#it won't be until the end of the show probably

[kerink]

ford's lifetime of objectification is so important to me.

when you first watch the show, you don't really see it in tots. just taking the show in isolation, stan's experience is much easier to latch on to: stan is being neglected by his parents and the education system, and he compensates for it by becoming useful to (and therefore needed by) ford. the codependency and abuse are the themes that stand out.

which makes sense, since we've been following stan so long by this point we're bought into his character arc. alex has even said that ford was built to be someone who would explain stan's trauma response. we are meant to be looking at stan for these reasons and because ford lies to us (by omission) during his story. yes stan lies too, but only in the narration; we are shown the truth. ford's story is a lie both in narration and in visuals.

but as the show goes on and as the books come out, we are directed to start looking more and more at ford's experience.

when you read journal 3 standard edition, what stands out is bill's manipulation and how ford fails to grasp the lifelines fate throws him. we see ford transform from a man wanting recognition and connection to being isolated and unable to trust.

but then you read journal 3 blacklight edition, you realize it wasn't just bill: fiddleford was hurting him too. when fiddleford first presents the memory gun to ford, ford tells him that it's dangerous with a high risk for misuse, and to destroy it. not only does fiddleford lie about agreeing with ford and lie about destroying it, he also turns around and starts routinely, non-consensually using it on ford. whenever fiddleford wants to do something he knows ford will disagree with or be upset by? zap zap! conflict averted, no compromising or debating necessary. (and then, of course, he starts stalking ford to ensure nothing happens to him that fiddleford deems deleteable.)

and then we get tbob and watch bill hijack and mutilate his body, rewire his brain, and threaten his life. his value reduced down to a pair of eyeballs bill is more than happy to pluck out to use as keys if ford won't deactivate the retinal lock.

with this new insight, it makes ford's experience in tots significantly easier to see. filbrick didn't care about what happened to ford, he cared about what he lost. yes stan probably did care about what happened to ford, but not enough to tell him about the accident with time enough to fix it. not enough to let him be angry, let him grieve, let him figure out alternative college solutions. it was just right back to what stan wanted: sailing away together. for the entire scene, ford's opinion weren't asked for, his emotions not given a platform, until they were useful for what stan wanted: not having him kicked out. ford's experience of the event was so unimportant, he'd gone to his bedroom while filbrick and stan fought. he was no longer needed.

neither bill, nor fiddleford, nor filbrick, nor stanley see ford as a fully realized human being with wants and goals and dreams and aspirations of his own. at least, they see him as a fully realized human being only up until what he wants conflicts with what they want. after j3 blacklight it starts to become obvious that ford is a tool, a concept, to the people ford thinks are his closest allies.

to bill, ford is an escape (with just the show and j3 we think only into our world, but after tbob we learn that this is both literal and metaphorical). to fiddleford, ford is freedom (from his marriage, from societal expectations, from the pressure of being more than his roots). to filbrick, ford was stability (i refuse to believe it was just about the money, but more about what the money represented. filbrick and caryn wouldn't have to worry about making ends meet, wouldn't have to worry about their children's future; all reasonable desires for parents to have but inappropriate responsibilities to place on a teenager. not to mention how the lasting impact of the holocaust combined with the rise of holocaust denialism in the 1970s would influence filbrick's perspectives). to stan, ford was everything (he was willing to throw away his life on shore, both what he had and what he might have, to sail with ford, just the two of them, forever. and he did throw away his life bringing ford home: he murdered stanley pines and sacrificed 30 years in exchange for his brother. stan believes he is only one half of a dynamic duo, that without ford there is no him).

in a way, ford was a portal for all of them. something they could use to get a better, happier, fuller life. ford is fought for, someone hard decisions are made for, someone people do terrible things for. but not for him, but for the opportunity to keep him, to control him. hell, even his doctor said they want to kidnap him.

because keeping stanford pines is extremely difficult. he's hard to get close to, but once you're close he loves fully, trusts implicitly. but if he's wronged, he's vindictive, he holds a grudge, he pushes you away and he runs.

princess unattainabelle indeed.

doesn't it make sense, then, after all of this, ford would grow into someone who insists upon his own agency? that he was forced to become self-confident, self-assured, a man of action. that he would become an avid journaler so that his wants and goals and dreams and aspirations would become concrete, would become tangible. that he would become someone who lies about his past in order to have control over how he is perceived, how his life is remembered?

because after what fiddleford and bill did to him, wouldn't it make sense he would become someone anxious about his reality, his memories, his sense of self? how much of who he thinks he is and what he believes and what he knows and what he can do is because of changes they made to his mind?

does he even have himself?

for the entire duration of gravity falls, every character, at some point, to some degree, is chasing ford: his journals, his inventions, his knowledge, his identity, what he is able to give them, do for them.

but how many of them are chasing ford.

edit: just want to add this disclaimer for clarity. i intentionally left out other characters' nuance. if this reads uncharitable, that's not an accident and also i know there's a more nuanced perspective. that was just not the point of this.

[lucydixon]

Older!Eddie Headcanons

When I say older, I'm talking mid to late 40s. Bitch, I love me an older man and I feel like this fucker would be so fucking hot as a middle aged man. IDK if any of y'all have ever met a retired Metalhead/Rocker, but GODDAMN, they age like fine fucking wine.

Warning: Gets a little spicy towards the end, NSFW

I always picture Older!Eddie, with a biker look and covered in tattoos. Real intimidating, but pretty as sin with his salt and pepper beard and the silver streaks in his unruly mane. He’s probably a mechanic, or maybe a rockstar. 

He’s either divorced or a serial dater, maybe both, but as soon as he meets you, his eyes never wander. You’ll never know loyalty quite like that of Eddie Munson. 

You could meet anywhere. A coffee shop, the post office, maybe a gig, but wherever you are, his eyes are locked on you immediately, and he’s going back and forth on whether or not you’re too young for him. If you’d go for a washed-up metalhead when you could have your pick of all the other people he’d seen staring at you. 

That nagging insecurity from being bullied relentlessly as a child is still there. It always will be. However, his ability to put on a show instead of allowing his thoughts to eat him alive never fades, and he’d saunter over you with enough confidence that you can’t help but swoon.

He’d be very upfront about the fact that he is hitting on you, blatantly flirting with a cocky little smirk and cheesy pickup lines. They should be cheesy, but the way he delivers them, they sound smooth and suave. 

If you truly grab his attention, he won't fuck you the night he meets you. He’ll be a gentleman and walk you to your car or offer to drive you home, holding the door for you and everything, and ask to see you within the next few days. 

This man is thinking about fucking a baby into you from the second he lays eyes on you. He knows it’s wrong and that he shouldn’t be thinking about tying you down in such an extreme way, but he is the opposite of a slow burner. 

He’d try and have you move in with him after only spending one night together, desperate to keep you as close as possible while you’re still in the morning after honeymoon phase. 

I feel like he’d be possessive as fuck. He’s old enough that he doesn’t put up with games or any kind of back-and-forth. Eddie Munson knows what he wants, and he does not share. He’d keep a hand on your waist or resting on the swell of your ass whenever you’re out and about, especially in bars. He likes to make it very clear that you’re with him. 

Would be incredibly protective of you. He’ll protect what's his at any cost, and you can expect him to step in if someone so much as breathes any negativity your way. God forbid someone lays a hand on you, because this man will beat anyone who dares within an inch of their life. 

Side note, The thought of him just beating the shit out of someone on your behalf, cutting into their cheekbones with his heavy rings and drawing blood, is so fucking sexy oml. Maybe there’s something wrong with me, idk. ANYWAYS,

Older!Eddie fucks. Those experienced hands would have you seeing stars every. Single. Night. He’d be manhandling you into positions you didn’t even know existed and fucking you into the mattress so hard that it leaves his back aching in the morning, but then he’d do it again the next night. 

Very generous lover. You never have to worry about not finishing, even if the two of you are having a risky lil quickie in a bar bathroom, he will make you cum at least twice before even thinking about himself. There’s nothing he loves more than watching you fall apart. 

This man would live between your thighs if you let him. Eddie Munson is and always will be a munch. And he knows what tf he’s doing down there. He’ll have you cumming over and over again until you are sobbing and physically pushing him away.

Dividers by @saradika-graphics MDNI banner by @cafekitsune

Masterlist

[angrybubbles]

Happy one-year anniversary to the Loumand divorce.

I think as a fandom we've covered basically every way to talk about it, but guess what, I'm talking about it again.

One of the things I've always found really interesting about Armand's role in the interview is how objectively against the interview he is (constant reminders for Daniel and Louis), yet how much he's willing to be negotiated into it.

So much of the Loumand relationship as we see it is about negotiation. The BDSM, the power-dynamics, the past guilt and flaws, and especially the interview.

Armand haunting the background as fake Rashid was and is one of the craziest things they've done, but it was probably the only way Louis could talk Armand into allowing the interview. (And the fact that we seem to be witnessing an intense 24/7 roleplay scene to help 'Armand keep character' also reinforces this. Louis can order him around, and Armand can have a role to model). Yet he reveals himself as Louis is confronted with the reality that... maybe he did still love Lestat so that he could be a more physical and intentional reminder that Louis loves HIM and not Lestat.

Because the interview is working through the past misconceptions, lies, trauma, and other things that Louis has used to peice together the story that upkeeps his current reality, of course Armand is going to be fearful that poking holes in that narrative will make Louis fall out of love with him.

Which is why this confession comes at the end of describing the fallout of the trial.

Louis, even after covering and recalling the trial, of his anger at Armand, throwing a bowl at Armand's head, is still willing to keep pushing forward. Louis, as uncertain about everything that he is, truly believes that Armand has his best intentions at heart. Flaws (and child murder) aside, Armand tries to do things for HIM.

Even Armand can see this interview had been healing for Louis, and so now Armand can introduce a new peice to Louis's puzzle that won't throw off their relationship. Louis no longer seems to be here out of spite. This can be a new beginning.

Now that Louis has laid his grievances out on the table again, he is prepared to move forward.

Because, and I think a lot of people miss this, while Armand may be abusive, he wants the best for Louis. And he knows Louis has not been doing well. So the negotiation of the interview, something he feared would break what little of Louis he had left, has instead strengthened their bond.

At least, until Louis finds out that Armand was willing to let Louis die at the trial.

Because that's the biggest part of the betrayal, right? That's what Armand has been trying to cover up. That he was more involved with the trail than he pretended to be, and he did nothing to save Louis' life as it happened. Armand only saved Louis afterwards (which I feel a lot of antis also forget. Like Armand did save Louis, it was just a little late).

And Armand scrambling after Louis reads the script, his begging and trying to fix it because obviously Louis is PAST this, Armand told him Lestat loved him and Louis was going to STAY-

And of course the best thing Louis could do was to shut Armand up. No more frantic words. No more soothing lies. No more accusations. No more negotiating.

Louis tends to make decisions at pivotal points in his life, but leaves the rest of the minute details up to others. And this was one he decided to make.

Now it's his turn to really decide how best to heal. Armand has shown with this new evidence that he doesn't always have Louis's best intentions at heart.

---

I love Loumand so much, and I can't wait to see how the show will dramatize their awkward relationship moving forward. As the Vampire Chronicles have laid out in its themeing: Love doesn't truly fade, it just makes the aches and pains feel stronger.

I can only hope it's a lot more entertaining and loving than my parents divorce

[writingdevil]

Are you taking requests? Can you write about Wraith and Hero maybe? Maybe Hero apologizing for how things went in her chapter

(Sorry that this took awhile to make, I wasn't sure how to go about it, and I hope it's still good for you, so enjoy!)

Hero took a deep breath in, staring down the cabin in front of him, and he heard a giggle behind him.

He didn't need to turn around, as Spectre materialised in front of him, an excited smile on her face.

"Are you sure you wanna go through with this?" she asked, her ghostly form lighting up the dark trees around them.

Hero felt like something was crushing down on his chest, trying to squeeze the life out of his heart- but he still gave Spectre a reassuring smile.

"I do," he replied, pleasantly surprised to find that his voice actually sounded calm and collected. He hid his shaking hands behind his wings as he said, "I want to try and make amends with all of you, so that hopefully we can all be- if not friends- then at least friendly to each other."

"Awww, how sweet," Spectre cooed, before drifting to the side, allowing Hero to enter the cabin. "Just remember," Spectre said, "she probably won't like the sight of your face at first. She might even try to rip it off! So stay on your feet in there, okay?"

"Okay," Hero quietly said, and there was definitely a tremor in his voice now.

He gulped, then cautiously walked to the door, sending a final, fleeting look towards Spectre, who smiled brightly and waved at him. "Good luck!"

Hero gave her a small wave in return, and then opened the door.

Immediately, a chill went up his spine, the memories making his feathers stand on end.

He cautiously walked into the cabin, his eyes drawn to familiar white curtains that lightly waved with the wind.

There was no mirror, and Hero stopped in the middle of the room, unsure of how safe he was right now, so he called out, "Wraith? Hello?"

For a few seconds, there was nothing but the haunting silence of the cabin, and then, he heard her voice.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

Hero jumped, frantically spinning around to try and her, calling, "Wraith? Wraith, where are you?"

He couldn't find her. Not even in any corners, not in the shadows, nowhere.

Hero froze, trembling with his wings spread wide, debating if he should call Spectre in for reinforcements- until he felt an icy chill against his back.

"Behind you."

Hero shouted in fright, spinning around, but he wasn't fast enough to stop Wraith from lunging forward and grabbing his ankle, yanking it until Hero fell to the floor. How painfully familiar.

Hero groaned, slowly sitting up so as to not make Wraith jumpy, but when he finally faced her, all he saw was sadistic glee on her face.

He gulped, trying to ignore the numbness crawling up his leg. "Hi, Wraith."

"Hello, monster," she spat back, tightening her grip on his ankle, and Hero inhaled sharply, willing the rest of his body to remain as still as possible.

"I have to say, I didn't expect you to actually return here," Wraith said, tapping a bony finger against his foot. "When Spectre said you wanted to meet me, I laughed in her face."

Hero's body shuddered at Wraith's wide and creepy grin, seeing the sadistic delight flash in her eyes at his torment.

Hero took a deep breath in and steeled his nerves. He needed to do this.

"Wraith, I came here to apologise to you."

Wraith chuckled, then lifted his leg higher as she said, "Apologise? Now? After all this time and this freedom? Now, is when you want to apologise to me?"

Hero nodded nervously, his attention flicking between Wraith's face and her hold on his ankle.

"I want to make things right with you," Hero explained. "I feel awful for what we did to you."

Wraith's eyes squinted at the word 'we' and she briefly loosened her hold on his ankle as she asked, "It's just you? None of your other little bird friends came to apologise? Not even the chatty one?"

"You mean Oppy?" Hero said, before shaking his head. "No, it's just me."

"Oh." But for some reason, that really angered Wraith, so started to rise up higher, bringing Hero's leg up with him, her grip now become increasingly painful.

"So only you came to apologise?"

"W-What?" Hero scrambled to try and keep some semblance of control, scratching his claws against the wooden floor to stop Wraith from completely lifting him up.

"What? Did you think that I wasn't worth a full apology?" Wraith accused, and this time, Hero couldn't hide his hiss of pain as Wraith squeezed his ankle tighter.

"You waited all this time to talk to me? Did you forget about me? Did you forget what you did to me?"

Hero shook his head, torn between wanting to tug his foot free, and trying to not cause anymore pain to the limb.

He settled for shaking on the spot, leaning forward to try and grip his foot, but only ended up pawing desperately at his leg.

Wraith just sent him daggers from above. "How about I remind you exactly of what happened last time?"

Bony, frigid fingers dug into his skin, and Hero threw his head back and groaned in pain. How had everything gone so wrong so fast? Did they hurt Wraith that badly? Was her anger too big for Hero's apologies? What does he do? What does he do? What does he-

"Wraith!"

That was when Spectre saved the day.

She quickly passed through the walls, flying straight for Wraith, wrapping her ghostly arms around Wraith's neck. "Wraith! Stop this! This isn't how this was supposed to go!"

Wraith sent her a skeletal scowl, her free hand clenching into a fist as she snapped, "Why should I forgive him? He left me to die!"

"I know!" Spectre agreed urgently. "But he feels guilty! He wants to say sorry now, so you should at least hear him out!"

"Why?!" Wraith yelled, leaning closer to glare at Spectre, who refused to back down. "How can you stand there and forgive them so easily after what they did to me? To you, Spectre? Aren't you furious?"

"I am!"

"Then why aren't you acting like it?!"

"Because we have an eternity, Wraith!" Spectre yelled, and that seemed to strike a cord with Wraith, who's anger shifted to shock so quickly.

Spectre lowered her arms from around Wraith's shoulders and sighed sharply. "We have an eternity to ourselves!" She then nodded towards Hero, who's entire leg may be going numb at this point. "We've been given this second chance at life, and he wanted to make things right with you, when he could've ignored you forever."

Wraith's grip on him lessened.

Spectre's whole form flashed with a brilliant light as she yelled, basking the three of them in a spectral glow.

Spectre gave Wraith a firm look. "I don't want to waste my eternity being angry. That's no fun. If someone wants to say sorry to a ghost, then I say we let them. I don't want the past to haunt us as well, Wraith"

Spectre ended her rant with some heavy panting, refusing to take her eyes off Wraith, who hadn't said anything in quite a few minutes.

Hero thought his ankle was a goner. But then, Wraith let him go.

Hero bit his lip to stop any noises of pain from being let out right now, trying to keep some dignity at this point.

Wraith gazed down at him with an unreadable look, before she sighed.

"I'm willing to accept your apology- some day," Wraith said, before giving him a weak glare. "But it will take a long time to earn my forgiveness, understand?"

Hero nodded in relief.

He'll take what he can get with these ghostly gals.

[stevielovesmatt]

MYSTERIOUS

in which... writer!matt starts showing up more

warnings: none

burning hot

The clock strikes 2am, and you're still sitting in your studio. Adding the finishing touches to your painting, you hear a crash. Then, a muffled "Fuck!" through the wall.

10 seconds later, there's light knocking on your door. You open it, seeing Matt drenched in coffee.

"Please tell me you've got paper towels in here." He mutters.

You stifle a giggle, nodding as you lead him in, grabbing a handful of them. "Why are you here this late?"

Matt pats down his cream-colored sweater with the paper towels, visibly getting more annoyed as it's not coming off. "It's only like 2," He looks up at you, shrugging, "Not that late."

"Will this ever come off?" He continues. You shake your head.

"Probably not. Matches your hair though, looks nice." You swear you see him blush, but he looks away before you can confirm it. You offer him more towels as he starts to head out.

"Why are you here?" He repeats your question back to you, grabbing the towels from you.

"Finishing up some stuff. Usually I'm asleep by now." You say, opening the door for him.

He nods, walking back into Logan's room. "Thanks for the paper towels."

The door shut, leaving you stood in the doorway of your studio. You walk back in, "Didn't even answer my question." You mumble to yourself, going back to the paintings.

sculpted feelings

"Anything fun today?" Logan asks you, hands on his hips, looking around. Matt sat on your couch, nose-deep into his journal, writing.

You smile. "Clay stuff," you pause, an idea forming, "Wanna be my muse?" You notice Matt looking up out of your peripheral view when you say that, then going back to writing.

"Huh? How?" Logan asks, puzzled. You giggle at his lack of art knowledge.

You pull out a stool, placing it next to your desk. "You sit here, I sculpt your face." You say shrugging.

Logan's jaw drops. "Oh yes. Sculpt this sexy face." He promptly sits down in the stool.

"Perfect." You say, giggling. You walk around the room, grabbing the materials you need.

5 minutes later, you're sat at your desk, clay in hand. Something, Somehow, Someday by ROLE MODEL plays through your phone speaker. You glance across the room, seeing Matt move his head to the beat, clearly enjoying the song unconsciously.

10 minutes later, you're laser-focused. Sculpting out the eye sockets, you look over at Logan to make sure you did it right.

"Are you done yet?" He asks, deadpanning.

You shake your head. "No." You mumble, all your attention on the clay in front of you. That is, until you feel a pair of eyes on you. You look up for a second, but Matt's already staring. He has the end of his pen in his mouth, thinking. As soon as you make eye contact for 2 seconds, he immediately looks back down in his journal and starts writing, a soft smile playing on his face.

Weird.

creative juices

*MATT'S POV*

I sit on my bed, staring at my journal, a blank page to be exact. I just spent the past hour writing non-stop, and now I have nothing. I knew what I wanted to write about, but the words won't come to my head.

Logan had given me Y/N's number a few days ago, after I told him a needed it for 'creative purposes'.

'how would u describe a tree in like a cool way. smth spiritual idk.' I text her.

Her notification pops up almost immediately. 'Who is this?'

'oh shit. this is matt sorry'

'Oh okay.'

I sigh, awaiting her response as the three bubbles appear again.

'Something grounding. Like even through all crazy things in life, a tree still stands strong? And they give good hugs I guess.'

I laugh at the last part, sending her a quick thank you before going back to writing, smiling at myself.

a/n: something to hold u over until the next part :)

main: @slvt4subchratt @chrepsi @hannaloveschris @courta13 @sunflower-vol3 @mattspillowprincess @ilovedanielcaesar @kenah-sturniolo

artist!reader x writer!matt: @oopsiedaisydeer @lyingonchris

dividers by @bernardsbendystraws

[thedocs-in]

Military School Pt.1

Sorry this took so long to get out, a self-indulgent Cecilxreader fic that I started to write took over my life for a couple on months. And then school started.

But I wrote this about two years ago, and I only meant for it to be shared with people on this Cecil server I was in. But, considering its gone now, I figured why not. And Cecil is supposed to be like, 14 or 15 in this.

This is part one of a three part story. The second part should be up possibly by the end of the week. Gotta make some edits to it first.

Plot: Cecil gets into a fight that nearly gets him expelled from high school, and almost gets sent to military school.

Link to Pt.2

TW: blood, injuries, and mentions of violence and sexual harassment (very briefly on that second one)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting there in an uncomfortable chair, Cecil leaned forward. His elbows resting on his knees and a bloody rag pressed against his nose. Though, given the fact that his shirt was already covered in his own blood, the rag was pretty much useless. Craning his neck, he looked at the senior who sat across from him. The senior he’s labeled ‘Jackass’ looked like shit, his shirt stained with blood. The skin around his nose and one of his eyes starting to turn purple.

The senior pressed a bloodied rag into his face, as his lip had been busted and his nose broken. Two of the seniors’ fingers were in a makeshift splint; and while he had heard something pop, he wasn’t sure if they were broken or just dislocated.

But it didn’t matter; he was still screwed regardless. Up until this point he had gotten away with getting into fights with assholes or bullies. Middle school kids were too embarrassed that they got their ass kicked. Sure, there were times when someone would snitch, and he’d get in trouble. But most of the time he’d get a warning or detention, considering the other kids never got hurt enough to warrant suspension, or worse, expulsion. But high schoolers were different, you fight back, hurt their ego, and they’ll find a way to make your life miserable; especially if they had been on top of the food chain.

But here he was, sitting outside the principal’s office contemplating everything that went wrong, how he let his temper get the better of him.

Craning his head up, he got a better look at the ‘jackass’ sitting across from him. And he was met with a glare that could melt steel. Lowering the rag, he checked his nose; thankful that the bleeding finally stopped.

He returned the dirty look to the senior, scrunching his nose in the process. Which only sent a wave of pain through his face, and he was convinced that it was broken. It wasn't the first time it's been broken, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But knowing his dad, a trip to the emergency room wasn’t likely, as his dad would rather just set it at home.

Looking at the floor, he stared at the ugly linoleum. He could see a few stray droplets of blood on the ugly brown linoleum, that was probably outdated when it was put down. And he wondered who had the bright idea to choose brown of all colors.

But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a shouting match break out behind him. The door to his right muffled the voices, but he quickly straightened up when he heard his dad shouting.

The ‘Jackass’ spoke up, “Sounds like you’re in trouble you little shit.”

He looked at the senior and could see that he had a shit eating grin on his face. But he watched as the smug look turned to regret as blood started to run down his chin, and he moved the rag from his nose to his lip.

“I wouldn’t have kicked your sorry ass if you had just left my friend alone.” He spat back.

He leaned back in the chair and looked up to the stained ceiling, attempting to make sense of what was being said. All he could tell was that it didn’t sound good for him. Occasionally he could make out his dad insulting whoever else was in there.

The shouting quickly died down, and he heard a third voice talking, then footsteps.

On his right, a door quickly opened, and he turned his head to look. Standing in the doorway was short and portly man who looked both terrified and exhausted.

He sighs, “Both of you in my office, now!”

Forcing himself up from the chair, he reluctantly walked through the doorway. Quickly spotting his dad standing across from the ‘jackasses’ father.

His dad quickly looked at him, and ice filled his veins. He could see that his dad was not happy. Catching his eye for a moment, he quickly looked elsewhere as he walked into the office. While he was never scared of his father, for once he was nervous. The fact that this fight had gotten so out of hand made things look worse for him.

As soon as he was within grabbing distance, his dad pulled him close. Quietly seething at him through his teeth, “You are in so much trouble!”

What little color there was in his face left as he rarely saw his dad this angry.

The portly man walks around the room and sits down behind his desk. On top sat a little placard, ‘Principal Owens’.

With a sigh, the principal sat down. “Mr. Stedman, I’m afraid we have a serious situation on our hands here. I don’t take kindly to violence occurring on school grounds, especially when it leads to serious injury. And to be completely honest Mr. Stedman, this isn’t looking good for your son.”

He felt his chest tighten. And while he wanted to defend himself, he bit his tongue right as the ‘jackasses’ father started to yell.

“I want that little bastard expelled and arrested! Look at what he did to my son!” The man spat, gesturing to his son’s injuries.

Principal Owens cuts in with exasperation, “Mr. Lawson please, before any decision is made, I want Mr. Stedmans’ to explain himself.”

Now with everyone’s attention turned towards him, his mouth suddenly went dry, and he had no idea how to explain himself. Where to even begin, and if they would even believe him. Considering it was his word against ‘jackasses’ and his cronies. He had a few friends that could certainly vouch for him, but he didn’t want them involved in this mess.

He could feel his dad’s grip on his shoulder tighten, and in that moment, he was almost too terrified to even look towards his father. Taking a deep breath, knowing that even if he told the truth, he could still be screwed. “He’s been harassing my friend for days. And when I went to talk to him, to tell him to leave her alone, he took a swing at me. I didn’t start the fi-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Mr. Lawson lost his grip on his son for a moment as the senior attempted to lunge at him, calling him a liar. Thankfully, his dad quickly put himself in between the two teenagers, and Mr. Lawson pulled his son back.

Principal Owens stood up quickly and slammed his hands onto his desk, “That’s enough! I will not have any more fighting! Especially in my office.” Looking over to Mr. Lawson he said, “Control your son!”

He watched as the ‘jackass’ huffed in anger.

As soon as things started to calm down for a moment the principal looked at him, “Cecil, what do you mean he’s been harassing your friend?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, he began to explain things. “All of this started two weeks ago, when he started to harass my friend. He kept making all sorts of sexual comments towards her, or him and his friends kept harassing her after school. I went to go talk to him, to tell him to knock it off. But all he did was attack me. I didn’t go looking for a fight, but no one else was telling him to stop.”

As the words left his mouth, he could feel the tension growing in the room. But he noticed his dad’s grip loosen a bit.

The principal narrowed his eyes at him, as he leaned back into his chair. “And why didn’t you think to report this to the office? And why hasn’t she come forward?”

What anxiety he felt, was quickly replaced with anger, “I tried, and no one did anything! She tried, but no one would take her seriously. If you really don’t believe me, ask her. Ask the teacher that caught the ‘jackass’ messing with her yesterday.”

He still couldn’t remember his name, though at this point it wasn’t worth trying.

“Young man, I will not tolerate that language in my office or my school.” Owens said. “Which teacher are you talking about?”

He wracked his brain trying to remember who had caught the older student, but his memory was failing him. “I don’t know, I think it might’ve been the P.E. teacher. I wasn’t there, she just told me about all of this, this morning. She said it’s been happening after school for the past two weeks. She said that the teacher saw and stopped it but didn’t do anything else.”

Principal Owens sighed and rubbed his face. And for what felt like minutes, everyone was silent.

His dad cleared his throat, “Principal Owens, I’d like to know what you plan on doing? I agree that what my son did was wrong, but if what he’s saying is true, I hope ‘jacka-’, Mr. Lawson’s son is punished as well.”

Biting his tongue, he had to stop himself from laughing at his dad’s slip-up. Over the past couple of years, many of his teachers had complained about his colorful language. Resulting in a lot of parent teacher conferences, where they quickly learned where he got it from.

But before Principal Owens could respond Mr. Lawson interjected, “Are you kidding me? My son is the victim here, I want the little menace arrested.”

He felt his heart stop for a moment and his dad’s grip tighten again.

“Now hold on.” Principal Owens says. “Before the police get involved, I want to make sure that everyone is telling the truth.”

Mr. Lawson’s face was turning red, “I know for a fact that this isn’t the first time that little bastard has done something like this. Everyone knows he’s done this before.”

“Sir please calm down; I know all too well about Cecil’s previous incidents. I’ve seen his records, but his past incidents have never been like this. And I don’t think the police need to be involved yet.”

He internally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the cops wouldn’t be involved just yet.

Lawson opens his mouth to start again, but Owens stops him, “I think the best course of action, for now, would be suspension for both. I want to see if what Cecil say’s is true. If it ends up being a lie then your son can return to school immediately, if not, then he’ll have to serve out his suspension. And he will be put on academic probation when he returns.”

‘Jackass’ begins to whine, “What?! You can’t do that? I’m needed on the team. I need this to get into college.”

The older Stedman cuts in, “Kid, if you have to rely on to being a football player to get yourself into college, you probably shouldn’t be going. Besides if my son is lying then you have nothing to worry about.”

Both Lawson’s looked at his father, moving their anger from Principal Owens to the older Stedman.

Before either Lawson could say anything, Owens speaks. “Now Mr. Stedman, I cannot let Cecil off with just a warning, he did injure another student. If he’s telling the truth, he’ll have to serve out his suspension, and a few weeks of detention when he comes back. But if your son is lying, I will be forced to expel him.”

His father, now much more levelheaded, spoke. “I understand.”

“Now please, go home. I have an incident report to fill out.”

As he and his dad walked out of the principal’s office, his father spoke to him quietly, “We’ll talk about this when we get home.”

He nodded his head, “Yes sir.”

[gothamite-rambler]

Kory: We should get married in a year.

Dick: Yeah... What?

Kory: I've had my share of adventures and experiences in my single life and in our poly dynamic. After exploring that side of myself, especially during my time with the Outlaws, I've come to realize that what I truly want is a deeper connection with you. I love you, Richard.

Dick sniffled, his eyes misty as he smiled. He looked away, looking at the ceiling.

Dick (talking to his parents): Mom, Dad if you don't want this for some reason, send a sign.

After a minute of silence and nothing bad happening in the room, Dick sighed with relief. Kory laughed softly, waiting for her boyfriend's response.

Dick (playing it cool): I guess I've reached that age to get married and you've been someone I could see myself growing old with. Yeah, in a year I will propose to you.

Kory (eager): Perfect! Oh, and you'll be getting married to a woman that's not a five stage clinger who is no good. Like Talia.

Dick: You remembered I said that. That makes me want you more.

Dick and Kory shared a kiss while Hayley napped next to the couch.

[lyxchen]

You know I really love how Squid Game pushes it's scenes so far that it makes you feel that sense of urgency and distress that the characters feel. It can easily happen that if a scene goes on for too long for the purpose of keeping you in suspense that it then gets boring or annoying. But that never happens in Squid Game. Some scenes are incredibly long, especially the games, I know I got so stressed out watching Dalgona for the first time because the scene just would not end. But that's exactly what the length of that scene is supposed to do for you. Often when you are feeling a lot of anxiety or are in a moment of intense stress everything around you can feel slower. Like time takes longer to pass. Especially when you have a time limit and still need to concentrate and not make any mistakes. And in my opinion Squid Game conveys that perfectly. The games, they drag on even though a game itself is often not that long. Red Light, Green Light has a timelimit of 5 minutes. That's so little!! But they make you feel every damn second of it while watching. I'm not sure if the actual scene was longer than 5 minutes, but it probably was. But they don't cut out stuff. Often when things happen over a span of time in shows and movies they don't add in parts where not much happens and just cut to the part that's interesting again. But in Squid Game because it is life or death and because of how anxiety can make you feel like time is passing slower every moment for the players feels so long and every moment is important. And that's what I really love in how they made the show. Because yes scenes may be going on for a long time. But they're showing you in the most realistic way possible how the players experience these moments. Add to that that there's almost no added in music like pop songs and in general there's not that much background music either. Because it would just take you out of the intensity of the scene, seperate you from the character's point of view. So a lot of scenes are very quiet in the way that every sound you hear is also a sound that a character inside the show is hearing too. Squid Game, just in the way it's made and filmed and in how long scenes take, is made to be so realistic and wants you to feel as closely as possible to what the characters themselves are feeling too. I really love this way of making a show

Btw I made this post because I realized that this doesn't just happen in the games but also outside of them. When Gi-hun is searching for the recruiter we get a montage of all of them searching, the days passing and Gi-hun ripping off pages from his calendar, but even here that montage takes longer than a montage to show the passage of time usually takes. Because it is long. They can't show us every day of Gi-hun just searching again and again but they can sure make us feel like we've just watched that. And you start out watching it thinking "oh they're gonna show us them finding him in like the next 30 second" but they don't. And there's one point where you think the montage is over but then it isn't. And you get frustrated watching it because "why can't they find the recruiter already?? This is taking so long" and that's Exactly how Gi-hun is feeling in that moment. They drag it out, they show you so much of everybody just searching and days passing and they Want you to be annoyed, because then you're really getting it. You're really getting how fucking long it took to find the Recruiter and what a painfully and annoyingly slow and exhausting process it was. And that's just another way that this show is so damn amazing!!! Because it's so fucking good at making you feel exactly what a character is feeling!! They're not just telling you "oh yeah this took long but they did it", no. They're Showing you exactly how long it took.

And suddenly we've arrived at one of my favorite story telling rules which is "show, don't tell" and I think Squid Game applies this rule really really well

(I have more rambly thoughts under the cut that have a little bit to do with this post but focus on another part of it. Also if the structure of this post feels weird that's probably because I had many different thoughts and just kinda put them where I felt they fit in best so idk, I have a hard time rereading stuff I've written so sorry if the flow of it feels off)

Tbh I think it might also be a little bit why the show appeals to so many people and why so many people go and participate in Squid Game the Challenge or that Mr Beast shit. With the way Squid Game is made and filmed to be so immersive it has the power to give the viewer that same rush of adrenaline that the players inside the show feel. But us viewers sit at home and we know we are safe and so we want more of that adrenaline. It's maybe kind of like Bungee Jumping. You get that rush, that thrill of "holy shit I'm Falling", but you know you're safe. You're doing something you would otherwise only experience right before death. And obviously that is what Squid Game the Challenge is like, because being in it you know if this was real, as in real the way it is real in the show, then you'd be very close to death at any given moment. But you're not. Because you don't die if you fail. But you still get that thrill because of that association with death without actually having to be afraid of it. And that's when it gets fun. And while I don't think that this was intended the show is partly also as popular as it is, Because just by watching it you get a little bit of that adrenaline that's fun for you because you know you're safe

Also another thought about the 'show, don't tell' point of it all. There's not that much talking happening in Squid Game. Like people obviously speak to each other but often there are also long periods of time where nobody is speaking at all. But that doesn't matter because this show is so good at showing us everything that is important without much words needed. I'm pretty sure you could watch it without sound or subtitles and still get most of the plot of it. And that's really impressive

[born-to-lose]

I need 10 jägerbombs

[ceramicbeetle]

actually it's kind of funny how people will say Alex's fatal flaw is that he 'doesn't ask for help' and that it's his determination to handle things on his own that leads to his deterioration and eventual death when his whole introduction to the present-day timeline was a very literal cry for help that simply went ignored

[nanihirunkits]

hello !! i'm so sorry if this question is annoying but i couldnt find any info on it so i thought i would ask ?! when is the heart killers coming out 🫣

hi!! we unfortunately don't know yet however jojo did tweet the other day that they've started editing the show and that we'll get to see it soon

@airenyah and i have been speculating about the release date and we landed on october 26th (or maybe november 2nd onward) based on future open slots and the show just giving a saturday slot vibe 🫣

[knightofleo]

So.

That's it, I guess.

Time to pack it up.

Goodbye.

[sskk-manifesto]

Atsushi's back in the game!!! ۶( ˆ o ˆ )

[kiwi-tmntfan]

btw expect loads of ducktales tomorrow and afterwards cuz i queued a ton of things heh

[lyxchen]

I'm scared of who I will become once I watch the School Spirits season 2 finale

[asgardian--angels]

I'm afraid that by the time I actually finish my fic the jayvik fandom will be completely dead