as a garment.)

Biggie who has “tea parties” with Tiny and Dinkles (his cat) and is always trying to teach the baby proper table manners, it’s futile, for Tiny is a menace.

Smidge who teaches the baby to “work out”. (She actually owns a bunch of grip training baby toys that she hands him while she lifts weights.)

Barb who insists she doesn’t like babies but will happily take Tiny in for a night when needed, making little purée dinners for him and spoiling him rotten for the evening.

Legsly, who encourages Tiny to dance with her in her living room, gripping his hands and holding him up so they can “dance”.

Fuzzbert who is canonically mute and uses sign language to communicate in this universe, who loves to bring Tiny out to the park to experience nature with him, always mesmerized by the baby’s wonder at the clouds and the leaves. (Listen, I just like to imagine that Fuzzbert as someone who often finds themself unable to make themselves heard, quite enjoys the satisfaction of such a small child finding joy in the same things he does.)

Tiny who is very monkey-see monkey-do, and actually is a very well rounded kid after being raised by so many well rounded people who care about a love him.

When they’re together as a group, usually at game nights, they’ll make Tiny little “mocktails” aka, like, mango juice, so that he doesn’t feel left out while they all drink their drinks of choice.

Tiny is the most spoiled kid on earth because he has so many aunts and uncles willing to pitch in and get him whatever he wants.

Brozone and Viva also loving Tiny when they meet him one day while Branch and Poppy are in charge of him. Poppy has a little stroller with a sunshade, and Branch is happily carrying the baby bag so the stroller isn’t too heavy to push. At first, everyone’s mortified cause they thing that their baby siblings have gone off and had a whole baby without telling them, but they quickly notice the “Tiny Diamond” printed across the baby bag and realize it’s in fact their siblings’ close friend’s baby that they’ve heard so much about.

Viva making the kid candy necklaces only to be quickly shut down by Clay who explains that they’re a choking hazard, and they should not be given to a baby.

Bruce who has kids of his own and will invite Guy Diamond to drop Tiny off at his place when he and the rest of the snack pack want a night out.

JD who is terrified of children after how much he feels like he screwed up with Branch, but is still infatuated by the little boy and basically gives him anything he wants.

Floyd who mostly stays out of the way while the baby’s around but is the first to volunteer to put him down for a nap so that he can sing him a lullaby and rock him to sleep.

Branch and Poppy being very blush when old women tell them they have a “beautiful family” when they’re out and about, because while they do consider Tiny and all of their friends family, they know the older women mean something different.

Listen this AU is living rent free in my head. I have a timeline. I have a whole thing. I have backstories and modern world adaptations of trauma. It’s pretty fun.

[rimouskis]

could you explain more about what you view as the before era and what you view as the after? i need to learn my herstory

I think this requires a more detailed and educated/researched answer than I can give after an exhausting workday and an after-hours work event, but I'm going to do my best and also open up the floor in reblogs for people to chip in their thoughts

foremost: a DISCLAIMER that this post does not aim to shit on writers from the "before" era. there are many classic fics that I love and enjoy, even if I consider their characterizations to be "less accurate"* than the ones we have in the after era.

*aside to say: accuracy is based only off of literal media accounts we have of these men; we do not know them, we should not claim to know them, and they have had different comfort levels with the media knowing selective truths about their lives [sid out of choice, geno out of media xenophobia] than they did when these early fics were being written.

"before" fics (which I tend to refer to as "classic" fics, and had their heyday in 2012-2013 but continued up until 2016ish) tended to have more regimented roles for sid and geno. sid was usually the protagonist; geno was the love interest.

this came with a cascading set of characteristics assigned to each guy. sid was poor-little-meow-meow'd. geno was the pursuer in the relationship. sid usually bottomed. sid had the whole spacetoaster moment (he was the inspiration for the term, haha). there wasn't much a/b/o fic but sid was, like, the omega-fied one and geno was alpha-ized.

something I've been thinking about more recently is how 2012-2013 era sidgeno displayed signs of Migratory Slash Fandom. I don't think of MSF as an inherently negative/condemning thing, but I think it's a phenomenon that deserves to be mentioned/analyzed, yeah?

MSF thrives on big character differences.... like, grumpy/sunshine, sarcastic/broody, genius/empath. it's all about emphasizing disparate archetypes to create natural tension in a story. this works really well in most romance novels! I love it!

the issues arise when people try to make characters fit into these preset dynamics. and, frankly, when sidgeno first got big, we straight-up didn't know as much about sid and geno. I mean that. despite sid being EXTENSIVELY covered by media from age, like, 14, he was really tight-lipped compared to what we have now.

and geno was.... there. I don't mean that as a diss—he was INCREDIBLE, but the media totally passed him over again and again. or they helped contribute to stereotypes of him being a dumb oaf who didn't know english.

aside: ironically I think that helped in creating sidgeno and not, like.... sidflower or sidtanger. geno was so "DIFFERENT" from sid (aka: russian, characterized by media as not knowing how to speak [in comparison to sid's highly curated media soundbites]) that it meant he was the best candidate for A Ship with sid.

a lot of the really big writers who got into sidgeno were fandom veterans with lots of experience in other big fandoms. to me, that means MSF had a hand in all this. and we should be grateful, because it led to the BOOM of hockey fic, and of sidgeno fic specifically. modern hrpf wouldn't exist without it.

that being said, those template ship dynamics, plus the media's attitude then towards sid and geno in its coverage, led to those characterizations of whiny soft sensitive boy sid who needed to be rescued even though he was the best hockey player EVER, and geno as the lumbering tall strong alpha not-that-bright Love Interest Man.

this isn't to say every fic was this way, or that this is BAD. I, uh, love poor-little-meow-meow-ing sid and omegafying the hell out of him. what I'm saying is that it was a near-ubiquitous characterization across the board.

that all changed in 2016-2018. I personally wholly credit sevenfists, though I imagine it's more nuanced than that, but: my blog, I make the rules here. I don't know if sevenfists was psychic or just highly observant and absolutely excellent at reading people (and that's basically the same thing, right?), but characterization shifts began taking place in fic....

and the coolest thing happened, in that those characterizations were seemingly reinforced by more media coverage. the back to back cups brought with them TONS of interviews with and media about the team, and sid and geno in particular. the coolest part of it was that sid had loosened up a LOT and geno had gotten more comfortable (and had gotten a reporter firmly on his side).

the interviews about sid post 2016 were just SO different. so much information started coming out, and a LOT of it conflicted with Ye Olde Characterizations. as it turned out, sid was deeply one of the boys. he was funny. everyone liked him. he loved hosting. he was insanely comfortable around almost everyone, including strangers, because he's a little freak who's kind to everyone. he can make smalltalk like no one's business. he's kind of gross. he likes to giggle and be in on jokes and get into the thick of it. he isn't some blushing virgin bride sold off of mario's doorstep, yeah?

and geno, too, was finally getting the coverage he deserved. and his personality was both fortified by age and better shown to us through media. as it turns out, he isn't some happy go lucky oaf. he's mercurial and intensely aware of what others think of him (and he CARES). he's sensitive and thoughtful but also can lash out at random times. he has a wicked sense of humor that he uses as a defense mechanism and as a surefire way to get people to like him, which matters to him. and, as everyone says, he is SMART.

if you had to boil it down, I'd say that post-2016, it became clear that SID is the confident one and GENO is the insecure one. and fic caught onto that with a miraculously fast pace. also: they're more alike than they are different, but I still think romance inherently feeds off of difference and tension, so we still exaggerate things to make the stories ✨WORK✨.

I'm not going to give examples of pre- and post- era fics, because I don't want to point any fingers and say someone was doing characterization "wrong." that's not the takeaway I want anyone to have here.

fandom attitudes have changed. it's been 10 years since that first wave of fics, and while I don't think that's very long, it's a hell of a long time on the internet, and in a niche internet community. what was once the standard for fics (and what was well-read, and what people gravitated towards) was different. not worse—different.

I think it's fair to say the "after" era of fics is more "accurate" to what we know of sid and geno. it's also fair to say that this is only the case because we have a WEALTH of information, character-revealing interviews and videos and anecdotes, that Ye Old Authors could only dream of getting.

I really love the story of how everything has changed, and it's a fabulous microcosm of fandom evolution and how approaches to fanworks have changed and grown with fandom, and I think it's all so so cool.

[luwritesomething]

HOW DIFFERENT SCREAM CHARACTERS WOULD CUDDLE WITH READER.

hi !!! since i haven't gotten any requests out this weekend due to schoolwork, i decided to make these short headcanons for the main friend group in scream 1 + mickey altieri. i'll soon start writing all your requests !!!

Sidney Prescott

listen i have the feeling that she's great at cuddles for some reason.

we know for a fact that after her mother she started rejecting sexual touches or advances, but she most definetely loves cuddles.

it would be so natural for her to start cuddling if you two are together.

and she truly does enjoy physical touch, especially as a form of intimacy.

i think physical touch might just be her love language.

so she's always touching you lightly, stroking your hair, idk she's always physically there.

sid also leans a lot into you, like she does with billy at the fountain when they're talking about casey and steve

it's just natural for her.

chilling in bed with her arm around you might just be her favorite activity.

Tatum Riley

LISTEN,,, she loves cuddling you !!

she's really cuddle

tatum is very keen to physical contact with everyone, even people she doesn't know that well

so people she loves or is close too??? they're so spoiled with her touch.

probably likes bring the big spoon but doesn't mind to be the center of attention from time to time.

please cuddle her during her vulnerable to moments, all queens break </3

teases you a lot about liking her cuddles, especially if you've told her you do like them.

but in like,,, a loving and fun way.

she always has the widest smile in her face when you two are together, especially if you're alone and cuddling. this girl loves you so much <3

she also looks like someone comfortable to cuddle with

like, the kind of person that is soft and it all feels cozy and right.

Randy Meeks

i love him so much i have to write more for him.

i feel like randy in scream 1 was a bit more shy than he was in scream 2

so like,,, he will not initiate physical contact with you under no circumstances, you're gonna have to be the one

especially if you're in a relationship with him, he's gonna take everything so painfully slow

but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to cuddle you

heck, he's dying to cuddle you, he's just kind of waiting for the perfect moment to introduce it more and more. he's so silly i love him

once you do start cuddling he gets ADDICTED

please don't cuddle him while you guys are watching movies because he'll JUMP --- his body is in tension while watching movies, especially horror ones, so just... don't

but please come cuddle him while you're resting at the fountain with the others

and please come cuddle him when you stay for the night at his place

WILL get flustered if his little sister walks in on you two cuddling bc he just looks like the type

awkward moments are real with him. like, getting too hot because of the proximity and not bearing the heat, accidentally touching what's not to touch, all that stuff no one talks about when cuddling.

"randy, that's my butt."

"SORRY!"

or

"y/n, my arm is falling asleep, move"

Billy Loomis

he's touch starved, that's the starter

but also he's very picky about who he touches, when and how

assholy claims he doesn't cuddle like he's gonna get a fucking price or something

but he's actually a sucker for cuddles

the thing is he only ever cuddles with people he's known for a very very very very very very very long time

so there's that

please don't touch his hair while you guys cuddle, you'll get oil all over your hands

he's that motherfucker that will reject your touch and the next minute have his arm around your waist

because the fact is,,, billy is actually touchy

especially if he wants to get something

but anyways,,,

he'll cuddle you while you two watch movies, but eventually will stop since he'll rather put his whole attention in the movie

fortunately, billy is hyper aware while cuddling. no awkward moments will ever happen because he avoids touching what's not to touch every single time, and he'll do it so subtly too

he fell asleep in ten minutes the first time you guys cuddled.

that's a compliment since he almost never has his guard down, especially not during first times

please rub his back while cuddling !!!

Stu Macher

stu is probably the best one to cuddle

he's a very physical person and he loves cuddles

will beg for them if needed

but truth is, in your relationship cuddles came early and with the intention to stick around.

he just loves dropping anything he's doing to go cuddle you

will get bored soon, though, so shifting positions is a constant, and doing something else is a must.

please let him be the little spoon from time to time

he just wants to be held

please touch his hair while cuddling him !!!!!

whatever it is you're doing, come cuddle him !!!!!

"there's nothing a good cuddling session can't fix, babe"

will smile so brightly, too, because you just look so beautiful in his arms and all relaxed <3

+

Mickey Altieri

he's so smooth about every single move he makes in your relationship duwhdooqiw

will introduce cuddles slowly, but truth is, he has always been touching you

like,,, reassurance touches during classes, or when you guys are out with the others

somehow, he was always touching you

which gives away the fact that he loves physical contact

will cuddle you while watching movies with you, and will end up forgetting about them to instead focus on you

he always feels so calm when he has his arms around you, pulling you closer to him

mickey closes his eyes and smells your scent softly

and the first time he did so he blushed because he had never realized how much he liked you until then

will play with your hands

i don't know how to explain it but fidgeting with each other's hands and fingers is the best feelings ever

especially when cuddling

he laughs a lot when he cuddles you. he's very happy that he gets to do that with you

GOD, HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH

marry the damn killer already

[fairytale-poll]

WELCOME TO THE LITTLE MERPOLL!

We have already done Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, so it's time for the Little Mermaid! Submissions are open now until Friday, February 16th (though they may close earlier if there are many submissions). Please read the following rules before submitting:

Submit a character who is based on the character of "the Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen! Adaptations where the character is not portrayed as a mermaid are allowed, as long as the story is still explicitly based off the original story.

I will also be accepting characters "playing" the Little Mermaid in a one-off thing, either through some sort of play, being magically transported into the role, etc.

Just because a character is a mermaid, does not mean they qualify. They have to specifically be based on or an allusion of the Little Mermaid.

No OCs or fan characters, official characters only! For more information, read this post from when Cinderpoll was going on.

No real people!

I reserve the right to reject a character if I do not feel comfortable including them, either because of the subject of the story or the media it is from.

When we did Cinderpoll, it was a 128-bracket. I have a feeling there are much less Little Mermaid characters out there compared to Cinderella, so the goal is going to be for 64! That said, if we DO manage to get enough for a 128, I will happily do it! (No more than that, though.)

Feel free to write propaganda on why your character is the best, either when you are submitting the character or through the ask box afterwards.

Be nice and have fun!!! This is just for fun, please do not get too worked up if your character is not submitted a lot or loses in the tournament. This is just for fun and is not indicative of morality of the characters who win.

SUBMIT CHARACTERS HERE

Tags under the cut for visibility!

@tournament-announcer @princess-polls @victimsofyaoipoll @pinkhairswagtourney @roboswagbracket @yen-sids-tournament @magical-mascot-smackdown @namedafterflowerstournament @sadboytournament @divorced-tournament

[wrinkly-walls]

Let's talk motives

Longass rambling scream (1996) meta post incoming

DISCLAIMER I am not taking into account anything that happens in any of the other sceam movies, because they were made later and I think the whole concept of Roman is not interesting. So to ME Billy and Stu did everything without being prompted. Ok that's all :)

In the first scream motives are important in the way that they aren't. By that I mean that there are three (if I remember correctly) "conversations" about Billy and Stu's motives. There's the first one, which starts by Billy stating that it's much scarier if there's no motive and, funnily enough, ends with him giving his "motive" (in quotations because I wanna talk about that later); there's the "don't you blame the movies!" bit, which I counted because I think that it does discuss motives in a way; and then there's Stu's "peer pressure, I'm far too sensitive". The thing about these three conversations is that they, in my opinion, don't give an answer to the question/accusation of a motive.

Let's start with the first one, that I think is the one that tries to get closer to it. As I said, there's two parts to this: first we have Billy saying that motives make things less scary, mentioning Norman Bates (which is sort of funny because Bates did have a motive -sort of. It depends on what you consider a valid motive, as it relies on mental illnes, something that is not rational (and also almost never happens in real life). I think something similar happens in scream, with the question of what is motive, but whatever. I digress.) and Hannibal Lecter. Almost immediately though, he starts to get into the REAL motive, at least for him: his father's affair with Maureen, and his mother's subsequent abandonment of him. What I think is interesting about this exchange is the elephant in the room. Sid asks "Why did you kill my mother?" and that's exactly what Billy answers. We, and Sid, are left with the question "ok, but why are you doing anything else?" Why did he and Stu kill Casey and Steve, the principal, Tatum, the camaraman (and to our knowdlege at the moment), Randy, Gale, and Dewey?

This question tries to sort of get answered later, with Sid's accusation of "you sick fucks, you've seen one too many movies", but it gets shot down immediately by Billy. He seems angry about it too, gets defensive saying that "movies don't make psychos, movies make psychos more creative!". This is not a wrong statement, however it is curious to me that he, of all people, says it, seen as earlier in the movie he says that "it's all just one big movie", and just minutes ago compared his motive with fictional characters. So him so outwardly denying any influence of movies in his motive is strange. I'll get back to this later.

The last conversation is the most direct one, and also the one that I think gets misinterpreted the most. Sid explicitly asks Stu for his motive, to which he answers "Peer pressure, I'm far too sensitive." This, to me, is clearly a joke. (Why? Well, for starters it simply doesn't make sense on a technical level. Peer pressure implies pressure to do something within a group of peers, to fit in or seem cool. Literally the only other person that was doing the murder was Billy, and that's not enough to be considered "peer pressure". It also doesn't make sense with the Stu we see mere minutes before, who is giggling all throught the kitchen scene and even says that "it was fun". Lastly, the sentence is humourous because there is a tendency to blame every bad act teenagers commit on peer pressure. Stu jokes constantly throught the movie, and even in his blood loss-ed state he was just doing that, making a stupid joke.) Many people seem to take this statement to mean that Billy pressured him into doing the murders, and while that's impossible to confirm or deny based on the little screen time Stu has in the movie, based on the fact thet the statement to me is a joke, I personaly don't think that's the case.

Ok, so that leaves us to the actual motives. So if Billy only gives his motive for killing Maureen, denys movies as a reason, and Stu only makes a joke about it, then why the fuck did they do it?

This is the point where I have to say that I think that, in the writing room, they don't have any. The same way as the writers never decided who did each kill, I don't think they really thought about why the boys did their murder spree, at least conciously. However, I think that autorial intent is not the end all be all, and speculating about fictional characters is fun, so I will be doing it either way.

Let's start with Stu, because I think that his reasons are less complicated. He's the one that I'm the most sure did not have a written reason, mostly because he is not as vital to the story (I'm so sorry for saying this he is literally my favorite character but it is what it is). I think that his "motive" is an aglomeration of different things, the main two being his "crazyness"(not actual crazyness as it is more of a legal term that he probably wouldn't apply for but you get what I mean) and his clear infatuation with Billy.

The first is probably the one with more intent behind it, seeing as the Stu we see in the movie acts in ways that support it (he is a serial killer after all). From the start of the movie we see how insensitive he is about Casey and Steve's killings, making a joke about it ("better liver alone!"). At that point in the movie we know nothing about the character, but that moment does come off as very suspicious even on a first watch, that being the joke of the scene. As we move forward we have the scene at the video store, the obvious scene that spells out who the killers are if you're open to the fact that there's two of them, in which we see how he enjoys messing with Randy, smiling and tugging at his earlobe. This is echoed later in the kitchen scene, in which he seems almost unbelivably happy. He plans to kill two of his friends and his girlfriend, acting compleatly normal towards them before the fact. Going back to the start of the movie, Casey and Steve's murders were very sadistic, both on the prelude (the calls and the "game") and the actual act, both of them being gutted. He also shows no remorse for any of it in the end of the movie, only being worried that his parents are gonna be mad. All of this to say that, even if sometimes the fandom likes to ignore it, he is a huge sadist, and that is most likely the main reason why he did the murders. In Casey's murder he also had the fact that she broke up with him, something he lied about, so we can deduce that the situation hurt his ego. The disproportionate reaction to it (murder) just comes to show how little regard he has for other people.

The second part of that I don't think was intentional. If I'm not mistaken Kevin Williamson spoke about it on an interview, stating that he, as a gay man, mostly subconciously put the queer subtext on Billy and Stu's relationship. However, subcouncious or not, it is in the movie (I actually want to make another stupidly long meta post about it), and it's what makes Stu as a character make sense to me. Whatever you think about what their dynamic is like, what is obvious is that this, the murders, are mostly for Billy. It is Billy who has the "motive", it is Billy's girlfriend they are tormenting, and it is Billy who moves the plot forward when he feels like it. All the while Stu seems more than happy to comply, going behind Randy at the video store, trapping Sid at the end of act three, giving Billy the knife whith a bow, going behind him and looking at him. I think that no matter what happened Stu would've become a killer later on, because as I've established he is a sadist, but the reason why he is doing this murders specifically is because of Billy.

Which leads me to Billy. What was going on with him? Honestly, I'm not compleately sure. To him, what happened with Maureen and the '96 spree are inextrincably linked, but I think everyone can see that there's actually not a real connection. Sid is not her mother, so Billy has no "logical" reason to torture her. My guess is a mix of jealousy, hatred/annoyance toward her and the others, the feeling of control, and well, sadisim. The jealousy aspect is pretty straightfoward: in his mind, it is her mother's fault that his mother left, so it is unfair that he has to be without her while she gets to have a mother. Seeing as he's he boyfriend he probably has to see that all the time too, and he most likely can't handle that (we see in the third act that he doesn't handle things not going his way very well). That leads to the control aspect: we have no way of knowing how he was before his mother left, but from what we see, I think that the murders were his way of taking back control after his mom left. He says in the movie that movies don't make psychos, that they make psychos more creative, and I think that the way it translates is in how he decided to take that control back. Of all of the things he could've done, he cose to make "a movie", except in real life. With acts and plot beats, and even a twist. Just murder probably wasn't enough for him, he needed to make something out of it, and what better victim than Sidney, Maureen's daughter. He seems to relish on the fact that he is the one in control of her situation ("you can't pick your genre"). Also, unlike Stu, he seems to actively dislike the friend group he's in, having a sort of disgusted face in the fountain scene, and clearly having a bad relationship with Tatum. He was most likely looking forward to getting rid of them, and exiting the situation as a survivor. Then there's also the thing that killing people definitely turns him on. I've seen a lot of people joke about the "I was watching The Exorcist and it made me think of you" line, making fun of the weird sentiment that watching "The Exorcist" might turn him on, and while I won't deny the jokes are funny, what some people seem to miss is that well, he wasn't watching The Exorcist. He was killing Casey and Steve with Stu. To me it's telling that both times we see him make out/have sex with Sid it's after it's implied he has just killed someone, first Casey/Steve and then Tatum (there's debate about who killed her, but I think that it being Billy just makes more sense time wise and also I don't know how else to explain the eyebrow bounce when he gets to the party). I think that this is something that defilitely affected his motive, and in real life many killers just got off on it (I also want to expand on this in a Stuilly post because there's Implications).

I also think that something else to be taken into account is that these are two white rich teenage boys. The way that they did it has a very strong entitlement air to it. They definitely think that they can get away with anything.

Both Kevin Williamson and Neve Capmbell have talked about their queer implications and how that might've affected their motive, and while I do want to touch on it in my incoming Stuilly Post, I don't think it was as relevant as some might think, or at least not in the way most people think.

In conclusion, Stu did it cause he's crazy and gay and Billy did it cause he's both a control freak and a freak. :)

If you have any thoughts about this PLEASE share them I really want to talk about it (as you can see)

I just wrote two thousand words about this please send help

[dopeasspancake]

Can't stop thinking about the concept of post-Scream (1996) and Billy and Stu's spirits being tied to Sidney for whatever reason. Maybe it's penance. Maybe it's unfinished business. Maybe they never figure it out. But they're just kind of stuck following her.

And maybe it takes her a while to notice. Maybe it takes Billy and Stu a while to become proficient enough at haunting for her to see/hear them and for them to be able to interact with objects or the living. At first they're not even sure they want Sid to know they're there.

But it eventually happens. And NONE of them are thrilled about the situation. For a long while. Maybe Stu finds it kind of funny, but Billy and Sid are PISSED. Billy & Stu aren't always around, though. They sometimes disappear for hours or even days at a time, but they always come back. They have no choice.

They follow Sidney to Windsor College, mock her choice in studies, and cannot stand her boyfriend Derek ("He's so corny it's painful, Sid.") And although Billy & Stu love finding out that they've inspired their own horror movie, they DON'T appreciate the new Ghostface(s) targeting Sidney. Sidney was THEIR final girl and she beat them fair and square. This New Guy should be more original, in their opinion.

When Sidney is distraught over Randy's untimely murder, Billy & Stu are actually a little bummed for her. And him. Stu was even rooting for them a bit. Thought Sid & Randy would have been cute together, but oh well.

And maybe Billy still hates Sidney, but he kind of respects her. He was once genuinely in love with her, before everything. Maybe Stu, who only ever got involved for funsies (and because he'd follow Billy to the ends of the earth) is even a little attached to her. So maybe they do their ghostly best to watch out for her (not that they'd actually tell her this, of course).

And when Billy eventually finds out one of the Ghostface killers was his mom, he spirals a bit (because why does she care NOW but not before he died? What right did she even have to be angry? SHE left HIM). And all Sidney can tell him is "Well, she's dead now."

After Sidney escapes death yet again following the Hollywood murders, she has to deal with several weeks of a falling out between her ghosts. Stu was there, he heard what Roman said about giving Billy pointers. About having a partner he could sell out if need be. And that had hurt more than any knife or smashed TV ever could.

(After a few weeks and with mediation from Sid, Billy finally confesses he never planned to sell Stu out. Only liked the idea of a partner, of not being alone, and Stu was the only person in the world Billy trusted with his life. And who Billy knew was unhinged enough to agree to murder for his friend. Getting this information out of Billy is like pulling teeth because not even death has cured his emotional constipation.)

And this just continues on through the franchise. And despite the fact that Sidney will never forgive Billy & Stu for what they did, she gets used to their presence. Even eventually begins to appreciate them, as fucked up as it is. They become a familiar constant in her life.

When they tease or mock her, Sid's not afraid to remind Stu that she dropped a TV on his face. Or that she put a bullet between Billy's eyes and would gladly do it again. But funny enough, she eventually says these things with very little malice. It's almost like a fun little inside joke. And to be fair, Stu can't think of a more ironic way for him to have died. He gets giggly about it sometimes.

They make fun of Sidney when she starts dating her eventual husband. They make fun of her even harder while she's pregnant because she's often tired, sore, and easily irritated. And while neither Billy nor Stu are big fans of kids, they have to admit Sid and Mark make some pretty cute ones.

Sidney is the one to break the news to Billy, "Congratulations, it's a girl" but 25 years late. She also has to break the news that his daughter is the latest target. And that Stu's nephew was already a victim. Both ghosts are left reeling over this information. Stu is weirdly disappointed to find out Billy cheated on Sid.

("Really, Billy? Didn't you plan an entire murder all because your dad cheated on your mom? And then you had the nerve...?!"

"Stu, while I appreciate you coming to my defense, I find it... fascinating that you're fine with murder but infidelity is where you draw the morality line."

"It's the hypocrisy, Sid! And you didn't deserve that."

"You literally both tried to murder me."

"... not the point, Sid."

If Billy wasn't so flabbergasted at the time, he might have felt more ashamed and embarrassed.)

When Sidney realizes what house Sam is at, Billy & Stu stay with her as she rushes headfirst into danger. All 3 of them are a little sick at setting foot back in that house. Billy & Stu are downright disgusted when they realize the killers are once again The Boyfriend and The Friend. ("Have some fucking originality, I am begging these kids.")

Billy later ends up genuinely thanking Sidney for helping save his daughter. They laugh over the irony of it all. Stu thinks about how Sam reminds him a lot of Sid, weirdly enough. But also of Billy, in some ways. He doesn't say these things out loud. But he does feel oddly protective of the young woman.

And I honestly have no idea how or when to end this concept, it could theoretically go on for decades... but I'm def obsessed with the idea obviously. So, if you actually read through all this (thank you and) feel free to expand upon the idea.

Maybe one day I'll get my shit together and write it out in detail myself. But probably not. BUT MAYBE.

UPDATE: after tons of positive feedback and although I am absolutely shitting myself with nerves, I have officially posted the first chapter of The Ghosts of Our Past for anyone interested.

[bagopucks]

T. Zegras - It’s An Off Day

✄————————————

Trevor Zegras x Reader

Requested✨

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: Itsy bitsy fighting, jokes and implication of sex

I rewatched the Sandbaggers video today with Zig and Coley, and I swear it kills me every time. Biz is a national treasure. Nothing beats his missed swing in the vid with Sid and Nate tho. Quinn Hughes request is getting posted tomorrow too!

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Everybody talks about the female menstrual cycle. Everybody knows it’s not always the most delectable, and how the hormones affect your mood and body in many ways.

Nobody discusses the male hormonal cycle though. The twenty four hour rise and fall of testosterone, that can dictate how a man handles their day. For most guys, it’s not really an issue. It’s nothing compared to a woman’s monthly schedule, but that isn’t to say things don’t go off track every once in a while.

The Ducks have hit a losing streak. I’ve seen it before, it’s not the first one, but this one seems to bother Trevor the most. I can’t tell why, I just know it has. He stresses a lot when he’s in these bad times, and that stress has always messed with his head, but now it seems he’s all over the place. He’s skipped out on workouts scheduled, slept in more, and his appetite is barely existent. When he does eat, it’s a shit ton, but it’s usually only once a day. His body going from a strict routine to an absolute mess has taken a toll, but it’s also made those hormonal cycles incredibly out of tune. It makes him irritable in the mornings if I text him too early, and careless in the evenings if something gets too difficult to do.

And the worst part is that he’s not the only one in the midst of a ‘cycle.’ We’re both moody, and we’re both out of tune. It’s hard for him to say something I don’t get mad at, and even harder for me to not yell at him when he’s being difficult. I knew the rubber band was going to snap, I just didn’t think it would be so soon.

It’s the middle of the day when Trevor shows up at my place. I’d asked him to come over for a bit, hopeful that we could try and work in a night of relaxation, but the lack of communication of our own issues was making it extremely hard.

“Hey, babe.” He sounded so exhausted when he stepped through the front door. I don’t know why it made me so angry.

“You didn’t have to show up if you didn’t want to.” I called from the dining room table, assuming he’d come and find me. My face was down in a computer screen anyway, working on a college essay.

“Who told you I didn’t want to come?” His tone is defensive. I couldn’t blame him. We’re both going through our own things. But in the moment? In the moment it pisses me off that he doesn’t hear how he sounds.

“Trevor you sound like I’ve been hounding you all day to be here. I only asked you once.” I snapped right back, finally hearing the sound of shoes being kicked off and the front door being harshly shut.

“You asked me once and I came. Why would I not want to be here? I’ll tell you what makes me want to leave,” Trevor stomped right into the dining room. He stopped in the doorway. “That attitude right there.” He pointed at me, and god if he didn’t sound like a chastising mother in that moment.

“God- Trevor!” The exhaustion laced in my own tone outweighed the anger. I dropped my head into my hands before lifting it to look at him. I stopped. He looked about as shitty as I did.

His hair was a mess, and he had bags under his eyes. I noticed a red spot on his cheek I knew would turn into a pimple soon, but I had a few on my forehead anyway. It seemed Trevor noticed my own state as well. We were both wearing sweats and t-shirts. I had on one of his Ducks shirts, and he wore a plain black one. We both looked like we needed to be baptized in sleep and energy drinks.

My expression softened. Silence overtook the room. I sighed. “Off day?” My question caught Trevor off guard, but the tension seemed to melt away from his body in an instant. We weren’t fighting, we just weren’t communicating.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his gaze falling to the floor. I shut my laptop and slowly got up, crossing the room to meet him in the doorway.

“Me too.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and Trevor snaked his own around my hips.

“We’re both having shitty days.” Trevor managed a somber smile. “Imagine that.”

“How about a bath? Then maybe some face masks?” I reached up to smooth my finger over the red bump on his cheek, causing him to pull his head back and mumble an ‘ow.’ Sure, the skin could be sore when a pimple was first forming, but not /that/ bad.

“Don’t be a baby.” The irritation was evident in my tone. Trevor smiled again.

“I love it when you’re moody.” A minute ago, I could have sworn he did not love it. “Here.. let me carry you.” I didn’t bother to argue, instead I jumped when he asked me to, and allowed him to carry me bridal-like down the hall to my bedroom and into the bathroom.

“Trevor your hand is digging into my side,” I complained softly before he put me down.

“Chill out.. I just didn’t want to drop you.” He turned away to grab towels before he could see the daggers I was glaring in his direction.

I gently pushed him out of the way to grab my own towel, shaking my head at his behavior.

“Alrighty then..” Trevor muttered, pulling his shirt off and tossing it onto the floor.

“You know where the hamper is.”

“Goddamn. I’ll pick it up after.” He was tense again, I could tell.

“No, Trevor. Pick it up now. You always say after and then you forget.” I turned to look at him, tossing the towel I had down on the counter.

“Well I won’t forget this time!” He raised his voice slightly, defensive once again.

“Yes you will! Just like Jamie gets on you about leaving your car keys everywhere!” I matched his tone, resting one of my hands on the counter to lean on it.

“That’s different!”

“Alright, then what about the towels? And bowls right beside the kitchen sink? What about all the times you pull my books off my shelves and never put them back? Is all that different too?” I snapped, awaiting a good excuse that I had yet to hear.

Usually I wasn’t this hard on Trevor. I didn’t know what all went on in his mind, but he did try his best not to leave things around. He’d improved since we first met, but sometimes things simply distracted him, and he always apologized and felt sorry when I pointed it out to him.

Trevor wasn’t having it this time though. This was a fight now.

“You’re so bitchy!” He leaned over to grab his shirt, storming out of the bathroom after and pulling it back on.

“Yeah? I’m not the one throwing a tantrum right now, Zegras!” He paused to turn and look at me, uncertain of the implications behind his last name. His brow was furrowed, silently asking where I got the audacity.

“You don’t even listen. Forget this.” I followed him all the way back down the hall and to the front door. I watched as he put his shoes on, an overwhelming sadness eating away at my heart.

Trevor turned to look at me, hopeful to get one last dig in. He stopped when he noticed the tears in my eyes.

“Just fucking leave, Trevor.”

I didn’t want him around any more. It was clear we couldn’t coexist when we both had our own issues going on. He looked defeated, and even guilty, but he left nonetheless.

I retreated back to my bedroom after, crying silently all while telling myself it was my fault, and angrily blaming him. I drove him away, but he put the nails in his own coffin. Who knew when he’d text or call, or ask to see me again. He may never. I didn’t expect him to return at any point that day. And I certainly didn’t expect it to be within a few hours.

By the time the sun began to set, the tears had slowed, and I was able to make myself dinner. I sat on the couch, my laptop on the coffee table with a plate full of dumplings in my lap. Scream was playing on the tv, somehow ironically managing to calm me. I heard a soft knock on the door, but I was hopeful whoever was there would leave. My hopes however, were unfulfilled. I heard the lock jingle before the door opened. I looked up to see Trevor standing there, two grocery bags in hand and an innocent look on his face as he froze.

We stared at each other for a moment, uncertain of the other’s feelings, before he finished walking inside and shut the door.

“You just keep doing your thing. I won’t bother you.” Trevor spoke. It was all I needed to go back to my laptop and my work. Trevor ventured off into my dining room, and I heard him settle at the table before silence filled my apartment again.

Five minutes passed before I heard a clicking noise. I paid no mind. I spotted Trevor in the corner of my eye, entering the room at a slow pace. A sneaky pace. It pissed me off just knowing he was up to something.

He sat in the arm chair across the room by the window, dropping a stack of paper on the floor and two pens, as well as the grocery bag. I was still unaware of what was in it. He pulled his phone out, and eventually I stopped paying any attention to him. I just got through the end of a paragraph on my essay, moving my plate to the coffee table when I heard a pop. Then I felt something hit me in the chest and land in my lap.

My brow pulled together in confusion as I looked down to see a little blue dart with an orange tip. Oh my god I’m gonna kill him

“Trevor.” I looked up at him, brow furrowed. He gestured toward the dart. I looked back down, rolling it in my hand to see a white piece of paper taped to it. I looked back up for a moment, questioning his antics, then I made quick work of peeling the tape and paper off the dart.

I flipped the paper over, noticing Trevor’s handwriting immediately.

I’m really sorry about today

My heart fluttered, I heard the rustle of the grocery bag, and when I looked up, Trevor presented me with a second gun, and a few darts of my own. We met in the middle of the floor to make the exchange before retreating to our opposite ‘trenches’. He even provided me with a few pieces of paper and the tape to make my own message.

I jotted one down quickly, taped it to my own dart, and loaded my gun before firing. Reluctant smiles painted both our lips as Trevor grabbed the dart. He paused for a moment, turning to glare up at me when he noticed the copious amount of tape I used. He wasn’t going to be forgiven without a little hassle.

Once he got the note off, and all the tape off his fingers, I watched his expression contort from frustration to relief.

That’s okay. I shouldn’t have been so mean either

Trevor got a piece of paper to write another note, and I tossed the tape over to him. He seemed to be wrapped up in a long message, and I smirked when an idea came to mind. I loaded a blank dart into my gun and aimed, firing and trying to hide my snickers when the foam bullet popped him right in the forehead.

Trevor immediately looked up at me, laughing out a soft, “hey!” Seeing him smile again made me sigh. We’d be okay.

“Took too long,” I responded sheepishly, setting my gun down on the couch. “I want you to talk to me, Trev. Come over here.” He set his own gun down, quickly coming to my side and sitting on the couch next to me.

“What were you busy writing over there?”

“I uhm..” he paused, leaning back against the couch. “That I love you.. and I don’t want you to be mad at me for the way I treated you. I know it was shitty, but there’s a lot going on right now and.. I guess I just forgot to leave the anger at work.” He sounded so disappointed in himself. I reached out to grab his hand.

“It’s okay, Trevor. Really. I didn’t mean to get so short with you today either. Just seems like we’re both having our own issues right now. But we should be each other’s lifelines, yeah? We can’t go taking everything out on one another.” Trevor nodded in agreement, looking up to meet my eyes. “I love you too.. I know things have been hard. Just please talk to me when you’re frustrated, okay?”

“I will.” I reached up to brush a few of his Sandy locks out of his face. “But you have to talk to me too,” he added, wanting me to know he was always there as well.

“You never really gave me a chance today.” I responded, watching the guilt return to his features as he swallowed thickly. “It’s okay,” I assured. “I don’t think I gave you much of a chance either.” I squeezed Trevor’s hand.

“Okay.. so.. so tell me what’s wrong.”

“School. I’m behind on this essay. My period just started.. and my boyfriend’s moody.” I made sure to tease, hoping to lighten the mood as a shy smile overtook my face. Trevor scoffed, but I could tell it wasn’t a mean one.

“Your turn.”

“Alright… well.. the Ducks suck,” always one to tell it like it is. “I feel like I can’t feel a single emotion for more than two seconds.. and my girlfriend’s on her period,” he paused, leaning forward with a cheeky smile. “And I’ve done nothing to help her all day.” I knew he was only trying to flatter me, but it worked. He pressed his lips to mine for a moment before pulling back.

I rested my hands on Trevor’s shoulders and leaned back onto the couch, our smiles widening as he climbed on top of me.

“We’re just a couple of moody adults then, aren’t we?” I teased, humming as Trevor reconnected our lips.

“Can we be horny adults too?” He asked as he pulled back, causing me to swat his shoulder with a laugh.

“That was cycle day one, bud. I’m afraid you missed it.”

“Aw, damn.. really?” Trevor sounded as bummed as I would have expected him to be. It made me laugh. “Can you reschedule? Talk to your body and let it know I’ll be back to try again tomorrow.”

I laughed once again, squeezing Trevor’s shoulders and shaking my head.

“That’s not how it works, hun.” I let him down easy, giggling at his playful frustration.

“Alright, well when’s the next one?”

“If it stays on schedule, you’ll be on the road for the next one.” I tried to hold in my laughter, knowing he wouldn’t be too thrilled about it.

“Seriously?” His voice raised, and I snickered. “I mean- a guy can’t even catch a break! You think you’ll be in the mood sometime in between?”

“Trevor,” I laughed at the way he spoke about it, so formal. “I’ll know when I know.”

“Nope. I have to know three to four business days in advance. Does anything speed up the process of getting you excited?” He was asking as if we haven’t done it a million times before.

“Shut up, Trevor.” I moved a hand from his shoulder to gently push his head. He laughed, that breathy awkward laugh that always made me smile. Trevor leaned in for another kiss, this one a bit more passionate than the first. He nipped at my bottom lip before I gently pressed a hand to his cheek, pushing his head back.

“I can do one minute in advance…”

✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾❀✾

[the-au-collector]

Scalan Names

So something I've noticed about Missing Link is the names. It's very interesting that they're Roman myth names when the rest of the times we've seen Scala, we've only seen Scalans having Norse names. Especially since we have characters like Freya, whose name does come from Norse Myth, walking around with characters like Remus (and Neptune). I doubt Nomura did this on accident, so I'm curious about the implications of the Norse vs Roman names in Missing Link.

So I went back through Dark Road and Union X and gathered up all the characters with mythological names (yes this includes Missing Link beta content and theorizing). It's a long post, but stay tuned for the end where I've thrown all my Remus thoughts:

Skuld

So in Norse Myth, Skuld is a Norn. Specifically, the Norn of the future. The Norns also closely resemble the Fates from Greek myth, which is interesting. I find it really interesting that Skuld is named specifically after the Norn of the future when her game takes place in the distant past. Obviously all the Union Leaders travel to the future--so why is Skuld the only one named after a myth figure that specifically has to do with that? I can't wait to see how this all lines up later, since so far we've only had one game with her in it.

Baldr

He's the important guy, both in Myth and in Dark Road. In myth, he's the son of Odin that's deceived and killed by Loki, however it is Hod who deals the fatal blow. I feel like his name lines up with his myth inspiration very nicely--he's tricked by darkness, which ultimately leads to his death. However, one really interesting thing is that Baldr is said to survive Ragnarok, so does that mean we'll be seeing Baldr again someday?

Bragi

So Bragi is interesting. In myth, he's actually a poet who was diefied as the god of poetry. He's also known for his wisdom. The really interesting thing though is that myth Bragi's wife, Idunn, had a tree with the apples of youth, which keep the gods from aging. Really interesting that Dark Road's Bragi is actually Luxu, a guy who does not die... Clues lying in plain sight, really.

Vor

There really isn't much to find about Norse Myth's Vor, other than Vor was a minor goddess of wisdom. I just think it's cool that Vor's name is based off of a goddess of wisdom, since Vor's whole arc in Dark Road is figuring out who's right and what she wants to do.

Hermod

So in Norse myth, Hermod is the messenger god and a son of Odin. He also uses magic. In one particular myth, Hermod tried to rescue Baldr from the underworld, but ultimately failed. He has other myths where he acts like a messenger too. I don't really have much to say about Hermod's name inspiration and how it ties to Dark Road, but it is interesting how Hermod dies immediately after visiting the Underworld trying to find Baldr.

Urd

I... I have the least to say about her (at least about the main DR cast). In myth, Urd is a fate like Skuld, but she's the fate of the past. It's just weird she's named after the fate of the past and not the present. Or maybe not since this game is technically Xehanort's past...

Odin

Can you tell he was based off of Odin? He has the long beard, he's old, he's got a long coat, and a wide-brimmed hat (those are how Odin is usually represented). In myth, Odin is the god of war and also poets. He's got a horse named Sleipnir and was a magician. I know there are also theories floating around about Yen Sid potentially being Master Odin and honestly? Yen Sid fits the description.

Heimdall

In myth, Heimdall is the protector of the rainbow bridge and the entrance to Asgard. He also had heightened senses and didn't need to sleep. He and Loki actually ended up killing each other in myth as well. I have even less to say about the upperclassmen, honestly, especially ones like Heimdall who are only in a few scenes anyways. It is ironic that Heimdall was killed by darkness, though (and darkness, in my eyes, takes up a very Loki-like roll).

Helgi and Sigrun

I'm merging these two since their myths are very connected. So basically, Helgi was a Norse hero figure that is the son of Sigmund. He fell in love with a woman named Sigrun and ends up getting killed by her brother, Dragr. Sigrun eventually dies of sadness, but both she and Helgi are reborn. Sigrun is reborn into a Valkyrie named Kara whereas Helgi gets to keep his name. It's very interesting that their myths have aspects of reincarnation tied to them, which isn't true for any of the other DR characters. It's also very curious that Sigrun got a new name... and DR Sigrun looks like Strelitzia...

But that's just a theory a--

Vala

So Vala isn't an actual mythological figure, though they do show up in myths a lot. Basically, a vala is a priestess/shaman. In myth, they could use magic, see the future, and influence battles. I don't have much to say about Vala despite her being one of the more interacted with members of the upperclassmen, but she does appear to be the most wise/level-headed of the group.

Vali

I could have sworn Vali was a girl but Vali is, indeed, a guy in Dark Road. Anyways, in myth Vali is the son of Odin who was born to avenge Baldr and killed Hod. Vali does survive Ragnarok as well. It's just interesting how he has a reverse to his myth inspiration, considering be dies to Baldr and Darkness, though he does try to avenge Hod's death.

Hoder

The blind god of the night in Norse myth and son of Odin. Hod was actually tricked into killing Baldr and so was told by the other gods to avenge Baldr's death by fighting Vali. Vali won, Hod died, but when Ragnarok happened, both Hod and Baldr returned and survived Ragnarok. Very interesting implications when it comes to Kingdom Hearts...

Vidar

In myth, he's the son of Odin and was also fated to survive Ragnarok. He killed the wolf Fenrir, who's Loki's son who ate Odin. That's about all that's known about Vidar from myth. I do think it's very ironic that DR Vidar died to a Heartless when his myth inspiration killed Fenrir. Also interesting that his is the name of someone fated to survive Ragnarok despite him dying in DR...

Sigurd

I nearly forgot him but here he is! His name in myth is Siegfried. He's a hero figure who fought a dragon and awakened a valkyrie from sleep. In some stories, he's of noble blood but was an orphan. He's also associated with the ancient Germanic princess, Brunhild, who had Old Norse origins. Basically the story of Brunhild is that she vowed to marry the man who could beat her in strength, and Siegfried was able too, but he won her for another person. Brunhild got vengeful, and Siegfried died. Not every story of Brunhild leads to his death though.

He's a lot more interesting than I thought, especially for a character who shows up for like 2 lines in Union X's secret ending lol. Likelihood is, he's from another Society or the people in charge, and he welcomed Brain in Scala ad Caelum (this we know). Judging from his myth and what we already know about him, he's likely of noble or blue blood and is probably a Keyblade wielder. I wonder if we'll see any grand feats like fighting a dragon or if he'll die in Missing Link, though?

Freya

I can't really say much for Freya either since she's so new and her game isn't even out yet. She is the sister of Freyr in Norse Myth and is the goddess of love, fertility, battle, and death. So just keep in mind that she's an option for the tragic siblings trope.

Now for the really interesting guys!

Nept

I've decided to start with Neptune since Remus is a whole can of worms. So Neptune is the Roman god of the sea, and used to be just the god of freshwater until the Romans identified him with Poseidon. His myths are the same as Poseidon's: get eaten by his dad, get vomited out, draw sticks to see which realm he gets, yada, yada, yada. He was loyal to the Roman Zeus, Jupiter, and married Salacia, though he had many affairs. He also created horses and bulls!

We really don't know much about Nept since he only has a few released scenes so far, but the fact that he's probably named after the Roman god of water is interesting (i've said it before but Aqua's ancestor??? Perhaps???). I'm a little worried about the loyalty aspect though...

Remus

This. This fucking can of worms. Remus do you even know the implications of your own name?

So the myth of Remus and Romulus! Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was the daughter of the king of Alba Longa, Numitor. Numitor got removed from the throne by his brother, Amulius, who forced Rhea to take a vow of chastity by becoming a Vestal Virgin. Well she ended up having the god of war's, Mars', twin children: Remus and Romulus. They were cared for by Mars' sacred animals (she-wolf and woodpecker) and taken in by farmers, Faustulus and Acca Larentia. When the twins grew up, they killed Amulius and restored their grandfather to the throne. The twins then went on to found a city, and after Romulus built some walls around it, he killed Remus, and the city was named Rome after Romulus.

So this myth is interesting for a number of reasons. First and foremost: the siblings thing. Tragic siblings being a staple of the KH mobile games and all leaves Remus and Romulus perfect candidates for being the tragic siblings. This is also why I'm so worried about Remus being late to showing Player the Astral Realm because--is he already dead? His mythological self dies! It's practically written in the Book of Prophecies at this point!

However the second most important thing about the Remus and Romulus myth is how Remus and Romulus are the grandsons of a king who got overthrown. What if, somehow, the Baroque Society is the very last remnant of Ephemer's line/society? Somehow, what if Ephemer's line gets usurped and its last remains of his society dwindles down to at least 4 people (the question is if there's 5 members considering Freya's "another one" line)? After all, the scientists do say the founders' societies. Who are these other founders? Are they even real? What is going on with Scala ad Caelum's governing situation? We already know that it can't be good, but we don't know how bad it is.

Another really interesting thing is that Player specifically, very weirdly, reaches out to Remus when they're by Ephemer's statue. That scene was all shades of odd. Which begs the question--is Remus somehow connected to Ephemer? Is Remus is the descendant of Ephemer, and all these silver-haired characters are just there to throw us off? Did Ephemer's bloodline somehow get usurped? Is Missing Link going to be about reinstating his family line, or watching it all fall to ruin? Is Remus going to get killed by his own brother?

It's just. It's all shades of interesting and worrying at the same time. And I'm not even mentioning Remus' similarities to Lea!

Conclusion

Remus nearly made me forget this post had a point: the differences between Roman and Norse names. I thought maybe there was a connection between the "sons of Odin" thing going on, but no. Baldr and Hermod both are sons of Odin, but Baldr has a gold Master's symbol and Hermod doesn't. Even for the non-sons, Heimdall has a gold Master's symbol but Bragi doesn't.

It's also too early to really tell anything distinct about the new Missing Link characters, since a) we don't see much of them and b) the naming doesn't differentiate them either. Freya is a member of the Baroque Society alongside Remus and Nept. There's no distinction there either. There is no visual disctinction between Freya, Nept, and Remus except for their underclothes, and I'd say those design choices are more geared toward their personalities than anything else. They also don't have Master's symbols (which is another interesting thing. Sigurd doesn't have one either. Do they not exist yet? Are they the symbol of another society?). Even if they did, we still don't really know the difference between silver and gold ones, though one theory is gold = blue blood, silver = non-blue blood.

There is definitely a naming convention going on here, though. It's no coincidence that all of Dark Road's characters have Norse-inspired names, but not all of Dark Road's do. I just really want to crack why there's this distinction. I'm betting it has something to do with these noble houses/blue blood families, though (I'm willing to overlook Xehanort and Eraqus as they existed long before these concepts were even thought up.). For now I'll leave it at that and post this so that we have a bit of a collection of all the name inspirations for our myth-inspired Kingdom Hearts characters in one place.

Also, if anyone knows more about ancient myth than what Google could tell me, please let me know! I absolutely could have missed something!