#not really because i messed with the context to make it look like kat is mad at him for offering her pie

[jaynaneeya]

Shipwrecked cinematic parallels: Sean getting hurt when he just wants to eat his pie

Bonus:

#headless series #american whoopee #shipwrecked comedy #sean persaud #mary kate wiles #jessica jade andres #pie #cinematic parallels #headless spoilers #sort of #not really because i messed with the context to make it look like kat is mad at him for offering her pie #seriously just watch headless please #and american whoopee for that matter

[gunnerkriggcritical]

The ambiguity in Annie's love life has always been really compelling to me. I'm gonna discuss some of the facets of this below.

First off, Annie responds to Mort's supposed romantic "claim" on her (via the blinker stone) with a level of anger that shocks both Mort and Kat. That's such a fascinating scene to me. I think it's the first time in the comic that we really get a taste of Annie's temper, and it's in the context of her not wanting to be claimed by a suitor against her will.

Then there's Jack. Annie doesn't seem to know how to act around him, while the question of whether she genuinely has a crush on him is left unanswered; she veers between acting awkwardly and not seeming to know how to treat him, to deliberately manipulating him to hurt him after hearing about her mother doing the same to Renard (and based on Irial's advice), to - this is my interpretation, anyway - offering him a kiss because she thinks that's what you're supposed to do in such situations, not because she genuinely wants to. The way Jack refuses her kiss and gives her a hug instead always seemed to me like, to a certain level, pity? He's learned over the course of the chapter that Annie is a mess who has no idea what she's doing, least of all romantically, and he doesn't want to take advantage of that. At least, that's how I always interpreted that moment.

"The Torn Sea" really makes a point of emphasizing that Annie has no partner while most of her friends have paired off. I'm still not sure why - and it's possible, I guess, that the chapter only does this for comedic effect. It's also more than possible that we haven't reached the point in Annie's arc that will make all these past moments make sense in retrospect. There's also, of course, the moment in "Dealing With HER" where the Annies briefly discuss having a crush on someone. And the moment in "Annie and the Forest" when Annie is asked if she has a "love back home," misunderstands the question and says "Yes, my friend Kat," and then, when it's clarified, mentally scrolls through the list of boys she knows before settling on Jack with a confused look on her face. And speaking of "Annie in the Forest," there is, of course, her crush on Kamlen, which is also contrasted with a (maybe?) crush on Jones in "Divine," hinting that Annie might be bi.

A lot is going on here, but it all fits into the broader context of who Annie is. This is way more apparent in earlier chapters than later ones, but socially, she's a strange, underdeveloped girl who was raised in isolation and doesn't quite know how to navigate the world of school-age drama. Her awkwardness and lack of experience in romance are part of a broader character arc that highlights her social ineptitude; while her peers pair off, she's left alone, and attention is drawn to this by the narrative, both in terms of friendships and romantic relationships (although she does have a small group of friends other than Kat by the later days of the comic).

She learns how to behave based on mimicry, which, in the romantic context, is especially apparent in "Faraway Morning," when she mimics her mother's behaviour and Irial's advice to manipulate Jack, to disastrous results, before eventually relenting and admitting she regrets it. She does have crushes, but she doesn't know how to act on them properly. In fact, since the question of whether she actually has a crush on Jack or was just trying to manipulate him for revenge is left unanswered, I don't know if we've ever really seen Annie acting on a crush at all.

With all this in mind, I don't really have a concrete opinion or theory on "who Annie will end up with," only my personal opinion that I would rather she didn't end up with anyone at all.

It's very very common for main characters to "end up with" somebody, but the way the comic has treated Annie's love life has, so far, been much more complex and nuanced than that. I don't think she's aromantic (although I totally understand and respect why someone would headcanon that) - I do think she has romantic crushes, that there's canon evidence for her being bisexual, and that the comic wants us to pay attention to everything it's doing in regards to her romantic leanings. I also think, and hope, that Gunnerkrigg intends to subvert the "who will the main character end up with?!" question that every other piece of media in history has asked, by saying: "No one." That answer is, to me, far more in keeping with the nuance the comic has managed towards Annie's romantic leanings than "she ends up with Kat," or any other possible pairing, would be. I would rather the answer be left cryptic instead of made concrete, like many other concepts in the comic have been.

To finish: I have long thought Gunnerkrigg is about the fierce, loyal, powerful platonic love between Annie and Kat. The dyadic friendship that unites forest and Court, technology and magic, fantasy and science fiction. The idea of them being in love with each other is nowhere near as compelling to me as the idea of them caring about each other so deeply they would do anything for the other, without being in romantic love.

(If Annie and Kat do get together, I would also question how quickly and unceremoniously Paz got booted out of the comic to make way for this pairing, but that's neither here nor there, lol.)

#gunnerkrigg #gunnerkrigg court #I hope this makes sense lmao I banged this out in like 15 minutes and now it's way too long

[wutheringmights]

Has anyone asked for the commentary for the latest Ctb chapter yet? 👀👀👀

Originally, everything from Link’s conversation with Impa to Link finally leaving for Kakariko was going to be at the end of the last chapter; but as you may recall, I ended up punting it over to this one in a waterfall effect from having to deal with a different delayed scene in the last section.

Good news is that on all fronts, the pacing is finally back on schedule. Mostly. There’s a scene in the present day that I’ve kicked off to a later chapter, but we’ll get to that when we get to that. 

Something I wasn’t able to quite talk about last chapter was why exactly I wanted this incident to be Link’s wake-up call; I wanted Link’s turning point to evolve around him realizing that his way of being a hero is messed up, not only for failing to save Kat but by being told that, politically, he saved the wrong person

Which will then tie into HOW Link saved her. I wanted Link to undoubtedly do the right thing, but I wanted his solution to be so extreme that it’s horrifying. Yes, he saved Kat. But he also brutally murdered three men-- and wanted to make them suffer in the process. Link can’t solve anything without taking extremes. These men have nothing redeemable to them, but in the context of Link’s history, I just wanted readers to sit there and go “huh” for at least a minute. Maybe two. 

As previously posted, the men’s names were based off of things that have given me brain worms as of late. 

This chapter made me realize that I really haven’t done enough with Impa; I’ve been relying too heavily on just telling you how Warriors feels as opposed to having her do things. Incredible work on my part. I will rectify that however I can. 

Speaking of which, Impa’s speech about becoming your role was originally going to include some extra information about her history with Lincoln before she became Impa, but I ended up cutting it because it was just an awkward time to go over that info; I hope there will be a time I can include it later, but it’s not super pressing or relevant so don’t get your hopes up. 

As previously mentioned, Kat’s disability is Broca’s Aphasia 

I remember when I was finalizing Kat and Icarius’s characters, I wondered if anyone was going to think there’s a thematic meaning to so many characters losing the ability to communicate; whatever is there is unintentional on my part, but whatever meaning you derive is still valid 

Also, out of everyone, Kat is the character I feel the worst about hurting. 

And for everyone wondering: Kat was knocked out when she was first bludgeoned. She was not awake when the men were killed. I am both touched and somewhat caught in disbelief that so many of you were worried about this.

When writing the introductory imagery for Kakariko-- describing the streets, people, etc--I was really worried that I was just retreading information that I already gave you all; but it’s also been, like, two years since the first Kakariko chapter came out, so I figured it was worth revisiting.

Hello, Jakucho! It’s been so long since she was in the story that I forgot how fun she is to write. She really brings an incredible energy to the mix. 

I’m trying to remember where exactly I got the idea for Link having to build his own house, especially since this is probably among the first ideas I had for the story. I think I came up with the idea of the house first and my brain immediately said, “Fine, but he built it while going through withdrawals.” O.K. Sounds cool. 

When I was writing the chapter, I didn’t like how I introduced Ayane. I got really hung up on the idea that she deserved something grander. Looking back at it now, I think it’s perfect. I’m glad I didn’t change it. 

There’s this through line I’ve been trying to maintain this entire story about Link feeling stuck in his role as a soldier, how inadequate he feels for not knowing a tradeskill (or really any skill outside of war-waging), and how jealous he is that Spirit can build nearly anything-- and this is the chapter where I finally feel the payoff of all those ideas. 

I hadn’t watched Vinland Saga when I finalized this idea, but now that I have watched it, do you know what this chapter is giving? Thorfinn emotionally healing via a farm arc. Go read Vinland Saga. It’s better than anything I can do. 

However, I did mean for that ending to be a little bit more ominous than it turned out. Sure, Link is deciding to move on and be happier, but he is doing so by ignoring all the things he has done. Surely, this isn’t going to bite him in the butt. 

Now that all of the war stuff is over, the story is now shifting towards a Link homesteading plotline, which will hopefully be as interesting, if not more. It’s definitely going to be harder to write, if only because now I have to take Link and show how he becomes Warriors.

Speaking of which.... onto the present day--

That opening scene where they’re escaping from the Sheikah by running across the rope bridge? That was a certified Pain In The Neck to write. I wrote about three different versions before finding one I thought was half-way decent. Why? I kept getting too elaborate with it and the scene kept running away from me. 

A part of the reason why that scene was such a pain is that it originally wasn’t going to happen! The last chapter was supposed to have a little transition scene about having to sneak away from the Sheikah before ending with the scene where Spirit helps Warriors with his arm. 

But with the canoodling scene kicked over to this chapter, I figured it was about time I began paying off the whole We’re Being Hunted Down By the Sheikah thing.

The hard march stuff then effectively ruined my original concept for the chapter: a series of scene where Spirit interacts one on one with each member of the Chain, to varying degrees of success. That got tossed out the window and never returned. 

But I think it was worth it? I like the hard marching stuff, and it helps with the blend the deep dark atmospheric stuff with the reunited Chain being absolute bozos

And I have missed all of the shenanigans. The exchange at the beginning where Warriors gets sarcastic about being told not to let go is very silly, but I like it. It makes me laugh. 

Speaking of which, I have decided that I am a big fan of Spirit’s whip. That’s all. Just wanted to put that into the world. 

Okay, let’s hop back to the canoodling stuff.

So that scene was what was supposed to be at the end of the previous chapter, if only to give you all the two-punch Spirit What The Fuck moments. Pacing-wise, the scene also acts as set-up for the house drama. Putting it at the end of last chapter would have made it seem like that plot point was more established. 

Also, another shout-out to Legend for being the character who is constantly surprising me with how fun he is to write. I’m not a big fan of him normally, so I always end up forgetting this until I get to write him again. Then again, I am also convinced that Legend is at his best when he’s a member of the supporting cast. He’s not main character material. 

And you guys have finally bullied me enough to convince me to make DILF Hunter Hyrule canon. You can’t say I don’t do anything for you guys. 

Four and Spirit not having a good relationship just feels correct. Even if Spirit was capable of not fumbling a social interaction for more than 10 minutes, I still think these two would not like each other very much. We might be able to get them to coworkers status, but that’s if we’re lucky. 

I finally got to do this scene with Warriors and Lana! Thank god! I think Lana scenes are among the first to get cut any time I need to make space, and this one has been getting pushed back for a awhile now. It’s good to finally get them to talk, if only to wrap up that little subplot about Warriors’s shittiness towards her while scratching the surface of my Sad Girl Lana agenda. 

Actually, this chapter did so well with the Lana and Linkle content that I feel bad that Midna got barely anything to do. Granted, her big moment where Twilight is seeking comfort from her is one of my favorites. So actually, Midna stays winning.

The scene where Spirit equates dead monsters to dead people is the spiritual successor to that scene way back in the past when he and Link had their big fight. I mean, that’s obvious.

A lot of readers seemed really surprised when Spirit was ruthless on the battlefield during Twilight’s rescue, and I want this scene to help remind everyone that Spirit kills people as easily as he kills monsters because, to him, they aren’t different. That’s still shocking, but it’s not because Spirit is uniquely cruel. 

The song that Spirit plays is the Song of Birds from his game, which functionally just summons a flock of birds. You need it to solve, like, one puzzle. I have decided that it’s actually an essential part of Lokomo burial rites. 

I regret giving Hyrule the line about understanding Spirit better. On one hand, I do think this would be a reason Hyrule would soften towards him. On the other, Hyrule was not on the battlefield when Spirit was being a ruthless soldier. What is there for him to understand better?

Legend’s game is a silly scene I have been trying to include in this story for so long, if only to give Spirit a moment to explain in-story how his senses work (and to have an allergic reaction towards Legend). I am trying so hard to drive home that Spirit’s abilities are only the senses. This guy does not have any other weird magic about him. He just knows extra information about people. 

Also, Wind robbing Spirit is extra funny when you remember that Spirit probably sensed him nearby and still somehow did not realize he was being pickpocketed. 

I think the things Spirit senses off of the boys are fairly obvious, except for Wild-- that water stuck in the nose feeling refers to Wild being submerged in the Shrine of Resurrection

I feel bad that I keep giving Wind more problems to deal with, but unfortunately, head trauma causes so many lasting conditions. I haven’t even really milked his newfound half-deafness yet. 

Also, thank you once more for everyone who gave me additional information on how signing with one hand works! You’re all the bomb!

The most painful cut this chapter was a scene where Spirit met Kat again. It's still gonna happen somehow, but the logistics didn't quite work (they're supposed to be on the run... what are they doing with meemaw???) and I just needed to focus on other things. It's such a shame, though. We almost had a perfect cohesive past and present chapter combo.

Initially, I was going to leave Toto in the well until the end of the story. He would act as extra motivation for Warriors to basically fix Hyrule-- if he doesn’t, Toto doesn’t go free. Then at least one person asked that he be rescued, and I crumbled. 

Also, if I did my job right, this is the first time in the present day that Anders’s name is said out loud! 

So you can probably guess that if I was willing to take as much time as needed to write the rest of CTB, I would have given saving Toto and burning the house down its own chapter. I’m not great at pacing (see: the fact that I wrote a whole chapter about characters traveling instead of skimming over that shit), but I figured I would take the risk and see if I could get away with having both off screen.

Was it effective? In some ways, yes. I think the shock when Warriors finds out is effective. 

What really makes my cutting corners work is that Warriors got to do something else that was really important instead, which is talking with Icarius. 

(By the way, I know most of you are doing a bit about being hardcore Warriors/Icarius shippers. But the few of you who are genuine, I need you all to wait until I actually show what the relationship is like before committing, if only because this is something I of all people would be writing). 

What isn’t effective is how Cia’s drawing was meant to foreshadow the house burning. I always thought of it as a minor detail akin to Cia’s warnings while she was in the bush, but a lot of you clung to it like it was going to hold the key to final climax of the narrative. That’s probably my fault. Oops. 

But Warriors and Spirit fighting... perfect. Love that scene. Honestly, I missed their violence. 

But my god. Getting to elaborate on the house and how it's filled with his mother's things at the start of the chapter before having it ripped away? Priceless. Perfect. I am patting myself on the back for that one.

I kinda hate that Warriors and Wind moment. It’s good and everything I like until after Wind offers up his earring. I didn’t know where else to take the scene, but I didn’t want to end it there. What I ended up writing is just really cliche, and I really wish I gave myself more time to redo it. 

And finally, that ending scene. Oh boy. Your honor, something is going on. If you guys are this stressed by a little cuddling, I cannot wait to see how next chapter is going to mess you up (pending on whether I chicken out or not)

Once more, I have to point out how insane everyone’s takes are making me. No one, and I mean no one, is on the same page about whatever is going on between Warriors and Spirit. There is no consensus. It’s driving me to insanity. I am still pushing myself to embrace different interpretations and to not view personal takeaways as a failing of the story. 

But the more space I give everyone to draw their own conclusions, the more I get worried about alienating a reader, or writing a story with an ending that one person likes and everyone else hates. 

But, again, this is a practice in ambiguity. Part of this story’s draw is how so many people are reading the same scenes and characters, and walking away with different perspectives. As nervous as it makes me, I love it.

#today's bonus fact is that i almost had spirit accidentally reveal wolfie this chapter but didn't cause it would have taken up too much time #me rambling #lu ctb #ask #linked universe #fallenleafofmapple #director's commentary #ctb lore #ctb spoilers

[thebisexualdogdad]

No but let's discuss the ways in which mlm fetishists endorse this harmful narrative that mlm are inherently misogynistic by treating every female love interest like an obstacle at best and a threat at worst, trashing every female character, claiming to want bi rep but only if the yt guy is with another guy which disrespects bi m/f relationships which are inherently LGBT, etc. B*ddie shippers hate Taylor and Ana for no reason save for they're women, especially Ana who is a woman of color. They ignore all the relationships with women Eddie and Buck have had, like Buck was introduced stealing the fire truck (let's talk about that if we're gonna talk "work ethics") to hook up with a woman. They make the actors, like Oliver, SOOOOOOO uncomfortable by taking everything he says or does out of context to be about Buddie.

Just look at how mlm fetishists attacked the Heartstopper actors for not being ~attractive~ enough for them and for not being a real couple in real life who exist solely to entertain them. Like THIS is what we're talking about when we say mlm fetishization is harmful and disgusting and affects real people and shows their entitlement to mlm dynamics as nothing more than entertainment

People who are bisexual are still apart of the community even if they are with someone of the opposite sex!!!

Remember when shipping was actually fun? When people respected each other's ships even if they didn't personally ship it themselves cause shippers could actually coexist with each other before "ship wars". I truly can not fathom being so obsessed over a ship that you dedicate your time to spreading negativity and hatred about anything not involving your ship and even going as far to sending disgusting comments and death threats to the actors portraying a character "getting in the way of your ship" or writers "for being homophobic" by not making your ship canon. Get a fucking life.

I've seen more than one post saying that Ana is a terrible teacher and shouldn't be allowed around children like what the actual fuck??? Saying that Ana is the cause of Eddies panic attacks like he doesn't have ptsd from his military service or his very dangerous job??? These people are really out here treating Ana and Taylor like they are N*te fucking J*cobs when they are just women purely existing. And yeah Buck was a hot mess season 1 with plenty of flaws but to them "Buck is a precious baby who's never done anything wrong in his life".

And so many actual mlm's are pushed out of these mlm fan bases and made to feel unwelcome because these white fangirls fetishists feel these ships belong to them and them only. Like yeah i thought buddie was a cute ship at first, I enjoyed the little jokes in the show where people assumed they were a couple but the stans as always ruin everything and made it not fun anymore.

I know very little about heartstopper but aren't those actors like actual teenagers?? Maybe these grown adults shouldn't be basing thier opinions about them purely on if they can get themselves off to them or not. That reminds me of the eternals when people were saying Phastos and his husband weren't "real" lgbt representation because they weren't attractive enough.

People who go beyond shipping fictional characters and bring thier delusions to the real people playing these characters need help. The Wynonna Earp fandom was the first good and non toxic fandom I found in a long time but once the s*percorps and the cl*xas migrated to the fandom took it over they starting shipping Dom and Kat in real life and went as far as sending hate to Kats husband it all went to utter shit like every other fandom.

#ask

[direwombat]

Who’s best at oral/oral sex headcanons | Do they have sexual nicknames or titles? | How long can they go? | Something they tried and won’t do again? + Katherine & Arthur?

ahhh thank you so much for indulging me! 💕💕💕 also sorry for taking so long to answer this lmao it’s been a busy weekend for me (nsfw under the cut obvs)

Who’s best at oral/oral sex headcanons

genuinely, i feel like they both aren't the best at it, but they both go in with a desire to please each other, so i think they learn pretty quickly. I'm inclined to say that arthur is probably slightly better at eating her out because he's probably a little bit more experienced sexually, in that he has probably had sex at least once whereas kat never had before him.

as far as general oral sex headcanons: i think arthur likes making her fall apart using only his tongue, and when they have the time, he’ll eat her out for as long as he can and make sure this is how her first orgasm finds her. and katherine struggled taking him in her mouth for a while, but after getting some tips from abigail and karen, she secretly started training her gag reflex. the night she tried taking him into her throat hadn’t gone the smoothest, and he had worried she was pushing herself too far too fast, but she insisted she wanted to try. he was very patient and helped coach her through it, and it maybe took longer than either of them would have liked, but the sight of seeing her big blue eyes looking back up at him with his cock in her mouth was well worth it. as were the low groans she was able to pull from him. 

Do they have sexual nicknames or titles?

like with jake and syb i don't think they have any names that are exclusively used in a sexual context, but arthur calls katherine his "little bird," which is funny because originally he started calling her tat because of her singing voice, but then he learned that her surname means "bird" in german. but i do think he enjoys using that term of endearment in bed whenever he gets her to make those sweet, sweet sounds that only he can pull from her. kat definitely calls him "liebling," and she also probably starts calling him "bärchen" whenever he starts letting his hair/beard grow out because he starts reminding her of a bear.

How long can they go?

oh they can go for a looong time, but they unfortunately don't get very many chances to really do that. dutch keeps both of them pretty busy, but every now and then they can get a full evening or even a full few days to themselves, where they really take their time with each other. arthur loves turning kat into a writhing mess on the sheets and will edge her for as long as he can, before trying to pull as many orgasms from her as possible. likewise, kat just likes touching arthur, doesn’t really matter where, and the more she can just let her hands rove over his body, the more she can tease him until he gently manhandles her like she wants.

but also whenever they’re on the trail for a long period of time/travelling on horseback for days, kat will occasionally join arthur on his horse, keeping his cock warm and riding him until the jostling of the horse brings one of them to completion (in kat’s case, she cums around him, and in arthur’s case, he pulls out and just ruins her underskirts).

Something they tried and won’t do again?

answered this one here but the tl;dr is that kat likes it when arthur roleplays the big bad outlaw and they tried rape roleplay once and it made arthur so uncomfortable that they had to stop the scene and they spent the rest of the night just cuddling with kat as the big spoon.

i would like to add to this tho: i think arthur called kat his "sweet little whore" during dirty talk once and it pulled her right out of the mood and zone out because her fiance back in austria was verbally abusive and would degrade her constantly. so while it wasn't something they purposefully tried, and even though he had fully meant it for as praise, after that incident arthur never uses that word with her ever again (which is pretty easy all things considered).

#r: cowboy and his little bird #oc: katherine vogel

[reckless--optimist]

I’m bitter about Twitter and various entertainment news spoiling Euphoria for me every week so now that I’m watching it basically live I have no place to express feelings so hello welcome back to 2012. I’m just “livetweeting” here so spoilers are likely, but context is not.

FAYE YOU ABSOLUTE BABE I LOVE YOU. PROTECT MY BOYS.

I feel like Ash is an alternate timeline Shane Botwin. My little murder dude gotta protect his family.

Fez and Lexi are the cutest.

Can someone please slap Cassie then give her a massive hug. She needs it but also she needs to not hurt anyone else.

So I could obviously tell everyone was right about Kat’s screen time being basically none but I didnt and still don’t feel like her story this season betrays her. It feels awful to not feel the way you want to feel about someone, especially when that person feels so strongly. But her “role” in the play and now her “actor” did have a line that was literally nothing but useless comedic relief and I am mad.

I’m also mad about the other girl in their friend group who has literally no story. Who is she? Why is she always there? Why don’t we get to know her?

I really wasn’t prepared for Lexi and Cassie’s mom to be my favorite character this season but I love her.

Do not make Rue fall for Eliot’s song. I mean, he’s not doing it to be manipulative or anything but he and Jules already hurt rue and themselves by getting together we don’t need him and rue to do the same thing. Let them be really really good friends. They both deserve a good friend.

Rue my sweet baby. I hope she gets a chance to fix her friendship with Lexi.

Oh no I wish Fez had been there to hear that. Oh my god no. Fez no. I hate that I hope Faye takes the blame for this. They must find a way out of this. Oh my god I didn’t mean ash needs to find a way. Faye do something for ash. Holy shit why did Ash just age like 10 years. He looks so grown up all of a sudden.

Why are they flashing between this and Nate? Oh my god is Nate going to kill Cal? I appreciate that Nate grabbed a cup instead of drinking the strangers vodka straight out of the bottle. That girl was definitely sat there like that for the feet people and I’m uncomfortable. Neither one of these men deserve redemption. Please don’t give it to them. Cal doesn’t get to ruin so many lives because he couldn’t live with publicly being gay. Nate doesn’t get to abuse and harass people because he had a shit father. Oh wait. Nate you could have done that without a gun. You still don’t get forgiveness for the things you’ve done but at least you’re doing better things for now.

Oh god now back to fez. I don’t think Fez dies or gets arrested because Maude mentioned Fexi season 3. I hope they don’t kill Faye because she is a precious cinnamon roll who doesn’t deserve that. I’m worried for Ash but a lot of shows don’t kill kids. Best case scenario I think is that Ash gets arrested but with it being a murder (or technically 2) I think he would still be punished as an adult which would ruin his life but he’d be alive and Fez would have a good excuse to get out of the drug business for good.

Holy shit ash baby no. Oh my god Fez got shot. No. I don’t like that his card for Lexi fell like that. I’ve been telling myself all day this would be as bad as I feared but wow I think I was wrong. No.

No.

No.

No…

This is not a good episode for someone who hasn’t received a real hug in months.

Is Fez’s grandma going to die without them? Don’t make him lose all his family.

Awww yay Rue and Lexi!!!

Out of everything that’s happened so far “do you ever get angry about it” is the line that turned me into a sobbing mess. Guess what. Grief isn’t linear. You’d think I’d know that after 15 years.

You gotta give all this shit a reason. While Rue’s intervention episode was powerful, this episode is really hitting the hardest since Rue’s special. It’s not in the drama, it’s in the reflection.

They broke their timeline with the play and it feels sloppy and confusing. They are too good for that. It doesn’t make sense for that conversation to have been in the play when she’s literally there because of the play.

I know Rue and Jules are like the backbone of the show to everyone but like don’t rush a weird reunion in the last few minutes. Ughhhh.

Okay, Jules shouldn’t have started with “I love you” even if she just meant friend love. I care about you and miss you would have said the same line without throwing Rue’s hurt feelings right back in her face. But wow I am so proud of Rue.

This end monologue is making me nervous.

A beautiful season.

Wait. Euphoria is loosely based on an Israeli show? That’s so cool.

Eagerly awaiting season 3 and hoping we hear about big improvements to how everyone gets treated on set.

#euphoria #euphoria spoilers

[imlostinsantacarla]

Anonymous said: I hope I'm not too late for this! Not sure if you wrote it before 'cause I can't find it. Could you write David or Paul from Lost Boys having a crush on you would include? Whenever you have time but could you please let me know if you've got my ask? Tumblr like to eat them sometimes

(a/n: heya hun! sorry that i didn’t answer this one sooner. i would have lost the request if i had. also my apologies for how long it’s taken me to actually get around to having written this piece as well. i’d experienced a really bad case of writer’s block! i also decided to do the rest of the boys, so i hope you don’t mind that. thanks for requesting and i hope you enjoy reading! - admin kat 🌙❣)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The Lost Boys Having a Crush on the Reader Headcanons:

David:

° When David’s interest is peaked by someone in a romantic sense, he’s surely unable to look away from them. So be prepared to catch him in the act of staring at you more often than you had previously noticed. When you make eye contact, he 

° He’s not a stranger in the department of having the capability to come up to you and strike up a conversation. No, he’s more than capable of doing that. Only, he much prefers to hang back and wait for you to come to him. He wants to know that you’re interested in him as well, he sort of plays hard to get.

° But once a conversation is struck, he’s a true flirt, albeit subtly to begin with, which creates wonder around whether or not he actually is. It makes him simper wildly at you, some of his comments going straight over your head. However, once you do pick up on the fact that he’s interested, and you reciprocate those feelings in return, he’s a shameless flirt all round!

° It’s a common occurrence for David to thus offer your rides on the back of his bike. He even allows Star to begin riding with either the likes of Paul or Marko. When you accept, it’s a humongous ego boost!

° David is both protective and possessive, bordering heavily on the verge of territorial. So don’t be surprised if potential threats are either scared off or wound up being found washed up on the shore. You’re his. He’s made up his mind and there’s no room for anyone else.

° As stated above, in David’s eyes you’re already his, so in his opinion, you might as well get comfy for the ride because you’ll be his for forever. He’s not like Paul, he’s either in all the way or not.

° When David is experiencing a crush, he’s certainly attempting to win you over heavily. So he spends a lot of the time complimenting you. It’s a very direct way for him to communicate that he’s interested in you. He only enjoys it all the more if you become flustered in response.

° If you knew him very well, you’d completely comprehend why the boys look at him gobsmacked when he’s less snarky with you, in conjunction to being happier with you around. They guys surely thank you profusely for that!

° David is an all in or none at all kind of man. If he’s interested romantically in someone then he’s going to be giving you all of his attention. He expects nothing short of the same in return, so don’t be surprised when he sulks slightly when you laughed at Paul’s dumb joke for thirty minutes straight.

° Although he loves his boys, he also is a man and needs his alone time. So, during his alone time, he enjoys spending that time with you. It’s one of the rare moments where he allows a slightly softer side to come forward. It’s a chance for him to get to know you more intimately, and not just in a sexual manner.

° When you’re in the hotel, David situates you on his lap, especially when the other boys are around. Again, it’s an ego boost, but it’s also a direct way of telling them to back off and you’re his. Not that they’d try anything anyway.

° When you’re doing your own thing on the BoardWalk, expect this suave vampire to run his eyes up and down your figure because damn! He scored lucky. You catch him every time and the guy winks at you.

° The majority of the time he’s quite literally eye fucking you. This is especially the case in public or around the boys. He knows that he’s doing it, but do you complain? Hell no!

° Again, he even winks when you catch him red handed. He’s not shy about it, even if it makes you feel embarrassed. David enjoys watching you squirm underneath his smoldering gaze.

° He’s definitely the type of guy to catch you off guard because your momentary fear boosts his pride in himself. He laughs at how you jumped at his presence.

° Unbelievably to the other boys, he actually shares his cigarettes with you, which is a first! The last time Paul tried to pinch one he got a swift kick up his backside for it.

° David never stops smirking around you when he likes you! It’s physically impossible for him not to.

° He also teases you relentlessly, especially when it results in you becoming abashed.

Dwayne:

° To begin with, it’s challenging to tell whether Dwayne likes you or not because he’s already so quiet. You genuinely assume that he hates you or something which causes you to avoid him a lot as he’s quite intimidating.

° But nevertheless, he finds himself staring at you a lot more. You catch his eye immediately with little effort and peak his intrigue.

° You also just so happen to catch him in the act of staring at you. It’s a process that tends to fluster the pair of you, your eyes meeting for a flicker of a second before finding something else to focus on, as though both of your lives depended upon it!

° This sort of thing happens for a couple of months as it takes a lot of courage for Dwayne to be able to talk to you. He also doesn’t trust people as easily as Paul does, which can make him come across as unapproachable and intimidating, but underneath he can be really chill and gentle if you get to know him.

° Whilst all of this is happening, the other boy’s are busting his balls for being such a pansy about it all, which gives him the courage and edge of defiance to actually go up to you and introduce himself. The whole ordeal leaves you a stuttering mess, which he finds utterly adorable!

° And to the surprise of the other boys, he speaks to you a lot more frequently and in quantity than with most people, - including them -. It’s quite bizarre for them to witness, leaving them wondering what you’ve spiked him with! News flash, boys, it’s nothing.

° Dwayne definitely finds a way to emotionally connect with you on some basis. He doesn’t outwardly say that he likes you, but his actions tend to speak louder than his minimal words.

° With that noted, he’ll probably buy (or steal) small things or snacks because they’re your favorite or the small item reminded him of you or you said you really wanted. It’s genuinely the kindest gesture you’ve experienced in your life and it wins you over. He’s spontaneous with his gift giving and very casual about the whole experience. He does stumble over his words a little when he tries to explain why he got it for you. But nevertheless, it’s very sweet!

° It doesn’t matter if you’re not dating Dwayne yet, he likes you which means that he’s already beginning to care about you as a person. This leads to him giving you his jacket on colder nights because let’s face it, this raven haired boy is really an angel sent from heaven! It doesn’t matter that he’s shirtless, he insists every time.

° To your amazement, he will make flirty comments to you, which puts you into a state of shock for a few seconds. He usually does this whenever the boys aren’t floating about, their beady eyes scoping out the scene makes him awfully antsy, and not in a good context.

° Dwayne compliments you so much, but in a respectful fashion because Dwayne drinks respect women juice™! And you can fight me on that one.

° He also buys you food, particularly your favorite icecream. It’s kind of a gesture of, “Hey, let me take care of you!”. Argh I love him so much!

° When you’re walking on the BoardWalk side by side, your hands do brush up against one another, yet it’s not until you’re on a ride that you’re scared to be on does he actually grab hold of your hand. It’s his way of letting you know that he’s never going to let anything happen to you when he’s around. It’s so fucking cute!

° It’s a very rare occurrence to see this boy smile, but when you’re around, he just can’t help himself! Paul and Marko think it’s hilarious and always comment on it.

° Dwayne laughs at all of your jokes, even the ones that aren’t particularly funny. He thinks they’re funny though, which is a plus!

° He drives you places at night if you need to go anywhere. He doesn’t think that it’s a hassle at all, he sincerely enjoys spending time with you.

° If it’s not already apparent yet, Dwayne becomes very protective of you because when he cares about someone, he’s willing to keep them safe.

° He will stand up for you whenever anyone is giving you shit. He usually tends to back away from violence or anything heated, but when it comes to you, he’s willing to defend you by tooth and nail.

Paul:

° Be prepared for extreme flirting and teasing! When it comes to Paul having a crush on you, he isn’t going to hold back. He’s going to pull out all the stops.

° When Paul likes someone, he’s inclined to speak far more often. Can you believe that’s even possible? Well, it is! And it’s practically on the verge of blabbering, but you find it adorable, nonetheless.

° Due to the fact that he talks nonstop around you, it’s almost a given that he becomes tongue tied at some point. It makes you laugh softly at him because you’ve never seen someone so happy to be around you before until you met Paul. It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but now you’re so used to it.

° It’s incredibly obvious that Paul likes you, even you can tell. He’s also up front about the entire ordeal by flat out telling you honestly that he likes you. He’s not shy and that’s a known fact by now.

° Though to begin with you thought he was joking, but it turns out he really wasn’t!

° Paul is the most shameless flirt out of all of the boy’s, which leads to him winking at you so often that you swear your heart implodes in your chest. He’s a huge fan of how embarrassed you get when he does it also. He can’t help but  laugh in response.

° Dirty innuendos as well as cheesy pick up lines are a given. This man spits them out like fire! And he’s not even worried if they don’t land well because he’ll just bounce back in with another one, and another one...

° Out of all of the boy’s, he’s the most welcoming and warm one. So, he’s not a stranger when it comes to physical contact. He encourages it whenever he’s with you. He hugs you a lot and will place his hands on you more, - not in a particular fashion that is sexual, especially if you’re not into that -. It’s his way of letting you know that he’s interested, it bridges the gap between you two, reminding you that he’s there and very much so interested in you.

° He wants to be around you all the time, honestly. Marko calls him a nerd because of it, but Paul just puts his buddy into a playful choke hold and calls it a night. Nah, Paul’s not embarrassed that other people know that he likes you, in fact, in his eyes it only makes it clearer that other people should back off. They really don’t stand much of a chance against him.

° Paul is a funny guy, so it’s just common knowledge that he’s going to make you laugh very hard on a constant basis. You pretty much have permanent abs now. Nothing is better to him than the sound of your laugh and the sight of your smile. When you break out those two things, Paul is putty in your hands! He prides himself on his ability to make you beam like the sun and laugh so hard that you’re crying. And that’s not even an understatement.

° He always has an arm wrapped around your shoulders. Again, it’s about contact. He tries not to do it without your permission if you’re not a fan of physical touch, but he just can’t seem to help himself. He gravitates towards you like you’re his personal sun.

° One specific way to know that Paul is really crushing on someone is when he feels comfortable enough to share his favorite music and bands with you. He’s a big fan of rock and metal, wanting to share it with you comes naturally to him. He’d be stoked if you enjoyed the same music as him, but he won’t slander your taste in music if it’s different. He may not like it, but he’s certainly not going to force you to listen to something you’re not fixated strongly on. I mean, after all, he’s quite a chill guy.

° We also know that Paul is quite an emotional guy beneath all the hair and the dirty clothes. If he likes you, you automatically mean something to him, which means he’s protective of you. He won’t stand for anyone making fun of you, trying to put you down or anything negative regarding you. He’s stomping out that fire before it can burn you. And you better not be surprised when people wind up dead afterwards. No one messes with you. Period.

° Funnily enough, he also shares his weed with you (if you smoke that is. If not then that’s all swell too!). Yeah he’ll share some with the boy’s, but if he’s smoking a joint he won’t ever let them have a puff. He goes halfsies with you, the sight is astounding alone!

° Paul gives you piggy back rides whenever you desire. Sometimes he doesn’t even ask you!

° He lets you borrow his jacket whenever you want and tells you how good you look in it as well. Great, now there’s less work for him to make other competition back off!

° If Paul likes you he’s going to speak to you about his interests and will actually listen to you too, even if you have great knockers that he can’t stop ogling at! 

° He will include you in everything that he does because he likes you that much and wants you to be included. Excluding others makes him feel bummed out, especially when it comes to you. He wants you to feel comfortable around him and the boys and as though you matter because you do!

° It’s not a question of whether you want him to or not, but Paul will just pull you into his lap when he’s sitting down.

° He’s also kind of sweet because he’ll hold your hand when you walk with him, especially when the BoardWalk is packed that night, as not to lose you in the crowd. Like, any excuse to touch you he’s game for because he really likes skinship. He’s just so excited when you’re around him, he can’t help himself!

° He’s the type of guy where when he sees you come onto the BoardWalk that night, his eyes light up!

Marko:

° I’m not quite sure how this is even physically possible, but Marko will smile even more when you’re around. He just feels like you’re his personal sun and you have the ability to pull him out of the darkest of moods and into a much lighter one.

° Paul has quite the habit of teasing Marko about it, which just results in Paul getting thrown into the ocean 900% of the time. And you bet your ass that Paul is surprised each time it happens.

° It’s incredibly sweet when it occurs, but Marko’s eyes have a habit of lighting up like torches when he sees you. It’s genuinely the most adorable thing that anyone has ever seen. This especially happens when you first appear on the BoardWalk at the beginning of the night, and honestly, it occurs every night.

° Marko will flirt like a champ with you because he is the king of flirting! You thought Paul was good at getting the attention of girls? Meet Marko, the one with the ability to gain your attention with just one of his big goofy grins. And you can bet your ass that he makes your heart flutter intensely.

° One thing most people aren’t aware of how much Marko loves animals, after all, he’s befriended every pigeon and rat back at the Cave. So if you make an appearance in the hotel, it’s expected that he’ll show you his scruffy pets and he’ll allow you to feed them with him.

° The boys steer clear of all taunting then, because Marko isn’t afraid to beat their asses if they fuck this up. It’s happened before. But let’s be honest, Paul interrupts 9/10 times because he wants his buddies attention. You find that adorable.

° Physical touch with other people that aren’t his brothers is incredibly rare from Marko. This is due to his lack of ability to trust others. Marko is the most guarded individual in the group, being a strong contender with Dwayne and David. But with you, he finds himself hugging you more often. It’s an odd sight for the boys to see at first, which only feeds their suspicions that Marko indeed does have feelings for you.

° But nevertheless, the other boys particularly enjoy seeing Marko happy, so there is little room for complaints here.

° When Marko has brought back grub for the night, he’s more than happy to share his own food with you, which is a strong indicator that he trusts and cares for you. He happily sits back and allows you to stick your fork in his takeout box of rice. He’s totally relaxed about it.

° Now when Paul attempted to do the same thing, Marko almost bit his hand straight off. It’s fair to say that Paul was left traumatized.

° Speaking of food, Marko will allow you to go on food runs with him for the boys. This is due to the simple fact that he enjoys your company, and also slightly because he knows that if he leaves you at the hotel with the boys, they’re 110% more likely to tell you a bunch of embarrassing stuff he’s done in the past. He’d rather spare himself the mortification, thank you very much!

° He’ll also get your favorite takeout whenever you’re at the Cave too, regardless of whether the other boys hate it or not. Even when the boys bitch about it, he’ll just grin and say something cheesy like, “The guests choice.” lmaoo what a nerd!

° Marko is also very talented when it comes to winning things at the arcade or the game stalls on the BoardWalk. He’s never been a stranger when it came to winning that adorable plushie you had been eyeing up for the past hour and a half. And he’s even more delighted when you carry it around the BoardWalk afterwards with an enormous grin plastered on your face. It genuinely just melts his heart!

° Marko is quite the independent man, which just amplifies his guarded nature. It’s scarce for him to ever ask for the opinions of others, yet he finds himself always asking for yours. Your opinion is one that he truly values because he enjoys hearing your thoughts and opinions. To him you’re equal and if you show him respect, he gives that back without hesitation.

° Catch Marko genuinely listening to you when you talk. To him, it doesn’t matter about the subject at hand, just the sound of your voice encapsulates him in utter focus. It’s especially so when you’re discussing something that you’re interested in or passionate about.

° Anyone can figure out that Marko has a crush on someone when he listens to their problems and provides solid advice in response, but only if you’ve asked for it. Although Marko would love to just waste anyone who upsets you, he knows you wouldn’t be a huge fan of that. Instead, he opts on listening to your issues and providing comfort where possible. This deepens your emotional connection, and overtime makes it easier for him to open up to you in response.

° Just insert fucking heart eyes everywhere by this point! Marko can’t get enough of you. It’s a wonder that you haven’t picked up that he likes you, but then again, the boy is a tricky one to read so it’s challenging for you to comprehend whether his actions are motivated from a platonic perspective or a romantic one.

° Marko’s most prized possession is his jacket, and he never parts with it, even during the mad heatwaves that constantly occur in Santa Carla. However, he’s managed to shed his jacket a few times when it comes to you. He’ll plant the article of clothing over top of your shoulders, particularly when you’re shivering in colder weather.

° Don’t make a big deal out of it though! It just embarrasses him and he becomes a gushing mess. Besides, he likes the way it looks on you, as well as warding off any potential competition. After all, Marko is a possessive man!

° Expect to be complimented loads of times during the night. He manages to do it such a nonchalant way you tend not to notice it, but he’s always gratuitous when you accept it and return a compliment. This also strengthens your bond, making it a rather positive one and helping him to unwind and relax around you.

° I headcanon that Marko is quite perceptive and observant. So it’s a common occurrence for him to notice new things about you like a new haircut/color/style, clothes, jewelry, etc. and he compliments you on them/it. He wants you to feel good and confident around him, as well as letting you know that his focus is primarily on you and no one else.

° Much like Dwayne, he will tend to get you small things and gifts that consist of your favorite candy, etc. which emanates the fact that he’s thinking about you. It’s a sweet small gesture that you never fail to thank him profusely for. But Marko just waves it off like it’s just the casual thing that he does for everyone, only he doesn’t and you know this.

° Marko will tend to whisper rather flirtatious comments in your ear, especially when he is behind you. This happens a lot whilst you’re waiting in lines for rides or for food. He can’t help but grin silly when you start to grow flustered over his words. 

° His nimble fingers will also brush the hair out of your face as he speaks to you. It’s a bold move considering how guarded he is, but he wants to see your breathtaking countenance when he’s speaking to you. The action usually makes you get abashed, which he honestly loves deeply.

° With Marko there’s going to be lot’s of eye contact incorporated with a ton of smiles! The entire ordeal makes you swoon for him, and he’s more than aware of this.

° He’s developed a habit of looking at your lips a lot when he's talking to you. He also checks you out fifty times in an hour. He’s not even abashed when you catch him! He just grins that much wider at you, because in his eyes, he can’t help it.

° Out of all of the boys, I believe he’d be the most nervous to tell you his feelings in fear of being rejected. But also, it’s foreign for him to let a new person in behind his walls, so there’s a lot of nervousness swirling in his heart and brain about it. You’re probably going to have to be the first one to admit it, which he’ll gladly follow suit in.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

please like, reblog and follow for more!

requests: closed!

#david #dwayne #paul #marko #david imagines #dwayne imagines #paul imagines #marko imagines #the lost boys #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys headcanons #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys 1987 imagines #the lost boys 1987 headcanons #the lost boys david #the lost boys david imagines #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys dwayne imagines #the lost boys paul #the lost boys paul imagines #the lost boys marko #the lost boys marko imagines #i hope you enjoyed! #admin kat

[jane-fucking-seymour]

Making It Up as I Go Along

Another from the archives.

Jane Seymour had been a mother for twelve days.

She had wished on all the stars that it had been longer.

Most of that, she doesn’t remember: she was in bed, sick and dying. Infection, she later found out. 

All she remembers is pain.

Regardless, the main point is that Jane Seymour had no idea how to be a mother. The others had more time with their children - or one of the other’s, in the case of Parr - and Jane simply didn’t. She didn’t think she was ever going to regardless of the time period she was in, either; it just didn’t sit right with her, having a child now. Not when she’s back for another reason.

That all changed, however, a few weeks into rehearsals.

At first, it’s just small things: asking Katherine about her day, telling her to put a jacket on, general caring things she’d say to any of the girls. The two of them got along well enough already, already pretty good friends.

It was at night when Jane heard Katherine sobbing that Seymour started to realize how she felt about Katherine.

Jane had been headed back to her room when she stopped at Katherine’s door; a weird sound had made her do so. It was soft sobs, she realized, and instantly she’s knocking gently on the door.

“Katherine? It’s Jane. I… can I come in?” she asks quietly. When she hears a small sound of approval, she enters slowly.

There, Katherine is curled up on the bed, knees to her chest, trying to breathe.

Jane quickly moves over to the small girl and kneels down in front of her.

“Hello,” Jane says, giving her a soft smile. “Did you have a nightmare?” 

Katherine nods, which makes Jane nod right back.

“Alright then. Let’s…”

She trails off. What exactly is she supposed to do here? 

It takes a moment, but she stands back up and sits next to Howard, arms outstretched. She hesitates, but Kat is eventually in for a hug. Jane tries to help calm her down, but not much does. 

Jane doesn’t know what to do.

“How are-” she starts, but then Katherine pulls back, still sniffling.

“I’m okay now,” she says. She’s clearly not, but she’s putting on a strong face. “You can go back to your room. I’m sorry for keeping you up so late.”

Jane doesn’t want to leave; she wants to help make Katherine feel better, to get her to smile genuinely. 

But she also wants to respect Katherine’s space.

“Okay,” Jane says, giving her a soft smile of her own. “Just… if there’s anything - anything - that I can do, please let me know, okay? I’m only a door down.”

“I know,” Katherine replies with a smile. “Thank you, Jane. I’ll talk to you in the morning.

The door shuts behind Jane and she stands there for a moment. She hears Katherine pick up on the crying and her heart hurts for the girl.

So she makes the resolution. She makes the promise. She’s going to be there for this child. She might not have ever had a chance with her own, but… she can do this. She can help Katherine.

But now, she had to learn.

That night, she walked into Parr’s room, asked a few questions outright. Parr had an idea of why she was asking, but never confirmed it. The two discuss caring for children, how that worked for Parr with Edward and Elizabeth, and various other tips and tricks. 

“You’re gonna do great, Jane,” Parr says knowingly. “You’ll figure it out. We all do eventually.”

Later on, Jane manages to corner Anna this time, asking questions about her relationship with Howard and how the girl generally operated. She asked about their history - she had read about them online, but she felt like it wasn’t enough - and how Katherine was back then versus now. Jane had tried to be subtle with the questioning, but the more she continued, the more the knowing look on Anna’s face made it apparent.

“Trying to go above and beyond for Kit, hm?” Anna asks, a smile on her face. “It’s good. It’ll be nice to have someone else also actively looking out for her.”

Later that morning - okay, well, afternoon - she manages to corner Boleyn and ask her a bit about caring for Elizabeth. Anne didn’t seem as willing to discuss it all, but she answered things easily enough. She gave a few pointers that Parr didn’t, told her some cute stories about the child, went on and on about how brilliant Elizabeth was and how important she was to her.

“For Howard, though,” Boleyn says, knowing easily enough what this was about. “I think you should just… feel it out. You have the instincts, clearly.“

Finally, later on that night, she gets the courage to talk to Aragon about Mary. 

Mary was a bit of a sore subject for Jane as well; though she had managed to get Henry to reconcile with her, she knew that Mary wasn’t exactly thrilled to accept Henry’s demands. If Jane was a bit stronger, a bit wiser, she might have been able to figure something out that could have helped Mary, but at the time she just wasn’t aware. Regardless, this was still the conversation that Jane was the least looking forward to; not because of Aragon herself, but rather because of Mary’s legacy.

It’s something Aragon didn’t talk about in public. Even on press tours, most people don’t discuss it. Jane’s heard the queen cry late at night, mumbling Mary’s name and “why” and so many questions that fall on intruding ears. 

She knows this is going to be painful for Aragon. But she does it anyways.

At first, Aragon is surprised to be asked that by Jane of all people. But then, she answers questions almost as simply as Parr does, and with little resistance. When Jane has enough information, she can’t help but add:

“I’m sorry,” Jane says, “If this was a bit much for you.”

“It’s fine,” Aragon replies. “I’m sure Howard will appreciate the guidance you’ll provide.”

Jane wanted to ask how Aragon knew about her intentions, but Aragon is out of the room before she can put in another word.

So it starts there: researching from primary sources is complete. Next, online.

Parr warned her about online sources, as apparently they might not be totally reputable. 

“You’ll need to keep things in context,” Parr explains, “and figure out if that’s good for the situation. If there’s any questions, just call me, okay?”

So Jane starts on Google. Goes on Wikipedia, reads a bunch of blogs, watches videos from YouTube, as much as she can. She’s deep into a fifteen minute video when she just sighs and turns it off; it wasn’t helping. Nothing was.

These are for normal parents with normal circumstances; certainly not what this was.

So, Jane decides to just… figure it out.

Progress is slow and awkward; Jane tries to make herself a bit more available to Katherine, who notices the increase of attention but is not bothered a bit by it. They talk a bit more often and more in-depth: not just their histories, but their feelings, how frustrated Katherine was with Parr about some trivial thing, about how Boleyn was off doing shenanigans or something. It’s funny, sometimes, but most of the time it’s them being there with each other, with Jane supporting Katherine as much as she can.

That doesn’t come without awkward moments, however. Sometimes, Jane tries to make Katherine do something - “clean your room,” for example - and it earns a weird look from Howard. Jane is quick to backtrack on that, however, as soon as she sees the weird look on Howard’s face. Parr or Boleyn or Aragon is quick to recover for her, either reinforcing the request or making a quick joke that alleviates the tension. 

Jane makes notes all the while, but apparently, Howard has as well.

One morning, it’s just the two of them before a matinee. Jane’s already made breakfast for the group - a normal thing, now - and Howard’s up a bit earlier than expected.

“Hey,” Jane says, smiling brightly at her. “You’re up a bit earlier than usual.”

“I heard you in here and wanted to hang out,” Howard replies, yawning. “That, and pancakes.” 

Jane chuckles. “Fair enough.”

They settle into comfortable silence before Howard finally speaks:

“You’ve been… off, lately,” Howard says, sitting down at the counter. “Is something the matter?”

“What?” Jane asks, trying to laugh it off. It only makes her more suspicious. “I… what??? No, nothing’s the matter, absolutely nothing, completely and totally fine and-”

“Definitely not panicking right now, got it,” Katherine replies with a bit of a smile. She slides her arms across the counter and puts Jane’s hands into her own.

“It’s okay, Jane. You can tell me. We’re family, remember?”

Jane blinks.

“I… just like that?” she asks, tilting her head.

Katherine mimics Jane’s movement.

“What do you mean? Of course, just like that.” Katherine replies with a bit of a chuckle. “After everything we’ve been through… I, at least, thought we were family.” 

She frowns, a scary thought forming:

“Unless… you don’t think so?”

“Oh! No, no, that’s not, nope.” Jane laughs awkwardly again. “No, I just… I really-” she sighs, putting her head in her hands. “I don’t want to mess it up,” she says through said hands, looking back up at Katherine. “I want to help you, Kit. That’s all I want to do. Because I know how hard it’s been for you, and I just… I want to be there to support you as best as I can.” 

Katherine smiles and moves around the counter to give Jane a big hug.

“I know. And I love you for it, Jane,” she says. Then, with  an impish smirk, she pinches Jane’s cheek in jest.

“You’re such a mom.”

With a wink, she moves away and back to her room with food in hand.

Jane looks over towards Katherine’s retreating form with a wondrous expression. Then, to herself:

“Did she just say…?”

“Told you you’d figure it out.”

Jane looks over to find Parr leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, smiling brightly. Jane nods quickly before smiling as big as Parr’s ever seen it.

“Yeah… I guess I have.”

#six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #six fanfic #six fanfiction #sixfic #jane seymour #katherine howard #catherine parr #anne boleyn #anna of cleves #catherine of aragon

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

I don’t trust Kat to give you context, so I’ll do it this time.

I decided to write something based on some stuff we were talking about. I don’t have the most confidence and this is more related to her stuff anyways, so while convincing me to post it, she offered to host it here. This has the added bonus of it being HER that hits post, limiting my chance to chicken out.

So enjoy this out of context thing I wrote because Kat is a bad influence.

-grungekitty-77

Eleanor knew she was an artist from a young age. From the moment she took he first picture she knew she’d found her calling. Other girls played dolls, she focused on posing them. She took photos of everything, always looking for something she hadn’t seen before. She got bored often and nothing frustrated her more than having nothing interesting to photograph.

From a young age she was hailed as a prodigy. Her eye was so unique, and she had a knack for finding things and making them interesting, things nobody realized could be that interesting. So, she had no trouble getting a start at a studio.

She hated family portraits. She hated them with a passion. They always wanted the same straight on angle and it was so painfully boring. They were frustrating to work with, they were all the same stiff smiles, one shot no different than the next. No talent or expression. She’d outright refuse them if they weren’t keeping the lights on.

She was ready for another grueling photoshoot that brought no fulfillment and wasted her talents. This family had an unruly kid.

Eleanor never really go the appeal of kids. They were loud and needy and usually a mess. They did provide more interest than their parents though. The boy screamed randomly at one point, much to his parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents’ dismay.

He laughed at their frowns and Eleanor captured it. The emotions and dynamics were the most interesting thing she’d gotten so far.

The boy got lectured by his mom and pouted. The adults were back to their static smiles, but he displayed his emotions, not looking at the camera or standing straight. Eleanor captured that too, focusing on the boy’s emotional journey.

The adults got frustrated with him as he fidgeted, and their smiles dropped. His mother pulled him aside and screamed at him. He shrunk down and started to cry. She captured it.

Then she hugged him, telling him that she loved him and just needed him to behave. Eleanor captured her favorite shot of the shoot. It was a photo she’d have framed and hung in her house for years to come and would be her favorite for a long time.

This child, crying and filled with shame, clinging to his mother, comforted by the very cause of his tears. The vulnerability, the emotions, the submission, it was all something Eleanor hadn’t seen before.

The rest of the shoot went normally, the kid even having some real fun by the end, but Eleanor never forgot how that mother had the power to control her child’s emotions like that.

Family portraits stopped being so boring after that day. Eleanor stopped focusing on trying to make something worthwhile within the stifling constraints, and instead focused on how much power mothers had over the children. How if Eleanor needed something from them, the mother would provide it. Telling the child directly rarely worked but asking the mother to tell the child always did. It was like they weren’t interacting with the world as their own beings, they could only understand what was filtered through their mothers. Eleanor became obsessed with that power. The power to control another’s reality like that. A mother was her child’s whole world, and she could shape that world as she pleased.

Eventually her artistic work gained enough of a following that she never had to do a family portrait again, much to her relief. She hated working through the mothers. She may’ve been fascinating with their power over their children, but she wanted to have her own and constantly borrowing theirs was getting irksome. She wanted to shape her own worlds, and not have to work around the worlds these women had already shaped.

She still didn’t want a baby though. She wanted the control of her subject being a mother brought, not a child to raise.

Her dilemma sent her on a path to find others like her, a path that led to a private online forum. It was full of people like her, people that were obsessed with controlling, with shaping a world and having total power over it. She finally had people that understood what was going on in her head. Not all of them approached it from the same angle as her, but they all wanted to control a subject. She made good friends.

Itssnowing: have you thought about a pet?

SkullsandRibbons: maybe….

Itssnowing: Get a pretty little thing and train it. I know where you can get a lovely little purebred. It might fill the hole.

Eleanor took her friend up on his suggestion and got Lucy.

At first Eleanor was happy to have a new subject, but quickly she got frustrated. Lucy didn’t listen. She couldn’t get Lucy to do what she wanted, and all of her shots were off center or blurry because Lucy refused to hold a position.

Itssnowing suggested she send her off to get trained and Eleanor again, took his advice.

It worked. Lucy came back ready to obey orders. Eleanor was delighted for about a month and a half.

Then Lucy got boring. She looked the same as any other pure breed. She had the same few emotions and responses; the interest ran out. Eleanor ran out of new things to capture. She hated taking repeats of shots she already had.

Lucy was sold.

Itssnowing: Why? I would love having something so pretty in my house. A living, breathing piece of art that’s just for you.

SkullsandRibbons: Why would I want something I can see anywhere? There’s nothing new about it. Nothing unique. Nothing raw! Nothing new to see. It’s boring!

Itssnowing: I guess I’m just boring then. I’d much rather a quiet afternoon at home with a pretty little thing snuggled on my lap.

SkullsandRibbons: Well you’re an office worker, I’m an artist! I need something fulfilling!

Itssnowing: Suit yourself then.

SkullsandRibbons: I’m gonna go to the shelter tomorrow, see if they had anything interesting.

Itssnowing: You want a MUTT!?

SkullsandRibbons: Absolutely! No two are identical. I might actually capture something unique!

Itssnowing: I don’t understand you… but I suppose I don’t have to understand your tastes.

Eleanor laughed at her friend. She shared almost everything with Snowing. He got all the shots she took of her new rescue. He even admitted that the pictures were marvelous, though he still had his own tastes.

Eleanor got bored too easily. She decided to foster, so that she’d get a different subject every once and a while. She definitely preferred the rescues over Lucy. They all had stories and intrigue and were far more dependent on her attention. She could brighten them right up with a little affection, and then destroy them by ignoring them for a minute. Best was that she could do it all over again and it still worked.

But dogs got boring. She needed something fresh, something entirely unique, something that screamed at her to be captured and focused on.

She was browsing the internet one day and a headline caught her interest. She’d vaguely heard about the ninja, but she hadn’t actually seen any real pictures yet, so she clicked the article just to see what kind of pictures it had.

The green ninja made her eyes roll. Scared boy trying too hard to look strong and important and nothing else. A few candid shots had potential, but he seemed to only be himself when he didn’t know he was being seen, which would be pointless to explore with a camera.

The white ninja made her cringe. He had nothing to give. Well, the interesting anatomy could be worked with, but the ninja himself was a stiff subject that had nothing to see.

The blue ninja was all energy, no form. She could probably get some good shots, but it would get very one note after a short while.

The black ninja at least seemed to know how to hold himself, though he didn’t seem to have any interest in being a good subject. He’d make a decent model for brand work, but he’d be worthless in any artistic projects.

The girl was a brat. She refused to be a subject. It was a non-starter.

It was the red ninja that made her stop breathing. Then she boiled over in rage.

He was…He was perfect. He was gorgeous. He had an effortless look with just enough edge to make you want to know more. He was stunning, and the framing was the worst she’d ever seen!

They focused on the complete wrong place, and the lighting was just….oh it burned her. Here was this boy being the perfect subject, all the stars aligned, and the photographer ruined it!

She searched him up, she had to know what he looked like when he was given the attention he deserved.

Kai Smith.

She found his social media and started to scroll through. He posted his own pictures and he had no training in photography, but at least he wasn’t ruining anything. She poured over each selfie. His eyes burned with mischief and passion, his face had beautiful angles no matter which way he turned, and he seemed to love being observed. He was preforming. Giving pieces of himself for others to see. Eleanor continues to scroll and fantasized about capturing those pieces and propping them up correctly. She could make something magical out of him. His expressions told stories, he wore his emotions like jewels and Eleanor had to know more.

She spent the next week obsessing over everything she could learn about Kai Smith, her new muse. And she found something she hated even more than boring subjects, seeing someone mishandle a beautiful subject like Kai.

They all were too focused on Lloyd, who looked uncomfortable half the time he was on camera.

Nya wasn’t always an awful subject; she seemed a lot more willing to be captured if her brother was there with her.

She was right about Cole. He had the training, but no passion for it.

Jay was an attention hog and she found herself annoyed with him. Too overpowering, he didn’t leave the artist any room to work.

Zane was everything she thought he was. No surprises there.

But Kai…

The pictures where he was angry were the best. He had such a raw emotion. He let everyone see how he felt and let the image have the power of what he felt. He let his soul be seen.

She learned all she could about him.

He had a tragic backstory. Something with teeth, no wonder he had a touch of a wounded look. He had no mother to shape the world for him. This interested Eleanor even more. Kai seemed to have filtered the world for his little sister, and seemingly Lloyd too, but he seemed to lack anyone that could reshape his world as they saw fit.

He was wayward child.

The thought made Eleanor smile. Kai had no mother to compete with. There was no woman she’d have to fight with to take control of his world. He was what she had wanted so desperately. A beautiful and interesting subject she could control.

Oh, how she’d love to have him.

#you are completely right I'm a horrible influence #but u love me anyway #also I love it :D #Ninjago #not my writing #Eleanor #it only gets worse from here #:D #ninjago fanfiction #submission

[simplylove101]

Random Tangent About Ships & Cheating SLs

So, I was talking with my friend Lauren (@backtothestart02) yesterday about how when it comes to watching our shows and seeing certain ships of ours having cheating sls & how that affects how we feel towards them. This convo kinda came about cuz of the recent development we’ve heard about on Riverdale where Betty & Archie are gonna be cheating on their respective significant others with each other in the next episode... Which, okay, at this point I don’t even watch the show anymore since it sounds like it’s pretty much on crack these days (at least more than usual lol) so this isn’t your typical rant about “OMG HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY OTP LIKE THAT” in regards to that sl (re: yes, Bughead was my ship when I watched it but my investment in the show has been pretty much non-existent for way over a year now so that’s not my goal with this rant fyi lol) It’s just more the frustration of the excitement I’ve seen from people being all “YAY CHEATING” Cuz, yeah ok, it’s a silly TV show. Obviously. I get that lmao It’s just the reactions I’ve been seeing that are funny cuz there’s people who talk about toxic relationships and normally how cheating is a dealbreaker but in this one specific case we’re all suddenly cool with it... Okay lmao but yeah, if the ship has to happen because a character died or cheating is involved... doesn’t that already cheapen that new relationship too (and their character development along with it? lol)

Anyway, I actually just really wanted to use this as a chance to rant about my ships that made me deal with cheating sls and why those are basically the worse “obstacles” a show can throw at ships. At least that is, if you want people to root for them long term. lol Cheating obviously happens in real life, but then that’s usually the end of a relationship. Which is why I don’t think it’s surprising that when it comes to fiction, I find the element of cheating to be something that kinda taints my otps for me if it occurs in the story. 

I can think of a couple of cases where I was able to accept it cuz the show mostly did right by them after the situation by showing the growth and how that would never been an issue again. But the cases where the cheating happens and it just feels like this thing that makes it so you can’t enjoy any of the things that came before it with that couple? That sucks. It feels cheap and like, really bad writing.

I think my thoughts on this subject stems all the way back to my very first TV ship: Jackie & Hyde from That 70′s Show. Anyone who really watched that show remembers that 2 episode arc of where Hyde thought Jackie cheated on him with Kelso (she hadn’t ofc but he did see her comforting him in a way that would be suspicious considering Kelso had wanted her back) so he cheated on her with a random nurse as payback. I remember watching the next episode heartbroken at the scene where Hyde has to tell her what he did after he realizes that he pulled that move for no reason at all and Jackie ultimately breaks up with him on the spot. Which I applauded her for. Because the girl had gotten cheated on by Kelso so much that she vowed that she wouldn’t let that happen to her again. Her relationship with Steven was supposed to be different, and up until that point, had been. It was a step back for all the development they had spent with them all season, but with how raw Hyde was during that scene and the scene where he tells Jackie that he loves her (evidenced by the fact that he actually isn’t wearing his usual sunglasses in either of those scenes), it can be said that it was clearly just a momentary regression. Do I think they could have handled it better towards getting them back together? Yeah. But then it was a sitcom so you gotta keep that in mind too. lol Otherwise, they mostly did right by them once they were back together until things got shaky again. But then this rant isn’t about how they deserved the endgame they were supposed to get and were robbed of. LOL But yeah, this is one of the rare cases they weren’t completely tainted for me.

(For those of you that have never seen this ep....)

Another case of a ship where cheating happened, but in this case did have my ship pretty much tainted for me at the time was Joan & Adam on Joan of Arcadia. This is more a lowkey scenario cuz nobody who sees this will know them basically but I loved them dearly and I watched that show (pun not intended at all lol) religiously when it was on so when that sl came very much out of nowhere I was (I’d say) rightfully upset about it. There was no reason to have Adam cheat on Joan. It was just plain character assassination of a fan favorite, and for what? Drama??? I still have no idea. All I know it was a far cry from the boy who charmed his way into Joan’s heart in S1 who wasn’t even thinking about sex when they got together (Heck, *she* was the one who thought they were supposed to have sex in S1 at one point and again, that wasn’t even on his radar at the time lol). Enter later S2, he makes her feel pressured about them doing it a bit and then later he cheats on her with this random girl that we saw a couple times talking to him because of this... Um?? That’s just bad writing cuz it’s OOC. lol What’s worse is that Joan found out about this in the 19th episode of the season so when the show got cancelled, there had been barely any development after that. There was some since there was like 3 episodes or so after that, which meant there was just enough time to get them to a sorta neutral place with each other since they had the same friend group but otherwise, not much closure for shippers. Which was frustrating. You can’t just take that sharp of a turn in the story that late in a season with an unguaranteed next season with your main couple, especially if the cheating is coming out of left field. You just can’t, not if you want me to root for them at least. So.... yeah. That was bad. lol Definitely an example of why sometimes cheating does not need to be a storyline on a show.

(For context...)

I was trying to think if there were any ships before this one that i would want to mention, and there might have been, but I can’t think of them at the moment. Which means next on the list is Zoe & Wade on Hart of Dixie. They’re still a big otp for me, which does show I was able to move past their cheating sl but again, they did get tainted a bit too. In some ways, their sl gave me some deja vu with Jackie & Hyde. At least in the way that the guy chooses to sleep with someone in a very rash way, and you just know this is gonna lead to an automatic breakup the second the girl finds out. There was no denying Zoe was gonna break up with him. It was heartbreaking to watch her come to the realization that he had cheated on her. And it was frustrating because it felt like they only got to be a proper couple for like maybe 4 episodes and then they pulled that move. It was like, you’ve been setting me up to root for this couple and... now what? They had undeniable chemistry so I guess the writers always counted on that for when they would ultimately bring them back together and they were right. I was able to root for them again, and it helped there had been some time that had passed (a whole season of them not being together!) and I was missing them a lot. But that said, it still felt like a misstep. Because when you wanna write a breakup, we should just throw in a cheating sl then? There were plenty of other ways to break up Zade, but they went in that direction. It just felt very lame, lazy and pure character regression in a way that didn’t make sense with the story they were telling imo. They were able to show that Wade had matured later on so it worked out, but this is one that made me upset so thank goodness they made up for it. lol

(I dare you not to tear up lol)

Okay, the last ships I’m gonna mention briefly are both on The Bold Type. 

Everyone in that fandom has expressed their frustration with how they handled the Kadena sl where Kat cheated and then they tried to have a open relationship to let her explore a bit or whatever in S2. I actually get where it wasn’t that bad cuz Adena told her she could see the other girls. Enter the next season, Kadena have sex when Kat is still in a relationship technically (I don’t care if she got the approval to see if there were still feelings there or not from Tia, that didn’t mean sleep with the ex. That meant talk) This is one of those cases where for me, cheating is never the ideal way to bring a ship back into the story. I know it happens but this didn’t make Kat or Adena look that great as characters for me. I know shit happens, just saying from a preference. Not gonna get deep into the awkwardness of S4 between these two, beyond saying that after S1, it does seem like the writers don’t fully know how to write them now still. They were a fan favorite ship for the show, and I think despite the bad writing for them sometimes in these later seasons, still are, but they really gotta start being more consistent with them if they want them to be rootworthy again. And please write Adena in character my goodness. The way they wrote her in 4x07 was just not it.

 Which brings me to Janestripe,

They seriously dedicated a whole first half of a season dragging out the reveal that Ryan did more than kiss the lady he cheated on Jane with. I know beforehand the majority of the fandom hated Ryan already and thought Jane should have been with Ben instead, which honestly... ok, whatever. I still say Jane was having doubts about Ben so she was already starting to check out of that relationship a bit before Ryan declared his feelings for her at the end of S2. That said, once again, cheating isn’t ideal so I liked that Jane turned him down until she broke things off with Ben. I think people forget that the person in the middle of a triangle is making a choice and just cuz it’s not the choice you the viewer wanted doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be the wrong one. Frankly, Ben was kinda dry for me. Idk. Anyway, I appreciated that they were trying to tell a story of growth for Ryan... Until they weren’t. lol They really could have kept it as a kiss but they started planting those little signs that it wasn’t between Ryan looking guilty during convos and then him telling the story again about what happened & it sounding like bullshit. We all knew but they made us wait 9 eps for Jane to figure out. Which was frustrating. I get what message they were trying to send in the end and I respected that but they couldn’t do it faster?? They were sending a lot of signs they were making them endgame by showing how serious they were getting but now? I don’t see them ever interacting again, unless they did find a reason to bring Ryan back but Idk. I just don’t get painting them in that kinda light if you were just planning to tear them down before the season was even over, you know? They could have just ended them in S3 and I would have got it. But they dragged it out into a whole another season and why??? lol

I’m trying to figure out what more I wanna say about this topic. lol Beyond just thinking that I can’t stand cheating sls. I can barely stand any kinda love triangle sls as it is. Why must these tropes exist?? All they do is cause drama in fandoms. Which is prob why I don’t do them in the first place. lol

Anyway, I’m done now. lol

#shipper rant #don't mind me idek if any of this was coherent #i just had to get it out lol

[amethyst2900]

After months of me struggling, here it is. Open Up chpt 3. God I hope this doesn't suck ass. I’m posting this late at night as well so let me know if anything is wrong. 

Read on Ao3

--

Riding around on the motorcycle became a sort of therapy for Stephen. Driving around, feeling the wind on his face, ignoring everything except the road in front of him. It calmed his mind after a nightmare, helped him sort out his thoughts on a case. And driving to the crime scene was just what he needed to help clear his mind after the minor disaster that happened just a few minutes ago. Although he couldn’t exactly just clear his mind.

 Loki’s oddly cold arms were wrapped around his waist, not too tightly though, just tight enough so that he wouldn’t fall off. But it was still a distraction, a constant force in his mind reminding him why this whole wouldn’t work out. Especially with someone who could spot lies as easy as Loki, seriously, Stephen didn’t even realize that he was technically lying until Loki called him out on it. He was telling a half-truth really, he really didn’t like people trying to help him out when he didn’t need it, but of course, that wasn’t the only reason he didn’t want to have a partner. 

This whole entire side of his life was built on lies and half-truths. His files saying that he went to the police academy were fake, the files that said that he never actually became a doctor after he got his degree was fake. 

Almost everything about his past that they knew about was fake, and the only reason they hadn’t found his actual files yet is because he’d used magic to keep them from seeing them. It felt wrong to be doing it, it felt dirty somehow, he consider everyone there a friend of his and he never liked lying to friends. But he had to keep it up. He wanted to keep his job, and he had a feeling that if they did find out then they would fire him, then probably try to arrest him. 

And now that Loki was here--now that Loki was his partner he had to be careful with what he said. Careful with what he did. If Loki got too close, finds out too much then this side of his life could disappear within an instant. And he knew what it felt like to have his life come crashing down around him and he wasn’t prepared to go through it again. Even if he did have the mystic arts to turn his full attention on if everything here went wrong.

Stephen shook his head as he turned on to the street of the crime scene, he needed to forget about all that for now, no matter how much he didn’t want to. He had a murder to solve.

The whole street was spotted with police cars, some of them were there helping direct traffic, but most of them were in front of just one building, which was a bar if what Steve had texted him was true.

Really, it was pretty cliche for a murder to happen at a bar, but it happened much more often then most people would expect. People got drunk, then they got angry for no reason, then a fight would break out and someone got killed. Which made Stephen shudder when he thought about it too much. 

He pulled up next to the curb, making sure he’s parked a little bit away from the police cars, he didn’t like the fuss it took to get out of there. He turned off the motorcycle, stuffing the keys into his pocket and quickly kicked the kickstand down. 

As soon as the click of the kickstand could be heard Loki’s arms pulled away from his waist. Loki got off the motorcycle at what seemed like an inhuman speed, he turned back but instead of looking at Stephen his eyes went to the metal of the motorcycle. Loki frowned. 

“You messed up my hair,” He mumbled, reaching up to fix his hair, using the reflection in the metal to guide him. Stephen rolled his eyes, yes Loki’s hair was a little messed up, but not anything that couldn’t be easily fixed. Stephen got up from the motorcycle. 

“Well, sorry princess, I didn't expect anyone to be riding with me today, but I'll make sure to bring a helmet with me tomorrow,” Stephen said with a mad twinge to his voice. 

“I don’t need a helmet,” Loki grumbled, almost sounding mad that Stephen even suggested it. Loki took his hair out of the bun, leaving him in a low hanging ponytail. “In fact, if anyone would need one, it would be you,” He said quietly, so low that Stephen was sure he wasn’t meant to hear it. But he heard it anyways.

“Really? You actually think that I would need a helmet even though I've been riding for almost four years?” He said, not technically lying. In real-time, he’s been riding for about a year. But if you count the time he’s spent riding around while time was paused, that would add up to about four years.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Thought you would be all for wearing helmets Mr. Doctor,” He said, starting to walk towards the crime scene at a brisk pace. Stephen sighed, almost feeling relieved that there was no sign that Loki thought he was lying.  He quickly caught up with Loki, falling into step with him. “I am Loki, I just don’t wear one,” 

“You do know that you’ll die if you crash, right?” “Of course I do asshole,” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Loki look at him curiously but Stephen just kept his head straight, wanting this to end as soon as it could. Just so he could stop being annoyed by a constant presence next to him. 

The rest of the walk to the bar was filled with tense silence, only broken by the quick hello Stephen gave to the policeman at the barricade tape while Loki ignored them both at kept walking. 

Stephen took one step into the bar and already knew that this was going to be a big one. The bar itself was pretty small, only a few booths and tables surrounding a moderately sized bar with what felt like way too many officers and forensic investigators inside. Though, it was pretty much destroyed. Glass was absolutely covering the ground, some of it from glasses and some from bottles of alcohol, which made the air smell even worse somehow. There was clearly a struggle, it didn’t take a detective to figure that out.  

Loki looked around, putting his hands in his pockets as his eyebrow’s knitted together. 

“Where’s the body?” He questioned, rightfully so, the only sign of a body being there was a pool of blood on the floor. 

There was a shutter of a camera behind them before a voice spoke up. “She was still alive when we got here, but She died on his way to the hospital so She’s being sent up to Dr.Banner,” 

Stephen smiled a bit as Peter Parker stepped around them, still looking down at his camera. Peter, even though he was only seventeen, was somehow one of the best forensic investigators the NYPD had. Only being bested by Scott Lang. 

Loki smiled a tiny bit. “It’s good to see you here Parker,” 

Stephen cocked his head a little bit, how the hell did they know each other? 

Peter looked up at Loki and smiled. “Great to see you too Mr. Loki, and you too Detective Strange,” 

Stephen nodded. “It’s nice to see you, Peter, although, I didn’t expect you two to know each other,” He pointed a finger at both of them. 

Peter laughed a bit. Reaching up to rub the back of his head. “Well, uh, I had a break in a case I was working with Thor and Val so I rushed over to his house because he wasn’t answering his phone and Mr. Loki was over there so after we caught the guy I got to talk to Mr. Loki for a little bit, right?”  

Peter nervously looked over at Loki, who had his eyes narrowed on Peter as he spoke. Loki took a deep breath and sighed. “Yes, I believe it was the Maximum case,”

Peter nodded quickly. “Yeah, that case, really cool,” 

“It was a triple homicide,” Stephen pointed out, recalling some details of the case that Valkyrie told him. 

“Everything was cool except that part, obviously,” Peter said. 

Loki shook his head. “Shouldn’t we be getting on with this case?” 

“Yeah, right, on with that,” Peter tapped his fingers against his camera before turning on his heel a gesturing for them to follow him to the middle of the room. “So,” Peter started. “I haven’t found out too much yet, mainly because I’m not really allowed to talk to the witness, who’s in the back right now by the way,” He pointed to a door that said ‘employees only’. “But, here’s what I got, our victim, Kat Una, was bartending here and talking to the witness, who’s also her boss just so you know, then some dude came in, there was a fight, then she was dead,” 

Stephen looked around, then looked back at Peter. “That’s it?” He asked. It was good to know that there was a witness-extremely good actually-but still, most of that was something he could have figured out as soon as he came in here if he had some more context clues.

He glanced away and worried his lip. “I’ve only been here for ten minutes, and most of that’s been just collecting glass with blood on it and dusting for prints,” 

“Haven’t you checked the camera’s yet?” Loki asked, slightly pointing to one of the security cameras in the corner.

Peter sighed. “I tried to, but all of the batteries were drained about ten minutes before the police were called, which I’ll look into don’t worry. I just...need to get back into the lab before I do that.” 

Stephen nodded, then turned to look at the bar. The shelves were broken, along with a few kegs. Most of the barstools were knocked over or broken in some way. 

“Must have been one hell of a fight,” He mumbled, trying to figure out how it went down. He’d been in way too many fights, most of them included magic or monsters of some type, but it still didn’t change the fact that he should be able to figure out what happened. 

“I’m going to talk to the witness,” Loki said, moving past him to the back door. “Coming with? Or do you just want to stare at everything some more?” Stephen painfully rolled his eyes. “Christ I'm coming,” He said, he’d rather question the witness with the human lie detector than by himself, or just have the information come second handly. Loki stiffly nodded, pulled the door open and walked in. “Alright, I’ll just uh, stay out here, looking for shit, I’ll text you guys stuff as I find it,” Peter said. Stephen smiled at him before following Loki. 

_________

The backroom smelled of smoke, making Loki flinch slightly. Midgurdians had stupidly dangerous habits, and smoking just happened to be one of them. Loki personally hated smoking, too much potential for something horrible to happen.  The room was pretty simple, there was a couch pushed into the corner, a table with some chairs, and some cubies lined up against the wall. Sitting at the table was a blond woman with a green blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up as he and Stephen walked in. Her face was stained with tears. 

“I take it you two are the detectives here?” She asked in a thick New York accent. Loki wrinkled his nose at her, god he couldn’t wait to finish this. He might be a lie detector but he still hated interacting with Midgaurdians. Stephen came to a stop beside him and smiled. “Yes we are, I’m Detective Strange, and he’s Detective Laufeyson. We need to ask you some questions,” 

Loki glared at Stephen from the corner of his eye. Of course, this asshole was good with people, he shouldn’t have expected anything less really. 

The woman sighed. “Alright, take a seat and I’ll tell you everything you need to know. I’m Hannah by the way,” Loki quietly sat down at the table as Stephen sat next to him. 

The room was almost still for a moment before Loki cut it with a knife. “What happened?” He asked, thinking of the most simple question she could answer. 

Hannah took an audible breath, her hand’s shaking a bit. “I....i sat down for a drink with Kat after a long shift when some....man walked in, I was about to kick the asshole out when Kat said he was an old friend and that she needed to talk to him alone for a moment,” Hannah looked down and clenched her fist. “Next thing I know I hear a crash and when I came out Kat was out on the floor,” Loki looked at Hannah oddly. So far so good, no lies or anything, but that just made Loki want to push her further. 

“Was it just one crash? Because I don’t think that mess out there could be caused by one crash,” 

Stephen gave him a dirty look but stayed silent. 

“I honestly don’t remember, everything before I saw Kat is kinda a blur now,”  Hannah said. Loki clicked his tongue. The one thing his natural lie detection couldn’t get through was memory loss. 

“Then why don’t you tell us about Kat herself?” Stephen asked. 

“Like do you know why anyone would want to kill her?” Loki quickly added on. 

“No, no I don’t think so,” Hannah said and a haze came over Loki. He zeroed in on Hannah. Hannah’s eye twitched, just the tinest bit, so tiny that normal people wouldn’t even notice. But Loki wasn’t really considered normal, right? 

“You do like Kat, correct Miss?” Loki asked, folding his hands on the table. 

“Yes, god yes of course I do, we’ve been friends since, well forever,” She said, laughing bitterly. “Then, please explain why you're lying to us,” Hannah looked at him like he was insane as Stephen stared over at him with bewilderment. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Your left eye twitched, so your lying,” Loki said. “And there has to be a good reason for that,” 

Hannah put a hand up to her chest. “I’m not lying Detective,” 

“Well, I hate to say this-actually you know what I don’t, Miss you are lying and you better have a damn good reason for it. Unless you wanted your supposed friend to die that is,” Loki said calmly, it was a long shot and he knew it, Hannah seemed perfectly innocent. Yet it was easier to put some pressure on the witness for them to answer truthfully. It always worked on Asgard at least. 

There was a sudden thud. Loki looked over to see Stephen slam his hands on the table. 

“Alright that’s it Laufeyson we’re going,” Stephen said as he got out of his seat, glaring at Loki. He glared back at Stephen.

“Hannah we’ll be in contact with you alright?” 

Hannah nodded, seeming a little scared then Stephen grabbed Loki’s wrist with surprising strength and dragged them out of the room, slamming the door behind them. 

“What the hell was that all about?!” Stephen asked. 

 “I have no idea what you're talking about,” 

“You basically accused her of murder,” 

Loki shrugged and crossed his arms. “So?” 

“So?! That’s all you have to say?” Stephen groaned and rubbed his temples with two fingers. 

“Alright, we’re leaving,” Stephen said.

“I’m sorry?” Loki raised an eyebrow.

Stephen sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “We’re leaving,” 

“And why the hell are we doing that?” 

Stephen deadpanned. “Because you just did that whole fucking thing and I don’t even know how to recover from that. So we’re going to question her later so she doesn't call a lawyer or some shit. And I swear to god if you pull something like that again I’m just going to ditch you,” 

Though he hated to admit it, Stephen had a point. He might have gone a little too far, humans were way too weak to just brush of being accused of murder. Which was tragic, really.

“Fine, I’ll just investigate out here for now,” Stephen shook his head. “No, we’re leaving the crime scene completely, we can always come back out here if we need to,”

“Then pray to tell where are we going?” 

Stephen smirked. “The victim's apartment, Peter just texted the address to us,” 

And Loki, despite himself, smiled a little bit. He might just get excited over this.

#strangefrost #froststrange #frostrange #stroki #Detective AU

[agentzakura]

LoveFanFest 2019

Ok, so a lot of people asked me what happened at #LFF2019 since I was clearly upset last week. Things have settled down a bit so I figured I’d spend time today making my thread. 

TLDR; ClexaCon is a dream compared to LoveFanFest. LFF needs better communication and customer service. Lack of transparency and asking for money left and right… The queer fandom deserves better than that. Listen to Laura Hollis.

https://lovehollistein.tumblr.com/post/151126971734/you-deserve-better

So first of all, the good stuff. I did like my trip to Barcelona. I got to see a really beautiful city and hang out with friends I’d never met IRL or haven’t seen in a long time. It was a wonderful experience from that aspect. When I first joined the fandom I asked Gabi what the best part of cons was and her answer was meeting other fans. She was absolutely right. While I’m grateful I get to geek out on my faves and have my briefest moments with them, I loved talking to other people in line and getting to know them in person after interacting with them online. 

The actual con was frustrating and disappointing. Before anyone tries to invalidate my experience, please keep it to yourself or DM me. There are far too many people jumping to defend LFF without any context. Things like, “It’s hard to make a con"… "Cons aren’t free”…”It’s just European culture.” Or even “It wasn’t that bad.” Comments like that don’t help at all. I’ve been to big cons before and I’ve volunteered at them. If I had the time, I would start my own convention and almost did. Believe me. I don’t take writing things like this lightly. Also, the heat wave didn’t help anything but to blame behavior on that alone is nonsensical. 

LoveFanFest as a whole was just not organized very well. We received the schedule a few days prior. It was filled with mistakes. They sold a lot of the extras at a discount months earlier and if I had known that things would have conflicted I wouldn’t have bought the things I did. Especially since their attitude is sorry no refunds or exchanges no matter what. 

Day 0 

Registration was a mess and the lines made no sense. 1 line to get your main badge, 1 line for Earpers, 1 line for Creampuffs, the last line for other guests. I immediately regretted the handful of Earper extras I bought. I spent 2 hours in line longer than my other friends because of it. 

The ticketing didn’t make sense. It was confusing figuring out which one was Sat/Sun. They looked nice printed but got collected and thrown away. They’re easily lost and it was a pain to try to get them all with the multiple lines. Why can’t you use Eventbrite digital tickets as they were intended? I heard after the fact that tickets weren’t even checked properly. One person couldn’t switch their ticket, but went up on the other day anyway and they didn’t pay attention to the day on it. Some people were able to 

I also missed the beach clean up my friend organized, so that day was so disappointing. 

Day 1 

Breakfast with the guests was one of the few highlights. I like how it was split into smaller groups. 3 guests max with 10 attendees I think. At ClexaCon is was really hard to hear whatever was saying because all the breakfasts/lunches were at the same time and I felt like I was shouting across the table. In fact, at ClexaCon Natasha had to walk up to people individually to talk to them because she couldn’t hear them. 

I bought more extras for Hollstein. I knew I had more autographs for the things I brought and got more photo ops and selfies. Early in the morning I brought it to the staff’s attention that the Hollstein panel and my Mel and Isabella photo ops overlapped. I’m a Creampuff more than anything, so that was a really big deal for me. I asked if I could swap the tickets instead for the Sunday. Sunday their photo ops occurred when I had nothing else scheduled. In all fairness, the person at the extras register passing out the tickets was really nice. They were really patient with me and assured me everything was fine. I told them about what I wanted to do and they said they couldn’t change the tickets because they were “limited” and may be sold out for the next day. Another staff member assured me that there would be 15 min that doesn’t overlap with the Hollstein panel so I can take my pictures before it. I was just told to tell the volunteer at the ops that I needed to make a panel and skip to the front of the line. The original staff member told me to come back and talk to them if what I was told didn’t work out. I was grateful and hoped I didn’t have to come back… Of course, it wasn’t that simple. 

There was no volunteer at the front of the line. The volunteers I did find had no idea what was going on. The Hollstein panel was about to start so I had to run back upstairs and talk to them again. I was passed onto another staff member. She seemed to be one of the head people. She called over a Spanish speaking volunteer to escort me down and get me to the head of the line and I got them done. I still missed half of the first Hollstein panel because of it though. I ran in behind one of my friends in press who also had the same conflict. Of course, no recording is allowed so who knows when I’ll get to see that footage. 

I don’t understand why photo ops tickets are per person. Maybe I was spoiled at ClexaCon with 4 people max to a photo. I bought an Earper trio to do a BayHaught photo with a friend. This was my first con where I’d meet Mel. We found out that we had to pay for another ticket just for her to join in mine. Which is insane. It literally takes the same amount time to have one more person join. Trios are not cheap. Around €130 for one person for less than 5 seconds to pose?! My friend was nice enough to pay to be in the photo anyway.

  Autographs were ok up to a certain point. I stood in line for Natasha and Elise because I wanted to make sure I got to see them.  I wasn’t looking forward to getting the Earp autographs. Dom's line was crazy and went outside the door and I assume around the lobby. Plus, the trio photos hadn’t printed yet, so I was essentially waiting for that. The reason I bought Dom, Kat, and Mel’s autographs that day is because I had the photo ops. For some reasons, LFF only has one person in charge of the printing and it took forever to get them on the tables. The trio took the longest. When I was done with Natasha's and Elise’s line, I went to Mel’s and waited. Again, most of my friends are Creampuffs so it was basically just me in line waiting. I wanted to see if someone else could get the autograph for me, but that didn’t go well either. I got to the front of Mel’s line with nothing to sign. The trio photos weren’t out yet. I couldn’t swap my autographs for the next day. The one rule LFF was very adamant about regardless of your situation. The poor volunteer had to call one of the staff members over to see what could be done. It was the same woman from last time who had a volunteer take me to the photo ops. I think she said her name was Maria or Michelle or some name that started with an M. I told her the only thing I wanted to get signed was the trio photo and it wasn’t printed yet. She told me that LFF never guaranteed that the photos would be done by the end of the day. Essentially, she was telling me I was SOL. I asked if I could switch my autographs to the next day so I had my photo to be signed. She flat out told me no. That’s when I started to get upset and asked her what I needed to do then. LFF doesn’t give headshots for them to sign. You have to pay extra for those. She told me I needed to get something else signed. The fact that I didn’t have anything else didn’t matter. It was frustrating because at that point I really didn’t care and would be damned if I had to pay any more money because they were inflexible with their tickets. 

That’s when things got really bad. As I was trying to explain why I didn’t want to pay more money for a headshot I didn’t even want just to use these tickets, the staff member told me I needed to stop yelling and being rude or they wouldn’t help me.  There was no yelling. There was me trying to explain my frustration with what they were doing and asking them to come to some sort of compromise. I’ve worked in customer service. I’ve had people cuss me out or try to attack me. What I was doing was not threatening. I get it. You have policies. You can’t bend the rules for everyone. But what really got t o me was she then she proceeded to accuse me of not asking the right questions and projected the blame on me. I can still see her in my face, repeatedly saying, “Well, did you ask? Did you ask?” She didn’t believe me. It was frustrating. It’s not like I’m trying to score free things. I just wanted to get what I paid for.

My friends saved the day by finding the trio photo and M person let me go to the front of the line for all my trouble, but it wasn’t a redeeming experience. Instead of being happy to meet Mel for the first time, Kat, and Dom, I was on edge and could hardly speak. Most of the disagreement happened to the side of Mel’s auto table. Mel was so nice and hilarious. Kat was so nice and understood why I brought my daughter to the M&G at CCUK. Dom and her handlers were really sweet and made sure that people in line had water and a little something to eat. I can say I shared a bowl of chips with Dom now. 😄 But I felt like absolute garbage by the end of it. 

I had two more autographs with Mel for Sunday, but I honestly didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

Day 2

The second day was pretty low key until I thought I left the Mel autograph tickets at the Airbnb. I honestly had no interest to line up in the line that never ends for a second day so I was giving them away. I went to the Airbnb and had a mini breakdown because 1) I couldn’t find the tickets (I found them in my wallet a little later. 2) In trying to hurry, I also left my agenda at home and looked at the schedule. I saw that I had missed the single photo ops for Natasha and Elise. Time to panic again.

I had a Trio Carmilla photo op and a Hollstein duo photo op, so we thought that they would be ok with me doing my singles at the same time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy… I took my trio photo and the staff and the handlers weren’t sure how to handle the situation. At first I was told that I would need to fall back in line and do it after the duo. I was completely fine with this because I had to get a prop I had left down the hall with my friends. Then I was told that I needed to do the solos right that second because the photographer was “on time” and didn’t feel like they wouldn’t have time to do the solos. Not even for the minute or so it would take me to get my prop and get back to them. I was calm about it as they talked amongst themselves, but honestly couldn’t believe that it was happening again. It took longer for them to argue about what to do than it probably would have taken me to get the prop.

I stood there just watching the interaction in disbelief when Natasha came over to me and asked what was going on and I lost it. Not like anger, but just crying out of frustration from the situation. Tears flowing freely as my emotions overwhelmed me.This was supposed to be my solo trip and fun half way across the world and I’m being told yet again, they might not honor the tickets I bought. Natasha assured me it would work out. We ended up doing the photo ops after the Hollstein duo… But two other fans had single photo ops they did after… So I did understand why they made a big fuss out of me doing it. I was done at the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t enjoy the last Hollstein panel and closing ceremony was hard to sit through. My only moments of reprieve happened when I found some Creampuffs and hung out in their hotel room for a bit before the closing.

Autographs after the second day were not too bad. I still gave away my autographs to EarpItForward. I had to buy a photo of Mel for them to get signed. I didn’t like my photo ops with Isabella, so I ended up buying her headshot too. I had picked one I saw originally that I really liked, but then I saw someone get another Isabella head shot, which was even better. I asked if I could switch it because I didn’t know that the other con photo was available. Thankfully I did get it, but not without an offhanded comment from M person about how I should have asked before then I would have known. Like why say things like that?

I’m just glad that Natasha and Elise were really sweet and took time with us. Elise is pretty masterful with the selfies. Natasha also made sure we were happy with it before we left too. I had a couple of friends say they were rushed during the last moments, but thankfully I was at least saved from that. I even forgot to do my selfie with Natasha and they let me go back up and take it.

My nightmare continues as I wait to see if I get the rest of the digital print downloads I purchased. There’s some obscure issue where if you don’t click some check box correctly you only download one picture and then you have to contact them to get the rest. I swear the pop up I had asked if it was ok to download multiples and I clicked accept... I still only got one photo. I’m incredibly frustrated because they tweeted that but didn’t include it in any emails with the photos. How is someone who doesn’t have Twitter suppose to know? They also posted all the M&G photos, but haven’t bothered to message me back. 

Honestly, I don’t get how #Clexacapocalypse became a thing. My experience with them far exceeded the miserable experience I had at LoveFanFest. I’d honestly go to Barcelona again to hangout with friends, but things seriously need to change before I even think about that convention again. I wish the people who also had an issue would speak up as well. Nothing will change if no one says anything. Just my 2 cents.

#lovefanfest #LoveScamFest #lff2019 #queer conventions #my experience #what not to do #queer fans deserve better #barcelona

[ketzwrites]

Rewatch 112: Malec

Love. That’s it. That’s the comment.

No, of course it isn’t.

Teaser

I’m still surprised by how neatly Jace and Clary’s arrival with the Mortal Cup tied things up, but hey, let’s get right to the wedding, then.

We’re underserved when it comes to Jace and Izzy interactions and this one is as impersonal as they come. I want some follow through on Alec saying Izzy is his sister, not his and Jace’s. I want Izzy talking to Jace about his finding out he is Valentine and Jocelyn’s son. Anything more than this bland “Jace is angry, Izzy is not.”

Act One

Clary seems at peace now that Jocelyn is safe. Not happy, of course, but her tone of voice is calmer, more centered. Good acting on Kat’s part in a season she is mostly known for butchering.

Funny how Alec and Clary were smiling at each other and, you know, having a sort-of-friendship in this season only for the writers to go “nope, Alec is back to completely and only hating her” on the start of the next one.

Now, I don’t get this move on Magnus’ part. In their last conversation, he tried to talk Alec out of sacrificing himself. Alec didn’t listen. Now Magnus is… seducing him out of sacrificing himself? Why is Magnus this invested in Alec? I’m glad he is, but why?

Magnus says he will not ask again, but then there is never a scene in which Magnus asks Alec what his choice is. There is only Magnus being passive-aggressive.

Why doesn’t Clary tell Simon she and Jace are siblings? By what she says in this phone call, it sounds like they had a fight. Good thing Simon knows what’s going on.

Jace and Clary are so awkward. I love it.

Interesting how Magnus protests Ragnor being the list, but not Catarina or Tessa. It’s purely Magnus being an ass to his friend.

Alec and Magnus are so awkward. I love it. Still don’t understand why Magnus would act entitled to Alec’s love like this, but I love it.

Awkward exposition delivery by extraordinarily pretty Izzy. I see you, Ed Decter. Good move.

Alec’s jokes are so underrated. Platinum, Turning over a new leaf, Sisters can really drive you nuts sometimes. All very witty, all deserve more recognition.

When you first watched this scene, could you imagine that Jace was right? Jocelyn really didn’t want her son Jonathan. Well, that Jonathan wasn’t Jace, but the point is: Jocelyn really is the asshole that Jace paints her to be. Valentine didn’t even have to lie about that.

Act Two

I honestly see Jace’s discomfort in discussing his feelings for Clary as being nauseated by the notion that he fancied his sister. Not an “I still love her, so I feel bad”. A “how could I think I was in love with my sister?”

Why is the fire green? Because it’s a wink to Ragnor being green in the books. It has to be because green fire on green grass looks awful.

Subtle changes in your eyes? Subtle? Also, if Jocelyn and Ragnor met in the early 90s while they lived in Idris, that means they met while Jocelyn was a Circle Member. Why is Ragnor on her side??

I love how the characters say “the Book of the White”. Everyone says it like it like it’s one word “debukofdewyt”. I also love the friendship between Magnus and Ragnor.

I wish we’d seen something that warned us Jace, Clary, and Magnus were being followed. It would make Ragnor’s death less sudden and, thus, less ridiculous. A warlock considered more powerful than Magnus shouldn’t die out of the attack of one Shax demon.

Act Three

How does Izzy still think the people in Institute are her family when they sat and watched in silence that farce of a trial almost derune and exile her?

Question: if Lydia is Head of the Institute, wouldn’t they have to run the mission to Ragnor Fell through her anyway? In fact, wouldn’t they need her permission? I’m just saying, anyone with high enough access could’ve learned about this mission from looking at the files. We know the mole was Hodge, but it’s a possibility that Jace, Clary, and Izzy should’ve entertained.

There’s no way Lydia would “slip up” with the way Clary conducted that conversation. It’s almost as if Clary doesn’t think Lydia is guilty and just wants to give her a Shovel Talk on behalf of Alec.

“Alec’s love for his family and his desire to restore the Lightwood name have touched me in ways I haven’t felt in a long time” is so uncomfortable to hear coming from a straight woman about to marry a gay man.

Simon ordering around vamps and borrowing Raphael’s clothes is so confusing to me. Does that mean he and Raphael are friends now? Friendly? Is Simon fitting in? What is this?

Regardless, the first instance of Izzy and Simon being friends.

I still don’t get if Ragnor’s apparition is supposed to be magic or if it’s supposed to be a figment of Magnus’ imagination.

Goddammit. I don’t care about Alec and Jace’s friendship. I have no idea what their relationship was before Clary showed up – or rather, the little that I know comes from Simon saying that Jace treats Alec like a lap dog, Izzy defending Alec from Jace, and Jace saying that Alec would die for him. None of that makes me want Alec and Jace to be friends the way they were before.

Okay. I’m not on board of Alec equating his feelings for Magnus to Jace’s feelings for Clary in this context. They are talking about a normal love between two men equated to romantic love between siblings. Those things are not equivalent and that should’ve been pointed out.

What I am on board with is Alec hijacking the conversation and shifting it from Clary to Magnus and Jace going along with it. This is the first and only conversation Jace and Alec have about Alec’s feelings.

Act Four

I absolutely love this scene with Magnus and Ragnor. The only way to make it better would be to link this conversation about love to Magnus grieving for his lost friend.

Maryse being proud of Alec in these circumstances breaks my heart.

Simon’s little smirk over catching Jace staring makes him look like a douche. Congrats, man. The girl you like isn’t in a relationship anymore because she and her boyfriend found out they are both kids of a psychotic blood supremacist who messed up her boyfriend’s mental health. How fortunate for you.

The Malec Kiss. Enough said. Okay, just one thing. I’m glad Magnus didn’t burst in saying he objected to the wedding. He walks in as if he’s just coming to the ceremony and seems genuinely surprised it has already begun. Then, it’s Alec that takes the opportunity and puts an end to this madness.

Act Five

The order of reactions immediately after Alec’s coming out: Magnus. Maryse and Robert. Izzy. Simon??

I’m not going to lie. I shipped Lydia and Jace the first time I saw this scene. I did.

I adore this shot of Magnus’ hand and the objects burning into existence. And the fact that Magnus’ presence in the Institute continues to miraculously make Alec lose pieces of clothing. First, it was his shirt, now it’s his jacket.

So, nobody questions Clary about the Alternate Dimension? Neither Magnus nor Alec has any reason to have known she went there.

Again, I wish there was more of a build-up to an attack on Lydia. Someone following her. We could even learn it was Hodge here. Maybe he pretends to go check on her and then attacks her? Just something so this doesn’t come out of nowhere like this.

Act Six

When I first read the books, I read “JC” in Portuguese in my mind. “Jota Cê.” That’s very different from “Jay Cee”. I don’t know if I would have caught that Jace = JC had I read it in English. I kind of want it to be mentioned earlier in the show just to be dismissed like “Jonathan Christopher was a very common name at the time” or something like that, but I understand the dramatic value of having Jace make the connection now.

Not to be that person, but Jonathan’s hair is in that box. Izzy is a forensic scientist. She could’ve done a simple DNA test to check if the famously manipulative Valentine was telling the truth.

Just as with Alec and Jace’s friendship, I never saw enough darkness in Jace to believe it when he says it has always been there. Arrogant? Yes. Emotionally constipated? Definitely. Evil? Nope. Not the guy who warned Simon about Izzy’s cooking, that studied the Seelies culture, that risk everything for a girl he was crushing on.

Alec standing up to his parents is a delight. Funny how Maryse was the clear villain while Robert is the more sympathetic parent. Not going to call him all the way supportive, but he at least tried to understand what was going on. Also, the little interactions between Alec and Magnus. sdsa;ksk my heart.

Yes. This exchange between Hodge and Luke. This is what Hodge should’ve done with Lydia. By now, we’d be watching Hodge in action and yelling for Luke not to go. Though, there is no reason for Hodge to invoke Valentine in the middle of the training room. That’s kind of a public place in the Institute. You’d think he would be more careful.

#ketz rewatches shadowhunters #sh 112 #sh meta

[dannybboytron]

Dante’s a complicated guy.

If you don’t feel like reading all of this, here’s a great video talking about all the things I write about from Codex Entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0jKJNXYEWg&t=511s

When people talk about complex videogame characters, there are some popular candidates that always come up.

Up until recently, Kratos was always described as just being an “angry guy”. They see him tearing and killing his way through Greece and just go “Oh, he’s just your typical angry action hero. Classic testosterone poisoning gone wrong.”

Except he wasn’t. I don’t understand it when people look at God Of War 4 and go “Kratos has depth now! He’s got a son and everything!” 

Kratos wasn’t a parody of your typical hypermasculine action hero, he was a deconstruction of that. You know that scene in action movies where the hero loses his family/wife/child/significant other/dog and goes into beast mode to lay waste to his enemies? It’s that passion and rage that allows him to win, save the day and maybe save his family. 

For Kratos, that rage is his default setting; he was the one who killed his own family. Instead of turning that anger on himself and accepting his terrible deed, he chooses to unleash his rage on fucking everything -- he blames everyone he can possibly blame but himself. When he does finally start seeing that he’s the one at fault, he’s hollow and empty and decides to kill himself. That’s how the first God Of War opens; complete and utter despair from a man who’s finally tasting the rage he’s unleashed upon the world for himself. 

This brings us to Dante.

Again, people like to regard him and his series as nothing more than adrenaline pumping, high-octane goofy fun and it is. 

But let’s look at what Dante himself as a character and one of the best places to look for this is in Devil May Cry 3. And with this, we can also examine what the reboot did wrong. 

Dante, in both DmC and DMC3, is shown at first to be an immature, irresponsible jackass. What’s the difference? Classic Dante knows who he is and who his parents were. Him proclaiming that he doesn’t have a father is a sign of resentment already because it’s implied that he blames Sparda and his own lineage for killing Eva. 

In DMC3, Dante doesn’t give a flying fuck about what Vergil’s doing -- he just wants to fight his brother because it’s the only way he can release any pent-up anger and frustration with the one person who can understand it and more importantly survive it. He’s pissed at Vergil, not because of Vergil’s burgeoning megalomaniacal power-hungry tendencies, but because of something more personal and that’s the way Vergil is hell-bent on emulating Sparda. Remember, Dante, at this point, hates Sparda and he’s not too keen on Vergil becoming another version of the guy who failed to save their family despite all his power. 

But then he meets Lady. Dante’s probably used to getting girls falling all over him but Lady’s different. She’s not just aloof, she’s fucking hostile and tries to kill him seconds after they meet. She’s got her own agenda and that is to kill Arkham, her father and Vergil’s co-conspirator in the Temen-Ni-Gru mess. 

Let’s go back to DmC for a second and examine the girl in that incarnation, Kat. There’s nothing wrong with Kat; she’s sweet, determined, plucky and helpful. She’s got a tragic backstory and I guess that’s what makes Dante start to empathize with her. But here’s the thing -- Dante, in the reboot, has said that he doesn’t trust people easily. Why exactly would he suddenly start warming up to someone he just met? Vergil had to prove that they were related before he could get Dante to trust him and I guess that’s a viable thread of thought -- “He’s my brother and since he seems to like her, that’s good enough for me.” He has some heart-to-heart talks with Kat as well before she gets kidnapped and he admires her withstanding torture from Mundus -- all peachy and good, I guess. 

However, Kat’s character absolutely pales in comparison to Lady. They keep emphasizing in DMC3 that Lady is nuts for going into the tower but she goes anyway. 

Why?

Because Arkham is her father and therefore, her responsibility. He didn’t just kill Kalina Ann, her mother, but now he’s looking to kill scores more people to get power. He’s her family -- her burden. 

Dante sees this and the parallels to him and Vergil are drawn. He sees this crazy chick and sees her taking responsibility for her father’s actions. He listens to his brother spout crazy shit about becoming as powerful as their dad.

Dante doesn’t want power -- he just wants a good fight and some pizza. But now, he sees Vergil and realizes that shit just got serious. 

Lady doesn’t have a heart-to-heart with him, she fucking fights him, as a literal boss character, for the right to off Arkham because that’s what she feels she has to do. Dante, invincible and superhuman, finally wakes up and sees this frail human girl taking responsibility for her family’s misdeeds.

This is Dante’s awakening. Not his Devil Trigger like Vergil implied because all he wants is power. It was Lady awakening his sense of purpose and responsibility by showing him through example. 

Now Dante sees that Vergil is causing death and destruction, all the things Sparda didn’t want happening. 

Vergil is his brother, the only remaining family he has and the only person he can really relate to, but at the same time, his brother is standing against the very legacy that Sparda left behind. 

Again, this is a great contrast to the twins’ differing ideals. 

Vergil actively seeks to emulate his father through gaining as much power as he possibly can so that he himself will never feel helpless ever again. 

Dante reluctantly has to will himself to emulate his father’s sense of duty to protect humans, his literal other half, and makes himself powerful so that others will never feel helpless again. 

Again, let’s compare this with the reboot. Dante and Vergil only have vague memories of their time together as kids. Dante didn’t grow up with Vergil and probably didn’t watch his brother grow colder and colder and more merciless each passing day. 

In the reboot, the final fight is caused by a massive misunderstanding. Vergil just sorta assumed that Dante and Kat were cool with them ruling the world as its new overlords, Dante says “WTF are you talking about”, they fight, Dante wins and now wants to “protect” the world. 

Why?! Like his father did befo -- nope, because Reboot!Sparda didn’t protect shit; he didn’t embrace humanity and awaken to justice, he just had a treasonous tryst with an angel and got caught and now he’s in the shit-house. Reboot!Dante has no legacy to live up to. He has no responsibility to “protect the world” because neither of his parents A) were even human and B) showed any sign of giving a shit about humans.  

In DMC3, the two brothers fight on the edge of two worlds representing their own halves. 

Dante’s line about “Sparda’s soul” might sound corny but it carries a lot of weight when you look at it from the context of Vergil seeking only to emulate his father’s power (”his blood”) and Dante emulating his father’s legacy (”his soul”).

In the end, they both choose. Dante chooses to uphold Sparda’s legacy over his own brother and Vergil chooses to keep a trinket from his mother rather than the Force Edge -- a small sign that he does still have some humanity left in him. This is symbolized by him telling his brother to run before the portal closes, his final act of humanity for his twin. 

So yeah, Classic DMC is actually a lot more “Shakespearian” than the reboot. It tells a story of family, legacy and responsibility coated in a layer of ridiculous and stylish action, deep and addictive gameplay and meme-able moments. Classic Dante, the one true Dante is so relatable and iconic because he’s basically always been the opposite of Kratos; he’s selfless almost to a fault and upholds a legacy that he can realistically just choose to ignore. Him being given the color red as his main motif is very appropriate because he is a hero, through and through. 

#devil may cry #dmc3 #vergil #dante sparda #god of war #kratos #thank you for listening to my TEDtalk #i still like the reboot #don't worry #i just like the classic series a LOT more