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sunsetcarnation264 · 3 years

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So, uh, that DT17 finale huh?

I would've made this right after I watched the finale, but I wanted to give it a bit of time to sink in fully and made sure I thought everything through before giving my thoughts on it. Not the worst finale there is, but it definitely could've been way better in my opinion. I've heard about the finale from my friends who've seen it, which from the sounds of it I already wasn't liking it, but since I've seen the finale now, how I feel about it is now concrete and set in stone and I feel the same as before. Maybe how I feel about it is in the minority side, or maybe a majority side, I dunno but I don't care. It's not the best it could've been and I'll explain why below. If you like it, good for you I guess because everyone's tastes are different, but I personally don't and I feel like the show deserves a much better finale than this. HEAVY DUTY DISCLAIMER: Just because I'm criticizing the finale doesn't mean I don't love the series, in fact it's because I love the show that I'm giving criticism and give what I would’ve done instead, and if you're anything like me and you're hella late to the party then there'll be spoilers for the finale. If you haven't caught up on the last episode, then you're not missing much honestly, but if you don't like spoilers regardless then watch that first then come back

The first part of the finale starts off like any other DuckTales 2017 episode. It's Webby's birthday, everyone's keeping their eyes out for F.O.W.L. shit, and Webby's enjoying herself. After a bit everyone goes below Funso's and they end up in F.O.W.L.'s territory. F.O.W.L. sets everything up to be on self-destruct, so they gotta find them and stop the self-destruction. They did happen to do the latter, but the F.O.W.L. members already escaped with almost everything. Just almost. The gang end up finding May and June, who're clones and they presume they're clones of Webby. Now this is where I'm starting to not like the finale. Yeah, you can do clones as like a plot twist, but at the same time it feels a bit outta nowhere. Had they foreshadowed it in another episode or have it lead up to the whole "oh shit there's clones of a character we know and love" thing then I wouldn't have a problem, but this came outta nowhere and I kept an eye on possible foreshadowing during season 3 and the rest of season 2 post The Duck Knight Returns too so I would've picked something up. The only thing that could count as foreshadowing was when Beakley promised Webby that she won't keep anymore secrets from her and the harp was saying "fibbing fibbing fibbing", but that's just it. Part two of the finale, Gyro does tests on them to see who they might've been clones of. He tries to tell everyone what the results are but when Scrooge asks him, he said it didn't come up with anything for him to answer the question. Beakley thinks they're both dangerous and locks them up in a closet. Webby, being a naive little girl, wants to talk to them because they're essentially her 'sisters' and she wants to know them more even though Beakley straight up tells her not to interact with them. Webby disregards what Beakley says anyways and she frees them, talks to them, and tries to show them her family tree so they can figure out where May and June came from. May and June are basically like "ehhhh this is your family tree? Who tf are you related to besides Beakley?" yeah, as if extended family or found family still ain't family you jerks. In the meantime, Louie just wants to watch his Ottoman Empire finale which ends up being shitty foreshadowing for the last part of this finale. You'll see why I mentioned this later. They even see Lena and Violet on there and are like "okay but who're those" which Webby responds with how they're her best friends and guess what one of the two clones goes to do? One of them grabs scissors and tries to cut it. When she does cut it, Lena's like "aw hell no bitch" and uses magic on her. Webby being Webby, is completely upset about this because "that was my sister how could you do that" and runs off like how one of the clones ran off. Bitch you only knew her for like five seconds, just because y'all be related don't mean you automatically THIS close to each other like how you are with Lena, Violet, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and anybody else in the McDuck family. I personally believe that love, trust, and respect is what makes people family, not blood/DNA, adoption, or they were married into the family or a step sib/kid/etc. If they're a harmful dick (i.e. a bigot who's queerphobic and/or racist or if they're an abuser, murderer, etc.) then you don't gotta treat them like family or say that they're your family. But anyways we're probs getting off topic, point is that she should trust those who she's known forever instead of clones she knew for a few minutes. Everybody tries to find Webby and one of the clones that ran off. Webby bumped into Beakley as she was tryna find May or June (I think May tho, don't recall) and she tries to lie her way outta it but Beakley knows what's up lol. She says that Webby wants to see the clones, Webby goes with it, and the younger duck wants to know who her parents were. Beakley tells her who her parents were (which might've either been a lie or she was describing herself and a late significant other that we've seen in Webby's picture of her parents) and Webby accepts it. Cut to later when she catches May and June trying to steal the ancient artifacts that Scrooge and co. retrieved during the entirety of season 3. She's shocked that they're even doing this, they all fight each other, and May escaped while June got knocked out. Webby disguises herself as June while she takes her outside where F.O.W.L. awaited them with an aircraft, most importantly Bradford. We only find out Webby was disguising herself as June when everyone got on. Huey notices what's going on and he goes after them, somewhat hiding in the aircraft before everyone leaves for the F.O.W.L. hideout. Not gonna lie, that was a pretty smart plan by Webby. Considering they all look identical and Webby's good at imitation, she can actually get away with this pretty well. This I actually really like and I wouldn't change too much about this. When Huey reveals himself to the three, Webby reveals herself to him but tells him to play along so they ain't fucked over. Somewhat worked. Webby keeps making little slips here and there which makes May hella suspicious of her. They land at the hideout, Webby tries to get what info she can while Huey's taken away. Thanks to the help of Pepper (who I love btw and I think deserves the best ;____;), Webby ends up finding the document room where there's documents on May, June, and a third person with the codename of April. She watches it and oh, shit, it turns out Bentina Beakley actually snatched her ass from F.O.W.L. when she was a baby! What a shocker! She couldn't believe what she was seeing! This is actually fine to me, her possibly being a clone actually makes sense because she could've been a clone of Beakley. Plus it's also a huge reference to how Webby was created to be a combination of Daisy's nieces April, May, and June back in the original series, though I dunno how many people would catch that, especially younger fans who might not have done the research to getting all of the references and easter eggs here. When Beakley was brought in (essentially she knocked Scrooge out without hurting him, went to here alone to take care of F.O.W.L. once and for all just for Webby, but got defeated along with some of the McDucks), everyone leaves Beakley, Webby, and the Harp alone and Webby somewhat confronts Beakley about her past. Needless to say, Webby ain't excited about this and she gets captured and tied up. She's actually pretty depressed, which I mean in a way I don't blame her since she wanted to know if that shit was real or if F.O.W.L. was fabricating it. Cut to Huey being brought to Bradford. Apparently he was a fellow Woodchuck too, though he wasn't the best despite being the very first Woodchuck by his grandmother Isabella Finch, in fact he was the worst which hahaha yeah I can actually believe that. It does explain why he hates adventures and all of that shit, one of the only things I'm willing to accept from the finale. He talks about how he wants to complete the collection "for the better" because Scrooge and everyone else in the family were the only ones to have Isabella's lost journal. Huey believes this at first. He stops believing it once he ends up finding Gyro and everyone else who're locked up. In the meantime, Bradford drags Webby out to a sort of box along with May and June. She doesn't know why she's brought up here. When she gets close to the box, the papyrus appears because... She's the descendant of... Of Scrooge McDuck. Okay no, JUST NAH MAN. This is where my biggest issue in the finale lies, the fact that she's a clone/made from Scrooge's DNA and is technically his "daughter". Not everybody has to be related to Scrooge McDuck to be great, in fact doing this to her actually ruins Webby's character. Her trope is "found family," not "I'm secretly part of the family this whole time and not even I knew it" and this fucks with it so badly. This show is about family, and all different kinds of it. Being taken care of by your uncles/aunts instead of your parents but still having a good relationship, some kids don't have parents and they're gone for whatever reason, being loved and accepted by other family members, some families are awful and abusive, hell some families have two same sex/gendered parents with a kid who's def adopted and one might've been adopted or been from a previous relationship, and it's also how sometimes we find people to call family because we found them and they found us. Webby was the one to fill in the finding those to find family alongside her grandma, but I feel like they're disregarding that just to have a huge plot twist. Again aside from Beakley keeping secrets from Webby, there was no foreshadowing and it makes a previous episode from season two (Nightmare on Killmotor Hill) seem kinda creepy in hindsight since she's over here wanting to be Scrooge himself, and creepy overall due to how obsessive she was over the whole McDuck family in general. You could say it's foreshadowing this whole time, since some people might actually be like this before realizing that "oh hey I'm actually related to this person" due to someone being adopted, given to someone else to take care of, divorce and each parent keeps one of the kids and they don't meet again until way later in life, which in a way is a fair point but at the same time not everyone's gonna notice this even when they look back at the previous episodes. If you're gonna do foreshadowing and a plot twist, you have to do it where looking back everyone can notice little details, not just a certain group of people, and you gotta make sure it's good. Every plot twist has it's foreshadowings, and every good one has a good amount for people to take a guess. Every bad plot twist, however, is either forced in just to shock the viewers or has shitty foreshadowing that's either extremely little or none. I will make a comparison between this and Steven Universe (which if you're still watching or haven't touched yet but haven't gotten up to season five, please skip this part to avoid spoilers for the show) because in Steven Universe, there were PLENTY of hints and foreshadowing that Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond and it was even a theory too that Rose was actually Pink, alongside a theory that Pearl was actually the one to shatter Pink Diamond and not Rose which ended up being true in a way that both fits. This was a good plot twist that everyone can watch the show from start to end once again and notice every little bits of details that led up to that plot twist reveal. (End of SU spoilers) This, however, isn't a good plot twist. It's a terrible one and, again, forced in, messy, and there's not enough foreshadowing that can be used to be like "oh I kinda saw that coming" or "oh shit!" and think it's a genuinely good twist. Also the fact that Webby called Scrooge "Dad" T W I C E in the finale, it doesn't sound right, I even voiced out loud that OH EW THAT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT WHY ARE YOU CALLING HIM DAD THIS IS GROSS STOP IT LIKE JUST CALL HIM UNCLE SCROOGE LIKE YOU'VE ALWAYS DONE- Oh and this is meant to be a throwback to that Ottoman Empire finale foreshadowing thing from earlier btw lol The last few things I can note about this is the fight between Scrooge and Bradford, where the latter reveals that he was the one to tell Della about the Spear of Selene (which pisses Scrooge off so damn BADLY and it's the other thing I can accept from the finale, it seems like Bradford to do that shit), and the fact that Donald almost died for fucking good due to Bradford pushing his ass into a machine that can erase anything and everything from existence when put in there. He did so with his minions, so he has no qualms about doing so to Scrooge's family unless he signed the papyrus as a contract. Not that it worked anyways, since "family is the greatest adventure of all" which Bradford didn't understand one bit lol But the finale? Not good, the show deserved so much better and Huey deserved way better because this was his season. What I would've done differently is mainly how Webby is a "clone" or whatever you want to call her. It makes no sense for all of her DNA to be from Scrooge McDuck, which raises way too many questions. Why not Beakley? Why not a warrior from F.O.W.L. with a mix of McDuck DNA? Why is Webby a girl while Scrooge isn't? You could argue that oh he might be a trans guy, which while I absolutely LOVE trans and nonbinary headcanons (due to the fact I'm a nonbinary woman myself), it just feels like a cheap escape goat of an excuse to explain that and Scrooge being trans because of that? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh it doesn't feel right to me. If it was a combination of him and Beakley, then okay I'd get why she's like that, but it still has the problem of her being related to the family DNA-wise. Same with the clones honestly. Now what I would do differently is make it where she's a clone of someone (def not Scrooge) and make it where she has an identity-existential crisis. Who is she really? Is she this "April" character, or if she Webby like she's always known herself as her whole life? In the end, she accepts that she's herself, Webby Vanderquack, granddaughter of Bentina Beakley and an ally of Scrooge McDuck. May and June, on the other hand, are possibly failed attempts to recreate Webby, the perfect clone, in order to get the papyrus to appear which in of itself never stated it had to be a DIRECT heir to Scrooge McDuck (it just states that it requires an heir of Scrooge McDuck) like a daughter/son or whatever. You can go back to the episode "The First Adventure" to look at the papyrus if you want, but he wrote that it was to an HEIR not a descendant. It heavily supports how they changed a shit ton of things before the last season being this year instead of idk, try to make it better because they finished voicing the lines in January this year when they started doing season three around the time we got season two. Bradford gets frustrated, wondering how it couldn't have worked because HE HAS WEBBY RIGHT HERE. What he didn't realize was that it could've been someone within the family itself, one who's considered the smart one out of the bunch that wasn't Scrooge McDuck himself, someone who's also a fellow Junior Woodchuck. And that would be Hubert Duck, in which season three is meant to be his season. When he gets close, the papyrus appears but Bradford snatches it and runs off with it so he can finish up that contract he's spent FOREVER to make and force Scrooge to write his name there. As with May and June, I dunno what I would do with them, but if I rewrite the finale at some point (which I would be doing now with my mom, who watched the finale with me because we tend to watch stuff a lot, but I can't at the moment because I have a list of stuff to make and I can't afford to make it longer than it already is along with my WIP list) I'll figure out what to do with them. Overall, the finale is a 4 out of 10 for me. Not horrible enough for it to be the worst finale ever in the history of shows/series, but it's definitely got a lot of things that bothered me too much to genuinely enjoy it without getting stuck on something for too long. Again if you like it, good for you, but personally? It should've been much better and the series deserves a proper finale. If there's no surprise movie to make it better, then I'ma just pretend this finale doesn't exist like nah bye bitch dunno you lmao Besides with how messy this finale is, I hope you guys enjoyed reading my thoughts on it and I hope you guys have a great day

#DuckTales 2017 #DuckTales Reboot #Spoilers on the finale/The Last Adventure #Lil's Talks #Idk I just thought about it again and I'm just not that happy with it lol #Just put a lot of love and care into everything you work on guys #I'm up for discussion to see why you guys like it #just don't be a dick in the comments and reblogs please #That's all I ask for

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bringhimbackandhidehimthere · 4 years

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The Untamed: Episode 3

1. so did mianmian have a crush on jin or was she just that dedicated to her boss? i respect her either way i just always wanted to know how he felt about her in return too

2. yanli’s face at the mention of her promised one!!! she’s so soft.

3. i forgot that wwx took it upon himself to get them a room from mianmian and that it almost worked wow. and then HE MAKES A SEX JOKE ABOUT HIM AND MIANMIAN THAT WENT SO FAR OVER MY HEAD LAST TIME. he’s so adorable when he’s trying to manipulate people

4. when he leans in to listen to their private conversation. crying. keep your nose in your lane sir

5. lmao when yanli suggests they fight each other and jiang cheng is like... lmao maybe. he looks so tempted im tearing up

6. no offense but why does jin zixuan actually need his whole entourage and shit. you need everyone to watch you drink tea or what?

7. yanli and jz first meeting is!! cute but wwx still looks like an imp the whole time.

8. is he wrong when he says that jin clan is ostentatious. i think no. but also from the beginning wwx has been all like i stand by my actions but dont blame my clan and i think thats very heartbreaking of him

9. why did i have to wait forty episodes for yanli to be happy with this jx idiot when i COULD HAVE HAD IT BACK THEN IF EVERYONE WERENT SO STUPID

10. the fact that wwx has literally no chill when it comes to yanli is so on brand

11. the only more on brand thing is that he actually left the invitation back in the hotel.

12. i love when siblings agree to hate other people because they’re messing with the siblings. that’s amor

13. why is wwx the guy who would get you kicked out from the club right when you finally got in

14. THIS IS THE SCENE WWX REMEMBERS LATER!! THEIR FIRST MEETING!! im the guy staring literally open mouthed as lwj walks past

15. i know this is me being dumb but. is lwj older than wwx?

16. i would die for lwj. he’s so BABEY

17. name a more iconic meet cute than: you’re at my uncle’s house for a lecture and i don’t let you in because you don’t have an invitation and then i cast a silencing spell on you as i walk away because you’re THAT annoying

18. WAIT. what was that look. was that... amusement. is our second young master... vindictive?

19. the scene where jiang cheng is reassuring yanli about wwx. he says wwx is probably out having some fun with a mianmian or yuandao. wwx said his name was yuandao to mianmian earlier. is it a boy’s name? is wwx implied to be rowdy here? am i reading to much into this?

20. the fact that no one stays behind to let wwx know that lwj let them in! im hollering is anyone going to actually blame him for breaking in

21. okay except he definitely comes in carrying zero (0) invitations and two (2) bottles of emperor’s smile

22. how long was lwj standing there. did he know wwx was coming. once again this kid aims for peak drama and executes it effortlessly. how is wwx considered the most dramatic person in this show in any way compared to this fucker. he literally silences people he doesn’t want to listen to. name something more petty and powerful.

23. what about lwj made it seem like he could be bribed with alcohol. like wwx. you moron.

24. isn’t there something sexy about wwx sheathing lwj’s sword for him. just me? cool

25. the romantic music is what makes this scene s2g. like i know im supposed to take away that they’re well matched and equals but all i can think is that they’re stupid in the exact opposite ways and that’s the only reason they survive as long as they do.

26. the horror in wwx’s face when he notices the 3000 principles.��“lets count how many violations you broke tonight” kind of sounds like something lwj would actually do as foreplay so. you know whatever

27. just to summarize, because my head is spinning, wwx offends lwj’s clan, lwj’s clan’s principles, lwj himself and then takes a sip of his liquor

28. so lwj was actually offended by wwx thinking he’s undesirable... casual

29. the silencing charm strikes again. thats twice in this episode. wwx is 0 for 2. who’s going to try and tell me that lwj didn’t take those insults personally and that’s why he used the silencing charm instead of just saying “my uncle and your siblings are waiting for you”

30. ZEWU JUNNNNNNN. i missed my baby.

31. wwx is so fucking. annoying. like, you idiot. hotheaded fool. the first thing he says to lwj’s brother is “your brother is a fool.” the lack of respect when he approaches lan qiren. stunning display of impudence. i also love that wangji is just kind of like “now you see what im dealing with”

32. i literally forgot that lwj is the reason wwx has to copy the principles 300 times. like thats so funny.

33. im wwx justifying to the clan leadership why i purchase two bottles of alc when i was on a rescue mission

34. the fact that wangji doesn’t want wei ying to know that he helped his sibs get in. and how touched wei ying is when he finds out. so cute

35. i forget sometimes that like. wwx really was a prodigy. kid was smart. kid was talented.

36. WEN QING MAKES MY HEART SKIP A BEAT EVERY TIME

37. i know the reason we never see wen qing use that hot ass sword she bows with in this ep is cuz she’s a doctor and she’s proud of it but. i think i would kill for some footage of her swinging that onto to someone’s neck. maybe wen chao’s or something

38. wei wuxian makes me want to launch myself into a chasm of some kind. he’s so smart and dumb all at once. how can someone so good at cultivation also stick his foot in his mouth 24/7

39. compare the lan siblings to our disaster trio for a second. “i trust you to look into it but be safe use your judgement” “don’t worry ill listen to you” “am i putting too much on your shoulders?” “i want to help you” VS “please find him” “be assured. ill find him and break his legs”

40. i like that zewu jun immediately likes wwx for lwj. it’s just so big bro of him. also him describing wwx as “even though he does some excessive things” is like. big brain. biggest brain.

41. lwj being pessimistic about making friends makes me :(

42. ZEWU JUN YOU ICON “you were tied weren’t you? doesn’t he have skill?” like drag your brother

43. oh. i forgot that xue yang is here. frustrating as per usual.

tl;dr

sometimes you meet your soulmate when you insult his entire being and he casts a silencing spell on you after dumping your liquor stash

#suz liveblogs the untamed

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pastelgrungewrecker · 4 years

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Infamy

I’m a young lover’s rage- Gonna need a spark to ignite- I’m On Fire!

If anyone asked her why they broke up, she would shrug and say simply, “We just didn’t fit anymore.”

Because the truth made her teeth grind together, made her heart break. When Magnus stood in their living room, wincing at the swearing from Perceptor and the frigid glare from Whirl, she realized that everything was about to get worse.

She and Derby had been a strange couple; she thought he loved her. She revelled in it, in kisses to her cheek and firm hugs around a body she always thought was too much a product of her Wrecker childhood.

‘Wreckers care for their own’, she had told herself, wondering why her siblings would slide out of the room when he would show up, wondering why his smile seemed a little too sincere when he’d see them vanish from their orbit.

It crashed down not long before the attack that took her legs.

It was Quickdraw texting her desperately for an emergency pickup, and it was her pushing her first car almost too hard to get to the school’s sports field. It was tearing out to the grass to see Derby laughing and Quickdraw curled up in a heap of messy angles and broken angelwings and Chrona under a football quarterback’s arm.

It was her seeing red and bulling people down left and right with fists swinging until Derby’s face went the color of spoiled milk.

“How long, QD.”

“Every-y day-”

It was her blacking out both of Derby’s eyes, it was Mimi snarling that it was over.

“I can’t believe you’re the same kind of embarassment as your fucking DAD.”

She gathered her fearful larks to her side and spirited him away and home- face like a stormcloud and heart in two.

Her hands white-knuckled on the wheel- flexing as though she had claws and fangs like the beast Drift once had been. A sign flickers in the side of her vision, and Quickdraw jumps when the car turns. Chrona cheers at the promise of milkshakes.

They came home with ice cream, they came home with Star Wars bandaids on Quickdraw’s cheek.

And then it happened. It was a flurry of hospitals and the lark was a shrike with his clarion call and his vicious edges and she was in a hospital bed, staring at the flat spots on the sheets where her feet should be.

“We’ll find them” becomes “We found them” becomes “Quickdraw’s in trouble.”

She lets the monster in her chest out, Magnus watches in horror when she straps an empty pistol back to her thigh as Quickdraw is loaded into an ambulance while Whirl stares at nothing and mourns with no sound.

“We’ll find them.”

“You better.”

So when she comes home and sees Magnus furious and silent and wincing at the rage he witnesses, her stomach ties itself in a knot.

“Mimosa, I have some questions about the attacks on your family. Including the incident last week.”

“The b-and-e? Why me, you know my side of things.”

“As you know, the ones who... acted against your family were apprehended. Well, the ones we could catch.”, he said with his carefully measured words. He nods for her to take a seat, and Perceptor and Whirl are suddenly on either side.

“I found it suspicious that they were able to coordinate these actions so.. easily. Considering none of them had previous connections to any of you- concrete ones. Until today.”

“...Okay.”

“Tell me about Derby.”

“...My ex-boyfriend? Well... I uh. I broke up with him because I found out he was the one picking on my sibs- I just... I showed up when QD texted for help and kind of.. went mental.”

“And afterwards?”

“He showed up a few times, kept following me to stuff until I finally threatened to give him another black eye and feed him his own teeth. Prick. I found out later that I was one of like... six? Girls he was ‘dating’ anyway so no big loss. It still hurt though. I guess the reason he was dating me was because I was the token Wrecker Kid and that made me popular with some of the sports losers at school.”

“Mhm. Do you remember his phone number, by any chance?”

“Yeah, I kept it saved and marked in my phone- in case he tried to call me with another sob story, I’d know to ignore the call.”

Magnus pulled out a slim datapad- one for reports, Mimi remembered them well.

“We pulled the communications history of the ones we have in custody. Does this number look familiar.”

“...Why were they texting him?!”

“He was messaging them, Mimi. He was the one who told them everything. Where you walked, what you did, where you lived. He sold you out- he’s at the station as we speak. He claims he ‘didn’t mean’ for it to go this far- he just wanted to ‘remind you to respect him’.”

“Because he’s the spawn of the biggest disappointment since-”

“PERCEPTOR.”

Perceptor fell silent, seething.

“...We are doing everything we can, Mimi. I’m here to inquire if you’d rather we take out a protective order. A restraining order, basically- but this way if anything happens and you defend yourself you’ll be legally protected if you have to defend yourself.”

“... Do it.”, she said quietly, “Do everything, anything, I’ll sign whatever you need me to sign, I... I can’t believe this is all my fault.”

Magnus sighed, and Whirl descended on her like a butcherbird on their nestlings.

“Froggy- Froggy, no, don’t you even think for a fuckin’ minute this is any kind of on you. It was that little SHIT’S decision to escalate this high school drama; just like his fuckin’ dad, okay? This isn’t on you.”

Mimi shrugged the words and affectionate touches off, rising from the couch with a creak of prosthetic legs, “Just. Do what you have to do, mister Magnus. You know best.”

All three watched her wrap her arms around her midsection and skitter away from them, a shy sparrow, and wounded dove, and all three felt their hearts chip at the corner.

She sobbed in her room, alone. Stuffing a towel under the door like when she was young and scared and hollowed out by years of cold silence and she bawled into a pillow. Her fault, her fault, all her fault- she led evil home and it took root before she could cut it off. And now, now look at what’s been done.

She didn’t know how long she laid in the silence, tears leaking out as her fingertips tapped over the line where plasteel met body, until she heard shouting from outside.

Shakily, spent from crying, she rose from her bed and pushed her curtains aside.

“...Mister Blurr?”, she muttered to herself, seeing the old racer with his hands up at the door. She watched as he stepped back once, twice, three times and stumbled over a crack in the concrete walk and saw that Perceptor was following him with-

“Dammit DAD!”

Outside, Perceptor’s teeth were bared and the revolver in his hand far too steady.

“Percy- man, c’mon, I understand this is a mess but they’re just kids-!”

“MY SON’S EYES WERE TAKEN, AND MY DAUGHTER LOST HER FUCKING LEGS!”

“It got out of hand, I get that, we can settle this between us we don’t need all this legality-”

Click.

The gun cocked, and Perceptor’s finger was on the trigger and Blurr watched as he counted down the seconds to exhale before Mimi snatched Perceptor’s free hand.

“Dad, wait, hold on- we don’t need another incident, okay? Stand down, you gotta stand down.”

“And why SHOULD I-”

“Because you told me you never shoot a soldier who’s surrendering- and I think he’s pretty much flying a white flag. Never aim without intent to kill, remember? He’s not worth the moral crisis.”

A beat of silence, and Perceptor sighs, “Blurr. You are incredibly lucky that my daughter is both brilliant and sensible. However.”

Mimi accepted the relic of a weapon with confusion, holding with both hands when she heard Perceptor’s knuckles crack in sequence.

“Beating your face in? Is technically self defense.”

“DRIFT, PAPACEPTOR’S GONE FERAL, HELP!”

“I know honey!”, was Drift’s cheerful answer from inside, watching from the front window with the kids crowded gleefully around him. Mimi rolled her eyes, turning instead to Perceptor to try and convince him otherwise but it was too late- he flung himself at Blurr and she flinched at every too-meaty thud of a fist colliding with a magazine-model bone structure. She shook her head, walking back inside to return the weapon to the safe in the bedroom and sit on the bed- hugging artificial knees and berating herself quietly.

“The illusion of control is a hell of an illusion, kiddo.”

She looked up to see Drift in the doorway. She buried her face again, the sounds of the fistfight in the front yard petering out as Perceptor’s swearing echoed up and down the block.

He sat next to her.

“This isn’t your fault, Mimi. You have to understand- Derby was the one who made the decision to escalate things.”

“But... But Dri-Dri, I’m the BIG SISTER. I’m supposed to protect everyone, that’s my JOB, it’s my DUTY!”

“And we’re your parents, we’re supposed to protect you too- that doesn’t mean we failed, or that we fucked up. It means someone outside of our control took actions that no one had any reason to suspect.”

“.... But Wreckers care for their own, and I DIDN’T.”

“Yes you did.”, said Drift quietly, hearing a small chorus of cheers as the front door slammed shut- Perceptor kicking it closed no doubt, his temper had always taken a while to burn out- “You did everything you could, and someone blindsided you.”

“They wouldn’t have blindsided you. Or Papaceptor. Or Birdy.”

“We don’t have scars for the aesthetic, y’know.”

She went to retaliate for a moment, before closing her mouth.

“I understand this is... well, it’s more than a lot, really. Finding out someone you cared about deeply has betrayed you hurts. Finding out that the initial betrayal went way beyond what you thought is even worse.”

“I just... I don’t...”

“What?”

Her eyes welled up, “I don’t feel safe- I don’t feel like I’m s-safe to be around anymore. What if it happens again, Blurr has big money behind him what if... What if Derby just gets a slap on the wrist and everything gets even worse!”

Her tears came back, fear and worry and paranoia and all manner of things she’d been able to quash with sheer force of will. Drift said nothing, simply holding her to his side until Perceptor stomped down the hall and pushed the door open from where it had eased closed- bad hinges be damned.

“Mimosa- oh goodness.”

Drift watched, amused at how quickly the fire in Perceptor’s good eye went out at the sight of Mimi’s tear-mussed face. His arms fell away and she reached out in a wordless plea for Perceptor.

“I-I-I’m SCARED!”

Perceptor’s expression lost every sharp edge, and he reached out to flick off the light switch. Drift jolted at sudden evening-dimness, moving to the foot of the bed as Perceptor clambered onto it and dropped onto his back- propped up by almost too many pillows, and he pulled off the patch covering his lost eye.

“C’mere Froggy.”

She crawled to him, burying her face against a ragged chest and centering her ear over the left side as her arm went over Perceptor’s waist. He hugged her shoulders, petting over her hair and shushing her softly.

Her crying was muffled, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Drift tilted his head, and Perceptor smiled weakly, “...After... After G9, for a long time, she couldn’t sleep without listening to me breathe. Listening to my heartbeat. When she gets anxious, or scared, or very very upset... it helps.”

Drift nodded, and moved slowly- sitting on Mimi’s other side and carefully situating himself with his back against the headboard. Nails gently dragged through her hair, like soothing a lost kitten, and she shivered and sniffled and her eyelids seemed to droop.

“...Figured it would work.”, he mumbled, “Gasket used to do this with me back in the Dead End- I had a habit of curling up tight when I was upset and well...”

He nodded at the way Mimi had coiled up into a ball against Perceptor.

They both chuckled, sadness tinging the sound. Perceptor breathed deep, feeling Mimi’s grip tighten as she drowsed against him, still hiccuping out the ghosts of her fear, before he spoke again.

“... I’ll admit, it’s a bit hard to reconcile the image of you curled up like a huffy kitten with... well.”

“Deadlock?”, finished Drift quietly, “... There comes a point in the tears and fear where you suddenly realize that... you can make it all go away.”

“..The Syk?”

“.... The gun.”, said Drift, almost a whisper, “I just.. Really hope she has your anger, Perce. I wouldn’t wish mine on anyone. But I have a feeling you and Ratchet were beyond right, saying she takes almost too much after me.”

Every oracle has their prophecy, it seems. The one prediction that comes true, and elevates their sight to the level of a story.

And for Mimi, that day came after almost three months of nothing but courts, cops, and paperwork. Sitting in a cold room, with colder gazes on her- arguments over what ‘Conspawn’ really meant, what ‘intent’ truly was.

‘It seems a shame to ruin a nice young man’s life over one mistake!’

It was Mimi not even smiling when guilty verdicts were read, it was her staring down ashamed parents sitting in rows and taking sick joy when they became ghosts under her gaze. It was the rumbling of the monster she released once, when Quickdraw was curled up in the grass and Chrona shrieked to be let go.

It was the sudden realization, like Drift had once had before his teeth grew sharp and his aim even sharper.

It was Derby cornering her in front of cameras and demanding her forgiveness.

“No.”

“Mimosa, please- haven’t I suffered enough? I admit it, okay, I went too far!”

“No.”

“I even defended you to the afterwards! I told them they shouldn’t have gone after you, sugar-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I told them that you were good, even if you were Conspawn- I told them they should’ve gone after Quackdraw or whatever first-”

The world stopped. She tilted her head up, slowly.

“You did. What.”

“I told them they should’ve gone after that idiot first, yeah it was wrong or whatever but I was worried about YOU- and I didn’t know they were going to RAID YOUR HOUSE after everything like-”

“You... told them. To hurt my baby brother.”

The silence stung like acid rain as he stammered suddenly, not liking what he saw in her eyes.

“Well, you’re more important than him, so I-”

‘You can make this all go away.’, whispered something vicious in her head- something that had always been there. It was there when she cut her hair on the Lost Light during the mutiny, telling her to wear Perceptor’s pistols. Telling her where to aim and when to fire when the ship was taken back.

It was what guided her hands when her fists raised to defend Quickdraw, then Chrona, then Dani and Kiki-

Little Dani and Kiki, who chimed up at the worst moment from behind her legs, “You mae them take Quickdraw’s eyes!! You made them try to hurt us too!!”

Kiki glanced up, and grinned a childish grin before looking back to Derby, and spoke words she knew could unleash a hailstorm, “What if they had killed us? What if you made all of my big sister’s siblings die? She’d be all alone and it would be ALL. YOUR. FAULT.”

“Shut up, kid-”

“DON’T YOU TELL HER TO SHUT UP, FILTH!”

Mimi’s hands were strong. Made strong from clambering around on an old battleship, on a newer battle cruiser and from picking up little sniffley bundles of blankies and stuffed animals. Her arms were toned by hugs and rockabyes and her legs were made sturdy by bearing so much weight until they broke away to be replaced with steel and iron-twined sinew.

And the monster in her chest laughed like Deadlock in old videos on locked proxies and the creature it spawned in her her head cackled like the witches she envied back when she thought about forbidden cruelties- like death, like destruction.

Like making them all go away.

Derby gagged, yanking at her wrists as her fingers closed around his neck and she dragged him down to his knees. Her eyes were toxic waste and noxious nuclear clouds, she spoke like a bomb’s heatwave and her words hissed like uranium reactor rods being submerged.

“You. Ruined. Everything.”, she snarled, her nails digging in, dull though they were, “You. HURT. My Family.”

He gagged again, lips already blueing up.

“I’m gonna hurt you now, Derby.”, she snarled, “And no one’s gonna stop me until I’m done with you.”

Her siblings stood behind her, grim and unmoving, as their fathers leapt to try and separate Mimi and Derby as he tried to scream while his voicebox was being crushed. Perceptor pulled at her shoulders until she kicked backwards and sent his knee nearly inward- he swore loudly in shock and then Whirl’s hands latched onto her upper arms and began to pull.

Derby convulsed in her grip, whimpering softly- and then Drift’s hands were over her eyes. On instinct, she released her target, making a confused noise in her throat- and then she heard speaking cut through the howling in her soul.

“Cool down, stand down. Breath.”

She blinked against Drift’s palms, snapping back to herself with a hiccup and shakes beginning in her shoulders.

Drift stared down at the coughing and hacking Derby, and narrowed his own too-bright eyes, “Fuck outta here, whelp.”

A few shrieks in the gathered crowd, several faces suddenly painted in fear as the old growl of Deadlock’s voice was spat out by this unmatched visage.

Whirl slowly released Mimi’s arms, continuing his mantra of “Cool down, Stand down. Breath.” until Mimi stood with her vision obscured. Drift moved around her, hands uncovering her eyes only for him to hold her face to his chest and nod at the siblings to start moving. He reached down, easily lifting his eldest daughter and keeping her face hidden as they moved away and away from the crowds.

“I-I-I-I-”

“I know, kiddo, I know.”, he murmured, “It’s terrifying, when you aren’t scared anymore. I know.”

She closed her eyes against his shirt, and whispered apologies that no one could hear as her siblings glanced back at Derby- hoping he learned his lesson.

Mimi wasn’t the only one who swallowed down their anger, and she wasn’t the only one who knew how to cause damage.

It was a new era for their little family- realizing that there are some things that not even time can erase.

#pastelwrites #humanformers #drift #perceptor #blurr #in which we are forced to remember that these kids have extremely dangerous parents #who are capable of extremely dangerous things #theyre good kids but they are also master manipulators and vicious little warriors in their own right #no one is surprised

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jenbrookhart · 6 years

Text

Location: Vixen’s Den, Foxhole Court Date: September 14

In the Vixen Den

“Hey! Did y’all just park? I can meet you somewhere,” Jen balances their phone on their shoulder as they tie their sneakers, ready to head to the court.

Jackson lets out a shaky sigh that causes Jen to worry instantly. Their first thought is that the fans started some sort of riot, but it’s not like Palmetto is supportive enough of their Exy team to be violent over them.

“Yeah, we’re here. Uhm—Look, lil sib. Dad is here.”

The phone slips from their shoulder and bounces against the carpet. They can distantly hear him still talking, but they can’t seem to get themself to move. Somehow, they honestly never thought they’d have to see him again, which is probably naive, considering how close they are to the twins. Palmetto is their safe space—where they can be themself outside of the confines of their room. It’s almost like their back in their old house instead of the Den, feeling suffocated and like they don’t belong in their own skin.

Jen forces themself back to reality, blinking rapidly as they fumble to press the speaker option on their phone, Jackson’s voice filling the room.

“—Swear we didn’t know. He surprised us. He’s talking to Jane right now, but, he—uh he wants us all to go to dinner after the game.”

“What?” Jen practically yelps.

“Jane told me to tell you before he asks you himself.”

“Why—Why would he want to ask me himself? Why would he even want me to go at all? This doesn’t make any sense. He kicked me out,” Jen runs their fingers through their hair as they try to calm their breathing. The only reason their dad would do this is because he found out Jen made the switch to cheerleading and wants to remind them again how disappointing they are.

“He says he wants to talk things out. Something about using the opportunity with all of us on the same campus to work things out as a family,” Jen can’t see Jackson, but they know their brother enough to visualize the look of hope on his face. While Jen is naive in an act first, regret it later way, Jackson is naïve in a childish way. Jackson most likely thinks their dad is being genuine, but he wasn’t there the night he kicked Jen out.

“Jackson,” Jen begins, trying to be patient for his sake. “That’s not—I just don’t believe him. He made it really clear that I’m out of the family. And I doubt he’s going to be more accepting now, considering I don’t exactly keep things to myself anymore.” They went full glam for the game likes cheerleaders usually do, their cheeks streaked with glitter and false lashes on their eyes.

“I don’t know…he seems really excited. Like happier than I’ve seen him since we went to college. What if he realizes he was wrong? You could come home.”

Jackson makes Jen want to believe that, if not for their own sake than his. Jen always knew their dad isn’t a good person, even as a kid, but the twins still have a hard time accepting it, Jackson, in particular. Jen doesn’t care much about Exy, while the twins live for it to a point where they’re lost without it. They want to be the best for their dad.

The tragic part of it all is that Jen is the most naturally talented of Jacob’s children, and the other two have to really work for it, Jackson being the weakest of the three. Jen still remembers the nights when Jackson completely neglected his homework, in favor of staying up past midnight, still practicing in the front yard—desperate to make their dad proud. He could’ve used that as a reason to resent Jen, but he never did, he’s always been their biggest supporter.

Which is why they don’t shut him down immediately. If it’s something he really needs Jen to do, they’ll do it. But they know Jackson isn’t going to like what he sees, because Jen knows the truth, and they know this dinner invitation is all a façade. Their gaze goes to the pile of fresh laundry on the end of their bed, and they grab their iconic crop top, shoving it in their duffle bag. If Jen is going to risk their neck for this, they’re going to do it their way.

“Okay. I’ll go, but I’m doing this for you and Jane, okay? Just—please, don’t get your hopes up, Jack. He’s going to disappoint you,” Jen murmurs as they head for the door, slinging their duffle bag on their shoulder.

“I won’t let him do anything to you, Jen. I promise.”

Jen smiles sadly, “I know. I’ll see you at the court. I love you.”

After hanging up, they stare at their phone and try to gather the courage to leave the Den. They’ve been through this before, they can do it again. It’s not like they’ll be alone this time. Still, Jen can’t seem to get their nerves to ease, and before really thinking it over, they pull up their contact list and find Arlo.

“H-Hey. I know you’re about to get ready for the game, but can you talk?”

Pre-game Cheer

Jen lines up with the other Vixens in preparation for the pre-game routine, bowing their head as they wait for the music to start. They try not to think about anything but the choreography, refusing to let their dad’s presence ruin their performance. As the music fills the court, their head snaps up in unison with the others, a huge grin already in place. Jen’s gaze automatically goes to the sea of orange shirts in the front row, where the parents are sitting, and a misplaced green one immediately stands out.

Jacob Brookhart barely changed in the year since Jen last saw him, except for his graying hair. Then again, kicking out your prized trophy will do that you. Their smile doesn’t falter, but they’re more going through the movements than really feeling the performance.

How did he even get a seat in the front row? Did he really pull the ‘my child is a Vixen’ card on the school? Did he even know Jen was a Vixen before now?

By the expressionless look on his face, Jen would guess he found out somehow. Even as Jen holds eye contact while they swivel their hips to the beat, Jacob expression never changes.

After the Game

To make an already bad night even worse, the game is a huge disappointment, and Jen can’t help but feel the loss for their old teammates. Obviously, they’re happy for the twins, especially since their dad is here to witness the victory, but even they didn’t make it off the court unscathed.

Jen’s ready to change and meet up with Jane and Jackson and get this over with, but

before they can leave the court, a reporter approaches them.

“Jensen Brookhart?” She asks with a fake smile, their birth name making them wince.

They don’t like where this is going, having had plenty of experience with reporters from press duty, but they still have good ol’ southern manners so they force a grin. “Jen is fine. How can I help you, m’am?”

“Jen, the media has been dying to get a quote from you ever since your departure from the Foxes was announced. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about your decision and the game tonight.” It almost sounds like she rehearsed that before approaching them, and Jen wants to say no, but they’d rather give their own reasoning than let people believe whatever rumors are going around.

“Yeah, sure. I’m meeting my family in a few minutes for dinner. Just a few questions, right?” They glance towards the seat where their dad used to occupy, the anxiety chewing at their insides.

“Of course. I won’t take up too much of you time. Your family is actually who I wanted to talk to you about, but first, I think we’re all wondering what made you quit Exy for cheerleading. Those are two very different sports,” She gives a small laugh before angling the microphone towards Jen.

“They are,” Jen smiles nervously as they wonder how much of the truth they should tell. Obviously, they don’t want to damage Jane and Jackson’s reputation, but they don’t want anyone to think that their choice to leave was the Foxes fault.

“I know it probably didn’t seem that way from the games last year, but I never wanted to play Exy. I wasn’t really given an opportunity to choose what I wanted to get involved in as a kid. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved playing with my brother and sister, but they’re definitely more passionate about it than I am,” They explain, noticing immediately that the reporter looks surprised by their answer. They can’t blame her, consider they never gave any hints last year that they didn’t love the sport, but they didn’t want the bad press for Wymack.

“Then why join the Foxes at all?” She asks.

“I was in a tough situation right before graduation and Coach Wymack’s offer really helped me out of it. I thought I could make it through five years, but I realized a little too late that I just—couldn’t pretend Exy was what I wanted to do anymore. And I shouldn’t take a spot from someone who loves the game. I always loved dancing, so I decided to join the Vixens.” Anyone who read this interview would probably think Jen is out of their mind, but they don’t expect diehard Exy fans to understand the switch. Just like they didn’t expect Grant to.

“Was your family supportive of your choice? From interviews with Jane and Jackson, they seem really passionate about Exy.”

“Jane and Jackson,” Jen says pointedly, making sure to leave their dad out of the equation, “always support me no matter what I do. As long as I’m happy. Besides, it’s nice not playing against them anymore. I was never into the whole competitive sibling thing anyway.”

“Which is a shame for your fans, since you’ve always been considered the most talented of the Brookharts. And everyone loves a sibling rivalry,” She winks.

Jen’s at a loss for words for a second, lips parted as they try to conjure up any response that isn’t whacking the microphone out of her hand.

“Well, the Terrapins did win tonight. And as you saw, Jackson and Jane are very determined and strong players. Speaking of, I’m late for dinner with my family, so excuse me.”

Jen doesn’t give her a chance to respond before turning away and weaving through the crowd to get to the locker room. They shower in a hurry, knowing if they linger, they might lose their nerve. Do it for Jane and Jackson, they remind themself as they change into their Daddy’s Boy crop top and a pair of skinny jeans. Before they leave the room, they text Grayson and Arlo to meet them outside.

Despite the turn of events tonight, Jen didn’t forget Grayson—as if they ever could. They’re not sure if Grayson is up for dinner tonight, after his dad decided not to show up, but they figure they should at least explain the situation first. And honestly, Jen wants to protect him from their dad. They feel bad enough that Arlo insisted on joining. The last thing Grayson needs to see right now is just how cruel a parent can be. He can always meet Jane and Jackson another day, but Jen wants to give him a choice. Everyone deserves the right to choose.

#selfpara #all these trigger warnings are pretty vague but just in case!#hints of abuse #hints of homophobia #hints of misgendering #this is just a jumbled explosion tbh i was having trouble condensing this lol

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