#also he probably would kill a man if given half a reason

[russenoire]

on first watch as an anime-only, i remember feeling like ritsu kageyama's descent into evil in episode seven needed a little more air, more space to breathe. i... no longer do. if that slide down the slippery slope feels a bit sudden, there is a reason; and if you know what to look for, it's not actually all that sudden. bear with me here.

from the first episode, the anime sets ritsu up as shigeo's kind, solicitous younger brother. we don't see much of him for the first three episodes, but when we do, he's making bids for shigeo’s attention: helpfully straightening his spoon when it bends and deposits a bite of his dinner on the dining table; noting that he seems out of it and offering himself up as a confidant at least twice; checking in on him in the morning so they can both leave on time. (i actually love the anime for doing this. ritsu doesn't even show up as a character until maybe the middle of the manga's second volume?) except for the spoon, shigeo gently turns him down every time.

and yet. the interview ichi mezato snags with ritsu in episode four confirms a distance between the kageyama boys. you are not seeing things here. he initially refuses her desire for detailed information about shigeo’s powers, only indulging her to find out what shigeo’s been up to. ritsu holds those powers in such awe that he uses a rather hyperbolic phrase to describe shigeo for her: '世界の基本', or sekai no kihon, literally the standard for [his] world.

after he coldly walks out on her, she reviews what little she’s gleaned from their chilly meeting: he's hawt, at the top of his class, athletic, very popular... all things his older brother decidedly is not. the story establishes a duality here between ritsu’s image—indirectly revealed through mezato’s notes—and the reality of ritsu, sat hunched across from her, sullen, barely tolerating her until she coughed up the information she promised him. later on that evening, we see just how deep ritsu's awe goes... or rather, how snared up it is in resentment and envy as he attempts in vain to bend a spoon, just like shigeo did when they were younger. all the trophies of others’ esteem already gathering dust on his shelves don’t mean shit if he can’t have this.

ritsu intercepts shigeo as he leaves for class the next morning: no student council meeting, so an opportunity to actually talk to him. this is rare, his brother notes. and of course dimple is haunting shigeo. when the specter comments on their apparent closeness, the boy side-eyes him hard. this can easily be read two ways: ‘why the hell are you talking to me when no one else can see you?’ and ‘man, fuck you for sticking the knife in deeper.’ ritsu doesn’t ask about the cult meeting here or ever in the entire series. was he really all that interested in mezato’s news? no, he only wants to know why his brother doesn’t use his powers anymore. and this is the first time they’ve talked about this.

it’s such a neat little mystery, these breadcrumbs the story leaves for us until ritsu’s formal introduction in episode six. even though they share the same home and appear to be on friendly terms, the kageyama brothers may as well live on opposite sides of the planet. we don’t even get a sense of why this state of affairs exists until episode five, where teru chokes the breath out of shigeo and his pissed-off soul levels teru’s school before catapulting him into the stratosphere to reflect on his sins: several years prior, shigeo nearly killed ritsu (and possibly ended three much older boys) in an accident neither boy understands; fragments of memory flash before his eyes as his consciousness shorts out.

‘brother, you’re home late, sopping wet. here’s a towel. are you hungry? you seem down; is everything OK? if you need to talk, i’m here for you.’

instead of turning down this bid for connection like all the rest and turning inward again, shigeo actually opens up. he apologizes for the accident—for the first time—then asks for some clarity, since his memories of it are broken. and ritsu clenches the knob to his brother’s bedroom door tighter. he lies to his face, tells him to ‘get over it already.’ this after asking shigeo to confide in him again, no less: too terrified to be honest with him, too used to being shot down. this boy is soaking in fear he has no context for, and he heads downstairs to soak in it alone. shigeo at least has reigen to process his own fears with, though he never trusts the man enough to take full advantage.

ritsu has no one.

he’s already keeping up appearances at home and has been for years; over the course of the spring cleaning big cleanup arc, we learn the extent to which he’s been doing so at school.

(all those expectations of him weighing him down for so long… he can’t hold out forever.)

student council vice president tokugawa calls him out on trying to melt into the scenery like his brother; his considerable gifts make that impossible. said gifts, however, are so ego-dystonic for him that they’re yet another part of Ritsu Kageyama’s Big Lie. the academically-gifted, popular sprinter so many of his fellow students swoon over isn’t real: why does everyone praise him for things anyone could do? he doesn’t actually have friends, just associates. who cares about charisma? why does everyone think he’s perfect when the only thing he truly wants will never be his? and why does his locker leak chocolate every valentine’s day?

gentle reader. are you still wondering why he snaps when he finally gets his wish? and why it looks the way it does?

[runa-falls]

scratches and bites - 2

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x Reader

Warnings: Could be a little off-canon for some characters, lots of plot, slight angst, Miguel is an helicopter mom, reader just wants some friends :(

a/n: ok. i didn't realize how much i wanted to put into this chapter so spicy stuff is coming NEXT chapter. promith. i've already written some of it. anyway, i'm glad y'all are enjoying my O'Hara content. I hope this lives up to your expectations lmfao

Summary: Miguel O'Hara is a grumpy man and you make him grumpy. You regularly go against his orders, create chaos, and invite danger. This is what you've been doing since he swept you away.

w/c: 2.2k

series masterlist | main masterlist

----

So being “Spider-Woman” turned out to be harder than you thought. It’s not all swinging from and shooting webs like you imagined. Apparently, there’s a spider-specific physical regimen you’re required to keep up with. Every day. 

You’re almost convinced that you’re being hazed into the spider-verse community because you are yet to see anyone else doing upside-down web squats on a 100-story building. Not to mention the life-threatening training simulations you were thrown into as soon as you arrived in Nueva York. 

“They can’t hurt you, Kid. They’re holograms.” 

“Yeah, that’s what they want you to think O’Hara, but my ass has been kicked enough to prove differently.”

“Alright, well they can’t kill you.”

Miguel has been “training” you for the last few months to become the best Spider-Woman you can be, pushing you harder than you’ve ever been pushed before. Though these days, this “training” is actually just him telling Parker to drill you in whatever he thinks will work. 

O’Hara attempted to do it himself for like three days, and it turns out he’s too impatient to take in a spider apprentice or even be in a room where you do anything but exactly what he commands. 

You should’ve expected it. 

Sure, Miguel is a naturally grumpy man, but you swear he has it out for you. He literally tenses whenever you enter the room and makes sure to barely meet your eyes when he’s forced to talk to you.

Actually, ever since you were dropped in the middle of Spider-Central, O’Hara has been ignoring you. Treating you like the plague. Always making the excuse that he’s too busy with things that are far more important than anything you’d ever have to say. As if he wasn’t the one who forced you to come with him in the first place…

It’s not fair. He was literally all you had. 

Months ago, he showed you a side of him, the one that convinced you that he actually brought you here for a reason, but now he can’t even look at you. Sure, you’re a particularly slow learner, and one that never really liked PE, but you deserve some slack. You left everything for him – for them. 

Meeting people who’ve gone through similar circumstances as you was quite interesting, to say the least. And it doesn’t stop at people either. Spider cars, dinosaurs, and cats were just the beginning. 

You’ve made a few friends. There’s Gwen, a 15 (or was it 16?) -year-old who mostly talks about her friend Miles, music, and…uh, Miles. It’s sweet how she gushes on about some guy without fully realizing how into him she is. Miles sounds great, really great, but you’ll probably never get to meet him because of the number of restrictions placed on your watch. Fucking O’Hara and his parental controls. 

Gwen is cool, she plays the drums and can do a bunch of acrobatic things that you’d never even attempt, but she’s also almost a half-decade younger than you. There’s only so much you can talk about before you start getting homesick. Of course, despite her young age, she’s still given more responsibilities and missions than you. If Miguel has one hobby, it would be undermining everything you do. 

“She’s been in the game longer than you have.” He always makes that excuse. 

And you always counter it with: “But I’m older! I can do more than just scream for help!”

“This isn’t a discussion.” That honestly might be his favorite phrase to shut you up these days. “You’ll be called on when you’re ready, Kid.” And that. 

“I am ready. And stop calling me that. I’m not a kid, I’m 20 years old!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

There’s also Peter Parker, your reluctant coach. He’s…something else. Sure, he’s your friend, but he’s more like a substitute teacher and crazy uncle type of guy. Usually, he listens to everything Miguel says, acting like a glorified babysitter, but sometimes, he’s up to bend the rules on some things.

Once he let you visit his dimension, claiming you’d need some real-life experience as a “friendly-neighborhood spider-woman”. You spent that day chasing down petty robbers and helping old ladies cross the road. Sure, it was a small field trip, but that was only the third dimension you’d traveled to at the time. 

Parker is also always trying to get you to hold his daughter whenever she comes to work claiming that “it’ll be good for your mental health, trust me.” Of course, for Parker, every day is “bring-your-kid-to-train-the-new-spider-woman-day”. And really, you don’t mind holding her, but not when you’re in the middle of sparing 5 of Doc Ocks tentacles. 

The baby is adorable, but you do worry about how she crawls up the walls. Parker doesn’t seem fazed. Actually, neither does O’Hara. 

Sometimes you wonder if O’Hara wants kids one day. He certainly handles Mayday like a pro, letting her crawl over his shoulders and paperwork. Would he possibl– No, actually, it doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter, because he left you. He’s not – couldn’t even be an option. – Anyway…

Parker and Mayday are nice company and the only real constants in your life, but you really just want to be a consistent part of the team. You don’t know how much longer you can spend your days doing swinging drills and spider crunches (don’t even ask). But Parker has actually been your rock these past months, to give him credit. He’s one of the few people that makes you feel like you belonged in this distorted array of spiders and dimensions.

Then there’s Hobie. 

The first time you met him you probably had literal stars in your eyes. Donned with a spiked vest and several facial piercings, he caught your attention right away. He catches everyone’s attention. Even his suit is cooler than everyone else’s with a spiked mohawk that surely gets in the way.

Unfortunately, just as you were hoping to take on the Brit as your mentor for all things spider, he was decidedly off-limits, courtesy of O’Hara. Apparently, his rebellious nature and brash energy make him a “bad influence”. 

“Seriously? You should be glad that I’m taking a bigger interest in my training.” You have your hands posted up on your hips, trying to make yourself look bigger than you actually are. Damn, O’Hara and his domineering presence!

He rolls his eyes openly, genuinely already done with the conversation. “Yeah…your ‘training,’ sure.” 

“What is that supposed to mean!” You practically whine it out.

“Don’t get distracted gatita, just do as you’re told.”

“Ok, what does that mean? I don’t speak Italian.”

“That was Spanish dumbass.”

Of course, that doesn’t stop you from hanging out with him anyway (though he’s not around as much anymore). Who knew making friends as Spider-Person would be so hard. You’d think you’d have a lot in common with everyone around you, but really, you’re all alone. Sometimes you think the spiders actually resent you deep down because you’re the only one that has never lost anything. Or had anything to lose in the first place. 

For now, you’re just moving through a sea of spiders, trying to catch a glimpse of what you’re supposed to be doing here. Trying to figure out why you were chosen over the infinite other versions of you in the multiverse.

—

So far you’ve been on 2 and a half missions. The half was when you were forcibly sent home and effectively grounded for a week. Apparently, talking to civilians while standing guard is prohibited, even when they’re selling dip’n’dots. What? It was a long ass mission. And it was hot! 

This one is your official third mission. It’s quite simple, in theory. Just travel to Earth-275A, infiltrate a tech lab, pick up some – worryingly volatile – equipment, and go home. Easy. 

Except, it didn’t exactly go that way. 

It’s just you, Miguel, Gwen, and Jess on this mission. You and Jess were placed on lookout duty (you on the roof and Jess on the ground with her bike), while Miguel and Gwen broke in and out of the building. It was all running smoothly, each spider occasionally muttering quietly through the radio whenever their positionings changed. Otherwise, it was silent. And frankly, a bit boring. 

You idly kicked around some pebbles that somehow found their way onto the roof of this tall ass building, sometimes smacking them against the half wall separating you from falling a thousand feet downwards. You were actually dying to get back to HQ because you briefly spotted Hobie talking to Parker and Mayday before you had to go. He’s been quite absent lately, and you want to show off some of the new moves you learned this week.

Then, there was suddenly action. 

A huge explosion surges out the right side of the building that O’Hara and Stacy were infiltrating. That mission plan was not kidding when they described the ‘volatility’ of the shit inside of those supply crates. Deep creaking and smashing objects follow the blast. You watch as the tallest building in the city starts to tilt. Shit, the explosion must’ve taken out some of the support beams.

You hear Miguel yelling your name through your earpiece, as well as heavy breathing and crumbling concrete in the background. 

“Y-yes? Copy–”

“You and Gwen collect the crate and get out of here. I already called for a portal. Jess and I will get surrounding civilians away from danger.” 

“Understood, sir.” You don’t usually call him anything like ‘sir’, but the stakes are high and complete compliance is needed at this moment. 

“Crate is located on the top floor, Stacy is already there waiting for my word.” You briefly shake yourself out, mentally preparing yourself to scale the larger building in front of you.

With a quick fwp, you attach your web to the nearly as tall building next to your target to give yourself some leverage. You jump without even giving yourself time to think about it, tugging slightly at the web, making sure to collect as much kinetic energy as possible. You release the web when you get to the highest point and spit out another web to get you to the top floor of the building. Luckily the blast took out the windows so you could easily enter the floor. 

There, Gwen stands next to a crate with several scientists and guards nicely pasted onto the walls with perfectly placed webs on each limb and over their abdomens. 

“Took you long enough.” 

“It’s been 30 seconds!”

“Relax, I’m teasing.” She shoots out a couple of webs and connects them to the crate. “Here, help me out with this.” You follow her movements, pulling at your webs slightly to get a good evaluation of its weight. Surprisingly, it moves quite easily, almost three inches from your soft tug.

“Why’re we both doing this when it weighs 100 lbs. We have super strength.”

“I dunno, Miguel just gave us the orders. There’s probably a reason. It doesn’t really matter.” You frown realizing you could’ve been down there helping O’Hara save actual lives but instead, you were ordered to assist a teenager on a one-person job. “The portal is opening in a few seconds on the roof of the building behind us.” Gwen doesn’t seem phased. “We can just swing it with us.”

“Isn’t this shit going to blow up if we move it too harshly?”

“Not when it’s in this protective crate.” She steps closer to the broken window, mentally measuring and planning out the escape route. “That explosion earlier was from an open container.” You hum, still torn over leaving Gwen to do the delivery so you can help people get out of the way faster. “You ready then?” She’s been watching you. Clearly, your thoughts are painted on your face.

You nod briefly, “Let’s go.” Together you take each side of the crate and use your other arms to swing yourselves over to the portal that magically appears. This time, that odd purring sound of the portal is completely blocked out by the chaos going on around you. Somehow the building has still only tilted a little bit since the explosion. 

As Gwen pushes the crate into the gateway, you look down at the streets, watching as Miguel and Jess work impeccably together as they save hundreds of civilians from falling debris and the inevitable demolition of the building.

Then you look back a Gwen, who’s ready to head home. Then you look down at them again. 

Then your eye catches on a red sedan sheltering a terrified family that sits under the chaos.

Gwen catches your eye. “Don’t.” 

“I have to.” 

“Migu–”

“Would do the same.”

“--Will mur-der me.” You sigh, but quickly shoot a couple of webs downwards without looking. Gwen has her arms folded, sharing that unamused expression that Jess loves to sport. Her feet are now temporarily stuck to the floor. You’re sure she could get out of it in a second, but you can tell, she’s not going to stop you. “Don’t die.”

Right before jumping off the ledge, you send her a cheesy smirk, “Me? Never.”

----

Taglist: @deputy-videogamer @danaeaurelia @reuxxi

[paperstorm]

The argument/make-up in 2x04 is really one of my favourite Tarlos stories because I just love when conflict in fiction is the direct result of two people’s individual traumas bumping up against each other, rather than someone being a villain.

Both of them in this episode are coming from a place of having a large trauma in their past that the other doesn’t know all the details of. Carlos hasn’t told TK anything, at this point, about how his coming out went and how much pain he is in every single day because he feels like his parents don’t fully accept him being gay. He avoids the topic of his parents at Owen’s party when TK brings it up because he’s in a honeymoon phase with TK and he’s never had that before with anyone. He believes – like he says at the end when they make up – that he might never be able to have a real relationship. And he does likely know that at some point they’ll have to discuss his parents but he has never been as happy with anyone as he is with TK (insert season four context of he felt broken until the day they met) and he isn’t ready just yet for the dreamy bubble they’re in to be burst by reality.

So he deflects, in what will become a signature personality trait of Carlos’s – chronic avoidance and making jokes to get out of conversations he isn't ready to have. And then by accident they run into Gabriel and Andrea, and Carlos, still not ready to do this, panics and introduces TK as his friend. He knows he shouldn’t have done that, but trauma, so he acts like he doesn’t understand why TK is upset and he makes a joke out of it. He’s been anxious this whole time about how TK, who is so out and loud and proud, is going to react when he finds out Carlos is still half in the closet, and this is the very reaction he was so afraid of and why he avoided it for so long.

None of it is done with malintent, it’s all self-preservation and learned coping mechanisms from things in his past that have left such deep scars, but TK doesn’t know that, so it hurts him anyway.

TK, meanwhile, is still pretty fresh off of getting his heart broken so badly that he tried to kill himself. He went to Austin in a truly horrendous state of pain and trauma and heartache. He wasn’t planning on meeting his soulmate so soon, he wasn’t ready to meet his soulmate because of how much his heart was still in tatters, which is why we get him being so wishy-washy in season one. By early season two he’s also very much in that honeymoon phase, but that doesn’t mean his wounds are fully healed yet. He asks Carlos about his parents, it feels implied in the party scene that it isn’t the first time he’s asking about them. He’s given Carlos the opportunity to have the conversation that they need to have, but Carlos has changed the subject.

Then they run into them. TK is so happy to meet them, and then so instantly crushed when Carlos introduces him as a friend. He’s upset all the way home, and Carlos – for reasons TK doesn’t understand yet – is acting like it’s not a big deal. TK storms out because that’s how he copes with things at this stage in his emotional development, and leaves some hurtful words for Carlos as a parting gift. Not a mature way to handle things, but in a later scene with Owen and Gwyn it’s revealed how hurt TK really is. “I wanted him to tell them who I was and what I mean to him,” TK says, all dejected. “Maybe he did. Maybe we are just friends.” Because Alex also told TK "I love you", and then cheated on him. TK’s lingering Alex trauma bubbles back up; fuck not again, not another man who says ‘I love you’ to my face but then hides me and doesn’t really want forever with me, even though that isn’t really what’s happening with Carlos.

If it wasn’t for Alex, TK probably wouldn’t have been half as upset by any of this and would have been more receptive to hearing an explanation, but Carlos doesn’t know that, so it hurts him anyway.

It’s just such good conflict. They’re both right, and they’re both wrong. They’re both operating from places of extreme hurt that isn’t the other person’s fault, and they’re both operating from places of not understanding the extent of what the other is going through. And in the scene where they make up you can see how much love there is and how much they both really want to understand the other better. It’s such a beautiful way to love someone, to say to each other “let me meet you where you are and love you the way you need to be loved, even if it’s different from how I need to be loved.”

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

man.

In the IDW comic, Sonic's character arc is wild. It's all about how it's a bad idea to give his enemies "a chance to turn over a new leaf" by just saying something to encourage them to change and then 100% leaving them to their own devices. Like, just the Mr. Tinker thing -- probably more than half the named cast has called Sonic out on that whole mess. Sonic justifies it to Surge by saying he believes in ultimate freedom, which includes the freedom to do bad things and face consequences for it, and killing people would take that freedom away. However, 1. Sonic doesn't actually give them any lasting consequences, and 2. he has enemies who will continue to do bad things, no matter how hard he Gives Them A Chance.

He isn't really wrong to want people to change, of course; Sonic the Hedgehog clearly does not believe in retributive justice, and in fact his philosophy goes all the way through rehabilitative and restorative justice and into, like ... "redemption arc"-ative justice? Generally speaking, this in and of itself is treated by the story as not really wrong, because Sonic The Hedgehog (IDW Comics, 2018) is a children's story, and as such, it has a very black-and-white morality. It's just that Sonic's way of getting what he wants is objectively a mess.

And the next reason for that is because by framing it in those terms to begin with, Sonic is turning this into a direct attack on other people's ideologies. He's not just fighting you because he wants to stop you, he's also fighting you because he wants you to change your worldview and principles to align with his. Kitsunami, of all people, is the first one who calls him out on this, comparing Sonic's desire for his and Surge's redemption to Starline's mind-control.

And I mean like, okay, of course Kit is wrong and his view is warped by said mind-control, and of course Kitsunami and Surge in particular are probably going to end up better than they were after Starline scrungled their brains. But asking people to change their principles, to change themselves, to change that much, isn't necessarily reasonable! And in particular, the fact that Sonic isn't actually going to do anything to you except ruin your immediate plans means that you have no incentive to change! Sonic doesn't even try to debate his enemies, either; he just takes it as a given that his way is The Right Way and that maybe they'll "come around" someday! And it is shown in the story that this doesn't work! It's kind of a wild thing to happen in a story targeted at The 9-To-12-Year-Old Reading Range.™

Do I think Sonic's character arc is going to end up with him snapping necks? No, of course not; even if this wasn't a kid's story, it's also not reasonable to demand that Sonic should change his principles. Do I think Eggman is going to get redeemed? Also no; Sega's obviously not gonna let that happen, so Eggman has been written in the IDW comic as just not being the kind of person who changes.

But I do think that Sonic will ease up on his all-or-nothing approach to Personal Freedom, and he'll at least start to see that there is in fact a middle ground between "killing people, which you should never do ever" and "doing absolutely nothing and hoping really hard that the bad guys change their minds". Maybe some of the comic-original villains will get redeemed, and maybe they won't. Who knows! (If this wasn't a simplified black-and-white-morality kid's story, I'd want someone to sit down and explain to Sonic that you can't reduce the sum total of all ideologies to "the right way" versus "people being bad and/or making mistakes".) But Sonic's going to come to terms with a slightly more complex world, and the story will start furnishing new and idiosyncratic ways for Eggman or the Deadly Six or whoever to escape.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 18 - Spider

@jegulus-microfic August 18, Word count 641

Previous part First Wolfstar part

James took a seat opposite Dumbledore. Regulus hovered beside him, careful not to knock any of the spindly tables over that the headmaster seemed fond of balancing delicate glass objects on, and listened to their conversation. 

“Are you aware of the events that occurred at the Lestrange residence?” Dumbledore asked. 

“Yes, I think so. The castle was attacked and the Lestange's and a few others were all killed,” James replied. Regulus noticed his jaw tense. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and steepled his fingers. 

“It was a bit more than that,” The old man added. “They were massacred.” James put on a shocked face. “There was very little left to identify them by,” He peered across the tops of his half-moon spectacles, watching James carefully. “The order has been blamed for it and as I gave no such order for an attack on that scale I am trying to figure out what went wrong.” James kept his face as neutral as possible. 

“I don’t know who did it,” He said carefully. 

“Oh, no, I didn’t expect you would.” The headmaster nodded. "And still no signs of Remus Lupin or Sirius Black?” Dumbledore asked. Regulus stiffened. Did Dumbledore know they were behind it? 

“No, sir, but I won’t give up looking. They have to be out there. I won’t give up hope of finding them,”

“If anyone can do it, James, I have no doubt you are the wizard for the job,” Dumbledore’s blue eyes twinkled at James and Regulus couldn’t help but feel a bit unnerved by the man. He’d never had his brother’s blind faith in the old coot. There was a reason he was the only one Voldemort was scared of. 

James rose to leave, but Dumbledore called after him just as he was about to turn the door knob. “What was it that you needed in the Slytherin Common room, James?” He asked, eyes narrowed. James turned to look over his shoulder and, as nonchalantly as he could, he answered Dumbledore. 

“Oh, just a hunch, not sure if it’ll pay off or not. I’ll let you know if it does,” James waved and opened the door.

They rushed from the castle as quickly as they could and into the forbidden forest. Regulus didn’t dare take the invisibility cloak off until they were deep in the forest. Salazar had given them instructions on how to open the locket and even helpful ideas on how to destroy it. Regulus hadn’t dared tell him that he’d already found the information to destroy a Horcrux and just listened to the same information he’d already read being retold to him. 

Something flashed in the corner of his eyes and he could have sworn he saw a ginormous spider. He told James as much.

“Oh, it was probably one of the acromantula. There’s a nest of them not too far from here.”

“What! James, they are so dangerous! Why are they even in the forest?!” His eyes darted about nervously, he felt as though dozens of eyes were on him. 

They finally came to the clearing that James was leading them to and Regulus took the locket out of his pocket, placed it on the ground and stood back. “Hesha-Hassah!” He hissed the way Salazar’s portrait had made him repeat over and over until it sounded right. Apparently, it was parseltongue for open. The portrait had also shown them a secret panel on the fireplace that held one Basilisk fang that the actual Salazar had hidden there in case he needed one in a hurry. According to the portrait, there were fangs hidden all over the castle. Regulus thought he’d be more worried about the potential of a student accidentally stumbling across one and harming themselves but at the moment he had bigger worries. 

The locket opened, and he was engulfed in dark swirling mist. 

Next part

[risetherivermoon]

because i have a lot of headcanons to do with the kiddads given they are npcs that we dont tend to get much information on, especially in season 2, heres a shit load more! a lot of these are sad because these guys make me sad

- Sparrow starts wearing glasses in Middle School a little after they get back from Faerun, Terry Jr. starts wearing glasses when he gets to his 30's, and Grant started wearing glasses when he was in Elementary school

- When Nicholas starts to remember stuff from the Nick timeline, (basically 'becoming' Nicky if you will) scars he'd gotten from stuff in that timeline start showing up on his body, notably one is a burn scar on one of his hands from him spilling acid on it in s1 ep 34

- Lark has very scarred hands from when he was buried in the rubble in Neverwinter, though his mobility stayed relatively the same because of how quickly the wounds were healed, there was a lot of left behind scar tissue

- Sparrow has a scar across his mouth from when he was latched onto Boreanaz by his teeth when the pyramid fell

- Grant takes video games way too seriously and has in fact made his friends cry over it (Most specifically Sparrow and TJ)

- Terry didn't tell any of the other kiddads how he was going to die, just that he knew how

- Terry also knew Grant was going to be the one to kill him, but he never mentioned it, Grant was very confused on why all of a sudden TJ was becoming distant

- And he found out how he was going to die before he met Veronica, so when he met Scary he almost debated not marrying Veronica, not because he thought it would prevent his death but because he wanted to spare Scary of that pain

- Lark is incredibly confused like half the time (with basically anything) and to cover it up he usually acts stoic and tough

- Nicky is the type of person to do anything if someone phrases it like "bet you wont do *insert thing here*" no matter what it is

- Sparrow has a ton of tattoos that Nicky did for him

- Lark is colorblind but hasn't told anyone because he's too embarrassed to admit it

- For Grant and Marco's one year anniversary the kiddads all got them Titanic themed gifts, (Nicky got them sixteen dvd copies of the movie, they dont own a dvd player)

- Terry was Nicky's best man at his wedding, and Nicky was going to be Terry's best man but the betrayal happened before Terry even met Veronica,

- to add onto the angst none of the kiddads attended the wedding because it was after code purple and after they'd decided not to be involved in eachother's personal lives outside of D.A.D.D.I.E.S.

- to make this at least a little funny Veronica just doesn't think Terry has any friends-

- On the topic of weddings, Lark got so drunk at Sparrow's wedding that for his best man speech he just started reciting the Declaration of Independence (he opened the wrong tab on his phone and didnt notice)

- Grant has claustrophobia (from being inside the chimera)

- Lark used to be way better at pretending to be Sparrow but now he lacks too much spirit and gives up way too quickly for it to be convincing to most people

- Terry Jr. is extremely gullible and is usually the one Nicky would prank and trick the most just because literally everything works on him

- Nicky activated the sprinkler system at D.A.D.D.I.E.S. so much they took it out

- Terry used to talk to Jerry the Whale like he was his therapist

- Nicky would take a bunch of polaroids of the other kiddads all the time, he kept a photo album at his desk at D.A.D.D.I.E.S., it still sits there because none of the kiddads had the heart to clean it out

- Terry had beef with Darryl for a while as a teenager, for literally no reason (it was probably because he still had a lot of emotions and didn't no where to put them so he decided to just hate on his friend's dad)

[pandor-uhhh]

Ghost of the past

Jake Sully x ex-wife reader

Warnings: use of y/n, not proof-read (I'll do it later), mentions of: divorce, and canonical death

Description: you travel to Pandora to work as a mechanic for the RDA, only to discover where ex-husband Jake Sully has been for the past two decades

Notes: I really love this request, I’m so scared I didn’t do it justice. If not I’ll probably make a second part

You knew you weren’t going to be high raking when you came to Pandora, not over the blue, bastards carrying big guns, but you didn’t mind. You would choose your small dorm room and big machines over your small apartment back on earth any day, especially given the memories around the place.

“Hey, gear-head!” Speaking of big, blue bastards who outrank you. You turned to the voice, some of your half eaten lunch still in your mouth. The recom soldier towered over you, even more so since you were sitting.

“You y/n Sully?” He asked with a southern drawl to him, you dropped your sandwich after swallowing your food, no longer hungry. “It’s actually y/n l/n” you corrected, the soldier looked surprised. “So you’re Sully’s ex wife” he smiled, you sighed “yep that’s me, now mind telling me who you are and why you’re so interested in my marital status?” You snapped.

The soldier extended his hand “Quaritch, Miles Quaritch, but you can just call me colonel” . You leaned back and looked him up and down before taking his hand and shaking it. “What’s this about, colonel?”

“Well, you have a bone to pick with your ex-husband, lucky for you, so do I” you could almost laugh “last time I even heard about him he was getting shipped off here, how the hell did you manage to lose him” Quaritch smiled “see there is where things get interesting, your ex-man is a traitor”

After a long explanation about how Jake had managed to fully assimilate himself with the na’vi, and how he had killed his former colonel, you were sent with the recom team to find Jake Sully.

You rappled down with the team, and began looking for any signs of life. You followed the team to a small clearing, there was a trailer-like structure in the middle of it. Z-dog explained that it’s where Quaritch and Jake had fought, alongside another na’vi. Quaritch managed to dig up an old mech-type suit and told another soldier to pull the footage from it. You heard rustling and whispers in the trees next to, Quaritch signaled the team to investigate it.

You stayed hidden, which were orders you had no problem complying with. But you watched what happened from behind cover. One of the recoms jumped out and grabbed the smallest out of the group, they started yelling and the human boy that was with the na’vi aimed his bow at them. You felt a little bad as the soldiers barked orders at them, which they were forced to comply with. Lyle took one of their hands and showed off that she had five fingers, something that you had learned was uncharacteristic for na’vi that weren’t avatars. Checking the others hands, or more so him flipping off Quaritch, you found there was another one with five fingers.

While checking the na’vi, it was discovered that the human was named Miles, but preferred Spider. The team also discovered that he was the colonel’s son.

Quaritch called for extraction, and told you that you could come out, you stepped out from behind your cover and got a better look at all of them. The shortest of the na’vi was the closest to your height, but still pretty tall. You could tell she was scared, you made your way over to her, earning hisses from both the na’vi and the human. Which caused the soldiers to shake them and tell them to pipe down 

“get the fuck away from my sister, demon!” The boy who flipped off Quaritch yelled. You backed off, you knew they were scared, and didn’t want to give them more reason to be. You turned your attention to the human boy, he hissed when you got close. You wondered if he had assimilated like Jake had. You turned to Quaritch “if na’vi are born with four fingers, and not five, why do these ones have one extra?” Z-dog stifled a laugh, and turned to Quaritch. “You really didn’t tell this poor girl?” you brows knitted together, “tell me what?”

Quaritch was too invested in the footage that they pulled from the mech to pay attention, “hey!” you exclaimed. You walked over and saw the footage, how Quaritch was shot with arrows, twice. Lyle took the tablet, and Quaritch Walked over to the skeleton in the mech. He took the skull and crushed it, you were a little freaked out. It was mostly silence after that while you waited for extraction.

“You want answers?” the colonel asked you, you looked at him and nodded. He sighed “your man has a new girl now, that’s why those kids had an extra finger” he pointed to the na’vi. You leaned on a tree and put your head in your hands, you knew Jake would’ve most likely found someone else than you, but to then learn he has kids was something new. You felt a hand on your shoulder “I know that’s not the answer you wanted, I’m sorry” you could almost laugh. 

A marine that was killed by your ex-husband and his alien wife, was brought back as an alien, and was then comforting you about losing said ex-husband for good. If someone told you that was your future 24 hours ago you would’ve called them crazy. 

When you were about to open your mouth to say something, an arrow came from the trees and hit one of the soldiers through the head, it all happened so fast. You screamed at the sight, Quaritch pushed you, and Spider to the ground, Spider taking the eldest girl down with him. Gunshots rang, you could see that Spider and the girl were getting away but didn’t try to stop them. You curled up, just hoping that you wouldn’t get shot. 

You eventually turned to be on your stomach to crawl away, you heard Z-dog yell out, then some weird green gas started filling the area. You weren’t worried since you were wearing a mask, but you felt someone pick you up. You screamed, thinking it was whoever shot one of the soldiers, but soon realized it was Quaritch. He got you to cover with him, and held you close. If it wasn’t a situation where you had the chance to be shot to death, this might have been seen as intimate, but considering your head could’ve been turned into a kebab by an arrow, you weren’t thinking of it like that.

After most of the shooting stopped one of the team members over the coms told Quaritch his son had fallen down a steep hill. Quaritch told you to stay put, and not to move from the spot.

Then, possibly having the stupidest idea ever, as you saw one of the kids running away. You got up and started tailing her to get to her, you saw her jump into her fathers arms as she cried. You thought at that moment that you should just turn back, that you didn’t need to do this. But while you were trying to walk back a twig snapped, the mother drew her bow and pointed it at you, you dropped to the ground and put your arms out as a sad attempt to block it. “Please I just wanna talk!” You yelled out, you could hear the woman's breathing coming out in huffs “please, I’m sorry about your children, I had no idea that they would do that!” you cried.

“Neytiri, hold on” You heard a familiar voice say, “she is with the ones who took the children, I will kill her!” The woman snapped in response. You heard someone walk towards you and push your arms out of the way. “Y/n?” you opened your eyes and saw a male na’vi staring at you, how did he- oh, right. 

“Jake?” You questioned, Jake sighed and took your arms in his hands and bound them together, before also tying your feet. “Wasn’t enough to bring my damn kids, they had to bring you too” and mumbled, “Jake, please I just wanna talk” you cried. “No!” he yelled, you flinched “you don’t get to talk to me, I already never wanted to see your face after what you did! But this?” He motioned to his family, you saw the littlest still crying as her sister tried to calm her breathing “this is low, even for you”. 

With that he walked off. You cried out his name till you could no longer see him, at which point you just started crying. The noise must have alerted your team, since Quaritch found you. Z-dog was holding onto his son, while Quaritch ran over and cut you free “they do anything to you?” He asked, you just cried and shook your head. He helped you up and guided you to the extraction point.

You fell asleep on the ride back to base with only one thing on your mind.

That Jake had moved on long ago.

And you were simply just a ghost from his past.

Thanks for reading! ~(˘▾˘~)

(After notes: lol what if I made this a slow burn between the reader and Quaritch, jk…. unless…)

[alphabetbill]

Macabre [ HEMLOCK GROVE ] - chapter 1

" 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠- 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 "

[ C I C A D A ] hosho mccreesh.

___________________________________________________________

~ description ~

A werewolf whose only skill is running from his fears, a half-upir with no idea of the true darkness lying inside of him, and a girl found alive in the woods months after her mysterious death.

Some secrets in Hemlock Grove should have just stayed buried. In a town that isn't so sleepy after all, monsters of all kinds are wide awake under the surface, crawling their way up.

~ warnings~

This story will contain mature and heavy themes that may involve potentially explicit content, gore and murder, talk of kidnapping and stalking victims, supernatural/paranormal/religious themes and trauma, any other themes not covered in the general description will probably be tagged here at the start of the chapters that other significant warnings apply to.

A list will be linked here upon completion and upload of each chapter:

Cicada and the Snake

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

c h a p t e r    o n e .

Peter Rumancek

<<>>

IT WAS WITH A HEAVY HEART SOMEWHERE INSIDE THAT Lance Evergreen would lay his daughter to finally rest, but not heavy enough.

On a muggy October evening, the man would stumble into his house, more of a trailer trash dwelling than anything, and hit the drinks as though he had never left them. Judith had been gone for months, and in his mind, seeing them lower her battered corpse into a hole in the ground where he would never see her again felt almost offensively anti-climactic. He had dreamt of the worst-case scenario over and over again, had imagined how it happened, when and why. How they would find her and what would be left of her.

By the time her body was found dumped in that ditch, in his head, Lance had already seen it all.

He had already mourned. He would never stop.

Peter went to visit him the day after the funeral.

He kicked his way through discarded beer cans and shattered bottles that spilled sticky ichor onto the bare particle board. He thought Uncle Vince was bad, given his lethal alcoholism that had eventually killed him, but this was just sad and Peter was just sad.

He knew Lance as well as he had known Vince, the two men having been close friends. Peter knew that Lance had an ex-wife, Judith's mother, who had shown up for the funeral and left promptly afterwards. Peter hadn't known her all that well from the couple of times he met the woman when he was little, but he had seen the way she clung to her cigarette and never said a word to anyone at the funeral. She used to be a local, but neither his uncle or Lance had brought it up so he had never had a reason to ask why she left. They also had a son who died.

Peter had also known Judith, which only made his heart squeeze more to think about it. He had fond memories of throwing worms at each other, collecting snails as kids, and gathering around Nicolae Rumancek to observe the fairy he had caught in a mason jar. He remembered so clearly how Jude was so adamant that it was in fact not a fairy, but a firefly, and that Peter's grandfather ought to let it go. Now his grandfather was gone, the girl was gone, and all he had left were faded recollections to remember it all by.

The man was already out cold by the time he reached the couch, which had been torn up by a dog- he could tell from the scent. It must have died not too long ago, because the food bowl still sat in the corner of the kitchen, flies buzzing around it. Peter took it upon himself to dispatch the old food with a hollow feeling in his chest and returned to the living room.

It was difficult to see how much this man had changed. Peter had fond memories of Lance giving him shoulder rides and driving around in his car. He remembered his stories, many of which he and Vince made up, and remembered how life-like and exciting he had been. Now all that was left was a husk of the soul of a man- a man with a failed marriage, two dead kids and one dead best friend. Alone in the world to drink and then die.

Peter didn't know what to do to fix his uncle's friend. He didn't know how to help his sad, hulking body off the couch when he had no interest in learning how to move. He didn't know how to console a father whose daughter was gone. But he did know that he wanted to be there for him, and that he wanted to help.

So, he helped. All while the man had drank himself into a stupor, the boy found his way to the kitchen and to the garbage bags beneath the rusted sink with the constant drip. He put the bottles, the cans, the wrappers, and all of the litter that his eye could see into the bag and hauled that bag out to the trash. He came back. He repeated the process.

It should not have been Peter's job to clean up this mess, but for once he didn't mind doing it. It felt almost therapeutic to cleanse the trailer of the mess and the alcohol and the despair he wished Uncle Vince had the chance to. The last thing he did was pry the bottle from his hand and set it away on the kitchen table. 

Then Lance muttered in his sleep. Something something not worth it anymore.

When Peter came home later, he hugged his mother. He loved Lynda and she loved him, but they had never been a family for too much sentimentalism. Tonight was different. He needed that hug. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to never hug her again.

The following day at school felt like walking through a land of zombies. Peter was new to town, having arrived a couple of weeks prior to Judith Evergreen's funeral. He didn't know whether or not it was because of that, that everyone here seemed so lifeless and flat. He didn't think so, because he only found one or two funeral flyers dangling from the noticeboards, all of which had been trampled on or discarded on the floor.

It was the end of the day and Peter was in the middle of picking up one of the memorial notices for her when Roman Godfrey spoke to him for the first time.

"So you knew her," he said. A statement, not a question. His eyes– those eyes– tore right through the flesh and into his soul.

Peter knew at once that the boy was upir. He could sense it from a mile away, from the very first time he had glanced in the rich boy's direction on his first day at school. He could sense it like a serpent shifting beneath Roman's skin in the dark.

Roman was impossibly tall for the age of seventeen and had a face that had been morbidly carved by the holiest of angels. His hair was brown and loose, unlike his crisp blazer or tucked-in shirt and trousers. Peter wondered if the boy could smell his blood.

"Yeah. When I was a kid" he replied, anything to erase the unbearable cloud of tension that was the upir standing behind him.

"Mm. It's weird. I knew her too," Roman said. His voice didn't sound sympathetic, or if it did, it fronted as disjointed and monotone. "You want a lift home?"

It was raining and Peter had no interest in walking until he became a soggy wet dog. So he accepted. 

The car was a vintage cherry red Jaguar, which Roman explained had belonged to his father. Peter wasn't sure what he was meant to do with this information but nonetheless continued to listen. The ride was relatively quiet and the radio hummed in the stretches of silence between admittedly one sided conversations. 

"You're new in town," Roman said, making small talk.

"Are you a Gypsy?" he asked, but surprisingly not in that sneering way most other folk did.

"People at school say you're a werewolf. Is it true?" he questioned, as if Peter hadn't heard the rumours already, much like a subtle interrogation.

All of those things were correct, but Peter scooted around the last question by declaring that he was just an obscenely hairy teenager. 

The car stopped on the side of the road near a slope that rolled down into a clearing, pulling up just in front of a rusted mailbox. 

"You're related to Vince," Roman evaluated, seeming to recognize the dwelling. "He used to work for my mom at one point."

Peter had not known about that, and briefly found himself wondering what exactly his uncle had been doing with Olivia Godfrey. A strange, unnerving woman indeed.

As he thanked the rich boy and got out of the car, retrieving the mailbox, a car drove by.

Peter jolted. 

In the seconds it had taken for the other vehicle to pass, a girl had appeared sitting in the passenger seat of Roman's car, where Peter had only been sitting seconds ago. In the small window of time he caught a glimpse of her, he saw black and blue and gray skin and teary, blood-filled eyes.

He saw Judith Evergreen, and then she disappeared.

"Something wrong?" Roman asked, viridian eyes narrowing. 

After taking a moment to settle himself, unconvincingly the werewolf shook his head. The Upir left, but not without staring at Peter for a little longer than what was considered a normal duration of time to stare at someone. 

He descended the old wooden staircase and into the clearing by the river where his home, previously Vince's, sat overlooking the water. He entered, greeting his mother, and opened the fridge to pop open a beer. 

"So what's up with the Godfreys?" he asked, swigging from the bottle as he went over to plunge into the couch, stretching lazily to reach the remote and flicking on the TV.

"Bad business," Lynda said as she sipped on her cup of tea, already seated on the couch. "You should steer clear of them."

"The boy, Roman. He's an upir. I don't think he knows it himself," he sighed. All he could think about was the sinking feeling he got when he was near him, the feeling of drowning slowly, or being buried alive beneath the burning weight of his stare alone. Despite this, Peter couldn't deny his nagging intrigue. Call it morbid curiosity.

"He dropped you home?"

"He offered. It was raining."

Lynda said nothing in response, but Peter knew what she would have said. 

Be careful with him.

That night Peter sat down on the edge of his bed and found himself staring through his window and out into the woods. In those woods, he thought he saw a girl.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

boring but we're getting there i swear also oh my god i'm actually posting for once????

anyways this is also on wattpad and chapter two will be out very soon :) i'll shut my mouth now.

[thepariahcontinuum]

A RWBY x Parahumans crossover idea:

Which members of the RWBY cast would each member of the Slaughterhouse 9 try to recruit for their "Try-Outs" the way they did in Brockton Bay?

Hatchet-Face: Honestly, this one's a complete write-off. He died and was turned into Hatchet-Job offscreen so he never got a chance to choose a replacement because he was the one being replaced. Null and Void....But if I had to say anyone, probably Tyrian for matching serial killer vibes and Power/Aura nullification.

Mannequin: By far the easiest one to figure out; he'd pick Ironwood for the same reason he picked Armsmaster in canon.

Crawler: The important thing to remember about Crawler's selections is that he's not really looking for someone to join; he's looking for someone who's gonna be able to put up enough of a fight against him to help him evolve himself further. With that in mind there's only one natural answer and Crawler is actually crazy enough to try it: He'd pick Salem, just to see if he can outlast her.

Bonesaw: Riley's an artist first and foremost....I can imagine her pouting when Crawler picks Salem first because she wanted to pick the lady who makes her own monsters. After that I think her second choice, considering that the Nine do enjoy putting heroes through their try-outs.....Would be Pietro; because she can make zombies, but he amputated part of his soul and made a whole new soul out of it.

Burnscar: Burnscar forewent her chance to nominate someone in order to talk to Labyrinth who she was in the asylum with.....That does give me something to work with. If Burnscar's gonna pick someone, either to nominate or to effectively veto other from nominating it's gonna be someone she feels a connection to or an affinity with and there is a certain fire-breathing orphan with a lot of issues in Remnant isn't there.....I think Burnscar would pick Cinder, if only to stop another member from doing it.

Shatterbird: I feel like Shatterbird would originally be interested in Cinder, glass weapons and a single-minded drive and she's capable; which is what Shatterbird seems to look for, she picked Hookwolf because he's a fighter. Failing that and given that Tyrian being picked by Hatchet-Man is basically a placeholder, I think Shatterbird would kill Tyrian and use that to bring Mercury in.

Siberian: Manton likes outcasts and people who remind him of his daughter....I toyed with the idea of Penny, just because "She came back from the dead" might give Siberian some hope but instead I settled on Nora....Because I kinda see Ren and Nora & Emerald and Mercury as being two sides of the same coin in some ways and having one half of each pair be targeted by the Nine opens up some fun ideas.

Cherish: Okay so Cherish wanted Alec specifically because it was Alec....But, I think she'd go for Whitley. The Schnee family is a mess, there's parallels to be drawn between their family Semblance and the fact that all of Heartbreaker's kids' powers have a theme; so Cherish would go for the Schnee who reminds her the most of Alec, who just so happens to be the one least equipped to defend himself and was also his Daddies' favourite.

Jack Slash: Ruby.....Okay, this sounds like a cop-out because protag Vs villain leader match-up but hear me out. Jack gave up his nomination to make his deal with Golem but before that he went to Oni-Lee first, didn't like what he saw and then went after Purity....He wants powerful people and after moulding Bonesaw into what he wanted her to be I think he'd see Ruby, someone who would be incredibly useful to him on Remnant as a new pet project.

[agentrouka-blog]

There is a speculation that Lady's death wake Bran up from his coma. What do you think about it?

I can understand anyone who subscribes to this theory, it's entirely respectable and it makes sense on its own.

I don't share it for two reasons:

The absurdity of the timeline.

The justification of life-for-life sacrifice.

Regarding the first point, we are given a specified timeframe between the Trident incident (Lady's death) and Tyrion's arrest at the Crossroads Inn. That's two sets of fortnights travelled on the Kingsroad in direct succession (First Ned, then Cat), four weeks. In those four weeks, Bran is supposed to have woken up, a raven dispatched to the Wall to inform Jon, Tyrion staying an additional day or two, Tyrion travelling all the way from the Wall to Winterfell, which took over three weeks one-way for on their way up, then trek down the kingsroad through the other half of the North, past the Neck and then the additional distance between the Neck and the Crossroads Inn. It's absurd to me. According to my own timeline calculations, Lady is killed around the time Tyrion arrives at Winterfell, giving him those four weeks to travel from Winterfell to the Crossroads. GRRM is no stranger to presenting chapters out of chronological order and I think it very much applies here. I don't judge anyone for disagreeing but that's how I read it.

Regarding the second point, it would give narrative justification to an absolute travesty of justice that shames every single adult involved. It would imply that Lady dying served a good cause. That Ned's failings here, the Cersei's cruelty, Robert's indifference, all of these things ultimately are good and necessary. I don't think that's probable, and I also think it's unnecessary. Bran had already magically survived with the help of the living direwolves and waking up is sufficiently explained by his inner decision to live:

He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks. Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live. “Why?” Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling. Because winter is coming. Bran looked at the crow on his shoulder, and the crow looked back. It had three eyes, and the third eye was full of a terrible knowledge. Bran looked down. There was nothing below him now but snow and cold and death, a frozen wasteland where jagged blue-white spires of ice waited to embrace him. They flew up at him like spears. He saw the bones of a thousand other dreamers impaled upon their points. He was desperately afraid. “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” he heard his own voice saying, small and far away. And his father’s voice replied to him. “That is the only time a man can be brave.” Now, Bran, the crow urged. Choose. Fly or die. Death reached for him, screaming. Bran spread his arms and flew. Wings unseen drank the wind and filled and pulled him upward. The terrible needles of ice receded below him. The sky opened up above. Bran soared. It was better than climbing. It was better than anything. The world grew small beneath him. “I’m flying!” he cried out in delight. I’ve noticed, said the three-eyed crow. It took to the air, flapping its wings in his face, slowing him, blinding him. He faltered in the air as its pinions beat against his cheeks. Its beak stabbed at him fiercely, and Bran felt a sudden blinding pain in the middle of his forehead, between his eyes. “What are you doing?” he shrieked. The crow opened its beak and cawed at him, a shrill scream of fear, and the grey mists shuddered and swirled around him and ripped away like a veil, and he saw that the crow was really a woman, a serving woman with long black hair, and he knew her from somewhere, from Winterfell, yes, that was it, he remembered her now, and then he realized that he was in Winterfell, in a bed high in some chilly tower room, and the blackhaired woman dropped a basin of water to shatter on the floor and ran down the steps, shouting, “He’s awake, he’s awake, he’s awake.”

Bran wakes up because he chooses to wake up, even knowing - if subconsciously - that it means serving a specific, scary purpose.

[cellarspider]

21/30 Tales from the Crypt

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

We return to that movie that the crabs shall dance for when it is done, Prometheus.

This time, the movie decided it needed a zombie mutant in it for some reason. Content warning for half-hearted body horror and gore.

I’m sure maybe half of a person out there was wondering “Hey, what happened to Fifield the geologist?” Well, the crew certainly wasn’t wondering that. They’re quite surprised when his suit camera feed shows up right outside the ship. Janek says it “just popped up” but why the hell would it. Fifield didn’t turn it back on, that much is obvious. Did the plot flip the switch or something?

In any case, Fifield has taken up a new career since we last saw him. He is now a contortionist.

This confuses the nameless crew guy. This is a very weird way to announce your new hobby to your coworkers.

Seriously, like. This is just an extreme backbend. It was probably done with prosthetics since they needed a body for this guy later anyway, but there are people who can just do this. Look, here’s a woman named Anna McNulty, doing this exact pose. It’s way weirder-looking when the person’s in motion! Again: not scary, just weird!

Contortionists are a thing in horror movies and shows. The explanation given always boils down to “they look uncanny and inhuman when they pretzel themselves, thus they are scary.” That isn’t really the case.

It still takes acting ability to make contortionism scary. Combine that with unsettling effects and you can get something memorably spooky, even when the rest of the movie isn’t that great. Javier Botet’s performance in Mama (2013), for example, was enhanced by his own acting decisions, the costuming, CG, and also practical puppetry of his body so that he could be supported in positions that felt unnaturally weightless.

Even if you’re lacking good direction or acting skills, makeup can still put in a lot of work to get you something freaky. And this makeup is… not their best.

Not in terms of quality of workmanship, but in terms of the concept itself. The creature department made a whole bunch of draft sculpts that looked way more xeno-y. Those were rejected. Instead, he’s got a big lumpy head. He looks like he wandered out of The Hills Have Eyes: Part II.

[Video description: A trailer for The Hills Have Eyes: Part II (1984). It’s complete schlock, and it’s got a big guy with a big prosthetic forehead in it, and he smashes people. There’s an off-brand Darth Vader breathing noise for some reason.]

Really, this design is straight out of a few sub-genres of horror I could mention: The Hills Have Eyes comes from cannibal and/or hillbilly horror (also called hixploitation), which often features deformed or mutated antagonists. Nuclear, infection, and chemical-scarred mutants are common lumpy monsters in horror, from 50s B-movies to Troma splatter films to modern “torture porn”. Video games tend to follow Resident Evil’s lead and make the lumpiest creatures zombies, while also making them WMD mutants and/or backwoods types, hello Marguerite and Jack Baker.

Obviously, Fifield’s been mutated by the black goo, adding to the list of things it’s capable of that the movie failed to set up before now. I will attempt to follow the ideas this may be attempting to throw at us, but I want it noted, this takes work.

This man has been exposed to a biochemical weapon, created by the Engineers. They were stockpiling that weapon here with the intent to use it on Earth. God decided rainbows aren’t a covenant anymore, time for Noah Part 2: Even Drownier.

But the Engineers are not gods in the christian sense, they aren’t all-powerful, and they are not beings that anyone would assert are omnibenevolent. They are another intelligent, social humanoid species with their own culture and morality. What moral standards do the Engineers have that produce a later scene, where one of them will look unsettled by a display of inter-human violence, yet also intend to kill every human? Humans are in some ways their descendants. What would be the right thing to do if your children became murderers? 

The movie doesn’t have to answer that, because there is no objectively right answer, but it also doesn’t present the issue very competently when it's having a mutant geologist pull wrestling moves.

[Video description: A short compilation of Macho Man Randy Savage doing the double axe handle.]

The questions that FIfield’s current state actually brought to me were more like this:

What horror sub-genre are we in? Is this a pastiche? Is it being done on purpose?

The answers, as far as I can tell, are “all of them,” “yes,” and “I have no idea.” I still don’t know. This is too bizarre a series of decisions to feel unintentional, and yet it’s pulled off with so little grace that it also feels like it can’t be intentional. It is Schrodinger’s Script, suspended in a state of both “hack job” and “competent hack job” until someone observes the movie and forms an opinion.

Speaking of being observed: these crew members. Boy. They sure are here, aren’t they.

There’s seventeen crew on the Prometheus, and a movie with strong characterization will make it so you can remember that many people, even if their roles are small and unnamed. Fellowship of the Ring (2001) manages to outdo that, for example. Before I started writing this, I could remember less than half the people onboard Prometheus.

So, obviously these guys exist to get destroyed before the miniboss fight is over.

It isn’t even that much of a scene. Mutated Fifield jumps around and wails on guys, the guys freak out and accidentally kill at least one other guy, and then FIfield gets run over by the transport. When this was originally filmed, it was going to be placed slightly later and Shaw would be the one driving it, but that wouldn’t have improved this any, to be honest.

So, great. We have killed a few more cast members for some reason. It fails as horror, and it fails as bloodsport. Good job everyone.

Next time, the horror anthology continues with our host, the Crypt Keeper.

Oh, sorry, that’s not what happens–I meant to say: “Next time, Peter Weyland wakes up”.

⛬

(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

⛬

Citations for alt-text rambles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlpoG-rZXI

[misaxlawliet-fanfic]

Prologue/ Chapter 1

This is just a brief explanation of the differences between my AU and the actual Death Note story (based on the anime):

¬ Light was caught by L and his death note was taken and is in police custody, Ryuk killed him while he was awaiting his death sentence out of boredom.

¬ Misa is still in police custody (the building L made where he Light and Misa were in for a while) because she is still a suspect and could be in danger - L also suspects that Ryuk may kill her too.

¬ Misa has cut her lifespan in half once and no longer as the Shinigami eyes

I’ll explain any other difference/ fix any inconsistencies as we go along with the story.

Now to set the scene for the first chapter:

The shiny skyscraper towered above all nearby buildings, still blending in amongst them seamlessly, if you saw it you would’ve assumed it was an ordinary office building, not uncommon in central Tokyo. Its metallic cross between grey and blue reflecting the bright light Light of the sun off itself. though you wouldn’t notice from inside the building, maybe you would even forget it after being inside the building as long as she had been.

Lying in her messy bed, Misa lay there as she had for the past few days, only getting up to eat and use the bathroom, the room was pitch black only allowing small slivers of light to penetrate the abyss. Light died just 4 days ago. And now her life had no purpose.

Stale candies and sweets covered the table in her- the room. She couldn’t eat them because she couldn’t let herself go completely in case Light comes back.

As she made her way to the bathroom, the door suddenly swung open blinding her and she fell to the carpeted ground as the 3 maybe 4 figures at the door stood there unresponsive. Once her eyes adjusted Misa looks with anger towards them, honing in onto 1 in particular.

Light’s killers.

The 2 officers accompanying him stood to either side of his slightly hunched figure, guns pointing at her - not that they were needed as she couldn’t do anything for now.

L had come in again, as he had everyday since Light died at 5pm. In a deadpan tone L said “Are you alive still?”

Misa groaned as L began his too familiar line of questioning and she once again had to repeat the same answers.

“Mhm!” she said loudly looking at the old man stood behind L, Watari as she had resolved to not talk to L at all, after all he murdered the love of her life.

“Have any angels of death come into contact with you?” L asked. He would’ve asked if any had tried to kill her, though if they had she would already be dead.

Misa shook her head side to side, still facing Watari and not acknowledging L any more than in the occasional scowl. If they had then she would have told them to kill L immediately, but after she gave up Rems notebook even with her memories back she couldn’t kill L and avenge Light without the notebook. But for some reason Rem hasn’t dropped it to give to her and he hasn’t killed L herself either.

“Do you want to see the doctor?” L asked anticipating Misa’s response he added “You’ll be seeing him tomorrow anyways”

“No I-” she said before facing L for possibly the first time since Light’s passing and asked what he meant by that because the only way she would be talking to any doctor is by force.

L not changing his tone of voice just said “You’ll see” He had known from the start that she wouldn’t let the task force do anything willingly, she was too stubborn and too depressed about Light to do so.

Watari dropped a bag with her lunch, luckily Misa had given up on her hunger strike after smelling Watari’s godly cooking.

“You should probably change out of those clothes and put on something fresh for tomorrow” L advised Misa before leaving. The 2 officers closed the door and left her right where they found her.

[jorrated]

Some super stray thoughts I had while reading STCO so far:

Knuckles would NOT prioritize his past over Tikal’s suffering are you crazy in the head!!!!

Zak Simond-Hurn’s art is really charming, if it wasn't for the digital onomatopoeias, I wouldn’t mind having this style by a base for an official sonic comic! The design for the red echidna villain however… HM. Not pleasing to the eye.

I like that Ebony are having a bigger role on the fist few issues! But also Ebony’s constantly referring to Super as his friend and doing things to bring him back. Like I get it but also is this going to be her only trait now? Girl…

And porker is going on adventures again. Actually I don’t think they ever explained why Porker went back to being more adventurous in the og comic, participating in Chaos defeat and all. Not against it, and I like to see he still has a bit of bite and wasn't reduced to only a coward, tho it would’ve been cool to see at least a comment on how hes back on “adventuring”.

It’s cool to see Amy dealing with grief over Jhonny (I’ve given up trying to write his name correctly, too weird for me), but IDK. Amy probably was the best grounded character in that situation, so it feels weird to see her distressed over it? I don’t know how to explain it but in my eyes, Amy’s grief for Jhonny would definitively be more melancholic than scary/guilty. I’m glad they are trying to flesh out Amy more, but it doesn’t feel very cohesive with the comic to me. And Jhonny-zombie the killer… a bit tacky but in a funny way.

WHO…. Designed Vichama. I just want to talk. Tell me why you made him look that way. What is that. What went through your head. Dude. I get that Ebony has considerably more anthro body features than the other animal characters, but I feel like Vichama crosses the line into the “gross valley”. If he were drawn closer to how Zachary is I probably wouldn’t care, he probs would’ve looked like an Archie character. But the bulging muscles are kinda upsetting to look at. Cover up man.

So Shadow was created by some enemies of the echidnas. Noted.

Big and the Drakon prosecutor are actually really cute. I like them. Knuckles trying to break Ebony’s spell on Tikal is making me fume. HE WOULDN'T TRY TO DO THAT!!!!! He maybe would be a little desperate trying to trigger some memories but he wouldn't knowingly hurt someone to get information!!!! There is a pannel tho in this part of the comic that makes Knux ask “Where is Porker” and then “Where is the emeralds”. THAT is Knuckles to me, checking in on people before anything else.

Knuckles not being able to carry Big is bullshit. KNUCKLES PUNCHES ROCKS IN HALF LMAO. It’s fine I assume they need to be separated for a reason.

ROUGE STICK LEGS. Somebody please give my girl a double cheeseburger with extra fries and a big gulp of soda.

Actually I love that Rouge is a cunt here. Girlboss!!!! Stole this dudes emeralds AND left them to die, queen shit. Didn’t work but she did have the intent to kill them.

Big wouldn’t eat his friends….. He’d never eat Froggy, and DP (Drakon Prosecutor) even tho looks like a fish, Big considers a friend. BIG WOULDNT THINK ABOUT EATING HIS FRIENDS!!! HE IS A KIND BIG GUY!!!!!!!!!!!! ← most egregious mistake until now. Fucking funny tho can you imagine dying by vore They kept Mighty funny, that’s good.

MMMMN. I like that Sonic is consistently arachnophobic. Really nice continuity. How he first met Shadow tho… It felt underwhelming? Like yeah we know they were going to meet some time but IDK. The framing/pacing is weird to me. Either have them meet quickly at the start of the issue and Sonic is like “IDK WHO that guy is but I don’t like him!!!” or have them meet at the end of the issue, but only show Shadow in shadow (lol) to hook to the next issue. Shadow’s bland ass “I am Shadow” has the same energy as two kindergartners introducing themselves first day of school.

Shadow’s personality is interesting tho. I like him being a bit cocky but not too much, it’s a good take on him, plus he bounces off Sonic pretty well. I do wonder what the hell they’re going to do with him tho.

Awn… acknowledgment of some of the chaotix families… Blockhead Bill my dude

Tikal being given more of a spotlight is neat. It doesn’t give her much, but it’s refreshing to see her thoughts and intentions. However, I can’t help but think that she was mainly inserted to aid Knuckles and be a well of angst. Like IDK, Knuckles has moments mourning his past, or wondering if he will ever understand his ancestors, and Tikal well… She sees things rather than feel? If that makes sense? Like in this comic she is able to see a bit of the past and think “wow this is horrible! Must be a nightmare!” but she doesn’t feel despair? Or anything much? The only moment so far she felt despair was to make Knux Angst, like “ooooh shes suffering so we need to wipe her memories, that means Knuckles wont have his backstories :(“. Smells fishy.

Oh wow, Shadow has an actually interesting backstory here. It gives a reason to follow Robotnik, hate Sonic, not give a shit, aaaand its ambiguous enough you can probably pull off whatever. Fucking congrats STCO writers.

Fave image. What the fuck are they even doing here. Freaks.

Hm. No thoughts on Shadows maybe death. Thematically it’s interesting and all, but we don’t get enough time with him to give a shit. Unless I’m reading it wrong it seems like Shadow is sacrificing himself to save Robotnik, but IDK.

Grimer develops a situatioship depression.

2007 ANTI-ASIAN RACISM. BAD.

Bro what’s with this Knuckles characterization. He would NOT be mean to Tikal. If anything he’d probably be a bit overbearing, trying to give attention to her even if she didn’t want it. I get trying to tie him living his whole life alone being overwhelmed and feeling frustrated that Tikal can’t give him answers, but he wouldn't treat her like crap what is this. I like Porker’s and Knux bro moment, but that doesn’t make up for treating Tikal badly for no reason. Where’s her catharsis? She’s probably just as confused and desperate as Knuckles but she doesn't get any of these moments. Sigh. This idea could’ve definitely worked if Tikal was pushier or more imposing, but like she doesn’t do much, so Knuckles just snaps and it feels off. Knuckles’s stories are probably the issues with the biggest potential, but the writers for sure squander him the most, whomp whomp.

“One of Sonic’s fears is seeing Amy settle down with someone else” no it isn’t shut the fuck up. And the fact they put this on the same level of fear as Jhonny death is deranged.

The tonal whiplash between character comics is p funny honestly. You’ll have one really serious comic followed by a comedic one, lil bit of a mood killer. I guess STC also did this, but to me it at least wasn't jarring like this. Like how am I supposed to process Big getting shot, after Knux and Tikal experiencing the worst nightmare of their lives, living the trauma of seeing million of dead echidnas, after Vector put angel island as a security fund for his ship LMAO.

SONIC CHARACTERS HELPINH OUT THE POLICE SFAJHBJHBWRKJBJB??????!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!????????11111111!!!!!!!111!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate this actually.

These Shorty and Tekno comics…… I don’t know what it is about them but god. I just don’t like them! Firstly that now it seems they are a completely separated duo from the rest of the team. Like They don’t interact with Sonic or Amy or whatever. Secondly.. Shortfuse is TOO nice. It doesn’t feel like him where is his tantrums??? And this isn’t a diss on the artstyle itself, cause I think it looks pretty nice and cute, but I don’t think it’s really fitting for the characters? Tekno and Shorty look like they’re in a shoujo manga.

I really like how Sonic is now a loser LOL. He got canceled to hell and back.

Finally Rouge makes and appearance. Kinda only realized how little she showed up during the SA2 adaptation.

Grimer destroying Sonic’s reputation is actually kinda nice. I like that they acknowledge his Robotnik situationship depression, tho I think it’s a bit over the top have him be behind EVERYTHING. Still like it tho. Go gross boy go! (Also the art in this issue is REALLY solid, wow, Zak Simond-Hurn really is my favorite artist from the STCO group).

At some point I think I need to stop complaining about Knux’s characterization. But I Do Not Like How They Write My Boy. Doc Zach is still serving cunt so that’s great. Go grandpa go!

It’s kinda awesome to see how the issues expanded through STCO’s run, but I think having so many stories at the same time kinda makes stuff bloated. Like I’m sure I’ll forget some parts of this, even if they are short bits. Like do we really need to follow 2 sonic stories and 2 amy stories at the same time? I think it would’ve been better to pace this with a limit of 3-4 stories MAX per issue. And then once a character story is done, release the next story with the same character. Sonic and Knuckles are kinda always going to be there, having the biggest pull on the comic’s lore and story, so the other ones could cycle out between amy, tekno, shorty, tails, sonic’s world, chaotix, and so on. I haven’t read some of the other non-sonic stories like decap n attack, but those could be thrown in the cycle too!

Actually I love that DP is just hanging out in Big’s restaurant. It’s goofy I really love it.

I wonder how old Sonic’s gang is supposed to be here. Like in theory some years have passed in the comic, but how many. It’s not important at all but Amy is seen drinking wine with Chrysalis and it’s like?? Is she a kid?? Is she an adult?? Is she underage drinking? Again it’s not a big deal, and I don’t even think these characters need a specific age but IDK this was odd to me.

Oof the multiple stories at the same type problem came instantly. I like how Amy acknowledges the losses of the group, Sonic is “evil”, Jhonny is dead, Tekno is missing and stuff, Porker has PTSD and cant fight… But like. That feels so weird when you have a story right next to it with Amy and Tekno together!!! This is why the pacing and bloating feels whack, the comic has continuity with SOME of the stories but not all so its confusing. I know the OG comic had moments like these but because it had less stories per issue, it was way less noticeable, and usually were one-off stories I think.

And on the topic of Porker, I did mention before how he just kinda.. went back to being more adventurous? But know the comic insists that he can’t do it? Man this is kinda messy. I don’t mind Porker starting to become more adventurous again and then maybe regressing a bit in recovery, being too much for him, but it doesn’t feel like that is what it’s being intended here. It feels like someone read STC and maybe skimmed on STCO and then wrote this, so it feels out of place? Like you have porker in the first issue of STCO going on a mission no problems at all, but then on another issue he goes on a mission to blow up an eggman database or smth and hes freaking the fuck out being nervous all the time. Like which is it!!!!! I don’t mind him progressing and regressing on his trauma but at least acknowledge or be consistent with it! Is it because the underwater mission didn’t involve Robotnik? Is that it? Who knows.

I get that Knux and the crew planned to bait Zachary and shit, but like, then why did they act like that in the previous issue? Like the plan was to break the shield so why did Porker said to Knux be careful about it? Girl. This information is only given to bait and switch the audience and it doesn’t work. Porker and Knux have no reason to pretend to not have a plan when they are alone what.

Tails working with cops I’m going to kill myself.

Oh so like. The special zone is dead for real. Like for real FR. Jesus. Could’ve let the characters grieve a bit huh.

Really liked the #250 issue (Tho its funny that I complained about the number of stories per issue, and then #250 has ONE story LOL)! It’s awesome to see the different arts from the varied artists on the STCO team. And even with my complains and whining, it’s an impressive project full of love, good to see stuff like this!

TURBO TURBO TURBO MY BOY TURBO!!!!

The art on this issue is great but some of the flow of the dialogue is off, as in, sometimes I don’t know which speech bubble I’m supposed to read next, cause usually you go left to right, but it seems this story follows top to bottom for speech bubbles and left to right to panel. Not awful but it did throw me off, and it does fuck up the pacing.

um. hi shadow? ok.

(Only read until issue #250)

[starlightshadowsworld]

I don't think this will happen but I'm thinking about if Kunikida was the one to join the Port Mafia in the exchange.

Reasons being:

A way to learn more about him, given Kunikida is Fukuzawa's successor. And or how to break him if they go back to being enemies again.

To possibly fuck with Dazai cos that's his partner, cos self preservation who's she?

Or they asked for someone like Atsushi and Kunikida objects like no way absolutely not and that gets there attention.

Whatever way, somehow Kunikida ends up in the Port Mafia.

He would run that place so fucking efficiently it would make heads spin.

You kidding me? He's not even an executive or anything but somehow this man is booked and busy.

Paperwork is getting done on time, he probably organised a henchmens union while he was at it.

Mori explained his role and the first thing Kunikida asks is do you guys get dental?

People reckon he'll be a pushover and his ideals are nothing but words on paper, but Kunikida is nothing but committed to them.

Kunikida would go the entire time not killing anyone. Even it seems like the only way out.

Someone tries to order him too so and he snaps the gun in half. They say they'll kill him for disobeying orders.

And he walks away like you won't because your aim is shit.

Also adding my Kunikida has a criminal record for things like tearing off spikes of benches so unhoused people can sleep on em and stuff like that.

Kunikida's not like "your blood is Mafia black" but he's not a goody too shoes either.

Which is something the Port Mafia expected and quickly learn isn't true.

If Kunikida doesn't want to follow a rule or an order, he fucking wont.

It's as simple as that, he's got an iron will.

Kunikida regularly calls the agency and makes sure they're all doing well.

Of course he sees and witnesses things that are rough but man has his 2 hour scheduled break down and he's good to go.

Well not really but you get it.

Goes drinking with Chuuya, they both bitch about Dazai and become well acquainted.

Probably has tea with Hirotsu on the weekends.

Kunikida doesn't take shit from anyone, he'll sit and listen to Akutugawa rant before raising an eyebrow like "you done?"

But he'd also look out for him and everyone else he's with. They are allies afterall.

Imagining Akutugawa getting injured on a mission and Kunikida just creates a first aid kit. Akutagawa is just like excuse me no.

And Kunikida rolls his eyes, patches him up in an alleyway and than helping him get home. All without complaint.

Even asks later if he's okay, Akutugawa is like why do you care? And Kunikida looks at him like it's ridiculous for him to even ask before Akutugawa admits he's okay.

It's not a thank you but Kunikida will take it.

Kunikida who's open with his emotions and yet it's never seen a weakness.

He's also crazy strong, and it's so shocking the first time anyone sees his strength.

People trying to scare him and he's like I am Dazai's partner and I used to teach maths to teenagers, you can't do shit.

Without meaning too or realising it he starts to gain their begrudging respect.

I'm not saying Kunikida would thrive in the Port Mafia.

I'm saying the Port Mafia would thrive with him.

[russilton]

Okay this is probably a sensitive topic but I find your blog to be really fair and balanced despite the drivers' fans from both sides may not think so. Anyway my question is that why do you think George should dislike Max (even Alonso) or refrain from hanging out with them? They're not great people sure but he's their co-worker. Not everyone can spend their careers isolating himself like Lewis has done, his reasons for doing so are justified so I am not blaming him at all, but George doesn't HAVE to do it. He can and should enjoy a relatively peaceful co-existence with his colleagues. He, Max, Lando, Alex have things in common too, they're in stable relationships, they are close in age, it makes sense for them to be casually friendly. He and Max will not be besties but I don't think it hurts to have a cordial relationship with your colleagues especially when you aren't personally affected by whatever they've done. Lewis is great but his burden is uniquely his, George or anyone else can't be expected to share it. I think it's a bit absurd to expect George to dislike his colleagues on Lewis' behalf especially when he will spend longer with them than Lewis. Lewis and George aren't even close enough to demand that sort of loyalty. I am sure Lewis knows and understands this too. I usually agree with a lot of what you say but I believe we shouldn't police who George can or cannot be friends with.

Because, I tend to not be friends with people who are dicks to my friends, particularly if those people are racist.

“Lewis is great but his burden is uniquely his” not to be rude anon, but no the fuck it ain’t. The burden is on everyone else to be anti racist, not on him to stand up to dehumanising treatment. That’s the bare minimum.

That’s all I really need to say- further rant under the cut because I was writing at 5am and it’s basically a given.

It’s a bit of an unfair twist to say Lewis has “isolated himself” when the treatment he’s isolating himself from is heavily laden in micro aggressions and on track behaviour that could have killed him.

Also, not to be that George fan, but if you really need a point not about Lewis - the vitriol aimed at Lewis and subsequently Mercedes ABSOLUTELY effects George. He has been subject to mocking and harassment from Red Bull fans from the SECOND he he was rumoured to have signed for Merc. He has spoken more than once about how horrible it feels to be Boo’d at tracks, because he is in Mercedes.

None of those fans gave half a fuck about him when he was in Williams, but when he became Lewis’ teammate suddenly his every interview was being called PR trained because it didn’t shit on Lewis or was actively praising. Some of you might not have been around for “PR63” but I sure was, and Merc comments would be full of homophobic tweets from Red bull fans, when they weren’t calling him a cry baby. Max may not be directly responsible for his fans- but he’s frankly never stopped them, if anything he ENCOURAGES them.

Max himself has also called George names, made thinly veiled homophobic insults, had people imply max wanted to attack him. Max said that George was being dramatic and attention seeking for being heartbroken after Sakhir, publicly undermined his efforts as GPDA director to increase safety, to the point George himself called him out for it, said that George should get out of his way when George wouldn’t just let him overtake in Baku, and more. On and off the track Max has insulted and belittled George, the people George loves (Alex, Lewis, Mercedes), and made his job both more dangerous and more boring.

Being cold to Max isnt out of the blue either- George was the first person to speak up about AD21 (literally while the race was ongoing, look up the infamous unacceptable tweet) and was one of the first to condemn piquet sr’s (Max’s defacto father in law) comments at the beginning of last year, to the point man other drivers copied his statement. My point is George has been frequently and outspokenly against stuff max does to the limit he is allowed to say. Shit I have friends who aren’t George fans who say they only thing they like about him is he will not fail to throw a dig at Red Bull and Max if he can- yes it’s for him but he is also using his privilege. Lewis doesn’t get to say those things or he’s labelled a bad sport, attacked by the press, sometimes even F1 itself and FURTHER ostracised. But George can say it, and often he does. It’s probably not “loyalty” that makes him do that, but just… basic friendship?

Let’s be real, I have to look the other way often about things both George AND Lewis do, they travel in circles I’ll never touch, and speak to people I don’t care for, and say shit I dislike. We live profoundly different lives and our bubbles are so different they might as well be on different continents. I don’t expect George calling him mv0 or telling everyone he hates him, the same way lewis doesn’t, because they work with him. But working with someone doesn’t grant them an automatic right to friendship. And frankly f1 drivers have this weird relationship with friendship vs teammates vs on track fights as it is

Just because someone is your coworker doesn’t mean they have to be your friend, especially if they’re a bigoted fuckin asshole.

[amber-laughs]

I’m actually curious on what you think Jons targ name is

Now ofc: there’s always a chance he never really got one, but either way he will always be Jon ! BUTT I really thinking about what it could be

I think the best bets are Viserys & Aemon, Viserys as the female version of Visenya, and I think Aemon is cute because of Maester Aemon and I think it makes the best sense story wise!

Other ones I’ve seen are Jaehaerys, which I honestly don’t like- but I’ve seen a lot of people adamant about it.

My favourite however: is his name actually just being Visenya.

Curious on what you think though!!! Your like the Jon CEO 🫵🏻

ughhhh love that you see me that way <3

Personally I think he definitely has one because

For the rest of his life—however long that might be—he would be condemned to be an outsider, the silent man standing in the shadows who dares not speak his true name. Wherever he might go throughout the Seven Kingdoms, he would need to live a lie, lest every man's hand be raised against him. A Games of Thrones - Jon IX

is just too on the nose. Also I think its unlikely that Lyanna died immediately after giving birth to Jon, she probably had a few days with him at least, and would have given him a name (honestly even if she only had a few hours I don't see why she wouldn't name him) but we know Ned gave him the name Jon

"Since all of their mothers died, who gave Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister their names?" "Mothers can name a child before birth, or during, or after, even while they are dying. Dany was most like named by her mother, Tyrion by his father, Jon by Ned." - GrrM

So if Ned named Jon "Jon" then there had to be a reason to change it. He can't be running around calling his bastard Rhaegar Jr. and pretending its normal lol.

So now that that's out of the way, I agree with you, I think those are the three options. I don't think it's Viserys, I have no evidence I just don't - call it Jon Stan intuition.

Jaehaerys was Rhaegar's grandfather and, after Aegon, the most used Targaryen masculine name. It's not a stretch in universe to think it'd be a name given to Rhaegar's last living son. More over Lyanna is giving birth in the middle of a war that killed half her family. Naming her son after the Jaehaerys the Conciliator who (in-universe) is the Targaryen that most represents a peaceful and united kingdom would be a beautiful sentiment.

But thematically speaking I think its probably Aemon. I know there are a million reasons why people think it's Aemon but in my opinion the most damning one is the whole Denying the Crown Three Times thing. This goes in to a lot of personal theories and what not but Jon denied being Lord of Winterfell, I think he'll eventually give up (or even deny) being King in the North and then I think he'll deny the Iron Throne. 3 for 3 Maester Aemon you are the grandfather.

(Poster opinion subjected to change at literally any given time possibly even based on no evidence just vibes)