#hes been waiting for the moment to be the annoying dad role since dick's actual father died hes secretly thrilled rn

[martyrbat]

batman/tmnt adventures #2

[ID: Dick Grayson in his costume swinging on top of a building's rooftop as the narration introduces, ‘Robin. The Boy Wonder. The lighter side of the Dark Knight.’ On the rooftop, Batman is already waiting for him as he's hunched in a crouch on top of a gargoyle and overlooking the city. Behind them, the sky is bright red and we can see more of the city lights and zeppelins. Robin asks, “Batman. I got Alfred's call. What's up!” But Batman notes, “You brought a friend.” The panel expands to reveal Barbara Gordon as Batgirl standing there. She awkwardly waves and tells him, “um, hey.” The narration box reads, ‘Batgirl. Fairly new to the whole crime-fighting thing. It rarely shows.’ Robin bunglingly excuses, “We were on a... team up.” Batman secretly smirks with amusement and makes a little grunt in response before he starts to actually disclose the crises (that isn't Robin's attempted dating life). END ID]

[writerseven]

hey if you're still doing commentaries could you maybe do one on the conversation dick and alfred have in the most recent chapter thanks

 I am always down to do commentaries!

This got long, so I will put my rambles about this bit from brother chapter two under the cut:

so when plot was just starting to happen in the series, I actually debated for a bit whether or not Alfred would know, and how much. Ultimately, I felt like him knowing would make more logical sense and feel more grounded, and some version of that reveal has been in my outline ever since I had an outline. I have been waiting for the chance to write that, like, five second moment of one of the kids having a stomach-dropping realization that alfred has known this whole time. I think early on it was much later in my outline and it was Tim? But in terms of plot machinations and where things are headed and characters emotional states, it ended up fitting perfectly for Dick in this moment.

Setting that up was tricky. I figured some people would already suspect, but I still wanted it to be potentially shocking for readers who anticipated a nicer Alfred? I really tried to figure out how to tune that entire chapter to feel like it was building up to Good Guy Alfred, and add in little mentions from Dick’s PoV of Alfred being great/kept in the dark/etc that would set expectations without being too obvious as red herrings.

Honestly, I’m not sure I really succeeded on that, but as long as that moment is still horrifying and awful, that’s more important that being shocking. If I were to go back and edit this series as a whole, I would probably try to set that up for longer to really pull the rug out from under people.

asdfjk I’ve written a bunch and I haven’t even gotten to the actual convo you asked about yet

OKAY. So Alfred doesn’t have a lot of lines because it’s not a very long scene all things considered, so I tried to really be thoughtful about what he did say. Right before Dick “tells” Alfred, we get this:

Alfred doesn't complain, glancing over his shoulder. His mouth gives a wry twist at the display. “Ah, well. You know Master Bruce. It does not matter what logic or decency or I say when he's determined to wallow in guilt.” 

They’re talking about the Jason Robin suit display, but that’s also setting up everything that comes after.

“Were I capable of stopping Master Bruce from every foolish idea that gets into his head, he wouldn't be gallivanting about each night to risk his life dressed as a flying rodent,” says Alfred, pushing the kettle back into its designated place. “I can protect him from many things, but not himself.”

And that’s kind of the basis of Alfred’s feelings here. He doesn’t approve of Bruce abusing the kids; of course he finds it indecent and misguided and perhaps, if he can admit it to himself a tiny bit, wrong--but it’s not his doing, and, gosh, well, he’s tried his best to steer Bruce right and you can’t win ‘em all, right?

He’s also, like, super focused on Bruce above all others. Alfred calls Batman a foolish idea because of the way it endangers Bruce, and even frames the idea of stopping him from being a pedophile as “protecting him from himself.” Alfred cares about his pseudo-grandkids and would rather not have to chose, but Bruce is his baby and will always come first.

A lot of enablers of this kind of abuse are romantic partners, and because of the unusual way the Robins were raised, that’s not a far off comparison from their side of things; Alfred took somewhat of a parental role for Dick and Jason especially. But in terms of Alfred’s psychology, I think of this more like an enabling parent--the kind who wants their kid to be good and well-raised, but ultimately just cannot accept the concept of their precious child having done something truly bad. And if that kid ever did, they’d be helping bury the body instead of asking questions.

Alfred's eyes are low—No. Alfred's eyes are averted. His lips are still pinched, brow still creased. Dick doesn't get it at first. But something cold creeps into his chest. “Alfie...?”

[fixed typo count: 1. how am i so bad at this]

One of the most annoying things about describing facial expressions (or body language) is that you can describe it textbook-perfectly for a particular emotion, and still have it not convey the emotion you mean it to. Part of that is that we only have so many words for the ways faces move, part of it is that individual facial movements can convey multiple expressions (e.g. frowning can be for irritation, disapproval, disappointment, sadness, etc), and part of it is that if you’re not using words that convey obvious emotion (’scowl’ ‘smile’ ‘grimace’ etc) readers kinda have to take a second to actually picture what you’re describing before they can discern an emotion from it.

...on the flip side, if you want characters and/or readers to misunderstand an expression, that means you can still get away with a lot of describing.

All that lowered eyes, pinched lips, creased brow could be the sign of someone taking in horrible news and trying to suppress a strong reaction, which is what Dick thinks at first--and then a little word choice of flipping the vaguer “lowered” to the distinctly guilty “averted” and Dick starts to get it.

“Perhaps,” Alfred says, carefully selected words, “you should let it not be true.”

And there we get to, like, the entirety of Alfred’s justification. Love for Bruce is why he lets this continue, but the how is just a straight up I Do Not See It. From a little later:

“There are things in his life,” Alfred says tightly, refilling his cup, “in any loved one's life, that are simply separate from our own.”

I don’t know if this is ever going to come up, so I don’t mind mentioning it here though it hasn’t been explicitly shown in the story--but this is the first time Alfred has ever really discussed this with anyone. Dick is the only person who is fully aware Alfred knows.

If you go back, you can actually see brief mentions in Bruce’s PoVs of keeping things hidden from Alfred, e.g. debating if he could convince Alfred that short-shorts for Robin are a tactical decision. I think I dropped that in the first time before I had actually considered Alfred’s role in a longer story, but I ended up liking the idea that not even Bruce is certain whether Alfred is aware of his abuse. He goes back and forth between thinking maybe Alfred doesn’t know and he must hide it (because clearly Bruce is such Clever Genius Sneaky Man that no one could ever learn his secrets), and suspecting closer to the truth: that Alfred knows, but the silent condition for his enabling is that Bruce never ever brings it up and lets Alfred feign ignorance.

I realize I’ve talked a whole bunch about Alfred here and said almost nothing about Dick, but to be fair, we’re already in Dick’s PoV so there’s not as much new stuff to cover.

What if he doesn't? Dick can say something stupid instead, watch Alfred's face clear and that smile return. They'll go upstairs, maybe, have tea with Jason, laugh and reminisce. Bruce and Tim will return later, change back in the cave, and come upstairs where they can all be together. This little messed up family in the kitchen, happy and unbothered. Alfred won't have his heart broken, and Jason can warm up again, and Bruce will smile at Dick, and Tim won't resent him. And all Dick has to do is pretend he was wrong and never say anything, until he starts to believe it himself.

They could be a good, happy family. The blissful life of ignorance.

I feel WEIRD talking about my own feelings on my writing (because what if they’re completely off base from how it reads??) but I think this was the most crushing bit to me. Dick so badly wants the good family that he deserves, wants his dad to love him, wants everyone to be happy. And, without knowing it yet, he’s basically described what Alfred actually did. Dick is going to push past this moment of weakness, do the right thing instead of pretending, say something so incredibly hard--and then find out it was all pointless because someone else already made that choice.

Sad. Alfred looks sad. Dick doesn't understand, he doesn't understand. It's the wrong sadness. And Alfred's—being—gentle.

“Let's get you some tea and a chat,” Alfred says. Dick means to refuse that too, but the words get choked up and the next thing he knows Alfred is guiding him up that long staircase. That hand on his shoulder is so gentle and the words are so gentle and the pace is so gentle and Dick can't seem to resist any of it and he doesn't know where his—body has gone.

I kind of realized after I wrote the previous chapter that I would never be allowed to use the word “gentle” in Dick’s PoV without it carrying a very specific connotation. And on the bright side, I can just drop a single word and have already established the emotion behind it!

Alfred is now placed alongside Bruce (and Catalina Flores, and the BPD, and those appeared-for-two-seconds traffickers...) He has the upper hand, and has no need to be cruel.

(also that “he doesn't know where his—body has gone” my dudes, Dick must have, like, so many issues with bodily autonomy after all the shit he’s been through, even in a ‘verse where Bruce isn’t an abuser, and I could do a whole post about that y’all)

Alfred gets him some tea. Dick stares at it until a soft sound and Alfred sipping his own in demonstration stirs him to follow suit.

They're sitting at the kitchen island. Dick is sitting at the kitchen island, dangle of his legs off the bar stool making him feel like a kid again. Alfred stands on the island's other side, patiently watching him. Tea. Kitchen. Alfred knows. Dick has the vaguest presence of mind to wonder if they passed Jason on the way up. He's pretty sure they didn't; Jason must have moved.

[dissociation intensifies] adjf honestly I was like “oh no am I using dissociation too much in this series” because part of me always wants to highlight the different ways people can react, but IN MY DEFENSE dick has a canonical history of reacting to traumatic events like this so. yeah. Errbody dissociating.

(For the record, Jason did indeed move and they did not pass him.)

There’s a middle bit to this conversation that I don’t have to much to say about where Dick is just trying to come to terms with the revelation and completely failing to understand how Alfred can not do anything. because Fundamentally Good Person Dick Grayson reigns supreme in my heart.

and then that tension escalates to:

Dick hands clench on the tiny teacup. “He's raping kids.”

“Richard.”

From getting to chat a bit in the comments, it’s not just me, but I’ve always found that initially naming a thing can feel more shocking than the thing itself. Bruce grooms his victims (Dick included, though Bruce never raped him), and gradually submits them to more and more discomfort, and gaslights them, and that sort of slow ramp up can make things seem...less awful, or less definable, or less abusive than they actually are.

I’ve always found things seem a lot clearer in retelling (or, for fiction, in telling at all), when in the moment, in real life, there’s a lot of second guessing and ‘is this really happening?’ and ‘what exactly is happening?’ and ‘is this really what i think it might be?’ And then you don’t want to get it wrong and be jumping to conclusions.

So there’s also a power in my mind of being able to name things? The first time is really shocking and hard, but then suddenly there is this title you can group it under. And maybe you don’t know what to do about “my adoptive father who i love but is sometimes difficult is maybe carrying on a sexual relationship with my not-brother who swears that it isn’t happening and also seems to want to be there, and i don’t want to hurt anyone,” but you probably have a much clearer reaction to “this man is raping children.”

I think it takes a lot from Dick to name it as such--And there’s a reason why that is the moment Alfred snaps. “My employerson who I love has a complicated relationship with his kids” is a lot easier to be willfully ignorant towards.

Finally, the end of the conversation is just Alfred laying out why Dick can’t do anything about it and how no one will help. And also trying to guilt Dick into believing this is for the best. Alfred is happy to have all four of his boys around, and he would prefer that illusion of being whole and happy to losing any of them for the sake of helping the others.

...and, I’ll be honest, that ending explanation is also for me the author to be able to explain it. If you’ve got a purely logical viewpoint here, there’s a question of, like “why doesn’t Dick just ask Diana to use her lasso, or ask a telepath to read Bruce’s mind?” etc etc, and my hope is that it will be clear to everyone that emotion is about a million times more important than rationality when it comes to trauma reactions, and that Dick actually does even have good reason to doubt talking to any of those people would help!

Because the person he trusted most in the world to have his back re: Bruce already knew, and doesn’t want to change anything.

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Shopping Day

Tagging: @melyaliz @thespacebuns @coffee-randomness @gobydana

A/N I little gift for @gobydana who's been a mutual for 4 years? 5? I can't remember anymore. This also doubles a welcome back gift from when she took a break

Whenever Selina was in town the all day shopping trip was a bit of a tradition. It had all started when Annabella was four and Selina had realized Bruce would usually have the little girls dresses delivered to the manor and from there decided which ones she liked best. That was unacceptable to Selina. So with Bruce's credit card tucked away in her purse she took Annabella out on her first shopping spree.

Annabella enjoyed it at first looking at all the dresses and trying them on. But in the end she had decided she just wanted to match Selina. And Selina had to admit it was fun dressing the little Wayne up to look like her. She had to resist the urge to buy the diamond studded cat ear headband and instead settled with a small silver heart with one side completely covered in tiny diamonds.

Trying to get the little toddlers hair style to stay though proved difficult. Since Annabella had never had her hair in such tight curls she was constantly tugging on them to watch the bounce. Still Selina had fun as she helped retouch the little girls hair just in time for the gala.

Selina had wondered how her return would be taken after all when she left things didn't end so gracefully. Bruce had refused her as soon as she came back yet a week later Selina was greeted by Annabella at her apartment.

"Want to go shopping?" Was all she said folding up a card while Selina was trying to figure out how the little 6 year old ended up in the middle of the city.

"Dad's busy and Dick is annoying me." Was all Annabella said twirling the card in her fingers.

And just like that Selina found herself in the middle of a mall, both girls carrying their fair share of shopping bags. They never spoke of the last night Selina spent with Annabella. They never spoke of what happened between her and Bruce. Instead Annabella kept Selina entertained with stories of her new brother and the mischief they would occasionally get into when he didn't take the big brother role too seriously. And Selina was grateful for that, to have a day with no worries, to just be normal.

The following year Selina was surprised to see Bruce at her door, his face full of worry though his eyes were hopeful. Just a few days ago Selina had helped him as Catwoman to save Annabella from her horrible mother. Her heart dropped wondering if something else has happened to the poor girl. Instead Bruce held out a small plastic card.

"I was hoping." He paused sighing as he started down at his hand. "I know we both don't like to admit it, but Annabella does still see you as a mother. And after what happened… I think she needs a reminder that there is someone else out there who cares about her."

Selina wasn't quite sure what to say to that, instead she waited for Bruce to continue.

"She's always happier after she spends a day with you." Was all he said.

"I'll bring her back before you go out tonight." She said, taking the card from him.

It was strange how much Selina came to cherish these days. When it was just her and Annabella. No talking about nightly activities, only happy things or anything that was currently happening. It hadn't struck Selina just how fast time was passing not until the moment came when they went on their biggest shopping day yet.

"What's this I'm hearing about you not picking out a wedding dress?" Selina asked barging into Annabella's office.

Annabella looked up at her, her eyes a bit wide. She composed herself and smiled.

"I was thinking about making my own dress." Was all she said as she looked back down at her paperwork.

"Nah-uh." Selina said leaning over the desk. "We're gonna go dress shopping right now."

"I'm working." Annabella protested but Selina knew her resolve would soon break.

"Amuse me. When was the last time you actually made any of your own clothes?" Selina questioned crossing her arms.

Annabella opened her mouth to protest then frowned. She had been pretty busy lately and even though the wedding would be private would the dress be up to her usual standards.

"Fine." Annabella sighed, tucking her papers away.

An hour later Selina was waiting for Annabella to come out in her first dress. It had all been fun and games until Annabella finally stepped out her hand rubbing her arm nervously as she tried to walk in the right mermaid dress.

"I'm pretty sure this one is a no." Annabella let out a small laugh as she glanced in the mirror.

And though Annabella had a point the dress didn't really suit her style seeing her in a white dress Selina couldn't help but feel her eyes get misty. Annabella turned to face Selina properly no doubt sensing whatever it was she was feeling.

"Oh it's not that bad is it?" Annabella tried to tease.

"No, no… no it's just." Selina sniffled feeling silly. "You're so grown up now."

Annabella looked down at Selina, her own eyes trying to blink away the tears. She bent down as much as she could and hugged her tightly.

"Now." Selina took a deep breath rubbing Annabella's back. "Let's find you a proper dress."

[nikanndros]

the high-school fake dating au part 6

Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

The weird thing about this lie -- dating Damen -- is that it’s easy. Being expected to act a certain role every moment he’s at school should be tiring and annoying, but every time Damen aims that light-up-the-world grin in Laurent’s direction, or takes his hand in a way that seems natural, or just looks at him for an opinion, well… Laurent forgets he’s acting. The next couple of weeks seem to go by easily.

“Hey,” Damen says, at lunch one day. “Do you want to hang out this afternoon?”

“Sure,” Laurent replies. He takes the opportunity to steal half of Damen’s sandwich --his mum even bakes the bread herself -- and then his brain catches up with him. “Wait, what, why?”

Damen shrugs. “Why not?”

And that’s that. After school they pick Nicaise up and then when they get to Laurent’s place, Damen gets out of the car with them.

Luckily his mother isn’t home, and Nicaise is smart enough to run off to his own room and not get involved

“Do you want something to eat?” Laurent asks.

“No thanks,” Damen smiles.

There’s a pause. “Cool.” Laurent says, awkwardly. “Okay. What do you want to do?”

“What do you usually do after school?”

Replay in his mind all the ways Damen looked at him that day? Laurent shrugs. “We can hang out in my room.”

Damen spends awhile looking around Laurent’s bedroom; he seems generally interested in the bookshelf and all the photos of his family on his desk, and the little stuffed fox that Auguste bought him when he was a baby with hard-earned pocket money.

“It’s really weird having an afternoon off,” Damen says. “Now that I’ve quit football, I mean. You live with your mum and your brothers, right?”

“Yeah. And you’re an only child.” With two perfect parents, as the whole town knows. Damen’s dad is some big-shot lawyer or something, he commutes into the city and it’s obvious in his fancy car and big house.

“...actually,” Damen says, looking away. He moves over to Laurent’s desk. “Um, it turns out that I have a brother.”

“Your mum is pregnant?” She’s kind of old for that, Laurent thinks.

“No, my mum can’t have any more babies. I was meant to be the miracle child.” That makes sense in the way that Damen’s mother so clearly dotes on him, and his father has evidently been pushing him into extracurriculars and clubs since he could walk.

Then Laurent thinks about what Damen is actually saying. “Oh. You mean your dad…?”

Damen nods. “It was before I was born, and apparently mum knew about the, um, affair, and they got past it. They just didn’t know that the other-- that she was pregnant. And then Kastor, that’s my brother, he’s like twenty-eight, his mother died so he decided to try and find out who his father was. He just like, showed up one day during summer break and he was really mad when he saw the house, and my mum and-and me.”

“That’s a lot,” Laurent says, because he’s not really sure what to say or why Damen is telling him this at all.

“Yeah,” Damen frowns. “My dad wanted to send Kastor away but that upset my mum and everything is really awkward in my house.”

“That sounds terrible,” Laurent says.

“I haven’t even told my dad that I quit football yet. I think he’s going to freak out.”

Laurent’s quiet for a moment. “You could always rejoin. The coach will let you back on, the team has no chance without the four of you.”

“Yeah, he offered to let me back on the team,” Damen says. “I told him I won’t until he apologises and makes Chauvin apologise for being homophobic.”

Laurent nods. “This isn’t-- this dating thing, it’s not even real. It’s not meant to be making your life harder. I didn’t know that you had so much going on already. And we couldn’t predict it would go like this, so if you want to--”

“I don’t want to break up,” Damen says.

He says it firmly, confidently, and it even makes Laurent’s heart jump a little even though it’s not real. Still. It’s not real. “You’re so nice,” Laurent says suddenly. “I think you’re the most kind-hearted person I’ve ever met. But really, you don’t have to do this. It goes way beyond, like, the charitable call of duty or whatever.”

“I’m not being charitable,” Damen replies. “I-” He breaks off, and runs his fingers through his hair. It’s unfair that he looks good even like this - frowning thoughtfully and curls a mess. He’s so constantly beautiful that it’s ridiculous. Laurent can’t possibly be expected to be in his company like this and not entertain fantasies of pushing him back onto the bed and climbing into his lap, and then-- Damen’s still talking. Right. “I like spending time with you,” he’s saying. “You’re really cool. I’ve always thought you were cool and I wanted to be friends with you before now but… I just mean that I like what we’re doing and we don’t have to stop because you think I don’t.”

I should kiss him, Laurent thinks, a little hysterically. He can’t handle hearing such nice things, and the urge is really strong. And maybe Damen will reject him and freak out, or maybe -- and it’s definitely seeming more likely -- Damen will kiss him back.

Damen is looking down at him with his beautiful eyes, and that dumb lock of hair that always falls in front of his forehead, and Laurent takes a step forward, and --

The door bursts open. “What are you doing?!” Auguste announces in a gleeful voice.

Laurent immediately jumps away and spins to face his brother, in a mixture of shock and horror. “Why are you home?!”

He can hear Nicaise cackling with laughter from down the hallway.

Auguste steps into the room, grinning. He’s still in his work clothes and everything. “I had to rush home when I heard my darling brother had a boy in his room with no-one to supervise. What would the neighbours think?”

“Nicaise,” Laurent yells, “I’m going to murder you.”

Nicaise is still laughing, so clearly the threat isn’t that intimidating.

“Um,” Damen says. “Hi. I’m Damen.”

Auguste’s smile immediately drops and he gives Damen a searching look. “Hmm,” Auguste says. “And what are your intentions with my brother?”

Laurent tries manfully to shove his stupid older sibling back out the door. “You promised you wouldn’t embarrass me,” Laurent hisses.

“I’m not being embarrassing,” Auguste says. He’s not even budging, despite Laurent’s efforts. “Do you think less of Laurent because I care for his well-being, Damen?”

“I think it’s nice.” Damen is so sweet, he’s probably being genuine.

“Thank you. Now let me interrogate you.”

He pushes past Laurent to come properly into the room, while Laurent scowls. “You will pay for this,” he says, darkly.

“My intentions are good,” Damen says.

“Have you deflowered my little brother yet?”

“Oh my God,” Laurent mutters.

Damen, who approaches everything with a calm, unashamed confidence, instantly turns red. It’s shocking that it’s even apparent through his dark complexion. “Um,” Damen says. “No.”

“Why not?” Auguste sounds affronted. “Is he not pretty enough for you?”

“No, he’s very beautiful.”

“Oh, so looks are all that matter?”

“No? What?”

“Auguste, stop,” Laurent says, shaking his head. “He’s joking, Damen, please relax.”

Auguste pouts at Laurent. “I was having fun.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Damen is looking at Laurent for guidance.

“Auguste, leave.”

“Okay,” Auguste says. “On one condition.”

“What.”

Auguste gives Laurent a pleading look. “Will you make me some coffee? You know you make it the best.”

“Do it yourself,” Laurent says.

“But I’m so tired, after a long day of working hard to keep food on the table and supporting--”

“Okay!” Laurent is already turning for the stairs.

He’s quick about it so Damen and Auguste aren’t left alone together for too long. It takes no time until he’s trudging back up the stairs, mug of coffee in his hand.

He can hear them talking in low voices when he quietly approaches his bedroom door. He’s being quiet on purpose, of course, he’s going to take this opportunity to eavesdrop.

“...wouldn’t tell me about it,” comes Auguste’s voice. He sounds serious.

“Um,” Damen is hesitating. “It’s not-- bad, bad. We can handle it.”

“But people are being dicks about it,” Auguste sighs.

There’s a pause, and Laurent is about to interrupt when Damen speaks again. “I know it’s not the kind of situation you want Laurent to be in, but I can at least promise that I’m not going to leave him to face any of it alone. I’ll do everything I can for Laurent.”

“Jord said that you only came out after the school found out about Laurent?” Laurent was going to find out who Jord’s mystery girlfriend was and tell her to shut her mouth.

“It wouldn’t have been fair to let Laurent deal with all the fallout  alone over something that’s also true about me.” Damen sounds earnestly sincere, which is…

Okay, maybe Damen actually did truly mean it when he implied he could be bi. That’s a thought. Nikandros did specifically say that he’d looked into the school handbook when he ‘found out Damen wasn’t straight’ -- it would have been easier to say ‘since last night’ if that had been what he’d meant, which kind of suggests that he found out about Damen before the dating plan had even been made.

The more Laurent works this through in his head, the more he likes the idea. If Damen actually is bi, then this dating scheme is more than an act of pity. It’s about something personal about them that they share, an otherness that makes it hard to openly connect with other people in the current circumstances.

Laurent has been kind of in love with Damen forever. The thought that it could potentially be reciprocated one day is a lot.

Laurent stalks into his room and shoves the coffee at his brother. “Here,” he says, “Get out.”

Auguste is a terrible actor so his smile is filled with a concern that he’s obviously trying to hide. “You’re the best” he says, making his exit. “If you hurt my brother,” Auguste calls out during his retreat, “I’ll murder you, Damen.”

“Acknowledged,” Damen calls back. He’s actually grinning. That’s nice. Laurent likes the idea of his boyfriend and his brother getting along. His fake boyfriend. His currently fake boyfriend. As easy as that, Laurent has come up with a new plan. He’s going to use this farce as an opportunity to make Damen fall in love with him.

“I should probably go,” Damen says reluctantly, looking back at Laurent.

Laurent smiles at him. “Sure, I’ll walk you out.”

Laurent walks him all the way to his car.

“Thanks for letting me hang with you,” Damen says.

“Of course,” Laurent replies. “You can come over whenever, you know. On Tuesdays, if you don’t want to tell your dad about football, or at other times. We are meant to be dating, so it would be weird if we didn’t spend time with each other.”

Damen looks delighted by this. He’s so beautiful. Laurent thinks of before, in his room, when he’d taken that step closer. He thinks about what could have happened if Auguste hadn’t barged in. “I’m sorry about my brother,” Laurent says. “He’s really nosy.”

“He cares about you.”

Laurent nods. “He’s probably watching out the window now at us,” Laurent prompts.

Damen turns his head to look.

“Don’t look,” Laurent says. “But you should probably kiss me goodbye.”

Damen blinks at him. “Really?”

“Yes.” Laurent feels like his heart is going to burst out of his chest.

He doesn’t know what to expect -- he’s woefully inexperienced in things of this nature -- but Damen doesn’t seem to have any hesitations. He steps forward so that they’re almost chest to chest and then reaches out and brushes some of Laurent’s hair out of his face. It’s an unexpectedly tender gesture and it leads to Damen cupping his face. Laurent instinctively leans into it.

Damen is looking at him in a way that Laurent can’t describe, but the eye-contact in an intimate moment like this is almost unbearable. He wants to look away but he can’t. He wouldn’t forgive himself for missing a second of this. Then Damen is leaning in and, it barely lasts for a second but their lips touch. Laurent’s eyes flutter closed without thought, and then he’s pressing forward as Damen moves back -- possibly to break the kiss, Laurent realises belatedly -- but then he seems to get with the picture and the peck extends into something more.

God, Laurent really should have recommended that they practice making out if this is what it feels like. He’s not entirely sure what he’s doing, but Damen’s lips move with an ease and it’s easy to copy and reciprocate.

Then the long, unmeasurable moment ends and Laurent is blinking his eyes open to meet Damen’s again. They haven’t stepped apart.

“Goodbye,” Damen says, finally, and there’s a changed quality in the tone of his voice that Laurent wants to investigate thoroughly.

“Goodbye,” Laurent echoes, faintly.

Yes, Laurent decides, watching as Damen drives away. This confirms it. His main goal from now on is to make sure there’s nothing fake in the way that they are dating by the year’s end. He’s fairly confident that it won’t even be that hard.

[luminisvii]

okay im gonna go black out and write some bullshit about my Thoughts on Literary Analysis and Character Writing bc i love writing and i love trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. i am an unfortunate fan of fire emblem, so the real joke is on me, but let’s do this anyway. using a lot of bold as always! it makes me feel special.

Why is Leonie such a divisive character? 

as per usual, here is my disclaimer that it’s okay to like Leonie. it’s also okay to dislike her, as long as you’re not being a massive dick about it. lord knows people are rude to me about lorenz and i didn’t ask for their opinions. if you like leonie, i am not out to get you, i’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t, i’m not even mad at you. Neat! you like a character i don’t! and that’s just fine. i honestly don’t care! go have fun! 

so let’s talk. theres a TL;DR at the end so be ready.

i’ll make no bones about it: i’m in the camp that dislikes her. i don’t have the energy to hate her as i do for faye, but leonie is pretty obnoxious as a character and it’s an uphill battle to like her. i’ve played VW like three times since i’m a self professed GD stan so i’ve dealt with her a lot, read most of her supports, and seen her as a character in actual cutscenes and stuff.

the short answer: making a character obsessed with another one and having that be most of their personality is really annoying. 

the long answer: let’s start on that now! these are my personal thoughts and analysis, so you’re free to disagree with me if you think i’m falling short.

one statement i will make right away is that i’m not offended by leonie being mean to the player. a lot of people who stan leonie like to argue that people dislike her because she’s one of the few characters who doesn’t kiss byleth’s ass immediately. that’s fine. that doesn’t bother me. after all, seteth and hapi are mean to byleth at first too, and those two are far more beloved… in fact, it’s funny that they’re mean to byleth. i would also argue that my favorite lord claude is not buddy buddy with byleth at first either, but if these popular opinion threads have proven anything to me, people love taking claude’s lying ass at face value. that’s besides the point—it’s okay that leonie isn’t immediately friendly to byleth. that is not an objective character flaw. characters need something to conflict over in the narrative, and not being instantly friendly to a player insert is not a problem in the slightest.

the major flaw in leonie’s character, imo, is that the writers decided it was a brilliant idea to make her obsessed with a man who barely seems to acknowledge her. this is an extremely unfortunate reoccurring character trope in fire emblem. notable other victims that more modern fe fans may recognize are faye and cordelia, faye being the worst offender. luckily, leonie isn’t as bad as faye. but it really is irritating that leonie, along with these other women, seem entirely driven by men who cannot acknowledge them. within three houses, you have similar traits in male characters as well: cyril is another notable offender, and to a lesser extent, dedue’s fixation on dimitri. now, we do see jeralt talking to leonie at the very least, and he does speak about her at least once in my memory, and positively at that. so it’s not as pathetic as the likes of faye. 

outside of that, leonie cannot stop fucking reminding everyone she comes across: she loves captain jeralt. she’s his only apprentice. and you, dear player, who is his child, are not good enough, because you don’t love him as much as she does. practically all her convos with byleth are about how they don’t love jeralt enough, save for a slight turn around in the A support where she talks about her promise to protect byleth in jeralt’s place. to be honest, i usually ditch her in any run i’m forced to take her (hello sylvain, the superior idiot redhead cavalier) so this promise is just cute.

the arrogance in this attitude is insensitive at best, and as seen in her B support with byleth, potentially malicious and self centered at worst. 

let’s not beat around the bush. the main point of contention for leonie is her B support with byleth, which is locked to jeralt’s death. you cannot get this support until jeralt has kicked it. and if you’re on GD, chances are you have gotten enough support points with leonie to get it immediately upon his death. the man’s grave is still fresh. what does she have the gall to say to her beloved mentor’s child?

“I've spent my whole life working to become a great mercenary like your father. There were so many times when I wanted to ask his advice, but I couldn't. I just had to make do. That's how I've made it this far. Just hard work, all on my own. But then you come along... And it's like you don't appreciate Captain Jeralt at all, or how lucky you were to have him around your whole life! Ugh! It still really bothers me! You might be his kid, but I'm still his best apprentice! Got it?!”

YIKES.

no matter how you dice it, saying that to someone whos father just died? NOT GOOD. it doesn’t matter what her reasoning is. a lot of people argue that this is realistic, that she’s acting out of grief. maybe so. however, if the game wants me to like her, they’re failing, no matter how realistic her reaction is. if this was supposed to be seen as a moment of weakness, that would be one thing, but it’s clear leonie never learns anything from this. she never gets better. she spends the rest of her life constantly centered on jeralt, and sees byleth as a competitor and obstacle to his affections, even after he’s dead. 

i don’t want to entirely make this about byleth, because let’s be real, byleth is only one of her many supports. but it is the most easily noticeable, and the least charitable to her character. 

also fun fact i did a basic search for jeralt in her supports and thats 37 times hes mentioned lmao this isn’t even accounting for her non support dialogue! which is still a lot! 

so a decent chunk of her supports still involve her talking about how great jeralt is as if the man is jesus. her better supports don’t involve him at all. i don’t have easy access to a lot of her dialogue by chapter, but quite a bit of her regular dialogue references jeralt too, be it by name or title, and a good chunk of her endings, especially her solo one, have her just taking up his title and job and drinking habits. it’s supposed to be seen as cute.

this woman is in her 20s at the beginning of the game. she’s my age. this kind of behavior is worrying. 

so you’re thinking “tell, you’ve spent a LOT of time talking about how leonie won’t shut the fuck up about jeralt. what about the rest of her character? unlike faye, she actually has one!” right you are! i will concede that. leonie does have things going on for her outside of her constant screeching about jeralt! what are they?

we see that her personality has her as a hard worker and frugal person because she’s grown up in a life that has less than many of her peers. she’s rational and rather keen, capable of assessing her opponents correctly and outsmarting them. she likes to help others. her supports with claude are fairly interesting as they talk about their own perspectives on the world to each other in a friendly manner. she talks to bernadetta and praises her skill in craft and manages to befriend her. in fact, all her supports where she doesn’t mention jeralt at all are pretty good. she can be headstrong and sometimes quick to jump to conclusions, but leonie isn’t one to be too beholden to preset ideas and shows a capability to learn and change.

wait, this sounds like a pretty well rounded and likeable character i’m describing! what happened here? this kind of portrayal is almost contradictory to the side of her that only thinks of jeralt. 

a lot of people who like leonie like her for these aspects. at first, i had thought her to be interesting, since she’s the poorest student in the entire school, here on money raised by her entire village, which must have been extremely difficult for them to do. she doesn’t understand how nobles can be so frivolous, and butts heads with the likes of hilda, who has been raised in luxury her whole life and she clashes even harder with lorenz, who is obsessed with nobility. in a way, leonie is the slap from reality that many of the rich students from garreg mach need. and she also serves an important function in the dynamic of the deer—she’s a bit of a hapless straight man to all their bullshit. they always need one of those! in the lions, that role falls to ingrid, while edelgard plays that to her own house. 

so yes, there is merit in leonie’s character. there’s a lot to like about her here. however, in my opinion, it’s not enough to make up for the incredibly abrasive aspects of her fixation on jeralt. it really just comes back to that—that someone decided that it would be a fantastic character trait to have her never stop thinking about a man, and flaunt this to the man’s child. constantly. almost all her dialogue directed at byleth is about jeralt. post skip, a lot more of her lines become about jeralt and making him proud. it’s like she thinks that he’s her dad. she’s a grown ass woman! leonie is one of the older students! she is an adult by the time the game starts! an adult with some actual worldly experience, unlike her peers! what went wrong? why is she like this? why did they make her so fucking annoying when it comes to jeralt?

so yes, that’s what i think is the major flaw of her character. a flaw that is not easily overcome. cyril is a largely derided character for similar reasons. another simple control+f tells me that rhea is mentioned in cyril’s supports 59 times so uh, woo! he has leonie beat there.

worst of all this is a flaw that narratively, she does not overcome. she never grows and gets better from it. she never changes her single minded determination to impress jeralt, even long after he’s dead. a good chunk of her endings have her taking up his business and acting just like him, taking his title too. somehow lorenz is the more likeable character, and lorenz starts off as a much worse person than her! he starts as a stinky incel classist and somehow, especially over the course of verdant wind, manages to learn and grow and change into a much better person, while leonie remains stagnant in who she is. her own peers outdo her in almost every aspect, in that they appear to be capable of growing up while leonie, already an adult, never seems to show any signs of maturing over the course of the game. we see ignatz turn from a meek nerd to someone who’s willing to do what it takes to protect what he cares about. marianne grows from suicidal and depressed to finding the will to live because it means she’ll be able to spend more time with things she enjoys and people she loves. lorenz goes from snobbish and distant over his complex about nobility to being one of the kindest members of the deer, willing to go against his father for the greater good. even hilda matures! hilda starts the game lazy and unambitious, trying to avoid work, saying she’d never risk her life for her friends, to fighting against some of the strongest forces in the continent and ESPECIALLY on CF we see her refusing to abandon claude in his time of need, no matter how bad it gets, even if it costs her life. what does leonie do? leonie seems to forever be stuck in the mindset that she has to impress jeralt, no matter how far she goes.

this is incredibly nitpicky, i’ll admit, this isn’t really part of the character analysis, but i find she under performs as a unit too. she may have ungodly speed and no weaknesses in her skills, but damage output wise she’s easily outdone in house by the other canon paladin of lorenz and his wonky statline, and out of house sylvain has basically the same ability as her, the same color hair, and a crest + relic that make him way more effective. the man has bulk, too. so, that’s a small ding to leonie as well. i had the same problem with sully in awakening. for all the talk about how these women are just as good as the men, they appear to under perform quite a bit.

and i’m gonna talk real quick in a basic list format of arguments i’ve seen for people defending leonie, since i’m running out of like, a coherent way to talk about some of this stuff.

-She’s realistic.

maybe so, but the game intends for me to find her as likeable and sympathetic, as it is for all recruitable characters. her reactions to byleth and sometimes others may be realistic, but don’t paint a charitable image of her. again, the moment in her B support with byleth is so bad, it makes her seem like she’s acting towards them with cruel intent. while i don’t care about byleth’s feelings since byleth isn’t a real person, what it does is it paints leonie as malicious, no matter what her intent was or how realistic it is. yes, she’s in grief, she’s lost someone important to her, but in what context is telling someone who just lost their dad that they didn’t love him enough supposed to garner anything but hatred? even if she apologizes for it in their A support, that means she basically took years to do so and still seems to think of byleth as an obstacle to her being like jeralt.

although as i have said before, the rest of her personality is fine. i find her non jeralt stuff is much more well written. she’s a down to earth person amidst a sea of lunatics. that’s not a problem.

-People don’t like her because she’s mean to Byleth. 

this is probably true in some regards although i can’t say for certain. because byleth is a player insert and some might take it personally, but otherwise i find this isn’t much of a good universal claim since there’s more to the disdain to that. personally, i think it’s hilarious when video game characters are mean to me, but that’s just My Opinion, so no, i’m really not offended by leonie being mean to me. other characters are also mean to byleth, and that leads into the next point...

-Other characters act similarly towards Byleth and they’re popular.

one, look at those stupid unpopular opinions threads on twitter. they’re not as loved as you think. two, a lot of the characters who are listed for these things are often the likes of seteth and felix, and let’s talk about the context of their actions there. seteth is indeed mean to byleth at first, but his intent is wildly different from leonie’s—he’s suspicious, and rightfully so, of this mercenary who came out of nowhere and rhea is suddenly showing a lot of interest in and is giving a position of power to. seteth is not acting out of malintent or jealousy, he’s acting out of concern for the students and his daughter as well as rhea. because his core intent is “protect everyone around me” it comes off as far more palatable and dare i say, endearing. this is vastly different than “i’m jealous towards byleth because i love their dad and hate that they’re getting attention i can’t.” with a character like felix, this is outright incorrect—felix is not necessarily more rude to byleth more than he would be anyone else. felix is angry with the faerghus four in particular, but everyone else gets the same level of vague disrespect from him otherwise, so his behavior is not centralized to byleth. again, i don’t care about byleth’s feelings. there is also cyril, who is similarly obsessed with rhea, and is just as irritating as leonie for it, if not worse because he gets an extra layer of being a poc character obsessed with a white one who saved him. 

tl;dr: context and intent matters. a lot. i know this is a ton to ask of the fe fandom to consider taking things beyond face value, but please consider the context of characters actions and their intent behind them.

-People who don’t like Leonie are misogynistic.

i won’t discount that there are bad actors who are likely extra critical of leonie because she’s a female character. it could be and has been argued that the reasons that characters like edelgard and ingrid are so controversial is because they are female. but not everyone who raises criticisms is strictly doing so in bad faith. most people i’ve seen criticizing leonie do it for the same reasons i am, which is that she’s an abrasive character. these traits would not be any better on a male character and in some regards could be worse. so for this one, it’s better to take it as a case by case situation, and pay attention to how people are talking. those doing so for less savory reasons often let it slip eventually, somehow. i’ve been avoiding using the word “bitch” in this entire thing for this exact reason.

-Her non-Byleth supports are good.

this is highly subjective imo and comes down to what you personally like in a character. i do like some of her non byleth supports, but she still has an unfortunate habit of bringing up jeralt in non byleth supports, so the only ones that are truly good are the ones where she doesn’t talk about him at all. even then, some like her one with marianne can do the same accidental portrayal of her seeming like a pretty unpleasant person. this isn’t saying that leonie can’t be flawed or short tempered, after all i adore felix and he’s got Some Fuckin Issues, but her portrayal as a kind and bright person clashes with how she’s portrayed surrounding byleth and jeralt. far too much. i like her supports with claude, i like her line with bernadetta, and her seteth one is good too, but i’d also argue that as a personality she doesn’t bring much to the table. she’s a perfectly serviceable character when she’s not dealing with byleth, but i personally fail to see more appeal to her. she isn’t particularly enrapturing like some of the others, and unlike someone like ingrid who has a similar role in BL, doesn’t have the shared history and integration with the deer that grants ingrid a unique perspective on her peers. although again, this is highly subjective, so it’s tough to argue about this. i’ll grant that yes, the writing that doesn’t surround jeralt is WAY better and almost makes leonie a redeemable character.

-Other characters are worse.

very true! i’ll cite faye again as the bottom line for “this is how abysmal this character could be” and in feth itself there is, as stated many times before, cyril. however it doesn’t mean that leonie is better by association. and i also often see people citing seteth as an example over the rudeness to the player too, but once again that’s about context and intent. hapi is a lesser example, due to a similar mistrusting nature, and there’s quite a bit of the cast who are cold and rude because that’s just who they are. now, thank fucking god that leonie actually talks about things that aren’t jeralt. like, seriously, i’d die. she still talks about him too much, but i really should go through all of faye’s dialogue to do a proper count. 

so now you’re probably thinking—if you even got this far—“gee tell, you sure do like running your fuckin mouth, eh? so what’s the point of all this?” let’s wrap it up. 

the TL;DR:

what this all boils down to is that leonie’s got a serious problem in her writing where her entire life revolves around a man, and the way it’s dealt with isn’t particularly great. she doesn’t have a dynamic character arc like some others that redeem them from their problems, and the personality she has outside of her relationship to jeralt and byleth often clashes with the one she has with them, particularly centering on byleth. when dealing with byleth, the image it paints of her is extremely negative, and not one easily shaken—again, the B support moment is just THAT BAD. that is the most cited moment for why people hate her. it just seems like for all the flaws she has, they are not compensated for or grown out of like other characters in the game do for theirs.

theres also that tweet about how we put more thought into these characters than intsys does, so. yeah. definitely doing that right now. thanks, intsys, you did it again.

i will also point to the argument that we should hold the writers accountable, not the fictional characters who aren’t real and don’t have feelings. i don’t think leonie needs to be held accountable for her bullshit. i just wish the writers could have treated her better.

this is personally why i find leonie so difficult, and hopefully if you didn’t understand why people don’t like leonie, this can help enlighten you. i’m willing to hear people out if they have something to say, and as always, if you are a leonie stan, please go enjoy yourself, have fun, and don’t let me ruin your parade. i just enjoy trying to figure things out and talking a lot along the way! so that’s all, here’s hoping that in the future they do better, and remember that GD is the best house okay bye take this picture of me typing up this whole ass thing

[darkspellmaster]

YJ Theory: Prince Brion, Princess Tara and the Judas Contract...

Lot’s to unpack here so hang on to your horses. Given recent events in Episodes 4 to 6 we now have more information at least regarding what may have happened to Tera Markov, and what that could mean for Brion, his brother, and the other factors involved, namely Tera Markov and her brother Gregor.

So let’s start with what we know for sure from Young Justice that between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, Tera Markov, daughter of the King and Queen was kidnapped, along with other kids that were considered viable for the Metahuman Project that is going on in the show.

We know that at the Start of Season 2 she’s been missing now for two years. Assuming that she’s about Steph’s age in the photo or maybe about 13 years old.

We know that her brother Brion is older than her, and he’s 17 at this date and time.

We also know that according to Dr. Jace she doesn’t know where she is. We also know that Dr. Jace did help with the experiments, so we know that she’s at least complicit in what happened to Tera as of this time.

According to Dick we know that Tera was last seen with the League of Shadows.

We also know that Black Spider was working with someone to attack a dude as part of an assassination and he was crushed by a bolder.

gif art credit goes to artemis-crock

We also know for sure that Biron and his Uncle (Baron Bedlam) both control geological structure (Rocks, lava, etc) and like all good geomancers they can make things float and fly and the like.

We also know that according to Ra’s he’s no longer part of the League of Assassins, nor part of the Light.

This is actually rather interesting because we later get both Jason and Damian Wayne in the moment. It seems that, for whatever reason, Ra’s has been removed from that seat of power, but who’s been placed in there? Well the answer should be quiet obvious by this point.

Slade Wilson, aka, Deathstroke the terminator.

So why is good old Slade important in this case, other than he was a key player in the story of the Judas Contract?  Well there’s a few things we need to get out of the way about about Slade first.

According to his profile he’s not listed as affiliated with the LoA, and regarding his personality, it seems like he’s a very cool individual only showing emotions when he needs to, namely when challenged, or annoyed by something or some one. On top of that we know he’s a man that wants to move up in the world, as he states about his ambition with the Light, “take a seat at the table” and probably become their leader.

Given that Talia is with her father there’s only a few people that could take on the role as Head of the LoA, and outside of Talia’s younger sister, and possibly Lady Shiva or David Cain, Slade Wilson is the man.

But how would he have beat Ra’s in a fair fight to take it over, and why? He’s not a member of them so what does he get out of it?

Well for a few reasons: First and foremost, the LoA is a boon to whomever controls it. They are assassins who have no fear of death and when it comes to take overs you want a team on your side that can cause the most damage without causing the most stir. Secondly by taking them over he shows his ambition to the other members of the Light and thus moves closer to his goal of becoming the head of the Light. Third is likely that he did so on the behest of someone like Lex whom he’s worked with before in comics and is willing to do dirty deeds to get what he wants. Ra’s has a noble streak, and one that deals with the earth. While he can care less about humanity as a whole, he’s against the planet being wrecked, and if Darkseid get’s his way that will happen.

(Remember folks Ra’s and Vandal are the oldest in the Light, and would see Darkseid as both someone to work with but also someone to not trust and Ra’s would jump ship way before Vandal would to protect things that he deems worthy, like his grandson.)

Lastly there may be a more personal reason for this action. We know that previously in comics Slade lost his son Grant to the Teen Titans. He sees this as a personal blow and wants to get revenge. We haven’t seen this Slade show anything of family, but given it’s Deathstroke and the time jump, I’m pretty sure between the time that we first saw him in season one, into season 2 and the time skip, there may have been a case where Grant, his son, died.

This would give him ample reason to set up Terra as a mole inside YJ and use her to probably get him as the Leader of the Light. After all, how many people would suspect a girl like her to be a trained killer.

So how does Terra and Brion fit into all of this?  

With this revel we know we’re dealing with someone with Rock Powers. Also it’s clear that her stance and body shape is that of a teen girl. So how did she end up with the LoA and working for them?

Simplest answer is that she was saved by them.

Wait, how could that be? Why would the LoA save Tera?

Option 1: The answer is kind of interesting if you theorize about it. We don’t know how long the LoA has been without Ra’s, but I can guess that he probably went against the Light after he concluded that Darkseid was a danger to the earth and just so happened to free Tera. While with Ra’s Slade came and beat him. leading her to want to protect him and be with him for reasons of thinking he’s hot.

Option 2 is more likely though. While Ra’s probably did leave the Light at this time, Deathstroke saw a chance to get in with the Light. However he would need some major stuff to back him up to be promoted to sit at the table. So what does he do? More than likely, with the help of others that work with him (maybe Cheshire, maybe some other people who knows?) they found out about the Kidnapped Princess and found her before she was transported and saved her.

Because of this, and probably because Deathstroke may be a dad, he knew how to calm her down with her new powers and Tera, falls for him. Now the question is exactly how far does this go, but we’ll get to that later. In this case though Deathstroke uses her to confront Ra’s, which would explain why Sensei knows about her in the first place, and her actions warping the earth, may have lead to Ra’s being beaten by Slade. Slade then took the group and lead them away from the Island to his own location, and used them to show the power that he held to the Light, who offered him a seat at the table.

Tera, now probably going by Terra, in turn is trained with the LoA to become a ruthless killer. Namely as a means of getting back at people who have wronged her, as well as Slade fueling a desire for revenge and power. Given that Terra in the comics was far more of a selfish, power hungry, narcissistic person, it’s not hard to see him appealing to her desire to not be a princess. There could be more there too.

While fighting with Sensei, the older man unleashed a rather interesting comment about Brion. Brion in his anger was shouting about where Tera was, and in turn Sensei noted that if he were her he would stay away from him too.

Now I’m not sure if the words were run away, or stay away, but in either case the implication is that Tera doesn’t want to be found because she may feel he doesn’t understand her. And that too is very true of his character.

We see Brion over and over lose his temper and ignore the feelings of others around him and just plow into a situation because he think’s he’s right. He may have, like Gregor, not been listening to Tera and making her feel like her ambitions, dreams or goals didn’t count. Thus making her a hell of an easy mark for Slade to come in and act like a father figure to her.

So we know he’s trying to find her, the thing is, will he be happy with what he finds?

Given the story of the Comic Judas Contract, I would say that Brion may be taking Beast Boy’s part in this some what. In the original story, Terra played on Garfield’s emotions and eventually broke his heart when she was revealed to be a traitor to the Teen Titans.

However, given that Gar is right now with Perdita, I’m not sure that story will go forward that way. Rather I can see by the end of Part 1 the team finding and saving Terra from Deathstroke, and Brion getting her to join the “team” only for her to betray them to the Light at some point in part 2 of season 3.

Honestly if I was to take a guess on it. I would say that Terra will be the one to kill Gregor, ending his life so that she could take over or for Slade to gain control of the nation, or possibly for the express purpose of making him pay for her not making it out alive. It’s not that hard a guess that Terra turning on the team will be heart breaking for her brother who tries to reason with her but can’t.

There is also the option that she kills Count Vertigo’s niece for him as a favor from Deathstroke. This would set up Gar along side Brion to help bring her down. As I see it they (Brion and Terra) are going to have to fight, since Gar is possibly not going to be the one that will deal with her directly.

In the end I feel like Tera’s going to be a rather emotional problem for Brion, one that could lead to possibly him fighting against Slade and possibly getting the crap beat out of him for trying to get his sister away. Or more than likely she’s going to wind up allying herself with Slade and acting as a mole for him leading into Part 2 having some damning consequences in the show. 

[gutterdreams]

Ten Feet Over Pt 3 [Billy Hargrove]

Disclaimer: I don’t own Stranger Things or the GIF. Warnings: Swearing. Word Count: 3.9 k

PART ONE PART TWO

There were three very small windows on Billy’s front door, but due to their opaque glass, none of them gave you any indication of what was lurking inside. Max had tore past you on the driveway once Billy rolled up to the house, the front door long since closed when she rushed in and away from you, her annoying step-brother, and his incessant need to play with your hair while he drove. She lost count of how many times she rolled her eyes in the backseat.

Billy was just a half step ahead of you on his front steps, ready to go inside and throw himself down on top of his bed. He was usually high energy, but he felt calm enough to let himself relax today. You two had been flirting since he arrived in Hawkins, had gone on a date two months ago, a redo first date two weeks from that, and now you were together. It shifted some of the venomous weight that Billy carried around with him like a shadow made of wet cement. You were a constant, something routine to count on, and had proven yourself loyal in a short period of time. Billy felt like he actually took in full breaths around of you instead of stealing staccato inhales in-between distractions like he did in every other pocket of his life.

“You okay?” He looked behind himself, hand on the door knob. There was suddenly too much space between you both, he could feel  it, and it prompted Billy to check on you.

Staring up at the door, a look of uneasy bewilderment had a starring role on your face. Eyes wide and nervous as they memorized the subtle fades of yellow paint on his front door.

“I’m a little freaked out.” You tried to laugh at yourself while admitting honestly.

“Why?” Billy’s brows stuck you in a tight frame as he turned further around to face you.

“I’ve never been to your house before.”

“It’s just a house.” In comparison to yours, it was quaint and Billy had come to resent it since going to so many house parties in town. Other people’s homes made his place look like a shed and he wanted better for himself. It made him miss California even more. They had two bathrooms in California, in the house that he grew up in with his mom and dad. It had been a bungalow like this place, but there was more breathing room which Billy longed for whenever Neil was home.

“It’s your house.” You pointed out with a cute wiggle of your hips. “I’ve never heard you say anything nice about your parents.”

“She’s just my step mom.” He corrected you with his eyes miffed at the very sight of Max’s mother. Sure, Susan was nice, but Billy thought that was the bare minimum a person could offer. Nice was never enough. He held the door open for the occasional old lady at the gas station, he carried your books to your morning class and the one after lunch, and he waited for Max to buckle up her seat-belt before darting out of a parking lot. Billy could be nice and he knew he was a self-obsessed asshole.

“Is your Dad home?” Neil Hargrove’s reputation proceeded him. To you, Billy had exclusively referred to him as a ‘fucking dick’.

“Never before five.” Sometimes later than that, but Billy had that much of his dad’s schedule memorized. He wiped at  the peach fuzz above his lip and waved his fingers inward to his face, encouraging you to follow him inside. “If you want, we can leave as soon as they get here.” With one step, Billy closed the gap between you and promised. He put his hand gently behind your neck, taking some hair to the back of your ear as he did. “Say the word and we go.” If you were that uncomfortable, Billy had no problem corralling Max back into his car and driving you to your place.

“Thanks.” After a moment of collecting some serenity, you nodded. He was smiling down at you and, for a moment, you couldn’t detect any of the tough exterior he was known for. Leaning in, you kissed him and pressed your body against his, warmth pushing from each other and onto the other. “You’re good to me.” It was early days, but you already felt secure with Billy. Everyone told you to never go out with him, Nancy going the extra mile and telling you ‘not to be one of those girls who gets in Billy’s car’, but you swore up and down in moments like this that they were wrong, that they just didn’t know him, that he wasn’t so awful.

“Always.” Billy chuckled with his bottom lip against yours, the promise vibrating against you.

In retrospect, Billy had been sort of possessive in how he looked out for you, but the memory still played fondly as you stood outside of his place, your dad’s pick-up truck parked at the end of the street out of discretion. The house was just as frightening to you now as it had been the first time Billy brought you over, but you weren’t worried about having to see Neil anymore. You were far more scared about having to hear Billy’s voice or seeing any kind of sad blanket of sadness or cracking flame of anger in his eyes.

A deep breath in, you hugged the white cardboard box meant for files to your waist and headed up his driveway. The Camaro was gone as you suspected it would be. Before Saturday, if someone asked you how well you felt you knew Billy, you would have honestly told them that you knew the earring-wearing teenage boy better than you knew yourself. Right now, you felt like everything he shared with you and all the little tidbits you learned from being with him for fifteen months must have been wrong. Still, you knew that if he only had to watch Max until Susan was home at six that he would be out the door and looking for ways to handle the stress you were causing him. So, you safely headed up the three front steps and knocked on the door of the house that you had been in well over a hundred times.

You didn’t know who you wanted to answer. If it was Neil, you knew you would have to hear some sort of snide and undoubtedly sexist remarks. He would pick at you for information about what was going on and most likely use that as ammo to humiliate Billy with at some point. If Max answered, you would have to hear her 'hmph’ and 'grumph’ around with hateful eyes, telling you that you couldn’t break up with Billy because if you did, he would become a worse thorn in her side than he already was. You knew this because she once expressed those feelings after you and Billy had gone back and forth the whole drive home from school, arguing in front of her. If Susan answered, she would probably try to talk you down, tell you to cool off, and choose forgiveness. You had seen Neil disregard her feelings at the dinner table before and, even with flushed cheeks, she would shrug it off and force a smile big enough that the corners of her mouth poked the tears in her eyes back.

Susan pulled the door open after just a few seconds and it was the best of three bad options you supposed.

“Well, hello beautiful girl,” As she greeted you, she relaxed one side of her pelvis against the open yellow door. “God, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” The last time you were over was the Thursday night before the fateful Saturday. Of course, she probably just meant it was weird not seeing you at all on the weekend.

“Yeah, I just came to drop Billy’s stuff off.” The box in your hands was full. Undershirts, his jewelry, jewelry he gave you, two mixtapes, photographs, almost empty cigarette pack, a variety of lighters, a box with six condoms left in it, the leaf necklace, and all the notes he wrote you in class and one on Garfield stationary he found in your kitchen’s junk drawer when he was drunk and used it to write a stupid poem about you on. At the time, it had been cute, but now it just made you angry.

Susan’s face had gone from fair to powdery at your words. It was the last thing she expected to hear, but it certainly explained how Billy had been behaving for the last two days. He had been the same short tempered kid that she was used to, but mopier.

“Well, come in. Let’s chat.” She offered and stepped aside so you walk over the threshold, box first. “Do you want something to drink?” As she locked the door behind you, she offered, but you declined with a head shake while kicking off your shoes.

“I don’t have a lot of time.” You didn’t know when Billy would be back. “Just dropping stuff off.” The path from the front door to Billy’s bedroom in the back, right by Max’s, was one you had made many times before. You had done it in the dark while drunk with an incoherent and very belligerent Billy tugging on your sleeve, but this twelve step journey felt more challenging. Inside, you knew it would be the last and that was hard.

You walked right by Susan and headed to his room, pushing it open with a kick of your toes against the bottom of the door. It opened slowly and revealed the minimalistic room. Billy didn’t have a lot of stuff. His clothes were overflowing out of the white plastic hamper in one corner while his hair product and cassette collection were unorganized on shelves by his makeshift crate-and-mirror vanity. His bed was unmade with your sweater at the edge.

“What happened?” Susan knew it wasn’t her business, but she stood in Billy’s door frame and asked anyway while you went to the side of his bed. You had planned to just leave the box behind, but instead you turned it upside down and let the contents spill out over his crumpled up blue blanket. After seeing your sweater, you realized this was your only real chance at getting your stuff back.

“Just ran it’s course.” With a shrug, you told her. It wasn’t really a lie, but it certainly didn’t feel like the truth.

“I’m sure you two could work on it if you wanted to.” She knew how much Billy cared for you. She couldn’t imagine that he was okay with this. The fact that he hadn’t punched a hole in any of her walls yet came as a bit of surprise. It occurred to Susan, only then, that, maybe, he didn’t know about this break up yet and that frightened her.

“I don’t want to.” Quickly, you responded without having to think. Right now, you felt good. You had had one more power pep talk from your girlfriends before leaving your house to drop off his stuff. Nancy’s voice was coaching you through the whole thing, 'Drop it off and go. If he says 'hi’, you say? Nothing. If you really have to say something, tell him to choke.’ It was intense, but that was who Nancy had become since Barb disappeared. She wasn’t a timid church mouse any more.

In ball form, you stuffed your sweater into the box and went to his mirror. You plucked the photo of you, one Max took at Christmas of you with your head on his shoulder while he looked down at whatever was out of frames and in your hands. Gripping the top, your fingers wasted no time doing to it what you had to every picture you brought over in the box. You ripped it down the middle and took yourself out of it. If you could help it, you would remove evidence of ever having been with Billy from the planet.

The door unlocked and Susan’s attention was sent to the right. She sighed, fear passing from her mouth, as she went limp and stepped out of his doorway and into the other room.

“She wasn’t home.” Billy said to no one, assuming that Max was still in the living room where she was when he left to go to your house and talk you back into his arms.

“She’s in your room.” Gentle as languo hair on a newborn baby, Susan informed him from the free space between his room and Max’s. Her arms were crossed under her breasts while she fit the free edge of her nail between two teeth, nervously nibbling.

Billy had stepped over your shoes while kicking off his own and darted to his bedroom. In his mind, you would be sitting on his bed and waiting for him, an apology in your eyes and a sweet smile welcoming him in for a kiss. This is what he had been painfully waiting for all day. Instead, he saw you looking over his shelves and the mess of discarded mementos of your relationship on top of his bed.

Just once, he panted in panic and then swung his door shut behind him. Your attention was on him, away from the shelf of his beloved cologne, hair comb, putty gel. The door was closed you were completely alone together. Susan might have been on the other side of the door, but you were chalking her up to useless in this situation. When you had examined your fresh fingerprint bruises in the mirror on Sunday morning, your mind let itself wonder if, maybe, Susan, too, wore sweaters to cover up Neil’s heavy-handed way of winning arguments.

I don’t want to be alone with you. I don’t love you anymore. I’m over it.

The words you managed to say in the hallway to him had been ringing from wall to wall in his head ever since lunch break. Billy felt brow beaten relentlessly by them and they only started to echo louder when he was looking over the contents that you had spilled over his bed top. His fingers rummaged through the contents, each thing sparking a memory great or small, and tightening an invisible grip over his exhausted heart.

“Why did you bring all this stuff over?” He asked to avoid the truth that was starting to light up in his brain. “I thought you just wanted some space…”

“I never said that.” Billy had been the one to toss the idea into the ring. “I said that I’m not your girlfriend anymore.” You let the support of your friends keep you strong, shoulders back and breathing in and out.

“I made you this. It’s the first thing I gave you.” Picking up a mixed tape from the top of the pile, the corner between his thumb and index finger, Billy reminded you. Burnin’ For You by Blue Oyster Cult was the first song on both sides of the tape as it had been playing the first time you two made out against his car. Billy had been pretending to be a gentleman and got out to walk you to your front door, but you met him at the door and pulled him in, surprising him with what he wanted badly. It was mostly music that he liked on the tape, but Promises in the Dark by Pat Benatar made an appearance because he figured you would like it and he was right. He had been sort of embarrassed by how much he liked you when he presented the cassette to you. Billy kept running his hand down his head and shrugging as he pulled it from the pocket of his jean jacket and gave it to you, dropping you off on a Friday after a late movie. Since you went on and on about how much you liked it, he was inspired to make a second five months  later.  “You should keep it.” He offered it to you, but you turned away and kept looking for things of yours in his room. Surely, he had some underwear somewhere or a lip gloss tube.

“I don’t want it.” Just like you had told Susan minutes ago, you muttered. Right now, the plan was simple: get your things and leave.

“I want you to have it. I made it for you.” Billy wanted to roar, to throw the tantrum that a toddler could only dream about in their racecar bed, but he held himself back with his feet planted on the floor and his heart stuck beating off tempo in his chest. It was impulsive reaction that put him in this awful situation.

When you ignored him, plucking two of your gold hoop earrings off his window sill and into the box, Billy resorted back to the pile of belongings on his bed. He put the cassette down and ran his hands over all the ripped up photos. He had to inhale a whistled breath through the thin gaps of his teeth. There had to have been over ten pictures that you were missing from, they were just Billy and blank spaces. It hurt. It actually felt like someone had stabbed him over and over in his belly.

“You don’t think we can work things out?” He asked you while roaming through the stuff, finding the necklace tangled and then laying it over the side of his hand so the pendant was flat against his palm. “We’ve put each other through shit before and just…” He sat on the edge of his bed, looking at the gold jewelry that he had done so much babysitting and household chores in order to buy. It had felt worth the bullshit his Dad wrangled him with at the time. He wanted to get you a nice birthday gift and through that, he did. “Come on, babe.” He looked up at you as you were going to the door, eyes hollowed out to make room for melancholy, and sighed into himself. “Can you, please, stay?” Where was this guy on Saturday? Why couldn’t Billy have expressed himself this way instead of tackling you like an opposing team’s linebacker.

“No.” It was Nancy’s voice in your head that made you say it. Your arms were flimsy under the mostly empty box and your heart was crying at you to put it down and run to him. “No, Billy. It’s done. You ended us.”

“That’s not true.” He refuted, clutching the necklace, and standing up to face you better. “I’m the one who wants to try and work shit out, you’re the one with a box full of stuff, leaving.” To him, it seemed obvious that you were the one who was ending things. If it was up to him, he would making the weekend up to you with a blanket in a bare field, his hands squeezing it’s way up your thighs, and sweet nothings in your ear.  “How is this fair to me?” It was such a typical Billy question that you couldn’t believe you didn’t see it coming.

“You? I’m the one hiding bruises from my friends and parents!” Putting down the box at your side, you shouted at him and rolled up your sleeves. He squinted at the sight of them just as he had looked ill the first time he spotted them in the hall, but you were going to make him look at them so he could understand the way you did that things had changed and could not go back to how they used to be. The point of no return had a mark and his fingerprints were it.  “If you want to fairness, we can talk fairness,  but you won’t like how that conversation goes!” Nancy’s voice was practically screeching in the corners of your mind now, telling you to leave. You were giving him too much.

Billy lunged forward, necklace held in one hand and the other hand flat, and kissed you as hard as he could. His fingers were on both sides of your face, holding you to him and trying to draw you in.  Your eyes held themselves open, alarmed, but you wiggled away and almost fell back with urgency, leaving Billy to stare at you with an open, wet mouth.

Both of you were trapped in the tension, so Billy took your silence as an okay and went in again. This time, he opened up his hand and tried to wrestle the necklace of your head, but you reached up and shoved him away by the wrists. The necklace spilled from his fingers and fell somewhere on the floor by his bed.

“No! Stop it!” Scolding him as if he was a puppy that kept trying to jump on you, your voice hit the turned off ceiling light right between both of you. “Stop it.” Again, you gasped. “We are done, Billy. You lost me.” He did it in a terrible fashion too, a way you never assumed would happen. “I never want to see you - “

“Never?” He scoffed at the hyperbolic term.

“I never want to hear you!” Over top of him, you kept going. “Don’t ever touch me again!”

“Never?” This time, he sounded sad. It was as if you two were in the hallway again, not in his house that he was used to having to be defensive in. “Tell me what to do, [Y/N/N], and I’ll do it. Please.” He begged, but it was far too little, too late. The sleeves of your top unrolled themselves to cover the end of your relationship and you turned your burning face away from him. There was nothing he could do. There was nothing you wanted him to do. “It was an accident!”

At the knees, you bent down to pick up the box and kept your eyes on his feet. If he was going to come close to you again, you wanted to be ready. Once standing up, you wrestled with your tongue on whether or not you should say 'goodbye’. Instead, you didn’t so much as look at him, you turned to your side and reached for the silver knob on his door in order to exit.

“Don’t leave.” His hand brushed up against the space on your back between the end of your shirt and waist of your jeans. Billy’s voice was weak, breaking in places, and he was clearly beginning to cry.

You still didn’t turn around, you shimmied your body to push away his touch, and opened up the door. On the other side, Susan and Max were pretending to be busy in the recreational space, fumbling their fingers over surfaces and looking off into corners. They had been listening to every word said between you two. Susan’s face looked soft and gutted for her step son. He was a wild child and she didn’t think that he would be able to get over this gracefully. It would sting him for a long time.

Looking away from them, you did turn to see Billy, his face without bruises, but very evidently beaten.

“Don’t touch me.” You sounded as firm as Neil when laying down the law and it hit Billy hard in the gut. Once you had moved out of Billy’s line of sight, he treated his bedroom like the locker from early and slammed it with all his might. It didn’t feel like enough, but he knew that Susan would have his Dad on his ass if he knocked it off it’s hinges. You were still slipping your shoes on when Metallica started to rock through the whole house, covering up the sounds of Billy throwing the stuff you returned and hating himself.

@penguinlover15 @devintagekids @desertsivan1995 @daddyslittlemunster @4-a-m @stevesharrlngtons @lovelydacre @ineedacureforme @springrollover 

@can-youmoveyourseatup @inspiredbynewt@inspiredbynewt @princessnancy@mistressofmanyfandoms @kaliforniacoastalteens 

@inspiredbynewt @stephaniecats @fearwill @eggo-child  @springrolllover

@gemgemswift @tegan-eva

@basickassandra @flirtygerty @fangirlinganditswonders

[reivenesque]

Running in a Serpentine Fashion CH5

Chapter 5: Daniel

« Previous chapter (also on ao3 and ffet).

Three hours.

That was how long it was since he drove up to the emergency dock of the hospital with his son bleeding all over the leather upholstery of his car and still there had been no update about how he was doing.

His harassment of a nurse for information only resulted in him almost getting kicked off the premises but the woman had taken pity on him and not only let him stay, but came back with what little information she could find about Robby’s condition.

He was in surgery. That was all they knew.

The waiting room was a flurry of activity by that point, faces that Johnny never expected to see. Or rather just one face he didn’t expect and didn’t really want to see.

Daniel LaRusso.

But LaRusso was there for Robby. Johnny had called him because of Robby; for Robby. He knew LaRusso meant a lot to Robby and although the fact caused an ache deep inside his heart, he knew he had to accept the reality. He had no one to blame for his predicament but himself. LaRusso had picked up the slack he’d left behind and he was done letting his vindictive ways and his jealousy get in the way of him and the people he cared about.

It cost him Ali and it cost him Robby and he was done losing people who meant the most to him because he couldn’t let go of his own ego.

LaRusso had brought along his entire brood with him. His lovely wife that Johnny was really quite fond of. She reminded him of Ali, which both answered the question as to why she ended up marrying LaRusso, and brought up the brand new question, which is why did she end up marrying LaRusso? She was way out of his league and he knew that LaRusso knew it too, or maybe he didn’t, he really was insufferable in that sense. Must have been the New Jersey in him.

His progeny was sitting with Miguel off to the side whispering to each other out of ear shot and the annoying little brat mini-me of his was for once not being an annoying brat. He was sitting quietly beside his mom who was talking to Aisha.

Johnny sensed a presence looming over him before a weight dropped down onto the empty seat beside him.

“You okay, Johnny?”

There were times when Johnny wanted to hate LaRusso and it came easy; the feeling and the execution of it.

But there were other times when Johnny couldn’t stop thinking that in another scenario in another lifetime; had their first meeting been different, his life and his hate-hate relationship with LaRusso might also have also turned out completely different.

He scrubbed his face with a little too much vehemence before he sighed, leaving back heavily against the backrest of the seat.

“I should have been there for him,” he said. It wasn’t the answer to the question LaRusso had asked but somehow it was the only thing on his mind. “I should have been there for this… I should have always been there. I never should have turned my back on him,” he said and he didn’t know why the words flowed out so easily to LaRusso. It happened during his confession about Sid and it happened about Kreese and it was happening again.

He couldn’t understand it.

“You can’t change the past, Johnny,” LaRusso said, “You can only change what you do from that point on. Leave the past in the past – we should have done that. I should have done that.” Johnny didn’t reply but LaRusso didn’t seem like he was waiting for one either. “What did the police say?”

The police had been by before LaRusso and his family arrived, having been called by the hospital because of the nature of Robby’s injuries and how he’d gotten them.

Johnny didn’t have much to add but Miguel, Aisha, Hawk and Moon was almost tripping over each other in order to give their statements.

Johnny hadn’t really been listening that closely to whatever it was they were saying, but the officer seemed fluent in teenage babble because he was taking notes and didn’t seem at all blown away by the sheer volume of sound coming at him from all sides.

It wasn’t until Miguel said that the guy who tackled Robby had long hair and some sort of lip dirt mustache on his face and Aisha added that Robby said they were friends of his did all the puzzle pieces finally fall into place.

Johnny’s fist found the broad side of the wall behind him before he could even verbally react, startling the kids and the officer who was standing there. He told the officer about the two losers Robby used to hang out with, he didn’t know their names or where they lived, though he regretted that lack of information because it was hard resisting the urge to march out of that hospital to deliver those guys the ass kicking they were asking for and so deserved. He told the officer to go ask Robby’s mom and proceeded to give them her address. He’d tried calling her many times but the call would immediately go into voicemail, not that he was all that surprised but he was both pissed off and disappointed on Robby’s behalf.

He could feel the heat of the stares on the back of his head as he was talking but he didn’t turn around. It wasn’t that he was scared or anything, least of all of Miguel and his bunch of nerds, but there was the fear of looking back and seeing the look of disappointment and betrayal on their faces. He couldn’t comprehend why that would even bother him, not that he needed their approval for anything, but perhaps it was because he hated to admit how much the kids under his tutelage had come to grow on him, especially Miguel. The thought of disappointing him struck a deep chord inside his heart and he’d hate knowing that he’d manage to disappoint two boys he cared about.

He’d let Robby down too many times already in his life. He wasn’t there for him growing up and he only stood by with his dick in his hand while his own son got the crap beaten out of him by not one, but two of his own students. What kind of shit father was that?

The Johnny Lawrence kind, that’s what. He only had Sid and Kreese as role models growing up so he wasn’t exactly the poster boy for healthy upbringing, but it wasn’t fair to Robby the fact that he couldn’t put his own trauma on the backburner and put someone else’s needs before his for the first time.

It occurred to him then that he almost lost that chance, like… truly occurred to him. His son almost died. He almost died in Johnny’s arms and he realized with great regret that he didn’t know anything about him. He didn’t know what band he liked or what movie he enjoyed. He didn’t know what he liked to do for fun or who his idols were.

The Robby he saw at the tournament, being coached by Daniel LaRusso of all people was different from the Robby he met at the apartment a few months before. He seemed less… burdened and weighed down, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was as if he found the kind of internal peace and balance that Johnny never managed to. And to think that it came from the teachings of his rival… that was the swift kick to the balls type of wake-up call he didn’t realize he needed.

He found LaRusso still waiting on his answer when he finally turned around.

“The kids gave a good description of the guys that attacked Robby and I know for sure two of them were guys Robby used to hang around with – real bad news, loser types,” he said. “I guess, he did take after his dad in one aspect,” he added as a mutter under his breath.

“You know… a couple of months ago there was an incident. A couple of guys got caught on camera trying to break into the garage at my shop. Robby was actually the one who stopped them and I think we got the footage of their faces saved in the security room,” LaRusso said. “I’ll call the officers and let them know to drop by there.”

“Yeah, thanks,” said Johnny distractedly. “Hey, LaRusso,” he called back when LaRusso got to his feet and was about to walk away to make the call.

“Yeah?”

“Just… thanks. Thanks for being there for him when I wasn’t,” said Johnny. “Thanks for… well, thanks for being a good mentor to him. God knows the kid needs some good role models in his life. He never even stood a chance.”

LaRusso sighed, though a small smile curled at his lips. “You don’t need to thank me, Johnny. I just… I guess I had a good sensei in Mr. Miyagi. You didn’t and it’s not your fault. But it’s obvious these kids have a good sensei in you, judging by what they did and how they handled the situation. So just… don’t count yourself out just yet, I did and that was my mistake. You got a chance to become a better sensei than the one you had and you still have a chance to be a better father than what you had.”

Johnny was genuinely touched by LaRusso’s words but the moment was quickly snuffed out by cough. “You really are a lame-ass optimist, LaRusso.”

LaRusso laughed. “It’s all that bonsai trimming,” he said, “You should try it one day. It’s very relaxing.”

Fortunately for Johnny, the sappy moment was cut short and immediately subdued by the arrival to the doctor pulling off his mask and cap and calling for the family of Robby Keene.

Johnny wasn’t thinking anything when he approached the man; he could sense Miguel and the rest stepping up beside him and in an unexpected turn of event, he found comfort in the presence of LaRusso standing just a few feet away.

“I’m his father,” he said and in that moment he realized that what the doctor was going to say was about to bring him relief or cause his entire world to come crumbling down to his feet.

He steeled himself.

Tbc.

[jadedfanfiction-blog]

Chapter 2

Ok so I know you read the beginning of this and wondering how in the hell did I get myself here. I'm twenty-three years old, with two degrees, a dream job at DDC House Design, the top interior design house on the east coast and I am officially 6 weeks pregnant. Well I am going to have to take you back to about 8 months ago when I stepped out on a dream and chased it all the way to New York City.

"Congratulations Sloane Taylor,  

This letter is to thank you and to acknowledge of your offer of employment to join the staff of DDC House of Designs with an entry level salary of $176,000. We feel it would be out mutual advantage to advance our final decision. Will contact you via email to advise you of your employment packet.  

Sincerely, DDC House Designs

"OOOOMMMMGGGGG, Mommy come her look! Omg look at this email!"

"What is it Sloane you are calling my name like you crazy."

""Look mom I got the designing job in New York?"

"Wow that’s great baby girl I'm so proud of you." My mother said with conviction,  

I looked up at my mother that had a sweet and sour look on her face when she heard me say New York.  

"Ok mom please don’t ruin this moment with that look ok New York is not that far away.  

"I know honey but its far enough and you don’t have any family up there. "

See my mother in my eyes is being her usual over protective self at the mention of me going somewhere that isn't Greensboro, North Carolina. I've been here my entire life and I can't wait to leave. Nobody here has hope or dreams of anything outside of those city lines. Don’t get me wrong I love my hometown and I am proud of where I come from, but I want to see the world. I graduated college last year from North Carolina A&T with my Bachelors in Business and a Minor in Art since of course my mother would have had a heart attack if I would have gone out of state. Hell, I think she might have had a minor stroke if I went to East Carolina University, so I didn’t even test the limits. I am by far not a small-town girl but I hold my values. Most of the girls I graduated out of high school have kids now including my best friend Amina Walton who I have known since kindergarten. We met on the first day when she asked me to push her on the swing on the playground and now we have been inseparable ever since. She had her daughter Skylar our freshman year in college and I love her to the moon and back but I know for sure I am nowhere near ready to be a mom.  

Mommy, I can take care of myself I am an adult and plus I have done everything you have ever asked of me. I stayed in Greensboro longer than I had planned on it. It is way past time for me to travel and leave."

"I understand Sloane, but what are you going to do it something goes wrong or you need something."

"then I will call home and ask. Mom you have to learn to let me go you are starting to smother me and I am an adult. I love you I really do but I am taking this job,"  

I had to put on my firm voice but I know I was hurting her feelings by saying that. It has been me and my mom for years after my dad died and she couldn’t help but hold me close. I can't really blame her though she really stepped up and played both roles perfectly to win an Oscar.  

"well what are they offering you to have you move so far?"

"they are paying my rent for my apartment, full benefit coverage, paid vacations and all holidays off. Come on mom, it is no way I am going to ever find a job like that here."

"ok ok Sloane. When do you have to leave after you accept the job?"

"Two-weeks..."

"two weeks! That is too soon how will you pack and get all of your things there in time?"

"they are sending movers mom, everything will be fine.  

I was so excited I couldn’t contain myself while she was in my room. Once I finally got her to see things through my eyes she walked out my room. I closed the door and let out a silent scream. I count help it. It felt like such a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I am leaving this place behind and not looking back.  

Two weeks flew by I couldn’t believe my whole life was packed into 30 cardboard boxes and I was counting the hours to load them in a moving truck. I didn’t think I was going to be this sad to leave when I made the call and accepted the position. Amina through me a huge going away party last night and it seemed like the entire city came out to see me off. Including my ex Zayvion. 

We dated for 3 years and I learned everything I don’t deserve in a relationship. I know what you thinking and no he didn’t cheat on me but let's just say college can really change people. Everything was perfect in that honey moon phase but after he crossed and pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Secrets pushed us apart and turned us against each other. I didn’t expect to see him there and I know Amina didn’t invite him so of course he heard through the grapevine that I was leaving. Everybody loved us together being that we were the "black Love Lives" couple of the century. I can't deny he was fine for sure 6"4, golden peanut butter skin, full pink lips and chocolate brown curls. With a smile that made me melt and eyes to steal my soul.  Who could turn him down? At one point I never thought I could. Not to mention his dick game was powerful I swear that’s how he pledged on line. Freshman and Sophomore year, I had a nice size four body, but Junior and Senior year I filled out in everything. My body couldn’t lie that he wasn’t putting it down before dorm curfew and the whole campus could see it.  

He approached me with that suave walk and pearly white smile smashed across his face. I got a little weak at the knees as I watched him approach me from across the back yard. All my girls giggling behind me talking about "girl here he come" "mmm you sure you wanna leave that behind" "girl he so damn fine". I rolled my eyes at all of them, "look yall need to calm down and play it cool nobody is thinking about that boy." But on the inside my heart was racing. He walked up and said " what's up yall?" His voice rang in my ears so vibrant sending me to reminisce when he would whisper in my ear with my legs up on his shoulders and he hitting my spot just right. Damn I missed that feeling. My pussy started tingling and the thought of his hands rubbing down my thighs to spread my legs.  

"Sloane you good? "

I snapped out my daydream, "yeah I'm good, what are you doing here?"

"I heard Kiwan talking about it and I was surprised that I didn’t get an invitation so I thought I would make a surprise appearance. "

"well I didn’t make the guest list so I hope your feelings weren't too hurt."

"A little bit, but it's nothing a hug can't fix though," he shrugged his shoulders and held his arms out and open for me.  

It couldn't hurt just to hug him right? I contemplated at first then I just gave in and stepped in for the hug. His Prada cologne hit my nose and mesmerized me. His chest was thick and muscular. I could feel in his back where he had been hitting the gym and it was doing his justice.  

"awwww look at my favorite couple." I hear coming from behind him a familiar voice. Zayvion's best friend and line brother Kiwan. He was cool and about the only friend he had that I actually liked.  

"shut up you are so annoying"  

"don’t do me like that friend, you know im always going to team Sloane and Zay"  

"Shut up bro " Zay laughed and nudged Kiwan. "you play too much"  

"ok when yall stop frontin' let me know. Speaking of frontin whats up Amina you not gonna speak ? "

" Boy bye no im not speaking to you." Amina gave him the hand and walked off. Kiwan always had a thing for Amina since sophomore year and she tried everything to turn him away but I know on the low she had a little flutter for him. All it took was when she mentioned she had a daughter and he instantly got excited and said he would love to meet her one day. It definitely took Amina by surprise most guys take off at the mention of a kid but he held his own.  

"Bro when are you just going to let that go man?" Zay always joked him for how Amina loved to give him the cold shoulder.  

"Never bruh, you don’t understand we got a thing its just on the low."  

We all burst out laughing and everything felt like old times. In that moment my heart felt a little heavy. Am I really going to leave all of this behind. My friends and family for the big city? I wanted to say im staying but I knew It was just in the moment and when I got there it would all fade away.  

*Alarm rings

I woke up not realizing that I had fallen asleep in the middle of my day dreams. Today was the day. I reached over to turn off my alarm and my notification list was longer than usual. I scrolled down and saw Amina, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Daily Quotes and to my surprise Zayvion. My eye widened and I didnt even think he still had my number. I didn’t want to open his message to make it seem like I missed him or was pressed to see what he said so I just went to answer Amina. She said she was on her way to help me load the moving truck so I needed to get up and shower.  

Im going over my check list to make sure I got everything to load up as I see her pull up in her red Volkswagen Jetta. I didn’t even have to turn around to know it was her because I could hear the 90s r&b playlist bumping from down the street. The car doors closed and I heard my little angel Skylar's voice call out for me " Auntie!" I dropped my notepad and swept her up in my arms for a huge hug. She has gotten so big so fast and I cant believe I am about to leave her. I have been there since day one and in the delivery room when she was born.  

She hugged my neck so tight then pulled back and asked "auntie why is all of your stuff in that big truck where are you going?"  

I wanted to lie and say no where without you but I couldn’t. "auntie is moving to new york remember for her big girl job." She just smiled back at me and said "well are you going to visit me and mommy because we are going to miss you."  

"of course pumpkin and you and mommy are going to come visit me on the airplane right?"

"yes" she squealed. "good now go see meme she has cookies." I put her down on her feet and she took off running into the house. Amina walked up behind her and hugged me which is something she never does.  

"what is wrong with you, im not dying" I said.  

"what do you mean you are not dying?" She look confused at what I asked her.  

"uhm you are hugging me like im dying tomorrow not moving away."  

"well you might as well be! We have spent every day of our lives together since kindergarten, what am I going to do now that you have out grown this place?"

"well you know you can always move there too eventually, they need nurses in every state."  

"yeah I know but I have Skylar and I don’t really want to take her from my mom."

"you cant limit your self because of other people Mina." I always wanted so much more for Amina. She had potential to be so much more than she allowed herself to step out of her comfort zone to be. We were similar but our differences made us great friends.  

"girl are you sure you are ready to move like what is going to be the first thing you do when you get there?"

"shit find the nearest Junior's Cheesecake and walk the Brooklyn Bridge." We burst out laughing but I couldn’t be more serious.  

"how did it feel seeing Zayvion last night? I had no idea he was going to show up even though the whole city was In that shit. We was lit for sure."

"yeah It was super awkward and intense at first and it felt like old times." Speaking of Zay I totally forgot he had texted me this morning. "He texted me this morning and I didn’t think he would remember my number."

"why wouldn’t he? Bestfriend now you know that boy still love you and he know he fucked up."

"to bad that was not my problem then and its not now. He shoudnt be trying to press me now its been a whole year since we broke up and he wants to wait until the day before I leave to reach out? No thank you ill pass." I rolled my eyes and went to grab some boxes. It was no need for me to text back now.

We loaded the truck in a matter of 2 hours and nothing was left but my suitcase and backpack for my flight in the morning. My mom had to work but she would be off intima to take me to the airport. Amina and Skylar stayed over for one of our famous living room sleepovers.  

"You know your going to be ordering out every night when you get there because you cant cook?" She laughed trying to joke will she made all my sleepover favorites.

"shut up I can cook enough to survive! Plus that’s what restaurants are for to order out of."

"yeah but your going to miss this home cooking believe it or not because you know I can burn." Amina was the perfect wife and mom type. She had all the qualities not to mention she was beautiful. Milk cocoa brown skin, full curly natural hair that she passed on to Sky and she was 5"4 slim thick thick for sure.  

"yeah I am, you spoil me bestie. Thanks for everything!" I smiled at her and she just smiled back because she wasn’t the sentimental type but I know a tear filled her eye on that one. She finished cooking and we turned on the black Cinderella with Brandy and Whitney Houston our favorite movie. Amina was sleep first as usual then sky and me. My mom came in and woke us up in time to get ready for me to catch my flight. We parked the car in the departure parking lot and they walked me to my gate. I hugged Amina and Sky trying to hold back tears. Then my mom who was wiping her eyes quickly so I wouldn’t see her crying.  

"oh mommy its ok don’t cry. I am going to facetime you as soon as I land."  

"I love you Sloane be safe ok?"

"I love you too mommy!"  

*now boarding flight 5477 to New York City at Gate 4*

"that’s me guys! I will call as soon as I land." I picked up my bag and walked to my gate. Handing my ticket over to the flight attendant I took one last look back at them waving bye to me I waved back walked through the doors. I found my seat and adjusted myself for the take off. I had a window seat so I could see the airplane wing. I took a hug deep breath and settled my nerves. This was the start of a new beginning and the plane started rolling.  

[awed-frog]

catching up with s13

“This life - hunting, monsters - there's no joy in it. There's nothing but pain, horror, and death.”

So, okay. I finally got an afternoon free and forced myself to start S13. I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m happy I had to wait and I got to watch four episodes in one go, because Supernatural has this habit of improving a lot when you watch it as a true story happening somewhere and not one hour every week, but still - mixed feelings here. Although, I’m happy enough that I sort of guessed a few things and included them in my S13 fic - maybe they weren’t that hard to anticipate, but still - yay me.

(Just as a self-serving exercise, here is a list: Dean and Sam not being on the same page about Jack, Dean shooting Jack, the two of them wondering if Jack can fly in E01, Sam wanting Jack alive and hoping he can be good, Jack being a sort of mindless parrot in the beginning and mimicking Dean, Dean snapping at Sam for putting Jody in danger, Dean starting to sound like John and Sam calling him out on it, Dean and Jody alone together - and I want to hope they had some sort of Conversation, like they did in my fic, but I wouldn’t put money on it - and, finally, the word shedim, something I was using as an insult, like, two years ago and now it’s here and I really want those things to come out and do stuff ‘cause I’m evil like that.)

Otherwise, here’s what I learned so far.

1) Dean’s acceptance of himself was closely tied to Cas’ presence

We all know how hard Dean’s had to fight against the mold he’d found himself stuck into, and we basically spend our time tracking his attempts at breaking it down, so I won’t sit here and make lists or anything; however, what these episodes confirmed, for me, is how important Cas was in this process. 

And surely it’s a combination of things - that Cas knew Dean inside and out and just accepted him, that Dean feels awkward about sharing that side of himself with Sam (and let’s be honest, he’s not wrong in fearing Sam’s reaction), that as long as Cas was with them, Dean had a reason to hope his own future wouldn’t be so bleak, that it was worth it, in a way, to work on himself and become the man he wanted to be all along - and, of course, that Dean was in love with Cas, a being that wasn’t a man but looked like a man, and once Dean started to accept that (and he did), then what was the point about trying so hard to deny anything else? And now Cas is gone, all of that is also gone. Dean’s safety net burned to the ground, and so he reverts to being that person he hated and despised and never wanted to be again - the man’s man, the alcoholic, the drill sergeant, the one who thinks men should be men and women are something else, ‘cause there’s things a man wouldn’t do, like journaling (“Not since I was a little girl.”). And the tragedy is, of course, that a) this doesn’t work, because it doesn’t help Dean at all, it just makes him more miserable, and b) people can still see his real self - not Sam, because apparently he doesn’t care enough to look, but as for everyone else - yeah. Hence the angel mocking him, for instance, growling at him in a deep voice and smirking, So macho. 

(And, yeah, there are other people who love Dean, I’m not arguing otherwise, but also - these last four episodes did not exactly make them shine, now, did they? From Sam’s cold shoulder to Jody completely ignoring how utterly not alright Dean was and then dismissing his advice to Patience, all the way to how Missouri talked to him (“You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it,” and since she was a clear Mary parallel, I’m going to keep not liking Mary, thank you very much) - is it really surprising Dean finds it easier to be the drunk asshole when Cas is not around? Who is currently caring enough about him to break those walls down, exactly? No one, that’s who.)

2) Sam doesn’t get Dean and shows little interest in trying

As for Sam - look, I like Sam - he’s the character that sucked me inside this story, and I always try to give him something interesting to do in my fics, but Jesus - they’re making it very hard for me to like him at the moment. In fact, I think that Sam snapping at Dean in that therapist office and walking out of her office - that was the first time I’d seen the real Sam in years. Because after S5, Sam - stopped to exist as a character? He never has any interesting roles to play, and he’s mostly there to showcase and contrast Dean’s emotions and Dean’s tough choices. And at the beginning, it made sense Sam would be wary of himself (see the whole Ruby mess), but now this good guy act is getting old, because the thing is - to me, it doesn’t read like the show is even aware that Sam’s faking it. To them, it’s what’s actually happening. Dean is volatile and hot-headed, the script goes, and Sam more rational and wants to help people and do the right thing. Except - that’s not really how it is, is it? 

One of the problems is, of course, that they’re working so hard to stay away from all the gay subtext they themselves created (for no good reason, because either you do something with it or it’s queerbaiting, and we should do well to remember that) that Sam is growing into someone we have no incentive to like. Because on the one hand, Sam needs to not grieve for Cas at all so that Dean’s pain will shine through more clearly, and on the other, he needs not to bring up Lucifer at all because we know Lucifer abused him and had sex with him pretending to be Jess, and that’s another thick layer of gay (sub)text right there. So the result is that Sam comes off like a complete arse, and what frustrates me to no end is that I want to like him, and I know he’s not actually like that. Like - I’m sure I’m not the only one, come on - these first four episodes - Sam was an asshole to Dean, and an asshole in general. He completely disregarded both Cas’ death and Crowley’s death, never pushed Dean to discuss how he felt about it even though Dean spent more than a week sulking and drinking in his room and being completely miserable and isolating himself (when he drove out to meet Missouri, his hand had healed, so there’s where I get the time frame) - and that’s not only an asshole move - it’s out of character. Sam’s always been concerned about Dean drinking excessively, for instance, and we’ve seen as much n the show before. But now, suddenly, Sam’s not allowed to grieve for Cas because TPTB want us to see Dean grieving for Cas so that *wink wink, nudge nudge* we’ll guess there’s something different there. But what could that be? they want us to wonder, as if we’d be shocked and surprised by the answer, and every time I feel like -

- because that’s the other problem with this gay subtext bullshit - that it’s not worth it, because this is not the damn ‘40s anymore. It’s simply not such an interesting thing to bet your entire narrative on, and grow up, show.

And another thing: since they won’t let Sam deal with the Lucifer business, and they want to maintain the codependency because that’s apparently why half their audience is watching, Sam is stuck as the teenager to Dean’s adult. Because Dean is the one backing down and apologizing for his bad behaviour at the end of E04, and Sam - Sam just sits there and accepts the apology, without acknowledging he was kind of a dick too. Furthermore, Sam blames Dean for his own inability to bond with Mary, Sam tries to look after Jack because a) Jack reminds him of himself and b) Jack can help him (when Dean accuses him of wanting to use Jack, Sam never denies that), Sam suddenly sends other hunters to do the job because he’s otherwise occupied, and Sam - this really annoyed me - finally admits everything Dean did for him not by thanking him, or anything, but by insisting Dean should now do the same for someone else. That’s some low emotional blackmail and, again, very out of character. Because Sam must realize that being there for him basically ruined Dean’s life -

(We know that’s not true - we know that looking after baby Sam is what kept Dean soft and profoundly himself - but Sam doesn’t.) 

- and if he stops and thinks about it, which he hasn’t yet, he should realize as much - that Dean risked everything, gave up everything, renounced everything - for Sam. And to casually ask him to do the same for someone they don’t even know - someone who’s also directly responsible for Cas’ death - that was really something. Plus, Sam - the champion of free will - isn’t really interested in allowing others a free choice. Even leaving aside how he behaves with Dean, what he’s doing with Jack is appalling and not that different from what Asmodeus wanted with Jack. And yeah, so Asmodeus wanted Jack to free the Shedim, and Sam tried to have him move a pencil, but the essence is the same: it’s not about allowing Jack to grow up and discover who he wants to be, but about shaping him into an instrument that can be used.

(See also: Sam not giving a damn when it was Cas stuck in his room all day, watching TV and refusing to go out - but suddenly when Jack does it it’s cause for concern and ‘he needs fresh air, Dean’, and Sam’s ‘he’s messed up because of you’, which - Jesus Christ - and ‘if there’s one thing Dean respects it’s effort’ and mostly ‘you’re starting to sound like Dad - his drill sergeant act worked with you, but it didn't work with me’ - I hope I wasn’t the only one staring at that point, because what the actual fuck? And what annoys me the most here is that, as I said, the show is not doing this on purpose, working some secret angle - this, to them, is objective reality. What Sam is doing is coded as alright - as compassionated and Good. It’s Dean who apologizes, and it’s Dean who’s told to his face ‘You upset your brother so much he had to leave the room’ and ‘he’s terrified of you’. Honestly, this is their childhood and that clown place and the Striga all over again.)

3) There are plot holes that are impossible to fix, but that’s not new

Look, it’s not even worth it to go into this, but just - if God has no power in the Empty, how did he resurrect Cas the first whatever times? And if Jack is a mindless idiot, how could he manipulate Cas and Kelly from the womb? And what about that other Nephilim? Did no one notice her existence? And the Antichrist boy? Will we ever see him again? And how come it’s suddenly safe for Jack to go on hunts with them? Isn’t everyone and their cat looking for him? And how does Lucifer need Mary, exactly? He’s not human - he doesn’t need to make a hostage negotiation - he just has to find his way back and burn Sam and Dean into the damn floor.

4) Gay subtext ruins everything

I talked about this already, but just - as usual, there was a lot of Destiel subtext, enough to keep us happy - from angels seeing right through Dean and saying it’s ‘sweet’ how he thinks Jack can bring Cas back to Dean’s control slipping (“We lost everything and now you’re going to bring him back” - and, like, whoa) and that ‘moving on’ comment, not to mention the ‘I know who you love’ line in the Empty. But, again, the problem is that they’re not going anywhere with this (if they were, they’ve had about six years’ worth of openings), which means this is damaging the story more than it is helping it (narratively, of course; financially speaking, it’s a different matter). It’s turning Sam into a complete asshole, it’s stopping him from dealing with Lucifer, and it’s making Dean into this weird person who does things without rhyme or reason. For instance - the fact he decided to burn Kelly but not Cas, not until they could find Jack - how does that say good things about him? The implication is, he didn’t give a damn about Kelly. She could die the true death, because he wasn’t interested in the possibility Jack could bring her back, but Cas - for Cas, he had to wait. And that’s something which becomes understandable, even forgivable, if Dean is in love with Cas. But if they’re just random bros - Dean never reacted like that - not when Charlie died, not when Benny died, not even when Bobby died. It’s only after Cas dies that he becomes the worst version of himself - that he drinks too much and he snaps at people and he doesn’t care what happens, as long as they get to kill something. And if Cas is - whatever - just another guy, then Dean’s behaviour is really not okay. So, you know - people have been saying it for years, but just - either stop it or make it textual. Enough is enough.

Random thoughts

I liked that the Empty functions like the Hell in Greek religion - that you wake up when you’re called, and otherwise don’t exist at all. An elegant compromise. I’m still not clear what those ‘cosmic consequences’ were. And still not happy that Death died and that was - okay? Also, how careful are they around Crowley? Will we ever know what happened between Mark and Dabb? Buttshake kid was a good kid. ‘You have an angel watching over you’ - yeah, no. That’s doublespeak, and I can do without it.  Oh, and Buckleming only included an attempted rape and not an actual rape in their latest episode, so I guess there’s hope for everyone?

[fangirlingabout]

Entertaining to the MAX

As someone with an... approximate knowledge of the DC universe and more specifically the BatFamily (most of which being from littlenightwing), and as someone who just enjoys really funny comedies and great animation, I pretty much was doomed to love this movie. 

But hell, even without all that “””bias””” what makes this movie so especially bitchin’ is how it succeeds at pretty much everything it sets out to do. Make a good follow-up to the Lego Movie? Check. Strike a great balance as a kids movie? Check Two. 

Bring the BatFamily to the big screen again (FINALLY) in a way that can make general audiences fall in love with them? All checks. All of them, those checks are yours now. 

Be a good spoof movie---a genre so dead it needed to be revived with little tiny lego defibrillators? A THUNDERSTORM OF CHECKS RAINING DOWN FROM THE HEAVANS.

Doing a Comic Book Movie

Adapting anything to film is magic trick and a half, but adapting comic books---90 years of them, for that matter---is a whole magic show. It’s no small feat to capture the heart of the characters and world and what makes it so beloved.

Add that on top of the magic you need to perform to make a good spoof movie, which takes that deep understanding and builds off it (ayyyy) in exaggerated, hilarious ways. Plus, like I said, the entire spoof genre has been left in the hands of the people who made the Scary Movie franchise, which has fallen so far from... well, I don’t want to say grace, but you get my point. There’s only been bad parody movies coming out in the mainstream for years now.

But if I’d trust anyone to manage both kinds miracles, I guess I’d have to give it to Phil Lord and Chris Miller! Even if you don’t know their names, you’ve probably laughed at their work (well, with their work): Clone High, Cloudy a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, (A few episodes of) How I Met Your Mother, (the pilot of) Brooklyn 99, and, obviously, the Lego Movie itself.

Basically, these are two writer/directors best bros who I’ve loved ever since I was young with Clone High because that’s exactly my sense of humour---and they’re still killing it to this day.

And thank god, they manage to nail this movie on so many levels. 

What really rocks is how thoroughly they understand Batman’s corner of the DC universe---not just for the amazing, nerd-level-100 references from all sorts of Batman media, but because in order for the comedy to really work, they have to make a super-fan love for all things Batman infectious.

And it works. So, so well!

And the parody aspects of this movie work for the same reason. It’s like the old saying goes “it’s funny because it’s true.” Sure, it’s exaggerated for a punchline, but if it didn’t come from a genuine place to begin with that exaggeration wouldn’t be able to carry the movie.

The BatFam and Rogues Gallery 

AND THIS IS THE BEST PART.

See, the BatFamily hasn’t come to the big screen aside from the mostly-straight-to-DVD-but-if-they’re-in-theaters-they’re-limited-release animated movies, which leaves legions of starving BatFam fans waiting for their favourite characters to even get a slight mention or blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background reference.

The Arkham games (and of course the comics themselves) are enough to keep them alive, but the fact that 1997′s Batman and Robin killed all possible BatFamily movies for basically 20 years means it’s been rough.

So, now we have the first real inclusion on the BatFamily! It’s a parody of them, but at least since it’s a good parody that does demonstrate some understanding of the characters and how meaningful their relationships are, it’s enough! At least, for now. My hope is that having a popular, awesome movie with some BatFamily members in it will open the door to even more BatFam to come!

Because look, I have to take this character by character for a second to really show why this could hopefully be the building blocks (AYYYYY) for something even greater down the line (or, great in a different way, I should say).

Let’s start with Dick Grayson as Robin. This Dick Grayson is mostly a parody of the original TV boy wonder, Burt Ward. Which works, even though it’s not an accurate portrayal of more modern incarnations of his character. Michel Cera somehow managed to really make this character endearing when he could’ve been pretty annoying, as high energy as he is.

The best comparison I can make for animation fans is, well, Wander, from Wander Over Yonder, but without the country accent. There’s an adorable beating heart always on display that makes him lovable---he’s even got some quieter moments thrown in there---and the way the lines are delivered never crosses that line into annoying-sidekick territory. 

So, this Dick is a good Dick. He still serves the role even modern Dick Grayson did as Robin, to be the hopeful light in the dark knight’s world. 

And see, if they took inspiration from lego Dick Grayson at all when adapting modern Dick, I hope they keep that idea intact---because no matter what incarnation of Dick we’re going for, his humour and kind lightheartedness even in the face of a dark world and immeasurable pain---that’s what makes him a wonderful son character for Batman. 

Well, that and how much they love each other, obviously, but thankfully, that’s another thing this movie doesn’t skimp out on. Since its a comedy, the writers get away with Dick using the words “dad” or “padre” (dad) or even “batfamily” a glorious amount of times. So even if there’s since going to be a wait before we get to see a serious portrayal of their father-son relationship, it’s honestly enough to know some people in Hollywood actually know.

Barbara/Batgirl gets a great role as well. Not necessarily all points are stellar (the recent Killing Joke movie aside, I’ve been told Barbara and Batman don’t have a relationship that’s sexual in nature most of the time, so it’s just kinda... creepy; thank god they didn’t make them end up together in this movie), but it’s small in comparison to the awesomeness of lego Barbara.

Granted, I know much more about Dick Grayson than I do about Barbara (you know who to thank for that), but at the very least, I appreciate that her role in this movie is competent, well-accomplished straight-man and not damsel in distress, which even I know is so not Barbara (The Killing Joke is hard story to adapt without, y’know, using her as a plot device in kinda awful ways, so I’m just glad to see her not be used that way).

That’s the kind of thing I hope they’ll carry over when it’s time for a more serious Barbara story. In this movie, she feels a bit too much like Wild-Style from the first Lego Movie, and I would’ve loved to see even more of Barbara’s character and what makes her unique (again, this is something I need to learn), but yeah, definitely a step in the right direction.

Alfred’s had some great adaptions over the years in terms of movies, but I will say I don’t think it’s been acknowledged before what a father figure (and in turn grandpa figure) he is in the BatFamily. Good to see him get his due.

And I mean overall, there’s this whole other side to Batman, BatDad, that has been sorely missing from cinema. We’ve seen the brooding loner Batman done well, but there’s so many stories to tell when you bring in his surrogate family, and you can see that in this movie!

Oh, and the Joker?

Absolutely adorable. Which... isn’t something I’d normally advocate saying, but they really have fun with his and Batman’s relationship in such a great way. Protect this clown child please (again specifically this version).

And that’s not even counting the dozens of other rogues that get a hilarious cameo in this movie. It’s all so fantastic, I need to rewatch it just to get all the jokes involved with them because I was laughing so hard I missed some.

So it works as a (spoofed) BatFamily story, a comedy and a parody movie, and even just a really well done animated kids movie in general.

This is definitely what I would call a hyper-active movie---the jokes come hard and fast and don’t really stop---but it can also take it’s time for the characters (and hell, even for the comedy; long, quieter jokes that just keep going are always a risk, but like the sloth scene in Zootopia, the times they make that gamble it pays off).

Even just as an animated movie, look at this shit:

The photo-realistic Lego-based animation from the first movie combined with a neon colour scheme that ends up being so fitting for Lego Gotham... is bootiful. It’s some beautiful animation (and the comedic timing just makes it better)!

And the score? The score is always hilariously timed---every song choice is there for a specific purpose. That’s probably the best way to look at this movie: not a moment goes to waste.

Really, it’s a family of excellent elements all working together to make one hell of a whole.

[fanfic-inator795]

Lego Batman Oneshot: Hidden Fans

Plot: Even after he happily took up the title of Robin, Dick couldn’t help but think of Batman as the real hero while he was just the sidekick. Still a great role, of course, but still just the sidekick. But as it turns out, there are quite a few people who disagree with him on that.

((Heyyy, to everyone who liked/reblogged/commented on my first Lego Batman fic, thank you all so much! Hope you guys enjoy this one too! Also, mild spoilers ahead))

They were completely surrounded by robotic penguins. The giant, metal umbrella that had been set up was counting down, preparing to lift up the entire Gotham City Bank (as well as all the people inside) and take it who knows where! There were even a couple small explosions that thankfully weren’t close enough to hurt him, but still made his ears ring a bit.

Just another night in Gotham. But hey, it was nothing they couldn’t handle.

“Robin, take care of the rest of these things, okay?” he heard Batman tell him, just as he finished punching out one last robot, “I’m going after Penguin and his umbrella.”

“You got it, Padre!” Dick chimed. He looked away from his battle for just a moment - just long enough to see his father shoot his grappling hook onto the roof of the bank and fly up towards it - before looking back and giving his feathery, robotic foe a strong *POW!* kick! 

The three robots remaining squawked loudly at him, and while Dick did flinch a bit at the volume, the Boy Wonder still continued giving a determined look. If these guys wanted to play, then he was going to play! 

Two of the robo-penguins rushed forward, but just as they reached them, Dick jumped. He managed to jump on the head of the first one (landing hard enough to knock it out), get a couple good punches on the other one, and then backflipped back just as they started to fall. 

“Ha! Yes!” he cheered, grinning now. Though, he reminded himself not to get too excited. There was still one left, and based on how it was glaring at him, it wasn’t going to go down easily...

Eyes glowing red, the robo-penguin crouched down. Thinking it was going to try to tackle him, Dick crouched down a bit as well in preparation. But the bird didn’t move! The boy blinked. “Huh?” Was it stuck or something, or-?

Before he could finish his thought, the robo-penguin let out another squawk as it crouched down even further. And, after a couple seconds, it... It laid an egg?! Wait, no. Not just any egg... “Oh boy,” Dick mumbled, taking a couple steps back.

Snickering at his fear, the robot quickly kicked its egg-bomb towards the young hero. Dick squeaked, but still held his hands up to catch it, even if he did also close his eyes. Another second passed, and he felt something heavy and cold land in his eyes. Opening one eye up, he looked down and saw a ticking timer staring back at him.

Letting out another squeak, Dick started looking around. How was he supposed to get rid of a bomb?! Where-? Suddenly, he spotted it - a mostly empty dumpster in the front of an alley way! “Yes!” Pushing his nerves as far as they could go, he took a couple steps forward and tried his best to aim before kicking the bomb away.

The egg flew up high, and for a moment, Dick worried that he might have accidentally kicked it right into a building! Thankfully, its heaviness soon caused it to plummet, hitting the door of the dumpster right in the center and causing it to close just as the bomb itself fell into the container below. And not a second too soon it seemed, since it didn’t take very long at all for the bomb to explode. The dumpster, of course, crumbled into dozens of pieces, but it looked like the rest of the surrounding area had been spared.

“Phew....” Dick sighed - though he couldn’t relax for long. Thanks to its explosive distraction, the final robo-penguin had taken this chance to run away (or, maybe it was more like quickly waddle away) and try to escape. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Looking determined once more, Dick leapt up and grabbed onto a nearby street lamp. He flipped over it a couple times to gain up momentum before letting go, flinging himself towards the destructive bird and landing right on its back! With the robot now right under him, it didn’t take Dick long to find its power switch and turn it off. 

“Yes! Yay!” he cheered. Though, after a moment, he stopped and realized that he wasn’t the only one cheering. 

Turning around, he saw the huge crowd that had gathered around the bank (which was now umbrella-free), applauding as the Dark Knight himself descended down from the bank’s roof with an annoyed Penguin in tow. Grinning, Dick hopped down from the robot’s back and ran towards his father.

“Thank you, thank you,” Batman said as he waved at the crowd, “I mean really, you’re all too kind! It was no big deal, just me saving the day!” Still, his audience continued to shout out compliments, which Batman of course answered, all while he tried to give out as many high fives as he could. As for Dick, he just made sure to stay by his father’s side - though he also made sure to wave and smile for the crowd too, even if they didn’t really pay much attention to him. 

Eventually, the two made their way to the Bat-Mobile, giving one last wave before getting in. “Gosh, that was GREAT! Huh, Dad?” Dick grinned. Even if it wasn’t exactly his first bad-guy thwarting, the thrill was still definitely there. 

“Yep, saved the day again,” Batman smirked as he started the engine, “Penguin didn’t stand a chance.”

“Heh, no way! And it was fun too!”

“You’re darn right it was!” Batman then pressed a button, and the Bat-Mobile shot forward, quickly getting on the nearest freeway. “Though, I guess we shouldn’t brag too much about how awesome it was,” he told him, “Babs and Alfred might get jealous.”

Dick chuckled. “Heh, right.” Though, it had been Barbara and Alfred’s choice to stay behind on this mission, just because they both had important issues to take care of that night, so he didn’t think they would get too jealous. And honestly, their absence that night hadn’t been that big of a deal. Sure, beating up bad guys with a team was definitely more fun than doing it alone. But hey, sometimes a little father-son crime fighting time could be just as great!

“...Hmmm...” Batman hummed, glancing down at the Bat-Mobile’s computer. It really wasn’t that late, and it had been a while...

“Hm? What is it?” Dick asked curiously.

“Oh, nothing... Just thinking about how we can maybe spread some of this fun around,” Batman replied, and before his son could ask for details, he sharply turned onto another road. Looking down at the map on the screen, it didn’t take long for Dick to figure out just what the hero was planning - and of course, he totally agreed with it. 

Taking hardly any time at all to get there, the Bat-Mobile soon screeched to a halt in front of a building that was pretty familiar for both of them. And, even if they were both wearing their newly installed seat belts, Batman still held his arm out in front of Dick, just in case. 

Once the car was completely stopped though, the hero didn’t waste any time and hopped out of the car, honking the horn before opening the door. Turning to the passenger side window, Dick’s smile softened a bit as he looked out at his old home. Within seconds, he saw dozens of orphans - old friends and acquaintances, as well as a few new kids - race out to meet their hero. 

“Hey kids!” Batman greeted, waving at them from on top of the roof of his car, “It’s really great to see you all again! So, who’s your favorite hero?”

“BATMAN!” all the kids - including Dick, who had started getting out of the car so he could watch - replied loudly and proudly.

The Dark Knight grinned. “Great answer! Alright!” Of course, it didn’t take long for the merch gun to come out and start firing free Batman-themed goodies out for all the kids - as well as giving Dick another small pinch of nostalgia. It was honestly pretty hard to believe that he had been in that same crowd of orphans just a couple months ago...

He never did get any of that merch, always getting there too late and only managing to get a glimpse at his hero for his troubles... ‘Maybe I should ask,’ Dick thought to himself. Though, considering who his parent was now, the idea seemed kinda moot. After all, who needs merch when you have the actual person? Still, there was nothing saying that he couldn’t be a fan of his dad’s, and having a Batman tee or hat would still be really cool!

“...Hey, look!” “Whoa, is that Robin?” 

The boy blinked, and looked out into the crowd. Did someone just say-?

“Look, Robin’s here!” “Wow!” “It’s Robin, look!” “Robin! You’re so cool!”

“I - Huh?” Before he could even fully realize what was happening, Dick had a whole crowd surrounding him, looking at him with the same awe and amazement they gave his father. “Wait, you- You guys know me?”

“Yeah!” a few of the kids answered, “You’re awesome!”

“You helped save the city with Batman!” “You’re a hero - AND you’re a kid!” “You’re just so cool!” “Yeah, go Robin!”

The compliments just kept coming, and all Dick could do was stare wide-eyed at all the orphans - at his fans. He just couldn’t believe it... He never would have thought that he would actually have fans! That he would actually have people who looked up to him just as much as he looked up to Batman. But, there they were.

Speaking of which, Batman was pretty surprised as well - both at the situation, and at just how quickly he had lost his crowd. But even so, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight, just a little. Jumping down from his car, he put a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Yep, Robin’s the best. Am I right, kids? Best sidekick there is! The Boy Wonder, right here!”

The kids cheered louder in agreement, shouting things like “Go Robin!” and “Fly Robin Fly!”.

“...You know kid, you should at least wave back at your fans,” Batman whispered to him, “Especially when they’re this happy to see you.”

“...” Slowly, Dick started to grin. Blinking back a couple tears, he backflipped onto the hood of the Bat-Mobile and struck a heroic pose. The kids went wild, cheering as loud as they could and even chanting his name! He even heard Batman join in a couple times!

And honestly, all Dick could do was smile.

()()()()()()()()()

Despite being ‘secret’, it was still pretty easy to hear when one of the manor’s hidden doors opened up. Alfred glanced up at the clock. It was actually only about one am, not too late for a dark knight. But, with someone to help him out, it was no wonder that he was finishing his nights twice as fast.

“Good evening-” Or rather, morning- “to you both, Master Bruce and Mas-” As he turned to look at the duo, he quickly noticed that Dick was wiping his eyes. “Master Dick, are you alright?” he asked, now full of concern.

But Dick just smiled widely at him, despite his eyes still being a bit teary eyed. “Don’t worry, Grandpa, I’m okay. Great, even!”

“Just a little emotional,” Batman added, giving the boy a small pat on the back, “No big deal. Oh, but hey, Alfred, do you think that you could put together some Robin merch? You know, tee shirts, hats, cups, pretty much anything that can be shot out of a merch gun. ...Hmm, maybe some Robin Birdseed? Kids like birdseed, right?”

Holding back a chuckle, Alfred nodded. “Of course, Sir, I’ll get to work on that right away.”

“Great, thanks, Alfred.” “Thanks Grandpa!” With that, the duo started heading towards the kitchen for their usual late-night supper. Though, as they walked, Dick still kept a small smile on his face. Not his usual overly excited smile, but definitely a happy one.

“Heh, I guess this sorta makes it official,” he quietly spoke up after a few moments, “I’m... I’m actually a hero!” A hero with his own great (and sparkly) costume, super skills, a superhero family to fight with, and now, his own group of fans.

“Yep...” Batman replied simply, giving his son a small smile in return, “Never doubted it for a second.”

THE END

[team-adults-blog]

4.05 Tinder Box

In which I make 6 references- 5 numbered and then Wizards of Waverly Place- a few jokes, and a prediction that I think is SPOT ON. Join me on this reactionary journey (in chronological order). 

Abby, Jackson is relaying the science info for the audience, not you. I know that you know, but we, the audience, do not. give him a break.

Oh, the Mt. Weather parallels. BUT Abby checks herself. To all the haters: this means Abby is good. She’s NOT doing what was done in Mt. Weather. Dr. Tsing is a foil; they are fundamentally different.

I too hate molecular biology

At least Helios is a good horse and stays with Octavia when she falls. Unlike that dog vid. (reference 1 here if you don’t immediately get this)

Hey it’s Niylah! Not on the show in the way I predicted (Octavia going to her) but she’s still playing the healing role so I’m proud I pulled that out of thin air.

Oh no Ilian I don’t trust you yet because you hate tech but thanks for saving O.

Miller’s dad is ranking officer. Yeahhhh boyyyy. So many speaking lines, such as: “the radiation’s our enemy, not the ice nation” awwwww so proud of you.

Clarke’s poker face about all things Bellamy needs some work.

Her come the prisoners. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. its Kane and Bellamy. THE MOMENT CLARKE’S BEEN WAITING FOR. (reference 2, keep playing!)

[I had to watch commercials on this rewatch and why are there commercials for books? You don’t want to cast your character so it’s just a bunch of moving dark figures over an abstract background. Pointless. Plus this Riverdale show looks unrealistic.] I learned how to use line breaks and they please me.

Riley stop it. Only like 4 more episodes until your likely death.

“They knew you were coming”- Bell so hopeful. This is lovely. But I would have preferred a little more anguish and suspense before he and Kane know she’s alive. Some good acting and character development could have come from that instead of them finding out the next day.

Octavia knows she’s not lucky Ilian brought her in. Who didn’t question his taking all these explosives? Where is everyone?

Raven and Abby love and concern <3 they are the best. Hand holding throughout their scenes this week. I dig it. 

I thought we all knew Raven had the upgrade and thus still has ALIE in her head? Jackson and Abby are just figuring this out, fine, but I knew. The people I watched with did not? They just thought Raven was really smart? When did I learn this lil’ bit of information?

Abs we gotta go back to space! Raven’s looking at the gas lines and floor map to figure out there’s a rocket ship! She didn’t know where it was, but she knew what to tell the computer to do. PURE JOY! I AM SO HAPPY RAVEN FOUND A SHIP. This seem dangerous too though…

[Commercials are only acceptable in the actual air time. OMG THERE WAS A REALLY CUTE SHELTER DOG COMMERCIAL I TAKE IT ALL BACK cwgood.com if you want to see it. Omg no I had to watch 6 commercials wtf]

Riley you suck. I want to feel nothing at your death in 4-5 episodes.

P sure Costa was just on the island with doctor tech squad? They have to be more careful about where their quaternary-and-beyond(!) characters are.

Clarke is the only one who Roan listens to. Their cave scene was v good. Don’t brag about your lack of heart about your mom to someone who literally had the worst mom. Clarke, your mother cares about you. Roan’s mom used him as a tool in her ploy for power. Telling him that you care about your people more than your mom brings up some ethical values questions. Sacrificing one to save the many seems like a fine moral argument. But when you put faces onto those people things change: A ton of strangers vs your mom? That makes the decision harder. One stranger vs your fam and closest friends? That seems like an easy decision. I don’t know if it makes you a better or worse person for being willing to sacrifice your mother, but it’s definitely not an argument I would want to make. Especially with Roan. He let Lexa spear his mom. I cheered at that scene- it was badass. It was also clear she was a villain. And a completely different relationship dynamic. Clarke could use some advice from Selena Gomez and the Wizards of Waverly Place Theme, “you might run into trouble if you go to extremes because everything is not what it seems.”  You know, with the whole list thing and promising Roan safety in the Ark and taking Jaha’s advice. S3 Clarke could have used the line “be careful not to mess with the balance of things” when she was trying to change grounder culture. Season 4: “The end will no doubt justify the means” or, alternatively, “That’s what I said” in which Jasper goes around making that’s what she said jokes but about himself.  This didn’t directly relate to what I was talking about. My head just went there.

“Riley shouldn’t be here” Good Bell! AH-chers (Kane).I don’t understand why they all have to have American accents? Like let Ian’s lovely accent out. Let Bob’s vocal cords rest. A bunch of accents would have been initially present on the Ark because it was an international force. If English became the dominant language, fine. It’s an American show I don’t care enough to argue that point. One language across the stations is understandably necessary. BUT. Accents don’t disappear. I grew up with this guy whose parents are both English- a lawyer (now head judge, whaddup) and a professor. They’re all super cool. His sister taught me how to pop-lock-and DROP it on a mission trip and went to Oxford. Anyways, both kids have accents because their English parents taught them how to speak. I don’t know for sure if by high school this guy could turn his accent on and off, depending on the social setting, but he may have left it on for maaayyyybbeeeee pretentious reasons. He’s not pretentious, but he’s charming af and flatters my grandma at the Christmas Eve service and like. He’s a little posh. A kind, good person, and probs not posh in England, but he’s posh here. The point is I’m not an expert and don’t know. HOWEVER. It is possible that he can’t turn his accent off and I’m being a dick because I’m relating his ability of turning on/off his accent to my ability to turn on/off a southern accent. The difference is that I was not raised by parents who have the southern accent- I just took one on because I rode a redneck bus and was trying to assimilate. The moral of the story is this: accents, even over 100 years, would not have homogenized to the point that Ian and Bob and Eliza and Ricky and Alycia and everyone else have to lose their accents. It’s a skill but if we follow the English guy I grew up with not losing his accent despite being around other people (and not me singing ZBB’s Chicken Fried with my friends) logic, the different accents should still be there. But then that creates issues for the show runners of having to determine which countries has people in space. There were flags at the Unity Day ceremony, and I’m pretty sure I remember there being an Indian flag, so where are they? Put Dev Patel on the show. Jk he’s too good they could never get him. How did they even get Ian? I’m happy he’s here though. Isaiah can’t get larger roles because no one likes him. I may be projecting, but I also feel like Shonda Rhimes burned that boy.

Bellamy (and a reluctant Echo) to save the day. I hope by the end of the season 1) Echo is still alive, and 2) they’ve forged some sort of trust. They’ve had a cool bond since Bellamy saves Echo from the cages™ in Mt. Weather. Then Echo “saves” Bellamy from the Azgeda assassin who blows up Mt. Weather by tricking him into going to polis. She’s like I saved you, dude. And he’s like no, you lied to me and made it possible for a bunch of my friends to die. Then she’s like hey, be my friend, I’ve had sooo many chances to kill you and still haven’t, that’s friendship right? Bellamy’s like. No. I don’t trust you. Boom. Echo captures (? She brings them into the throne room, idk if she captures them herself) Bell and Stevens (rip, tattletale) and could have killed them both. She doesn’t kill Bellamyyyyyyy… Then this scene with Riley. There’s obviously trust issues on both sides- She doesn’t remove Bell’s chains. “so much for building trust” Bell. She’s worried her king is going to be shot. This is not the moment to scold her But I think she still wants to be friends. It must be rough to be such a badass spy and not to have just one friend. Bell seems to be the Chosen One™ and I hope they can work out their differences. Post Riley they share a secret, so they’re working on itttttttttt.

[I had to reload the page and I’ve now watched 8 commercials. The girl at the booth next to me is talking about her authentic (highly not-authentic) Irish pub experience and all the musicians playing their “banjos and fiddles.” Shut the fuck up. The page timed out again. Enough. I have to watch another 6 commercialssss. I’m tired of this proactive commercial, but at least the CW knows their target audience #annoyed]

SHA-BoO0M GOES THE ARK. Well that bad deal Clarke just made is over. She may have promised Azgeda protection from radiation, but what about Trikru? You’re going to help Roan and not Indra? Not a fan of that deal. Glad it went up in smoke. Da dunn tsssshhhhhh. Puns are fun. (reference 3, same as 2). I now know why the episode is Tinder Box. It all makes sense.

Bellamy and Octavia reunited. Another shot of the shoulder tat. Clarke and the Blakes holding hands (well Bell’s holding O and Clarke’s holding her hand. Poor Kane has no one to hold. Where’s awk bff David Miller? Hold him. The Blakes could at least invite him over.

Back at Doctor Tech Squad- Raven has a stroke! Possibly fatal, who can say? Raven’s just excited to go to space, and I’m happy for her. Abby also at risk, but doesn’t want to be tested until she’s showing more symptoms than those she already has from being sleep deprived. This is pretty normal for people whose parents get diagnosed with genetic diseases. Some people want to know, but not knowing can give you hope for things that can’t be cured. Abby wants to focus on helping adorable Raven save the whole world. But. Hey, how ya doing, well I’m doing just fine, I lied, I’m dying inside my brain and starting to have hallucinations of my daughter dying from radiation. (reference 4. I couldn’t find the one I wanted but imagine a vine of that over this) So now we’re worried about Raven and Abby. Will Abby tell Jackson? My thoughts- No. she’ll try to hide it as long as she can, working on a cure for Raven, then help herself. Yet I don’t see either of them dying? Raven is too important plot-wise and the writers and viewers lovelovelove the character. My argument for Abby living is more of a personal one and then behind the scenes of Paige Turco being a parent who’s very forward with her scheduling (why she doesn’t typically do up fronts etc so she can have separate work and son time) and probs has her contract locked down.

Not my fave episode, lots of callbacks to earlier seasons, but generally not super satisfying plot. Mainly because 4.04 set up these storylines- Octavia on her way back, Doctor Tech Squad reaching the lab, Bellamy and Kane as prisoners. The Polis/ Arkadia plotlines fell short somehow of their build. There were conflicts, but it lacked drama? If that makes sense.. I enjoyed the lab plot because all Raven x Abby interactions have great energy, not to mention they found a rocket. That story still feels like it’s still advancing and keeping the drama up. Props to Miller Sr. for getting more speaking lines in one episode than he did in the entirety of S3.

OMG- A THOUGHT-

what if. they send. Thelonious frickin Jaha. into space instead of Raven?

Stay with me here: Raven could have a seizure which is a risk. Jaha was an engineer and is capable- they’ve been slowly using that in the story and I was wondering when it would actually become plot relevant. BTS: Isaiah Washington finished filming his stuff before everyone else. I doubt he’s dead, but if all his stuff is him by himself/ him video chatting in from the ship, this explains how he could have wrapped up so quickly without dying. Additionally, he needs a big redemption for people to like him again after the CoL. Holy cow I think I’m on to something here! He and Kane S1 were rivals both trying to become martyrs/ find salvation. Thelonious wins, Marcus goes to Earth. But then Jaha makes it to Earth too because he knows how to run a pod. I am heartbroken for Raven, it’s really going to suck getting benched if I’m right. More so when I know Abby and Jackson are probably going to be the ones to tell her and they’ll get so much hate. But Raven and Abby can coach Jaha through some of the medical/ technical stuff (a la Apollo 13-reference 5- and Lieutenant Dan. I don’t remember the dude’s name in that movie- the actor is Gary something p. sure, but he’s in Forrest Gump with T.Hanks too so I don’t feel that bad. He also got benched for a medical issue (back to Apollo 13) that he didn’t get so this tangent was not a waste. He was needed to problem solve and figure out how to save the men on Apollo 13. Raven could parallel this.) and still be a team, which I like. I just want Raven to be happy, she deserves that. I don’t want Jaha to have a lot of glory for doing this either. If it was Raven hell yes. But for him it’s the least he can do. That’s wrong of me, but their histories are incredibly different. 

[bookreadalongs]

Wow, Lara J, I Get You

15:49 5/8/2017

85. All cutesy and smiles on the outside, but on the inside bitter thought. “I guess she didn’t think a girl like me could really shine at UVA.” 86. “He’s a Potter person, like us.” I thought it said “like the rest of us” and I was like yes! 87. I feel like Ravenclaw would suit Margot, but that’s because she’s a Ravenclaw…probably. LJ’s…very creative, but probably hufflepuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was Gryffindor…actually, she’s very scared about a lot of things. I don’t think she lets fear rule her life, but I think it does affect it (naturally) to a degree that she wouldn’t be Gryffindor. I’d love for Ravi to be Slytherin. Yo, where’s Josh going to school? 88. Dad didn’t think Margot would be the hardest to please, I bet. Lara Jean always chirps on about her mother. Margot did have he most time with her though… 91. I love the way they talk about their family. LJ said earlier– Tumblr is doing it again. Anyway, I’ll ignore it right now, just focusing on not making typos that I can’t see. LJ said they were a Butter in the fridge family. Same. Now, Margot says they are not a Fresca family. Love it. I never thought of our family this way, but everyone has their quirks. Family’s as a whole certainly do.

I can’t handle this. 15:59 can’t see

16:23 102. Me. I’m probably And Peggy, but I’d rather not condemn myself that way. 106. I remember how much I wanted Tia there when I found a prom dress…goodness gracious Tumblrr. Okay, I’ll switch to desktop 16:28 16:32 114. Okay, I caved. Peter is included in the proposal though! Like, woah! Would it be overkill if she said no? Like LJ’s rejection? She won’t though…just all of these expectations, planning the future around assumptions 116. AHHHHH I CAN’T THAT IS SO NICE PETER AND KITTY 121. That’s so embarrassing. I thought KITTY called her Tree because she was tall… 16:56 I suck. I read the last paragraph. It was perfect. By the last paragraph, I mean the last two pages basically. Mom basically said to postpone making dinner. I will for half an hour to an hour. 7:29 138. LJ…she’s so cute. It doesn’t annoy me at all that she’s pretty. She’s just…she’s a good one to be pretty. 140. Literal same. I’m so there. Draft talk is always like wat. I tried to look it up a few times. I feel like I got caught reading about other countries or something. 140-141. He’s so cute. So young. So full of life and promise. AHHH SAME LARA JEAN 141. He’s so cute and perceptive. 143. I totally had those thoughts. In his twenties that I may never get to meet. 146. I just remembered that cliche thing is what I say. Cliches are cliches for a reason. I hope Chris remembers LJ’s birthday 147. I love it. 148. Will KITTY and Owen….?? 151. HAHAHAHAH WOW FACE MASKS?! 153. Oh, I’ve been wanting to watch that for years! Because…Burdge 156. See, right now I don’t relate to Lara Jean much at all. I would not be this hands on in a wedding during school, I don’t think. I wonder if the Asian heritage subconsciously plays a role for me I wonder if Tia saying asians were weird in my childhood made a difference for me. Lily wasn’t. Tia liked Lily a lot…she also appreciated nicer people. I don’t know. I know I’m more easily jealous of another Asian than others…I just want to break down all of my walls of prejudice 159. I love this exchange “Sure, but I could’ve had that idea on my own, you know. You should at least give me a chance to have ideas.” I pay him on the knee. “Just please don’t forget.” 160. Dang. I forgot they were related. I thought he just volunteered too. Sneaking out and playing in the snow…so sweet. 161. I’m not entirely sure who sent that text. 162. Oh right. I wish we got to see Margot Meeting Stormy. I have been thinking about writing and don’t know how to avoid the boring parts…but JHan just skips them. If their too rudimentary and have little purpose, just don’t include them. They need to contribute to the story. 163. The offer, true offer, is what counts for me too. I can be furious or ready to cry, and someone can say, I’m sorry. I can __ and suddenly I’m all good. Because that’s all I needed. A genuine offer to clean the dish or do this or that, then I’ll do it anyway…because all I was ever really searching for was the offer. - for a second I thought she’d rethink and go to school in Richmond. Probs not though 164. Wow. A year ago. We missed most of LJ’s senior year. I want to know what she did. Mostly spend it with Peter? Go to those parties? 167. WHAT WHAT WHAT?! WAT WAT. WHAAAAAT? I always pictured John Ambrose McClaren as a really smart dude destined for…I don’t know…an Ivy, I guess. Love it. 168. LJ is just too darn relatable sometimes. I swear, she can appeal to such a great audience. “I say it like I don’t remember her name, even though I do, I mean, I just heard him say it two minutes ago.” 19:10 My potato pancakes are a struggle. They were supposed to be a quick easy dinner… 180. I get that. Knowing someone so well… 181. Lip jut out. Awwww 182. I wish I went to after prom…in Shaker I wish I had Tia’s high school life 183. But Chris knew she’d spend time with LJ during her birthday after all 184. AHHH IT IS ALMOST CHEATING USING ALL THESE CUTESY MOVIE CLICHES BUT I LOVE IT 185. Little lines that are vague and obvious, but hit you are why I like Jenny Han. “I guess that’s part of growing up too–saying goodbye to the things you used to love.” Ah, so that’s why she wished to always love Peter as much as she did in that moment. I guess John Green’s thing that Ryan loved and bought was so deep about funerals being for the living is also…like what I love. The cliches authors know teenagers and anyone– I feel like I’ll love this later in life too, will love because they feel that tug of authenticity in the quote. You can connect to it by thinking of a particular feeling or memory even though the line wasn’t explicitly written for you. 190. He doesn’t say anything because he hasn’t broken t to her that they will not have all summer because DI lax or because they only have summer? 191. Leaving high school…damn that would’ve been crazy in Shaker 193. I let the breathing thing slide even though I thought it was funny. Kitty saying let’s not get carried away made me actually laugh though. This book has the most feminine cover and coloring ever 196. This is the first time Chris has been more of a good thing than a bad thing I feel like. I would do this. 197. I know Peter will try to call as your phone is dead. He’ll be all but LJ doesn’t let her phone die! Wat is going on 199. Tell him that. Text him rather than being spiteful! I’m always spiteful though 201. She definitely plays the role of introvert well, but…I don’t know. People can be introverted and just not be as socially anxious I guess. 204. Chris’ big attitude and talk are coming down now…it’s refreshing. 206. Another use of the phrase “it’s cliche for a reason” 208. This is a great page. It gave me chills. A genuine connection between Lara Jean and her future step mom. Differentiating her life from Peter…laughter from lack of sleep. Matriarchy 211. Oh goody! I’d love for them not to go to a party too! 213. As my Dear Evan Hansen would say, we start with stars in our eyes…Peters have deflated a little 214. Wow, Virginia Tech? Aren’t tech schools harder? Is Gen like smart? 216. Lols me as a girlfriend. Literal the shitty parts of me as a girlfriend 217. Why is he a dick? For getting drunk? That’s certainly part of it. Not being completely happy? Fair, but, yes, dickish. He seems to have changed a lot since dating her though. I don’t think she realizes that. 218. Hahaha love him - A truth universially acknowledged that a man with a fortune must be in want of a wife? Or something like that. It’s been a few years. 3? 220. I laughed again at “Do I need to explain to you guys again about Silpat versus parchment paper?” “We got it.” Hahaha her share of cookies 222. Hahah “Hey, I’m built.” 225. HAHAHA THE LONG CON. GOTTA GET PETER ON YOUR SIDE 227. Does Jenny Han also follow Burdge? Or are all of these coincidences (okay, two, Amelie and tread softly because you tread on my dreams) 229. That’s sweet 232. I just realized Jenny Han sneakily maneuvered back to the beach. @TheSummerITurnedPretty 233. Those trying very hard to be relatable lines…not being able to find a hair tie when you need one 234. High school being a time to remember for the rest of your life…. 20:04 Gotta make food. Not feeling reading anymore. 20:28 236. IT can be hard bringing up snooping. It's because he lied. Lies suck 238. Feelingly? -basketball hoop heist? @barneystinson 241. WOAH HOW DID I NEVER GET THAT SHE WENT TO CAMILLA'S SCHOOL? I guess...if it's been two years since this came out, and I read the second one reasonably before Camilla told me I could've forgotten. Still. Bad friend move 243. Eek is right. She's trying 246. Woah. That's something KITTY would say. Ruthless That's an interesting take on why it's better to be in a fight rather than passive aggressive pensiveness 247. KITTY THAT IS SO SWEET! No one would've been able to tell Kitty to do that. That's the cutest thing ever 248. Oh, Peter 250. LJ is so endearing 253. That's so cute. Lara Jean liked Kitty's nose earlier 256. They're both understandably petty. 257. Good ol' John Ambrose McClaren 258. I wish we got to see that talk of LJ being the star of that costume...now that I think about it...he always does let her be the star WAIT WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO THE BEACH? DID IT ALREADY HAPPEN?! THERE IS SO LITTLE BOOK LEFT! I was content at the end of PS I still love you. I so will not be content now. I feel like that has less to do with the books than my state of being 259. Wtf you took your grandmother to karaoke and we didn't get to see that? I feel jypped Oh good. Somehow I knew Beach Week hadn't happened yet. Time just jumps sometimes in these books. 20:53 20:10 262. Oh, Lara Jean, so romantic. I wish I was like that 269. Hahaha John Ambrose McClaren is so cute. What a rabbit 270. JHan is totally trying to make him cute too "still holding the carrot" What the BUT? He was going to her school, then she goes to the school he planned to transfer to? They just have weird, but many similarities. It's why he's so cute. Because she's so cute He's genuinely happy for her doing what he couldn't 274. Just don't be too offended when he doesn't eat it because diet. Also, how can you be so skinny, LJ? 276. LJ is very confident...she's a good role model. Good job, Jenny Han 277. She understands a layer of someone who she loves more than life itself be away 278. He really respects her 21:24 21:28 279. I love him. I love his precautions. I love that he literally jumped away when she said wait Have they ever even been half unclothed? 280. He's so reassuring 285. Woah. PETER OH MY GOSH YOU ARE SO RECKLESS AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN TREACHEROUS. YOU STILL HAVE STARS IN YOUR EYES. YOU ARE SO CUTE 289. It's so hard. It truly is. 290. The house feels small. Rather than big. With her feeling so small That's the most younger sister thing I have ever heard. "Margot and I are on the same level, and you're on the level below us because, you're the youngest." Lara Jean is that bridge. Perks of middle child...though I frequently see the oldest and youngest with stronger relationships because they just don't have friction as much 293. That's nice that Margot noticed. I get not telling her. Tia is great, gives wonderful advice...but sometimes I feel like she doesn't completely listen to me when she has made up her mind...or that she talks down to me if she does listen 294. Pigtails? LJ is childish sometimes 299. One drink? Yeah...I can't do that Ah, yes. The drunk slight cop out 302. I mean, all of that does make sense in his perspective. 303. Wow. What a good moment for Margot and Trina to make amends, or start to, right before the wedding 304. I love that this was her first hang over. I realized this whole book I've been nervous she was going to just let loose at some party. This kind of makes sense 305. Why does Kitty know? 308. These children are all so privileged. To think she could get anything she needs...on the spur 309. Yeah....that's the thing about growing up. Nothing will ever be the same 310. Is it normal to only have one or two friends from high school? I guess so... 311. I just had real flashbacks to too much frosting during OL...asking about f it was homemade. I would've made it. I was talked out of it. If everything went how I thought it would and should....I guess I'll never know if I ever could've 316. I read that as ice cream. I was like interesting for a wedding 317. Ahh my heart. Tears actually formed. He was so scared. She gave him the scrapbook or break up... 320. I love how uncertain that is. Jenny Han knows that. "With all the certainty only a teenage boy can have" 321. Wow. I love it. I love him. He's so imperfect. Why only tell us this now? I was just wondering when she got it back 322. AHHH NOW SHE'S LEAVING TO COLLEGE?! I guess...this is already so subtle and contemporary. The only times it shows are little times of conflict. She showed all of the cutesy in the beginning to convince us all of their love...I feel like I need to reread the first one mow..this is so sad That's totally the point. A chapter ending. I wonder if this was sad for Jenny Han 324. The dream. My dream. Marrying my childhood best friend...that's Jack though. He's crazy. He's a star. Tia says he's gay. Wouldn't put it past him. He's amazing, but I just don't think I will ever feel that way. I mean, I totally did kindergarten and fourth grade, but...he's not my best friend anymore... I forgot so much. I should've reread them all before reading this. I remember he got that brooch or something for her from his mom's store...but don't remember everything. 325. Wow. I know I read it earlier. I read it preemptively like a little brat. This was a really good book. It was different...powerful. The other books were cute. I loved them in that way. The one that got away. Josh. They weren't relatable for me. I loved them. Jenny Han plays the being able to love them, but love Peter more extremely well. I have to say, though I always think this after reading something new that I like...5 stars. Maybe 4.85. I love it. It's so cute. It's not 100% relatable, but it is somewhat, and it's great in ways that it's not relatable. Throwback when it was too perfect, and I was unsure about it. Look how far we've come. That was a perfect ending. I love Jenny Han so much. I love it all. The fact that they're still so close...that they can go home on three day weekends...I ache for that...but...it's good for them. It really is. I went to Barnes and noble for the last time today. Well, the last time here. I sneakily took a picture of Jenny's Q and A in the B&N exclusive version. I felt very...wrong doing it. I looked over my shoulder, quickly did it, then quickly put the book back...I am so bad at being bad. It was just the question of what LJ's wedding song with Peter would be and what her wedding song with JAM would be. Wow. Gotta love those initials. At Last was perfect. They are so good for each other...truly soul mates in another life. Well, he probably is transferring to UNC...no. Peter and LJ though. They can do it. Please? I love that this is where it ends. It feels ended. It's such a good place to end it. They still have stars in their eyes. They never really fought. This will be different. 4 hours though...no...like 3.5...that's so reasonable. They can do it. 22:24 22:25 OKAY AHHHHHHH! I went to read the playlist again (for about the fourth or fifth time, I know. I suck) and it ended with Frank Ocean...because, well, sex. Love it. Sneaky. Okay...I think it's really done now...I will make some of the sweets in the back sometimes. Pour one out for LJ and her sweet tooth and her sweet relationships with her family and Peter. 22:26