#and it’s like emotional and they’re all so relieved she’s alive

[chirpsythismorning]

Just remembered that Will sat on the icebox in the van for the 30 hr ride back to Hawkins

[zeestarfishalien]

Part 13: My Bones Became a Drip

No TW for this chapter (let me know if I missed anything)

Masterpost/chapter list

Recap:

Jason spins, eyes wide and searching, landing on the glowing white haired teen and his unconscious brother draped across their arms. Even with the cape still covering Tim’s face, he knows it’s Tim.

And the teen…

oh…

The teen is Spooky, Danny. He’d recognize that funky jumpsuit anywhere and those eyes are the same Lazarus green eyes he sees on a canid face every damn day.

He’s frozen mentally. Physically he’s moving forward to check Tim’s vitals and look for any obvious signs of injury but it’s all autopilot, all things that were drilled into him so that it became second nature, so that he could function even when his emotions are running wild like they are right now. He’s furious and relieved and anxious and surprised and ecstatic and so much more nuances of the same. It’s a cyclone of vicious emotions attempting to claw their way to the surface, fighting each other for the top spot.

His instincts purr, they’re safe they’re safe family is safe , while he gets on coms with Oracle to make sure she knows they’ve got Tim and that he’s alive.

Gingerly, he takes Tim off of Spooky’s hands and hoists him onto his hip like he’s a sleeping toddler so he can free one of his hands.

He gently reaches out to ruffle hair that has the same wispy feeling as before.

“Thank you,” he says quietly. Family , his instincts say. I love you , says the odd rumbling tone that ripples out from somewhere in his chest.

Danny clicks and a similar rumble in higher pitch comes from him and somehow Jason knows that it means, I love you too. Family.

[I felt we could all use a little refresher but on to the new chapter!]

Jason wants to cry and rage at how long it takes him to notice the way Danny scratches gingerly at the skin around the collar on his neck. They’re in the bat cave waiting to hear news on Red Robin’s checkup. Danny had followed, a ghost of a thing, barely visible most of the time, and his feet had yet to touch the ground after he passed off Tim. However, he stayed with Jason. He didn’t appear nervous, but neither was he eager to explore the wonders of the world around him.

When Black Bat sent him a little wave, he perked up a little, tilting his head to the side, assessing the vigilante. He slowly raises his hand in a small wave back.

Immediately after, his hand reaches up to ever so carefully shift the collar.

“You okay, Spooky?”

Wide bright green eyes snap to Jason in some form of surprise.

He nods, but the hollow groaning sound that emanates from his body tells a different story to Jason. It says, uncomfortable, burns, powers hurt, not enough energy.

“Is that collar dampening your abilities?”

Danny opens his mouth to speak only for the syllables to catch in his apparently raw throat. Raw from smoke? The collar?

He coughs, and Jason can hear his lungs rattling on the inhale. Spooky….

The chirp from Danny speaks clearly, some, not all.

“Well fiddle sticks…let me get Z or one of the other magic guys on the phone and see if we need magic, tech, or both to get it off.”

The cracking and groaning that comes as a response is more emotion than actual words, but it gets the message mostly across. His situation isn’t urgent. The power he holds is too great for the collar to block much of. Danny shares the way that the power flows over and around the collar like it’s an annoyingly large boulder in a stream. It may block the most convenient route, but the water will still find a way to go downhill.

“Still…” he argues. “If it’s not comfortable, we should find a way to get it off.”

Danny shrugs like it’s of little importance to him. Jason knows that kind of attitude. It’s very common among the hero types.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Dick watching them. His brother mouths, “I can call her,” and Jason nods his assent. He already owes her one favor. Let her pay back one of her debts to Big Bird.

~•~

"Heyyyyyy Z..."

"The next words out of your mouth better not have anything to do with that mind boggling fiend of Jason’s," she rattles off bluntly.

Pressing his lips together, Dick debates how to reply, but evidently his silence is reply enough.

She sighs. "What is it this time?"

It's probably better to get straight to the point. "They've got a suppression collar on."

"What? But that's not possible. The size of the device capable of completely suppressing that spirit's powers would have to be..." she trails off as something occurs to her. "Except it's not fully suppressing their power, is it? We would have noticed that."

"Yep. Got it in two," Dick says cheerfully but his smile doesn't last. "They seem able to use most of their abilities fine, but whatever material it's made from irritates their skin now that they're back in their body."

"Good to see I'm the first to know" she cuts back sarcastically.

"You are. It all just happened tonight. They rescued RR from a warehouse fire. They've been following Hood ever since."

There's a long pause and then she sighs again.

"Is RR alright?"

"He will be. He's resting now, nothing he shouldn't be able to recover from, but he'll be down for a while," he lets warmth trickle into his voice. He appreciates her asking about Tim’s health. Not everyone makes that effort.

"Okay, well that might complicate things. If we're going based on past experience, whoever collared Spooky is probably the same person or people that put them in that wretched abomination of a coffin. Which means...tech," she ends with a sigh. "Specifically, mad scientist levels of tech. I swear I'm going to strangle whoever is behind all of this wretched spirit-tech when we find them because I don't know that I can get that collar off without it blowing up in our faces."

"How should we approach this then?"

He can hear another long drawn out sigh from Zatanna's end.

"Lemme....Let me talk to Marvel and I'll get back to you with a game plan."

"Thanks Zee!! You're the best!!"

"Fuck you, Dickwing."

She hangs up before he can quip back so he just smiles at his phone.

~•~

Jason turns his attention back to his spooky friend.

“What’s on the agenda now that you’re free?”

The spirit freezes. The temperature around him drops, too. He frowns to himself, and stormy eyes look a little lost.

“You can stay with me until you figure it out. I’d like the company. Your company specifically,” Jason offers softly.

He nearly breaks down at the look that slowly dawns on Danny’s face. It’s like Jason gave him the world in his little selfish offer. All Jason wanted was to keep his companion.

“Thank you.” The words are half garbled and sound like they had to have hurt coming out, but Jason understands them all the same, and that’s all that matters.

Black Bat sidles over with a long strip of thin cloth in her hand, some scrap of non-conductive polymer used on something or other. [reference to City pigeons bleed green?] Jason is not sure where she got it from, but she holds it out and gestures to her neck with the other hand.

Spooky drifts closer and carefully snags the hanging end of the cloth, careful not to brush his fingers against Cass.

“May I help you?” She signs, repeating it slower when Danny looks confused. Jason is about to translate when comprehension dawns on Danny’s face.

He looks to the cloth and then back to Cass before slowly nodding. He dips back down to the ground, the tips of his toes brush the floor, and replies with sign, though it’s simple and hesitant.

“You hold.” He demonstrates holding his collar up at the narrowest part of his neck.

Cass nods and replicates his action. Danny carefully eases the cloth between the bare skin on his neck and the collar. It’s a tight fit, but he manages to make it work.

Jason steps away for a brief moment, returning with a needle and thread.

“Want me to tack it in place so it doesn’t slip?”

Danny nods, but his eyes follow the needle in Jason’s hand closely. He makes sure to move slow and steady so Danny doesn’t startle or panic. It takes a few minutes to sew together three separate spots on the fabric to hold it in place on the collar, but it’s done with no fuss and no panic on anyone’s part.

Danny is more relaxed by the time Dick peeks out of the changing rooms and meanders back over.

"It's good to see you up and about Spooky. Sorry we gave you such a cold reception. We get a little single-minded when one of us is injured," Dick says amicably.

Danny shrugs but doesn’t seem interested in attempting more communication with the man. He looks dead on his feet, no pun intended.

Dick for his part, tries not to show his disappointment in being ignored.

Alfred appears in the doorway, looking pristine as always except...ah, there's a few wrinkles in his suit, and his worry lines are deeper than usual.

"Master Tim will make a full recovery given time and rest. Luckily, he avoided the worst of the smoke and was rescued before things got out of hand." He aims that last part at Danny who ducks away and flickers in and out of sight from the grateful tone.

Jason stands and stretches with a long groan. It must have startled Danny because he blips a few feet before catching himself and drifting back close to Jason.

~•~

The brother, Red Robin, Tim... is okay. He's alive and being checked over by professionals. That's really all that matters to Danny.

He is tired though.

That's part of the reason why he doesn't give much of a response to the energetic one, Nightwing. The other part being that this one's words and actions don't match what he's actually feeling. He's clearly, at least to a ghost's senses, masking and shoving all of his emotions and problems into a box that will one day explode on him.

Sensing that sets Danny on edge. He doesn't like that false cheer, one so deeply ingrained that even Nightwing might not know it's false.

Luckily he doesn't have to attempt to summon energy to respond because the elder gentleman comes out to let them know that Tim will be okay.

His gratitude towards Danny has every part of him squirming beneath his skin. People don't just...thank him. Not before... and he certainly hasn't done much now to garner that level of acknowledgment. He has to fight to stay visible even as they're leaving. He doesn't want to worry Jason.

Previous | Next

I'm so excited to post this finally!!! It's been a rough one to wrestle with and it's definitely a little funky round the edges but I'm still happy with it.

I think there's a reference to City Pigeons Bleed Green by @clockwayswrites Go check out their stuff it's amazing!!! I could be wrong on which fic it's from but it's definitely one of Clock's works. (Lol pun intended)

As always, please let me know if there's anything confusing (sometimes I word stuff strangely and it doesn't make sense).

I am part way into the next chapter as well, but with my life how it is at the moment, who knows when I'll get it finished. Could be tomorrow, could be 6 months from now.

Next chapter is a good one which is part of what made this one so hard. I can't wait to write and show y'all the developments I have planned. I can't wait to see it myself!

Anywho, thank you so much for your support. You guys are amazing. Don't forget that.

[spooky-circuits]

JD would absolutely unintentionally overstep, but instead of it being because he's self-centered, it'd be because he's so damn relieved that seeing any of his brothers is alive he doesn't see the warning signs. Like, he might not recognize Branch at first because he's grey, but the moment he does, he is sweeping him into a hug and clinging to him. He's very gandsy, always wanting to be holding onto or be in physical contact eith Branch in some way because he's scared the moment he's put of sight or loses contact it'll turn put to be some messed up dream.

He still tends toward treating him like a baby, definitely shows off his baby pictures, much to Branch's horror and everyone else's delight. Like, they knew by this point Branch was actually quite cute, grey skin and gloomy attitude and all, and he was even more adorable as Bitty B, but they never imagine just how cute until they got the pics.

Both Creek and Poppy want a wallet sized copy of the perm.

Satin and Chenille are very much making plans for color coordination both if and when Branch regains his colors while also keeping his more practical taste in mind, of course. At this point, they're pretty sure he'll start regaining his colors again. They just aren't sure to what extent and how, and they want to be ready to make sure he's fashionable when it happened now that they know what his true coloration is.

JD will also probably apologize, albeit probably in a more offhand way than the heartfelt one Floyd gave. The guy isn't exactly the best with emotions and is a little overwhelmed by his youngest, whom he thought was dead, just showing up. I also think he'd have Rhonda, but the little lady is a bit too small to use as transport. She's still an armadillo bus puppy.

This is surprisingly spot on for what I had in mind!

Creek and Poppy both wanting baby pictures makes too much sense. Creek claims they’re for blackmail but we all know the truth.

As cute as baby Rhonda is I am hoping to use her as a set piece for having examples inside about how difficult of a time JD has been having with the search and he needs a place to store the stuff he took from the troll tree. Though him with a big backpack like in the concept art could be funny. He just has like a folding conspiracy board in there. Everyone notices the similarities to Branch.

[handsome-edvard]

Hot take for the Robinwest nation

I think the scene in season 1 where she gives him the puppy eyes could have been more interesting if he did stick to his firm NO. He storms off and that’s the end of that.

But what if that was just the set up?

Cut to the Robinsons scrambling to figure out how to make it work with just John’s weight in the shuttle, and Maureen is stressed but determined in her calculations, and Judy is clearly considering going with her dad when-

Enter Don West, clad in a bright orange spacesuit, swaggering into the passenger seat of the shuttle saying, “If anyone asks, I got paid for this.”

“Don?” Maureen gasps.

“A lot,” Don carries on, settling into the co-pilot station. “And if I die up there I better get a statue. My own holiday on Alpha Centauri.”

And Maureen is smiling in disbelief and John is skeptical but at a loss, and Penny and Will are relieved. Don sees all of that but he hasn’t looked at Judy. Not yet.

Thing is he didn’t see her behind him in that room when Maureen and John tried to sell him on the idea, and he told them to send him a postcard.

He’d said no because it is his life on the line too, he likes being alive, and doing the right thing does really suck.

So he doesn’t look at Judy right now as he doesn’t know what he’s going to find behind those big brown eyes that previously beseeched him to help. The ones he couldn’t stop thinking about later.

She had looked so devastated by his refusal, so vulnerable, that he is honestly not sure risking his life is enough to get her to talk to him again.

Probably for the best.

He flipped that tanker for her and he lost the money, then they lost Evan eventually. It was all for nothing. From where he’s standing, doing things for Judy doesn’t help him in any way, and that’s a problem because he can’t seem to stop. It’s entirely irrational.

He locks eyes with her later on, after various trials of his recovery time in test launches. He’s even more sluggish with each trial but it can work. They can do it. Don can’t tell what Judy is thinking and she looks away just as quickly as he does. But one thing he knows for certain is how she looks when she’s pissed and this — is not that.

Now they’re about to leave and Don needs an excuse to be near Judy one last time. Debbie clucks beside him and Don figures if he dies up there with John, he should make sure the lucky chicken is with someone else, maybe bring them a bit of extra luck like she did for him.

“I don’t want your chicken,” Judy says, when she realizes what Don has for her.

He thought she looked almost eager when he called out for her (it was endearing, really), and the way she rolls his eye at him right now is—that’s what it is.

That’s what does it for him.

The reason he’s risking even more than he already has is not because Maureen asked or because John needs someone else in the shuttle.

“And I don’t want to hurtle through space in a tin can,” Don replied, “but here we are.”

She doesn’t seem mad at him, not anymore, and that’s good enough for him. If he goes out doing something for her, it’s good enough for him.

He’s a decent person who has been dealt a bad hand and it’s still so awkward for someone like him to admit he’s a smuggler—he never liked that word—and the thing about Judy is, when she looks at him, it’s like she can see who he actually is underneath everything.

That’s why all her appeals to his better nature always succeed. It’s how the prior caught-off guard No eventually turned into a Yes.

It’s not just his life on the line, it’s her life too, and everyone else’s lives. He wants to reaffirm that he is a better man than everyone thinks, that they are past the money.

“Bye Debbie,” Don says gently.

“Don?” Judy calls after him just as he turns to leave. Her eyes are different, almost shimmering with emotion. Doing that thing from earlier but for a different reason. “Hey, try not to die up there, okay? Make sure you fight.”

There it is. Now he knows for certain they’re back on good terms. Beneath the hefty space suit, a flutter blooms in his chest.

Judy is preparing herself for the possibility that they may never see each other again. Don gives her a smile. He wants her to remember him well.

“Do my best. See you on the other side.” He winks at her and departs, hiding his own bittersweet smile.

. . .

When the shuttle explodes as it hurtles through the atmosphere Judy lets out a scream before she even knows it, and her eyes fill with tears for her Dad and for Don, because Don didn’t want to do this. She tried so hard to convince him and she thought she failed until he came back and strapped into the copilot seat.

And now he’s gone. He’s dead because of her. How can she live with that?

. . .

But then when she hears his sweetly bruised voice through the comm, thick with emotion, her eyes fill with tears again. “Are you crying?”

“No?” Don says.

“Yes you are!” Judy laughs and cries a little too, already thinking about when she’s going to see him again.

“They’re happy tears,” John confirms.

Don is so heroic. He made it. Judy is overjoyed and she can’t wait to hear his voice his person, to see the crinkles near his eyes when his smiles begin to form.

. . .

Don shuffles a few paces behind John Robinson. He knows the family is going to be all over the man, so he figures he’ll just give them some space. Although he’s been thinking about Judy he can’t let that show in front of everyone, and so when he becomes aware of her presence, Don tries his best to maneuver around everyone and maybe go see about Debbie.

But Judy pulls away from John and comes to him. Her eyes are full of admiration and pride and relief. It’s crazy how one person can make him feel like he’s a hero among men.

“Hey Doc,” Don says, watching as her arms extend. He catches her quickly, glad to see someone is happy to see him, and not just anyone — her. “That’s right Judy, I am amazing.”

Judy laughs, her arms tightening around him, basking in his warmth. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she says softly.

“Yeah. Me too.” Don pulls back to see that something is different about Judy’s demeanor — like calling her princess might do some things to her. “You good?”

Judy nods. “Never better.”

[strawberrybyers]

i already posted this but it didn’t appear in the tag for some reason so i’m reposting it

i think mike and el are going to have a talk in the beginning of s5 where mike finds out the truth about the painting and el breaks up with him, but will witnesses this entire conversation. el leaves to go to the hospital to visit max as what they both need in that moment is a friend and i think expanding more on their friendship would be good development for el! then we have mike who is standing there trying to process what the hell is going on. like i can see the confusion in that boy’s head “but i said i love her! why would she break up with me? why did will tell me el commissioned the painting? this isn’t what’s supposed to be happening right now!”. then we have will who is getting emotional because he realizes what’s happening and maybe he says “mike?” in a cracked voice but all mike asks is “why did you lie to me?” because he could never imagine will lying to him but will is stumbling on his words trying to find something to say that doesn’t expose his love for mike. and maybe not much of a conversation happens in that moment but because the emotions are so overwhelming for will and he’s truly in his most vulnerable state at this point especially being back in hawkins, we then see him get vecna’d (noah in the harness pic comes to mind). and mike starts freaking out (maybe this is where finn gives the really good monologue the duffers praised as mike starts to actually express all his feelings for will in order to save him and he mentions why he’s been acting the way he has) and in will’s mind vecna is speaking to him about why he kept will alive, trying to manipulate him by using his traumas against him (could explain why the actor for lonnie was at the table read), brings up his love for mike and how mike could get hurt (this would go back to what nancy was saying about how vecna showed her something about mike), then will is out of a trance and we see mike very relieved and they’re just holding each other (hello finally a proper byler hug!). and this gets the ball rolling on byler becoming canon, will’s main character arc and what vecna’s intentions have been all along with will, and everyone works together to protect will (especially mike! mike’s going to be protective af!) and finally get rid of vecna/the mindflayer once and for all.

[watermelonsloth]

How would your infinite tsukuyomi dream end? when did it started and how to end it? let's not consider boruto as canon but go with the end of gaiden and do you have links for other analysis which talks about this possibility

I’ll be honest, it took me longer than I care to admit to realize what you were asking. I’m hoping I can still read and you’re asking how I’d ideally write the infinite tsukuyomi working off of Gaiden and ignoring the Boruto anime/manga.

Assuming that’s what you’re asking, I have a couple of ideas:

First the Rules

Everyone was put under the genjutsu by Madara at the same time. (It doesn’t make any sense that the susanoo would block it out.)

The reason we saw team 7 fight Madara and Kaguya afterword, is because the genjutsu is designed to basically gaslight you into thinking that it’s reality. It tells you everything was just a bad dream or quickly brings whatever was bothering you to a conclusion.

The infinite tsukuyomi works on two principles: It can only reflect back whatever is in the victim’s mind, so it can’t create someone/something the victim can’t conceive of (ex. can’t create “true peace” in the mind of someone used to conflict, can’t create a world with dead people alive in the mind of someone who can no longer imagine the world with them in it). The dream continues on a linear path unless distress or suspicion is detected, in which case it will only change to relieve those feelings.

The dreams aren’t perfect. They’re based on what the person wanted at the time of it being cast and will make as few changes as possible (think of it like a computer made to find the most efficient way to keep everyone happy. it’s the ai art of dreams, except with less art theft). On top of that, it can’t recognize complicated emotions. So bittersweetness, reluctant contentment, dissatisfaction, anxiety, disappointment, etc. aren’t considered “distress” and won’t cause the dream to change.

Dreams aren’t identical with each other and dreams aren’t mixed like in Road to Ninja, but some people are able to affect the dreams to some degree.

Different people have different levels of awareness when it comes to whether or not they know they’re dreaming. Generally, the better someone is at genjutsu/spotting discrepancies in their chakra, the more likely they are to notice.

Now, What I’d Do With This

The status of everyone at the beginning:

At least a year has passed since everyone went under the genjutsu, but the Rookie 9 aren’t in their thirties like they are in Gaiden. I’m thinking they’re in their early-mind twenties.

Kurama didn’t break Naruto out because Kurama is under a dream of his own (they do have separate consciousnesses after all). Naruto is in blissful ignorance in a dream about being Hokage, Sasuke being in the village, the world having rebuilt itself and being a peace, him having kept his promises, etc. It would probably look very similar to the Boruto world. Kurama would probably be trapped in a dream about Naruto being happy and him and the other tailed beasts being free.

Sasuke took a while but he figured out he was under the genjutsu, probably because he isn’t used to things coming so easily to him. His dream, given when the genjutsu was cast, would have him acting as Hokage fighting for world peace and security. Despite this, he’s neglecting his “duties” to instead search the world for a way out.

Sakura was aware pretty much from the start and is in denial (Denial is a river in Egypt, Sakura! This is a dream!). Regardless of what her dream is, everything would be tinged with guilt. With the nagging question of whether she’s doing the right thing. She’s meant to be a realistic character and I think it’s very realistic to prefer fantasy over reality. Just think of all the people who use escapism (via books, movies, tv shows, video games, sleeping, etc) as a coping mechanism.

The rest of team 7 is blissfully ignorant all throughout because it either wouldn’t make sense for them to be aware or their role would be redundant. Same goes for every other character except its because their character is passable as they are or the ship has sailed and them suddenly becoming relevant at the end would be more confusing than satisfying.

One the outside, the four Hokage are still trying to break everyone out of the genjutsu while Madara is bored, watching them try and fail repeatedly. At first I can imagine them fighting each other (verbally and physically), but at this point they’ve all realized there’s no point. The Hokage are the only thing keeping Madara even marginally entertained/sane and fighting Madara only wasted the Hokage’s time. At most, they throw jabs at each other.

The Plot:

This would be very Naruto-Sasuke-Sakura centric with cut aways to the few people on the outside.

Naruto and Kurama would find out about the dream because their chakra networks are still linked so whenever they try to tap into the other’s chakra, they see glimpses of the other one’s dream.

Black Zetsu would either be an obstacle within the dreams or be reabsorbed into Madara because he isn’t really needed.

Naruto would have an arc choosing reality and choosing real people. Since he had spent much longer than Sasuke or Sakura fully believing that the dream was real, he got much more connected to the fakes inside of it (both real people that he didn’t get to interact with much in the real world and fake people his imagination/dream conjured). I think he would know very early into becoming aware that he wanted reality, so most of his arc would be him teaching/forcing himself to say goodbye. (Demon Slayer spoilers: picture the scene of Tanjiro leaving his family from the Mugen Train arc)

Sasuke would have an arc about what you want not necessarily being what you need. I think instead of him continuing with his revolution/world peace goals, he would return to his roots and instead focus on finding peace. Maybe some spreading awareness stuff, but most of his arc would have him choosing to instead focus on what he still has, maintaining what he has, and restoring whatever he can of his clan (its honor, its culture, its place in the village, etc).

Sakura would have an arc about self-acceptance. I interpret her as carrying around a lot of shame and self-blame, so I imagine her keeping herself in the genjutsu because she’s ashamed of who she is in the real world. This would have her moving forward with the newfound awareness that there’s no shame in being who you are and it’s never too late to do better.

Because I’m biased and I think it’s fitting for a story about understanding others to end with the day being saved because of understanding, I’m giving Madara a redemption arc. So, Madara would be going through team 7’s character arcs all at once. He learns to choose the real world with all its flaws over a fake utopia, he learns that finally grieving and coming to peace with all that he’s lost is what he really needs over the world peace he was chasing, and he learns to stop blaming himself for the deaths of his brother/s. His story would be full of the Hokage and him talking about why they wanted peace, their dreams to become Hokage or bring change, their experiences in war, what they’ve lost, etc. and him slowly deciding to help them free everyone.

The End:

Team 7 gets into contact with the outside somehow. Maybe one half of Kurama communicates with the other half. Maybe Madara can tweak the genjutsu but can’t break it (because that would be too easy). Maybe Tobirama makes a jutsu. Maybe Hashirama, Minato, or Naruto use sage mode to interact with the tree holding everyone. Maybe Sakura finally uses that talent for genjutsu that’s been being hyped up for the entire manga. Whichever you think makes the most sense.

So team 7 and the Hokage + Madara come up with a plan to draw a huge amplification seal around the god tree’s trunk and using that seal plus a bunch of chakra to pretty much perform the biggest genjutsu release ever. It’s not enough to break everyone out at once but it is enough to get Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura out and send a shockwave through the rest of the tree. Everyone notices that shockwave and gets suspicious. So the infinite tsukuyomi starts stretching its chakra thin trying to cover it all up. Because it’s stretched so thin (it is covering everyone on the planet), the genjutsu is weak enough to break. Some ninja, especially those good at genjutsu, start breaking themselves out. For everyone else, team 7 + Hokage + Madara is doing a race against the clock to release everyone they possible can before the infinite tsukuyomi stabilizes itself.

From here, the Hokage + Madara would either leave after everyone’s been released or after the world has gotten back on its feet after the war. I’m leaning towards the latter for two reasons: 1. Along with the symbolism of the old generations passing the torch, there would be the symbolism of generations working together for a better future. 2. Madara could pass what he knows of the Uchiha clan onto Sasuke since Sasuke would’ve been too young to remember most of his culture.

I don’t think Madara should stick around any longer than the Hokage (y’know, leaving the world in the next gen’s hands), so he’d have to die somehow even if it would be a pretty dark end. I’m thinking seppuku style.

Did I just answer an ask by basically plotting a fanfiction? Yes. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but I apparently had a lot more than “a couple of ideas”.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 119

Chapter 119: “Encounter”

Ever since the escape, the WM pen gave Emma hope, insight and a sense of direction, so seeing her drop something she held onto so tightly now that Norman is back is kinda satisfying I guess? He checks off all those boxes for her sorta. She doesn’t ditch it completely though as we see it used later on before the GF raid.

Goes without saying but the reunion was done so much better in manga. All the emotion from Emma reflecting on their time apart hits so hard and of course seeing all the tears they’re shedding contributes to all that too. Also love how they decided to give this moment a double spread as it helps convey that there’s no longer any space between them. The only thing that would’ve made this scene better (for me) is if Emma had knocked ‘em both down to the floor. I know Norman became taller and probably a bit stronger physically since Lambda, but with the amount of speed and force Emma is putting into that hug I’m surprised he’s still standing.

At least the anime remembered his squishy cheeks.

I know this is a very touching moment but honey, why do you gotta say this so causally?? You’re sure as hell ain’t gonna get it back either!

I guess another reason why the manga handles this whole reunion better is that it includes everyone, not just Emma & Ray. Yeah the anime had the escapees see Norman later at that temple they were hiding at, but it didn’t feel the same. As much as I can appreciate the fullscore trio having their own little moment for themselves, I like seeing everyone’s reactions all at once since there’s a wide range of emotions on display here. Emma also looks so pleased with herself with how large their family has become.

I wish there were more chapters focusing on Norman’s time at Lambda. With how closely he was being watched, I can’t help but wonder how he managed to efficiently communicate with Vincent and Smee and how he orchestrated the whole escape without raising suspicions from the demons and Ratri clan working there. (remember when i said no human (on our side) has killed another? well, i forgot about this whole scheme.. so it seems norman has quite the kill count, even if those were done indirectly by an explosion.)

Few chapters ago I wondered if Hayato & Jin knew to look for the escapees based on seeing Norman’s ID or if he told them both what to look for, and though I believed the latter was the valid reason, I can’t doubt the first option now either since his number is in plain sight. I know he typically hides it when outside paradise when attacking farms and making deals with demons so perhaps that’s why I even questioned it in the first place.

Big history lesson incoming.

Favorite panel/moment:

And to absolutely no one’s surprise, of course Ray slapping the hell outta Norman is my favorite. The anime pales in comparison to the sheer amount of power and lowkey rage behind manga!Ray knocking this boy on his ass. The shock on everyone’s face is hilarious as well. At least Norman is a good sport about it.

The rest of this moment is still sweet though, like Norman quoting the letter he left Emma and seeing my boy finally break and have some tears flowing makes me wanna hug him.

To hear the boy who cursed his life and had plans to end it all come around and say he’s happy to be alive is just.. aaahh so so very important!!!!

I do like how the anime gave us a better look at his face with this line though.

And I got nothing against the panel of Emma down below (because it is adorable how she questions her sudden inclusion in the hug), but I love how relieved she is upon hearing such words from Ray.

Stupid is a term of endearment. And I wish I could say we can never let this trio be separated ever again but.. you know. Stuff happens.

[lolathestoryteller]

Thanks for the ask, Anon — I’ve never written anything like this before, so please have mercy :)

(continues to nervously press „post“)

magical dreams

„Harry Potter…come to die…“ Voldemort says, his pale face showing what must be actual joy as he raises his wand directly at Harry, who looks into those blood red eyes with defiance.

He curls his fingers into fists at his sides, barely resisting the urge to draw his own wand.

There’s a moment of silence, where time itself seems to stand still, before Voldemort‘s shrill voice echoes loudly through the forbidden forest.

„Avada Kedavra!“

Harry closes his eyes as the curse rushes towards him, ready to die protecting those he loves, just like his parents had for him, years ago.

He falls into darkness, to be forever claimed by its finality…

But then—

He wakes up.

„Harry!“ Someone gasps close by. „You���re awake! Oh, thank god,“ and suddenly he’s being hugged — the only thing he sees is a curtain of blurry red hair.

Red hair? And that voice…

„Mum…?“ he whispers, pulling back from the suffocatingly tight hug. „Dad…?“ he asks, noticing the familiar man sitting in a chair beside his bed.

What’s going on? Am I dead? Is this…some sort of afterlife?

He looks around, his head spinning as he notices, much to his further confusion, where he was.

Why in the world am I in hospital?

So…he isn’t dead? But his parents…they’re here…

„You’re…alive? But—“ he blinks at them, his parents, both alive and looking very concerned. Then, suddenly, he remembers. „I fell…I was skating…on my way back from school…“ and finally, it all makes sense. „Was it all just a dream?“ he mutters, not sure whether he’s relieved, or worried he made up an entire magical bloody world in his head.

„Son, you— you’ve been in a coma for some time…“ his Dad says gently — his Dad! Harry sits up at once, reaching out instinctively to grab onto him. „Dad!“ he says, only half aware of what he‘d just heard.

His Dad immediately stands, leaning closer to hug him tightly. „I’m so glad you’re awake.“

„We both are.“

Harry lets go of his Dad to look to his left, into his Mother‘s tear filled eyes. „How long…was I out for?“ he asks quietly, allowing for her to sit down next to him, her back leaning against the headboard as she gathers him into her side.

„You hit your head pretty bad on the sidewalk as you fell…“ his Dad explains as Harry leans closer to his Mother. „The doctors said— you…were very seriously injured.“

„They had to put you into a medically induced coma,“ his Mum goes on after a moment, her voice quiet and strained with emotion.

James nods, reaching out to take Harry’s hand. „You’ve been asleep for almost two months.“

Harry startles, sitting up and staring wide eyed at his Dad. „Two months?“ he asks loudly. „That’s…“ he shakes his head in disbelief. Two months…he‘s missed two months of year ten…of his life.

At least I’m not at war with an evil maniac, he thinks.

„Are you alright, darling?“ his Mum asks gently, reaching a hand out to touch his back.

„Yeah…I think so.“ he replies, not really sure how to feel. „I just— I had the weirdest dream, you know. It all started a few days before my eleventh birthday…“

[vollzz]

1.What is your character's biggest fear, and how does it affect their actions and relationships? 4. What are your character's quirks or eccentricities that make them stand out from others? 9. What is your character's moral compass? What principles or values do they hold dear? For Eves

hey thank you for asking!! I will take every excuse to talk about eves :)

1- I’m going to say two fears because they’re pretty intertwined: they’re terrified of abandonment and no longer feeling loved. It’s not completely the reason Eves is the way they are, but those fears have warped them significantly over time. It’s absolutely why they are the only deity that has physical/emotional relationships with their followers. Eves also “relieves” Lovers of their service after a while partially as a defense mechanism - they can’t be abandoned if they do the abandoning first. A big part of Calliope’s struggles in their relationship is Eves’ extreme jealousy, to the point that they’ve killed someone she tried to befriend in the past out of fear that she might leave them for someone else.

They seem to be drawn to people with similar issues (although for wholly different reasons), though I can’t say they’ve done enough introspection to realize that! Calliope is no different, which is why she latches on to them so quickly/easily.

These deep-seated issues are very much related to why they despise Greylin, the lord of deities, so much, and is also why they have an estranged relationship with [???] 👀

4- First with the obvious: Eves ALWAYS stands out in any setting because they’re effectively the hottest being on the planet, and they generally let some degree of their alluring powers transcend the area around them. We see this really early on when Calliope and Eves are walking through a town and despite Eves having their hood up, practically everyone is craning their necks to look at them (they know Cal is annoyed by this, but see answer above - they NEED to know that people are interested in them at all times).

I think the other thing though is that Eves likes to express themselves through their makeup and clothing, I’d say both consciously and unconsciously. Their most precious belonging is a raven-feathered cloak of mysterious origin, and they are almost always seen wearing it EXCEPT when they plan to do/expect something gruesome. As if they don’t want to taint the cloak, almost. Makeup-wise they always wear some amount of eyeshadow/eyeliner and it often correlates with their mood. There’s a couple scenes later on in Blackflame that really show this: in one, they appear very disheveled and have smears of black makeup under their eyes as if they’d rubbed them while forgetting they wore mascara, and in another they line their eyes with a bright red shadow that mimics their fiery temper in the way that it clashes with the gold of their irises.

9- This one’s interesting, because I feel like a traditional moral compass doesn’t necessarily apply to immortal beings. My thoughts are that morality can often come from a place of wanting to make a difference, wanting to be remembered for good and help people etc, but in writing these deities I wondered what kind of morals someone would have if they knew they would ALWAYS exist. Like, if you do something horrifically awful, does it really matter when everyone who will remember you for it will be dead in 100 years? At what point do you become existentially bored and start doing random chaotic bullshit just to feel alive, you know?

So with that said, at this point in time Eves, and all of the deities, err on the side of generally neutral and self-serving, though some of them are more benevolent that others. Eves really only does things that make them feel loved and wanted, and will also do anything to get under Greylin’s skin (whether that thing is morally “good” or not). They don’t really find anything wrong with using their Lovers to satiate their needs for love and companionship, and even thinks of it as doing them a great service - in their eyes, spending time with them is a privilege that people would die for!

There is one thing, however, that they are very, very touchy about. Eves is very outspoken that their powers don’t create desire where it doesn’t exist, so if someone genuinely weren’t attracted to Eves they wouldn’t feel the pull of their alluring power. We see this when they interact with followers of other deities - their hearts/souls are taken by their vows and so they can’t feel Eves’ power anymore. So Eves has never, and will never, sleep with someone who doesn’t want to, and will absolutely murder anyone who suggests otherwise.

—

This was really fun to answer! Thanks anon :)

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Uh oh, what could have happened to them? Did whatever happen to them at the party stick with the reset?? At least you all are mostly safe for now though, right? -♾️

(Open in new tab for readable quality! tumblr hates rn me for some reason)

“Well, good news; They're certainly alive!”

Roman stretches his back for a moment, relieved to finally drop his arms after holding one pose for so long. His eyes still glow with the effects of the divine ritual, but keeping the spell active is not nearly as energy-draining as the initial casting.

Roman looks around the room, eyes still glowing red, and stops on Annie before he can focus on Logan and Remus. She fell asleep about four minutes into the ritual, clearly exhausted from the previous day’s (future day’s?) party. No trace of poison or disease on her, thankfully, though Roman doubts a water nymph could even be poisoned or catch ill.

She was so excited to help, Roman didn’t have the heart to tell her that she couldn’t really cast anything with him. Her sheer delight and determination were so hopelessly endearing, his heart could burst!

(In a way, Roman supposes she did end up contributing to the spell; It’s much easier for a Suneite to draw from Sune’s affection-based divine power when a loved one is being absolutely, heart-stoppingly adorable nearby.)

After taking a moment to make sure she’s still sleeping soundly, Roman finally hones in on Logan and Remus.

He's not sure what he wants to find. If they are poisoned, he can definitely cure at least one of them — Logan, he decides quite easily — but that leaves the issue of who poisoned them, and the more existential question about poisons and time travel that he will leave to his resident magic expert (also Logan). If they aren't poisoned, he doesn't have to worry so much about one of them being in pain, but...how exactly are they going to wake them up?

He trains his enchanted eyes on the two nonetheless, and detects no poison or disease on them. Roman can’t sense the meddling of any fae or demon, either; They’re just exhausted.

…There is a concentration of some sort of pain in their heads, but Roman doesn’t need to tell anyone that. He can’t know for sure if it was psychic damage that took them out, and he’d rather not give Virgil the excuse to blame himself. Not that he ever seems to need one.

He turns to the elf in question to explain his findings. Funnily enough, all three of his waking party members are glowing with the presence of poison; the blades and vials in Virgil’s quiver, the dagger in Patton’s bag, and… what appears to be several venom glands in Dee’s head, throat, and hands?

...That’s odd. A question for another time, though.

“They’re just very tired, basically. I doubt they'll wake until tomorrow, but they’re not hurt.”

“But they will wake up?” Dee asks pointedly, still gently brushing through Virgil’s hair. Virgil seems to have withdrawn into himself, looking and acting much like he had that one night he went ‘sleepwalking.’ His eyes don’t even seem to be focused. But, his ears twitch at Dee’s voice, and Roman has found them to be a much better indicator of Virgil’s attention. He eagerly awaits the answer.

“Oh, you betcha,” Patton smiles first, ever the optimist, “Just give it some time. I’m sure they’ll be good as new!”

Patton directed his answer more towards Virgil than Dee. He clearly wants to comfort their newest friend with a hug, also having noticed the difference in his mood, but he hesitates;

For the last ten minutes, every time either of them has so much as twitched in Virgil’s direction, Dee has fixed them with the most unnerving stare. 

Roman just assumes Dee knows something he doesn’t, and is helping Virgil through whatever emotional turmoil has him looking like he’s seen a ghost. They are old friends and ex-lovers, after all, so he must have some experience with these things.

Patton doesn’t seem to agree. In fact, he looks to be getting more and more annoyed with Dee’s tone.

Roman desperately wants to be rid of the tension in the room.

“There is magic powerful enough to ‘heal’ their exhaustion,” Roman muses, “But unfortunately, I haven’t been trained in it. I don’t actually think I could, at my level. My Mamá can, but… Well, there should be someone here who knows the spell. This is a country of clerics, isn’t it?” 

Dee smiles sweetly, something unnameable in his eyes as he speaks,

“You could ask around in the central temple. I’m sure there are plenty of priestesses here with that sort of knowledge. In fact, you four should go see to that right now.”

Dee brushes his hand against Virgil’s forehead one more time, then stands and brushes off his pants. As he reaches for his cane, Roman frowns,

“And where are you going?”

“Don't worry your handsome little head about me, Roman,” He grins, “I am just going to have a little chat with our unwanted guest.”

“What??” Roman and Patton shout in unison, and Virgil is already on his feet, 

“No! No way—” He hisses so sharply that Roman winces, “Dee, you don't know what she's capable of.”

“Yes I do. You've told me many stories over the years.”

“I'm not letting you face her alone. Besides, she's not the threat here!” Virgil whines, looking borderline desperate,

“She could hear my thoughts just as well as yours. She only went along with my plan because she doesn’t give a damn about the lives or deaths of mortals!”

“What are you saying?” Dee huffs, sounding more annoyed than deterred. Virgil’s back sets straight with an audible crack before he speaks,

“Illia is not here of her own free will! She's being watched and controlled by my M—”

Suddenly, one of Dee’s hands is clasped over Virgil’s mouth. Dee is visibly, furiously livid, and Virgil’s expression has turned something fragile and miserable.

“What are you doing?!” Patton barks in alarm, as though Dee had just slapped Virgil across the face. And, really, he had. Patton is ready to knock Dee flat for it, hopping upright with clenched fists, while Roman has been stunned silent.

Dee’s expression stays vicious, pointed away from anyone else in the room, but his shoulders and hands relax.

“Matron Dhaunarra.” Dee explains in a smooth voice that doesn’t match his snarl at all, “A cruel woman from the colony Virgil was raised in. Nothing more.”

“That’s not what I—“

“I will take care of it.”

Ignoring Patton, Dee releases Virgil, who’s still staring at him like he’s just dropped dead at Virgil’s feet. He opens his mouth to argue, but Dee interrupts him with a raised hand, 

“You are not going anywhere near her. I forbid it.”

“No!” Virgil pushes his hand away, a spark of anger returning to his own voice, “I'm not going to just stand back and let her kill you! You're not strong enough to take her on!”

“And neither are you, remember?” Dee rolls his eyes, “Besides, she won't even get the chance to touch me. I am going to the Empress. I will tell her what we know, and we will get rid of her.”

“She…She could stop her, probably…” Virgil nods to himself, over and over again, until it looks more like he’s shaking,

“But what if something goes wrong? What if she remembers like we do, and gets to you first??”

“She doesn’t know where we are. And if she finds out, then I will call you and let you know the same way I called Remus to the ballroom.” Dee sighs. He seems settled back into his skin now, smiling calmly and reaching up to pat Virgil’s cheek, almost in apology.

“Trust me, darling. I can handle this just fine.”

“Uhh. It seems I may be missing some context here,” A lot of context, Roman mutters to himself, still a bit shaken by whatever just possessed Janus to silence Virgil like that, “But I also don't like the idea of you going alone. If you're just going to warn the Empress, why can't we all go together?”

“Because I am the only one here with the charisma to convince Her Luminous Imperial Majesty to act against someone who hasn't technically committed a crime yet.” Janus rolls his eyes, repeating the royal title with just a hint of sarcasm. Before Roman can protest to that particular claim, Dee turns his easy smile on him,

“Besides, someone has to take care of Remus. And to protect Virgil, who is in more pain than he’s currently pretending.”

Virgil hisses at him for a moment, not pleased to be called out.

“I need you two to trust me, and Virgil needs you to be there for him right now. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?” Dee pleads, and if that doesn’t just tug at Roman’s chest like a guitar string.

He’s honestly not completely sold on letting Dee go fight this alone, especially considering the revenge Roman needs to take on whatever evil-doer would dare to snatch Annie away. But, Roman does agree that Logan and Remus should get medical treatment (or at least some real beds) as soon as possible. And, of course, he definitely doesn’t want to leave Virgil alone when he’s being hunted, and acting so…odd.

“Well, of course,” Roman bows slightly, “If it's in service of protecting someone I care about, I don't need to be asked twice.”

“Promise you'll come back.” Virgil demands instead of asks, angry-red eyes trained directly on Dee. The sorcerer smirks in return,

“A promise to the fae? Here? I don't know if that's a good idea.”

“Please.”

The soft, shaky whisper cut through the barn like shattering glass. Dee even seems more winded by it than Roman, if that were possible. Roman’s never heard him sound this upset.

“You're breaking my heart here, darling,” Dee sighs, then reaches up to plant a quick peck on his cheek,

“Of course I will. I promise.”

“We both will,” Patton huffs, a fake smile plastered on his face as he’s clearly still not pleased with Dee at all. Everyone else in the room balks at him — Everyone but Roman, of course, who has known Patton quite a long time. 

“No, no, no—” Virgil chants, panicked, but Patton just walks up and takes his hand,

“Don’t you worry about me, Virgil! Dee said before that this Illia lady waited until she could find you to do anything, right? Then why would she attack two random folks out of the blue?” He reasons, patting Virgil’s hand softly, “And now Dee has someone to protect him if necessary.”

“I don’t want either of you to have to face her! This is my fight!”

“We’re just going to talk to the Empress. Right?” Patton levels Dee with a smile that can be described only as devious. Now it is Dee’s turn to look terribly annoyed.

“Right.” His voice is as dry as bone, “But are you certain you want to leave Virgil and Roman defenseless, with your unconscious boyfriend no less?”

“I trust Roman to take care of them,” Patton answers easily, (setting a little butterfly in Roman’s chest fluttering,) ”And they aren’t going anywhere dangerous. Besides, I think the Empress quite likes me!”

“Surely.”

“I still don’t see why we can’t all go, but I do feel better knowing that Patton will be there to help you. Now I’ll know if either of you are put in danger, so I can bring the cavalry in your defense!” Roman boasts, hiding away the part of him that really doesn’t want Patton to go without him. 

“Pat, you have to stop using people’s first names.” Virgil sighs, then kneels down to wrap him up in a hug, dropping his head heavily onto Patton’s shoulder.

Patton is startled at first, but recovers quickly, squeezing him so tight Roman could hear his back pop. Virgil doesn’t mind at all, soaking it in for a few moments before pushing himself back upright, expression closed-off and distant again. He really is acting off this morning.

“If she finds you, tell me right away. I...” Virgil shakes his head, “I don’t know how I’ve been doing this shit, but I’ll take us so far back this time that we can avoid this damn place altogether and never have to deal with this.”

Dee grumbles something under his breath, but no one hears him. He clears his throat and repeats,

“That won’t be necessary.”

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Ask 129     (( @rylaenvol , @justsomecatsinatrenchcoat ​, @lovelivingmydreams ​ ))

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Patton, Roman, Virgil, Janus, and Annie!

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The boys make some plans on how to deal with Remus, Logan, and Illia'Jhaerza!

Virgil and Janus both seem to be acting strangely since the adrenaline wore off, Janus hiding it better than Virgil. Virgil was much more emotionally (psychologically?) affected by the encounter than he let on, but neither they nor Annie seem to have lasting injuries, except for some lingering exhaustion...

[irresistiibles]

i was gonna do small little starter calls and changed my mind so under the cut is a post event plotting/starter call with little bits on how everyone is doing post event! i haven’t fully decided what i’m keeping/dropping but i know i’ll drop a lot, so feel free to message me if there’s something you really want to keep, but chances are if it’s not plot or connection heavy i will wind up dropping it. if you want something transitioned or time skipped to post event just let me know! otherwise all of my characters are under the cut with some little blurbs on how they’re doing! i’ll also be using memes as a way to get some new stuff going but in the meantime feel free to like to plot or reply with who you want the starter from/for! this is a long post underneath the cut i’m so sorry

achilles (2/5) : honestly he’s a little shaken. something about it all just did not set well with him, the violence, being out of control, everything, so he’s on edge and as a result a bit of an asshole but like when is he not honestly

starters: josh washington, dream

amber (1/5) : she had a fun time! i mean it was a little more stressful than a standard sparing matching but she’s not all that mad about it. they will be going around offering cleanup help or whatever else to help with repairs though

starters: noelle

asami sato (1/5) : very glad she didn’t murder korra. very over the city being like this. honestly she’s just trying to regain some normalcy though what even does normal mean around here. is gonna deal with her stress by being a little reckless but it is what is is

starters: lettie hatter

chihiro ogino (0/5) : honestly between not going on a date and being a little head empty even at the best of times chihiro really wasn’t all that affected by any of this. sympathetic to people’s issues though and happy to listen while she’s chilling

starters: ?

ciel phantomhive (0/5) : aware again! ciel is back to his typical ways of being a condescending rude little shit. he’s a little shaken, having his pile of memories which are mostly bad forced back on him really wasn’t a vibe but he’s not expressing that and will probably just be even more difficult to deal with than ever for a little while

starters: ?

emily davis (0/5) : i already did a starter call for her when i took her but if anyone else wants one lemmie know. she’s more stressed finding out people who should be dead are here than with anything regarding valentine’s day to be honest

starters: ?

esther mckinnon (2/5) : well her mom doesn’t know who she is so that’s a big pile of stress she’s not happy about. she’s used to these things happening but usually with people she can argue with and insist that she knows them, so figuring out how to express and deal with these emotions might be a bit of a time

starters: cleo mckinnon, stitch

glinda upland (1/5) : very upset! that she killed her best friend! needs some support some people to vent to or whatever because she’s loud and emotional no matter what’s happening and this is actually something worth being loud and emotional about 

starters:  addison wells

jin ling (0/5) : very relieved he didn’t stab anyone this time. stressed about the people he knows who are now unaware but will be acting annoyed about it. the stress of having such a big fam to check in on after things like this has him mostly just tired. he needs a whole nap

starters: ?

lily evans (3/5) : event over means she now has to go on the mission of making sure all of her friends got out of there alive which is always a task and a half. she’s glad she avoided everything but damn, could the city relax? tense but will be out helping people while trying to get back to normal

starters: fleur delacour, ginny weasley, rubeus hagrid

mianmian (0/5) : somehow both embarrassed and relieved that her murder attempt didn’t work. note to self rat poison is not guaranteed to kill a person. lesson learned. she’s gonna want to be a real hermit after this nonsense so someone come forcibly drag her outside please

starters: ?

madoka kaname (1/5) : avoided being shot through the power of being an upbeat lesbian so honestly she’s feeling pretty good. will be running around trying to help with recovery in whatever ways she can and get back to normalcy as she figures out what’s going on with her and homura. happy to have some friends of any kind

starters: tifa lockhart

mob (1/5) : Stressed and upset. he was supposed to have better control of his powers and then this happened. sure, rosemary was alright but that doesn’t make them feel a lot better. also trying not to be too stressed in case that sets off more destructive powers so he’s having a rough time. trying to keep to himself and focus on improving his jogging.

starters: benjamin

nico di angelo (1/5) : glad to have control over himself again. back to his usual of trying to avoid people and figure out why people don’t die long term here. he’s so bad at socializing but please give him a friend anyway he deserves it and is nice at his core i promise

starters: t.k. strand

nie huaisang (2/5) : freshly unaware! come be his friend he’s lots of fun. busy getting his phd in art history though i think he was something boring like a business major so he could have actual money before pursing his interests. give him some drinking buddies, people he tutors, pretentious museum friends, literally whatever

starters: childe, jin guangyao, elliot alderson, lan xichen

san (0/5) : killed someone but isn’t stressing about it tbh. killing a human is a positive in her mind though they don’t love that they lost control over themselves. she needs more human friends so she can chill a little please (or a nonhuman friend who understands her confusion and distaste for the city who makes her worse whatever)

starters: ?

shang qinghua (1/5) : was fully stabbed and is currently recovering. he’s gonna be achy for a little while and avoiding potential arson accusations. yeah he did it but that’s not the point. he’ll be whining about his injury but also bored from it and wishing he could run around and do more. he’s annoying sorry.

starters: sha hualing, luo binghe

shi qingxuan (1/5) : fully updated memories now and is having a bit of a time with it. honestly someone be their friend and give them a distraction. not sure about all of her usual lavish activities but if you want someone to hang out with and drink really cheap wine with qingxuan is great company. despite everything he’s trying his hardest to be optimistic.

starters: xie lian

toph beifong (05) : best valentine’s day ever tbh. a little stressed and upset about hurting innocent people. toph loves to fight sure, but she is a good person at her core and wouldn’t have wanted to go that far in usual conditions. could probably use a bit of cheering up, which for toph means reckless behavior so join them for stupid decisions and fun

starters: ?

victor nikiforov (1/5) : uh man is mostly confused about what the actual fuck went down. glad he didn’t get hurt or hurt anyone but seriously what was any of that. any normal people who wanna hang and wonder what the actual fuck this city is he is your guy.

starters: yuuri katsuki

yin yu (1/5) : does not realize his boss was killed and is now unaware because he’s too awkward to just ask why he’s being weird and is just assuming the guy forgot his name!! he could really use some chill company everyone he knows is A Lot and though that balances him well after something like this he would really just like some quiet

starters: yin yu

zagreus (0/5) : honestly? had fun. he’s apologetic about anyone he tried to fight, and will just apologize if needed but he loves to spar, and this was just a more intense version of that. he’s feeling hype after everything, loves being out of the underworld, thinks mortals are fun, and is getting a really messed up idea of what the human lifestyle is like

starters: ?

zhongli (1/5) : not feeling great ngl. he killed someone, and though he’s not the type to get really distressed he still doesn’t feel good about it! gonna keep himself busy with nice meals, visiting museums, and keeping himself busy with work so feel free to give them some company!

starters: childe

[miscellanyofmusings]

MST3K Prompts

“_____, can one repent if one hasn’t yet pented?”

“____, I'm going to start slapping you now and I may never stop.”

“_____, I’m gonna grab a stepladder so you can jump up my butt!”

“_____ told me you smell like apples… true?”

“Always get a contract when working with a dark, omnipotent power.”

“Are you out of your stupid rotted skull, you dumb man?”

“Being human isn’t about killing, in cold blood, those who are helpless—though I have in fact done that. I probably shouldn’t have.”

“Beseech this!”

“Could you state it in the form of a desperate cry to God to save you from an unholy death, please?”

“Crush someone with an emotional word or an enigmatic look!”

“Don’t just do something! Stand there!”

“Don’t worry, ____ can help us!  He’s kinda smart, and his arms work and everything!”

“EVIL! YOU ARE EVIL! EVIL!”

“For the sake of this demonstration, I took the liberty of removing _____’s liver.”

“Give me liberty or kill me!”

“Heck of a lot of glancing going on around here.”

“Hey, _____.  Just making a deal with this devil.”

“I’d be relieved if I knew what was happening.”

“I’m actually traveling through time at the rate of one hour per hour.”

“I’m filled with hate. I dunno if that helps.”

"I'm just playing god and it's going pretty well."

“I’m pleasant, but I have issues.”

“I’m sorry. I really don’t feel that threatened.”

“I am so heterosexual!”

“I am pretty hot, aren’t I?”

“I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid, and I went ahead anyway.”

“I couldn’t help noticing you weren’t having sex with me.”

“I haven’t finished killing you yet.”

“I hope we’ve touched you with a little bit of our evilness.”

“I like you. I think I’ll kill you first.”

“I sort of think, therefore I sort of am.”

“I think Oscar Wilde only wished he was this gay, you know?”

“I wanna decide who lives and who dies.”

“I will prevail. I’m a survivor like Cher.”

“If I cared one iota, it'd be devastating. If I cared."

“If I may quote my colleague, ______… KILL HIM!”

“If they kill me, they’re probably enemies.”

“In addition to my huge greatness, I'm quite a guy.”

“In spite of all this, I’m left cold and empty.”

“Is it true? Do you suck?”

“Is the first stage of grief pure unbridled joy?”

“Is this true love or just a kidnapping?”

“It’s illegal to rule the world if you’re not board-certified.”

“It's just a simple matter of ‘What the hell is going on?’”

“It’s not a ‘vague threat,’ _____. I’m going to kill you.”

“Just remember, _____ , if push came to shove, I could take you!”

“Keep in mind, I’m intensely stupid.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a failure.”

“Live fast, die young; leave a fat, bloated, ugly corpse.”

“Love should be musty and hurtful.”

“Mother Theresa called. She hates you.”

“Now, this is only for conversation, but if you were gonna eat a human body, where would you start?”

“Never let this happen to you. Don’t make the mistake these people made. Don’t die.”

“Remind me to kill you later.”

“Say, have you ever considered a fantasy where you're happy and successful?”

“She’s trying to sleep her way to the bottom.”

“Sometimes I too am able to peer over the ledge of sanity and gaze on the boundless beauty of psychosis, and boy, is it dark!”

“Son, you’ve killed again, haven’t you?”

“So, _______, do you like your kneecaps?”

“Stop looking into my soul!”

“There’s about a one in four chance we’re gonna come out of this alive.”

“There’s already a feeling of incompetence in the air.”

“There are no small laws, just small criminals.”

“There goes a deeply mediocre man.”

“This guy’s gonna die of nonchalance.”

“This isn't charming at all! It's creepy!”

“This watery manifestation of a vengeful, wrathful God could not've come at a worse time.”

“We’re doomed, but we’re with you.”

“We are gathered here today… to DIE!”  

“We are knee-deep in a Freudian quagmire here.”

“We can fix things; we just don’t want to!”

“Well, I’d tuck you in, but you’re dead.”

“Well, it’s nice and all, but I want something sleazy.”

“Well, my love deprivation experiment is going well.”

“Well, thanks for not killing me! Right neighborly of you!”

“Well, that’s what I am, then! A gullible freak!”

“What a day! My panic made me methodically kill eleven people and a cat!”

“What is it about the gates of hell that compels people to wander into ‘em?”

“Who the hell are you to decide who lives and who dies?”

“Will you stop being evil over my shoulder?”

“Wow, that’s really sick and twisted.”

“Y’know, I admire your freewheeling style. It really opened up the possibilities.”

“Ya know, if we PRETEND we know whats going on, this is actually kind of exciting.”

“Yeah, it's a pity we can't kill you and get away with it!”

“Yep, all goodness in the world just died. How about that?”

“Yep, I’m hot. That’s me, pretty much.”

“You’re a bad person and nobody likes you.”

“You’re all evil and I hope you all have snacks!”

“You have my word of honor that the story I have been telling is the truth... Okay, mixed with a little fiction... Alright, I'm lying my butt off…”

“You have reached an all-new high of stupidity and evil.”

“Your life is in danger and you may die at any moment! Thank you!”

[compaculaaa]

I always felt that Op deserved better, cause SP and EO/BA blamed him for everything that happened (I think this two had the brilliant idea of going to Archa). I would like to see SP and EO/BA facing the consequences of their actions too

Since you said that in the sibling au Optimus manages to find EO/BA and bring her to cybertron after the Archa incident, I want to see what comes after that

Also, let's say that both creators do find out that their baby did die on earth and all the drama around that. How do they react?

Ikr he keeps getting shit in the show, bb cant get anything in this house. Unfortunately since Elita was saved she couldn’t really blame opti anymore and Sentinel just bullshits his way out as always. But with Elitas new insecurities after the revelation of her being techno-organic, they have a lot of work they have to do together to mend their bonds…

Once Elita un-passes out, she has a breakdown realising she became organic and all the horrors they bring. Even though she is his sister, Sentinel refuses to see her and just bitches. Optimus was always by her side no matter how intense her meltdowns were but Elita was too devastated to acknowledge it. Her creators were at first relieved to hear she was alive but were horrified by her new look and immediately worked with the cybertronian science department to find a cure and reverse the organic effects. Of course the project was ran by Perceptor and Wheeljack who ran various tests on her, some of which were painful af, and one time where it almost went to far because of Perceptors lack of emotion. (More at 8)

If both creators found out about the death of their baby then they would react the same way they did 50 stellar cycles ago. Only this time worse. Who knows how many more times Alpha has to hear his babies die before his spark extinguishes, they were his first and only sparklings after billions of solar cycles (ikr you’d think he’d get sum during that time) so they’re his world. Ultra has to keep looking stoic, calm and brave to his fellow auto bot citizens so they don’t panic, but deep down his spark cracks and bleeds for his child.

[whiskeysmulti]

Haru, when she looks at Gokudera, she is often feeling a big mix of different emotions depending on the day, the situation, etc. The majority of the time, she feels happy. She adores him, and feels lucky to be with him. I do believe that as they continue to progress through their relationship, she learns to allow him to spoil her and so she will come to associate seeing him with feeling cherished. There is awe in the sense that he’s quite big within the Vongola, being a guardian and the right hand no less, and he’s a genius- so there’s also that to marvel over. One of those full-hearted feelings because she loves him so much. When they’re apart, she does miss him, but then when she glances upon him, it’s one of those moments where it’s like “I missed you way more than I thought I did, wow look at him. I can’t believe he’s mine? Don’t now how I survived being away from him until now” kinda dramatic thoughts.

Now, if she found out he had bullied Lambo or something, then obviously looking at him elicits irritation and annoyance as a feeling. That said, she still looks at him and feels love for him and all that. None of that changes, but anger and annoyance definitely pushes the other things aside for a bit and takes center stage. Will say that some of this is the same if she notices that he’s feeling down- possibly from insecurities whether it be about his illegitimacy or what. Though, her anger isn’t directed at him but at whoever made him feel this way. Still, it is a feeling that comes from her looking at him seeming hurt- so it counts for the meme. Tack on sadness from seeing him looking upset. It’s a heartaching thing to see the love of your life hurting.

If he’s physically hurt? Then obviously fear and concern are the biggest presence of the feelings she’ll feel when looking at him. She may be a smidge angry because who did it? Who hurt him? She wants to have a word. (not that anyone would let her… HUFF!) Ultimately, she’s relieved that he’s by her side again and still very much alive.

So then… for kicks- she doesn’t really like to see him fighting because she’d be concerned, BUT if he’s defending her? Like scaring off some creep? That’s hot. She likes that. Wearing his glasses? Also hot. When he’s being a bit assertive with her? Hot. I’ll throw it out there, if he comes at her from behind and she looks up at him, at just the right angle, she likes the view (lol). I’ll also admit that she likes it when he smirks, which isn’t to say she doesn’t like his smiles. She does, but i’m going with a certain topic here. Will also… casually admit, like I’ve mentioned before that Haru is an emotional bean, so if you appeal to her emotions, that’ll have an effect on her. Therefore, if he’s looking her over and looking like he’s in the mood to just throw her onto the bed, that will indeed prompt a reaction from her. All of the mentioned is a way to bring about a feeling that should be spoken about on Sundays lol. Do with that info as you will. ((OOC: for the describe how you muse feels when looking at mine meme))

Describe how your Muse feels when they look at my Muse.- no longer accepting!

.Whiskey. Yes. This guy sometimes istg intentionally gives her mixed emotions.

NGL, I honestly half expected to get a joke response with this at first akin to something like "She feels happy, until he opens his mouth."

But joking aside, this is very on point for how we've plotted their ship out and their general interactions too. We agreed at the start we liked their bickering couple vibe and went with that and the rest kind of filled itself in with chemistry as we went along. It's kind of funny to see how it progressed so quickly because the chemistry was there and everything else was plotted on discord. There's a lot that he feels when he looks at her too, which we've talked about there's those thoughts of her making a good wife one day, of how annoying it was when they were younger and he had to watch her fawn over Tsuna, the guilt he felt too knowing it wasn't gonna happen because Tsuna was his best friend so he probably already heard him talking about Kyoko, which we discussed is more evident in the manga than anime and some of those moments where he did get angry with her, usually she was going on about how she'd marry Tsuna and that can be taken as him either being sick of her talking about it, or jealous that she wants his best friend, not him. Lol, yes his bullying of Lambo is one of the fastest ways to ignite her fuse and he's thankful it doesn't change her opinion on him, because there are some girls like that. I headcanon he probably had some of his fan girls approach and then at the first sign of his temper they fled. But Haru has proven to him she can take it, she doesn't like it but she's not going to run off crying just because he's in a pissy mood that night. Agreed. She's the one who has seen him come back injured like that, she was the one who nursed him back to health in many cases. She's the one who knows just how bad his injuries are even when he's in his "tis but a scratch" denial phase. And it shows in the way she cares for him that there's something there. Because she's not obligated to stick by him while he recovers but she always has.

And I will keep that in mind lol that certain looks can get her in the mood, but as you said, that's better for a Sinday meme. Thanks for sending this one!

[aerodaltonimperial]

More please?

(have some emotional support horror blorbos)

He catches sight of her out of the corner of his eye, during a practiced fast-walk in the airport terminal en route to baggage claim. The sight trips him up, knees knocking together; one ankle slips behind his other leg and he almost tumbles forward. He stops, because he can’t figure out why she’d be sitting like she is when they’re at their final destination. She’s hunched over, arms around her torso and waist bent, hair falling over her knees in little waves.

Jack turns around, backtracks, and sits down in the seat next to her. “Hey,” he tries. It sounds about as pathetic out loud as it had in his head.

Anna doesn’t answer, but her arms tremble more, so he knows she heard him.

“Do you have checked luggage?” When she nods, he continues, “Do you want to go and get it together?”

Maybe he shouldn’t offer. Is that something exes should do? Is that something appropriate when you come out of the bitter post-break-up phase only under extreme duress, after trauma has wrapped its icy fingers around both your wrists to keep you joined, after you’ve both moved on a little, in the butterflies-in-your-stomach, gentle kisses sort of way? Fuck, Jack doesn’t know. He wishes he had a manual for this.

“Those people died,” Anna whispers, muffled a bit against her hands.

Jack doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he just gums out a simple, “Yeah,” for lack of anything better.

“They died, but we got out,” she says.

“Don’t feel bad about that,” Jack tells her, with more sharpness than he intends. “Don’t feel bad for surviving; never that.”

Anna lifts her head. Her eyes are rimmed with purple bruises and a few black streaks where her mascara has been dragged across her skin. “Why did we get to live when they didn’t?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“We shouldn’t have—”

“Anna, don’t,” he interrupts. He’s pretty sure he knows what this is; isn’t there some kind of official term for this? Don’t soldiers get this sometimes? “We just did. We’re still alive. You can’t go down that road, you can’t start doubting everything.”

“How can I not?” she asks, finally bristling, a stroke of anger in her system. “We came out of an impossible situation alive and there’s no explanation as to why.”

“Sometimes there isn’t an explanation. Sometimes things just happen.”

She goes quiet, contemplative. Jack doesn’t really know if anything he’s said can possibly help. She’s so deep in her own doubts at this point, he’s probably not the right person to pull her out. Maybe Julia can talk to her, rationalize some things. It helps to know Anna’s got someone, actually—a tiny bridge over the river of their decidedly un-amicable split. The rage he’d felt for months is gone now, glossed over by everything that put his world in a harsh perspective.

Jack stands up and holds his hand out for her. “Let’s go.”

It doesn’t feel strange when she takes it. It doesn’t even feel strange when she keeps her fingers curled in his as they make their way down to baggage claim. Maybe, they can make their own rules on this. Maybe they can be friends now, now that life’s pulled the rug out from under their feet.

He gives Anna’s hand a little squeeze, hoping he can pass a little of whatever she needs on, and is relieved when she squeezes back.

“Let’s get dinner soon,” he says.

“Together?” she asks, and he understands what she means even if the word rings deceptively simple.

“Yeah. All of us.”

++

He used to find solace in the quiet, dark corners of the backstage corridors, back before…well, before. He used to like how calm things would feel without the fluorescent overhead lights beating down on him, and now—now it’s the shadows he fears, the unknown. Hook still wants a quiet place to unwind, though, so he moves slowly through the halls that are brightly lit and ignores the tiny off-shoots he would once have crept down. The end of this hallway sports one of the industrial stairwells: good lighting, few dark patches, and easy viewing both above and below.

It’s pretty fucked up how those are the sorts of things that Hook looks for now. He pushes the door open, though, and realizes he’s not the only one. He pauses for only a split-second before moving in and settling on the top step next to Darby’s seated form.

They make it for five minutes or so before Darby sighs, stretching one leg out in front of him so his combat boot scrapes against the cement. “It’s the dark, isn’t it.”

“Yeah.” It doesn’t even make sense, really; they’d been in the woods, not the shadows, but it’s the unknown that lives in the lack of light that feels the most dangerous. It’s the possibility that escape isn’t an option any more.

And here they are, the two people from their sorry little rag-tag band that, for whatever reason, had always been the primary targets.

“You sleep?” Hook asks.

“Like shit,” Darby replies.

Misery shared, it seems. Hook loops his arms over his knees, drawing them closer. A bit of dirt has smudged across the top of his sneaker, so he wipes it clean with his thumb. “How’s your shoulder?”

“Better.”

Hook thinks it’s a lie, but he isn’t going to push it. This is weird, and it isn’t. He doesn’t really like Darby. And the problem is, he’s pretty sure Jack does.

“If you hurt him,” Hook starts, slowly, rolling each word carefully over his tongue, “they’ll never find your body.”

Darby stares at him. “Are you giving me a shovel talk?”

“I’ll hurt you way worse than those things will.”

Another lie. Darby huffs out a little laugh, toeing at the ground. “Yeah. Alright.”

“He’s a good person,” Hook says.

Darby takes a long time to respond to that. “Yeah.”

“Good talk,” Hook says. At least thinking about that weirdness helped him forget, for a few moments, about the constant need to look over his shoulder at all times he carries around now. He sighs, dragging his hands down his face. What a clusterfuck. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just…well. You know. Trying to find a place. Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Darby replies. There’s no hesitation there. He stares at his boots and draws his tongue across his lip. “You can stay.”

“Okay.”

Hook stays. They sit in almost companionable silence until they can’t put off the return any longer, and then they head back to medical together. Hook wouldn’t call them friends, but he’s pretty sure they at least aren’t enemies any longer.

And at this point, he’ll take any win he can find.

++

“I’ll just be five minutes,” Julia says, and Brody nods. He doesn’t look over again, because he’s always been good about respecting her space and wishes. Julia slips out the door, and heads down into the basement.

There’s nothing down here but the janitor’s closets and the electrical rooms. Any room will serve fine, but she’d rather be comfortable, so she picks out one of the small rooms that houses the larger floor cleaning machines. Someone has put a chair up against the wall—she sits in it, crossing her legs. The threads hum.

She leaves the lights off, so the room is black.

Then she waits.

It doesn’t take long; he’s predictable like that. The air beside her chair shimmers, the air sizzling with the energy he brings, the kind of change that most people are oblivious to.

“Have they found him?” Julia asks.

“No,” Danhausen replies. “Danhausen gave the doctor the coordinates, but they haven’t.”

It’s the answer Julia expected, but didn’t wish to receive. She sighs. “They won’t, then; not there anyway. He won’t stick around an area now crawling with personnel.”

“None of them will.”

Julia taps her fingers against her thighs. She is off-balance; she doesn’t <i>like</i> being off-balance. She has worked very hard to steady her footing, and seeing it slip away is like a punch to the gut. “That’s three, then.”

“Two out of containment, and one…that never was.”

“It wasn’t just us,” she says, quietly. Even in the dark, she fears that someone could be listening in. The walls have ears, after all. “They weren’t just after us.”

Danhausen is silent for awhile. She has pressed on a bruise, a sore spot, and he always needs time to readjust after that. “No,” he finally admits. “They weren’t.”

“This could get dangerous.”

“Isn’t it already?” he shoots back.

“We may not be able to protect them. If it comes down to it, can you do what needs to be done with 049?”

Danhausen doesn’t hesitate this time. “Danhausen will split him open from navel to nose.”

“Good.” Julia nods. “We will need everyone.”

“Can they help?” he asks.

She considers this. There is a different type of strength in the others, one that isn’t threaded as magic in their veins, but it’s strength all the same. “Yes. They may not think they can, but they will.”

A pause. And then: “Julia. How are you?”

Her arm aches. The web remains as a tattoo, left behind and slightly bumpy. In the mornings, her sight is cloudy and she cannot find the right cords. But she says, “Yes.”

“You’re not a very good liar,” he chides.

“Only around you,” she says, and smiles.

[irish-urn]

LWD: “Grade Point Average”

Okay, so I keep trying to give Emily the benefit of the doubt, and I know as a teenager, she would be VERY concerned about her reputation; but she’s far more concerned about her reputation (especially seeing how Casey hangs around her) than Casey’s problems, and that... bugs me.

EMILY. “It is. ...not hard at all!” EMILY. Gosh, I hope you improve. I am having vivid flashbacks to the way the girls in my MIDDLE SCHOOL treated me. We parted ways in high school; I was much happier and better off; BUT OH MY GOSH, EMILY. YOU ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE AT ALL. IT’S LIP-SERVICE; someone get her off my screen before I scream.

(I know, I know: she’s 15 and everything is about fitting in and being cool or at least flying under the radar, but come ON.)

“You speak English, don’t you?” / “Very goodly.” DEREK YOU ARE SO WITTY, I LOVE YOUR SMART MOUTH.

George’s description of Derek failing Grade One just sounds like a young boy with ADHD, honestly. And, I mean, I think it’s semi-confirmed canon that Derek’s birthday is in the late fall, right? (I HC it in early November) which means he really should haven’t started school until he was almost 6 anyways... Like. I know people whose birthdays are in September/October who didn’t start school for another year, because you are developing so so fast at that point in your life that a couple of months makes for a WORLD of difference.

Honestly, they shouldn’t make fun. I know it’s 2005 and such, but... 6 year old Derek sounds like an energetic, clever child with ADHD who is younger than everyone else in his class.

The more I see of George, the more I understand Derek.

Lizzie and Casey’s talk about being lame to change yourself, and how being a teenager is complicated is REAL TALK. Poor girls.

So, Nora is more aware than George that they are failing as parents — although she doesn’t word it that way. I feel like George thinks that as long as his kids are alive, healthy, and functioning, he’s done a good job as a parents, which... Yikes.

PAUL. I ADORE YOU.

Also: Casey is an overachiever even when it comes to underachieving. You ridiculous girl; what a nutcase (said with extreme fondness).

Them working together is going to be a disaster. I am super looking forward to it (also, also: Sam knows Derek way too well and it made me grin like a maniac.)

MARTI PURPOSELY MESSING UP THE ANIMAL SOUNDS IS THE BEST PRANK DEREK HAS EVER PULLED AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT.

Girly-girl Case suits her so much better than slacker-chic (and vice versa for Derek. I love it).

Derek, you pretend to be so cool and to not care about anything, but you’re so human with so many emotions. You are freaking out — and also rather betrayed by Casey using your slacker-tendencies to her advantage... And yet, not fighting her on this, because you know you made your own bed. So now... You harass Edwin. Poor, innocent Edwin.

THEY’RE DOING A PROJECT ON PERCY AND MARY SHELLEY???? THE MARRIED ROMANTIC WRITERS. DUDE. DUUUUUUUUDE.

(hey, didja know that Percy and Mary first did it on her mother’s gravesite? That’s pretty insane, huh. And that they ran away to France and then Switzerland together, all the while he was married to another woman? Their lives were insane.)

GEORGE. GEORGE. When your son comes to you for help — because that’s what Derek was DOING when he brought up his English class!!! — you don’t tell him that failure isn’t an option, YOU HELP HIM. HE NEEDS HELP. HELP HIM.

I HAVE EMOTIONS.

HE DEFENDED HER. THOSE JERKS WERE GONNA CALL HER A GRUB, AND DEREK SHUT THEM DOWN.

I mean, I know, I KNOW that Casey is the hero here, I know that she’s the one who saved Derek, but that’s not OOC for her. I think she wants to make nice with Derek, but Derek won’t let her. But Derek needs a 90, is honest with her, and she goes to work as a grub; and Derek could have just been quiet and smug and relieved; AND HE SPOKE UP AND SHUT THEM DOWN AND I’M SO PROUD OF HIM. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.

“Derek’s wrong about a lot of things.” ...you know, George. When I was in my fifth year of university, I was writing a thesis for my English degree. I had a lot of trouble with the passive tense; and my professor/supervisor snapped at me, “How can you be in your fifth year of English and not know what the passive tense is?”

And I said, in one of the bravest moments of my life, “If I don’t understand the passive tense after all this time, that’s your failing as a teacher, not mine as a student.”

She shut up. She sat back. She took five minutes to teach me the passive tense; I understand it perfectly by the time her explanation was complete (no one had ever broken it down for me; they just assumed I knew it). I took back my draft, re-did it in the active tense, and the paper got accepted with just a couple more tweaks.

And hearing George say that; say, “Derek’s wrong about a lot of things.” ...George. If Derek is wrong about a lot of things, that’s your failure as a parent, not his as a son.