#i dunno like i said it isn't every character but it just seems like my current faves have people

[erb23]

I miss [some of the comic characters I read] having civilian friends. Or just a civilian life in general.

If you don't balance out the heroics with them having something to come home to and live through then why are they even putting on a mask to fight for?

[guiltygearconfessions]

Submitting my thoughts as an Indian and Pakistani fan of GG, but I'm kinda disappointed that a lot of analysts who cover Zepp don't seem all too concerned with looking closely at aspects of South Asian culture and history or anything outside of India when it comes to Zepp. Yes it is Indian but you can't discuss India and just magically divorce it from shared cultural ties with Pakistan (and by extension Bangladesh, however I am not Bengali and thus can't speak much on it.) For example Gabriel's blue uniform is so clearly based on a veshti combined with the female air force uniform for Pakistan, or that Zepp's symbol is based on the Garuda Commando Forces logo- even the uniforms of said force match much closer to Zepp's uniforms than any stated "inspiration" I've seen. Hell even the slavery system within Zepp is a reflection that our countries still struggle with caste and class based slavery on a much larger scale (it's affected my own lower class family). This isn't even to mention Potemkin who seems much more tied to how Indo-Pak militarism, nationalism, and facism can affect areas like Kashmir. People are quick to call "German and Russian" influences but the only ones I remotely even observe as a brown person are literally just Pot and Gabriel's names. I dunno. It's just vexing to me. Like it's a country made by dissatisfied Indians post-crusades, so the idea that the old government was somehow less south asian is like. Weird to me. Like there's nothing to indicate that other than people conflating out architectural styles with Russian ones too. Like a lot of Zepp seems to resemble Rajasthani and Punjabi (both sides) architecture in particular but I'm just saddened knowing nobody will look that far into it simply because they might not have that same cultural attachment to it.

Side note I'm also not a fan of how Daisuke refuses to give names to Zeppian characters that match with their ethnic background. For every Leon Mining, Gabriel, and Potemkin, we could've gotten like... actual references to our rock and metal scene. Even "Zepp" as the country name dissatisfies me. Creators and fandoms have such a bad habit at making something or acknowledging something as "South Asian" and then refuse to elaborate on it beyond a few visuals. It feels gauche.

Something something the prevalence of ki not being touched upon for any of South Asia / Zepp by extension within GG is also a major annoyance when we share a lot of faith based aspects with regions like China and Japan.

This has been kinda long winded but holy shit fighting games really just annoy me sometimes with how they treat South Asia as a whole. I just feel it very strongly with GG in particular since Daisuke was very close to peak. So close. I will say he clearly put in a lot of effort that non-south asians probably wouldn't recognize at a first glance, but the smaller details surrounding Zepp and some of the assumptions made about Zepp fandom wise combine into a "nobody will get it like I do" situation.

It's genuinely very cool to see someone's perspective and analysis on it who has more experience and understanding than most western gamers. I appreciate you sharing!

[neko-loogi]

So I just watched the new Helluva Boss episode and honestly it's not the worst thing I've seen but eh I do have some complaints.

For starters I am not a huge fan of Queen Bee herself, as in her design I mean. Like, her design overall isn't bad, (although a bit cluttered with too much detail), it just doesn't suit the character she's supposed to represent. I mean, she's literally Beelzebub! But they didn't even bother to make her an actual bee, she's just a furry with bee attributes- (I believe she's a Fennec fox).

It's not a bad design to look at I guess? But I dunno, I was expecting a legit bee with a curvy body or something (not trying to be stereotypical-). *I also wanted to point out that her design feels like straight up fan service, that I'm sure Viv will make sexy merch of her soon. Just you wait.

Another thing I found weird about the episode was that she's dating Vortex. Like, it seems a bit off in my opinion especially since she's a literal sin, just like Ozzie and somehow it's okay for her to be dating this random ass hellhound (which according to Viv, they are a lower class than Imps). They make the whole Stolas and Blitzo be this 'forbidden love' bullshit, but suddenly it's okay with some characters? I dunno that just doesn't make sense really.

I would've much preferred if Vortex was just dating a normal hellhound that likes to host parties and stuff and that Queen Bee was just a good friend of his or something. Because honestly, I legit thought that she wasn't into him and she was just using him or something.

Anyway, Blitzo was still annoying as ever (seriously I absolutely hate him as a character and his voice is just unbearable and a pain to listen to), and his relationship with Loona felt shallow, so yeah there's that. I kinda liked how Loona wasn't a total edgy bitch in this episode, except that she still is and well there's nothing I can do about it.

I honestly didn't feel anything when she was upset in the episode, plus I thought it was weird that she calls Blitzo to pick her up because she wanted to go home and then suddenly she decides to stay at the party again. Then Blitzo gets drunk in a really stupid way and yeah it's not funny at all.

Overall the episode was okay, I mean the song was decent (even though Viv doesn't have to add a damn song to every episode but oh well-), and the animation was much much better than the previous episode.

*Edit: I've seen people complain about the animation not being consistent (but honestly Helluva Boss is always like that so I'm used to it basically-), however the last episode, Western Energy was god awful to look at, this one was more tolerable.

*Edit again: I'm noticing a lot of hardcore fans talking about how Queen Bee's design is really good and complain that 'pEoPLe sHoULd sToP wHiNiNg aBoUt HoW sHe DoEsN't LoOk LiKe a bEe'. Honestly in my opinion, fuck you. If I don't like the design then that's my problem, you don't have to agree with me and that's fine, but don't go out of your way to talk shit about others just because they don't like something. Man, Viv's fans are such bootlickers istg..

I'm still surprised they hired Kesha to voice Queen Bee, (no wonder the budget keeps getting worse, especially since Viv thinks she can just hire whoever she wants for her crappy little series about demons having sex and killing people-). I also find it stupid how she only voices the character but doesn't actually sing the song. She wrote the song, but didn't actually sing it. So what's the point?? What was the purpose of Viv hiring a literal fucking famous singer to voice a crappy character from her crappy little series when she doesn't even sing!

And don't get me wrong, I like Kesha, she's got cool songs and whatever but she cannot voice act at all. Her lines felt kinda flat and awkward whenever she spoke, and she also sounded off whenever she said any curse words.

But yeah, that's all I have to say.

[americas1suiteheart]

hello! i hope youre okay!! because you've already done tan as a partner, i wondered if you've done ladybug x reader headcannons, if you have any?? we as a community are really lacking in ladybug rep.. </33

Alright alright alright, now. Just as I said before, ask and you shall receive. I hope you enjoy this because I watched the whole movie again to get a gist of his character and personality again.🤭 [sorry for not writing for so long btw, I'm really busy and am struggling to find time to write😭]

Dating Ladybug Would Include...

[Ladybug (Bullet Train) x GN! Reader]

[Notes; The reader is a bit more outgoing and such, I have no clue why I made them like that but🤷‍♂️]

[Warnings; Some mentions of blood is all

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

I feel like he met you at a coffee shop, maybe even a library? Nothing insane or too crazy though.

He would definitely be a regular at a small coffee shop that you go to quite often, so running into eachother every once in a while there would be a given.

Now, I know I said coffee shop but he definitely isn't a caffeine person and doesn't like the taste of coffee. He probably gets jasmine tea or something of the sort and like a scone maybe.

He eventually goes up to you and makes some small talk after a while of shared glances and such.

I just feel like the first times recognising eachother would be catching glances at eachother and sending small waves or little smiles. (Seems cute I dunno).

When he first talks to you, he starts off really strong in terms of confidence, then proceeds to get more shy and awkward as the conversation goes on.

"Hey, I see you around here a lot. Would you mind if I sat with you?" A male voice says from beside you.

You look up to see the man with black framed glasses you see often right behind you.

"Oh, hello! Yeah you can go right on ahead," You say, motioning for him to take the seat right across you, putting your book down.

The man sits across from you and places his drink onto the table.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, well.. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen," You look down to your book, slightly embarrassed.

"Good book," He replies.

You awkwardly hum in acknowledgement, drumming your fingers on the table to the rhythm of a song stuck in your head.

"Frankie Valli?" The man says.

You look up and stop drumming your fingers, looking at him in confusion.

"Sorry, but it uh, it sounded like you were drumming the rhythm of Sherry by Frankie Valli,"

"Oh! Yes I was, sorry I was just confused, you like Frankie Valli?" You say, a little too excitedly.

"I do! My name's Ladybug by the way, its a bit weird I know but," The man introduces himself, trailing off slightly.

"I'm Y/n, its nice to officially meet you, Ladybug,"

Ladybug smiles.

After a couple of times seeing you there and interacting with you, he might ask you subtly of your single; of course checking for a wedding or engagement ring first.

He gives off awkwardly confident autistic vibes, I'm right and I know it.

"Hey, uh, I don't mean to sound weird or anything, but I was wondering if uh, maybe you we're single and if so would you be willing to, I dunno maybe have dinner with me sometime? And you totally don't have to if you don't want to if by chance you are single but uh, yeah.."

He's so cute.

He would take you to a nice little restaurant, and he waits for you at the door with a bouquet of flowers, (which we all know would be something like peonies,) he pushes your seat in for you, lets you order first and everything, he would be such a gentleman.

After the date before you get into your car and leave (Which he very nicely escorted you to,) he asks you very nicely if you would like to go on another with him sometime, to which you say yes to.

Say a couple dates later, you guys are now a thing.

When you go to his house he cooks for you.

This man would be such a good cook but it being Ladybug, he would definitely burn something on accident.

After a while of being together, he finally tells you about his job.

You love this man so much and he's so sweet that you find it impossible for him to be an assassin. But you try to be as accepting of it as you can be.

You're more worried than anything now, to be honest.

After the whole entire bullet train mission when he gets back with all these cuts and bruises, you patch him up and such, obviously upset he came back so hurt.

You were currently sitting on the couch of your apartment, reading a book.

You hadn't seen Ladybug in a while as he was on a mission in Japan. It was only supposed to be for a couple of days, but you were very worried being that it was so far away.

He would text you updates and such regularly, but for the past day you had gotten nothing from him which worried you even more.

Suddenly you hear a knock on your door. You get up from your spot and place your book on the coffee table, face down as to not loose your page.

You look through the peephole to see its a teenage boy in a Domino's uniform with a box of pizza.

You open the door, telling the boy to give you a second as you rush to the kitchen island and pull a 5 dollar bill out of your wallet, walking back and handing it to him, getting the box as well and closing the door.

You walk back to your spot, placing the box down and opening it, the savory smell filling the area.

You take a slice, and bring it to your face, taking a bite as the mix of the gooey cheese, tangy sauce, and crispy crust mix together perfectly on your taste buds.

Another knock on your door rudly interrupts your joy in eating, you walk back, not even bothering to check who it is.

You open the door to see a bruised and bloodied up Ladybug at your door sheepishly smiling, a tired look evident on his face.

"Oh my god, sweetheart are you okay? Come in here," You say, gently pushing Ladybug into your apartment, sitting him on the couch where you were.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. Just a few cuts and bruises is all," Ladybug replies, a soft smile on his face as to reassure you he really is alright.

"Let me clean you up, stay right here." You go to your restroom and look under the sink for your first aid kit, taking a bottle of rubbing alcohol as well.

You go back to the living room and begin to clean up the cuts on his face.

Ladybug was looking at you lovingly as you did so.

"I love you," Ladybug blurts out.

You stop what you were doing and look at him, your face growing warmer by the second.

That was the first time either of you had said "I love you," so you were processing it still.

"Sorry, it just kinda slipped ou-" Ladybug turns his face away, a slight blush spreading across his face.

"I love you, too." You say, finally replying and giving him a kiss on his cheek.

He loves you to pieces, so he would never yell at you during arguments of any sort, but with his anger issues that he's been trying oh so hard to get controlled, he slips up sometimes.

Hes profusely apologising, after he realises the mistake he made.

This poor guy is just kicking himself for it.

You assure him that its quite alright and that you understand.

He still gets you something nice as an apology. Such as flowers, maybe even sweets.

Such a sweetheart.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

I didn't really know how to end this, and this took so long to finally put out, but it got done! I'm very happy with myself, sorry if its a little sloppy as well. I do hope you enjoyed it though.

[Tags to beloved Ladybug enjoyer followers🤭🤭] @horrormusicals @loosebonez

[a-town-called-hometown]

hi!! i loved your post about deltarune's metafiction and its (not) escapist themes, and it got my brain jogging, like... i guess ive just been thinking "why"? like ive heard that take before and i think its valid, but also like. why ? its obvious enough to me that deltarune uses the lightner/darkner relationship as a reflection of the player/game relationship and both of these things are addressed critically, but i can't help but wonder if there's a driving force for it all, outside of deltarune. like i can accept diegetically the darkners are not, or shouldn't be, subject only to the whims of lightners, but with any good story if you break it down to its core is ultimately saying something about humanity or the world and such. i mean i seriously doubt the people who seem to think that Toby Fox intends to induce *actual* guilt into the people who fund his life's work and career by purchasing his videogames, like, it's obvious that "you are a bad person because you play this videogame" isn't the intended message, nor was it in undertale. but then, what is? what is the purpose of a story that invites us to think of toys and game characters as "real"? not to trash my beloveds but i mean, literally speaking, their lives DONT matter, they r not real. it just feels like ive seen a lot of discussion about 'what' toby is doing with the narrative but i feel like that's only half the ordeal, the other half would be the reason why. my first thought was that the implicit 3rd thing being compared to the light-dark, player-game thing is actual social hierarchy IRL in which people are oppressed by another group that doesnt see them as human, bc iirc toby talked a bit about feeling powerless and wanting to do more to change the real world on real issues in an interview in 2020ish and of course there's the snarky gag about the fedora plugboy who doesn't like politics, so he doesn't care that an evil ruler is taking over the world. im not sure if that sits right with me as what the intention is (esp because the latter is a darkner talking about another darkner) but i couldnt think of much else although i do feel like a fallacy people get themselves into a lot in the fandom is the assumption that toby fox is this Impeccable Writing Machine and not just like A Guy. people make weird or flawed art sometimes, it doesn't *have* to adhere to standards. maybe deltarune is meaningless (or the meaning IS that it's meaningless, as though to complete the metaphor of it being a "real" fictional world, because if it is 'real' then like our world there is no "answer" or "purpose", it simply *is*.) dunno! im not expecting it to boil down to a simplistic fairytale moral like "dont bully people!!" or something, mr. fox tends to write more convoluted than that, but i feel like if there's something to be gained from this particular part of the game's story then i'm not sure i see the vision. what do u think? do u think this question is even answerable with only two chapters?

respectfully, I do heavily disagree with the notion that good stories necessarily have to say anything about the world or about humanity. one of the reasons I like metafiction is that it usually says something about how stories are constructed, and that's enough for me. there's plenty of stories that have bigger themes that aren't really all that much about human nature, at least, not directly. a story can comment on one specific thing without necessarily making a broader statement about people, you know? not every story has an easily explained moral lesson.

that being said, yes, this plot element is in service of deltarune's larger themes! which are about agency, control, fate, and identity.

deltarune's fate theming and its metafiction elements are a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation given how interlocked they are, but I've found it helpful to describe deltarune as a "person vs. fate narrative that uses a metafictional lens to characterize fate." rather than the three fates of greek mythology or whatever dictating its characters' lives, it is instead the structure of the rpg their world was made to be. they are player characters. they are npcs. they play specific roles in the narrative. no one can choose who they are in this world.

control is emphasized in this story. there's the control we have over kris, of course, and in a much subtler way the control we have over the world through them. there's the darkner-lightner hierarchy, which parallels our dynamic with kris. i would argue that there are even social forces in hometown which also serve to place the lightner characters into specific roles. under this level of control, it's hard for characters to push back and determine their own identities.

all these forces combine to mean that deltarune's characters are fighting back against the narrative itself! which says stuff about people's agency, and the way rpgs are written, and how we interact with all that...

ultimately, you can apply this to real life. even if there aren't things like "fictional people who are actually real," hierarchies of control do exist in real life. narratives that erase the agency and internality of certain types of people exist in real life. it's admittedly a rather general statement, but like with any narrative about fate, seeing characters resist rules that are seemingly written into the fabric of their existence can make you feel inspired to also define your own identity! and to be transgender. don't forget to be transgender

[misc-obeyme]

I had all these plans to finish a bunch of writing and then BAM Season 2 started with Lesson 21 and I got supremely distracted. I wasn't expecting it to come out so soon?!? I really thought there would be more time in between seasons. But I am not complaining!

At this point, I feel weird if I don't write a post about the lesson, so here I am. I swear I'll get back to writing fics after this lol.

Spoilers and screenshots below:

Okay so we've got the founding of RAD, MC and Solomon losing their magic, and characters acting weird.

The loss of MC's magic is pretty obvious and easy to understand. Like it works sometimes, but it doesn't at other times. (Though I have to say here that if the brothers asked me to open a jar with magic, I would laugh at them. I've never met a jar I couldn't open. It's called hot water. BUT ANYWAY) And obviously when they do use their magic, it's not as strong as it used to be. Solomon says he's having the same issue. He obviously notices it when he banishes the hellfire salamander, though if you ask him about it, he just says it's nothing. Which is funny because then he tells you all about his problem with it later when you're making dinner. I swear I lose my mind every time they use that clown music in the story.

Anyway, the most interesting part of this to me was when Solomon said these things:

At first I was like, is that what's happening? They're making it so that MC can't go back? Isn't that what we are all dreading?!

But then if you say you don't think you'll do it in time he says this:

Okay?? So should I be concerned or not?! I don't want to get stuck in the past, I want them to bring us back to the present or maybe merge the timelines or something?! I dunno, but I really can't figure out how they're going to wrap this up in a way that works. Unless they do what happened last time MC went to the past and erase everyone's memories. Which was something Michael did...

But overall, this situation seems pretty cut and dry. Gotta get those pacts, yo.

Mammon, on the other hand...

He seems to be going through something, huh? The thing is I can't figure out what it is. Something is definitely up, but what? Also it kinda seems like Simeon might be involved in this somehow?

MC is hurt. Mammon wants them to pay for the ointment that will heal them. Simeon shows up and just does it himself.

MC finds the coin and gives it to Simeon. Mammon takes it for himself and Simeon's just like yeah okay that's fine.

Then in the HARD LESSON (SPOILERS) Simeon actually blesses Mammon with good luck before he goes out to look for the lost coin. Not to mention their whole conversation about the Celestial Realm and the hot cocoa... (END SPOILERS)

And MC is aware that Mammon is not acting normally. But Simeon seems to be his usual self? I'm just wondering if whatever is going on with Mammon, Simeon might be the one to help him somehow? It kinda seemed to me like Mammon was being more greedy than usual, like something going on with his sin?

But MC isn't the only one who's noticed something is up with Mammon.

May I present: Lucifer, Avatar of Ellipses -

...

What is going on with this guy? I mean, okay, not all of these were about Mammon, but I'm pretty sure most of them were.

Anyway, Lucifer does this thing where it's obvious he's thinking about something or he's worried about something, but he just doesn't say anything about it. It drives me crazy. I'm like listen here MC is right there! Talk to them!

Okay that's all I really had to say about the lesson and story stuff, but there are a few other things that I just loved.

SIMEON oh my gosh the way he swoops in and heals MC I was like yes, please heal me forever thank you.

His precious look of concern...

... and then this confident smile!? I just love him.

Also going grocery shopping with Lucifer and Beel in 21-A was just so sweet and domestic?! Neither of them could remember what any of their brothers wanted, they would have been totally useless without MC there rattling everything off. It was adorable, but also just soft times with Lucifer are always my favorite thing.

Yeah. Concerned about how you can bottle all your feelings and still be so hot.

Anyway!

Wherever they're going with this magic weakening thing better not result in MC stuck in the past forever. But I do hope we're getting some Mammon story now because I love him, too.

[random-person10]

Heartbreak High

The new one, not the old one.

This show has always managed to confuse me and I don't know if it's an Australian thing or a writer's thing. I'm pretty sure it's the former coz it happens every time I watch anything Australian.

But this season was even more confusing than the first. Like in the first season, it was chaotic to me how everyone ended up fucking almost everyone, I could not guess who was going to get together at fucking all. All it took is for these fuckers to make 4-second eye-contact and BAM sex, get a grip. Ig teenagers are actually like that and I'm just a loser. Anywho, this season, the only thing that confused me was Rowan's whole character arc.

Let me break this down:

He said that when he came to Hartley High, he was just ready to move on from his brother's death, or maybe he wanted to move on in Dubbo, I dunno I kind of didn't pay attention. But like, he started killing birds and terrorizing Amerie with them on the first fucking day of being there, because she didn't remember him?

This motherfucker went into the forest, while Ant was busy threatening to cut his dick off, killed a bird, and put it on her bag? Sorry but how fast does this man act? What a machine.

Then he dated her ex-boyfriend? For what reason? Was it strategic? I still haven't figured that one out yet. Like sure it'll make Amerie jealous but he seemed genuinely into him so I don't think that's it. Actually, thinking about it now, Malakai is hot and Rowan was all "forget Amerie" or whatever so that bit does make sense tbh. I cried when they broke up go away, imagine the person you're dating calls u by their ex's name? ugh sad

Then after breaking up with Malakai and getting his heart savagely broken, he just starts dating Amerie? At first, I assumed that was because he planned to hurt her emotions, but he literally spoke about her to 'Jett' like he was into her, so that confused me. I thought he hated her?

Like bro seemed to not have a plan. I know he's not mentally stable and all that but like what was going on in his mind? He's trying to ruin her life, but also likes her, but also thinks she murdered his brother.

And why did he tell Malakai to fuck off when he started dating Amerie? Like was that genuine possessiveness or was that part of the plan? (My little brain was like "awe he wants to protect Malakai from whatever he has planned at that dance so he's telling him to go away, cutee he still likes him" but I'm delulu so ignore that)

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF

His delusions just vanished with Amerie saying: "he died because he loved you" and a clip of Jett not being a part of Rowan's hallucination anymore... like excuse me, I need a clip of this man going to a therapist and actually acknowledging his schizophrenia, not whatever this form of fucking 'closure' is.

It was so half-arsed, it made me mad.

Man, I genuinely liked the guy, but it seemed like they created his plot 4 episodes into the season. Nothing linked.

Still was very obsessed with the show tho. The sarcasm and the sibling vibes were very entertaining. STILL THE PLOT MAKES VERY LITTLE SENSE. But, again I'm very bad at paying attention so I might've got it all wrong.

Side note: the principal's dog (Joan of Arc) with her little fuchsia-coloured vest were the highlight of this show for me, isn't that kinda sad? There is a scene where the principal is talking to Cash, and Joan is facing the opposite direction and I laughed at that for like 30 minutes, tragic.

[desultory-novice]

A-ahem. Starting over again...

@newthinkerer found THS post and said to me: "I'm sure the Kirby fandom has done something to grind your gears."

Which, in truth, the answer is not lately / not really no. ^^; But it wasn't hard to reach in and find some "comical outrage" style gear-grindy answers for those who find such rants entertaining! So, here those are for everyone's (hopeful) enjoyment

[Original Response Below] Ohhh? Did you want "Salty" Dess? XD Let's go down the list...!

Marx / Reduced to one single trait

Look, I know the games don't give people much to go on, but a lot of people (1) seem ha~ppy to come up with pages and pages of backstory for all the other characters - but Marx? Nope. Marx is the one character who people seem almost allergic to rounding out when he is RIPE with mystery and potential. "But the game doesn't tell us anything about him so maybe he isn't that big of a deal, Dess?" Tsk! The game tells us just as little about Meta Knight! The only difference is the number of appearances! Use your imagination, people!

It's like some folks are trying to invoke the Smash Bros conspiracy theory that Kumazaki and Sakurai have a rivalry (they don't) and just like Sakurai would NEVER put a Kumazaki-era character in Smash (...he already did in the form of the trophies) no one is allowed to characterize Marx cause he's from the Sakurai-era of Kirby where characters just didn't have personalities and lore! Pah, I say!

Oh yeah, if you want to see me destroy something, say "He was just hungry!" : ) in my presence. Do it. I dare youuuuuu...! 

:holds Magolor over a wood chipper:

Susie / They stole (...some planetary resources and MK's autonomy...) and fandom labeled them a hard criminal

You all knew this one was coming, right? ^^ But if I start up the Susie debate again, I'm going to regret it so, uh, let's move on...

Kirby / Popular headcanon so off-base it hurts. 

I fear the Metadad people have their hands over the block button right now. But it's not that MetaDad is necessarily wrong! MK can act protective, sure. It's "Baby Kirby" that is wrong! He lives on his ownnnnnn with a houseeee he does not need babyinnnng.....!!

Magolor / Constant (eh, semi-frequent??) misinterpretation

...I want to be as gentle as possible when I say this because I GET IT. Please believe me when I say I understand so, so much and as far as AU versions/alternate HC goes, it's fine! This isn't a call out!

But... Magolor being a shy, reserved kitty boy who just wants...f-friends... Look, Magolor may not have EVERY disease, but he does have a lot of them. However awkward he may be though, the form his awkwardness takes is very clearly extroverted! Again, it's super okay though because I get seeing yourself or an aspect of yourself you're dealing with in a character and wanting to make them more like you! Dess supports comfort characters! (Plus, my own version of Magolor is a little laser-sighted on his frustrated side)

...But he runs a shop and a theme park. He actually LIKES talking to/dealing with people! He gets along with Marx because he LIKES tricking people. He likes to get under people's skin! He doesn't fear it! Magolor is/has been sad and probably has some deep trauma, yeah. But he also deserves to be more than :gif of a sad cat:

DMK / The worst takes.... 

I'm not going to start up The Debate here, same as with Susie, but... The unabashed glowing adoration the fandom has for Meta Knight and you take away ONE good trait and enhance ONE bad trait and now he is Satan?!? Some of you people hate him more than HYNESS (:spoken by a Hyness fan:) and I don't know why?!

Maybe add on "He would never say that" for the people who do the opposite and make him exactly like MK but he says the F word

Daroach / ...Ignored

Like, the real crime (haha, get it? crime?) about Daroach is that he IS used occasionally. More than like, I dunno, Chew Kawasaki? But when he does show up, it's with his crew being "The Leader of the Squeaks" (showcasing that Dad Energy(tm)) or DMK's husband. (The thief and the murderer are boyfriends! Diversity win!) And...that's it?

Daroach has so much potential to interact with literally everyone?! He roasts Dedede IN GAME?! Why are people not running with this energy more?! (Also, shipping Darkroach because of that one picture is fine. I do too. Shipping Darkroach because you don't want to break up MetaDede and so you relent to "giving" him MK's mirror clone like buying a grieving kid a new puppy is...kinda weird? Just me?)

Adeleine / Reduced to one single trait (part two)

...This might sound like THE most hypocritical thing coming from the creator of "Apologies" aka, "Sad Siblings in Snow" but Adeleine potentially being from Shiver Star (potentially!) equating her to "The Little Match Girl." Now I love all kinds of Adeleine origin headcanons! And I also love Sad Adeleine on Shiver Star stories! I don't want to put an end to them or suggest they are bad thing! Never!

But... I worry e~very now and then THAT  is the thing people find most interesting about her. That she would/should be a sad girl when she's really not. Since writing "Apologies," I've gotten a handful of asks about how Adeleine must be really sad about Noir's death or asking if she will ever be able to smile again and... like...um...

...S-she is? Already smiling, that is. ^^; "Apologies" was crafted in a way to PROTECT Adeleine's innocence so that she can be happy and relatively close to the canon Adeleine! Adeleine being able to move on with her life and smile and make friends is exactly the thing Noir died for - so that Adeleine wouldn't have the life he did!

So, again, kinda hypocritical of me because I actually really like sad Adeleine art and "Adeleine the Human" HC, but I sometimes fear it might become all that she is.  :spoke by a contributor to this trend:

...TLDR, continue to write and draw Adeleine angst because it allows me to ignore the option I almost considered just for a second which was sexualiza...Nope. We're going to go back to forgetting about all that unfortunate Pixiv content right.this.minute!

-

(1) So, despite my tone and the things I said, I'm not actually upset at anyone for anything they'd done! I'm really happy that people are creating at all - whether you're writing sad Magolor or itty bitty Kirby or lol random Marx or PTSD Adeleine or trophy husband Daroach!

I don't even see a lot of the things I'm ostensibly complaining about anymore, honestly. Thus my reasons for posting less and less salt on this account! Outside of a few fandom kerfluffles in the last month (alas...) I would say we're actually in an era of peace as far as good content about the characters goes! People are thinking and inventing. People are having fun. People are being measured with their takes and anything "gear grindy" is really going to be remembered stuff from the past, not present flaws!

...plz don't block me...

[shewholovestoread]

THE L WORD GENERATION Q MASTERPOST

Back when The L Word Generation Q Seasons 1 and 2 aired, I was inspired to write about it and in particular about Dani Nunez and Gigi Ghorbani. But season 3 was such an unmitigated dumpster fire and the awful way some of the characters were handled (cough-Gigi-cough) that I refuse to waste any of my time writing about it. But seeing as so much work (and thought) already went into it, I'm posting this master-list for any who want to go through them.

Gigi Ghorbani on The L Word Generation Q

The L Word Generation Q - Is Dani into Gigi - Part 1 of 2

The L Word Generation Q - Is Dani into Gigi - Part 2 of 2

The L Word Generation Q - Bette and Gigi

Can you please do an analysis comparison of Dani’s growth as a person in her relationship with Gigi compared to how she was in her relationship with Sophie?: Link

Question cause I wanna know your thoughts. On the night where Dani, Gigi & Micah went out, Gigi runs into Bette and I think this is the scene where Bette tells Gigi she isn't enough (correct me if I'm wrong tho) Do you think that's why she confesses to Dani afterwards? As a sort-of rebound?( I dunno… i always found that kinda off, how she moved so quickly from one to the other): Link

how would you deconstruct the "Are you hitting on me?" statement by Dani. Gigi clearly wasn't seeing this coming and was slightly taken back by the upfront question from Dani and when Gigi says no, it seems like Dani is slightly taken aback and confirms by asking "but you are not sure" as if she wanted her to say yes and for things to move in other direction: Link

Have you done the comparison of Gigi and Bette’s date and Gigi and Dani’s non date? If not can you?: Link

The L Word Generation Q - The Bette and Dani Fight

About Dani’s feelings for Gigi and Finley showing up at her house: Link

What did you think of the scene where Dani shows up at Gigi's office & Gigi gives her an excuse but Dani straight up calls her out on it by saying "maybe you just didn't want to see me" Do you think Gigi was surprised by that?: Link

Dani's scene with Nat and Alice.

I hate Rodolfo for the way he treats his daughter. But I can’t help but keep going back to him saying to Dani that he thought she’d end up with someone like Gigi. Do you think it influenced the way Dani viewed Gigi ? Was it something that nudged her in Gigi’s direction?: Link

the scene in Dani’s apartment where she says to Gigi “you sound like Sophie”. With Gigi’s reaction, I felt like she was a little upset for being compared with Sophie. I think it is because she already had feelings about Dani but and the “ex comparison” thing was something she didn’t like a bit. What do you think?: Link

in the scene where Dani tells Gigi she’s easy to talk to and Gigi responds by saying “not everyone would agree with you.” The look on Gigi’s face after Dani says “fuck ‘em” has always struck me as odd. It’s almost like Gigi is surprised by Dani’s response, or wasn’t expecting that reaction?: Link

I want to say that your analysis of GINI scenes are amazing. I'm curious to know if you analyzed the GINI hottest scene from episode 8 of season 2. If you did please send me a link. If you didn’t I really want to know you thoughts about it (the bode language and the other). Also what do you expect from season 3?: Link (Really clowned myself in this one, didn't I?)

I wanted to ask you why Finley seems to be obsessed with Dani. Link

Thinking about how Marja said GINI came to be cause they couldn’t bring in a lot of actors because of Covid and how Dani was supposed to date around…had that happened do you think Gigi would’ve still been interested in Dani? Link

What did you think of the scene where Dani shows up at Gigi's office & Gigi gives her an excuse but Dani straight up calls her out on it by saying "maybe you just didn't want to see me" Do you think Gigi was surprised by that? Cause I personally think she wasn't expecting Dani to come and apologize but she loved every minute of it when she did: Link

How would you deconstruct the scene where Sophie said to Dani “Because I know you” after consoling Dani in Ojai and Dani’s response was a deadpan “Do you?” to that? Link

The other day on YouTube I read something along the lines of "Gigi mentors/mother's Dani too much and she'll eventually get tired of her, what Gigi needs is an equal as her partner not someone that's emotionally immature" What do you think? Do you think Gigi will ultimately get tired of Dani? I'm actually kinda curious cause Gigi herself said that she eventually tires of her partners. Link

I also think one of the main differences between Bette and Dani is that Dani is willing to learn from her mistakes and actively tries to change for the better. I think this was shown in how she went about in starting a relationship with Gigi. We know that her relationship with Sophie started with Sophie cheating on her then girlfriend with Dani and them “fucking in a bathroom stall” the first night they met. Before starting anything with Gigi, Dani actively made sure Bette was okay with it because she knew they were dating/had just broken up at the time. Link

Hey, thank you for all the analysis. Can you do a deeper analysis on the scenes from the time Gigi tells Dani that her feelings have changed to the time Dani ends up at Gigi's doorsteps just before their first kiss. I am particularly interested in the park bench scene. I feel there is a lot of subtext in their conversation. Also, curious on what made Gigi tell Dani about her feelings after Dana's. Curious if you think the events at Dana's influenced her to just go for it. Link

Thanks so much for keeping us alive post end of season 2. Would love your take on the epic kiss in the rain scene in 207! Link

Hey, Thank you so much for every post you have written about Dani and Gigi. Your posts make me appreciate them more and also grateful to have found this corner of Internet where I can obsess over these two. That being said, I have one more question. I am not surprised that Dani is into Gigi. Gigi is super awesome and there to support her in Dani’s toughest moments and common who wouldn’t love Gigi back. I am curious about why Gigi is into Dani? Link

There’s this look on Bette face when she sees Gi and Dani at the bar in the love shack episode (episode 6 I think). I’m curious what you thought of it. Was it - huh, Gigi moved on too soon look? Or something else entirely? Thanks. Link

What do you make about the scene with Bette’s reaction towards Gigi/Dani being close at the bar during the karaoke scene of episode 6 if she didn’t “give a shit about Gigi” and was pretty much done with her by then? Link

Hi, thank you for your analysis they’re good :). What so you think about the it’s LA I’m sure there was traffic scene? Because for me GIGI kind of let her of the hook easy. That was inconsiderate of Dani. I was curious about your opinion for that scene. Thank you :) Link

[py6oto]

more hlvrai x yume nikki au stuff!!!

this post is gonna have a lot more text than my usual posts. so sorry if you don't want that.

so people seemed to really like my idea (which is really unexpected !! i didn't expect it to gain any attention at all!!! but its also super awesome and im so glad they do!!) so ive been brainstorming a little bit.

heads up i know yume nikki is a very ambiguous game but im pretty new to it so if i happen to get any established information wrong please let me know !? ty !!

anyways. before we do the effects. please take some sprites.

(body horror ((multiple eyes, messed up limbs, gunshot sounds)) under the cut!!! pls stay safe !!! ) (also a huge lore dump. sorry!)

id think this au takes place in a universe where the resonance cascade was real (aka not a game or simulation) and it'd be like, maybe a few months after it. gordon is traumatized as hell and it haunts his subconscious to the point he feels the need to isolate himself completely. he relives his trauma through eerily consistent dream worlds and then dies on a random tuesday. credits roll. audience cheers. wonderful story.

the vision for the sprites is that tommy functions as a "friendly" npc (like monoko and the other girl i forget the name of please forgive me) and benrey functions as poniko, uboa being "xenrey" or essentially messed up alien benrey (the weird...white...blood....world...room...uboa takes you to when you interact with it is simply replaced by xen. that's it. benreys house is a direct gateway to that time gordon fought god and won and isn't that amazing.)

i might remake the "uboa" sprite in the future because i don't really like it right now. im very new to pixel art and imitating YMNK's style is a little hard.

i like to think this imaginary game would have the teensiest tiny bit of dialogue, only when interacting with benrey. when you interact with his "regular" form, he says "you're not supposed to be here." and repeats it every time you interact, not saying anything else.

i know one of the biggest things that makes yume nikki stand out is its lack of dialogue, but listen, i think it would work well!!! seeing as this is the only time a character actually talks to gordon through understandable dialogue (unless i come up with something else!! haha) i think it would be confusing and throw players off because it breaks the pattern of being either ignored or silently acknowledged. someone talking directly to you after hours of isolation is confusing and unpredictable. which is what benrey is. confusing as hell!

im not sure what function tommy would offer, if any, i kinda want him to maybe give gordon an effect (soda effect could work?)

i dont think he'd bring any jumpscares or intentionally unsettling things to the table. seeing as he was the only one by gordon's side when the rest of the team proved itself to be a threat, i think it's logical he'd remember tommy in a warmer light than the others- which is reflected in how instead of unsettling or ignoring gordom, dream tommy simply smiles and gives him the ability to drink a soda any time. soda effect.

does this soda effect make you see faster like tommy said?

as much as i'd love to, no. probably not. because i have no idea what the hell seeing faster means.

maybe you can get a caffeine overdose. if you spam 1 enough times you will get very fast for as long as the soda effect is on. like the bycicle effect, but better, because you can taste it!

but no, it won't help you see faster. i don't know how to translate that sentence into understandable english.

now, coomer and bubby!!!! i apologize very deeply for i have not made sprites for them yet. i promise i will!!! it's just very late today and if i draw anything else i will actually just pass out.

im not very sure what i want for them yet. i think theyd be similar to tommy, but they'd have different functions. maybe they all give gordon different effects. or maybe they scare him! i dunno, i feel like there'd be a certain level of distrust from gordon to the old guys, like, of course he doesn't hate them but itd be hard to remember them super kindly and harmlessly when one of them ruthlessly tried to murder you with 300 clones of himself and the other tricked you into an ambush that cost you your arm, as much as you love them.

also!!! i completely forgot gordon lost an arm when i made his sprite. oops. it's okay its just a very realistic prosthetic

anyways. this post is getting too long so i think I'll save the boomer talk for when i actually post their sprites. its time for EFFECTS !!

i haven't been able to come up with many words yet. but i have some effects and a slight idea of how gordon would earn them.

concept art is beautiful

from left to right (because my handwriting is absolutely hideous!)

SODA - earned by interacting with TOMMY. wherever tommy is??? i dunno! pressing 1 will make gordon drink the soda and earn a temporary speed boost.

CAR??? - part of me really wants to rename this one but it's so funny to me i want to keep it. it's just a car. he literally just whips out a car and starts driving. what a legend. this effect lets him get across water areas faster (even faster than the soda!)

LONG HAIR - literally just gives him long hair. there is no practical use for this. nothing will happen. it just gives him long hair. isnt he beautiful.

ARM - earned by interacting with a dismembered arm found... somewhere.... probably some dark room. you know that effect where madotsuki literally just becomes a head? yeah. this is that but it's an arm because of course it is. this is an opportunity and i will not give it up. there is no use for this either. it just makes him a slow sad lonely arm.

MINIGUN - found by interacting with a certain object in POTION !! WORLD !! YEAHHH!! DARNOLD REFERENCE !!! pressing 1 will let you shoot the hell out of your enemies and make them pay for their sins

SWEET VOICE - found by interacting with any of the orbs in COLOR WORLD. 1 will allow gordon to song a beautiful, colorful song that will soothe any npcs he might have angered and make them stop trying to murder him.

POWERLEGS - MAYBE given by coomer npc? idk! this is all brainstorming and a work in progress! 1 makes gordon jump real high, allowing him to reach otherwise unaccessible areas

GHOST - ghost. he's a ghost. he's transparent. he flies. 1 makes him do a little ooooo noise and all the npcs run away from him because the place is haunted. ghost.

GLASSES - literally just pick up some glasses from the floor. putting them on will uncover a few hidden details across the map that may be necessary for progress ... like a very small and specific set of stairs

SMALL - makes gordon very small. i thought the original effect was super fun so i just kept it unchanged. small gordon. he can clone himself and make a gordon army. small. im thinking he finds it thru a coomer clone that is abnormally small. he interacts. small effect. small!

SHORT HAIR - literally just short hair. gordon can't seem to pick a haircut!

UMBRELLA - ...umbrella. makes it rain. shelters gordon from the rain at the same time. can be used for the same purpose it has in yume nikki which is putting out fires or stopping pre-existing rain.

there's supposed to be more effects and i still need to plan all the worlds and hidden rooms but ........ maybe when the sun is out and i have slept and i can think better !!! let me know whatever suggestions or ideas you guys have. i love hearing them a lot ^_^ thank you if you read all of this!! i promise hlvrai animations are not over this is just an au that has temporarily taken over its okay my content is not changing to yume nikki hlvrai only

gordon no

2023.07.27

[hyenahunt]

Obbligato: The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 2

Writer: Akira

Season: Spring, two years ago

Characters: Jun, Kaname

Proofreading: Remi + 310mc (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Peace & hyenahunt

Jun: So bring it the fuck on! Don't hold back! No matter what kinda unreasonable suffering you Specials put me through, I won’t feel a thing!

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Location: At the same time, in a classroom for the exclusive use of Special Students within Reimei Academy.

Jun: — GODDAMN!

Kaname: .....

Jun: Hey, HiMERU! What the fuck d'ya think you're doing, you asshole!?

Kaname: I could ask you the same thing, Sazanami!

You're not a Special Student, and yet you've waltzed into our classroom without permission whatsoever, spewing such insults my way!

That’s a curse word, right? Goddamn, I mean.

Jun: You bet it is. Kazehaya-senpai told me that rather than cursing at other people when something bad happens, we oughta curse at God instead.

"That way, no one will get hurt," or so he said.

Kaname: Really now. Whether God exists or not, I don't think he's listening to a word we're saying down here.

So no matter how much you curse at him, he's probably not hurt one bit by it.

It makes sense—You learned a useful word, didn’t you? Of course, a perfect idol like myself would never allow such unpleasant words to pass my lips, though.

Jun: Perfect idol, my ass. The stupid words you spout always straight-up clash with your good looks, huh?

Kaname: I'm merely stating a fact, that's all.

Jun: Oh, riiight. Well, I dunno 'bout perfect, but you're not wrong — you've come to be the top idol at Reimei Academy.

Kaname: I have. Through hard work, of course.

Jun: Hard work? The fuck are you on about, you degenerate copycat, stealing the hard work of someone else — of Kazehaya-senpai!

The hell d'you mean, hard work? Cut the crap, you thieving bastard!

Kaname: It seems you're misunderstanding something... Sazanami, was it?

Pardon me. I'm not an idiot, but I'm bad at remembering things; if it isn't important, then it slips right away.

Jun: Yeah, yeah, that's right... I know you high and mighty Specials can't be assed to remember the names of losers like me, huh?

Forget shitty useless guys like us, right? It's more important to remember the contact info of your business partners or all the shit you study up on in idol history, yeah?

Kaname: That's right. Being an idol requires one to have resourcefulness and knowledge to match, not to mention a tremendous amount of technical skill — I can't neglect a single thing.

The human brain can only hold so much.Therefore, we must be exceptionally discerning in what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget.

Jun: Hah! Exceptionally discerning, he says! Using big words for a dumbass now, are ya!? I know what you're really like — you're just a dumbass tryna maintain your stupid facade!

Kaname: Do stop insulting me in such a loud voice, Sazanami, unless you'd like to be sued.

Jun: Oh, go ahead and try! If I'm pissin' ya off, go ahead and take me out with violence! Everyone around you’ll just take the side of the lil' goody Special Student anyway!

Jun: So bring it the fuck on! Don't hold back! No matter what kinda unreasonable suffering you Specials put me through, I won’t feel a thing!

Kaname: ... Fine, then why don't I give you exactly what you want?

You all, please do remove this idiot from our space. He's unpleasant to look at.

Jun: That's my damn line! Just a little while ago you were on the same level as me, y'know? Just a snivelling lil' crybaby brat!

Kaname: ... Forget about that. No, even if you don't, then I'll simply pretend it never happened in the first place.

I have the power to erase whatever I'd like now, after all.

No matter how much you might talk about those disgraceful days, not a single person will believe a word you say: they'll ignore you at every turn.

You and I are in very different standings, Sazanami.

Kaname: ... You have realized it by now, haven't you?

Reimei Academy is founded on irrationality. No matter how you may push your "righteous ideals" onto others, it's in vain.

While you're here, you're the one in the wrong. It's only by acknowledging it and allowing ourselves to be dyed in the hues of insanity that we can survive even a bit.

Understand that much, won't you?

Even now, I can't help but pity your reluctance to abandon that "individuality" of yours, Sazanami.

[ ☆ ]

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[puhpandas]

I once saw someone say that Gregory being called a “story destroyer” by Tony was also figurative for how Gregory came into FNAF and ruined a lot of people’s lives indirectly, resulting in his impact on the current story. I mean, dunno how much I agree with that comparison/analysis or if it was intentional on Scott’s behalf while writing GGY, but it was kind of interesting to think about.

They did bring up an actual good point though; that the FNAF rules seemingly never apply to him and only him, which also might be why he’s so disliked, it’s because we never get to see the consequences of his actions like every other character but instead a “happy ending” that seems like it hadn’t been worked for.

I don't really get how he'd ruin multiple peoples lives indirectly in any other way than ggy, which vanessa is in the same boat and did the same things, so it's not even only him. I know the elevator ending exists but theres a very good chance Gregory didnt even do that and it isn't confirmed at all. I understand if they mean the animatronics since they're sentient, but at that point both vanessa and Freddy would also be guilty and it wouldn't be fair to blame only gregory for their situation, especially when he with his own power has mostly helped people by freeing vanessa and showing Freddy that theres more than Fazbear entertainment, plus comforting cassie on her birthday

I'm guessing the fnaf rules would be that hes a child and isnt dead?? which idk why hes hated for that lol it's a super interesting first for the series.

this isnt meant to be aggressive or anything I'm just sharing my thoughts for this ask and continuing the discussion :) thinking deeper into the story destroyer line is super interesting!! and I also understand that you're repeating what someone else said so this isnt directed at you

I just dont think a lot of Gregory's actions are fair to get angry at him for when he was mind controlled exactly how vanessa was and the other bad thing he did isnt even confirmed that he did at all lol. and the other things at that point would be the blame of other people alongside him also, and not fair to single him out for

I'm not even trying to fully 100% vouch for Gregory's total innocence here I'm just trying to say that it wouldnt be fair to make him out to be the only bad guy who did these things. the animatronics in ruin are such a strange situation because vanessa and Gregory and Freddy all clearly and obviously came back throughout the pizzaplex post-collapse and didnt bother trying to help the other glamrocks. it's so weird. but like I said that's all of 3 star fam not just Gregory. I know it's off topic but I'd love to see insight on that decision from 3 star fam to never help them bc theres clearly some nuance to it

[writer-kad]

Resident Evil 2 R actor AU!

This is an idea that's been rattling in my head for like a month so here it is!

The actor's for Claire and Leon met in 6th grade when they saw a DvD of the original resident evil 2 at a sleepover and have been best friends and roomates ever since

Due to contract reasons they didnt know that they were playing the roles until they met on set.

As a suprise all living actors from the original Resident Evil 2 were on set with zombie makeup and played various zombies

The actor who played Mr.X accidentaly punched Leon in the face and knocked him out, this caused the movie to be delayed by a week

Ada wongs actress pretended not to understand english when she first met the rest of the cast.

Sherry's actor is a huge horror nerd and actually asked the director if she could keep a prop from the film, the director said no but Mr.X's actor gave her his hat after filming wrapped.

Every member of the cast that met Mr.X's actor thought he was the sweetest man they ever met

The actor for William Birkin is actually Sherry's actresses brother, no he isn't 36 he's 29 he just looks really old dw about it.

Claire and Ada's actors started dating soon after production ended with help from Leon's actor.

Due to the 5th Devil may cry sequel being shot at Capcom studio's at the same time, the actor for dante accidently walked onto set and was extremely confused at the scenery change.

Afterwards Mr.X who was a fan of the DMC movies got and autograph of Dante.

Claire's jacket mysteriously disappeared after shooting, it is rumored that Claire had stolen it from set, when asked about it at the oscars she said "Well i definitley didn't steal it and even if i did steal it's not like they were going to use it again." She then opened her purse to reveal what seemed to be the jacket.

Mr.X visited Leon in the hospital after knocking him out and gave him a baloon and a get well soon card that stated that he put freshly baked brownies that will help with the pain in his fridge. No one knows how he got in, as Claire was having ice cream with Sherry as a bonding excersise.

During the racoon city scenes, most of the zombies were just people livng in the area.

During the Ben Bertolucci scene, they didn't know when Mr.X was going to the burst through the wall, the original script for that scene was 2 pages long, and they just had to keep going until Mr.X broke the wall.

After Breaking the wall the cast realized that that was a REAL WALL and not a prop one and Mr.X had broken several bones.

Some of the most famous bloopers from the film was Ada saying "Well this wasnt the penetration i was looking for" after stabing the pipe in her leg.

When asked how her character survived Ada said "Man I dunno, just blame Wesker"

Marvin's actor actually interned during the filming of the orignal movie

The actor for Cheif Irons constantly made sure if Sherry was ok after various scenes

Claire's actress said that Sherry was one of the most professional child actors she'd worked with.

Mabey i'll make more stuff with RE2 like interviews and stuff or move on to 7

[sideprince]

Hey! Dunno if you do the asks game but I'd like to know your opinions on Severus based on 1, 2, 8, 12, 15 (if it's too much you can skip it or only do the questions that you find interesting

(btw, your blog is gold, I passed way too much time scrolling on your blog to find EVERY meta I could get my hands on)

Most of my meta posts are just me lurking on @raptured-night 's old meta posts and reblogging them, but I'm glad you had fun! You should check out their blog I think you'd love it...

1. Canon I outright reject

This is only technically HP canon because it's from Cursed Child and not the books: I refuse to believe Voldemort and Bellatrix slept together. I don't think it's in Voldemort's character to sleep with anyone, period. His core characteristic is his aversion to vulnerability; he operates in secrecy and alone and has no friends, nor as he ever had one. There isn't a single one of his Death Eaters he truly trusts. He has no understanding of love (which isn't necessary for sex) or of the value of or need to connect with another person. This is not a person who would expose any part of himself to another person, let alone a vulnerable and private one, and want to engage in something that, even if loveless, is ultimately still an intimate and vulnerable interaction. And you can't even say that it's because he wanted to secure Bellatrix's loyalty because he already had it. She was an absolute fanatic and fully devoted to him and would have continued to be so whether or not he slept with her, let alone had a child with her. And I don't buy the idea that he wanted a child either, because I don't think that would have made a difference to him in terms of trusting someone with his legacy. Not to mention that the guy whose main goal was immortality and who believed he had achieved it through his Horcruxes would not have made a backup plan in case he does die, let alone trust his child with anything purely because she's his offspring. He killed his own father, framed his uncle for it, and looked down on his mother – the idea of family being any kind reliable or worthwhile connection is not part of his world view. The whole thing makes no sense to me in the context of who Voldemort was set up to be as a character in the books but I'm also not a big fan of Cursed Child and don't personally consider it canon, so.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

Snape comes from poverty in a slum of a Northern town in a very classist Britain and that informs a lot of who he is as a character. He may have the speech style and stiff demeanor to pass, but it's a form of masking and people like the Malfoys wouldn't have anything to do with him if it wasn't in their personal interest. He's not the refined, romanticized nobleman (or harlequin romance hero) some fans seem to want him to be and I don't like that interpretation because there's nothing wrong with his background or his lack of "breeding." I love that he's a genius kid who grows into a brilliant man and can hold his own against the best and worst of his society, exactly because of where he comes from. I sort of wish for him that he lived in a culture where he didn't have to suppress so much of himself.

8. Unpopular opinion about them

I think he both is and isn't ugly. What I mean is, he's not attractive by widely accepted beauty standards (with the caveat that he's described through Harry's perspective, which is biased). That being said, I don't believe in the idea of being ugly, at least not aesthetically. I don't really understand how you can separate someone's personality from their face. I've met people who I thought were ugly because they were unlikeable people (to me) but I've never met anyone who I thought was objectively unattractive. Facial expressions, personality, interests, judgments, etc., these are the things that show up on someone's face and make them attractive or unattractive. I may not be personally attracted to someone but that doesn't make them objectively unattractive. I've known people who have symmetrical faces with aesthetically pleasing features whose smiles were insincere or their eyes dead or they always looked annoyed or bored and nothing about them moved me. And then, where's that post about Miriam Margoyles talking about how she thinks of herself as beautiful? That. That's what I mean.

So I think that Snape is attractive on the page to people who find him intriguing, who see past the way his physical features are described because his personality and who he is are compelling. And at the same time, he has features a lot of people do find attractive: a prominent nose, the whole Trent Reznor long black hair/black goth clothes vibe etc. One person's "meh" is another person's "oooooh." And he's also described as greasy and pallid is a closed off, surly, antisocial guy. So it's a mixed bag in any case. But the same way I don't like the idea of him being represented as some kind of harlequin romance hero or refined nobleman, I reject the idea that to represent him in fan art as attractive he has to be chiseled with sharp cheeks and clean edges. He's messy. And he has a hooked nose. If I never see fan art of him with a straight, sharp nose I'll be happy (and people can draw what they want, I don't go around commenting on people's artwork or anything, I'm just answering an ask here).

12. Crack headcanon

Lily found out that it was Snape who told Dumbledore to hide her and her family and that he'd turned spy but didn't get a chance to thank him or rekindle their friendship before Voldemort killed her. Snape died thinking she never knew and still hated him. On a related note, I hate myself, apparently.

(Also I think it was Snape who made the potion Voldemort put in the basin in the cave to protect the locket Horcrux.)

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Not look for a way out of being a Death Eater after the first time he participated in something that involved violence. And even then I have empathy for him because it would be traumatizing enough, let alone for someone young and raised in their own trauma. I do think, though, that trying to save Lily wasn't his sole motivation for defecting, it was his breaking point. Snape, like many others, was drawn to Voldemort for the reasons described in canon: his rhetoric about power and freedom. He didn't realize the violence and cruelty it would involve until it was too late to get out safely and there was a cowardice in his staying. Nevertheless, I can empathize with that kind of fear. That's not the same as condoning or supporting it, mind you, but in terms of the worst thing he's ever done I think it's everything he continued to be complicit or participatory in after the point where he realized what being a DE really meant.

[saspitite]

Needlessly Pedantic Answers to Worldbuilding Questions that Don't Matter That Much to Begin With, Episode #1:

why is everyone in your fictional world an animal? what do they eat? are there any non-sapient animals? is it more of a "Zootopia or Beastars" type situation? how does anatomy change across certain species?

so as nobody may know, i write about a lot of fictional worlds and one of them is your standard diverse furry society. while these are quite fun to mess around with, they tend to bring up a lot of questions (that technically don't matter too much, i mean you're just telling a fictional story for god's sake) about how the world works. and there's especially a lot of questions raised in my case because my world doesn't just feature mammals, but also reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, and so on, so you wonder how differently they live, if at all. i'm gonna be evil and answer all of those questions that exactly -2 people have asked today!

1: why is everyone an animal?

of course, the real reason is because it's fun to explore stories and create characters that aren't human, and it's especially a fun opportunity to experiment with character design! but for a more in-universe reason, the gods like to take inspiration from each other and will tend to build off of each other's ideas. this world was made by the wandering god Belet, who became inspired after visiting several worlds of other gods. they were curious about creating a world where multiple sapient species exist, since it was a common trend in other worlds for only one dominant species existing at a time.

2. what do they eat?

naturally, all species are vegetarian, although some areas of the world have gotten to the point of inventing artificial foods adjacent to plant-based meat. the idea of cannibalism or killing other people to eat hasn't really been explored due to being kinda... dubious. but i guess it's up in the air. although it may sound weird, the practice of selling one's own dairy products and other non-meat animal products is quite normalized. it's basically just seen as the same level of normal as selling any other food items you make.

3. are there any non-sapient animals?

so far? nope. but that might get retconned in the future, i dunno. i haven't published enough about this world so i'm still able to reconsider if i wanted to. but as of right now, basically every single organism from the animalia kingdom is anthropomorphized, with a few exceptions. (exceptions usually being organisms i have no clue how to anthropomorphize lmao)

4. is it more of a "zootopia or beastars" type situation?

to expand on this question, it's basically asking for more information on how society functions and how fucked it is, if at all. initially i said it was going to be a utopia of sorts- i retconned that, lol, because it seems like i can't ever write about a truly happy world. it's definitely one of my better worlds to live in, but it's by no means perfect. i wouldn't say it's Beastars levels of messed up (black markets selling dubious meat and carnal instincts telling you to eat your friends) but it's probably not as cutesy as, say, Zootopia is on the surface level, although i do like how it tackled systemic racism and whatnot. i guess it's somewhere in between. there isn't anything going on that's straight out of a psychological horror movie but there's definitely inequality and tension everywhere.

5. how does anatomy change across certain species?

outside of the very obvious base change of every animal becoming anthropomorphic and thus more human-like, there's a couple other changes, such as necessary internal anatomy shifting around so all creatures can live on land properly, plus the ability to be able to speak the same languages, stuff like that. arthropods are a bit trickier (like oh my god so much would have to change) but i usually just explain that they're built different and call it a day. for my sanity. cold blooded animals are able to somewhat thermoregulate on their own, but will still largely rely on their surroundings. if you're cold, they're cold. wrap your lizard girls in blankets. also, all animals are similarly sized, but some tend to be slightly larger/smaller on average depending on the species. like, an old elephant man is gonna be MUCH taller than a moth lady lol.

oh, and an extremely unnecessary addition that i only expanded on because of the fact that i had to face the logical issue of giving my reptile characters boobs: non-mammalian animals will still tend to have visible "breasts" due to having the general silhouette of a human, but they don't produce milk or function at all outside of looks. some non-mammalians prefer to get their "breast" tissue surgically removed due to the fact that it serves basically no purpose for them.

that's about where the biological similarities end, though. when it comes to reproduction, biological compatibility largely follows the same odds as it would in the real world, so you sadly won't see many wolf/komodo dragon hybrids hanging out. this also tends to be a source of interspecies-relationship discrimination, and not to mention eugenics...

some miscellaneous tidbits:

-in terms of technology and resources, i'd say this world is about as advanced, if not a little more than our own. it's no sci-fi paradise but there are some significant advancements made that definitely outdo us, such as the research and technology poured into environment conservation and space exploration (the latter of which may or may not be one of the main topics of a story i'm working on... :3)

-trans healthcare is also reasonably advanced, although that doesn't imply there's less transphobia.

-yes, there's probably some unique version of veganism in this world, but instead of not eating animals it'd be like... fungi. or certain types of plants. or maybe even animal products anyways, despite the fact that they're normalized, for one reason or another.

-ohhhh clothes work so differently depending on what kind of animal you are. but i cannot get into that here. not without going insane. just know that i have been thinking about it a lot. there are entire different kinds of clothing for certain body types, just not the definition of body type you'd initially think of. there's specific clothing for the winged. the tailed and the non-tailed. the quilled. the feathered. the slimed. its insane

[omegasmileyface]

The Forest, the Trees, the Fire I: CATALYST

Chapter 3

woawoawoa chapter 3 :) this chapter more than doubles the word count of the story thus far! Authors: @ectolemonades, me, @attackradish. Artist: @/crunchysart

For the full characters list, word count, content warning, and a directory to all the currently available chapters and related content, see the Table of Contents!

full summary: The world outside of Amity Park has learned about the existence of ghosts, and the time for first impressions has arrived. The delicate public consciousness could be disrupted by the slightest ripple. Danny Fenton is being ripped apart from all sides, and when he finally breaks, the ripples will be very big indeed.

warnings: self-worth issues, small meltdowns, that kinda thing

words: 3388

AO3 link

first chapter

previous chapter

next chapter

===

October 6, 2006

Danny tried to find a way to rest his head without the school bus vibrating his brains out. They’d left city limits forever ago, and the excitement that gripped everyone this morning had died down. Sitting next to Tucker had fought off the boredom for most of the trip, but conversation ran dry a couple miles back. Even the back of the bus had gotten quiet. There’s only so many unique 'would you rather?' scenarios that a group of teenagers who already see each other every week for football anyway can think up.

Danny leaned his head against the seat in front of him, the bitter bus seat smell prickling his nostrils. Gravity dragged his body into an increasingly uncomfortable slouch, the vinyl clinging to his forehead and stretching his facial features upwards until his skin stung. Bone ground against bone as his vertebrae tried to accommodate the unnatural arch his neck had been forced into. Eventually the discomfort won over the exhaustion, and Danny sat up straight again, unsatisfied and unchanged. Bound to do it again. Like Sisyphus.

They had to have been on this bus for AT LEAST, like, half an hour.

“You’d think they’d build a laser tag place a little closer to the city. You know, so people could actually go there,” Tucker remarked. 

“Well, isn't this some GIW thing? I bet they saw one of those dilapidated roadside fun-whatevers and just said ‘kids like these, right?’ and nabbed it without thinking.”

“Well, they’d be right. Laser tag rules." Tucker slid off his headphones. "Really, how badly could they ruin something like laser tag?“

“It’s the GIW. They’ll find a way.” 

“C’mon, Danny. A year ago you woulda been even more excited for this trip than me! Even if it is about hunting ghosts, it’s not like we haven’t done that before." Tucker rubbed his shoulder against Danny's and adopted his best 'cheer up, Sport, we're on our way to Disney as we speak!' voice. "Could be fun!”

As patronizing as he was being (and Danny immediately got him back for that shoulder rub), Tucker was right. Spending half the school day at a laser tag place should have been a dream come true! Maybe he could let himself enjoy this. 

“Tell you what," Danny said. "I will keep myself open to the possibility of having fun! Whether it happens or not is none of my business."

“That’s more like it! I was beginning to worry Sam’s goth spores finally took over your frontal lobe.”

“Not yet, Tuck. I haven’t fallen that far.”

“I dunno, you seem pretty close,” he teased. 

“Am not!”

“I’m gonna come to class one day and I’ll see you in a long sleeved striped shirt and guyliner.” 

“That’s emo, not goth.”

“A-HA! And since when do you care about that distinction, my friend who totally isn’t infested with spores?” 

“Shut up!” Danny shoved him playfully.  

“You’re just saying that because…”

“HEY! I THINK I SEE IT!” shouted Mikey from the front of the bus. Conversation burst from its grave as the students clamored to catch a glimpse of their destination.

“Alright, everyone, settle down! We’re almost there, but let’s stay professional and orderly.” Mr. Lancer shakily stood up at the head of the bus. “What did I say about opening windows? Mr. Baxter! Stay on your side of the aisle.” He plopped down again.

“Hey, Danny, what do you see?” asked Tucker.

Braving the buzz of the glass, Danny pressed against the window for the widest view ahead. Amid the fields of soybeans and rotting grain elevators stood a warehouse with a highlighter-colored wall and a parking lot. Out front was a sign in an inscrutable font on an impressive pole. He couldn’t read it at all through the vibrations. 

“Well?”

“It’s big. I think the front is spray painted or something.”

“Oh, maybe the building’s an independent thing. You know how the government is about spray paint.”

“Let’s hope,” Danny sighed. 

They lurched around in their seats as the bus slowed and veered into the parking lot, where another bus was already unloading. Danny waved when he saw Sam in the crowd, but she didn’t look over. The bus parked, and Mr Lancer rose to block the front.

“Okay! Just a reminder that we are not going to be rushing inside right off the bat! We are going to gather by the front of the bus and then go in in an orderly fashion.”

Danny and Tucker stayed in their seats as the A-listers barged to the front of the bus. They only followed once they were urged to hurry up. 

When Danny got a better look at the spray paint mural, disappointment settled on his shoulders. It was covered in gross-looking cartoon ghosts getting shot at by some guy in sunglasses. Sighing, he braced for the ectophobic propaganda that was undoubtedly going to be inside. Damn. Right after he got his hopes up. 

There was way more going on in the foyer than he expected. It wasn’t just a tight room with a front counter; there were a couple arcade machines and quite a few benches. They seemed to be prepped for larger crowds, at least for Amity. Plastered on the walls were some “informative” posters about ghosts and what to do if you see one. Guides on how to support the GIW in your community and bullshit like that. There was also a sorry-looking ball pit in the corner. 

Mr. Lancer and Ms. Driftwind, the bio teacher, had ganged up on some of the staff. They were all huddled around a clipboard and pointing at students intermittently. 

“C’mon, Danny. I see Sam brooding near the ball pit. Whatever we're waiting for, it’s gonna take a while, so we might as well hang out.” Tucker gestured for him to follow with a jerk of his chin.

Sam started talking without even looking up at them. "Do you think they have a snack bar here?"

Danny looked around. "I don't see any."

"Me neither. But it would be weird not to have one, right? At an entertainment center?"

Tucker boldly stuck his feet in the ball pit without even looking. "Maybe they can't get catering all the way out here?"

"You don't get catering for a snack bar. You just get ingredients shipped."

Danny grabbed a ball out of the pit and ignored the way Sam recoiled in disgust. "If the GIW owns the whole building, it's probably weird. Maybe they have a sketchy cafeteria in the back. 'Hello, hip kids! Come on back for a radical snack! We have hot dogs, and they're made out of normal meat.'"

His friends laughed. Somehow, they ended up talking about how weird American commercials for Japanese video games were, and before they knew it they were all in the ball pit, passionately pelting each other with plastic while doing impressions of overly-enthusiastic TV gamers. Danny went wide with a ball aimed at Tucker, and it hit Mr. Lancer in the side. He glared. Whoops.

Ms. Driftwood clapped her hands rhythmically to get the scattered teenagers' attention. "Ravens! A third of you will be heading in to hear the rules now. If and when we call your name, please group up neatly by this door."

Before long, Dash's wish had come true and they were both in the first group together. Better yet, Danny's friends weren't joining them. Joyous day.

"Alright, kids! Have fun!"

As they passed through the door, someone yelled "kill somebody, Baxter!" and Danny felt the weight of an omen there.

As soon as he could, he got out of Dash's line of sight and to the back of the line. He knew he'd be found eventually, but at least for now there were a couple other A-listers in the group, and they were too busy hyping each other up to even look in his direction. When the door opened, they were the first through it. 

As the rest of the students filed in, he saw a few people’s shirts light up, and a wave of nostalgia washed over him. Years ago, he’d begged his parents to take him to a local rock show when he’d heard there was a meteorite, and while he was there he saw some rocks that fluoresced under UV light. 

He wondered if ghosts were fluorescent. Crap. What if he was fluorescent? He couldn’t just step out of line, everyone would notice and there would be questions. The door was several steps away. Ancients, what if this was the end? Shit shit shit shit. Shit!

Ghosts do not fluoresce under UV light. 

Danny relaxed his shoulders. He hated being this paranoid about everything. It was over, he was okay, that’s what mattered. Breathing as deeply as he could without getting stares, he waited for the blacklights to start being fun again. They didn’t.

“So. Who here has played laser tag before?” asked a laser room employee. Several hands shot up.

“Okay, cool, cool. So you know how this is going to go. Everyone else, this is for you. See the vests and blasters against the wall? You’re going to need to put the vests on, making sure the big triangle is centered on your chest.”

There were students suiting up before the instructor had finished talking. Danny subconsciously calculated how long he should wait until grabbing a vest of his own to draw the least attention. 

“Ok, everyone is doing good so far! Now, as some of you have already heard, this is going to be a little different than usual laser tag. You’re going to be taking the role of GIW operatives, fighting against ghosts hidden in the maze. Fake ones, of course.” The instructor chuckled at his own joke.

“There’s a variety of targets hidden in the maze, some ghostly and some harmless. The more ghosts you shoot, the more points you get! If you shoot a civilian target, you lose points. And it’s not just a glorified shooting range, you gotta be careful and have sharp reflexes. If you don’t shoot the ghost within a few seconds after it jumps out at you, you lose a life. Everyone got that?” 

The group nodded and murmured with agreement. 

“Are you guys ready to kick some slimy ghost butt?”

A halfhearted “yeah” rippled through the room. 

“Alright, we can do better than that! Are you guys ready?” 

A “yeah” that was equal parts excited and begrudging rang out. Danny wished he could melt people with his mind. First they desecrate laser tag and blacklights, then they talk about how he’s less than human and deserves to fucking die, and they stick him in a confined space with his bully and demand that he play enthusiastic? Fuck you.

The instructor seemed appeased.  

“Alright then, soldiers, let’s go go go!” He swung open the doors to the course and the crowd bolted out, with Danny caught in the flow. The techno music hit him like a wall. He didn’t see Dash, and he didn’t want to. He’d already turned a corner by the time he called out.

“Hey, where’s Fenton? I need him to watch my six.”

Danny unwound his shoulders a little. That wasn’t a problem he’d have to deal with for a while.

Turning another corner, he nearly slammed face first into a fluorescent green cutout. He shoved down his instinctual response to go ghost, instead swinging his gun up and shooting at the little black thing in its chest. His gun flashed and made an approving noise, and the cutout folded back against the wall.

As Danny made his way deeper into the maze, his mood brightened. Not by much, but… noticeably. The beat got his blood pumping, he was waist deep in fog, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t shot ghosts before. Even the blacklights were regaining some appeal. 

The next cutout was of the Box Ghost, who he happily gunned down. A shoddy representation of Technus swung out behind him, and was taken down just as fast. It felt good. Pretty much all the ghosts here were either perfectly generic or ones he had grudges against. They even had that jerk with the red eyes and the memory powers, who Danny took out with a masterful 360 no-scope. Not that his gun had a scope, but it was still cool. 

His spirits dropped when he turned a corner and saw Dash Baxter in the middle of the path. He was looking down another hallway, and hadn’t noticed him yet. 

Dash lowered his gun, smiling like he’d cleverly avoided a trap. A second later, his vest buzzed violently. 

“Hey, what’s the big idea?“

Curiosity got the better of Danny, and he jogged over to see what had Dash worked up. It was a cutout of him. Well, of Phantom. Dash’s vest buzzed again. 

“I’m not shooting Phantom!” Dash threw down his gun with a loud clatter. “This thing’s freaking busted.”

His vest buzzed a third time, and a loud recording rang out overhead. “Player sixteen: eliminated.”

“No, some genius set up the course wrong! I’d better get a second round after this.”

A tinny laser sound rang out, and the cutout sprung shut. 

“Phantom’s a ghost, idiot,” said Elliot, before running off to score more points. 

“Idiot?! You think I'M the idiot here?! He's on our side!” Dash’s nose crinkled into a full snarl, and his eyes flashed in Danny’s direction.

“I bet you feel the same way, Mr. Fenton Works! Huh?” Dash marched up and seized him by the shoulder straps. “Bet you’d shoot him down while he was distracted saving someone, or some shit, because… I don’t know, there’s something fuckin' wrong with you or something!” Dash threw him aside.

The commotion was drawing a crowd. There were two students behind Dash, and Danny heard footsteps behind him. He wasn’t getting a chance to appease Dash, not that he wanted that asshole to think they were on the same side of anything. 

“Fact, we all got saved by Phantom just a couple weeks ago when that weirdo meat lady attacked at Star's birthday party!"

“Dash, Phantom’s putting on an act. We all know that,” said Valerie.

“What act? You think he’d be risking his life every night saving people from ghosts if it was all an act? If he wanted us dead he’d let us freaking die!”

Liam scoffed. “He wants us to think ghosts can be trusted, duh. And it looks like it’s working. Why do you care? Do you have a crush on him or something?”

The tensed muscles in Dash’s neck spelled death. “Why you little—!” Dash lunged forward. A hand seized his arm. 

“Hey!" One of the staff materialized from the shadows. "That kind of behavior isn’t going to fly here. Mr. Baxter, right? You’ll be coming with me.” 

“Hell no! Why don’t you explain why Phantom’s set up as an enemy? Trying to get us to turn on our local hero? Thinning out the competition?”

“You’re coming with me, this isn’t a request. We’ll talk about this later.” 

“Make me!” Dash squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. 

The staff member shrugged. “You look like you play sports. Think for a moment. You’re at a school-sponsored event. Wanna bet that there won’t be consequences?”

Dash scowled, then his shoulders sunk. He sulked after the agent, leaving awkward silence in his wake. Danny just stood there. You don’t just start playing again after something like that.

===

In time, the round was officially over, and Danny went back into the lobby without looking at the leaderboard. 

“Man, Danny, you look almost as bad coming out as you did going in. Was it really that bad?” Tucker asked. 

Danny blew through his teeth. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Sam’s fork foraged through the green stuff she brought from home. “Does it have something to do with whatever Dash did that got him escorted outside?” 

“In fact, it has everything to do with what Dash did.” Danny scowled.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging, what did he do?”

“Must’ve been something pretty bad. He never gets more than a slap on the wrist.”

“He decided to make a big old scene about Phantom being a hero, how he saved our lives and shouldn’t be hated like other ghosts and whatever.”

Tucker glanced around, then leaned in close. 

“Isn’t that… a good thing, though?” he whispered. 

“No,” Danny hissed. “I’m not letting myself be endorsed by Dash fucking Baxter. He's the worst bully at Casper, he doesn’t get to like Phantom.”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe this could be to our advantage. He might leave you alone if he thinks you’re on the same side.”  

“Maybe!” Danny cursed himself and lowered his voice. “It might’ve been nice to catch a bit of slack. But I’m not gonna degrade myself by walking up to him and telling him he’s not alone, that I care about Phantom too and no hard feelings and we can help him together and it’s all going to be ok. I’m past groveling for his approval.” 

“…Are you past buying dumb tracksuits too?” asked Sam dryly. 

An icy shock stabbed through Danny's chest. It was just a joke. He knew it was a joke, they teased each other like this all the time. This was stupid. It’s no big deal. It’s not like he didn’t deserve it.

The shock faded into a buzzing ball of dread and weight. Tucker’s concerned face had been replaced with a lighthearted smile, and the corners of Sam’s lips were turned subtly upwards. They didn’t mean anything by it, on any other day he’d have laughed and quipped right back. 

He stood up. Everything was just a bit too much. Tucker said something, but Danny was already on his way to the front doors. 

Fresh air filled his lungs. He hadn’t realized how much the echoing cacophony was getting to him. Out here, every sound was clear and distinct. Bits of gravel left over from snow season crunched under his feet. Cars occasionally whooshed past on the highway. Getting caught out here could mean trouble, but he doubted anyone would come out. Eventually settling for a yellow parking bumper near the corner of the building, he sat down and braced his elbows on his knees. 

Right as his shoulders were relaxing, he heard the weather stripping of the front doors scrape across the concrete. He bolted out of sight. 

“Mr. Lancer, I think you know what I brought you out here to discuss.”

Danny’s ears perked up. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into him. He’s a good kid, best quarterback we’ve had in years.” 

“I’m sure he is, he didn’t strike me as a delinquent. Neat hair, strong posture, and as you said a football player. Good all-American young man. But that boy’s been exposed to some dangerous ideas, and it seems like some of them have begun to take root.”

Mr. Lancer sighed, with a  concern that Danny wasn’t used to hearing. “Is he going to be put on a watchlist?” 

“No, nothing that drastic. He’s a teenager, he’s bound to make some stupid mistakes. The government understands that. But to make sure nothing worse comes of this, it would be a good idea to sign him up for some mandatory counseling sessions on ghosts and respecting authorities.”   

“I’ll make sure that happens. Thank you for being so understanding.” 

“Of course. The GIW is here to keep you safe, not to bring down the hammer on impressionable teenagers.” 

Danny sneered at that last sentence. As if. 

“Thank you again, regardless.” 

He heard them go back inside. Knowing that they had just used the front door made getting back in unnoticed suddenly feel a lot more daunting. Maybe he’d just wait around for the trip to end and merge in with the rest of the students as they lined up for the bus. Look for ladybugs in the grass or something. And he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of bailing on Sam and Tucker either. He could just wait until they forgot or it got too awkward to mention so they wouldn’t try to apologize to him even though he was the one in the wrong.

That’s what he’d do. It was gonna be a long wait.