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#i noticed during the op but never posted about it
moondirti · 2 months
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so.. simon and johnny stopping by a seedy 24/7 roadhouse on their way back home post-op
featuring: established ghostsoap. pregnant fem!reader. alluded kidnapping, extremely toxic attitudes. they’re literally delusional. mentioned death. this verges on dark so please beware!
They’ve driven past it about a hundred times, never having given it more than a passing glance. Who would, really? Nothing about it seemed appealing – in all its sun-bleached paint job and flickering neon signage glory – but circumstances lent themselves to its consideration. What was supposed to be a half-day mission ended up taking two, meaning they haven’t had time to sleep let alone eat. On top of that, a delayed exfil made it so they touched down on base at an ungodly hour. By the time Price waived their paperwork and they got into their car, they were famished.
“Could eat the scabby heid aff a dog,” Johnny eventually groans. He’d tried his best to hang in there, mindful not to be a pest during the hours it takes his partner to decompress after a rough operation, but his stomach kills and he knows Simon’s does too. He only receives a grunt for a response, though the man abruptly steers into the leftmost lane, catching the nearest exit towards the place in his periphery. Cleary meant to model an American diner with it’s fading blue exterior and obnoxious banner: The Dahlia
But they’ve been in worse. They hardly take note of the coffee rings staining their table, or the homeless man who’s taken residence in a corner booth (besides the brief once-over in their threat assessment upon entering). No; they just slot themselves by the nearest exit, scan over the menu and decide to order the quickest meal possible.
Only for things to take a sudden turn when their waitress stops by.
Christ alive, Johnny wonders how you manage to glow under the harshest of fluorescents. Dewy skin. Bright eyes, if not a little sunken at the late hour. Still, you smile and do so genuinely as you waddle to their station, clicking a pen before asking: “And what can I do you for, gentlemen?”
Simon doesn’t look at you immediately, not even when you speak up. He’s too fixed on Johnny, replaying the past days’ events in his head. Revisits the hour where their comms malfunctioned, when he lost touch with his boy and had to fight not knowing whether he was holding up okay. He has trust in him, of course, more bleedin’ trust than he has in earth to keep rotating. Still–
You clear your throat.
His pupils shift to pin you under their scrutiny, only he can’t bring it in him to be as severe as he wants to be. Because, while the first thing Johnny notices about you is your beauty, the first thing Simon sees is your bump.
Obscured by your apron, but still there. Round. Full. 6 months along, by the looks of it.
He’s forced to recall Beth, Tommy by extension. An old working knowledge that comes back to haunt him. At 23 weeks, his sister in law’s pregnancy began to weigh on her. Heartburn. Backaches. Hot flashes that resulted in bouts of dizziness. She couldn’t be up for more than 2 hours at a time, and yet here you are.
What the fuck were you doing in a place like this?
“Need more time to decide?” You ask. Patient. Lovely. If Johnny weren’t so sleep-deprived, so in over his head, he would perhaps realise the subtle hints you were dropping. They’ve been staring too long now, unsettling no doubt. Grimy, each with a tell-tale bump on their waistbands that point to their armament. Simon sans hard-shell mask, but still in a balaclava and eyeblack. Both larger than life and practically alone with you in this isolated place.
It’s Simon who speaks up first. “Fish and chips for the both of us. To-go. Cheers.”
You scribble the order down, pausing to consider. “Coffee? Gotta inform you, it’s drip, bottom of the carafe so it might taste burnt too. Hotplate’s all out of sorts.”
“Aye, just the one. Gae head an’ dip yer finger in it too. Might benefit from a little sweetener.” It takes you a second to process Johnny’s flirt. When you do, though, you visibly blanch, ducking your head to hide your face as you pretend to jot what he said down.
“I’ll have that right out for you.”
And then you scurry off, glancing over your shoulder once you think you’re out of sight. Curious. Flustered.
Simon’s attention refocuses on the scotsman once you’re gone, an eyebrow raised under his mask. His partner is able to read the expressed question well enough: what do you think you’re doing? Strict, but not so much angry as it a press for him to think before he speaks, to balance the scales before he asks something of Ghost that he can’t refuse.
“Dinnae look at me like tha’.” Johnny whispers. “Bonnie lass, isn’t she?”
Simon blinks. “Expecting, too.”
“We cannae leave her here.”
Memories occur in rapid succession. Tommy. Beth. The cherubic face they had brought into the world – little Joseph, who was the first he found dead upon returning home.
He considers Johnny, Soap, this force of nature that wormed his way into his life and sunk his teeth into the rot of his heart, fastened before Simon could even think of brushing him off.
“And here’s that coffee! Your meals should be coming out soon, thank you for being patient.”
It’s a bad idea. Horrible. You could have a partner, a cozy home waiting for you. Nursery already painted. Names already chosen.
What good partner would let you work this shitty job?
It’s a bad, horrible idea. No good for anyone. They’re on constant deployment. They risk their lives on every run. You’d be put in harm’s way yourself.
Not if they hide you well enough. Their house is secluded for a reason.
It’s a bad, horrible, no good idea – but Johnny accepts the mug with a gracious smile and you bloom all pretty, hand inadvertently cradling your belly. Little flower, persisting against all odds. Growing from the fissures of broken concrete. Dignified still. Kind. Strong.
So what if they pluck you from your place? They’ve got somewhere much better for you to thrive.
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olderthannetfic · 7 months
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You've encountered site changes over time as a fan elder, what do you make of Tumblr potentially being put out to pasture? Tumblr was my coming of age fan site, and im looking for advice to transition to the next thing with grace and less bitterness than I feel now.
--
Ahaha. God, you should have heard the howling about LJ. "Fandom is over!" "Never again shall we dwell in fandom's True Home!" etc.
Hell, this endless "only LJ was good" crap turns up in replies here on posts where I as OP have very clearly laid out why that's rose colored glasses nonsense and you can so make friends on tumblr, have a conversation on tumblr, etc.
I had my crabby phase about this during the transition from Yahoo Groups to LJ. A lot of the real olds had it over paper zines and the transition to the internet.
I don't know if reading these hilariously samey old posts would help. It does give perspective, I think.
--
As for what you should do, do what I did with Tumblr:
1.
Look around to identify the Next Thing fandom is going to camp out on.
It may take a few guesses and some time to figure this out. You will likely not be an early adopter. Fandom was well established here by the time I joined at the end of 2010. Of course, by now, all those 2009 and before accounts are long gone, but at the time, I was a n00b joining other people's space despite having been in fandom for ages.
2.
Don't expect to enjoy it
I didn't join tumblr because I liked it. In fact, I despised it. I kept right on despising it until a brief stint in Sherlock fandom, a fandom that was so active here at the time that I was able to finally see the good aspects of the site's structure and features.
This is the mistake a lot of people make. They give things a cursory try, don't enjoy them, and go "not for me", forgetting that the last site also had a steep learning curve that was either difficult or that they didn't notice because they were in a different phase of their life.
Bitterness and grief are, frankly, an inherent part of the process. You can try not to be a debbie downer in your public comments, but you can't just not feel those things during the awkward part of the transition. Sometimes, acting positive and cutting off excessively negative thoughts can make you feel less negative overall, but it doesn't happen immediately.
3.
Accept that feeling cranky and old is both a you problem and a state of mind, not a property of the new site
Relatedly, the way we remember fandom platform X feeling usually has more to do with us being in college with fandom friends down the hall or having discovered Our People for the first time or some other time when we had a lot of energy and positive emotions. Often, we were in the throes of a first or new fandom love too, probably for some megafandom that other people also cared about at the same time.
When fandom is leaving some site, there's a grieving process anyway, but we're also often in a worse part of our lives for starting new things. We're busy. We're tired. We're between fandoms. We feel like we already paid our dues to build up our community. Why should we have to start again?
But let me tell you, you always need to start again eventually. I go to a weekly vidders' zoom chat, and a lot of the people in there are old as balls, including Kandy, the person who invented vidding back in the 70s. She's a lot of decades and a few cancers in, and she had to relearn how to vid on a computer after transitioning from slideshows to VCR vidding back in the day. If bad health, platform changes, and dead friends were going to stop her, she'd be long gone.
It's like sharks: you stop swimming, you die.
This isn't just about fandom, obviously. It's about avoiding a midlife crisis and, later, about avoiding feeling emotionally geriatric even when your body is falling apart.
Change gets us all, but being mentally old is a choice. The real reason I gave tumblr such a try was that I had been so resistant to getting on LJ. I was 20. Even a year later, it was fucking embarrassing to have been a crotchety old hag as a college student. I promised myself I'd soldier through the next change instead of dragging my feet about it. And it totally worked in the end! But boy did it not make the transition any less unpleasant emotionally!
4.
Find your joy
As is obvious from the above, the vast majority of the problem is just emotions. Fandom has been on a million broken sites with shitty features. We go where the people are, regardless of whether it has the technological aspects we liked at the last place. The actual shape of that platform is largely irrelevant.
What does matter is whether we as an individual fan are still excited and happy about something. I was between fandoms recently and went looking around for BL series I hadn't watched yet. People kept suggesting things set in the present day with too-cheesy production values and too many banal schoolboys in modern day settings without even anything spicy going on. I realized that the BL/danmei scene wasn't really cutting it for me and I should go for production values and genre and non-canon ships. You probably scrolled annoyedly past the picspams that resulted.
(Of course, hilariously, someone has now shown me the trailer of Red Peafowl, so someone may be making BL that feels like it's for me after all. Look at all that badwrong and very dark color grading.)
When you're in a good place emotionally, it's a hell of a lot easier to weather any change, and when you have a new fandom, it's a lot easier to connect with other fans.
A lot of people wait around for lightning to strike twice. They found their first fandom by accident, and they expect it to happen seamlessly again. For me, it's far more productive to brute force it: collect up a big list of what's popular or what's new and go through it till you find things you might like, then try them all.
And part of this, obviously, is not waiting for other fans to make the party happen. The more you need to join something other people are already doing, the less choice you'll have in fandoms or in platforms. If you aren't picky and just go where the tropey longfic is, that can work, but even then, favorite authors disappear or go to fandoms you hate and former megafandoms dry up. If you're the one bringing the party, it's a lot easier to find a new fandom or platform or community to have fun in.
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havendance · 26 days
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Okay, I want to play too. Building off of @dustorange's post and @silverwhittlingknife's post
I think, how I would play this: the circus still happens obviously.
And then Dick dies when he's 16 in circumstances similar to Batman #408, where Dick is shot by the Joker and it causes him to fall to his death. (Dick has to die by falling. To me.) Bruce isn't able to catch him.
Bruce is obviously devastated. Going off of Silver, we'll say no Robin!Jason in this AU. Jason can get away with stealing the tires off of the Batmobile of an extremely grieving Batman. As a treat.
Tim is also devastated. I usually have Tim being 3 at the circus, so I guess he's 11-12 when this happens.
I think the fact that Dick was the only Robin in this scenario means that Tim is more reluctant to push himself as a replacement Robin. That and the fact that his HERO Dick Grayson died means I think that he's slower to act.
Eventually though, things get bad enough in Gotham that he does just because someone has to and he ends up as Robin. We'll handwave the details for now.
I think that Dick should get to come back to life during the Knightfall Saga. As a treat.
He comes back to Gotham just in time to see that there's a new Robin and watch Bruce get his back broken.
Tim's been Robin longer before Knightfall in this AU, so he's got a little more experience, but he's also 14, and while Bruce is lying in the Batcave and they don't know whether he's going to wake up or not, and he's fetching the medicine in that one comic, he runs into this unknown, edgy looking vigilante who blames him for Bruce getting his back broken and it's just everything he's been thinking to himself.
Dick sticks around in Gotham long enough to see that there's a new Batman and of course Bruce has someone else he can get to do that. Of course he doesn't need Dick. He runs off to go do like, black-ops vigilante work somewhere.
I think he and Tim do run into eachother once more before Dick leaves town though and Tim's like 'I know I'll never be as good as the first Robin, but that just means I need to learn everything I can' and tries to bother Dick into teaching him stuff because he can tell that this mysterious vigilante is way more skilled than him.
Dick mostly avoids Gotham, but I think they keep running into each other, coincidentally. Tim ends up teaming up with him during Contagion instead of Catwoman and they're both in Paris at the same time etc etc.
And eventually on one of these team-ups, Dick does a quadruple somersault and Tim sees it and everything clicks together and he imminently runs away because that's Dick Grayson and Tim has been talking up the first Robin all this time and it's a lot okay?
I think this is about when No Man's Land happens so Tim goes to go hide in Gotham and help out Batman and become a National News story and all that jazz instead of thinking about it.
But afterwards, Tim is ON THE CASE. I think he doesn't tell Bruce about this because if Dick hasn't told Bruce then he probably has his reasons? And what he was actually wrong? (Even though he knows he isn't)
And then, um, let's put the Dick and Bruce finally confronting each other during Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive because Dick comes back to Gotham when he hears that Bruce murdered someone because he doesn't want to believe it, but I think he also can't have that same bone deep belief in his innocence that he does in canon because of all the estrangement.
So he attacks Batman and demands to know the truth (without revealing who he is) and Bruce won't answer. Bruce also doesn't know how this mysterious vigilante knows he's Bruce Wayne/got accused of murder, so he low key suspects DICK of framing him, which normally he'd be too busy being Batman full time to care, but here he also recognizes some of Dick's fighting style so he starts investigating him to uncover the mystery.
Meanwhile, Tim noticed that Dick is back in town, so he's trying to recruit Dick to help him get to the bottom of this. He knows Dick's identity now, but he doesn't tell Dick that, he just drops various hints that he knows and hooks Dick up with a line to Oracle (who he has also not shared his conclusions with other than a vague 'there's something about him')
And hmm somehow this all resolves with like, Dick's identity getting out and him and Bruce talking face to face. Bruce is just so desperately amazed that Dick is there, meanwhile Dick still has various issues that are not resolved and it probably ends with Dick running away again and Bruce holding himself back from chasing after him like he desperately wants to. Because if Dick doesn't want anything to do with him then that's just his right because Bruce WAS the one who got him killed.
He does stalk Dick from afar though. Just without initiating contact. Tim and Barbara are more pushy about trying to hang out/talk with Dick in the aftermath.
To skip ahead, I think Bruce leaves Dick the Batmantle after he 'dies' as this last ditch attempt to share how much he loves and respects Dick.
And this getting long so I think I'll call it here.
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vemuabhi · 2 months
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Hello!! Do you mind doing Sanji with love language of quality time please? Have a lovely lovely day/night!!
(btw, I absolutely adore your blog, and I agree with so many things you’ve said about Sanji!!! Seriously I adore the way you think about Sanji <3 and actually, I’ve been holding this in since I first watched OP and I came across your post about your fav Sanji scenes, just never had the courage to tell you, not to mention I didn’t have tumblr account back then, but: I couldn’t have agreed more with you when you mentioned your feelings about Sanji and Pudding’s kiss. The only difference being that I knew I was already genuinely in love with him, so I felt it hit me quite strongly. And then I started making up all kinds of unrequited love angst scenarios in my head with him, where reader’s are unrequited. Though, I’m genuinely shocked by how similarly we think and simp for the man. I thought I was a crazy idiot until I saw your post. So thank you for sharing all your thoughts :))
Always a Priority
Hey love,
I am so so happy that you have read my favourite Sanji scenes work before and agree with that. I hope you have also read my fav Sanji outfits hehe. And yes, Sanji is someone who has captured my heat from a long while and I haven’t left him since. I am… a bit similar to Sanji when it comes to love. I adapt and make sure that my lover stays happy when they are with me. I… I haven’t been given a proper chance to make someone fall in love. It sucks that It’s always been me who falls in love fast, harder and deeper. So, maybe at some point I realised how Sanji would love his S/O and wondered how beautiful their life would be with him. He is Fictional. I know. I am aware of that. But, when real life just hurts continuously, I found a bit of relief in these fanfics. Getting way too personal here, aren’t I? Hehe, I hope you continue to read and enjoy my writings. Thanks for being here.
This is one of my pieces for the mini event. Please enjoy and let me know what you think about this. Please forgive any mistake, it isn't proofread.
Listen to Earned it by Weekend
Prompt taken from here.
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Quality Time
After a long shift of work, you noticed him on his bike outside your work, waiting to pick you up. Even though he was tired, he was everyday waiting for you. As if it was a medicine, your fatigue was gone after seeing him.
As it has been only 3 months since you have been going out, so this was the only time of day you both could meet. Sure, you both went on dates on the weekends but, he wanted to see you everyday just like you did. You sat behind him and hugged him, that was the only thing he wanted from you. Just to feel you beside him. Comfortable. Is how he wanted to make you feel.
You were grateful for him being there to take you home. Especially during the times when you told him to go home as it was getting late. Which was more of the reason he stayed to drop you. The smooth ride with him was all you wanted. Valued. It was what you felt with Sanji.
Before you met Sanji, he would go straight home after a long shift to just crash for the day, sometimes dropping his female colleagues or friends. Too tired to even eat after the day. While you would also go home. Thinking about your life choices. The mistakes you made.
Now, it was different. You both had something to look forward to everyday. Meeting each other even though the time you meet was less, it was all you needed to boost up your oxytocin levels. Everyday, after he dropped you, you made sure that make him eat with you at your house. Then he could go and crash at his place. If you let him go, he would be too tired to make himself something and would not eat. Well, he wouldn’t say no to you, especially since all you wanted was to him to be healthy. Not only he dropped you, he would always eat if he was with you. Always a Priority. For each other.
While he ate with you, he would never look at his phone. Unless if it was urgent call. You were so shocked at how you were being treated by this man before you. Your house was small, but it never felt so warm, like a home until he arrived. You were desperate for love and now, he pulled you out of it. Providing you with the love you never received.
Sanji on the other hand felt his home to be where you were. 3 months. How was his life before he met you, he didn’t want to experience it again. Longing for someone to love him, like he does. He would love to move in with you but, it would be too soon.
You noticed that Sanji was far more patient than you were. He would think a lot. You don’t even know how many times you were impressed by how calm he behaves in the most hectic situations. While Sanji loved how you don’t filter your words with him. Always honest. Straight to point. No mind games. No need to worry, because you’d say what you felt. Making it very easy to understand you.
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copyright © vemuabhi
Reblogs and Comments are always appreciated!!
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midnightcinderella · 2 years
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My favs when their s/o gets love potioned
Inspired by this post! In case the link is broken, I’ve reblogged it so it’ll be right below this post on my blog!
3/18/23: Did some editing, added some things to hopefully flesh things out a bit and make it easier to understand
Characters (word count): Trey (800), Leona (700), Silver (600)
Summary: Basically a love potion explodes in your face during class and the first person you lay eyes on after that is not your boyfriend, though that’s of no concern to the potion. Neither he nor the new object of your affections is too jazzed about it
Notes: no gendered pronouns for reader, some jealousy based fluff
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Trey Clover
Of course. Of course it had to be someone from his own dorm you saw after the potion incident
Originally he’d been planning to keep an eye on you anyway, but now it seemed he didn’t have a choice. You kept a vice grip on Cater’s arm, preventing him from fleeing the Heartslabyul kitchen
“Are you hungry, honey? I know you don’t like sweets so how about I make us some sandwiches?”
Rip his heart out, why don’t you?
He just barely suppressed the grief from showing on his face upon hearing the pet name meant for him used on Cater
When Trey turned to meet Cater’s gaze, all he could do was shoot him a sheepish grin, wiggling his arm in your grip in hopes that Trey would see that he was being held captive
Whether it was because you noticed that he wanted to be let go or because you needed both hands to make sandwiches was unknown to either of them, but you let Cater go anyway
Cater moved to leave but you called him back, saying you were almost done
At Cater’s excuse that he was busy and had plans, you replied that you chose that time to hang out with him because you knew he would be free
The boys were unsure whether they were impressed with your planning or concerned that you managed to learn Cater’s schedule in such a short time
Sandwiches made and grin on your face, you dragged Cater to eat outside with you in the warm sunshine, leaving your poor boyfriend behind to quietly bake for the dorm’s next tea party :(
His phone dinged while he was busy waiting for the pastries to bake and feeling sorry for himself. It was a Magicam notification
You’d just posted two pictures captioned “#TogetherForever”
The first was a tasteful shot of the sandwiches you’d made and the second was a selfie of you and Cater, pressed cheek to cheek with matching grins on your faces
Trey sighed. Cater never could resist a good photo op
In the garden, you were scrolling through your phone. “Look, Cater! We’ve already got so many comments!”
“You posted it?” he asked in disbelief. Trey was going to kill him. Or worse, mess with his meals
“Yeah!” you laughed, not noticing the disparity between your moods as you read through the comments
They were all confused. When had you and Trey broken up, they asked.
What?
As you stared at the comments, wondering why they all mentioned Trey, the fog blocking a part of your brain began to clear
You were dating Trey, not Cater
You called Cater honey. Right in front of Trey
Oh shit
Without a word, you jumped to your feet and rushed toward the kitchen where you hoped your beloved still was
You only made it a few steps, however, before turning on your heel and coming back to snag your uneaten sandwich
You’d just finished the last bite when you reached the kitchen and sighed in relief when you saw that Trey was still there
He was scrolling through his phone, only noticing you when you got close
Given no time to process what was happening, Trey let out a grunt as you barrelled into him, squishing his arms to his sides as you hugged him tight
“Trey! Honey, I’m so sorry!” You were hiding your face in his shoulder, unable to see his face as you babbled one apology after another
In the middle of you swearing up and down that whatever you did with Cater wasn’t real, he wiggled one arm out of your grasp and held up a hand to stop you
Your blood ran cold at the feeling of him breaking away from you and you were almost afraid to look at him
Trey called your name softly and you finally met his eyes, terrified of what you might find. What if he was really upset?
Though you found no anger in his expression, you were still uneasy, not knowing what he was feeling
“I get a get out of jail free card for this,” was all he said. You nodded readily, pursing your lips. “Then all is forgiven.”
You planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek and held him tighter, wailing about how you’d never leave his side again
He didn’t even need to ask you to take down the pictures you took with Cater; you did it as soon as you let him go
The very next day, you posted a picture of a honey cake captioned, “With all my love to my sweet baker <3″
The comments were once again flooded with confused people, wondering if you’d thought the previous day was April Fool’s day or something
Leona Kingscholar
How weird that you were seeing Leona everywhere today, you thought
Unable to take your attention off of Jack for more than a moment, you didn’t notice that it was no coincidence
You also didn’t notice how Leona’s jaw clenched or how his tongue clicked whenever you had any interaction with Jack
What you did notice, however, was the way Jack would glance nervously behind you every so often
You’d turned to look once or twice but never saw anyone looking to do either of you harm. It was just Leona and neither of you had done anything to piss him off
“Come to the Mystery Shop with me, Jackie!” you said, pulling him along by the hand. You started off in the opposite direction of where Leona was leaning against a wall
“Wha- Can’t you shop on your own?” he asked. He glanced behind him to see Leona standing up straight once again to follow
“I could, but I really want you to come with me,” you said. “No one will mess with me if you’re there.”
“Do people mess with you often?” he asked. You nodded, not looking back
“Yeah. Some of them try to prank me, others try to flirt. It’s a headache every time.”
Jack hadn’t known about this. When he looked to Leona, it seemed the lion beastman was in the same boat
Jack had never been the best at identifying emotions, even less so when it came to inexpressive people, but Leona wore the most unreadable expression he’d seen yet
Finally, after a moment of Jack wondering if he should block or dodge, Leona nodded his chin forward, telling him to go with you
With Leona’s blessing, Jack kept your pace all the way to the shop
As you browsed the shelves, a voice in your head nagged at you that something was wrong
It wouldn’t stop and became unbearable to the point that you put the can of tuna back in its place and looked around you in all directions to prove to the voice that you were fine, there was no one in sight but you and Jack
See? You were perfectly safe. But still the voice wouldn’t shut up
It was relentless, screaming at you that you were in an unnatural situation, that you didn’t belong here. You couldn’t even focus on reading the product labels anymore
Instead you told Jack that you could shop another time and that you wanted to hang out by Savanaclaw’s pool for a bit
Which is how Jack found himself lying right beside the pool with you cuddling up to him
The sound of the water gently lapping at the edge of the pool was his only solace as he watched Leona pretend to nap nearby on a lounge chair
You laid you head on Jack’s arm, accepting that you would just have to be content with what you were given
You tapped your finger gently on his vest, right where you’d originally wanted to rest your head
He’d denied you when you asked and you gave him your best puppy dog eyes, hoping to change his mind
Unfortunately for Jack, he couldn’t tell the difference between puppy dog eyes and the look of someone about to cry
Worried that you were going to start the waterworks at any time, he offered you his arm instead
You stopped your tapping and laid your hand flat on his chest
“Jackie,” you said softly. He turned to look at you gazing at him sweetly as you laughed. “Your heart is beating so fast.”
A moment later, your world turned on its axis as a pair of arms hooked under you and hauled you into the air
Spluttering in surprise, you looked to Jack just in time to see Leona plant his boot on his hip
With no deliberation, he pushed Jack right into the pool
“Leo! What do you think you’re doing?!” And suddenly you stopped. Why had you called him Leo? And why wasn’t he annoyed by the new nickname?
One by one, the memories returned to you. Leo wasn’t a new nickname. You’d been calling him that since you started dating
“Leo,” you said again, this time looking at him as if you’d met him for the first time in years
“Welcome back, bunny,” he said, and you could feel his voice rumble through his chest. “We’ve got some naps to catch up on.”
Silver
This wasn’t funny. This wasn’t funny At All
Of all the people you could have seen after the potion exploded in your face, it had to be his father?
Well, he supposed it could have been worse. If it had to be any other Diasomnia student, he guessed he was glad it was Lilia
If it had been Sebek, he’d fear that his brusque mannerisms might hurt your feelings
And if it had been Malleus.... Sebek would be even more likely to hurt your feelings, he thought
Still, he couldn’t say it was pleasant watching his love fawn over his father the way you were doing
He was able to convince Malleus to spend more time with Lilia today so that he could keep an eye on you, much to Sebek’s outrage
“Silver! How dare you try to order our lord around just to selfishly spend time with your partner!”
Malleus only laughed and told Sebek to settle down, that Silver was only worried about you since you were affected by a potion
Though, if he were to be even more honest, he’d admit that was worried about you as well. Humans weren’t so hardy as fae and he wasn’t sure what exactly was in the potion
So now the three of them sat in the lounge watching as you giggled at all the attention Lilia was showering upon you, each with different feelings on the situation: annoyance, amusement, and disgust
Lilia chuckled, gently patting your head as you twirled the flower he’d given you between your fingers
It was plucked from one of the vases in the lounge, but it was the thought that counted, right?
You couldn’t seem to see that the affection he was giving you was the same that he’d given Silver when he was a young boy
Or perhaps you didn’t want to see it, just pleased to have him smiling at you and giving you gifts
Still, all daydreams must come to an end. Yours did when, with a lighthearted laugh, Lilia told you that you reminded him of a little boy he used to take care of
Little? You were here thinking he was flirting back while he saw it as babysitting?
Ouch
Suddenly feeling very embarrassed, you put the flower into the nearest vase and gave Lilia a flimsy excuse about homework as you readied to leave
Happening to catch Silver’s gaze on your way out, you made your way over to him, ready to tell him what had just happened
“You don’t see me as a little kid, right? You take me seriously?”
Silver, patient as he’d always been, assured you that you were not childlike (at least not to the point that anyone would treat you like a child) and that everyone took you and your feelings seriously
“He was just teasing you,” he said, smoothing down your hair
Just as you were about to ask once again if he was sure, you raised your head to see him smiling at you
This smile was one reserved for you and you alone
But how did you know that?
And why was your first thought when you saw him to go to him for comfort? How had you known he would comfort you?
And why was he doing it so gently?
Without you even knowing that your expression had changed, Silver patted your head again
“It’s ok,” he said, and you knew he wasn’t just talking about the way Lilia teased you
He’d watched over you
He’d comforted you when you got upset over something silly
He’d forgiven you before you could even apologize
“Silver,” you said, lip wobbling
Rather than say anything else, he simply pulled you into his arms, his muscles relaxing at having you right where you belonged
You nuzzled into his shoulder and if he felt the tears soaking into his jacket, he didn’t mention them
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may-lutlone · 3 months
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So, while I was playing Reload (great game 10/10), I was brainstorming about using the android that kills Shadows in P5. So, I came up with an AU where Akechi is an Anti-Shadow weapon. Well he is inspired by one.
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Of course, there are fanarts (better than mine) or fics where he is that Anti-Shadow weapon, but I have never really seen anything dwelling into lore that much? I just saw the concept being thrown around or Phantom Thieves just being a part of Shadow Ops (feel free to correct me, I haven't been everywhere in Persona fandom ehsjskks) So here's my take, which contains spoilers for Persona 5 (obvs) and some angsty themes:
Spoilers obvs!!!!!!!!
-Wakaba killed Akechi during one of Metaverse's experiments (oops),
-she felt so guilty about it that she secretly retrieved his consciousness from there,
-using plans for an Anti-Shadow weapon
by the Kirijo Group that she somehow got hold of (maybe she stole it, maybe she just got it idc), she rebuilt him as an android and put his consciousness there (although it exists with the programming, because she wasn't that knowledgeable about robotics - she was a cognitive psicentist at heart, after all),
-was it a good decision? idk but Wakaba kinda strike me as a scientist who would think that was an excellent idea,
-Akechi disagrees, he hates her for that because now he is forever stuck as a thing that is forced to listen to orders (being forever stuck in one body also doesn't feel right I suppose),
-but they have a neutral and professional relationship that revolves around exploring the Metaverse (Akechi can still use Loki, just like Aigis can use Palladion),
-Conspiracy, learning about this, hacks Akechi-android to use him as a weapon in the Metaverse (so he still is a Black Mask, although everything is done completely without his input),
-Akechi then kills Wakaba, which she anticipated and before that she had given Futaba a copy of her research and Akechi’s plans - although she said to never use them without a really serious reasoning,
-yada, yada, yada we're in original game timeline,
-Akechi as a Detective Prince doesn't exist,
-but he does exist like a obstacle in Palaces/Mementos that hunts down the Thieves,
-let’s just say they would be able to fight him back around the time their lvl in Okumura's Palace,
-Morgana doesn't know wtf Akechi is,
-Joker has some suspicion that Akechi isn't just a machine, but he doesn't really voice it at that point,
-when they are in Futaba's palace, on one of the wall arts (the one where Wakaba works on something and Futaba is begging for her attention) they notice that Wakaba was working on one of Akechi's parts (probably his arm idk),
-so they ask Futaba (post-change of heart) what’s going on, but she has to do research,
-when Futaba joins the team, Akechi always targets her (due to his resent to Wakaba),
-they finally learn what Akechi is and that he is malfunctioning (y'know being a serial killer weapon) due to being hacked, so they decide to help him (bonus point if they can get him on their team),
-so in Okumura palace arc they set on changing the CEO heart and capturing Akechi (who is also there, because he has to get rid of Okumura),
-during the fight in that Palace, Futaba manages to free him from Conspiracy’s control (bonus point if he awakes to Robin Hood),
-when they get him back to Leblanc's attic, Futaba repairs him (because I feel like she would be into robotics just like her mom) and they learn that even if he is on their side now, he doesn't remember who he really was (even first his name, only Akechi).
So, my AU would revolve around Akechi re-learning about his past (he can bond over his amnesia with Morgana) and being as human as possible.
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I have a few ideas that I probably will draw (or write, who knows), but that's all for now. Thanks for coming for my ted talk.
Bonus comic - very messy, sorry:
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The Epic Amazing Absolutely Insane TAOCC Song Post
Aka: Elsie assigns random songs to random characters for random reasons, vaguely organized by mod. These are almost entirely vibes and randomness so get ready to be utterly confused. Don’t expect any of these to fit too well, I went more based on the sound and random stuff than the actual accuracy. Also i’m kinda brain-broken from overthinking all this music lol. No, I didn’t add links, just because this took so many hours. Maybe tomorrow, I just wanna get this done.
Feiar’s characters.
Nymn
“Dento takes the Stairs” by Gooseworx
I told you these would make no sense. Idk the amount of nymn just being vibes/silly/lighthearted makes me think of how this song is a break from the chaos of the Elain series.
Jessy
“Metamodernity” by Vansire
Okay, I have a really specific animatic in my head for this song in which we flash between the TAOCC characters as they are in the circus, and then a cool transition, and then it’s them pre-circus. My best example is Dusk and Jessy sitting on a bench. A train passes by, and now it’s human Jessy sitting alone on a bench. Because Dusk is AI. And that very specific part of the animatic in my head tends to stick with me, especially seeing as Jessy is very “just go with stuff” and so I can kinda hear him singing this in my head.
”Apocalypse Now” by PinnoccioP
The first appearance of many of my favorite music artist lol. The song is about enjoying existence even if everything is a violent wreck, and it just kinda fits to me lol.
“World’s Smallest Violin” - AJR
yeah just gonna drop this one here and run
“Sweet Tooth” - Scott Helman
Blame Fei.
Clara
”Drosselmeyer’s theme - Kurumi Wari Ningyo (Nutcracker No. 2 March) - The Princess Tutu Soundtrack
Okay, for starters, you should watch Princess Tutu. Like right now. It’s amazing, and the title does NOT do it Justice. Back on track, it…it’s the nutcracker! Come on, this one was basically handed to me.
Tutu vs Kraehe (Swan Lake Act 1 Op. 20 No. 2)
Fight theme.
Lance
”I Don’t Have a Name For It” - Steam Powered Giraffe
I…I’m sorry I don’t have an explanation for this it just works. Lancia sweep.
Raina
”Nightcall” - Kavinsky
…Once again, very flimsy. But like…switch the gender. I’m sorry but it’s giving “they’re talking about my death but I’m still here.” The miku version works better here in my opinion :3
The pirates
“He’s a pirate” - F-777
“The 7 Seas” - F-777
idk man techno piracy go vrrrrrrrr I unironically blasted these during like the entirety of the pirates plotline frick you this is my rant I do what I want /silly
Star’s Characters
Icia
”Long Live” - Taylor Swift
I swear I have reasons for this just hear me out okay- First off, I can see the voice fitting, second off, I imagine her singing this either for Lance or Starro or both after we finally finally finally throw Hexe off a cliff.
“Santa Salvacion” - Magia Record OST
epic fight theme for fighting the terrifying ice lady. I blasted this while writing the fight scene with The Dark Queen Icia.
Dunite
”Postmeridae” - Madoka Magica OST
Cutesy upbeat theme for making merengues to. No notes.
“Witches Dance” - Magia Record OST
Idk, feels like her fight theme
”Roki” - Mikito P
…Vibes. Entirely vibes. Dunite should start a band /hj.
Starro
“Please Never Fall In Love Again” - Ollie MN
I just…him. Singing this. About Conny. I swear to cheese.
Vaga and Nova
“Class Dance - Rensho Kyoku I” - Princess Tutu OST
…Vibes.
Odette
”Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14” - Madoka Magica OST
Vibes. Piano. Sad string accompaniment. Must I say more?
Achilles
“Doubt #2” - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST
Starting to notice a pattern with the kingdom characters lol?
Joofie’s Characters
Cardlan
“Main Character” - Will Wood
Ego. So, so much Ego.
“Sayo-Nara” - DDLC OST
I have my reasons.
Minimi
“Not Yet (Epilogue)” - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST
Accordion and a little bit of ominousness. Vibes.
Xeyshattersiltav1a’s Characters
Sun
“Cowboy Dan” - Modest Mouse
Yee-haw sun. Do not give that woman a truck. Wow, these descriptions are getting terrible lol.
”Popular” - Wicked Soundtrack
Wicked but it’s sun and Dusk lives in my head rent free okay
“Alright” - Mother Mother
please help me I keep making up sun animatics with this song in class
Mix
“Something, Everything is Wrong” - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST
This song is the reason I associate Mix with the accordion. Also, I imagine Dusk meeting him/his first real introduction in TAOCC’s background music as this song.
“Intertwined” - CMYK, CircusP.
Rip this man’s love life
“Love is War” - Ryo/Supercell feat. Hatsune Miku
Love is still Vehicular Manslaughter /ref
Dialtone
“Cats!” - waterflame
Does the song fit him? Not at all! It is way too techy and upbeat, and would probably better suit someone like Switch. But like….cats. He’d listen to a song called “cats!”. You can’t convince me otherwise.
“Want You Gone” - The Portal OST
Dialtone is GLaDOS coded to me.
“Killer Spider” - PinnoccioP
vibes and vibes alone.
Soup’s Characters
Silhouette
“Scared of you” - Brandon Hesslau
“Whoops, sorry for kinda almost killing you.”
”What Gave It Away” - Riproducer
evil.
”Burial Ground” - Low Roar
sad backstory.mp3.
Clown
“I’m Number One” - Muppets Most Wanted Soundtrack
Look man he’s silly and egotistical and it’s funny. He’s definitely singing this with carbine.
Autumn’s Characters
Pyxel
”Magical Doctor” - MARETU
once again, more vibes than lyrics and the gender’s wrong but, like, the vibes, man
Neb
“Lonely UFO” - PinnoccioP
…it doesn’t fit. The lyrics, as far as I can tell, do NOT fit. BUT LOOK AT THE OUTFIT, THE BLUE HAIR AND VOID SKIN AND MURDER TEETH AND TELL ME THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE NEB, OKAY?!
“Finding Sanctuary” - Stellaris OST
Silly space song for silly space person.
Lily’s Characters
The bookend siblings, and I mean all of them as a group, Katrina included for brevity’s sake
“Magical Girl and Chocolate” - PinnoccioP
Okay, I have actual reasoning for this one. Each of the siblings is someone’s “magical girl”, whether metaphorically or literally. They’re each fighting to protect and support someone. And they each strain and struggle to cope with a role too demanding for them. This song works for each of them in a different form and context.
Octavia and Steven/Sign
“Isn’t it “A”” - PinnoccioP
The arguments of all time
Honse- I mean Sophro
“Puzzle” - CMYK, CircusP
He’s just here to help. No notes.
Miscellaneous Others/Not big enough for their own section
Lantern
“Lantern” - Undertale OST
…self explanatory. The song’s vibes fit, too, I imagine this plays in his scenes.
“The Other One Left” - VaneLily
Half due to the “I just want a loving father” line. Gender’s wrong, again, but otherwise the lyrics fit.
Seer
“Seer’s Theme” - Cindy
I literally cannot outdo her own theme. It’s just too good. I listen to it randomly just because I like it so much /gen.
Sigil
“I’m Just Ken” - Barbie Movie Soundtrack
this is mostly a joke but come ON you think that guy doesn’t feel a little overshadowed by his GODDESS FIANCÉE?!
“Business Man” - Tom Cardy
Okay so this one takes some explaining because I imagine sigil walking into Dialtone’s place to spy and Insanity ruining everything and shooting everyone. It makes absolutely no sense but it’s funny in my head so here we are.
My Characters, yes this is gonna be last
Dusk
“Ultimate Senpai” - PinocchioP
A song about being overly pressured and stuff? Yeaaaaah.
“Sis Puella Magia!” - Madoka Magica Soundtrack
….Pretty. That’s it.
Aoki
“Decretum” - Madoka Magica Soundtrack
The reason I gave him a violin.
Alpenglow
“Yume Yume” - DECO*27
I have an ENTIRE ANIMATIC for chip and alpen with this song in my head
Lemonade
“Viva La Vida” - Coldplay
lore. Hehe.
Yume
“What are Children Made Of?” - PinnoccioP
This kid’s childhood has been ruined and boy is processing that hard.
”Everything about Animals” - PinocchioP
an absolute fever dream of a song that she would absolutely sing about animals. And how cool they are. And ohhhh look commentary on the state of humanity
Switchboard
“Kom Susser Tod” - Astrophysics
Idk it doesn’t fit all too well but the mix of utter hopelessness and eurobeat techno is just hercore
TAOCC as a whole
“Something Rotten!/Make an Omelette” - Something Rotten Soundtrack
WHEN I TELL YOU I HAVE AN ENTIRE. FREAKING. ANIMATIC-
”Your Silver Garden” - Madoka Magica OST
I do not know the lyrics literally at all but I could see an OP for TAOCC with this song
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sol1loqu1st · 27 days
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the other thing is that even people who would privately tell you they were allies still didn't care enough to like. block aphobes and not reblog from them or even learn the obvious dogwhistles (the amount of like. "cishets shouldnt be at pride" etc style posts that were from blogs with tons of aphobia on them reblogged by people who SAID they supported me!!!), and how "op is aphobic" was a MEME that you got MOCKED FOR so you couldn't even TELL PEOPLE when they accidentally reblogged shit with dogwhistles in it. and NOBODY CARED enough to publically support ace and aro people. and then it stopped being trendy and they all deleted their posts and pretended like it never happened but you'll notice on some blogs there's to this day a distinct lack of any ace/aro content and if you were a target during the height of all that you can see the gaps left behind where they deleted it. no one ever apologized and i suspect a lot of people never actually changed their minds about it, they just stopped talking about it
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riddles-n-games · 3 days
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Can you please make absolutely soul crushing Jameson Avery angsty hcs? Thanks
Okay, you asked for this. If you aren't ready, I was even less.
Jameson held Avery's hand often when he visited her after the plane accident. There were times where the dark intrusive doubtful thoughts got really bad, taunting him that she wouldn't wake up, her condition would get worse, that she would die in the end. Holding her hand was one of the only things that grounded him in those moments.
One time, in the middle of the night, after the fight with Gray, he start literally getting a panic attack and actually cries, thinking something happened to her after he woke up.
Sometimes he would lean over her to press his ear against her chest to hear her heartbeat because he wasn't convinced that the sounds he was hearing coming from the machine were real.
Some months after they get together, Avery tells Jameson what truly happened during the encounter with Sheffield as even though she did tell him a lot after the coin toss, sealing their relationship, she wasn't quite ready to process the trauma aloud yet.
Jameson gets very angry at the news and gets fiercely protective of her which shocks Avery. It affects him so deeply that several nights, he can't sleep at all; nightmares are catching him, setting in a new bout of insomnia for a while but he can't bring himself to leave bed so he just holds her tight.
He helps her start self-defense classes and practices with her every day, teaching her different martial arts and kickboxing techniques. It helps keep him calm and to redirect his thoughts to something productive, knowing he's proactively helping his girl.
During the final months of Jameson's senior year, he and Avery spend more time together at school, however rumors arise. A lot of them turn the tables against him; that he's dating her to get his family's money back, because he wants to tap that, a last hoorah before he leaves for his gap year, that he's going to use her to get into a prestigious college even though he's basically done nothing to become acclaimed for himself, and so the list goes on. But the worst one is that he's going to get her killed because his last girlfriend did. That one actually penetrates.
Avery notices that he's been more quiet than usual despite his attempts to remain unaffected. At first, he's reluctant to talk about it but after a while he asks her if she truly believes that he's going to get her killed.
She is shocked by this as she truly thought he was handling the rumors and accusations pretty well and they weren't bothering him. Then, she vehemently says that she doesn't believe it for a single second and reminds him that if she truly had those kinds of doubts, she would have never been with him in the first place. And her honesty helps him cope.
This gives Avery a rare glimpse into his vulnerability regarding such topics and appreciates his rawness to just admit it especially after holding it in for a while.
Post graduation and into the start of the summer, the anniversary of Hannah's death is coming up. Avery is as a result getting a bit restless and anxious about it. She closes up and Jameson knows something is up. He tries giving her space but realizes she seems even more down and goes to Libby for comfort instead. So, Jameson decides to ask her sister what's happening and Libby explains.
He decides to tell Avery he knows what's coming up, why she's like this and that if and only if she wants to, that she can talk to him if she pleases. Avery nods and for a few days, she continues being withdrawn but then she talks about the struggles, the late nights, her ear pressed up against the door when the doctor was talking to her mother, the failed chemo, the fact it was a late stage tumor. Everything. And halfway through, Avery breaks down sobbing. She is inconsolable.
Jameson can hear her soul weeping. He knows that she hasn't likely truly processed the grief in so long and this is her truly letting herself be open with him and herself. After this encounter, Jameson comes up with their code Tahiti and it was first it was more so used during really bad quiet periods for each one but then they became better at using it when they know the other is likely too emotionally constipated.
Hope this suffices in soul crushing? 😵‍💫
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sapphic-agent · 13 days
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Let's Talk About the Switched at Birth Theory
If you told me I would be making an Ever After High Theory in 2024 I would have never believed you. But I recently came across a theory from like 2022 that poses the possibility of Apple and Raven being switched at birth. At first I thought there wasn't a chance it held water, but the more I looked into it the more I was sent down a rabbit hole.
(I know this is a hated theory please don't kill me)
The original theory was made by _fairytale_vibes_ on YouTube. Here's a link to the most updated version of the theory, watch it if you haven't already:
youtube
I went into this video thinking that it wouldn't lead anywhere, but OP does make a lot of very good points. So with her theory in the back of my head, I decided to dive into the book series to see if I could find anything to support or disprove it.
(I'll be editing as I read the books and rewatch the show, so at the time of posting it I've only completely finished The Storybook of Legends. So whatever I say here may not be 100% accurate compared to the rest of the series. I'll update and revise as I continue reading, but please tell me if whatever I've said is wrong)
1. Appearances
This may be the most important part of the theory as it's been the focal point of the original video. So let's dive into it from the book's descriptions.
Raven: "...long black hair with purple highlights, dark eyebrows, strong nose and chin."
The Evil Queen: Dark hair, deep purple eyes
Snow White: "...black hair was curled under her golden crown. Her skin was still white as snow, her lips red as blood."
Apple: Pale, blond, red lips
One thing I definitely noticed was that multiple times, the book goes out of its way to compare Raven's looks to her mother's. Raven herself calls it out multiple times. However, it actually seemed to be the opposite with Apple. While her features- other than her hair- are said to fit what Snow White is supposed to be, there aren't many comparisons made to her mother herself.
In fact, I think the only time she's actually directly compared to her mother is when she looks at her destiny during Legacy Day. "She looked so much like her mother, only blond." Even here, there aren't many details about it, not like there are Raven's.
(This whole montage is interesting, I'll talk about it more later)
One of the theory's linchpins is that The Evil Queen in her youth seemed to have platinum blond hair. In the Dragon Games special, she is animated as a teen with what looks like whitish hair. And in the graphic novel The Class of Classics, her hair does look platinum blond (and is described as being such by her roommate and best friend, the Cheshire Cat).
Apple's blond hair is an anomaly. There's never been a Snow White with blond hair, as the story is clear about it being ebony. It's brought up multiple times in the book and is a point of insecurity for Apple. The Evil Queen also having blond hair is an... Interesting connection for them to have. As in, they share the one trait that separates Apple from the Snow White lineage.
One thing that actually threw me off, however, is that the Evil Queen actually had green eyes in her youth. And you can actually see hints of green in the purple of her eyes if you look at her show model. Raven's eyes are purely purple and Apple's are blue. The EQ having green eyes seemed so left field to me.
The theory implies that the purple highlights in Raven's hair and the purple coloring in the EQ's hair comes from their magic, if we extend that to their eyes it does actually start to make more sense. Raven's powers could develop quicker/stronger than her mother's, which could have caused the purple coloring to affect her eye color quicker than it did the EQ's. It's very possible that Raven was born with green eyes and they changed the stronger her magic got.
But then what about Apple's eyes? One thing I found odd even watching Dragon Games for the first time is the very obvious difference in the shade of Apple and Snow's eyes. They're both blue, but Apple's are a lot lighter while SW's seem to be darker. It's like the show went out of their way to show even more distinction between them.
You know who also has blue eyes? The Good King.
Well, according to his Wiki page. I actually didn't make note if his eye color was mentioned in SBOL (and I can't because I had to return the loan). This fact may not be true, since Raven's non-existent brother Michael is still on there (seriously why hasn't anyone removed him).
But still, if the Good King does have blue eyes, that could be another physical connection Apple has to Raven's family.
2. Parallels
One thing I was surprised the theory never mentioned was the Two Sisters fairytale.
If you don't know, the Two Sisters is the tale about an "ugly" sister and a "beautiful" sister. The ugly sister is kind so butterflies float around her head while the beautiful sister is mean so she only attracts flies. The beautiful sister wants to get rid of her flies so she has the ugly sister lower her into a well. Then she makes the ugly sister go into the well too, and she almost drowns. But she escapes with the help of her butterflies. The ugly sister turns beautiful and the beautiful sister turns ugly. The flies that circled the beautiful sister returned and chased her into the forest and she was never heard from again.
This story is important because Raven found out that the sisters who were supposed to have this story- Bella Sister and Brutta Sister- never signed and instead ran away.
Why am I bringing it up? Well, in SBOL after Raven reads the story, the next time Apple is given a POV, we get a flashback of her almost drowning in a well as a child.
This is very clearly an attempt to draw a parallel between Apple and Raven and Bella and Brutta. But if it was just that Raven decided to reject her fate like Bella, it doesn't say much. Brutta didn't want Bella to suffer a villain's fate as much as Bella didn't want to try to drown her, while Apple wants to embrace destiny fully even if it means confining Raven to a life she doesn't want.
To me, this is trying to tell us something else. That maybe we should be looking at Apple and Raven's relationship differently.
3. Attitude and Personality
A somewhat surprising detail that I noticed is that Apple acts a lot like the Evil Queen, especially in how she treats Raven.
"Apple smiled. She could play the damsel-in-distress like a cow could jump over a moon. The male species couldn’t resist wanting to help her."
"...but the guilt passed as quickly as a butterfly. Looking out for Raven was in Raven’s best interest."
"It’s not wrong for people to see in you your true nature." (To Raven)
"Sometimes she couldn’t think of anything comforting to say. It was a small weakness she was determined to mend."
"Raven’s Coat of Infinite Darkness should have hidden her from anyone who didn’t know she was already there. Apple was very smart."
"Take your hands off me at once, or I swear by wishing wells, seven-league boots, silver wands, and all marvelous things that you will regret it!” (To Goblins)
This is NOT me saying that Apple is evil like the EQ. But more that she can be manipulative, overbearing, and commanding similarly to the EQ. Apple is a lot nicer and has more of a conscience, but she isn't afraid of crossing boundaries to get what she wants (or rather, to do what she thinks is right). She lacks natural empathy a lot of the time (which isn't a bad thing), and it's something she's desperately trying to fix about herself. She's also said to be very intelligent.
(I also want to mention her behavior during the Topsy Turvy spell. I know the spell was said to make the people cursed act the opposite of how they usually would, but as OP points out, Apple really went far with it. She wasn't a mean girl, she was downright evil. OP assumed this could be her true nature. I... Half disagree. I think it's way more that Apple makes a point to make sure she's as nice and helpful as possible, hiding her true feelings so that she's the perfect Snow White. I think the topsy turvy spell made it so that she didn't do that. In other words, it got rid of her inhibitions. Instead of making sure she doesn't say and do awful things, she no longer holds anything back for the sake of being good which is why she's so much worse than the other students)
But like with appearances, there isn't much connecting Raven to Snow White. Sure, Raven is kind. She shows concern for others and likes to help people. She tries to be nice even when she's treated horribly. But nothing about this is specifically Snow White.
In fact, she seems to drive animals away. Her singing causes thorns to ensnare her and Apple. Only ogres obey and listen to her (though they did adhere to Apple). She's also sarcastic and dry. In this regard, there isn't a lot about her that matches up with Snow White.
(If we're being completely fair, Snow White also never had as many defining traits as the Evil Queen, even in the original Grimm Fairytale. So attempting to mirror her in Apple or Raven might have been a struggle for the writers)
4. Symbolism
You know what threw me off? The fact that Apple's animal companion was a snow fox.
It seemed like such an odd choice when I read it. Like, why a fox of all things? But then I looked into actual symbolism for snow foxes.
Overall Symbolism: Adaptability, Resourcefulness, & Intelligence
Christian Symbolism: Purity & Humility
Native American Symbolism: Resilience & Determination
Eastern Symbolism: Cleverness & Cunning
I actually thought it was really interesting that all of these traits seem to fit Apple. She's resilient, clever, determined, and resourceful. But she's also supposed to stand for purity and humility too. Almost like there are two sides of Apple: how she actually is and what she pushes herself to be because of expectations.
(This actually comes up a lot in the book. Apple's good deeds come from a place of needing to set a good example and live up to the Snow White legacy. She separates what she actually thinks and feels from what she's supposed to perceive as right and wrong)
Raven having a dragon is definitely less unexpected. However, there's decent symbolism with her too. In Eastern traditions, dragons stand for supernatural power, wisdom, strength, and hidden knowledge. These are all things that definitely fit Raven. If we're looking at this in comparison to the Snow White destiny, the wisdom and power could be alluding to her eventually becoming Queen.
5. My Thoughts
Do I think Raven and Apple were switched at birth? No. Primarily because I can't think of a valid reason for it happening. OP suggests the Evil Queen switched Apple and Raven's powers, forcing Snow White to switch out their babies. But this reason is convoluted at best.
For one, the Evil Queen seems to care for Raven as much as she's able. Raven herself states that the EQ loves her in her own way. She wants to bond with Raven, wants Raven by her side as she tries to take over the world. I can't see her being like this towards someone she knows is Snow's daughter.
I also can't think of why she would do this. She's all too eager to continue her legacy through Raven. Why would she change Apple's fate that way if she was her actual heir?
No, my theory is that Raven and Apple are sisters, both daughters of the Evil Queen.
(I'm so sorry Rapple shippers)
I know, that's possibly more outrageous than the switched at birth theory. But my mind couldn't stop circling back to this. Apple shares so many traits with the Evil Queen, but Raven doesn't share as many with Snow White. The Two Sisters parallels were too heavy to ignore.
Why and how would this happen? I think that when the Evil Queen had them, Apple was born without powers. Since the EQ values power over everything (other than beauty) she decided Apple was worthless. But instead of getting rid of Apple, she gave her to Snow and Charming (who couldn't have kids) either anonymously as a cruel twist of fate or some sort of deal was made between them.
That or her having twins sent Grimm and Snow into panic mode since she was already on her magical rampage. So they made a plan to take one of the babies to avoid something similar happening in the future. Snow agreed to raise her as her own as the next Snow White to combat whatever "natural evil" she was born with.
It could be why Grimm is so invested in Apple and Raven specifically. He's trying to make sure Apple stays good and Raven turns evil so that the Snow White story can play out smoothly and things can stay balanced within the Realms.
Now if we wanna step away from secret baby theories (which I totally get), another possibility is that Raven and Apple's destinies were swapped. Which I also think is very likely.
OP points out in Thronecoming when Raven calls Apple selfish for wanting her to sign, Apple retorts that she wants to keep everyone safe. She then hands Raven an apple and tells her that she's the one being selfish. She's directly mirroring what the Evil Queen does, like their roles have been swapped.
She also adds that when Raven is transported into Snow White's story later in the episode, the old woman is basically shouting that this is her destiny as she hands her the apple. None of the other girls are being pushed as strongly. Sure, we can look at this as just her destiny in general, but it could be indicating that she will take the role of Snow White.
We saw in Dragon Games that Apple easily became jealous of Raven for how liked she was becoming. Which is similar to why the Evil Queen hates Snow White. If the show hadn't gotten cancelled, this could have been her slow descent towards evil while Raven was coming into being good.
(And to be honest, this can still happen with the twin theory. Every Snow White story is different. A jealous sister can fit into the story as well as a jealous stepmother)
Now before anyone says that Apple and Raven saw their destinies... No they didn't. They saw their fates from a fake Storybook of Legends. A fake put there by the Evil Queen, mind you.
Raven's fate was depicted as her being even more evil than her mother. It would be so like the EQ to curse the fake book to depict her daughter's fate as overly villainous. As for Apple, it could have also been cursed to act out as the original book would for anyone who proclaimed themselves the child of whatever fairytale character. So her saying that she's the daughter of Snow White showed her the typical fate of the next Snow White.
(I mentioned earlier that Apple is only said to look like Snow White during her glimpse into the future at Legacy Day. This actually plays into the fate she sees being false. It's showing her what she wants to see, and that's being able to live up to her mother)
Yes Raven signed the true book in Wonderland. But all that did was give her the EQ's full powers. Powers which were part of the reason Apple became jealous in the first place. We never saw Raven's actual destiny from that book.
So no, I don't think Apple and Raven were switched at birth. But I do think OP's observations do leave a lot to be analyzed. I know a lot of people will say that this being canon ruins the story, but I honestly don't think so. Raven and Apple can still decide their destinies. It doesn't matter who their parents are or aren't, what matters is what choices they make. The main theme of Ever After High is choice. If Apple ever did turn towards evil, Raven would be right there trying to pull her back.
They choose their destinies. They decide their fates no matter what happens
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thislovintime · 2 months
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The Monkees with CFUN DJ's Terry David Mulligan and John Tanner in Vancouver, April 1, 1967.
“Regina: CKCK’s Terry David Mulligan claims to be the first Canadian air personality with an interview with the Monkees and he has a tape to prove it. Anyone wishing a copy can take Mulligan up on his boast by sending him a blank tape and he will return a dub to sender. Terry also did a 30 minute Christmas show with Peter Tork, his sister and brother. They sang cuts from the Monkees new LP (Mulligan sings too)[,] sang a few carols and just chit-chatted in a relaxing mood.” - RPM Canada, January 28, 1967 (this Christmas 1966 anecdote was previously posted here and more about Christmas 1967 here)
“History records that The Monkees played their first Canadian concert in Winnipeg on April 1/1967. What never gets mentioned is that the first time all four Monkees set foot on Canuck soil was many hours earlier, in Vancouver, while en route to Manitoba’s capital city. Top 50 radio station CFUN assigned two deejays—Terry David Mulligan and John Tanner—to meet Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork at Vancouver International Airport. A photo op ensued in a private waiting area as the lads waited, shortly after sunrise, to board a connecting flight. 'If you study that picture, you could tell two of the guys (Davy and Peter) were really into it and the other two (Micky and Mike) didn’t really want to be there,' recalls Mulligan (second from right in photo). 'They weren’t pissed off at us. They were just tired and weren’t particularly into having their picture taken that early in the morning.' Nevertheless, all six exchanged pleasantries. Despite the early hour, Davy Jones seemed friendly and 'Mike Nesmith was so whip smart, while Micky Dolenz had this interesting Hollywood vibe about him,' remembers Mulligan. Terry and Peter got the opportunity to renew acquaintances. The previous year, when Mulligan was spinning discs at CJME Regina, 'who should walk in but Peter Tork. Of course, I asked: "What are YOU doing here?" And Peter answered: "My dad (Halsten John Thorkelson) teaches at the University of Saskatchewan and I dig your radio program."' Peter would take a couple of additional breaks from Monkees commitments to visit his family. Each time, he’d visit Mulligan at CJME. 'We’d always have really good off-air chats, in between as I was playing records.' For his part, CFUN deejay John Tanner (second from left in photo) boarded the plane bound for Winnipeg with The Monkees. 'I remember being at the tail of the plane while The Monkees and their entourage were much further forward. I walked up there at one point and noticed some of them were sleeping. So I went back to my seat as I didn’t want to bother anyone.' Prior to the late afternoon Monkees concert at the Winnipeg Arena, Tanner said he killed some time walking 'what seemed to be the coldest streets in Winnipeg.' Indeed, band insider David Price would mention the frigid 17 degrees Fahrenheit daytime temperature when he subsequently wrote a four-page article titled My Life With The Monkees—That Wild Canadian Weekend for 16 magazine that detailed the April 1 concert in Winnipeg and the ensuing show in Toronto on April 2. Price, who also served as a decoy for Davy Jones (in addition to other band duties), claimed The Monkees came to Canada aware of rumours that attempts might be made on their lives during the two concerts. In the 16 magazine piece, Price wrote: 'Mike asked me and his friend Charlie Rockett and Mike’s wife Phyllis’s brother Bruce Barbour to make sure that any packages that landed onstage were thrown off again, because one of them might contain a bomb.' In the end, the only ‘bomb’ at the Winnipeg show was a water bomb hurled at Micky Dolenz atop the seven-foot high stage just before opening song Last Train To Clarksville. Seconds before, the four Monkees burst out of phoney amplifiers on either side of the stage, with the boys having hidden themselves within when the house lights were momentarily turned off. Likely backing up The Monkees onstage was Candy Store Prophets. If so, that band’s members—including guitarist Tommy Boyce and keyboardist Bobby Hart—had played on many early Monkees studio tracks that Boyce and Hart produced. Winnipeg-based Electric Jug & Blues band opened the show. Press reports later revealed that before the concert, rambunctious fans charged past about 30 police officers as the band left the Hotel Fort Garry for the arena. Monkees publicist Don Berrigan described the incident as a 'near riot' adding 'Mike and Davy were knocked down. It was really nasty.' There were apparently well over 400 police and security inside the arena. Perhaps it was the security concerns that resulted in Winnipeg and Toronto fans receiving slightly shorter concerts than about a dozen previous American shows in late 1966 and early ‘67—13-song setlists, three less than south of the border. The Winnipeg concert marked the first time Peter Tork-sung Your Auntie Grizelda, was played publicly. 'He really dug it, and so did the audience,' wrote Price. [...] Back in Winnipeg, after final song I’m A Believer, the band rushed to limos to return to the hotel, before taking an evening flight to Toronto. A subsequent Canadian Press article noted that one policeman was taken to hospital after a wire retaining fence collapsed on him when 'thousands of fans surged towards the rear exits in an unsuccessful bid to catch a glimpse of their departing idols.' The officer was treated for cuts and abrasions and released. The official capacity of Winnipeg Arena was 11,800. But Price claimed that several hundred additional tickets were sold just before showtime, resulting in an attendance closer to 12,500. Later that Saturday night, The Monkees checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport in what Price described as near-blizzard conditions. For his part, CFUN deejay John Tanner got a kick out of the 'wild and crazy' show he had just witnessed. 'It was kind of a thrill being there.' The photo taken back in Vancouver earlier that day would be published in the April 8 copy of the C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY survey given away at Greater Vancouver record stores. Part of the photo ID read 'They said it couldn’t be done' — likely a veiled reference to doubts that The Monkees would trek north for concerts so soon into their existence.” - Richard Skelly, Facebook, April 1, 2022 [x]
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tinted-skies · 2 years
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small confessions with dream
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Mark `~ Mark was blabbing about how good Justin Bieber's new song was, commenting on how perfect the lyrics were and how he couldn't wait to learn its melody on the guitar. You, however, just sat there, passively nodding, not matching his energy at all.
"You haven't listened to the song yet, have you?" He asked, finally noticing your lack of excitement.
"I just don't really care about him that much to be honest..."
Mark's jaw dropped, making you genuinely worried that he would dislocate it.
After the initial shock he'd be chill about it, respecting your opinion. But once you show the tiniest bit of interest in the artist, you can bet he'll show up a day later with a playlist (or maybe even a mixtape) of his favourite songs.
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Renjun `~ It was around midnight when Renjun sent you a reddit post. OP claimed to have seen a real ovni, which made you giggle.
You joked around the topic with your boyfriend, believing his comments were just as sarcastic as yours. But soon enough, you realised that wasn't exactly the case.
"I don't believe in aliens, though..." You confessed, which lead to him leaving the text app. Was he really leaving you on read over this-
And in a milisecond he was back, flooding you with articles, videos and podcasts with "genuine proof" of alien life.
After that night, Renjun made it his life mission to make you see his point of view. And it honestly didn't even surprise you when you once watched him scroll on his phone only to find out that he was part of alien stan twitter.
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Jeno `~ "I'm never, ever, doing this again." A voice echoed, followed by the front door slamming shut.
Yet another friend who gave up on being Jeno’s workout partner... You couldn't really blame them though, you had heard that things could get intense during bike day. In Jaemin's own words, Jeno ran "that shit like the military" and to be honest you didn't even know whether you found that insanely attractive or just straight up scary.
After giving his friend a very dramatic eye roll, his eyes dropped on you, the look on his eyes shifting from annoyance to... determination?
No, no, no, no no. No way in hell you would "tagg along" in his "fun bike rides". You knew better than to fall for that.
"I don't even know how to ride a bike, so don't get any ideas." You revealed, hoping that would save you ass. But much to your dismay your confession had the exact opposite effect, instanly leading to him dragging you outside to teach you.
The days after, you wouldn't get a break, him forcing you to go on mandatory bike dates since they were "good for practice".
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Haechan `~ It was around 4 in the morning, meaning that everyone at the dorms was asleep. Everyone except you, who stood in the kitchen, water glass in hand.
The dead silence of the night was soon interrupted by the sound of someone tiredly dragging their feet. Haechan entered the kitchen, rubbing his eyes while letting out a yawn. It took him a while to spot you, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion once he did so.
"Can't sleep when I'm stressed..." You explained quietly, to which he nodded understandingly. Although never having faced the stress of finals, he could imagine it to be similar to the stress he felt during comeback season.
"You know what I normally do when I can't sleep?" He whispered walking closer to you, voice rough as he had just woken up.
"Play overwatch." He answered his own question.
"I've never played overwatch, though..." You confessed, your words making Haechan smile softly.
He had waited for this moment for a very long time, the two loves of his life were finally meeting and he suddenly felt like he was on the clouds.
He guided you to his room, turned on his computer and taught you how to play. You played in the dark of his bedroom until the sun started peaking through the courtains.
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Jaemin `~ He could swear agreeing to come pick you up had been the best decision of his life.
You had just got out of your best friend's party and were a bit tipsy. Jaemin had never really seen you like this before but boy was he in for a treat. He had always found you extremely entertaining but the drinks seemed to have taken away your inhibitions, complete nonsense coming out of your mouth. He almost had to stop the car a few times from how hard he was chuckling.
Right now you were ranting about how hard relationships were and how happy you were for not being in one.
"Hate to break it to you, baby, but we're dating." He interrupted.
"Oh- yes! You're right! About that- don't get me wrong, I really, really loooove PDA..." He glanced at you curiously before looking back at the road, intrigued.
"However-... I prefer it when we're alone." You concluded your confession with hesitation, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but Jaemin could only smile at your words.
"Damn, I always knew English wasn't your biggest strenght but you know what PDA stands for, right?"
"Of course I do" You answered dramatically, taking his words to heart. "Public display of affection." You stated proudly.
You really were a mess tonight and if you kept talking, then he was sure his cheeks would start hurting from smiling so much. You really were going to be the death of him...
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Chenle `~ You and Chenle had plopped on the couch after having lunch together and had no intentions of getting up any time soon. Both of you barely moved the entire evening, just lazily scrolling through your phones.
Getting bored of every other app on your phone, you clicked on twitter. When you saw a tweet announcing Seventeen's new comeback you let out an excited squeal, catching Chenle’s attention. He raised an eyebrow at you but decided not to question it, simply smiling at your cuteness before going back to the game on his phone.
The way he looked at you had made you a bit shy, but all of that was forgotten when you came across a certain fancam.
Your eyes slightly widened at the sight, your boyfriend really was a great performer, no matter how many times you watched him on stage, you would always find it mindblowing. Not to mention this choreo had always been one of your favourites and damn, you really were a sucker for his black hair...
Before you knew it, you had seen the damned video 4 times already. It was muted but you could swear you could listen to it perfectly in your head.
Nevertheless, you decided to unmute it, instanly regretting it when the sound blasted off your phone. Slightly panicking you paused the fancam but, much to your dismay, Chenle had already recognized the song.
This made him move closer to you, glancing at your phone only to confirm his suspicions. He stared at you with a look of disbelief, nodding in disappointment.
"For fuck's sake, Y/N, it's been 2 years already! Get over it!" He shouted jokingly before getting up and leaving your side.
"I just think Ridin' was your best era, okay?" You called out just as loud, confessing dramatically what he already knew.
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Jisung `~ He hated morning recording sessions. He had to go on the SUV all alone and sing the same lines over and over again while barely awake. Today's session had wasted 3 hours of his day, but fortunately he was now finally free.
Jisung arrived to the dorm only to find you already there, on the kitchen table with two cups of coffee and a pile of pancakes on a plate. He awed at the way you not only had gotten up super early, but also had been waiting for him so you could eat breakfast together.
At that moment he swore you were the best friend anyone could ever ask for.
"What's all of this?" He asked as he sat in the chair in front of you. You felt yourself softening upon hearing his raspy voice.
You and Jisung were very close but it wasn't often that you'd be so straightforward at expressing your affection towards each other.
That being said, you were truly taking a risk by setting this whole scene up, which didn't go unnoticed by your best friend, who couldn't help but wonder if your actions had any kind of second intentions. And although you didn't really want to admit it... deep down you guessed they did.
"Ahmn..." You pondered your next words. "I just like you, I guess..." You shrugged it off, deciding to keep the situation nonchalant.
Your sudden confession was subtle (and painfully honest), yet broad enough to leave the boy wondering if your words meant something more. And they did, but he didn't have to know it just yet.
Little did you know that Jisung was fighting the urge to reveal that he felt the same exact way about you. <3
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laf-outloud · 4 months
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___nezuko.kashii___ Jared Padalecki noticed me at comic con and said he liked my shirt! I am still freaking out about it and can’t believe I got it on video. I was in shock during the video and was at a loss for words but I feel so lucky because this happened to me! I am so happy that I got to meet him and take a picture with him! He’s such a nice guy! Once I wasn’t in shock anymore I told him that I loved him when we saw each other again in the photo op🫶🏻 My favorite character from Supernatural Sam Winchester🫶🏻
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___nezuko.kashii___ This picture with Jared Padalecki deserves it’s own post☺️ My favorite character from Supernatural Sam Winchester!🫶🏻
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cindylou929 All of the @cw_supernatural people we met yesterday at @abqcomcon . I’m pretty sure @daveh303925 planned to do this with my photo-op with @jaredpadalecki the whole time. He jumped into the pic at the very last minute! Jared was genuinely just a super nice guy!!!
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page.j.nn Me: “Thank you🥹” him: “no thank you🤗”😭😭😭😭😭 I GOT TO MEET A WINCHESTER!!! THE JARED FREAKING PADALECKI!!! I grew up watching Supernatural and I finally got to meet him 😭🔥 LITERALLY THE BEST DAY EVER 😭 that’s 1/3 members I have yet to meet from the franchise ✨✨✨(also I do know him from GG but I’ve been into SN longer)😅
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jalensalas Yesterday was so surreal! I met Jared Padalecki aka Sam Winchester, someone who I’ve admired for many years! He was so kind and sweet and when I asked if I could get a big hug, his response was “I LOVE a big hug!”
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g_knee There are so many words and I am kinda at a loss for them! Yesterday I hugged #JaredPadalecki at @ABQComCon. He is kind and attentive and welcoming. Idk. It was awesome! Thanks for the encouragement #SPNFamily !
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hollyjwilson2 There’s something so special that happened with this one🥰 Love this dude♥️
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hollyjwilson2 Last but definitely not least is the SPN group with baby op. There so many experiences that I’ll hold close to my heart and I’ll never let my light be dimmed. Thank you for coming along with me💜
Special thanks to Holly for sharing so much of her comic con experience with the fandom! Especially the fact that Walker's coming back in April!
(And yes, the first photo's not a closeup, but it's Christopher Lloyd and Jared in the same shot!!!)
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princeescaluswords · 16 days
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Established Practice
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I read a post about 'fictional characters are objects and can't be harmed' and 'you can't disrespect a fictional character.' Both of these takes are 100 percent correct. But that's never been the point I'm trying to make. Let me try to make it again and walk my readers through the steps.
I encountered a post which sneered at Scott McCall for so "easily throwing [Stiles] under the bus." Several people responded to this post, and the OP, to their credit, apologized and explained that this comment refers to Lies of Omission (5x09) and the infamous fight in the rain. They explained that it had been a few years since they had seen earlier seasons. I'm not mad at them, but it doesn't help their argument.
First, "easily." They rendered this judgement on Scott on the scene, and it has been echoed thousands of times by the fandom over the last eight years. At the time, this is what had happened to him during the season.
his girlfriend had been accused of murder and had had to leave to seek help for a serious supernatural crisis
his mentor and adult advisor had vanished while on a mission to help him and he was worried about him
his pack had been deceiving him and ignoring him
lots of teenagers were dying and he had been told it was his responsibility
he was experiencing a resurgence in his serious asthma condition which hampered his ability to fight the villains
he had promised his beta Liam to do everything to protect Hayden, who during the scene was dying 100 feet behind him
No one needed to have watched Seasons 1 through 4 to know this during the fight in the rain, because all of it was mentioned in the opening monologue of that very same episode. I'm pretty sure that this was on purpose to remind the audience of the incredible pressure Scott was under.
Second, "throwing [Stiles] under the bus." Is that what happened? I think, objectively, the only conclusions that Scott drew in that scene were that he didn't believe Stiles, he needed some space from Stiles, and he suggested -- after Stiles asked him what to do -- that he go talk to his dad. Scott didn't end their friendship, he didn't call Stiles names, he didn't even mention the fact that Stiles had concealed important information and lied to him more than once.
And yet I argue that over the last eight years the fandom has deliberately and purposefully ignored that entire context of that scene and its consequences. To reiterate the above point, you can't hurt or disrespect a fictional character, but I sincerely believe that fandom warps this scene (among others) for the purpose of their own enjoyment. They gain pleasure by turning a character of color from hero to villain, by eliminating all empathy for the character of color, and by positioning a white male character as the target of the character of color's unearned oppression.
I believe I can say this because it is part of a historical and cultural pattern where characters of color and their stories have consistently been mutilated by majority white audiences for their own entertainment.
I work in academia in the preservation of intellectual history; I encounter this particular phenomenon regularly. On my desk is a photograph from 1952 where a fraternity is participating in a campus-wide event where different organizations participate in theatrical skits. They're in blackface, presenting a picture of the Antebellum South as a social paradise. As part of my work, I examined the context. This wasn't happening in some rural backwater. This was on a university campus with black students. No one -- not students, not faculty, not administration -- said anything about this behavior, because it was "all in good fun." I guess they just wanted to let people enjoy things.
That's one example, but there are thousands and thousands more, and this behavior has had definite effects on media creation. Even as an ignorant white teenager in the 1980s, I noticed that characters of color in violent action-adventure stories were extremely likely to die, no matter what the outcome of the story , either to establish vicarious justice or to raise the stakes. That was their only purpose. It's getting better, I think we have to say that. Two decades before the scene Lies of Omission, the idea of a Latino actor like Tyler Posey playing a lead protagonist like Scott McCall would have been almost unthinkable. The best he could have hoped for would be to have played Jackson or Isaac. If by some chance he had been able to play Stiles the sidekick, he would almost certainly have been dead by the end of Season 2 in order to 'raise the stakes' for whichever white actor got to be Scott McCall. If by some miracle, Mr. Posey still got to play Scott in the nineties, the show would never have made three seasons, let alone six.
Fandom's reaction to the scene in Lies of Omission isn't an outlier. It's not an anomaly. It's part of a history of characters of color being seen as valid by audiences when used as object in support of white characters and only in support of white characters. Fandom could care less about the full dynamic of that scene or how the entire situation was a tragedy enabled by both Scott and Stiles (and Theo). There's no respect for the story that the production was trying to tell, but that's nothing new. The minimization of empathy and interest in characters of color has been going on for a very long time; the characters may not hurt by it, but we are.
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criminalmindswhore · 9 months
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Dark Pieces of Me pt. 2
Hey girl queen pussy bosses, here's part 2! This part is going to be LONG because I want to keep it in 3/4 parts. Enjoy!
Also fun fact, Mateo is an actual food stand across the street from San Fran PD, look it up.
TW: violence, mentions of organized crime, terrorism, mentions of suicide
Part 1 | Part 3
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The sun crept into the curtains of the cheap motel you booked somewhere in Kansas. You didn't sleep but you knew you needed to take a break. Your hand was throbbing from clutching your gun the entire night. You stood up from your post in front of the door and gathered your small bag of items. Stepping into the tiny shitty bathroom you splashed water on your face and caught a glimpse of your reflection. Dark eyebags, perfectly braided hair, a bruise under your eye from the fucker who tried to steal your gas pump. Thoughts of Emily lying on your couch, watching Pulp Fiction made you feel a little comfort. You knew you would never see her again and it made your heart feel so heavy. Shaking away thoughts of what could have been with Emily, and the stolen thoughts across the bullpen. You grabbed your bag, tucked your gun into your waistband, and walked out into the morning sun. You walked into the office and dropped the cash needed for your stay on the counter. "Good morning Ms. Jones, how did you sleep?" The sweet old lady who owned the place asked. "Good, much-needed rest from driving. Thank you for the sandwich last night, my stomach was screaming at me." The owner nodded, "Of course hon, you looked like you needed some sunshine in your day." You have no idea. "Do you have any maps? Mine got soaked last night." She nodded and slid one across the counter. "Have a good drive." You smiled, a seemingly sweet old lady running a motel all alone? She was a badass and you knew it. You did a quick, good scan of your car looking for any signs of tampering before entering. San Francisco was going to be torn to pieces if that's what it took for you to find him. His words repeated in your head over and over, "If I will kill 5 people for every one of our men you killed. You will be last."
In San Francisco, the team was split into two. One team focused on finding you, the other on solving the current case. You walking out had to do with this case, if they would figure it out they could figure out where you were. Emily's nails were in rough shape, she was worried sick over you. She knows where your head is, she knows how dark that place is. She knows the fear and the numbness that comes with running. She had no idea what you did for work before the BAU, it hadn't come up. You've heard of her past, how she left the team. You were her replacement, you saw the damage it did. "How could you do this to them after seeing that?" She thought. "Hey Prentiss, we got something." Derek popped his head into the office where Emily was fixated on your phone records. She stood up from her chair, smoothed out her shirt, and followed Morgan. "Hi Em." Garcia spoke up from the phone, Emily smiled, "Hi Pen." Penelope needed to hear her voice. Pen was the only one to notice how you two disappeared one night during dinner. Bombarding you both with questions the day after. You both maintained that you felt sick and Emily came to help you. "So after fist fighting the United States government I got Y/L/N's record unsealed. We know this case wraps around her. Before she came to the BAU she worked as an undercover OP for the National Counterterrorism Center. Specifically, she led a mission on a domestic terrorism cell that was building up to a big event." Everyone in the room took a deep breath, this was all bringing up old wounds. All eyes turned to Emily and JJ, they knew most about this. JJ spoke up, "Pen send us every single file you have and look for any spottings of the cell she was after." Penelope sighed sadly, "That's the thing. Y/N took all of them out on her own. Her cover was blown in the middle of their hub and she had to fire her way out. The only survivor is paralyzed." Hotch interjected, "Who is it? He's training someone to get his revenge and Y/N is at the top of the list. This cell didn't disband, this person rebuilt it." An officer stepped into the conference room, "We've got 5 more bodies."
Your heart pounded in your chest as you crossed over the bridge into San Fran. You knew he was here, you knew he had men. The sun beaming into your eyes as the sunset. You drove until you found an apartment for rent in the heart of the city, apartments were always checked last by Henry. "1 bedroom, 1 bath, $500 a month" Perfect. You called the number and told him you would pay the first 2 months in cash today. He met you out front in under an hour and gave you the key. You shook his hand and then bang. A shot rang out as the man hit the ground. You immediately took cover behind a car, drawing your gun. Fuck, there goes my apartment. You returned fire in the general direction until the shots stopped. You stayed behind the car until you felt it was clear. Running to your car and speeding off, leaving your $1000 on the sidewalk. You weren't even scared, you just felt rage. These were innocent people he was killing instead of coming for you. Why not come to DC and take you out? Why cause a scene? Then you remembered how the now deceased boss, Mateo had a thing for the dramatics. Your burned phone rang, "Jones." Your voice is stern.
"It's me Y/L/N. I have an update for you." Your handler spoke on the other end of the phone. "What's up?" He sighed, which was never good with him. "Henry's son was the one who called in the bodies, he knew that many would get your team there. Henry wants your team. This is all a trap for you and them." You came to a hard stop, pulling a sharp U-turn booking it to the station. "Heard that." The anger in your voice is apparent. "Y/N, do not do something stupid. You need to get out of there." You scoffed, "And leave my team in this trap alone? This is ending now. He can come for me, but my team is over the line." You hung up, throwing your phone onto the passenger seat. Anger ran hot in your veins. You were going to kill him tonight.
Hotch was standing there with Emily just waiting for something to click. They knew who was in charge, but they had no idea where to even look for him. Emily was growing impatient, "I'm going to get some air." She slammed the file down, storming outside. The night air felt like the first air she'd ever breathed. There was no smell of burnt coffee, cop sweat, and old takeout. She sat on the steps of the station looking at the lights of the city. She knew you spent some time here, but had no idea it was for work. Let alone that you were calling the shots on who died and who didn't. It made her feel so horrible to know you have carried around that guilt for so long, in silence. She understood why you couldn't say anything but it didn't make it hurts any less. Across the street, she saw a food stand called Mateos. She wandered over there to get a snack and clear her head. She couldn't think straight. She was so worried about if you were safe and thoughts of Ian danced through her head. As she stepped up to order she caught a glimpse of someone who looked like you discarding their food and shuffling away silently. "Y/N? Is that you?" You ignored her, quickening your pace. You had to keep your distance or they would take her out. She started running at you, and you could hear her pace pick up so you ran at a fence, scaling it in under 2 seconds and disappearing behind it. Emily came to a stop at the fence, knowing you were long gone. "Y/n please come back. We can help. Please." A tear slipped from her eye. That was probably the last time she would see you and she knew it. As you turned the corner your breath was out of control. That was too close.
Bang.
You and Emily both drew your guns. You ducked behind a dumpster, but the bullets were coming from the other direction, a second shot rang out and hit you in your shoulder. "Fuck!" You screamed out, taking off on foot and down the street. Emily heard you yell and started running around looking for a way to you. She eventually climbed over the fence and found blood splattered on the side of the dumpster. Gun still drawn she called Derek, "Derek I just saw her, she's been shot. She took off again. She was right across the street." Derek called the others and ran out the door and to Emily. The team stood in that alley brainstorming for almost an hour.
Across town, you were stitching yourself up in a Chinese restaurant bathroom. The restaurant was closed, but you've picked many locks in your days. You winced as you wrapped a bandage you stole from CVS around your makeshift stitches. You knew they would probably reject but it wouldn’t be lone before you could get real medical attention. If you took out Henry the whole team would fall apart. After cleaning up after yourself you sat at a table in the dark restaurant using the street lamps outside to look at the files from when you completed the mission. He was somewhere in the city, and most importantly close to the station. You knew that he would want to be close to the team to taunt you. In the station the team had come to the same conclusion, Morgans phone rang. “Tell me something good babygirl.” Garcia piped off, “324 5th Street, there was an alert to a security guards phone about movement in the building. I pulled the footage, it was tampered with but our girl is there and so is Henry.” The team immediately went into gear. Emily streamlining to the cars, she was not going to let what happened to her, happen to you.
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0aurelion-sol0 · 1 year
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I don't usually post about One Piece (even if I would love to post about it more) but One Piece lately has been nothing but incredible & this latest chapter has reinforced that thought I had about this arc since it started...
...but the reason this time is different from seeing characters you haven't seen in years enter the action or taking the front stage in the story over the Straw Hats.
It's about this panel.
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One Piece has never really been a scary manga, it has never scared me before until this panel. It is just terrifying to look at... We had great villains in OP before & for many different reasons but there hasn't been one villain (at least for me) that has been frightening just by the thought or sight of their mere presence like Im has. We know that they are the king of the world at this point, that is terrifying on it's own but that's not just what is terrifying here even if it still factors in the fear aspect of that panel.
No, what is terrifying here is that they look like a literal predator here, their eyes watching you (which are also very creepy looking), ready to strike at any point. Im unlike other villains so far, even the more powerful or serious ones in the series, means business, but like ACTUAL business. Like we had examples of what they are capable of, like what they did with Lulusia, they are deadly & you understand that very well. They want to stay in power & will go to any length possible to stay in that power. They even feel different from the Five Elders who are already threatening in their own way, Im doesn't look like they would make as much compromise or show mercy as the Five Elders could. They feel like a true threat in the story.
& the fact Im looks like a living shadow also plays in that aspect that they are untouchable and you can't quite get what they are. Are they even human or some other race or being in One Piece that we currently know ? It's just impossible to know because there is really no features from that character that can give us a hint about what they are. Almost supernatural in a way, and I don't mean that in a good way.
Im just gives me the creeps & you know the story is getting serious when they appear at some point in the story. & the fact we know Cobra died (which we know Im is definitely behind it now) yet I can still get frightened by their presence speaks level about Oda's talent as a storyteller.
Edit: To add to what I said:
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The fact that some of the gards in the Pangaea Castle dissapear, clearly because of Im & in whatever room they were at the beginning of the Reverie, adds to the walking mystery aspect about them. No one apart from a very few people know about their existence or some people are straight up thinking it's a legend & all of it is not real. They are even a threat to their own allies or people serving under them.
Im has been there looming all over the story since the beginning, & the first hints of their existence was during the Dressrosra arc when Doflamingo was talking about the secrets he knew about the World Government. But there's probably other hints that Oda putted out there that we haven't even noticed yet... It lets you know how much influence they have on the story & how big of a deal they really are to be prepared for that long and for so many years by Oda.
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