#basically my mother once again blamed me or made me out to be the shitty person in a convo earlier

[nervousmonolith]

i am annoyed

[wilcze-kudly]

do you find it odd azula basically did everything zuko did ( he burnt down a village, she seized ba sing se, they both tried to kill aang multiple times) and wasn’t afforded a redemption( like mai and ty lee who helped in everything she did and this are also culpable ) despite being redeemable ( caring for ty lee as shown by her apology in the beach episode) and was also younger than everyone else and very mentally and abused but somehow kuvira the facist is redeemable and so is ursa who neglected azula?

I do think about that anon I think about it a lot.

I want to say that the reason Zuko got a redemption arc is because we were following him from the beginning of the series and he had time to grow. I have also heard that there was a plan for Azula to get a redemption arc but it never came to fruition.

However when looking purely at the canon material we see that Azula had virtually no support network other than two other teenage girls who were scared of her and also struggling with their own shit, she spent at least 3 years with her only family member being her abusive dad who molded her into a weapon. Like did we really expect her to turn out as anything else?

On the other hand we have Zuko, whom we see do horrible thing, but he has a supportive (and also enabling tbh) uncle, who helps him through these dark times. Zuko has a support system, he gets chances that Azula never got. His banishment was awful, but I think it also saved him in the long run because he was able to free himself from Ozai's direct influence.

Azula never got the chances Zuko did, ironically due to her talents, and because she succeeded where he did not. Being a "good daughter" was a death sentece for her morality.

And I don't want to say that Azula is purely a victim, and that she's a good person. She's not. She has her kind behaviours but she has done awful things. But so has Zuko. Azula was just better at it lol.

When it comes to Ursa, I have mixed feelings about her. I try to stave away my biases against Ursa, but she reminds me very much of my own mother (if you wanna know what type of woman my mom is just mix Ursa and Lin Beifong, and add in Catholicism.). So Ursa kinda makes my skin crawl.

I think Ursa is a very good deduction of a victim, but it comes at the cost of her being a good mother. I think her situation made it difficult for her to parent both her children, hence the gross favouritism towards Zuko. It sometimes feels like Azula was a sort of 'sacrificial lamb' that Ursa allowed Ozai to influence, which let her focus all her attention on Zuko.

And once again, it's hard to blame Ursa fully for her behaviours, due to the strenuous, horrifif position she was in. I want to believe that she did her best, even if she made the occasional mistake.

I think her behaviour in the Search, while shitty, is also at least semi realistic due to her abuse and the awful frame of mind she was in at the time.

This does not really decrease the effect her behaviours have had on Azula, and we should take them into account, even if we don't fully blame Ursa for them. Ursa isn't a bad person, she's someone forced into an awful situation, where it would be impossible for her to take an objectively perfect action. That doesn't mean that she didn't massively drop the ball on Azula.

As for Kuvira, it's honestly really funny to compare Azula and Kuvira. Azula is 14 and has no support system and a controlling abusive father. She is a pawn to Ozai. A talented, brilliant pawn, but a pawn nonetheless.

Kuvira is an adult woman, at least early to mid twenties by my estimate. She had a support system which she handily rejected, probably due to her past traumas. She created her Empire and led it. She had all the cards in this situation.

So why is Kuvira more deserving of redemption?

I think honestly the reason Kuvira got a redemption arc and Azula didn't has more to do with the people around them, especially their mothers, or mother figure in the case of Kuvira.

Azula has no support system, and her mother always treated her like the problem. Ursa's treatment would favour Zuko, the "model" child, over Azula, the "problem" child.

While Kuvira had a support system. It wasn't perfect, but the Beifongs, particularly Suyin clearly cared for her. Also, Suyin was extremely lax in her treatment of Kuvira. Suyin's parenting actually favoured Kuvira, the "problem" child, over, for example Opal, the "model" child.

I think Suyin and Ursa can be posited as opposites, in a way. Ursa seemed to have grown up in a very loving household, but was forced to raise her children in an abusive environment. On the other hand, Suyin grew up in a neglectful, if not abusive household, but managed to create a loving, safe environment for her children.

Ursa sees Ozai, a man whk hurt her, in Azula, and Ikem, a man she loves, in Zuko, to the point where she even lied about Zuko being Ikem's son, which put Zuko in actual danger.

Suyin probably sees herself in Kuvira, they have plenty of parallels between each other. Of course she'd be kinder to Kuvira. Kindness and forgiveness probably saved Suyin's life.

And in the end, Ursa cannot give Azula the love she's craved for so long. While Suyin openly embraces Kuvira, for better or worse.

When we see what characters receieved redemption arcs over Azula, the pattern quickly emerges:

Zuko had Iroh and Ursa, Kuvira had Suyin and the Beifongs.

Azula only had an abusive dad and friends who were scared of her and who probably couldn't help her even if they wanted to.

It's a shitty way to treat characters we know deserve better, but it's also sadly realistic. Shitty people with support networks, with people willing to bat for them are more likely to "get better". And shitty people who are on their own, or surrounded by other shitty people... they have to stew in their misery and shittiness.

I hope Azula gets her redemption arc. But I don't think she ever will, because the only person who seemed genuinely kind to her in the comics was Aang, but I think she's much too fargone at this point to even care or see it as genuine. It would take a really long, intricate comic novel or series to even start on Azula's journey, and I don't know if the creators of Avatar are willing to put the time, effort and money into that.

Damn that was depressing.... oh well, back to ye ol'e Azula is the Shaman from tlok theory because that at least gives me hope lol.

[faunabel]

rant/vent/whatever. uh. abt my shitty family. i'm pissed the fuck off. sorry. not watered down to be more gentle. i am a furnace of rage. prbly don't read. TW for a lot of things.

i am so so so fucking tired of my family. my mother and sister are exactly the fucking same always pushing people and then pushing the blame onto them. you're too defensive you're immature you need to grow up i can't talk to you

you say they make you feel bad and they say it's not their fault. yes, the fuck it is. i'm so fucking sorry you lack even the most basic sense of awareness to understand that conversations are a two way street and you making people feel like shit is not a choice YOU get to make. YOUR ass does not get to decide that actually you did nothing wrong because everyone always always always is too sensitive even though you both are the most sensitive fuckers on the PLANET who bitch and whine when YOUR feelings get hurt but god forbid you hurt someone else and put in the effort to communicate properly. you can't just run your mouth and decide how you're communicating is valid and the other person is in the wrong no matter what.

i had to do everything on my own and be horribly traumatized throughout my entire childhood and teen years, and even beyond then, because i was severely neglected and abused and had no choice. but no, all i get is "get over it" and "i was hurt too" and all that other bullshit. but nooo i'm just lazy. i'm "childish." ahaha. fucking hilarious from people who are so lacking in any sense of emotional depth.

i am alone. i have always been alone. you continue to make me alone by pushing how YOU view the world onto me and deciding i'm immature if i rightfully. fucking. get. angry. when you continue! not to listen! and twist the story to fit how you see it!

yet i'm expected to function like everyone else? when my home isn't even a safe fucking place to live? i can't work a full time job because my health is so bad? yet nobody will help me? insulting me and making me feel like shit is their idea of help? calling names when i don't react the way they want is their idea of help? acting like they're so fucking tough and mature when they have the emotional depth of a goddamn peanut is "mature?"

"you will understand when you grow up"

no. i have grown up. i learned so much on my own because i fucking had to. nobody was there for me through any of it. i had no choice but to process years worth of trauma alone. no choice but to feel the most body wrenching emotions that left me paralyzed on the floor from their intensity. no choice but to continue dealing with remnants of severe trauma on a daily fucking basis all while being hounded by everyone else that i'm just not trying hard enough and whatever fucking insult comes next. but i still chose to have compassion and be as kind as i can and if expecting better treatment and any sense of empathy instead of controlling bullshit behavior is "immature" then i'm immature as fuck and you can kindly go piss in your shoes <3 you are perpetuating a cycle of abuse and it's pathetic. you can grow up.

god. i'm so fucking tired of all this invisible trauma nobody sees and assumes i just don't want to put in the effort. i'm so tired of constantly being made to feel like i can't have fucking emotions. or wants. or needs. or boundaries. or anything. because people will just continue to push that i shouldn't exist unless i submit and agree with them. why the fuck is everything always my fault. take accountability for once that you're not a perfect little princess. you're a bitch, in fact. sorry you demonize everyone with emotions just because you're an absolute asshole with no willingness to accommodate. but again... god forbid someone hurt YOUR feelings. god forbid. then it's eeeeveryone's problem.

if you continually dismiss someone's feelings and make them out to be crazy, they're allowed to get upset and lash out at you. go fuck yourself. and if you call them immature like you're so high and mighty, go fuck yourself with a goddamn sword. hard. in the ass. with NO LUBE. thanks.

i do not know what gentleness or warmth feels like. it's always been me alone against everyone else. i'm so tired of this shit. i want to sleep. i see little point in trying to actually be kind when everyone else is so fucking cruel. i'd rather just die and be done with it.

i still struggle to trust my own perception on anything. i always think maybe it's my fault. maybe i am too sensitive. maybe if i was calmer and better and more well behaved, people wouldn't hurt me. maybe i deserve to be hurt. maybe it's always my fault for being sensitive.

but then i also feel like fuck you. you're all just sorry as hell. i am so fucking tired of having to compartmentalize shit just to function around people who i absolutely despise. no wonder i have DID.

god it just makes me angry. i was alone my entire fucking life and your idea of "wanting better for me" is insulting me. GOD. fuck off. just admit you have a power complex and shut the hell up. you didn't help me when i was a child so why the fuck do you think i'd want your "help" now?

it's hilarious because i'd love to work a full time job and move the fuck away from anyone even remotely related to me. but i literally cannot. the last time i worked a job, i had to quit three weeks in because suppressed sexual trauma resurfaced and i absolutely lost my mind. but yes... definitely just lazy. definitely just immature. not at all terrified of history repeating itself and spending another 6 months as a terrified shell, with literally no support whatsoever. not to mention that i was living in a hotel room with both of my parents during this. sleeping on the bathroom floor. constantly being screamed at with no privacy or comfort. to the point of where i, who usually does not have full DID blackouts, would have blackouts where i woke up not knowing wtf was going on. nope. not horribly traumatized at all. just "lazy." it has been 3 years and i'm still not recovered but yeah. ok.

[toaverse]

Unleash the Magic (song)

So, I re-discovered some MLP songs, including Unleash the Magic (go give it a listen, it's really good!), and just couldn't help but write a version with the Madrigal fam :)

It's a villain song, so expect a shitty Alma, Isabela, the warm fam except Antonio, and (pressured) Julieta for good measure (it's necessary, okay😥)

Just imagine this being an AU where most of the Madrigals are still shitty towards Mira after Casita’s collapse, basically classic Disney villains or something like that.

I just wanted to write this ‘cause the musical number was cool, so don’t take this seriously😄

Anyways, enjoy!

-

"I realize that you've always been an outcast. It's not everyone at home who likes to think." Alma points out, looking sternly at her youngest granddaughter who is holding an unlit candle in her hands. The girl is visibly nervous. "To have someone that's like you. My hijo once was like that too. But the good ones disappear before I blink."

Alma snaps her fingers, to which Pepa, Félix, Isabela, Dolores, Camilo and Julieta get to the matriarch's side, chanting a rhythm, all, except Julieta, glaring at Mirabel.

"Now, I understand you have your reservations. It's hard to have a gift as gone as yours." Alma points out without regret. "But if we don't get to gain. Well, I think I've made it plain what will happen if we will get a curse!"

The rest of the family present chants that rhythm again, all, minus Julieta, walking towards the 15 year old.

"Unleash the magic, unleash the magic." Pepa, Félix, Isabela, Dolores, and Camilo chant as they circle around Mirabel, all glaring daggers at her. "If we lose it, then you're to blame." Mirabel feels a huge pang of guilt in her stomach. "We all have used it. We all have proved it. So, then why can't we have the flame reclaimed?"

Mirabel looks away from them as she holds the unlit candle tightly, hearing them chant again. She doesn't want to disappoint her family, but something about this doesn't feel right. The girl gets snapped out of her thoughts when she hears her Abuela behind her.

"Call it power. Call it magic. If we lose it, it will be tragic. More important is the miracle we have lost." Alma looks her youngest granddaughter in the eye, wanting to make her words very clear. "A chance like this won't come again. You'll regret not giving in. Isn't doing this for the family worth the cost?"

Mirabel hears the others chant again.

"Unleash the magic, unleash the magic." The warm family and Isabela chant again, literally backing her in a corner. "We're not friends here, after all." Mirabel backs away from them, but realizes that Abuela was standing behind her. She feels so small compared to them... "Our only interest in this business is seeing the magic return and glow"

While Mirabel hears them chant again, and starts to doubt. Her family wants her to do this, so she should, right?

She forgot that her Abuela is behind her again.

"What I'm suggesting's very simple. And since it's what you always yearned." Alma told, pointing at the unlit candle in Mirabel's hands. "The only one to be denied the magic that we have earned."

The matriarch then guides her youngest granddaughter forward, walking past the rest of the family present, who are standing in two rows to make a path for the matriarch.

"And as for me and all the others. We only want what we deserve.” Alma states. “That our home will stay for good, and this family will endure!”

Mirabel gets pushed forward, signing her to do what she has to do. She looks back at her grandmother, oldest sister, mother, and her Tía and her family, clenching the candle with both of her hands, and walks forward.

“Unleash the magic, unleash the magic.” Pepa, Isabela, Félix, Dolores and Camilo encourage her to do it. “If you won’t, then it’s a crime.” From a far distance, Bruno sees what’s going on, and runs as fast as he can to stop Mirabel from giving into Alma and the yellow family’s pressure. And how dare Julieta just standing there?! “But we can win it if you begin it.” Mirabel walks towards Casita’s remains. She barely sees her papá, Luisa and Antonio being there, looking at her with worry and concern, but she only hears what her Abuela, oldest sister, Tía and her family say. "It's up to you to not fail this time!"

As Mirabel keeps walking forward, clinging to the unlit candle.

"Unleash the magic! Free the magic now!” Pepa, Félix and Camilo call out.

“Unleash the magic! Free the magic now!” Isabela and Dolores call out as well.

Being a bit closer to the scene, yet so far away, Bruno sees what’s going on, and what his youngest niece is about to do. Without a second thought, he sprints towards her, not caring what the rest may think.

Unfortunately, Mirabel doesn’t see him, as she only sees her unlit candle, and only hears the warm family’s demands…

“Imagine all we’ll do by setting it free.” Mirabel sings, only having eyes for the candle she’s about to lit.

She has to do it for Abuela, for for the family. They demand it…

“Unleash the magic! Free the magic, now!”

“And now earning their gifts depends on me.” Mirabel lits the candle as she remembers her Tío Bruno’s exact words. The fate of the magic depends on her…

She doesn’t even notice her papá looking shocked at what she just did…

“Unleash the magic! Free the magic, now!” The words have become a blur to listen to. Bruno doesn’t care less as he keeps sprinting towards his youngest niece to stop her…

“And what doors might open if we try to use them.” Mirabel looks at the burning flame of the new candle.

“Unleash the magic! Free the magic, now!” She doesn’t hear it anymore.

“But the magic’s what I really want to see.” Mirabel holds the new candle high, waiting for anything to happen.

Realizing that this is actually happening, and that his daughter’s life may be at stake, Agustín leaps into action, and runs towards Mira to try and stop her as well.

Alma however, smiles as she waits for the magic to do its thing.

“Unleash the magic! Free the magic!”

“Mira, no!” Bruno calls out, running towards her as fast as he can.

But Mirabel doesn’t hear him. She only hears the demanding words of the rest of the family…

Both Bruno and Agustín are almost there near her. They can still stop her from giving in. But it’s too late…

“Free the magic, now!” The warm color family calls out.

And at those words, the magic finally does something, but not as expected…

Bruno and Agustín’s suspicions of this not ending well are correct, and they are too late…

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Joshua: Second Chance (Part One)

Characters: Joshua x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, angst, possible character death, a little bit of fluff but it’s like angsty fluff

Word count: 1,837

Summary: After his mate died, Joshua always blamed himself and never wanted to imprint again. However, fate has other ideas when he meets you: a young, energetic werecoyote that’s quite the opposite of him. He insists he doesn’t want a new mate – nobody’s even sure if he’s ready for a new one – but he can’t ignore his instincts.

Next | Second Chance Masterlist

a/n: things in bold are in english. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!! hi i know everyone has been awaiting this series from tftp in particular. and while i wish i could say im updating this regularly,,,,,i cannot. there’s no definite update schedule, im just doing it when i can. i wanted to wait until i had all the parts written but im impatient. but i hope you’ll enjoy this series even with the slow updates, and i hope it lives up to expectations 💜

“Where’re we going?” Joshua grumbled as he followed slightly behind Hansol and Kyung, the younger boy’s hand wrapped around hers.

Joshua was going with them to the doctor without actually knowing. Kyung knew better than to tell him before they left because she figured the grumpy werewolf would just tell her no, not really caring whether he was unable to heal or not -- even though that was very clearly a bad sign that he had overexerted himself.

Kyung thought maybe Joshua would be a little less...angry all the time once she got to know him, but Joshua was stubborn well before he’d even met her -- he was just bad at shoving his stubbornness and anger down.

“I promised I’d get my back fixed if Kyung decided to stay, and you said you’d go if I went, didn’t you?” Hansol reminded his brother with a smirk over his shoulder. “We’re gonna go see that doctor we were told about. What was her name again?”

“Minjee,” Kyung replied. “Not to sound rude but...Josh, why don’t you want to see a doctor?”

“I don’t really care if I can heal or not either way,” he replied flatly, “but I said I’d get help if Hansol did. So...here we are.”

“Here we are...” she repeated in a mumble.

Joshua simply followed the mated couple in silence as the alpha led them to Minjee’s, being the first to knock on the door. It was a girl -- as expected -- that opened the door, bowing politely to the group before smiling brightly at the darker skinned girl in front of them.

“Kyung!” she exclaimed as she gestured the three of them in. “I haven’t seen you in so long -- I suppose that’s a good thing, though. How’ve you been? Your pack hasn’t mentioned you.”

“I’m not actually in that pack anymore,” Kyung told her with a shrug, her ‘cool’ exterior coming back in the presence of an old friend. “I’m an alpha of my mate’s pack now.”

Minjee seemed impressed, eyebrows raising with a smile, “Wow, look at you. How’d the sudden change happen? Jiung must be proud.”

“He’s actually...passed away.”

The doctor’s face fell, placing a comforting hand on your upper arm, “I’m sorry for the loss of your brother.”

Kyung nodded, “I’ve been grieving, but it’s been easier with my mate. Minjee, this is Hansol, and his brother -- er, our brother, I guess -- Joshua.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hansol said as he nodded to her. “Our brother, Soonyoung came in before with a human girl to talk about fixing us -- I’ve got silver burned into my back, and Joshua’s the healer that can’t heal anymore.”

“Ah, yes, the healer!” Minjee’s eyes lit up as she nodded excitedly. She looked to Joshua now. “Your power still hasn’t come back?”

“No,” he replied. “I thought just resting would help but...nothing.”

“I see,” she hummed, eyeing him over before looking back at Kyung like she was their mother that took them to the doctor’s office. “I’ll do a quick look over and then see what I can do. It’s almost time for me to close up, and I have to go out of town for a few days. I won’t be able to do anything until about a week from now, but they’ll be fine until then if they’ve been fine this long.”

“That’s okay,” Hansol shrugged as Joshua replied, “No worries.”

“Alright,” Minjee breathed with a warm smile, grabbing some gloves from nearby, “then let’s get started and see what’s going on.”

-

Even though you were never careful, you wanted to blame this on shitty luck. You were too carefree and excitable, so you ran and ran and didn’t see the trap. So with you trapped under a net with little prickles that you were sure were laced with wolfsbane from how fucking awful you felt -- that was an understatement -- all you could do was wait for hunters to come find you before death took you itself. Honestly, you hoped the latter would come first.

You faintly heard footsteps coming toward you as your vision went out of focus, your eyelids becoming too heavy to keep up. You sensed a presence beside you, the body crouching down to get a better look at you.

“What do we have here?” a female-sounding voice asked, but it sounded far away and muffled to you. “Is this another werewolf?”

“I can’t tell,” another female voice replied in a sigh. “Sura, do you have any ideas?”

“Doesn’t smell like werewolf to me,” a male voice said. “It definitely is some kind of were-creature, though. This thing wreaks of wolfsbane and it’s clearly affecting her. I’d say...coyote, maybe?”

One of the women sucked in a breath between their teeth before saying, “Prajya, help me get this net off of her -- it’ll be heavy but I’m afraid to let Sura touch it.”

Slowly, you felt the weight of the net being lifted off of you. You could also feel every little barb stuck in you being pulled out, and you whimpered softly from the stinging pain that covered your body.

“Minjee, will she make it?” the second girl asked as you were lifted into warm arms.

“No,” the male replied, “probably not.”

“The house isn’t far from here,” the first girl insisted. “We just have to hurry.”

But you were out cold before they even took the first step.

-

Josh and Hansol weren’t really sure why so many people wanted to go with them into town that night for them to finally get fixed. Suvi was understandable since she just enjoyed going into town, and Soomin made sense since she was basically their resident know-it-all when it came to werewolves. However, Wonwoo wanting to tag along was weird because Wonwoo didn’t like leaving the house, much less going into town. They figured maybe it was because he wanted to make sure Soomin would be alright, but she was already going to be with two werewolves and a girl who had gone into town plenty of times. She was in good hands, but whatever made Wonwoo happy.

“Are you nervous?” Suvi wondered, looking up between Hansol and Joshua as she walked.

“I don’t know how they’re going to fix my back, so that’s a little concerning,” Hansol decided, “but I’m more excited.”

Joshua just shrugged, “Eh, not really.”

“Try not to be so excited, huh,” Wonwoo commented.

Joshua did like his power. He liked that he was able to help people with it. However, it didn’t benefit him -- as in, it didn’t make his own personal healing any better than anybody else’s in the pack -- and it wouldn’t be needed if his pack wasn’t so stupid and got themselves hurt. It wasn’t fun like Seokmin’s or Chan’s or Kyung’s, and it wasn’t interesting like Jihoon’s or Soonyoung’s or Hansol’s or Minghao’s. It was boring -- kind of like Wonwoo’s or Seungcheol’s.

Suvi was the first up to the door, knocking before she took a step back to wait. The door was answered by Minjee -- as always -- who greeted them with an almost pained smile.

“Hello,” she greeted them. “Before you come in, I’d like to apologize. My partners and I have just gotten home, and one of our patients... Well, she won’t make it.”

Now that she’d mentioned it, the wolves could just barely hear the faint, slowing heartbeat from inside the house. But they could also smell that it wasn’t the typical werewolf. It was something they’d never smelled before, but it still wasn’t completely human.

Joshua also picked up on a scent that was very familiar but also so very different from anything he’d smelled before.

“We’re just trying to ease her pain until she passes,” Minjee continued, letting the small group into the house. She turned to look at somebody else who was helping with the aforementioned girl. “Sura, could you put a curtain up around her? Prajya, I’ll need you to help me with--”

Minjee stopped when she noticed Joshua stop in the doorway, his body going rigid. His golden eyes were spotting red and locked on you, hands balled into fists.

You were dying; his mate was dying. Again.

“Josh...?” Wonwoo spoke up, placing a hand on the older boy’s shoulder.

Joshua’s thoughts and opinions on re-imprinting were out the window when it registered that the girl quickly losing her life was his mate. The only thing he could focus on was you and saving you -- but he only knew one way how.

“She’s not dying,” he stated, walking straight through the small crowd and over to you where your pulse was just a moment away from completely dying out.

“What?” Minjee asked, watching him as he approached you with a set jaw and narrowed eyes.

“I’m not going to let her die,” he said louder, letting his hands hover above your body.

Joshua was too focused on trying to somehow get his powers to come back to him that he wasn’t paying any attention to Hansol and Wonwoo’s conversation over their surprise of their brother imprinting for a second time. Truthfully, nobody thought anybody would come after Lilly since Josh was so against it. But then again, imprinting wasn’t something any werewolf could control. 

Joshua mumbled to himself as he tried to will his power back. He was concentrating so hard but nothing was happening. No faint glow from his palms, no color coming back to your face, and your heartbeat was still rapidly decreasing by the second. It wouldn’t be long until it was gone all together, and then there would be nothing he could do.

“C’mon...c’mon...” he grumbled, closing his eyes as his eyebrows creased together in concentration.

“Your powers won’t suddenly work,” Minjee spoke up, watching from where she stood by his pack, wanting to give the werewolf space -- especially since she was preparing for him to be grieving for the mate he’d lose before actually having her.

“They have to!” he snapped.

He refused to lose you. If he lost two mates -- even if he didn’t properly meet or know you -- he was sure he wouldn’t be able to take it.

With his last bit of energy he had in his body, his palms faintly glowed to life, spreading a tingling warmth across your body. His healing power was starting to cleanse the wolfsbane from your system, and your heartbeat was starting to become stronger and more stable. Hearing your heartbeat louder in his ears made Josh want to cry. But he didn’t have the energy for it.

As you let out a cough and a girl with brown skin rushed over to sit you up so you could empty your system, Joshua collapsed onto the floor, knowing you were alive and would hopefully stay alive. He put his everything into saving you, and he didn’t know if that would kill him, but he knew it was worth it.

[wolfstarsthirdwheel]

(I'm a proud Percy Weasley apologist and my birthday is soon, so what do I do? Right answer, I'm posting headcanons about Percy Weasley. I wrote them a few months ago and now I decided to share them. Enjoy

Also pls ignore my shitty grammar)

---------------------------------------------------

(1)Have you ever seen Percy Weasley with short sleeves?

You haven't.

So my headcanon is that Percy Weasley was very overwhelmed by all his work because he always wanted to make his parents proud and be the best

And he was doing self harm from his third year on

---------------------------------------------------

(2)There are

Bill and Charlie

Fred and George

Ron and Ginny

Right?

So Percy was on his own. And as we know, he didn't have that much friends in school

And he has good grades most of the time

So he obviously spends much time in the library

And who's in my headcanon also often in the library? Sad kids that have homesickness or are just sad in general

Maybe they're also overtaxed by the homework

And Percy basically becomes the therapist of the ✨sad library kids✨and helps them with everything he can

---------------------------------------------------

(3)Percy always was disappointed by himself because he couldn't play Quidditch

Like, nearly everyone in his family was so good at it and he wasn't

He tried in his second year, he really did

But he doesn't have the talent

So he forced himself to study more then every other twelve years old student. He wanted to have something he was good at, even better then everyone else

And because he wanted to be the best student he made himself and outsider. He acts like he doesn't mind but he does

---------------------------------------------------

(4)Percy Weasley was so fucking proud of his siblings. No matter what they did, and even if he would yell at them at first because THEY PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER AGAIN, he would always make sure they now that he is there for them and supports them in whatever they want to do. Unlike Molly, he always believed that George and Fred were incredibly smart and that they would be successful with their plans. Before Harry gave his reward to them, he saved money for their shop

---------------------------------------------------

(5)Percy gives tutoring lessons before the exams, but he never told his siblings because he didn't want to be the one who they made fun of

---------------------------------------------------

(6)Percy was always jealous of Harry. Not because it his money, not because he was famous, not even because of his Quidditch skills. He was jealous because Molly loved him so much. He was jealous because Molly was always there for him, she was the perfect mother. Percy always wanted that

---------------------------------------------------

(7)Percy never trusted Dumbledore

---------------------------------------------------

(8)Percy always protected his siblings from bad rumors. Every time someone said something bad about his siblings Percy stood up for them, no matter who said it or who he made hate him

---------------------------------------------------

(9)Percy Weasley after Fred's death.

Percy doesn't know how to express his emotions, he thinks he doesn't have the right to be as sad as Fred. He blames himself and thinks that everyone does. He has panic attacks and gets kicked out of the ministry for them.

---------------------------------------------------

(10)Percy Weasley didn't label himself at first. Until he was in the third year, he thought he was absolutely straight. Then he met this handsome boy, one year older than him. He had black skin, long, dark curls and his smile! It started with Percy being unable to not think about his smile. Then he always wanted to be around him. Not even touching him, just sitting next to him, looking at him.

From then on he tried to figure out what was wrong with him. He hated the fact that he couldn't solve the mystery about his sexuality. And he is afraid of his outing. He never told anyone except for Bill. Bill told him it wasn't a big deal or false in any way, but Percy never truly accepted himself they way he is.

Now it's optional to add Oliver x Percy

---------------------------------------------------

(11)Percy Weasley didn't spoke until he was almost five years old. Not because he couldn't, but because he just enjoyed listening to his family more.

Then, almost ten years later, percy doesn't talk much again. But this time there's Noone he could listen to. He's alone with his thoughts and doesn't know what to do. So he just writes everything that comes through his mind down. Somehow, his habit to write it all down turns into poetry. Percy Weasley was writing poetry without even realizing it. Then, one day Bill gets home and sees Percy's notebook, and he didn't want to, he really didn't! But his curiosity was stronger and he took it. He just flips through the pages, some filed with words, some filed with sketches, and he just goes like WOW and tells Percy how amazing it is and Percy's like 'no, it's just calming me down, noting special', and Bill leaves it by that. But every time he sees Percy he asks for a look at his newest pages

---------------------------------------------------

(12)Percy has a nervous habit. He stabs his thumbnail in his forefinger until it bleeds. As far as Percy can tell, Noone noticed yet. He just does it when he feels uncomfortable and doesn't think much about it. Somehow, his nervous habit turns into something he can't control any longer, and the wounds at his forefinger are getting Infected with some kind of bacterial stuff and he's like shit. He tries to stop but he can't, it's like an addiction. One time, only once, the twins convinced Percy to have a sip of alcohol with them. Long story short, it ended with Percy leaving as quick as possible because his finger didn't just hurt. It burned, and Percy felt like dying. He didn't know what to do, so he just sits in the library and sobbs until there are no more tears. As he looks at his finger, unable thinking what he was supposed to do, he noticed that it had an unhealthy green, orange, red color. He doesn't exactly know what he should call it, but it defenetly does look concerning. The alcohol in his blood distracts him from finding a way to make the pain go away. He instead thinks of 11 different assignments he has to finish due tomorrow, and he's so overwhelmed with his own thoughts he simply breaks down. He's not crying. He's not shouting. He just sits in the library and doesn't move for nearly two and a half hours, staring at a wall with an empty gaze. The only things he hears are his own thoughts, and damn, they suck.

After his... Yeah, I consider it breakdown. After his breakdown, he can think a little more logical again. He forces himself to get up and walks to the hospitalwing weakly.

[kravkalackin]

Starting off it sounded pretty normal. Taako was in love with his best friend. That happened all the time, and he didn't think anyone could blame him for falling for Kravitz. He was funny and sweet and hot, kind of an asshole but that was what Taako liked about him.

Kravitz did not live close enough for them to meet in person. Also not that uncommon in this day and age. So far everything checked out.

Kravitz was a fae prince who Taako could only talk to through a magic mirror he found in a cemetery when he was 14.

That was usually where he lost people.

Still, once you got used to it, it wasn't that strange. It was close enough to normal that he'd managed to keep the fae magic mirror thing secret from everyone all this time. He meant to tell Lup eventually but the longer he waited the weirder it felt.

So she just knew the basics. That Kravitz was his best friend, that he lived too far away, and that Taako was hopeless for the dork.

That Kravitz loved him back. How they confessed the night of prom, after Taako had ditched his shitty date because all he wanted to do was go home and talk to Kravitz. That they had been basically dating for three years now.

Not actually dating though, and even though Kravitz had warned him, told him over and over again that this day would come Taako still felt crushed.

"You're getting married?" he asked again, probably the eighth time in five minutes.

"I'm so sorry Taako. I- it's not right away. My mother wants to give me time to think and get to know some of the potential... spouses, but it has to happen. I'm the prince and there are rules and if we don't follow those rules then magic has a way of backfiring," Kravitz explained, and Taako understood. He got it, Kravitz had been clear from the start how this would end.

Didn't make it hurt any less.

"I wish it could be you," Kravitz said softly, and somehow that was the thing that near about made Taako break.

"I mean, it could be," he tried, and he got why Kravitz shook his head but it didn't sting any less.

"I won't steal you away from your whole life like that, as much as I desperately want to," Kravitz said. Taako smiled slightly at that, thinking about how much easier this would be if Kravitz had just the tiniest bit less self control as a fae.

"Could just be our little secret then. Nothing official just, ya know," he said, shrugging and trailing off because he didn't know. It was a stupid thought that wouldn't do anything to actually change the situation.

"Alright," Kravitz said, catching Taako by surprise.

"Really?" he asked, Kravitz nodding vigorously.

"Yes. Like you said it wouldn't be official but... I want to," he said, and even though his eyes were still frustratingly misty Taako grinned at that.

Kravitz started to lead Taako through the fae marriage ritual, and they had to change some things to make it work with the distance and mirror, but the core was still there. Holding his hand up to line his fingertips up with Kravitz's on the other side of the mirror, he repeated after him.

"With true intent I pledge myself to you, as the planes dance i shall be at your side, eternally my soul is yours."

There was no grand change afterwards, and even though they didn't have an officiate Taako figured it wouldn't hurt to run them through the whole 'I take thee to be my lawfully wedded' bla bla bla.

Taako wasn't sure if he felt better or worse afterwards, but he couldn't say he regretted it. Eventually Kravitz convinced him to get some sleep, and even though he thought he would be tossing all night Taako knocked out almost immediately.

When Taako woke up the next morning there was someone in his bed. He didn't scream because that might wake them up before he could kill them.

He nearly screamed anyway when he saw his face, although for different reasons.

"Kravitz?" he asked, disbelief clear in his voice as he shook him awake. The fae jolted up suddenly, a confused look on his face, followed by delight and then fear.

"Taako? Taako what are you doing here?" he asked, holding his face as if trying to prove that he was real.

"How am I here? How did you get in my room?" Taako asked, and he wanted to kiss him so bad but they should probably figure this out first. Kravitz looked confused for a moment before glancing around the room, an expression of dawning realization coming slowly.

"I shall be at your side..." he muttered under his breath. Before Taako could ask what he meant the fae continued. "I uh, I think we got married last night. For real."

There was probably a lot of implications about marrying a fae prince and possibly magically kidnapping him to another plane that they were gonna need to sort out, and Taako definitely intended on addressing all of that soon.

"Oh. Cool, I'm gonna kiss you now."

Yeah, they could wait to figure everything out just a little bit longer.

[lilyclawthorne]

Escaping Expulsion Thoughts (once again very stream of conscious-like while i rewatched the episode so there’s a bunch of stuff here)

i fucking knew odalia was gonna be an oracle, i knew and i hate that for her family. i’m not sure if this necklace thing is specifically a form of oracle magic or not but im assuming it is, and either way the second i saw it happen that made my stomach twist. the fact that she just keeps this direct line to her daughter at all times feels so disturbing

so, i get that the joke with glyph lessons here is that eda and lilith are probably acting the exact same way they did when they were younger, but it does also feel a little odd for me. in my post for episode 1 i talked about how it felt like lilith probably missed the structure of the coven, and maybe even having an authority figure, and it does concern me a bit that it could be projected on to luz here. 

also, i saw someone mention that they thought lilith could be regressing a bit, which is interesting seeing as she’s been in the coven since basically being a child and now that she’s out, she could be going backwards because that was probably the last time she had a personality of her own instead of one that was carefully crafted to be socially acceptable for others. and to be fair, the few moments in season 1 when we see glimpses into the true lilith, she is pretty childish.

anyways lilith has such pretty handwriting i love it

gus!! witch puberty!! do not worry buddy eda will get your name eventually. probably.

amity went out and murdered those fairies for luz didn’t she

i need to know why the heck bump has no choice in the matter of the expulsion. typically a pta (or pca in this case) wouldn’t have power that much stronger than the principa?? so i wonder if the blights have something over bump, or if its even just something such as donation money they’d withdraw

odalia blight you gaslighting bitch “I’m appalled you’re not in class right now what are you thinking” YOU MADE HER COME HERE

PLEASE i know gus and willow are sad here but the whole “live off the land” thing and “water you one last time, with my tears” are so fucking funny ok

GO LUZ, YOU TELL OFF ODALIA

i feel like alador doesn’t really care what’s going on and just wants to be back home making his abomination inventions, also he seems to have an affinity for different creatures as well which is an interesting detail

i love that willow stated they would get back in on their own right in front of alador and odalia. these people fucked up her friendship and caused her a lot of trouble that she shouldn’t have had to deal with so i love that she’s unafraid to speak like that in front of them

between the first & second episode, and some of the seasons trailer, it seems like Lilith may have an affinity for ice magic? which is interesting seeing as eda was always a fan of her “spicy toss” aka some fire magic. interesting to see the two of them as fire & ice basically

i LOVE how much bump loves luz, willow, and gus. it’s kinda really sweet, but again it feels so concerning that he had no choice in the matter. makes me think he’s more likely to eventually rebel against the standards that have been in place for so long at some point. (also abominations coven for bump!! interesting!! i appreciate seeing the coven marks included on the adults so far)

what is it with these kids and being dragged off by their hoods in this episode

love that the blights address includes “right arm”, also i took a quick look up of the word “bruegal” which is boulevard they live on, and it’s probably just a coincidence but the first google result was actually for a european think tank that specializes in economics

yknow i actually have wondered about layering glyphs on top of each other and making a super glyph the way eda did, so good to know that would NOT work out

luz you’re really gonna give the blights their own flowers??????

it goes by so fast but please take a moment to take in and appreciate the design of that blight entry room/living room-esque area and it’s combination of abomination and oracle decor. also the blight family portrait.

i could talk about alador and odalia and their relationship dynamic here, when luz is meeting with them, but i think it’s best to save for the end, but i will say i don’t think it’s just odalia controlling everything (though she does control a lot) and alador just suffering and being silent. 

the more i stare at odalia’s hair the more i feel like she has an odd receding hairline

love that the abomination kept the cat shape luz gave it and that amity knew immediately from that

WILLOW’S DADS!!! I LOVE THEM! I love how much they want their daughter to have a great education even if they have to be the ones to do it! (even if it could come across as a little intense) Although, the fact that they’re prepared to teach plant magic to her makes me question why they put her in abominations once again. (wish we could’ve gotten a glimpse of their coven marks!)

odalia is definitely the one who handles more of the parenting and alador is more distant. at least that’s what i get based on the twins specifying to amity not to tell their mom specifically

absolutely insane that odalia is just letting the abomiton destroy the whole place to kill a child

“stay away from my luz!” oh my god,ohmy GOD 

i like how lilith can’t tell if these are normal noises or distress ones. really sums up life in the owl house. also lilith? kicking doors in?? this combined with “I AM A WITCH, UNHINGED” tells me she’ll be as chaotic as the rest of the owl house in no time and i am here for it.

the music when amity jumps in to protect luz is absolutely killing it here i need a soundtrack now

YES AMITY DESTROY THE NECKLACE (and oh god please don’t let odalia give you something even harder to remove or destroy)

Luz is blushing!! The feelings are starting to be returned!!!

“Luz, Willow, and Gus are my friends!” love it. love the open declaration. love that she’s telling her mother off. love that i have something to check off my bingo board already.

okay, i know a lot of people have already suggested that alador is smiling here because he can tell luz and amity like each other, but i’m pretty sure it’s only because he’s noticing how much amity’s magic has grown and improved

small detail but i love the smoke from the units order sign filling the background while odalia is fuming herself

oh? alador has had the ability to tell odalia off and successfully calm her down this whole time? and chose not to use it till now? yeah he sucks too. he very clearly has a plan for amity as much as odalia does as well, but he’s much better at seeing the long-term goal

“the glyph combo, copyright me, lilith” im screaming, lilith you DORK

ok i really wish eda or lilith asked where luz had been. i’d kill for these sisters to go off about how much they hated the alador and odalia in school, as well as threaten to hurt them for hurting luz.

the statue lilith made and her reaction to the gold star she received re-emphasizes my concern about her need for approval and for an authority figure. (ok but her noise at the gold star WAS very cute tho)

alright lets get down to business on the blight parents. so far i definitely do not view their relationship as being one-sided with odalia in control. honestly, i think they do have a sense of mutual respect for the other. to me it seems like all alador really wants to do is focus on his work and nothing else, and odalia seems not only more than happy to let him do so, but willing to take care of everything else the company needs, and he seems fine with that and going along with whatever because he only has to do his part. and clearly his abomination tech combined with her showmanship/advertising (and honestly probably some oracle magic) has clearly made them successful. 

so what im saying is that i think their power in their relationship is actually pretty balanced, if it looks otherwise that’s just because that’s how they best function together, with odalia being more forward and alador being more distant, and therefore they’re very much both to blame for shitty parenting. 

also I know some people have joked about the blight family name coming from odalia (which is also a dumb joke like why is it funny if the family name comes from the woman and not the man) but anyways I definitely do think blight is aladors family name and odalia married in simply because he takes the whole blights keep up their end of the deal thing much more seriously than odalia. probably something that’s been taught to him since he was a kid yknow, whereas she was super ready to ignore it when it inconvenienced her.

as for the very final scene with them and the golden guard, i had an interpretation of it that i saw, but it seems that everyone else ive see react to it so far saw something different than me so maybe i’m just plain wrong. but like, i have this feeling that maybe the blight parents, while they do want power, might not be as aligned with the emperor and his coven as we may think?? not saying they’re good people, just that there could be more going on here. but idk, i’ve seen no one else interpret it that way yet so i won’t go off about it unless either someone wants to know more of what i thought or if i ever actually make myself get around to making a separate post about it. 

[alighieri-sparda]

Cann you headcanon about Vergil holding nero as a baby. But the s/o died while giving birth to him.

I just want angst heh

Vergil in Fortuna Headcanons: Nero and his mother fates.

➤ Masterlist | Rules 

Hello, my dear anon. I am sorry for my usual delay, I hope you are still here to read this.

That’s my first time writing DMC angst, I guess. So yeah it might be kinda shitty I’M SORRY, but I tried so hard. ;w; Hope you like it, my dear. I really do. If you’re not satisfied with its results, however, don’t be ashamed of asking me to rewrite it. I’d do it gladly for you.

Devil May Cry 3 gif because there were no good gifs of him in 4.

WARNING: Angst, mentions of death and blood. 

‣ ‣ ‣

A one-night affair was not something Vergil imagined he would find in the old city of Fortuna. In fact, the population of Fortuna was also not known by its good reception with outsiders; so, when that woman in red approached him and gently declared to be grateful for his work of slashing those demonic creatures, Vergil was more than certain that her words were not about gratitude only. He hesitated to proceed as soon as he found himself succumbing to her subtle proposal, but in his deepest thoughts, he had no real intention of letting this unique opportunity pass by.

Neither of them was completely sure of what they were doing. It was not like Vergil or the woman were uncertain about the decision they made though. Oh no, the point was definitely not that. It felt more like they were just following their pure instincts and deep desires, not giving enough credit to their insecurities or lack of experience on carnal knowledge. Specially Vergil got his mind all blank of important precautions since he was the one who was most aware of what that could turn into later. Besides, they had a wonderful and unforgettable night.

“Unforgettable” is, indeed, a precisely chosen word to describe the consequences of that night in Vergil’s life. He had no intention to come back to Fortuna at all: once his research was done, he would leave that antiqued island and keep his way on his unstoppable pursuit of power. His recklessness would have later consequences though since someone forgot to pull out even when neither he nor the woman had any kind of protection.

He tried his best to ignore his thoughts on the woman and yet her gentle words haven’t disappeared from his mind, not showing any possibilities to go away that soon. Those memories were pleasant of course, but nothing worth his attention, in his opinion. After four months of research and no expressive results, Vergil pretended not to be interested in that ordinary lady and left the old city. But it didn’t mean he didn’t leave something behind: among the crowd of hooded worshippers of the Savior, a humble woman had an accentuated belly bump kindly growing under her red dress.

All of his attempts to forget the woman were all in vain, however. During his lonely and self-destructive path of pursuing endless power, Vergil did remember her several times and wondered uncountable things about her current situation at the time. It started slowly: firstly, Vergil pondered if that gentle lady in red was doing right without him, due to danger caused by the demons who would show up in her neighborhood like on the day they met. Then, he remembered all the lovely words she said to him even after their night, and how her face contorted in sadness when Vergil sharply warned: “Thanks for the good time we had, but do not expect to see me again”.

But Vergil would not submit that easily. Oh, he stubbornly struggled as much as he could not to take another ship and go to Fortuna just to see if she was doing well. If she was safe. And when he finally figured out that the woman was almost certainly pregnant and his direct descendant was completely exposed, everything got even worse inside his mind. Those foolish distractions were driving him crazy, but for how much longer could Vergil run away from his responsibility? Would the consequences of his foolhardiness be that severe for his main goal to be worth his attention and time?

Vergil just made his decision when the memories about his childhood crossed his mind; his tricky subconscious focused specifically on his mother, Eva. After years of feeling abandoned, thrown to the cruel claws of the merciless demonic world with nothing but Yamato and his survival instincts when only being a child, the good remembrance of his calm and happy childhood alongside his family hurt like hell. What wouldn’t he do to have a happy life again? Maybe that woman and his child would be his unique chance to start again. To reconstruct what has left of his broken heart and give his descendent the happy life Vergil couldn’t have. To protect his family at last.

At the same time he missed those old times though, something deepened into his soul was blaming him to feel like that. Foolish weaknesses of his powerless human side, Vergil heard himself saying to no one more times he could’ve counted. 

After nine months of negligence and self-struggling, Vergil finally went back to Fortuna. He was still a bit annoyed about the decision he made, but he couldn’t help it anymore. Even if the woman didn’t want to accept him as her mate, Vergil would try to protect and support his kin regardless. His heart finally embraced at least a part of his humanity; Vergil realized after he stepped into the old gates. This would not distract him from his path of pursuing power, not even close to it; and they could even be something to motivate him to actually proceed.

Thus, the young son of Sparda lost himself among the dusty and antique streets of Fortuna in a search for the lady and the child who filled his thoughts for months straight, and after an hour walking through the common hooded crowd of Fortuna, he found himself in the same quiet street where the woman’s house was placed. Everything was just like it has always been since Vergil left, except for the wild and distorted growling coming from the said house.

No way it was happening again.

Vergil entered the house quickly, but he was too late. Even slashing those demons in the blink of an eye as he’s done uncountable times already, his main reason for being in Fortuna again was laying there: a lifeless cold body covered in blood. Why was she attacked by demons? Did they feel that a Sparda descendant was about to be born, or was she just another unlucky and random citizen of Fortuna who was a victim of the insatiable bloodlust of the demonic creatures? It didn’t matter at that point. Vergil failed on protecting someone who he cared about once more. He was still weak. 

He didn’t even get a chance to talk to the woman again. That sweet voice calling for him, the only one in the world that could make him feel loved? Vergil would never hear it again. 

Although, near the woman’s corpse, a little creature surprisingly was still alive. A defenseless baby was crying his lungs out to no one in that dark room. 

Yet still shocked with the woman’s dead body sight, Vergil immediately crossed the number of demonic carcasses and took the baby in his arms carefully. He had no experience holding a baby, but that fragile and innocent body fit perfectly in his embrace anyway, just like Vergil had done that instinctively. When Vergil put his eyes on his son and realized what was happening at that moment, he couldn’t hold back his tears. His son was alive in his arms, being warmly held and protected after a tragic loss of his family — something Vergil wished had happened to him when he lost his mother. 

However, the guilt Vergil felt due to his huge failure impeded him to keep his son with him. He could not take care of his son, he didn’t deserve it. Vergil didn’t have enough strength to protect him, not yet. But before leaving his son and keeping him away from the dangers of being related to a son of Sparda, Vergil gave him the name “Nero”. The name he would keep in his mind even in his darkest times to remember why he chose to obtain more and more power.

Wrapping Nero in the nearest black blanket he found and gently kissing his sweaty forehead, Vergil lost part of his soul when he basically abandoned his newborn son in front of the orphanage’s door, at the mercy of those who took care of and protected the defenseless children of Fortuna. Next to his wrapped little body, a grimy piece of cardboard was placed to not confuse anyone who would find him: he was Nero. His name would be the only thing Vergil allowed himself to give to him before leaving, no one could ever take it from him.

Once more, Vergil left Fortuna. But this time, he was certain he would go back: but only when he was worthy of it. He needed more power. More power to go back and protect Nero properly. Until that day, Vergil wasn’t confident enough to stay with him, no matter how badly he wanted to do so; it might be too risky. And if when he returned his son wasn’t there, alive and well, Vergil would shatter that city to pieces for pure vengeance.

Bonus: When Mundus turned Vergil into one of his puppets, he had access to his memories and found out about Nero’s existence. Then, Mundus decided to name his new creation as “Nelo Angelo”: to always remind that pitiful descendant of Sparda who he left behind and would never see again for being just a weak and miserable half-demon.

[casually-slips-into-coma]

An Essay (sort of) Explaining the Many Grievances I Have With Debbie Gallagher

Once again, Debbie is the fucking worst.

I’ve been wanting to write out my feelings towards her character for a fucking minute now just so that I have a full concise list. Now, I can talk about how Debbie has a constant need for attention, or how her character has become someone unrecognizable in the past few seasons, or how she’s a terrible mother, but what I really want to focus on is the center of my issues with her: her sexuality. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about to be a homophobic rant or anything. I just think her queer development has been written terribly and that should be addressed.

Too often I see people praising queer characters or relationships based solely on the fact that they are queer, and as a member of the community, I get it. I am also starved for representation. This, however, does not mean I’m going to settle for annoying, poorly written characters.

Why Make Debbie Queer?

The first thing I want to address is why suddenly develop a WLW storyline for her. Given that Debbie started as a little girl on the show, this gives the writers a lot of opportunity to give a character like that interesting storylines because she does not yet have a solid personality. It gives writers the liberty to take her story anywhere they want to without the constraints of established character because she, as a person, is still developing into adulthood. The show runners unfortunately dropped the ball with this.

From season 4 and onwards was when Debbie began showing interest in dating, sex, and romance having just turned the corner to puberty. From then up until season 9, she has shown exclusive interest in men. It isn’t until Alex the welder that Debbie deviates from this path. Alex is portrayed as a stud who confuses Debbie. I am inclined to believe that Debbie was originally attracted to her because she was masculine and therefore close enough to the people Debbie had previous experience with.

This arc was treated very much as Debbie experimenting with her sexuality, something that Alex also ends up realizing after Debbie tells her that having sex with a girl is “not that bad” and “like having sex with yourself” (S9E4). Once this storyline wrapped up (with Debbie shouting “you make me want cock again”) the writers powered through, adamant about Debbie now being a lesbian.

I have two theories as to why they’ve been fighting so hard for her queerness.

1) This was around the time that Cam was leaving Shameless. This obviously didn’t end up happening, but I was under the impression that the writers were freaking out at losing their token gay character and needed to fill that position. When Cam ended up staying, they were stuck with a queer Debbie storyline and decided to just go with it.

2) Shameless was planning on doing a WLW storyline regardless of Cam’s choice to leave and were originally going to give it to Fiona and her lesbian tenant that she had a close relationship and a lot of chemistry with, but Emmy Rossum wanted to move on from Shameless, and so they pivoted and gave the arc to Debbie, a character that was not supposed to be moved in that direction and so her new sexuality seemingly came out of nowhere. Fiona as a bisexual character would have made sense. Debbie still does not.

Shameless’s Awkward Relationship With Bisexuality

One of the biggest issues I have with Debbie is her insistence on being a lesbian. Lesbianism doesn’t come out of nowhere. Bisexuality, however, can. When you grow up being told that you are supposed to feel attraction to men, and you genuinely do feel attraction to men (which Debbie has expressed in past seasons/episodes) it’s easy to ignore your attraction to women and write it off as something that either isn’t a big deal, or something that isn’t there. It’s a lot more confusing than being strictly at one end of the spectrum. It would have been so much more believable if they had simply made Debbie bisexual. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t because the show has a history with bi erasure.

Bisexuality has been treated badly all throughout Shameless, used as a vengeful plot device back in the earlier seasons where Monica was only ever with women when unmedicated. Then in Season 7 when Ian’s boyfriend Caleb cheated on him with a woman (enforcing the stereotype of bisexuals being unfaithful) Ian, possibly acting out of anger or ignorance, said things like “only women are bisexual. When a man says he’s bisexual he’s really just gay”. The only semi positive bisexual representation on the show was Svetlana and Vee when they were in a poly relationship with Kev (though I also think that storyline wasn’t handled as well as it could’ve been).

This fight against the bisexual label in media is not a new one but it is also a harmful stance to take when writing a sexually fluid character. Debbie declaring that she is, in fact, a lesbian after waxing poetic about how Matty had a big dick and Derek had a great body and knew what he was doing is not the way to go. 

You could argue that Debbie, like many other queer women, is an unfortunate victim of compulsory heterosexuality, but frankly I don’t think the writers are well versed enough in queer theory for that to be a possibility.

Debbie as The White Feminist

Debbie is the pinnacle of white feminism. It’s an unfortunate thought that has occurred to me a few times throughout the show. She talks a big game as a man hater and someone after the equal treatment of women but she herself participates in a lot of problematic and anti feminist behavior.

For one, she r*ped Matty back in season 5 when he was blacked out and unconscious. This was a point in the story that was glossed over and one where she suffered no repercussions other than Matty no longer wanting to be around her. It was explained in the show that Debbie didn’t realize what she did was wrong until after she was explicitly told so because she was maybe 14 when it happened (not 100% on the age Shameless is very inconsistent about timelines). It was treated as somewhat of a punchline, something that Shameless has unfortunately done more than once when referring to male sexual assault (Mickey’s r*pe, Liam in season 10 ((i think??)) and in this latest season, Carl) but that is a different topic. 

There was also the time in which she lied to her boyfriend about being on birth control so she could trap him into a relationship with pregnancy (which also counts as r*pe!!) Good on Derek for getting out of that.

Debbie has also been pro-life in the past. Now I understand this was when Fiona was pressuring her into aborting her pregnancy, and as a pro choicer myself, I believe that Debbie was fully in her right to have bodily autonomy and go through with the pregnancy. This isn’t where the issue lies. It’s when Fiona finds out that she too is pregnant and tells Debbie that she wants an abortion that Debbie accuses her of “killing her baby”. Again, her behavior could be explained by her age given that Debbie was still a young teen during this time.

When her actions as a White Feminist become less excusable is mostly in the latest season. Her relationship with Sandy is one that I’m not really happy with because Debbie doesn’t deserve her.

Recently, it has been revealed that Sandy is actually married to a man and has a son. It’s explained that she was basically married off against her will at the age of 15 to a man twice her age. This implies that the product of the marriage, her son, was most likely conceived through dubious consent (or worse) at the hands of an adult when she was just a kid. Just because Debbie thinks that Sandy’s husband “seems nice” does not give her the right to try and make a victim of grooming feel bad about not wanting to be with her abuser. While I understand that Sandy’s son has no fault in how he came into the world, I’m still gonna side with Sandy when it comes to having to take care of a child she didn’t want and who is most likely a source of trauma for her. It’s not difficult to sympathize with Sandy and see that she’s clearly gone through something fucked up and Debbie, despite claiming to love and support her, AND despite her dumb white feminist arc about wanting equal pay and all that jazz, turns her back on the girls supporting girls aspect of feminism.

This isn’t even mentioning how shitty it was to just leave Franny by herself and assume that one of her siblings would take her to school and pick her up and stuff as if they don’t all have separate lives. She talks a lot about being a good mother but decided to “let off some steam” by fucking off to a gay bar to get loaded on coke and fuck a gay man (which wtf thats not a thing that really happens with casual coke but whatever I guess). Once she realized she fucked up, instead of taking responsibility she decided to paint herself as the victim as well as spew offensive bullshit about how she “probably has AIDS now” because of her sexual encounter with a gay man. No lesbian in their right fucking mind would ever say that because as members of the LGBTQ+ community, you are at least a tiny bit informed as to how devastating and tragic the AIDS crisis was for queer people.

(I also have an issue with how Debbie capitalized on her felony as a sex offender and her sexuality to start her Hot Lesbian Convict business but I think that’s enough said.)

Blame the writers

The show got almost an entirely new cast of writers after season 7 which is why the show feels more like a sitcom with low stakes and no consequences rather than a drama, but if there is a queer writer on the team it’s not very evident. Even the better half of the queer relationship story, Ian and Mickey, I don’t feel has really been done justice since the change in writers. It’s just become painfully obvious that the actress is a straight girl playing a gay character (not to mention I have never seen any chemistry between her and all of her female love interests). I don’t fault Emma Kenney (the actress) for this. I actually really like her as a person and I like the videos she makes about the cast and such, and I think she does her best with the script she’s given. My complaints with Debbie are targeted entirely towards the writers.

This brings me to my final point. I need them to let Debbie be alone. Her whole thing for the second half of the season has been that she clearly has abandonment issues and is afraid of being alone. It’s why she’s so adamant about keeping the house and fighting with Lip about it (I’m actually on Debbie’s side for that one but that’s besides the point). They had her and Sandy break up which leaves Debbie to spiral further into her loneliness. From a writing point of view, it makes sense to take this opportunity to give her an arc in which she can overcome that and feel comfortable with herself so that she can move on as an adult instead of jumping into a new relationship. This is especially true since this is quite literally the last season ever of the show and any character development needs to be wrapped up. Introducing a new character out of nowhere does not give the viewers enough time to actually get invested in the new relationship. It’s also unfair to Debbie’s character because her arc is going to feel incomplete.

Anyway,,,,,,uuuhhhhh,,,,,feel free to add on if u want lmao

[the-final-sif]

My head produced a scene, basically what happens after the ending to my blue core Katsuki vs Overhaul post where Dabi captures Katsuki after Katsuki defeated Overhaul. The whole fight/fights were broadcast out, and the heroes get free too late to stop Dabi from taking the heavily weakened Katsuki.

So, the LOV/PLF now have Katsuki. He’s still heavily weakened and injured, but they patch him up as best they can and he’s put on painkillers, which have the added benefit of keeping him hazy so escaping his harder for him. 

Aizawa is losing his fucking mind, as are a lot of class 1-A, but unlike before they have no leads on where Katsuki is, given that the league now has way more resources to keep him hidden.

Or at least, they think they have no leads.

Hawks, a double agent, is working on fixing that. Sort of. It doesn’t take him long to find out where Katsuki is. The league is wary about letting him have any information on the matter, but Hawks is a charmer and convinces them he just likes the kid and wants to be sure he’s okay.

Finally, Hawks gets down to where Katsuki is being kept. He’s meant to stay quiet so Katsuki doesn’t notice him. That was his plan anyways.

His plan did not involve a wide eyed Dabi being in the cell already.

Katsuki is high on painkillers, gaze bleary as he recounts his mother’s anger and blame after the last time he got kidnapped. His words are slurred and voice quiet, sad, weak. Towards the end of his story, he refocuses, red eyes seeming to see Dabi again, for just long enough for him to get out a single sentence.

“Guess you'd understand what that's like, huh Touya?”

And then he’s passed out. Leaving Hawks and Dabi both equally stunned and confused.

Dabi recovers first, pushing his way out of the cell almost in a frenzy, brushing past everyone else to get up to the roof. Desperate for fresh air and to be alone. He is not alone. Hawks is stunned for several seconds longer, but once he regains himself, once all the puzzle pieces fall into place, he’s surging after Dabi, frantic to not lose him. Not again.

When Hawks gets to the roof, Dabi is on the far side of it, sitting on the edge with his legs dangling off the side. The door was silent, Hawks was silent, Dabi is not looking at him. That doesn’t stop Dabi from speaking the moment Hawks pauses in indecision.

"I know you're there."

Throwing on a smile Hawks tries to play it off, stepping forward as if nothing is wrong. As if this doesn’t change everything.

"Hey, uh, sorry, didn't mean to intrude, I just saw you and you looked kinda upset-"

"Don't lie to me, spy. I know who you are. I know you heard him."

Hawks blood freezes, but Dabi's made no move to attack him, so he steps a little closer against his better judgment. He’s not afraid. How could he be?

"... So I'm guessing the kid got it right?"

"... Go away."

"That's a yes then."

Hawks is still a few steps back, and he's got so many mixed emotions but in the end, he's a hero. He does what he does best. Besides, there’s no way he could walk away from this. Not again.

"Listen, I don't know what hap-"

"Fuck off. I'm not doing this. I'm not someone you can save, Hawks. Don't waste your time. Just take the kid and go. I figured out you're a spy, your cover was blown, blah blah, so you didn't have any other choice but to cut your losses and save who you could."

Hawks' eyes soften, hesitation slipping away as he steps forward, hopping up onto the roof's edge to sit next to Dabi. They’re sitting too close together, but Dabi doesn’t try to move away despite his words. Both their gazes look out over the horizon as Hawks tone shifts to something regretful.

"I can't save him."

That gets Dabi to look at him, blue eyes angry and accusing.

"The fuck are you talking about? You could cut those damn chains and be gone before the damn alarm even sounds."

His words, an odd hostile vote of confidence, only serve to make Hawks' expression fall further into soft apologetic sadness.

"You’re right, I could do that, but I can't save him.” He pauses for a moment. “I figured out his location two days ago. I've been lying to the Commission about it since I found out. I’m going to keep lying to them about it."

Now Dabi just looks confused, eyes narrowed and face scrunched up as he tries to figure out Hawks’ game.

"Why the hell would you do that? What's stopping you from just taking his ass back to his shitty high school?"

Hawks' voice turned cold, eyes hallow. He looks more defeated than Dabi had ever seen him, which isn’t saying much. But he also looks more defeated than Touya had ever seen him, and that says a lot more.

"Because if I bring him back, if any hero brings him back, he won't be returning to UA. At all."

Then after a beat, almost as an afterthought, Hawks continued. There’s too casual a tone to his words, as if he’s on the news giving an update on a bad situation while trying not to let his mask break.

"The Commission saw the broadcast. Everyone did. Everyone saw a 16 year old unleash the equivalent of a small nuclear weapon in under 10 seconds. According to one of his classmates, the kid can do it with no real prep and a 12 to 24 hour recovery. No long lasting damage if the attacks are spaced out enough. After the Commission saw that, they gave me new orders."

It takes a moment for Dabi to process that. He's almost gaping at Hawks in horror and revulsion. Hawks doesn’t need to say what his orders are. Both of them already know what the Commission does.

"They can't- I mean I know they'd fucking try it, but UA wouldn't give up one of their best students. Fuck, that homeroom teacher of his wouldn't put up with that shit."

"His parents already signed the forms. Hardly took anything to convince them. UA has no legal ground to stop anything.”

Dabi tries a different approach, still unwilling to believe it.

"It wouldn't work. He's too old, you know how stubborn that damn kid is. I can tell you for a fact we aren’t gonna be able to break him, and they sure as hell won’t either."

"They can. They’ll make it work. One way or another.”

That’s all Hawks has to say, both of them know how true it is.

“The public wouldn’t-”

Hawks barks out a laugh, and it is an ugly, angry sound of resentment.

"They've got it all planned out, No matter what state he's in when he's recovered, the story is he got brainwashed by you lot and required a specialized recovery program along with extensive therapy. That excuses the personality change and sudden cooperation. UA can't do shit about it, even with their PR influence, they let the kid get kidnapped twice and the public is already upset with how they’ve handled him."

Hawks' gaze turns bitter and his voice is near venomous.

"The Commissions’ already got a new name picked out for him and everything. ‘Firecracker’ because they thought it'd ‘create positive associations’ and ‘make him more marketable to children’."

Both of them need a moment after that. Dabi looks away, furious now. Hawks takes a deep breath and gives him a watery grin of helplessness.

"Like I said, I could get the kid out of here, but I can't save him."

Dabi takes a deep breath too. Then another. His anger focuses, turning from unfiltered rage to a targeted fury. He knows what Hawks was saying now. Knows just how this story goes. How it’s already gone. But things are not the same as they were back then, and Dabi is sick of this fucking story.

"Alright. So, the kid can't go back until those fucks are out of the way. We're sitting on the roof of a fucking villain organization that's already trying to bring down the government. I'm one of it's fucking commanders. That’s not a problem. Or at least it won’t be for very long."

For the first time since he got the orders, hope sparks in Hawks' chest, and it's his turn to be wide eyed. If it was anyone else- anyone in the fucking world, there’d be no way. But this isn’t just anyone. This is Dabi. This is Touya. But doubt still taints his voice.

"I- It's not just one person. It's dozens and dozens, and they're all heavily protected.”

"So? We aren't one person either. There's a whole damn army here waiting to go."

Hawks bites his lip, but the hope only grows stronger. He used to have dreams of getting free. Of ending the people who trapped him here. It’d been a long time since he had those dreams. They’d been foolish, he had no where else to go but his pretty gilded cage. Nobody to turn to. No help, no savior. But that wasn’t true, maybe it never really had been. He’d gotten a feeling that someone had been bailing him out when he’d almost slipped up a few times as a double agent. Maybe someone had been.

"Will the kid be safe here in the meantime? This won't happen quickly. Even with all the resources in the world."

Dabi considers it, well and truly, before he nods firmly.

"Yeah, it'll be a pain to actually keep him here. Word going around is that he's a little escape artist. But Tomura's not gonna hurt him, he’s given a standing no harm order and nobody around here’s stupid enough to go against that. I'll keep my eye on him too. Just in case."

Then he pauses, plans taking shape in his head, growing and spinning, forming more completely.

"All we'll need from you is names and faces. We need to know who needs to go."

It's terrifying, it’s the wrong choice, it’s a stupid idea, but Hawks nods in agreement after a few seconds of internal debate. He wouldn't under any other circumstances- but fuck. He can't let them do what they did to him to someone else. He just can't. Hawks wants out of his cage, and he sure as fuck isn’t letting them drag another kid into it.

“I- I can do that. Give me a day to get everything together, I don’t know all the names, but I can get code names if nothing else.”

Dabi nods once more to affirm the plan, and the two of them sit in silence for a few more heartbeats, unsaid word lingering between them. It's Dabi who breaks the silence, an uncharacteristic softness to his voice.

"God, I can't believe you finally find out my name, and what, fucking five minutes later we're already back on our bullshit."

Hawks laughs, but this time it's light and childish like it used to be. Like it should be. He kicks his legs out, stretching out his wings behind him.

"What can I say? There was a reason the Commission hated it when I hung out with you, isn't that right Touya?"

It brings back memories Dabi had been suppressing for months now, pretending that they meant nothing to him, even as he let Hawks into the league, covered for him, erased camera footage and lied to protect him. He can't help but laugh too. His laugh is raspy from years of smoke and burned lungs. Hawks can’t help but take joy in hearing it again.

"I supposed so. You really haven't changed at all Keigo."

It's the first time in nearly 10 years Hawks heard that name, and it makes him grin ear to ear, silly and open and feeling comfortable like he hasn't since the last time he was called that. The last time he was Keigo.

Dabi takes another deep breath in and then twists to hop back onto the main part of the roof, pausing to meet Hawks' eyes with a long lost mischievous grin on his face.

"Come on slowpoke, we've got shit to do."

It’s not the first time he’s been called that. It’s the first time in a long time, but it’s just like every time before.

Just like every time before, Hawks' wings flutter in indignation (Touya was the only one who ever called him that, because he thought it was ever so funny how affronted Keigo got, so much so that no matter how fast he got, Touya refused to let it drop).

“You are the worst.”

Hawks grumbled, rolling his eyes as he hopped to his feet, snagging Dabi's hand to tug him back towards the door. Dabi is laughing at him again, but Hawks can't find it in himself to be actually annoyed.

How could he be? For the first time in too many years, he had his Touya back with him. He was allowed to be Keigo again, even if it was only for a short period. And for once, he had a feeling that things might be okay after all.

[anothertimdrakestan]

Totally F*ckabke

Tim Drake x Reader

(SFW don't worry haha)

Words: 1.8k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!

“Hi! Can I request 20 with civilian fem reader and Tim?” (20. well fuck me. "gladly")

LINK TO PROMPTS  -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

Ok so I don’t know who you want to say what and I believe with every ounce of my being that it could 1000% go either way and it’s totally cute so I decided why not write both! Thank you for the inspo!

Reader -> Tim

Public speaking was never your strong suit. You’d like to meet a person who doesn’t get sweaty, jittery, and just a complete nervous wreck during presentations. It didn’t help that this was one of those shitty presentations where the class got graded on paying attention so all eyes really were on you and you were the last presentation of the day. With note cards shaking in your sweaty hands you slowly walked to the front of the room, looking at your classmates who looked bored out of their mind.

Making your way to the front of the room you stopped when your teacher screeched “Timothy! No sleeping in class! What is this? The fourth time I’ve caught you this week?” Glancing up you watched as the school genius rolled his eyes, lazily sauntering to the front of the class slumping into a front row seat. With a yawn Tim propped his head up on his arm mumbling something about the irrelevance of this class for someone of his intellect. While you couldn’t help but agree, you needed to ace this presentation to secure your grade for the semester.

Finally done with the situation, the class’s attention turned to you. Taking a deep breath you began, hoping you wouldn’t run out of time before the bell; trying not to look at the notecards was easy for the first few slides, but nearing the end you needed to be reminded of a key fact to your presentation. Looking down at your notecards you realize you’d smudged almost all the words with your shaking, sweaty hands. So frustrated with yourself you just let slip “Well fuck me” with a groan. While this may have shocked any normal class it was what Tim said next that shook the world.

“Gladly” With that your high school classroom descended into chaos. Your teacher continuously switched between yelling at you for cursing and Tim for even worse while some people in the class whooped and patted Tim on the back and certain girls glared at you for drawing Tim’s attention. Standing in front of the class, a blushing mess, you wanted to melt into the floor and die in one of the cracks in the floor.

Suddenly the bell rang, the majority of the students in your class stood up as you froze, realizing you probably just flunked this class. Deciding you needed to stay back and beg for the teacher’s forgiveness you pressed yourself to the wall and watched students filter out, some winking at you, some glaring, and some making wildly inappropriate gestures.

After begging for another chance and explaining your outburst your teacher let you off, clearly more upset with Tim, who had already left the classroom. As a student who normally worked really hard she let you go, but you had to make a whole new presentation as punishment. More work, but not a flunk so it was a win. Thanking her profusely you practically skipped out of the class, all had not been lost!

Abruptly turning towards the exit you missed a certain classmate waiting outside the classroom for you. “Y/n- wait up!” recognizing the voice you rolled your eyes and kept walking, but you couldn’t help a little smirk at the idea of Tim - Mr. Future Wayne Enterprises CEO waiting for you. As you opened one of the double exit doors he sprung out the other jumping in front of you, looking a little regretful and surprisingly nervous. Stopping in your tracks you crossed your arms and waited for him to talk.

“So, um, I just wanted to say sorry cuz I, um, I just kinda blurted it out and I’m really sleep deprived - like all the time, I practically live off coffee you don’t even know - that’s not the point, basically totally my bad, but like: can you blame me you’re really pretty and very nice plus I think you’re smart even though you don’t show it off but what I mean is, uh, please accept my apology. Plus I heard you get to do the presentation again so that’s good!” Finally he paused to breathe, you took a moment letting it all sink in and somehow finding his exasperation cute. Tim looked up at you with expectant eyes. With a sigh you decided it was fine. Smiling up at him you nodded. “It’s okay, plus pretty boy you’re not so un-fuckable yourself” watching his face flush was payback enough.

“Well if you think so, maybe I can... make it up to you? I can help you with the second presentation?” you agreed, liking the idea of getting to know the sleep deprived, fast-talking, genius coffee monster. “It’s a date!” you smiled, exchanging numbers before you walked off, unable to wipe a grin off your face. What you didn’t notice was Tim behind you grinning punching a fist in the air mouthing “YES” as you walked away.  

Tim -> Reader

With a yawn you cursed yourself for covering the late shift for y/b/f at Big Belly Burger, especially after a long day of school. No one ever came in but the store was open 24/7 so for the night it was just a chef who was surfing the internet with earbuds in and you, trying not to sleep on the cash register. When the clock hit 3am you decided it was time for your shift drink, black coffee. 

While you were in the back grabbing a coffee mug you could’ve sworn you heard the entrance bell jingle, but it was probably just your imagination. Stretching your arms you made your way back towards the coffee pot and saw four boys sitting at the bar. Every single one looked different, the tallest looked bored, like he didn’t want to be there while the second tallest looked expectant, constantly messing with the shortest, ruffling his hair, pinching his cheeks, and just constantly mothering the young boy who looked about ready to fight anyone who messed with him again. In the back of the group was a lean looking boy, he yawned and looked intently at the coffee pot you had begun brewing, he pushed his slightly messy hair back and you couldn’t help but trail your eyes down to the skin showing when he raised his hand... 

“Hey princess a little help over here?” the tallest boy raised an eyebrow at you, snapping you out of your moment as you rushed up to the counter with a smile. “Yeah, sorry, long night. No one usually comes in this late but what can I get for ya?” putting on your best smile you couldn’t help but steal glances at the yawning boy, while the other two older looking guys were good looking, he was the only one who radiated kindness and a lack of the overconfidence the other three carried themselves with, he reminded you of yourself. 

Taking their order you had to shake the chef awake, but he began preparing the food. Walking out you noticed the boys had stayed at the bar, clearly waiting to order drinks from you. “Alright what do we want? Milkshake, coffee, soda pop, or water?” the tallest answered first, “Chocolate milkshake!” while the kid looked up at the once motherly figure as he replied, “I’ll do a vanilla and Damian, uh the kid, will take a water. What about you Tim?” mentally logging the two youngest’s names you and Tim made eye contact for the first time, looking directly at you he lost all form of language. Trying to cover for him you asked, “saw you looking at the coffee pot earlier, can I get you some?” he nodded, looking down as one of the boys started laughing. “Jay stop please” came from Tim. 

Trying to break some tension you said “So little fella here is Damian, tall and brooding is Jay, english major is Tim, and the one who paid is Dick” you waited for confirmation. Slightly impressed the boys nodded, adding that they were brothers. Chatting while you prepared and blended their shakes you realized they were the Wayne brothers, but you didn’t want to embarrass them. You were so tired, your brain holding no self control, wanting to learn more about the boys, especially Tim. Learning that Dick demanded they bond every other week and this was tonight’s chosen activity you understood the different boy’s emotions. 

While handing each boy their drink you held on to the handle in hopes you’d touch Tim’s hand. “Uh it’s hot here, grab the handle then I’ll let go” feeling his hand wrap around yours made the both of you blush and clearly distracted Tim as he dropped the mug of coffee. “Well fuck me” Tim groaned, he jumped up glaring at his brothers as the laughed, the two of you began wiping up the mess. Tim hopped over the bar to help you clean on your side where the majority of the coffee was spilled, you couldn’t help but be impressed with his agility. While both of you bent down below the bar you decided to be brave, whispering in his ear, “you said ‘fuck me’ and I just want you to know I would gladly” he completely flushed and you popped up, throwing out paper towels. 

Tim eventually rose from behind the bar, still blushing uncontrollably and smiling. “Shit lemme get behind that bar I want what Drake’s having princess” Jason began to get up with a smirk before he was pulled down by Dick. “Sorry buddy she’s clearly going for Timbers.” Dick smiled approvingly while the youngest Wayne rolled his eyes, tired with the flirting. “TT y/n I believe it is, I can see our food is ready but please take all the time you need trying to get with my brother but can I please eat while the two of you idiots make eyes at each other.” a wildly embarrassed Tim leaped over the bar again, this time going for Damian. 

Spinning on your heels you grabbed the food and placed it in front of each boy. As they ate you chatted with them. Damian and Jason were clearly bored with the small talk while Dick couldn’t stop grinning. Before leaving Tim tried to hype himself up to get your number. As the other boys walked out he stayed with hopeful eyes. Not having to say anything you knew what he wanted. “Would you like a receipt?” you asked with a wink, again unable to form coherent words he nodded. Handing him your number on a folded piece of paper, you kissed his cheek over the bar and waved goodbye. Watching him walk away unable to wipe a grin off his face as his brothers patted him on the back you felt like you could actually see a future with Tim.

[teamcharlotte]

Awful things done to Charlotte that the show wants you to forget about/with a side order of awful things done to Lewis

This list is in order that it happens in the show. I wanted to put it from least awful to most awful, but there are so many ways of doing that, I just made it chronological. I'm also putting it under a read more because by GAWD is it long. The more I jotted down the angrier I got, so... here you go.

Had her diary stolen and read by Cleo, who thought she burned her old school down and accused her of cheating on Lewis, someone Charlotte wasn't even dating

Was unknowingly attacked with magic while at what she thought was a work dinner with her mother, because Cleo was jealous that someone wanted to be with her ex-boyfriend/she thought her divorced father was a date

The attack was encouraged by Rikki, who acted like Charlotte and Annette were literally hypnotizing Lewis and Don and "didn't know who they're messing with."

Attacked Lewis at his job that he got after Cleo was fired/froze a little boy's tongue to his ice cream to get him in trouble/actually got him in trouble and nearly arrested

Cleo yelled at him and made sure he felt awful and guilty for something that was literally her fault

Lewis basically tells Charlotte not to let Cleo know that they're hanging out, which... is just an objectively shitty thing to say to someone. "Hey, can you not let my ex know we're hanging out? I don't want her to know." Either he's embarrassed to be with you, or he still wants to get back together with her and is just using you for attention, both of which are sucky feelings to deal with.

Cleo is pissy that they're hanging out/unless he's begging for forgiveness from his ex-girlfriend because he's hanging out with another girl in which case, she doesn't care

Is invited to go to the award show with Lewis (I know, she pushed him to invite her) but then Cleo, who turned him down originally thus giving him the go-ahead to go with whoever he wants, decides to go with him after all and he decides lying to both of them is better than the truth

When Charlotte and Lewis go to Mako (a public island anyone can go to) because she wanted to explore and get some drawings, Rikki hints that she is going to hurt Lewis for bringing her there, despite him knowing not to bring her to the Moon Pool

Lewis still feels guilty about making his ex-girlfriend who dumped him jealous/upset about him kissing another girl

Is essentially blamed for Rikki getting hurt/Lewis is dumped on because he wasn't at their beck and call. I know he said he'd be there for them but dude, you need to get a life that isn't trailing behind three girls who treat you like crap

Is abandoned and told that Lewis doesn't like her by his ex-girlfriend, was lied to, made fun of

Is almost struck by lightning by Rikki (I don't care that she was moonspelled, they were all clearly in control of their faculties enough to do what they already wanted)

Her boyfriend douses her in chocolate milk in the middle of the cafe to see if she was a mermaid. Only two ways this could've gone and they're both awful: One, she does turn into a mermaid in public (what if she didn't know), or two, she is humiliated by her boyfriend who just leaves her and goes back to his friends and ex while they all laugh at her

Lewis lies about being with his ex, is revealed to have lied about it, then, without apologizing for lying, says that he doesn't have to explain himself to her and that she basically just needs to get over it because he can do what he wants

At one point, he has ignored her so thoroughly that when she finds him, he lies to her again and leaves, leaving her in one of the saddest shots of the show, where she sits down, abandoned and alone, struggling not to cry because her boyfriend only gives her attention when he wants some.

Because at this point, she knows. She knows that Lewis is either cheating on her with his ex already, or desperately wants to get back with her. But she really likes him, and doesn't break it off because sometimes he shows her affection. Except those times are few and far between and Lewis only finds her when he wants something

When she tries to explain to him, again, how he's making her feel, aka alone and abandoned for other girls, he just once again tells her to get over it and simply not feel that way

Is condescended to and treated like an intruder when she becomes a mermaid. Like the other three are just so... mean and cruel I can't believe people support them

Is made fun of for having a fear of dolphins. Like. You don't know why she has that fear. Maybe she was attacked when she was young. Maybe it's instinctual. Maybe she heard all those stories of dolphins being major dicks and is justifiably scared now. Jerks.

Emma makes Rikki follow Charlotte for doing nothing except pulling one over her and Rikki says she's been doing stupid things, because they're paragons of both control and not making mistakes, therefore they can pass judgement on others without seeing their own hypocrisy

Yeah, she planned a party that wasn't Lewis's style, and I'll agree that locking Emma and Cleo in the closet was a shitty thing to do, but I'd say that was, hmmm, the only shitty thing she did to them on purpose compared to the mountain of other shitty things done to her?

Lewis leaves her at the party she threw for him. Grabs his ex-girlfriend's hand as he does so. Does not make sure Charlotte is coming along. Does not apologize for ditching her at the party she threw for him while holding hands with his ex or questioning why she wasn't coming with. He leaves her standing on those steps while she watches him leave her.

You wanna know how I know the writing is shitty to make Charlotte the awfulest person who ever lived? The fact that at no point did Emma or Cleo tell Lewis that Charlotte locked them in the closet, JUST SO that Charlotte could have the chance to lie about it later. You're telling me that at this point Cleo would not absolutely jump on the chance to be like, "See?! See?! The person we said was a bad person acted like a bad person finally! YAYYYY!! Can we get back together now?"

And again, at this point, Charlotte is doing some messed up things. But after months of them doing this shit to her, WHY IS IT BAD WHEN CHARLOTTE GIVES IT BACK TO THEM?

Why is it that when Charlotte pulls Lewis away from Cleo, it's bad and possessive, but it's perfectly understandable that the three of them expect him to drop everything and run when she wants and get mad when he doesn't??!!!

Oh, and to top off the shitty writing and the piss poor excuse of a story arc, the girls are happy and victorious when they finally beat a girl who wouldn't have been in that position if everyone weren't so awful to her. We got to watch months of a girl being bullied to the point where when she was finally able to sling back what was hurled at her, they treated her like a monster instead of a product of their own creation. She did nothing that they hadn't already done, but because the plot says so, it's bad when Charlotte does it, but not when the magical girls do it.

Like, how can we justify every single bad thing that was done to her? Because she was a little clingy? Because she didn't get the hint that Lewis didn't like her? Lewis DID like her! When he wasn't having to drop her to deal with mermaid crap, he clearly enjoyed her company! Also, has no one else been in her position before? No one else liked someone more than they liked you and it made you want more? What were her sins besides being the foil of three girls who are coddled by the narrative to be as terrible as they want to a girl whose only crime is like the EX-BOYFRIEND of one of them and doesn't automatically back down when being sneered at

[queer-disabled-activist]

Jon Cain: Journey songs about being a bad bf/very soppy masterlist

I got the idea last night of making this list and I think it is genius. Jon Cain is the ballad and soppy songs royal. Before he came into the band they wrote sexy songs, when he arrived it became ballads and songs about Jon being a bad boyfriend. I will explore in chronological order from “Escape” to “Arrival” I haven’t familiarised myself that much with “Revelation” and “Eclipse” yet, and after all; 5 albums will give us a lot of material of soppy and Jon complaining about being a bad boyfriend. I will find key lyrics, kinda to prove that Jon is the soppy, bad boyfriend royal complainer. This will be the longest list yet. Except for “Faithfully” Jon didn’t write the songs alone, will list the songwriters to each song as well, but you can tell that he has the most influence. My opinions about how I interpret the song is my own, you may feel otherwise; music feels different to as all after all. Lets start, and enjoy!

Escape

- “Who’s Crying Now” (J Cain/S Perry)

One of his first soppy bad boyfriend songs.In this one he made his girlfriend cry then he also started to cry, I imagine it was bc he wanted sympathy. The song is okay, but not my fave; none of the ballads really are. Key lyrics:

“One love, feeds the fire One heart, burns desire I wonder who's crying now? Two hearts, born to run Who'll be the lonely one? I wonder who's crying now?”

- “Open Arms” - (J Cain/S Perry)

This is Journey’s highest charting hit, peaking at nr. 2 at the Billboard Hot 100, can you believe? Because I can’t. It is soppy. It’s about Jon and his girlfriend who has drifted apart, he wants her back of course, for his own selfish reasons I bet. Girl please, don’t go back into his “Open Arms”. Key lyrics:

“Living without you, living alone This empty house seems so cold Wanting to hold you Wanting you near How much I wanted you home”

Frontiers

We have arrived at the sexless album. There is no sex here, only Jon being soppy.

- “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”(J Cain/S Perry)

This is one of their heavier songs, but it’s still full of the soppy and Jon assuring that he will be the best bf ever this time around, don’t believe him. Key lyrics:

“Someday, love will find you Break those chains that bind you One night will remind you How we touched and went our separate ways

If he ever hurts you True love won't desert you You know I still love you Though we touched and went our separate ways”

- “Send Her My Love” (J Cain/S Perry)

This as “Faithfully” is basically the same songs with some different wording. This woman was smart enough to break up with him because he was on the road and not there for her though, which I applaud. Key lyrics:

“The same hotel, the same old room I'm on the road again She needed so much more Than I could give

We knew our love could not pretend Broken hearts can always mend”

- “Chain Reaction” (J Cain/N Schon/S Perry)

One of the heavier songs again, make no mistake though. In this one he’s blaming a woman for the chain reaction at that she made him go through all these changes, like bitch; that is your own responsibility Jon.

“In motion, it's on her way The red light Somebody's got to pay Those changes She put you through Long, long distance You're overdue”

- “After The Fall” (J Cain/ S Perry)

In this one he atleast admits that he’s been a shitty boyfriend, which is a first, but he also wallows in self pitty. If you cannot make time to send your gf a Valentines card when you’re out on the road there’s something wrong with your priorities Jon. Key lyrics:

“But a head strong stubborn man Only works it out the best he can Valentines he never sent There's not enough time he's a working man

Can't stop falling Heartaches calling Finds you after the fall Saints or sinners Take no prisoners What's left - after you fall No not much no”

- “Faithfully” (J Cain)

The soppiest song of them all. It’s Jon complaining about being a bad bf bc he’s out touring all the time and he tries to assure his woman that he is faithfull, which is probably true because Jon is not really a catch. Jon wrote this song entierly on his own, it shows. That is also why I cannot get myself to listen to this song. Key lyrics:

“Oh, oh, oh, oh Faithfully, I'm still yours I'm forever yours Ever yours, faithfully”

Raised On Radio

- “Girl Can’t Help it” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

This song is about a girl needing more than her man (Jon I pressume) I do not blame her. Key lyrics:

“The girl can't help it, she needs more He hasn't found what he's lookin' for They're still standing in the rain He can't help it, and she's just that way”

- “Positive Touch” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

By the title you might think that the man is talking about his gf’s positive touch, but no. Cheating is not cool Jon. Key lyrics:

“Emergency breakthrough There's no way to reach you There's somebody else I'll turn to

She (she's) has got the positive touch (touch) She's bringing love back to me, yeah, back to me. I said-- She, (she's) to me means so much (much) She's saving it all for me, yeah”

- “Suzanne” (J Cain/S Perry)

This was on the sex mentions list, but it deserves a place here to. This is about Suzanne who has become famous and the man wondering if she still remembers him. Let it go Jon, she has gone on living her best life. Key lyrics:

“Remember...our last September... Suzanne, so far away Remember Suzanne, those summer nights with me Suzanne, don't walk away, I love you Suzanne I'm still callin' you Suzanne...no no no no no remember Those summer nights with me, those summer nights”

- “Once You Love Somebody” (J Cain/ S Perry/ N Schon)

This is about love and how hard it can be. Jon sops over that it can hurt, so, so much. Key lyrics:

“How can lovers just turn and walk away Loneliness is an edge that cuts both ways So easy to fall So hard to get over”

- “Happy To Give” (J Cain/ S Perry)

Jon is complaining about heartache and that he needs someone who will be “happy to give”, don’t give it to him, he will hurt you. Key lyrics:

“ Where is the one, someone who's happy (happy to give) Happy to be with you, it's where you belong, with someone Who's happy (happy to give) happy to give you love”

- “I’ll Be Alright Without You” (J Cain/ S Perry/N Schon)

Jon has been a shitty bf, the woman has broken up with him and now he’s complaining. Key lyrics:

“I've been thinking 'bout the times You walked out on me There were moments I'd believe, you were there Do I miss you, or am I lying to myself again I do these things (It's all because of you) I keep holding on, but I'll try (Try not to think of you) Love don't leave me lonely”

- “It Could Have Been You”  (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

Another song where the gf has broken up with him to go on and live her best life, he is once again complaining. Key lyrics:

“We were so close yet so far away I'd reach out, you'd be gone Moments that still talk my breath away There's so much more to life than loving you You don't need me, no...”

Trial By Fire

- “Message Of Love” (John Bettis/J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

He is ready to give his all to a woman. He is complaining, trying to send her his message of love, also he wants to die apparently. Key lyrics:

“Why, have I waited so long to be there...for you Now, now I'm ready to give everything...to you Now love's here, where are you?” and  “I hear...but I never listen I see...and still I'm blind All alone...lost in the silence, I'm dyin' Baby can you hear me Can you hear me callin' Baby can you hear my Message of love Baby can you hear me Can you hear me callin' Baby can you hear my Message of love”

- “When You Love A Woman” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

This song is a good lind of soppy and I love it. It’s about praising the woman, I am here for it. Key lyrics:

“ When you love a woman You see your world inside her eyes When you love a woman (Well) You know she's standing by your side A joy that lasts forever There's a band of gold that shines Waiting somewhere, oh, yeah”

- “If He Should Break Your Heart” (J Cain/S Perry/ N Schon)

This is about Jon still being in love with a woman that has moved on to another man, good for her. He wants her back (don’t do it) and proclaims that he will be there if he breaks her heart. Apparently they were also in a room together and he has very lonely hands. Key lyrics:

“Is this right I don't care I'm alone with you Here we are, once again you've got someone new Lonely hands, please don't do what you want to do

If he should break your heart I'll always know where you are If you should fall apart I'll be there, I'll be around”

- “Forever In Blue” (J Cain/S Perry N Schon)

This is about Jon falling for a woman that already has a bf, he is heartbroken and complains. Key lyrics:

“And on the night she told me that She had another I was broken by the truth I discovered, I knew oh I knew

Two hearts, reach for each other Once chance, she's like no other I'm lost, lost in the dream of you 'Cause it's true oh I'm forever, forever in blue... in blue”

“Don’t Be Down On Me Baby” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

This is about Jon cheating and complaining that his gf blames him, blame yourself Jon. Key lyrics:

“Those little things, you say I do Well they might be true Tell me what good does it do When things go wrong, I'm the first you blame I try another way, still someone's gotta pay

Don't be down on me baby Down on me girl I get lost sometimes In my crazy world”

- “Still She Cries” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

I love this song with a passion, but it’s still very soppy. He remembers when times were good, and then when times were bad when she cried, bet he hurt her somehow. Key lyrics:

“I wish I could forget I hear her voice in the night, cries of joy We were good, good, good, I still recall how we'd touch, how we'd fall We were good, good, good

Still she cries Somewhere, still she cries No one knows when lovers will walk away”

(I’m hopping over “When I think Of You” bc that’s about Steve’s mother)

- “It’s Just The Rain” (J Cain/S Perry)

This is about touching, but apparently not in a good way bc their souls are dying, they are blaming it on the rain, also it isn’t love it’s the rain that makes them crazy touch; ok. Key lyrics:

“Inside you keep on lyin' Inside your soul is dyin' You still can't hold back Still you can't say good-bye Touch me, touch me crazy How your kiss betrays me It's not the love, it's just the rain

Two broken hearts But not in vain No reasons why, no one's to blame It's not the love, it's just the rain It's just the rain, It's just the rain, It's just the rain, It's just the rain Falling, falling, falling It's just the rain”

- “Baby I’m Leaving You” (J Cain/S Perry N Schon)

This song is shady soppy. He is complaining, she wants to get married, he does not bc he likes the simple things and the moonlight. It’s also suggesting that she’s a hoe anyway bc boys she knew before comes knocking at her door. Steve and Neal has written a song before that suggests that the girl Stevie was dating was a hoe, so that is definitley their doing (”Where Were You”) Key lyrics:

“I like moonlight, simple things Now you want a diamond ring I got news for you Baby I'm leaving you

We both want a love that last Girl you're moving away too fast I live for your fantasy A real love is what I need”

“I Can See It In Your Eyes” (J Cain/S Perry/N Schon)

Jon is mad bc the girl he used to love is sexy. How dare she? She apparently needs to get a life bc she’s sexy. If she’s sexy and has the confidence to strut her sexy legs she’s already living her best life, yes work it gurl! Key lyrics:

“ Baby..Too bad...I used to love you girl I..Don't care..No more about your face No you..Make me mad...The way you cat around With your lips, your legs And all your sexy ways Do you got another lover now Do you think it's me you're foolin' now No..No”

and

“ Oh you...never hear A single word I say No you..turn away Where do you disappear Oh I've had enough You need to get a life It's all..so tired I think I'm out of here”

Arrival

The first album so far with a new lead singer. I adore Steve Augeri and his voice. He’s incredibly talented and has nothing to do with the bands drama. He got an oppurtunity to sing with Journey and he took it, good for you babe. (“Higher Place” is a kind of a soppy track, but it’s one of the only songs on this album that Jon doesn’t have any writing credits on, it’s written by Neal and some other guy, so leaving that out for now, we are here to focus on Jon.)

- “All The Way” (J Cain/S Augeri/N Schon/Taylor Rhodes)

I think this song has sex as a subtext without really mentoning it. He wants her to open up, not pull away or hesitate so he can take her all the way, I assume that means an orgasm. Can you believe? Jon in on writing a sex song? This is unbeliveable. Key lyric:

“Speak your heart and I will listen Don't hold back we'll find what's missing I'll take you all the way Close your eyes and think forever If you believe we go together I'll take you all the way

I'll take you all the way I'll take you all the way”

- “Signs Of Life” (Elizabeth Cain/J Cain/N Schon)

A woman has broken up with a man. He is devestated, sad but also wants to move on. I actually find this to be a good lyric. He is reminising about the good times, accepting the pain and wants to move on, good. Key lyrics:

“Lyin' next to me Were you ever mine Just wasted love and wasted time Did you ever find what you were lookin' for, The nights you took my breath away I'll miss your love Miss your touch, but this holdin' on it hurts too muchNow it's my time to walk away I'll be okay

Tryin' to not think about you I'm not a dead man walkin' without you You know I'll be alright I'm showing signs of life You left me barely breathin' I've had time for the healing Now I've opened my eyes I'm showing signs of life”

- “All The Things”  (Andre Pessis /J Cain/N Schon)

This is a good kind of soppy and I really enjoy this song. It’s praising a woman and basically listing up all the things he loves about her. The writing style is still very soppy, but I enjoy it anyway, that his whole world revolves around this woman is a bit creepy though. Key lyric:

“ My while world revolves around you Changing colors with the moon Keep amazing me I never get enough

You twist the truth still your're sincere To get your way you'll shed a tear Don't need a reason when you're beautiful”

- “Loved By You” (Cain/Hyler/Tribble)

A song about loving a woman in a very soppy way. He is thanking the world, hoping that if he dies the last thing that is said is her name. It is romantic soppy and way over the top, and yeah; it’s a ballad. Key lyric:

“ If I should die before I wake I'll go into the night whispering your name If lying in your arms is the last thing that I do At least I know that I'll be loved by you In about a hundred years from now When all of my love letters are found And someone reads these words I've written only meant for you They'll know how forever came true”

- “I Got A Reason” (Jack Blades /J Cain/N Schon)

He got a reason to feel alive because of a woman, apparently laying all the happines he has in her hands. She is his reason to live. Also there’s some sex her. I think Neal got some out of him, not bad. Key lyric:

“I got a reason to feel alive You put the smile on my face There'll be no more lonely nights in this town Oh no... no... 'cause I got a reason Oh no... no...I want your love... want you to stay... oh yeah You know you got me night and day Every day...”

- “With Your Love” (Elizabeth Cain/J Cain /N Schon)

This is basically a song about the same as in “I Got A reason” and “Loved By You” with different wording, there’s definitley a theme here, and “Arrival” is very ballad driven, Jon is an incredible soppy man and I am starting to get enough. Key lyric:

“On my own I searched for something more In your arms The kiss I've waited for I was lost for words To say what's in my heart Just to be close To the beauty that you are If someone could see To the end of our lives I know they'd find me there By your side”

- “Lifetime of Dreams” (J Cain / Kim Chadwick Tribble/N Schon)

Basically the same as any other ballad on this album, it has the same theme and the same meaning. Jon and Neal really went on the soppy train on this album and Jon is apparently unstoppable. Key lyric:

“When I look in your eyes baby I see a lifetime of dreams come true And I want you to say, that you feel the same Way too The stars in your eyes tell me All my tomorrows will wait for you You're all of my prayers answered My one saving grace is you”

- “Nothin’ Comes Close” (N Schon/J Cain/S Augeri)

Nothin’ comes close to your kiss. What more is there to say? It’s a song about kissing. Key lyric:

“I've been around the world, ain't much that I've missed It don't get much better then this...Oh baby Nothin' comes close to your kiss I've thought I felt it all before One taste and I want more...Oh baby Nothin' comes close to your kiss”

There are more soppy songs on this album that aren’t written by Jon at all, so those we are dropping.

Conclusion: Jon is the soppy master, the bad boyfriend master. I am up to 31 soppy and/or bad boyfriend songs. The count is much higher of course if you add the songs from “Revelation” and “Eclipse” but this is more than enough. I crown him to the bf/husband you never want to have

[naivesilver]

Is there any of the shitty Pinocchio adaptations that you think are bad but you still enjoy in how stupid and/or weird they are?

WELL. Well. Yes and no?

For one, almost all of the adaptations I despise have at least a tiny little something that I would save - that makes me mourn the fact we didn't get a better story built around it, even. Emperor of the Night, arguably the worst Pinocchio movie of all time, had this very peculiar theme of Pinocchio as a tool in the fight between good and evil that I would have KILLED for in any other instance; the Disney movie, for all its flaws, at least made the franchise known and gave us a very endearing Pinocchio/Lampwick combo; even the shittiest, cheapest cartoons were extremely entertaining for their intended audience.

Aside from that, though, I have a hard time enjoying the adaptations I complain about the most as a whole, because their mistakes are too glaringly obvious for me to ignore. (That's an issue on my part, bear in mind, not in theirs.) However, there are other, weirdly niche things I've seen that I know would be terrible if I were to put aside my personal taste. Blame childhood nostalgia, drunk rewatches, you name it. Life is already so goddamn weird, there's no point in pretending I only like good stuff and have never cried laughing in front of awful media.

Among them are, in no particular order:

Fairy Tale Police Department

Think Once Upon A Time, but it's an early 2000s low budget cartoon that most people have (rightfully) forgotten. The core cast is a team of detectives tasked with making sure fairy tales get their happy endings - they save Pinocchio from being turned into firewood on the very first episode, and after that he becomes their sort of...little helper? Funny sidekick? No one really knows.

Guys, he's so fucking annoying. He's literally the stupidest character on screen, second only to the male deuteragonist whose main personality trait is to flirt with anything that breathes. He doesn't do anything of use - they don't even take him on investigations except by accident (literally, I still remember that one episode where he was being so bothersome they sent him to clean the patrol car and then took the fucking car because they'd forgotten he was there. Child labor laws WHEN). I physically cringe every time he steps on the scene...

...but I grew up with that cartoon, so tragically, I got attached. 5yo had two crushes on that show - one was the vaguely butch female detective who took names and kicked ass, and the other was Pinocchio, because even then I had my priorities straightened out. I'll go to my grave knowing that among an endless flood of amazing characters (the Three Little Piglets were part of a MOB, for God's sake), I looked at a fastidious child and went "I want that one". Sigh.

Pinocchio (2002)

THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE...This movie has ruined my every chance to be perceived as a proper film enthusiast forever again - I love it and I hate in equal measures, and I will NEVER recover from its influence.

Can you believe that this was the most expensive Italian movie ever made???? I can't wrap my head around it. Roberto Benigni went and asked for an outrageous budget, and those people GAVE IT TO HIM, knowing that in this movie no one playing a child would be under the age of 30, that Nicoletta Braschi would have the role of her balding husband's mother, and that all the additional Lampwick-and-Pinocchio screentime would be used to add weird homosexual vibes to the entire plot. Tangerine lollipops have been ruined forever, from my perspective.

Unfortunately, it's book accurate to a fault, down to the actors' accents, and it's clear it was a passion project, so I can't write it down in my personal Pinocchio Death Note. I wish I could, sometimes, though. Benigni in flowery ledehosen is a picture that's seared forever into my brain.

Huey, Dewey and Louie in "The Adventures of Pinocchio"

Allow me to be Italian on main for five minutes more. This one was published in multiple parts on Topolino comic books during the 90s, as part of the endless list of Disney parodies of famous movies/shows/books, and to call it weird would be an euphemism.

Basically, it's the book Pinocchio, but with a futuristic twist: Huey, Dewey and Louie play the titular character, except they're...robots? That want to become human?? And again, it follows Collodi's story, but the Disney characters play their book counterparts for some reason, and Gladstone plays Lampwick??? And the Cricket is a sentient traffic light with arms and legs????

Honestly, I wish I was exaggerating. But then again, it's almost impossible not to appreciate an adaptation that goes apeshit to this level. It's so ballsy it does a 360° and becomes great. What the fuck.

[yourlocalauthor]

What Comes Around Goes Around

Chapter Two: Coincidence?

Pairing: Topper x OC (eventually?)

Warnings for this chapter: Cursing, stalkerish behavior and I believe thats it?

Word Count: 2k+

A/N: Here’s chapter two! A little boring but I swear I’m building up.

Jo stared at the name flashing across her screen, her face riddled with confusion, and an uneasy feeling bubbling inside, even after her phone went dark. What was his deal? First he storms off, and then he just adds her on snap? Typical Kook mentality being an ass and then expecting forgiveness. He had some audacity, two years of shitty treatment, and just because he helped Sarah and John B, and gave them a ride, he thought he could just what? Be all buddy buddy?

“Jo, who was it?” Elle repeated shaking her friend to get Jo out of her trance.

Jo placed her phone on her nightstand, shaking her head. “No one important, go to sleep you two I don’t want you waking up at noon.”

“Yes Mom,” Jess groaned half asleep. All three girls began laughing, as they settled down into some much needed rest.

*RING RING RING*

Jo’s hand instinctively reached for her phone, hitting it until the alarm stopped. Her head pounded and she felt even worse than last night. With a groan she peeled her bed sheets off, and managed to successfully make herself get up. Fishing through her closet which was basically just shorts and bikinis. She hardly ever wore a shirt, there was just no need to when she had her bikini top on. Instead she chose to keep a few in her car, just in case she’d actually need it. She walked over to the bathroom taking a quick shower to wash off yesterday’s party. She came out of the bathroom, dressed, cleaner, and not as groggy. She made her way into the kitchen making herself a light breakfast of yogurt and granola and making her secret hangover cure. The recipe came from her mom’s boyfriend, Justin. It was a long story but basically he let her and Elle crash at his place, after one of the first parties they went to. The morning after Jo woke up with what was probably the worst hangover of her life, and he gave her the recipe.

Jo ate quickly and left the pitcher in the fridge, leaving a note for Jess and Elle and walked outside taking in the morning. It was cool, with a warm breeze, Jo’s favorite type of morning. She loaded up her gear into her truck, shutting the back a bit harder than she meant to, scaring some birds.

“Oops,”

She slipped into her truck, starting it up fast and reversing out of her driveway. She loved getting to the beach as soon as possible, before any tourists or locals were there to crowd up the parking lot, and the beach. Plus it was nice being out there alone, having her mind clear, just her, the waves, and whatever lay beneath them. The water was beautiful in the morning, the sea salt smell and cold water was the perfect way to wake her. Typically she never went alone, but with no one seeing JJ in weeks, Kiara stuck with her mom, and Heyward not letting Pope go anywhere it was pretty much her only choice. Not that she blamed any of them… they all had other things to do and things just weren’t the same. Jo turned on her radio, the sound of Ryn Weaver’s ‘Pierre’ filling her car. She pulled into the parking lot as the song finished, greeting Snappy, the toll collector, and one of Jo’s favorite people on the island. He was a fifty year old, slightly pudgy Asian man who’d been working the toll booth since forever. His name wasn’t actually Snappy, everyone just called him that because when he had just started working the booth at 19 he saved a bunch of tourists from a snapping turtle that was stopping them from getting to the beach. It cost him his pinky finger, and gave him this gnarly scar in the words of John B on his hand. John B was actually the one to tell her the story the first time he took her to this beach. Smiling sadly at the thought of her friend, Jo pushed the gas rolling forward as the gate lifted.

“Be safe Jo, the waves look a little stronger today.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine Snappy take care.”

“I never doubted, just part of my duty to warn you. Ooh and tell your mother I said hello.”

“Will do,”

She shouted as she pulled into the nearest parking spot, laughing. Snappy was truly the best, and always let her in no matter what. Plus he was one of the few adults that didn’t seem to be bothered when she and John B and everyone else came around. At least when they used to...

Jo hopped out of her car, unloading her board and her bag, the salty air filling her lungs again. She made her way down the wooden path, of course being the first one at the beach. The beach was beautiful being the only one, not a blanket, tent, or umbrella in sight, perfection. Jo kicked off her shoes, letting her toes wiggle in the sand, setting down her bag with a dull thud on the sand. She stripped herself of her clothes, standing in her black bikini soaking in the early morning sun. She stretched out like a cat, smiling before sprinting with her board to the water. Met with warm water, setting her board down Jo began paddling out. Once she was out far enough, she stopped waiting for the perfect wave.

It was a ritual, Jo lived by the idea that the first wave would determine how good her surf would be. She would always try and wait for which wave felt right in her bones to be first, something JJ and Pope would tease her all the time for. Smiling fondly Jo readjusted her focus, trying to feel the energy of the waves. The feeling of the water rocking her, soothing her. She took a deep breath watching, until she spotted it. To the left of her, a wave had begun to form and she knew it in her bones it was perfect. She paddled over to it, and managed to catch it just in time. Pushing herself up and taking in the beauty of the moment. She was right, this was the perfect wave. She looked across at the beach, and was surprised to see a figure heading to the water. Not many people came here early in the morning, even if so they typically weren’t alone. Said person was nearing, and as they entered the water she was quick to recognize the frosted tips. Topper… Her mind thought about last night and the snap request. It was just a coincidence right? This was a popular surf spot… on the cut. But it was probably just a coincidence. She shook the thoughts from her head trying to regain focus on herself and the board. But no matter how hard she’d try to refocus, she kept glancing over at him. Her lack of focus was getting to her, she felt herself wobble and was desperately trying to regain her balance, but it was no use. She felt herself slipping and soon she plunged into the water with a loud splash. She wiped out hard, her whole backside stinging from the impact. And just as quick as she had been sucked in below, she felt two arms scooping her out. She flailed around knowing exactly whose arms were wrapped around her, sending a pit to her stomach. But the salty air began filling her lungs again instead of the salt water, no matter how badly she wished she’d be left alone. She coughed and sputtered looking up at the figure holding her. There stood Topper, holding her bikini clad body like some hero. God this was so much worse than a nightmare

“Jo are you-“

“I’m fine,” she said with a small cough, already wiggling out of his grip.

“I just watched you-“

“I said I’m fine,” She snapped, pushing him away from her. “I was just leaving anyway.” She unhooked herself from her board, and grabbed it walking as far away from him as possible.

“If you think I’m just going to let you storm off like that after a nasty wipeout you’re cra-“

“I’m what?” She said whipping around, almost hitting him with her board. “Crazy for thinking you’d leave me alone because I asked? Or do you want me to suck you off as an award?”

Topper looked stunned for a moment, mouth agape and all. “What? No, I just thought you needed-“

“What I need is for you to leave me alone,” She interjected, looking at him with fire in her eyes. “Look I’m thankful for what you did last night, but let’s just go back to before.”  She looked up at him waiting for a response, but he just stood there mouth open like an idiot. Jo scoffed turning back towards the beach, and just when her feet were about to hit the dry sand, Topper called out to her.

“Jo-“

She ignored him, marching herself to her stuff, collecting her shoes and bag and walked back up to her truck. When she pulled up to Snappy, he was quite shocked she was leaving so soon.

“Everything alright Jo? Did that blonde boy do anything?”

Shaking her head, Jo reassured the man not wanting him to worry.  “No Snappy, it’s fine. Have a nice day. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay… Just if anything happened, if you’d want I can have him banned from this beach.”

“You guys can ban people?”

“No, but he doesn’t know that.” A smile tugged at his lips, as he hit the button letting the gate up for her.

“Thanks for the offer Snappy, but I’m fine thank you.” She rolled forward pulling out of the parking lot, the sound of Flo Milli’s ‘Not Friendly’ playing in the background.

It had only been a week since the beach incident, and Jo could not stop seeing Topper. He was practically everywhere, at the hotel when Jo would go visit her mother, or walking out after hooking up with a tourist, the beach when she was working, the country club when she was picking Justin up after work, and even The Wreck. Everywhere she was, somehow he always managed to be there. The last straw was when she was at the mini mart. She was picking up some food for herself after her surf, and when she shut the fridge and when she turned around, she ran into him, literally.

“Fuck,” Jo said as everything in her hands dropped, including the glass bottle of lemonade that now was shattered and around her feet. Topper was quick to get on his knees and help but there wasn’t much he could do.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for it… All of it, I seriously didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine,”. She said, kneeling down and collecting her bag of chips and granola bar.

“I’m serious I can pay for it,”

“That was never a doubt in my mind,” She said quietly, already turning around to leave.

“What?”

“Nothing, just can you stop stalking me?”

“I’m not-“

“Right so we’ve just happened to be in the same place all week? Look stalker or not, they have restaurants and mini marts on the figure eight, there’s no need for you to be around.” The two stood there in awkward silence, Jo waiting for him to speak and Topper waiting for who knows what. And just as she turned away, he spoke.

“Look Jo, I’m sorry…. For everything, and I just…. I don’t know.”

“Of course you don't,” Jo scoffed, finally walking away to the front counter. She paid, and walked out to her truck. Topper had some nerve, who was he to just try and apologize after everything? Like he and his buddies didn’t torment her and her friends for the last two years? Men had some fucking audacity that was for sure.