#my professor always went on about how we shouldn't do it

[theabyssgazesalsointoyou]

i can't stop thinking about how jason opens his speech with 'webster's defines promise as a declaration that something will or will not be done' in promise. like. that's THE most cliche way to start an essay or a speech it's so funny

[forestdeath1]

Canon Sirius through quotes

Part 3. Harshness and toughness (and how Sirius Black differs from James Potter). It's long. Really long.

Sirius isn't a soft crybaby. His harshness (and even cruelty) goes beyond the silly teenage pranks we usually see in fanfiction. Sirius is often either whitewashed by newer fans or overly demonized by anti-Marauders fans. Sirius has a tough exterior but a heart of gold. He's not childish and had to grow up early, though he can still be quite fun.

‘Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,’ said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. ‘Of all the people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought ... .’

"Of all the people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought" – this shouldn't be taken literally. Rosmerta saw many others regularly, Dumbledore, Lily, Remus, and many others, and out of all of them, Sirius Black was the last who could turn to the Dark side? Seriously? Did Sirius walk around with a halo and angel wings?

One trait that is always emphasized in his appearance is his haughty, bored look.

Rosmerta speaks metaphorically, not literally. She saw Sirius once a month or two when they went out to Hogsmeade to have fun and drink. In those moments, Sirius was lively, funny and noisy (especially lively after running away from home), and perhaps he even flirted with Rosmerta in a childish manner, melting the heart of the adult woman.

Sirius can be funny, although his humor is always edging towards dark:

"Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose.’ 

Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset. 

‘Sirius!’ she said reproachfully. ‘Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher, I’m sure he’d respond. After all, you are the only member of his family he’s got left, and Professor Dumbledore said –’ 

‘So, what are Umbridge’s lessons like?’ Sirius interrupted. ‘Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?’

Moreover, he interrupts Hermione, not letting her finish her point. He sharply outlines if he doesn't want to listen.

"the stuffed elf-heads on the hall wall wore Father Christmas hats and beards"

Dark humor.

‘Kreacher is cleaning,’ the elf repeated. ‘Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black –’ 

‘And it’s getting blacker every day, it’s filthy,’ said Sirius.

Here he responds with a clear "Black" shade. His mother also loved to talk about filth.

‘Sirius – it’s me ... it’s Peter ... your friend ... you wouldn’t ...’ Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. ‘There’s enough filth on my robes without you touching them,’ said Black.

And again. And here’s his mother:

‘Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers –’ 

‘Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth ...’

Sirius desperately wants to be unlike the Blacks, but he is still Sirius Black.

‘I thought it was the perfect plan ... a bluff ... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you ... it must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.’

Sirius's humor isn't the only harsh thing about him. Even though here he has a reason – after Azkaban he met James's traitor – his way of speaking reflects his overall personality. The way one speaks is a mirror of personality, even if Sirius has PTSD, it only exposes even more vividly what he might control in a calm state.

‘Nasty temper he’s got, that Sirius Black.’ (Peeves)

At the same time, yes, he can be cheerful and infect everyone around him with his cheerfulness. If he's in a sombre mood, he creates a quite oppressive atmosphere around him that everyone feels. Just as with a good mood – everyone feels it.

Harry could not remember Sirius ever being in such a good mood; he was actually singing carols, apparently delighted that he was to have company over Christmas. 

-

Sirius tramping past their door towards Buckbeak’s room, singing ‘God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs’ at the top of his voice. 

-

Sirius’s delight at having the house full again, and especially at having Harry back, was infectious. He was no longer their sullen host of the summer; now he seemed determined that everyone should enjoy themselves as much, if not more than they would have done at Hogwarts, and he worked tirelessly in the run-up to Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating with their help.

But the ability to be cheerful is in no way connected to being very harshn at the same time. This is precisely the case with Sirius.

Of all the Marauders, only Sirius is really harsh and can be truly dangerous (the author wrote about him, “The best-looking, most rebellious, most dangerous of the four marauders”). James was also a bully, but he's not harsh, despite the fact that it was he who pulled down Snape's trousers. Why? I think Sirius was already aware of what they were doing. James – not. Without awareness, it's too early to speak of any harshness and cruelty. Sirius had this awareness and still continued to do it.

Let's consider the reactions of Sirius and James in comparison.

‘Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?’ 

Sirius did not smile. ‘My whole family have been in Slytherin,’ he said.

‘Blimey,’ said James, ‘and I thought you seemed all right!’ 

Sirius grinned. ‘Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?’

A small note: Sirius didn't even react to James's "I'd leave", even though he knew his whole family was from Slytherin, and he was likely to go there too.

James lifted an invisible sword. ‘“Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!” Like my dad.’ Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

‘Got a problem with that?’ ‘No,’ said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. ‘If you’d rather be brawny than brainy –’

It was Snape who starts the confrontation on a personal level. James in his insults in this memory refers to moral qualities. "Who wants to be in Slytherin?" Only bad people. He is prejudiced against Slytherin because Slytherin is evil. Voldemort is gaining momentum. The first Muggle-born Minister was recently ousted. Attacks are happening here and there. Dark forces are growing. More and more of the pure-blood society talks about "Mudbloods" not belonging in this world. And "amazingly", they all turn out to be from Slytherin. James sees himself as a noble knight "James lifted an invisible sword", and he is against Slytherin not so much personally as against the moral component of Slytherin.

‘Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?’ interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

Sirius immediately strikes at Snape's personality. Sirius is sharp-tongued, self-assured, and likely accustomed to considering others below himself. He probably assessed James as his equal right away. Brave, cheerful, sincere.

'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.'

'Oooooo...'

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

'See ya, Snivellus!' a voice called, as the compartment door slammed...

James tried to trip Snape. James most often uses physical/magical force. He trips Snape, he pulls down Snape's trousers, he uses most of the spells on Snape in SWM. But it's Sirius who goes after Snape's personality. It looks like James has concocted a "noble justification" for his behavior and attitude and punishes Snape for existing just as he is.

Sirius, on the other hand, hardly uses magical/physical force in memories; he finds painful points in Snape's personality – from character to appearance, intentionally demeaning his personal traits.

Moreover, it was Sirius who focused on Snape's appearance. No one, except him, places such an emphasis on Snape's unattractive appearance and his untidiness.

'Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,'

Very vivid epithets. Sirius is very eloquent when it comes to demeaning someone he dislikes.

Moreover, it's James who's the attention seeker. It's James who plays with the snitch, drawing attention, glancing at the girls by the lake, and ruffling his hair to show everyone how cool, strong, brave, and awesome he is.

After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn’t tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention. Harry noticed that his father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though to keep it from getting too tidy, and he also kept looking over at the girls by the water’s edge.

While Sirius, likely, isn't much interested in societal validation. Sirius is more reserved, with firmer boundaries, he's not as interested in public adoration as James might be.

Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.

This is a typical expression for Sirius – bored and haughty. He spent nearly five full years in Gryffindor alongside James, and the bored and haughty expression is still with him. It's not just a random trait in his character – it's one of the pillars of his personality, reflecting his attitude towards random people around him.

‘Put that away, will you,’ said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer, ‘before Wormtail wets himself with excitement.’

As I've said, Sirius cuts with his words without a knife. They've been studying together for five years, been friends with Peter, and he jokes about Peter like this. I think they all joked about each other in the same way, just James's "jokes" are blunt and probably he just says whatever comes to mind, whereas Sirius's are more subtle and hurtful.

Moreover, when people say this is the only episode we know of bullying by James and Sirius and that it's the worst in their history, that's not correct. This episode is the worst in Snape's life. And not because they pulled down his trousers. But because he lost Lily forever that day. This episode, likely, was quite typical for the Marauders. They were in a good mood, had finished exams, Snape just happened to pass by, there were no obvious reasons for this bullying. Harry sifted through their detention records, and there were many, very many, and how many more when they weren't caught?

Sirius got bored, and there they decided to "have some fun."

‘I’m bored,’ said Sirius. ‘Wish it was full moon.’ 

‘You might,’ said Lupin darkly from behind his book. ‘We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me. Here ...’ and he held out his book. 

But Sirius snorted. ‘I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.’

I won't discuss The Prank here, many have written about it. In general, Sirius doesn't show empathy in everyday interactions even with Remus. Sirius has a heart of gold, but his shell, especially as a teenager – tough, harsh, sharp, and cutting. The grown-up Sirius interacts with close people much more politely, though he still occasionally shows his harshness (for example, with Hermione).

‘This’ll liven you up, Padfoot,’ said James quietly. ‘Look who it is ...’ 

Sirius’s head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit. 

‘Excellent,’ he said softly. ‘Snivellus.’

I don't want to justify Sirius and James, but for context – Snape is fascinated by the Dark Arts, hangs out with future Death Eaters (= fascist), and they have mutual dislike from the first year. No, the act is immature, but James justifies it in his head exactly like this – Snape is bad for him, so anything goes, and anyway, "so what?" Sirius doesn't need justifications. He's just bored.

Even when James uses all the spells on Snape, he still glances at the lake:

Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water’s edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.

Why look at the girls by the lake when you're humiliating someone, if you know you're doing something really bad? James genuinely sees himself as a noble knight, deserving of admiration. Moreover, many do admire him (''Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained. Several people watching laughed''), and Lupin mentioned several times that James was popular at school.

‘How’d the exam go, Snivelly?’ said James. 

‘I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,’ said Sirius viciously. ‘There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word.’ 

Again, Sirius harshly targets Snape's personal traits, including his appearance.

‘You – wait,’ he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, ‘you – wait!’ 

‘Wait for what?’ said Sirius coolly. ‘What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?’ 

And again – Sirius strikes with words.

Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened.

‘Wash out your mouth,’ said James coldly. ‘Scourgify!’

And James responds with a spell to what? Snape's insults. He says ‘Wash out your mouth.’ He appeals to the moral side of the issue.

‘I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!’

‘Apologise to Evans!’ James roared at Snape, his wand pointed  threateningly at him. ‘I don’t want you to make him apologise,’ Lily shouted, rounding on James. ‘You’re as bad as he is.’ ‘What?’ yelped James. ‘I’d NEVER call you a – you-know-what!’

This also proves that James is sure he's doing everything right. James is like a volunteer in the allies' army against the fascists, a brave Gryffindor, and his sword is to cast spells on anyone he deems not fitting his moral standards.

‘Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.’

And from the outside, it looked like this.

‘What is it with her?’ said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him. 

‘Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate,’ said Sirius.

And Sirius understands it all too well. Who he is, who James is, and what Lily thinks about it all. Sirius knows about James's crush on Lily and finds it even funny that she rejects him. Likely because Sirius understands that they often cross the line. I don’t think Sirius could have stopped Potter. I don't even think Sirius wanted to stop Potter. He found it all funny. Azkaban, on the other hand, softened Sirius in his interactions with others. It knocked down his pride and arrogance. Showed him that life can be unfair and you don't need to act like a haughty jerk who thinks the world revolves around them.

At school, Sirius was more about psychological bullying, while James was about the physical. Given that James and Sirius were very popular at school and within their house, their bullying was likely directed mostly at Slytherins or at arrogant jerks like themselves who they just "didn't like."

And the adult Sirius understands that they were “arrogant little berks.” And he’s “not proud of it,” but his next words speak for themselves:

“ I think James was everything Snape wanted to be – he was popular, he was good at Quidditch – good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts, and James – whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry – always hated the Dark Arts.”

Sirius justifies James while simultaneously praising him. Justifications always imply a partial denial of guilt. Someone fully aware of their guilt doesn’t seek to justify or be justified. Of course, Sirius said this for Harry's sake too. To ensure Harry didn’t think his father was just a bully for no reason. His father was actually “on the side of good,” is what Sirius wants to convey. About himself, he remains silent. But he doesn't miss the chance to insult Snape again “little oddball.”

Even Remus, as an adult, sincerely justifies James.

‘She started going out with him in seventh year,’ said Lupin. 

‘Once James had deflated his head a bit,’ said Sirius. ‘And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it,’ said Lupin.

 ‘Even Snape?’ said Harry. ‘Well,’ said Lupin slowly, ‘Snape was a special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James so you couldn’t really expect James to take that lying down, could you?’ 

‘And my mum was OK with that?’ 

‘She didn’t know too much about it, to tell you the truth,’ said Sirius. ‘I mean, James didn’t take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?’

Lupin finds a genuine justification for James. The concept of “violence in any form is bad” isn’t fully grasped by them. They follow an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Lupin even was ready to kill Peter, and he insisted that war is not a playground and that killing is sometimes necessary in war. Remus, though gentler and kinder, and preferring not to engage in conflict, genuinely wished Sirius and James hadn't bullied anyone at school, but yet, he still reconciles with all they do and even justifies James.

In Sirius's mind, James may have acted like a fool, but Sirius doesn’t genuinely condemn it. He just thinks they were too arrogant. And Sirius’s behavior after Azkaban (how he became gentler with others) indicates he truly realized – you don't need to belittle everyone you dislike or even like. Yet, Sirius’s harshness, even after Azkaban, didn’t disappear; it was just redirected towards what he genuinely hates.

‘Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons ... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me –’ 

Black made a derisive noise. 

‘It served him right,’ he sneered. ‘Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to ... hoping he could get us expelled ...’

Remus's reactions are much softer, but Sirius’s reaction, even years later, is harsh and even a bit cruel. ‘It served him right.’ Because it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

However, Sirius’s harshness still occasionally breaks through even towards his close ones when he slightly loses control over himself after Azkaban.

‘You’re less like your father than I thought,’ he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. ‘The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James.’ 

‘Well, I’d better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,’ said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. ‘I’ll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?’

Sirius calls themselves “arrogant little berks,” but the peculiarity of Sirius’s arrogance is that it's due to his personal qualities, not external “glamour”.

 ‘I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter – I’ll never understand why I didn’t see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who’d look after you, didn’t you?’

He despises Peter for groveling, for weakness, for the same reasons he despises Regulus, considering him a soft idiot. Sirius’s arrogance was never built on finances or blood purity, on popularity, on playing Quidditch, not on his name, although the family dynamics undoubtedly influenced his pride. But overall, his arrogance is of a different level – that of a rebellious spirit, a very strong person, not like the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy is intentionally depicted as the complete opposite of Sirius Black (in character – the most rebellious of their pure-blood circle and the most sycophantic, and in appearance – black and white).

Sirius and Kreacher's story demonstrates that Sirius does not forgive those he hated and can carry hatred through the years. People usually soften over time, but Sirius has an excuse – Azkaban. Nonetheless, the behavioral pattern remains unchanged. Azkaban does not change the essence of people, it makes certain traits more vivid and pronounced. Sirius became calmer towards the people around him who help fight against evil, he toned down his arrogance and pride (even towards Snape, he no longer hurls insults first, it’s Snape who insults Sirius first), but Sirius became even harsher towards those he hates.

‘Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it’s no good looking like that, you know it’s true. I’ve said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did ... and so did Sirius.’

Harry had no retort. As he watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, he remembered what Dumbledore had said to him, mere hours after Sirius’s death: I do not think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human’s ...

And he himself demonstrates this repeatedly:

At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione’s protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.

Dumbledore believes Sirius showed cruelty to Kreacher through his indifference and neglect. That is, Sirius could shut off his empathy towards a being, despite generally being friendly towards house-elves.

‘He (Sirius) regarded him (Kreacher) as a servant unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike… Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated.’

Sirius was not evil. But the neglect emanating from him was very cruel, harsh, and cold. Sirius can shut away all the good within him towards anyone he despised – “And whatever Kreacher’s faults, it must be admitted that Sirius did nothing to make Kreacher’s lot easier –”

‘– comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he’s back, they say he’s a murderer too –’

‘Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!’ said Sirius irritably as he slammed the door shut on the elf.

However, Sirius likely never killed anyone, even while serving in the "Order."

Regarding his family and even Regulus, Sirius is also harsh. Even if he, like any child, deep down loved his family, it doesn’t matter because his real words and actions are very harsh and aimed at severing ties. The possible love for them deep down only further highlights his harshness and readiness for confrontation.

“I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal ... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them”

Likely, he’s ashamed of them, and his hatred also builds a wall between them and himself.

‘Does it matter if she’s my cousin?’ snapped Sirius. ‘As far as I’m concerned, they’re not my family. She’s certainly not my family. I haven’t seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D’you think I’m proud of having a relative like her?’

And at the same time Dumbledore about James:

‘I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry,’ he said gently. ‘He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it.’

I don’t know how true this is (though likely, the author speaks through Dumbledore here), but considering that Harry himself is a character whose main traits include the ability to understand and forgive others, perhaps James had this to some extent too. But Sirius lacks the ability to forgive, and this is deliberately shown in the book – that he suffered precisely because of his excessive harshness.

In conclusion, Sirius's harshness and toughness is not just teenage arrogance; it's directly a trait of his personality, something that cannot be overlooked when talking about the canonical Sirius, not his sugar-coated substitute in fandom. Sirius had to grow up very early, and all this left its mark on him.

Of all the Marauders, only Sirius is really harsh and can be truly dangerous.

But Sirius was not cruel in a moral-ethical sense, or more precisely – ideologically. There's no reason to believe Sirius is constantly drawn to the dark side or that he's amoral. His constant fight against his family suggests instead that he formed high ideals within himself. No, Sirius is not amoral; he has difficulty with empathy (especially in childhood), a tendency towards aggression and cruelty (mostly in childhood, he controls himself quite well as an adult. Well, for Sirius Black quite well), arrogance, but he very well understands what is right and what is wrong.

‘She’s got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.’

[hanafubukki]

hana, i know you reblogged this post but please,

go wild and brainrot;3

Hello Herri 💕💜🌺

As you have asked for, so shall you receive. I AM STILL ROTTING OVER THIS MAN SO YOU HAVE COME AT THE PERFECT MOMENT (then again do I ever not rot over this fae????)

So that quote just hits me right in the feels, its one of the quotes that just steps on your heart, you know? HTTYD 2 is my favorite movie of the three as well

"Go on, shout. scream! Say something!"

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you."

These two lines are just so so filled with emotions and then you can add so much more feels and angst as well, given how you set up the story line.

SO HERE WE GO, under the cut because I am going to go wild and I ended up writing a few different drabbles.

So, to start of with your idea Herri, I'm going to add a spin on it and more details.

What if Reader was a Fae in this scenario?

So, the situation is similar to HTTYD, but in this case instead of enemies being dragons, we are going with enemies being Humans.

Humans and Fae War will be the setting.

Reader develops sympathy/empathy for the humans, but know that during this time, the Fae are too prideful to sign a treaty with them.

Likewise, humans are just as stubborn.

but the Reader cannot and will not have humans die by their hands, not anymore.

but Reader knows that they are the only ones thinking this way, and knows that their beloved, Lilia, is stubborn and won't change his mind either.

As all problems require, time is needed.

So Reader leaves in the middle of the night without telling anyone.

Time passes, and the war ends, and we come to current times.

You have moved on to another land. You used your magic to hide your Fae features until everything has settled down between the Fae and Humans.

Now that peace has come, you can’t help but wonder, should you go back? Should you reveal yourself?

Coronation Route: You went back home once you heard that Maleficia is stepping down, and her grandson Malleus will be taking her place as King. You have heard how he has a fondness for humans, and even made friends with them. You have heard rumors about how his lover might even be human. You have heard rumors how Lilia is by his side, and so are two guards (one who is human and another who is half fae and half human). You can't help it. You want to go back. You want to see him again. So you go back to your kingdom on the day of the coronation, wearing a robe to cover you. You watch as Malleus and his entourage greet the people and then you see him. He has changed...yet he is the Lilia you love and cherish. You can't help it; you utter his name. He shouldn't have been able to see you, and yet his eyes snapped towards your direction. You turn to leave quietly, hoping against all odds he's hadn't noticed you. But of course, he is the Phantom General, he catches you. You could see that he still has the love he always had for you and then those lines are uttered by you both. You end up breaking down and crying in his arms. You missed him, all these years and your love for each other never faded. It seems there is more than one celebration to celebrate tonight. It was also a night of lovers being reunited after hundreds of years.

NRC Route: I'm thinking of reasons why Fae Reader ended up at NRC and I'm going with they are a professor there. NRC is nothing, if not perfect at hiding secrets and they hid your identity well. That is until you attended the ceremony for the new students and lo and behold, Malleus and Lilia are both part of the new class. You have to force yourself from shaking. You have to stop yourself from looking at Lilia again and again. You can't look at him again. You can't drink him in as if he is water and you are very much parched for him. You try to act normal as you feel eyes on you, and you know it is him. You leave the ceremony right after is it finished, hoping to evade him just a bit longer. What can you say? What can you do? How would you face him after so long? But you have missed him so. Time is taken out of your hands when you see him in your room, while he may not look the same, he is skillful and has been known as the Phantom General after all. He is a silent as the shadows and you can't help it. You break first. You say those words, only for him to call you beautiful in return. You sob as he cups your face and wipes your tears. His arms as warm and comforting as you remember. You two have many years to make up for, and lucky for you both, you two have all the time in the world.

NO ONE LOOK AT ME I AM STILL FEELING SOFT AFTER WRITING THAT JKLWJEDLJFLJL

Now, what if Reader was human?

There's so many different situations I can come up with, but I'm going to go with two of them. One is going to be with a Human and reincarnation trope and another is going to deal with my Yume Hana Asteria.

Reincarnation Route: You were a human who had met the General on the battle field. He was ensnared by a trap set by the humans, but had gotten free. At the cost of grave wounds, you chose to heal his wounds instead of leaving him. You knew that you should have left him be, knew that he would likely kill you. but you couldn't, at the end, he needed help and you wouldn't leave him. He ended up in your care. He wasn't the...greatest patient. He snarled at you and demeaned you, but you let him be. He had many chances to kill you, but never did and that was good enough for you. You ended up dying protecting him. He had tears falling down his face while he cradled you. You told him it was okay and that you cherished your time together. You prayed you two would meet again. You did not know it, but you were the start of why he started softening towards humans. Hundreds of years passed, you had returned as the magic-less Prefect. You two made a connection as if you were soulmates, but neither of you knew why. It was only in the dream world did you both finally understand. After Malleus' OB had been settled, you yelled. Not at him, never at him, you yelled at the unfairness of it all. But he just uttered, how much you haven't changed and how you are as beautiful as he remembered. And you both knew, No matter the situation, this time you both would have a Happy Ending in this life.

Hana Asteria Route: Hana tried to stop the war between both sides, but no matter what she did, it was never enough. Hana eventually gets captured by the Fae, and in time, she forms a camaraderie with them. Eventually, she has to leave, her powers were used too much and she would shatter if she stayed any longer, so she said good bye. When she finally returned, she did not remember her time in the past. But as the story progressed as in canon, she remembered. It was then that she shouted. She felt useless. She couldn't even help those she loves, but Lilia comforted her. The stars had granted him his deepest wish. He would meet her again, and so they were reunited. This time though, they both would work together to bring forth the world they dreamed of. This story Anonie wrote speaks to me on so many levels on how Hana and Lilia met. It is beautiful and I recommend everyone to check it out.

PLEASE I AM STILL SO SOFT. IT IS SOMETHING ABOUT IMMORTALS AND MOTALS LOVING EACH OTHER. ABOUT HOW, THROUGH TIME, THEY WILL MEET AGAIN AND AGAIN. HOW THEY WILL CONSTANTLY FALL IN LOVE THAT HAS ME GO FERAL 💜💚💚💚💚

Going to stop here because then I will never stop at this rate lolol I want to hopefully write one of these ideas one day but we will see.

I hope you enjoyed what I wrote Herri and that it helped with your writer's block.

Your ask certainly has me going feral again, but hey, at least this time I'm not stating how bad I want to...uhhhh ah-hem.

Thank you of sending this in 💚🌺

Additional Credit for the Quote by @aqua-beam

[strawburry01]

We're Going to Be Friends

Summary: How Y/N and Aaron first start talking during their time in college (Aaron shouldn't be let into a lab)(also yeah, listen to the song when you read if you want)

Word Count: 2k

Authors Note: I don't think anyone really noticed but I'm sorry this took a second longer than normal to get out. I just had a really weirdly abrupt and messy break up (?) and when I usually write I've just been sleeping but we are doing better now that that's been resolved but like- guys what the fuck? Anyway, this was nice to write to kinda get out of my head. Cheers xoxo

It was your first day in the forensics chemistry lab after waiting two years to even be let into the lab space. You held your bound lab notebook to your chest as you walked in alongside the rest of the class and took your places at the lab benches, silently picking your lab partners. You were with a wiry girl with big blonde curly hair and thick-rimmed glasses. Hey at least she looked smart- it meant you wouldn’t have to carry the two of you to an A grade. As the class waited for the professor to come in you couldn’t help but overhear the laughter from across the classroom. Your head looked up to the source of the noise only to see the grinning Aaron Hotchner looking at his lab partner. Aaron and you had been in many of the same classes but had never really interacted beyond the polite head nod when bumping into each other. Sure there was nothing wrong with him, in fact, there was a lot that was right with him. He was handsome, in a bit of a nerdy Clark Kent sort of way, always looking like he rolled out of bed effortlessly and threw him glasses on before running to class. He was also fairly nice when it came to the general population. The Criminal Justice pathway in uni was highly competitive so it often meant everyone was insanely cutthroat, but he was always offering hints and help to others you’d notice. He was smart, very smart, but was very humble about it, in a way that only someone watching him could really realize how much he knew, and unfortunately, you did. Not even purposefully, but your eyes always had a way of falling onto the back of his head in class. Perhaps it was because he was the most attractive man in the cohort, or perhaps it was because you were just so intrigued at his charm. 

The lab started and you were drawn from your thoughts as you tied your hair back and slipped on the snug safety goggles, glad that they even made everyone, even him, look a little bit dorkier. You and your lab partner (who you found out went by Jen), started setting up the titration and you pulled out your lab notebook to start writing the results down. The two of you small-talked about classes and movies as she slowly let the base solution drip into the acid, waiting for it to eventually turn pink. After running through a round you two switched positions and you leaned over as you tried to line up the new beaker under the buret. 

Swiftly there was a new figure besides you. At first you assumed it was the professor, about to harass you about some incorrect technique or form, but you were surprised to see it was Aaron. He grinned as he looked down at you, and you suddenly felt very self conscious about leaning over so far in front of the buret. You quickly snapped up, standing straight, focusing on the buret with a reddening face.

“You’re Y/N right?” he asked. How he knew your name was beyond you, you’d never really talked to him before beyond a few yes or no’s. 

“Yeah,” you answered, trying to maintain a calm demeanor, still intently focusing on the meniscus in the buret.

“Do you know where the sodium hydroxide is? I need some more,” he asked. 

“Um, it’s just over there, you should just have to pipette it into your beaker,” you said, pointing to the dark brown container kept under the chemistry hood. His mouth formed an ‘o’ as he slowly nodded looking over.

“I see, thank you!” he said in a chipper demeanor as he walked over. 

“What the hell was that about?” Jen asked, jumping onto anything other than the mundane topics. Your face reddened again as you didn’t even know what the hell that was about. 

“What do you mean?” you asked, turning to face her, but before she could elaborate Aaron was back.

“Hey Y/N have you used one of those automatic pipettes before?” he asked sheepishly, holding a still empty beaker. You finally turned to face him and looked up. God he really was tall, or were you just short…nevermind that all.

“Have you not?” you asked, a bit shocked he’d gotten this far without having been subjected to one in high school or the general labs. He grinned again shrugged,

“Think you can help a poor guy out?”. You felt your stomach do a bit of a flip as you mumbled some sort of an agreement under your breath. He handed you the beaker once you were at the sodium hydroxide and you tried to explain the process and how to use the pipette. He made sure to make a dramatic show of nodding before you handed him back his beaker. You handed him back the beaker and stared at him a second before rolling your eyes,

“You know how to do this you little-” you started going off at him before he grinned mischievously,

“You do it so good though!” he exclaimed and nudged your arm which did shut you up, “You always just seem like you know what you’re doing,” he added. 

“I don’t know about- ah- thanks,” you mumbled as you looked around the room, trying to avoid eye contact, not knowing where any of this was coming from. Has he really been paying attention to you this whole time? He thought you were smart? He thought you knew what you were doing? Was he complimenting you? He laughed and walked back to his lab bench as you went back to yours and apologized to Jen.

“You still don’t know what that’s all about?” she laughed under her breath as she pointed her pencil at you. Going back to the buret you shook your head.

“Honest to god I didn’t even think he knew my name,” you said, with a small smile, “he just wanted me to do his damn work for him though,”. 

Another hour later once the lab was about halfway done your feet started hurting from standing for so long. You regretted not wearing better ones, but how were you supposed to know… As you were stretching your back and trying to get comfortable you made eye contact with Aaron from across the lab. The goofball had a thing of sodium hydroxide right next to him on his side of the lab this whole time. He never needed to come to your side. Instead of looking away he smiled and waved. You snorted to yourself and bit your bottom lip as you quickly waved back before looking back to your experiment. 

After the tortuous three hour lab was finally done you let down your hair and threw your lab goggles into your backpack, catching yourself in a mirror on the way out and realizing just how bad the marks left behind on your face were. 

“Raccoon eyes!” Jen laughed as she appeared by you in the mirror, finding herself in a similar situation.

“How the hell are we supposed to be taken seriously on campus like this?” you laughed as you tried to see if pulling on your skin helped at all, but much to your chagrin it did nothing.

“I mean they’ll just be jealous we get to do labs instead of just lecture all day,” Jen hummed as she waved goodbye. You smiled and waved back as you threw your backpack over your shoulder and moved to follow.

“Y/N!” Aaron yelled from behind you, getting you to look over your shoulder, “Look we’re twins,” he laughed as he pointed to his face, also having deep marks from the goggles around his glasses on his forehead and cheeks. You couldn’t help but laugh not only at his comment but also how absurd it was that he was now treating you like a close friend.

“I think we all learned our lesson today with the goggles,” you said as you started walking out, with him falling into step beside you. 

“You heard the professor: goggles on, risk gone,” he recited, doing an excellent impression of your professor which garnered another laugh from you. “Hey, so I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while, but um, do you want to study together? You’ve always been getting the top grades in our classes and you don’t seem like a total nerd…” he said, trailing off as he tried to think of a way to finish the sentence.

“A total nerd?” you asked, faking shock at his accusation.

“See- you can take a joke,” he defended himself and holding his hands up, holding the door open for you with his hip, “I’m trying to get into the FBI, y’know, and I know I heard you are too, so I was thinking of proposing a sort of pact?” he continued to explain, glancing down to see your reaction. You met his eyes before quickly darting back down. It’s true, you did want to be a part of the FBI, as stupid a dream it sounded some days. At the beginning of the year one of your classes had you all go around and discuss what you wanted to do in the long-run, mostly just so then the professor could guilt you into remembering you saying that when students were struggling. 

“I’ll bite,” you say simply with a nod, “you’re really stand out in the psychology classes,” you added.

“And you’re a genius at the science stuff!” he said, turning to walk backwards in front of you, keeping his pace right ahead of yours as he talked facing you, “you’re seeing the vision!”. You couldn’t help but laugh again as you looked at him getting giddy.

“Okay okay, don’t trip,” you said as you pulled his wrist so he was back in step with you, both of you smiling like idiots at this point, knowing that this would be the start of a special friendship.

A/N yeah I'll stand by Aaron being a total college himbo (/endearing) and I'll probably write whatever big event causes him to get serious near the end of his time in college and turn into the daddy hotch we know and love.

[thekillingvote]

No Birds Allowed: Batman without Robin

The usual claim is that Jason Todd was singularly hated by audiences. Dick Grayson, Carrie Kelley, and Tim Drake are proper, beloved Robins—and Jason Todd is the one and only outlier so unlikable that audiences killed him off by popular vote.

But this claim ignores a massive piece of the puzzle—the Robin role has long been treated as an outdated remnant of a childish era, not only by a significant share of Batman fans, but also by Batman creative teams. While there were definitely fans who hated Jason Todd, he was at least partly chosen to be killed as a scapegoat for some long-standing complaints about the Robin role in Batman stories.

The 1988 poll to kill Jason Todd wasn't just a poll to kill Jason Todd—the poll to kill Robin was a poll to kill Robin.

Fan letters columns from Batman #221 and Detective Comics #398, reacting to Dick leaving for Hudson University in Batman #217 (1969):

Denny O'Neil Batman/Detective Comics writer (1970-1980) Batman group editor (1986-2000) on sending Robin away to Hudson University:

Dan Greenfield: Actually, last night I went back through my comics and the one thing that always strikes me is that before you came onto the character, they’d already made the decision to have Robin leave. Robin was up at Hudson University and was used sparingly from that point forward. Denny O’Neil: Well, that was a conscious decision of mine. Greenfield: Oh! O’Neil: Yeah, I mean … I had been offered Batman a year before I did it. Greenfield: No kidding? I wanna hear this. O’Neil: Because that was in the (Batman TV show) camp thing. The comics were very half-heartedly following in the footsteps of the camp because it was having a palpable effect on circulation. That’s not always true but it was in that case. Camp as in the sense — as opposed to the more erudite sense — this one-line joke about: “I loved this stuff when I was 6 and now that I’m 28 and I have a bi-weekly appointment with a therapist and a little, mild drug habit and two divorces, ‘Look how silly it is.'” I would go into the most literary bar in Greenwich Village on (Wednesday) or Thursday evenings and there would be writers and poets and college professors, all looking at Batman! But when that was over, it was over. It was like somebody turned a switch. And that’s when (editor) Julie (Schwartz) said, in his avuncular way, did I have any ideas for Batman? And at that point, I wasn’t going to be asked to do camp. I was going to be asked to do anything within the bounds of good taste, etc., that I wanted to.

O'Neil, quoted from “Notes from the Batcave: An Interview with Dennis O’Neil” in The Many Lives of The Batman: Critical Approaches to a Superhero and His Media:

There was a time right before I took over as Batman editor when he seemed to be much closer to a family man, much closer to a nice guy. He seemed to have a love life and he seemed to be very paternal towards Robin. My version is a lot nastier than that. He has a lot more edge to him.

O'Neil in 2015:

Modern Batman does not do camp. He has to evolve but to stay true to the concept he has to stay lonely. The kids, there shouldn't be many. Keep him the lone, obsessed crusader and the stories will be better. We did a story called Son of the Demon. It told a story where he had a kid, a baby. It wasn't in continuity. These days, the kid came back and became the new Robin, and I hear that Batman's got a few more running around.

Jim Starlin, Batman writer (1987-1988), writer of A Death in the Family:

I tried to avoid using [Robin] as much as I could. In most of my early Batman stories, he doesn’t appear. Eventually Denny asked me to do a specific Robin story, which I did, and I guess it went over fairly well from what I understand. But I wasn’t crazy about Robin.

I thought that going out and fighting crime in a grey and black outfit while you send out a kid in primary colors was kind of like child abuse. So when I started working on Batman, I was always leaving Robin out of the stories, and Denny O’Neil who is the editor finally said, "You gotta put [Robin] in."

In the one Batman issue I wrote with Robin featured, I had him do something underhanded, as I recall. Denny had told me that the character was very unpopular with fans, so I decided to play on that dislike. [...] At that time, DC had this idea that they were gonna do an AIDS education book, and so they put a box out and wanted everybody to put in suggestions of who should contract AIDS and perish in the comics. I stuffed it with Robin. They realized it was all my handwriting so they ended up throwing all my things out. About six months later, Denny came up with this idea of the call-in thing. [...] I didn’t find out about it until I came back [from Mexico] and found out that, just as I expected, my ghoulish little fans voted him dead. But by a much smaller margin than I’d imagined. It was only like 72 votes out of 10,000, so statistically it was next to nothing.

Dan Raspler, assistant editor/associate editor to Denny O’Neil (1988-1990):

Denny wasn’t really interested in comics continuity, and he didn’t like superheroes. And if you read his work, you see his influence was really a pushing away from the conventions at the time—it was growing old, that sort of Golden Age-y, Silver Age-y stuff, and Denny sort of modernized it, and he never stopped feeling that way. Jim Starlin’s Batman appealed to Denny. It was a little more ‘down to Earth. Nobody liked Robin at the time. For a while Robin was not—it didn’t make sense in comics. Comics were darkening, and so having the kid was just, it was silly, and even at the time I kind of didn’t. Now Robin is my favorite all-time character, but at the time when I was twenty-whatever, I accepted kicking Robin out, the short pants and all the rest of it.

Comic shop owner Phil Beracha on A Death in the Family, quoted in The Sun Sentinel (October 22, 1988):

"I got 100 copies, and I don't expect them to last past the weekend," said Phil Beracha, owner of Phil's Comic Shoppe in Margate. "I usually get 50 copies of Batman. I doubled my order, and I still expect to sell out." The readers voted right, Beracha said. "Robin is an outdated concept. He was created in the `40s, and back then in a comic book you could have a kid beating up grown men. I don't think that works today."

Writer Steve Englehart, quoted in "Batman, the Gamble; Warner Bros. is betting big money that a 50-year-old comic book vigilante will be a `hero for our times'" in the Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1989):

Writer Steven Englehart, who did a series of Batman stories in Detective Comics, also worked up some movie treatments. In a letter to Comics Buyer's Guide, he revealed the approach he had in mind, which would have pleased Batfanatics: "My first treatment had Robin getting blown away in the first 90 seconds, so that every reviewer in the country would begin his review with, `This sure isn't the TV show.' "

Michael Uslan, producer and film rights holder for the 1989 Batman film:

I only let Tim [Burton] see the original year of the Bob Kane/Bill Finger run, up until the time that Robin was introduced. I showed him the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers and the Neal Adams/Denny O'Neil stories. My biggest fear was that somehow Tim would get hold of the campiest Batman comics and then where would we be?

"Death Knell for the Campy Crusader" in the Orlando Sentinel (23 June 1989):

For most people, the name Batman summons up a picture of a clown in long johns, a Campy Crusader who - with the young punster Robin - ZAPed and POWed his way into our lives. That's the Batman that appeared on TV in the mid-'60s, and that's the Batman that the world at large knows. Such is the power of television. But this ludicrous image may become obsolete now that the new, $40 million Batman movie has opened. Robin is absent from the film, as are the perky Batgirl and the utterly superfluous Aunt Harriet of the TV series. And though the movie has plenty of sound effects, they don't appear on the screen as words, spelled out in neo-Brechtian absurdity.

Sam Hamm, writer for Batman (1989 live-action film):

The Case of the Disappearing Robin is high comedy. Tim (Burton) and I had worked out a plotline that did not include the Boy Wonder, whom we both regarded as an unnecessary intrusion. Really: Our hero was crazy to begin with. Did he have to prove it by enlisting a pimply adolescent to help him fight crime? Was Bat-Baby unavailable? But the studio was insistent: There was no such thing as solo Batman, there was only Batman and Robin. So, after holding off the executives for as long as we could, Tim and I realized we had better try to accommodate them. He flew up to my house in San Francisco and we walked around in circles for two days, finally deciding that there was no way to shoehorn Robin into our story. [...] We figured that if we managed to squeeze him in, the lame hacks who were making the sequel could worry about what to do with him next. When the film went into production in London, and ran seriously over budget, WB started looking for a sequence that could be cut to save money. And there was one obvious candidate: Intro Robin! So Robin was cut from the movie and shoved back to Batman Returns— from which he was cut yet again and shoved back to Batman Forever.

Grant Morrison on creating Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (written 1987-1988, published 1989) with Dave McKean (see the annotated script's fourth page):

The original first draft of the script included Robin. Robin appeared in a few scenes at the beginning then remained at Police Headquarters for the bulk of the book, where he spent his time studying plans and histories of the house, in order to find a way in to help his mentor. Dave McKean, however, felt that he had already compromised his artistic integrity sufficiently by drawing Batman and refused point blank over for the Boy Wonder — so after one brave but ridiculous attempt to put him in a trench coat, I wisely removed him from the script.

Paul Dini on Batman: The Animated Series (1992), as told in the 1998 book Batman Animated:

The Fox Network, on the assumption that kids won't watch a kid’s show unless kids are in it, soon began insisting that Robin be prominently featured in every episode. When Fox changed the title from Batman: The Animated Series to The Adventures of Batman & Robin, they laid down the law-no story premise was to be considered unless it was either a Robin story or one in which the Boy Wonder played a key role. Out were underworld character studies like “It's Never Too Late"; in were traditional Batman and Robin escapades like “The Lion and the Unicorn.” A potentially intriguing Catwoman/Black Canary team-up was interrupted in midpitch to the network by their demand, “Where's Robin?” When the writers asked if they could omit Robin from just this one episode, Fox obliged by omitting the entire story. Looking back, there was nothing drastically wrong with Robin's full-time insertion into the series—after all, kids do love him. Our major gripe at the time was that it started turning the series into the predictable Batman and Robin show people had initially expected it would be. For the first season, Batman had been an experiment we weren't sure would work. We were trying out different ways of telling all kinds of stories with Batman as our only constant. For better or worse, having a kid forced him, and the series, to settle down.

Christian Bale, star of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy (2008):

If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I'll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.

Summed up

Among the keepers of Batman, there has been a vocal contingent arguing against the inclusion of Robin. They argue that Robin damages Batman's brooding, solitary persona. They argue that the concept of Robin is too ridiculous and fantastic for the grounded, gritty ideal of Batman. They argue that a respectable version of Batman shouldn't allow, encourage, or train "child soldiers" to endanger their lives fighting against violent evil-doers.

The original and most iconic Robin, Dick Grayson, has definitely benefited from his deep roots in DC lore and his consistent popularity among fans—and yet even he has been shunned from various Batman projects over the decades. When even he struggles to get his foot in the door, his successors face stiffer opposition.

So it's not quite correct to say that Jim Starlin hated Jason Todd. In his own words, Starlin wasn't fond of Robin, and his storytelling (most obviously A Death in the Family) set out to argue against Batman having any kind of "partner" at all. This, following the wildly successful comic that treated Barbara Gordon as a disposable prop. A growing audience welcomed the Dark Age, and the gruesome spectacles made of kid-friendly elements like Batgirl and Robin.

This trend could be broken by the upcoming sequel to The Batman and by the planned slate of upcoming DCU films. But most Robin fans will tell you that many movie-going Batman fans still have their doubts about Robin sharing Batman's spotlight.

[lost-in-frog-land]

Want and desire in the hatchetfield series, and how it almost always directly leads to a character's demise. Buckle in for this long post because I have been thinking about it for a while

THE GUY WHO DIDN'T LIKE MUSICALS

Established individual desires for the characters tend to lead them to take actions or make mistakes that lead to their demise.

Paul - doesn't want anything, until he wants to be with Emma -> if he'd just gone with General Macnamara he would've gotten out alive but he went back for Emma. Then he died. Then everyone died.

Emma - wants to get out of hatchetfield/ not die in hatchetfield -> gets out, ends up helping the infection spread to clivesdale (this one's more irony than causation but it still counts)

Bill - "I just want my daughter back" -> goes to rescue Alice which leads to his death

Ted - wants to get out alive, even at the cost if his friends ("everyone else died just rescue me") -> runs straight into the infected army and dies

Charlotte - wants to reconnect with Sam -> is easily manipulated by him when he's infected and dies

Professor Hidgens - wants his musical to be real, possibly also wants to reconnect with his old college friends (depending on how we interpret his show) -> purposely leads the infected to his location and gets killed

BLACK FRIDAY

characters individual wants and goals are often intertwined with the common want of gaining a wiggly doll, and this is what leads to their downfall

Lex - wants to escape her life and move to California -> wants a wiggly doll to sell -> leads her and Hannah to get caught up in the cult and Lex to almost die, even asking on her deathbed "should I never have wanted?" (The answer is yes. You shouldn't have. Wanting in hatchetfield only leads to suffering)

Tom - wants to reconnect with his son -> wants a wiggly doll because he believes his son wants one -> gets stuck in the mall looking for one and goes insane for a good portion of the musical

Becky - Becky wants a doll for the children's hospital but that actually isn't what leads to her getting caught up in the plot. It's her desire to reconnect with Tom that leads her to follow him deeper into the mall, because he won't leave without a Wiggly and she won't leave without him

Linda - wants to be worshipped / adored -> easily taken in by wiley and convinced to start the cult, dies as a result

Ethan - wants to make Lex happy -> dies protecting Hannah

NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE

Steph & Pete - doing them together because it's their love and want for each other that is almost their undoing. "I never wanted you anyway" "what do you want Steph?" "We want what you really want" - they almost have to kill the other because they wanted eachother. That's how the Lords get you.

Grace - wanted to rid herself of "sin" (normak sexual desires) -> tried way too hard to get rid of Max and, as a result "ruined [everyone's] lives". This also leads to her gaining the powers of the LIB and killing many more people.

Richie - wanted friends, to be accepted -> as soon as he gets this he is killed. More of the tragedy inherent in almost getting what you wanted than it inherently causing it, but this is also a key theme in the tragedy of hatcehtfield, as also seen with...

Ruth - wanted to perform, to overcome her anxiety -> also gets killed as she takes a step in this

The tragedy of the hatchetfield series is all about the idea of wanting. It's about how your desires can lead to your destruction, and how you'll never be able to truly get what you want before it is taken away from you. Its about peoole who will do anything to achieve their desires, and people who will never achieve theirs. That's the tragedy and the driving force behind these stories. That is what gives the Lords in Black their power.

[maopll]

— rivals to lovers !

synopsis: sworn rivals in terms of academics. you two would never even share a glance at eachother. your animosity towards eachother was quite well known throughout the academiya. yet here comes this co-project that will be the cupid for you two.

⌗:, a/n: its a special fic for my irl bestie. it was a deal and I had to do this @isqaroth

⌗:, warning: big tits men scare me.

" considering how you are, I'd say this project suits you. nothing but a waste of time."

You gasped and snapped back at him, "oh? so who gave you this authority to belittle the hardwork of someone? hmph!" you glared at him fiercely and stomped away. Your shoes were clacking against the marble floor quite loudly showing your clear hatred towards him.

"alhaitham, must you truly pick on them today of all days?" kaveh tried to reason, "today is after all the day we present our projects to ensure our enrollment in the best departments."

"What I said was not wrong. How do they expect to get a good seat when they've clearly chosen the topic that others will choose?" stating this he walked away the other direction towards his classroom which he was assigned.

It was the time when the students would be called to their respective departments. Contrary to what Alhaitham had guessed, your project was one of the best among the students and found the best class in your own Darshan.

"so? Mister alhaitham?" you snickered in his direction, "Looks like your intuition missed the bullseye this time." Even he found it quite odd, his guess and intuitions are always spot on but with you they would always come out incorrect.

"It was merely a prediction. Shouldn't you be glad it was incorrect?" he looked at you straight in the eyes. Clear distate in his tongue since he had entered the same darshan as you. The Haravatat, which he tried to avoid at all cost. He took this sore truth with a pinch of salt.

Not a day went by when you two wouldn't bicker. "Stop trying to read books while I'm talking alhaitham," you shouted. Unbeknownst to you, he had his noise-cancelling headphones on. You were fuming, and he decided not to listen to you during the most crucial time?! you unwillingly came to him since you couldn't rely on others' notes, and there was only Alhaitham who you could rely on.

Each passing day, you felt the wrinkles starting to appear on your forehead faster and you sighed more often. Today you felt 10 years of your life got subtracted because you and THE alhaitham were grouped for a project.

"There's no way the professor would commit such a crime..." you spoke devastated. He could say the same but decided to maintain his composure and only heaved a sigh with arms crossed.

The way you two bonded over the days you spent for the project was needless to say quite interesting. The time, place, and situations varied the variable of you two bickering stayed constant. "Did you chart out all the requirements, procedure, and observation?" he asked but you only scratched your neck, "ahh..about that.." he faceplamed loudly.

You two eventually learned more about the other's likes and dislikes. The usual disagreements between you two soon died down. This is the junction when you two started observing one another even intricately.

'guess he's not half bad..'

'seems like they've grown tolerable and kind these past few days..."

While these thoughts seemed foreign to both of you, those little things would soon form a small fragment of a treasured memory.

"Here you go." You threw the drink towards alhaitham and drank yours. "I don't remember telling you the flavour I liked of this drink?" "I'd say it was quite clear to me."

His words rather than being sharp like daggers were now more soothing and soft to hear. Your behaviour became more amicable towards him. Cooking him food sometimes, buying him the books he would tell you in the midst of a conversation. He did the same. The food you liked, the stationeries you'd eye and what not.

With time, the feelings in you for him blossomed. This was when you'd observe his admirable face from afar and when he was not looking. He even caught you looking at him a few times. He couldn't deny the feeling how his heart would rapidly thump inside his chest and the way his cheeks would redden whenever your hands brushed against one another's.

"haah...." he sighed loudly. His face in his hands. He truly needs to gather his thoughts right now. This attraction he felt towards you were not only growing more day by day but also growing quite unbearable as he has to hide his lovesick face under that stoic facade of his. "There should be some solution to this situation right?".

"how am I supposed to tell them that I lo—"

"huh? ah Alhaitham! I've been searching for you everywhere. Were you saying something?"

His eyes widened. "oh I was just.." don't panic alhaitham be calm like how you've always been. think this through.

"Oh it's nothing that important...let's go have dinner shall we?"

Many weeks passed by and alhaitham finally decided to confront you about his feelings. It was just like out of a cliché love story but it doesn't matter to him. For every problem he only wants the answer affirmative.

A soft breeze, gentle glow of the moonlight and quite streets. There was tranquil and a hint of romance in this dreamy landscape. He has been thinking about this for a while but, he couldn't find his happiness without you. Although both of you started your journey with hatred, it soon turned out to be one of love and care.

After a short silence, you spoke "nice view isn't it? to think that we reached one year of doing this project together...been eventful hasn't it?" His mind was all over the place, his heart thumping rapidly, and his palms cold. He's never been this anxious in his life.

"[name] I've been meaning to tell you—" before he could complete his sentence, you wrapped your hands around his large ones. "knew they were cold" you chuckled, "can't keep the hands of yours cold now can I?". There was this gentle look in yours eyes as if they knew everything. The moonlight accentuated your features even more. You look beautiful. Oh, you look godly.

Maybe it was adrenaline? Maybe it was him being serenaded by your breathtaking beauty that he involuntarily spoke what his heart felt.

"I love you"

Your eyes widened. A huge red blush dusted your cheeks on hearing the words from the mouth of a person that you pined for. You wrapped your arms around his neck and planted a tender kiss on his lips. You reciprocated his feelings with the same honey like sweetness.

"I love you too, Alhaitham"

[angelitadiaz]

♥︎~Part 2~♥︎

~♥︎Part 1♥︎~

As you went towards your room, you noticed Gregory sitting alone under a tree. As you got closer to him, you noticed he was crying and shivering. You looked at the lake, which fog consumed, and felt a shiver go up your spine.

"Gregory, dear, why are you alone out here?Shouldn't you be inside doing the presentation of honor?" Startled, Gregory's eyes darted into your own. Bloodshot eyes holding tears, you felt his sadness and quickly but elegantly sat down next to him.

"What's wrong, Gregory?" You said quietly in a hushed tone. "Y/N, I don't think I'm going to pass. I already failed once. I'm afraid that something is going to happen to me, since you know, no one knows what happens to failed students."

"Gregory, everyone makes mistakes, and it's the new year you have nothing to worry about. If you need help, you can always go to Tedros or I. Come on, Gregory, why don't you come with me to have some tea." Greogry looked up at you and smiled shyly.

"Thanks Y/N, I would really like that." You gracefully got up and offered your hand to Gregory. He gave you his hand, and you helped him up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

As you and Gregory were having tea, Agatha came into the room agitated. Agatha looked at Gregory and noticed his tear stains on his cheeks.

"Agatha! Would you like to join us for some tea and biscuits? They are quite delicious, my mother's secret recipe." You offered her a smile, and she sat on the third chair on the balcony.

"Y/N, who is this?" "Agatha this is Gregory. He was feeling awful and I invited him to our room for some tea. I hope you don't mind, you know what they say be brave and be kind."

"Actually, thank you, Y/N. But I do need to go back to my room before my professor comes to scold me. Goodbye, Y/N, Agatha." He said as he bowed towards the both of you.

"Come Agatha, I'm sure you want to change into pajamas instead of wearing a dress." You laughed as she immediately nodded. "Y/N, how are you so calm after admitting that Tedros has been unfaithful? I would expect that you'd be crying."

You looked up at Agatha and let a single tear fall. She immediately offered you a hug, and both of you fell onto the floor. "Agatha, believe me when I say that I am truly devasted. I loved Tedros with all my heart, but once I found out about Betriz, I knew I had to get over him." You explained as tears were aggressively falling. You stayed there with Agatha in a comfortable silence.

"Come Y/N, let's go get ready for bed, but why don't we have fun while we do?" She said in a bubbly and playful tone. You graciously smiled and laughed at her as you went over to your radio and started playing some music.

As the both of you went into the closet, Agatha was left stunned by the amount of clothes and shoes displayed beautifully. "This is your closet, Y/N?"

"Our closet Agatha." Agatha pulled you into the closet, and the both of you started playing dress up. Wearing hats and silly scarves the both of you had a very needed laugh.

Once both of you changed into pajamas, you turned off the music and turned off the lights. As the moon shined brightly throughout your room, your hair became a silvery color, attracting Agatha's attention.

"Y/N, why does your hair become a shade of white when you're under the sun or the moonlight?" She said as she admired your natural beauty. "My mother naturally has white hair, I guess I got lucky to be able to share that with her. For my brown hair, though, she told me that I get that from my father."

"Will it always be like that?" You contemplated your answer and started feeling tired. "No, my mother tells me that once I get my magic, my hair will permanently stay white. I wouldn't mind her hair. It's gorgeous."

You both shared a smile and fell asleep. Dreams filled your conscience as both of you were consumed by sleep. Suddenly, a window blew open, and butterflies started invading your room. Black and white wings flew above you and landed on your laid body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

You both got ready for breakfast before you would need to go to class. You picked out a dress with a white corset top and a pink skirt. The white bodice had puffy sleeves and didn't weigh heavily. The pink skirt was simple and had few layers with a shimmer added to them. You then picked out a pair of white boots with a small heel and gave them both to Agatha.

You then called the fairies to help Agatha into her dress. They looked hesitant at first, but when they noticed how good it would look on her, they quickly got to work. Along with her dress, they gave her a messy bun and beautiful makeup, fit for a princess.

Smiling at her, you went back into the closet to pick out your outfit. You scanned the dresses as your eyes landed onto an elegant white dress. The sleeves puffed out, and the bodice was decorated with silver flowers. The skirt was light yet exuded a gentle breeze, not weighing anything and having a gorgeous movement to it.

You then picked out a pair of heels that were tied by a pearl string and had a bow on the back. The fairies then went over to you as you exited the closet and helped you into it. They then sat you at your vanity and started on your hair. After some time, they decided on a half up half down hairstyle with pearls in your hair . For your makeup, they added a reddish tint on your lips and slight blush on your cheeks.

Once you both were done, you exited the rooms and made your way to the cafeteria. Agatha kept telling you stories about her life in her village. You would laugh and tell her your own experiences when you were with your mother. You both bonded on having a mother that you would both do anything to protect them.

Once you entered, you noticed everyone was either looking at you or Agatha. You could feel Agatha tense up and freeze in her spot. You wrapped your arm around hers and led her to an empty table as the fairies started bringing plates of food over to the both of you.

As you looked around, your eyes locked onto Tedros, who was holding Beatriz close. Before you would know it, a never walked up to you and fell onto his knees. He grabbed your hand and quickly gave it a kiss and looked up at your eyes.

Shocked, you took your hand back, but he quickly grabbed it back. "Hello, fair maiden, my name is Hort. What is your beautiful name?" He looked at you with such puppy eyes that you couldn't resist but smile at him.

"Hello Hort, my name is Y/N, and I'm the daughter of the White Queen." Hort stood up and pulled out a black rose from his jacket and handed it to you. You looked at the rose and accepted it from him, and twirled it around to get a full view.

From your side view, you noticed that Tedros was looking at you with hurt, love, guilt, and jealousy. He pulled away from Beatriz and made his way towards you. He went to grab the rose from you, but you stood up and thanked Hort.

"Hort, this is lovely. Black roses are often seen where I am from, so I appreciate this very much!" Hort smiled at you, but before he could answer back, the werewolves took him from the arms and dragged him back to the nevers side.

"I'll talk to you later, Y/N! Please don't forget about me, my princess!" You covered your mouth as you laughed but got pulled into a hug by Tedros.

"Tedros, what do you think you're doing?" You said in an angry yet quiet voice.

♥︎~End of Part 2~♥︎

~♥︎Part 3♥︎~

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Episode 9

Let's give Simon an earlier realization of the problems in his relationship. Let's dedicate episode 9 to Simon coming to terms with those problems instead of literally spoonfeeding it to him in one episode. So let's say Simon goes into episode 9, taking Fionna's comments about Betty to heart, and so we revise the Betty scenes.

Fionna and Cake have their nightmare and return to their world like in the show. But when we cut back to Simon...

We see the Scarab wakes up before Simon in that endless void. He sees Simon fully unconscious and he rushes to him. But before he can end him, he looks up and freezes in place. The camera never shows what he sees but he yells at whoever to stay out of it. He tries to finish his job but inexplicably, he turns into tiny bug versions every single time he tries to hurt Simon. Until finally he skitters into Simon's world to escape whatever keeps thwarting him.

Zoom in on Simon's face. Eyes twitch almost as if their fluttering open. Smash cut.

A bus stop. Simon blinks and sees himself standing before Betty, her letter clutched in his hand.

Simon does the same thing he did in the show, he offers to go with her. Then he realize this isn't how it went. And Betty smiles. The world slowly dissolves to the black space. Tetris shapes begin to fill the void.

"Hi Betty, long time no see. It seems I haven't been fair to you. I kept looking to you like you're supposed to be everything. But being someone's whole world is… exhausting." Simon laughs wryly as he scratches his head with the back giving off a telltale sparkle. " I shouldn't have put that on you. And I should have noticed all that you were doing for me…"

Simon begins to transform from his professor looks to his post apocalyptic looks.

"You remain the great love of my life. Nothing can change that. But... we've changed, haven't we?"

Betty in turn begins to change, first into Simon's fiance then into Magic Betty.

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake desperately fighting for their lives.

"It was a long road to get here. And I have found more people to love."

Simon cycles into Ice King before finally transforming into his present self.

"And I should be so lucky that they love me back. I can't... I can't just leave them like this. I'm a sad old man that kept looking for lost things and missing the stuff right in front of his face. I want to do better, Betty. I have to."

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake again.

And Betty makes her final transformation into Golb. Simon finds himself standing in front of her in all her new glory. He feels his pocket buzzing and he realizes that they're in trouble.

"No, no, no. What was all that for? If I just keep going back?" He eyes the Crown before tossing it at Betty. "There has to be another way. I'm not done yet."

Betty's eyes lift up. She pulls out Fionna and Cake's world as in the show.

"Oh. Always rescuing me, even now..." Simon is more than a little bitter. But he takes the world and he gives it to Fionna.

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake as in show.

After, Simon looks up at Betty. The faint image of their past selves lurk over their shoulders as the same moment a thousand years apart repeats itself. With Simon looking up as Betty readies herself to leave.

"I can't do much for you now. But I will tell you what I should have told you then. Thank you for everything. If only I could come with you where you're going but since I can't... Then I hope you find your happiness wherever you go... Goodbye, Betty."

And then Betty does as she does in the show. Episode 9 ends with Simon in the flower field.

Episode 10 is a flashback to present Ooo. In the time since Simon's departure, his family and friends have worked themselves up, crazy with worry. It's a comedy of errors as each callback character comes up with worse and worse ideas to find Simon. Until mid episode Simon comes back to his house with a crown - a flower crown.

"Hey gang... uh... what's going on? are we having a party? ... At my house? Without telling me?"

"SIMON!"

Cue dogpile.

Cue epilogue.

[bokutooooo]

Dream Ride PT- 2 ᰔᩚ

The annoying sounds of my alarm clock going off waking me up almost instantly and I can already feel my head pounding. Last night I ended up going to one of Han's infamous parties and let's just say it was fun. "Morning Cassidy, how'd you sleep?" Cassidy was my aunt, one of the main reasons I came to Japan after mom threw me out. "it was fine, woke up a couple of times but nothing to bad. How's Neela? you girls have fun? being careful I hope". I grab a box of cereal and a bowl "It was fun I mean just regular car stuff.. Neela likes my car so that's good" I laugh thinking about how Neela kept asking me to let her drive it. "I'm glad, just make sure you guys are being careful and staying out of trouble" I give her a nod walking towards the small couch. I haven't really told her anything about Han I don't think she'll like it, which means I probably shouldn't be getting involved with him but can you blame me? his shoulder length jet black hair, his little smile and I mean have you seen the 1997 Mazda RX-7 it's almost to nice. "Hey? you going to start getting ready? Don't want you getting yelled at again."

"Hey Neela whatcha doing?" I say as I'm walking into class. "Nothing too exciting just sketching something knew, you think I should get a Toyota Supra? I mean how cute would that be." I lightly laugh "I think you should get whatever you like, you have the time and money right? so do it." she gives me a small smile and continues sketching away.

I sat down as our professor walked in, all I could ever think about was cars, friends and.. well Han. I know it's stupid, thinking about a guy who pays me little to no attention but I can't stop. My grades were going down, I was starting to care less and stop trying but If I don't start picking them back up my aunt will notice and question me than I would have to tell her something. "Hey! let's go times up" I look up and Neela's waiting for me "class is over? already?" I swear class just started "Yeah??? let's go weirdo."

Me and Neela were out shopping "What about this one? it's cuteee, c'monnnn look at the lace lining" I look up from my phone. She was buying a new skirt.. yet all the ones she's tried on were kind of.. ugly? "No." I look back down "whatever!" she aggressively shuts the the curtains of the change room. "How's Hanny booooo have you texted him? "Why would I be texting him?" she pops her head out "because you like love him? and you always want to talk to him."

"Well I haven't talked to him since the party so." It's true I do love finding an excuse to talk to him but I guess I'm starting to realize that we have like no chance together. "What's up? you suddenly stopped liking him?" "No it's just- It's not going to happen. Like ever, so I'm going to stop being a fangirl and find someone else. Plus Cassidy would ever approve and I won't let her down."

"Oh come on! you guys like.. love each other!! maybe thats to quick.. but! you guys love talking to one another and love hanging out, so who cares what others think? Cassidy you'll talk to when it happens, don't worry about before it even happens."

Neela had a point but I'm not even sure I was ready, I don't even know how Han feels.

Once Neela found an outfit she liked we went to go eat. "Hey Neela I'm gonna go grab something from Starbucks want something?" "mmm.. sure! just an iced coffee please."

"Hey Neela got your ice-" I paused, DK and Morimoto sat on either side of her. "Oh hey DK what are you doing here?" "Just came for something to do, ran into you two." Neela looked a bit uncomfortable, DK practically breathing on her and Morimoto right on the other side "Me and Neela were just about to leave but we'll probably see you guys tonight." "Yeah sorry guys see you later!"

Tonight was one of the biggest Drift events of the year. It would be packed, cars in every spot, people everywhere, music blasting and food. That's why me and Neela went shopping, had to look extra good tonight. "Why was DK like breathing down you're neck? he's pretty clingy for someone your not dating" "I know but we've been best friends for agesss, kind of hard to just stop you know?"

"Eeee! look at it! so cute!!" I was admiring my self In the full body mirror. I had white leg warmers with pompoms on them, and light pink tank top with a dark pink outline and a white headband. "look at you cutie!" "never mind meee look at you beautiful" Neela had on a short denim skirt, black military boots with a heel and half up half down hairstyle with a bow. "ready to go? we should try to get there before it gets to packed, gonna need to park somewhere."

Hope you enjoyed this part!>

[a-tale-of-legends]

Hmmmm. You know I've always been subconsciously knew that Blue ( rival) had different sprites throughout the game, but I never really took the time to like. Analyze them? And truthfully there isn't much to analyze but I do find it interesting on how the sprites differ from the original rbgy games and FRLG.

So let's start with rbgy. Or rather rbg cause yellow has some slight difference despite its overall same pattern.

This is the sprite to represent Blue from the first 3 battles ( as in the one in the lab, the optional one in viridian city and the one in cerulean city right before nugget bridge). This pretty much captures Blue pretty well. This cocky kid who thinks he's better than you,lmao. Got his signature hand gesture too. This was during the early game, I would say. Where he does probably think " yeah there's no way Red would catch up with me, hur hur".

Then we reach the fourth sprite on the S.S. Anne

This sprite is the sprite that's used for the rest of the game until his champion battle. This one gives such a different vibe than the first one. He looks so much more focused compared to his other sprite. Like he's looking directly as the player this time, PokeBall out, in a semi hunched position getting ready. He doesn't even have a smirk on his face, which I find very interesting. There's many ways to interpret this really, one of which is a simple " the game is telling you your getting to the mid game now". For me personally, I think it reflects on how Blue starts seeing the player. I kinda see it where Blue is starting to realize that Red is catching up, so to speak. That he can't treat them entirely like a joke anymore. He's still gonna talk shit ( the best an 11 year old can anyway) but like. It's a thought at the back of his mind. Especially when he keeps losing, like Red is almost a threat to what he wants. It's also interesting to think about this with the context of " Red and Blue where childhood friends turned rivals". I mean. They were always rivals according to professor oak, but you get what I'm trying to say right? I think this is where the " competition" gets real to blue, and he's taking it as seriously as he can, now with the facade of him being this snarky jerk. Again, that's just my interpretation of it, I'm down to hear others!

And finally....

Champion Blue! This sprite technically makes blue the first champion to have a different outfit compared to their usual sprite, which I find cool. Also this is probably what they used for reference for his look on HGSS. Probably, I don't actually know. I do think it's kinda cute that this implies he went into the elite 4 looking his best hgvhvgvgvcg. Anyway, to the actual analysis. He did it! He became champion! Before Red,too. I know I just said it was cute that Blue had an outfit change for this moment but it still shows his very show boaty nature I think. He wants Red to know he won. He wants everyone to know he won. He worked hard to get where he is and by Arceus he is going to show for it. Here's my thing though. I can't tell if he's smirking or not. I don't think he is, to it's still kinda hard to say? To me anyway. But let's go with the fact that he's not smirking. And like yeah. He's champion. This is the ultimate battle that probably means everything to him and Red. He wants to be serious about this. I just find it interesting how ever since that 4th battle he hasn't had a visible smile or smirk. His words have always been very "Blue" but his facial expressions don't fully convey that? Like his body language doesn't exactly show someone who's overly cocky, and someone who thinks he's at the top of the world, even in his champion battle, with all of that swagger. I dunno if I can accurately write my thoughts down on this but. It's weird to have Blue not smirk. Does that make sense? And not to say that Blue shouldn't be seen as serious but to lose that smirk so quickly as of the 4th battle ( third if you just didn't do the optional battle) is so. Weird. Even if he is taking Red seriously, even if he is starting to see Red as a threat rather than a friend, where's his bravado?

Am I looking way too deeply into this? Yes. Am I done. Nope!

.....oh boy. This is gonna be a bit longer than I thought-

Pokemon Yellow pretty much had the same philosophy of rbg in Blue's sprites, showcasing different poses for different parts of the journey. Where it differs is the second sprite

The second sprite for the 4th (or 3rd) battle and onward his pretty much the same as rbg, expect more polished, I think. And! He's still smirking! As much as I loved over analyzing and theorizing the shit out of his previous sprites, this sprite is way better at conveying Blue as Blue I think. The position still makes it clear that Blue is taking Red more seriously, especially with the PokeBall out, but it doesn't feel as intense as the rbg ones did imo. Though that could also be bc of the coloring. Overall it just better shows Blue character. Again, I still like the shit I wrote before, and honestly it kinda makes me appreciate Blue more, but like. Yeah, this one shows his character better. And it makes this:

Less weird to me. Minus taking away his "champion outfit". How dare they honestly. But anyway, having Blue have his usual smirk throughout the game only to drop it once he has his final battle with Red for champion. Cause like to. To him this fight would literally mean everything. He has to keep it serious. I don't have much to really say other than this pose Blue is in looks like he's just about to throw that PokeBall. I think it's neat given how important this battle is to him.

Now we can finally go to the frlg sprites bc they're kinda weird to me.

This is his sprite for the first three battles. It's. So different compared to the rbgy ones. This this sprite looks more like the sprite that he would have had for his fourth fight. And what's more!

This is his sprite that's used for fourth battle onwards. And I was so confused about this when I saw it cause. What was it trying to convey? Yeah we know that Blue is cocky, but this feels. Odd character wise. Though then I realized that this sprite and the sprite before are like. Switched versions of the rbgy ones ( specifically yellow in terms of characterization). Though I don't want to make it seem likes it's an inherently bad thing. Like it's an odd choice to me, but I can kinda see something with it. With the rbgy sprites, to me, Blue goes from not fully taking the player seriously to realizing " oh shit, Red could beat me I can't have that" to the serious battle that makes or breaks everything. This progression in frlg is like. Starting out on equal terms, but as time goes on Blue just gets more and more cocky until the last moment where you take him off his high horse. At least sprite wise, that's what that story conveys. And honestly I think both are totally fine stories to tell with Blue. I personally like the rbgy sprites better. In terms of character telling I mean. Also I can't stress enough this is just my own interpretation of these sprites that honestly don't really impact the story much. I just found it interesting that Blue actually has different sprites at all at specific points in the plot. Oh wait before I forget

This is the sprite that Blue has for his champion battle. I think he's pointing at the player? Again it's such an interesting vibe in comparison to those before it, but overall it still showcases what it needs to in terms of what the player/Red/Green/Leaf should feel at this very moment. All or nothing, winner takes all, you get it.

Aaaaand yeah. The rbg section kinda stole the show but I think it's good context for the rest of it. I hope this was enjoyable to you all and if you have your own interpretations of Blue's sprites and what they mean, I'd like to hear them!

[linear9]

In my second year doing a masters, once, I was attending a symposium, and the following took place:

I get there exactly on time for the first speaker to start talking about the paper he was in the process of writing. I sit to the left of the (dissertations defense) room, where I coincidentally end up finding an empty chair next to a group of students who happen to be working on the same theory as me, and whom I was on friendly terms with because we attend the same workshops, colloquia..

A few things: the first speaker is a professor at the university I went to. However, he only taught "travaux dirigés" and not "cours", meaning he didn't give lectures because he lacked the qualifications. And throughout the years, I've heard plenty of students complain about him. In fact, he had a reputation of being straight up one of the worst professors: a lot of time, he was absent, and when he showed up, it was to give his students 0 substance, and to waste their time talking about his personal matters.

This guy decides to get one step higher up the academic echelon, in short, to get promoted to get a better salary. And how do you do that? One way among others is to publish articles. So this guy decides to do just that. Except, instead of landing on something in *his* major, he decides to venture into the major I was studying, and in particular the theory I was specializing in. Do I think people shouldn't get to research other majors? No, but this comes with a caveat: the person needs to realize that they're making a huge leap, and that they can't fancy themselves able to master this unfamiliar subject in a few weeks or months. But that's not all: the theory I was specializing in was not liked in our department. I myself didn't like it. To give you a glimpse of how complex it is: in its latest 2014 version, the book delineating this theory was 800+ pages. And that is not taking into consideration the other books and articles the author had published throughout the years, elucidating the theoretical underpinings of the theory. But complexity wasn't the reason I didn't like it, it was rather because of what I thought was *unwarranted* complexity; academia perpetuating itself through overly-abstract mumbo-jumbo that tries to distract you from the fact that it doesn't mean anything and that it's only there so that some people have jobs. But I was pushed to pick it (along with my supervisor) for reasons that I will not detail, because it will make this long wall of text even longer.

I listen to him present the gist of his work on the article so far, I try to not to make what I had heard about him from other students, or the fact that he decided to write an article about a major and a theory he knew zilch about for a promotion (and this is by his own admission)... sway my judgement. And what do you know? Everything about that presentation was ridiculous. For starters, almost everything he said is either completely wrong or partially wrong. The guy didn't understand what he was talking about. But did that faze him? Make him re-think his decision? That maybe if he wanted to pursue a promotion (and his types always think themselves deserving of one) there was still no reason for him to write a paper about something he understood close to nil about?

But this guy's work had one major flaw that simply could not be rectified: the theory doesn't prove what he wants it or purports it to. That was the bottom-line, and the thing that would make all other conversations around his work useless, if not absurd.

He finishes speaking and the chair asks: do you have any questions? So my supervisor, who was the head of the department says: the students working on this theory are sitting in that part of the room, why don't we ask them? One of the girls sitting in front of me fetches the mic, but no one says anything, and an awkward silence ensues. Finally, I raise my hand and speak without a microphone: "how does x prove y?" When I asked that question, I had a solid answer in my head "You can't." But I still maintained a slim chance that I was wrong. To tell the truth I had multiple reasons to ask: 1. I was angry that this work would be even entertained, and I knew that the only reason it hadn't been torn to shreds through insults and mockery was because of who the speaker was: a professor at the university. 2. his demeanor made me angry: he kept cracking "jokes" about the fact that he didn't understand what he was talking about, trying to excuse things that might be wrong about his paper, and to anticipate the fact that he won't be able to answer questions at the end of his presentation, and finally, 3. I think one form of kindness is to not indulge something, let it fester for longer... when it's a cul-de-sac.

He stutters, gives a long-winded answer that answers nothing. By the end, the chair who is a professor of another major, says:" let's ask the expert what she thinks" and yields the floor to my supervisor. She says "I think Mr. ... has been courageous for working on a theory that is very distant from his own major. Please give him one round of applause" And the room claps (Yes, like the meme). The chair then asks "so I take it Mr. ...'s work is correct?" She says yes.

Then, during a break, she (my supervisor) comes to where I had been sitting, speaks to a few other students. I wait for a turn, then I ask her: "I don't want to insist, and if I'm wrong I have no problem accepting that, but I want to know: how does x prove y?" I ask that, after having spent the entire time feeling embarrassed and going through everything I had spent countless nights, from night to sunrise, hunched over a desk, racking my brain, making slow advances..on. She says "It doesn't. But Mr. ... is our colleague, and he's an established name here, and he is owed the utmost respect."

Once, I went to talk to my supervisor about something. She had finished teaching, I trailed slowly behind her as she went to her office in the administration, closed the doors to her office, teachers' lounge... And while she did that, she told me the following about one of the students she had been supervising: "she told me "you didn't understand what I was trying to say, Madam"! Can you believe that? Can you believe the insolence?"

.آه يا قلبي

!ومن بعد نبداو نوحوحو من هجرة الكفاءات! لا ما حقهمش. حقهم يقعدو يعانيو معانا هوني

[monpalace]

When the telekinetic-telepathic has a mental bond with her soulmate. Teasing from ensues.

So, you're an omega-level mutant, right? You're telepathic-telekinetic? I know we've talked about it before, but it's always interesting to hear things about you, Jean.

There's a laugh from the other side of the link and Ms. Marvel Girl closes her mind off to the bustling students around her. It's a lot easier to deal with when it's only you, she responds. She was working on something for Professor Xavier— his mutant psychology and physiology class from what you could interpret. It's just.. so many things at once. I've recently learned how to shut it all up, but it still takes a lot of effort on my part, y'know?

I can figure, you respond with a fluttery feeling of your own. The softness of her voice and exhausted sincerity in her words made something in you fill with sympathy and pity. It sucks we aren't anywhere near each other. Do you think it'd be any better if we were?

Some part of Jean flusters at your thoughts. The mutant part her tries to recede into the further corners of her mind, but the soulmate part is unable to do the same. While a conversation is with you could never dull to be boring (she found you the most interesting in the world), she could still feel it start to become awkward from her side.

She'd think herself better equipped than this. She'd never probe someone's mind to know their innermost feelings, only figure out what next they wanted to talk about; but she doesn't want to do that to you.

Instead, she goes for (probably) the worst option on the list.

I can feel you're a mutant too. You can— What? What's wrong? What'd I do?

No, no! You didn't do anything. I just forget that you can do that— I didn't expect you to..

I really, truly am sorry! I just— I assumed and I shouldn't have and I— Jean stops herself when she feels you start to calm. The thought of helping your process by sending the feeling of lying down in a soft bed, the sensation of an animal putting their full weight on your lap, the sun beating against your skin while sunbathing on the beach— she quickly stops when she realizes you could hear her thoughts as though she were yelling them at the top of her lungs.

You encourage the train of thought, much to the befuddlement of Jean, and offer some of your own. You can keep going, if you want. I don't mind. You tease, trying to get her mind off of what happened seconds prior. Bringing them back to both of your attentions. Is that how you see me? It's so..

Accurate? Jean finished for you, bashfulness emanating from her. I don't think you'd want to know how..

I have a stalker?

Soulmate, she corrects, but.. yes.

Is it because you looked around with cerebro? You pry, a sly feeling washing over you. Jean was more than in-tuned with your mind, feeling you already knew the answer. Or did you look me up online? I don't recall a connection giving you any clues for your soulmate's looks.

Jean went quiet, lips pressed thin before she jumps out of her thoughts (and you). A rough knock on her door causes whatever subconscious mental gymnastics her mutation was working through, all the items in her dorm drop to the floor, thumps coming from the room beneath her's at all the noise.

Hold on, she grunts as she stands, feeling bruises form all over her body. Scott's here.

You're hurt?

I wasn't entirely mentally present.

Ouch. You reply with an airy noise of amusement. What does he want?

There was no feeling of jealousy in you or your words. Both of you were comfortable with where you stood in your situation-ship.

Another mission, Jean sighs. Putting on a knowing smile, she opens the door and offers a soft greeting to Scott. I have to go and get ready. Think about you later?

There's a hum of confirmation from you, Jean able to sense the adoration and worry as though they were trying to pull her under. Remember to check in every-so often?

Of course.

Then I'll think to you later.

[softsky-daily]

1/18/2024

It was cold and then cold and wet and then warm and wet and then cold and wet again and then just cold.

Positive thing: I had pizza with friends after class.

We always choose the same pizza place because it's cheap and close by but I've gotten a bit attached to it as a hangout place too. We've been going after class every now and then for about a year now.

My day started off bumpy since I had to stay later after work because my coworker didn't get to her tasks. It would be one thing if she was struggling and genuinely seeking help with stuff, but there's been multiple times she'll interrupt me and say something along the lines of "hey, I really want to be able to get to my homework, so can you do this task for me?" I don't even care she does homework during work hours (I do the same thing, but only after I finish my work stuff) but don't push things onto other people just to suit your own needs. It's annoying to have my boss enable her too and make me and our other coworker do what she can't, although I get that these tasks are time-sensitive and need to be accurate so in the moment she doesn't have much of a choice. But still.

Class ended early at least. I think our professor doesn't really know what's going on because she reads the slides like she's never seen them before but it's fine honestly. I could use a break from classes that expect too much from us.

Oh yeah, at like 10:30pm one of the people from my prac texted and was like, do you want my last client? And I was like uhh. Sure? (I had an empty slot since one of mine canceled.) And she was like okay cool, I'm going to call people to get them to switch now :) and I'm thinking girl at 10:30 at night?? The clinic is closed. She went on to tell me she didn't think she was a good fit for the client and to tell me "ahead of time" that the client is dealing with trauma, which like, yeah duh okay. And she said the client would be "really good for experience" but she didn't want to work with a kid client and she "doesn't need the client hours" and all these other things.

I don't know, I didn't really like her tone about the whole situation. I kept thinking about how she must've really not wanted to work with this client because she's calling in the middle of the night to get her switched, and it's only been a day since she first met her. And I didn't like how she talked as though trying to sell them off to me just for "experience", or for "hours". This is the kind of tone I hear a lot in my counseling program, and I never know how to clearly define my discomfort with it - on one hand, I understand the thought process of if you can't give best services to someone you should give them to someone who can, but on the other, this is the part of your training in this field to learn how to help clients of all sorts. "Difficult" (I say this with very big air quotes) clients can't just get shuffled around forever. They deserve to have someone reach out to them too and say, I will help you.

I don't think my classmate was being hurtful on purpose or anything, and I can't fault anybody for wanting to work with their population of choice. It's just not the line of thinking I really agree with for myself. I see it more like, if you are entering a helping profession, you especially shouldn't be discriminatory with when and who you give your help to. Imagine being told you're too much of a niche case to be helped and then being shuttled along somewhere else, where you may or may not get rejected too. At least where we are in our training, I think it's best to exercise your empathy and stretch your skills as much as possible across as many diverse people as possible while we still have the safety net of our program to catch us if we mess up.

Anyways. I said I would be happy to see that client if she didn't want to. We'll see how that works out.

[roppongi-division]

Zakari's Thoughts on Suginami Division

Ryuko Umemoto

"So this is the Yakuza guy that turned into an animator? Huh. ...Is it weird to say that he reminds me a bit of Samatoki? I mean, they kinda look the same if you glance at them from a different angle. But... I guess I shouldn't say that around him. I hear he and Samatoki don't get along all that well. ...Plus, I heard from Lucille he's also got some kind of grudge against the Kito-gumi as well. Sheesh, no offense to the guy, but I don't think it's wise to have so many enemies."

Maki Umemoto

"Ugh, I am so glad I only have Maki-sensei once a week, cause I really do not like his class. It's not that he's a bad teacher! But... well, for one thing, he almost always cancels class cause he can never work up the nerve to teach, much like Rosho-sensei. If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But every time he does teach, he always veers off topic and goes off on a tirade about the government. In every lesson! I think he made a mistake signing on to be a professor. Because the way he talks, he'd probably be better suited to be a politician or an activist."

"We get it, teach! You're not a fan of Chuohku, most people aren't either. But try to save your speeches and such for after class, okay? We come to your class to learn about the history of the world, not how much Chuohku is..." Zakari reaches off screen and grabs a notebook, opening it up to reveal his notes. "...'tearing down the globes of society by placating us and making us into slaves for them.'"

Shuu Edogawa

"...Man, I have to wonder if this guy accidentally committed some unforgiveable crime against my mom in a past life or something, because she absolutely despises him. Me, though, I actually find Shuu-chan kind of funny, really! I first met him after I was coming from a date with Lucille in Shizuoka. He was following me and her all throughout our date. I don't know if she noticed, but if she did, she didn't say anything."

"After I dropped her off, I led him on a merry chase throughout the city. I gotta say, for a short, scrawny guy in a suit, he could really move! Later, after I had thoroughly tired him out, I confronted him and asked him why he was following me. I wasn't mad; more curious than anything, really. Turns out someone had paid him to tail me, but he wouldn't say who. 'I'm a professional', he said. 'I can't give away client information.'"

"Most people would be upset after hearing something like that. Me, though, I was a bit flattered. I told him, I don't begrudge him for doing his job. But whoever paid him, I told him he should go back and request double, no, triple the rate, cause I wasn't going to make it easy for him. He understood, and with that, we both went our separate ways."

"We still meet each other now and then, and I even stop and have a talk with the guy. I don't know why my mom dislikes him, but he seems alright. ...Still, he should probably sign up for some karate or gym classes or something..."

Sazanka Zombeez

"I actually like this team name. 'Sazanka.' I don't know why, but I like that word. It sounds pretty, which is a given since its a kind of flower. 'Flower Zombies'... sounds like something you'd hear in a video game. As far as the team, itself, goes, I don't think they're bad. I don't know if we'll ever face them or not. But if we do, I'm going to have fun going up against Maki-sensei. We'll see if all of his speeches on the government have prepared his rapping!"