#side effect of being friendless

[lili250307]

me when i have an overwhelming urge to ramble to my friends ( theyre all asleep, busy or dont want to talk to me ) </3

#shakes everyone #crying everywhere #side effect of being friendless #/hj #augh #lays and does a backflip #actually it would probably be the other way round #does a backflip and lays #lol #SHAKES AGAIN #zzzzzzzzzzz #IM SO TIRED btw

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

i never noticed the hints towards pale Solfef! in light of that, i think it's interesting that Eridan pursued Feferi in the pale quadrant while desperately wanting her to end up in his flushed one, meanwhile Feferi pursues Sollux in the flushed quadrant, despite them seemingly destined to be pale lol guess seadwellers are used to swimming up current lmao

that said, what are your thoughts on Erifef? do you think Eridan actually wants her flushed? or is that another subconscious tactic of his to keep her(someone he deeply cares about) by his side?

personally, i'm of the opinion that though they do care about eachother, they could never work out flushed. i think Eridan -though very enthusiastic about her and thinks they share the same troubles that comes with being so high on the hemospectrum, as well as isolated via physical location and the requirements to meet seadweller expectations- doesn't actually want redrom with her, but he knows pale isn't 'good enough' plus prefers to go to Karkat for all the traditional pale stuff. dude doesn't realize they can just be friends and she won't abandon him(cue Feferi abandoning him the monent she leaves quadrants with him, further exacerbating that fear lol)

meanwhile, on Feferi's end, it's too much to go into here but i think she has struggles with being present with others. so though i think she also deeply cares about Eridan and was absolutely miffed he was going to Karkat for things that she(being his moirail at the time) should have been talked to about, i think she has a lot of character development to go through before she can really pursue quadrants as something she needs and wants and not something she thinks she should do. i think flipping pale with Sollux could have been that catalyst but alas :' ] it seems Hussie changed his mind

So, personally, I do actually think Eridan's flushed feelings for Feferi are real... kind of. The fact that he has 0 self-awareness really makes talking about his feelings difficult because everything needs to be qualified with "this would change if he were capable of taking a step back."

The "kind of" here is because I don't think it's necessarily Feferi, the PERSON, that Eridan's in love with, but rather, the Feferi that exists in his head. To Eridan, Feferi is a bubbly, adorable, cheerful girl who's nice to everybody and doesn't have a mean bone in her body. He literally says that he thinks she might be too nice to have a pitch relationship with somebody, which is definitely not true, as Feferi can be plenty mean, and there's plenty to find flawed about her.

The first reason for this mistaken belief is that that's definitely the way that Feferi believes herself to be, so it's how she presents herself, and Eridan believes people when they tell him stuff. The second is because, in Eridan's shitty, friendless life, Feferi has been his one constant - the person who's always been there for him, the only person who's consistently nice to him (until he meets Karkat, and even then, Karkat is master of the mixed signals, and Eridan implies that death threats and insults are regular banter between them), and oftentimes the one person who cheers him up when he's at his lowest.

I think a lot of people in the fandom are too hard on Feferi - she's genuinely well-meaning, and most of her bad points come from ignorance and privilege, not manipulativeness or spite. She doesn't consciously realize it when she's treating Eridan poorly, and she makes real efforts to be a good moirail to him, even though he doesn't usually reciprocate those efforts. I think she suffers from the Umbridge Effect, where Eridan's problems - being on such the extreme end of trauma and anxiety - almost feel alien and unreal, while everyone knows a Feferi, so Feferi draws in some undue vitriol.

She has a few outbursts at him when he's egregiously rude for no reason, but given she's been dealing with his severe mental illness for so long, and takes his threats and casteism at least semi-seriously, I don't blame her for being exhausted and snapping from time to time. She's genuinely just not equipped to help him with his problems - lest we forget, she's also 13. Otherwise, everything else she does to harm him is something she just genuinely doesn't consciously realize is a problem, because she's got a hard time seeing past her privilege.

For example, using Eridan for feeding Gl'bgolyb without gratitude - the thing is, societally, it's his job, and HAS always been a violet's job. Not only that, but given his... everything, if she asked him if he's okay with doing it, he'd definitely insist that he is, and in fact, that it's HIS duty and HIS privilege. He also started INCREDIBLY young, so it's genuinely just been like this for their entire lives. It's a bit shitheaded for Feferi to not realize how much she benefitted from this arrangement, but, again, it's a crime of ignorance, not malice.

In a similar vein, I think she stayed in her moirallegiance for as long as she did partially because she got an ego boost out of it. She commiscerates with Kanaya over how burdensome he is, and she gets to say things like "we are not better than anybody," which she absolutely doesn't actually feel, given how she won't shut up about being a royal when talking to Jade. She's elated to break up with him, her narration celebrating with a big "you're FREE!!!" and it's not a coincidence that said break-up happens after Eridan's no longer useful to her - she outright states that he can't threaten their species anymore now that they're in the game and everyone else is dead.

BUT, I think she ALSO means it when she says that she stayed in that moirallegiance because she was genuinely worried for him. Both this statement and the above paragraph can be simultaneously true. There's nothing about Eridan that's actually that offensive to Feferi, and I really do think she means it when she says she wants to stay friends. His constant emotional crises have just left her burnt out in terms of sympathy, and she never really knew how to handle him in the first place, but in their first conversation together, she's still genuinely making an effort to get him to open up about his feelings and to cheer him up about his failed kismesistude.

After the breakup and his failed confession, the thing is, he does accept that rejection! ... Kind of. (Again with the kind ofs.)

He outright tells her he accepts that she doesn't like him like that... BUUUT, is trying to get her to go ashen with him and Sollux, instead. THIS is the "trying to keep her with him" angle you're talking about, IMO; I think his flushed feelings are genuine, even if they're aimed at this idealized version of Feferi moreso than the real deal. Without Feferi in the picture, I think Eridan and Sollux would have a completely lukewarm mutual dislike. The sheer lukewarmness is probably why Erisolsprite is so stable - they're completely mid for each other.

The realness of his flushed feelings for Feferi is, incidentally, part of why I think him and Roxy would work so well together - if this idealized version of Feferi (bubbly, adorabloodthirsty, pink, cute, cheerful, and kind) is his Type... well.

I also think he and Feferi would work pretty well as just normal friends; they might have fallen into that dynamic on their own if they'd met later on in life. In a hypothetical golden ending, I think they do fall into it once EriKar happens, since moirallegiances are stated to have a stabilizing effect on a troll's other relationships.

#homestuck #eridan ampora #feferi peixes #erifef

[aejeonghae]

I just don't understand how you like S*l? He is actually right up there with T**g for being the worst. There is nothing good about him, sorry.

i don't understand the wild and weird hate against sol (or even remotely comparing him to tong) but here we are, anon. like if joe out right saying sol is a good person can't convince ya'll... idk why you're asking me?

anyway... you asked for my thoughts and opinions, so you shall receive.

sol is just a really interesting dude to me. he's just some guy that i think is really neat. he's a thai kpop idol and FAMOUS famous but he isn't like tong about it. he's kind and just a really good-hearted person. he's the sunny type, cheerful, caring, and loyal to his friends. like joe, sol is a sunflower in the toxic showbiz world msi is set in.

(tbh i see him and ming, who is also a fascinating character, as kind of two sides of the same "rich and famous" coin. ming is cold, aloof, calculating with walls as high as elon crust's ego is inflated. and then there is sol, open and kind-hearted. which is exactly why he and joe hit it off. funny though, ming and sol are petty but like on completely opposite ends of the petty spectrum.)

after lovingly bugging @zhouxiangs for novel spoilers i really wished the series had touched more on sol and joe's history instead of just a few throwaway lines here and there because sol's story ;3; my smol bean of a son. (and this is where media literacy and nuance comes in :D but y'all barely have any of that.)

joe and sol were very close . they ate, trained, and slept (sleeping type of slept lol) together. they did everything together. and then sol found out joe was gay (in the novel sol was also struggling with his sexuality) and then joe confessed to sol. joe liked sol first (not this weird warped reality y'all are living in where sol has been obsessing over joe). but anyway, sol was young and scared and dumb. he was afraid of being taken advantage of and also of his own feelings for joe and he ran away. joe got over it and never held it against him.

while in korea, it seemed that sol struggled to connect with people and went through some tough times as a trainee (i'm quoting from porsche's interview) and he realized his true feelings for joe so when he had the chance to return to thailand he took it and he sought out joe to reconnect. as a friend, as more.

was he supposed to have some sort of psychic link with joe that he was already seeing someone? obviously not. but when joe made it clear he liked ming, sol backed off romantically. he didn't back off as a friend though. (idk about y'all friendless gremlins but if one of my close friends was in the situationship from hell that joe was in... i'd also try and make them see reason, open their eyes. like sol once having feelings for joe does not diminish his friendship with joe. at all. (yes the scene of joe and sol in the van in ep 6 means everything to me. joe and sol were friends, brothers even. and that scene showed it.)

fyi, novel sol recognized joe too :D

ANYWAY, it was interesting to see the change in sol after joe's death. he isn't his usual cheerful self, but he's still kind and polite if a bit more reserved. and i for one love the cattiness with ming he has going on? LEAVE MING ALONE i see y'all shouting but me I WANT HIM TO PUNCH MING IN THE NUTS ONCE (if y'all can project, so can i) like ming deserves to catch a bit of shit from sol (his 'khun chai ming' sent meeee), since his and tong's bullshit directly contributed to the death of his best friend.

is sol perfect? no. (the fight with ming where joe got hurt. or the phone call scene that resulted in joe effectively being cut out of sol's life. again.) but are any of these characters perfect? absolutely not.

sol though is strangely villainized and for what? because he's trying to help and protect his friend (and is maybe being snotty with ming but... deserved tbh lol)? because he might be feeling a little righteous and fafo with the guy who took his friend away from him? because he once had feelings for joe but then redirected them into being a decent human and a good friend?

sponsored by: @zhouxiangs and porsche/lotte interview with iqiyi.

#my stand in #sol love club 🩷 #is this even coherent? i'm three days into migraine hell loool #usersasa #response

[kasumingo]

Ppl in this day and age were done soooo dirty by discouraging existing in public and stranger danger. Friendlessness both irl and online is an epidemic bc sometimes you just need people to (privately) complain to and sort ur thoughts out with. Like people who wont be passive or always yes-men and point out if youre getting irrational with shit too.

Like im on occassion super bitchy and petty but you dont get even a fraction of that from my socials bc i do all my kvetching in 2 group chats and then usually calm down right after. And if its an actual issue i trust that the person will get theirs (whether thru karma or the word spreading in private) without calling for their downfall.

(Btw remember the discourse around gossiping and saying its immoral and unnormal. Bc i sure do. Now that was some shit !)

Also i feel like bringing that kind of inflammatory character to the issue that callouts do undermines ur cause, because if the situation becomes more polarizing some people will side with the person being called out, even when theyre known abusers, and youll get the opposite effect than intended. Regardless of actual intention its so often just harmful virtiol framed as the moral high ground

Honestly - even if not irl for various reasons, everyone can participate in general discussions online on discord or other group chats and make tighter groups to vent in, like it's not hard to not be a toxic asshole online who airs all their dirty laundry on the most public platforms possible, not taking into account that not everyone will agree with them (and thus lashing out in the aftermath). But nah, everyone is an enemy.

(Oh God. Not the gossiping thing. I'm noticing a trend. This harmless behavior? You're actually the worst person alive if you do this natural thing. Sexual thoughts? Gossiping? Vent art? Oh humanity, what are you, some kind of predator? /s)

And YEAH I feel like this emotionally-charged take on any social issue comes from thinking that if they say how disgusted and harmed they are, they'll make it a stronger case. And in turn it just makes them look like immature reactionaries and even if there's a merit to the callout, they're not doing it with the seriousness it requires.

The internet is just a bunch of people trying to outyell someone to be taken seriously and unfortunately a lot of people are prone to emotional manipulation.

#stupidusernamepolicy #answer

[sweetcloverheart]

Unpopular Opinion Time

I feel like Marinette’s status as both the underdog and Chloe’s rival/victim in the first season isn’t given the proper weight it should have in the story proper

Like, Chloe’s awful to Marinette, no doubt about that, and the stuff she does to her (stealing her diary, trying to pass off her hat as her own, everything in season 3 and onward, etc.) is very cruel and standard bullying fair - but it doesn’t really have an impact (or at least not as much) as a narrative device because aside from making Marinette feel embarrassed for a bit or hindering her confession attempts to Adrien, Chloe’s bullying Marinette doesn’t effect her place as a student in a meaningful way. Even when she schemes to make her look bad/miserable, everyone in the class continues to like and adore Marinette, while hating or finding Chloe annoying because of the bullying and her being an overall jerk (hell, they immediately jump in to defend the former from the latter a good third of the time). For all we’re told about how terrifying it is for Chloe to go throwing her parents weight around against anyone who stands up to her, the students don’t necessarily act that way, and aside from her nigh-constant skirting away from responsibility for her actions (which is more of a consequence of the teachers at Dupont not doing their jobs), Chloe never really displays that actual status in all it’s terror or unfair popularity. The only real negative impact she’s had is with the Akumas, and that gets solved pretty easy thanks to Labybug and Chat. It’s honestly part of the reason I felt Lila was the better bully antagonist- even if she gets rarely used and is mostly build-up that goes nowhere, she actually did caused a negative impact to Marinette and her life with her actions, short lived (and requiring so much narrative bending) as they were. Chloe’s bullying, particularly after season 3, just comes off very superficial and artificial, especially since she never even succeeds in her goal of impeding Marinette half the time.

If Marinette was supposed to be the underdog, then wouldn’t it make more sense for the class to like Chloe while ignoring her, or at least trying to get on Chloe’s goodside more? Even if she is “evil” and an unpleasant person to be around, her father is still mayor/owner of a multimillion famous hotel-chain and her mother is the head of a famous international fashion magazine. Chloe should be lousy with fans/followers/hanger-ons who want to get a piece of that privilege pie and would be totally willing to isolate/unfriend Marinette because of it. It would also help if Chloe was actually involved in fashion as a designer - have the two have some proper parallels in how they create and present their clothes, like Marinette preferring to make artsy and colorful outfits while Chloe trends towards overly-chic monochromatics. Heck, you can even still have Chloe be a big fat cheater via bribing judges and sabotaging her opponents. It would make Marinette’s eventual successes and progress as a designer hit much more deeper if we saw her actually having someone to compete against in the fashion side of things and triumph against Chloe’s attempts to snuff out her brand. It would also make her eventually becoming the “Classroom Ladybug” fit better.

There’s also the issue with how her relationship with Adrien is portrayed. The two of them are childhood friends with Chloe harboring a very large and long standing crush (or infatuation at least), yet Adrien treats her like a stranger half the time despite her being his “only” friend in his friendless background, and is clearly uncomfortable with her clinging so closely all the time. If she’s suppose to be an obstacle to the Adrienette ship, then wouldn’t having Adrien liking/wanting to hang out with her more be the better option? Having him actually look comfortable/happy when she clings to him since he’s so used to her/knows it’s her way of showing affection to him while also acting as litmus for Marinette on where her current status with her relationship with Adrien lies and what she needs to do to get on the same level Chloe’s at? Or, if we need to stick with the “Haha Chloe likes Adrien but he’s obviously uncomfortable with her!” shtick, make it a serious issue and treat it with the gravity that level of discomfort Adrien displays deserves - have him, after bonding with Mari and the rest more, admit he hates Chloe touching him all the time but puts up with it since “we’re friends” and he’s told to be nice to her since Gabriel owes Audrey for helping him get his foot in the door to the fashion industry. They can then tell him that what Chloe’s doing is wrong and encourage him to stand up for himself and make her stop, and that he shouldn’t have to put up with a situation he’s not comfortable with for anyone’s sake.

And you know what - the same goes for Lila. She should have also been a designer or artist. You could play up the liar theme by having it be revealed that she rips off other designers for her clothes or plagiarizes work from people by befriending and convincing them she’s helping get their names out there. Once Marinette exposed her, she jumps to modeling (or cooking even) under the claim that the situation made her “realize the error of her ways” and want to turn over a new leaf by starting anew in a different field, but she’s still doing the same old same old - she’s just better at hiding it now. 

tldr; “Chameleon” should of been what was happening all of season 1 with Chloe, Marinette, and the class minus the lies.

#Unpopular Opinion Time #Miraculous Ladybug #ML Salt #Clover Rants Miraculously

[fictionstuff]

My Dress-Up Darling その着せ替え人形は恋をする

Plot: High school student Wakana Gojou spends his days perfecting the art of making hina dolls, hoping to eventually reach his grandfather's level of expertise. While his fellow teenagers busy themselves with pop culture, Gojou finds bliss in sewing clothes for his dolls. Nonetheless, he goes to great lengths to keep his unique hobby a secret, as he believes that he would be ridiculed were it revealed.

Enter Marin Kitagawa, an extraordinarily pretty girl whose confidence and poise are in stark contrast to Gojou's meekness. It would defy common sense for the friendless Gojou to mix with the likes of Kitagawa, who is always surrounded by her peers. However, the unimaginable happens when Kitagawa discovers Gojou's prowess with a sewing machine and brightly confesses to him about her own hobby: cosplay. Because her sewing skills are pitiable, she decides to enlist his help.

As Gojou and Kitagawa work together on one cosplay outfit after another, they cannot help but grow close—even though their lives are worlds apart. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Episodes: 12

Main Characters:

Kitagawa Marin

Gojou Wakana

Points: 8.5/10 [8,46875]

My Dress-up Darling is this anime I absolutely enjoyed but cannot feel compelled to give it 10 points for a few, very few actually, reasons that annoyed me to a point where I almost forgot this was becoming some mainstream anime shit. Either way, this anime is a simple love story between 2 otakus, 2 persons in love with that they love: one being cosplay and anime and the other one adoring dolls, dressing and applying make up to them. This in itself was a great setup, if they didn’t feel the need to add unnecessary ecchi romcom with two much well meant fanservice, that made a perfectly fine characters like Marin turn into an all male anime dream girl and hey, she loves dressing up as female eroge characters, ain’t nothing better than that?

The story in between them had a lot of chemistry though, which made me adore the anime quite a bit even if they threw in obstacles that could’ve easily been placed in a hentai as well…

Either way, the chemistry is positively enjoyable, making their relationship appear to be very healthy and benefitting. They treat each other in high regards for hobbies the society doesn’t look kindly upon, they both have this sort of respect and curiosity about one another’s passions that makes this anime as enjoyable as it is.

The character development is another crucial point, it had an insane amount of potential but was unnecessarily replaced by way too much emphasis on fanservice. Gojou was apparently bullied or let’s say frowned upon for loving dolls. It made him some sort of loner and while it is clear that interacting with humans is easier on him now (after having all these conversations with Marin) it’s not one of the main points of the show. It’s more of a side effect rather than a turning point of his character development. His development would have had more impact on the viewer, if they included more flashbacks and more slice of life interactions with their surroundings than simply dwelling on their hobbies or mostly Marin’s.

That may sound like a big bummer, but My Dress-Up Darling has many more quiet, serious moments, like the very last episode which have this feel good vibe, which also emphasises on the chemistry and their relationship development and which are ‘cute’, rather than ‘sexy’ like the fanservice they had to include in almost every episode for a reason I can understand (let’s accept it, anime girls need to have some sort effect on the male race’s crown jewels… besides the fact that cosplaying is inevitably linked to fanservice) but do not appreciate.

The few perks of cosplaying that were revealed in the show where sadly not enough to distract me from the humour of this anime which almost always derives from the fact that Gojou is embarrassed from an insane amount of unnatural fanservice in the form of the female main character. Hard to say if she's the living embodiment of every girl because she is extremely popular, beautiful, insanely cute and socially well accepted (because she just doesn’t talk about her main hobby with anyone but also doesn’t feel the need to). She is so perfect it’s hard to believe and no, her hobby is not being depicted as a problem. It’s her selling point. Despite being perfect, from head to toe, the character itself has absolutely zero self-awareness and since I am the opposite of her, I cannot feel good about this character. She’s confident enough to run around in nothing but a bra and a belt, looking herself over with bliss in a cosplay, saying she’s super beautiful and cute before pondering on not trying a cosplay in the next episode because she isn’t cute enough. She also seems to have no problem with being half naked in front of Gojou, which is obviously way too much for him to bear, even asking him to measure her boobs, before suddenly realising, holy cow, this is a male and now I am suddenly ashamed of myself, but not because I am naked but because this is actually a wonderful boy, only to turn up half naked again the next day. She might have some problems remembering, but her brain can’t be this messy… Despite being so heavily into anime, she can’t see that Gojou is having a heart attack in front of him while she’s undressing. It’s absolutely cringe at some points.

This kind of comedy cannot be defended by me and no, it’s just not funny to me. Neither do her eating habits sit right with me. It doesn’t make sense that she's beauty in human form with what she’s eating all day. Even when she took off her make up, she looked entirely the same. This doesn’t make sense.

Despite that I still enjoyed the romcom, the chemistry and especially Gojou. It’s definitely not as much of a masterpiece as some make it out to be, but it’s a good romance series that hopefully will receive a sequel because we all wanna know how they get together, right?

Artwork/Design/Animation - 9

Story/Characters - 8.5

Enjoyment - 9

#anime review #review

[elendiliel]

This AU idea (which started out as vague and angsty, then became a fix-it, because apparently that's how I roll - though there's still an amount of angst, because that seems to be how I roll as well) has not left me alone for the last few days. Hopefully posting it will alter that state of affairs.

---

Basic premise: for reasons best known to himself - perhaps as a backup, perhaps to keep his hand in, perhaps because he's bored - at some point after the events of The Phantom Menace Palpatine decides to select another young Jedi to turn to the Dark Side in the fullness of time, as he intends to turn Skywalker. Not as an apprentice - stars, or maybe black holes, forbid he should violate the Rule of Two - but as a servant. Initiate Helli Abbasa is his eventual choice. She may not be particularly powerful, but she could be, with all that passion in her heart. The Jedi will have their hands full with that one. She's lonely, friendless, isolated, bullied, a latecomer to the Order whose background is likely to clash with certain Jedi beliefs and teachings. A gentle, trusting soul who won't know what he is until it's too late. Yes, she's already showing signs of being a gifted intuitive, but carefully handled, her hereditary distrust of politicians could cancel that out. All in all, she's a promising candidate, or so he thinks.

How wrong can one person be?

Somehow, perhaps through Anakin, Palpatine makes contact with Helli and slowly starts to win her confidence. The task is made more difficult when she finally makes friends among her peers, and even harder when she's accepted as a padawan, but he perseveres. It sometimes helps that her master is a Gungan, but he can't afford to play the Naboo card too often. He's playing a dangerous game already - but what's new?

Then Geonosis happens, and the galaxy is plunged into chaos, just as Palpatine planned. A month later, Helli's master is dead; her best friend follows not long afterwards. Devastated, feeling abandoned by mentors and friends who have no time to spare, she turns to the one person outside the Order she really knows (or thinks she knows). The Supreme Chancellor.

Instead of encouraging her to let go of her harmful feelings and her attachments, Palpatine validates her anger and even hatred, gradually warping her views of the Jedi and their teachings. The change isn't obvious, even to her, at first, but as time goes by and she's given her own, small command and more and more independence, it becomes significant. Her methods can be surprisingly brutal, but they're effective and don't cost lives, so reining her in isn't a top priority. As Palpatine hoped.

Off the battlefield, the Sith's poison causes even more problems. When her second-in-command, Sergeant Torrent, tells her he's in love with her, she doesn't push him away just far enough, as a good Jedi should - quite the reverse. And when, not long afterwards, he asks her to marry him, she says yes.

She's ready for the next stage. Palpatine starts teaching her small, innocent-seeming Force-techniques, claiming he picked them up here and there. Blinded by her thirst for knowledge, she doesn't notice that she's tapping into the Dark Side, though she's careful not to demonstrate her new skills to other Jedi, and seldom uses them in the field. One, however, the ability to conceal a person's Force-presence entirely, becomes apparently necessary - to protect the new person growing inside her. Torrent's and her daughter.

Between that, anti-nausea meds and some adjustments to her clothes, she's able to hide her secret even on her team's return to Coruscant. But another problem is waiting for her in the Jedi Archives when she covertly researches hybrids like her child, hoping to prepare herself for the months and years ahead. No such child has ever survived more than a few hours after birth, even if they aren't miscarried or stillborn. Her species' genetics just aren't compatible with humans'. Helli is determined to find a cure, but she's also terrified that she won't, on top of all her other reasons to fear.

So she isn't surprised when the nightmares begin. They vary in precise details, but usually she's holding her dying husband as best she can, begging him - between labour pains - to hold on, at least long enough to see his daughter. But he can't, however hard he tries, and she's left to give birth alone to a child who never opens her eyes, and sometimes never even breathes.

She is a little surprised - and a shade suspicious - when Palpatine, during one of their regular meetings, starts talking about the power to save people from death, casting meaningful looks at her barely-swollen stomach. It doesn't take long for him to make his offer - safety for Torrent and the baby in exchange for her undying, undivided loyalty. He can sense that she's truly tempted. She's scared of losing either or both of her families - her soldier husband and sick daughter or the Jedi Order that will reject her if her secret is discovered - short of sleep because of the nightmares, and less than enamoured of the Jedi's conduct during the war. He feels sure she'll accept his offer.

The next thing he feels is a binder on his wrist, swiftly followed by the other half of the pair as she cuffs him to one leg of his desk. And - blast the girl - he can't feel much else. One of Helli's mottos is hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect something in the middle. So, of course, she carries Force-suppressing binders, in case she runs into Dooku or Ventress. The only weapon he has left is his tongue, so he tries to use it.

"What are you doing?"

"What I should have done a long time ago. And before you mention Tor or the bairn, arresting you, ending the war and throwing myself and her on the Jedi's mercy is saving them. I've read up on the Sith, and I know you can't be trusted. And speaking of Sith..." He hears the secret drawer in his desk slide open, revealing his lightsabres. She leaves them where they are, for forensic and psychometric testing, no doubt, and calls the Jedi Council, requesting help with an unspecified "situation".

The Council, when they arrive (quickly and in force, presumably believing there was a threat to the Chancellor), are rather perplexed by what they find, but Helli soon explains her actions. At length. She confesses everything, even her marriage (though she withholds Torrent's name until she's sure he won't be unfairly treated) and unborn child, and submits herself to their judgement, asking only that her daughter not share in her punishment.

The Council find themselves in a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, Helli clearly broke the rules and would normally be immediately expelled from the Order. On the other, she's a young mother trying to care for her child, and to atone for mistakes made under Sith influence. And - on the shoulder, perhaps - she's one of their best combatants, and inspires a great deal of loyalty in the clones around her. The Chancellor's under lock and key, but the war's nowhere near over yet. By expelling her, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot.

The resulting compromise would make Helli's late master proud. Obviously, the best place for her daughter to be born is the Halls of Healing, where she can be properly cared for. And it's likely that she'll be Force-sensitive, a potential Jedi who should - if her parents consent - be raised in the Temple, but the Jedi have never separated parents and very young children unless it's in the child's best interests, so her mother at least should stay near her. Helli can remain a Jedi for now - but one more infraction, one sign of unwise attachment after the birth, and she's out. And the moment the war's over, she's confined to the Temple until further notice.

That suits both expectant parents. By the time Dooku and Grievous finally surrender, Helli's eight months pregnant and much less mobile than usual. Her daughter is born a month later in the Temple, delivered by her father - and immediately taken for treatment before her condition deteriorates. It's touch and go for a while, and she has to spend a week on a ventilator, but thanks to Kaminoan technology (the least they can do, now that the biochip conspiracy has been uncovered), maybe some Force-healing and quite possibly a strong will inherited from one or both parents, she pulls through. Torrent and Helli are in tears when they finally get to hold her - the first of many, given the number of uncles and aunts she has, both Jedi and clones. (It's some time before Echo meets his firstborn niece, following his rescue from Skako Minor, and even longer before he's comfortable holding her, but he and Deala adore one another on sight.)

As it turns out, Deala is Force-sensitive, and her parents do agree that the Temple is the best place for her. Once she's old enough, she lives with the other younglings, but still sees Helli when she's on-planet, and Torrent (now a therapist and counsellor on Coruscant, mostly working with his brothers; a lot of clone medics have stayed in some subset of their old field, such as Twitch from the 501st, who's become a skilled physical therapy assistant) visits as often as is advisable - often enough that Deala knows her father, but not so often that she becomes attached. It's not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.

Her parentage isn't a secret; it can't be, as she takes after both parents in more than just looks. She has her mother's eyes and hair, but also her tenacity and loyalty; her father's face and build, as well as his patience and steadfastness. Her complexion is somewhere between the two, as are her ear-tips (Helli's are very clearly pointed, Deala's less so). She's beautiful inside and out, clever, kind and gentle, with beskar in her soul and kyber in her heart, a talented intuitive, telekinetic and telepath with a gift for psychometry, but her health is always fragile, and the gene therapy that saved her life has to be re-administered every few years. It's unwise for her to follow any path that will take her away from the Temple for long periods of time, but that won't stop her reaching her full potential. The Force already knows that at her Gathering - her kyber crystal is yellow, the colour of a guardian or a scholar.

When Master Jocasta Nu, the keeper of the Jedi Archives, chooses Deala as her first padawan in years and she accepts, her parents could not be more proud. She's forging a path for herself, not that of a soldier or a warrior-diplomat, but that of a guardian and seeker of knowledge, whose achievements will long outlive theirs. Not a safe path, but a more than worthwhile one. And if her family have any say in the matter, a path she will always walk in a peaceful galaxy, free of the Sith - for now.

---

Twitch is @gaeasun's OC, but seems to have adopted me. And by the way, I don't know how canonical the assignments of sabre colours to different disciplines is; I found that one in this fic.

#star wars #the clone wars #alternate universe #jedi oc #sheev palpatine #clone trooper oc #jocasta nu #fanfic

[just-kiss-me-you-fool-hehe]

emotional regulation

hey Haley and danny

I wanna preface this by saying that I’m probably the worst at emotional regulafion

recently I got out of a 5 year relationship that started when I was 21 and he was 26 and we met in my first year at my first job out of college. since the breakup I’ve been learning how to live alone but also how to be single

lately I’ve realized that people just tend to regulate their emotions a lot around friends, again I thought I had really close intimate relationships with my friends but over the course of the relationship falling apart I realized that I was hiding my feelings and not able to share that I was down for fear of being a Debbie downer (side note my childhood anxiety like Haley is being friendless and not fun to hang out with which makes it hard for me to be down around friends for longer periods of time for fear that they won’t wanna hang out with me)

anyways I’ve realized that being a person in the world means that you’re constantly regulating your emotions and one thing I noticed is I cry very easily in therapy because it’s a space I’ve allowed myself to feel those emotions and I do cry weekly there. But being out of the relationship has made me feel like I don’t really have an outlet to cry about the day to day things that bother me like just having a shit day or my manager belittling me in a meeting. I don’t want to worry my parents with these things when they have their own stresses but somehow it feels like not big enough/maybe too often of a thing to be happening (trust me my manager is a piece of work) that I don’t go to my friends about it either

I feel really bad about this “distance” that I have with friends because I know they’re getting these needs met with their partner but I’m having a hard time asking for that and adjusting to my newly single life. More broadly, I feel bad that single people don’t get to have (or maybe it’s just me) that sense of comfort and belonging you feel when you have someone in your corner that’s entirely on your team.

and even though I have amazing friends I’ve known for a long time, I still don’t see them as being on my team. It feels like friends are kind of on parallel paths and you converge every time you hang out and update each other but your partner is the one that is on your path with you. Is this just how it always is? Should I feel bad about being single? Is it even a sustainable way to be long term or am I just destined to feel this gnawing lack of fulfillment until I find someone I wanna be with long term?

and how is it that people don’t really talk about this stuff more?? seems so existential. It also reminds me of the woman on tiktok who went viral for saying she’s not had any physical touch in such a long time and I imagine that people are feeling the effects of this but not talking about it?? How do I even talk about it without upsetting other people or bringing down the mood? Sorry that’s a lot, love you guys

#personal

[webslingingz]

✎ masterlist

╰ to see if requests are open, check my bio or send me an ask :)

╰ you can request here ╰ please take the time to read my rules before requesting they r important methinks

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

: ̗̀➛Peter Parker

╰ The Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield)

➛ Ibuprofen: Peter Parker had not permitted the tales of loss to affect him while he was working, lulling himself into an admittedly puerile sense of security for his entire time cross-dimension. However, these stories pinnacled into a blinding panic the moment his feet touch his own ground - his own world - and he is suddenly overtaken by an ache of searing remorse for leaving you alone.

➛ A Constant, Despite Inconsistencies: Peter Parker had little reason for constants in his life, not since losing his closest friends. However, you were always there and had yet to be taken from him; no matter what he was to face, Peter found dubious mitigation in the thought of seeing you when he returned home; in the thought of childhood glamour being within the walls of his apartment, awaiting him.

➛ I'll Be Around: Peter returns home only half-aware of the excruciating pain in his side, far too staggered by the intensity of the brawl he’d been in to even begin to form a cohesive string of thoughts. However, that night, under the effect of both of whatever painkillers aunt May had him on and your sincere monitoring, he comes upon a sudden, pain-induced revelation.

╰ Spider-Man (Tom Holland)

➛ Drown: The fog cleared, the air thickened. You called out for him, but he didn’t reply. All was still, and all was not well.

➛ On the Same Side: It’s reckless and stupid and something Peter knows he’s gonna be reprimanded for when - if - he gets back to Stark, but the young hero acts on instinct and, in a flashing moment, he’s swinging unabashedly in front of a bullet you’d intended for the target below you and tumbling unceremoniously into the concrete of the roof with you - one of New York’s most infamous Anti-Heroes - under him.

╰ Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire)

➛ When We Were Younger: You’re so young, so lackadaisical, so untainted but the things you would go through as you’d get older. Peter sees you, despite knowing well (well, as well as he could) that the person before him was your parallel, and is suddenly overcome by the overwhelming urge to protect.

: ̗̀➛Wade Wilson (Deadpool/Shithead)

➛ A Cancelled Gig: It would be rather unexpected to say that the most formidable part of running a bar frequented by raucous mercenaries was securing entertainment entertaining enough every Saturday. However, it seems to Wade Wilson that the unexpected is to be expected in Sister Margarets when a strange revelation about his close friends family tree is revealed to him the night of a compromised gig.

➛ Reasons to Stay: Wade Wilson never cried - never seriously. You knew it was something you should bring him to communicate more about, but something inside of you prevented you from bringing it up before - something inside of you that knew him, that knew of what happened to him when he was younger, that knew of the vitriol and the dread of communicating his sentiments and that knew of the walls he had been building since his youth. However, that night, something that had been bubbling inside of him for a long time seemed to culminate into a scene you weren’t quite sure how to deal with.

: ̗̀➛Matthew Murdock (Daredevil)

➛ The Devil Ain't a Friend to No One: Hell's Kitchen is a wretched, friendless place at night. All hope was to be forsaken, all valour disbanded, especially so when faced with such violence; when faced with the glint of silver under the faraway street light as you turn a desolate corner. However, the Devil was invariably vigilant, and you had a sneaking scepticism that you knew him well.

➛ Everyone’s Got Them: Matthew Murdock craved the innocence of waking up alongside you, tangled in the sheets of his bed, and is reluctant to break himself from that innocence when it’s presented to him.

#masterlist #peter parker x reader #tom holland x reader #avengers x reader #marvel x reader #mcu x reader #matt murdock x reader #matthew murdock x reader #daredevil x reader #spider-man x reader #spider-man imagine #spiderman x reader #deadpool x reader #wade wilson x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland oneshot #tom holland imagines #tobey maguire x reader #tobey maguire oneshot #tobey maguire imagine #Matt Murdock x reader #matt murdock fluff #matthew mutdock x reader #matthew murdock imagine #matt murdock imagine #daredevil imagine #matt murdock x you #matt murdock fic #daredevil x you

[nixxx11]

So...we know that Luz was seen by most people as an outcast and a weirdo in the human world, according to what we see of her time there.

I think a large part of what makes her so quick to help others and express affection is that she's never had that outlet.

It's funny to see her share a dance with Amity and tell her “it’s what friends do” but it’s also kinda sad and understandable?

She'd been friendless for a long time, like Amity. Luz might not have had as much internal trauma as Amity before coming to the Isles, but I think she’s so eager to give love to others because she hasn't been able to enjoy that in the past. It's so much fun for her to finally be able to have friends to love and help.

It's why she has a hard time comprehending romantic signs from Amity-

Luz blushed back in Escaping Expulsion because Amity spoke to her through her own way of love- taking risks and helping others. That's Luz's love language; when Amity returns that favor, it's easier to reciprocate.

In previous episodes...Because helping others was merely a way of expressing her love, Luz didn't connect it back to having a possible crush on Amity. Luz's love language is shown in almost every episode with conflict (with Eda, Willow, Amity, etc). Her determination to succeed often makes her overlook potential risks and signs. Luz’s desire to befriend Amity goes beyond her Azura fantasies.

It’s why Lumity wasn’t able to work in that way before-

As a result of Luz and Amity's different love languages, they weren’t able to realize that their crush was reciprocating their love. They understand love in two different ways.

Also, this was probably the first time she had any friends. It’s exciting; so why not make more, right? Having connections with others is so important to her. Luz likely hasn't had a crush on anyone who she could actively call a friend, so any feelings of romantic attraction simply seem to be kind, platonic affection to her. It’s the only actual love she’s ever known. And as Dana already mentioned, she had lots on her mind, such as Eda's curse or her conflict about sharing the truth with her mother.

She’s thrilled with having friends that care about her, which is why she has trouble distinguishing platonic and romantic feelings. Luz is affectionate in general, so her obliviousness is understandable. Another important thing to note is that Luz could also be self conscious. What does she really think of herself? It’s possible that she thinks too highly of Amity (among the first things she learns about Amity is her high academic and social standing) to suspect that she would be interested in Luz.

We’re talking about a girl (platonically or romantically) has been rejected her whole life. Think about it. Her lack of friends back home makes it difficult for her to adjust to people being friendly and accepting of her. Adding someone being romantically interested in her on top of that? If I was Luz, even even I would struggle to comprehend it. Luz never had an outlet for receiving affection in general- even friendship is something she’s still discovering. That’s mainly why she doesn’t pick up on Amity’s crush.

Luz's kindness is unconditional. She doesn’t help others expecting a reciprocal reaction from them in any way. Aside from that, she's seen Amity's parents and is aware of their standards for who Amity is allowed to associate with. She’s also seen that Amity is willing to push that limit if they hurt her friends.

Initially, Luz was the one who befriended and helped Amity. Luz being taken aback and blushing in Escaping Expulsion was the result of Amity reciprocating that. Returning her act of service.

While Luz has struggled as much as Amity, it's less obvious because she's always been so bubbly and happy, she's that character who gets swept away by her radiant personality and jumps over the shadows. Amity is the opposite.

“That’s what good friends do.” Having Luz offer a dance under the blanket of friendship is her way of being able to help someone she genuinely cares about; it's also a way for Amity to justify the dance to herself. And to help Amity cope with rejection. We all know who Amity actually wanted to ask out- But Luz is probably still under the impression that Amity was rejected by someone else.

Luz indulges in others’ fantasies (King’s requests, dancing with Amity, helping Willow, Amity and Eda, etc) partly because she herself has fantasized about things a lot, but never got the chance to live them out. The thrill of living the fantasy she's always imagined is what made her want other people to experience it too. This is also one of the reasons Luz is so kind. Knowing what it's like to have her interests downtrodden, she knows how good it feels to be loved by others.

Love is touch for Amity, not service. I'm not going into that, but it's obvious that Luz's touch makes her blush and physically react. WILW was basically Lumity trading love languages - Amity rushed to go talk to Willow and Gus to help Luz, and played the game with her and Willow despite it meaning destroying her social status. And despite her “weak nerd arms” Luz offers to carry Amity to the nurse when she’s hurt.

Also, Luz and Amity are literally inseparable- Luz is always helping her out. Even if the love was rivalry at first, it still kept them actively thinking about one another. In Covention, we get to see Amity's depth and the reasons behind her behavior in I Was A Teenage Abomination. Luz immediately tries to befriend her after the duel.

Intimidation was the way Amity kept her place and hid her weakness.

But suddenly, here’s the girl she was deliberately mean to, trying to build a genuine relationship with her to gain her trust. When she realizes that Luz isn't as she thought and, regardless of her generally wacky attitude, is willing to put in her best and succeed, she accepts the friendship.

Lost in Language is another important episode where they continue to build trust. That’s where Luz sees a different side of Amity and wants to know more. To do so, she tries to better understand her, and in the process, they get captured and need to work together to get out alive. (Unrelated, but I’ve always imagined that this is the episode Amity started developing her crush on Luz lol)

Throughout every shared episode they have, there's some sort of growth. First, we have Luz offering her book about Good Witch Azura so they can discuss their interests further. Then Adventures In The Elements- she accidentally endangers their friends, so she takes it upon herself to help Amity save them. Despite Amity's protests, Luz basically does whatever she can to ensure that she helps. There’s Luz expressing her love language to the fullest. Throughout Understanding Willow, Luz also tries to help Amity correct Willow's memory, and other than the moment in the room, Luz isn’t angry with her. Instead she understands her mistake, and tries to encourage Amity. And then of course, Enchanting Grom Fight, where Luz offers her a dance just to make her feel better about rejection.

She's repeatedly gone out of her way for Amity, whether it's picking her up books, carrying her, or fighting Grom for her, it's evident she'd do anything for her.

The reason Lumity wasn’t working, traces back to their two different love languages. After WILW, the next episode with these two is Escaping Expulsion- in which Amity decides to openly disobey her parents out of love for Luz. And something finally happens. First time we see Luz blush over Amity's actions. Now that they've both learned more effective ways to communicate, we're seeing lots of progress. Only lack of communication was the reason Luz wasn't able to tell Amity was into her (besides the other things on her mind like Eda's curse). Amity wasn’t anywhere close to confessing and the idea wasn’t even consciously there for Luz.

Now that they're developing a better understanding of each other, Luz is finally realizing and reciprocating and Amity is becoming more comfortable around her.

(I want the library episode so badly rn)

#toh analysis #toh s2 #toh spoilers #toh s2 spoilers #escaping expulsion #separating tides #enchanting grom fight #wing it like witches #wilw #ybos #young blood old souls #lost in language #covention #i was a teenage abomination #adventures in the elements #the owl house #escaping expulsion spoilers #lumity #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity analysis #luz analysis #amity analysis #my analysis #toh #eda the owl lady #lilith clawthorne #edric blight #emira blight #emperor belos

[dcbbw]

The Witch Hunt

This fic is a highly fictionalized account of true events. I wrote it as a way of coping with the discourse and said it would never be publicly posted. But thanks to an ask from @twinkleallnight (and her persistence that anything I write needs to be shared and enjoyed by all), and discussions with my boos, bears, and Coven sisters … here it is.

HUGE THANK YOU to @ao719 for the amazing moodboard.

Thank you to my writing sisters for re-reading this story and assuring me that it still makes sense.

For all who will read this fic, THANK YOU! Your time, efforts, and energy spent reading, commenting, and/or reblogging is greatly appreciated more than you know.

Please excuse any and all typos, missing/extraneous words, and/or grammatical errors. (I rushed through my final editing)

Only the Commoner and the King belong to Pixelberry.

Song Inspiration: Every Breath You Take, Scala/Kolacny Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt63b4x2Xec

Word Count: 3,546

Eastwick

Light years and many moons from Reality, there is an alternate universe called Fandom where both children and witches live. The witches are a large coven, and spend their days writing spells; incantations of love, lust, and laughter … sometimes of darkness. The spells are for their intended and beloved, and tell of the lives and adventures the sorceresses wish to experience with them.

The witches live in a corner of the Fandom known as Cordonia, in a small town called Eastwick; for the most part, they all got along well and were supportive of each other.  Within the coven were three sisters: Hilda, Zelma, and Glinda. The sisters lived together in a large Victorian house, complete with wraparound porch, bay windows, and spires. All three were well-known and well-liked throughout the coven.

Glinda was the most popular; her bright cheery smile and sweet personality made her a favorite throughout Eastwick.

Zelma was the friendliest; she knew nearly all the other witches, and read over their spells to ensure that nothing went wrong. One incorrect word or improper enunciation could twist the spell’s intention completely.

Hilda, who was also a wizardess, was the most empathetic; she offered hugs and a listening ear to the strays of the coven: The witches who either had no magic, or if they did, no idea how to use it. Her sisters were usually tolerant when Hilda brought home her newfound, friendless acquaintances … except for Apple Core. There was a reason the oldest citizen of Eastwick had never truly been a part of the coven, but Hilda insisted Apple Core just needed love.

The sisters were sitting at their kitchen table, writing spells for their love interests. Zelma was in love with the Commoner of Cordonia, as were many others; it did not deter her from sending her love spells into the universe, neither did it stop the Commoner from returning her affections.

Glinda and Hilda were in love with the King; as was the case with the Commoner, the sisters were in competition with many for his both his hand and his heart. Glinda had decided that she and Hilda would love different versions of the King so as not to make things awkward between them. Glinda fell in love with the blonde-haired, blue-eyed King, while Hilda’s King had dark hair, dark eyes, and Asian features.

“I love him so much,” Zelma murmured as she finished her spell, her eyes landing on a picture of the Commoner she had summoned in their crystal ball.

“And he loves you in return,” Glinda said while tapping her quill pen against her chin.

“He loves an alternate version of me. If he knew what I really looked like, he wouldn’t,” Zelma lamented.

“Our beloveds see our hearts and souls, not our outer appearances,” Hilda stated as she waved a wand over her spell of lust.

Silence as the sisters worked to finalize their spells before casting them into the Void. Suddenly, there was a jarring of the earth and a loud clap of thunder; it was so loud and sharp,  Glinda covered her ears as the house shook.

Zelma looked up, her eyes darting around the room, as if the source of the disruption was in their home.

“The Dark One is casting.” She looked at her sisters uneasily.

WestWorld

On the other side of Cordonia, in WestWorld, The Guardian’s head lifted at the sound of distant thunder. Her eyes fell to her glass of water, now slightly moving across the table from the remnants of the shaking earth. Her gaze narrowed.

“The Witches!” she hissed.

WestWorld was where the children of Cordonia lived. There were some adults:  survivors of trauma and abuse from their previous worlds, but the majority of the residents were children. The Guardian lived there to ensure the under-aged residents were properly housed, clothed and fed. She shielded them from the Witches, whose sorcery and magic were misunderstood by WestWorld.

The Guardian and her Army believed in love and light; no sex was needed for that. Angst and strife were not needed for that. Darkness definitely was not needed. So, the Guardian warned the children constantly not to venture into Eastwick and to never, under any circumstances, read the spells that were cast into the Void from the other side.

And now, the Witches were casting darkness into the Void … again. Dark magic was the only thing that would have such far reaching effects.

The Guardian retrieved an ornate gold box from her cupboards and removed the lid to reveal her crystal ball. She chanted as she waved her hands over the ball, summoning up a spell to inform her of what was happening.

The Dark One appeared in the glass, looking rather smug and pleased; her image faded, to be replaced by the parchment containing her spell. The Guardian fell into her chair, her eyes wide with shock as she read what the Dark One had cast.

The Guardian felt her stomach churn; the children would most certainly want to see what had caused such a disruption in their world. Normally, the citizens of West World were content to read their tales of otherworldly creatures from a time long past, or of the single mothers who loved their childen beyond measure.

But they were children, and they were curious.

And now Dark One was once again summoning the Guardian’s charges to the other side.

The Guardian rose hastily from the table, and ran through the halls calling for her Generals.

One Week Later

Eastwick

The Dark One sat in her living room, her eyes fixed on her Book of Spells, searching for an answer, a solution.

Something.

The Guardian and her Army were calling for the Dark One’s head. They wanted her banished from all of Cordonia, and her spells erased from existence.

The Dark One shook her head to herself.  

That was unacceptable.

The Dark One was in love with the Commoner; she always had been since she first laid eyes on him. However, The Dark One knew she would never stand out in the sea of spells filled with love and lust. She didn’t speak that language.

No, she needed to speak to the Commoner soul to soul.

She focused not on his perfection, but his flaws and insecurities. She sought out the Commoner’s dark side that no one wanted to hear of or speak to. The Dark One offered the Commoner her broken pieces, her sorrow and hurt … and he was finally accepting them.

He was falling for her.

And she refused to let anyone stop them from being together.

With a small sigh, The Dark One sipped from her glass filled with hibiscus wine. This was not her first run- in with The Guardian. When The Dark One cast her first appeal to the Commoner’s dark side, her spell was met with resistance from both Eastwick and Westworld. She had taken a day away from the coven, not in shame, but to consider whether to remove her spell. If it inspired such strong feelings from her fellow witches, would it repel the Commoner?

But it did not.

He began looking her way. He urged her to tell him more about herself; he whispered more of his secrets in her ear. And The Dark One decided not to remove her spell simply because others were jealous the Commoner’s attentions were turning to her.

But now, The Guardian was viciously attacking her, over simple spells! There were threats of her murder if she did not comply with The Guardian’s request. Her sister witches, save for a few, were silent. The chosen to do battle with WestWorld fought alone; however The Dark One was given suggestions, instructions, and encouragements in private:

Listen to their concerns.

Perhaps you need to not cast so many spells.

Just stand down for a little while; it will blow over. The battles always do.

The Dark One thumbed slowly through her Book; her eyes took in the words that her soul had spilled. Her blood, sweat, and tears covered every page. And she knew what she had to do. She would step away from the coven; not because The Guardian told her to, but to protect the innocent.

It meant leaving the Commoner behind and The Dark One wasn’t sure she could do that. She had finally captured his attention and found her understanding.

But she would try.

She just had to do one last thing …

That night in Cordonia the earth shook, and the thunder clapped loudly and incessantly as The Dark One released nearly all her spells into the Void.

The Three Sisters

At the home of The Three Sisters, Zelma fretted as the house shook and dark clouds covered the sky.

“She’s been casting nonstop for a week! They’re threatening to kill her! And now what is she doing? The Void cannot handle so much dark energy.” Zelma stopped pacing to angrily throw her hands in the air. “She’s going to make it so none of us can cast!”

Glinda poured hot tea into three delicate teacups. “Perhaps we can appeal to The Guardian.”

“She won’t listen to us! With The Dark One being so unreasonable, The Guardian will set her sights on us. I’ve dealt with WestWorld once and I’m not eager to be once more tossed into that fray,” Hilda argued as she added honey and lemon to her fragrant beverage.

“If we use our powers of invisibility, she may. I see others from both sides are appealing to her in that manner.”

Zelma and Hilda barely heard their sister; they were watching the crystal ball reveal spell after spell flying past, flurries of parchment and ink whisking before them as if in a windstorm.

“Stop it! Stop the ball!” Hilda yelled.

With a frown of confusion, Glinda waved her hands over the sphere and froze the image. The sisters read the spell before them, eyes widening at the darkness it revealed. When they finished reading, they looked at each other, each trying to process what they just read.

Hilda straightened up. “This…this is not good. Perhaps I will approach the Guardian. I see where she has let the children read one of my spells. She praised it.”

“Perhaps … “Zelma said doubtfully as she reached for her cup.

The knock on the door startled the trio. Glancing at the clock, Glinda wondered aloud who it could be at this hour. Hilda went to the door; she was the oldest and viewed herself as her sisters’ protector. She pulled open the door to see Apple Core.

Apple Core was an outcast amongst the witches. She was without magic, and very demanding of members of the Coven. Apple Core had no true home and only one friend.

“Hello, dearie,” the outcast croaked.

“Good evening,” Hilda responded politely.

She noticed the older woman’s threadbare cloak and cracked, dry lips. Hilda stepped aside, pulling the door open wider as she did so.

“Please, come in. Perhaps partake in a glass of water? And a bowl of brew?”

Apple Core smiled thinly as she entered the household; she ignored Glinda and Zelma rolling their eyes at each other.

“The Dark One is releasing her magic quite freely tonight,” Apple Core remarked as she settled into a wooden rocking chair.

Glinda went to fetch water and brew for their visitor. Zelma and Hilda sat side by side on the sofa.

“Yes, she is. I plan to reach out to The Guardian as she and I are on friendly terms.” Hilda smoothed down her dress.

Apple Core looked at her quizzically. “Why on earth would you think that?”

“She has let the children read one of my spells.” Hilda said with a hint of pride.

WestWorld never allowed a spell to be voluntarily brought into their corner of Fandom.

“Your spell has been removed and cast out of WestWorld. The Guardian has discovered that you are mutuals with The Dark One, and therefore are guilty by association. In fact, all three of you are now on The Guardian’s blacklist.”

Glinda was returning with the sustenance for the visitor and heard the last part of the statement; her voice held an edge when she spoke.

“What are you talking about? I was never mutuals with The Dark One, and Zelma broke ties with her months ago! Hilda has maintained ties with The Dark One, but in name only!”

“This has become so much more than a push to banish The Dark One. And I fear now, even if she leaves, the damage has been done. Deep damage,” Apple Core said cryptically.

Her eyes fell to her bowl and the glass of water; she greedily licked her lips. “The best thing to do … frankly, the only thing … is to deflect The Guardian’s anger and ire back where it belongs. On The Dark One.”

“But how?” Glinda sat next to her sisters.

Apple Core slurped her brew directly from the bowl; splashes of broth splattered both Apple Core’s dark cloak and the silver spoon still sitting on the tray. Her eyes rolled over to the three sisters. “I can only point you in the direction, I cannot lead you.”

Hilda spoke slowly and thoughtfully. “The spell we just read; perhaps that will be enough to redirect The Guardian. I can speak to her invisibly. It can’t hurt.”

“Have you ever used the Spell of Invisibility?” Glinda asked, scoffing slightly.

“Hmmmm, once?” Hilda shrugged.

Glinda shook her head impatiently. “I’ll show you!”

Apple Core finished her meal and rose from her chair. “Your secret is safe with me, dearies. Just know, I have seen many battles fought between the two sides, and this one is going to be far worse than the others before. And a word of caution … The Dark One has even more spells; she just isn’t releasing them yet.”

“MORE spells?” Zelma exclaimed, wondering just how many spells The Dark One had. She rose to  usher Apple Core to the door where she bid the woman a good evening, watching Apple Core’s dark cloak billow behind her as the outcast made her way back to a hut on the outskirts of Eastwick.

Two Weeks Later

Eastwick

Zelma was sobbing as her sisters tried to comfort her. The battle with WestWorld was intensifying at a rapid rate.

Hilda’s attempts to divert The Guardian had failed: The Guardian had already read every spell The Dark One had cast into the void, which led her to seek out who among the Witches approved of such an abuse of power. The Guardian’s research went back over a year and was helped along by several informants, all invisible and anonymous to her but she had her ideas as to who the people were.

Names filled her ears, portions of spells and those who supported them crossed her desk. Her lips tightened a tad more with every name she came across. The Guardian needed a plan; a plan to end this once and for all.

This was so much bigger than simply The Dark One.

Zelma had wanted to approach The Guardian with news that one of the informants was bogus, and a spy for both sides. But in her haste and eagerness, she forgot to cloak herself with the Spell of Invisibility.

The Guardian’s lips had curved in a slightly cruel smile when the two women faced each other in their crystal balls. The Guardian knew who Zelma was; Zelma found out who the Guardian was. The witch flushed beet red and began to stammer, but The Guardian waved her hands and both balls went dark.

Zelma panicked. She knew about the Blacklist and didn’t want to be on it. Zelma didn’t want to be in WestWorld’s crosshairs at all.

She saw what had happened to Hilda; she saw what they were doing to The Dark One. Zelma immediately wrote a letter of apology to both the Coven and WestWorld. She tried to scrub any traces of her affiliation with The Dark One; but still, they remained.

The Guardian refused to listen to Zelma’s apologies and excuses. Moreover, she was angered by the outpouring of love and support for Zelma. But The Guardian held the upper hand, and she did not hesitate to use it.

Zelma was blacklisted and outed.

Her best friend in the coven had her spell creating abilities revoked.

Yet another friend wrote an appeal to both sides, asking to come to a consensus as to the best way to protect the children. She too was outed and blacklisted.

The only concession made by The Guardian was to restore spell creating privileges and to assure Zelma that she was in good company:  Her sisters, along with many others, would be joining her on the list.

Invisibly, Glinda, Hilda, and several others from the coven reached out to The Guardian; they were either ignored, or met with dismissiveness. Hilda’s plea was met with acknowledgement she raised valid points, but The Guardian would not waver on her decision.

This was for the children.

The sisters and their friends were both resigned to and relieved at their fate. Perhaps this Blacklist would be a good thing. They were buoyed by their fellow Witches requesting to be added to the list.

WestWorld and Eastwick rarely interacted; another layer of separation may be the best thing.

WestWorld

The Guardian’s head was in her hands, her fingers splayed across her face. Everything was going to hell in a handbasket, so quickly.

Too quickly.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

The Guardian had started her crusade with one mission in mind: banishment of The Dark One. But that hussy hadn’t left; she had barricaded herself inside of her home after releasing hundreds of spells into the Void. For days on end, all that crossed anyone’s path were dark, potentially triggering spells. The Guardian was truly puzzled how one witch could have so.many.spells. just waiting to be cast. And for the Commoner’s love at that; for the King … The Guardian could see that.

At least it was over.

Then began the influx of invisible, anonymous visitors. The Guardian knew they weren’t all witches, at least in the beginning. The Spell of Invisibility was available to all the citizens of Fandom.

Hour upon hour, The Guardian heard words of support and encouragement; tales of trauma; grateful sobs … all from people with no names or faces.

The Guardian knew she was doing the right thing; she and her Army were protecting those who were defenseless. The Dark One was simply the tip of the iceberg. All the dark spells had to go, and the ones who wrote them had to be outed, at the very least.

A new plan formulated in her mind, and her generals agreed with it.

The Blacklist would include the witch’s names, their addresses, and a list of the offensive spells.

And that is when the others began to visit.

They came while The Guardian slept; they came while she was preparing her meals. One came while she was bathing. All told her she was self-serving, trying to draw attention to herself and WestWorld.

That her plan of the Blacklist was simply telling the children where to go.

That they too were traumatized, and this is how they chose to cope.

The others told her they warned the children not to read their spells because the words they spoke were not for young eyes.

They told her to reach out to the people being put on the list, to walk in their shoes for a day or so.

The Guardian’s brain felt as if it were about to explode from too many voices and too much information.

She argued that she had reached out to the Witches; they had blocked their portals to her.

The Witches said that was an untruth.

The Guardian said she was doing what was best: Providing the children with the witches’ addresses and providing them access to their portals was to protect the children and survivors.

The Witches countered The Guardian was readying her Army to attack them. The children had already used their invisibility and anonymity to bully them to the point of encouraging the witches to commit suicide.

The Guardian said she was making Fandom a safe and nurturing environment for all.

The Witches scoffed at that, arguing that was why they lived in Eastwick and the children lived in WestWorld. It was neither safe nor healthy for either side to interact with each other.

It was all too much; this is not what was supposed to happen. Despite what it looked like, she was not looking to start a war.

But one was underway.

And to make everything even worse, The Dark One was casting spells again.

With a slightly trembling hand, she reached for her glass of water as she popped an aspirin in her mouth. The knock on her portal startled her; water sloshed from the glass and onto her frock.

She raised her head as the witch stepped over the threshold. It was Hilda.

A smile on her face, but a serious look in her eyes, Hilda sat uninvited at the table with The Guardian.

“We need to talk.”

Tagging:  @sirbeepsalot @jared2612 @ao719 @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @ofpixelsandscribbles @debramcg1106 @marietrinmimi @merridithsmiscellany-blog @queenjilian @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @indiacater @forthebrokenheartedthings @kingliam2019 @bebepac @zaffrenotes @liyanin @liamxs-world @choiceslife @ac27dj @the-soot-sprite @gnatbrain @anotherbeingsworld @atha68 @hopelessromanticmonie @amandablink @mom2000aggie @cmestrella @iaminlovewithtrr @shewillreadyou @starrystarrytrouble @liamrhysstalker2020 @alyssalauren @queenrileyrose @ladyangel70 @yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99 @neotericthemis @twinkleallnight @umccall71 @superharriet @lodberg @charlotteg234 @sweatyrysconnoisseur @mainstreetreader @busywoman @gabesmommie1130 @jessiembruno @darley1101 @txemrn @tessa-liam @phoenixrising308 @beezm @gardeningourmet @lovingchoices14 @thegreentwin​

#dcbbw writes #dug in the vault #for this one #kinda choices

[scover-va]

How do you think Lionel and Carla became friends as kids? It’s left kind of ambiguous in canon (as far as I know; I haven’t looked into the ARG much as of yet) but as CEO of the Hex content I would LOVE to hear your take on it.

Anon that last bit is probably the nicest way to say i shitpost a lot FNQNDBQBDB /pos

But!!! My gf and I covered this in an rp we’re doing!!! So I’ll give the explanation/summary hehe

Basically, Carla as a child was Also very fucking friendless, just like Lionel, and preferred to stay inside playing games all day. Well, when she was 5-ish, her tio and tia (not living with her parents for reasons (nothing bad i promise)) made her go play at the nearby park with other kids since it was a nice day, and. Well. She needs to at least learn how to talk to people.

Well, she’s pretty dead set on spending the entire time alone, just standing off to the side watching to the other kids. At the same time, Lionel’s playing at the same park, and is in the sandbox. Well, some asshole kids come over and try to kick him out of the sandbox, and are just overall being dicks to him. And, well, pre-gamefuna contract Lionel is fucking spineless as shit.

So, Carla sees, and decides to go help this random kid more. Because as much as she hates talking to other kids, she hates assholes more. She goes over, shouts at the other kids some, they make some snarky comments, and she proceeds to slam her lil kid leg into the asshole’s fuckin dick. Which effectively scares off the bastards.

The pair chat a little, Lionel invites her to play with him, and they become fast friends over their shared love of video games.

She’s also the only person Lionel ever tells about Rootbeer Reggie.

#the hex #thank you anon for the ask ive been waiting to share this but didnt wanna write a fic #mainly bc writing a fic after rping it seems redundant to me #tldr lionels a wuss and carla Is Not #carla dosa #lionel snill #scov.txt

[if-music-be-the-food-of-love]

It’s sad to see the line at the end of ep3 where Robbe says ‘maybe you should meet some new friends’ in response to Sander saying he’s worried about never meeting someone because.... Sander really didn’t have any friends. I know he was very isolated when he was with Britt but in s5 he didn’t have a balloon squad. We never see any friends outside of Robbe and his friends on his insta. Even in the academy clip he was talking to class still life model instead of another classmate 😔 I wish we had seen him have someone

I’ve never had an ask like this. Eeeee!!!

This makes me sad 🥺 bc you’re so right. Whether it was intentional to make him a lone wolf like that, or it was a side effect of the pandemic, writing, etc, it was definitely a lost opportunity. I would have loved a connection to the Balloon squad, but more than anything it would have been nice to see him connect with anyone. We had a reference to Adi, and we hc’d him as a friend. But a name isn’t much to go on, and he was never mentioned again. We never even got to really see him interact with the Broerrrs (the xmas party and the birthday video call—that’s it). He was always with Robbe at parties and during group shots. I think we latched onto the insta banter between him and Senne bc we wanted them to be friends so badly. Ugh, just thought of this. Even before Robbe met him at the beach, he was always alone. Other Evens interacted with and laughed with friends, but not Sander. Sander watched him alone, and even when he was with Britt, he seemed lonely, like he wasn’t really connected with anyone, putting on a show for them.

If it was intentional, then that’s a very lonely existence for Sander, and it would explain his reaction to Robbe’s (however brief) rejection and how he turns it on himself as him being toxic. He hasn’t had anyone before, why should he be allowed to have Robbe, a best friend and lover? Even so, it seems cruel.

I would wonder if making him friendless wasn’t necessarily intentional. It just wasn’t needed for the plot. If they never planned to have a balloon squad connection (and of course we have no idea what they originally intended), then they wouldn’t need to set the groundwork for Sander’s previous relationships and friendships. They’re unnecessary and thus not included.

Intentional or not, we at least don’t see him having any relationships outside of Robbe, and for me that’s tragic bc as wonderful as romantic relationships are, friendship—knowing people love you just for who you are—is such an important part of life. Robbe IS his best friend, and I LOVE that. But I also think it is important to have other outlets. Granted, we do see that he has some kind of relationship with Yasmina in season 5 bc he’s near the top of her call (? I forgot) list, and they hug like they’re friends. Maybe he was adopted by Robbe’s friends and has been super close with them all year. We just never saw it on screen. Again—that boggles my mind bc you’d think there would have been ample opportunities to throw him into the background of scenes. No lines. No subplot. Just existence so that we can see how he’s doing, who he’s hanging out with. Little things like that in season 4 and 5 would have given depth to his character without any additional work.

But on a different note, not everyone needs/wants lots of friends, and we all need different types and levels of human interaction. It could also be that Sander is the type to have one person. His person just happens to be his best friend and lover. I kind of explore that in my current WIP, and there’s even a moment where Robbe is happy that he found another close friend.

I head canon Sander as a confident introvert. My SO is one—has lots of acquaintances, is great in social situations, but doesn’t have close friends (aside from me). I’m the opposite, an extrovert with massive social anxiety (oh the irony). If Sander is like that, he enjoys social interaction but doesn’t need more than that bc he’s happy to have Robbe and be able to recharge in his own time in a safe place. Who knows. I’d rather think of it this way than imagine him friendless.

Thanks for your ask. This was fun, and I enjoyed thinking about it. I’m always happy to talk about the show. 💕

#wtfock #wtfam #sobbe #sander driesen #this was so cool #no ones ever just sent me an ask about the show #thank you so much

[violetfaust]

I'm interested in hearing more about why you think Margot should've been Rumbelle's daughter. Sounds interesting, but what would that mean for her enchanted forest life? I think her being Robin Hood's daughter would've been fine if not for Zelena

Okay, Nonny, since you sent this a few days before Mother's Day, I'm gonna finally take the opportunity to try to sum up and speed-run the Belle's Daughter Margot feelings that have haunted me for THREE YEARS. Buckle in; this will be more than you or anyone asked for.

Disclaimer 1: It's been, well, three years, so my memory of Curious Archer and their story is not perfect; could be off on some details here. And Disclaimer 2: I really loved Tiera Skovbye as Robin/Margot; she did a lot with not much screen time, and she and Rose had fabulous chemistry. So although she was well cast as Robin Sr.'s kid, Tiera would be perfectly believable as a Rumbelle daughter, too--maybe give her some low-lights and call it a day. We keep Tiera as Margot in this rewrite. Okay: onward.

(Since one of the few things that would have to change about Robin if she were Rumbelle’s daughter is her name, I’ll just mostly use her Hyperion Heights name “Margot” throughout this post for simplicity.)

First and foremost, the foundation of everything: Margot is so like Belle! She is so like her. They have the same love of adventure, a similar sense of humor. She took Alice on a date to a bookstore. Most of all, she has Belle’s ability to see past “the mask of the monster” to a person’s heart. There was a great scene where Tilly explained that she didn’t want Margot to see her “bad days” because she thought it would be “too much,” and Margot said words to the effect that she was there for the bad as well as the good.

Obviously, people don't have to grow up to be exactly like their parents (Belle and Rumple sure didn't)...BUT. In fiction, one of the fun parts of next-gen stories is for the audience to see how their favorites' personalities are passed down. It's just more fun to see a Henry who has parts of Regina/Emma/Neal than one who doesn't; it's fun to see Lucy resemble little Henry. And it would be fun to see Margot be like her parents (she is very like Robin Sr; not so much Zee). Seeing a character who has so many of Belle's traits becomes just more...fun...when she learned them FROM Belle.

The family feud Rumple/Hook angle turns Alice and Margot’s relationship up another roman tic notch. A classic trope! It’s about reconciliation and love remaking and erasing those old grudges. Which is even more important when we’re supposed to believe that the evidence of Rumple’s final redemption is his saving Rook.

On a more macro level: the entire claim that OUAT is "a show about hope" COLLAPSES because it ends with the annihilation of the Stiltskin family. Rumple, Belle, and Neal are all dead; Henry doesn’t acknowledge them as his family; and Gideon is a friendless and forgotten orphan in another world. I did my rants about this three years ago, but long story short: the show’s not about hope unless it’s hopeful for EVERYONE. And having at least one of Rumbelle’s children alive and happy at the end (with her True Love and friends and acknowledged as part of the family) would fix that. My objection has never been that Rumple (and even Belle) die, but the way it happened.

And of course, Rumbelle needed to have at least one other child because Kitsowitz managed to deny them even one single shared happy moment surrounding Belle’s pregnancy with Gideon and his birth. Even if the audience didn’t get to see it (and we could have gotten a glimpse in Beauty), we deserved to know it happened.

Finally: Zelena did not belong in S7, period. I know it was fun for her fans! (Although apparently there weren't enough of them to positively affect the ratings, meow.) I do know! But it was bad storytelling. She served no point in the larger season arc, and the serial witch killer plot that was invented to serve her was one of the worst and most stupid things Kitsowitz came up with in seven years, and ate up time that could/should have gone to develop other characters. (Driz and Ana come immediately to mind, instead of having them shunted off to another universe, but also Henry/Cinda/Lucy and of course Rumple since his plot was coming to a close.) Zelena didn’t even get any significant growth herself, or develop her relationships with Regina or Robin. She still didn’t express regret for the horrible things she did to characters we love (Rumple, Neal, and Robin Sr.); the only result of all that screentime was to give an unrepentant rapist a love story with a person--we barely see and have zero investment in. And even that was ultimately negated at the end of the season, because in the finale Zee’s back in Storybrooke sans Boo Bear.

So, all that said: what would have to change about Margot’s, and Curious Archer’s, FTL storyline to give us Margot Gold?

Her name—but actually very little else. (And frankly it would have been more respectful to have Belle name her daughter after Robin Sr., who was actually her friend, than for Zee to name her kid after the man she raped, manipulated, and ultimately got killed—but that ship had sailed.)

Belle and Rumple could have given their daughter any number of fairytale names after people they know, aka fresh take on a Disney character. My favorite possibilities are Aurora (and then Curious Archer could have been Curious Beauty, and done a riff on the Sleeping Beauty story as part of their FTL backstory, with a built-in TLK) and Merlin (very pretty for a girl, I’ve always thought).

But the character herself would have been very much the same: she could be Rumbelle’s jock daughter, trained in archery and swordsmanship by family friends (Merida/Mulan/Charming), but always feeling out of place in her family of scholars/sorcerers/nerds.

I am SO sorry for the length of this--there's even more under this cut!

Robin/Margot felt insecure about trying to live up to her father’s name; Rory/Merlin/Margot could have similar anxieties trying to live down her father’s Dark One rep. There could even be a similar story where she was born with magic (like Robin was) but loses it or chooses to give it up—something that would estrange her further from her family. Or, if she was Merlin, she could keep her magic but be reluctant to use it, and part of Curious Archer’s Hyperion Heights arc would be both Margot and Tilly discovering and accepting their magic. (Sapphic sorceresses for the win.)

Now, one of the cutest things about Alice/Robin’s FTL dynamic was Robin being a girl from the Land Without Magic finding her feet in an enchanted forest, with Alice’s help. But it would only take a little finessing of S7 Rumbelle’s story to get that for Rory as well. (Of course, any decent story would have a LOT of finessing of Rumbelle’s plot so that Belle didn’t die and put Rumple on a suicide mission, but again—assuming the ship has sailed…)

Say that Rory is five to six years younger than Gideon. The Rumbelle family spend a dozen years or so traveling the realms, but then Rumbelle decide that they want Gideon and Rory to be comfortable in the LWoM with their extended Charming family, so they settle back into the Pink Palace so the kids can get a LWoM education. They still take occasional journeys, often Rumbelle going to save some hapless souls, but Rory grows up primarily in SB with very few, vague memories of all the fascinating places they visited when she was a small child. This feeds her hunger for adventure along with some envy of Gideon for having so many more fairytale experiences—another thing that makes her feel like a misfit in her family. So, presto, when she moves to FTL she and Alice have pretty much the same meeting/adventures.

One of the key notes of Rumple and Alice/Tilly's relationship, showing his growth and making it so special, was how he chose to set her free of being the Guardian or whatever, allowing her to be free and get what he never had, the chance to grow old with the woman she loves. And that would be weakened if Rumple knew that by choosing Alice's happiness over his own, he was also choosing his own daughter's happiness (because we know Rumple picks his kids over himself ever time). But--he doesn't have to know WHO Alice's True Love is when he makes that choice. He could just know that there is someone, or simply realize that Alice deserves her freedom for her own sake. (Rumple's daughter also getting happiness would be a side benefit that he didn't learn about till later, and have the added perk of Rumple actually getting a narrative reward for doing something good. Which almost NEVER happened! Bonus.)

Finally: I do understand that Robin's presence on the canvas was important to fans of Robin Sr.--getting to know he's remembered and having someone carry on his legacy. Of course I get it--Rumbelle and their family not having that is my biggest complaint (of so so many).

But we don't need a grown-up Robin Jr. to be Robin's legacy. Let her stay a cute background kid with perennially baby Prince Neal. There's already a character, one we're invested in, to carry on for the Hoods: Roland. And again, it would be satisfying for the audience to learn that a five-year-old orphan wasn't shunted off from what family he had left (Regina and Henry) into another universe and never heard from again. If Kitsowitz didn't waste time with Zelena, they wouldn't have needed the idiotic Jack-is-Hansel-the-serial-killer twist, and we could have have had Roland filling the role of Henry's best friend/little brother (and therefore Lucy's fake HH dad--God, that plot was bad all the way back in season 1; why Kitsowitz why?). We'd see Roland onscreen, part of the family, at the end of the show, perhaps with his own True Love (Drizella, maybe, or better yet Gideon) and happy future.

So, that's it: the combination of Margot Stiltskin-Gold and Roland Hood tightens and heightens the storytelling throughout S7, closes some plot holes, and actually fulfills some of the show's stated themes. Who knew!

Anyone else want three years of OUAT theory vomit? 😋 Shoot me an ask!

(I actually have another one, god help us all, but I might save it till Father's Day...)

#rumbelle #ouat of all things #curious archer sort of #rumbelle family #belle french #deserved a daughter damnit #roland hood #anti-kitsowitz as all things should be #long post guys sorry #op #UN!proofread!

[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Week Fog/Splatter (Also Works For Darkness/Poison And Glow Stick/REDRUM): Poised To Go Splat

Casper high, predictably, can’t even have a normal dance without it getting interrupted by something ecto.

Danny pushes in the gymnasium doors, drink -which is, in his opinion, unfortunately non-alcoholic punch- already in hand. Side-stepping and leaning against the wall purely to watch the pulsing, flashing, moving strobe lights and laser beams bouncing off and curving over people glowing bright neons thanks to the blacklight. Excluding that light, it was borderline pitch-black; which he finds he’s perfectly content with. Being able to see in even absolute dark and all that. Honestly, this would probably look cooler without his fantastic night vision. Seeing as everyone else probably can’t see the turned off ceiling lights or teachers dressed in dark colours hanging out watching the dance. But fuck, at least his parents aren’t here this time. Lancer is, but Lancer’s probably the only teacher left who doesn’t hate his entire being, guts, and continued existence.

Looking around at the decorations as he wanders aimlessly over to the food table, thank everything the theme was Creepy Critters, guess the school and town were finally tiring of making goddamn everything ghost-themed. Sure it was funny and ironic at first -honestly come on, a ghost going to ghost-themed events? HILARIOUS- but things lose that little spark of novelty real quick. Especially when you are a ghost -or half of one at least-, are surrounded by and fighting other ghosts, have ghost hunters for parents and friends, and live in the most haunted town in the world. Ghosts were their thing but nobody likes a one-trick pony, especially the people living with said pony. Now what does ponies have to do with the current Halloween Casper high ball and him acquiring fake cheesy snacks? Absolutely nothing. He’s not even wearing a pony costume. Sure he thought about it, FrightKnight would argue that undead alicorns absolutely do count as a creepy critter, but Danny’s pretty sure that’s not what the school was going for here.  

Needless to say, Danny’s rocking a pretty solid -if he says so himself- raven costume. And sure, maybe it was glowing all by itself and maybe the feathers were just slightly sentient and made of black moulded ectoplasm, but it’s not like anyone here’s going to notice that. Danny is exceptionally experienced with what people will and will not notice in this school and town. Regardless, he gets his hands on his sweet cheesy puffs... and is instantly disappointed they got the no-name brand. Those things were so greasy they legitimately tasted like straight-up flavourless grease, just with a side of cheese. Like someone poured grease into a mould, filled it with air to make it puffy ‘n shit,  and then sprinkled some cheese on top like an afterthought. Needless to say, he eats an entire handful. Danny Fenton-Phantom is not a man -teen, whatever- of refined tastes or any large amount of standards. He’ll eat cheese-flavoured grease, he’ll do it gladly.

Deciding to meander onto the dance floor aka the centre of the gym, to enjoy the light show and attempt to get lost in it a little. Most people are chitchatting with their friends, dancing stupidly, pretending to be drunk, or pretending they’re about to sneak into the bathroom to fuck purely to get a rise out of the teachers. Sure it takes all of half an hour for someone to start smashing apart glow sticks and smear the liquid around, which of course cause practically half his fellow teens -including him in all honesty- to follow suit, but that’s really par for the course at any Highschool dance worth it’s salt and ectoplasm. Besides, not like he actually had to wash his costume, fuck that he’ll just absorb the ectoplasm into his system; leaving the probably toxic glow stick juice though. He doesn’t have standards but he does have at least a mild desire to not intentionally poison himself. Regardless of the fact that his ectoplasm would just destroy whatever toxins anyway. Thinking of that though, maybe he could, like, drink one or two just to freak people out. It’s not a Casper party unless Danny Fenton does something weird and freaky, right? And pretending to get repeatedly trapped inside the mirrors and writing on them to be freed was so last year, like, literally last year. Yeah fuck it, self-inflicted poisoning be damned, that’s what he’s doing this year. Meaning he promptly snaps one open and shotguns it while winking at one of the teachers he can easily see. They scowl and throw out their hands to the side. Mission accomplished already. Nice.

Vaguely he wonders what the heck his friends are up to while he dances loosely and only absently aware of people around him. He knows neither’s coming, Tucker being grounded and Sam disliking the idea of school parties while also not being willing to tolerate one purely to keep Danny company. Which was fine, he could entertain and enjoy himself by himself just fine. And he gets that he can be a little much for most people, his friends included. But hey, they haven’t totally ditched him in life/half-life, so he’s going to consider it a plus. Tilting his head back to let some of the flashing beams periodically flash him straight in the eyes, how it made everything else blackout for a bit was a nice effect even if the light bordered on painfully bright for those split seconds. He gets his friends pulling away from him some, really it was hard for humans to be close with anything that wasn’t quite human enough. Same reason Vlad was utterly friendless, alongside being an evil nutcase anyway. Danny honestly doesn’t mind, honest, he’s perfected the loner act at least to some degree most of his life. He was always only close enough with people to be able to include them in his social circle. Sure Sam and Tucker got almost unhealthily close and attached to him for a while there, but the whole ‘we almost killed you and need to protect your dumbass now because fuck, you died’ and ‘this hero thing is cool af’ things wore off real quick. Their friendship was effectively back to normal now, close but at arm's length. He liked the breathing space even if it was just slightly lonely. But again, as he spins and twists a little, he’s perfected the sorta-loner thing.

He shotguns another little glow stick -that he’s pretty sure used to be wrapped around someone’s wrist- and lays spread out on the ground; not really giving a damn about occasionally being stepped on and waving off anyone who checks on him with a cheeky ‘I'm good’. That gets boring really quick though, especially as people just consciously know to avoid his spot on the floor now. He paused in his almost attempt to push himself up at hearing someone mutter, “ah yes! Finally got this stupid thing working”. Danny tilting his head at seeing something vibrate on the ceiling before making a hissing sound and spitting out fog. Ah, so they actually dished out for a fog machine? Oh wait, never-mind. It’s got a little green flaming F on it. Ah fuck, he should probably be worried about that, that F was probably ominous all things considered. But he can’t really be bothered to do more than watch it spit fog for a bit, fog machines were frickin’ awesome. He should totally buy one. Or make one.

It don’t take long to hear a couple mildly impressed sounds over the fogging up air above everyone’s heads, and a few complaints about it apparently smelling like rotten lime juice and cat piss. Which yeah, definitely ominous. Weren’t fog machines supposed to smell like fake vanilla or something? Make you wonder just what the Hell the added strong vanilla was there to attempt at covering up. Maybe this was just what it smelled like without the added vanilla. Doubtful and Danny’s hardly ever that lucky. Hence why he’s deciding staying on the floor is officially a good idea. Watching the effect with the lasers ‘n shit is cool as heck though.

He absolutely can tell when the fog gets far enough and thick enough to reach him, ‘cause the ecto making up his costume gets just vaguely liquidy. Oh yeah, he should probably nope out of this situation. At the very least if this stuff destroyed his costume he’d be stuck in just his boxers and a wife-beater. No one needs to see that. Or more specifically, he doesn’t want anyone to see that; considering all the scarring and the muscle he’s at least attempting to hide from the school at large.

Deciding to sit up and immediately deciding that crawling would have been a better idea at feeling like someone just started jabbing tiny needles into his face, which he immediately winces at and gets up. Pushing his way past the people, some looking legitimately drunk or otherwise like hot garbage. Zone, he probably looks drunk right about now since there is precisely zero chance he’s walking in a straight line considering how everything’s warping, bending, and pulsing. Yup, leave it to his parents to absently poison him at a seemingly basic normal high school dance. Lovely.

Well at least he got to have a good time for a while there. Right now though? He so totally is going to throw up. It’s happening and it can either happen on the dance floor -gross and unpleasant for everyone around- or in the locker room/bathroom -also gross, in fact it’s just slightly more gross but less embarrassing. But it’ll be less gross for everyone else. Which, come on, other people kinda tend to be his priority.

One stroke of luck though, the locker room is blessedly empty. Saving anyone from gross or just downright weird collateral when his costume effectively explodes in a sticky gooey ectoplasmic mess. Splattering all across the room while also sticking to him like some kind of disgusting vaguely sentient tar. Which effectively flings him into the centre of the room, smashing his back onto one of the benches, and makes wet slurpy suction noises when he lands on the ground properly. He absently thinks it was the single most comical stereotypical sounding ‘splat’ noise he’s ever heard, as he groans slightly.

Unsticking his arm from the ground with wet thwap suction noises to shot his hand over his mouth as he gags. Ah yup, there’s the whole vomit thing he was talking about. Shit body, time to get up. Preferably, like, now. It takes an honestly ungodly amount of effort to peel himself off the floor, the black ectoplasm still sticking and stretching with him as he stagger walks to the bathroom and effectively throws himself at the toilet; smashing his head on the ceramic tank in the process. Because, apparently, vomiting wasn’t enough for him. No. He also needed to have a mild headache. Fun.

It takes about three seconds before he feels like he’s hurling up his entire insides -which is a plausible theory- along with inner layers of flesh -also quite possible- and it glows ridiculously; that last one he can probably blame at least partly on the whole glow stick juice shooters idea of his.

Blinking down into the toilet bowl and wheezing, single most interesting mixture of glowing colours he’s seen in a long-ass time. And oh, yup more vomiting. Ah fuck, Jesus. He shoulda stayed home. He straight up really does feel like his insides are just mildly being torn apart or maybe liquified. Which, considering his costume and it’s black splatter remains, might be legitimately accurate. Which is, like, super not good for his half ecto ass. The fuck’s he supposed to do about it though? He’s stuck with his head in a toilet, ironically splattering the inside of that bowl about as much as the rest of the place was already messy with ecto.

He should at least attempt to do something about this. His phone is fuck knows where in the black mess behind him. Ancients knows if it even still will work properly after getting effectively soaked in supremely sticky ectoplasm and probably thrown violently into something. Eh, nobody said his ass wasn’t creative; hacking up his innards or not. Electing to use some of the ectoplasm -he’s not going to question how the heck he’s able to consciously move the black ecto. Beyond that he probably absorbed it some, in some weird attempt to make up for the glow stick contaminated crap he’s been hacking up- to smear a little ‘get help’ and ‘preferably from my dumbass parents’ on the mirrors, since speaking is kinda out of the option here. Not that anyone will walk in here and not call for help; this was kinda noticeable after all.

By the time someone does wander in he’s groaning into the stupid toilet -that he just mildly hates and feels way too friendly with at the moment- and feeling like his skin is going to bubble right off his muscles, his bones feel a little loose and wet too. Which, like, all that is a super supremely not good sign. Fuck, sometimes he wished his parents were just stupid rather than stupid smart. They wouldn’t be mildly good at actually hurting his ecto-ass otherwise.

“Oh holy crap, what the fuck”. Whoever’s footsteps get closer and make squelching noises, “oh god ew, why is it so sticky? Ah ew”. Danny retches again just to make a point that would dude bro to hurry the fuck up. “Fuck. Fenton? Of course it’s you, and- oh well that’s actually worrying. Ah, I’m just gonna go call your folks. Jesus fuck. You are one poor son of a bitch, you know that?”. Danny obviously doesn’t reply to that beyond sticking up a kinda floppy saggy arm and flipping the guy off weakly. “Wow fuck, that’s- uh. Are you like dissolving or something. Why the fuck do I still live in this tow- oh yeah hi! I don’t know what’s up but Fen-Danny dude is going all exorcist in the school locker rooms. Also kinda looks like he exploded black tar everywhere and bones seem questionable at best and pretty sure the toilet is, like, glowing or some shit so maybe come and like get him? So someone doesn’t have to, like, tie a liquid Danny up in garbage bags”. Ancients, people are way too used to weird shit in this fucking town.

Danny can almost hear his parents freaking the Hell out over the dudes phone, he would be actually able to hear it if it didn’t sound like he was underwater and actively sinking down deeper. This, decidedly, sucks. But he’s kinda good at the whole dissociating away the pain and other awfulness at this point. He feels it but like he’s watching himself feel it rather than directly feeling it. It’s a lot and kinda everything, but he’s not really there for it.

He feels the guy try to pat his back or some shit, whatever it is it definitely doesn’t happen right and he can feel himself latching onto the dude and sucking out whatever bits of ectoplasm the dude’s carting around in his system -every Amity Parker was ecto-contaminates after all- and Danny’s body kinda just devours it for some more energy. “Oh god, congrats I’m officially disgusted. I mean, I already was but give me back my freaking arm. Cannibalism is so not your style. Jesus”.

Both of them hear someone else opening the door. “I really wouldn’t, there’s some honestly nasty shit going on and this tar stuff is like fucking flypaper or some shit”.

“Holy fuck! Okay this is kinda cool and super Halloween-esque. But yeah- oh fuck! Hell no!”. Danny can tell the black ecto -which, fuck, absolutely part of him now. Cool. He needed the energy anyway- has sorta bubbled and popped onto the new guy and grabs at him. Promptly absorbing more ecto from that dude and apparently his ecto has just decided that this is the course of emergency action. Decontaminate people via lowkey ecto-cannibalising them. Yeah this is his luck alright. Not that this is actually really making him any better, since he just keeps throwing whatever up. But hey, it’s keeping him from getting worse. That’s something. What he honestly doesn’t appreciate really is new guy running out of the bathroom and taking a stretchy string of black with him. Right back to the whole poison fog situation. So he makes a damn point to smack more ecto on the mirror, ‘fog machine off’.

“Ah, you literally have not let go of my arm. But ah fuck, I’ll just text a friend. Fuck man”.

-

The dance outside goes into mild panic chaos mode as soon as a guy book’s it out of the locker rooms like he’s attempting to flee from the black thing grabbing him, which promptly just explodes and splatters everywhere. Coating, bubbling, crawling, and splattering all over the floor, walls, and multiple people. From there it practically spreads around like a freaking plague sticking from person to person.

Someone does manage to get to one of the teachers though, “the, fog machine, it’s causing this, shit”. The teacher sighs, “of course something the Fenton's made is causing this”, and runs off.

The chaos only gets worse when the Fenton’s themselves barge in, everyone pointing at the black stuff -which they can’t even be sure is ectoplasm at this point- or at the locker room doors. Which is enough to jerk the two hunters out of their shock and get them back to bolting to the locker rooms, which had been their goal to begin with. Meanwhile, the teachers attempt to free people from the sticky mess, fend the black stuff off, or control the chaos. Everyone wondering why the heck school dancers can literally never ever go off without a hitch.

-

Danny makes a point to smear up the mirror messages at just vaguely scenting his folks, while the dude mutters, “oh thank fuck”. Danny can practically feel the guy flailing around the arm that isn’t apparently stuck in him, which like mind trip right? Not that this entire event wasn’t already a bullshit trip and a half.

Seconds later feeling a very solid hand on his shoulder as he retches a little more and feels dude guy get yanked away from him. Well obvious as shit what happened there. His folks suits were ecto-phobic and ecto-proof after all. “Danny? Sweetie?”. Ah so that was his mom. Nice to know. He’d like to leave this entire situation now. Thank you very much.

He can hear her scowl and sounding slightly less directly talking to him, “damnit. Looks like the ecto-repulsitory solution is affecting him. I knew we should have tested it at home”.

“There was hardly time Mads! Nothing for it now I guess!”. His dad freaking laughs. Cool. Glad they’re having fun. They could totally help him out here any minute now. Like, any minute now.

Those glow sticks were a bloody terrible idea, the toilet smells fucking rank and he’s blaming it on that; he needs some kind of scapegoat after all, and it sure as shit wasn’t gonna be his ecto.

Who he’s assuming is his mom pulls him back and he sorta collapses backwards -into what he’s just gonna assume is a blanket- rather bonelessly. Like, literally boneless. As in, fuck he’s so totally a vaguely person-shaped sorta semi-solid liquid right now. Lovely. He should probably pull himself together before he scares the piss, shit and vinegar out of his folks. And hey, he’s not smelling or tasting the lime anymore so he might actually be successful at that. Though he makes some not particularly impressed or happy gag/grumbling noises at feeling his folks physically trying to tear off stuff from him. Probably the black ecto, which was kinda understandable at the moment. But fuck, that’s kinda all that’s feeding him ecto-energy at the moment so kindly fuck off yeah? He does manage to slur out, “mom”, in an annoyed tone before gaging and coving his mouth with a very limp hand again.

“Jack, bucket now”. Which yeah cool, he’s down for not throwing up all over himself. So fine, he appreciates the bucket as he hacks and gags some more. But at the very least the whole vomit ecto thing feels less thick and sticky, more vaguely like light water. Which may or may not be a good thing. But that’s pretty typical for, like, half the shit that happens to him these days. He gives his folks a little thumbs up when he’s done though. Partly to be an ass, partly to be reassuring. Those two things don’t seem like they can coexist, but by the Ancients do they ever. His mom takes the bucket away.

Blinking his eyes open a bit blearily, noting being wrapped in a towel -an anti-ecto one specifically- like a little Danny burrito. Not that he was exactly edible. Zone, he very explicitly wasn’t edible. Considering how ectoplasm was pretty gosh darn toxic. Glancing around at the black sticky splattered everywhere, well damn he sure made one Hell of a mess. The poor fucking janitor. It looks like his folks successfully ripped it all off him and are using the blanket to keep it all off. Explains why he feels tired and energetically spent then. Wasn’t being fed/absorbing ectoplasmic energy any more. Eh oh well, not that he can really complain about that to his folks. Instead choosing to groan a little, “what have I told you guys, about not testing shit against, me and my shit, before using it, like this”. And really? They have had this conversation dozens of times. Sure they still -how they haven’t come across the idea of halfas yet is absolutely befuddling- thought he was just weirdly ecto-contaminated. But they knew shit affected him and yet....

“Sorry Sweetie”.

His dad laughs a little, “we were in a bit of a rush. Wanted to protect the dance from ghosts you know!”.

Danny snorts, oh yeah, they so totally protected it from ghosts... by literally poisoning one. “Funny thing. Don’t think no ghost, has ever crashed, one of the dances. Usually you guys”. Ah Hell, he didn’t mean for that to sound kinda cutting; based on their slight grimaces it was at least somewhat hurtful. Which of course means now he’s gotta fix that. Fuck him. “Didn’t mean it, that way. Aw Hell whatever. Let’s just go home, yeah?”.

His dad scoops him up without any hesitation, “you sure Danny-boy?”.

Danny rolls his eyes tiredly, slumping bonelessly, “I doubt I’ll be, doing much more dancing”. Hell, was anyone? Judging by how they all kinda scuttle embarrassingly out of the locker room to a gym filled with only sticky black and people still yanking their limbs and shoes out of the tar-like ectoplasm. Why the heck the laser light show is still going on he doesn’t have the slightest clue. But hey, it looks pretty fucking cool, he’ll give it that. He kinda wanted to squirm out of his fabric confines and reach down to scoop some up, it was kinda part of him after all, but Ancients knows what in all is in that stuff at this point. Bits of other people’s contamination, fog poison, glow stick juice, generalised floor hunk, food and juice obviously, maybe even bits of people’s food. Yeah, he’s gonna give that one a hard pass. Plus his folks would freak at him. They didn’t exactly want him more ‘contaminated’, after all. Still he gives an impressed whistle. One of the teachers scowling at him, “you just had to one-up yourself huh?”. Which Danny gives a cheeky lopsided and slightly melty smile at.

Danny speaks back up as his folks settle him down in the GAV, “so, what’s that stuff supposed to do? What did it even do?”. He has a few ideas but better to let them explain themselves to him. Their intentions did matter at least a little.

His dad perks up, “oh! It was supposed to disorient and discombobulate any ghosts! And make them unable to use abilities by making their ectoplasmic cells disjointed!”, then looking rather guilty, “I guess with you it made your more unusual ecto suffer some kind of disconnect with the rest of you. Like it made your body think it was rotten. Like food poisoning! And made your ecto ‘think’ your body was foreign so it tried dissolving it!”, tapping his chin, “not the slightest idea what was up with the black stuff clinging to you though”, and looks to his mom who shrugs.

Danny will admit that shit was confusing as Hell, so fine that would make a suitable deterrent. Not so suitable when the thing it’s trying to deter can’t fucking move away from it effectively though. So major design flaw there. Ah well, with his less than pleasant -for everyone involved- reaction, they’ll probably scrap this particular experiment. Which is totally fine by him. He may as well satiate their curiosity a little, to avoid any repeat incidences at the least, “ah well, I may have went and made my costume out of some of that black purified experimental ectoplasm”.

His mom blinks at him, “you did what???”, shaking her head in clear disbelief, though really they should expect this kind of stunt from him at this point, “sweetie, did you at least have something protecting your skin?”.

Danny grins a little, “I used that spray stuff”, which wasn’t even a lie. Walking around a dance with literal purified ecto on him without spraying on some kind of barrier to keep it from hurting anyone would have been grade A stupid, even for him. And honestly? That probably saved his ass slightly, was probably why that ecto had been able to absorb other ecto at all instead of just being a liquid sticky mess.

His mom taps her chin, “huh, the caustic interaction between the settled spray and fog formula must have caused the ectoplasm to coagulate and seek out energy sources”. Danny decidedly doesn’t say shit, let them think what they want. While she continues, “and you were its closest potential source but were obviously having a reaction yourself, so it just clung to you instead”. It would probably be mean of him to point at that it was kinda part of him at that point and that he could absolutely feel through it. Or that it wasn’t feeding itself but rather him. So that he, y’ know, would, like, pass out from energy loss or some shit. Passing out in a toilet, ugh that so would have been not fun. Thank you weirdly sticky black ecto stuff.

Anyway, he yawns, because now he’s tired and would like to genuinely replenish all the ecto he hacked up. At least he was a bit more solid now though. That was a positive something.

His mom smiles at him sweetly a bit as they get home, “I guess we best let you rest rather than spewing theories at you”, and nods at his dad, who swiftly and surprisingly smoothly scoops him up. Danny’s cool with this particular course of action, not making a fuss about his dad carrying him up to his room or his mom kissing him on the forehead afterwards.

Eyeing his phone, naw, he’ll let his friends find out on their own and be confused for a bit. That’s what they get for sorta ditching him.

-

Nightshade: do I want to know how you ‘unleashed a black slime monster’ at the dance?

PDAxpda: ???

PDAxpda: ‘monster’ not ‘ghost’

PDAxpda: found photo the heckers

Nightshade: someone also mentioned you got drunk on glow sticks and vomited literal rainbows

Nightshade: nice asettic but yoyr a dumbass

PDAxpda: 💯 that shits toxic

PDAxpda: not that that matters to a certain someone

Dpain: 😉

Dpain: and I guess I kinda qualify as a monster

PDAxpda: I hate the implications there

Nightshade: that black shit was you wasn’t it you ass

Dpain: only vaguly

Dpain: nebulously

Dpain: margunally

Nightshade: I hate you

Dpain: 😏

End.

#ectober #ectoberweek2020 #ectoberweek #Danny Phantom #phandom #danny fenton #maddie fenton #jack fenton #vomiting #highschool dance #don't drink glow sticks kids #danny's a little shit #getting sick #fan fic #phan phic #my writing #have a fic suck my dick #phantomphangphucker #yeah that's right i put six prompts into one fic #suck it #gothmoth #thetribalmoth

[abandonedcyberpunkspidermech]

Character Bio: Peni Parker (SP//dr)

Name: Peni Parker

Hero Alias: SP//dr

Bio:

Let’s do this one last time.

Peni Parker was born on October 15th, 3132, to Richard Parker, the first SP//dr, and New York City chief of police Yuriko Watanabe, the latter of whom died shortly after giving birth. Being the daughter of SP//dr, and all that came with it, defines her life. From a young age, Peni had little opportunity to actually bond with her father. He made sure she was well-fed, had a roof over her head, and fixed her boo-boos, but he was always too busy defending the city to really BE with her. Part of why the kid got into robotics and science was to try to bond with her dad, to give them something to talk about. School has never been an issue for her, with her regularly acing her classes. As the daughter of a celebrity (most superheroes are idolized in this world, and SP//dr, New York City’s finest outside the police, is no exception), she always attended private schools with enough protection to make villains think twice about trying to attack her to get to SP//dr. There’s also the fact that most people only want to befriend her for the clout, but that’s a story for another day. She isn’t necessarily friendless, though. One of her closest friends is Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp and one of her father’s bosses in the SP//dr program. The two of them hung out a lot as kids due to their fathers’ setting them up on playdates while they were busy with Oscorp and SP//dr, and they have been friends ever since. All in all, Peni leads a fairly normal life. However, things change at the ripe age of 9 years old.

Richard Parker was a hero. The guy who was bit by a spider and became the one and only SP//dr. The hero who saved the city again and again. The man who, no matter how many times he got hit, always got back up. But after one too many battles with one Doctor Otto Octavius, he didn’t. Couldn’t. Just like that, the man she wanted so badly to be with was gone, and with him, her world shattered. To say she was heartbroken would be an understatement. The next morning, still raw with grieving, Peni moves in with her aunt and uncle, fellow SP//dr program employees May and Benjamin Parker, but not before they introduce her to a certain opportunity. As it turns out, Peni had the right genetic material to be able to pilot SP//dr, just like her father. And so, May and Ben inform Peni that she’s the only suitable replacement for her father as the pilot. Basically, they tell her “Let this spider bite you and get in the robot, Peni”. In spite of knowing how dangerous it is, how massive the responsibility is, and how great a legacy she’ll need to uphold, she accepts. She lets the spider bite her, forming a psychic link with it and gaining a supportive friend in the process. But there’s one problem: She is nine, and thus has no idea how to actually fight or be a hero. After a few months of training under the tutelage of SHIELD and Daredevil, a friend of her father, and connecting with the other heroes based in New York City, she finally takes the leap of faith and starts her life as SP//dr, the hero of New York City.

Abilities:

Psychic Link: The spider bite granted Peni a psychic link with her spider by essentially setting up a wireless connection between their brains. What this means is that the two have access to one another's brains, including senses, thoughts, memories, emotions, and instincts. However, this isn’t always a good thing. While it does allow the two to share experiences, it also has possible consequences such as sensory overload and mental contamination.

Psychically-Operated Mech: SP//dr, the mech, exists on the bleeding edge of mech control systems. How it works is that the spider is half of the mech’s CPU, and a human pilot can link with the spider and become the other half. For Peni, this means that she can control it in tandem with her spider like it was her own body, with all the relatively enhanced agility and dexterity that entails and few of the harmful side effects normally associated with using brain-computer interfacing to control extra body parts. However, like the psychic link, this comes with consequences, such as mental contamination, sensory overload, and the sensation of damage. With the ability to move the mech like a body comes the ability to use the mech’s senses like her own, which extends to feeling damage like physical injuries. The mech’s armor and coding reduce the sensory data her brain receives, but she still feels pain when hit.

Physical Strength: The mech is capable of lifting and moving approximately 45000 kilograms of mass without risk of critically damaging itself. However, both pilots hold back to preserve the mech’s internals and to avoid collateral damage, such as undue property destruction, injury, or death. Without restraint, the max lifting capacity of the mech has been measured between 60000 and 70000 kilograms.

Webs: SP//dr is capable of shooting webs composed of fluid that solidifies into an adhesive solid in the presence of atmospheric conditions. These webs serve a variety of functions, including but not limited to the mech’s famous web-swinging, incapacitating enemies, and grabbing objects from afar. SP//dr can utilize a variety of varieties of web fluid (with different chemical compositions) for a variety of functions, such as electrocution, bandaging, and temporary welding. However, most webbing breaks down within an hour, the only exceptions being designed to last longer.

Adhesive Limbs: The hands and feet of the SP//dr mech are designed with microscopic, artificial “hairs” that allow the mech to adhere to objects by use of van der Waals interactions.

Magnetic Suspension: SP//dr is equipped with a magnetic suspension system enabling it to manipulate its limbs (as many as eight limbs composed of two or three segments) in ways that would be impossible with a conventional articulation system. However, this does come at the cost of increased power consumption, and the limbs are paralyzed without power.

LCD Screen: SP//dr’s cockpit is headed by a screen with an LCD display allowing the mech to display emoticons to show emotions, messages, visual aids, or other images. However, the screen is more fragile than the rest of the hull.

Hull Durability and Armor: The chassis and limbs of SP//dr are durable and well-armored enough for the mech and pilot to be able to walk away from being struck with a bus without losing function.

Miscellaneous Gadgets: Depending on the need, SP//dr can be outfitted with a variety of tools, such as scanners, enhanced sensors, saws, welding torches, fire extinguishers, and weaponry.

Neurogenetic Technology Compatibility: Peni Parker has the correct set of genes to be able to interface with SP//dr (and other technology by proxy) given the proper apparatus. The effects, in addition to operating SP//dr, consist primarily of limited neural hacking ability and enhanced thinking speed (mostly subconscious), memory backup, as well as other general abilities usually granted by neural cybernetics. Oscorp scientists have noted a similarity to a cyberbrain, except entirely organic.

Spider-Sense: One of the few superpowers not entirely dependent on a giant robot, Peni Parker, the spider, and the robot all have a Spider-Sense. It functions as a general danger sense, allowing them to sense dangers other senses can’t detect and avoid them almost autonomically. It can also detect other Spider-People. However, scientists have noted that the sense sometimes acts in complete defiance of scientific possibility.

Intelligence: Even as a child, Peni Parker was a genius, having been one of the brightest kids in her school, a trait that will only grow with age. However, she isn’t a “Renaissance woman”. She specializes in STEM subjects, most specifically robotics and computers, but would be nowhere near as competent with Shakespeare (unfortunately, still taught in schools) or ancient history. She’s also trilingual, with fluency in English and Japanese and some knowledge of Braille.

Fighting Skills: As part of her training to pilot SP//dr, Peni learned fighting skills to enable her to better fight villains. This included boxing, self-defense, martial arts, firearms training, general combat skills, and enhanced physical condition. Aside from “anime moments”, she isn’t superhuman though, merely an athletic baseline human.

Emergency Response Skills: As another part of her training, Peni received training in responding to a general assortment of emergency situations she’d face during her career as SP//dr, including fire rescue, first aid, and water rescue.

Weaknesses:

Peppermint: Spiders hate peppermint, Peni’s spider is no exception, and the psychic link means that Peni shares that resentment. A sufficient dose of peppermint around an area will make SP//dr run from it, at least temporarily.

Vibrations: One of a spider’s most powerful senses is its ability to detect vibrations. This hypersensitivity can also serve as a weakness, as the psychic link means that if the spider senses a particularly strong vibration (or the mech does through onboard sensors), the feedback would be paralyzing. The effect is like a loud guitar riff being played on an amplifier turned to 11 directly attached to both of one’s ears.

Pesticides: Any pesticides that would affect an arachnid would affect SP//dr, so if the spider gets exposed to (or detects through onboard sensors) any of several pesticides, the mech will flee the area as soon as possible to allow itself to stave off the effects of the pesticide. Onboard filtration systems would and do nullify this weakness, however.

Power Grid:

Intelligence: 3 (Grows to 5)

Strength: 2 (5 in mech)

Speed: 2 (3 in mech)

Durability: 2 (5 in mech)

Energy Projection: 1 (2-3 with specific mech weapons)

Fighting Skills: 1 (Grows to 4)

Additional Trivia:

Ideal English VA: Kimiko Glenn

Ideal Japanese Seiyuu: Rie Takahashi

Peni Parker is a vegetarian (like in the comics). This is due to her finding it weird to eat other animals after psychically linking with SP//dr. Similarly, she has an aversion to any animal products requiring killing the animals. Except for insects for reasons most likely related to the psychic link.

As a consequence of being psychically linked to a spider, Peni is one of the more “spidery” Spider-Heros/Spider-Totems/Spider-People. This means that she has a few additional miscellaneous traits only actual spiders would have.

I’m aware of the Web of Life and Destiny and the supernatural aspect of Spider-Totem powers. Thus, I’m going to leave the balance of technological/scientific power origin versus mystical power origin for you to find out.

The SP//dr program has multiple mechs for various situations. The abilities above mostly refer to the primary mech (The same as ITSV), although some things could change with in-universe time and upgrades.

Peni and her spider use “SP//dr” to refer to the spider, the mech, their hero identity, and the program of which they are a part. Due to the psychic link, they always know what they mean.

I don’t have a section on her personality because that would change a LOT in-universe. She goes through a lot, both good and bad. SP//dr stays a supportive friend though.

The SP//dr program is run by Oscorp under the supervision and oversight of SHIELD and the Commission on Superhuman Activities.

In case you’re wondering, I use “neurogenetic” instead of “psychogenetic” because psychogenetics, the word her comic uses, is actually another world for behavioral genetics, the study of how genes influence behavior. Neurogenetics, however, is the study of how genes affect the function of the nervous system. Thus, considering SP//dr’s control mechanism, “neurogenetics” is a more accurate word.

Also, I apologize for any formatting flubs. I copy pasted this from a Google Doc.

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