#can you tell i love the quote about being a violent dog yeah....

[vampykween]

Second Chances - we'll be alright

summary: your entire life changed the day Poppy Riley came into it, and all these years later you were still immensely grateful for how everything worked out. a/n: please please forgive me i know i haven't written part three yet but i swear it will come eventually. anyway enjoy this little glimpse into the future of this series! i promise this doesn't spoil the original timeline (second chances was always going to be a HEA) also this is barely edited I'm sorry oops! wc: 2.1K second chances masterlist

You remember what it was like being a teenager; you remember not wanting to hear anything your parents had to say, unfortunately, it never occurred to you what it would be like on the other side.

Poppy had come home furious, over what you’re not even sure about. She storms straight past you ignoring your ‘hello’ and stomps aggressively up the stairs rounding it all off by slamming her door. Your husband trails into the arms full of the groceries he was sent out to get, huffing loudly while dumping the bags onto the kitchen island.

“What’s going with the two of you today?” you question your husband while putting away the food for the week. Simon takes a deep, long breath and releases it slowly before responding, “She’s pissed at me because I caught her fuckin’ neckin’ some dodgy lad when I went to pick her up,” You can see it clear as day your husband is pissed – Poppy is fifteen years old, but sometimes he treats her like she’s still just a little girl. Suddenly you hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet barreling into the kitchen – your youngest, Iris, is beelining straight for her father.

“Hi daddy!” your toddler makes grabby hands at Simon, and he scoops her up immediately and smothers her with kisses. All these years later, and still seeing Simon fall into the role of loving father so easily turns your heart to mush.

 “Maybe let me go talk to her? I remember what it was like being fifteen, no girl wants her dad to talk to her about dating and boys.” Your husband sighs and pulls Iris tighter against his chest but nods reluctantly.

You knock softly on your teenager’s bedroom door - you’re hoping you can smooth the situation over – as much as Simon is upset about seeing his little girl growing up, he’s suffering even more knowing she’s upset at him.

“Go away!”

You disregard Poppy’s request, probably your first mistake, because you couldn't possibly fathom the conversation that would ensue.

You stick your head through the gap in the door, slowly pushing it all the way open. Making your way over to sit at the end of the bed, Poppy turns over and rolls her eyes at you. Okay, so that’s how this was going to be.

“Poppy, love, I just want to talk to you, your dad told me what happened earlier,” you try a gentle approach, mostly because you’re not even sure what you should say; you’re not mad at her, you just want her to be able to talk to you about these kinds of things.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she mumbles, then adds on “ya know you’re not even my real mum, I don’t want to talk to you about this.”

If your heart wasn’t pounding so ferociously in your ears, you would’ve been sure it stopped completely. Tears begin to well up in your eyes, the walls seem to be closing in on you and so in the most composed manner you can manage you bolt out of her room and to the primary bedroom.

Simon is finishing putting away laundry when he sees you shoot straight through the door and dive under the covers, sobbing loudly.

“Love, hey, what’s wrong? What happened?”

You can’t seem to get a coherent thought out as you choke around sobs. Simon rubs your back soothingly until you’ve calmed down enough to speak.

“She hates me Simon, I- I don’t know what I did wrong, but she hates me!”

“Sweetheart I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, aren’t you always telling me that she's a teenager and that I shouldn’t take everything she says so personally,” Simon says hoping to ease your fears and heartache.

“Well, maybe I was wrong. Baby, she looked me in my eyes and said that ‘I’m not her real mom and that she doesn’t want to talk to me about things.”

The fingers running through your hair cease movement, and he looks at you like you’ve grown two heads.

“She said what?! You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me, she can’t just say that to you.” Simon is seething, absolutely boiling over with anger. He loves his firstborn immensely - she’s his entire world, but sometimes she drove him up the fucking wall. It’s moments like these that make him wish he could turn back the clock, and shrink her back down into his baby girl - one that doesn't brush him off and snap at her mother and father all the time. On the short walk to her bedroom, Simon does his best to quell the frustration he has with her after making you cry. He doesn't care how upset he is with her, he never has and never will spew that anger onto her, or any of his girls. 

He knocks softly on Poppy’s door, although it’s performative really because he twists the knob and enters anyway. The teenage girl is balled up in a heap on her bed, back facing him, and if the situation was different he’d be laughing at how adorable she looked. He pauses his steps momentarily, seeing if she’ll tell him off too. When he’s met with continued silence, he strides over and parks himself on the edge of her bed. Simon takes in the sight of his daughter’s bedroom; there’s makeup littering her vanity, homework strewn across her desk, band posters and polaroids of her friends tacked up on the walls, and her bed holds a mountain of stuffed animals she’s accumulated over the years. Something akin to guilt stirs in him, maybe he was a little too hard on her. It’s not like one kiss makes her any different than the girl he knows she is. Poppy breaks him from his reverie when she sits up, still bundled in her blanket with tears in her eyes, and turns towards him.

“Are ya gonna sit there and stare at me all day or what?” Okay, maybe she was a little different than he remembered. She’s unfortunately caught his bad mouth and short temper. He brushes off her little quip and dives right into what he wants to say in the first place. 

“Ya want to be mad at me go ahead, but what you said to mum? That was cruel Poppy.” he serves her with a stern look and she knows she’s really in for it this time; no amount of puppy eyes would get her out of this. Poppy fidgets with the skin of her fingers, sighing loudly as she contemplates how to respond. She knows what she said was harsh, and if she could take it back she would. 

Sometimes she looks back on her life and is lucky her dad found someone who loved him and her wholly, but then sometimes she’s angry because why couldn't it have just been them two forever? Her dad was a lot more forgiving about things when she was his only little girl and now she’s got to be a good example for her two younger sisters thanks to you. The teenager doesn't even realize she’s crying until Simon is reaching across the bed to pull her into his arms, wiping at her tears like he always did when she was little. 

“I- I just wish i could do normal teenage things without you getting upset at me,” she choked out between cries. Her father’s heart breaks at her referring to him as ‘daddy’ because he couldn't remember the last time she did that, and it splits even further when he realizes he’s letting his fear of her growing up hinder their relationship. “You let Lily and Iris get away with so much, cause they’re little and I get it, but-” Poppy inhales shakily knowing her next words would cut him like a knife “-when it was just you, me, and mum you let me get away with things too.” 

The older man’s heart feels decimated. Has he been so much harder on Poppy recently? He’s embarrassed to admit he couldn't even recall because he’s been so busy wrangling toddlers all day. As much as he wants to tell her he doesn't want her snogging wannabe bad boys at school, he knows apologizing is the better course of action. 

“Petal, I know I was hard on you today, I can admit that. Do i like the idea of you kissing and dating and all that, absolutely fuckin’ not, but im sure you’ll do it anyway, so ill get over it.” Simon can see his daughter’s eyes light up at his words. “Aye I'm not saying come home with a boyfriend tomorrow, im saying im sorry, and i'll try to let you grow up even if i hate it.” The last word in Simon’s apology comes out airy as Poppy wraps her arms around him and squeezes tightly. 

“Thank you dad. I promise I won't do anything  crazy, at least not yet,” she teases him cheekily. He gives her a pointed look of ‘don't push it’ and plants a kiss on the top of her head. 

“I hate to ruin the good mood we’ve got, but you still need to apologize to your mum. She’s really torn up over what you said to her.” He hates that he’s dampening the mood, but as much as he loves his daughter, he’s not going to let her disrespect you. Poppy sighs sadly, untangles herself from her blankets, and makes way for your bedroom. When she turns back to gauge her father’s reaction, he motions for her to go on. 

Your head is pounding after the long cry session you’ve just finished having. You feel foolish for letting Poppy’s words get to you, she’s only a teenager after all. But having her pierce you right in your most sensitive spot hurt like hell. No matter how many years have passed, and how many hurdles you’ve jumped, there were always days when you remembered that you weren't Poppy’s biological mom. None of that made your family any less real, you knew that, but hearing her remind you of that truth was like a punch to the gut. You’re startled by the sound of the bedroom door creaking open, and your breath catches at the sight of your daughter peeking her head in. 

“Can I  come in please,” she questions with a slightly pleading tone. Poppy wasn't sure what she’d do if you said no.  It would be fair, but despite her words, every girl still needs their mom, chosen or not. You nod your head and motion for her to join you on the bed. Raising your arm, she slides into your side, head on your shoulder just like she used to always do growing up. Your heart clenched wistfully at the thought. You couldn't stay mad at her even if you tried, no matter how things came to be, Poppy would always be your little girl. After a pregnant moment of silence, she finally speaks in the quiet room. 

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier, that wasn’t kind of me. You always have and will be my real mum, no matter what. You dont think I’m a bad person do you?” Your eyes are shining with tears as you look down at the teenager, how did you manage to raise such a wonderful fifteen-year-old? When you were fifteen you spent every waking moment walking on eggshells around your mother trying with all your might to not misstep in her minefield.  Fifteen year old you, laid awake and cried when you realized you were just like your mother and you were doomed to always bite the hands that fed you, that loved you. But here Poppy was, cuddled up in your bed, tear-stained face apologizing because she hurt you, and now you’re crying too because if only you were held like this by your mother growing up. 

“My little petal, of course, I don't think you’re a bad person. Even the kindest of people lash out at people when they’re hurt. There are going to be days when you probably can't even stand the sight of my face, but please know I will love you endlessly even then.” Poppy buries her face deeper into the crook of your neck and hugs you tightly, you can feel her tears staining your shirt, but you couldn't care less as yours fall freely down your face. She mumbles a soft “i love you” and you chuckle faintly and press a kiss to the crown of her head. There was never going to be a time when you didn't love Poppy Riley with everything in you, not when meeting that little girl all those years ago changed the course of your entire life for the better.

taglist: @darkravenqueen98 @jupiternighties @lunamoonbby @happy-mushrooms @yyiikes @liliumbosniacum @fluffymaxsworld @rockcollector3000

[ryuuaka713]

Bungou Stray Dogs Dead Apple: “You used corruption, believing in me? How Beautiful.” A “DISSECTION” OF THE SCENE

I mentioned before in one of the posts by @nataliaphantomhivesblog​, where we were discussing about the corruption scenes in BSD, that the scene in Dead Apple is my favorite. So, I decided (like any SKK trash) to make an “analysis” of that scene, just to make a point why I like it the most compared to the other corruption scenes (as if this post is the definition of being productive like I’ll just wasting my time rambling here LOL)

I divided this post into two parts. Part 1 is the more difficult one where I am attempting to write some “character analysis”. While Part 2 is more about how the scene is composed (it’s pretty boring. I’m sorry)

I will NOT include the infamous Lap scene (I know. I know. We all love that moment. But I would rather focus on the scenes before that).

Side note: I do not specialize in film or literary critique, so really this whole post is just for fun. Thus, why I put quotes on the analysis. Take this is as my personal opinion where I’m attempting to make sense by making it sound “fancy”.

But anyway. Here it goes:

In every Corruption scene, the thematic notion is always Trust—as in Chuuya trusts Dazai well enough to use his ability so long as he is present to nullify it. It is a very life-threatening process, especially for Chuuya since Corruption, despite being one of the most powerful abilities, can cause self-destruction the longer he uses it. So, Dazai should keep a close watch on him at all times, and then even giving him a sense of comfort to compensate to Chuuya’s worn-out body and for his efforts. This is the same trajectory in all 5 episodes of Corruption, but out of all of them, what stood out the most (for me) is the scene from Dead Apple. 

This scene has amazed me ever since I first watched the movie. And while it just shows their infinite trust, the whole execution of this scene evokes more than just that thematic concept. What I see in this scene is something that all of us have already witnessed, but there is something unique in the way Dazai nullifies Chuuya’s corruption, and their dialogue may be just them bantering and yet, their tonality is different. It is as if, we just touched a moment that is reserved only for these two and we just happened to have the privilege to witness it. In other words, there is a sort of familiarity (or intimacy) and gentleness going on at this very moment—it is cathartic. This is what I want to look into—like how did we come to this?

PART 1: His Proper Partner.

In the Japanese version, ever since the episode where Chuuya made his first debut, they call themselves “aibou” (相棒), referring to a one-on-one partnership. While “nakama” (仲間)can also refer to a partner, it has a different connotation in which the closest English equivalent of that term would be “comrade” or “acquaintance”. The closest English equivalent of “aibou” is, to no one’s surprise, “partner” (or “pal”). And it makes sense, considering that the first kanji (相) can mean “mutual”, “together”, or “each other”. So, to have Dazai and Chuuya referring to themselves as that, it just manifests their familiarity on each other.

And in their case, their “familiarity” is both their advantage and disadvantage. It is a “disadvantage” because they use it to get on each other’s nerves (both in comedic and serious situations).

However, it also serves to their advantage, especially when they have to cooperate in the battlefield. This comes into light in the Lovecraft Episode where they executed Operation Shame and Toad—Chuuya acknowledges Dazai’s tactical mentality, whereas Dazai (as he referenced Chuuya’s mastery in martial arts) let’s his partner do the grunt work. Interesting enough, this is the same episode we first see Chuuya’s Corruption (but not the first time he uses it).

Using Corruption stipulates that “familiarity”, especially in Dazai’s part who has to be present to monitor Chuuya’s physical state, therefore he is aware, not just the consequence in using Corruption, but also of Chuuya’s limit. This explains why Dazai declares that he is aware of Chuuya’s moves and “breathing pattern”, otherwise, as what he himself says, he “won’t be a proper partner”.

What is witnessed in the Lovecraft Episode is the standard protocol that Soukoku uses when they are at their last resort. So, it is not a surprise that we get to witness Chuuya using Corruption, again, when he saves Dazai in Dead Apple, except it is done differently.

Even though Dazai is ten steps ahead of the enemy, the situation is still risky and even more complicated in Chuuya’s part since he is using his ability WITHOUT Dazai present. And that he has to save Dazai first before he can get it nullified. With that being said, it requires a careful approach, one in which they know the other’s moves—Dazai knows too well how Chuuya would react. For instance, the manga version of Dead Apple demonstrates how Soukoku communicates in their operation using “codes”. As such when Dazai got himself kidnapped, no one knew about his whereabouts until Hirotsu mentions about Dazai buying a microscope (to which it leads them to a dead end). However, Chuuya—upon remembering that Dazai teases that he needs a microscope in order to see him—demands to see that microscope, breaks it, and finds the transmitter. It is a well-planned strategy in Dazai’s part where all it takes is to leave helpful clues for Chuuya to pick up and catalyze the operation. In the Dead Apple movie, he does it again:

Indeed, for the audience, it is not new to see Dazai planning ahead and having ulterior motives behind his actions. It is not new to see Chuuya executing his plans and understands his motives either. But seeing these two working together despite those four years of absence, and without physically communicating is beyond human comprehension. Almost like the microscope scene, Dazai is not there to directly tell him about his plan. Chuuya doesn’t know about the antidote until that punch as his only “clue” is that Dazai is working alone, so he sees that something is amiss.

Seeing the critical state of Yokohama, Chuuya knows that he will use Corruption, but seeing Dazai’s corpse, it gives this uncertainty on whether they can make it out alive or not. And yet, what did Chuuya do? He jumped off the plane and activates his ability, knowing that there is “no time to chicken out” or else Dazai’s plan won’t work, and they’ll end up dead. Even if it means doing the job to protect the city, it still takes guts for Chuuya to work and place his life on someone he “hates”. Despite those 4 years of absence, the scene in Dead Apple just manifests that they never doubt each other’s capabilities. And to further validate this, let’s check out their dialogue:

           Dazai: You used Corruption, believing in me? How beautiful.

           Chuuya: Yeah I did. I believe in your disgusting vitality and craftiness.

           Dazai: That was a somewhat violent way to wake up Snow White.

           Chuuya: Tch. You’re the one who hid an antidote your mouth knowing I would punch you.          

Not only does this scene perfectly parallels to the Lovecraft episode where we see Soukoku bantering while still in a critical situation, it also emphasizes the degree of their trust and how that trust has taken root from their familiarity.

Dazai: You used Corruption, believing in me? How beautiful.

Chuuya: Yeah I did. I believe in your disgusting vitality and craftiness.

Dazai’s first line is the main idea of their partnership, echoing Chuuya’s quote from the Lovecraft episode: “I used Corruption because I trust you”. This is a vital aspect in their relationship since it has been stated before in Fifteen and Stormbringer that “no one has trusted Dazai”… until Chuuya comes into the picture. Ever since their first teamwork against Rimbaud, Dazai finally has someone he can rely on both in strength and assurance, even smiling at the fact that Chuuya doesn’t even deny his proposal but merely asks for his reason.

With that being said, then it is appropriate for Dazai to say that line, touched by the idea that Chuuya still constantly trusts him. It just reminisced so much from what they have as children that it seems to this day, they never forgotten about it.

On the other hand, in Chuuya’s end, he confirms that trust and provides a reason, which is appropriate since Chuuya is Dazai’s “reason-living” like in Fifteen:

Chuuya’s line—“I believe in your disgusting vitality and craftiness”—is very similar in the excerpt from Fifteen, and this just shows how that line from the movie indicates his familiarity to Dazai. By “familiarity”, I mean that he knows his partner’s mental process and motives (as I have mentioned above). In this case, it seems like Chuuya has seen something that he and Dazai have in common: the desire to live. Of course, the latter always craves for death, but with his new viewpoint on Death, his mission in fulfilling Oda’s wish, and the fact that he is tethered to someone who wished to live, Dazai just couldn’t die. And Chuuya, being his constant companion, knows this. This is why Chuuya “believes” that whatever plan Dazai has on mind, it will always work, and in the scenario in Dead Apple it starts by taking a leap into Corruption—which is ironically, the very thing that could kill Chuuya, and by extent, would cause Dazai’s death if the plan is not well-thought or if they don’t work together. By referring to his “vitality and craftiness”, Chuuya is acknowledging his familiarity on Dazai, admitting their “rotten relationship”, and justifying his trust on him.

Dazai: That was a somewhat violent way to wake up Snow White.

Chuuya: Tch. You’re the one who hid an antidote your mouth knowing I would punch you.

Another interesting thing I find in the dialogue is Dazai’s line: “That was a somewhat violent way to wake up Snow White”. Fans think that this is Dazai flirting, where he is implying that he wants to be kissed by Chuuya the same way the prince does to Snow White. For me, I think this little dialogue is more than just fanservice since it makes sense, not only in the context of the movie containing motifs of a “poisoned” apple. I think the reference of the fairytale in this dialogue not only foreshadows his “death”, but it also highlights their dynamic whenever they work together with Dazai acting childish and Chuuya knowing that he is actually being serious (or the fact that he cracks some jokes in most Post-Corruption scenes). This is still related to the whole “familiarity” theme that I have been rambling about; as mentioned before, Dazai and Chuuya would use whatever they know about each other just to rile each other up. These moments are generally meant for comedic effect, but these teasing and bickering can serve as their advantage.

Similar to the microscope scene I have mentioned, Dazai makes that microscope comment seem like a childish joke on the surface, however, Chuuya picks this up as a clue and sees his real motive. This kind of synergy is seen again in the prologue of the movie where Dazai jokes about Chuuya getting hit by bullets when he is in close range of the enemy, and yet, the latter takes it as a warning that an ability-user is nearby. We really don’t know if Dazai leaves a Snow White-related clue for Chuuya before the events in Dead Apple (it would have been pretty cool tho), but that dynamic in the microscope incident and prologue is very similar to that dialogue we see in the movie: Dazai is being playful, but Chuuya sees and calls out his ulterior motives. This is how Soukoku works!

PART 2: The Art of Catharsis

The relationship of Soukoku in the battlefield is one of the best teamwork we have seen in the anime. Both parties are synchronized in the way that Dazai’s brains and No Longer Human, and Chuuya’s fighting skills and Corruption perfectly compliment each other. Moreover, we also see the basis of that partnership, and this is something that the creators want to highlight in this scene (in other words, how did the animators deliver this dynamic?)

In my opinion, I think the words “gentleness” and “cathartic” fit in this scene. To start off, before this moment takes place, we have witnessed Chuuya fighting the Dragon.

That scene was intense! Chuuya activates Corruption, generates into pure destruction with him yelling Dazai’s name (despite the fact that he is not supposed to be in a proper mindset). The way this scene plays out is interesting; in the shot, we see the two main figures (the Dragon and Chuuya) mostly in red—which is a very vibrant color—in contrast to the blue and green background. By using the color that pops out, the attention is on them, and it is topped with the amount of action in that moment. Not to mention, the background music, containing a rock music and a rap, elevates that energy. It is a scene that heightens the adrenaline, so the audience can empathize with Chuuya—understanding him as a character that is full of life, and also his hastiness to kill it before he runs out of time.

When that fight is over, we notice that the music alters into a string orchestra. This is a very good change because the tempo is slower—a direct contrast to the rap music—as if it is slowly bringing the audience down from the hype in the fighting scene the same way Chuuya slowly goes down and hovers Dazai’s body. The music immediately stops right on cue when the punch happens, then the audience is left in silence. Usually in films, silence is used for the purpose of anticipation. In this case, the anticipation is placed on whether Chuuya’s punch and/or the pill worked and saved Dazai.

The transition from the white background into a blue background should indicate that Dazai is alive. And yet, the animators did this subtly rather than showing Dazai’s face (like in Season 1 episode 1), just so the audience is still in the state of anticipation (add that with the white noise in the background). Furthermore, there is a fairytale quality in that shot, like this is similar to when Sleeping Beauty (in this case “Snow White”) wakes up, that’s when the colors in the castle come back.

Getting close to that iconic shot, I love how the animators keep the “camera” in the same place (Chuuya’s face), that way we can further empathize with Chuuya by seeing a close shot of his state: he was at his limit! But as soon as the blood starts moving away from the screen, we can see a bandaged hand moving to his face. And then, finally!

Words cannot describe how much I appreciate the details of that scene, especially on Dazai’s gesture. He moves his hand slowly but quick enough to nullify him right on time. Not to mention, he does not just touch his cheek but rather cups it (look at the shape of his hand!). One can say that the gentleness in Dazai’s gesture is the exact opposite to Chuuya’s punch, and this sort of contrast further highlights the catharsis in this scene. In other words, after all of that intensity with the fight and seeing Chuuya’s bloody state, it is relieving to see that familiar hand touching him, indicating that Chuuya can rest. And seeing that we witnessed and empathize with him, we know what it feels like.

With that being said, that’s why the third shot above where the hand is fully placed on his cheek and he made a short gasp is my personal favorite. It is the contrast in Chuuya’s face where we can still see “Corruption”, and Dazai’s hand to which he activates “No Longer Human”. I have seen some people complaining about how they want to see Dazai’s face in this scene; personally, I think this scene is animated brilliantly as it is. It is only fair to see a close up of Dazai’s hand to indicate that he is nullifying “Corruption”, after all, “No Longer Human” is works through touch. To top it off, the beauty in “not seeing the face” is more powerful because it leaves more to the imagination—we don’t know specifically what kind of face Dazai is making, but the way that hand moves alone is enough to tell us what he is thinking at that moment. And finally, upon contact, we see Chuuya making a slight twitch—this is when Corruption recognizes No Longer Human and deactivates. This is when Chuuya recognizes that familiar touch and knows that his partner is finally awake, so he can finally rest.

Then we have that iconic shot! Like the one I mentioned above, the camera stays in one place, only this time, it is a long shot, so the focus is on them (thus they are on the middle). Interesting enough, there is no background music in this scene, and we can’t see their expressions. Usually, in this anime, when a character is seen faceless, in order to determine what they are thinking are feeling, the animators would usually make them do a gesture or a dialogue.

In this scene, where everything is silent and their faces “unseen”, our focus goes to their exchanges. Both Mamoru and Taniyama use their “bedroom voices”, and I think it is appropriate considering that their dialogue contains a deeper meaning in regards of their relationship. In other words, as mentioned before, it may seem like another day of bantering, but with their tone, there is something sincere and intimate in what they are saying. Also, the playfulness in Dazai’s comment and Chuuya’s response hits different compared to their other moments of constant yelling. You really don’t need the close up of their faces in order to see that they are at peace in each other’s company.

In addition, the color scheme of the scene is predominantly blue, which makes sense, not just because of Dazai’s ability, but also because it highlights the serenity in the scene. The blue color, the orb, and the bandages that glide silently are animated in a way that they buffer out the red that we have seen back with Corruption, and also indicates a sense of “protection” (which is later seen in the lap scene when Dazai has to protect Chuuya from the fog). In short, the ambiance perfectly fits with how Dazai is there to give Chuuya a sense of comfort in Post-Corruption, letting him rest so that he can compensate for all that he did.

**********

The scene in Dead Apple is something that lies in between of the familiar and the new—we have seen Dazai and Chuuya in this situation before, we know how they function as a team, and we know the level of risk they are taking. But this is something that we have never seen before; like subtleness in his gestures, the softness in their tones, and the fact that these two are in a position where they are saving each other, which becomes part of their instincts. They show how much they trust each other by knowing how much they knew of each other. They acknowledge the fact that their fates are tethered regardless of the years of absence. And finally, it is not just the Prince saving Snow White, but rather: the Prince saves Snow White and Snow White saving him in return.

OK, I just literally fried my brain. If you’ve read this far, I thank you so much for your time! I am so sorry if this is too long. I welcome for any critiques or discussions. So yeah, that’s my ted-talk

[misnomera]

On racial stereotyping of the Haans in TMA...

Right so as someone who is ethnically Chinese I have NO FUCKING clue how I didn’t notice this more distinctly in my initial binge of tma (going too fast and not paying closer attention to character names and descriptions, probably) but the Haan family storyline is, all horror elements aside, pretty fucked up in terms of racial representation re: stereotyping. This got long as hell, but please please please take a moment to read through if you’ve got time for it. thanks.

To start off, the Haans are one of the few characters in tma with an explicitly specified race and ethnicity—Chinese—and pretty much the only explicitly Chinese characters in tma, other than the mostly unimportant librarian (Zhang Xiaoling) from Beijing. But like, Haan isn’t even a properly Chinese surname, at least not in the way that it’s spelled in canon (it should be Han, one a. A quick google search tells me that Haan as a surname has...Dutch origins??).

Of course, that could be chalked up to shoddy anglicization processes within family histories, which certainly isn’t uncommon with immigrant families, so I’m not going to dwell on names too much (although I also find it interesting that John Haan’s name is so specifically and weirdly anglicized that he changed his own surname?? Hun Yung to John Haan is a very big leap of a name change and frankly not very believable. ANYWAY, this is not that important. I don’t expect Jonny, a white Englishman, to come up with perfectly unquestionable non-Cho-Chang-like Chinese names, though it certainly would be nice. Moving on).

What really bothers me about the Haans is how they almost exclusively and explicitly play into negative Chinese immigrant stereotypes. I don’t even feel like I need to say it because it’s like...it’s literally Right There, folks. John Haan (in ep 72) owns and operates a sketchy takeout restaurant. They’re all avatars of the Flesh—and John Haan is Specifically horrific and terrifying because he cooked his wife’s human meat and fed it to his unknowing customers. Does that remind you of any stereotypes which accuse Chinese people of consuming societally unacceptable and ethically questionable things like dog/cat/bat meat (which, if it’s not already crystal fucking clear, we don’t. do that.), which in turn characterize us as horrible unfeeling monsters? John Haan’s characterization feeds (haha, badum tss) directly into this harmful stereotype that have caused very real pain for Chinese people and East Asians in general. 

And Jonny does nothing to address that from within his writing (and not out of it either). And, speaking on a more meta level, Jonny could’ve easily had these flesh avatars be individuals of any race (like, what’s Jared Hopworth’s ethnicity? Do we know? No? Well then). Conversely, he could’ve easily, easily had a Chinese person be an avatar of any other entity. So why did he have to chose specifically the Flesh?

(This is a rhetorical question. You know why. Racial stereotyping and invoking a fear of the other in an attempt to enhance horror, babey~)

On Tom Haan’s side, Jonny seems weirdly intent on having other characters repeatedly comment on his accent (or rather, lack thereof) in relation to his race. Think about how, in ep 30 (killing floor), the fact that Tom Haan had spoken a line to the statement giver in “perfect English” was an emphasized beat in that statement, and a beat that was supposed to be “chilling” and meant to signify to us that something was, quote-unquote, “not right” with Tom Haan. Implicitly, that’s saying that it was unexpected, not “normal”, and in this case even eerie, for someone who looks Chinese to have spoken in fluid, unbroken English. Mind you, the line itself was perfectly scary on its own (“you cannot stop the slaughter by closing the door”), so why did Jonny feel the need to note the accent in which it was spoken in? Why did Jonny HAVE to have that statement giver note, that he initially “wasn’t even sure how much English [Haan] spoke”? 

This happens again in episode 72 with a Chinese man (and again, his ethnicity is Explicitly Noted) who we assume is also Tom Haan. This one is rather ironically funny and kind of painfully self aware, because the statement giver expresses surprise at Haan’s “crisp RP accent” and then immediately “felt bad about making the assumption that he couldn’t speak English,” and subsequently admitted that thought was “low-key racist.” Like, from a writing perspective, this entire passage is roundabout, pointless, and says absolutely nothing helpful to enhance the horror genre experience for listeners (instead it just sounded like some sort of half-assed excuse so Jonny or other listeners could say “look! We’ve addressed the racism!” You didn’t. It just made me vaguely uncomfortable). And again, having other people comment on our accents/lack thereof while assuming we are foreign is a Very Real microaggression that east asians face on the daily. If Jonny needed some filler sentences for pacing he could’ve written about Literally anything else. So why point out, yet again, that the crazy murderous man was foreign and Chinese? 

At this point, you might say, right, but yknow, it was just that the statement givers were kind of racist! It happens! Yeah sure, ok, that’s a passable in-universe explanation for descriptions of Tom Haan (though not John Haan, mind you), but the statement givers are fake made up people, and statement’s still written by Jonny, who absolutely has all the power to write overt discrimination out of his stories. And he does! Think about just how many minor (and major!!) characters are so, so carefully written as completely aracial, and do not have their ethnicity implicated at all in whatever horrors they may or may not be committing. Think about how many lgbtq+ characters have given statements, and have been in statements, without having faced direct forms of discrimination, or portrayed as embodying blatant stereotypes in their stories (though lgbtq+ rep in tma certainly has their own issues that I won’t go into here). Jonny can clearly write characters this way, and he can do it well. So why, why, am I being constantly, repeatedly reminded in-text of the fact that the Haans are East Asian, that they’re from China, that they’re Chinese immigrants, that they’re second-generation British Chinese or whatever the fuck, and that they’re also horrifying conduits for blood, gore, and general fucked-up-ness? It’s absolutely not something that is Needed for the stories to be an effective piece of horror; the only thing it does is perpetuate incredibly harmful and hurtful stereotypes.

And listen, I love tma to bits. It’s taken over my blog. I’ve really loved my interactions with the fandom. And I am consistently blown away by Jonny’s writing and how well he’s able to weave foreshadowing and plot into an incredibly complex collection of stories. But I absolutely Cannot stop thinking about the Haans because it’s just. It’s such a blatant display of racial stereotyping in writing. And I’ve certainly seen a few voices talking about it here and there, and I don’t know if I’m just not looking in the right places, but it certainly feels like something that is just straight up not on the radar for a lot of tma fans. And I’m disappointed about that. 

Just, I don’t know. Take a look at those episodes again and do some of your own thinking about why these characters had to be specifically Chinese (answer: they didn’t.). And in general, PLEASE for the love of god turn a critical eye on character portrayals and descriptions whenever they are assigned specific races/ethnicities (Some examples that come to mind are Jude Perry, Annabelle Cane, and Diego Molina), because similar issues, to an extent, extend beyond the Haans, though I haven’t covered them here. 

You shouldn’t need a POC to do point out these problems for you when they’re so glaringly There. But for those of you who really didn’t know, hope this was informative in some way. I’m tired, man. If some of the only significant Chinese characters you write are violent cannibalistic men with a perverted relationship with meat, just don’t do it. Please don’t do it. 

EDIT: Since the making of this post Jonny has acknowledged and apologized for these portrayals on his twitter and in the Rusty Quill Operations Update, which went up September 2020. A long time coming, but better late than never. This of course doesn’t necessarily negate the harm done by Jonny’s writing, and doesn’t make me much less angry about it, but is appreciated nonetheless. For more on this topic there’s a lot of productive discussions happening in my “#tma crit” tag and in the notes of this post

[bigtittydemonwife]

Yandere creeps? 👀

Of course! since you didn’t specify who you wanted I decided to do Toby, Masky, Hoodie, Liu, EJ, LJ, Jeff and Jane

Ticci Toby

Honestly it wouldn’t take much for this man to go yandere honestly. Just show him kindness. He’s been shown cruelty his whole life so someone treating him with basic decency and not expecting anything out of it? Yeah he’s in love.

While he will treat you like a queen, if you fight back you will be punished. He doesn’t want to physically hurt his S/O, but he’s not below anything mentally. He will murder your loved ones right in front of you. All while saying things like “It’s you’re fault, I’m the only one who is allowed to love you”

But if your completely fine with being with him? (Don’t @ me I know there are some of you out there) He’s so happy! Expect cuddles everyday, they’re mandatory. He’s still possessive as all hell though. While he trusts you not to run away he does NOT trust others to not steal you away. No matter what you’re leaving the house for he’s coming with you. Taking out the trash? Wait for him. Getting grocery’s? Let him get his shoes. This leads to quote unquote dates a lot.

He needs you with them so don’t ever try to leave, love him and you should be fine. But don’t think it’s all happiness. He’s a PTSD ridden Schizophreniac with most likely trust issues and intimacy issues. There are days where you can tell him you love him a thousand times and he’s yelling about how you’re lying. But in a hour he’ll be back crying and begging for forgiveness.

He struggles with emotions so remember, he was major trouble showing love. The way he does it headpats, cuddles and not murdering you.

Eyeless Jack

Now this man is a mystery rapped in a enigma rapped in a riddle. For him, its tougher to figure out why he’s obsessed with you. But I’d say its how you are psychologically and what you’re life’s like.

Maybe its because of how generally kind you are despite knowing how shit life and people can be. Maybe he wants to protect the innocence he used to have?

Who knows. But as with Toby, Mans Possessive. Not in a lock you up kinda way (That would come later). But stalkerish. You may think you’re alone but you never are. Man knows you’re whole shecdual. And while he won’t KILL anyone who hurts you, that would draw way to much attention. But what he does is much worse.

He probably takes the longest out of all the creeps to show himself to you. And not even in person. He’d start with notes. If you return his feelings your safe and now have a cannibalistic stalker protector. If you don’t......well...We’ll unpack that someother time.

Masky

Again, Show him kindness, But its still a little different from Toby. If you fully understand what he’s done, the person he is. But still think he deserves kindness. He thinks you’re naive. Yeah, He starts off thinking your fucking stupid. Starting.

But as it goes on, and you continue to show him kindness. Even when you know what he’s done, He starts to warm up to your kindness. But if you witness him cold blooded murdering someone. He’s ready for you to leave. But if you dont. You still treat him kindly. He wants to save this nativity. Being naive in this world is a death wish. So he’ll barely let you leave the house. And he’s always with you. Unlike EJ. He will murder anyone who fucks with you. And leave no evidence behind. As far as anyones concerned they’ve dissapeared from the earth.

Once again if you love this man. You have to put up with this. No negotiations. He loves you and thats how he shows it. But if you do put up with it. And show this man all the love. Maybe it will be alright.

But like EJ, Never try and leave him, Unlike some creeps he will hurt his S/O physically, but then will cry into their arms begging them to forgive him. Or a different punishment might go an NSFW way if you know what I mean.....

Hoodie

Again, Complicated. His obsession probably comes very quickly. Someone whose creative like him, Who questions the bigger things in life. Someone he could have a intelligent conversation with.

He’s a stalker. He watches his S/O all day. Nothing they do could bore him. But he gets jealous very easy. Why else do you think the cute person in the library that gave you their number hasn’t come back? Or hasn’t texted you?

He’s probably take a while to show himself to his S/O. And once he finally gets the courage. He’ll send them a letter. You two’ll become penpals. He’s kept every single one of your letters and keeps them in a folder.

He does have trouble showing his emotions though, Showing his S/O He loves them would be returning letters, Giving them small trinkets (like a magpie) and not murdering them.

Prefurs not to hurt his S/O, If they try to run away he’ll just psychologically torture them. Following them and disappearing when the call the police. Making them think they’re the only one who can see him. Anyone who they care about disappears. But this only happends if you run away and don’t love him back.

So love him and you’ll be good....you’ll just have to deal with Possessiveness, Paranoia, Obssession, and Jealousy.

Jane The Killer

With most of the creeps. Be kind to her, But not just her. If your a generally kind person who shows others respect but refuses to to bow down to bullies. Shes in love

Shes quite quick to talk to her S/O, She’ll ask for they’re number, and because of how normal she looks (And how pretty she is) you say yes.

Late night texts about random things, if you rant to her about your interests she could listen all day.

(To quote The Killers) Jealousy

Its her life quest to keep creepers who remind her of Jeff away from you, Speaking of Jeff is he ever went near you shes starting a riot.

She loves cuddles, intamacy is a must. She needs you to stay near her. Once again won’t hurt her S/O but if they try to run away they’re getting locked in a room alone untill they’re begging for her to come back so they can hear someone’s voice that isnt their own and touch them. She’s not above depriving her S/O of intimacy should the moment call for it.

Possessive. You need her and only her. Everyone else doesnt matter. Show her love and no one else.

Jeff The Killer

He’s most likely to become obsessed with someone whose nice to people. But will fight a bitch. If your sassy and don’t take shit he’s in love. But remember hes a twisted psychopath who murdered his family and his neighbours. His love isnt what you’d call socially acceptable. He’d kill for you in a flash. Anyone, people you love or hate. They’re dissapearing.

Unlike the others, he won’t show himself to you quickly BUT he will not hide his love. Scribbled love notes written in blood. Dead animals on your porch. He’s kinda like a dog.

He will hurt his S/O if they don’t love him, Mentally or Physically he doesnt mind, He see’s it as a necessary step.

He needs physically affection.

Isnt a soft relationship to be honest. Cuddles and kisses yes. But no soft words. Just sass, violent outbursts, Hate sex, Angry sex, Makeup sex. Yeah lots of sex.

He’s a horndog what can I say?

But maybe, just mayyybeee once In a blue moon, you’ll be cuddling and he’ll think your asleep, and whisper he loves you in his ear. Pretend your asleep though.

Laughing Jack

He needs someone he can laugh with, Someone with a sort of wonder to them. He likes those type of people.

Since he’s a childs imaginary friend(?) He doesn’t really understand love, But obsession? Yes.

He’s not gonna show himself to his S/O for ages. I mean, Hes like a seven foot tall clown. Total boyfriend material.

He’ll leave candy on your doorstep, Or cute little trinkets, Like music boxes.

Gives the best hugs honestly. He’ll lift you right up off the ground and spin you around. Honestly he carries you everywhere like a princess.

CARNIVIAL DATES.

Anyone, literally anyone makes you feel sad or makes the wonder in your eyes leave. They’re loved ones are getting turned into candy, then they’re forced to eat them. Then they get murdered gruesomely. He’s all you need and he’ll protect you.

He loves to slow dance with you. He’ll play some old classical music.

(I headcanon he has a British accent)

He’ll cut you off from all your friends, or make them disappear, He’s all you need.

Homicidial Liu/Sully

(Its so hard to find good gifs for these boys)

This boy needs a hug, Him and Sully.

Stalkers. They need affection. They’ll follow they’re S/O wherever they go. No mater what they do.

They’re S/O has a partner? Not for much longer.

Liu gives cute gifs and notes like Flowers, or shiny trinkets, Sully gives weirder stuff, Like random stones or shiny things. And his notes are scrubbed much more.

Nickname them Magpie they’ll love it.

While Liu is defiantly the more sweeter one, He’ll never hurt his S/O, but he will score them if he must. Sully on the other hand, all for scaring them. Despite what others think he loves them, and he doesn’t want to hurt them to much because he wants them to be his. And they can’t be his if they’re dead.

You know all the jealousy I said Jeff had? Imagine that but doubled.

Thats your realtionship. While Liu will be more defensive if someone’s hurting or flirting with you. Sully aggressive. Back away from whats his.

[thran-duils]

Thran-duils’ heavily encouraged dark!character writing challenge

I’ve wanted to host a writing/prompt challenge for a long time but I’ve always been too nervous (it’s a perpetual thing lmao). Well, I am taking the dive! Rules and all the information below the cut!

Credit to @santacarlahorrorshow for the lovely header! <3

RULES

1. This challenge is 18+. Seriously, don’t be a dick and ignore this rule.

2. Following that, all characters and reader insert are to be 18+

3. I really, really, really encourage dark!characters or dark!reader or both (soft!dark, dark, heavy!dark) for this but they do not have to be if that makes you uncomfortable. A lot of these prompts are going to be leaning towards dark but there are ways to not utilize them that way I’m sure!

4. These fics are to be reader insert.

5. Fandoms accepted are: Supernatural, Marvel, The Walking Dead, and Lord of the Rings verse (I’m begging for some Thranduil here lmao no shame).

6. All characters welcome! But please do not use real life actors for this!

7. Please do not write beastiality. That’s really the only thing I’m gonna be like “plz don’t” kink about.

8. The fics for this must be new, not adding to an already existing story. They can be drabbles, one shots, or a starting chapter for a new series.

9. I went back and forth about this but I think I am not going to put a limit on how many people can choose a prompt. This may come back to backfire on me but one prompt just might be popular and it would be fun to see what variations can come from it!

10. Send me an ask with your prompt you would like and character/s. I will tag you next to the prompt.

11. If you need to back out of the challenge, send me a DM and I will remove you. Things happen!

12. Make sure to tag your fics appropriately if they are dark! Not only does this help people avoid triggers but also you’ve done your due diligence to tell people to gtfo and if they don’t, well, then that’s on them.

13. You do not need to be following me to participate!

14. Please tag the fics as #thranduilswritingchallenge and also tag me to make sure I see it!

15. For lyrics and quotes, please use them in the fic! If there’s breaks in the lyric, feel free to break it up in the fic though. Situations are for encouragement. I did edit one lyric, Olivia O’Brien. I put the songs next to the lyrics in case you want to listen to the song.

16. The deadline for this challenge is September 4, 2021. I will make a masterpost and I will post it either 9/5 or 9/6!

Lyric Prompts

01. “You right, I got my guy. But I, I can’t help it, I want you” (You Right by Doja Cat)

02. “Good girls don’t cry and good girls don’t lie” (Good Girls by CHVRCHES)

03. “But you keep breaking me apart” (Fabric by Half Waif)

04. “Dance like you’re not a liar” (Last Night of an Empire by Imogen Heap) 05. “Two nights in a row, now I know that it’s broken” (Two Nights by Lykke Li) 06. “I want my ring back, baby, that’s a diamond” (Violent by carolesdaughter) 07. “I’ll show you how revenge can taste so sweet” (King by Lilith Czar) 08. “It’s certified, I’m not the nice one” (The Devil by Banks) 09. “Learn to take a hint. I thought I fucking told [you]” (No More Friends by Olivia O’Brien) 10. “What have you been doing? Don’t forget I am your home” (Purge the Poison by MARINA) --> @phantomwarrior12 (Dark!Gabriel) 11. “If I ever gave you a good reason to say goodbye I would regret it” (Getaway by VINCINT) 12. “Find your way back to my bed again” (Tulsa Jesus Freak by Lana Del Rey)

13. “Stop defending me, we’ll go down together” (Night Sway by Dance Gavin Dance)

14. “Don’t apologize for things you really felt” (Love Somebody Else by lovelytheband)

15. “Feeling stuck is fucking up my sanity” (All Your Love by Sir Sly)

16. “You’re so perfect from the outside. I stalked and studied away” (Who I Am by Code Orange)

17. “I used to know you. I never got you back” (Sideways by The Anix)

18. “You show up when I’m all alone” (Numb by Kiiara)

19. “Look out the window, see what you could’ve had” (Weird Leisure by Biffy Clyro)

20. “I hope that I mean it. Doubt it, right? Yeah, so do I” (AWOL by Every Time I Die)

Quote Prompts

01. “Hold out your tongue.”

02. “Can you keep a secret?”

03. “Temper, temper…”

04. “I don’t really feel like fighting.”

05. “Loving you was the most exquisite form of self destruction.” – David Jones

06. “Why are there weapons in my bathroom?”

07. “Go to hell!” “And leave you here all alone?”

08. “I love you.” “Don’t do that to yourself.”

09. “Here. Hold my morals.” --> @shadowshamrock (Dark!Sam Winchester)

10. “Hungry dogs are never loyal.” --> @mdemontespan1667​ (Dark!Jake Jensen)

11. “The girl I’ve heard so much about.”

12. “I was protecting you!”

13. “Just because you’re speaking in a different language doesn’t mean I don’t know you’re cursing me out.”

14. “Oh, don’t blame them. They did their best to try to kill me.”

15. “I don’t know how I would survive without you.”

16. “The whole world thinks you’re dead.”

17. “I wanted to see how you are doing.”

18. “How do we keep getting into these situations?”

19. “You stay awake, do you hear me?”

20. “I’ll hunt you down if I have to.”

21. “Do we have to do this game all over again?”

22. “I said I would be here when you need it.” ( @dollslayer​ -- Dark!Steve Rogers)

23. “You’re quite possibly the worst liar on Earth.”

25. “What is so urgent that you had to wake me up at 2:30am?”

26. “You know if you had just listened to me, we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

27.  “Could you stop being an asshole for just a moment?”

Situation prompts

01. Reader accidentally stumbles upon character burying body and is kidnapped to keep them from talking.

02. Dom!Reader denies character multiple orgasms

03. Reader is a hired assassin and does not expect their target to thwart them with their own skills.

04. Reader and character stranded on the side of the road, night is coming.

05. Reader is ignoring character’s advances and character decides to break into their home to set up a romantic dinner.

06. Winter vacation with reader and character.

07. Mutual masturbation

08. Stormy night and the power goes out. Reader and character find a way to entertain themselves.

09. Reader keeps finding things missing from their apartment and eventually finds out who is taking them.

10. Reader and/or character are in an established relationship with someone else. Unfortunately for them, sex pollen gets in the mix. And oops, one of them let it out on purpose!

11. Reader is a in a dom/sub relationship with character. Ignores dom’s orders to not go out for the night and faces the punishment when they come home.

12. Uniform change turns into something naughty.

13. Reader runs into character, who happens to be their ex that they ghosted.

14. College AU where Reader is an RA and one of their residents is hell bent on getting them to break the rules.

15. Reader goes to the cops with evidence that character is stalking them.

16. Reader being hunted by character (or even more fun, characters!).

17. Pregnant sex

Remember to have fun!!!

Tagging some people who may be interested in participating (please do not feel obligated!!): @sherrybaby14 @shadowshamrock @greenappleeyes @mcudarklibrary @mcnegan @afanofmanystuffs

[abluescarfonwaston]

“Damnit Lambert!” He coughed violently. Rolling over to curl in on himself. “Why didn’t you warn me you had a bad batch of tawny owl?”

He wrapped the cut on his leg. Scrapping guts off his armor. “What are you on about. It was fine.” He wanted to roll up into a ball too but the cramping was only going to get worse and they still had to get a trophy off the damn thing.

“This,” Aiden groaned pathetically. “Is not fine.

“This is what fucking tawny owl does Aiden!” The pain making him snappish. “It helps and then it wears off and you want to claw out your guts. That’s how it fucking works cause this life is a goddamn nightmare!” He stabbed between the vertebrae hard and severed its head quickly.

“Fuck what?” Aiden rolled over. Sounding extra pathetic about it which just pissed him off more honestly. “Who taught you how to make potions Lambert? Cause I need to stab them.”

 He spun on him. Knife to his throat. “Don’t ever fucking threaten them Cat.”

Aiden watched him. His slow heart beating faster than Aiden’s. The stench of the corpse filling their noses. The potion curdling their guts. “Sorry.”

He hated that. How earnestly he apologized. He sat back against a rock. Stared at the things leathery skin. “Vesemir taught us.” Aiden waited. Or maybe he just couldn’t think of a response over the pain. “He was a fencing instructor. He taught us what he remembered but. It’d been a long time since he learned.”

“Lambert?” He groaned. “If this is what all your potions are like then destroying that bag would be an act of love for you and self-defense on my part.”

“They’re not. All this bad.” He defended but honestly some of them were far worse. “Swallow’s decent.”

“Lambert?” He grunted. “You’re a great fighter. But we are never using your potions again.”

He took a sip of the freshly made Petri’s Philter. To test it out. He’d made it like Aiden had shown him but it was the first time he’d done it himself.

“You cheater! Taking a potion before we spar!” Eskel cuffed him.

“I was checking if it came out right.” An idea popped into his head. “You can use one too. Petri’s Philter. See whose works better.”

“Not a fair comparison.” Geralt pointed out. “Eskels better at signs than the rest of us.”

“What are you scared?”

Eskel eyed him unimpressed but went to grab his. Took a swig. “How do we want to do this?”

“Who can toss Geralt the furthest?” He suggested ruefully.

Geralt’s protests when unheard as Eskel launched him into the base of a snowbank with Aard.

He glared at them. Covered in snow.

“Come on Geralt! It doesn’t count if we use a different person the second time.”

“I’m going to throw both you in the river.”

“Just the loser.” Eskel argued.

“Then I don’t get to throw you in.” He grumbled crossing the courtyard to them.

“Nah I’m willing to take that bet.” They both looked at him like he was being daft.

He adjusted his glove. Don’t fail me now Aiden. Launched Geralt into the air.

He landed with an oft and a puff of white snow. Halfway up the snowbank.

He grinned as they sputtered.

“Guess it works.”

“How’d you learn this Lambert?” Vesemir asked as he copied down the last recipe Aiden had had the chance to teach him.

“Found a cache with the information.” The cache was another witcher but he wasn’t going to tell them that.

“Right.” He felt Vesemir watching him. Not believing him.

He dug his heels in. He didn’t owe the old man answers. Didn’t breathe a word as a cold wind whipped through the giant hole in the wall. He wondered if the Cats had caused that one. He didn’t ask but he wondered.

“Aiden what did you use in this necrophage oil?” He sniffed the vial walking over to him.

He perked up from his disappointment over how many less necrophages he’d killed to tell him.

He laughed full bodied and loud. Aiden wasn’t smiling when he finally managed to stop, wiping a tear from his eye.

“I thought you were just shit at fighting but that’s garbage. What’s it supposed to do? Make them itchy? Impotent? Hurt their feelings?”

“Well how do you make them then?”

Next spring he wondered how many Cats were using Vesemir’s recipes.

“Damnit.” He cursed. Shoving the broken arm piece back together. Trying to sow the gash closed.

Aiden watched him from across the fire. Lazily rotating the fish they’d bombed from the water. “You really need to just replace that mutt.”

“Fuck off pussy I don’t have the diagrams on me and were nowhere near anyone who knows how to make it.”

“Well no one’s going to be able to figure out what it was supposed to look like from that.”

He stared at the mangled and ruined armor in his hands. His fingers dug in and the thread he’d used on it snapped. It fell back apart.

He tossed it away with a frustrated scream and ran. Ran until his lungs burned and his feet ached and the exhaustion finally over powered the anger.

Aiden was asleep in his bedroll. His fish still waiting for him- although they had long gone cold. He chewed the small bones not bothering to pick them out.

A small set of papers sat rolled next to it.

He unrolled it.

Kicked Aiden.

“I can’t fucking wear this!” He shoved the diagram back to him.

“It’d be just until you could get new armor. You can’t work in a shirt and pants.”

“Cause Cat armor is a huge step up from that!”

Aiden scowled at him. “Oh cause people thinking for half a second you might be a Cat is worth dying over. Just show off your medallion and bark at them. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”

“You’re fucking right it is!” He grabbed his medallion and bared his teeth. “I’m not a Cat.”

They had murdered his school. Killed so many. Destroyed the closest thing he had to a home. It was a shitty home and he hated it. Some days he wished they’d finished the job. Some days he was glad he had a home at all.

Aiden face shuttered closed. “Well we can’t all be Wolves Lambert.”

In the morning he was long gone. The diagrams laying in the morning dew.

He picked them up.

However upset they’d be at him for wearing them wouldn’t match how upset they’d be if he didn’t come home. Probably.

He found a leatherworker and had a set made.

“What are you wearing?” Eskel blocked his entry. “I almost shot you Lambert.”

“Glad you didn’t.” He shoved him out of the way. “I’m tired. Piss off.”

He grabbed him. “If Vesemir sees you wearing that-“

“It was this or go without armor so Fuck Off Eskel.”

Eskel studied him. Let go. “Let me warn the others at least. You know that,” He motioned to the armor. “Is going to bring back bad memories.”

“Would you preferred I died out there?”

He raised his hands placating. “Didn’t say that. Happy you’re home.”

“Yeah well that makes one of us.”

No one asked about the armor. They left a set of wolf armor diagrams for him outside his door and he spent the winter in clothing and furs.

No one why he had cat armor. He didn’t offer to explain. He wouldn’t have answered if they did. Would have made it very clear it wasn’t a topic for discussion.

But no one asked.

He sat in his room and stared at it. It looked so similar to Aiden’s. Which of course it did.

We can’t all be wolves Lambert.

No. But why you have to be a cat? Anything else would have been fine.

He gasped short and quick and barely breathing at all. His eyes losing focus. Pinned to the tree by the dead monster’s antlers.

What a shitty way to go.

“Wooh. Glad I came. Thought I smelled wet dog.”

He raised his head. Vision spinning as he did.

A cat. His cat. Aiden.

The world went dark.

“Look who returns!” The fire popped as he opened his eyes. “Holding up alright?”

“Love questions like that.” He whispered as Aiden lifted his head and raised a potion to his lips. “Holding up? Holding up what? My dick?”

“Well you certainly are one so I wouldn’t put it past you.” The vial moved away. His head was lowered onto Aiden’s thigh.

“This is shit and you know it.”

“Yeah. It is.” Aiden craned his neck upward at the stars. “I was really looking forward to yelling at you.”

“Do it you pussy.”

“It’s no fun if your injured bitch.”

“What think I can’t take it?”

“Take what? My dick?” He chewed something loudly. “Come on. Even a lone hunter can use a helping hand some time.”

“Don’t quote Vesemir at me you prick.”

“Oh I’m a prick now? What an upgrade.” A different flask came back and he drank greedily. “And I wasn’t. Guxart said that.”

“Sounds like a dick.”

“No. I like dicks Lambert. He was pussy.”

He chuckled. Which hurt. It pulled at his wounds.

“Did you know it was me?”

“Knew it was a wolf.” He dropped some of the jerky on his chest. He nibbled on it. “Hoped it was you.”

“Would you have helped? If it wasn’t.”

He was quiet while he considered. If he weren’t so tired it would piss him off. “Yeah. I would have.” He believed him. Because it was Aiden. “Glad it was you though.”

“Why?”

“Cause I missed my mangy mutt. Who else is going to teach me how to fish with bombs?”

“I started building a boat. So I could do it on the lake.” He was starting to feel hazy. Aiden’s potions sometimes had painkillers going for them. Which was nice. “At Kaer Morhen.”

“Bet it’s going to leak like a drunkard.”

“Yeah. Bet it will.” He thought of the lake and keep. “I hate that place.”

“Can’t say I understand why you go back.”

“Why do you go back?”

“Go back where? At best the cats have a traveling caravan of misery these days. I don’t visit.”

“What? But winter sucks.”

“Not going to argue with that.”

He had a brilliant idea. “Come home with me. We can sink my boat together.”

Aiden looked down at him. So sadly. He reached up for him in confusion.

“They’re assholes but the keeps pretty big so we can just avoid them. We can sleep in my room. I’ve got a lot of nice furs. It’s pretty. Please?”

“Sure Lambert. Sure.” He cupped the hand that had found his cheek. Kissed it. “Don’t worry. I won’t hold that against you in the morning.”

“If you were there maybe I could breathe. Cause.” It was really hard to keep his eyes open. His hand was heavy in Aiden’s. “The one good thing this life gave me. Was there.”

“Love you Lambert. Love you too.”

“I asked you to come with me.” He said weeks later.

“I surprised you remember. You were pretty loopy at that point. Do you remember explaining why pigeons were the best bird too? Cause that was pretty funny.”

“You’re lying.”

“You wish I was.”

He scowled at him. “I don’t remember your answer.”

“I said I wouldn’t hold you to it in the morning obviously. I’m not stupid.”

“Oh.” The horses crunched gravel as they continued on. “I did mean it. I want you to come.”

Aiden kept his eyes ahead. “We both know that doesn’t matter.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” His horse picked up speed at his unintentional request. He tugged him in front of Aiden’s, halting him. “What I want doesn’t matter?”

“When has what we wanted ever mattered Lambert?” He flinched. Eyes stuck on Aiden’s reins.  “It was very sweet of you. But the other wolves would kill me for being in twenty miles of Kaer Morhen and we both know it.”

He couldn’t look away from his dark scarred hands. “Why’d you have to be a cat?”

“Why’d you have to be a wolf?” He moved his horse so they were side by side. Took his hand. “We get three out of four seasons together. That’s pretty damn good.”

“I want more. I want more than this life.”

“Hey. Maybe if you build good enough boats we can.” His hand squeezed. “We could be the first. Retire on some big lake and fish with bombs.”

“With a little house infested with mice because we can’t convince any cats to come within ten feet of us?” He into his golden eyes and for the first time could understand why people called them beautiful.

“With a tiny little house with a leaking roof that you always curse at.”

“We’re never going to get that are we?” He didn’t comment on the tears in Aidens eyes or the blur in his own.

“No.” Aiden squeezed his hand. “But it’s a nice dream isn’t it?”

“It’s awful. Why did you make the roof leak?”

“Why did you fill it with mice?”

“Cause I want it to be real.”

“So do I.”

They clicked their horses forward. Not letting go.

“So this house. Smells like rat shit huh?”

“Yeah. And our clothing gets all mildewy cause we just throw it in the lake to wash it and forget to hang it up.”

“Ugh. I hate that.”

“Yeah it’s awful.”

“But it’s ours?”

“It’s ours.”

“I had a friend. Aiden was his name.”

“Gonna retire to your vineyard wolf?”

“I might.”

“Good for you. Make sure Dandelion writes a song about your beer gut.”

“Lambert-“

“Pardon my interruption gentlemen.” Majordomo stepped into the room. “A gentleman just arrived looking for Master Lambert. It seems urgent.”

“Lambert?” Geralt shot him a confused look.

“Hey don’t look at me! I don’t know!”

“Let’s go met your guest.”

They pushed the door open and he looked to the left. Geralt to the right.

“Who are you?” Geralt asked. He turned to the newcomer.

He exhaled. “Aiden.” When he inhaled it was like coming up for air for the first time in months.

Scarred. Hair long. Covering one eye.

Alive.

“Hey Lambert. Been a while.”

“You fucking heartless asshole!” He yelled as he lifted him off the ground in a crushing embrace. “How fucking dare you.”

“Missed you too bitch.” As he attempted to break his ribs with the force of his hug. “Nice place you got here.”

“It’s Geralt’s and it sucks.”

“Yeah.” He mumbled into his ear. Not letting go. “Our place is gonna be way nicer.”

“With rat shit and everything.”

“Yeah.”

[androgynousblackbox]

What the fuck has lily orchard done thigh?

I’ve kept hearing she did things like this:

Do you think Lily Orchard pretending to be someone else, using that persona to try to pressure that person into sending them nudes, having her other persona tell someone 'you're making Lily suicidal', etc. (that whole drama saga is TL;DR I can't fit into one ask) is something people should still hold against her?

And more and I just have to know, what the hell has she done? Eva use this only seems like the tips of the iceberg

OH BOY, where do I start? Well, that message you are quoting refer specifically to Tara Callie. Who is Tara Callie and what that has to do with Lily Orchard? A long time ago, before Lily came out as trans, she made up this fake girlfriend named Tara, that had a whole backstory about how she had a romantic relationship with her younger sister that died during a snowstorm by trying to reunite with her and also raped some homophobic girl until that girl accepted being a lesbian. Tara also supposedly had sex with dogs, if I remember correctly. This Tara person would frequently talk with this other person, that since then I think doesn’t want to get involved with the whole issue, so let’s call her B. B was friends with Lily and Tara. Tara was the instrument through which Lily gain access to nudes from B (by being accepted into a very small group of queer women) and Lily guilt tripped B more than once into performing sexual acts or engaging on sexual roleplaying for Lily’s pleasure, despite how uncomfortable B felt about the whole thing. B was a lesbian and Lily was still presenting as masculine at the time, so use another woman’s encouragement was the only way to get her to comply. B didn’t felt attracted to Lily on that way at all so even after Lily came out as trans, so Tara was still useful. This continued on for a long while until Lily realized that B wasn’t going to play WoW with her as she wanted because of not having the right equipment, so Lily just ended the friendship with B, leaving her hurt and confused. Great fucking reason to just abandon a friend But Tara was still around for some time more until Lily suddenly said that Tara had died and everyone close to Lily cried for her. Then Tara came back. Then Lily told everyone that she had been arrested for possesion of CSEM (and obviously Lily had nothing to do with that). Then Tara came back. And then I think she died or something, but if you ask Lily about her she will deny ever knowing any Tara or will say that she was a violently abusive person that she is glad to get rid of. Now, how do we know that Tara was a sockpuppet of Lily? Besides the fact that they talk the same way about the same topics, the fact that the father of Lily came out saying that he has never seeing any Tara while Lily was living on his house, there was other red flags such as: -Her profile picture literally just being a random picture you could find in google. -The online activity of Tara still being active even after supposedly being send to prison. -All the online activity of Tara revolving around Lily’s online presence. And I mean everything, from defending Lily in arguments, editing pages for her (again, even after being send to prison), speak for her, about her, without having any other social media, hobby or anything at all that wasn’t about or included Lily., -Lily is infamous now for creating sockpuppets account to try to circunvent blocking or fight her own battles whenever someone either tries to bring her past up or disagrees with her. You can usually tell because Lily is actually very lazy setting them up: they are going to be newer accounts with either no images on the profile and header, or the most generic ones possible, with literally no other purpose than to send asks, reblog from Lily or otherwise defend her. But that is not all, my dear anon! Because this was shitty, right? Very shitty and questionable and horrible. But then Lily pulled a similar shit at least two other more time with different people in different ways. With an artist, Lily would pay them extra on each comission in order to recieve bestiality porn that the artist was incredibly uncomfortable doing but had to because, you know, money equals food and all. When this artist finally said enough and told what happened, Lily, who before was all too happy to defend said artist, now turned around and said they were a junkie alcoholic liar that nobody can trust because you can’t trust addicts when they talk about being abused, can you?  Then her ex wife, Lizzy Orchard, who at this point have been villified by Lily and her audience to hell and back for at least a year, harassed so horribly that she had to get out of tumblr, told her story on twitter about how Lily would manipulate her into, again, either accepting things Lizzy didn’t want to accept sexually or drawing sexual material for her despite how uncomfortable that made her. Since then Lily has tried to spin to tale to make it Lizzy’s fault for not making clear she didn’t want that, for saying that she was fine when she wasn’t (you just have to love that victim blaming language, I swear, this is almost textbook example), but also accusing Lizzy of being the actual sexual predator who lies to cover herself up. One story would have been bad. Two stories is... eeeeh, this is reaaally not a good look on you, maybe consider step away and reflect or something. But three all different people telling a similar thing? On different time periods? Having different relationships with Lily but all being manipulated for the same purposes? Yeah, not. This is the doing of someone who knows exactly what she is doing and will do it again the moment she thinks she can get away with it. That is a predator. So yeah, until Lily properly adresses and apoligizes for ALL of this bullshit, until she does some fucking serious accountability, which I don’t see happening any time soon, people have every right to still hold it against her, especially when Lily is STILL shittalking those people to this day.

[leonawriter]

My Personal Takes on Stormbringer:

Without a full and accurate translation to go through in one sitting, it’s still hard to get a handle on things properly. That said, thank you to everyone who’s working on it. 

Now.

(please note all quotes are my memory of translations I have read, and are not verbatim.)

-Asagiri, please, you do not need to make so many coding analogies with regards to Chuuya and Verlaine. They don’t work.

-It often feels - not just in this book but also in 55 Minutes, where there are tight restrictions on a time travel ability - that Asagiri limits abilities based on how scientifically accurate they are. However, this doesn’t make sense! why should it! Literature should be an expression of freedom. There should be rules - the same way the Page has rules - but in the sense of Magic A is Magic A. You make up the rules and then you don’t break them in future. Why have Kunikida able to create something with a mass heavier than a piece of paper out of a page of his notebook, but then say you can’t do [x/y/z] because it’s scientifically unviable?

-I have no issue with how skk treat each other. they are chaos teens. let them be. like... this is the beginning of their actual trust. they’re also in the mafia, and in a dark time in their lives. it’s fine. (it isn’t, but at the same time, it kinda is.)

-I feel like Chuuya taking things from other people and making that thing “his” fits him as a character? he had nothing before, so when you have nothing, all you have is what people give you. If someone gives him a bike, then that bike is his now. He has to learn to look after it, love it, and respect it, and he’ll remember that friend by it. Same goes for pretty much anything else. Also, it’s a show of how well Chuuya adapts to things, and what things he chooses to pick up.

-The hat. I do not like how the hat was treated. Making it into the key that helps Chuuya be able to activate Corruption cheapens the meaning and weight of having been given the hat as a memento of the first person who told him to live as a human being. Why not have the hat be a reminder of his humanity in a purely sentimental way? I’m going to ignore anything canon about this and just say it’s sentimental. Which, like, it could have been a safety blanket type thing, not pseudo-science.

-The coding in Chuuya’s body is a bit... of a reach? How do you put that in there? I don’t get it. Just say that there’s a possibility he might die if he uses Corruption, or that he’ll never become “Chuuya” again. That he’d lose himself utterly. The log history can be either on a chip (insert Dazai making “lost dog, if found return to the mafia” jokes here) or on something else that could easily be destroyed during the course of the story (or not).

-Dazai living in the shipping container reads to me like an extreme version of “I do not want to be found I do not want to be helped I am worthless trash and what’s the point in having an actual home if I plan on dying any day anyway.” Verlaine asks what drove him there, and Dazai says “you” and tbh that offers up so many questions (like, was the shipping container thing recent, was it temporary, or what). There’s the possibility that Dazai doesn’t always live there, because otherwise he’d suffer from hypothermia and get pneumonia in the winter! But above all, Mori had nothing to do with this. He was probably terrified to go too close in case he got killed. Stop saying Dazai lives here because “poor baby was abused :(” that sure was not it.

-Dazai goes all this way - plotting for ages, since before the beginning of the book, having been number one on Verlaine’s hit list, just to get the truth about Chuuya’s humanity and to preserve it - because “I want to see Chuuya suffer as a human being” is him saying he doesn’t want to see Chuuya become like him, or inhuman, because that’s not Chuuya. (dude, there ain’t a straight explanation for this...)

-following on from the previous, Dazai refusing to just let things be the moment he realises that it’d mean double suiciding with Chuuya. I personally see that as a shippy moment because Dazai had already given up on Chuuya being alive (if I read the translation right) and in that case, dying would just be letting go. But Mori says “yeah but I don’t think he’s dead yet?” and that, along with the “double suicide” thing, makes Dazai go “absolutely NOT.”

OK a related thing - as far as I remember, when IRL Dazai attempted double suicide, right up until his actual death it would result in either a failure or... his partner dying and him surviving. The cold potential of this happening in BSD if Dazai had just given up reminded me of that.

-Regardless of my thoughts on how it was handled, Stormbringer reinforced my previous ideas about how Chuuya basically IS Arahabaki. It also suggests that Arahabaki was more of a sentient ability than a true “god” but... that’s fine. For me, all I cared about was that all those “Arahabaki is an evil being that is constantly trying to take over Chuuya and Corruption is Arahabaki being let out” takes are not true. It’s... basically Chuuya taking the lid off his power. I joked at one point that Corruption is Chuuya going “I’m so pissed off I’m gonna kick the door open and throw away the key” and Dazai going “go for it babe, I got your key.”

-Rimbaud and Verlaine are... very complicated characters? They’re not easy to get a handle on. I sometimes find myself liking them and sometimes find myself disliking them, and that’s something that’ll be easier when I have a full translation available - and one of Fifteen. Rimbaud was held back by seeing Chuuya, at first, as nothing more than an empty vessel to Arahabaki’s power, while Verlaine was so taken over by grief without understanding how to handle that, that he became a monster up until the end of the story. Neither of them were good people. That said, their relationship to each other? It’s very complicated and reminds me of their IRL selves to a point but without the skeevy nature and without it going so far, so kudos to that.

-Adam. Knowing his creator was a ten year old girl makes so much sense when you look at the things he says and does. He doesn’t get so much. He’s very logical, but doesn’t understand that a game of billiards isn't as much of an icebreaker as he thinks it should be. Surprised by bubble gum. Games like “strange things humans do” are very much like the word games kids play in the car. 

-Verlaine being the fifth executive was something I did not predict at all, whatsoever, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Like... how did he get to that point. Only so much can be said in a few paragraphs (it seems) of “this is [x] number of years in the future where Chuuya’s an executive now.” 

The last we see of him, he’s overcome by grief, hatless, and he seems to have only just realised how much he wished he could return what Rimbaud gave to him. (Ironically, by being able to grieve like that, it shows that he is capable of what he thinks he can’t do - same as Dazai.)

But how does he become an executive? Do they come to him slowly at first, and they gradually build up trust? Does he stay in contact with Chuuya? Do they see each other properly as brothers now, or not? I can’t help but feel that as it’s a long time - six years, in fact - between Stormbringer and canon, some bond of trust must have been built. The mafia protects Verlaine from the authorities and from the outside world just the same as Kouyou says that she wants to do for Kyouka, and the same as they’re there for Chuuya, too. So. A Verlaine who trains the mafia’s best assassins not because he’s forced into it, but because he feels the same loneliness as Chuuya, and finds that it helps? A Verlaine who learns slowly that he can care about more people than just Rimbaud and Chuuya? Holy shit yes please. A Verlaine who is loyal and protective and who you should be glad is in a (probably) gilded prison of the mafia’s basement, because otherwise he would actually do so many things to those who would harm his family.

Let’s just say - if I think of Arahabaki as a guardian or protector god who is just plain destructive because it can’t help that, then Chuuya and Verlaine looking and acting in similar ways because they share that same “parent” in a sense, makes sense. They are no longer just Arahabaki, they’re “Chuuya” and “Verlaine” - but they also share traits such as “Papa Wolf” and “lonely” and “violent,” among others.

-At least twice, pre-Soukoku Dazai and Chuuya refer to how they’re constantly thinking of each other. No, they don’t mean in positive ways, but they’re chaos teens and it’s still strong emotion. Chuuya mentions how he’s thought of at least 190 ways to punish Dazai for the things that he does (which also implies how their relationship is equal, and Dazai doesn’t call all the shots, and doesn’t get away with everything scot-free), and Dazai says that Verlaine can’t possibly win against him, because Dazai “spends all of his time, waking and sleeping, thinking of ways to annoy and harass Chuuya,” (quote not perfect.) 

We also have Chuuya having Dazai appear to him first in his hallucinations, which I see as Chuuya’s inner Dazai-voice saying all the worst things, and ironically not actually saying or meaning things that would get across what real Dazai would want him to feel; in other words, that’s Chuuya’s view of him, or his mind searching for the one person he’d believe it to realistically come from.

As well, Dazai saying “there’s no way Chuuya could be an artificially constructed personality, because no one could create a personality that I [hate/that annoys me] so much.” Which, like... sure... you tell yourself that, kid...

Basically, they’re all the kinds of things that teenagers who don’t really get how strong feelings like these work yet, who are still figuring themselves (and their orientations, probably) out, would say if they don’t even like that other person that much, but they’re still attracted to them. A strong “why does it have to be THEM?” haha. And yet, as others have pointed out, Chuuya seems more on the oblivious side than Dazai, since as said, Dazai goes to all this effort and seems fond (but only when Chuuya’s not looking, dumbass) but Chuuya just... doesn’t get it.

A shorter summary of my thoughts and feelings?

Chuuya suffers, but is ultimately happier for it no matter whether he’s one of the clones or whether he’s the original (it’s arguable either way, and I don’t mind either way) as he’s still Chuuya. His bond with the mafia is also stronger than so many people think it is. They’re literally his adopted family. Even if he chose to leave, he’d still see them as family. I can’t see him leaving. He’s just... they’re family... don’t tear them apart...

The skk is strong, no matter what people say, because this is the start and it’s the end of their first year in the mafia and it’s not supposed to be a healthy time, for fuck’s sake. They’re both all sorts of messed up. They’re allowed to be. This is a time when that’s kinda the point of the book. But yeah, the trust and the bond is real.

Verlaine. I am now fascinated by Verlaine. I was so sure before the spoilers and translations came out that I’d hate him. I no longer do. He confuses me but I NEED TO KNOW MORE. 

[dawniebb]

CANON IS AN ILLUSION PT. 2

If it doesn’t spark joy, throw it away.- Marie Kondo

So now that @healing-winston-pratt and I have explained how we got rid of ¼ of Supernova, let me tell you that it doesn’t stop here because you don’t mess with the type As when something gets into their heads.

For background, you can use this post as a masterlist because we don’t have one yet: https://healing-winston-pratt.tumblr.com/post/624723862884696064/well-this-is-the-last-piece-of-our-marathon

This is our post-Supernova canon divergence :) which, btw, it’s the one we’ll use from now on to create our content (actually, @healing-winston-pratt  already used it for her birthday drawings and I just stood there playing dumb pretending I didn’t have anything to do with it jssjjs). So, if you see that Callum and Winston are suddenly alive in our content or you find some of the things established in this list it’s because...yeah :)

Sooooo @novadreamer95438 and @idkimbadwithusernamesandstuff you asked to be tagged if we uploaded more content about the canon divergence (Which we appreciate very much! thank you!) so here you go <3!

As mentioned before , Leroy starts living with his daughter Nova and Winston, in a house provided by the State (The Council hee hee).

Callum and Winston are (evidently) alive, but Genissa is dead.

Ace, Evander and Honey remain dead.

And this is where our canon continues uwu.

Leroy has to do community service for like...indefinite time :)

Winston, on the other hand, has two jobs. He works in an animal shelter, where he adopts a dog named Carnival bc wE CAN and also we want to quote this post :https://chiyuki-hiro.tumblr.com/post/621159663188180992/oh-no-a-head-canon  by @chiyuki-hiro (AFGSHFVDGB THAT HEADCANON IS G R E A T WE LOVE YOU) because we had come to an agreement that Winston would have an art therapy group for children but this addition is honestly so freaking wholesome :’))))))) <3

Nova has a temporary resignation from patrolling and starts going to therapy, where she is diagnosed with PTSD.

Nova also helps with the establishment of a new system, modifies the recruitment system and that stuff.

She’s not in the Team Sketch full time. Sometimes she’s in the offices, and at night she works with Callum.

And just like Narcissa, she digs her own grave :)

Thing is: Nova suggested that every time a new recruit arrived, the Council had DNA samples taken from them so they could check if they had any crime attached to them.

Now, by the end of Supernova in the canon universe we elected to ignore it is mentioned that Maggie sees Leroy staring at her in the distance, in a very suspicious way. Now, we don’t know about y’all, but we interpreted this as Leroy noticing Maggie looks like young Nova XD. So, this does happen in our canon, when Leroy is already out of prison.

By this time, DNA samples from Maggie and Nova have already been taken and uploaded to the system; and let’s say that Leroy gets very...concerned about the lookalike and decides to tell Winston, who confirms Maggie looks a lot like Nova X’DDD and so, they reach out to the Council to ask them to pls compare Maggie’s samples to Nova’s. U know, like angry mothers at the principal’s office :)

And so they do it just because they have nothing to lose.

And when the results arrive, everyone’s like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r92hykpvZRw

SO MAYBE, TO DOUBLE-CHECK, they compare Maggie’s DNA to DNA found in the crime scene (from David and Tala or maybe baby Maggie herself) and the results are still the same :).

Then, Winston and Leroy have to tell Nova and she reacts in the worst way possible for reasons I’ll explain in a fic I’ll be uploading soon cause’ I wrote it MONTHS ago.

Maggie doesn’t react much better tbh :)

But after a while, since this is, like, the right thing to do, Maggie starts living with them , but changes her name to Margaret Artino until she feels part of the family and is comfortable living there.

Because at first, Nova and her don’t get along and Maggie claims she fucking hates this house even though she knows is better than living in the streets.

They basically have a very chaotic home during the adaptation period until the girls start tolerating each other :) and even then, they’re still very chaotic bc it’s Winston, Leroy, Nova and Maggie we’re talking about :) :) :)

Not long after Maggie starts living with her big sis, Simon and Hugh ask Nova to join a family vacation and bring Maggie w/her.

Maggie doesn’t want to go, so Leroy and Winston go to Nova all like “If your sister doesn’t go, then you’re not going either” and Nova fucking loses it so she ends up begging/forcing Maggie to go :)

They go to the beach in MATCHING OUTFITS bc Simon said so (LIKE IN THE WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE MOVIE) :) they take a lot of embarrassing pictures and Nova and Adrian are forced to go in the banana boat with Max and Maggie.

They fall and Nova and Adrian are acting as if they were in the Titanic while Max and Maggie are having the time of their lives lmao

BC NOVA ALSO NEEDS BONDING WITH THE IN-LAWS

At some point, too, Maggie adopts a stray cat whom she names Tofu, and he fucking hates Carnival even though Carnival is the cutest thing :’)

Winston, Leroy, Nova and Maggie celebrate birthdays every year bc they’re trying to compensate years of trauma.

And for that same reason (compensating years of trauma), Nova and Maggie take their sweet time to move out.

Actually, Adrian meticulously plans the date when he’s gonna propose to Nova, so he asks her to move with him exactly a year before that.

They live in an apartment for that whole year, he proposes and they start planning the wedding uwu.

Nova and Adrian have a non-religious ceremony, and since they’re fucking extra, Nova gets married in a black dress and Adrian in a white tuxedo bc miss Artino wanted a dress the same color as her soul :)

Leroy walks Nova down the aisle.

Ruby is Nova’s Maid of Honor and Oscar is Adrian’s Best Man.

Max and Maggie have the rings.

Tamaya’s youngest son is the flower child.

Which, talking about Tamaya, she fucking hates Leroy and Nova bc, honestly, we would hate them too. Leroy fucked up her face and Nova was part of the terrorist attack lmao

SO, YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW CHAOTIC THAT WEDDING WAS, bc they had to avoid leaving Tamaya and Leroy alone at all costs :)

She hugged Nova so violently when congratulating her, that she left a bruise in her shoulder :)

Basically she was there just because she loves Adrian even though she doesn’t approve his decision to marry Nova

Nova and Maggie maintain a close relationship even after Nova marries Adrian. Maggie and Max are included in every family vacation after the honeymoon ofc.

Nova and Maggie get matching tattoos uwu

Nova has the Big Dipper and Maggie has the Little Dipper.

As for the others. The ones who...are no longer there :’)

  @healing-winston-pratt and I have this headcanon that Evander’s wife (we named her Sandra) was expecting a baby at the time of the battle. They had already chosen a first name (Arthur), so she used Evander as his middle name, as the baby didn’t get to meet his dad.

Arthur Evander Wade.

Winston finally gives Evander his DS back.

The Council, thanks to Nova’s suggestion once again, limited a specific area around Georgia’s spot and called it The Aisle of The Fallen.

Genissa, Honey and the victims of the attack to the Arena,  the lift of the city and the battle of the Cathedral are there.

 Evander, however, is resting in Georgia’s mausoleum, next to her, because we think  that mausoleum was constructed in the first place so all the members of the Council could rest together once they left, meaning that they’ll all be there at some point in time. Unfortunately, Evander was the first one to join Georgia despite being the youngest.

Ace is not in the cemetery.

Nova left his helmet in the cathedral, but asked for his body to be cremated.

When she was a child, David used to tell her stories about how Ace seemed to be really happy back in Italy; how he had revolutionary ideas and wanted prodigies to be free; how he used to be a good brother that helped him survive.

So, a few months after Leroy was released from prison, she, Leroy, Winston, Hugh, Simon, Max and Adrian went to Italy with her, to spread Ace’s ashes so he could find peace in the only place he was ever sane and happy.

Ace Anarchy rests in his cathedral.

But what was left of Alec James Artino rests in Italy. (I have a fic about this too)

Yes we’re crying as we write this

[bellamygateoldblog]

The 100 7x01: Discussion

My general takeaway from the episode can be summarised like this: Echo is spectacular. (I might’ve said “oh my god look at her!!!!!” and “ugh she is just The Best” too many times to count).

This is long-ish because I really just wanted to consolidate my thoughts in one place. Bitch it’s me i got a lot to say!!!!!

The Good Parts

— The farmhouse setting. While it’s existence is strange and “a sore thumb” and worked to further push Sanctum being the abomination born of clumsily mixing genres and time periods in terms of construction/costuming, making everything appear disconnected and obnoxious, it was still a nice change. It made me feel warmer and more comfortable as a ‘modern’ viewer. It’s a breath of fresh air from the constant dark element: dilapidated post-apoc buildings falling from their foundation, endless woods, and equally cold-feeling labs and skeleton dungeons.

— Echo. This was a damn good episode for Echo and every second reminded me of why she’s my favourite. She’s a badass. I always love to see her falling naturally into leadership of her little ragtag groups who accept it wholeheartedly. From the “testing a theory” moment where she went ‘when Gabriel doesn’t speak >>>’, to right at the end when she killed the solider about to “eliminate” Hope (hesitation is death...oh no he can’t hear us he’s got airpods in oh my god). It was Echo that got them through the whole sequence with the anomaly, Echo who figured shit out, Echo who quickly judged the situations and formed plans to overcome the obstacles. In other words: she did THAT.

Favourite scene: Echo coming face-to-face with the projection of her own insecurities in the form of Roan and Echo 1.0, and physically overcoming them (shooting them down), along with the trauma and pain that they both represent. The perserverence and getting the job done despite the emotional torture felt like a callback to the Psychosis episode of 6x02 when she was clever enough to sedate herself to silence the voices in her head. I also think the dialogue chosen was also foreshadowing that she would become a leader by the finale (commander?) and i love to see it!

— Clarke and Madi’s conversation. Oh Clarke, you just keep reinforcing and validating my perceptions of who you are as a person over and over again lol. In all her self-importance failing to remember that Madi, in fact, had and was raised by her biological parents for half of her life (and the new knowledge that she spent six years telling her little mind tales from the book of her life whilst apparently never taking the time to learn about Madi’s or acknowledge/honour her birth parents in any way) is “yeah that’s about right” to me. Sure you could say she was still reeling from the events of six and her death-almost death-almost death again. But I’ve always had this Thing about the relationship between Clarke and Madi. And i’ve seen some of the lighthearted humourous reception that scene got from fandom, “#where do you think the child CAME from?!” which only served to remind me of my own impression that Clarke views Madi as wholely ‘hers’, as if Madi’s existence was tied to Clarke, but i might elaborate in a seperate post.

This scene was a lovely display of self-awareness I’ve rarely seen on Clarke (never even got it when she electrocuted said child two seasons ago- however that absense of apology and acknowledgement of the sheer wrongness of that action also fits very nicely with my view of her lmao, still though, a weird choice for your ‘heroine’).

— Clarke’s “feels like a different world.” Felt romantically-coded. I think Gaia/Clarke might be the most convinient relationship to transform into romance at this point. However I’m sincerely hoping this road they could go down won’t reduce Gaia to a crutch/accessory for Clarke, and that she doesn’t become merely a love interest. I’ve seen talk already of Gaia being “Clarke’s happiness” etc.. which is already confirming my worst fears. Sigh.

This moment very much felt like found closure and the turning of a page. But i will say it was a very sharp turn from the three seasons of shoehorned-in mentions of Lexa, and last season’s emphasis on Clarke’s very-much intact emotional response to her memory- “it’s why you cry when you think about Lexa”- to her looking at an image of Lexa’s memory of her, reminicing but having no emotional response to it, and brushing it off while sharing a soft look with Gaia (and this is a few days since s6? I don’t know how this timeline is working but Tbh it’s not like these writers ever concerned themselves with ‘realistic time frames’ anyway lol). Yep, Jason’s seasons are individual “movies,” alright.

Other *nodding approvingly* moments

— Raven’s subtle “elevator eyes” on Clarke when she started giving her orders again. I see you, Miss Reyes, and I appreciate you.

— Raven + the foot in her mouth and the cute way she catches herself both times. I just love watching characters fail at existing LOL. She was feeling more human than stereotype or plot device this episode.

— "Mommy and Auntie O” and the implication that Hope is a child inside an aged-up body.

— This quote: “I know what it’s like to lose your family 100 years ago and yesterday at the same time.” It’s so literal but I like it a lot.

— Clarke being ‘leader’ again is, as usual, solely a matter of convinient (and familial/love) circumstances and it felt very true.

The Rest

— The Eligius Situation. So Clarke and her inner circle conquer and live in a nice home, and we’re specifically told Clarke takes the master suite (and the dog), and I was like ‘fair enough’ but then she orders prison labour. She tells them to build her a compound that they won’t actually get to be apart of, and to live in tents while they do so. They aren’t getting anything out of this (before they resist and set their own terms). This is slavery. Also, those aren’t her people to boss around, look down on, and use accordingly for her own gain (in fact they barely know her or why she’s gone from being that one unloyal woman who executed their men and got herself captured like an idiot, then couldn’t make up her mind about which side she wanted to kill- to one in the uppermost position of authority...like...they woke up yesterday) But, then again, that never stopped her.

— Too much and not enough at the same time. The pacing of the episode in general was awful. Too much happening in quick succession, no breathing room, too many factions (no, actually Raven, where is ALIE when you need her? smh). I blink, I miss an entire scene and a character is now beating someone else up. Amazingly, i was still bored 90% of the time.

— The Children of Gabriel calling themselves “The Children of Gabriel.” It was always goofy, even more so when a grown man is saying it.

— Murphy + his self loathing over Abby’s death. Did I miss the part where she was ever good to him? One of their final moments together was of her telling him he deserved to die over Clarke after she spent the entire series treating him like he was inferior and disposable. uhhhhhhhhhh.

— The picnic scene. Jackson’s sudden violent outburst was unearned (it wasn’t even set up???), and also disrespectful. Wrong place, wrong time, bro. He’s grieving? Okay. But when Abby’s daughter is sitting right in front of you, making this about you, ruining a perfectly good toast in her honour with your uncomfortable accusations loses you points you never even had to begin with. And this is a ‘me’ thing but I can’t be bothered to be sympathetic when this is about Abby Griffin.

Also, I have to say it. Eliza’s acting took me out of the scene every time I looked at Clarke. I couldn’t for the life of me work out what those expressions were supposed to be.

— Russell, his manpain, and a fury over the consiquences of his own actions  that could rival the grounders (”my brother died in your ring of fire [while he was trying to murder you all]” hmm sounds like a you problem). But the worst part is, I simply couldn’t tell where he stood or what he was feeling. He’s so one-dimensional. He’s an evil man (so much for ”grey morality”).

— Clarke + Jordan. A small point to make but all Clarke has done since Marper made her ‘Godmother’ of their son has blame him for everything bad happening lol. Marper loses a lot of my respect as time goes on for that choice. As much as I dislike Jordan’s presence in the show, still not a great pattern to have noticed.

— Raven seeking approval from Clarke (specifically) for the Prime idea was...weird and very bad. When has Raven ever cared for Clarke’s validation, especially in the last few seasons?

Was also taken aback by how Indra and Miller are both suddenly so protective of Clarke, like i can make sense of the Indra part even though it relies on me making things up that aren’t supported by what’s on screen, but Miller?

— (Bonus moment that was bad for me, but not for the same reason it was for the rest of you: the scene of Hope finding the message in her arm. When she was removing the blood-soaked bandage I freaked out because I thought she was peeling her skin off. You’re welcome for that visual.)

The Mixed/No Feelings

— Clarke’s full-dark-no-stars. How many times have they told me now she’s “the head”? LMAO. 

I have no actual formed opinion on it. Only disjointed thoughts. Like i might’ve just gone “good for her” if Clarke wasn’t the person she is, with the history she has.

I appreciate the idea, to have her spend the whole episode declaring she is, in fact, completely fine, to end it having her explode with the repressed pain.

I mean...i realise the cognition behind it, but it’s eye-roll inducing at this point. This- kicking Russell to death (giving him exactly what he wanted and set out to provoke), and burning down a palace she promised to keep intact, once again going against the group to do her own Thing that they all ultimately have the suffer the consiquences of and help clean up- is just a repeat of past patterns, and Monty’s “do better” mantra that she desperately clung to like she owned it last season is nowhere in sight.

(Also, I can’t be the only one who spotted her physically smacking that Sanctum girl as she walked onto the balcony? Not cool. Wasn’t cool when Murphy acted like a dick to one of them either this episode.)

The rushed switch did a number on me, too, like Jackson’s did. Literally five minutes before she was preaching about a peaceful life for Madi that doesn’t take revenge (I think I know what they were going for with that but it just left me feeling confused and frustrated).

Furthermore, I’ve seen talk that this was her “burning down of a symbol of oppression”, something she experienced first hand (not so unlike Blodreina and the bunker she desperately wanted to escape and deliver her people from), but there was no noble, calculated intention there. She burned the palace accidentally in her rage because she was in pain and disorientated. The moral stuff was just an after effect.

The speech was also very ‘Clarke’. Feeling entitled to and making decisions on who lives and dies right after declaring this wasn’t their kill to make. She wasn’t the only person hurt by the Primes (but we’ve also been given no reason to care about any of the other victims- the manipulated, enslaved population have been turned into a joke and a punching bag for the main characters which...isn’t great either). And the castle could’ve been used to shelter some of the “too many people” we had problems with through the episode (or used to harvest resources from). It really comes down to if i think the situation justifies the reaction and if i hold her wholely responsible...and this is the part where i reiterate that i have no intact opinion and don’t actually care to have one either ha.

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

Call me Pride

I'm eager and maybe just a little dumb because I was REALLY eager to write the 'whys ' of Roman's fall and... Yeah...  I tweaked a lot. Anyway this is loosely based on this prompt https://vaugleysassygrunt.tumblr.com/post/186357032949/whoa-okay-hear-me-out-here-open-prompt-but and was started before the recent episodes so Deceit's still nameless and the reasoning has nothing to do with All That.

Warnings for Unsympathetic Roman, Sympathetic Logan, Patton, Deceit and Remus, Toxic Roceit, Pride slaps someone, and sexual and violent humor (though nothing explicit happens.)

Roman knew this was coming. He had once again failed to create a video and it was time to get another lecture from Logic about scheduling and due dates. Ugh, for once he didn't want to respond when he was summoned. But he knew if he didn't rise up he'd be forced to come out unless he locked himself in his room and he certainly wasn't going to duck out over a matter like this. With a huff, he rose up.

Logic was starring at him, he always felt judged when he looked at him like that. Brown eyes narrowed through his rounded frames. "Roman, Thomas claimed that he was unable to create this weeks video due to quote 'lack of creative fervor'." He made air quotes with his hands when he said that, "And considering this is your department I believe it is of utmost importance to hear from you what is going on."

Roman shook his head, "Feeling as Princely as ever." He posed as if to prove it.

Logan looked at him for a few seconds and hummed curiously. Roman felt naked as he was starring at him, like the Logical side was reading his mind and noticing every unsavory flaw. He could barely hide his relief when he turned back to Thomas.

"Perhaps the others could help shine a metaphorical light on this situation."

Thomas nodded and moved his hand up, "Anxiety, Morality." He called summoning the two. Virgil looked even more anxious than usual, his eye shadow slightly smeared and his leg bouncing where he stood. Roman felt a twang of guilt in his chest.

"Virgil, Patton, can either of you explain why Thomas has not been creatively productive lately." Logan asked.

Patton cocked his head, "Not a clue Scooby Doo."

"I am not a fictional dog that helps a gang of people solve problems. I am a representation of Thomas's Logic you should know this by now."

"Yeah but the rhyme sure was neat!"

Virgil raised an eyebrow, "Haven't we done this before? Like, two times? It's probably going to be repetitive to the audience if we make yet another episode dealing with Logan and Roman having problems creating videos. They might think you're complaining to make them feel bad for you. Or worse, they might get bored and leave."

Patton struggled to keep his cheerful smile, "Aw come on now kiddo, sometimes lessons just take a bit to stick. The audience will understand that."

Logan frowned, "Returning to the topic at hand, if it isn't an excess of Anxiety, or moralizing your work that's causing this problem." He knit his brows and his lips pursed, "Is it me again?" He turned to Roman, " Roman, please tell me if I am once again putting too much pressure on you to create. I said I would work on being less, " he cleared his throat, "Overbearing but I'm not used to it yet."

He looked Roman in the eyes, "If I have failed in that recently, I would rather be told then to live in ignorance of my mistakes, as hard as that may be."

Roman hesitated, he knew the truth. This had nothing to do with Logan, or Virgil, or Patton. He'd lied about feeling like his Princely Self, he telt like his creations this last moth had been lackluster at best. Not even half as good as they needed to be to be taken to the front of Thomas's conscious. 

But he couldn't tell the others that, they would think he was insecure and if there was one thing Roman wasn't, it was insecure.

Instead he said, "I admit, the schedule has stopped me from being the best Prince that I can be. "He looked at the ground, mostly due to his own guilt over lying, he didn't want to see Logan's face. He didn't want to see how Virgil's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I see... Next time I promise I will ask for your input when building our scheduled to stop you from feeling so overwhelmed. "

Roman forced a small smile, "Thanks teach." He cleared his throat, " And with that I've got some things to create! "He sunk out returning to his room. He sighed and slumped on his bed, closing his eyes, giving a groan like a door with unoiled hinges. He felt like taking an hour long nap.

He heard a slow cap above him. "Oh bravo, Roman." A familiar voice drawled. He reached for his sword, staring face to face with the snake himself. His confident smirk didn't leave his face despite the sword at his nose. "I honestly couldn't have done it better myself."

Roman glared at him, "You better have a good reason for being in my room snakes -and-liars."

Deceit chuckled, "Oh but surely you've noticed Roman," he circled around him, Roman's sword texture changed to foam as his confidence wavered. "I bet it took you ages to find an outfit of yours that white."

Roman barely held back a growl. He was right of course, even as he stood here his golden epaulets were turning a sterling silver like the others.

"I’m sure Patton will never find out about your little secret. He's so unobservant." Deceit said, looking at his fingernails despite the fact that he was wearing gloves. "No one's ever tried to hide their nature from him after all." He smiles with a glint in his eye that made Roman's heart pound. "Which means we'll never see each other again Roman. "He blew a kiss and sunk out back to his side of the mindscape.

----

Remus kept glancing at the end of the hallway. He'd been checking since last Thursday when Deceit told him about how Roman was changing,but he couldn't help it! It'd been years since his brother had been on the same side as him. His stomach was doing flip flops like a fish out of water five seconds from the butcher chopping him into pieces. He wondered if he'd be willing to play with him. He could barely hide his cackle when he thought of the havoc they'd wreak together!

In the void a new door was starting to form, Remus squealed with delight and ran to Deceit's door, "DECEIT! DECEIT!" He squealed as he banged on the bright yellow door, "He's coming, he's coming!"

Deceit opened the door, his sleeping cap slightly askew , his eyes tired, "Remus how many times do I have to tell you I have no interest in the details of the porn you watch?"

Remus shakes his head, "No no, not that, though you should SEE what I was watching earlier, oh the things a man can do with whips." he moaned and squirmed but quickly shook his head, no Remus, focus. " But that's not what I meant! There's a new door in the hall! "

Deceit suddenly seems far more awake as he walked out into the hallway standing next to Remus. The pair watched as the symbol of a bright red throne with a silver tiara above it etched itself into the door. Remus was slightly confused by why his symbol would change, but hey, if his brother hadn't changed a little bit he wouldn't be down here! 

The door glowed and finally opened revealing him in all his glory, the midnight colored prince outfit with silver twinges along his neck and wrists, the bright red cape that flowee across his back, the silver tiara glimmering with jewels that looked just as much a part of him as his hands or toes. 

Remus couldn't help himself and tackled his brother to the ground, "ROMAN! Is that blood on your cape? It's the same color, can I lick it?"

 Roman grunted and sat himself up, "Hello Remus, nice to see you here. Ruining my clothing with your filth." Deceit offered his hand to Roman to help him up and he took it. 

 "As if any amount of filth could affect your radiance your Highness." Deceit purred.

Roman puffed his hair, "Oh I know, but I hate getting dirty." 

Remus huffed a bit, it seemed like his brother was still himself in some ways. But he wouldn't give up hope that quickly. "ROMAN RO RO RO, since you're a darkside now, we have to play together in the imagination together again, ohhh we could give Thomas the NASTIEST thoughts, you haven't seen Mr. Poo yet! Oh you'll love him, he just has the cutest little fangs-"

Roman frowned, "I don't think I like that."

Remus blinked, " Mr. Poo? "

Roman shook his head, "No no, that's..." He rolled his eyes, "Fine I guess. That name you called me. "

"Roman? But that's your name."

Roman shook his head, "But I don't feel like Roman. Until I find a name that feels more suitable, you may call my by my role." He straightened himself up, a glittering smile on his face, " Pride. "

Deceit held Pride's hand in his own and kissed him gently, "Charmed."

Pride looked back at him, flashing that dazzling smile, "The feeling's mutual."

Remus looked from one side to the other, "Are you two going to fuck or can I take him to the Imagination."

Deceit’s face burned a bright red but Pride seemed relatively unbothered, “Feel free to lead the way.” 

Remus’s face broke into his usual wide smile and he grabbed Pride’s hand sinking them into his room. The lights in the room flashed, quickly switching colors randomly. There was something leaking against the wall, it was either slime or blood it was nearly impossible to tell with the constant NOISE of the place. From the loud screams at random intervals, to the shepherds tones that rose endlessly in the background. Pride walked around carefully but still managed to step on one of Remus’s 5 living hands that slept on the floor. He shrieked as it bit his shoes with unnaturally sharp teeth. Remus flicked it off of him and it quickly flew off. 

“Ah, finally!” He said, as he found a small doorknob on the ground. He opened it up and the room was filled with the pale yellow light of the imagination. He grabbed Roman by the shoulders, “Okay, as soon as you get there, don’t panic. Just summon wings or some other method to fly.” His grin widened, eyes sparkling, “Think you can handle it?”

Pride looked confused at first than puffed out his chest when Remus asked his question, “Of course I can.” 

Remus gave a delighted squeal, grabbed his hand and the pair of them jumped into the hole. The sky was a dark and stormy grey, it looked like there was going to be another knife storm. Remus closed his eyes and felt dark, leathery wings errupt from his back. He frowned, debating on the color, did he want to keep them black or change to green, or maybe he could have it flash the worst version of every color! Shit-stain brown, puke green, mustard yellow oh what delight! 

At first he assumed the screaming came from one of his screaming trees, they played the most haunting melodies when it rained, but when he looked down he instead saw a flash of red light hurling towards the ground. He gasped and divebombed to catch him, his repeated thought of, "Don 't imagine long, dark piercing spikes under us ready to break into our stomachs, impaling us both," of course summoned long , dark piercing spikes below them. 

Pride's screams only grew louder as he flaid about trying to grab onto something, anything that would stop him from hitting the harsh unforgiving ground. He could almost feel the rocks touching his stomach and pushong through-

Lucky for him though, Remus swooped down, catching him before he hit the rocks. He sat him down on the sandy ground, his eyes watered, though whether that was due go concern or the speed he'd been flying at was anyone's guess.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice was more gentle than he'd usually seem capable of. 

Pride sneered, "I'm fine, thanks for the rocks, bet it made you feel even more like a hero when you saved me huh? " 

Remus stepped back, genuinely confused, "That made as much sense as Woody fucking Palpatine."

Pride harrumphed, and took a step foreward, "You know exactly what I mean, you've always wanted to outshine me and now you've given yourself the chance to play the hero in here and pretend to save me. But guess what," he pressed a finger against Remus's chest. "I don't need anyone to help me or save me much less a disgusting little turd like you. I'm not pathetic little Roman anymore, I am strength, I am perfection, I am Prince Pride! "

Remus stared at him for a bit.

"The dust on your butt is shaped like a dick."

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

Pride and Remus weren't talking anymore. Remus chewed on a can whistfully sitting in his room, "Just like old times. " Except during, 'old times ' Deceit wasn 't spending so much time simping to his brother. It was enough to make him puke hearing him compliment him, watching them ballroom dance in the kitch together the snake-side's head gently fit onto Pride's chest. Despite his distaste at their sentimentallity, he couldn't help but feel a little happy for them. 

Until he wasn't that is. It was breakfast time.

"It was merely a suggestion -"Deceit backed away, but Pride pursued

"You think I'm WRONG? ! "Fire raged in the side's eye, "You think we'd be better off if Thomas ruins his LIFE-"

"It's one friendship Pride, and it's been far from healthy for Thomas to be involved in it."

The sound of a hand against skin echoed through the kitchen. There was a silence that lasted decades. Then the sound of a chair scrapping across the floor. Remus stood up and walked up to Pride who was looking down smugly at Deceit. Remus turned him around and grabbed him by the collar, "You can insult me, you can mock me, do whatever you want. But you will not. Touch. Him."

Pride huffed, "He shouldn't have argued with me! He's really the one who -" 

Remus summoned a dirty sock and shoved it into his mouth, than threw him to the side. He walked up to Deceit, "Do I have permission? " 

Deceit looked up with blurry, tear stained eyes and gave a nod. And just like that he was in the Light Side KItchen.

"ALRIGHT, HOW MANY BITCHES DO I HAVE TO KILL TO FIND OUT WHICH OF YOU BWSTARDS FUCKED UP MY BROTHER?!" Remus was as always a master of subtlty and persuation. Patton jumped about 10 feet just hearing his voice. Virgil bristled and hissed at him

Logan sighed, he supposed his pancakes would have to wait,"Good morning Remus."

Remus shook his head, "No pleasantries, Romwn fell and now he's a real pain in the ass, like a full sized plane up my ass, and I KNOW sides don't just go dark and change personalities for no reason so-" he poin ted at Patton, "What did you do to him?! "

Patton shook his head, "I-I didn 't- well okay I made him sink to the dark sides but-"

Logan adjusted his glasses, "He was starting to show unpleasant tendencies far before that. Patton decided that he'd be safer away from us after a disscussion in which he said," he took out a notecard, "You never let me live, you're all terrible critical beasts who I should have slain with my sword ages ago! If it weren't for you, Thomas would be perfect, I would be perfect, I'm sicm of being around you." he returned his notecard to his pocket.

Remus stared, "So it has nothing to do with you, than why? "

Virgil poured a glass of coffee black as his soul, "I don't know, none of us knows. Can't believe I'm saying this but I kind of miss the ego-driven Prince. "

Logan looked over his notes, "I have some theories but emotional reactions aren't really my area of expertise."

Remus rubbed his mustache as he thought it over, than his eyes turned bright and manic, "Do any of you have a battering ram?"

They all stare at him blankly, Patton's the first one to say anything, "Why?"

"To break into old Princy's room of course!"

[maxthommusic]

TLOU 2 Halfway Spoiler Post

*DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME. SPOILERS AHEAD.*

TLOU2 is a generation-defining game. It’s from the top dog developer, not only within Playstation, but in the industry; full stop. It’s a complete masterclass in environmental design, storytelling, and it’s weaving a narrative that is essential for our #MeToo, BlackLivesMatter, COVID society.

A little context though: I grew up in a culturally understanding household. We never talked negatively about other races, beliefs, or ideals. I’ve really never had a hard time grasping the LGBTQ community, rejecting racism or being good to my fellow humans, whomever that may be. Yeah, it’s a little confusing comprehending all the rules sometimes; misappropriation is a thing and not everyone can be super chill if you accidentally slip-up. But the thing here that’s relevant to TLOU is that discovering someone’s sexuality shouldn’t change your views upon them. And as I see people with posts like “how can a lesbian take down all these zombies?” it becomes apparent that TLOU2 is so much more important than just a sequel.

There are two ways, from my perspective, that I came to appreciate TLOU2. The first would be the characterization of Ellie. When I started TLOU2, Ellie being gay meant little to nothing for me. It’s irrelevant. The same way Joel being straight is completely useless information too. But as the game progressed and I became more comfortable viewing more TLOU2 articles and user-posts, I started seeing the vehemence with which people spoke about Ellie’s sexuality. While I was initially confounded why anyone would be hazing the game and its creators, I began to peer back the veil and confront the source. When I recognized this, I literally became more motivated to press onwards in Ellie’s vengeance quest. I began jumping into sessions wanting Ellie to kick so much ass and just murder tf out of these Wolves. Every time I laid a trap to blow away some pursuing soldiers, I was more satisfied knowing that “this lesbian” had obliterated her assailants. Every time I stabbed a zombie in the back of the head, I was elated that “this lesbian” was running the gauntlet. Knowing that players are getting heated about a gay character taking control of her fate in such a violent, proficient fashion only upped the stakes. In this way, I find TLOU2 to be essential gaming.

Maybe the message isn’t for you. And it’s certainly not for me. But when it occurred to me that this kind of representation was offending people, I realized it’s way more than a game; it’s a statement. TLOU2 is a big middle-finger in the air to everyone who wants to cast shame upon the characters, creators and devs who made it possible. Which I completely support. Because the real clincher is that TLOU2 is a great game. The environments are stunning, the performances are mostly excelsior and the presentation is magnificent. I find the combat to leave a lot to be desired and there are ways in which TLOU2 definitely could be a better game. But for now, the point remains, by most metrics, TLOU2 is usually stunning. People who can’t get over someone’s sexual orientation are missing out.

And I hope they continue to miss out. I hope those people continue to feel like their world is shrinking. Because it’s 2020 and you’ve had your chance to get educated and get on board. TLOU2 by no means is actually that progressive. Ellie’s sexuality hardly comes up and the romantic scenes are really quite mild by TV standards. That it’s progressive for the games industry proves how far behind we are. But because it’s causing such a stir only shows that a major AAA offering like this was so long overdue.

The second way I’ve come to appreciate TLOU2 is the twist in the middle of the game. Playing as Abby is everything. Because here I was, not feeling so great about the characters, or the world, or their motivations. As mentioned, the gameplay itself isn’t even that great; the loop is a bit less than compelling... But then we get a glimpse into Abby’s side of the story and that little glimpse already has elevated TLOU’s purpose ten-fold.

Such a twist made me re-contextualize the entire previous twelve hours in an instant and transformed TLOU2 from good to great. The reason this is important is because the middling feelings I had towards the game have officially become part of the game. My ten minutes with Abby feels infinitely better than the first ten minutes with Ellie and Co., informing all of the storytelling that’s been done so far. My dislike for Jackson, my distrust of Dina, my skepticism towards Ellie; all of that just made Abby the real hero of this story. And while I haven’t seen everything yet, this is how I feel now, and I’m more ecstatic to see the ending than I was for the past twelve hours.

I’ve also heard people are feeling jilted that Joel got done in and Ellie has suffered by effect. Which again, is another crazy thought. Naughty Dog is trying to tell two sides of the same story with very different moral consequences and people are getting downright offended that their beliefs are being challenged. Players are being morally tested and they ain’t having it; let me tell you what game absolutely needed to exist.

And what’s incredible, too, is that you could only achieve this in a sequel.

The stage needs to be set. The characters and your attachment to them needs to be established. The hype, the anticipation, the desire: it was all there to say something really bold and daring, and it looks like Naughty Dog friggin went for it. 

It was always a little bit in question if we needed a sequel to TLOU. That story definitely could have ended right there at St. Mary’s hospital. But now that I’m in the sequel and I’m seeing it unfold righteously, I really, really hope the desire to continue this tale mostly stemmed from the meta story that could be told. I hope the creators and powers-that-be sat in a room and said, “What if we made a game that really challenged the status quo?”

As I said, I’m not done with it yet. But I love the idea that TLOU2 exists not because Naughty Dog said, “we need to make another game,” but because they said, “we have something that needs to be told.”

And as more and more articles get released about TLOU2 and the creators share their insights, I frequently hear the quote, “These stories needed to be told.” With more context from the game, I understand what they were getting at so much better. And they have my full support. A game like this can only be understood and fully appreciated from beginning to end. Which some may scoff at that remark: we all remember Final Fantasy XIII, right? The argument, “It gets good 40 hours in!” has become a meme, essentially. But sometimes great art takes time; you need to let the story unfold. Now I don’t wanna play games like this all the time. Yet when the narrative is in such caring, successful hands like the team at Naughty Dog, I definitely feel the need to listen and give them a chance. Timing is everything. TLOU2 could not necessarily exist as a brand new IP or an entry from a new studio. TLOU2 is the result of everything before it. Love it or hate it, for that reason alone, it demands your attention. But even cooler than that, it’s a statement that needs to be heard.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

(Vol. XIX)

It was a love story from the very beginning.

Tell me the Truth

(6x04/6x05/6x06/6x07/6x08/6x13)

Hello my dear! How have you been? I'm here with another volume from this Chronicles.

This time I want to talk about the truth as a recurrent topic in the first half of this season.

I'm gonna mix some bi Dean concept too, this will be mostly a Dean centric meta.

O want to give thanks to my friend @agusvedder , she couldn't make me the gifs for this meta but we discussed a lot about this topic. Thank you girl!

Let's start...

Saying goodbye to Lisa and Ben

Ok, I will collect here an amount of observations I made in several chapters in which we can see Dean breaking up with Lisa and Ben as his family.

In episode 6x06 Live Free or Twihard , calling back to 6x02, we had Dean feeling himself a monster and becoming one.

At the beginning of the episode, the Winchester brothers went to investigate to a house, a girl's room, vampires fan. Dean found a book and this is what he reads...

DEAN. Look at this. He's WATCHING her sleep. How is that not rape-y?

This is very significant because when Dean is turning into a vampire, he decided to go visit Lisa and Ben to say goodbye... So when he arrives, he just stays there by Lisa's bed watching her sleep. As a real monster. After this we all recall he pushed Ben violently and ran away. This was the beginning of the end.

In episode 6x06 "You can't handle the truth" written by Sera Gamble, even when it was a very Wincest episode, it had a very interesting topic about ASKING THE TRUTH YOU CAN'T EFFORT.

And related with Lisa here, he called her, and because he had asked for the truth, he receives the truth from her. A very hard one. She snapped at him this...

LISA: You've got so much buried in there, and you push it down, and you push it down. Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and not freak out? Just, what, drink half a fifth a night and you're good?

DEAN: You knew what you signed up for.

Dean is excusing himself with her, she knew, he's like this. He won't change. Hunting is his life.

LISA: Yeah. But I didn't expect Sam to come back. And I'm glad he's okay. I am. But the minute he walked through that door, I knew. It was over. You two have the most unhealthy, tangled-up, crazy thing I've ever seen. And as long as he's in your life, you're never gonna be happy.That came out so much harsher than I meant.

Here, we have the pathologic codependency between them, but as it was written, and here's my opinion, is screaming Wincest all over, we know Sera was a fervent fan of the boys, and this doesn't surprises me. Lisa is being very hard and honest with Dean. Things are not Al right between them.

DEAN: It's not your fault.

LISA: I'm not saying don't be close to Sam. I'm close to my sister. But if she got killed, I wouldn't bring her back from the dead!

DEAN: Okay, Lis... I'm not gonna lie. Okay, me and Sam, we... we've got issues. No doubt. But you and Ben --

Here is Dean saying "Everything you had just said is truth", so more Wincest for the bag.

LISA: Me and Ben can't be in this with you. I'm sorry.

And this was the end for sure.

In this same episode, we had this scene...

Gif set credit @paladeckis

The woman is dressed in lavanda color, si, basically, is a Lisa's mirror here,asking for a lot of attention and Dean is giving her that not very hopeful answer... So yeah, Dean had decided which life he wants for him. Maybe, and as I said before, he doesn't feel he deserves a good life, or maybe because he feels like a dangerous monster that can destroy good things.

Now... Let's jump to 6x07 "Family Matters"...

There's a singular quote by the Alpha Vampire:

DEAN: I didn't realize we were on a first-name basis.

ALPHA VAMPIRE: Of course we are. After all, you were my child... for a time. Dean, tell me... did you enjoy it?

Ok, I know this is a creepy way to see it, but... Immediately after episode 6x06 we had this. And beacuse Dean is in the break up process with Lisa and Ben, this could be taken as a Dean/Ben mirror... Ben was the "monster's son" for a while, or at least that way is how Dean see it inside of him. So, symbolically, we are talking about that here.

Now... Episode 6x08 "All dogs go to Heaven" a very blantant Dean mirror with the dog-man here... First of all... Remember the monster watching in silence while the woman sleeps?? We have the same again here... The dog-man (skinwalker) his name was Lucky.

There was interesting words exchanging between Dean and Lucky, and please pay attention to Dean's speech...

DEAN: Hang on, Sam. [to LUCKY (MAN)] Listen, you don't have to tell me why you're with the family. I get it.

LUCKY (MAN): Oh, you do, do you?

DEAN: You killed every threat that came near them. You care about them, in your own whack-a-doodle kind of way. It's obvious. What I want to know is, who was that guy you were kibitzing with? He a skinwalker, too?

So... Isn't it Dean talking to himself? Do he feel like a abandoned and hurted dog that needed a refuge? A family? Now... Check this other quote...

DEAN: What are you gonna do to that family, really? You gonna put your jaws around that little boy's throat? Clamp down, listen to him cry for his mom? 'Cause I'm gonna guess that these are the only people who in your pathetic life have ever showed you any kindness. So it's either that... or you can help us stop it.

Again, the scene of Dean pushing Ben against the wall when he was about to transform into a vampire (a monster) and then... Again talking to himself. Is so blantant that my heart broke instantly...

After this, Dean decided not to shoot him bc he knew that dog was him... But things didn't end well for Lucky...

When he tries to come back to Mandy and her son, this is what happened...

MANDY: Get away from this house, you psycho. And if you ever, ever come near me or my son again, so help me...

LUCKY (MAN): I know I probably deserve...

MANDY closes and locks the door.

This is the end for the monster that wanted to have a family, the difference here is... Dean really wanted to have this kind of life?

And the answer we already know...

Gif set credit @frozen-delight

Dean is puting salt on the windows while he's saying he's out... Tell the truth Dean.

And in 6x13 "Unforgettable" Dean said another thing to his brother (to himself) to put a final period here...

DEAN: Sam, y-y-you got to understand that all that crap last year -- all of it -- none of it was you.

Ok Dean, we get it. This last year trying to be a man with a normal life and family, it wasn't you. It was a lie.

Sam's lies and foreshadowing Castiel's secrets

Before to continuó with this meta... I promised you some bi-Dean scene... Here you have.

Look how Dean checks out the police man and he even greeted him that way. As we know... Dean likes uniforms... 😉 (This gif was made by my gorgeous friend Agus!)

Ok... Let's start with the brothers here...

We all recall that scene when Sam just watched as Dean was turned into a vampire. Ok... So Dean saw it too. And that was one of his biggest alarms about his brother. This happened in episode 6x05.

In episode 6x06, another interesting parallel with the Winchesters brother and Sam's lies.

SAM: You know what a "tell" is?

OLIVIA: Excuse me?

SAM: It's a poker term... for when you're bluffing. Like what you just did with your hair.

OLIVIA: What are you trying to say?

SAM: You're lying.

DEAN is surprised at the force of SAM's inquiry.

OLIVIA: What?!

SAM: Tell us what you did to your sister.

Ok big parallel each time Dean wanted to obtain the truth about what happened with the vampire and why he didn't take care of him.

So after this we had the big scene with VERITAS, and very very WINCEST thing right here...

Gif credit @whiskeyandwhine

Look at their hands touching... Yep very disgusting and very Sera Gamble era. 😒 I'm just pointing things here for you to see what this woman wanted to do with the show.

Let's see continue now with CAS.

In this same episode we had another confession that could be analyze as a parallel and foreshadow of Castiel and his secrets.

SAM: So, you had some idea Corey might have taken her own life?

ROOMMATE: Well... she had been going through a bit of a hard time lately... at school. And then, um, her cat, Mittens, had just ran away. But, really, it was her boyfriend. She was sure that he was cheating on her. But he was just very good at covering his tracks. Which, of course, made her completely obsessed with --

Ok we are here talking about Castiel... The "boyfriend" term will be use by Balthazar twice, one with Dean and the other with Sam, referencing to Castiel. Castiel is the boyfriend, and he is cheating on Dean and Sam.

Gif credit @never-forget-viva-la-pluto

Gif set credit @sam-spirit-winchester

Also, making Balthazar calling Castiel as the Winchesters's boyfriend, equally... Another SERA GAMBLE tool, "look Cas isn't Dean's boyfriend, is Sammy's boyfriend too, so... Is irrelevant."

Episode 6x07 we had the boys discovering SAMUEL was working for Crowley, so the entire episode is a big foreshadow of what was about to happen when Dean, Sam and Bobby discover Castiel's deal with the King of Hell. And is also the episode in which the idea about Purgatory and the power of souls is presented.

And ironically, we'll have Dean and Sam literally working for Crowley too, so ... A little hole in the narrative here... But hey... We don't talk about this Season, don't we?

To conclude

Dean asked for the truth and he had it with his brother and he will have it with Castiel, the problem is... Is he ready to handle it?

The first half of the season was a foreshadow for Castiel's secret and we could see in many episodes how the writers showed us what Dean felt by leaving Ben and Lisa and how he will have to handle with a big betrayal.

In Sera Gamble era we had a lot of references to Wincest and holes in the narrative, that we will see more often in the incoming episodes.

I hope you like this! C-u in the next Chronicles!

Tagging

@magnificent-winged-beast

@emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @koshisekisen @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @angelneedshunter @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @xsghn @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel

If you want to be tagged, please let me know.

If you want to check the previous season 6 Chronicles, the links are here: XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII.

Buenos Aires July 11st 2019 1:47 AM

[uomo-accattivante]

One of the things you can’t help noticing when you talk to Oscar Isaac is just how incredible he is at playing the part of Oscar Isaac. It’s not that he’s putting on a performance. But when you talk to Oscar Isaac, the public idea of Oscar Isaac begins to make a tremendous amount of sense.

We talk a couple of days before the release of Netflix’s new Triple Frontier, an action-adventure heist/American military allegory flick (it’s a lot) that Isaac stars in, and Isaac manages to, within the span of a few minutes, quote Shakespeare and express guilt about shoplifting in his college days. In other words: He’s sensitive with a risky streak. It’s no wonder the Internet has declared him its boyfriend (and more recently, its husband).

This quality, of course, is part of what makes Isaac so compelling to watch when he’s playing an actual role. He seamlessly shades his characters with duality; by turns he can play dour and charming, cerebral and clueless. Take Triple Frontier. Isaac portrays a character, Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia, who is essentially a stand-in for Donald Rumsfeld. He’s tasked with rallying an all-star gang of ex-Special Forces agents (played by Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, and Garrett Hedlund) to execute a covert heist of a South American drug lord. It’s an ill-fated, and perhaps misguided, operation, but Isaac makes you believe that nothing can go wrong—and, moreover, that what they’re doing is inherently right, all while emitting a sense of manifest failure.

On the heels of turning 40, Isaac hasn’t given much thought to where he wants to take his talents for portraying complex characters next, only that he wants to scale back. “Doing the circus thing can get tiring after a while,” he says. Though, it won’t be long before he talks about what a thrill it was to train for a daunting high elevation chase scene. The change of tune comes off genuinely; he digs a good adventure, but also wants to settle down. It’s both. And it’s Oscar Isaac, so you believe him.

Happy birthday!

Thank you.

Did you do anything exciting?

We had a little bit of a house party. We just moved to a new place. So we thought, “Why not trash it? Have a party.”

It was a pretty big birthday [40]. As you move into middle age, are there new kinds of roles you're interested in playing?

No, not necessarily. But it's just kind of fun to start a new decade.

Do you have a philosophy in terms of how you choose roles generally?

Oh no, if only. Things would be so much easier. Choosing roles is really more like falling in love. I don't have a specific type that I'm looking for. It's just kind of if I read the thing or speak to the director or see some art that's connected with it and it incites something where I can't stop thinking about it, then I keep moving towards it.

Tell me about how you fell in love, then, with the character of Pope in Triple Frontier.

I worked with J.C. [Chandor] on A Most Violent Year. That had gone well. And I knew he was somebody I could trust in the editing room. You could try lots of different things and he won't make you look like an idiot. And then he talked to me about the kind of guy this is, the parables behind the whole movie, it being an allegory to the way the United States has operated throughout the world, and how in some ways my character is the Donald Rumsfeld of the story. [Pope] says, “Look, we can do this. We can take out a really bad guy. We'll be rich. We'll be in and out. No problem.” And so there's a bit of hubris there about their skills—even though these characters are incredibly skilled. But he underestimates the team's greed.

Once I became involved, we started having conversations. We thought an interesting complication—and one thing that would make it not feel so cliché—would be making the character of Pope actually from the area that he's been working in. There's a familial connection to it, so there's something more at stake. He wants to take out this guy not just as a trophy but because he actually thinks it'll make a difference.

In Annihilation you also played someone in the military. And I read that you at one point had considered joining the Marines. Is there something about diving into that military world that attracted you?

Yeah. That's definitely something I had been into when I was younger, and I had imagined that that was an avenue I could've gone down for my life. And I was very near going to boot camp and starting that whole process, and then other things happened that took me away from that. So I think there's always something inside of me that wonders about the What if? of it.

I can be quite a good student when it comes to certain things. So learning the mechanics of working with the weapons, learning about situational awareness and clearing the room, the team-building exercises—all those things, I got very excited by. And also, there was a lot of high altitude training.

What was that like?

What was cool was that all of us had a different physical task. Garrett [Hedlund] was the MMA fighter and there was a whole MMA fight that ended up getting cut down quite a bit. So he ended up spending a lot of time training that way, training with jiu-jitsu. Pedro [Pascal] spent a lot of time with the cockpit and flying. And then Charlie [Hunnam] and Ben [Affleck] both found things that were specific to their characters. And for me, I knew that I was having to do this extended chase sequence in Colombia, which was between 10,000 and 13,000 feet, depending on exactly where we were shooting. So I knew that was something I needed to train for just so I'd be able to do more than one take without throwing up. And I found a place here in New York that's a hyperbaric chamber that's able to replicate what it's like to run in different altitudes. They have a treadmill in there. And an oxygen mask, and even a tent you could sleep in at night to get your blood saturated with oxygen.

When you were preparing, what kinds of things did you learn about the military that surprised you, or that you didn't know when you were considering joining the Marines way back when?

I was a kid back then, so I didn't know much. I was like, “I'll get fit. I'll get money for college. I'll go in there because some of my friends are planning on going in there as well.” There were some people I admired who had been. This was like 1998. But the reality of it is the amount of sacrifice—not just physically, but emotionally. Being separated from your family for long, long periods of time. And especially special forces guys, who are just the elite, top of the top. There's this sense of [it being] these tough guys, these killers, chest-pounding guys. The truth is the people we spoke with [have] humility and soft-spokenness and ethical codes they go by, [there’s] lack of rejoicing in violence, the desire for connection, and the way deadly force is viewed—all those things I found to not be clichéd adolescent ideas of what being a military guy is.

The movie is very much an allegory about the American military and the country's greed. But how did you internalize the individual sense of greed that you're portraying in the film?

There's something that's epic about it. It's a very primal tale. Macbeth is the same thing. Macbeth is a heroic soldier. The entire first part of Macbeth is everyone saying what an incredible soldier Macbeth was, what he did, how he was fearless, courageous, how he saved his men. He is the hero. And then that little thing gets in there like an infection, this thought, What more could I have? "What do I deserve for everything that I've done?" And that’s mixed with the violence the person is seeing. So that for me was very interesting. Noble people who have a tragic flaw that brings them down. For my character, it was less the money. It was more revenge, taking out this one guy he's been hunting since he's been down there. He actually believes that if he cuts down this head, the rest of the thing will fall.

Did you return to moments in your life or career where you caught yourself letting greed get the best of you?

I think when I was in college I definitely did some damage at the Tower Records across the street. And the Barnes & Noble... And a couple liquor stores. There was a sense of, “I am a college student. I can barely make ends meet over here. This is a big company; they're not going to mind if I take this book of poetry.” So I could justify snagging a few items here and there. But of course Tower Records closes down, and I can't help but feel at fault.

It’s not your fault.

It was a flawed system. They had the bargain DVDs right next to the place where you walk out. So you could just put [your bag] right there next to it, go through the metal detectors, and then reach back and grab your bag.

Do you think you could graduate from Barnes & Noble theft and pull off an actual heist?

No. I wouldn't know where to begin or what to do. Anything I know about it is from movies.

Are you a fan of the heist genre?

I like the heist genre thrown on its head. My favorite movie is Dog Day Afternoon. And that is another thing where it's like, Let's do this thing. We're going to rob a bank. In and out of there. And everything that happens after that is, to me, the most exciting part. It's people in extreme situations. I worked in a hospital when I was younger, and that's something I learned a lot from, seeing people in extreme situations. You see the entire spectrum of humanity in those moments.

As a musician and a big music fan, how do you use music to get yourself in the mindset of a role?

I've done that for ages. Often for me, it's less specific about, This makes me think about this thing. It's more about what gets me to a place of readiness, openness. What makes me feel connected to the earth a bit more. Sometimes I'll put together music that I find inspiring thematically, or tonally. But I think if it's something that needs any real depth of emotion, there's this one guy named Ernst Reijseger, an incredible cellist who did the soundtrack to Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams. I listen to that and it puts me in a primal state. It opens me up so I'm able to receive anything that's floating around inside without judging it too much.

Were you listening to that for this role?

For this one, there were a couple moments when I did. But I think I listened to a lot of Sepultura, a Brazilian hardcore metal band. It gave a sense of the chaos and the violence, and it has some Brazilian kind of tribal elements to it. So it felt like a bit of a mix of everything they're getting involved in down there.

What's the best piece of direction you've gotten in your career?

The first one that comes to my mind was just like the sweetest way of saying "Tone it down." A great writer, Hossein Amini, he came over and in the sweetest way said, "The camera is just not able to capture what you're doing right now. We don't have the technology yet to get what you're doing. So you just have to bring it down a bit so we can capture it on the camera."

My editor insisted I find out about the footage you filmed for the Disney Parks upcoming Star Wars-themed lands. Is there anything you can tell me?

I'm afraid I can't, because actually I don't really remember [laughs]. I think some of it happened in the middle of filming the actual movie. So they were like, "Hey, today you're coming in and you'll be in the cockpit." So it's those kinds of situations. I'm sure I'm in the cockpit and I'm screaming about something important.

undefined

[that-taters-my-tots]

Rules: Complete all the questions you want, expand and explain your answers as much as you want, and have fun!

If you can, tag some people you want to join in on the fun!

Tagged by: @mamichigo

Question list here

What ability would you have in the BSD universe?

(What would it be called? What’s its purpose? How does it work?)

It took me a while to think of one that fit me, but I think mine would be called the Cat's Meow! I would be able to see through the eyes of stray cats to spy on people!

Restrictions: I would only be able to see through the eyes of one cat at a time and I would probably have to form a bond with the cat too.

If you could claim someone’s ability in BSD, whose ability would you want?

Kenji's! I would honestly love to be strong, even if it meant I had to be hungry for it to work. I'm literally one of the physically weakest people I know.

What group/organization would you join?

(ex. Guild, Port Mafia, Armed Detectives’ Agency, Rats, etc.)

Honestly the Armed Detective Agency sounds wonderful, it by itself gives me so much of new-found-family workplace vibe and I love it! Though I don't know how much my ability would be of use here.

Which BSD character do you identify with the most?

I think Atsushi! He's always in the middle of everything and really doesn't want to be there. Now don't @ me but I really relate to his self esteem issues and problems with self worth too, I've struggled with my self worth for years and I'm just finally now loving myself. He's also a really good person? Sacrificing himself and doing what's best for others and what he knows will help more people.

Who are your top three favourite BSD characters?

(You can change the number)

1. Dazai!

2. Atsushi

3. Kunikida

Are there any authors that you’d want to bring into the BSD universe that hasn’t arrived yet? Or do you have OCs?

Would Stan Lee count as author? Because if so I'd love a character based off of him! Or maybe some Greek authors like Homer or Sappho! Stephen King or Shakespeare would be really cool too!

Favourite Scene(s)?

That one scene in season 2 where Kunikida is willing to die with a girl as she's blown up by a bomb so he doesn't have to watch anyone die. It just really hits me because- he's not only doing it for his own purpose of not wanting to watch someone die, but also because so she won't have to die alone. Gosh I was tearing up when I first watched it.

That one scene when Dazai catches Atsushi and then drops him to the floor because "I have no such tastes in men," yeah right honey, sure you don't.

Favourite Quotes from the Authors/Characters?

“A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated--I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall; I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed--I aided--I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew still.” - Edgar Allan Poe (Cask of Amontillado)

The Cask of Amontillado is one of my favourite pieces of Poe's work and this part always leaves me in chills. Montresor has brought his rival down to his basement to try his new Amontillado and ties him up and walls him in leaving him to die, now that's already spooky but when your victim starts to scream and cry and you just scream back louder?? Gosh it just makes me feel disturbingly amazing and full of energy.

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars,” - F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)

I really love this line because it's just so vague and full of description all at once. It's hardly telling you anything but it's giving you an atmosphere and you can just guess nearly everything that's happening at Gatsby's parties.

Who would you want to bring to life to be your best friend? Waifu/Husbando?

I probably don't fit his idea but Kunikida please mary me and yell at me for being unorganized.

How has Bungou Stray Dogs changed you as a person? Did you learn anything from it?

It hasn't changed me but I've written a lot for it so it's helped me improve that way! Plus I've done so many fun things with other members of the fandom and it makes me happy interacting with other fans.

[greeneyedsuccubunny]

The Art of Seduction 101

Summary: Natasha needs (y/n)'s help to seduce a mark on one of her mission's however (y/n) is confident she's the worst at seduction. So Natasha has decided to do a practice run before the big day with our one and only Winter Boo Bear. Will she make the grade? Warnings: Fluffy fluffy goodness. Major feels?

A.N. If enough people ask I will do a Part 2. Also if anyone would like to be tagged just ask. I love ya’ll.

"No fucking way!" You practically shouted at Natasha who was grinning evilly at you. "Yes fucking way perhaps literally if I teach you well enough....or if I can get you to tap into what's already there buried just underneath the surface." Natasha mused with a pensive look on her face giving a quick wink to you at her double meaning. "What the hell are you talking about Nat?" You sigh placing your index finger and thumb on the bridge of your nose pinching slightly to alleviate the pressure you knew was bound to become a migraine soon.

"Well I could teach...." Natasha began but you had too many things going on in your mind right now and you found your mind beginning to wander. It had been like this all morning Natasha had the brilliant idea of using you to seduce the mark in both her and Bucky's undercover operation. She had no other option it would seem considering the mark was one Sr. Antoine Alverez a drug cartel lord and all around scum bag known for trafficking in young women on the side for fun. He was known to be able to spot a lie a mile away so Nat knew she would need someone very skilled at lying. Someone like say another Avenger someone who is her best friend and owes her a favor for spilling red wine on her carpet. Someone like you. You had been going back and forth on this subject she was trying her very best speeches as well as her cute little puppy dog expressions to convince you to help her out. Apparently not only were you a skilled liar but your body and looks were very attuned to Sr. Alvarez's specifications, he had a type. With your luxurious (y/h/c) locks and stunning (y/s/c) skin not to mention your beautiful figure type was what he craved. You didn't mind at all helping her out on this if it was anything other than seducing someone. When you had joined the Avengers it had been under the assumption that you would be the agent behind the scenes using your mutant abilities only when it was deemed necessary. You hadn't ever thought they would ask you to seduce someone because the God's honest truth was you just didn't know how. You saw yourself as the quirky chick the one always with a funny joke not a sexual being that had men fall at your feet, that was Nat's job. You had definitely had sex before and you were quite good at it it's just you weren't the smolder type you were the type who if things got to tense would throw on a Borat impression call it 'the sexy time' saying 'I like' to reduce the awkardness. Long story short you weren't cut out for this shit. You remembered when Natasha had told you that you were exactly the type of girl that Alvarez wanted. Your reaction had been less than stellar when you mumbled out, "Oh freaking fantastic. Just what I need the one man in the world who truly wants me and he is a sick depraved bastard....thanks mom for the winning genes... you're a real peach." In truth, the only man that you did want was the guy you never thought even looked your way once. The beautiful man with Chestnut waves and ocean blue eyes that were so haunted and made your heart speed up fast and run slow at the same time. The man who could make the world feel like it is staying in place when he chuckled at your jokes which is why you sprinkled in extra quips when he was around. You thought if you could lighten up the load on this man's burdened shoulders if you could make his life a little better for even a split second then that's what you were going to do. Who is the man in question? That man is the one, the only, James Buchanaan Barnes. Though it seemed as if Bucky was maybe starting to warm up to you a little lately. Not that you would really notice if you didn't have a major crush on him. Bucky would try and skirt away from you every time you spent for than 10 minutes with him. You wanted to go so far as to tell him that you swear you didn't have cooties....and then you most definitely wanted to proceed that with licking his face, body, and di-...... "Snap out of it (y/l/n). You were daydreaming again." Natasha said while smirking at you. You knew she knew what and most likely who you were daydreaming about. "I'm sorry babe forgive me please repeat yourself and do go slow. My brain is turning into mush at the prospect of me having to keep my ass upright in hooker heels, while trying to pull off any assemblance of something resembling sex appeal." You pout trying to keep the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach from showing up on your face. "I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted by you brain fucking Barnes. I could teach you how to be sexy and seduce. Believe me when I tell you a monkey could do it. You know that was most of what I did when I got out of the Red Room. Your hot babe I swear you can do this and I really need your help think of all the girls that you would be helping if you put this monster behind bars." Natasha explained in a cool demeanor while smirking at your blushing expression when she mentioned Bucky. "That is so not fair! I hate that your right.....What do I need to do?" You ask begrudgingly.

“Y-y-yeah. Nat." You swallow the large lump in your throat nervously. You begin patting down the curls on your head gently while smoothing out the flattering (y/f/c) dress that hugged your curves in all the right places. Natasha had picked out just the right pair of wedges after you had stumbled and fallen like a baby deer trying to stand up on it's own after being birthed. Apparently the heels women usually wore for this kinda thing were not your cup of tea after having almost broken your ankle in every pair Natasha forced you to try on. "I-I can’t do this. It-It’s not a good idea. You do sexy y-you not me I got the whole 'can control mother nature thing' down ya know?!” You stammer out while violently punctuating the air with your finger quotes. Natasha just stares at you blankly while you have a mild panic attack. "I don't got this! I repeat I don't got this!!!" You exclaim loudly while trying to steady your breathing that's when Natasha finally spoke up. "Y/n you are sexy I swear! I know Bucky he's a nice guy he would never do anything to make you feel bad about yourself. He is the perfect man to try out the seduction on he's agreed to help me fine tune you. If I do say so myself he was quite eager. He slapped Sam in the head and punched Steve in the shoulder while death glaring Tony with his Winter Smolder to get them to put their hands down when I asked who wanted to volunteer to see if (y/n) could seduce them." Natasha reassured you with her speech while quirking her eyebrow at your nervous antics. "He was probably just trying to be nice because he feels bad about thinking I have cooties." You mumble out in a defeated tone. "What?" Natasha questioned with a tick of her eyebrow confused by what you had said thinking she had to have heard you wrong. "Nothing. Never Mind. Just go back out there and get Steve I can't do this with Bucky." You answer quickly making a sweeping motion with your hands to indicate to get Bucky to go away. Silently praying anyone else in the world was out there for you to practice on. "Yeah--- about that (y/n) I kinda sent everyone else on their way out of the tower so you wouldn't feel so stressed when you seducded Barnes... I really didn't think you would mind this much I thought you might enjoy it in fact." Natasha proclaimed with a wince when she saw the terrified expression on your face. "Oh God, Natasha I am the freak with a bad complexion and extra wobbly bits! There is no way he is going to fall for me especially when he has seen you, and oh ya know, any girl in this damn building!" You whisper shout at Natasha trying to breathe deeply and evenly so you didn't pass out. "Barnes already has a thing for you I am sure of it." Natasha chirped out trying to keep you upbeat and positive about the situation at hand. "No he doesn’t! Stop lying to me." You snap at Natasha who quickly comes over to you squatting down and putting her hand on your cheeks. "(Y/n) look at me." Natasha prompted, causing you to look up at Natasha who had a soothing smile on her face. "Baby girl you're beautiful, you're timeless. I wouldn't have volunteered you for this if I didn't believe a 100% in my soul that you couldn't do this. Hell I would have you seduce me but I am already biased I would definitely sleep with you." Natasha winked at you and nudged you in the ribs gently with her elbow. "Really you would sleep with me? You queried with a soft chuckle trying to use a little comedy to lighten up the dread settling over you. "I most definitely would love bug. Now get out there and give him a trouser tent! Remember the lesson I taught you swing your hips, flip your hair out of your eyes, cock a side smile and sexy smirk. Really, you've mastered those moves already and those are all you need to know." She stated matter-of-factly. "Is this one of those this is who we are, this is what we do, and this is what you need to know Simba moments? If so I think I have a little red lipstick and it's not too late to draw a little mark on my forehead." You giggle at the serious expression changing to one of amusement on Nat's face as you're beginning to lighten the mood you had caused due to your self deprecation. "I mean what do you say you could probably lift me up you're really quite strong. After we could practice for Dirty Dancing?" You quip as Natasha shakes her head, her red curls shaking with her laughter. "You know what we could try it as soon as you show me what you can do out there. It's show time Baby Girl!" Natasha exclaims excitedly fluffing your hair correcting the little slip up of red lipstick on the corner of your lips and pushing you with a firm shove out the door and into the Break room.

Bucky Barnes was a picture of perfection and calmness sitting in the break room. At least he appeared that way thanks to his Winter Solider days. He found it easier to school his emotions because of the programming that Hydra had done. The malicious trigger words were out of his brain now but some of the aspects of his training like his control still stayed with him. 

Little did you know but Bucky was a trillion times more of a nervous wreck than you were at the moment.  Sitting and waiting for you to 'make his day' as Natasha had put it. He was still a little hazy on the details except that it involved you and anything that involved you and or helped you he wanted to be a part of. If he was honest with himself he'd do anything for you, with you.....and to you. This feeling inside of his heart wasn't anything he was familiar with. Sure he had been with quite a few women in fact he had been quite the ladies man in his day. Those women were the cat and mouse kind of women though. He was always the one being pursued for a relationship that he never wanted in the end... but not this time. This time he wanted the woman more than anything he'd ever wished for in his entire life. He tried to talk to Steve about it and after recounting the way he felt he came up with a few points to talk about to Steve like the fact that his stomach would try to wiggle away from him when he saw you smile or how his heart pounded out it's own unique rhythm every time he heard her laugh. His best friend had concluded with a wide smile and a hearty chuckle that Bucky had major feelings for (y/n). He had explained that what Bucky had described was the exact way he felt when Peggy was around back in the day. Hearing this Bucky put a hand on his favorite punk's shoulder giving him a reassuring smile and telling him that he knew and she would always be with Steve no matter what. Bucky had been running away from (y/n) for as long as he could remember. The thing was when he tried his hardest he could stick it out for about ten minutes before her smile, her smell, hell even her voice made him want to kiss her and caress her beautiful face. Honestly, he was definitely not the best person to see if (y/n) had the seduction chops considering he was already head over heels with (y/n) in the damn first place. She could punch him in the arm while calling him bro and pounding a beer can shotgun style and he wouldn't give a fuck. She was perfect to him with her quick wit, always defusing the situation with a joke. He couldn't even count the number of times that she had single handedly stopped Tony and Steve from coming to blows over some minor problem with a well timed 'that's what she said'. She had told him once that when someone's mind goes to funny sexcapades in an argument it throws off their shitty thoughts for a split second. Enough time to get the tension to lift a bit and that's when you are able to strike and separate the dueling parties according to her, Bucky always listened to her. Damn, this is what the songs on the radio always talked about. Fuck all the songs were starting to make sense now. Did this mean that he.... loved you? Bucky is sitting there waiting and pondering if someone like you could ever love someone like him when out comes (y/n) stumbling from what looks like a push from behind. Quickly gathering her wits and composure she straightens up cocks her hip a little while tugging her lower lip gently between her teeth and cocking her eyebrow slightly. Deep inside she knows she is trying to mirror an old cover photo of Cosmopolitan with Scarlett Johansson on it. She took long languid steps as Nat taught her not looking at Bucky yet because she knew she would definitely see him trying not to laugh at her and that would cause her to run away. She felt like she was playing dress up in her mother's clothes but she had to do this for not only Natasha but herself she was gonna prove to herself she could do this. So without further ado she looked up and the look on Bucky's face confused you more than you could even express. Wait a minute. What was that expression? Was it.......................... A.N. I am the Queen of cliffhangers my friend's. I love you guys I had a day off of work so I decided to write a little something. If I get enough asks I will do a part 2 . So to see what the damn expression on Bucky's face is just ask Mwah! 

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