#and they’re just discrediting everything he feels because he made some bad jokes

[thepenguisalive7]

Here’s my little food for thought. If this upsets you, please look away! You don’t have to interact with me if you’d rather not see it 👍

Okay, I think some people on Twitter, hmmm

Why are some of them making this about q!Foolish and q!slime? I think some people are misinterpreting and assuming q!bad is being played the fool, but really, his grievances is more about being seen as a tool? Maybe they’re upset because that’s what their characters are going through? But they’re also ignoring other things q!bad did for said characters.

Sure he said some off things with q!slime and arguably pranks q!foolish a lot, but he also helps give them so many things, I don’t understand why people say he deserves this karma? I mean, q!slime did try to kill all the eggs before, his egg included. In rp, wouldn’t you be upset if someone did that? Q!bad usually tries to lean into rp whenever he plays on the server. He words were terrible sure, but he gave q!slime a full deck of maxed out armour and a backpack for basically free once, just because he felt bad for him. Even went on a little adventure to cheer him up. I understand that maybe q!slime viewers didn’t see this because it was on another persons stream and slime wasn’t streaming but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

He helps to take care of Leonarda for q!foolish, and this isn’t to say q!Foolish is a bad parent, he’s a great parent! But it’s just that, so many people are saying q!bad deserves this law against him for wronging q!foolish? Land duo are just different in my opinion, they know when to push and when to stop, and it’s their thing. Q!BBH pulls pranks, but never really with the intent of permanent damage or significant damage. They’re almost always easily removed. Q!foolish calls q!bad names and they argue but that’s how they work. But if you want to argue their interactions a little, q!foolish also does leave and expect q!BBH to take care of his egg. There was even a weekend where q!BBH explained he would’ve liked a heads up, and q!foolish just said he already kind of expected q!bad would do it anyways. And there have been times where q!bad would ask for some thank you’s from q!foolish, for taking care of Leonarda at times, to which they banter and it never happened.

But this isn’t really about q!slime and q!foolish, so I don’t understand why people are so insistent in bringing up Bad’s wrongs with these two people? When this is his grievance. Saying he deserved it for the wrong he’s done with these two, when they’ve also done things that contribute to the build up on why he’d be upset? I’d rule out land duo personally, because I like to think they’re the only duo that can mess with each other and more or less understand, but if you’re going to bring it up, I’ll bring up my counter argument.

What his grievances is really about is starting to feel more like a tool, the government issues, and his relationship with q!forever. It’s about q!bbh, so why rope those two into this???

They say q!BBH treated them badly, so he deserves this. Q!slime tried to murder every egg after Juanaflippa died. Did he succeed? No. Does he regret it? Ye. No harm done yeah? But he did try to kill a lot of eggs, and the intent was definitely there, even if he’s apologetic of it later on. Do people have to forgive him straight away cause the intent was there, even if he was grieving and upset? I don’t think so. If q!slime did the same thing recently, people would be a lot more upset, seeing as to how they reacted when q!forever striked Leonarda during an intense moment.

I guess maybe it gives people more insight on the wrongs of q!bbh? Hmmm… But it kind of just feels at one point that people just don’t want to hear out his character at all, and just go ahead inserting other characters to discredit how q!BBH is being fleshed out. It feels a little unfair because when slime was upset, people were happy to support him, even so far as having six people defending him (q!BBH included) for attempted murder? And q!foolish lore where he felt isolated because of the pac and Mike arresting and being stuck in the nether. That lore was okay, and is appreciated. Why not this one?

I just don’t think it’s fair to call it karma? When all characters are a little morally grey. You can have favourites, but come on. And then saying he deserves it, despite the fact he helped out those two a lot as well. Feels a little in bad taste.

But this is again just my opinion, I’m not necessarily the best, and if you’d like to discuss, please do so politely! And if you disagree, just ignore this post and move on

#Let the BBH enjoyers have our piece without others starting to make it about their characters #We’ve been waiting so long for this #and they’re just discrediting everything he feels because he made some bad jokes #Not saying it isn’t #but this isn’t about that #Q!bbh #badboyhalo #qsmp #Giving me the old smp vibes a bit #When people were saying c!bad egg lore was boring and that he was a bad character for changing the prime path #And the prime path being red was supposed to be a part of his lore #not that anyone really cared and yknow #Sigh #Q!foolish #q!slime #roleplay rant #roleplay analysis #Twitter neg

[aceofpandas]

What-if for Season 4

So at the end of season 3’s episode “Ladybug” we see that Adrien "asking” Lila to get Marinette back in school and what not. Words are spoken and wow just look at how they’re spoken:

That line right there! Okay so I watched this episode in English and in [Latin American] Spanish and wow the way that line is spoken. Both voice actors really conveyed how Adrien would channel his anger. It’s not an emotion we really got to see in Adrien before but in both languages the barely contained anger is something I feel is in line with what we know about Adrien who controls and is conscious of his emotions. It got me thinking about how passive aggressive this boy really is and man oh man how I wish that it get’s worked into season 4. Passive aggressive Adrien Agreste vs. resident liar/manipulator Lila Rossi. Yaaaas sign me up.

Hopefully, this side of him is explored next season and we can finally give Adrien some rivals who can help us explore his character a little more. This ending suggests that Lila is completely in Adrien’s danger radar and he’ll be in Protect Marinette Mode (similar to his Protect Ladybug Mode). In fact, the scene pictured above aligns with his self-sacrificial tendencies that he has as Chat Noir. Lots of people have mentioned that agreeing to the photoshoot is him selling his soul,  but he also establishes that he won’t ever have a genuine friendship with Lila. Bring on the war!

I personally think that Adrien, who we know isn’t too confrontational, will take a subtle approach. And how can he do that? Well, he could channel his inner actor where he can certainly play the part of “friend” while simultaneously working to discredit Lila. 

Like you can not tell me that Adrien, who’s enrolled in a bunch of activities, was not enrolled in acting classes at some point in his homeschooled life. His mom was an actress, so it’s not like his parents would be against the idea of acting lessons. He was even the VA for his own superhero persona in canon’s LB+CN movie lmaoooo. Yes, he’s a model and very much loved by the people of Paris so perhaps being chosen for the role isn’t too surprising, but that also doesn’t mean he has no talent or training for it. Let’s be real, modeling could be the compromise to his parents wanting their son to follow in their footsteps. Modeling is the fashion from his dad and the art of perfecting his facial expressions from his mom.

And like even if acting lessons were never a thing, his mom was around in his life. We know basically nothing about the woman, so really we can speculate that she showed Adrien a thing or two about acting. Let’s say it was through her that Adrien learned to be expressive, to be not expressive, and to be anywhere in between. His mom could have taught him to roll with what life has to offer through ad libs and improv. Adrien we’ve seen to have a dramatic flair as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and he honestly controls his temper waaaay better than we give him credit. Sure he makes mistakes, but really he’s human and he does learn from them (now if only the writing could keep character development for its characters but yeeaaaah).

Here’s a scenario where Adrien can start his stop Lila campaign:

Adrien and Lila are interviewed about the recent shoot and you know questions roll around about how was it working with together, they’re classmates right, are the two dating, yada yada

Adrien answering and not even trying to let Lila get the first word in because the boy is on high alert and knows this girl will try to spin it in her favor

“Oh, it was surprising my father even thought of letting one of my classmates model with me. In fact, I didn’t even know Lila was interested in modeling. Still, it was interesting to work with someone new to the field.”

Which on the surface seems like an ordinary, polite response; appropriate of Adrien but it’s also everything Adrien needs to corner Lila. 

In all of three sentences Adrien says he played no part in making the photoshoot happen, effectively shuts down the possibility of dating Lila, and establishes to the public that Lila is nothing more than a classmate, one he doesn’t even know well.

Lila is annoyed but she’s not giving up because she’s under the impression that Adrien is far too agreeable and spineless therefore she writes him off as Not a Threat

Hahahaha jokes, Adrien plays on people underestimating him

“Well, I didn’t want you to think that I wanted to make it seem like I was using you because we’re friends and friends don’t do that.”

Or something along those lines I dunno

“That’s the great thing about our class everyone is so nice that we can all be friends. Lots of us are so creative and I love getting to know everyone. Nathaniel, Lila’s desk mate, is a great artist; sketching, painting, he’s your guy. He’s currently working on a superhero comic with Marc from the other class and I can’t wait for what else they come up with for the sequel. Ivan, who sits in front of Nathaniel, he’s a rockin’ drummer, and Rose, she’s another one of our classmates, killer voice and awesome lyrics. Her best friend, Juleka plays bass and I’ve actually modeled with her before. Nothing official, but since I know Juleka wants to be a model I honestly thought she was going to be the one I was modeling with for this shoot. Sure it wasn’t a huge shoot, but Juleka did such a great job. And the clothes we modeled were made by our everyday Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette, she’s also our class rep by the way, is such a brilliant designer! Did you know that she actually won one of my father’s contests? Her hat was adored by Audrey Bourgeois AND she was offered the chance to move to New York. And you know…”

Basically, Adrien ends up spending the rest of the interview talking about how much he knows about his friends and “gee it’s such a shame I don’t really know much about you Lila.”

Read: you aren’t special, I have more friends, and I actually pay attention to them.

Bonus point: Alec is the one who interviews them and he picks up on Lila becoming more and more frustrated with Adrien. 

Pretty in character for him to poke the bear *cough* Stormy Weather *cough* so for him to let Adrien take the reins of the interview for the sake of drama isn’t that much of a stretch.

Alec: What about Lila? 

Adrien: I don’t know, I really don’t want to get anything wrong so she can answer

The next day, the interview is the only thing anyone can talk about 

Adrien’s classmates gushing about how sweet Adrien is because he literally showed them that he really cares about them. 

Adrien remembering all this information about all of them and hyping everyone up on TV!!

Friends know each other’s dreams and likes and dislikes and Adrien isn’t known to have lots of free time, but him making the effort to remember all that about each person is flattering to the class

Let Adrien show how much he appreciates and admires his friends pleeeeeeease

Lila can be in the background plotting how to paint Adrien in a bad light 

But uhhh the class is going full Protect This Precious Boy at this point so your plan has to be fool-proof Lila

Bonus point: the class is now more sus of Lila after the whole Marinette-got-expelled-and-then-unexpelled (which is still fresh in their minds). 

No one get’s an expulsion reversed unless they’re innocent 

And dude Lila was in the middle of that whole mess. 

Whatever Lila did shows she has the power to get any of them expelled. 

If the kids aren’t at least wary of Lila in season 4, then the writers really be tripping because too many red flags around Lila for people to just wave them off.

In other news, Marinette starts to trend after enough of Adrien’s fans connect the dots that she’s the same girl who they chased around that time she and Adrien went to the movies

If the majority of Parisians weren’t convinced they were dating back then, oh boy they at least ship it by this point hahahaha

#miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #what if scenario #ml theory #marinette dupain cheng #lila rossi gets a new rival #let other characters have rivals that arent romace based you cowards!! #adrien gets a new rival #my one wish is character development #oops this got long #ml spoilers #maybe? #my headcanons

[metallicarules5]

Gloves are off, I don’t care anymore. This is not a troll post or a light hearted joke post, I’m being serious with this. And I’m not doing this to stoke ship wars, because frankly, I don’t give a shit about shipping in Avatar, but when I’ve seen as many bad takes as I have from one side, than it’s something I just can’t put up with anymore.

Zutara is absolute trash, nothing more than a crack ship that has garnered a legitimate following thanks to trash takes by trash people.

If you have to lie about the head writer of the show and his wife secretly teasing your ship and create false interviews with him that Zutara was going to happen, and then discredit real interviews where he acknowledges the fake stuff...

If you have to wildly exaggerate to the point of lying about statements from the creators to make them come off as evil...

If you are more willing to trust the account of some random, anonymous person on the internet claiming to have been an intern at Nick almost two decades ago and claiming that Zutara was going to be canon over the documented words of the creators and writers themselves...

If you argue that the creators just used Aang as a self insert for themselves to bang a 14 year old girl...

If you argue that chibi shorts made for shits and giggles and low level marketing material that had no input from the actual creators in Nick Magazine should be viable sources for arguing the validity of your ship...

If you argue that it would have been better for Aang to die with the rest of the Air Nomads and blame him for the genocide of his own people and everything bad that happened in the world...

If you argue that one of the most spiritual and kind hearted people in the show was a selfish, immature, whiny kid who went through no growth or character development...

If you argue that Zuko kidnapping Katara, tying her to a tree, and bribing her with her mother’s necklace to give up Aang is romantic...

If you take a single frame where Zuko grabs Katara while she’s paralyzed on the shirshu as demonstrative of how protective he is of her and doesn’t want her to get hurt...

If you argue that the scene between them in the Western Air Temple is riddled with sexual tension...

If you argue that Aang tried to belittle or disrespect Katara’s grief over her mother, despite him literally suffering from the same pain and grief, because he wanted to control her...

If a good chunk of your ship’s fan fiction revolves around Katara being taken prisoner by Zuko or being forced into an arranged marriage with him...

If you argue that you have less sympathy for Aang than any of the actual villains of the show...

then why should I take your ship seriously? I don’t give a damn about Kataang, so don’t even try to claim I’m a salty Kataanger (why should they be salty to begin with, they’re canon last I checked), I’m just fucking tired of shit take after shit take from these people. For the good Zutarians out there, the ones that like the chemistry between Zuko and Katara, would have liked to see something between the two, but still respect the other characters and fans who don’t agree, I’m truly sorry for you, because your ship has been overtaken by these morons and you don’t deserve that. If it wasn’t for those people, I’d just be indifferent to the idea of Zutara, not for it, not against it, and willing to let people ship freely. But the community has been overrun by toxic individuals with vendettas against certain characters for getting in the way of their ship, which leads to others despising the ship as a whole. I’d say more needs to be done to expel those toxic people from the ship, but they’ve become so ingrained in the Zutara community, and their views have become the foundations of the ship, that it’s impossible to separate them. For you, I feel sorry for you, but for any of those that actually believe and peddle the crap listed above, know that your ship is trash.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #anti zutara

[aealzx]

Watching as Ian settled down to help Midas, Whip couldn’t help but cross his arms in discomfort. He hated pushing this off on to Ian, especially since they weren’t even Ian’s memories. But he also knew that working with a human mind was completely different than working with computers, and Ian was definitely more skilled at it than he was. Computers were just binary data that could easily be translated to an understandable format. But for the reverse, taking biological memory and turning it into binary, that took a lot more finesse and care. So for now, Whip would just have to wait. And possibly massage that headache away.

Ian wasn’t what he would call an expert when it came to linking minds with another cyborg, but he would still agree that he was better at it than Whip. Probably because he was a lot more patient and gentle.

The warning about Midas’ potential skill kept Ian on guard, but he found that once he’d initiated contact Midas welcomed him readily. It seemed that Midas really did consider him a friend. That little fact made Ian smile, even as his mental image processed the data he was getting into something visual. A vast space tinted green, and crammed full of content smashed on top of each other. No wonder Midas was having a hard time. Complex chemicals floated in both written and visual form. What looked like statistics on energy consumption per capita of various countries from hundreds of years ago. Even bits on the tokomov fusion reactors. Ian wasn’t sure if that was also from the harddrive data, or something Midas knew from before.

Standing a little ways away from where Ian figuratively was, Midas was flicking different information out of the way as he processed through it. That familiar half formed figure in the cyberspace that faded into ghostly wisps like an after image swiping across their mind’s eye. Ian wasn’t sure if he was used to it, or if it still creeped him out a little.

As Ian drew closer, Midas’ form turned to look at him with a bright smile in excitement. “Ian! Look! I found some memories. There’s this girl- I don’t remember her from before, but something in the database must have triggered a chain reaction or something. Something about repressed memories or the like?” His words came in a quick ramble as he flicked more images of unrelated data aside and presented the image of the woman from before to Ian. There were other glimpses of her in the scattered frames behind the data, and Ian couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

“... Irene Louvfant,” Ian responded, a little quiet both out of respect for the girl and sorrow for having to break Midas’ excitement.

“... W’what?” Midas asked, his smile faltering.

“Her name is Irene Louvfant. She’s the late wife of Calill Louvfant, and was part of the casualties in the cyborg war,” Ian repeated, and added some clarification. “I’m not sure she was someone you knew.”

At this point the smile ended up fading completely as Midas looked back and forth between the image and Ian. He wasn’t sure what to say at first, and the data movement around them slowed as it lost some focus. “Cal….. Caliil? Like… That’s Whip’s name, isn’t it?” Midas asked, a bit broken in his thoughts and voice.

“Yes,” Ian confirmed softly, and moved to stand next to Midas now. “You breached the contact between you, the computer, and Whip, and dove into his memories. That’s why they feel familiar to you. Because they are memories… just not yours.”

“I…. wha?” Midas gasped, not completely comprehending what that meant. He’d taken some of Whip’s memories? How was that even possible? So this was Whip’s wife? There was the wedding ring that Rosé mentioned. Wait. “Is he okay?”

Ian snorted softly at the question, and nodded. “Yeah, he’ll be fine,” he assured. “And he’s not angry. He asked me to come help you sort things out after he told me what happened.”

Midas was stunned silent for a stretch again, watching the images. “I… can’t even begin to figure out how to sort this out,” he admitted with a pathetic chuckle that was more of a whimper. “Kind of dumb, right? Can’t figure this out either…”

“Midas, you’re not dumb,” Ian countered quickly. “You used to work with programming, I can tell just by seeing the way your brain works. All of this?” he gestured to the data around them “would have driven another person mad with how quickly you absorbed it. But the ability to understand complex science, and organize it while having your nanites process the bulk of it? Not to mention Whip said you took care of all the viruses on your own. Just because you’re a bit dumb when it comes to things that ‘everyone’ else already knows, doesn’t mean you’re an idiot.” The lecture was calm, but honestly it was one that Ian had been waiting to give as soon as he’d had more proof. He knew Midas was a hassle, not knowing basic human culture or even how to tell if he had a fever or not. But he’d never considered Midas an idiot. Just that he probably wasn’t from Cerah at all. “Actually it just makes me curious about what kind of life you lived before. I know for a fact now that you’re not from Cerah, and probably weren’t somewhere that there were a lot of people with an established culture. But, let’s take care of this current problem first, okay?” Ian ended up having to hold a hand up to stop Midas’ questions that bubbled up after everything Ian had said.

Feeling strangely obedient, Midas held his questions for later, even though they made his mind buzz with confusion and curiosity. “What’s the problem then?” he asked, just to show he’d go along with what Ian was wanting.

Giving a small smile to show his appreciation, Ian explained further. “Normally when cyborgs share memories, if it’s not done in a specific way they it’s really hard for them to not mistake the memories as their own. If it so happens that they get memories without analyzing them first, then they just have to be analyzed afterwards. But that can be quite a bit harder since the original owner of the memories isn’t there to tell you which ones are theirs.”

“So why isn’t Whip in here instead of you?” Midas asked, a slight smirk showing. He understood why this could be serious, especially since these were memories that were being analyzed by someone who currently didn’t have much in the way of personal memory.

“He thinks he’s bad at this,” Ian answered. “And he is. Much too rough,” he added with a shrug, just joking a little bit.

Midas snorted softly, but then grew more solemn. “So… how do we do this then? How do I analyze the memories so they’re not mistaken as mine?”

“You more or less just have to remember them while understanding that they’re not yours. No matter how clearly they feel like yours.”

“But....That’s going to be hard. Do I just discredit anything I remember? That’s not fair,” Midas huffed, feeling a little reluctant. What if there was a memory in there that was actually his and not Whip’s? What then?

“That’s why I’m here,” Ian assured, shifting forward and reaching his hands out to clear the data and focus on the memories. “Let me help you reconstruct the sequence, one memory at a time”

____________________________

previous           next

intro             first 

guhhhh long post, my bad |D

at this point I’m just spurting stuff that comes to mind, don’t expect too much X’DDD amg *is intimidated *          

#my art #Rizen #long post #original character #oc #original story #Midas

[ilguna]

Metanoia - Chapter Sixteen (f.o)

Summary: you will be crowned victor of the 75th hunger games.

Word Count; 8.8k

Warnings; swearing, mention of murder

NOTES: i give reader a last name to fit the world.

–

“You’re still sure you want to do this?” Finnick asks, you give him a look.

“If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to. Feel free to join Katniss’ star squad.” you snort at the name of it, “Boggs already made us the offer and said we can change our minds at any time up until we leave.”

“I remember.” Finnick says, he grips his shiny, new trident in his hand tightly, before deciding that he might as well strap it to his body so he’s not carrying it around everywhere, “I just thought you might want to back out is all.”

You roll your eyes, “The day I back out of anything, is the day I’m a coward.”

“I’m Commander Paylor of District Eight.” Paylor begins, Finnick’s head immediately snaps up to see her, you practically already have Paylor’s speech memorized, “I’m a soldier like all of you so, here’s what I know. For the first time in our lifetimes, we’re standing together with thirteen districts. From what I see here, we’ve already made history.”

The clapping starts first, the cheering is a second behind. There’s a shitload of people here. No only in the streets, but on the rooftops too. Volunteers from every district have been flown in, leading up to this moment. What you did yesterday, really opened up a ton of opportunities.

“But history doesn’t stop to celebrate, and we’re facing an enemy that will not change and will never surrender. President Snow has pulled back peacekeepers to fortify the center of the city. He’s evacuating residents from outer blocks, these civilians will be confused and desperate. You are under orders not to target them.”

Paylor motions to the crowd, “We’re deploying medical brigades to help anyone in need. We’ll show the Capitol people who we are.” she motions to the live screen behind her of a map, “To slow our advance, President Snow is building a minefield of traps and lethal devices called ‘pods’. The sadistic inventions of gamemakers meant to make sport of our deaths.

“If our armies make it past peacekeepers and other defenses, we’ll converge in the center of the city at Snow’s mansion, where we won’t just unlock his gates, but unshackle all of Panem.” The crowd cheers again, “If we die, let it be for a cause and not a spectacle. If we succeed, let it be for all of panem, and let it be forever.

“Yes, you’ve already made history. But the future--our future--starts tomorrow at dawn, when we march together into the Capitol.”

The cheering resumes, and you give a quick glance to Katniss and Gale, curious to see how they’re taking all of this. Gale came into District Two a little after you had left--he was on a hovercraft full of volunteers--and Katniss came over this morning as a stowaway on another volunteer hovercraft.

She’s been insisting to help this entire time, not wanting to sit back. However, she’s going to be in for a nasty surprise when she realizes that she’s the top priority. Her squad is going to do anything to keep her safe--which is exactly why you’ve decided not to join the star squad. 

You’ve already had the misfortune of being in on protecting her once, and that was enough for you. You might not have known every single detail, but the intentions were pretty clear. You’re just surprised that it took so long for Katniss to realize that she was the priority.

Also, the problem with the star squad is that they’re not front lines. Katniss can’t be killed, otherwise the revolution dies or whatever. So, Boggs told you that they’re going to give the volunteers a head start, and then they’ll follow behind. No matter what happens, the squad will still have to be careful of pods and whatnot, but most of them will be taken out by the volunteers by the time the squad leaves the base.

In other words--they’re not going to get any action. Katniss is still going to be filmed, but it’s practically useless in your mind. Her setting off pods or standing patriotically in front of things isn’t going to do much. She’s not leading anyone, she’s following behind people.

Which is a whole other reason why you’re up front: you’re not a follower, you’re a leader.

As Paylor gets back to her speech, giving more information, you grab a hold of Finnick’s arm, and start to pull him out of the crowd. Trying to navigate through is hard at first, until the volunteers see the look on your face, or recognize who you are. After that, a path just wide enough for you and Finnick to fit through, forms.

“Where are we going?”

“Anywhere but here, we were already briefed.” you say, and the second you’re out of the crowd, you let Finnick go.

Bouncing on your toes, you twirl around a bit, “Tomorrow, huh? Too bad it can’t be today.”

“We’ll probably be introduced to our squad at least.” Finnick says, “You know where to go?”

“What kind of moronic question is that?” you ask, heading to the building that Lyme said would be the meet up spot for you guys, “Of course I know.”

Lyme and Boggs had approached both you and Finnick. Either you could join Katniss’ star squad, protect her, befriend her, trust her--whatever. You guys would have a chance of being on television, and maybe even share some glory of ‘being brave and marching to the Capitol’. In your opinion, it looks like Coin just wants to put two of her best faces together to make you look like a team.

Especially after what you said to the people inside of the tunnel, you basically discredited Katniss in the worst way possible. By saying that she can’t relate to them, because she doesn’t get it. You said what you said, you weren’t lying to their faces. If Coin wants to think that, then she can because she’s psychotic anyway.

Anyway, Lyme said that you could go to the front lines. Like you said, Coin doesn’t control you, because you aren’t the one leading the masses--Katniss is. If you want to go ahead and clear out streets for the medical brigades, then you can go nuts with it. You’ll get your own personalized squad that Lyme thinks will get along with you, and then you’re free to go tomorrow.

You’ll have your own pod-tracker, a map to follow, food and water, weapons, etc. But this just means that you’re going to be in danger with every step you take. The pod-tracker, which is actually called the Holo, will be as updated as can be, tomorrow. However, if any new pods appear, you won’t really know until it’s too late.

You received all of this news pretty well. You’re used to being in places you’re not welcome at. You’re pretty agile, you can fight well, you’re not too bad when it comes to leading a group. And if you get killed on the way, what a noble way to go out.

As for Finnick, you could just tell that this isn’t what he thought it was going to be. You don’t know what he expected exactly, but it wasn’t a whole ton of danger all wrapped up in one big city. Seeing the Capitol as dangerous is a comedy. To you two, it’s been sparkle and shimmer for as long as you can remember.

Combining the pretty idea of it, and the idea that the gamemakers have not held back with what will go on with traps--isn’t a fun thought. Especially not for you, since you’re the one who’s seen it as glamour the entire time. Finnick… you’re not too sure. He definitely doesn’t have good memories either, but he also got his shitload of secrets from there, so you’re not entirely sure.

You know that he’s pro-rebellion though. That’s obvious by now.

Back to what you were saying, Boggs and Lyme both offered sides to it. Follow Katniss around and not be in direct danger all the time, or have your own squad and be face-to-face with danger. She liked to describe it as ‘death breathing down your neck’.

You already promised a lot of people that you wouldn’t be taking the cowards way out. And like you’ve said already; you don’t want to be in the star squad. 

While the entire interaction was happening, it was obvious that Finnick was hoping you would change your mind. Like everything that you’ve done up until now has been one entire joke. 

He’ll realize just how real it’ll all be as soon as tomorrow comes. When the deal with Boggs no longer stands and you have to go with Lyme no matter what.

Actually, you wouldn’t have to go with her. You would be able to just stay in District Two, while all the volunteers do your dirty work. 

“Remember any of the names that she told us?” You ask Finnick, looking at him.

He’s got his thumbs looped into the straps of the bulletproof vest he’s wearing. He thinks for a moment, and then makes a face, “Not really.”

You shrug, “Not a problem, I’ve got a way around seeming rude.”

Finnick laughs, “You care about that?”

“They’re going to be the ones saving our necks, so yeah.” You say, cracking your knuckles, “They’re not a bunch of victors that I can mouth off to. They’re regular people, they won’t understand and will end up taking it personally.”

“Critical thinking.” Finnick mocks.

If you didn’t have all this armor on, you’d spin around and kick his ass. Even then, he might be able to win. When you two were putting the outfits on, he looked like none of the weight fazed him. As for you, your knees nearly buckled.

On top of the armor are the backpacks, and then your fancy weapons, and a hundred other things inside of the backpacks. It makes it all so heavy, and your shoulders had begun to ache after a while.

The only reason why you’re still wearing it—because in no way was it required to be worn—is because you want to get used to the feeling of it all. It’s why you continue to move around quickly, bounce on your toes, spin in circles and all of that. You’re trying to fix your balance.

If Finnick had tried to push you over when you first put all this weight on, you would have stumbled and fell. Now, you’ve begun to get a hang of it all, it’s not nearly as bad as you thought it was.

You two make it to the abandoned building. The upper floor is caved in, the windows are gone and if the ground shakes, concrete debris will come through the cracks. Definitely not a safe place to be at, but the entire district is fucked up like this. It’s not really a huge surprise.

The inside of the building is relatively empty, except for some furniture. Finnick waits by the door while you head inside, stealing two chairs--one in each arm--as you leave the house. If the place collapses, you’d rather be on the outside, not the entire.

Finnick takes his chair from you, and the two of you set up camp outside. You have to shed the backpack before you sit. Then, you unbuckle the bulletproof vest and drop it onto the dirt next to you, leaning back in the chair.

“Have you ever actually gone to war before?” Finnick asks.

“There’s always a first time for everything.” you give him a pretty smile, “Don’t be so negative about it, you’re going to imagine bad things and then get us killed.”

Finnick pauses for a moment, letting what you said sit, and then he moves on, “Are you doing okay?”

You watch his face, looking for mockery. It takes a moment of you squinting and watching the corner of his lips for you to decide. He’s being sincere about it, he actually cares.

You relax, “I’m still mourning, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Finnick is just as relieved as you are, “Are you throwing yourself into this because of her?”

“I’m doing this because I promised those people that I would.”

“You keep saying that, but you don’t owe them anything--” Finnick tries.

You squint at him again, but this time it’s a very clear glare. Finnick shifts uncomfortably in his chair, and you resist to kick out the weakest leg that’s barely holding his weight.

“They are my people.” you lean forward, “I might not know their names, but they’re District Two. They are the people that I grew up with. They look up to us, they depend on us victors. Of course I owe them, and you do too.”

Finnick doesn’t bother with saying anything else, and it’s probably for the best. It’s only a few minutes later when you see people approaching. After that, you sit up in your chair, uncrossing your legs as you lean on your knees with your elbows.

“You must be (Y/n) and Finnick.” a girl with blonde, curled hair says, “I’m Hydri.” 

You get to your feet, holding out your hand, “Nice to meet you.

“This is Taurus,” she motions to a tall man with black hair. There’s tattoos snaking up his neck, and they’re peeking out from beneath his sleeves, “And Alioth.”

Alioth is around average height. He gives a small smile and raises his hand as a greeting. His hair is blonde too, and it’s a style that was most definitely taken out of the Capitol’s stylists books. The sides are shaved but they have intricate designs in them.

“Let me guess, you two are from District Two?” you ask, shaking Taurus’ hand, and then Alioths.

“Not me.” Hydri smiles kindly, “Taurus is from District One, though. He was nearly in the games once.”

“It’s a good thing I wasn’t, you would have wiped the floor with my body.” Taurus says, his voice is pretty deep. 

“No shit.” you laugh, “I always heard about the runner-up from District One, but I never got to see who you were.”

Taurus cracks a smile.

Finnick moves around you to greet them just the same as you did. Then, the conversation shifts to what you’re all really here for--what happens tomorrow.

The entire thing is very friendly, you all go over what you’ll be having inside the backpacks, and the difference between them. Just so that if one of you get hurt or killed, the others will know if the backpack is worth taking or not. While you’re talking, you learn that Alioth will be carrying mostly medical stuff. He’s got food and ammo for himself, but when he opens his backpack and shows it to you guys, you can see exactly what he means.

To have him get killed would be bad. You all have basic medical training, from the games or otherwise. But Alioth’s been studying it for years now since he got out of high school. He originally wanted to sign up for the medical brigade that will be sent out of District Two, but Paylor thought it would be better for him to come with you guys.

Taurus has got the basic prep-games training that you guys get in the academies, so he’ll be a pretty good fighter. Another person you guys wouldn’t want to lose, and yet he tells you all that he doesn’t care if you lean on him. It’s what he’s here for.

As for Hydri, she’s purely for organization. She’s been studying the maps for the last few days, so she’ll be able to keep you from getting lost and from getting off-track. You’ll be able to meet up around Snow’s mansion in the center city. They’ve already marked a building that’s not really used, so it’s the perfect place to go.

After a while, the conversation starts to get a bit dull, and it’s also around the same time that the sun has set. So, you tell them all that you and Finnick are going to grab dinner and head to where you’re staying for the night. Tomorrow, you five will be meeting up in a separate designated spot to receive the Holo, and then hop on a truck to be brought to the city.

Then, you’ll be fighting for your life. Again.

--

You turn the Holo over in your hand, looking at it carefully.

“Don’t break it, we could barely even spare you this one.” the lady tells you.

You look at her, raising your head to be level with her face. Finnick--sensing a showdown--steps in, “Thank you.”

He tries to drag you away, but you keep your stance for a moment, “Lyme personally requested it for me, so you aren’t sparing jack shit. Go fuck yourself.” without missing a beat, you take the Holo from her fingers, mock a smile and say, “I mean, have a nice day.”

You and Finnick leave the table after that, heading over to your group. They’re pulling on the last of their outfits, readjusting straps and buckling up. Taurus is messing around with Alioth slightly while Hydri watches.

They act like they’ve known each other forever, despite the fact that you’re all from varying districts. Taurus is from one, while you and Alioth are from two. Finnick is from four, and Hydri is from District Six. So far, you seem to like them. But they’re obviously a little apprehensive when it comes to you.

You don’t take it personally anymore.

“Got the Holo?” Hydri asks.

You lift it up for her to see, “We’re all good to go.”

“It’s already set up?” Taurus asks.

“Bitch at the booth taught me.”

Taurus snorts, “Let’s go then.”

Hydri leads the way, with Alioth right by her. Taurus hands back with you and Finnick during the walk. For them, it’s not quiet, but for you, it is.

At first, you’re looking at the groups of people getting ready to go to the trucks. And then your eyes wander a little further to where the tents are on the base. From where you are right now, you have a perfect line of sight to where Boggs is standing, talking to some woman, around them stands a few other people.

“How many people do you think have going with Katniss?” you ask.

“Remember when I ran off this morning?” Finnick asks, you nod but don’t look at him, “Went to talk to Boggs. Katniss has got her camera crew from District Thirteen with her, Gale, and the other five.”

“Huh.” you shift your gaze to the trucks, watching some of them take off. Then, it clicks in your head. Five, Katniss, Gale, and the four from the camera crew, “eleven people?”

“Yup. That’ll be a nightmare.” Finnick mutters, “Katniss is probably planning her escape at this exact moment.”

“And it would have been thirteen if we went with them.” you whistle, “There’s no safety in numbers. They’re all going to end up dead.”

Taurus turns his head a little in your direction, you can see the scowl on his face. Yet, he doesn’t ask any questions and just lets what you said slide. He doesn’t look like the confrontational type, but when he does, it’s when he’s pushed the edge. He just has that air about him.

“You really think that?” Finnick asks.

You look at him, “Thirteen people, all with different ambitions and minds of their own. All it would take is for one person to mess up, and the rest are dead. Especially since we’re walking into a minefield.”

Shaking your head, you turn the Holo in your hand, “Katniss will be lucky if she makes it past the first round of pods.”

“You hate her that much, huh?” Taurus finally pitches in, but he doesn’t look at you.

“I don’t hate her, and I don’t loathe her either. She should’ve stayed in District Thirteen, but it’s too late for that now.” you glance behind you to where Boggs is, one final time before they’re finally out of sight.

Boggs seems to be staring at you too, and when he realizes you’re looking back, he raises his hand. You stutter to do the same--mostly because you’re surprised at the action--but you do it, nonetheless. After, a building blocks the view, and you’re forced to go back to focusing on the trucks.

Hydri leads you right to an armoured truck. She knocks on the door once or twice, and then steps back as she waits for them to swing open. It takes a moment, but they do. On the inside, there’s already a couple of people sitting inside on the right. The guy who answered, takes a seat to the right again.

Hydri moves aside, a bright smile on her face as she motions for you guys to go inside. Alioth doesn’t hesitate, with one hand grabbing the bar to the left, and him taking one big step to get himself up. Then, he moves right on back. When Taurus gets up there, he doesn’t struggle with the step as much as Alioth had.

Finnick goes in before you, but he doesn’t sit down right away, instead offering his hand. You grab the bar with your left hand, and his hand with your right. Working together, he pulls you into the truck with no problem. Then, he offers the same courtesy to Hydri, but makes sure she doesn’t get the seat right next to you.

“Thanks.” you mutter, closing your eyes as you lean your head back.

“Anytime.”

Alioth must’ve leaned forward to talk to the driver through the window or something, because the truck gets moving after that. The ride is relatively bumpy at the start, since the trucks had been parked in gravel, but it smoothes out once you’re on the cement.

“Are we getting dropped off in the same spot?” Hydri asks.

“No, we’re earlier than you guys are. Trying to spread out and all.”

“That’s what I thought. At least Paylor knows what she’s doing.” Hydri sighs.

“Did you hear about Lyme?” Taurus asks.

“She’s fine.” Hydri says, “(Y/n) saw her this morning, it was just a scratch. Lyme will be back on her feet, and she might even join us in the center circle.”

“If we make it that far.”

Taurus sighs too, and the conversation between the two groups ends right there.

A while later, there’s some rustling around, making you open your eyes to see what’s going on exactly. The group across from you is getting their backpacks and weapons ready.

They’re talking amongst themselves, mostly about where the nearest pod is going to be the moment they stop off. It’s too bad that they won’t be able to locate where exactly, all they know is that it exists somewhere.

The truck comes to a slow stop, Hydri helps the other girl open the door, and she holds it open so it’s easier for the second group to leave. The other girl says a thank you, and then the doors are shut again.

Taurus and Hydri move to the other bench to make it more comfortable between you five. And Hydri just opens her mouth to say something, when there’s an explosion. For a moment, you think it’s okay, until the truck teeters, and then tips. Unfortunately, it’s in yours, Finnick’s and Alioth’s direction.

There’s not much you can do.

Butterflies swarm in your stomach. A scream rises to your throat. You reach out to grab something--anything.

Your fingers just barely latch onto the edge of the bench, but you hang onto it.

Your back slams against the truck painfully, but your head is cushioned. While you’re staring at what used to be the wall, which is now the ceiling, something slams into the metal next to you.

You look over to your right, trying to see who it is. Finnick is in your way though, and he’s already getting to his elbows, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” you tell him, sitting up and scooting back. Finnick had cushioned your head with his arm--you’re not sure if that was on purpose or if he was flailing just like you were.

Hydri is on her hands and knees next to Finnick, it just means she went flying towards you guys. At least she’s breathing and awake. Taurus is in the dip of the floor, sitting because he can’t stand. And with a look to Alioth, he gives a thumbs up to you.

“Get the doors open.” you tell Taurus, unbuckling the backpack from your body, and then you lean down and grab the Holo.

You turn it on, squinting at it through blurry vision. You blink a couple of times, watching as the device comes to life, and the orange dots take over the blue landscape. The nearest pod is about a hundred feet away--so they couldn’t have set off that one.

The doors slam open, and Taurus reaches for your backpack. He carefully drops it on the outside, eyes glued to the flames that are engulfing a building.

“New pod.” You say, “They ran into one of the new ones.”

You get up with the help of Taurus, not waiting for anyone else. After you slide out, you land on your feet harshly. Another look to the Holo shows an orange dot where the fire is.

“Figures.” you say, picking up the backpack and slinging it over your shoulder.

“(Y/n)--stop!” Finnick’s voice is hard, “What if there’s another?”

You turn around for a moment, “Did you not see what just happened? What if--”

There’s a blast of heat, and then the sound follows. You make a face, but don’t cover your ears as you look to where you were heading. 

A second pod has been set off, and one of the people that were inside of the truck, now struggles to put the fire out. They flail, dancing around like they don’t know what they’re doing. Then, they shed the backpack, and the jacket--which are both charcoal black now--until they eventually sink to their knees, since the flamethrower is still targeting them, following their every move.

You open your mouth as if words will form, but all you feel is your hot breath on your lips as you breathe out.

“Are there any survivors?” Alioth asks, rocks crunching beneath his feet.

“They’re all dead.” Taurus says, “We should check on the drivers--”

“Alive!” Hydri calls, which makes you all turn, “But the driver’s got a head wound from the airbag.

Alioth doesn’t care, he goes ahead and checks them out anyway. You go from staring at the fire to looking at the path you took to get here. It would be a long walk back, and even then there’s no guarantee that Boggs will take you back. Or if you’ll make it in time.

“What are you thinking?” Finnick asks.

You reach up with your right hand, grabbing the left backpack strap as you tilt your head for a moment, “That we better be careful where we step from now on.”

--

Those two explosions that the second group had set off, might have been the first to happen, but they weren’t the last. It was just the beginning of the chain, that probably won’t end until the last volunteer travels through the Capitol.

The gamemakers were smart with their placement--you just have to admit it. They chose the very outskirts of the city, knowing full well that there would be a ton of volunteers that wouldn’t suspect a goddamn thing. You all were expecting the pods to be further into the city, not lining the outering of it.

It’s clear why they did it though, when those first pods went off, it was an indicator that you guys were now coming into the city. It was a way for all those peacekeepers to gear up and find a place to hide until a group of volunteers came through the streets. It would also let Snow know that he should probably be pulling back his citizens a little more forcefully, now.

And not only all of that, but the fact that they’d also know that you were all going in from different directions. Different starting points to offer different advantages. Of course, it also has its disadvantages. You’re having to set off the first pods, rather than walking through a street that’s completely clear already.

The gamemakers don’t care enough to set up the pods again, they’ve got worse things to worry about. Like predicting when you’ll all make it there, and trying to spot the places you hide during the night. For them, it’s going to be a fun game of paranoia that won’t stop until you’re right in their face.

They won’t have a clue either. Not after what Paylor said earlier, with different ways to hide yourself in a crowd. You might not be allowed to antagonize the Capitol citizens, but you’re definitely allowed to raid their wardrobes. Especially the ones that have houses that are already trashed.

If you dress like the citizens, do some crazy fucking makeup to alter your face, and figure out the accent and walk, you’re practically golden. There’s no way that they’ll really be able to tell it's you. If they end up asking for ID, all you have to do is make up some lame excuse about leaving the house in a hurry.

More or less, problem solved.

Until then, you’re all traveling through the streets, just trying not to get caught in the middle of a trap.

“Pod?” Taurus asks, looking back at you.

You hold the Holo up, staring down at the blue for a moment. The next orange dot seems to be miles away, “Not from what I can tell. Just go carefully.”

Taurus goes first, making you guys wait a couple of seconds before following him. In case there is a trap, there will be a few feet between you guys and him, allowing time for escape. It was his idea, it’s not like any of you forced it on him.

“Take a right.” Hydri says, “These alleys are confusing, but it’s our better shot. The main streets are a minefield, aren’t they (Y/n)?”

You shake your head, holding up the Holo for her to see, “Not really, the nearest one might be on the street but--”

“Stop!” Finnick yells to Taurus.

Finnick pushes his way up to you and Hydri, basically pressed against your back as he leans forward to point out the pods, “Right there, see? It’s so faint that we can’t see it.”

“The faint ones are supposed to be the ones that have already been triggered.” you tell Finnick, “It’s what that lady told me.”

“But we’re the first ones through here.” Alioth says, “That can’t be possible.”

While you all stand and stare, thinking up a million possibilities as to why this is happening, your eyes are searching the alleyway for a trigger. If Finnick is right about it being a pod, it’s here, in this little maze of backstreets. You all could be beneath it, on top of it, around the corner from it…

The brick wall of the alley is relatively clean, no one has been through here in awhile. The trash cans that are tucked away have genuinely begun to collect dust. If you were to swipe your finger on top of one of the lids, then you’ll get a thick layer of it on your finger.

This part of the city has long since been deserted. Not only because it was the first to be evacuated, but even worse than that. The gamemakers must have made them leave weeks before the day they thought you’d all be coming through here.

So, there’s definitely something in here.

“How close is the nearest one?” Taurus asks, he hasn’t moved from where he stopped, and that’s probably a good thing.

You move Finnick out of the way with one hand as you look behind you guys, eyes squinted as you search the walls for anything out of place. It has to be subtle, because that’s the way the gamemakers have it in the Holo. They must have figured out a way to hack into them or something.

“What is it?” Finnick asks.

You shush him, eyes sweeping the wall behind him. Brick after brick until--

“Cameras.” You say, pointing at it, “That means peacekeepers, guys.” you turn back to Hydri, “Give me the nearest building that should be safe to hide in.”

“Uh--” Hydri shakes her head for a moment, flipping open the map. She’s obviously trying not to freak out as she runs a finger over the alleyway and into the street, “--yeah, okay. I’ll lead.”

She zips past you, Finnick and Alioth and heads straight for Taurus, showing him the way. The two of them don’t hesitate with walking, which means that you guys shouldn’t either. However, you can’t help but reach into a spare pocket, holding out a throwing knife that Beetee had made for you.

“Fuckers.” you throw.

It lands straight into the glass lens. It won’t be able to watch you now, but that means nothing. The peacekeepers know you guys are here, and that’s all that matters. 

Finnick turns to check where you are, but you’ve already caught up to him and Alioth.

“Quick thinking.” Finnick says.

“I could say the same about you.” 

Hydri brings you guys around a series of corners. It reminds you of the streets of District Two for a moment by how confusing it is the first time you go through. But then you realize there’s a whole pattern to it. That doesn’t mean you had expected where Hydri would bring you guys.

A metal door. Taurus automatically thinks it’s locked, so he goes to kick it in, but Hydri shakes her head and presses a finger to her lips, “Listen.” she whispers.

The five of you all take a moment to try and listen, watching as Hydri pulls out a lockpick, sticking it straight into the lock and beginning to work her magic. It takes a moment of listening to hear it, but then the sound gets considerably louder.

It’s a truck. It’s a truck full of peacekeepers, and they’re not actually coming on foot. There’s going to be a lot more of them than you originally anticipated.

The others must be thinking the same as you because Taurus’ face drops, Finnick pales a little and Alioth opens his mouth to speak, yet nothing comes out. It takes another second before Hydri has popped the door open, and she heads in first, crouched down.

Taurus waits at the door, Finnick shoves you in next, and you go in crouched. Alioth follows, then Finnick, then Taurus--who shuts the door quietly and then locks it again. Hydri is still crouched by the door, waiting for you and Taurus to go up first to evaluate.

None of you actually know what the hell this building is, and by the sound of marching, you’re not going to have much time to figure it out. You and Taurus stop by the same place beneath the counter, and you place your knee against the ground as you squeeze your eyes shut.

This is bad. This is so bad.

You’ve encountered plenty of pods, but those have been relatively easy to bypass. They’re not as dangerous as a squad of peacekeepers are. You set off a pod, the pod is completely done. But peacekeepers? You have to kill each one individually or squeeze your way out.

Escaping them is going to be damn near impossible with five people, especially with a truck full of peacekeepers and god knows if there’s cameras inside of here too.

“Hey,” Finnick says, coming over, “Breathe, it’s going to be fine.”

Right after, there’s a slam on the door behind you guys, and the voices of peacekeepers just outside the building. You look over at Finnick, “Does this look fine to you?”

“I don’t know the layout of the houses, only the streets.” Hydri whispers.

You take a deep breath and another moment of complete silence, before you begin to waddle your way around Taurus. When he goes to stop you, you forcefully push him back, and look at the others.

“Wait.”

You go all the way around the counters, peeking your head around the corner to see the peacekeepers and the actual layout of the building you’re inside. It takes a moment for you to see, and then realize that you’re inside a whole apartment building. There’s a staircase nearby, you guys can go up that as far as it goes…

“Hydri, are there fire escapes?” you ask, looking back.

She nods quickly, and so you motion for them to follow. The pounding on the back door has not only gotten louder, but they’ve begun to cave the metal in from the force they’re using. As for out front--you have no clue what’s going on there.

You lead them all to the staircase, Taurus insists on taking up the back since he can’t have the front. You go up one floor, and then a second, then a third, and then a fourth. The entire way, you’re jiggling door knobs, trying to find one that’s unlocked. If you can run up the fire escape, that would be much easier.

On the fifth floor, you find one single door unlocked, and without a care as to why, you rush everyone inside. It’s only when you go to see for yourself, you freeze where you stand.

“We’re not here to hurt you.” Finnick starts first.

The Capitol citizens are sitting on their couch, enjoying their tea. The woman just barely has the cup in her hold, and her hand is shaking.

“My name is (Y/n) Rosecelli, do you recognize the name?” 

“Yes.” The man says, standing from where he sits, “What are you doing in my house--”

You ignore him, “You shouldn’t be here. You should have gone with everyone else when you evacuated, because the entire city is full of traps.”

As you make your way around the windows, you find the one with a fire escape. It’s above the alleyway, but it’ll have to work. The door you came in downstairs just blew. You pop it open, letting Hydri and Alioth go out first.

“We mean no harm.” you tell them, “We’re just trying to get away. When the peacekeepers come up here, urge them to get you out of here.”

“Why should we?” he demands.

You’re reaching forward, grabbing Finnick’s sleeve as you make him go before you.

“Because if you even step foot into the streets, you’ll die.” you hand the Holo off to Finnick.

“Go.” Taurus tells you, “I’ll go out last.”

The others are already going up the metal staircase, you can hear their rapid feet. The only person that hasn’t started moving yet is Finnick.

“Please.” you look at the woman, “I’m telling you it’s not safe here, not even for us.”

You go through the window, and just as Taurus comes over, you can hear the voices and the dozen pairs of footsteps too. Taurus gives one look to the door, then back to the window. You reach your hand out like you’re going to pull him through, but he slams the window shut instead.

As he’s reaching for the curtains, the automatic is in his hands. He tilts his head at you, like he’s telling you to run while you can. Then, the fabric covers the window, and you can hear the first slam into the door.

“Go.” you tell Finnick, pushing him, “I said go!”

Finnick gets moving after that, flying up the staircase faster than you can. He takes them two at a time, and at every landing, he looks back to make sure you’re following. Finnick just barely gets to the ladder when you hear the first bullet leave the gun, and following are the screams.

He’s just barely up far enough when you begin going. At the top waiting is Alioth and Hydri, reaching out to yank Finnick up the last couple of rungs. When you get up there, Finnick takes you all by himself.

At the top of the roof, you take a moment to catch your breath.

“Where’s Taurus?” Hydri asks, looking between you and Finnick.

“Dead.” you tell her, moving along the top of the roof to find a way out. The gap between roof to roof is narrow, you could take this jump in your sleep, “He couldn’t get through the window in time, so he stayed back to help us, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”

You pull yourself on top of the safety wall on the roof, getting to your feet. You shed the backpack, curse the bulletproof vest for getting in the way, and then you throw. The backpack clears the wall without a problem, and you look back at the others.

“We have to keep moving.” you insist.

You back up as much as you can afford, preparing for the jump.

“(Y/n)--!” Finnick yells.

You throw yourself forward in a run, taking the leap. The second roof is a little lower, which is perfect, you land onto the safety wall below, and tumble for a moment. When you catch yourself, you look right back at the others, who are hanging over to make sure you’re okay.

“It’s not a bad jump. Toss me the Holo.” you hold out your hands.

Finnick tosses it to you, and then he throws his backpack next to yours. He mirrors the way you had gotten onto the wall, before hopping over too. Then Hydri, and then Alioth. Just as you all get your shit back together, there’s more peacekeepers coming.

The four of you keep moving, onto the next roof. Then, you force them all to hide against the wall as you take a look at the Holo. The peacekeepers are nearby, they’re an entire rooftop over, and they have no clue what direction you guys actually moved in.

The Holo offers little help, from what you can see, there’s no faint orange dots. But the nearest solid orange one is literally in the street below. There’s no way you’d want to go down there, and from what Hydri said, the alleyway ended with that metal door. If you get down right now, then you’d have to trigger the trap when you step on it.

Unless you’d rather take a chance.

You shed the backpack, digging through the pockets until you pull out a metal ball. Taurus was using these to set off the traps that required weight and sight of something moving. All you have to do is throw this in the street below to set it off. The peacekeepers that are standing on the street will have to hide.

But it’ll take them a moment to realize what’s going on.

“What are you thinking?” Alioth asks.

“Just watch.” you move past all of them, taking one glance at the neighboring rooftops to see that there’s no one there.

You check the Holo again just to be sure, and then you get up, hurling the ball right where the pod should be. For a second, nothing happens.

Then the ground opens up, and starts to crumble.

“Oh shit.” you say, “Nearest rooftop--now!”

The rumbling of the ground gets louder, and you can hear the yells of the peacekeepers. Finnick and Alioth are the first to the rooftop away from the street--the far back one. Alioth sheds all his gear, Finnick gets down to grab his foot, and then he boots Alioth up.

Alioth squirms for a moment, but he gets up, leaning over for his shit. Finnick tosses them up, and Alioth takes it, and throws it behind him, completely disregarding it. And considering you all are on a time limit, it matters a ton.

Next is Hydri, but she insists her stuff goes up first, since everything inside is important. Anyone can read a map, but you all navigating the city without it will be hell. 

You and Finnick stare at each other for a moment, and since you already know what he’s going to say, you hand the Holo off, then the backpack, and Alioth pulls you up with Hydri barely helping. The second that you’re on the higher roof, you’ve thrown yourself over the side.

The building Finnick’s on is tilting towards the gaping hole in the street, getting further and further away from you guys.

Pain strikes your heart, and you panic a bit when Finnick tries to take off the backpack.

“Jump!” you yell to him, “I’ve got you!”

Finnick listens to you, leaving the backpack and all on as he backs up a bit, gets a running start and bolts for the wall. You lean down as far as you can without losing your balance.

Finnick jumps, and with the amount of distance between the two buildings--you’re sure he won’t make it.

Then, his hand hits yours, and you’re reaching down with a second hand to grab his wrist.

Together, you and Alioth pull Finnick up the wall and into the roof with you guys. Once he’s inside, Finnick stumbles and falls onto his back, breathing heavy. You crouch down next to him, placing your hand on his chest.

“You’re okay?”

Finnick takes a breath in, “You were afraid.”

You crack a smile, “Of course I was.”

Offering your hand to him, he takes it. You pull him onto his feet with barely any struggle, patting his back as you move past him to gather your things again. You buckle the backpack, back in place, and take the Holo from Hydri.

“We should be good for a while.” you look up to Hydri.

“Ladder.” Alioth tells you guys, kicking off a hatch, “We should keep moving.”

“Ready to go, Finnick?” you ask.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Finnick says, giving you a smile.

--

You stare at the bedroom, “This feels weird to do.”

“You’re the one that said you wanted to have an apartment in the Capitol.”

You make a face at Finnick, tilting your head, “There’s a difference between getting a brand new apartment and sleeping in someone else’s bed.”

“Then go sleep in the living room.” Finnick heads into the bedroom, tossing his backpack onto a chair.

“How about you go sleep in a different room.” you jut your thumb towards the door, “I’m not sharing a bed with you.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Finnick gives you a cheeky grin as he sits on the edge of the bed, taking off his bulletproof vest, “Also there are no other rooms besides the living room.”

You sigh, grabbing the door knob, “Goodnight, Finnick.”

“You’re seriously going out there?” Finnick asks, throwing the vest onto the armchair with his backpack, “You’d rather sleep on a couch than a bed?”

“I’d rather sleep alone.” you clarify, “But I’m not getting that either way.”

Finnick pats the bed next to him, “We can make a pillow wall.”

“I’d rather deal with the neck pain.”

“Don’t be a wuss.” Finnick says.

He knew that would make you hesitate. 

And you can tell by the smile creeping onto his face more and more as he pats the bed again, “Come on.” he sings.

You squint, “Why are you so eager?”

“Don’t wanna sleep alone.” Finnick is now removing his shoes, “Haven’t really slept alone in years.”

You take in a deep breath, “That’s not what I expected to hear, and it was the wrong thing to say on your part, too. Going to the living room.”

“You can at least sleep on the floor.”

“The likeness of you staring at me all night is too high.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself.” Finnick scoffs, hurling a shoe at you.

You catch it without a problem, “That’s all I am, sweetheart.”

Finnick’s eyebrows skyrocket, “Sweetheart?”

“God--fuck you.” you turn around, his shoe in hand as you move to the living room.

Finnick is laughing, and he stumbles to catch his footing as he attempts to catch up with you, “You take the bed, I’ll take the floor.”

“Or you could sleep in the living room.”

“Which would still be on the floor.” Finnick says.

You pause in the hallway, watching Alioth and Hydri from it. The two of them are getting along well, Hydri is pretty upset over losing Taurus though. Unfortunately, you didn’t know him very well, therefore can’t mourn for him the same way they can. It was a noble thing he did.

Yet he also took all his weapon supplies down with him when he did it, which is a huge loss. He had--basically--an infinite number of those heavy, metal balls. As for you guys, it’s a limited number, and each one lost brings five pounds out of the backpack. You all discovered that after using so many after Taurus was gone.

Finnick’s not wrong about the living room either, there’s only two couches. And the only thing that looks remotely comfortable after that is the fur rug that’s also kinda matted because the people that lived here apparently didn’t know how to take care of it.

“I’ll take the floor.” You tell Finnick, heading back into the room. You drop everything off by the door.

“No, I’ll take the floor.”

You ignore him, unbuckling the vest as fast as possible before tossing it onto the backpack, and then you turn on Finnick, holding your fists up. 

Finnick laughs, but mirrors your stance, “Bring it on, sister.”

“Oh, right.” you laugh with him, before aiming straight for his gut.

Finnick goes to grab you, but you’re too quick for him, bouncing in your boots as you take a jab at his face. It’s not anything too rough, more of a warning for him to knock off his own shenanigans.

Finnick somehow manages to get a hold of you at some point, twisting your arm and giving you a look, “The floor is mine.”

“Just a minute ago you were arguing for the bed.” you grab onto his wrist to keep him from twisting any further.

“Then I’ll take the bed,” he says.

“I’m fine with that!” you say, swinging your leg up for his crotch.

Finnick doesn’t flinch, staring you right in the eyes. And especially since you didn’t actually fall through with it, it’s extra awkward.

“Get me a pillow and a blanket.” you tell him.

“But you’re sleeping on the bed.” Finnick says.

“Then I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket, geez.” you push him away, since his grasp has considerably weakened.

You start pulling off your shoes, tossing them to your backpack. Once they’re off, you remove the socks too so that your feet can finally breathe, after hours of being walked on and the amount of sweat that they’ve had to endure. When you go over to the bed, you take a seat on it, and then throw yourself back.

The mattress is obviously expensive, you can tell by the way you sink into it. You sigh, closing your eyes.

“Better than your mattress at home?” Finnick jokes.

“Unfortunately.” you say.

“I’m gonna sleep on the bed.” he tells you.

“Whatever, I don’t care anymore.” you say, “I’m actually heading to bed, though. So you can tell Hydri and Alioth that we’re done for the night and we’ll recollect in the morning.”

Finnick smiles, “Sure thing.”

Finnick leaves the room, and you take the time to go ahead and get back onto the bed. You carefully place the necklace onto the nightstand, being sure that it won’t fall off and onto the floor. Then, you get comfortable on the bed.

You all really should be keeping your shoes on and all of that, but it’s not realistic. You’re not going to be able to fall asleep with it on, plus it’ll be like a hundred degrees with that fucking bulletproof vest on.

Finnick comes into the room right as you’re getting comfortable. He tosses a water bottle at you, and you drink half of it before deciding to lay down officially.

“I feel kinda shitty that we’re leaving them out there.” Finnick says, getting into the bed, “I mean, the two victors taking the bed?”

“They told me that I could have it.”

“Whatever.” Finnick laughs, “Hydri said that there was a bedroom back here, and that was it.”

Finnick goes to pull the blanket up, but you kick him with your foot, “Go sleep in the bathtub.”

He rolls his eyes, “Goodnight, (Y/n).”

“Touch me even once, and I swear to god you’re going to wake up with a knife to your throat.”

“That’s not very safe.”

“Neither is touching me.”

#ilguna #finnick odair #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair oneshot #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair metanoia #metanoia chapter sixteen #metanoia

[bi-naesala]

A small push, a story about two (clueless) people - On the other side

Maul and Obi-Wan discuss a certain trooper.

If you ask Maul, he’d tell you that this day has started in the best of ways: not only he’s managed to get commander Cody for himself for a while, and was able to catch up with him, but he’s also got the chance to annoy Obi-Wan, which is something that he’ll never get enough of. Even though their relationship has greatly improved from that bitter rivalry that has characterized his first years as a jedi initiate, they still like to rib at each other.

To think that he used to be jealous of him, something that isn’t true anymore… except for one small detail, but that’s another story, something that he doesn’t want to think about now, not when they’re in the middle of a debrief.

 Speaking of said debrief, if Maul has to keep staring at the holographic model of the factory, he’s going to cave his own eyes.

They’ve already discussed everything, why are they still there? Right, Obi-Wan would rather die than not to consider any tactical possibility, no matter how unlikely something is to happen. It’s not a wrong behavior per se - it’s good to prepare for anything - but it’s also oh so boring, and Maul can’t stand boring things, even though his station as a Jedi forces him to experience them quite often.

He ever so subtly moves his gaze towards the figure on Obi-Wan’s right. Cody is as professional as always, posture rigid and bucket on his head; a shame.

Maul knows well that he can’t afford to spare him more than an occasional glance, or else someone will notice his distraction and call it out, something that he doesn’t need at the moment.

 Soon, however, he begins to tune out Obi-Wan’s voice, bringing his attention back only when Cody intervenes. Even then, however, he doesn’t really focus on what he’s saying, rather on how he’s saying it: his voice, his accent…

He’s already committed all that to memory since his and Cody’s first interactions, but listening to him has never stopped being fascinating. It may or may be not one of the excuses as to why he always tries to keep him for himself, so that he’ll be forced to speak to him.

 It’s during moments like this that he appreciates how good he’s gotten at hiding his emotions, especially given how full this room is of Force sensitive people, between Obi-Wan, little Anakin - who isn’t that little anymore but since he hates being called that, Maul will continue until the day he dies - and padawan Tano.

 If anyone picks up his thoughts it would be very embarrassing, that’s why he keeps quiet about them, though he supposes he’s not entirely unsubtle, if the way Obi-Wan stops him after they’re done tells him something.

While everyone else is beginning to leave, Obi-Wan tells him:

“Master Oppress… Would you mind staying here another few minutes?”

He does mind, actually, because he has the feeling that he’s not going to like what Obi-Wan wants to tell him, but well if he gets to annoy him some more, he can take a hit.

“Of course, master Kenobi,” he replies.

He has to fight with all his willpower not to turn around to glance at Cody who, having been dismissed, will probably join his brothers. If he turns towards him, Obi-Wan will certainly pick up on it and will mention something about it, so he’s not going to do it, though at this point he could’ve done it, because Obi-Wan isn’t as oblivious as he’d like him to be.

 Once they’re alone, Obi-Wan rests his hands on his hips, staring at Maul with an unimpressed gaze.

“So?”

“… So?” Maul echoes. What does he want this time?

“Are you going to try stealing Cody away this time too? I’ve already seen you looking at him instead of paying attention.”

At those words, Maul can’t help but to burst into laughter. Not that Obi-Wan is entirely wrong, because this is the only thing he’s still envious of him: Cody. Maul works alone, he’s a shadow, but even if he’d never admit it out loud, he longs for some company, Cody’s company that is; of course he’s a professional and he’d never actually try to steal him away, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t joke about it.

“What if I am?” he challenges, as if Obi-Wan could do anything to stop him. Just as he thought, his friend rolls his eyes.

“Why do I still deal with you?” he mutters under his breath, but loud enough to be heard by Maul.

“Because I’m a karking delight and you know it,” he replies immediately.

Obi-Wan doesn’t even say anything this time, he just looks at him with his eyebrow raised. Maul holds his gaze, but before they get locked into a staring contest that would last for ages - because neither of them would ever be willing to lose to the other - Maul receives a message to his comm; it’s Cody, telling him that he’s around if he wants to have another small debrief before their departure.

 Even though he’s not showing it to Obi-Wan, he must’ve understood anyway what this is about, since it’s not the first time Maul and Cody meet up right before a mission.

“You’re going to him?” he asks, voice carefully neutral.

“Yes,” Maul replies, immediately. “You can’t stop me.”

“I wouldn’t-- Maul, I’m no trying to stop you,” Obi-Wan says, realizing now that there has been a misunderstanding. “I’m just worried for you. Both of you.”

Now it’s Maul’s turn to rise an eyebrow at him, prompting him to continue.

“You’re obviously both holding back but… aren’t you hurting each other like this? Is this because you’re sticking to the code? I just don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish, leading him on but never doing anything about it. And he does the same thing too! Is this some sort of game that I’m not privy to?”

“It’s not that…” Maul replies, though he doesn’t continue immediately. It’s not even that he doesn’t know how to explain it to Obi-Wan, because he knows how, and he’s sure that he would even understand, but… Some things you just have to keep to yourself, right?

Despite Maul acting like an open book, there are many things he actually keeps from himself; it’s a habit he picked from the start, when he was still unsure of his place in the Order - a dathomirian zabrak being a Jedi? That was just unheard of. Even though that feeling of not belonging soon became an unstoppable desire to rebel, he also rarely disclosed the deepest pits of himself to others. Even now, with the people he considers friends, not always he’s able to do it.

Cody seems to be the only exception to this: with him, Maul has never feared to be judged, even when it turned out that what he said was very dumb - Cody never fails to point it out, but the smile on his face as he does it makes it always worth it. This is but one of the many ways that Cody makes Maul feel at ease.

 Eventually, however, he’ll have to give Obi-Wan a concrete response, he owes him that, especially since he’s acting out of worry not just for him, but for Cody too. After all, he’s both their friend.

“It wouldn’t be right, at the moment,” he begins to explain. “I’m a general, he’s a commander. The chain of command expects him to follow my orders.”

By the face Obi-Wan makes, it’s obvious that he’s understood what he’s implying.

“You think you’d be coercing Cody?”

And that, in the end, is the major problem with this entire matter.

When he nods, Obi-Wan immediately says:

“Oh, come now, I think we both know that it wouldn’t be the case. Whatever it is that you’ve got going on is completely mutual.”

That’s another thing Maul’s aware of; he didn’t mean to search inside Cody’s mind, and in a way he didn’t really do it. It happened a couple of months ago; like now, Maul had been assigned to help the 212th. The battle was just over, and as Maul was about to approach Obi-Wan and Cody to get an update on how things went on their side, Cody noticed his approach and started projecting such warm feelings towards him, that for a moment Maul was completely overwhelmed, it must’ve been the stress of that campaign what made him lower his guard - he hadn’t even noticed it. Long story short, from that moment on, Maul knew that the affection he felt for the commander is completely reciprocated.

In a way, things would’ve been easier if that wasn’t the case.

“That may be true, but we’d never be fully certain,” he says, for once carefully choosing his words. “Also, if someone finds out, what would they think? That the Jedi use their authority over the clones for…”

He doesn’t need to finish the sentence for Obi-Wan to understand. Yes, that is a problem.

 Ironic, isn’t it, that this is what Maul is more worried about rather than, say, the code?

Well, as long as he doesn’t become selfishly attached, he’s fine; that’s the conclusion he reached. Besides, he thinks, with how Cody is, he’d never allow Maul to choose him over his duty, knowing how important it is.

No, the true problem is whatever the public opinion would come up to discredit their supposed relationship.

It’s not even that he cares about what they’d say about him; he’s handled way worse growing up already - never perpetrated by the Jedi, however, as they always treated him with kindness. No, he cares about what they’d say about Cody, because they would surely gang up on him for whatever made up reason they’d come up with; that, he can’t stand for.

Besides, it would also make the entire GAR - and especially the Jedi - look incredibly bad. No, he can’t do it.

 “Well…” Obi-Wan begins then, scratching his beard, “The war won’t last forever, isn’t that right?”

Maul huffs, rolling his eyes.

“As if this wasn’t the plan from the beginning, Kenobi,” he replies, because yes, he knows what Obi-Wan’s suggesting; it was his plan all along. Waiting until the end of the conflict sounds impossible, but he’s willing to do it for Cody. “So I need you to keep him alive when I’m not around, you understand?”

“I assure you,” Obi-Wan begins, smiling, “That he’s the one keeping me alive rather than the other way around…”

He turns serious, eyes still on Maul.

“But I promise you that I’ll do my best.”

Maul nods. That’s enough for him.

“Thank you,” he says, from the deepest of his heart. Obi-Wan goes back to smile.

“Now go, before we have to depart.”

 Maul doesn’t bolt at those words, no matter what Obi-Wan will say later, he doesn’t

And if he hears Obi-Wan laugh as he hurries out of the room, well, he’ll make sure to make him pay the next time he has the occasion to do it.

At the moment, however, he has something completely different in mind: he needs to find Cody.

#codymaul #obi wan kenobi #darth maul #sw #star wars #tcw #the clone wars #a small push #angry husband #my fics #mine

[messiisgodibeliveinhim]

Just Another Rant

Okay, so why do NCTzens have a hate boner for Taeyong??? It's so f*cking weird, it doesn't make sense.

Taeyong has been under NCTzens' microscope since his debut. Everything he does is dissected and twisted into something its not. No other member of NCT or any group (except maybe Jennie from Blackpink) is treated this way by the group's fans. NCTzens want Taeyong to be the villain so bad, that they're willing to stoop as low as dehumanizing, body shaming and wishing d3ath on him. NCTzens dislike him, some even hate him and they're not very subtle about it.

Now, I'm not saying all NCTzens are TY antis. I have moots on Twitter who dont stan him, but are incredibly respectful towards him and acknowledge his talents and hardwork. If you're one of them, then this rant is not about you. But i will say this, if it isnt all NCTzens who anti Taeyong, it's most of them.

It started with Lines and Screentime distribution for NCT songs and mvs. Now, i agree that Taeyong used to get a little more lines and screentime than the others at first. But instead of calling out SM, most of you targeted Taeyong saying he deliberately stole the said lines and screentime from his members so that he'd get to shine more..... Really???

Next, when he was announced as a member of SuperM, NCTzens were clearly upset it wasn't Johhny or Jaehyun. Do you wanna know why??? No, they didnt talk about talent. Instead, they wanted Jaehyun/Johhny instead of Taeyong because SuperM is a group targeted at the western audience and Jn & Jh knew to speak English better than TY..... Okay.

And it keeps getting worse.

-NCTzens saying that TY goes into the recording studio to record his solo songs, by LOCKING OUT the rest of NCT, so that they wont get to record their solo stuff.

-That TY is SM's Golden Boy cuz he 'gETs a LoT of SoLO pRoMos anD cENter TiMe', completely refusing to understand what 'SOLO PROMO' means or see how overworked and mistreated he is by his own company.

-When TyongFs praise TY about anything, NCTzens always, ALWAYS insert their faves in the post. Like, go make your own post maybe???

/Trigger Content

-NCTzens saying that TY dances like he has a sq*irrel in his pants, raps like d*g, looks like a skeleton etc etc. And these are just mild stuff i mentioned here. NCTzens are so much worse when it comes to body shaming and dehumanizing him. And when we call them out for it, thay have the audacity to say that its a JOKE and we're STUPID for not having 'A Sense of Humor'....

/End of Trigger Content

-NCTzens saying that TY's main dancer/main rapper/main visual/leader/center positions should go to their faves cuz their fave 'iS So mUcH beTTeR aT TheSe pOsiTIOns'. Yeah.... sure..... NCTzens rarely talk about the positions other members have , but are really obsessed with Taeyong's.

-NCTzens still denying that Taeyong is NCT's leader and that he's really good at it. Just yesterday, a Wayzennie (also a TY anti) started spewing sh*t about Taeyong's leadership. And their arguement??? That they have 'lEAdeRsHiP eXpEriEncE iN UnI, WoRk aND ouTsIDe wOrK' and that makes them an expert about leading a 23 member global kpop group, who had a rough start what with their controversial 'unlimited' concept and experimental songs. Sure, Jan.

(Also, the thing where some Wayzennies are still not accepting that TY is the leader of whole of NCT, cuz Kun is WayV's leader..... Seriously, though its not that hard to understand. Kun IS and WILL remain the leader of WayV, a 7 member group. That's a fact. But when the subunits (127, Dream and WayV) come together for projects (ex: NCT 2018 and NCT 2020), Taeyong becomes the overall leader. But since these Wayzennies are still on their WayV not being part of NCT agenda, they're simply ignore this. Go figure.)

- Oh, but when some other member in NCT messes up, it suddenly becomes Taeyong's responsibility cuz 'HE'S THE LEADER'. Funny, how NCTzens change narratives quickly. Also, weird how, according to NCTzens, NCT members suddenly can't think for themselves even though they're grown adults and need Taeyong to take the blame for them. Haha.....

-Also, NCTzens guilt tripping TyongFs from canceling NCT Beyond Live tickets when they got to know that he was injured and wont be participating in the concert a little too late, cuz "Taeyong, as a leader, would be sooo upseeet that his group wont be getting TyongFs' money and he'd feel sooo guiltyyy that y'all are getting refunds of your OWN money that YOU CHOSE to spent and its not my business at all. But damn, y'all are sooo selfish!!!!"

-NCTzens posting about how overjoyed they are that TY is injured cuz that means their faves get to shine..... "Look how MY FAVE killed TY's part" "MY FAVE ate Taeyong up" "Should've put MY FAVE in the OG line up instead of Taeyong" "MY FAVE made TY's part as his own" "Thank god, MY FAVE got to show off his talents, now that Taeyong isnt here". God, if i were one of the Neos whose fans say sh*t like this, it would've felt like a slap to my face. Honestly, tell me, do y'all really think so low of your faves? Do you really think they cant shine even with TY being on stage? They absolutely can, but you're focus is not on them, is it? Way to embarrass yourself.

-NCTzens blaming Taeyong for NCT's slow rise to fame because of the false rumors/allegations pinned on him by nasty people. They say Taeyong was the sole reason for NCT not being liked by many, not because of their confusing/complicated concept or the music. Yeah, you heard me. NCTzens are not above victim blaming and pointing fingers, cuz they are not ready to accept the fact that Taeyong was the one who carried the group on his back all the way.

-And how they can't stand the fact that TY gets praised by proffesionals or non-fans or locals. A dance analyzer analyzed 127's Kick It and at the end stated that Taeyong was the best dancer in 127. And what did NCTzens do. They bullied the analyzer to the point that they deleted the video, just cuz their fave was not named the best. A reactor reacts to Taeyong's Long Flight and the comments on the videos are along the lines of 'Hey, MY FAVE'S also has a solo song too. You should definitely react to that' or when they're tryna be subtle (but not really), they go 'Taeyong is soo good but you should also check out MY FAVE'S blah blah blah'

Hell, even when TyongFs say 'Taeyong is very so creative, by coming up with BDLI Jungle Gym concept and the MAW chandelier thing. He's literally an Idea Bank', and NCTzens go 'All the Neos are idea banks' in the same post.

When TyongFs say 'Taeyong is the really so handsome. NCT's main visual', they go 'All the Neos are main visuals'

Lmao, just 3 days ago, someone commented 'Taeyong is cute' under a tiktok video and an NCTzen just couldn't help but fume about it and went 'All Neos are cute'🙄

Like seriously, this is sooo annoying. Make your own goddamn post about the rest of NCT, ffs! Why do you to insert anyone else in a Taeyong tweet? Literally, can't let Taeyong have a moment for himself.

-Recently, Taeyong released 2 solo demo tracks on SoundCloud- Dark Clouds and Dark Clouds Remix (check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/eh_ovo_taeyong). And NCTzens being NCTzens started those who never even promoted Kun's SoundCloud before started promoting it under every TY tweet on the same day. Now, i don't have a problem with them promoting Kun's SC. But they could've done it any other day or made their own tweet about it. But doing it under every TY promo tweet and on the very same day? Really??? And some of them had the audacity to say that TY was getting free clout from Kun cuz Kun followed him on SC.....😑😑😑

-NCTzens have this weird belief that TY is getting solo promos and is being pushed by SM. What on earth are they talking about? Taeyong being center, main rapper and main dancer of the group is not solo promo. Him being in SuperM is not solo promo. Him opening Instagram and SoundCloud is not solo promo, but self promo- which means HE'S promoting himself, not SM. Solo promo is usually provided to the artist by the company in the form of photoshoots, accepting brand deals, releasing the artist's solo music etc and SM isnt doing sh*t for Taeyong. All they're doing is overworking him and milking him for money. That's it. And i want NCTzens to understand that.

And the list goes on and on and on. This weird hate boner NCTzens have for Taeyong is so bizarre to me. All Taeyong does is sing, rap, dance, talk cutely, take care of his fishes and play games with Baekhyun. And this somehow gets NCTzens mad. They constantly discredit him, try to make him seem less than what he actually is, insert everyone else when someone is talking just about him, make him seem like a villain by twisting his words or actions and making it into a big deal.... *sigh* Its so unbelievable how low NCTzens can stoop. And it gets tiring real quick.

N E Ways, this is everything i wanted to rant about and damn, this turned out to be too lengthy. Now, if you havent followed Taeyong on his Instagram, please do @eh_evo_nct. Stream Long Flight, his one and only solo station. And please look forward to BaekhyunxTaeyong collab on Taeyong's SoundCloud.

Ciao!

#lee taeyong #taeyong #nct 127 #nct

[aealrizen]

Watching as Ian settled down to help Midas, Whip couldn’t help but cross his arms in discomfort. He hated pushing this off on to Ian, especially since they weren’t even Ian’s memories. But he also knew that working with a human mind was completely different than working with computers, and Ian was definitely more skilled at it than he was. Computers were just binary data that could easily be translated to an understandable format. But for the reverse, taking biological memory and turning it into binary, that took a lot more finesse and care. So for now, Whip would just have to wait. And possibly massage that headache away.

Ian wasn’t what he would call an expert when it came to linking minds with another cyborg, but he would still agree that he was better at it than Whip. Probably because he was a lot more patient and gentle.

The warning about Midas’ potential skill kept Ian on guard, but he found that once he’d initiated contact Midas welcomed him readily. It seemed that Midas really did consider him a friend. That little fact made Ian smile, even as his mental image processed the data he was getting into something visual. A vast space tinted green, and crammed full of content smashed on top of each other. No wonder Midas was having a hard time. Complex chemicals floated in both written and visual form. What looked like statistics on energy consumption per capita of various countries from hundreds of years ago. Even bits on the tokomov fusion reactors. Ian wasn’t sure if that was also from the harddrive data, or something Midas knew from before.

Standing a little ways away from where Ian figuratively was, Midas was flicking different information out of the way as he processed through it. That familiar half formed figure in the cyberspace that faded into ghostly wisps like an after image swiping across their mind’s eye. Ian wasn’t sure if he was used to it, or if it still creeped him out a little.

As Ian drew closer, Midas’ form turned to look at him with a bright smile in excitement. “Ian! Look! I found some memories. There’s this girl- I don’t remember her from before, but something in the database must have triggered a chain reaction or something. Something about repressed memories or the like?” His words came in a quick ramble as he flicked more images of unrelated data aside and presented the image of the woman from before to Ian. There were other glimpses of her in the scattered frames behind the data, and Ian couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

“… Irene Louvfant,” Ian responded, a little quiet both out of respect for the girl and sorrow for having to break Midas’ excitement.

“… W’what?” Midas asked, his smile faltering.

“Her name is Irene Louvfant. She’s the late wife of Calill Louvfant, and was part of the casualties in the cyborg war,” Ian repeated, and added some clarification. “I’m not sure she was someone you knew.”

At this point the smile ended up fading completely as Midas looked back and forth between the image and Ian. He wasn’t sure what to say at first, and the data movement around them slowed as it lost some focus. “Cal….. Caliil? Like… That’s Whip’s name, isn’t it?” Midas asked, a bit broken in his thoughts and voice.

“Yes,” Ian confirmed softly, and moved to stand next to Midas now. “You breached the contact between you, the computer, and Whip, and dove into his memories. That’s why they feel familiar to you. Because they are memories… just not yours.”

“I…. wha?” Midas gasped, not completely comprehending what that meant. He’d taken some of Whip’s memories? How was that even possible? So this was Whip’s wife? There was the wedding ring that Rosé mentioned. Wait. “Is he okay?”

Ian snorted softly at the question, and nodded. “Yeah, he’ll be fine,” he assured. “And he’s not angry. He asked me to come help you sort things out after he told me what happened.”

Midas was stunned silent for a stretch again, watching the images. “I… can’t even begin to figure out how to sort this out,” he admitted with a pathetic chuckle that was more of a whimper. “Kind of dumb, right? Can’t figure this out either…”

“Midas, you’re not dumb,” Ian countered quickly. “You used to work with programming, I can tell just by seeing the way your brain works. All of this?” he gestured to the data around them “would have driven another person mad with how quickly you absorbed it. But the ability to understand complex science, and organize it while having your nanites process the bulk of it? Not to mention Whip said you took care of all the viruses on your own. Just because you’re a bit dumb when it comes to things that ‘everyone’ else already knows, doesn’t mean you’re an idiot.” The lecture was calm, but honestly it was one that Ian had been waiting to give as soon as he’d had more proof. He knew Midas was a hassle, not knowing basic human culture or even how to tell if he had a fever or not. But he’d never considered Midas an idiot. Just that he probably wasn’t from Cerah at all. “Actually it just makes me curious about what kind of life you lived before. I know for a fact now that you’re not from Cerah, and probably weren’t somewhere that there were a lot of people with an established culture. But, let’s take care of this current problem first, okay?” Ian ended up having to hold a hand up to stop Midas’ questions that bubbled up after everything Ian had said.

Feeling strangely obedient, Midas held his questions for later, even though they made his mind buzz with confusion and curiosity. “What’s the problem then?” he asked, just to show he’d go along with what Ian was wanting.

Giving a small smile to show his appreciation, Ian explained further. “Normally when cyborgs share memories, if it’s not done in a specific way they it’s really hard for them to not mistake the memories as their own. If it so happens that they get memories without analyzing them first, then they just have to be analyzed afterwards. But that can be quite a bit harder since the original owner of the memories isn’t there to tell you which ones are theirs.”

“So why isn’t Whip in here instead of you?” Midas asked, a slight smirk showing. He understood why this could be serious, especially since these were memories that were being analyzed by someone who currently didn’t have much in the way of personal memory.

“He thinks he’s bad at this,” Ian answered. “And he is. Much too rough,” he added with a shrug, just joking a little bit.

Midas snorted softly, but then grew more solemn. “So… how do we do this then? How do I analyze the memories so they’re not mistaken as mine?”

“You more or less just have to remember them while understanding that they’re not yours. No matter how clearly they feel like yours.”

“But….That’s going to be hard. Do I just discredit anything I remember? That’s not fair,” Midas huffed, feeling a little reluctant. What if there was a memory in there that was actually his and not Whip’s? What then?

“That’s why I’m here,” Ian assured, shifting forward and reaching his hands out to clear the data and focus on the memories. “Let me help you reconstruct the sequence, one memory at a time”

____________________________

guhhhh long post, my bad |D

at this point I’m just spurting stuff that comes to mind, don’t expect too much X’DDD amg *is intimidated *          

[mxtantrights]

✹ 　 PART ONE (DAMSEL)

HAWKINS, INDIANA

OCTOBER 28, 1983

It had been a rough adjustment for Jessie at first. Starting her junior year at an entirely new school in a new place was no easy feat. Especially when she stuck out like a sore thumb from her peers. Her hair and her skin put her on display. Even thought times have changed, it seems some people and some ideas never do.

There were always a few good ones though.

Like Jonathan Byers. And Nancy Wheeler. They were on two completely different sides of the social scale at school. It was refreshing to Jessie to see two different perspectives at least. And it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

No the worst thing in the world would probably be getting in with the popular kids just to find out that it was all just a running joke. Like some sort of movie. Now that would be awful. And Jessie would definitely not let that slide. Her older brother, Dayton, had taught her how to hold her own.

But thats a story for another time. Back to the rough adjustment  

˚ · · . · ✵ ✷

JESSIE

　　 ✹ 　　 ˚ 　 　. 　　 　 ˚ 　　 ⋆ 　 　 ⊹ . 　 　 ⋆ 　

I had been in Hawkins, Indiana for all of three months and the only thing that has stuck in my brain is that there are a lot of stars in our galaxy. Like a lot

What I wouldn't give to go back home to Texas. I move around the broccoli on my plate in sheer boredom. And I must have my pout out because my mom clears her throat- to get my attention she doesn't clear her throat for anything else.

I look up from my plate and she's staring at me.

"Wanna talk about your feelings instead of playing with your food?" She asks me with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Oh, did I say a hint? I meant a liter full.

I shrug my shoulders. "Just kind of bored. Theres nothing to do."

"Besides eat?" My father pipes in.

I roll my eyes and put my fork down. There was no way I was eating any more of diner tonight. Everything was boring here. Even the food tasted boring. I really just want to go back home. Back to my life.

"I could get you a job." I look at my mom with a twinge of excitement. "I was talking to this woman and she said she could use a pair of hands at her store. Her name was-, um, Joyce Byers."

My excitement peeked at that. "Oh really? How's the pay like?"

"I didn't ask that seeing as it's an invasion of privacy. But she's a single mom with two kids and it's enough to help support them." My mom explains and I take that information and put it in the back of my head. Joyce- Jonathan's mom- is a single mother.

My dad grunts a bit. His father was a single parent, and he takes automatically takes offense when anyone discredits single parents. Even though what my mother said wasn't really a discredit. You'd think it wouldn't come up a lot in conversation. But you'd be wrong. And then you'd have to listen to my father go off on a feminist rant.

It's delightful actually.

"Honey-" My mom begins however I beat her to it.

"I don't think she meant that as a bad thing. And yeah I'll take a look into the job. Anything to make this experience any less boring-" I smile at my mom and she smiles back. "How about you Mickey, anything happen today?"

Just saved us from a rant. Thank the heavens.

My little brother looks up at me and grins. "Me and my friend Will talked about D&D, he's got a party of his own with his friends. He wants me to join."

D&D. Might not be the bane of my existence but it sure comes close. However that nerdy, very very nerdy, game makes my little brother happy. So I will let it live, for now. And I will let it thrive if it makes him friends.

Wait he said Will.

As in Will Byers? Johnathan Byer's little brother?

This town is way too small. First I befriend Jonathan, then an opportunity comes up to work with his mother and now my little brother is friends with his little brother. Not to say that our small community in Texas wasn't like this, but- at least we had new cows every once in a while.

"Honey."

My dad's voice pulls me out of my head.

I look at him. "What?"

"I was asking about your classes so far. You're keeping up the grades right?"

No, Dad. I'm not keeping up with my grades.

The last test I took I actually got a c minus because I'm not paying attention in class. Why am I not paying attention in class, you ask? Oh there is a plethora of reasons but I'll just list the ones that hold the most weight. I'm missing home. I have a hard time adjusting to my subjects because they are taught differently here. I only know two people and both of them are not in any of my classes, so I can't ask them for help.

I also don't really care about my grades because it's bullshit. I'm never gonna use most of what they're teaching me because I want to be a singer. Oh yeah, that's right I'm letting you down. I don't wanna follow in Dayton's footsteps and go to college and pursue a respectable career.

I smile.

"Yeah." I put curtly.

"Good. You keep it up and colleges will be accepting you in no time."

I nod.

I'm in my Junior year. I just finished my second year of high school this June! I'm not even sure what lie to come up with when people ask me what I want to be. I'm getting tired of saying 'I'm not sure' because then everybody says back, 'well you better figure it out' or 'high school flies by, you have to know'

I know!

Sighing I push my plate away from me, looking to my parents. "May I be excused?"

My mother nods and my father grunts. As if thats an answer.

I  get out of my chair and fly up the staircase to my room. Well the replica of my room. I tried to put my things in the same place as my old room. The posters on the wall are correct. My bed near the window. But this room is a little bit smaller than my previous one. So I had to toss the nightstand in order to have space for my dresser.

It was not an upgrade.

But it did give me something in return.

I sold my nightstand to some older lady for about 150 dollars. And that with the money I made from babysitting back home, I was able to buy a guitar at the pawn shop. Of course I didn't tell my parents- it's hidden in the back of my closet.

I don't think my parents would be mad at me for buying it, not at all. But if they knew, then they'd ask if music was hobby of mine. And it is so much more than that. So much more. But I don't know if they'd actually support me in my endeavors or force me to give it up.

All I know is, Hawkins is not the place where my dreams will be crushed.

-------

(a/n): hi!! I just wanna say that this is my first time posting any of my writing on tumblr. I’ve linked my wattpad before but I’ve never actually posted in an actual text body?? (new things) so please send some love if you like. Thanks <3

#steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #and here is the first PART! #DAMSEL

[rationalcashew]

Paper Tigers

Dana Scully had seen a lot in just a couple of short years; experienced a lot. She’d been injured. She’d been abducted. She’d been scarred in so many ways that she’d lost count.

This time, she’d been attacked by a cannibal. Not just one cannibal; no, that would be too easy. It was multiple cannibals. Plural. A whole damn town, in fact.

To make things worse, they had to wait until tomorrow to leave. She and Mulder had one more night in this sickening environment. Scully had been tempted to ask Mulder if they could just go to a nearby town and stay in one of his prized by-the-hour motels. She knew that all she had to do was ask and Mulder would happily oblige. He’d been a bit more attentive like that since her return from wherever she’d been when she was abducted.

But, she couldn’t ask that of him.

The simple fact was that she, Dana Scully, was a special agent within the Federal Bureau of Investigations. She had chosen a career in an organization that was still, quite frankly, a boys’ club. Mulder might be the exception to the rule, having treated according to and valuing what she brought to the table. With the rest of the FBI, however, she still felt like the girl.

No, she couldn’t ask him to do that.

Scully stared at herself in the gross bathroom of her gross motel room. Part of her wondered why she didn’t just quit this job; wash her hands of the FBI, of the X-Files, and go into medicine as originally planned. Perhaps, her father had been right all along.

“Medicine is a good fit for you, Starbuck,” he’d said when she graduated from medical school. Granted, he hadn’t known about everything she’d gone through during medical school. And, she didn’t want him to know, either. Only Missy knew everything about that.

“Scully?” Mulder’s soft voice asked, muffled by the door in front of him. She snapped back to reality.

Oh, yeah. That was why she couldn’t just leave.

Mulder.

Mulder was an interesting individual. Scully had thought about it often. He’d been through a lot in his life, confided some of that in her. They’d developed a friendship that extended beyond their Bureau-mandated partnership. And, yet, she couldn’t help but to wonder if he saw them as friends, too.

“Just a second!” she called to the door. She quickly composed herself and made her way to answer the door.

Mulder stood there with a smile on his face and a pizza in his hands. She felt her eyebrow arch.

“I figured chicken was out of the question,” he quipped, grinning proudly. Scully must have made a face because he laughed. “Lighten up, Scully.”

“Been working on that all day?” she retorted, stepping aside to allow him entry to the room.

Mulder chuckled in response and made his way to the small table in the corner of the room.

“Only about twenty minutes or so.”

He flipped back the top of the box and looked over at her. His grin, however, turned to a look she didn’t quite recognize. She’d seen it on his face before, but rarely.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

Scully shook let out a sigh. “Nothing.” Mulder didn’t seem convinced as he sat at the small table. “Really. I’m fine.”

A certain awkwardness descended on the room, almost palpable, as he nodded silently. Scully took the other chair as Mulder put a slice of pizza on a paper towel and slid it over to before getting one for himself.

“I guess I could’ve picked up some paper plates,” he said quietly. Scully huffed out a small laugh and he grinned.

They ate in silence for what felt like an eternity although, according to Mulder’s watch which just so happened to be facing her, not even five minutes had passed.

“Mulder, do you think of us as friends?” Scully heard herself ask. His head jerked up to face her.

Bad question.

He composed himself. “What do you mean?” he asked, taking another bite of his pizza.

Scully wanted to ask him what it sounded like she meant, but instead, she replied, “Well, we’ve been working together for almost two years. We’ve been through a lot in that amount of time.” She shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

Mulder wiped his mouth with one of the extra napkins before looking at her.

“Yeah, I think of us as friends.” Something inside Scully relaxed and it was his turn to tense. “Do you think of us as friends?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied without hesitation. He grinned a little grin that Scully didn’t think she was supposed to notice.

“Good,” he replied quietly. He exhaled a breath. “What’s this about, Scully?”

It was Scully’s turn to exhale. “I was just thinking. That’s all.”

The look he gave her silently asked her to elaborate but left the choice entirely up to her. She’d seen that look a lot recently--since coming back from her abduction. Mulder didn’t want to push, she realized. It was sweet of him.

“I guess, I was just thinking about what we’ve been through in the last couple of years…”

“Wondering if it’s worth it?”

There was a sheepishness and innocence to his voice that made her want to hug him and shelter him from the cruel, cruel world in the same way she would a small child.

However, she didn’t reply.

That had been exactly what she was wondering and she wasn’t sure if it was worth it.

“I get it, you know,” he continued. “I’ve wondered it myself.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. More than once.”

“Why do you do it?” she asked quietly.

“My sister. I need answers.” Mulder heaved a sigh before he continued, “My career took a hit when I got assigned to the X-Files.” He chuffed out a humorless laugh. “My reputation took a hit and it was always me against the monsters.” His eyes softened and he said, “Now, we fight against the monsters. But, Scully, they’re not all real monsters.”

Scully stared at him, confused. His life’s purpose was to prove that his sister was abducted by aliens, for God’s sake; he looked for monsters. Literal monsters.

As if reading her mind, he chuckled. “Some of them are just paper tigers, Scully.”

“Paper tigers?” She asked, dumbfounded by the elaboration and half-preparing herself for him to launch into some diatribe filled with explanations from folklore, myths, fairy tales; something from a Brothers Grimm story.

“It’s something from a Chinese phrase,” he elaborated, as she knew he would. “It, basically, refers to something--or someone--that claims or appears to be powerful. Threatening. Really, it’s not.”

“A lot of what we face is powerful and threatening.”

He chuckled at that before saying, “True. We face some very real threats, but we have something going for us now.”

“What’s that?” Scully asked quietly, not quite sure that she was going to like his answer. He gave her a look that she’d seen on his face several times over the last couple of years but still had yet to decipher its meaning.

“Us.”

“Us,” she repeated, not sure where he was going with this.

Mulder chuckled. “When you were assigned to me, it was so they could bring me down, right? Discredit my work?”

Scully felt her eyebrow arch. “Are you saying I’m a paper tiger?”

Mulder visibly fought a smirk and in a tone she didn’t recognize from him, he said, “Oh, you are a very real threat, Agent Scully.” He grinned before continuing. She would stew on that one later. “My point is that the FBI sent you to destroy me but, instead, they gave me an ally; a friend. They were the paper tigers, Scully.”

It was a sweet sentiment, but she still wasn’t quite following.

“So, you’re saying that the only thing to fear is fear itself?” She asked after several seconds.

“I’m saying that it was me against the monsters until a couple of years ago. Now, it’s us against the monsters.”

Mulder studied Scully as she processed what he was saying. Part of him wondered how she could see them as anything less than friends. Or, rather, how she could think that he did. He also wondered what was bringing this up and why now.

She’d been through a lot since she met him. He knew that. He hated that. Scully had been abducted, tested on, attacked, injured… all the things he wished he could take away; things that should have happened to him.

She’d call him a martyr if she could hear his thoughts. Maybe, that’s what he was. It didn’t matter, though.

Mulder thought back to the ritual he’d interrupted. Scully was, quite literally, on the chopping block. He didn’t have to have an advanced degree in psychology to know that it had done a number on her; even if she wasn’t processing it, yet. Eventually, though, she would.

And, he’d be there for her when she did. That’s just what friends did.

He assumed, anyway. He’d never really had friends outside of the Gunmen.

Mulder thought about how his heart had pounded when he saw her there, ready to be killed and… eaten.

Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore.

His friend was almost eaten by cannibals. There was a Donner Party joke in there somewhere, but he didn’t want to find it.

All Mulder knew right then was that he needed to change the conversation.

He cleared his throat and reached into his pocket, glancing at Scully in the process. She seemed to be a million miles away.

“I, uh,” he chuckled as he pulled the small box out of his pocket and held it up. “I got cards.”

It was a weak attempt; he knew that. Maybe, it would help distract her, though.

She blinked in response before chuckling. It was a damn good sound.

“Cards, Mulder?”

He grinned and shrugged meekly. “Go Fish, Scully?”

Scully laughed at that. “Go Fish? What are we, seven?”

He grinned in response. “Okay, fine. We can play a grown-up game.”

“Grown-up game? Mulder, I’m not playing strip poker with you.”

Mulder couldn’t help but to laugh at that. She looked proud of herself, too. “Okay. How do you feel about regular poker? We can use the pepperoni as chips.”

She made a face and he laughed.

Scully watched as Mulder shuffled the cards he brought. It was only then that she realized what he was doing. In his own way, Mulder was making sure that she was okay. Pizza. Poker. Jokes.

Suddenly, she was overwhelmed. It must have shown because he straightened up.

“What is it?” Mulder asked softly.

“I was almost eaten by cannibals,” she replied. Mulder set the cards to the side, giving her his undivided attention. Scully heaved a sigh before she met his eyes. “Thank you, Mulder.”

“For what?”

“Coming to my rescue. Again. For the pizza. The cards.” For being my friend, she almost added.

He smiled a gentle smile. “That’s what friends are for, right?” She chuffed a small laugh before feeling his larger hand cover her smaller one. Scully looked up to meet his gaze.

They stared at each for what seemed like an eternity. He looked like he was on the verge of saying something but he didn’t say a word. There was a look in his eyes, however, that made her feel important.

After a moment, Scully spoke up, “Mulder?”

“Yeah?” he replied softly.

“Are you going to deal?”

Mulder laughed at that and pulled his hand back. He reached for the cards and continued to shuffle.

“Hey, Scully,” he said, without taking his eyes from the cards in his hands.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being my friend.”

There was a vulnerability in his voice that both broke her heart and made it swell. For as much of a pain in the ass as he could be, Fox Mulder truly was a sweet man.

“Thanks for being mine,” she countered.

He looked up at her with a smile. Scully smiled back.

“You know, Scully,” he said, more confidently. “I’m a pro at poker.” Scully arched an eyebrow and he grinned. “I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Paper tigers, Mulder,” she replied, smirking as she did so.

Mulder laughed as he finally began to deal the cards.

#x-files #dana scully #fox mulder #fluff #friend fluff #pre relationship #XFFluff2020 #fanfic #xfiles fanfic #fanfiction

[myownpersonaldemons]

Self-Tober Prompt 15

Prompt: Soul

Gaster/Reader

Short n’sweet *chefs kiss*

Souls.

Turns out they weren’t just a figurative thing as so many had thought, but an actual thing that was cumulative of your entire being. It was rare that any human ever saw theirs, but it was becoming less so. You, for one, had seen your SOUL. Hard not to when your husband was a monster who was fascinated by human SOULs. Of course, he never experimented on your SOUL nor did he ever ask to do so. He got all the funding at the University to research all about SOULs and everything else he wanted to do.

After all, it was hard to refuse funding to the world’s greatest mind…and possibly oldest mind.

That still hit you sometimes, that you were literally married to basically an ancient eldritch monster. A monster that many of your old teammates at the University had been afraid of at first.

Windings Gaster was pulled from the Void by Sans and your team at the university. It had been a big shock that it had actually worked, and a few of the teammates had fled the room in fright even though no monster had ever shown violent tendencies. Then again…when Gaster had first left the Void, he was not all pulled together. There was black goo that seeped from his bones and laid over his form as if a cloak, he had a painful grimace that was almost a smile on his face, and he…almost melted at the feeling of gravity.

Well, he had, just kind of slowly shrank into the ground and the goo spread.

It took him a while to be able to shake off the goo, stand straight, and have a different expression other than pain on his face. Each step of the way Sans and you had helped him through it with all the research that had been done on SOULs. His SOUL was fragmented still but you could see evidence in small wisps of magic attempting to rebind his SOUL back together.

Sans took him to re-meet Papyrus, and the moment he came back and Sans showed you Gaster’s SOUL readings, you knew that Gaster would make a full recovery. No matter how many years it would take him.

It actually came as a surprise to you how quickly Gaster recovered once he moved in with Papyrus and Sans. A weekend had past and the next Monday as you were sipping coffee and going over your notes to refresh your mind, he walked into the lab with Sans…in a suit! You were floored by the change in the skeleton as well. He no longer was  the short, goopy skeleton who seemed to melt slightly if you smiled at him too warmly, as if it heated up the black goo.

He was incredibly tall compared to you, thin too. It made you start to wonder why Sans was so short instead of wondering why Papyrus was so tall compared to their father. The face that was cracked and splintered from various points in his life now freely smiled, frowned, scowled, or smirked during conversations.

Gaster spoke in hands, and not the typical sign language that you were used to seeing. His voice was silent but still seemed to permeate through your skull in an eerie way but he could not read your thoughts.

You remembered the first time he had flirted with you, it was so bad that you hadn’t even realized that he was. Not…that you normally realized people were flirting with you, but you extra didn’t notice. Actually, you had been focused on your work so you had just kinda hummed in response and then started talking to Sans about your findings.

The first time you had flirted back, he somehow seemed to melt again. You had freaked out thinking that his SOUL had reverted but he had said, “no, my dear, the void is a part of me forever. I simply learned to control it.”

My dear.

First time he called you that but never the last.

After a while it felt like you were the one to begin melting whenever he complimented you or said something stupidly sweet. He encouraged your own research projects, and never made you feel like an idiot if he knew something you didn’t. It was always a conversation or debate with him, and he never talked down to you, which was a nice change of pace from some of your coworkers.

It wasn’t even either of you to ask the other out. Papyrus had invited you over to their place for dinner and then he and Sans mysteriously had to go and do something VERY important, immediately, and no neither of you could help. Though, he was not very subtle about attempting to get you two to treat the dinner as a date. Considering that the dining room was lit with candles, and there were rose petals everywhere.

You and Gaster had taken it in stride, joking about it, but by the end of the night both of you were treating it like it was a date. He even walked you to your car and kissed your freaking hand like the gentleman he was.

You had blushed, stammered, gotten into your car and let out a happy squeal. Which he could hear, and gently teased you about it the next time you saw him.

Gaster had proposed to you after you had successfully gotten funding by yourself for a project. That hadn’t happened before, and you had been over the moon with excitement…until you realized that it was indeed a project that you were heading and you’d either succeed or you’d fail…and if you failed you just wasted University money and it was a whole thing including tears and worrying that you should’ve waited a few more years until you had done more research and that maybe you would never be able to lead a team, as well as Sans or Gaster, were able to.

He had merely listened to your rant, giving gentle encouragement or disapproval to your negative statements before sitting you down and telling you, “Your worries are unfounded, but I will not discredit your feelings as they are a part of who you are. However, you are also intelligent and enthusiastic, and your work reflects that tremendously. You have been wanting this for longer than I have known you, and you will lead your team amazingly. Plus, I have already calculated your chances of successfully completing this project and the odds are incredibly in your favour.”

You gave him a look, “would you tell me if the odds weren’t in my favour?”

He looked at you for a long moment, head tilted ever so slightly, before he nodded. “Yes, but I would have told you before and said that my calculations are based upon hypotheticals as I cannot predict the future.”

“But because they’re in my favour, you can predict the future?” you teased, and he smirked.

“Of course, I am very brilliant after all,” he squeezed your hands, “and so is my datemate.”

You had leaned forward and smooched his cheekbone.

“Though…there is one question that I am still attempting to solve, if you could help me?” he said, gesturing towards  his study. You frowned slightly but nodded. That was strange for him to ask someone to help him solve something, normally he’d just sit and ponder forever over one question. Not that he didn’t trust others brains, but he was just the kind of person who preferred to stretch his own mind to the limit. If he didn’t get the question, you weren’t sure if you’d be able to.

But! There was always the chance that he’d been studying it for too long and was merely missing a step or two.

So, you followed him in.

You studied the chalkboard before glancing over at him, “okay? Uh…why don’t you get this?”

“I need a second opinion,” he said simply, gesturing to the chalkboard.

You gave him a look, this was easy shit…but you solved it anyways for him…

“Okay??” you said stepping back and looking over at him, “Dings you okay?”

He gave you a whithered look at the nickname, but he then double-checked the problem quickly and then gave a fake surprised gasp. “Oh! No! Sorry, my dear, this was the wrong side.”

“Okay, seriously. You never make mistakes like this, are you okay???�� you had asked, becoming concerned.

He ushered you back a step before flipping the blackboard around.

“This is the question I need help with,” he gestured towards the blackboard.

Will You Marry Me?

Your heart jumped into your throat, and you remember distinctly calling him the biggest fucking dork you’d ever met before you threw yourself at your datemate turned fiancé.

The next day, Sans had approached you during work and had chuckled and said, “ya know, i asked you to help restore his SOUL, not fall for it.”

#gaster/reader #fanfiction #fanfic #myfanfics #my fanfics #undertale fanfiction #selftober #self insert #reader insert

[kcwcommentary]

VLD4x04 – “The Voltron Show!”

4x04 – “The Voltron Show!”

Well, this episode exists.

Coran’s big screaming rant before the Paladins’ final performance is something. I think it reveals a lot about what Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery were like as executive producers. There is a toxicity that has seeped into this show so significantly that Coran’s big rant, and a couple other moments before that too, are filled with a lot of the same public complaints about the show’s production that we’ve gotten from the EPs in interviews.

The idea that this show just didn’t have the time to show us how events affect characters is discredited by the existence of episodes like this one. I don’t see what this episode adds to the show. We have already seen the Paladins engaging in performances to try to convince planets to join the Coalition back in 4x01 “Code of Honor,” and this episode feels like repeating that story, which wasn’t even a good story to begin with.

Near the beginning of the episode, Voltron is used to help build/repair a hospital on some planet. Elite fighting unit Voltron is doing the work of building a hospital? Shouldn’t this be something that the people on this planet already did themselves? Even if the hospital is to treat war veterans, as Coran says, I would think building it would be something that Coalition members could do as part of their contribution, not something Voltron itself would be assigned to. As I’ve said in previous commentaries, this season feels so casual compared to the past three.

Coran has provided the Paladins with a script for them to perform for the hospital’s patients. Reading the script, Pidge says, “This isn’t even factually accurate.” Coran replies, “Well, this is the legend of Voltron, not the documentary of Voltron.” In other words, it’s propaganda. I don’t think producing and manipulating people with propaganda is a heroic thing to do, so it’s offensive that this show has our supposed heroes doing it. Coran tells Allura that she’s going to be playing Keith. That Allura is weirdly angry, growling and distorting her face as the camera zooms in on her, is proof that the writers of this show did not write these characters to be friends. Keith’s absence here would be the perfect moment for the characters to express some sadness that he’s not there and worry about his safety. Instead, the episode has Allura annoyed that she even has to think about him and none of the other Paladins say anything about Keith at all. “Besides, playing Keith is easy: just act really moody.” Because that’s all Keith is? It seems like another instance of the show’s writers’ concept of characterization as being nothing but single bullet-points.

Coran’s script has Voltron having to “save the helpless Princess Allura.” Because it’s funny for Coran to reduce her into a helpless damsel? Taking away her power and agency for Coran’s story is going to cause the audience they’re performing for to feel empowered and inspired to join the Coalition? “Thank you, team, for always being by my side through thick or thin,” Shiro reads from his script. Too bad there are moments throughout this show where they’re not. Anyone who had been in their audience left during it. Lance wants to get back to air shows with explosions.

Once Coran is alone, one patient comes back in: the Unilu shopkeeper in 2x07 “Space Mall.” He offers some device that he describes as a “mind enhancer.” They negotiate in the same style that they did in “Space Mall.” I liked it back in that episode, and on its own I like this second round of it, but it feels out of place.

The next planet Voltron goes to for their performance is one where they have terrible weather on every day except one. I guess it works as a joke, but it’s certainly not realistic. They’re a day late, and the weather is bad again. Coran says he “forgot to calculate for time dilation.” This show has never included the issue of time dilation in the show’s methods of interstellar travel before. In space-based science fiction, ignoring time dilation while travelling at high speed is a conceit I’m willing to use. But if this show is going to reference it, then they need to actually use it in every instance in which it would be an issue, but they don’t. They only want it briefly to be used as a punchline to a joke here. Sigh.

Lance says to Coran, “I don’t know if you’re cut out to be managing this sort of thing.” Well, since the show had him do so back at the beginning of the season, the idea that he can’t now is baffling. Out of every main character, Coran is the one who’s been shown to be most capable of handling the stress of keeping everything running. This episode takes one of his characteristics, one of his strengths, and suddenly pretends it doesn’t exist.

So, he effectively uses performance enhancing drugs by placing the thing he bought from the Unilu guy under his pillow, which turns out to house some slug-like creature that crawls into Coran’s ear while he’s sleeping. Coran never reacts to the pain of something that large crawling into his ear. And the slug keeps going, somehow getting into Coran’s brain. Now, Coran is not human, so maybe one can get into an Altean’s brain through their ear, I doubt it, but maybe. I don’t buy whatsoever that this whole process is painless though.

They return to the mall. Coran behaves very oddly. Pidge picks up on it, but no one backs her up and everyone just goes along with it. It seems the writer and director intend his behavior to be funny, but I don’t find any of this funny at all. Nor do I find this performance of the Paladins funny either. The small audience that gathers around the performance applauds, one guy wants to join the Coalition. Seriously, this is the best use of an elite combat unit’s time? In this very episode, they’ve made a point that their recruitment efforts have been on planetary and solar system level of scale, and here they’re targeting individuals? Building a coalition on scale to fight a universe-spanning empire would be about diplomatic work with governmental leaders. This plot acts like building alliances to fight a war is done through commercial marketing.

They then head to another planet, and yet again this show doesn’t have a planet shaped like planets are shaped. This time, it looks like a twisted pickle or baguette. Sigh. It’s Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet. I really do not like Bii-Boh-Bi, nor his species. The show clearly thinks they’re funny, but I don’t find a single thing about them funny. This time, the Paladins’ show has them all ice skating. “Does anybody feel kind of stupid right now?” Hunk asks. I know exactly how you feel right now, Hunk.

After the performance, Coran gives a presentation. “I’ve worked up very specific personas for each of you. This is going to help the audience connect on a much deeper level with each team member. There’s Lover Boy Lance. […] Science Wiz Pidge. […] Lone Wolf Keith […]. Hunk, from now on, you’ll be Humerous Hunk. And last, but not least, Shiro the Hero.” With this scene, it seems like the writers of this show know that they are way too often reductive of characters to a single characteristic, so why don’t they fix that in their writing then?

They perform again on the Bii-Boh-Bi planet. If the goal is reaching a lot of different people in the universe, why are they performing multiple times for one planet? Coran, to supposedly help Hunk be funny, has Hunk purposefully tripped because nothing says funny like hurting someone. And then Coran adds fart sound effects. I’m not going to pretend that a fart sound can’t be funny, but this is just Coran being mean.

Shiro, at least briefly, remembers that they’re supposed to be helming a war effort, and he wants to give a speech about it during the performance. Coran literally tells Shiro to “stop talking. You’re Shiro the Hero. Heroes don’t speak. […] Muscles speak louder than words.” Ugh.

Later, Pidge talks to Coran. “I’m having real issues with the science you put in the script. It doesn’t make sense.” Coran responds, “It doesn’t need to.” This episode is so meta and self-referential. It’s like the writers of Voltron Legendary Defender are condescendingly mocking their viewers. So VLD’s writers know how their writing is bad, they just don’t want to do anything to make it better and resent anyone expecting them to do so.

They perform a third show on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet, and maybe a fourth.

Coran wants to change their show some more. He wants Voltron to talk. He wants “new weapons and new outfits.” Shiro counters that they only have one performance left, this one is going to be broadcast at least on galactic scale (which tells me these previous performances on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet were just for Bii-Boh-Bi’s people). The slug in Coran’s brain does whatever and Coran starts freaking out even more. He has a face of rage, but everyone is unnaturally chill. Yes, Coran’s freakout is being played for humor by the show, but it’s disturbing seeing everyone not reacting with a proportionate response to his behavior.

Allura says, “You must realize that we need to get back to fighting Zarkon.” Funny, I’ve been saying that this whole season. Coran screams at Allura, “We are fighting Zarkon, six nights a week and twice on the astral conflux.” It feels like the writers are aware of how bad what they’ve written this season is but that they think it’s unreasonable for anyone to complain about it being badly written.

Coran continues to scream, no one reacts the way someone would react if they were being screamed at. “You’re a bunch of quitters. Quitters. I’m a visionary. I have thoughts. Ideas. I don’t need you anyway. I’ll rewrite the show. Get rid of the whole lot of you. Replace you with new Paladins. And the show will be better than ever before. Except for you Shiro. I’ll never get rid of you. You’re our most popular character.”

What the…?

So, if Coran is supposed to represent the Executive Producers of Voltron Legendary Defender venting their frustrations about executive interference keeping them from doing anything and everything they want with the show, then this is not a flattering representation. We’ve had interviews with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery now in which they’ve let us know that they had wanted to replace characters. For example, they wanted to kill Hunk and have Axca take over his spot as the Yellow Paladin. And they notoriously wanted to kill off Shiro multiple times but have said they were told they had to bring him back. Literally written into Coran’s dialog are the EP’s complaints about having to keep Shiro in the show.

I don’t know how this episode didn’t get Dos Santos and Montgomery fired. They literally wrote their problems with working for Dreamworks and with WEP into the show’s dialog. It’s like this episode exists for the sole purpose of having this rant by Coran. They took a whole episode’s time to put their whining complaints about making the show into the show itself. When you are putting any behind-the-scenes production drama into the show on purpose, you are demonstrating a severely dysfunctional creative process and work environment.

Allura briefly is “concerned about Coran” but she never acts out of her concern. Hunk is fully dismissive of Coran’s behavior as being nonimportant; friends do not so easily ignore the obvious sign a friend needs help, but they do here on VLD.

While the Paladins are about to go on stage, Coran returns to another planet and gets the big animal that lives there to have it attack the Paladins during the performance. I guess the Paladins didn’t notice Coran taking the Castle Ship and leaving them on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet? People throughout the universe watch the broadcast. A Galra, who I think is the mallcop from “Space Mall,” is playing with Paladin action figures while watching. The mermaids from 2x02 “The Depths” are also shown to be watching; I don’t know why they specifically were chosen to be shown.

They form Voltron as part of the performance, and then Coran tries to use the creature to attack Voltron, but he gets thrown off as the creature chases the lighting effects around the stadium. The creature nearly kills members of the audience before Voltron can grab it. This creature can shoot rings of explosive energy from its mouth. Sigh.

Coran experiences some intense pain, finally, from having a slug leeching onto his brain. He asks Bii-Boh-Bi to help him, and Bii-Boh-Bi literally reaches into Coran’s ear and pulls the slug off his brain. This episode is absolutely ridiculous. One, that Bii-Bo-Bi jumps to the conclusion that the problem is the slug, but even more so, that he can reach in Coran’s ear and get to his brain. Free from the brainworm, Coran tells the Paladins, who, given their dialog, hadn’t already figured out that the creature was not a special effect. They lure the creature away and the performance is suddenly over.

Coran later apologizes. Shiro says “the Coalition is bigger than ever.” There has been no diplomatic meeting, no writing or signing any treaties, nothing that would be actual indicators of the development of the Coalition. This show has used those indicators before, like when the five alien leaders met for a diplomatic dinner on the Castle Ship in 3x01 “Changing of the Guard.”

I can’t think of any reason for this episode to exist. It doesn’t do anything to advance the plot. It doesn’t give any big exploration of character. It’s not even slightly funny. The only thing I can think of is that this whole episode was done so the EPs could write their frustrations with their job into the show.

Part of why I originally became interested in Voltron Legendary Defender is because so many of those who worked on Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were working on this show. I thought the quality of storytelling in those shows would carry over to VLD. Going into VLD, I had respect for Dos Santos, Montgomery, and Tim Hedrick because they came from those shows. I didn’t realize until really recently that Joshua Hamilton wrote for AtLA and Korra too, so I should include him in this list too. But VLD is nowhere even remotely as well written as AtLA and Korra. For AtLA, I now give a lot, if not most, of the credit to Aaron Ehasz. I’m loving what he’s doing currently with The Dragon Prince. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Whatever good work Dos Santos, Montgomery, Hedrick, and Hamilton did for AtLA and Korra, it’s because they had better bosses. With VLD, Dos Santos and Montgomery became the bosses, and I primarily blame them for the problems with the storytelling of this show.

I can’t get over that this episode literally puts the EPs public complaints and claims about executive interference into the characters’ dialog. Like I said earlier, I’m surprised they didn’t get fired for this.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 4 #vld 4x04 #commentary

[thaumatological]

im gonnaaaa revise and post my very dirk centric analysis of the epilogues here as well

also in case it needs stating, spoilers abound!

i read through both of the epilogues simultaneously yesterday, consuming both at the same time rather than one and then the other, and i feel like while it may not have been the most “satisfying” approach from a character-centric perspective, i have a more complete understanding of the stories than those who read them separately. if you’ve read through both and have the stomach to do it again for some reason, i suggest doing it in parallel, m1 c1 m2 c2 etc.

i will warn you though, i ended up having two nightmares at the same time in my dreams last night. like, simultaneously, two separate threads of terror unraveling in my subconscious. i woke up this morning already knee deep into an analysis of the homestuck epilogues, and it was less like “waking up” and more “becoming aware that i was conscious”

anyway, without further ado!

dirk killing himself in candy 14 is the scene that resonates with us as being “dirk” because it is. that’s all dirk, our dirk, the one from homestuck. he Has to do that in order for candy to continue being candy, and part of me believes that he knew that on a conscious level—hence his death being just. he knew he wouldn’t get a nice fluffy outcome in the candy timeline because him, all of him, not just this one instance, was fated to be meat dirk.

—and speaking of, the concept of Ultimate Selves pretty much squares away meat dirk. he doesn’t read like our dirk, the one from homestuck canon, because the narrative explicitly states he’s Not anymore. he’s become all of him, all of him from across paradox space, including notable players bro, doc scratch, and lord english. dirk’s Ultimate Self is a culmination of every possible him taken to the highest intensity. it reads like one of his personal nightmares because it WAS his personal nightmare—the personal nightmare of our dirk. he’s a prince of heart. the ascension to his Ultimate Self resulted in the complete destruction of the barriers between his splinters. the more i think about it, the more brilliant it is. he seems out of character as the dirk we know and love because he isn’t.

i feel like i finally Get it, but i’m still not looking forward to seeing people who dislike dirk using this to discredit the progress he made on his personal journey (ie “see he was evil the whole time!”) nor am i looking forward to all of the “dirk would never do this! it’s ooc writing!” from people who seem to have missed the part of homestuck where what scared dirk about himself most was the undeniable truth in it. there’s more than one example of “bad dirk and/or dirk byproducts” out there in paradox space. it’s more than feeling like you “might” be bad, it’s… being afraid of what you would be if you weren’t so afraid of being it, it’s seeing things that were a result of You-but-not-you and having to stare down the fact that even if you weren’t bad, even if you didn’t, you could have, would have, did. dirk’s Ultimate Self being a nightmare scenario is ..almost a recursive throwback to his fears about his ultimate self (note capitals)

him taking control of the narrative was epic though. it honestly did not catch me off guard? it makes sense. it is a 100% dirk strider move. if you haven’t read it by now for some reason, go read detective pony. i am diagnosing you with read detective pony by sonnetstuck. it’s terminal.

the only two people aside from hussie to have controlled the narrative in homestuck canon are the cherubs. and i did make the point somewhere up there that dirk absorbed lord english, and by extension, caliborn. that’s WHY he got that ability. not because he’s a prince of heart. dirk controlling the narrative makes sense from the perspective of dirk controlling the external narrative as well, ie, the whole thing is on a piece of paper that he wrote as some form of bizarre cathartic self punishment for his existence, but in the grander scheme of things and truth of homestuck dirk controlling the narrative makes sense as the puppetmaster-turned-puppet we see him become in several of his iterations, because caliborn literally becomes part of him.

everything is so skewed by the narrators. yes, both of them, because the whole point of the epilogues is that both of them suck and muse calliope is just as shitty as “impartial” “narrator” as Ultimate Self dirk is. it actually makes the whole thing a lot greyer in morality than it comes across at first. US dirk does a lot of Bad Shit as narrator, yeah, but even as passive as she is, calliope’s narration has its flaws (see: everything relating to trickster mode)

the epilogues are less about the characters themselves and more about a grander conflict between the two cherubs, using dirk and jade as their puppets—and yes, muse calliope is using jade as a puppet LITERALLY, which upsets me on so many levels i can’t even get into it here. let jade be fucking relevant and happy hussie or so help me i will write myself into your narrative and do some renovation of my own. but dirk is equally deprived of his agency in this scenario. i’m not going to debate with anyone about the inherent goodness/badness of dirk strider because that’s an entirely different essay, but in canon, dirk’s entire arc is about NOT becoming exactly what he becomes in the epilogues. the dirk we know didn’t choose to become his “Ultimate Self,” the dirk we know doesn’t get a choice between meat and candy, the dirk we know is at the mercy of the narrative even as he pretends to control it.

and that’s not something new to dirk strider, in any variation of himself. i’m specifically going back to thinking about the term “puppetmaster-turned-puppet” here, because i like it. in canon, we see dirk get out-puppeted by hal. it’s implied that bro is being controlled at least in part by lil cal, who is in turn.. a splinter of dirk indirectly via hal via arquiussprite. i’m getting a little lost in all the splinters. why is dirk’s worst enemy consistently himself? don’t answer that. uhh also it should be mentioned that makes lil cal a puppetmaster-turned-puppet-turned-puppetmaster, both literally and metaphorically. i fucking hate andrew hussie.

anyway, both of the epilogues do all that shit to to drive home the point that both of them (and i mean muse calliope and LE here when i say both, because this has officially stopped being about the dirk we know) are removed from human concepts like “good” and “evil” and represent duality in an alien manner that to a casual observer could be mistaken for some objective statement about morality, but they’re both wrong to us from our perspective as humans with human morals. the choice of candy and meat from the beginning was a cherub one. that’s not a balanced meal! that’s not even a reasonable dichotomy for humans! meat is not more real or “canon” than candy was, both of them are very flawed stories being manned at the helm by omnipotent green aliens.

okay we’re ALMOST done here, i just want to touch on the actual authors of the narrative rather than the ones the narrative insists are its narrators. by which i mean the actual real life human beings who wrote the epilogue. the point i was making above about how dirk doesn’t have any agency? the point of these epilogues were that none of the characters have any agency in their stories. every work is a reflection of its author, even when aforementioned authors are hiding behind pseudoauthors on a narrative level.

the homestuck epilogues feel very meanspirited to me. they punish their readers for not understanding their intentionally heavyhanded meta. homestuck was always very meta, but it was also fun. this, on the other hand, wasn’t fun. i haven’t seen anyone claim that the epilogues were a “fun” read, even those who enjoyed them enjoy them on the basis that “tragedy is a valid form of art,” and,,, ........and their opinions are. valid. and they can have them. sure.

but for those of us who read stories in order to enjoy them, which i am safely assuming makes up the majority of those who read homestuck, the homestuck epilogues are like a final kick in the teeth as a send off to a fandom with barely any teeth left to lose. we’re already having people who refuse to read them, and god i wish that were me, but it’s also.,, you can’t criticize something properly if you haven’t read it. we’re going to see a lot of very bad takes in the coming days about all kinds of things from information proliferating through the grapevine, and personally, i am not looking forward to it. i really hope this is the end, that homestuck is finally fucking over, and the epilogues are done with and we can all live our lives unmarred by strange orange men with typewriters. i’m going to hole up with my cool and new webcomic music albums and all of the good novel-length dirk-centric fic i’ve bookmarked over the years and wait this one out. i invite you to do the same.

cool and new webcomic bandcamp | cool and new greatest hits | my personal favorite album by them

detective pony by sonnetstuck (seriously please read this it watered my crops and cured my lead poisoning)

literally anything by callmearcturus but this is my personal favorite (chamomile, rosewater, and other unlikely intoxicants)

this long winded discworld joke by oxfordroulette that inflicted me with a terminal case of loving jake english despite it being a dirkjohn fic (vanitas vanitatum) also if you finish reading this one and also succumbed to loving jake english, i’m not going to link it but they have another fic that’ll scratch that itch for you. that’s all i’ll say on that matter.

this fic said nonverbal autistic dirk rights and thank god (we were made for another world by princex_n)

thanks for reading

#194 #will i put it in the tags? yes actually #dirk strider #that's all

[thepatchworkcrow]

Thinking About Discernment and Personal Responsibility

(originally posted on my Wordpress here: https://patchworkcrow.wordpress.com/2019/05/30/thinking-about-discernment-and-personal-responsibility/ )

This morning, I had the pleasure of having one of those hour-or-so long phone conversations with a close friend of mine where we find ourselves discussing all manner of things from spirituality, to philosophy, plans for self improvement, and endless other topics. Today, a part of our discussion revolved around the possibility of forming a local group of witchy/pagan folk, and our concerns in doing so based upon things we’ve experienced both in other groups we’ve visited in person, and in the online community.

I’d also recently come across this post by @nightshadeandroses on Tumblr that discussed using discernment when practicing witchcraft. Though my personal opinions are a little different, I thought she had a number of excellent points, and that some of the the issues she brought up pretty perfectly highlighted some of the concerns my friend and I had had in inviting others into our social circle and building community.

If you begin searching “witchcraft” or “paganism” on a number of sites, but particularly on Tumblr, you very quickly encounter dozens and dozens of blogs where the practitioners are detailing experiences that seem very intense: visions or messages from deities, relationships with spirits and deities that can take any myriad forms from devotional practice to spirit marriage and more, and more and more frequently at least in the media that I encounter: blaming the gods/fae/spirits for things going wrong or seeming out of control in one’s life.

Primrose’s post seems to specifically target those new to the craft who want to believe that everything they encounter is a sign or has some magical significance. Sometimes, a fly is just there because it’s summertime and there’s food about. So how do you differentiate between that instance and when it’s trying to tell you something? It can be difficult, it’s true, especially when you’re eager to embark upon a new spiritual path and start interacting with deities and spirits.

Her post recommends looking at patterns in phenomena, asking if the experience seems to good to be true or mimics a story you recently encountered from someone else, trying divination to confirm the situation, and trying to explain the situation with mundane explanations first.

All of these are excellent suggestions, and even after practicing for over thirteen years, I still routinely go through these steps if I’m not absolutely certain about things. As an example: I’ve seen a number of things associated with Loki lately, both Marvel universe type things and things a former roommate and friend of mine associated with him. I thought it was odd, but I noted when it started and which things seemed to come up more. I noted to myself “Hey, Endgamejust came out, and that’s probably contributing some on the Marvel end of it.” and also that I’m not as familiar with the patterns of the wildlife and seasons in Georgia as I was up in Michigan. I made note that I kept seeing these things, but rather than jump to the conclusion that Loki wanted my attention (and as he’s not a deity I work with, it’d be surprising to me if he did), I decided to wait and see if the pattern continued, or died down a bit after the movie hype died down.

The other thing my friend and I were talking about is personal responsibility. It seems to be the same types who are constantly seeing signs from their deities and guides that do this, but I also notice an unnerving amount of “The fae stole x from me.” or “The gods/x deity/whatever has y plan for me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” as though everything that occurs in one’s life is directly at the hands of the deities one does/n’t worship and nothing one does seems to have any consequence other than potentially swaying those deities one way or another.

A person I knew constantly told me that their deities seemed to be pushing them towards personal sovereignty and leadership, but also blamed those same deities whenever things did not go according to plan. Now, personal sovereignty and leadership certainly are admirable goals to work towards, and it sounds to me like a path towards personal growth and development. So I find myself asking: Why aren’t you working towards them? Why are you resisting those plans they supposedly have for you? Could the mishaps that keep coming perhaps come from patterns that are toxic and restricting and holding you back? If you worship x/y deity, why aren’t you following the sort of virtues you believe they’re laying out before you?

I’m personally of the belief that the gods are not so intimately involved in every aspect of our lives, and that we have free will and the ability to co-create with the divine powers of the Universe. In my belief, we make choices, and the energies that be react in kind. So if I perpetuate toxic behaviors, toxic things will continue to happen to me. If I project that the Universe or the gods are constantly knocking down my tower and don’t do work to build a stronger foundation in my practical life, the pattern will repeat itself.

The Tower card, I’d joked, was “my buddy” when I was doing tarot readings for myself. For years, it had been a recurring theme: I’d carefully (or so I had thought) construct plans for them to fall through and crumble. I had a narrative I was telling myself about the Universe “knocking over my block tower” just when I’d had it built. I’d blame other people for bailing on plans or not communicating. But I hadn’t considered at all that I was relying on other people rather than standing on my own feet, or that I wasn’t building strong and stable foundations for these plans to rest upon. This winter, while working through some course work, I had the following interaction in a visualization exercise:

I was standing on a summit a small grey bird in my hands. I could feel its heart racing as I held it. Brannan, my guide from the Tower of Pheryllt, stood behind me, his hand on my shoulder.

“A bird…” I must have sounded confused because I’d closed my eyes to visualize a paper boat and my imagination seemed to have a better idea.

“Do you know what it is?” I didn’t turn to face him, but I could hear the smile in Brannan’s voice as he spoke.

I concentrated on the bird for a moment and gave a nod. “It’s the Block Tower Story.”

“And what is the Block Tower Story?” He pressed me further and I furrowed my brow.

“That narrative about the Universe always coming over and knocking “my block tower” over—the one I’m always trying to plan around and avoid—to keep from “being screwed over again”. That Block Tower Story,” I replied.

“Are you ready?”

I looked down at the quivering bird again, took a centering breath, and gave a nod. I let the bird go, urging it out over the sea and away from the cliff. The first time, it came back and perched on my shoulder, its feathers all puffed out as it was clearly agitated.

Brannan gently took the bird from my shoulder and handed it back to me. “Try again. You’ve got to really mean it.” He stepped back again to watch.

I nodded and took another breath, and released the bird again. It made a circle back over my head, but took off over the sea, up into the clouds, and out of sight…

And every time I’ve found myself repeating that story to myself, I imagine myself back on that summit, looking out over the sea with the bird in hand, and I let it go again. Because the Universe isn’t breaking my block tower. I’m not building it correctly, and by taking ownership of that, I’m able to make better decisions about my life- not just in a spiritual sense, but in all of its aspects.

I’ve mentioned in passing, too, my belief that my afterlife is going to be something akin to joining the Wylde Hunt, and that I feel they have plans for me. But rather than resisting those plans, I’ve pushed myself to make actions that reflect that. I spend time in the forests. I try to make decisions that make a more positive impact on the natural world. I get involved with park cleanups and make sure that I’m voting for political officials and policies that protect my fellow citizens and our natural environment. I work on advocating for myself, on finding ways to make myself stronger, healthier, and more confident in myself. I turned my quest to get my driver’s license into a spiritual one as well as a mundane one. I’ve taken actions to get myself to a place more in line with my own goals as well as the ones I believe my gods have given me as well.

It’s not a passive letting the gods take all credit for what happens, good or bad. I am in control of my life, and my gods demand that I be. When I feel they are demanding something of me, it is usually that I take more responsibility for myself and take the reins of my life.

This isn’t meant to sound as though I’m telling folks what to believe, or as though I’m discrediting anyone’s experiences- quite the opposite! I am however concerned with some of the things I see posted, and wanted to encourage others to exercise perhaps some more discernment and take personal responsibility in their craft.

Share your thoughts in the comments below, and as always:

Forest Blessings, Rachel

#witchblr #witchcraft #druidry #personal gnosis #paganism #witch tips #witchy tumblr #critical thinking #personal paths #my writing #Patchwork's Thoughts

[slightlycharredwitch-blog]

I’ve seen this meme being talked about by my sister and some of her friends, and there is a lot going on here. They were saying that something felt off about it but they weren’t sure what. What’s off is that it’s very poorly argued, and relies on rhetorical tricks. Let’s walk through it panel by panel, and then discuss the meme as a whole.

Panel #1: The assertion is that Biological sex is a social construct, which they attempt to support by saying that the motive was to create a society where one class loses out for the benefit of another.

The first problem with this argument is that biological sex does not describe our social roles. That’s what gender is. So the argument remains unsupported. The second issue is the over use of jargon. The majority of audiences are going to have a difficult time understanding what the author is trying to say here.

Panel #2: This is a logical counter-argument to panel one. There is scientific evidence to back the claim. It uses complex terms, so it could stand to be simplified for broader audiences, but there isn’t anything majorly wrong here.

Panel #3: This one appears pretty simple at it’s face, but there is actually a lot to untangle here. Let’s break it down into a simple argument pattern and work from there.

Statement 1: There are XX Men and XY Women Statement 2: Intersex people are are neither male nor female Conclusion: Human sexes are nonbinary.

With Statement 1, this one lives or dies based on how you define man/woman. If Man means “Adult Human Male” than there are no XX men. If Man means “Someone who identified as a man” than man describes a social role. Social roles aren’t a manifestation of sex. So either way, Statement 1 doesn’t support the conclusion.

Statement 2 is factually wrong. A biological sex describes the type of gamete (one of the cells needed to make offspring) an organism is trying to produce. Humans only have two gamete types, and a given person can only produce one of them. Intersex people’s bodies only try to produce one or the other, they don’t produce some third gamete or both. And all this is before the fact that calling them sexless is actually intersexist and discriminatory, but I’ll let someone who’s more well versed in the subject elaborate on that.

Since both statements are unrelated at best, and false at worst, the conclusion is unsupported again.

Panel #4: Notice the sudden shift in tone? In the previous panel, this guy was depicted as overly wordy and verbose just like the bearded guy. Now he’s speaking in plain language. His first line about “why the divide” would have been addressed in the first panel, had that panel been talking about gender. The second line makes no sense for him to ask since he already stated that biological sex was reality based on science, which would be why he learned it in school. So why would he ask that?

Because he’s been set up as a strawman. He’s no longer representing an actual opposing argument. He’s instead saying something bordering on irrelevant to set up panal 5 for an easy takedown, while discrediting the side he’s meant to represent.

Panel #5: The meaning here is absolutely drowning under jargon, to the point where it needs translation. Furthermore, this is a run-on sentence, which can be difficult to parse even when they have simple phrasing. So to understand, we’re going to need to break things down again. First, let’s suss out what the words and phrases mean:

Cishetropatriarchal Hegemony: Cishetropatriarchal implies “not transgender, straight, lead by males” and hegemony means a leadership, usually of nations, and often with expansionist goals. Binary Model: Here this means male/female biological sexes. Foregrounds: Usually used in visual arts, the antonym of “background.” It’s supposed to convey putting one group over another. Status Quo: Our society as a whole, at this moment. It has a charged implication in this instance, since it’s becoming political shorthand for “everything that’s wrong.”

We’ve got a bit closer to understanding what’s being said, but we’ve still got a hell of a run-on sentence to deal with here. Unfortunately, the phrasing makes it nearly impossible to tell how the author intended the sentence to flow. Interestingly, since this opens it up to reader interpretation, that gives the author room to claim that any given critique is misrepresenting the content. To try and leave the sentence as intact as possible, we’ll split it in two:

“Because the continuation and the success of the cishetropatriarchal hegemony relies on blind adherence of members of our society to”

Simplified: To continue successfully, our non-trans, straight male leadership needs people to follow blindly

“a binary model which foregrounds the maintenance of the status quo at the expense of minorities such as trans people”

Simplified: A Male/Female model of human biology is the basis that the status quo is founded on. The status quo is maintained in a way that causes harm to minorities, such as trans people.

That took so much breakdown and reassembly, by now it gets hard to remember what this was even a response to! But now we can stick everything back together and analyze what it actually being said. To summarize, we had Hat Guy ask “Then why is society divided in two, and why is biological sex taught in schools?” and the Beard Guy essentially says “Because to continue successfully, our non-trans, straight male leadership needs people to follow blindly (which supports the status quo.) A Male/Female model of human biology is the basis that the status quo is founded on. The status quo is maintained in a way that causes harm to minorities, such as trans people.“

With the haze of jargon cleared away, the argument doesn’t work, because it is still founded on the basis that biological sex is a social construct. The simplest test to see if something is a social construct is to ask what would happen to it if humanity lost self awareness and society. Does the presumed construct survive? 

Without any labels, we’d have one type of human who could produce sperm, and one that could produce eggs and carry offspring. You can only make offspring when you match a sperm producer with an egg producer. That is what sex is, in the most simple and basic terms. Biological sex exists in absence of human understanding. So the argument would fail on that fault alone.

Interaction Between Panels #4 and #5: This is where we get into some pretty clear rhetoric, which merits close examination on it’s own. Rhetoric can be used to bolster a well made argument, but it can also shore up a bad argument, since the purpose of rhetoric is to just “feel” true.

We have Hat Guy, who is representing the opposing argument. His shift in tone and sudden use of simpler language is used to imply his arguments have failed, and he’s only resisting out of stubbornness and prejudice. We’re meant to scoff at his ugly ignorance.

Then we have Beard Guy, who is set in place to make that sick take down that the audience can revel in. The panel has an accusatory air to it. The phrasing, where it isn’t making things murky, is highly emotionally charged. Phrasing like “blind adherence” paints Hat Guy, and by extension, the opposing side, as feverishly devoted to a lie.

The undercurrent of the argument in panel five implies that by taking his position, Hat Guy is supporting a system that’s using and abusing an underclass for its own gains. Without saying as much, it evokes a similar gut reaction to being told you’re supporting slavery. It’s framed as a brutal and just take down.

So rather than dismantling the opposition with counter points backed by accurate evidence, Beard Guy has instead attacked the argument with pure rhetoric. He’s guilting the opposition, defaming their character by implying they’re stupid and/or immoral. The evidence provided, rather than being dismantled, has been dismissed and forgotten.

To get all of that information across, using relatively few words, and in a couple panels is the power of rhetoric, context, and framing situations. It’s a lot to take in, and very emotionally charged. This is why we need to look past rhetoric and into arguments, no matter which side they come from.

The Meme Overall: Alright, so we have a meme here that’s absolutely loaded with poor arguments, logical fallacies, falsifiable facts, and searing rhetoric. So what? Memes aren’t essays, they’re jokes, you aren’t supposed to think to deep about them right? Glance over it, laugh, maybe glance again as you share it and see it again as it passes through your group of friends.

But this isn’t really a joke, now is it? These claims are currently being asserted as facts in long-winded, even harder to digest essays, and trickling out into more mainstream activism. It’s more akin a snippet, a quip, or a piece of an essay that’s easier to swallow. It’s the same ideas, but repackaged in a format that’s easy to understand. We know how this meme goes, who’s right and who’s wrong, and why it should be funny. We know that we don’t need to think hard about what it says.

We have an image here, one that has a clear point of view that it wants the viewer to agree with. One that misrepresents facts, and hides that with buzzwords and jargon. One that paints it’s opponents as blind, irrational supporters of evil. And we have all of this wrapped into a pithy and familiar package for that asks us to take it at face value, don’t think to hard about it, and share it widely. It’s propaganda in meme form.

#radfem #liberal #propaganda #trans #critical thinking #formal logic

[he-s-dead-jim]

My unbiased love for everyone.

My rewatch continues and today I want to talk about the absolutely irritating Will Graham.

It’s impossible not to love Will and I love him, but I don’t really know why.

For both he and Hannibal there are not deep reasons why I love them, it’s just the ensemble, the two of them  together, the atmosphere of the show.

But basically, Will is an asshole.

So maybe that’s why I like him.

I mean, in real life, aside the fact that he loves a serial killer, I wouldn’t talk to him mostly because he wouldn’t talk to me.

I could try once, but if you show me even the slightest annoyance at my presence, you won’t see me again, I’m not the type who takes a NO as a disguised YES. If your irritation is showed I go away, NO is NO.

And I imagine Will would be really annoyed by me. If not, he will show annoyance in any case, because it’s what he does, and we’d never talk again.

But I love people like that. I don’t talk to them but I love them. In my world you don’t have to see someone every day to like them.

Look at that scene outside Hobbs’ cabin. Will arrives and takes the torch from an officer’s hands without a Hello, without a Thanks.

Will is a rude asshole.

If I were that officer, this would be my reaction.

“Are you Will Graham? Yes, I thought you were, because they told me Will Graham is a fucking asshole and I almost instantly thought that, when I saw you. What a coincidence, uh? Hello to you too and have a nice day, you jerk.”

It’s perfectly ok if you don’t want or like to be sociable, I’m like that.

But I’m not rude, I know how to behave in front of people to not be perceived as an arrogant bitch. I don’t see why not to use a Thank you or a Hi, it doesn’t cost so much effort.

Unless that officer offended him in some way in the past.

I don’t know, I still say Hi even if someone talks behind my back and I know it, I really don’t care.

Maybe Will holds a grudge for minor reasons, but I don’t think so.

Will is just rude, Hannibal knows it and he is astonished by the fact that he is in love with a rude person. Everything he always believed in starts to fall to pieces. Poor Hannibal feels guilty of his own emotions.

That’s why at the beginning he tries to punish Will for his rudeness, but fails miserably because, I mean… If Will can tell him he doesn’t find him that interesting and still be alive, then he can do anything.

Will’s rudeness confounds Hannibal’s morality. Hannibal’s morality confounds Will’s desire to jump him.

They’re made for each other.

I’m joking but not so much, I have so many versions of the reasons why Hannibal loves Will and viceversa.

In the second episode we also see that the only time Jack is right about someone, Abigail, nobody believes him.

Serves him right! Ah!

Actually I’m not very happy about it. I considered Abigail guilty from the first time I watched the show and I took Jack’s side in that.

But that would be another long talk about what my thoughts are about family, Will’s desire to be a father, the fact that all but Jack seem to think that Abigail has to be protected, my vision of the Murder Family…

Actually I’m more like Jack in this; until episode four when he says two things I really despise and I go back to not like him. XD  All in good time.

And since I’m talking about people I don’t like (that’s new, right?) here she comes…

Freddie Lounds.

No, it’s not really that I don’t like her, actually I don’t have feelings for her. I respect her lack of simpathy for the group of people she interacts with (from Will to Alana is not a trip in joyfulness) but I don’t like her methods.

There’s no pride in trash-talking people in general, but on the internet, without proof, defining herself as a journalist and trying to ruin other people’s careers? To do that you have to be sure the people you’re talking about are guilty and dangerous. That’s not journalism.

I see every day people who call themselves journalists but just prey on people’s pain. They go to a victim and ask things like “Do you feel bad you were raped? Do you feel bad your son was murdered? How do you feel now that they diagnosed you with that deadly illness?”

That’s not journalism.

I see Freddie Lounds more or less like one of them.

I must confess I would love to hear Will’s psych eval. What did Hannibal ask him? Maybe some wise questions like the ones of Italian journalists.

It’s strange because I don’t like the ones who dislike Will (even if I see why it’s difficult to find Will nice) but I love Hannibal who does unspeakable things to him.

I think it’s because I feel like Hannibal doesn’t have any reason to do it other than to expose the inner part of Will, his true nature, and I like that.

In my opinion Hannibal doesn’t kill Freddie (and she should be number one on the list) because she is Will’s victim. Since the beginning.

I think Will knows that and that’s why he will use her to deceive Hannibal later. Hannibal would instantly believe that Freddie is the first one Will decides to kill.

Another honorable mention to Brian Zeller (guess what? I don’t like him!) who says to Freddie:

You used me.

Ah!

No, honey, she was just doing what’s in her nature. The real little shit in this it’s you. You’re jealous and spiteful.

I really don’t like people who rate their success by another person’s failure and that’s what Brian is trying to do to Will.

He wants so badly for Will to be discredited, but he doesn’t even have the courage to do it in his face. He talks with a woman that he knows very well will say very bad things about Will and he doesn’t care.

Brian is not a teammate, he does something that damages the investigation and he does it out of spite.

Again, it’s ok that he doesn’t like Will, but what he does is immature, dangerous. He’s not even funny when he mocks Will, he seems like a envious baby. I mean, use your brain, find something witty to say if you really feel the need to tease Will.  

  My favourite scene in this episode is the last dialogue between Hannibal and Will.

Hannibal is beginning to show Will what it’s like to have someone to talk to who doesn’t judge your thoughts. Even the horrific ones.

Those two key phrases Giving voice to the unmentionable and To prove that sprig of zest you feel is from saving Abigail, not from killing her dad.    

I love the words he decides to use with Will. After so little time, he already knows Will so well.

  Episode two and this is already getting out of hand.   

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

Let’s see with how many characters I can fight. Oh boy, I’d love to talk to them in their universe. I wouldn’t last a day, but it would be so much fun.

  Episode 1 Rewatch

#Hannibal #Hannibal season 1 #Hannibal Rewatch #Thoughts #Will Graham #My thoughts #Reactions