#but being referred to as the friend of someone he absolutely dislikes is just insulting!!

[rebelscaped]

kim jaejoong. nonbinary. he/him. bisexual. ⇝ hey, isn’t that kael kang ( nickname: imugi )? i think that the thirty-one year old from london, england works as the bassist for vain rogues and the ghost orchestra & the tail gunner for the bastards (ex-mercenary for the scarlet nightmare), but outside of that people describe them as bruised skin, scraped knuckles and bleeding lips; super distressed denim and torn fabric held together with paperclips and chains; blurred and dazed city lights; chipped black nail polish and smudged eyeliner . i hear they are irritable & standoffish, but they are also known to be dedicated & unconventional. consider giving them a visit at their home in the kingpin trailer park and get to know why they’re called the rebel.

IMPORTANT LINKS: stats. pinterest.

TW:

NOTE: please do not refer to kael as a man! most other masculine terms are okay & he does refer to himself as hana's father/dad. kael himself doesn't really care if he's referred to as a man but he isn't one so please keep this in mind! he's nonbinary with a sort of neutral/androgynous presentation that just happens to lean a little more masc.

BASICS.

Although he doesn't go by it very often at all, Kael's Korean name is Kang Hyunjin. (btw any similarity to a certain kpop idol's name, even the fact the surname reminds, is pure coincidence asdfgh I settled on this as Kael's name not long after I first made him in 2014)

Despite working as tail gunner for the Bastards, Kael isn't actually that passionate about vehicles in general; he does the work because he's good at it and he likes taking shit apart to see how they work. He does like motorbikes specifically and knows quite a lot about them but he has no interest in cars.

Kael has ADHD. Due to his upbringing, this was never diagnosed and it remains unmedicated. He also has pretty severe anxiety and PTSD as a result of his history. These are, again, undiagnosed. He suffers from regular nightmares and has experienced his fair share of panic attacks. He's also had his struggles with depression over the years and deals with a lot survivor's guilt after his best friend's sacrificial death. (note: i don't personally have adhd or ptsd but please trust I've done a lot of research on these things! c': also, i'm autistic & adhd definitely runs in my family so pls know if would never deliberately misrepresent any neurodivergence!)

In general, Kael's health probably leaves a lot to be desired. He smokes, he doesn't sleep properly, he doesn't eat right; overall he doesn't really do much to look out for himself. The only thing that's really improved since Hana came into his care is that he's less inclined to do things that might get him killed. Sort of. He is still a Bastard.

He has a way of coming off very aloof and standoffish and is often written off a nastier person than he actually is. The truth is that he just has a lot of walls built up, as truth does NOT come easily to him, and he has a pretty sarcastic sense of humour. Also, he has kind of a short fuse but this is usually directed towards pretty trivial upsets and, honestly, it's hard to describe him as aggressive. He can be a little volatile but it's more of a quirk than an out-and-out problem. Once you get to know him better, you'll probably figure out that he just has a lot of trust issues AND more energy than he knows what to do with. It explains a lot.

Kael is not just in a punk band for the aesthetics; although his fashion sense is largely just punk-inspired without really fully committing (although he does absolutely dress like he should be in a band), his outlook on life is punk in itself. He's extremely anti-establishment and is very open about his distaste of the rich and powerful; he has been known to use posh as an insult (please know he's not going to dislike someone on a personal level just for being rich, although if someone wealthy does befriend him then there is a good chance he'll make fun of them for it). Ultimately, Kael's politics are driven by empathy and a respect for other humans. Despite his cold and distant exterior, Kael does genuinely care about people.

Kael has a distinct London accent, leaning more towards the East End. It's not especially strong or thick but it's still very much a London accent. (And I mean that it's not especially strong by London standards; he still sounds extremely English.) He's fluent in English and Korean, and conversational in Japanese.

He loves spicy food. Like, really loves it. And he has a high tolerance for it. It's not a problem, even when it makes his eyes water and his nose run. He also has a high tolerance for alcohol. And he's really not afraid of heights. Or danger. It all makes for a pretty reckless person. He is scared of bugs though, ESPECIALLY spiders. And he has very mixed feelings about horses (he doesn't think they should be that big; don't ask).

Kael has a bunch of piercings, mostly ear piercings. He has several in each year and one navel piercing. He has no interest in getting any more. He also has some tattoos, five in total. He hasn't added any for a good few years but he's not against getting more. They're all black ink tattoos without colour and any further tattoos would be in the same vein. Specific locations are; right below his collarbone, his left wrist, above his right hipbone (but below his ribs), between his shoulder blades and down his spine.

THE SCARLET NIGHTMARE

For Kael, life under the Scarlet Nightmare had been all-encompassing. Even at his most subservient, he had a strong need to cling to a sense of personal identity and this meant distancing himself as much as he could from the sorry bastard whose DNA he shared. He's very aware of his status as a clone and has deliberately tried to block out any memories that aren't his own.

Growing up in the facility he'd been sort of a loner, a quiet kid with a knack for getting into fights he never started, but there was one kid just a year older than him who reached out and stuck up for him; he'd always be there to pull Kael up off the cold hard floor of the facility dorm rooms after a fight, always there to help patch up his cuts and scrapes. He'd help Kael lift chin up high any times he started to doubt his place in the world and his role in the Scarlet Nightmare system. They were best friends, inseparable and as close as brothers.

This friend was everything Kael was not. He was bright and open and friendly. He was good at following orders and never felt any urge to bite the hand that fed him and he didn't seem to piss the other kids off the way Kael always did.

Eventually, it was decided that his friend would train to become a Hitman and, shortly after, Kael was assigned the role of Mercenary so, as luck would have it, they were paired together. It was a partnership that would require deep trust and the pair had already demonstrated how well they could work together. They made a perfectly devastating team.

Yet, as time stretched on, Kael's doubts only grew; although this was the only life had ever known, he could feel himself breaking under the weight of it, under the impossible-to-bury guilt of what he'd done. He could have sworn the stench of death clung to him. And, so, he wondered, was he really alive if he was only born to kill? The partnership between the Hitman and Mercenary was beginning to show cracks and, after enough missions had gone awry due to Kael's dwindling confidence, the Mercenary was deemed a liability. Something to be rid of.

The Shadow assigned to take him out failed. They had aimed perfectly, hit their intended target, but they had failed to even touch Kael. Despite his desperate attempts to defend Kael to their handlers and to help Kael pull himself together, his partner had sensed this moment might come. He'd seen the faintest hint of movement in the distance and thrown himself in front of Kael without a moment's hesitation, driving away the spooked Shadow. The bullet pierced his throat and he died, choking on his own blood in Kael's arms.

Kael's world shattered and he lived in a haze for the next while; all those strong feelings of doubt and rebellion had been numbed, and he returned to the Scarlet Nightmare as normal. After he'd switched off his emotions, he was able to return to his previous heights and the higher-ups lost interest in him. But he'd grown clumsy too. He suffered a near-fatal injury during a mission and was put on bed rest. A week of good rest and some time to himself where he could just think was all it took for Kael to come back for himself. There was no other choice. He needed to escape the Scarlet Nightmare, even if it put a target on his back for the rest of his life.

THE REAL WORLD

The transition to normal life was not easy for Kael. No longer having an outlet for his excess energy and recklessness, he did stupid things, illegal things. He got into fights. Almost got arrested a few times. He the first year in particular isolating himself but, as time passed, he was able to find a shitty job and a shitty apartment to live in, even make a few friends. The nightmares never faded. He'd wake in the night, drenched in a cold sweat and haunted by all the awful things he'd done in the name of following orders.

Despite everything, he was able to rekindle a once discouraged love of music. The piano and the guitar were borrowed talents, something the original Kael must have nurtured but he was so enamoured with it that he taught himself more. Learned to play the bass as well. He started writing his own music as an emotional release and began to work the streets as a busker, armed with nothing but a guitar and his voice. At some point along the way, he wound up the bassist for the band, Vain Rogues and the Ghost Orchestra, with whom he'd travel from place to place.

Eventually, he'd meet someone in Busan, South Korea. It had started as a one night stand. By this point, Kael was more than used to these encounters. He'd found a casual comfort in the intimacy of sex with strangers. It wasn't supposed to matter. Except that, this time, it did. They were different. Hyeong Eunji was different. The infatuation brought him back to her again and again, and before long it had changed shape and grown into love instead. He decided to put the band aside for a while, settling in Seoul while he figured himself out and, although he was reluctant to admit it, because he didn't want to leave Eunji behind, even if she always kept him just at arm's length.

Eventually, Eunji leaves. The only notice he receives of this is a letter and a child, Eunji's beloved daughter, Hana. The letter reveals to him the truth that Hana is also his child and that Eunji has left her safety in his hands.He'd known Hana from before and been fond of her but he'd always assumed she was the daughter of some other man. He'd never questioned it. It had never mattered. But it mattered now. All of a sudden, Kael was a father. And he was going to do everything is power to keep his daughter safe while Eunji was on the run.

The fear of being found by Eunji's gang sent Kael back to London for a short time. Hana would begin to attend school there and she picked up on English quickly with Kael's help. Although he didn't have a lot of money and he didn't feel like a particularly good father, Kael loved Hana. Her presence filled a deep void in his life and washed away the loneliness. He still woke up terrified in the night but sometimes she'd appear by his bedside and try to comfort him in the same way he would when she had bad dreams. Soon they would move across the world once more; when Cyrek calls him in for a favour, Kael ups and moves to Anchorage, Alaska with Hana in tow.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Nowadays, Kael lives in a caravan with Hana. He's probably not the most well-equipped father in the world but he's a good and loving father who tries his best to do well by his daughter. He has rejoined the band, taking up the mantle of bassist once more, but that was not what brought him to Anchorage. He'd come all this way to fill a role in the biker gang, the Bastards, where he now works as the Tail Gunner. He's pretty broke, with most of what money he does receive going straight to Hana's care, but he's scraping by and, if nothing else, he's free. The nightmares and the need to keep looking over his shoulder don't sting so bad when you're surrounded by allies.

Kael moved to the town just before the murder of Willow Cho-Iverson and, thanks to the Bastards' implication in that incident, he has not known a day's peace since getting here.

#« 𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥 » / 「 intro. 」 #this is LONG overdue...like over six months overdue....whoops #btw the graphic is just a repurposed promo graphic i made for an old blog YEARS ago but this took so long to finally write up #that i decided to just reuse it instead of delaying this any longer by making smth new <3 (that's why the colour scheme doesn't match the #theme; i tried recolouring but i didn't like it) #i still like it anyway #also i ran out of time to fully proof read this so @ admins pls lmk if anything here doesn't work or breaks lore!!

[incorrect-tmnt2012-quotes]

Bebop: TC! Are these your friends?

Tiger Claw: No!

Tiger Claw, pointing at Alopex: This is my mean sister.

Tiger Claw, pointing at the turtles: And her rude friends.

Raph, deeply offended: HEY! Do NOT call me her friend!!

#someone calling him “rude’’ he’s cool with #but being referred to as the friend of someone he absolutely dislikes is just insulting!! #incorrect tmnt quotes #source: victorious #tmnt 2012 #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tiger claw #bebop #alopex #raphael #also just in case #please don’t tag as ship #Alopex is an adult in 2012 #Raph’s 15 #so no no

[razzle-berry]

I have to get this off my chest cuz damn if no one wants to say it, I will! We all know how shitty Quirk society is when it comes to mutation quirks, being quirkless, subtle quirks, or quirks that are just perceived as evil. So I’d like to request hc’s of Shoji, Shinsou, Aizawa, and Fatgum with an s/o that hates people that judge quirks or try to let the bullshit slide.

For example, Shoji’s s/o dislikes Pony from Class 1-B for how she insulted Shoji’s appearance despite not knowing him at all, so she tends to keep a stone face or glare on anyone like that unless they apologize. Would deadass say “He’s not the monster here, you are.”

Shinsou’s s/o would openly call people cowards/idiots for antagonizing Shinsou’s quirk when it could be used for interrogating villains and subtletly get information from enemy sources, so she’s more than happy to defend him and others like him.

And Aizawa’s/Fatgum’s s/o just openly points out the bullshit ethics of the society for how no one should be discriminated or ranked for their quirk since they can’t help being born with whatever quirk they have and even calls out pro-hero’s that holds the whole “flashy quirk >” mindset *cough*Endeavor*cough* since it could demotivate and make others insecure about being a hero or even using their quirks at all.

This was long but quirk discrimination got me heated and I rarely see anyone talk about it or do hc’s about it.

I feel you. I hate this so much too especially because so many people have or may have suffered in the show because of this! I was actually just talking about this with one of my friends earlier lol.

There's going to be a bit if a stylistic change with this hc so bear with me please.

Warnings: Discrimination, swearing, Y/N is about to go off on someone, slight angst ig

Character(s): Shoji, Shinso, Aizawa, Fatgum

Mezo Shoji

Let’s just start off by saying that anybody who has the audacity to call Shoji a monster can catch not just his your, but my hands as well. This man is so strong, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well to not let the blatant discrimination turn him away from wanting to be a hero. (Absolutely no hate to those who did go down that path because of it though, they still valid)

Shoji can, for the most part, handle himself in these situations. While they hurt, he grew up having to deal with it and is sadly used to it

But the first time you went off on someone for judging him, it made him fall deeper in love 

“How dare you!” The cafeteria chatter and traffic in the mall seemed to freeze in time as your voice carried out. In front of you was a rather tall man who could have been considered attractive if not for his ugly words. Mezo stood behind you, looking at you in shock at how angry you had become. 

“Mezo is an amazing hero, and even better person, and you have the absolute nerve to insult him because of how he looks?” 

The man started to sweat underneath your heavy gaze, as well as the whispers that started to grow around you two. Mezo decided to step in and placed a hand on your shoulder. 

“Darling, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not.” You sent him a brief smile before turning you glare onto the stranger. “You’re not the monster here, he is.” 

Hitoshi Shinso 

He’s used to people referring to him as a villain the second they know what his quirk is and by the time we the audience meet him, he’s accepted it

He’s fallen into such a deep pit of insecurity, it’s a wonder he even managed to accept that you weren’t afraid of him, let alone have romantic interest him 

The first time he saw you jump to his, or any other person that's like him, defense he was in shock.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Hitoshi stopped and stared at you in shock.

A small villain had tried to keep the restaurant hostage for some reason or another and had a woman at gun point as he talked to the police outside. While currently not on duty, Hitoshi still had his licence and controlled the villain to safely return the woman to her family and turn himself in. He tried to go comfort the woman and see if he needed anything, only for her to scream at him for having such a villainous quirk. Naturally, he was upset but he was willing and ready to move on from the unfortunately common situation and just go back to his lunch date with you. Seemed like you had other plans.

"This man just saved you, and you want to call him a villain? How much of a child do you have to be to think that someone's quirk determines what they become. Hitoshi is a wonderful hero, and his so called 'villainous' quirk has helped save hundreds of people!"

Hitoshi took your hand and started pulling you away from the woman, as you were getting closer.

"Calm down, it's fine. I'm used to it."

"Well you shouldn't be! It's people like this that create the villains in this society. Not everyone is as stubborn as you, hearing that you're going to be a villain based on nothing but something you can't control would break someone enough and have then actually turn into a villain!"

You looked at the woman in absolute rage and disgust.

"I hope you're proud of yourself."

Shota Aizawa

He someone who not only grew up with a non flashy quirk, but also is a hero without a flashy quirk. Barely anyone knows who he is because of that, as well as his underground career. While that's a good thing, all things considered, he was and is still a victim of hero society's discrimination

Shota doesn't like UA's entrance exam because it's impractical, and we know he knows that the bias allows for talented potential heroes to slip through because they're not flashy or physically strong. He would have first hand knowledge of this since it almost happened to him.

You, on the other hand, weren't a hero. At least not one like him. You helped people like him know that they're still able to become heroes, no matter what other may say about their quirks and he loved you for it.

"He might not have a strong physical quirk that allows for flashy moves to appeal to an audience, but that doesn't mean he isn't useful, or powerful."

You two were on a date when a fan, if you could even call him that, had walked up to Shota and started asking questions. All was okay until he asked if he ever felt bad for not being as powerful or useful as someone like All Might or Endeavor.

"Yeah, but he's-"

"His own person with his own accomplishments that you probably never even heard about because the media didn't care enough. He's worth so much more than a fancy quirk and a camera ready smile. Now, go back to whatever you were doing, we are busy."

Shota chuckled and allowed you to pull him along.

"You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Doesn't matter, you are an amazing hero and I don't appreciate anyone saying otherwise because of something so stupid as a flashy quirk. Especially when they compare you to fucking Endeavor of all people!"

Fatgum/Toyomitsu Taishiro 

Toyomitsu has a quirk that, on the surface, doesn’t seem very useful for hero work. I imagine that he was made very aware of that growing up, and even as he debuted as a hero.

Not to mention that his quirk, when activated, makes body shape turn into an almost oval, vague snowman shape so that might have set some people off. For such a friendly guy, that would have been a cause for insecurity at one point seeing as he genuinely wants people to be happy.

You were someone who never saw him like that and held him through tougher nights when the media got too harsh on him. You were even someone not afraid to get in front of a reporter’s camera and tear them a new one.

“What kind of a ridiculous question is that?” 

It was a few weeks after his debut and some people were still mocking him for his quirk. On the surface, fat absorption didn’t seem like much and for someone who doesn’t know Toyo- excuse me- Fatgum (he’s a hero now, you thought proudly), it might even seem useless. But you knew better, and you thought that it was about time others did too. 

“Just because Fatgum’s quirk isn’t flashy and destructive, it doesn’t mean he should feel inadequate next to someone who does have one like that, and I don’t appreciate you insinuating that he should.” 

The reporter recoiled slightly, and tried to stutter out a response. 

“I'm- I'm not-!"

"Fatgum is already an amazing hero, and he's only going to get better. So you can take your prejudice and find a new job because clearly being a reporter is not a good field for you!"

"Sugar, it's okay!" Fatgum placed his hand on your shoulder and smiled. "I'm just going to have to prove them wrong!"

His cheery demeanor was enough to calm you down a bit, but still you couldn't resist shooting the chastised reporter a sharp glare, causing them to shrink back. You smirked at the sight.

"You already have."

#bnha #bnha x reader #shoji mezo #shoji x reader #hitoshi shinso #shinso x reader #shinsou x reader #aizawa shouta #aizawa x reader #eraserhead #eraserhead x reader #fatgum #fatgum x reader #taishiro toyomitsu #taishiro x reader #tw discrimination #slight angst #but not much

[iamnmbr3]

So it looks like the MCU has decided to celebrate Pride with some disgustingly blatant queerbaiting and homophobia. How unfortunately on-brand. Mike Waldron, the head writer of the Loki series, sat down with Vanity Fair and had this to say:

One love story to keep an eye out for is brewing between Hiddleston’s god of mischief and Owen Wilson’s TVA bureaucrat Mr. Mobius. The two spark and spar, building on the duo’s chemistry from Midnight in Paris. “Mobius and Loki, that’s one of the love stories you might see in Loki for sure,” he says. “Although if you print that, knowing our fans, they’re going to take it the wrong way.” When I clarified that their love story might be more akin to the platonic one between Tom Hanks’s FBI agent Carl Hanratty and Leonardo DiCaprio’s con man Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can, Waldron says, “Exactly. Right.”

What do you mean by the “wrong way” Mike? Would you say that if you were talking about a male and female character instead of 2 male characters? Oh right. No. The reading would only be “wrong” in this case because that would be queer, and you clearly think queerness is disgusting and wrong and a joke. I’m sorry. Assuming that by “love story” someone means...a LOVE STORY is perfectly reasonable. If you know people are going to make that very logical assumption why would you refer to it that way? Oh right. Because you wanted to bait the fans. But then also mock anyone for picking up on the bait because to you queerness is “wrong” and a joke. How dare people assume you mean “love story” when you say “love story” about two characters, one of whom is canonically queer (which I’m sure now is going to get erased)?! This is both egregious queer baiting and extremely homophobic. 

He knows exactly what he’s doing. Guess he’s trying to one-up the queerbaiting in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I mean c’mon. “It’s a love story. But tee hee! Some silly people might think that means queerness. And that would be wrong and icky!” We already had the Russos queer baiting stucky fans in a very similar way, and then in IW and Endgame Steve and Bucky didn’t even get to talk for more than 3 seconds. I mean. Really. Why say “love story” otherwise. Only to clarify it’s like Catch Me if You Can. What?? Catch Me if You Can isn’t a love story; it’s a movie based on the true story about a financial conman and the FBI agent in charge of tracking him down. They did later become friends after he went to prison. But it was hardly a love story. and it’s certainly not presented that way in the movie. 

Furthermore, his disdain for the fans is palpable. Clearly he thinks “knowing the fans” that of course these 2 characters will be shipped just by virtue of what? Both being male and being in the same space? That’s not what shipping is about. People actually choose their ships for a reason. And they care about the characters. That’s why depending on the characters every ship dynamic is different. People are usually drawn to ships because they are interesting and emotionally compelling for one reason or another. If you look at the popular MCU ships they’re between characters that had compelling interactions and emotional arcs with each other. But sure. Let’s just turn it all into a joke, assume these characters will be shipped because they’re near each other, and bait the fans while mocking them and reiterating how gross and wrong you think queerness is.

Also. From what we’ve seen from the trailers, Mobius and Loki’s relationship is absolutely NOT a love story. I’m not saying you can’t ship dark ships. I certainly do. But that’s not love in a positive sense. That’s why dark ships are called DARK ships. They’re about obsession or toxic romance or power and control or all sorts of dark things. And that’s not what he’s getting at here. He’s using it in a positive sense. He’s calling it a love story (presumably a platonic one) while also queer baiting fans. But. Where??? 

We’ve seen Mobius be nothing but absolutely awful to Loki. He has quite literally not treated Loki decently once in any of the trailers. We’ve seen him silence and mock and denigrate Loki and show him 0 compassion or understanding or respect. We’ve seen him hurt and frighten Loki - the one trailer that actually leaned into this had the best moment of any of the trailers because Mobius is a great antagonist and when they utilize him as such it leads to actually emotionally compelling drama. I mean, already twice in the trailers he’s quoted Odin directly. How can they have him do that and then not take advantage of those parallels to make him into the perfect villain that he could be? Also, Mobius is part of the organization holding Loki captive and enslaving him. How exactly is that a love story??? Nothing Mobius has done has been loving at all. Calling it a love story validates that mistreatment. 

Why would I want to ship this in a positive sense??? I want Loki to get as far away from Mobius as possible, preferably after wiping the smug look off his face. Mobius is awful to him. And it doesn’t personally appeal to me even as a dark ship either. There’s no real complexity to their interactions or reason for me to want to see a romance - either dark or otherwise - explored. Mobius is Loki’s annoying, grating jailer who he just met and who so far has not gotten a single thing right about him. The assumption that every fan would see this trailer and just go “squeeeeeee!! SHIPPPPP!” is really insulting and denigrating. 

Waldron really seems to dislike Loki as a character and to dislike the fanbase because it is full of exactly the kind of people he so obviously despises and looks down upon. Why was this man given the chance to write for Loki? Imagine if we had a writer with professionalism and empathy - like Russel T.  Davies - at the helm. 

Given Waldron’s obvious disgust for the concept of queerness I’m sure he’s either erased Loki’s sexuality or has turned it into a joke. Happy Pride from the MCU I guess.

#loki tv series #cw: bigotry #cw: homophobia #Loki #Marvel #MCU #loki series #loki show #loki 2021 #random musings #loki tv series interviews

[yeahhiyellow]

19, 22 and 23? :^)

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Tbh there are a lot of things I hate, although by this point it's only very certain parts of the fandom that have these problems, since most of the shitty people have lost interest by this point. If I had to choose just one thing though, it'd be the overwhelming focus on white, male characters over female and/or characters of color. And there are a lot of areas where this shows up. One major example is that a lot of people like the idea of Connor, Hank, Gavin, and Nines (all white, male characters, mind you) staying at the DPD even after:

The DPD was the one (along with Cyberlife) responsible for the deaths, arrests, and brutal treatment of androids, the main oppressed group in the game's world

Connor and Nines are a part of that oppressed group, and at least Hank is shown in game to support them

Connor has already worked at the DPD and was routinely called an "it" (which as someone who is nonbinary and has been called "it" knows how insulting that can be and understands the need to get away from situations where that happens), was allowed to be sent to his death by, and was routinely harassed and nearly murdered, or in some playthroughs actually murdered, by workers at the DPD (*ahem Gavin ahem*)

Hank (if he is your friend) risked his career just to cause a distraction for Connor to keep him alive

Just because the android revolution was successful doesn't mean the DPD was going to follow that. I mean, the androids were heavily compared to African Americans in this game, and we all know how the current police system treats them (and if you don't, pay attention to the news, like, ever. Also read Jim Crow as that book is very informative on the oppression of blacks in the entire incarceration system as well as before and after that)

So I hope it would be pretty obvious to any sane person that suggesting these characters would join/remain in the DPD after everything is offensive on all sorts of levels.

In addition to that, you also have some people saying that they only cared about Connor's story, or that his was the only good one. The female protagonist that risks her own life several times to save that of a child (no matter if she is human or android)? Not important. The (half) black protagonist who is shot by police, has to rebuild himself, and leads his own people to freedom? Who cares? The only important story to these people is the white, male, cop android who spends most of his time hunting down the good guys. And if some people honestly prefer Connor's story because of their own reasons, that's fine. And yes, Kara and Markus's stories have lots of problems. But Connor's does too, and none of this gives people an excuse to ignore the other characters, especially since they are the minority characters. Then, there are also the people who say Connor's machine path was better than his deviant path, or that him being replaced by Nines in the end was unfair. And... what the fuck??? I mean, I get it, it's fun to play through different options, and Connor is hella badass in the machine path. But he is also hella badass in the deviant path (killing the guards in the elevator, possibly the team at the bottom if he doesn't catch the security camera, fighting Sixty, walking in front of all the androids he freed, like, come on), and he also, like, has morals and isn't oppressive??? In the machine route, he kills his own people, including those who just want to be free and might have been completely pacifist the entire way through. So I'm sorry, anyone who thinks his machine path is better is just looking for an excuse to be oppressive without openly admitting it.

Then there's the Gavin apologizers. While fanon Gavin is awesome, some people have way overstepped the line of redemption and allowing oppression. I've seen posts defending Gavin's in-game behavior, just because he refers to androids as "he" on occasion. This is despite:

Suggesting "roughing up," or being violent to Shaolin (the HK400 in "The Interrogation")

Insulting his partner, Chris, when he doesn't forcibly move Shaolin against Shaolin's will

Pointing a gun at Connor after Connor rightfully says to stop touching Shaolin for both succeeding the mission and for Shaolin's sake, and only stepping down after Hank points a gun at him and even after insults Connor

Punching Connor right in the thirium pump regulator and then pushing his head right where his LED is in the break room if Connor refuses to get him a coffee

Insulting and threatening Connor in the same scene even if Connor follows all of his demands

Insulting Hank's alcoholism in the Eden Club "it's starting to stink of booze in here"

Purposely pushing Connor to the side in the same scene

Trying to literally murder Connor and admitting he'd wanted to kill him ever since he first saw Connor, sometimes successfully

Both physically and verbally assaulting Connor

I forgive very easily and strongly believe in redemption, don't get me wrong. But trying to excuse Gavin's behaviors is so inexcusable, especially when most of his aggressions are towards androids, the oppressed minority.

Now, let's look at Ao3, shall we? Let's see how many fics posted there are with each of the "main" (including Gavin and Nines since even though they are not main characters in canon they are in fanon) characters... (also, keep in mind, I gathered this data about a month ago so it might not be completely up to date):

Connor: 16,150

Markus: 5,395

Kara: 1,504

Hank: 13,135

Nines: 9,807

Gavin: 9,939

Amanda: 1,177

Chloe: 1,521

North: 3,056

Simon: 3,192

Josh: 1,965

Alice: 1,098

Luther: 848

Rose: 193

This means that certain characters get unequal amounts of attention:

White: 59,042

Black: 9,578

Male: 60,431

Female: 8,549

White, Male: 52,223

White, Female: 7,179

Black, Male: 8,208

Black, Female: 1,370

Well, this says a lot. Now, some people reading this might realize that there are more white and male characters to begin with, so it could be fair even with their numbers being higher. So, okay, let's see the average amount of works a single character in each of the above categories would have (so divide each of the values by the number of characters in that category) (also I rounded to the tenth place aka first decimal point):

White: 6,560.2

Black: 1,915.6

Male: 7,553.9

Female: 1,424.8

White, Male: 10,444.6

White, Female: 1,794.8

Black, Male: 2,736

Black, Female: 685

If anything, these are even more telling. And if you don't believe me, look on Ao3 and calculate these yourself, because you'll get the same thing.

To be clear, I don't have anything against Connor, Hank, or any of the white and/or male characters. I even like the way that the fandom has redeemed Gavin. But the fandom has not done the same job of redeeming other characters, especially the minority ones, and pays way less attention to them, and that needs to be called out with evidence by someone.

Anyway, I spent a LONG time on that first question, so I'll try to make the next answers shorter!

22. Popular character you hate?

There aren't any popular characters that I thoroughly hate. The only characters I hate are ones that are already highly unpopular (Todd, Zlatko, Perkins). If we're talking canon characters, I do hate Gavin with a flaming passion. I mean, he is meant to represent police brutality. But fanon Gavin is cool with me, so I'm not sure exactly how much this counts.

There is one semi-popular character that I dislike though, and that is Kamski. I'm half-counting him again because within the fandom there are very mixed opinions. I personally dislike him mainly because of his treatment of one of his Chloe's: he is willing to let her get shot in the head and killed just to find a dumb answer to his Kamski test just because he feels like it. If Connor doesn't shoot Chloe, he tells Connor he's deviant, knowing full well that Amanda and Cyberlife are watching being the one to design the program, endangering Connor. While he arguably is responsible for deviancy and wants androids to succeed, that doesn't make up for those facts.

Another character that half-counts is Daniel. There are mixed opinions within the fandom on him as well, with some arguing that he is only wanting to not get replaced and protect himself. However, since his first response was to kill the dad, and then he proceeded to shoot at least 3 more cops, killing 2, and hold Emma, the young girl he had been friends with for years hostage, even though she had nothing to do with his replacement. You can't argue that he didn't want to kill Emma and only used her as protection for himself, either, as there are multiple endings where he tries and sometimes succeeds in killing Emma, even when he is also killing himself. I'm not closed to a redemption arc for him, but his in-game actions are inexcusable. He's the one deviant who truly has no valid defense for his actions.

23. Unpopular character you love?

There are a few. I absolutely adore North, Josh, Adam, and Alice, even though the fandom has conflicted opinions on them. Then again, none of these characters are really considered unpopular, just not as popular as others with a select few that don't like them. With North, I've been in this fandom since a few months after its release, when there was a lot of North hatred, and was actually in a group called the North Protection Squad lol. However, now most people like her, and she's really grown in popularity. With Josh, it's less that he's hated, and more that he's ignored. People say that Simon was the peaceful option when he was really the neutral, and recently I've seen more people against Josh's opinions on the revolution. While I don't always agree with Josh being so passive and undemanding (neither do I agree with North's violence), he's still an awesome character with some very valid points. Then, I do understand why some people dislike Adam, as at first he's against androids and almost reveals Kara and the others. However, if you meet him at the border crossing, he apologizes to Kara and changes his mind, promising to help androids. While he may start out scared and not on the right side, he does have a good heart and ends up making the right decisions in the end. With Alice, I haven't seen many people hate her, either, although I have seen some saying she's annoying and lacks a personality. I agree that she lacks a personality, although I argue that's the writers' faults rather than her character's (as are problems with other characters, I mean David Cage wrote this so what were we expecting). I also don't think she's annoying, as after all she is only 9 (in human terms), doesn't admit she's an android because she's scared Kara will reject her (and Kara actually can reject her for being an android, leaving her completely on her own in a world that wants her dead. Also, living her whole life with Todd can absolutely not help her feel more secure with who she is or make her trust Kara to still love her for it), and she is only cold and feels sick because her model of android is literally designed to replicate human sickness and discomfort (and it's clear she doesn't know how to turn them off, because even after Kara knows she's an android Kara still has to help Alice not feel cold anymore. Also, this is November in Detroit, in which the average temperature is 42°F (5.6°C). There are also scenes where it is snowing, meaning the temperature is below freezing. Still, despite the temperatures, in some scenes not having a coat, and feeling sick, she says Kara and Luther can't stop because of her, risks her life to save Kara's if you fail QTEs, and says she's "fine" even when she's cold to comfort Kara. So if you think she can be annoying, yeah, all 9-year-olds can be. But if you think she's annoying enough to actually hate her, idek what to say).

In terms of characters that are really unpopular, I actually like Leo. His actions at first are inexcusable. I mean, accusing Carl of loving an android more than hin, insulting Markus and treating him as less than human, threatening him, breaking into Carl's house and attempting to steal his paintings for drug money, and framing Markus for Carl's death leading to him getting shot and nearly killed are obviously not okay things to do. However, he is clearly on drugs, specifically red ice, the most dangerous drug in the world. Also, if you decide to push Markus leading Carl to still be alive, when you return to Carl's house, you can find a message Leo sent to Carl in which he apologizes for everything and promises it won't happen again. In the extras section, you also find out Carl missed out on Leo's whole childhood, only first meeting him once he was much older. Given that Carl spends all of his days pleasantly conversing with Markus while ignoring Leo, not calling him, only talking to Leo once he comes around himself, and doesn't even argue when Leo says Carl doesn't love him, it's almost fair that Leo thinks the way he does. Since he's also high on drugs throughout the story, at least up until Markus gets shot, we also know that the Leo we see isn't the real Leo. Later, if Carl is dead and Markus visits his grave, he encounters Leo again. This time, when Leo sees Markus he is only shocked. Now, off of red ice, not only is he going to see Carl's grave, expressing love for his father, he also doesn't try to hurt Markus, insult him, or anything mean or dehumanizing. His expression lacks any signs of aggression. It was only when he was high that he was such an asshole. Although that doesn't excuse his behavior, it does give a reason for it, and by the end I consider him redeemed.

~~~

Wow... that was a long response to a very short ask. No need to read all that (although I would highly suggest reading my first answer, at least, since that does contain some very relevant points). Although then again, if you've made it here, you've probably already read all that. In which case I would love to hear your opinions if you're willing to share (as well as anyone who sees this!) I guess I just had a lot of opinions that I needed to put out in the world lol, so thank you sm for the ask!!!!! 💛💛💛

#dbh #dbh meta #dbh analysis #my opinions #asks #detroit: become human #racism #misogyny #abuse

[malfoymanortings]

lavender and velvet //part six

SUMMARY: she had her fathers eyes, his aristocratic looks, her grandmothers spite, her mothers heart, but the one thing she didn't have was the love of her father that her god brother received. juliet black finally meets her father who has already decided who his child is.

PAIRINGS: to be decided.

hello! i am so happy to see im nearly at 200 followers! once i hit that milestone, i have something special for you guys ;) hope you all like this chapter! also, if any of you cared to give me your opinion, how are you feeling about juliet’s relationships with everyone, romantic or otherwise? i just want to make sure im doing a good job at portraying her and that she is not coming off as a mary sue. thank you all, and as always if you want to be added to the taglist, let me know!

Juliet had never so thoroughly misjudged a school year before in her life.

She really should have taken the summer as a forewarning towards the hell that awaited them at Hogwarts. Then again, she doubted anyone could have really predicted the horror that was Dolores Umbridge.

The wretched old toad was a horrible excuse for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She had told them they would not be doing magic of any kind, even though the entire point of them attending Hogwarts was to learn magic. To add insult to injury, she had the most disgusting personality, and for whatever reason, she absolutely fawned over Draco.

Well, not for whatever reason, she thought to herself, his father’s ministry contributions surely had a lot to do with it.

Of course, given her parentage, Umbridge absolutely despised her. Draco, because he loved being an utter twat, found it to be the funniest thing. It had caused a few genuine arguments between the two, because he didn’t understand that it truly bothered her. It wasn’t like the teacher didn’t like her because she was a bad student, because she wasn’t. Umbridge hated her because her father was the escaped alleged murderer Sirius Black.

Draco couldn’t seem to understand that, and per his usual behavior, he would beat a joke to death. 

The only thing keeping her from being over the edge was the meetings with Dumbeldore’s Army. George had told her about it, and despite the tension that had been there between her and Harry, she had to admit he was a great teacher. It was easier for her to put aside her jealousy of him while they were at Hogwarts, as the presence of her father was absent, and she found herself enjoying his company. He was much more sassy than she would have thought, and could keep up a banter with her that would have the others annoyed in no time. 

Being a Prefect wasn’t half bad, either. She enjoyed helping the younger students, finding it joyful to do so. It made her feel useful, and needed. The only thing that was annoying was trying to keep Draco in line, as he preferred bullying and intimidation rather than helping them. 

Due to Draco’s behavior, there was a growing wedge between them. She didn’t know how to fix it, and it upset her. 

“Black,” Blaise Zabini snapped his fingers, breaking her out of her thoughts. “Nott’s been trying to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Juliet cleared her throat, her eyes flicking from the fire to Theo, who looked at her with a smile on his admittedly handsome face. “Sorry, Theo. What is it?”

“I was wondering if you were going to Hogsmeade tomorrow.” Theo paused, waiting for his reply. His blue eyes stared at her, and she found herself self conscious under his gaze.

“Erm, I suppose so,” Juliet replied, lifting an eyebrow as she appraised the boy. “Are you?”

Theo nodded. “I was wondering if you would fancy grabbing a butterbeer.”

Juliet blinked. “With everyone?”

“Well, I was thinking just the two of us could,” he paused, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“No,” Juliet paused. “I would like that.”

As Theo smiled, Blaise snorted. Juliet glanced at him, her eyes narrowed.

“That was bloody awkward,” he shook his head. “Good thing the two of you’ll be on your own.”

“Aw, so sorry Blaise,” Juliet fake pouted, resting her chin on her palm. “Perhaps if you catch Parkinson when she’s not sucking Draco’s cock, you could go with her.”

Theo laughed at that, while Blaise flicked her off and turned his attention back to his Transfiguration homework. Juliet smirked, looking back at the fire with her chin in her hand. She couldn’t help but think of George.

He had begun casually seeing Alicia Spinnet, or at least that was what was heard around the castle. She almost didn’t believe it, but she had caught them snogging once. She hadn’t said anything, instead she acted like she saw nothing. It had hurt her, and she really wasn’t sure why. She should be happy for George, that he had finally gotten himself a girlfriend. She should have teased him, when she caught them kissing, yet, she had backed away slowly as her chest tightened.

“I’ll be so glad when Christmas break comes,” Draco sat down next to Juliet, lying his legs across her lap. “I’m so tired of having to help pathetic little first years.”

“You used to be a pathetic little first year at one point,” Juliet reminded him, shoving his legs off her, ignoring his protest. “Now look at you, a pathetic little fifth year.”

“Oh, shove off,” Draco rolled his eyes, ignoring the laughter from their friends. “Yeah yeah, you all are right gits.”

Crabbe and Goyle had arrived with Draco, both sitting in separate arm chairs. They had snacks, obviously having just come from the kitchen. They ate loudly, smacking their lips and chewing roughly, making Juliet’s stomach churn.

“Nott’s asked Juliet to Hogsmeade with him.” Blaise informed Draco, flicking through his book. 

“Did he now?” Draco looked from Theo to Juliet. “Shall I sound the bells?”

“Oh bugger off, Draco,” Juliet hit his arm harshly, standing up from her seat. She had felt her fake Galleon burn in her pocket, signaling a new date had been set for Dumbledore’s Army. “Just because you can’t get a friend to go to Hogsmeade with.”

“I’m going with Pansy tomorrow.” Draco responded smugly, crossing his arms.

“I said a friend, not a stalker.” Juliet called over her shoulder, smirking when the others laughed.

She checked the Galleon to see that they were set to meet tomorrow night at nine, probably their last meeting before they went home for holidays. Heading up to her room, she turned in for the night, thoughts of Theo and George swarming in her head.

“You’re going to miss breakfast if you don’t wake up soon,” Pansy woke Juliet up the next morning, swishing her curtains open. “Wouldn’t want to go to Hogsmeade with Theo on an empty stomach.”

“Blimey, word travels fast,” Juliet grumbled, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She stretched her arms over her head, her joints cracking as she did. “Draco told you.”

Pansy shook her head, her short black hair styled wavy this morning. “Theo did. He was practically grinning ear to ear. Made me positively sick.”

“Oh, little Parkinson can’t handle the thought of someone caring for someone other than herself,” Juliet mocked, making her way to the bathroom.

“Piss off, Juliet.” Pansy called after her, annoyance laced in her tone.

“Love you, Parkinson.” Juliet called back, smirking on her way to the shower.

After she had showered, she dressed nicer than usual. Instead of leggings and a sweater, her usual weekend attire, she wore a baggy cream sweater tucked into a short pleated black skirt belted at the waist with a thin green strap, and knee high socks. Her dark hair, usually tied back in a low pony, was free around her face. She put on more makeup than usual, spritzed on her perfume, and walked down to breakfast. 

“You look pretty,” Theo complimented her, pouring himself pumpkin juice. “And you smell nice.”

“Merlin, Theo,” Draco rolled his eyes, stabbing at his eggs. “We get it, you fancy her. Save your lovey dovey talk for when you’re alone.”

“I pity your future girlfriend if you think compliments are saved for when you’re alone,” Juliet shot back, fixing her tea. “Thank you, Theo. You look nice as well.”

“You know Draco, she has a point,” Pansy sniffed, pointedly looking down at her seemingly new blouse. “Compliments are what you give when you like someone and want them to feel nice.”

“I love when they do this,” Blaise muttered to Theo, a smile on his face. “Get on his case. Teach him manners. It’s brilliant.”

“Oh, do shut it Zabini.” Draco snapped, rolling his eyes for the second time. 

After breakfast, they split up, Theo and Juliet walked alone together to Hogsmeade. It was an unusually nice day, thankfully, even though snow dusted the rooftops and covered the ground with a thick layer. 

Walking with Theo was nice. He was very kind, and intelligent. They spoke about their homework due Monday, and their mutual dislike for Umbridge. The latter conversation carried them all the way to the Three Broomsticks, where Juliet told him about how she had gotten two detentions from her so far; because she had pointed out that they were at Hogwarts to actually practice magic, whereas Theo had not gotten the lovely opportunity. 

“Merlin, she’s awful,” Theo shook his head, looking down at her arm. “Is there still a mark?”

Juliet rolled up her sleeve to show him the faint scar that remained, reading, I must be respectful of authority. Theo’s fingers brushed gently over the raised lettering, his fingers soft against her skin, giving her goosebumps. 

“I suppose Dumbledore can’t do much about her,” Theo said quietly. “After all, she’s ministry appointed.”

“She sure is,” Juliet murmured, pulling her sleeve down once more. “The ministry is a fool.”

“Right on that,” Theo said darkly, taking a drink of his butterbeer. “Suppose it makes it easier on us, though.”

“How so?” Juliet questioned, taking a drink of her own.

“Well, with our parents,” Theo shrugged, noting how Juliet tensed. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Theo,” Juliet paused, biting her lip. “Are you referring to Voldemort?”

“This really isn’t the place for that conversation.” Theo responded quietly, but nodded his head. 

“You started it,” Juliet pointed out, her stomach lacing with knots. “Are you.. On his side?”

Theo shrugged again. “I think he’s got the right idea on some things. It’s kind of hard not to be a supporter, anyways. Family business, and all of that.”

“It’s not my family business,” she replied quickly, shaking her head. “I don’t think he’s got the right idea.”

“Not entirely, of course,” he agreed with her. “I’m just saying, it probably would be better for the muggles if they had our help, y’know? I don’t really believe in the mudblood hatred, of course, I mean look at Granger, muggle born and still the brightest witch of our year.”

“I like you, Theo,” Juliet began, pausing again to bite her lip. “But I don’t know that we can get anywhere if you really support him overall.”

“Perhaps you’ll have to change my views then,” Theo replied lightly, reaching out his hand to brush his thumb over her knuckles. “Open my eyes.”

“I can handle that.” Juliet cocked her head at him, a smile on her face. Theo’s touch was nice. She felt butterflies in her tummy as they continued talking.

At some point during their conversation, Theo had taken her hand in his, across the table. Their butterbeers were long gone, but they kept talking. She was trying her best to change his opinion, and by the time he suggested they head to Honeydukes before returning to the castle, he had admitted that she made some rather good points.

A familiar voice caught her attention from where she sat with Theo, and she turned her head to see the twins head in, with two girls trailing behind them. Angelina Johnson was holding Fred’s hand, while Alicia Spinnet held George’s. Juliet felt her heartbeat quicken, and she was suddenly hyper aware of her surroundings. 

Theo noticed her change in energy, and clasped her hand in both of his as he asked if she was alright.

Juliet nodded, swallowing hard as Fred noticed her first. He caught sight of her holding hands with Theo, and nudged George while pointing over towards her. Juliet glanced away before she caught George’s eye, feeling her chest tighten at the thought.

“Looks like your twins are headed our way,” Theo remarked lightly, his hands tightening on hers. “Should I be nervous?”

“He-They, aren’t mine,” she corrected him, nerves tightening her tummy. “And no, you shouldn’t be.”

“Little Juliet, you look rather dashing today,” Fred greeted, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “Long time no see. Out on a little date, are you?”

”Same as the both of you,” Juliet remarked, raising her eyebrows as she forced herself to look at the redheads. “Hey Fred, George.”

“Theodore Nott, hm?” George asked her, his eyes tight as they looked at each other.

“Alicia Spinnet, hm?” Juliet echoed him, raising her eyebrows and giving him a look as she dared him to say more.

“I’m with Angelina Johnson, if anyone cares to know,” Fred joked, breaking the tension. “Where are you two headed off to after this?”

“Honeydukes,” Theo replied, giving Fred a friendly smile. “I bet you lot just came from Zonkos.”

“Smart man,” Fred snapped his fingers, giving him a grin. “I like him, Jules.”

“Thank you.” Juliet murmured, looking away from George.

“Well, I suppose we’d better let the two of you be on with it then,” Fred gave Juliet a hug. “See you later.”

“Bye Freddie,” Juliet hugged him back, looking hesitantly at George, who was staring back at her with that odd look he had given her at Kings Cross, when he had said goodbye to her. “Bye, Georgie.”

George nodded, turning around with Fred as they headed back towards their dates. Juliet swallowed hard, unsure of the feeling in her tummy that had traveled to her chest and her throat.

“Shall we?”  Theo asked, standing when she nodded.

They left the three broomsticks, and Juliet didn’t dare look at the twins again. She didn’t understand why she had gotten so upset when she saw George. They were best friends, so why did it seem like they were both upset with each other?

Theo bought her two sugar quills, and a package of Droobles Best Blowing Gum. He had gotten an assortment of other things, for Christmas presents, he informed her. Which then, of course, made Juliet realize she hadn’t gotten any presents as of yet. She would have to remind Remus to take her.

He held her hand as they walked back to the castle, his warmth welcomed as the wind picked up. By the time she made it back to the castle, her thighs were red from the cold.

“I should’ve given you my robe,” Theo blushed, scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Juliet looked up at him, smiling. “I should’ve probably worn jeans or something.”

“I quite liked the skirt,” Theo’s voice was low, and he eyed her up and down. “You are positively gorgeous, you know.”

They were alone in the corridor outside the Slytherin common room, and it seemed both of them were much aware of that fact. Theo cupped her cheek, tilting her head up slightly. He pressed his lips against hers, his lips still sweet from the chocolate frog he had eaten on their way back. Juliet reached a hand to the back of his head, tangling her fingers in the light brown strands that brushed his neck. His lips moved against hers, his tongue tracing her bottom lip. His hand stayed against her cheek, keeping her head tilted upwards. 

“Bloody hell, save it for somewhere other than the hallway!” 

Juliet and Theo broke apart, their cheeks red from the lingering cold and embarrassment, to see Draco rolling his eyes while Pansy glared at Juliet with odd anger.

“Sorry, mate,” Theo apologized, although there was little sincerity behind it. “To be fair, this hallway was private until you two showed up.”

Draco shook his head, and he and Pansy entered the common room. Juliet and Theo entered next, and Juliet excused herself to go get ready for the meeting with Dumbledore’s Army.

The feeling of Theo’s lips lingered on her own, and for a reason she couldn’t fathom she felt slightly upset by the thought that he had taken her first kiss.

taglist: @person1839 @big-galaxy-chaos @spooderham @iamashlynmarie 

#sirius black daughter #sirius black imagine #sirius black #sirius #black #remus lupin #remus #lupin #george weasley #george wealsey imagine #george wealsey x oc #george weasley x y/n #fred weasley #weasley #draco malfoy #pansy parkinson #Harry Potter #harry potter series #hp x oc #hp x reader #george weasley x reader

[electro-kins]

IM SOSO SORRY TO RANT IN YOUR ASKS AGAIN BUT DO YOU LIKE THEATRE ?? I JUST SAW THE OTHER CAST OF OUR SHOW PERFORM AND THEY WERE SO GOOD I WAS YELLING ESP CAUSE MY FRIEND WAS IN IT AND SHE WAS SO GOOD !!!! ALSO ARE THERE ANY CHARACTERS THAT YOU . associate with theatre or that you think would be ” theatre kids “ ? i personally think aubrey is someone who says she hates theatre and does theatre and sweetheart and kel are absolutely those hamilton kids and also they’re friends !!!!! they practice lines together and he claps so loud for her and she gives him harsh criticism but you can tell she really likes his performance stuff because she always smiles a ton while watching it ..

they als9 probably have an opening night hype playlist that they made together and she’s like doing nervous stims and he’s yelling at her like “YOU CAN DO IT !!!!!!” and they do the thing ryan and sharpay do that’s like brr brr and she refers to him as her apprentice I THINK THEYRE KINDA NEAT ??? best friends mayb

IM SORRYD THIS IS KINDA WEIRD AND LONG but i think that they . they would b friends … can’t remember b7 i think he didn’t like her in game but i can dream i guess ?£[£[

-📺

HIIII omgg I DO ENJOY THEATREEE even though i know very little about it <3 THEATRE IS SOSO COOL!! THAT'S so neat you got to watch your friend perform, i bet they did amazing ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪ i'd be so interested in doing that kinda stuff if i didn't have stage fright :flushed: AND YESS i love associating characters with theatre, you're so right about aubrey, kel and sweetheart being theatre kids!! i could honestly see captain spaceboy being a theatre kid too because of how dramatic he is hehe. sweetheart would probably rope him into that as well LMAOO (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) SWEETHEART AND KEL FRIENDSHIP sounds so adorable omg... that hc is perfect!! SHE would insult him every chance she gets (lovingly) until he gets to perform and she's smiling the entire time, telling everyone how amazing he did (possibly taking some of the credit of his great performances claiming he followed in her acting footsteps LOL) MEANWHILE KEL is supportive and always motivating her 24/7, best friends!!! omg i love how we had the same idea of him lowkey being her apprentice... i can't wait to replay omori soon because once i get to sweetheart's castle again i'll get to see how everyone's relationship is with sweetheart :] IDC IF KEL IS ANNOYED or dislikes her they will so get over that and become besties- LMAOO i only really remember her relationship with hero which was super silly <3 AND NOO DON'T WORRY your ask wasn't weird and was actually soso fun to read, loved your ideas anon ∩^ω^∩ i could literally ramble about omori characters any time for hours, HAVE A NICE DAY/NIGHT!!!! :3

#༻✧ are you going to be lisa's little helper? ; chatting #if u wanna have an idea of how little i know about theatre the mention of it reminded me of axel from tiktok #who got denied access into julliard and ppl started getting upset at the school for him- I THINK THAT WAS SO SILLY I COULD TOTALLY RAMBLE #ABOUT THAT #I DO LOVE MUSICALS THO #fun mod basil fact of the day <3 #answered ask #ask #asks #📺 anon #omori #omori hcs

[mythgirlimagines]

As the creation of two calming waves crashing together, a calm ocean breeze is quickly birthed through them. And that calm ocean breeze is commonly known as Myth Anon, Former Ultimate Swimmer!

——————————————————-

BACKSTORY

Born to two happy owners of a beach house on a scenic and heart-rending beach, Myth knew how to swim, before she could even crawl, much like her older sisters before her. Upon entering middle school, she was encouraged to enter her school’s swim team and quickly became the star of the team. However, because she only likes to swim for fun, inner peace, and poetic inspiration, Myth eventually quit competing, but still managed to get enough coverage from the media to gain her Ultimate status. In her adult years, she is currently working part-time alongside her sisters at her parents’ beach house, and is currently studying to become a marine biologist, which she (unsurprisingly) turns out to be both very passionate and a veritable expert about.

——————————————————-

RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Detective

Wyre and Myth have been only the best of friends ever since they were children and have met one faithful day on the beach. Although Wyre is also known for their criminal sketchworks and their skills as a physical enforcer/bodyguard, it’s Wyre‘s skills as a homicide detective that made Wyre gain their Ultimate status, that is still going strong (and even stronger) in their adult years. For the eternally scatterbrained and innocent swimmer, Wyre is usually around to watch over both her and her belongings and to prevent weirdos from trying anything funny with their friend. Myth really appreciates Wyre’s help in finding misplaced items and she just loves walking across the beach with them all the time.

Outfit: A brown overcoat and a light green and yellow striped vest and a black tie over a white button-up shirt, pants that match their overcoat, darker brown leather gloves and loafers.

Anon Scar, Ultimate Programmer

Famous for creating one of the first ever instances of self-sufficient, self-teaching, and ultimately benevolent AI (known by the code name “D-3M-0N”), Scar is also a big name in online role-playing groups, where she is known as “Mother-Board, the Master Technomancer”, a ruler of a tech-based science-fiction realm who is in charge of all the high-end technology in it. On particularly busy and sleepless nights, she can even be caught acting as Mother-Board herself. Because Myth lived in a tech-less beach house, she is absolutely clueless in the ways of modern technology, and that is where heroic Scar swoops in and tries her best to teach the swimmer the way of the computer.

Outfit: Messier hair that is done up in two messy side buns, a purple hoodie worn hood-up with black and white striped sleeves, a ruffled purple skirt, black and white striped stockings and purple boots, the mask from her original design.

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Despite only striking it rich very recently, Fusion’s business acumen helped expand his father’s failed company into a multi-million dollar industry and it also ensured that his noveau-riche parents’ finances would stay with them for a long time. He may get constantly underestimated by equally influential but longer-running business magnates, due to his situation and age. When not performing business operations, he loves gorging himself on lavish buffets and learning all he can from the massive library installed in his house. Upon entering the Kibo-Con, he began showering his fellow con-mates with lavish gifts. Needless to say, Myth really appreciated the life-sized plush walrus.

Outfit: Hair tied into a ponytail, a blue overcoat (that has a pocket watch in his right lapel) over a white button-up shirt, a pink vest, and a yellow and red striped tie, white gloves, pants that match his overcoat and the glasses and loafers from his original design.

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Moral Compass

Fusion II attended a school with a rather high rate of delinquency, and, by the time she left for Hope’s Peak, all instances of delinquency have diminished in an instant. Claiming that she became a public moral committee because “you can‘t break the law, if you are the law” and ”I just want power”, Fusion II wishes to rise to the top of the corporate ladder and become like the rich magnates that she idolised so much, all to prove to her classmates that she is so much more than just a mousy little overachiever. Myth may not understand the moral compass’s dreams and ideals, but anyone who praises Myth’s mindset and thought process (read: actually unread sarcasm) must be a good person in her book.

Outfit: Fake reading glasses, a grey blazer over a white button-up shirt and a light blue and dark blue striped tie, a red armband indicating her position, a long skirt that matches her tie, black stockings and brown Mary Janes.

Just Anon, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

With a sparse and sporadic uploading schedule, Janon’s (or as he is known online, ”JustInThisForFun”) fans and followers commonly refer to the times he actually bothers to upload one of his fica as “Random-Time Rapture”, for you could never really predict when he will upload a fic, but anyone who reads his fanfiction would know that they are veritable masterpieces that can almost match the quality of the original works. Despite their differing temperaments, Myth and Janon love to relax together and introduce entirely new ways of relaxing to each other. Myth’s suggestions of relaxing on a particularly warm rock and lying face-up in the Con’s fountain are Janon’s two new favorite relaxation methods.

Outfit: Same outfit as the original, but with a bandolier of pens and other writing supplies.

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Baseball Player

Considered a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to both Little and Major League Baseball, Sparkle catapulted her all-girl’s softball team (called The Shimmering Meteors) into stardom, with both her skills in the sport and her bombastic and dramatic personality, when on the diamond. Despite both being pioneers in women’s athletics, Sparkle and Myth‘s personalities and philosophies couldn’t be any more different, much to the confusion of the two girls. While the loud yet intelligent Sparkle plays mainly for the glory and thrill of competition, the calm yet ditzy Myth only swims for fun and for poetic inspiration. Sparkle and Myth just can’t comprehend each other’s athletic philosophies and motives.

Outfit: Hair in a bobcut, orange and pink sports jacket with her team’s logo on the back (and matching hat on her head) over a black and white baseball uniform, black cleats and a sparkly pink bandana around her neck.

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Idol, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Fashionista

With their twin as their loyal costume designer in tow, Egg takes in to the stage with such cursed songs as, “Deodorant Push-Pop” and “Discord DM Detonator”, which have garnered quite the cult following online, and quickly became one of the most infamous idols in show business, thanks to their song’s subject matter, as well as being one of the few ever NB idols. Egg and Wet Sock regularly love to antagonise Myth, but thanks to her ditzy and unaware nature, any and all cursed comments uttered by the twins would either be unintentionally ignored, giggled at and agreed to, or even getting used in one of Myth’s poems much to the ire of the duo who live off of attention, positive or otherwise.

Egg’s Outfit: A garishly covered fedora, a t-shirt with a cursed meme on the front, green and red striped upside-down pants, pink crocs.

Wet Sock’s Outfit: Hair over one of their eyes, pink eyeshadow, a black hoodie with white fluff, tight jeans, white and black converses.

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Clairvoyant

Raised in a family that are all experts in supernatural powers, Curious stands out amongst the rest of their family with their clairvoyance powers being far above that of any other ancestor before them. This caused the fortune-telling booth that was passed down from Curious’s parents to them to skyrocket in popularity, and earn Curious a free spot in the Hope’s Peak Middle School roster as the “Jr. Ultimate Clairvoyant”. As a lover of the spiritual herself, Myth found herself fascinated by Curious’s powers, and Curious was all too happy to show off and teach the awestruck swimmer all about their powers. But than again, one could ask Curious to do anything, and they’d do it without hesitation.

Outfit: A green and off-white kimono with a red obi, brown prayer beads around their neck, white socks and brown geta sandals.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Soldier

Born and raised in a territory that was eventually wracked by the spoils of war, Nerd was drafted into his cruel nation’s army, thanks to a combination of his natural anger-induced strength and his natural talent in piloting, repairing and even inventing war weapons and machinery. All the time spent combating both potential and certain threats made him constantly hostile and quick to anger, even in his adult years, when the war was long over. Taking sympathy on her fellow chaperone, Myth decided to teach Nerd all sorts of relaxation techniques (that mostly just involve wading or lying in water), but to no avail, for Nerd has feelings for someone that he would much rather blast with his scouter (read: Myth).

Outfit: A black suit of armor with built-in-weapons and the scouter from his original design.

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Novelist

Under the pen name “R.C. Wells” (because he doesn’t want evil corporate executives to trace his location), Eldritch particularly specialises in dystopian novels that seek to expose the real world for the apocalyptic wasteland that it‘ll become, if the sheep (read: his audience) remain oblivious to all the horrors of the world they’re living in. Despite Eldritch’s blatant dislike and constant insulting of his audience, he only has the best of intentions for the world, and he thinks that the written word is the best way to combat against the propaganda in the media. Needless to say, Myth‘s relaxation tactics doesn’t exactly sit well with the constantly-worried novelist, so he avoids her like the plague.

Outfit: Reading glasses, a pencil behind his ear, a brown overcoat over a white dress shirt and a red tie, dark brown pants and matching shoes.

Dream Anon, Ultimate Gambler

Despite what her age and her childish personality would suggest, Dream is a veritable genius, when it comes to turning the odds to her favor, and winning boatloads of money at the gambling tables and betting on sports. Dream is infamously referred to, by her foes, as “Lady Luck’s Lovechild”, for her seemingly supernatural ability to make luck fall into her favor and guarantee her automatic wins, against otherwise dangerous odds. Just like with Curious, Myth found herself fascinated with Dream’s supernatural luck-changing powers and likes to sneak under the gambling tables and watch Dream gamble to uncover her secret, much to the embarrassment of the gambler.

Outfit: A grey and white fedora and pantsuit with card suit-themed buttons, a pink undershirt and heels.

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Martial Artist

As current heiress to the Ryuseitai Martial Art’s Dojo, despite what her clumsiness and regular slip-ups suggest, Iris is regarded by martial artists everywhere as a prodigy in combat, who is able to take down foes that are at least a foot taller than her. Iris is also quite the excellent instructor, teaching her elementary-aged students all about mindfulness and positive thinking, which helps breed a brand new generation of strong martial artists. Because of their shared interest in mindfulness and odd philosophies, Iris gets along very well with Myth, who has a similar nature to her, and they have regular meditation sessions underneath a waterfall hidden in the forest behind the Kibo-Con.

Outfit: Hair tied into two Sailor-Moon-esque buns, a pink gi with a big purple star on the front and back, pink sandals, bandages all over her body, the hoodie from her original design tied around her waist.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Lucky Student

Being from one of the more wealthy families in her neighbourhood, Purple was signed up to Hope’s Peak’s annual Lucky Student raffle by her parents, and her supernatural luck meant that she was the lucky girl selected to attend. Because Purple was sheltered a lot, she is very timid and regularly speaks in old-fashioned and archaic terms. Because of a majority of these qualities, Myth and Purple get along very well, thanks to their shared interest in writing poetry, and Myth’s fascination with both Purple’s supernatural luck powers and her odd mode of speech, which sounds much like her own. Whenever they get together, hardly anyone can tell what the two girls are saying.

Outfit: The original outfit, but without the beret and a four-leaf-clover pinned to her sweater.

Watch as this oddball swimmer either befriends or baffles the people around her!

——————————————————-

PERSONALITY

Needless to say, Swimmer!Myth is one hard-to-read swimmer, for she has quite the odd thought process and an equally eccentric vocabulary, often speaking in odd poetic terms about water or marine life, and always searches for inspiration for her poetry. Swimmer!Myth also has a strong love for the supernatural, and can usually be seen learning about and getting in touch with her calm and spiritual side, if she’s not swimming or lying back-up in shallow bodies of water. Swimmer!Myth also gets easily distracted, and regularly wanders off, requiring a buddy to help ground her back to Earth (read: Detective!Wyre). Swimmer!Myth is also heavily empathetic, and, in spite of being an athlete, actually hates competition, which is why she dropped out of being an Olympic-level competitive swimmer years ago, and she really treasures her loved ones.

——————————————————-

APPEARANCE

Swimmmer!Myth has long and wavy brown hair with a French braid tieback, that she can put up in a ponytail while swimming, and blue swimming goggles on her head. Swimmer!Myth swims practically all the time, and her simplistic outfit reflects that perfectly. She wears a pink, blue, and purple wetsuit with blue frills on her sides, a pink translucent shawl and a seashell necklace around her neck, along with purple flip-flops on her feet.

——————————————————-

Now that I’m finished with this AU, I’d love to hear your opinions on the talentswap! In the meantime, look out for more content made by your’s truly!

-Fusion Anon

#submission #anon #fusion anon #talentswap tuesday #art #not my art #fusion anon ii #purple anon #iris anon #just anon #eldritch anon #sparkling anon #curious anon #dream anon #egg anon #wet sock anon #anon nerd #anon scar #my evil twin #anon kg

[speuradair]

Byakuya, Makoto with A Seemingly Confident Crossdressing Boyfriend Who is Secretly Insecure

Byakuya, overall, is pretty confident and self-assured

To be taken seriously as a business leader, he feels the need to be confident in what he does

So he speaks with absolute certainty 

But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have any insecurities 

When you grow up in a situation as tense and stressful as Byakuya did, it’s hard to come out of that without some kind of trauma and/or doubt

A lot of his arrogant personality is just to overcompensate for his own internal doubt, but shh, you didn’t hear that from me

He definitely takes the ‘They can’t dislike me if I dislike them first’ approach

That being said, he admires your seemingly unbothered personality

He’s proud of you for being brave enough to just be who you want to be

And of course he’d tear down anyone who tries to say anything derogatory about you

Who do they think they are?

He thinks you’re better and more interesting than they will ever be

So when he finds out that you’re actually pretty sensitive and worried about what people say about you, he has pretty mixed feelings

Mostly he’s just surprised, as you do such a great job at seeming confident

He can’t name a single thing he’d change about you, how could you be insecure?

You don’t have anything to be insecure about

But on the other hand, he relates

Deep down, he knows that he’s basically doing the same thing 

Masking insecurity and doubt with a bold exterior

He wants to make sure he does everything he can to help you feel better about yourself 

Since he would feel pretty defensive if someone mentioned his own insecurities, he wouldn’t bring yours up directly

He just adjusts the way he acts with you to subtly give you more reassurance

More compliments on how you look, small comments about how he’s lucky to be with you, making sure to refer to you specifically as his lover/boyfriend

He wants you to know that regardless of what other people may say or think, he isn’t ashamed of you in the slightest

If you want to talk about it with him though, he’s more than happy to listen to you and give you the reassurance you need from him

He maybe cold and rigid in general, but you’re his lover and you don’t deserve to be unsure of his love for you

That being said, Byakuya has a pretty powerful presence

Not many people are willing to cross Byakuya Togami, and he uses that to his advantage

No one is about to insult you

Not if he has any say in the matter

“Love, quite frankly I don’t give a damn what they say. I love you, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Unlike Byakuya, Makoto is more transparent

He has insecurities and worries like any normal, average person does

He wants to be liked and have a lot of friends

Makoto just really cares if people like him

That’s one of the reasons he loves you

You seem to be so unbothered by other people’s opinions, and just focus on being true to yourself 

He wants to be more like you

And he’s constantly impressed by how bold you are

So when he finds out that you’re not actually as carefree as you’d like people to think you are, he’s totally shocked 

You’re so amazing and lovable, how could someone like you be insecure about yourself?

But in a way, it almost makes him admire you more

Not only are you brave enough to be yourself and to be different, you’re brave enough to do so while fighting with self-consciousness 

You have even more strength than he’d realized

It makes you seem more human and real, sort of

Even you have doubts, fears, and concerns

He definitely doesn’t want you to feel uncomfortable though! Enter, The Ultimate Hope

and the ultimate boyfriend

Makoto is far less vague when it comes to telling you how awesome he thinks you are

He’ll be a total blushing mess while doing so, but he’ll openly tell you how much he likes you

What’s a little bit of embarrassment if it means you feel better about yourself? 

It’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make, especially for you

If it would make you feel better, he would even ask you to help him pick an outfit so you two can match!

Makoto already brags about you two being together as it is, as he’s just absolutely head over heels for you and he’s a big softie

But he would turn up that pride if he thinks you’re feeling ashamed of yourself

He’s more than happy to show you off!

He feels lucky to be with you anyway

They don’t call him the Ultimate Hope for nothing- he’s the best at giving pep talks and reassurance

Anytime you need it, he’s there with a warm hug and loving words of affirmation

And if anyone says anything negative about you around him, he’d definitely scold them

You’re all supposed to be friends, why would they say something mean about you?

“Why would anyone say something like that? It’s not true, I - I think you’re great! I love you, and I’m lucky to be with you!”

#makoto naegi #byakuya togami #danganronpa #trigger happy havoc #byakuya togami x reader #makoto naegi x reader #danganronpa imagines #one shot #self insert #headcanons #fanfic #x reader #rae writes #requests

[handonhaven]

There are few things Lizzie said in 3x09 that made me so mad to my core. And even though I love Lizzie it made me want to fight her for Hope.

Like when she said Hope only comes to them when she wants something from them. Or when she said whenever Hope gets involved people always get hurt and that she's always putting the school in danger.

I'm sorry but what!? Was Lizzie really trying to rewrite history because she was mad at Hope. And when has Hope ever put the school in danger or gotten someone hurt because she got involved?? The time something like ever came close was the Josie thing. And even then she didn't know the prison world was filled with black magic and its not like you need to use black magic to get in and out of the prison world. I also disliked how she treat it/acted towards Landon either because she was being a bit hypocritical. So was so mad at Hope for putting Josie in danger as she said and even told Hope at one point in the episode that she would never do what she did. But was all to willing to put Landon in danger to use him as bait because she thought the monster was seemingly harmless and that she could trap it. So how can she be mad at Hope for putting Josie in danger and even said she would never do something like that, when that's exactly what she trying to/going to do with Landon? Because that makes zero sense to me. And I'm sorry but Hope and Landon deserve a thousand times better than that.

Thank you for saying this because this is how I’ve been feeling too. But I’ve been seeing how so many people loved Lizzie’s interactions with Hope and Landon so I thought I was the only one who didn’t! But yeah, seriously, she made me really mad this episode. Well, the past few episodes actually. I used to love Lizzie, but they’ve really been ruining her character for me lately tbh. And yeah, I wanted to fight her for Hope too! And Landon as well!

Ikr! I honestly could not believe she said that to Hope, or that the writers had her say that?? It did feel like she was trying to rewrite history or something because it made absolutely no sense! Exactly! When?? Show me the evidence because I have no clue what she was even referring to. Yeah, 3x08 with the dark magic was literally the only time. And exactly, Hope was not aware and she hoped they could make it and she didn’t know what else to do, like she said. But Lizzie saying that was honestly so insulting to Hope. She has put herself and Landon at risk for these people so many times, and has sacrificed herself and her own happiness for them. And she has been there for them all the time, and it’s not when she needs something? It’s when they need something! They’re the ones who aren’t there for her and only go to her when they need something. Hope has made the school and her friends her top priority for the majority of the show. And because she makes Landon her priority this one time, for just a few episodes, when he’s trapped in another dimension, that suddenly erases everything else she’s been doing the whole show?

And yes, I was bothered by how Lizzie treated Landon too. You’re right, she was being hypocritical. She was willing to put Landon at risk just to capture a monster, and not only that, but she had also been willing to let Landon die last episode too. And then she’s mad at Hope for putting Josie at risk to save Landon, saying that she’d never do that, when she literally did exactly that to Landon last episode and earlier in this episode? And on top of all that, she was just treating Landon badly in general, as she often does, but I’m honestly so sick of it. He was trapped in Malivore and the prison world all that time, they all thought he had died, he comes back, and that’s how she treats him? I mean, no one seemed to care that he was back, except Hope, obviously, and Alaric when he said it was good to have him back. But everyone else didn’t seem to care at all, which isn’t surprising after how they acted when he was gone. But for Lizzie to treat him that way? Wanting to put him at risk again when we know he probably went through hell and just can’t remember, and barely made it back alive? And then she throws in some more condescending nicknames while she’s at it? It’s seriously so old, and I’m tired. I’m pretty sure the monster grew just from all of Lizzie’s disrespect towards both Landon and Hope tbh.

And I couldn’t agree more. Hope and Landon deserve so much better. And all of this is also part of why I didn’t really like what Landon said at the end. Telling Hope she should be less concerned about him and more concerned about these people who show next to no concern for either them? Who didn’t care about Hope when she was grieving? Who didn’t care when they thought Landon had died? Not to mention, Hope has always shown plenty of concern for them, and what has she gotten in return? They don’t even seem to recognize or appreciate all that she has done for them (at least that seems to be the case with Lizzie after what she said). In my opinion, they just don’t even seem like friends to Hope or Landon, particularly this season, after what they’ve done. And I won’t keep going on about this because I could go on for a while, haha, but the entire thing has been so frustrating to me.

#answered #3x09 #spoilers #legacies spoilers

[bigskydreaming]

Do you have any character in any fandom that you hate so much or a character who bothers you so much that you can't look at any media without getting annoyed/ upset? Not like villain character, a normal or even fandom fave character, someone most others won't find anything wrong with but your guts hate them, that kind?

I mean, the most obvious example of this for me is definitely Stiles in Teen Wolf lol. I know that a lot of people didn’t start disliking him until later seasons but I just flat out never liked him from the get go, and like....it built and grew due to a lot of fandom attitudes towards the character?

Because like......I just do not enjoy characters who constantly seem to be making digs at or undercutting their supposed friends or family, the way Stiles was with Scott from the very pilot. Its like yeah great, I can absolutely see and recognize all the times he was there for him and did in fact do good friendship type stuff, but the problem for me lies in the way fandom tends to make that TRANSACTIONAL with the stuff I had a problem with where its almost like, well, see, since Stiles tried so hard to save Scott in this one episode Motel California, he GETS to casually insult and demoralize him all the rest of the time, and holy shit no that’s not how that works, y’know? (Especially because Scott’s shitty self-esteem was the bad guy’s way in for almost killing him in Motel California, and gee what connection could there be between shitty self-esteem and constantly being belittled and talked down to by your literal best friend in the whole world BUT I DIGRESS).

And a lot of people over the years have been like, okay but friends tease each other and give each other shit all the time, are you saying they’re all bad for doing so? And no, I’m not, but the thing people tend to gloss over here is the key phrase “each other.”

Because its one thing when you have friendships like this. Its another thing when those friendships flow entirely one way in this specific regard.

When one character is not only ‘allowed to’ but almost EXPECTED to take pot shots at their friend at every available opportunity, but any single time the other friend does the same, no matter how playfully, its fixated upon as being mean and unfriendly, like...THAT is the problem.

And while I don’t have a specific single character that answers your question here in terms of Batfandom, the exact same phenomenon rears its head there and I holy hell object to that too, lol.

Like, we see it SO often with how Dick’s brothers are habitually characterized as mocking his relationship with Bruce, work ethic, standards, jobs, apartment, fashion choices, cooking, NAME......with it just taken for granted that there’s nothing wrong with them all calling him Dickhead or saying he’s ‘really lived up to his namesake’ practically once a fic, if not once a chapter......

And again, the common refrain is “well siblings are just like that?”

And they’re not actually, is the thing. I mean, I grew up with siblings too, and YES we gave each other shit all the time, but again its that exact same key phrase: EACH OTHER.

Like in comparison to the above, how often do people read fic where Dick casually insults his brothers every time he meets up with them, or makes snide, backhanded offensive references to their own parents or memories/reminders of them, or insults their standards not even as a point of specific conflict, but just as a casual, generic expression of contempt?

Its not a two-way street there either at ALL, and THAT’S the issue.

(Also similar to the example I outlined with Motel California, a lot of people write stuff about Dick having shitty self-esteem, but again like.....when you pair this as hand in hand with Dick regularly being insulted and talked down to by his own family, who never ever seem to have anything good to say to him or about him until AFTER he has some kind of breakdown, its like......where do you think shitty self-esteem so often comes from?)

Like, I’ve had people tag fic/drabble posts where I have Dick engaging in what to my estimation is the equivalent of gently teasing Jason or Tim.....and people tag these with “I feel funny about this because Dick seems kinda mean to his brothers here”.....and then nine out of ten times, if I go onto their blog, within a PAGE or two, I see some post where Jason and Tim are calling Dick a Dickhead or mocking his intelligence with NO sign of funny feelings from that person and its like......its not the criticism I mind, lol, its that uh, one of these things (standards of behavior applied to each character) are not like the others.

Because a lot of times when pressed on this subject, people will respond with “well it wouldn’t be in character/Dick or Scott are too nice for that to be their sense of humor” and again its just kinda glossed over that uh, this is basically a tacit admission that the characterization you’re going with for everyone else is ‘not that nice, actually.’ BUT any time people call this specific kind of behavior out when these characters do it, THEN the response is not “well yeah, you’re right, its not that nice actually,” its a defensive “well okay but that’s just how these characters are, are you saying they’re assholes?”

And its like well no, actually you basically were the ones who said they were assholes when you made this a core part of their characterization, and now you’re using this weird kinda circular logic to loophole your way out of them being actually held up and acknowledged as such WHEN they’re characterized this way. 

If these specific other characters never get to retaliate or return fire BECAUSE they’re too nice, then there should be no problem acknowledging that when the characters who DO engage in this behavior are actively engaging in it.....they’re being assholes, and no, its just how friends/siblings are is not actually a defensive/deviation from this if their targeted friend/sibling is never actually able to do the same without being held up specifically as stepping outside the territory of “being nice.”

Few things bug me more in terms of basic character interactions/dynamics then the tendency fandom has of building up certain characters as having free reign with how they treat other characters, while simultaneously limiting these other characters from any kind of equivalent spectrum of behavior by using their own positive traits AGAINST THEM.....but with fandom at the same time being willing to full on go to war in defense of the first kind of characters if anyone draws any kind of connecting dots between their examples of frankly asshole-ish behavior and the implication that they might, in fact, be not that awesome as a result.

Its this annoying sleight of hand wherein certain characters can do or say anything without it being a reflection on who they are character-wise, while other characters step the SLIGHTEST toe out of the line that fandom has drawn for their character and how they’re EXPECTED to behave at all times in order to avoid active criticism.....and this then absolutely is an indication of how they’re actually flawed and gross and even abusive, because of how not nice what they’re doing is, and if people want them to NOT be perceived that way, they need to go back to characterizing them or focusing their characterization of them on all the times/ways in which they just placidly accept whatever’s dished out without any kind of reciprocation.

So yeah, Stiles was always a big example of this for me, but it was far from limited to just him. Any time a fandom is like “these characters can make fun of this character or be super critical of them but this character is never ever allowed to do the same in return, that’s against the law,” I’m like yeah no, that’s a swing and a miss for me. Hard pass on those particular fandom faves....at least so long as their fandom fave status seems to go hand in hand with their ability to inflict maximum psychic damage upon their alleged loved one any time they’re feeling down or are just in a mood, all while facing zero consequences for it....even in the simple form of their targeted ‘loved one’ ever simply being like yeah I just choose to not want to be around you when you’re being assholes to me/if you’re going to just be an asshole to me.

[malewifegrantaire]

The Birthday Thing

READ PART ONE HERE

PART TWO: Guess who’s coming to dinner hang out for no apparent reason (as far as Grantaire can tell)?

Combeferre had inadvertently ruined the rest of Grantaire’s week. It wasn’t his fault, of course. He couldn’t be blamed for Grantaire’s Incredibly Bad Brain. But still, “I just know Enjolras and I know he likes you” is a very reckless phrase to pepper into a conversation with someone of Grantaire’s constitution. He could hardly fall asleep that night because the words I know he likes you were clanging too loudly against the bars of the jail cell he called a mind. He didn’t mind too much though. The clanging was because Enjolras liked him, which made all of the noise sound a bit like music.

Grantaire picked out an outfit for the party and laid it out like he was a little kid excited for a school trip. Embarrassed with himself, he threw the entire outfit into his clothing hamper so he wouldn’t have to look at it lying out on his dresser anymore. Which was obviously a mistake, because now the clothes were are wrinkled and they were touching his actually dirty clothes. Which meant now he had to do a half load of laundry on a weekday, which he really didn’t like doing.

As he folded his laundry, Grantaire felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Huh. It was from Combeferre. Odd.

hey, are u free? sorry lol i am bored and wanted to know if u wanna hang out ??

Very odd. Maybe the wrong number? Just to be safe, Grantaire texted back:

grantaire is folding laundry right now, like a responsible adult.

Two texts back:

very interesting use of third person..

i can help if u want! i love 2 fold things

So this was Grantaire’s life. He used to be young and wild, and now he’s the sort of person that makes plans with people who text him sentences like “i love 2 fold things.” He typed his response.

uh, sure? might get boring, but i’ll never say no to an extra set of hands.

About fifteen minutes later, Combeferre was inside of Grantaire’s apartment. “You got here fast.” Grantaire said.

“I was in the neighborhood.”

“Aren’t you always?”

Combeferre took in Grantaire’s apartment, which gave Grantaire such a wave of self-consciousness that he thought he might be sick. It was a fine apartment, kept clean mostly because Grantaire hardly spent any time in it. The ceilings were far too low for Combeferre.

“This is a really nice place.” Combeferre said. “Have you lived here long?”

“Five years, I think.” Grantaire said. “I think the landlord thought I’d have left by now, but, well. I’m still here.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s nice. Good windows. Not easy to come by.”

Grantaire laughed at that. “Hey, was there something you wanted to talk about? Or are you just here to admire my big beautiful windows?”

Combeferre looked slightly embarrassed. “Uh, the latter, I guess.” he said. “I mean, just what I texted, I was bored, and I guess . . . I don’t know. I guess I thought we could just hang out?”

Now it was Grantaire’s turn to be embarrassed. Of course. Combeferre is the sort of person who’s actually, you know, decent. He was just trying to be nice and Grantaire was accusing him of having an ulterior motive. Way to go. Grantaire cleared his throat. “Well, thanks for coming. Feel free to park wherever. I only did a half load of laundry so I’m finished folding, sorry. I know how much you love to fold.”

“I went through a very intense Marie Kondo phase.” Combeferre grinned. “Let me know if you ever need your closet to be reorganized.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Grantaire said. It was dawning on him that, being more of the roaming type than the nesting type, Grantaire almost never had people over his apartment, and therefore had very little hosting experience. So he did what he always did in situations like this - said what people say in movies and books and all that.

“Can I offer you a beverage of some kind? I’ve got . . . tap water. And orange juice. And maybe beer?”

“I’m alright, thanks.” Combeferre said kindly. Combeferre’s fridge was probably fully stocked with sparkling water in every flavor for guests to sip on, the bastard. He sat down in a little chair by the kitchenette. “What, what is it?” he asked, looking at Grantaire’s expression. “Why are you - what’s funny?”

“Everything is too small for you in here. It’s like shoving a Barbie doll into a Polly Pocket house.” Grantaire said with a laugh. Combeferre tucked his long legs a bit closer to himself.

“Well, Barbie is a good role model, so I’ll take that.”

“I think an averaged sized woman or two might disagree. Anyways, you’ve got impeccable timing.”

“What do you mean?” Combeferre inquired.

“I mean that someone must have wanted us to hang out today. God, the Fates, some non-denominational arbiter of Destiny.” Grantaire was doing that thing he always did where he ended sentences in a way that begged the listener to ask him to explain himself. Why he chose to speak in these irritating circles? We will likely never know. Grantaire sure as hell didn’t.

Combeferre rolled his eyes, but he seemed more amused than annoyed. “You’re impossible.”

“It’s been said before.” was Grantaire’s reply. “What I mean to say is I’m literally never home. Not literally-literally, but, you know. This apartment is basically a glorified storage unit that I visit when there is absolutely nothing else to do. So the fact that you happened to be passing by on a laundry day...”

“... a work of divine intervention?” Combeferre finished.

“I’d go so far as to call it a miracle if I believed in that sort of thing.” Grantaire said.

Combeferre’s next question caught Grantaire off-guard somewhat. “So you’re an atheist, then?”

Grantaire had never actually seen a shrink, but he had the passing sensation of being sprawled out on some brown leather fainting sofa. Maybe that’s what this was, a psych eval. He’d get a message from the official Les Amis de l’ABC e-mail account later in the week saying “sorry, R, you’ve been deemed mentally unfit to be a part of this organization. We know the Musain is public property, but if you could avoid the premises during our scheduled meeting times we all think that’d be for the best.”

“Well, yeah, aren’t all of the lefties heathens nowadays? At least that’s what Twitter tells me.” he said. His paranoia would not rob him of his (debatable) sense of humor.

Combeferre just shrugged. “I guess if I had to call myself something I’d say I’m agnostic.”

“Huh!” Grantaire said, genuinely surprised. “A member of the ‘namby-pamby, mushy pap, weak-tea, weedy, pallid fence-sitter’ brigade, are we?”

Two things occurred to Combeferre at once: One, that Grantaire was quoting Richard Dawkins, and two, that Grantaire could not have been certain that Combeferre would recognize the quote when he said it. Grantaire was both the sort of person that committed Dawkins to memory and the sort that didn’t really care if someone mistook his references for a string of improvised insults. The more Grantaire spoke, the more Combeferre became aware of how little speaking they’d ever done.

“I guess I just think one can never be sure.” Combeferre said.

Grantaire thought now would be a good time for a subject change. “So, how is party planning going?” he asked.

Combeferre sighed. “It’s . . . it’s going.” he said. “Well, okay, I’m being dramatic. Courfeyrac is actually the one doing most of the planning. I just get weird about stuff like this. I want Enjolras to like everything, you know?”

“I don’t think Enjolras is capable of disliking anything you do.” Grantaire said in a way that to the untrained ear might sound like a veiled insult, but that Combeferre suspected was an attempt at genuine sincerity.

“Well, thanks.” Combeferre smiled gratefully. “I just want him to have a good time.”

“He will. It’s the rest of us you’ll have to work to entertain.”

“Well, Courfeyrac has a slew of party games he’s preparing. Oh, and, uh, Enjolras mentioned he’s glad you’ll be able to make it. By the way.” Combeferre said, which made Grantaire blush, which made Combeferre smile.

Grantaire hated that. Not just when Combeferre did it, when any of them did. Making faces or little comments, as if they were in on some big secret. It’s like they were proud of themselves for noticing Grantaire’s little crush, like they knew something funny or scandalous or cute. But they didn’t know anything, not really. Grantaire didn’t have a crush on Enjolras at all. It was more like a religion. Maybe he’d been too quick to brand himself an atheist earlier.

His annoyance with Combeferre soured the rest of their conversation. He became mean, curt, and downright humorless. This wasn’t at all fair, he knew. Grantaire probably annoyed Combeferre every third sentence (maybe every third word) and that had never stopped Combeferre from being his usual amiable self. There was another difference between the two: Grantaire lacked both grace and graciousness, and Combeferre, it seemed, never ran out of either.

“Well, I guess I should be leaving.” Combeferre said after a while, rising from the squat chair he was sitting in.

“I guess.”

“Uh, thank you for having me over. We should do this again some time. I had fun.” Combeferre lied.

Grantaire smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “Yeah, why don’t we all do brunch some time? You can bring your friends, it’ll be a real party. Everyone can sit around admiring my huge windows. What a blast!”

Combeferre knew he was joking, but he couldn’t decipher the punchline. What would be so bad about having all of their friends over for brunch? Why did he say the word “friends” like that, all sardonic and italicized? Combeferre almost asked him, but instead he just shook his head and smiled.

“Okay. Well. Bye!”

Grantaire waved lazily. “See you around.”

Under normal circumstances, the phrase “Enjolras mentioned he’s glad you’ll be able to make it” would have found itself fluttering in the pit of Grantaire’s stomach. Instead, there was something else sitting in there. Something that felt a bit like failure, a bit like guilt, and - most surprising of all - a bit like affection.

This is precisely why he didn’t like having people over.

#LOL this was fun. #next up: the actual birthday thing! #ok tags time #grantaire #combeferre #les amis #les miserables #my fic #uhhhhh what else.... #cw alcohol mention #it’s sort of blink and you miss it but you know #again it’s peripheral but might as well: #e/r #i’ll come back if i think of anything else

[iinfortunii]

rules: code of conduct.

BEGIN.

Before we start, I would like you to have certain things in mind when approaching me ooc. I am very shy and quite awkward, which results in me not being much of a talker; however, I will always try my best to be friendly to whoever wants to approach. I dislike pet names so please do not use them with me unless we are very close. There will be times when I'm just exhausted, so my wording could sound rude/aggressive, to which I apologize in advance -I never mean to hurt people’s feelings. I also reserve the right to interact with WHOEVER I want, and pestering me about it will only get you blocked.

Updates will be made as required.

I. BASIC.

A. This blog is: Selective / Independent / Canon Divergent / NSFW / Mutuals only / Singleship / Mostly iconless / Multiverse / AU, Crossover, OC, and Multimuse friendly / Vaguely affiliated with the OP RP fandom.

B. I am a very slow rper for many reasons —school, family, my ever-fluctuating mood —and I would appreciate it if you refrained from pestering me for replies. In return I offer as much patience as necessary. Think of this blog as low activity please.

C. English is not my mother language so I apologize in advance for any mistakes made.

D. I track the tag #iinfortunii, although mentioning me works just as fine.

E. Constructive criticism is always welcome but anon hate will be immediately deleted. I have no problems if you disagree with my portrayal, but it doesn't give you the right to harass me.

F. Mun and muse are both over 18, so there are chances that heavy content will be present; however I won't be writing smut. I can roleplay anything before or after the act if requested, but the moment things get far too explicit, I'll do a fade-to-black. I ask of you to not lie about your age or else you’ll be blocked indefinitely.

G. This is a heavily headcanon-based blog, and changes are likely to be made as more information is revealed about him, though I reserve the right to adjust the new information according to my interpretation of Deuce or simply ignore it, which is why I’m canon divergent.

H. If you'd like to turn an ask into a thread, you can turn it into a new post, or reblog from me, as I won't be using the Tumblr asks anymore due to the problems that come with formatting and such.

I. Ask box is open for everyone ic or ooc, but you aren't allowed to turn it into a thread and nor I will reply to it if we’re not mutuals. Please don't push me, because I won't hesitate to block.

J. No godmoding —only a minor is allowed if it moves a thread forward —or metagaming, please. Don't kill Deuce either, unless plotted beforehand, and most importantly, don't hold your muse back.

K. Discord is available for mutuals upon request.

L. Just because I write something it does not mean I condone it. Please have this in mind and again, do not pester me about it. Any and all nsfw matters will be tagged accordingly. There will be triggering topics present, and you can know more about this on the section below.

M. DO NOT involve me in drama or call-out posts. I’m heavily against both things. On this note, you’ll never see me rebloging a call-out post. This culture is so damaging and toxic, and I firmly believe no one should play the role of the judge for the good of the community just because you had issues with someone or don’t agree with the things they roleplay. Talk things privately, be mature about it, hard-block the person and move on. I am also very aware that a lot of people have done things that can’t be excused, but I like to believe that people can change for the better. If you try to drag me into it, I'll hard block any and all people involved indefinitely.

II. TRIGGERS.

A. They will be tagged as trigger tw, trigger / and trigger cw.

B. I do my best to stay up to date with my mutuals triggers. Your comfort is way more important to me than you might think, so never be hesitant to approach me via IM, (anonymous) ask or stop following me.

C. Triggers that are likely to appear, although some more than others: violence || blood || death || drugs || abuse || knives || body image || medical equipment || suggestive content || etc

D. I have no triggers, so you are free to go wild with your content. I only ask you remember to tag your nsfw (both written and visual), please.

III. INTERACTIONS.

A. Deuce won't like everyone. He might/will make wrong assumptions about your character. He will insult and bite back. He won't always be nice to those he likes. He does many things that serve his interests. You, as the mun, have no reason to take it personal, because I'm won't follow someone I don't like; if you DO take it personal however, and decide to rouse drama, then I'll be hard-blocking you. Goes for me as well —I have no reason to get angry for any of the things noted above.

B. My bonds page displays the relationships that have been built over time, not necessarily through interaction alone but over plotting as well. Refer to it for more information.

C. Interactions with OCs related to canon characters will only take place as long as said OCs have a detailed about page. Personally, I'm not interested in the idea of an OC being blood-related to my portrayal, so I apologize in advance.

D. Formatting isn’t a big thing across my blogs, save for the small text. Please don’t mix either sup/sub with small text when writing with me, as I have eyesight problems. Don’t use colored text either.

E. Non-romantic pre-established relationships are allowed! Just make sure to talk it out with me first, yeah?

01. Spade / Whitebeard pirates (canon and original characters alike that i am MUTUALS with) will have a pre-established relationship as long as the other mun is comfortable with such idea, though that relationship will be limited to merely crewmates, unless discussed otherwise.

F. You don’t need to match my writing length as long as I’m given enough to work with. If something about my reply bothers or doesn’t work with you, let me know and I’ll re-work it.

G. I really enjoy plotting scenarios or talking out about the relationships my muse could have with other muses, so hit me up if you’ve got any ideas! I’ll try to do the same!

H. Mun does not equal muse, so don’t go assuming I’m a jerk simply because Deuce is an asshole from time to time. I’m set on the idea that I’ll give people the same treatment they give me —which is always nice and kind. Kudos to everyone for this ♡

I. I don’t use a threadtracker because I rely on my memory (terrible mistake, I know), but I try to draft people’s replies as soon as I see them. If by any reason it seems like I lost it, then please let me know / send me a link with it and I’ll be deeply grateful.

J. I don’t do nor reply to greetings starters for matters of my own comfort, so I ask of you to never expect a starter or a reply from them.

IV. SHIPPING.

A. Singleship, with the spot taken by daadzi, which means Deuce is no longer open for romantic relationships.

01. Under no circumstances, I will accept more romantic relationships once the spot is taken. That being said, I won’t discourage your muse from falling for / hitting on him, although I ask you to understand he will never respond with the same interest or will never react gently if he’s pushed too far.

02. If my shipping partner is comfortable enough, I'll interact with duplicates with the condition that the relationship is strictly platonic.

B. Constant interaction, mutual interest, and chemistry are a must for the sake of better communication (both ic and ooc, preferably).

C. Please do not approach me if you wish our characters to have either a: one night stand or friends with benefits type of relationships. It won’t work out due to the nature of Deuce’s personality, and for that I apologize.

E. My ship has its own tag so you're free to block it if you don't want to see it on your dashboard. In addition, I'll also tag those posts with only the ship name for this very purpose.

F. Please do not force ships on me.

V. CELEBRATIONS.

A. First off, I am absolutely terrible at keeping up with dates, and to be frank, I am not the biggest fan of celebrating, which is why I think it’s necessary to say I won’t be partaking in any holidays, not even Deuce’s birthday (not that he has one, to begin with). Obviously I will still reply to any gifts received, and will send out things in return —you know, common courtesy.

B. I won't be sending out birthday gifts every year, and I might write drabbles for people once in a blue moon; it doesn’t mean they will be done for the specific date though, so please be patient.

VI. REASONS TO NOT FOLLOW BACK / UNFOLLOW.

A. Too much drama / call-outs / vague posts / sexual content.

B. Content makes me uncomfortable.

C. You are a personal blog without a visible rp sideblog. Please make sure it's easy to find.

D. You do not have a proper tag system.

E. Your blog doesn’t have a rules and about pages.

F. You lack the manners to deal with people respectfully.

G. I have no interest / lost interest.

H. I'm constantly / only used as a meme archive.

I. Other reasons may apply. I will soft block so we can both cease following each other and avoid any potential awkward situations. I won’t make a fuss if you decide to unfollow so I expect the same courtesy.

VII. ABOUT BEATRICE.

She is not a real person. Her concept as Deuce’s (toxic) pseudolover is my creation and was somewhat inspired from the real life Beatrice Portinari. Do have in mind that Deuce doesn’t talk about her so your muse can’t simply approach him and ask about her unless they can go through his memories / read his mind / any capability alike or he speaks about her, though it won't take a genius to figure out that she's a product of his imagination.

You can read about her by clicking here -link to be added.

She serves as a lie to shield himself from the internalized homophobia he deals with up until meeting Ace.

NOTE: As stated previously, Mun =/= muse, but I too have been dealing with compulsory heterosexuality for far too long, so I'd like to apologize in advance for projecting a bit of that into my portrayal. I'll work so that this part makes sense with what we've been given from Ace's novel.

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.

A. I will never force people to follow me, so if by any reason you have to unfollow/block me, please go ahead. Your comfort matters and have every right to do what you must to ensure your wellbeing. With that said, I will not tolerate and will immediately hard block if you try to police my content.

B. I do not follow back immediately, and it can take me from a few hours to several days to follow back. Do not take it personally if I choose not to.

C. If I follow it’s because I am interested in interacting. I only ask you to be patient because it might take me a while to gather the courage to send something to your inbox or talk to you.

D. I have. ZERO knowledge about medicine. Don’t expect me to go full force and try to be 100% accurate, because I won’t.

E. I practice reblog karma (send a meme to someone if I’m rebloging it from them). If you see something you’d like to reblog but have no intention in sending something yourself, then please reblog from the source.

IX. FINISH.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! As you might have noticed, there’s no password to send. Make sure to check the psa tag for any updates, or don’t hesitate to send an ask if there’s anything unclear! I do my best so as not to post too much OOC posts, but sometimes it just happens. If it's nothing important, then I'll erase it whenever I have the chance/remember.

Keanu Reeves vc: You’re all breathtaking!

#pinned post. #long post #❝ —talking nonsense ; ooc #❝ —off to new adventures ; queue #ooc. #queue. #[ this is a very long post btw ]

[carewyncromwell]

Goin for one of the firsties character wise. Ten facts about Jacob Cromwell go owo

Whew! Now I can catch up on these...round 2 for 10 Facts, this time for my book-smart, people-dumb spaceman! ^.^

1) Being a kid of the 70′s, Jacob’s very into the slang of his era. His most common 70′s slang is “dude,” but he also loves greeting people with the phrase “Nanu Nanu,” a reference to one of his favorite childhood TV shows, Mork and Mindy.

2) Jacob’s worst fear from the time he was a kid is being trapped and unable to move. He’s always disliked being in very tight spaces and gets claustrophobic pretty easily. When Jacob was younger, a Boggart would visualize this by trapping him in a translucent box -- now, of course, it resembles his portrait prison from the Cursed Vault.

3) Jacob’s nickname for Carewyn, “Pip,” is not actually short for “Pipsqueak,” like he’ll often casually claim when people ask him. In truth, it’s short for “Pippa,” a reference to a poem called “Pippa Passes,” which Jacob had to memorize for school when he was a kid. On a suggestion of his mother’s, Jacob would practice the poem by reciting it to infant Carewyn, who loved “talking” and “singing” to Jacob in high-pitched squeals and shrieks. Soon it became a little joke for Jacob to greet Carewyn by comparing her to the character Pippa, who sings a cheerful song every morning to greet everyone in her village and in doing so inspires everyone she meets -- “Singing your song again, Pippa?” “Is it morning, Pippa?” “Is all right with the world, Pippa?” That then got shortened down to just “Pip.”

4) One of Jacob’s inside jokes with Lane is that when Lane needs Jacob to get her one of her papers from her work desk, she’ll ask him to “go get the Necronomicon” and then state “[a letter] for [the author’s name],” such as “S for Scamander.” It’s derived from the time that one of Jacob’s old Muggle classmates ending up colliding with Jacob and Carewyn in Liverpool and the two Cromwells overheard him gossiping about their mother Lane, claiming she never left the house and that she must be some creepy woman that’d be the sort to keep a Necronomicon in her cellar. Jacob got back at the boys by strolling past them with Carewyn and loudly proclaiming at the top of his lungs that they had to get home quickly so as not to upset “the Great Old Ones.” Lane found the story so thoroughly funny that she ran with it -- Jacob was glad that Lane was so entertained by it, as truthfully he’d be rather pissed off hearing those kids talk like that about her.

5) Jacob’s favorite magical creature and Patronus form is a Hippogriff. Hippogriffs, as a fusion between horses and eagles, are associated symbolically with true love and the impossible coming true. Whenever Jacob and Carewyn both cast their Patronuses, Jacob’s Hippogriff and Carewyn’s Abraxan Winged Horse love flying circles around each other.

6) In contrast to his younger sister, Jacob has no fashion sense whatsoever. He’s more the sort to wear oversized t-shirts, ripped bellbottom jeans, and open-toed sandals than to wear a coordinated outfit. The scarlet dress robes Jacob wears while seeking the Vaults were the last present Duncan gave Jacob before he died, and Jacob has promised himself that he will destroy R once and for all while wearing Duncan’s robes, to avenge his fallen boyfriend.

7) Jacob’s favorite song is “Mamma Mia!” by ABBA, which is also his favorite band and ultimate guilty pleasure. He absolutely cannot resist singing or at least mouthing along to the chorus, no matter what -- he similarly struggles not to groove along to “Take a Chance on Me” and “Dancing Queen.”

8) During the Second Wizard War, Jacob hides Muggle-born fugitives in a secret room in his flat in London, hiding its entrance with a combination of both magical and Muggle espionage tactics. It’s so successful that even though the Ministry searches Jacob’s flat multiple times (once while he wasn’t even there), they never find Jacob’s charges. After the War is over, the fugitives -- including the Cattermole family, who we meet the parents of in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- stay in touch with Jacob via post throughout the years, considering him part of their own families.

9) The only subject Jacob didn’t like at Hogwarts was History of Magic, and it was solely because of how much he despised Professor Binns. Considering his mother Lane was a historian, Jacob was insulted by the fact that Dumbledore kept someone like Binns on staff while he taught such a fascinating subject so very, very badly. It wasn’t uncommon for an aggravated Jacob to take over the class himself while Binns was asleep, not unlike Carewyn’s friend Rowan would do later.

10) Speaking of teaching, post-Cursed-Vaults, Jacob becomes a traveling magical researcher and part-time Cursebreaker who also takes time to lecture on various subjects (most commonly DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Cursebreaking, Ancient Languages, and Muggle Studies) at different magical schools. One particular, er...habit of his is to take his students on “field trips,” which -- although often sanctioned by the schools in question -- Jacob rarely gives the students or their parents any heads-up about beforehand. (If anything, he gets a little smug whenever parents clutch their pearls about his field trips after the fact.) Once Jacob took a Hogwarts Muggle Studies class to the Science Museum in London, and all of the students ended up returning to school afterwards with little rockets and model dinosaurs from the souvenir shop.

10 Facts!

#about jacob #jacob cromwell #jacob #hphm #hogwarts mystery

[thenugking]

Grand Academy For Future Villains, Chapter 1: Introduction. A commentary for Three.

Because no one can stop me.

Here’s the important decisions, and other things it feels relevant to comment on, from Three’s playthrough. Contains spoilers for GAFFV, obviously, and there’s a few references to the sequel, although nothing I’d really call a spoiler. All game text is copied from the text files, found here.

General CW for the whole thing: parental abuse, internalised dehumanisation as a trauma response. Three’s not doing well.

Specific CW for this chapter: misgendering, transphobia

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

***

Rathna hisses with satisfaction, takes you by the wrist, and pulls you after her through the archway into the blackness.

It feels a bit like doing a belly flop into a pool of cold mercury. (And you would know; the exercise facilities back home were very well-appointed.) When the ringing clears from your ears and the fuzziness from your eyes, you're standing in a subterranean chamber. The walls are dripping. The lights are flickering. The screams are echoing.

An icy voice echoes in your head, making your ears sting. "Prepare yourself…to be screened."

"Oh, I am prepared," you assure Rathna the Soul-Flenser. "I trust the Academy! And if they say I need additional screening, I'm sure that's something that really is necessary for everybody's safety!"

How would you classify the expression in her dull metallic eyes? Quizzical? Startled? Pitying?

"Your faith," hisses the cold voice after a moment, "is… touching to me."

"Speaking of touching," you say cheerfully, "we'd better get to the screening part, right? The sooner I get screened, the sooner I can be reconstituted by, who is it, the fourth-year Resurrections class?"

There is a long pause. "No..." Rathna says. "You have passed the screening already. You are a true student of the Academy."

Nonplussed, you head up the stairs in the direction she indicates. As you glance back, you could swear she's wiping away one dishwater-gray tear.

Three’s entire introduction is them being a Good Student - it doesn’t even occur to them not to wait in line, or to try hiding their many, many weapons, or to try and get out of additional screening. They pick Rathna because they’re pretty sure Phil will mess it up and not screen them properly, which means they’re messing up too. 

Phil, in Three’s opinion, clearly has zero discipline or competence, and they dislike him instantly. With his utter lack of commitment to the screening process, he’s off to a great start as Perfect Student Three’s unintentional narrative foil.

Rathna, on the other hand, they develop a mutual respect for in this scene. They don’t interact again in-game, and aren’t going to go out of their way to hang out with each other, but I like to think they get along well whenever they do see each other, and are at least friendly acquaintances. (I was very offended when the second game told me Rathna was my enemy, but I like Miriel Bloodshrike, because neither of these things are remotely true for Three.)

VERY WELL, THREE. BUT I KNEW YOUR MOTHER ONCE. AND SHE GAVE YOU ANOTHER NAME. YOU WILL BE THREE AT THIS SCHOOL, BUT TO MAEDRYN THE QUANTUM-WITCH, ONE OF OUR PROUDEST ALUMNAE, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE...

It's true. Your mother named you

#3.

Hardly a name at all.

I mean, Three’s life revolves around keeping their mother happy. They’re not going to throw away the name she gave them. They only changed it from the number to the word because of the massive bureaucratic hassle that trying to input your whole name as 3 was. And what would they change it to anyway? It’s not as if they have an identity outside of Maedryn, is it?

(This does, of course, result in a lot of funny experiences in-game, where people try and psych me out by knowing my birth name and Three’s just, “Yes, that is my name, are you feeling all right?” It’s not impossible that these still take place, even with Three using their mother’s name; in the very next scene, Xi reveals they can hear how people spell things. I’m sure there are some people in the Academy who would deliberately say 3, rather than Three, and hope that Three hears the insult. They don’t.)

As for gender… I think Three at this point still mostly identifies as female. They come out as agender part way through their first year, feeling more confident after meeting a lot of non-binary people at the Academy. They don’t tell their mum. While I’m glad that the game doesn’t have Maedryn misgender you, the fact that she consistently deadnames you and gets angry at you changing “her” body if you become a monster makes me feel it would be very in character for her to do. I’m sure she hears Three is using they/them pronouns now at some point, but has better things to do than remembering to use them.

If asked about their pronouns, Three will tell you that you are welcome to call them whatever you wish, and their closest associates usually use they/them. Expressing their own preference would be far too close to acting like a person with their own desires and feelings, though. Luckily they can easily justify being agender as, “What does a weapon need a gender for?”

“Let's get to know you, Three. What do you hate most?"

 #Incompetence and idiocy.

And right now, Phil’s incompetence and idiocy in particular. Three is already up to 75% competence at this point, by the way.

Well, that's your mother. How do you feel about her?

#I'm proud to be her child. But I plan on choosing my own path- while keeping her as happy as I can.

The actual answer here is a lot more complicated. Three certainly doesn’t plan on choosing their own path, they exist only as a tool of their mother’s and are well aware that being anything more would not make her happy. They think Maedryn’s achievements are incredible and that she’s the cleverest person they know. They think they might be proud of her, if not of themself. They love her.

They’re also far more aware than they let on that she’s abusing them, and that they’re never going to get the love and approval that a part of them buried deep down still wants. While they absolutely keep it to themself, they dislike the way Maedryn’s destroyed worlds that could have had so much to offer, and believe she should treat her goons and servants (themself excluded) better.

And they have no intention of ever letting her know they've ever thought anything negative about her, because they value their life too much.

"Excuse me. I'm Three, and I-how did you do that? What were those wires, and all that stuff you were saying about humanity?"

"Nice, isn't it?" says Xi with pardonable pride. "Like I told you, I'm the ultimate fusion of human and computer. Instead of veins-" their voice is suddenly coming out of the speakers again "-wires course the length of my body, running directly from my mind to the Network."

"Oh! Computers!" the other student breaks in. "Whyever would you want to be all tangled up with those...things?"

Xi narrows their metallic eyes contemptuously at him. "I'm a cyberpunk villain. It's what we do. Wait- who are you again?"

The student draws himself up proudly. "Aurion Umbrator Malisar, Scourge of the Universe, Bane of Virtue, Shadow that Swallows the Light, and I-"

Xi sniffs. A shower of sparks falls from one of the wires. "This is the first time you've ventured outside your genre, isn't it? Let me guess, spawned in Fantasy, and now you're here expecting everything to be the same magic and mush you grew up with?"

"Well, that would explain things," Xi continues. "Trust me, pitiful lump of flesh, computers are the way to go. Why, the true power in this school, DarkBoard--no matter what any other genre says--is an artificial intelligence, one who has truly ascended beyond the tether of matter and mind-"

"That's the problem!" Aurion protests, waving his schedule again. "It will not heed my bidding!"

"Well, of course not, if you're talking to Them like that." You can hear the reverence in Xi's voice when they speak of DarkBoard. Odd, since as far as you can tell, the Grand Academy's administrative AI is basically a glorified secretary.

And Three gets to meet their best friends! They’ve been given permission to ask questions about something very cool! Even if they would never be caught using the phrase, “All that stuff,” and would much prefer a, “Would you elaborate further on your state of being, please?”

This also forms the very early seeds of their friendship with DarkBoard. They believe everyone deserves respect, and they know how easy it is to underestimate someone as being a tool. The majority of their previous knowledge on DarkBoard came from Maedryn, who they also know underestimates people she considers below her notice, so they’re very willing to take Xi’s opinion on DarkBoard over Maedryn’s. And if Xi calls DarkBoard a They, rather than an It, They is what Three will use too, because secretary or not, it’s only polite.

Xi sighs. "You've got to organize yourself, pitiful lump of- Aurion. Make some choices. Look. What do you want to do?"

"Have legions of darkness, take over the universe, slay the proud and noble, bring about a black reign of terror on the land, cast evil spells from my fortress, shoot out wires from my hand like that, seduce the pure and innocent, callously waste human life, destroy the world with a word, blow things up, have great men fall before the slightest motion of my hand, manipulate people's minds, be able to call up balls of fire, beat up the heroes, have Ultimate Weapons of Destruction, and wear a nifty cape!" rattles off the aspiring Scourge of the Universe breathlessly. "And more things, too, if they teach them."

Xi looks as if the student's enthusiasm has overloaded their circuits. You step in.

#Tell Xi I'll help Aurion with his schedule. That should earn me some points with the RA.

I mean, if Three had circuits, they’d be overloaded by Aurion’s enthusiasm too, but if there are two things they like, it’s sorting out schedules and making people in positions of authority happy! This encounter doesn’t make Three and Aurion friends, that comes later, but they gain a small amount of respect for each other, at least.

Sidenote - I’m not sure how close Aurion and Xi are supposed to be, they don’t interact much after this in-game, but I love their interactions here, and I really enjoy Three, Aurion and Xi as a group of friends.

#Better get Xi to advise me on this. Isn't assistance in their job description?

You stick your head out into the hall. "Xi? Can you help me with something?"

After a moment, Xi appears, expressionless.

"I need to get my books," you explain, "so I need to access my money. Can you tell me how to make DarkBoard do that?"

One of Xi's wires cracks like a whip. You hope that means yes.

Three might value self-sufficiency, but they also value making use of the resources available to you, and when someone’s job is to provide you with help, it would be arrogant and foolish to rely solely on your own conjecture.

They are also an eighteen year old who’s never spent much time with people their own age suddenly discovering that they find cyborgs in control of wires they grow out of their fingers really hot.

#Get a quick fund refreshment from Mom.

It won't make your mother happy to have you draft her account like this--she prefers more face-to-face groveling, as you've had plenty of chances to observe--but you know that you can make a quick transfer from the Student Security Deposit. A few words to DarkBoard, and the money is yours, with a little extra cushion to cover you in case of emergencies.

I mean, Three’s definitely going to call Maedryn up for a proper groveling session later tonight, and hope that helps a little. But she’s also expecting them to get perfect grades, and they’re worried about their chances of doing that without all the equipment available. Anyway, that’s their first day at the Academy finished!

#grand academy for future villains #choice of games #three #long post #u know what i'm gonna tag the other characters bc i love them #maedryn #aurion umbrator malisar #xi #darkboard #gavril philippe des anges dechus #marsh ocs

[m00nslippers]

Everyone Crushing on Jason AU 3

Read on AO3!

Hal wasn't sure how the situation had devolved to the point that he now had an alliance with Guy Gardner of all people, but even the extra back-up hadn't been enough to separate Jason Todd from the iron curtain of admirers that had sprung up around the man the instant he'd left Hal's sight.

The original plan had been to blandish the Supers until they changed targets to Hal himself as he slipped into their place beside Jason, but that had only resulted in Kara's eyes glowing terrifyingly red in preparation for a heat-vision blast with Hal as a target, while Superboy ignored him entirely. Meanwhile, Arsenal and Starfire had Red Hood's undivided attention for as long as they were in the man's vicinity and neither had taken kindly to Guy butting in. Arsenal and Guy had ended up in a fist fight that resulted in Red Hood himself slamming both men's heads together and leaving the two in a pile as he left the infirmary with Orphan and Nightwing, Starfire shaking her head over them both as Hal realized he'd severely miscalculated the difficulty of the task he'd taken on.

But seriously, how did some no-name beefcake he'd never heard of until minutes before already have an impenetrable wall of prominent superheroes policing his personal space? It was completely unfair! Like dangling a prize in front of Hal’s face before telling him it was on the other side of a death trap. He'd been way too naive to think someone this damn sexy wouldn't already have a slew of people ready to fight for the honor of being squeezed between those muscled thighs. Clearly there was more to Red Hood than an amazing body and bad boy aura and Hal needed to find out all he could to secure a victory against his rivals.

“We've got to change tactics,” Hal told Guy in a secluded, empty meeting room on the Watchtower satellite the next day.

Guy nodded to himself, eyes narrowed and distant with consideration. “Yeah, you're right,” his fellow Lantern acknowledged, rubbing his chin. “I should wear cologne. Something that smells like, I don't know, wood or something. But what kind of wood? Mahogany, teak, sandalwood? It's a tough decision, man.”

The only thing keeping Hal from slapping himself or slapping Guy was that he couldn’t decide which he wanted to do more in that moment.

Hal groaned at the ceiling, willing some sympathetic god to strike him down and end his misery. “That is not what I meant, I'm talking about information.”

“Information?” Guy repeated with a raised brow. “What kinda information and how do you say we get it? We could barely get within ten feet of the man! We're at a real disadvantage here, Jordan. We seem to be comin' in late to the game.”

Guy scratched the back of his head anxiously, looking more troubled than Hal was used to seeing his fellow Lantern. Normally the man was all ‘go’ all the time. He never seemed to have any doubts, even when the odds were stacked against him. Hal didn't know why or how it had happened, but when it came to Jason Todd, Guy seemed to have fallen hard and fast enough to start second-guessing himself. Gardner was almost stupidly cocky, but when it came to the Red Hood it seemed his confidence might be failing him. While normally anything that took the other Lantern down a peg was something Hal wholeheartedly supported, watching the man's enthusiasm plummet made Hal realize he really didn't want to see the man moping around about lost love.

“You wimping out on me, Guy?” Hal egged on with a raised a brow. No Green Lantern could resist a jibe like that. It would set the other man straight. “Because if you want to bow out of the running I'm all for it. Less competition for me.”

“I ain't saying that,” Guy assured him, standing up straighter. “It's just usually you've only got to worry about somethin' stupid coming outta your mouth at the wrong moment, or forgetting to wear deodorant in front of the person you like. You know, normal shit. Not a damn cadre of bodyguards enforcing a six-foot perimeter. I mean, I figure with cologne at least maybe I smell good enough to lure him in close...”

Hal rolled his eyes. “He's not a shark lured by the scent of blood, cologne isn't going to do anything. We need some tangible reconnaissance to fall back on.” Hal ticked off fingers as he listed, “Conversation topics, likes and dislikes, who his friends are, where all these gatekeepers are coming from and how to get them off our backs.”

Guy bit the inside of his cheek, looking thoughtful as he warmed to the idea. “Okay, yeah I get where you're coming from with this, Jordan. We've got to investigate. Really use our heads.”

As far as Hal could tell, Guy had only ever used his head as a blunt instrument of violence, so he felt perfectly justified in asking, “That's not going to be too difficult for you, is it Guy?”

Guy punched him in the shoulder hard enough to have Hal grab it and whine an “Ow...”

“Ha ha,” Guy deadpanned without humor. “Sure, insult my intelligence.You're the one whose had your brain turned into scrambled eggs by Parallax more than once, but I'm the dumb one of the two of us. Yeah, that makes sense.”

Hal held his hands up, absolving himself of responsibility. “Hey, you said it not me.”

Guy huffed, but suddenly looked smug and knowing as he said, “If I'm just so dumb, then why do I know exactly who we've got to hit up first for information?”

He'd already had a few people in mind when he suggested the course of action, but Hal figured hearing Guy's take could make for a good laugh. “Fine, I'll bite. Who?”

Snapping his finger with a grin, Guy revealed, “Our boy, Rayner! He and Hood seemed pretty tight yesterday. If nothing else he can probably point us in the direction of someone else to interrogate.”

Kyle, huh? Hal had honestly been thinking of going to Barry, just because his friend seemed to always have answers when he needed them. Or maybe Nightwing, since he and Red Hood were clearly close by the way he glared Hal down while stitching up Red Hood's side with full trust, but Kyle was probably an even better bet. They had so much more blackmail material on Kyle than they did on Barry or Nightwing. For once, Guy had a good idea.

“You're right...yeah, let's hit him up,” Hal agreed. “I thought I saw him in the Watchtower Canteen just earlier.”

“I call 'bad space-cop',” Guy said immediately, forcing Hal to scowl in response.

“We're not going to 'good space-cop'-'bad space-cop' another Lantern!” he protested.

Guy shrugged. “You say that now, but you'll be singin' a different tune when he clams up.”

Personally, Hal was skeptical that Kyle could resist telling them anything about the Red Hood. Kyle had his moments of stubbornness and snark but he generally liked to live up to expectations. He was a good kid. Not to mention bad-mouthing Jason Todd seemed to be a secret hobby of his that no one had known about, and Kyle really enjoyed his hobbies. Look at how often they found the guy doodling super heroes between meetings.

“Well if that ever happens, I call badder space-cop,” Hal decided, mostly just because he knew it would get a reaction from Guy.

Of course Guy's brows snapped together instantly and his face flushed with anger. “Like hell! You can't do that, I already called bad space-cop!”

Hal threw up his hands with no shame, internally grinning. “Can. Did.”

With an irritated snort, Guy growled, “Fine, then we'll just ask him normally. Jeez, you've just gotta ruin everything, don't you Jordan?”

Hal smirked. “It's what I live for.”

- - -

Kyle didn't look up from his sketchbook as Guy and Hal took seats across from him in the Watchtower canteen. He just focused on fleshing out the lines and curves, adding shape and depth and shading, breathing life into his work. When the lines began to take familiar paths, the image clarifying into someone recognizable, he frowned to himself and purposefully changed the design, trying to deviate from the real-life inspiration making itself known on his page.

Lately he was growing increasingly frustrated with how suspiciously similar his random character sketches were becoming to a certain vigilante with a red helmet. Despite all the references and inspiration at his fingertips from being a member of the Justice League, all his hand seemed to draw was an idiot by the name of Jason Todd with his dumb smirk and his stupid white streak and his sexy thighs and—

Kyle swallowed the urge to smack his head against the table and instead just roughly flipped his sketch book closed so no one could see the evidence concerning what was preoccupying his mind. There was no way in hell he was going to become one of the Jason-groupies that seemed have coalesced from the aether the instant the man had been accepted into the League.

Seriously though, when had Jason freaking Todd become so popular?

“No,” Kyle said as soon as Guy opened his mouth.

Guy's face wrinkled in an angry pout as Hal snickered next to him. “I didn't even—” he began but Kyle cut him off again. Guy always seemed to be able to talk him into things, he had to shut this line of questioning down quick.

“Nope!” Kyle insisted and finally opened the bag of chips he'd been neglecting for twenty minutes as his sketches stole his attention. “I'm not spilling my guts about Jason. No way, no how, I don't want anything to do with the guy.”

And as if to drive that fact home, Kyle loudly chewed on his potato chips at a volume his mother would absolutely disapprove of.

But of course there was no drowning out Hal. That man was used to talking over the sounds of an airfield with fighter-jets going in and out all day, so crunchy chips weren't even a challenge.

Hal smirked, waving an accusatory finger at Kyle as he pitched his voice louder. “See, you say that but the sexual tension between you two yesterday was palpable.” Kyle nearly choked and spat out his chips, as Guy smirked and Hal just kept talking, unconcerned that Kyle might be choking or that more than one person in the cafeteria had started paying too much attention to their conversation. “You're just trying to get rid of the competition and while I admire your strategic mind, I question your integrity as a Green Lantern—because that's just not fair play!”

Kyle coughed a few more times and smacked his chest before he managed to sputter, “'Sexual tension?' I do not have sexual tension with Jason freaking Todd, of all people!” And he'll admit his voice was tinged with an edge of hysteria but this was a serious accusation!

Hal was clearly not buying what Kyle was selling as he crossed his arms and eyed the younger man incredulously. “Oh really? So you don't think he's hot.”

Kyle rolled his eyes because admitting Jason was hot only proved he had functional vision. If Jason hadn't been a walking wet dream then Kyle wouldn't have been so terrified when the man started hanging around Kyle's at-the-time ex-girlfriend, Donna. And it wasn't even just his looks—Jason was smart, and talented, and well-read and was respectful to women and rode a motorcycle—basically a really cliche romance novel love interest.  

“Of course I think he's hot,” Kyle freely admitted, starting to feel himself get angry as he remembered everything about the man that made him feel inadequate. “Have you seen those honking thighs? You know he has to buy a bigger size pant and take it up in the waist to fit? And he does it himself, the multifaceted piece of shit...” Seriously, why was Jason so dang good at everything? It wasn't fair, how was a normal guy supposed to measure-up?

Guy slapped the table, eyes huge as if he'd just been told he'd won an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii. “Oh my God, he can sew? Damn, that's wife-material, right there.”

Hal ignored Guy and instead frowned, leaning over the table and trying to loom threateningly. “How do you know all of this, Kyle? We are your mentors, you owe us this.”

Kyle felt his temper pique at the idea that he owed anyone an explanation regarding himself and Jason Todd. He didn't like the guy, didn't want to think about him or talk about him. And yet the man was everywhere he went all of a sudden. Now Kyle couldn't even eat his chips and draw in peace because every time he put pencil to paper it turned into Jason Todd and people got in his face demanding he tell all when there wasn't much to tell to begin with.

In an incredulous tone, Kyle said, “'Mentors'?” Raising his hand, he tapped the glowing green ring on his finger with emphasis. “When I got this ring, I was the only Green Lantern in the galaxy. By the time there were any other Lanterns around, I was already an expert. You guys are like...senior colleagues at best.”

Hal whistled. “Ouch. That hurts, Kyle.” He seemed impressed at Kyle's level of shit-talk, which was unsurprising because shit-talk was Hal's first language and the form of communication he seemed to respond the best to.

But Guy on the other hand did not look impressed. He looked angry and hurt, his hands on the table tightening into fists, his cheeks and forehead flushing red beneath freckles as his eyes lit with fire and the overzealous passion he always put into everything. All at once Kyle felt awful about what he'd said and wanted to take it all back.

“Come on, man!” Guy demanded, lip lifted in a snarl. “Screw being mentors or colleagues, I thought we were friends! I gave you the 'friends-and-family discount' on your tab at my bar!”

“You get a discount?” Hal interjected. He turned to Guy and complained. “Why does Kyle get a discount? I don't even get a discount...”

Completely ignoring Hal, Guy stabbed Kyle right in the conscience as he slapped his own chest with emotion, the ache of betrayal in his expression. “That meant something to me, I thought it meant something to you too...”

And now Kyle felt like a total piece of shit. He really wasn't like this. He wasn't snappy and snarky and angry. It was only when the Red Hood was around that his personality did this one-eighty. He'd been joking about the mentor thing, he really did look up to Hal and Guy. Kyle was letting his frustration with Jason-Jackass-Todd get the better of him and that wasn't okay.

“No, you're right, Guy,” Kyle agreed running a hand through his hair. “We're friends and that's important me.”

Guy's expression was mulish, not quite ready to forgive him. “And friends tell each other shit, especially about their future significant-others, right?”

Kyle sighed and nodded agreement, though the idea of Jason being Guy's future wife seemed like a joke with no basis in reality. “Yeah, I get it. What did you want to know?”

The anger and hurt finally seemed to bleed out of Guy, but he still answered with a forceful, “Everything. You're gonna earn that discount, Rayner!”

Hal's eyes were narrowed at Guy as he promised, “We'll talk about discounts and why I don't get one later. For now let's start at the beginning. We'd never even seen him until yesterday, so how do you know Jason? Unless you're spending way more hours Earth-side than I know you are, you wouldn't have had enough contact to be slinging sexually charged insults at each other unless something fishy was going on.”

Kyle nearly started choking again on nothing but air. 'Sexually charged insults'? Not even! Jason had a smart mouth and hot lips but he wouldn't know attraction if it hit him over the head with a crowbar. Kyle had seen enough sad losers make passes on Jason to know the man was denser than concrete when it came to the subject. The ungrateful asshole had men and women hanging on him left and right and he didn't even seem to notice.

“There is nothing going on between Jason and me—Never was, never will be!” Kyle assured his fellow Lanterns. “Me and Jason were never even friends, okay? We got stuck doing this reality-traversing gig with Donna and some jerk named Bob to save the multiverse together in an alternate timeline. Then the universes merged and everything we did technically hadn't happened anymore but we still had the memories intact since it all took place outside our world.”

While Hal stared at him in wonder, processing the ridiculous but true explanation regarding Kyle's association with Jason Todd, Guy's face was screwed up in something between confusion and outrage.

Guy held up a hand. “Wait wait wait...So you went on a universe-hopping adventure to save the very fabric of reality, with your ex-girlfriend and Jason Todd, that got erased from history and you never told your buddy Guy Gardner?”

Okay, when put like that Kyle admitted it was the sort of thing he should have mentioned to his friends. Especially Green Lantern friends who were used to branching timelines and multiversal weirdness and wouldn't even question his story.

“Well...” he trailed uselessly.

Clearly Kyle's response was not adequate because Guy shook his head at the table and muttered to himself, “I feel so betrayed...giving you the ‘friends-and-family discount’ is supposed to mean more than this...”

Kyle blushed with shame. “I'm sorry, okay? It just...didn't seem relevant.”

Hal smacked the table with a frown. “A piece of man-meat that sexy is always relevant, Kyle!”

“Not to me. Most of the time I try to pretend he doesn't exist,” Kyle confessed.

Guy tapped his chin, eying Kyle with suspicion. “Oh really? You just seem territorial, to me.”

Kyle scoffed. 'Territorial'? Over Jason Todd? Pff, that was just...no way, that could ever...Kyle shook his head. No way was he feeling territorial over Jason. The fact that he'd known Jason way before any of the people suddenly following him around like a lost puppy had appeared, back when Red Hood had no positive connections to anyone, in a universe where no one showed any interest in him, was no reason to think he was territorial now. It really just had no bearing on anything...

Seriously, it didn't!

“I am not territorial,” Kyle hastily assured them with a sniff of contempt at the very idea. “I just don't want to see you guys waste your time trying to go after Jason Todd when I can tell you from experience that it isn't going to go anywhere good.”

“Experience. Right,” Hal deadpanned. “This experience that took place outside our universe in an alternate timeline that no longer exists.”

Shrugging, Guy said, “Eh. I wouldn’t put it on your resume, kid.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “The world might be different, but Jason Todd is still the same. He acts like a jerk just to prove he's unfit for company. He's an all-mission-all-the-time bat who doesn't see a problem with shooting people in the back when it suits his agenda,” he tried to explain. This Jason might have Batman fooled somehow, but the Jason that Kyle knew, the one that still seemed to know him, was contrary for the sake of it and did bad just to push people away. He couldn’t imagine the man had really changed all that much in a few years and a few timeline tweaks.

Guy just raised a brow, what Kyle was trying to get across completely going over his head as if he'd translated everything his friend said into, 'he's a streetwise sensitive loner' and couldn't figure out the downside. But at the mention of Red Hood's mission-obsessive tendencies, Hal seemed to hesitate. It was common knowledge the first Earth Lantern had an issue with Batman, mostly regarding the Gotham vigilante’s patronizing seriousness and intensity, which grated on his nerves. When the mission was on, the Red Hood was just as bad and he didn't appreciate perceived incompetence. He'd never seen Jason Todd relaxed. Kyle wasn't certain he was capable of it.

After a moment of consideration, Hal shook his head, his interest seeming to rally. “Let's set aside whether or not Guy and I are wasting our time and get down to the real nitty-gritty details. Like, does Jason Todd like men? Is he single? Which position does he like? How many dates with him does it take to get to fourth base? Will I have to fight Batman in a cage match for his honor, because I think I would be open to that.”

Kyle was fairly sure Hal had no chance in a cage match with Batman. He also had no idea why Hal thought Kyle could answer any of those questions. “Don't know. No idea. As far as I know, he's never really dated,” he answered.

Hal groaned and pulled his hands down his face with exaggerated frustration. “Ugh, dammit Kyle, you were supposed to be our fount of knowledge!”

“Well I don't know anything like that and even if I did it would be outdated information because this is a different universe,” Kyle reminded the man, trying not to get angry.

“So what can you tell us?” Guy asked, with an edge of impatience. “Anything at all. Favorite color, or favorite band, or hobbies or something.”

Kyle had to think because his most memorable experiences with Jason involved wanting to ring his neck the instant he opened his mouth. What he'd actually said had been secondary to how annoyed Kyle was the moment he looked into the man's handsomely brooding face.

“Um...I know he listens to the band Cheap Trick. It's really annoying,” Kyle revealed. “And he reads a lot, and quotes at you like a smartass. Also, you don't want to play poker with him because you will lose. Badly. Even if you think you're winning, you're actually not. By the end of the game, you will be broke”

Hal stared at Kyle in silence until the younger man began to feel self-conscious, eventually he said,  “Right. So now that we've established that Kyle knows absolutely nothing of value, who do you know that we can actually go to for information that would be something approximating useful?”

Kyle almost opened his mouth to protest, but then he remembered he'd never wanted any part in this to begin with and knowing nothing about Jason Todd was his ideal state of being. So instead he just answered, “The Bats, of course. But good luck with that, you know as well as I do that it's pulling teeth to get anything from those guys. He's really close with Arsenal and Starfire, too. They started a hero team in this universe, I also heard they might have been...involved in some way.”

Hal perked up, mouth spreading in a leer. “Like a threesome? Hot!”

“That explains why those two were around yesterday,” Guy remarked with narrowed eyes, drumming his fingers on his arm unhappily.

“I don't know, that's their business,” Kyle said with a shrug. “You could also ask Donna, I guess. She knew him when he was a kid, he was on her Teen Titans team. Apparently they were really close back then. Also the team members he's got now—Artemis of Bana-Migdhall and Bizarro. That's kind of it. He thinks the lone wolf lifestyle is cool or something.” Kyle snorted in derision. Todd was such an edgy idiot.

“Alright, well that's a place to start, I guess.” Raising a solemn hand to his chest, Hal humbly declared, “As much as I hate the guy, I will take one for the team. I will confront grouchy old Batman about why all his kids are such freaking hotties. How did the genes that produced his brooding goth ass produce such perfect specimens as Nightwing and Red Hood? This I will find out.”

Kyle couldn’t tell how serious Hal was being. “They didn't, Hal. All the bat kids are adopted.”

Hal's tut of sympathy, made it clear he thought Kyle was being naïve. “Sure they are. So while I'm focusing on that, Kyle is going to get us an in with his ex-girlfriend Donna. And Guy? You're going to hit up your fellow gingers Arsenal and Starfire.”

“No way, let's switch!” Guy protested, pointing at his face as he said, “Arsenal about gave me a black eye yesterday, he's not gonna talk to me.”

As Kyle was trying to figure out how he'd missed seeing Arsenal try to deck Guy Gardner, Hal batted an uninterested hand at Guy and said, “Figure it out. Unless you want to hunt down Artemis and Bizarro, but I've honestly never heard of either of them, so good luck.”

Guy grumbled but seemed to be resigned to his assigned.

“Wait a minute, why am I involved in this strategy?” Kyle asked as he realized Hal had casually involved him in his outrageous plans. “I'm not the one trying to get in Jason's pants here, leave me out of it.”

“Green Lantern solidarity, Kyle. We're in this together,” Hal said easily. He didn't seem to care that his statement was completely lacking in logic.

“I don't see how getting either of you laid has anything to do with Green Lantern solidarity,” Kyle argued.

Guy reached across the table and squeezed Kyle's shoulder, pinning him with his intense stare. “Friends-and-Family discount,” he reminded Kyle. “Are you a friend? Are you family? Because someone who was either would help a brother out.”

Fuck, Kyle thought vehemently. He might get a few credits off on drinks and appetizers, but apparently he was paying for it with freaking blood. Kyle wasn't sure this nonsense was worth a discount he only got to use on Oa at Guy’s admittedly pretty good bar which was the only establishment on the planet that served Earth cuisine.

But it was probably worth it for their friendship. It might be worth it for the laughs, too. And it would put him in a prime position to beat Jason senseless if he stomped on either of his friends’ hearts.

“Damn it, fine,” Kyle caved, as his fellow Lanterns grinned.

#Everyone Crushing on Jason AU #ECoJ 3 #fan fiction #fanfiction #Jay-Crazy #Chapter 3 #Jason Todd #Red hood #Kyle Rayner #Guy Gardner #Hal Jordan #Green Lantern #JayKyle #JayGuy #JayHal #crack treated seirously #AO3 #read on AO3 #dc comics #batman #fandom