#but like. you know what for all the people that argue how fanfic isn't 'real writing' nobody has that issue with fanart | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

withacapitalp · 1 year

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How come "books are books, shows are shows, do whatever you want w characters" doesn't apply to B*lly? Not trying to start drama, just genuinely want to understand. Is it because he's a bad guy I can't reshape him into something I'd like and ignore what's "canon?"

Oh boy Nonnie okay I'll try to be really clear but it probably won't come out super legible. I'm putting it under a read more because I don't wanna clog up my dash w a long explanation (which knowing me it's going to end up being) I also want to say that all of this is MY opinion. I'm no one's ultimate judge, I'm just a guy on the internet who writes stories.

All that to say, this is why I think that fundamentally the idea that Eddie's sexuality and Billy's racism can be manipulated in fandom on the same level is really flawed.

Overall I think that the point of fan fiction is personal enjoyment. Ultimately you're creating something with yourself as the audience in mind. If not, then I don't really get it. So, for you, maybe it can mean that. Do I personally agree? No, but I can't stop anyone from creating something and putting it online. That's the whole point of ao3, no bars, no barriers. When you start putting that kind of wall in place, a slippery slope starts to form, so even if I would never personally partake in some forms of fanfic, I get why it's important to have a place where any kind of fic can exist. Back button exists for a reason, block button exists for a reason, curate your own online experience.

I'm not gonna be the person who says like if you like Billy you're a garbage person, because like that just isn't true? The two aren't automatically associated. Do I think that people who want to erase that part of Billy should maybe examine that urge? Yeah, but I think we all need to look inside and see where systematic racism might make us think things are more acceptable than they should be. I also can't understand people who want to give Vecna a redemption arc, or the people who think Sn*pe was just misunderstood. Regardless, we're all works in progress, and 90% of people to me are capable of learning more and growing and seeing where they might be working with a bias. I know I definitely have my own too.

I personally just will not give him redemption of any form or reshape him, because to do so seems to be disrespectful from my point of view to real life people. I'm not a person of color, Billy's racism is at the forefront of his character, so for me to reshape that and erase it in a fanfic feels like I would be ignoring a serious thing and pretending like that never happened, when it exists in our society in a major way. There isn't a point where Billy's racism ever gets resolved. In fact, the whole thing gets dropped completely in s3 which seems like a really terrible oversight by the Duffers. It's used as a plot point when it was convenient, which is messy and wrong.

But All of that is just background to your real question here which I believe is this-

Why is it okay to change a character's sexuality, but not their bigotry?

For me, I don't really like to equate the two? I think that the idea that someone's sexuality is a 'flaw' that needs to be reshaped is kinda problematic, and we also don't actually know Eddie's sexuality. Everyone can say what they think till the cows come home, but at no point did we get 'Eddie is confirmed gay, straight, bi, etc. etc.' EVERY single interpretation of Eddie's sexuality is someone shaping canon as they see fit right now.

With Billy he is confirmed racist. He is 100% undoubtedly a racist. Not even someone who used to be racist who learned and repented. He was always racist and tried to commit a hate crime against Lucas (I would argue that he did, because holding a twelve year old up against a wall and threatening to kill them because they're black and they dared to want to get to know your sister feels like a hate crime to me) The only reason he didn't seriously hurt Lucas was the fact that Steve stepped in. That's it. He was going to assault a child for his race.

To compare ignoring that to playing with a character's sexuality feels....mm I just strongly don't agree. I don't exactly have words to explain, but I really don't.

I think there are things you can change about characters easily. You can change their sexualities, their ages, their genders, their backstories, but to fundamentally erase something like that just doesn't line up for me.

No call out here Nonnie, I appreciate that you wanted to ask and be open, but this is my question for people who want to change Billy that way- What is it about Billy that is so compelling that it feels necessary to change that part of him? Why is Billy the character you *need* to write for?

Jonathan is a fantastic big brother who has a ton of issues and was abused by his father. If you're having the hankering to try and examine a flawed big brother, he's right there.

Eddie is an outcast (and strongly implied that he comes from an abusive home) and if you're looking to try and write about that, he's right there.

Steve is the character that has actually GONE through the redemption people always try to give Billy. He said slurs and did bad things, and almost immediately went to make amends for them when he was able to acknowledge he did the wrong thing.

Billy never even apologized. He hadn't changed by the time he died, and no I don't think sacrificing himself was some major change. I think that a villain can be tragic without needing to retroactively make them a better person. Billy is a flawed and broken person. Yes that probably relates mostly to the way he was raised and the fact that his family was violent, but that doesn't excuse it. The Byers have an abusive home, and at no point does Jonathan act the way Billy does. I think they're really good foils to each other on what can happen with a big brother.

Anyways this was a really really long answer nonnie, but I hope I got it across why I really disagree with that stance. If anyone was offended or upset, know that wasn't my intenion, and feel free to let me know.

#tw racism #tw homophobia #tw abuse #tw child abuse #asks #anon #answered #I don't wanna tag him but also #yeah guys this is about B*lly #Anyways I was hesitant to answer this at all so #hopefully this doesn't bite me in the ass lol

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canonizzyhours · 4 months

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I wrote this long meta post this morning when I was supposed to be working in response to someone saying that they relate to Izzy because he's an outsider, but I deleted it because I realized that I don't care about Izzy, and there's no point in arguing with someone who will be like well that's just your opinion man. Out of all the crew, I care about Izzy the least. I missed Buttons more than I'll miss Izzy in S3. So I'm going to stop reading Izzy posts.

(Although I still maintain that if you see Izzy as the outsider character in Season One you're missing the whole point of his character in that season. Being disliked by your peers is not the same thing as being an outsider!)

But I have one final vent: I'm completely baffled by the canyon. Completely. After I finished the first season, my friend warned me that there were people in fandom who LOVED Izzy, and I was like lol wut. And even after reading all the canyon's meta and all their frankly unhinged tweets, I still don't get it.

Jar Izzy? Okay, I totally get that. Everyone loves a bad boy with issues. I'd be shocked if he didn't have some fans.

But canyon Izzy isn't even Izzy. I've seen them say over and over that Izzy is mentally ill, which is never presented in canon (yet they ignore Ed's very textual breakdown??? why don't they relate to Ed's mental illness???). They say he protects and cares about the crew - citation, please. Show me the scene where he protected anyone. They say that he was completely motivated by the thought that Stede and/or Ed was going to get them killed - aside from Izzy freaking out over the Spanish in 1x04, there's no evidence of that, either. Every character trait they like about canyon Izzy (secretly soft inside, a genius, a natural leader, creative, funny, really really ridiculously good looking, probably nice to kids) literally belongs to the character of Ed!

Then I see posts saying that they relate to Izzy because they're mean and no one likes them... yikes. Or I see them say that they relate to Izzy because they've loved someone who hasn't loved them back, but then why do they vilify the character their fave loves? They've been queer baited because Steddyhands was totally written into canon. Izzy was the only real disabled character. Izzy was the only real gay character. Izzy was the only one with a queer storyline - I guess Stede's entire storyline in Season One never happened?

And you know what, I could probably ignore all that. I could stop checking Tumblr. Hell, some of the Ed takes annoy me because they go too far in the opposite direction and call Izzy an evil mastermind; there are a lot of annoying posts on this site. But it bleeds into my first love: Modern AU Fanfic. Any time I click on a fic that pairs Izzy with anyone else it's more likely than not to portray Ed as violently insane or emotionally manipulative. It bums me out because I'm going to have to start filtering out more and more fic, and I'm going to miss out on some real gems just because it's also tagged Izzy Hands. But I don't know how much longer I can read fics where it turns out that Ed beats and tortures Izzy and only Izzy because they have a special connection, and Izzy gets with Lucius or Frenchie and Ed can't handle it because he can't deal with Izzy loving anyone but him, and Ed picks at Izzy and says terrible underhanded things about him, and everyone is secretly on Izzy's side. WHY ARE THERE EVEN SIDES???

Anyway, I blame Sherlock and discord.

#198.

#ofmd #izzy hands #fandom critical #canonizzyhours

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vermillioncrown · 1 year

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so, what's up with korvin's parents?

they're just normal people. they just have their circumstances and korvin doesn't want people putting their ignorant opinions on them.

but what's really up with korvin's parents? (+ a deeper discussion on my other fics, why the SI MCs are the way they are)

Getting Real™️ warning: reading this might provide context that turns you off my fics.

if you want to keep enjoying light-hearted snark as it is, don't read. if you read this, i request you do not come to me to argue a contrary interpretation of my writing. i know where my brain worms come from, please and thank you.

===

They are stated to be undocumented persons in chapter 1. They intentionally abandoned Korvin in the US. Korvin's reaction is he does not want anyone's judgment on the situation, because chances are it will be 'well-intentioned' but without context, kinda racist and classist, and he's an adult in a kid's body. He gets the kind of pressure that he, as a 'weird kid', as who should be his parents' first-born son to make it in America, would put on his parents. There are no other relatives here to help. They are too poor to be careful parents and do more than financially support their child, just barely. Mental health and superstition are greatly tied in Chinese culture, so he also squicks them with his 'unnaturalness'.

Their choice to leave him in the US is a far-shot hope that while they can't support their kid properly, he'd at least be to stay as a Dreamer and somehow make it.

And how do you begin to explain all that to someone? And better yet, how do you control the gut clenching reaction to someone's judgment of your situation when there was no good choice? What if someone accuses you and your parents of taking advantage of the US legal system, as if you're cockroaches that don't 'deserve' where you are right now?

It's better to never leave an opening for someone to judge. Or if someone has to say something, you just smile and nod, because you usually can't afford to say anything back to them.

I don't make this blatant in the fic because that's 1) insensitive 2) I don't want to deal with people's ACTUAL ignorant opinions 3) it's kinda meta and ingrained for me to be circumspect about this stuff, even if it makes up an essential part of Korvin.

===

It's cosmic comedy, I think, that I'm doing an application that needs me to submit a statement on my academic interests and diversity within my professional career. What is my past experience with that? What is my future intent? How has this impacted my goal to join academia?

I'm almost 30. And growing up somewhere metropolitan, moving all over the country, interacting with people of many walks of life and knowing there are many more I don't interact with...I've been through a roller coaster of perspectives what makes a person distinct. Their distinctness isn't just personality, even if personality isn't so flimsy that a different day will change someone so completely. Yet, we're all shaped by where we come from. Our background, culture, class, sex, environment, etc.

This might be rather obvious, but over the years I've read fic I find that it's a quality and philosophy that doesn't come across often. I'll focus just on SI and OC-insert fics since that's the most relevant. Perhaps it's the type of fics I read, perhaps it's the fandoms, perhaps it's the demographic, perhaps we have too much practice in accepting some Everybody who is Everybody as a baseline regardless of how well that Everyone resonates with us personally.

Of course, not every fic is written for every audience. And different people will always have different perspectives. But I want you to ponder these metrics: I've read fanfic since 2003. Non-stop. I would average 20-50k words a week as a preteen, and ramped up from there. SI and OC make a big portion of what I engage with because I find it a fascinating examination of canon material using an external force, or something like that. They also have the potential to be deeply developed super quickly because we, as amateur authors, really can't help putting a lot of ourselves without filter into our creations. It can lead to polarizing feelings over them because of that.

It's been twenty years, and I can count on one hand the number of SI and OC fics where I legitimately felt that I understood where this character came from and they make sense to me. The rest...some I understood where they came from in the same way I need to empathize with the people around me so that I don't offend them. As a kid and teen, that meant ostracization and bullying. As a professional, it means missing opportunities, also getting bullied, being sabotaged, being used and tossed away. I have to show sympathy, bend my brain to see what makes them 'them' and see how sensible it is for them so that I can survive and thrive.

Some I had to accept that we either lived in vastly different realities in which such a character is sensible, and that's just the world we live in; or they're just bonkers. We move on.

I am compelled to write because I want to explore something that I find has not been explored. If it was already done to my satisfaction? I have literally felt my interest dip like a video game health bar in that situation.

My MCs as SIs cannot be divorced from my background. Ostensibly, that's the square-shaped brain with the math and engineering, the ADHD, and the internal snark. But those traits don't exist in a vacuum. Luckily my interests aligned with my parents' hopes and dreams for me as poor immigrants to the US and I am the first to have an advanced degree since my family has been wiped through the Cultural Revolution; though they were lucky enough to be sponsored by an aunt that married a missionary.

The ADHD was undiagnosed because god forbid I had Problems, "What do you mean Vermillion has problems? She's so bright! She never has to study! She has so much potential!" I have a brother who has problems, and both culturally American and Chinese I have been trained to Not Have Problems because I'm supposed to keep the household together. Plus, we're poor. We can't afford that! We're poor, we have family problems, AND our child has mental issues? They already say enough shit about Chinese people, jeeze.

The internal snark--it does hurt a bit inside whenever I see the reaction to my brand of humor in my fics as if it's meant to be expressed to tell people off, mic drop, actions having no consequences. You know what that is? It's coping. It's also developing the social wherewithal to be circumspect because your livelihood depends on it. And beyond just me, the internal pressure of carrying my family's expectations and wanting to not make their sacrifices in vain--that doubles the risk.

No fucking way do I mouth off without thinking (not since I was actually eight, and learning ever since), and that's why my characters are the way they are. We see a spectrum of them: Zhu Yunxun that needs to put up a front to maintain societal privilege and also is lucky to be born with money and lineage; SI!Taiga with money, physical + mental advantages, gender on his side, and talent; Lan Wenhui born into lineage, physical advantages, privilege, and talent, but still a woman; and now...Korvin Kwan with only the advantage of youth and male privilege. I am a point of departure for each of these and despite whatever gains that have been made with these new lives, I know myself well enough and have been burned before that it's instinctual to not grow into that privilege as if you've always had it.

Zhu Yunxun needs to walk a delicate tightrope of politics and intrigue and is wildly windmilling in the air, even if they're staying on.

SI!Taiga is so baffling to the Clown Gang because he doesn't act like a typical cocksure talented sports boy.

Lan Wenhui...she has her convolutions to be revealed.

Korvin is perpetually at the end of his fucking rope (like, what's Bat-WIng-Guy gonna do? Kill him for swearing? It'd at least cut out the middlemen for child trafficking), and just managed to trust Dick and Babs. Now that he has some sort of solid ground beneath him, that's where we get the chapter 4 code switching and masking.

Actions, and speaking is an action, have consequences and my SIs are me. They live with that philosophy.

We see ten million and one characters that like to loudly and boldly declare themselves, with the implication that they truly believe everything they say matters and will make a difference. They will be heard!

There's no catharsis for those who need to keep it in, where catharsis isn't actually worth it.

You might think: well, that's just on you. You choose to internalize this, you choose to make your family your pressure, you choose to not speak up--

And then I would point out, again, that culture and background makes people. Being diaspora, it influences what I find socially important. And it's even more important because I grew up poor. There's a realm of difference between the professional and well-off Chinese diaspora vs the ones that had to cram in the slums of Chinatown. My family was luckily not at the tail end, but we were nothing like the well-off (I'm lucky that we've essentially achieved the vaunted American Dream, now). To us growing up like that, family was your support network. Regardless of how shitty they are, what they do, the cost of cutting them out was rarely worth it.

And now that I've gone into my professional life--I'm lucky enough that I've either made others think they can't talk shit to my face, or my poker face was strong enough to survive the utter bullshit I've heard told to me like it was the weather. I thank them for their time, and I do what I need to do to navigate the situation. Usually, I don't have the power to do much but survive, so I did. And now, I've reached a point where 1) times are changing 2) I'm niche and competent enough that people are too busy listening to what I have to say than condescend me 3) I can shut them down if they do 4) the field I'm working in values circumspection as a whole.

===

Anyways, this is probably a big bubble burst for my fics. I know a lot of people enjoy them for the funnies, but the funnies come from somewhere. I think I build compelling characters and interpersonal relationships because I work to ground them in reality and what I know and have learned through my own experiences and needing to empathize with others.

My writing is my catharsis. Every time I'm able to resonate with someone out there, I'm happy if someone completely different from me can understand, and I'm even happier if I make another person like me feel seen.

Anyways, that's my kinda intense and sad TED talk, I need to go back to writing my application statement.

#opinionated verm #redglyphs #on tpac #on dbd #on bil #on larb

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rose-sophia-isabella-rogers · 11 months

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A Tale of Stolen Hearts: Chapter I - How Stealing One Thing Led You to More Than You Bargained for

Summary: You meet General Aleksander Kirigan in an unusual circumstances. You steal something from him. To get out of this mess, you're forced to travel with him all the way to Fjerda. You don't take a liking to each other, but you become stuck with each other for some time. During these weeks, you slowly start to understand each other more… and feel something. Together, you face many dangers but you prevail. But will you succeed in your mission? And will your fragile heart survive the closeness of one handsome General of the Second Army?

A/N: I have returned! With the promised fanfic about General KiriganxReader. It took me longer than I thought, but I had a lot of distractions. But it is here now and I really hope you will like it. Happy reading! As usual, I don't own anything from "Shadow and Bone". Also, remember I didn't read the books (yet?). And English isn't my first language, so if you see some mistakes, let me know.

Chapter Summary: What happens when you steal from the most powerful man in Ravka?

Pairing: Aleksander Kirigan/Reader

Characters: Aleksander Kirigan, Reader

Word Count: 3936

A/N: Inspired by prompts: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089550833/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533161/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533260/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533275/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533209/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533284/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089550815/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533242/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089533271/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089554932/

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed):

@budugu

@intothesoul

@mizelophsun11

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy

@zeeader

It's night. Caryeva is mostly deserted. Darkness holds the city in its hold and does not want to let it go. It's perfect time for various of criminals and people with dark intentions to walk the streets. Since this is exactly what you're doing, does that make you a bad person? You'd argue about it.

Shadows are your friends. You feel more at ease in them than in the light. Easier to hide, easier to disappear. But you don't think you're a bad person. But you know you're not a good person either. However, the guy that suddenly shows up next to you probably is.

'Money or your life?' he snarls, pressing the gun in his hand to the side of your head. You laugh.

'Bold of you to assume that I want to live,' you say. 'And that I have money.'

The man looks at you, confused. You turn your head. Moonlight shines on your face. The man looks at you, horrified. You sigh inwardly.

Here we go…

'Miss Elizabeth [L/N]!' the man stutters and pulls away the gun from you. You stop yourself from sighing for real. This situation? It's not the first time.

You often get mistaken for your twin sister. It never used to bother you, but now that she's become the most dangerous crime boss in the city it's starting to get awkward. But sometimes, like tonight, it can be useful.

'Scram,' you say to the man, your eyes ice cold. The man is gone in a second. You sigh heavily and continue on your way. You stop a few minutes later in front of one of the bars. You enter it and at once are attacked by sounds and smell of alcohol.

'From all the places…' you say, scrunching your nose. You take a deep breath and get into the crowd of drunk people. Every hand that gets near you gets immediately slapped. Finally, you reach a table occupied by one man. His hair is blonde, eyes are blue and his smile is dazzling.

'Hey, [Y/N],' he says and gets up to greet you with a kiss on the cheek. 'Glad you could make it.'

'I did, Dominic, but next time please pick a different venue,' you ask, looking around you with disgust. 'This place is horrible.'

'Trust me, it's still not the worst place I could think off,' Dominic says, grinning. 'What's your poison?'

'You know very well I'm not here for drinks,' you say, giving him a look. Dominic sighs and raises his hands in surrender.

'Fine, fine,' he says and sighs. 'Sometimes you're not fun at all.'

'You know I'm in a hurry,' you say. 'So? What do you have for me?'

Dominic's eyes shine. He grins.

'Oh, you're gonna love it,' he says. 'Do you know who have arrived to our city? Grisha. And not just any Grisha. They are from the Little Palace.'

'Are they having something valuable with them?' you ask. Dominic nods.

'Some very important pendant,' he answers. 'Apparently, a Saint gave it to one of the Grisha. Don't ask me which Saint and which Grisha, I didn't listen. I hear only words: important, pendant, expensive.'

'I hope you also heard where it is being held,' you say. Dominic presses a hand to his chest in a mock offense.

'Have I ever failed you?' he asks. You raise your eyebrow at him.

'Do you really want me to answer that question?' you ask. Dominic is silent for a moment.

'Fair enough,' he says finally, shrugging. 'So? Did I meet your expectations?'

'I'll tell you once I get this pendant,' you answer. 'Tell me what I need to know.'

'The Grisha are staying in our very fancy hotel,' Dominic says.

'I feel for them,' you say.

'Yeah, I know. Anyway, the pendant is in a room 222.'

'Doesn't sound fancy.'

'Did you expect more from our hotel? The pendant should be kept in a drawer. I think it was next to the bed.'

'You think?'

'Yeah. Also, there's some party tomorrow night and all Grisha from the hotel are going to be there. I'd say it's a perfect for a little theft.'

'I say. Well done. Just tell me one thing. Did you gather all of that information while having sex?'

'Why do you think that?'

'By the lack of some information. It sounds like you were… preoccupied to remember them.'

'… I won't deny nor confirm it.'

'… You're such a dork. Thanks for it.'

'Yeah, no problem. Good luck with that… and that other thing.'

Dominic looks at you with compassion. You stare at him for a moment. You force a smile.

'Thanks,' you say and stand up. You pay him for his trouble and hurry out of the bar. No need to stay there longer than necessary. Once outside, you breath in the fresh air. Or at least fresher.

'Hello, lady,' a drunk man says, staggering toward you. 'Are you up for some fun?'

'Not tonight, sorry,' you answer, scaring him with a knife to his throat, and grin. 'But tomorrow… tomorrow is gonna be full of fun.'

You watch the hotel from the shadows. After a few minutes you walk to the back door and open it using your tools. You hear a click and smirk. You open the door and sneak inside. After locking the door behind you, you look around. You hear voices of the hotel service but they're far away. No one is around.

You take off your coat, revealing clothes of hotel service. You hide your coat, straighten up and walk forward, acting like you belong here. A moment later you're between the staff. You bump into someone.

'Oh, sorry,' you apologise and continue on your way. And just like that you have keys to hotel rooms. You quickly grab some hotel cart with cleaning supplies and make your way to an elevator. You press the button for floor number two and wait. Soon the door opens and you step outside.

You look around the corridor and head toward room 222. After finding it, you use the keys you snatched and open the door. You enter it and cautiously look around. But like Dominic said, no one is inside.

'Perfect,' you murmur and push the cart inside, then close the door behind you. 'Now, if I were to stash something valuable, where would I hide it?'

You leave the cart by the door and start snooping around. Remembering Dominic said the pendant is probably in a drawer next to bed, you head toward it. The room is nothing fancy, same as the bed. There's a cupboard next to it with three drawers. All of which are locked.

'Do I have the key or do I not have the key?' you murmur to yourself, checking the keys. 'Of course, I don't. The fun way, then.'

You take out your tools and start working on the locks on the drawers. Soon you're checking them one by one. No pendant in any of them. You sigh and look around the room, searching for any more furniture with drawers. Your eyes fall on a chest of drawers at the other end of the room.

'Let's try this one,' you say and hurry to the piece furniture. You unlock the drawers with your tools and start checking their contents. In the third one you find a black box that could be used to put a piece of jewellery inside it. You open it… and you find a gorgeous pendant inside.

'Hello, my friend,' you say, grinning. You take the pendant out of the box. You close the box and put it back in the drawer. Then, you quickly lock all the drawers back. You hurry to the cart and stash the pendant among the cleaning supplies. You grab the cart and leave the room. You lock it with stolen keys and walk away. You're almost at the at of the corridor when three men turn to corner.

They're wearing keftas so you know at once they're Grisha. You don't know what made them to return early. You don't wonder about it. You just drop your head and walk past them. None of them pays you any mind. You turn the corner and wait a moment. Then, you look back carefully. Sure enough, the three Grisha enter the room 222. Because life's never easy, is it? And when something can happen, it does.

You grab the cart tightly and walk toward the elevator, praying they won't check the drawer with the box right away. Or the box. You enter the elevator and ride down. You walk past hotel service to the corridor with the back entrance. You leave the cart and drop the keys there, while taking the pendant with you. You find your coat and hurry to the exit, hearing someone's coming. You unlock the door and dash outside.

You don't breathe with relief yet. You're still too close. You tie your coat tightly around yourself and walk away from the hotel. You don't walk fast, so not to draw any attention to yourself. But you're also don't walk too slow, wanting to be as far away from the hotel as fast as possible.

A few minutes later you came across carriage waiting to pick someone up. You walk to the coachman and hand him some coins.

'Where to, miss?' the man asks.

'To the pub "Lady Luck",' you answer.

'Not sure if it's a place for such nice lady,' the man says and shrugs. 'But it's your money.'

You enter the carriage and close the door. A second later you start driving. You reach into your pocked and take out the pendant. You smirk.

'Who said I'm a nice lady?' you ask and hide your loot. You relax and wait to reach your destination. Finally, fate is smiling at you.

It's been a few days since your little theft. You return to your small apartment in the middle of the night. You're in the good mood as everything is going according to your plan. A few more days and you're going to leave this city and start your mission.

You unlock the door and enter, humming a soft melody. You close the door behind you and at once you realise something's wrong. You know it's night and it's supposed to be dark in your apartment, but there's something off about this darkness. It's too… thick. Too dark.

'Did you really think you could steal from me and get away with it?' a voice asks and a figure comes out of the shadow. You stiffen and reach for a knife hidden in your sleeve. The man looks familiar but you can't place where have you seen him.

'I'm afraid you broke into a wrong apartment, sir,' you say. The man glares at you.

'Don't play dumb,' he says. 'We both know you're the one who stole a pendant from me.'

Ah, now it clicks. He was one of the Grisha you passed in the hotel. Still, you're not going down that easily.

'Doesn't ring any bell,' you say, shaking your head. 'Could you leave my apartment, sir?'

'Really?' the man hums and picks up a book from the table. He opens it and points at the library stamp. Ah. To be honest, you forgot about stealing that book.

'Are you really going to tell me you're not a thief?' the man asks. You put your hands behind your back, carefully taking out your knife.

'I'm not a thief,' you deny innocently. 'I'm just really good at acquiring things that aren't mine.'

The man scoffs. He walks closer to you. You stand still, showing him he doesn't scare you.

'You're not as smart as you think,' he says.

'I beg to disagree,' you say. 'Anyway, why do you think I'm the one who stole that pendant of yours? Plenty of thieves in Caryeva.'

'It took some time to find you, I admit,' the man says. 'But when I asked questions, no one would dare to lie to me. Everyone I talked to said you're the only one who would dare to steal from me.'

You blink and stare at him. That's all? You have no idea who that man is. You stole the pendant because it was valuable. Not because you're the only one who'd dare it. He has to try harder than that.

'And…?' you ask. 'Any other leads on me? Because, sorry, sunshine, but I have no idea why stealing from you would be so outrageous.'

'You really have no idea who I am?' the man asks, frowning slightly.

'You'd think the confused look and blank stare would have answered that for you,' you answer. The man stares at you. You stare back. Were it different circumstances, you'd call him handsome. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark beard, dark clothes. It gives him the air of mystery. But he's in your apartment and is not happy you've stolen from him. Oh, well.

'Where is it?' he asks.

'I don't know,' you answer, shrugging. 'I didn't steal it.'

'Very well,' the man says after a moment of silence. 'If you really want to keep insisting.'

Before you can even move, you feel something grabbing your arms and pulling them up, causing you to drop my knife. Yes. Something. You look up and see… shadows? Another one grabs your throat and squeezes it. You look at the man and see his hands close to each other. Ooooh… Now you know who he is.

'I will ask again,' General Kirigan says, slowly walking to you. 'Where is my pendant?'

'Hard to say… when you choke… me…' you manage to say. Instead of letting go, shadow squeezes your throat tighter.

'Will you tell me where you hid it?' the Darkling asks. You stare at him defiantly. Shadow chokes you harder.

'Think if it's really worth your life,' the Black General says. You clench your teeth. Shadow holds your neck even tighter. You start to see spots. You're going to pass out in a minute…

'I'd appreciate it if you let go of my sister, kind sir,' you hear a familiar voice. General whirls around. At once the apartment is flooded with light. You see your darling sister with her always present guard that consists of at least ten muscly men.

'I am not kind,' Kirigan says. 'And if she wants me to let go, she has to tell me where my pendant is.'

'I don't… need your… help…' you choke out, glaring at your twin sister. Elizabeth gives you a dubious look. Then, she turns her eyes to Kirigan.

'Let go of my sister,' she demands. Darkness seems to become even more thicker.

'Don't you know who I am?' the Darkling asks. You can hear anger in his voice.

'Yup. I just don't care,' your sister answers. You'd snort if you could.

'General, there's no need for this hostility,' Elizabeth says. 'I'm sure we can work something out.'

'Oh, really?' Kirigan asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm. But your sister smiles in that way you hate. There's that glint in her eyes that she means she knows much more than the person she's talking to.

'Yes,' she answers. 'Because I know why you've arrived to Caryeva. And I may know the solution to your problem.'

The hold on you lessens a little, letting you know General is intrigued. Your sister looks at him meaningly. He sighs but the shadows let go of you, dropping you on the floor. You groan and stand up, sending glares at your sister and the Darkling.

'Now, let's talk like civilised people,' your sister says, sitting herself behind your desk. 'My name is Elizabeth [L/N].'

'Ah, the uncrowned queen of Caryeva,' the Black General says.

'Give her a few more years,' you murmur and cross your arms at your chest. 'And yes, sister, you can sit there, no problem.'

'Thank you, hon,' your sister says, smiling at you. You scoff and stand next to General in front of the desk. Your sister forms her hands in a pyramid. She has now her 'business look' on.

'Now, let's chat,' she says. 'I've heard the rumours about Fjerdans' new invention.'

'The one that allows to neutralise Grisha?' you ask. Your sister and General look at you.

'You know about it?' Elizabeth asks.

'Please,' you say, rolling your eyes. 'I'm one of the first to now about new things. Why does that matter? That thing?'

'It's a threat to all Grisha,' your sister says and turns her gaze to the Darkling. 'And General Kirigan wants to take it from Fjerdans and make sure they will never invent it again.'

'I still fail to see how could you help me with that,' Kirigan says to Elizabeth.

'Me? Oh, no,' your sister says, shaking your head, and smirks at you. 'But my sister can.'

'What?' General asks.

'Huh?' you ask at the same time, surprised. 'No, I can't.'

'You can and you will work with General Kirigan,' your sister says, giving you a hard stare.

'What do you mean "work with him"?' you ask, astonished. 'He tried to kill me!'

'And you stole from me,' General says, glaring at you. 'Where's my pendant?'

'I already sold it,' you answer smugly.

'You…' General growls, taking a step toward you. Your sister clears her throat.

'No killing, please,' she says. 'We can make it beneficial for all of us.'

'How so?' Kirigan asks, crossing his arms.

'My sister is the best thief there is,' Elizabeth says and smirks. 'She did, after all, managed to steal from you.'

You smile smugly. General glares at your sister.

'And in return I'd forget she stole from me?' he scoffs. 'Or is there something else?'

'I want nothing from you,' you snort.

'Yes, you do,' your sister says and gives you a pointed look. 'The invention is in Fjerda after all.'

You shoot your sister a warning look. Your sister ignores you.

'My sister is going to Fjerda anyway,' she says. 'Help her get there and maybe deal with her stuff and she will get the device for you.'

'I will not!' you protest angrily. 'And don't order me around!'

'What business do you have in Fjerda?' the Darkling asks, frowning slightly.

'Her friend was taken by Fjerdans,' Elizabeth answers. 'She's about to be put to trial. And then killed.'

'She's a Grisha?' General asks.

'No,' you deny fiercely. 'She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Fjerdans assumed she's the Grisha that was responsible for an attack of their forces. But it wasn't her. She's human.'

'Are you sure of that?' Kirigan asks, raising his eyebrows. You glare at him.

'Yes,' you say through clenched teeth. 'The Grisha that really attack them was a coward and didn't come forward. But I know who it was. She's innocent. And she's going to die along with other Grisha that were taken with her.'

'That's actually why she stole your pendant,' your sister explains. 'She needs the money to get to Fjerda and get her out. Even though she could just ask me for money.'

'I don't need your charity,' you spat. General looks at you for a minute.

'Very well,' he says, surprising you. 'I accept this.'

'What?' you ask, dumbfounded. Your sister smiles.

'Excellent,' she says. 'I will feel so much better knowing she's not travelling alone. She loves to get into troubles, this one.'

'One more word…' you growl and look with suspicion at the Darkling. 'Why do you agree?'

'I do need someone to steal that invention from Fjerdans,' Kirigan sighs. 'And I don't like leaving Grisha in need. So, this is something I can help you with.'

You fight with yourself. You don't want to work with him. But it would be useful to have him with you to save your friend…

'Fine!' you finally spat and walk to the front door. 'I will do it!'

'I didn't catch your name,' the Black General calls after you. You look over your shoulder.

'I didn't throw it,' you say and leave your apartment. Your sister shakes her head.

'[Y/N],' she says. 'Her name is [Y/N].'

'[Y/N],' General repeats. 'Can't wait to work with her.'

You enter the basement of the building. Only you're allowed to enter here, you bought that right from the landlord. You light up the room and are greeted with a sight of knifes of all kinds.

'You know, normal people don't have a basement full of weapons,' you hear behind you. You sigh internally and turn to face General Kirigan. He's leaning on the doorframe, his legs and arms crossed.

'I'll have you know that every single one of these knives saved my life at least once,' you say.

'What about that gun over there?' Kirigan asks, pointing with his head. You turn and your eyes fall on an old gun.

'Oh, that?' you ask. 'That's just for decoration. But you may be right.'

You walk to a wall and open a secret storage. You take out a simple gun from it and attach it to your hip.

'I may need a gun,' you admit and start picking out knives. 'When are we leaving?'

'Tomorrow would be ideal,' Kirigan answers. 'Will you be ready?'

'I was going to leave tomorrow or soon anyway,' you answer, shrugging.

'Good,' General says and walks toward you, putting his hands behind his back. 'Now, I think we need to establish some rules. Just to make sure we're on the same page.'

'Page?' you scoff. 'We're not even in the same library!'

Kirigan exhales through his nose slowly. You seem to really annoy him.

'Look, we don't have to like each other,' he snaps. 'But we're going to be stuck with each other for the next weeks, so we have to learn to tolerate each other.'

'Don't send your shadows on me and we're going to be fine,' you say, crossing your arms.

'As long as you don't steal from me,' Kirigan says, also crossing his arms.

'Fine,' you say, shrugging.

'Fine,' Kirigan snaps. You glare at each other. After a moment the Darkling runs a hand through his face, sighing.

'I know you don't really want it… but your sister may be right,' he says. 'We can help each other out.'

'I know,' you say. 'It doesn't mean I have to like it.'

You stare at each other for a moment. General walks closer to you. You have to look up to meet his gaze.

'Trust me, I don't like it either,' he says, looking at you with disdain. 'I'm not happy to work with a thief.'

'And yet I'm sure I still have more honour than you,' you say, glaring at him. His lips curl upward in amusement.

'Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, little thief,' he says. In a second the gun is in your hand. You point it at his face. He stares at the barrel of your gun and smiles.

'Do it,' he says. After a tense minute you lower your gun.

'I won't give you the satisfaction,' you say. Kirigan chuckles quietly and walks to the door.

'I expect you at the entrance to the hotel in the morning,' he says. 'I hope you know the way?'

He sends you a smirk over his shoulder. Oh, you want to strangle him so hard!

'I'll be there,' you say flatly. Kirigan nods and leaves the basement. You huff and cross your arms.

'I hate you, Elizabeth,' you murmur. 'How could you get me into this mess?'

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts! Reblog, like and comment if you could.

This can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47256868/chapters/119072821

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ourdreamsareneon · 5 days

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it's crazy the level of discourse there is about antis/pros and how teenagers just devolve into purity culture so quick. I'm sure I used to be like that, but somewhere between dating gang members and reading copious amounts of philosophy the world became a lot more gray to me when I entered my twenties and I've realised three things that I think are important for teenagers to know:

To quote my favourite childhood book series: "People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict." Sure, going to car meets, selling drugs, drunk driving, stealing cars, playing chicken with cops are all examples of bad things that you shouldn't do but am I going to sit in my lovers bed and tell him that this life he was born into that saw all his friends die in drive bys and that saw his own dad pull a gun on him when he was a kid makes him a shitty person? Even though I can see all of the good in him, and can tell he doesn't want to do this, I should ignore it and focus on the negatitives? We have all done bad things, we all do bad things, and we all will do bad things. It doesn't make you a bad person.

Purity culture hurts everyone. There's a great book about this called the History of Sexuality that delves into how purity culture and the censorship of sex is at its essence the capitalist authority controlling the means of reproduction. At large scale 'pray the gay away' and 'contraception is a sin' make it so that men and women couple up more (instead of same sex coupling) and have unprotected sex. On a smaller scale 'AO3 is evil because it has pedos' and 'watersports is the grossest thing ever' do the job of the capitalist authority on a more digestible level. Us vs Them no longer is 'alt right vs communism' they use your words to make it 'pure good hobest people vs pedos who like piss play.' you are making bullets for your enemy and handing them your own damn gun. I promised I wouldn't make this whole post this one point tee hee sorry if you want me to elaborate just ask lol

Fetish ≠ real world experience. I'll build my own pyre as an example: I love me some good CNC (consensual non-consent) in my fanfics but in real life sex I have a praise kink so bad I have cried during sex multiple times. I am into tooth rotting sweet stuff and the kindest people in the world in real life. The media you consume 1000% has an effect on you, I'm not arguing that. I am however arguing that if you have media literacy and know what media is and is not harmful to you, it shouldn't effect your real life drastically unless you have other shit going on. I know this is rich coming from the "I have dated people in gangs" guy because that may show what kinda guy I'm into but prommy that's not a sexual attraction thing, it's 100% a lifestyle thing that again I will elaborate on if you want. Point being, porn ≠ reality and what gets that blood flowing isn't necessarily a reflection of how good or bad you are (ofc there are kinds of porn that are bad but that's beside the point and a very complicated thing for me to type while I'm this sleepy)

thank you for coming to my ted talk. pls I am begging on my knees for people to stop having black and white world views but i also know that's just a product of being a teen so if you are a teen pls! go out there and! consume media from different cultures and people with different lives to you! the world is at its best when it is wide!!! and full of love <3

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dib-thing-wannabe · 6 months

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The Evil and The Genius

Chapter Two: Unexpected Outcome

<<<previous

(In this fanfic, Evil Jimmy is mainly referred to as either Jack or Jackson.)

It has been around an hour since Jimmy Neutron and his evil clone, who has just been renamed Jack, have made the agreement that Jimmy would try and reform him, who has already proven to be a pain about the process, despite being the one to have originally thought of the idea in the first place. They have barely even started it, just discussing the rules that Jack would have to follow for, at the very least, the beginning of his reformation.

"C'mon, you can't just take away all the fun stuff, Whippy-Dip! That isn't fair!" Jack whined after they had just finished going over his ruleset.

"Is it fun, or is it dangerous? Because most of what we have discussed was mainly about the safety of you and others." Jimmy said to him, already getting tired of his behavior. He knew that it was a mistake to agree with this plan right from the start, but there really wasn't any other choice to choose from.

"Pfft- Same thing!" Jack scoffed, as if Jimmy was being unreasonable with his statements.

Jimmy sighed as he rubbed his furrowed eyebrows to try and soothe himself as Jack continued to be a pain. "Oooh, will I feel bad for whoever will end up living with you in the future, whether you've changed your ways or not." He mumbled to himself as he slowly shook his head. "Speaking of that, I feel compelled to ask about your living situation currently. Where are you currently staying and sleeping, since you have been here for at least a full 24 hours."

"Huh? Um.. please specify what you mean by that." Jack said awkwardly, feeling stupid about not understanding what he meant.

"I mean, where have you stayed at ever since you got back? Where do you live?"

"Oh, nowhere, really. I've only been here since yesterday, and last night I just slept on one of the roofs in the town." Jack said casually to him as he laid back on the couch in Jimmy's lab, holding his hands behind his head.

"R-really??" Jimmy questioned him, as if he didn't hear him correctly. "Well, if that's true, then we need to change that. Can't just have you homeless at this time." Of course, he meant what he said. If they were as to attempt to give him better morals, they cannot risk him being in a situation where his mental health could lower at all. Not only that, but it's also easier to keep an eye on him if there was a general area that he lives in at and not constantly moving, like he would need to if he didn't have a real roof over his head.

"Alright then, cool. How about I just build myself my own place?" Jack said, still laying down.

"I would say that, buuuut you cannot be trusted to do things like that just yet. I know that you'll add a few rooms that you would use yet shouldn't use if you were to make a house of your own." Jimmy said, turning his back from Jack as he looked at the lab. He really needs to clean this place soon, maybe he should make a cleaning robot once he gets the chance to.

Jack groaned at his statement, yet can't argue against it, as that was his exact plan. "Fine. You make the house then."

"I would have already suggested that if I was able to. I truly am low on all materials to make anything from scratch, so I cannot do that for you at the moment." He told him in an annoyed tone. His current annoyance wasn't necessarily because of Jack in this case, it was just in general.

Jack groaned louder at this as he sat back up. "Then what should I do?! It's not like I have any money to buy one!.." He then got a sly grin on his face as he looked to the side. ".. Unless I rob someone who has a ton of mon-"

Jimmy cut him off by smacking the back of his head. "Ow!" "No, you cannot rob people! That's one of the most simple laws that you know not to do! Besides, considering both your reputation and, more importantly, your age, no one would sell you a house anyways."

"Alright, alright! But seriously, what am I meant to do then?" Jack huffed as he crossed his arms, frustrated that his plan of fooling everyone ended up being harder than he thought it would be.

"I honestly don't know.. but I do have an idea." Jimmy told him, pulling out a flip phone from his pocket. "Maybe if I inform my mom about the current situation, she will be willing to give me the amount of money for me to be able to make you a place of your own!"

Jack chuckled as he heard Jimmy mention his mom. "Awww, is someone calling their mommy for some help?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes as he got belittled by Jack, dialing his home phone number into the phone. "Shut it, Jackson."

*Riiing* *Riiing* *Riiing*

As the home phone rang, Jack started getting closer to both Jimmy and the phone, as if to listen in on the conversation. "Jack, back away right now-" "No, I wanna hear what she's gonnasay." "Still, no need to be so close to me. Back UP-" "NO-"

"It's taking a while for her to answer the phone.." Jimmy thought to himself as he tried to push Jack away from him. "I can only hope that it's not who I think it is that's going to end up answering the phone."

After a few more rings on the phone, Jimmy heard the house phone being picked up. Instead of his mom though, he ended up hearing his dad's voice on the other end. "Hello? Helloooo? Who's there?" His father Hugh asked through the phone.

"Fuck, not him-" Jimmy muttered quietly yet quickly away from the phone as he realized that it was his dad, not wanting his dad to hear him curse. Jack, taken aback by his sudden cursing, started laughing as Jimmy continued to try and push him away.

"Heeeey dad! Say, is mom over there right now? If so, please hand the phone over to her for me!" Jimmy asked, trying to sound as normal as possible, though there's hints of nervousness in his voice as he gotten worried that Hugh might hear his clone in the background.

"No can do, Jimbo! Your mother just went to go buy some groceries! Say, maybe I could call her and ask her to grab some pie while she's at the store.." His dad answered in his normal cheerful tone, seemingly not hearing anything that Jimmy doesn't want him to hear on their end.

Jimmy sighed out of annoyance and frustration. Hugh usually comes up with a completely different and ridiculous plan then Jimmy's whenever he asks him for help, and it can get difficult to get him to listen at first. But considering that it's involving a villain this time, or rather a 'recovering' villain, it wouldn't hurt to just ask him this time instead of calling his mom's phone, right?

"Whatever, you'll do for now then. To put it bluntly, I need a lot of money. Right now." Jimmy told him.

"What? Why do you need a ton of money, Jimmy? Ohh wait, I think I know! You need money to buy some plastic blue flamingos, right?" Hugh said happily, as if his guess was correct.

Jimmy pulled a face of confusion before shaking his head quickly as Jack snickered at Hugh's terrible guess. "Um- No, dad. I need it to build a house."

"Oh? Jimmy, aren't you a bit young to be moving out? I'm not sure that your mother will be happy about you leaving so soon."

"Well, you see... it's not for me. Let's see, how do I explain it.. do you remember the clones that I made? And how one of them was evil and tried to erase the entire world by making an evil version of it? Yeah. He's back." Jimmy told him in a professional manner.

"Heeeeey!" Jack said into the phone smugly.

"Quiet." Jimmy told him, shushing him with his finger. "Anyways, he ended up escaping the dark matter dimension, but I have a plan for him. I am going to be making an attempt to reform him from a villain. He is now going by the name Jack rather than Evil Jimmy so that it's not only easier to differentiate between us, it's also the start of the process of making him into a better person. Since, y'know, evil isn't in his first name anymore?"

After a second of silence on Hugh's end, he spoke up, not having a single change in his tone of voice. "Aaah, I see, you need to build a house for the clone! Oh, Jack's his new name, you said?"

Jimmy softly smiled, believing that the plan was going to work fully as intended, despite it being discussed with his father instead of his much more rational mother. "Mhm, that's correct! And since he doesn't really have a place to stay at in this current moment, I need to make one for him. So please, can you-"

"Wait Jimbo! I think I have a better idea!" Hugh said, cutting Jimmy off. Jimmy only responded with a groan as he waited for his dad to continue speaking.

"How about you just bring him over here, so that I can see for myself if my idea really is better than your current one, Jimbo?"

This caused Jimmy and Jack to simultaneously raise an eyebrow in confusion and intrigue as they glanced at each other and then back at the phone. ".. Allllright then. Anything else, dad?" Jimmy said with a skeptical tone.

"Nope, that'll be all that I need. Just bring him over quickly! I'll be in the living room waiting for you two! Bye bye!" Hugh told him before hanging up.

"... Sooo.. do we just mindlessly go to him now?" Jack said while looking to Jimmy, still trying to figure out what his plan could possibly be.

"Might as well. Besides, going to meet with him will most likely be the only way to further convince him to give us the money if we prove that whatever his idea is, it's worse than our original one." Jimmy responded as he grabbed Jacks wrist and started walking out of the lab. Honestly, he's just happy that his father is at least trying to test his idea out before doing it. Means that he's learning his place when it came to intelligence.

"Do you really have to drag me to him though?? I do have a few of your memories as your clone, so I know how to get there-" Jack asked Jimmy once they exited the lab.

"It's not that I don't trust that you can't get there yourself, it's that I don't trust you to not run off." He responded, still dragging him towards his living room. Jack mumbled something under his breath about it, but other than that he didn't retaliate against it.

"Dad, we're here!" Jimmy yelled out as he walked through the back door, with Jack in tow behind him. "Now can you please tell us what this 'plan' of yours is?"

"Ah, Jimbo! You two got here quicker than I thought you would!" Hugh said, peaking his head around the corner. "Now, come here.. Jake?"

"It's Jack. Or Jackson, if you prefer." He responded as he walked up to Hugh, still confused about what he was planning but more intrigued than anything.

Gently, Hugh grabbed Jack's face and examined it, as if to check for any marks that he might have gotten from being in the dark matter dimension. Though Jack's face and body language didn't change from his usual prideful and smug look, Jimmy could tell that he strangely liked the way Hugh gently held his face due to his eyes slightly dilating when he grabbed it.

"Hmm... good, good.. Now, tell me, how willing are you about the idea of becoming a better person, Jack?" Hugh asked him after a few seconds of silence.

"How willing am I? Well, considering that I was the one who proposed the idea in the first place, it's safe for me to say that I am infact very willing to do this." Jack answered, glancing over at Jimmy to see if he had any ideas about what his dad was planning yet.

"I can also reassure you that he isn't lying when he says that. He was, infact, the reason the idea was even brought up at all." Jimmy added, walking up to the both of them.

"Oh really? Well, does that mean that you won't be breaking anything, stealing anything, and overall nothing harmful to anyone or anything?" Hugh asked him again, still having a cheerful tone.

"I cannot guarantee that I wouldn't end up doing any of those things, but I definitely can say that I will try to the best of my abilities not to." Jack responded, basically trying to tell him that he probably would end up doing it often without actually saying it. This caused Jimmy to give him a stern and annoyed look, as he could tell what he meant by his words, yet didn't say anything.

Hugh clapped his hands together, looking pleased with both himself and Jack. "Well, that settles it then!"

The two young geniuses gave each other the exact same confused look before unintentionally looking up at Hugh in sync, which make him chuckle as he watched them mirror each other.

"What settles it?" Jack asked, slightly tilting his head as he continued to look up at him.

"Are you referring to whatever your idea is?" Jimmy also asked him. "You haven't even told either of us what it was in the first place."

"Ah right, I didn't! Well, as you know, Jimbo, we recently did some spring cleaning and realized that we had just way too much space then we really needed!" Hugh started explaining to the two. "So, instead of just spending all that money on building an entire place for good ol' Jambo here.." He motioned towards Jack as he says this.

Jimmy and Jack continued to look up at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Jimmy glanced over at Jack, who had an extremely confused look. He was just barely used to his new name, nonetheless having a nickname based on it. Didn't help that the one he decided to give him just sounded so, so dumb. This made Jimmy start audibly struggle not to laugh, eventually having to cover his mouth to try and avoid laughing loudly as Jack side-eyed him, even though he himself began to struggle on not laughing.

"I thought that we can just have him live with us!" Hugh said excitedly, clapping his hands together again.

"What." They both collectively said immediately after, completely stopping their laughter. Jack's voice was filled with confusion while Jimmy's was filled with shock.

"Yeah! It'll help save a ton of money, and we have plenty of room for it to work for everyone involved!" Hugh told them, seemingly looking brightly into this supposed future.

"D-Dad, I don't- I don't think that we should do something like that! You haven't even told mom about it to see if she agrees with it!-" Jimmy objected, trying to convince his dad otherwise about his plan. Jack was already a giant pain in his backside just from this small amount of interaction alone, he doesn't think that he would be able to handle it if he had to deal with it 24/7. Not only that, it also means that he could more easily sabotage Jimmy if they lived in the same house.

"Oh please! I'm sure she will agree with me on this! Besides, I can tell that she's been wanting something new to take care of, recently!" Hugh told Jimmy, patting Jack's head gently, who looks extremely confused and shocked. He had a plan for himself when he talked about 'reforming', but nothing like this was any part of it, especially without any of his own involvement.

"Dad, please-"

"Oooooh, wait! Maybe I should go grab some pie from the nearby bakery as a way to welcome you here!" Hugh cut Jimmy off unintentionally, talking to Jack now as he started walking towards the front door. "You two stay here and behave, okay? Bye!"

As he closed the door behind him as he left, Jimmy and Jack sat in silence for a moment, still processing what had just happened. After a full minute of dead silence between the two, Jack started to silently laugh due to sheer confusion. "U-um, what just-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-"

Jimmy had just started screaming at the top of his lungs out of anger, confusion and a hint of fear. This couldn't be actually happening, it just couldn't be! It had to be a dream, a hallucination, maybe even psychedelics, just anything besides reality. The sudden scream from Jimmy made Jack lose any composure he had left and burst out laughing, to the point where he started to hold his stomach as he laid on the floor because his laughter began hurting his abs so much. Jimmy's screaming lasted for around three minutes until he eventually lost his breath and fell backwards on the floor next to Jack, who is currently coughing because of how hard he laughed.

After a moment of catching his breath, Jack looked over at Jimmy, who's face is in his hands as he let out a soft and quiet groan. "Y-you alright there?"

"No, because he really is going to try and have you live here. I mean, I know that he's below average intelligence, but I didn't think that he'd be stupid enough to try to do this." Jimmy whispered, still hiding his face.

Jack chuckled as he started getting back up on his feet. "Awwww, why so gloomy about it? Do you not wanna be around me?"

"With you being the way you are, no."

"Hmm, shame for you if he ends up succeeding then." Jack said as he gave him a smug grin. "But luckily for you, I recall that your mother has quite a bit more brains in her skull, so there's a very good chance that it won't end up happening."

Jack looked up towards the living room tv and something on it caught his attention. It was playing a movie that looked familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Not really having anything else to do right, he decided to go to the couch but not to sit on it, but he sit down on the floor with his back against the front of the couch. Jimmy looked over at him as he finally got up and saw him watching the first Jet Fusion movie, one of Jimmy's favorite movies...

"Oh shit, Sheen and Carl have probably been waiting on me for over an hour because of the movie marathon thing we planned." He thought to himself before going over to the phone and dialing Sheen's house number. They've been waiting this long for him and had heard nothing from him, so they definitely needee an explanation for his absence. Besides, it'll be the perfect opportunity to also tell them about Jackson and the current situation with him.

"Y'ello?" Sheen answered almost immediately.

"Sheen, hello! You're probably wondering where I've been right now."

"Jimmy!!! Yeah, where are you?! We've been waiting forever on you!!"

".. It's a long story, so prepare yourself."

*5 minutes later*

"Wait wait wait," Sheen told Jimmy, "So you're telling me that the evil clone guy is back, but since you couldn't do anything because you didn't have anything to use to trap him like you did last time, you've decided to try and reform him?"

"Mhm, that's what I said." Jimmy responded to his question, looking over at Jack, who is currently glued to the tv. He doesn't even seem to be aware that Jimmy was on the phone.

"And his new name is Jack?" Sheen asked him, with the sound of a chip bag crinkling on his end of the phone line.

"That is correct, Sheen!"

"... And as of right now, he may or may not living with you, and you don't know which one is going to happen until both your mom and your dad get back?" Sheen asked another question, eating a chip.

"Yes, that is also true. Now, until the living situation is covered and I can do this myself, I would like you to go around telling people about this so that they may prepare themselves for any chaos that may happen soon. Especially our friends, since they will probably be heavily involved in the process. Got that, Sheen?" Jimmy instructed him.

"Alright! Got it!" Sheen respond, before turning away from the phone and yelling out, "Hey Carl! Jimmy just got a new brother!"

"Wha- Sheen! That is not-" Jimmy tried to retaliate against his claim, but is unable to before Sheen hangs up the phone. He let out a soft groan before mumbling, "I knew I should have called Carl instead..."

As he sat in silence for a moment, he heard voices. His parents voices, right outside the front door. Jimmy once again checked on Jack, who is still not paying attention to anything else other than the movie, before getting closer to the slightly cracked open door and listening in on their conversation while also peaking through the crack.

"I mean.. I don't know Hugh, I just don't see how it's a good idea." Judy told her husband, holding her head in her hand as she had a worried expression on her face.

"C'mon, honey! What's the worse the boy could do anyways?" Hugh said as he lovingly wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Hah, weeeell, considering that he's the evil clone of our super genius son, who we both know is a handful already, there's a lot of things he could do!" Judy exclaimed, crossing her arms. "I understand your thought process on why you would think that's a good idea, considering our financial situation at the moment, but it also could be very dangerous if we do! In this case, I'm going to need a little more of a reason than just that, Hugh!"

Hugh chuckled softly before speaking again. "Well, if you say so!" He gently grabbed her chin and had her look up at him. "I feel like you're forgetting something very important about the situation as well though; even though he is a just clone, he's still a boy. He's still just a kiddo, honey buns! What would make you think that if the same laws about school, jobs and childcare still applies to our boy despite his incredible intelligence, that they suddenly just wouldn't apply to that boy right there?" He nodded towards Jack in the living room, still watching the tv and unaware of the two adults infront of the outside window.

Jimmy looked towards the ground at their feet as he slightly nodded his head. His dad does have a valid point with the fact that it'll probably be illegal for them to have Jack live alone. But goddamn it, please don't let him live with them.

"... Well, you aren't wrong there." Judy admitted to him, though she still had a worried expression on her face.

"Mhm." Hugh said, nodding his head. "Besides, you wanna know what I personally believe to be true?"

"What, Hugh?" Judy asked him.

"I believe that with a mother's love, anyone can go from their worst versions of themselves to their best!!" He said cheerfully, clearly referring to her.

She looked around for a moment before looking back towards Jack through the window, who started to remind her of when Jimmy was younger. As soon as her gazed softened and a small smile made its way on her lips, Jimmy knew that he was done for.

He let out a loud and dramatic groan before flopping face down onto the couch, startling Jack out of his trance. "Woah, what happened to you? You're acting as if your life is a living hell."

Jimmy looked at him with an tired and frustrated look before saying, "Because it's about to be." He then rolled over onto his back, still groaning.

Before Jack could question him further on what he meant by that, Hugh opened the front door fully and stepped inside. "I'm back, you two! And I have both the answer to where Jack will be staying and pie!" As the statement is being said, Judy also stepped inside the house.

Jack got up from the floor and mumbled to himself, with only Jimmy being able to hear him due to their close proximity. "I'm guessing that me living with you all is gonna be a no-"

"You are officially going to be staying with us, Jambo!" Hugh said excitedly while Judy chuckled softly at the strange nickname that he already had gave Jack.

Jack had a look of shock and surprise on his face as he looked up at them. He glaced over to Jimmy, who had his face in his hands as he sighed in defeat, and realized what he meant by what he said moments earlier.

"Oh! Why, thank you!" Jack said with a smile, not knowing how else to respond to their choice.

"Oh no, no need to thank us, Jackson!" Judy told him sweetly as she walked up to him. "Now, my question is.. do you really like these hair horns thingys that you have? Or would you like to change it to something different?" She asked him, gently holding his cheek with one hand as she twirled the tip of one of his horn-like hair pieces.

When she held his face, his eyes immediately dilated and he looked to have gotten soft for a second before he snapped out of it and answered her question. "Uh, yeah, I prefer this hair style still."

"Alrighty then! But considering that you still look so much like Jimmy, we need to get you into some new clothes to help tell you two apart!" Judy said this to him as she grabbed his hand and started walking upstairs, with Jack obediently following behind her. "Besides, it's been around a year since you probably were last able to change your clothes! At this point they're probably very uncomfortable and are in a desperate need of washing!"

As they both went upstairs, Jimmy sat up on the couch, still looking as if he was told that he was going to die by next week and there wasn't anything the doctors could do about it. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Hugh noticed his son's displeasure of the situation.

"Oh, don't be so sour, Jimbo!" He told Jimmy, patting his back as he spoke in his happy tone. "We just got a new member of the family! You should be happy! You have said that you wanted a brother before, after all!"

Jimmy slowly turned his head up at his father and then spoke in a monotone voice. "Father, though I naturally love you deeply and dearly, I despise you with every cell in my body right now."

*15 minutes later*

Hugh was sitting next to Jimmy on the couch, trying to calm him down and see the bright side of it, as Jimmy continued to sulk about the fact that out of all people that his parents could have thought of Jack to live with, it had to be with them. It had to be with him. Once Jack realizes that he could mess with Jimmy even more because of this given position and maybe even get away with it and have zero real repercussions for it, which he most likely already has realized this, he will definitely use it to his full advantage.

"Alright you two, we managed to get Jack into some clothes he likes!" Judy called down to them as she walked down from the top of the stairs. "C'mon Jackson, let them see your new outfit!"

Jack started walking downstairs, now wearing something that's new freshly washed, and more comfortable in his eyes. He's now wearing a maroon turtle neck, a black hoodie that has a large DNA strand branded on the front of it, a pair of loose black jeans, and a pair of dark grey tennis shoes.

"Oh, you look great, Jambo!" Hugh said cheerfully, getting up from the couch. "It suits you well!"

Jack chuckled as he nodded his head at Hugh, as if to nonverbally tell him thanks.

"Now, how about some pie?" Hugh asked, though not waiting for an answer as he walked to the kitchen, with Judy following behind him giggling.

As they entered the kitchen, Jack leaned against the back of the couch, looking down at Jimmy with a smug grin. "Heya there, chief. Like the new look?"

Jimmy glared at him with a giant look of annoyance with it. "Yeah yeah, sure." He then sighed as he held his head in his hands again.

Jack chuckled as he leaned on the back of the couch on his back, looking at Jimmy while he's upside down. "C'mooooon, don't give me that attitude! I didn't do anything to cause this, it just happened!"

After a few seconds of silence between them, Jack ended up flopping onto the couch, holding the back of his head with both hands, smugly grinning up at Jimmy. "But hey, I'm not gonna complain~!"

"You're already planning on making this an even bigger living nightmare for me, aren't you?" Jimmy asked him, taking his hands off his face, but still isn't looking at him and instead looked up at the ceiling.

"Yeeeeep."

"Knew it. And you're not gonna give up on it easily, correct."

"Correct, chief!"

"I hated you before this process started, and I have already begun to hate you more."

"And I'm planning on making you hate me even more~!"

Jimmy finally looked over at Jack and whisper-yelled at him, "... Fuck you, Jack."

"Fuck you too, Jimmy."

next>>>

#jimmy neutron #evil jimmy #jimmy neutron boy genius #hugh neutron #judy neutron #sheen estevez #The Evil and The Genius au #TETG au #nicktoons unite

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ladyluscinia · 7 months

Text

Oh so they're doubling down on saying that enjoying a character they don't like and being defensive (and, admittedly, a bit petty) in what's effectively a Flame War is a red flag for demonstrating cult-like fandom behavior, while clarifying that no one is actually calling Izzy fans a cult. Yet. Just saying we need to nip this in the bud, you know?

(This being... what exactly? Arguing about S2 predictions on tumblr? Vaguing people? - Hi! 🫡 Having "bad" takes that may or may not be problematic? Bitching about tagged character crit / hate about your fave, sometimes on the posts in question? Dedicating blogs to wank? Welcome to every-fandom-ever-including-BlackBonnet, I guess.)

Not a new accusation, but since people are once again making ominous statements about the "concerning" potential of a Snapewives situation... maybe we should pass around a reminder of who, exactly, they're referencing?

The Snapewives (Fanlore Link, Reddit Synopsis) were an extremely small niche forum in a really huge fandom that are pretty much only known for infamous levels of cringe that got them mocked relentlessly when discovered by Fan Wank. We are talking a tiny subsection of a subsection of a subsection of the massive HP fandom that got really earnest with their self-insert fanfic / roleplaying (and really didn't like the canon ending of Snape's arc). There's actually a really interesting paper on analyzing "Snapism" as a religion that alludes to their particular issues with Christian faith and erotic fantasies, and can kinda sketch in how they might have gotten to where they did. It's weird, no doubt, but honestly sounds pretty harmless?

Like, I'm not sure if we're using the BITE model that they would even count as a real cult - "Snape" seems very controlling and makes them do things (cook specific dinners, stop biting nails, go on diets, etc.) but, like, there's no cult leader being "Snape". These are all self-assigned "tasks" via "channeling" (which is again weird but not super unique - read the paper) and then the women themselves disagree on things and could just come across as a really intense roleplaying forum having disputes over ratings for self-insert fic, among other things.

The situation is different when there's an obvious cult leader - see the extensive documented history of Andy "thanfiction" compiled here. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, abuse, manipulation... all the stuff you expect from cults. And really getting into reading the supplementary info will take you many hours, btw.

Anyway... having looked extensively at our "fandom cult" examples, I don't think I'm remotely "concerned" that we're veering toward cult behavior. Or Snapewives behavior. The Izzy section of fandom - and, for that matter, the Izzy Anti section of fandom - haven't really done anything that hasn't been done in countless flame wars before? Like we as a collective haven't even gotten to the levels of targeted character hate that I can glimpse by searching "Teen Wolf" right now, and frankly OFMD still isn't big enough to dream of replicating 2010s fandom's biggest hits. There's some cutting edge weaponization of social justice that's a more modern development, but that's still fundamentally just fighting about the fiction. Even the one doxxing incident is unfortunately not unique.

Sheesh, "Izzy Canyon" isn't even demonstrating a unified meta or consistent S2 desires / shipping preferences / etc. We're just better at not being dicks about it by necessity?

#fandom history #cults #tw cults #snapewives #ofmd harassment #the izcourse #ladyluscinia #tbh i mostly wrote this because i hadn't actually ever looked into the snapewives before and i was curious #the thanfiction post i had buried in my drafts after reading all the links and such a few months back

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thesweetnessofspring · 5 months

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do you hate the idea of platonic everthorne or just romantic?

First, romantic Everthorne is really not my thing, but ship and let ship.

So I don't hate the idea of platonic Everthorne, like in fanfic settings and whatnot. In fact, despite what I'm going to say, I'm trying to write one of those right now! I get the appeal of them being platonic besties, but I don't think it's platonic in canon. It's a one-sided workplace romance. I'm putting my reasoning below a cut if you don't feel like reading borderline Gale-slander.

Before people throw quotes in my face, I'm aware Katniss calls Gale her best friend and we see her anger about his whipping and that they work well together as hunters. I'm not denying any of that.

What I think is that Katniss and Gale bonded through their similar trauma which is why they hang around each other and know each other, but they're more like coworkers than friends. Katniss even talks about this when she describes her relationship with him. They "grudgingly" shared knowledge and tools and resources. Their relationship is entirely transactional: they do better for their families when they work together, which is why they even start hanging out. Even promising to take care of each other's families should one of them be reaped is transactional, as they are also ensuring safety for their family by making their promise. In fact, with all of the slips Gale has, he was more likely to need to cash that out! Everything about their relationship reads entirely contractual to me. Very business. When Katniss comes back from the Games having played the romantic angle with Peeta, in CF Gale acts as if she's broken an agreement they made, what with him getting so pissy she wants to save Peeta and Haymitch from torture/death from her running away.

That's not to say they have no positive interactions--they do. But even at their most positive, such as the story of how Katniss got Lady, Gale's just kinda there. Katniss's focus and attention is entirely on making Prim happy, helping their family survive. Or before the reaping, they're already arguing about having kids and it's weird how much they rile each other up over something that's such a personal choice (of course, to Gale at this point it's not so individual as he has feelings for her). Basically, it reminds me of coworkers who get along and help pass the time, even help each other when there's a bad boss or angry customer or whatever. And they clearly know how to hunt together and know one another's thoughts. Then one of them caught feelings due to their consistent proximity to each other and wants it to move in a romantic direction. But at the end of the day they're going to drift apart once those things holding them together is gone--aka, feeding their families, the Capitol, and the war.

It's also hard for me to see platonic connections when Gale has said that dying for Katniss is the only way to "convince" Katniss that you love her. I see everything he does with this lens of convincing Katniss to be with him, to choose him. Anything that might seem platonic has a weird overlay of this motivation of trying to win her over. And since that's not how romantic relationships work, it doesn't work on a romantic or a platonic level. Everything a friendship should be to be a real, genuine friendship isn't there between them.

I don't see Gale as a safe person for Katniss emotionally because he's usually forcing his opinion on her, guilting her, or again, I can't trust he's not trying a new tactic to win her over by appealing to seeing him as a hero (like going to rescue Peeta). I don't see them having fun together--without needing to hunt, really, what would they do together? What would a fun date look like for them? I don't see their principles aligning in Mockingjay and that's a really obvious point Suzanne was trying to make. Basically, I don't see what they're supposed to build a friendship on other than they both lost their dads and have to feed their families.

They're coworkers. They're just coworkers.

#anon ask

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feathered-serpents · 1 year

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My altogether way too detailed God of War "Theory" for how Hel could become "Hel"

Hello

I have a problem when I theorize where I just keep thinking about it until it stops being a theory and basically becomes a fanfic. That's what this is. This is not a theory, this is the outline of a fanfic. But it was fun so I'm gonna post about it

So, in Norse mythology, Hel is the daughter of Loki and Angrboda, sister of Fenrir and Jormungandr. Of Loki's six total children, she is his only daughter. That's not relevant I just think it's fun

(There are people who have seen the Ritual screaming "MODER!!!" right now. Moder is not an actual child of Loki. I can find no official resources that say she is a real child of Loki. I'm sorry Ritual fans, I know she's sexy, but she does not exist.)

It did not escape my nor many fans' notice that Hel is the only child of Loki and Angrboda that we did not see. We got explanations for how Atreus and Angrboda "created" Jormmy and Fenrir, but not Hel. Most fans, myself included, believe this is because she is the most humanoid of their children and will thus be their biological daughter. The possibility of a new person becoming "Hel" was teased in the postgame of Ragnarok, Mimir even saying "it doesn't have to happen soon." While I still wouldn't call it guaranteed, I would say it's extremely likely

So that's enough backstory. Let's get into the actual theory

At some point in the future Angrboda and Atreus are going to get married and have a daughter. They are not going to name her Hel obviously, so I'm gonna Calliope throughout this post.

After her birth, Angrboda, Atreus, and Calliope are all going to live happily in Ironwood. Ten to twelve years of enjoying being giants, having a huge dog, frequent visits from grandpa, and then I'm gonna kill Calliope and Angrboda

How do they die? I don't know. I do know that it's random, not murder, and not anything as dramatic as some sort of monster attack. They get sick. There's a tragic accident. The how does not matter as much as the fact that they are gone and Atreus is devastated

Why both of them? Why not just Calliope? It's about those parallels baby. Kratos lost his wife and daughter, and now his son has lost his wife and daughter. Like some sort of curse, it has happened again. It has happened again

And Atreus is not alone in his grief. Kratos, Mimir, Freya, they're all there grieving with him, but what do you say? What do you do? You could argue that Atreus' situation is not as bad as Kratos' because at least Atreus didn't kill them, but Atreus also has no one to blame. There's no reason this happened. It just happened and it is hideously unfair

And if we know anything about Atreus we know that he is not fantastic at accepting realities he doesn't like, and he is painfully stubborn. He does not accept this, and instead, he swears to get them back.

Atreus devises a plan to go to the Lake of Souls and steal his wife and daughter back. He tells no one about this as he does not want to risk anyone trying to stop him, but he knows he will need outside help. There is one person who comes to mind, one person who he believes would not only not try to stop him, but has direct experience doing exactly what he is trying to do

Sindri

Atreus tracks Sindri down and begs him for his help. He doesn't ask Sindri to actually go with him, he just asks for some kind of help. Some tool. Some technique. Anything. Anything at all.

Sindri surprises him. Sindri actually offers to go with him, show him the path he took, and tell him the most effective ways to fight off the dead that will try and stop him. He offers that, but not for free. This isn't a favor, they're not friends. This is a transaction.

Sindri helps him, and as payment, Atreus gives him his head.

I'm not pulling this out of my ass! This is a real myth. The circumstances are different there but there is a real myth where the dwarves Brok and Sindri are based on ask for Loki's head, though in that myth it's a wager and not a payment, but same difference.

Atreus agrees, and Atreus and Sindri in a new tense "partnership" go to the Lake of Souls to get Atreus' family back. I don't think Sindri follows him into the lake, just takes him to the shore and then Atreus is on his own to actually fight off the dead in the lake.

It goes well! He gets Angrboda's soul back, and not only that, he gets it back whole. All four pieces, fighting the dead the whole way, he gets her back and puts her in her mable. But there is one complication.

Calliope is not there

Not just he can't get her back. She isn't there. She didn't go to the Lake of Souls! Because she's not a giant

She's a god

Whoops! Being 3/4ths giant her parents assumed she was a giant. No. God inheritance is funny like that. She's a god, so she isn't in the Lake of Souls. She is in Hel

Whoops

Atreus and Sindri leave the lake and return to Ironwood. There, Atreus is reluctant to bring Angrboda back. He doesn't have their daughter! He's scared to face her and tell her what he's done when he didn't get Calliope back as well. It's Sindri that convinces him to bring her back. "Convinces" is probably too gentle a word, "forces" is better. Sindri tells Atreus that he doesn't get to do this. He does not get to rob Angrboda of death and then deny her life until it is convenient for him. He either brings her back, faces her, and tells her what he's done, or he smashes her marble and lets her go. He does not get both

So he brings her back, and he tells her what he's done. All of it. He is honest, that he wanted to bring her and Calliope back, but doesn't have Calliope. He swears to her that he will get Calliope back from Hel and everything will be the way it should be.

Angrboda isn't angry. She's calm. She comforts him. Because she trusts Atreus. She's seen him defy fate before, he saved his father! Atreus tells her he will get their daughter back, and she believes him.

This is where Sindri leaves, and tells Atreus that he's upheld his end of their bargain, and will expect Atreus to find him when he's done to give him what he promised. Angrboda asks what that means, but Atreus says not to worry. Together, Angrboda and Atreus go into Hel to get their daughter back (probably with Fenrir too let's be real)

This goes less smoothly

Now up until this point, I have not talked much about combat. There really isn't much point in getting caught up in that in my mind unless it's very important.

This though? This is very important. And this is a fight

I wanna throw hands with Hræsvelgr

Angrboda and Atreus fight their way through Hel, long and hard until they find Calliope. They take her soul and put it in her marble and then they fight their way back out. It looks like they really might make it. They're back at the gate. They did it. He did it

And then Hræsvelgr swoops in and grabs Atreus just as they're about to make it out. Flying him and Calliope's soul back into Hel

This fight would take place partially in the air, partially on high structures Atreus lands on whenever he manages to get away from Hræsvelgr. At first the "fight" isn't very brutal. Atreus doesn't want to hurt Hræsvelgr. He even tries to plead with her to just let them go. Please. Just let this one go. It is no use

The fight does not get violent until Hræsvelgr manages to take a hold of Calliope's soul in her beak. I imagine the image of her pulling it out of the marble looking very much like an eagle pulling meat off its prey. Now Atreus starts to fight back with the intent to harm. Now it's he'll do anything

And in the end he kills Hræsvelgr, but he doesn't win. As Hræsvelgr falls out of the frozen skies of Hel, she rips away one-half of Calliope's soul, and Atreus is powerless to get it back.

Calliope's Hamr (Form) and Hamingja (Fortune) are pulled back into Hel, leaving Atreus with her Hugr (Mind) and Fylgja (Direction).

If you've read this far thank you, we are almost done

Atreus finds Angrboda and tells her he has Calliope. He does not tell her that he only has half of her soul. He never tells her that. He lies to her face about it. He has her, they need to get out of Hel. Now.

Calliope is not the same after she's brought back. The world seems crueler to her for one. She keeps getting hurt. She keeps losing things. "Bad luck" anyone would call it, but it just keeps happening to her. She keeps wandering, like she's being pulled, like something in her heart is telling her to reach a place she can't.

And then one-half of her body starts to grow cold

Then pale

Then begins to rot

And yet somehow, this isn't their biggest problem!

Hræsvelgr is dead, which means it is time for complete and total undead chaos. Nothing they hunt stays dead. There are draugr and Hel-Walkers everywhere and not just in Jotunheim. All the realms. This is what makes Kratos, Freya, and Mimir who have until this moment not been privy to any of this show up at Atreus' doorstep. Not because they think he caused it (then), but because they're worried about his safety. They should all be together so they can figure out whatever is going on in Hel

And then they get there, see Atreus' suspiciously not-dead family, and probably have the most dire version of this meme ever in this history of time

Freya, Kratos, and Mimir: "Uh whatcha got there?"

Atreus: "...a smoothie"

Only then is Atreus forced to confess. He did not bring her back whole. Her form and fortune are still in Hel. Because this is outrageously long, we're gonna speed through the ending here. Its discovered that the undead do not hurt Calliope and are in fact soothed by her, and once Calliope herself learns the truth, she begs to be taken back to Hel. A request Atreus refuses, but Angrboda honors.

They take her back and there the realm is kind to her. The dead are kind to her. There she decides to stay, not just stay, there she decides to take Hræsvelgr's place and become Hel.

Angrboda and Atreus cannot stay, so they leave her there, they have no choice. However, she is not alone. Mimir, the selfless talking head he is, offers to stay with the new "Hel." At least until she has her bearings. It's been a minute since he's advised a true ruler, truth be told he's missed it a bit. There's a big goodbye, and everyone leaves.

When they leave Helheim, Atreus tries to speak with Angrboda, but Angrboda is furious. She trusted Atreus, and he lied to her. He has cost them their daughter forever. Atreus tries to defend what he did, says that he thought it would be alright. They could've found a way to help her. He still thinks maybe they can find someone else to take her place and get her back.

Angrboda tells him to stop. None of that is true, he knew if he told her he couldn't get her whole soul back she would've told him to let the half he did collect go. So it could find the rest back in Hel and be at peace, but he couldn't stand that. He couldn't let her go, and now look at what that's cost them

Maybe if he had told her the truth they could've mourned her together. They could've rebuilt together. They could've stayed together. But he didn't. He lied to her because he knew she always believed him. How could he? How dare he

"Goodbye, Loki."

She leaves him

Having lost his wife and child once again, Atreus goes to Sindri to give him what he promised. Sindri asks him what happened, and Atreus tells him and tells him he's ready now. He's here to give him his payment

Sindri looks at him and says no, he can't take his head. Atreus asks why. And Sindri says the deal was he would get his head, but, he can't think of a way to get to it without cutting his neck, and his neck wasn't part of the deal. (Again, not making this up, this is real in the myth how Loki gets out of getting his head chopped off)

Sindri then says if he has nowhere else to go he can stay with him, and Sindri says if he has anything he needs to finish he will help him. As a favor

And there's your post-game. Atreus and Sindri go around and do any unfinished business that wasn't done during the main game. And also do some bonding. It's a bit of grace after all. That

It's done! You can stop reading now! I'm gonna bullet point some other stuff on this totally not a fanfic theory below this but you do not have to read it!

I obviously obviously obviously do not want Atreus and Angrboda to break up. I ran through EVERY possible way to keep them together and I just couldn't. There was no way that did not feel forced or like it robbed Angrboda of agency and she is already robbed of some agency when she's brought back.

This could open the door for Sigyn to come in as a separate character despite me preferring she and Angrboda be combined into one character. Or, Atreus and Angrboda could get back together in the future after some DEEP reflection on Atreus' part. He fucked up here, he needs to face the consequences

I like to think Hel takes on the will of its ruler. So it gets cleaned up a bit. It becomes it less cruel to the dead who are there whose greatest crime is dying outside of battle

Yes, OBVIOUSLY the scene where Atreus can't get Calliope back will mirror Orpheus and Eurydice in some capacity. Who do you think you're talking to

This actually isn't my only "How Hel becomes Hel" theory! There's another one! Even more complicated, it isn't just about how Hel becomes Hel. Instead, it HEAVILY involves the Egyptian pantheon, requires Atreus and Angrboda to have two more kids and doesn't break them up, features Loki's iconic snake punishment, AND has Atreus' son become Osiris. Maybe I'll post that one too but my god if you think this post is long. Buckle the fuck up

#God of War #God of War Ragnarok #god of war: ragnarok

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lesbianyosano · 9 months

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Just kind of a general plot question bcs I feel like I’m blanking here. I know that within the story one of the huge themes are cycles of abuse (specifically among the port mafia characters) like the whole mori-> dazai -> akutagawa-> kyouka(?) situation but for the life of me I can’t remember what exactly the dazai mori catalyst beginning of the cycle event was. Obviously odas death was the big betrayal of trust that broke dazai away from the mafia, and there was that whole killing the former pm leader deal(was that it though??) because Ik fandom has a tendency of portraying mori as this cartoonishly evil abuser when he’s more complex then that (even if I don’t personally like him lol) but I feel like I’m completely forgetting everything about that whole dynamic lol. I hope you have a great day!

honestly i dont think there really exists a catalyst like that. i think the discussion about mori and dazai's relationship tends to get really weird bc it's always treated as a singular abusive situation between the 2 of them, completely taken out of context. as in, "mori's an abusive creep and everyone around him actually hates him for it", with disregard for the context of his interactions with dazai.

they are both mafia members, their relationship cannot be a healthy and supportive one specifically because of that. mori's manipulation and grooming isn't out of place, it's what funtioning in that system requires of him, the same way it's what was later required of dazai with akutagawa. it's less about mori being someone who's personally irredeemable and more that mafia needs to continually raise its new members to continue to exist, the abuse is systematic and will never cease to be treated as a tool as long as the organization is still in place. i'd argue it's the reason why beast mori manages to change and become a much more sympathetic version of himself. his relationship with yosano is similar, the abuse takes place because the military allows it. obviously mori is still very much complicit, but his utalitarian approach can only go so far due to the lack of institutional response

and i think this perception of abuse as something that only exists, and is perpetrated on, on a personal level is also what leads to this weird mischaracterization of mori's relationship with chuuya and kouyou. you see this in fanfics a lot, when they both secretly hate him because he's a pedo and abused dazai, which is absolute bullshit. they don't hate him, they seem to enjoy spending time with him even when they don't need to. they are both extremely loyal and strive to keep as him the pm boss, neither ever raises concerns to how he treats dazai, and elise also never gets commented on. fundamentally, they are no better than him. they are a part of this same organisation and it is in their interest to keep the power structure as it is. kouyou tries to groom and manipulate kyouka, projecting onto her, similarly how mori does with dazai. chuuya talks about wanting q dead (despite the weirdly popular hc that they're close and familiar). and im not saying this because i think anyone should hate them, or that people need to love mori all of a sudden, but because ignoring this flattens all of them as characters. they are meant to be bad people, in huge part because they choose to be (they could all leave the mafia the way dazai did lmao)

mori (i think) gets the most hate also because of his perceived sexual deviancy. you see this a lot, where people will make non stop jokes about characters being murderers/war criminals and how it's actually fun and cool (it is), but the moment the crimes go into a territory of sexual offense (sometimes real and sometimes perceived), those crimes can no longer be excused, and everything else about the character is forgotten. the lolicon gag with mori and elise is. weird yeah and it's perfectly fine to be uncomfortable with it, but as far as we know, there is nothing to indicate mori has ever sexually abused a child, the deal with elise is unclear, even if there are some questionable comments. and again, im not saying this to make him more likable or to make him less of a creep, it's just that i dont think this characterizaton leads anywhere, other than a twisted perception of like. half of the cast

sorry for going off asdgsafhdf ive been meaning to talk about this and you have unfortunately given me space to do so </3

#ask #also this has been sitting in my askbox.. im so sorry im awful at anwsering things #should i put this in the tag................................no i shan't......................................

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sofipitch · 2 years

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Amc fandom seems to be falling into top/bottom discourse and it's so silly because i see them as switches.

Most see louis as completely top because he is a person who needs to be in control to feel safe. But I can't ignore how Louis melted into Lestat's arms during their first sexual encounter and for the first time fully surrendered to desire, even as Lestat took control, Louis felt free.

I don't know, I think both parts are necessary for Louis to be able to fully enjoy his sexuality, once he gets over his internalized homophobia.

Hmm yeah I REALLY hate top/bottom discourse. I have 0 skin in this game, I write them as switches for the simply reason it gives me more scenarios to work with in fic and I enjoy all fanfic as a result. I'll sometimes see ppl say they can't enjoy a fanfic that puts one of the characters in a sex position they don't like and, lame honestly :/

While ppl IRL will have preferences, and for some ppl those preferences will be rigid, Louis and Lestat aren't real and so far have never expressed a preference in anything. So a lot of people arguing for certain preferences are often rooted in stereotypes of "top= male, bottom = female". Additionally arguing one way or the other with the race relations intact also isn't great, there are "bad connotations" for arguing either way. Someone could say Lestat topping is a white man dominating a black man (which top =/= dominant) or arguing Louis has to be a top could be applying increased masculinity to Louis because he is black (which again, top =/= masculine). I don't agree with either of these thoughts but I also think ppl might argue based on this. So by creating this discussion in the first place ppl might be perpetuating stereotypes.

I often think back to something Chris Rice said on an "ask me anything" on his ig stories. someone asked his position, and he answered with how for years he had been assumed and semi forced into one category based on his presentation and personality and the stereotypes that come with that and it made him very uncomfortable and started to develop bad feelings over sex. He said he finally felt better when he allowed himself to choose without the restriction of expectations and just do what felt good. That ig story was a good example of how stereotypes can harm actual ppl

Bc honestly that is what determines anyone's preference, what feels good to them, not personality. Sex is about pleasure. Like you said anon, if you watch the character's movements and if Louis melted in Lestat's arms when he took control, that was about pleasure, and that's subjective to everyone. If ppl want to write Louis or Lestat in one position or the other, jut say it's what you like (bc let's be honest, lot's of these arguments are ppl just revealing a lot about themselves) or imagine, when personality gets brought in to these discussions I'm pulling out the flyswatter.

#vc #asks

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mechanicalinertia · 1 year

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Against the Inevitable in Bubblegum Crisis: An STMPD-branded Screed Against Certain Concepts in Fanon That Might or Might Not Exist Anymore

Those of you who follow my reviews of Bubblegum Crisis fanfiction might have noted that I keep grappling with how to review Dartz's Yours Truly 2032, because I can't decide if I like it or not. It has so many highs, and so many lows, that it's impossible to just call it 'okay' - things like that don't cancel each other out. In between being a real college student who functions in the world, and writing my own fanfiction, I keep coming back to how to review this fanfic without sounding like I hate Dartz's work on some sort of personal level, or sounding like I love it unquestionably. I like it, but there's a problem.

Anyway, reading something the guy wrote on the old alt.fan.bgcrisis Google Group several years ago finally solidified what annoys me about this fanfic. And about Meat / Metal Jacket, and about Grand Mal, and about Neo No Armor Against Fate, and about Illusions, and about Tokyo Babylon, and various other fanfics I've reviewed or have struggled to review properly. I know that's that a lot of fanon (and one quasi-canon work), but dammit, I have an opinion here. And there is one sentiment that, in my opinion, is terrible.

It is, in a phrase, the words: The Knight Sabers Can Never Win.

Now, what do I mean by that? Well, this is the core of the argument, paraphrased:

"GENOM cannot be destroyed by the Knight Sabers. For one, the corporation is simply too big. Even a surgical strike against Quincy wouldn't cripple the corporation, they'd just get a new guy and keep going. For another, GENOM is too economically vital to be destroyed. Blowing it up would essentially crash the global economy. Therefore, the most the Knight Sabers can do is keep GENOM's worst excesses in check for a few years before they're unceremoniously wiped out, and the cyberpunk world grinds ever onward to the end of history."

You can read what Dartz wrote back in alt.fan at the link above the cut, but the essence of it is that destroying GENOM would ignite a financial crisis that would hollow out industry and ruin the world for a good long while. It feels cynical, not just cynical but proud of that cynicism, as though Dartz was glad that he figured out the terrible, inevitable truth of the universe.

Most of this argument, I suppose, comes from Sylia's monologue with Lisa in the middle of Scoop Chase, where she argues that yes, GENOM does good things and bad things in approximately equal measures, is essential to the functioning of the world. And the R. Tal RPG largely sticks to this theory, stating that GENOM could likely never be properly destroyed by the Sabers, and that's not Sylia's intent anyway.

This is what most people take away from the Vanette exchange, and it's interesting that they do. Sylia is... well, she's distant, but she's never cold per se in the original series, so maybe she isn't manipulating anyone, but hold on just for a second. What if she is playing Lisa, just a little? I mean, she knows this girl could very well expose the Sabers, but she doesn't want to kill the girl, otherwise questions will be asked courtesy of her ADP Chief uncle. She has to nudge the girl away from hunting the Sabers down, subtly, quietly. And she has to play to Lisa's preconcieved notions of the Sabers and GENOM. So, well, why not lie about what she believes? Why not, indeed. The point is that this particular scene isn't as much of a sure thing as people think it is, and so without it a lot of what ends up being written without the explicit support of the text is mostly the viewer's opinion, what they want out of the cyberpunk genre, and, well, probably their politics as well.

So. Opinion time. I am sick to death of immovable megacorporations in cyberpunk, of the status quo being an endless reach of chrome, neon, and LED's, of this being all there is, of the end of history.

Yeah. Remember that? Francis Fukuyama's theory that Free Market Liberal Democracy is as good a form of government as anyone can get? That after the defeat of the Soviet Union and the long nineties, things probably couldn't get any better? It's a very neoliberal idea, that as long as democracy doesn't interfere with the value creation of the 'free market' things will get better, better, best. It's an idea that cyberpunk's founding works never pushed back overmuch beyond making megacorporations the Big Bads in their stories, but also necessary for the continuing function of cyber-industrial society. It's why accusations of retrofuturism levelled against the subgenre as a whole feel weird to me: Cyberpunk came into being in the neoliberal era, as surely as Reagan and Thatcher inaugurated it, and cyberpunk will feel powerful as long as our current moment is neoliberal.

But here's the thing. It's one thing to describe a cyberpunk dystopia as 'all there is', as utterly inevitable and unstoppable. Maybe it's even properly neo-noir as surely as something like Chinatown is. But fuck it. I'm still sick of it.

Why? Well, because we've been living with the megacorps for forty years and we've all seen the world not just stumble away from the gauranteed future of the nineties but slouch into what feels like near apocalypse. Healthcare and rent are unaffordable; monarchism disguised as populist fascism seems to be the new default form of government, with all the sleazy corruption that inevitably leads to; we're in a Cold War with one tsarist hermit with too many nukes and a newfound superpower whose leader would like nothing more than to commit some ethnic cleansing against its neighbors (you really think the Taiwanese won't be rounded up and punished for dissidence against the motherland? Puh-leaze); and to top it all off those same megacorporate elites can't get off of fossil fuels fast enough to not fuck the rest of us over. In other words, 2022 is an age of perpetual, overlapping crises, not eternal megacorporate-guaranteed stability...

Hold up. Crisis? An inflection point where the old order breaks down? Where either something better or something more monstrous arises? Now where have we heard that word before, hm? It's almost as though the Sabers live in a moment of Crisis as well, where even the most indomitable megacorporations are vulnerable and could be destroyed!

Well, okay, fine, if the megacorporate order and the fascism it uses to advance its goals of zero taxes and zero regulation are to be defeated, it won't just be because superheroes came out of the night and brought us Peter Thiel's head on a pike. I don't know what it's gonna take, but the point is that it's not just doable, but it really ought to be done, otherwise we're going to look pretty Canticle For Leibowitz-y in a few decades.

And that's why the idea of GENOM being a necessary evil, or at least an invincible one, pisses me off so much, because, uh, GENOM's business model, while not seen in the anime, is probably replacing humanity with Boomers, right? Hey, even Lisa said it, the cities would be wall-to-wall Boomers if GENOM were to take over the world, and there'd be no place for humans. (So the idea of GENOM's destruction causing a loss of jobs makes no sense; how many humans does GENOM actually employ, anyway?) The stakes are literally saving humanity from being replaced, and Fred Herriot, Shawn Hagen, Dartz, they all operate under the principle that this just ain't the case. (Admittedly, Mark Latus seems to acknowledge this, but he never finished his Tokyo Babylon Trilogy, so we never got to see any sort of comeuppance for the omnipotent Super Cool GENOM Dude he created, and I get the sense Latus liked him too much to bother. And Meat Jacket is... well, it wants to marinate in the darkest parts of the genre ad infinitum. It is a piece which I don't think cares as much about the politics of this shit the way I do, which I may have to just acknowledge reluctantly.) Don't even get me started on Adam Warren.

And this, in turn, is why Hakluyt's Most of the Way to the Moon was so refreshing, because the Sabers got a concrete win against GENOM, a win against evil not unlike that of Jeffie Epstein and his ilk. It felt nice to see, at least in fiction, justice being served for oligarchic pedophilia. And I know that then people will say that these more nihilistic fics are more 'realistic' because they more accurately reflect our political moment, its failures of imagination and change, and they might even be right.

But do you want to see that inevitability reflected everywhere you look? Do you want to have to wake up in the morning convinced that extinction is a few generations off? Does that feel empowering to you, dear reader? If so...

...Well, you and I have very different Internet Opinions. And I, for one, happen to disagree.

And, uh, that's why my opinion on Yours Truly 2032 has soured a great deal. Because I can't stand that stance. Because I think it poisons what I want Crisis to be so, so badly.

#bubblegum crisis #rant #screed

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