#those with jump scares? jail

[hinakyuu]

horror movie trailers on youtube that i can’t skip..… 😐

[wildsaltair]

*falls on the floor and doesn’t get up for 229034947372 years*

[ditzybat]

What I think each batfam member would dress up as for Halloween - specifically in the context of a Halloween themed Wayne Gala - because I’m bored:

Bruce & Selina: they dress up as Batman and Catwoman, with Bruce (Brucie in this context) being Catwoman and Selina being Batman. The kids have the image of Bruce squeezed into latex burned in their corneas and they make an effort to not be in the same vicinity as him, lest they die from cringe or second hand embarrassment.

Dick: He’s shamelessly one of those really colorful South American blue parrots, he spends the night doing tricks and soaring through the air (think the Carnival costumes from Rio) and ends up breaking a punch table when he falls straight on his ass from seeing the horror that is Bruce in leather - he immediately gets covered in a shock blanket courtesy of Alfred.

Barbara: Decides to dress up as the kid from E.T with Haley dressed up as E.T in a basket modification she made to her chair. She runs over peoples toes by ‘accident’ throughout the night in aid (aka annoying them until they donate at least 1K) to push people into donating for whatever the charity of the night is.

Jason: doesn’t like celebrating Halloween, but somehow gets roped into dressing up as Jason Vorhees - the irony is not lost on him and finds it hilarious. He lurks in the corners of the ballroom to scare the rich snobs into paying into whatever charity is being funded that night by showing off a suspiciously red, very real, machete.

Tim: Couples costume with Bernard. Tim is Spock and Bernard is Kirk. Tim tries his hardest to stay in character the whole night, ends up freaking people out from the lack of expression and uncanny valley statue like demeanor on his face compared to his energetic boyfriend.

Damian: He and Nika dress up as Gomez and Morticia Adams. They’re very touchy the whole night like the teenagers they are. They salsa dance and become just as eccentric as the characters they’re playing that somehow at the end of the night they end up making headlines for nearly spending the night in jail for suspected ‘murder’ (they Carrie’d Bruce with real blood from questionable sources)

Steph & Cass: Matching costumes. Steph is Emily from the Corpse Bride and Cass is Victor. The special effects makeup is so realistic that it makes Tim break his Spock character and shriek/jump 3 feet into the air when they sneak behind him.

Duke: Dresses up in a Riddler costume and makes up bad riddles just to rub it into the Riddler’s face that he’s a lame old guy telling shitty googled riddles (Revenge for something that happened earlier in the week, not that anyone knows he’s signal, but a burn from a child of a celebrity hurts just as bad from one of a hero) - The Riddler ends up crashing the party seconds before Commissioner Gordon tries to take Damian and Nika in for questioning of where exactly all that very real blood they used came from.

[multi-fandom-imagine]

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 || Stanley Pines ||

A/n: I'm writing that out cause I need more dad!Stan.

Stan loved his little girls more than anything, the man honestly thought they were a blessing to him and he owed it to you. He managed to not only find the love of his life but got two adorable kids out of the deal.

Crossing your arms over your chest, a smile tugged at your lips watching Stan fuss with his little girls costume. "Haha you're the cutest little...dinosaur...?"

"She's a Pterodactyl Stan."

Laughing, he shook his head. "Pterodactyl huh....I punched one of those."

"Of course you did Stan....Mabel told me the story about you saving everyone...my hero Stanley." You muttered stepping up behind him letting your arms wrap around his waist.

Grinning, Stan held his head up high as he puffed out his chest until he turned his attention back to the other twin. "And you're such a pretty little princess,my two beautiful girls." Scooping both girls in his arms they let out a squeal of happiness.

"Now let's go get you two some candy!"

The night was going good, that was until some punk teens decided to jump out and scare the twin girls. The teens rushing off as they started to cry, not one to take brats hurting his kids Stan gritted his teeth as he held his little girls close as their cries muffled into his chest.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS!"

The teens whipped their heads around then took off running.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE RUNNIN OFF TO YOU LITTLE TWERPS?! YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY MAKING MY LITTLE GIRLS CRY! I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT?!" Slipping on his brass knuckles Stan started to chase after the two teens.

Grabbing the twins hands, a little giggle escaping their lips from seeing their father a sigh left your own lips. "Let's go stop daddy before he ends up in jail."

Letting go of your hands, the twins rushed off to their father jumping into his arms as Stan shook his fist only to relax as the twins held him. "I'm sorry I let ya two get scared."

Smiling up at their father, the twins buried their faces in his chest. "We love you daddy!"

"I love ya too" Stan smiled holding his girls close, his gaze softening at you.

Returning the smile, you stepped close placing a kiss to the top pf his head. "You're a wonderful dad Stan."

"Hehe, you're a wonderful mother too beautiful."

[reareaotaku]

can we please get more Judd :((((((

Of course! I have really conflicting views about the show Big Mouth. Though NGL, I loved Human Resources So, this is going to be like a part 2 in a way [Part 1 Here & Part 3 Here]

He doesn't remember when he started to a crush on you, but it grew fast

And god he hated it so much. He wanted to stab these feelings and kill them

He bottled them for a long time and for a while it worked... Until it didn't

He would never admit he was jealous, but anyone could tell

One of those theater idiots decided to flirt with you and Judd wanted to bash the guy's head in with a brick

He doesn't but god he wants too

He introduces you to his raccoons

You think they're so cute and he [for a slight second] smiles a little, thinking you're adorable, but he shakes it off

He'll listen to your problems, even though he finds them annoying

You usually rant to him when you feel you can't talk to Leah about a certain topic or she's [Leah] not available

Though, you better not talk about a guy, because that doesn't go well

He'll give you advice on your problems, but it's usually something violent. Like saying you're having problems with your boss and Judd will tell you to just kick him down some stairs

^"Umm... I love your enthusiasm, but let's stay in the mindset of legal and morally acceptable advice"

It really isn't very good advice to you, because like I said, it's usually violence

Your father is a doctor and when you were getting something and you see Nick in the waiting room

"Nick?" He looks towards the voice, before his eyes widens and he awkwardly swishes around, "Hey, Y/n." "What are you doing here? Are you okay?" "I ate a weed gummy with my friend and I think I'm having a heart attack." You tilt your head at the freaked-out prepubescent boy. "Heart attack? I don't think you're having a heart attack, but you could be having a panic attack." "What the fuck is a panic attack?" Before you can answer, Judd jumps in asking what was going on. "What the hell are you doing here?" You both turn towards the male, who had his hand wrapped in some gauze. You pointed to it, "What happened to your hand?" "Raccoon accident." You decided not to question it and turned back towards Nick, "Are you okay, Nick?" "I don't know-" "What even happened to you, numbnuts?" Judd wanted to call his brother a dumbass, but he kept it to himself with you around. "I ate a weed gummy with Jessi and I think something's wrong with my heart." Judd rolls his eyes, "You're just stoned." "I didn't know that was a common thing when you were stoned." "It's not, he's just an idiot. Come on, you little pecker."

Judd feels like an idiot around you and it irrates the fuck out of him

He just wants to be himself, but he tones it down around you

Your parents don't like him

They think he's a future criminal and they're scared he'll either get you locked in jail, knocked up, or dead

And while he is Future Criminal, he would never get you in trouble

^ Leah thinks it's cute with how much her brother likes you

Judd is protective over you. If a guy is ever harassing you, something bad is going to happen to them and it may or may not be Judd's fault

If you ever want to be alone, especially at one of Leah's parties, just hang around him, because no one would dare approach you, especially if he has a hand around you or something

Nick uses you as a blackmail of sorts against Judd

"Well, I'll just let Y/n know that you're an asshole."

"I don't give a fuck."

"Y/n doesn't like assholes."

Judd roles his eyes, groaning, before gettting up and doing whatever Nick needs

If Judd says something stupid, Nick will ask you if you like the thing, annoying the fuck out of Judd

Leah thinks it's annoying that her brother's are always trying to steal you away from her or take away most of your time and attention

^ You're her friend not theirs

"You need to stay away from Y/n. She's my friend and you're a fucking loser."

[yanderemommabean]

MammaBean! If ye have the time, may we please have more yandere murder hornet king! 🐝

The scent of honeysuckle wakes you up, and you begin to groggily rub your eyes. The last thing you can piece together is running away from basecamp as an insect invasion took your crew mates, and demolished your way home. 

You were definitely lost, but now it seems you’re no longer thirsty, or even that hungry for that matter. You weren’t freezing, and the cuts you had acquired while fleeing the attack seemed to be bandaged and healing. Did your group survive? Were you in an infirmary and back at the ship? 

“Awake now? Good…I do hope you’re able to understand me” a deep voice rings, making you jump and clutch the blanket laying on you. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, my little flower”. 

You’re frozen, meeting the dark gaze of the creature in front of you. It was one of the aliens who attacked, who massacred your teammates- and it appeared this one was the king. Larger than the others, bolder colors, even more of a dangerous aura, there was no doubt. 

“You seem so frightened. I apologize, my kind is rather vicious when it comes to protecting the hive, I can see why the defeat would devastate you. However, I must say, surviving has put you in a favorable light”. 

Humanoid talking murder hornets. You’ve got to be in a coma or on drugs. Hopefully both. 

“What…what are you going to do to me?” was all you could muster to say. Out of the hundreds of questions you had, the only one that really rang out was the punishment you would receive for surviving. Would you be worked to death? Beaten and killed? Jailed and held captive for ransom? There had to be a reason they didn’t just kill you off. 

The large winged creature chuckled, sitting beside you on your bed, his claw coming to wipe your hair out of your face. “My little flower...So scared, so worried. Do not worry, I will keep you safe, away from any harm” he gestures to the entire room, arm outstretched as he speaks “This is just one of the many safe rooms in my hive. My kingdom, if you will. No harm is to come to any of my people or allies within here, and those who break my rule, are put to the racks”. 

“R..Racks?” 

He laughs, gently rubbing your head affectionately “Hahah! Do not worry yourself with those vile thoughts. I’ll answer all of your questions. Firstly, I must ask…What is your name? And how can I thank you for wandering into my life at the right time?” 

What?

“Wait wait- what are you talking about? I-I didn’t come here on purpose if that’s what you think! I-I wasn’t sent or given as a trade!” 

“No, you were a lost little thing. A gift given to me by the gods while I was lost in my own despair. You were my blessing from beyond the clouds, and I cannot wait to indulge you in my love, and in return, let myself indulge in you”. 

(Mkay this is a bunch of BLEGH but I hope you enjoy bean! -Mommabean)

[wandafiction]

Panic Attack - Just Us Chapter 8

Warnings: Panic Attacks

Word Count: 2261

Series List | Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

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

Ding. The elevator doors opened to the penthouse, as I breathed out a happy sigh a smile still plastered on my face. Taking my shoes off I didn't notice the figure in the living room moving towards me.

"Someone looks happy." The voice made me jump out of my skin.

"Holy Shit! Don't fucking do that. I nearly had a heart attack." I held one hand to my heart while the other smacked the man in front of me chest. 

"Wouldn't be the first time." 

"Har har Tony. Very funny." I glare at him playfully, so he puts his hands up in surrender. 

"No hug for me? No hey papa T?" He wiggles his eyebrows as he speaks.

"No, because you scared me, you don't deserve the niceties." I gently bump his shoulder as I walk past so he knows I'm not actually mad.

"Well you have my deepest apologies. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm here with good news and on business." He follows me into the kitchen as I start up the coffee machine, turning to face him. I gesture to him silently asking if he wants one, he nods his head excitedly. Of course he wants coffee. 

"Business first Papa T. You know me." He sends me one of those Tony Stark business smiles, that seem to win anyone over.

"So talking business, the new and improved Da Vinci medical Robot. You know the one, your team helped to upgrade last quarter. Well everyone seems to love it better than the original, and the original creators can't be more thankful. They want to keep working with you, something about. The future of medicine." He waves his hand to emphasise his point. "So what do you think? Do you want to work alongside them?"

"Let's set up a meeting, see what ideas they have floating about and then we can decide."

"Perfect, I will get Pepper on it." I nod as I hand him his freshly brewed coffee. "And now the good news."

"That's all the business for today?" Normally there's lots more...oh well I'm not complaining. 

"Yeah, you have caught up with everything, so at the moment we are at an all time high and could probably bring in a few new people and that."

"Cool."

"Anyway the good news."

"Yes the good news." 

"They found him." I choke on my coffee not expecting that to be the good news.

"They found him?" It comes out as a very small whisper, tears already brimming my eyes. "After two years?" 

"Yeah, they finally got him." He grabs my hand that's on the counter giving it a gentle squeeze as I lose myself to inner turmoil again, but feeling Tony's hand on mine brings me back and I clear my throat.

"And the evidence? Is it enough? Is he going down for what he did? Have they really got him?" I have so many questions and I can't decide which ones to ask.

"They really got him Y/n. There's plenty of evidence. He is going down." He emphasises the last sentence. "He is going to be held in jail till the trial and even then the lawyers truly believe he will get a life sentence." 

A life sentence holy shit! I mean I've waited 2 years for this news. Now that I have it I don't know what to do with it. I should be happy. Like over the fucking moon happy. Open a bottle of champagne and get so fucking drunk I don't remember the night before. Yes, that happy! But I don't think I am. I'm mean shit. 2 fucking years, and I feel...numb. Well numb, and everything! How the fuck is that possible. How can I feel so many emotions at once, but feel so fucking numb about this whole thing?! It makes no fucking sense. NO FUCKING SENSE!

"Hey, hey. Woah, woah, woah. Y/n? Y/n I need you to breathe for me. Can you do that?" I hadn't realised that my breathing was erratic and tears were falling out my eyes like it was going out of fashion. 

My eyes pinged around the room trying to find something to focus on, but as soon as they stopped at one thing my inner turmoil got worse so I kept my eyes moving. I tried identifying things in the room that my eyes could settle on for more than a second, nothing was working. I couldn't ground myself in this world. I felt like I was watching from out of my body, watching myself slowly lose the battle against the turmoil of my brain. The outside world is getting smaller and smaller. Darker and darker. 

I jump when I feel someone's hand on me, I don't recognise their touch. I push myself away from whoever has their hands on me. However, I end up tripping over my own feet as I travel backwards, stumbling down to the floor. Of course on the way down to the floor I hit the side of my face on the kitchen counter, ending up on my back on the floor. I feel someone grab my arms, I know deep down they are trying to help but once again I push them off of me. I scramble along the floor, my butt sliding across the tiled floor, my legs working overtime to push me back frantically. I feel my back hit the kitchen counter, but I'm still not far enough away...I push myself along the counter, until I feel the corner and tuck myself down into it.

I pull my knees as tight as possible against my chest, wrapping both arms around them and pulling them impossibly closer to my chest. I place my forehead between my knees, my body slightly bouncing back and forth...or shaking: I can't quite tell. I hear a muffled voice, but can't make out what they are saying. It sounds like I'm underwater, it feels like the room is collapsing in on me. The air pushed out of my lungs and I am unable to get any air back in.

I don't know how long I've been here, but I feel a different pair of hands on me. These ones are very different, soft, gentle and hold onto my calfs just above my ankles. I recognise this touch. They slowly move up to my knee and then back down, then slowly back up again. I then feel the hands move from my knees to my elbows and they follow my arms up to my shoulders. The hands then travel back down my arms, all the way to my hands which I'm pretty sure are stuck against my clothes with how tight I am holding onto them. My knuckles are obviously white from the pressure, still lost...but the hands. I can feel the hands. I'm not jumping back. That's good. I recognise them. I do. I recognise them.

The gentle hands wrap cautiously around mine, slowly squeezing them with the tiniest bit of pressure. Both of mine relax almost instantly. The owner of the hands starts to speak, but I still can't hear anything. They obviously notice this, because their hands move back up to my shoulders across to my neck and then to my cheeks. They slowly lift my hand so my eyes can meet theirs, it's hard to see with how many tears my eyes are filled with but I recognise them enough. A gentle smile tugs at the blonde's face as she sees me reacting to her and her actions. 

"I'm going to move your hand to my chest. Is that okay?" 

"Mhmm." I can't say anything else, not even a nod. Just an approving hum. 

"Okay." She grabs my right hand and brings it to the center of her chest where I can feel her heartbeat and her chest rising and falling with each breath. "You feel that? Try and copy it for me with your own breath. Concentrate on nothing else but what your hand is feeling, look at my face or close your eyes. But concentrate on what your hand is telling you." 

So I do. In. Out. In. Out. She is slowing her breathing down, it must be working. If she is slowing hers down more it means mine is slowly getting to some sort of normal. 

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

"You're doing so well. Keep going. I'm so proud of you, you're doing so great. Do you think you can speak?" 

"Y...ye...yeah."

"Good, good. You're doing amazing. Can you answer my questions?"

"Yeah." I breathe out.

"Okay. Name me 5 things you can see."

"Uhm...You...My hand...The floor...The counter...My feet." 

"Good, you're doing great. Now name me 4 things you can hear?" 

"Your voice. My voice. The radio station. And, uhm, my breathing." 

"Amazing. Now 3 things you can feel."

"The floor, your chest, my clothes."

"Great, you're doing so well. Now two things you can smell."

"I smell...uhm...my perfume and...uhm...coffee."

"Thats it keep breathing,  your doing so well for me y/n. Now the last one. One thing you can taste."

"My toothpaste." I let out one last breath. I finally feel like I'm back in my body, and back in control of it, almost. "Thank you Carol."

"Of course." She moves her hand to stroke my cheek getting rid of some of the drying tears now I've finally stopped crying.

"You didn't have to come, I would have sorted myself out soon enough." She now places her other hand on my other cheek moving my face up a bit so she can look me right in the eye.

"Now listen to me. I am your sister! Of course I will help you. No matter where I am, I will always come and help you. Always. Tony couldn't seem to pull you out of it, so he called me."

"Thank you." I didn't really know what else to say, there's nothing else I could say. "Is Papa T still here?"

"Yeah I'm still here kid." I look up to see him leaning against the kitchen counter, obvious worry spread across his face.

"I'm sorry Papa T. I didn't mean to scare you." 

"You didn't scare me, you just worried me and I seemed to make it worse." 

"Uhm...yeah. It was the touching. I lose myself in my head and when someone touches me, if I don't recognise their touch then my body reacts in such a way. I don't know why, it just does." I shrug my shoulders, I don't know how else to explain it. 

"It's okay, I understand. Just tell me how I can help, so if you have another in front of me I know what to do." He bends down to my height giving me a loving smile. 

"We can work on it. It's all about touch. We don't really hug or anything but we shake hands, so that's where we can start. Thank you Papa T." 

"Of course. That's why I called your sister. I didn't know what else to do. Do they happen often? The panic attacks?" Tony's curious eyes meet mine, that I'm sure are red and puffy.

"They used to. I haven't had one in a while, a long while. Maybe 6 months or so." I start to climb off the floor, my bum now very numb and cold. 

"Do you know what caused it?" Carol asks gently. 

"Papa T gave me some news. Good news. But the emotions caused inner turmoil and I sort of just lost myself to it all. It sort of just took over, and then spiraled."

"What's the news?" Carol asks as she wraps an arm around my back. 

"I will let Papa T tell you, I am going to go to bed. I'm exhausted after that one, I need rest. How long was I 'gone' for?"

"About 30 minutes.' Papa T informs me. Holy Shit! That's a big fucking panic attack, no wonder I feel like I could sleep for days.

"Okay let me help you to bed, I will come back down in a second Tony don't go anywhere." Carol rubs my back up and down. "Come let's get you upstairs." 

"I love you Y/n." I hear Tony's voice call over.

"Love you too Papa T." I call over my shoulder. I feel Carol move to look at him.

"Thank you Tony, you do so much for her. I will be down in a minute."

"Okay."

With that Carol leads me upstairs and into my room. I feel so tired I can hardly move, so Carol is practically manhandling her own sister, me,  into bed. I feel so useless. 

"I'm sorry." I mumble down to her.

"Don't ever be sorry for things you can't control. I am your sister. I love you. I will always be here for you. So please don't apologise." 

"Okay, well I'm sorry for being sorry."

"Good." We both giggle. She lays me down and tucks me in. "Comfortable?"

"Yes...thank you." I mumble into my pillow. 

"Always." She goes to move off the bed, but I grab her hand.

"I love you Carol." She swipes some hair out of my face.

"I love you too Y/n." She pecks me on the forehead. "Now get some sleep". 

As soon as I hear her close the door, I settle more into my bed sinking into the pillows and many cushions. I let out a large breath, losing myself to sleep.

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

[codcosplayer]

An old fear

When you were younger your parents would fight and fight bad, things were thrown and broken. You became scared of loud noises and vowed never to drink or get drunk, which is when your parents usually got into fights. You knew to call the police and to pack a back to stay with a relative until your parents got out of jail. Now you 27 and you have a boyfriend in the military, his name is Simon “Ghost” Riley and he is a sweetheart for you, you are spoiled by simon whenever he's home. This would be the first time he brought you with him on base, You soon realized that was a mistake. Simon was the man that would die for you, the man you loved. Ghost is the man that would fight anyone and die for his team, he was the one you got for the first few days after he got home from deployment. It was a rocky ride in the jet but it was ok, when you landed you were met by 141 which you’d met a few times. “Hi guys!” you exclaimed as you ran up to see them, you hugged them all and then you guys went inside to talk of the upcoming mission. Since everything was confidental you had to sit in the base living room, which would be to bad if it didn’t look like the same broken couch that your mom flipped once. All you knew was that everyone was going to leave for about two-three months and you were going to take care of base, keeping it clean and such. That night an unexpected storm hit and it started pouring with heavy thunder and lightning. Simon knew of your fear, but the others didn’t, I bet they were a bit confused when Ghost disappeared. When it started ou were in the barracks changing into one of Simons shirts and a pair of his sweats. You just got the shirt over your head when loud thunder clapped making you jump and scream, suddenly you started shaking and your skin turned into pins and needles, it felt like all the air was being sucked out of the room. A flash of lightning made you flinch, you wanted to curl up into a ball and cry in a dark space, your legs felt like jello and you thought your lungs might collapse but you run to the nearest closet and locked yourself inside, memories of your parents screaming at each other played in your head when you closed your eyes, so you tracking to keep them open but it was no use you could hear it in your ears, you world was spinning and you couldn’t see anymore, you thought you were gonna throw up or pass out. The thing that brought you back was a familiar voice yelling your name.”Y/N! Come on! Come back to me lovie,” You couldn’t see who is was but you felt them but a rough hand on you cheek, with the strength you had in your arms you swatted at the hand, “Stop! don’t hurt me please!” you yell sobbing trying to get as far into the corner as you could, two arms gently grabbed you wrists and gently pulled you closer, “Shh lovie is ok, I know, I promise everything will be fine love.” you regained your sight, it was Ghost, you launched yourself into his chest and gripped tightly, Another loud clap of thunder made you immediately bring your hands to your ears, you covered them so hard you would had thought you’d right your ears off, he tried to pull your hand off your ear, “No no no no no, Please don’t, please.” You whimpered, he continued taking your hands off your ears, and he slide a pair of headphones on your ears and put on you playlist. It soothed you, you settled a little still holding him tightly letting him hold you in his warm embrace, now when you closed your eyes you doidn’t see those horrible images in your head, instead those memories were replace with the thought of you and Simon having a nice summer day off and you guys were watching a movie while sipping hot tea. Simon move you to his bed and you two cuddled the storm away as you fell asleep.

[stardust-sunset]

revisiting the whole train revenge thing (summary-paul gets darry to confess that his parents death was a train accident and darry is terrified to cross the train tracks because of this so after they had broken up (because darry realized he was aroace-either that or he just couldn’t be with paul anymore) paul got so mad because he realized darry never actually loved him (in his eyes at least) so as some sick form of vengeance he waits at the trían tracks with flashlights and one of those train whistles and just scares the shit out of darry and soda and pony and causes dart to swerve and flip his car into a ditch) but i think that would lead to darry realizing a lot of things about paul.

okay i know a lot of you aren’t gonna like this hc but i feel like paul wasn’t…the nicest? i headcanon that his mom bad dad had a very very messy divorce and he had to be in the middle of it because it was him and his older brother but his older brother was in college by the time this went down so paul was alone…and afterward i feel like he was either in the hands of his dad, who’s a lot like steve’s dad in the terms of he tries to buy paul’s love and just spoils him to no end (i just mean in the way that steve’s dad pays steve as a form of apologizing, that’s a lot like what paul’s dad does) and his mom who just never says no. and i feel like he’s a lot like bob how he just wanted someone to finally tell him “no” but his dad always bailed him out, or his mom would coddle him, whatever it was it kinda taught paul that nobody would say no to him. and i feel like as a result he was kind of a douchebag? like by the time junior year hit. i feel like having daddy around stabilized him and daddy was a good influence but paul wasn’t the best influence in darry. i feel like he managed to convince darry to do some really bad things like vandalism and jumping people (WAIT MAYBE HE JUMPED ONE OF THE GREASERS OR WVEN A MEMBER OF THE GANG AND THATS WHY THEY WERE SO MAD HE “almost went Soc” ON THEM) but one time darry went to jail for this stuff and his mom wouldn’t speak to him and THAT was when he started reevaluating his friendship.

maybe paul also tried to turn daddy on soda and pony but daddy just wouldn’t budge until paul started making up some really bad things by saying soda and pony didn’t approve of their relationship and daddy started just drifting away from his brothers and cracking his relationship with his brothers and after his parents death he went to paul’s place because he just didn’t feel like he could be around people who “don’t support them” and such, hence why he spilled everything to paul which leads back to the train thing.

also i think that the madras jacket that paul got darry was a form of trying to get him to stay. it’s all paul knows. he knows his dad bought his way to his heart and he could wrap his girlfriend around his finger with his money so he tried doing the same thing with darry because it’s just all he knows

their relationship needs to be explored. in still torn between paul having a one sided crush on darry (forbidden love is awesome sauce and maybe paul tried to trap darry into a relationship because darry was the only thing paul wanted but couldn’t have) or them being in a relationship because darry thinks he’s gay because he never felt anything for his girlfriends but then he realizes he’s aroace (i’m leaning towards the former, idk what do yall think)

[im-normal-about-everything]

Do u have pony and Dallas hcs

their friendship actually makes me insane

-since pony's the youngest, dally doesn't talk as bad as he does in front of the others (it's still pretty bad lmfao)

-pony was scared of Dallas, but I'm the way that you're scared of your brother's friend, ykw

-dally would steal little things that he thought pony might like and would leave them around for him to find

-little pony would find rocks or smth that reminded him of Dallas and would give it to him (Dallas kept everything, even if he acted like it was stupid)

-dallas keeps some of the drawings that pony makes of him or him and Johnny

-after pony got jumped by those socs he was ready to get put back in jail even though he just got out

-even if pony doesn't see it, he's basically everyone's kid brother so Dallas does look out for him a lot

-if dal sees pony doing smth that he knows his brothers wouldn't like, he's not gonna snitch unless it's actually gonna hurt the kid

-this includes whenever pony and curly hang out (it's a 50/50 that someone's gonna get hurt)

-i feel like dal would give pony either his necklace or a ring to mess with if he's like freaking out/not having a good time

-when he died, he purposefully left his shirt for pony, not wanting to leave him completely without him

[itzmshadow]

Okay guys I'm doing something different I have a story that's been collecting dust and I want to share it with you guys cause I just love yous guys sm

Also just don't judge I was prolly sleep deprived when I made it- (I love writing I'm trying to get back into it though so-)

Also adding a headcannon here before we start- time steve uses those really cutesy nicknames like dear and honey just because he is defintly that silly (nicknames reserved for Sabre only❗️❗️)

COTTAGE DUO FLUFF WITH A SPRINKLE OF ANGST <333

Enjoy please

'It was getting pretty dark wasn't it' Sabre thought to himself after finishing some notes for a future meeting that's happening in a couple days with the other leaders about random problems that are happening around the kingdom.

He looked around his room that was slowly being covered in light shades of orange yellow and reds as the sun set further across the horizon he looked around and realized that his room was way too quiet.

Him and time shared a room so there was usually a ticking noise from the clock mask time wore on his head or from the pocket watch he keeps in his coat pocket but now it's just silence which made Sabre worry about time. Times an adult he shouldn't be worrying about him but he can't help but be worried. That's just how he is, he's normally always tense, he's scared of anything loud and sudden, he's scared that time is going to find every single one his flaws and end up hating him or believing that he is still apart of the darkness.

He laid his elbows on the table in front of him and laid his head in his arms to overthink everything that could be happening right now outside of this safe comforted bedroom.

What if sol broke out of jail and started a riot in the middle of the kingdom  where time was trapped in the middle of the crowds slowly being trampled- or what if there was a sudden seige and since he wasn't in the actual castle part he wouldn't know to defend the castle until its too late and the leaders end up kicking him out because he wasn't there to help them-

His spiraling was interrupted by something touching his shoulder making him jump up and hit his head on whatever was behind him- behind him something was behind him.

He flies around in a panic ready to fight whoever was trying to get to him only to find the same person he was just worrying about holding his nose in pain.

"Time!" He runs up to him and raises a shaky hand to try and help only to take a step back in fear of hurting him again. "I'm- im sorry time I thought you were something else I hurt you I'm so sorry"

Time finally raised his head after checking if his nose was bleeding, it wasn't it just hurt like hell, and took a step forward to grab Sabres shaking hand and hold it up to his face so Sabre had to look up at time.

"You didn't hurt me, I'm the one who snuck up on you, which was a mistake on my part, it wasn't your fault you were thinking and I inturuppted" time pulled Sabre closer to him.

Sabre shakes his head, "no I'm I should be over this, sol is in jail and there was no reason for me to freak out like I did I'm sorry"

Time lifts Sabres hand and kisses it, "Sabre dear, I know you didn't mean to freak out but out of all people I think you deserve to, your so strong its honestly sometimes kind of scary" time softly laughs at that as does Sabre.

"You put up all these walls to protect everyone around you when everyone around you wants to protect you, you've taken care of us for so long let us take care of you" time lifts Sabres head to look him in the eyes and smiles softly then leans in to kiss his forehead.

"I love you darling, I hope you know that" Sabre nods and sniffles as if he was just crying, he was but you wouldn't catch him dead before he admits that, even though time knew.

"Cmon have you eaten anything today sabre?" The brunette shakes his head and Burries it in times chest shaking his head. "M not that hungry" time nods and slowly pulls Sabre towards their shared bed setting him down. " since it's been a hard day I'll let dinner slide but your getting loving time made breakfast tomorrow, alright?"

Sabre laughs and nods then leans into times chest who sits behind Sabre and slowly leans back until his back hits the bed and soon Sabre is just laying on top of him as time plays with his hair.

" I love you Sabre and I want you to know, no matter what happens I'll be here for you and take care of you the way you have taken care of everyone else"

The two lay together like that for the time being until Sabre eventually fall asleep on time steve making the older smile down on him.

The two stayed like that with time running his fingers through Sabres hair and he ended up falling asleep holding onto to Sabre.

[starry-blue-echoes]

Okay, I just got here. Sorry for intruding and I'm kind of freaking out about part 4 of Star Swap.

Because there are two Jotaros. Why is nobody talking about the fact that there are two Jotaros? Am I missing something??? 

Unless I am completely failing in Star Swap lore, in order to not become super convoluted and insane, a universe is localized to a Swap… probably? Anyway from what I understand three universes have an event happening in them and Star Swap is a series… except there's also an OLDER Jotaro here in Part 4! which would be the same Jotaro that experienced part 4 as Josuke! Which is causing problems in my brain.

… I was thinking it's either Joseph and Giono is the exception -Thanks to Hermit Purple Rrequiem- and swaps actually jumps across universes making Older Part 4 Jotaro have that Canon backstory.

…Or… hear me out..

 JoJo

 Specifically, Jotaro gets some of that Time Jumpy Amnesia and has not a single fucking clue what happened to himself.

JUST HIM 

No one else

He is the sole one that gets bonk with a forgot stick

For all Jotaro knows: he blacked out, got possessed, and went to Egypt. Everything went well. His mom got cured and people survived, but STILL. said person that possessed him made a bunch of friends and now Jotaro has to deal with them. HE has to rely on other people's information to figure out what the hell HAPPENED.

Jotaro still gets that Battle Experience in and gets those cryptic forgotten fog of memories from the trip But Yeah

Jotaro has no idea what happened to him when that guy was possessing him. Jotaro doesn't know! he doesn't remember shit!!! All people got is theories.

I have a lot of thoughts and this is probably not even an issue.ARGGGG

.. I'm here thinking that for The Star Swap parts 3 and 4 to connect in an interesting way is Memory Blockage or else Part 4 Older Jotaro would have to walk on fucking eggshells if something wasn't blocking his memories because if he talks or says anything that doesn't link up then he breaks time. Jotaro's fault for actively getting involved!

Probably. I don't know!!! I'm just thinking!!! 

you're correct, Parts 3 and 4 have been criminally neglected amongst all this chaos, so this is p e r f e c t

to clarify the universe shenanigans of everything: I've always been thinking that each "set" exists in its own universe. 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and then 3 and 4 all exist in their own sort of "pocket universe" just so we don't need to keep track of of all the inevitable changes and how they influence each other

that being said, funnily enough what you've brought up with Jotaro is REALLY close to what I've been imagining too!

Jotaro is So Fucking Lost when he wakes up back home. He feels like complete and utter shit and is covered in more bandages than he's ever had before. The last thing he remembers is his mom leaving after visiting him in the prison cell after he tried to shoot himself with Star Platinum

only...... when did Star Platinum have a name? When had it stopped being an evil spirit?

when had he stopped being scared of it?

Kakyoin and Joseph are of course INCREDIBLY worried by Jotaro's apparent and very sudden shift in personality. And of course, this panic only multiplies when they find they think Jotaro's stand has been changed as well. They immediately think it's a Stand attack......

but then Holly steps forward and denies this. That this is how Jotaro normally acts and more importantly, that she remembers seeing Star in the jail

now, technically this might be bending the rules a little bit, but I think it would be interesting to give Holly some..... memory weirdness. Maybe we can tie it into her Stand somehow, or maybe it's just For The Plot, but Holly has two distinct sets of memories before she collapsed from her illness

One where Jotaro comes home with her, quiet and awkward and open in a way he hadn't been since he was a child. And another where he refused to leave and shot himself in an attempt to goad a spirit hovering over his shoulder

this then raises the incredibly uncomfortable idea that the Jotaro they'd gone to Egypt with was the imposter. That there had been a fake in their midst the entire time and they never knew. Was he working with Dio? Another group? What was his goal? Why had he done it? And of course, the biggest question of all, where was Jotaro the entire time and why doesn't he remember?

because it's obvious Jotaro was somewhere. He has skills and knowledge he hadn't before. He's different, he's grown in some ways, but has receded in others

Electricity and loud sounds terrify him in a way that can't be described as simple fear

they do what they can to help and figure things out, but they can never find any leads. It actually during these investigations that Jotaro decides to start working with the Speedwagon Foundation on the side and "rekindles" his friendships with the Crusaders

(he finds himself drawn to Kakyoin at times. Or to be more specific, he's drawn to his Stand. The colors and shapes and eyes all feel so tantalizingly familiar, and sometimes he finds himself talking to the being as if expecting a response)

years go by, and the fog around his memories stays. It bothers him less as more time passes and he makes new memories with people who had a headstart on their relationship, but there's always a quiet niggling in the back of his mind about what could've happened

and then a decade later he finds a boy with a different face but identical Stand and temperament to match

[chicgeekgirl89]

Chapter 6 now available on AO3!

He’s going on a date. With Hottie Officer Carlos. Tomorrow. He’s equal parts thrilled and completely freaking out. 

They’ve texted daily, mostly inane and sometimes flirty things. T.K. would be lying if he said he wasn’t horny for the guy. Seeing him in uniform, the way his muscles had filled out the sleeves, his thighs…T.K. has woken up more than a few times from dreams where Carlos’ broad hands are caressing their way down his body.

But as he’s told his therapist several times, that is not the point of this date. Carlos seems like a genuinely good guy. The type of guy T.K.’s always hoped to be with, the type of guy he thought Alex was.

Alex. T.K. sighs and wonders how long the specter of his previous boyfriend is going to hang over him. He’d tried to get the guy out of his head when he’d first arrived in Austin. There had been some sex, one-night stands whose names he doesn’t remember, and when that hadn’t worked he’d turned to getting the shit kicked out of him in bars. His dad picking him from jail is not even in the top ten lowest moments of his life, but he still feels kind of shitty about it.

He’s been trying his hardest since then to turn things around. This date with Carlos…it feels like a second chance. A chance to be the kind of guy who deserves someone like Carlos Reyes. And he’s trying really hard not to self sabotage it like he usually does. 

Right now he’s having kind of a hard time telling the little voice in his head that reminds he’s not good enough to shut up.

“Why do you look like that?”

Judd settles into a chair across from him, leaning back and kicking his feet up. 

T.K.’s hand stills where it’s been combing anxiously through Buttercup’s fur. “Look like what?”

“Look like you just accidentally jumped in the pen with my Uncle Cash’s meanest bull,” Judd says. “Something on your mind?”

T.K. rubs Buttercup’s ear and considers how much to share. His therapist has been pushing him to open up more to the people around him. His team has proven time and again that they’re trustworthy, but it’s still hard to give the darker pieces of himself away.

“I have a date,” he says finally.

“Oh really?” Judd says, an interested look flashing across his face. “With that cop from your phone?”

“Yes,” T.K. says. “We’re getting coffee tomorrow. And I’m…”

“You’re nervous,” Judd says with a nod, like it’s a fact. “Good.”

“Good? How is that good?”

“Means it’s worth something to ya,” Judd tells him. “Means it matters. You want a hook up, you just jump on in without caring. You want something more, you’re gonna feel scared you’ll mess it up.”

That makes far too much sense for T.K.’s nerves. “What if I do mess it up?” he asks. “What if he doesn’t like me? We’ve only met once for like two minutes. What if all this texting and talking works through the phone but we sit there and stare at each other in silence for an hour?”

“T.K.,” Judd shifts and sits forward so he can look him squarely in the eye. “I’ve known you for a year, and not once in all those days have you been able to sit in silence for longer than three and a half seconds. You’ll find something to talk about.”

“Thanks?” T.K. says, unsure whether he should feel grateful or offended.

“You’ll be great,” Judd says. “You’re a catch. He should be grateful he gets to spend time with you.”

The room warms in T.K.’s vision, a rosy hue brightening up the dark thoughts in his mind. “You think so?” he asks tentatively.

“You’re a god damned dual certified firefighter paramedic,” Judd says, his voice strong. “And a member of the 126. That alone makes you a catch.” He points a finger at T.K. “Don’t you forget it.”

T.K. has never in his life thought of himself as a catch. He’s just…a toy to be played with. Something for people to enjoy and then be sent packing when they’re tired of him. Judd’s words do something to him that he can’t quite pinpoint, but it feels like a small part of him heals.

Then the alarm sounds and they’re both on their feet, running to the truck. As T.K. buckles into his seat he realizes that he feels…good. It feels like light is dawning on him for the first time in so long. Like those moments when you can’t really see the sunrise yet, but you can feel that it’s coming soon.

They pull up to the fire within minutes and it looks terrible. Flames shoot from windows and out of the roof, smoke filling the early evening air as people flee from inside into the waiting arms of first responders. 

T.K.’s heart does a weird lurch as he spots APD on the scene even though he knows Carlos is off tonight. They haven’t even been on a single date and he’s already getting butterflies over the guy. It’s ridiculous.

“Stay alert,” his dad is telling them all as they pull up to the scene. “Two in, two out. This place is going to be unstable. Stick with your partner and if anything seems off get out first and ask questions later.”

“Yes Cap,” they all chorus before jumping out and donning their tanks and masks.

Inside things are hot and dark. The fire is quickly sucking out any air left in the building and the smoke is billowing in thick, black clouds that make it nearly impossible to see. He’s paired up with Marjan and they’re both struggling to make it even a few feet down the narrow hallways. 

They manage one rescue, a guy who’s leg is definitely broken, and it’s a relief when they carry him back outside. T.K. pulls off his mask and takes a couple gulps of clean air after they pass the guy off to medical.

“Ready to go again?” Marjan asks. 

T.K. nods, replacing his mask and following her toward the door. But before they can head inside there’s a loud rumble and the earth shakes a little under their feet. “Whoa, what was that?” Marjan asks.

“Mayday mayday! Firefighter down!”

Mateo’s voice comes shouting over their radios and T.K.’s heart plummets into his boots. Marjan turns to him, eyes wide. “Isn’t Mateo with—“

“My dad,” T.K. says. Without a second thought he’s through the door. 

“T.K.! T.K. wait!” Marjan yells after him.

He can hear her behind him, trying to keep up. “Mateo where are you?” he asks.

“Southeast side,” Mateo says. “He’s unconscious, I can’t wake him up!”

“We’re on our way,” T.K. says, taking the first left he comes to. 

“Us too,” Judd says from wherever he and Paul are.

It’s only minutes but it feels like days before T.K. hears the screaming of a PASS alarm. They take a final turn and find Mateo kneeling on the floor next to his dad’s prone form. “What happened?” T.K. asks.

“Beam came down from the ceiling. Took him down hard,” Mateo says. “He hasn’t woken up since.” He looks like he’s just barely restraining himself from full blown panic. 

T.K. can relate.

“Dad,” T.K. shakes his shoulder but gets no response and the fear he’s been keeping at bay comes screaming to the surface. “Dad! Come on! Wake up!”

“Hey!”

Judd and Paul join the group. “We need to get him out of here,” Judd says. “This whole place is gonna come down on top of us any second.”

“He could have a spinal injury,” T.K. protests.

“Better injured than dead,” Paul says. “Come on. Let’s go!”

T.K. reaches under one of his dad’s arms while Judd gets under his other side. The way his dad’s head droops as they move makes T.K. sick to his stomach. He’s so terrified he can hardly breathe, air coming in and out of his lungs in tight bursts. 

It feels like forever before they escape the heat and the dark, but finally there it is, the outside world, still waiting for them. 

They drop his dad onto a gurney and Nancy and Tim swarm in along with Michael, their acting captain for the day, pulling off his turnouts and helmet. His dad lets out a groan of pain that makes T.K.’s knees go weak with a combination of relief and sympathy. 

“What happened?” his dad asks as his eyes blink open, squinting against the fading daylight.

“Beam took you down Cap,” Mateo says. “Hit you right in the head.”

His dad groans again and closes his eyes. “Yep, that’s what it feels like.”

T.K. rides with him in the back of the ambulance and then follows the gurney into the ER. He talks to the doctors, tells them about the medication his dad is on for his cancer treatments, and all of his supplements. He calls his mom in New York then sits with his teammates in the waiting room while his dad is taken for tests and scans.

It’s not the worst trip to the ER he’s ever experienced, but it’s not great either. His anxiety is through the roof. This is the second time in just about a year his dad has said a passing hello to death and it’s doing nothing to help his anxiety. The world has faded out to grey again, black and white, like the scuffed tiles of the hospital floor. His skin is itching with the urge to run away from it all, but the desire to stay is currently winning the fight. Yay therapy. 

He chews anxiously on a fingernail, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. He stripped off his turnout coat a while ago, but his pants are still sitting uncomfortably stiff on his legs. There’s a char mark on his left thigh from a stray cinder on some call he doesn’t remember. He closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to look at it.

When the doctor finally comes out the news is about as okay as it can be for an injured firefighter. His dad has a concussion and a couple broken ribs. They’re a little extra concerned about the ribs because of the lung cancer and the propensity for pneumonia. They’re keeping him overnight for observation and he’s not happy about it. But overall he’s going to be fine.

Paul drives T.K. home where he falls face first into bed without even showering. He’s exhausted from the stress of everything and it’s only when he wakes up in the morning that he remembers his date with Carlos. Fuck. He has to cancel. 

Anxiety curdles in his stomach. Carlos is going to think he’s that guy. The one who claims a family emergency even though they both know he’s really just flaking out on the date. T.K. has been on both sides of that text on more than one occasion, but he doesn’t want to be that guy this time. He’s been trying so hard not to fuck this up, and he can’t stand the thought of it all crashing down because he’s finally choosing to be responsible.

He stares at the ceiling and sighs. There’s no help for it. Even if he gets his dad home in time today, he can’t leave him alone. The guy will be out trying to rescue a kitten from a tree or help a neighbor move a couch less than twenty minutes after T.K. is out the door. 

T.K.

[7:32am] Hey I’m so sorry, I have to cancel today.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[7:33am] Everything okay?

T.K.

[7:34am] My dad is in the hospital. Hurt on a call last night.

His phone begins buzzing almost immediately, the sight of Carlos’ pecs lighting up his screen. He’d forgotten that he’d set Carlos’ contact photo like that and he barks out a startled laugh. “Hello?” his voice comes out croaky and he swallows hard to try and clear it.

“Are you okay?” Carlos asks immediately. “Is your dad okay?”

“Yeah.” T.K. pushes himself into a sitting position and rubs a hand over his face. “Yeah we’re both okay. He has a concussion and some broken ribs. They kept him overnight so I have to go pick him up in a little bit.”

“God I’m so sorry,” Carlos says, sounding one hundred percent sympathetic without an ounce of suspicion or annoyance. “Is there anything I can do? Anything you need? My mom makes soup that she swears will heal anything.”

T.K. closes his eyes, surprised that he can feel tears welling up. Carlos’ immediate response is to offer to provide comfort for him and his dad. It’s so wildly surprising and different from any guy he’s ever dated that the words have gone straight to his tear ducts. “No, I think we’re okay. Thanks though,” he manages around the thickness in his throat. “I’m um, I’m really sorry about our date.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Carlos says. “We’ll reschedule. Take care of your dad. And yourself.”

“Thanks,” T.K. says. “I’ll text you, okay?”

“Just worry about your family,” Carlos says. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

They hang up and T.K. takes a long minute to replay the conversation in his mind. Carlos hadn’t sounded mad or annoyed. He hadn’t even sounded disappointed. Just genuinely concerned. 

T.K.’s not quite sure what to do with that, so he shelves it to examine later and forces himself into the shower. 

His dad is his usual self when T.K. gets to the hospital. All the nurses are in love with him; the Strand charm effect is strong. He’s definitely in pain though and trying to hide it as T.K. helps him into the car and then onto the sofa at home. 

“Are you going to sit there all afternoon staring at me?” his dad asks an hour later. 

“I’m not staring at you. I’m studying for my EMT recertification exam,” T.K. says, holding up the manual as evidence

“I’m okay son,” Owen says, that soft, dad look on his face; the one that says he’s more concerned about how T.K. is feeling than himself. “I’m glued to this couch. You can go hang out with your friends or take Buttercup for a walk.”

Buttercup lifts his head up at the sound of his name and then drops it glumly back to the floor when it’s clear nobody is actually going to take him outside. 

“I’m staying right here,” T.K. tells him. “I know you think you won’t get off that couch and overdo it, but the second you get too bored you’re going to be trying to throw together a soufflé or check the oil in the car.”

Owen blinks at him. “First of all, you don’t ‘throw together’ a soufflé. It’s a delicate process that requires hours of concentration and impeccable timing. And secondly, I had the oil changed on the car last week.”

“Still not leaving,” T.K. says without looking up from the manual. 

The doorbell rings and Buttercup heaves himself to his feet, tail wagging as he wanders toward the front door. “Are we expecting anybody?” T.K. asks as he gets up. 

“Could be Judd,” his dad says. “He mentioned last night that he and Grace might swing by.”

“Maybe it’s Nurse Judy from the hospital,” T.K. teases. “I saw her eyeing you up this morning.”

“I can’t help it that my shoulders are accentuated by the shape and contour of a hospital gown!” his dad calls after him.

T.K. snorts and shuffles Buttercup out of the way so he can open the door. The person on the other side is not Judd or Grace or Nurse Judy, but rather a redheaded college age kid wearing a black baseball cap. “Hi, I have a delivery for T.J.,” he says, holding out a cardboard coffee carrier.

“Oh.” T.K.’s brow furrows. “I don’t think we ordered anything.”

The kid checks his phone. “You’re T.J. Strand?”

“T.K.”

The kid shrugs. “Close enough. This is for you. Have a good day.”

He practically shoves the carrier into T.K.’s hands and then heads back to his car.

T.K. carries it into the kitchen. “Who was it?” his dad asks, craning his neck to try and see what T.K. is doing.

“Door Dash,” T.K. says. 

There’s a green smoothie and a latte in the carrier along with a folded up piece of paper. He unfolds it and his heart stops inside his chest.

Latte is for you. Smoothie is for your dad. Not quite my mom’s soup but hopefully it helps. -Carlos

Carlos remembered his coffee order. Not only that, he remembered that T.K.’s dad prefers green juices and other organic products. That had been one conversation weeks ago while Carlos was on a lunch break in the middle of his shift. 

One text and Carlos remembered.

Oh.

The room around him brightens, the weight in his soul that belongs to the last twenty-four hours lifting off and dissipating into nothing. 

“T.K.? What’s going on over there?” his dad calls.

T.K. lifts out both drinks, carrying them into the living room and setting them on coasters. “Someone sent us drinks.”

“Someone?” His dad arches and eyebrow and then winces. “Someone like…the hot cop who lives in your phone that you were supposed to go on a date with today?”

T.K. narrows his eyes. “Did Judd rat me out to you? Because that’s really not cool.”

“Judd didn’t rat you out,” Owen says. “Sound carries in the fire station. And also I know you. You’ve been all moony eyed and nervous this week. It’s how you always get before a first date.”

“I do not!”

“Um yeah, you do,” Owen says. “You know, you can still go on your date. I’ll be fine here by myself.”

“Like I said before, I’m not leaving,” T.K. says. “I already cancelled. He was very understanding. As evidenced by the drinks.” He gestures to where he’s placed them on the coffee table.

Something odd and soft passes over his dad’s face. “Good. He should be.” He picks up his drink and takes a sip. “Ooh! Flax seed. Tell the hot cop I said thank you.”

T.K. sips his own as he pulls out his phone.

T.K.

[12:16pm] Thank you for the drinks. You didn’t have to do that.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:18pm] You’re welcome. Not quite the coffee date we were hoping for, but hopefully it will do for today.

T.K.

[12:19pm] You’re really sweet. And again, I’m super sorry about the date.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:20pm] Stop apologizing. Family comes first. How’s your dad?

T.K.

[12:21pm] Already testing the boundaries of his convalescence. And my patience. But he’s fine. Meds are taking care of the pain. 

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:22pm] Good. Are you doing okay? That must have been scary to see your dad like that.

T.K. looks over at where his dad has drifted off to sleep, his mouth hanging slightly open. The pain and fear of possibly losing him burns brightly in his chest for a moment and he lets it fill him up before breathing it out again. His dad is okay. They’re both okay this time. 

His phone buzzes again.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:26pm] You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to cross a line.

T.K.

[12:27pm] No, it’s okay. It was scary. He was unconscious for a long time. And after the cancer last year, I’m still kind of panicky about him. But he’ll be all right. He’s been through worse. We both have.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:28pm] Feel free to call or text anytime if you need to. 

T.K.

[12:29pm] You might regret that. He’s going to be a pain in the ass for the next couple weeks. You may end up having to come investigate his murder because I’m not sure I can handle it.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:30pm] Haha aren’t firefighters supposed to be tough as nails? You can run into burning buildings but you can’t handle your dad?

T.K.

[12:31pm] We WALK into burning buildings thank you very much. And you haven’t met my dad. He can whine like a toddler being denied ice cream. It’s unreal. We may need to reschedule our date just so I don’t lose my mind.

Officer Hottie- Carlos

[12:32pm] Tuesday?

T.K. thinks for a second. His dad should be well on the road to recovery by then. And he’s not scheduled to work again until Wednesday.

T.K.

[12:32pm] Tuesday could work.

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

okay! So my idea was that after the incident with the monkey bomb and after she was adopted by silco, powder felt alone and sometimes she just walked trough zaun by herself. And one day she found reader rummaging through the trash for fabrics (because she likes to do her own clothes let's say) and she reminded powder of herself, so after seeing her some more times after that powder decided to talk to her and then they become inseparable and IDK it's like some chaotic teenage romance where they do dumb stuff together like sneak into piltover or get themselves into jail accidentally, whatever you can think of

This was definitely longer than I thought, feel free to change anything you want!

(hello! So sorry this sucks but I had a major headache and felt like writing! Anyways, the idea for the booth/carnival came from @spice-bunny0-0 ! Enjoy!)

Never Again...Maybe

So, this is what boring feels like.

Powder almost huffed, well, Jinx, did. Powder was getting used to the name Jinx for now, but mainly went by Powder.

It was just how it was at this moment.

She trudged along the streets of the Undercity, looking around for anything, anything at all, to do.

But there was nothing.

Before the…incident, Powder never felt truly bored.

There was always something to do, bug Mylo, hang out with Vi, bug Mylo with Claggor, or hang out with Ekko.

But…they weren't around, so she couldn't do any of that.

She didn't like the goons Silco hired that much, sure they were nice to her, but they had to be.

Unless they wanted the "big boss" to cut off a hand.

One of the perks of being taken in as a daughter by the Eye of Zaun.

Just as she was about to go back to the Last Drop, she stopped walking abruptly as a piece of metal hit her boot.

Powder tilted her head, curiously picking the scrap metal off the ground and examining it in her hand.

It was a piece to the others of the bombs she home-made, one she has been looking for.

With a small smile, she tucked it into her holster pocket before hearing more metal clicking and…shuffling?

It was coming from the alleyway, so as curious as she was, she followed the sound.

To her surprise, she found a kid around her age.

You were leaning over the dumpster, so much that your only body part visibly was your legs as you leaned down and tossed whatever you apparently didn't need out of the way.

"Come on…come on…aha!" Powder tilted her head confused, not moving as you exclaimed and quickly leaned back over onto your feet.

You held a spool of…fabric?

It wasn't ugly or in terrible condition, so much that even Jinx would take and use it for her clothes.

But now, Powder was in control. And Powder was curious.

You smiled, turning around quickly to leave with your treasure before jumping as you saw Powder standing almost right behind you.

"Oh! Hello…?" You asked, tilting your head as you held your find to your chest.

"What are you doing?" Powder cut quickly, not meaning to be rude but it came out like that.

"Oh, just finding fabric." You shrugged, like it was the most simple thing in the world.

"Why?" Powder asked, walking in unison with you as you left the alley.

"I make use of them for my clothes! I like making them." You smiled in pride, Powder now taking the time to look you up and down.

Your outfit was actually quite pretty, or more grand than you would find in the Undercity.

It was good for a home-made outfit.

"Those aren't from down here?" Powder asked, touching more fancy parts on your shirt.

"Yeah, they're not. I went Topside to get them." You smiled in pride, proud of the fact that you had gotten them in the first place.

"You did?!" Powder asked, her curiosity at an all time high at your almost bravery to sneak past enforcers up there.

Not that they scared her much anymore.

"Uh-huh! Now, I gotta go-" You broke the news, almost sad that you had to leave your almost new friend behind.

But you were cut off as Powder was suddenly In Front of you with a smile holding your wrist carefully but with a grip hard enough to keep you in place.

"I like you." Powder revealed, you raised a brow but laughed at her bluntness.

"I like you too." You shrugged, matching her smile as you adjusted your grip on your fabric.

"That's good." Powder nodded happily, before it faded ever so slightly.

"Because you don't have a choice." 

From the way she said it, it almost looked innocent, in fact, it did.

You were so surprised you thought you heard it wrong.

"Huh- woah!" You were tugged harshly by Powder, the girl suddenly having the energy to run and avoid bumping into others on the Undercity streets.

Powder was almost giddy, you reminded her of herself.

And with that, came an opportunity for a new friend for herself.

And she would not let it slip away.

~~

The days with Jinx turned into months, which turned into years. 

You and her were inseparable, you didn't live with her. But to your surprise, Silco liked you, or tolerated you.

You kept Jinx happy. And a happy Jinx was always good.

You and Jinx grew up together practically, never leaving one side from the other.

When one walked by the other was soon to follow, jumping over each other and making a giggling, pink and blue mess wherever you guys went.

But Jinx's favorite thing to do was sneak around.

Sneaking around Topside, in fact.

So that's how you ended up here now, in a flee from the Enforcers Topside with a giggling Jinx practically being carried on your back.

~~

"You sure this is a good idea, J.J?" You asked, laughing at her "disguise".

She was hard not to spot though, wherever Jinx went was a firecracker waiting to happen.

Her hair along with her outfit was always noticeable in a room.

But now, she had a coat so big that it almost covered her entire body, her hair pinned up with a hat on while wearing sunglasses.

It's not that she couldn't go Topside wearing "normal" clothes, but Jinx is Jinx. She did things the way she wanted.

"Of course it is! You got the balloons?" Jinx asked, tipping her sunglasses as you almost laughed once again before nodding.

"Perfect! Let's go!"

"You sure Silco will bail us out?"

"...Yeah, sure!"

~~

You and Jinx were in the middle of a carnival, being pushed around by Topsiders as you both looked through shops' windows and booths for what you needed.

Jinx had run out of crayons, oil crayons and paint for her doodles, so she needed more.

But she hated the ones down below, they broke easily or were flat out ugly ass colors.

So she resorted to having Sevika getting them imported, but Sevika was on some away mission and Jinx didn't care enough to have others do it.

Sevika got the right colors, and only Sevika, she may be an ass but she's good at picking out crayons for kids.

"What about those?" You asked, pointing out some oil crayons to Jinx.

She picked them up, humming occasionally before she nodded.

She stuffed her hand into her pocket, trying to grab enough money for the price but turns out, yal spent it when buying else and your fabrics.

"Shit." Jinx cursed under her breath, she had to pay, you said so yourself.

You didn't want to be thrown into a jail cell on Monday, so she resorted to paying.

She didn't want to upset you and you be mad at her, no, no.

But, there was no choice in this. Especially since this was practically the only booth with her paints and crayons she actually needed.

"Hey, (Name)? We're out." Jinx broke bluntly, her giggle almost escaping once she saw you grimace.

"Really? Again?" You asked, feeling the oncoming headache and preparing yourself from what is about to happen.

"Yup. Sorry, you're up." Jinx smirked, you couldn't get another word in before she slipped away to get her paints.

"Really?! Ugh, fine." You sighed, preparing yourself and putting on your best fake smile before you walked over to the booth owner.

"Hello! Could you tell me about these crayons? They're…fascinating…?" You questioned, almost giving yourself away but the booth owner didn't notice.

"I would love too! You see these one's…" The booth owner's voice drowned out as you absent mindedly nodded, glancing back at Jinx as she stuffed her jacket pockets.

This went on for almost three minutes, the booth owner finally following your eyes to Jinx just as she stuffed another box in her pockets.

"Hey!" The booth owner yelled, alerting enforcers and people standing by.

"Put those back!" The enraged man yelled, going to stomp over but stopped as you pulled him back.

"Sorry for this." You winced, the man confused before you popped a balloon of paint onto his head.

You quickly ran to Jinx as the girl was giggling madly, grabbing her hand and yanking her just as enforcers made it to the booth.

The mad booth owner wiped paint from his face, yelling and pointing to you two as you booked it, running into citizens but pushing them out the way.

Enforcers yelled for you to stop, but you couldn't with Jinx on your back and the promise of not going to jail today.

"We're not doing this again!"

"That's what you think! This is fun!"

[yelling-space]

sex hcs

// Might be a lil heavy 4 a first post idk??? thought it be a good indicator of what u can expect from me in relation 2 each charter encase that's sming u want 2 avoid tho,

so enjoy this short summary the Main 4s feelings on/relationship with sex and daans here 2 for some reason

none the left over colours fitted Enki so i made him pink 2 spite him

Cw :(Impyed) child prostitution + s/a

Cahara

-whore by birth,slut by choise

-has a hate-love relationship with sex(regardless position) and kinda treats it like a "get out of jail free" card, rellised from a young age the amount of horrble suitions he can get out of if he opens his mouth a lil wider and swings his hips a little

-can be pear pressured/guilted into agreeing 2 sex + for as mutch as hes into and enjoys sex he feels so gross and unclean and not comfy in his own skin after regadles who its with (he will internaly throw up and try 2 rip his skin of if you call him "exotic")

-will cry if he has totally normal fully consensual sane safe sex w a partner/ his wife

-doesnt understand the religious belifes of immodesty or sodomy esply when those higher up dont tend 2 practice what they preach , OPPOSITE of a prude , open whore.

D'arce

-closeted butch top that didnt realize her desire to fuck pretty men was actually her lesbian soul shining through

-lotta her,,,less practical ,vewis on sex stem from deep rooted homophba + was 2 goal oriented and determined 2 became a knight 2 even think about or consider it before espacping the dugon

-full heartedly believed all women harbour a disgust 4 the male sex organ and that coupes just did not have sex endless it was 2 convive a child , as you can imagine she was in for a surprise when discovering that was not the case.

-horrifically inexperienced and guided by her desire to dominate, and thus becomes known for owning The Scary Strap" that medieval men are afraid of

Enki

-Dead body fucker. That Necromancy spell is NOT going to just go too waist ,

-not all that interested in sex in general and never really saw any reason to engage with it when spell books are literally RIGHT there . saying that he most definitely gets of on having something completely under his control regardless what end the "fucked-fucking" scale he's on

- not really into sex with living people + how he's probably kind of inexperienced due to an isolated upbringing hence the want for control over puppeteering a sexual partner (dead body), or the high he gets off inflicting acts of sadism given how his ideas of intimacy have been twisted from childhood

-100%%%%%%% a fucking freek btw just cuz hes not 2 instered in sex dosnt mean hes not a fucking freek man fucks dead people and probs vry mutch into s/m

Rag

-wife kink. you don't understand how much he loves his wife.

-probs thinks sex is something shared between two lovers and is something meant 2 be full of affection and enjoyed by both party's

-probs see's s/a being viewed as something incredibly disrespectful, cowardly and the abuser deserve of death getting his shit kicked in (this is funny because i like 2 imagen rag starts projecting his dead wife onto cahara when he starts 2 lose it in the dungeon)

-did not know sex work existed or brothels were a thing, got jump scared by it when taking cahra back 2 see his wife with the others , he was vry confused and not rly sure where he was MENT 2 look so spent most the time with his eyes glued to the floor, celling or his friends faces (he respects women even if he's not rly sure what's going on)

Daan

-lil sex adictic freek , dosnt even realy enjoy sex that much,just so used 2 it being apart his life hes not entirely sure what 2 do without it,+allows himself to ast least feel incontrol the situion (for once in his life) cus he knows what the goal is and faster he gets it over with faster he'll be left to his own devices again.

-sex is all he rly knowns and grown up around, as well as one the only things hes ever seen actually be meaningful to anybody,regardless there relationships with there partner. but it feels like its something he owes people/doesnt really enjoy it regardless if he acrly wants it or not.

-dosnt proply understand how relationships work or that there's more 2 them then just sex (or that people could even *want* him for more then sex for that matter)

-sex was allways seen as something transactional or something for control - cant have any of that with fagcat, but can at least indulge in it in a way that makes him feel like he's way 2 finally has some small aspect control his life again.

-Honesty like ¾ his sex life is just him being abused by Pocketcat

[crescentblossom66]

Character Analysis: Conductor and DJ Grooves

Before I start this analysis made out of reading too much into dialogue and overall being way too obsessed with chapter two of A Hat in Time, I want to clarify that I like both of the directors. Conductor is my favorite character in the whole game and DJ Grooves is another character that I enjoy (I agree with all of you DJ Grooves fans, that funky penguin isn't getting enough content).

I also want to try to make people think about those two more and make them less one dimensional in their fan works. I understand that it is very easy to see DJ Grooves as just the charming underdog with absolutely no bad bone in his body, and Conductor as nothing more than a deranged lunatic. I hope I can inspire with this and draw some attention to these two lovingly crafted characters.

I'll split this analysis into 4 parts:

First impressions of the directors

Conductor, the deranged psycho...or not?

DJ Grooves, charming or cunning?

Final Thoughts

1. First impressions of the directors

We first meet the two quarreling directors in Chapter two act 1. As soon as we enter the lobby of the huge building that we'll later know as Dead Bird Studio, we bare witness to an argument between the Sci-fi and musical making penguin, DJ Grooves, and Conductor, a strange-looking owl thing that makes Westerns. The first thing every player will notice is that both characters seem to act very differently to the whole argument. While the yellow owl stomps his foot in anger and seems very aggressive, his rival seems to not be too fazed by the whole argument, simply dancing and more or less ignoring the allegations and insults the other throws his way.

In the very first scene we learn that the DJ appears to be rather calm and collected, while his counterpart comes of as rather aggressive and downright vindictive, given that he locks the penguins into their side of the studio.

Those first impressions get strengthened even more if the player talks to the actors of the studio. The Express Owls appear very scared of their boss, the Conductor, informing the player that they're mere passengers on the train that the Western director operates, they also state that he makes unexpected stops and caused them to be late for their work and that they get randomly dragged into filming movies. The Moon Penguins on the other hand seem to idolize their boss, DJ Grooves, they even have a fan club in his honor. Those flipper-snapping birds also seem to be very hostile toward new people seeing the player as a threat for their idol and are rather rude to Hat Kid.

When the player makes their way through the vent to enter the studio itself, the interactions that the DJ has with his penguins are all pretty friendly, he encourages them and is pretty calm when his actors make mistakes during recording, even when the player disrupts the recording by jumping in front of the cameras, the former DJ seems to only act confused and just continues on with his filming.

The Conductor on the other hand yells at his actors nonstop, voicing his frustrations clearly, calling his actors lousy and terrible when they make mistakes. Unlike his rival, the yellow owl doesn't take kindly to his recording being disrupted and he yells and gets even angrier whenever the player decides to jump in front of his cameras.

All of this just reaffirms the impressions we had of the characters so far, and even the finale of the chapter only underlines this, as the penguin asks for our help with desperation, and even hands us a bird passport, while the owl wants to take us to jail for messing with the Annual Bird Movie Awards.

The player will come out of this drawing the conclusion that DJ Grooves is the underdog that needs help in beating his despicable rival, who seems to be a terrible person all around. As it is the nature of us humans, we want to see the lovable underdog win against the overconfident and cruel rival, as it is seen in most media.

The second act of chapter two, “Murder on the Owl Express”, takes us onto the beloved train of the Western director where we are greeted by said director on the small balcony at the back of the caboose. Nothing much will change for our perception of the character here. He seems to not care that he scared the owls and Hat Kid with a fake murder that the player will obviously notice as just a set up. He will once again remind us that he hates his rival's movies before we're given a time piece and go on our merry way back to the spaceship.

“Picture Perfect”, the third act of the chapter, brings us to a big set on the moon where the DJ greets us enthusiastically. He takes on a mentor role for Hat Kid as she tries to build her own fan base as she goes from endorsement to endorsement. We get once again remind that the DJ is the “good guy” of this story as the Moon Penguins around him are happy and upbeat as opposed to the tense Express Owls. This pleasant and colorful act also clashed hard with the more dreary and serious “Murder on the Owl Express” act that we went through earlier.

Things take a more drastic and extreme turn in the last two stages. In “Train Rush” the player will get told that there is a bomb on the train and they'll have to go and defuse it. It shows the lengths and extremes the Western director will go to just to get a few nice shots for his movies. His attitude toward Hat Kid is once again rather harsh and demeaning, as he blatantly states that he doesn't care for her or the owls, only his train seems of any concern to him. When the chapter is completed, he will brush aside the concerns of the young space traveler, telling her that all of this was done in the name of cinematography.

“The big Parade” also takes things to the extreme with electric floors and homing missiles. The DJ seems as pleasant as ever, informing the player that it will be easy and that all they have to do is walk around the place a bit which does little to prepare the player for the rather hazardous minutes ahead of them.

The final Chapter will be determined by whom the player chooses as the winner at the end of the four split chapters. If the player chooses the Conductor, things will remain like they were before, the Conductor will remain condescending toward Hat Kid and will even attempt to murder her, while the DJ will come to her rescue when he's needed the most. If the player chooses Grooves, however, things will take a twist, the DJ will betray the young girl and will fight her instead, and Conductor, very surprisingly, intervenes and saves the poor girl from certain doom.

If taken at first glance, it is pretty straight forward who the bad guy is supposed to be it's obviously the Conductor, right? He's a terrible person that treats everyone around him horribly, while DJ Grooves did absolutely nothing wrong and only tried his best to win all this time.

But is it really, dear reader? Is it really as clear-cut and black and white as that, I'll ask you? Is Conductor really an all around bad guy, as Mustache Girl would say, and is DJ Grooves really the uwu penguin that can't do any wrong like his Moon Penguins seem to view him as? Let's find out together.

2. Conductor, the deranged psycho...or not?

One of the crucial arguments people make when they talk about the narrative of story is that the Conductor is obviously a crazy, derange old man who cares about nothing and nobody aside from his movies and his train. It's easy therefore to shove him into the villain role, like the story portraits him, however, his character is a bit deeper than what people give him credit for.

The easiest way for me to explain this point is debunking or at least theorizing on a couple of questions to which the answers may be not as cut and dry as you may think. Those questions are:

Is the Conductor a cheater? Is he endangering his actors? Does he care about Hat Kid at all?

To answer the questions, we're going to look at it from the very beginning of the chapter again, starting with the first question, is the Conductor a cheater? In act one the Conductor accuses Hat Kid of rigging the awards in the favor of his rival, considering what his rival did as fraud and roping the young girl into helping him as well. He seems to have contempt for her as she disrupts the status quo, and the best course of action is to make sure that the odds are evened out again. Given that the owl is rather direct, straight forward, and quite honest, we can potentially see him as despising cheating. This can be further backed up as In chapter 6 he will mention that the DJ will mock him for cheating if word gets out that he cheated, this could imply that he never cheated before that, and thus the accusation that his rival based a lot of his argument on (Saying that he manipulated everything to make sure that he never wins, cheating, and fraud) could all just be illusions that the penguin made to justify that the yellow owl won every award except for one, and that the Western director never actually cheated and won his awards legitimately.

The second and bigger problem, and what is a lot harder to ignore is the question of whether or not he actually puts his actors into danger? I can already hear you facepalm and go “Duh! Have you actually PLAYED 'Train Rush'! That owl...thing is a psycho!” To which I will say “Method Acting” Regularly a technique used by actors to get into their roles by putting themselves into situations that the characters they're playing is in, in order to give a more convincing and expressive performance. The Conductor purposefully exposes the owls, and Hat Kid to the stressful situations and without telling them that they're recording to get better acting out of them.

This is confirmed when he tells Hat Kid that his script isn't ready in act 2, there he also says that he's not recording. We as the players know this whole scene is a set up, which is of course confirmed by the owl himself at the end of the act.

The owls seem just as clueless about it as the young space traveler, as they show fear and panic. (The only one clued in is the owl that plays dead, but none of the others know that he's pretending) This can of course be slightly debunked depending on the person or group you chose as the culprit. If you pick Hat Kid we don't know if she only picked herself just because, due to the owl simply saying that she put a rubber knife on him, but we were with Hat Kid the whole time...I mean we're controlling her so we would have seen if she had done that to the owl. It makes it probable that she simply lied, Conductor's dramatic retelling of the events also makes that more unbelievable, making it likely that she had no idea that it was a set up and just picked herself on a whim to see what would happen

To summarize, no owls were harmed during “Murder on the Owl Express”

I know you've been waiting, tapping your foot at me impatiently considering that “Train Rush” is the bigger issue. I can already hear you typing. “THE CONDUCTOR LITERALLY TELLS US THAT THERE IS A BOMB!”

Yes, that bomb existed, and yes, I know about that, but the important question is yet again, was anyone harmed? Where those risks calculated? What if I told you...that they were.

The owls do mention that they have more explosives on the train, which is true, but those are all on carts where we don't see any owls being in. The owls are all in areas that are more or less safe and none of them appear to be harmed. Even the band plays as if nothing is wrong, further confirming that they knew that they'd be safe.

As you know, the Conductor is at the front of the train the ENTIRE time we see him after the announcement. (I have no idea how he got to the front all the way from the caboose without us noticing, game logic, I guess) He could have switched that bomb off at any time. We never actually see the bomb blow up even if the time runs out, we simply die as if killed by an enemy, so it neither confirms nor debunks that the bomb blew up. Not even in chapter 6 do we see the bomb ACTUALLY exploding.

So is he endangering his actors? Physically no, mentally and emotionally, yes. His actions here still make it clear that he only see the owls as a means to and end, which is winning the award. The amount of stress and trauma he forces the Express Owls through is just collateral to him.

The last point on this list is does he show care toward Hat Kid aside from the finale?

Too many people say the switch in personality that Conductor shows when he saves Hat Kid from the demented DJ comes out of nowhere, and they do not see the build up that happened across the two chapters that lead up to chapter 6. I understand that wholeheartedly, because that build up is extremely subtle. It is very easy to go through both, chapter 2 and chapter 4, thinking that the yellow bird show no affection toward Hat Kid, especially when you consider that the DJ shows more affection for her in his chapters. The Conductor's shift in demeanor is very easy to miss. In act 1 the owl seems to dislike Hat Kid quite a lot for interfering, but there's two easily overlooked lines that show some growth.

I want you to look at those two pictures, the first is at the end of “Murder on the Owl Express”, while the second is taken at the end of “Train Rush”.

Do you see the slight switch in demeanor? The first one tells us that we should leave, but the line delivery even shows that he doesn't yell this time even if it has an exclamation mark. He speaks a bit more fondly of her in the second picture, saying that Hat Kid deserved the time piece instead of telling us to grab the supposed prop and scram.

I'm also going to briefly mention here that he still helps Hat Kid in chapter 5, and even apologizes for attempting to kill her (He tries at least, he's not very good at it) if he was chosen as the winner for the award. If he's the loser, he will express a bit of empathy for her for what his rival had put her through.

So, is the Conductor the good guy now? No...not by any means. He's still a very aggressive and competitive bird thing that doesn't value his actors too much and prioritizes his movies over everything. Some theories explain his behavior, but this analysis is based on what we actually see in game and theories and conclusions we can potentially draw from those facts. As it stands, he's very much still a bad person, but he has far more nuance when what people give him credit for, if you know where to look. I hope that my small analysis on him here has shown you that there is a potential for him to actually care about Hat Kid, and that the owl is just a tad bit kinder when he lets on.

3. DJ Grooves, charming or cunning?

Another thing that I and a few others hate to see is that people tend to view the charming and stylish former DJ as just the good guy that can't harm a fly, thus they think that Conductor winning, and the subsequent fight in which the DJ rescues us, makes more sense than if he back stabs the young girl he so affectionately calls his diva. Just like with his counterpart, there are a few things I have gripes with, but the ways in which the DJ is more twisted when he lets on are about as subtle as the ways in which the Conductor is kind.

Once again, we can ask a few questions to make it easier to understand where I'm coming from with this, those being: To what extend does DJ Grooves hate his rival? Is the DJ a manipulator?

I once again hear you guys typing a defense for the underrated costar of the second chapter of the game, telling me that the DJ never did anything wrong, that all he wanted to do was make good movies and defeat his angry and hostile rival once again. You may even say that the penguin doesn't really hate his rival all too much, seeing as he tries to stay mostly calm when talking to him...what you don't see is that he has a lot of contempt for the yellow bird, far more than he lets on.

When we first see him interact with his rival, he comes off as calm and collected, appearing to not take the argument too seriously. He takes a jab at the owl's struggles to come up with new ideas which leaves the yellow bird stunned for a moment. The fact that he know that his rival struggles with ideas and the fact he mentions it here is important, keep it in the back of your mind. The penguin seems to know exactly how to get under the other's skin and riles up the Conductor even more while he himself stays calm, he even dances during this whole exchange, showing how little it affects him.

The spite for his rival and his obsession with winning the award is a lot harder to see, and we only get a glimpse of it during act 6 itself if he's the winner were he makes it clear that he despises the owl, slandering his name even without the prove for it, and, if my own theory that I made earlier is true, that accusation has no leg to stand on.

The amount of vitriol in the voice of DJ Grooves (which is amazing by the way, kudos to the voice actor) shows just how frustrated and spiteful he really is, an amount of anger and hatred we've not heard from the penguin in any of his levels yet, is present. There is a few more instances other than this though that show his hatred for his rival and his obsession with winning the award.

These little newspaper clippings can be found in the basement of Dead Bird Studio and are placed on the wall outside of the trophy room. This room is situated right above the DJ's dressing room.

Conductor's is in a completely different area of the basement and not even adjacent to it, kind of making it questionable that the room belongs to Conductor like many people claim. There is a hallway, a room, and another hallway between his side of the studio and Grooves' side.

Also, why would he have a room above his rival's dressing room? But back to the posters. These poster show the Conductor in a bad light, the one on the top left seems to be an article on the Western director's first loss, while the one below that shows that something went wrong in his movies, saying that a “Calculated risk went horribly wrong”. It likely refers to the movie that cost the yellow owl award 42. It also isn't favorable for the yellow owl to be laughing at the misfortune of another bird, as the right clipping shows. All in all, those clips show embarrassing and more humbling moments of the owl, further proving that the room is Grooves', and that he hates his rival enough to remind himself that the strange yellow bird is far from perfect and in fact not untouchable. If that room really is Grooves, it shows an eerie obsession with winning, having over 200 plastic replica of the golden trophy, it shows just how far gone the penguin really is.

But it gets better, yes, dear reader, there's more, and this one can be completely missed if you pick the wrong character in a completely different act...and that act is “Murder on the Owl Express”!

You may be asking yourself “Huh? What does one of Conductor's acts have to do with DJ Grooves?” Well, the penguin mocks his rival not only in front of his whole crew...BUT IN FRONT OF HIS OWN AUDIENCE! I know pics or it didn't happen, so...here you go.

THIS is why I told you to listen when I said that he hated Conductor a lot more than he lets on, it may appear as him being friendly, but look at the context, he's helping his poor, idea-less, incompetent rival create a story line. Is that friendly or detrimental? I'll ask you! Keep this screenshot in mind, it will be relevant again.

Have I convinced you that the penguin, REALLY hates his rival now? That the amount of anger he feels might even justify him snapping if he hadn't already? That he hides insanity and hatred behind his fashionable shades. If not, stay tuned, there's more.

Now, let me shatter your view of the 'uwu, I'm incapable of doing anything wrong' penguin even more. Let's focus on another important factor in this whole story, the main character, Hat Kid. We get roped into helping the DJ after he pleads for Hat Kid's help, telling us that is penguins are terrible actors. No, I'm not saying that he hates the Moon Penguins, given that the story book “Groovy Underdog” exists. It makes it clear that he's frustrated with their acting, but still tries hard to make it work even with them being bad at their jobs.

What I have an issue with is that he manipulates Hat Kid into helping him, which is the very thing that prompts Conductor to accuse her of fraud. DJ Grooves simply spotted an opportunity to beat his rival and win the award, the goal was not to help Hat Kid become famous, he simply more or less cheated by dragging an outsider into their quarrel.

The second instance that shows that the DJ is amazing at manipulating those around him is in the first act we see him again, act 3 “Picture Perfect”. He demonstrates an uncanny ability to wrap the viewers at home around his flipper. Everyone on the moon seems to know him as he himself says that everyone knows his name, and it is backed up by the amount of followers Hat Kid gains after every endorsement.

The best example of this is when Hat Kid takes a page out of Conductor's colorful dictionary and uses the word “Peck” ,a swear word in the bird world. Here the DJ shows that he knows his audience rather well, explaining that swearing on TV would get him into trouble, he knows that his image could take a blow if Hat Kid says the wrong thing. He quickly sweeps the occurrence under the rug and tells the space traveler to scram.

The entirety of act 3 shows perfectly how amazing the DJ is at manipulating people to his advantage, even Hat Kid doesn't catch on to what he's actually doing. He's using Hat Kid's cute, childlike charm and likability to his advantage, this is backed up in act 1 where he refers to Hat Kid as an innocent soul with a heart of gold before dismissing her right BEFORE he gets the idea to use her for his own gain.

He continues to manipulate the public and even the player's impression of him by presenting himself as a charming mentor character to Hat Kid, and an overall likable funky fellow. It's all a facade, a charade put on by him to hide his desperation for the victory, show the player, Hat Kid and the public what they want, a charming director who can't do anything wrong at all.

The cracks show in “The Big Parade”, act 5 of the chapter. He explains to us and to Hat Kid, that the parade will be easy, that all she has to do was jump and run around the rooftops...with not a single line does he mention the dangers we're actually facing. Electric floors, homing missiles and carnage, all presented as a happy-go-lucky movie with nice effects and pleasant music.

The audience of the movie doesn't see the danger, the difficulty and the hazardous chaos that Hat Kid navigates through. They only see the pretty colors, the nice effects and the cheery music so out of place in this nightmare. The DJ either doesn't know that Hat Kid is in danger, which is unlikely, or he doesn't care. In “Train Rush” The Conductor blatantly tells us that there's a bomb and that were in danger of the whole train blowing up, here, the disco-loving director shows that he cares as little for Hat Kid's safety as the Conductor does, he just doesn't blatantly tell us.

To summarize, the DJ feigns to care for Hat Kid and only sees her as a means to an end, just like his, apparently seen as more evil, counterpart. Speaking of his counterpart, I told you to keep that screenshot in mind where Grooves “helps” the Conductor with his movie.

I mentioned that he ruins the reputation of his rival, but he also BOOSTS HIS! He even makes clear who is speaking! In the line before the screenshot I took, he announces to everyone in the room and the audience that will watch this movie that HE is here to help his poor rival. It not ONLY mocks the Conductor for his lack of ideas, but it might boost his own movies as he's seen as a generous and helpful guy by the audience of Conductor's movies.

Once again I'll ask, just how innocent is that penguin really? Can you STILL claim that his shift in demeanor is out of character, when everything he does can point to him being just as deranged as his rival if not more so. I think that I have at least given you some food for thought...Maybe you will look at this flashy disco penguin in a different way the next time you play his levels...and you'll see the cold and calculated show he puts on for the viewers.

4. Final Thoughts

I hope that I managed to convey that both the Conductor and DJ Grooves are far more nuanced and interesting when we give them credit for, that chapter 2 can be far more interesting and less black and white when what people say. I personally love both characters a lot. Don't go chasing me with pitchforks for ruining the character for you, it's okay if you want to see DJ Grooves as nice and a cinnamon roll, and Conductor as a cold-hearted bastard. Everything is up to interpretation which varies from person to person. All I tried to accomplish was give food for thought and maybe explain a little why DJ Grooves as the winner makes more sense when people realize.

I'm always up for discussing chapter 2, as it's my favorite. Thank you for reading and have a nice day or night! You're awesome!

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@majormeilani Here it is, you wanted me to tag you for this. I hope you liked it. Chapter 2 ftw!