#i WANT RESOLUTION FOR ALL THE PEOPLE INVOLVED AND FOR THE GHOSTS TOO

[the-acid-pear]

[killerpancakeburger]

GHOST 💀x Reader HCS PT.2

Inspired by @temeyes breathtaking art once again.

He's the kind of person who says "If you die I'll kill you".

He's actually fond of people who stand up to him. Not in a way that is rude or irritating, but people who don't put up with his shit and push back when he's being too stubborn for his own good. He's even impressed if the person in question is a civilian and/or way smaller than him.

He'll go suddenly silent after you snapped at him for good reasons, staring intensely, and you think to yourself: That's it. This is how I go. He's gonna murder me in my sleep. Goodbye cruel world.

Then he just snorts. An half amused, half appreciative sound. Looks you up and down, like you're a new person.

Laughing at his jokes will inflate his ego. Specially if you laugh more at them than at Soap's antics. His humour is too dark for most people so its true value is rarely appreciated - according to him.

Agressively cares. If you're looking down he immediately offers to murder whoever did this to you. You never know if he actually means it or not, because he's deadpan as usual when saying it, but he's also the only killer you know that offered to kill for you...

Will pull out his best (worst?) Jokes for you. Calls you out frankly if you're talking shit about yourself and doesn't shy away from calling you a bloody idiot for it. It's easier for him to care about you than to care about himself.

Him trying to seduce you would involve: juggling between hot and cold because one day he's resolute to win you over and the next he convinced himself this is all a terrible mistake and you could never want him, and you deserve better anyway than this ghost of a man.

Him making more jokes than usual, specially when you're alone together. Him showing off - he's not insecure at all about his body nor his skills -, wether it's by lifting heavy things, sweating in the training room, "accidentally" being shirtless when you visit his room...

Will stand behind you in silence so when you walk backwards or turn around you bump into his chest. He wonder how many times he can get away with it before you notice he's very much doing it on purpose.

Uses his height to lean in and whisper things in your ear. Doesn't even need to be scandalous in nature. The rasp of his voice, his accent, the murmur, the proximity of his lips to your skin, all of this make for a deadly combo. And you react so, so well when he compliments and praises you, the filth can come later.

Comes up with more or less believable reasons to pull up his mask more often when he's alone with you because he knows you will stare at his lips.

[pharawee]

People really let Kenta down. And by "people" I don't mean Tony (he doesn't get to be people) but his supposed "family" who appealed to him over and over in season 1, promising him that he too could have what they have and that he might even be included in their little found family, if only he turned his back on Tony and helped them.*

*Yes, ultimately they promised nothing but a path to redemption but please hear me out.

And then, when he did, in a way that no one but him could have done (and in a way that benefitted them most of all), they just... forgot about him. The narrative itself forgot about him. After he killed Tony, Kenta quite literally vanishes mid-scene like a ghost who's resolved his unfinished business.

And with Babe and Jeff and Charlie** it doesn't even hurt that much because to them I guess (and perhaps rightfully so) Kenta is part of their traumatic past, and his downfall adds to their resolution (then again, they later extend that promised forgiveness posthumously to Way who was also deeply entangled in that trauma but had the good fortune of already being a part of their family).

**I'm not blaming them at all. I like them a lot and what they do and why they do it makes a lot of sense.

But with Pete it's just the past repeating itself, only this time he doesn't leave Kenta for a cause (a cause that, yes, Kenta could have followed if only he wasn't so weighed down by his own demons) but for the ideal of someone who's not even there anymore (and who for all intents and purposes never existed at all except as a hopeful future in Pete's mind). In his grief for Way, Pete forgets about Kenta too. And I don't blame him. Obviously he's also held back by the ghost of maybes (as proven by the fact that he's, uh, not doing well at the start of season 2).

It's Kenta who remembers and seeks out Pete, and I believe him when he says that it's out of obligation. Because while no one else truly sees Kenta as part of the family, I believe that he himself now does. They planted that seed in him in season 1 (and then promptly forgot to nurture it).

There's obviously still feelings involved and it's obvious that both Kenta and Pete are aware of them (although it's way past the point where Pete could reciprocate... or where Kenta would even want him to) but at this point it's all just ghosts haunting ruins - unsettling and broken and there's nothing to be done about it. They're both stuck here.

So, as a PeteKenta truther for life, I'm glad that it's going to be Kim.

He, too, is a bit of an outsider (but for entirely different reasons), and that's exactly what Kenta needs right now. Kim isn't haunted by the ghosts of the past. He has no reason to do anything out of shared and ultimately fruitless obligation. And because he's so uncompromising in his ideals, it's going to mean something when he eventually chooses Kenta - because no one's ever done that for him before. Pete certainly never has.

That being said, I'm not even really all that disappointed that PeteKenta isn't endgame. With the acting pair industry being what it is there was never a chance of that happening anyway. Plus, I probably wouldn't be so drawn to PeteKenta in the first place if they weren't doomed by the narrative. Sometimes you just need a good ghost story, and there's value in the sad endings as well.

[dandylovesturtles]

For the writing meme: 11, 16, 24

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

AH NO questions like this are so hard... ok I'll do my favorite completed and my favorite ongoing that I'm subbed to.

I'm basing this on how much I reread them lol

Completed:

who're you hiding - Leo gets sick and hangs out in Donnie's lab.

all the things that I could live without - Disaster Twins post-movie recovery fic.

Panic Buttons - Leo has a panic attack and Raph helps him (cw that the panic attacks depicted are very graphic)

Ongoing:

The Old College Try - Disaster Twins go to college.

Three-Sided Coin - Three Leos from three different points in the timeline get transported to an alternate dimension (I think??).

call me here (I will appear) - Leo dies in the Prison Dimension and comes back to his family as a ghost.

Bonus (some favorite fics not from ROTTMNT):

Poor Wayfaring Stranger (Final Fantasy XV) - AU where Cor finds MT!Prompto and brings him back to Insomnia to take care of him. Idk how else to describe this fanfiction. It's one of the best pieces of writing I've ever read. It basically reconfigured my brain.

ikanaide (Project Sekai) - Tsukasa gets sick and his friends take care of him.

(do you take this jerk to be) your one and only (ATLA) - AU where Zuko is engaged to Yue and Sokka does not like that (though his reasons change over the course of the fic, if you know what I mean).

(putting the rest of my answers under the cut because this got long lol)

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

OH GOD SO MANY they basically don't stop.

Of the ones I feel confident I will write at some point, there are... 5 I think. 100ft is one of them so I won't talk too much about that.

The other chapter fic I want to write is my take on the "save everyone in the doomed timeline" style fic, and I've talked about it before. I've been tentatively calling it "Donnie and Mikey's Step-by-Step Guide to Saving Your Doomed Family," or just "Step-by-Step Guide" and, like I've said, it's intended to be heavily B Team focused.

The idea came from my interest in the time between the end of the Season 2 finale and the start of the movie, a time where Leo and Raph fought a lot and Donnie and Mikey had to lean on each other. They've always been close but in the movie they're downright clingy, with Donnie reflexively tucking Mikey under his arm or holding on to him in so many scenes, and like a lot of other people I interpret this as a consequence of Raph and Leo's fighting and the tension it created in their dynamic. But I also kinda shy away from that actual time period, because if you stay canon compliant with the movie it's kinda hard to have an actual resolution to that tension without overwriting it some way. And I know some writers thrive in that limbo, but I am not one of those people haha. It's just not something I'm personally interested in writing myself.

So this fic will be set in the immediate aftermath of the film, where things are kinda resolved but not really because Leo and Raph are still too seriously injured to have an actual conversation, and Mikey and Donnie are still left in uncertainty of what their sibling bond will look like when all is said and done.

And what better way to distract yourself from the growing tension in your own family than by involving yourself in someone else's problems - specifically the problems of yourselves from a doomed future?

I'm really excited about it... whenever I get to it haha.

24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I caaan't remember if I've told this story here but if I have I'll just tell it again lol

I grew up in a really small rural town that happened to have a very small private college in it (the entire campus could have fit in the commuter parking lot of the state college I went to). Every now and then this college would host some kind of speaker or a workshop that was open to the public, and this was a big thing because my town didn't get a lot of that kind of thing coming through it. One of these workshops was hosted by a published author, and it was a class for beginning fiction writers. I was around 17 or 18 at the time, and me and two of my other friends (who also wanted to be professional writers one day) were very excited to sign up.

I mean, I can't stress to you guys how hype we were for this. You'd think we had backstage tickets to a Lady Gaga concert. But our town didn't have a lot of people you could talk to about this kind of thing. Getting advice from someone who had actually gotten their books bought and published by an actual publishing house was a big deal to us.

So we get to the workshop. We're the only teenagers there, but we weren't worried about that. We were the nerds in high school, we were used to this. We all sit down in the same row, pencils and notebooks ready to go. Ready for wisdom!

She asked the group to give a short, punchy summary for a story idea we each had. Like the straight A students we were, my friends and I all put our hands up first. She called on me, and I rattled off my back-of-the-book style summary for something I wanted to write, a fantasy novel about dragons and swords (I was a dragon girl).

I remember she gave me this nasty look and said, "Oh, you're one of those."

She preceded to go into a prolonged rant about how genre fiction is pointless; how there's nothing redeemable about fantasy worlds, how it's empty-calorie entertainment, the potato chips of the literary world. Books, she said, are supposed to be about real things. Contemporary and historical fiction were the only worthy genres in this woman's mind.

I don't remember a lot of the advice that came after that, I just remember sitting in my chair feeling dejected and stupid.

I think about that sometimes, and how one person can be so wrong. Genre fiction may be set in fantasy worlds or sci-fi futures, but it's still about real things. Real emotions and real struggles and real philosophical questions. If you cut yourself off from fantasy and sci-fi just because it deals with unreal or theoretical concepts, you cut yourself off from a broad spectrum of human self-expression.

Anyway, she may have sold a few historical fiction novels but I have 250K hits on AO3 so who's laughing now, lady

[ejzah]

An Error in Judgment, Part 7

***

Deeks stood behind Callen, staring him down while they reviewed the knew information they had thanks to Eric and Nell. He was glad for the excuse to avoid any extra pressure on his back. It was to the point that even the brush of his t-shirt added to the fire hot stabs of pain.

In front of him, Tom Nelson still sat resolutely silent, arms crossed, lips set in an uncompromising line.

“Tom, we know that Richard Bamboat owed someone a lot of money and Sergeant Wiles was trying to help him. We also know that you met with Wiles shortly before he died. So, either we arrest you for Wiles’ murder, or you tell us who did it,” Callen said.

“You don’t have any proof,” Nelson huffed.

“Accept we do. Your cell phone was in the same vicinity as Wiles’ and there’s the fact your fingerprints are all over his car. And, we know you told Richard Bamboat to meet you in the location Wiles was found,” Deeks added.

“So, either you killed Wiles, or your partner did. Give us a reason not to arrest you for first degree murder.” Callen leaned back, tone casual. “Believe me, we can make it stick if you don’t.”

“Especially for a former member of the military,” Deeks said, crossing his legs at the ankle so he was supported by one elbow. “Kind of evokes people’s patriotism and all, you know.”

Nelson swore under his breath, sending Deeks a particularly nasty glare.

“Jefferson Whitley. That’s who you’re looking for. He gave Bamboat a $20,000 loan two months ago after he got drunk at a bar and spilled his guts about a bad business deal. Whitley likes desperate people. He gave Bamboat the money, then a couple weeks later, wanted it back. With interest of course.

“Of course,” Deeks repeated dryly. Nelson just shrugged at his judgment. “He paid me to track down clients, threaten to rough ‘em up if they didn’t pay up.”

“Is that what happened with Richard Bamboat?” Deeks asked. “You threatened him.”

“Bamboat tried to stall, managed to scrape together a couple payments, but he was late on the last one. He was supposed to meet with Jefferson that night, but some other guy showed up. He said if Jefferson didn’t leave his friend alone, he was gonna get the police involved. Said he knew people. Whitley panicked and pulled a gun, next thing I knew, Wiles is dead.”

“And you had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Deeks guessed sarcastically.

“Hey,I’m not a killer,” Nelson said sharply, like he’d been offended.

“Do you know where Whitley is now?” Callen asked.

“I ain’t heard from him since that night, but he keeps a second house in the garment district if he’s not home.”

***

Deeks rubbed a drop of sweat off his nose, leaning his forehead against the window as Kensi drove to the address Tom Nelson had provided. Callen was in the back seat while Rountree and Sam had paired up for a change.

With his vest on, it felt like he was trapped in a sauna, everything too tight and way too hot. If he said something, he was pretty sure no one would have a problem with him sitting this one out, but he didn’t want to give Kilbride further ammunition.

Besides, he’d worked through worse. Running across a hospital, which ripped his very fresh stitches open, for instance. Though of course, he’d been running on pure adrenaline at that point.

“Hey you ok, partner?” Kensi asked, and he straightened up with some effort.

“I’ve been better, but I’ll survive,” he answered, offering a ghost of a smile. Frowning, Kensi swept her knuckles over his forehead, her lips drawing down even farther as she slid down to cup his cheek.

Deeks peeked out of the corner of his eye to the back, but Callen was studiously ignoring them.

“Oh baby, you’ve got a fever.”

“God, I wish I had the energy to make a joke about you finding me hot.”

“I’m a little concerned that you aren’t.”

He shrugged. “I’m ok. But when we’re done here, maybe we can have a little date at the urgent care,” he suggested, and Kensi rolled her eyes affectionately.

“I’ll even spring for the good meds,” she teased.

“Best wife ever.”

They pulled up opposite a nondescript yellow house with a front porch that could have easily belonged to your average middle class family. Two sets of curqtinaed bay windows framed either side of the door.

Pulling on his reserves, Deeks followed Kensi and Callen up to the porch, while Sam and Rountree moved to the back. He waited for Kensi and Callen to move into position on either side of him, their weapons at the ready, then pounded on the door.

“NCIS, open the door!”

His announcement was met with silence and then a burst of gunfire. Deeks threw himself to the side to avoid the shower of bullets and wood shards, his back protesting the sudden movement. Kensi and Callen had both ducked beneath the windows.

Nodding to Kensi, Deeks leaned to the side and fired two shots through their window, before taking cover again when return fire shattered most of the glass panes. Callen took his place, firing through the other window, and then Kensi, wincing against the shards of glass flying everywhere.

There was a loud crash, and two more gunshots inside.

“Suspect apprehended,” Sam called out over comms. “Repeat, suspect apprehended.”

Grimacing, Callen and Kensi stood up, shaking off glass and wood chips. There was a small cut over her eye, but otherwise, she seemed unharmed. Deeks got up more slowly, his head spinning a little with the change in orientation. His back felt warm and damp.

Actually, his entire body was uncomfortably hot.

“Sounds like they got him,” Callen said.

“Great. Cause, I feel like crap,” Deeks croaked, and promptly collapsed.

***

A/N: I’m not sure this is my best, but I’ve been waiting to have Deeks collapse for several chapters. Before anyone should think that I’m making anyone look weak, remember, he has some infected burns brewing.

[thessalian]

Thess vs The List, Again

Oh, I failed to mention that I have been working on my whole resolution to at least try all of my games by the end of the year. This is slightly made problematic by the fact that I keep getting more games, but hey, it's not that bad of a problem to have. At least if I keep trying, I can whittle down the list of games I haven't even touched yet. So here we go:

Transistor: This is the one that won my little poll, and while the general story seems really interesting, the controls are not exactly intuitive for me. My tolerance for fiddly has pretty much died. I'll probably try it again when I have a few more spoons available.

Pentiment: Now this one, I liked. It doesn't exactly feed that need for Doing Things that attracts me to a lot of games (whether it's a farming sim, building sim, or just something where I can beat on people without getting arrested), but definitely an interesting one.

Garden In: This is a new one for me (released last year), but ... I mean, that still counts towards "whittling down the list", right? As the name suggests, it's basically a gardening sim, but one where you can also decorate your surroundings and the plants don't die a permanent death if dry or infested with bugs. So it's very Zen, though I figure it'll probably be one I finish all the achievements for and then put away for awhile, only to come back when I need that particular kind of Zen. Like I do with Pan'orama.

Model Builder: I liked this one, and it's very much my kind of Zen, but it can also be a little fiddly, so I'm going to have to restart that one. Probably going to be my go-to Zen for awhile once I've 100%-ed Garden In.

Enigmatis: The Ghost of Maple Creek: Thrown at my head for Christmas this year. I mean, I had the second, third, and fourth game in that series, and was just missing the first, so ... yeah. Anyway, a pretty standard hidden object game, and definitely my idea of a good time. (Side note: even if they don't live on my wishlist, a hidden object game never goes amiss.)

This War Of Mine: Yeah, I know, it was THE game for awhile and I'm only just now poking at it. It looks really interesting, and I'm slowly figuring out how to work the thing, but ... I think it's a little too grim for me at the moment. I need something way more sunshiney at this point. Or at least something that isn't "Everyone is living in abject misery". If I wanted that, I'd just look outside.

An Arcade Full Of Cats: More hidden object fun, and much more my speed. No particular story involved; just a "Find the cats and stuff" mandate and a bit of messing with the set dressing. It's cute, it's fun, and I guess I must not be alone in thinking that because there's a whole franchise of "Full Of Cats" hidden object games (where in some cases, there's a whole achievement based around finding the representations of the dev team's cats, so you get finding cartoon cats and real-furbaby cat tax).

Memory Fragment: Another one that's fiddlier than it needs to be, honestly. I think they were trying a little too hard with some of the mechanics. I'll probably try it again at some point.

Paradise Killer: I'm only a few minutes into this one, but it honestly wasn't grabbing me. The premise is ... probably interesting, but while I will probably carry on a little further just to see what's going on with it, the fact is that it's a first-person perspective game and those are hard for me. Might have to go into the NOPE column on general principles. And, y'know, not wanting my head to explode.

I'm pretty well resigned to not getting everything at least sampled before the end of the year. Not least because a) my birthday's coming up and for most people, hitting my Steam wishlist is just the easiest option, given the whole "ocean in the way thing" (plus maybe presents to myself, y'know), b) I actually want to finish a Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough, and c) Horizon: Forbidden West comes out in about 7 weeks and that's going to eat my time for awhile (I should probably pick up Zero Dawn again just to remind myself what I'm doing there). Plus d) the office is a mess again (that's for another post, though). Still, I'm going to keep poking away at it. There are a lot of games there, and I have a 2TB external drive (plus space remaining on the 1TB external drive I got in honour of Baldur's Gate 3), so even the ones I didn't bother installing could see a return to at least test out. Plus it'd be nice to know the ones I can just leave uninstalled in perpetuity. Also, there's the off chance that some of the first-person perspective ones could be played, if they're not too frenetic ... y'know, if I bothered to get my prescription checked. I'm looking into that but I'm trying to figure out how best to go, "Look, I just want my prescription; I'll order the glasses themselves online because it's cheaper". We'll see. I do have an entire week off coming up soon. Ugh. They're going to do that stupid eye-puff glaucoma test that always leaves me with a migraine for the rest of the day. Still, better that than the increasingly regular headaches I've been getting lately. Part of it's probably stress, but the rest is probably "my eyes are going to shit". If I didn't need varifocals, it'd be fine! Or at least cheaper!

Don't mind me. It's not a lack of being able to afford it. It's a combination of sticker shock and general frustration with the whole process. Mostly because it just has to be done again a year or two down the line. The whole problem with being an adult is having to take yourself to the doctor etc, not to mention paying for it.

[rubykgrant]

(I hope there are at least a few that you can enjoy! I hope it is alright to add a few more, I don't want to overload, but I thought of more books that lean more toward being mature, for older teens/adults, that can fit the theme-)

"Practical Magic" by Alice Hoffman (a family known for many generations as witches, with a particular curse that implies anybody that falls in love with them is doomed to die... two sisters, Sally and Gillian, each try to escape from this in different ways, one by living as "normal" a life as possible, the other by trying to be free and indulgent. After a frightening event, the sisters are brought back together, and while they try to move on with their lives, ghosts of the past rise up for revenge. The writing is both straight-forward and extravagant, with very detailed looks at each character and their relationships, the scary elements a combination of mundane and fantastic. It deals with supernatural events, and issues that involve abuse and trauma, but is ultimately about love. A movie adaptation was made in 1998, and while it has to cut-down parts of the story and has a little more of a rom-com vibe, it still captures the soul of the story, and is enjoyable on it's own)

"Scorpion Shards" (the Star Shards Chronicles) by Neal Shusterman (Six young people who have never met have something in common; they aren’t normal. They have odd abilities, strange powers, and unfortunate afflictions that cause them pain, fear, and suffering. When they lose control, it can hurt other people, too. Slowly, they are drawn together, and figure out what is happening to them… and what they really are. They have to learn to work together, overcome their fears, battle their demons, and find the courage to save themselves. Some of them want to work together, while others wind up clashing. I've only been able to find the first book, and it has a sad ending... but with open possibilities for what comes next. Very dark, but in a realistic way regarding the emotions and troubles of the characters, making even the absurd situations feel more "real")

"MALICE" and "HAVOC" by Chris Wooding (this book blends illustrations with words, as well as fantasy and reality. There is an a mysterious comic book series, hard to find, and even if you get one the pages go blank as time passes… it depicts a strange and horrifying world called MALICE, full of monsters, and also children who have been transported there from the real world. An urban legend says if you gather the right ingredients and say the right words, "Tall Jake" will come and take you away. It turns out to be very real, and soon two kids begin a search and rescue mission to find their friend. The thing is, not everybody survives being the star of the comic, and you might only make it into one issue)

"Midnighters" trilogy by Scott Westerfield (a group of teenagers have discovered that because they were born at midnight, when they are within the area of Bixby Oklahoma, they are able to experience "extra time"; a thirteenth hour, in which the rest of the world within the "bubble" of the town seems frozen. As long as they stay in the area, they have an hour to experience this additional hour, and each of them also has specific abilities they can use in this time- defying gravity, telepathy and mind powers, touching flames, and more! However, they aren't ALONE in the thirteenth hour... strange creatures called Darklings live here in this part of the world that is made of dreams and nightmares, and they pose all sorts of danger. I'll be honest; these books have very intense problems, and they don't have "happily ever after" resolutions... they are still well-written, and very interesting. While not exactly up-beat, they still aren't entirely "depressing", and what happens feels like an "honest" depiction of how, even with magic powers, life can still be difficult, and even after the worst day every- you still have to keep going, into the next day, and onward)

once again wishing there was something kinda LIKE harry potter but like.

without the shitty author, aimed at an older audience, and also not conflating the "older audience" part with "making it lean way too heavily into being depressing, cynical and over-reliant on dark comedy"

and ALSO not something where you can only find it by hunting down some indie book with a miniscule fandom, thereby making you feel like you're just screeching annoyingly into the uncaring void once you want to actually talk about it.

[lifesarchive]

HIDDEN PICTURES by JASON REKULAK (REVIEW)

quickly: a recovering addict gets a new job babysitting a haunted five-year-old. (a young woman trying to live a sober life / a child with a questionable existence / homes that come with guest houses and hidden gardens / disturbed suburbian parents / physical and spiritual battles with sobriety / weird and quirky superstitious neighbors / wickedly beautiful artwork from the spiritual realm / gardeners who make you want to break rules)

not too shabby. not too complex either, honestly. the tone sits firmly in the mystery genre, for me. the ghosts in this story don’t scare or thrill me, but they don’t bore me either. stephen king is quoted on the back cover as saying “the language is straightforward”, and that is absolutely correct. not much poetry or soul to the writing, but it was a full story! it was compelling enough to pull me to the end, but not my favorite ending. it has the kind of ending that you find in most “B” level thrillers (which is no shade, i love b-movies). the ending is a resolution, but it doesn’t take my breath away.

★ ★ ★

more thoughts: SPOILERS!

Some personal context… after a reading sprint that began sometime in March, I spent the past few weeks with THE BOOKS OF JACOB. It is a tome of a book, 900+ pages, and the most time I’ve spent with a book in years. It was an interesting and detailed world to be in, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the thriller/mystery/horror genre, and HIDDEN PICTURES is my return. I read it in less than 24 hours. 

The artwork really pulled me in, and wasn’t as gimmicky as it could have been.

The story opens up with Mallory reflecting on a paid health study she participated in which involved her being blindfolded in front of a group of men. She was instructed to raise her hand if she felt eyes on her, testing her ability to sense the male gaze. She was insanely accurate, telling the instructor that she felt a buzz in her mind whenever she sensed looks. The instructor offers to do more research with her, but Mallory trades her phone for Oxy and the lady is unable to reach her.

After this, we are immediately thrown into the present where Mallory is now sober and has been for 18 months. She is preparing to interview for a babysitting job with The Maxwells, youngish parents living in an affluent suburban enclave. After an awkward and stressful interview that involves her pulling out a piss test to prove her commitment to sobriety, she is hired. Caroline, the Mom, says they believe in giving people second chances, but you learn fast that you can’t believe anything they say.

Soon enough, five-year-old Teddy has formed a close bond with Mallory. The creepy pictures he draws always seem to show an entity hanging around him that no one else can see (but Mallory can sense). Teddy’s mom brushes the pictures off and tells Mallory not to encourage him. After the quirky next-door neighbor tells Mallory about the ghost stories surrounding the guest house where she lives, she eventually convinces herself that her guest house is haunted and the ghost is speaking through Teddy. Half right.

Of course, her pursuit of this tightens the underwear of The Maxwells, and so she begins to investigate under the radar. She enlists the help of The Maxwells’ gardener whom she’s told that she was a local student (and not a recovering person being given a second chance to get her life on track). Fast forwarding past the awkwardness of living with a married couple whose marriage is a thin facade of happiness, the “hauntings”, the creepy photos with the Samura-like girl in them, Mallory trying to confront the super rationalist parents about the supernatural realm, and Mallory trying to make contact to the ghost by ouija board… eventually the ghost jumps into Mallory’s body while she is napping and causes her to draw all over the walls of The Maxwell’s pristine white walls.

The rest is a loud and gory climax with a small scoop of falling action on the side. The parents fire Mallory because of the “artwork”, attributing it to some sort of mental break caused by recovery, and they give her 48 hours to get out. Alex, the gardener, is told about her true background as a recovering addict (but still wants to help her). She miraculously solves the mystery at the last minute and proceeds to do the dumbest thing that characters can do in a mystery/thriller… confront the bad guys with no backup, collateral, witness, or weaponry. The Maxwells reveal their devilry… they are kidnappers who stole a little girl and made her disguise herself as a boy. The child’s real mother, whom Caroline Maxwell killed, is who has been haunting little Teddy.

Caroline Maxwell plans to kill Mallory by drug overdose, but she’s saved by Ted Maxwell who secretly hates his kidnapping murderess wife (but has done nothing but enable her). A delusional Ted is killed by Caroline, in the midst of some pipe dream of him running away to some foreign land with Mallory. A chase ensues, with Mallory running into the woods with Teddy and hiding in a tree. Just as Caroline has hunted them down, the spirit of Teddy’s dead mother possesses her, getting Teddy to kill Caroline with an arrowhead conveniently found earlier in the story. 

That’s how most elements of this story felt. Convenient. The end, while loud and gory, seemed staged. Like I could see the beginning from the end. All the little easter eggs stood out like they had billboards above them pointing out “CLUE HERE”, or “FORESHADOWING”. Yet, I still enjoyed it. Like I would an R.L. Fear Street book. Three stars, but a high three. 

ADDENDUM: seeing from other reviewers how this author's work includes, deceptively, various ideologies used to other and vilify trans children and their parents (which makes me think back to that errant Harry Potter reference). Unfortunate and gross. Knowing makes the work even cheaper than it already was. Keeping my same rating, which was written and determined before I found out. I will definitely be more critical in the future.

[redrobin-detective]

the only ghost in Amity Park

Continuation of Half Of

______________________________________________

Only in Amity Park did the revelation that a local teenager was sorta, kinda a ghost just blow over in a few days. Sure, people still stared at Danny Fenton as he walked by and everyone was still wondering what exactly he was, but overall life had moved on. Star sighed to herself as she organized her notebooks, waiting for class to begin. Just another day.

Star herself really didn’t want to get involved in whatever was going on with Danny. She didn’t like him before he was a celebrity and didn’t plan on starting anytime soon. While Paulina still relentlessly, and vainly, pumped him for information on her dead boy crush, Phantom and he and Dash formed some weird macho bond or whatever, Star avoided him. He’d given her the chills since the day he’d walked into Casper High. When Danny’s secret had been exposed mid-attack, Star hadn’t been surprised. She didn’t need some ghost to tell her that there was something deeply, unsettlingly wrong with Danny Fenton.

Danny didn’t seem particular bothered, by his inhuman nature or by suddenly having his secret exposed. If anything, the nerd looked more relaxed than ever. Star had been watching him, they all had, but Fenton kept his ghostly antics to a minimum when in public. The occasional flash of green eyes when emotional, a grin of sharpened teeth. He made Mikey’s locker lock intangible the other day when the kid had forgotten his combination and he floated down the stairs instead of walking sometimes. It had been a week and it was  frightening how quickly such strangeness had become almost normal. 

“Alright kids, phones and notes away we’re starting class with a pop quiz. Hope you’ve all kept up with your weekly readings,” Faluca announced cheerily. The whole class, including Fenton, moaned and packed up their bags. Star supposed being an undead being haunting his own life didn’t make him immune from normal human problems. She was biting her lip trying to remember which antibody caused allergic reactions when she got an uneasy feeling. She looked up and was not surprised to see Danny Fenton looking around too. It had been a solid week without ghost attacks, looks like Fenton’s supposed vacation time was up.

Star stopped her writing and adjusted the bag at her feet to prep for evacuation. She briefly wondered what Fenton would do, what he could do? Did he also hunt ghosts, like his parents? Like Phantom? There were no blasts, no screams, no monologues but the dread increased when a ghost shield descended over them. Actually, it looked like it was just covering their classroom. Now everyone was looking up from their quizzes and out the window at the flickering, green shield.

“You’d think the administration would’ve warned me we were going to do a drill,” Faluca said but his voice was hesitant. Clearly this wasn’t planned so despite the lack of alarms, there was a good chance this was real. “Pencils down for the moment while I figure out what’s going on.”

“Mr. Faluca, I need to go,” Danny said, raising his hand. Star was so used to hearing the request she almost ignored him but the dread curling in her stomach made her look again. His face was pinched, sharp and his eyes burned with an icy fury like a sudden storm blowing in without warning. 

“Mr. Fenton, I don’t think...” Faluca murmured uneasily. Danny frowned harder.

“It wasn’t a request, actually,” Danny said roughly as he stood up and began walking towards the door. He was almost there when the door slammed open and Fenton had no less than 3 ectoweapons pointed in his face. A few kids jumped back in alarm but Danny held his ground as half a dozen Guys in White agents entered the room and surrounded him.

“Spectral scum formerly known as Daniel Fenton, you’re coming with us,” one of the agents said. 

“Danny not Daniel and it’s still my name,” Danny quipped, eyeing each of the government officials and their weapons. “And no, I’m not. I’m still alive, somewhat anyway, so I have rights. The courts backed me up.”

“Everyone who signed for your freedom doesn’t know ghosts like we do,” Another agent said so forcefully, some spittle flew out of their mouth and hit Danny’s cheek. Star watched it freeze and fall away the instant it hit his skin. “Your kind are too dangerous to wander around, you need to be contained and eliminated. Don’t worry, your parents will receive a sizable check as recompense.”

“I’m the one who needs to be contained?” Danny said slowly, evenly but there was a static to his voice that caused the hairs on the back of Star’s neck to rise. When she breathed out, she saw her breath was misting. Everyone’s was as the room temperature continued to plummet. “When you come in here and take hostages to threaten me?” Danny hissed, he took a step forward and his eyes took on a neon green glow. “You didn’t come to my home or on the streets, you came to take me in the middle of biology when I’m surrounded by civilians, kids.”

“You delude yourself into thinking you’re still human,” another agent scoffed. “Everyone knows ghosts are weaker when giving into their obsession.” Danny laughed, it was loud and mocking and like fingernails running down a chalkboard. Faluca, stuck in between Danny and the agents, was white as a sheet and gripping his desk like it was the only thing keeping him from collapsing.

“You know nothing,” Danny hissed, his voice barely recognizable as human. His hair and shirt floated in an invisible but angry breeze. Frost crawled up his arms and his face. Various ecto alarms were ringing on the belts of the agents and they started to look a bit nervous. He looked nothing like the kid who, minutes before, had clearly been struggling with their bio quiz. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You cannot come into my haunt and threaten my people to get to me. Protecting what is mine will always make me stronger!” 

“This whole town is constantly under attack because of things like you!” One particularly brave agent said even as a few others had backed up. “Amity Park is on the verge of collapse because of all the ghosts!”

“There is only one ghost in Amity Park,” Danny said, he tilted his head, his black and white hair dangling in his face as he gave a sharpened smile. “There is only me and the ghosts I allow, ghosts who know the rules, who respect my authority here by keeping damage to people and property down. I am the only ghost haunting this town and why do you think that is?” One agent threw down his gun and ran through the open door.

“You’re-you’re a monster!” Another woman shouted, shaking as she stepped back before fleeing.

“I’m not the one who needs to threaten innocents to get to their target,” Danny sneered. “It’s a good thing you did though, I wouldn’t hold back if I wasn’t worried about collateral.” Another three agents turned tail and ran. Until there was only one left. His gun was still trained on Danny but his hands were shaking. 

“You don’t scare us,” the agent trembled through the obvious lie having been abandoned by his comrades. “We’ll get you monster, if it’s the last thing we do.”

“Looking forward to it,” Danny drawled sarcastically as some of his horrifying aura dissipated along with the freezing grip on the room. Within moments Danny has settled back into more human form. While he’d been angry before, now he looked almost bored. At no point had he seemed afraid. 

“You take your people and your equipment and you leave Amity’s borders by sunset tonight,” Danny declared resolutely. “If you have continued problems with my existence, you take it up with the courts. We settle this as humans but if you treat me as a ghost then I will fight back like one.” His eyes turned green again as a threat. As a promise. 

“I don’t take orders from spooks!” The agent shouted, securing his finger on the trigger and preparing to fire. Star had ducked to avoid the blast so she missed exactly what happened. All she saw was the green glow and heard a strangled scream from the agent followed by a series of thumps. By the time Star had gotten back into her seat, Danny was aggressively pulling apart the ectogun with his bare hands. There was no sign of the agent and, around them, the ghost shield fizzled away. 

“Jerks,” Danny grumbled, kicking at the remains of the ectogun he’d destroyed. “Sorry about that, Mr. Faluca. I knew they’d cause problems but I didn’t think they’d come to school.” Their teacher stared at Danny like a rabbit facing down a lion. “You okay?”

“Fine, Mr. Fenton, just fine!” Falcua grinned in a high pitched voice. “Shall we get back to our quizzes?” The bell rang just then and Danny did a little fist pump.

“Tomorrow then? After I get a chance to study more?” Danny asked with puppy dog eyes. It looked wrong on his face that had just threatened the government with bodily harm. Faluca just nodded dumbly, not sure what else to say. “Yes! I’ll pass tomorrow for sure. The attention kinda sucks but it does come with some perks.”

He walked back to his desk, ignoring the wide-eyed looks of the class when he stopped and gasped, his breath fogging in front of him. His lips pursed again with annoyance. A few people jumped in surprise as the Box Ghost, a familiar annoyance, poked his head through the wall.

“Child! Your requested reprieve is up and the Box Ghost is here to cause insurmountable square shenanigans!” He laughed heartily, stopping when the room temperature dropped again. Danny didn’t even turn to face the ghost. 

“Your watch is off, Boxy. I have another 10 hours before I have to deal with you annoyances again,” Danny growled. “I’m feeling good right now, take advantage of it and leave in one piece.”

“Uh right okay then,” the ghost stammered, sinking back into the wall. “See you tomorrow.” Danny cracked his neck before he walked to his desk, grabbed his things and walked to the front of the room.

“Late bell’s gonna ring any minute, you guys should hurry if you don’t wanna be late,” Danny said as he left. Falcua’s strength gave out as soon as Fenton was gone and he hit the floor, one hand clutching at his chest.

“Jeepers,” Mikey surmised appropriately before stuffing his things in his bag and leaving as well. Star watched everyone loosen up themselves and begin gathering their things to leave. No, she would never like Danny Fenton but he and his ghost weirdness was just part of the deal now, whether they wanted it or not. Such was life in the most haunted city in America which was only haunted by a single ghostly entity.

[direwolfrules]

Star Wars As Star Trek AU: More Stuff

The Federation Timeship Ghost- In Voyager there was the Timeship Aeon which tried really hard to stop Janeway from fucking up the timeline. So, because I want Rebels in here somewhere, there’s the Timeship Ghost.

Captain Hera Syndulla, Commander Kanan Jarrus, Lieutenant Commanders Garazeb Orrelios and C1-10P, Lieutenant Sabine Wren, and Lieutenant Jr Grade Ezra Bridger. Sometimes they’re accompanied by Starfleet Temporal Intelligence Agent Alexsander Kallus. Even more rarely they’re accompanied by Kallus’s boss, a Togruta woman who they only know as Fulcrum.

In this AU Starfleet’s Temporal Division likes to recruit people who won’t be missed by the time stream. Transporter clones, spacial scission duplicates, people from branch timelines that are about to collapse. Folks with nothing to lose and a willingness to spend vast quantities of time in a space outside of it.

Hera and Chopper are from a paradoxical future that never happened, Kanan’s a spacial scission duplicate of a future Starfleet Commander, Sabine’s from a paradoxical future of the Mirrorverse, Zeb’s a survivor of a genocide that never happened, and Ezra’s a transporter clone. No one knows what Kallus’s deal is, and everyone’s afraid to ask about Fulcrum.

I feel like I should have mentioned this earlier but in this AU everyone’s aged up a bit to make military positions make sense, so Sabine and Ezra are in their twenties.

Hera’s future involves President Palpatine successfully destroying the moral fiber of the Federation through facism, turning it into the Zhell Imperium. It’s a paradoxical timeline, and before they collapse it the Starfleet team recruits her and Chopper because they seem competent.

Kanan’s from the future of the main timeline, where Starfleet Commander Caleb Dume’s away team’s shuttle runs into a subspace divergence field. Every particle of matter gets cloned, but winds up occupying the same space and tearing each other apart. Caleb and Kanan have the same solution to the problem, but Kanan’s ship takes too much damage. Right before he can go the way of the rest of his crew, Kanan’s rescued from the wreck by Hera.

Sabine’s Mirrorverse timeline was influenced by interaction with Hera’s timeline. When Hera’s timeline was being collapsed, hers was going to as well. Hera felt bad for the then teenager and brought her with.

Ezra’s a transporter clone of a Starfleet Cadet. Cadet Bridger died due to an emergency transporter malfunction, and our Ezra would have as well, but Kanan swooped in and grabbed him. He took one look at this small stranger with the perfect recipe for an identity crisis and went “he just like me”.

Zeb’s a survivor of the brutal genocide of the Lasat people. It’s just, thanks to the actions of a different Timeship, the genocide never happened. Zeb needs intense amounts of therapy, and for some reason Kallus avoids him, but eh.

Kallus participated in the Lasat genocide, which is not a good thing. He got his redemption arc in that timeline but like, he hears Zeb talk about stuff like that and oh, well then. Fuck. Therapy is needed.

Fulcrum is Ahsoka from that same Dark future as Hera, and she’s got all that delicious trauma from watching one of her older brothers turn full facist, the other one collapse into a grief ridden mess, and all the clones lose their free will.

I have ideas for antics between them all and their interactions with the Resolute, but nothing formed enough to write down yet. I also only have vague ideas on their positions on ship beyond Hera and Kanan.

Skeevy Sheev- So, in this AU President Palpatine isn’t the original Palpatine. He’s the Palpatine from the Mirror Universe Zhell Imperium. He never managed to overthrow that filthy alien who dared claim to be Emperor over the glorious humans, Hego Damask. In the wake of a failed assassination attempt against Emperor Damask, Sheevy ran right into a spacial anomaly the same time his Main Universe self did and they did a little swap.

Now Palpy has an over complicated plan to twist The Federation into a new Zhell Imperium, with him on top. The sad thing? It just might work.

Coruscant- The planet plays the same role as Earth does in Trek, site of the Federation Government and Starfleet Headquarters. It’s still an ecumenopolis, but there’s more parks and stuff and the lower levels are actually capable of sustaining life. Star Trek vibes, can’t be the closest thing to a Utopian future if your capital planet is literally a metaphor for political corruption.

The Senate Dome is now where the Federation Council meets. The Jedi temple is now Starfleet HQ and the Academy. The temple now has large outer gardens that are open to the public, and includes a plaque congratulating Captain Kenobi’s class for beating the impossible test (Siri didn’t like losing and Quinlan was left without responsible adult supervision, hacking ensued).

99 is Boothby. The kindly gardener (maintainance guy) who gives cadets advice and believe in them more than they believe in themselves? Yeah, there’s no other role for 99. Hell, throw the Dominoes in there while we’re at it. Can’t have 99 without the Dominoes.

[bigstripeylie]

Ghosts theory- “sucked off” edition

Apologies for the title.

I have a theory about how each of the ghosts in Ghosts has a parallel with another Ghost and how this could be the key to them finally being able to move on, or “be sucked off’ as Mary would say.

Putting it behind a cut as this is extremely long and rambly. Spoilers for pretty much every episode of Ghosts

First of all I was listening to Mat and Jim on the Empire Spoilers podcast and Mat said something really interesting about how he intended “you stays how you dies” to refer to the ghost’s mental and emotional state, as well as physical. So Thomas always being obsessed with seeking love is because he died broken-hearted and Fanny always being so grumpy is because she died angry at her husband. 

I believe, therefore, that if the ghosts were able to overcome each of their emotional blocks that would be the thing that would allow them to move on. Furthermore, each of the ghosts has another ghost that seems perfectly suited to be able to assist them in that.

Let’s go through them:

Thomas- Thomas died believing his love never loved him back and now is forced to spend eternity seeking for love as a ghost. If Thomas was able to find someone who could reciprocate his affections, this would the resolve that issue. In the Series 2 episode “About Last Night” when Alison drunkenly tells Thomas “if you were alive and I was 200 years older, then we might have…” we hear a choir start singing and Thomas is pulled, as if compelled, through the wall, similar to how Fanny is pulled forwards towards the window to jump when she “doesn’t even realise [she’s] doing it.” Thomas desperately craves love and affection from another person, but in life was constantly rejected by the people he loved most. You know who else that sounds like? Kitty.

Kitty- Like Thomas, she is from a wealthy family who sheltered her a lot growing up, but is ultimately good and tries to be honourable. Kitty also craves love and affection as well as companionship and she tries to seek it, first in Eleanor and then in Alison (because Alison reminds her of  Eleanor, like how Alison reminds Thomas of Isabelle). However it comes up again and again that Kitty’s relationship with Alison isn’t as fulfilling to her as she would like it be because her being a ghost prevents her from sharing every activity with Alison, and Alison cannot show her physical affection. Kitty is trying to recreate aspects of her relationship with Eleanor using Alison as a substitute but this isn’t very healthy for her, as it simply traps her in the constant state of seeking affection that will not or cannot be returned fully. We don’t know the exact circumstances of Kitty’s death but after Series 3, if seems likely that her sister was in some way involved. Maybe what is keeping Kitty trapped as a ghost is her need for approval and love that she never got in life? But by seeking it in people who remind her of Eleanor exclusively, she is further trapping herself.

If Kitty and Thomas could find love with each other, they could each fulfil the other’s need for reciprocated affection. They are both equally needy so this quality wouldn’t likely annoy the other. Kitty seems to genuinely enjoy high romance in earnest and in finding an outlet for her love in Thomas, she could finally move on from her sister. Thomas would also find someone to love him and could devote himself completely to someone who would actually return his love, instead of fruitlessly pursuing women who remind of Isabelle’s rejection. This could lead to the resolution of both character’s finally moving on from their deaths.

Next up, let’s look at The Captain-

The Captain’s central conflict is obviously his sexuality. I believe that the resolution to this conflict would be him finally accepting and coming to terms with being gay and feeling comfortable with that part of his  identity. Which ghost could best help him in this?

Fanny. 

Maybe not the answer you were thinking, but hear me out. The Captain already has a strong positive relationship with Fanny built on mutual respect. He is more likely to value her opinion as an equal that any of the other ghosts and he seems to align himself with her on most issues. Which makes his choice to go against Fanny and defend the same-sex wedding and its guests to her in “Perfect Day” really remarkable.

In “Perfect Day”, Fanny expresses some pretty disapproving remarks about the wedding guest’s attire and some homophobic opinions about the same-sex wedding in general, which prompts the Captain to defend one of the guests to Fanny. “It’s chic, it’s now, and if it makes her feel fabulous…”

Imagine a scene where The Captain has to defend himself towards Fanny in a similar manner after coming out, showing that he is finally accepting of his sexuality as being the right thing for him. 

Anyway, that was a slight digression…

Fanny is still struggling to deal with the circumstances of her own death which was brought about in part because she caught her husband having an affair with other men. Fanny needs to accept and come to terms with the fact that her husband didn’t love her and that while he was obviously wrong for murdering her, she needs to move on so she can stop reenacting it by jumping out the window every morning. Because she died feeling angry and betrayed, she is trapped in that state in death. Discovering that one of her closest friends is gay and realising that it is possible for someone to be both gay and a good person might prompt her to think differently about her own life, as she started do with Humphrey in Perfect Day. 

The Captain, in turn, could be driven by Fanny’s ability to accept his sexuality into thinking ‘if she can accept that part of me, then maybe I can too.’ Personally, out of all the ghosts, I think it could only be Fanny who could prompt him to think that because it would mean the most to him coming from her.

Humphrey- Humphrey died because he was trying to protect Sophie, who rejected any attempt to get to know him and who he believed didn’t even like him. In death he is trapped in a state of being a selfless self-sacrificing people-pleaser and desperately wanting to be included in the other ghost’s activities, even allowing himself be kicked and thrown around if it means he can just be involved. In ‘I Love Lucy’ he even attempts to make a relationship with Fanny work, showing he is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of others.

Julian, by contrast, is the most selfish of all the ghosts at Button House. Deep down he feels guilty that his selfishness negatively affected the relationship with his daughter but seems not to be consciously aware that he feels like this. Julian’s selfishness to not spend time with his family ultimately leads to his death in Button House, as he neglected his family to spend more time at work and was clearly cheating on his wife, showing he is driven by selfish impulses.

If Julian were to perform a completely selfless act to the benefit of Humphrey, then Humphrey would get to feel as though someone was putting him first for once and valuing him the way he seeks to be valued. Julian would also break the pattern of selfish behaviour that caused his downfall.

The rest are little less well-defined:

Pat is the probably the ghost that we know the most about, through seeing his death and actually meeting his family in “Happy Death Day”, to the numerous anecdotes he reveals about his life throughout the show. However, I can’t decide for sure what is the thing that is keeping him a ghost. Pat himself seemed to think it was that he was missing his family, but this was ultimately proved wrong after he saw them again in ‘Happy Death Day’. Even meeting the boy who killed him and forgiving him in ‘Perfect Day’ didn’t cause him to move on. It could be something to do with Carol’s affair with Maurice but I just don’t know for sure. I like the idea of him fitting in with the plague ghosts. I think his personalty and leadership style would get along better with them than say, The Captain, who is too authoritarian. I also think Pat is someone who thrives in a group setting.

Robin and Mary are also tricky to work out what the thing keeping them as ghosts is because we know so little about their lives and deaths compared to the other characters. I think these are the only two ghosts who have not yet received a flashback to their lives. We know that Mary was in some way involved a witch-trail and this has traumatised her. Robin also has experienced a lot of trauma in his life but he seems to be more philosophical about it and accepting of it. He shows great empathy towards others both in trying to comfort Pat about his death in “Happy Death Day’ and Kitty in “About Last Night’, he could use his experience of trauma to help Mary deal with hers. They both seem to be looked down upon and ‘othered’ by the other ghosts due to their perceived lack of intelligence even though they are both very emotionally and socially intelligent.

If anyone has any thoughts about these last two pairings or any of the others, then please reblog and add your take!

I am not in any way saying that I think this is what will happen in the next series or what even I think should happen, but that this is one possibilities for much further down the road when the ghost are all ready to move on.

Also I have spent way too much time thinking about this…

[saintobio]

Just wanted to weigh in my two cents here (btw saint ily for this series. Thank you for everything you do for us 🤍)

Now onto the final chapter..

While reading the last part I just kept thinking about y/n and Satoru’s kid. I know y/n acted out of good intentions (good intentions don’t necessarily mean it’s for the best though), and I don’t know what she told the child about his father (like why is his father absent, etc.), but I feel like if I were the kid, and I found out the entire time that my mom kept me away from my dad, that my dad doesn’t know I exist because she hid it from him, I’d resent her a little. I’ve seen cases like these irl and most of the time, one parent keeps info about the other parent secret from the kid because that absent parent is either a convicted criminal, involved in something really bad and serious (like organized crime for example), or is addicted to like drugs or gambling and is refusing rehab. I’m sure there are more reasons but those are the only ones I could think of now. However, I don’t think Satoru’s current state at the time she was about to have the “abortion” (him having committed unforgivable acts but also actively trying to fix things) warrants such a decision on y/n’s part, especially about a kid that’s also his. It’s not y/n’s obligation to forgive him, certainly not. But he also possesses every right to know that the child was born. My heart hurts imagining how Satoru missed out on his kid’s first steps, first words, first day of school (if it’s happened already). He had every right to experience those things. And most importantly to know that the kid was born alive and well in the first place.

Although, I do like how this is a setup for part 2–showing us how y/n can also commit selfish mistakes. And I love how it’s gonna go in contrast to what Satoru said about y/n being perfect and ideal. It’s kind of ironic actually, and I think would make for great development in the 2nd part. Satoru has to face the fact that y/n is also a broken woman, that she can commit unforgivable acts too, that the blame isn’t all 100% on him (like what he was thinking when he was in the car). He has to learn to make peace with the fact that not every bad thing that happened, is happening, and will happen is his fault. In the same vein, y/n has to likewise make peace with her past and her actions, which I feel she hasn’t done yet. And maybe it’s just me but I think 3 years is a short time to remarry again.. no judgment of course, I just got the impression she still has some issues to confront when I was reading her thoughts as she was walking down the aisle. Like she’s still haunted by many ghosts. But then that’s probably why we need part 2 :D

All in all this was absolutely heartbreaking, maddening, and every other word in between. I’m actually glad that this is provoking such an interesting discussion right now. I’m so curious to see other people’s opinions, and I’m excited most of all to see where our main characters are headed in this tragedy of theirs.

aaah, this is spot on!! thank u for sharing ur thoughts <33 it actually amazes me how u guys get so invested with the plot.

their kid is too young to fully understand the situation, but yn definitely tried to explain it little by little although she ofc sugarcoated some of the truth so it’ll be comprehensible for a young child.

also, yesss ik the finale may have been bittersweet but that’s bc it’s setting up for season two. the final chapter was always meant to end on a cliffhanger that leaves readers with more questions than resolutions (which i think i was somehow successful at doing so, thank god 😭)

[bleachbleachbleach]

Captains’ meetings

Some free association musing about the nature of captains’ meetings. I fully recognize how dry this is but *I* find it extremely interesting!! Also, just wait until I get to my musings about how I imagine the Gotei shift schedules work. This post will seem downright moisturizing by comparison!

I just got out of a 12-hour meeting that I woke up at 5AM to drive to, so naturally (after spending the entire drive thinking about Akon) I am thinking about Captains’ meetings. We mostly just see the crisis response meetings, which clearly cannot be 12 hours long and are less about discussion and more about receiving orders, but we do get some that seem like maybe other components were involved. Like, the meeting I was just at, the first block was nuts-and-bolts business and reports, lunch/an educational program, then a block of Abstract Ideas/Strategic Planning, then dinner/Mandatory Socialization. (Then Socialization at a Bar, which I did not go to, because I am 1) boring, 2) don’t like alcohol, 3) don’t like paying for alcohol, 4) clearly got straight to work at My Actual Job, and am not holed away thinking about fictional ghost MEETING AGENDAS, definitely not.)

Part of me is like, these fools definitely only to the reports/assignments part and do not do any strategic planning. Maybe the Council of 46 does. The whole structure of their organization is that all the divisions operate essentially autonomously, after all. But then I’m like, okay, but there were also 13 divisions at MY meeting and we also only talk to each other 2-3 times per year, lmao, and not necessarily effectively. We just also happen to have email, intrinsic motivation, and are mostly nice to each other.

What I’m saying is, I don’t think the Gotei 13 does effective strategic planning, and I definitely think that Yamamoto just kind of degrees things that the rest of them have little choice but to carry out. But I am more interested in a Bleach universe where, two times a year, all the captains do actually stand in a room for 12 hours strategic planning and considering the ways various initiatives do or don’t serve the mission statement or the plan, have to rework the plan, etc. (Lies, they never rework the plan. The plan was written 4000 years ago and so it has stayed.)

I mean, sure, Amagai totally waltzed in and was like "hey what if we did joint exercises" and he didn’t even need to file a resolution or find a formal second, but I want to know:

1) The Academy operates independently of the 46 and the Gotei, but given that the Gotei is the Academy’s primary employer, does the Gotei like… do legislative visits to try to lobby for this or that curricular focus?

2) Does the Gotei ever send resolutions to the Council of 46 for consideration or debate? In the Soul Society arc, Hitsugaya seemed to think that this was a Valid Way to Do Things, except for the part where they were sort of in a time crunch and it wasn’t Resolution Time (and also they were all dead, but that’s beside the point).

3) All the divisions operate independently, but there ARE still boilerplate functions each division must fulfill, and particular sectors that they’re in charge of. It’s not just a complete free-for all. And while there are opportunities for taking on more specialized tasks at the whimsy of their captain (re: 12th and Urahara), I imagine two divisions wouldn’t actually be allowed to have the SAME pet project. Like, Byakuya couldn’t just decide to *have* 6th division ninjas, because Soi Fon already called dibs. So there’s some communication and strategy. 

I think it probably asks too much to assume there’s any kind of formal review process, but I think that inasmuch the Gotei resists and/or is apathetic to change, it is also filled with a fair number of people who want to be able to do their jobs well and who do actually want to like, konsou souls or keep people from being eaten or absorbed or otherwise dying in horrific ways. Even if strategic planning in these regards tends not to yield appreciable or timely results, I feel like they probably try. Even before we get to that point, though, the strategies/goals have to be imagined. How difficult is it for them to articulate alternative or additional strategies outside of the Status Quo? It doesn’t seem like something they’d be trained to do--thinking creatively about their jobs, I mean. But at the same time, mastering your zanpakutou requires that ability. So... that’s not nothing!

4) While I recognize that data collection is not the same thing as data analysis or data activation, I have definitely worked at places that did not keep records or aspire to any form of institutional memory at all, so the fact that the Gotei keeps any kind of record (quite a bit of record) suggests some desire to improve upon the work. And inasmuch as working int he Gotei is probably very frustrating if you’re trying to restructure anything or flirt with new directions, the Gotei during the series run is not the same Gotei as the one that immediately preceded our watching it is not the same Gotei as TBTP is not the same Gotei that Kyouraku and Ukitake and Unohana and Yamamoto started with. Kyouraku calls the OG Gotei the "strongest version," but I think he was talking about raw stats, not, you know, its actual ability to do all the things that are written in the Live Laugh Love font on the walls of the Captains’ meeting room. Do the Vizard notice the difference? (I’m not saying that the current slate of captains isn’t dysfunctional, too—just different, haha.) Would Shinji, Rose, and Kensei (and Mashiro) have agreed to come back if the Gotei felt completely unchanged?

[spnexploration]

Season 7 Thoughts

Recently finished season 7 of Supernatural for the first, here are some thoughts:

Have we forgotten about any type of case that doesn't involve dressing up as the FBI? At this point they may as well go and actually join it, or throw out all of their clothes that aren't suits (side note, they do look good in suits).

If they've been America's Most Wanted so often, thanks to shifters and now Leviathans, why is it so easy for them to walk into every local Sheriff station and pretend to be the FBI? I really wish there was a better resolution to every time this happens than just "they fake died". Like if someone in the real FBI picked up that they were in two places at once so the bad ones were 'using masks' or something to pretend to be the Winchesters.

The Girl Next Door: I get the whole "she killed people, she's a monster" argument for Dean killing Amy, and why he didn't kill her kid (which was good, having a moral code is important). But without Mortician Mum Amy, how is the kid meant to get pituitary juice? Isn't Dean just pushing him to go start killing people?

The Slice Girls: if we're meant to feel like it was an impossible choice for Sam to shoot Emma, or like maybe she really wasn't going to kill Dean, why was she monster-eyes-ing Sam every time she looked at him? And why would she do that anyway, when her strategy was to pretend she wasn't a monster and needed saving? Surely you'd try to rope Uncle Sam in the same way you did Daddy Dean. That said, Emma could've been a really cool character, disappointed they threw that opportunity away by just killing her.

Party on Garth: I like Garth, although I can't help but feel that the show is just picking on people for their body type now...

More female hunter canon fodder - Annie didn't even live past the opening credits. Are we allergic to women on this show?

I know they're going for season arcs here, but sometimes it feels a little too easy that they always kill the big bad by the end of the season. Leviathans appeared and were solved in the space of one season. Whereas Yellow Eyes was a multi-season problem, still with an exciting cliffhanger ending off each season. These short sharp villains (Eve was the same) feel rushed.

Bobby as a ghost was a nice touch, watching him go Vengeful and his strong love for the boys. I loved the bit where Sam convinced him not to take the maid in to the building where the leviathans were because she'd be killed, although it does bring into stark relief how many demon and angel vessels they've happily killed...

I have to agree with what I'd heard, that it all goes downhill from season 5...

[memryse]

hello tumblr i present my canon-compliant "DSMP But... Everybody Discovered Large-Scale Organised Religion" mianite au which took a few hours to write up oops. basically here is a list of which god everybody would follow and why, based on canon events (i have therefore left out a couple of the members who don't really do lore or be on the server much because i definitely don't know about them enough to be accurate!)

dream: mianite. obsessed with control, you get it. went too far though and developed his own obsession with controlling the server so he is now godless and in jail

tommy: dianite. tommy is a favourite of dianite's - he's idealistic with a penchant for chaos, and like i said in my other post dianite probably sees himself in tommy a little. they're both misunderstood as Bad People

tubbo: ianite -> dianite, he converts post-doomsday. grew up as a follower of ianite and trying to follow her path put added pressure on him during his presidency. embraces being a dianitee with the start of the nuke program, but he keeps all his ianitee family heirlooms. ianite still holds a soft spot for him because of his family and occasionally gives him minor blessings. that being said she's of course a little disappointed he chose to change gods, but respects his decision

ranboo: no god, but enderwalk ranboo is an acolyte of ianite; awakeboo eventually converts to ianite when he reads awakeboo's note and decides to become more active in conflict resolution. he realises ianite actually aligns with his newfound ideals, and is of course more in touch with his ender side. however prior to this he wasn't really very keen on worshipping any gods, seeing as all he saw from them was wars waged in their names.

wilbur: also an atheist. probably prayed to dianite during pogtopia ("dream, i want to be your vassal" type beat) but other than that he's the type to criticise organised religion and be an independent leader, no need for gods. wilbur and ranboo narrative foils my beloveds!!!

techno: ianite. the thing about c!techno is he has one goal and he will stick to that no matter what - it's not total order, but it's not chaos either because there is motivation and reasoning behind it. also, a core tenet of ianitee ideology is not involving yourself in conflict until somebody personally wrongs you. much like butcher army era techno where he retreats to a peaceful (more godly, in this case) life until he's hunted down, at which point he Fucks Shit Up. in general techno holds grudges and takes even slight betrayals very seriously.

phil: ianite. i can see antarctic duo as former warriors of ianite! idk i don't have much to say phil is just.. a chill old warrior. probably jaded and tired of fighting wars for his goddess, but he still prays to her. specifically he prayed every night that wilbur could finally find balance in the afterlife. :)

niki: also ianite. definitely. niki values her own beliefs and morals, she's her own independent self. maybe she was a mianitee pre-nov 16th, but not since then. this makes the syndicate pretty much just a secret squad of ianitees (+ ranboo who everyone kind of just assumes is an ianitee given that, yknow, enderman). this is extra fun with the syndicate table being an end portal

sam: mianite 10000000%. he puts his commitment to duty above all else. not really much more to say he is just fully committed to keeping the server safe by carrying out mianite's will and imprisoning dream.

foolish: he's a god himself, so he doesn't follow any of the main three. however in the past he did work with mianite, enforcing his control over the land. from what we know about his totem of death period it wasn't like.. wanton destruction, it was him seeking control through violence, so i'm not inclined to say he worked with dianite back then.

george: man just wants to sleep and farm wheat, he's mianite. ez.

sapnap: also mianite. dream team as mianite's strongest and most revered knights!!!!!!

puffy: she's a pirate lady i don't know what to tell you other than she was part of capsize's crew. ianitee pirate ladies i care you. plus i feel like puffy centres mostly on people and not allying herself with specific nations or causes, she believes in balance above all.

eret: i view the greater dsmp as a mianitee nation, so as king of it they obviously have to follow mianite. eret has always strove to be a good king and help their nation prosper. plus, who knows what went on in the past with foolish. former mianite warriors eternal duo? i think so! (i think it would be cool if a literal reincarnation of herobrine was a mianitee purely because it fucks with everybody's expectations)

quackity: dianite. not just because he's chaos incarnate at times but like his entire current arc is so reminiscent of the fact that s2 dianite was literally a businessman. rip ghost dianite you would've loved c!quackity

fundy: oh boy here's a complex one. fundy switches gods frequently - look how much he craves acceptance from authority figures, from a substitute parental figure. i think right now his prophetic dreams could be interpreted as him being chosen by a certain god who sees potential in him, but i can't say who bc we don't really know too much about them or even why he's suddenly having them. that being said his chaotic scamming foxboy side definitely embodies dianite and he should have stuck with dianite the entire time but nah he needs Validation

jack manifold: follows dianite, but dianite isn't really pleased with him trying to kill tommy so often (seeing as he likes tommy). this is why he has such comically bad luck. his god is continually fucking with him.

karl: ianite, specifically chosen by her to become the historian of the server. the purple theme.. the duty to write down history as it truly happened (as opposed to censoring history like a certain mianite did). the existence of both the in between and the other side. karl Is balance. thank you. (also this makes karlnapity's marriage one mianitee, one ianitee and one dianitee. diversity win!)

schlatt: mianite (derogatory)

the eggpire is pretty much just the darkness isn't it. mianite was the blueprint actually.

bbh: dianite at first, judging by the badlands' ideology. corrupted by the darkness though.

antfrost: also dianite, but probably really lowkey about it and only ever prayed when the badlands needed his blessings. again, corrupted now

hannah: mianite - her connection to nature is by extension also a connection to mianite, the god of the overworld. plus she cared about maintaining harmony on the server and went to lengths to ensure it like the whole "killing her own dogs to protect them" thing. currently on her corrupted girlboss arc though

punz: dianite, he likes money and killing people idk what more you expect from me. even after joining the eggpire this has not changed at all. he'll work for other gods' followers for the right price but he's not changing his core beliefs

ponk: i don't know very much about him i'm ngl, especially not pre-eggpire. prior to his corruption though i do kinda like the idea of a mianitee doctor doing fucked up little experiments idk he just has mianitee vibes to me in the same way tucker was a mianitee.

skeppy: he and bbh are obviously both dianite together prior to the egg. it simply would not be right of me to put him anywhere else.

purpled: ianite. the colour purple... the tendency to stay so far out of conflict that he doesn't even log onto the server... mans was born to be an ianitee actually

[dawnrider]

This week is more the "thirsty for attention" type. Send asks, requests, etc!

This snippet is less thirsty/horny and more to wet your appetite. So... a Snippet without context!

“I’m getting kind of tired,” Kagome finally admitted when they had all finished their lunch and had had a chance to digest for a little while.  Shippou was snuggled resolutely against her stomach, not making her food sit well but she didn’t say anything.  It was nice to finally remember someone more specifically than their face or their name.  Despite knowing that Shippou was her son and remembering the majority of his life with her so far, there were large blank spots still, suggestions of people and places she couldn’t remember.  Inuyasha had to have been more involved in Shippou’s and her own life if he had been around when she had adopted the kit nearly six years ago.  Straining to recall the events that had shaped her present only gave her a headache and so Kagome found that she was tired sooner than she’d expected.  Inuyasha pried Shippou away from her to make him help clean up before lifting the kit onto his shoulder so the three of them could make their way back to the car.  She watched as the silver-haired hanyou interacted with her child, the companionable aura that surrounded them.  They’re almost like father and son.  While Kagome wanted this to be true, she knew that she and Inuyasha were not married.  At least… she thought she knew they weren’t.  ‘Be my mate,’ came a whispered memory, lips trailing softly over her throat.  The raven-haired woman raised her hand to her neck as she felt the ghosts of those kisses across her skin.  Could that have been Inuyasha?  Or had someone else asked her to become theirs?  It was a fond memory, that much was for certain, so she could only hope that whoever it was still felt the same.

Not realizing she had stopped a few feet from the car until he had already gotten Shippou strapped in, Inuyasha turned to look for Kagome, releasing a sigh when he saw her standing with a far off look on her face, her hand pressed gently to her throat.  “Kagome?  You alright?”  She glanced up at him, her eyes confused and questioning.  She’d remembered something else.  He took a couple steps in her direction, placing his hand on her shoulder.  His touch sparked something in her eyes, a glow that he knew all too well.  “Kagome?” he breathed, feeling like it was all too good to be true.

“Ask me again,” she whispered.  Inuyasha just looked confused.

“Are you alright?”

“Not that.  Ask me to…”  She blushed, trailing off and turning her eyes from him.  Inuyasha felt a pang in his heart.  Had she remembered something important?  She was obviously embarrassed now, perhaps too embarrassed to ask him to repeat his question, whatever question that might have been.  “Never mind,” she murmured, moving to walk around him and to the car.  Inuyasha’s hand shot out, gently gripping her upper arm.

“You can tell me anything Kagome,” he assured her, trying to encourage her to tell him what she remembered.  “I promise you I won’t…  I would never tease you about something you remember, even if it isn’t true,” he breathed, anticipating that she would try to run from him.  He was surprised when she stood there lost in thought for a while, a faint frown creasing her forehead.  She turned her head and stared into his eyes, trying hard to read something there that she hadn’t been able to see before.

“Are we… involved Inuyasha?” she asked after several moments of silence.  Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief and thanks.  Pulling Kagome against his chest, the hanyou carefully held her, breathing in her scent and letting it calm him.

“Hai,” he responded simply.  She relaxed against him, feeling a weight fall from her shoulders.  The last weeks had been spent hoping that this was the case, the strain of trying to remember her relationship with this beautiful man almost too much for her tired head.  Nothing could describe how glad she was that she had some kind of strong connection, a romantic one at that, with the wonderful man who held her.  He asked me to be his mate…  What did I say?  Looking up into the gorgeous amber eyes of the hanyou she knew she had to have said yes.  There was nothing in those eyes that she shied away from, nothing that she couldn’t see herself basking in for the rest of her life.  “What do you remember?” he asked, gently chasing the shadows from her face.

Her eyes were glowing softly, the depth of them drowning him as she gazed up at him.  Those were the eyes he remembered, the eyes that loved him and that he loved in return.  “You… did you ask me to be your mate?” she asked hesitantly, obviously still confused by the memory.  Inuyasha could only nod, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers.  “I said yes, didn’t I?” she questioned, getting another nod as answer.  “Good.”  Inuyasha swallowed hard in an attempt to keep his emotions at bay.  He hadn’t even entertained a hope that she would remember something like that so soon.  He’d expected to remain a mysterious stranger in her life whose name she knew but whose touch she couldn’t recall.  Pressing his lips to her forehead he felt the recognizable weight of her relaxing completely against him, trusting him to hold her up.  He’d missed this small familiarity.  To hold her without fear, to know she wanted him to embrace her without a doubt was a memorable comfort that he’d taken for granted for several years.  Inuyasha sighed as the scent of her fatigue overpowered her comfort in his arms.  It was time to go home