#fr i've even had them come to my defense when i was the one getting harrased-maybe if you guys were nice to them they'd do the same

[punkeropercyjackson]

I really have to wonder where to fuck Bumbleby antis get the idea that it's okay to be cruel to Bumbleby shippers for shipping the Bees.Like,so often you see them saying 'The wasps are toxic uwU' but i've been actively in the Rwby fandom since shortly after Volume 4 finished and the amount of Bees shippers i've met that actually ARE toxic is literally microscopic compared to the nice ones.I always see them just vibing and making cute wholesome things and funny memes and smut with healthy dynamics of Blake and Yang and when they DO act mean,99% of the time it's because their feelings are hurt because YOU GUYS bullied them and they're venting and defending thenselves so i truly have to wonder how many of the 'proofs' you guys have that they're bad were taken out of context to make them look unresonable.Not to mention they're constantly defending the other minority characters,NOT 'only caring about gays' or whatever,like Oscar from antiblack weirdos who hate him for being an afrolatino boy who the fem mc is in love with as if she's not canonically wasian and poc irl usually seek out to date other ones and May from transmisogynists who hate and even Kdin herself for existing.And even if Bumbleby WAS forced and rushed(it's not),literally why do y'all give a shit if people like it anyway.Are they personally attacking you by daring to like something that's not the eptimome of good writing?No,they just have a different opinion than you and thinking that gives you the right to be ruthlessly mean to them is deadass school bully behavior.Y'all should embarrased-Log off and go talk to others like a person for once

[mimikoolover]

I haven't seen any hate or negative comments directly, I've only seen people discuss the negativity and this is not meant to come across defensive but I wanted to write out some of my thoughts cause why not lol

some things that stood out to me about the travel show include confirmation again about the thing I keep saying is that jikook make the effort to understand and care for each other (and as a side note I find it so hilarious that people are so determined to misunderstand them) for example when jimin said he knew it had to be him to make the travel show happen. what this means (I think) is that he pushed the idea forward so that it actually became a reality (with the implication that it would not have been jungkook to do that). it's so funny that people wanna say this means that jungkook doesn't care about jimin when that is not true at all and such a wild thing to imply (if it was true, jimin would know by now and he would not try. also jungkook would keep rejecting jimin's ideas). if you look at it from jungkook's perspective it undoubtedly feels really nice to have someone care this much about you. they know each other well and they care for each other a ton which is just so obvious. jimin had no problem pushing to make it happen and he actually /did/ which says a lot. they know what they need to do for each other and they actually do it which is a massive deal to be quite honest.

I do not agree at all that jungkook was 'off' and the whole thing about people always claiming that he's off around jimin makes me lowkey uncomfortable at this point tbh. for whatever reason people really struggle accepting that jungkook is human and that he doesn't mask his emotions 24/7 and that his emotions fluctuate throughout the day like everyone else's. when he's around jimin people expect him to have one flat emotion (happy) for some reason and also expect that nothing else outside of jimin would affect his emotions somehow. like that's wild to me. and funny in a way cause once again this show has shown that jimin reads jungkook's emotions well and when jungkook gets mad or upset about things like falling off that bleeding kayak he responds in a way that will help jk get over it. you have to be pretty close to someone to be able to do that, js. if he's upset about something and he happens to be around jimin, it's not jimin he's upset with but that is literally what people are saying and that's so beyond ridiculous. again to be around someone you don't have to put up a front for and can say whatever you want and tease each other knowing you won't offend each other fr shows closeness jfc.

personally in the car in episode 1 at the start I see jungkook holding himself back a little but he probably would've preferred to talk more with jimin when they're not being filmed, then they got distracted when they did stuff so he seemed more relaxed after a while. but I think them talking about what happened when they weren't seeing each other etc., I think jungkook would've preferred to discuss that off camera, like talking about missing each other and stuff like that, that he probably wanted to say off cam. even if I completely disregard that opinion, they did not seem awkward to me at all at any point. I think I've been off twitter for so long and have not seen the fandom chatter for so long that it doesn't affect me any longer which feels great but sometimes I really wonder how much people think for themselves vs think based on what they read about other people's perception. and that's funny to say given I just wrote down my own perceptions but really I think people online state and word things as if they were facts and I'm sure that affects a lot of people subconsciously. so all of this is just my opinion but if you actually try to put yourself in jikook's shoes without any preconceived ideas, knowing them to be the friends that they are, it's pretty easy to see how much they care about each other.

[twsted-garden-imagines]

A Call for Help (short story)

Well... it's been a while since I've last checked on this little garden of mine....

Anyway, things have changed quite a bit since I've last posted here but I've finally gotten some inspiration to write again!

I know this blog is focused mainly on scenarios with the twst characters, but there's no harm in shaking things up with larger plants in the garden! This piece is inspired by a TikTok about the three main boys from Demon Slayer going through something similar and figured it fits the main characters in this story perfectly.

Please let me know what you all think of the longer works and feel free to request other scenarios or longer works!

With love, Daisy

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

Summary: The first year students and Grim find themselves in jail. They then decide to call various peers to help come bail them out. Hilarity ensues.

Trigger Warnings: jail/juvie, mild swearing

Very very slight spoiler warnings for Books 3-5 if you squint hard enough

Word Count: 2,448

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

CLANK!

The sound of the rusty iron bars slamming together jolted the harsh reality of the five boys and the monster accompanying them. None of them wanted to admit it at first, but as soon as the footsteps of the deputy who brought them into the frigid cell, they all knew they were in deep, deep shit.

The tallest of them was the first to speak up with a growl, mainly directed at the redhead, his blue-haired dorm mate, and the feline-looking creature. "I cannot believe you three got us arrested!"

"In my defense," quipped Grim, a slight burp escaping him before he continued. "I didn't know that that tasty-looking bird was made out of pure gold!"

"What difference does it make even if that was a real bird?!" Ace snapped, folding his arms across his chest with a huff. "And don't act like you three were any better!"

"At least Jack was trying to stop you while you were fighting with person trying to pull Grim away from the statue!" shouted Epel, defending the close friend he made over the course of his time at Night Raven. "It's you, Grim and Deuce who are to blame for why we got stuck here!"

"You humans are talking a load of nonsense," muttered Sebek under his breath as he tapped his foot, thinking of all the spells his Young Master had taught him and debating which one would get him and his fellow first years out of their predicament the fastest.

"Don't worry," Deuce piped up in an attempt to reassure the rest of the group. "We each get a phone call to someone who we think will help bail us out."

"How do you know that?" queried the half-fae, a tone of suspicion in his voice.

The rest of the group began to silently match this suspicion towards the knowledge Deuce had given them, wondering how he, of all people, would know about how to get out of jail.

"... long story," he replied in slight embarrassment. "But we'll need to make our calls fast, I think my mom would have a heart attack if she found out I got arrested again!"

"What do you mean 'again'?" Grim questioned as he started shoving random pebbles he found on the cell floor into his mouth, much to the disgust of the rest of his cell mates.

"Well, who do we call?" Deuce asked, quickly brushing off Grim's curiosity. "It's not like we can call our housewardens or anything."

The rest of the group shuddered at the thought, pondering who to call when the shortest of the five gasped in delight.

"I know!" Epel exclaimed. "Give me the phone! I'll call Ruggie, he'll know how to get us out!"

"Are you kidding me?" complained Ace. "He's just gonna laugh at us!"

"Not if it's me calling him," replied Epel with a scowl as he put the phone up to his ear and took a deep breath.

"Hey hey! Ruggie Bucchi, at your service!" the hyena beast man on the other end shouted.

"Ruggie, thank Seven it's you!" Epel exclaimed in relief. "It's Epel, we need your help!"

"Epel?" asked Ruggie. "You mean that little Pomefiore kid on the Magishift team?! Hey, bud! Where are you calling from?"

Epel froze slightly at the question before stammering in reply. "... Jail?"

Both ends of the line were quiet for a few seconds, the first years' hearts pounding faster and faster the longer the silence grew. Finally, the silence was broken, but not in the way that they had hoped.

"J- shshsh!" Ruggie sounded like he was trying to hold back a reaction. Much to Epel's horror, that reaction became much more apparent as Ruggie's inhibitions slipped and the older of the two busted out in hysterical laughter.

"ShishishshiHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I finally won a bet against Jade! This is RICH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Thank you anyway," muttered Epel in defeat before he hung up on the second year, who was still in stitches.

"Told you," Ace retorted, the scowl returning on the shorter one's face.

"I think I know of a human who can help us!" Sebek reassured as he took the phone from Epel and started to dial another number. "Master Lilia happens to be close with the human from Ignihyde, he might know how to help us!"

"You've gotta be kidding me," muttered Jack, shaking his head.

"Are you sure that'll work?" Deuce inquired. "Idia doesn't really like-"

"Any friend of Master Lilia is a friend of mine!" the loud half-fae interrupted as he brought the phone up to his ear.

"H-Hello?" the socially anxious housewarden's voice rang through before the contrasting boom of Sebek's voice replied.

"Human! This is Sebek Zigvolt, we are in need of assist-" Click "-ance...."

The light-haired boy looked dumbfounded as he set the phone down, questioning everything in his mind as he stammered, "He... hung up on me...."

"We could've told you that Idia Shroud of all people hates getting phone calls!" Deuce chastised, burying his face into his hands.

"Give me the phone," Jack ordered, Sebek complied as the beast man started dialing and explained. "I know somebody who owes me a favor."

Hope started to spread on the faces of the rest of the first years. They knew Jack was the most sensible out of all of them, so if any of them knew somebody who could bail them out, it'd be him. Their hopes of freedom without their housewardens realizing their disappearances were soon dashed, however, as the tallest first year's pick answered the phone.

"F-Dog in the house! How can I help ya?"

"Are you kidding me?!" hissed Ace. "You seriously called Floyd of all people?!"

Jack growled in retort before he cleared his throat and answered, "Yeah Floyd, it's Jack."

"Oh, man! Hey there Sea Urchin!" beamed the second year. "Long time, no talk!"

"Yeah," deadpanned the first year. "Listen, we... may or may not be in jail right now."

"Woah!" Floyd exclaimed before he jested slightly. "What, did you kill someone?"

"What?!" gasped Jack. "No!"

"Oh...," Floyd answered in a disappointed tone that shocked the rest of the first years. "I don't care then." Click.

"Guess I have to find another way for him to return the favor of all the shit I did at the Mostro Lounge," muttered Jack in fury as he nearly slammed the phone down.

The first years sighed in frustration as they ponder who to call next. They still had 3 calls left they could make, but no clue where to start. Trey, Ace figured, would snitch on him and Deuce to their housewarden, something that he desperately wanted to avoid as he'd already lost his head twice that week. Cater? He'd be no help, since he'd laugh like Ruggie did, according to Deuce. Ortho? Way out of the question. Silver? Taking a nap, according to Sebek. Jade? If his brother was no help, he probably wouldn't do much either. Rook? Obviously, he'd sell them out to Vil, who'd absolutely put them through the wringer, according to Epel.

They all thought for a moment before Epel suggested, "What about that nice housewarden?"

"Great idea!" Ace exclaimed as he swiftly dialed the number. "Epel, you're a genius!"

The redhead brought the phone up to his ear as relief washed over the first years once again.

"Azul Ashengrotto with the Mostro Lounge, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end answered.

"That's not who I meant!" whisper-yelled Epel in disbelief.

"What do I do?!" panicked Ace quietly, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Just hang up!" Deuce replied with the same level of panic.

"Ace?" Azul asked. "Is that you, Epel and Deuce?"

"Wrong number!" shouted Sebek as Jack snatched the phone from Ace and hung up.

"That was close!" Grim sighed in relief.

"I'll say!" Ace replied in agreement. "Who did you mean, Epel?"

"The one housewarden that went with us to the SDC!" The short first year retorted.

"Oh, you mean Kalim?" Deuce asked as he took the phone from Jack.

"Yes, him!" Epel exclaimed. "He's got more moolah than anybody knows what to with, he could bail us out faster than a jack rabbit on hot, greasy griddle in the middle of August-"

"We get it, thanks Epel," Deuce kindly interrupted as he started to dial the number.

"Hello?" the white-haired boy on the other end asked.

"Kalim, oh thank Seven!" Deuce exclaimed with a sigh of relief. "It's Deuce."

"Oh! I remember you!" Kalim chirped happily. "How are you doing? We really need to talk more! Oh, Jamil says hi, by the way!"

The first years thought they'd heard the voice of Scarabia's vice-housewarden in the background asking who Kalim was speaking to, but shrugged it off as they anxiously and eagerly awaited the al-Asim heir's reply to their need of assistance.

"That's.... actually why I'm calling," the blue-haired boy replied with an embarrassed laugh. "We need your help."

"Oh, sure!" Kalim replied, the nerves melting away from the first years. "Anything for a friend- hey! Jamil, give that back!"

Just then, what was left of the anxiety surrounding the first years escaping their predicament multiplied as soon as the phone was taken from Kalim. A new, less kind voice derailed their plans to get bailed out.

"Whoever this is," hissed the no-nonsense second year in warning. "If you call this number again, I will not hesitate to-"

Click. Deuce was not going to even consider entertaining whatever threat Jamil had up his sleeve before hanging up and cutting his losses, much like the other first years had done before him.

"Damn it!" groaned Ace. "That was our last shot! How are we gonna get out of here now?"

"No it's not," Epel argued. "Grim still has his phone call!"

Just then, the monster's ears perked up. His grin widened as he started jumping up and down in an attempt to reach the phone like a child reaching for the cookie jar on the highest shelf.

"Oohoohooh! Gimme gimme gimme!" Grim pleaded excitedly. "My turn, my turn!"

"You really think he'd know how to work a phone?" Deuce asked, glaring a little at Epel as he tried to pull the phone away from Grim.

Jack pulled the phone out of Deuce's hand before giving it to the feline-like monster, chastising the blue-haired boy slightly as he said, "Give him a chance, he's probably got a good idea- aaaand he's just pressing random buttons."

Grim was having the time of his life, snickering at every little beeping noise the phone made with each button he pressed with his paws. Meanwhile, the first years slumped over in defeat, shaking their heads in frustration.

"Well...," Deuce began to speak with some nervousness in his voice. "We could always try calling someone else tomorrow? We do get one phone call a day if we're good."

"But who would we call?" Ace asked. "I don't know of anyone else who'd bail us out and not get our asses handed to us by our housewardens!"

"What about the guy in Sebek's dorm with the pink streaks in his hair?" Epel suggested.

"No way!" Sebek protested. "I could never look Master Lilia in the eyes and tell him that I got arrested!"

"Excuse me, you boys got arrested?!" shouted a voice over the phone, immediately silencing the first years in their tracks.

Jack and Sebek were taken aback by the new voice, not immediately recognizing the owner at first. Ace recognized the owner right away, his face white as a sheet. Epel's eyes widened in fear once he pieced together who it was while Deuce slowly turned to a surprised-looking Grim.

"Woah..." Grim muttered to himself before he laughed and proudly announced. "I did it! There's a voice on this thing! They're gonna save us!"

"What in Twisted Wonderland is going on here?!" demanded the voice on the other end.

"Are you kidding me?!" panicked Ace in a whisper.

"You called the Ramshackle Prefect?!" Epel exclaimed in outrage and panic.

"That's who this is?" asked Grim innocently, much to the dismay of the first years. "What? It's hard to keep track of my henchman's voice when it never sounds the same."

"Hang up!" Deuce pleaded. "They're gonna kill us!"

"We're screwed either way!" Jack growled in reply. "Hanging up will do us no favors!"

"At least Jack has some bit of sense, unlike the two who will lose their heads once we find them," another voice muttered on the other end. "Perhaps you could spare him a little, Leona?"

Silence. The Prefect wasn't alone on the other end, far from it. The first years panicked harder as it was confirmed by the Prefect themself.

"Yeah, your Housewardens are with me," they explained in anger and disappointment. "They came to me, worried out of their minds that something happened to you, only for you absolute idiots to get yourselves arrested?!"

The first years' spirits broke one by one as the Prefect and their housewardens verbally tore them a new one - Riddle threatening to cut off Ace and Deuce's heads, Leona making Jack pay with extra training, Vil just absolutely ripping Epel to shreds about how foolish he'd been to wind up behind bars, and Malleus "not being mad, just disappointed" with a resulting teary-eyed Sebek. None of that, however, compared to the rage the Ramshackle Prefect had saved up for the now-cowering first years and monster.

"You are going to tell us what station you boys are at," hissed the Prefect. "I will find you and take all the potions I can find in Crewel's classroom and I will shove them so far down your-"

Click.

Grim hung up on the Prefect in a mix of fear, sadness, and utter defeat and humiliation. Silence rang out as the first years' blood ran cold from the verbal lashing they all received. They exchanged horrified glances at each other for what felt like hours, but was only a few seconds before Sebek cleared his throat a broke the silence.

"I guess we should just stay here, then?" he asked nervously.

"Yes!" Ace and Epel answered immediately in agreement, with Grim nodding his head rapidly and Deuce and Jack expressing similar sentiments.

The first years and Grim sat in silence in their cell, hoping the time that passed between this moment and the time they'd be released - whether that meant their sentence being over or them being graciously bailed out by the ones who gave them the harsh verbal lashing - would be enough for the Prefect and their housewardens to forget about the threats they made and to be forgiven for how stupid they were this time.

~The End~

[13eyond13]

Would you say the DN fandom is getting more toxic in recent years or has it always been like this? Last time I was here it was over half a decade ago and now I've come back and people are being more aggressive to eachother then before. Especially over ships. I've been and still am extremely into Lawlight (one of my main otps fr fr) but I've been seeing Lawlight shippers be so mean to other (much smaller) ships lately as well as really elitist about "the proper way to enjoy DN" which I don't remember happening this much before. Makes me feel second hand embarrassment as a Lawlight shipper ngl. Was it always like this? Or am I just being dramatic? Asking since you've been here for wayyy longer then me.

Hiya! So the last time you were participating in the fandom was 1/2 a decade ago and would've been around 2019ish?

To be honest I don't feel like I've noticed a HUGE uptick in toxicity or anything, but maybe I'm just not seeing the same posts you are or interacting with the same people as you are?

Honestly the main difference I feel now vs. back then are just that I don't feel as involved in the fandom in terms of answering people's asks about the series or fielding their jokes and takes every day in my inbox and whatnot (I used to get those kinds of asks basically every day, like not just about lawlight but about analyzing the story itself and all that, now I probably only get a couple DN asks a month?) And I am not really sure if that's just because I myself am less involved / not posting much DN content of my own or being exclusively just a Death Note blogger now, or because the fandom is smaller and less active, or moving more to other social media platforms, or just a mix of things? I feel like I'm a bit out of the loop because of that.

Also, my memories of the Tumblr DN fandom in 2019 were kinda that it was MORE dramatic sometimes than I find it now, as in I remember around then there was a small group of people who had really intense stances on certain things and loved to vaguepost about anybody who they didn't like and also dogpile with anon hate on bloggers they would agree to target together in their server or something. I thankfully haven't seen much of that lately, either because those people and I all blocked each other or they've just moved on.

The least dramatic and most laid-back and memey the DN Tumblr fandom ever felt to me was before that, around 2017-2018 maybe. Nowadays I'd say I don't notice a lot of drama, but that it just feels a bit more dead here to me now than terribly toxic, maybe?

However, I do agree that I get embarrassed as well sometimes when I see lawlight shippers get extremely defensive and/or act superior toward people who aren't even attacking them about it, as if this ship isn't by far the biggest one in the fandom already and just a super well known and popular classic ship in general. Going into other fandoms for a bit always reminds me that as a lawlight shipper you're actually pretty spoiled with the amount of great fan content and like-minded people you can find about it out there, and it's not like you have to fight for your life to keep the ship alive or something...

[sushisocks]

cmon you cant just say how queercoded sean is and then not expand on itผ(•̀_•́ผ)

/lh

My need to constantly talk about Sean MacGuire is really being indulged lately jnhbvbjnbh Thank u dear anon <3

oKAY so like, anon, I will be the FIRST to admit that me calling Sean queercoded might've been a strong choice of words all things considered (especially compared to ACTUALLY explicitly gay Bill Williamson which could go for queercoding considering it's only really explicit if you look for it or catch it). I read Sean as queer in a lot of ways, and that is probably in no small part because I'm queer myself. BUT in my defense, what am I supposed to take away from the developers cuffing Sean's jeans like that?? His queer little swagger???? The outfit with that haircut?????? That is a BISEXUAL MAN if I've ever seen one!!!

^me rn fr (always, about Sean and Lenny in particular. My gay Lenny headcanon is a lot more solid though, I'll be frank, and I'm honestly waiting to go the fuck off about it properly here some day lmao)

On a more serious note though, I definitely think Sean's admiration for Arthur can be read as a little bit of a crush in certain instances. Not that I particularly ship that pairing, but certain ways Sean responds to Arthur has always had me 🤔🤔 For example (and I'm really gonna out myself and how often i rewatch his missions here) in pouring forth oil, when Arthur gets mad forreal for a sec and threatens Sean (after Sean has a tantrum abt not being invited along which.... come on), and Sean laughs, there is DEFINITELY a crush-related way of reading that interaction & Sean's response. Not to mention the lil lookover Sean gives him I mean COME ON he's not even that subtle!

Not to speak of the fact that the first thing he does after being rescued from bounty hunters is ask Arthur for a hug - how many of yall Arthur Morgan horny ppl wouldn't die to do the same? Sean was ahead of the game. He's one of you, I swear.

I think Sean being queer makes sense with his personality too, as the sort of laid-back and easy-going one. Though I also think, given the time and the fact that I think he's bi, it's probably not smth he's ever thought very hard about? You know, heteronormativity etc etc, him and Karen having their messy thing going on etc etc, but Sean WOULD kiss a homie and not really have a problem with it. He'd just -- not think about it much harder, you know?

It's that same attitude he has, which leads me to believing if given the chance he'd be very gnc. I know I've said it before but I do headcanon that modern au Sean would def fuck around with skirts and makeup and nailpolish, and have a very loose relationship with his gender as a man at best. It makes sense to me, for someone who is both that easygoing, and has that sense of interest in societal issues, to at some point have the realization of 'oh gender roles are made up' and act accordingly, you know?

And then I'm also taken with, and sort of speaking from, this sort of perspective of the gang at large as very queer. Speaking of it in that academic way, as a sort of rejection of normative society - heteronormative society in particular - there's absolutely an inherent queerness to this entire gang of outlaws doing as they will. When being queer has always meant being ostracized from society, it is easy to read characters ostracized from society as queer; in this way, and in my opinion, the queercoding is inherent to this game, and these characters. It's there at the very foundation of their situation and way of living, and it's why I personally am never going to argue against any type of queer headcanon (and why I'm a proponent of many of them myself lol). Me seeing queerness in Sean and Lenny, is no different from me seeing it in Arthur and Charles, or Sadie and Karen, or Hosea and Dutch, or literally ANY other gangmember.

I feel like I went on a tangent here, again, as I am prone to do, BUT my main point is: Sean MacGuire is so so queer bcz I said so, and becuase why the fuck else would he be like that?

[jaysficarchive]

It's a Date [Icestarshipping]

Dedicated to @floof-ghostie and @shinkai14

"You want to take me where?"

"I said I wanna take you around the city."

Sera narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. While Brave, youngest member of Team Ragnarok, was respectful in trying to woo her ever since the EuroGT party, she refused to give in. Not after she just got out of four years of hell. She had to applaud him for trying though.

"And what if I don't want to go around the city?"

"You will. I can see it in your eyes." Brave smiled confidently. "It's not everyday you get to travel to places like this."

"You're not an international model or fashion designer. You don't know where I've been." Sera harshly side eyed him. What he said was true however. She had never been to a place like this. The last time Sera traveled internationally was for her internship at Dresscode; and even for that she had to sneak out to do that.

Brave chuckled then went back to grinning. "You're right, I'm not. Then again, I don't have to be one to see that you crave adventure. So do I."

Sera huffed and put her hand on her hip. It was her way of asserting her dominance and will. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to dislike the silly, flirty demeanor he got when he around her. Her stomach flipped everytime he smiled at her during duels--including her exhibition match. Most of his comments were stupid pick up lines or simple compliments. No matter how much Sera built her defenses, Brave effortlessly tore them down by just...being himself.

"Fine. You have one night to show me. If I'm not impressed or satisfied then I'll never let you talk me into something like this again. If I am, I..." In that moment, Sera's mind went blank at the thought of Brave doing this with her again. Laughing, having a good time, maybe even kissing-

Focus, Sera!

Brave tilted his head with an eyebrow cocked. "You'll...?"

"...it's a secret."

Brave's curiosity piqued once more. She knew just how to keep him on his toes. Good. "A secret, huh? I like those almost as much as I like treasure. Is that all?"

"Yes. That is my ultimatum."

"Then I'll meet you in the hotel lobby at 7. Come in your best dress and jewelry. Deck is optional." Brave looked up at her with determination and mischief in his eyes. He never liked how easily some girls would fall at his feet. It was too easy. He liked a challenge--and Sera was all that.

"Very well. Don't be late."

"I won't. See you then."

When he walked away, Sera felt her face heat up. Was she about to give herself away? Why did she think of those things earlier? No way was Brave already starting to get to her. She was a grown woman, not a lovestruck teenage girl playing hard to get.

Get it together, Sera, she thought to herself. You're the ice queen for a reason. Act like it.

Later that night, Sera was, sure enough, waiting for him in the hotel lobby. She was dressed in a icy blue velvet evening gown with white gloves and diamonds. On her feet were a pair of designer heels adorned with crystals. Inside her clutch was her deck.

"You beat me."

Sera looked up to see Brave at the top of the staircase before he slid down the banister. Apparently Harald and Dragan must've also been out on the town for him to be dressed in what Sera would kindly describe as "American tourist in a different country". From the patterned shirt down to the sneakers.

I'll have to dress him next- Sera stopped herself from finishing the thought. Her? Dressing him? Perish it. That implies they'd even be together.

"You look good. Guess I didn't get the memo." Brave winked at her.

"I would've dressed up even without you telling me to," Sera coldly responded as she locked arms with him. She spent her summers in Palm Beach for goodness sake. "I hope we aren't going anywhere fancy with you dressed up like that."

Brave just grinned as they walked out to an awaiting car. It was a nice one, nothing too fancy or flashy that could draw attention. He thanked the valet before opening the front passenger door.

"Ladies first."

Sera kept a stoic expression as she got in. No big deal. He just held a door open for me. It's not like I haven't had anyone do that...for me before... Her face remained the same as he got in and started it. Then they were off.

"Hope you like funk carioca."

Sera just hummed. Don't let him think you're interested.

Brave sometimes stopped to glance at the beauty beside him. The city lights only added to her natural allure. Sera was like one of those old Hollywood movie stars. Her mystique unrivaled, her life private. Everyone--including himself--wanted to take a peek at her behind closed doors. For him, he wanted to be the one behind the door with her.

The car stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. Sera was tempted to roll her eyes. A fancy restaurant. How original. "At least you're taking me out to dinner."

"This isn't any fancy restaurant," Brave unbuckled his seatbelt. "This is Paradise."

Sera paused. "What?"

"Yep. Most exlcusive restaurant in the entire country." Brave got out the car and walked to Sera's side. As he opened the door, he held out his hand. "Come on."

Sera reluctantly took his hand to get out the car. She tried not to look or sound shocked but couldn't help it. In her time, she's dined at many restaurants--none like Paradise. She linked arms with the Nordic duelist again after he gave the keys to the valet. He won this round. She did doubt they were gonna let him in dressed like that. Places like this had a very strict dress code.

"Bona sera, munsü. Puis-je s'il vous plaît avoir votre nom?"

To Sera's surprise, they actually let him in once he told them his name. No fucking way.

Paradise's entrance was as luxurious as she heard. Never in her wildest dreams did Sera think she would actually be dining, let alone stepping into a place like this. Her ice queen act dropped so she could stare in awe.

Brave unlinked his arm from hers to hold her hand. He could feel its warmth from under the glove. Sera flustered, quickly turning to face him.

"Don't get too comfortable. There's a lot more where that came from."

Indeed there was. From dining under the stars at Paradise to dueling in casinos to buying the most stunning jewelry and clothes at the boutiques. What Sera felt was unlike anything before. She was...alive again. She was going out and having fun without worrying about having to return. No fear of being caught. She lost count of how many times she smiled or laughed or both. Most of that was because of Brave.

Brave. She completely forgot she was supposed to not make him think she's interested or impressed.

When it came time for her to leave, she wasn't sad; satisfied instead. That kind of happiness wasn't one she felt in a long time. Tonight reminded her that she was still young with her whole life ahead of her.

"Had fun?" Brave asked her on the way back to the hotel.

"Yes," Sera replied, still on cloud nine. "I can't remember this last time I did this much and had so much fun in a single night."

"Good. Our second date will be even better."

Sera's eyes widened. S-second date?! "W-what do you mean? You just took me around the city-"

"Yeah, as a date." Brave gently smiled at her, causing Sera's stomach to flip. His eyes shined with love and adoration for her in the moonlight. "You see I knew you'd reject me if I asked you out straight up so I came up with a plan. Needless to say it worked."

"You...you tricked me into going out with you?"

"Yep." Brave stopped as they reached the front of the hotel. "You can thank my god Loki for blessing me with such skills."

Sera wanted to be mad, she really did. But couldn't bring herself to be so much as upset with him. Her mind went back to every advance and comment he made about her--which she didn't even hate. They weren't about just her body or beauty; he praised her intelligence, her strategy, how she dressed. His smile was so genuine that it threw her off.

Tonight showed just how he wanted to do things within her boundaries. He rented a car that wasn't flashy and took her to exclusive, private places so no paparazzi would take pictures of her.

Her head began to fill with hard questions. Did she really distrust Brave or was she not used to a man being respectful to her? Did she hate the way he made her feel? Was he...was he the one for her?

"But...but how?"

Brave looked confused. "I just told you how."

"No, how were you...how do you break me down everytime?" Sera asked. "All you do is smile at me and suddenly I get all these feelings I never had before. I try to put up a fight but you end up winning anyway. It-it's not fair."

Brave slowly blinked then grinned. I think she's beginning to realize she's falling in love. "You and I both know the answer to that. Also, you should go. Big match tomorrow. Plus I gotta return this thing."

Sera unbuckled her seatbelt and moved to open the car door when Brave spoke up again.

"But before either of us go, I wanna give you something." Brave handed a small bag to her. Then he took one of her hands and gently kissed it. "Open it when you get to your hotel room."

Sera's face was hotter than the spring weather when she got out the car. It didn't occur to her that she was speed walking to get back to her room. The poor front desk clerk probably thought she had to go pee badly.

When she got to her room, she set the other bags down on the bed. Carefully she reached into the one Brave gave her and pulled out a velvet box. Inside was the most beautiful sapphire necklace imaginable. Her knees became weak, threatening to collapse. Tears filled her eyes. A million emotions came over her.

"Why-what's the point in pretending why I'm acting like this?" Sera looked herself in the mirror. "I know exactly why."

There was no use in playing hard to get anymore. The ice queen had melted from the warmth of falling in love.

[schooltrashers]

Debating a LYING braindead idiot

So it looks like he wasn't done looking like an idiot, he had to continue playing defense for Che and Communism. It reminds me of when I debated against an idiot who defended Hitler and Nazism. The murderous history of Hitler, Che, Stalin, Mao, Nazis, and Commies should be enough reason for any sane individual to be against Nazis, Commies, and murderous dictators. But apparently, neither he nor the Nazi I've argued against are sane. So let's begin with this idiot (@skorpiontongue) complimenting himself, thinking I wouldn't notice he's using an alt account.

Chapter 1: Alt Compliments

I've seen this type of action before where a Leftist would use an alt-account to complement himself on Tumblr, Discord, Twitter and other social media sites. The one on Discord was the easiest to spot because it came from a new user who joined the discord. How sad and pathetic does one has to be to compliment himself in a short amount of time? He did it on the same day of his post. As if he were impatient to wait a day or two. He was likely trying to get my attention as soon as he made his post, while I was away from my computer. I'm usually either working, spending quality time with my girlfriend or on my phone doing my thing on social media. Anyways I think he does this for attention, because he sure as hell ain't getting it at home(most likely living in his parents basement due to commies being "anti-work") or at the public library where he is most likely accessing the internet.

"ur so based fr"? You ain't fooling anybody.

Chapter 2: Projection

The one thing The Left are caught doing all the time is accusing people of the very same things The Left are guilty of doing themselves. He thinks I'm a "wolf in sheeps clothing". Which is completely false because unlike him, I've always fought against totalitarian and extremist views. It did not matter which side of the political spectrum the totalitarians and extremists come from, I condemn them all for their horrible actions. For example I've always been against Nazis and the KKK for their evil actions. Ever since learning about them in history class, I've always condemn Nazis and the KKK. I condemn Commies and Antifa for the very same reasons, due to their violent and murderous actions, especially since Antifa killed innocent black people in their CHOP/CHAZ zones such as Secoreia Turner, Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr, and David Dorn. Want to know how I heard about their deaths? Through Newsmax, Steven Crowder and other conservative media. They will not talk about them in Left-wing news media because their deaths go against their narrative and it makes them look bad. The real wolf in sheep's clothing are the Left who pretend to care about black lives and yet ignore the innocent black lives who were murdered by Antifa/Commies/BLM members. The Left in your eyes can do no wrong. Luckily for me, I'm not so blind to the truth. I'll speak against both the Left or the Right if I disagree with them and their actions. For example I'm against Bush for invading Iraq and falsely claiming that there were weapons of mass destruction. I'm also against Bush for initiating the Patriot Act and I'm against Obama for continuing the Patriot Act. I recognize the corruption in both parties and right now the only politicians who are actually trustworthy are MAGA Republicans and Tulsi Gabbard(a former Democrat turned Independent). Tulsi Gabbard was slandered and lied about by Democrats who falsely accused her of being a "Russian Asset", even Mitt Romney was slandering her. She was also censored by Big Tech. Which reminds me, Biden falsely accuses Trump of corruption and yet his deals with Ukraine(before the war) and Hunter Biden's Laptop story being covered up by the mainstream media and social media made it quite clear to me that Biden is the corrupt one. Not that you would be smart enough to figure that out since you're a braindead commie who can't even come up with an original format, copying my chapter format in this debate.

Speaking of Commies, he goes on a nonsensical rant defending a murderous commie dictator(Che). At this point he may as well defend Hitler and deny that the Holocaust happened. But since I've already destroyed his argument on Che, we'll move onto the next chapter.

Chapter 3: "I swear I'm not a racist" - Said the commie.

Your lack of reading comphension and understanding the context of what I'm saying, shows just how braindead you are. I brought up the Democratic Party for one reason. Their claim of the "parties switching" and comparing it to your claims of Che "changing". It's not that hard to figure out numbnuts. If you look at Trump's history, he was the first in the state of Florida to allow blacks and Jews in his club. The Democrats history on the other hand created the KKK, tried to continue slavery in the Civil War, shot Abraham Lincoln, they voted for a racist President(Biden), as well as voting for an anti-semitic bitch(Ilhan Omar). So of course you would vote Democratic because you're either a dumbass believing in their lies or you agree with their racism/anti-semitism and don't give a shit if they're lying, covering shit up to protect themselves through censorship and trying to deplatform conservatives along the way. Best choice my ass.

Your racism comes from stereotyping big strong black men as "violent", using Terry Crews as an example, which makes no sense due to the fact that he's a classy guy and not at all as how you perceive him as(a violent big strong black guy). If you're going to use a strong big black guy who is violent or may have violent tendency, Mike Tyson would have been a better example, he's had a history of beating up people(in a professional sport), as well as biting off the ear of a fellow boxer. Or a fictional character like Major Payne(one of my favorite movies from my teenage years), since he's badass enough to kick anybody's ass without breaking a sweat and he would have been a more positive example due to his badassery.

It does not surprise me that you're uninformed about Cuba. People's rights are being violated, hence the protests. The people in Cuba want liberty. Something Commies or The Left in general has no true understanding of because if they did, they wouldn't actively censor people they disagree with, nor would they try to ban guns or deplatform conservatives. Diversity of thought, freedom of speech and gun rights is what the Left are actively fighting against. Without diversity of thought, without freedom of speech, without the right to bear arms, you're unable to speak freely against tyranny and you're unable to defend yourself against rapists, murderers and thieves. You think you're against rapists, murderers and thieves, yet you defend the Left who would not go after the trans who raped a teenage girl at a school restroom, you defend the Left who murdered an innocent 8-year-old black girl(Secoreia Turner) who was at the wrong place at the wrong time at a burned down Wendy's and you won't condemn the Left's actions of stealing from a Walgreens in San Francisco. So I don't expect you to condemn a communist country that are violating people's rights in Cuba and China. Heck I don't even expect you to condemn Communist China for banning black people from renting a home or going to a restaurant, in which they used the "virus" in 2020 as an excuse. How do I know all this? I stay informed by watching Newsmax, a channel that CNN & Democrats wants to deplatform from Cable and Satellite. Gee I wonder why? Oh I know, it's because they're exposing the Left of their lies and corruption.

Chapter 4: His lies continue!

I highly doubt that you've ever lived in Texas because I used to live there as a kid and I loved it there, I was never uncomfortable there during my time living there. I also doubt that you've ever been to Mexico, I have because I went there to visit my grandfather. Anyways Newsom has been doing a disastrous job in Commiefornia and it shows with his policies, people are moving out of Commiefornia. The only places where the war on drugs has failed is in Democrat-run cities such as Detroit and Baltimore, both cities are a disaster and unliveable.

Chapter 5: "My source is wikipedia because I'm too braindead to look at legitimit sources that won't bullshit you!"

When I was younger, I probably would have used wikipedia as a source, I used to vote Democrat until 2008 when I went Independent before voting Republican for the first time in 2020. I also used to hate Trump and believe in every lie said about him back in 2016. But I've learn from my mistakes and realized that the pro-establishment politicians, big tech, and the mainstream media are the ones who can't be trusted. I am older, wiser and I don't fall for such dumb shit. Wikipedia is as unreliable as the mainstream media, fact-checkers on social media and Democrats claims about Tulsi Gabbard being a Russian Asset or Trump being a racist or a rapist. I don't fall for the lies like you do. So if I wanted to learn about Qanon, I'll go straight to the source(their website), not take the words of an idiot(you) or wikipedia, since wikipedia has been known to be politically bias and it shows with their description of Parler.

Every lie, every slander said about Parler has been accounted for with what I underlined in that screen shot. It also showed how heavily bias wikipedia was in their description of Parler, all of it was untrue. I posted about it months ago, or maybe even a few years since I haven't been on Parler in a long time now since I am more active on Elon Musk's version of Twitter. The point is that you can't trust wikipedia to tell you the truth on anything. That's why conservatives created "conservapedia" to combat the lies of wikipedia.

Want to talk about conspiracy theories? Your on the side that spews it all the time such as Critical Race Theory, Radical Gender Theory, Black Queer Theory, and The Parties Switching Theory. They also make up other conspiracy theories such as Tulsi Gabbard being a Russian Asset, Trump being a white supremacist, all conservatives being Nazis, or Trump stealing the election in 2016. None of that turned out to be true, but you Leftists continue to spew that nonsense anyways. See unlike you, I went straight to the source whenever any claims were made about Tulsi, Trump, Trump Supporters or anyone else the Left doesn't like. What I found out was that nothing of what the Left said was true at all. For example the kids at Covington, Kentucky were accused of being racist. That turned out to be false when I saw the full video of the whole event. The actual bigots in that event were the Black Hebrew Israelites using a homophobic slur against Trump. The Black Hebrew Israelites also used other bigoted language that the Left seems to ignore. They only care about making Trump supporters look bad, no matter how unreliable their "evidence" is, such as Nick Sandmann smiling at an Indian, calling him a racist because he had a "smirk" on his face. That is just ridiculous. You would have to be braindead to believe that bullshit.

Chapter 6: If you don't learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it!

And yet you support a group that had some of their members pose as the opposing side to make them look bad, since Antifa members have been caught doing it. That's why they attacked Andy Ngo. They are not rational and they are not very bright, which is why Antifa are full of white beta male dumbasses with bad haircuts and faces so ugly that you could tell they're on meth. They remind me of the Juggalos I used to feud with, they weren't very bright either. I use to expose them of pedophilia, violence, murder and rape. But my feud with Juggalos ended because I realized not all of them are like that. It just happens that I know many of the bad ones who lived in my city.

The fact that you defend Antifa, shows you're on their side rather than just outright condemning them of their actions(which I pointed out a few chapters ago). See you think they're nothing like the KKK, but you'd be wrong. Both are violent, both are murderous, both are full of white beta male idiots, both were created by Democrats and both pretend to be the good guys, despite the crimes they've committed such as murder, rape, theft, violence, riots, burning down churches, burning down blacked owned businesses and both wear a mask to conceal their identity from the cops, even though the cops let them get away with their crimes anyways, especially in Democrat run cities. Conservatives has consistently condemn these actions, liberals/leftists has not. If you were really against fascism, you would oppose the Democrats, Nazis and Commies all at once because true Anti-Fascism is Anti-Totalitarianism. Unfortunately for you, I am the real anti-fascist.

Antifa está repitiendo las acciones del KKK, no importa si dicen hacerlo por la justicia social, estúpido peluquero fascista.

P.S. This Twitter violation was before Elon Musk took over.

[yesimwriting]

We're only 2 chapters into Final Girl and I'm hooked. Something I really like is that Y/n's parents actually play an important role. In most fics of any genre, Y/n's parents are usually only mentioned and never important to the plot. Either that, or they hate Y/n or are just dead 🤣 it's cool to see the reader have an actual relationship with a parent. Gloria seems very protective and high energy.

I get why she's so wary of guys. Teen pregnancies started declining between 1991 -1996, so I like how this chapter alludes to the fact that teen pregnancies we're a problem. Your keeping us on our toes when it comes to all these unanswered questions. For example - where's our actual dad? Did he die? Did he just leave?.....Did Wells kill him? 😮 I can't wait to find out. No spoilers, I love being surprised lol

Brooo the way Billy and Stu were just trying to be all caring towards me 🥴 like how Billy grabbed our hand and so did Stu. I definitely feel like they took advantage of Y/n not thinking clearly. I mean, the way Stu just casually gripped MY THIGH after telling me he could knock me up just as easily? You get the sense that he definitely was jealous that our mom was worried about Billy but not Stu since she hadn't met him yet. Y/n not pushing his hand away just goes to show how she really thought he was joking and she even admitted that her mind felt like mush aka she's kinda on another planet.

Them calling me angel was cute, but it also makes me wonder how they act around Tatum and Sid. Stu is always touchy, but I wonder if Tatum will ever think there's more to it 🤐 Billy's more subtle, but if my man was calling another girl 'angel' I wouldn't be happy. It makes me think maybe they were being extra sweet bc they thought they could get away with it ya know? There's no way Billy would have been like "Wouldn't want anything to hurt that pretty face" if Sidney were there 🙃 and since Y/n's high, Billy and Stu probably felt more daring. It would explain why Stu kissed Y/n's forehead too, he figured since Tatum wasn't there, he could get away with more.

Hope you don't mind me ranting 😂 I just had a lot to say. When it comes to chapter updates, I personally would prefer shorter chapters with MORE frequent updates since I'm impatient and it'll make it easier to remember things I think lol but it's up to you! I love longer chapters too, but there's gonna be more info to remember all at once and it can cause you to have a harder time remembering.

this is one of the sweetest things i've ever gotten in my inbox!! i seriously love you <33 never apologize for ranting about something i wrote in my inbox!! it makes me so happy :)

thank you for picking up on the mom thing!! i've read so many fics where the parents are only mentioned once or are just neglectful/abusive, which works really well in some fics, but the plot for Final Girl really needed a parental figure like Gloria :))

i'm also happy you mentioned the whole teenage pregnancy thing in context of the time period :) that plays an important role in Gloria's views and in one of Y/n's main goals which has been sort of implied but will be more blatantly stated in the next chapter!

also love that you're already thinking about Y/n's dad,, you're one step ahead but it's def important!! no spoilers, don't worry, but i will say that girly has some daddy issues!

and the hospital scene!! yes Billy and Stu were fr taking advantage 😭,, they saw that Y/n was tired, injured, and medicated and realized that they could kind of push the line between friendly and flirty and she wouldn't think about it as much as she normally would!!

THE THIGH THING omg! in Stu's defense, he didn't go into the room with the intention of being touchy, it's just kind of a thing that happens with him. He's not one to feel guilty (i love him, he's my bf, but he's capable of little to no empathy) but after hurting Y/n he told himself that he'd give her space, but then when Y/n mentioned the mom thing that played into a bit of an insecurity

i feel like Billy and Stu are both prone to certain insecurities (but they'll never say it unless they're doing so to emotionally manipulate you a bit 😳) and in his head, Y/n saying that about her mom and Billy made him feel like Y/n doesn't see him in that way at all, and he was fr about to have a hissy fit!! the thigh grab was definitely him giving into a darker instinct to like 'prove' to Y/n (and himself a little *cough*) that she does want him in that way and the fact that that kinda shut Y/n up a bit and she didn't push him away calmed him down a little

you're 100 percent right when you say that Y/n thought he was joking and that's why she didn't move, i don't like writing Y/n as super naive and innocent to the point where it's unbelievable, but it's fair to say she's a little sheltered, she hasn't had very many close 'guy friends' and bc they're both dating her friends, she genuinely sees everything as a form of teasing bc she gets easily flustered, sometimes she even actually gets annoyed when they come on a little stronger bc she thinks they're making fun of her

she's especially calm about the way Stu acts around her bc he's basically the same when he's around Tatum, so she doesn't feel like it's inappropriate bc Tatum hasn't expressed having any problems with it

the Billy situation is a little different bc he's less expressive/touchy, but the two of them are smart, they frame all the flirty and couple-y stuff they do to Y/n as a form of comedic teasing, especially in friend group hang out settings, like Stu makes it seem like all the 'flirting' with Y/n is more about competing with Billy, and Billy pretends to only occasionally play along for the sake of bothering Stu in a 'all in good fun' sort of way lol

that's definitely getting shown/explored some more when we get into some of the more friend group scenes, especially bc Y/n fr loves Sid and Tatum

also y/n's so convinced that they'd never see her in that way and that if she ever feels weird it's bc she's not used to having guys around, so she kind of just goes along with everything? she doesn't think twice, which is both a good and bad thing

Our boys like that she's kinda easy to push when it comes to the line between friendship and something more, but it's also a tiny bit frustrating, especially for Stu

Billy gets where Y/n's head is at and that her inability to see what they're doing is cute and innocent and not a conscious thing, Stu sees it like that to a certain extent, but sometimes he does start to wonder if it's a form of rejection, that's when he pushes the line a little more to the point where even Billy is like reign it in bestie,, she can't tell when she's being hit on but she's not stupid lol

also thank you for answering the chapter thing!! i get the being inpatient thing lol, this week's going to be a bit rough bc it is my sorority's rush week (yes i'm a sorority girly 😭 my deep dark secret) but these kinds of messages get me so excited about writing and get me motivated!! which is good bc i'm so tired but also in such a mood to write :))

now i need to apologize for rambling but i just got so excited after reading this :)) anyways i'm working on part 3 now and even though tumblr erased most of my original draft 🙄 we're getting back on track!!

[choices-binglebonkus]

Wake The Dead: What they did well and what they could've worked on

With Wake The Dead now behind us (I know, I'm sad too), I figured I would make a post kind of like I did with It Lives in the Woods where I list things I thought PB did really well with the story and things that they didn't. Before I start listing all the aspects of it, let me just say I REALLY liked Wake The Dead. It wasn't a *great* book, and it actually had a LOT of issues, but it was a huuuuuge improvement over what we've been getting recently. Alright, let's get into it. 

Before you go any further there are SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS for obvious reasons.

What they did well

The art: The first thing I absolutely HAVE to mention is the art. The art in this book is AWESOME. The characters all have cool designs, the backgrounds are well-done, the zombies are horrifically creepy and disgusting, and I love it. But honestly? Where the art really shines is during the art scenes with Eli, Shannon, Troy, and Angel. PB really outdid themselves there. And I haven't even mentioned the cover yet...WHEW. When I first saw it I knew the book was going to feed us so good.

The soundtrack: The music in WTD does its job really well. Need a song that'll chill your bones and cause you to break out in goosebumps? You've got Wake the Dead • The Dead Are Rising - YouTube. Need a song that fires you up to kill some zombies? Wake the Dead • Locked and Loaded - YouTube and Wake The Dead • Time To Hunt - YouTube have got you covered. Need a song that breaks your heart while also echoing a distant glimmer of hope, a distant shining of the dawn of a new day rising? For that, we have Wake the Dead • Rule No. 3 - YouTube. Every song for this book is just perfect in my opinion.

The points system: Having been around since the very beginning of Choices where The Crown & The Flame and Most Wanted both presented us with points systems, I'm a sucker for any book that has a points system in some form or another. This one presents us with several: Fighters, Research, Defense, Food, and Morale. Depending on how many points you get, each one serves a different purpose. Granted, all they really do is alter some dialogue at first, but they also contribute to how well your colony fares against the horde during the solstice. If you have good scores, your colony is well-defended and for the most part, still standing. If not...well, your colony isn't doing too hot, but they still pull through. When it comes down to it, I have pretty mixed feelings on how unimpactful the points system was here, but I still felt accomplished whenever the score went up.

The other colonies: I personally loved getting to see the other survivor settlements. In zombie apocalypse stories, I always find it really interesting how each settlement survives and even thrives in some cases. I know it's corny, but I thought Ironmount was cool as hell. Renaissance faire turned post-apocalyptic medieval stronghold? I love that shit.

The hard choices: This is another one I have mixed feelings about but otherwise really liked. There are only seven of them, but the majority of them were tough to choose from and pretty strong choices. My personal favorites were the first (let Brynn work on the lock or smash the glass), the third (Help Shannon or Minna), and the sixth (Put Dirk and the other traitors to death or spare them). The one where you choose to either shoot Eli or break through to him was...well, it felt like they were out of ideas, and in the grand scheme of things, a lot of the hard choices don't have much impact at all. But overall, the hard choices were pretty cool in my opinion.

The zombies: I've said it before and I'll say it again: I do NOT like advanced zombies. I have always preferred the type of zombies in Romero's and Kirkman's works where there’s only one type of zombie and they’re slow-moving and stupid. With this being said, I actually didn't mind the different zombie types in Wake the Dead. Each one was vastly different from the others and they didn't outnumber the ordinary drones. It kept the zombies scary without making them stupidly overpowered and annoying.

The Lore Documents: In zombie media, I am SHAMELESSLY crazy for lore regarding how survivors fared in the early days, what happened leading up to the apocalypse, and so on. My personal favorite of the lore documents was the bunch of letters we read in Reno. The lore documents added a humanistic element to the story that we needed, because honestly, PB kinda fucked up the character development in this book.

Brynn: Brynn was unfortunately not terribly present in the story after she sacrificed herself in chapter two, but from what we saw of her in the story, she was strong-willed, able to keep a clear head, brave, and selfless. In short, Brynn was a survivor to her very core. I only wish we had gotten to know her for a few more chapters before she sacrificed herself, as that would have had a much more profound impact.

The gear: Before I say anything else, the knight gear was ugly as fuck. There, I said it. But overall, the gear was cool (NOT THE KNIGHT GEAR, DEFINITELY NOT) and benefitted the main character by allowing them special defense perks. I will say, though, it was ridiculous to have our main character armed to the teeth in armor and weapons while our friends fought the zombies in t-shirts with no other protection whatsoever. Barring that, I loved decking my character out with various armor, gauntlets, helmets, and weapons.

What they really could've worked on

The love interests: Yes, I'm going there. I personally was not a fan of any of the love interests because, as another Tumblr user so eloquently put it, they were basically the Blades LIs on crack. That statement has gripped me tight ever since. All the love interests follow the same generic personality types from other love interests. We have the sweet, demure female LI (Shannon), the cocky, charming rogue male LI (Troy), the wild and unpredictable female LI (Angel), and the emotionally distant, brooding male LI (Eli). Shannon and Eli were fine, but Angel and Troy constantly annoyed me, specifically Angel, because she was a huuuuuuuuge liability. My favorite of the love interests was Sledge, and even then, I wasn't wild about her because she was too cold in my opinion. The worst part about any of the love interests was the minimal amount of character development and backstories they had. We spent most of our time in the book traipsing around with the four of them, and I still feel like I barely know a thing about them.

The plot holes: There was a lot left unsaid in the book. How the hell did the Sunflower Creek Colony survive TWENTY-ONE YEARS and two solstices if they refused to kill any zombies out of pacifism? How did the entire main crew go twenty-one years without encountering different types of zombies? Ironmount and the Raiders captured scouts and soldiers respectively, so obviously, those two groups were aware of their existence. Furthermore, there's still so much we don't know about zombification. In the Walking Dead, if a person dies from a non-zombie related cause and their brain is still intact, they turn into a zombie. Is that the case in Wake the Dead? It's never explicitly shown or stated, so we don't know, and in zombie media, that's a pretty huge thing to leave unknown.

May: Honestly, May deserves her own mention in the "things they really could've worked on" section. From the moment May is introduced, PB urges us to buy diamond scenes with her. We are presented with the diamond choices to help her gather flowers, bring her back a souvenir (which doesn't even do anything IIRC), tell her a bedtime story, and let her and the other kids build flower beds. All in all, PB wants us to spend 60, yes, 60 diamonds to make May happy. We also spend an embarrassing amount of time trying to save May, and somehow, May is the sole survivor of the zombie hive. The plot armor on this child is RIDICULOUS. She forced Feather to save her and cost him his position as an Elder, she forced us to spend an entire chapter chasing after her, another chapter mounting a desperate rescue mission...I mean, my god. The worst part is, PB has given us NO REASON to care for her as much as the main character does. Look at Clementine from The Walking Dead video game. Telltale got us to like Clementine because from the very beginning, it was evident that her parents had died, so her situation became that much more complicated and dangerous. And unlike May, she also didn't require us to save her ass all the time. May, however, has no compelling traits other than the fact that she's a child, and constantly endangers herself, and by extension, other people. To sum it up, May’s a pest.

Dirk: Dirk also deserves his own mention, but not because he was an unlikable character; just that he was a wasted one. He was introduced as Brynn's right-hand-man of sorts and served as her closest friend. The issue I have with Dirk is how predictable his betrayal was. As soon as he was introduced and we had a hard choice that potentially resulted in him getting injured, people knew he was going to be a traitor. It only grew more and more obvious as time went on and we could either be nice or rude to him as he got pissier and pissier. The betrayal "twist" was so predictable that people were SHOCKED that PB actually went through with it. The betrayal would have been much more impactful if we spent more time with him, maybe if he joined us on our missions, because really, we spent way too much time with the love interests and not enough time with Dirk and the other side characters. Look how impactful Noah's betrayal was in ILITW. It struck deep into our hearts because we spent so much time with him and got to know him and care for him, and it shocked us when he turned on us. That's the kind of betrayal Dirk's should have been.

The side characters: Remember how I said we spent too much time with the love interests and not enough time with the side characters? Well, that's a HUGE flaw in my opinion. We barely got to know any of them, and what's worse is, a pretty large chunk of them don't appear in the final chapter. May (thank fucking god), Feather, Aliyah, Minna, Knuckles, none of them appear in chapter 20. The worst part though? A lot of the characters you could have saved earlier in the story ended up dying during the solstice. Yeah, that's pretty realistic, but I think at least some of them should have made it out. Darren dies, Mack dies, Trent dies, Dirk dies. You can save Boots, but he's one of those characters who doesn't appear in the final chapter. Overall, PB really could've handled the side characters much, much better, because half the time, it felt like they had forgotten about them.

The main character: Not much to say here. The main character starts the story going on their very first mission. They have no experience whatsoever. Then in a chapter or two, they're suddenly the brave leader who's a hardened, experienced survivor. The character growth was minimal, if it was even present at all. I would have much preferred Brynn as the leader while we were her second-in-command, but...well, PB made up their mind on that one, I guess. The most disappointing thing about the main character in my opinion is the lack of a determinant death. In every horror book (except THoBM), the main character dies or CAN die in some way. Bloodbound and Nightbound’s MCs die and come back to life while the ILITW and ILB MCs’ deaths are determinant. I would argue that Wake the Dead is the book with the highest stakes (I mean, it’s literally a zombie apocalypse with hordes of the undead, limited supplies, and a nearly extinct human race) so why not give us consequences if we fuck up by making the MC’s death determinant?

The setting: This is my biggest gripe with the story. For most of the story, we amass supplies, defenses, fighters, and build up a strong, functioning colony. We also spend a lot of the story trying to research zombies and see what makes them tick, because for a group of survivors who made it twenty-one years into the apocalypse, the crew sure is pretty fucking clueless. So my question is this: why not have the story set at the very beginning of the apocalypse? I personally think it would have been much, much more interesting while also functioning the same, or at least, similarly with a few tweaks here and there.

[sunarou]

Match up

(1/2) tysm for this baby! ilysm! ❤ can i get a special male matchup? i love to read + write + play volleyball! i'm stubborn and i fight tooth and nail for my beliefs but i'm actually really shy, have a lot of social anxiety but once i get to know someone i open up + can be loud at times. i'm a chill person who usually goes with the flow, but i'm bluntly honest, so i'll tell you if i don't like something. loyalty and respect are huge aspects in my life. i procrastinate a lot lol

(2/2) i'm a very passionate person, i love giving + receiving affection BUT i don't open up that much right away bc it takes me a while to get used to someone. i'm 5'0 tall. i have really long brown hair + brown eyes + glasses. a bit curvy too lol i also love to cook spanish food while blasting some music and i'm actually really good at it. i've got lots of attitude. i'm very sarcastic. i need someone who can handle my many moods. and i get defensive if ppl come after the ppl i love. ty baby! 💞

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A/N: This was a match up for my lovely @kageyatsu hope u like it bubs 💘 Since she gracefully gave me a match up as well so I had to repay her kindness with one as well !~

I match you up with Akaashi Keiji !

—Akaashi would probably read you your favourite books to sleep cause he’s cute like that bjabdjsakjbfka

—If you play vball, you already know his respect for you went up by 100, and would probably politely ask if you wanna help with his sets or maybe play with Bokuto.

—Akaashi’s pre chill as well, but boy oh boy I feel like he would be a ranter if you become his gf and of course you’d listen to him because his voice is a gift from the angels.

—You’d just lay him down on your lap and play with his hair while he talks about his day, then he’d look up to you and suddenly hit you with the “Did I tell you look extra pretty today?” or some cute shit like that.

—Then you’d look at him with a flustered expression, while he just continues talking, he stays unbothered.

—He can totally handle your moody days and when you get loud cause he’s friends with Bokuto

—I’ll tell you this mans be real loyal, he only looks at his queen, you and only you. If any girls come up to him and asks for his number he’ll just straight up say he’s taken by an amazing girl and the girls would back away real fast. He would respect your boundaries when it comes to affection, even if he doesn’t give out affection that much, I feel like he would still find ways to show you he loves you like;

—Leaving small cute letters in your locker, leaving your favourite snack/drink on top of your desk before class starts, locking pinkies together, maybe even learning how to make flower crowns for the both of you to wear. He’s all about the little things that make a big difference kinda guy.

—If he catches you procrastinating he would definitely try to bait you into doing it, he’ll offer you kisses and cuddles if you finish the thing you were procrastinating about.

—He would never say but,, he loves affection, like if you give him a back hug out of the blue, you’ll definitely see a blush appear on his cute lil face. And if you try to point it out he’ll just grunt and be like “It’s just hot in here” looking away from you

—When he catches you cooking some yummy food and dancing, his mouth would just turn into a really love struck goofy smile. He would sneak up behind you to wrap his arms around your waist and say “What’s cooking good looking?” he’s just ughhh, then you’d sway your hips making his hips sway as well, now y’all just dancing while cooking, domestic tingz!

—If you catch an attitude while you’re with him, don’t be surprised that he’ll throw some attitude right back at ya, then it’ll just turn into play fighting. He’s also sarcastic, so y’all would know if the other’s being serious or just sarcastic.

—He totally digs your long hair, he would learn how to braid hair just to try and impress you, and when he does braid he makes it look so effortless, then you’d ask him to braid your hair every now and then.

—Lastly, if he gets into some fight you’d march right up in the middle of them, defending your bby. The other person looked like they were about to burst out crying, it was really amusing to Akaashi, if things get a bit heated tho he would probably take you on his shoulders and walk away while you keep yelling at the poor person.

—Akaashi lets you down as you huff “The nerve of some people!” you say crossing your arms. “Yeah, you’ve got some nerves too babe, seeing you all defensive like that.. cute” He smirks. While you just look at him like 👁️👄👁️ 'I fr almost got into a fist fight for you and this is how you respond?'

—Nonetheless Akaashi is sure that you’re the girl he wants to put a ring on

~Love Lola 🦋