#by criticizing him for wanting to see his dead parents when he's scared

[lesbianredhoodedmercenary]

rapidly oscillating between "outis is a wifeguy who misses her wife so so so so bad" and "outis is divorced as hell, broken ass marriage, first lesbian divorcees in the city" based on whatever feels right at the time

[black-rose-writings]

Unexpected Consequences (Danny Phantom One Shot)

Also on AO3

Inspired by and referencing the events of this comic by @lilianade-comics

By the time Danny Fenton was four, his parents have gone through all of the available babysitters in the entirety of Amity Park and Elmerton. Well, technically not all of them, but apparently, there is a critical percentage of babysitters scared half to death, at best, which makes all other babysitters turn you down no matter how high the pay.

Of course, in this case, the problem was with the house, not the kids, but the Fentons would not be convinced that their house is anything but the safest place for their children to be. What if a ghost came to the babysitter’s house? How would they defend themselves? Do ignore the fact that their own house was a magnet for ghosts, because that’s exactly what they did.

And it brought them to him.

The last thing Vlad Masters expected to hear during his Thursday dinner was his phone ringing.

Well, that was not entirely the case. He was running a rather large company by then, and he was known to take after-hours calls. Not happily, but it wasn’t as if he had any sort of life outside of work – not one that he could be open about, anyway – and with the global expansion of his enterprises in the last few years, sometimes people simply forgot about the existence of time zones.

He didn’t expect to find his personal phone ringing. A small thing that he modified himself and was fairly certain only his mother and a certain annoying definitely licensed and absolutely not shady or paranormal in any way psychologist had the number for. This was neither of them.

He was sure Spectra would give the number to someone just to piss him off, but no living being (and very few dead ones) even knew of their connection. Which left his mother, whom he did instruct to not give the number to anyone, under any circumstances. Of course, telling a Masters to not do something was entirely pointless if said family member did actually want to do the thing.

He hoped to all Ancients his mother wasn’t trying to set him up with some pretty single girl or a recently divorced single mother from her church again.

And while that prayer had been answered, it was much like making a wish to Desiree – somehow worse than the thing he wanted to avoid.

On the other end of the line was Jack fucking Fenton.

It took considerable willpower to not immediately crush the phone and burn the remains to nothing. He did, however, transform before Jack even finished the first sentence.

What ghost wouldn’t get defensive, hearing the voice of their ghostmaker, for the first time after a decade of silence, talking cheerfully and excitedly? Like he hadn’t killed him with his impatience. Like he hadn’t left him to rot. Like he didn’t turn him into an abomination. Like no time had passed. Like nothing had changed.

How dare he talk like that? How dare he ask for favors?

His ghost half may have been the more emotional one, but there was also a level of confidence and power that it brought. Things that he was going to need if he was to talk to Jack Fenton and not let the oaf know anything was wrong. He was fairly certain the man wouldn’t notice either way, but there was no way to know when Madeline could be listening in.

Jack – no, both of them – were asking for a favor. They needed someone to babysit their kids.

Vlad was vaguely aware the two of them had produced two children – the thought of Jack’s clumsy hands anywhere near Madeline made him see red every time – focus, Vlad.

It seemed the couple had bought a haunted broadcast tower to work in and had transformed it into a livable house (or so they claimed). Unfortunately, it seemed that while the ghosts haunting the tower steered clear of the Fentons, babysitters had no such luck, and neither did their kids – though they taught the kids basics of ghost defense (Vlad didn’t know much about kids, but he was fairly certain ghost fighting skills of any sort were not standard curriculum for four and six-year-olds).

It took Vlad a considerable effort to not send Jack to hell and tell him that it’s their own fault. He thought of Madeline. They were her children too.

Of all the plans he had come up with, of all the ways he considered wooing her, this was not one that had come to him before. Things have changed. They weren’t in college anymore. His Madeline was a mother, now.

Perhaps all he needed was to show Madeline that he was a better parent than Jack Fenton. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

***

If you told Vlad Masters the day he (run from) left the hospital that there would come a day when the love he felt for Madeline was going to be but a distant echo or that he would love children sired by Jack Fenton as if they were his own, he would probably laugh at you.

If you said to him the day he received the notice of the birth of their first child, that he would one day destroy any creature that would even dare to look at her meanly, that he would endure any pain, put himself between any weapon and this child, he might have blasted you to pieces. He would endure. But she was so human. So fragile.

If you told him the day he found out about their second child that one day, that the child would be the first human to find out his secret, he might have just flown over and throttled the baby in its cradle, just to be safe, and felt exactly zero remorse about the action. Nobody would ever know. Babies die all the time. Especially with parents like his.

If you told him the day he received that fateful phone call that one day, he would be the first to hold Danny Fenton after his death, the only way he would imagine such a scenario happening would be he was the one to kill the boy. Why else would he hold Jack Fenton’s son?

If you told him, any time in those 18 years between his transformation and today, that the Fentons would make their own child a halfa with their negligence, he would have nodded along. Perhaps he would have even been excited about finally having someone be like him, someone he could teach, someone who would share the hate every ghost feels for their ghostmaker for Jack Fenton. It didn’t surprise him – they never changed in that way. And if there was some excitement, when he found out, he could never imagine how much it would hurt.

If you had told him how much the second fateful call would hurt, what emotions it would ignite with him, how irreversibly it would alter him, he would have never picked up the first one.

But he picked up both and there was no going back.

***

Danny’s hands were shaking as he carefully put in the numbers into the phone.

He felt so stupid. He knew it was stupid. He knew it, and he did it anyway.

And for what?

He had been so proud when his parents left him alone at home for the whole weekend for the first time, when Jazz convinced them to take a campus tour at one of her top choices for a university.

She was sixteen for god’s sake, she had so much time for that stuff.

So, of course he invited his friends over. Of course his techno geek and goth best friends wanted to see the stupid ghost lab his parents had in the basement.

Of course they dared him to go into the ghost portal. It wasn’t working. Danny knew that. He also knew it was dangerous. If he could avoid touching any of his parents’ stupid invention for the rest of his life, he would. Which was kinda hard when half of the house counted as one of those inventions.

They called him a coward.

Tucker was one to talk. He was afraid of hospitals for no good reason. Danny could name about a hundred reasons why messing with his parents’ tech or ghosts was a bad idea. It didn’t bother him that Tucker called him a coward. They were losers and cowards and that was one of the reasons they were friends in the first place. Okay, maybe it bothered him a little, but he would never admit that.

Sam, though, it hurt from her. The girl seemed to not be afraid of anything and she was fascinated by all things strange and dark. All the things that pissed off her parents. And as much as Danny told himself she was a friend and he didn’t want to make it weird, anyone with eyes could see the giant crush he had on her.

Sam wasn’t afraid of anything. And even though he could name all those reasons for why he shouldn’t do it, why they shouldn’t be in the lab at all, why he just wanted to spend the weekend playing videogames and raiding his dad’s snack hideouts and why that’s exactly what they should do, none of those words came to mind as Sam goaded him.

He never asked to have a weird family. He just wanted to be normal and deal with just the normal kid problems. He just wanted his friends to understand that unlike them, he wasn’t a weirdo by choice.

Maybe he snapped at them a little. Maybe he raised his voice a little. Maybe he called them just as shallow and image-obsessed as the A-listers. Maybe he called them boring and attention seeking. Maybe he cursed them out a little.

Maybe a lot more than little.

And they left.

He sat in the living room, watching the clock, alone.

Of course he was alone. He yelled at his only friends.

And for what?

Maybe they were right. Maybe he was just a coward. The portal wasn’t working. How dangerous could it be?

As the minutes ticked by and he felt worse and worse about what he did, he got up and headed back into the lab.

He put on one of the small hazmat suits his parents had for him. He had meticulously torn off and threw out all of the stupid patches with his dad’s face that the self-obsessed mad scientist put on them, months ago, in the off chance he was forced to wear one outside or near a camera. He knew that Sam would mock him for it. But with his parents inventions, he’d rather be safe than sorry. Or dead. Or worse – a ghost.

The thought terrified him. If his parents were to be believed, ghosts were nothing more than echoes of human minds, twisted, either entirely animalistic or evil. Monsters, wearing the face of the dead.

He didn’t even believe in ghosts. He had memories of them from when he was a kid, but they could have just been dreams. With how much their parents talked about the stuff, of course his mind would haunt him (ha!) with them in his sleep.

He realized Sam had left her new camera on the table. She had shown him and Tucker how to operate it a few weeks earlier when she bought it.

Danny turned it on, started recording and left it on one of the tables, pointed at the portal.

“Hey, Sam, Tucker… here’s to show you I’m not a coward. I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier.”

He waved at the camera, took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.

It didn’t work. How dangerous could it be?

How dangerous could it be?

He couldn’t get that thought out of his head as he stumbled out of the portal. It hurt. It hurt so much. And he wasn’t himself. Not anymore.

Twisted monster wearing his own face. A monster his parents would probably hunt and tear apart for stealing his face, for stealing their child away from them.

He sat on the couch and cried. He wished so much to just be himself again.

He couldn’t be dead, right? Everything hurt. He couldn’t be dead. Ghosts didn’t feel pain.

He looked at his arm, at the formerly black glove, now snow white.

He just wanted to be himself again…

He watched as white light appeared, first around his waist and then travelling along the rest of his body, turning him back into himself.

But his parents said ghosts could sometimes pose as living humans.

He felt his heart beating in his chest, now.

He couldn’t be dead if his heart was beating, right?

It didn’t just moments ago.

The rings.

A memory came up. A memory he dismissed as another dream.

He must have been really small, one of the first times uncle Vlad was watching him and Jazz. He was making smoothies in the middle of the night.

Danny wanted to see what was going on and he saw uncle Vlad, with those same rings around him. His normally silver hair seemed pitch black, before the black rings swept across him and turned him into his normal self. He was too young to have gray hair even now, and more so then. His parents explained that it was because of an accident back when they were in college. And accident with a portal prototype…

Vlad gave him candy to promise to never tell anyone what he saw that night. Danny did very distinctly remember eating it all at once, because he was a four-year-old given an irresponsible amount of candy, and how sick he wound up being after.

He thought the whole thing was just a dream. And maybe it was.

When he looked at his hand, he couldn’t see it. He still felt it there, it still made a dent in the couch pillow, but it was invisible.

Something was very, very wrong and he needed to solve it before his parents got home.

And there was only one person that might have the answers.

He called uncle Vlad.

***

Vlad told him to not panic.

That was easier said than done.

He tried to. He tried to keep himself occupied. He took off the stupid hazmat suit.

He other him was still wearing his.

He wanted to watch the TV, but after the remote phased through his hand and fell beneath the couch, he gave up on that.

He could just go to bed. Vlad lived a few states over. It would take him a few hours to arrive.

Maybe he would wake up in the morning and find out it was just a bad dream.

It couldn’t be. Bad dreams don’t hurt.

Most of the pain had faded by now, though he still felt sore, especially in his own body. The other him didn’t hurt that much – but Danny was scared if he fell asleep in that body, he would never wake up. Not as himself anyway.

He was staring at the living room ceiling as the sun set outside. His whole body felt numb. He was tired, but in a different way than needing to sleep. He didn’t have the energy to get up and turn on the lights.

As the darkness crept up more and more, he realized that he could see in the dark a lot better than he did before.

He felt cold, he realized. Not horribly so, just barely colder than would be comfortable.

Cold like the dead.

A horrible thought crossed his mind.

His parents said ghosts could possess human bodies. Maybe he was already dead, his body growing cold slowly, but he just refused to leave it.

Maybe if he closed his eyes, he would never wake up. He could just let go.

Uncle Vlad would arrive in the morning and find his dead body, laying here on the couch.

A shiver run down his spine, and he would swear a cloud of mist escaped his lips.

Maybe it was just cold in the house, and he was freaking out over nothing.

Then, the light turned on.

He jumped up to see who did it.

Uncle Vlad stood by the door leading from the kitchen, looking him up and down.

It took Danny a moment to realize he was floating and that he didn’t have legs.

Instead, there was a wisp-like tail, moving with a mind of its own.

He may or may not have screamed in shock and moments later, he was back to his old self and hit the couch.

He poked his leg. Solid. Normal.

He gulped and looked up at uncle Vlad.

“Danny…” the man whispered. Danny knew his uncle. His voice was always comforting. It was now, too. But there was something else, that he couldn’t put a finger on. Vlad breathed in as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.

He sat down next to Danny and pulled him into a hug.

Uncle Vlad was always warm. Too warm. And he was always super weird about it. But right now, Danny felt the chill that had plagued him since he stepped out of that stupid portal melt away. For the first time since that scream left his throat, he still felt it hurt, he felt like he could breathe properly.

For a moment, it didn’t matter what happened, or if he was some kind of monster now. He felt safe.

He began to cry. He cried into Vlad’s stupid fancy suit, because the man apparently didn’t own any other clothes.

He felt his body tingle the same way it did when he dropped the remote and he feared he would slip from Vlad’s grasp. But he didn’t.

“If you don’t want to hug, you can just say that.” Vlad muttered.

Danny sniffled and looked up at him. “What… what do you mean?”

“Intangibility. But I think you didn’t do it on purpose, did you?”

“I… I don’t know.” Danny admitted. He didn’t want to let go, but he felt like a baby sobbing into his uncle’s chest like that. Vlad run his fingers through Danny’s hair.

“It’s okay. It takes time to learn to control it.” Vlad said. “And I’ll help you in any way I can, little badger.”

“Do you… do you know what…” Danny paused, looking for words, unsure of which question to ask first. “What happened to me?”

Vlad seemed to have just as hard of a time finding words.

“Am I dead?” Danny whispered after a moment.

Vlad sighed. “Yes. But you’re also alive.” Vlad run his hand along Danny’s left arm, where he still felt echoes of the electricity that went through it not so long ago. The electricity that killed him. Vlad let go of him and moved away. Danny didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to go back to the cold. “I want to show you something.”

“Oh… okay.” Danny muttered, letting.

Vlad took Danny’s hand and placed it over his own heart. Then, he laid his own over the center of Danny’s chest, where the cold was coming from.

“Like this, we’re still alive. Our hearts are beating. We need to breathe. We need to eat and sleep like any other human.” Vlad paused for a moment. “Can you transform?”

“I think so.” Danny nodded. He had tried turning back and forth a few times while waiting for Vlad. All it took was a thought.

Vlad turned, too.

If he looked closely, he could still recognize his uncle. The shape of the nose and face, the stupid goatee. But if he didn’t look for his uncle, he probably wouldn’t see it. The ghost had blue skin, red eyes with no whites or pupils, pointed ears and when Vlad spoke, Danny could see sharp fangs glint inside of his mouth. Even the shape of the body was different – mom said uncle Vlad had never fully recovered from his accident and the resulting hospital stay. It seemed that the ghost half of him had no such problem, and probably much more resembled the shape the man had been back then. And if his human body had been a little too warm, this one was basically a walking space-heater.

“Like this, no heartbeat.” Vlad whispered. “No need to breathe and no need to eat human food, either.”

“What about sleep?”

“Unless you’re in the ghost zone, yes.” Vlad nodded. “But you can’t stay in one form for too long. If you stay human for too long and don’t use any of your powers, they will simply happen on their own, whether you want it or not. And if you stay as a ghost for too long, your human body will weaken.”

“Will it go away?”

“No. This is you, now.” Vlad sighed. “But you’re not alone in this. I’ll teach you. I’ll help you.”

Vlad turned back to his human form again and Danny followed suit. He could now name the feeling that happened when he did. The suddenly loud thump of his heart, the need to breathe.

“What was that… tail thing?” Danny asked. It had been bothering him the whole time.

“Sometimes, ghosts do that, when we’re flying. Not all and not always, but it does make flying a little more effective.”

“Am I a monster, now? Mom and dad said all ghosts are monsters.”

“Your mom and dad are too obsessed with being right that they get a lot of things wrong about ghosts. Ghost are much like people. Some good, some bad, and most just kind of in-between.” Vlad said. “They are… different, though. Their society, their rules and traditions, it’s very different from human ones.”

“Why do I need to know that? I’m not planning on hanging out with any ghosts… except you, I mean.”

“Some of those customs and values are inherent to being a ghost. It will not be right away, but your view on those things will likely change to a more… ghost-like one.” Vlad explained. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Vlad… do mom and dad know about you? What you are?”

Danny saw Vlad’s eyes flash red. He had seen it before, though he was sure he was imagining things. Often whenever his accident was brought up. Or when dad said something stupid and insensitive – so most of the time dad talked.

“No.” Vlad said after a moment. “No, they don’t know what I am. And they must never find out about either of us. Nobody living can.”

“Why? I mean… yeah, they are ghost hunters, but I’m still their son and you’re still their friend.”

“Are we? Or are we monsters wearing stealing their faces?” Vlad shook his head. “Your parents have very hard time accepting they were wrong about something. What you are… what we are… goes against all of that, all that they think they know. You might be right. Maybe their love for you is stronger than their stubbornness. And maybe it is not. It’s better we never find out.” Vlad sighed, pulling Danny closer to himself again, seeing the boy shivering again. “And they are not the only ghost hunters out there. Even if they do accept us, the others would not be so forgiving. We must be careful to not leave any evidence of what we are.”

“The camera.” Danny exclaimed suddenly.

“What camera?”

“I… I was recording myself when I went into the portal. I wanted to show my friends I was not a coward.” God, he felt even dumber saying that out-loud.

“Is it still in the lab?”

“I think so.” Danny nodded. Vlad stood up and headed there immediately. Danny followed him.

He always knew Vlad seemed to make no sound while he moved. For the first time, Danny understood how.

“High ectoplasm can mess with electronics. If we’re lucky, the recording doesn’t show anything.” Vlad muttered, seemingly talking more to himself than Danny. The camera was still recording while he picked it up. That was not a good sign.

Vlad began to watch the playback of the video. Danny cringed at the awkward intro he did. And then, moments later, a piercing scream echoed through the lab. Danny felt a sharp stab in his chest at the sound. Even through the recording, it was awful.

Vlad’s features seemed to be made out of stone, but somehow, Danny was certain the man was furious. As the figure of ghost Danny emerged from the portal, Vlad closed the camera and his palm erupted in magenta flames.

Danny stepped back.

“You could have just deleted the video.”

“There are ways to recover deleted videos. This is more certain.” Vlad said, the poured the charred dust from his hand into the hazardous waste disposal. When some of it refused to come off, Danny watched Vlad’s hand change – it seemed almost like static on a TV, but in real life. Vlad’s hand was now perfectly clean. “I’ll buy you a new camera.”

“It was Sam’s actually.”

“I’ll buy her a new camera.” Vlad corrected himself.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Danny asked.

“It will not be possible right away, but once your core settles a bit, it should come naturally.” Vlad nodded. “I promise, I’ll teach you everything I know. But first, dinner. I’m sure you have a million more questions. You can ask them while I cook.”

***

Vlad Masters was not a father. Not that he knew of, anyway.

And Vlad Plasmius wouldn’t even consider exposing himself to such a weakness.

But cores are as fickle as they are stubborn.

Vlad wasn’t Danny’s father, and perhaps in a different lifetime, that would have mattered to him.

It didn’t in this one.

It mattered that the boy he had watched grow up was dead, because of his parents’ negligence.

It mattered that he was alive, stuffing his face full of pasta, badgering him with questions about a subject he had no interest in until that day.

By human law, he was the boy’s godfather and the assigned guardian, should something happen to his parents, just as he was for his sister. Some days, he was tempted to make something happen. Today was one of those days. But he looked at Danny, remembered the conviction with which he claimed his parents would accept him, both of them, even as the abominations they both were now. The boy would mourn. The boy would break. The boy loved his parents, because he was a child and that’s what they do. It was for that look, that conviction, that Vlad held back the inferno rising through his body. The Fentons were lucky their son Remained – had that scream in the portal truly been the boy’s final breath, Vlad knew there would be no holding back.

By ghost rules, however, the boy was his child. Nobody, living or dead, had a greater claim to Danny than he did. Danny couldn’t understand it yet, but the trust he had put in Vlad, the love he held for him, and whatever it was that Vlad felt for the boy in return, had bonded their cores. Perhaps the boy would never realize – his core was so soft and new when the bond formed and would be such a natural part of it by the time Danny would start to understand his core that he wouldn’t even notice it.

Vlad wasn’t sure what he felt for Danny could be called love in the human sense, but after ten years of fighting it, he knew it would be recognized as such by ghosts. Ghost love was like that. Possessive, obsessive, a powerful and unbreakable bond, built on strength and devotion.

Danny was his.

He had let go of his old obsession long ago, perhaps on that fateful night, but he knew the parts of him that still clung to the rage of death would rest easier from now on. In the battle between himself and his ghostmaker, he had won.

[my-pjo-stuff]

Hey so I just came up with this new au in my head.

So basically what happens is that for whatever reason the other Olympians who have demigod children, that being Ares, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Hermes all somehow managed to piss off Zeus so much that he decides to send them to live and camp with their children. Just like Dionysus.

(or he was already mad at them for something and Hera put the idea in his head. Since she likes none of them.)

So one early morning Chiron calls all the camp counselors into the big house to inform them of this. Needless to say none of them are happy.

Especially not Luke who is the de facto parent of these kids.

At first all the gods kindness stay in the big house complaining about their situation to Dionysus. But they soon tired of that, so they actually turned their attention to their children.... For entertainment.

Ares keeps starting fights between the campers. Apollo forces of them to listen to his poems & concerts, even though it's already midnight. Hephaestus criticizes and disproves of any of the metal work being done especially if it's done by his own children. Aphrodite keeps causing drama with crushes that the campers have, especially of her own children for her own entertainment. Athena criticizes every little thing that they do, ect, ect.

This makes Luke livid especially when he sees poor annabeth crying because of how many times Athena has criticized her or disproved her on the smallest things.

He also hates Hermes as he spends his time either ignoring his kids existence or telling them to steal something from one of the other gods in order to get his favor, which given the other gods tempers, it doesn't end well. Hermes also only talks to Luke occasionally trying to pretend like he isn't a horrible father. He even tries to bring up May but Luke shuts him down almost immediately.

The misery doesn't last long thankfully as for whatever reason Zeus decided his family hadn't been punished enough, and turns them into children. Children who are younger than their camp counselors of their cabin.... You can see where I'm going with this.

Some like Charlie or Katie simply ignore Hephaestus and Demeter's existence for the most part.

Clarisse is actually too scared to do anything to her father at first, for fear of the consequences later.

But Luke, Lee, Owen (the camp counselor before annabeth I made up in my head after reading some other fanfiction), & Seilena, immediately start bullying their parents as much as possible, in a passive aggressive way.

OK SO FIRST OF ALL, I LOVE THIS.

AND IT ALSO GAVE ME THOUGHTS OF A SEPARATE AU. But first off, holy heck so many more demigods would join Luke in this AU like???? Imagine all the kids meeting their parents and realizing what sort of assholes they are. Luke's "fall" to Kronos gets sped up SO MUCH????? At the end of TLT half the camp just dips all together at once, INCLUDING Annabeth who dragged Percy along. Ngl Hermes will have the worst time, especially with how crowded cabin eleven is. Luke needing to steal supplies for Percy in TLT means the campers don't get them as handouts. So Hermes better be good at locating them yourself! Aww did Aphrodite lose something? Sorry, no one saw it. Sorry you can't borrow it either- I just it too! Camp just slowly realizing how shitty their parents are- honestly wouldn't be surprised if, depending on how long they'll stay like that, end up tragically dead during Capture the Flag. Who needs dessert anyway, right Luke?

BUT ALSO IMAGINE THIS AU BUT THE GODS HAVING AMNESIA.

Like- Zeus decides leaving them with their memories would only cause issues since they'd obviously want to get back to godhood. And to him that would just be a lot of trouble, so instead he just erases their memories completely and throws them into camp. Let them rot there for a while, enjoy mortal life a bit.

Since they have no idea who they are, or what even their names are when they get to Camp they are obviously brought to the big house. Dionysus knows that those are the gods turned mortal, unfortunately though he's not allowed to reveal anything by order of Zeus. Not that he really would have, this is just too good.

With no knowledge of who these kids are, Chiron sees himself forced to improvise and calls up Luke and Owen to take them to cabin eleven until they are claimed. Luke is also the one who gives them names until they figure out their identities. Despite the arrival of 7 (apparent) demigods with 0 memory ofcourse caused a ruckus. But since no one knows that they are gods stuff settles down a bit after a while, they assume it was some freak accident or a monster attack. Meanwhile Luke and Owen are having their hands full taking care of these 7 kids. At this point Luke's already the unofficial official successor for counselor after Owen so he's reasonably involved.

Sleeping arrangements, getting them supplies, activities- it all needs to be organized for them and they need to be shown the robes. Since no one knows that they are actual gods they get treated like any other normal camper. And since there are no gods to claim them (SINCE THEY ARE THOSE GODS) they stay in eleven for practically their entire stay in CHB. Imagine them bonding with the other unclaimed kids over being "unimportant" to their parents. Imagine Luke comforting them about how shitty "the gods" are. Athena getting to bond with Annabeth over battle strategy. Ares getting to be beaten up by Clarisse during Capture the Flag. Demeter getting to plant with Katie. Apollo getting to go to archery classes with Chiron. And so on and so forth.

And they end up fully integrated into camp at some point! They live and think like any other demigod and everyone treats them like that. Luke looks after them, they have friends from other cabins and they sing along at the campfire.

They play games and train and angst over their "neglectful godly parent" and "amnesia". Everything seems to be going well, they are happy. The people around them are happy. The gods are happy. And then Zeus decides the punishment is enough, gives the gods their powers back and just fucks everything up. Because that does not go well. Zeus being Zeus didn't really check of course what they were doing before deciding to end the punishment or deigned to think about hos stressful it most be to not only suddenly become a got, but also get millennia of memories back in an instant. The gods were at the sing-along having a good time. Apollo was jamming out with the Apollo cabin leading the song. Hermes was reading to drop a water balloon as a prank on Aphrodite together with the Stolls. Heaphestus was happily basking in the warmth.

The fact that no true form of the gods was shown was dumb luck. One minute everything is fine, the next they are on the ground screaming as their divinity and memories are pressed into bodies too small to fit them- being stretched and forced to become what they once were. Everyone is scarred, kids are crying, and the Stolls ran to hide behind Luke when Hermes goes down alongside Annabeth clutching his leg. Zeus wanted them with him, so they were pretty much immediately ported to Olympus as soon as they were gods again. And FUCK is shit different now, 'cause now they are attached. Yes, they remember who they are now, but the memories of camp weren't erased! They spent years there. Years of living and laughing with their children. Years of being one of them.

And stuff is just so weird now like?????? All the anger with Zeus aside- they just, can't really view them as their "kids" now???? They feel more like- equals to them now. As weird as it is. Playmates, friends. Hell they just spent years with LUKE as their main caretaker! He was a better "Dad" than Zeus ever was! They still feel like they gotta listen to him 'cause he's counselor! Someone get Hermes some therapy for that mental dissonance of seeing his son as a parental figure.

Also, someone get them help for all the guilt. Because holy SHIT do they regret everything now. All the neglect, all the hurt, all the abuse. Because the gods get it now. They understand what it is like to be a child of them and live in the system they created. They understand what being a demigod means. They're sorry.

They want to be better.

And it isn't easy- god it couldn't be easy, but they somehow, someway get Zeus to allow them to visit camp freely. To support their kids.

And the gods swear to do better on the Styx, are excited to finally be real parents even.

Only to find camp terrified of them when they appear. The same kids treating them like friends and siblings cower, hide behind older kids and avoid their gaze when looking at them. Because they are gods. And they are cruel. Their children know that better than anyone.

[asmolguy]

Gonna make a list of characters that are so painfully little coded everything in my brain just goes “baby” whenever I watch them. Plus one caregiver. (And one real dude which feels kinda rude since he’s just like. A guy. Living his life. So you can ignore that one. But I wanted to point it out.)

Lloyd from Lego ninjago. Dude. Canon family trauma + canon forced to end his childhood early. Prime agere material. There are so many good fics of little Lloyd just littling. He’s tiny boi. So baby. So perfect.

Cole from Lego ninjago. He is. So caregiver built. I think it hurts to watch sometimes. So gentle so sweet. Get this man a child or a little or something to care for I swear. He just needs to parent. It’s in his blood and carved into his bones.

Branch from trolls. Ya’ll did you watch movie 3? The family trauma times two. The way he uses a pacifier to lock in. Someone was straight up weaving that into the fabric of his being as a character. He’s not little coded he’s little written. Plus in the show he has a little stuffie named Croco and I love that for him. There’s also some good agere Branch fics, but not enough. I need more. Pwease. He is so smol and so grumpy just everyone write him as the baby boi he deserves to be I beg.

Spider-Man but specifically for ultimate Spider-Man (btw if anyone’s looking for good regression shows and you fall around like 5-10 it’s a very good show because it’s long and has a good mix of humor and that show is my jam dude when I’m big and little). But anyone. Ultimate Spider-Mans Spider-Man is so stressed all of the time. He is just a teen. And he’s handling so many unruly teens. And in the later seasons when he’s handling the entirety of shield while being worried about nova. Give the boy a break and let someone take care of him. He’s both little and caregiver coded btw. I adore the fics where everyone calls him daddy longlegs because that is straight up what the last season is. Just him being a father to all these troubled ass powered teenagers while being so troubled himself. But then he’s also so little. He pouts and needs so much love and he’s scared all of the time and he is traumatized and then that one ep where that got turned into those weird chibi things the show tried to convince us were children I want to believe awakened something in him and he is now little sometimes.

Ian Hecox. Listen. I am aware that he is just a dude. Like a real guy. Who cannot be coded because he just exists. But I see. So much of myself in him. It kind of makes a part of my heart hurt that no one like every really seriously criticizes his more childish behavior (even for the bit on a YouTube video) because it makes me feel better about the small ways I slip in public or with my friends sometimes. There’s literally “everyone babying Ian hecox” comps online. His habit of saying scawed or newvous is unironically a blessing and curse since now all my friends who also watch Smosh do it so it’s not weird if I do it but then sometimes I have to pause and be like “is this for the bit or am I slipping right now. Both? Neither?” That one tntl (#91) where they did the blind pairs (btw one of the funniest ones ever in my opinion absolute hall of famer, the fish one, burning the pool, m’lei, all incredible bits. It’s like. The video I show people to try to get them into Smosh.) and Ian puts on overalls and walks out with an Elmo and is like “I’m five” and then after the bit is over he stays in character and when he’s like “elmo…” and damien is like “yeah bud I made sure to miss him with the spit” and then Ian drags the toy through he spit and everyone in the room is just like “aww man” like everyone is truly just like Ian dude you got your stuffed animal wet. Also Anthony being able to fully pick Ian up and carry him multiple ways. If you watch the behind the scenes for the my best friend is dead video Anthony 1. Is pumped to pick Ian up. 2. Does a baby cradle with Ian more than successfully. 3. Says “I got you bud” when Ian gets nervous and Ian goes “ok” in this tiny little voice and instantly relaxes. 4. When Anthony puts Ian down Ian follows him making grabby hands and says “I want uppies”. More little Ian caregiver Anthony fics when. Except not really because again don’t really want to put any of this on real people just doing comedic bits that I happen to feel in my soul a bit too much.

And finally, Max thunderman. I mean. Just watch the show. The pouts. The frequent fake sobbing and sniffling. The fact that he needs a childhood back after Phoebe was put on a pedestal. Someone give me soft thundertwins fic where max is a little and Phoebe is a cargegiver please I need it. And I am. So bad at writing. I would love you forever and ever if you did.

[itsmalachitenow]

MORE CHUCK HEADCANONS!

You guys seemed to really like my last post, so I'm sharing the other headcanons I've gathered for my personal take on Chuck since then. Get ready for angst!

Chuck did, in fact, hit Gus with the Ghost Train. It was an accident, and to this day he's incredibly broken up about it. Gus, on the other hand, isn't nearly as upset about being dead. He will, however, use his death to guilt Chuck into doing things for him because he knows just how awful Chuck feels about it. Any time Gus wants a new game system or toy, if Chuck isn't too keen on getting it for him, Gus will just bring up that Chuck ran him over and now he's stuck here, and Chuck will look utterly miserable as he climbs into his wheelchair to leave the Ghost Station.

Chuck is very talented at many different types of instruments, including but not limited to: piano, trumpet, saxophone, violin, harp, french horn, clarinet, cello, and oboe.

He can also sing very well. He is a baritone.

Chuck's true full name is Carlo Toscanini. He prefers the Chuck nickname, though, because it sounds like a train noise. He likes train noises!

Because he's been alone for so long, Chuck is incredibly self conscious about needing any kind of help because he's disabled. Especially when he's in his chair. The idea of being helped and not having to do it all himself is completely foreign to him, and he absolutely abhors the idea of needing to rely on someone else to help him do what he sees as 'basic things'. He would rather struggle by himself than swallow his pride and ask a loved one to get involved.

Related: If you touch this man's wheelchair without asking him first, he is going to run you over with it.

Chuck will never finish his 'magnum opus'. He is a perfectionist, and hasn't had what he considers a 'good' piece in decades because he's constantly going back and changing them, never satisfied with the results. Even if he does finish a musical composition or opera, he will always find some fault with them afterwards and not want to dwell on them. Being alone for so long with no real audience for his works other than Gus (who doesn't really understand or care as much because he's a kid) means he's his only critic, and he will always be his worst critic.

Chuck makes his own coffee and is a total snob about drinking anyone else's. It tastes like diesel, but it'll keep you awake for three days straight.

This man does not have a consistent schedule for anything other than 'work'. Food, sleep, self care, all of it comes second to his job and to his music.

He has chronic insomnia, and horrible nightmares whenever he does drift off to sleep, so Chuck prefers to just keep going for as many days as possible until his body physically cannot stay awake anymore.

Because he's lived so long, Chuck can barely remember any of his early life, and that terrifies him. He remembers the name of his hometown, he remembers he had a father who was a conductor, but everything else is a blur. He can't remember his parents' names, their faces, whether he had siblings or not...those memories are gone forever, and Chuck will never get them back.

His biggest regret is not saying goodbye to his family the night he left to join the Train.

Chuck is also terrified of going back to his hometown, because he knows it will be entirely different from what little he remembers. If he never returns, he can always pretend it's still the way he was when he left it, and ignore the gravity of his choice to join the Ghost Train.

Because he's scared he'll forget other things, Chuck is a compulsive journaler. He writes down the day's events, no matter how trivial, and gives a massive amount of detail about every person he interacts with. He only started doing this about a hundred years ago, once he realized he couldn't remember his family anymore.

Chuck has a small apartment in the Ghost Station. It's small and cramped, but it's a place for him to stay when he's not working, and also for any lovers or loved ones to stay if they're 'living' with him. He has a room entirely dedicated to all of his journals, though the manner of sorting them is known only to Chuck.

[debb987]

Author Note for fic - 2012 TMNT interpretation

This was kind of long for the Author Note of Chapter 3, so I’m placing it here instead. So, I don’t mean to do any bashing on “The Eldest Brother” fic, this is just some analysis / my interpretation  on the TMNT 2012 circumstances. 

Leo is a fan of Space Heroes, a series which often shows the captain “calming down” the junior by slapping him (uses physical violence as comedy relief). For someone that didn’t leave the sewers in fifteen years, they only have Splinter and the media to learn and imitate. He’s not being purposely mean, he just doesn’t know better.

Splinter struggles to separate Sensei role and Parent role. He often ends up mixing them up, which makes it hard for his sons to confide in him on certain things, so he is shown often giving the first step to help with what he sees his sons need. Like talking with Donnie in the Metal Head episode, with Leo about fighting unfairly to win, and Raph about ignoring the insults instead of letting them make him angry. This, of course, means that if he doesn’t notice something, the issue is not addressed or resolved. 

Mikey is the family baby (and has ADHD, you can pry this from my cold, dead hands) and that comes with: Babying, doubting his capabilities regardless of how many times he proves them wrong (he probably can’t stay still/be silent/ concentrate. Better be the bait instead of ambushing the enemy) considering him too distracted/childish to be trusted with dangerous or difficult stuff. The brothers’ default response for his ideas/opinions is, often, to dismiss them. Probably they don’t even realize how mean this can be at times, and even Splinter seems to think Mikey is childish/an airhead, so… yeah. Not resolved, at least at this point of time (S1 2012 series).

Donnie is expected to know everything, create anything, repair everything, to the point where he gets scolded when he doesn’t know something. “Why didn’t you tell me they had shields??” “Because I wanted us to fail. OBVIOUSLY I DIDN’T KNOW!” And although he has accepted the role and does so for his family, I think he’d not be too keen on working for others not close to him, hence the reluctance to make a Tphone for Rise!Raph, this stranger that claims to be another version of his brother but acts nothing like him. He’d probably not have this issue if it had been Rise!Mikey landing on their world. Too similar to be anything but the baby bro~

And 2012 Raph, much like his Rise!counterpart, prefers to turn difficult emotions into anger, and loves and wants to protect his family the best he can. He’s a little hothead and can be quick to  jump to conclusions, but that’s expected for most teens in general, if you ask me. Again, not resolved, at least at this point of time (S1 2012 series) but he does get some character growth later on from what I’ve been told. I haven’t watched anything after S1 2012.

Anyway, I usually don’t rant this much in the AN of my fics, but the TMNT fandom scares me (the 2012 vs 2018 discussions can get real mean), so I’d rather “justify” things here than go individually in the comments. Circumstances for each TMNT version are different… please don’t insult ppl if they like one version more than the other, and, is ok to be able to criticize the ‘flaws’ of each show and still like them. 

Welp, hope you enjoyed the read!(Or will enjoy it, if you happened to see this note before I publish Ch 3 haha) 

This is the link for anyone curious. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42638430/chapters/107105004#workskin

 See ya’ around~ dEBB987

[9haharharley1]

I'mma keep it coming with I wanna see your head canons for Danny tbh I wonder if we're similar about the boy. So I guess 002

How I feel about this character:

I love him, I really do! I had such a crush on Danny when I was a teen, made worse (or better, idk) by the fact that when the show aired, I was also just entering high school. So it was one of those, "oh look! A socially awkward teen also has to deal with the stress of living! He's just like me fr (minus the ghost powers on my part)!"

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Romantically? Vlad, Valerie, Clockwork, and Dan, but mostly Vlad.

Want to see him get railed and ruined and crying? Dan, Nocturne, Skulker, Wulf, Walker.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Tucker and Sam (provided Sam can get over some of her holier-than-thou attitude)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

This boy doesn't have a dominant bone in his entire body. I don't like reading top Danny fics, my boy deserves a break, and I'm also not a fan when he's taller and beefier than Vlad either. I stan a short king and I will take no criticism.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

It's a kids' show, so I know this was never gonna happen, but I would have loved to see him have a full psychological break. I'm talking an entire episode dedicated to Danny having a complete and total panic attack, Batman the Animated Series style. Parents want to catch and study him, one of his best friends keeps pushing him to do the superhero thing, parents and peers are pressuring him to date said pushy friend, he's failing in school, he can't retaliate against his primary bully, his future is screwed if he doesn't watch himself, the ghosts keep coming and they won't fucking stop, his sister keeps giving him these worrying looks like she's worried, why should she be worried? He's fine, everything's fine, he's only half-dead, what's the big deal?

Danny eventually has that panic attack the closer he gets to graduating, unsure of his future, scared he's gonna fail and never be able to leave Amity Park, terrified that all he has to look forward to is fighting ghosts and running/hiding from his parents. His future is forever uncertain because the alternate time line, and his friends can't understand, even if they're trying, but they just can't know what's going on with him, and he sees the fear in their eyes every time he brings up that dark future. He could go to Clockwork, but Clockwork will only give so much advice. He doesn't share more than is necessary to keep time in tact, so he eventually breaks and goes to Vlad. Who else could possibly understand if not the only other halfa in existence?

Basically, I would have loved to see him become increasingly overwhelmed until he had no choice but to run away and go to Vlad's. They make a temporary truce long enough for them to bond over their shared plight.

my OTP:

Pompous Pep, of course (you will pry this ship from my cold, dead hands)

my cross over ship:

None

a headcanon fact:

Danny totally had a crush on Vlad the first time they met. He thought he was handsome and charming and all that gross first crush stuff, and he actually enjoyed talking with him, even if him hitting on his mom was super fucking weird. Danny could look past that because he knew his mom wasn't interested, was happily married, and when Vlad wasn't focused on her, he could be pretty cool. Too bad he had to go and ruin it by revealing his evil intentions.

[bunkernine]

PLEASE speak abt the parents Beryl Tristan and Esperanza 🙏 🙏 🙏

Ok outside of firmly believing that those parents HAVE to be legacies (esperanza ESPECIALLY or at least she saw thru the mist) I'm just gonna blab about an AU that makes me laugh. The way I spent 30 mins writing this instead of my finals...

Quick run down: the three of them were friends, tristan and beryl as childhood friends actually, and then they accidentally kill a man (monster)

Beryl:

Grew up poor in a small town, "trailer trash", extremely critical alcoholic mother. Dad left when she was a kid. Had an older brother who left as soon as he could and never calls

Enjoyed watching movies and tv to imagine a better life she can live in

Nerdy as hell in school, wore the biggest glasses in the world. Had a huge crush on tristan for YEARS, especially when he got hot in high school, but liked him before too

Esperanza

Has the sight, can see thru the mist and it scares the shit out of her. Part of why Rosa thinks Leo is fucking devilspawn cuz Esperanza thought she was seeing demons. She moved around a lot growing up because of that fear, but also Hazel's curse

Kinda a rebellious punk, wildchild younger sibling. Her and Rosa are CONSTANTLY fighting

She moves into Tristan and Beryl's town in high school, after her mom died.

There's a satyr and demigod in her class. She doesnt think too much of it. Her teacher is weird....

Tristan

Kinda geeky, has 5 siblings but never talks about them too much. Was always a very sweet and quiet kid. Childhood friends with beryl, also poor too

Super into Ezperanza because she's different. Even when she's weird and mumbling about being chased she's still sooo cool compared to the town they're in.

Okay so now that they're in high school... I think this would be the early 80s 🙂 they essentially are together in a rag tag group, lost trio style, until they see a demigod getting attacked. Tristan hits the monster with his car. The 3 of them are HORRIFIED because they killed a man, but Esperanza keeps talking about monsters and explains it. The demigod's satyr is fucking young Hedge 💀 he's shit at his job so he just tells them about demigods and stuff.

Beryl is slowly ENAMORED by this. Starts drinking from this event but she is DELIGHTED by the idea of a new better world out there. Ezperanza feels like SHIT! She thinks this is all her fault and she's cursed. Tristan is going CRAZY, racked with grief. He is not doing well at ALL!!!!

Anyway they go to college with this in California together, mostly out of being closer but also fear of this secret (dead body) weighing on them. A few more monster and minor god encounters. Eventually, Hedge has to mist-wipe Tristan's memories because hes going crazy, which causes Hedge's issue with the Council of satyr elders or whatever. Idk its in the books lol. But this causes them all to separate and go their separate ways when Tristan can't remember the other two.

Beryl drops out of college, and gets scouted as she is waitressing. Has her big break, goes onto TV and gets famous. She begins to forget some of the little things about how much the demigod world is HORRIBLE. Once, she meets up with Esperanza and they stumble into a minor god, which makes her remember how much she wants to be in that world. She meets Zeus at a party :) and thinks he's charming and powerful, just different. It reminds her of the monster experience. She fucks that man obviously. Desire for something different to her shit life. She is CRAZY!!! 🩷

Esperanza goes to New Rome Uni because i luv that place idk if they allow mortals but she will!!!!! Because she goes to that fake school, no mortals really take her degree seriously which is why it was harder for her to get a job. Never taken seriously. She heads back to Texas eventually. She know he's Hepaestus when he approaches her at a library, doesn't like the idea of getting involved with that god stuff. Still falls in love. When her great grandfather falls ill (Sammy) she demands hepaestus to stay with her. He doesn't obviously, but he promises to come back, if not for her than for Leo. He has to. He doesn't.

Tristan doesn't go to college, he just works at like, fucking Hollister or Abercrombie because he's hot now. He meets Aphrodite a few times but she's busy and he doesnt give in. Eventually they meet at the beach surfing and she's like "I've been trying to get your attention for a while now"... She doesn't tell him she's a goddess but Tristan kinda has a familiar feeling. He's forgotten what it was but she just feels different. When piper grows up, aphrodite sends little gifts to "her favorite heartthrob" and he just gives it to Piper.

......

Anyway it was just putting little seeds together + being crazy. Beryl and Esperanza sometimes still talked. They met once when they were pregnant and talked about their kids playing together. Esperanza, seeing theu the mist, had an idea that Beryl was fucking a god, but its not like she has high standing either. Beryl and Tristan bumped into each other with their acting careers, but Tristan doesnt really remember Beryl the way he should. Esperanza and Tristan have some kind of twisted relationship I fear of will they, wont they with Beryls jealousy 🙄 such it is. Naturally the same with Beryl and Esperanza 🙏

[nyxisnthere1]

Show your children you love them

"Are you proud of me, Father?" I stared at him, my papa, with a hopeful face. He was always so busy, busy saving others and being there for others, forgetting about me. His own flesh and blood, his own child. I did everything I could. I became the best. The best student, the best athlete, and the best person I could be, all in hopes of earning his approval. I stood out; I became the other child —the child parents would talk about when addressing their child's failures. I became ostracized by the kids my age because I was too focused and too perfect.

"Answer me, Father, are you proud?" I felt my eyes well with tears, my nose started to burn, and my voice cracked on the last word, but I resolutely stared at my father, waiting—hoping to hear his words. The room was silent, the tension thick in the air as my father's expression remained unreadable. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand him.

"…Why?" he asked, why the man he fought lay dead at my feet. Wasn't this the cause of all his troubles? Wasn't this the man who caused him to fight every day to save others? WASN'T THIS THE MAN WHO HE WISHED WAS DEAD?

"Wasn't this what you wanted, Father?" Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you looking at me like I'm some monster? I had done what he couldn't do himself. I had saved him from his own demons.

"You're insane." I felt my world crash around me. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to thank me. He was supposed to understand that I did it out of love for him. We would hug, and he would announce to the world that the villain was dead. We would go home and eat ice cream and watch his favourite show.

"No. NO! You don't get to say that. You ignored me! You pushed me away and left me to deal with everything on my own. And now you call me insane? I did this for you, and you can't even see that. You were too busy fighting villains, saving the world, and being some kind of hero to notice that your own daughter was falling apart. I was left here, trying to manage everything, trying to be strong, while you were out there playing the saviour. I felt abandoned, Dad. I watched as you left for battle after battle, always promising you’d be home soon. But 'soon' turned into months, then years. I had to grow up too fast and handle everything alone, and all I ever wanted was for you to see me and to be there for me. You were too busy being a hero to realise that your own daughter needed you more than anything. I was struggling, Dad. I was scared and lonely and lost. And every time you came back, it was like you were a stranger to me. You weren’t just absent physically; you were absent emotionally. And now, you come here and call me insane for the way I’ve reacted? I took care of your problem better than you ever could. I'm so tired, Dad. I'm tired of being perfect so I'm leaving. I needed you to be my father, not just a hero. I needed your support and understanding, not judgement and criticism. I did what I had to do to protect myself."

I should've known; people said he was too good for this world. It took me this long to realise that they were right. I don't need his approval or validation anymore. I'm walking away from this toxic dynamic and finally putting myself first. It's time for me to heal and move forward without him in my life.

[stuckinstrangerthings]

Senior Year - The Cafeteria Incident

(part 5)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader/ y/n Henderson

Context: y/n is Dustin's big sister. The events of S1 to S3 have happened with y/n being a part of it to some extent. S3 ends differently with Hopper escaping the Russians with Joyce and Murray. Joyce and Hopper made it to Enzo at some point and they are now happily dating. Joyce didn't move to California so the gang is all together in Hawkins.

Dustin's and y/n dad died a few years ago. He was Hopper and Joyce's high school friend so they are very close to the family. Hopper is y/n godfather.

I don't know yet if some of the events of S4 will happen in this serie, but I can promise that Eddie will be safe if they do.

Summary: Y/n is starting her senior year as Eddie's starts his third one. They know each other from being in the same high school, but are not really friends. She likes him. Good thing her little brother is now a part of the Hellfire Club.

Warnings: (for the whole serie) mention of dead parents, mention of drugs and alcohol, swearing, slow burn, flirting, mutual pining, fluff, friends to lovers, smut 18+.

Author's note: I want this will be a serie. English is not my first language. Also, this is my very first time writing fanfic. Please feel free to comment and give constructive criticism. Thanks!

----

You are in a bad mood. After the events at Chrissy's party, Andy was facing criminal charges but the school had only suspended him for one week. You heard that the coach and the principal wanted to have the charges dropped because it was ruining Andy's chances of a sports schoolarship. It made you fucking furious. The newspaper team was almost ready to publish about all of it. You had multiple cheerleader's testimonials about the way the school was burying stuff the athletes would do and fail to protect the students. You were so proud of the girls for breaking the silence and standing up together. You wanted to do your part. The whole newspaper team wanted to do their part.

You get to the cafeteria to sit at your usual place when you hear the commotion. You see Jason and his stupid jocks followers bullying a freshman and laughing. The freshman is on the floor and this lunch is spilled everywhere. Everybody is frozen around the scene. Nobody wants to be the next victim. You see red. You storm towards the freshman, helping him up and making sure he is ok. Everybody is silent. He thanks you and tries to leave. You stop him

"Wait, you forgot your lunch" you turn around and take Jason's lunch and give it to the freshman and tell him to leave.

"What the fuck bitch?" Jason scoffs at you while everybody looks at the two of you.

"What the fuck you piece of shit" you reply angrily.

You hear a few gasps. You are known to not take any shit from anybody and being protective, but nobody had ever faced Jason and his followers that way.

"You feel powerful terrorizing everybody? Makes you feel good that people are scared of you? Making everybody around you miserable? Is bullying people a nice part for your high school experience? Well let me tell you, I hope you enjoy it real good because all this will be the high of your miserable existence. You are nothing, you are trash, you are scum. You are nothing more than a fucking criminal but you are getting away with it just because you are a jock in high school. Life won't be this nice to you forever. Nobody respects you, everyone hates you. Even your friends don't like you. They are just afraid to be your next victim. Now would be a good time for you to take your fucking head out of your ass and stop your bullshit". At this point, you are yelling at him.

You turn around to leave when Jason forcefully graps you wrist and says mockingly "You look really hot when you're angry bitch".

You switly turn back, delivering your most powerful slap to Jason's face.

"Never touch me asshole" you scream at him.

The slap made him let go of your wrist. His head is turned to the side from the force of the slap. He looks in shook. The crowd is silent. You see the principal rushing to the cafeteria, very angry. You know you're in trouble. You don't care.

You go towards the principal when you suddenly see a few of your friends starting to clap. Others start to clap, then almost everybody in the cafeteria is chanting your name, standing, clapping. You can't believe it. You hear somebody whistle. You turn around to see it's Eddie. He bows at you from his table. You laugh before following the principal. Jason looks furious. But you are proud. Not just of you, but of everybody's reaction. You know its not just about what you did. Maybe the jocks terror regime is cracking.

You get one week of detention for physical violence. You know it could have been way worse. But it always helps when one of your emergency contact is your mom the lawyer, and the second one is your godfather the chief of police. The intervention in the principal's office lasted all afternoon. You can't help but wonder is Andy's intervention went that long. You doubt it. You also don't know is Jason will get an intervention of his own for what he did. You go straight to detention after the meeting. You don't mind detention anyway. Quiet time to work on your articles for the newspaper.

When you get there, you are surprised and happy to see Eddie. You smile at him and go sit beside him.

"Hi, I didn't know you had detention today" you whisper at him.

"I didn't until an hour ago. Got three days detention to make sure you wouldn't be alone and I could give you a ride home. I can get more if you need me too" hi whispers back.

"My hero" you tease.

"Oh no Princess" he whispers "After what I saw today, I'm making sure you are there to protect me"

You laugh. He smiles.

He gets closer to whisper in your ear "By the way, you look really hot when you're angry" he jokes.

You whisper back in his ear "Watch out, I slapped the shit out of the last guy you said that to me".

"Maybe I want you slapping me a little" he whispers, hoping to make you blush.

Without skipping a beat, you reply "Of course you want me to, naughty boy". You lean back and wink at him.

He blushes "Fuckkk, you win this round".

Detention is going to be even more fun.

[deanstudies101]

4x02, Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

Critical theory: Guilt and responsibility. Faith vs. proof.

Discussion point/question(s): The fact is the bickering and sexual tension is already there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Key quotes: Sam, "... this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof." ... Dean, "Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

Further reading:

Dean's voice in 4x01 vs. 4x02 (@sunglassesmish)

Discussion:

At the end of the day, there were only three people that appeared that they didn’t save (most likely scheduling/budget reasons, but still). Sumner says the reason behind Bobby’s witnesses was weak. [But they all are! Sam and Dean aren’t actually really to blame for Victor or Ronald. Maybe Meg more so? But like. They tried! I think that’s the point.] 

Sumner, do you think the ghosts are telling the truth? (ie. Victor being tortured, Meg’s sister killing herself). Were they lying? It was them, but they could lie. [I feel like it is them, but that the anger is… almost manufactured? Amplified? By being forced to rise. Bobby called them ‘rabid’, so...] 

We love Bobby. The panic room slaps. Bobby built a safe space [go with it] for him and the boys. John was all attack, Bobby is defensive. [They have a space to retreat and read and figure out their next move.] Bobby amasses information. 

We’re starting to see all these hunters who had houses to go back to… why didn’t John? He had two young sons, and he chose to be homeless. [We know that John left the boys with people, ie. Bobby or Pastor Jim, but he just… ends up fighting with them. He had no friends left. We’ll learn a bit more about this later.] The first few seasons convince you that hunters have to live like rats, can’t have a house, but now… they all have houses. Some of them live to old age. What the fuck was John’s problem? [John to Sam in 1x21 “I want you to go to school, and I want Dean to have a home.”... bro, do you?] He could’ve left them home alone and been a shitty parent in the same way that a lot of people are shitty parents, but he didn’t. At a certain point, Dean was useful. Tool in his father’s hand etc etc. 

[Daniel Elkins was so hated by the remainder of an entire species that he almost masacred that he had to drop off the map and he still had a fucking cabin.] Other hunters have a caravan. Could they not have had a caravan? Sumner, that’s why they’re so normal about the car. 

[The post about Dean and the car—I’ll find this later—it is precious to him, but he is not precious with it. They sit on the hood and stargaze. Sam puts his feet up in the back to sleep etc. It is their home.]

All these hunters had protections/precautions, did John do any of this in the motel rooms? Kai, yeah, he gave Dean a gun. No protection but a ten year old with a gun. 

Bickering + sexual tension. Dean looked at his mouth. He did this with Victor too. Dean had some realisations. He has the fanfiction oh moment. His physicality changes. Even aside from destiel, Cas is menacing. The backlighting. The shadows. Iga expected him to be goofy, but he’s a bit cosmic horror. It looks like Dean is struggling to look him dead on. Cas is the most powerful thing they’ve encountered, he burned people’s eyes out. He brought Dean out of hell, and Dean is permanently physically altered by that. Dean always has the wittiest comebacks, but he’s scared of Cas. In 4x01 they were all ~Cas is the new thing that we have to fight, but if he was, they’d be fucked. When Dean is waking up and Cas is in the background, it’s romantic framing. [And it was in a dream. Cas was inside Dean’s head. The power but the romance.]

God isn’t real, but if he is, why would he care about me? Because who does care about him? His father certainly doesn’t. King of low self-esteem. 

[In this episode we learnt that God is real, Lucifer is real, the apocalypse is coming. And we’re talking about John. Love this.] 

It’s season 4 and they’re already bringing in god and the apocalypse. Where the fuck do they do from here? [ha]

Are Lilith and Lucifer going to be a thing, or is she more like a devoted follower? Is Lucifer too up himself? 

Iga, I think Lucifer is going to be a nice guy (/gen). Kai, a man of the people, and not up himself (/hj). 

Sumner, when angels die do they come back? Do they respawn? They think angels regenerate, or respawn, or god brings them back… until they don’t want to any more? [no comment]. 

Re further reading. Kai, the in-character reading of this is that there was something questioning Dean’s masculinity, and he had to emphasise it a bit more. [He feels threatened, in more than one way.]  

Notes: Visiting student Sumner. 

[venusandapostles]

The principal looked critically at the teenagers sitting at her desk that morning. According to the teachers, the two had been fighting since the start of school, which led to the end of recess when the two got into a heated fight that ended with the older boy hitting his slightly younger classmate

— May I know why this fight between the two originated? — both teenagers did not say anything, the boy with black hair and tall stature for barely fourteen years old lowered his head in a sign of redemption --- I see, then I will definitely have to wait for his parents to come to my call — a grimace appeared on the beta boy's face

— You can't call my mother — the blonde boy expressed excitedly, the director looked at him — She's too busy to attend to this kind of unimportant things — he explained playing with his fingers

— Young Kang, I'm sure your mother will never be busy enough to come to a meeting with me when the problem is as serious as it is now, and I called her a few minutes ago and confirmed her arrival — the boy He puffed out his cheeks angrily — About you, Young Yoo --- the other teenager did not raise his head, he had not even looked at the director since he entered the room — I also called his father and him…. — the woman was interrupted

— My father needs to earn money to support me — the gaze never lifted — Madam Principal, please do not bother my father with the trouble I have currently caused, you can punish me by cleaning our classroom all year round and if you want my entire stay in this institution, but please do not bother my father — the director looked at the fourteen-year-old boy with a slight grimace

— I'm very sorry Mr. Yoo, but the rules of this school apply equally to everyone, so your father is also on the way, we will talk about his punishment later — the blonde-haired boy snorted indignantly — Now I will ask again, why did you two fight again? I have heard from many teachers that both of them do not usually get along in class and that they usually argue very often but I never thought that they would fight — the woman exclaimed excitedly — They can both have rivalry and want to fight but it is not the best solution for when We feel angry — the woman explained in a low voice

— It's not my fault, it's not my fault — the beta boy quickly declared — It's all his fault, he always walks around with that arrogant face thinking that he's better than everyone just because he was born damn dominant alpha. he despises everyone despite his origin and the fact that we all know the level of poverty in which his entire family lives — the director looked at the beta student with a little anger — Hump, my mother is one of the bosses of a food conglomerate, plus my father is the president of a multinational store on the most famous street in Korea, just because he was born alpha, that bastard has no right to believe himself better — exalting his voice he continued — You're a Poor bastard who lives off other people's scraps, you have no right to look at me. Besides, an orphan like you should not be in this school, now I understand why your mother died — the director seemed amazed by the speed of the impact of the seat as soon as the child got up

Eyes as black as the abyss were seen and the fist in the air was about to hit the poor beta child who opened his own eyes as big as the one who is amazed by the eclipse. He expected the worst, but it didn't come

The Joker who was wearing a dirty construction suit stopped his son's punch in the air with his right hand as the young teenager looked at him in surprise upon seeing his father's almost dead eyes

Yoo Jiho slowly lowered his fist at his father's gaze, the beta boy ran out of reach of father and son next to his mother who was observing everything from outside with a cold and annoyed view by the door. The director fixed her glasses and looked at them both

— I... — the voice stops, the Joker diverts his attention from his son and goes to the woman who was hiding a scared beta between her skirts

— I'm sorry for what my son caused — the cold voice echoes throughout the room. The omega woman whimpered in anguish

— There is no need to apologize, they are both teenagers and my son is not so innocent — the beta looked at his mother — I know his personality and I am not indifferent that he was the one who provoked this fight — I smile

— Mom — the blonde boy shouted. The principal looked at both parents in shock

— The two are expelled for two weeks, thank you it's just a simple expulsion with the whole scene they made in my office, they should be expelled for life — and then both parents along with their children were expelled from school

The omega woman put her son in the car where she slapped him several times after calling him rude and making him promise that the next time he saw that boy he would apologize for everything he said, the beta boy promised although she doubted he ever would again

Joker did not look at his son but began to walk softly, Jiho stayed behind his father without making a sound. The road was long until the usual apartment appeared before his eyes

Two figures were sitting at the table in the poor apartment as they shared a simple meal. Jiho looked crestfallen at the slightly worn floor as the Joker slowly ate the somewhat raw rice that his son had prepared for both of them

— He mentioned my mother, he deserved to be hit by me — the teenager explained even before his father asked, Joker didn't say anything — He can't talk about my mother so simply, no one can that's why I hit him to protect my mother's memory — Joker hasn't spoken yet — I hope you understand me — the crestfallen boy turned his attention to the ground

The silence was interrupted when the Joker stood up to put away the empty bowls. Jiho did not eat his food, but instead followed his father outside, where he usually sat smoking as dusk fell. Jiho sat next to him

— Can you at least say something? Scold me perhaps? — she asked in a dull voice — It would be nice — her serious look left

— What use would my scolding be? — Jiho looked at his father — Will he help you go back to school sooner? — he asked and Jiho denied

— I'm sorry dad. I promise not to fight again — he looked at the ground again although this time there was not something worn but a large sea of green grass

— Yoo Wooin never had as calm a personality as the other omegas, even with you in his womb, he fought with me every time I recommended him to finish Sabbath Crew — Jiho smiled, he kept a large collection of photos on his youngest mother's personal phone along with the other Sabbath Crew members — He never listened to me, not even when that night I asked him to return safely to me — smoke flew throughout the atmosphere, Jiho He thought about the date of his birth, the same date as his mother's death three days later

--- Maybe if I... --- Joker interrupted with a growl

— Wooin would never let you not be born, we were both so obsessed with your birth that we even planned to have more children when you were still in his womb — the image came to his mind — Wooin loved you very much from the first moment — a lonely look — I think he would have changed his whole world for you, like I did — Jiho didn't look at his father, there were some tears. in his eyes. Joker didn't say and got up — Buy her new flowers tomorrow, I talked to Red Glasses this morning and he told me that some idiot threw away the ones I gave him yesterday. Remember that he hates sunflowers — and the door closed

Jiho smiled softly. He would never tell anyone right now, but in the future he would make his mother proud by reestablishing the Sabbath Crew. It's his name, Yoo Jiho will become the number one street racer. Just watch him achieve it

The Joker frowned at the change in his son's expressions. Approaching the table next to the bed, he picked up the somewhat old portrait that he had forced Wooin to take on his first date

— Every day he looks more like you — and I leave him a soft kiss

[karlyanalora]

For Fiera:

alone

desire

failure

future

mask

secret

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

Fiera tends to spend her alone time roughing it like an animal. Literally. It’s easier to deal with loneliness if you have the animal instincts of a solitary creature running in the back of your mind. She’s spent a good deal of time devoid of human contact while traveling.

She’s quiet when she’s alone. She goes about her tasks efficiently. She’s either traveling to meet people or has some social interaction planned for later. She doesn’t make much sound at all unless she’s thinking about Dorcalon. Then she turns on his music.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

She wants to be a mother. She’s very open about that desire. Practically everyone who knows her knows this.

But the well-being of the child always comes first. She wants her child to have a father. She and Dorcalon could have adopted, but with the Skrull critically endangered as a species, she felt it was best for any Skrull orphans to have two Skrull parents. Adopting anywhere else would have been impossible for other reasons.

She knows the odds of her having her own child are very slim. But she’s alright with having this desire not met in this life.

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

Not being home when Dorcalon was attacked. Not being able to arrive in time to say goodbye in person. Her husband is dead and she could do nothing. She refuses to live through another heartbreak like that. If she ever remarries, she will not be parted from her husband’s side. She may be needed more elsewhere, but she will not leave him.

So, no, she hasn’t been able to move past it. Not really. And if you know where to look, you can see the symbols of her widowhood displayed in keeping with Skrull tradition.

future: What's the worst possible future for your OC? Are they taking steps to avoid that outcome? Are they even aware it's a possibility?

Heh. At present, she’s convinced she’s lived through the worst possible future.

Further down the road, she’ll become aware that a new possible worst exists. After all, she’s the matriarch of a major crime-fighting family. She can’t keep them all home and safe, so she’ll prepare them as best she can.

Losing them all would be the worst thing she could live through. She doesn’t think she could live through it. But it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

mask: Does your OC wear a mask, literally or figuratively? What goes on beneath it? Is there anyone in their life who gets to see who they are under the mask?

As a crimefighter, she does wear a mask. When she’s out in the field, she’s in Work Mode. No chit-chat, blank-faced, scare the crap out of crooks mode.

But outside of work, she’s very much her friendly self under the mask. It weirds other heroes out. But they get used to it. She’s no different when the mask is off. It’s more the information she shares that changes.

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

Fiera has a complicated relationship with the ocean. She’s got weird aging due to her Atlantean father, which comes up every once in a while. Since she exists in an MCU/DC crossover, that’s not entirely true. Atlantean implies Aquaman and folks.

The truth is her father was the second son of Talokan. His mother didn’t care if he lived or died since he was the unborn son of a Spanish Conquistador. Like Namor, Fiera’s father was also granted a long life, inhuman strength, and the ability to breathe in and out of water. However, he was treated as an outcast and eventually banished.

Fiera is terrified that if Namor learns of her existence and heritage, he will take issue with it. And she’s not wrong. No one besides her dead parents knows the truth.

From this ask game

[dulcewrites]

I’m dying for more of the Fools such in au. Do you have any more ideas/ thoughts you wanted to share about it? What was the moment Aemond realized he and Myrah might actually be happy together and vise versa?

Yes, I do have more thoughts! Thank you for asking First and foremost, I just recommend watching the movie (fools rush in) for anyone who hasn’t seen it. Not even just for this, mainly bc it’s one of my favs and I think others should watch if they haven’t 💀

Anyway onto the thoughts. I’m gonna try to do like a mini timeline of events I could see happening and hopefully that answers some things

Myrah and Aemond meet at a restaurant owned by Myrah’s aunt. In this cute little town right outside the city (where Aemond lives)

They instantly hit it off ofc, go back to Aemond’s hotel…. Baelor is conceived 😊. Myrah books it out of there in the morning before Aemond even wakes up

They go about their business for weeks till Myrah starts feeling tired a lot, and even feeling a bit sick. So she goes to the doctor. The checkup is going pretty normal till her doctor is suddenly like ‘congrats mama 🤭’ and myrah is just like ??? 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Myrah goes back and forth between even telling anyone and just getting an abortion is secret. But she breaks down one day to her mom bc she scared. Her parents are pretty traditional so ngl it does hurt their soul a bit that their young daughter is pregnant and won’t even tell them who the father is. Her aunt (who owns the restaurant) is like 👀 but also is like ‘girl if you want this baby dead I’ll drive you’

In the end, myrah ends up deciding to keep the baby. Then makes the decision to tell Aemond. Not bc she wants anything but more for him to know. She doesn’t want some guy showing up in 10 years like hmmm is that my kid. But she is nervous bc she knows how this looks. She knew very little about Aemond, or his family. But it takes one google search and she’s like ‘ofc he’s from one of those families’. She comes from a working class background. She can only imagine what his family would think about her

So, she shows up at [insert work place for Aemond I haven’t decided on]. Not super appropriate but she kind of has no other way to reach him.

He is confused to see her. She asks if they can get lunch, mainly bc she wants to tell him in front of people so he doesn’t act up lmao

Anyway he takes it… not great. He excused himself to go scream in the bathroom 😭. But when he comes back myrah reassures him she doesn’t want anything. This was a curtesy thing, and that she (and the baby) will be fine.

Aemond shocks her, and honestly himself, by asking if he can come to the first appointment. Myrah is halfway to saying no bc her parents advised her to cut ties cleanly especially if he doesn’t explicitly say he wants to be around permanately. But he looks so earnest so she says yes.

I sort of debated how I imagine Aemond telling his family, namely Alicent. Honestly I could see him jay blurting it out one night on the phone. Like ‘I’m having a kid’. Now this ofc shocks Alicent. Bc frankly, she thought if any kid would be making her a young grandma is Aegon. But she gives him sound advice about raising a child (especially while not being in relationship with the mom) is not easy. And if he’s not 100% in, he needs to leave them alone for their sake.

the thing that really pushes him to step up is viserys tbh. His father is so critical of him for this. Probably makes some disparaging comments about myah when he hears she’s essentially a struggling artist. Hinting at her doing this on purpose. And Aemond really can’t believe for a moment bc really??? Viserys targaryen has something to say about raising kids??? That’s rich. But then he remembers how clueless his father is so sure he would think he’s a great father/made good decisions and has room to talk

Anyway fast forward to the first appointment with the obstetric. I feel this appointment def lays the early stages of them being good for each other. It should be nerve wrecking and awkward, and don’t get me wrong some parts are, but he holds her hand and when they do the ultrasound he has that’s “their” baby in there.

When they leave, Aemond is very clear about wanting to make it work. Not just co-parenting but with myrah herself

Ok that was super long winded opening to their relationship. Anyway in terms of hiccups they may face. Aemond is a workaholic. Hard to curve and him and myrah butt heads a lot of what things are considered ‘important’ in life. It is understandable when you grow up in the family dynamic he did, that ideals in that department is murky. They both have to create appropriate boundaries before baby Baelor comes.

Moments they realize they could be happy together. For Aemond, the way she gels with his mom and siblings. Mainly Alicent. She also tells viserys and daemon to fuck off one night (she instantly feels guilty. Pregnancy hormones what can ya say) but Aemond loves her for it. Also when Baelor comes, Aemond sort of feels like his heart is bursting. For myrah, the fact that Aemond tries. She isn’t expecting perfection but nothing bothers her more than someone who dwells in their situation when they have the means/wherewithal to get better. Also he is very handson from the get go. One of her fav memories is him shooing her out of the apartment so him and Aegon could paint the nursery. As well decorating the nursery with him

[denimbex1986]

'Technical: 4.25/5

Andrew Haigh’s brooding All of Us Strangers relentlessly drives its viewers into the past. A fractured timeline and unreliable narrator spins reality into a hall of mirrors, testing one’s ability to drift into a headspace with no linear propulsion and an omnipresent sense of doom. But under the surrealism, the film impactfully conveys what it’s like to excavate one’s family history, open wounds and self-imagined reconciliations and all.

Viewers follow main character Adam (Andrew Scott), a London-based screenwriter who lives alone in a nearly empty tower that’s swanky but crushingly soulless. In this urban hermitage, Adam attempts to write a script that’s based on his own life, of having two parents who died in a car crash when he was 11 years old. He imagines what it would be like to have conversations as an adult with his dad (Jamie Bell) and mom (Claire Foy), both of who would be younger than him at their times of death. But the longer Adam transports himself into these staged conversations, lines increasingly blur between memory, fiction, and reality.

Gender: 2/5 Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE

The film clutches its conceit of a solitary man communing with his dead parents. The only other character of significance is Harry (Paul Mescal), Adam’s neighbor-turned-love-interest who serves to further splinter Adam’s mind. To that end, there’s very little focus on the only woman of significance in the film, Adam’s mom. Foy’s rendition of “Mum,” as she’s named in the credits, is understandably two-dimensional, as is Adam’s dad. They’re both projections of their son’s mind—static images of a heterosexual English couple circa the 1980s. Though Foy’s character does have incredible significance to Adam (of course she does, she’s his mum), there’s no exploration into her life and past, only into her relationship with her son.

Race: 1.75/5

All four main characters of this small cast are white. On the rare occasions Adam and Harry do venture out into London, whether riding the Underground or going to a nightclub, people of color appear in minor roles, but none of them have any dialogue.

Bonus for LGBTQ: +1.00

The 1987 novel that All of Us Strangers is based on, Taichi Yamada’s Strangers, originally features a straight protagonist. But the book’s themes of loneliness and an unhappy childhood lend themselves to a queer interpretation. Under the direction of Haigh, who’s openly gay, he makes the story his own, going so far as to shoot the film in his own childhood home just outside of London. In addition, it was important for him to cast a gay actor into the main role because “there's so much nuance [he] wanted to unpack … that [he] knew [he] had to choose someone that was of the same sexuality.” The results speak for themselves; film critic Erik Anderson says, “seeing [the father-son conversation] onscreen, feeling heard and understood, a vicarious experience can be a shockingly healing salve.”

Bonus for Disability: +1.00

The film harbors the deepest empathy for its characters who struggle with loneliness, depression, and substance abuse. But more than simply rendering them with kindness, Haigh goes one step further and puts viewers firmly in the shoes of Adam by normalizing the man’s conversations with his dead parents rather than treating it as psychosis. Unlike most films, which portrays any breaks from reality with fear and dread, you’ll find no wild camerawork here, nor minor characters looking warily at Adam from an outsider’s gaze. Even when Harry tells Adam he’d had a breakdown at the club the night before, yelling for his parents until Harry had to take him home, viewers are never privy to this side of Adam. We only see him as he sees himself—vulnerable and scared, yes, but perfectly human.

Mediaversity Grade: C+ 3.33/5

With just four characters to home in on, All of Us Strangers eschews breadth in favor of depth. It takes an incisive look at what it’s like to grow up as a gay cisgender white man in 1980s England and executes its premise brilliantly.'

[kristsingto]

There’s a part of I’m Tee Me Too that never fails to come back to me and annoy me on a fundamental level. And that’s because I don’t agree with what it’s saying.

Maetee’s storyline.

WARNING: Rant about some personal feelings.

Each of the characters living together has a name that includes “Tee” and a quirk to their personality that is explored in the series, typically for them, phobias (though I have difficulties generalizing it, because I don’t quite see all of them as phobias). But who I’d say has it worst of all in terms of it being debilitating for their life functioning is Maetee, who is afraid of ghosts.

At the beginning of episode 4, which explores Maetee’s character and develops his character arc, we see why Maetee is scared of ghosts.

He’s said to have been a “boy from hell.” Impossible to discipline or rein in. His mother tried many tactics (beatings, the hanger, etc.) but the only one that stuck and really terrified Maetee to stay in-line was that of ghosts.

As a side note — child Maetee singing Happy Birthday at a funeral is hilarious to me. What a small menace. I adore him.

Throughout the show, we’ve already seen how bad Maetee’s condition is as of now, as a university student. Maetee is unable to sleep alone, spends hours of his day panicked over ghosts, passes out when he thinks he’s seen a ghost, and is just generally always paranoid over the idea of ghosts. I’d wager that pretty much everyone has at some point been scared by a ghost story as a kid, or been teased by a parent/adult in their life with a story like the bogeyman. But in Maetee’s case, we can see it’s a lot more serious than for most people.

Maetee is terrified when he’s left alone at the house. Like, actually terrified the entire time. Of course, the scene ends up in a joke, when he passes out after seeing what he thinks is the ghost of someone he believes to be dead (Watee’s mother is who he thinks he sees, but it’s actually Watee’s aunt)

Here, we come to understand what the actual point of the episode is. It’s going to be about the mother.

Maitee’s mother is gone, and so is Watee’s, which is much more important. The entire emotional core of the show is about Watee moving on from his overwhelming grief after his mother passes away with the help of the other boys who move in with him. Parents are core to the emotional core of the story. Watee comes to connect with his step-brother (T-Rex) and father by the end of the series, and there’s a clear message. Value your parents.

But this storyline in particular shows how you can fuck up that message and make an unsatisfying storyline as a result.

Maetee’s mom comes to visit, and all she does is belittle and embarrass him in front of his friends. So he gets mad and tells her to leave. And she does.

The show wants you to feel bad for her.

Watee feels bad for her. In one of the first real scenes of the show where he’s good-spirited, he has a conversation with Maetee’s mom. And you know why Watee takes this situation so seriously. It’s because he’s lost his mother.

And I do get it. I get what the show wants to say. Value your parents, don’t be childish, and you could lose your parents anytime, so you should do your best while they’re around. But I’ve always hated this sentiment. You shouldn’t have to repress how you feel, or feel like shit because your parent is around, just because you’ll regret it later.

(Clearly, Watee has never met an abusive mother.)

The thing is that Maetee has a point, and it’s really clear. She is the reason that he’s terrified of ghosts to this extent and her attitude about it is awful. Maetee’s mom ridicules him for how he acts and constantly criticizes him.

Watee expresses envy towards having a mother who tells him off, but this is exactly how it is with people who don’t understand what having a bad relationship with your parents is like. Watee loved his mother. She made his life better. I don’t think this is true for Maetee’s mom, even if his mom is said to care.

She confesses (to Watee, not her son of course, because parents don’t do that with their kids!) that she worries that she may be the reason that Maetee is the way he is, and she feels guilty if so. But if that’s true, she sure as hell doesn’t express that to Maetee! And even if so, guilt isn’t going to fix anything. And sure, you can say that people mess up. People aren’t infallible, after all. But it doesn’t mean Maetee needs to simply forgive her.

His mom says she’s sorry through a text, but it doesn’t get to the core of the issue. It’s an apology for bothering Maetee. It makes you want to pity her. I don’t pity her. I don’t enjoy being told to pity a woman whose reaction to guilt was to criticize and ridicule her son. I don’t care if she does feel bad.

And I hate how the show guilt trips Maetee into forgiving her. Because that’s what it is. A lot of guilt tripping from the show to Maetee. Look at Watee, he lost his mom! Don’t you feel guilty for not being happy with your mom when Watee is still grieving his? Look, your mom is acting all pitiable. She’s guilty, she just doesn’t show it! None of this should be why Maetee would forgive his mom. I think it can be empowering for a character to keep a parent who hurt them in their life — when the character comes to that decision honestly. And I didn’t get that feeling from this series. I got the feeling that Maetee was just expected to value his mom because she’s his mom.

You’ll regret it when she’s dead! It’s a sentiment said a lot. You’ll regret it. It’s always put on the child to regret it moreso than the parent to regret the actions that led them there. Because they’re your only parent! That’s what people say. But why is that special? Does that give a parent a right to hurt you? To be a negative influence on your life? Why is not wanting a parent to overstep boundaries framed as something to be guilty about?

Culturally, parents are people you’re told to have to value. People to respect. They’re your parents, they love you. That must be obvious. Some people treat it like a fact of life. But I have two things to say to that. Sometimes, parents don’t love their children. But more importantly here, and to me, love doesn’t make a parent good.

Forgiving your parents shouldn’t be expected. If you do it, I respect you, but I hate how media often frames it. Sometimes, not forgiving your parents is just as strong and important to someone as forgiving them and trying to reconcile. But this episode of I’m Tee Me Too doesn’t seem to have space for that interpretation. And that’s always stayed in my head.