#anyway i am FASCINATED by that handshake | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

princessbrunette · 2 months

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one thing about kook!pope, he’s a know-it-all — and if that’s not enough, he’s also nosy.

he’d developed an interest in you from seeing you around. quiet, reserved, sweet above all. when seeing you talking away to notorious fratboy, rafe cameron at a party — pope decided now was a better time than ever to break the streak of simply watching you from afar.

his voice appeared from behind you after what seemed to be a solid minute of watching you stare at rafe, waiting for him to give you some kind of attention from across the room. he doesn’t, continuing to shotgun beer and spill it obnoxiously on the floor solving all mysteries of why frat party floors were always sticky. “rafe cameron is a bad pick for you.” its said so matter-of-factly that it shocks you out of your trance, whipping round with wide eyes to look at where it came from.

pope stands there, arms crossed over his chest almost smugly, staring you down with a small smile. you knew of him, infact he always kind of fascinated you. total academic weapon, yet in with the cool crowd and his attitude definitely reflected this. he had to be so smart that he knew how to masquerade, you’d decided in fleeting thought.

“excuse me?” is all you manage and he takes a sip of his drink, slowly wandering round to stand at your side, the two of you observing the party. he swallows the bitter beverage with a squint, scratching above his top lip as he turns to you.

“rafe. you were talking to him. that guy will chew you up and spit you out, you know that right?” he speaks and you blink at him once more. you want to be offended at his audacity to comment on your choices but you’re too intrigued to step away.

“what makes you say that?”

he inhales slowly as he stares at the blonde boy — the two of you going totally unnoticed side by side like a pair of ghosts, pope playing wallflower with you just for a moment. “because he thinks it’s cool to do that. i mean, look at him. does he look respectful in the slightest? i’m only offering my two cents because i think you could do better.”

you’re confused, but flattered and your lip curls up just a tad. “yeah?” you ask unsurely. it felt nice to be seen. “how’d you figure? you don’t know me.”

“don’t i?” hes quick to respond with a smirk, like the mystery was exciting to him. “you were invited to this party, and if you haven’t already noticed i kind of know everyone. i’ve seen you in the library. you’re a hard worker. i can tell by the way you’re able to ignore everyone around you to get your head down to work that you’ll go places.” he praises, and you’re hooked, staring up at him for more. he turns his body to rafe, gesturing out to him with an arm. “rafe? not so much. he’s flunking every class, rumour has it he’s close to dropping out, daddy issues, coke problem, doesn’t tip waiters and he doesn’t go down on girls.”

the last sentence shocks you, but what shocks you more is the speed at which “do you?” flies out your mouth before you can stop it. your eyes widen, and he looks at you and chuckles — but not in a mean way. “wouldn’t you like to know?” he beats around the answer as he finally turns his fully body to you.

“pope heyward. am i making any sense at all with this whole warning thing?” he holds a hand out for you to shake and you smile. it’s been a long time since someone’s offered you a handshake, and from his slightly dorkish cadence this was the final nail in the coffin to prove your own theory in that he had to be the biggest nerd in high school.

“yes.” you nod jerkily as you grasp his hand and shake it before telling him your own name.

“nice, i like that.” he compliments before a group of guys begin to call his name, hollering something about beer pong. he laughs, before turning his attention back to you. “think about what i said. don’t go with an asshole like him, trust me it’s bad news. you’re way better than that. anyway, it was nice to meet you.” you don’t realise he’s still grasping your hand until he brings your knuckles to his lips and presses a parting kiss there— hand lingering on yours for a moment and letting go, taking a step past you to greet his friends.

as he leaves, he turns back to you — now standing at your other side. “oh, and to answer your question — yes. i do go down on girls. i think men who don’t should be castrated.” he speaks so simply, before just like that he’s disappeared into a sea of bro’s, a fresh drink thrusted into his palm.

rafe was staring over the crowd to check on you now, to see if you were still fawning over him. however, your eyes were on someone else now — still watching the back of popes head as the smile lingered on your face, fingertips ghosting over your knuckles where he kissed you.

#pope heyward prompt #kook!pope

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fritzes · 1 month

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oh shit i just realized you meant for us to ask about specific topics BYEE... anyways i would love it if you could talk about fritzfoe because i love them even though i regretfully don't know much about them :)

what if we played each other at a grand slam... and even though I lost I helped you up off the ground... and we hugged like this...

I'm so insane about them, the way frances is constantly poking fun at taylor (but very good-naturedly) and taylor seems so comfortable with it and like... this is taylor fritz! he's never comfortable! but with frances he always seems to be, how am I supposed to be normal about them. that video of them on the bikes at the laver cup is truly one of my favorite things that exists, they just know each other so well. in literally every photo of the two of them one of them is gazing at the other one so softly and fondly

oh my god val I am on my knees thanking you because this ask led me to find this article and now I am absolutely losing my shit. oh my god. "it's always something" "no less important" !!!!!!!

anyways. their dynamic is so fascinating to me. because frances is so outgoing and taylor is so shy but! when they talk about how it feels to face a friend on court taylor is very much like "it's hard to play against someone you like" while frances is more "friendships disappear on the court" AND YET after taylor beat frances in the tokyo final, frances was fully grinning during their handshake and while taylor looked upset to have won

you would NEVER be able to guess who had just won the match if you didn't know the context

in short, their dynamic and relationship is absolutely fascinating to me and I need them to play a match again, it's been too long

#this was so fun thank you #taylor fritz #frances tiafoe #fritzfoe #asks

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rose-riot-johnson · 1 year

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Hey Tumblr Peeps😃👍When I 1st started watching My Hero Academia, in 1 hand there were characters I'm keen on and/or fascinated with, while in the other hand either I am (or was) just neutral with certain characters or it just took me time for them to grow on me or maybe both even if they did fascinate me (don't worry I'm saying it as a good thing😅)😃👍However, in this case, with this My Hero Academia character I'm writing about, I did became fascinated with him, while I guess, I kinda masked my fascination for him without knowing it, then I basically realized recently I did unconsciously repressed that I have been fascinated with him for sometime...🤔😅Anyways it's time to write about him now🐋

Why He Thinks You're Beautiful (Kugo Sakamata, aka Gang Orca x Any Gender Reader)

Genres: Some Fluff, Light Hearted, Cuddles and Snuggles (In The End), Just The Mentioning Of Alcohol Warning (unless reader picks otherwise) ⚠️ (reader gets the option to pick non-alcoholic if reader chooses, if reader chooses to stick with alcohol then the reader can do so as well)

When you first became a pro hero, you decided to go on your first mission, which involved defeating a villain, who turned out to be (any villain of the reader's choice). You did have a little trouble fighting this villain, however you managed to defeat him/her/them after (s)he/they underestimated you. (S)he/they was wrong to even think that you're less capable, than you actually are, which definitely backfired on him/her/them.

The next day, you realized you defeating (any villain of the reader's choice) made it in the headlines of the news and it even became one of the most talked about things on the internet. Even when you were in the grocery store, all you can overhear everyone talk about is how heroic you are. There were even people who noticed you in the grocery store who want to chat with you and at times ask for an autograph. You basically become (accidentally) famous. As much as you enjoyed the fame and all, you didn't expect to be this famous that fast.

The next thing you know, you heard a voice saying, "So you must be, (Any Gender Reader Name). In this case congratulations on your battle against, (any villain of the reader's choice)", then you turned around and saw Gang Orca, as he continued, "Here. Let me introduce myself. My real name is Kugo Sakamata, however you can call me, Gang Orca. Nice to meet you.", as he offered you a handshake. You blushed from just looking at him, as you were shaking his hand, then you said, "Nice you meet you meet you too...Um... Mr. Orca... Sir...". While managing to hide his smirk (his hero gear (or suit) obviously, as part of it is his mask), as he goes, "I didn't mean to scare or make you nervous or anything. I just think you make a fine pro hero.", as he unconsciously flirted without showing, while he consciously is testing you, to see what you would say. You felt bad as you said, "Oh no. I wasn't scared or nervous or anything...I was just surprised...That's all...", as you unconsciously tried repressing you're blushing from just the sight of, Gang Orca. He's easy on you with your blushing, since he knows instantly that you are unconsciously masking the fact that you're atleast fascinated with him.

He then decided to ask you to meet him at a nightclub for later that night, so you accepted his invite, because (you letted him know that) you enjoyed the nightclub he asked you to meet him at and you somehow unconsciously liked him alot (without knowing this), even tough you were unconsciously were repressing that type of fascination for Gang Orca. Then after you accepted his offer, plenty of your fans came to you to meet you and stuff, while some of them are pro heroes themselves. That's when Orca told you, "See you later tonight then, (Any Gender Reader Name), then he winked at you (you didn't realize his winking meant a gentle flirtatious, thank you), as he found it cute seeing more of your new found fame, then left the isle to get himself cashed out before leaving the grocery store. Tough, wheather you have fame or no fame, he would be happy for you either way.

Later that night you went inside the nightclub you enjoyed, so much, which Gang Orca asked out to meet him there, then a few minutes later, he went inside the nightclub. You basically eyed at him, unconsciously, in a blushingly way. Gang Orca noticed you were unconsciously getting your enjoyment out of starring at him, in a like, like crushing fashion, so he decided to ask catching you off guard with a smirk on his face, "So, (Any Gender Reader Name). What do you think of my suit that I'm currently wearing tonight?", to test to see what you would say. "Well... Orca... Sir... You look... Really nice... In that suit of yours...", you answered not realizing you're blushing. He went to the barstool part of the nightclub, while he's motioning you to join him.

"Okay, (Any Gender Reader Name). Here's the thing. I'm willing to buy you a drink, if you like. Obviously you're allowed to pick alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, so any beverage you like, considering I'm not crazy about booze much, however there's a catch on my end. Any drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, I will be picking the same exact drink out for me regardless of what drink you pick. So, I will obviously be drinking whatever you pick and I will still be paying for the drinks obviously.", Gang Orca mentioned, as he's letting you have all the options, you decided to pick the beverage of your choice, as he picked out the same for himself exact drink, as you picked for yourself. As time went by, you heard a song you have heard in the late 2000's that ended up (somehow) reminding you of, Gang Orca, the next thing you did was blush alot more than you did earlier today, then Gang Orca basically offered for you to dance with him (Reader gets choice on, if (s)he/they decide to dance or not. Either way he will still hang out with the reader either way and let's the reader decide), while you and Orca enjoyed the song that was playing at the time. He offered to take you to the hotel, which you accepted his invite as well.

So, after you and Gang Orca, finished your drinks (which he had the same exact drink you did), the both of you left the nightclub and since the hotel isn't far away from the nightclub at all, Gang Orca decided to carry you in his arms, as gentleman like, as possible. You were also surprisingly, comfortable being carried in both of his arms. Gang Orca noticed that look on your face, as your comfort delighted him alot. On your way and Gang Orca's way to the hotel, as he was carrying you he did talk to you alot.

"As you can see (Any Gender Reader), I really liked you alot, not because of you being famous from defeating (any villain of the reader's choice) yesterday and not just your looks. I'm not stalking you or anything, I promise on my life on this, however I should make myself clear that, eversince I first saw you in the grocery store earlier today, I have been watching you whenever I'm around you, your facial expressions, your blushes, you unconsciously being fascinated with me, your unconscious repression of your unconscious crush on me, you name it. I just find everything I noticed about you so cute.", Gang Orca said confessing how he felt, as you gave him a confused look on your face. Gang Orca continued his confession, as he said smiling, "You don't fully get it, I take it, (Any Gender Reader Name). I know we only met earlier today and earlier in the nightclub earlier tonight, however I just know there's something about your personality that I really love, so damn, much about you. I just can tell there's something about you that's just, so damn, amazing. And since I'm instantly in love with you, that's I ask before I plan and I let you have options of choices for what you decide on. You're not just cute, however because of your personality, I honestly think you're just, so damn beautiful, that I will not tolerate anyone saying one bad thing about you". You have began to realize what he meant and that made you very happy to hear all this now.

After you and Gang Orca got to the hotel (as he got finished carrying you, as well), you and Orca managed to book the same room, where the both of you will also be able to spend the night in the same hotel room as well. After you and Orca made it in the shared hotel room, as it turned out Orca definitely had been planning some surprises to spoil you with, after all. He spoiled you a few things that you might like and he even spoiled you with lots of nice clothing that might be to your liking. From what you're understanding about the clothes he got for you he seems to have great taste, when it comes to clothes.

Then he said, "I want to makesure you're not trying to be a "yes" person, when I ask you this, so be honest with me when I ask you this question, and be sure about this as well, (Any Gender Reader Name). I want to makesure I'm not pushing you into anything you don't want to do". The next thing he did was he asked, "So (Any Gender Reader Name), would you like to be my significant other.", then, he continued, "If it's a yes, then I would be happy. However if it a no, then we can be just as friends as well. I want you to makesure whatever you decide is something you want to do.". You thought carefully about it, then after you finish thinking about what Gang Orca asked you, you have made your final decision pertaining his question.

"Gang Orca, I have been thinking about what you asked me, and I also have been thinking about everything that happened today, especially all the times I have been around and every second of even seeing your face, every second of knowing you more, even with your personality, as well. For me, in your case Orca, it's not about your looks or what you spoil me with, it's actually about what's on the inside of you that's really won me over, infact you're the most thoughtful being who ever roamed the Earth. You're very thoughtful of me.", you explained to Gang Orca. Then you continued, "So, my honest answer is... Definitely yes, I will become your significant other, because just as much as you've proven in just one whole day and one whole night that you truly love me, I want to prove how much I love you as well, despite of the fact you see my love for you through me, before I did see that with myself. And, yes. I am sure I want to do this.". From hearing your reason on why you said, yes to, Gang Orca, he was surprised and more than happy hear about everything you just said.

After you and Orca finished your conversation with him, you decided to get changed into some pajamas that Gang Orca, bought for you (with the other clothes he got for you) inside the bathroom. The pajamas he got for you are (the description of the pajamas is for the reader's imagination, so ofcourse it will be the pajamas of the reader's choice), and these pajamas are becoming you favorite pajamas ever. Once you finished changing into your favorite pajamas, you noticed, Gang Orca has just got done getting into his night clothes, while his neck was uncovered. He definitely looked different without his suit covering his neck, while he was a little embarrassed that you immediately saw his uncovered neck, however you assured him that he's still handsome and that he's still the same Gang Orca, who you said yes to.

When you and Gang Orca finally decided to lay in the shared hotel bed to eventually sleep in, you both snuggled, cuddled, chatted, (and anything else to the reader's imagination, if the reader chooses to (optional). Otherwise,...), etc... A couple hours has passed where both you and Orca feel asleep, while holding eachother in the shared hotel bed. Next morning you and Gang Orca woke up next to each other, as it seems in one day and one night that the both of you have chemistry, are compatible, and are comfortable with eachother, also as if it felt like eternity in a good way.

The End

Anyways my Tumblr Peeps, I hope you enjoyed this fanfic with non other than, Gang Orca in this same fanfic🐋Aside from the unconscious repression of my fascination for Gang Orca a while ago, I'm not really sure why I didn't write about him earlier, honestly. I did put some thought for this fanfic, including the name for this fanfic. The previous fanfic I did worked on I did accidentally forgot to name, which not naming my fanfics is very unlike of me to do, so I'm trying to avoid not naming my fanfics😅Back to talking about this Gang Orca fanfic, just incase, if I'm a little off topic... Anyways, aside from stopping the unconscious repression once I started to realized what was I unconsciously masking the fascination I have for him character wise, there were plenty of things aside from wanting the readers to have options with certain parts of this fanfic that brought inspiration (which this fanfic is no exception), there was 1 of the songs from the late 2000's (I think 2009, however I'm not 💯% sure, just incase of an accidental exaggeration😅) and listening to this particular song from that part of the decade quite often, recently and this particular song really had me decide on how I feel might fit this fanfic some, plus I figured this song might be part of Gang Orca's taste in music😃👍As for the clothing...🤔 Aside from him having good taste in clothing (my positive opinion), considering every1 has different taste in clothing including pajamas, I decided if I put pajamas as part of this fanfic I rather the reader decide to their imagination on pajamas of their choice, out of consideration that every1 had different preferences pertaining pajamas. My point is that, I feel it's more fun for the reader to get options on certain parts of the story, than for me to choose everything for the reader without letting them have the option. So I do plan on letting reader get options to their imagination in certain parts a little more often in future fanfics when writing them. Hopefully this Gang Orca, fanfic makes your day and/or night, my Tumblr Peeps🐋😃👍

#gang orca #gang orca x reader #mha x y/n #kugo sakamata #kugo x reader #mha

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ruegarding · 3 months

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(hi this is aroaceleovaldez it's a sideblog so i cant send asks from it hrg) a.) always love seeing your tags on my posts lol you have very good opinions [handshake emoji] b.) i'll be honest i wasn't even thinking about the awful pjo wwii stuff when i made that post i was thinking about the new, *different* antisemitism from TOA. of which there is. even more somehow. 😬 also fun fact Rick saying Reyna is allo-ace-coded on twitter might have actually semi been directly because of me, because he said that within like 2 hours and 2 tweets of replying to an open letter i wrote where i literally said that the way he wrote Reyna in Tyrant's Tomb falls into aphobic tropes and Isn't Great. despite replying to it i dont think he actually read it, lol. he then almost immediately left twitter for like 4 years and he also has since deleted his reply. fascinating stuff, truly.

anyways please excuse me digging through your hazel tag cause i am constantly dying trying to find hazel-focused fanart and you have one of the few good hazel tags i've been able to find. picture me scurrying away like some sort of small creature here.

hi thank u!! i appreciate your posts abt disabilities/ableism especially bc it's such an integral part of the story and a lens that gets lost despite that

i'll be honest, i haven't read toa (only short snippets when i want to see a specific scene), so i just read this article abt it, and it's frustrating that almost every example of diversity rick includes is riddled w harmful stereotypes. like, google is right there to help you avoid at least some! (psa to anyone else reading this, google "harmful [x] stereotypes" before making a character you're unfamiliar with!) the wwii stuff...rereading the series again like two years ago shocked me bc i had completely erased the entire plotline from my memory as a kid. some of these choices have me questioning the editors at the time, bc there were definitely things an editor should've pointed out if they were reading the full text.

your power! lmao but that behavior is exactly what makes it so difficult to give rick real feedback. i know some fans claim the older fandom is too cynical, but if we've been trying to give the same advice for years it's going to get old fast. every good change is accompanied by something else (especially noticeable in how percy is treated), so it always feels double-edged. but i'm glad you said this actually bc i didn't know he specified allo-ace! i had assumed he said aro-ace, but that actually makes the way ppl behave abt lesbians identifying w reyna more alarming...regardless i'm glad he's including ace rep bc it's rare, but the way reyna and the hunters were handled is...confusing at best.

please enjoy! i love hazel sm and i recently just went thru someone else's blog and queued a bunch of posts in a very similar fashion lol

#yeah i'm a fraud i haven't finished boo and the only thing past boo i've read is cotg #and that's bc it's short and i got it for free thank u elías :3 #also i didn't know rick left twitter for four years that is so funny LMAO #i can't imagine being on twitter as someone famous tho i get stressed enough w this blog #anyway it is very frustrating when aro/ace identities get erased in favor of shipping so i definitely understand why ppl are #so defensive over reyna/the hunters but. still not a great situation here #ending this now bc i'm rambling #rr crit #answered

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blackjack-15 · 5 months

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it is Late i am making it through i swear 15 min left approx let's do thissss

ebra's struggling but tina's there for him!! you've got this baby!!

"can i ask you something, and you can tell me to f//k off?" "kay?" the hesitency he's got, her openness, the way he's standing in the shadow of her writing on the whiteboard and she's in his??

most importantly, the way the words turn purple between them? i was making an innuendo but i EFFING CALLED IT ANYWAY

she's so defensive about wanting a star and i think she's expecting him to dissuade her? but i think he's actually just trying to make sure it's what she wants

"you're gonna have to care about everything. more than anything." he knows the cost, he's gonna tell her the cost, but if she really wants it, he'll do what he can to get her that star

and her sharing about her catering business! and him smiling when she says "and you know me, i'm like yeah, let's go!" he does know her; at no point would syd have said no

"i spooned that shit over king's hawaiian rolls" "sounds delicious" "it wasn't bad" this is really cute honestly

and he's asking about her moving in with her dad!! he's curious!! he's invested!! i'm dying!!

"that's why i moved in with my dad" "oh shit! that was the one!" "that was the one" THEY'RE FLIRTING I'M NOT OKAY they're flirty and smiling and this is really cute it cannot go on

"least you can rely on him" yup carmy's got no father to speak of -- closest would probably be Mikey, maybe a bit of Cicero, bit of Richie?

"is your mom cool?" THE ILLUSIVE MOM. I NEED MORE.

oh that non answer. something's up, her mum's not there right now, or she's sick too, or something, something's wrong here

and he doesn't push

oh it's so bad XD the food is so bad! that's not signifying that their partnership isn't at its final point yet or anything! that would be crazy! it's random stuff in TV happens for no reason right?? right??

the 'sorry' sign!! oh that's lovely that 1) it happened in his kitchen and 2) he internalized it enough to use it! also him apologizing for syd thinking she hurt him -- what a fascinating spot for it to come out, really speaks to carmy's psyche huh

and she does it right back. these two are stupid cute

and he was gonna ask about her dad again before she comes up with the grape thing. carmy honey curiosity is a facet of love, you know that right babe?

"that's something" "it's something" and the handshake i just like 1) speaking their own language again!! and 2) more casual touching for no real reason huh?? i see you two

#the bear #liveblogging #2X02 #syd x carmy #i'm queueing the rest of these my best friend is almost home so i'll prolly talk to her and go to bed after but #i'm finishing this episode i'm doing it #this is stupid cute i'm so happy now where's the other shoe

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hummingbird-of-light · 3 months

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In Our Favor

Part 93

McCoy

“Jim alright?” McCoy asked as Scotty joined him in the lobby of the dorm. He held open the door, and reached for Scotty’s fingers as he passed.

“Aye,” Scotty said with a squeeze of his hand. “He read Sam’s letter,” he said quietly.

“Oh,” McCoy said. “He ok about that?”

“He’s got some conflicted feelings on it.”

“I can only imagine. Too bad the Hammersley isn’t gone already. It’d be easier on Jim.”

It was not far from Spock and Jim’s dorm to their own and the short rest of the walk was spent in comfortable silence.

“What happened with Eugene?” Scotty asked finally when they were in their room.

McCoy gave a groan that turned into a laugh as he rubbed a hand over his face.

“He found out who I am.”

“Oh! He did? How’d that happen?” Scotty looked at him curiously as they got ready for bed.

“Chris.”

“What?”

McCoy flipped back the covers on the bed and got settled.

“She caught up with us after class and I introduced them. Anyway something about how much she knows came up and I said she’d saved Spock. After she left us Eugene asked what we’d meant.”

“Oh,” Scotty said, settling down next to McCoy and reaching for the light.

“He looked me up and found out. I knew he was going to when I left him this afternoon.”

“And ye’re still friends?”

McCoy nodded in the dark but he knew Scotty could feel the movement.

“He said he knew me, not Prince Leonard.” McCoy smiled happily at the recollection.

“He’s a smart man,” Scotty said.

“I was worried, but it turned out alright.”

McCoy walked into the botanical gardens and breathed deep. He could only imagine how they must smell in the spring when everything bloomed. Ms. Brandt from the San Francisco Chronicle had promised to meet where she had first run into him and Scotty and McCoy made his way there quickly.

McCoy was alone. He knew Scotty hadn’t wanted to give an interview and so McCoy had deliberately scheduled it when he would still be in a class. He also knew Scotty would have been there with him out of a sense of duty, but would have been uncomfortable the whole time. Plus with Aporal back to attending classes that day and their group project due in two days, Scotty had extra reasons to not be interviewed. McCoy was more than capable of handling it.

“Your highness!” Ms. Brandt greeted him as he came around a bend.

“Ms. Brandt, nice to see you,” he said politely and offered a handshake.

“Oh,” she said, peering around him. “Your husband isn’t joining us?”

“Scotty is still in class and has a project due soon,” he explained.

“Oh. Ok.”

McCoy saw the quick flash of disappointment in her eyes.

“You were more interested in him?” McCoy asked with good humor.

“No!I—” She blushed before seeing McCoy was teasing. “I had questions for him as well. My article might be shorter.”

“I’ll give longer answers then,” McCoy smiled.

Ms. Brandt appeared to collect her thoughts. “I was thinking we could just walk as we talked. If that’s alright?”

“I’ve been sitting in class all day,” McCoy said. “A walk would be lovely.”

“Are you enjoying Starfleet so far? It must be very different to be a cadet than to be an heir apparent,” Ms. Brandt asked as they began to walk.

McCoy thought for a moment before he answered. He still wasn’t quite sure if he was supposed to be giving interviews as a cadet or not.

“Yes, it’s very different. But there are some small similarities. Mostly it’s been nice to just be another face in a crowd. I follow the same rules and regulations as every other cadet. No allowances are made just because I am who I was born.”

“Have you decided on a track to follow?”

“Medical. I plan to be a doctor. The courses have all been fascinating so far. It’s exciting.”

“And your husband?” Ms. Brandt asked. “He’s enjoying Starfleet as well? What track is he taking?”

“Starfleet has been his dream since he was little,” McCoy said fondly. “He’s going to be an amazing engineer.”

Part 94

Scotty

"There we go. All finished," Scotty exclaimed happily as he added the last piece to their project. His chest filled with pride as he stared at the fantastic work his group had done.

"I'm sure we'll get the best grade for it!" Jaylah said, her eyes sparkling with joy as she looked at what they had achieved in relatively short time.

Keenser nodded in agreement while Aporal didn't say anything. He kept his brown eyes fixed on their project, tilting his head from side to side.

"What is it, Aporal?" Scotty asked. He could see that the Andorian still wasn't happy with how it had turned out.

"Oh, I was just thinking about a way to make it even better."

Jaylah groaned in annoyance. Even though she had been kinda worried about Aporal after she had seen him hurt, she still didn't like the way he behaved most of the time.

"It is perfect!"

Aporal glanced at her, then looked back at their project.

"Well, let me tell you something, ghost girl. Nothing is ever perfect. There's always something to improve."

Scotty could see Jaylah's teeth clench in anger. She hated the nickname Aporal had given her due to her pale skin and white hair.

"My name is Jaylah! And you have to call me by it!"

Aporal didn't even care to answer. He looked back at his PADD, scanning the blueprints with his eyes.

"How about you let me make some modifications and I show it to you tomorrow?" he eventually suggested.

"No way! Then you will say that it is your work alone!" Jaylah protested and Scotty knew that he needed to intervene.

"We still have time until Thursday. How about we stop working for today and talk it through tomorrow?"

Keenser nodded, obviously just wishing for the fight to stop. They had stayed at the classroom longer than everyone else and he just wanted to get to his room.

"Fine."

"Sure."

Even though Jaylah was still glaring at Aporal who only shrugged his shoulders, both of them were okay with Scotty's suggestion.

"Good, good. Well then... let's get some rest and we see each other tomorrow."

They all got up from the table they were sitting at and Scotty made his way over to their teacher's office to tell her that they were done and that the room could be locked.

Then he left for his room to start on some homework.

He had just finished a task when his comm bleeped. Hoping for it to be Leonard, Scotty quickly picked up his comm. He knew that his husband had scheduled the interview for that day on purpose so that Scotty couldn't join them. And he was quite grateful for it. He still hated being in the spotlight.

To his surprise the message wasn't from Leonard. No... it was from Aporal.

Scotty raised an eyebrow as he read the message asking him to meet up with Aporal in the Andorian's room.

His heart skipped a beat. Was something wrong? Had something happened?

The Scotsman quickly wrote back that he was on his way and then got going, after leaving a note for Leonard. He really hoped everything was okay.

"Hey, Scottish boy," Aporal greeted him as he arrived. It didn't look like he was in pain and Scotty sighed in relief. That was a good thing.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

Aporal only shrugged his shoulders, slowly crossing the room to sit down on his bed.

Scotty closed the door behind him as he got inside and took the chair.

"Can I ask you something?"

A frown crossed Scotty's face, yet still he nodded.

"Sure."

"Can you tell me something about ghost girl?"

The frown on Scotty's face only deepened as he heard that question. He chuckled insecurely.

"W-what?"

"I don't know. I think she's kinda cool. And she is very confident. So... what can you tell me about her?"

Scotty couldn't help the grin forming on his lips.

"Are ye telling me that ye're into Jaylah?!" he asked in disbelief.

Aporal only rolled his eyes.

"I'm not into her. I'd just like to get to know her better, understand her. She seems like a strong companion to have on your side."

Scotty blinked in confusion. What was Aporal trying to get at?

"Listen, I cannae just talk about my friends without their consent. Why don't ye just talk to her?"

"Because she doesn't seem to approve of me."

Scotty snorted.

"Well maybe ye shouldn't be so stuck-up around her? Be nice to her!"

Aporal raised an eyebrow.

"How?"

"Well, for one, ye could start by calling her Jaylah instead of ghost girl."

And so the talk began.

#star trek #montgomery scott #leonard mccoy #scones #au #in our favor

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xx-vergil-xx · 2 years

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I just need you to know that Hounds has both ruined and eternally bettered my life. I just finished a complete re-read started before the two most recent chapters and one set of the endless (hah) sets of imagery really stuck out to me.

It's the way you just so subtly paint Hob as the Sun and Dream as all the stars. Warm gold, summer, dawn and fundamentally human things against the great cold but shining awe of the universe. The way he's a self proclaimed 'one in ten thousand' any yet the axis around which the whole story (and by extent I'd argue half the fandom) rotates.

Sorry this is ramble-y - I could just genuinely write a dissertation on this fic alone. (And from one English/Literature student to another - fuck you for the hamlet quote at the end of ch31!)

hello!! ahh!! thank you so much!!! it's such an unbearable delight to know something I wrote inspires dissertation-levels of fascination, from one person who writes mad literary essays to another this is extremely high praise and thank you so very much <3 <3 <3

(how could I resist the hamlet it was right there like the futility of revenge motif I am not a strong woman I will pepper hamlet in for spice left and right I think abt the "how all occasions do inform against me" monologue GOD I love hamlet and I will abuse it forever)

you handshake me students of literature getting wild and crazy over imagery because YES yes yes yes it's so neat when like someone gets and also loves a motif just yes yes yeah!!!! the sun and the stars!!!! it's them!!!!

like. like and I also think SO much abt distance with that image?? like the sun is a single star very close, the galaxy many stars very far away, and like. how they are parts of each other and still distinct. hob is all immediacy, you know? he's the action of living he's the axis as u so aptly put it he is there and present and felt because his life is so sensory and so like, in the moment, in the flesh. and then there's dream, who is himself a composite of stars (he's a whole mishmash of human dreams and fears and loves and stories) but so removed from the experience of them –– he is so far from the actual, real burning, the temperature sensation, the sweat, even the reality and immediacy of the light. and how the universe is big and beautiful and very far away. and how maybe the empty space wants to feel warm, how maybe the star wants a darkness to illuminate.

I think so much about the sun and stars thing really being a symbol of how they are refractions of each other -- the patron of stories and the man who cultivates them like the most prized garden. imagine, imagine you're a being whose entire role is to generative and foster narrative, to always tell the story, and then you meet someone who tells you stories. imagine you are a human who lives forever accruing stories to tell that you can't –– who would believe you? –– and you meet someone who you can give all that to. like. my god.

anyways anyways I got in a Rant Headspace there but just, thank you so very much for your unbelievably kind words, I appreciate them so deeply <3 <3 <3 and thank you for dropping by :) <3

#hounds #vergil says hello #thanks for the ask friend it made my spirits soar #the sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #they are two corners of the same prism #two bolts of the same cloth #they are just #like my god neil gaiman you've done it again #you've wrought another unbearably wonderfully cosmically balanced immortal eldritch couple #like how does he do it #them. I love. them

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gasolineghuleh · 2 years

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trauma is amazing: not that it's good but the effects it can have are fascinating and strange.

i grew up in a pretty toxic home environment and i was banned from listening to metal as a child because it was "satanic" but i ended up listening to it anyway to block out the noise at home and i began to LOVE it. nowadays i can't be in loud and crowded spaces with PEOPLE because it's overwhelming but i can go to concerts and listen to loud music with almost no issues.

when i was 14 i watched someone get shot about 35/40 metres away from me, but it didn't shock me too much but i did end up desensitised to gore. what's odd is that loud bangs trigger me now, but actual bodily damage doesn't. i did grow up in a pretty rough area (and still live there now) but we'd never had a SHOOTING before so it was a whole new level.

(sorry if this was tmi i just wanted to share somewhere)

I... am going to slap a read more here for one of my examples because I am handshaking you.

I worked in autopsy for a while and I saw Some Shit. But I was walking home once and saw a convertible car scoot under a semi truck and shear the whole car clean in half like a cake... including the driver's head/skull. Perfect bisection. I did my civic duty and helped keep the scene safe for responders, but the only affect is left on me is a deep unease around red convertible cars.

But I definitely do react hard to loud booms like fireworks if I don't expect them. Sometimes Ghost's concussive blasts on stage will get me, so I kinda have the timing down for each song that they use them in so I don't flinch too hard and ruin people's show haha.

But yeah, trauma is a hell of a thing. There's a reason I avoid Twitter as well. Diagnosed CPTSD from it. Not going into that one.

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thewhitefluffyhat · 2 years

Text

Concluding Thoughts

Nona the Ninth liveblog complete! …Which also means I can’t put off writing my usual review-like thoughts post any longer.

And so: in the end, what did I think of this book?

Well. I’d say my personal ranking of the series goes something like HtN > GtN > NtN. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Nona!

Things I Liked

-Once again, Muir’s unique writing style is a highlight in and of itself - a wonderful blend of humor and horror that enhances both modes. As evident in the liveblog, I found this book just as much an engaging page-turner as the previous two. I was able to put it down, but only just barely, and only because I didn’t want the quality of my notes to suffer toward the end!

-While in hindsight I’d argue GtN’s strength was in its tighter plot and HtN’s in its ambitious structural experiments, NtN’s strength was in its worldbuilding. I’m hardly the first to make this observation, but the combination of Nona’s shameless love of life as a narrator as well as the more reality-adjacent setting of a non-Empire planet led to a book that feels tonally very different from the previous entries. In a series about death, Nona is a fascinating burst of life between the cracks. It’s jarring in many ways, but not wholly unwelcome.

-My favorite new addition to the cast was probably Hot Sauce. I was impressed with how well the narrative built her up as a figure to be respected (even in spite of her name)! And in the end, she really seems deserving of that respect. Kid’s barely hit double digits and she had the guts to try to attack the most powerful zombie in the universe! And even more importantly, the maturity to accept Nona anyway despite her suffering at the hands of the Nine Houses. I’m not sure I’d want Hot Sauce to make any future appearances (her plot ended on a nicely conclusive note), but I suspect her actions will have echoes even if she isn’t physically present to shape events.

-I’ll also call out the writing of the child characters in general. They reminded me - in a very good way - of how children are portrayed in the Discworld series. They felt realistic rather than pwecious, simpler in their concerns but not in a way that implied they’re stupid. And they managed to actually hold my attention, which is no mean feat given that I am very much not a kids person.

-My favorite of the returning cast was… ooh, this is a toughie. Pal and Cam were great as always, as were Gideon and Harrow in their brief appearances. However, in terms of the character I most enjoyed here, I think I have to give the crown to Ianthe! Really, she’s been on a roll ever since that ridiculous villain speech she gave near the end of GtN. I fully expected her to keep getting worse, and I was not disappointed. Her genre-savviness continues to be a delight, and the reveal that she’d somehow managed to become BFFs with Gideon might be my favorite moment in the book! Friendship bracelets and secret handshakes. My god.

-Speaking of God, and the subject of characters being entertainingly terrible: I thought the John backstory came together surprisingly well! An extended flashback to the modern world (or as close as this series will get to it) narrated in a rambling, self-justifying monologue doesn’t seem like it should work, but here it does. Despite the initial premise being absolutely stock - the environmental catastrophe, the uber-wealthy choosing to damn humanity so they could save their own skins, the looming threat of thermonuclear war - the addition of John’s burgeoning necromancy and the morbid hilarity of him acting like he just ~accidentally~ fell into founding a cult, you know, as you do - kept events fresh and interesting enough that I was never bored and never quite sure where this bizarre story was ultimately going until it ended.

And what an end! John Gaius is as awful as he is eerily believable.

Mixed Feelings

I feel really bad saying this, but I thought Nona as a character was… fine. Just fine. Despite the hype (or perhaps because of too much hype?), I didn’t especially love her. (I’m sorry!)

I guess I felt the same about her as I did with Isaac and Jeannemary. She’s a sweet kid who 100% deserved better. And I wasn’t particularly annoyed by the blindfold of naivete she placed over the story. Indeed, I thought her sincerity, confidence, and amusing quirks made her a very endearing narrator to read. And I thought the story-wide challenge of picking out the places where Alecto shone through her, or where I had to rely on my past knowledge of the series to understand what was going on made the book more fun and immersive rather than less.

But at the end of the day, Nona was blatantly around just to die tragically, and… I just didn’t really get attached. I wasn’t even especially sad when she died, the moment got kind of lost amid all the other zillion important things happening around her. And as much as I enjoyed the active analysis required to parse Nona’s narration, I suspect it may have had a subtle effect that made me engage with Nona as less of a person and more of a puzzle to dissect and solve.

(Would I have been more sympathetic to Nona if I’d been seeing her from an outside perspective? I can wonder, but I’ll never know.)

Also, I can guess at why Nona exists from a thematic/structural perspective - to endear the reader to Alecto while having Alecto experience love/forgiveness/death which will almost certainly be relevant later. But in-universe, the mechanics of Nona’s existence are utterly opaque, which doesn’t do her any favors in the emotional impact department. How and why did Alecto lose her memories in becoming Nona? Why does Alecto lack Nona’s memories and experiences when returning to being Alecto? These are the driving reasons behind Nona’s tragedy being a tragedy, and yet, even after finishing the book, I didn’t understand them. And it’s difficult to be affected by a tragedy that can’t even be clearly explained.

Like Nona, I also didn’t have any strong feelings either way about Paul. (I mean, aside from being thrilled to have more nonbinary representation in TLT, from that angle they’re awesome!) They seem cool and very competent. They’re a touching end to Cam and Pal’s characters. But they barely had any time to show off what makes their personality unique because the second they arrive, the plot kicks into high gear. I suspect Paul will probably grow on me once we see more of them in Alecto, but for now, I don’t really know what to make of them, if that makes sense?

I’ll be curious to see how they get used in fanfics. And that actually goes for Nona too! The circumstances that allow both characters to exist seem like they’d be hard to plug into the Modern/College AUs that are extremely popular in this fandom. They also don’t have one obvious pairing that springs to mind - you could argue for a lot of different ships, especially for Nona. As a result, I can’t see either of them making much of a dent compared to the oodles of Gideon and Harrow fics, but who knows?

Things I Didn’t Like

I’m almost tempted to leave this review wholly positive, just lop off this section and leave the top two. But that feels dishonest. The truth is that while I greatly enjoyed NtN in the moment-to-moment of my read, the more I think about it afterwards, the more I find aspects that give me pause.

-I mentioned in my Day Four comments that NtN feels in many ways like a retread of HtN’s structure. Except in NtN, the extra voice in Nona’s head is just another part of her, and the dream sections really do take place nonlinearly with no(?) relation to Nona’s unconsciousness. “What if the previous novel, but the twists are red herrings that go nowhere?” seems like an idea that probably looked great on paper, but it didn’t make for very compelling reveals in practice. It just invited comparisons to some of HtN’s standout moments, which can sometimes work, but here it only made me remember that I liked HtN more.

-GtN and HtN are very intimate stories of Gideon and Harrow’s relationship with a space war going on in the background. Nona is a story about a space war, with Gideon and Harrow’s relationship and even character development pushed to the background. This was something I fully expected, but in execution it was more disappointing than I had braced myself for nonetheless.

In particular, the tease in the Epilogue - Gideon and Harrow are both in the same room and then Harrow gets teleported out before they can even acknowledge each others’ presence - is edging right up against the specter of tedium. I’m used to initially convoluted narratives and slow burns that eventually do pay off in the long run. But for those already frustrated by the leads’ total separation in HtN, having to wade through another 500 pages of essentially the same thing only to end on another “better luck next time! ;P” …probably wasn’t very funny. It makes the series overall just a smidgeon more difficult to recommend without caveats.

-Compounding with the above “this was certainly A Choice, but I’m not convinced it was a good one,” NtN’s ending was… not an ending. There’s cliffhangers, and then there’s a lack of closure for basically anything or anyone. We don’t even get the ramifications of Nona being Alecto! Or Nona fully understanding what is happening to her! It felt like the book just abruptly stopped when the narrative finally felt like it was progressing after so long in stasis.

Obviously, a large reason for that can be chalked up to NtN’s origins as the first act of Alecto the Ninth, but it’s not a very encouraging pattern. In hindsight, I’d really only consider GtN to have a satisfying ending, one that genuinely feels like the conclusion of a character and plot arc (even if it is a wholly tragic conclusion). After that, I was willing to take HtN’s ambiguous, symbolism-overdosed ending on faith. But NtN repeating the same issue? That makes me just a little bit worried.

-Much like some of the other series I discussed on this blog, TLT demands more trust than usual from the reader given the loaded tropes and grueling events it plays with. And when that trust is deserved and the themes and the plot and the character arcs all tie themselves off with a bow, the result can be incredible. But sometimes that trust isn’t deserved. Sometimes the author just keeps writing emotional and narrative checks that their conclusion can’t cash. And as fans, we will follow them right up to the brink… only to realize too late that the story has fallen apart, and that the catharsis or satisfaction or even resolution that we all craved is nowhere to be found.

Whether the Locked Tomb series can end on a strong note was always going to make or break it, but after Nona, the series looks to be resting on Alecto (the Ninth)’s shoulders more than ever before.

Conclusion²

TL;DR: Nona the Ninth is a very good book, and one I’m very glad to have read. It has some delightful moments from both new and old characters alike. However, in my opinion, it doesn’t come together quite as neatly or pack quite the same emotional punch as the previous books in the series.

GtN left me intrigued. HtN left me inspired. NtN leaves me… indecisive. Do I trust this author and this series, or do I not?

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth #ntn spoilers #tlt analysis #my ramblings #my tlt stuff #read more #thoughts on ntn #anyway now to catch up on two weeks' worth of fandom analysis!#or just go read a bunch of fanfics #where everyone is alive and not suffering #...okay yeah after nona I think I'm in the mood for the latter first

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pebblysand · 2 years

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Hey pebbles hope you’re doing well! I have a quick question about Dudley in Castles. I know we don’t see him but the quick comment about him going to uni and Hestia telling Harry that people change makes me curious. Have you thought about how Dudley would have reacted to the article Harry sent? Or what he is doing with his life at university? I never know how to imagine how he in future processed that he grew up with what was essentially his brother being brutally abused and that he was involved with that. I’m not going to pretend I LIKE Dudley because I don’t but I am fascinated to see if he ever fully worked out the mess that was Harry’s childhood past a single handshake and an attempt to leave Harry tea outside his door. Anyways, thanks for all the hard work that goes into Castles! I absolutely adore it so so much. Cheers!

Heyy! thanks! i'm good, hope you are too :)

that's a very good question and one i can't answer, which i think already reveals the fact that yes, this was intentional, and i have plans for this. i actually had plans to address this sooner but this storyline had to take a backseat cause i already have too much plot going on right now lol. it'll fit very well in the later chapters though, so stay tuned :).

thanks for all your kind words. i really appreciate it ❤️

#asked and answered #castles

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shyshitter · 3 years

Text

yea so i wrote a ficlet for this post bc i couldn’t stop thinking about it. also this really went off the rails bc it has been a phat second since ive written anything so enjoy i guess

Abigail likes Jack Kline. He’s quiet and sweet and doesn’t ask questions when she sometimes doesn’t bring lunch; he just subtly slides over his apple and chips with a smile. Sure, he’s a little odd sometimes (like how he talks like a thesaurus or says hi to everyone in the hallways) but she doesn’t believe he deserves the way the other kids make fun of him behind his back. They whisper about his mysterious and sudden appearance, how he’s been picked up after school by three different men, and his odd fascination with religion. He’s not like the other christian kids who are always trying to recruit kids for their church; he just--really likes Jesus and talks about Him like he knows Him personally.

“My dad saved humanity,” he says constantly. “He’s died a few times but it’s never stuck. The most recent time was by nail but that was a misunderstanding.”

So he’s an odd kid and Abby knows it but she just doesn’t care. Her friends have accepted this but even they are still confused by Jack’s odd behavior. Her friend Martha has history with him and talks about him all the time.

“For the heritage project, he said his mother is dead and his father a son of God so he doesn’t have any ancestors to write about,” she says one day at lunch. “I think he thinks his biological father is Jesus Christ.”

It takes a while but Abby finally works up the courage to ask him about it. Jack’s in the middle of a story about how his dad was healing someone when she interrupts him.

“Do you think your dad is Jesus?”

Jack frowns and tilts his head in confusion. “No Jesus is my cousin. My father hates him but my da doesn’t really care about him.”

Jack has two dads?

“You have two dads?” she asks.

He pauses to think. “Technically I have four dads but my real father was killed by three of them because he was trying to take me to space.”

Abby’s head spins. “Your dads are murderers?”

“No, they’re hunters.”

“But you just said they killed your real father.”

Jack frowns again. “Yeah but my real father was the devil.”

Abby remembers a girl she met at camp who said the same thing about her dad. She later learned that the girl was taken by CPS and her father went to prison. Suddenly, images of Jack alone and scared in a group home flood her mind and she grabs his arm in alarm.

“Are you safe?” she asks desperately.

He just smiles and pats her arm. “Of course; he’s dead now.”

She shakes her head. “I mean are you safe with your dads now?”

His eyes light up like they always do when he talks about his family. “Of course! My dad was prophesied to save humanity and has, my da is an angel, and my pa is the leader of an army of hunters so I’m in good hands.”

By the time Abby’s processed this comment, Jack has already moved on to his favorite types of cars and the conversation is over.

She forgets about Jack’s crazy family situation until Spring Formal. Abby and her friends are standing in line for the photo booth when she sees Jack across the gym with a beautiful girl on his arm, both of them talking to a giant man with floppy brown hair. Without explaining, she leaves her friends to walk over and gets a better look at the three of them. The girl has long curly blonde hair that bounces when she laughs but her eyes are sharp and harsh, constantly scanning the room as if looking for threats. The man is wearing a white button-down with blue jeans and just smiles warmly as Jack talks animatedly to him. The man spots her as she approaches and for a moment, the warmth in his eyes is replaced by cold suspicion but as soon as Jack notices her and smiles, the man relaxes.

“Abby, this is my pa,” Jack says with a grin.

Jack’s ‘pa’ offers a hand and Abby shakes it. “Sam,” he says politely. “Jack talks about you a lot.”

“Yeah,” the girl cuts in. “I was wondering when I was gonna meet you.” Her eyes trail up and down Abby’s body distrustfully. “This punk never shuts up about you.”

Jack just keeps smiling. “This is my sister Claire,” he introduces. “She’s in college!”

Overwhelmed by the introductions, Abby just smiles and offers her hand to Claire as well. “It’s nice to meet you,” she says, relieved when Claire accepts the handshake.

“Have you met Dean and Cas yet?” Claire asks. “You’re not officially accepted by the family until Dean okayes you.”

Sam swats a scolding hand over Claire’s head. “Don’t scare her--my brother isn’t that bad.” He looks back at Abby with a smile. “Don’t let my niece worry you, Dean and Cas are gonna love you.”

Trying to do mental gymnastics in her head, Abby attempts to figure out how Sam is both Jack’s dad and Claire’s uncle while Jack and Claire are siblings. Dean and Cas are the other two fathers who killed Jack’s real dad and apparently Dean is also Sam’s brother.

She doesn’t finish her thought process before Jack is dragging Abby across the gym, leaving Sam and Claire.

“Dad, da,” he calls out over the music.

Abby tries to spot who responds to Jack’s call and notices two more giant men by the food table look up from their conversation. They’re even more intimidating than Sam and Claire. The taller man has broad shoulders and hard eyes like Claire and despite this being a formal dance, he’s wearing a green canvas jacket and jeans with holes in the knees. The shorter man is a tad more formal with his too-big suit and tan overcoat but he watches them approach with a blank face which is almost more threatening than the hostile look the other man has.

“Da, dad, this is my friend Abby,” Jack says as soon as they’re in earshot.

The taller man looks her up and down like Claire did earlier before nodding shortly. “Nice to finally put a face to the name,” he says gruffly. His voice is rough and low but not unkind so Abby relaxes slightly.

The other man smiles and it suits him much more than the blank look did. “It’s lovely to meet you, Abigail,” he says and holy shit his voice is even lower and gravilier than the other guy’s. “Jack speaks very highly of you.”

“Yeah, thanks to you he listens to shitty music,” the taller man gripes but Abby can tell it’s more teasing than genuinely upset.

“Dean,” the other man scolds as he nudges him. “Megan Thee Stallion is not shitty music.”

If the taller man is Dean, the other is Cas and as Abby watches them, she can see the resemblance between Dean and Sam in their sharp jaws and teasing smiles.

She turns to Jack. “You listen to Megan Thee Stallion?”

Jack nods excitedly. “You were humming her songs in English and I liked it.”

Cas leans in to Abby. “I’ve been trying to get him to branch out from 70s rock for ages but he never wanted to disappoint Dean so thank you for helping him.”

Abby nods, dazed. “Are you Jesus?” she blurts after failing to come up with a response.

Dean barks out a loud laugh and doesn’t stop until Cas swats him. Once Dean settles, Cas turns back to Abby with an embarrassed smile.

“That’s very flattering,” he says, “but no. I am simply Castiel. If anything, Dean shares more in common with the Messiah than I do.”

Instead of elaborating, Dean just snorts and humbly shakes his head. “Babe, we’ve talked about this--”

But before he can finish, Cha Cha Slide blasts through the speakers and the gym falls into pandemonium as all the students rush to the dance floor. Jack, confused but excited, grabs Abby’s hand and drags her over to join in, leaving Dean and Cas for the rest of the night.

Abby doesn’t consider herself a selfish person but even she has never thought so much about another person’s life than Jack’s. Her confusion keeps her up and night and prevents her from being fully present whenever she talks to Jack. She’s tried talking to her friends about it but even they have moved on from the enigma that is Jack Kline.

One month after the formal--after she met Jack’s family--she finally snaps. She’s at lunch with him in a cafe downtown and he’s telling her about how his brother Kevin is visiting from college and is teaching Jack how to talk to angels.

“What the fuck is wrong with your family,” she interrupts.

Jack stops talking and tilts his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You said you have four dads and one of them was murdered by the other three. Dean and Sam are brothers and Dean is with Cas. Claire is your sister but Sam is her uncle and your brother has a mom but none of you are related to her.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “You keep saying your dads saved the world and that they’ve died and come back. You said one of your dads was an angel and now your brother is teaching you how to talk to angels? Are you lying or are you just plain crazy?”

After the last sentence slips from her lips, she gasps and a cold dread fills her. Jack just stares, shocked at the outburst.

“You think I’m crazy?” he asked softly.

Abby feels a lump in her throat form. “No, no, no,” she babbles, “I didn’t mean that. I’m just confused that’s all.”

Jack brightens. “That’s ok, life is confusing. Anyways, I tried shawarma for the first time yesterday--like in the superhero movie!”

Abby sighs and let’s Jack rant about shawarma, resigned to the fact that she’ll never get a straight answer from this confounding boy and his unnatural family.

#jack calls sam pa!!!#also i included kevin bc fuck spn kevin lives #this is not a self-insert btw #i just wanted an outside pov #tw abuse #tw dean's death #tw poverty #ficlet #spn #spn fanfiction #ava rambles #fics #fic rec

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janetbrown711 · 3 years

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"its fine, really! I'm used to it...” “what you meant you’re used to it??” but yax

After careful and long hours of research, Yakko came to the conclusion that he at least admired Max.

He had only seen Max in person once, but there was just something magnetic about the far-away prince that intrigued and fascinated Yakko. So much so, that for the next month or so, Yakko dove headfirst into studying all he could about Max and his country. He tried to share the fascinating history and details with his younger siblings, but they clearly weren't as into it as he was. That didn't deter him though, he was determined to learn absolutely everything he possibly could- even going into Angelina's old private study for books.

It was weird not having her around to stop any of it. Was this what pure joy and excitement with no downsides was like? If so, Yakko really liked it.

Either way, he was ecstatic when his mother told him she was officially making plans to take him to Disneyland to see Max (and diplomatic stuff, but they both knew that wasn't the main reason). Upon hearing the news, he then hurried and changed his studies entirely into conversations and how to have them.

Upon his and Max's first encounter, Yakko realized he was terrible at conversations, but now Yakko swore he'd be better than good- he'd be a conversation master. He studied examples both fictional and non about advice and how royals interact with each other and conversations one was supposed to hold and he complied his notes into a handy notebook that could fit into his pocket in case he got into a tough spot mid conversation. After all- he'd probably be there for hours and hours- that's a long time to be entertaining.

So he poured himself into his studies for a week or so (time was really alluding his grasp as of late) and before he knew it, it was time for him to go. However, not before a weird reaction from Wakko he wasn't expecting... seriously, if anything, Yakko expected Wakko to be happy for him because that meant he wouldn't have to hear about Disneyland for awhile, but instead he got really accusatory. But his parents assured him that it was nothing and his mother went to comfort him while he prepared for his journey.

"That's a big notebook," Dot said, lurking by his door as he flipped through his notes for what must've been the millionth time this week.

"I have a lot to remember," Yakko said, putting it in his pocket.

"Why do you care so much?" Dot asked. Yakko blinked.

"I just... do? He's the first friend I've had... ever," He said, making her move so he could head out the room.

"But I thought me and Wakko-..." Dot didn't finish her sentence. Yakko stopped.

"Max is just... different. I can't explain it- I'm trying to understand, but he's really just... different. A good different," He tried his best to explain, but he knew it fell short.

"Oh... you must really like him?" Dot asked.

"I guess, yeah," Yakko blushed. "He's just- the coolest person I've ever met, and now that Grandma's gone and I'm free to just- hang out with people, yeah," He scratched the back of his neck, aware of the fact he needed to get going. When Dot didn't respond to that, he pursed his lips.

"Welp- I gotta get going," He gave a quick wave, not waiting for her to return it before getting going- he wanted to spend as much time as possible in Disneyland.

Hurriedly, he rushed down the halls all the way down the grand stairs and out the main doors to the carriage, where his mother was waiting for him.

"Getting something?" Lena teased, as the coachman opened the door for them.

"Just a few notes," Yakko said, following his mother as she entered. She chuckled.

"You don't need to be so nervous, dear. From what I've seen, Max already likes you very much," Lena said soothingly as the carriage started to move.

"I just... I want this to be perfect," Yakko sighed, and leaned against the window of the carriage.

Lena snorted. "You and I have a lot in common," She said, fiddling with the fingers of her gloves.

"The last time I was out of this castle before the incident was- well... the wedding... but before that? I don't think I've ever been out..." The queen looked back as her home grew further and further away. "Outside of parties and suitors I've never really dealt in diplomatic situations. God knows my mother never prepared me for half of the things- I just..." She took a deep breath.

"I want this to go perfectly too... but Scratchnsniff says perfection is an impossible goal and we should aim for something more obtainable," She reminded herself. Yakko glanced at her briefly, before returning to the window.

He wasn't sure what he thought of Scratchnsniff. Dot and his parents all seemed to like him, but he still hadn't opened up to him, even though it had been over a month now. They'd be doing... okay sometimes, but the moment the doctor tried talking about Angelina, Yakko refused to give him the satisfaction. He knew he was there to help but- yeah... That wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"We got a long ride, huh?" Lena chuckled, more nervously this time.

"Yeah..." was all he said. He had a lot on his mind, and he could tell his mother did too. Hopefully, by the time they actually arrived, they'd be able to make sense of everything and enjoy their time in Disneyland- though they'd have to wait and see.

.o0o.

The ride wasn't terrible, but it was rather long and tiresome, so it was easy to say that when they finally arrived they were both relieved.

Both Yakko and Lena were surprised at just how different Disneyland was from Warnerstock just from the windows. Everything was brighter, orderly to the point of confusion (to them anyway), and boy oh boy was it big. The castle itself was the biggest example of this, as it seemed to have countless towers and was impossible to take in all at once. Then again, the royal family was quite large and Disney was known for it's welcoming nature and having guests often, so it didn't really surprise them. It was just a lot to take in at once.

However, they didn't have to take that all in for long, as they were guided inside by a few guards and were taken to the throne room, where the three kings were sitting- a duck on the left, a mouse in the middle, and a very tall dog on the right.

"Angelina? Wow, it really is you! How have ya been?" The Mouse immediately stood upon seeing them enter.

"Mickey! Oh it's been years hasn't it?" Lena chuckled and went and hugged him, which the mouse gladly returned, leaving Yakko and the others very confused.

"Do... you... know him?" Yakko raised an eyebrow.

Lena cleared her throat and stepped back. "Right- yes, I forgot to tell you, Michael here was a suitor of mine back in the day," She explained. "Obviously, it didn't work out, as both of our hearts belonged to another, but it wasn't a completely terrible three days."

"Oh please, I'm Mickey to friends," Mickey said. Lena nodded.

"Right, yes, Mickey," Lena corrected.

"Oh," Yakko nodded slowly.

"You must be Yakko then. It's a pleasure to have you as a guest," Mickey smiled and shook Yakko's hand. The dog king's head perked up.

"It's a pleasure to be here," Yakko replied, hoping his nervousness wasn't showing.

"Prince Yakko?" The dog king stood and walked over. "It's a pleasure to meet you, h'yuk," He laughed as he shook Yakko's hand. "Max has told me about you."

"Oh, you must be Goofy, pleasure to meet you," His nervousness increased tenfold. He couldn't believe he didn't put that together upon seeing him immediately.

"Daaaaaaaaad," Max entered the room, looking at the ground with his face red as a tomato.

"Hiya Max! I was just introducing myself to your friend here," Goofy grinned, still shaking Yakko's hand.

"This is why I don't tell you things," Max muttered to himself. "Can we go?" He asked, grabbing Yakko's arm, freeing him from the handshake.

Mickey nodded. "Of course, we got our own business to deal with, you two have fun," He said, and with that, Max practically dragged Yakko out of the room.

"I am so sorry you had to deal with that," He sighed as the guards closed the door behind them and Max let go of his arm.

"Deal with what?" Yakko tilted his head slightly.

"My Dad- he just- he doesn't know when to stop no matter how many times I talk to him," Max shook his head. "C'mon, I know a good spot to hang out. Watch out for running triplets."

"Running triplets?" Yakko raised an eyebrow.

"Huey, Dewey and Louie like running around without warning- as do Morty and Ferdie and if Daisy's over then so do April, May and June- just keep an ear out for them," Max explained, checking both ways before crossing a hallway.

"Right, right," Yakko nodded, not really understanding how they'd ever be allowed to do that. Then again, not having a tyrannical grandmother around probably let them have a lot more freedom and fun.

The pair went down a few halls, always checking both ways as they went, before they reached a room that Max let him into to reveal that it led to a fairly small room with a few chairs, but outside of that was a large balcony it was clear the dog prince frequented.

"Nice place," Yakko admired the room as Max opened the glass doors for him.

"I come here a lot to clear my head," Max said, closing the door behind him. "And to get away from my family."

Max must've really not liked them, huh...

"Yeah... I could really use a place like this," Yakko admired the craftsmanship of the columns holding up the railing.

"Watch this," Max winked, picking up a stone from a pile of rocks, and throwing it down into the giant pond in the garden bellow, causing a massive splash and ripple.

"Cool," Yakko said.

"It's nothing really," Max blushed again and went to where the rail met the wall and sat on it. "Wanna sit?" He patted the spot next to him.

"Oh- I uh-..." Yakko peered over the edge cautiously. It wasn't too far a fall, but still. It was easy to say it was far enough down to make even the most un-acrophobic person a little nervous.

"Oh, are you afraid of heights? I'm sorry, I-"

"No no no, I can handle it," Yakko swallowed his fear and sat next to him, glad that it was wide enough for him to feel supported. Still, he wrapped his tail around the edge loosely as a precaution.

"So... what do you think?" Max asked. "Of Disneyland, I mean."

"I think it's really... different. Very organized, very..." Yakko thought to himself. "Very homogeneous and large, yeah."

Max snorted. "Homogeneous?"

"It means similar or 'the same'," Yakko cursed himself internally. Max laughed with a little 'hyuk' in there that made Yakko relax, though a familiar fluttering in his stomach returned.

"You're really smart, aren't you?" Max asked.

"Yeah... my grandmother's pride alright," Yakko looked at the garden.

Great, barely five minutes into the conversation and he already broke his number one rule he wrote to himself: Don't bring up Grandma.

"I don't think it's your grandma's fault you're smart. If that was true, then I'd be a lot more wacky like Dad," Max did his best to reassure, which despite all odds did kinda work.

"You keep bringing up how much you don't like your family," Yakko commented. "Why?"

"Why? You've barely even met them- they are just beyond crazy and drive me up the wall with how embarrassing and tiresome they can be," Max crossed his arms.

"I mean- my sibs can be a little crazy at times but I still like them," Yakko said.

"You don't know them," Max sighed, looking out to the garden too. Yakko decided it was probably best he drop the subject for now.

However, after that was a long stretch of silence, and Yakko started to panic as it got longer and longer and he couldn't think of a thing to say. Thankfully though, he remembered the notebook sitting in his pocket and he slowly and carefully took it out and looked for a good conversation starter.

"What is your favorite type of weather?" He asked, quickly slipping it back into his pocket. Max immediately burst into laughter.

"Where'd you think of a question like that?" He asked.

"If you don't like it I can ask a different one," Yakko turned bright red as he flusteredly turned over, pulling out the notebook and flipping through it.

"Do you have a notebook of conversation starters?" Max caught a glimpse.

"Whaaaat? Me??? Pssshhhh," Yakko adamantly denied, but he sighed, knowing he had been caught.

"Yeah... I figured since I majorly screwed up talking like a normal person last time I'd take some notes so the conversation would be far less depressing and not so... trauma centered," He admitted, showing him the notebook.

"Wait- you think you're screwing up?" Max seemed baffled, which confused the Warnerstockian Prince.

"I mean- yeah..? No matter what I do I always end up thinking about the same stupid topic and I dunno... you seem so much more normal than me," Yakko admitted, looking away.

"I feel like I've just been a bumbling dork this whole time," Max admitted too. "You've been really smart and interesting this whole time, with your fancy words and observations about stuff and... yeah," He scratched his neck.

"You think I'm interesting?" Yakko looked at him.

"Yeah man," Max looked at him, though only briefly. "You're... cool."

That made the fluttering increase tenfold.

"You're really cool too," Yakko smiled. Max nodded his head in acknowledgement, looking out to the garden once more.

"You know... I promised I'd give you some sporting pointers when you came by. Perhaps I should 'make good' on that promise," Max said, gesturing to the pile of rocks and other such objects clearly designated for throwing into the pond.

"Okay," Yakko agreed to it, putting the notes back in his pocket, following Max as he went over to the pile.

"The trick is that it's all in the wrist, and if you keep your eyes focused on where you wanna throw it, it does a lot to help it actually go there," Max said, as he picked up a rock and threw it with all his might, and it crashed far into the pond.

"In the wrist, huh?" Yakko nodded and acted like that made sense. He then picked up a rock, and threw it with all his might. However, his might was rather pathetic, and all he managed to do was to crack the tiling around the pond and it shattered into pieces, as Yakko felt the blood drain from his face.

"Max, I-i'm so so so so so so sorry, I-i-" Yakko sputtered out apologies but Max just started laughing and laughing.

"It's okay Yakko. We're royalty, remember? My dad'll just have someone fix it, it's totally cool," He placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But hey, other than that, that wasn't half bad."

"She'd totally kill me if I did that at home though," Yakko cursed himself.

"She? Who, your mom? Cuz from what I've heard she's a big sap," Max said, confused.

"Not mom, my grandma," Yakko sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Your grandma's dead, Yakko. She can't punish you for that. You can break all the tiles you want here, it's cool," Max said, now deeply concerned for his new friend.

"Right- you're absolutely right. I'm sorry," Yakko took a deep breath.

"It's cool... I get that it must be hard moving on from that," Max's hand lingered on Yakko's shoulder a minute before he put it down.

"Yeah..." Yakko sighed as he realized he broke the rule yet again.

"I know you probably don't want to, but if you ever need or want to talk about it, I'm more than happy to listen," Max offered. Yakko smiled a little.

"Thanks... that means a lot more than you probably know," He said. Max smiled too.

"You're a lot cooler than you give yourself credit for, you know?" Max said. "You may not be the best at sports, but you are really good at talking, which is more than I can say."

"You sell yourself short," Yakko disagreed.

"Maybe we both do," Max shrugged, returning to the ledge.

"Yeah... maybe," Yakko said, sitting next to him once more.

As they began to chat more about much lighter and happier topics, a warm spring breeze began to rush by and Yakko began to just... notice things about Max. The way his fluffy and wild hair flowed in the wind, the way his eyes sparkled when he talked about one of his passions, his cute laugh that he always seemed to try and suppress, the way he stuck his hands in his pockets, his smile, the compassion and comradery in his eyes...

Yakko could gaze into those eyes for an eternity.

"It's getting pretty late... isn't it?" Max began to notice the sky beginning to turn a rosey shade of pink as the sun began to set.

"Yeah... I guess that means we have to get going soon, huh?" Yakko tried to play it casually, but he knew he'd miss Max dearly. Max's side glances told him he felt the same.

"Maybe you can write to me? A-and maybe... Maybe I'll convince dad or Uncle Mickey to take me to Warnerstock?" Max scratched the back of his neck, clearly trying to play it cool.

"I'd love that," Yakko smiled, before pondering if using the word "love" was inappropriate. It wasn't like he- well... liked him, or anything... right..?

"Okay," Max smiled back.

They stayed smiling at each other much longer than was normal, though neither really minded.

"Maxy? Yakko?" The voice of Goofy called for them outside the room outside the balcony.

"I need to go," Yakko said. "But... I will write, I promise."

"I believe you," Max nodded. "Though... don't be surprised if my letters are short and my handwriting attrocious- I'm not the best when it comes to any of that stuff," He said, getting down from the rail, offering his hand to "help" Yakko down.

Yakko took it.

"I'm sure it won't be any worse than Wakko's," He said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Max chuckled as Yakko got off, still holding his hand.

However, they instantly let go when Goofy entered the room.

"There ya are- you're mom's looking for you. It's gettin' late," Goofy said, opening the glass door.

"Right, yes.. thanks, dad," Max pursed his lips and looked away.

"I'll write, I promise," Yakko said.

"Y-yeah, okay," Max nodded and smiled. "I'll... see you soon."

"See you soon," Yakko nodded, before forcing himself to walk away (a task that was a lot harder than he expected it to be). Goofy then guided him back to the throne room, where his mother was talking with Mickey and Donald (Yakko figured that was who he was), but she stopped when he entered.

"There you are," She smiled as he returned to her side. "Have fun?"

"Yep," He nodded briefly, hoping she didn't expect him to get into detail here and now.

"It's been great catching up, Angelina," Mickey told her.

"I couldn't agree more. And it's been a pleasure meeting you two, Goofy, Donald," She nodded at both of them. "I'm afraid I must get going, but I'd love to meet up again sometime- or possibly take Max off your hands for an afternoon," Lena teased Yakko, causing him to turn red.

"I'm sure he'd love that," Goofy smiled.

"Have a safe trip," Donald said in the scratchiest, most garbled voice Yakko ever heard in his life. It was so incomprehensible he had to actively bury his shock and confusion as to not offend him.

"Thank you," Lena nodded at the three of them. "It's been a pleasure, truly."

"Yeah.. see you," Yakko felt like he had to say goodbye too, but having not just spent the past several hours with them, it felt awkward. Mickey chuckled.

"See you," He said.

With that, Lena and Yakko made their way out of the castle and back into their carriage and began on their way back home.

"So... how was your day?" Lena asked once the carriage began to move.

"It was nice. Max is... cool," Despite his research, cool was still the best word to describe him.

"That's good, he seems like a very nice kid," She nodded in approval. "I wouldn't mind having him over sometime in the future."

"That'd be great," Yakko agreed with enthusiasm that made her laugh.

"Okay, I'll arrange a date," She chuckled.

"What about your day? How was all those meetings?" Yakko asked, not just out of politeness but a genuine curiosity.

"I half expected Mickey not to remember me, so it was a pleasant surprise. And Goofy and Donald are quite the lovely characters too, very strong personalities. I can see why their kingdom works so well," She said with a nod.

"But I know you really don't want to hear about all that. Please, tell me more about Max," Lena said.

Yakko told her all that happened, not glossing over a single detail. She listened with intent, and couldn't help but laugh here and there.

"It sounds like you're rather fond of Max, no?" She said.

"What do you mean?" Yakko blinked. His mother chuckled to herself.

"Oh nothing, I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own in due time," She said.

"Okay..?" Yakko raised an eyebrow, not sure where she was getting at. However, it was clear she wasn't going to be giving any more hints so Yakko dropped it.

Whatever it was, she clearly had perfect faith he'd figure it out sooner or later, so perhaps it was best he focus on other things- like what he was going to write in his letter to Max. There would be so many topics to choose from, and this time he'd have all the time in the world to think of a perfect response. Honestly, he should've started writing letters sooner. It just made so much sense- Yakko could think of the perfect response before sending it away and he could read over Max's responses over and over again. Maybe he could even find a box to store them in. That sounded really nice...

Yakko thought back to his mother's words, and decided it was true.

Yakko was rather fond of his dear friend, Max.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 The End

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levi-lover · 3 years

Text

New Light Part: 1

College Levi x Reader(Modern AU)

W/C: 2.5

T/W: Pretentious Hipster Levi lol

A/N: Levi is a moody English major who spends his free time reading at the local cafe and yes, I think that is sexy as hell. This is a slowburn piece kinda inspired by the Hulu show Normal People! I love that show but I could never watch it again bc it breaks my heart too much lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! (Part Two will be up soon! & this picture is from Pinterest)

I’ve put all the parts in one list here: New Light Masterlist

“I just don’t get it.” You huffed and leaned back into your chair.

“Don’t worry, this stuff takes time to learn!” Hange looked at you earnestly.

The two of you had been studying at Maria’s Coffee for a few hours. Your genetics midterm was in a few days and you were completely lost. You met Hange on your first week, you anxiously walked into the lecture hall thinking this would be an easy pass to fulfill your science credit. Oh boy, were you wrong. Immediately, you were thrown into the depths of mitosis and chromosomes. The only good thing that came out of it was your new friendship with Hange. On your first day, Hange complimented your sweater and asked if they could sit with you. Hange was a genetics major so this class was easy, hell, it was fun for them. They offered to tutor you so you bought them coffee during your study sessions in return.

“Yeah, you’re right but still,” You said in between sips of your coffee. “How do you like this stuff?”

“Oh, it’s fascinating to me, it’s crazy how we’re made up of tiny cells and in those cells is our human history but we can’t even see it. It’s like the world’s smallest yet most important puzzle.” Hange’s eyes lit up as they continued speaking.

You listened and continued to drink your coffee. It was late but the cafe was still busy with college students hurrying to type their papers and study for tests. The lamps left soft yellow shadows on the cream colored walls. The cafe was homey and it felt like it was a cottage pulled straight out of a forest. From the back of the cafe, you could see the entrance. It was raining and people ran across the sidewalk with their jackets over their heads. You laughed through your nose.

“Hey! Are you listening?” Hange questioned.

“What? Of course, I am. Science is the answer to everything, right?” You quipped.

Hange rolled their eyes and went back to their textbook. You kept your eyes on the front door. It had been a few days since you had seen your coffee shop friend. The word friend was a loose term for your relationship with the dark-haired boy. Your relationship started one day when you were sitting in the spot you are now, it was late, close to 1 am and after downing two cups of coffee you needed to pee. Across from you was a small man holding a used copy of Slaughterhouse Five, he was dressed in all black and was munching on a muffin. You asked him to watch your stuff, he nodded and pushed his hair away from his gray eyes. From that point on, you developed a friendship founded on your mutual respect for privacy yet concern over each other’s well-being. It became an unspoken rule that this was the only place you would meet. Your attention returned to your work, if he wasn’t going to show up then whatever, he was just another stranger.

“Hange, I think I’m gonna call it a night.”

“What?! Why?! We haven’t even gotten to the good part, wait until you hear about what happens to the amino acids during replication.” The same familiar look of excitement washed over Hange’s face.

“Look as exciting as it all sounds, I’m gonna have to pass.” You began to gather your things when the front door opened. You looked up and saw the dark-haired boy. He looked as pretty as always with a beige tote bag draped across his shoulder, droplets of rain hung onto his dark strands. Next to him stood a tall, handsome blonde man who was looking around the cafe. His eyes stopped when he reached your table and he lifted a hand and waved at you. You looked at him confused.

“LEVIIII!! ERWIIIN!!” Hange yelled and waved their arms. People looked up at them with annoyance.

“Wait, you know them?” You asked.

“Who, those idiots? Yeah. I forgot to tell you I invited them to study with us. Levi promised to help me write a paper,” Hange said nonchalantly. “Shit! I should have asked you if that’s okay. Is it?”

You looked down and felt your face redden, “no worries, it’s not a problem.”

“I’ll introduce you to them, they’re buttheads but they don’t bite.”

You sat back down and looked at your notebook as the dark-haired boy and the tall blonde walked towards you. A bundle of nerves planted themselves in your stomach but you couldn’t understand why. You’ve known this man for a couple of months now, slowly building a friendship at your own pace. It was nice to have control over something in your life for once but life always has a different plan for you; it was time to properly meet the dark-haired boy. All rules are eventually broken.

You ruffled the papers in front of you and took another sip of your drink but it was empty. Shit, you thought. The two men were standing in front of you and Hange at this point. The dark-haired boy looked at you, his brows furrowed.

“Hey, you’re House Coffee,” he said in a monotonous tone.

The blonde man and Hange looked at him confused, “wait, you know her?” Hange asked.

You shook your head, “nope.”

The dark-haired boy looked at you confused.

“Well, kinda, actually,” You muttered.

“Huh, that’s cool!” Hange announced. “Levi’s a little bitch but you probably already knew that.”

“Shut up, Four Eyes,” Levi retorted.

The blonde man laughed, “my name is Erwin. I’m a Political Science and History double major.” He gave you a dashing smile and lifted his hand.

Levi rolled his eyes, “humble much?”

Erwin gave him a glare before returning his clear blue eyes to you. You chuckled and raised your hand to his. It was a firm handshake.

“My name is (Y/N), it’s very nice to meet you, Erwin. And it’s Levi, right?” Your head turned to the dark-haired boy and he blushed slightly. Hange and Erwin exchanged a look.

Hange raised their hands slightly and asked, “I’m confused.”

“When aren’t you.” Levi remarked.

“Oh, shut it you. I thought you two already knew each other.”

You placed your hands around the empty mug, hoping it would stabilize your nerves. “Know might be a strong word, I guess we’ve seen each other here before?“ You shrugged and looked at Levi.

He nodded, “I agree, we sometimes look after each other’s stuff and talk about books.”

“Good to know. I’m glad Levi has someone else to talk to,” Erwin declared.

They pulled out two chairs and placed them around the table. Erwin pulled out his laptop and his binders, everything was color-coordinated down to the tabs and pens. Levi pulled out a yellow notepad and a beat up copy of On the Road and single black pen. He tried his best to act natural but was unsure how to act around you and his friends. He wasn’t prepared for his two worlds to crash, it wasn’t that he was ashamed to know you. He enjoyed your company but it was something that was special to him. He didn’t want to share those precious late night hours with anyone else but you.

“I’m going to go buy a tea, (Y/N) do you want anything?” Erwin said pointing at your empty cup.

“Uh no-” You were about to say before Levi interrupted you.

“12 oz house coffee, splash of soy,” He stated.

Hange raised their eyebrows, in all their years of friendship he had never bothered to learn their coffee order. Erwin was equally as surprised. You stared at Levi, unsure what to say.

“Alright, you got it,” Erwin said before grabbing your empty mug.

Levi and Erwin got up and walked to the front counter. Hange grabbed your arm and you looked at them surprised.

“How long have you known Levi?” They whispered.

“Uh, like I said, ‘know’ is a strong word but a couple of months. We just sit near each other and sometimes talk. It’s not a big deal.”

“I can’t believe Levi didn’t tell me he knew you,” Hange said in disbelief.

“Did you tell him about me?” You retorted

“No but still. If I knew my two friends knew each other, I would have set this study party together a long ass time ago.”

You shrugged and went back to looking at your notes. By this time, Levi and Erwin were walking back to the table. Erwin was holding a mug of tea and your coffee, Levi was holding a mug of tea in one hand and an apple muffin in another. Erwin handed you your coffee and you thanked him. He sat in front of you and Levi opposite of him. Erwin cleared his throat and asked, “how do you guys know each other?”

“We met in genetics class,” You responded.

“You’re a science major, too?”Erwin asked.

“No, I’m a humanities major but I still need my science requirement so I’m taking this class and majorly regretting it.”

“Hey, it’s not all bad. We’re friends now,” Hange nugged their elbow at you, you gave them a smile and nodded.

“What a reward,” Levi muttered.

You held back a laugh which made Levi smile, he hid it behind his book.

“How do the three of you know each other?” You pointed to the trio.

Hange shot up from their text book and exclaimed,“oh, (Y/N) you’re going to love this so it all started four years ago…”

It was their freshman year, Levi’s uncle had just dropped him off at the dorms and left him alone to unpack. Levi didn’t have much except for a suitcase of clothes, a bed sheet set and a small box of books. He started to put his clothes away in the drawers when the door opened and a lean, tall blonde boy and his father walked in, pulling a cart of the boy’s belongings.

“Hi, you must be my roommate. My name is Erwin,” he stood at the doorway awkwardly waving at Levi.

“Levi.”

“Hello, I’m Erwin’s dad, nice to meet you.”

Levi gave him a small smile and continued to organize his side of the room, it took about fifteen minutes in total. After Erwin’s dad left, Levi and Erwin sat on their respectives beds in silence. It took them awhile but eventually they bonded over their mutual love of Russian poetry. Over the next few weeks, they built a symbiotic relationship filled with chore charts and late night study hangs. Levi genuinely enjoyed Erwin’s presence, he was his first friend outside of his hometown. Erwin felt the same way too. He never had a huge opportunity to meet people since he was homeschooled until his final two years of high school. They had found a companion in each other.

The week before Thanksgiving break, Erwin convinced Levi to host a small gathering in their dorm. Levi hesitantly agreed and Erwin managed to get his hands on a weed brownie. They invited a few of their floormates and shared the goods and drank a single Mike’s Hard Lemonade that Hange brought. They sat on the concrete floor and waited for the weed to hit after thirty minutes, no one was high. One of their floormates, Zeke, took a whiff of the brownie and laughed.

“Erwin, this is a fucking regular brownie,” he glanced at Erwin who was tenderly sipping out of the bottle. Zeke’s roommate, Porco laughed.

“No, it can’t be,” Erwin responded. Hange looked around nervously and Levi glared at Zeke.

“Ha, whatever. This kickback is lame anyways. Let’s go,” Zeke and the others left.

Hange, Erwin, and Levi stayed in silence for a few minutes until Hange spoke, “I thought it was a good brownie.”

Erwin gave them a half-hearted smile and looked down at the bottle. Levi sighed and walked to his closet.

“Now that those fucktards are gone, let’s have a real party,” Levi said as he pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

Erwin looked at Levi, shocked. “How long have you had that?”

“My uncle gave it to me when he dropped me off. As a going away present.” Levi shrugged it off.

The rest of the night was spent taking shots of whiskey and playing cards games, it was the first night of many.

“Wait, really? Erwin you bought a dud brownie.” You held your side as you laughed.

Erwin looked sheepishly at his drink. Levi had a smirk on his face.

“Yeah! Looking back at it now, it’s the funniest thing ever. But those other guys were jerks. I don’t remember their names now or anything but I hope they’re living horrible lives,” Hange proclaimed.

“I believe it and I hope so too.” You wiped a tear from your face and felt Levi’s gaze on you.

Levi had never seen you laugh that hard, he liked this side of you. He went back to notating his book but he couldn’t deny the feeling of warmth in his chest. The four of you remained in comfortable silence for a while. The coffee shop began to slow down as the clock ticked further into the night.

“This has been a lot of fun but I think I’m going to call it,” Erwin’s deep voice broke the silence of the table.

The three of you nodded in agreement and began to pack your bags. You watched Levi’s slender fingers gently put his belongings into his tote bag. His dark hair was getting long, it brushed against his cheek as he moved his body. You looked away quickly, you knew nothing could happen between the two of you but watching him interact with his friends casted a new light on him. Levi, what a name, you thought. For the past couple months, he was your secret friend, someone you could talk to without feeling judged because he was so removed from your everyday life but now, it was different. You both shared a mutual connection and of course, you shared the countless hours spent in this cafe.

The four of you made casual conversation as you exited the cafe. The cold air whipped your face and you tugged your scarf tighter around your neck.

“Hey, do you need a ride? I’m parked a block away,” Erwin asked you.

“Don’t worry, hot stuff. I’ll walk her home.” Hange winked at Erwin, Levi rolled his eyes.

“I live a few blocks away but thank you. It was really nice to meet you Erwin and Levi it’s nice to finally know your name.”

Levi looked down at the ground and a pink glow appeared on his face, “yeah, this was nice.”

You watched them turn around and walk in the opposite direction for a moment before turning to Hange. The air was cool and the clouds had parted, leaving open an endless sky peaking through the buildings and the trees. It had become a ritual for the two of you to walk home after study sessions since you lived a few blocks away from each other. Hange made casual conversation on your walk home but you hardly paid attention. You kept on thinking about Levi and wishing you never learned his name.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #levi art #aot #levi ackerman x reader fluff #modern levi ackerman #levi aot #aot fic #levi ackerman fic #levi lover fic #attack on titan fic #snk fic #college levi ackerman #new light

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fandomn00blr · 3 years

Text

Days 98, 99, and 100 (hey-oh!)

of @the-wip-project‘s 100 Days of Writing

Omg...I can’t believe I made it (minus the days I didn’t do any writing...but shhhhh...even on the days I didn’t write, I’m sure I at least thought about writing...so that counts, right?)!

Final Writing Update/Reflections/Whathaveyou

This week so far, I’ve finished the fifth/last chapter of Drinking Buddies (Castlevania, Trevor & Greta, and Alucard and Sypha!) and posted it, and then I posted the second/middle chapter of Together Into the Abyss (Dragon Age, Stroud/Loghain), so I’m feeling quite productive here at the end! I should probably take a break from writing to catch up on some of the reading I’ve been meaning to get to (I’ve got @hermiowngranger’s hawkebela fic, False Dice, open in my tabs, and a couple chapters of @serial-chillr‘s The Well to catch up on, just to name a couple of the things I’ve been meaning to read...!), but I’m still kinda feeling the writing vibe, so I’ll probably be working on updating more of my WIPs until I completely run out of steam.

And since it’s still Wednesday (and I got tagged by @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold, @hermiowngranger, @musetta3, @noire-pandora, @cleverblackcat, and @genginger...thank you all!!! And tagbacksies!), here’s a fun thing to end with...(oh, did you know it’s Star Trek Day?! 55 years of willful hope in humanity’s future...shut up I’m not crying at all these retrospectives and interviews and tweets about what Trek means to people...). Anyway, an excerpt from my Star Trek x Dragon Age crossover, Stowaway, that I am always working on at a snail’s pace...:

“I’m Anders, the ship’s healer.” He extends a hand which she grasps firmly.

She’s no stranger to human handshakes, and she’s actually somewhat relieved to find something familiar. “I’m Jadzia.”

“May I?” He motions toward the cut on her forehead and she nods, curious, given what she’s seen so far of this ship and these people, about what kind of rudimentary treatment he has in mind.

Anders bends down to look more closely at her wound, wiping away the dried blood with a rag he pulls from his pocket. “Alright if I use magic? I’m Circle-trained, but I’ve learned a bit more since I…” He suddenly eyes her combadge suspiciously, and then looks up at Isabela, who shakes her head quickly. “Since I left,” he finishes more defiantly.

Jadzia supposes she’s meant to react somehow to this, but she is busy trying not to laugh. Magic? Oh, this is going to be even more interesting than she thought! “Whatever you think is best!”

She braces herself for some mysterious chanting or some herbs or some kind of sleight of hand. But instead, a raw, green-tinged energy begins to emit in concentrated waves from his fingertips. It lacks the discipline and structure of the directed rays of their phasers or a dermal regenerator, but it feels similarly warm as he directs it toward the wound. There’s none of the hermetic, acrid smell of the medical lasers, but it feels as though the busted skin on her forehead is actually...stitching itself back together?

“Does it hurt?” he asks, as he glances down and notices her odd expression, not of pain (one doesn’t ingratiate themselves to the Klingons without a high tolerance for physical pain), but because she’s been staring directly at his finger in utter fascination and nearly gone cross-eyed.

“No. But I think I may be concussed...does your magic fix internal head trauma, too?” Now she’s really pressing her luck, she thinks.

Anders grins like a child on Feastday, and pulls his hand away from her forehead. “Not my magic, not by itself, but with a little bit of assistance…” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“Oh, here we go,” she hears the ship’s captain groan behind her. “Always a show-off…”

When he re-opens them, his eyes are glowing with an intense white-blue light and the expression of excited delight he’d had just a moment ago has been replaced by one of vague determination. He reaches both hands around the back of her head and pulls her toward him, pressing his forehead against hers.

“YOUR SOUL IS NOT ALONE,” booms an otherworldly voice.

#100daysofwriting #final thoughts #star trek #dragon age #star trek x dragon age crossover #anders #jadzia dax #isabela is there too #stowaway #WIP #my writing

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supercantaloupe · 4 years

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on Aelwyn Abernant, the Reformed Villain Squad, and redeeming teenage antagonists

an analysis on antagonist character development in Fantasy High. spoilers through sophomore year and (mildly so) the most recent roll20 oneshot. essay under the cut bc i am very long winded

the turnaround with Aelwyn in s2 is handled so well i cant get over it. she was such a major antagonist in the first season and just. despicable. she had no pathos. we hated this bitchy older sister who tried to kill Adaine and her friends and raise an evil dragon, and when she gets knocked on her ass and thrown in jail, we cheer.

and then s2 fucking starts saying “hey she’s in jail still if you’d like to look into that” and pursuing that thread ends up being almost as comedic an idea as it is a reluctant one; it’s also quickly shunted to the background as soon as more pressing leads present themselves, to the point where we almost forget about her until Adaine is kidnapped and then the first time you see her it’s just. viscerally upsetting.

she’s bad. she did evil. she got what she deserved.

but she already got what she deserved. last season.

she got her ass handed to her by a bunch of 14 year olds including her little sister (how embarrassing!). her plans were thwarted. she got punched in the face and made fun of. she already got her punishment.

it just……immediately registers as over-the-top Wrong to be told “hey, remember that antagonist you beat last season? she’s still being punished for that, except it’s way worse than just going to mumple.”

and there’s that reminder that like…this is a teenager. a child. who has been manipulated and abused. which is a really fascinating look at this character we used to see pretty much unilaterally as a one dimensional bitchy villain.

i mean we got a more in depth look at Penelope’s and Biz’s motivations in s1 (Penelope being the popular rich girl sorceress obviously hungry for power and the alllure of the high school clout that is being prom queen, but also we know that her having to turn on her best friend Sam Nightingale as part of the scheme was something she was reluctant and not happy to do; and Biz being that predatory incel creeper type dude besides just a nerd with computers and a lack of social graces). and they were as much willingly active in the plot as Aelwyn was. yet in s1 they really never do bother to explore Aelwyn’s motivations. i remember after watching s1 but before s2 that was one of my biggest lingering questions: why tf was Aelwyn involved?

well. she was manipulated and abused. her terrible parents raised her in an awful environment that conditioned her to Listen and Obey and Behave and Be Perfect, and then Kalina helped cinch the noose around her neck with threats and coersion into the KVS Kaper and the NMK crown debacle. she doesn’t freely choose any of it; she’s coerced, manipulated, abused.

and she already got justifiably punished for her bad actions in s1. the torture is almost literal overkill. it’s just……there’s this immediate turnaround in sympathy and view of the character. on first watch, it’s viscerally upsetting to see her getting so brutally punished for actions she already faced consequences for, and on rewatch, it makes your skin crawl to know she’s being tortured for terrible things she had little choice in carrying out. and tortured by some of the very same people who coerced her to behave terribly in the first place, to add insult to injury.

and it’s still fucking frustrating when they rescue her and her memory gets reset and she goes back to her parents because it’s like “well shit, she’s evil again, and we just wasted all that effort for nothing” but it’s also sad cause we know she’s running back to her abusers and she isn’t happy about it but doesn’t feel like she has a choice. and it’s sadder still that what eventually inevitably gets her to turn to good for good (i.e. away from her parents) is just. a full dissociative mental breakdown.

(but then she survives and it’s gonna be good!!! until Adaine dies in her fucking arms. which is. almost funny. she’s been through so much shit and that isn’t something that Brennan would have just. preplanned. like a written in plot point. no, that was just an unpredictable consequence of the battle. what a juicy fucking moment. she’s been through All That Shit™️ and has finally turned to fight for good and her sister just fully dies in front of her. yeowch)

and she turns out okay in the end. she comes out the other side alive and whole and supported by her sister and her friends, with the hope of a future and recovery. there is an acknowledgement that A) she can and will grow from her mistakes and damage, B) it’s going to be really hard, and C) the post-s2 one shots both prove that she’s doing okay now. hell, she has a whole squad now of other former-teenage-villains-turned-good-guys. she has friends now, Ragh and Zayn, with common ground, and a secret handshake and everything. they’ve all grown from the mistakes of their past into better, happier, healthier people

and about Zayn and Ragh. we’ve seen a lot of characters, protagonist and antagonist, teenage and adult, PC and NPC do some really fucked up shit and get punished for it. but why do they get happy endings? why are Aelwyn, Ragh, and Zayn the only members of the RVS and not someone else like Biz or Penelope or Dayne?

well, the latter two are dead by then; but then again, Biz and Ragh were also killed by the Bad Kids in s1, and subsequently resurrected. (Zayn died too, but was neither killed nor revived at the Bad Kids’ hands, so i’ll get to him in a sec.) and there are plenty of adult antagonists the Bad Kids face who are killed and left that way by the Bad Kids without second thought: Johnny Spells, Coach Daybreak, Captain Wicklaw, the Abernant parents (presuming Arianwen doesn’t survive in the forest for very long, which i doubt). why do some characters get second chances while others don’t?

in the case of Zayn, his death was pretty much out of the Bad Kids’ hands, and they later found out he was manipulated by Daybreak into being bad anyway because of his sad living situation. he was a pretty minor antagonist in the scheme of things, and when we re-meet him as a ghost in the s1 epilogue, he’s pretty obviously remorseful for his actions. and dying seems like a steep enough punishment to me for the shit he did to contribute to the KVX caper; returning as a ghost, free from the trappings of his unfortunate living life, he now has the room and freedom to grow into a better person.

in the cases of Daybreak, Spells, Wicklaw, and the Abernant parents: these are bad people who should know better. these are fully grown adults who actively choose to do evil. whether they think it’s the right thing to do or not (in Daybreak’s case), whether they think it will benefit them and don’t care about anyone else (in the Abernants’ case), or whether they don’t care much at all and are just doing shit because they feel like it (in the cases of Spells and Wicklaw), these are all adults who consciously make the decision to do terrible things and hurt other people. of course Johnny Spells, who is generally a punk thief and thug, is not on the same level of bad as Angwyn, who kidnaps and tortures his own daughters for political gain, but the point remains. these fuckers should know better. they’re grown ups. they had their chances to be good and they chose not to heed them. their minds are set on bad actions and they are a continued danger to other people as long as they are alive. when they die, the Bad Kids do their damndest to make sure it stays that way.

now, in the cases of Penelope and Dayne: these are teenagers who actively chose to participate in an evil plot. Penelope, Dayne, and Biz were all fully cognizant of what they were doing trying to raise KVX back to his former power. why? well, to some extent, we can only speculate. i suspect Penelope was just one of those Regina George bitches who is rich and popular and powerful and obsessed with power and popularity within high school as if that’s the end-all-be-all of existence (which, like, when you’re currently in high school, is a somewhat understandable worldview i think). Dayne being her boyfriend and a musclehead jock probably falls into a similar line of thinking. they are actively and willingly trying to cause harm, and teenager or not, must be stopped. they’re killed, anyway, during the Climactic Battle™️ anyhow; it’s not like the Bad Kids were going to gain anything at that point by keeping them alive.

now, Biz: Biz is the creepy Nice Guy incel type, sees woman as a prize he deserves to win, yadda yadda. he does, like Penelope and Dayne, actively choose to help KVX. there might be something to be said about his motivation the Bad Kids discover after the arcade battle by detecting his thoughts (that being to upload the captured maidens from the palimpsests to “call the shots” himself) is an altered memory; whether this was his original motivation from the start or not, i’m not sure. but the Bad Kids do kill him – and then resurrect him for important, time-sensitive information. and they beat it out of him – he gets two of his fucking fingers blown off. and Riz reattaches them once they have their info, and they realize his memory is altered. of course, the Bad Kids don’t know at this point that the altered memory was something he, Penelope, and Aelwyn had planned and agreed on and done to themselves, but this points to something important in my opinion: the Bad Kids, and the narrative/show as a whole by extension, acknowledge that external manipulation affects how guilty someone is in a crime.

which brings us to Ragh. Ragh, introduced from episode 1 as the meathead jock. Ragh the archetypical one-dimensional high school bully. Ragh who works with the harvestmen in effort to (ostensibly) end the world/provoke international war. Ragh, whose low intelligence but high loyalty and internalized homophobia led him to be fully swayed and blindly led by his coach and captain, who have actively chosen to do evil. Ragh who is killed in combat by the Bad Kids and resurrected for information, not Daybreak. Ragh, who the Bad Kids realize was probably not aware of exactly what he was being made to do and how bad it really was. Ragh, who by their kindness in sparing his life and directing him on a better path, becomes a well-rounded character and an active ally to the Bad Kids during and after prom, an invaluable companion during their quest in sophomore year, and overall a really good friend and person.

(it might also be worth considering the case of Jawbone here, too, who started out a very minor antagonist in a fight but ended up becoming a major NPC because the Bad Kids talked to him, found out he came from an unfortunate situation and set of circumstances, and showed him kindness in offering the school guidance counselor position, a kindness that isn’t really owed but given anyway and ends up changing his entire life for good.)

and then, Aelwyn, whose case is already discussed above. so, why is the RVS what it is, why them but not others?

if you’re familiar with Avatar: the Last Airbender, you’re probably familiar with Zuko’s character arc, and how it’s often lauded as a masterful example of developing a villain into a hero over the course of a narrative. what makes Zuko’s arc so well done and exceptional is that he starts out as a kid in a bad situation under the influence of bad adults seeking to do bad deeds, but he later realizes the error of those ways, actively removes himself from that situation despite the difficulty and danger in doing so, goes through a lot of shit and reflects on his past mistakes and learns from them, and then actively chooses to fight for good in the end with the help of close, trusted friends, found family.

this, i believe, is the same in the case of Fantasy High and its treatment of the RVS. its members, like Zuko, are all teenagers who came from shitty situations and were manipulated by evil adults to do bad. they are punished for their bad actions, and they learn from their errors and mistakes. with the kindness and help of good people, friends and chosen family, they are able to escape their abusers and bad situations and grow into their own people. and they actively choose to improve themselves with that help and fight for good.

Fantasy High, through the arcs of Jawbone, Zayn, Ragh, and especially Aelwyn, asserts that it is not your fault if you come from a bad situation and are forced to behave badly as a result. it does not pretend that you are absolved of any responsibility for those actions; quite the opposite, as even though they were externally manipulated into their evil actions, all of those mentioned characters face tangible consequences for their actions and later express remorse for their mistakes. but Fantasy High also asserts that even if you have made great mistakes in your past, even if you came from a bad situation beyond your control, even if you were manipulated and abused, with care and love and support and a hell of a lot of work and effort, you can improve your situation and find good, happiness, peace, you can thrive. evil adults who should know better don’t get redeemed. teenagers who aren’t coerced but actively choose evil don’t get redeemed. but abused kids deserve another shot at happiness. with enough work, and some love and help along the way, they can get there, even from the lowest imaginable point, from rock fucking buttom. it’s possible.

#fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #dimension 20 live #dimension 20 #fantasy high sophomore year #fantasy high freshman year #d20 #dimension 20 live spoilers #brennan lee mulligan #aelwyn abernant #zayn darkshadow #ragh barkrock #sasha reviews #hello tumblr. tonight i bring you a 2.3k word essay. tomorrow? who knows #i'll just throw myself into the nearest river if this doesn't show up in the tags this is fine #this one's for y'all in my notes i see u and i love u here's some content #the first half of this is mostly copy pasted from my discord ramblings #i didnt intend for this to be as long as it got but yknow. i never do and it always is #so thats why the first part of this is written differently from the rest of it lol

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