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twwings · 16 days

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so I spent the last few months just marathoning The Magnus Archives??? I was curious and I have a long-ish commute that I need to fill with audio, so I went for it. I was somewhat spoiled by fanart I saw randomly over the years but not entirely spoiled, and I quite enjoyed it. Some thoughts (both positive and negative thoughts below) because I wanted to write them down as I chew over the show. Also my ramblings might be pleasurable to folks who are big fans and enjoy hearing about people listening to their thing for the first time?

Spoilers for all of TMA, but as I haven't listened to The Magnus Protocol yet (I'm sure I will) no spoilers for that.

thoughts in no particular order:

didn't know that my trypophobia could be activated aurally! thanks, season one. it's good to learn about yourself

because I had seen lots of fanarts around, I knew that Jon/Martin would eventually be a canon thing, so I just spent the early episodes making fun of Jon whenever he was mean about Martin. Jon would be like "ugh, Martin, amirite?" and I'd yell at the car speakers like "lol you're gonna MARRY that guy"

sometimes I found the show a little boring or too expositiony (like the episode where Leitner shows up) and it made me think a lot about the conditions of production, like, having fans who were super into the show and red stringing it up clearly made them want to explain things sometimes in a way not necessary to the story - or, at least, it didn't feel necessary to me as a casual listener who was coming in after the fact and not part of the fandom. maybe it felt necessary for other folks, or to the cast and crew at the time.

relatedly, oh god, I did not keep up with all the plotlines and stuff. like it took me a WHILE to realize that the show was not just gonna be standalone/anthology stuff and would have an overarching plot so I did not pay attention early on to repeated names or plots. and because I was listening on my commute I was like "welp, can't google it, gonna let it go" and I did. I'm here to tell you that the magnus archives is still enjoyable even if you don't care that much about what's going on

when I did really start to care was the end of season four/season five. absolutely love that they went there with the end of season four (I thought it'd just be a buffy-style "now we fight a BIGGER big bad at the end of this season" escalation forever, but no, they unleashed hell on earth, baller move, A+, loved it

so I was spoiled that Martin (and Jon? I wasn't sure) died at some point, though I didn't really know where or how. I also saw someone post something like "oh TMA, great show, too bad it ends after five minutes into episode 160" so from that I kind of extrapolated that Martin died in episode 160? so my experience of listening to that one was REALLY on tenterhooks because the first five minutes was Martin going for a nice walk! and then Jon getting taken over by the statement! so while listening to the middle bit of 160 I was convinced that when Martin came back from his walk Jon was gonna kill him (while possessed, obviously) as part of the ritual thing. so really the following 40 episodes of Martin being alive were pretty sweet to me. Every episode after that when Martin was alive I was like, score, bonus, love it, I'm glad Jon didn't stab him three seconds after they got into a relationship

kept listening for a physical description of Jon to match all the fanart and never got one? I guess the fanon of what Jon looks like is just super consistent for some reason?

hated Tim, I can't disguise it, I hated Tim and I was glad when he died and I was glad he didn't come back, sorry Tim fans, live your truth and I will live mine

wish there weren't so many cops on this show, tho the show did seem to recognize that a little in S5 and try to do some things about it

I'm just a huge sucker for every genre experiment in S5. omg I loved it. Terminus gets a coroner's report, The Unknowing gets slam poetry, The Flesh gets a gardening manual?????? mwah. it made me excited for the format of the statements again when they'd gotten stale. so many smart and interesting genre experiments in S5! and I, like Jon, don't even like poetry (just write some prose! I've never identified with a character more), so you know I'm impressed when I'm exclaiming about some poem

seriously! the genre experiments!!! so good

"queer couple navigate their new relationship and also The Hellscapes" = amazing, ty, also ty for doing it twice

somehow I managed not to notice the line about Jon being asexual at first and then I saw some tumblr post about it and I was like, wait what? my brain had gone pretty far down into some non-asexual fanfiction stories before I got that bit of canon and had to record-scratch freeze-frame. anyway I am pleased by the ace rep and hope to go read some non-sexual D/s for them in the future, please tell me if you know some good stuff

please also tell me if you know about fanfictions where Martin consensually feeds Jon his own memories and it's weird and intense

saw a cute fluffy domestic fanart where Jon was blind (ie had blinded himself to escape the eye) and I laughed and laughed that this is a fandom in which the happy fluffy AUs are the ones where the characters have violently blinded themselves. not to say I'm not gonna read the fluffy AUs where they've violently blinded themselves, I am, I'm sure they're lovely, it's just funny

don't think I wasn't thinking about Crowley and Aziraphale in the episode where Jon is like "what if we ran away together" in season four. When Jon is like "What if we ran away together, you and me, we could do it, what if we did" and he absolutely knows that Martin is not gonna say yes and maybe he doesn't want Martin to say yes but he wants to ask him anyway, he wants to try it anyway, because the fantasy of escape, together, is overpowering. anyway don't think I didn't think about Crowley

also laughed and laughed at the like four episodes at the end where Jon is like "maybe I should . . . . . . . . . . . become the Torment Nexus? From the classic scifi novel, Don't Become the Torment Nexus?" and first Martin and then everyone else is like "Jon, don't become the Torment Nexus" and it's really clear that you should not become the Torment Nexus but then later Jon says fuck it and becomes the Torment Nexus

I say it's really clear but the idea that you should strand and isolate and burn out the powers is not a bad one. I did like that the second to last episode was just a debate on morality with no clear resolution. that's a lovely way to send off your characters. tho it didn't matter a lot to the end plot? but still.

Jon "I think I'll just become the Torment Nexus" Simms, istg

THE TORMENT NEXUS

Sue Simms' voice is incredibly hot, Gertrude Robinson is absolutely deadass smokin, love how the Legend of Gertrude just built up over the seasons until by the end she was this like powerful callous avenging angel, no notes, might build a shrine in the woods with pictures of Gertrude in little jars

Gerry and Jurgen were both madly in love with her and she didn't notice or care because she was too busy kicking ass, no notes AT ALL

I really like the bit at the beginning of S5 where Jon is depression-listening to old archives tapes, like it's really effective to do the birthday party flashback just there when the world's just been apocalypsed, but I can't stop thinking about how Jon is listening to that tape and, in retrospect, being like "did Elias/Jonah use his all-powerful knowledge and vision to find out that there was cake in the office?" idk it really feels like Elias's motives in that flashback are like "eat cake" and no one else realizes that he's used his monstrous evil eye power to locate cake. anyway I imagine that Jon had all of these thoughts during his depression

Basira made me laugh ALL THE TIME, the voice acting was so good and she was so over everyone's shit. but at the same time there's this real softness to her at the end of S5 after she's killed Daisy, like she's still tough and grounded in her own perspective but suddenly more compassionate or sympathetic. she has such a good journey over the show

were Basira and Daisy a thing? I could not tell. maybe I should not ask. maybe I am not meant to know. maybe even asking shows how little I know, because their intense and murderous bond exceeds traditional relationship categories

I had a really nice time!!!

I will need to read fanfictions

I will need to watch animatics

I will need to seek out fanarts

the end

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartin

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dennythemenace · 2 months

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SPOILERS FOR UMBRELLA ACADEMY SEASON 4!!!

Everyone in season 4 was various levels of out of character.

Luther wasn't as bad. He has his previous aspect of trying to bring his family together. He cares for them and wants them to be together. But he didn't have it throughout the season. Also, considering his attitude towards Reginald in season 3, there is no way he would be that fine with being in the group to go see him. Overall, it would have made more sense if he was with Viktor in the let's go find and help Ben campaign instead of being a background character in relationship drama.

Diego would not have been an absent father. From his relationship with Stan to his anxiety of becoming his father, he would have been extremely involved. Most of the awkwardness with Stan was because Stan showed up at the age of 12 out of nowhere. Considering how he clearly had time to prepare for his children, he would have been more ready. Also, why did those twins never get named? It doesn't make sense for him to have his attitude about it with how old his kids are, and after losing Stan after just starting to get close and look after him. Also considering how forward Diego is, he should have confided in more of his siblings about his relationship issues that Five and Luther in the beginning. Which would have also induced more bonding. Overall he needed more scenes with his kids in general.

Allison would have clung harder to Claire. A big part of her character is her daughter. She spent the whole show trying to get back to her. She full ass re writes a timeline and makes a deal with her abusive father to get back to her. There is no way she would not be extremely overprotective. They also tried to paint the picture of her and Klaus always having that relationship when they did not. Sure, they were closer in season 2, but they were not always shown to have that specific Allison looking after Klaus thing. She should have also had more emotion shown about her actions back in season 3. Whether it be regret or apathy, something should have been shown. Yes, she has that minor talk with Viktor, but nothing else? Really?

Speaking of Klaus, where was his eccentric personality? Even when previously sober (majority of season 2), he still held onto his personality. If they were going to go the route they did with his characterization, they should have had a moment where he reminisced on the people he lost or something. He needed more to put him from point A to point B. Additionally, his separate side plot was ultimately useless. A thing about Klaus is that whatever odd side plot he has always ends up ultimately tying into the plot in a big way. He accidentally is productive. He finds the kugelblitz, he is the first sibling to meet Ray, he is half of the possession plotline which eventually leads to stopping the apocalypse, he's accidentally the reason the journal gets into Harold's hands, but how was his side stuff tied into the plot this season? Also, his relationship with Ben was completely un mentioned. With how Klaus is trying so hard to bond with him in season 3 while mourning his brother, there is no way he just has like no scenes with him in season 4. He wasn't there to remember Ben's death and there wasn't even a conversation about it.

Dear fuck, Five. Why did they give him a romantic interest in the first place? Not only does his character not need one or even close to needing one, his age makes any sort of romantic relationship just flat out weird. Between him being 18 or 19 physically, he's also mentally in his sixties. After the weird mid-season time skip, sure, he's physically in his mid-20s, but he's mentally 70. A relationship with anyone is weird. Let alone with Lila. It's also odd because Lila is arguably one of his only friends. They were a good duo because they were efficient and entertaining. Most of their screen time being shared is because of the commission, and they built a complicated friendship off of it. Key word friendship. Five has given so much time and time again for his family. He loves them and cares for them, even if he doesn't outright show it. He hides it beneath snark, but it's always been visible. He would not have a relationship with his brothers wife, especially knowing she did have a family back home. If anything, they would have become extremely co-dependent on each other, but not romantic. Also, Five would not be dumb enough to go travel back to go try and mess with the original Jennifer incident. He should have put up more of a protest against it, or have him agree to try when things are more desperate.

Ben after being re-introduced in season 3 is shown to be bad at being an antagonist, a part of a quote unquote family more dysfunctional than the Umbrellas and that deep down, he does want a family. In season 4, he claims to not be part of the Umbrellas family over and over again, yet is still getting together with them. He claims his family is dead, despite the fact that he did not view them that way in season 3. Also despite the fact that they tried to explain it away with the Cleanse messing with his mind, it was extremely weird how obsessed he got with Jennifer. They should have had them already met and having a pre established something in season 4, other than just straight up meeting that week. He should have also mentioned any of the Sparrows at least once if he was so insistent that they were his family. He had the perfect opportunity to at least mention one or two of his siblings at various points, but he didn't. Or maybe have him mention trying to look for them at some point in the time skip before he went to jail, something. With his desperation for family, there is no way there wouldn't be something.

It was odd how Viktor was so set on little to no contact, and then wanted to see Ben's death to be part of the team. He states to Allison how they are not friends. He is trying to establish a lack of relationship due to everything that went down without having any sort of actions or anything to fully indicate it. He should have gone fully one way or the other with whatever feelings about his family or have shown to have the more complex feelings about it. Also, if they were going to have him trying to be the one to save Ben, they should have brought up his conversation with him or something from the end of season 2. Something in general.

Lila had complicated feelings about being pregnant back in season 3 and her worries about being a bad mother. They should have had her in more scenes with her kids. Also it felt odd for her to be a stay at home mother. With all the childcare help she could get from her family, they should have given her at least a little side job. It was even weirder how she was stated to hate bracelets after the importance of the bracelet between her and Diego. She also would have known how dangerous it would be to mess with the timeline and would not have suggested it as an option unless things were more desperate. She WAS with the commission, after all. Diego and Lila should have had more conversation about the break in their relationship, especially considering what follows. She stated that her relationship with Five was for survival, but then later it was extremely hinted that she loved him, which was weird. Did the writers also forget about he did in fact kill her parents? There was no mention of it whatsoever, nothing on her feelings about it.

Honorable mention: Ray. He would not have walked out on Allison. If anything to not have him be in this season, divorce, or maybe just have him die again, idk. He would not have walked out and it's extremely insulting to him to have that be what happened

#dear god that was more writing than I intended #the umbrella academy #tua #tua season 4 spoilers #tua season 4 #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #lila pitts #hargreeves siblings #my thoughts on characterization

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breadraccoon · 2 months

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I’m trying to watch season 4 of TUA. It’s painful. I’m struggling to get through right now. I just hate how they’re treating Diego, Lila, and Five

I just want to throw my fix-it season 4 idea into the ring. Why couldn’t we get a season of struggling but happy new parents Diego and Lila. That still can be interesting plot line. They both lived very action packed lives. I can see why the transition to domestic life would be a struggle. So why can’t Lila’s family play a bigger role in them figuring out their family dynamic.

One, how did they find out Lila’s family is still alive? They just kind of showed up. That really bothered me honestly. Anyways Diego always talked about struggling to find his place in Lila’s family. But what about Lila. There could have been a huge discrepancy between who Lila’s family think she is and who she actually is. Lila didn’t grow up with them. She doesn’t know them. But she wants to learn how to navigate and be a part of their lives. She could talk learn to open up more and that it’s ok to rely on others. Maybe she could talked to her mom about her insecurities of being a mom.

And Diego. He came from a really broken and abusive family. He’s never had relatives who try to look out for him. I guess Pogo counts, but it would have been nice to show him trying to bond with Lila’s newly alive family. Maybe during Diego’s lowest point in their marriage, Lila’s Dad comes out to help him. Or maybe Lila’s parents come to Diego because they don’t understand why Lila is so different. I would have love to see Diego awkwardly try to make small talk with her very judgmental aunties. Maybe he could learn to be less hash on himself. He’s doing his best. He thinks he needs to be this picture perfect father, husband, and a hero. But maybe Lila’s father goes and sits down with Diego. He look at Diego and say he is enough. He can’t see anyone better than Diego to be Lila husband. And for the first time in Diego’s life he gets a father figure who see him and sees how big his heart is. Lila’s Father heals a hole Diego didn’t know he had.

My outline for this little subplot:

Lila’s parents aren’t there from the start. Lila and Diego are trying to wing it on their own. They are struggling to make means fit. There is a growing distance forming in their relationship.

Lila is struggling to fit into the life this Timeline’s Lila was apparently living. Maybe she is a botanist(I just want to make a Lila can’t stop getting her plants killed joke. Her parent did own a flower shop). Diego is still working a life draining job.

Maybe Diego family is still around like they are in season 4. It’s still awkward though

For Lila’s parents, Lila just went straight missing. One days she was around and then the next she was gone. For six years they’re left wondering where she went

Her family hires a detective to find her and that detective’s snooping around freaks Lila and Diego out. Why is this person following them around? Are they a spy?

Hijinks ensue :)

Eventually they capture the detective and they quickly tells the couple why they were hired.

Lila is floored. Her family is alive and has been looking for her. She immediately wants to find them. Diego agrees. He understands the importance of this to her.

They find Lila family and Diego talks Lila out of backing out. She scared and doesn’t know how to act around them

The first meeting is awkward and goes horribly. Lila and Diego come up with an amnesia excuse for why Lila is so different. Lila and Diego are quickly overwhelmed by her family.

They still joke about them meeting in a mental asylum, and it doesn’t land. Not everyone believes Diego’s intentions are true. The timeline of their relationship is not great. And the cracks in their relationship are showing

But they spend the night, and Lila gets some time way from Diego to defend him in front of her family. She explains why he’s so important to her and her family decides to give him a chance(especially since they have a kid together)

Oh yeah they only have one kid. Why have multiple kids if you just call them the twins? I hate when writers give pairings kids and then give them no personality. Kids are people too.

Que montage of Diego trying and failing to impress Lila’s family. Diego is really upset. He wants so hard to be able to fit in to Lila’s family. But he doesn’t know how to turn off his tough guy act.

Diego’s family show up and they are no help. The in-laws are all side eying each other.

Lila had to go do timeline shenanigans with five(NO CHEATING SUBPLOT) maybe five has a one side-crush on Lila. Lila turns him down. But Five does take an active roll in protecting Lila’s family. You know positive healing (Everything doesn’t need to be so depressing)

While Lila is gone, Diego is primarily looking after grace. And Lila’s family see how good he is with their kid. Lila’s father has a heart to heart with Diego. They talk about how Diego can potentially fix the distance slowly coming between him and Lila.

Lila comes back. She hugs the shit out of her family. She comes out with full honesty of who she is and why she is so different. Five helps explain too

Her family is stunned, but they still see Lila as family. They want to help her. They are very wary of Five. They embrace Diego’s weird family though.

No one dies in the end. And they all go on breaking the cycle of abuse.

I get why they potentially couldn’t do this kind of subplot. Six episodes is a really short run. This kind of plot line would have been really condensed, but I feel like this would have been significantly better for their characters.

This is me just making up ideas off the cuff. If you want to use this idea, go ahead. I’ve got too many fics I’m already working on right now.

#the umbrella academy #tua s4 #fix it fic #luther hargreeves #lila pitts #klaus hargreeves #diego hargreeves #claire hargreeves #ben hargreeves #five hargreeves #imma go touch grass now #I’ll stop spam posting umbrella academy stuff

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kaybreezy3000 · 1 month

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The Text Mess

(Five and Klaus fanfic/not a Klive fic/strictly brothers acting as brothers. Rated Teen and Up. Hopefully this one will give you some laughs and feels that we sadly didn't get in season 4) Text image-based story with fluff and brotherly feels. Story co-authored with @badkitty3000)

With no apocalypse looming, and Reginald gone, left with their powers but not much else, the Hargreeves were finally getting to figure out life on their own terms.

Number Five was doing what he always did. He was surviving and doing his best to move on from his traumatic past, though the success of that endeavor was evident in the day-to-day reality of his new self-inflicted dark and lonely existence.

And then along came Klaus...

~tags: in this alt-post season 3 into alt-season 4 story, imagine they have cell phones, Brother Bonding, Hitman Five, Past Abuse and Healing, Klaus is a mess but he is amazing, Five is grumpy and stressed like always, awkward texts from Klaus (accidental dick pic humor-NOT explicit images, meant to make you laugh), plot is meant to be funny and sad, and show the complicated but loving relationship between Klaus and Five, Images in story with text style inserts

~~~~~

It was an autumn evening and Five was sitting alone on a park bench, scrolling through messages on his phone while looking for potential jobs he could either pick up or ignore. Suddenly, his phone started blaring the obnoxious tune that Klaus set his ringtone to when he ran into him the other day after not seeing him or any of his family for years.

That chance meeting was one based on impulsively. Not wanting to go home yet, but having nowhere to go, Five had wandered into a neighborhood he normally didn’t walk through. It wasn't the best area. There were about as many bums roaming around as there were other pedestrians. With his knife that could slice a man's throat clean through strapped to his ankle, his Glock secured in his shoulder holster, and hands that strangled the life out of more people that he cared to count, the ex-temporal assassin turned freelance hitman, almost ran right into Klaus as he tromped out of a small corner convenience store with a bottle of cheap vodka and a bag of potato chips in his hands.

In an instant, Five's curly haired brother and that big grin of his were threatening to open a part of his life that he had thought was gone forever.

Like most polite people who hadn't seen each other in years, they stood there under the dim light of the streetlamps and caught up a little. Then, saying a few awkwardly delivered promises that they’d meet up again soon, Five tried to walk away as he pushed down the barrage of complicated feelings he was having when it came to his mess of a past, his complicated present, and how all of it related back to his family in some way or another.

Before he got more than a few steps, Klaus called out; his wistful tone stopping Five in his tracks.

“Just wait a damn second, lil' bro!”

Biting down the chastising comment about his age that was about to slip off his tongue, Five turned back to him. The old man that looked no older than twenty, dressed in his fancy black suit, came face to face again with Klaus, who was dressed in his old favorite ensemble of a tight lace-up black pants and cropped t-shirt.

Klaus put out his hand expectantly.

Five looked at it, saying nothing.

“Give me your phone,” Klaus said, all the while chuckling at Five’s annoyed expression.

Reluctant, but wanting this over as fast as possible, Five relented.

With a blinding flash that was aimed directly at Five's surly face on his first try, Klaus eventually succeeded in snapping a picture of himself that he liked. He then programed his number into Five’s cellphone without asking permission.

After Five dodged another one of Klaus’s over eager hugs, the two estranged Hargreeves brothers parted ways again.

Five left thinking this would be just another memory he’d soon bury with all the rest that involved the people he had once based his whole life around.

That thought, like so many Five had over the years, turned out to be wrong.

Having just nearly blinked himself halfway across the park because of how caught off guard he was by Klaus’s wild techno beat ringtone, Five angrily swiped down the picture of his brother’s happy face.

"Absolutely not," Five grumbled as he declined the call.

Less than a minute later, Five's text message alert went off.

Five shook his head and went back to picking the scummiest sounding scum of the Earth from his list of potential losers he could take down.

An hour later, Five was in no better mood and he was very busy. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

Five moved around the grimy door frame, listening to make sure he still heard his target’s shower running. He was so close that the mist from the steamy bathroom fogged his screen, but he kept on typing.

The guy in the shower suddenly yelled out, reminding Five of what he came there to do. “Candy! If you aren't dead, make yourself useful and get me some soap!”

Five reached over, taking a bar of rosy colored soap from the basket on the shelf above the toilet.

“Here,” Five said, tossing it over the shower bar as he hit send.

The naked man in the shower threw open the curtain, his jaw dropping as he looked dead-on into the barrel of Five's Glock.

“Who the fuck are YOU!” he screamed.

"I'm Number Five Hargreeves, you sick fucker.”

BANG!

The phone that was still in Five's other hand buzzed two more times.

Mentally and physically fuming, Five looked at the messages.

The muscles in Five's jaw repeatedly twitched.

With a frustrated sigh and his shoulders deeply hunched, Five blinked himself back out to his car so he didn't have to walk through the motel room past the dead prostitute named Candy who was lying there, beaten and broken, in a sprawled-out state that lacked any dignity. After his hour of fun time, the man in the shower had left her there to die and Five was too late to prevent it by a mere ten minutes.

An hour later, Five was standing at the sink next to his washing machine. His cellphone vibrated across the counter next to him, the screen coming to life.

Not replying, Five continued to angrily scrub at the flecks of blood on the cuff of his favorite fitted dress shirt.

Five minutes later, his phone danced across the hard surface again.

Again, Five glanced at the message, but did not reply.

With wet hands, Five reached for his phone, accidentally calling Klaus.

Before Klaus could pick up, Five realized his mistake and ended the call.

Furiously texting, Five almost dropped the expensive electronic device before hitting send, his teeth clenched together so hard they felt like they might shatter.

Choosing not to respond to that very good question, Five picked up the stain stick, then began working it over the dark blotches on his white shirt again.

Just when he thought that he'd made himself plenty clear that he wasn't interested in taking his brother shopping, his phone lit up again. With bubbly hands, he picked it up, eyes narrowed as he read.

After that, Klaus got another round of radio silence from Five, but that didn't mean that Five's mind was silent.

All the crap Klaus was gibbering on about goes back to the very brief conversation Five had with him the night they ran into each other.

Things were said; things that Five didn’t want to talk about.

Drumming up sad images of their poor excuse for a childhood was the last thing he wanted to do, but that didn’t stop Klaus from trying to do that and reminisce about the good things. One of the only things being, that no matter how bad it was, they at least had each other.

With a bitterness filling his mouth, Five had been quick to remind Klaus that borderline cruel indifference, and an unhealthy need to best each other, were all that he remembered when it came to family relations. To that, Klaus merely laughed off his older brother’s attempt to shut him down. He happily reminded Five that they had loved each other despite everything that had been done to them.

The truth of what Klaus had said to Five that night was all coming back because of these stupid texts, and they were hitting Five with waves of traumatic memories to add to all the recent ones he'd acquired of his own free will.

Then, while he was stewing about all that, as if on cue, Five's phone went off again.

Five didn't reply to that, then ten minutes later... BUZZZZZZZ!

Practically hearing the hurt in Klaus's soft voice begging him to say something, Five threw his shirt down into the darkness of his washer. He dumped bleach into his small load of whites as he cursed out the rapist/murderer who ruined his shirt even though he knew the blood only got on there because he was carelessly preoccupied with texting Klaus when he should have been focused on blasting that shit bag's brains all over that crappy motel's moldy grout.

Stomping out to his kitchen, Five's eyes quickly roamed over the sterile surfaces around him that were made up of nothing but stark blacks and whites and grays.

The home he'd made for himself was just an empty space. It was exactly how Reginald would have wanted to see him living his life.

Nothing about Five said happy, or fun, or free.

With a tightness forming in his chest, Five knew that Klaus was right. But still, he didn't text him back.

The next morning, Five was sitting at the island in his kitchen, sipping his coffee as he read the paper.

The generic sound of his phone's text alert binged.

Five set the phone back down and went back to the black and white pages in front of him. But after a few minutes, Klaus tried again.

Five lowered the paper and peered over at the wall next to him, the one with the fake spider web and cheap paper decoration he'd hung next to the boring canvas covered in black and gray patterns.

He smiled as he touched his screen, his index finger working over the letters of his keyboard before he hit send.

Early that same evening...

Wondering how in the hell Klaus got it in his head that he'd want to do that with him, Five's eyes rolled skyward before landing back on Pat Sajak and The Wheel of Fortune. Picking up his cleaning kit, Five absentmindedly began cleaning blood from the grip of his pistol.

Ten o’clock that same night, just as Five was pulling up to the bar where his next disgusting victim was supposed to be DJ-ing, he got another text.

Klaus did stop.

Breathing a sigh of relief, dressed in his usual black 3-piece murder uniform, Five’s dress shoes crunched on the gravel as he got out of his car. The bassy sound of music from inside the bar vibrated the rural watering hole's darkened windows. The lights from the DJ stand illuminated the sharp angles of Five’s deceptively youthful face as he opened the door and locked eyes with the douchiest looking creep he'd ever seen.

With his eyes on the prize, Five felt the vibration of his phone against his groin. He reached into the warm folds of fine Italian wool, his long fingers gliding over the side of the cellphone, silencing his brother.

When Five had looked down, a piece of his dark hair had fallen over his eyes. With a smooth flick of his hand, he tucked it back behind his ear. Then, with the otherworldly grace of a deranged ex-superhero reaper, Five casually strolled forward, the revelers around him nothing more than fuzz in his periphery.

His entire focus was on getting the satisfaction of doing a job right and ridding the world of trash. Though Klaus's offer to buy him a box of Grape Nuts was nice, and those tiny clusters of crunch were satisfying and great for digestion, they did very little for someone like Five who was hell bent on finding retribution.

~~~

The next morning, as Five was driving back from dumping the body, his phone buzzed between his legs.

Early that afternoon...

Thirty minutes later...

An hour later.

Two minutes later...

About three hours later...

Forty-five minutes later...

~~~

The next morning, Five was walking down the street with his very full, fresh cup of joe.

BING!

A second later Five has his cup at his lips, tipping it back when his phone alert went off again.

And...that unnecessary imagery had him inhaling the burning hot fluid, right before he proceeded to drop it on the ground, and then blast caffeine infused spittle at a pretty young lady walking past him.

As Five stopped with his hands on his knees, coughing his brains out, she kindly bashed him over the head with her very heavy designer purse.

A minute later...

Looking more and more like the angry, old, caffeine-deprived man he was, Five grumbled unintelligibly as he glared at his phone and shoved it back in his jacket pocket before stomping home.

~~~~~~~

Okay guys... Sorry about this, but the story cuts off here, but there is more and it's well worth the read to finish it.

Sorry for the inconvenience. To read the rest of this text-based Klaus and Five Hargreevess mini-story, you will need to follow this link to A03 to the original posting. Unfortunately, Tumblr limits images and URLs per post to 30 and this story at this point reached that limit.

Link to 'The Text Mess' on A03. Just scroll down to the first of Klaus's accidental image texts and you are good to go. Enjoy the rest of the fun we created for these two wonderful brothers.

Link to Bad Kitty's other works on Tumblr

Link to KayBreezy's other works on Tumblr

#number five fanfiction #klaus hargreeves fanfiction #brotherly feels #tua fanfiction #number five #klaus hagreeves #kaybreezy-on-a03 #text based story

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wicked-worms · 2 months

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All plot holes and bad writing aside, I haven’t seen anyone talk about the Timeline Travelling Subway at length yet. During the trailers, promotional material and even just the first episode of TUA s4, I was really excited for the Timeline Traveling Subway. I thought that there was some real potential there for an interesting plot about reconciling the timelines that were created. I expected there to be some sort of payoff for this seemingly huge part of the show. But there was LITERALLY NO POINT TO IT. In fact the season may have been better without it.

Five somehow only being able jump to the subway and nowhere else when he gets his powers back would suggest that the subway is important. I kept waiting.

Lila and Five get on the subway to investigate (why?). Eventually they just get stuck there for SEVEN YEARS and then come back for this big emotional reunion (that added nothing to the plot but unnecessary conflict). I keep waiting (there has to be a reason for this godawful romance/affair subplot right?).

Finally! There are several Fives all in a deli! This is the big payoff. This place exist… and… and what? Five has a big revelation about the nature of the Umbrellas’ existence and it feels so underwhelming! I guarantee you the writers did not need to create a whole subway system for that.

Lila puts her family and Claire on the subway to help them escape, but if all the timelines are going back to the way they were then that shouldn’t have mattered at all, right?

A timeline-travelling subway seems so cool in theory and then most of the main characters never even see it. The revelation that all the main characters have to die is not impressive enough for this cool as hell subway. The subway deserved more.

#think about a timeline travelling subway and tell me it doesn’t sound cool as hell #I’m just mad #the plot holes are plot holeing #also where was this subway in every other season?#tua season 4 spoilers #tua s4 #the umbrella academy

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aihoshiino · 1 year

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what are your thoughts on kana and if aka will actually let her find out about the revenge plot eventually

kana my love

Imo, it's pretty inevitable that Kana is going to find out about Aqua's revenge plan - it feels very intentional that the movie arc is pretty much the first time he's been willing to actively involve and manipulate Kana specifically for his own ends and I don't think it's a coincidence that this is only happening now Aqua is at his lowest point. Involving Kana to such a degree really feels like Aqua choosing to cross a line he had previously drawn for himself in terms of involving Kana directly with his revenge.

After all, I don't think it's accidental or due to a lack of focus that Kana has largely remained ignorant to this side of Aqua - rather, I think it's representative of the fact that Kana and his friendship with her is, in a lot of ways, a sort of refuge for Aqua, a window into a life as a normal teenager. As he himself put it all the way back in chapter 30, Kana is one of the few people in his life Aqua feels he can talk to without any manipulation or ulterior motives and it's clear he deeply values this aspect of their relationship. Through Kana, a lot of Aqua's worst traits are sort of filtered through a brighter, kinder lens and she brings a lot of his better traits out of him - his playful sense of humour, his sense of care and duty to the people around him, that sort of thing. Even the parts of himself he hates are softened a bit. For the like, five of you who occupy the middle of the "Oshi no Ko enjoyer" and "Umineko Enjoyer" Venn diagram, through Aqua and Kana's friendship, we (and arguably Aqua) are able to see him with love.

It's why I think it's not just inevitable but outright necessary that Kana find out about everything going on with Aqua. Aqua's arc during this stretch of the manga has been about him desecrating all his most important relationships and finally crossing the line in actively manipulating and involving Kana is part of that desecration. It's such a big shift in the status quo of their relationship that it necessitates Kana being given the information necessary to join everyone else in shaking him and going STOP RUINING YOUR LIFE, DIPSHIT!!!!

Anyway uh as you can probably tell by all that, I really like Kana! She's probably my favourite member of the cast who is not Ai and I think it's partially because her arc hits on a lot of similar beats to the ones that made Ai so compelling for me. She is definitely not on the same level of Brain Melting Blorbo as Ai obviously is for me lol but she touches on those same issues of lingering damage caused by childhood abuse, exploitation and abandonment and the kinds of things that pain does to you as you grow up. She engages with these themes in a way that is distinct enough from Ai to feel refreshing and honest while also, imo, being in conversation with it enough that it all coheres quite nicely.

I also just think she's fun and cute! The anime in general and its handling of the material is what finally made me really click with Oshi no Ko and Kana is, imo, second only to Ai in being the best served by the adaptation. She's plenty fun in the manga obviously but the anime puts a really tangible amount of love and care into its portrayal of her and does so many fun and cute things with her character acting it's really hard not to be endeared to her. I liked her fine during my first pass of the manga but it was definitely the anime that turned me into a card carrying Arima Kana Enjoyer. A big part of what has me so excited about season 2 is knowing that some of her best moments after going to get that same loving treatment and I can't wait to see it!

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #kana arima #arima kana #onk spoilers

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toastess-with-the-mostess · 7 months

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Voltron: The Series

So I wanted to make a big post about all the animated Voltron's because I'm neck deep into this series and I must yell about it In total there's five (5) animated Voltron shows, technically four (4) since most focus on the lions. I tend to explain a lot so for my own sanity I'll be splitting this up into multiple posts which will all link back together Dotu/VV (here) - V3D - VF - VLD

Word vomit under the cut <3

In the 80s 1984 is when American audiences first said hello to Voltron! Originally it was an anime called Hyaku Jo Oh Goraion, or Beast King GoLion, from Toei which was mistakenly handed over to World Events Production (WEP) after they vaguely asked for the anime with the lions in it. Soon enough it was renamed Voltron: Defender of The Universe (dotu), dubbed and edited, and became immensely popular, giving us the legend we all know and love! Most iterations of Voltron after this follow the same plot, except for VLD which is a hard reboot and its own series that will be talked about later. In Dotu, the legend is of five (5) space explorers who crash-land onto planet Arus, find Voltron and use him to defeat the evils of the universe. Those five (5) being Keith in Black, Lance in Red, Pidge in Green, Sven in Blue, and Hunk in Yellow. The show is fairly episodic but as it's being adapted from an anime it has some story beats too it, like how Sven became critically injured which led to Princess Allura stepping up to take over blue lion, or the plot with her distant cousins Princess Romelle, Prince Bandor, and Prince Avok of Pollux. The show was so popular that WEP had eventually commissioned a season 2 to be animated from another company as Golion ended at only season 1. Which had some changes to color pallet, overall tones, and even relationships from season 1.

That same year Vehicle Voltron (VV) also came into existence! Also adapted from an anime called Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV or Armored Armada Dairugger XV which has no relation to the Golion anime at all! The gist of it is that a team of 15 pilots explore the edges of the universe to help find new habitable planets to curb the fast-growing population of planets part of the Galaxy Alliance. The group is split into three teams. The air team whose commanded by Jeff, the sea team whose leader is Krik, and the land them whose led by Cliff. They all report under Commander Hawkins who's leading the expedition and the explorer itself. As the anime isn't connected to Golion/Dotu, WEP found creative ways to show that relationships! The main way is that fans were introduced to Pidge's twin brother Chip, another scrappy young kid with glasses who happens to have anger issues, he mentions this connection in one of the episodes "Letters to Home" where Chip waits for Pidge's letter to get to him.

For the last little bit of this, Dotu and VV have got themselves a movie! This is a purely WEP/American creation so no ties to the animes anymore. It's called Fleet of Doom which brings the two Voltron together and explains their pilots' histories while having a side plot that is pure KA fodder. Unfortunately we haven't gotten anything big like this again but in Voltron Force specifically we did get a call back to Vehicle Voltron

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #toast talks #toast yells about robots

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crispy-ghee · 5 months

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I did think the show was at it's best when it was pushing the rivalry between bird and johnson, and I think the making him more of an asshole in season 1 would have worked better cause it could be from magic's perspective, then he gets fleshed out in season 2, but even then he still didn't get fleshed out as much as he could have been. Also the way they cut that episode where it goes from him seeing his dead dad, to buss romancing the new girlfriend was such a bad tonal shift. They could have cut that and had his mom appear, instead of holding her until the last episode. You don't introduce her with less than five minutes of screen time and then give her a 10 second big emotional payoff, you don't do that with an audience who isn't familiar with the real life people.

Another major issue for me was how they focused way more on the managerial side than the players, to the point that they would cut out a lot of the playing moments to focus on what buss and his family are doing. We know way more about the managing staff than most of the guys who are actually on the team playing basketball. And I think that's best exemplified by the fact that the final episode doesn't end on magic and the team, but on buss and his daughter.

Another thing I noticed, and I don't know if it was just me, but they seemed to continuously undercut the serious tone of moments if they were for characters that weren't the main focus, like that scene I mentioned with larry, them playing good vibrations over jeff mckinney's accident, which are just the ones that I remember really standing out to me as weird to do for actual real life tragedies.

I just think it was badly written overall.

All that said, I do like rewatching all the larry bird scenes.

I think these are all super valid points, and I agree with basically all of it. I understand them trying to focus on Buss because it was about the building of a dynasty, but that doesn't mean that it was compelling at all and it felt like they were interrupting the more interesting parts of the story. Especially in cases like, yeah, cutting from Larry's father's suicide to Buss and his girlfriend. I definitely felt like I had to sit through almost all of the family and business drama stuff just to get to the stuff I actually wanted to see.

Their approach to Larry's mom was really frustrating to me bc it diminished her role in his life a little bit in exchange for the dramatic punch of his father's death, but the fact that she wasn't seen *at all* during the episode they set aside for his backstory was baffling. I think maybe they were trying to have it be like they were saving seeing Larry's soft side to juxtapose it against when he was at his most "villainous" to the Lakers, but that didn't mean having to cut out his mother completely until that moment. Especially since she got so little screen time even then.

Part of me wonders if it was supposed to be just a taste of seeing her influence before presumably showing her hand in Magic and Larry's eventually friendship in the next season (which is now not happening), like they were trying to foreshadow something, but to be honest, I think it's largely the fact that there was too much shit happening in the second season. Literally too many plot threads. So all this stuff got relegated to only a few minutes.

I do enjoy the times when it actually is about Larry and Magic, because that's the most fleshed out/interesting thing that they had, though I do think that there's some interesting stuff about the politics of the team if only they'd approached it right. But they really wanted to make a show about the business drama first, it feels like, which sucks bc it means that the big charismatic people, the players, are second banana to the team owners and the coaches. Also again, I just...I did not care about the family drama. At all. I'm sure other people loved it, Buss is undoubtedly an interesting man, but I wanted to pull my hair out every time it cut to it.

I think they were trying for something that could've been interesting stylistically/presentation-wise, but also it came across as really messy and half-baked at a lot of points. There were moments where it really shined though, but it didn't always work. It's definitely disappointing.

I'm with you on the writing hahaha a lot of deep sighing and frustration on my part while watching. The pacing was so weird, a lot of moments that were supposed to hit felt entirely unearned or out of place.

And also liking rewatching the Larry Bird scenes. As weird and exaggerated as it was, I think you could tell they were having fun with him. If only they'd gotten better wigs and the actor didn't feel like he had to make his own mouth smaller by pursing his lips all the time ahahaha (I still think about how that was gonna be Bo Burnham and I get sad)

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autisticandroids · 2 years

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Have you read Apokteino's Bone Trilogy? What did you think of it?

i have! i've actually read all four of apokteino's big four darkfics. i like bone in that it's interesting and well written, but i really wouldn't recommend it or reread it, except in certain circumstances. this is because it's just like, a super miserable read. like it's not very fun and it's SUPER depressing.

however, it's a really interesting fic to compare to the rest of the big four because it has some unique elements, so i definitely recommend reading it if you're interested in it for that reason. all of the lesser triad can really be seen in various ways as dry runs for with understanding, though of course they also have their own merit outside that context.

i'm gonna try to rewrite the big comparison essay that tumblr ate on saturday. so, the following discussing will assume familiarity with the plot of with understanding, but not with the lesser triad of major apokteino darkfics, which are: hesitation, the when series (when all is lost/when the road is as dark as my fears), and the bone trilogy (bone/scarred/unbroken).

here are some various sources to read the now-deleted fics

also, before we start i'd like to thank @astermacguffin, who i've had a lot of conversations about all these fics with, and whose various posts on apokteino and darkfic and evil deancas i might not always agree with but have absolutely influenced me and my opinions on these fics. they're worth reading as background for this post. honestly i'd really just like to dedicate this post to aster because he's gonna love it.

anyway, four thousand words of discussion below. spoilers for all four fics, and obviously, trigger warnings for discussion of rape, abuse, and general violence under the cut.

so i'll start with plot summaries of the lesser triad.

hesitation

hesitation is a canon divergence from season four. in this fic, as part of his metaphorical seduction of dean to the angels' cause, cas is ordered under pain of death to literally seduce dean in order to ensure his loyalty. cas does not want to have sex with dean and is terrified, however, dean does not know this and thinks that cas is coming onto him of his own free will. dean is sweet and kind to cas during sex and works to ensure cas' pleasure, which kind of fucks with cas' head because the sex isn't actually consensual.

canon continues as in the show up through the beginning of season five, with the addition of dean and cas' sexual relationship (which continues consensually after cas rebels). however, cas has some obvious issues and trauma that dean doesn't understand, plus he gets slutshamed by some other angels, so dean eventually figures out something is up and gets cas to talk about what's going on. when dean finds out that he has been unknowingly raping cas, he freaks out, goes into a huge guilt spiral, and they break up.

however, eventually they work through their issues and get back together. happilyish ever after.

2. when

when is a canon divergence from swan song, the only difference being that instead of being resurrected as an angel at full power, cas is resurrected in the same state that lucifer exploded him, i.e., as a human/fallen angel. dean and cas continue hunting together instead of dean going to lisa.

dean resents the fact that cas was resurrected and sam (and to a lesser extent bobby) weren't, plus the fact that cas, now human and useless, cannot resurrect them. as a result, and for some other more complex reasons i will get to in the discussion, he channels his rage and grief about sam's death into beating and raping cas, which eventually evolves into just raping cas when he feels lonely and needs comfort.

cas accepts this because he is entirely alone in the world except for dean and basically trapped with him because he is cut off from heaven and has no human connections, but also because he feels on some level like he deserves it (as a representation of the heaven that has taken everything from dean), that he's useless and that to serve dean or be used by dean is his purpose. cas develops some extreme trauma responses to dean's treatment of him, most notably he blacks out whenever dean gets violent or makes moves to start raping him. cas also prays for mercy on sam's soul.

eventually, an angel comes down from heaven and informs dean that sam is no longer in hell and his soul is in heaven, because heaven heard cas' prayer. dean freaks out but doesn't really talk about it, and the violence against cas stops completely, but they don't discuss it. they continue hunting.

like in both canon and with understanding, law enforcement believe dean to be a serial killer. like in with understanding and unlike in canon, they are extremely motivated to catch him and a credible threat to his and cas' lives and freedom. dean makes a mistake that leads them to his and cas' temporary home base and cas is captured and arrested.

initially cas is treated as dean's accomplice, but once the police? fbi? i forget who catches him, i think it's the police, but who gives a shit, notice his extreme trauma responses and the signs of physical abuse on his body, they reconsider and classify him as a brainwashed victim. a police officer comes and talks to him and tries to get him to work through some stuff.

eventually dean turns himself in out of guilt for the shit he's done to cas and to save cas. he works through some stuff with police officers and eventually they let him see cas, who he apologizes to.

cas breaks out of protective custody and rescues dean, but forces dean to promise that cas will be in charge of everything from now on, and they go on the lam together. happilyish ever after.

3. bone

bone is the most extreme canon divergence. dean stays in hell much longer than in canon and becomes a hardened torturer. instead of season four happening, the angels decide to create their own apocalypse. dean is resurrected to a world where humans and angels are in open warfare against one another and angels are losing.

dean is a torturer for the human side, and tortures angels for information. but eventually he decides to try to brainwash and stockholm syndrome an angel instead, and he happens to pick castiel. it works, and castiel breaks and is taught to serve and obey dean.

however, once cas is broken, dean starts to develop affection for him, then sympathy, and then finally guilt for what he's done. they begin a sexual relationship. due to the brainwashing and stockholm syndrome, cas is intensely traumabonded to dean, but no one, including dean, knows how to undo that, and cas is given his own free choices, but he always chooses dean anyway. also, the tragic twist is that cas is the only angel this brainwashing could have worked on, because it turns out he is the one who raised dean from hell, which changed him, making him capable of emotion in a way other angels are not.

cas and dean exist in a society with other people who know their history, including anna and gabriel who are both unequivocally on cas' side, and their relationship is very much overseen by other people. everyone thinks it's fucked up, but there really isn't anything to be done about it. cas is brainwashed to a super extreme degree, and no one knows how to fix him, so they just let him stay with dean. happilyish ever after.

okay. now discussion.

so, hesitation is kind of the odd man out here, inasmuch as... it has the same basic premise as the other three, which is essentially that cas experiences sexual trauma that bonds him irrevocably to dean, despite the fact that dean was involved in creating that trauma, but in hesitation, it's not dean's fault. dean is in fact as much a victim as cas. i think hesitation is probably sort of... the furthest flung from the other three. there's definitely some stuff you can see that's connected to with understanding, particularly cas' self-victim-blaming and complicated relationship to his own desire for dean, but i think the nature of that difference puts hesitation in a really different category than the other three. because even if the traumabond was created with dean, it's still essentially the difference between a victim remaining involved with their abuser, and a victim of abuse getting involved with someone else and having to work through that. zachariah is the perpetrator in this case, not dean. and that's not to say hesitation is unrelated to the others! i used to think of hesitation as, well, rapefic for cowards, on account of the fact that it had all of the trauma of rapefic but dean's complicity was totally sidestepped. now that i know that it was part of this greater series, i like it a lot more. i would also definitely say that hesitation is the only one of apokteino's lesser triad i would genuinely recommend outside of the context of supplementary reading for with understanding. it's just a genuinely good fic and you should check it out. i recced it, actually.

when is kind of... well, when is definitely and fairly obviously the closest to an actual dry run for with understanding. and that makes it really frustrating because like... well, when isn't very good.

when basically has three major flaws, and one big virtue which makes the flaws even more frustrating.

the first flaw is that dean's characterization is just like. it's just nothing. like the justification given for him to be horrifically beating and raping cas is like. well, okay, in the first one, which is entirely cas pov, cas speculates about his motivation. the motivations he comes up with are that either 1) dean is punishing cas as a way of lashing out against heaven, since it's heaven's fault sam is in hell, or 2) dean is actively trying to send himself to hell to be with his brother. there may be more reasons that cas postulates, i forget, but those are two big ones, and they make sense. however, in the second one, we see dean explain himself:

Dean looks away. He's not sure if Fitz is acting like he wants to be convinced – or isn't convinced, and trying to prove it – to get Dean to talk, or because he actually isn't sure. Either way, Dean needs to the be the killer, for Cas's sake. "It's more like … more like long periods, where I'm out of my head. And I do things because that's what there is. Hanging on the rack or off of it." "The rack?" Dean makes an aborted attempt to wave a hand, cuffs pulling. "Tortured or torturer." "And you chose the latter." Pretty sick that he does – did – put Cas on the rack, instead of himself. "And I guess that's what makes me evil, isn't it?" He looks at Fitz.

and like, i'm sorry, but i'm not gonna mince words: that's dumb. it's essentially a semimystical answer to a psychological question. it just doesn't make much sense. and frankly it's out of character. i hate it.

the second flaw is that it's just too short. when you read when, you gain an instant comprehension of why with understanding needed to be four hundred thousand words, because in thirty thousand, when really can't quite cut it. the characters just don't have time to develop and change and learn in the same way.

the third flaw is the ending, and it's actually a flaw that when shares with with understanding, although in with understanding it's not quite as drastic. essentially, in the end, cas is back in the exact same position as he was at the beginning, with only dean's word standing between him and a resurgence of the abuse. dean's brutalization of cas, like in with understanding and unlike in bone and hesitation, is essentially domestic abuse behavior. dean isn't engaging with cas as an enemy, and he isn't engaging with cas under the influence of false beliefs. he's engaging with cas as his friend cas when he brutalizes him. while dean is no longer under the psychological stress of believing sam is in hell, and has had an epiphany about exactly how bad he fucked cas up, that doesn't necessarily mean things will change, or remain different. old habits die hard. nothing is stopping dean, once a new psychological stressor appears, from treating cas just the same as he had before, except his moral convictions, which didn't stop him the first time. he could easily find ways to justify himself. and on cas' end, he's just as totally dependent on dean materially as he was at the beginning of the fic, and while he's worked through some stuff and might run if dean started up again, he also might not, because it's not like a few conversations are enough to really teach new habits of mind.

and then like... the big virtue of when is that in concept it's soooooo good and juicy. the heavy emphasis on outsider pov, especially the law enforcement pov which is really a treat just like in with understanding, except i like it more in when because it's about canon cas rather than fbi agent cas who is a good protagonist for wu but way too comprehensible to his colleagues at the bau. the way that dean and cas escape and hide by depending on the kindness of someone dean's saved. the idea that dean is brutalizing cas because he's actively trying to go to hell to be closer to sam, which is just so juicy i can't stand it because it simultaneously gets at the horror of the brothers' codependency and also gets at dean's tendency to not care who he's hurting as long as he hurts himself worse. the fact that cas is like if you had asked i would have given you my body willingly!! the fact that cas was already in love with dean when the violations start!! that's so crazy to me!!

a version of when that's a hundred and fifty thousand words, where dean stays in prison for months while cas recovers and goes to therapy in some kind of group home but is also unable to really integrate into human society because he is genuinely alien. more emphasis, almost hesitation style, on the idea that cas already wanted dean, and cas having to pick apart what desire remains there from the horror of being repeatedly raped. like the most unsatisfying thing about with understanding, to me, is how cas isn't really cas, and how dean and cas have no prior relationship. and like i do like some of the stuff in with understanding that comes from that, such as the fact that cas kind of becomes canon cas via trauma in some ways, and the fact that with understanding is like a dark subversion of the soulmate trope, but it does kind of make me crave a version where cas is himself and deancas are themselves you know? and when could be that. a much more complex and comprehensive outsider pov where we dig into juicy elements that when leaves on the table, such as the speculation that cas may have been in a cult (and we dig into how the outsiders are obviously wrong but maybe on some level they were right). maybe also some outsider pov from hunters and/or people dean has saved such that we actually see outsider pov on the nature of dean and cas' relationship from people who understand more of the context, and also such that when cas breaks dean out and they go on the lam, they can at least partially integrate into a community that will keep their relationship stable. or perhaps, for a tragedy, we see their relationship begin to deteriorate again once cas is dependent on dean again. make dean's motivation be about going to hell with sam, and really dig into that, explore dean's willingness to hurt other people as long as he's also hurting himself. when could be the perfect fic. it literally could. just for me.

and then bone is like... the thing about bone is that most of my thoughts about it revolve around it being a kind of counterpoint to with understanding and when. like before i talk about it i'm gonna say a couple of the things i really like about it which don't have that much to do with that.

the experiential descriptions of cas' brainwashed state are so fabulous and chilling, and that is i think the thing from bone that really made it into with understanding, although in bone it's so much clearer and more visible, which, you know, on the one hand, feels less real, but on the other it's soooooo chilling, you're really forced to think about it, to consider cas' experience, plus it draws your attention to similar moments in with understanding and makes those much more unsettling.

the side character stuff is fabulous, i especially liked ellen and anna, but really all of it is good.

the thing where angels can't feel and therefore could never have been broken like cas was, but the fact that cas had saved dean from hell, had been changed by him, on some level already loved him, and that's what made him vulnerable to dean's brutality is like such a juicy little tragedy.

but like. now let's compare.

like, i already pointed this out, but when and with understanding both start from like, a kind of domestic abuse situation that is enabled by circumstances that don't really change. bone, on the other hand, is like... dean is originally engaging with cas as an enemy combatant, and this is enabled by the fact that they are on opposite sides of a war. but these circumstances do genuinely change. bone creates a situation almost more akin to hesitation, where the main conflict and question is: you end up with a cas who has this trauma bond created by trauma which is absolutely in the past, and it can't be gotten rid of, so how do you live with it? as opposed to with understanding and when where it's more like how do you keep dean and cas from backsliding into an already established abusive dynamic. and the thing is bone dean is still culpable, and the level of like... so traumatized he's barely a person anymore that cas is on in bone is unreal. but it's more a question of: dean is not going to backslide into traumatizing cas again, but how can dean be prevented from accidentally or on purpose taking advantage of cas' traumatized state? how can cas be helped to rebuild his sense of self, is that even possible? cas wants to stay with dean, but can that desire be taken seriously if it's a result of horrific damage inflicted on cas that must be recovered from? is cas' consent meaningful? what if cas can never recover, does that change the answers to the other questions? if he can never recover, is it alright to allow him to be happy with dean? these are all super crunchy questions and they're like a really fun alternate take on the same basic premise that hesitation, with understanding, and when are all taking on.

and like the thing about. okay i'm gonna talk about with understanding for a moment. the thing about with understanding is that it rests on all of this exceptionalism and individualism and psychologizing of dean's behavior. when actually a lot of it is circumstantial? like the thing about with understanding is that with understanding dean if he was in normal circumstances would probably be a manipulative, emotionally abusive person who would be likely to pressure people into things including sex, have absolutely zero boundaries, and might even be inclined towards some light stalking, but he wouldn't be kidnapping anyone. he would probably stay in the category of "super shitty boyfriend" rather than "fbi manhunt." but the thing is his circumstances aren't normal. like, if you are dean winchester in the world of with understanding, it's almost a sane thing to do to temporarily kidnap your soulmate just so you can meet once and then let him go. it's still really awful, but it makes circumstantial sense because you KNOW that that will allow you to meet in heaven, and otherwise he would arrest you. it's really bad, but it's not as insane a move as it would be if nearly anyone else did it. it makes sense. and then once you have your soulmate kidnapped temporarily, it's not that big of a leap to just... give into temptation and not let him go. add onto that the fact that dean is just used to kidnapping and torturing people (those people are usually demons, but still), has access to all of these sometimes magical tools and weapons and equipment and a bunker in the middle of nowhere, is totally outside society and has no external observers in his life to sanity check him and no one to really hide from, and is used to being on the wrong side of the law and totally confident that that won't be a problem for him, and it's like... yeah. like the thing is if wu dean had all the same personality traits but was a car mechanic, cas would never have been in that situation. and like, the way everyone reacts to dean like they're so shocked that he treated cas "well" and that he's so capable of a certain level of basic self-awareness it's like... well of course! most people who commit crimes like the one dean has are probably way more dysfunctional than dean is in various ways, because they need to get over more barriers like "fear of being caught" and "the realization that oh my god i'm planning a kidnapping" and "having to go to work and leave their victim at home" and other such trivialities that dean's lifestyle makes irrelevant. of course every crime is made possible by circumstance, but dean's situation is particularly unique.

but that doesn't mean that because wu dean is less dysfunctional than the average kidnapper, he's easier to fix with psychotherapeutic solutions. indeed, quite the opposite! the barriers to him committing horrific acts are inherently lower due to his circumstances, which means that he could be the healthiest guy in the world and he would still be a lot more dangerous than john q. average. to pull an example from canon: one time sam has a sexual fantasy about rowena and it freaks him out so bad that he yells at her and slaps her in manacles. this is a pretty horrifying and misogynistic act, but sam is like... he's a fairly regular guy. he has some hangups about sex, but not to an abnormal degree. but he does have a set of magic manacles, and an occupation that has desensitized him to violence and chaining people up, and a pre-bottled justification (she's evil!) that says it's okay to be violent to rowena, and so this happens. you get my meaning? so fixing wu dean with therapy is like... it's kind of the last thing i'd reach for, you know? it's cathartic for cas, but it's not effective.

and like wu dean's circumstances don't really change! hell, in the end, dean and cas are ONCE AGAIN isolated together in the wilderness. and sure, cas is kind of choosing to be there, but he's also trapped by the fact that he's a wanted fugitive. it's so much more effective than the cuff because there's no more soft landing waiting for him back in normal society, only a hard prison cot.

anyway the thing about bone is that in bone the change is almost all circumstantial. like yeah dean does have like a guilt epiphany and shit, and obviously the pathology of hell trauma does affect dean's actions as a torturer. but the problem and solution are not situated in that pathology. in the end, the main thing that happens to fix things is that cas is no longer considered an enemy, and he is integrated into a society which contains people who care about and can care for, keep an eye on, and sanity check both him and dean. there will never again be circumstances in which it is easy for dean to torture and brainwash him. you know? and that really highlights what's going on in when and with understanding.

#rape tw #abuse tw #spn #asks #anonymous

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iss600 · 1 year

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HermitCraft, a magical and wondrous world in the greater MineCraft server hub. Every day has new adventures, new shenanigans and a strange series of riddles here and there. Quests are abound; are you ready to join the party?

Series Involved: HermitCraft, Evo SMP, Empires SMP & The Life SMP mixed with LoliRock, Miraculous, les Aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir, Mysticons & Winx Club.

"Hermit Heroes" is a multi-fandom idea that combines the above SMPs together with lore and concepts from the above TV shows to make this absolute monstrosity of an alternative universe. I...really don't have a better explanation outside of "I like these shows and I got too into combining them together" so...enjoy I guess.

Anyway, onto the actual thing. It primarily takes place in the HermitCraft world (a big combo of all seasons worlds into one big thing) with guest appearances by other folks of other SMPs here and there, and sometimes even going to those SMPs. The lore of Empires is heavily intertwined alongside Evo's lore to make this very magical-girl-superhero-action plot of different groups working to achieve a goal. The big thing though is the Watchers, the Listeners and the species that makes them as they place a giant role in the story like some season-long villain.

Now, to the best part, the characters. These are just the mains for now and they're aren't super detailed at the moment as I'm still working out all of the notes and information gathering needed. And a thing to note, I grouped all of the main characters up to keep track of them easier. I find that large casts are OK so long as they're digestible and easy to remember with manageable groups and such.

The groups and the show they're from are as follows: The Yes Wings Club & The No Wings Club (Winx Club), Ephedian Empresses (LoliRock), Hermit Heroes/Miraculous Mob Wranglers (Miraculous Ladybug) and Three Musketeers (Mysticons).

The Yes Wings Club & The No Wings Club

Grian: Grian's apart of 3 different groups: The Yes Wings Club, the No Wings Club and the Hermit Heroes/Miraculous Mob Wranglers. He is the Witch of Chaos, Fairy of the Ardent Sun and the hero Red Rooster a.k.a Poultry Man the hero of Entropy. He's also a Watcher named Xelqua, but that's not important...right? Grian is someone unable to be bound to one thing, always many things at once and watching what madness may occur from his multitude of powers.

Cleo (ZombieCleo) & Etho (EthosLab): The two other members of the No Wings Club (no Iskall, sorry. I know he's the actual founder but he doesn't really work in this version of the group. He has his own thing). Their name, besides being a play on the Yes Wings Club and the actual No Wings Club, also works to describe them because witches don't have wings and don't need them to fly, whereas fairies do.

Cleo is the Witch of Puppetry, able to manipulate both inanimate and animate to people's...delight.

Etho is the Witch of Mystery with darkness, deception, trickery and stealth as his domain.

Impulse (ImpulseSV), Wels (Welsknight), Pearl (PearlescentMoon), Scar (GoodTimesWithScar), Tango (TangoTek) & Jimmy (SolidarityGaming): The many members of the Yes Wings Club with the canon founding members and my own personal additions. These people (and eventually Jimmy) make up the Yes Wings Club, with their sparkly fairy wings (natch, given the name) and sparkly outfits.

Impulse is the Fairy of Lightning, able to harness the power of electricity to shock his foes and fly through the sky; just don't high-five him when he lands.

Wels is the Fairy of Metal, defending his friends with the power of sword, shield and steel beams flying at you.

Pearl is the Fairy of the Gleaming Moon (Pearl, Fairy of the Pearlescent Moon just doesn't sound right sadly, and all other synonyms were too long) and can use the powers of the moon itself such as light, reflection, truesight and moon big; watch out for gravity.

Scar is the Fairy of Nature (or Landscaping, or some other word if I can find one that fits) and with the power of his fairy animal Jellie, he can teraform any enemies back where they belong, or accidentally unleash Scarra again.

Newest fairy on the block is Tango, Fairy of Redstone, flying through battle with pulses, power or he'll just yeet a massive pile of dust in your face, whichever works (he's the team's Tecna basically).

And then there's Jimmy, a later addition down the line who finds himself to be the Fairy of Animals...and maybe something more.

Ephedian Empresses

Gem (GeminiTay) & Stress (StressMonster101): Two princesses searching for their third, each hailing from a series of kingdoms that once were a part of the grand empire of Ephedia, thousands of years ago.

Gem, the princess of Dawn and master slayer with her lovely demeanor and lovelier head collection of every foe who's ever threatened her friends, family and subjects.

Stress, the princess of Allimonstrum is all for getting gorgeous and getting together with friends, being a bubbly and outgoing friend to all or a monstrous nightmare of pure power to all who oppose her.

Hermit Heroes/Miraculous Mob Wranglers

Doc (Docm77) & Zedaph: The animal hero and "anti-hero" of the server, the Hermit Heroes are here to wrangle mobs in a miraculous manner or save the day.

Zedaph, a.k.a. Worm Man is the hero of Renovation with his Kwami "Aannee", able to dig through the Earth and save the city with his shovel and the art of confusion fu.

Doc a.k.a. Ziegrün is the hero-sometimes-villain of Empowerment with his Kwami "Kapper" and trusty goat horn, capable of empowering as many creatures as Doc sees fit whether it be to mess with some Hermits, help a hero out or akumatize a particularly upset Hermit into causing chaos, though Doc swears that he would never do such a thing.

Three Musketeers

False (FalseSymmetry from HermitCraft), Sausage (MythicalSausage from Empires) & fWhip (from Empires): The trio of Mysticons searching for their Ranger, this band of heroes have sworn to protect the Empires of new and old, as well as a certain land of hermits from danger.

False is the Mysticon Knight, always searching for her fellow team members with a broken Dragon Disc and no Codex in sight, but even with all the trials and tribulations, the queen of heads, hearts and body parts refuses to fall to darkness.

Sausage is the Mysticon Dragon Mage, also searching for a certain knight to aid in the quest for the Codex and the magic stolen from his history by more than just an angry king.

fWhip is the Mysticon Striker, a goblin who saw three gold rings one day, went "mine!" and nominated himself Striker, though the Disc did vouch for him so he thankfully got to stay.

And with this playlist for the AU linked here, I leave this place with everything you read here.

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btr-rewatch · 9 months

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Big Time Rush Season 1, Episode 6: “Big Time Mansion”

Highlights: Gustavo shows a glimmer of trust in the boys, and they spend the next twenty minutes making horrible decision after horrible decision. Good thing they've got a mom who's willing to step in, no questions asked.

As we officially begin this episode (skipping over the underwater fart record nonsense) the guys are in the studio singing "Famous," which was one of my favorites back in the day. Every time I hear it, I still think of a blog post I'd come across that did a deep analysis of the song, explaining how each of the boys' individual parts align with their personalities in the show and even reveals their anxieties and fears in regards to fame. Interesting stuff. All these years later, I still think of that post when listening to "Famous."

The song sounds great, but Gustavo isn't willing to dish out any compliments. After all, he says, it isn't like the dogs are thanking him for anything. Two seconds later, the boys all file in to thank Gustavo for the opportunity he's giving them.

Kendall has gotten a haircut since the last episode.

Also, big shoutout to Logan's failed attempt to high-five Gustavo and Kendall's reaction to it.

Gustavo announces that he and Kelly are taking a trip to North Carolina and then proceeds to threaten to return with replacements for the guys in anticipation of them failing him.

Just pointing out one little thing here: I recall Carlos talking in old interviews about the stutter he has, and that it was something he struggled with when filming scenes, but that a lot of those moments were left in the show rather than re-filmed because it was "real" and added to his character. First of all, I agree. Second of all, I don't think it was something I noticed much when I originally watched the show, but I am catching a lot of those moments now. He seems to have the sound/syllable and word repetition type that strikes at the beginning of sentences since it's almost always on the first word or sound of a line, and then he's fluent for the rest of it.

Only mentioning because I stutter as well, and I love representation!

Gustavo soon discovers that he's got nobody to watch his mansion while he's away. He immediately has four very willing volunteers.

"You want me to let the monkeys mansion sit?" Gustavo replies. Hehehe. I always liked this line because (I assume) it's a reference to The Monkees, which is the show Big Time Rush is based off of. I used to watch The Monkees on reruns Sunday mornings and had fun catching scenes and plotlines that I recognized from BTR doing them. I remember that much of the "Big Time Wedding" episode plot was taken from The Monkees episode "Everywhere a Sheik, Sheik."

Kelly, ever the voice of reason, takes Gustavo aside and tells him to let the boys watch his house. It'll be a good way to thank them. Without any other prospects, Gustavo reluctantly agrees.

Later on at the Palm Woods, Mama Knight is not okay with the arrangement. She thinks they're too young to have such responsibility, to which Kendall points out he's sixteen, and Logan and Mrs. Knight have one of my favorite exchanges.

I love Mrs. Knight so much.

And what makes this even funnier is that I sincerely doubt Logan's "That is older than you, isn't it?" was meant in a joking or disrespectful way? Like. This is Logan Mitchell. This kid wouldn't purposely make a dig at his second mother like that. I have to believe that Logan is GENUINELY unsure if Mrs. Knight is younger than 64. Which is funny for a whole plethora of other reasons.

Eventually, Mrs. Knight agrees to let the guys give it a try. She drops them off at the mansion and tells them that she programmed her number into their speed dials. "Just dial 'M' for Mommy," she says, to which my heart instantly melts.

Once inside, the guys quickly start breaking rules, beginning with a race to the media room that's initiated by Kendall. He tried so hard to be responsible for like five seconds, but the allure of a fancy mansion evidently trumps Kendall's need for control and keeping his friends in line. After a round of video games, rule number two is broken when the guys discover a locked fridge. After a sledgehammer-wielding Carlos breaks the lock, they find out that it's filled with

Ridiculous boys.

Back at the Palm Woods, Mama Knight is already suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome. She misses her son terribly and basically feels that she isn't needed anymore. Katie doesn't count, since she's much more independent and apparently hasn't truly "needed" Mrs. Knight in a while.

Katie, being the attentive daughter that she is, immediately fakes illness so that her mother has a reason to dote on someone and feel needed. Very sweet. This is giving me some thoughts about the fact that Mrs. Knight so badly needs to be needed and Kendall ALSO has an intense need to be needed. Hmm. Thoughts for another post maybe.

As the guys all hang out in Gustavo's media room, eating obscene amounts of pudding, Kendall knocks over the domino that sets all the coming chaos officially in motion.

Kendall's entire life is flashing before his eyes. He is in TROUBLE. How are you gonna explain this to Dad, Kendall? Huh??

"Logan. Brain. Now," Kendall pleads—a refreshing change of pace from previous episodes where Logan has demanded solutions for problems from Kendall. Logan proposes they use cat litter because one of the main ingredients is a "natural absorbent." And can I just say that this fact has never left my brain in all these years? To this day, whenever I spill food or need to get a stain out of something, I often have Logan popping into my head with his cat litter fact. Thanks, Logan.

Gustavo's cat shows up, pees on the couch, gets tossed out of the house by Carlos, and Logan accidentally activates the disco ball. Kendall gives a hurried pep talk to assure them they can fix things, and we immediately cut to five minutes later, in which everything has absolutely fallen apart.

Btw, James's delivery of "I think I broke the statue" while he's holding the very clearly broken statue absolutely would make me and my sister lose our minds. We thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Including a clip because I'm still not over it.

Also, we occasionally have scenes of Gustavo and Kelly's trip, but I'm cutting that from my commentary for the sake of post length. Basically, Gustavo has discovered The Windmills, a boy band who will do anything he says. Gustavo starts thinking they're a better option than his dogs back home.

Gustavo's mansion is destroyed, but Logan has a solution! "There's a four a.m. flight to Bolivia. We get there, change our names, raise alpacas."

I love Logan. This guy is ready to abandon his entire life and start over in a new country in order to avoid Gustavo's wrath. I also love dear, sweet Carlos, who is the only one to enthusiastically nod his approval of the plan.

Kendall, however, has a better plan. He knows just who to call to help them put this whole horrible mess back together. Mama Knight to the rescue!

Together, they stay up all night cleaning up all their messes. They finish just as Gustavo is walking up to the door, and Katie and Mrs. Knight quickly skedaddle—but not before Kendall is able to voice his appreciation to his mama.

One of my favorite moments of the episode. Kendall is such a loving son, and Mrs. Knight is such a wonderful mother. Love me a healthy parent and child relationship. I'm so glad that Kendall, who so often has the weight of the world resting on his shoulders, has his mother to depend on and trust so completely. Beautiful.

Gustavo hurries inside, finds the guys innocently lounging around in their jammies, and has something important to say to them before they leave. It takes some effort, but he manages to say that he likes them. The mended statue immediately re-breaks, the guys make a break for it, and Gustavo retreats to the bathroom for some aspirin, where he is ATTACKED by the alligator that escaped his moat. End of episode.

I love this one. It was always one of my favorites and probably one of the funniest of the first season.

#big time rush #btr #btr rewatch #kendall knight #james diamond #carlos garcia #logan mitchell #btr season 1

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smileweakandwrong · 1 year

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smileweakandwrong AO3 Ronance/Platonic Stobin Fic Masterlist

These Dreams Go On Series:

Every Second of the Night - M - 116K words - (warnings: major character injury, self-harm, sexual assult)

Nancy realizes the meaning behind the complicated things she's been feeling as she sits in the hospital room and suffers from strange and upsetting nightmares. Robin navigates a dark past, and the group tries to find where Vecna is hiding and stop him before one of their own is lost.

What if it wasn't Max who ended up in a coma following the battle with Vecna?

Welcome to the Bat Box - M - 25K words (warnings: reference to self-harm and sexual assault but not explicitly so)

Nancy returns to Hawkins for Thanksgiving and joins Robin, Steve and Eddie at their place for their inaugural Orphan Thanksgiving. A study of past and present, growth and development, trauma and healing all with good friends and bad food.

Hot Chocolate, Warm Hands & Cold Mannequins - E -8.8K words (warnings: nsfw, smut, pwp) Technically part of this series but can be read as a one-shot

Just a horny little road trip, some plot and fluff and feelings and Robin paying Nancy a smutty visit in Boston.

Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean Series:

Carry You to the Coast - M - 62K words (warnings: major character death, drug use)

After the battle of Starcourt, Robin & Steve take some time to cope with their trauma and build their new friendship in a rundown cabin in the middle of nowhere. A year later, they're back trying to heal from the losses following Vecna and the Upside Down.

Everyone's favourite platonic soulmates learn life lessons and get into shenanigans together while figuring out that love doesn't have to be romantic with a dash or ronance.

Three Months & Every Moment After - T - 16.7K words (warnings: major character death)

Prequel with all the ronancey things that happened between the end of March when things went to shit and the end of June when part one begins.

Stand Alones:

Robin Buckley's Expert Field Guide to Catching Fireflies (and Other Childhood Favourties) - T - 18K words

Five times Nancy goes catching creepy crawlers with Robin and one time she catches something more.

Or, five days of oblivious lesbians failing at flirting and dancing around each other like absolute ding dongs.

I Will Remember You - M - 75K ongoing (warnings: violence and major character injury)

Nancy has some new abilities, Hawkins is locked in quarantine, new monsters show up, Vecna has a terrible plan, and Nancy has to make some terrible choices to figure out what it all means for her and everyone around her.

‘Tis the Season. Whatever That Means - G - 4.3K words

Just Christmas and first kiss fluff.

in the garden of - E - 14.2K words (nsfw smut)

Fighting monsters was one thing, falling in love with Robin was a whole different kind of scary. But building a life together and discovering that there might be room for one more was not scary at all when Nancy was doing it with Robin. Ronance and ronanceden smut but also sweet and loving.

Tell Me Nothing Else Would Do - G -18.3K words

High school AU with no Upside Down where Nancy meets Robin in a sophomore drama class and they gradually become friends and then more. A big pile of 'when will they finally kiss?' fluff.

*putting it in one shots for now, but there will be a second part eventually

Missing Out - T- 3.7K words

Just some Valentine's Day silliness

Ten Seconds, Ten Years -G- 6.1K words

Fluffy Nancy POV reflecting on ten years of loving Robin

#ronance fic #platonic stobin fic #ao3 #fic masterlist #ronance #platonic stobin #this was way harder to do than i expected #please work or i'll cry #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #eden bingham #ronanceden

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timandlucy · 1 year

Note

Everything with a 4, pluuuuuuuus... hmm.. 7, 13, 20, 27, 35, 56, 68 😘

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

They literally come to me all the time. I get most of them in the show or when I'm driving to and from work, or walking to work. I literally have too many ideas for my own good.

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

Absolutely, always! I always cry during the most emotional scenes because I definitely make myself feel whatever the character is supposed to be feeling.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I don't remember really any advice that was super bad, but someone once told me to edit as I go, and like... wrong.

34. Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

I'd like to see if I can eventually write a book and get it published, so five years seems like a reasonable timeline.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Oh man! I'd literally love it for anything, I don't even care. How awesome would my fic inspiring further art be. But let's just say I'm currently writing something I'd love it for.

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I re-read fics all the time!

42. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

So I recently read right then your eyes were healing by @thatiranianphantom and it hit all the sweet post finale nace spots for me! It's been an incredibly busy week at work (bts season), so I'm looking forward to catching up with all the nace fics over the weekend.

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

Yeah I like writing angst, so I like to hurt them, but mostly emotionally. Like I don't enjoy them being too injured hahaha.

44. What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

Um. You'd know that better than me? But like, I think, using certain words, over and over again.... Like using press 6 times in one paragraph. Also I can't spell seargent.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

Ideally both, but yeah let's go with breaking their hearts hehe.

46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

I'd say it's a mix of all of them, but maybe less action driven, because I can't be bothered with actual plot usually.

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

A lot of times usually. But sometimes I will be soooo sick of looking at it, I won't even read through and send it to you ma'am.

48. What do you look for in a beta?

Nothing, because I already found all of it in you!

49. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

Not lately, but when I wrote for Linstead fandom I got some pretty nasty anons. I mostly just cry.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

The feeling when you finish it and post it and it feels so.... accomplished. Like I made a thing. How cool is that. Of course right after it's like "what if the thing I made sucks".

64. Something you love to see in smut.

Some against the wall action... gimme.

74. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Nothing! I'm a pretty basic bitch. No special style or anything.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

Well 1st pov is a big NO. 2nd pov is an even biggest NO NO. So that leaves 3rd person pov. Easy.

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

One that constantly lives in my head is the best piece of writing advice I've gotten: "you can't edit an empty page." Write, even if it sucks, you can edit later. But you can't edit if you don't write anything.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

I use "murmur" a lot, it's one of my favorite words to use in writing. Like how soft is this word. I like to write domestic scenes, small moments that have a lot of meaning, missing scenes that can easily fit in with the canon episodes.

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

Most favorite - the feeling of accomplishment when I write something. Least favorite - seeking external validation and crumbling if I don't get it.

35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

I think every villain should be relatable and readers should even be able to empathize with them.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

@queseraone I hate you for this question alone. I pride myself on my amazing beta. How about that. But really if I had to pick a think, I guess I feel my dialogue usually sounds kind of genuine and not forced or unnatural.

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I talk to my best friend and beta. Rewatch original content. Fanmade videos always give me great inspiration as well! Or even other fics :)

I was just kidding, I don't actually hate you. Thanks for this!

#writing #fanfiction #ask games #queseraone

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eriquin · 1 year

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Fic authors self rec!

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love!

Tagged by @hairstevington and @disastardly. Most of what I have are WIPs, but I'm working on them because I enjoy them.

Of Empires, Queens, and Builders, Dragon Quest Builders 2. I wrote this for the WIP Big Bang and it was, at the time, my longest fic. It was a lot of fun to write and let me explore world building and also writing fight scenes. I've got a lot of tropes that come up often in my writing that will show up here. But DQB2 is a really small fandom and it's a long fic so it doesn't get a lot of attention. I want to say I don't write for attention but I do love feedback. I have plans for part 2 and maybe part 3 but I'm not sure when I'll write them.

Crown of Thorns, Stranger Things. This'll be Steddie eventually but it's WIP. Probably will be in two parts, too. It's a post-season 4 adventure fic, getting more characters with powers involved. I started out calling it druid!Eddie. I'm having fun with it.

High Marks and Low Riders, Dragon Quest Builders 2. This is a WIP as well. It's a college AU and it's currently really long and I just keep writing more of it. Probably could use a lot of editing, but I'm indulging in it. It's fun and it's got a conclusion if I ever make it there.

The Trolley Problem, Stranger Things. Another WIP. This started out as a whim and a terrible what-if idea but I like where it's going. It's going to get into a rush of activity soon and switch POVs.

Nightswimming, Stranger Things. No link yet because it's part of the Steddie BigBang, but I'm really enjoying writing it. I think it's going to have the same problem as HM&LR where I'm just indulging in character interactions without getting to plot. Sorry.

Tagging some writers in different fandoms: @weronlystardust, @gigglebug, @ltleflrt, @enigma731, @greenbergsays

#my writing #dqb2 #stranger things #steddie #tag games

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.13: The Black Moon Clan

Story Masterlist

Fandom: Sailor Moon (Crystal)

Rewrite of season 2, AU-ish in that there’s new OCs and the fusion of plots from the manga, crystal and the og series

Pairings: Eventual OFC x OMC, Usagi x Mamoru

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

Four women donning the traditional colors of blue, green, red and purple stood before a man with wild red hair and matching red eyes. In their lair - which was a big spaceship — there was nothing but silence. It was the usual custom, even when the four women — sisters — were called upon by their superior.

"We haven't been able to find the Legendary Silver Crystal nor the rabbit," the women dressed in blue, Berthier, declared in utter frustration.

The man, Rubeus, began glowering and so one of Berthier's sisters, Petz, stepped forwards. "It's not our fault and Prince Demande should know. It's that wretched Shadow Queen that prevents us from stepping into Crystal Tokyo!"

"She's put herself as the center of the barrier," added another sister, Calaveras.

"We can't weaken her," the final sister, Koan, scowled. They had tried their best to get through but the barrier was as strong as ever. Not even the Prince himself had been able to break through the barrier yet.

"Perhaps not at the moment, and from the outside, but I have devised a way to do so from the very inside," Rubeus revealed. This made the four sisters gasp. "Crystal Tokyo is in the shape of a perfect star with five end points. If we manage to weaken each of those points in the past and add our own dark powers to it, then we can break the barrier and get inside."

"And finally destroy the city with the Malefic Crystals?" Berthier beamed at the prospect. That had been their lifelong mission and now it seemed to be close to their fingers.

"Exactly," Rubeus confirmed. "So, get to work."

~0~

Both Meroko and Asteria didn't sleep for days because they were trying to make sense out of everything new they learned of their princess. Both sat in the living room nursing coffee mugs in their hands.

"How could we not know this?" Asteria asked for about the millionth time.

"Because we weren't meant to," Meroko would always respond with, which truly just annoyed Asteria.

"We were her guardians! We had a right to know!"

"But then we would become like the Forbidden Soldier," Meroko retorted and immediately quieted her sister down. "Don't you remember the story? Queen Nyx needed to keep the rest of us pure."

"I would never harm the Princess," Asteria rose from her spot in indignation. She was outraged, frankly, that Reign had chosen to share her deepest secret with someone who wasn't even part of their people.

Meroko chose to remain slightly more calm albeit her own personal feelings about the matter. She always felt like she'd been slightly more close to the Princess than her Guardian duties allowed and therefore would've instigated a bit more confidence for the Princess. Apparently not. Still, Reign was the Princess and was allowed to do as she pleased.

"Do you think Sailor Circe knew about this?" Asteria's question pulled Meroko from her thoughts. Asteria had her hands on her hips and the everlasting scowl drawn across her lips. "Reign's secret?"

"Of course," Meroko didn't think about it much. "Circe was as much of a Sailor Guardian to Queen Nyx as she was to Reign. She wasn't the Leader of the Guardians for nothing."

"But she was a soldier too! Why would Circe know about this and not us!?" the question fumed Asteria even more. Meroko was sure this would take days, weeks even, for her sister to simmer down.

~0~

"If Reign holds the Shadow Crystal and the opening to the Gates of the Shadow Dominion, then we can't really trigger her awakening, can we?" Makoto nervously looked at her friends for the confirmation.

They were all gathered, except for Usagi and Mamoru, in the base to discuss their next moves. The girls knew their options had decreased and had no new ideas to suggest.

"Not unless you feel like wasting time," Minako huffed.

"It's imperative we find that Princess soon," Luna chimed in from the computers. "The more time we waste, the more people are caught in the crossfires."

Since Reign's secret had been divulged, Senka had attacked almost every day searching for the crystal inside humans. So far, no luck for either party.

"We can't just let Senka keep terrorizing humans every day," Rei crossed her arms.

Suddenly, Azula let a small cough escape her lips. Everyone turned to her questionably. "Or...can we…?" she slowly drawled.

The girls blinked with surprise. What was she saying? Did she mean...no.

Azula took in a small breath before explaining herself. "Obviously, the only way to find the Shadow Crystal is to yank out crystals from bodies and just check. Senka's already doing it. Maybe...we should keep letting her…"

"Azula, you don't actually mean that, do you?" Ami's eyes looked ready to pop out from her head.

"I do," the red-haired girl nodded.

"What!?" cried Rei. "How can you mean that!? Senka is terrorizing people—"

"And she's the only one with that power to check!" Azula matched Rei's loud voice. "Right now, like it or not, it's all we can do. Unless one of you guys suddenly gains the power to see right through people to spot the Shadow Crystal, it's your only option."

"It's not the Sailor Scout way, Azula," Minako said quietly.

"Well lucky for you I'm the one that thought of the idea and I'm not an actual Sailor Scout so... there's your loophole," Azula gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "I'm the one that thinks of the cold ideas that need to be done."

The rest of the girls still gave questioning looks to each other. The idea was just not their style. It was... cold. Cold indeed.

~0~

"What is with animals today?" Usagi threw the pet shop a glance as the sounds of frantic animals carried out to the streets. "Everywhere we go they're all loud and weird."

"Maybe something's wrong with them?" Chibiusa suggested and stopped at the display window but not before pulling Mamoru with her. "You know they have feelings, right?"

Usagi didn't dismiss the condescending look Chibiusa gave her. "Of course I do!"

"It doesn't look like it," Chibiusa hummed and stared at the puppy on the other side of the window that wouldn't stop barking at the three humans.

"I think we can agree that we all animals have feelings and simply move on," Mamoru cut in to avoid the third argument in that one, simple walk they were taking. He gently pulled Chibiusa from the window and began to walk again. He gave Usagi a significant look that urged her to start talking again...specifically about something.

"Oh, um...did I forget to tell you how Azula was having bad dreams?" she began and did her best not to look so much at Chibiusa between them.

"Yes, yes you did," Mamoru had it much easier in not looking. Being discreet was certainly his thing.

"Yeah, she said they were all about Reyna. Can you believe that?"

Hearing the specific name made Chibiusa look up to Usagi. She was surprised, clearly. "She has dreams about Reyna?"

"Oh yeah," Usagi slowly found her rhythm with the talk. "She said in all of them, something happened to Reyna but she didn't know what."

"Ooh…" Chibiusa's face grew pale suddenly and both teenagers caught that. "Did...did she really not know what happened?"

"Nope," Usagi popped the 'p' and shook her head. "It really got to her. Reyna wasn't the light of her life but she did save Azula so that kind of leaves something in her, you know?"

"Mhm…" Chibiusa looked down at her moving feet. "Well, I'm sure Reyna is fine."

"Chibiusa, are you and Reyna from the same place?" Mamoru dared to ask. "Because you came in the same way that Reyna did. Literally. You don't have to explain, just a simple 'yes' or 'no' suffices."

"...yeah,we are," Chibiusa gave a small nod of her head.

"I knew it," Usagi mumbled to herself before adding, in a regular volume, "You're from the future too. What are you doing here, hm? Are you running away like Reyna did?"

"Reyna didn't run away!" Chibiusa stopped to correct. "The voices told her to!"

Usagi rolled her eyes. "The voices? Seriously?"

Mamoru motioned her to stay calm. Once those two went at it, there was no stopping until Chibiusa shut down. And who won there?

"Chibiusa, Reyna didn't really explain what these 'voices' were," he said, and with no accusations in his tone. He needed to keep things calm in order to continue getting answers. "They're powers, aren't they?"

Chibiusa nodded her head. "Reyna has powers but she hasn't learned to control them yet. Plus, they haven't all come yet."

"So what are those voices, then?"

Chibiusa shrugged. "I don't know. I think they're people from another world. Her Mom knows, though. She could tell you."

"And who's her mom?"

At that, Chibiusa stayed quiet. Mamoru understood she was not allowed to say. "Okay. Thank you for explaining," he said in the end.

Chibiusa beamed. Of course she was thrilled about the lack of persistent questioning. At least now Mamoru and Usagi learned the best strategy in getting information from Chibiusa.

~0~

Asteria and Meroko roamed the local pet shelter in their neighborhood. Neither said a word to the helpful employees but a simple 'just looking'. They went from the birds, to the dogs and cats, to the rabbits, sea animals and so much more. They saw everything in the shelter but bought nothing.

The two sisters stopped by the canaries and looked at each other with a common feeling.

"It's as we suspected," Asteria broke their look and turned to the screeching canaries. "Sailor Siren is awakening. The animals are going mad here and in the city in general."

"Siren always did have the weirdest connection to the creatures in Shadow," Meroko mused. "But if she wakes up the same way you did, she'll have all the animals raging against the humans."

"She's coming," Asteria put a hand on her chest. "I can feel it."

Meroko observed the loud shelter and sighed. "And so can they," she said about the animals.

~0~

As soon as Usagi had joined the girls in the cafe shop, she was informed of the unusual idea or option Azula presented for them in regards to the crystal. Usagi of course couldn't believe the idea. It was…

"Ridiculous!" she slammed a hand on the table, startling nearby customers in the café. "It's just not an option!"

"That's what we told her," Rei carelessly swiveled her straw in her milkshake. "It's not an option."

"What isn't?" Meroko asked as she and Asteria joined the girls in the next table.

"Azula said maybe we should just let Senka keep pulling crystals from people to find the Shadow Crystal and Reign," Minako explained and added, rather glumly, "Since, you know, none of us have the power to actually see the Shadow Crystal ourselves."

"Hm, she said that?" Asteria crossed a leg underneath the table and thought for a moment. "I'm actually impressed."

"What!?" the girls, save for Meroko, went collectively.

"You think we should do it?" Makoto had a face of shock.

"Well, it's the logical way," Asteria gave a light shrug. "I'm actually disappointed in myself for not coming up with that earlier."

"Maybe if you hadn't been brooding you might have," Meroko shot her a smirk to which Asteria rolled her eyes to.

"Hold on," Usagi cut in, "You actually like this idea? I think it's the worst one Azula has ever had."

"We're talking about putting humans in danger…" Ami chimed in. "Senka isn't gentle."

"Yeah, she doesn't care if anyone gets hurt," Rei agreed. "Letting her ransack the population is irresponsible."

"There needs to be another way," Usagi nodded her head and of course had the support of her friends.

Meroko and Asteria disagreed.

"There isn't," Asteria assured. "If there were many options your team and ours wouldn't be working together in the first place. I'm actually gonna back the human up on this one. The idea goes."

Rei scowled and was the only one to voice her disapproval. "No, it doesn't."

"This is our Princess and we have the last say," Asteria glared at Rei. "And since our next Sailor Guardian is close to awakening and will require our fullest attention, I suggest you don't create a bigger gap between us."

Even though the cold idea was still in mighty discussion, the possibility of a third Shadow Guardian put the girls into a streak of silence for a minute. Meroko sighed and nodded.

"We think it's Sailor Siren since all the animals in the city are going crazy. She always had a connection to them, so…"

"And if she wakes up like I did...you better get ready," Asteria made a face. "Sailor Siren's deadliest attack was her Sonic Cry."

"Sonic...cry?" Usagi gulped.

"Mhm."

At that moment, Azula walked in. She spotted the girls and quietly came up to them but did not sit down. She knew this wasn't her hottest moment with them. "Hey. I assume we all know idea by now?"

"We do," Usagi said, intending on scolding her for it when Asteria cut in with a very different response.

"I like it. Definitely thinking like a Sailor Guardian."

Azula wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "Thanks…?"

"That is not how Sailor Scouts think!" Rei snapped.

"Says you," Asteria retorted. "The group of Sailor Scouts who didn't protect their Princess. At least my group were simply too far away. What was your excuse?"

"You know what-" Rei slammed a hand on the table.

"Hey!" Meroko exclaimed to stop them both. "We have pressing matters here and arguing isn't gonna help. Sailor Siren is coming and we need to be prepared."

"Sailor Siren?" Azula repeated, momentarily confused.

"She's our third comrade and she's coming," Meroko explained.

"But we also need to figure out how to find Reign and the Shadow Crystal," Usagi reminded.

"So let's divide and conquer," Azula shrugged casually. "Half of you start searching for Sailor Siren and the other half discuss ways to find Reign."

"I like you more and more," Asteria pointed at her with a growing smile on her face.

"Fine, but I am not working with her," Rei nodded to Asteria. Honestly, that was probably the better idea.

"It's better if one of us us in each team," Meroko thought. "I can work in whatever team Rei is in if that makes things better."

"Yes," went both girls in question.

It was easy dividing and conquering since the two most tension-filled girls were far, far away from each other. For location, there was no one better than Azula. Now that she knew what exactly they were looking for, it was easier to start searching-algorithms.

"She's going to be drawn to us once she awakens," Asteria noted while Azula looked at the base's computer screens.

"And we really don't want a repeat of how you first woke up," Minako inputted with a sheepish smile.

"Maybe there's a way to combat that," Azula turned on her chair to face the two, plus Makoto.

"What do you have in mind?" Asteria curiously asked.

"Quite simple really. We put a tranquilizer in her."

"You mean like...drug her?" Makoto thought.

"A sedative," Azula shrugged. "It's harmless and it would knock her out for a couple hours. If we get lucky, it would be enough hours for her to release all that radiating energy of hers."

"Where can we get that?" Asteria wondered.

"I guess from the local pharmacies," Minako slowly came around with the idea. There was no actual harm for Sailor Siren and it would definitely lessen the danger for anyone around her when she woke up.

"You are now my favorite human," Asteria pointed at Azula, her voice sounding casually matter-of-factly.

"Thanks. I don't know what you are to me but you're not my favorite," Azula was nothing but honest. Asteria simply smiled in return.

~0~

Later that day, Azula, Asteria, Minako and Makoto headed down the street to go buy the needed sedatives from the pharmacy. Asteria was sure Sailor Siren was close to awakening - she could literally feel it. It came, as a consequence, as tiring to discover Senka trying to attack just near the pharmacy they were going to go into.

"Doesn't she take breaks?" Azula frowned.

"She's getting her energy from an infinite world," Asteria mocked beside her. "So that's a definite 'no'."

"Just hurry up and transform!" Azula snapped in return.

"You go into pharmacy where it's safe," Minako instructed her.

"Yeah, alright," Azula watched her friends go and do their Sailor Scout thing. She sucked in a breath and tried to sneak through the screaming people into the pharmacy but Senka was still choosing her victim when she spotted the familiar red-haired girl.

"I recognize that wild hair," Senka drawled and lowered herself to the ground. Azula skidded to a halt so as to not crash into Senka. "You're the petty human that got away from my grasp. Not anymore."

Azula did her best not to look scared but the tendrils of darkness reaching out for her challenged things. She took a step back but one of the tendrils acted as a lasso and slapped the air just beside her. She screamed and jumped to the side.

"Perhaps you own my Shadow Crystal," Senka maliciously laughed.

"The Shadow Crystal is not yours!" Azula reached for a plant pot and threw it directly at Senka. The woman had to retract her tendrils as she dodged. Azula then got on her feet and tried making a run for it.

Senka growled and rushed a tendril that wrapped around Azula. "Where do you think you're going!?"

Azula dreaded the pain that was to come and still screamed of pain when the darkness began picking at her skin. She could feel her chest burning and something trying to forcibly push through.

"Silver Stars!" Sailor Asteria sent three plunging silver stars to cut off Senka's tendrils around Azula just as her crystal was about to shimmer into existence.

Sailor Jupiter swiftly caught Azula before she hit the ground. "You okay?"

Azula feebly nodded. "Eugh, yeah. Second time around the body gets used to it I guess," she rubbed her hand over her heart.

"Get to safety," Sailor Venus dropped in beside them.

"We need to get those sedatives," Azula picked herself up and gestured a thumb to the pharmacy two stores down. "You guys take care of the Shadow Queen over there and I'll do my part in there."

Sailor Venus was weary of the idea but ultimately gave in since she knew Azula wouldn't be listening anyways. Azula was set free and allowed to run for the pharmacy before Senka could capture her again.

"You brats!" Senka fumed as her victim was once again taken from her. "You protect that girl as if she held something important! Perhaps I should make her a priority!"

"We protect anyone who has the unfortunate luck to get in your path," Sailor Jupiter flashed a warning finger at her.

"You best give up, Senka," Sailor Asteria said, mighty confident. "Reign isn't here but I am and as long as it's like this, you will never find the Shadow Crystal.".

Senka laughed. "We'll see about that."

Asteria raised her hands to display her silver stars again. "We will," she vowed.

Senka put her hands together and began creating dark spheres. She threw them one by one down at the Sailor Scouts but missed.

"We need to combine our powers or she'll destroy the city at this rate," Sailor Venus already sustained heavy cuts on her legs from the blow.

"Me? Combine powers with you two?" Sailor Asteria eyed Venus like she was delirious.

"It's the only way!"

"I'm not doing it! It's like blasphemy!"

"We are on the same side!" Sailor Jupiter shouted.

"We have the same mission to protect our princesses!" Sailor Venus added. "Reign and Serenity were once friends despite all the laws and rules against it. We owe it to that friendship to at least be a civilized team keeping them safe!"

Sailor Asteria looked up at Senka who was rising higher in the air. Her black tendrils swiveled around, looking for new victims. If anything, their combined powers could keep her away for a while. "Fine," she said to the other two. "Let's combine powers."

"I'll start us off!" Sailor Jupiter pushed herself up on her feet. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"

Sailor Venus went to follow with her own attack. "Venus Crescent Beam!"

And finally, Sailor Asteria rose gracefully and pushed through the last attack. "Night Divination!"

Venus' beam wrapped around Jupiter's thunder which then enveloped Asteria's falling stars, creating deadly grazers that hit Senka in all directions. Senka screamed wildly with her arms in front of her face.

"The red head will be mine!" she parted with that warning before vanishing into thin air.

This time, all three Sailor Scouts knew they shared a common concern.

~0~

That night, Usagi stopped by Azula's apartment to see how she was doing. It came as no surprise to Azula when Usagi used her latest attack as another reason to go against Azula's idea.

"You've experienced the pain twice now and you really think we should let others feel the same?" the blonde paced in front of Azula's couch.

"Usagi, it's because I've been attacked twice that I'm definitely sure you should follow my advice," Azula frankly said. Usagi paused her pacing to look at her. "Look, because Senka hasn't seen my useless crystal, she now has it in for me. She's gonna terrorize me until she pulls out a crystal from my chest and sees what it is."

Usagi stared at Azula as if the red-haired girl had finally lost it. "Azu—"

"Usagi, I'm not changing my mind about that. Can we just talk about what you know I've been wanting to talk of?"

Of course Usagi knew. Even though she didn't agree, she relented and switched topics. "We talked with Chibiusa and... you were right, she knows Reyna."

"I knew it," Azula looked, if Usagi had to describe it, concerned over Reyna. "What does she know? Is Reyna okay?"

Usagi sighed. "Chibiusa is very obscure. She says the voices Reyna hears are powers."

"Lunatic powers," Azula spat. "They told her to come back in time."

"Well, Chibiusa said the powers haven't fully developed yet so I guess she can't really control them…"

"What parents would allow their kid to pull something like Reyna did? Or even Chibiusa?" Azula huffed and leaned back on the couch with arms crossed. "I bet you they're like sisters or something cos I find it difficult to believe two sets of parents have the same bad parenting abilities in the future."

Usagi managed to laugh. Slowly, Azula ended up doing the same thing.

~0~

The next day, on her way back from school, Azula was found by Mamoru. It came as no surprise since Azula was sure Usagi must have told Mamoru all about the attack and her ideas over Reign. There was certainly a lot to talk about.

"If Senka is after you now, we'll have to be extra careful," Mamoru said, though Azula wasn't sure if he was simply thinking accidentally out loud or actually talking.

Azula sighed, not really having the energy to argue yet again over the same subject. Her attention was suddenly taken by a small crowd just outside a small shop. There was a brunette woman raising old fashioned jewelry and saying some things over it.

"Your lucky charms! They will protect you and grant you what you most wish in the world!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Mamoru murmured but Azula was considering it. He gasped lightly when he saw Azula begin stepping towards the procession. "Azula? We'll be late."

Azula stopped just to the side of the crowd to where she could see the jewelry better. The brunette woman was enthusiastically parading the products around for the group around her table.

"You'll definitely want one of these! They're cheap too!" the brunette woman spotted Azula's curious stare and smiled. "You want one, dear?" she pushed forwards an emerald stone necklace.

Azula barely had a chance to blink before Mamoru jerked her backwards. "No thanks," he told the woman and pulled Azula with him to continue their way.

"I could have bought one," Azula frowned, or pouted more like it.

"No offence, Azula, but luck isn't what you need," Mamoru shook his head. "You need protection and everyone else agreed."

"Oh great, so now you're all talking about what to do with me behind my back," Azula released a big ole sigh that made Mamoru roll his eyes. "So, tell me, how badly am I going to be babysat?"

"Azula, it's not like that—"

Azula groaned and waved him off with one hand. "Oh please, you don't even believe that."

Not seeing the point in arguing the contrary, Mamoru relented. "Yeah, fine. But you still have to let us take care of you our way."

And because Azula saw no point in avoiding the inevitable, she agreed. "Fine. We'll do this the Sailor Scout way,'" she made a frantic arm gesture of her fist passing in front of her face. Mamoru laughed. "Shut up," went Azula who then suddenly started backtracking.

"Where are you going?" Mamoru scratched his head in confusion.

"Well if I'm going to be babysat then I get to buy my lucky charm," Azula smirked and pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

Mamoru groaned. "Azula!"

"Oh c'mon! We could get one for Usagi too!" Azula didn't wait to hear more and turned around to run back to the lucky charm shop.

~0~

Birds cried from the sky as their wings were incessantly flapped. Most people thought they would come swooping down to peck at them but they didn't. It was simply noise they were making...just like every other creature in the city.

"She's close," Asteria promised the others in the café shop.

Ami, who was sitting in the next table, had her nose buried in her miniature computer device. "There some strange activity going down at the center of the district - near the mall."

"But is it Sailor Siren?" asked Minako across Asteria.

"I'm not sure," Ami straightened in her chair, a confused expression swirling in her face. "But it's definitely something."

"We should check it out nonetheless," Asteria declared and this time had the unanimous agreement from the rest.

"But Azula has the sedatives!" Makoto remembered and made the rest stop suddenly. "What if we need them?"

"Let's call her and get them from her!" Minako didn't falter and motioned to be followed.

~0~

"Azula, are you alright?" Mamoru couldn't help give his friend yet another concerned glance. The two were heading for Usagi's house to get together but for some reason Azula had gone a shade paler in such little time.

Azula waved him with a hand to indicate she was fine...even though she did feel a little woozy. She just didn't want another thing added to her collection of misfortunes. Thankfully, Mamoru was smarter than that.

He stopped her walking just a block from Usagi's house and turned to her. "Azula, you look sick. Do you feel alright?" Azula tried nodding her head but he wouldn't believe her. "Your face looks...really pale. Maybe you have a fever—"

"Hey guys!" Chibiusa's voice made both momentarily look to the side to see her and Usagi just getting home. The pink-haired girl beamed as she hugged Mamoru around the legs.

Usagi would've scolded her for that had she not noticed Azula. "Hey-" she placed a hand on Azula's arm, "-you don't look so good."

Chibiusa looked up at Azula and gasped. "Oh no! Are you sick!?"

Azula didn't quite care for so much coddling. "Listen, I'm not having the best week. I've been attacked twice so maybe I'm a little tired but that's it."

Usagi exchanged a look with Mamoru, both silently agreeing this wasn't merely tiredness. Usagi reached to take Azula's schoolbag from her. "Let's just get to my place."

But as soon as she said that, there was a booming noise in the sky and the next thing they knew, a projection of a brunette woman's face glowered down.

"My minions!" her voice called out. "It's time to awaken! Destroy for the Black Moon Clan! I command it!"

"Black Moon Clan?" Usagi repeated and looked at Mamoru with the same confusion he had.

"Come to the Lucky Charms shop to weaken the point! I command it!" the woman finished and disappeared from the sky.

"Usagi…" Chibiusa tugged on the blonde's arm and pointed Usagi to Azula who was clutching her head.

"Azula!"

Azula felt a loud ringing in her head and it was agonizing. It didn't let her hear anything and it made her head throb. Then, just like that it vanished…and it left a very different girl in her place.

"Azula—" Usagi had reached for Azula's hand but Azula instead grabbed Usagi by the collars of her school uniform.

"Azula!" Mamoru reacted fast and grasped Azula from the side. Soon as he did, he saw a rush of images belonging to the same brunette woman from the sky.

The brunette woman stood along with three other women similar to her age. They argued with a red-haired man dressed in red inside a spaceship.

Flashes of silver and white filled the image next. There was a figure floating in the air, encased in black.

Lucky charms…

Mamoru was so distracted from his thoughts that Azula easily pushed him away. She growled and ran off ignoring Usagi's calls.

"What's happening?" Chibiusa looked at the other two for an explanation.

Mamoru rubbed the side of his head. "It's those lucky charms…"

"What lucky charms?" Usagi turned to him. She brought his hand from his head and anxiously waited to see if he was truly alright.

"Azula stopped to buy a lucky charm from this...this shop," Mamoru explained. "There was a woman...she was...weird. I-I shouldn't have let her buy one but I—"

"It wasn't your fault," Usagi softly said. "It's that...Black Moon Clan, whatever that is."

No one noticed Chibiusa's face from behind. Had they already found her? That would mean they were powerful enough to travel back in time too! She didn't even want to think about what they had done to get…

Usagi felt something in Azula's bag ringing and opened it up, despite feeling a bit guilty for rummaging through someone else's possessions. "What's Azula's communication watch doing here?" she'd pulled out the golden band from the bag.

Mamoru felt worse remembering how he'd failed to also stop Azula from taking it off. "She wanted to put her lucky charm on so she put that away."

Usagi sighed and opened the communicator to find Minako's face on screen. Minako's eyebrows knitted together, confused of finding Usagi instead of Azula. It was then that Usagi explained what was going on and where Azula wss probably headed.

"Sailor Siren is coming" — Minako said urgently — "and Azula has the sedatives. We need them, Usagi!"

Mamoru took Azula's schoolbag from Usagi and went digging to see if the sedatives were inside. Luckily, they were. Azula had probably intended on handing them over later in the day when the group was to meet up. Minako was delighted and less stressed to see them.

"Bring them over to the Lucky charms shop," Minako instructed. "Ami detected some strange signals from that place. We think that's where Sailor Siren will be."

"But that's also where the hypnotized people will be," Usagi grew concerned for what it could mean for Azula.

"Then we better hurry," Mamoru said and looked down at Chibiusa. He held out Azula's schoolbag to her. "You need to go home and stay there, alright?"

Because there was a high chance of seeing some of the Black Moon Clan people, Chibiusa quickly took Azula's schoolbag and ran the rest of the way to Usagi's home.

"Well, she agreed way too fast," Usagi scowled after the girl. "Isn't that suspicious?"

"No time!" Mamoru reminded and pulled her in the opposite direction.

~0~

Koan gazed upon her victims from the top cover of her Lucky Charms store. She had forgone her civilian disguise and reverted to her natural self. Purple was her color and if she had say something about it, she would say she worked it. She patted her dark purple tutu (at least that's what it resembled) then checked her purple heels. Her lavendar one-suit was in perfect shape, not to mention her purple hair. The large purple jewel on her forehead shined with energy that gave her the power to do everything she was doing.

The crowd was gathering around the shop and actively converting anyone they could by placing lucky charms on them. "Soon, this point will weaken and the Shadow Queen will fall," a twisted smile spread across Koan's red lips.

"You should he ashamed of yourself!" Sailor Moon's voice gained Koan's attention. The Sailor Scout stood tall and proud across the street. "Using pretty bracelets with lucky for your evil schemes!"

Koan raised an eyebrow at the blonde, momentarily surprised. "Sailor Reign?"

Sailor Moon faltered in her opening. "What? No! I-I'm Sailor Moon!" and she vegan regaining herself, remembering what was at stake. "I am the pretty guardian Sailor Moon and on behalf of the Moon I will punish you!"

"Of course you're not Sailor Reign," Koan said calmly, now gazing Sailor Moon up and down. "Wrong outfit. And face."

Sailor Moon immediately wondered how the hell the woman knew about 'Sailor Reign' when she herself knew nothing yet.

"I am Koan, the youngest of the Four Weird Sisters, and today is the day this pathetic Crystal Point crashes down." Koan pointed a finger at Sailor Moon. "Get her!"

Sailor Moon yelped when the entire crowd turned against her and began advancing on her. The charms were waved high in the air, coming for her.

"Venus Crescent Beam!" Sailor Venus strategically directed her famous golden beam just in front of the crowd, forcing them to stumble back a couple feet.

Tuxedo Mask dropped in along with Sailor Asteria on the other side of the crowd. The first thing they spotted was a familiar red-haired girl waving an emerald green charm in her hand.

"Oh no…" Tuxedo Mask couldn't bear see his friend in that state. Even Sailor Asteria gasped in true surprise.

Koan saw her enemies slowly rise and growled. She then spotted, however, familiar scouts. "Well, well, well, it seems not even here I can get rid myself of the displeasure the Royal Sailor Scouts' presence."

"She's from the future," Sailor Mars detected similar vibes from Koan just like Reyna and Chibiusa had once given off.

"But what's she doing here, then?" Sailor Moon asked.

Sailor Mercury was eyeing the noticeable inverted, black crescent moon on Koan's forehead. "And what is that on her forehead?" she pointed.

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask both assumed the sign was that of the Black Moon Clan.

"The Black Moon Clan is from the future," Tuxedo Mask put a hand to his own forehead as once again he saw the same rush of images. He wondered if the Black Moon Clan had anything to do with the figure floating in the air surrounded by black.

Koan didn't wait for her enemies to gather around. She began fire literal fire streams down at them. Everyone had to jump out of the way.

"Azula!" Tuxedo Mask called in vain. The only thing he got was for Azula to turn in his direction.

"She might still be in there," Sailor Asteria told him, surprisingly open to the idea of helping get Azula back. She truly had taken a liking for the redhead.

Tuxedo Mask knew the only way to get Azula back was for Sailor Moon to perform her special attack. Currently, the blonde Sailor Scout was in the middle of dodging lucky charms.

"She's a mess," Sailor Asteria rolled her eyes, taking the predicament with casualty. She pulled out her silver stars from her skin and thrust them towards the two teens trying to grab Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon shouted from the blow and fell on the ground. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter covered her while she got back on her feet.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" Sailor Mars sent a fire stream towards Koan.

Koan deflected the fire stream by throwing forwards a special lucky charm into the air that absorbed the fire. Sailor Hemera then dropped in, the last one to do so, and with the element of surprise.

"Glimmering Boomerang!" she threw her golden boomerang and knocked Koan against the wall.

"Now Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask urged for the final blow.

Sailor Moon took out her Moon Rod and delivered the attack with perfect timing. All those hypnotized collapsed on the ground with no idea of what occurred.

Koan growled at the group as she saw her victims' energy become no more. "This isn't the last time you'll see me, nor my sisters."

"What do you want?" Sailor Mars demanded. "What does the future want from us?"

Koan gave her a condescending look over. "From you? Absolutely nothing. From the city? Power. We'll get the necessary power to bring down the barrier. The Black Moon Clan never fails. You'll see." With a malicious laugh she rose into the air and was beamed up into the sky.

The scouts didn't get to think a lot about Koan because the victims began waking up.

Azula sat upright and rubbed at her red hair with a groggy face."What happened?" Tuxedo Mask knelt down beside her and gave her a light hearted smile that said it all. She released a light groan. "I was attacked again!? Seriously!?"

~0~

Azula pulled new tabs on the base's computer screen. She'd hacked into the street cameras to gather good pictures of Koan. She'd cropped pictures of the inverted crescent moon on Koan's forehead for the others to see. All in all, the pictures laid the truth out for them: they were going up against a new villain apart from Senka.

"They're multiplying," Azula said with a sigh. She had an elbow resting on her chair's armrest and a cheek resting against her palm.

Ami stepped up beside Azula, her blue eyes keenly examining Koan's figure. "The Black Moon Clan. That's not related to Senka right?"

"Definitely not," Meroko didn't hesitate to respond with. "Senka is a being from an alternative world. This Clan is…"

"From the future," Rei finished with a fist. "They've traveled back in time. But I just don't understand for what."

Mamoru didn't say anything as he visualized the figure in the air surrounded by darkness. He had yet to understand what it meant.

"If the Black Moon Clan is from the future, and Chibiusa suddenly came from the future... don't you think they would know each other?" Azula asked the winning question that made everyone stop. She turned on her chair, her face straight as she went on. "Chibiusa is running from something and she's scared. She obviously knows Reyna, who has mysteriously become a recurring nightmare for Chibiusa. I'm almost 99.9% sure this Black Moon Clan has caused some sort of catastrophic event in the future forcing Chibiusa to run back in time. And the only reason her parents won't come for her, or that future version of Sailor Circe, is because something horrible is preventing them from doing so."

Azula had said the theories in such a flat, plain time that one could almost try to just take it in with casualty. But the reality was she'd come up with rather gruesome, hard theories. The world was about to enter dangerous moments and no one knew what it would lead to.

#ocappreciation #allaboutocs #ochub #sailor moon #sailor moon crystal #sailor moon fics #sailor moon imagines #sailor moon crystal fics #sailor moon crystal imagines #sailor moon ocs #sailor moon oc #oc: azula keena #fic: reign from the shadows

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