#also idk if they're supposed to all be things that apply to you but that's what i went with even tho i think i am horrifically boring

[strwberri-milk]

love and deepspace guys with reader having panic attacks? never seen one so far, in desperate need :_) maybe how they find out, too. Zayne is probably the best with it because they're often associated with a heart attack... so hearing "it's not, I promise" will definitely put reader at ease. Rafayel probably hums something. a lullaby. idk. god i need him. anyways, it's up to you decide! ty in advance 🩷(eng isn't my native! sorry if it's messy)

Zayne definitely recognises your symptoms right away, familiar with seeing anxiety attacks in the hospital. His first response is of course wanting to make sure you're not actually having a heart attack with the overlap of symptoms and also knowing that if that's where your mind is going then watching him diagnose you on the spot will help you calm down a little bit.

Once he affirms that it's not a heart attack he starts trying to soothe you. He tries to ask what the best way for him to help would be, keeping his voice even in your ear. It's a welcome distraction as you reach out for him, wanting him to hold you as tightly as possible. He obliges without hesitation and you're almost a little confused about why he's so strong but it doesn't matter.

He'll keep his arms around you, doing some exercises with you to distract you from your current state of mind. He's already got a good idea of what you're supposed to do when someone has a panic attack and is definitely applying that to you but watching you cry and shake hurts him more than you could ever imagine. He does his best not to let his own concern for you shine into his words, wanting to stay strong for you.

Xavier isn't sure right away what's happening. All he knows is that you're not doing okay and you need him right now and so that's what he's going to do. He holds your hands, trying to get you to look at him and talk to him. If you're inconsolable and unable to look at him then he's going to gather you up in his arms, brushing his hand against your cheek and holding you close to him.

He keeps you against his chest, hoping the abnormally slow beating of his heart is enough to bring you down from your emotional high. His palm rests against the side of your face, gently rubbing his thumb over the apple of your cheek.

He gives you space to slowly work through your feelings, waiting until you finally come down. He doesn't rush you, simply sitting silently with you the entire time. He's figured that you're having a panic attack and for now all he can offer is his patience. When you've calmed down enough to talk to him he wants to hear all about the things you're worrying about so that it doesn't overwhelm you again to such an extent.

Rafayel's response to hearing your distress is also to immediately hold you. When he realises that you're having a panic attack he draws back from you, shushing you a little to give you another sound to focus on as he grabs your hands. He encourages you to meet his gaze, smiling softly at you as he starts to hum.

You're a little taken back by the absurdity, not noticing the calming effect it's already having on your body. You're not sure if it's because it's a Lemurian thing or just the sound of his voice is that comforting to you but it's quickly working.

When he feels your grip on his hands slacken a little, eyelids drooping he takes that as his signal to pick you up and carry you to bed, still singing to you softly. He drops you off in bed gently, burying his face in your neck and keeping you close to him as you fall asleep in his arms. He keeps watch over you, making a mental note to talk to you about everything that was weighing on your mind.

[mysticarts]

silly little Gunntech Au oc

(ft me about to ramble, be ready yall-)

Soo, I've become obsessed with @elmushterri Gunntech Au (context: Gunntech AU is a AU where the show PJ masks is a show for more mature audiences for teens, think owl house!) They also made a video about this, just look up 'What if PJ Masks' and most likely they're video will pop up first!

(Note I'm using they them pronouns for Elmuehterri cause idk their pronouns and I wanna be respectful-)

And I remember from Elmushterri's video, they mentioned Octobella, and how she could be a failed experiment. Now, I belive Gunntech aren't quitters, so I think they'd try again to recreate what Octobella was supposed to be, and actually succeeded. Thus, introducing my oc....

Kailani 'Kai' Whitlock

Now, I made Kailani here like any other of the PJ masks charater's.

Kailani's dad (who I have not named yet) worked for Gunntech. so when Octobella failed, Kailani's dad offered her as a test subject. And since Kailani wanted to get proper attention from her father she didn't mind. Hence the truama that impacted her

Considering Kailani is a octopus, I had to do a lot of studying. I mean, she has to have some Octopus traits. So I do have some, I shall state it in a list

The first thing I did was give Kailani some height, I tried to atleast. Considering how long octopus's tentacles are, I imagine in replacement, it really long arms and legs, hence her height

2. I Made Kailani colorblind! Octopuses are color blind to, but make up for it with their color changing bodies, odd pupils, color sensing arms, so I'm Applying that to Kailani. Kailani did see color before she was taken in as a test subject, then she became colorblind

3. Google states that Octopuses usually live in tropical areas so I made Kailani born in Hawaii! (She moved though when she was born)

4. From studying, I have found out that Octopuses have three hearts. I don't know if that should be applied to Kailani or not. I'm just going with that her heart is just bigger than most others, so Kailani can be a little more athletic than her peers.

5. Due to the experiments, Kailani's blood is blue (yes, Octopuses actually have blue blood) because of this, Kailani never tries to get hurt. She dosent want to make her dad angry

(Here's a concept sketch of younger Kailani during her test subject days)

as for Personality, I made Kailani very shy. Sure, she's extremely smart for her age, not to mention very creative. Mention something Kailani likes and she'll be willing to yap about it hours on end. However, she has extremely strong loyalty, all she wants is to be accepted and actually loved, so if helping Gunntech means she can earn her father's love, she'll put all of her energy for Gunntech

As how she works for Gunntech, I imagine they call on Kailani if they need someone to be held down or need help moving things (considering with Octopuses strength they can lift more than 700 pounds)

but, when not being a person who could fight someone off, I imagine they'd use Kailani as a strategist. Octopuses are actually very smart, and considering the human mind plus Octopus traits, Kailani would be making or hashing out ideas or theories to take down the 'villans' not realizing she's working for the bad guy.

Anyway, here's her concept suit design

Now I shall relax before I have to suffer at school tomorrow

Edit: I forgot to mention this, but I made Kailani have the hugest crush on Greg (she hasn't made a move cause she's too shy)

Now, if you guys have questions or want to know more about Kailani, I'm glad to give you answers!

[olderthannetfic]

I have really mixed feelings about the small proportion of F/F fiction (original or fanfic), because yeah sure, people have their desires, they should write what they want, I get it. It all works out when I hear it from person to person. But somehow the logic only ever applies in one direction? "There are more male protagonists because men only care about male characters! Women also mostly care about male characters, because that's the majority of characters they get!" And then somehow we also yet kvetch when men write female characters (because it's incorrectly or something, nevermind if women are writing male characters correctly). Why don't we expect gay men to feel compelled only by femslash for the same reasons (but gender swapped) as the lesbian slashers/fujoshi? All of those very rational justifications are applied selectively, "for me for not for thee," and it all only leads to "idk I just don't wanna write femslash", for Reasons. Do we get to call them microaggressions yet?

--

No, you don't get to call other people's fantasy life a microaggression.

That is indeed "for me but not for thee" in the sense that you get to want what you want but other people aren't supposed to follow their id.

Do you also police gay men who spend too much time on drag and obsessing over female divas? That's an actual real world behavior that's somewhat equivalent. It frequently goes unchallenged, at least by progressives, because men are allowed to do whatever they want with chick stuff, while women are "stealing" if they dare to stray into dude stuff.

(God, I've seen so much more policing of drag kings being ~problematic~ for acting out stereotypical gender than policing of drag queens for the same. It's nuts!)

Fujoshi are often queer, but it's absurd to think we're mostly lesbians. We tend to be bi or asexual women with gender stuff going on, though there is a mix of everybody, including lesbians. There are also a lot of AFAB non-women who get lumped in with us. On the rare occasions I find a man willing to admit to being a similar demographic, he usually does like gender play in his hobbies and entertainment. It's just that men face even more pressure than women do to fit into tidy categories. Bi women get told we're whores. Bi men are told they don't exist.

Yes, I know plenty of lesbians who write more m/m than f/f, but in the big picture of all of AO3 or all of fanfic or all of media, they aren't the demographic driving these numbers. They're vastly outnumbered by the bi women, the asexual women, and the straight and gnc women.

The men we should be looking at as an equivalent aren't cis gay men but bicurious soy boys and the like.

Do most of us fujoshi object to equivalent men doing an equivalent thing? I've seen it sometimes, and I agree it's hypocritical. I'd like us to afford men the same ability to play and take on identities in their art. I remember enjoying Ranma fandom back in the day and reading quite a lot of f/f that was probably by men. It had some of that same sense of distance and fantasy that I so enjoy in m/m aimed at fujoshi. (I do consume some by-cis-gay, for-cis-gay content, both m/m and f/f, but it's often too literal and too bound up in specific named identities for my taste.)

On average, the people I see complaining most about men producing f/f material are the same people who think that because I have a clit, I should center my life around women exclusively. In other words, people spouting radfem ideology, perhaps on purpose or perhaps without realizing.

I do agree that some of the ways of expressing a lack of desire to write femslash can get pretty douchey. I want us to move away from some of the less accurate ones like "There are no compelling female characters" because of this.

But the reason for all these jerkass explanations is that women and people perceived as women who like m/m are constantly asked to explain ourselves. These aren't usually microaggressions: they're openly hostile. People get defensive and try to answer with important-sounding reasons about identity and pain because society at large won't accept "I like this" as the true explanation.

Pleasure is never enough of a reason for a woman to do something.

[outmakingmoonshine]

I was just writing a post about the Carmy/Faks scene & how it's really just Carmy talking to himself. For this scene the two Faks represent his inner voices/subconscious (which might only apply to this scene idk), but then I decided to see what all these scenes looked like together and wow am I glad I did!! Seeing these 4 scenes side by side is very interesting.

The first two scenes in 3x05 & 3x07 mirror each other, the last two scenes in 3x09 mirror each other and all 4 of them tell their own story together. The first scene is Carmy's talking to himself but shouting & aiming it at anyone who's listening. The 2nd is Syd talking to herself but mostly mumbling so only she can hear. In the Faks scene Carmy's having an "imaginary" conversation out loud with two people, just like Syd's doing in the last scene rehearsing what she might say to both Adam Shapiro and Carmy.

And if you rearrange these scenes & put the first 2 after the Faks scene, if we saw/heard those sarcastic "that makes sense" comments after we saw the "Claire is peace" scene in that exact same location, it would've been a lot easier to figure out what they're really referring to!

There are lots of layers to unpack here but I'm gonna talk about the main things that jump out at me. This is probably gonna be a bit chaotic with different ideas and breakdowns of what things could mean so I hope it's not too confusing. Anyone else feel free to jump in with your thoughts.

Below the cut

Notice how in all these scenes, except one, Carmy and Syd are alone talking out loud to themselves, vocalizing their inner thoughts. Mute the video and just read the subtitles if you need to. The scene with the Faks reads like a conversation with imaginary friends or like the two funny inner voices of a character in a comedy movie. All these scenes are like they're from a comedy movie tbh.

In the first two scenes Carmy & Syd act the same way they both deal with their problems (Carmy shouting about it to anyone who'll listen and Syd pissed but mostly keeping it quiet/to herself). They're the only ones actually inside the dumpster in all the scenes which makes me think it represents their minds and the boxes are the mental chaos & thoughts they're trying to sort through. The Faks are technically outside Carmy's mind/the dumpster so they don't speak from the mind or for the mind but they're close to it, communicating with it & "helping" sort through the chaos. Maybe the dumpster represents the conscious mind and the Faks are Carmy's subconscious. It sounds like The Faks are encouraging Carmy to fall back into his base programming, which people often tend to do when they're lost and don't know what to do. They're trying to convince him to call Claire bc Carmy's base programming from his family is "Claire is good". That's what safe to him bc it's a "truth" he's always known & believed. Idk there's many possibilities. It's also Interesting how later this episode The Faks go to Claire and speak directly for Carmy like they know for sure what he's thinking & feeling.

Lets get into the dialogue of the first two scenes:

"[Carmy] That makes sense. [box clatters] Boxes full of bullshit. Put it on the f*cking list. Oh, it's good. I'll do it. I got it. I got it."

Just a side note: The next line in the script is "I don't know wha-what I'm supposed to do with all this stuff" from Marcus in the next scene where he's clearing out all his mum's stuff with Syd.

"[Syd] 'Cause why would you do it? I mean, you're supposed to do it. This is-- This is fine. This is good. This makes sense. This is f*cking… F*ck. F*ck. [pants] [muttering] F*ck. [growls] fcking-- Where are the fcking Faks? F*ck!"

I don't even know where to start, there's so many ways to read this!

Carmy said one specific thing in the Faks scene that very clearly "didn't make sense"...Claire is peace. He knows that's not true but I think the point is he's been avoiding thinking about who his peace actually is all S3*. Carmy & Syd are both sarcastically saying "that makes sense" like it's subtly referring to that scene later in the same place. Was the panic attack scene by the same dumpsters? Idk someone let me know please.

*Carmy said in 3x07 he tries to avoid thinking about legacy. The only legacy we know of is the one he's trying to build with Syd both professionally and personally. His realization that Syd's brings him peace in the panic attack in 2x09 is the reality of his legacy that he's been trying to avoid all S3. He's working to get her his star and creating dishes inspired by her so Syd's cearly on his mind but the one thing he should be thinking about and talking to her about, he's avoiding.

There are many different layers of possible meaning and/or foreshadowing in this dialogue, but one layer it can be read is how they're both thinking/feeling about the Claire situation bc even tho Syd didn't mention it all season it's still there between them. Maybe none of this is about Claire, but if it was:

Carmy: "[sarcastically] that makes sense"...claire is "peace". "Boxes full of bullsh*t"...he's full of bullshit that Claire's his peace?!! Or maybe Claire is in the boxes of bullshit aka his baggage and past trauma he needs to sort through? "Put it on the "f*cking list"...put Claire on the list of his stress & baggage? And a very sarcastic "Oh it's good. I'll do it. I got it. I got it." He'll do what he's "supposed to do" with Claire & call her/apologize/maybe even be with her even tho it clearly sounds like he doesn't want to..?? He's "got it"...even though he clearly doesn't. "It's good" but she's clearly not The Good Thing™.

Syd: "Cause why wouldn't you do it? I mean you're supposed to do it"...why won't carmy just sort himself out? why wont he just call claire/be with claire since Syd thinks that's what he wants & she acts in front of him like "it's not her place to be [beside him on a personal level]" almost direct quote from her in 3x09. She's probabaly confused why Carm just wont be with Claire. From Syd's perspective he changed his mind about her and chose Claire in S2, so the next logical step is he'd be with Claire. "This is fine. This is good. This makes sense."...carmy saying claire is peace & also probably how she'll react out loud if carmy/claire get back together. "This is f*cking… F*ck. F*ck. [pants] [muttering] F*ck. [growls] fcking--"...this is how she really feels about the whole Claire situation & Carmy just ditching her & "changing shit" (that came up a lot this season), which ultimately led to him not treating her like a partner in their professional relationship. "Where are the fcking Faks? F*ck!"...a direct lead in to Carmy's scene in the exact same place 2 episodes later.

Sydney's dialogue in 3x07 scene also reads like a run-on of Carmy's dialogue in 3x05, continuing his thoughts trying to convince himself of what he should do with Claire but he's panicking so he calls for the Fak's, his imaginary friends/inner voices, who are there with him the next time we see him in that spot. From the dialogue it makes sense but idk if we've ever seen the show do that with Syd before so idk. Sydney is clearly definied as her own character but she is definied as a mirror of Carmy too so it's a possibility.

Of course this is all interpretation, some or none of this could be directly about Claire but idk. The location (esp if it's in the same place he had the 2x09 panic attack), all the "coincidental" dialogue, the way all these scenes tie together...and with the panic attack scene and the opposing realizations Carmy comes to about Syd & Claire in 2x09 & 3x09. It wasn't a "realization" about Claire in 3x09, he didn't even look like he believed what he was saying tbh. It looked like he just made it up on the spot.

It's also interesting that these scenes by the dumpsters are the quivalent of S1 & 2's walk in scenes where both Syd & Carmy go for a moment of peace to clear their thoughts and "cool off". We don't see those this season but we do get these which is more like them sorting out all the chaotic thoughts & feelings inside them, separating the "trash" from the good stuff, "the bad from the good" like Carmy said he wanted/needed to do to achieve his legacy in 3x07.

In the Faks scene listen to all the "we" and "us" talk;

"If we did it when it was scheduled. We do though. We do it, Carm. All we do is break down boxes. We break 'em down and we have to do it again. Who would wanna haunt us? Who's pissed at us? Sammy's pissed at us."

Until Claire is mentioned (a sobering thought for Carmy) and it's suddenly "Not us. Just you. Not us." Reality hit for a moment and the imaginary friends want to separate themselves from him because they're not "real" & they didn't upset Claire so she can't be mad at them. I think Carmy is the only "real" one in this scene. The Faks are the imaginary friends/inner voices that seem like they're helping the main character but they're really just causing more chaos and leading him down the wrong path because they're misunderstanding what he wants based on what he's forcing himself to think about; Claire. (I lowkey think Carmy's forcing memories of Claire to stop himself from thinking about Sydney.)

The transition of Carmy talking to himself with The Fak's representing two parts of his mind aka "two minds" going straight into Syd talking to herself & voicing out loud what she'd say to both Shapiro and Carmy like she's having a mental conversation with two different people and that she's in "two minds". "I wanted to start off by saying I'm grateful" sounds formal and directed at Adam Shapiro. "Ok so I wanted to talk to you..." sounds more personal and directed at Carmy. It's a similar concept of being in two minds used in a slightly different context but in this show and the writing specifically, context is all over the place anyway.

Also the transition into the Syd scene is to drive home the point that Carmy was just having a conversation with himself, trying to convince himself that Claire is peace, she's "good" etc. For this scene (and possibly this scene only) Theodore is the stubborn part of Carmy that doesn't like to be pushed around who thinks stuff like "Yeah but I'd see his ass" about Sammy Fak. And you know there's a part of Carmy that would have that attitude but the conscious part of him is smarter than that. Neil is the more sweet, anxious side of Carmy that is kind of "away with the fairies" a little bit, in his own head a lot. Carmy is the regular, conscious, "real" Carmy trying to figure out the mental mess he's in.

I think transitioning into that Syd scene was also to callback to the only other times Syd or Carmy spoke aloud to themselves. I might be forgetting something but I think all these scenes are the only times we see either of them have full conversations with themselves out loud in S3..? Someone let me know if that's wrong please.

Side note- From one perscpective: Carmy's reaction to Theodore calling Claire "a piece of ass" was so...unaffected??! Could you imagine if someone said that about Syd?? He bit Richie's head off for calling her "sweetheart" in 1x01 and physically put himself between them so I can't imagine he'd take it that lightly if it was about Syd...From another perpective, if this scene is all about Carmy's inner thoughts, is he asking himself if that's how he sees Claire? I don't think he does intentionally but it's a valid question considering the show seems to use physical intimacy as a substitute for any real connection between them. If Claire & Carmy never kissed or had sex, would anyone see that relationship as a romance?? I really don't think so tbh, the physical initmacy is the only thing about their scenes that confirms it's supposed to be seen as a romance. Meanwhile SydCarmy are drowning in real connection before any physical intimacy.

Anyone please feel free to jump in and add your thoughts, I'd love to know your perspectives on seeing all these scenes together @thoughtfulchaos773 @sydcarmyfan @yannaryartside @currymanganese @vacationship @afrofairysblog @greekyogurttragedy @tvfantic87 @moodyeucalyptus @gingergofastboatsmojito @ambeauty @whenmemorydies @brokenwinebox and anyone else who wants to jump in is welcome to.

[zeroducks-2]

The pearl clutching about supposed incest is ridiculous… so many pieces of media employ the high school sweethearts/grew up together trope for straight couples and you never see people up in arms about it, why such vitriol when a gay ship has a similar story?

People who use the word incest as a spectrum drive me insane.

Like yall, incest means sexual intercourse with a relative within the prohibited degree of consanguinity. Consanguinity means BLOOD RELATIONSHIP. You can't toss around the word incest to vaguely mean that these two guys were not raised under the same roof, did not grow up together, didn't even MEET up to when one was 17 and the other 20, and the only tie they have is that as young vigilantes, they were mentored by the same guy.

I don't give a shit about your feelings on how "it looks like incest" because it's not. You can't assign random words to things and demand they're true. Jason and Tim have less personal ties than Dick and Wally for fucks sake - at least Dick and Wally lived under the same roof for a time and have been close since they were 12ish. So I'm sorry but idgaf about people whining that we need to tag "batcest" and such because they get triggered by idk what the fuck, because that is not incest, it can never be incest in any planet or any galaxy regardless of how you spin it, so go clutch your pearls somewhere else and fuck off. I'll tag things when the tag APPLIES.

Also, how come it's "batcest" when it's Tim and Jason, but it's totally fine when it's Tim and Stephanie? How come it's "batcest" when it's Jason and Dick, and all good when it's Dick and Barbara? Or when it's Barbara and Tim, or Dick and Helena Bertinelli?

When you only give a pass to the het couples it really starts sounding like the umpteenth fucking excuse for homophobia.

[fumifooms]

Marchil crumbs masterpost

Because I can and I will. Someone already made a tiny one way back but I lost it idk if it was here or on reddit… And we’re so small that we have no tag… I can’t credit you sorry marchil warrior you are not forgotten. I’ll definitely updating this whenever I find a new crumb. We’ve already reached the 30 pics cap part 2 coming soon. They do interact a ton I suppose. As always it’s not because I put moments on here that I’m saying they’re inherently romantic blablabla.

Part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7

My vision: Unstoppable force vs immovable object. Corrupt (money) bitter divorcee and corrupt (magic) hopeless romantic. Emotional constipation vs emotional intelligence. Streets savvy vs prestigious academic. Girl with the longest lifespan possible who has trauma over loss x guy with the shortest lifespan who has trauma over past romance. They would take their romantic interest to the fricking grave.  Halfling vs elf. Emotionally distant vs clingy and needy… Not that Chilchuck doesn’t seek her attention plenty ngl. By all means they are so incompatible and yet their dynamic is so delightful, opposites certainly do attract if Kui’s to be believed because these two constantly drift towards each other.

To me they're the embodiment of "If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known". Oh actually that'd apply to Laios and Dunmeshi as a whole as well-

She’s his worst nightmare. Opening up to someone?? The audacity to ask that of him. She raises his blood pressure to dangerous levels. He would risk his life for her.

—

HIS WORST NIGHTMARE (what he needs). She's classified as a friend who won’t shut up btw Notice how on the dating sim chapter cover, the clicky hand is always on the choice he ended up choosing in canon except for two, Falin’s and Marcille’s. Meaning he may have hesitated on it, on telling her she was pretty? She’s front and center~

It’s notable that Marcille is the main victim of his teasing, he criticizes Laios and everyone plenty but teasing is done much more towards her than anyone else, and we can see that it is something he enjoys. Perhaps one of the things that put him in a good mood the most, besides alcohol and laughing at others in general lol. Here’s a post compiling a lot of that teasing: link

He often confronts her about things and teases/insults her but it's always without any real animosity, sometimes having problems with her actions but never disliking her.

She craves his approval? More likely than you think.

Chilchuck having a sparkly flustered Marcille on his mind and failing to pull her ponytail so she'd give him her attention the right way, then being devastated when she claps back lol. For as much as he teases her, she’s very much able to stand up for herself when it goes too far and to challenge him on some flaws he may have.

Marcille’s canon shapeshifter of Chilchuck is the most convincing one/last one standing! In which he was nicer because Marcille still had some trouble not seeing him as young and thus innocent. Which besides the whole age thing, her having an accurate but nicer version of Chilchuck in her mind is pretty flattering lol

In the earlier chapters they stick by each other the most, often sharing knowing glances and judging the other together. They share this complicity and "wow finally someone sane in this party" energy that none of the others have in quite that way. Comrades in disgust.

-----

He cannot escape her gossip, she will not rest until she knows all and has met his family and romanticized his life and relationships. She’s the one who pushes Chilchuck to be more open about himself the most. Which, we do also see her being jealous when Chilchuck opens up more to others instead of her, like pic below. Moreover, we see that she’s able to read him like a book to the point that it freaks him out!! Oh the horror of being known… Relationship goals, freak him out bc you understand him so well Oh can I just point out as well that they're the only ones who saw each other's succubus. Like wow knowing each other's most alluring form? Dayum

When doing her theory about what happened between him and his wife, the pictures where her roleplaying as his wife, like literally with her being a half-foot like in the changeling chapters and the mini chilchuck for a baby lmaooo. Which I just now realized that means Marcille’s question about if his wife has blonde hair is valid, we technically don’t know if he already liked blondes or if it’s an acquired taste. Give me a sec to recover from that-

But yeah Marcille is so people-obsessed that she catalogues every little detail about someone, like how Chilchuck complains when he has to wait after someone… She notices things and takes them in stride even if they’re flaws. (In first page, it's the bottom row middle panel)

She wanted to sleep in his bed when Izutsumi was being clingy and she didn't want to sleep alone <3

Here he goes to her to either help her stay upright or comfort her… Uncharacteristic of him but very sweet. What are you gonna do if she collapses on you big guy, collapse along in a show of solidarity?

He's been shown to make sure Marcille stays safe a few times as well, like below. No I will not accept "she's the healer of the party" as a full explanation. He really does get an arc, from not wanting to be anywhere near the battlefield to sticking by his party members. Unlike Laios, Senshi and Izutsumi they both tend to hang in the back in battles, I love how they often strategize together as well.

The reverse is also sometimes true. Especially with how non-shy Marcille is with physical contact, interestingly she's way less delicate about saving others than him lol.

He’s the only one shown to flinch when she makes a noisein the bath which leads me to think he’s the one most flustered by the whole Marcille changing and bathing close by thing, it prob doesn’t help that he has great hearing but yeah, he seems to be hyperaware of her presence in those instances and overreacts.

"Come with me and braid my hair every day!" Meanwhile Chilchuck is fighting for his life holding her at an arm’s length

I can’t believe this is on his ADVENTURER’S BIBLE DESCRIPTION like that thing is one big paragraph about his whole character and you allotted that important limited space for this. Kui do you hear yourself

Part 2 here

[alaynestone]

not to be overly applying real life concepts to a silly cw show lol but there's also something very perfect-victimy about the way people dismiss dean's victimhood vs sam's. like because dean's sarcastic or represses a lot of emotion or something people dismiss the things he went through. like obviously HE wants to forget about it and pretend it didn't happen, that's the point! but why are so many people dumb enough to hop right on board with that and literally erase/ignore things that happened to dean in the show (oftentimes in favor of pretending they happened to sam instead lol)... idk it's just a very weird thing that makes me feel protective of dean's character and what he represents in a way i don't usually with fictional characters. i love sam too but some of the samgirls or whatever take on a very cutting and aggressive tone that's slightly upsetting sometimes ngl. it just feels weirdly personal, not even at dean as much as like. anyone who dares to relate to dean as a character

i happen to think this "silly cw show" is actually far better at depicting complex trauma than people give it credit for.

but yeah, you are spot on here. it's absolutely about creating a perfect victim in sam and hyperfocusing on that while throwing nuance and context out the window entirely. even going all the way back to their childhood where dean is held fully responsible for the ways he responded to john's abuse by adapting rather than rebelling. dean is either considered responsible for his own situation or not a victim at all. he "liked" it, he perpetuated the "cycle", he was a lost cause, he was inferior to sam (and people loooove being classist about this, they think they're comedians) etc. which of course is NOT AT ALL the narrative presented to us by the show and erases the fascinating ways the brothers' arcs were paralleled throughout the seasons. for example, in season 2 you have dean only starting to confront the million ways john messed him up when he's not around anymore, just as sam is confronting his own destiny. the show explicitly links these two things yet dean is somehow generally viewed as the brother who's in charge of his own life. dean, who was controlled by his father until he was 27 and already in 1x11 admitting to sam that he admired him for making his own choices. i can't stress enough how "the one and only victim sam who completely lacks autonomy" is a fandom invention. and for what?

what you said about feeling protective of dean i think has always been part of his appeal. sam always had dean looking out for him, dean had no one. sam, even at his lowest, fundamentally valued himself and his own personhood, dean could never afford to because the survival of his family was up to him. he never coddled himself or let himself off the hook for a single perceived failure and i'm supposed to pile on? nah. his anger is so explosive in later seasons because he was never free to express his own feelings growing up and go through the regular stages teenagers and young adults do. i think there's a big effort to erase these nuances because if the actual story is taken into account, then it's impossible to forget how much dean went through so sam wouldn't have to. that sadly also ignores the impact it had on their relationship with dean's buried resentment towards sam, as well as sam's guilt for not always being there for dean in return. nearly every terrible traumatic thing sam experienced over the duration of the show is something dean had experienced already. at my most cynical, i think the purpose of reframing dean as this all powerful oppressor is because sam can only win the trauma olympics if dean is no longer vulnerable at all, no longer dean. and yes the trauma olympics approach is pointless, but if they're gonna insist on going there first, i'm not gonna hold back.

i mentioned sam's flinching and how it's valued as a trauma response compared to dean's anger but the thing is...before the cage, sam used to rage at dean and the entire world. his own anger nearly ate him up which he acknowledges multiple times. yet again, back when dean was fresh out of hell and sometimes genuinely freaked out by sam, including when he flinched at sam using his powers, it's still perceived as dean being cruel and abusive to sam. if sam feels bad about the moral implications and consequences of his actions it's because dean won't instantly get over it and support him. if dean doesn't trust him, it must be dean's fault alone. sam is the only one whose pov is taken into consideration and the only one whose feelings can be hurt. so it is a perfect victim thing but also about how only one of them gets to lash out and be vindictive and messy and remain sympathetic and good. essentially, sam gets to be a person but dean can only ever be sam's own personal giving tree.

it's classic fandom woobification with the childish "my fave can do no wrong" rhetoric, but since it's 2024 it's now hidden behind words like autonomy/cycles/abuse and passed around as objective analysis.

[invinciblerodent]

Musings about the Thorm family

(HEAVY Act 2 spoilers ahead!)

As I'm replaying the game and mucking around the Shadow-Cursed Lands, I... can't seem to stop thinking about the Thorms.

I could be interpreting things all wrong here, but it seems to me that Thisobald, Malus, and Gerringothe Thorm, they're... all supposed to be Ketheric's relatives, no? The information on how exactly they're related is confusing (I've found places on their wiki pages where they call them all Ketheric's siblings, one where Malus is said to be Ketheric's uncle, but Thisobald keeps referring to Ketheric as "father" which I don't know if he means more as creator, as in if he's supposed to be Balthazar's twisted creation that merely sees Ketheric as a father or what) so it's unclear how exactly they're supposed to be related, but... they are still Thorms. Ketheric's, and by extension Isobel's family, who were all alive before Reithwin would have succumbed to the shadows and the Dark Justiciars.

Like, I don't claim to have perfect understanding of the timeline at all, I could totally be seeing this all wrong, but as I'm interpreting things now... it's said that the Thorms were a powerful Selûnite family, and the patriarch, Ketheric, a renowned general and paladin(?), turned to Shar worship in his devastation over the loss of his wife Melodia, and his daughter Isobel. He turned his back on Selûne, and led an army of Dark Justiciars against the Selûnite town of which he had once been in control, and both kidnapped her daughter's lover and Selûne's own daughter Aylin, and before his defeat, unleashed the Shadow-Curse that ended up corrupting the very spirit of the land, Thaniel. (My guess is that the intent was to kill Thaniel, but he was merely torn asunder by the curse, and the part of him that stayed himself managed to flee to the Shadowfell before he would have lost his power, while the damaged part of him that stayed behind made a home in Oliver's body.) Then, as he was brought back to life by Myrkul, Ketheric agreed to sell his soul in exchange for his daughter to also be brought back to life; true resurrection. On this much, I'm (mostly) clear. This mostly makes sense to me.

..... But the rest of the family... also all watched this entire thing happen. They too lost first Melodia, then Isobel, to death, then Ketheric to madness and then death, and then themselves as well.

Sure, they were likely corrupt even while alive, I'm not arguing that they weren't. Of course they were. But the little notes around town, they only say that Ketheric put his relatives in charge, and that the Thorms had the "cushy jobs". And I assume they were... all pretty normal people then, all things considered, because none of the notes I've found mention that, btw, the tollmaster has recently taken to wearing a suit of gold, dunno what that's about, or that the surgeon had blades for fingers, idk if you noticed, though those would be pretty important things to note about them.

Malus was likely the worst, with how ardently he seems to have taken to true Shar-worship, even with a clear mind (the medical textbook he wrote is described as crisp and detailed, blending Sharran aphorisms with genuine medical science), and how many atrocities it's suggested that he's committed, but... before getting his fantasy!medical license revoked, he likely was a genuine healer, a doctor. Not a cleric, but a surgeon. The head to the House of Healing as more than just a figurehead, before his curse-warped mind would have led him down this dark path, and since none of the memos and notes seem to have been dated, we don't actually know how far gone he was when he wrote things like "anaesthetic is a tool to relieve my ears of my subject's screams as I apply the blade, not a mercy to be freely dispersed to living corpses". Could have been during the assault, could have been decades later, we don't actually know.

Gerringothe, sure, she was greedy and corrupt, but she was... just a clerk, a toll collector. She pinched and pilfered valuables, but the curse, it amplified all her worst qualities, and I think drove her to madness quickly- likely even before things got so bad as for her to become what we meet her as, this devilish-looking, emaciated being masquerading as a golden statue. She seems to have quickly devolved to having horrible outbursts of anger that had her employees hide in safes to save themselves from her, but before? I... don't know if I've found anything to suggest that she was likely to have been all that much worse than many other characters in similar positions. She was likely just a corrupt official with a mean streak, looking to make a buck on the side. (I can't figure out why she is the only one of the three with the "fey ancestry" passive feature though. Ketheric and Isobel have it as well, but the others don't seem to??? Are they just too far gone???? Idk????)

And Thisobald... I think he was a pretty young man when he was put in charge of The Waning Moon. And even in undeath, he's very gregarious, genuinely friendly for someone in his situation, and he sounds almost innocent as he ushers you to the bar, sits you down, and requests that you drink with him and delight him, tell him stories about your adventures for which he rewards you by answering your questions to the best of his ability. (He makes a silly li'l poop joke when you talk about the Grymforge, ffs! He's just a chap! A dude! A sweet little fella!)

The undead patrons' dialogue and the book in the backroom at least reveals that Thisobald was a distiller, a brewer once- but as the curse (and likely Balthazar, given the extensive disfigurement of his body, what with the four legs, the tail, and the tank on his back) warped his mind, he seems to have turned more and more towards stronger and stronger toxins, poisons. (Because, well, what is alcohol if not a less harmful poison?) He seems to have become obsessed with creating a deadly powerful toxin, and then, once his mind was too warped but before he could finish it, he seems to have lost interest in that as well, and "lived" from that point only to drink his poisonous brews, and be merry.

It's just... all so sad. How just one man's inability to cope with loss ruined him, his remaining family, his town, and so many lives after as well; how he blighted the land for a hundred years and caused so much suffering, just because he could not accept the loss which he alleged to turn to worship.

Ketheric was never a true worshipper of Shar. He could never actually embrace loss or absence as holy. But he did drag everyone still dear to him down with him for it.

edit- just fixed a typo

[miquella-everywhere]

Yo, I made a post that I wanted to spread around about how Freyja’s lore might NOT be lore-breaking at all

https://www.tumblr.com/siris-neon/756098098811568128/so-many-people-seem-to-think-that-freyjas-story

I wanna know what you think of it, because it’s kinda sad to see people interpreting her story in the worst way possible, there’s plenty of things to criticize about the DLC but I don’t think Freyja’s story is one of them, but I might be getting something wrong(idk if I’m supposed to send a link or there’s a way to post your post in asks I’m pretty new to this)

Hmmmm. I personally don't like applying player logic to npcs, like we Tarnished can die and come back multiple times and that's because how video games work. If we were to contract scarlet rot and it would be lore accurate, basically incurable, it would honestly really suck if we were stuck like that for the rest of tge game(would be cool if fromsoft gave us a meta reason for why we come back from death but evidently they can't write that well lol) So yeah, and then you go to what Freyja says, and I quote, "Miquella sucked the scarlet rot out of her." Preserving Boluses don't suck out Scarlet Rot, if anything they're more like consumables I suppose. Also there is no proof of Miquella having astral projection as one of his skills, so idk 🤷

The point is, Miquella essentially did something that would be considered lore breaking both to the logic of the incurable Scarlet Rot and the fact that he tried everything to cure Malenia's own scarlet rot and his Unalloyed Needled couldn't even cure Millicent, only halt the rot.

Its a mess all around and seriously Fromsofts writing at its absolute weakest :(

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for complaining about a teacher?

context before i start: the class i'm in takes up 3 hours of the day, and was the only reason i came to this school in the first place. it's an art school and is supposed to be somewhat serious—like, you have to apply to get in. but the 2 years i've been here we've had like 4 teachers (+ there have been even more before that) and none of them have been qualified for the job whatsoever

our newest teacher just got out of college and doesn't know what she's doing. she doesn't assign work that's actually creatively challenging, 1 hour of class time is usually dedicated to a really bad prompt and the rest of the time is independent work, it's barely an actual art class. she also never talks to the class and doesn't really have a clue what's going on ever. supposedly she has a degree but she just seems so. confused. the reason i'm still at this school is because i know people here who live upwards of 40 minutes away who i'm very close with + along with that i'm also autistic so any kind of drastic change would be hell. unfortunately leaving, though it would be the best option for me, is just not an option at all

anyway, we're already a quarter of the way through the year and people are still saying to cut her some slack because she's... new. which is kind of exactly what the issue is? i went through something similar to this last year because one of our previous teachers gave me really bad vibes and just didn't really work, so i complained about her to my classmates, and then i went to the administration about some issues i was having and she ended up quitting a few weeks after. people thought i got her fired on purpose. i was a little bit overly angry looking back so idk i can't blame them

anyway, i recently went to the admin about this new teacher (unlike last time, i tried to "give her grace" and hope for improvement, even though... idk... i just don't see it happening) but haven't really held back in complaining about her to my classmates too. most of the time people will say i'm being overly negative, or they don't want her to get fired, and honestly it's just fucking wild to me. they've also made comments about how she's not a good teacher! like everyone agrees that she's just not ready for this position and they're really sick of not being able to learn things! when i do complain though it's like i'm messing up some kind of social contract there is to just not do anything about the problem we're having and it's really confusing and frustrating

but at the same time i do wonder if this is me being overly critical and nitpicky of a situation that i shouldn't be. to me, because of aforementioned autism, i have a really strong sense of justice. this kind of stuff seriously bothers me and it upsets me that nobody else is as affected by the unfairness as i am?? idk. i just want the class to actually be worthwhile because the academics are really good

so AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[codenamesazanka]

absolutely insane to me that Deku went and saved Shigaraki without a single thought about him and his situation. and it was justified. I know it's supposed to be brave and heroic and admirable, that he just ran head first into 'wanting to save that crying child', and in some ways it is, but it just. weird how we barely get any reflection or inner thoughts about it from him.

it's not like he was facing any strong opposition to saving Shigaraki - no questions of 'but shigaraki is dangerous, is this the moral thing to do, does he deserve this, why focus on him and no one else, why do you feel so strongly about this, if you hadn't seen that crying child then what?', so it wasn't even like he was shrugging off those hard answers. Ignoring naysayers and obstacles. Powering through with an iron will. Didn't need to address it! 'I wanna save that crying child'.

Even Shigaraki asks him, via the memories of Stain and Overhaul and ReDestro. But Deku just says 'no!' and that's that.

Ultimately the answer we get is 'he just wants to relieve Shigaraki's pain, he believes everyone has the same hearts'... but that motivation doesn't even come from him in the form of a shonen protag shout proclamation. Someone else has to do it for him?????

And that reasoning is nice and all! but it's so easy to bring up examples like Muscular, or AFO, and wonder if he thinks they have the same heart too, and wouldn't he want to help them as well? And because like I said above, he's never challenged on this, he never elaborates on why he might save Shigaraki but not Muscular, it makes the 'same heart' creed vague. it makes it feels like either some people actually don't have the same hearts because they're innately evil, or he needs to see them cry before he wants to help. or, idk, they did stuff so evil their hearts doesn't matter any more. Shigaraki did that too, evil stuff, but what separates Shigaraki from them is The Crying Child. And so good thing AFO has never shed real tears even as a baby (because he's innately evil).

admittedly it's really only when the societal angle was at play in Shigaraki Tomura's development that those questions are relevant, so now that it's revealed AFO plotted everything, none of that really matters. Questions of what is deserved, whether it's right to save this guy who wants to annihilate entire islands, if he even should be paying attention to villains - all rendered irrelevant. AFO was behind all of Shigaraki's actions, so the questions can't be applied to him, he was a puppet victim, so Deku was right to want to save him.

head empty, only 'save shigaraki'. and then—'head empty' justified, because none of the issues surrounding Shigaraki was real; 'head empty' justified, because things like 'what creates victims? what turns them into villains? why are they doing what they're doing' doesn't matter. AFO was behind it all.

Yeah, yeah, I know other people that addressed the non-AfO-caused issues. But that's the thing. other heroes addressed it. Not Deku. Shouldn't he have been part of addressing it, since he wants to be the greatest hero??? Oh, but maybe it's better if he doesn't, because then he won't be a pillar? the work is shared?

idk. Just doesn't work for me. must be working for other people though, and I'm jealous.

also. this all makes moments like at the mall and Jaku, where Shigaraki was essentially point blank giving away his damage - All Might smiling like there's no one he can't save, Heroes sweep pain under the rug - terrible in retrospect cuz like. he just ignored Shigaraki. You might say that what Shigaraki said was too vague for Deku to make out, but it's really not. literally, "All Might smiles because he thinks there's no one he can't save" is just overflowing with resentment, and in Jaku Shigaraki looked like this:

beseeching to the heavens.

It's not quite that Deku sees pain and wants to relieve it in general, else he would've wanted to help Shigaraki from the start. It has to be in the form of someone super sympathetic. the crying child.

I guess I have to hand it to him that once he finally does feel sympathy, Deku will stop at nothing to want to save.

I just think that's a terrible pre-requisite.

[hillbillyoracle]

My Care Kit

I've hesitated posting about this because I know it's not hard for this to get to the wrong side of the site - because even though there's been an awesome shift in the conversation about how care can look at different levels of functioning, we're still not really there yet. So if you're rude in the comments, tags, or reblogs, expect to blocked. Cause I just don't have it in me.

With that out of the way, I wanted to talk about what's been allowing me to be infinitely more regular with skincare, grooming, and to a lesser degree dental routines - my care kit.

It's not mindblowing or original. I basically just took all the stuff I was storing in the bathroom and store it in my bedroom to use there. I'm sure plenty of people have figured this out before me but it took me a minute to realize how helpful this is.

So what's in here?

Skincare

CeraVe AM Moisturizer

The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid

Good Molecules Discoloration Correcting Serum

CereVe "in the Tub" - Moisturizing Cream

Differin Gel*

*Differing Gel is something I only use when I take this kit to the bathroom as it's important to wash your hands after using a retinol

"But you're supposed to use it on wet skin!" - yeah I know. I keep a small spray bottle in here to wet my skin before applying

"But that can mold!" - yeah I know. It's a small one and I use it up in a few days before I need to refill it. I try to clean it regularly too.

But ultimately done is better than none. I accept some risk in order to make this accessible to me. My skin is no longer so dry it's cracking and getting infected. Thank god.

Grooming

Native Deodorant - Black Oak + Amber

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab & Sphere and Sundry - Her Eyes That Were Full of Shining Perfume Oil

Kat Von D - Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in "Witches"

Besame Cosmetics - Black Cake Mascara

Tweezerman Tweezers

I don't use all of this all of the time but I appreciate having the option. Sometimes you know you're not getting out of bed but you'd like to look nice. Sometimes looking nice helps you get out of bed.

Not pictured but I keep a small mirror on my shelf near where I store this bag. I use that for make up and tweezing. When tweezing, I wipe the edges off with a tissue then toss it the next time I get up. I also rinse it the next time I use it at the sink. Not perfect, I know. But it helps.

I do have a facial razor in here, but I only use that at the sink at the moment. I also want to swap from disposable to reusable soon. But baby steps and all that.

Dental

And now for the part that will horrify some people and be saving grace to others.

Disposable pre-pasted toothbrushes

Sea to Summit Collapsible Cup with Lid

I won't be accepting comments on this. It's personal and I hesitated to share this because I know it's polarizing. But I know there's something like me out there for whom this would help a ton.

I have a horrible reaction to most toothpastes. I'm talking brush my teeth for 2 minutes, shitting on the toilet for multiple hours afterwards bad. It is miserable and makes me terrified to brush my teeth. I also have just always struggled with it and been shamed a lot for it.

These dang pre-pasted toothbrushes for some reason I do not react to. Idk if it's the fact I toss them after or the paste they're using somehow doesn't have the thing I'm reacting to but I can finally brush my teeth without unbearable cramps afterward.

I recommend them for people who are depressed, bedbound, or otherwise can't get to the sink to brush their teeth though. For me it falls into the camp of medical waste - which no one should be shaming anyone for - if it's this or nothing.

The collapsible cup will also put some people off. What I do is spit into the cup, cap it, then empty and clean it whenever I get up next. Gross? Maybe. But it works. I've not had issues with smell this way and since it's capped, there's no way to spill it if I lose my balance or accidentally kick it.

Miscellaneous

Holotaco Nail Kit

Badger Sleep Balm

The nail kit was a gift and boy oh boy is it nice. You don't need this one but something like this is a godsend. It is so nice to be able to clip nails back, file them, and clean them up without needing to like make a session of it in the bathroom. I'm considering adding my fav base coat, nail polish, and top coat so I can more easily paint them too.

Badger Sleep Balm has become a part of how I wind down and also how I help recover from panic attacks. I've taught myself some basics of self massage and use this to make it go a little easier. I really recommend learning. There are some good videos on youtube and I get fewer cricks in my neck now.

Conclusion

I really hope this helps someone out. Maybe this doesn't suit your particular use case but I hope it serves as an example that sometimes you're not keeping your desired routines because the environment needs a redesign and sometimes that requires thinking outside the box a little.

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

I love how it's "Just because you had a crappy life, doesn't justify what you're doing!" For the villains, yet it's also "give them a break, they've been through too much 🥺" for the people we're supposed to root for

Sadly, this applies to both series

I would say that unfortunately despite loving it more this is far more of a problem in Helluva in my eyes personally. I have to give Hazbin its props where they're due. Yes Alastor being acceptable while Valentino is the scum of the Earth is definitely uh shall we say a bit off beat, Adam is a really great antagonist in a lot of ways. While antagonists being stupid idiots all the time is getting old with these shows, making the villain of Hazbin S1 specifically a guy whos constantly been celebrated to the point be believes hes basically incapable of any wrong. Idk. I really really love it! I think it works really well in a lot of ways.

Its a shame despite liking it a fair bit more, Helluva is so all over the place and confused in comparison I would say. Assassinating people or killing them due to negligence is funny and fine (including other hellborn not just people on Earth with an afterlife waiting!)... until Striker wants to kill a rich person, then its rich people phobia and its soooooo horrible and bad. Its honestly just a joke how confused it all is, and imo it all consistently boils down to how Helluva wants to discuss class but just cannot properly. Because to do it properly would be to admit even nice cute wooby gays like Ozzie and Stolas benefit from it and are complicit in it. Hazbin feels at least more consistent in wanting to point out that being in heaven forever or hell forever is far too black and white and extreme.

Thats just my opinion on the 2 but yeah, I really feel like Hazbin did nail it by making the sinners actually change and better themselves, and have to face harsh truths. They are rewarded by seeking genuine bonds with others too. While Adam is so sure what hes doing is righteous and fine and he never questions how he treats anyone. He would never question himself - and this arrogance cost him his life. Ngl I really like it.

I do think perhaps some tweaks would have been nice. Like Adam not swearing in front of other heavenly figures, but openly doing it around underlings or hell's denizens would have been an amazing touch - kinda like an awful spoiled college guy coming home for Christmas dinner and pretending to be all cute and upstanding to his parents, maybe it could have even been a subconscious thing. But, as it is it feels a lot less confused to me, what Hazbins been going for so far Vs. Helluva. Even if Hazbin is too rushed.

[rayofmisfortune]

WOOOO A DP WIP THAT I MAY OR MAY NOT FINISH BUT DON'T WANT IT TO ROT IN MY NOTES APP AND WILL PROBABLY REGRET POSTING LATER!

Idk where to go with it atp so uhhh... yea lol. I love fics where Danny gets stuck as Phanton so- that's what this was supposed to be. May end up rewriting it completely at some point but I just don't want it to rot and catch dust like all my other fic wips hehe.

This was my first time ever writing any of the dp characters so they may be ooc?

Cw for panic, dissection talk (it's the Fentons, come on), dehumanization (unsure if that applies but, just in case)

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Danny was hiding out in an inconspicuous alleyway. A... hopefully enough out of the way alleyway that certain ghost hunters, aka his parents, wouldn't find him in in the matter of a few minutes.

Considering his streak of luck this day, his hopes of having more than a few minutes of respite were close to zilch.

They shot him! And now he's stuck as Phantom. He can't turn back and they're after him and he can't escape can't hide can't do anything-

The Fentons have been chasing after Danny almost the whole night. Always hot on his tail, no matter where the half-ghost went. Unable to turn back to his flashy sleep deprived teenager self. His parents had proudly showcased their upgraded ghost tracking technology that morning. The excuses he had to make to them when the Specter Tracker snapped in his direction the moment his Mom turned it on were... awkward at best, unbelievable at worst.

'Must be the ectocontamination messing with the, the um… tracker!' Ignore the fact that if that were the case it would also hone in on you, please please please

'Fenton Specter Tracker, Danny-o!'

'... with the Fenton Specter Tracker.' Aaaand totally not because I'm the thing you're tracking down ahah. That would be crazy, right?

That was this morning. (Or was it yesterday morning now?) This was now.

And right now?

He's stuck in ghost mode. After being shot by his parents! His bad luck probably started right that very morning (yesterday morning?), not just with the Specter Tracker fiasco, but with the fact his parents didn't bother to share a very important tidbit of information! They managed to upgrade the Ecto-Stoppo-Power-Erfier (TM pending). The one he was shot by that one time in the lab? Yeah, that very one. It's pocket size now!

... if the pockets could fit a microwave... NOT IMPORTANT!

Danny had been out on patrol, because of course he had to go on patrol before an important English test that could shift his final grade from an F to a D. Not that he could've known this would happen, but he should've at least had enough common sense to figure something may screw up his already fucked up sleep schedule.

And of course he had to leave his phone at home. So he can't contact Tucker, Sam or Jazz to help him out of this honestly sad situation.

Calling this sad is an understatement. Terrible, horrifying, nightmare come to life would be more accurate if Danny's being honest with himself.

Yeah, sure, he could prooobably risk it and fly all the way home from the other side of Amity Park, crash land into Jazz's room, give her a heart attack and hope she maybe had some ideas as to how to get him back to (his usual) normal.

One itty bitty problem with that one. Danny's pretty sure the tracker his parents made is honed in on his specific ecto signature, so the second he moves, they're on their way. Fenton Blasters loaded and at the ready. Also, the whole thing with his powers slowly stopping to work? Yeah, that as well.

Fun, so much fun. This was definitely how he wanted to spend his evening/night/early morning, when he should be catching up on his sleep debt. Sarcasm by the way, if it wasn't obvious enough.

The roar of an engine snaps Danny out of his swirling thoughts. The roar of a <em>very</em> familiar engine.

The GAV.

He's out of time.

Danny scrambles back up to his feet from where he was leaning against a dumpster. Yuck. The half-ghost shudders at the prospect of being found so soon after escaping within an inch of his not-life.

He pressed his back against the alley's wall, his core hammering away in his chest, and willed himself with everything he had to go intangible before it's too late. The all too familiar sensation crawls through his body, slower than usually, but he's phased through the wall just in time before the GAV screeches to a stop at the entrance to the alley.

Danny stays invisible and intangible, all the while his parents' feet landed on the pavement of the night streets. He listens with bated breath (he doesn't need to breathe) as Fenton Blasters are loaded, safety off, ready to shoot anything that moves. The Fentons slowly creep into the alley Danny had just been in. He can't see them, hidden in the wall as he is, but he can just about picture Mom making silent gestures to his Dad.

But of course, his Dad was never one to stay silent. "I can't wait to rip that ghost fiend apart molecule by molecule, Maddie!"

A soft sigh from his Mom, too close to the wall, too close too close. He's done for. They'll get him. "Honey, we have to run experiments on it before we do that."

"Oh, right." The sound of his Dad clearing his throat. "I can't wait to run experiments on the ghost fiend and rip it apart molecule by molecule once we're done, Maddie!" Then, more silently. "Was that better?"

His Mom chuckled warmly. "Yes, Jack." Too close too close too close

[stormy-days-27]

I just finished the pjo tv show. I disliked certain changes but overall I really enjoyed it!

main thing i disliked was they did a lot of telling and not showing. I think it might've been a time constraint, but like at every mythical place the crew walked in they already knew everything about it. like "this is medusa's place" and "this is the place of the lotus eaters, dont eat the flower" like no! they're supposed to figure all that out along the way!

other than that though it was pretty solid. I *loved* the percy & sally flashbacks, they added so much to not only percy's story but sally's as well. hot take, I actually like tv show sally better than book sally. and I will not shut up about her "not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster" speech! like, ik it's main point was foreshadowing luke's betrayal, but it's also applicable to the gods, medusa, hades, clarisse, and later down the line it could be applied to tyson, selena, and probably a bunch of others I'm forgetting. and also you can apply different characters perspectives to it. like who is a hero/monster to percy? to luke? to the gods? idk maybe I'm reading too much into it but I think it's really cool.

also another thing I'd like to say briefly. I love the way they handled medusa. the way it was written in the books always rubbed me the wrong way but this? so good. and the final battle between percy & luke (and also annabeth)? it wasnt book-accurate, but it captured the betrayal (on all sides) so accurately. it was great. also ares!! and hades!! hades is such a guy (/pos). overall, I loved the show so much.