#you can have sympathy and empathy for both brothers here

[juliemolinaz]

The hatred some people have for Sung Joon really confuses me. Like, sure, he didn’t go through anything like Sung Hoon did, but he still went through a shit ton of trauma. He was pushed off a playground and suffered a brain injury that caused him to lose his memory. He was made to believe that he was someone he wasn’t. Sung Hoon contributed to this and Sung Hoon was his brother, someone that Sung Joon cared about and trusted. After that incident, his family made him feel unloved and unwanted, even the brother he looked up to. Then, he gets framed for multiple murders by his brother, who was more than willing to let Sung Joon be held responsible for the situation that he helped put into place. He was almost murdered several times by Baek Moon Kang. He then learns everything that happened, that his beloved brother psychologically abused him and that his parents were horrible human beings.

Like, laying that all out, that’s a lot of trauma, and way more than a lot of people go through. So, I really don’t get the hatred he’s getting. Sure, he could have been more understanding of Sung Hoon, but Sung Hoon literally helped fuck over his life and was going to let him take the fall for murders he did not commit. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t have much sympathy or empathy for Sung Hoon, especially so soon after things had happened.

So, yeah, really don’t get the hate he’s getting.

[susansontag]

I’ve always shied away from discussing ikuhara’s usage of incest in utena because it’s quite a sticky topic in shoujo manga and anime but also because those uninitiated with that are likely to assume his using it is somehow perverted and will have a knee-jerk reaction. but I think he’s honestly very clever with it, using it both on a metaphorical level to elicit sympathy for the characters and their romanticised notions of these relationships but also on a literal level to show the dangers and abuse inherent in these kinds of relationships.

nanami is the most obvious example. even though we as an audience may not understand her almost romantic fixation on attracting the attentions of her older brother touga, we can still sympathise with her behaviour on a metaphorical level; she is thirteen, she is lonely, he is her entire world and the world is taking him, and thus her childhood, away from her and she is helpless to stop this. nanami is not perverse, she is trying to secure control over a situation in which she has none. a more common and relatable example is when one feel as though they, their siblings, their parents, etc, revert back to the dynamics they solidified in childhood when they spend time as a family unit. it’s a phenomenon that can be irritating (‘they’re treating me like a child’) but also comforting, familiar, and certain.

yearning to remain in a permanent state of pre-adolescence is something a lot of different characters in utena contend with, albeit in different ways, but hers is so interesting because ikuhara decides she must at one point be met with the reality of what this would mean if taken to its extreme. nanami understands akio is abusing anthy before utena does, and draws strict lines between what those ‘perverse’ siblings are doing and her pure love for touga. yes, she lacks sympathy for anthy outwardly, but her horror at confronting incestuous abuse in a real, unromanticised context, forces her to understand how her innocent outlook can be taken advantage of by people who would mean to do her harm.

and then touga assaults her, and when she rejects him, bewildered, he accuses her: isn’t this what you wanted? of course he can’t understand it’s the absolute opposite of what she wanted to preserve. one could argue here that ikuhara is blaming nanami for her naivety, even punishing her for being so short-sighted. but on the contrary I think he’s desperately seeking our empathy for her here, in showing us that a child’s romanticisation is not an excuse for her victimisation nor her offering consent. and if all we want to focus on is the fantasies of an alienated child, we fail to appropriately condemn abusers from taking advantage of children like nanami.

[winchestersisterimaginessss]

Dead in the Water - Supernatural Imagine

Request: Can you pls do Winchester sister x brothers (but she's closer with Dean) dead in the water and Winchester sister drowns and almost dies!

warning: drowning, near death experience

A/N- I hope you like it!! Please request more, I love them!

You sat down next to Dean and watched him circle a section of a news article about a girl who drowned to death. Her name was Sophie Carlton and looking at her picture in the paper made you shiver.

You couldn’t imagine what it was like drowning to death. It had to be one of the worst ways to go. Your thoughts were interrupted by the waitress coming back to the table.

She leaned over it so her boobs were practically dangling in your brothers face and you sighed.

Sam made his way over to both of you at the table.

“Can I get you anything else?” She asked staring directly at Dean.

“Just the check, please,” Sam said, sitting next to Dean and shooting him a look.

“You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while,” Dean groaned. He looked back over at the waitress and pointed, “That’s fun.”

You cringed, “Okay well do fun when I’m not here.” Dean looked across the table at you almost like he forgot you were there. “Fair enough, sorry kid.” He said as he turned his attention back to the newspaper.

“Take a look at this. I think I got one.” He said tossing the news paper towards Sam.

“Sophie Carlton, 18, last week. Walked into the lake, doesn’t walk out,” he started, stealing you a glance knowing you were going to feel some type of way about the case. He knew you like the back of his hand.

You just felt so bad. She was so young and she was absolutely beautiful. Looking at her picture made your heart hurt. Maybe it was because you were close in age so it hit a little closer to home? You didn’t know, but it didn’t settle right with you.

“Authorities dragged the water, nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of their bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago.” he finished.

“A funeral?” Sam asked.

“Well they probably needed some kind of closure. That’s such an awful thing to happen to someone, I can’t imagine the pain her friends and family are feeling.” You said with so much empathy.

You always were so sensitive and understanding of everything. You had so much empathy and sympathy in your heart.

Dean looked towards you shooting you a soft smile. He knew that you were super sensitive and got too connected to the people involved in cases. He loved that about you though because your big heart made their tough life a little less cold hearted.

“But people just don’t disappear, other people just stop looking for them,” Sam said matter of factly.

Oh great here we go, you thought.

“Something you want to say to me?” Dean asked giving Sam a look.

“The trail for dad- it’s getting colder every day.” Sam said.

“What are we supposed to do?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know. Something. Anything.” Sam replied exasperated.

“You know what? I’m sick of this attitude. You don’t think I want to find dad as much as you do?” He questioned Sam.

Your heart started to race. You didn’t like conflict between your family when it was already having problems.

“Yeah I know you do it’s just th-“ Sam started before Dean cut him off.

“I’m the one who’s been with him every single day for the past two years while you’ve been off to college going to prep rall-“ This time you interrupted Dean, afraid that he was about to say something that would set Sam off.

“Hey both of you! We will find dad, but until then, let’s just kill everything bad between here and there, okay?” You said looking between the two.

Sam sighed turning to Dean, “How far?”

——-

You were staring out the car window watching the scenery pass you by. You couldn’t help but wonder where your dad was or if he was even alive. You were fidgeting with your fingers, fighting back tears thinking of all of the different scenarios your dad could be in.

Dean glanced at you through the rear view mirror. He was already worried about you and he knew their dad missing would send you into a meltdown sooner than later.

You were incredibly family oriented and always wanted to make sure your family was taken care of. You didn’t like conflict because you would say that your family already lost one person, it doesn’t need to lose another. It didn’t do much good because there was always conflict with your dad. Then Sam walked out and it felt like just you and Dean for a while. It always hurt Dean’s heart because you were just a kid and he wished you didn’t have to grow up like that. He also knew that growing up like that was one of your main causes of your anxiety.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a tear slip down your face. He immediately reached back and put his hand on your leg.

“Hey kiddo,” he said as you made eye contact with him through the mirror, “what’s going on?”

You quickly wiped your tears not even meaning to shed one in the first place. “Do you think dads okay?” You asked.

His eyes softened, “I know he’s okay kid. Okay? Everything’s going to be okay. Trust me.”

You nodded, “Okay, yeah, I trust you De.”

He stole another glance at you. “Get some shut eye for me kiddo alright? We’ll be there in about 2 hours.”

You nodded and closed your eyes, letting sleep take over you

———

“Rise and shine kiddo, we’re here!” You heard Dean say.

The three of you got out of the car and walked up to Sophie’s house. Dean knocked on the door and another boy answered. You assumed it was her older brother.

“Will Carlton?” You asked.

“Yeah that’s right.” He replied.

“I’m Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamhill and Wilson. We’re with the U.S. wildlife service.” Dean said as he showed his fake I.D.

Will let you in and took you to the lake that claimed his sister.

You looked out and saw their dad sitting at the dock alone. You couldn’t help, but feel absolutely terrible for the man. It made your heart hurt knowing he was staring at the water that took his daughter’s life.

Your attention was brought back to will speaking. “She was about 100 yards out. That’s where she got dragged down,” he said softly.

“What makes you sure she didn’t drown?” Dean asked.

“She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in the lake. She’s as safe out there as in her own bathtub.” He explained.

“So, no splashing? No sign of distress?” Sam asked.

“No, that’s what I’m telling you.” he shook his head.

“Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?” Sam questioned.

“No, again, she was really far out there,” he replied.

“You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?” you asked.

“No, never. Why? What do you think is out there?” Will asked.

“We’ll let you know as soon as we know,” you gave him a small smile, as you and Dean started walking off.

“What about your father?” Sam asked. You and Dean stopped, turning to Sam. 

“Can we talk to him?” Sam asked. You didn’t want to talk to his father. The sight of him already wanted to make you cry.

“Look, if you don’t mind, I mean, he didn’t see anything, and he’s kind of been through a lot,” Will explained.

“We understand,” Sam nodded and the three of you walked back to the Impala.

——-

“Now, I’m sorry, but why does the wildlife service care about an accidental driving?” the sheriff asked, walking all three of you to his office.

“You sure it’s accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister,” Sam explained.

“Like what? Here, sit, please,” he said, motioning to three chairs across from his desk.

“There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake,” he said.

“There’s nothing even big enough to pull a person unless it was the loch ness monster,” the sheriff tried to joke not knowing how far off he might not be.

“Yeah, right,” Dean said, shooting us a look.

“Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and still there was nothing down there,” he explained.

“That’s weird, though. I mean that’s the third missing body this year,” you said.

“I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about,” the sheriff sighed.

“I know,” Dean said.

“Anyways, all this. It won’t be a problem much longer,” the sheriff crossed his arms.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“Well, the dam, of course,” the sheriff said.

You looked to Sam and Dean.

“Of course, the dam, it uhhh, it sprung a leak,” Dean said.

“It’s falling apart, and the feds won’t give us the grand to repair it, so they’ve opened the spillway. In 6 months, there won’t be much of a lake. There won’t be much of a town either, but as federal wildlife, you already knew that” the sheriff said.

“Exactly,” Dean replied.

“Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later,” you heard a voice from behind you.

You all turned around and noticed a smiling woman. The three of you stood up, ready to introduce yourself.

“Agents, this is my daughter,” the sheriff said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Dean,” Dean smiled, shaking her hand.

“Andrea Bar. Hi,” she smiled.

“Hi,” Dean whispered.

“They’re from the wildlife service, about the lake,” he explained.

She looked taken aback, “Oh,” she said softly.

You noticed a small kid behind her.

“Oh, hey! What’s your name?” You gave him a friendly smile. You’ve always loved kids and you’ve always been good with them. You guessed you were so good with them because Dean was so good with you.

He looked at the three of you before turning around and walking away. Andrea looked at us before following after him.

“His name is Lucas.” The sheriff said.

You continued to watch as you saw Andrea sit hand him crayons.

“Is he okay?” Sam asked.

“My grandson’s been through a lot, we all have.” He replied, walking to his office doors and opening them for you to leave.

“If there’s anything else I can do for you, please let me know.” He said.

“Thanks,” Dean said motioning you to walk in front of him. He guided you out and were met with Andrea again.

You let Dean have a moment with her because you could tell he wanted to flirt with her. You were more than okay with that though. She was so pretty and from what you could tell was incredibly sweet. She wasn’t like the waitresses who threw themselves at your brother.

He asked Andrea for directions and somehow got her to walk us there. You were walking next to Sam behind Dean and Andrea when you both overheard Dean, “Kids are the best huh?”

You and Sam both looked at each other and smirked.

“There it is. Like I said, two blocks,” she said, turning to face the three of you.

“Thanks,” Dean smiled.

“Must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line,” she said smirking at Dean as she walked away.

“Enjoy your stay!” She laughed. You liked her, she was funny.

You and Sam turned to each other snorting and holding in your laughs.

Sam turned to Dean, “ ‘Kids are the best’? You don’t even like kids,” Sam said flabbergasted.

“I love kids,” Dean said.

“Name three children that you even know,” Sam said. He saw Dean about to open his mouth when he added, “and you can’t say Y/N.”

Dean sighed and pulled you into his side, ruffling your hair. “I so can say Y/N.”

You pushed him away chuckling, “I’m 16!” You whined.

“You’ll always be a kid to me, kid.” Dean smirked. You shook your head smiling and playfully bumped into him.

He put his arm around you and the three of you walked into the motel.

——-

“So, there’s the three drowning victims this year,” Sam started.

“And before that?” Dean asked.

You sat next to Sam as he clicked through old news articles from his laptop.

“Uhhh yeah, six more, spread out over the past 35 years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it’s picking up its pace,” Sam sighed leaning back in his chair.

“So, we got a lake monster on a binge?” Dean asked.

“This whole lake monster theory, it just bugs me,” Sam sighed.

“Why?” you asked. Dean stood behind Sam.

“Loch Ness, uhh Lake Champlain - there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts. But here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one’s living to talk about it.” Sam sighed. He opened up a list of victims. 

Dean squinted his eyes and pointed to the screen, “wait , Bar, Christopher Bar. Where have I heard that name before?” Dean asked, pointing to the screen.

Sam clicked the link on the article and it was a picture of Lucas. His hair and clothes were wet and he was wrapped in a towel.

“Christopher Bar was Andreas husband, Lucas’ father. Apperently he took Lucas out swimming, Lucas was on a wooden floating platform when Chris drowned. It took two hours before the kid go rescued.” Sam read off and zoomed in on Lucas’ photo.

You frowned. That poor kid, you thought. He must have been terrified.

“Maybe we have an eye witness after all,” Sam stated.

“That’s just terrible! No wonder he was so freaked out,” you said sympathetically.

“Watching one of your parents die isn’t something you just get over,” Dean stated.

You snapped your head in his direction. Something about that sentence just resonated with you. You knew he was most likely talking about your mother, but the way he said it made you think that he thought your dad was dead in a ditch somewhere.

You watched him closely and when he noticed you looking at him, he sent you a soft smile.

——-

“Can we join you?” Sam asked, spotting Andrea sitting on a bench.

“I’m here with my son,” she smiled.

“Oh, mind if I say hi?” you said, walking to him.

Sam and Dean sat next to Andrea, talking to her.

“Hey buddy! How’s it going?” you asked, squatting down to his level.

He continued sitting there, drawing when you noticed a bunch of toy soldiers next to him.

You chuckled, “my brothers used to play with these and then they passed them down to me” You smiled at the memory.

He continued to draw, ignoring you.

You sighed, sitting next to him. 

“So you like to draw?” You asked smiling down at him looking at his drawings.

“Wow these are pretty good! You could be an artist when you grow up.” You said grabbing paper and a crayon to join him.

“I always wanted to be an artist growing up,” you said softly.

He continued to ignore you.

“You know, I think that you can hear me, you just don’t wanna talk and that’s alright buddy,” you started.

“I don’t know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something really bad. I think I know how you feel,” you said empathetically.

“I’ve been through it too.” You signed.

“Anyway, we’ll, maybe you don’t think anyone will listen to you, or uhh believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don’t even have to say anything, you could just draw a picture of what you saw that day, with your Dad on the lake,” you said.

He continued to draw.

“Okay, no problem. This is for you,” you gave him your drawing. It was of your family that you loved so much and wished we’re together.

“I think it’s a pretty good drawing if I do say so myself,” you chuckled.

“I’ll see you around Lukas,” you stood up to leave, giving him a pat on his head before walking away.

You walked over to your brothers and Andrea.

“Lucas hasn’t said a word, not even to me, not since the accident,” Andrea sighed.

“Yeah, we heard. Sorry,” Dean said.

“What are the doctors saying?” Sam asked.

“That it’s a kind of post-traumatic stress,” she sighed.

“That can’t be easy for either of you,” You said softly feeling bad for her family.

“We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot,” Andrea nodded.

 She looked back at Dean.

“It’s just… when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw….” Andrea said softly.

“Yeah, kids are strong. You’d be surprised with what they can deal with,” Dean gave a soft smile, glancing to you.

“I just wish…. oh hey, sweetie,” Andrea said, as Lucas walked up.

He handed you a drawing of a cabin.

“Thanks!” You gave him an encouraging smile.

He continued looking down and walked away.

——

“So, I think it’s safe to say we can rule out Nessie,” Sam said, walking into the hotel room.

“What do you mean?” you asked as Sam sat next to you and Dean.

“I just drove past the Carlton House. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead,” Sam said.

You gasped putting your hand over your mouth.

This was awful and now their father had lost both children.

“He drowned?” Dean asked.

“Yep, in the sink,” Sam replied.

“Oh my gosh, what?” you said, sighing.

“So, this isn’t a creature. We’re dealing with something else.” Dean said.

“Yeah, but what?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. A water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon?” Dean suggested.

“Maybe it’s a spirit,” you said.

“Well we do know one thing. It has to do with Bill Carlton. I mean it took both of his children.” Sam said.

“Yeah, he has to be involved somehow,” Dean started.

“Wait, I’ve been asking around,” Sam said glancing at both of you.

“Lucas’ dad, was Bill Carlton’s godson,” Sam pointed out.

“Let’s go pay Mr. Carlton a visit.” Dean said standing up.

——

You saw Mr, Carlton in the same spot you saw him at last time. Sitting on the dock staring into the water. This time having lost both children. Your heart hurt for the man even more. This was so sad.

“Mr.Carlton? We’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind,” Sam said, as you walked up to him.

“We’re with the department of-” Dean started.

“I don’t care which department you’re with. I’ve answered enough questions today,” he replied hastily.

“Mr.Carlton, your son said he saw something in that lake,” you started.

He continued staring out into the water.

“What about you? Have you ever seen anything out there?” You asked him softly trying to understand his pain.

“My children are gone, it’s worse than dying.” He said. “Please leave.”

You all nodded and walked away.

“He’s defientely been through hell, but I think he’s hiding something.” Dean stated.

Walking to the car, something just didn’t feel right to you. You glanced up and noticed the cabin

“Huh,” you started, pulling out the drawing Lucas drew, “Maybe Bill’s not the only one who knows something.” You finished, matching the cabin to Lucas’ drawing.

——

“I’m sorry, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” Andrea said.

“I just need to talk to him, for a few minutes,” you said.

“He won’t say anything, What good’s it gonna do?” she argued.

“Andrea, we think more people might get hurt,” Sam explained.

“We think something’s out there,” Dean said.

“My husband, the others. They just drowned, that’s all,” she said, getting upset.

“If you truly believe that, then we’ll go,” Dean started.

“But if you think there’s even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to Lucas.” You finished Dean’s words. 

——

“Hey, buddy. Do you remember me?” you asked, taking a seat next to him.

He didn’t acknowledge you and continued to draw. You noticed his drawings, all of them were the same red bike.

“I just wanted to thank you for your last drawing, but I need your help again,” you said.

You took out the cabin drawing from your pocket and showed him.

“How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen?” He continued drawing.

“Maybe you could nod your head yes or no for me,” you offered.

“You’re scared,” you noticed.

“It’s okay, I understand. I get scared too you know. I’ve seen some bad things happen and I was scared too. It’s alright to be scared, but it also helps to be brave. I try my best to be brave. It’s what helps me-“ He cut you off, handing you another drawing. It had the red bike, a boy, a church, and another house. 

“Thanks, buddy,” you smiled, taking the drawing and standing up.

“Thank you, Andrea,” you said, as the three of you walked off.

“You’re so good with Lucas, Y/N/N,” Dean said coming from behind you and rubbing your back.

You smiled softly, “I learned from the best.” You said, glancing at him.

He looked at you confused, “What is that supposed to mean?” He asked.

“I’m just so lucky to have you De. With dad gone, you’re the only person who hasn’t left my side my entire life. You’re the only constant and you raised me. I’m good with kids because your my role model.” You said.

Dean stopped walking and pulled you back into his chest. “Hey, everything’s going to be alright.” He said, hugging you, knowing you were feeling the effects of your dad being gone.

“I love you kid,” He gave you a big squeeze before letting you go.

“I love you too.”

The three of you got into the car and drove off.

—-

You looked over the drawing that Lucas gave you.

“Okay, so we have another house to find,” Sam said.

“There’s about a thousand yellow two-stories, houses in this county alone,” Dean groaned.

“See the church? I bet there’s less than a thousand of those around here,” you sassed.

Sam chuckled while Dean sent you a bitch face.

—-

You arrived in front of the church and found the little yellow house just like the drawing showed.

The three of you walked up to the house, knocking on the door. An elderly lady answered and invited you all in.

“We’re sorry to bother you, ma’am, but does a little boy live here by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle,” Dean asked her.

“No, sir. Not for a very long time. Peter’s been gone 35 years now,” she sighed.

“The police never…. I never had any idea what happened,” she explained, looking at a photo of him.

“He just disappeared,” she turned to the three of you. The pain in her voice made you want to cry. The elderly always got you good.

“Losing him, its, you know, it’s worse than dying,” she said shakily. You turned away as a tear slid down your cheek. You wiped it as fast as you could and turned back to her.

She looked down at the floor crying, reliving the memory of her son. You started gnawing on your lip so the tears didn’t start flowing again.

You decided to speak up to distract yourself. “Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?” You asked.

“He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up,” she replied. You nodded your head softly and looked around the room. You noticed a picture of Peter and another boy in the mirror.

You stared at the photo and then turned it over. 

“Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, 1970,” you read out loud.  

You all glanced at each other, connecting more of the dots.

“Thank you so much for your time, ma’am. And I’m very sorry for your loss.” You added as the three of you headed out the door.

——

“Okay so this little boy, Peter, vanishes and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow,” You started.

“Yeah, it kinda seemed like he was hiding something,” Dean replied.

“And Bill, the people he loves, they’re all getting punished,” you said.

“So maybe Bill killed him?” Sam suggested.

“Yeah, Peter’s spirit would be furious. I’d want revenge, it’s possible,” Dean agreed.

Dean drove down the now familiar road, back to the Carlton house. As the three of you got out of the car, you started looking for him.

“Mr, Calrton!” Sam yelled.

“Uhhhh guys,” you said, seeing Mr. Carlton on a boat, going out in the water.

“Crap,” Dean said as you all took off to the dock, yelling for Mr. Carlton to turn back.

“Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Turn around!” You shouted.

“Turn the boat around! Get out of the water!” Dean and Sam yelled.

He looked back at the three of you and turned back around. He continued out and you saw what looked like an explosion. The boat was thrown airborne, being shot up into the sky. The three of you jumped and Dean tucked you into him trying to shield you from the loose pieces flying off. The impact threw Bill from the boat as it came crashing down on top of him and the lake swallowed everything up like it never even happened.

Dean was breathing heavily, “Damn it.” He said, letting you go.

—-

The three of you walked into the police station and saw Andrea sitting with Lucas. You noticed he looked incredibly upset.

“Sam, Dean, Y/N,” Andrea said, surprised to see you three.

“What are you doing here?” the sheriff asked her.

“I brought you dinner,” she replied.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I just don’t really have the time,” he sighed.

She looked at the three of you and then back to her dad.

“I heard about Bill Carlton, is it true? Is something going on with the lake?” Andrea asked.

“Right now, we don’t know what the truth is, but I think it might be better if you and Lucas went home,” the sheriff said.

Lucas’ head shot up, he looked absolutely terrified. He ran to you, pulling on your sleeve.

“Lucas, hey. What is it? What’s wrong?” you asked, squatting down to be eye level with him.

He was staring you in the eyes almost like he was pleading with you. He continued to freak out and pull you.

“Lucas, it’s okay. It’s okay,” Andrea said, trying to pull him away from you.

“Hey, hey, Lucas. It’s okay,” you said rubbing his arm.

Andrea rushed him out of the police station. He turned back to you and continued his pleading look. You knew something was wrong.

You watched him leave, looking concerned before noticing the sheriff storm into his office obviously stressed out. The three of you followed behind him.

“Okay, just so we’re clear. You see…. something attack Bill’s boat, sending him, who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the drink and you never see him again?” The sheriff asked.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Dean replied.

“And I’m supposed to believe this even though I’ve already sonar swept that entire lake and what you’re describing is impossible and you’re not really wildlife service,” he added.

Uh oh. How did he find out?

“That’s right, I checked. The departments never heard of you three,” he said, crossing his arms.

“See, now we can explain that,” Dean started, looking at you and Sam for an answer.

“Enough, please. The only reason you’re breathing free air is one of Bill’s neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton’s disappearance, or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you can get in your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don’t ever darken my doorstep again,” he said, raising his voice.

This was serious and you were getting kind of scared by his threats.

You looked at Sam.

“Door number two sounds good,” Sam replied. You and Dean nodded in agreement. 

“That’s the one I’d pick,” the sheriff practically growled.

——

As you were making your way out of town you just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Lucas was terrified and he was looking at you for help. You had to check on him.

“Dean, please. We need to go back,” you begged him.

“Y/N/N, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We told the sheriff we’re leaving,” Sam sighed.

“I know something is wrong! Please you saw his face, he was terrified!” You exclaimed.

“Please, let’s just check on him and then we can leave and never come back to this town ever again.” You said, trying to reason with your brothers.

Dean froze for a minute and turned right, going back into the town.

——

You walked up to Andrea’s front door with Sam and Dean.

“Are you sure about this?” Dean asked you, but trusting you completely.

Before you even had the chance to ring the doorbell, the door swung open. It was Lucas.

“Lucas? What’s wrong?” you said, panicking noticing that he was hyperventilating.

He ran up the stairs and pointed to a door that had water leaking from under it.

He started banging at the door. You pulled into you as Dean kicked the door open. He and Sam ran into the bathroom and pulled Andrea from the bathtub she was drowning in. You were hugging Lucas, trying to get him to calm down.

——

Sam was talking to Andrea as you and Dean tried finding some answers. It definitely wasn’t an accident that Peter went after Andrea.

You were looking through their books when you found one that had “Jake - 12 years old” on the cover.

You opened it and your eyes widened when you saw a picture of an old boy scout troop.

With the sheriff, and Bill Carlton.

“Dean,” you called out to him.

“Yeah,” he replied.

You tossed him the book.

—-

“Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?” Dean asked Andrea as he put the book on the table in front of her.

“What? Uh, no, except that’s my dad, right there. He must’ve been around 12 in these pictures.” She said looking at the photos.

“The connection wasn’t to Bill Carlton. It must’ve been to the sheriff,” Dean stated, looking between you and Sam.

“Bill and the sheriff, they were both involved with Peter,” Sam said.

You glanced to the side and saw Lucas looking out the window. Something was wrong.

“Lucas? Lucas, what is it?” You asked him.

He turned to the door, opened it and walked out. You all followed behind him.

“Lucas? Honey?” Andrea called from behind him.

He came to a halt in the middle of the yard and looked up at you.

You glanced at Dean.

“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there.” Dean told Andrea.

Andrea nodded and pulled Lucas away.

The three of you took your shovels and started digging into the dirt. You heard a clang as you hit something.

You looked up at Sam and Dean before they pulled whatever it was out of the ground. 

It was a rusty, red bike. It was Peter’s red bike.

“Peter’s bike,” Sam said, out of breath.

“Who are you?” You heard the sheriff’s voice from behind you. The three of you turned around as he cocked his gun. Your heart dropped.

Immediately, Dean stepped in front of you, grabbing your arm and keeping you steadily behind him. He didn’t let you go, “wow, wow, hey.” He said to the sheriff trying to get him to put his gun down.

Sam glanced at you and then looked back at the sheriff.

“Put the gun down, Jake,” Sam said as he raised his hands up.

“How did you know that was there?” He asked, still pointing the gun.

“What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake, and buried his bike?” Dean asked.

“You can’t bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried.” Dean finished still keeping you behind him.

Your heart was pounding. You’ve never had a gun pointed at you before.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about?” The sheriff said, starting to get even more frustrated.

Holy crap, he was going to shoot one of you. He was seething with anger. You were so scared and knew you were trembling. You knew Dean could feel you shaking too because he gave your arm a reassuring squeeze.

“You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney 35 years ago. That’s what the hell we’re talking about,” Dean replied.

“Dad!” Andrea yelled, running up to all of you.

“And now you’ve got one seriously pissed off spirit,” Dean explained.

“It’s gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It’s gonna drown them. It’s gonna drag their bodies to God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter’s mom felt. And then, after that, it’s gonna take you, and it’s not gonna stop until it does,” Sam said.

“And how do you know that?” He asked.

“Because that’s exactly what it did to Bill Carlton,” Sam said.

“Listen to yourselves. You’re insane,” he said, continuing with the gun.

“We don’t really give a rat’s ass what you think of us, but if we’re gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them to dust,” Dean said.

“Now tell me you buried him. Tell me you didn’t just let him go into the lake,” He continued.

“Dad, is any of this true?” Andrea asked, her voice shaky.

“No, don’t listen to them. They’re liars and they’re dangerous,” the sheriff said.

“Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me,” Andrea yelled.

You peaked around Dean. Where was Lucas?

“Tell me you- tell me you didn’t kill anyone,” Andrea begged.

The sheriff sighed.

“Oh my God,” Andrea whispered in disbelief.

“Peter was the smallest one so we used to bully him. We held him under water a little too long and he drowned. We let go of his body and he floated into it. It was a mistake Andrea, we were kids. But to say I had something to do with these drownings because of some ghost? It’s not rational.” He pleaded with his daughter.

“Where’s Lucas?” You blurred out from behind Dean.

You heard Andrea gasp and look behind you. You turned behind you and saw Lucas by the water.

“Lucas!” You yelled as you all ran towards him.

As you got closer to him, you saw something pull him in and under.

“Oh my God!” Andrea cried.

You ran harder and pushed ahead. Once you got to the dock, you dove into the water. Dean dove in after you and Sam turned to Andrea.

“Andrea, stay there,” Sam yelled before diving in after you and Dean.

You swam and swam, pushing yourself all the way to the bottom of the lake trying to find Lucas. You couldn’t see anything because the lake was murky and your vision was blurry from the water. You felt around frantic at the bottom of the lake when you felt your lungs burning. You swam up and took in a huge breathe when you got above the water. You looked towards your brothers hoping that one of them had Lucas, but they were both empty handed.

You dove back down determined to save Lucas. You swam in the opposite direction when you see a blurry figure. You swam down ignoring the burning of your lungs that were begging for air and grab his arm. It was Lucas! You tried pulling him up, but had no luck. That’s when you noticed Peter below him, pulling him down. He didn’t care about you though, he just wanted Lucas so you kicked him in the head a few times. To your surprise it worked.

Peter let go of his hold on Lucas and you were able to yank him up. You pushed your legs harder, swimming up with Lucas. You were running out of energy and your whole body burned. You finally got to the top and clung onto the dock with Lucas in your other arm.

Dean was right there and pulled himself onto the dock, grabbing Lucas from your arms. You let out a gasp and was finally able to breathe. Your big gulp of air was cut short when you felt something grab your leg and pull you back under.

You panicked which was just about one of the worst things to do, but you weren’t prepared to be brought back down under the water. You were surviving off of a half breathe of oxygen and could feel your lungs start to burn. You thrashed at Peter, definitely not conserving your energy and definitely not doing what you were supposed to be doing during a situation like this. You couldn’t help, but panic. You didn’t want to die! You felt Peter drag you further and you let out a scream, bubbles floating above your head. You could feel your limbs growing heavier and your fight grow weaker.

As you were slipping away into nothingness, you felt Peter’s hold loosen and then disappear. Hope flooded over you as you felt arms around you pulling you back to the surface, but your lungs won and you took in a huge breath of water and everything went black.

Dean broke the surface with you and noticed how limp you were. This time Sam pulled himself onto the dock and grabbed you from Dean’s arms. He laid you down on the dock and immediately started CPR. Dean pulled himself over the dock and cradled your head, “Come on kid,” Dean cried as Sam was performing CPR on you, “Come on!” He was wiping your hair from your face as Sam continued trying to save your life.

“Wake up, let me see those big brown eyes that I love so much, yeah? Come on kiddo,” He pleaded.

Just as Sam finished a breath, you jolted to the side coughing up water and gasping for air. Sam sat back in relief, trying to catch his breath as Dean reached to pat you on the back.

“That’s it kid, that it. It’s alright, cough it all out.” He said. “You’re okay, your okay.” He reassured you as he noticed tears streaming down your face.

Your body was weak with exhaustion so you collapsed onto your back and took in one deep breath. The near death experience definitely traumatizing you as you looked at your brothers shivering. As Dean was taking off his leather jacket, you saw Lucas in Andreas arms and you softly smiled knowing you saved him.

“Hey bug I’m going to pick you up alright?” Sam asked you.

You looked up at him and nodded.

As he pulled you up, Dean handed him his jacket and Sam wrapped you up in it.

You were freezing cold and trembling in Sam’s arms as he walked to the car. “Hey, hey, you’re okay. I got you Y/N/N and I would never let anything happen to you. And neither would Dean. Ever.” He softly spoke. He knew that this was terrifying for you and his heart broke. You were just a kid.

Dean started the car and blasted the heat. Sam laid you in the backseat wrapped in Dean’s jacket and then took his own jacket off. He placed it on top of you and sent you a soft smile.

They both got in the car and drove back to the motel. Dean glanced back at you multiple times through the rear view mirror making sure that you were still okay.

——

The three of you walked to the Impala from the motel, getting ready to leave this town behind.

“Y/N, Sam, Dean,” you heard Andrea call out.

You turned around, seeing her and Lucas. “Hey!” You smiled seeing him.

“We just made you some lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself,” she smiled down at Lucas.

“Can I give it to them now?” He asked. You smiled even bigger seeing that he was talking now.

“Of course,” Andrea replied.

“Well, let’s go load these into the car, yeah?” You reached out to Lucas to hold his hand. He grabbed it and you walked off together. Sam trailed behind you, giving Dean and Angela some privacy.

——-

“Alright, now that you’re talking, you have to remember this phrase. I want you to repeat it back to me,” you told him.

“Zeppelin rules!” he exclaimed.

“That’s right! Up high,” you gave him a double high five and chuckled.

Sam was looking at you smiling. You were an exact replica of Dean.

“Take care of yourself, Lucas,” you said and gave him a quick hug.

You looked to the side and saw Andrea give Dean a kiss.

You smiled and looked back at Lucas. 

“It looks like we’re leaving now. Stay brave, kiddo,” you said. He nodded, running off to Andrea.

“Let’s hit the road. We’re gonna run out of daylight,” Dean said, walking to the front seat.

“You’re blushing,” you teased.

“Shut up,” He chuckled and shook his head. All three of you got into the car.

“She was pretty, I liked her!” You said as Dean drove off leaving Andrea and Lucas in the distance.

[tinietaehyun]

Forsaken [IX]

[Sorcerer!Taehyun x Royal!Reader] [Series] [Chapter Nine]

Pairing: Sorcerer!Taehyun x Royal!Reader [Ft. Prince!Beomgyu]

Genres: Fantasy, romance, enemies to lovers, supernatural, action, royal!au.

Contains: Profanity, mentions of poison, manipulation, gaslighting, suggestive themes, dialogue-heavy.

Links: Forsaken Masterlist || Masterlist

Summary: Wrapping up Taehyun’s past, you gain a whole new perspective about your travelling companion. Everything makes sense now! A deep sense of sadness fills you, he had been betrayed by his closest friend, exiled with his father by the very court that betrayed you for your brother.

You were both bound by fate, by betrayal. Forsaken by the places you once sought comfort in. When you peer into his eyes, you find a new source of comfort, as does he.

You had each other.

Shock spreads through your facial features as nausea floods you. Taehyun’s words fly into you one by one as though blades were being thrown into you consecutively. Your bottom lip trembles as your wide eyes regard his calm demeanor.

How was he so calmly reiterating this tale to you as if it were someone else’s story? Then again, it had been years since the events occurred. He probably had a lot of time to reflect and move past it during his isolation in the Woods of Mors.

Your gaze scans over his side profile as a long sigh escapes his pretty lips; his blonde locks cascade over his forehead casting a shadow over his eyes. This ethereal figure had gone through such a tough time, completely and utterly betrayed by his best friend all due to the pitiful concept of jealousy.

All though from what Taehyun described of Yeonjun’s father (which was safe to say, rather appalling), you had initially felt both empathy and sympathy. However, now that you had just heard what Yeonjun’s father did and how Yeonjun so carelessly went with it, your feelings were conflicted.

You had seen Yeonjun around here and there around the palace throughout your years growing up. You knew him and Sehun were friends, and that he was the son of the Royal Sorcerer before he shortly took over the position a year and a half ago after his father’s retirement. You had interacted with him occasionally.

You always knew how charming and charismatic; you often heard the palace maids fawn over him. Even you could admit back then, he was indeed a magnetic fellow with a heavenly looks.

Taehyun resumes, “That night. It’s something I can never forget. All the faces in the crowd looking at my father in horror, then back at me. As if we’d committed the worst atrocity, when-“

“When you didn’t do anything at all,” you finish frowning.

He nods continuing, “Afterwards, everything went by in a blur. I was much younger, I…I didn't fully process what was happening at the time. It was just so chaotic. I remember my father getting dragged away by the guards, and then me getting escorted away.”

“I was just so taken aback by Yeonjun’s actions. I didn’t think- l knew he was jealous; but I didn’t think he’d go that far to get back at me. To see my father’s downfall, my downfall.”

Taehyun peers at the sleek marble floor and closes his eyes as memories flash across his mind, “I didn’t think he could toss me aside so easily.”

You murmur, “Maybe it got too much for him. Something must have snapped within him.” Taehyun nods, running a hand through his hair, “Mhm, I believe so. I just wish he had opened up at the time. He just saw any opportunity to talk it out as a threat or weakness. I don’t know, I don’t think I’ll ever truly understand his mind.”

Hurt emanates from your heart and his; you’d both been betrayed.

“What…happened next?” You tentatively enquire. He resumes, “I suppose, my father spent the next few nights in prison getting questioned along with a few other suspects.” He shakily sighs, “Then, I don’t know how, probably that bastard of a father and his silver tongue manage to narrow it down to my father and even managed to drag me into it for apparently being an accomplice.”

You scoff, “You? But you were a child?” Taehyun snorts bitterly, “Yeah, I suppose that didn’t matter. You know why? Because I’d grow up, and possibly beat his precious son. So why not get rid of two birds with one stone, hm? Not like anyone will look after me willingly.” You remain silent as he painfully rasps out his words. Oh, you never knew how much agony Taehyun held behind his high walls of vanity and bluntness.

“I-I remember the looks on the faces of the damn Royal Court. Disgust, as if we had truly fallen from grace. They always liked Yeonjun’s father more because he frequently kissed their asses-“

You flinch at his phrasing and he muses, “Allow me to rephrase, I mean he would suck up to them.” You chuckle, “No worries, I figured.”

He becomes serious once more, “We were presented like prey to the court, ready to get picked apart by the members of the court. Yeonjun’s father spoke on and on about various points, not even allowing my father a chance to defend himself, even speaking over him!” Taehyun snaps lowly; you notice his fists clenching shakily.

Cautiously, you reach over and place a soft hand atop his left hand. His pauses for a moment; his head snapping to face you in surprise. Your eyes lock onto each other for a second before he averts his gaze, “I knew the moment we stepped into the room, no matter how much my honest father pleaded and cried, objected to any points, it was pointless. The court was biased from the start.”

Disgust fills you; the same court who did nothing to stop your brother from taking over your throne. A bunch of greedy spineless cowards with no philosophy or morals of their own. “It was a facade,” Taehyun scoffs, “Yeonjun’s father was cunning, the way he shed false tears on behalf of the ill King and Queen.”

Your mother and father; your beloved parents. You knew if they were alive and healthy at the time, they would not stand for this injustice. Well; maybe that’s what you’d like to believe at least.

You murmur confused, “How did the Royal Court believe his intentions so easily? I’m sure Yeonjun’s father would have acted pretty well, but surely he couldn’t convince everyone in the hall, no?”

Taehyun shifts facing you as he explains, “The King and Queen were poisoned by Nightshade, a highly toxic plant which causes terrible symptoms leading to eventual death.” You process his words carefully, “Mhm, you said at the time, there was no cure.”

“Right, but my father, with much care and research, found the cure. It was in his spellbook.”The same spellbook which you surmise must now be in Yeonjun’s hands, handed down to him by his despicable father. You hum deep in thought, “The cure…”

“Yeonjun’s father presented the antidote to the court a few days before the final verdict. Just on the cusp of when your parents were about to die.” Your eyes widen as you put the pieces together. Thus, he solidified his so-called innocent intentions by providing a cure! The noble court would eat that up in a heartbeat! Damn him!

“You understand what that means, right? He claimed my father’s antidote as his own and even gained extraordinary praise for saving the Kihg and Queen’s lives.” He seethes. You murmur, “So after a lot of back and forth, they found your father guilty.”

“Such fucking bullshit still- fuck,” he snaps. You squeeze his hand and he squeezes it back, “Sorry, it just gets me so worked up.” You pitifully smile, “I mean, how could it not? I’m furious just hearing this.”

“Yes, so to end it off, my father was thrown in prison. I got thrown in there with him a day later being called an accomplice to the matter or some shit like that.”

“Yeonjun did nothing to stop it?” You ask frowning. Taehyun’s gaze darkens as his jaw tightens, “No that fucking bastard just watched; kept watching, kept his mouth shut, just keeping a proud glint in his eyes and a fucking smirk on his mouth.”

How twisted…

Taehyun releases a long shaky sigh before removing his hand from under yours. You both remain quiet reflecting upon your talk. You now knew why Taehyun despised the Royal Court, nobles in general, why he is so unsure about returning to the palace, why he asked about the spellbook in the Sorcerer’s Tower. You now understood why he was so closed off towards you initially. It made sense now, everything did.

A sinking feeling permeates your heart. Yeonjun was still back at the palace; you surely hope he wouldn’t do anything; it had been years - it should be fine, no?

“Yeonjun is Royal Sorcerer presently,” you murmur. A bitter laugh escapes his lips, “Of course he is, it was fate after all.” He continues, “I assume he’s still best friends with Sehun?”

You nod awkwardly and Taehyun mutters, “Must be nice for him to be a royal lapdog.”

A moment of silence passes between you two. You had managed to grasp a full picture of your traveling companion who you had grown oddly fond of.

Taehyun sourly hums, “I find this amusing. I haven’t opened up in this manner for years. What’s funnier is that I am pouring out my pathetic memories, to you, a royal. The heir to the throne in fact. Or, well supposed to be.”

To be honest, you’re not sure what to say. A pang of guilt surges through you. You wish that the Royal Court were not so adamant in blaming his father, that more thorough investigation had been done into the matter. But you suppose, bygones were bygones.

“I’m sorry,” you awkwardly squeak out. His peers at you for a moment before his harsh gaze softens, “Why’re you apologising? You weren’t even adopted into the palace yet?”

“I…I just feel sad. I feel terrible that this happened. That you were wronged like this, Taehyun,” you murmur earnestly.

His eyes glimmer and he leans back once more against the endboard of the bed, moving a cushion aside and scooting closer to you. “Don’t apologise, you had nothing to do with it. Anyway, you heard my dreary tale out, so thanks for that, sweetheart.”

“It’s not dreary,” you huff. Taehyun muses, “Oh? So it interested you?”

“Yes- I- well not in the gossip sort of manner- respectfully I mean-“ you stammer and he chuckles, “Relax, no need to go treading on eggshells around me. It’s been years, I’m not as sensitive as I was back then.” Taehyun had found your cautious nature rather adorable.

He rolls his shoulders back, “In fact, it feels pretty good to let it all out again.” You felt glad he thought that way. “I’m glad to hear it, Taehyun,” you utter with a genuine smile. His eyes flicker for a moment, slightly taken aback with the sincerity of your tone.

Taehyun’s eyes widen for a second as he swiftly turns away. “Taehyun?” You ask confused. He abruptly clears his throat, “Mm, I’m fine.” Why did he turn away? “It’s fine, really,” he peers over briefly and your eyes catch a glimpse of the soft reddish-pink hue that illuminates his cheeks. Was he…blushing?

“Taehyun are you-“

“No, don’t say anything. I’m just infuriated with the memories,” he scoffs firmly. Well, you weren’t going to push him further, especially after today.

He mutters, crossing his arms, “You’re fascinating, you know that?”

“Why?” You question with a raised brow. Taehyun answers, “Moments like this…when you’re either emotionally vulnerable, or when you’re listening to me. It’s…you’re not a pest for once.” Here you thought you were going to get a magnanimous compliment, but no.

You smack a cushion into his arm and he grunts; “What? It’s true. Usually, you’re rather annoying, unbearably irritating at times. Yet moments like this, you actually seem to show high awareness and…and-“

You deadpan, raising the cushion readying to land another hit, “…and?”

“I find myself…seeing you in a rather endearing light. You’re cute. The way you dance around your words, tentatively listen.” You stiffen; your arm still holding up the cushion as your lips part in shock. Did he just call you cute? No way.

Taehyun’s gaze flickers over your frozen features and his lips form a coy smile as he leans forward wanting to ease the dampened mood, “Oh? Are you speechless for once?” He found your reaction to be rather amusing, your pretty lips always had some sort of witty remark at the ready.

“I was beginning to get worried these past few days, you weren’t hitting me with your usual remarks, it was very out of character,” he muses. You glare, “It’s funny to tease me, is it?” He tilts his head, “Mm, do you even need to ask, sweetheart?” You huff finally throwing the cushion down, “You ruined the sentimental moment.”

“Don’t lie, you’ve been curious this whole time,” he smugly hums. You scoff, “No; why would I have cared about an arrogant stuck-up sorcerer like you?” He sighs, “Oh how you wound me, princess. Oh wait, I should be saying, ex-prin-“

You go to hit him and he grabs your wrist raising it up abruptly and you stumble forward as he staggers back putting weight onto his left elbow, partially sitting up with you hovering over him.

You couldn’t quite get over how intimate this position was. Taehyun seems to be just as flustered as you as he momentarily peers up wide-eyed at you. His gaze flickers down to your parted lips as both of your breaths tumble out.

“You’re rather the violent one, when you have a cushion in your hand, huh?” Taehyun breathlessly muses, still not releasing your hand. You murmur back, “Give me a sword and I’ll show you violent.”

Taehyun’s lips form a smirk and he hums, “Oh? Do you even know how to wield a sword, sweetheart?” Truthfully, you only knew the basics of holding a sword thanks to Hueningkai, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Hm?” He awaits your response. Your lips form a mischievous smile, “If I do? What are you going to do? Make me disappear?”

Taehyun’s eyes meet yours before flickering to your lips once more and back up; your heart palpitates increasingly. His body heat seeps through your gown as he shifts his left cramped leg around you.

A fiery sensation fills you at the proximity; something that neither of you wanted to part from. There was something oddly thrilling, maybe it was just the overwhelming emotions at the moment making you two act so uncouth (particularly for someone like yourself) but at this moment, you didn’t care.

“Make you disappear?” He playfully hums, “That’s the coward’s way out.”

“And you’re not a coward?” You muse. Taehyun rolls his eyes, “Not when I can easily overpower you, no need for magic at all. In fact, I find it unfair. Your poor mana-less existence.” You scoff, “Save your pity, sorcerer. As if you could overpower me. You rely on your magic far too much for that.”

He meets your gaze for a moment; you spot a speck of hesitation in his irises before your lips release a shriek as he grabs your other arm and swings his leg over pushing you down onto the mess of cushions which dig into your back. You find yourself to be abruptly on your back with Taehyun straddling you, legs either side of your hips.

Heat courses through you as sheer embarrassment floods your features. You weren’t quite expecting things to go this route - then again, you did verbally provoke him.

Taehyun notices your stiffened demeanor and leans down with a coy smirk, “Oh? Weren’t expecting that, were we? Where’s the magic in this, then?”

The way your hair fans out haphazardly behind your head and your part lips tremble as your uneven breaths come out make Taehyun’s body course with heat. So unintentionally attractive, you were. He liked the view, not that he’d admit it. No, he loved the view of you underneath him writhing, with a flustered expression trying your best to hold your composure.

You glare up at him as you scoff going to wrestle your way out of this horrendously intimate position; this was not befitting of your status! Taehyun leans down closer, grasping your wrists beside your head, “Hm? Or did you provoke me on purpose?”

“How vulgar,” you scoff up at him. Something about his breathless face peering down at you with a cocky smirk, an intense gaze; it shifts something within you. “Vulgar? We aren’t doing anything, sweetheart. I’m merely proving a point. Anyway, you’re not putting up much of a fight.”

You scoff bashful, “It’s futile, I’ll only injure myself. So, I command you to get off me. You’ve done more than prove your point, you imbecile.”

His smirk morphs into an amused grin as he leans closer, “Oh? Accepting defeat, and here I thought you’d throw me off yourself.” You peer at his lips feeling your own lower lip tremble; your heart races in your chest. He was so close!

“…you’re so irritating, Taehyun,” you scoff. He maintains your eye contact as he muses, “Mm, am I? You’ve put up with me for this long.”

You huff, “Unfortunately.”

“How you continue to wound me, atop my past scars, sweetheart,” he sighs, getting off of you finally. A small hint of disappointment flashes across your mind; no, no! Keep focused!

You notice him dragging his hand across his face as though keeping himself composed. Did he feel just as hot as you did?

He clears his throat trying to keep his composure, “Anyway, sit up. Or did that break your delicate little spine?” You glare unimpressed, “Shut up.” Taehyun snickers, “Mm anyway, I think lunch will be ready soon.”

You nod as an awkward silence settles in the room. You realise how long you’ve been alone with Taehyun in this chamber for. Goodness, what would the maids here think! Your cheeks become warm and you shake your head.

You look over back at Taehyun who seems to be deep in thought. Damn his pretty face. Even when he contemplates, he’s gorgeous.

His eyes flicker back to yours noticing your stare and he hums sarcastically, “Done?” Rolling your eyes, you speak; “Of course you’d like it, you vain sorcerer.”

Taehyun muses with coy gaze, “Careful what you start with that gaze of yours, sweetheart. Could make any man crumble to his knees.” Your face flushes immediately at his words. When was he this flirtatious? No, he was merely teasing you!

You clear your throat, “A-Anyway, before all this, you said you had some sort of stupid plan to escape from here, right?”

He grins, “Stupid? Oh, I guess you don’t want to hear my stupid plan then? Go marry that prissy prince then. He’s all yours.”

You grimace before whining, “No! Fine, your amazing plan. Tell me, now.” He stands up, grandly stretching his arms, “After lunch, my mouth hurts from talking so much.”

You groan, “What a nuisance.”

“Sorry for being hungry, I guess,” he mutters. You stand up beside him; your joints stiff from sitting for so long, “Fine. I guess, I’m rather hungry too.”

Taehyun and you both eat lunch in a comfortable silence; for once it’s odd. You’re not bickering with each other. The glances you both exchange are frequent yet subtle. You both sensed a change in your dynamic.

Afterwards, you walk together as you whine, “Come on! So tell me!” You grasp his arm with a pleading expression and he smirks, “I know a way to get us out of here. The palace is surrounded by guards. We need to get back to my place, yes?” You nod intently listening.

“Teleportation,” he utters seriously. You deadpan, “You cannot be serious, surely. Is that even possible?”

Taehyun scoffs, “Perhaps not for the likes of you. I, on the other hand, can make it work. It takes an enormous amount of mana. My father made several notes about it and taught me. It’s possible with a huge mana circle- you know what, I won’t bore you with the technical details. I need a few more resources to pull it off.”

You blink with your jaw agape; was he going to truly attempt such a foolish thing? Taehyun glares, “Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t think it’ll work do you?”

“Will you be able to teleport the both of us?” You ask slightly intrigued. Taehyun’s expression darkens, “…I think. I just need to double the resources needed to teleport one person. But…I don’t think I’ll be quite okay, afterwards.”

“Because of the amount of mana you need to use?” You ask with a frown. He’d be willing to risk himself for you? He nods, “Teleporting one person with a physical mana circle is already insane, but two. I need a huge fucking mana circle, and twice the amount of mana.”

You bite your lip nervously, you didn’t know about the success probability of this. He takes your hand squeezing it reassuringly, “Don't worry about the consequences, the most important thing is that we both get out of here.”

Your heart races peering at his hand on yours. “You’re willing to risk hurting yourself?” You ask. His eyes glimmer and his lips part momentarily before he scoffs, “I…I won’t hurt myself that badly. At most I’ll be exhausted.” You glare up at him. He was lying.

Taehyun’s lips form a smirk leaning down placing a gentle hand atop your head, “Just, trust me sweetheart. Can you do that for me?”

Your eyes widen and you stammer moving out from under his hand flustered. You hear him snickering behind you as you scoff, “Fine whatever. Just don’t get the both of us imprisoned or killed.”

Taehyun muses, “No guarantees,” he walks past your appalled demeanor and you grab his arm again and he peers back at you with a relaxed expression; his eyes sparkle with amusement. “Where are you going?” You question.

Taehyun hums, “To visit Soobin.” Soobin? Oh yes, the sorcerer here. Of course!

“My, my, I didn’t know you two were so close,” a familiar husky voice resounds in the hallway. You peer over and see the princely figure approaching carrying a grand bouquet of assorted flowers.

Taehyun removes his arm from your grasp abruptly and he gives you a serious command, “Keep him distracted. Away from Soobin.”

“Wait-“ Before you could ask anything about his ominous statement, Taehyun rushes off.

Slowly, you turn to face Beomgyu who’s mischievous gaze meets yours. “Oh, he’s off in a rush? Why’s that?”

Think fast, think fast.

“We had an argument. I don’t think he’s quite keen on handling me, or especially you,” you murmur. His gaze sharpens and his lips morph into a sly smile, “And why’s that?”

“Because…” you begin, “I told him about our conversation. I…he didn’t agree with my position.” Beomgyu’s expression darkens, “You told him?”

“I-I’m sorry, I just felt so overwhelmed. He asked, and I broke down,” you stammer. Beomgyu’s jaw tightens, “So how does this relate to your pitiful argument?”

“I…I suggested that…” Keep him distracted, Taehyun said. “I suggested, I accept your idea of marriage,” you shakily murmur.

There, you’d make him think you had no choice but to marry him. That you’d fallen out with Taehyun because of your decision, that should draw suspicion off him for a while. Of course, you’d still act all reluctant and harsh with Beomgyu, after all you didn’t want him to find you suspicious either.

Beomgyu lets out a large guffaw, “Oh? Goodness, is that so? How convenient, I brought these flowers then.”

His gaze is malevolent and he steps forward grasping your hand, “What’s made you give up so quickly? I just find it rather convenient, no? Here I thought you’d put up a bit more of a fight. I was even considering getting a prison cell ready for you.”

You grimace, “How quaint.” Beomgyu muses circling his thumb on the back of your hand, “I know I’m generous. I just thought you’d need a little bit of a nudge in the right direction.”

You scoff removing your hand and his eyes twinkle, “I…I thought about it. I can’t do much alone, Taehyun, as powerful a sorcerer he may be, he’s an exiled criminal. I doubt the court would listen to testimony from me, after associating with him.”

“Huh, how…curious indeed,” Beomgyu places the bouquet into your arms and you peer down disgustedly, making him chuckle, “Well, I can see your genuine distaste for me. How unfortunate, but we’ll change that soon enough.”

“I…I also think he has bad intentions. He dislikes royalty a lot. He’s really persistent in coming with me to the palace. I don’t get why,” you add on. You really hope he wouldn’t see through your facade. Beomgyu’s brows raise, “Oh? And here I thought you trusted this stranger?”

“Initially yes, because I was so desperate. But more and more, when we argue, he just says some things that irk me, make me uneasy. I have a bad feeling if I present him to the royal court. They banished him after all? What if he’s just using me to get revenge?”

Beomgyu’s eyes twinkle with utter twisted delight making you shudder. He was happy, sinfully joyous.

“Hm, seems fate has left you with no choice then, hm?” Beomgyu condescendingly remarks. You remain silent, peering away. Beomgyu relishes in your silence and he suddenly cups your jaw turning your head to face him. Your eyes widen in surprise, “H-Huh?”

“I’m your only way out, guaranteed way to your throne,” he leans in with a twisted smile. You couldn’t believe that charming prince from before was so ruthless, cunning. He saw you as a mere pawn.

“Oh no need to look so down, you’ve made an excellent choice,” he rubs his thumb across your jaw. “I’ll make sure your justice gets served, princess, don’t you worry, your pretty head.”

You scoff going to shove his hand off and he firmly grasps your jaw and you whimper, “After all, both our nations will prosper. It’s a win-win. You may resent me, but one day, you’ll be falling to my feet to thank me.”

You pry his hand off and snap, “Have some decency.” Beomgyu’s lips form a coy smile, “Oh? Was I rather rough? I suppose your delicate skin would get rather bruised, no? My apologies. I just got a little excited at the prospect of our marriage.”

You roll your eyes; you had to keep his mind off Taehyun. If Taehyun was willing to risk his life, so were you.

Beomgyu’s gaze locks onto yours observing your timidity, “Oh, and in any unlikely case that you decide to change your mind, allow me to stress there’s no way to escape. Everyone here obeys my orders. The dungeons will become your new place of stay. I have vast array of Lunian punishments.”

You glare, “I understand, okay?” He muses, “Just reiterating for you, y/n. Don’t want you playing any needless games behind my back.”

A shiver runs through you, at his dark tone and you scoff, “I’m not stupid, Beomgyu.”

He moves a strand of your hair away from your face and gives you a once more pleasant smile, “I know you aren’t. That uneases me. So let’s be honest with each other from here on out, understood?”

You challenge his dark gaze and you murmur, “Fine, I have nothing to hide. You’ve ripped every semblance of hope I had left.” A breathless laugh escapes his snarky lips, “Good to hear, rely on me, princess. Trust me.”

“Don’t be foolish, I’ll go along with this, but trust?” You icily slam into him and he merely smirks in response.

“Huh, to think someone like you can prick me with such cold words, it excites me. I’ll resolve to change that,” Beomgyu hums nonchalantly; his fingers drag along your cheek, his thumb circling your upper cheek.

“We’ll see,” you murmur. Beomgyu brushes past you with a coy hum into your ear, “See, we shall.” He walks past you, leaving you in a mixture of anxiety and unease.

You really hope Taehyun’s recklessness would pay off. It had to.

Taglist: [open]

@royallyjjk @wolfytae-exe @rencarnationofangel @sirenla @matcha-binz @beomies-world @michinri @parkweylyn @wikireads @hanniehaeeeeeee1004 @elara828 @wonioml @onima-chan @moonekth @glossykai @jjunielvrs @beargyuuzz @cathyun @hanstarrs @m3chigo @vanicogh

[callsign-rogueone]

hey cutie! i hope you're doing well! i saw your liam post a while back and bc i seemed to love him and so does literally everybody else, i was wondering (bc im writing a book) what makes him so likeable to people? like why did we all fall in love with him immediately and then die of devastation when he was killed?

hihi!! Liam deserves multiple essays on how amazing he is, but here's some thoughts that I can def expand on later if you'd like, not edited at all (also if I missed anything, feel free to add in comments / reblogs!!)

he has a tragic backstory and he's from a group that you're "not supposed to like". Xaden drags Vi into the marked group, but Liam's the one who truly brings her around on the issue and builds sympathy? empathy? whichever one. for Vi and the reader -- we find out his parents were killed, he was separated from his little sister, both of them are forced to be riders and serve a country that has done terrible things to them and their family...

he has a sweet old man hobby. he WHITTLES. that is senior citizen behavior. I know the hobbies a person can have in this world are a bit limited since their tech isn't like ours but still. he's 20 years old and he whittles for fun. what a dweeb. (I say this affectionately. you all know I will defend this man with my life. and he's very good at it and it makes him happy 🥺)

his whole relationship with Xaden. Liam is this perfect (literally) little puppy soldier that does absolutely everything Xaden asks of him because he quite literally owes Xaden his life (and Sloane's.) that level of dedication is rare. and that he clearly looks up to Xaden (and I HC that he wants to make him proud...)

adding on to that... him protecting Violet without (visible) pushback. he's agreeable to protecting the daughter of the woman who killed his parents and aunts/uncles/family friends etc., most obviously because Xaden asked him to, but I also think he was able to separate the mother and daughter like Garrick did too. he knows Vi isn't at fault for his problems.

he's smiley / laughing / a good time. he's the foil to Xaden in many ways (brothers who look nothing alike, most obviously) but he shows us that not all the marked ones are angry and gloomy all the time. he gets in on second squad's banter, makes jokes of his own...

he's very observant and emotionally intelligent. he knows what's going on b/n Vi and Xaden, and I highly doubt that's because him and Xaden are having slumber parties with Bodhi and Garrick to talk about their crushes (I have to write that now, don't I... the girlfriends having a "girls night" and the boys not knowing what to do with themselves. so they have their own girls night...) he just picks up on all the little things and he knows when Vi is and isn't okay, despite having known her for like... a max of 6 months?

literally mister perfect. he's the quadrant's golden boy. he was forced to be here, but he's top of the class, jogged across the parapet, best time on the gauntlet, dusted everyone. never lost a challenge. I know Deigh is so dang proud of his boy. probably brags to the other dragons about his perfect son <3

Sloane. he's worried about her for next year, he's writing her letters weekly even though he can't send them, and by the time he CAN send them, she'll be in the quadrant herself... yeah, good thing he wrote them in advance... [crickets] anyway, he's a cutie big brother like Brennan, wanting to protect lil sis, and it's clear he loves her so so much <3 (another headcanon of mine that she absolutely adored him and he was forced into all the tea parties and dolls stuff but he did it with a smile. need girl dad Liam so bad.)

and then the circumstances of his death. he died following Xaden's orders (prime directive: keep Violet safe) and while it's been eight months since I last read that scene and I refuse to read it again any time soon, I think he definitely knew that he was putting himself in immediate danger to save her, and he still did it anyway.

that's all I got for now but I am absolutely positive that there's more. good luck with the book!! I did some work on my own today on the flight, inspiration struck after leaving it to sit there for months lol

[pavelkaramazov]

thoughts on smerdyakov because the post you made about him is driving me nuts??????? (Unless u don't want to of course)

I have a LOT of thoughts about him tbh. It changes all the time but he is probably the character I find most interesting in TBK. Again, everyone else is interesting for different reasons--- but..... come on. He's the murderer. The Smerderer, if you will.

I have a lot of empathy for him which seems to be kind of a radical/new take? In the scope of general discussion regarding this book which has, of course, been around for hundreds of years.

Smerdyakov's character exemplifies, to me, that sort of "a child who is not embraced by the warmth of the village will one day burn it down" mentality. There's even reference made directly to him doing just that, burning down the village. (This is also interesting to me because Dostoevsky seems to make reference with this character to two of the three pillars of the infamous MacDonald Triad, a concept in psychology that would not go on to be identified for 100 years after he died. So we can see here just one little shred of why so many philosophers call him a philosopher and so many psychologists call him a psychologist. I know it's just 2/3 but it's just amazing to me that he was perceptive enough to correctly use those things as foreshadowing based on his own perceptions. Just a neat little thing.)

It's my opinion that Smerdyakov had every right to kill Fyodor. He has been forced to live a life of servitude to his mother's rapist. Everything he has, both good and bad, and it is almost all bad, is directly due to Fyodor. He has to be his right hand man every single day. He serves him. He takes both abuse and kindness from him. Fyodor is unpredictable and an emotional terror and his outbursts and abuses are directly taken out on his servants. Smerdyakov cannot escape him. He is living basically in serfdom. I think he has had a very, very long time to contemplate, to collect impressions, to stew on this hatred.

And then the other brothers come along. And their maelstrom of total fucking chaos provides an opportunity. And then Ivan provides permission.

The way he goes about the actual murder is very clever. His disability has been used against him all his life, and he takes this opportunity to use it to his advantage. This is an extraordinarily violent murder! Blunt force trauma is very intimate! It takes an extraordinary amount of physical exertion, it's messy and gross. We can imagine the expurgation of a LOT of hatred here. I love everything about this murder scene. I love how violent it is, because it tells us a lot, and I love the chaos that ensues.

Smerdyakov is far from being a perfect victim by any means, which only serves to make me like him more. He has been cruelly subjugated and in turns seeks to subjugate others, he thinks it's funny to hurt animals, he puts on airs and talks down to everyone, he is generally kind of an asshole. He is manipulative and kind of takes after Fyodor in some ways, as they all do. He's a bootlicker in one scene and resents all authority in the next. He's a fancy dandy fop who spends extra time curling his hair and wears stockings and garters and shines his boots and wears too much pomade and talks shit about the other cooks in Moscow and how he could do so much better than him. He resents his low birth and wants more from life. He recognizes that the way people treat him is shit and he wants to be respected. Dostoevsky sort of seems to represent this as, in someone of low birth, the mark of someone who is dangerous----- of whether that was Dostoevsky's personal opinion or not, much has been written, and I think many perspectives are valid. I tend to think he had more sympathy for this character than some other people do, but that is just my personal opinion. The narrative has very little mercy for Smerdyakov's character because life has very little mercy for those like him. But Father Zossima talks in the very beginning about praying for the suicides, for those most miserable and wretched of all.

This is sort of the tip of the iceberg regarding my thoughts about him. I am still gathering some of my impressions thoughts I guess and haven't yet begun my full re-read. I have been reading a lot on JSTOR and elsewhere about this book and he gets more attention in academic articles than he does in fan content, which makes sense. I might drop some PDFs later if anyone is interested, but I'd have to figure out how to publish them first lmao.

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: the narrative is slut shame-y? has been for like 7 episodes, thanks for noticing

Okay this was originally part of a different meta but that was running away from me so I separated the two.

The Atom plotline really embodies, for me, that the narrative is slut-shame-y because of how it's handled and what characters are given empathy and what characters aren't and the difference between them.

So off the bat, Boston doesn't approach Atom with any thought of seducing him. He approaches him as a friend, listens repeatedly to Atom complain about his ex-girlfriend, and answers Atoms questions about his sexuality and relationships with frank honesty.

Atom then pursues Boston sexually, they sleep together, Boston doesn't answer Atom's texts, later rejects Atom b/c it was a one-night-stand and they both knew it, Atom gets angry and tells Cheum Boston tricked him into having sex, took his nude photos and was using said photos to blackmail him into continuing to have sex with Boston (so the threat of more assault).

(sidenote, would like to point out that Boston is actually the victim of having his consent violated twice via two separate cases of being record via audio & video during sex w/o his consent which we'll get to but like, the unintentional irony here)

Obviously, and understandably, Cheum is upset by this so she calls in her fellow Plastics and they confront Boston, he was pretty much out of the friend group but now he's out of the group project and has to "figure out how to graduate" on his own. I want to point out the tone of the dialogue and specific lines of the dialogue here:

Ray doesn't have any dialogue but I'm including his reaction shot here for a reason, just wait.

After Boston shows Cheum the photos, Boston pleads his case even saying: "I may be filthy, but not filthy enough to blackmail people to sleep with me."

Cheum responds with, "It doesn't matter who started it, he's my brother."

Which frames the "crime" as it were not just that Boston forced Atom into having sex (from Cheum's POV) but that Boston slept with him at all. Either way, no matter what is true, Cheum still views what Boston did as an offense, as another example of Boston being, well, a filthy whore.

Overall, what is the tone of the scene? It's a sense of righteousness, and one of comeuppance. We, the audience, know that Atom lied, but this scene doesn't allow for any empathy for Boston to be felt. To even be considered.

Mew all but suggests Boston is an animal, Cheum goes for the throat, Ray doesn't offer even a sympathetic look (again we'll get to that) even though Boston specifically looks at Ray for support. The dialogue, framing, direction, grouping - 3 against 1, two wronged parties (Mew & Cheum) against their the person who wronged them (Boston). The groups feelings are the focal point here, specifically Cheum's feelings.

So lets contrast this confrontation with Atom's confrontation in ep11.

When Boston and Nick confront Atom, who is the focal point of this conversation? Is it Boston? His feelings on the matter? How he's upset or hurt or feeling regarding this?

No, it's Atom:

Nick: Ton, take it easy/What you [Atom] did was wrong/Ton never forces anyone to sleep with him, no matter how terrible he is/you [Atom] don't have to go this far/it can ruin your [Atom's] future Atom: I just wanted you to love me the way I love you/but you turned me gay Nick: Ton easy/it must be something very new for him/I get you/I know how painful it is to love someone one-sidedly/you'll meet someone nice/don't fall for an asshole

I bolded parts of Nick's dialogue because like in the previous confrontation with Cheum/Mew/Ray the dialogue specifically points out that Boston is "filthy" "an asshole" to emphasize, lest the audience somehow forget, that Boston is a bad person. Even though in this situation Boston is the victim here.

Now let's bring back Ray's look of glee and contrast it with Nick's look of sympathy here.

Where as when Boston looked at Ray for support, and only got a gleeful look in return, Nick is showcasing genuine sympathy in this confrontation but towards who? Boston? Nope, it's Atom.

The entire conversation is centered around Atom, his feelings, his struggle, his sorrow, he is the focal point, he is the character of which the audience is supposed to sympathize which (like Cheum was in the previous confrontation) all of which in turn is set-up to justify his actions.

This is further emphasized by Atom's confession and conversation with Cheum later, which can be contrasted with Boston's conversation in ep10.

The dialogue between Boston and Nick is as follows:

Boston: My friends dumped me Nick: Serves you right. Considering what you did. Boston: If you're just here to add insult to injury just leave. Nick: Fine. I'm sorry. I won't say it. Boston: Why does everyone hate me? Why can't I stop doing shit to people?

I emphasize the last line because what did Boston do here? What exactly is he taking responsibility for? At worst he broke "friend code" by sleeping with a friends sibling but that should be irrelevant to the larger issue of Boston being accused of being a sex offender. Which Boston knows is a lie but doesn't say as much to Nick, Boston offers no defense of himself, he isn't given the grace to be mad at Atom for his lies. He's given no room to justify himself, this is meant to be a moment of self-actualization where Boston realizes "wow I am a bad person and need to change."

In a better written, more nuanced conversation, Boston would own up to his betrayal of Mew, & sleeping with Top whilst also defending himself against Atom's false accusations. Instead he takes responsibility for both incidents, even though he didn't do what Atom accused him of.

In Atom's confession to Cheum, Atom tells the truth yes, but he's also given grace to justify his actions. He was hurt Boston rejected him for a relationship, he wanted to make Boston pay, but the positive outcome of this is now he knows he likes men. Cheum hears all this, and she doesn't stop for a second to showcase any remorse towards Boston. She offers Atom compassion, understanding, she gently hugs him, she tells him "it's fine".

There's no dialogue incorporated into this conversation about how Boston didn't deserve this, that Atom was in the wrong, that either of them should apologize to Boston.

Boston laments that he "can't stop doing shit to people" after being accused of assault, Atom says his revenge was justified and Cheum agrees. The framing of the scene is in Atom's corner regarding this, the audience is meant to have empathy for Atom. While in Boston/Nick's convo the audience is meant to see this as Boston's big realization moment that yes, he is a bad person and needs to change.

But what makes Boston a bad person according to the narrative? I think that's summed up by Nick's dialogue in ep11 before they confront Atom:

Nick: Don't look for a new mess when you haven't cleaned up your old one. You sleep around to much and things get messy. Don't you learn?

This entire incident is not Boston's fault. Boston sleeping with someone consensually, yes even the sibling of a friend, does not justify being accused of sexual assault and blackmail. And yet, that's what the narrative is saying, directly, multiple times in framing, direction, and dialogue.

Boston is "an asshole" Boston is "filthy" Boston "keeps doing shit to people" Boston will "sleep with anything that breathes". The narrative frames Boston's flaw as his promiscuity.

It's why he gets no empathy within the narrative when Mew blackmails him with revenge porn, even though Mew knows this tape was taken without Boston's consent. It's why he gets no empathy within the narrative that Gap took this video without his consent (both subplots are promptly dropped after they serve as comeuppance for Boston). It's why the framing of Ray's cheating on Mew is framed completely differently from Boston and Top's betrayal/cheating. It's why Boston gets no empathy within the storyline in regards to Atom.

Yet Atom, who isn't a slut, who wanted a monogamous relationship, who wanted commitment, does get empathy. From Cheum, from Nick, from the narrative.

Boston can be selfish, Boston can be impulsive, Boston can be inconsiderate. But Boston being promiscuous shouldn't have been a flaw, it shouldn't have been the reason he's punished by the narrative over and over again.

And no, I don't think this is a subtle commentary on slut shaming in society, because if it was, the narrative would still offered Boston empathy and nuance. It would offer a counterpoint view. It would offer Boston a sympathetic glance. It wouldn't have made Atom the victim.

But in the end, Boston is just the whore to the other characters Madonna.

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

Can we just talk about one of the most telling signs that had Jon not had the Great War to fight and had he not discovered Dany was family to him that he would have never accepted Dany as a ruler or even as a possible love interest?

Sam's father wasn't kind to him but we still see Sam have a slight reaction when he realizes Dany executed him. But it's when Dany mentions that she also executed Dickon, that we get a full reaction from Sam. He loved his brother and his brother was kinder to him than his father had been. Dickon was clearly Randyll's favorite while he saw Sam as a disappointment. And you could make the argument that Dickon was Sam's favorite out of the two men of his family.

After this, we see what Sam really thinks of Dany after learning this information, when he talks to Jon.

And then you have Jon:

Here he talks about Robb after finding out about his death, to Sam funnily enough. He loved his brother and Robb loved him.

The contrast is that Ned loved Jon as well and Jon loved him. It was Catelyn who couldn't stand him. Whereas Sam's mother loved him as did his sister.

But Jon and Sam both knew what it was to have conflicting feelings for their brothers (Dickon vs Robb I mean). So it makes sense that Jon is the person that Sam tells this information to and lets him see how upset he is. (he had only begun to get upset in Dany's presence when he asked her leave and bounced right out of there)

And we see Jon's reaction to the news. He knows very well who the last person was that executed a father and son: Aerys. The very same king that he mentioned to Dany when meeting her in 7x03 and Sansa mentioned to Jon in 7x02 in relation to their grandfather and uncle.

There is absolutely no way Jon would have seen Dany as a potential romantic partner, no matter how beautiful she may have been or how powerful, after learning this information.

Bonus:

Notice how Dany has absolutely zero empathy here when seeing how upset Sam was becoming. They showed Jorah's reactions for contrast while Dany was in her it-was-necessary mode with no sympathy or empathy whatsoever.

And we see Jon's reaction as the contrast:

No way that these two people (Dany and Jon) have anything in commonality other than their family line and all that it entails (meaning the dragons). They were two very different people with different intentions and motivations, two completely different rulers, and they didn't complement one another or fill in each other's gaps in a way that would have made them a powerful ruling team.

[sunny6677]

hiiii :>

i've seen that youre making a spooky month au so *looks at you with my big sparkly eyes* can u tell me about saturated kevin :3 (and mayhaps radford)?

(/nf)

YE HERE!!

Kevin is exactly like SpongeBob in this AU lmao. He's very energetic, seemingly always happy, very naive, and is eerily calm when it comes to situations where the kids bring him trouble. The dynamic he has with the kids is completely reversed here. And the kids are constantly irritated with Kevin (but don't hate him no matter how much they act like it) and bring him trouble—while he thinks the kids and him have a good relationship and unknowingly just brings whatever trouble they got into right back to them. He's easily impressed—but can also be kinda shallow without realizing and experiences more sympathy for other people than he does empathy. And he's also protected the kids or saved them from danger without meaning to plenty of times.

Radford is very low energy and bored most of the time, and absolutely hates movies, which makes it more ironic that he works at a theater. He also just has the movie glasses on regardless because it's some 'stupid gift someone left him a long time ago' (It's a gift Hope left before she vanished and one he decided to keep regardless of how dumb he found it since it's the only thing left from her to remember her by). He's more like frenemies with Kevin in this AU and has a bit of a Spongebob-Squidward type dynamic with him. But even with how rude he kind of is to Kevin here, he does care for him even if he tries to act like he doesn't. He's also kind of frenemies with Rick here too?? But he gets more irritated with him than he does with Kevin. Radford also doesn't help Kevin at all during HS cuz he's a dick, but he does watch Kevin work and just kinda hangs out there since he 'has a break from having to babysit his brother and doesn't wanna waste it'. He and Robert also don't have the best relationship here either, but do care for one another in their own way—they just fight a lot and tend to not wanna be around eachother cuz of miscommunications on both ends.

[mariana-oconnor]

The Greek Interpreter pt 1

I remember this one. Yet again, I remember details, but no solutions. But I might recall more as I read along. I've definitely read this one multiple times and seen the Granada version of it. I will absolutely try not to spoil if I remember anything that gives the ending away.

I actually find it surprising how many times I have read some of these and how the thing I almost always forget is the solution. Weirdly, with Agatha Christie mysteries the who and how is usually the thing that sticks in my mind, apparently with Sherlock Holmes, I remember weird details rather than the relevant stuff.

Anyway, on with the tale:

During my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr Sherlock Holmes I had never heard him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his own early life. This reticence upon his part had increased the somewhat inhuman effect which he produced upon me, until sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon, a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was pre-eminent in intelligence.

The first thing I thought was 'Spock', because that post kept going across my dash a little while ago about how many 'surprise' relatives Spock had during TOS. And this whole thing reads very vulcan. I'm going to assume that's because Spock was intentionally or subconsciously based on Sherlock Holmes.

However, here we get the modern and very uncomplimentary image of Sherlock as 'a brain without a heart', which we've seen multiple times to be untrue. I'd say that anyone can fake empathy and kindness, and that a lot of people affect having more of these than they actually feel, that in many ways is part of the social contract. Perhaps I am cynical.

But particularly in the case of Mary Sutherland, where Sherlock threatens her stepfather and appears genuinely angry on her behalf, and on several other occasions where he refers to villains in very scathing and angry terms, we see evidence of feeling that seems genuinely emotional on behalf of someone else. That seems less potentially fake to me than the gentleness. (I'm not saying the gentleness is faked, I'm just saying that there's more of an argument to say that he could/would be faking with that - to put people at ease, to get more information out of them - as opposed to the more negative emotions he declares to himself or to Watson in private which have little purpose other than to vent emotion.)

However, Watson's being a little unfair, here. Also, his reasoning is faulty.

His aversion to women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both typical of his unemotional character, but not more so than his complete suppression of every reference to his own people.

None of this is a sign of someone who doesn't have emotions. These are just signs of a queer introvert with a complicated relationship with their family, Watson. In fact, I'd also suggest that someone who effectively never mentions their family probably has quite strong emotions about that subject. You don't avoid talking about something you don't care about one way or the other.

I get that this is all set up, but I just wanted to say.

...one day, to my very great surprise, he began to talk to me about his brother.

Mycroft time is upon us!

In a bit we're going to get to one of the character descriptions that sticks in my brain the most out of all the things I have ever read. It's Watson's description of Mycroft and Roald Dahl's description of the Twits. Those two haunt me to this day.

...the conversation, which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes.

I swear I'm not going to quote every paragraph of this part. But this is such a lot of words. 'Obliquity of the ecliptic'? I literally work with words and have a degree in them and I had to look that up.

Wikipedia tells me: 'Obliquity of the ecliptic is the term used by astronomers for the inclination of Earth's equator with respect to the ecliptic, or of Earth's rotation axis to a perpendicular to the ecliptic.'

The ecliptic being the orbital plane of the earth.

So it's the angle between the axis the earth spins around and the circle of the earth's orbit around the sun. Which... has Holmes learnt that the earth revolves around the sun now?

So I guess what Watson is saying is 'we were having a very clever discussion like very clever people'.

But now they've gone onto the classic nature vs nurture debate.

Watson is all for nurture, while Holmes is arguing for nature because... drumroll... of his brother Mycroft!

"My dear Watson," said he, "I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. When I say, therefore, that Mycroft has better powers of observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking the exact and literal truth."

Holmes has an excellent sense of self-worth, and I like how this centres the fact that he is realistic about it. He doesn't believe in false modesty, but he is willing to acknowledge some people are better than him even at the things he prides himself on.

"The Diogenes Club is the queerest club in London, and Mycroft one of the queerest men."

Yep. That's Mycroft. This is not the description I was talking about above. But boy, how the evolution of language changes the potential meanings of a text for readers.

"But he has no ambition and no energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solution, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right."

Mycroft is also very relatable. He could try to prove himself right, but why bother when his chair is so comfortable and he already knows he's right? There's no point. And he'd have to move, ugh. I actually quite like Mycroft as a character, even in the original stories, and I like that he cares so little about other people's opinions that he doesn't care if they think he's wrong. Mycroft is a hobbit and you cannot convince me otherwise. He sits in his comfy hobbit hole, smokes pipeweed and eats food and people watches, and doesn't want anything to do with adventure, no sir. Why would he want that when there's a comfy chair, a nice pair of slippers and second breakfast about to be served?

Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock. His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive, had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which were of a peculiarly light, watery grey, seemed to always retain that far-away, introspective look which I had only observed in Sherlock's when he was exerting his full powers. "I am glad to meet you, sir," said he, putting out a broad, fat hand like the flipper of a seal.

Here it is. The description that will stick with me forever: 'like the flipper of a seal'. That's just so... very evocative. And unflattering. All those wet, clammy implications. Also, Watson really wants you to know Mycroft is fat, btw. In case you didn't notice. But yeah, not a flattering description, but not as judgemental as his descriptions of other people. There is a certain respect in this description - until we get to that seal simile. Yeah... the seal thing really gets to me. It makes me shudder a bit every time. It's strange, because I always remember the bit before as being more scathing, but it's actually quite matter of fact, if repetitive. It's the seal thing that really adds a weird edge of mild disgust to the whole thing. And I love seals.

Is there an animated version of Sherlock Holmes where they're all animals and Mycroft is a seal? There should be.

"By the way, Sherlock, I expected to see you round last week, to consult me over that Manor House case. I thought you might be a little out of your depth." "No, I solved it," said my friend, smiling.

The sibling energy is strong in this whole exchange. Just that competitive little edge they have with each other.

"An old soldier, I perceive," said Sherlock. "And very recently discharged," remarked the brother. "Served in India, I see." "And a non-commissioned officer." "Royal Artillery, I fancy," said Sherlock. "And a widower." "But with a child." "Children, my dear boy, children."

Just the utter rhythm of this and the clear fact that this is a game they have played with each other for years, both trying to outdo the other, but it all seems quite amicable. It reminds me of playing games in the back of the car with my big brother on long car journeys. He was always better than me at them, but we still had fun.

The Sherlock-Mycroft double act is a well-practised performance. I love it. Then Watson gives them the opportunity to show off their working and they do that as a double act as well.

I think you can absolutely see Mycroft's existence as explaining things about Sherlock - why he enjoys having Watson around to explain things to and show off for. As a child, clearly he was always the one slightly behind his brother and it makes sense that he enjoys having someone impressed by him the same way he was probably impressed by Mycroft as a child.

Absolutely no case in this section. Just Mycroft. And honestly I am fine with that. This scene is iconic.

[bolt2screw]

TerasTale: Character personalities

I renamed my au since I did not like it at all.

Anyways, here’s a quick description of my au if you don’t know:

Monsters are like actual monsters, they have very little empathy and sympathy, and they’re very violent. This depends monster to monster though, a monster may be more human than a monster (perhaps a bit rude and apathetic, but not violent) while another may be a bloodthirsty beast. The average is like: rude, perhaps a bit violent, but won’t attack everyone.

I decided on some characters’ personalities (and some of their designs) but they can be changed any time. Here’s a basic description.

Chara: They hate both monsters and humans, they want revenge and encourage you to kill monsters. (They’re mostly normal.)

Toriel: Cold and hateful to monsters, she kills any monster on sight. She likes reading and still has the same fascination with snails, but she feels lonely in her home in the ruins and is possessive. She’s not the kind goat momma she once(?) was (I wanna change this)

Sans: a prankster who barely takes anything seriously. He likes to trick people and scare them for fun. He is pretty lazy and hates working, and also has a taste for comedy. He’s good at acting. He doesn’t have much morals, but he definitely won’t harm you as long as he doesn’t hate you to the bone. He’s not very kind but he’s nicer than most of the monsters, but if you get close to him, you probably won’t get the worst of his pranks. and most importantly.. he loves lemons. (The fruit)

Papyrus: A dedicated guardsmen. He is part of an unofficial “Monster Guards” to defend monsters who can’t defend themselves. He’s one of the most sympathetic and empathetic monsters in the underground. He is loyal and serious. He quite likes sweet food, but hates sour food. He is actually quite friendly for a monster, but he isn’t innocent by all means. He likes painting, and is very annoyed by his brother’s antics. (He gets a lot of his pranks.)

Undyne: a bloodthirsty monster who runs a gang wanting to overthrow the king for power. She has anger issues, and wants power. She often clashes with Papyrus. Other than that, she likes watching fantasy action anime with lots of battle scenes. She quite likes spicy food and often challenges herself by putting as much spicy sauce in her food. She is very determined and HATES humans.

Alphys: idk haven’t decided.

Mettaton: haven’t decided but it should be mostly the same.

Asgore: dead

Asriel: The ruthless king of the underground. He killed Asgore because he was “too soft”, he wishes for destruction for humanity and the monsters to take over the world. He allows for killing to happen and believes that if a monster dies, they deserved to die because they were weak. He is selfish and is a true monster.

so err, how is it? if you can, gimme some ideas for personalities and stuff.

also for powers that aren’t op or completely replace the og abilities they have. I want Toriel to have.. idk, sans to have stealthy powers, papyrus to have defensive powers, undyne to have offensive powers, mettaton to have.. idk, explosive powers? Asriel to have some really disturbing power.

(Oh, and what in the hell happens when an inanimate object gets dt injected? I know how flowey happened but what if asriel’s dust wasn’t there?)

[crepes-suzette-373]

@loopyarts replied to your post “Not having "Emotions" 感情 or "Emotions" 情: Germa...”:

Totally agree, I feel something was lost in translation. I feel a lack empathy and compassion and ability to feel fear is what Oda was going for because it a part of human and fear make a human able to realise they’re in danger or they made a mistake. [...] I feel emotionless things is just to make Sanji brothers seems less human and more monster like. Because to say they are able to feel emotions and have ability to feel affection for people that would make them human and not faceless monsters. [...]

Yeah, I can't really theorise much until the Vinsmokes pop up again, but I just want to analyse the wording because a lot of Japanese authors purposely utilise the double-entendres of kanji to create drama and mystery in the plot. Based on what we have so far, there's something that feels kind of suspicious with the terminology.

If Oda-sensei used 情 in a purposely ambiguous way for foreshadowing, even if the translators knew what his real intention is, it's still going to be hard to phrase in English.

This is a bit of a long response, but I want to bring a prime example of double entendre that's hard to adapt naturally in English from the Zou chapter.

Wanda said nakama no shintai 仲間の身体, and Usopp thought the mink means everyone's dead, but she actually meant Brook.

"Your friend/comrade, [name]", can be phrased as "nakama no [name]" in Japanese, e.g nakama no Luffy 仲間のルフィis "Your friend, Luffy". The joke here is Usopp doesn't know the minks nicknamed Brook "Corpse", so he thinks they meant his friends' dead bodies.

So in English, how do you formulate an ambiguous phrase that can mean both "Your friend's corpse" and "Your friend, Mr Corpse" at the same time? Maybe if I try hard enough there is a way to do that, but I can't think of anything right now.

I feel that the 情 issue is similar to this. We won't know the full range of 情 until sensei reveals the punchline. And even then, is there a better word to use instead of "emotion" that can mean both "all emotion" and "only specifically sympathy/compassion"?

[shrinkthisviolet]

"eVeRyOnE hAs a SoB sToRy" ~Sam LaRusso, the girl with a car of her own in highschool, who lives in a huge house, can buy whatever she wants and her dad is a millionare. A girl who never ever struggled for anything in her life until Cobra Kai season 2 (when she herself causes a fight in her highschool), making fun of Tory, who has a predatory family, no money and a sick mother, barely making ends meet

…anon, why would you tell me, a primarily Sam blog, this

Also…look, I love them both, but lest you forget, Tory literally started a fight at school, cut her arm to scar, and hospitalized and traumatized her. And then broke into her house and traumatized her again—that second one had absolutely no reason whatsoever, by the way. Seriously. No reason for that, good or bad.

Sam didn’t cause the fight, Tory did. And if anyone is at fault for upsetting Tory, it’s Miguel, who was a) sober or close to it, compared to super drunk Sam, and b) TORY’S ACTUAL BOYFRIEND, why tf isn’t she going after HIM like this?? Cheating isn’t okay, and Sam is still a bit at fault, but the majority of the blame rests with Miguel.

And it has always frustrated me that the blame for that is placed only on Sam’s shoulders (another example of the sexist trope of the boyfriend getting off scot free for cheating)…and you seem to have fallen for it. I’d feel bad if you seemed to know what you were talking about…or if you had any sympathy for the traumatized teenager. But you don’t, so. Moving on.

Daniel isn’t a millionaire…not sure where you’re getting that from? He’s rich. Not all rich people are millionaires.

Also…predatory family? Her aunt…is one person in her family. We know nothing about her dad, and her mom and brother aren’t predatory. We don’t even know about her other family, what’s up with them, etc. If they’re not also trying to get ahold of Brandon like Kandace is…then that sounds like a generalization to me. And sweeping generalizations just aren’t gonna fly here, anon, when you’re using them to put down a teenage girl. Some empathy for Sam would’ve gotten you some sympathy from me…but empathy towards teen girls seems to be in short supply, and you’ve fallen for the societal trap of hating teenage girls who act like teenage girls. I’d feel sorry if you seemed to regret it. Moving on.

Sam is rich and privileged and there is no denying that (and she shouldn’t have made fun of Tory at her job)…however, Tory has hurt her, and there is no excuse for that (everything else in s4 aside from Sam making fun of Tory at her job was her untreated PTSD acting up, and I highly doubt you’d act any better in her situation). Sam has extended understanding and kindness to her, and now, Tory needs to apologize. This isn’t rocket science. She should’ve done it first, but at this point, I’ll just be glad if she does it at all.

And frankly, I’m shocked that you seem to have no empathy for the literal traumatized teenager with PTSD (and yep, she does have untreated PTSD). But hey, it doesn’t seem like you even know the show that well anyway. At the very least, I assume you skimmed the finales and skipped over the parts where Tory hurt Sam, it’s really the only excuse for you blaming Sam like this with no consideration for her pain.

If you’re gonna have an opinion on this show, word of advice: it helps to watch the show with the volume up and both eyes open :) just a thought!

[lowlyroach]

500) Ghost

I wanted to do something for this one

Half of a thousand

And I bet most still have some relation to you

I was going to go through them all

And count

But, instead

I'll write about Today.

Today is robotic again

Callous

I feel I am losing sympathy

Empathy evading me

It's not unfamiliar

I was like this for a long time

I just don't have capacity for care

Outwardly, at least

Is it disassociation?

Am I halfway up in the ceiling

Defense mechanism for pain

Exhaustion hangs like a curtain over my eyes

All I want to do is sleep until I've died

What do I say, except

It's whatever.

It doesn't matter.

You haven't been around for a while

A month since I've seen you

I want to believe it wasn't your desire

Or intention

To just, leave

To ghost me without a word

You said you'd be around

That you chase by not ever truly leaving

Then where did you go?

Remember when you told me

You don't mind fighting for me?

That if I tried to run

You wouldn't let me?

That I can talk to you about anything?

That you'd be right there when I was ready

You listened to me pee, after all

You said you loved me.

I never responded that day.

When I ran, you let me

But I was always watching you

Visiting the mall

And checking in

I was always there to make sure you were

Doing alright

i was just afraid of you leaving again

Are you leaving, again, bug?

A photo of your back

I'm always looking at your back.

I don't have enough photos of you

I'm always watching everyone walk away

When I fight it's not enough

It's too late

Nothing changes

An agoraphobic best friend who

Never came back

And is he dead?

And another who

Left both of us for other friends

And it's tough thinking about always leaving

Always leaving

Do I have abandonment issues?

Where did these come from?

Or is this just something new

Born from this thorny pain

It comes to cruel realizations of

Watching people leave

And when I reach out

They don't come back

I didn't really mind letting anyone else go

Except you.

I'm worried about you

I want to know if you're okay

If something happened

Who can I talk to?

Nobody knows I've still been

Talking to you

if they did you might be ruined, so

What am I meant to do?

A sign that you're alright

Just tell me you don't want to talk to me

Say anything

Say anything

Tell me that you've been hiding

That you're leaving

That I'm just not good for you

That you hate that

I'm just not good for me

Just tell me something

I'm worried

I'm so worried about you

Do I try to reach out to your best friend

To call the restaurant you work at

Did you work there, today?

Or the tattoo shop?

Do I just do nothing

But sit and wait?

Are you still here, somewhere

Hiding?

it's not like you have a blog where you post

All the poetry of what you feel

How inconvenient that is.

I don't know if I can afford to hope

That you aren't just leaving

That I can afford that awful curse of

Hope

That I can raise my standards

That you're not

Gone, without a trace

And I don't want to step on your toes

On your life, again

But you left me without an orbit

Silence, and the star is swallowed

And I beg and I hear nothing

So where did you go, Ghost?

Oh, there's the emotions again

Let me reel those in

Just cry and let it out

Let it out.

Let it out.

A girl slapped me at work today

When I asked her to

It reminded me of you

And the butterflies came alive again

Thinking about your hand on my face

She asked if I liked to be praised

Or degradated more

Which kink do I prefer?

I like them both but

Maybe degradation

I am a bit masochistic, after all

Maybe

I don't need love

Just hit me

I don't need you to love me

Just hit me

Just hit me

Then call me pretty

Don't leave me alone

For so long I've been searching

For something that felt like a home

Without the threat of pencil graphite

Still stuck in my shoulder

It's been 15 years since my brother

Jumped off the stage

Just to slam the pencil into me

And I still see it there as a reminder

Of his cruelty

And a home without

The cops getting called to pull mom

To a prison cell

After drinking and almost

Crushing her child's feet beneath

The kitchen island

And a home where

When I walked down the street and called

My friends

They wouldn't tell me that

'It's not a good time, right now'

When I needed help

The night when I earned this ugly knuckle

On my right hand

And I'm sorry I never responded

And I'm sorry I'm so much

And I'm sorry I'm not enough

And I'm always so sorry

I just really want to talk to you again

One tear is all I have in me, today

And a face contorted with pain

Looks like I'll remain robotic

As long as I don't look at the man in the mirror

Sorry, I'm not eating enough

And the number on the scale keeps dropping

And I had a dream I was so scrawny

But hey, I had a six-pack, still

Today, I was so hungry it hurt

So I ate and now I'm full

But the number will probably still drop tomorrow

The scabs on my hands are almost healed

After I rubbed them raw on that metal fence

I've been picking at them, still

They bleed, a little longer

And you haven't touched the playlist recently

And are you erasing me?

Are you going to tell me to have a happy birthday?

Are you going to say anything?

We were supposed to go see a movie

And I just don't know how to check in on you

I hope you're well

I hope you're doing well

Because I'm trying to come to terms with the fact

That I will be afraid forever

And that I will never have another star in orbit

And I will have to get by on this ugly love

And that life is just

Losing

And that you won't be coming back

You made me feel like the

Best version of me

Isn't that what I was supposed to be?

To look for?

Isn't that why you choose to love someone?

That they bring out the best in you?

That they compliment and complete you?

Two halves torn and I'm back to

My old self, again

I miss you, Bug

I miss you, Love

I miss you, Queen

I miss you, Electricity

I miss you, Starlight

I miss you, Moon

I miss you, One Whose Beauty Transcends The Universe

I miss you, Lovebug

I miss you,

Ghost

Despite all these names

I could never call you, Mine

Come back again, sometime

I hope he brings out the best in you.

I hope you're alright.

I really hope you're doing just fine.

[thvnderr]

@pcisxnivys Continuing from here...

It was more about testing the grounds and curiosity rather than an endorsement for a more saintly life. His own persona resting back on the chair with a fingertip tracing over the edge of the porcelain cup. His response was not much of a surprise knowing the bluntness that the tattooist used to carry himself; a hard life stones someone's soul and moral compass until they are nothing but old souvenirs stored in the chest — he could understand that — it had taken Sky some good time to break through and polish the practiced kindness into an actual personality trait of his. "Some would argue that the preservation of others helps with the preservation of oneself if said person lives in a community".

"I see", he briefly commented as Atticus explained the situation of his childhood, and so, he understood how such an upbringing could cause lack of empathy for others' problems. "Your community failed you, I apologize for my previous words, I did not have idea", he commented in the same calm and melodic tone before bringing the cup to his lips, tasting the flowery scents that the bronze liquid permeated into his tongue. He took the moment afterwards to take a look at the rest of the place, quite lavish and clean, opposite to most of the places where people would gather here in Anchorage. Sky wondered what it was that made the few fortunate ones want to stay in this hellish freezer instead of migrating to literal greener pastures. Were they all too acknowledge with the purple fingers and the dull colors? He had a mission there, friends even that helped to make of his stay something more amicable, but he guessed that with the lack of any of these, he would have fled at the first notice of a killer on the loose. Why bother dealing with safety when he could be getting dizzy at after parties and snobby cocktail events? "So you and your brother do not get along much? I understand you both run very opposite types of lives", Sky said, "I always wished for siblings, but never had the fortune of one", he hummed. A little smile toyed with the corner of his lips at the statement about him and Micah. Oh, he had lived his own days of misery, the program being able to leave their employees to their own to test their resilience, but truth was, he was far too accustomed to the faultless lifestyle he ran with now. "It is impossible for the human being to completely understand the position of the other, be animal, plant or person; but I do appreciate all kinds of tales in case you want to share more; I may not empathize entirely, but I think I have heart enough to listen intently without condescendence. What kind of jobs have you had in the past, if you do not mind me asking? The conversation can head some other way if I am being too nosy", he declared with a brighter smile.

Sky had been fiddling lightly with the tea cup, but as his company proceed to ask questions, the second more piercing than the other, he laid the porcelain down with a very quiet ring of the material; the words clearing any other kind of thought he could be having and he did not fight to make it less obvious. "The world up where Micah and I grew up has its own horrors, its own dogs devouring each other merciless just as where you grew up; but these fights look different, more about backstabbing and venom, but just as visceral and deathly—", a soft chuckle dragged half of his lips up, "— I'm sure your wife has talked to you about it", he added while his fingers intertwined on the table in a proper posture, leaning his own body forward. "What I mean is, we are not allowed for much of a guilty conscience if we want to survive either. In fact, I already receive a lot of well-derserved scorn for my affinity to the arts and nature. My faulty curiosity has made me develop sympathy for those around me, but I am very well capable of shutting it down when necessary. Very few instances have required it, though, and I intend to keep it that way. Living with bitterness in my heart has proved to cause more wrinkles", Sky laughed, but it was soft and sweet as if not admitting hard cruelty also rested in his bones. Still, the smile vanished a little at the thought of his ex-fiancée. "It would be futile to pretend I was not affected by her departure. Her safety was priority and I always got sure to establish that with her. Hansa's parents were also rather concerned and for the sake of all, she left", he explained, although could he really know? Even if he felt everything was real for the first time, there was no point on denying he felt insecure about it; like she had played back the same card he slammed on the table months ago; and with very good reason. Sky had no right to feel bad at all, so whatever had been her decision, she had to respect it. "I did promise I would take care of myself while investigating everything and if you allow me to go back to my first point, I find out that taking care of others is usually the easiest way I can take care of myself. Healthy relationships have been more fruitful and resourceful to me rather that dry ones", he made a pause, sipped from his tea and nodded, "yes, maybe my short time with Hansa did soften my heart a little bit", he concluded. "But what about you and Micah? How did you guys meet each other?"

[elements-of-harmony]

Reaaaaad Meeeeeee Seymooooore ( BYI )

Visual roleplay and ask blog based on the Tupperbox community q and a and source material from "The Year without a Santa Claus", "A Miser Brothers Christmas" and the fanction "The Holiday Inn" Please continue below and read the information under the cut.

Aliases/Nicknames: Hothead, Mr. Sun, Sultan of the South

💕Significant Other: Aqua 💕

Gender: Masculine leaning; he/him pronouns

Powers/Species: Sun/Fire Elemental

Physical Age: 45

Height: 6’5

Eye Color: Brown/Amber

Hair Color: ginger

Bio:  Heat Miser is observant and a deep thinker, a true introvert with a keen intellect and a mean sarcastic streak. What he may lack in bedside manner, however, he more than makes up for with his fierce loyalty and love for his family. 

His hot temper is his greatest weakness.

Aliases/Nicknames: Snowy, Mr. Snow, King of Cool

💕Significant Other: Shocky 💕

Gender: agender/ genderfluid; he/him pronouns 

Powers/Species: Snow/Ice Elemental

Physical Age: 45

Height: 6’9

Eye Color: Brown/Amber

Hair Color: White/Translucent

Bio: The more outgoing of the two brothers, Snow is both openly and unashamedly autistic and very outgoing. His wit, tendency toward imagination, and loyalty to being his authentic self make him a fun and refreshing companion, his empathy a true ally. 

His lack of tact and filter, however often leads to arguments between the two brothers and more often than not puts him in an unfavorable position with others.

Aliases/Nicknames: Shocky, Missy

💕Significant Other: Snow Miser 💕

Gender: feminine leaning; she/they pronouns

Powers/Species: arctic elf with light and electric powers

Physical Age: 26

Height: 5’5”

Eye Color: green

Hair Color: gray/green, ginger

Bio: Shocky is observant, a deep thinker and a wearer of her heart on her sleeve. A outwardly warm and personable elf, she possesses both a vivid imagination and scars from her lifelong battle with rampant ableism and struggle to be accepted in her own family leading to harsher image of herself than most outside her birth guardians will ever prescribe.  Her handicaps with memory and dyscalculia, tendency to hold long grudges, sensitivity to rejection, and chronic pain are among her greatest weaknesses.

Aliases/Nicknames: Aqua, “Miss No Fun” 💕Significant Other: Heat Miser 💕 Gender:  feminine; she/her pronouns Powers/Species:: arctic elf with water powers Physical Age: 29 Height: 5’3 Eye Color:  green Hair Color: blue Bio: The more outgoing of the two sisters, Aqua is a silver-tongued diplomat with a cleverly hidden wild side. While her knack for navigating the ins and outs of society quells many would-be disputes, her boldness, snark, and love of letting loose make her the life of the party. Her ability to mask easily, however, alienates her from those who cannot conform so easily and the walls she builds are her greatest weakness.

 The Misers are both in happy exclusive monogamous marriages and are not looking for thirds, please do not ask to date them, privately or otherwise or send them romantic asks or starters. 

Asks about their relationships are welcome and will appear under their respective tags but attempts to replace the established significant others  listed above will be ignored and may result in further restriction from interacting with this blog- the answer is a hard no!!

The Miser brothers are not related to your character unless discussed beforehand ( Find me here! ) or, of course if they are related in canon. 

 Likewise, these two haven’t met your character unless we’ve agreed that they have, or if your character belongs to the Rankin Bass lore that’s part of their source material. Don’t hesitate to ask though, I’m a sucker for found family and would love to add to theirs, they can always use more friends, siblings, and adoptive children! They do not, however, owe you their love or compassion and sympathy baiting will not be taken lightly. They are gods, not therapists. If you or someone you know are struggling to stay safe, please contact your local suicide hotline!

Sending asks and starters about the Misers recreationally using or abusing drugs is a really good way to be banned from this blog. Don’t try me <3 

Jokes about either of them being under the influence are something I find disgusting and regardless of whether you think it’s funny, there is no place for that here. This content is not welcome anywhere near my inbox at any time under any circumstance.

You do not have permission to kill, maim, traumatize, or otherwise seriously harm my characters physically or otherwise.

Additionally, this blog is an all ages blog. To keep it that way, asks and starters intended for mature audiences will be omitted. 

The Misers do, however, spar more than occasionally. It is after all how they do their job! Feel free to send light angst and test your dice roller against the seasoned brothers.

Original characters, characters from most other fandoms, and self inserts are, of course more all than welcome to interact. Shocky herself happens to be one after all! * Will not interact with content pertaining to Steven Universe or its fans including roleplayers of the characters. The Diamonds in particular makes me deeply uncomfortable and I do not wish to invite people who support them to this blog. 

I, run this blog on spare time and spare energy. Because of this, more often than not I favor simple asks and light starters over longer and more serious posts.

Additionally, art reblogs are hand picked based on activity and to match my interpretation of the characters to enhance immersion. Because of that, posts depicting other pairings, designs, and headcanons are excluded as well as most popular posts.

If I don’t interact with your content it’s not because I don’t like you, promise! And finally, as this is a roleplay blog, this blog WILL feature AI generated content. All content posted has been edited, transformed, or directly created by me and the posts will specify which but will occasionally feature replies enhanced by Character.ai and audio trained on character data through So-vits-SVC. If you disagree with this content you are free to leave or engage in the posts not collaboratively made with this technology such as my drawings but I will not debate with you, entertain bad faith questions, or tolerate aggression. Engaging with my blog with the intention of starting a fight will end badly for you, do not try it :)  It is also worth noting that I do not support the use of ai for the purpose of defamation or career theft. These posts are created for personal and nonprofit artistic enjoyment only and if you redistribute any of it with the intent to sell, to impact the legacies and careers of the very real voice actors and singers involved, or to feed it into any extra algorithm I will find your kneecaps and delete them :)

Failure to respect the boundaries outlined in this post will result in revocation of access to this blog and its contents