#Arthur's in the clear 100%

[badsalmonella]

You know like THEEE one people would make long angry rant posts about being like "you like this character??? Don't you know they did *grocery list of problematic traits* ???" The one deemed as """the true villain of Camelot""" in those bad take posts. Yes I encourage explanations in the tags.

[blanc-ci]

Guys I might be drawing my craziest au yet

[tigertrack]

waugh finished doing all the last debt collection and charlotte missions.. arthurrrr 🤧🤧🤧🤧

[exhaustedalien]

fix it fics where Arthur lives but is forever changed

fix it fics where Arthur has to fight for his life in a way that doesn't use physical violence

fix it fics where Arthur has to learn how to live with his disability

fix it fics where his redemption isn't tied to his death but to his willingness to continue living and learning and changing

Kinda a controversial take but I like fix it rdr fanfiction that doesn’t take away Arthur getting sick

Idk it’s so important to his character that I like seeing how people can “fix it” while letting him still deal with the consequences of his actions

[swizzlemynizzle]

Underneath the Noise

—————————————————————————

Masterlist

Chapter 6: Post-Party Panic

—————————————————————————

The morning sun slices through Y/N’s window like a passive-aggressive reminder of her life choices. Her head is surprisingly okay. Her feet, not so much. The muddy size elevens are still by the door—silent, damning—and her own shoes are God knows where. Possibly in the Thames. The memories of last night blurred at the edges, not quite comprehensable this early in the morning.

Her new flat is still half-unpacked. Boxes lean against the walls, a heap of wires sprawled across the floor like a tech-themed crime scene. But she’s buzzing. Giddy, even.

Her cold feet sting on the kitchen tile as she makes a coffee, an attempt to rejoin Earth after a wild night. As the bitter liquid coats her tongue, the memories feel a little clearer.

Last night keeps looping in her head like a glitchy highlight reel: tambourine guy, fountain dipping, George’s stupid smirk when she called him a hobbit by mistake. The way he’d looked at her—really looked at her—like he saw through the performance and wasn’t put off by what was underneath.

And yet, beneath the buzz, something sharp simmers in her stomach.

Chris’s video.

She’s not in control of how people will see her—how they’ll edit her, meme her, decide who she is based on five minutes of drunken footage and one out-of-context laugh. She’s been on the internet long enough to know how fast strangers form opinions.

She’s done nothing wrong. But still. Anxiety doesn’t care about logic.

She shoves it aside and refocuses on her streaming setup. At least this part she can control. Two monitors up, ring light plugged in, mic adjusted. Her little digital kingdom—home.

Her phone buzzes on the desk. It’s a message from Chris.

Chris:

btw—thanks again for being in the vid yesterday. you were class. don’t let the internet be weird. if anyone gives you grief I’ll just post an unflattering picture of George and redirect the drama.

She snorts. Then reads it again. She hadn’t even realised how much she needed that.

She and Chris had only met a few times before yesterday’s video, yet he welcomed her like a long time friend.

Another notification follows almost instantly—this time from WhatsApp.

New group chat created: CHAOS GOBLINS

Members: Chris, Bach, Arthur Hill, ArthurTV, George, Y/N

Chris:

everyone give a round of applause to Y/N for not bailing when we made her wade into a public fountain

Bach:

absolute trooper. also possibly immortal?

Arthur Hill:

I still haven’t thawed out. if i die tell the coroner it was for content

ArthurTV:

100% worth it. someone check on Pickle the ferret tho

George:

still think Y/N peaked at “clown shoes and Hot Bitch Ready To Party shirt” tbh

Y/N:

sorry that I’m setting fashion trends you all can’t keep up with

Chris:

love you guys

Her grin creeps up before she can stop it. Despite the cold floors and the lingering worry, the thread of connection weaving through her screen is warm. Real.

Her Discord pings next.

georgeclarkey:

you up for streaming today or are you still emotionally recovering from trench foot?

She blinks.

Then grins wider.

y/n:

depends. are you going to insult my shoe choices again or play COD like a civilised human being?

georgeclarkey:

no promises. get in the vc.

She joins the call and is immediately met with George’s voice, clear and low and just a bit smug.

“There she is. The woman who turned the fountain into her personal Olympic trial.”

“Jealous I outpaced you in the chaos Olympics,” she replies, slipping her headset on.

They load into a match. It’s easy, this. Banter bouncing between them like they’ve done this for ages—even though this is technically their first proper stream together.

He makes dry, ridiculous commentary.

She mock-scolds him for stealing her kills.

He starts humming Wonderwall at one point and she threatens to rage quit.

The chat, naturally, loses it.

@bananasformonsters:

why do they lowkey sound like a couple

@yourewatchingBBCthree:

"she turned the fountain into her personal Olympic trial" – I’m crying, marry her already

@justvibingirl:

how do they know each other?? is this a collab or a situationship??

She snorts reading the comments, but George—either oblivious or intentionally ignoring them—just keeps playing.

After two hours and several chaotic rounds, they finally log off.

Y/N slumps back in her chair, cheeks aching from smiling. She opens Instagram on autopilot, half-thinking she should maybe share a clip.

And then—

@georgeclarkey followed you.

Huh.

A second later, a DM pops up.

georgeclarkey:

sorry in advance for the influx of people asking if we’re dating. feel free to deny everything. or say we met in Tesco. up to you.

She stares at the message for a moment. Bites her lip.

Then types:

y/n:

Tesco feels right. Two hands met over the last salt and vinegar packet. Destiny.

The typing bubble appears.

georgeclarkey:

iconic. should probably get married for the brand alone.

She laughs out loud. Okay, maybe she’s going to be alright.

---

@madforgeorge

@wherethezoes-at

@sundarksposts

@clarkey4life

[mmkclarkey]

We have a spare room- Part 4

When all goes wrong, moving in with three guys will help?

6 months. Half a year living with Chris, Arthur and George.

According to Chris, it was a cause for celebration, one that just insisted that you had to have a party. That’s why your weekly trip to B&M had turned into a 2 hour trip, all three of them picking out party cups and plastic shot glasses and literally anything you can find for a party.

“Whats the colour theme?” Arthur asks with a large smile on his face, looking like a child in a sweet shop, Chris following not too far behind with the trolley.

“We don’t have one, why the fuck would we have one?” George replies, laughing at Arthur’s excitement, while Arthur pulled a face at George, making his way towards him to slap the smiling man around the back of the head.

George winced and began to chase Arthur down the aisle, making you and Chris giggle while rolling your eyes.

“God can you two get any more childish?” You said quietly as they caught back up to you minutes later trying to avoid people around you knowing that you lived with these morons.

~

You finished up shopping, and after a fight with Chris over who was going to pay, him winning, you got back to the flat. Flopping down on the sofa had become a regular thing for all of you, normally trying to see who could do it first, and for once, someone other than you won.

Not that you were happy about it, but Arthur’s smile as his head hit the soft cushions was too priceless to be annoyed, even with George and Chris shouting profanities at the brunette sprawled on the sofa, legs hanging over the top, shoes still on.

~

A few hours later, you were lay on your bed after getting ready, lay carefully as not to flatten your curls at the back, or allow the short (too short) dress you were wearing to flash any of your roommates when they come into the room, which would not be the best idea if you were honest.

You hear a knock, faint on the door, making you question whether you actually heard it, but then it comes louder as you jump, saying a monotone “come in”.

Arthur comes in and dramatically flops down on your bed, making you giggle as you question why the man was in your room, not that it wasn’t a common occurrence, it’s just normally all of them together not just one roommate.

“I need your help” he chokes out, grabbing one of your pillows and screaming into it, making you chuckle, fully aware of the dramatics that came with your brunette roommate.

“Whats up? You seem cheery” you laugh sarcastically as he shoots you a glare, making it so that you fly your hands up in self defence, a shit-eating grin still on your face.

“There’s this girl yeah, and she’s coming to the party, because she got a random invite, but I might have a little crush on her, like on social media and stuff” he rambles out, looking as if he’s about to cry from whatever pickle he’d gotten himself into.

“Oh my god!” You laugh out, clapping your hands in excitement. “You are 100% taking your chance tonight I swear arthur!”

“I can’t, she won’t like me like that”

“You’re a stupidly oblivious man Arthur Hill, do you know that?”

“Fuck off”

~

The party was in full swing, people funnelling into the flat every 10 minutes or so, you greeted everyone as they came in, naturally gravitating towards the girls of the friend group, as Sabina, Chip’s fiancée reminded you of how good you look, and how half the guys there are staring.

You look across the room and spot arthur talking to a blonde girl, blushing harder than you have seen him do. Ever. The girl was smiling, laughing along with all his jokes, it was refreshing to see two people so completely enamoured by eachother; almost seeming as if there was no one else around them.

There was a clearing of a throat next to you as you turn your head to the side, George standing next to you looking at arthur and the girl. He spoke up after taking a sip of his beer.

“He looks like he’s in love”

“I know”

You both spoke at the same time.

“It’s cute” you spoke.

“It’s sickening” George laughed.

For a moment you looked at eachother, taking in your opposing views on the situation unfolding in front of you. And then you look back to arthur, letting out a little chuckle.

“You know, one day you’ll find a girl who will make you think love isn’t weird George, and that day will make every girl in the UK cry”

George looks at you, his expression unreadable as he lets out a little hum, walking away from you to go talk to Isaac, avoiding his eyes meeting yours as you shake the feeling off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N- oh I’m so sorry for how long this took! I love you all I swear, and hope you like this one, might have a cheeky couple more coming tonight x (what do we think about hill and his mystery girl, hint: mystery girl is Caitlin, cos she’s amazing x)

Taglist- @loveheart-123 @ooostarwarsfandom501st @rougetv @le-le-lea @onlinesuzie @44-ilton @pretendyoucantseeme @theresglittleronthefloor @raekensluver @viagracex @neivivenaj @authortelevision @kneelforloki @m3l0vesu @deepestlovefromspace @hiatus-xix

[incorrect-camelot]

my thoughts on monty python and the holy grail as it pertains to bbc merlin

merlin and leon were writers for the movie.

the whole movie is to bully arthur and the knights but merlin doesnt tell them that, just lets them figure it out. he tells them he wanted to memorialize them in any way he could, and he figured this best

the weird little subtitiles bit in the beginning it to annoy the absolute fuck out of arthur when he returns because he knows arthur will just want the movie to start and not have to deal with some bullshit beforehand

patsy is 100% george. merlin hates george.

the swallows guys at the beginning are played by merlin and leon. do not argue with me

dennis is based off will

the witch is them bullying morgana

the knights of the round table song is to get back at the knights for letting arthur make merlin juggle that one time

all the religious imagery is because merlin still practices the old religion and he's making fun of christians and i will not take criticism on that

the french guys are also played by leon and merlin

leon let merlin write most of the dialogue for the french because he remembers all the shit merlin would say to arthur

the trojan horse rip off is to bully the knights for all their poorly thought out plans

sir robin is merlin taking the worst traits of the knights and putting them together in one man

the three headed knight is showing how the knights only ever shared one braincell

since galahad, robin, and (if i remember correctly) bedevere dont exist in bbc merlin they are not those people from legend

galahad is used to bully gwaine specifically. because galahad is "galahad the pure" and gwaine was anything but

and surrounding him by women he isnt allowed to touch because he's too pure, and of course, eventually tries to give in because it's gwaine in disguise

when the knights return and merlin and leon force them to watch it, gwaine is screaming at the tv telling galahad that chastity isnt worth it

dingo breaks the fourth wall and says how much she enjoys the scene and how she was concerned when "the boys" were writing it and i just know merlin and leon forgot about that and they cant help but laugh at it

bedevere stays with arthur the whole movie. its leon and merlin's joint self insert. they use him as a way to poke fun at each other, but also show their undying loyalty to arthur

the knights who say ni are uther and his court of camelot and their ridiculous demands of arthur

herbert and his father are of course to show that uther didnt care about arthur's happiness.

tim is dragoon for sure. merlin just thinks he's funny reminding them of everything dragoon put them through

the rabit is mordred. looks so cute and innocent, but in the end wasn't

in monty python they lose gawain just like in bbc merlin they lose gwaine 😊

the holy hand grenade fiasco is because arthur can be given very clear instructions and still fuck up

the bridge of death with arthur and the bridge guy is just a retelling of a conversation merlin and arthur once has

and merlin at first didnt know which swallow, then decided "fuck it i'll just pick one" and asked more specifically and arthur didn't have an answer because he doesnt actually know he just wanted to sound smart

athur is wearing a sun. because he was the sun to merlin's moon.

at the end of the movie, maybe people come out of nowhere to defend arthur because duhhh

bedevere was with arthur from the beginning (like leon) and until the very end (like merlin)

and that concludes my thoughts on how monty python and the holy grail relates to bbc merlin

[ryan-the-dark]

Would Sean have sided with Arthur and John?:

I have seen people talk about this multiple times, saying that every dead gang members would have sided with Arthur and John without hesitation. I agree that Lenny and Kieran would but I have my doubts about Sean. The influence of Dutch cannot be understated. Let's remember he found them at the lowest points of their lives and brought them up into a "community".

If Javier died before Beaver Hallow I feel like I could have been able to say “Javier would have backed Arthur and John” but during Beaver Hollow… no. The gang was emotionally and mentally wrecked after the Saint Denis heist. (Granted, I do agree with folks that if Javier was given a chance to see more without being forced to side against Arthur and John by RDR1, things could have been different.)

While Lenny and Kieran will likely be able to resist spiraling since they are both smart and would likely become even more disillusioned with Dutch's leadership, the same cannot 100% be said for Sean. He MIGHT'VE sided with Arthur but he could easily be in the same vein as Javier and Bill, deciding to stay with the numbers. Lenny ALWAYS questioned Dutch.

Sean, however, never did.

Sure he had his doubts about Rhodes but Javier had his doubts too about things so that doesn't mean that Sean is instantly in the clear.

A common theme for the people that (would have) sided with Arthur was having sympathy, as well as a fairly clear sense of right and wrong. John, Abigail, Hosea, Uncle, Lenny, a lot of the women, and Charles-all of them questioned the life they have been living, and if there was a better way to live. John, Charles, Abigail, and Uncle fought hard to abandon their old criminal way of life, and to become good people. While the others like Sean, Bill, and Javier? They are loyal to Dutch. In RDR1, Javier went back to a life of violence and served a tyrannical dictator and Bill becomes the head honcho of his own gang. The only one of Dutch's cronies who probably has a conscience is Javier because he did seem to regret things in 1911 and didn't try to shoot John when he was down.

Sean is hilarious and looks up to Arthur but he is a killer and a life of violence is his life. I wish it could be obvious but deep down I always acknowledge there IS always a possibility that Sean will betray Arthur for Dutch. John got his family, Lenny got his brain, Kieran got his good sense and genuine loyalty to Arthur, and Hosea got his wisdom. Sean was EAGER to kill in that robbery with Arthur, John, and Charles, and he had be told down by Arthur himself that they're not going to kill anyone unless necessary. You could even argue that Javier has better moral character when you compare the two in the second game.

"Aye but Ryan, Sean hated Micah! He would never side with him!" Well, Javier hated Micah and even threatened to kill him. People got to remember it's not about siding with Micah. It's about siding with Dutch. I don't buy that every dead gang member would instantly go with Arthur without doubt.

My conclusion: Sean's a 50/50% because it is possible he might reconsider his path and go on redemption just as much as it is possible for him to be another problem for John in the future. Imo, he would aim his gun in the air no matter who he sided with. But it's who I'm going to always debate about.

[sunnibits]

OH MY GODDDD

OH GODDD I JUST HAD TO GO LISTEN TO A CLIP OF ARTHUR’S VOICE AND THE HORRIBLE THING IS. I CAN HEAR IT. I CAN FUCKING HEAR IT AND NOW I CAN’T UNSEE IT. FUCK.

thanking all the gods and stars above that Malevolent wasn’t created as a tumblr-beloved live action tv show adaptation in the 2010’s so that I never have to be subjected to Martin Freeman as Arthur Lester

[melody-busez]

sooo... about that infamous line in Part 52, that horrible "I should have never opened that damn book"... we do realize it's gonna have consequences, right? like. big ones. John heard loud and clear that meeting him was one of the worst things to ever happen to Arthur and that same day he has to watch him be literally torn apart limb for limb, the realization that it's in some way all because of him probably taunting him. this is 100% going to haunt him in s6 and I am putting all my money on there being some sort of sacrifice scene from John like in the s2 finale, as a way to desperately set things right and atone for... yknow... existing.

[snailfen]

after the easter update, in relation to the new note from delilah- i keep seeing people depict delilah as being a really awful person who doesn't care about bassie/the toons when they aren't good enough for her. and while yeah obviously delilah is responsible for Something and also why did she make the holiday toons Like That. i think people should analyze her tone in the easter note a little more? because i feel like theres more to understand about delilah from this note and no one's seeing it.

while the first part is just about as distant as her other notes, i don't think she sounds very dismissive of bassi! her tone is mostly analytical until that last part, which is really important to me because her tone is a lot more considerate ("i know this is very last minute."), and definitely the most concerned-sounding we've heard her.

that last sentence could very well be taken as her pinning the blame on arthur and not actually caring somehow, but i do think she wrote this with at least a LITTLE concern for bassie in mind based on her wording. she specifically notes that bassie probably won't be able to handle the pressure of being a main entertainer in gardenview as expected of her and i think that delilah sounds genuinely worried about the outcome if they didn't try to work this out.

with bassies obvious fear of replacement, and clear dislike of cocoa (the only other toon with plushies of her in the easter map when usually only mains have plushies) i do think it isnt unreasonable to come to the conclusion that their solution to this was replacement, however!!! i don't think this decision was made without bassie in mind, in fact i don't think this "replacement" was wholly against bassie for being too dependent on others.

my personal theory is: while yes cocoa has plushes, very odd for a non-main toon, theres still quite a lot of bassie plushes that assumingly were still being sold every easter event in the easter gift-shop. also, bassie's design sort of implies bunny features. it's kinda weird to have a toon that somewhat looks like a bunny, and then make a straight up bunny after that. finally, bassie seems to try to hide her problems/doesn't accept any help or concern (her dialogue with astro, flutter, cocoa too ig but thats Different).

by making another bunny-like toon, giving her helpful and insistent tendencies that would contrast bassies tendency to make it seem like nothings wrong with her, and then selling her merch alongside bassie, i think they intended for cocoa and bassie to end up being a pair that would share bassies role as the easter main to take pressure off of bassie. bassie however doesn't seem to be able to let go of her inability to live up to whats expected of her and when cocoa was introduced, she ended up taking this to mean absolutely worst case scenario. not to mention, cocoa doesn't seem aware that shes meant to "replace" anyone, and while she could've just been kept in the dark about this, she also calls bassie her friend and just kinda... assumes bassie acts the way she does because its who she is.

that all being said gardenview is Twisteds & Lack Of Security Regulations Georg, the 1000 security violations and 100 abominations against nature outlier that should not have been counted so maybe the idea of the founders even SLIGHTLY making a responsible decision for a toons actual well-being and just accidentally messing it up instead of just trying to full on replace her is silly. i mean i wouldnt be surprised

[sparks-and-wires]

Eh, might as well drop this in

Can I ask for general dating headcanons for 1P America and Prussia (separately, ofc)? Preferably with a fem!reader

My tired brain couldn’t think of anything else, but it may be good to start off with general dating headcanons for my best boys. Thank you, Spark! 💖

Yeah, sure bestie! Though I make my stuff pretty gender neutral, hope that's ok.

America General Dating Headcanons

⭐ The type to gush about his partner when prompted. Arthur made the mistake of asking about you one time and Alfred talked so much about you that even Bonnefoy would be worried. They can't even call it puppy love, it's like he's memorized everything about you.

⭐ He's ready to fight anyone who ever says a bad thing about you, 'the hero' doesn't see flaws unless it slaps him in the face. He's the type to always see something positive in his partners even despite a person's hardships, or physical and mental capabilities. Anyone who questions his reality of you is probably at the very least, going to be screeched at. It really depends on how long they egg him on for.

⭐ "Mr. Brightside"/"Mr. Silver Lining". He has a habit out of strategically trying to find a positive in every bad situation. It starts raining on a day he planned a beach trip? Guess you're going to have to sit through a musical number from the 1952 classic "Singing in the Rain" while this fool dances with an umbrella. Please stop him before a crowd gathers, it'll just spur him on.

⭐ Clingy to an annoying degree. While he's fine by himself most of the time, he still craves attention. Until he learns your personal boundaries and schedule, he can get in the way of a lot of your daily activities. Private time is something you have to ask for.

⭐ Like always, he wants to be seen as a hero, so he might put himself into some dangerous situations just to get praise from you. This man will literally take a bullet for you, please stop him from putting himself into that position.

⭐ The first to apologize after an argument, even if he feels like he's in the right. He really doesn't want to mess up in his relationship over something he'd consider 'stupid'.

⭐ Due to his broad interests, he's open to a lot of date ideas. Whether it's staying home to watch a movie together, going to an arcade, or even hiking, he's up for it.

⭐ Just let him know ahead of time if you can't handle scary movies, like make it 100% clear you don't want to see them, because he may try to rope you into watching them like he's done with Kiku in the past. Trust me, listening to him freak out over the movie is honestly more nerve wracking than the actually movie.

⭐ If you're the type to hyperfixate on things, you now have someone to rant to. He's ready to listening to you talk about stuff even if he doesn't entirely understand it. Just be open to listen to him rant at ten times the frequency about the things he likes however childish they may be at times.

⭐ The nosey boyfriend. He gets into your stuff, checks your social media posts when your out with other people, and calls you a lot when he's not working to see what you're up to.

⭐ Tries to be romantic, fails at it, nerdy edition. He really does try to take you out 'nontypical' romantic locations, like a planetarium. Yet he nerds out so much over stars and constellations it translates more as 'cute' rather than overly romantic.

Prussia General Dating Headcanons

🐤 The type to brag about his partner to anyone who would listen, his brother being the one to hear the most. It's to the point where Ludwig wouldn't be able to sit through a family dinner without you coming up at least once in conversation.

🐤 If you live with him, chores are split 50/50, he likes a clean home. He's set aside hours of the day where he just cleans his home, so it's best to either plan around that, or move to another room to stay out of the way. It's not that he wouldn't accept help, but he acts and says he doesn't really need it.

🐤 The type to stop arguments from happening by pulling the 'agree to disagree' card, or at the very least try to explain his views in a nice way if you haven't enraged him somehow. Always open to compromise. As much as he likes to start fights with other nations, he's not about to start that with you. You're supposed to be on the same side after all.

🐤 Hope that you like birds, since he's pretty attached to his. The bird may try to land on you, perch on your shoulder, talk to you (chirp at you), or simply rest near you on. You may want to start carrying birdseed with you.

🐤 Extremely confrontational with others. He only gives people one warning not to insult to you before he physically hurts someone or publicly humiliates them. He really doesn't see an issue with getting in other people's face about their treatment of you. He doesn't care what the person's problem is, if they don't stop, they're going to be dealing with a very pissed off eastern German man.

🐤 He's actually more socially awkward for not trying to pursue romance until now. Sure he says he's awesome at everything but he's spent most of his life until now dodging marriage and fighting other nations. You can't expect him to be perfect, especially since the closest thing he's experienced to it is playing the 'big brother' role. He's just been really lonely until you came along, and he's certainly not going to know how to process it fully until later on.

🐤 I'm pretty sure you're going to find him splayed out on the floor taking apart a microwave or even a car at least once in your relationship. His interests in mechanical engineering will come into play anytime he becomes too bored. He likes knowing how the mechanics of devices work, just hope he knows how to put it back together before you'll need to use it again.

🐤 If you ask about his own history (given that you know he's a nation) he's going to give you a less factual and more abridged "I have always been awesome" version. If you want something more reliable, try his diaries, you can read between the lines more easily (and it's not like he won't let you read them if you ask).

🐤 Outwardly ignores when other people flirts with him (not that they would do that very often), he knows he's awesome but he has an almost equally awesome partner already and he isn't going to settle for less than you. (Though he'd give anyone who flirts with you a death glare because he's literally right there.)

🐤 Picky eater, if he's not cooking, it's more likely that he'll talk Bonnefoy into cooking for both of you. Honestly though, he'll say you're a great cook even if you cook simple things.

[ceo-of-sloppy-women]

OKAY SO I HAVE THOUGHTS

There is definitely someone who's probably said this better than me but here's my two cents anyway

I've played this game like twice and never really though to pay attention to where people get shot/how they die... but then I saw a piece of art and something clicked in my brain. If this was a quick in the moment shot, the placement wouldn't really matter, but this is a) a work of art and fiction b) extremely deliberate on Milton's part

Milton lets Hosea walk off - there is a long moment where Milton could have shot Hosea anywhere (the leg, head, nape). What I mean is he had a clear shot. Yet, he waited until Hosea turned around. He aimed deliberately for his chest. He had enough time to think it through and he knew for 100% that Hosea had no weapon (since he was captured). Turning around wasn't a threat. Yet, Milton still chose to act. And the creators of the game had to fully animate and decide all of this - this moment would have had to go through so many hands, from writers to animators to supervisors (so let us assume any symbolism wasn't lost on them). So, I am treating this as deliberate.

Realistically, shooting someone in the chest is the best place to kill someone. Especially over the heart. While headshots are effective, its a smaller target and far easier to miss. But, hit the heart? All that blood is suddenly not going to the brain (or anywhere for that matter) and the victim is very likely to die. Painful too because you have nerves in your both but no pain receptors in your brain - meaning Hosea could damn well probably feel that bullet (if he was real). We even see how painful this is in game (his death is pretty brutal because he has a brief few moments where he is very much alive an d dying alone in the street). Milton, being a man of the "law", definitely already knew how painful this death was - he probably even killed people this way before - so combined with the deliberate intent, Hosea died suffering, choking out his last wilting breath in a gurgled cough. Brutality chosen over execution (heart-shot instead of head-shot).

Don't even get me started on the dying breath - given that Hosea had been coughing since the start of the game, his last breath wasn't even a moment of peace. It was probably utter suffering as he choked on the very air he had desperately been trying to breathe for months.

Symbolically is an entirely different story. Up until now Dutch has pulled some crazy schemes but there is a definite shift when they come back from Guarama - which happens AFTER Hosea dies. The heart is a symbol of compassion, of virtue, of love - of having respect for your fellow man and ultimately, morals. All of which Dutch seems to have lost post-Guarama; he is a changed man who burns the world around him with every step. We see this fire symbology a few times, but most especially when Dutch leaves Arthur in the burning warehouse. Almost as if the snow we start in at the beginning melts into water without Hosea to keep it cool (ie the ocean of chapter 5) until it evaporates in the wake of Dutch's spiral into firey insanity. This is implying Hosea to be the cold/ice to Dutch's heat/fire. The death of the companion leaves behind only the passion of compassion, as Dutch is left with only conviction and no withstanding moral compass. Micah and Dutch together are only fire with fire, while Arthur manifests into ice too late, with only enough time to save the rest of the gang from Dutch's fallout.

Hosea is also not the only one who dies during this mission, he is the only one to die of a shot to the heart. Lenny also dies, but he's shot in what I can best estimate to be the guts - his guts to join up with an outlaw gang and rob a back literally led to his death. Lenny's death doesn't seem to affect Dutch as much as Hosea though - like Dutch is like "Oh no! Anyway lets keep going". But with Hosea's death - Dutch gets SUPER PISSED - that whisper of "Hosea" to himself speaks volumes more than his reaction to Lenny. Dutch was close with Hosea; whether you want to call them friends or lovers, they were narrative parallels and each other's foils. THus, it makes sense that Hosea's death had a profound impact on Dutch, far more than Lenny, and since this is a work of fiction, Hosea's death being a shot to the heart should not be taken lightly.

Hosea being shot in the heart was the symbolic death of Dutch's heart. The world took the last piece of good Dutch thought he had left - the last reason to hold back and Dutch wanted to burn the world down around him. And its even more insane that this was a deliberate act on Milton's part - while he didn't know that Hosea specifically would hurt Dutch in this way, he is a smart man. Milton had been following and researching the Van Der Linde gang for a hot minute, he knew the members, he knew the history, he knew that Dutch and Hosea went way back than most other gang members. Milton knew what he was doing - this was a deliberate attempt to dismantle the gang by "cutting the head off the snake" (making Dutch desperate and isolated with the death of his oldest partner). Especially since Dutch calls Hosea his friend right before Milton does this. What better way to drive that message home than shooting his friend in the heart - making his last moments suffering alone in the street?

While Milton had no idea how well his plan would work, shooting Hosea in the chest was a deliberate choice intended to aid in the dismantlement of the Van Der Linde gang by getting to Dutch psychologically. As a work of fiction, killing Hosea in this fashion was a choice by the creators riddled with symbolism.

[achillesuwu]

Thinking about vampire Merlin and I just realised something as someone who collection allergies like pokemon card

Vampire Merlin who hide his inability to eat human food behind allergies 👀 like, nobody would question the fact that he only seems to drink a strange liquid mixture out if he has so many allergies he can't eat anything 👀

Especially if one knight once tried to put something in it as a prank and everyone saw him punk for hours.

Like allergy is the BEST covers for a vampire. Especially in that whole "100% science era" Uther forced upon his people

Obviously since I can not, NOT, bring everything back to a post return au : I just think it would be funny if Merlin manage to create food alike to human for vampire (like it looks like an apple, it tastes like one but it's not an apple it's 100% blood) and Arthur's 10 years long reflex kick in. Poor Merlin getting picked up as arthur tries to force him to spit it out lmao

(In Arthur's defense, Gaius made quite clear that allergic reaction can be as mild as a bit of spicy, to extreme pain and even bring death. In such case there is nothing he would be able to do. The poor man was scared shitless everytime Merlin had to interact with food.

[wisteria-lodge]

About the gender in hp thing: I know JKR wrote the books wanting the patriarchy to have minimal impact on the world but even through a couple of the metas you wrote you can see that that’s not the case. In your character crying post there’s a clear implication that showing that kind of emotion is a weakness but also that it is not masculine. Equating strength with masculinity is foundational for cultures with strong patriarchies, and this idea infests every other aspect of their lives. Idk because of that and many other reasons I have a very hard time of writing the wizarding world as anything other than a patriarchy

This is a watsonian analysis vs doylist analysis issue.

I 100% do think that JKR went out of her way to really, really downplay the importance of gender in her worldbuilding - and this contributes a lot to the specific feel of the world. You could genderflip, idk. Neville. Snape. Draco. Hermione. McGonagall. and almost no plot elements or character dynamics would change. (Maybe James would bully Severus slightly differently? Idk. He honestly might not.)

Compare HP to something like His Dark Materials, another British fantasy series released at the same time, marketed to the same demographic... in which gender politics are REALLY important. Lyra conforming or not conforming to specific gender norms hugely impacts the way a lot of other characters treat her. So much of Mrs. Coulter's character has to do with how she's navigated the back ways and side avenues into power, because the patriarchy that runs *that* world is extremely explicit and plot relevant, and there's a lot she just can't do.

Now is JKR *good* at writing a gender-blind world? Not really no. So she's stripped out the importance of gender in a fairly surface way, while leaving evidence of the foundations intact. Everyone's a het couple, women take the husband's last name, Molly and Petunia are at home while their husbands work and there's no inverse of that situation, Fleur's father walks her down the aisle at her wedding, it's important that Hermione be able to tame her hair when she wants to, but for Harry it doesn't matter...

There is ALSO the narrative voice poking through and putting its own spin on everything. This is where we start getting judgment (for example) directed both at girls who are too feminine, and at girls who aren't feminine enough. Or sexual assault not really "sticking" if it's directed at boys. We don't have a character talking, in-universe, about how it's wrong for a woman not to want children. We just have a book where the only women who don't have kids (or take care of kids) are villains. Same thing with masculinity = strength = no crying. That's something the narrative framing / bias of the author brings to the table, but it's kept out of the mechanics of the magical world. I guess you could say Harry and Draco equate crying/fainting with weakness (but not explicitly anti-masculinity)... but then Lupin goes out of his way to separate 'fainting' from 'weakness' anyway.

Interestingly, gender is much more baked into the muggle worldbuilding. (Part of why I think leaving that aspect out of the wizarding world was a deliberate choice.) Smeltings is an all-boys school, so is St Brutus.' Dudley teases Harry about his "boyfriend" Cedric, Vernon sizes up Arthur and Mad-Eye by how masculine they are. At the beginning of Book 4, Dudley's diet is this very gendered conflict between Vernon and Petunia, where Vernon doesn't want a "little nancy boy for a son" - and that is one of the only truly gendered insults in the whole series. "Crybaby" almost counts... but the Slytherins tease Hermione for crying too, so idk. They tend to go for pretty gender-neutral insults, like "poor" "unimportant parents" "looks like a chipmunk" ... etc.

Like... I'm trying to imagine a scene were Lucius lays into Draco for not being masculine enough, and I can't. I think that in a canon-compliant fic, a scene like that would feel odd. The conflict would need to be framed more like a "you disgrace the name of Malfoy with your weakness" or "never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking" or "your believe yourself to be more intelligent than you truly are." Not "you need to man up."

[live-laugh-lenney]

Omg! I need your take on Arthur and y/n trying for a baby and y/n finally gets pregnant!!! This would be so cute!

oh my god, this is so cute :(((

"i really think it's happened this time."

arthur rolls onto his side to look at yn, propping his had up with his elbow and ruffling the sheets beneath him whilst giving the duvet a slight pull as he tried to keep himself covered up, their bodies naked and slightly sticky with sweat. his hair clung to his forehead, his eyes were full of love and hope as they had tried, yet again, to fall pregnant with a baby.

"arthur-"

"i just have that gut feeling. we've been trying to months and i just-"

"exactly, arthur. we've been trying for months. we've been on a tight schedule, for god sake, and nothing has happened. i thought i'd, at least, have had a scare," she sighs heavily and stares at the ceiling, "i don't want to keep getting my hopes up."

"it sounds like you want to give up," he admits and she turns her head to look at him, sadness in her eyes and she chews on her bottom lip to keep it from wobbling and giving away the emotions running wild in her mind, "lovie-"

"i don't want to give up. arthur, i want kids so badly. i want them with you but," she gulps back the thick lump in her throat that seemed to ache and make swallowing difficult, "i don't know. i feel like there may be something wrong. i should be pregnant right now."

he adjusts his weight on the bed and sits himself up, back leaning against the headboard and the pillows squashing in the space behind him, and the duvet falls from his chest and covers him from his hips down and yn can see the upset beginning to pinch at his features. his eyebrows were furrowed on his browline, his eyes were sunken and his lips no longer held that hopeful smile that he once had turning his mouth into a curve.

and she felt guilty.

she knew he was excited - from the moment they'd spoken about it, having seen all their friends going through major milestones and life changes, he was totally and 100% on board with taking the next step in their lives. and she was, too. feeling comfortable and happy with the knowledge that she had someone supportive and caring and so understanding of her that anything that scared her, he would be by her side.

"babe-"

"maybe we're just not doing it at the right time," he wonders softly, "i mean, we're both busy with work right now. we're stressing about so much. it can't be helping."

"i'm just- i honestly thought it was going to be so much easier than how it's actually been for us. people fall pregnant unexpectedly all the time," she follows in his motions and sits up on the bed, except she hugs the duvet to her chest to keep herself covered, "why is it, when we plan for this because we're ready, we get nothing yet other people fall pregnant with no preparation at all?"

"are we thinking too much into it?"

"i just don't want to follow a silly schedule anymore, arthur. i want to have sex with you whenever i want to," she frowns and he feels the tickle in his stomach because, of course, he'd love that too, "i don't want to wait till a certain day of the month or ovulation week."

"then we bin the schedule."

"but-"

"we just need to be patient, don't we? we want it so badly that we just get knocked back when we see a negative test. maybe, we just need to let life take over and stop hoping every time," he suggests and she frowns, her eyes stinging, "we know that we're ready, that we want it to happen, so we get on with life with no schedules and if it happens then it happens."

he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side, her head resting perfectly in the curve where his neck met his shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. her arms wrap around his waist and he pulls her close, a leg being placed over his as she just wanted to be held.

"i love you, yeah? whatever happens," he whispers, "so much."

"i love you too."

--

two lines.

bold and clear as day, bright red and hard to miss, in the tiny screen of the pregnancy test.

she couldn't stop her hands from shaking and she couldn't stop the nerves that bubbled in her gut, she couldn't wipe the shock written across her face as she remembered the night that it had happened, the smile on her lips almost face-splitting.

"so? can i come in?"

arthur's voice comes muffled from the other side of the bathroom door and her hand wraps around the handle, pulling the door open in a haste manner, with the test still gripped in her free hand.

"pregnant."

"no way?"

"two lines," she turns the test to face him and he stands from the bed and walks towards her, his eyes set on the tiny oval screen that gave them the news they'd been hoping and praying for for months, "i'm pregnant, arthur. pregnant."

"from that night?"

"that exact night," she cackles loudly and his cheeks blush a bright pink, "who knew kitchen sex would be the perfect way to become pregnant?"

it was a few nights after they'd decided to scrap their schedule.

a few nights after they came to the conclusion that if it happened, it happened.

he'd put together a small and rather romantic night at home, a little surprise for her to walk through the door and see after she finished work so they could spend some time together without their minds instantly going to how and when they were going to try for a baby, because that was all that occupied their minds.

he had her favourite dinner cooking in the oven, and accompanying veggies cooking on the hob, by the time she walked through the front door. candles lit around the living space, giving off a sunset hue with the additional sunset happening outside and filtering through the window, the dining table set for a dinner for two with the best plates and cutlery lied out. a bottle of her favourite rosé wine chilling in an ice bucket with the fancy wine glasses standing tall beside it.

it was perfect.

neither of them brought up the topic of having a family.

it never even crossed their minds.

they spoke about work; she spoke about the tea and the gossip from her workplace involving the girls she worked alongside, which she knew he would struggle to understand, and he listened to every word she spoke with no interruptions. he spoke about how he and george had been asked to be guest appearances on another sidemen sunday video shoot that he was super excited to be a part of and she couldn't hold back on how proud she was feeling for him.

they spoke about going on a holiday; simply taking a break from the real world and from their busy work schedules and disappearing onto an island off of the coast of mainland greece where they'd be alone, with nothing to distract them, where they had no interruptions and no fans to post their sightings and whereabouts.

she praised him for cooking such a delicious dinner and how she'd enjoyed every bite, for putting such a beautiful night together, for taking her mind off of everything and enjoying the time as just the two of them. because she'd missed him immensely, even though they lived together, and it was nice to be back down to earth.

it was her suggestive comments on her recommendations for what she wanted for dessert - him - that got the ball rolling.

washing up the dishes from dinner together once they'd finished, as he washed all the plates and the knives and the forks whilst she dried and put everything away in the cupboards and drawers, insisting that he was delightful and delicious... he was certain it was the wine that had gone straight to her head but he wasn't turning away from her advances.

"so, you're telling me that we made a baby... on the kitchen counter?"

she feels her cheeks pink up and her face feels hot and he can't help but laugh out loud at the events that had happened to get them to where they were now.

"yes," she murmurs and shakes her head in disbelief, "all it took was a spontaneous night that wasn't planned solely to make babies."

he wraps her up in his arms and she clings to him tightly, hiding her face in the t-shirt hanging down his body, gym shorts showing off his legs and he smelt like sweat from his session with george in the local gym, but she couldn't tear herself away from him once she felt a little nauseated at the scent.

"i'm genuinely in shock," he laughs, pressing a kiss to her head and squeezing her close, "kitchen sex equates to baby. we'll have to remember that for next time."

"shut up," she grumbles and rolls her eyes, "can we just enjoy this news without remembering how it happened?"

"it was great though, wasn't it?" he questions and she pulls away from his body so she could look at him with a frown, "sorry, i'm sorry. i'll just think about it silently."

the silence in the room swallowed them before she looked back up at him, "it was brilliant sex. definitely my favourite to remember."

"just don't mention it to anyone when we have them over for dinner, yeah?" arthur smirks cheekily, "don't need your mum to know i was balls deep in you where she prepares the salads."

"arthur!" xx