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#Also I just need to get thoughts out of my head so I'm just gonna say them as they come
bixels · 1 hour
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If it's not too much trouble would you mind sharing more on your thoughts about AJ? Esp the line she shouted at Rarity and her "struggle with sexual identity" I'm kind of new so I would like to hear more! Does Rarity also struggle with sexual identity and fearing AJ would leave? I love the family oriented person A and the business inclined and impressed by shiny new things person B trope
Ok, this is gonna get into head canons and personal opinions.
The writing in Rollercoaster of Friendship (and EQG as a whole) is much simpler and more stripped down in comparison to FiM (most likely to appeal to a younger audience; don't want to seem like I'm dissing the writers), but that one confrontation made me sit up in my seat because it carries the entire special.
More under the cut cuz I don't want MLP analyses clogging up my blog.
For one, we've seen AJ get frustrated and angry about the same exact conflict over a girl in FiM (Rara), establishing a pattern. And even though she's right (her friend really is being manipulated), I read both cases as her acting out in jealousy too. Here's this girl who she's felt a unique attachment to being "taken away" and changed by someone new. This is most apparent in RoF; the moment Vignette introduces herself, kisses Rarity on both cheeks, and establishes herself as Rarity's "new best friend," AJ immediately reacts with shock, betrayal, and boldfaced jealousy (made even worse when Rarity forgets her during introductions). Although AJ acts independent, she's actually very emotionally dependent on certain people in her life.
If we come into this with the assumption that AJ has romantic feelings for Rarity –– which is a normal assumption given the director/writer confirmed the special was written as a romantic drama between the two –– AJ's line is all the more heartbreaking. If I may slip into fictional speculation: your crush is no longer listening or paying attention to you, even though you know something is wrong and that she's getting hurt. Your frustration at her lack of awareness is really your anger at her lack of care –– she doesn't care about you anymore. So in a fit of rage, in your big, dramatic confrontation, just to make her look at you, react at you, feel how she's been making you feel all day –– unwanted and unspecial –– you hurt her back. AJ yells, "You're not special!" and Rarity cries.
And what really gets me is that AJ lies. In this moment, she lies that Rarity's not special when (again, assumption of romance) she's the most special person in the world to her. So special that she's placed all her feelings of self-assurance and security on their relationship. So special that the moment their relationship is shaken and she doesn't know to recover it –– recover herself –– she lashes out, acts against her character, and says something dishonest just to hurt the girl she loves.
(Honestly, rewatching this special, AJ is so insecure and attention-needy. The way she pouts and slouches and lags behind the group and says, "Never mind. It's nothing," when asked what's wrong is textbook "please pay attention to me and ask me what's wrong because i need a reason to be honest about feelings i know i should be ashamed of" behavior.)
I think AJ's insecurities (which could be tied to her lack of experience with romantic relationships) reveal how she has a tendency to misattribute and redirect anger onto the person she cares most about (see Simple Ways as well, where she's caught on the opposite end of a jealousy spat). This could easily become a very toxic trait, but AJ grows past it. Near the end of RoF, the two come together and apologize. AJ recognizes her entitlement and confesses her insecurities about their relationship. She felt hurt and attacked when her status as Rarity's best friend/girlfriend was threatened because it's a role she uses to self-identify –– if Rarity isn't hers, she loses part of her identity. And she admits that she thought her motivation was to protect Rarity, but really she was just being selfish and protecting herself. Rarity was busy and stressed and needed someone to lean on just as much AJ needed her. She isn't AJ's emotional support girlfriend, and it wasn't right to expect her to be one.
(Which is why Rarijack is peak because throughout both series, they repeatedly show just how important honesty, open communication, and trust is in maintaining, supporting, and growing a romantic relationship.)
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aetherdoesthings · 9 hours
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a proposition... (MINORS DNI!!!)
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forethoughts: as a thank you for 200, here's a little thing i wrote to my beloved arlecchino :> also due to circumstances in life right now, i'm gonna be offline for a while, but i promise y'all i will return 😤
notes: fem!reader, dom!arlecchino, sub!reader, reader calling arlecchino mistress
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“Just a minute, beloved. Then you can have me for the rest of the night.” You let out a frustrated grunt at your girlfriend’s sentence, pouting your lips and glaring at her with your best puppy eyes. Arlecchino continued to work at her desk, filling out various paperwork without sparing you a look. Your girlfriend was cruel, even to you, her favorite person in the whole world. She knew how whiny you would get when you didn’t get what you wanted, and right now, you wanted nothing but for her to turn your legs into jelly and leave you breathless as the sun woke up. While she still wore her Harbinger outfit, you had already stripped down to your silk robe that was Pandora’s box to the Harbinger.
Arlecchino didn’t even need to look at you to see those puppy eyes and pout you always gave her, letting out a little chuckle, a thin smile breaking her stoic expression. “You should know by now, beloved, that face, while turning you into the most adorable doll in the world, does not work on me. I promise I will be done in a minute.”
You genuinely frowned at her statement. You hopped off her desk, moving her hands as you straddled her lap, her legs in between yours. You wrapped your hands around her neck, looking at Arlecchino in her eyes. Arlecchino returned your look, raising an eyebrow and letting out a scoff before continuing to work over your shoulders. She was already used to your attempts to pull her away from her desk and into your shared bed; this was no different from your hundreds of other attempts.
Ideas of how to charm your girlfriend flooded your head, but unfortunately you had already tried them all. Some of them flooded your stomach with warmth, that cord in your lower regions starting to curl up as you gave in to your carnal thoughts, a smile on your face.
“My, my, my love.” Arlecchino’s words pulled you back to reality. You could no longer hear her quill scribble onto paper, but just the sound of you humping the Harbinger’s leg absentmindedly. You immediately stopped your actions when you heard the sound, your cheeks flushed red when you saw the damage done to the Harbinger’s thigh. Arlecchino let out a low chuckle as a response, her fingers brushing your hair back and behind your ear. Her other hand held onto your chin, forcing you to look at her in the eyes. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you? Never learnt how to control those carnal desires of yours, hmn?”
You blushed at your girlfriend’s words, feigning an innocent smile as you bore into those crimson crosses with round eyes. “Arle makes me really really happy.” “Do I now?” Arlecchino mused, her claw-like fingers running across your jaw as she cupped your face. “I thought I taught you how to control those desires of yours, my little slut. But you just can’t control it, can’t you? Of course, I did not expect much from someone so needy for my touch to listen to my words.” 
Arlecchino feigned disappointment, scoffing at you and shaking her head, but you knew she wasn’t really disappointed or disgusted by you by that sinister glimmer in her eyes that promised you the keys to unlocking all those fantasies in your head. Arlecchino stood up, placing you in her chair as she walked away, grabbing something from that cabinet that had a lock in it. She procured your favorite strap on, with the clear eight inch phallic object in her hand. Arlecchino swiftly secured it onto her body, spreading a generous amount of lube on the dildo before making her way back to you. She lifted your body up with strength no human would have, positioning your body right above the dildo, your face facing hers. Arlecchino gave you a nod of approval as you let out a breathy ‘thank you’, sinking yourself onto the phallic object as it entered your cunt, filling your un-stretched walls with an unspeakable euphoric feeling with that one movement. You didn’t even notice your robe was undone when you felt Arlecchino’s fingers grab your waist, curling in ever so gently into your flesh as you let out a whine. Her hands stopped you from enacting on your wants, keeping you frustrated and terribly horny.
“I have a proposition for you, dear.” Arlecchino hummed, planting a soft kiss on your forehead.
Your ears pricked up at her words. 
“I have a very important phone call I must make in a few seconds. While I am on that call, you are to continue fucking yourself on my cock. No cumming either.” “Arle! That’s not fair! I’m gonna cum!” You protested, only to be met with a slap on your face, her hand pulling your chin back to face her. She bunched up your hair and swooped it over to one side, leaning closer to your neck as she bit onto your skin, sucking onto the blood that poured out like a vampire. You squealed at her sudden bite, but your screams were blocked by the hand that snaked around your mouth.
“Then you better hold it in, darling, otherwise the punishment will not be ideal for you at all. So are you going to behave for me, darling?” Arlecchino released her other hand from your waist, as you started to rock yourself against the dildo, letting yourself succumb to the pleasure you craved for. 
“Y-Yes..” You stammered, holding back a moan as Arlecchino began to rock her hips as well, matching your rhythm, making the intensity even higher and harder to resist.
“Yes what?”
“Yes M-Mistress…”
Arlecchino grinned. “Good girl.” 
She picked up the phone, dialing a number you didn’t recognize. A satisfactory and devilish grin crept onto her face when her intended recipient picked up.
“Good evening, Tartaglia. Do you have twenty or so minutes to discuss various things?”
Oh, fuck.
Of course she chose the chatterbox.
Ten minutes in and you were already quivering, your body numb and overridden with euphoria that you had to let go, but couldn’t. Arlecchino didn’t make this any easier for you either. Everytime you slow down just a fraction of your rocking against her cock, she’d press her fingers into your waist, prompting you to speed up before you’d start to bleed out. If you let out a squeal or a moan, she’d grab onto your waist and use her own strength to thrust you down and make you stay still until she’d give you the go-ahead to continue fucking yourself. It became a cycle of trying not to cum and moan at the same time, until you were so frustrated tears began to fall from your face. 
Arlecchino noticed the teardrops falling onto her shoulder, and through your teary and pleasure filled eyes you swore you saw worry flicker in those crosses.
“I have no more questions, Tartaglia. Farewell.” Arlecchino dropped the telephone, hanging up on the other Harbinger as she cupped your cheek, using her thumb to wipe your tears away.
“Shhh…. Shhh., we’re done, now, babygirl.” Arlecchino cooed, kissing the area she bit. “You did so well for me. I’m so proud of you.”
The words alone could’ve made you come undone right then and there. But good girls always ask for permission first.
“M-Mistress… w-wanna…” You sobbed, your rocking starting to get weaker and weaker, the rope inside of you just a few strands away from breaking and unleashing all the frustration inside of you.
“Shhh… go ahead, babygirl. Come for me.” Arlecchino grabbed your waist, lifting your fragile body up as she thrusted into your pussy, howls and cries erupting from your mouth. Your cunt was already hollowed out by the time Arlecchino had finished her call, but once she began thrusting upwards and pushing you down, turned you into liquid putty for Arlecchino to mold everytime your skin hit her pants.  The rope in your core finally snapped when Arlecchino placed a single finger on that hardened, ignored and needy clit of yours. You threw your head back, arching your back until it formed a semi circle as the floodgates burst open. Arlecchino wrapped her hand around your mouth to silence your scream as your body spasms over hers, coming undone, flooding and ruining her pants, but she could care less. Arlecchino fucks you through your high, the aftershock, and until you came down from your high. She pulled the dildo out from your sensitive cunt, whispering praise into your ear as she wrapped her arms around you, coddling you like a baby.
“You did so good for me, babygirl. I’m so, so, so very proud of you.” Arlecchino whispered, planting tiny kisses all over your skin. She let out a chuckle as she surveyed the damage done. “It appears I will need to buy new pants.”
You look down at the mess you made, as your cheeks flushed red. “I’m sorry…”
“Nonsense.” Arlecchino tapped your nose with her index finger, smiling at you. It was a smile that held no ulterior motives, a smile that only reminded you of the warmth of a fire and reassured you that everything was going to be okay. “Come. Let’s get you and me all cleaned up and ready for bed, hmn? The Iudex is a patient man; he can wait until next morning for his paperwork to be filled out.”
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beep-beep-sunny · 20 hours
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It's done! I've finished My Daddy Likes Boys! I hope you like it! If people like it, I'm going to write a couple sequels in the same universe. Read here or on AO3.
Chapter 1: Two daddies?? Cool!
My daddy likes boys. I don't know why that's such a big deal. I'm not a dummy. I understand that they don't mean he likes boys just as friends like me and Hank from my class. Otherwise, mommy and daddy wouldn't have broked up. I get it. It's about in love. Like Aladdin and Jasmine. They aren't both boys, but that's okay. I'm sure there are other examples of boys I'm just not thinking of.
Mommy already sees other boys. Daddy comes to watch me when she goes on her "dates" and we watch Bluey on TV or play hungry hungry hippos. Daddy is great at games, but I'm better because I always win. Still, daddy deserves to play games with someone he can beat. Someone he can go on "dates" with. Maybe on a magic carpet. Daddy likes cars, and that's a very cool and special kinda car. I wanna ride on one. Maybe if daddy's boyfriend has a magic carpet I can ride in the backseat and fly up high. That would be cool. That would be super cool.
I started kindergarten in the Fall. I'm in Mr. Tozier's class. He wears funny, colorful shirts and does voices that make me laugh a lot. When we learned about animals he made all the sounds. My favorite was when he made the goose sound. Mr. Tozier is the coolest.
And a boy.
And daddy likes boys.
Then I had an idea. My daddy and Mr. Tozier could be in love! That's a great perfect idea. I just needed to find a way to get daddy and Mr. Tozier to talk. When they talked they would obviously instantly fall in love because they are both awesome and fun and they both love me. It would be the greatest thing to have two daddies!!
I started small. Daddy tells me every day that I'm brave and I decided to prove it. I made sure Mr. Tozier was close and I climbed up higher in the jungle gym than I had ever climbed. The other kids watched and some waved and giggled. By the time Mr. Tozier noticed how high I climbed and started running towards me, it was too late. I bent my knees like a frog. Mr. Tozier saying ribbit ribbit popping into my head as I hopped off the roof (where I definitely wasn't supposed to be) and fell hard onto the ground.
Plop
I yelled and yelled and yelled some more. How was I supposed to know it would hurt THAT much. Mr. Tozier reached me quickly with his kind blue eyes twisted up in worry. "Frankie!" He yelped. "How'd you even get up there?" He was concerned, but I couldn't help but notice he also sounded impressed. This was going perfectly according to plan even though my arm hurt a whole lot.
Mr. Tozier carried me to the nurse's office. "I'm gonna call your parents, okay? Just sit tight buddy." I made a froggy sound and his worry melted away just long enough to do an, admittedly much better, froggy sound.
He rushed out the door. Oh no. "Call my daddy!" I shouted after him, hoping it was loud enough. My voice was usually louder, but my arm hurt too much! I waited to let my tears fall down my cheeks for after Mr. Tozier left. He probably thought I was very brave. Mr. Tozier and daddy will talk about how brave I am all day long until they fall in love.
Daddy didn't come. Mr. Tozier must not have heard me. When I saw mommy come through the door with her arms stretched out like she was ready to clean my dirty cheek with her spit, I cringed a bit and then started crying. This time it wasn't from the pain. Well, it wasn't just from the pain. This was going to be harder than I thought.
Chapter 2: Frankie's Big Break
I had a lot of time to plan my next move while I was at the doctor then at home. My arm was broken and got put in a huge cast. It's so hard and heavy. I drummed on the wall with it when mommy wasn't looking, she always told me to stop even though it made the best sound.
That made me think of my next idea. I couldn't keep getting hurt and going right to the hospital. I'd be off too much school and all my bones would be in casts until I couldn't move. I can't make Mr. Tozier and my daddy fall in love like that! I need at least one limb free!
When I got back to school, all the kids wanted to talk to me and sign my cast. I noted that I'd let Hank sign it first, after I talked to Mr. Tozier. Unless Mr. Tozier wanted to sign it first. Then he could. Sorry Hank.
Mr. Tozier sat at a big desk with papers all over the top. I could just see over it. He looked down at me, looking over his big thick glasses. He must have a really hard time seeing with glasses that big. My eyes are perfect, everyone says so, but daddy probably doesn't care about perfect eyes. I tried to focus.
“Frankie?” Mr. Tozier said. “What is it?”
“Next time I get in trouble, can you call my daddy instead of my mommy?” I said. I thought if I was as obvious as possible that he would definitely get it right next time.
Mr. Tozier's brow furrowed. “Well, you weren't in trouble, Frankie, but why do you want me to call your daddy? Is something going on at home?”
I really thought about it. No, not really. Home has been kinda boring. Daddy always looks sad when I'm with him, but mommy always has boys around all the time. I just want my daddy to be happy too. Not with lots of boys though, just Mr. Tozier. I didn't like getting used to lots and lots of new boys because some of them smell funny and have weird mustaches.
“Frankie?” Mr. Tozier asked. Oops, I'd been thinking too much.
“No.” I said quickly and walked away. I didn't even remember to ask him to sign my cast. I guess Hank could do it first after all.
After all the kids got done signing my cast with lots of cool things, Hank drew a dinosaur, I went to work. I knew daddy would definitely come if I was in danger, but it didn't work the first time. I decided I had to do something different. I had to get in trouble.
It happened at recess. Mr. Tozier was watching everybody, but I wanted to make sure he was watching me. I took a big breath in and let out a loud scream. Mr. Tozier looked up but so did everybody else. I'd have to explain why I was doing it to all my lots of friends later. They'd understand. With all my might, I pushed over the big wood play kitchen and all the kids playing house ran away. The play plates hit the ground over and over one at a time. It sounded like rain.
Mr. Tozier rushed over. Yay! “Is everyone okay?” The other kids nodded. When he looked at me, he didn't look mad. He looked worried. That made me worried too.
He took me to the place I go to when I get off my bus and had me sit in the big plush chair. Once he was in the other room, I got up and pressed my ear to the door. He was talking to somebody. I think on the phone.
“I think something might be going on at home.” Mr Tozier said. I sighed. Not really. Just call my daddy. Say I'm in big trouble. “Oh, a divorce? That's gotta be tough on him.” It wasn't tough at all! What was tough was getting my daddy and Mr. Tozier in one room. Ugh!
Chapter 3: Why Does Everybody Ask if I'm Okay??
How was I supposed to know they'd just make me talk to some lady? That is not what I wanted at all.
“Frankie,” She said gently like she was talking to a puppy. I'm not a puppy. “Can you please tell me how things have been at home?”
“Why does everybody keep asking me that!” I knew it wasn't polite to shout, but I was getting so frustrated! “Sorry, things are just fine. I'm happy.”
Even though I told her I'm happy she still looked sad. What was going on? “Are you happy when you're with your mommy?”
I felt a big frown on my face. “Yeah, I guess!” I folded my arms. Things were fine. Mommy was just kind of boring sometimes. She just wanted me to dress up nice and be polite. I was so sick of always being so polite.
“What about your daddy?” She asked.
I smiled. “Well, daddy is the best. We play games and watch TV but he's lonely and needs a boyfriend like my mommy has.”
The lady's eyebrows raised up like they were gonna bump into her hair. “A boyfriend?” She asked. “Maybe you mean a girlfriend.”
I rolled my eyes. “No! My daddy likes boys!’’
Talking to that lady was so pointless. She didn't even help me with how to get Mr. Tozier and my daddy together. I hoped I never had to see that lady ever again.
My mommy drove me home and fussed with my hair when she buckled me in. “What did you say to the nice lady?” She asked me.
“I told her daddy likes boys.” I explained, getting a little tired of always having to explain myself.
Mommy's eyebrows did the same thing as the lady. It's a little silly for her to be surprised. I knew she knew that already. She didn't say much else. She just got in the front seat and drove us home.
When Daddy came to pick me up the next day, I was so excited. It was the weekend and Daddy always planned a fun activity. I wanted to see the new Sonic movie and get lots of popcorn.
It was taking mommy and daddy a really long time to come get me in my room, so I hopped off my bed and sat on the top of the stairs looking down at them through the bars. They looked upset. They had angry eyebrows and folded up arms.
“You told him about your little perversion?” Mommy said. I didn't know what that meant, but what did daddy tell me about? Maybe about the big black cats at the zoo.
Daddy held up his hands. “No, I didn't tell him anything about that. I don't know how he found out.” Maybe not about the big cats after all.
“Well, tell him you don't. Tell him you like women like you're supposed to.” I opened my eyes really wide. Was this about daddy liking boys? What's the big deal! Mommy likes boys too!
“Daddy can like boys if he wants to!” I ran down the stairs to stand up tall next to daddy.
They both looked down at me with their mouths hanging open. Close your mouths, gosh! “It's not normal.” Mommy said in a calm voice. I was so sick of people talking to me like a puppy or a baby or something.
I held out my hand. “Daddy, I wanna go.” I didn't feel like talking about this. I had important things to do.
Daddy looked down at me, surprised. Mommy looked mad. They looked at each other for a few seconds before daddy grabbed my hand and we started walking out. I smiled wide.
“Wait!” Mommy called after us, but we didn't stop or look back.
We were gonna have a wonderful, awesome time watching Sonic and eating popcorn and then after that I would think about my next plan. Daddy and Mr. Tozier were gonna be happy if it was the last thing I did!
Chapter 4: Hank's My Best Friend Ever!
"Okay Hank, this is very important.” I started to explain. It was nap time, so I had to whisper. I had my mat pulled up right next to Hank's. Hank had a big smile while he listened. He was always a good listener. Probably because I told lots of good stories. “My daddy likes boys.”
“What else would he do?” Hank poked his cheek. “You're a boy, so if he didn't it would be really sad actually.”
“No, no.” I waved him off with my cast. “I mean he likes boys like mommies like daddies.”
“Woah.” Hank said. “That's so cool. I wish my daddy likes boys too.” I knew I could count on Hank to see things my way. My daddy was pretty cool after all.
“I think my daddy should be in love with Mr. Tozier.” I explained and smiled a lot. It was such a great idea.
Hank didn't smile, he looked worried. “But Frankie, he's our teacher.”
“So, what?” I folded my arms.
Hank seemed like he really had to think about it. That made sense because he was being silly. “It's weird.”
“That's a horrible reason, Hank.” I shook my head. I really expected more from my best friend ever.
“What if he treats you different?” Hank pushed his fingers together.
I huffed. What a dumb thing to say. “It would only be good different cause he'd give me less work and maybe let me go home early.” I hadn't thought about any of that, but a teacher daddy had to have perks.
“Woah.” Hank said. “Okay, what do we do?” I knew Hank was a good friend! Now I had a whole helper! We'd definitely make it happen!
“Well, I already tried this.” I proudly held up my cast.
“You did that on purpose?” He asked, scrunching up his face. What was the big deal? It didn't even work.
“And when I knocked over the kitchen.” I smiled wide. They were all very good plans, so the next one would definitely work!
Hank frowned again. “That broke off the sink and now it doesn't fit.”
“It was for a good reason.” I said. “My daddy needs love!”
“I guess so.” Hank still pouted, so I made a funny face and oinked like a pig. That's what Mr. Tozier would do.
Hank giggled a lot until a girl on the mat next to us said, “Shhh!” That just made us giggle more.
We put my plan in action just after nap time. Hank went up to Mr. Tozier and got his attention. “Look, Mr. Tozier!” He said, then started trying to put his whole fist in his mouth. I had to try really hard not to laugh. At first, Mr. Tozier watched, but as I expected, he tried to stop him after that.
That's when I made my move! I slipped behind the cubbies on the wall. There was just a tiny little bit of space, but I slipped in like a super spy when no one was looking. I could still see everything! My plan was working perfectly.
A few minutes later, everybody got their bins from the cubbies to start working. Hank went straight back to Mr. Tozier. “Excuse me, Mr. Tozier?”
“What's on your mind, Hankster?” He winked. I sighed. What was my future other daddy doing giving fun nicknames to other little boys? Very inconsiderate!
“Have you seen Frankie?” Hank asked. The smile grew wider on my lips. I tried hard not to giggle. Mr. Tozier's smile went away completely. He hopped up and started looking all around. I held my breath. He checked in the lockers. Good thing I decided not to hide there! That was a close one. He checked in the trash can. I definitely wouldn't have ever hid somewhere like that. Unless I got really desperate to think of a good spot I guess.
Mr. Tozier looked back at Hank. “Hank, do you know where he is?” I crossed my fingers in both hands. Hank, please don't be a tattletale at a time like this! “If you do, please tell me. Neither of you will be in trouble.”
Hank shook his head. “I think you could call his daddy.” Hank added. Yes! I knew Hank was my bestest friend ever for a reason! We did it! My daddy was about to meet the love of his whole life!
Chapter 5: They Meet and I'm Cute
It got a little boring waiting in my hiding place. My back hurt too because the plug on the wall was poking it, but it was all worth it for my daddy!
Mr. Tozier had been pacing around and Hank was obviously trying really hard not to look over at me. He was doing a very great job.
It felt like forever and ever, but finally I heard someone stomp in the room. Daddy! I could tell it was him. I was so happy I almost gave up my hiding spot. I put my hand over my mouth just in case.
“Unbelievable.” My daddy said. “Your one job is keeping the children in your care safe and my child breaks his arm and then goes missing! I hope you don't like your job.” I frowned. This wasn't right. They were supposed to fall right in love at first sight!
“Sir,” Mr Tozier started talking, surely he would fall in love with my great, awesome daddy! “With all due respect, this is not an easy job. They haven't replaced my classroom aide since he quit.” I remembered Ms. Ramsey. She snorted when she laughed. I always wondered when she'd come back. “Trust me that the welfare of my students is the thing I care most about.”
“So, is it just my son that you are lax with?” Daddy said, still sounding angry. This wasn't good!
“No. I care very much about your son.” Yay! I knew I was the favorite. He'll definitely love my daddy just so he can be my other daddy. I'm so cool. “I've actually been very worried about him. He's been acting out a lot.” More like I've been trying really hard to get you two knuckle sandwiches to be in love! Give me a break.
“Of course he has been with this level of instruction and look at this deathtrap!” My daddy held up the broken part of the play sink and waved it around.
“Frankie broke that actually. He just shoved it over while other kids were playing with it.” I smiled, a little proud even though that plan didn't work.
Daddy frowned and crossed his arms. He had the line in his face he got when he was worried and the other one he got when he was mad. “Well, can't you watch him better? If you just-” Daddy put a hand over his mouth. Mr. Tozier put a hand on daddy's shoulder. It was happening! Frankie Kaspbrak you genius! “I'm sorry.” Daddy said. “This just isn't like him.”
“From what I understand, he's going through a lot right now.” Mr. Tozier said with his kindest tone.
Daddy gasped. “Are you trying to blame this on the divorce? You're the one that lost my son!” Daddy's voice squeaked like it did the time I found a baby rat and brought it in the house as my pet.
“I'm not blaming it on anything.” Mr. Tozier was so calm. I wanted him to make a cool animal sound so my daddy would stop being so mad. “I think he's probably hiding. It seems like it's been about attention. It's like he wants me to call you. Specifically you. I don't mean to pry, but has the divorce made it difficult for you to spend time with him?” That's not it at all! I do want to see daddy more and everything, but that's not why I was making these really smart plans. Clearly I was doing something right because it worked.
“No. That's ridiculous. We should call the police. A kidnapper could be getting further and further away by the second.” No! That wasn't what I wanted at all. It was time to make my great reveal! They'd both be so happy to see me and we'd all laugh and smile together.
I started trying to wiggle out of my hiding spot, but when it got to my arm with the cast with lots of decorations on it, it didn't budge. Uh-Oh.
Chapter 6: Stuck (but Being Really Brave About it)
My cast made a loud smacking sound as I tried to pull it free. Before I got my arm unstuck, everyone looked up from talking and stared at me. They had big eyes like owls, hoot hoot, Mr. Tozier might say.
Daddy's eyes were all watery and he rushed over. “Frankie, oh my god. Have you been here this whole time?” He gave Mr. Tozier a really mean look. “He's been here the whole time and you couldn't find him? How is that possible?”
Mr. Tozier shrugged. “I said I thought he was hiding, but I'm very sorry about all this.” He still looked very stressed out and his eyes were all red.
“You can't just relax because you think something is true when my son could be in danger.” Daddy always talked with his hands and started to talk really fast when he was mad, so he was probably very mad.
I kept trying to wiggle free, but it wasn't happening. Oh no. “I'm stuck.” I said interrupting their boring conversation that wasn't even about being in love.
“Stuck? Oh God. Your arm?” Daddy asked. I nodded. It was very obviously my arm, but whatever. “Does it hurt?”
I shook my head, but it was kinda hard cause there was barely space to breathe. “No, it doesn't hurt even a little bit.” I was super brave after all.
“How did you even get back there?” Mr. Tozier asked, he sounded pretty impressed.
“I just wiggled.” I said with a big smile showing all my teeth.
My daddy bobbed his head up and down like a gulping fish. Splish splash . “Have you tried to wiggle out?” Daddy wiggled as if I didn't know what wiggling was. I wiggled my whole way back here in the first place!
“Yeah, I did try it! I wiggled and wiggled, but I'm still stuck.” I pushed out my bottom lip. So frustrating! My plan wasn't working well at all.
Daddy chewed on his lips. “Your mother is not going to be happy about this.” He said it all quiet like he wasn't even talking to me, but he obviously was.
He tried to pull on my cast, but it hurt. “Ow.” I said.
“Sorry, I'm sorry.” He let go of me right after like it hurt him too.
“Excuse me, Mr. Kaspbrak?” Mr. Tozier called my daddy something funny, tapping on his shoulder. I guess he can't call him daddy, but my daddy's not even a teacher!
Daddy turned back to look. “What?” He breathed out really hard, like whoosh .
“Let me try, I have an idea.” Mr. Tozier said.
My daddy kept breathing loud. “Fine.” He stepped away from me.
Mr. Tozier did the thing where his fingers make little cracking sounds. I giggled. He was so silly. “Okay, Frankie. Are you scared?”
Of course not, I was obviously being very brave. “No.” I said.
“Alright, let's see…” He looked all around the small, dark place where I was. I tried not to think that it was so small and dark, but it was hard not to think it. “Do you think you can jump out of there really fast when I say go? You can race to your daddy.”
I smiled wide. That sounded like a fun game. “Okay!”
“What are you going to do?” Daddy asked.
Mr. Tozier winked at him. “I have a plan, just stand back.” My daddy's face seemed kinda blotchy and red. I hoped he wasn't getting sick cause he was so worried about me. That would be bad. He nodded and took a few steps back.
Hank looked up at my daddy. “Is Frankie going to die?”
Daddy just looked at him with a crinkly face, but Mr. Tozier said. “You trust Mr. Tozier, don't you, Hankster?” Hank smiled and nodded a lot. Me too. He was gonna be a great other daddy.
Mr. Tozier pushed something that made a loud clicking sound and wrapped his big, huge arms around the cubbies that were making me so stuck. He leaned back with all his might making weird little sounds that were pretty funny. I could see more light after that. “Go Frankie!” Ready, set , go and Frankie Kaspbrak was off like the flash! I did a really cool job coming out by kicking off the side of the cubbies.
I ran up to daddy and jumped up into his arms. We both smiled a lot, but then, there was a big, loud crashing sound. I looked over from daddy's arms and I saw Mr. Tozier being crushed under the big, heavy cubbies.
Hank pulled on my daddy's pocket. “Is Mr. Tozier gonna die?” He asked. Good question. I hope not. How could he be my new daddy if he died!
Chapter 7: Two Tomatoes Make a Salad!
No, no, no! I started rushing over to Mr. Tozier, but daddy put his hand out and I stopped. Daddy went over really slow.
“I'm a-okay!” Mr. Tozier said from under the cubbies. “Don't worry about me! I have a hard head!” Mr. Tozier definitely did cause he ran into stuff all the time! He always said ‘it’s okay I have a hard head ' or ‘another bruise for my bruise collection' . I had a bruise collection too.
Daddy made grumbling sounds and bent his knees next to the cubbies that were crushing Mr. Tozier's whole body. “Don't be ridiculous. You should definitely be seen by a doctor after this.”
“Nope, years of being reckless have made my head basically a head of steel. Nothing could penetrate it now. My brain is well protected.” Said Mr. Tozier. Yeah! He had to be right. That made sense.
“That's not how it works at all, dummy.” Oh. “Once you get one concussion, every one afterwards gets worse and worse and worse. How many have you had? Maybe I should call an ambulance.” Daddy held a hand to his head like he did when he was about to put me in time out. Mr. Tozier was about to be in time out.
“Please don't do that.” Mr. Tozier said. He really didn't want to go to time out. I didn't blame him. It's super boring in time out.
“What's a concussion?” Hank asked. It was a good question. I could have answered it, but I let daddy feel smart.
“A brain injury. It's very serious.” Daddy said quickly.
“What's an injury?” Hank asked again.
Mr. Tozier answered that question from under the pile. “A booboo.” He said.
“Oh!” Hank said. I already knew that, but that answered the question for Hank. Mr. Tozier and daddy were very smart.
Daddy shook his head fast like a dog. “That's enough of this foolishness. We're getting you out of there.” He rolled up his sleeves and started pulling on the cubbies. “What on earth? How could they possibly weigh this much? I should definitely call someone.” He said.
“That won't be necessary, Mr. Kaspbrak.” Said the voice of Mr. Tozier from under the pile. He was really stuck good. “Can you just pull and I'll push?”
Daddy breathed loud like a dragon. “Okay, fine. We can try your idea first.” He tapped his foot fast like a bunny. He was being lots of funny animals!
The stuff moved probably because Mr. Tozier moved, not because there was a bunch of friendly mice trying to help. Sad. “Good. On three.” Mr. Tozier said. “One, two, three.” Daddy pulled up breathing hard and turning red as a tomato, but the cubbies were going up that time. I could finally see Mr. Tozier. He was pushing. He was all red too. Two tomato faces. We just needed green lettuce for one of mommy's salads. Icky. I giggled.
“Is this funny to you, Frankie?” Daddy asked, breathing really hard. I nodded, still smiling, and he made an even funnier crinkly face. I loved my daddy so much. He was so funny.
After Mr. Tozier pushed all the way up, daddy moved over to help push. Push, push push. Then it was all the way up, but the stuff was still all over the ground in a big mess. Mr. Tozier was definitely gonna get grounded.
“Thank you.” Mr. Tozier said, but he turned around and he slipped on a notebook like it was a banana peel. Woosh . He tumbled and bumbled into my daddy and they both did a funny dance before falling down on the ground. Mr. Tozier was crushing my daddy cause he was way bigger.
Oh, no!
Wait, no. This was perfect! They were basically hugging! That's what people that love each other very much do. It was working! I was a love genius.
Chapter 8: Friends??
They both got up really fast and rubbed down their clothes like mommy did to me right before school. “Are you in love now?” I asked because I was getting very tired of waiting.
Daddy got a weird expression on his face like when he told me he wasn't gonna be with mommy anymore. I started to feel scared because I didn't know why he looked at me like that. “Oh my god.” Daddy said.
“No, Frankie.” Mr. Tozier smiled, so that made me feel a little better, but it meant I didn't do it yet.
“Is that what all this has been about?” Daddy said. I nodded. “You want me to be in love with your teacher?” I nodded again. I really did want that. “Oh my god.” He closed his eyes really tight. “I am so sorry, Mr. Tozier. This is all very embarrassing. Maybe we could talk in the other room?”
Mr. Tozier nodded. “Just for a minute, okay? I don't have an aide right now.”
“Sure, that's fine.” Daddy said.
Mr. Tozier looked at us kids and put two fingers from his eyes then to point at us. “Don't do anything I wouldn't do.” We all giggled because it was funny, but I felt bubbly in my stomach. Maybe my plan would never ever work.
Daddy went with Mr. Tozier out the door. When the door shut, I ran up and poked my eye under the door. I couldn't see anything really, but I could hear a tiny bit better.
“I'm so sorry about this.” Daddy said. “He must be taking the divorce really hard.” I was not.
“I understand. I'm flattered he seems to want me as his step parent. Maybe that means I'm doing something right.” Yeah! The rightest ever!
“I hope this isn't overstepping telling you this, but he found out I was divorcing his mother because I'm gay. I didn't tell him, but we must not have been careful enough talking about it.” Gay? No. It was cause Daddy liked boys! That's all. Gay was something bad mommy talked about.
There was time with no talking, but I couldn't see why. “Oh.” Mr. Tozier said. Good, they were still there.
“Oh God, it was totally over stepping, wasn't it?”
“No, no. Actually, I was thinking maybe he somehow found out I'm gay and that's why he picked me.” Gay? What was it with all this gay?
There was another long time with no talking. “Oh.” Daddy said.
“Sorry, maybe now I'm the one talking too much. I do that a lot actually. I thought since you were too, it might be okay, but I promise I would not usually tell a parent of one of my students that.”
It sounded like Daddy laughed a little but lighter than usual because he usually sounded like a cackling witch. “It's fine. It's nice to not be the only one. I wasn't exactly in the community before now.”
“Well, I'm free to talk anytime after 3pm.” Mr. Tozier said. Daddy did that different laugh again. Like a kitten laughing. It was weird.
“What are you saying?” Daddy asked. Mr. Tozier was pretty clear. That's because that's when school ended.
“If you want to come here around then or shoot me an email that would be fine by me. It's easy to feel lonely when you're entering a brand new community. I'll be your first gay friend. If you want. No pressure.” Gay.. hmm. If daddy and Mr. Tozier were gay it couldn't be bad.
“That does sound nice.” Daddy said. “I’ll think about it.”
“Frankie is a great kid.” True. “Maybe if you have a talk with him about it, now that we know what's been going on, he'll stop. Divorce is confusing for a kid.” Mr. Tozier said all that, but I was not confused at all. I knew exactly what was going on.
“Sometimes it's best, that's what my therapist says. I actually kind of wish my parents divorced.” Daddy said. That was weird. Daddy only had one parent. Grandma. She pinched my cheeks too hard.
Mr. Tozier laughed a little. “Is that so?”
“Oh, no. That was totally too much, right? You don't need my life story.” Daddy said his voice was going fast.
“It's totally fine. What are friends for?” Mr. Tozier said.
“Thanks.” Daddy said. Friends? Friends?? That's not in love at all! Friends are what I was with Hank. That was not going to end with Mr. Tozier being my other daddy. What a nightmare!
Though, I guess it wasn't so bad. Daddy needed friends and I really really liked Hank and all my other friends. I guess if that made daddy happy, I could be happy too. What are sons for? I wanted to be a great son. That's why I did it all in the first place! Daddy and Mr. Tozier were gonna be good friends and that was that!
Chapter 9: That Was Fun, but I'm Bored Now
After that day, daddy came to get me from school all the time! It was so great! I guess mommy didn't mind staying at home and relaxing while daddy picked me up. He really was best friends with Mr. Tozier. That was great.
They talked and talked. Blah, blah, blah I had important stuff to do. At first, I listened in. I'm a growing, curious boy, but it was all just boring stuff I didn't care about.
Still, I loved daddy having a friend and coming to get me. I got to play with all the best toys all by myself. Daddy did the weird kitten giggles, but I was happy his witch laugh came back sometimes too. He must have been getting more comfy with Mr. Tozier. That's nice. Mr. Tozier would say something very funny and daddy would punch him in the arm and do his witch cackles.
After they talked and talked, sometimes they would both come over and pretend to be giant monsters that came to get me and pretend destroyed the play kitchen. I laughed and laughed as they chased me.
One day, Mr. Tozier almost knocked the cubbies over again. Daddy got really upset and did a karate chop in the air talking about safety blah blah blah , but Mr. Tozier showed daddy that it only came off the wall if he flipped this switch thing. Cool! He clicked it and daddy squeaked like a scared mouse, but Mr. Tozier clicked it back before the cubbies crushed us all forever.
Life was pretty great until we started staying at school later and later and I was missing my favorite shows like teenage mutant ninja turtles. I liked watching it before we had to eat dinner. “Come on, daddy.” I said because we'd been at school for at least sixty hours.
“Just a minute.” Daddy said. He was playing a boring card game with Mr. Tozier. Mr. Tozier kept losing. That was good. Daddy deserved to win since I always beat him at all the actually fun games.
Mr. Tozier put down his cards showing all their faces which was probably bad because daddy could see all of them in his hand. “It's okay, we shouldn't keep him.”
“But,” Daddy started. No, daddy. Time to go.
Mr. Tozier smiled wide with lots of teeth. “Maybe you can beat me at cards at my place sometime?”
Daddy smiled a little too, but just like a little c, not with lots of teeth. “Really?”
“I think it's a good time.” Mr. Tozier said. It was a good time because it was the time I would usually be watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Daddy took a long time to respond, then when he did, he was quiet like a whisper. A whisper for no reason. “Okay. Frankie will be with his mom all day tomorrow.”
“It's okay daddy, you can see Mr. Tozier without me.” I said. I thought it was nice of me to say that. They were trying to find a time that I was free too, but I can't always be babysitting them. Daddy had to learn to hang out with his friends by himself once in a while.
Daddy and Mr. Tozier smiled. “Thanks Frankie.” Daddy said.
Mr. Tozier messed up my hair which is good cause I liked it best messy. “Yeah, buddy. I'm glad we have your blessing.”
“Nobody sneezed.” I said. I didn't say bless you to anybody, but maybe Mr. Tozier forgot that. They both laughed.
“So, tomorrow?” Daddy asked Mr. Tozier.
Mr. Tozier nodded a lot like a weird bird. Big bird, haha . “I'll text you the address.”
Daddy spent too long just waving at Mr. Tozier, so I pushed him along. It was like he was a broken toy just waving and waving. “Are you okay, daddy? Why are you doing that? It's weird.”
Daddy pulled back his hands and started to walk finally. “You think?” He asked me for advice, which was good because I gave the best advice.
“Definitely.” I said.
Chapter 10: Best Matchmaker: Frankie Kaspbrak
Daddy didn't pick me up every day after that, but still a lot. Mr. Tozier always went from happy to sad when he saw my mommy, but lots of people did that. I was happy if it was daddy or mommy because when it wasn't daddy every time anymore, it got to be fun again to stay at school and play with all the fun toys all by myself. Sometimes I wished I had Hank to play with too, but at least there wasn't a line for playing with the kitchen.
There was one day that Mr. Tozier was acting weird all day long, and he was just smiling at me, but not happy, more like scared. Weirdo. When Daddy came Mr. Tozier didn't seem surprised like he usually did. He'd say like ‘what a nice surprise' usually when daddy came. This day, he just lifted his hand in the tiniest wave I ever saw and daddy just did it right back. What was going on!
“Hey, Frankie?” Daddy said.
I felt my face scrunch up. “What?”
“We would like to talk to you about something, kiddo.” Mr. Tozier said. He kept rubbing his hands together. Weird, weird, weird .
“Fine.” I said and I plopped down on the beanbag. I liked the orange and blue one best and since it was only me, I could have whichever one I wanted.
Mr. Tozier and daddy pulled over two chairs. The one daddy pulled made a screech sound at first. “Sorry.” Daddy made a squeaky sound with his mouth instead of the chair and lifted it up to wobble like a penguin the rest of the way over.
“So, Frankie.” Daddy coughed and Mr. Tozier put a hand on daddy's shoulder. I was starting to get freaked out! What could be so important! I was scared because maybe my fish died cause he wasn't looking so good when he was napping on the top of the water in the morning.
“Gosh, just spit it out already.” I said, wiggling in the beanbag. If they were gonna tell me something bad I wanted it to be over so I could cry and get done crying in time for my show.
“Sorry, um,” Daddy coughed again.
“Are you sick daddy?” Oh no. Maybe daddy was gonna die! That's way worse than a fish.
“No, um, I,” He coughed again. No.
I started getting my crying out early. I cried and cried and yelled. “Daddy's dying! You're gonna say you're dying.” I cried some more just to be sure I'd get it all out.
“No. I'm fine.” Daddy said. “I'm not sick.” He said that, but his face was all red and Mr. Tozier looked worried. He was gonna lose his best best friend and my best best daddy. I cried louder.
“We're in love!” Mr. Tozier said and squeezed my daddy's shoulder more.
What?
What!
WHAT?!
I hopped out of the bean bag like a bunny. “What?” I said.
“It's true.” Daddy held his hands out. “I'm not dying. We're just in love and going to be starting a new relationship. We wanted you to know. I know this is probably strange for you, but-”
I opened my eyes wide. It worked. I started laughing and daddy looked more worried, but my new future daddy smiled wide. IT WORKED! Of course it worked. I never gave up and it worked because I'm the best matchmaker in the whole world! “You’re welcome.” I said.
“What?” Daddy said, but Mr. Tozier Daddy laughed with me. He picked me up and spun me around until I was dizzy and daddy started laughing too. This was definitely going to be so super fun! I was glad they had me because if it wasn't for me, daddy might have been alone forever and ever and Mr. Tozier wouldn't have a great and very cute new son!
Chapter 11: Epilogue: My New Plan!
My name is Frankie Kaspbrak and now I'm seven whole years old and very mature. After helping my daddies fall in love, I helped them decide to get married too! Wow, what would they do without me?
The most important thing was, what was I going to be? Probably best man, ring bearer, flower boy, and guy that says you may kiss the bride! Though, they'd have to say something else this time. Would they say, you may kiss the groom? Maybe we should skip the gross kissing altogether. Ew.
My original, first daddy said I could only pick one and probably I couldn't be the priest without lots more work and school, and I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to tell them to kiss anyways. Papa Richie (that used to be Mr. Tozier) said I should live my dream and I could be everything and do the wedding as a one boy show. That might be a lot of work though. Maybe I'd be the flower boy because I like flowers and if I lost the ring, I'd probably be in big trouble.
Flower boy it is! I got lots of pretty flowers that I picked out and I helped my daddies pick off all the petals to put in a little white basket. I smooshed em when I took them off, but Papa Richie said it was okay cause I'd just be throwing them. I was excited to make a big flower mess.
Mommy wasn't gonna come to the wedding. I told her that was stupid because it would be fun and the best time ever. She thought I should still call Papa Richie, Mr. Tozier, but that would be confusing since he wasn't even my teacher anymore. Plus, my name might get to be Frankie Kaspbrak-Tozier! They said I could decide, but I was still thinking about it. It sounded pretty nice.
After all that was figured out, I had time to think about the real most important thing. Since I did such a wonderful job with my first plan of getting daddy and Papa Richie to fall in love, I decided I could basically do anything. It was a lot of power, but Spiderman says to use it for only good things, so that's what I was gonna do.
It was time for the wedding, and I was hiding under the biggest table with Hank. He was my plus one. We took a break from eating the cake that we took from the back of the cake so no one would notice. We had icing all over our fingers, but we could just wipe it on the table cloths, so it was fine. “Okay, Hank. I have a new really amazing plan.”
Hank sighed loud. “It better not be you getting stuck again. I was worried.”
I shook my head a lot. “No, no. Hank. I'm gonna get a baby brother.”
Hank smiled. “Is your mommy pregnant?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, Hank. Are we at my mommy's wedding right now? Gosh.”
He looked confused. Hank, you gotta think about these things. “But, who?” He asked me.
“My daddy is gonna have a baby with Papa Richie.” I said. “I’m gonna make it happen.”
Hank's mouth opened wide. “Woah.” He said.
“So, you're in?” I held out my pinky.
He wrapped my pinky with his pinky. “I'm in.” Hank was the best. Maybe I'd marry him one day too. He'd be pretty good at helping me with my plans for forever.
The plan was ready. Here it goes. I had all my flower petals in the basket and I tossed them and smiled and looked cute and everyone was looking at me. Then, Hank was free to go up to the stage. He whispered the secret plan to the priest (that's what they're called) and gave him a bag filled with a special surprise.
I smiled from ear to ear! It was all gonna happen! Just like last time! Daddy and Papa Richie got up to the front and I stayed where I was supposed to stand, then it happened.
The priest smiled. “This is a little unusual.” He said. “But a little boy told me you all had a surprise you wanted to share.”
“A surprise?” Daddy asked.
Papa Richie said, “Okay, sure, show us the surprise.”
He pulled out the surprise from the bag. It was a baby doll and long paper that said, ’it’s a boy' that I very secretly took from the store when I was with mommy. “Congratulations?” The priest said.
Daddy stared and turned red, then more red, but an angry red. He yelled. “Frankie Kaspbrak-Tozier!” It sounded nice, just like I thought it would! I told my daddy I decided that's what I wanted to be called just that morning, and I was happy he remembered. Papa Richie tried to cover his mouth, but I knew he was laughing.
I didn't actually think that would work of course, it takes a few tries like last time, but, eventually, I was definitely getting that little brother!
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waitmyturtles · 6 hours
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Unknown: The Final Episodes (Episodes 10, 11, and 12)
(*CAVEAT!!!!* I wrote this screed before the producers of Unknown cut a different version of episode 11. I have only watched the first version, the version that the Taiwanese BL gods had originally intended us to watch, hmph. My commentary below only reflects my thoughts on this first version. I'm gonna allow myself to be old and crabby and say, "BAH! We didn't revise episodes back in *mah* day!" to excuse myself from watching it and I'm an old mom, I have no fuckin' time to watch a revise, so so sorry fam lmaooo ok byeeeee)
So -- I'll repeat what I think a lot of us have thought about the final arcs of Unknown, and where I could have used more of the delicate, thoughtful exploration about family roles and boundaries that the first nine episodes of this show displayed. These are the elements that drew me to the show, as well as Yuan's general spiciness and empathic intelligence towards Qian.
Anyone who reads around here knows that themes that I'm driven by include Asian intergenerational trauma and Asian family systems and dynamics. This show (here, here, and my tag) -- oh lordo, this show tackled expected, internalized, and externalized roles and responsibilities within families head-the-fuck-on, at least for the first nine episodes.
Let me state the obvious first: this show veered off the highway a bit too early to demonstrate that, WOW, Qian really is the
HORNIEST MAN ALIVE, WOW, EVER --
(dang dude, you really needed to get down EARLIER and MORE OFTEN, because that IN-OFFICE AFTERGLOW, MY MAN, like, listen, I'm down for the post-nut vibes! all support and celebration and respect, but also, we need to delegate these tasks, we're on the clock, you are a co-owner of this company, back to work! chop-chop)
and MAN, could I have used a quick wave of a flag or hand that his deficit for love, care, and tenderness would hit at THAT SPECIFIC angle (HEH HEH) so very quickly and VERY INTENSELY at the start of episode 11. That took me out. I had to just scream at @lurkingshan. I watched that episode IN PUBLIC, PEOPLE!
We were missing some steps there. It was a FABULOUS actual love scene. But I could have used more of
1) Yuan contemplating the reality of what was going to go down BEFORE that scene began, and
2) To see Qian enter that moment as well. Instead, we hit the sheets, and had to process that very intense scene WITH flashbacks, which, whew, was a whole thing, all while I was just kinda literally screaming.
Those flashbacks were supposed to tell me that Qian had come to terms with Yuan's lifelong longing, but the down-dirty confirmed that for me before I was ready to get to the same mindset that Qian had started that scene with. The very important timing and pacing of the emotional exploration and reveals that we had been presented with in the previous episodes was jettisoned for the booty.
So, yeah. That was out of order.
What I also missed in these episodes was, as I stated earlier, the previous and very intentional exploration of family roles and boundaries that this show was playing with prior to the last three episodes.
With this emotional line concluding in episode 10, Qian showed us consistently that his struggle with negotiating his older-brother-and-fatherly responsibilities was his biggest burden, alongside the lifelong processing of the abuse he had received at the hands of his mother, and his further processing of her death.
Qian and Yuan get together in episode 11, literally go out on a date, and Qian woos Yuan.
Qian's continued resistance to being open about his health to Yuan is extremely reminiscent of a parent (I think of Asian parents, but I think this is common to global parenthood) hiding a health status from a child. This part of the story was still an important one. Qian was STILL holding onto his understanding of his responsibilities to Yuan and Lili as a parent/older sibling figure. If he didn't get out of that surgery in perfect condition, he worried about their futures -- regardless of the facts that Yuan was self-sufficient, and Lili was both self-sufficient and supported by a loving partner. Because that's how so many parents are: no matter the stability of their children, parents will see children as their children.
What I liked about this storyline, and what I could have used a bit more of (ideally in an extra episode) WAS HOW YUAN'S FAMILY ROLE CHANGES AUTOMATICALLY BY BECOMING QIAN'S PARTNER.
Lili calls Yuan a "sister-in-law," but he also becomes a
brother-in-law, AND a stepdad, AND THEN ALSO BECOMES A VERY NOT TECHNICAL GRANDPA, ALONG WITH GRANDPA/UNCLE/OLDER BROTHER QIAN
AND, AND!
We see Yuan THEN CARING FOR QIAN as the younger brother he's always been, AND
AS QIAN'S PARTNER
which they're calling wife or sister-in-law in the show, which, bleh to gendered terms, but
THEY WERE GOING THERE WITH YUAN
but we didn't get enough of it.
THAT IS A HUGE CHANGE FOR YUAN.
HE IS EQUAL NOW!
We just didn't get enough exploration there. Because the show was centering Qian's narrative (which I don't blame the show for at all), and mans was in his post-boop vibe the whole time, that we didn't sit enough with the changing of these roles FOR THESE TWO MEN, and while Lili hinted at it, I would have liked just a few more minutes at the macro-high level to explore what this meant for this entire, wonderful family unit. This is just huge Asian family dynamics stuff regarding who has power, and how that impacts how Qian interacts with Yuan, how Qian has to internally process the growth of his "child," as it were, to be LITERALLY EQUAL to him as his partner; and also for Lili to contemplate as she regards Yuan now as someone partnered with her caretaker. Yuan now would kind of step into that role, as well. THAT'S HUGE for dynamics changing and rebuilding.
Let's also remember that San Peng transcends these boundaries, too, but it's a bit easier for him, because he hasn't lived in that house. But he's the family's benefactor, in a way, which both Yuan and Lili acknowledge. And his turning into a partner into the family is also a significant boundary-crossing.
Finally, Qian's concern for Lili. Yes, he was concerned for her career. He didn't want Lili to turn out like his mom.
I would have liked to have proof in that concern, literally. I say this as a mom.
Qian was missing something big. Lili's baby was going to be born into a nice big family unit that Qian was the creator and anchor of.
At least they had Qian and Yuan sitting on baby toys to end the series. Lili, truly, had nothing to worry about. The gay uncle-grandpas were going to be there to help raise the baby, because as an Asian viewer, I am going to assume the extended family's participation
(NOT ASSISTANCE! ACTIVE PARTICIPATION!)
in the raising of that child.
I'm not sure why Qian missed that, except for the very real reason of familial PTSD and intergenerational trauma from his mother. But San Peng was right there as Lili's partner and as the actual dad. And Qian was valid to have a concern. But that could have been a moment where Yuan, also, as a new equal "elder" of this newly readjusted family, could have reassured everyone that this baby was going to be born in a wonderful, close-knit, loving extended family.
These readjusted roles were not fully named and explored. If I were Lili, I know I'd be having that baby in the good hands of all of the men around me that would help me raise the kiddo in a happy and supportive environment.
One more point about the baby. We need more babies in BLs. We need to show men becoming fathers, people becoming parents. This is a right that all people have. We need more of it to emphasize that all people are deserving of the families that they want to create -- and truly, it was so BEAUTIFULLY SYMBOLIC that Qian would be such a good caretaker as to be blessed with further generations, because he literally cared so well for Yuan and Lili that they could bless him back with growing the family he tended to. We just didn't get enough sitting with that.
Finally! TF was up with that office vibe in the end. The tops, the bottoms, the public kissing. That we got that instead of the role explorations -- k, but the tone of all that was a little off, if it was meant to be comedic. And yes, I definitely took away that I was meant to ship Dr. Lin and Le Ge. I have NO IDEA why they were talking otherwise. Doc and Don are meant to, ya know, YA KNOW? Right? Ummm, lol.
All of this together is enough to put a touch of a damper on my memories of this show. I didn't end with a high.
But I ABSOLUTELY LOVED what this show accomplished through the first 10 episodes. All these complicated, delicious boundaries and roles and responsibilities being explored! It's a joy, as an Asian, to watch this being explored in a queer Asian show.
We ended on some tropey bumps, but I'm going to remember this show overall with fondness, and I'm ultimately very happy that this was my first Taiwanese BL. I can't wait to catch up in this space more in due time.
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tmnt-fann · 2 days
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|-VACATION DAY-|
Lately the Mad Dogs have been having a hard time, mission after mission. Villain after Villain. Raph noticed this and decided they needed a vacation. He gathered everyone in the living-room for a family meeting.
"What's the news big bro?" Leo said
"Yes, I must get back to modifying my tech for future missions." Donnie agreed
"Well, I decided we all need a break from hero-ing because of how things have been recently. So everyone get ready because we are taking a vacation!" Raph announced
Everyone seemed to agree and thought it was a good idea, but there was one issue. How would they enjoy a vacation day at the beach? For so long they have wanted to enjoy the sea air and bask in the sun in the sand.
"Yes yes, an amazing idea brother. But how shall one go to the beach looking like a mutant? *ahem* us..?" Donnie questioned
"Well.. Uhm, we will go at night!" Raph said, just coming up with the idea.
Everyone thought it was a good idea and went to go pack for the night ahead.
--------------------------------
Everyone quietly enters the beach. Passing the security slowly, making sure not to make any sound.
"All right! Here we are!" Raph said
"Aww yeah! I'm gonna build a sand castle!" Mikey says as he runs off somewhere
Raph follows Mikey to help him build the said sand castle.
"Well, I will be basking in the moonlight. DO NOT bother me with one of your dumb puns Leo." Donnie says as he lays down on a lounge chair in his board shorts
Leo rolls his eyes at Donnie and puts his things down, setting up a little spot with his things. Leo grabs his scuba diving gear and heads towards the water. Once he enters the water a small blue fish swims up to him, it seems to think he's a friend.
However, after a few minutes the fish quickly swims away. This leaves Leo confused. Then he feels something swim behind him, he turns around to be face to face with a shark. The shark does not attack, but Leo is freaking out. Leo stays still, not moving an inch. The shark swims past him, leaving him in awe. Leo quickly goes to the shore to brag about what happened.
"Donnie! Guess what?!" Leo shouts at Donnie
"Sigh. What do you want? I told you not to bother me."
"Well.."
The conversation goes on and on, but while they are conversating a ooze-quito bites the shark from earlier. Turning it into a ghost like creature that still looked like a shark, but it was 10x bigger than a normal one and definitely scarier.
As Donnie and Leo continue to talk the shark gets closer and closer to the shore, then leaps out of the water blocking the moonlight. This catches everyone's attention. It roars at them as nearby seagulls or security are scared off.
The shark phases though the sand and attacks Donnie and Leo from below. It causes Donnie to fall out of his lounge chair and Leo to fall over. Mikey who is watching from afar, uses his weapon to catch the shark. The chain wraps around the shark with its fire and sun like glow. The shark whines at the light and turns into tiny fishes, then once out of his grasp, turns back into a shark. Mikey notices this.
"Guys! Guys!" Mikey says as he runs up to Leo and Donnie.
While he is running up to them, the shark attacks him. But right on time, Raph pushes Mikey out of the way as they both hit the sand with a thud.
Mikey rushes to his feet "Guys! The shark doesn't like light!"
Raph nods. "Mikey, your weapon could make fire. Why don't you use that?" Raph said
Everyone looks at Mikey.
"Oh yeah, heheh.."
Mikey swings his weapon around as it catches flame. He does this for a few minutes and then gives up.
"I cant do it! Its too big!" Mikey whined as he looked defeated
"Step aside , I got this" Donnie said as he pushes Mikey aside and steps foward.
Donnie pulls out his tech bo. He tampers with it and it turns into a large disco ball at the end of the staff. Also coming out from his battle shell is a flashlight that is around the size of his speaker.
"Begone!" Donnie shouts as he turns the lights on
The shark screeches at the light and flees back into the water once again. But as soon as the shark clears Donnie turns off his lights.
"Well team, good job. Now lats get back to out vaca-" Raph says as he is cut off by the sound of security
"Come on this way!" One security guard said
"It came from over here!" Another security guard said
Raph sighs. "Well, seems like our vacation day is cut short. Let's get out of here before they see us." Raph said
They all retreat with their items to the nearest sewer entrance and head home.
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infrequent-creator · 3 days
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A Little Assistance ~
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Summary - Vox needs a little help so he calls his assistant up to take care of his need.
A/N: I don't believe vox's assistant has a name so I'm gonna have Vox call him the name "Sharkbait" 🤭((Also Cutie, Baby boy & various other teasy nicknames))
<3
"Ah- fucking shit! Owowowow!" Vox cursed under his breath. He has spilled coffee on the floor around his chair on the wiring that surrounded his seats.
While they weren't parts of his body, he still was connected to them, like the roots on a tree. So when things happened to them like being stepped on or burned with hot coffee, it does hurt him a bit. He sighed looking around somewhat urgently for something to wipe up the now cooled sticky liquid off his attachment cords.
Nothing... damnit.
He signed, pinching the bridge of where his nose would be. He looked down at his wrist, pressing a button.
Ring...Ring...Ri-
"H-Hello.. Mr. Vox, S-Sir, do you need me?" The face of his personal assistant Sharkbait popping up on the small screen. Stammering like always. Always looking a little flustered in a way that Vox couldn't help but find adorable. He cleared his throat from the distracting thought.
"Yes of course. Why else would I call you?"
"O-Oh I'm sorry S-Sir I didn't mean--" the shark stammered out an apology before Vox cut him off.
"Stop, I don't have all day. Bring some papertowels and warm water to my production room. A cup of coffee spilled on my wiring." He brushed off the lad's apology, trying to get this icky feeling off his wiring fast.
"R-Right! Yes sir!" With that, Vox hung up. He sighed again.
~
A minute or so passes before there's a knock at Vox's door. He waves his hand, an electric current hitting the door 's button panel, causing it to slide open for his guest. There he was. Sharkbait carrying a cloth & a small bucket with water. His feet moving quickly as his king tail swished behind him.
"Bout time you showed up, I'm sticky as hell over here." The overlord groaned as the annoying feeling on his cables. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"R-Right, yes Sir, I'm so sorry." He nodded quickly, kneeling beside Vox's chair. He dipped the cloth in the water a little, squeezing it to get the extra water out, then began making quick work of the dark brown coffee stains.
Vox could feel his touches just a little, they felt faint but it almost felt good. Like getting a head massage almost. Vox leaned back in a sigh, his back resting completely against the chair as he relaxed. His light blue claws tapping, gently and rhythmically as the cleaning continued.
After a moment, Vox noticed something thumping gently against his leg. Also some quiet mumbling from Sharkbait. The TV man opened his eyes to see Sharkbait's tail was the thing gently hitting Vox's leg like a happy dog. The sharkboy's were locked on the floor as he mumbled to himself.
"Now, tell me Sharkbait, what are you mumbling about? Are you perhaps embarrassed that you have to clean up my mess?" Vox's hand slowly reaches down toward's his assistant's tail. The young man turned, opening his mouth to deny his boss's words but a gasp was ripped from his chest before he got the chance.
"Or are you embarrassed that this cute little tail is giving you away?~" Vox's hand quickly took the tail in his hand before it could wiggle away with his assistant's movement. The TV's voice purred as he gently held the tail on his lap, petting it slowly. He could still feel the muscle wanting to still wag even now.
"M-Misteheher V-Vohox! Please be c-cahahreful!" The shark demon quickly broke into anxious bubbly giggles, dropping the cloth to reach for his tail slowly.
"Careful? I am being careful. You think I'd hurt my cute little assistant's tail? What do you take me for, a monster?" Vox looked down at him with an eyebrow arched, a wicked grin spread across his screen.
"N-Nohohohoho! S-Sihihir my tail ihihis sensa-AHAha!" The adorable creature now on his side, curled up like a cat, kicking his feet in laughter.
"Aw is this tail sensitive, little pup? How cute~" Vox's claws now raking gently downward towards the end of his tail.
Sharkbait's face explodes into bright blue blush as he hid his face behind his hands, squealing and gently tugging on his tail. Vox decided his poor little tail had had enough, but the rest of him? Not a chance~
While Sharkbait wasn't looking, the overlord grabbed his little pup around the waist , guiding him onto his lap. The older demon's fingers touching from the slenderness of his assistant's waist.
The tv man snapped his fingers , making a wire slither to life, wrapping around his assistant's wrists holding them above his head, causing him to yelp. He was truly helpless and exposed right now.
"Cute little giggles you got there, pup. Let's see what happens when I use my claws here~" Vox's bright blue claws gently scratched at Sharkbait's sides and tummy at the same time.
The media demon's fingers leaving no spot on his middle untickled , making the little shark squeal, snort, and laugh. The little shark holding nothing back. He couldn't see it, but Vox was smiling at him.
"So cute~" Vox thought, letting his gentle tickles continue. He's always grateful for his little assistant.
END !
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starzgaze · 1 day
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ARCHIVED: annoyance [unfinished]
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pairing: sjw/archivist!reader
unreliable synopsis: [y.name] tries to discreetly follow jinwoo but they fail so badly that jinwoo played them lmao
a/n: [y.name] whole job is from an oc so if you need a bit of context on how they work you can check my oc ophion because this is a self indulgent piece huhuhu.. also shit english and its unfinished so yeah erm
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[y.name] stared down the intricately detailed paper in front of them. It honestly looked like something straight out of some fairytale but [y.name] knew better. It was a personal announcement stating where there's a bit of information that's incorrect or not processed correctly in their archives.
They sighed in irritation.
The archivist crumpled the piece of paper and then threw it aggressively to some wall, letting out an annoyed groan.
"AGH! This rarely happened before even in past timelines?? It only happened when he—" [y.name] ranted before shoving their face into their hands and let out an irritated groan again. They genuinely started to hate this job that was forcibly imposed on them.
And that job was being an archivist to archive everything that happened in this world for the purpose that their now dead boss, the absolute being, could look through the records [y.name] made if they got bored of the monarchs and rulers fighting and went off somewhere else. [y.name]'s job was supposed to made easier because information from the future and past would be forcibly injected into their head like some sort of epiphany because the movements of everything that the absolute being made was predictable. Which means they don't have to manually archive it.
That is until Sung Jin-woo came in.
That... man... almost drove [y.name] into insanity. Right after the dungeon incident, [y.name] ordinarily archived whatever happened to Sung Jin-woo in the dungeon and assumed he would have an average 'Second Awakening' and nothing more.
But when [y.name] archived it they were immediately greeted with an announcement that the information they archived was incorrect. [y.name] rose a brow at this.
They were rarely wrong so how can this be? The last time they archived something wrong was the time where Antares did something so out of character or Ashborn constantly doing decisions that even the existing predictions couldn't match his choices. [y.name] was definitely confused at this but they didn't pay that much mind to it.
They simply adjusted it and tweaked around until it approved the information [y.name] archived then after this [y.name] thought they'll never encounter this ever again for a while.
Until it repeated.
and repeated
repeated
repeated......
....aaanndd repeated......
...
"oh my god I think I'm gonna bald from stress" [y.name] whined as they gripped the folder in their hands and narrowed their eyes at the profile in the folder. The archivist gritted their teeth at the sight of the hunter.
S-rank hunter, Sung Jin-woo.
"Just how the hell did you become this strong?!!?"
The folder flew into the air as [y.name] threw it as they covered their face exasperatedly. The only thing that was haunting [y.name]'s days was Sung Jin-woo, the very reason of why they stay up at night and grovel at the thought of.
Ever since his sudden rise in the rankings in Korea, [y.name]'s work as an archivist doubled. They had to manually archive every little decision Jin-woo made in his life that'll affect the world or even the universe with how powerful he's getting. It was difficult for sure, especially when they're trying to not seem like a creep discreetly following the hunter around trying to jot down whatever Jin-woo is doing because now this magical force that helped them archive doesn't work on him.
"Eugghhh. How many days left before this guy is gonna figure out I've been following him for the past few months" [y.name] sighed as they turned their head over to where the folder fell. Their eyes hardened at thr sight of the folder, annoyance bubbling inside of them. Sung Jinwoo is seriously making their job harder than it should be.
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Jin-woo can't miss how a figure would tail him whenever he was in public and most definitely whenever he's in a high ranking dungeon for some reason.
He would occasionally catch them at his peripheral vision but when he actually turn his head and try to see who it was they would magically disappear. Jin-woo could easily of course appear in their shadow but this figure hasn't posed a threat to him or to anyone he loved.
"My leige, they're tailing your trail again. Do you wish for me to dispose them?" Beru reported as he materialized behind Jin-woo. He raised his hand and waved it dismissively. "No need. Let them be"
In truth, Jin-woo recognized the figure. He was sure that the elusive stalker he has doesn't recognize them anymore but Jin-woo does.
[y.name], one of the few who didn't laughed behind Jin-woo's back but instead encouraged him and served as someone of inspiration for Jin-woo.
To be fair, Jin-woo used to have a small crush on [y.name] before but he forgotten about it when he was going through his grueling training of the system. This mostly became the reason why his feelings for [y.name] dwindled but it quickly resurfaced when they started trailing him around.
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WAIT OMG I forgot it was Mermay!!!!! I'm gonna share the siren/selkie/sailor Sigskk (accidental alliteration) au I made up purely so I could describe the ocean in loving, overabundant detail (and also because I'm reading To Kill a Kingdom)
𓆞༄・゚𓆝࿐ ࿔*: 𓆟
Sigma's casino floats on the blue, but instead of the sky, it's the sea. A cruise that feels like a home, and every customer is family. (He is not a pirate, even though he has a cutlass and a flintlock pistol and a freaking hook.) Longing to feel the liquid pull of the ocean against his skin, Sigma steps down into a jolly-boat. There, he is assailed and nearly butchered by a siren defending his territory, a creature of water with fiery hair, until he's pulled back aboard.
Later, Sigma's ship is attacked by real pirates. After defeating them, Sigma and his crew scour their ship and find, imprisoned, a man with tousled cacao hair, clothed only in bandages (along with... Gogol??? How did you get here????) He's a regular damsel in distress with a mysterious eyepatch over one of his eyes, and definitely not a selkie and ex-partner of that siren.
Below: A snippet of Sigchuu's meeting that I wrote in a fit of passion.
The sea glitters, waves crashing gently against the hull of his ship, an ambient noise that could lull one to sleep. It’s deliciously blue, an ombré that melts into a softer azure, highlighted by the shimmering, radiating dot of the white sun.
Sigma dives in.
The salty water should burn his eyes, but Sigma hardly feels it. It’s even more beautiful down under, a dazzling world of aquamarine — beams of light slanting over his head, his hair weightless and flowing around him. Fish in primary colors dash past his eyes and bubbles float up from his mouth. Seaweed sways in a breezy dance. Atop the squishy sand, Sigma's hands caress vibrant seashells like so many gems.
And then his back is crushed against them.
Sigma can’t see — his hair whips in front of his face and sticks to his eyes. The air is pushed out of his lungs and he inhales water. Something is beating his head into the smooth, colorful sea pebbles below, and there’s blood clogging the water and his vision.
He swears and gasps and chokes, heartbeat all he can hear against the throbbing of the waves in his ears. I'm going to die I'm going to die my casino my patrons my ship I need to get back I can't breathe...
Sigma shoves against the snarling, squirming thing forcing him down. He curses his long hair with his limited thought space. He reaches blindly, catching on teeth and skin and hair and- and scales? But he’s got it — his flintlock. He wrestles it out of his pocket and fires.
There’s a growl of shock, and Sigma forces himself away from his assailant and up, praying that he’ll break the surface before everything goes black—
The sky. The sun. Sigma breathes as everything becomes bright again. He hacks up seawater and blood (concerning), and frantically rubs the ocean and his hair out of his eyes.
There’s someone with him.
Something? He can’t tell. All he sees is a face — a human face — submerged in the water with only the eyes breaking surface, eyes bluer than the sky, than the sea, than any gem tossed on Sigma’s poker tables when all other currency had been lost. A predator. Sienna locks surge over brown shoulders and swirl around their head like a planet’s rings. Most striking of all are their ears, fanned like fairy wings but nowhere near as delicate, frilled and bristling in aggression.
Sigma thinks this creature is beautiful, even as their face is twisted in animalistic rage.
The creature lunges. Claws drip with crimson, swirling patterns up the arm. They're sharp enough to hook Sigma's breath.
He's scrambling onto his boat before he can learn just how sharp they are, and his ever-diligent crew shouts and hoists him up immediately.
Sigma's eyes meet scorching blue, narrowing in rage. They're nothing like the ocean, he realizes. They're like fire.
Then he gasps and flinches back. A mirage... it must be. The flare of the sunlight must be fooling his eyes. Because, inexplicably, the ocean seems to whirl up to meet him, as though sentient.
But now is not the time to think about that.
𓆞༄・゚𓆝࿐ ࿔*: 𓆟
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starry-bi-sky · 4 months
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(Part of this post with older brother danyal al ghul)
...Okay, look. Sam knows she's staring. She knows very well that she is staring. And that if she doesn't stop staring it's gonna draw her unwanted attention, and that will only have to make her explain why she's staring. Which she doesn't want to do.
She's trying not to stare, which she thinks she should get brownie points for. She tries to look away, to find a spot on the wall to stare lifelessly at, maybe she can burn holes into some of these annoying socialites' heads. But eventually her eyes drift, and suddenly she's back to staring again.
Can you blame her though? Damian Wayne looks like a very close mini-me of her fucking best friend. Seriously, it's like looking into a mirror to the past. If that mirror to the past had green eyes rather than blue and a distinctive lack of a facial scar.
The first time she sees him when her parents drag her over to Bruce Wayne to butter up to him she has to do a doubletake. Then a triple take. Then a quadruple take, just for good measure that she was seeing what she was actually seeing. She was sure she looked like one of those stress toys that when squeezed had their eyes pop out comically like a Saturday morning cartoon, that's what she certainly felt like anyways.
Look, Danny's come a decent way from being that scowl-y, jerkish little ten year old she first met when he arrived like the wind to Amity Park five years ago (even if he was still occasionally scowl-y and jerkish), but one thing that's stayed the same is how reserved he is about his home life prior to being taken in by the Fentons.
He doesn't talk about it much, and Sam's come to know that he's very good at changing the subject when it gets brought up. Even after being friends for nearly four years, the only thing she and Tuck know for certain is that he has a little brother that he refers to as 'starlight', whom he cares a lot about but left on really bad terms with. And that he's never met his father, but wants to and knows who he is.
He's never told her or Tucker who he was though, and glancing at Bruce Wayne, Sam is realizing why. She can begrudgingly acknowledge all the good he's done for Gotham, but... well, if Danny told her that Bruce Wayne was his dad, she wouldn't have believed him at all.
But she's starting to see the resemblance, as subtle as it is.
And she sees the resemblance to Damian Wayne, her eyes dropping back down to him as he wears a very Danny-like scowl on his face, arms crossed behind his back as his eyes swept around the ballroom. He was five years younger than Danny, and god it was so, so weird.
His eyes turned on to her, and they locked gazes for a moment.
Involuntarily, Sam makes a startled noise and looks away. Fingers tap against her purse, black and purple and unfortunately a clutch that only held her phone and her wallet in it. She would have kept a knife on her, but her parents put their foot down and there was a security detail at the door. Only in Gotham.
Silently, she was hoping that the little Danny-me didn't say anything. Or at least, he hadn't noticed her staring. Which was a tall order if she ever heard one -- and unfortunately, her silent prayers went unanswered as her mother's eyes dropped down onto her.
"Did you say something, Samantha?" She asks in a sickeningly sweet voice, a sound that makes Sam's skin crawl. Her dad and Bruce Wayne's attention also turns onto her, and she glowers at her mom from the corner of her eye.
"I didn't say anything." Sam says, barely keeping her tone polite as she turned her head away. Her mother clucks her tongue, disapproving, but from her peripherals doesn't pester her more
Bruce Wayne, the bastard, takes that time to turn to Sam and grace her with his dime-a-dozen billboard smiles. "I've been talking with your parents this whole time, Miss Manson, you must be terribly bored. How is your schooling going?"
Sam eyes him up and down. On one hand, she immediately wants to be snarky. It's none of his business what her school life is like, she doesn't care for his fucking small talk.
On the other hand, this was Danny's whole father. Someone who she knows that Danny has wanted to meet for, what she's assuming, his whole life. He's never brought it up much, but she remembers that very quiet, solemn conversation she and Tucker had with him where he admits to having never met his dad. But god does he want to.
And... wait. Sam's eyes narrow, and she meets Bruce Wayne's eyes. Does this man even know Danny exists? She drops her gaze down to Damian, who was staring at her suspiciously, and then back up to Bruce, and she alternates between them.
Why was Damian living with Bruce, but not Danny? Why hasn't Bruce done anything to reach out to him - what was going on with Danny's biological family that Danny had to be separated from them, but not Damian? Danny's always been kinda mysterious, but now things weren't adding up.
Was Danny given up? Does Bruce just not want Danny, but wanted Damian? Why the fuck does Bruce Wayne know about Damian but not her best friend -- or does he know and just not care? He's fought for custody for his adoptive kids before, does he just not want to fight for his other biological son? Does he think Danny's not worth it?
She's never cared much about the Wayne family before, other than to hear about the advancements on WE's eco-friendly tech, but Sam thinks she's gonna have to look into why Damian Wayne was living with the Waynes.
Slowly, with a protective anger beginning to burn in her gut and crawl up her throat, a scowl slowly curls at the corner of her lip as she redirects her glare from her mother onto Bruce. "It's going fine," She says curtly, jutting her chin out defiantly. "Me and my friend Danny started a petition to fix the leaky faucets in the girls and boys' bathrooms in order to conserve more water for the rest of the city."
She eyes his face, waiting to see if anything like recognition flashes through it. And- and nothing. Sam breathes in slowly through her nose, trying to quell the red that's blurring the edge of her vision -- does he just, not know where Danny is?
Her parents however, make vaguely displeased expressions. "Our Samantha is... quite passionate about her pet projects." Her dad says, laughing low and nervously, "she's very vocal about silly things like that."
"Her friend Daniel is perhaps even worse than she is sometimes." Her mother adds on, fanning her face with her perfectly manicured hands with a sigh. "I swear, he's the one that keeps dragging her into these things."
Sam's anger turns on its head, and she whirls on her heel like a fire-breathing dragon. "It's Danyal." It rolls out like instinct. Danny's told them both that he hates the Americanized pronunciation of his name, but in a rare moment of restraint, puts up with it for reasons unknown to her. "And Danny doesn't make me do anything, it was my idea."
The name, Danyal, seems to ring some kind of bell in Brucie Wayne's head, because she sees him and Damian quietly perk up like two cats pricking up their ears. Her eyes flick onto him immediately, something dangerous rearing its head. So Bruce Wayne knows about Danny. And he's not reaching out to him. Is he? She's not sure.
She does know that she's gonna rip his throat out if she finds out that he's known about Danny this entire time and has been ignoring him while favoring his little brother. She'll hunt down Aragon herself and steal his dragon-shifting amulet and wreck house on Bruce Wayne if that's the case. Batman and his league of vigilantes be damned. Her parents don't notice her slowly turning head towards Bruce.
But Bruce does, and she makes direct eye contact with him. His smile doesn't falter, he just tilts his head like a curious puppy and looks at Sam's parents. She hopes Bruce can read minds, she hopes he can hear her threatening him.
"Danyal?" He asks, and Sam doesn't know if she hates the fact that he said it correctly or not. She just continues burning holes into him and hoping he might spontaneously combust.
Her mother waves her hand dismissively, tilting her nose up poshly into the air. "Our dear Samantha's little... foster friend from school," she says, not even bothering to hide her disdain, "a creepy little boy with the most garish scar on his face. He's a rude little thing, not good for polite company."
Scratch that, Sam mentally alternates between ripping into her parents and Bruce. She whirls on them. "Do not talk about Danny that way." She all but snarls, and they all but ignore her.
(She's tearing up the upholstery when she gets home. She's going to paint over the fine china. She's going to do something to make them pay for this.)
"Oh yes, he was taken in by that freaky Fenton family a few years ago." Her dad continues in lieu of her mom, and they both shake their heads disapprovingly. "It's just what our city needs, another menace."
"Danny is not a menace." Sam continues, raising her voice while her hands shake with rage. Her parents finally look at her, but she can already tell that they're going to scold her for raising her voice. She bulldozes over them and jabs her black-painted finger at them. "He's got a bigger heart than the both of you combined."
"Samantha, please." her mom says, exasperated. They both give her disapproving looks, Sam thinks about grabbing champagne off the tray of a nearby waiter and throwing it in their faces. "You defend that boy far too much. What do you actually know about him and his family?"
Sam sets her jaw, puffing herself up like a dragon protecting its hoard. She steps into her mom's space. "I know that he loves the stars; you can ask him anything about astronomy and he could give you an entire lecture on the formation, class types, and various gasses that stars are made up of. He can tell you how the Earth was formed, he can tell you about the visible light spectrum and about light curves, and a whole ton of other stuff that I don't really understand. But Danny loves talking about it."
Her face twists and scowls, "I know he cares a ton about the environment and about fixing light pollution, and preserving the forests and natural habitats of animals." She nearly jabs her finger into her mom's chest, "I know he loves dogs, and that there's one he feeds every day on the way to school that he calls Cujo, its a St. Bernard puppy and Danny carries him around whenever he sees him after school, and is in the middle of training him."
It's not a total lie, but it's not the whole truth either. Cujo doesn't need food, but Danny gives him it anyways. "I know he likes spicy food and loves movies but specifically only sci-fi and horror, and he hates most martial arts movies. His favorite superhero is the Martian Manhunter, but Batman comes in at a close second." For reasons to her that were pretty unknown, but it didn't matter.
"I know he loves wordplay and making puns, which I would have never expected from him when we first met, but it's so unbelievably Danny-like that I can't imagine him not making puns." And she smiles a little to herself, she remembers the first time Danny intentionally made a pun once and it got startled laughs out of both her and Tucker.
Her smile suddenly falters, and she swallows. Her lips purse up, wobbling, and she very quickly glances over to Damian Wayne, of whom is watching her with a vaguely bewildered expression alongside Bruce.
She turns her eyes back onto her parents. "And I know that he worries a lot, even if he has a shit way of showing it. I know he had a little brother that he hasn't seen since he was adopted by the Fentons, and he doesn't talk about him often but when he does he he calls him 'starlight'." From the corner of her eye, she sees Damian jerk.
"So- so, so what if he's not 'good for polite company'." Sam's voice, embarrassingly, cracks down the middle. But she's so angry over Danny's behalf that she doesn't really care. "Or that he can be mean, and critical, and stubborn. He's learning, and he's becoming kinder by the day. That's more than I can say about you."
(She remembers when Danny finally admitted to her and Tucker being his 'closest friends'. It was sometime before the portal incident, and it felt like a milestone because beforehand he only really referred to them as his companions or allies.)
(At the time, he'd looked unsure of himself. Skittish like a stray in the back of an alleyway, almost shy in his own way. It had come out stilted, slow, like an infant taking its first steps, and it would have been endearing if it hadn't been heartbreaking.)
Her parents rear back like she'd struck them, and her mother holds a hand against her chest in aghast. Sam doesn't care, she blinks the sting out of her eyes. "Samantha." Her mother starts.
Sam cuts her off, "I don't care what you have to say, you-- you pricks." she snaps, around her, there are gasps. Belatedly, she realizes she's grown an audience, but again she doesn't care. "Danny might be an asshole, but he cares. And I'd rather be around someone whose mean but cares, than someone whose nice but doesn't."
With that, she whirls on her foot and turns on Bruce Wayne, who has been silent the entire time with a surprised expression on his face. He starts to shake out of it when Sam turns to him, but she doesn't give him the chance to speak. "Enjoy your party." She snarls, and then stalks away.
#dpxdc#dp x dc#dp x dc crossover#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dpxdc crossover#dpdc#danyal al ghul au#older brother danny#sam is one protective gal. this scene went differently in my head. way differently. but alas. i am not complaining.#sam: if bruce wayne abandoned my best friend i'm gonna physically transform myself into a dragon and incinerate him. how dare he.#bruce and damian got to watch in real time as a random girl who knows danny suddenly realizes he's related to them. which is comical to me#because she suddenly goes from being disinterested but weirded out by damian. to suddenly looking at bruce like she's gonna kill him#which is very funny to me bc from their pov at first its like this random girl just speedran hating bruce. and then her parents bring up he#friend danny and then she calls him danyal. and suddenly its starting to click into place like 'oh fuck wait we may just have a lead on --#-- finding danyal and his whereabouts.' especially after sam's mom mentions the scar on his face. like wow. what a crazy ten minutes.#not seen but def happened: sam gets her phone out to go text danny in the corner. she's not gonna bring up the bruce thing yet. she needs#a pick me up. related note: danny and tucker know she's gone to some gala thing with her parents but not to a wayne gala. if danny had know#he may have told her that he was related to damian wayne. just to prepare her for that. not so sure on the writing in this one folks#but i also dont wanna go through and edit anything its like half past one in the morning and i also dont wanna wait until morning to post#when i can just do it now. and get instant serotonin. i thought of this scene in various ways. like sam calling damian 'danny' out of shock#and then quickly correcting herself. and then excusing herself very quickly. or her mentioning that damian resembles her friend danny a lot#so she was just thrown off by him. because i def think that could happen if sam has no reason to think that she needs to hide danny from th#waynes. i also thought about her parents mentioning that damian resembles danny a little bit. only for one of them to go 'oh no no couldn't#- be. how insulting to damian since the daniel they know has this horrid scar on his face.' and then go from there. either way i thought#a scene like this would be fun. get to also kinda explore how danny looks like from his friends' povs. of which he is#'our lovable jerk who is an ex-cult member and whom we will maim someone over.'#not a scene that was added but i wanted to: sam mentioning in parenthesis that she and tucker think danny was part of a cult prior to the#fentons. and that sometimes danny will say something alarming and sam and tucker will stare at him until he frowns and goes#“that... isn't normal. is it?” and tucker will clap his shoulder and cheerfully go “no buddy. no it isn't” bc i think the idea is funny.#sam is so focused on the idea that bruce abandoned/ignored/was unaware of danny's existence that she momentarily forgot that bruce may have
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kakusu-shipping · 1 year
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Luigi master of the beans, worked in a Starbucks in Highschool, now a regular in the Beanbean Kingdom, makes the best cup of coffee in the morning every day for Mario, who could absolutely just drink whatever whenever and is not picky about his morning Joe at all but he loves the flare Luigi puts into it
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byanyan · 3 months
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honestly tho one thing that's been on my mind today... is that i think byan may have undiagnosed adhd on top of everything else 🤔
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running-in-the-dark · 4 months
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.......
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svtskneecaps · 1 year
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i always know i’m getting stressed when my comfort fic becomes “time travel fix-it” adjacent. like honestly when i put that tag back in the ao3 include filters that should have been a red flag.
#i also know i'm getting stressed because i'm starting to do quirky shit#like naming one of my wip documents 'the inside of my head sounds like screaming'#plus i just. have the insatiable urge to DO SOMETHING but that something is none of the things i can think of to do#even the unproductive ones. even the productive ones. it's not that. i need to DO SOMETHING but my body and mind can't decide on what#i'm running out of time. i have a deadline. the deadline has always been tangible and yet somehow it never was.#i have an exact date and somehow that's still nebulous and ephemeral#i am so tired#how do i convince someone i'm hireable when sometimes i'm still trying to convince myself#like i would love to tell these people that i am a WHIZ i am a GODSEND like if i don't know how to do it point me at the documentation#like i'd love to tell them all of that but the minute i look at a job application suddenly i'm questioning everything i thought i Knew#like i'm handed a school assignment and i'm like yes. this i can do. idc. it'll be done and i'm gonna get a damn A#why is this different. like literally why would it be that different. they say 'do this thing' and then i do the fucking thing.#that's life. that's work. that's what i've been told. why am i so scared. why am i not sure i can do it.#like i CAN do it that's what we've been fucking preparing for#i have As!!! As!!!!! they emailed me about graduating with distinction!!!!#i wasn't even trying that fucking hard!!!! this is my normal tryhard!!!!!#why am i so scared a job won't want me. when they're asking for fresh faced college grads.#i'm so tired. i have a headache. i am so afraid. i just need a job. literally one.#i am so scared of the mess i am going to become once i cross that stage#i am so. terrified. i wish i could anticipate graduation like everybody else in my design project.#the future has teeth. and my only option rn is just. bite it first. but i don't think i've ever been that violent.#i'm not ready#i am so scared#not kpop#shut up vic#negativity
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knifeprtys · 2 years
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you said her body at the funeral home is /her/, but think of all the things that made her, her…her laughter and her thoughts, her interests and her idiosyncrasies, her annoyances and her delights..everything that made her, her was part of her soul..I think it’s that presence you still feel, that presence that tells you you’ll meet her again someday. her soul was part of her body, but that body became ill.. yet her soul is still out there waiting for you. I hope this doesn’t come across wrong. sent with all my love
no, no it didn't come out wrong at all! thank you so much, you're incredibly kind for talking through this with me since my head is a mess it really helps💕and i get what you mean, i feel the same although part of me still wants to be there even if it is just her vessel down there rn.. if u get what i mean, it's truly just all so confusing. i said in tags yesterday that while i was down there i felt a million miles further from her and that even the part of her that lives inside me seemed to completely dissipate from me for the duration of my visitation but i went back down to see her today to explain to her directly why i couldn't come see her every day just saying that it was hard for me and stuff and that i'd still talk and come to see her every day in her bedroom upstairs but i requested that they covered her in a shroud this time because she was just lay out on a bed yesterday while we wait for her coffin to arrive and it seemed to make things a lot easier for me to handle so idk! maybe it was just that giving me all of those feelings and the fact that she wouldn't want me to see her like that so long after so the air felt calmer and lighter around her knowing that i wasn't and that i wasn't putting myself through that again, you know?
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fuckinart · 2 years
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Just wanted to say I absolutely loved your drawing of the Nightshade prison scene where Freddy is praying for Alex. Nightshade is my most favorite book ever and I want Alex and Freddy's relationship to grow into a beautiful bond. If you have more Nightshade-related work I'd love to see it!
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anon, i love you. i loved that scene too & needed to draw it so desperately i subjected my poor laptop to 100-ish layers in Hexels. here’s close-ups of the art in question because there’s little details i love that might not be very... viewable in the big version (like, yes, Nightshade being on the desk xD also the guns & escape plan. i wanted the room to look more lived in despite being really empty). i may go back & “finish” it, since the lighting isn’t what i wanted it to be but i was too tired to fix it at the time. this has honestly inspired me to go back to it <3
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also, yes, i will be absolutely drawing more Alex Rider (& Nightshade) stuff because i love it a lot as well. full blown hyperfixation level love. working on my own personal character designs for everyone at the moment. may or may not be working on an animatic too who knows ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
#prologue by Chase Petra is an AR song and i will prove it with this sick animatic#it shouldn't take long. anywhere between uuuuuuuh an hour aaaaaaand 11 months#Alex Rider is one of my 2 biggest hyperfixations so ya expect content#i have a lot of opinions and a lot of things to say#im rereading it and i have sticky notes. i will post that as well tho on my main account#since it's not art it's just. me marking every time a specific thing happens like Alex being violent & blowing shit up & killing#also every time Alex is mentally ill. & every time he's gay. that last one happens more often than you'd think#im working mostly on Danny Phantom stuff since i'm most comfortable with that & also got my fics but i got ideas for AR that i will be doing#honestly i really love Nightshade too. when i got to that scene i was actually like AAH i fucking love that scene#''my friend'' HELL YAAAA#i freehanded most of everything. there is also sketches but thought it looked cooler without the lineart#the bottom pic is basically the main thing i was going for. needed to get all my feelings out. couldnt keep it in my head#i need the Nightshade kids to be in the next books as like. friends but like. chaotic friends. even if they're not involved in anything.#just there in the background setting a garbage can on fire or dissecting a PS4 while Alex is fighting the villain of the week#Alex introduces Tom to the NS kids & Tom is like ''oooooh more Alexes. this is gonna be fun. can you guys also make an IED out of nothing?''#and they hold up the PS4 and don't say anything and Tom is like#*flashbacks to Alex just holding up a knife and expecting that to be answer enough*#''yeah these are 100000 percent Alex's people''#i just need one scene like that please mr. horowitz we're begging#i will take even crumbs sir please#i need Alex to have friends as weird & traumatized & weirdly good at espionage as him#the ''Alex blows shit up constantly'' meme needs to be expanded to include the Nightshade kids please#if i have to make the content i want to see then so be it#inspired to do my stuff now thanks anon for real
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featherymainffins · 1 month
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Binge-reading Dungeon Meshi because it's the only thing standing between me and suicide ngl.
#it at least gave me the single molecule of mental energy required to force myself to eat at least one slice of bread#because it's like the physical energy is there sure but mentally I'm like 'noooooo I don't want to eat anything i hate food#all food tastes bad and i hate life and i want to eat nothing at all and furthermore i need to lose weight so i should starve myself'#I'm thinking that it might actually make me last until I either convince the crisis center that I'm for fucking real for real#or until my appointment with the school counselor. which idk when would be because i was supposed to go on the#2nd of April but i guess there might be holidays because he called me when i was atva lecture but i couldn't take it#because i had a lecture and he hasn't called since but I'm assuming#that hell call again and that he wants to let me know that the date is impossible#but I want to like wait and see what he says. and if he goes like 'oh actually im on a long vacay now goodbye forever'#or whatever I'll just go '...slay' and ride my ass to the hospital tomorrow.#show up at the crisis centre looking exactly like the patients with chronic pain who report pain 7 while looking unphased#like 'hello i am an active danger to myself I can't get out of bed most days; i need 16 hours of sleep to function for 4 hours#my meds have stopped working I haven't eaten anything but exactly 2 pancakes and a slice of bread in the past 4 days#and i exhibit a strong refusal to change this marked by thoughts present in people affected by eating disorders. no activity#feels fun anymore and they were marked by a strong sense of anxiety a few days ago but now i just feel nothing at all.#at this point I'm not even refusing to do any of my hobbies because im increasingly afraid of failure and its#consequences while being hunted for sport by anxiety from the opposite end telling me that i need to finish 50 masterpieces#immediately or nobody will ever like me again and they'll all see me for the talentless fraud i am. at this point i just don't care.#i don't do anything because i feel sluggish and my body is heavy and I'm so so tired and I'm tired of being awake and I can't think straight#also i think i might be going into a psychotic episode again.'#they're gonna tell me to get the fuck out of their faces anyway but it's worth a try.#like idk i feel like they might kinda listen because yesterday I guess they wouldn't have but today i have stopped caring about cars#and looking both ways. which is like. not a good sign probably. also yesterday i was still somewhat able to talk to people#even though i was in a very irritated and drained out state but today I'm feeling like if anyone even fucking attempts to talk to me#or if i hear any loud fucking sound at all I'm just gonna punch myself in the head until the pain drowns out all the sound
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