#by lying about something that will easily be disproven in about a year

[deepfriedpaddymayne]

ok so to clear everything up and also give this some context, the short version is that I got in touch with the person who runs the Daily César Domboy fan account (here on instagram, and here on twitter), who has spoken to César himself about Rogue Heroes season 2, and he confirmed that unfortunately his character, as well as the few remaining Frenchmen, have all been written out and will not be coming back for s2.

While I couldn't get TOO much detail, the reason for this was apparently script changes, so it does seem that he was initially supposed to have a storyline for s2 which had to be taken out for whatever reason. apparently César is not planning to make an announcement, so I think this is as close to official confirmation as we are gonna get until, y'know, the season actually airs and he's not there lmao.

so, yeah, in short,

[ceterisparibus116]

Frank has lied to Karen and even put her in explicit danger by using her as bait in the diner to lure out the Blacksmith's men and lied to her by omission by not disclosing his plans. That's worse than any other shit Matt did so? Easily disproves one of your talking points about how "fRaNk nEveR LiEd tO hEr" 🤪 goofy

Normally, I don't consider it productive to engage with someone who...talks like this...but I do think it's interesting to compare Frank's lies vs Matt's lies.

[First, pro tip: if you're going to say a person's point is "easily disproven," it helps to articulate that point correctly. I never said Frank "never" lied to her; I said: "Frank (for the most part) did neither of those things [lied to her nor put her on a pedestal]." I'm conceding that Frank did lie to her, but suggesting that his relationship with her was not marked by lies the way Matt's relationship with her was. Misrepresenting someone's point like this is called a "straw man fallacy." I encourage everyone who's unfamiliar with the idea to look it up!]

Let's talk about the lies. Frank totally lied to Karen and used her as bait, which I (as a viewer) find pretty horrific. And is that "worse" than Matt's lies? If the metric we use to determine "worse" is "which endangers Karen more," then I think Frank did directly endanger her more than Matt did.

But we have to look at this from Karen's perspective, and I don't think the metric she's using is "which lies endanger me more." Frankly, Karen doesn't much care about danger. She cares about Capital-T Truth. She cares about trust. She cares about honest relationships. And by that metric, I think yes, she believes that Matt's lies are "worse."

I believe this for the reasons listed below, but also because it strikes me that her reactions to Frank's lies vs Matt's are quiet different. Like, was she mad that Frank lied to her? Absolutely. But when I watch it, I don't get the impression that she was hurt.

Mad is not the same as hurt.

With Frank, she was mad.

With Matt, she was mad and hurt.

Why? For several factors.

Depth/intimacy of the relationship. She'd known Matt for over a year (I think; timelines are weird) by the time she realized he'd been lying to her. Not only that, but she'd been working with him for that whole time period. Not only that, but she'd had a crush on him for probably that whole time period (or close to it) (which I bring up because a crush is one surefire way to make a relationship feel intimate, maybe even more intimate than it really is). Not only that, but their relationship was fairly intimate. From the very beginning, he invited her to ask him some very personal questions about his blindness, and she was depending on him to keep her out of jail. Then we have him literally falling apart and sobbing in her arms. Talk about intimate! And not only that, but they also literally dated and she invited him to her apartment to have sex, let's be real. So when Matt lies to her, it's not the same as a guy she's known for a few weeks whom she wants to rescue the way you want to rescue a lost puppy lying to her. This is her coworker, her best friend, and her would-be partner lying to her.

Scope of the lies. The scope of Matt's lies runs deep. A) Him lying (by omission) about his senses clearly hits Karen very hard. It feels like a massive invasion of privacy. Now, I've argued before that it's unfair for characters to punish Matt for something he can't control, and I've also argued that Matt is not required to reveal his senses to anyone. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't still hurt (and shock, and even offend) people to realize that he could smell their breath and hear their heartbeat this entire time. B) He's lying about a huge part of his life and personality. Frank's very up front: he might lie about goals and tactics, but when it comes to who he is as a person, what you see is what you get. Whereas Matt presents himself (as Matt) as a very buttoned-up, reasonable, conscientious, safety-oriented, controlled person...the very opposite, in many ways, of Daredevil. C) Matt's lying about things that could have huge direct consequences for Karen (and Foggy) - namely, their law firm falling apart and Karen and Foggy possibly going to prison. D) Matt lied more to Karen than he did to another person. I don't think Karen's reaction to Elektra was primarily jealousy per se; I think instead she's like: "You won't share this part of my life with me, but you will with Elektra." Not dissimilar to how Foggy was mad about Claire knowing more about Daredevil than he did. It just hurts to find out that your friend has chosen to reveal things to someone else, rather than you.

What the lies say about how the other person views Karen. What does it say about how Frank views Karen that he'd lie to her the way he did? Ehhhh. I guess that he didn't want her getting in the way of his plans? Maybe he thought she couldn't handle something, and that would annoy her? But with Matt, wow, we know exactly how she thought Matt felt about her, based on the lies. She says: "Why didn't you trust me? What, did you think I would judge you?" To her, Matt's secret-keeping was proof that he didn't trust her (ouch) and that he fundamentally misunderstood her by believing she'd judge him when she prides herself on finding the humanity in those others would condemn.

All of these factors show why when Matt lied to Karen, she wasn't just pissed off. She was hurt. Matt's lies struck deep in a way that Frank's didn't.

And listen. I say all this as a giant Karedevil fan. I don't ship Kastle at all. In fact the argument from the first factor (that Karen was so hurt by Matt's lies because of the intimacy of their relationship) is, to me, a pro-Karedevil argument.

But being a fan of a ship doesn't mean we can't evaluate it critically. Evaluating all things critically is one of the aims of my blog.

So, dear Anon, if you're still reading this far (which I kinda doubt lol), I hope this made sense. But if you're just going to send me another ask misstating my positions and calling my position "goofy," then into the trash it shall go!

[rockturbot]

do u think manfred was being truthful about the granddaughter and her dog thing? If so, do u think he had a bond with her at all?

I can't see him lying about something that could be so easily disproven. So - yes and yes! She and her dog are real, and I think that out of everyone in his family, she was the one who was the most devastated he was arrested and sentenced to death. She was only 7 years old. She didn't understand why her grandfather, who everyone including herself agreed was perfect, was now suddenly supposed to die. :( I think this greatly influenced her eventual career as a prosecutor herself, too. She's probably the only von Karma to never seek the death penalty in her cases.

[pegasusknightsonly]

i have to put something here to make the cut work

just saw someone say that Felix and Dimitri "were best friends". now. come on. that is literally not true. Felix and Sylvain? probably friends. Felix and Ingrid? no. Felix does not befriend women. but Felix and Dimitris support establishes that pre-academy Felix and Dimitri had not spoken for over two years and that Felix mostly knew Dimitri via Glenn, who was close enough to Dimitri that his death was emotionally devastating for Dimitri. Felix and Sylvain's support establishes that Felix spent more time with Sylvain than he did Dimitri, because Dimitri was so often with Glenn. Dimitri and Ingrid mostly talk about Glenn! Ingrid compares Glenn and Felix and Dimitri turns the conversation back to just Glenn!!!! it is in fact explicitly stated multiple times that Dimitri was much, much closer to Glenn than he ever was to Felix and that Felix and Ingrid mostly knew Dimitri *via Glenn* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

actually im going to sidebar here i just read Felixs supports with Ingrid Dimitri and Sylvain to see if i was actively losing in my mind in remembering the game specifically establishing that Felix and Dimitri were never emotionally close and he is so fucking unpleasant. none of those were fun to read. he's not even just being blunt or being unintentionally rude he is constantly, deliberately, putting other people down and insulting them and belittling them. he is capable of being nice to people! he's nice to Annette and to Flayn and to Lysithea and to Bernadetta and he really likes Leonie (good taste) but he is so fucking genuinely vile to Ingrid and Dimitri and Sylvain that i forget that he can be civil to people and i want him to die. "best friends". you are huffing paint milord

sidebar sidebar: (in a monotone, as if reciting this from cue cards) the "faerghus four" is a fandom invention based on misreading and extrapolating the actual text of the game in order to diminish the importance of the relationship between Dimitri and Dedue. it is made very clear at multiple points that Dimitri's actual close friends were Glenn, who is dead, and Dedue. (normal voice intonation resumes) DONT GET ME WRONG i dont think fe16 fandom needs another white man to prioritise and i see far too much of Glenn as is but the fact that his absence is so crucial to all of Dimitri's pre-existing relationships *except with Dedue who is the only person he knew pre-academy who does not remind Dimitri of Glenn* is not, like, accidental!!! the text of the game is right there!!! you can read the exact words from the script right here on the internet at houses.fedatamine.com !!!!!!

stop lying!!!!!!!!! Felix and Dimitri were not "best friends"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stop fucking lying about something so easily disproven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! check for open solvents in your room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[grace13star]

There’s been a recent uptick in posts claiming that “c!Wilbur is a worse villain than c!Dream” or that he’s “more manipulative” and it’s made me think a lot about just....how villainized Wilbur is? Because while he has done bad things, I’ve seen people just making things up or projecting onto him and making him just. so much worse than he is in canon. 

Again, this is all about the characters in the Dream SMP roleplay and are not the actual people. 

Let’s go over the bad things Wilbur is accused of doing. These are arguments I have actually seen people use and defend with their whole chest. 

1. Created a nation. 2. Sell drugs. 3. Talk about rigging an election. 4. Was a dick. 5. Blew up a nation. 6. Died. 7. Manipulation. 8. Neglectful dad. 9. Child soldiers. 10. Dictator. 11. “Threw a fit” over losing. 

Let’s talk about these and break them down a little. Another disclaimer, this isn’t trying to excuse any hurt that Wilbur has caused, because his actions did cause harm, but this is trying to explain and add context to things that are often taken out of context or just wholly misinterpreted.

1. A common argument for why this makes Wilbur evil is that he “stole Dream’s land.” But like...no. L’Manberg was created on untouched land where no one was living, and had a combined area smaller than Purpled’s garden. Dream, until he declared war, didn’t even care about them making their nation. 

I’m also including in here the claim that he “turned Dream into a villain.” ....What are you talking about. Before Wilbur was even on the server, Dream was part of the disc war, where he stole Tommy’s discs, and then kept perusing them even after the initial conflict ended, including griefing Tommy’s lawn. Before war was declared, Dream and his friends kidnapped and killed Tubbo and Tommy. Dream then also declared war on a peaceful nation (Wilbur said “if they try to declare war we will just say ‘no’”). None of that was in any way forced by Wilbur. Dream made his decisions on his own. Just because someone comes in and says “hey you suck,” doesn’t mean you have to actually suck. Dream made his own decisions, and his decision was to become a villain. 

2. Potions (drugs) are an infinite resource in Minecraft and everyone uses them. This is a stupid argument. 

3. Some people act like he actually did rig the election but...he didn’t. He definitely could have! Quackity wasn’t a citizen of L’Manberg, Wilbur could have banned him from the election easily, especially since his running mate was a previous enemy of L’Manberg. But he let him run, and then he let Fundy and Schlatt run as well. The worst he did here was talk about doing something bad. Also the reason he was trying to consolidate power wasn’t just for the sake of having power. There was, at the time, a civil war going on, and Wilbur tried to stop it but no one listened to him. He wanted the power to be able to protect his citizens and stop a war. 

4. Being a dick is not evil.

5. This is by far the worst thing Wilbur did, and though it hurt a lot of people emotionally, it really wasn’t as bad as everyone says it was. Though the explosion caused property damage, it only destroyed the podium and some of the walkway. People’s actual houses- Manifoldland, Niki’s bakery- were totallu untouched. No one even died in the explosion- the worst thing that happened was Quackity being blown back, but he landed in water. (This isn’t to say that characters shouldn’t be hurt by this! Wilbur betrayed them and definitely hurt them, but people acting like the 16th was worse than Doomsday and also blaming Wilbur for Doomsday even though he was dead is weird.)

There’s also the claim that Wilbur blew it up for the sole purpose of hurting people, which is easily disproved by just...watching a Wilbur stream. Like seriously, stop trying to do analysis on Wilbur if you haven’t even watched his streams. Wilbur had multiple chances to blow everything up, but when he had the choice between blowing it up and hurting people or not hurting people and not blowing it up, he chose the latter every time. At the festival, while Tubbo was trapped on the stage, he stopped going for the button. When Tommy and Quackity were in the button room which would have exploded if he pressed it, he refused. Also I’m gonna use the Reddit post that’s confirmed canon again- Wilbur blew up L’Manberg because he saw how much power it had, and he saw how it hurt people. He tried to destroy it to save everyone from the pain and conflict caused by the nation. He didn’t think they would rebuild. 

6. This one is the one that actually makes me angry. Because guys....Wilbur’s death was a suicide. If Phil wasn’t there, Wilbur would have done it himself- he had been planning to do it himself for months, as there was originally TNT in the button room that would have killed him with the explosion. The reason it makes me angry is because suicide is an extremely serious topic. Characters and the fandom framing it as “Wilbur left or abandoned them” is an ableist take that enforces the stereotype that suicide is a “weak” option or that it’s “running away.” 

There’s also people that will villainizing him for “forcing Phil to kill him” but while I empathize with Phil and realize it was a stressful situation, Phil very much made his own decisions here too. Wilbur didn’t force Phil to kill him, he asked him a few times and then Phil did it. 

7. Again, this is not an attempt to excuse, but an attempt to explain. So first of all, people try to claim that Wilbur was manipulative from the beginning. This is false. Persuasion and making sure someone is “loyal to a cause” is not manipulation. And then Pogtopia- he’s never manipulative in Pogtopia, again, he is only persuasive. I have a longer post that goes into more detail, so definitely check that out. After he is revived, he is definitely guilt tripping Tommy in his most recent stream, but (again, not an excuse) it’s clearly from his desperation to not be alone anymore after 13 years of near constant isolation. 

I’ve also seen claims that Wilbur manipulated Techno and that Techno didn’t know they were planning on starting another government, but this is easily disproven by the fact that Wilbur said multiple times that they’re “taking back L’Manberg” and that he wants to be it’s “rightful ruler” again while Techno was in vc. What about that implies they’re not going back to the government. 

Also since this is relevant- he never manipulated Niki. He was always kind and caring with Niki, even through his mental breakdown. He wasn’t able to bring her into Pogtopia at first, but he talked to her and made sure she’d be okay there (and she said yes!), he offered his life for hers at the festival before hitting people around them and yelling at her to run, she was the first person he gave Blue to, he gave her an inspirational speech and showed her the fox that had been left for her, she was one of the few things Ghostbur remembered. He betrayed and hurt her, but it was not manipulation.

Gonna combine this with this point also but Wilbur was not in any way abusive. A lot of people in this fandom for some reason equate “unhealthy relationship” with “abuse”, especially after the exile arc. Wilbur and Tommy’s relationship, while unhealthy, was not abusive. Please learn the difference. 

Also, if you’ve ever said that “Wilbur gaslit anyone” or that Wilbur is “insane” I want you to define those terms for me right now. No looking anything up. Tell me what they mean. Do it.  

8. What about any of Wilbur and Fundy’s dynamic implies any kind of neglect. No, seriously, where did this take come from. Wilbur was canonically overbearing and he babied Fundy. While it definitely wasn’t the best relationship, it definitely wasn’t neglectful. The only times in canon we’ve seen Wilbur be separated from Fundy was when he was exiled and Fundy cheered while he was shot and killed, when Fundy disowned him in front of their enemy, and when he committed suicide. Even before his death, when they were still on rocky terms, Wilbur stepped forward to defend Fundy from Schlatt in the van. 

9. This take is irrelevant. Child soldiers don’t matter. For one, this is Minecraft. Every single person has equal opportunities. Anyone can become powerful no matter what age they are as long as they grind enough. For another thing, at the beginning part of the roleplay no one was trying to make a long serious story about war and trauma, it was just some friends fucking around and fighting each other. Wilbur also revealed that while writing the Revolution arc that he headcanoned Tommy and Tubbo to be about 20- we know these ages aren’t correct because they’ve been reffered to by their irl ages in lore- but it shows that the “these are children” plot point was added way later- no one mentions it at all in season 1. It doesn’t matter. 

10. This is directed at one person. You know who you are. 

A dictator is defined as “one holding complete autocratic control : a person with unlimited governmental power.” Wilbur didn’t have control. That’s the whole reason for the election. It literally takes one google search to prove you wrong. 

11. There’s a difference between “losing” and “being unfairly exiled by your political opponent who is now declaring himself emperor.” Wilbur was totally fine with losing. He said during the election that he was fine with Quackity winning, and when they actually did lose, though he wasn’t happy about it, he encouraged Tommy to calm down and told him “We’re citizens tonight.” He only “threw a fit” after he was thrown out of the nation he built by someone who immediately declared himself emperor. 

So in conclusion, Wilbur Soot is an antagonist, but he is villified way beyond canon and I’m getting tired of some of these takes that I see over and over again that are easily disproved by just using critical thinking skills. 

This is most of the takes I’ve seen- some I haven’t even dignified with a response because of how clear it is that someone is just lying to try and excuse someone else’s actions- but if anyone has anymore they’ve seen that they want me to talk about, my ask box is open. 

[insnapescorner]

Anti snape folks will constantly remind us, as if we are four year olds who don't already know, that having a sad backstory doesn't make joining a hate group okay.

But if the people condescending to us about Sad Backstories fully understood the truth of the statement, there'd be no need to distort or lie about what the Sad Backstory actually was, and in fact, doing so is counterproductive.

You see, when you engage in easily disproven lies about something, it leaves opportunities for you to be caught in, well, lies.

If people haven't gotten past the black-and-white thinking stage of our lives, we tend to overcorrect. We tend to assume someone caught in a lie must be wrong about everything else, too. Which, by the way, is why widespread scaremongering about anything, always backfires once it's disproven, and causes at least some people to not take the real risks seriously.

In lying about the Sad Backstory, it creates a completely unnecessary risk that people will get caught in "you're wrong about X, so you must be wrong about Y" thinking about Snape's backstory.

[cornholio4]

Terms of En-Rampagement II

I honestly don’t like the fics subset of another character being the biological father of Marinette but I thought fo this idea on Twitter, thinking I may treated it as crack not to be taken seriously. There is some influence here from Supervillain Backstabber by quicksilversquared.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng always knew that her dad wasn't her biological father, but it didn't matter to her as Tom Dupain was the best dad that she could ever ask for. However when the subject of her biological father was brought up, her mother never had anything positive to say about him.

Sabine Cheng had only said that between her and Marinette's biological father was a fling when she and Tom had temporarily split up while dating. Just before they got back together and through her life Marinette never sees her mother as angry as she was whenever she was ranting about what happened between her and Marinette's biological father after their one night fling. Marinette could never get the full details but she was sure she didn't want to get the full details since they involved her father turning out to be a complete jerk (the nicest way that Sabine had put it), Sabine being knocked out after an accident and waking up to almost being buried alive!

Marinette could never blame her mother for not wanting to bring him back, especially after hearing that detail.

Plus her mother would really be tense whenever she apparently reminded her of him, if she lost track of a joke she was going to make and muttered "wait, I had something for this..." Whenever there was Top Gun airing on the TV and when she started getting into the song Highway to the Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins after Nino played it for one of his parties.

She admitted that at night she would overhear rants Sabine would give to Tom whenever someone asked about Marinette's biological father (mostly by Tom's mother and Marinette's grandmother Gina) she managed to get the name 'Sterling Archer'.

Any desire for details about her biological father had been left aside as she had bigger problems, like having to stop Hawk Moth's Akumas as Ladybug and balancing her Superhero life with her normal one.

One night after taking care of an Akuma she found masked people tailoring them and managed to take them down when they found her going to her home. She had then tied up with her yoyo and interrogated them. It turned out they were CIA agents from the US, sent in undercover to try and retrieve the source of the French Superhero powers for the US government. She shook her head as the two agents were embarrassed about being defeated by a teenage girl. She made them promise to not to come back and keep any secrets they found out secret plus to tell their superiors to never try that again or else she will make it known that the CIA were here in France.

What an international incident that would become.

The man grunted and the woman was being embarrassed about backing down to threats from a teenage superhero. Marinette warned them to make themselves scarce before anyone comes out especially since her family the Dupain-Chengs owned this bakery. Then the man called Archer by the woman grunted about knowing a woman with the surname Cheng 14 years ago when he had an assignment there, what they had between them one night and the woman Lana shouted at him not to say this in front of the girl.

Marinette was shocked and open mouthed at this and did not move as she was transformed back into civilian with Tikki next to her, the two agents jumping at the floating red and black spotted bug but otherwise concerned about what was wrong with Marinette. "My name is Marinette and my Mum knew a Sterling Archer..." Marinette told them with Archer's mouth open in shock and Lana shaking her head as they had obviously realised where this was going.

"I think I'm your daughter." Marinette told them and Archer was open mouthed. Marinette told them by as she transformed again to sneak into her room but before the agents left Lana gave Marinette an email if she wants to contact them.

She mostly went back to normal but the thought of having a way to contact her biological father made her wonder and deciding wanting to know about him was what she wanted to do. She would keep this from her parents especially since she didn't know how her mother would react as well as having to explain how she came across them in the first place.

She contacted Archer by emails and as it turned out he was a tough secret agent which she thought was cool (though apparently terrible at most parts of his job, especially the 'secret' part) and currently she was working under the remnants of the spy agency run by his mother Mallory (from the descriptions even her grandfather Roland would find Mallory unpleasant) and was now part of the CIA under the supervision of Agent Slater. They were not pleased that the mission was a failure and was thwarted by a teenager.

Archer told her about his adventures and Marinette thought that she was sure that most had to be made up or embellished. Plus he did sound kind of unpleasant but it felt nice getting to know her biological father (like trying to say that he helped cover up the death of the Prime Minister of Italy?). He told her about how the agency his mother set up was never actually sanctioned by the US Government so they had to spend a year as a cartel (which apparently they were even worse at than even spying) before joining up with the CIA.

Plus she was told about her half-sister Abbiejean along with a photo sent to her, she was already thinking if she can meet up when they were older then she can make some designs for her.

She talked about her friends, helping out with designing for celebrities like Jagged Stone and a band featuring her classmates called Kitty Section. Plus with help from advice that he had gotten Lana (apparently he knew that any love advice that he would come up for her would be terrible) she managed to ask out her friend Juleka's brother Luka (who she had wanted to try pursuing after given up on her crush on Adrien) and they were now dating.

She didn't know why she decided to go as far as she did but she admitted problems with bullying from classmates; her lifelong bully Chloe Bourgeois who she trusted as a Superhero ally and seemed like she was trying to be nicer only to decide that she preferred being selfish and that the idea of not being Queen Bee anymore being worth joining with Hawk Moth. Then there was Lila Rossi who had her classmates enthralled with ridiculous lies that were easily disproven and made her out to be jealous for pointing them out.

Then she got the response saying that Lana would kill him if she knew what he was going to suggest to her. She was told about how he was a breast cancer survivor before it went into remission (freaking her out and causing her to send messages making sure he was alright) and how he was sold phony cancer drugs and made a home movie of his revenge rampage against those responsible.

He suggested that she made a sequel.

Against all common sense and advice from Tikki, she thought she would try it, using cameras she got footage of both Lila and Chloe jumping to catch Akumas with audio of them taking the deals. Especially with Lila being excited about taking down Ladybug and Chat Noir and Chloe making Hawk Moth promise they can retrieve her Bee Miraculous. She would go down and fight the Akumas along with Chat Noir.

Once she had enough evidence, she contacted Max, Nino and Alya wanting their help with them jumping for chance.

She had Nino filming with his camera and Alya filming love for the Ladyblog as came into their hiding location were two smug looking Chloe and Lila who looked confused when they noticed and recognised eachother. She had gave them separate messages in person with her lying to Chloe about wanting to negotiate giving her back the Bee Miraculous this time full time and Lila about wanting to make peace with her about before and giving her the Fox Miraculous.

They were both put into the cage traps that Marinette set up for them as she as Ladybug greeted the cameras "Hello Paris, I hope that you can join me today as this will be the day that Hawk Moth will be defeated for good and we will start with his two civilian accomplices!"

She then had both cameras playing the footage collected with her two friends shocked and stunned by what she had done. Lila snapped and shouted "you stupid false Superhero! I can't believe that i wasted my time convincing people that we were best friends, you were too much of a goody good and I wish that Hawk Moth beat you on Heroes Day! To use Volpina to play everyone for saps!"

"You lied to me! You told me that I was your best partner... this is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" Chloe ranted as Marinette made sure to include the news footage of her not even bothering to deny that she purposefully set a train to fail on her Superhero debut.

"Marinette was right all along, if only she knew how bad Lila really was..." Alya was close to crying as Nino comforted her. Marinette told them that they needed to bring Hawk Moth down at his lair.

She had a plan for it too, Archer had told her about how Cyril got a Pirate Virus stuck into the agency's computers in a stupid attempt to solve it and redeem his reputation as a loser. She asked if he had a copy of the virus to send to her.

At the Agreste Mansion she had them sneak to the side as she had Max use Markov to hack into the computer systems at the top and insert the Virus. There was Chat Noir appearing asking what they were doing when they heard missiles going off at the top. The two Heroes (along with Markov who had a camera to record live for the Ladyblog) at the top as in the lair up there was Hawk Moth and Mayura trying to fight the out of control missiles and lair. They were unprepared for the Heroes taking them down and taking the Miraculous away reveal Gabriel Agreste (seems that the Collector was a trick) and Nathalie Sancoeur much to Adrien Agreste's shock.

The police came after seeing the Ladybug feed and the sound of the missiles and were there to arrest Gabriel and Nathalie. Ladybug went to the camera and shouted "Booyakasha!"

Chloe and Lila were taken in to be investigated as well due to the footage as well as look into what they had been doing at Francois Dupont. Marinette's class were in hysterics to hear that Lila's mother had denied pretty much every story and trip that Lila had told her and so her claims of disabilities plus trips were being investigated. Also were Chloe's bullying going on at the school and this was causing trouble for her father the Mayor. The school was closed for the foreseeable future.

The classmates were contacting Adrien to make sure he was alright after finding out his father was Hawk Moth.

Marinette had the filmed footage made into a movie called Terms of En-Rampagement II and now as Ladybug she had Chat Noir, all the Kwamis besides (Tikki & Plagg) and all their former temporary Miraculous allies (besides Chloe of course) come by at a screen in a remote location every Friday to watch it since then. That was months ago it started.

Ladybug had the ending rewinded and everyone assembled simultaneously and unenthusiastically shouted "Booyakasha!" along with Ladybug in the footage. "My Lady, when can we stop as I didn't think I would get sick of watching Hawk Moth's downfall when it happens but after all this time, I have gotten sick of watching it!" Chat Noir complained with everyone else there in agreement.

"I worked so hard to make Terms of En-Rampagement II so we are going to watch it and celebrate the downfall of Paris' Supervillain." Marinette told them firmly with her arms crossed.

"Please Ladybug, I have a girlfriend and I had been wanting to have a Friday night date with her for the longest time and you making us watch this has dampened this song I want to sing." Pleaded Luka as Marinette was tempted but remained firm.

"Seriously, we should get Marinette over here. She is a brilliant friend and I think she would be a great positive influence for you." Kagami spoke up with mutterings of agreement from the others. Marinette was silent as the Kwamis watched wanting to see how Marinette spoke her way out of this.

"Yes My Lady, bring in Marinette. Why haven't you brought her in before anyway, she was Multimouse." Chat Noir spoke up causing questions about that and Marinette was silent.

There was another camera there sending the feed back to the office where Sterling Archer, Lana Kane and their co-workers were watching having been informed that one of Archer's illegimate daughters was the French Superheroine they failed to capture the power source of. Archer was beaming with fatherly pride as Mallory muttered "as if the first movie wasn't bad enough..."

[incognito-lionbeast]

Full disclosure, I don’t think that this is likely to be true, but it is my silly headcanon/AU(?) & I’m sticking to it. ANYWAY! I wanted to explain my last post RE: Joker & Maki being siblings (because I wasn’t kidding)

This started out ‘cause I thought Maki’s older brother, Takigi, looked like an Older/AU version of teenage Joker--dark hair, purple eyes, similar face shape. So, I was like “What if they're related?” Either as a (conveniently) missing Eldest Sibling that their parents don’t talk about or... something. Wasn’t really sure.

For one, Joker’s parents weren’t specifically said to have died. It’s only mentioned that he was abandoned. So, hypothetically, they COULD still be alive, and Maki’s parents feel like the type who’d have a few skeletons in their closet. So, why not? Maki would have only been maybe 1-2 at the oldest when he was left behind (so she probably wouldn’t remember Joker), and Takigi is... Takigi. I wouldn’t call him a super great person. So, I wagered he would have went along with their secret, whatever it was.

Originally, I was satisfied with this, because it’s a silly crack theory for the sake of having one. I just thought it was fun concept, but then... I decided to say To Hell With It & dig myself into an even deeper Conspiracy pit to fill in plot-holes.

...and generally just get a little silly. I’ll put this under a cut, because it’s peak Tinfoil Hat Hours. But damn if I didn’t try.

So, this primarily came from wanting to answer “But how do you explain away missing an entire 10+ year-old child?” (and for that matter, explaining why they “abandoned” him in the first place) -- the easy answer to the first one is just saying that he died, but that’s not fun. That’s not what I’m here for.

I didn’t outright want to make Madoka & Danrou uncaring/assholes (even if Danrou is kinda invalid imo), and... frankly, I wanted their relationship to be at least somewhat salvageable. Mulling that over, I couldn’t immediately come up with an elegant solution, but I kept getting drawn back to Joker as a “problem” child. Not necessarily a bad kid, but one that made himself a nuisance to the image/reputation of his Notable/High-Ranking Military Parents... and to the Oze’s staff.

--which is a problem, because it’s shown that Joker/52 was already pretty capable from a relatively young age. Emulating his parents, perhaps? Either way, his misbehaving wasn’t really malicious (likely a cry for attention from his otherwise too-busy parents), but it was enough to Overcompensate for. :)

So! Through being somewhat misled by outside parties and Not Good at handling children, the decision is made to send him off to the Church--something ostensibly temporary--in hopes that they can straighten him out. Except, the Church didn’t want to give him back. Joker is, in some way, exceptional & while I suppose some of that definitely comes later from his brush with Adolla... :)

Though, luckily! Guess who has access to all the orphans they could possibly hope for? It’s the Church, and what orphan wouldn’t jump at the chance to go home to a loving family? even if it meant lying just a little..? :)

TL;DR like I said before, Joker is Maki’s real older brother... and I meant that literally. He is the real Takigi Oze, replaced by a convincing (enough) doppelganger... who’s just off enough to make his parents feel guilty/protective of their other child.

(Also, I generally believe that Joker has more-or-less forgotten what his family was like & what his name was. Trauma/being in a cult does things to you...)

I doubled down on this silly crack theory, because it’s fun & I just... I enjoy the drama of it--even though it’d be easily disproven if they decided to give us a shred of information about like. either Joker or the Oze family’s backstory (which I’m not confident that they will, so teehee. mine now)

If nothing else, this is my Canon Divergent AU. I’m having fun.

[otpnessmess]

Big Brother Jasonette please?

Hi! Sorry it took me some time to answer but I hope you like this! I assumed you meant Jasonette in a platonic way, if you didn’t I’m sorry because that’s what I went with. - Lis

-

Marinette was bouncing slightly on her seat, waiting for the class to finally let out. She had tried to be discreet but judging by Chloé’s constant glances, she wasn’t succeeding at all. 

“What’s with you, ma chéri? Got a toad under your shirt?” The blonde finally caved in and asked near the end of the lesson. 

“Jason is visiting for the weekend and said he would pick me up after class. I haven’t seen him in person for months and I miss him so much!” She whispered back to her girlfriend with a gigantic grin on her face. 

Jason Todd and Marinette Dupain-Cheng were siblings in all but blood. They met when the young girl had been accompanying her parents on a trip to Gotham, and made good friends while their parents spoke about the party her family was chosen to prepare the catering for. The two teenagers had spent the rest of the week joined at the hip, wandering the streets of the city almost every day since Jason wanted to show Mari everything he loved about his city. Since at the time Jay was 18 while Marinette was only 13, he proclaimed himself her new big brother, something she told him she had wanted all her life. 

Unfortunately, the Dupain-Chengs had to fly back to Paris after the event was done, but that didn’t mean the newly formed friendship had to vanish. Through the years they kept close contact using video calls and messages every day, even managing to see each other in person every two or three months when Marinette flew to Gotham or Jason to Paris (courtesy of Bruce’s jet).

It was safe to say they were as close as you could get with someone you weren’t dating, so much so that he was the very first person the girl revealed her Ladybug identity to. 

She was about to get crushed by the pressure of keeping the secret on her own while having to deal with Lila and her former friends, as well as having to perform in class and finishing commissions. It had been a close call, but when Jason saw her pale and sunken face during a video call he refused to let this go on any longer. 10 hours later they were cuddling on her roof while eating cookies and milk as she vented about everything that had been going on in her life. 

The more she talked, the more he wanted to go teach a lesson to those kids that had made his Pixie-Pop feel like she wasn’t good enough. If he ever got his hands on them… But he wouldn’t. Not unless Marinette expressly asked for his help. 

She hadn’t meant to reveal her identity, it had simply slipped out. In hindsight, mentioning Chat Noir hadn’t been her most brilliant idea, as once she had started to rant about his manners towards her civilian self, it had been impossible to hold off from spilling everything he had done to make Ladybug uncomfortable too. 

Jay had looked surprised, but instead of whatever reaction Marinette had expected, he got pretty excited about it.

“Of course it was you, sweetheart, I should’ve seen it before!" 

He had then insisted on helping her train together with his family when she visited Gotham (she had known of their secret identities for a couple of years already). She got faster, stronger, and better at fighting within a few months, and soon Red Hood and Ladybug had taken to patrolling together whenever he was in the city. 

She couldn’t have wished for a better brother, which is why as soon as the bell rang she sprinted out of the class as quickly as she could. 

Jason was leaning against his bike right next to the doors as promised and picked her up effortlessly when he saw her flung herself at him with a squeal. 

"Jay!”

“Pixie-Pop!” He squeezed the living daylights out of her before putting her down and ruffling her hair with a giant smile on his face. “Glad to see you faring so well, pumpkin.”

She would’ve answered the same had it not been for Lila’s voice drilling its way to her ears. The liar was doing her usual number of bragging about whichever big name. Unfortunately for her, she had chosen the wrong big name that day. 

Jason didn’t understand why Marinette was frowning at the green-eyed girl, that is until she and her clique were close enough for him to clearly hear sausage hair say she was a close friend of the Wayne family and that she was getting married to the youngest son. 

“What kind of fucking bullshit-” He glanced at Marinette in confusion and anger. “Is this the girl who has been taking all of your friends away? The liar?”

Mari quickly tried to make his anger go away by holding onto his arm, lest he got akumatized because of Lila. 

“Jay, keep your cool, don’t let her be the reason you get akumatized, please. We can deal with her in another way.” She knew her brother had a myriad of weapons on him at all times, and wouldn’t put it past him to try and show the Italian a quick lesson. 

The way his eyes softened as he looked at her pleading face relieved her. Catastrophe avoided. 

Right? 

“Oh god, Marinette I can’t believe this! Isn’t he a bit too old for you? What kind of favors did you have to do to get someone like him?” She hadn’t seen them approaching the entrance and almost the whole class, with her former best friend and the liar leading the pack, were standing near them with judging expressions on their faces. The venom in Lila’s voice was ignored by everyone except the two siblings and Chloé (who was just now getting out of the class).

The bluenette was about to start panicking. Lila had not just said that. She knew Jason wouldn’t let it go and if her brother went to jail for that stupid girl, Mari would never forgive herself. So she tried to drag him away while looking at her girlfriend for backup. “Let it be Jay, please. Please.”

With a swift movement, he stood in front of her and looked at the liar with such hatred in his eyes many of the students around Lila scattered, afraid of his wrath. “I take it you’re Ms. Lila Rossi correct?”

Lila hadn’t seemed to notice what his expression meant, or maybe she wanted to pretend nothing was going on, and she smiled cockily at him. “Why yes, I am.” The smirk Jason sent her way made her rethink her posture for a millisecond.

“I see. Well, let me introduce myself then. I’m Jason Todd. It’s a pleasure to finally know who has been the one spreading those deceiving rumors about my family, I assure you Wayne Enterprises’ lawyers will be happy to give you a call or two. Maybe expect to receive one from the lawyers of other people you’ve been lying about too.”

Not waiting her so-called best friend to be humiliated like that, Alya intervened in a clear display of having no sense of self-preservation. Even as Lila had gone pale at the mention of Jason’s name. “You can’t do that! You’re lying! It’s probably just because you’re dating Marinette, and she can’t just accept not being the center of attention. Whatever she told you it’s not true! You’re pathetic!”

That last bit was thrown to Marinette’s face, who had found comfort in Chloé’s arms for the last minute or two. She immediately shrunk into herself, making Jason want to rip the class to shreds.

“Marinette is my little sister, and she would never harm someone else on purpose. If you think that’s the case then you probably don’t know her at all. As for Ms. Rossi, as far as I know, her lies can be easily disproven with a quick Google search, not that you have ever tried to find proof of her claims.” How an akuma hadn’t come looking for him already was a mystery. On the outside, he had on a cold, stern act, but Mari knew the look in his eyes, he was far from calm. “This girl you’re trying to defend is hurting people with her dumb tattle-tales. She’s hurting my family. And I don’t take kindly to those who threaten my family.”

Not wanting to spend another extra second in the presence of some stupid students who had been bullying his sister, he got on his bike with Marinette in tow (the latter having already kissed her blonde girlfriend goodbye) and left for the bakery.

The weekend went by way too fast for both Marinette and Jason’s liking, but they made sure to not waste it thinking about unpleasant sausage girls, and instead spent it going to their favorite spots in the city. By Sunday afternoon, they were tired but happy, as they munched on some pastries while Marinette showed Jay her newest designs.  He left the next morning, only after making Marinette promise she would tell him if she was ever having trouble with her class again.

Monday mornings were usually the worst at school because Bustier tended to leave them to work on their own more than usual, so she had to sit through an extra session of hearing Lila’s stories. Though at least the last few months she had had Chloé by her side Today, however, Mari arrived at the class to see everyone surrounding the Italian girl and demanding answers. Quickly scurrying into her seat at the back of the class, she looked at her girlfriend inquisitively.

“They just got the news of how many people were suing Lila after they found out about the lies thanks to your brother, and they’re mad about her lying to them. As if they weren’t the ones who chose to believe her, and ignore you. The pests are probably going to try and apologize to you as soon as they notice you’re here, ma Minette.” The blue-haired girl could feel more than hear the growl Chloé let out when she hugged her close as if trying to protect her from the imminent begs of forgiveness from their classmates.

“Don’t worry Chlo, they’re not getting forgiveness from me any time soon. I just don’t think I’m ready for such a thing yet…” Even as she said that she felt nervous about having to confront the class. They were sure to turn on her as they did every time she refused them something.

Before she could go down a rabid hole of anxiety, though, she got a message.

‘Have a nice day today at school Pixie-Pop. You got this! P.S. You know I’m only a phone call away if you want me to kick their asses’

That and the ladybug emoji at the end of it made her laugh. Jason always tried to act dorky whenever he knew she felt down, and it usually helped her feel better. With newfound confidence, she leaned onto Chloé’s shoulder with a smile, enjoying whatever minutes of peace she had left before having to face the incoming storm.

-

Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for sending in the ask

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@vixen-uchiha @18-fandoms-unite-08

[thecuriouskit]

Where and how do I fit in?

To whom it may concern.

As I get older, I’m starting to realise the limitations caused by my autism, and I’m struggling to accept that because of facing a society that does not like it when adults are not self-sufficient, or when they have to deal with a “man-child”.  Economically, I am a net loss - I take more than I give financially, and that makes me selfish, both in the eyes of the person on the street as well as bankers and politicians.  I struggle to keep my flat clean and make ends meet financially.  “Get a job”, “earn a f***ing living” I hear a lot, and I have tried, but my ‘design’ is just terrible because I’m very introverted (and people try to force me into very social situations to be a 'healthy introvert’… in other words, an extravert) and don’t do well in open-plan office environments, which are really the only options today because it allows managers to keep an eye on everyone and, from a practical perspective, is easier when it comes to laying network cables and power conduits, for example.  But I get very anxious whenever people are walking around behind me and there’s so much uncontained noise.

Truthfully, I’ve found in the UK, and maybe other countries, that many people really don’t like those who are more intelligent than them.  They may say the opposite, but behind their backs (or sometimes in plain sight), they mock specialist interests.  Once I was even threatened with outright violence by a so-called friend if I talked about mathematics in front of her, and my own mother agrees that i keep my mouth shut to preserve the status quo and not make people 'uncomfortable’.  My father says those on the spectrum are the future, but are we really?  To reach our full potential we need the right environment and support group, but who would want to be our caretakers?  It’s not fair on them, and I would not want someone to sacrifice their life to look after me like they were a housewife, valet or a servant.

I’m ashamed to say that I generally don’t get on with others on the spectrum because we all have our different interests and quirks, but also our feelings and how we react to things, and what may be fine or beneficial for one person is sensual overload for another.  I unfortunately have also experienced situations where the other party doesn’t realise and doesn’t understand that they might have hurt my feelings with something they’ve said or done, and either 'congratulate’ me for identifying past trauma as the reason (which I find incredibly patronising as well as the implication that it invalidates my feelings) or criticise me because, in their eyes, there’s no logical reason for me to feel that way.  One person even, in a monotone voice, said “You’re having a panic attack; do you want a beta blocker?” (which was actually illegally obtained).  I of course sceamed “no”, which only worsened the situation because now they felt attacked.

As painful as it is, what I once saw as a curse, then saw as a gift, I now see as a curse again.  I cannot survive by myself in this modern world, but I’m not friendship nor relationship material because, put simply, I make people uncomfortable and I’m not healthy for them (those were the words one person used).  Facebook and other social media tell people to cut out the negativity in their lives, and I fall into that definition.  My interests, my quirks… they are abnormal.  The whole thing of “be yourself” and “don’t worry about what others think” is a complete farce, because you do that, and you get sectioned, fired, ostracised or just plain ridiculed.

Part of me needs a regimented structure and a person who can be an emotional anchor for me, but even today, emotion is seen as weakness and attention-seeking, but I don’t need so much structure to the point that my very feelings are dictated and I can’t practise being creative (one person I know cannot build Lego without instructions… even when it comes to making their own things, they have to draw plans first and cannot do anything on the fly, which can cause a conflict if I want to experiment, for example).

In a way, I need to be treated like a child, or at least allowed to be a child, but I say that and that will just encourage condescending attitudes towards me and infantilisation like the in-your-face sing-song “hello” or a high-pitched voice that people do with babies all too frequently.

I don’t konw where I’m going with this.  I’m just ranting and splurging, spilling out everything that’s on my mind.  On Monday I was actually close to suicide because I was asked to drive to my father, who lives about 45 minutes away, and even though I gave myself 70 minutes, I was very late anyway (which meant I couldn’t see a representitive at an insurance company since I’m being ripped off by my current provider) bnecause of three separate traffic jams, one of which was caused by a horserace that crosses a main road (which is closed during that time).  I just feel I’m unreliable and poor at planning and organiseation because whenever someone asks me to do something, I either forget something (if not the appointment itself) or fate works against me.  My father has taken the view of “it is what it is”, but I cannot abide by that because while accepting there are some things in life you can’t control or predict, just accepting things as they are is what allows corruption to run rampant, whether it’s a manager or director denying the employees promised bonuses during a good company year while buying themselves a new Porsche with the profits, to insurance companies happily charging you three times what you should be paying because they know most people won’t shop around for other quotes or want to go through the hassle of changing (and I easily freak out on the telephone because it’s just a dismembered voice to me) to simply lying and manipulating people for their own benefit.  It’s worse with me because I can’t see deceit unless it’s a claim that’s easily disproven.  I briefly wanted to end it all because I am a net loss to the economy, I’m friendless and I can’t be relied on.  If I die, I’ll be forgotten in a few years as the world goes on like I never existed.  It begs the question… what’s the point?  I’m not allowed to just live because of monetary concerns and 'considering other people’.  Right now, I just survive.

I’m not sure what I need and what I should change about myself.  All I know is that trying to fight against my true self just ends up destroying me.  I may want to be neurotypical and more extraverted, but I can’t just become those, and “not wanting it enough” doesn’t work in this case because you’re constantly fighting yourself, draining yourself of energy and spoons, and sooner or later, you’ll melt down, and then the police get called and you’re taken to hospital, while neighbours or whoever witnesses the meltdown will ensure you can’t bother them again by collaborating to get you evicted, dismissed from work because you’re creating a 'hostile work environment’ or 'threatening violence’ (I was sacked for that once when I tried to warn people not to manhandle me during a particularly triggering confrontation because then I don’t know what I’ll do… and this was from a company that was meant to specialise in autism).

Where’s the line drawn? When should those on the spectrum learn to adapt to and tolerate, and when should society change for them? When should I be expected to meet the standards and when should the standards change?  I don’t have the answer, and through a mixture of my own actions and those of others, I am very much alone where I live… no true friends, no emotional anchor, no personal interaction, nothing (even if I’m in a city around many people, I still feel alone).  I’m scared of joining clubs because of past experience with meltdowns and expecting to meet up at set times when my own sleep cycle is chaotic, or I may just not have the energy to go but I’m expected to.  Also, one club became psychologically abusive for me, but once again, past trauma that invalidates how I feel.

Speaking of how I feel, I do wish I was more like Mr. Spock where everything is pure logic and I don’t feel anything, but then again, Vulcans and half-Vulcans DO feel, and I just don’t have the strength to suppress my emotions=.  Where does that leave me?  A group home with no freedom or autonomy? Evidently I can’t hold down a job, and I’ve been out of work forso long that I’ve had employment agents pretty much tell me to stop wasting their time, becaase no company is going to risk paying a finder’s fee for me no matter how good my skills are (albeit very niche nowadays).

The thing is, when somoene enters my house to offer help cleaning it or go through my financial statements to identify unnecessary expenditures, or just go through my stuff in general, I feel violated and incredibly anxious, but I feel I have no right to protest or resist.  Besides, as my mother keeps saying… if you’re doing nothing wrong, what have you got to hide?  The fear of being judged (and the consequences of that) or the right to privacy don’t seem to be valid answers.

What do I need? I don’t know… sometimes I just want a mother figure, but my actual mother is not an option.  What do I want?  I want to be useful.  I want to belong.  I want to be myself.  I want to be… free.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Story prompt: Adrien accidentally slips out that he knows Lila is lying to the class after Marinette changes schools. It is dead silent. It is broken by the snap of his nose when Alya punches him in fury

You should probably be more careful what you ask for, anon. But here goes:

Despite Adrien’s hopes, the situation after the Chameleon incident only continued to deteriorate. Lila was specifically targeting Marinette and since she had agreed with him on taking the “high road”, she had stopped trying to out any of Lila’s clearly obvious lies. This only ended up working against her as without any buffer, Lila was able to manipulate the class unhindered and everyone only seemed to fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

True to her good nature and stubborness, Marinette wouldn’t let Lila win. Regardless of the slowly losing battle, she did everything she could to help her friends and fend off the worst of Lila’s manipulations.

She was strong. She was confident. She was their Everyday Ladybug. She would keep trying, regardless of the stress and emotional harm it was causing.

Because Marinette always put others first. If it was for her friends, she would do anything, regardless of the effect on herself.

So it was perhaps either fortunate or unfortunate that her parents were not nearly so inclined to let her.

Tom and Sabine loved their daughter. They were good parents who wanted nothing but for her to be safe, healthy, and happy. With the way things were going, the current situation as it was going was none of those things. They were good parents who actually cared about their child, so of course they noticed. Marinette had been increasingly stressed, anxious, and unhappy due to the whole conflict. And her insistence on continuing to put herself through this for the sake of people who were showing themselves to be less than deserving of was really not something that they could support.

This school year had actually been the first that Marinette actually seemed excited about. She had finally had friends! And was able to stand up for herself to Chloe and others. She had becoming a star student and an amazing leader. They were so proud and happy for her. But they’ve had to sit by and watch as slowly but surely, Marinette’s feelings and her confidence were being stomped out and their daughter was once again being reduced to the wilting flower she had been.

They couldn’t simply stand by and let it happen. So they chose to do what was best for her to give her at least some peace and decided to transfer her to another school.

Marinette tried to argue, of course. She didn’t want to start over somewhere new. She didn’t want to leave her friends. There will be no one to protect them with her gone.

But Tom and Sabine were steadfast in their decision and had very little sympathy for those she was leaving in the web of lies.

It was sad. They had liked Marinette’s friends well enough, but if it came down to protecting their child or anyone else, the answer was obvious. The fact that her classmates had allowed themselves to be so thoroughly played didn’t garner the concern from them that Marinette clearly felt. As far as they were concerned, if her so-called “friends” were so willing to let themselves be turned against her over lies that should have been easily disproven had any of them bothered to look, then they clearly weren’t good friends and Marinette didn’t need to be around them.

There was no point trying to keep a relationship with them if she was the only one actually trying for it, they told her. And this was a toxic and negative situation that she really shouldn’t have to be facing alone.

“But I’m not alone! Adrien knows, too!”

Their looks of outrage told Marinette that was not the right thing to say. If there had been any doubt about completing the transfer, it was gone after that. As was any likelihood of her parents to allow Adrien anywhere near their daughter.

It was to a less than enthusiastic response by everyone except Lila that Marinette was forced to say goodbye to her now former classmates and start school elsewhere. For all of Marinette’s attempts to retain positive relationships with them, none of her former friends really seemed particularly sad to see her go with perhaps the sole exception of Adrien.

The rest simply shrugged it off, figuring the class would be much less stressful without Marinette there to accuse Lila of things and cause drama. And for a time, they were right. No more hangouts after school. No more helping Marinette deal with her over the top issues and feelings for Adrien. No more of Marinette trying to point out discrepancies and say mean things about Lila. No more Marinette to be jealous for no good reason.

And for a time, they were okay with it. All of them were. Except maybe Adrien, but since he never said anything, it was never an issue regardless.

So the days were spent with Lila spinning some new tale. Keeping herself the center of attention. Clinging to Adrien’s arm and trying to cajole him into asking her out. The class members each just going about their own thing. And nobody thinking of Marinette (or trying not to think of Marinette as the case may be).

But it was a couple of months after Marinette left that the threads of Lila’s web started to unravel.

Despite Lila’s assurances, Nino wasn’t seeing or hearing anything about a possible meeting with a Hollywood director that she promised.

Alya wasn’t getting anything further from Lila in regards to an interview with Ladybug. (And tried very hard not to think about the time Marinette had gone well out of her way to manage that)

For that matter, certain things she was saying about Ladybug seemed…off. Alya had figured she couldn’t really judge since Ladybug was so mysterious, but as a temporary Miraculous user who had worked with Ladybug in the past, there were things she was aware of that the common person wasn’t. And this meant that she started to notice some aspects of Lila’s stories about Ladybug just didn’t seem to fit.

Other classmates started to become unsettled as things Lila promised weren’t coming through. 

And then Rose had gotten a letter from Prince Ali expressing confusion about who this “Lila” was.

From there, it snowballed. They started actually checking what Lila had been saying and it became more and more clear.

Lila had been lying the whole time.

Marinette had been telling the truth all along.

They lost a real friend to be replaced with a schemer who only sought to use them for her own ends.

They were upset. They were furious. They felt used.

The word spread and it wasn’t long before the entire class knew. They gathered before school one day to discuss the matter and deliberate on what to do.

Then Adrien entered, appearing confused by the presence of the rest of the class and the tension in the room.

They explained the situation. That Lila had been playing them all this time. They tried to break it to him gently, knowing that Adrien was a soft and hopeful person who wanted to see the best in others.

They didn’t expect him to say that he already knew.

It was only after he had spoken that Adrien realized those were the wrong words to say.

It was in the way the room immediately fell silent.

It was in the way his classmates were gaping at him in dawning horror.

There was a chuckle, nervous growing on hysterical. It took him a moment to realize the source was his normal calm best friend.

“Adrien…you’re joking, right?” Nino asked, shakily. “Please tell me that was just a joke.”

Adrien stared.

“I-I mean, it was a bad one, sure. Not very funny, but…it’s not actually true, right? You didn’t know what Lila was doing and just…not tell anyone, right?”

In that moment, Adrien wanted nothing more than to tell him what he knew he wanted him to say. But he couldn’t.

So he remained silent, just as he always had in the face of such conflict.

The silence was broken seconds later by a shriek of rage before pain exploded in his face where a vengeful Alya decked him.

“WHY YOU LOUSY, SORRY EXCUSE OF A—” She screamed, barely cutting herself off.

He stared up at her in shock. She…Alya had actually hit him?

“All this time—ALL THIS TIME! Marinette had been trying for YOU? And you just…you just LET THIS HAPPEN TO HER?!”

Adrien didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“I tried asking Lila before to stop!”

“Oh, well if you ASKED once, that’s enough?” Alya seethed.

“It didn’t fix anything! She just got angry and was akumatized. Trying to out her wouldn’t have made her change!”

Nino stared at him, looking almost broken. “Did you even stop to think that maybe this wasn’t about Lila?”

Adrien blinked in surprise.

“You could have told me. I would have listened to you, man. It at least would have saved me a lot of this heartache right now.”

The blond winced at that.

“It would have prevented a lot of what’s happened.” Alya muttered darkly, and Adrien knew her thoughts were fully on Marinette and the circumstances of her leaving.

This situation was messed up. He knew that. It had gotten much worse and gone much farther than he ever thought it would. Still, he felt the need to defend himself.

“Her lies weren’t hurting anyone!”

“Not hurting any—are you mental?!” Ivan asked, shocked.

“I’m feeling pretty hurt.” Kim stated, flatly.

“We all are.” Mylene confirmed.

“She played us.” Max said, looking grim. “She played us like we were fools and we fell for it. But you—you knew! And you chose not to say anything.”

“Outing her wouldn’t have helped things!” Adrien insisted, only to be greeted with shocked looks and incredulous stares.

“Are you serious? You actually didn’t think that maybe us at least knowing about it might have helped to prevent anything?” Alix demanded.

“I just…I didn’t see the harm.”

“Even to Marinette?” Came the quiet question from a very disappointed Rose and god, he’d never thought he could see Rose level such a sad look at him.

“I…she…”

“Something I’ve noticed…” Nathaniel said, finally speaking up from his position in the back and drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I’ve never commented on it because I didn’t feel it was my place to judge. But Adrien…you have a very irritating tendency to overlook or even condone horrible things people do over the feelings of their victims.”

“What? No! I don’t—”

“You do.” Nino interrupted, looking sick. “You didn’t out Chloe when she pulled the fire alarm. We all had to clean up her mess and the most you did was threaten not to be her friend anymore before taking it back just hours later.”

“You lectured Marinette for being happy when Chloe was leaving, even though you knew full well how Chloe had been treating her and that she had been treating her that poorly for years.” Alix cut in with a heated glare.

“And now this.” Nathaniel said with a nod. “Lila was lying. Marinette knew. You also knew and could have backed her up at any point. But you didn’t.” 

“None of you exactly tried to look into things.” He said in his own defense.

“Oh, don’t you even try to deflect on this!” Alya snarled. “We didn’t KNOW Lila was lying. YOU did. You knew this and said nothing when she was manipulating us! And—” Her breath hitched and she looked away in shame. “And you knew when she started to target Marinette.”

He winced. “I couldn’t—”

That immediately brought her glare on him full force. If looks could kill…there wouldn’t be atoms left of him. “And you just let her! to MARINETTE!”

“I-I didn’t—”

“SHE LOVED YOU, DAMMIT!”

Adrien froze.

“…What?”

Alya clenched her fists, seething.

“All this time—ALL THIS TIME! She did SO MUCH for you! And no matter how badly it backfired or how much it hurt her, she kept trying FOR YOU.”

She…Marinette had…?

But Alya wasn’t done yet.

“You don’t think telling the truth is worth it? Well, here’s a few ‘truths’ for you, pretty boy!”

The other girls present gasped, realizing what she was about to do, but she didn’t waste any time to give anyone a chance to stop her. She just kept talking.

“Marinette agreed to go with you to the ice rink to help YOU on your date with Kagami despite being insanely in love with you. You didn’t even think about how she would feel, did you?”

He blanched. “S-she didn’t say anything—!”

“Of course she didn’t! Because each and every time she did anything with you, her only concern had ever been to make YOU happy! N—” She choked back a sob. “—No matter how much it hurt her to.”

“Alya, stop!” Rose pleaded.

“It’s not worth it.” Alix tried to convince her.

“LIKE HELL IT ISN’T!” Alya shouted with such fury that it had Adrien flinching back.

“A-Alya…”

“You want to know what else though?” Alya said with a downright vindictive sneer. “That birthday scarf of yours? The one you said your dad got you?”

Please don’t…

“MARINETTE MADE IT! She made it and tried to give it to you but your shit-show of a father STOLE IT!”

Adrien felt himself shaking. His eyes were wide in shock and pain because…that couldn’t be true, right?

“Then YOU came to school wearing it and praising your dad for giving it to you and she knew—Marinette KNEW what had happened but she kept quiet because AGAIN, it made YOU happy!”

“I…” He choked. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t! You never bothered to! You never bothered to know her or anything outside of your perfect little sunshine world!” Alya raged. “And I kept quiet because it’s what Marinette wanted, but Marinette isn’t here anymore and it’s YOUR FAULT!”

“Alya, stop!” Nino shouted, stepping in-between them and resting both hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her.

It was an attempt that made absolutely no difference, as Alya merely shifted to look over his shoulder and past Nino right to Adrien with the worst expression he’d ever seen.

“Hell, you’re only even in school now because Marinette took the fall for YOU and told your dad she was the one who took his stupid missing book!”

Adrien felt his blood turn cold.

“Do you know what that could have done? Just how badly Gabriel could have RUINED her and any future she could have hoped to have if he felt like it? All for something she didn’t even do! Again, just to make YOU happy!”

“I…I…”

“From her time and effort to her very heart, she put so much on the line for you!”

She hissed and stepped back, seeming to finally lose the fire that had kept her going this long as she whispered pitifully, just loud enough for him to hear:

“And you never deserved her.”

The room fell into silence. No one could say anything after that. Alya spun on her heels and stormed out. Nino chased after her. One by one, the rest followed.

And Adrien was left standing there alone in the empty classroom.

[miraculouslysam]

(1)Okay, this is just something that keeps bugging me and I can't let it go apparently so have at it. half the reason I'm mad at Adrien about "lila's lies are harmless" and "tAkE tHe HiGh rOaD mArInEtTe" is the fact that her lying is totally not harmless. I'm not even talking about how it hurt Marinette and he's so inconsiderate wtf, though that's true, it's that it clearly harmed Adrien /himself/. the book? that she stole? and threw in the garbage? which was going to get him grounded for life?

(2)she was the last person he saw it with. it didn’t take too big of a leap in logic at the very least to /suspect/. especially when he knew that she’s a liar. then again, did he even know that it was actually returned and not just his father being lenient on him for once? which reminds me, there was literally no reason for Marinette to lie about how she found the book — she saw lila throwing it in the trash then heard chole crying about how Adrien’s gonna be locked up now cause he lost a book.

(3)Made a fool of herself in front of her idol for Adrien and that’s nice and all but why??? I really don’t understand the point in making Marinette lie when it could be avoided. also if she just used the mundane truth at least gabriel wouldn’t suspect ladybug. anyways, Adrien doesn’t even have a third of the story and they’re really trying to paint him as the Wise One™ in that episode? I’m just. buh-bye bitch. I would really like Adrien to take the high road AFTER knowing the fucking facts. 

____________

Me, when I should be working on my Kagaminette fic (next chapter is almost done I SWEAR): let’s just talk salt instead

I’m also going to say here that I’m not going to take many salt requests through Friday. I’ve had a lot of bad personal stuff happening over the past few days and would prefer more positive stuff while I re-center myself. Please feel free to send me fluffy fics, HC requests, or cute art! I’d really appreciate it.

Anyway, the short answer to this is going to be in three points I’ve made before. 1) The writers feel that Adrien always needs to be right. 2) The writers are very anti-Marinette. 3) The writing is just… bad.

The long answer is going to reside in a full meta about how these characters behave in the Volpina and Chameleon episodes.

So, let’s start with Lila. She is, after all, the catalyst for all of the issues in these particular episodes. I’ll start by saying how Lila’s character is handled really infuriates me too, but that @emblian has some really great thoughts on the subject that I couldn’t verbalize nearly as well.

Here we see Lila manipulate both Adrien and Marinette. Adrien in Volpina by stealing the book, Marinette in Chameleon by threatening her. But the problem isn’t her manipulation. (I mean, it isn’t a good thing by any means, but it is for creating conflict and establishing the lengths she is willing to go to.) The problem is the suspension of disbelief required to make her lies plausible. Eventually, I’m going to create a list of all her lies, but I’ll discuss a few key ones here.

1) In Volpina, she claims to be best friends with Ladybug, and Adrien believes her. This is,,,, so dumb. Adrien knows when he received a miraculous and that Ladybug received hers at the same time. He knows that Ladybug has consistently been there for the akuma attacks. And he KNOWS that she takes her job incredibly seriously. Basically, believing she would have been in Italy, hanging out with Lila as her superhero self (or, if we’re being honest, he probably believes that Lila knows LB’s identity, when LB won’t even share it with her partner), is really fucking idiotic.

2) Also in Volpina, Lila changes her tune and says that she’s a superhero with a miraculous that she inherited from her grandmother. And not just that, but she’s stronger and better than Ladybug. Again, Adrien knows the rules of the miraculouses. He knows that his was anonymously gifted to him. And he is very aware that miraculous-holding superheroes DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES reveal their identities.

But those both rely more on Adrien’s character than Lila’s because, well, she’s new in Paris and she’s not an actual miraculous holder. They’re just the lies that set up the chain of events. So let’s look at one that is purely dumb.

3) In Chameleon, Lila tells Max that she had to catch the napkin because it would have stabbed his eye out- she’s seen it happen firsthand. First of all, it was rolled into a ball. He probably would’ve flinched and it would’ve rolled harmlessly away. Secondly, he was wearing glasses. And I’ve gotta tell ya, I’ve worn glasses nearly every day for the past 11 years (except for days I’ve worn contacts, obviously), and the worst thing that has happened when they’ve been hit is the lenses have gotten dirty. No person in their right mind would believe that lie. This is probably one of the best examples of the Lila Problem because of its sheer ridiculousness. Suspension of disbelief is a great thing, but it doesn’t work for something this ridiculous, where the lie is dumb but EVERYONE believes it without a doubt.

So, Lila’s lies are easily googled and disproven, but apparently search engines don’t exist in this universe????? As I said, the problem here lies mostly in Adrien.

We see Adrien believe things he should know are wrong from his personal life. I already summed up the lies, so I’m going to say it isn’t a stretch if he just… doesn’t recognize the connection between Lila and the book. Sure, he sees that Lila was there when he last saw the book. Yes, he knows he was going to be prevented from going back to school. But what he doesn’t see is that the two are connected, so he doesn’t know that her lies have harmed him.

Onto Chameleon, when he starts saying they should take the high road and that her lies haven’t harmed anyone, he doesn’t know that Lila has threatened Marinette. Marinette doesn’t tell him, either. He’s also been trained as a superhero to not hold someone’s akumatizations against them. Everyone would be in prison if they were held accountable for that. He doesn’t know that she chooses to become Chameleon. So, he genuinely believes her lies aren’t harming anyone.

I’m also going to use the abuse problem here. As someone who has been a victim of it, I understand pretty well how abusers keep their victims in check. Adrien has been shown to be passive time and time again, whether with Lila, Chloe, or his father, because he’s been trained to stay silent. His father punishes him for every little thing, as seen in Volpina when he is willing to take Adrien out of school because Adrien has lost a book. That doesn’t make Adrien’s response right, but it’s one of the few consistencies in the show.

Now onto Marinette. She has to lie to her icon. Truthfully, this is one of the first moments we see Marinette be unnecessarily punished in. I don’t know why she lies. I don’t. Do they want to make her look like a hypocrite? My more positive spin on it was that she wanted to eliminate any trail where he could assume she was Ladybug. She knows he’s previously been interested in her earrings. So, I’m just going to assume for my sanity that she figured he would have too many questions about why she had pulled the book from the trash. But it’s really just senseless punishment of the MC.

Overall, it really comes down to the writing. The writers really love Adrien. We know this. He’s been called “perfect” by them so. many. times. They want him to be the moral compass, but then he’s too naïve to recognize the obvious. Marinette’s treatment results from an ingrained sexism that I won’t get into here because I will be ranting FOREVER and will get off-topic from the Lila episodes. Adrien is too naïve to fully recognize the facts, but they will still let him preach to Marinette if it makes him the moral compass, and especially if it makes her look wrong. It kills two birds with one stone.

[riverroan]

Trans women didn't start the LGBT movement, which is older even in America than Stonewall, and trans women didn't even start Stonewall! Are you a fascist homophobe or something? Why are you lying about something so easily disproven? Historical revisionism is a tool of fascism. I'm worried about where you're headed.

that post is a few years old when i was younger and misinformed, i think i made that post when i was 15 and i will admit i should have known better than to use tumblr as a link even at that age. i completely forgot i had made that post until someone brought it up (which i’m gonna assume it was you, maybe it wasn’t. who knows) and i know that lgbtq+ people existed for years (obviously) before stonewall, but the movement had not officially started until 1962. and though trans women may not have started the movement they did help extremely, even if you don’t think they did. as for the “homophobe fascist” part of your statement, i’m bisexual and honestly i’m not sure how else to make you not think that, that’s your own opinion over some stupid post i made years ago. “i’m worried for where you’re headed” is a horseshit statement and we both know that, you’re hoping i end up terribly which okay cool, fucking weird but whatever.

[thecupcakeconsumer]

Playing Ball pt. 4 - Eavesdropping and Shortstopping

A/N: This took forever, I'm so sorry, school and new meds have been catching up to me! Luckily this is a fairly good-sized baby. ^-^

Part One |  Part Two | Part Three | Part Four (You are here!) | Part Five

Navigation: Masterlist is here.

Taglist: @writers-block0o0, @imaginesbyemma.

Summary: It's not just a challenge to the team any longer. It's a challenge to your pride and morals, and it's time to take a stand – once and for all.

Warnings: Mild language.

Word Count: 3,050.

Other Notes: Female reader. Post-Terminal, pre-Spike.

Suspended.

There weren't enough words to describe the numerous ways it made you feel, lying on the grass while you fiddled with a softball, outdoors with Shelton, Hi, Ben and Tory.

Were you embarrassed? Of course.

After all, you'd finally stood up to the person who had been tyrannizing your entire team, and been shut down, with her receiving no repercussions.

It was humiliating, and the way your coach had talked down to you afterward certainly didn't help.

Blaming it on female hormones? Coward's way out.

While Delilah had suffered a broken nose, you had suffered a broken image – a blow to your pride, and a severe detriment to your respect from the team.

Or, at least, so it would seem, considering none of them – not even Sarah – had reached out to you after the incident, mysteriously silent and, if choosing any side, staying on hers.

Of course, that wasn't to say that you weren't infuriated – why did she get to go off scot-free? Why was everyone pretending she didn't say anything?

What had Delilah done to make everyone so scared of her?

“Y/N? You okay?” asked Shelton, glancing over at you concernedly. “You've been awfully quiet.”

“Yeah, sure,” you replied, tossing the ball in the air and yelping as it came down and hit you in the nose.

Cautiously coming closer, the older boy nudged you. “Hey. Have you eaten anything today?”

You tried to think back. “I… think so?”

“Y/N.”

“No, no I haven't.”

Grabbing his bag, he reached into one of the pockets despite your (admittedly feeble) protests, pulling out a granola bar. “Eat.”

“But-”

“Listen, I know you're upset about being suspended.” Shelton's eyes met yours, and you weren't quite certain whether his expression was sympathetic or scrutinizing. “It's ridiculous and entirely unfair that because you responded with physical violence, her verbal abuse is being ignored. I know you're sick and tired of being lectured on it. But it's not the end of the world, I promise.”

“I didn't say it was the end of the world,” you argued, begrudgingly taking a bite of the proffered snack. “I didn't even say anything.”

“Oh, please, we've known each other, what, four years now? I think I have a slight idea of what's on your mind by now.”

You huffed.”Am I expected to know what you're thinking now?”

“What? No, of course not. Nobody's allowed to know what I'm thinking. That's what makes me so interesting.”

He slid away, leaving you with a granola bar in your hand and, despite your upset, a smile on your face.

You shouldn't have let her get to you. That you knew.

You've already been suspended. Why isn't that enough for you to learn your lesson?

And yet, here you were, flaring in public during lunch on the day of an important game which you wouldn't be a part of.

Even your common sense was currently being drowned out by the screaming of every nerve in your body – screams of how good it felt to finally let go, the relief now sung by the same veins pumping you full of adrenaline.

“I can't lose this,” hissed a feminine voice, piercing the conversational buzz of the cafeteria yet unrecognizable, even with the range you could pick up. “You know without it I'm nothing.”

“So, this is your plan? Sabotage everyone and make it seem like you're the only one who can play so that you're captain and the team fears you?”

Sabotage? It sounded for certain like a certain someone, but… “Look. If I'm not on top here, I'm vulnerable. And if I can't keep this, there's no telling what they'll do to me. After the first time I did it, I became something to be feared. And speaking of which… Reyes has been getting cozy with Claybourne lately.”

“What're you planning, Lee?”

Lee.

Delilah Lee.

You choked on your lunch as you heard the two girls converse. No wonder so many people are off the team so suddenly. This way no one could get in her way in being the next captain. One decent player after another mysteriously quitting or getting kicked off the team.

Ignoring the activity at the table around you, you listened further to attempt to hear what she was planning.

“How are you going to sabotage a catcher?”

“Easy. Loosen a few screws, mess around a little, suddenly the face mask won't stay down... and one can't exactly play if their face is crushed by a ball, now, can they?”

“What makes you think she'll get hit?”

“A little distraction. It's about the message, not the impact. I'll see if I can get in the supply shed before practice tomorrow.”

Did she really just share her plans in the middle of the cafeteria? you thought to yourself as Tory snapped her fingers in front of your face.

“As I was saying, Y/N, we should really...”

You were nodding, but you weren't listening, wondering how you could convince your coach of what would transpire.

“Sarah,” you called out, jogging a little to catch up with her.

She didn't appear to have heard, walking faster.

“Sarah! Get back here!” Was she ignoring you? “Sarah Reyes!”

Finally, she stopped, letting you fall into step beside her. “Claybourne. You're not gonna punch me?”

“What? No, of course not. Why would I do that? I like you. You're a good person.”

“So's a lot of folks who've received worse.”

“What's gotten into you?” You quickened your pace to walk in front of her, before stopping as the taller girl tried to get around you. “Why're you being so… frigid?”

“Frigid. Seems artistic. Smart words. Smart person. Guess you're brains and brawn.”

“What did I do wrong?”

She glanced around, before pulling you into a classroom. “You want to know what you did wrong? You went against everything I told you. You got on her bad side, even though I told you to stay neutral. You went and made her look bad, and then, like an idiot, you decided to punch her. Now the goddamn girl has a broken nose, and she's never been so volatile!”

“What does it matter to you?”

“What's it matter? It's not like I'm on the team or anything.”

“Sarah, I… She's going to try and sabotage you. Next game. She doesn't like-”

“That I talk to you.” Sarah smiled, what was supposed to be a gesture of happiness instead coming off so ironic it was almost humorous. “Thanks for the warning, Claybourne.”

She left, ignoring your calls and slamming the door behind herself with a slam that seemed to shake the whole room.

What have I done?

“Hey, coach,” you spoke, leaning against the doorframe of his office.

He glanced up. “Ah, Claybourne. Last I checked you were suspended. Unless for some reason I should put you back on the team?”

“I… I need to tell you something.”

“Oh? What? That it wasn't your fault? That you didn't mean to? Or that-”

“Delilah Lee has been sabotaging girls on this team since the beginning. I have names, I know that-”

His laugh cut you off.

“Of course, of course. Delilah Lee – the team's captain – who just happens to be the reason you're suspended right now, has been singlehandedly tearing the team apart. She's been doing, what? Making anyone who gets on her bad side leave the team?”

“Y/N, even if I had kicked anyone off the team, I assure you, it has nothing to do with her.”

“But-”

“Is that all? A false accusation without proof?”

“But I can-”

“Come back to me when you have something worthwhile to talk about, Claybourne.”

Lily Aquino – former pitcher, quit the team under mysterious circumstances after having been suspended five consecutive times.

Around the same time, rumors had been spreading around the school that she had slept with Delilah Lee's man.

After ardently denying the incident, however, it had never been proven – or disproven – that anything had actually transpired between the two.

Rumor has it the very person who started up the story was the supposed girlfriend of one of the perpetrators. But at the moment, you weren't focusing on the past.

Now, you were focusing on the present – the person who owned the locker in front of which you stood, who should be getting here about-

“Hi! Can I get to my locker?” The short Filipina girl smiled widely, the picture of innocence in a stark contrast to what she was accused of.

You moved to the side, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, you're Y/N! The new girl on the team, right? I hear you did really good this season. Did you need something?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” you answered simply.

Her eyes widened. “Me? Are you sure? If you've been listening to Delilah I assure you-”

“She sabotaged you, didn't she? Led to your suspensions, despite how hard you tried to keep up your resolve and stick to the team, convinced if you just kept your head down she would leave you alone?”

Pushing up her glasses as she tugged open her locker, Lily murmured quietly, “I don't know what you heard, but-”

“Lily, I'm suspended right now because of her,” you interrupted, and she nodded slowly.

“What do you need? Do you need proof? I don't have any, but I have accounts – she threatened me, said if I didn't back off from her boyfriend she'd have me kicked off, and that I should stop being such a candidate for captain because the position was hers – I'll do anything, just give me the word.”

All of a sudden, she shifted so easily from being on the defensive to on the offensive, slightly chilling considering her size and just how much resentment could be packed into someone so small.

“Will you help me make a case against her in front of the coach?”

Determinedly, she nodded. “Anything.”

Two cameras set up in the supply room surely served as evidence, didn't they?

At least, that was what you thought when you did so, and after having returned to remove them, you grinned.

Thanks to your warning – or at least, so you'd like to believe – Sarah had stayed cautious, and when her mask flew open paid enough attention to be able to immediately close it before anything could happen.

And these cameras, surely, would hold the proof.

An account. A video.

Would it be enough?

You fit the SD card into your computer, double-clicking one of the videos once it loaded and quickly adjusting settings so it would play at twice the speed.

And there she was.

You sat back a moment in amazement, still somewhat disbelieving of the fact that you'd managed to catch this on video.

Of course, the best person you could get to testify against Delilah was the only major candidate for captain – who'd been on the team for just as long a time, and whose word was almost as credible, considering she'd never been sabotaged.

“I won't do it.”

You stared in shock at Sarah, books almost falling out of your hand. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I won't do it. I mean what I said, Y/N.”

“But she's been-”

“You have enough of a case without me stepping in. I don't need to be a part of the reason she gets kicked off the team.”

You stepped closer, trying to discern her expression even as she looked pointedly away from you. “But if she's off the team, you won't need to be afraid any more of her sabotaging you-”

“Sabotage.” She laughed mirthlessly. “That's not what I'm concerned about, Claybourne. Forget it. Carry out your vendetta on your own.”

“What happened to teamwork?” you demanded, as she turned to start walking away.

Sarah froze, slowly rotating to face you again, before hissing, “It's not about the team, Claybourne. If it were, this wouldn't be happening in the first place.”

“Then why won't you testify?”

“Because I love her, damn it!” she shouted, causing you to jump. “Because I'm the damn idiot who's fallen in love with the bad girl, the stupid catcher who honestly thought she had a chance with such a beautiful girl, who looks over her flaws and doesn't want to cause her to lose the only good thing she's got going on!”

“Sarah, I-”

“You know we slept together? Junior year, we got wasted. I don't remember the first time I've slept with anyone, and it was the only time she'd look at me without disgust, contempt, and it's ruined any chance I ever had with her! I'm in love with the villain, okay? So call me a villain myself, sure. I won't do it.”

She stalked off without another word, refusing to turn back, as if hoping you wouldn't notice the fact that she'd started to cry, eyeliner starting to streak her face as she crumbled, the resolve of such a seemingly powerful girl now shed and making her seem like something you'd never have thought of Sarah Reyes as.

Helpless.

“I'm planning on getting Delilah Lee kicked off the team,” you announced, less than a week after what you had overheard, at lunch with Tory, Shelton, Hi and Jason.

The four paused, Jason being the first to speak. “I'm sorry, you're sinking down to her level for your revenge?”

“No, that's not it at all,” you answered, shaking your head with a slight smile. “I've found evidence that she's the reason the team is failing. I'm going to confront the coach with it today.”

“What kind of evidence?” asked Shelton interestedly, leaning forward on his hands.

“Well, let's just say… sometimes people don't check for cameras in the supply rooms when they go and play with helmets.”

Tory grinned. “You're picking up some stuff from us. I like it. Is that why you were talking to Lily the other day?”

“Yep.” Nodding, you turned to Hi, who'd been silent this whole time. “Hi?”

He shook himself. “My girlfriend is beautiful, kind, and a genius.”

Flushing under his praise, you shook your head. “We'll see how well that works out.”

“Videos don't lie.”

“Videos don't lie,” repeated the coach, nodding slowly. “And… she's the reason?”

“She's the reason.”

He looked up at you and Lily, before shaking his head. “She's off the team. You're back on, Aquino. Pitcher. Current pitcher will return to out-field – she was always better there, anyway.”

“And me?” you asked quietly.

He smiled sardonically. “Well, Claybourne, how do you feel about being short stop?”

This was real.

This was happening.

And you'd broken Sarah's heart to do it.

“I can try it.”

All's fair in love and war – and yet love was a battlefield.

“Excellent. I'll tell her the news.”

Was it worth it?

“Now,” called out Sarah as the team flooded the locker rooms after the first practice without Lee, “that Ms Lee is gone, we seem to be in need of a new captain.”

How easily she shifted from falling apart to her newfound composure.

“I nominate Claybourne.”

You froze, shirt over your head, quickly pulling it back down to cover you as all seven of the girls in the room turned to you.

“Wh-what? No, I can't take that on,” you gushed quickly, as Sarah quietly started chanting 'Claybourne, Claybourne.'

“Let's have a vote with what remains of our team!” called out Young. “Ready? All in favor of Claybourne, say aye.”

A resounding 'aye' filled the room, causing you to flush.

“Guys, I joined the team two months ago.”

“You got Lee kicked off the team, that took some will power,” argued Lily.

“You helped! You should be captain, all in favor of Lily-”

“I don't want to be captain,” she laughed. “I'd rather have the very person who broke Lee's nose in charge.”

You shook your head. “How about you, Reyes? You've been playing since freshman year – you're team captain.”

She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just accept the offer.”

Looking around at the eager faces, you finally relented. “Fine. I'll be team captain.”

“Yes! No take backs, you're team captain until your death or graduation. You can take your shirt off now, love.”

“Oh, thanks, I was waiting for your permission.”

Even with the sarcasm, there was no denying the excitement beneath the surface – at the support that your team offered, and at the new future for you under a new leadership.

A fair one, this time.

Now alone in the empty locker room, you pulled out your phone, tapping in Hi's number and almost buzzing with energy as the ring reached you.

"Well, guess who got kicked off the team?" "No babe, did he really... that coach is such a bastard..." "Yeah. I guess it's a good thing that there's a new team captain now." "But I thought Lee was - wait, did she get kicked off? Is Reyes the new captain?" "Lee's off, Sarah's not the captain, though." *dramatic gasp* "You're captain! I'm so proud!"

“Hey, sexy.”

You smirked as you feigned a sad voice. “Well, guess who got kicked off the team?”

The line went silent for a moment before his voice came back on. “No babe, did he really... that coach is such a bastard...”

“Yeah, I guess it's a good thing that there's a new team captain now.”

“But I thought Lee was-” He stopped. “Wait, did she get kicked off? Is Reyes the new captain?”

“Lee's off,” you replied, twisting your sleeve in your free hand, “but Sarah's not the captain.”

A crash seemed to only say that he'd dropped the phone – the very reason why Hi had such a protective case – before a gasp sounded when he picked it back up. “You're captain! I'm so proud!” “It's not a-”

“What're you doing for dinner tonight? No, not important, because now you're coming over to my house. Pizza. Your choice.”

“Are you finally giving me the recipe?”

“What? Never. That, my love, is something I'll tell no one. Not even you. I love you, babe! See you tonight!”

“See you,” you replied, a smile breaking out across your face as you ended the call, before packing up your bag and leaving the locker rooms, turning off the lights and closing the door on the past of the team, looking forward to your new beginnings.

A/N: We got some regret going on here, as well as (as my English teacher would say) some rebirth following death! I'm super excited to announce that the next (and likely final) instalment in this will be up on Friday. Thanks so much for reading! I'm sorry for the wait! Part five is up!

[nostalgebraist]

compulsive liars

(standalone post spun off from a conversation with @more-whales​)

I knew several compulsive liars in my childhood and teen years.  I had multi-year friendships or acquaintance-ships with all of them, and as a result, I spent a considerable amount of time in my formative years talking to compulsive liars.  (To be concrete, I’m thinking mainly of three specific people here; there are also a few others who I either knew much less well, or who I wasn’t as sure about.)  It occurs to me that this is probably not a universal experience, and now I’m wondering if/how it shaped my attitude toward lies and deception.

N.B. I know almost nothing about how actual psychologists use the term “compulsive liar.”  I attached the term to this type of person merely because I’d describe the behavior to, say, my parents, and they’d say “sounds like a compulsive liar.”  But the type itself is very distinctive, whatever you call it -- these three people shared a whole lot of traits.  So when I say “compulsive liar” I’m really referring to “this type of person I’ve learned to recognize.”

Here are some noteworthy traits that these people shared:

(1) Their lies tended to involve claiming they had abilities or experience they didn’t.  Particularly if those things would make them seem badass or cool, but it was more all-encompassing than that.  In virtually any conversation, whenever some topic was broached, they would quickly assert or imply that they had expert-level knowledge of it, or (if it was not the sort of thing you could be an “expert” in) that they had lots of relevant experience.  They would do this even when it could be easily disproven, or when it seemed obvious (at least to me) that everyone would figure they were bullshitting.

An example I mention because it’s funny and because it shows how this extends even to really trivial stuff: in middle school one of these people noticed I was reading a book subtitled “Understanding Japanese Animation,” and immediately said “I understand Japanese animation” (in a tone that connoted “if anyone does, it’s me”).  The claim is too subjective for me to say it’s a lie per se, but it seemed odd, given that I’d never heard him talk about any anime besides DBZ, and hadn’t gotten the impression he had any interest in anime or Japanese culture (or cared about being seen as someone who did).  He was just acting on the “always claim expertise” reflex, as always.

(2) They would lie much more often than a rational-but-amoral person would.  They would lie even when the risks seemed to greatly outweigh the potential rewards, and about very trivial things where the potential rewards were negligible or nonexistent.  Their reasons for lying seemed unrelated to the sort of “success” that a more ordinary person might want out of a lie.  For instance, they seemed very indifferent to whether their lies were actually believed by others.  I remember a conversation where I said something about Latin class, and the guy immediately claimed that he knew Latin well (see point 1) -- and then, without any prompting from me, started trying to talk about some Latin phrase in a way that made it obvious he knew nothing about Latin grammar.  If he had really intended to make me think he knew Latin, he could have just not done that.

(3) If confronted with evidence that suggests they are lying, they will adapt their story to the evidence, but will never actually “come clean” by saying “yes, I was lying about XYZ” where XYZ was exactly the thing they were lying about.  They will avoid “coming clean” (i.e. expressing the precise truth about the lie they told) even if this means retreating to embarrassingly flimsy excuses, and will even pointlessly add lies while admitting their earlier ones, as if trying to make sure they have not made full contact with the truth.

Example: one guy (the guy from the Latin story, not the anime story) had a thing of claiming that his house contained various cool, implausible facilities, like “a sword forge” and “a recording studio.”  A friend of mine, who had a band, once asked the guy if he could use his studio.  The guy said yes, and invited my friend to get off the bus at his stop and enter his house.  The guy directed my friend to an empty room and claimed it was the studio.

“Where’s all the equipment?” my friend asked.

“Oh, it’s all in the shop for repairs,” the guy said.

Months later, my friend (who had figured the guy was bullshitting) asked the guy “hey, what’s up with your studio equipment?  Still in the shop?”  The guy said yes.

(That story doesn’t have the “pointlessly adding lies” element, but it captures the basic idea.)

I suspect that my experience with these people might have made me more tolerant of lying, in certain ways.

Let me clarify.  I’m not saying I’m OK with this behavior pattern.  I don’t know anyone like this right now (as far as I am aware!), and I’m glad.  Talking to these people was often unpleasant, and usually very, very boring: you have to carry on whole conversations about claimed things/capacities/experiences you don’t believe in, or which you have no particular reason to believe in.  You’re basically LARPing with the person, which can be fun, but only if you happen to like the LARP premise they’re using and like it enough to overcome the gross feeling of complicity with their deceptions.  (It’s usually socially inappropriate to pounce on everything someone says as a potential lie, and a very high proportion of the things these people say have some element of untruth, so just by acting in a socially normal way, you are complicit in a sense.)

And yet, I did spent a lot of time with these people.  Sometimes it was because I had no better options (e.g. they took the same school bus and I preferred their company to none).  But sometimes I’d talk to them when I had other options, because I thought it was “worth it.”

Why?  Because although the average compulsive liar is not (as they claim) more badass and proficient than other people, they are also not less badass or proficient than other people.  Every compulsive liar I’ve known -- like every person I’ve known -- has had some actual strengths and interesting qualities, along with all the fake ones.  I was friends with the guy from the anime story because he was smart and creative and the kind of larger-than-life schoolyard figure who’s always doing something funny or cool.  Sure, he claimed he’d done all sorts of cool shit he almost certainly had not done.  But if you were there and he was there, he probably was doing cool shit.  What was I to do, ignore the guy on principle?

Likewise, the “music studio” guy did not have a music studio, but he did know a thing or two about music: he was, actually, a talented jazz pianist.  He was the pianist for my high school’s well-regarded jazz band, and although I never heard him play, I heard good things from reputable people.  After high school, he (actually) went to Berklee, possibly the top college in the US for jazz performance.  He was a year or two ahead of me, and I remember a day when he came back to give a talk for one of my classes about what college was like.  Nothing he said was out of the ordinary, but he spoke with his usual bombast, and acting on old reflexes I skeptically evaluated each statement he made.  But in any event he was at Berklee and he was good at jazz piano.

I think these experiences gave me a pragmatic attitude toward liars and bullshitters: I rule no one out on principle, and can play along with lies which I know are lies if I think the cost-benefit still comes out in my favor.  I think the tolerance for people lying in certain recognizable ways is particularly important.  If I know that someone likes to bullshit about their accomplishments, I will mentally discount whatever they say about their accomplishments, but I won’t instantly decide their word is valueless, or ignore them when they direct me to cool stuff that is independently verifiable.  Unlike (I think) some people, I don’t see trustworthiness as one-dimensional, but as situation- and topic-dependent.  Knowing that someone likes to tell tall tales at the pub doesn’t instantly invalidate their professional publications, say, or their sworn legal testimony.

The flipside of this pragmatic attitude is that I can be as intolerant (or moreso) of highly implicit deception as I am of outright lies.  For example, I find it exasperating to talk to people on the internet who have a “been everywhere, done everything, seen it all” attitude (this is more common on the internet because usually no one knows your IRL life story in much detail).  These people very rarely outright lie -- they just make sweeping pronouncements on whatever topic is at hand, in a way that implies they have the expertise/experience that would be needed to ground those pronouncements.

Even when I can’t catch these people saying outright falsehoods, they still remind me of the compulsive liars of my youth; there’s the same feeling that I am playing along with their LARP just by engaging with them.  They’re LARPing as thousand-year-old vampires (post not endorsed, just linked for the concept), but they don’t have a thousand years of experience to draw on, and may well be drawing on a narrower range of experience than I am.  This is a LARP I don’t enjoy playing along with, and there is nothing that makes these subtle deceivers categorically worse to me than the Known Liar, caught red-handed with full substantiating documentation.

The Known Liar can be just as bad, if their well-documented lies are representative of a sufficiently bad pattern.  But I just . . . don’t treat people as “trustworthy” until the shocking evidence of a Known Lie emerges.  I decide case-by-case when I can trust a person and when I can’t, and nod along to bullshit if and when it’s worth it.

[writer-starry-night]

Lie #1: He just had it in his car.

LOL. There's literally no proof to this. Nice try to make yourself feel better.

Lie #2: He made it years ago. LOL. There's literally no proof to this. Nice try to make yourself feel better.

Lie #3: And not specifically for Cas. LOL. There's literally no proof to this. Nice try to make yourself feel better.

Listen up, children.

Mixtapes that are given as gifts are NEVER just lying around in people's cars like trash and then given to another person as an after thought. This is stupid and lame and no one does this in real life, let alone in TV/Film where you make things cool and special, not moronic and lame.

People also don't make mixtapes years earlier, and then give another person this old cruddy mixtape because again, that's stupid and lame and tacky. Moreover, this can actually be easily disproven. Does the tape look old and dirty and used?? LOL Oh, no, look at that. The damn tape looks *NEW*. It's clean and has absolutely no dirt, no marks, no signs of it being years and years.

*laughs an eternity*

This is like little kids lying to their parents thinking they are being so smart and the parents are just looking down on them like, "Oh, my stupid precious kids. You have no idea how obvious you look from the adult's perspective."

Like, I get you trolls are raging because this gesture is so intimate, and special, and ROMANTIC, and you'll never, ever, ever have a moment like that for your ship, but the way you lie about it is just stupid. Why be a delusional moron about something easily disproven? Let's just say with this level of delusion, I wouldn't be surprised if you're a Trump supporter. Getting major delusional, inbred-y vibes, is all i’m saying.