#or reaction from any of the people that supposedly cared about him

[lorephobic]

The issue with a lot of these deaths in MOTA is that people don't know if their friends are dead or not. At the end of the episode Buck thinks he's still alive since some of the plane bailed out. It's less than they don't care and more that they don't know.

A lot of the men during this era would land safely on the ground and then be killed by ground soldiers or by angry civilians so even bailing out doesn't guarantee their safety. Im sure the death of Barry is going to have more meaning later in the show but I think they're trying to showcase the chaos of the war and the fact that they just don't know.

Also not all death is meaningful.

"not all death is meaningful" is one of the most sinister & bleak things i have ever had the displeasure of reading.

[hannieehaee]

18+ / mdi

content: bf!jeonghan x reader, bf'sbestfriend!joshua, established relationship, one sided crush, teasing, jeonghan's a lil shit, smut, mentions of oral (m receiving), vouyerism (kinda), etc.

wc: 609

a/n: i thought abt this concept for a while hehe lmk if u would like a lil drabble about this

masterlist

boyfriend!jeonghan who has been aware of joshua's crush on his pretty girlfriend for a while, never really minding it but also being unable to leave that piece of information alone.

jeonghan discreetly teasing joshua about his crush on you by constantly gushing about you in his presence.

from showing him the pretty selfies you send him to going even further by 'accidentally' swiping one too many times and allowing him a glimpse of some of the more risqué pictures you've sent him on lonely nights.

joshua who is usually hard for fluster being caught off guard every single time, always gulping at the sight or mention of anything above pg13 when it came to you.

jeonghan letting you in on his friend's crush and even inciting you to participate in his teasing.

your boyfriend insisting you spontaneously join in any time he hung out with joshua one on one, making joshua a third wheel (but not really).

insisting on taking pictures of you and joshua together under the fake vice of wanting to have a whole collection of pictures of his girlfriend and his best friend together because what could be better than his two favorite people in the same frame ??

leaving the two of you alone for extended periods of time just to imagine his friend's flustered state at being alone with you.

inviting you on tour with them, with you having to share a room with the two of them whenever the members were assigned roommates.

playing around with you at night, supposedly waiting until joshua fell asleep but being fully aware that he could hear your muffled gasps as he took care of you only one bed away from his.

insisting you join the boys at the pool, smirking at his best friend's widened eyes upon seeing you in a tiny swimsuit.

jeonghan consistently getting off on knowing how badly his friend wanted you but couldnt have you.

buying you and joshua matching things such as sweatshirts and phone cases, claiming he also got some for himself but conveniently 'forgetting' them, making it seem like you and joshua were the matching couple.

chuckling to himself whenever you'd take a page from his book and flirt with joshua just to get a reaction out of him.

catching joshua watching you suck him off one night, having pretended to be asleep and closing his eyes right back the moment he made eye contact with jeonghan.

jeonghan smirking at him regardless, playing up his moans for you now knowing for sure he'd been awake every single time.

both joshua and jeonghan being aware of what was happening, with you blissfully unaware as you sucked your boyfriend to completion.

jeonghan cumming harder than ever before, but doing nothing about the situation, simply choosing to shoot his friend a wink before pulling your unaware self into his arms for some sleep.

jeonghan's teasing amping up even more from then on, making you sit on joshua's lap whenever there was no more sitting space, claiming joshuji wouldnt mind.

getting all three of you to hold hands in crowded places, with you in the middle as jeonghan insisted that it was so you wouldnt get separated.

going as far as having the three of you cuddle on the couch as you watched a movie, removing himself from the middle at some point and somehow managing to get the two of you pressed against each other.

jeonghan beginning to realize how much gratification he'd get from seeing you and joshua together, knowing this type of contact from anyone else would anger him, but being content with it if it was his good joshuji.

[tgcg]

part 2 of something specific

CG: I’M GOING TO NEED TO WATCH THROUGH IT AGAIN TO REALLY HONE DOWN WHAT I THINK OF IT, BUT FUCK IT, I MIGHT AS WELL SHARE MY THOUGHTS NOW SINCE WE’RE FRESH OFF OF WATCHING IT.

CG: SO, THEY’RE ACTUALLY A REALLY FASCINATING EXAMPLE OF RED ROMANCE. I’D GO SO FAR AS TO SAY VERY SUBVERSIVE OF ALTERNIAN UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE SORT, COMPARED TO WHAT YOU’D USUALLY SEE IN FICTIONAL MEDIA. IT’S LEVELS ABOVE THE TYPE OF DYNAMICS I WOULD TYPICALLY SEE IN MY NOVELS, DISREGARDING THE QUALITY OF VACILLATIONS AND YOUR QUOTE-ENQUOTE “POLYAMORY” PRESENT. BECAUSE SAKURA’S POSITION IN THIS IS PRACTICALLY POINTLESS, BUT I DIGRESS.

CG: ACTUALLY — THAT WAS KIND OF FUCKED UP, BY THE WAY. WHY IS SHE WRITTEN SO POORLY?

TG: remember when i told you about misogyny

CG: I WILL NEVER FUCKING GET THAT. OUR MOST POWERFUL FIGURES WERE GENERALLY GIRLS. HOW THAT TRANSLATED SO FUCKING TERRIBLY IS BEYOND ME!

CG: AND HOW THE SHIT DID THE UNIVERSE *I* HAD A DIRECT HAND IN CREATING END UP BEING SO MIND-BOGGLINGLY BACKWARDS ABOUT ROMANCE?

CG: DID NOT EVEN AN ERRANT TRICKLE OF MY INFLUENTIAL THINKPAN OOZE MAKE IT THROUGH THERE? AT ALL?

TG: not even a droplet my man we decided to be equally anal about other stupid shit i guess

CG: NO KIDDING!

CG: ANYWAYS.

TG: if yall managed to get through that door and reign supreme over the human race for lip smackin eternity you know mens and womens would be macking on each other in various gender arrangements with gleeful wild abandon 

TG: itd be a goddamn utopia

CG: FUCKING EXACTLY! BUT INSTEAD I’M HERE. DOING THIS. WITH A GOD, UNIVERSE PENDING. INSTEAD OF BEING A GOD REIGNING OVER A UNIVERSE MYSELF.

CG: *ANYWAYS*!

CG: THEY START OUT WITH A RIVALRY, SURE, BUT THERE’S ACTUALLY NOTHING BLACK ABOUT IT. THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER ARE STRICTLY POSITIVE, IF HIDDEN BEHIND A MORE AGGRESSIVE FACADE. THE VIOLENCE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP BOTH COMES FROM THE SOCIETY THEY WERE RAISED INTO, AND SOME OF THEIR MAJOR CHARACTER FLAWS AND INSECURITIES. NARUTO IS FIERCELY DEFENSIVE OF ANYONE WHO JOINS HIS CIRCLE BECAUSE HE’S DESPERATE FOR CONNECTIONS, AND REFUSES TO LOSE THEM AT ANY COST EVEN IF THEY LEAVE SUPPOSEDLY OF THEIR OWN ACCORD. SASUKE SEPARATES HIMSELF FROM THE PEOPLE HE LOVES OUT OF FEAR – AND DESIRE FOR REVENGE AGAINST HIS BROTHER CONVINCING HIM THIS IS NECESSARY.

CG: LIKE, EVEN WITHIN THE FIRST MAJOR ARC IN THE LAND OF WAVES YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO DEEPLY THAT SASUKE WOULD DIRECTLY SACRIFICE HIMSELF AND HIS POTENTIAL FOR NARUTO’S. AND BELIEVING SASUKE TO BE DEAD IS THE FIRST CATALYST TO NARUTO’S POWERS BEING RELEASED. THAT IS *REALLY* EXTREME. ESPECIALLY BY TROLL STANDARDS, BUT I UNDERSTAND KILLING PEOPLE IS A MUCH FUCKING LARGER DEAL PSYCHOLOGICALLY FOR HUMANS. THAT KIND OF REACTION TO DEATH WOULD ONLY BE RESERVED FOR A CURRENT OR POTENTIAL QUADRANTMATE… AND IS OTHERWISE ONLY EXPRESSED BY TROLLS WITH DISEASES.

TG: oh yeah like the friendship disease right

CG: UGH.

[gyuaesp]

i’ll always look out for you.

pairing: bf!mingyu x gf!reader

wc: 1,026

genres: romance (finally), angst, established relationship, reader is celebrating birthday, not extremely proofread, mingyu helping you through your emotions.

warnings: mentions of family issues (not in full detail), reader has a breakdown.

a/n: okkkk so this is like finally a writing that doesn’t include sad, heartbreaking, gut wrenching love… this one is a bit longer than my usual writes but i hope i did well on this one huhu :’))

it was your birthday. the day you (kind of) dreaded but was looking forward to.

instead of rotting inside your bedroom with an ice cream cake and a glass of champagne, you’ve decided that this year you’re going to be spending it with the people you love most. ever since you (finally) made it official with mingyu, you suddenly had a new perspective on life.

you didn’t care about the wrinkles, nor the gray hairs that might appear once in a while. getting old is a natural human phenomenon, it happens to everyone.

you invited a couple people over, not wanting it to be something huge and awkward. of course mingyu was the first one to arrive, helping you put up decorations with small kisses every minute or so.

he was a bit hypnotized by the outfit you were wearing. small apologies come out of his mouth every time you catch him staring like a creep, but what’s not to love about that? you have this man wrapped around your finger. the kim mingyu can’t help but drool at your beauty.

your friends came later than expected. a decent guest list consisting of joshua, seungkwan, chan, and soonyoung. you were distracted with karaoke while mingyu stayed back preparing your cake. he took glances at you singing duets with the others, chuckling softly at your performance.

you got quite tired out, trailing off into the cupboard for a water break. the glass in your hand getting set down on the island as you stood next to mingyu. “what’re you doing?”

he exhaled, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. “just taking out the cake,” he spoke, giving you a peck on the cheek as his arm wrapped around your waist. “it looks okay, right?” mingyu’s eyes peeked back at the baked good hoping to hear a positive response.

“it looks perfect, baby. what do you mean!” you looked up at him with a reassuring smile. mingyu couldn’t help but give you his fanged grin at your reaction.

as his lips were leaning in for a connection, you heard a series of knocks on your apartment door. mingyu’s gaze moved to the entrance with slight confusion. “did you invite someone else?”

you scanned the living room, counting out the correct number of guests. “i don’t think so,” your voice replied. “i’ll be back.”

“careful,” he called out as you left for the door.

cautiously, you walk towards the threshold.“who’s there?” you speak out of the small opening you made.

suddenly, your breath hitched at the realization.

it was your mother. the woman you purposely took out of your life for making you feel miserable at home. the real reason why you moved out and decided to make yourself a new beginning.

“there’s my pretty lady!” she pushed the door open, dropping her bag and putting her hands on your shoulders.

you could see through her fake persona. the memories you thought you had gotten rid of crashing back into your mind like a tsunami. how the feel of her presence in the room made you tense up. the stench of her perfume bringing back the pain you supposedly healed from.

you could hear the others whispering as seungkwan paused the music. sound waves slowly becoming muffled as mingyu quickly went up to see the situation.

you could see his mouth moving as he spoke with your mother, but you couldn’t hear anything. a wave of emotions enter your body as you speed walk to your bedroom, unable to face her for any longer without breaking down.

it feels like you were brought back to square one.

your optimism fading off as you curled up in your closet. the place where you shed all your tears in the past. the enclosed room making you feel at peace once again as your heart tried to calm itself down.

your hands, feeling your pulse and constantly massaging your neck. small hyperventilations coming out your mouth as you looked around, listing out things in your closet to not freak out.

you could hear the incomprehensible noise of mingyu trying to talk things out with your mother monster from outside.

well, that was until he burst into your room when everything quieted down.

mingyu slowly peeked inside after a couple minutes of searching.

“____?” he calls out quietly, seeing your face buried in your knees. the sound of your sobs being the only thing audible in the area.

he moved towards you, kneeling in front of you. “baby, look at me,” his hand patted your knee. your gaze went to his, eyes glossy with tears. small sniffs coming out as your breathing slowed down at the sight of mingyu. “come on, don’t cry. you know i hate seeing you like this.”

you moved into a proper sitting position to get some fresh air. he patted his lap for you to lay your head, allowing you to rest a bit. both of you sat in silence as he gently dried your face with his shirt, now stained with tears but he didn’t care. “stop your tears. i took care of it, alright? don’t be sad over a small inconvenience.”

you sniffed a bit, gathering your words before speaking. “i don’t understand why she had to ruin my day like this.”

“she didn’t ruin it,” mingyu quickly replied. “you just think that because you’re afraid, honey.” he set a soft kiss on your forehead before his fingers started to massage your temples.

“listen to me,” his hands cupped your cheeks. “she might’ve done things to you in the past, but you will grow. you’ll grow to become the woman your mother couldn’t.”

“i can’t even look at her without freezing up, mingyu-”

“just trust me,” his words cut you off. “i’ve seen what you’ve achieved in life and i believe you can do this too.”

you two sat in silence as you savored his words. “i hate how you always give the best advice.”

“that’s why i’m perfect for you, hun.” mingyu gives you a gentle kiss, taking away the rest of your sadness.

“now go blow your nose. let’s celebrate what’s really important.”

[elasticitymudflap]

hey I know the whole 'I did not care for winter king' thing pretty much summed it up but i'd LOVE to hear what you thought of that whole fucking episode.

IT IS SO FASCINATING TO MEEEEEEE, i mean obviously a 'role swap' universe would be regardless, but beyond the surface lies a lot of hints towards reasons why this world was so different and fucked up fundamentally!! again, my big theory is that no matter what happens our simon is not going to be able to access the crown again in any universe they visit as an extension of betty's wish, so yeah winter king's ass was probably doomed the second they set their sights on duplicating the crown but also, good , because fuck that guy

one thing that stands out to me is how our simon's morals are very different and a lot stronger than wk's, especially how he very clearly doesn't wish the madness of the crown on anyone but himself, but he can empathize with other victims of the crown. throughout the entire episode he's desperately trying to get the others to empathize with candy queen's situation as someone who knows what the madness of the crown feels like and how it warps you. but also, his approach to her is so...

like he actually vibes along to her song, compliments her "metaphor", and above all BEGS fionna and wk to see her as a person who deserves compassion, patience, and understanding... something he seemingly doesn't seem to extend to himself as ice king.

but even her madness seems somewhat suspect to him - just before her musical number he seems mystified as to why the crown's madness would make pb obsessed with him, when he knows from his reality that it's marceline that she's in love with. i'd actually argue that there is a hint of distrust towards winter king that he can't quite put into words at first, but simon's self-loathing at how "functional" his counterpart is seems to counteract his instinct and so he never pries too deeply into it.

there's this interesting reaction to pre-winter king ice king that stands out to me, almost like he's confused and doesn't recognize this specific anger and wrath to be a part of his own ice king experience. our ice king seemed to be much more of a depressed and ultimately harmless nuisance than the threatening figure he appears to be in that sequence. in fact, despite the madness, our ice king is actually quite consistent in there being a line not to cross with violence: he saves finn and jake from the hitman he accidentally hired, he refuses to kill marceline and finn when the empress commands him, he's even horrified at himself in 'I Remember You' when he pushes marceline. our ice king cares infinitely more about having friends and for people to love him and understand him than he is to actively "fix" or change himself, and in the short-circuit that is his mind he always seems to find a way to redirect his 'bad feelings' into doing something fun or impulsive than to stew in anger.

and simon isn't exactly taken in by the splendor of winter king's whole thing the way everyone else is, he doesn't stop questioning how he did it. how did he supposedly "conquer" the crown through "sheer force of will", how did he manage to get the 'best of both worlds'?

except we know it's not. and the mask-slip starts pretty ominously with his insistence that candy queen's kingdom is "forbidden". he slips up just for a moment and then returns to his whimsical wizard of oz-ass persona, and he looks almost guilty for letting on that there's something wrong here that should be avoided

which is something else i'm very fascinated by: winter king's obvious hypocrisy and the awareness of his unethical behaviour. he's quite callous in performatively pretending not to remember who betty is, and then only referring to her as "the dead one". he also seems confused by simon's heartbroken reaction to this callousness, but even more so to his characterization of her as "the great love of (his) life". he obviously has some of our simon's attachments to the past and memories of people he loved, he definitely knows and loved marceline, so why is she the only person he cares about enough to make an "ice person" of? he doesn't recall betty as someone he had a great love with - though he obviously knew who she was, so does that mean he still had some kind of relationship with her?

remember, the mere notion of finding betty so he could apologize to her literally meant so much to our simon that he was able to hide his surviving research on time portals from himself inside the ice castle, long after she would have died naturally had she even survived the mushroom war. and during the bellanoche fiasco he literally staved off death from losing his magic through sheer force of will; the intense motivation to see her kept him going in a decaying 1000 year old human body long enough for him to jump right back into his research and create a time portal to her to say goodbye. that's how much she means to him.

winter king doesn't know that betty is technically still alive, or how our simon was freed from the crown's curse. he simply offers simon a solution to reuniting with someone who he loved who is dead, without knowing how very different our betty's situation is. and that solution is to make an ice-person of that person from the time you loved them, even though you know it's "unethical".

... but betty being "dead" was always the case to our simon, he knew that she was dead because of course she was, it was hundreds of years in the future! but there was always a way back to her, and it was because of his relationship with one miss betty "ancient magic was my major" grof that he had this plan ready at his fingertips

so i think maybe either this world's simon didn't have a very strong relationship with betty, or he did but he had some reason to write her off as 'dead forever' and throw away the prospect of ever seeing her again. it's interesting that despite writing betty off, ice king's obsession with bubblegum persisted as a point of his madness and transferred to her, when even our ice king still cared a lot about "weird lady", though he didn't know who betty was.

in any case, he dismisses the subject very quickly with "jokes" that creating an ice person of someone you cared about, who died, would be unethical. and yet...

this, too, is very interesting to me. little ice marcy has marceline's actual axe bass, the axe which hunson brought with him to ooo after simon summoned him to take care of marceline when he had to leave her - marcy converted it into a bass herself of course. and the two definitely met and stayed alive together when marcy was a child

i've seen people theorize that marcy died in this memory here, but considering the presence of the axe i'm honestly not so sure. i mean, she grew up enough to gain and convert the axe to a bass, maybe she died of old age as a half-demon and never turned into a vampire? except that non-vamp marceline from farmworld seemed to still be kicking, what would an extra 12 years be to someone like her?

despite simon's pleas for fionna not to hurt candy queen and for them to help her, winter king INSISTS that she can't be helped, and that the only solution is for fionna to "knock her out", not kill her, because he would lose his conduit for the crown's madness and so this cycle will continue forever. winter king seemed committed to keeping the secret of how he "conquered" the crown, and who he hurt to manifest this reality of his, only to reveal it supposedly when simon was infected with the crown's madness again.

so why did no one stop winter king for 100 years? finn wouldn't have been born yet, but surely marceline, if she were vamped up and aware of what winter king had done, would try to stop him? but there's no sign of her in this world... save for her one possession we know she had later in her life, in the hands of an ice clone of her, frozen at a time in her life when she still loved simon unconditionally.

... i'll leave you with one VERY interesting production note steve wolfhard posted today about the blade he gave fionna, because it implies that even beyond this simon lacking some integral part of what makes him himself, the madness of the crown wasn't completely absent the way he'd thought it had been, so even in the end it wasn't a "perfect" solution to the madness.

[obxsummer]

Pieces of You // JJ Maybank

summary: you had grown tired of JJ's reckless nature and were suffering the silent treatment post-argument. so it's only fitting the next time he's careless it's to save you.

request: Heyyy, I love your work with all my heart!! I was wondering if you could write a JJ x reader fic, where in S3 at the end of episode 8 Topper burns the chateau down, but JJ has to save them because they didn’t notice the fire or anything? That would be so nice:)

warnings: minor injuries, angst bc it's me, crappy ending bc I didn't know what else to write ok

navigation

--

Things had been a little too crazy for you and the Pogues. John B had supposedly managed to get arrested after knocking the shit out of Topper. Sarah did cheat on him after all, so his reaction was warranted in your mind. Kie had been busy dealing with the backlash of her parents while Pope and Cleo seemed to be the only duo without any major complications. Granted, Cleo did have to talk the boy out of killing Rafe for melting the cross but hey, minor details.

You and JJ however, were in the middle of the biggest argument you’d seen. At this point, you don’t even remember how it all happened minus the fact that the two of you stopped speaking shortly after his whole bike incident. JJ had the habit of being a little too careless for someone who had people that needed him and loved him. You were growing really tired of his reckless behavior. You loved JJ more than anything, but sometimes you wished he saw that his actions affected more than just him. You needed to know that he would be okay if you weren’t around to approve of his actions and make sure he didn’t go too far. 

JJ had been avoiding you since the moment you caught his gaze on the busted concrete. He knew he was fucked, and royally too. You’d warned him about being more careful and here he was doing powerslides from overpasses. 

He couldn’t get the words to work right to explain to you why he acted the way he did. It wasn’t just for the adrenaline rush, or because of his upbringing. JJ genuinely would do anything for you and the Pogues. He just happened to jump to the craziest way of getting there instead of taking the time to think it through.

“Will you just talk to me please?” His voice was pleading as he watched you move around your bedroom in a rushed fashion. You’d been quiet since Topper had dropped everyone off and your boyfriend was losing it with the silence. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want to talk to me now? Where was this initiative when you practically dumped me off your bike into the truck bed? Or, better yet, where was this when you just stared at me blankly like I wasn’t sobbing over the fact that I thought you were dead?” You were getting angry quickly and JJ didn’t like it. 

He hesitated in his response, enough that you let out a huff of air in annoyance before turning away from him again. Recently, JJ panicked easily. It all started once he lost John B but got better for a while, especially when he had you. Now that everything was colliding, JJ was panicking. 

“I just didn’t know how else to get the cops away from-”

“You didn’t have to do something that involved you almost dying, JJ!” You shouted this time as the random pieces of clothing dropped from your hands. “I know you care. You care a lot for everyone but JJ… I care about you. I care so much that you break my heart when you do things like this because I can’t lose you! And neither can our friends! I know you don’t think far enough ahead for your personal consequences but please… please think about how everyone else would react if we lost you.”

JJ walked out on you sometime after that. You’d clearly upset him and your friends definitely felt the awkwardness but if you were honest, there was so much tension between everyone right now anyway. Your small family was starting to waver but you knew everything would work out. 

Sarah had called you all over to the Chateau, promising good news. You had yet to see her as you slowly approached the group, Kie, Cleo, Pope, and JJ already in attendance. There wasn’t much conversation to begin with, but it all fell silent the moment you stepped into view. Kie gave you a reassuring smile that didn’t do much to ease your nerves.

The blonde girl that had asked for your presence came walking down the steps of the Chateau not long after, sparing the awkward silence. “Hey, um, thanks for waiting. Look who decided to come home.”

John B stepped out of the doors of his childhood home, looking relatively fine for the hell he’d been through. You were shocked that he had managed to get out of jail so quickly, especially with Topper’s family status being put into play.

“Welcome back,” Cleo greeted with a smirk on her face. 

“Whoa! Good to see you, man.”

You let out a small laugh at John B’s surprise presence. “Welcome home, JB.” 

“You gotta be kidding me,” JJ scoffed from his spot across from you on the large tree branch. John B tucked his hands in his pockets and walked towards all of you solemnly. He looked really upset if you were being honest and it made you wonder what had really happened. 

“I have something I want to share with you guys,” Sarah said as she pulled the attention back to her. “I can get us down to Orinoco.”

“Are you serious?”

“What?”

“Okay, how’s that gonna happen?”

“My dad’s gonna let us use the plane-”

“Ward?”

“Your dad?”

You rolled your eyes at the pop-up comments that seemed never-ending. “Can y’all let the girl speak? Geez.”

Sarah’s gaze met yours as she offered up a small thankful smile. “We lay low tonight, then wheels up first thing in the morning.”

“Okay, that’s a lot to process. Your dad actually helping us,” Pope recounted in shock. “So we trusting Ward now?”

“Trust Sarah,” Kie offered with a solidifying nod at her own words. 

Pope and Cleo seemed excited about the plan as Sarah spoke up again. “But wait, I also just have one more thing to say. Um… since we’ve gotten back from the island, I’ve done some things I regret. A lot.”

Kie cleared her throat in the awkward silence that followed.

“Yeah, uh…” To your surprise, John B broke the quiet. “I feel…I feel like we’ve all done a thing or two that we regret.” His eyes glanced at the blonde next to him before he looked towards the ground again.

Sarah continued, “And I don’t…Poguelandia, guys. It’s all I’ve been able to think about. We were all together on that island and it was a good thing and I don’t want to ruin a good thing. And I-I just wanna know, are we still all in? Are we still all together? Because I am.”

Kie was the first to agree, wrapping Sarah in a hug before Cleo piled in on top of them.

“I still can’t believe you got the plane!” Pope smiled as he brought the Cameron girl in for a hug. “That’s actually insane.”

You took a deep breath as you watched them, well aware of JJ’s eyes on you. He’d been staring for a while now, always observant when it came to you. You took a few steps forward to embrace Sarah before retreating back to your own space next to Kie.

“Let’s go get Big John, alright? What do you say there, shit bird?” JJ tugged Pope under his arm as he regarded your friend. You found yourself pulled into the group hug next to Kie and Sarah, all of you waiting for John B to complete the circle.

“I think this deserves a woogity.”

You watched from the corner of your eye as John B stayed still in his spot. You shook your head slightly and made eye contact with him while smiling. “How long are you gonna pretend you’re not coming over here?”

Your best friend’s blank exterior broke at the question, glad to see a smidge of positive emotion from you over the past few days. He caved and made his way toward your group, quickly throwing his arms over your shoulders.

“Come over here, funny man. We don’t bite.” The seven of you hugged each other tightly, finally all back in the same place for once in what felt like forever. 

“Oh, we’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

Your small family was slowly rebuilding as everyone made their way into the Chateau for the night. John B and Sarah were quick to excuse themselves to his room, leaving the rest of you to entertain yourselves. 

“Jay,” You whispered his name quietly as he brushed past you to the kitchen in search of a beer. You blinked sudden tears from your eyes and looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to not cry. 

Letting out a deep breath, you quickly made your way to the guest bedroom where you and JJ had spent most of your time. You stared at the colossal mess of your things scattered amongst his along the furniture and floor. Your chest ached at the sight, wishing the two of you weren’t on such poor terms at the moment so you could actually enjoy the peace before setting off on another treasure hunt. 

Busying yourself with a shower in the attached bath, you figured some quiet time would help you clear your head and hopefully come up with a game plan of what to say to your boyfriend. You didn’t mean to make him feel like shit for expressing his love the way he did, but you were scared for him. 

The hot water of John B’s shower was soothing as you took the quiet time for yourself. Eventually, you had to leave the comforting steam when it began to run cold. Completely disheveled and stressed, you pulled on some comfy clothes and attempted to dry your wet hair before you had to face the music again. 

You let out a sigh and reached for the metal doorknob to walk back into the spare bedroom only for a searing pain to stretch across your hand. Jumping back with a yelp, a rush of panic overwhelmed you once you realized how hot it was in the small bathroom. 

“JJ!” You yelled instinctively as you searched for the hand towel to possibly grab the handle with. The fabric held the heat off long enough for you to open the door. The sight of bright flickering flames filled the room you and JJ had claimed for yourselves, burning pieces of each other into ashes. You stumbled back in shock before the adrenaline kicked in and you ran into the smoky room in hopes of salvaging some of the items.

“Y/N!” The boy in question came flying through the bedroom door a second later. He could barely see you through the thick smoke but managed to catch a quick movement of your figure across the room. “Y/N, we have to go!”

Your heart was pounding in your ears too loud for you to register his voice. The few items you’d grabbed in a rush were thrown in a canvas tote bag Kie had given you before you spun straight into JJ’s chest. 

“We gotta go, baby, come on.” JJ tugged his your t-shirt up over your mouth and nose to help filter the smoke before doing the same and leading you out of the room. Most of the house was covered in the bright orange light of the fire as you observed it in shock. You could barely focus as JJ pushed your hips towards the window of Big John’s office that was left open from their prior escape. He was quick to climb out and turned back to catch you. Glass shattered from another window causing the two of you to duck down and JJ to grab your wrist to tug you away from the structure. 

JJ’s grip on your wrist eased up as he brought you towards the dock where everyone had gathered in their escape. Your boyfriend’s touch was gentle as he helped you sit on the ground to take a deep breath and cough out the smoke in your lungs. “It’s okay, ‘m right here, baby.”

Everyone was visibly relieved when they saw you and JJ come running from the smoldering flames on the side of the house. It all happened so fast that they felt guilty for completely forgetting you were in the shower. JJ had taken one small look and took off before anyone had a chance to stop him. 

Your hands were shaky with the anxiety and fear that was coursing through your body. In the few moments before you found JJ, you were thinking the worst. You thought you were going to lose the person who mattered most to you in the midst of an argument and that was terrifying. You’d never forgive yourself if you lost JJ ever, but to be on rough terms was a nightmare you’d never recover from. 

“Hey, hey. Look at me. Everyone’s fine, I’m right here.” JJ’s blond hair was suddenly visible in your view as he forced you to look up at him and uncurl from the ball you’d shifted into. “What did you grab?”

You released your suffocating grip on the bag you’d practically filled. In the midst of your panic, you didn’t realize your friends had moved away to give you and JJ some space. You settled back against the posts of the wooden dock to watch as he went through the items you grabbed.

JJ’s favorite hoodie, a handful of Polaroids Kiara had taken of your group, his rings, the necklace he’d saved up to buy you for your anniversary. JJ was careful with the items as he shifted through them, his eyes suddenly damp with tears. 

“Y/N, sweetheart, all of this is replaceable. You aren’t,” He consoled as he finally made eye contact with you. Both of you were crying now, emotions running high from the events that just took place.

You took a shaky breath as you fought back the sob threatening to break through. “I...I felt like that room was us. All of our memories, and it was just crumbling and you weren’t there. JJ, I can’t lose you.”

“I know, I know.” JJ didn’t hesitate to pull you against his chest as you cried against him. He’d felt the panic himself a few moments before when he realized you were still showering and blissfully unaware of the damage awaiting outside. JJ refused to let you be in pain because of him and his actions from here on out. It wasn’t fair to any of your friends but especially you. “Not doing anything majorly stupid from here on out. Maybe just a little here and there, but-”

You laughed slightly and pulled your head from his shirt to look over his shoulder where the Chateau was crumbling from the flames. Heart heavy, you leaned your cheek against JJ’s shoulder and let him hold you, hoping this was the lowest your group could go and things could only look up from here.

--

navigation

[missmoonfrost]

A shitty morning - a wolfstar microfic

February 23 - sentimental - 899 words

@wolfstarmicrofic

Sirius noticed the scornful smiles from the Slytherin table as soon as he entered the great hall. By the time he sat down and saw himself to a glass of pumpkin juice, he had realized that the increased interest was not limited to one table. People seemed to be staring and whispering all around the room. He buttered his toast while he carefully arranged his face in a nonchalant look. When a group of Ravenclaws passed by, he asked:

“I know I’m nice to look at, but what did I do to win the audience today?

The girls giggled, but he didn’t get any answer. Not until Frank spread The Daily Prophet out in front of him.

There was a moving picture of his father, stern and proper as always. The interview was mostly about finances and how he’d managed to be so successful (Sirius didn’t read it but imagined his father conveniently left out all the people he’d screwed over in the process). Under the question about the future, a quote was highlighted. “As far as I’m concerned, I only have one son. Naturally, Regulus will be head of the house of Black one day.”

Sirius closed his eyes. After running away to stay with the Potters he hadn’t expected anything else. But the whole school gossiping about it? What a nightmare.

He forced himself to smile sweetly again and roll his eyes. “Like I care.”

He gave the paper back without reading more and avoided the surrounding eyes eager for a reaction completely.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked James who had been reading over his shoulder.

“Sirius, this must be horrible.“

He sighed and turned away. Obviously, James wouldn’t understand the need to not share one's feelings with the world. Luckily Remus immediately caught on.

“Splendidly. Did you? Have you heard they are planning to rearrange the greenhouses, by the way?”

Sirius smiled meekly as he half-listened to the rest of the monologue. He always found comfort in listening to Remus' voice.

In Transfigurations, today’s task was transforming a wooden stick into a rose.

Sirius' first attempts just became puffs of smoke. He heard the Slytherins snicker behind him and gritted his teeth. He had to concentrate if they were not to think he cared what his father thought of him.

On the next try, Sirius' stick turned into a deformed cactus with giant spikes and Sirius immediately pricked himself. Gritting his teeth even harder, he clutched the bloody thumb in his other hand and didn’t make a sound. The pain forced tears to his eyes nevertheless. Remus grabbed his arm and muttered a basic healing spell and the pain disappeared just as Zabini leaned forward from his seat behind them.

“Sentimental tears, Black? Wish mommy and daddy hadn’t kicked you out?”

“I’ll kick your face out, see how sentimental you get!”

“Anger issues as well? Poor thing.” Zabini mocked as he leaned back and shared a laugh with his fellow Slytherins.

Sirius felt James' hands on his shoulders as he turned in his chair. “Easy, mate. He’s not worth it.”

“Don’t worry,” he said through clenched jaws, “I’m good.”

He tried to reassure James he wasn't going to do anything stupid. Slow his breathing. Relax his fists. He was going to be the better person James always expected him to be. Who he himself wanted to be, true, but that didn't make it less exhausting.

With all his willpower he cleared his head and focused on the task. Finally, a beautiful rose appeared. Despite all, he was among the first to do it and it earned him an approving nod from Professor McGonagall.

After the lesson, more than one of the boys behind them hit Sirius with their bags or bumped into his chair, supposedly by accident, on their way out. Sirius paced back and forward, ready to snap at anything. He was just about to ask Remus why he was taking so long collecting his things when he turned to Peter and James and suggested: “You go on, we'll catch up soon.”

Peter got the hint and dragged James with him.

“What are you doing?” Sirius demanded.

“Just making sure you get a pause to breathe if you need one.”

Sirius shrugged. “I’ve had a shitty morning. I'll get over it.”

“I'm sure you will.”

Remus' face was honest. No smile he had to live up to, no pity he had to deflect, just a concerned furrow between his brows. Like he understood.

Actually, being alone with Remus made it easier to breathe.

The sob coming out of Sirius' mouth startled even himself.

Remus opened his arms. Sirius let himself fall into the embrace. Let Remus' strong arms be his anchor as he cried for just a few moments. Then he stayed still. Rested his forehead on Remus' shoulder. Breathed in the comforting scent in his neck.

When did Remus become his go-to comfort? And what did that mean?

He straightened himself and cleared his throat.

“I'm so glad I have you. Don’t know how I’d get through this day any other way.”

“I’m glad I have you, too. You’re doing great.”

The smile Remus gave him was so warm and caring that his stomach flipped. He smiled back and saw it become even warmer. What did that mean? That he was glad he’d been able to help a friend? Or something else entirely?

[pepsichrry]

Theo Nott Headcannons/Information

Information:

•Theo was mentioned in the Harry Potter books (The Philosopher’s Stone, Order of the Phoenix).

•He is only referred to as ‘Nott’ during the sorting ceremony in book 1.

•He isn’t mentioned until book 5 as one of the only three students in the Care of Magical Creatures class who are able to see Thestrals, meaning that he had witnessed somebody die. He supposedly found it unpleasant as he watched one eat and he wasn’t fond of the creatures.

•His appearances in the books are described as ‘weedy’ and ‘stringy’ meaning that he is likely canonically tall and thinly built.

•It is unclear when he is born, but it is said that his father was an older or elderly man who had been previously involved with the Deatheater Army during the First Wizarding War.

•Theodore was mentioned by Hermione in 1996 as one of the group of Slytherin boys whose fathers had been outed as Deatheaters by the magazine ‘The Quibbler’. His reaction seemed to differ from his friends as his reaction was the only one which was not specifically threatening or negative, suggesting indifference.

•At the end of his Fifth Year, Theodore Nott Sr. was captured in the Department of Mysteries as a member of Deatheater forces who participated in a raid of the Department and was exposed as an escaped Deatheater.

•With his father in Azkaban and his mother seemingly dead, it is unspecified who cared for Theodore during the summer holidays.

•In sixth year, Theodore was not asked to attend the Slug Club due to his fathers involvement with the Dark Lord, this is because of Professor Slughorns inquiry about Theo’s family from Blaine Zabini, who was later invited to the Club.

•Theodore was one of the few students who progressed to N.E.W.T level Potions. They seemed to poke fun of Hermiones Blood-Status and were skeptical of the effects of Amorentia.

•He attended his Seventh year at Hogwarts and was treated well due to his Blood Status.

•At the Battle of Hogwarts, it is unclear whether he joined Voldemorts side or Evacuated, but since he is not shown or mentioned defecting to the Deatheaters before the Battle, we can assume that he didn’t end up fighting with the Deatheaters.

•It is also mentioned that he was later taken into custody for owning illegal Timeturners. We can infer from this that he could possibly have made them with dark magic, or he bought them for a hefty price. (Said in TCC, so possibly not Canon).

•Theo is mentioned to be very intelligent, but more of a Loner, since he didn’t participate in many groups like the one led by Draco Malfoy.

Headcannons:

•Theodore watched his mother die when he was young, leaving him in the sole care of his father, who was a cold and bitter man.

•Theo didn’t have many friends when he was younger except for Draco Malfoy, but he opened up slightly more at Hogwarts, though he still liked his alone time.

•He had a set path for him created by his father. He was supposed to work in the ministry and provide for a family, but Theo wanted to be a Potioneer like his uncle and much of his other family on his mother’s side.

•Theo’s mother left all of her belongings to him, and made sure that his father wouldn’t be able to take possession of any of it. In his inheritance, he gained a large portion of money and an estate in rural Italy.

•His mother was from Florence, Italy and was married to his father through an arranged marriage, where she suffered abuse from Theodore Nott Sr. She died slowly due to a failed suicide attempt.

•Theodore had trouble connecting with people because of his parent’s relationship and the things that he’d witnessed in his childhood. He feared becoming his father more than anything, so he did all that he could to prevent it from happening.

•He’d never had a real relationship and never would despite how many girls he’d slept with. He didn’t want a commitment.

•Despite how quiet he was, Theo was a very funny person and to his friends, he was often the life of the party

•Theo was prone to addiction and often used unhealthy coping mechanisms like smoking, drinking and drug use, though he only took drugs at parties.

•Much like Draco, Theo took the Dark Mark as a punishment for his father’s mistakes, not out of willingness. He received it a week after his fifteenth birthday and struggled to adjust.

•He was 6’2” feet tall

•He tanned very nicely in the summer, leaving him with smooth, olive skin just like his mother’s.

•During the Battle of Hogwarts, Theo ran away with Blaise Zabini, purely because he wanted to avoid fighting people that he’d previously called friends.

•As his life went on, Theo learned from his mistakes and prejudices and slowly but surely became a better person. He was clean by the time he was 20.

•As a request from the Dark Lord, Theo created a Timeturner for him. But since he’d learned how to do it, he created more and gifted one to the Malfoy Family and kept one for himself. He didn’t use it to change the past, but he’d travel back to his old house to watch his past, specifically, to watch his mother, trying to piece together parts of her life and his. It was the only way of truly knowing and remembering her because he was so young when she died.

•Theo died before he turned 30, ending the Nott family line. He’d died alone after taking his own life to avoid being sent to Azkaban for his possession of illegal Timeturners.

•He lived a life of longing for love without receiving it. Secretly, he wished for a loving relationship and a family, but he didn’t want to repeat the cycle of abuse that he was trapped in. He felt that his family line didn’t deserve to be continued, he felt that he was atoning for their sins by ending it.

[cheemscakecat]

Emesis Blue Medic Headcanon

So I’m 99% sure that Spy’s Disguise takes place before the nightmare sequence known as Emesis Blue, sometime during the height of the respawn failures.

[I’m going to talk about DID. I’m not an expert, and this post about a fictional character should never be used to self diagnose.]

The Bloody RED Engineer sabotaged the respawn machine, which led to his entire team dying for real; then he murdered a group of [supposedly] unrelated BLU engineers, who also died for real.

It’s the reason why Dr Ludwig is even in the area to work on the comatose CyberSpy.

If Emesis Blue is a dream/nightmare people’s jobs may not match with real life, but still tell us something important about them. Soldier being Spy’s assistant tells us that he likes to work in a group rather than alone, even if his teammate is a jerk.

Ludwig being the Chief Medical Advisor could imply that he was the go-to expert at the height of the respawn failures, who had to investigate and report on different accidents when he wasn’t attempting to save a patient from said failures. Whether it was killing him slowly or not, Blu wouldn’t care; not the Administrator or Jules Archibald, at the least.

Jules is shown to be callous about death in both Spy and Soldier’s nightmares, and someone who relies on other people to protect him and do his dirty work to the point he’s incapable of defending himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he and his crew forced Medic to report on all the gory details of each respawn failure, while being unwilling to attempt to rescue patients or clean up the carnage.

Re-watching the early scenes with Scout it seems that the era of the respawn errors is long gone, and the details are highly classified. Which would explain why Scout is so uninformed about any of the other accidents, but Ludwig had a nightmare that his friend suffered one himself.

Medic’s body language at the Medical office and in the ambulance makes it feel like the doctor wouldn’t be answering all these questions if he wasn’t talking to a friend. Like it hurts to relive that trauma, and the answers he gives are vague. Makes sense if Jules and the team trying to fix the Respawn machine bombarded Medic with questions over and over again, forcing him to picture what happened, no matter how awful it was.

Keeping that in mind:

What if the Funeral Medic is in control of Ludwig’s body when we see him in Spy’s disguise?

Neither of them talk or blink, for one thing. He does wince and cross himself upon rewatching CyberSpy’s robot-seizure, but that’s instinct. Another thing I noticed;

Something is going on with his eyes. This was his reaction to CyberSpy’s neck cracking, and the eyes stay like that.

It’s almost as if somebody trained himself not to blink, so he’d make people uncomfortable.

[nods once, flares nostrils in irritation]

It’s starting to feel like the Funeral Medic is meant to put people off of approaching Ludwig. If that is the case, we have proof that it works despite looking like Fritz, not his scarier version from Emesis Blue. I also noticed he really doesn’t like CyberSpy and Buddy Engineer.

He’s like “The revolver… exists! But you two just had to keep using that broken disguise kit anyway.”

Normally these Respawn Failures are completely accidental, and the patients are innocent [in that context, anyways]. So for two people to cheat by using body modification, and drive an enemy teammate to insanity? Any deeper coldness and anger reserved for Archibald and his cronies would emerge.

And he had to set up a camera before touching the patient… I really think this personality is mute. People with DID have been studied, and their brain structure is different between personalities. Their pets can tell the difference, and some personalities have physical ailments that the rest of the system doesn’t. So it isn’t impossible for one of Medic’s alters to be mute or selectively mute.

Ludwig’s nightmare version of this alter is associated with the respawn deaths in his mind too. He must have been switching during the investigations, with Funeral Medic performing surgeries and dealing with Jules. But for a time there would have been a lot of casualties, and Fritz may believe that this personality was intentionally letting patients die.

Could contribute to the nightmare imagery of being helpless with this personality around.

The fact that the real alternate personality and the nightmare version move so fluidly could be showing us another important detail.

Funeral Medic has exceptional aim and reaction times. Probably in order to react to injuries caused by the respawn machine, and to perform the needed treatments as effectively and precisely as possible. That’s why he moves like that.

My theory is that Electric-Eye Medic is a protector personality that comes out during RED v BLU matches when someone keeps targeting Fritz and needs to be put in their place. And most other situations now that the respawn failures aren’t happening like before. It’s why he’s the first other personality to take control, and keeps showing up.

And Funeral Medic is a gatekeeper personality who used to take control to prevent Ludwig from getting more trauma from Respawn Failures and patient deaths. Normally he stays inside the mind and keeps other people’s trauma from resurfacing, but the events of Emesis Blue were so serious that he needed to front.

It’s why he only shows up at the end.

When someone has DID, communicating with their alternate personalities and understanding what they’re trying to do is key. But Dr Ludwig wasn’t diagnosed with DID [or multiple personality disorder], he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. And he’s Catholic, so he’s really likely to mistake Funeral Medic for a demon.

It’s one of the reasons why I want Emesis Blue to be a nightmare; so Ludwig and his personalities can talk/write things out and deal with their inner conflict. They need to, and I think he deserves a happy ending.

If RED Medic has his stolen wedding doves, it’d fit BLU to have an emotional support animal.

[dimorphodon-x]

Persist

Slingarm's grief seems to manifest itself in a waking nightmare. He doesn't want to be here. He doesn't want to see the body before him.

'Please wake up...'

---

Slingarm lay restless on his berth, tired eyes staring up at the ceiling of his new quarters. He was drained, his limbs sore and fingers numb, yet his mind was too busy to let him rest.

The image of the casket was still intensely vivid in his mind’s eye. The body inside had not been repaired, but the face had been reset, and the armor polished to preserve what little color was left. The ceremony was small, short, and simple. Once the coffin had been placed into the morgue, Slingarm, with his cat Gigus in his arms, headed straight for his room.

The medic turned his head to look at the desk next to his berth. The gray form of Gigus Maximus remained curled up in his cat bed, his metallic fur rising and falling as his old frame cycled cool air. Aside from the old cat’s snores and the faint rumble of the Immortal Sun’s engines, it was very quiet. He turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

The poor kid shouldn’t have died.

The last time Slingarm had seen Starhawk alive, he was being kicked out of the only home he’d ever known. Slingarm could do nothing but watch from the sidelines as the flier was knocked down and humiliated. There was a promise that they’d meet up again at some point to catch up.

His hopes of keeping that promise were dashed when his long lost brother just showed up out of nowhere. The first thing Bluntforce had said: “Starhawk is dead.”.

Slingarm’s immediate reaction was to punch the Wrecker in the face.

Apparently Starhawk had accidentally gotten himself sucked into a nasty situation. Slingarm didn’t know the details, but some Cons were retaliating against their loss against the Autobots, rounding up anyone they could to make examples of them. There were supposedly videos of the executions, but the medic didn’t want to see them.

The Immortal Sun showed up just a little too late. Bluntforce crashed into the scene when the Decepticon was holding the gun to Hawk’s forehead. He could only watch as the young mech’s frame crumpled onto the floor, splatters of energon and bits of his head scattered behind him.

And now they were all here. Slingarm sighed and rubbed at his eyes. It was obvious that sleep would not be coming right now. With a grunt, he got up from his berth. A few hours of wandering the halls might help pass the time and encourage his brain to finally let him sleep.

Slingarm briefly glanced over at Gigus as he walked towards the door. The old cat was still snoozing, unbothered by any noise made by the door as it slid open and the medic’s footsteps stepping out.

The halls were mostly empty, Slingarm only caught glimpses of some of the Immortal Sun’s crew as they went about their business. Most of the ship’s activity seemed concentrated up front for now, leaving the back half relatively uneventful and some of the hallways either dimly lit or shut off entirely to save on power.

Slingarm had to be thankful for that. He needed his space right now. As he wandered the remaining lit halls at a lazy pace, Slingarm let his mind also wander.

When Slingarm first met Starhawk, he was a selfish and proud young mech. He had no experience, no scars, no fear. Despite his faults, Slingarm liked him. He knew he wasn’t a bad kid, he just needed better people to guide him.

Slingarm didn’t get much of a chance to try. Maybe it was because he was reminiscing now, but the time he had with Hawk felt so very short. The old mech paused and rested his hands over his face, a heavy sigh escaping his vents.

He should’ve left with him. Who cares if the Prophetic Lancer would lose the only medic onboard, he should have prioritized the poor kid over that group of self righteous morons.

The medical students he took on weren’t so bad though, weren’t they? They were eager and excited to learn from him and make him proud. They were good kids.

Slingarm’s vocal box glitched and he pressed his palms into his face. He’d lost most of his students as well, if not all of them. All he had left was dear old Gigus. Oh but how much longer would the ancient cybercat last? With creaking joints and coughing vents and crackling purs, Gigus was so very old.

A distant thump pulled the medic from his thoughts. He lifted his head from his hands and looked back down the hall. Nobody was in sight. Perhaps it was another mech passing by.

Thunk.

There was something curious about the sound. Slingarm’s antennae perked curiously as he listened. The sounds were clumsy and slow like someone heavily intoxicated was stumbling to their room.

Perhaps that someone would appreciate his help. It would be a nice little distraction at least. He turned and made his approach, the clumsy thunks and scrapes getting louder as he got closer.

“Hhhhhhh…hkshhh…”

Slingarm paused. Sounded like a malfunctioning vocal box. All they were spitting out was static. Likely he’d need to bring this guy into the medi bay. He continued towards the sounds, his pace faster than before.

He approached a more dimly lit hall. In the back of his mind he noted how close he was to the morgue and his spark clenched painfully. He didn’t want to be here, he needed to hurry and find the mech and get them help. He needed to get away.

Slingarm’s spark pounded as he neared the other hallway, his tanks churned. Something wasn’t right, but what could that possibly be? The struggling mech was getting closer, he could hear their armor rattle as they stumbled down the hall. They sounded awful. They needed his help. He picked up his pace, almost running. His vision narrowed as he reached the other hallway, turning into it. There! He could see a figure!

He froze, feet rooted to the floor. The mech didn’t stop to stare at him, continuing to amble along. Flakes of black paint fell from his frame and he left behind a trail of coolant and oil, likely a damaged internal leaking or something was just not functioning right.

Considering that there was only one injury, Slingarm had to assume the latter. He felt nauseous as he stared at the large chunk of emptiness on the right side of the flier’s head. He could see his exposed brain module.

Oil streaks ran down his face, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. His frame groaned as he swayed on his feet. His eyes were black yet his hands reached out to him, as if he was looking right at him.

Slingarm was too shocked to speak, he was unable to move or look away as it shuffled towards him. Starhawk’s vocal box croaked and crackled, spitting more static.

“Eeeetchshhhh… ssshhhhhh… mn…” was he trying to speak? 

“What?” Slingarm whispered in disbelief. More static spewed from the animated corpse, louder, almost desperate.

“HHHRRRRTZZZZ! SSHHHHK-AA-RTCH!” Coolant and oil dripped from Hawk’s chin. A flaky arm braced against the wall as he reached for the medic with the other hand, flailing and screaming like a lost child, “PSHHH-HTSZZZZT-SKDDDD!”

Slingarm’s frame shook and he placed his hands over his audials. He couldn’t listen anymore, he didn’t want to look anymore. This was wrong, very wrong, “stop it…”

The corpse took another taxing step, feet dragging, more coolant dripping onto the floor, more flakes of paint falling. It kept on screaming. It wouldn’t stop. Slingarm pressed his palms harder against his audials, coolant welling up in his optics.

“Stop it! Stop it, go away! You’re not real!” He finally shut his eyes, voice trembling, “you’re dead! You’re dead, I saw it! You’re not real!”

The corpse made a high pitched wail, the piercing shriek echoed off the walls and Slingarm flinched, eyes opening to again see the figure before him. It was so close.

“Why?” Slingarm hiccuped and lowered his hands from his audials, large drops of coolant running down his face and obscuring his vision, “why won’t you go away?”

Starhawk was still. He pushed off the wall and stepped forward, both hands again reaching for him. Was he being punished? He barely had any time to mourn. He wanted to throw up.

A small, anguished sound left Slingarm’s mouth as cold black fingers brushed against his face.

[swallowtail-ageha]

Scrolling through your asoiaf tag and you have such good and correct opinions like how can anyone love just Dany or just Sansa or just Arya like how can anyone not see the parallels between Dany and Sansa it makes me feel so crazy like why are there so few people who love all the girlies?? I genuinely love every single female POV character and can’t imagine hating any of them. I mean sure yeah Cersei is a villain but you’re telling me her tragedy doesn’t touch your heart? Watching this woman desperately try to avoid her prophecy as it unfolds before you doesn’t have you in a death grip? Or like are you unmoved by Sansa telling an annoying snotty little boy how brave he is because she wants him to feel better? Dany comforting Missandei when her brother dies? Arya getting to the house of the black and white and immediately thinning to being a man a cup of water (or at least what she thought was water)? How about Sansa telling Joffrey she hopes Robb cuts his head off? Dany sassing the man who wants to open the fighting pits? Arya telling Jaquen to kill himself? Like please come on. All three girls are obviously different but they share so many very endearing traits. I am fiercely holding tight to my delusion that Dany and Sansa will bond over stories and songs and Arya will teach Dany about all the flowers in Westeros and then Sansa will show them how to make flower crowns and embroider little emblems on Arya’s clothes

First of all tysm!!!!

The whole arya vs sansa vs dany fandom fight frustrates me to no end, mainly because all parties involved seem to have little to no empathy to the characters whose stans they oppose. It's all maliciously extrapolating some parts of the text to make them see worse than what they are (ex: daenerys' "if i look back i am lost" getting twisted from "dany knows that dwelling on what ifs and turning your back after you have taken a commitment will only damage you in the long term" in "dany doesn't want to reflect on her past mistakes and will go mad and get stabbed to death" or sansa getting frustrated at sweetrobin being a sign of her being ableist and classist while it's. Just a normal reaction of a stressed and traumatized 13 yo who is otherwise very sweet to her cousin)

For loving the female characters same! Even those who commit outwardly villainous acts do get lots of humanizing moments, Cersei, as awful as she is, is simply a product of the hyper misogynistic society she lives in plus years of parental and spousal abuse (and the doomed by prophecy vibes) and. I genuinely don't get how people can look at the walk of shame and say it's a fitting punishment to her crimes

Overall all the hate for female characters that are more complex or more driven or more morally ambiguous than what most female characters are presented as in other media in a fandom who (supposedly) prides itself in liking morally ambiguous characters is.. frustrating, really. I blame both fandom misogyny but also the GoT series, as it's outright changes in female character's actions and stories to make them look better or worse than what they originally were skewered the visions of almost everyone in the fandom (arya is an egregious victim of this. Scenes such as her caring for Weasel or her befriending sex workers in braavos don't exist and they added that "all girls are idiot" scene that i hate and they removed all her plan to free the northmen from harrenal and she got turned from traumatized child to hashtag no one super cool assassin and her character got straight up murdered in the tv series.)

Oh and also for kickstarting the whole jonsa vs jonerys thing which i'm pretty sure is the origin of the stupid dany vs sansa wars

And yes!! Dany Sansa and Arya should get to meet and reunite! While i do think that there will be some slight tensions between Sansa and Arya because they left on Not So Well terms, they have also matured a lot, so i do think they would have an heartfelt reunion. Meanwhile Dany and Arya could bond because of both their connection to Braavos and Arya's admiration for those who free slaves, and Dany would empathize (and feel a common ground) with Sansa for her being a child who had all her family die and got married extremely young while beeing creeped on by older men, while Sansa, who is shown to admire women like Margaery or Myranda, who are shown to be very keen regarding politics or social issues, something that Dany is

In the end, i genuinely hope that all three of these traumatized little girls get their happy ending and none of them dies, they all are interesting and complex characters that share parallels with each other, and it sucks that because of stupid ship wars or discussions on who would get the throne they get pitted against each other. THEY WOULD BE FRIENDS Y'ALL

[mrborocs]

And here it is again all over again

When episode 6 of v9 came out. A certain circle of people became hysterical about Weiss' reaction to Jaune. Strangely enough, it was mostly WR fans and Bumblebee fans agreeing with them or Jaune haters. Even before the release of episode 6. Some artists and WR fans decided to make fun of Weiss' words about the beautiful knight.

Here's a meme for you about this. At first there was denial. Mostly on Twitter, of course. WR fans called it a bad joke from the writers and just trolling. Their main argument is that WK will not be canon, so we were told on Twitter. I have already said that there is no real confirmation of this.

Or they claimed that it was completely out of character for Weiss. The screenwriters ruined everything and in fact Weiss has no sympathy for Jaune!

The first battle ended with shouts, tears and crying. WK fans didn't even show up for the battle. But this does not mean that everything will just end like this. Small outbursts of indignation appeared on all sections of Twitter. In the end, WKfans began to respond, this is: the opinion of WRfans is not taken into account.

Then this happens. The first powerful blow. Where WRfans tell that objectively WK is a bad and boring ship and their opinion is not subjective. The focus is on the good guy trope. Supposedly boring heterosexual trope, when a girl rejects a good guy, and then realizes her mistake and gets him as a prize. I'll give my opinion briefly. No it's not. Jaune and Weiss at the beginning of their development were not the most beautiful characters. Both had a huge baggage of shortcomings. Jaune is an infantile and arrogant guy who wants to become famous. He is a little selfish, because he puts other people at risk with his desires. He is indecisive and weak. He can't immediately fight back against a bully. He does not see the personal boundaries of other people trying to attract attention to himself. Over time, he realizes his problems and gradually solves them. In v1-2, it was really difficult to take him seriously. This no longer fits the trope of a good guy. Just like Weiss, Jaune has changed a lot over time under the influence of other people and each other.

A typical example of toxic WRfans. The main difference between him and others is that he does not hide and does not try to say what WRfans think in a more veiled way. You have no right to wish that WK would become a canon! Others handle WK differently.

You can immediately see how WRfans began to develop the topic of other Jaune relationships. WK this is disrespectful to Pyrrhus. Jaune should actually date Neptune. Which of course is very funny. Not only that, both characters did not show attraction to men, but on the contrary. So for all WRfans arguments about WK, Neptune and Jaune are not connected in any way at all except for Weiss herself. There was only a strange rivalry between them. WKfans tried to object to something in the comments and there were quite a lot of them. Therefore, the battle ended in a draw. The parties went to the corners accusing each other of bias. WRfans didn't stop there. Deciding to attack his old enemy again. There was an attack on RG.

I didn't go into much detail, but this is something allegedly related to the sexualization of Oscar and Ruby. Suddenly, everyone started shouting that you can't do this. However, WR and bumblebee are engaged in the same sexualization. You can say that Oscar is still a child. I will object to this that the guy is already old enough to fight the forces of evil and in general this is a fictional character.

Of course, WRfans hastened to say that they are nothing here and in general they don't care about RG.

That's what WR fans really think.

Here is a rather interesting opinion about WK. Of course, she's right about something and WK has a pretty big gap in development. But their contradictory beginning, and after a sweet friendship in the background, still shows that the ship has a character and minimal interaction. While with v7, WR is very bad with development.

And here we go to the final. Finally, the last powerful blow. WRfans will show these heterosexual bastards who is in charge of this show!

Her didn't like the joke in the show. And he decided to tell everyone, calling her the most terrible. And of course, it didn't play any role here that she was WRfans. Humor is subjective, and I also don't like humor in v4, for example, when Ruby laughs at Jaune rabbit or Jaune runs away from grimm without a weapon. I didn't expect that after everything that happened to these characters, he wouldn't become at least a little serious. Although it was later fixed. If you don't like the joke, you can safely keep silent about it and not ironically attack the fans of another ship. For example, I don't like many bumblebee moments either. Although I do not sympathize with Black Sun. I could say similar things about WR, but when was the last time there was a meaningful interaction between them? There was a moment in v9 when Weiss accepted Ruby's choice when she shouldn't have. A very strange attitude of the best friends. I can't criticize WR because I'm subjective and I only see them as friends. For me, the main thing is that the ship would bring emotions to people. WR has a huge fan base - so there is something in it! In general, all normal people who enjoy their ships and do not attack others! You are beautiful!

[pistatsia]

I believe that for Kaiser, Ness (along with his proficiency as a midfielder) is also an unconscious response from his bad coping mechanisms. 

He's a manifestation of his problems and most of all - of his insecurities.

Okay, I've said (wrote) it.

Like, we all agree that he has some... issues, and most of them come from the insecurity. Narcissists (though I don't believe Kaiser fully is a one) often have a really fragile, insignificant, small 'me'. And the worst part? They may not realize it, but they can feel it. What do you have to do to not feel it, to try to remove your non-ideality? Put up a fake, but awesome, ideal-like personality. And constantly, constantly prove that that's who you are by any means necessary - or even better, directly show that you're not just good, but better than someone.

Sound similar? To create a 'new me', to destroy others and feel happy, to come to the other side of the world to crush your opponent, proving that you are stronger before the World Championship, where all eyes will be on you?

Except that just having a new, perfect identity and winning 'for yourself' is not enough. How do you know you're perfect if you're building that ideal for others in the first place? Kaiser's false identity needs to be seen; he needs to be bathed in love, to feel other people's obsession and delight, anything to assure himself that he is indeed perfect. How do you do that?

The reasonable answer? Find someone to do it, preferably someone with low self-esteem and/or insecurity, make them believe you are 'perfect' and then drink all the admiration, love and awesomeness out of them until you are saturated. Only the 'saturation' never comes.

That's the kind of person Ness is to him.

And in the end he gets Ness - moreover, I'm sure he's been shaping him gradually, molding him, making him react exactly the way he needs him to - and until Blue Lock, as is obvious from Ness's reactions, this fragile system worked smoothly. He could show him love, he could give him care, he could surround him in every possible way, binding him to himself more - and "how dare Kaiser look at anyone but me" and Ness's shocked reactions to insults seem to indicate that there was also a "honeymoon" period, the main purpose of which was to bind Ness to himself. Ness is something conventionally stable but mid-level for Kaiser, something he can definitely possess and who will never walk away from him. Someone who admires him (even though deep down Kaiser may know that he doesn't, because his real self is not at all what he shows on the outside), who sort of shows him that yes, you are perfect! I admire you! You're everything to me! I would die without you! You're everything! And what does that mean? That Kaiser is supposedly as perfect as he wants to be.

Ness is the evidence base for his exceptionalism.

Well, somewhere Ness is not enough, somewhere he's restricting, and what? At least (so far) there's no emotional upheaval, such a perverse safety-trap. Kaiser has him under control, and consciously or unconsciously, but easily knows how to manipulate him to get the reaction he wants.

And I'm sure that even if he did feel some surrogacy of such a relationship, even if he wanted someone else for a long, permanent period of time, he wouldn't change a thing. He may not be comfortable with Ness, he may want something more, someone else, but Ness is his safe base. He's not willing to risk rejection from someone bright like Isagi/Sae. Because deep down he knows he won't be able to keep a stronger/better partner. Oh, and neither can a midfielder (imagine the same Sae). He's not enough. People who are successful usually have their own boundaries that they keep - they are independent, they will always have something else, someone else to admire and talk about, they won't be consumed by him the way Kaiser needs it, won't depend on him completely and play by his rules, and it will kill him - Kaiser, for whom admiration and adoration of whom is the main fuel. Food and a way to survive.

What would it say about him if someone would leave him? Someone strong, successful, handsome?

That he's not perfect. 

And that's the realization that Kaiser runs from the most.

Which is why, as long as Ness fuels all of his worst traits, they're stuck with each other.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

I am listening to it on audible and am still only half way through but so far have a few thoughts

1. ⁠It is actually very boring

2. ⁠You can feel the treachery, spite, vindictiveness, deceit, victimhood, maliciousness, envy, paranoia, delusion and manipulation in every sentence, Its oozes into my pores and makes me feel unclean just listening to it. I cannot think of a book I have enjoyed less.

3. ⁠The weird and constant mentions of his mum are just bizarre. I understand the tragedy of him losing her so young, but I am sure his reactions to it are not typically normal for what is now a grown man. He is batshit crazy.

4. ⁠He has long gratuitous sections about killing rabbits, deer, pheasants, and talks at length about the blood, gore and disembowelling. It literally made me feel sick.

5. ⁠He has a grandiose sense of self-importance that is utterly delusional.

6. ⁠His constant references to his drug taking are over the top. He acts like it is totally normal. I understand why this plays a part in his autobiography since he seems to have spent so much of his time taking them. But he seems to glorify it with no introspection on the dangers, and revels in spilling all the details with no cares for the people who have loyally tried to cover up for him over the years. Despite the fact he talks about leaking and planting by his family it is obvious how much they have covered for him.

7. ⁠He doesn't seem to give a damn if he destroys the monarchy, and after reading the book that is what I think he is intent on doing. He misses no opportunity to add in any malicious adjectives, unnecessary anecdote, unflattering (and unlikely) quotes about his family and throws shade and blame on to them whenever he can. He comes over as so petty and malicious. You get the sense that he feels that if he can't be king he will blow the whole thing up.

8. ⁠It is abundantly clear he has no real love for his dad, brother, or grandfather from the way he talks about them, and it is questionable that he even loved the queen. He shows no empathy or respect for them and makes them look bad whenever he can. He can talk all he likes about reconciliation but he has burnt every bridge and if he were my son or brother, he would be dead to me. There is no purpose to a reconciliation - if it is not for love then it is for his own self-serving purposes.

9. ⁠When you read the whole book rather than listening to excerpts, some stories fade into insignificance. For example the losing his virginity story is a minor mention in passing. But what you don't get from the excerpts is the whole sense of nastiness pervading every paragraph. Before reading it I really didn't like Harry, but blamed Meghan far more. Never before have a read an autobiography where someone has the chance to write the narrative of their own life in a way that is supposedly flattering, and I have found myself liking them even less, despising them in fact. He is an utterly nasty piece of work......and I am still only half way through the book.

I'm so glad you wrote it up. Thank you.

I think part of the sense of boredom is that the writing gets monotonous after a while. Also, you are immersed inside Harry's head and he really has no empathy for anyone. When I finished the first few chapters, I felt like I was reading one of those 80s anti-hero novels like American Psycho, where you are looking at things from the viewpoint of a sociopath. The way he focuses on the bedroom sheets and the hole in his shoe and even the way he spoke of women ("she was perfect, perfect, perfect") struck as very Patrick Bateman.

I agree as to the nastiness, hence the American Psycho reference above. One of the passages that most struck me was when the Diana Ghost Leopard shows up and his bodyguards are alarmed. He explains that they were alarmed because if the leopard mauled him the headlines would be horrible. It didn't seem to cross his mind that the bodyguards were scared because they did not want him hurt. He only thought of the headlines. That, to me, shows how warped his mindset is.

Ditto on the Diana segments. It feels almost sweet at first because the first chapters of the book deal with his childhood, but then it turns weird really quickly.

I'm surprised not that many people have talked about the hunting gore. It's very striking and, frankly, alien. I know hunters (at least in the US) and I've never heard of any describing the kills like this. It was truly disturbing, and I'm not anti-hunting. It's just that he seemed to enjoy the gore a little too much.

He is very arrogant, particularly for someone who was supposedly raised with an inferiority complex for being a spare.

Drugs seem to be a part of his identity, which surprised me since I'd bought into the "Hero Harry" image. I don't know if that was always the case, or if he bought into the California drug culture when he arrived there, but it's striking.

He does want to destroy the monarchy. That comes across very clearly.

He seems very detached from everyone in his family, and yet passionately attached to the image he has built of his mom (a tabloid-based image!). It's an interesting contrast. He has no empathy for Will's position at all or for his dad's struggles. His family relationships seemed to be stuck at a childhood developmental level--mom is the perfect nurturer, father is all-powerful, and brother is a rival.

It is all very nasty, and I'm surprised someone didn't step in to explain that to him.

[imreallyloveleee]

Where do you think it all went wrong with Riverdale?

honestly, part of me is like, the show's over and nothing but fandom matters. so who cares?

the other part of me loves to complain about Riverdale and will continue to do so until the day I die in the parking lot of Michael's Diner in Montgomeryville, PA at the age of 86. so, long-winded answer under the cut

I'm tempted to say it's the s4 b*rchie kiss. It was so wildly out of character for both Betty and Archie that it's laughable. You know how you can tell when something is just blatantly OOC with no justification? They...don't justify it. They find ways to dance around any interaction that might offer clarification. They mute the reactions of the characters who should be devastated by it. And then they jump ahead 7 years so it's easier to just handwave it away as something that happened a long time ago.

but the thing is, I did keep watching after that. I thought: okay, at least we should get an exes-to-lovers arc out of this, which is one of my favorite tropes. there is no way they would spend 4 seasons developing Bughead as this loving, supportive, communicative, sexy, and almost-unbelievably-compatible couple just to tear them apart and never do anything with that dynamic again. maybe it'll be even sweeter seeing them come back together after so much hurt and longing.

boy was i wrong!!!!!!!!!

so, the episode that actually made me stop watching for good, with the exception of some standalones like The Jughead Paradox and the finale, was the s5 musical. that was when i realized that this team of writers was 100% willing, maybe even eager, to completely drop storylines they themselves had been building over the course of a season - do a 180 with all of the characterization and relationships - and then act as though the buildup they wrote never even happened.

in this case, i'm specifically talking about the Bughead reunion storyline they dropped in s5. i'm not going to pretend like it was a GREAT buildup - and it was mostly on Jughead's side, Betty's character in s5 was basically an emotionless misery bot that had sex sometimes - but it was there. Jughead told Tabitha he had unresolved feelings around Betty. that's followed by an entire episode that lays out Betty & Jug's time jump relationship, and how Jughead still believes she's the one who saves him from himself. they work on a case together, they start opening up to one another. Jughead's so worried about her he can't eat.

and then...you know what happens.

(i'll also note here that there was random bts stuff that strongly indicated the musical ep storyline had a drastic last-minute rewrite: lili tweeted a blue dress, suggesting the song with that line was meant for her character; RAS said cole had to do last-minute recording sessions; supposedly crew members have confirmed this was the case, too. since none of it's 100% confirmed you can take it all with a grain of salt, but i believe it.)

it was so fucking insulting as a viewer to give my time and attention to a show made by people who would not only randomly drop the threads they set up, but torpedo them altogether, and then behave like the fans are the ones somehow at fault for expecting a story that actually follows through on its own emotional and plot beats. we're just shippers, so our opinions are dumb and biased! it's just a tv show, so who cares! get over it!

so, i stopped watching, because i knew they would continue to write without any thought or respect for their characters or their audience, and therefore inevitably write themselves into another corner. and, shocker, i was right. they did it again, whisking everyone away to the 1950s because actually resolving any of the scenarios they set up was ToO hArD. why bother when you could just make every single character Righteously Angry and Incurably Horny all the time, lecture the audience about social issues that have already been mainstream progressive for the last several decades, and call it a "love letter" to your fans?

[babacontainsmultitudes]

As some of you already know, I am disheartened- though certainly not surprised- by the recent backlash against one Sparrow Oak Garcia for his recent transgression of *checks notes* having a mixed-to-negative opinion on zoos.

Part of me honestly feels a bit silly responding to any of this, but what are any of us here to do if not have opinions on fictional podcast characters. Anyways, I will get to the more important stuff, as obviously (if you've seen any of the criticisms I'm talking about) this ties back to Hero at the end of the day, but seeing as the first wave of hate I saw after the episode was largely to the effect of: "what the fuck does Sparrow have against zoos?", I would like to start by addressing that point briefly (and only briefly, as it's really not the sort of topic I care to discuss online), by saying that zoos and animal captivity more generally have a long history of being contested and criticized by animal rights activists, and that instances of animal abuse and neglect within zoos and other animal-based theme parks are anything but obscure. Furthermore, it feels worth noting that as of present less than 10% of zoos in the US are AZA-accredited. I say absolutely none of this with the intention of making any definitive statements on the nature of zoos, nor to judge people who do enjoy zoos, nor even to provide my own feelings on the matter. Rather, I offer this information only to explain that someone like Sparrow taking issue with something like zoos really isn't strange at all? And whether you agree with such a stance or not, it undoubtedly comes from a place of empathy. Moreover, I don't think we can honestly divorce Sparrow's take and compulsion to voice it from the metacontext that Sparrow is a character being played by Anthony Burch, you know, a vegan, who probably has his own views on the matter that may or may not differ from yours and mine.

Okay, on to more important matters. At the forefront of things I suppose is the assertion that Sparrow's behavior regarding Normal and the zoo and all that is hypocritical and perhaps even nonsensical in light of what Hero was going through at the time with her training. "He wouldn't take Normal to the zoo but he forced Hero to kill a deer with her bare hands?" Certainly the sort of statement that will elicit a strong emotive reaction from the fandom, but one that ultimately relies on a pretty major assumption, namely, that Sparrow acted as the primary organizer and perpetrator of Hero's training, one who supposedly felt no internal conflict towards the situation whatsoever, rather than instead serving as an enabler of it, who ultimately intervened but only after far too much damage was already done. Neither is a great thing to be, but there is absolutely a difference between both of these roles, and I think that Lark and Sparrow's respective behaviors over the course of the season point almost unanimously towards Sparrow being the latter and Lark the former.

(The above being a non-exhaustive list, of course)

The funny part about the whole zoo thing is that it only further corroborates the notion that Sparrow is someone who is sensitive to the suffering of others, and by extension only serves as more evidence that he most likely was not the one actively making Hero undergo the worst of what she had to do. Does this make him guiltless in the matter? Absolutely not, but it does point to Sparrow having issues that are fundamentally different from Lark's, and means that the instance with the zoo is not only consistent with Sparrow's characterization, but frankly not actually all that hypocritical if you look at it for more than a second. That is, there is a very important but simple difference between the situation with Normal and the zoo and that of Hero and the deer that accounts for the variances in Sparrow's behavior between both cases: Lark. Sparrow isn't okay with either situation, based on all the evidence we have so far of who he is as a person there is absolutely no reason to think that Hero's training is not something that deeply upset him- I mean for fuck's sake everything about how Sparrow raised Normal down to his name stems from not wanting his kids to have to live that kind of life. So why doesn't he put a stop to things sooner? Why does he let any of Hero's training happen at all? Again, very simply, because Sparrow cannot say no to his brother. I mean, he does eventually, given Hero's current status, and that change is an important and still ongoing facet of Sparrow's growth and his arc, but at the start of things it is something he struggles with even more than he does now, to his own suffering and detriment and of course even more so to Hero's. But did Sparrow himself "force Hero to kill a deer with her bare hands"? Almost certainly not, and I have to admit that I find it quite frustrating how quickly Lark vanishes from the collective conscious of the fandom when the time comes to assign accountability for matters concerning Hero. But then, who is Sparrow if not someone who takes the fall for his brother, apparently even in the fandom-space.

[Not that there isn't any nuance to Lark's utilitarianism, either. In general I feel as though discussion of the twins' biggest mistakes too often omits the acknowledgement of the fact that all of it has been to stop an eldritch horror responsible for the death and torture of millions of people, but anyways. Not what this post is about.]

I think that's mostly it lol. Got some thoughts on the family's policy on pets (and how it relates to the Hero thing but also to Beanie actually), as well as some remarks on Rebecca and how we really shouldn't be leaving her out of this discussion (I say, leaving her out of this discussion) but eeehhhhhhh y'all I'm especially low energy as of late eheh and mostly just wanted to speak my peace on a couple major things so let's cut it here for now I think :b