#mostly to make up for lack of details on the later incident

[rubra-wav]

I had this interesting scenario where Vox one day becomes exhausted from his rivalry with Alastor after realizing that the one-sided interactions were becoming old. He later meets the reader (who can also be a part of the hotel) who starts hacking into Voxtech's database to troll the company for shits and giggles. This catches Vox's attention and he's pissed about it. You can do what you want for the rest but they continue to have this rivalry to the point where it's very well known around hell. From an outside perspective, there is just back-and-forth angry banter but there are moments where they're just;

Reader: *appears on screen* Hey Box head, guess who found some good blackmail with your name on it- Vox: *Is so close to having a breakdown, he had a bad week.* Reader: Oh shit- did something happen, are you okay? 😰

They hate each other but they don't hate hate each other. This can be taken as platonic or romantic. I sent this request to someone else but I wanted to share anyway.

Vox x troll/hacker reader: Why So Blue? (Oneshot/concept version)

Why So Blue fic Masterlist

A/N me when I get to write Vox getting utterly humiliated by a troll-y hacker demon 🫶

I changed about the order of stuff as things happen a bit and took creative liberties with this one - sorry if it's really different then the thought you originally had.

(REQUESTS ARE CLOSED, THIS WAS FROM THE LAST TIME THEY WERE OPEN)

Update: This was really well-received, and several people have requested a part 2. I've decided that I will be writing it properly from the start in a proper chapter kind of way rather than in this format so it makes continuity kind of work better rather then the drabbl-y format used here.

Cw: SFW, romantic, enemy's to lovers type beat, references to one-sided radiostatic, also references to staticmoth, mildly suggestive in one part 💀, gn reader, mostly light-hearted - idk if it qualifies as quite hurt/comfort lmao

- It was just a normal morning for Vox when you first showed up.

- As usual, he booted up for the day, got changed out of his casual clothes, and made his morning coffee.

- As he walked into his computer room, absentmindedly sipping his coffee while looking at his phone, he sits down in his desk.

- Then promptly spits out his mouthful.

- When he finally looks up at the screens around him, he's mortified to see a muted video of himself passionately (and very drunkly) singing and dancing horribly from last night while he was out with Valentino and Velvette.

- Posted on Sinstagram from his own account.

- Hundreds of comments flooded in underneath it; laughing, saying it's cute, complimenting his singing, and talking about the caption underneath with curiosity.

- The caption reads; 'For someone who talks so big about being ahead technologically, it was awfully easy to hack old Boxy here LMAO'

- Vox flips out instantly.

- It doesn't take long to take down the post, change all of his details, and post an official apology for his lack of professionalism with a hypnotising message to forget the whole incident occurred at all. He also does a massive comb over for any other breaches and changes all of his systems to be even more impenetrable to a potional attack.

- He calms down, and the incident fades away to the back of his mind.

- But then it happens again.

- Another morning, an employee is rushing into his studio as he wakes up properly, telling him this time that someone is somehow broadcasting Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' to the entirety of hell at 6 am, interrupting every one of the scheduled programs.

- There's a message in big letters on the bottom of every screen in hell, under the god forsaken video and song playing, saying, "What is love~? - U" Underneath them.

- And that's how it starts, the infuriating thorn in Vox's side that is 'U'. No matter how hard he tries, you're constantly undermining his efforts to keep you out of the system and tormenting him in ways that aren't necessarily malignant but are extremely damaging to his image as the overlord of technology.

- For some reason, he's the only Vee you seem hellbent on coming after as well. Vel finds your pranks funny or cute when they don't inconvenience her, and Valentino just likes to prod Vox into getting angrier further.

- He just cannot work out what your motivations are at all. Is it truly that you just want to piss him off? He doesn't understand why someone with such clear skills would simply use them to taunt him and leave him messages to unveil as he undoes whatever you do.

- It vexes him even farther when these messages from you that you leave for him to decode start to sound borderline flirtatious, which makes him feel all the more humiliated.

- He is a grown demon, skilled businessman and entrepreneur, an overlord, and yet you insist upon calling him things like Box, Boxbabe, Boxbitch, and even babygirl of all things for some goddamn reason.

- The back and forth goes on for months, and 'U' quickly becomes a long lasting meme, several people, much to Vox's horror, shipping you two together and even partaking in ship wars as to whether Vox x 'U' is better then Vox x Val.

- Theres one day where Vox quickly puts his phone down after reading a rather concerning expert from what is certainly explicit fanfiction between the two of you, even him deciding that that's enough internet for today while just sitting staring off into space silently for a solid 10 seconds.

- Vox's sleepless nights pouring over his code to try and keep out your attacks, him glitching out whenever he finds infuriating messages left by you, etc. Begin to become routine and he just anticipates the consistent blows to his pride you give him at every turn.

- A weird, unconscious part of him deep down begins to enjoy your rivalry, almost wanting to see what punches you pull out next to disarm his constant losing battle to keep you out, but it gets squashed down the second he becomes aware of it.

- The rivalry is always at arms length, but sometimes he has to stop himself from replying with the same vaguely flirtatious tone you take on whenever he experiences a small win against you.

- He fights to make sure he doesn't have any potential of getting too into it.

- Things take a different turn, though, with the double blow of Alastor coming back and his on-off relationship with Valentino once again going up in flames.

- After stopping his usual monitoring of all things going on in hell online and in real life as picked up by his cameras, he presses his face into his hands with a long, exhausted groan as he fights crying.

- All the people he was actually interested in were as unrequited as per usual. He always tried so hard with Alastor, but as always, he never got anything but met with the clear reminder they would never be anything more.

- And, of course, any potential of anything more happening with Val was completely off the table. It would be stupid to even think about anything real with him.

- He shut his eyes, putting his screen on the desk in front of him.

- Was he just not worth it? Was that it?

- He startled when he heard the familiar crackle of the speakers coming to life around him. It was rare he ever heard your voice coming through his speakers, you usually preferring to just leave messages, however you decided to surprise him tonight apparently.

- Your blurred out face appears on the screens, only showing the lower half of your grinning face.

- "Oh Boooooxybooooy! I found some world-shattering cringey shit you did 2 months back, i-" You begin singing out, before stopping, seeing by his expression.

- Vox was trembling, looking as if he was about fall apart at any second. His monitor was dulled, red eyes half lidded with pixelated bags forming under them, his bottom lip slightly quivering around his sharp teeth.

- "What the- fuck- ....are you alright?" You asked unsurely.

- Vox finally snapped out of it, realising that you were here witnessing him in a way that was very much not something he wanted you of all people to see him in. His mask slid back on, but it was hardly convincing.

- "Of course it is. What the fuck do you wa-ant. I've got shit to do." He inwardly cursed as his voice glitched slightly. God fucking dammit why did you have to show up.

- He watched your lips on your mostly blurred out face slightly curl as you hummed, clearly not buying it.

- "You wanna stop with the lying bullshit and tell me the truth, Boxhead?" You somewhat chided him, your hand coming into sight as you leaned your cheek onto it. Vox let out a growling sound, going to spit some vitriol at you, but was cut off as you absentmindedly made your next comment.

"Felt you once again have a fit about the radio demon going online. Lights in my house and the houses out my windows started flashing and shit. Is it hi-" your brows shot up and eyes widened, this hidden behind the censorship as you watched Vox, leader of the Vees, your rival, let out a shuddering breath and actually start crying comically pixilated tears right before your eyes.

- Vox's claws gripped into his desk as he grit his teeth as he let out a gasping breath he fought to stifle. He was so goddamn exhausted that he just couldn't be assed to keep it all up anymore. It wasn't like you hadn't seen rather unsavoury things he'd been trying to hide anyways.

- "No shit it's about Alastor. It's always about him. Does it get you off knowing I can't get with the guy I have always wanted no matter how hard I try? There. Are you fucking happy now?" His voice cracks as he snarls the words out at you.

- You let out a long humming sound, as if thinking. "I mean, not really. I'd only be happy if you were this upset over me, not some old hazbin radio announcer who fell off years ago." You shrug with a slightly sad smile.

- Vox squinted at you, confused.

- "I mean, come on, I'm your rival too. Why neglect me so much in all this?" You press your bottom lip out in mock sadness, tone mocking again. Your words are true despite the joking tone however, it did bother you that he always seemed so much more ready to go running after the most obviously aroace man you think you had seen in your entire fucking life.

- Vox couldn't believe what he was hearing, hot embarrassment caused his monitor to start heating up a bit, painting animated flush over his cheeks. "Oh, stop taking the piss, U. Fuck off." He scoffed, rolling his eyes, looking to the side in irritation.

- You chuckle at him, shaking your head and causing the thing blurring your face to shake with it. "Is it really that hard to believe I'm into what we have going on here?" Your voice is still lined with the usual tone you take on with him, but much less so.

- Vox looks back at your blurred, smiling face incredulously. "Yes." He growled, blinking his tears away as he regained his composure a bit.

- You sigh heavily, rolling your eyes. "Ooookay, well, once you're done riding the coattails of a man who will never want you, come hit me up, Boxhead." You say through smiling lips, before abruptly pressing 'hang up' on the call so he didn't have time to actually respond.

- Vox sat in bewildered silence, not able to react properly as his brain felt as if it was working on low resolution comprehending what you just said.

- His face heated up the more he thought about it, heart beginning to hammer in his chest as he laughed in disbelief. No way. No fucking way.

- But you had said it.

- Despite his usual pessimistic nature, he allowed himself to actually believe it, chuckling.

- He looked over to his phone as a notification sound rang out to see a photo of himself presumably just now; flustered, eyes wide in disbelief and unfocused while staring off into space, a crooked grin on his face.

- It was captioned as follows; 'POV: local pathetic radio simp finds out other rival actually wants him'

- "FUCK." He yelled out in embarrassment, knocking out several of his monitors with a surge of electricity.

I loved writing this sm omfggg.

There's definitely part 2 potential to this one, but it would have to be in a while w all the other stuff I'm gonna get to first.

Masterlist

[nishnormp]

thinking way too hard about things that probably do not need this much thought

In lieu of tfc merc brainrot, I have decided to do some historical research and character workshopping to shape out the details of everything needed in ficwriting. I have nothing else to post (my art is not going well) so I might as well scream about this

P1: TF2 alternate history bullshit

Abraham Lincoln inventing rocket jumping before the existence of stairs, the entire thing with Australium, so on. Despite TFC having modern kevlar (as opposed to looney toons weapons, but a bit about that later) and a more serious/gritty tone, the setting is still within the TF2 universe; which means having a weird fusion of irl history and vaguely reasonable fantasy absurdities.

To clarify, I am not a bona fide history nut who knows absolutely everything (ffs my own country's history doesn't even play much in western incidents). I've just been doing research thru online articles, videos, and talking to other ppl who know more than me, so my brain can lack a bit for certain things; do correct me if I get anything wrong.

By the 1850s (estimation) Australia became a tech giant due to discovering Australium, making insane progress in basically every field (and also making their population very jacked). Newfound inventions also require raw resources, and this page confirms that australians pick their leader mostly based on pure strength, which begs the question; are they still connected to Britain? Would there still be a benefit for them to be linked to Britian the way they are?

There are many cases where nations plunder other nations just for natural resources; Britian is one particularly infamous force with many colonies, which makes me wonder if Australia ever resorted to snatching them just to afford all the material components that their tech requires. Australia was part of the British Empire up until 1901 irl (not too far from 1890), but the question about resources and sovereignty(even if symbolic) still remain (Britain likely wouldn't like a territory growing at terrifying and eventually unmanageable rates, and at that rate I doubt Australia would settle for middling trade margins)

(Well, apparently Saxton owns England. But that was when he discovered the internet)

There's also the ensemble of first gen mercs. RED and BLU recruit progressively less important mercs as time goes on, starting from important historical/media figures, to modern militant professional-lookin dudes, and finally to the current crop of crackheaded TF2 mercs we know and love. The Original mercs I mostly want to focus on are Abraham Lincoln and John Henry.

I'm not exactly sure if John Henry is even a real person, but he was a symbol for labor movements and the civil rights movement; the fact that he IS a real person in TF2 lore is p vital methinks, especially since him and Lincoln seem to be on the same team. Mercs are paid a lot, even the "bottom of the barrel" tf2 ones: scout has his merch collection to show for it, medic has his exotic animal parts, heavy has his gun ammo (and also casually gave a child 7k dollars), etc; could John Henry have spearheaded civil rights movements not just in America but also other territories (like africa) with the bread and merits he got for the job? Does he have a legacy with rouge merc groups (armed unions?) that fight against imperialism? Maybe even effect/radicalize Lincoln about some things??? Unethical business practices still persist even in Saxton's era (hell, he's an example) but maybe the (hypothetical) challenges to Britain's grasp on its colonies and evolution of munitions would give the people an edge.

I have no idea how a drastically colony-less Britain would affect the timeline of WW1 (esp in less popular side-wars like in South Africa where Britain was very much involved, which may be problematic since my interp of cmedic is FROM there but anyways) (btw they only won that bc they out-attritioned Germany, but by that point maybe the dutch or the americans would take over), but surprisingly enough WW2 ends at around the same time it does irl, despite my initial thought that a roided-out Allied Australia would be more than capable of turning the Axis Powers into a skidmark. The likely explanation for that is that the finer details were just not important for the tf2 comics that took place AFTER (fair enough), but as someone planning to write the 1930s mercs . Pain . My working explanation is that seemingly unaligned private contractors can get ahold of weapons easier than Certain governments, which makes mercs more popular than national soldiers for carrying out certain missions (plausible employer deniability baybeeee).

P2: Conflicting class meta - CHeavy edition

Onto something less heavy, another part of ficwriting is figuring out how characters are...characterized. The TFC mercs dont have much canonical info (I've already turned two of them into straight up ocs because I am NOT going to write p3dos from start to finish of a longfic) so I settle for looking at other things, like gameplay and ingame roles.

The first I focused on was cheavy, the leader of the group. Grouchy, but a surprisingly tolerant team player.

This IS reused from a previous post (im lazy) but the first bullet basically says "otherwise, offensive heavies are frequently looked down on and the power of the other team's defense will have you dead in no time". Gameplay-wise, CHeavy is considered the simplest class and the easiest one to master; most tfc gamers think its a common noob pick. His total health is pretty good, he occupies a big space so he can block narrow paths, and the way he attacks is simple; but he's slow even when b-hopping (grenades cant boost him either) so he can be outrun/picked apart by other classes, which really shows in tfc's most popular game format: capture the flag.

I've seen about a handful video of tfc gameplay that WASN'T ctf (or the slightly diff gamemode with a defense system), and even if the 4th bullet point is right, those two classes are usually doing more important things during ctf. My main point is that despite being the leader, he isn't the type of class to lead the charge.

The most reasonable thing I can think of is that he's just . Really good at strategy and can keep track of his team while reliably holding down a position. That, and his superior bulk makes him shine more outside of the gravel pits. Whatever it is, it does make more sense to me now that I revisit the comic panels where he is VERY spiteful that his teammates got killed (rather than calling them weak, they fr matter to him bc otherwise, he isn't getting shit done)

(Ik the reason hes the boss is bc big scary dude and karmic ass-handing via other heavy who actually respects his doctor but shh the fic demands reasons)

P3: Conflicting class meta - Cmedic edition

The contradiction I can immediately clock is the fact that cmedic never gets mentioned despite his omnipresence in his original game. Most hc's I've seen interpret him as the exact opposite of the current medic, which is a dedicated doctor who also happens to be a sweetheart (with very rare exceptions), but may I propose the theory that all mannco medic mercs are bastards? I'm 99% sure that the original medic was sigmund freud. TF2 medic is just a menace. Post WW1 most moral and noble medics would bust their asses at hospitals rather than sign up to a contract tying them down to just healing 8 other people and killing other people over and over, but that's just my hc (we're all making shit up, might as well have fun with it).

The most common citing for cmed's hidden menace energy is his virus weaponry, but I think his ingame role also shows it pretty well. Practically taking the scout's niche and making it less punishing by having straight upgrades of his two weapons, giving healing utility AND also being able to sniff out spies like a cscout (he can't diffuse bombs or trail caltrops, but he's already powerful as is). Imagine being cscout, having to compete for flag capture points with this guy who practically has everything you have but better (instead of leaving behind super visible spikes he has a college degree). This isn't even like the modern sniper vs spy debate where it can still be debated that spy has a unique niche with his mindgames, cmedic just straight up took copied his homework, 98% percent matching on the plagiarism bot.

Cscout and cmedic beef is very likely, but if cscout is a literal god at what he does then there won't be much issue, since the best cscout is ultimately better at flagrunning than cmedic. Its likely that cscout is simply human tho, so that's some drama that can happen.

Funnily enough the tfc class that gets the most weight and hate on its shoulders is sniper. This is because servers have a limit on how many snipers can join, and if a shitty sniper took up the slots, the rest of the team would be pretty pissed. Meanwhile, a competent sniper is the bane of every player's existence; a missed shot can still slow someone down until a medic cures them.

P4: cmedic backstory building hell - barely organized nonsense

Last one I swear. My drawings of cmedic explicitly portray him as a person of color- more specifically a cape malay, from the cape territory in South Africa; he even curses in malay in one of the posts. Ig I wanted the cast to be more diverse, but it did make his backstory somewhat harder to write.

Mann co is situated in New Mexico, far from SA. How and why did he get all the way there? With the fanon worldbuilding I set, what is stopping him from simply joining a nearer merc group? Probably heard of it through the grapevine, and travelled for fat stacks; wouldn't be uncommon for doctors (or mercs) to be highly motivated due to money. I wondered of what would set him apart from all the other hypothetical medic applicants that probably graduated from upstanding colleges like harvard, then I recall all those common hcs.

1)Most applicants assumed that the job would consist of primarily healing, without considering how bloodthirsty their company would be, and/or 2)the BLU team has been getting genuine medics and chewing them up like gum (and spitting them out utterly mangled, I suppose). There's also the possibility that some margin of these medics actually had some weapon training, but at that point a lot of time has been spent (also some conflicting motives there, I can't imagine the perks that a deadly merc job has over a hospital job unless the guy got a kick out of it).

My next idea was to make him a ww1 vet on the side of the British (australian? american?) colonies of SA, having joined midway after finishing his education. However this would clock his age during the current 1970s timeline to be around 81, pretty old; most of the tfc mercs would be 70s max around that time. Cmedic is visually the youngest of the mercs too, you can compare his smooth eyes to the more sunken cspy's eyes and there is a notable difference. This is really just an issue of me being on the fence about fully oc-fying him (a friend of him suggested making him a vampire, I am almost tempted to make it so).

In the case that particular hurdle is overcome, there are more details I have to iron out. I figured that his motives either come from wanting to financially help out his family after the war's sheer devastation, or just . a general resentment for the way things unfolded, and he swapped to merc work in the states to get properly paid for his work and (attempt to) fill the void in his soul. Maybe a mix of the two. An outlier in his community for being a godless man and having very material and tangible masters (science and money), he abandons the lofty ideals of nationalism and sides himself with the highest bidder in the private market. Also developed an insane immune system (trenches and exposure are no joke).

(Certain classes have shared characteristics across gens, like the demos' deranged smiles and engies' wholesome vibes. With sigmund freud, tf2 medic as the archetypal mad doctor, and tfc medic as the archetypal capitalist doctor, there are now three gens of doctors with dubious machinations.)

He'd probably be a great medic, respecting merc code and all (funfact tf2 medic mentions tfc demo by name, implying that he knows his real name and putting a dent in my theory that being on a first-name basis is a big deal actually , my countertheory to that is that grey mann gave him the team's files and tf2 medic wants to spite them). Cmedic also reverse-engineered the medkit and made a new version for non-gravel war missions, since the usual has several hard drugs (heals to full instantly and gives adrenaline boost, sounds sus especially if you read jarate's side effects) since he ended up somewhat caring about his pack of rabid animals

[mik3stuff]

Billy Cane (my DC self insert) lore

PART ONE - Backstory (before Batfam)

Before moving to Gotham, Billy lived in the northeast of Brazil, but because of his parents' work, he had to move to New Jersey due to a wave of crimes in Gotham. At the time, he was six years old and his egg had not yet cracked.

Around the age of nine, his parents, his older brother and he were kidnapped by the Joker, who killed his parents but only managed to slightly injure him before they were found and the Joker was arrested. Despite this, he still broke his ankle trying to escape, something that would leave long-term consequences. (+ the trauma of having his parents killed in front of him by an extremely bizarre and pisciotic clown, duh)

Despite this, his brother came out of the situation relatively well (or as well as he could at least), having dislocated his wrist (something that would also leave some after-effects), but still having to go to college and work after a few weeks.

(He still wanted to take his little brother and run away from that crazy town, but he knew that if they moved they could end up in an unpleasant financial situation and he could lose custody of his brother - like Lilo and Nanny from Lilo and Stitch - so he decided to stay, finish architecture school and try to get a stable job for now)

Now that his brother had to spend the whole day away at work and college, and the little time he did spend at home he was either tired or sleeping, Billy found himself with time to go out shopping and DIY-ing a few things to become the town's new vigilante when he wasn't at school.

PART TWO - The Beginning (self explanatory)

After the 'Joker Incident' some members of the Batfam decided to keep an eye on things to make sure everything went well.

(It didn't last more then a year until Cassie found a little Jester sneaking out of the window in the middle of the night)

(The DIY clay mask looked pretty fucking awsome tho, she would give him that)

A week of patrol later and Billy found himself under Black Cat's wing after being cornered by a guy much bigger than him and all he knew was that now either he dropped the mantle, or he was going to have a superheroine on his tail insisting he drop it every night.

After two months of persistent bargaining and three near-death experiences Black Cat agrees to let him join her as 'Ghost Robin'

('Jason will be SO petty lmao' 'who's Jason? can i meet him?' '...not now kiddo')

PART THREE - Now (super-hero funky facts)

Jason was, indeed, very petty. Mostly by him being a kid ('Cassie?? The hell?? i trusted you!') but also by the 'Ghost Robin' thing tho he would never admit it

He got along with Stephie, Babs and Duke right away, after three days he got along with Tim, it took him a month to get close to Dick, Bruce and Selina but he didn't give up.

Jason and Damian were certainly the most stubborn, but they were also the ones he tried the hardest for.

Damian because they're only a year apart, Jason because 'OH MY LORD IT'S RED HOOD *fanboy-ish sounds*'

took him three moths but he got them to like a bit more then he expected...

(no romantic intonation please! found-family for all of them)

There are still details that refer to a jester in the uniform. He intends to go back to that costume when he stop being Robin (which will certainly happen at some point when Cassandra allows it, and she WILL allow it, RIGHT CASSIE?)

PART FOUR - Extra (more funky little facts)

Currently between 12/13 years old

His full name is Izaak Guilherme Mauricio Dias Cane, but Billy is his nickname and William is easier to pronounce then Guilherme

His brother prob already knows, he just doesn't know how to ask

Sometimes him and Damian will be found sitting together drawing on the couch in the purest and most complete silence

Autsim

He acts, sings, draw, paint, sculpt, sews, crochets and also makes beaded bracelets. Not for lack of something to do…

ADHD and Autsim

Jason is also teaching him how to cook and play bass

Candy, chocolate and cinnamon cake and Ice cream addiction

Has choccy milk, pão-de-queijo and watermelon as his safe foods

He started dyeing a strand of his hair green because of Summer (@punkeropercyjackson)

Fights Muay Thai and do Skateboard

PART BONUS - Tagging in (taste the raimbow mother fuckers)

@maxarat @yukii0nna

[boysborntodie]

Latino!Johnny is super popular in the fandom and my headcanon too but I wanted to elaborate a little bit on why I think it's important to both the narrative and his character for Johnny to be so (no matter what SE Hinton says).

(Also I am not Latino or American, and all my information is second-hand so if I'm wrong about something or said something insensitively, I apologise and please correct me!!)

While Greaser is now mostly used to in reference to the subculture, the word 'Greaser' was often used as a slur against Mexican/Hispanic American, especially in the Southwest.

Greaser subculture itself is heavily rooted in ethnic groups such as Italian, Greek, Latino and Hispanic Americans, both influencing the subculture itself while being the main demographic (at least at first, having later spread around to lower class Americans in general and becoming a sort of movement).

Johnny’s main reason as being depicted as a POC seems to be the scene where he tells Ponyboy his skin is too dark for him to have blond hair. But I think it goes beyond just that and that race is a theme ever-present in Johnny’s progression throughout the book.

Now with Johnny, his entire character is, at first, summed up as 'poor kid who's been kicked down too many times'. He’s got no prospects. He’s bad at school. His parents despise him and he’s, for the most part, homeless.

We later learn that Johnny isn’t actually unintelligent in academic matters. He’s able to pick up themes and details quite easily. The education system is very flawed and has failed many students for centuries. Students of colour have often been neglects and even abused by teachers (esp in the past eras). This is espec true of children whose first language isn’t English.

One thing that I’m a little hesitant to get into but I think it important is that Johnny’s constantly noted to use a lot of grease, more so than any other character. He also keeps his hair quite long and unkempt. Hair is a status symbol and sign of pride for greasers but Italian, Greek, Hispanic and Latino people have been stereotyped as unhygienic and unkempt, especially in regards to their hair.

At one point, Johnny and Ponyboy find themselves in need of directions. Johnny suggests Ponyboy pretend to be a farmboy.

Ponyboy’s constantly says that Johnny looks like a kicked puppy and pretty much harmless. But here he notes that Johnny looks threatening to a stranger. I think this is another scene with racial connotations.

A major event in Johnny’s life was the time he was attacked by Bob and his friends. Johnny’s been noted to have developed PTSD, paranoia and anxiety since then. The suddenness of his attack and extent of violence is unusual. Ponyboy also notes that Johnny isn’t afraid of getting hurt due to his abusive father, so it wasn’t the pain but rather it was the fear they made him feel that affected him. Johnny being a POC adds another layer to this entire incident and especially to his paranoia afterwards, especially with the details that are left vague.

The last point I want to bring up is that Johnny’s character is of one who’s deeply embedded into the Greaser subculture. He’s never been outside of Tulsa and doesn’t expect to ever leave. He’s put against character like the Curtises (who are white) who have the power to leave Tulsa (and the class dynamics it symbolises) and even those like Dally who have that power but are too deep to ever use it. Johnny being a POC makes this lack of freedom his other white friends have give his character even more complexity

TL;DR: That is a Latino man.

[hybbart]

In the apocalypse rancher an it said that Jimmy couldn’t hear now what does that mean what caused him to not be able to hear is it permanent also can you do more angst or hurt comfort maybe please

Oh, no I just meant he couldn't hear any monsters then so they rested. Sorry for the confusing wording. I'll put a little more clarifying information on details below the cut, cause I think I've been a bit brief to avoid having a wall of text below each picture.

As for angst and hurt/comfort, that's something that has to strike me in the moment. I'm usually thinking more about fluffy and silly situations for the ranchers.

There's probably going to be more of that sort of thing in future pieces for this AU, though? Given it's an active apocalypse. (probably a mix of everything, I just really like slice of life apocalypse stories, both creating and consuming)

In this AU Jimmy has auditory based abilities (super hearing and seeing sounds mostly, but he's also able to make his voice carry) that make him very good at finding trouble and finding a way out of it. Sounds can get very overwhelming for him at times, so he has earmuffs taken from a construction site.

He does have lung damage in his already sensitive bird lungs from his time trapped in the cave. It makes it hard for him to breathe and unable to do too much at once. It's why they've been collecting any sort of breathing-related equipment that they can find. Cub and Scar helped them figure out what it actually was, what they needed, and adjusted the machines with them.

(I'm trying not to get into too much detail cause I don't know too much myself, and I don't want to give false medical info in what is a fantastical au. It's based mostly off of what I know from the sleep apnea and later lung damage my grandma suffered, and the various machines she used to deal with those conditions.)

Tango is a blazeborn as usual. Being able to start a fire without worry and a basic light source is quite handy, but it does make them a big neon sign in the dark, so he ends up attracting a lot of trouble in his own right. He's very glad for Jimmy's hearing so they can (usually) skedoodle outa there in time.

Also before the apocalypse Tango was an engineer, and Jimmy was a farmhand.

It's probably not something I'm ever going to draw cause I hate drawing vehicles, and I have no idea when in the timeline it would happen, but I imagine the ranchers got their name initially from an incident involving a baler and a zombie herd. If they can find a vehicle with most of its parts intact, Tango can probably get it working and Jimmy can probably drive it, so transportation's the one issue they don't face usually. (The lack of gas is the bottleneck that makes them eventually have to hoof it to the next vehicle they can find, though.)

[10hourshift]

Girl help the au is getting out of hand haha

Feel free 2 ignore this

For some reason I have spent quite some time doing some "world building" (if it can be called that) that I probably won't add in the comic, so, gonna dump it all here.

The school is not the best of all, not even by public school standards, if anything, the school is often a second choice, and most of those who enter there are mostly bc it has little requirements to get in, and is very lenient to special cases.

Some examples of these people would be Freddy (he enters after the classes started) Bon, Julian (both didn't enter the private school they were going to at the last minute, so they got "stuck" in that school, there's more to them later)

For the school itself, it's not that bad (there's a reason that many ppl prefer to go there as a second choice in comparison to other schools) the classes are fairly decent (though, some teachers are prone to not show up to class), and it has a bunch of academic and sports programs, even though it kinda lacks on the cultural aspect. Until a new benefactor steps in.

So, after Julian failed miserably during his entrance exams for the private school he was going into, his father got him into the school he is in now, and to "cover up" the incident his dad decided to become a benefactor of the school, and bc of that, now the school has more budget, with the condition of using it for the whole "art" section (idk how to call it). And out of the blue, the school now has an improved auditorium, a bunch of new material and instruments, and, of course, a variety of new activities for the students, starting with a brand new band contest where everyone can participate, who knows what might happen next, maybe there'll be an official school band, or a chorus or something, (this is all really just testing how the students might take the new situation)

**Julian exposition time again!. Let's go. He basically burned himself out for trying to study for the entrance exams, finish middle school, and all that. It was bad, like, forgetting weeks worth of studies the moment you start the exam bad, like staring at the questions for the whole 3ish hours of the test while none of the questions make sense bad, like, flunking so embarrassingly that it's basically a secret, to the point your dad makes up an elaborate plan to hide the true reason you're going to a certain school, and forces you to take a different path than the one he had already set up for you bc you couldn't keep up bad. Like, that bad. (Poor guy, every time I check on what his deal is, I add more to it. I'm sorry but I like it when the characters'actions are part of the setup of the story, idk how to explain but is Fun)

Now, onto the ppl behind the music contest.

Lana*- secretary- the one actually in charge of the contest

Vincent (yes, the waiter/presenter*) - intern teacher- the one who is supposed to do most of the work

Owynn- student 15 yr old- he helps out every now and then bc he has nothing better to do w no ulterior motives :)

Bon's dad*- music teacher (I'll get to that, hold on)- he has to set up practice sessions/ music classes for whoever enters the contest

[insert OC name here] (an oc wow)- student/intern 17 yr old- the one who ended up doing most of everything

*giving them roles bc I'm lazy 4 ocs, even [insert OC name] is almost the librarian, yeah he's another different character

The arrangement goes like this: Lana is the head of the project and the one who reports back to the boss (between the principal and Julian's dad idk). The planning of events, the coverage, and those administrative details get solved by Vincent, and Bon's dad is supposed to manage the music rooms and instruments, as well as make schedules for using those for practices. [Insert OC name] does most of the hard labor, checking registrations, putting up the signs, etc., since their job as an intern is basically to help w anything that needs to be done. And also basically doing all of Bon's dad responsibilities since he doesn't actually have the time to do his job as a teacher.

[mmorpg-escapism]

================================================

BESANY AJANA

Nickname: Bes Age: Early 20s Nameday: 25th Sun of the Third Umbral Moon Race: Moonkeeper Miqo'te Gender: Cis female Orientation: Questioning, probably bisexual Profession: Warrior of Light

PHYSICAL ASPECTS

Hair: Purple with white highlights Eyes: Pale green Skin: Caucasian, barely tanned. Tattoos & Scars: Faded Keeper markings. Visible scar over left eye from the first encounter with Zenos. Other scarring from cuts and burns not visible since she keeps her body covered in armor as much as possible (and I have not yet done Crimes to actually put them on her)

FAMILY

Parents: Orphaned, twice. Bio parents are unnamed (she can't remember, and only refers to them as father and mother). Her father was the last surviving member of Gunnhildr's Blades, and they were killed by the Empire when she was 6. Adopted parents are Daren and Liora Ajana, a pair of Hrothgar merchants who found and then adopted her a year later. They died in the Bozja Incident. Siblings: One younger biological brother, deceased. Grandparents: Never met. Other: Marsak Apella recruited her into the Bozjan Resistance and trained her in the use of her father's gunblade. He became a father figure for her for the duration of her time there.

SKILLS

Abilities: Finely honed martial skill with a sword and gunblade. Has extremely limited use of aether manipulation abilities inherited from her mother due to side effect of the Bozja Incident- she cannot wield magic of any kind, has to expend a lot of effort attune to an Aetheryte, and can only actually teleport with a "boost" from someone else. This drove her to train very hard to be the best at what she can do to make up for it, so her fundamentals are flawless and her guard is unbreakable. She has a very good sense of hearing, making it nearly impossible to sneak up on her unless she lets you. Hobbies: Fishing! She likes her hobbies to be practical, a side effect of not growing up in a safe environment. Fishing was silent enough to keep her fed without giving away her position, and eventually turned into something she could do to relax. She's taken up cooking as well, with... limited success.

TRAITS

Most positive trait: Despite (or perhaps because of) the horrible things she's experienced starting at such a young age, she will go out of her way to help people who need it the most however she can. She's had to learn how to balance this with self-advocacy so that it doesn't take time away from self-care. She doesn't want anyone to hurt the way she has. Most negative trait: Stubbornness. Once her mind is made up about someone or something, it is almost impossible to change it. It also makes her friends and found family nervous because it manifests as a refusal to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched she is.

LIKES

Colors: Darker shades of blue and black. Smells: The scent of a wood fire, freshly roasted fish, and autumn leaves. Textures: Soft fabrics. Cured leather grips. Smooth wood. Drinks: Most kinds of juice, or just a cool glass of water. She can't handle hard stuff, so she never can remember what it tastes like in order to form a preference (and is kept away from it in general).

OTHER DETAILS

Smokes: Not even once, by way of lack of access or peer pressure Drinks: She's not allowed near the stuff unsupervised. She's a mean drunk and it doesn't take much. Drugs: None. She's only had the opportunity to do any of these in unsafe situations, and she refuses to alter her mental state unless she knows she'll be safe for however long they last. Mount Issuance: She has a Chocobo from Ishgard in the stables but she largely prefers her own two feet where possible. Been Arrested: A lot, mostly on purpose. She's adept at escaping Garlean prisons, to the point where the Bozjan Resistance would let her get arrested on purpose to rescue their members. She's out of practice now, though, so her status as the Warrior of Light is a get out of jail free card if she needs it.

Tagged by @gatheredfates <3

I've skimmed my dash and I think everyone I could tag already has been? So if you haven't and want to do this one, here's your chance!

[sinnhelmingr]

7. Have you ever regretted a ship, romantic or otherwise? // @untamedtempest​

lights up a cigarillo dissolves into my couch

christ haven’t i.

earliest instance of this i can name is during the old cod fandom predator uproar when i had two ship partners lose their god damn heads. the first decided to side with the pedo. that was the end of one ooc friendship and all ic interaction bc she prioritized the friendship with the creep over the safety of minors, despite trying to present herself as a cool woke ally to victims. the other ship partner who took a turn is more the one i regret bc she seemed more reasonable and had already largely broken her friendship with the freak in question. we stayed mutuals for a short while, largely driven by ships we had developed between muses.

then she started stealing bits and bobs of other people’s characters. not like coincidental things, either, i’m talking whole swathes of characterization and backstory. she had one oc basically replace a friend’s canon in his relationship with the main villain, then her oc aligned with the same faction started becoming more and more a pastiche of my own oc. i played a romani take on a canonical sniper, how coincidental she retcons her own already established sebastian stan-as-a-sniper oc to be romani. i will give you all a moment to process that. she then proceeded to start playing the canonical sniper, claiming she wanted a more ‘canon’ and ‘accessible’ take on him in what was a miniscule fandom. the main differences between mine and hers besides fcs was that hers happened to be white and heterosexual to mine being poc and bisexual. 

(there’s a lot more examples than these but these are the primary things involving my characters. she did the same with a lot of my friends and their muses, too, to the point the skype chat to discuss the fandom creep soon turned to reassuring one another that yes, this person’s latest headcanon or reworking of her character sounded a lot like something already said about an established blog in our little corner of the internet.)

it was a nightmare of her trying to bully the entire fandom about how what she was doing was ok and the plots she was pushing onto us were going to be written, that we were all still going to interact with her despite just blatantly stealing or reworking characters out from under us. she eventually decided to stop pushing her luck and moved her frankenstein monstrosities to a fandomless ‘original lore’ multimuse, where i can safely say the saddest statement i have ever conceived: somewhere out there, someone is ripping off call of fuckin’ duty and claiming it as an original work. i don’t think you can get less creative than that. i regret every moment i poured into interacting with this woman, let alone letting her try to say good dick or receiving love from one of her ocs would heal the many deep and sexually-based traumas my own oc had been struggling with for two decades.

that was all in the early-mid 2010s, however. i have not had contact with these people in as long, thank fuck, though i have seen the asshole that sided with the creep was still active as of 2020 and was still going strong with her absolute shitshow of a stereotyped native oc and yes, is still trying to present herself as a 100% woke ally who is better than anyone who criticizes her shockingly stereotyped and sexualized diverse casting and characterization uwu. and yes, she is white.

more recently, i had a former partner who got obsessed with several of my muses in other fandoms. like, very uncomfortably involved with them. to the point they started trying to define them for me, or at least the narrative around them. their defining relationship better be with this person’s character, and if i tried to talk about ships these characters had with other partners or even canon characters -- not even romantic, necessarily, if i so much as talked about other dynamics within a fic i was writing about an oc this happened too -- then i got guilt tripped or the other ship got talked down to build up what we had between our muses. their favorite ship in particular, from hindsight, was very obsessive and abusive, all of it being framed as romantic by my partner. it’s all honestly very fresh and some other stuff i realized about my relationship with this person is very upsetting to me, so i’d prefer not to dwell on it except to say it was genuinely problematic material presented in such a way that i didn’t recognize it at first and i feel manipulated by the whole situation. 

i’m trying not to give a lot of details in case the person checks my page, but i think i regret this more than the situation above. that was just silly character stealing form someone my followers might giggle about as they read. this is where i’ve felt a little violated realizing i was used to write concepts and themes that personally trigger me.

[iclaimedtobethebetterbard]

if you’re going my way, i’ll go with you - chapter 7

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: All the sides, character!Thomas, minor/background OCs Rating: Teen & up Relationships: Platonic/familial Logan & Janus (& a little bit Patton), mentioned Analogical, mentioned Dukeceit Warnings: Brief instance of sex negativity, language, a couple of minor sexual references, as well as brief non-detailed mentions of past instances of: bullying, teen pregnancy in an unsupportive environment, teachers misusing power over children, an injury resulting from dangerous behavior, torture and injuries resulting from it. (much like last chapter, despite the warnings i swear this is mostly just very cute fluff, platonic loceit edition this time) Word count: 4676

Read on AO3!

My writing masterpost

start - previous - here - next - masterpost

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Chapter 7

Logan had been having a productive day. (Had been.) It was satisfying and enjoyable. He’d woken curled in Virgil’s arms, his partner pressing the softest of kisses to his forehead, and the pair of them had cuddled, talking and exchanging gentle sleepy kisses, for a little more than an hour before Logan had finally roused himself to tend to his responsibilities, later than he had intended. Upon arriving at work, he’d greeted Remus—who had already arrived and opened up the lab, presumably at the normal opening time—and assured him that yes, he was fine, and there were no concerning reasons for him being two hours later to work than usual. (Remus had seemed a little skeptical when Logan had failed to provide any reasons, concerning or otherwise, for the delay, but accepted Logan’s word without too much pushback.) Making a batch of puberty blockers had gone much more quickly than he anticipated, and he’d gotten it out of the way with ease, allowing himself to focus on his normal workload before he got too far behind schedule. 

All in all, it had been an excellent morning. 

When Logan went to lunch, though, heading towards the cafeteria-style meal hall on the first floor of the Heroes’ Guild headquarters, he stepped out of the stairwell and found his path blocked by Vortex.

The man, short and muscular, stood with a wide stance and his hands on his hips; his supersuit was bright orange, textured like overlapping scales with a metallic sheen, with accents in red and a bit of yellow. His mask and gloves were red and his brown hair was combed upwards with a bit of a twirl to it, vaguely reminiscent of the logo—a letter V stylized to look like a tornado—on his chest. 

Fire and wind powers. And an ego and temper to match the most stereotypical depictions of such powers. For all Logan disliked Vortex, and hated the way he treated Janus, he had to admit he was quietly grateful Vortex had enrolled as a hero; the amount of damage he could do as a villain was not pleasant to think about.

“Good afternoon, Vortex,” he greeted mildly. “Excuse me.”

Vortex didn’t budge. “There was an incident last night, Logic,” he announced, not even acknowledging that Logan had spoken at all. 

“So I’ve heard,” Logan said, choosing to ignore the belligerent tone in hopes of concluding this interaction as speedily as possible. “I’ve been assured that Count Ruthless was dealt with handily by the heroes who responded, and the damage he did to civilian property is being remedied. Is there anything specific you wished to discuss?” 

“Where were you?” Vortex demanded, no less rudely than before. “You weren’t on the scene, and you weren’t in your lab. There were no communications from you, either.” 

“Ah,” Logan said, and found himself at a highly unpleasant lack for words. It wasn’t like his presence was actually required or even expected for a villain as low in the pecking order as Count Ruthless; nobody ought to be surprised by Logan’s absence at the scene. But the lack of communication was harder to explain away—it was rare for Dr. Logic to be totally unreachable in the event of an emergency. And “I left my work phone at home because my boyfriend, who is also my nemesis, called me in a panic and I dropped everything to spend the night in his lair” would not go over well. “I—well—” 

“Babysitting,” a new and very welcome voice said from behind him. Janus appeared at his side and slung an arm about his shoulders, leaning comfortably on him. “For me, of course. So kind of him, honestly.” 

“Ah,” Logan said again, gratefully. “Yes.” That was a logical and plausible explanation, one that required no further information to be shared. Very helpful of Janus.

Janus, meanwhile, frowned at Vortex. “Also, he’s a doctor,” he said, tone icy. “Doctor Logic. And he’s your superior.”

Vortex looked like he had eaten something very unpleasant. “Sorry. Sir,” he said to Logan, shooting a venomous look at Janus.

Logan raised his eyebrows. “I appreciate the apology,” he said coolly. Glancing over at Janus, he added, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to share that information; thank you.” That should explain away his earlier stammering to Vortex.

“No, no, it’s all good,” Janus played along. “Vortex is acquainted with the fact that I have a child.” They tilted their head, glaring harder at Vortex, who was still standing with arms crossed before the pair of them. “Remind me what you said about that, back in our sophomore year? Something about how my, what was it, ‘whorish tendencies’—like you didn’t date just as many people as I did—‘destined’ me for villainy from the very start, right?” 

Logan pressed his lips together, forcing himself not to react. While the specific quote was news to him, he had already known about the history between Vortex and Janus. The two had been in the same class during their time at Brennan; to Logan’s understanding, Vortex had bullied Janus from very early on. It had only intensified after Janus became pregnant at fifteen—at that point, Vortex had gone from an outlier to a ringleader.

Logan was glad he’d shown up looking for an apprentice when he had, and had been able to remove Janus from the situation entirely. Very few people in Janus’s life had been less than cruel to him over the pregnancy up until that point—including his teachers.

“You know how there’s a super biology unit at Brennan?” twenty-year-old Janus asked, placing the cutting board he had just cleaned on the dish rack. Patton, who was all of four, was building a puzzle with large, chunky pieces on the floor of the living room. While at this point Janus had their own apartment, they frequently came over to Logan’s for dinner. The pair of them discussed whatever was going on at work, and after dinner Janus did their college homework, allowing Logan to seize the opportunity to entertain Patton until the tiny child dozed off, usually in his arms.

Logan looked over from where he was adjusting the seasoning of the soup and testing the vegetables for doneness. “Yes, why?” 

“I—” Janus swallowed. They seated themself on a chair at Logan’s table and picked at their fingernails. “I just—before Patton.” The little one looked up at his name, and Janus’s voice shifted at once to something far more cheerful. “Yeah, hi baby! How’s your puzzle going? It looks so good!” 

Once Patton had reported his progress in a serious little ramble, made all the more adorable for his tiny voice still full of toddler-lisp, and had resumed his work on the puzzle, the smile dropped off Janus’s face and she returned to what she’d been saying before. “I was at school, right? Just a little before I found out about him. And I tried to do this thing I used to show off with, where I’d jump off something on the playground and use my powers to catch myself. Grow wings, or really long legs, or go all snakey, so I didn’t get hurt. It—” They laughed, but it was thin and wavering. “It was stupid. But I—then I—it was just a normal day. But when I jumped and tried to shift, I couldn’t. And I was too startled to fly before I hit the ground.” He bent his head, avoiding Logan’s eyes. “I wasn’t that high up, I only sprained my ankle. But the nurse didn’t—he didn’t say anything about why I couldn’t use my powers. Just healed it and let me go back to class without my powers or any explanation. He—he had to have known.” 

Logan turned off the stovetop, moved the pot to a cold burner, and turned to face Janus, giving her his full attention. 

“And I had no idea what had happened for weeks,” Janus went on, voice trembling. “I couldn’t shift, and I didn’t know what had happened—I was so scared, and none—” They gulped. “None of my teachers said anything. None of them explained it to me.” 

Logan moved over to sit beside them and put a hand on their upper arm. 

“And then in bio, we went over shifters, and the teacher—she just—just read it out from the textbook in front of everyone. That we can’t shift if we’re pregnant.” Janus leaned into Logan’s touch. “I—I didn’t know. And she told everyone. The whole school knew by the end of the day.” He drew the back of his hand across his nose. “I know I was an—an annoying little piece of work when I was fifteen, but someone should still have told me!” 

Patton looked up again as Janus’s voice cracked on a sob. “Mama?” he asked, tiny face pinched up with worry.

“Hi, baby,” Janus croaked wetly, holding out his arms and letting the child climb into his lap. They wrapped their arms around their son, burying their face in his curls and sniffling softly.

Logan sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arm fully around them in a side-hug. “You’re right. You were mistreated. It was wrong and should not have been allowed.” 

Janus leaned into the hug, nestling against Logan with a trust Logan rarely saw him display to anyone else, Patton still cuddled close in his arms. He huffed out a laugh that held no amusement. “And Vortex had a field day with that, obviously. He left my boyfriend entirely alone and just picked on me for it.” They made a descriptive noise of disgust. “Honestly, half the reason I said yes to the apprenticeship was just to pi—” They glanced down at Patton. ”—upset Vortex. He was so sure you’d pick him. He was bragging about it ahead of time and everything.”

“I knew I was uninterested in working with him twenty-six seconds into the interview I gave him, actually,” Logan said.

That drew an actual chuckle out of Janus. “I’m not surprised.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment. “What did I do, though? I wasn’t even trying.”

Logan didn’t hesitate. “You had potential. It was clearly being wasted. I didn’t like that.”

“Aww,” Janus drawled, the sarcasm clearly covering up genuine warmth. “That’s—”

“I want soup,” Patton, who had evidently gotten bored, announced.

Janus straightened at once, attention entirely drawn to the child in his lap. “You do?” he inquired, doting and indulgent.

“Pwwwease?” Patton said, struggling with the l, and reached up to place his palms on Janus’s cheeks.

Janus’s whole face melted into a delighted smile. “Of course, baby. Hold your uncle for me.” She transferred Patton to Logan’s arms.

Logan accepted the small warm body at once, running a hand through Patton’s hair—which was getting long enough to warrant a trim—and smoothing it. The child happily wrapped his tiny arms about Logan’s neck, chanting, “Soup, soup, soup,” under his breath and watching Janus’s progress.

Janus crossed the kitchen and pulled down bowls from Logan’s cupboard—two regular ones, and one dedicated specifically for Patton’s use. It had pawprints and hearts painted on the rim; it was shallow, so food in it would cool quickly, and made of stoneware, which was harder to break and less sharp in the event that it did shatter.

In short order Patton was seated in his chair, which was not a high chair but did have a higher seat than any of Logan’s other chairs, happily digging his spoon around in his bowl. Logan and Janus, seated on either side of him, were both quiet; Janus still seemed to be turning something over, and Logan felt that work matters, which were not particularly pressing this week anyway, were less important just now than this conversation was.

“I would’ve done it,” Janus said quietly a few minutes later.

“Done what?” Logan asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.

“Gone villain. Everyone was telling me I’d have to.” Janus stared at the fridge, where a scribbled crayon drawing Patton had proudly presented to Logan last week was pinned up. “I would have done it. If you hadn’t shown up.”

Logan thought about the surly child Janus had been when they met him, crossing their arms and avoiding his eyes, clearly assuming Logan thought the worst of him, and the blank shock on their face when he offered her the apprenticeship anyway. He thought about the terrible look on Janus’s face the day Vortex had been accepted into the Heroes’ Guild, and the way they had wordlessly vanished into the training room with their dual knives in hand, emerging two hours and eight shredded dummies later and refusing to speak to Logan for the rest of the day. (Logan had hated signing off on Vortex’s contract, though he could hardly have rejected the young man’s application without accusations of favoritism that would only make things worse for Janus.) He thought about the way Janus spoke more warmly of their nemesis Viper than they did any of their coworkers.

Logan put his hand over Janus’s on the table between them and squeezed. “I know.”

Logan had seen that vulnerability from Janus quite a few times over the years. But out here in public, face-to-face with a man who they did not trust and in fact hated quite a lot, Janus’s masks and shields and walls were all up and the hurt they had never bothered to heal from was hidden away behind a sharp, dangerous grin. Janus was not afraid to poke at their own wounds if they thought they could gain something out of it. Vortex’s discomfort being a case in point. 

Janus clucked her tongue condescendingly at Vortex. “Always telling me I ought to be a villain. And now the head of the Heroes’ Guild calls my son nephew. How does it feel to be wrong, Vortex? Do tell me. I’m unfamiliar with the sensation.” 

Vortex ignored the pointed speech. “And where were you last night?” he demanded, eyes narrowing. 

“Spending the night at my boyfriend’s. I’m sure I don’t have to spell out what we were doing.” Janus sounded bored, examining his nails with pursed lips; it was a beautifully delivered lie. “Though perhaps your wife might appreciate it if I explained to you, since, you know, both of us enjoyed ourselves.”

“That is more than enough,” Logan interjected firmly, adding in a murmur to Janus, “I’d rather not rush you to my lab for burns, if it’s all the same to you.” He stepped slightly forward, emphasizing that he was on his way somewhere and had been interrupted by this whole interaction. “Vortex, thank you for the concern over Reflection’s and my own wellbeing last night. As you can see, our absence was simply a matter of poor timing. I’m going to grab some lunch now, would you care to join me?” 

Vortex scowled. “No, thanks, I just ate,” he said, far more politely than the look on his face, and he begrudgingly stepped aside and allowed Logan and Janus to pass. 

“So,” Janus said in an eager, gossipy tone when he and Logan were seated at a table in the cafeteria with their chosen meals in front of them. “Spill.” 

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Logan lied, taking a bite of his lasagna.

“What did I give you an excuse for? C’mon, Doc. It pissed Vortex off no end, that’s always a promising start to a story.” Janus leaned forward, propping her chin up on both hands. “It’s not like anyone can hear us.” This was true; the tables in the cafeteria were located inside of booths protected with noise-canceling barriers of Logan’s own design. The barriers both allowed privacy while eating and drastically reduced the amount of background noise in the cafeteria, making the space much less overwhelming to be in.

However, being able to safely share information about last night with Janus did not mean Logan wanted to. He shrugged. “Personal matters. My presence was requested elsewhere when the response team was doing their work.” 

Janus stared at him, pausing mid-chew, their expression growing more and more dramatically unimpressed until it shifted into theatrical disgust. Ah. They had put the pieces together. Unfortunate. “No,” they said, breathless with horrified glee.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Logan tried. 

“You missed out on hero work because you were at your boyfriend’s?” Janus demanded, sounding equal parts scandalized, annoyed, and delighted. 

“It’s more complicated than that—” 

“Oh my god, this is great. You are never allowed to yell at me for kissing Remus ever again.” 

“I do not ‘yell’ at you,” Logan protested.

“Fine, but you get all huffy about it.” Janus grinned and pointed at him with her fork. “Not allowed anymore.” 

“If you would choose other times to engage in such activities than when both of you are supposed to be working, I would have no objections to how you choose to spend your time.” 

“Right, because responding to a villain incident is totally not a time you’re supposed to be working. That’s totally different.” Janus sounded far too smug for anyone’s good. “That’s totally a responsible time for you to be getting some—”

“That is quite enough, thank you,” Logan interrupted. He frowned; he couldn’t exactly share any details with Janus about why he’d gone to Virgil’s so unexpectedly in the middle of the night. “I would like to cease discussion of this topic now.”

Janus rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine.” There was a brief silence as they both ate; then Janus looked up. “You haven’t been over for dinner in ages. Patton misses you.” 

Logan hesitated. “I know.” Once Janus had graduated college, joint dinners had alternated between their two residences for some time before settling into a solid routine—weekly at Janus’s, and once a month at Logan’s. This state of affairs had kept up with little interruption for several years. And then Janus had decided, against all Logan’s good counsel, to start dating his intern.

“I don’t work with him, we’re in different departments that have almost no overlap. So it’s not a conflict of interest. Also you can’t make me,” they’d shot off, rapid-fire, when he’d suggested a little more than a year ago that perhaps it might be wiser to remain on friendly terms only with Remus.

He had to admit that, against all his trepidations, the pair of them had made it work remarkably well. And, well, he was hardly in a place to criticize Janus for making less than perfectly sound decisions when it came to dating choices—and unfortunately, Janus knew this and would call him out on his hypocrisy should he try.

The thing was that Janus, together with Virgil, comprised the entire list of people who existed in both Logan’s work life and his personal life. He preferred to keep the two as entirely separate as possible. And Remus, as fond as Logan was of him, was located firmly in the “work” side of his life. Dinners at Janus’s were not work events, they were family events—but now, for the last several months, dinner at Janus’s was an event that included Remus. Hence Logan’s hesitation, a vague tinge of anxiety twisting in his gut despite himself. He had not been to Janus’s apartment for dinner in over six months, though Patton and Janus had come to his own as usual. Still, the frequency of their visits was drastically decreased, a state of affairs that pleased no one.

“He’s safe, you know,” Janus said, eyeing Logan shrewdly. “He’d never tell anyone.” 

Logan frowned. “You cannot predict every eventuality. Knowledge is powerful, and the further it spreads, the harder it is to control. The only ‘safe’ option is to never tell anyone. Two people is already more than I would like, no matter how much I trust you.” 

“He was fucking tortured for you,” Janus said sharply. “He didn’t say a word.” 

Logan froze. “I—I’m sorry, what?”

Janus blinked. “Oh. Right,” she said awkwardly. “I, ah, wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” 

“I—please elaborate?” 

Janus hesitated, but Logan could see the cogs in their brain turning towards the conclusion that at this point an explanation was owed. At last— “It was ages ago now. When he was kidnapped,” Janus said, frowning at his food. “That one time. The day we started dating. By the time I got him out, they’d already tried to get information out of him. He just—” They swallowed. “Just dissociated through it. Told me it was only a little worse than what he’d used to be used to. While I was resetting his dislocated fingers. He said it wasn’t that bad.” Their voice trembled slightly. 

Logan was silent for a moment, resisting the irrational urge to go find Remus right that moment and check that he was okay, apologize for not having known, ask if he knew his own wellbeing was unquestionably more important than any of Logan’s tech.

The kidnapping incident had been over a year ago. A new villain had wanted to come onto the scene with a splash, and had assumed that kidnapping Dr. Logic’s intern would be a good way to lure him out for a fight. To prove them right would have put Remus in danger of repeat incidents, so Janus had gone instead to extract him with as little fuss as possible. Remus had showed up to work the next day with a few bruises and scrapes, but he’d claimed they were superficial and had come about from the brief struggle he’d put up at being grabbed off the street. He hadn’t seemed to be concealing anything, and at the time Logan hadn’t known that Remus had good reason to be able to hide or downplay his injuries and to lie convincingly about their origins.

“Neither of you told me that,” Logan said at last, struggling to keep his tone even, fighting back the urge to be guilty, to tell himself he should have known, should have figured it out, should have looked back once he learned more about Remus’s childhood and put the pieces together, should have done something.

“He asked me not to,” Janus said shortly. “And I saw to it that he got proper treatment for his injuries.”

“Reflection, that was still highly relevant information,” Logan scolded. “His wellbeing is my responsibility, particularly in a situation like that. You should absolutely have come to me and—“

“No,” Janus interrupted. “I should not have gone back on my word to him. He’s an adult, he received the necessary medical attention and then made his own decision about how to move forward. And I was not about to betray the trust of the first guy who saw me having a kid as a good thing and not a—a fucking turn-off.”

That was right; Janus and Remus’s relationship had been so new. Of course Janus would have been in a particularly irrational frame of mind when it came to Remus, just then. Not to say that Logan was wrong. Simply that Janus’s mistake could be explained. He sighed. “Very well. I understand that the past cannot be changed. I also strongly disagree with your decision in retrospect.”

“Sure. Sorry. I’d do it again, though,” she said bluntly. “But my point was—you can trust him. With all of it. I promise you can. He looks up to you so much,” he went on, tender but also intensely sincere. “He’d never share your secrets.” 

Logan drew in a breath. “I… have not come out to anyone in a long time,” he said quietly. While his alter ego was openly trans, he rarely had to actually state it to new acquaintances—people picked up on it from his social media, or the flag on the strap of his wristwatch, or the events he attended. And he was stealth at work. It had been quite a while since he’d had to spell it out.

“Ohh,” Janus breathed, understanding. “You’re scared?”

“No,” Logan protested, then winced at how quick and loud he’d spoken. “I do feel… some trepidation about the idea,” he admitted.

“Okay,” Janus said, serious now. They hesitated, clearly thinking hard about this. “You know, you don't have to tell him,” she offered. “Even as yourself.” 

“No.” Logan shook his head at this idea. “I—I would want to. If I were to interact with him in that context. That is an important part of my other identity.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I just—I don’t know.” 

“He’s safe,” Janus repeated, this time more gently. “Frankly, he’s more respectful of my gender than I am.” He snickered. “I think he judges me for not raising Patton gender-neutral, actually. Just a bit. Not that he’s ever said anything.”

Logan, who also did that, refrained from commenting. He could hardly fault Janus, who’d been a teenager just beginning to understand their own gender—he’d had to explain so many concepts from the ground up to Janus the first few months he’d known him, even things as basic as pronouns—for not having been prepared to think in the long term about such things. And Patton was certainly doing fine so far.

Janus was still watching him, clearly trying to think up more arguments in Remus’s defense. “I’m not breaking up with him anytime soon, you know,” she said. He crossed their arms. “Not ever, actually. Not if I can help it. So he’s not going to stop being around.”

This was a good point. Logan hesitated again. “I will think about it,” he said at last. In theory, he had no objection to Janus’s proposal. But in practice, it was hard to make the decision when it required breaking so many of his most well-established habits.

“Good.” Janus gave him a small smile. “Let me know. Anytime.”

Logan nodded. “How is Patton doing at Brennan lately?” he asked, changing the subject. 

Janus lit up. “Oh, he’s absolutely beating all the other children into the dust, you know how it is,” they said proudly. “Leaving them all in desperate tears, inconsolable in the face of the knowledge they’ll never be as good as him. Laughing in the face of their despair.” 

Logan blinked and nodded, trying very hard to keep a straight face as he imagined Patton actually doing any of what Janus had just said. “I see. Where are his lessons at lately? Children with emotion-based powers don’t usually start focusing on deliberate control until… seventh grade, isn’t it? So it would be more centered around managing his emotions to build up to that, and learning to use his common powers?” 

“Yes,” Janus confirmed. “He’s been—” 

The lighting in the cafeteria went red. 

“Another one?” Janus asked, sounding surprised and annoyed. Red lights meant a villain incident at the third level or higher had been reported. Two incidents large enough to warrant a red alarm in less than twenty-four hours was… unusual, to say the least, though Logan was not surprised at this particular one. Virgil had been very clear about his intentions for the day, and though he was unlikely to be doing anything that impacted civilians, two villains fighting each other was more than enough to draw attention and get a report filed. 

“I’ll handle it,” he said, holding down the button on his wristwatch that would transmit his voice to the heroes’ intercom channel. “Everyone, please resume normal operations until further notice.” 

Logan made a quick stop at his lab to grab a few gadgets he thought might come in handy, as well as an iced coffee and a bluetooth speaker, before checking the location of the reported incident. Count Ruthless’s lair, as expected. He left without much fanfare—after all, he preferred that this encounter draw as little attention from his coworkers as possible.

-

Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): @the-sympathetic-villain @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-the-lemon-berry @midnightstorm-underthe-moon @crazydemigod666 @perplexed-kale @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @virgil-is-verge @simplestoryteller @oblivionartworks @so-youre-a-rock-with-issues @emoprincey @theblackcatscratchpost @biwithapie @poettheythem

[cblgblog]

I know I’m probably beating a dead horse at this point but I feel like it isn’t talked about enough how the accord do not and will never affect Tony the same way they’ll affect those like Steve & Wanda. Tony can always just blow up all of his suits again & go back to a fully normal life if he wants to. He doesn’t have to wear a tracking bracelet, or submit dna samples, or fear getting shoved into a straight jacket or electroshock collar if he gets arrested. I’ll I just don’t think it’s addressed enough how blatantly privileged Tony & other normal humans like rhodey & nat would be under the accords compared to their other teammates. No wonder they were so supportive of them from the beginning.

Ah, but what is fandom for if not the beating of dead horses?

I agree with you. I generally prefer the film over the comic event (granted I haven’t read it in a few years now), but I do like that the Civil War comic had more time to discuss those civil liberties issues. Like, the damn thing, as with most comics events, is annoyingly massive. Not if you just read the core 6 books of the main CW storyline, but the tie-ins, oh my God the tie-ins. Comic events and their damn tie-ins…

For the sake of telling a fuller story though, I do like that the comics had so damn much. There was much more room for side content, for lesser characters who aren’t in the MCU, or weren’t, at the time. There’s a fuller picture of why various people are taking the sides they do. Some of those reasons make more sense than others, but yeah.

There’s a bit from the comics that I’ve posted before where Tony and Peter (mid 20’s, his own hero Peter, not Frankenstein, Tonky Jesus fanboy Peter) are arguing about the Registration Act—as it’s called in the comics—and talking about the civil liberties being violated. Being a 2006 book, it’s got a very post 9/ll, Guantanamo Bay theme going. The lack of trial, of legal representation, the prison that’s even worse than The Raft. There are several scenes like this as I recall, and yeah, the film is sorely missing them in places. You kind of see it with Team Cap in The Raft, but it’s very much a quick thing in the larger narrative of the film, and that’s annoying.

I’m not exactly advocating for this, because the film version with it’s smaller focus works a lot better in many respects, but I do sometimes think of the alternate reality where Disney Plus existed sooner, and Civil War was turned into a series instead of a film. Say six episodes, match the number of installments in the main comic event, eight eps if you wanted to push it. Then we could get something that delved deeper into what these documents actually say, what the public’s reaction to them is, how they would affect people besides our core Avengers group.

Show some kid like Peter who has abilities but doesn’t want to go out and fight bad guys, just wants to live a normal life. Show someone who can’t reveal their Enhanced nature to friends or family because it wouldn’t be safe for that person. Show the every day or every day-ish people (ala the Netflix shows) and where they stand on this. Wanda talks about people being scared of her after the Lagos incident and you kind of see that, but not really. Actually show that. Show the fears that people have of these Enhanced people, the legit and less legit ones, and show the other side too, the regular, every day people who still look at this and say hey, no, hang on, this is wrong.

Again, not necessarily saying I’d want this over the film, but if the Mouse overlords ever wanted to revisit that storyline and expand on it, I wouldn’t complain.

And yeah, people have talked about this too, but it kind of sucks the way the film handled everyone and their reasons for siding how they did. Steve is all about choice and keeping the government from abusing its citizens ala Hydra, Tony’s got his whole, we need to be kept in check thing, but very few of our other players land where they land because of the actual Accords. Nat doesn’t want her Avengers family to fall apart, and wants to maintain some control over the situation rather than none. Rhodey’s the career military man who (generally) follows orders and hey, if this is what most people want, we don’t get to just decide eh, no thanks. Panther doesn’t care about any of this, dude just picks the team that’s going after Bucky. Peter doesn’t know what the fuck he is actually fighting for, Tony didn’t tell him, Scott and Clint are there because Cap asked, and also, presumably, because of the danger the Accords would put their family in, but that second point is never explicitly stated.

And Sam…I feel like we really got fucking robbed with Sam, especially in light of what we’ve learned about his character in Falcon and WS. The film doesn’t much go into his reasoning, beyond the fact he believes in Cap, he’s Cap’s ride or die, etc. But given the history he has in Falcon and WS, again, we were robbed. Dude is all about making sure minorities aren’t oppressed, aren’t punished for existing. Dude is very much aware of the double-standards in this country. I know that stuff was written in later, but my God did we miss out on a Sam monologue about this in CW. Sam, who’s like Nat and Tony in that he can theoretically hang up the wings and be free of the Accords, but still takes the other side. Would’ve been hella interesting to see Sam and Rhodey’s little argument they have about it be an actual scene, an actual debate. Sam who knows of the US government and it’s unjust laws and abuse of power, knows it long before he hears of Isiah Bradley. Who has those nephews that will have to grow up in a post-Accords world. It just would’ve been super interesting to see Rhodey and Sam, both Black men who joined the military, one who left, one who didn’t, have an actual discussion on why they feel what they feel. Even discounting the finer details of the Sam stuff, the stuff that wasn’t written yet, it would’ve been cool.

And, of course it would’ve been awesome to see Tony and the non-powered on Team Iron Man (but mostly Tony) get called out on their privilege with this issue, but that of course couldn’t happen, because Tony has plot immunity. Let fire and lightning pour forth and destroy all who dare to question the wisdom of Tonky Jesus, praise be to Tonky and all he has given us.

[indecisive-behaviors]

Originally I was just going to add this as a reblog to my previous post about the parking lot scene in KK2 but it’s almost 2k words so now it’s getting it’s own post. Be forewarned- this is fucking long.

TW for discussion of PTSD, child abuse, neglect, injury, and death, in relation to topics surrounding the show, under the cut-

Obviously, Cobra Kai is a show based around the premise of “what happened to that Lawrence kid after he got kicked in the face?”, which is honestly a pretty cool idea for a show. Johnny’s story is never explained past sitting on the sidewalk with his head in his hands at the tournament, and there are no real context clue’s to figure out what may or may not have happened.

In the show we get to learn early on that Johnny’s life spiraled after the tournament, going from bad to worse to “holy shit how are you still alive”-dropping out/never going to college, working jobs he seems to hate, becoming an alcoholic, presumably many dead end relationships, and not being there for his kid. And yeah, obviously, this would be a hard pill to swallow for anyone watching the show if Johnny had just lost the tournament. If we never got the scene in KK2, he would have just been some kid who lost a tournament- we see at the end of the first movie that(through tears holy shit Billy) that Johnny is the one who gives the trophy to Daniel with his famous line, “You’re alright, LaRusso.” There’s a level of grudging respect in that moment that isn’t lost on anyone who sees that movie- that Johnny, who throughout the movie only sees Daniel as some whimpy kid, gets proven wrong and respects that. If we didn’t have that scene, there’s reason to believe Johnny would have apologized, tried to make amends, Something, even if it was just being less of a dick at school.

But then, we get the parking lot. We get a far off shot, intended to distance you from the scene, framed over Daniel’s shoulder. This makes sense, Daniel is the main character, the protagonist, the underdog hero- why wouldn’t it be framed in his perspective? But the scene is about Johnny. We get the shouting match, the back and forth- “No, you’re the loser man.”- and again it’s fairly obvious how Johnny sees this situation. This is a man who we assume(and is later confirmed) to be a surrogate father figure, who set his friend up for failure, and then basically forced him to do the same by targeting an injured opponent, and forcing him to fight without honor. This same man presumably follows a teenager out to the parking lot, to harass him, to tell him he’s off the team, to tell him he’s a loser, that he’s nothing.

But at that point, Johnny knows the truth, even if subconsciously. At the end of the day Johnny knows that Daniel LaRusso was a worthy opponent, and that regardless of the cheating and manipulation, Daniel could have won anyway, and did win, despite of it.

And then Kreese grabs him, too fast to react to, Johnny too surprised even knowing that Kreese is the bad guy here, not believing that he would ever willingly hurt him- and Johnny isn’t strong enough to fight him off, none of the boys are, so Johnny is forced to suffocate for almost a full 30 seconds(which I double checked for the record- also as a reference, 30 seconds is about the average time it takes for a person voluntarily holding their breath to pass out- this does not account for the oxygen lost during a struggle, and the lack of preparation from both surprise and panic. The only silver lining here is the fact that Kreese was most likely compressing his windpipe, not his jugular, which would have made him pass out in about 5-10 seconds, and would have caused permanent brain damage or death in about 15).

Now, PTSD is a complex thing. I’m not a psychiatrist, and what small amount of information we have is all we have to work off of, but I feel fairly comfortable in saying Johnny mostly likely developed it after the incident. This not an uncommon take in the fandom as far as I’m aware either. But, if we assume this, we also have to assume that after the fact nothing would have been done about this. Not just in the sense that we still don’t really know everything that happened right after the tournament, but that in the early 80s, PTSD wasn’t really a thing yet.

Sure it was absolutely a condition that existed, but Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wasn’t even added to the DSM-III until 1980- and for a long time afterward, was only seen as a condition that affected primarily war vets. Even after an event as traumatic as having a man you considered a father trying to kill you, in public, without remorse, would not have been seen as something to warrant the diagnoses, let alone treatment.

Johnny Lawrence was 17 when Kreese tried to kill him, and this boy would have been offered no resources beyond filing charges with the police. And as we see in KK3, either this didn’t happen either, or someone(presumably Silver) got the charges dropped. So on top of almost being murdered, Johnny had to live with the fact that the man who did that to him was still out there, and to top it off, still ran a dojo at least for a few months after the event. The only relief he could have gotten is after Kreese faked his death.

And sure, Mr Miyagi may have gotten Kreese to let go eventually, but as several people have pointed out in comments and tags, left him and the other boys alone with Kreese still standing there in the parking lot and just... drove off. Kreese has already been established to be a psycho with no problem hurting children, a little bit of glass might not have prevented him from trying again.

So why did I talk about all of that? Because it all contributes to why Daniel LaRusso works as a credible antagonist in season 1 of Cobra Kai.

Think about this- Johnny blames losing everything on Daniel in season 1, but we specifically get a shot in KK1 and later KK2(”You’re alright, LaRusso” and “I did my best” come to mind) where he seems to be at least mostly accepting of the fact that he lost(with what was actually an illegal kick but that’s a rant for another time). So why does he blame him for everything 30 years later?

Because 30 years later, Johnny is forced to go outside, go to work, and pretend like he doesn’t see what feels like every street corner(including right outside his apartment mind you), a literal billboard sized reminder of what happened to him.

The rest of this is mostly speculation but it makes sense in my head so bear with me.

When we get introduced to Robby, it’s made pretty clear that Johnny has not been in his life for a bit. In season 2 we get Johnny’s heart to heart with Miguel, where he divulges that he missed the birth, because he spiraled after his mom’s death. This however doesn’t suggest that he stayed gone, especially knowing that it wasn’t long enough for Robby to not consider seeking out his dad. Because tacked up to the fridge, is a picture of Robby in his soccer uniform as a kid. It’s an early detail you can see in previous episodes, and says a lot about how Robby grew up. To be fair, this could have been given to him by Shannon, and not taken himself, but it’s the sport Robby’s playing that makes me question this. KK1 dedicates an entire scene to Johnny being on the soccer team in high school. Soccer, while maybe not as important to him as karate, is still part of his character. Robby does not know karate in season 1, Johnny obviously didn’t share it with him, but that doesn’t mean Johnny didn’t share anything with him.

So Johnny’s back in his kids life, maybe doing better for himself, maybe cutting back on the drinking. LaRusso Auto is already established to exist at this point but it’s in Encino, a place Johnny has no reason to go to, and probably doesn’t want to. He’s trying again and things are okay. But Robby knows enough about Daniel to know that going to him will piss off his dad. So Johnny had to have talked about him at some point. The billboards here are what’s important- they’re in the first episode, the first scene montage, Johnny draws a dick on one of them as some petty revenge.

The first billboard goes up in the late 2000s to mid 2010s. Johnny sees it, maybe he has Robby with him at the time, maybe he goes home and says something there, but he says something in a way that sticks with even a child as being important. More billboards go up. Dealerships starting popping up more and more. Daniel’s face, and by extension, the memories, the flashbacks, become inescapable. Johnny, for a third time, spirals again. Before he even knows what’s happening, he’s lost his relationship with his son. And it’s all Daniel’s fault. Of course Daniel doesn’t do it deliberately, but the constant reminders are enough to send him back into a tailspin and Johnny blames him for it.

Because it’s Daniel who is a constant reminder of his failures- it’s Daniel who caused him to lose the tournament and almost get killed, Daniel who put up the billboards that trigger his flashbacks, it’s always Daniel Daniel Daniel.

And then Johnny gets it in his head that he wants to be better. He opens a dojo, teaches Miguel and the other kids, wants to try again- and he almost succeeds.

Johnny up to this point has not deliberately antagonized Daniel in any way. Sure he named the dojo Cobra Kai, but Cobra Kai is all he knows. Besides Johnny doesn’t blame karate for his failures, his best memories are Cobra Kai and he’s trying to be better than Kreese. So what’s the harm in this really? His building is in Reseda, there’s no reason for Daniel to ever be there, he doesn’t do it out of spite, it’s because he lives there and rent is cheap. He doesn’t know about KK3, doesn’t know about Daniel’s own trauma. This isn’t an attack. Johnny sincerely just doesn’t know.

Enter Daniel, stage left. Daniel makes no attempt to talk to him- he simply makes demands and accusations, before he starts making active attempts to put him out of business.

Sure, we as the audience know Daniel has good reasons to not want Cobra Kai back. But Johnny doesn’t. All Johnny knows is that the kid he picked on in high school- who won, who got everything Johnny wanted, who grew up to be successful, has a wonderful wife, two kids who love him, a thriving business- is doing everything he can to make his life hell 30 years after the fact.

And this could only have happened because in 1986 John G. Avildsen decided to add in a scene meant for the original movie into the sequel, for absolutely no fucking reason.

[spencersmagic]

Seven minutes...

Masterlist // Taglist.

Prompt: "Y'know, I never imagined you to be a fan of closets, yet here we are...".

Couple: Gender Neutral Reader x Spencer Reid.

Category: Mutual pining, fluff.

Warnings: detailed mentions of anxiety, "7 minutes in heaven" game, implied smut, reader is gn but wears a dress, mentions of Hankel and Alexa Lisbon (the goalpost incident).

Word count: 1.3k (teeny tiny little post).

***

Five hours later and three bottles of the cheapest vodka Prentiss could find, the team found themselves in a surprisingly familiar situation. Bottle in hand, half of the team, meaning Prentiss, JJ, García, Morgan, Alvez, Reid (whom Y/N had to drag to to Garcia's house on the premise of "having a good time" - though he could never say no to them) were saying good-bye to the rest of the team.

Spencer's eyes roamed around their body, the aftermath of the warmth in his own, courtesy of the alcohol, settling as he took in the view of your soft legs peeking out of the soft material of their dress.

He wishes he didn't. He wishes he hadn't decided to take that extra shot, or that he wasn't as enthralled by them being as he is. But, alas, here we are.

"Spence, are you okay?" their hand reached to caress the side of his face, pulling a few strands of hair away from his face. Though innocent as this action was, it still had him gulping, wishing their hand would move lower, lower, and grab him by his pretty little throat.

However, this would have to do for now.

Spencer gulped, lips parting slightly. He would never give in so quickly, showing the darker sides of himself, but he was tired, drunk and so incredibly aroused. "Y-yeah, I'm fine". He quickly changed the subject.

"So, how do we play this game?" he faced the looks of his partners, bewildered by his lack of knowledge. Spencer couldn't for the life of him understand why they always acted so surprised when he didn't know something. "Come on, guys, I graduated from college at age 16. I never had a chance to be interested in that... stuff" he explained, somewhat embarrassed. Its not like my lack of experience is a secret.

He was met with a pair of kind eyes who were doing everything in their power to make sure he was comfortable with every situation that occurs during their time in the cramped up living room. Their hand caressed his own, mostly because they wanted to feel him, however selfish that may be. Y/N wanted him to be close to them, to never leave his side. Partly, too, as a way of saying "hey, i know this can be anxiety-inducing. Whatever happens, I'm always here", which was a message he desperately needed.

Anxiety doesn't always make sense. Most of the times Spencer suffered through a tough time battling with his anxiety disorder he hadn't had a reason to feel like that. Consciously, he is aware that the people around him would never hurt him. He knows they love him, but there's always a small voice in the back of his mind. It's the same voice that didn't show up when Harper Hillmann told Spencer that Alexa Lisbon was waiting for him behind the fieldhouse. It's the same voice that forgot to tell him to wait for backup during the Hankle case. He will be damned if he ever puts himself in a situation like that ever again.

In fact, when it's late, and he can't sleep, instead the nightmares blocking any chance of real rest, he lays down on the tiny bed in his dark room, and tries to map out different situations to figure out their outcomes. He doesn't allow uncertainty in his life. And, in the cases where he has to, he suffers through them between hyperventilating episodes, jumpy eyesight and beads of sweat covering his upper lip.

"7 minutes in heaven is the game where hundreds - nay, thousands - of teenagers kiss for the first time" Penelope announced, somewhat dramatically, in a Penelopey fashion. "THOUSANDS..." her voice boomed, an aftermath of the alcohol coursing thorough her veins, "of teenagers squirming childishly as their friends left with the hottest guy in class, Mark Harrison" she giggled at the memory other twelve year old self walking into the closet with Mark.

I mean, you had you see Mark. He was incredible.

Y/N shifted a little bit, leaning into Spencer. "We basically grab a bottle, spin it twice, and the two people who have been pointed at with the neck of the bottle will go into a room for 7 minutes" they explained softly as to not make him more nervous. Interrupted by Penelope, who explained quickly that, since they don't have another room, they would be using the closet, they continued explaining.

"What happens in the closet isn't talked about outside of the closet, and you don't have to do anything. A lot of people just stand there, or chat" he visibly untensed, happy with the idea of not having to engage in any type of romantic or sexual activity with any of his teammates. Anyone except for them.

"BOOOO!" Morgan's drunk voice boomed across the living room. "Y/N! YOU..." he pointed at the agent, "...are NO fun".

Derek Morgan, the man feared by every doorframe in the country, bounced on his seat, pouting.

"Okay" Reid's tiny voice squeaked, holding their hand a little closer.

***

"Emily! Your seven minutes are over!" Spence's newfound confidence filled the room along with his voice. The two extra shots he had taken mere minutes ago gave him a new goal: to get in that damned closet with Y/N.

So far, Penelope had gone in with Y/N (Pen had introduced Y/N to a new anime she's watching), Derek and Álvez had gone in (where they had shared an intimate conversation about the how their lives also affect their work), and now Emily was in there w-

"Goddamn it, we're coming!" the rustling sounds from behind Penelope's perfectly organised closet, along with several "ouch"'s and "hey! that's mine" sounds emerged from the closet before Emily and JJ did, the former's lipstick covering the latter's chest (or at least the visible part. Who knows what the tank top was covering).

Their hair was messy, lipstick smudged and a sheepish grin plastered on their faces that told the team exactly what they had done. JJ, who had been crushing on Emily since the beginning of time itself, got several high-five's from the team at the... development on their relationship.

Spencer wrapped up the party incredibly quickly, with a bunch of "yeah yeah whatever"s and grabbing the bottle again. "Here you go, Pen" he brought the bottle impossibly closer to her, pressing it against her chest, making her laugh.

"Okay, okay! Relax, pretty boy" she grabbed the bottle defensively, pulling it away from his touch, and spun it on the area in the center of the circle the agents were forming.

"Y/N and..." Penelope paused, eyebrows scrunching as she concentrated on seeing straight. The bottle pointed at the space right between Spencer and Luke, making it completely impossible to figure out who it was pointing at. However, Spencer, whose IQ had been reduced to that of a literal grain of rice, grabbed the bottle quickly, getting up. "ME! IT POINTED AT ME. Let's go, Y/N" he exclaimed, unable to hide the excitement he felt at the idea of spending time with them alone, in a setting as intimate as that.

Y/N quickly got up, too, bouncing a little on their place. "I mean, who are we to deny the bottle's orders". They both excitedly rushed to the closet, leaving the whole team dumbfounded.

But when they got into the closet, realising that Spencer's tall frame couldn't fit unless crouching down, they sat down with a *thump* on the floor. The darkness, mixed with the tangled legs and the fact that he didn't plan what to do once he was in this situation, allowed for a whole lot of silence to settle in.

Y/N joked, trying to break the tension. "Y'know, I never imagined you as a fan of closets, yet here we are..." they nudged him playfully. Spencer kept biting his cheek, unable to contain himself once again.

Spencer felt like a hurricane right now. Not truly aware of himself or how he and his feelings could impact the environment where he had become so reckless and impatient. All of the feelings he had been repressing over the past five months swarmed over him like a tsunami and suddenly, there was quiet. Like he had figured out his chaotic emotions and was now able to see everything clearly.

He wants Y/N. No matter what.

No amount of anxiety, fear or insecurity will ever make him feel otherwise. He needs them.

All he knew how to do was grab their face between his hands, stroke it gently with the pads of his thumbs and mumble, quietly, almost silently.

"Can I kiss you?"

****

IF YOU LIKED IT PLEASE CONSIDER LIKING, REBLOGGING OR SENDING ME A MESSAGE :)

súper cool kid taglist (which i forgot to add at first heheh):

@lady-anon-x @username2002 @spencerreid-mgg @eoupe @galaxydefenderjulia @urie-bowie-mercury @huntheimpossible @idontwantyourcookiesthanks @onyourfingertips @spenxerslut @coldlilheart

[nanowrimo]

5 Tips for Finishing Your Novel

April’s session of Camp NaNoWriMo is drawing to a close, and you might find yourself nearing the end of your novel. If you need some tips on writing and polishing the ending of your story, author Derek Murphy is here to share a few! Plus, you can check out the rest of our novel-finishing resources on our #NaNoFinMo page. 

You won NaNoWriMo and have a 50k collection of scenes and sentences, but how do you clean it up and get it done? How do you make sure it’s finished, satisfying and enjoyable? Here are 5 powerful strategies for finishing your novel and some helpful writing tips that will push you past the finish line.

1. Give it a satisfying resolution.

In order to have a powerful story, your book should probably focus on a main character’s change or transformation. There’s an inner war, a.k.a. the character’s emotional healing, and an outer war: the conflict that forced the reckoning. If it’s a purely symbolic internal realization, you can mirror that with actual conflict in the real scene: the breaking of a dish, a fit of rage, a sudden ray of sunlight (or a storm… this should not be pleasant; It’s a breaking point and spiritual death/rebirth).

You can clarify the moment of change by setting up an illustrative contrast, a before and after, that shows how those internal changes have resulted in real-world consequences or benefits. Each character’s unique challenge will match their personal weakness or fear. The price for victory is the one thing they have so far refused to do, or something they cannot give up or bear to lose.

Make sure your protagonist has gone through a transformative struggle to arrive at deep insights, knowledge or awareness. Find a way to deepen the incidental scenes so that they become instrumental to a deeper purpose, leading towards an identity-shifting event.

The plot is what happens, and it’s important. But you can make it more dramatic and meaningful by making sure you demonstrate how hard it was and what it cost. It matters, it is remarkable, because it forced your protagonist to change.

Your conclusion might include:

Physical tension as allies perform a tug-of-war battle against resistance, that shows how difficult this struggle is, and how much force is required.

The consideration phase, as characters are tempted last minute or the price for victory is revealed: the sweet memories that give them awareness that this fight is worth the cost or risk (you need to show them making the choice, knowing what they will lose).

The final flashback, as the full backstory is revealed so we can see exactly why this conflict is so difficult or meaningful for the main character.

2. Add (unresolved) conflict.

Your story is made up of the events and scenes, where something happens. Each new event will push the characters further into the plot. Slow scenes where nothing is really happening can be red flags, so the first thing to focus on is increasing conflict, drama, suspense and intrigue. This is what creates urgency. The full reveal, demonstrating why THIS challenge is so difficult and powerful, should happen just before the final battle or resolution.

You want to make sure every scene, especially in your conclusion, has enough conflict. I recommend these three:

Outer Conflict (threats): Challenges or obstacles that prevent the character from achieving goals.

Inner Conflict (doubts): Moral struggles, decisions, guilt or shame, anger.

Friendly Fire (betrayal): Strong disagreements between allies or supporting characters. 

You want to extend and deepen the potential conflict, without resolving it too easily. The biggest destroyer of conflict is conversation: when your characters just sit around and talk to each other. Most conflict involves a lack of information, and a desire for clarity. A lot of conflict is perceived or imagined.

The most important information needs to come last, and come at a great price. The information that has an emotional impact, and influences their actions and decisions, should be big reveals at dramatic peaks. A surprise or twist should be treated as an event: each scene is leading towards a change or new piece of information that provokes the protagonist to respond.

3. Fill plot holes with character motivation.

After you’ve made sure that “what actually happens” is intriguing (opening questions and raising tensions without resolving them) you can focus on making sure the plot holes are filled, and characters are properly motivated – these two things are usually adjacent.

You can find and fill plot holes by asking:

Why are the characters doing this?

Why does any of it matter?

Basically, readers need to respect the main characters enough to care what happens to them, so their choices and actions need to make sense within the given information. If there’s a simpler, easier solution, readers will get stuck up on “why didn’t they just…”? To fix plot holes and gaps in logic or continuity, or make the story go where you need it to, you can add urgency, fix the mood of the scene (bigger stakes require bigger justifications), show characters in a weakened mental state, or raise concerns but have them dismissed, with an excuse or justification.

You need rational characters to make plausible choices that lead to dire consequences. You need show why they don’t do something easier, or nothing at all, or why they face clear challenges, despite potential obstacles.

They’ll also require a deeper motivation, for why they’re willing to put themselves in identity-destroying conflict, rather than just giving up or running away. Why do they stay in THIS fight, when they’ve run from similar ones? If they weren’t ready at the beginning, why are the ready now – what changed in them, as a result of your story’s journey?

Your protagonist needs to have a strong, consistent internal compass, and it needs to be revealed through incidents that establish their character. This is who they are. Without this reliable core identity, we won’t be able to tell a story that forces them to change. 

4. Let readers picture your story with detailed description.

In the final stages of revision, you can begin improving the description with specific details.

It’s smart to start – or end – a chapter with a vivid, immediate scene. You want to leave readers with an image they can see in their minds, hopefully connected to the feeling you aim to evoke. You can close a chapter with a reference back to a motif or image, with a deeper or more reflective context; applying meaning to the metaphor. This will help readers feel engaged, be moved, and leave a lasting impact.

Vivid scenes are mostly a matter of detailed description, so add the specifics about the story environment. Be precise, not vague. Instead of “she put a plate of tea and snacks on the table” you can write “she gently placed an antique porcelain teapot on the table. I could smell it was Earl Grey from the scent of bergamot. The half-sleeve of Oreos and can of onion-flavored Pringles seemed incongruous with the fancy dishes, but I knew she was making an effort to welcome me.”

Focus on the sensations and feelings; but also zero-in on any potential sources of conflict or internal emotions or states of mind. In my example above, the host might be nervous or ashamed of her spread; or perhaps she has a degenerative brain disease and doesn’t notice the incongruity. Tensions are unspoken, potential sources of negative feelings. They hover in the background of your description.

Readers will remember the pictures you put in their heads, not the words on the page.

Description should serve and be bound to the story, not distract from it.

It should be squeezed into and around the scene action, when the protagonist is using or exploring.

Show what’s different, not what’s the same.

Leave space for readers to fill in the gaps, but get them started in the right direction so they aren’t surprised later.

Sidenote: be careful about your metaphors, analogies and similes. Each one will put a picture into readers’ minds, and it can quickly get overcrowded with imagery. You’re asking them to ignore your real scene and think of something else. Use them to confirm and amplify the scene you have, and limit distractions.

5. Prepare to publish.

Typos are bad, but perfectionism will ruin you. This section is about editing and proofreading, but I don’t have time for all that, and you don’t either. The real problem with a story is rarely the number of typos. A very clean book isn’t better if people stop reading.

You can solve a lot of common writing problems, with my big list of 25 common writing mistakes, and self-edit your manuscript to make it as good as possible. After that, a copyeditor or proofreader isn’t always the best investment (and it can also be the biggest publishing cost).

Instead, use an editing software (I like Grammarly) to root out obvious mistakes, but don’t dwell on the small stuff like perfecting every word or rearranging the commas. Spending a very long time wrestling a poorly-written manuscript in shape is less effective than getting something (actually) done to the point where you’re comfortable sharing it.

This may be difficult at first, but you can’t learn and improve without genuine reader feedback (from people who aren’t your mom or best friend; nor the short-sighted opinions of a self-proclaimed literature enthusiast). You need to find readers who enjoy your particular genre, and the sooner you find them, the more valuable feedback you can get.

Shorten the feedback loop: Get over the fear and focus on learning by getting feedback early and often. However, this doesn’t just mean joining a writer’s club: writers are brutal and might focus on trivial things. The safest bet is to make it public, on Wattpad at least. Or get a cheap cover and throw it up on Kindle, Draft2Digital or even your own blog.

Making it public is scary and vulnerable, but it’s better than letting the fear of messing up keep you from the brutal, necessary experience of allowing readers to tell you what they liked and disliked about your writing. Will some people be critical? Yes! But guess what, you’ll get negative reviews even if you’re a brilliant, famous writer. Those are inevitable. And the first negative reviews may teach you more about writing than 10 years attempting to self-edit, afraid of putting your book out into the world.

PS. You can use resources, like my 24-chapter plot outline, as a way to spot story gaps in your manuscript and improve the structure (especially if your book suffers from a “soggy middle.)

Derek Murphy has a PhD in Literature, writes urban fantasy and is the founder of the alliance of young adult authors. More recently, he’s started sharing writing tips on http://www.writethemagic.com

Top photo by Adegbenro Emmanuel Dipo on Unsplash.

[jikookuntold]

I Can’t Believe We Are Still Talking About This!

Disclaimer: The post you are going to read here, is my personal opinions, plus some evidence. A part of the incidents I mention in this post, is my own observation and the rest came from some trustable sources but yet I don’t claim to be 100% true because first, the sources can be wrong, second, the human mind is tricky and a long time has passed so I can’t claim everything I remember is true. Some of the incidents could get fact-checked, but some couldn’t because the receipts are gone.

First, I had no intention to write about this controversial subject because many people don’t like to bring this up, and I was with them, but it seems people have many questions about it, and they don’t know the details of the incidents. So, I concluded that maybe it’s not bad if we open up a little bit and discuss this subject from different points of view with more details.

But again, I have to clarify this post is not factual, it’s just the things I remember about the subject in a ranting way. This incident had and still has so many unclear aspects, and everything we say or claim is just a theory. I’m not intended to shade or hate anyone, therefore I’m not going to mention any full names here.

TW: Rumor, Suicide, Scandal, Conspiracy Theory

 The Break

You all might know about the break the members had in summer 2019. When their Japan tour ended, and they did some shooting and interviews (like Summer Package), the LDF concert on August 11th was their last schedule and based on BH statement, they were free for 30 to 35 days.

At this time, the members posted updates about being on vacation, but there was not much coming from JK and JM, except JK posting on weverse about staying awake and eating ramen and JM thanking him for eating ramen because of him (it was interesting that JM answered JK’s post about ramen at the same week we had the run episode moment where JK told JM “This is my heart” while putting ramen in his plate). After that, JM posted the videos of Run bottle cap challenge on August 26th.

Anyways, it was pretty clear that JM and JK were together on their days off for at least two weeks since JK mentioned in Bon Voyage 4 (their first schedule after the break) that he didn’t meet any of the members except JM and JH in his days off and since JH was the resident of the same complex, this kinda approved the theory of living with JM. JM also approved this theory, but we will go on that later.

The Rumors

In late August (27th or later) JM’s photos in Paris leaked, and JK was seen in Seoul eating churros, and a photo of his knuckle tattoos started to spread. Everyone was confused, and it was too soon to believe anything. After JM coming back from Paris for JK’s birthday, and leaving for Hawaii the next morning (as he explained in his 12th October Vlive, that year) things started to get weird. I know I didn’t bring up the Paris incidents, and I don’t want to, because it has nothing to do with the subject.

I still haven’t mentioned the subject directly, but I think most of you have guessed it right. In early September 2019, the rumors of JK going to a tattoo shop in Seoul started to spread. At first, the majority of the fandom didn’t take it seriously since the tattoo shop denied the rumors of JK being there, and even the photo of someone backhugging a short-haired girl claiming to be JK got mostly ignored because the photo was low quality and the man in it didn’t look like him that much. This was the time we heard the news about JK going to Geoje Island for vacation, alone, after visiting his family in Busan.

The real deal started when he appeared at the airport on September 16th (the day they were leaving for filming Bon Voyage4 in New Zealand) when we saw his knuckle tattoos, and the rumors turned out to be true. At first, we were excited about him getting tattoos without even knowing if they are permanent or not. But on the same day, the storm came. A photo of JK (this one was clearly him) sitting with that short-haired girl, (LM) eating lunch broke the internet.

The photo was taken from an angle to make it look like they were together alone, but at least two other people (later we found out they were more) were already there, and it was nothing like the date the person behind the camera was trying to make it look. The hugging photo which was taken from the CCTV of a karaoke room resurfaced along with the restaurant photo, and at this time, almost everyone in the fandom started to believe that they are dating.

The Statements

The mess on social media was getting bigger, and everyone was waiting for an official statement from both sides. BH released the statement a few hours later, denying the rumors and no further explanation. Almost one day passed, and there was nothing from LM, not even a single word. Finally, she posted a statement on her Instagram account (which gained a crazy amount of followers, and she didn’t even go on private the whole time).

The statement was extremely shady and been deleted a few hours later. LM claimed that she wasn’t ignoring the situation, and she was afraid to say anything because she knew we won’t believe her. “I am not dating JK” she used this sentence twice in her statement, and at the end, she said “his “J M” tattoos are not our initials!” and made the situation way worse. But the funny thing is, this wasn’t even the shadiest thing she did.

As I said, she got lots of followers (nearly 100k) and interactions on her account and started to delete the negative comments as she should, but she liked multiple comments congratulating her, saying she and JK look good together and things like that. I heard she even liked a fan-art post, but it didn’t end here. When the member came back from New Zealand she posted a selfie with the caption “I have missed you”. At this point, it was clear that she was enjoying the situation and acting shady to make it worse and fuel the rumors and stay on top of the news. But this wasn’t limited to herself because her colleagues at the tattoo shop weren’t any better.

In those days, one of the close friends of LM at the tattoo shop told an ARMY that LM has a boyfriend and there is nothing other than friendship between her and JK. And guess what? The Tattoo shop manager fired him the next day. What was the reason? Were those rumors a booster for their business, and they didn’t want them to die down? The number of followers and attention they gained at that time can approve my point. They were getting the best free promotion, any business could ever have.

Don’t Forget Me!

A few days later, when the public, started to forget the rumors, someone from the tattoo shop (I don’t remember if it was LM herself or her friend) talked to the media about the harassment they were getting from the ARMY to play the victim role. This again fueled everything and made us think over the situation. Was it all a frame for JK? The evidence suggests that it could.

Let’s go back a few days in the timeline of the events. Why JK chose that tattoo shop? Because his 97liner friends recommended him to go there (apparently this line of friends, have matching tattoos either) LM herself is a 97liner, and she is friends with plenty of idols, male and female, so they sounded pretty trustworthy. At the tattoo shop, they (LM and her tattoo shop colleagues) recommended JK to spend his days off at a guesthouse in Geoje Island, and based on LM’s Instagram posts, they were there days before JK, waiting for him, to make it look like they run into him accidentally? I don’t know, but this is a stalker's behavior

After having lunch with LM and her friends at the restaurant (where Sasaeng were there, ready to take photos), they went to a karaoke room and JK, who was pretty drunk (based on what the karaoke manager said later) backhugged LM. But the Sasaengs couldn’t be there to take photos, so they (allegedly) bribed the karaoke employee to show them the CCTV footage and took a low-quality picture of it.

The biggest question is, if the Sasaengs weren’t there, how did they know there is something worthy in the CCTV to check? The answer is they weren’t the main culprit, and karaoke or tattoo shop employees or both were cooperating with them. I mean karaoke employees definitely cooperated with Sasaengs, but the tattoo shop benefited the most. So why not? Anyways, that photo and that moment was the most “intimate” thing they could capture to use against JK.

JK went on that trip with his manager (The guesthouse manager gave out this information later, the part that was lacking in BH statement which could close the speculations way easier and earlier) and stayed at that guesthouse for two days to rest, but everything went wrong from there. This incident has three sides, LM and tattoo shop, the Sasaengs, who were following JK as their full-time job, and the media/industry which was trying to ruin JK’s image. I’m going to talk about all these three but let’s continue with the first one, LM and the tattoo shop.

Almost one month after the incident, LM’s friend interviewed with Korean media and claimed that ARMYs keep harassing her to the point that she wants to commit suicide. This was another attempt to bring everything back on top, but this time, it was disgusting because she did this interview right after one of the famous faces of Kpop committed suicide (October 14th, 2019). She used the situation and the public’s emotions to play the victim role on a higher level. Before this, many believed that she was a victim of some crazy Sasaengs, and she had nothing to do with the incident (I’m clearly talking about the people who didn’t think the rumors are true) but after that, it was clear that she is an attention seeker.

But I think she wasn’t just an attention seeker. She benefitted a lot from the situation. Her business blew up, she became one of the most famous non-celebrities in Korea (if not in the world), and she was literally shipping with one of the most popular men on the planet, who doesn’t like that? Anyways, LM had several friends, foreign older friends who were interacting with I-ARMYs for some unknown reasons, and one of them exposed something very interesting. She said she feels sorry for LM because she thought she had a chance with JK and that chance is long gone. Besides, people saw some conversations between LM and her friends on her Instagram comments about finding an idol boyfriend for her. These conversations happened before the incidents but it’s interesting since LM has several idol friends.

LM had another comeback to the media at the end of October and the next and the last update about the situation, happened in early December when BH stated that they (BH and LM!) are suing karaoke for leaking the photo. But after almost two years, we don’t know how this ended up. The last and probably the worst thing happened in the final episode of Bon Voyage when JK unnecessarily apologized for his behavior. I know JK himself, wanted to do this apology but he didn’t have done anything wrong and didn’t owe any apology to ARMY or anyone else, even if the rumors were true.

A New Ship on the Shore

After that, LM did nothing shady except posting photos of JK’s arm tattoos or someone with similar tattoos in December 2020 explaining their meanings, which was a weird action. After the rumors, JK didn’t visit that tattoo shop ever, and now, an artist who works with BH does his tattoos (the same artist who has done JM’s tattoos). LM announced on April 2021, that she has a boyfriend and some of JK/LM shippers, quitted their beloved ship after that. But not all of them.

We believed that the rumors weren’t true from the day JK and BH denied them, but many people didn’t. They were strongly believing that BH is hiding the truth because it’s Kpop and in this industry, idols are not allowed to date openly, so they had no choice but to deny any dating rumors. But this wasn’t their only reason for their denial. The main reason was the way JK was misunderstood and misrepresented by this fandom (I have a post about it, you can check it here).

At this point, there are people out there, shipping JK and LM. They bring several “proofs” for them being real such as:

1. Having similar tattoos: LM had designed and done JK’s tattoos, so it’s pretty normal for them to have the same style, especially the hand tattoos since he hasn’t changed or added anything on that part. But his arm tattoos have changed a lot, and you can’t see a similarity in them. Besides, knuckle tattoos are very common among tattoo lovers.

2. Having eyebrow piercing: This is another common trend. JK loves piercings and tattoos, and it means nothing, literally.

3. Similar drawings: This one is a little bit tricky and it needs a back story and a conspiracy theory. On 13th May 2020, BH released a Bangtan bomb from MAMA 2019 backstage, where JK drew a sketch of the moon and stars on a whiteboard. On the same day, people started to make a fuss, because LM had a design on her Instagram, very similar to JK’s improvised sketch. The date of her post was 11th December 2019, but the day JK drew that sketch, was December 4th (MAMA ceremony), and this means LM posted her design one week later. So who copied who? Does JK saw that design somewhere in that tattoo shop and had it in his mind, and drew it subconsciously? I don’t think so. Because JK improvised it in front of the camera, and it was originally his idea. Do I think BH has some insiders who took the photo of that sketch and showed it to LM, and she took the idea and made it hers? This is exactly what I think because I trust JK, not LM, nor BH. And the timing of the posts and Bangtan bomb is on my side. Preach!

That’s it. These are the only proofs people bring to say something is going on between them, and the funny thing is, this hasn’t ended even after April when LM announced that she is dating (apparently she had broken up with the last boyfriend right after the rumors started, definitely not sus, lol) The only reason people made a huge deal of those two photos, was one word: Heteronormativity. If LM were a man, none of this would have ever happened. But since this fandom is obsessed with the idea of het-JK, they bought these rumors eagerly. Back to the subject, as I said earlier, the other sides benefitted from this situation. I mean Sasaengs and the media/companies who had a part in the incidents.

Sasaengs always follow their targets and collect photos and videos of them, but they barely share anything publicly because they are criminals, and if they get busted they will be punished by the law. They have their isolated communities and share their information inside those communities. Of course, there are many accounts on social media that claim to be Sasaengs and gain lots of followers, but most of them are fake, and the real ones don’t share information for free, they sell them for high prices. So, there are two possibilities, in this case, someone bought JK’s photos from Sasaengs and published them, or Sasaengs did it themselves because someone asked/ordered them. I can’t see any other possibilities. Sasaengs wouldn’t gain anything from publishing these photos, but other people would, and they are the ones who made this happen.

Who were they? LM herself and tattoo shop? The fansite who wanted to destroy JK’s career? Or BH, who wanted to punish JK for his boldness about getting tattoos and make him more obedient? Or the media and rival companies, who wanted a scandal for their enemy? Or the people who wanted to revive the idea of het-JK? All of these are plausible and I can’t prove or disprove anything, but you can read more about this in the post I linked before.

Did This Affect Them?

Here comes the most interesting part; how did this affect Jikook? Did it affect them at all? Let’s review the timeline of the events again, from this point of view. As I mentioned earlier, we believe Jikook were together until 27th August and then JM went to Paris without any plans and came back for JK’s birthday. On the selfie, he posted that night he had written: “I’m glad to see you after not seeing you for a few days” which confirms that they were together before JM’s unplanned trip. At this point, JK had started getting tattoos and had most parts of his knuckle tattoos done.

When JM left Seoul for Hawaii the next day, JK went to Geoje, and the incidents happened, but nothing was public yet. Then he got arm tattoos and added some new parts to his hand tattoos including J which makes an obvious JM on his ring finger (The part LM claimed that is “not” their initials lol). JK’s completed hand tattoos were not exposed until September 16th when they were at the airport to leave for New Zealand. It was the day all the theories and rumors started. But in Jikook’s point of view, it happened on the second day of their trip.

Now we can start to analyze their moments on Bon Voyage 4. Of course, this series doesn’t show everything, but it gives us some clues about the dynamic of their relationship on those days. The first day of the trip when they were at the airport and Thailand (?) was pretty normal, but after that, at some moments I felt a strange atmosphere between them which I decided to not read too much on. But I found out I wasn’t wrong when in the last episode, JK talked about the awkwardness he felt about the issue with the members.

Jikook had many cute and domestic moments in the first two episodes but the grand gesture happened on the third one when JK climbed a hill without telling anyone, to bring a chunk of snow for JM as a gift, and we all know how much JM loves snow. This was an undeniable romantic act, but do I think this had anything to do with the situation? I believe Jikook was unbothered by those rumors because they completely trust each other, but the image you make for the others is different from the things you know and believe. Maybe this was a grand gesture not just for JM, but for us either.

After coming back to Seoul, there was no news from them for more than two weeks, and then they left Korea for Riyadh. The remarkable moment in the Riyadh concert was related to JM’s birthday. The members had planned a surprise for JM on the stage (The concert was on October 11th one day before his official birthday in Korea) and when it happened, JM said that he was happy because he saw JK happy and JK played a big role in that surprise. Honestly, you have to be deep in love to be happy just because your significant other is happy, even if it’s your own birthday. Let’s not forget the vlive JM did the next morning, and some pretty obvious moments happened that I can’t discuss here, but I bet you already know what I’m talking about. And also JM exposed the things he did for JK’s birthday that year.

A few hours later, on 18:22 (1+8+2+2=13) on local time and 00:22 on Korean time (only 22 minutes after JM’s official birthday in Korea started), JK tweeted one of the most amazing birthday tweets of all time which is comparable to a love letter. I’m sure you know everything about these tweets, so I’m not going too deep on this, I’m only saying that this tweet also was a grand gesture. And let me make another conspiracy theory here. After the rumors started, every time we had a big Jikook moment, something was coming from LM the next day. For example, when JK made this historic tweet, the next day LM's friend was interviewed about committing suicide. Or when SYS Seoul concerts happened (one of the biggest Jikook feasts of all time) and LM herself was at the VIP seats with her friends, the next day she did another comeback to the media. These can be just coincidences, but… never mind.

I Never Thought I Would Fall for a Man

Let’s not forget about the most obvious statements JK made on his first public appearance after the rumors. On JH’s vlive on 24th September, JK said: “I never thought I would fall for a man”. He said these words about JH dancing at CNS music video, and it clearly had nothing to do with Jikook, but it had a deep meaning. We know JK is not a shallow person, and lately, he stated that he thinks a lot before doing anything. So this didn't come out of nowhere, he didn't spit this out without thinking, in THAT situation. You never say such a thing when the internet is exploding with your dating rumors with a girl, do you?

His words can translate to “Do you ever consider the possibility of me not being straight?” This is what I read from his words and his facial expression. Maybe you think I say this because I’m a shipper, and I have this shipping goggle that makes me see everyone gay and debunk any girlfriend rumors. Some people even ask childish questions like “if they are dating why they didn’t travel together?” There are 100 explanations for that, and any couple who have been together for more than two years can answer you. When you date someone, you don’t stick together 24/7. Everyone in a healthy relationship has individuality, and sometimes they want to spend time with friends or alone, especially when they already had a world tour together lol.

Anyways, maybe I have a different point of view as a shipper, but this is not the problem. I never have a problem with my ship not being real (which they have shown enough to know they are). In fact, I will be delighted if any of them announce their relationship freely and publicly, but they haven’t done it yet. JK denied the rumors and gave us lots of hints about the truth, and I’m not delulu for believing him. But if you think he has to be het for backhugging a girl or having an eyebrow piercing, you are the one who is delusional because you are living in a heteronormative world where boys and girls can’t be friends and everyone is straight unless they come out in public.

I really can’t believe this post turning to be this long, and I thank you for reading it all. You might ask why I cared enough to write +4000 words about some stupid rumors that happened two years ago. This is the main question. This had to be ended in September 2019, but many people didn’t want it to end, because they loved it, they enjoyed it, they gained from it, so they protracted it as much as they could, and heteronormative people supported it blindly because of their homophobia or Y/N fantasies or whatever reason they had. I can’t believe we are still talking about this!

[leahseclipse]

Early stages

(Gif by @zhuzhubii​ )

*

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary: When Spencer starts dating someone, his work gets in the way, causing more problems than he thought it would.

Category: Fluff/ ~Angst

Warnings: Mentions of case, usual cm stuff, but mostly fluff

Requested by @definitelynotkatesblog​ (ily Katie!!)

A/N: Okay guys be ready, 'cause you're in a full ride for a fluff fic with baby Reid ;) I just fking love writing baby Reid, he's *screams internally* (you got the idea) anyway, enjoy!!!

Word count: 5.1k

After shortly visiting his mother after he wasn't able to visit her for a week because of work, he had made his way back to the office, checking his watch that indicated him that it was 5:44PM as he left the building; the weather was quite comfortable when he had gotten outside.

His phone had run out of battery, resulting in hurrying back to the office in case he had been called for a case, as he was way too embarrassed to ask for someone's phone to call JJ. 

Spencer never was comfortable to talk with people, it had been a bit difficult to feel at ease with his colleagues at first, but eventually he got the hang of it, but in general, when he doesn't know people, it's a different thing. 

The first impression that they usually have when he begins rambling about things that come out of his head is that he's either weird, before he explains the "I can read 20 000 words per minute, I have an eidetic memory and an IQ of 187…" thing. 

They also freeze for a minute, trying to understand what he just said, for the simple reason that when he rambles about binary code for example, not everyone tends to understand the way he explains it when he uses the proper terms. 

As he was in a hurry, he didn't manage to get the time he needed for putting his stuff back in his satchel, so a few of the books he had originally taken from his apartment and the ones his mother had given him to read were in his arms. He just had to hope the books wouldn't end up on the floor because he'd stumble into someone on the way.

And a few seconds later, what he hadn't hoped for unfortunately happened.

He hadn't seen the girl who was running in front of him while he was in his thoughts. She seemed to be in a hurry from the way she was running.

He had managed to save a few books from falling to the ground, only two or three had fallen.

"Oh- I-I'm sorry! Let me help!" She had said, panicking.

"It's okay, don't...worry." He reached out his hands towards the girl's hand that was holding the two books, as he looked at her.

She was beautiful.

The kind of beautiful girl that takes your breath away.

It had taken him a few seconds to come back to reality after he had froze when he had seen her face.

"A-are you okay? I hope you...didn't get hurt."

"Don't worry! Everything's okay! I...uh, gotta go, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, have a great day!" She hurried out before running past him down the street.

He hadn't even gotten the time to ask for her name, she was already gone when he had glanced behind him. 

He had let out a sigh, before walking in the opposite way, in hopes to see her again, even if it wouldn't be soon, or never, if she wasn't from around.

*

For once, the beginning of the day had happened to be quite calm, everyone had managed to get more sleep and head to the office at eight o'clock instead of two in the morning.

Spencer had felt relieved about that, just a few days ago, the usual coffee shop he goes to and that happens to be closer to his apartment had reopened after the works that needed to be done were completed.

He didn't feel like drinking the coffee they had at the office, it wasn't horrible, but not as good at the one he usually drinks from the shop.

Before he had stepped inside, he had called Morgan to ask him and eventually the team if they wanted him to grab coffee.

It wasn't a serious thing that could go to the point of a real fight if he wouldn't ask them, but he'd get "lectured" by Morgan for a few minutes before he'd give up.

It only was a simple joke between the members, but Spencer didn't really go well with the joke stuff. 

After he had scribbled down the orders on a paper before hanging up, he stepped inside the shop, waiting in line behind someone.

"I can't join you guys tonight, sorry. I'm not sure that my boss would let me leave early….maybe on Thursday. Okay, yeah. It's gonna be my turn, I gotta go. Yeah, bye Sarah." 

He didn't mean to pay attention when she was talking on the phone, it happened before he even got the time to not do it, but the voice suddenly felt familiar.

'Where have I heard it?'

He searched for a bit in his mind, as the incident from a week ago popped up.

"Oh- I-I'm sorry! Let me help!"

"Don't worry! Everything's okay! I...uh, gotta go, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, have a great day!"

The girl from the other day.

'Was it really her?'

He had asked himself that, because completely different people can have the same voice, and as for her hair, different people can happen to look the same when you can only see their backs.

Spencer had immediately thought that it must have been fate that allowed him to see her again, but he couldn't rush too fast, he wasn't really sure that it was her.

It wasn't until she had stepped further towards the counter when it happened to be her turn to order; causing Spencer to step out of his bubble and step forward as well.

Deep inside him, he knew that it was her, he was sure, but his lack of social interaction made him create an excuse so that he wouldn't have to talk to her.

He didn't want her to think that he's weird because he'd ask for her name, and possibly her number if the conversation goes well, but he couldn't rush.

He still had to manage to place a word in order to initiate the conversation first.

If only.

When her order was done and handed to her after the payment had been given, she was on her way to the exit, suddenly stopping to take her bag from the side to the front before opening it, probably to look for something.

He didn't exactly know what went on in his mind at that moment; his brain must have sent a signal or something for him to move instead of watching her go.

He still doesn't know how he managed to place a word.

"Um...excuse me? I don't know if you remember me but we kinda...uh, talked, well uh...I, we ran into each other first, but don't worry, it was totally ok, you didn't...do anything bad, I- sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, it's okay! I remember you. I'm glad to know that, I was afraid I did something bad, you reassured me now. Thanks for asking me how I was...I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"It's Spencer R-Reid. I also uh...generally introduce myself by doctor, I'm not actually an MD, but I have three PhDs, but uh...since I'm not actually here for professional terms, I thought that doctor would have been too um...strict..? I…"

'You're rambling again Spencer, she looks even more confused now.' 

"Is Spencer fine then?"

"Y-yeah, it is. What should I...call you?"

"Oh, y/n is just fine." 

"Um...okay. Y/N," He paused, as he desperately tried to convince himself to ask her the question that had been in his mind since he had seen her. 

"I know all of this is sudden, because we barely know each other and I may seem kind of weird because of what I'm asking but, what about we uh...see each other later, hang out, you know?"

"Yeah, why not? I'm free tomorrow, what about 2PM, same place? You'll show me some of your books, I guess. I really liked the blue one you had, I can't remember the name."

"Oh, t-that one?." He said, rapidly taking it from his bag to show it to her as she nodded.

"That one, yeah, it really sounds interesting, will you tell me more about it tomorrow?"

"I will."

"Great! I can't wait, see you tomorrow."

"See you." He said, as he watched her making her way to the exit before disappearing in the corner of the street.

Well, turns out it wasn't as bad as he had imagined it would be in his head. At least that's one thing done. 

He couldn't wait for that day, and the next one to go by so that he could finally talk to her. He wanted to show her the book, answer her questions, give her information, he wanted to hear her voice, see her expressions. It had only taken just a glance to fall in love with her.

She might not feel the same way now, but even seeing her would be enough.

The excitement and waiting had been worth it when he had seen her again. He was already there for an hour, he didn't want to be late and made her wait at all. It never was his type to be late, especially if he's about to spend time with a person he likes.

She was wearing a beige cardigan along with a white top under it, and black jeans, tucked under her black shoes. He had noticed every single detail. 

Someone else would have probably found it weird and compared that behavior to a psychopath's; but he couldn't just give a single glance at her and stop looking, but eventually, he'd had to stop staring if he didn't want to scare her.

When he had begun talking with her, he understood what people meant when they felt like they knew someone for an eternity. 

Spencer had felt at ease when they talked, she'd listen to him, even if he noticed that she had understood half of what he had said, but still tried to somehow figure it out before he had explained, and kinda understood and didn't at the same time.

He had noticed that she'd put her thumb on her lips every time she was thoughtful.

He clearly had the behavior of a psychopath by picking up everything she'd do; but he couldn't help himself but look at her features, her manners, the way her hair bounced back and forth, the way her eyes lightened up when a subject she appreciated came up in the conversation.

In that moment, she was the only thing his mind was focused on. He hadn't even noticed that he had barely drunk the half of his cup that was now cold when he had put his hands on it. 

He was too mesmerized by her to notice it.

Who would have thought that the small genius of the office, the one that not a single member of the team would imagine he'd talk to a girl, would actually talking to one, plus, managed to be the one to initiate the conversation? That clearly seemed impossible until that day.

But even if it seemed unreal, she was here, in front of him. 

It wasn't a dream.

What made him think it was a dream was because y/n was way out of her league, if someone would see them together they'd probably ask themselves how he did to talk with a girl that beautiful, from his point of view.

If she hadn't talked when he had started blanking, none of them would have been able to talk. She seemed more confident, but he still had noticed her hesitance when she started her sentences, or didn't know if she could ask for an easier meaning of his rambling.

Even if the most nervous of the two was probably him, he had told her not to hesitate if she needed to ask a question about whatever he was saying.

The team had often made him know that he often was talking without explaining, which caused him to have to explain everything from the beginning with easier terms, instead of the proper ones that no one could even understand if they didn't actually know the meaning beforehand.

They haven't talked about work at all, they just forgot about it. To Spencer, they were like two teenagers hanging out in a coffee shop after school. 

They had talked about books, their music taste, even if the conversation had mainly been made by her as Spencer was more fond of books than music, so, the conversations about books had been started by him in general.

She knew some books, but she wasn't reading often, and had admitted that she didn't know many authors, which Spencer gladly helped by proposing a hundred of authors.

He had unconsciously ended up overwhelming her a bit after proposing ten authors in a row; she had to gently stop him to ask him to come back to some of the authors he had listed.

But, nonetheless, the free hour and the few minutes had gone smoothly, and way too fast. 

"Shit, it's already 3:20. Um...do you want to stay in touch?"

"You mean that you want my...number?"

"Yeah. Gimme your phone genius." She said, as Spencer had nervously taken in from his pocket to give it to her, as she entered her number, handing it back when she was done. "I've already sent a message so I know who it is. I really liked talking to you, that was nice."

"I-I liked it too. It's not everyday that I get to chat about books with someone else. I don't...really have a lot of people to talk it with."

"Well now you have someone. I would have told you to call me whenever you want, but I doubt my boss would like to see me on a call that's not related to work, so it would be in the evening, in case you want to talk."

"Same here. I'm pretty busy all day, but um...would you uh, like to hang out again sometime? I...it just crossed my mind, and I'd really like to hang out with you again. If you want, of course."

"Don't worry, it's okay. You know that I wouldn't dare to say no, I like to hang out with you too."

"So uh, if we can this week again, what do you say about two or six in the afternoon, tomorrow? I'll let you know if I can."

"You mean...like a date?"

"Yeah, I guess so?"

"Oh, a date it is then. I'll let you know too." She spontaneously answered, as she took her stuff and got up from her seat. "It sucks that we have to go, I wish we could have had more time, but unfortunately, we both work."

"Sucks, yeah. The hour went by fast." 

"It did. Way too fast." She let out a sigh, glancing at the door. "Well uh...see you later, I have to go n-now." She stuttered, as she waved at him before stepping out the shop.

"See you later y/n." 

And that was it, he definitely was head over heels with her. 

*

He suddenly found himself waking up in a start in the middle of a night when his phone began ringing.

It took him a few seconds to realize what was just happening, as he took the phone and answered before missing the call.

"What…? It's 4AM."

"Reid, it's Morgan, and yeah it's 4. We got a case so you gotta come."

"Seriously…? Okay, I'll be there in 15." 

"Got it. Don't be late." Morgan said, hanging up.

What an awesome way to start the day.

Just yesterday, he thought that his day would be calm, just for once. 

Well, he was wrong.

He grunted as he got up from the bed, before turning his lamp on in order to manage to see something instead of trying to find the light switch with the little light that was here.

It never took him a lot of time to get ready in the morning in general, he wasn't the type of person to linger when he'd get ready, he'd just go to the bathroom first to take a quick shower, taking his clothes in with him so he wouldn't have to search for them in his closet, he'll just have to dry up and put them on to save time.

Once he was done with the tasks he had in mind; he quickly checked that he had everything he'd needed, and proceeded to exit his apartment to make his way to work.

On his way, he had received a few messages to which he had answered, but accidentally went on y/n's contact.

'Shit.'

They were supposed to have a date today; and whether the case is nearby or in another state, he won't come back for at least more than a day, and probably won't have much time for the kind of chat they had the other day.

Well, that's another great way to start the day, because now he has to cancel a date he had been waiting for, and doesn't even know when they could set another day, or if it would even be possible at all.

The very least he could do, and the only one, would be to contact her to let her know.

Hopefully they'll be able to reschedule.

*

Turns out another killer decided to make the case longer, so turns out they had to reschedule once again.

He had messaged her earlier in the day before going in the jet, and the case happened to be longer than expected because they'd just discovered that another unsub could be involved. 

And as if it wasn't already bad, he was using the same m.o, but wasn't targeting the same type of victims, it totally was different. If he could say it that way, they just had 'another case'.

The week was going amazingly great, he wasn't even sure if the second rescheduling would even happen, no one could know of a case in advance, the only way for them to know was per a call. 

He would have to give her the same excuse every time.

She had kept sending messages as; 'it's okay.', 'don't worry', 'it's no big deal', but he couldn't figure out whether it truly didn't bother her, or if she pretended like it didn't bother her.

He didn't tell her what exactly his job was, so it really pained him to have to give the same excuse. She would probably start to wonder if he's not lying at some point later.

 Spencer really didn't want her to think he was making up excuses because he wants to avoid y/n, it's the opposite; he'd like to see her so bad, if he could just go and take the first plane to Quantico, he'd do it.

God, he hated that. It truly wasn't something he liked to do, especially to her in this situation. She really was nice, caring, attentive, an awesome person; he didn't like to put her in that situation at all.

He would have liked to have a second choice, but he didn't have any. He could only send her a message to let her know. He couldn't see her, but he couldn't bear imagining how disappointed she must have been.

His thoughts about what she must have been thinking were probably exaggerated after he thought of it. He could be worrying for nothing, and she could just be okay with it, as she told in her messages. He really hoped she didn't think he was avoiding her.

Let's hope they'll be able to reschedule.

*

"Again? God, is it ever gonna stop? I'm tired of it." Spencer slighted, he had to reschedule...again. 

"Trust me kid, everyone is. It's been a hell of a week we just had." Morgan answered Spencer, as he leaned back in his seat. "What got you so frustrated? You're not like that usually."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on kid, I can see that you have something on your mind. I would say that it was your mom, but even when you don't see her for a week, a call is enough for you to be calm. So...it is a girl?"

"What? No, it's not! I'm j-just frustrated, that's all! There's uh, nothing else."

"Then if there's 'nothing', why are you getting so nervous suddenly? You can tell me if you have a girl, we're like brothers Spencer."

"You know that you can really get annoying sometimes?"

"No. Probably because I'm not. Who do you think I am? I'm Derek Morgan, a funny and charming man." 

"Funny and charming, yeah. Clearly, the lack of sleep is seriously affecting your brain."

"I can assure you it isn't. Let me remind you that this whole conversation started because you didn't want to admit you had a girl."

"I don't have a girl, we just talk, we're not together."

"So you admit that you…sort of have one?"

"Fine, I kinda have one. But nothing serious is going on."

"I wouldn't have imagined that you'd manage to get a girl to talk to you one day."

"Why? Does everyone think I can't have a girlfriend here?"

"Mostly." Emily interrupted. "You can barely talk to girls in general. Well, it depends."

"What depends?"

"Lila Archer." Morgan answered.

"If you're talking about the kiss, she's the one who started!"

"And you kept going." Emily said.

"Okay- Where is the conversation going guys? I don't see any correspondence between the subject we were talking about and Lila." 

"If you say so, pretty boy."

"There's no 'if you say so.'. You're really annoying Derek. I'm gonna see if they need help in the other room. Bye." Spencer got up from his seat, waving at the two agents, before walking away.

*

Rescheduling.

Again.

He was sure that she was about to lose her patience at this point. 

And considering the amount of paperwork that would be waiting for him after the closure of the case, he began asking himself if they'd ever had a single minute one day.

He got out of the building, deciding to call her this time.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi y/n, it's Spencer."

"Oh, do we have to reschedule again?"

"Yeah. Again."

"Spencer, is something wrong? It's been three times already."

"I know. It's just that….there's something I haven't told you." 

"And...what is it?"

"I...wasn't going to tell you at first, but...I work for the FBI."

"That's why? You could have told me, I wouldn't have been mad; but, if you didn't want us to see each other again, you could have let me know at least."

"Wait, no- I do want us to see each other again! I was just...really busy at the office, and I...didn't know how to tell you...that I work for the FBI. I didn't want to avoid you, not at all."

"It really is okay. I'm glad that you told me now. Thanks."

"I didn't want to lie to you anymore. I was already sad whenever I had to send you a message."

"I was a bit sad too, I really want to see you. Well, now that I know the reason why, call me again when you want to reschedule, it can be a real meeting, or just a call."

"I'm really gonna do my best, I swear y/n. I'll let you know as soon as possible." 

"I'll wait for your call then."

"Okay, uh...have a great day."

"You too." She said, as Spencer hung up, visibly looking irritated because of the situation.

*

The week had been surprisingly calm. 

Surprisingly, because by now, JJ would have come by to announce a new case, but she didn't. When everyone had seen her, she was walking calmly, not in a rush.

This was weird.

The past few days, when he'd finally think he could call y/n, JJ would burst in the office. But this time, she didn't. 

Today could really be a calm one. It could be. 

If he happened to have luck today, he could finally hang out with y/n. No more rescheduling. 

As everyone was either busy with paperwork, daydreaming, or doing something else, the office wasn't as noisy at it usually was. Only the sound of the doors, phones ringing and a few calm voices would eventually be heard by everyone.

The team's tasks had suddenly been interrupted by the voice of Rossi who stepped in the bureau.

"Guys, I was wondering, since we apparently don't have anything to do, what about a dinner party tonight, my place? Just thought about it." He asked, as a few sentences of agreement were soon heard. "And Reid, you're coming this time, don't you dare decline."

"I uh…plan to see someone. So, I don't really know."

"Then bring them to the party. I'm sure we'll like whoever you'll bring. It's all solved." Rossi clapped his hands together, turning to the other side when Emily had brought his attention.

'I guess it's happening then.'

He quietly got out of the bureau, walking in the direction of an empty conference room, closing the door behind him, before taking his phone from his pocket to dial a number he knew so well that he could type it with his eyes closed.

"Oh, hi Spencer, what's going on?"

"Are you free tonight? At um...8PM?"

"Yeah, I actually am. You know that I never have anything to do. Where do you want to go?"

"Actually, it's a surprise. I'll come to pick you up, uh…would it be too intrusive to ask for your adress?"

"No, not at all. This is wow...exciting. We'll finally get to see each other."

"Yeah, I know. It's been a while since we were supposed to see each other, but I swear, it's for real this time, I won't call you to cancel, only to let you know I'm coming."

"Well, don't forget to call then. I tend to overstress, so if I don't get a call, or even a text, I might explode."

"I'll call, don't worry. And, don't forget to send your address. I don't want to ask the tech analyst to spy on you."

"Alright, alright, I'll send it after the call, I promise. I have to go now, sorry. I'll see you at 8."

"I'll see you at 8. Bye." 

Holy. 

Spencer thought he might explode. His whole thoughts were full of excitement, he finally was about to see her after a week or rescheduling bullshit because of the work. 

All he had to hope for now was for the evening to go well; she didn’t knew any of the members, they didn’t know her as well, plus, Spencer didn’t really know if Morgan had let everyone know that he had met a girl, let’s hope not.

*

As he was about to go, he had took his phone out of his pocket to see the address, before noticing that she had forgotten to send him the address, nonetheless, he had to shortly call her so that y/n could indicate it to him.

He had drove to her place in just a few minutes, and couldn’t believe that she happened to live in a street he’d walk by often.

What a small world.

It almost was like they were meant to meet each other at some point; and fate reunited them. 

He knew that he had said it at least a billion times since he had first seen her, but she really was pretty. She had a black dress on, which was under a thin jacket of the same color, along with white heels, that weren’t too high.

Spencer had even wondered if she hadn’t put heels so that she could be a bit taller, and somehow manage to reach his height. He didn’t want to mention it to make her uncomfortable in case it happened to be what she wanted to do, but if it was that, he really found it cute, and quite funny.

The car ride had happened to be more entertaining that he thought it would be, the conversation simply started with a single talk about books, and a few minutes later, it was about plants. He really like to be capable to talk with someone that was at ease to talk about anything that’d cross his mind.

She didn’t seem to be uncomfortable, so that reassured him a lot, he stressed a lot about it.

God, he couldn’t believe that he actually was talking with her. He had already mentionned it when he had to reschedule again, but she was way too beautiful for him. She’d be able to freeze his mind with a single glance.

She truly was amazing.

“Spencer? Is everything okay? I think we just arrived, you stopped the car”

“What? Oh, I-I’m sorry, I got distracted. And y-yeah we just arrived.”

“That place is...huge.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I thought that too the first time. You’ll quickly adjust to it, Rossi is really nice, you’ll feel at ease in no time. Come on, we should get going.” Spencer said, as they both opened the door that was on their respective side, before walking in the alley towards the door.

They soon were welcomed by a blonde girl after Spencer had rang the doorbell. She seemed a bit shocked of what was in front of her eyes.

“Oh my god, did you bring your girlfriend Spencer? I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Uh I...we are uh, just dating, for now, it’s uh-”

“We’re not together yet, we just talked, it’s our first date tonight.” Y/N had interrupted Spencer, as she could clearly see that he was struggling with forming a sentence.

“Oh, wow, it’s great! I’m happy to know that. I’m Penelope, by the way. You can call me Penny if you want. Come inside guys, I’ll introduce her to the rest of the team.” Penelope said, looking at Y/N, as she closed the door once they were in.

“There you are pretty boy! I see you brought the mystery girl with you. I’m Derek.”

“I’m y/n. It’s nice to meet everyone, I heard a lot about the team when I talked with Spencer.”

“I hope he didn’t tell bad things about us, we’re nothing but nice.”

“No, don’t worry, he didn’t.” She said, as she glanced behind his shoulder at the people walking towards them.

“We have a new face here apparently.” The brunette said.

“Yeah, I’m the new specimen. It’s nice to meet you, I’m y/n.”

“Nice to meet you too; I’m Emily, this is JJ, and the two guys over there are Rossi and Hotch.” Emily said, as she motioned the concerned people to y/n. 

“Everyone really seems nice.”

“Don’t worry, everyone is.” Spencer interrupted. “What do you say we uh...go over there so you can talk to others...?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” She smiled,as she walked to the direction of the living room where the two men stood.

The evening had gone even more better than he thought it would. They all had been amazingly welcoming with her, and as he had noticed, they all had felt like they had known each other for more than just a few hours.

Spencer couldn’t truly wait to spend more time with her.

[disfordevineaux]

Character Parallels: Chase vs Julia

First off, let me start with:

SEASON 3 SPOILER WARNING.

This is somewhat a continuation from my original Chase Devineaux Case Study I did a while back. Feel free to read it to fully understand the context behind my opinions and thoughts on Chase, Julia and such discussed below. Let’s begin.

Although Season 3 was short, it was still a season that provided us with a new potential story catalyst to propel the plot in the form of major character development.

A bit of context:

Throughout the series, Chase Devineaux was always sceptical and often outright against the idea that Carmen Sandiego could have ulterior motives (due to his ill-fated meetings with the said person driving that home and on the surface she literally is stealing), an idea his previous partner, Julia Argent, was the spokesperson for. To quote a long story short, Chase was not too pleased or in agreement with the idea proposed by Julia: Carmen Sandiego isn’t the real enemy. Others shunned this idea too (Zari & Chief) and consistently was never outright ‘proved’ from a physical evidence standpoint. Both stood on opposite ends of the ‘who really is Carmen Sandiego’ spectrum. This was the major theme of division between Chase and Julia, a plot point further driven by the unlucky streak he suffered when dealing with Team Red, and VILE. Mostly he, and ACME, could not separate the entities completely, even up until the end of Season 3.

In the S03E04, ‘The Masks of Venice Caper’, after 3 seasons of being moments away from Carmen Sandiego at every step, Chase succeeds. After a long and clearly exhausting chase throughout the streets of Venice, he is able to finally catch up.

He leaps aboard after making the jump and officially bears witness to the handing over of goods, something which Julia was only ever afforded. Chase is blindsided at her easy surrender, simple innocent explanation and instantly clean escape. He does not go after her, instead stands bewildered at what she said, leaving him with the important line of: ‘Jules would understand’, (because she would with her prior knowledge and experience), to digest what just occurred.

This was not what he was expecting, as on other occasions they met him with hostility or evasion without explanation. Instead, he is treated as if he were Julia, filling the role as a substitute, as she is no longer on the scene to be the recipient of the ‘handoff’. At this moment, thanks to Carmen’s finale line, it all clicks. Previous conversations run through his mind, visibly questioning, as he makes the connection before being interrupted by Agent Zari, congratulating him on stopping the robbery.

The confirmation that he finally gets it is reaffirmed by a theme of a ‘silent partner’ which he now uses himself with commenting, awkwardly, that ‘I did not do it alone’ (A call back to S01E09, see below). This is the formal affirmation that he now understands that Carmen is not the enemy. There was no way he would have ever connected the dots without visual verification, experiencing it for himself first hand, a situation Julia experienced multiple times by fortune, something people forget when watching him grapple with his inability to detain the ‘thief’. Julia was provided with many chances throughout season 1-2 to work with or in situational coincidence with Carmen and aid in the protection of potential goods in harm’s way. (Most notably S02E04)

Julia’s departure, though disappointing to fans (and myself), was a crucial plot device to enable Chase to be finally exposed to the events which would lead him to change his mind for the better. Unless by some miracle he was chosen as the recipient of Team Red’s well wishes with Julia on the scene and/or in tow, it would have taken far longer for the realisation to be made. An understanding that is only able to be fully recognised by Julia and Chase. The only two people around long enough and familiar enough with Carmen Sandiego and the entire case to be in any position to come to the right conclusion about her intentions.

As many may say, seeing is believing. And seeing was what he needed to believe, both Chase and Julia needing that direct witnessing to understand. Seems the red lining of his original coat meant something after all.

(Do note: Julia was more inclined and susceptible to a conflicting opinion due to her heightened observation skills from the get-go but still needed visual confirmation, which she got, to stand strong with her diverging opinion on Carmen Sandiego.)

The Parallels:

In the next and final episode of S03E05, "The Jolly Good Show Caper", we are greeted with a callback to S01E03’s episode "The Sticky Rice Caper". Instead of Chase and Julia being on their way to interrogate Gray in the Paris Interpol office, Agent Zari and Chase are walking through the halls of the Italian Interpol office to interrogate their latest captured VILE operative, Neal the Eel. From a clearly visual standpoint (see below), the makeup of the scene and placement of characters is a direct callback to the dynamic between both Chase and Julia, and now between Chase and Zari.

S01E03 VS S03E05

Chase now takes the place of Julia, physically and mentally, who listens to a rundown of the situation, proposes a vague counter-argument which is disregarded by Zari. Chase is now wanting to look beneath the surface of the robbery or incident (like Julia always did), unlike before. Similar to the situation in S01E03, Zari is unwavering in her opinion that Carmen and the new detainee are in cahoots, Chase stating that his previous statement was merely ‘entertaining all possible angles’, a comment he further elaborates on to Chief at the end of the episode.

S03E05:

S01E03:

After coming to the interrogation room, Zari dramatically pushes it open in the same style as Chase did seasons earlier, halting her statement to reveal the suspect has ‘escaped’. Zari is stumped, Chase not too phased at this revelation and quickly checks the documents to understand what has occurred, once again.

S03E05

S01E03

Chase again, takes the stance of the ‘Julia’, all-knowing and proceeds to correctly recount the possible scenario that they have found themselves in, having experienced this once before. This ‘recounting of events’ is confirmed to the audience by Chase’s voice monologuing of sorts over an escaping by boat, Neal.

S03E05

S01E03

This scene is interesting for obvious reasons: it’s a direct call back to a later episode and the dynamic within. It is also a pivotal moment we see that Chase was always fully aware of what is happening around him, and really only required the correct pieces to fall into his lap at all the right times to now be the new ‘Julia’ in the dynamic. That style of a sequence of events is what helped Julia see the truth in Carmen’s actions in the first place. Chase has always been cognizant of the events around him, even if they could be contradictory to his main beliefs. Actively choosing not to present it to the audience, in favor of the popular opinion presented by and through ACME, their agents their leader that Carmen Sandiego is the enemy. Half of this being pressure, wanting to succeed in his work, gain praise for it and lack thereof witnessing first hand some sort of ‘positive’ reaffirmation of Carmen’s good intentions and that he really thought he was right. We see this through his sheer self disappointment and embarrassment when facing Chief after mistakes he had no true control over.

Towards the end of the same episode. Carmen is ‘captured’ in London. Agent Zari and Chase receive this development while travelling, Chase jumping out of his seat surprised, shocked, concerned that she was detained saying ‘that is terrible!’. Zari is notable taken aback, Chase quickly tries to collect himself and adjusts his statement and ends with ‘that. we were not the ones to make the arrest.’ Time has passed since the escape of Neal, Chase left to stew with his changing opinions and it clearly appears as if he no longer wishes for Carmen’s capture in the traditional sense, knowing that what she has been doing, is not criminally based. It’s unsure what his plans are when facing Carmen once again, but it at the very least no longer her capture.

Not only are Chase and Julia’s mindsets on the same path, but Chase is also no longer the driver between the pair. A fun nod to how Chase always drove, if dangerously at times.

After events unfold, Chase and Zari soon discover the planted crown jewels in Roundabouts office after a tip off, they run to retrieve them and Chase stops to glance out the window, witnessing Carmen Sandiego flying away from the scene. This is important, if a small detail, in once again showing us he has changed. He is far more observant and is the new candidate to witness the usual things Julia would if she were there. He stopped, was in the right place at the right time, recognised first hand the role Carmen plays in the grand scene of things, as a protector who runs interference.

When things have seemingly been resolved, Chase and Zari are in conference with Chief who details how she deems that it was all an elaborate plan where Roundabout and Carmen were in cahoots. In what is shown to be his first moment ever displaying his new and differing opinions to Chief on the events prior, he details how, maybe, Carmen left the items here for them to discover purposefully. Chief glares at him silently, Chase displaying an awkward reluctant smile, then ignores his opinion moving on. She informs him that it is his job to interrogate Roundabout for answers on how Carmen is connected to him, disregarding his prior though they are not united until Zari receives a phone call. They are informed that Roundabout never reached the destination and has escaped.

S03E05

A Sum Up:

In conclusion, Chase has officially changed opinions on Carmen Sandiego and has fallen into the role Julia left for him when she departed from ACME. Even with the pre-existing knowledge of the hacking by Player and all other indiscretions against him perpetrated by Team Red. He has been through a journey and come out the end with a new perspective

Agent Zari has now acted as both Julia’s and now Chase’s, well ‘Chase’, when it comes to the dynamic of the pairing. In many instances when consulting Chief, Julia has been informed to essentially ‘do her job’ or is only half-listen too, in a subtle way, instead of coming up with theories that don’t necessarily correlate with the majority. This all comes ahead in S03E02 ‘The Day of the Dead Caper’, where Chief is finally blunt with Julia (see below). The same thing has now befallen Chase (see below), except with little to no lead up to instant rejection. All of Chief’s patience for differing opinions was used up, all on Julia it appears.

S03E05

S03E02

The summation of all this produces a new defender of Carmen Sandiego; Chase Devineaux. The likely future outcome will be Chase attempting to contact, seek an audience with Carmen as Julia once attempted, and would succeeded in part from time to time. It is unlikely how well this will go considering Chase and is usually outwardly expressive with his determination to arrest her. One can only hope he is given a chance to rectify his past miscalculations and is able to further support these new set beliefs to ACME, Carmen Sandiego and himself. 

One can also hope Julia returns, maybe by a proposition from Chase, who will no doubt have trouble enacting his new purpose of true justice, and seeking answers/help from Carmen Sandiego. This would also promote a chance for an adult discussion, an apology, one sorely lacking in Season 3 between them. With this new air of familiarity between their opinions on Carmen, a rare opinion it appears, a chance for a reformation of a proper team dynamic is possible.

They lacked a connection throughout season 1 and 2 which aided in their bitter union, both full-heartedly, if not realised or intentional, determined to have their opinion victorious over the other to themselves and to those around them. Chase far more openly critical and cynical, Julia keeping such comments more hidden and modest, but also far more willing to stand up for herself to and in front of Chief. (Prominent examples seen in S02E02,4 & 8, S03E02) Chase was aware of his poor behaviour but found it justified in a sense that he truly believed she was misguided, that he was correct about Carmen Sandiego, now knowing she clearly was right all along. (This does not excuse/justify his rudeness in any sense, but can explain it.)

They would be a great team, now finally on the same page but unfortunately separated. Julia has the nohow and Chase possess the drive to make it happen. They do share those traits, each more natural at one over the other. Neither are willing to give up without a fair fight, and proudly declare and justify themselves at every turn, both proud individuals. (Julia far more modest in comparison). If they worked together, who knows the possibilities, if they can change ACME’s stance on Carmen Sandiego or if they decide to abandon it altogether and aid the other fighter of VILE, Team Red. Either way, it was clear Julia could not do it all on her own and I’m sure we will see Chase realise and suffer the same fate. Hopefully reasoning that he needs help, not getting it to form anyone else, remembering Julia, seeking her out and bringing her back to ACME.

Her reason for leaving ACME was that her heart was no longer in it, her passion snubbed out. Her work now directly contradicts her beliefs which are doubted by all those around her at every turn.

A sad but visibly true thing as no one else in ACME was willing to consider her way any longer, her opinion not shared by anyone else, a very demoralising thing to go through. She was always fighting and standing up on her own.

With Chase now sharing this opinion, the burden of seeing and knowing the truth, it will be easier to stand behind with full conviction, to attempt to highlight the innocence Carmen Sandiego has hidden in plain sight, together. Only time will tell how it all plays out.