#it looks like she did have some sort of power and it caused the accident? or her mom did? not sure

[astarlightmonbebe]

the atypical family is everything so far. they better do the father-daughter relationship justice.

[lightning-water]

i don’t think Jays amnesia is accidental or legitimate

here’s why:

Jay knows his name his full name, implying that he knew it even with memory loss, and you might be thinking couldn’t the agents just tell him his name if he didn’t remember? well no one in the administration seemed to know who LLOYD GARMADON WAS until they broke zane out, they didn’t even Acknowledge Zane as a ninja when they arrested him implying that they have no idea who THE HEROS OF NINJAGO are

He knows he had lightning powers but nobody else knows this, which also connects to the administration didn’t know who jay was before or they would’ve informed him of his powers themselves and he would’ve known that they knew but he makes it seem like it’s a bad thing like bad things happen to Elemental Powers so if that is true why would they put somebody in the administration knowing that they have Elemental powers?

Still has similar personality traits to before (video games) so the memory loss didn’t cause Jay to completely loose himself, he still holds the similar traits to before. this seems more like someone took out the people and things he was doing and not erasing him as a person? idk if that makes sense but when Nya and Zane got their amnesia they blindly trusted people, the first person they saw who told them things and they believed them and they kind of acted differently but also they had no idea who they were they couldn’t even remember their name, so it just makes Jays amnesia more purposeful and thought out

he can’t remember anything before the administration- now he remembers all of his life at the administration but not a single thing before that? Also this tells us that if he woke up at the administration with no memory why would they give him a guy who knows nothing but his name a good position like a manager? it just doesn’t make sense unless they brought him in specifically, and why nothing before the administration, what happened to his mech? Did it crash and if so how did he not remember waking up at the crash and going to the administration, did they take him from the crash sight? And Nya told Zane that the merge was years ago no matter how many years it’s been wouldn’t Jay had to have had some sort of memories come back like anything? a face? a single memory? a name?

i had this theory i posted about where he also woke up at a monastery copy because i think there’s more out there because he walked right into where Bonzle was with no backup, none. Why would they send in an agent alone unless he didn’t say where he was going and instead just went along with his muscle memory and he was going to where Bonzle came from too so he knew where he was going he did not look lost once.

My ending point: somebody or something erased Jays memories it wasn’t just an accident or a bump on the head and i think most fingers are point to the administration/administrator, because it’s just weird timing that it’s just the administration that he remembers along with just his name, it just kind of seems thought out like they wanted him for a reason or something. There are things about himself that he knows, he doesn’t seem to be having an identity crisis so it’s almost as if someone picked and chose which things he could remember and which he would have to forget like people and his previous life. All the agents seem like they have something off about them too, maybe it’s requirement that they examine people who they believe would be good agents and erase their memories and take them which is why nobody questions it, it’s just what they know. Or maybe the Administrator works for Ras too and gives Ras amnesiac Elemental Masters for him like where did Tox come from? and why does it look like she’s on the bad guy side now? Maybe Ras’ plan B was getting other elemental masters to fight for him in the tournament of sources instead of the Forbidden 5 and to do that he had the administrator provide them and erasing their memories knowing that they wouldn’t willingly help Lord Ras.

Anyway that’s just a few (a lot) of things i think about at night

[starry-bi-sky]

Au where one day Daniel Thomas Fenton, 16 years old, retired ghost vigilante finally decides to tell his parents about the Accident when he was fourteen.

It… doesn’t end well. To say the least. Physically? Danny’s fine. But it blows up into a huge argument that ends with Danny getting disowned. And Danny, sick and tired of the years of neglect and fear and hate that’s radiated his house for years. Well, he just leaves. He doesn’t want to be part of the Fenton Family, he wants nothing to do with it.

He changes his name. Daniel Thomas Fenton to Thomas Nightingale. Before he was born, his parents asked Jazz what she thought her brother’s name would be. Two years old, she said Tommy. So when Danny was born, he was named Daniel Thomas Fenton.

Danny might not wanted to have been connected to the Fenton family, but he still wanted to be connected to his sister. He leaves town, but they keep in contact. And he stays in touch with Sam and Tucker too. They, along with Jazz, helped him change his name.

For the sake of continuity, I’ll keep calling him Danny.

A few months after Danny leaves Amity Park, he catches news from Eli. His little sisterdaughterclone contacting him to let him know that she snuck into Vlad’s to cause some mischief, and discovered that he was at it again.

He’d cloned Danny again. And this time it looked like it might be a successful boy. He was a baby. Danny rushed over to Vlad’s as fast as possible.

It wasn’t hard to break into the lab. Vlad was as cocky as he was stupid, and Danny had long since learned his tricks. The baby was being cared for by the vulture henchmen that Vlad used. Who were about as competent at taking care of a baby as the three fairies were in Maleficent.

Danny stole all information about the clone — how he was made, what Vlad did. Everything.

Turns out, the baby was more Danny’s son than he was a clone. Vlad had somehow rubbed two braincells together hard enough to have an epiphany of some sort. Rather than use Danny’s unstable DNA to make a clone from scratch, he used Danny’s DNA and an unnamed girl his age to make him.

(Safe to say, Danny was seriously creeped out.)

He also, somehow, figured out why Eli came out as Danielle rather than Daniel. It was the same reason that Danny’s suit went from white to black and his hair black to white when he went ghost. It was the ectoplasm’s weird inverting properties. Vlad had tried to make a male clone, but the ectoplasm he used inverted to make a girl. So, he tried the same thing, and instead tried to make a girl. The ectoplasm made the baby girl into a baby boy.

He had also, Danny seriously bet it was unintentional, somehow made the baby completely, utterly human. Well, almost completely human. The little boy was liminal in the same way Jazz was, with the minuscule changes to match. Sharper canines, a small ghostly sense, and eery eyes.

All in all, the baby was useless to Vlad. He didn’t have the powers Vlad wanted. Which Danny bet dollar to dollar was the biggest drawback to the egomaniac.

Well, what one crazed maniac found useless, Danny found he adored. It didn’t take long to dispatch the vultures, and Danny found himself hovering over the baby’s crib, unsure of what to do as the little boy’s bright blue eyes stared up at him with innocent wonder. He didn’t even know to fear strangers yet.

“Hello,” he said softly, and lowered his feet to the floor, changing back from ghost to human. “I’m Thomas.” He’d developed a weariness to his original name after Dan, and after his disownment, disliked it entirely.

The baby latched onto Danny’s finger with a gurgle, and that was it. Close the book, the end. Danny’s heart squeezed itself in his chest, a low coo trapped itself in his throat. And with hands that had never held something so small before, he picked him up.

“I bet he was gonna name you Daniel, wasn’t he?” He asked, trying to remember what the safest way to hold a baby that couldn’t keep its head up was. He cradled the baby to his chest. “He’s crazy. Don’t worry, I’ll take you with me.”

The baby just stared up at him, one chubby hand crushing his shirt. Danny couldn’t help but smile, now he knew why people always got so mushy around babies. There was so much to love about them. “I’ll come up with a better name.” He said, and walked away from the crib — there was probably something in Vlad’s lab that helped the baby. Some kinda diaper bag or something?

As he looked, he wracked his head for names. As well as that, he tried to think about what to do moving forward. The baby wasn’t like Eli, who was independent enough that she traveled the world and did whatever she wanted. He was a baby. Tiny, vulnerable, dependent. And legally, he didn’t exist.

“Why don’t I call you Bruce?” He said aloud, looking back down to the baby. Bruce. He liked the name. Bruce just looked up at him, and then tried to eat his shirt.

Danny didn’t think it was possible to fall in love so fast. “Okay, Bruce it is then.” He was smiling ear to ear. “Hi, Bruce.”

He found a diaper bag soon enough, it was near Bruce’s crib, tucked on it’s side under a chair. Danny slung it over his shoulder, switched forms, and flew out of the mansion

…

First thing to know about taking care of babies; it was hard. Danny flew miles from Vlad’s house, intangible and invisible, before he finally stopped at a gas station. He switched back, and then called Jazz

Who… immediately tore into him for making such a reckless, impulsive choice to go willingly into Vlad’s house

(Eli was a snitch)

(But not a big enough snitch apparently, she left the surprise baby to Danny to talk about)

And after the subsequent tearing into, Danny told her about Bruce

“What are you gonna do with him?”

“I’m not sure. I can’t just *leave* him. He’s so small Jazz.”

“Are you gonna keep him with you little brother?”

“…”

“…Just until I can figure something out.”

“I’ll send you some articles about taking care of babies then.”

Danny undeniably gets attached

He swore he’d figure something out by the end of the week. One week stretched into two. Two stretched to a month. And then a few months. And then Bruce was learning how to crawl, and he was babbling.

And he was just as attached to Danny as Danny was to Bruce.

Danny was all the way northeast by then, finding himself in Gotham. He was seventeen now, almost an adult in the eyes of the law. He was going to stay a week, if even that long, in Gotham.

And then he saved an eccentric elderly couple from being mugged. And by the end of the week he was staying in the elusive Wayne Family Manor as a special guest.

The Waynes were childless. They’d had tried for years to get a son, until eventually they gave up on it. But if you looked at their younger portraits, you’d think Danny was theirs by birth.

Days turned to weeks to months to nearly a year. And then more. Bruce was walking now, and he called Danny ‘daddy’ and he was still just as clingy as he was when he was on bottles.

Danny adored him.

And the Wayne couple were so kind to him. Danny had waited for weeks for the other shoe to drop. Nobody this rich was this kind, at least not anyone that Danny had encountered besides Sam, and Sam’s family were guppies in a pond compared to the behemoths that were the Waynes.

There was no other shoe drop. The Waynes never expected anything from Danny other than he ate well and slept well and that he stay as long as he like. They didn’t force him into attending anything, not their rich people parties or events, nothing. They bought him clothes and let him decorate his room, and spoiled Bruce positively rotten.

Danny quietly, where no one but his thoughts could hear, started to think they were better parents than the ones who gave birth to him. It changed things.

On Danny’s eighteenth birthday, the Waynes gifted him adoption papers. Danny couldn’t have grabbed his pen faster.

Danny Fenton became Thomas Nightingale, and Thomas Nightingale because Thomas and Bruce Nightingale.

Then, finally, Thomas and Bruce Nightingale became Thomas and Bruce Wayne.

[toodleoorblx]

**SPOILERS AHEAD BEWARE**

Agatha All Along just came out, heres what I think about it.

So, starting off with the cinematic factors of it, I loved it. it was exactly what I was expecting, nothing less. I was very surprised with the plot though. It was so so funny, I had watched it with one of my friends and she loved it as well. Props to all who were apart of Agatha all along. The references of witchy movies, like the trap door and Snow White? I loved that Easter egg, I probably sound crazy but I swear it’s there.

I loved how dramatic Agatha was, her sarcasm, her impaticnce, her wickedness, spot on, even her haterd for Wanda. Agatha has lots of emotions, as much as I can tell. She just conceals them so much. She looks conflicted and angry when she sees Rio, she seems playful and antagonizing with Jen, laid back with Lilia, dismissive with Alice, impatient with Ms. Davis, and genuinely irritated and annoyed with Teen. She seems much more open on the show, less… distant and cruel? Maybe it’s the many many fics I’ve read that’s clouding my judgement but I was surprised to say the least. But it wasn’t a bad one. I love Agatha in this, there’s so much to tell about her her life, and I’m hyped to find out what’s up.

(Side note, one of my predictions was right! Rio's magic is in fact not something that can be taken. That was one of the few predictions I had made, and I'm so glad that that little detail was right.)

And Rio?! Oh my goodness, she's just as cryptc and lore filled as I imagined her. Her harshness with an underlined gentleness is killing me! And her licking Agatha’s hand better? Oh my that had me in a chokehold, so many golden ideas portrayed beautifully. And I have reason to believe that Agatha sacrificed Nicholas. The first sign is the childhood bedroom from episode one, Agnes being upset about it, two, the jab that Jen made, and three, when Rio mentioned the Darkhold, and its darkness, theres definitely some lore there, and I think it’s something that Agatha caused. Also does anyone have any clues as to what Rio says when she makes her dramatic exits? I only know some Spanish, but I’m not fluent 😭

Anywho, let’s talk about Teen. So when I first saw him I was fairly surprised. I didn’t expect him to try and steal something, nor did I know that it was an illusion of some sort? Maybe? Whatever it was, I know that Teen is not to be underestimated. He has some powerful qualities, even if it’s not as flashy as Agatha or Wanda’s. I love his perkiness and how he’s just happy to be there, even if it is as Agatha’s ‘pet’.

My next victim is Lilia. I had originally thought that she couldn’t use her magic or, predictions freely, only when vision came. But I was happily wrong. I don’t think she can use it whenever though. I love her style as well, such a level of grace and colorfulness really brings her character together. Patti did a fantastic job of portraying someone as kooky as Lilia.

Now we have Jen. I knew that they had some history because if something Kathryn had said on an interview, but I don’t think it was a lot. But clearly something went down to make Jen have a level of hatred towards her. But besides that, I get aesthetic, the pinks, the candles, the jewelry? It’s all so beautiful, I especially loved the septum piercing. It was a cute touch. Anyways, moving on from that, Agatha had mentioned that Jennifer is magic bound because of some curse? I wonder what that’s about. Over all, I adore Jen’s personality, I love how she knows what she’s worth and that she seems to always know what to say. She’s very confident of herself which is something I live to see. And I can see how Jen’s sarcasm and Agatha’s sarcasm may clash from time to time.

Moving on, we have Alice to discuss. Now I have written a little about how I portrayed her in my fic Natural Order, and I think I got her pretty well. I surprised myself I’m gonna be honest. I was half expecting her to be the exact opposite, but that’s a happy accident I guess. Anywho, I love her style as well, I wish we got to see more if the ship she had formally worked at, it was such a cozy and spooky place, I wouldn’t mind working there myself. The designers outdid themselves truly. Alice is very dismissive, and is always one step ahead, I love that about her (so far). She seems to be pretty laid back, while also being very vigilant as well.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Ms. Davis. I find her absolutely darling, she was so sweet and I had a good laugh when she came on screen. I love her obliviousness and utter happiness to be included, similar to Teen in that way. I hope she sticks around, u trying so, there’s not a bone in my body that doesn’t like her, she’s such a good ‘temporary’ addition to the coven.

The Salem seven seem to be like… the witch police? Maybe? I’m excited to see more of them.

Honorable mention: Senor Scratchy serving as always.🫡

A little treat I took:

(Also, height difference??!!! Loved that shot.)

[wheelsvoid]

SONGBIRDS ; LUCY GRAY

⇢ you and lucy gray survive the hunger games, and she takes on the roll as your older sister

masterlist

genre: platonic, angst with a happy ending

word count: 2,029

warnings: mentions of death, weapons, blood and fighting

request: “Would you be willing to write an angsty Lucy Gray from Hunger Games (if you write for her of course) where R is in the games, but young, and Lucy is protective of R (who is mute as well if ok?) they both survive the games, and she takes them in like a younger sibling figure? Up to you how it ends :)))”

absolutely, i love lucy gray so, so much. this is movie based, as i have yet to read that book (currently on catching fire, obsessed). and of course anything in this from the actual movie does not belong to me. rights go to suzanne collins, lionsgate films and everyone else involved mwah

I stood in the vast group of people, listening to the sounds of dread. The birds had stopped chirping, the breeze had gone, and so had the smiles of District 11.

Every year since I was 12 I’d stood here, praying that my name wasn’t called. If I went into the games, I’d never see my home again. District 11 was all I had, but there was a comfort in knowing I had no family to leave behind. At least I wouldn’t be worrying anyone while I died on a screen.

I didn’t listen to the woman on the stage, who seemed uncomfortably pleased with where she was. The safety of her position brought her confidence, and power.

Then, I watched as she held out a note. I held my breath. I was so nervous I hadn’t even seen her take it from the bowl.

“Y/N L/N.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. Everyone turned to me.

I may have been lonely, but I still made an effort to be kind to everyone. They knew who I was, and as I glanced around me, I could see varying emotions. Concern, relief, pity. No one said anything, and slowly, I walked forwards on my shaky legs.

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. As I stared up at the woman, I hoped that I wouldn’t be forced to speak—because I couldn’t even if I tried.

My voice did not work. Even if I willed it to, it would only cause me pain. The accident that had happened seven years prior made sure of that.

As I looked out to the people of District 11, I could only hope that they would forgive me for their loss.

———

I knew the games to be cruel, but experiencing it myself brought me a different kind of rage. I didn’t like being kept in a zoo, and broadcasted on live television. I didn’t like being pushed and shoved, or poked at like some wild animal. I glared at every person from the Capitol, and let them know that even if I could not speak, they would never see me going down without a fight.

The only good thing to come out of the Hunger Games had been a songbird named Lucy Gray. She showed me kindness, and she spoke for me like it was second nature. The Games were changing this year, and tributes were getting sponsors—and Lucy understood that I could not speak for myself.

Lucy Gray helped me give the people of the Capitol a story worth listening to. Some sort of sob story of how I lost my voice, but it had worked, and the people liked me.

She told me that I was hard not to like.

Although, Coriolanus Snow, Lucy’s mentor, had hated what she’d done. He didn’t like how she was fighting for not only herself, but for me and District 12’s other tribute, Jessup.

I decided that I wasn’t a fan of Snow, either.

So now, as we stood in the ruins of what was to be the arena, with my heart racing in my chest, I could only hope that either me or Lucy would survive.

“5.”

I sucked in a deep breath.

“4. 3. 2.”

Lucy and I made eye contact for a brief moment. I had no intentions of running to the centre of the rubble to grab a weapon. I’d likely end up dead. I knew my strengths and weaknesses, and killing was no strength of mine.

“1.”

An alarm blared, and the Games were on.

I watched in horror as the teenagers screamed out, rushing towards the weapons in the middle. My eyes went back to Lucy Gray, who was now the closest to me. She ran up to me in an instant, but her eyes where wild.

“Where is Jessup?” I barely heard her over the screams and cries ahead of us. “Jessup! Jessup!”

I found myself searching for him, too. I didn’t know him, and I had only met him once, but he was important to Lucy.

Lucy started stumbling backwards as she watched the bodies start to fall. I gripped her arm tightly, my mind a haze. If I could scream and cry, I would.

The Capitol found this exciting? They found this fun?

I wondered if they’d cheer when my blood spilled to the floor, or if they’d cry. Their feelings had never made sense in my mind.

A boy with an axe came charging towards Lucy and I, and with a scream, Lucy pulled me down with her to avoid the hit. We watched as he ran crazily around the arena, finding another victim for his blade instead.

“Jessup!” Lucy called once more, but I had to pull her back as we got caught in the middle of another fight. We were not safe here. We had to leave.

As a girl impaled another boy with a trident, we hastily got to our feet and ran.

Time and time again, Lucy and I avoided the deadly blows sent our way. My mind was on autopilot, and I was reacting on instinct. Lucy made sure to never remove her firm grasp on my hand.

Then, her eyes landed on someone in the distance. “Jessup!” And with bravery I felt I’d never had, I followed her through the arena, dodging weapons and fists.

———

We’d been in the arena for days now, never leaving each other’s side. Lucy was determined to keep me alive, and I wondered what I’d done to make her adore me so much that she’d put me first even if it meant her death. I wondered if she knew I’d been doing the same.

There were very few tributes left, and I realized I’d barely known their names. I worried that if I’d been forced to kill, I’d feel more guilt if I knew who they were. But I was lucky to have Lucy. She did all of the difficult things.

When I’d offered to poison the water, because I was quiet, and quick, and smaller than she was, she refused. She’d kept me hidden as she’d done it herself.

The loss of Jessup had hit her hard, too. She felt the guilt of his death, even if it couldn’t have been her fault that he’d gotten rabies. He had been doomed before he’d even entered the arena.

Maybe that’s why she was working so hard on keeping me alive, now.

Lucy and I could do nothing but stare at the new obstacle to enter the arena. It had been put there only seconds ago, but we waited with slow breaths as if it would jump out at us in seconds.

It was a tall, glass container. From here, I couldn’t see what was in it. I was lost on ideas, too. I glanced at Lucy, but she looked as clueless as I was. She reached for my hand, held it tightly, and did not let go.

“Is it over?” I watched as a small girl walked towards the container, a small smile on her face. So innocent and young. “Can we go home now?”

“Wovey.” A boy in the distance called out. He was warning her. “Wovey.”

She continued to plead, as he continued to call for her to stop. My breath hitched when the glass container started to crack. And as it exploded, a sea of snakes filled the arena.

I gripped Lucy’s hand even tighter, and we ran.

One by one, tributes fell. Lucy and I found higher ground on the rubble, but it was useless. The snakes were climbing the concrete at a rapid rate.

Soon, it was just the two of us, and as the snakes slithered around my legs and up my torso, I could only watch as Lucy Gray sang in the haunted arena with tears streaming down her face.

———

I wasn’t supposed to be alive, and neither was Lucy Gray. I had learned that Dr. Gaul had originally planned on letting every tribute die, but Snow had found a way to save Lucy, and with Lucy there was also me. We were a package deal now.

There was little time we had left before we had to leave for our own Districts, to hopefully be welcomed back with open arms. As Lucy played a guitar in the small room the Capitol had provided for us, I listened.

She had a beautiful voice, and she played the guitar like it was as easy as breathing. She knew music like the back of her hand. I had no doubt that she was born to sing.

I was glad that Lucy had a voice, because when I heard her sing I forgot all about how I’d lost mine.

When the song ended, I looked at Lucy with a grin. I realized that for now, I was not alone, but I’d eventually have to return to my District without the only family I’d ever had.

She smiled sadly like she was thinking the same.

“Well, I think we’d ought to call it a day, don’t you?” She said. I nodded in agreement. The sun had been replaced by the moon hours ago, and neither of us had slept. I suppose we wanted to spend as much time with each other as we could.

As she put the guitar down gently, leaning it against the wall, she turned to me and brought me into a hug. She sighed softly, like she was happy to be alive and I was too.

“I know what you’re thinkin’.” She said softly. “But don’t you worry,” she pulled me away to look at me more closely. “I plan on seeing you again sometime soon.”

I pointed to the guitar across the room, and she grinned. I loved her smile. “Yes, I’ll sing you all your favourite songs when we get there.” I smiled widely.

She held her hands on my cheeks and tried not to bring sadness, or dread into the conversation. “When you go home, you celebrate. We’re very lucky to both still be here, I think. I’ll be celebrating in District 12.” She said, “singin’ my best songs with the covey.”

She talked about them a lot, and it brought me comfort that Lucy Gray had people to go home to. Even if, ironically, it wasn’t the home she was born in. She never came from District 12, she had simply travelled there to show the people her music, as she usually did. Only then, she had been forced to stay.

I wondered that if she was never forced into residing in District 12, if I would still be alive today. I owed her my life.

“You’re safe now, Y/N.” She said gently. “You go home and you go do what makes you happy, and when I see you next, you can tell me all about it.”

———

It had been two years since then, and Lucy Gray and I did indeed meet again. In the best way I could, I told her all about the friends I’d made in District 11, and how they treated me kindly despite my differences.

As Lucy and I travelled the border of Panem, she told me how she’d escaped Snow and went searching for me in District 11 without a second thought.

Now, two years later, we were free from our troubles with the Capitol and the Districts. We’d heard stories of how the 10th Hunger Games had been erased from existence, and how the people of the country were slowly beginning to forget.

My honorary sister and I were sure that within a decade, we’d be nothing but a whisper, and after that, we’d be nothing at all.

But here, outside of that horrid place, with only each other we were free. We weren’t lonely or scared anymore. I had her to see me through my hard days, and sing me songs, and she had me to make her small gifts and braid her hair when she needed the quietness of my presence to block out her wild thoughts.

We were all we needed, and I think that I was okay with that.

[jxrdanwayne]

The Teen Titans, just more grounded… sort of

I love the Teen Titans (2003)… however, when I watched it back in the day, I could never really relate to any of the characters… that’s probably because I last watched TT years ago, when I was a youngin’ and didn’t know shit… when I would watch it cause “cool powers” and fun fight scenes…

But I done grown from back then, still haven’t rewatched it in quite some time, but I started to think…

What if they remade Teen Titans more grounded and even more relatable… I mean they are teens, they should be going to school, right? Wouldn’t it be cool to see the Titans going through school like and tryna balance keeping Jump City in check?

So that’s exactly what I did. Well, sorta… I ain’t no professional writer but here’s what I put together…

Characters

Robin (Dick Grayson): Lets be honest, he wouldn't be student body prez. Why? He's too busy, also, it would be like him to turn down the responsibility. But he would be one of, if not the best, student in his class. I mean, under the guidance of Bruce Wayne himself, he wouldn't settle for less, now, would he?

Star Fire (Kori Anders): she, in my version, wouldn't pop up on the scene yet. She remains to be seen. Probably in part/season/volume 2

Beasty (Garfield Logan): The class clown who uses humor to mask his insecurities, especially when it comes to his shape-shifting powers. He would also be an animal rights activists at Gotham Academy (GA) too. He'd also be living with Victor too, but not exactly living lavish.

Raven (Rachel Roth): She would be taken in by Bruce Wayne after the fallout she'd had with Trigon and running away. She'd be attending GA with Dick. She'd also be closed off, not trusting anyone and only be talking to Dick, but not necessarily opening up to him.

Cyborg (Vic Stone): He wouldn't be going to school for two reasons. 1. He's already half machine so he knows all he needs to know, and 2, he would danger his students, because the publick already know about a hero named Cyborg. And he can't really have a secret identity cause of the machine parts that are obvious to everyone who sees him. He'd be living with Beasty.

The Narrative

So the narrative would be through Dick's eyes. As he begins high school, he stops being Batman's sidekick for a bit, and goes on to fight crime on his own as Nightwing. As a freshman, he meets Victor Stone (pre-Cyborg) as a junior and the captain of the Gotham Academy football team. After an accident at Star Labs, Vic stops coming to school. Dick gets nosey and investigates. He thinks Vic had something to do with the accident, his father working at Star Labs and his mother's death at the time of said accident ties Vic to it. After some time, Dick sees Vic as Cyborg and realizes why he stopped attending school. What happens is: on a mission, Nightwing is in trouble and Cyborg saves him. Dick asks and Vic tells him what happened at the accident. They become friends.

About 2 years later, Dick sees a new student, this green kid, and gets curious. He asks him on the color of his skin, but Gar just plays it off as a rare skin condition. Dick, being the child genius that he is, doesn't believe him. He looks it up and confirms his hunch. He is suspicious, and understandably so because in Gotham, stuff like this usually isn't a good sign. He investigates and spies on him, finds that Gar is a shapeshifter. He confronts him about it, but Gar isn’t about that life. He hates the fact that he was turned into who he is now, so he uses humor to cover it up, try to forget. Dick convinces Gar that it ain't so bad, and intro'd him to someone like him: Vic, who had already hacked the system, literally, and got himself a house and car at that point. Gar and Vic bond over the fact that they were turned into something they didn’t wanna be, and the fact that they can't live life normally no more. They become best friends, and Gar starts living with Vic.

One day, Dick comes from school one day and sees a stange girl sat at the dinner table. Bruce tells him only her name and that he should take care of her. Raven doesn't trust Dick, not one bit. She's not even sure she trusts Bruce. She keeps playing mysterious and aloof, rarely interacting with Bruce, Dick or Alfred. Rachel (Raven) then gets enrolled into Gotham Academy, and since she's so anti-social, she'll be forced to stay by Dick's side to get through school. Through a series of trials and obstacles, Rachel learns she can she must trust others to make it out alive. She begins by giving Dick trust little by little. She gets exposed to Dick's other friends, Gar and Vic. She realizes she's not the only misfit in this group. This is when she decides to tell her story of escaping Trigon, but only to Dick. As time goes on, she starts getting comfortable with the rest of the gang.

Now, you might be wondering, what event will lead the Teen Titans to become the Teen Titans? What's the conflict?

Peep this…

(This is pre-Raven, by the way) Dick just resigned as Robin and takes on the mantle of Nightwing. He's tryna gain indipendence and escape from Batman's shadow. Bruce sees no problem with this, in fact, he tries to help him. But Dick refuses, he wants to do things on his own, but keeps encountering roadblocks along the way. He manages to get Gar and Vic to join him, and he even finds an underground warehouse to make their base of operations, however, it's empty. They haven't really gotten going... Even some times, Nightwing goes after a villain alone and doesn't inform his team, he gets in trouble and the Titans or Batman saves him. One day he finds his hideout filled with computers and weapons, and state of the art crime-fighting equipment. Totally decked out. This could only be the doing of one person: Bruce Wayne. He gets mad at him because he didn't want help from anyone, but the Titians are thrilled. He confronts Bruce and Bruce tries to tell him that even he needed help sometimes. I'm not really sure what event would get Dick to see that it's okay to accept help from people every once in a while. Perhaps y’all could help me. But anyway, that's Dick/Nightwing's arc.

[Plot happens, Rachel joins the Titans]

Up until this point, the Titans aren't exactly what you would call a well-oiled machine, they keep bumping heads and disagreeing. And there's no real threat to test their strength together as a team, cause there's Batman keeping the peace in the city. But then Batman, during a fight with the Joker and his allies, he gets his back broken I know, it’s been done, it’s not original and goes into a coma indefinitly. This forces the Titans to get their shit together since there's no one left to keep Gotham safe from Joker and crime. They ain’t just fighting regular villains, they are in the big leagues now, fighting Batman's villains. This will be the Titans' true test. Nightwing tries to get the team on board, but they are scared and reluctant. They never faced threat like this, but Nightwing convinces them that they can do it, and that it wouldn't be easy, but if no one does this, no one will. He says he can't do this on his own. He says he needs help.

What do y’all think?

[duhragonball]

Do you have any further opinions on Gendo and Shinji having some potentially not healthy views on women?

I'll see what I can come up with.

Gendo uses multiple women throughout the story, but I'm not sure that indicates an unhealthy attitude toward women in particular. He exploits men, including his own son, just as readily.

I find his affairs with the Akagis hard to explain, because he seemed so laser-focused on his objectives, and so averse to forming any close relationships with anyone. Even if his relationships with the Akagis were purely physical for him, it still seems like the sort of thing he wouldn't indulge in... unless he thought it would bring him closer to what he actually wants.

I guess my personal theory is that he didn't seduce the Akagis, but they threw themselves at him, and he played along because he needed their talents too badly to risk pushing them away. Naoko was practically rooting for Yui to die in that accident, so it seems likely that she fell in love with Gendo while they worked together and made her move after Yui was out of the picture. Gendo might have rejected her, but he needed the Magi supercomputer that she was building.

Only after the Magi were completed did he turn against her, calling her a "useless old hag". I think he was counting on Rei to hear him saying it, and used her to provoke Naoko into doing something drastic. Although, considering how important Rei was to his plans, it seems odd that he'd put Rei in such a risky position.

In any event, Ritsuko watched the tail end of Naoko's relationship with Gendo and immediately decided she wanted next. This seems really foolish, considering Naoko's fate, but I get the impression that Gendo is this charismatic enigma, the sort who attracts people to his cause, in spite of his cold and repulsive personality. Maybe Ritsuko thought she could fix him, or she just found him fascinating and wanted a closer look. And so Gendo found himself in the same position all over again, playing along with a new lover to ensure her cooperation with his plans.

That doesn't make him blameless, of course. He saw these women offering themselves to him, and he used their infatuation to his advantage. I guess what I'm saying is that he didn't get entangled in those relationships because he was lonely or horny, or desperate to feel powerful. He just played along with them for as long as they were useful, and then discarded them when they ceased to be useful.

I'd say that probably explains his apparent closeness to Rei as well. They only get along well because he needs her for his plans, and she's willing to go along with literally anything he wants her to do.

But, again, I don't know that this has anything to do with their gender. If Rei were a boy, I don't think it would change much for him. If the Akagis were men, he'd probably still use their attraction to him to his advantage.

Regarding Shinji... man, I don't know.

Yesterday I watched a couple of old Folding Ideas videos about End of Evangelion. Dan Olson was talking about how the movie served as Hideaki Anno's "revenge" against obsessive fans who hated the original ending in Episodes 25 and 26. I think the "revenge" theory of EoE is still open to debate, but I still need to do more research into that. Anyway, Olson was pretty confident about it, since it explains how different Shinji is portrayed in each ending.

In EoTV, Anno used Shinji as a medium to explore his own psychological problems, and the ending is more positive. But in EoE, Anno uses Shinji to represent the emotionally stunted otaku he was so mad at. So in the movie, Shinji never "does anything" or "learns anything". He wallows in self-pity, demands Asuka's sympathy, and strangles her when he doesn't get it. He's a petulant child throughout the whole film, and the misogyny is on full display.

Olson explains that Shinji is useful for this sort of thing because he started out as the standard anime protagonist: a blank slate that the audience could project their own identities upon. By the end of the TV series, Anno could easily turn Shinji into his alter ego, and use him to express his own anxieties and fears. And when the otaku rejected this, it was like they wanted Shinji back the way he was so he could be their avatar instead, Anno granted their wish, making EoE-Shinji a representation of all of their worst qualities.

And that's an interesting interpretation, but what frustrates me is that it basically leaves no room for Shinji to be a character in his own right. He's just a vessel for whatever Hideaki Anno wants him to represent. If Anno is feeling introspective, he'll make Shinji in his own image. If he's mad at the otaku, he'll turn Shinji into a straw man.

And that makes it hard for me to really talk about Shinji's attitude towards women. Early in NGE, he basically behaved himself and seemed to prefer keeping his distance from girls, if only to avoid any awkwardness. Misato and Asuka kind of brought him out of his shell a bit, and then in EoTV he seems to rely on them to help him figure out his damage. In EoE he seems desperate for a woman-- any woman-- to make him feel happy, forever. If he can't have that, he'll either go limp or throw a fit.

I don't know what the throughline is with Shinji. If I understand commentators like Dan Olson correctly, there is no throughline with Shinji. He's just a placeholder for one psyche or another. Still, I suppose he's defined by the loss of his mother, and there's always this lingering temptation for him to think he can just retreat from his problems and take refuge in a woman's embrace. Early on, he's reluctant to accept Misato's hospitality and compassion, maybe because he can't believe it's genuine. Later, he starts to appreciate her more, and then he begins to take the women in his life for granted a bit. In EoTV, he pulls back from that mentality, but in EoE he sinks deeper into that false hope that a woman can make him safe and whole.

Am I making any sense here? I'm not sure.

[lyerra]

Tales of Vesperia CCS AU headcanons - PART I

So the other day I was looking at a lot of niconico ToV videos, and I found a Cardcaptor Sakura opening parody with Estelle and other ToV characters, which prompted me to think about how such an AU could really work. I got to talk about it a little on discord, and since the more I talked about it, the more ideas I got, I thought, why not?

So, here's a list of stuff about the pre-canon setting of a CCS AU with ToV characters.

Estelle (Sakura) is the main character. Her name is Estellise Heurassein, and she’s 16 years old, in her first year of high school at St Vesperia High. Her father died in a plane accident when she was young but she lost her mother about a year ago. Her friends call her Estelle.

Yuri (Touya) is the son of Estelle’s parents’ friends. His parents also died in the same accident Estelle’s father did. He went to the orphanage, then often switched foster homes until Estelle’s mother decided to take him in about 4 years ago. He and Estelle grew even closer as siblings since Estelle’s mother’s death, and the two of them live alone in their family home. He’s 18, in his 3rd year of high school at St Vesperia High and has the reputation of a troublemaker. He spends most of his free time doing part time jobs, claiming he doesn’t want to live off Estelle’s charity.

Yuri has the ability to see ghosts, as well as some ability to feel magical and spiritual powers, though he doesn’t really understand the full extent of it. This ability caused him some trouble when he was a kid, as he would tell other people about what he saw, but no one would believe him. Estelle’s mother seemed to know, however.

Flynn (Yukito) is Yuri’s childhood friend. They went to school together as kids and Flynn somehow always ended up in the same school as Yuri, even when the latter switched schools when he changed foster homes. He’s the student council president at St Vesperia High, and he and Yuri always butt heads, but they’re also very close friends.

Yuri eventually questioned all this, as well as all the strange things about Flynn – the fact that his parents were never home, for example. Yuri was scared to ask at first, but upon realizing that Flynn himself probably didn’t realize he wasn’t human, and since he knew there were many strange things in this world, he decided that he didn’t care what Flynn was – he was his best friend, and that was enough.

Estelle met Flynn when Yuri got adopted by her mother, and she’s had a huge puppy crush ever since. Yuri acts as if he doesn’t notice, and Flynn is entirely oblivious to it.

Repede (Kero) is Yuri’s dog. Yuri and Flynn found him as a wounded puppy and saved him. Flynn couldn’t take him in, so Yuri asked Estelle’s mother, who was okay with keeping the dog. Yuri knows Repede’s not really a dog, and he guessed that the reason why he understood him so much – or that Repede was so smart – was that he was some sort of magic entity, but he feels a sense of kinship because of his powers. Repede doesn’t dislike Estelle, but she takes it very personally that he seems to like Yuri much more than herself. Having him around when Estelle’s mother passed was a great help for both Estelle and Yuri.

Ioder (Tomoyo) is Estelle’s cousin and best friend. It’s partly thanks to his parents that Estelle and Yuri are able to keep living in their house together. Ioder wants to be a fashion designer, and he always gets Estelle to try on the outfits he designed.

Raven (Terada-sensei) is Estelle and Ioder’s homeroom teacher. He’s a bit weird, but he can be reliable as well!

Judith (Mizuki-sensei) is Yuri’s ex-girlfriend. She’s actually a bit older than him in this AU. She has the power to see in the future, and the reason she and Yuri became close in the first place was because of their shared experience of having spiritual powers. She broke up with him before going to study abroad, but the both of them are still on relatively good terms.

Patty, Karol and Nan could be some of Estelle’s classmates. Not entirely sure about them yet but I’d like to have a short arc about Karol and Yuri!

ill link part two here when i make it!

[fiveapocalypse]

if u still want prompts maybe smth with five crawling into baby's crib to calm her & diego & lila finding them?

Hush little baby, don’t you cry.

Five is adamant that he can handle Grace and decides to be a babysitter while Lila and Diego have a night to themselves.

When they come back, however, Diego gets a picture for the scrapbook

:) @lookingforhappy @aka-tua-braindump for u

Five didn’t know what to do and that in itself was a rarity. He usually always knew how to solve a problem, no matter how difficult, however perhaps not all problems could be handled with pure intellect.

Especially social and emotional ones.

Specifically social and emotional ones.

Or, in other words, his niece is screaming bloody murder and Five has been rocking the bassinet with an increasing urge to start sobbing with her. Blame it on his child body if you want, just seeing the poor infant sob was enough to make him start sniffling too. Now, rewinding back to earlier that night, Five had adamantly said he could handle four hours alone with baby Grace. He was a trained assassin, he’s been living with them for months. He can do this. They can have some fun, enjoy themselves. He had this all under control and for a while, he did have it under his belt. He changed Grace when needed, fed her when she needed to be fed, and did all the things you needed to do for a baby her age.

And yet, she was here, screaming her lungs out.

Honestly, Five wanted to start wailing too. Maybe a neighbor would come and calm them both down. But, if that happened, Lila and Diego could risk losing their child and that couldn’t happen. He had to calm her down. Dragging a hand down his face, Five sniffed, peering into the bassinet to see his niece still wailing like God herself had just told her that she was an ugly baby and she somehow understood. Of course, none of that could be possible, but Five was tired and he was certain Gracie was too. “C’mon, Clem…” he stifled a yawn, “can’t you calm down so we can take a nap? You like naps right?” More crying was his answer, Five wanted to tear out his hair.

And then, he tried to rethink back to his own childhood. What did their robot mother do when he had meltdowns for no reason? When he couldn’t be consoled by food or clean clothes or whatever else a kid needed? “Ah…” his mouth falls open, eyes blinking. Grace, the older, robotic, one, had always sung some sort of lullaby. Five tried to remember the words, though he only recalled his ballerina music box. “Didn’t it go like…uhm…. hush little baby, don’t you cry.” His brows furrowed as he counted on his fingers, just to match the notes. “Mm…. Hush little baby don’t you cry—”

════════════════════════

“NO!”

“Oh, Five, dear, just—”

“No, no, no, no! He broke it, he broke it, he broke it, I HATE HIM!”

A black haired boy was sobbing loudly in the middle of the playroom, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. His face was a bright red, and his nose was scrunched up as he held a broken rocket ship in his hand while the culprit, a white haired boy who was sheepishly standing next to him, looked guilt-ridden. “You don’t mean that,” the blonde woman murmured, both hands holding the child’s, “it was an accident, dear.”

“No!” Five continued to cry regardless. “No, no, no, no!”

Unfortunately, his meltdown was beginning to cause things to float, and the woman’s hands were beginning to rust. “Oh dear,” she murmured, surveying the damage that was happening, the whirlwind of power swirling around in such a tiny body. “There, there, how about I sing you a lullaby, hm? Will that make you feel better?” As predicted, Five’s only response to that was a resounding—

“NO!”

Still, the woman continued anyway. “Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird and if that mockingbird won’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring and if that diamond ring turns brass, mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.” As her voice echoed throughout the small room, Five’s cries diminished, his interest in her singing momentarily making him pause. His brows furrowed and he reached up, suddenly yanking on her hair.

“Mama! Hey! Mama!”

“Hm? What is it, dear?”

“Teach me how to sing like you, pretty please?”

The woman’s lips curled into a smile.

“Of course, my dear.”

════════════════════════

Lila has seen a lot of weird things in her life starting from the plain freaky to the downright confusing but this one absolutely took the cake.

For some reason, however, it was her doing the quiet shushing motions towards Diego as he continuously snapped pictures of the scene in front of them with their Polaroid camera. Five had bought one, insistent that they do family photos because the old man never did proper ones. Diego had readily agreed and now there was an entire bulletin board in her and Diego’s room with photos of Grace, and sometimes Five, and right now—diego was about to add a new one.

Five is sleeping on the bed, drooling on it more likely, with a very firm hold on Grace who is sleeping on his chest. She’s also drooling on him, as babies tended to do, but her fists were bunched up in his shirt and they looked to have both been crying before they exhausted themselves. “I’m totally posting this to social media,” Diego whispered, taking out his phone as Lila flicked his ear.

“Hey! Send it to me too, I want to brag about how cool my kids are to the other moms.”

“You still go to that mom therapy group?”

“They have good snacks and lots of gossip.”

[shreddheir]

KT ASBR interactions

Kt: Something about you feels SUPER familiar.

Akira: Oh? Are you one of my dedicated fans? 

Kt win:  I’ve heard your songs a few times. But there’s something really strange about meeting you in person. Almost like…

Akira wins: Your face looks a lot like mine. Could it be that you’re…

——-

Kt: You! Josuke Higashikata! You’re the one who ruined Terunosuke’s life! 

Josuke: Who the hell are you talking about? 

Kt win: What do you have to say for yourself now, huh? Sorry won’t cut it! 

Josuke win: Was she talking about Enigma’s user? I didn’t think anyone would be friends with that guy. 

——-

Kt:  Why are you looking at me like that. Stop it. 

Kira: *oh. She’s noticed. I suppose I have to go through with it now..*

Kt win: You…you were the murderer in this town…the one who caused all the disappearances…how did I survive that?

Kira win: Your linking stand ability just causes more of my bombs to appear. Seems like you’re meant to be my new girlfriend..

———

Kt: Oh, hi again, Rohan! I’m still a big fan, haha. 

Rohan: Why must I be constantly ambushed by teenage idiots? 

Kt win: I’ll say it again: My Touch Tone (Pay Phone in the dub) is FAST! You can’t outspeed it! 

Rohan win: I’ll just write here..”I will stop bothering Rohan Kishibe in person and breaking his things. “ 

———

Kt: Wanna spar, Teru? 

Terunosuke: Oh, absolutely. Prepare for a takedown. 

Kt win: Good game! Hope I didn’t go too hard on you. 

Terunosuke win: That’s always exhilarating. You fought well.  ————

Kt: Don Giorno! You look..young. 

Giorno: I don’t recognize you, so how do you know I’m the boss? Suspicious. 

Kt win: All this time stuff is confusing..hopefully I don’t cause any sort of paradox. 

Giorno win: She seemed to hold back slightly when fighting me, as if she didn’t want to kill me. Maybe she does know me, somehow.  ———

Kt: Another stand user from Florida?? Were you sent after me too? 

Jolyne: Funny enough, I was just about to ask the same thing. 

Kt win: So you’re also being vexed by some mysterious stranger sending stand users after you. What did either of us do to deserve this?

Jolyne win: She’s fighting the same type of battles I am… but her resolve is just as strong as mine.  —————

Kt: woah…a sentient colony of plankton! Incredible!

FF: I’m a lot more than just sentient. I’ve got a mind and spirit of my own. 

Kt win: So can you tell me how you were created? Was it a freak accident, or a science experiment gone awry? I’ve gotta know!

FF win: Curiosity is a very important trait to have..but it can also get you in trouble.  —————

Kt: What the hell! Are you a dopplegänger? 

Kt: Or is this a stand effect? 

Mirror match win 1: I can’t bring myself to kill my double, but I can tell you to get the hell out of here! 

Mirror match win 2: this shouldn’t have been able to happen..I need to get to the bottom of this.  ————-

Kt: I’m not interested in joining your church, if that’s what you’re going around asking. 

Pucci: That attitude..Do you have any birthmarks? 

Kt win against base Pucci: Sorry, I’m still not buying this “heaven” idea. It sounds miserable! 

Kt win against MIH Pucci: Was that…the power that caused 2012?  —————-

Kt: So you just sprung out of the ground one day, fully formed, with no clue who you are? 

Gappy: Yep. Do you know anything about me? 

Kt win: Damn! You come from a different dimension, so of course I can’t find anything in my forums! I should have thought of that… 

Gappy win: Wow, that’s a really fancy phone you have. Yashuo would love that. 

[catfox1310]

Humanity's Hope D-Sides concept.

Hey everyone! So one day while I was looking at fanmade FNF D-Sides stuff, I had the thought to do a D-Sides version of the Humanity's Hope AU for fun. (Some links for those unaware of what the AU is)

It was pretty hard to do this concept, since Maria is the main villain in D-Sides Sonic. But I had an idea on how I could make it work while still somewhat following D-Sides Sonic's lore.

Here it is:

"Years ago on a space station known as the Space Colony ARK. There lived a young girl named Maria Robotnik and her cousin Ivo Robotnik. Their grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, had suddenly dissapeared one day, leaving them all alone by themselves.

One day, Maria was wandering around the ARK and came across Gerald's lab, curious, Maria checked around the place to see what he had built before his dissapearence. One of the inventions would catch her attention, some sort of platform with a keypad and a power switch. Turning it on, she fiddled around with it, accidently hitting a button and getting zapped, knocking her out cold.

When she awoke, she found herself lying on the ground, and face to face with a purple hedgehog, kneeling down and looking at her. This was Sonic The Hedgehog, the guardian of the Master Emerald. Something that Maria saw behind him, it was a georgious-looking gem. But Maria noticed something... strange, about it.

While Sonic was confused, Maria could swear that she was hearing a faint voice calling out to her from within the emerald, and so she placed her hand onto it. This action caused lots of energy from the Master Emerald to flow within her, causing her to collapse.

Getting back up on her feet, Maria wasn't even sure what happened. Unsure what else to do, Maria set off to explore her surroundings.

Eventually Maria would find some sort of camp run by two robots with (fake) mustashes named Prisbot and Cylbot. It was there where someone would suddenly greet her, the spirit of an echidna girl named Tikal.

Tikal would tell her that the power she gave her could actually transform her into a magical girl by pointing up to the sky and saying the phrase "Magical Maria, powerup!" It worked! And everyone was amazed by it.

Maria spent the next few days getting taught how to use her newfound powers, after everything was done, Maria returned to Angel Island and showed Sonic these powers too.

Maria would then live a peaceful life with her new purple friend, but this peace was soon shattered once someone dicided to steal the Master Emerald for infinite power. And Maria was shocked to see who it was...

It was... an older version of her...?

Maria knew what she had to do, and raced after this "impostor" to get the Master Emerald back, Sonic had some trouble due to his shoes becoming heavy from being far away from the emerald, but eventually his shoes malfunctioned and unlocked permanently, allowing him to run as fast as Maria and to finally be able to explore the land. Eventually, Maria defeated the "imposter" and brought the Master Emerald back.

Little did young Maria know that this "faker" really was the real deal from the future, and that her older self would harness a bit of the Master Emerald energy, allowing her to become a Dark Magical Girl and fight her younger self so that she can have the Master Emerald all for herself. And thus, the story would begin..."

And there you have it! Obviously I didn't touch on the other Magical Girls and the storyline with the plague created by D-Gerald (NIDS), the Chaos Emeralds, D-Shadow, and D-Ivo. But those ideas are still in this version of the AU.

One thing that I should tell you all is that some of the companions are changed here. Young D-Maria has Sonic, D-Helen now has Claws, D-Sara has Cream, and Older D-Maria has Shadow and Fang/Nack. (And yes, Older D-Maria's role is a fusion of Eggman and Eggette's roles in the OG AU.)

I also imagined that Young D-Maria looks like the regular D-Side Classic Maria design, but without the Eggman infuences. A mix of the normal and D-Side designs if you will. (But I'm unsure what Hope, Sara, Helen and Frances' D-Side designs will look like yet. I could ask Deacon, but I don't want to bother him.)

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this concept, and if you have any questions, whether it'd be lore, or ideas for the D-Side versions of the characters mentioned above (trust me, I don't have any ideas right now for the rest of 'em apart from Sage and maybe Elise). Let me know!

[penwieldingdreamer]

Fallin' in Love

Thank you all for the being patient with the long wait and still staying with the story. This one has gotten really long, so thanks everyone for participating in that little vote - if you want more of those, let me know. Now happy reading, let me know what you think of this part or if you want to be tagged 🥰💜

[fluff, cursing; long chapter ~3.7k]

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part

"Either fuck me or fuck off! I'm done being a charity project!" You pulled off your light sweater, throwing it on the couch next to you. This was what he wanted according to Becky, so you’d give it to him and be done with it, your heart and body bared.

"I'm not going to sleep with you, especially if you're drunk out of your mind. And stop spouting that shit about bein' a charity case. I told you 're not!"

Unshed tears gathered in your eyes, knowing he was right but with your clouded mind, would have none of it. "Then fucking LEAVE!" 

And he did leave, slamming the door on his way out. But not before he told you to get your shit sorted out.

Again you had let Becky, your former best friend get into your head. But this time she didn’t just use words. No, she made sure to cut you deep. Publicly.

You weren't sure if Glen remembered Becky from the accident but you knew if he had and knew her to be acting towards you like she had, he probably wouldn't have smiled the way he did in the photo she had taken.

But that wasn't the problem.

No, she embarrassed you, telling the world you were a charity project for others. That no matter how hard you tried, you’d never have people wanting you for yourself. Because you were a people pleaser and a wallflower.

To top it off Becky made sure to show you that you'd never stand a chance with Glen - not that you'd ever get to be more than friends with him. 

You could never compare to anyone, model or actress, that was part of Hollywood so why would someone like him bother to be with you. He deserved a woman that made him look good, not - well, not Hollywood-esque.

Standing next to him in the photo they looked like the next Californian power couple with Becky's perfect hair and body. You couldn't compare when you were new to the friend group and you couldn't compare now. She always got the guys and if she didn't after two cocktails she made sure she did take them home with her. That's how it went.

You should have seen the signs in the beginning, but you ignored them. Wanted to be part of the popular group even though you weren't in college but the same age as them. Now a few years later and another ruined friendship by your anger, you knew you needed to change it, needed to start to believe the girls and the one man that hadn't judged you in any way since he met you that night. 

"Honeybee!" The pounding on your door pulled you out of your thoughts, finally making you look at the mess you made in your workshop studio. "Open up, we know you're home."

Greg…When the girls couldn’t reach you he was the one blowing your phone up with calls and messages. 

Anger fueled rage had swept through you three nights before after Glen had slammed the door behind him. Your confidence already at a low point after what Becky did, you felt like whatever projects you worked on would never measure up to the expectations you had put on yourself. Because in that moment you felt like a failure. You weren't even able to get the one guy, that had shown interest in you, into bed but all you did was make him angry and tell him to leave.

"Hun, you've been MIA for three days now. We gave you time but we really got to talk." Gigi called from the other side, admonishing Greg for being so rude. 

You waited, still sitting on your studio floor and watching the carnage you had caused. Metal and little gems littering the floor, designs partly ripped or crumbled. The girls knew where you had hid your spare key so they'd come in anyway, but you knew they didn't want to just barge in. 

After some more debating and whining from Greg, you heard the familiar scratching of a key in the lock. "Hun, we'll come in, okay?"

You turned toward the small hallway, your home studio just to the left of your front door. Sniffling, you looked up at the model and the Lousianian actor. "He hates me." You sobbed, pulling your knees closer to your body. 

Three days there had been radio silence - not just on your end. Both of you needed time but whenever you wanted to tell Glen how sorry you were your inner voice told you that he'd probably needed some more time to get his head in straight for his upcoming project, a new movie in Australia. Too far away to mend it with just an 'I'm sorry' text.

"Oh, babygirl." Greg shushed you, crouching down beside you and pulling you into his embrace. "He ain't hating you, Glen's just as upset as you."

“But he hasn’t called…or, or texted. We never went a day without a call or text.” 

Gigi kneeled next to you, brushing away the stray tears. “Glen’s leaving for Sydney today. He’s been packing up the last few days.” 

“He’s leaving…That’s today?!” You knew he was leaving, but with the fight you had completely forgotten time and dates. “I need to, need to tell him.”

Scrambling to your feet, you ran to the table in your hallway. Gathering your keys and shoes you made it to the front door before Greg and Gigi knew what had gotten into you. 

“Honeybee! You need to stop.”

Shaking your head, you made your way to the sidewalk. Thankfully the next bus stop was only a few feet away, so if you were lucky you could catch the next bus into central LA and hopefully get to LAX on time.

Shaking their heads, both friends followed after you. “You’re not going to get there on time, you know that.” Gigi called, motioning to Greg to get his car around. “We’ll take you there and I’ll let Glen know you need to talk to him, but you need to calm down and get in the car!”

Taking a deep breath, you stopped. She was right - of course she was. It would take you hours to get to the airport and you’d not see the Texan for a while so you could apologize in person. Slowly nodding your head, you watched as Greg pulled up the car and both Gigi and you got in. You buckled up, holding on as the Lousianian actor sped off towards the man you had slowly fallen in love with.

Nearly an hour later due to traffic you finally arrived at LAX, jumping out of the car before it even stopped. Greg cried when he forcefully hit the breaks, Gigi glaring at him from her seat next to the actor. He just shrugged and shut it off before both followed you inside the building. 

“I texted Glen, he’s still at the gate, but boarding will start soon.” she told him and kept their eyes out for you. 

“Well, let’s get her there, so they can finally kiss and make up.”

Nodding, they spotted you heading for the airport security check. You had a head start and somehow it seemed people were just moving away to let you through. Stopping at the end of the queue, you tapped your foot impatiently. You had seen the Qantas flight to Sydney was ready to board and if they didn’t get a move on you’d never make it in time.

Taking a deep breath, you considered your options:

You could either wait and risk you'd not be able to apologize to Glen in person - because, yes he'd probably pay for a ticket to visit him, but he and those you considered close friends now had done so much already, and you yourself couldn't afford it. And an apology over text or call was just - Nope, not happening.

Or you could run up to the front, beg and cry so security would let you through and you could try your luck at getting to him before the take off.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you squared your shoulders and put one foot in front of the other making your way to the female guard checking the bag of another woman. 

Clearing your throat once you had reached them you earned a few outraged calls from passengers you had cut off. "I, sorry to bother you, but this is really important, I need to get through to the gates."

"Everyone needs to get there, darling." One passenger called from behind you while both women raised their eyebrows at you, shaking their heads. 

Gigi and Greg had closed the distance to you, standing at the end of the queue and waiting for the chaos to unfold. There was nothing they could do but look out for you and hopefully not have you arrested.

"Listen, this is a matter of life and death, okay."

"As long as you're not on fire or bleeding from the inside out or whatever you need to wait like everyone else, I'm sorry."

Hands clenching into fists, you took a deep breath. This wasn't at all going like you had planned in your head. Chancing a glance at your friends, you considered just taking off but police and airport security would be on you the second you stepped around the woman. 

"But I am!" You cried, unshed tears gathering in your eyes as they gave you a disbelieving look. "My heart is bleeding for the man about to fly off to Sydney, because I can't apologize for being a bitch to him and for not telling him that I've fallen in love because I let the words from someone who I thought was my friend. So please, just let me get to the gate. I promise I'll pay for any inconvenience, just let me get to him and fucking tell him I love him."

Greg and Gigi whooped from the back, grinning like kids in a toy store. You finally admitted it and they knew it was going to be fine in the end.

"Come on, let her get her Prince Charming, so we can get to our own flights!" Someone called and an elderly couple in the front nodded eagerly. The female guard watched you closely, keeping her hand on her walkie talkie, debating what to do. She knew if she let you go her boss was going to have her head, but seeing you standing there, tears about to fall and causing you more heartbreak. "I…you need to promise…this is not a romance movie, you come back here as soon as you told him. Seeing as you don't have a bag or anything with you, I'll let you go."

A broad grin spread over your lips. "Thank you, thank you so much." You mumbled, throwing your arms around her before hurrying off, your friends throwing up their arms in triumph, laughing and calling after you.

"Go get 'I'm, Honeybee!"

You chuckled, chancing a glance at the flight board so you still had the right gate. It wasn't too far from security check but the amount of time you stayed in the queue they might as well already have taken off. Willing your legs to move faster, you ran to the boarding zone, barely avoiding other passengers still lounging in the take off area.

You could see the empty seats at the gate before you got there, the flight attendant still calling for one missing passenger. Feeling your heart plummet, you grabbed your phone from your Jean pocket, fumbling to reach Glen’s number so you could call him. Maybe he still got the time to talk. 

Maybe, he was the one still missing boarding - you hoped he would be.

Finally getting the contact, you pressed call, swallowing the lump of anxiety that had made it hard for you to breath. "Glen?" You desperately called when you heard a click on the other line, hoping to hear his deep voice that usually sent butterflies cursing through you but you only reached voice mail. 

"H-Hey, I, it's me," you sniffled, brushing a stray tear of your cheek. "I'm, uh, I'm at the airport, at your gate b-because I wanted to apologize for being a bitch. A-and you're not here and I guess it's my own fault, because you deserve better but I guess, I just wanted to tell you that you were right all along. I was letting her get in my head and you've been there for me because you're my friend. And, and I w-wanted to tell you that I love you. I guess I had for a while but I didn't think you'd feel the same so I kept quiet about it. I hope you'll have an amazing time in Australia and hopefully you'll still want to talk to me once you get back."

Taking a deep breath, you felt the tears no freely running down your face, snot clogging your nose and you felt anything but pretty. "I love you, Glen and I'm sorry." You let out a sob, your head hanging in defeat that you didn't even get to see him before he'd be gone for the next few months filming in Australia. 

"Young man?" An elderly woman called to him as he put away his carry-on, reminding him a lot of his late granny. "Your phone's been ringing a few times now."

Looking down he saw the missed calls he'd gotten. Two from Greg and Gigi, three from you followed by a voicemail. "Thanks." He mumbled, sitting down in his booth next to hers.

Taking a deep breath he opened the voicemail, listening to your labored breath and quiet sniffles. "I love you, Glen and I'm sorry." 

"Shit." The Texan mumbled, running his hand over his face, breathing deeply in and out. The flight was delayed as they were still waiting for one more passenger but he still hadn't shown up. If he was fast enough he could get out and get to you - if you were still there, your last call had only been two minutes ago. Shaking his head, he sprung up from his seat and moved to the front of the plane. First class wasn't too full, so he was lucky to not have to weave through too many people.

"Sir, you should take your seat again, we're nearly ready for take off."

"You're still waiting for one passenger who still hasn't shown up, if he doesn't you'll have to get his luggage off the plane again due to security reasons. The woman I love just somehow gotten to the gate only to find it empty. If I'm not getting off this plane right now to tell her I love her I won't get another chance to do it." 

She bit her lip, turning to her fellow attendee with a questioning look. He just shrugged and Glen had to pull out all the stops he could, resorting to acting his way off the plane. "Listen, I know you got your timeline and all that, but it's the first time in a while that I truly felt a connection to her. She was in an accident and had the weirdest dream where she thought I was her boyfriend. She's an absolute movie nerd and god, just listening to her rant about something with so much passion, there's no way you can't fall in love with her. I think she's the one, but she won't be if I can't get back there and tell her."

"Goodness, deary, just let him get off or he'll look like a kicked puppy all the way to Sydney." The old woman called from behind him, a scowl on her face but when both attendants turned away to check with the pilot she gave him a wink and a smile. Glen sighed and mouthed a quick thank you before the female reluctantly nodded. 

"But, we'll be waiting at the entrance of the landing or else we'll have to wait for you, too."

Glen’s thousand watt grin on display he raced out of the plane, the door thankfully still opened. His heart was hammering and he really hoped you were still at the gate. He wouldn't know what he'd do if you weren't, avoiding you for the past few days and trying to get his head in order. 

You had been hurt so many times by your supposed friend and when he had to get you from the bar Monica, Keleigh and Rainey had taken you he was shocked how much your behavior had changed in those few minutes you were sitting in his car. 

The gangway back to the gate had felt like an eternity, but he finally made it, breaths coming out in long puffs and he seriously questioned his training regime if he was already feeling like he ran a marathon today. Looking around, Glen finally spotted you heading away from the gate, head hung low and shoulders hunched in defeat.

"Darlin'!" 

Defeated, you had made your way back to the security check, the female guard and both Gigi and Greg already standing at attention. Shrugging your shoulders with a shake of your head you felt the sadness overcome you again. You had tried to call him again, that maybe he was just occupied but apparently he still didn’t want to talk to you. All three of them sent you a sad smile, knowing that you’d need your friends now and the security stepping away. Everyone had experienced heartache at least once in their life and they knew that nothing but a good long hug and some chocolate and ice cream were the cure for that. 

“Darlin’!” A call pulled you out of your gloom, but you weren't sure if they called you - it could have been anyone. Still, stopping in the middle of the terminal you waited with bated breath if it had just been your imagination or you’d mistaken that call.

“Darlin’!”

You turned around, your eyes widening at the sight of the dark blond you had tried to reach heading straight for you. A mixture between a sob and a laugh left your lips, your legs moving towards him. At first wobbly and slow but then getting stronger and quicker as you wanted to meet halfway “Glen!”

The entire time you had run up to him, your mind was spinning with how you’d act standing so close to him, but all had come to a stop when you threw your arms around his shoulders, holding onto the taller Texan. “I’m sorry, I was being unreasonable and I thought you hated me.” You mumbled into his shoulder, feeling tears mist your eyes again as his arms tightened their hold around you.

“No need to apologize,” Glen shushed you, leaning his forehead against yours, his eyes closed just as your own and only wanting to feel the moment you had together. “It was a tough day for you.”

Your hands moved to his cheeks, cradling his face in your soft hands, thumbs brushing along his stubbled cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll call you anytime I can, you’ll not even be able to miss me ‘cause I’ll be that annoying.”

Chuckling at his joke, you opened your red rimmed eyes, your own smile making your eyes crinkle. “You won’t be. And even if you were, I'd miss you all the same.”

“I’ll miss you, too, darlin’. And all the info about motorsports, nature and the way you bend metal you provided each day since I’ve gotten to know you.”

“You’ll have too much to do to really miss me.”

Shaking his head he bent down to seal his lips with yours. And suddenly you felt a spark, like something inside finally came alive that had been sleeping for a very long time. Usually all this was only part of the romance books you had stashed on your bedside table but now you were the main character and Glen your Prince Charming. A soft moan escaped your mouth, your feet moving onto your tiptoes to get even closer to him. One of his larger hand cradled your head, his fingers tightening in your hair, while the other splayed over your back, pushing you into his body. Greg and Gigi whooped when they saw the scene before them. 

“Finally, I would have put her on a plane to Australia myself.” Greg grinned, putting his arm around the model’s shoulder, watching both of his friends kissing at the airport like they were truly part of a romcom movie.

All sense of the outside world was lost to you, there was only Glen and you - Nothing else mattered. His scent surrounded you and it felt like coming home. 

“I love you.” 

His lips had left yours, his broad grin spreading over his face, the dimples prominent. It was your second time that day saying those words to him and every time your heart felt lighter and lighter. Glen’s thumbs brushed over your cheeks, the skin tinted red from your blush. “You have no idea how often I wanted you to say that and to tell you myself.”

With a sigh, you leaned your head between his shoulder and neck, breathing in his scent to save it to the back of your mind before he was gone for the next few months. The clearing of a throat pulled you out of your trance.

“As wonderful as it is, but you’ll miss your plane, Mister Powell.” 

He turned to look at the flight attendant, breathing out a sigh but nodded. There was no way Glen was going to convince them otherwise. “I’ll have to leave now, the plane won’t wait for me but I’ll call you as soon as I land.”

Nodding your head, you pulled him into one last hug before he had to leave. “I’ll talk to you later. I love you, Glen.”

“I love you, too.” He returned, brushing your hair out of your face, sealing his lips with yours one last time. Breaking the kiss, Glen sent you a smile before he followed the attendant, raising his hand in a wave. “I’ll call you!” He called and was gone, leaving you behind at the terminal, but there were no tears to cry only a smile filled with happiness.

@emorychase @shanimallina87 @fortheloveoffanfic @roosterscock @novagreen04 @luckyladycreator22 @none-of-your-bullshit

[echantedtoon]

Charlastor Week Day 3

Day 3 (3-3): Cooking

The room was filled with sing song humming and the smell of weird food in the air lingered everywhere. Not a bad smell, it smelt delicious whatever it was, but it just wasn't anything she ever really experienced before. Usually she would've enjoyed something like this but she just couldn't right now. You wanna know why?

It was HOT!!

Well it shouldn't have been a surprise really considering Hell was always had hot and burning heat, but HOLY MOTHER OF COW!! This kitchen was more like a giant oven on a million degrees with how hot it was. Ok. Maybe that was a little exaggerated but that surely what she felt with her hovering over the boiling pot and hot stove. What she wouldn't give for a nice cold piece of ice to just slap her face with it's sweet sweet coldness. But unfortunately for her, she didn't have a choice in the matter. Which she hated to bits and pieces.

The humming demon next to her wasn't even breaking a sweat. How was he doing that?! Black magic maybe? He was supposed to be a master of that sort of thing wasn't he? Or maybe it was just because he was just used to this sort of thing by now. She didn't know, but she was a bit irritated at the way he was smiling smugly at her.

"A little hot under the collar, Dear?" His radioized voice asked the smaller demon holding the small tray and staring up at him with a small frown. "You should smile more you know. After all you're never fully dressed without a smile!~"

She just sighed and held up the tray slightly when he reached over and grabbed one of the ingrediants off it. WHy did she have to be put on helping Alastor duty? ...Maybe it was punishment for causing Angel to fall down the stairs, but HEY! It was an accident. How was she supposed to know he would step on her foot and trip down the steps?! Luckily no one was seriously hurt but she couldn't help but feel like this was still some kind of punishment, or maybe it was because no one else wanted to help him make lunch. Being a known cannibal they were probably scared he'd make them his lunch, not that she cared too much. She had made him promise not to cook anyone and he wasn't really interested in eating anything other today than the weird soup looking stuff he had been on about for a while. But to be honest he looked almost done and confirmed it with the next sentence.

The powerful demon hummed staring down inches away from the boiling hot liquid and snapped his neck to her. "Now how about this! All Im missing is the secret ingredient I always use!"

"Which is?"

He held his hand to shush her as his eyes darted around the tray with a hum. "Well, dog gone. It seems you forgot to grab it from the strange keep-cold machine. Tch, tch. SO forgetful." She made a frown What? How was she supposed to know his secret ingredient? Oh she hoped it wasn't anything too terrible. But before she could retort he squeezed past her and tapped his way over to the fridge. "Now this won't do at all! Oh nonono. Never fear! I'll retrieve the specialty. Add all the peppers to the pot, Dear! And make sure it's all mixed together. Wouldn't want a bland taste now, would we?"

She watched with a frown as he hummed all willy nilly and opened the fridge, the door hiding them from view to each other, but sighed and looked back to the tray. Pepper huh? The only pepper she had was the small pepper shaker by the salt. She shrugged and carefully balanced the tray into one hand while grabbing the shaker in the other, she hovered it over the boiling pot before stopping.

"....Are you sure you want me to dump all of it in? That seems a lot for one pot."

"Of course! All of them." He answered without looking up from the inside of the fridge. "It's what the recipe calls for you know! It wouldn't taste the same."

"M'kay, If you say so." Without another word she began furiously shaking the small shaker. Little specks of black pepper poured into the pot below. It took a couple of shakes which left her hand tired, but the small shaker was empty and just in time for the deer to pop his red head back up holding the bag of venison from the back.

"Here we are! Mother's secret recipe." He sashayed his way back over and gave her a look. "Did you add all the peppers my dear?"

"Yeah. You said all of it."

He hummed and looked at the tray before tutting. "Dear, dear, dear. You must've misunderstood me." With a hand he grabbed a small bowl of chopped up tomatoes from the tray and held them up. "These sliced hot peppers will give the necessary kick it needs!"

She froze. Wait. THOSE were chilli peppers, then that means she-

"Uh, oh."

He hummed and tilted his head sideways. "'Uh, oh what Dear? You sound like you made a mistake."

"Uh...I may have added the wrong pepper."

He hummed curiously and too her horror turned his attention back to the pot. He curiously looked at the water with narrowed eye but soon enough his face contorted into what she thought was anger since the smile was gone. She jumped when he quickly faced the opposite direction and doubled over. OH CRAP!! She was so dead! But what came next wasn't what she was expecting at all.

"*ACH-ZZZZZZZZZTT!!*"

A giant sound of high pitched static feedback shot out and she winced. A moment later the deer demon bounced back with a smile like it never happened and looked to her with a smile.

"Oh Dear. It seems we'll have to move by lunch idea to dinner time. It'll be too stressful to try to fix the soup you already turned it into Im afraid."

She tilted her head confused at his smile. "What are you talking about?"

"Well Dearie, pepper soup isn't really a recipe one should mess with or be left with unforeseen allergies."

[horizon-verizon]

When Rhaenyra discovered that Tyland Lannister had divided the royal treasury and sent most of it beyond her reach, Rhaenyra subjected him to incredibly brutal interrogation to get him to reveal where it was, including gouging out his eyes and gelding him. She planned to have 16 years-old Addam Velaryon tortured on the mere suspicion of disloyalty, only stopped by Corlys warning him in time for him to get away. I agree that GRRM make it clear that she was the rightful heir, but he also make it clear that Rhaenyra was just as horrible and tyrannical as Aegon II. None of them deserved the Iron Throne.

I wrote about this HERE and HERE.

*EDITED POST* (3/27/24)

I think that "none of them deserved the Iron Throne" in a fandom that already tries to blame the entire Dance on her runs the risk of discouraging people from assessing Rhaenyra's background and the material for her motivations for violence (as one would do with a perosn they see as even close to "human" or acting as an ordinary perosn could), thus it only encourages making Rhaenyra's actions "nonsensical" and "unjustifed" and "barbaric". '

ALSO, doesn't Aegon decide to execute dozens and dozens of people, including Sylvenna Sand, Essie, and those who followed the Shepherd?! People he definitely didn't need to kill?! Double standard much?

A)

Coming from what I say below, by the time Rhaenyra goes to KL, her decision to be more ruthless also comes from the death of her oldest son, Jace, and before this, she already lost her second Luke to Aemond's machismo rage. When she lost Luke, she broke down and as the quote about her reaction to losing Jace shows, it appears she was determined to destroy any persons who helped the greens usurp her. The usurpation led to the conflicts that would cause her kids' deaths.

I think it makes sense for Rhaenyra to look at Tyland (a green and the one who rationalized his betrayal of her in the green council) as her enemy. He was a person who at least enabled the greens to properly usurp her in the green council and didn't seem to have much compunction or difficulty doing it...and he is the one who is still helping the greens by removing the royal treasury from Rhaenyra's grasp. Before Rhaenyra imprisoned & tortured him, he had already done this one critical thing. It wasn't all that practical...but to write it completely off as unforgiveable stupid is unfair.

Remember that it is this one thing that really disables Rhaenyra from establishing her rule efficiently and more peacefully. She needed to fix this issue AND she obviously sought some sort of revenge through him. Especially during a time when an invading green army could enter KL at any time to oust her, creating a very fearful environment for her as well as the ordinary inhabitants.

Imagine what it would have been like, for a second--anyone who is reading this--from either perspective:

your antagonistic step-parent has insulted/worked against you since you was 10 or so ("who protects her from Cole", years of trying to expose her and her sons, etc). AND you have experienced unsubtle and subtle harassment from a person you can't just kick out because they are your father's wife and technically outrank you for the latter half of your childhood

same step-parent taught their children/your siblings to dismiss you and your son's enough for years until they formed their own "rivalry" and your siblings do not respect your children/their nieces or nephews bc they feel they are inherently superior -> one cold-bloodedly kills one of your kids (and he did do so purposefully, fuck HotD and it's "logic" of making everything an accident and not the poor greens' fault).

*Rhaenyra didn't do anything to these people to merit the harm they did to her, which preceded any harm she did to them or those who followed them and helped them to power.

You have been usurped, you lost a child (this part would hit harder if you actually wanted and loved your kids) one through a miscarriage, another murder, and one in battle

your father's death was kept from you until the very last minute;

you arrived at the place where you must figure out how to keep your hard-won position from enemies still outside the gates that could come at any second

you probably have the need to "prove" your kids' deaths "meant" something

These are Rhaenyra's likeliest pressures. The deal with Tyland is that Rhaenyra saw him as a green against her (and can we blame her?) as well her wanting to to get things under control as soon as possible. I don't condone the suspicions of the bastards, especially Nettles, but you make it seem like Rhaenyra was unique in her cruelty while simultaneously claiming none deserved the throne, flattening the story to "no one is 'better' than the other, so no one deserves it".

I wouldn't say that Rhaenyra was altruistic or compassionate to everyone around her, or that in general altruism or thinking of others as a part of her own family was in her character. Rather she has a similar level of regard for others as people imagine is common amongst humans: not wanting to directly cause damage to those she doesn't know until perceived harm is done, or until she feels forced to. Again, otherwise more concerned with her immediate life and self-interested than not. But still, with who Tyland is, what he did to help the greens displace & usurp her and then lead to her sons' deaths, her need to establish order as soon as possible and how all of these things happening all at once or in quick succession creating a heavy psychological burden on a person...it's not hard to see how a lot of people, maybe you, anon, would do similar things.

Then there is the KL commonborn's need to survive not only from attacks but to make a living (traders, merchants, barkeepers) when the influx of travelers from anywhere suddenly stops. Suddenly there is a lot more thievery. Then there will also be lots of people going crazy from the stress, which would cause more murders, rapings, etc. This would explain how executions also rose and Rhaneyra decided "might as well make money off of this" and charged people for coming to see the rising number of executions. There is also not much time going to be paid towards these executions as much as, once again, defending oneself from enemies and the grief of losing kids.

The reason why we should or do admire people who manage to make good or even passably logical decisions during moments like these is because they managed in the first place. Which makes them special. Yeah we need leaders who can try and do the most they can to perform their duties, but to expect them to be 100% or even 80% without help is...ludicrous. They are still very human.

B)

Vaemond's death, while brutal was arguably deserved & necessary bc:

he thought it smart to protest her offering Luke as Corlys' heir by stating he was a bastard right in front of her after Viserys had already stated and declared that anyone who called his grandkids bastards would have their tongues ripped out/corporal punishment (almost like Brandon Stark with Rhaegar, but at least Brandon's action isn't trying/allowing the murder of innocents)

called Rhaenyra a traitor to the crown, endangering her and her kids' lives so he could benefit from maybe becoming the next lord of Driftmark, something he doesn't actually need

nor what the actual lord (Corlys) wanted. If Vaemond so wanted the seat, he could have gone to Colrys a long time before, but he didn't bc he knew Corlys would shut that down.

Remember that in his society, the lord/head of house declares the next heir/leader of house. If one argues that this feudal hierarchical system is inherently unjust and acknowledges that Vaemond is trying to get others killed purely to benefit from being a man, chasing power that could be granted under other circumstances, then one should not argue that Vaemond is acting morally when he calls Rhaenyra's kids bastards. There is also nothing moral about using a person's bastardry and patriarchal mores of female chastity to claim that you deserve to rule. (The point of the Dance.)

C)

Again, By the time she and Daemon took KL, she's made the decision to be more ruthless ("The Red Dragon and the Gold"):

Aegon the Elder, on the other hand, had no reason to take the throne or watch his bastard kids fight in pits or rape a 11-year-old and several other servants and maids (you think he stopped at "fondling", dream on) and Alicent, while she was trying for power for herself and in a different story would be more commendable for doing so by taking advantage of her position as the would-be heir's mother, she also did much of her amoral actions without provocation. What did she do to Rhaenyra before any of Rhaenyra's kids are born? I already told you. And again, if she hadn't turned her sons against Rhaenyra, Aemond would not have done as he did regarding Vhagar and then got it in his head to kill Lucerys to prove a point of strength.

I'm not sure what you expected from Rhaenyra that wouldn't likely be a lot of people's own reactions, or what one would expect from most people after their kids have been killed. You'd have to be privileged enough to not expect others to harangue or assault you purely out of hate or ambition.

Also, meanwhile, Alicent is out here thinking she's in the moral right to dismiss the deaths of Jace and Luke as "bastard blood shed in war" and saying the deaths of her son(s), the legitimate ones, are worth more than Rhaenyra's based on legitimacy. The social stigma of those born out of wedlock informing the worthiness of lives. It's actually pretty amazing she didn't have Alicent imprisoned in a cell deep within the Keep way down below in the deepest of cells that no one ever comes out of for that alone.

What made Rhaenyra tyrannical by the end was that from an early time in her life, she was treated as undeserving due to her femaleness and then she had to keep her belief in herself extant in the face of that and then from the war she grew paranoid from several betrayals. Whether she is a "good" person or not is not really my issue, my issue is that she wasn't allowed autonomy or power that she didn't claim for herself. That she was regarded and treated as "bad" or inferior by those around her before she ever really got to develop into something else. Before she had to self-determine. when when she did self determine, yeah, she'd not gonna be Daenerys-good, but grow as a woman within a feudal structure, which is not always going to be exactly "moral" but can try to claim power. Esp when it's denied to her based on gender but she's been declared as an heir for about 2 decades. So yeah, she's "just like everyone else" class wise, but her gender and how she defies the desired compulsion of her gender to not press for rule is what we are here for to witness and ponder over when we also witness the patriarchal violent response to such.

That comes with the development of the need to protect such powers, which got worse after her son deaths and the multiple pressures of a city during a war, these things which a ruler didn't usually have to face right when they begin to rule all at once.

So no, Rhaenyra wasn't always tyrannical or evil. There was progression based on others' attacks and Viserys never gave her some sort of training in politics that Jaehaerys probably gave Aemon and Baelon and Aegon I gave Aenys. Of course, Rhaenyra had the opportunity to learn on her own, but

A) She already did on Dragonstone and again the situation in King's Landing is very unlike the typical ascendant's situation upon their first days of rule: an ongoing war, riots incited by a hiding green and a crazy man from the Citadel most likely, some councilmen unjustifiably blaming you for their wife's death, etc. The pressure would have been intense and the need to pull everything right together seemed to have outrun her mental capacity...again sons' deaths (also Rhaenys, I don't think she was distant with Rhaenys, who also loved her sons and the daughters of Laena Rhaenyra raised).

B) To think that some education from her father/ruler and confidence in her wouldn't have helped her to get her bearings is pretty myopic.

[cadybear420]

Break, guilt and hunt for Aiden and Evie

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

For Evie, there are probably many things, but a big one would be just losing a loved one. Her dad, Aiden, any of her closest friends. "Losing a loved one" is a very broad term here- whether it's them passing away, or them wanting nothing to do with her anymore (whether by her own fault or not), or them suddenly going missing, or them suddenly turning against her.

Most likely, she would mentally and emotionally shut down if this were to happen to her. How severe it would be would depend on the particular case (eg. with a loved one passing she would feel mostly grief; where as with a loved one wanting nothing to do with her, she might feel more guilt or anger). In an event where she lost someone by her own doing, she'd lose her interest in doing things she likes because she'd feel she doesn't deserve to enjoy herself.

Such an event hasn't really happened to her, however there have been some moments that have come pretty close. Like this one time she was in fifth grade and Scott was one or two hours late coming home from a meeting, and Evie had started worrying that he'd died. She spent most of that night anxious and crying.

Or whenever Evie has a terrible argument with someone, like that one argument from B2 Ch9– when band and cheer rooted against the team during the game against Hearst in the previous chapter, she'd sided with the basketball team because she felt they were picking on the wrong enemy by going against the team. She was devastated when Aiden sided with the band and cheer's actions and even agreed with Mia saying that the team was "like a second Isa". And it pissed her off because she'd been by his side ever since he got suspended, and stood in front of him to defend him from Isa and Frank.

She spent the rest of that day unable to focus on class, feeling constantly anxious, not in any mood to do anything. She was angry and confused at Aiden, but eventually she'd also start to feel unsure of herself. What if Mia and Aiden were right? What if she wasn't actually doing enough to stand up for him, or the rest of band and cheer? What if she wasn't really as good to Aiden as she thought she was?

In the end, of course, it all boiled down to everyone becoming stressed from Isa's fucking up of the school. And Aiden telling her "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're not expelled" was sort of a reassurance to her of that fact. That this one disagreement was ultimately worthless compared to everything else she and Aiden had been through.

As for Aiden... in canon, he says failure is his biggest fear. So I like to think he's similar to Evie, in that he would break down if he were to lose someone dear to him– particularly, by screwing up so badly that they turn against him or want nothing to do with him anymore.

Were that to happen to him, he too would probably emotionally shut down. Normally, in a situation like that, he would probably try everything he can to rectify his mistake– but in his worst possible fear, where there's a point of no return, nothing he could do to rectify the situation... he would react similarly to how Evie would. Constantly beating himself up, unwilling to do anything that would make himself feel good, etc.

One of his lowest points was definitely when his parents punished him over the carnival incident. Isa blamed him entirely for it, leading to his parents seeing him as irresponsible and refusing to listen to his side of the story. It was one thing with the halftime performance where he blamed himself for it, but this time he was being directly blamed for the events. And he did have some cause in Luis's wrist getting broken, even if it was by accident.

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

Evie is guilty about a lot of things. There's probably a whole list, that I'm still figuring out. Even the smallest degrees of doing something thoughtless or saying/doing something hurtful back when she was a little kid who didn't know better or didn't think things through. Even as she works on herself to become a better person, a lot of those past moments still cause her anxiety.

How she handles it varies between situations. Sometimes it will be a case where she feels she can move on from it and accept that it's not a big deal or that it's something she's grown from. But there are other moments where she just... wishes she could erase them from her memory permanently. She'll often have those moments where she'll remember something awful she did, and any suppressed feelings of guilt she had will come back.

Aiden is much the same, though he doesn't tend to dwell on the past quite as much as Evie does. He tends to be more of a "focus on the now/future" person.

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

Neither of them are really in any danger from anyone or anything. Sometimes Evie does worry that a mistake she made in the past, even a smaller one, will come back to bite her in the ass, and that does tend to make her a bit more on edge at times.

Asks list here!

[roninreverie]

Raph's Paper Powers:

I had this idea like a year ago and am never going to get around to drawing it out properly; plus, seeing yet another review channel doing the Frankenfoot episode has reminded me this has been sitting in my drafts for a lot of months. So ENJOY in the only way I can muster right now!

...

[The boys are standing around, Raph patching up Frankenfoot with the last of the tape. Leo and Mikey are praising his skills. Donnie is in the background, hardly paying attention and texting--probably April.]

Mikey: Wow Raph! You sure have a way with Frankenfoot!

Leo: Yeah. Any other paper ninja would be toast and a half by now, but he still looks great, even after all the sparring and wear n tear he goes through.

Raph: What can I say?  Raph just had the magic touch!

Frankenfoot: Buddy!

*RIP!!!*

Raph: Speaking of… don't worry buddy,  Raph’s got ya covered. 

Leo: Oh, hey, I think there's a spare roll of duct tape in the--

(Magically repairs the tear.) 

Leo (cont.): Whaaaaaa?

Mikey: What the heck was that? 

Donnie: Hold the proverbial phone! Did Raph get a new power? I wasn’t paying attention. I’m taking notes this time. Do it again! Do you need me to cause an accident to do it again?

(Buzzsaw comes out, goggles go down, and notepad is opened.) 

Raph: No! What? This? Nah. Buddy just gets tape-heavy after a while and needs a paper-refresh.

Leo: He said as if that’s just something NORMAL to do with his BARE hands!

Mikey: Ohmigosh! Raph! You totally have Origami ninja powers just like the Foot Clan! What’s next? A flaming head?

Leo: Never really saw our Raphy as the hotheaded sort, but-- 

Raph: Huh? Nah… listen guys! This is just buddy's own paper-magic mojo and the healing powers of friendship at work! Nothing Foot Clan about it! 

Leo: What? No way! 

Donnie: Emotional nonsense aside, this ability explains everything and yet nothing! But why manifest now? How? Hmmm?

Mikey: Admit it! You’ve been holding out on us and getting super secret ex-foot recruit training from Cassandra! No fair!

Raph: Wha---no!!?

Donnie: Aha! Of course! The only logical explanation is that Raph must have absorbed a fraction of the unique mystical ability from ingesting that temporarily sentient salami paper that we confronted on that cargo ship the night we first met the Foot.

Mikey: Raph got a new superpower from eating salami-origami!? Lucky…

Leo: Huh… he “ate” himself a new superpower! GASP! Like Kirby!! 

[Cass walking in overhearing everything, she is here for a sparring session of her own, a gym bag over her shoulder.]

Cass: Raph got a new superpower from eating something!? Well don’t hold out! I want some too! Fork it over!

Raph: Oh, hey Cass. Nah, my brother’s are sayin’ I got Foot Clan paper powers just cause I ate some briefly “ninja-fied” salami a long time ago-- but I’m trying to tell them that ain't it and that they’re jumping to conclusions.

Donnie: HOW DARE YOU SIR! I never jump to conclusions! My theories and hypotheses are always based on facts and science thank you very---oof!

(Cass enters, throwing her heavy bag into Donnie and toppling him over.)

Cass: Yeah, no… All of you have it wrong. Dude… origami manipulation is a sacred ability passed down through generations of worthy Foot Clan warriors. It’s even more rare than the flaming skull and footprint ceremony held with Hatsu the boiling tomato soup cauldron of eternal power. 

Leo: Wait, can we go back to that last par---

Cass (Ignoring Leo): Anyway, after learning that Shredder was your ancestor during the whole "stealing your dad's essence and betraying my clan" situation… I realized that must be why that rogue paper ninja--

Frankenfoot: BUDDIES!

Cass (cont.): --was so drawn to you to begin with.  Based on lineage, you all should have the latent abilities for paper no jutsu. Kind of like how you all have your Ninpo thing. Shredder lost his connection to all that after he became Shredder, cutting off his opportunities at gaining full power but he still could pass along the origami technique used by his clan, which managed to continue to this day like with my old sensei. Raph here is obviously just better at harnessing it than the rest of you. I thought everyone here knew this already? It’s kind of obvious.

Mikey: Uhhhh…. It is?

Raph: Aww, thanks Cass!

Frankenfoot: Buddy! 

Leo: Wait! So does that mean we might also be related to the Foot Brute and/ or Lieutenant?  Man Family get-togethers just keep getting more and more awkward in this house.

Donnie: Not everybody in a clan is related, Nardo--- (under his breath with sinister intent) But yes, we can’t rule out the possibility just yet. We’ll need a blood sample to be sure.

Mikey: Daaaaad! Quick! It’s an emergency! I need all the paper we’ve got in the lair!

Splinter (panicked, off-screen): What!?! Wait! Why?!? 

Donnie (taking notes): This is all incredibly useful information… and coming from Cassandra of all sources. 

Cass: Hey!? (Instant Headlock)

Raph: Huh? An ancient clan power that isn't the same as ninpo. Guess I gotta learn more about origami, huh?

Leo: With those digits?  Pffft! Good luck! 

Raph: *Grumbles*

Frankenfoot: Buddy!

[End on Leo making fun of Raph’s huge hands. Splinter trying to make sure whatever Mikey’s doing doesn’t destroy the lair. Donnie getting beat up by Cassandra. Frankenfoot is just happy to be there. April walking in with pizza like that meme from Community where everything is on fire and chaotic.]

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Bonus: Comic draft that never made it out of doodles: