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foxgonyoom · 4 months

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If whoever is behind the Jade Emperor's death is trying to cause the world to spiral into chaos, I think Nezha is the next one on their list, and here's why:

(My theory located below, condensed into occasionally colored bullet points, and with pictures! So you don't get bored :>)

Let’s take a look at these pictures:

Here, in this picture, we get to see all of Heaven’s generals gathered to stop Azure’s rebellion in its tracks.

Now look at this second picture. In it, Nezha and Red Son are the only discernible figures standing out from the crowd of Celestial Soldiers. Which to me, points to one thing:

Nezha is the only (or at least most prominent) general left in Heaven. Meaning before the Jade Emperor’s death, he and the Jade Emperor were just about the only ones running the show. Why are they the only ones left? Well there are a few reasons, but they basically all boil down to:

Most of the really important Celestials left

Allow me to provide my evidence by listing several examples we've witnessed in-show via the following bullet points:

Erlang was nowhere to be found during Azure’s second rebellion, implying that he isn’t present in the Celestial Realm (I heard somewhere that he lives in a mountain in the Mortal Realm and doesn't interfere with Celestial Realm business unless asked by the JE himself, though I'm not sure if that's true or not. Regardless, he doesn't seem to be present in Heaven nonetheless).

Iron Fan left the Celestial Realm to be with DBK

Similarly, Kui Mulang sacrificed his position in the Celestial Realm for love as well

Azure Lion, Peng, and Yellow-Tusk are all former Celestials who decided to rebel against the Jade Emperor, getting them kicked out of Heaven

Considering how many instances of Celestials abandoning their duties in the Celestial Realm (or just being kicked out in the Brotherhood's case) we’ve seen in the show, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine that many other unmentioned Celestials also followed suit, until the Celestial Realm became absurdly understaffed.

I think the Jade Emperor and Nezha being basically the only brain cells in charge could also explain a few things as well:

The Celestial Realm’s overall absence from mortal affairs

If the only people in charge were the JE and Nezha (who was also busy guarding an incredibly important world-destroying artifact, the map to the Samadhi Fire), it would make sense why the Celestial Realm wasn’t getting very involved with the Mortal Realm. They were too busy keeping the realm up and running to interfere with mortals.

Nezha’s personality shift from his mischievous, caution-to-the-wind, “LET-ME-AT-’IM!!!” attitude in the book to his responsible, frustrated, “Don’t-poke-a-fucking-fork-in-the-socket” personality in the show

If Nezha had to take on more and more responsibility in the Celestial Realm (what with having to help keep it running and guarding the map of the Samadhi Fire), his personality would likely shift as a result, turning into the personality presented in the show today.

(That’s also another parallel between him and MK, that is being forced to take on a larger role in the world by forces outside of their control, when they’d really rather not).

Nezha wanting to fight Azure to the death

While the main reason for Nezha’s stubbornness seems to be that Azure becoming the new Jade Emperor was a big no-no, it could also be that deep down he knew if the Jade Emperor fell, and Azure couldn’t handle the JE’s power, then the responsibility of keeping the realm together would fall to him. A responsibility he wasn’t ready for.

I’m not as certain about this, however, and it could easily just be a personality thing + Nezha knowing the possible consequences of if Azure failed to keep control of the Emperor’s power.

Why there were only two magic dog statues guarding the Jade Emperor's throne room in Revenge of the Spider Queen (and really just the Celestial Realm's lackluster security overall. Seriously even Jin & Yin robbed the place with seemingly little to no trouble)

If Nezha and JE were basically the only ones in charge, it could explain the poor security in the Celestial Realm. It's not that they're bad at security or anything, don't get me wrong, they're just spread too thin, and have a lot of other things to focus on besides making sure people don't rob them.

My friend suggested this as a possible consequence of a low staffed Celestial Realm when I told them about this theory, and I agree with their idea.

Now here’s the fun part: What Nezha disappearing could cause, because oh boy would it cause a lot! Here’s some possible consequences of Nezha getting poofed:

Celestial Realm on fire

With their basically last leader gone, the Celestial Realm would likely erupt into chaos, which could in and of itself lead to half of the things on this list.

Meeting Erlang

If Nezha disappeared, then the Celestial Realm might end up calling up old generals to help ease the chaos, such as Erlang Shen and Princess Iron Fan. Heck, this might happen even without Nezha disappearing into thin air, considering how much work he’d be swamped with.

Red Son getting some screen time

This might seem a bit arbitrary, but it builds off my last point, because if Iron Fan gets called up to do damage control on the Celestial Realm as a result of Nezha going missing, Red Son would probably take a more active role in the plot.

We’ve seen how he’s basically been recognized as a part of the Monkie Crew now, and we also know that he cares about Nezha, so it's not hard to imagine he'd want to help track down where the missing prince vanished to. Thus, this might be an opportunity for Red Son fans to get their win.

The overarching plot (as well as episodic plots) of season 5

With a Celestial Realm in chaos because nobody’s around to manage it, some demons, animals and artifacts which were being guarded in the Celestial Realm might get loose, requiring our heroes to get them under control before they can cause too much carnage.

This could offer a chance to at least semi-return to our original monster-of-the-week format, albeit with each episode being a bit more connected this time, and there still being an overarching plot (AKA, Operation: Where the Fuck is Nezha).

(And if you're wondering why I also mentioned Celestial animals, in the book, the Goldfish Demon was originally Guan Yin's pet goldfish, who had escaped it's pond and started causing havoc, and the Rhino King originally was a bull(?) that belonged to Lao Tzu, so animals escaping and causing havoc is all too possible)

Obligatory “The gamemaster would gain hold of the Big J’s power”

Probably the first reason that sprang to y’alls minds when I said Nezha was next on the chopping block, but I’ve saved it for last so that you read to the end (hehe I'm so mischievous). Yes, if Nezha gets kidnapped, then the one pulling all the strings behind this would effectively have the JE’s power in their possession.

This is, of course, assuming Nezha doesn’t manage to sneakily teleport it to someone before he gets captured, although it’s possible that wouldn’t keep the JE’s power from our dear gamemaster for very long.

Now, for my final statement, I’d like to turn your eyes to the last scene of the Monkie Crew and the Monkey King in the S4 special.

Here, Monkey King says that whatever our dear gamemaster has planned, the Monkie Crew can handle it. Together. It then cuts to a shot consisting of the entire Monkie Crew, before shifting to the final segment of the episode.

But

Look at this scene.

Look at who’s missing.

In this scene, we can see the entirety of the Monkie Crew. We can see the original 5 members, we can see Monkey King, we can see Macaque, even Red Son is effectively a part of the gang now. Everyone is here.

Everyone except Nezha.

Nezha is not yet recognized as a part of the Monkie Crew.

He’s still all on his own up in the Celestial Realm, trying to hold everything together. The only thing holding everything together.

The gamemaster knows the Monkie Crew can handle their schemes.

So they’re not going for the Monkie Crew.

They’re going for Nezha.

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gregoftom · 1 year

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MAYBE I GOT MINE BUT YOU’LL [ALL] GET YOURS

#GREG SWEEP!!!!!!! FUCK IT UP #i LOVE this framing of the episode sfm.#at the beginning tom tells him; you save information. you gather it up. and then you USE IT LATER when it will do the most damage #greg asked tom's permission first to damage sh*v and he got it. he acknowledged it and remembered it.#he saw how much tom was hurting and tired and stressed and fucked up. he witnessed sh*v take tom aside while all 3 siblings #were BATTERING tom and stressing him to shit. he SAW that afterwards tom was emotionally exhausted #he had enough of tom being fucked around so he was like do you want to fry her ass up? shall we tell them? shall we let the siblings know?#do you want me to do it? do you want me to be your attack dog? do you want me to bite for you? and tom said; wait #heel. so greg did.#and then RIGHT when it was needed the most. when sh*v came close. greg ATTACKED. gregweiler unleashed.#tom should come with a sign; CAUTION! GUARD DOG ON PREMESIS.#tomgreg #and greg has been threatened and given shit SO MANY TIMES and never used the information he's sponged.#he never used stuff he knows about ken even though ken threatened to burn him even after ken said he wouldn't.#it was for tom.

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nonoqy · 2 months

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i feel like i didn't really say anything publicly which makes me sound maybe too harsh at times but this is where i'm at. sorry i was too lazy to retype all of this so i'm just sharing screenies of my thoughts !

#and to be clear i do believe they deserve to hear harsh words right now! in fact they need it #the backlash has already started to impact them and i think stepping away from content creation for some time could help them even more #i do not blame anyone who decides to stay in the fandom but i just can't do that myself it's exhausting #anyway i wish we can all heal from this as soon as possible and i hope george especially does a lot of thinking and works on himself #no matter what you think about the situation itself his response was just not good at all #being apologetic and empathetic to the person that is visibly hurt by your actions even if you feel like you didn't do anything wrong #is not hard at all. it's actually very easy when you're emotionally mature #and he needs to finally after Twenty Seven Years of his life learn how to handle emotions

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bwabbitv3s · 1 year

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Good Godfather Vlad AU - Part 2

Part 1 Those that asked to be tagged. @kaitouhime @krzys2000 @moobloomrights

~This took a few drafts to get it where I wanted. Vlad is really hard to write as getting the help he needs while still being really new to all the sudden changes. ~

Ice Machines and Fudge

The one that manages to corner him first is their daughter Jasmine. She catches him in the ice machine and vending machine room at the hotel at 3am. He is rather impressed with it as he can’t escape by using his powers as there is a CCTV camera to stop people stealing from the vending machine.

“You need to talk to Mom and Dad tomorrow, or Dad is going to try to break into your room.” Jasmine says straight away.

“I beg your pardon?” Vlad responds.

It is 3am, he has not slept well the last two nights. Had a very long video session with his therapist that left him emotionally drained. He just wanted some ice for a cold compress for his headache. The last thing Vlad was expecting was for a teenager to materialize out of the dim shadows between the vending machines. If he had not known better he would have suspected she was a ghost.

“They are both spiraling from the revelation that they left you feeling abandoned for the last decade. They thought they were doing the right thing in respecting your boundaries and not pushing into your life until you reached out. Your lack of response back even years later never deterred them. They took it as a good sign that you never asked them to stop sending letters. ” Jasmine pauses for a moment.

“Dad sends you an invitation to Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, we all sign it.” Jasmine trails off a bit.

The ice bucket nearly falls from his hands at that new sucker punch to the gut. Vlad’s family had always been small and after his parents passed he never had anyone to get together for the holidays with. Until Jack found out and dragged him to every single family holiday since. He would always play devil's advocate in the yearly debate over if Santa was real between Maddie and Jack. It was always good fun and they used the most bizarre physics equations to explain their case. At least until the accident, how many Christmases had he missed.

The ice machine thumps as more ice fills the basin. The static humm buzz of the fluorescent lights fill the air. Jasmine does not press him to respond, just waits for him to collect his thoughts.

“I don’t know if I am ready to face them.” Vlad says softly.

“Sometimes we are not ready for things. We just have to do them anyway as if we wait to be ready it will never happen.” Jasmine says.

“You are quite insightful for your age.” Vlad responds.

“Thank you.” Jasmine.

“Now how do I keep them from trying to smother me while I try to piece things back together.” he continues ending with a wry smile.

“Well first off, fudge always works with Dad.” Jasmine smiles back.

“He always did have a massive sweet tooth. I swear he used to live off nothing but fudge and coffee during exams.” Vlad fondly reminisces.

“Mom is harder and I don’t think you want to be shouting out ghost, while pointing in random directions to distract her.” she embarrassingly tells him.

“I don’t think that would help very much with this. She is more than likely to drag me after a ghost sighting.” Vlad chuckles. He pauses for a moment before a memory alights.

“Does she still fiddle with rubix cubes?” Vlad asks.

“Rubix cubes?” Jasmine asks, confused.

“Your mother in college used to keep a rubix cube to occupy her hands with. Creating patterns and solving a rubix cube was seen as smart and impressive so it did not get taken away from her. She said it helped her focus on things and ground her emotions.” Vlad tells her.

“I never knew that. That could work if you need to escape her manhandling.” Jasmine confirms.

“Well if I am going to face them tomorrow at the brunch I should get some sleep. I will see you and your family tomorrow morning. Have a good night.” Vlad tiredly thanks her. He has to stifle a yawn at the end.

There is a teenage boy staring at his hotel room door, a very familiar looking boy. He feels a flush of warmth inside as he realizes just who has tracked him down. The boy stiffens and turns to look down the hall at Vlad. What an odd pair they must make in this dim hotel hallway. Vlad in his dark silk pajamas and matching housecoat holding a slightly melted bucket of ice. The boy, Daniel, in an oversized NASA hoodie space print flannel pajama pants with a small box?

“Your sister beat you to it. I fear you are too late to warn me about how your parents are ready to ambush me into restarting our friendship. I have consoled myself to facing them tomorrow at brunch and the emotional encounter it will be.” Vlad dramatically sighs out.

From the way Daniel untenses that was the right move. His hands fiddle with the small box.

“Did she catch you in the stairwell or the elevator? I know she has been working on her elevator pitch all day.” Daniel jokingly asks.

“Her elevator pitch was put to good use in the ice machine room. Trapped me between the exit and the vending machines.” Vlad tells him.

“I did not think she had it in her to actually stalk you. I thought she was going to just stay in the elevator and wait for you to use it.” Daniel laughs out.

Not that it would have worked as Vlad had been turning invisible and phasing up the elevator shaft to precisely avoid encounters.

“Never underestimate a determined young woman. Now how may I help you, Daniel?” Vlad asks.

“Well Jazz did the hard work already getting you to face our parents. Here take this.” Daniel says stepping forwards and offering out the small box.

Vlad takes the small box which appears to be a chocolate box of some kind. It is fairly heavy for its size.

“Dad has not had this brand of fudge before. It should give you a solid ten minutes of him running it through his ranking system before he remembers what he had wanted to do. It won’t stop the hug but should allow you the time to remind him to let you keep your feet on the ground for it.” Daniel quickly says.

“That is very thoughtful of you Daniel.” Vlad thankfully says

“Just Danny, Daniel makes it sound like you are going to give me detention.” Danny embarrassingly jokes.

“Danny then. Thank you for this. I know it must be hard to find a chocolate maker that Jack has not tried the fudge for.” Vlad says.

“Glad to help. Well I am still getting over the time zone change and need all the sleep I can. Night Vlad, good luck with Mom. I have yet to find anything to really stop her so you are on your own.” Danny says cheerfully before he sprints down the hall to the elevator.

Vlad looks after as Danny turns a corner then disappears from sight. He sighs before unlocking his hotel room. It seems that at least the children have decided to help him take things at his own pace. He sets the box gently onto the bedside table. Put the ice that has not melted into the cold compress bag for his headache. Sets up his laptop and begins the searches for the closest store that has rubix cubes.

If one happens to go missing from inventory the next morning. Along with several bills totaling more than the cube are found in the empty cash drawer when they go to open the register for the morning, well that is just a wonderful coincidence.

Now with a Part 3, and Part 4

#danny phantom #danny fenton #jasmine fenton #Jazz #Vlad masters #Good godfather Vlad #Danny Phantom AU #Good Vlad Au #Vlad uses the time honoured tradition of hiding from your problems #plus friends that actually included you in their life only you did not know it.#Only his problems are emotions and they are ready to sucker punch him #Also teenagers #Teenagers that learned how to hunt ghosts while hiding it from their parents #Jasmine stalked Danny for weeks after she figured out what was going on without being caught #she can hide from Vlad #Danny is having a much better time in this au at the reunion as he gets to actually sleep without ghosts attacking #Neither has figured out why their ghost sense is going off #Vlad is too emotionally exhausted #Danny sleep deprived and making up for his lost sleep #Danny has only one brain cell and it is working so hard #Vlads first couple meetings with a therapist has gone well #He is like that picture of a china cabinet with all the plates ready to fall out once the door opens #He has just opened the door and is now staring at all the dishes that fell out realizing he has to sort out what can be fixed and saved #Vlad is still very morally gray right now #Full disclosure I view a lot of the cast as neurodivergent as they remind me a lot of my nurodivergent friends #I am the neurotypical of my friend group so I am trying my best

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boligona · 9 months

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tried this one artist trend (⬇️) I kept seeing on tiktok and had to try it myself (finally some motivation for actual coloring!!!)

und hier eine Version mit leichter Körnung, weil ich diese Textur so sehr liebe:

#man muss ranzoomen un die Körnung zu erkennen aber sie ist da #another day another emotionally exhausted bob andrews #he has not slept for days #hab ich seine Brille vergessen? ja.#aber wir tun mal so als wäre das Absicht gewesen ^___^#wo seine Freunde zur Aufmunterung sind? 🤷‍♀️#die drei ???#die drei fragezeichen #bob andrews #pecj art

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softpine · 1 year

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even when you don’t see me even when you don’t hear i’ll be flying low below the sun and you’ll feel it all out here

[transcript]

#this post is in the eye of the hurricane 😊#asa is majorly slipping up but he just doesn't care anymore #he knows about the baby monitor but he forgot to turn it off #he usually never acknowledges ghosts in front of people (especially not in front of his parents)#but he's emotionally and physically exhausted #however.... asa isn't the only one who's uncharacteristically cracking here #beth is also exhausted and at this point she's ALMOST willing to believe anything #camellia #frozen pines #asa mayfield #beth vasquez #caroline camellia

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davidtennantgenderenvy · 5 months

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David Tennant when the whole emotional crux of his last doctor who episode is about how he “never ever stops” and needs to take a freaking break:

#David tennant #doctor who #the fourteenth doctor #listen the man has been SO hyperproductive this year #He’s gone from emotionally challenging role to emotionally challenging role #And he looks exhausted all the time #Like sir you have five kids #Take a break please no one will judge you for it

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aria0fgold · 9 days

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Thinking more about my isat au and I'm gonna need to change a LOT more than I thought. First things first, Siffrin's connection to the wish. Since in Of gems and pages, all the wishes stayed the same. So why is Odile the one looping and not Siff? So basically, what I think I'd do in my au is that the Universe decided to change things up a bit.

The first time the Universe granted Siffrin the means to fulfill their wish, things went horribly bad (just look at Loop). So this time, the Universe decided to give this new Siffrin, something a lil different. They still gave Siffrin the timeloop But made Odile his proxy. So that Siffrin may have helpers in this new timeline, with Loop as the guide and Odile helping as well, it Should go better, right??? And since the wish is connected with Siffrin's emotions, the Universe can't just completely make it Odile's problem now, sooo basically... Siffrin can still remember Parts of a previous loop PRIOR to their deaths.

That means during the beginning of canon when Siff was crushed by a boulder, he remembers that. And found Loop as well, but when he accidentally ended up touching a tear, he now Doesn't remember being crushed by a boulder but by being frozen in time. At the same time, he ALSO doesn't remember Anything else prior to it. So he doesn't remember that there's a boulder that can kill him by the entrance of the House, he doesn't remember Loop. All he remembers is that somehow, one way or another, he was frozen in time within the House and needs to be more careful with the tears. And because of the way that the loops affect Siffrin now is faaar too different than how it affected Loop, he can't go forwards or backwards in time. Siff will always awaken back in the meadow and Loop will always have to do their whole speech all over again (which would most likely annoy them immediately cuz why? Why is it so different now? Why can't this Siffrin REMEMBER?)

Odile on the other hand, remembers ALL the loops and finds a lot of discrepancies with Siffrin. It takes awhile for her to meet Loop and they get to talk to each other. Their meeting would be pretty... rocky at first. Loop still getting regarded as a stranger by Odile, Loop finding out that Odile is the one getting affected by the timeloop from their own selfish wish. Even if that Siffrin isn't them, it doesn't change the fact that they both made the same wish. Loop thinkin bout being such a favourite cosmic joke of the Universe that not only were they turned into This, one of their family members are suffering cuz of them. And she doesn't even recognize them. It'd be pretty hard at first too cuz Loop doesn't know that their appearance changed yet, there's no mirror. For Loop, they might still look like Siffrin, right? But Odile's reaction to seeing them says otherwise.

Anyway in this au, stage wise, Odile is the actor, Siffrin is the director, and the Universe is the audience. Book wise, Odile is the character, Siffrin is the writer, and the Universe is the reader. Why is Siffrin the director or the writer and not the Universe? That's because the timeloops are Still connected to his emotions, if something he didn't want to think about happens like, that argument with Bonbon (just as an example. I'm wondering if that'll still happen here considering that only happened because of Siff had memories of all the loops in canon. He doesn't have that in this au anymore), time would loop back still, so in a way, Siff Is writing how the timeloops go.

#aria rants #isat spoilers #isat au #of gems and pages au #ogap au #also why did the Universe choose odile? i like to think that the Universe finds her as being skilled enough to be able #to easily help fulfill that wish considering that she Was able to deduce the timeloop when given enough clues #at the same time. odile also seems to be both really close to siffrin (the fact that they go on secret quests before)#and far away from the party emotionally. odile doesnt regard anyone as ''friends'' and so convinces herself that theyre just colleagues #but deep down. she also knows how much she cares for everyone to the point of willing to do unspeakable things to anyone that #dares harm any of them. she cares so much but doesnt know the word to describe it. friends doesnt cut it. the idea of them #being like family to her hasnt crossed her mind yet when the only family she knows of and have is broken and incomplete (her mom left them)#so shes seems to be emotionally distant from them. she wanted to ask bout continuing traveling with the others but doesnt know How #the Universe sees that and thought that should there be anyone that can easily help siffrin then itd be odile. unfortunately #for the Universe. they didnt quite expect siff being too closed off and dodgy in regards to his own emotions #so it still end up being difficult. even more so now that odile doesnt have the Full picture at all. she has no idea why #this is happening to her in the first place. she only knows it has something to do with siff and during the sequence #before new loop+ happened. the Universe most likely gave odile that chance both out of pity and hope that everything #will finally turn out better This Time. but because of the fact that odile Was dying and she exhausted her craft powers #she cant be brought back to the previous loops easily anymore cuz even if its still connected siff. her ability to be #brought back to loops hinges on craft power as well. siff is just the switch to it. so in a way. shes Supposed to be dead now #but the Universe heard siff's wish and granted the means to save odile as well as grant the previous wish he made #its just that such a wish cant be without a penalty. and that penalty is the timer on odile's life. they have only 99 tries left

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wyrdle · 1 year

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Summary: Clavell and Tyme head to Geeta’s office to discuss what to do after the events of Area Zero, and Clavell finds support, comfort and space to grieve.

Clavell POV, Clavell centric fic.

Characters: Clavell, Geeta, Tyme. Bonus Poppy briefly.

CW: angstttttttt, major character death, discussions of grief, neglect and therapy

Wordcount: about 2k ( i got carried away and am not very good at writing anything concise lol)

AN: There’s *some* hints of Clavell/Turo/Sada or Zerotrioshipping, but you can read that as them being closer friends than they were in canon and breaking apart. Maybe some hints of Stemshipping. This story works with my idea on mashing the scarlet and violet stories together, events being largely the same end results despite 2 professors and 2 ai versions of them. Also very liberal changes/tweaks to things in canon, just to be able to explain how so much oversight occurred.

Some inspo from both @k-chips heart wrenching art and @ameftowriter‘s painfully cathartic fic which you should totally check out!!!!!!!!!!! Anway, enjoyyyyy I hope lol

"Director, Tyme, good morning." The chairwoman greets them with a smile from her desk, clean and tidy despite the immense workload Clavell knows she has. She waves them both in to sit, and Clavell has to hide a wince from how his back ached more than usual even in the comfortable chairs.

It has been a really long week.

"Boss! I got you cookies from Cortondo!" A child's voice almost sing songs, followed by the impatient rap on the door.

"Come in." Geeta's gaze softens, to Clavell's mild amusement. He watches the little girl totter past himself and Tyme to place a tray of cookies and tea on the Chairwoman's desk.

"Thank you, Poppy, that's sweet of you. Tell Rika I said hello and will chat with her after this."

"Okay boss! Be sure to have the ones shaped like Smoliv first, they're still warm from the oven!" She chirps, watching the chairwoman grab one before nodding in satisfaction. Poppy's gaze on both himself and Tyme prompted them both to follow suit, the too sweet treat raising his spirits just a bit. Pleased, Poppy left, a skip in her step. Clavell couldn't help the brief smile on his lips as the door clicked shut.

How curious that Miss Poppy was so adorable with the chairwoman, yet so notoriously terrifying in the battle arena.

"Thank you for coming,"Geeta says, taking off her work glasses to give Clavell and Tyme her full attention. "There is much to update."

Right. Clavell clenches his jaw, expression serious, more on edge than he has ever been in meetings with his superior. Typically, he could reciprocate the Top Champion's professional courtesy and kindness easily, but the topic of their meeting this time was one he dreaded.

"Yes."

"Firstly, the Area Zero expedition." Geeta starts, shutting her eyes to breathe in before continuing. To those that didn't know her as well as those she worked closely with, the gesture gave her the air of authority. To Clavell, it was a rare sign of tiredness from La Primera.

"The league has so far contained about 95% of the ‘Paradox’ Pokemon, with transfer of them to the temporary League containment facility going smoothly. Hassel reports that they'll be done in just a few more days. According to Larry however… clearing out the professor's notes and labs will take a bit longer."

It had been a week since four children stumbled into Clavell’s office, reporting about strange future and past Pokemon, the Miraidons and Koraidons, as well as… The two professor's deaths.

Clavell felt his heart tighten, clenching his fists in his lap.

"Did you… find his body?" He could feel more than see Tyme's look of concern from beside him.

"No. Apparently the AIs had Professor Turo's body cremated and contained into a 3D printed urn. Larry should be directing for it to be sent here by the evening. The other however…"

It was Clavell's turn to sigh tiredly, pushing up his glasses in habit.

"My condolences, Director."

He had yet to process properly, how two of his dearest friends and ex-colleagues had died to a folly of a dream.

First was professor Sada, just a year before the first appearance of Miraidon and Koraidon. Killed by the very machine she created in a miscalculation, according to the children's stories.

Next, was her husband, driven mad by grief and ambition, seeking to complete the dream he shared with his dead wife… only to be slaughtered by the very Pokemon he sought to find.

Paldea's greatest minds, killed by their own devotion to their dreams.

All this, because of stories from some books.

Bitterly and with well contained anger, Clavell regrets not stepping in sooner, and checking in on the two professors to, pardon his language, smack sense into them.

Combined with the heartache of losing not one, but two of his once close friends, almost family, once upon a time.

The wounds never quite healed when he had split from the group, their disagreement on the Paradise project creating an unmendable rift. Taking Arven in had soothed it, and time had given him other things to focus on, but he felt it torn asunder, pulled wider and bleeding more profusely than ever before.

Idiots, both of them. And he knew, because between the trio he was the one who spared his heart and concern for two professors of fiery mind and spirit. The caution and concern was thrown to the wind for Paradise, along with his disapproval of their new proposed project.

"Isn't the Tera Orb enough?" He had asked once, voice deceptively level and contained, belaying the anger and hurt that seethed underneath. To suggest that he didn't understand, to believe him weak to his compassion, to think him dispensable for their pet project— that hurt most of all.

Clavell wasn’t needed for their time machine project, but so were a lot of things. The duo hadn’t required corporate funding anymore, not that they would get any despite their notoriety. The Scarlet and Violet books were fairy tales, afterall.

Everything, even their own son, was less important than Paradise.

Arven and him found each other, after both being abandoned by the professors, albeit in slightly different circumstances.

“I’m sorry, Director, for this oversight.” Blinking out of his thoughts, Clavell saw the Chairwoman level him with a sympathetic gaze, while Tyme’s warm hand patted his arm.

“When the professors approached me years ago, when I had first accepted this position, I had given them the approval for their studies.” Geeta sighed, leaning forward on her desk to clasp her fingers and rest her forehead on them.

“I was given barebones details of their Paradise project, a study of the fauna in Area Zero was the lie they told me, but the mistake of not looking closer is mine.” Geeta explains. “I had relied on their reputation, and as the new league chairperson inheriting a position after the Tera Orb discoveries, I admit to wanting to see what else they could offer Paldea.”

Turo and Sada’s project had been entirely self-funded for lack of a corporate sponsor, giving them free reign of the labs in Area Zero and little to no scrutiny of their work. It was why they had no staff, relying later on additional AI help. The Academy/League funded labs were going to go unused after the Tera Orbs, and were going to be considered a write off paid for by them.

There wasn’t anything left to dig into in Area Zero, if the brilliant professors of Paldea thought otherwise and were willing to pursue it themselves, why not? All that was left was some formal approval.

“I saw little issue in allowing them to continue within the facilities that would be solely maintained by them, neglecting the ramifications of under regulated research.” Geeta searched her pockets for her pokeball, gazing at it thoughtfully. From the special purple and red bands on its casing, it was her signature Glimmora, a pokemon that had become the symbol of Area Zero and the success of Paldea’s brightest. “Like most Paldeans, their reputation blinded me to their faults.”

“What’s important now is resolving all of this.” Tyme chimed in, who had been quiet for the most part, but listening intently.

Geeta smiled at her appreciatively, sharing a look with the older woman. The two had known each other for longer than Clavell and her, afterall.

“Correct. I thank you both sincerely for your help and support. This tragedy is not without its heroes.”

Tyme huffed, in the familiar way Clavell knew and found oddly soothing, diffusing the tension of the room.

“I’m just the Academy’s Deputy Director, boss.” She was much more than that, Clavell thought with a small smile.

“Now then, what of the children?” Geeta asked.

Clavell swallowed. He could not allow himself to be wrapped up in his anger and grief, not when children depended on him. Not when there was so much work to be done to prevent such trauma from his precious students.

“Each of their guardians have been alerted about having them go for therapy, and all teaching staff have been advised to provide additional support. For the long term, we’ve hired additional staff for on-campus counselling, and student support services will be expanding on their services in the coming semester.” Clavell reported, ticking off his long mental checklist of things to do.

Even if he was grieving, even if he was exhausted mentally and physically, his student’s care came first.

Even if the fault was not his whatsoever as the chairwoman had so explained, he couldn’t help the guilt.

I should check on each of the four personally, after this. He noted to himself.

“Good, we’ll have a discussion on further budget changes soon to improve student wellbeing. Please propose any solutions you think will be of benefit, I will do my best to accommodate and support.” Geeta nodded, a sign of the meeting coming to an end. “If there is nothing else, I hope you two have a good day ahead.”

“Thank you, La Primera.” Clavell replied, mind already racing to the first of many tasks he had as he stood. Before he could leave however, the chairwoman directed her piercing gaze at him.

“Ah, there is one more thing, Director. Please take some time for yourself, as well.”

Clavell’s eyes widened, straightening his back as he stared back in befuddlement.

“As your boss, I should not overstep my bounds to push or lecture, but I do think given the… events…” Deaths, Clavell’s mind whispered cruelly, Turo and Sada are both dead. Dead and his last attempt to reach them for Arven’s sake had been pitiful, in his eyes. “I want to emphasise that care for your students should not mean neglecting your own wellbeing. If not for your sake, then theirs.”

If he had tried harder, if he had insisted more, could they both have still been alive? Could Arven have had his mother, and his true father instead?

Would things have gone differently, had he stayed with them in Area Zero?

“You’ve done exceptionally well as the Academy’s director, and I have no doubt you will continue to excel. Where the previous director made mistakes he did not mend, your perseverance to fix and improve things for your students is admirable.”

Clavell flushes slightly at the reminder that Tyme had informed Geeta of his Clive disguise to help Team Star, who had smiled and nodded, even praised him for his efforts.

“To have someone who treasures the students and trainers of Paldea as much as I do, I am thankful.” Geeta smiled sadly but sincerely, dropping her usual business facade to empathise with him.

“What I’m saying is, if you need to, do take the time off. I’m sure the Academy’s staff, even the League, will be there to support you. A lot has happened, and I believe, both as your superior and acquaintance, that no one would fault you for needing time.”

Clavell stilled, blinking at the chairwoman for a bit before Tyme’s grasp on his arm pulled him out of his shock.

“I- Thank you, La Primera.” He said, making sure his voice didn’t waver too much and the tears that pricked his eyes did not fall. Tyme’s presence by his side was a helpful steadying one. “Take care, Clavell, Tyme.”

===

“She’s right, you know.” Tyme said nonchalantly, when they exited the League together and breathed in the fresh Paldean air.

Clavell turned to her, about to retort about the large amount of things that were left to do.

“Uhp.” She lifted a finger to shut him up, huffing with exasperation at the man whose compassion and kindness was both a point of endearment and frustration. “You heard the boss.”

He understood, of course. Had given the same advice to other students and staff, even.

Applying it to himself was just difficult.

Maybe it was because it was easier to help with other’s hurts than address his own. Turo and Sada hurt many, including himself, but paying attention to others’ wounds was easier than looking back at his own painful memories.

Of late night lab sessions, shared coffee, even jokes and jabs made in fatigue. Small and big wins celebrated between them, disappointments divided and beared by all of them. Together, they were unstoppable.

But he had misjudged his role and importance in their lives.

Once he was the heart of their group, the one that tempered their fiery passion and energy, mediated how completely opposite the two professors were. Wedged between them, or the bridge between them, an essential part of the team.

Abandoned, all the same.

And now? After all that?

There was never going to be a chance to mend.

Clavell doesn’t realise he’s crying until Tyme hugs him, rubbing soothing circles into his back as he quietly sobs, dampening the fabric at her shoulder. The deputy director cooed some comforting words, pulling Clavell close as he fell apart in her arms.

“You matter too, Clavell.” Tyme whispered, letting him expel some of the complicated emotions he had been withholding for everyone’s sake. Even when Arven had cried into his shoulder, he had held back for the boy’s sake, not wanting a child to bear the brunt of his grief.

Clasping his hand gently and with kindness Clavell himself had run dry of, Tyme held him. She waited patiently for him to compose himself, breath shaky but better than the pitiful noises he was making before.

“You’ll be alright.”

Shutting his eyes and focusing on the warmth beside him, Clavell hoped he would be someday, too.

#director clavell #clavell #geeta #champion geeta #pokemon geeta #tyme #pokemon tyme #pokemon scarlet violet spoilers #pokemon scarlet violet #zerotrioshipping #clavell/sada/turo #clavell x sada x turo #i love clavell and him being utterly emotionally exhausted #love the thought about the relationship whether romantic or platonic with the profs being absolutely exhausting #the two profs arent technically bad people but they certainly have a lot less compassion and empathy #something which in my brain is what clavell filled back when he was with them #so being tossed away is a big ouchie #stemshipping #tyme is there to step in when he's wrung himself dry

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izzythehutt · 3 months

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Saul Wrong?

I have many controversial BrBa/BCS opinions, but the one that I always come back to is that Saul Goodman worked way better as a comic relief supporting character than as a protagonist of his own show.

I actually found him more likeable when he was an unapologetic sleazebag, it was when they tried to make me feel sorry for him in his own show that I lost sympathy. His pathological criminality brings out my inner Howard/Chuck, I guess. It's like....dude...why are you like this? And I don't necessarily feel like the show does a very good job of explaining it. At a young age he sees his father getting taken advantage of by conmen, and apparently accepts the (deeply morally cynical) attitude that the world is separated into hustlers (wolves) and marks (sheep.) His parents seem to have been totally normal people for whom he felt affection but no respect, because he can't stand rubes, and that's what they were. His brother Chuck is not a rube and is the family member whose affection and respect Jimmy seems to covet the most, though it's not clear whether he has any awareness that the very quality that makes his brother's esteem worth having (his commitment to an objective standard of morality—the fact that he can see through Jimmy's bullshit) is the one thing that prevents them from understanding one another.

Somehow the fact that Walt lived a (basically) normal life until his cancer diagnosis, and everything he does is predicated on his awareness of his own mortality, makes the character's moral fall from grace...more understandable to me? He obviously has a bunch of bottled up petty resentments and a sense of having wasted his potential, but I find his pathology way more coherent than Jimmy/Saul's. I think this is really because he was always the main character of a show, and Saul got a gigantic retconned deep backstory for the spin-off which, while enjoyable, was very obviously not the point of that character when he was created. BCS had to answer the question, "why would someone become like this?" but I wonder if there really is a particularly satisfying way to explain why a comic relief criminal lawyer would choose to work with a person like Walt.

I think BrBa did a better job of showing how Walt self-justifies his awful behavior (compartmentalization, projection, guilt) but Jimmy/Saul seems to have something missing (a sympathy chip? He's capable of feeling compassion for people he relates to, but no sense of seeing value in any abstract principle.) Why are you so obsessed with breaking the rules, dude? His brother is basically correct in their final conversation when he assesses Jimmy as behaving like a child who refuses to acknowledge the consequences of his actions beyond how they hurt him. Every moral consideration is made in terms of his subjective feelings. Him feeling entitled to a high-profile job at his brother's law firm when his brother had to bail him out of serious legal problems is really kind of insane.

Maybe the real problem for me is that Walt is obsessed with gaining respect and Jimmy is obsessed with being liked, and at the end of the day as a motivation for villainy in a man, I.....kind of find the latter more pathetic than the former.

#breaking bad #better call saul #saul goodman #jimmy mcgill #walter white #breaking bad meta #better call saul meta #this isn't exhaustive but i've been thinking about this for awhile #even the courtroom scene with kim just reads as him wanting her to not hate him #i will give him credit for admitting he is responsible for his brother's death however #i think i might've realized jimmy reminds me of my dead father in not a good way lol #i don't think i have a super high tolerance for really emotionally needy men #with walt at least it's usually played for laughs more than sympathy

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