#he's paranoid of all heartless

[digiditto]

in this story, the traitor wears a halo

[wannaeatramyeon]

Goo Kim x Reader: Cat

G/N. Silly. Fluffy.

"You lil shit!" Goo yelps, sharply retreating.

It's a millisecond too late. His reflexes are beat. Fresh scratch marks litter his hand.

Eyes narrowing behind his glasses, he snarls "I'll kill y-"

And is cut off by another swipe, missing his face by a whisker.

"Yeah sorry he does that, he's a menace." You're half apologetic, half grinning that your other menace, the newly acquired blonde delinquent, has finally met his match.

It's an adversary Goo never expected: your fluffy little feline companion.

Goo's not heartless, okay? He's not completely resistant to cute charms (yours, for example). One second the cat had rolled over, exposing its impossibly soft and fluffy belly and who was Goo to turn down such an adorable invitation?

It turns out that the belly was as soft and fluffy as it looked.

For a brief moment, Goo and your cat were mutually (or so he had thought) enjoying the experience... The next-

Well.

Shit. This hurts.

He's had way worse directed at him, yet he didn't expect those little tiny claws to sting so goddamn much. Goo knows you shouldn't harm animals. Still, he couldn't help asking-

Nursing the scratches on his beautiful skin, "I can't kick it right?"

Judging from the glare you gave him, it's very much a no.

.

.

The cat is out to get him.

If cats were capable of plotting and scheming, which this one is, it absolutely is trying to get rid of the other being now taking up your time.

(No, Goo is not batshit and paranoid, thank you.)

Goo eyes the cat with distrust, currently purring in your lap.

"Sweetheart, I wanna put my head there!" he whines, and is given nothing but a chuckle in response as if he's joking.

To add insult to injury, he swears that stupid cat smirked at him too.

.

.

"No, not yet," You push Goo off you, the playful kisses now having taken a distinctly non-playful, and very much hot and heavy turn.

Readjusting his glasses, "Huh, why?"

"My cat’s there," You nod somewhere over his bare shoulder, and his head turns to follow your eye line.

That stupid cat is right fucking there.

"Shoo him out, sweetheart," Goo murmurs, lips grazing against your neck once more.

"I feel bad."

Goo stops. Looks at you with an arched eyebrow. Barely manages to repress a disgruntled sigh.

You know you sound crazy, and you know your cat won't hold it against you. Nevertheless, with a grimace, you tell him, "It's his bedroom too!"

.

.

Turns out it is the cat's bedroom, and also the cat's apartment.

Which it showed by arching his back and hissing everytime Goo appeared in his periphery.

Perhaps only when Goo was with you, did the cat tolerate his presence. Then you got called away for a couple weeks and Goo, like a lovesick idiot, offered to stay and look after your pet for you.

Now with him just on his own, he is proving to be very much an unwanted guest in claimed territory.

Luckily, the hostility and hissing from both sides calmed down after the first few days, eventually turning into an uneasy truce.

Only after feeding the cat, and offering treats (not that Goo wanted to, it was only under your instructions) during the first week did it seem to accept the blonde's presence. As if it somehow knows that this idiot is its final defence before starvation.

So the cat tolerates Goo, even if it is still a bit frosty and begrudging.

.

.

The most unexpected and surprising point though, arrives towards the end of your absence.

Soft meows stirs Goo from his slumber.

He wakes in time to see the cat pounce onto the bed, kneading his paws into your pillow.

"You miss Y/N?" He asks, and receives another meow.

It sounds distinctly like a yes. All frostiness, in the quiet darkness, has melted away.

"Me too," he murmurs.

Maybe it's because Goo is almost asleep again and his defences are down, or maybe they both just miss you. But when he reaches out to stroke the cat's head, he receives, for the first time, a purr. 

A low rumbling, contentment. Gentle pressure, nudging against his palm.

Finally- 

A shared understanding as they both eagerly await your return.

[palesweetscherryblossom]

Sacrifice

(AU what if: What if Mythical Forest! Reader had no one and was sent out as a sacrifice? What if Dabi and Shigaraki were respected and feared rather than hated?)

Warning: (Mentions of violence, animal murder, brothels and the use of whore. Non consensual hypnosis)

Long ago, a deal between the nearby village and two nagas had been struck. In exchange for peace and protection from intruders, the nagas would have to receive food and protection fees from the village.

Until they made a seemingly unreasonable demand, they wanted a child. Not a virgin woman nor man, but a child. Shigaraki made his request known at the last exchange, his voice longing for a child to raise as his own.

“I don’t want one of those whores at your brothels, I don’t want your gold, I desire a child.”

His mate, the scarred one who declared himself as Dabi, echoed his mate’s statement. They couldn’t breed and have their own hatchlings, thank the gods for that, so they went with the next option.

The village elders refused that demand, how could they give up their kin to monsters? Had they grown a taste for human flesh?

Were Dabi and Shigaraki that heartless? Once the village denied their request, Shigaraki grew violent. All of the village’s livestock had been slaughtered, blood stained the green grass and the fences.

Some hunters were lured out of their homes and had their bones crushed and skin melted away by venom. Shigaraki had a simple request, why couldn’t they just answer it?

Dabi wasn’t exactly innocent either, he hunted down foolish humans like a feral beast and proceeded to kill them, like a feral beast. The village had no choice but to meet their demands, so Shigaraki could stop his violent temper tantrum.

The forest was dark as you were sent out, you whimpered at seeing the gates to your village shut. You were a measly orphan who certainly wouldn’t be missed, so you were perfect for this opportunity.

You hoped that the rumors of Shigaraki using child bones as toothpicks weren’t true. Sticks and leaves crunched and broke under your feet as you wandered aimlessly through the jungles, birds tweeting and distant howls of wolves filled your ears as you looked around paranoid.

Shigaraki watched as you stumbled around helplessly as he gave a little smile, oh you were utterly perfect. He slowly slinked out of his hiding spot, his tail slithering across the floor. “Hello my dear.” He said softly. You froze before yelping in fright. You stumbled like a newly born fawn as you gave a frightened whimper at seeing Shigaraki. His gaze softened as he got closer.

“Aw, little lamb, it’s okay. Papa is here.” He purred. You couldn’t help but begin to cry from the fear, which utterly broke Shigaraki’s heart. What did those rotten villagers say to you about him?

He had no choice but to work his hypnotic magic on you, forcing you into a state of relaxation and calmness. You ceased your cries as Shigaraki gently lifted you up into his arms. Dabi decided to slink out as well, frowning at seeing your relaxed state.

“You know that shit fucks with peoples brains.” He lightly scolded. “Oh hush, our baby was in clear distress. She needed to relax.” Shigaraki defended as he smiled down at you.

“She’s like a little cherub.” Dabi commented as he booped your nose. Shigaraki let out something akin to a purr before the two slinked together in the forest.

With their new baby in tow

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

Alina Starkov - the most inconsistent main character. A tragedy of not wanting to have an identity.

The main character in Shadow and Bone trilogy, a prime example of "she deserved better". A.k.a. soldier, Sun Summoner, Sun Saint. In reality, a false saint and a false hero, who has less personality, goals, spine and consistency than her three love interests. How did this happen? Short answer - bad writing. Long answer? Here we go.

Her character at the beginning - a blank slate.

Physically small and weak, sickly, fragile, with a sour face and sourer attitude. Grew up in an orphanage funded by a Duke, who they were taught to basically worship while looking down on religion and beliefs in saints. Children in the orphanage were beaten if they misbehaved or didn't do chores, but were given education and fine food, which means they were faring better than peasants and farmers. Alina had not many, but several options in her life. She could learn a trade that would not require physical labour, like sewing. Or, she could marry and hope her husband was gracious enough to buy a donkey instead of making her carry heavy sacks of salt on her back, as we see a random man do to his wife. But Alina had no hobbies, interests, aspirations or ambitions in her life. Except her childhood friend Mal. Mal gets a mandatory draft in the First Army, and of course Alina follows, and settles for being a mediocre cartographer. Mal thrives in the army, showing off muscles and hooking up with women, while Alina dutifully waits for him saints know why. She doesn't have other genuine friends, she doesn't like people, she doesn't like anything. This is not a bad start in a sense that there is much room for growth and improvement.

Refusing to belong

Alina discovers she's a long awaited sun summoner, who can vanquish the Fold and unite Ravka. She doesn't want to be special, but not for the reasons you might think. Instead of fearing the burden of such an important task or genuinely becoming paranoid of being assassinated (she gets over those in five minutes), she just...doesn't want the responsibility of actually being useful for something. She'd rather not have powers at all, and go back to being in a constantly sickly state. She'd rather be tailing Mal like a mouse. Which doesn't make any sense for following reasons:

Alina's insecurities in SaB:

Not being pretty and talented

2. Not being as pretty and talented as Grisha

3. Being an orphan, being unwanted.

Being a Grisha actually solves all those problems for her. She gets prettier and healthier once she stops repressing her powers, has a unique cool power, and a community that cares for her. Plus, the support from important figures in Ravka. In time, she could have a family.

Instead, she refuses to acknowledge she's one of them, doesn't train properly, preferring to cling to her prejudices and make digs at Grisha. She'd rather complain that they're prettier, confident and pampered than acknowledge they are serfs, nothing but glorified servants with no basic human rights. Instead of her superstitions and prejudices being shattered when she starts living with them and realizing what Grisha have to go through, becoming rightfully enraged that her people are being treated this way, she still doesn't feel any empathy. In fact, she still doesn't see the General as a HUMAN BEING WHO MIGHT HAVE FEELINGS, even though he makes time in his busy schedule of running an army to make sure she's comfortable, jokes along with her, listens to her fears and reassures her, etc. Why would he go through the trouble if he was heartless? He's the General of the Second Army, by the King's law, she's his soldier. She is obligated to obey him regardless.

The narrative supports her delusions.

I get missing her friend, I get struggling to adjust, but it's more than that. Alina is getting dragged along from a plot point to a plot point kicking and screaming, as if she has anything better to do. She doesn't have a life, why is she so against of getting one? Once she finally somewhat adjusts to her life in the Little Palace, it turns out Darkling has had malicious intents towards her powers all along! Aha, you were right to be prejudiced, Alina! Now abandon your people, your country, and run!

“He … he said that Darklings are born without souls. That only something truly evil could have created the Shadow Fold.”

Imagine telling a person who saved your life that he was a soulless abomination, even though you do not know him, and he is still kind to you and reveals as much about him as he can. There is no grooming and manipulation here, it's just called not being a bitch. Darkling tells Alina he's over 120 years old, Alina is an adult, and the damned kiss was consensual. Of course he didn't tell her everything. Even regular people don't reveal their life-long ambitions and deepest childhood trauma to their crush after several conversations. It took Alina months to stop being in denial about being a Grisha, still didn't like being one, you're telling me if Darkling set her down and explained the complex political situation and his plan to overthrow the corrupt monarchy and bring an end to the war, Alina wouldn't jump out of the window?

Alina running away, not confronting the problem, and straight up deciding Darkling was evil incarnate with no evidence snowballed into Darkling deciding she couldn't be trusted and taking more drastic measures. Liberation of his people was on the line and one pesky girl screwed up a carefully planned coup because she couldn't handle her feelings.

False badassery

Throughout the whole three books, every time Alina makes a decision, it's immediately followed by self-doubt, shame and scorn. But no actual objective criticism. We often see variations of "It was foolish, but I didn't care", "I knew it was reckless but I couldn't bring myself to care", but never her actually analyzing why, or deciding not to do something like that again. Her small victories are immediately followed by thoughts on how would others feel about it, even though the person in question isn't even there and couldn't give less of a shit: "Never is it to be said that Ana Kuya didn't teach us manners", "A cheap trick, but a good one. Nikolai would be proud". Ana Kuya was an abusive mother figure, Nikolai was using Alina's status to get the throne. Sure, it's good that Alina is capable of learning useful things from every kinds of people, but she doesn't think "That was smart of me. I learnt that. I'm proud of myself for an accomplishment". She thinks "Is it good? Would they like it? They like things like that, right?". She attaches herself to people that fit her view of "deserving" and helps them, even though it might not be for the best. Extreme lack of self-worth, combined with entitlement.

When Alina hears a rumour Darkling ordered his heartrenders to sew a traitor's mouth shut, she's horrified. Even though that's hardly the worst punishment for a traitor in an army. But when some pilgrims insult Genya, she orders to have their tongues cut out after they're given only one warning. When Alina commits violence at slightest provocation, it's baddass. But when Darkling commits a controlled necessary military act to stop enemies from overrunning the country, it's madness and is falsely labeled genocide. Look up the definition, genocide is what was happening to Grisha.

The Darkling never kidnapped children and put them in the war zone. He only lied to Alina that he did, a clever strategy with no bloodshed. Meanwhile, Alina let her cult fight for her, whose members were brainwashed children, some only twelve years old.

When Alina faces a dilemma or a tense military situation, her go-to strategy is suicide. That is not martyrdom, nor it is badass.

Darkling became a bad person out of good intentions and desperation, Alina is just a bad selfish person.

Desperate people are the ones capable of the worst acts. Darkling didn't go nearly as crazy as he could, and frankly had a right to on behalf of his people.

"Aleksander had marched south with the king’s soldiers, and when they’d faced the Shu in the field, he’d unleashed darkness upon their opponents, blinding them where they stood. Ravka’s forces had won the day. But when Yevgeni had offered Aleksander his reward, he had refused the king’s gold. “There are others like me, Grisha, living in hiding. Give me leave to offer them sanctuary here and I will build you an army the likes of which the world has never seen.”

It doesn't matter how much genocide, prejudice, abuse and dehumanization the Grisha suffered through for centuries all around the world, Alina never bothers to look at the big picture. Her help is only for those who she deems worthy of it.

She attaches herself to people who fit her narrow-minded view of "worthy". She immediately believes Baghra's rather flimsy expose of Darkling, even though the old woman has been nothing but unhelpful to her, only insulting her and beating her. But Alina associates her with her only mother figure, Ana Kuya, another old hag she had a toxic relationship with. And even though Baghra is an immensely powerful Grisha who refuses to help or even lift a finger, or just spit out vital information, Alina coddles her and provides protection. Instead of telling her to fess up the useful information and save her unhelpful comments, Alina looks up to her as a mentor.

When Genya tells her story, Alina feels bad for her, but not bad enough to see things her perspective. She only becomes protective of Genya once she gets mutilated, out of pity. If it was genuine compassion, she would've forgiven and understood her from the start.

Every Grisha has been hunted and shamed for merely existing, almost every Grisha has lost a loved one to war. But Alina pointedly ignores it, because she doesn't personally know and care for those people. Therefore, she doesn't feel empathetic. Because if she feels empathetic, she might start feeling guilty about how she runs away from her responsibilities at every given opportunity. Just look at this passage:

“You know what he plans to do, Ivan.” “He plans to bring us peace.” “At what price?” I asked desperately. “You know this is madness.” “Did you know I had two brothers?” Ivan asked abruptly. The familiar smirk was gone from his handsome face. “Of course not. They weren’t born Grisha. They were soldiers, and they both died fighting the King’s wars. So did my father. So did my uncle.” “I’m sorry.” “Yes, everyone is sorry. The King is sorry. The Queen is sorry. I’m sorry. But only the Darkling will do something about it.”

The Darkling never wanted power for selfish reasons. He didn't want to take over other countries or lift Grisha above regular people. He wanted his kind to have basic human rights. Centuries of diplomacy and servitude only gave him enough power to make a school for Grisha children and save adults from slavery and getting slaughtered by serving nobles. He wanted to use the Fold as a border, to stop enemies from invading whenever they pleased, so he would have the time to save Ravka from collapsing. What has Alina done? Started a civil war, destroyed the Second army and helped put a morally dubious man with no claim on the throne to continue an outdated absolute monarchy tradition.

Alina Starkov was meant to be the sun, but turned out to be a trick of the light.

Every time it felt like Alina was emerging from her cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, embracing her true self, she went back to the toxic situationship and the toxic mindset. The narrative also always struck her down. Every book begins and ends with her being sickly, fragile, missing an essential part of herself. It would be good if it was written differently and showed themes of being disabled or having a chronic illness accurately, but it's not. It started out well. Alina was removed from an abusive environment, found a purpose in life, started loving her newfound powers, outgrew the stupid crush who she was way too dependent on, but it all went downhill from there. And then some. This constant vicious cycle does not fit the theme of growth and improvement, and neither does the ending, where Alina loses her powers and goes back to the orphanage. Once again, she's frail and strange, servants (who she now employs) don't respect her, sneer and make fun of her, while her now husband Mal turns a blind eye. Everything is back to the way it was: Mal thrives, Alina is...there. The ending is supposed to be bittersweet, a couple who survived a war building a new life together, but I don't see the sweet part.

Trick of the light - definition: something appearing different from what actually is as a result of the quality of light.

Darkling wanted her to be a strong Grisha, his equal and balance. Grisha wanted her to be a capable leader, Bataar twins wanted a living saint they could worship, Nikolai wanted a wife interested in Ravka and politics. Alina tried to be all of that, but never really wanted to be any of those, so she half-assed it. Mal wanted the version of Alina who was small and insignificant, because anything more made him insecure, and he got his wish.

Illusion, mirage, spectre.

No matter how much the author tries to tell us that Alina's every problem is Darkling's fault, her thought process and actions paint a different picture. Alina was never mentally healthy and she never addressed or resolved her problems. Growing up in a controlled and abusive environment affected her more than anyone, including herself, wants to admit. I am not a licensed psychiatrist, so I will refrain from officially diagnosing Alina, even though she's a fictional character. I am NOT saying I know for certain that Alina has these, if any, mental problems, but she does have some alarming symptoms. It seems like depersonalization. While her symptoms don't fit into one particular mental disorder, I am reminded of psychiatric infantilism, but it is not a mental illness with symptoms. Psychiatric infantilism doesn't necessarily mean the person acts outwardly childishly. To explain very roughly and simply, it means the psych is not as developed as it should be (even if the person is very smart and clever). It shows in avoiding responsibility or not feeling it at all, problems with social connections, not seeing the big picture and taking it seriously, etc. When Harshaw tells the story of his brother getting brutally murdered by people who hate Grisha, even brash Zoya is appalled and expresses her condolences. While all Alina thinks about is that Harshaw might base his hope of having a better life on her now.

Alina also might have Dependent Personality Disorder, but it's hard to say, since we are never shown her being on her own long enough to see whether or not she can take actually care of herself. But her relationship with Mal, Darkling and Baghra (after she no longer objectively needs them) is weird, to say the least.

She never gains the sense of self or an identity, she refuses to become something, then delivers an inner monologue of accepting her fate and five minutes later goes back on her words. Her willingness to sacrifice her life is never out of thinking of the greater good and future, justice, or patriotism. She just doesn't want to live, especially without Mal, who has been doing nothing but shitting on her. Her titles are slapped on her, and she peels them off. Her personality never really changes. Everything she went through feels like a really bad exchange program she was in for a year, and from which she has learnt nothing.

P.S. I don't hate Alina's character, I just mourn her lost potential.

If you have made it to the end, I salute you, congratulations and thank you. 😊 🙏 ❤️

[canisalbus]

Hi! I love your work, especially how you color, you somehow make the most gruesome stuff look soft and welcoming and like, holy.

I wanted to ask: does Vasco know about all the murder attempts and savage displays that come with being cardinal? Do he and Machete ever talk about how it might end? Sorry if that’s too sad :(

Oh, thank you!

cw this is indeed kinda bleak

Machete keeps Vasco in the dark about this side of him and his work as long as he's capable but eventually he starts to put things together, reluctantly.

Towards the end Machete is becomes very good at compartmentalizing and keeping the increasingly heartless work self and private self separate, mostly because he's confused and ashamed and afraid that Vasco will leave him if he finds out what he's becoming. He's paranoid, fears for his life, thinks about death often and feels doomed, but doesn't want to talk about that with his pure and uncorrupted Vasco.

[eldritch-nightmare]

yandere jeff the killer headcanons.

a/n: i had a thought and then the thought spiraled. did i write this to cope? ...perhaps. apparently, when i'm sad, i write yandere content, so. the more you know. maybe i should try making a yandere blog again idk. is this kinda bad? yeah, yeah it is. did it bring me out of a gloomy slump? yeah. it did. it did it's job, so that's all that matters. about halfway through writing this i was like 'is this really yandere atp bc honestly he would just do this casually' but i mean yeah. yeah it, is. listened to pet by a perfect circle while writing this so thumbs up it influenced me a bit.

warnings: gn!reader, yandere content, possessive behavior, ownership, toxic pre-relationships, stalking, isolation, blood, murder, yeah a guy gets decapitated, implied future kidnapping, mockery perhaps, throwing up.

He wouldn't be able to tell you what it is about you that caught his interest because he doesn't know.

You lived across the street from some random couple he killed, and he saw you getting ready for bed through the window of your home, and for some reason, you just... stayed in his mind.

It honestly annoyed him beyond belief. No matter what he was doing, his mind would always drift back to you for some reason. It pissed him off, but not enough to want to kill you. Which only confused him even more.

He hates this, actually. What the fuck.

The most logical thing he decides to do is watch you from afar. He thinks that, maybe, if he stalks you a little bit, his interest in you will fade once he sees how boring you are or something, and then he can kill you and go on his merry little way.

Turns how the exact opposite happens.

A couple weeks into stalking you, Jeff learns that his interest is not at all going away. If anything, it only seems to have gotten worse. This interest he has in you unnerves him a little bit, which is saying a lot because there's not a lot that can make Jeff feel uncomfortable.

He's developed emotional attachments to people before. I mean, yeah, he's a serial killer but he's not heartless. He has feelings. He's just never felt... this before. And it's strange.

But he doesn't hate it. I mean, he does. But he doesn't at the same time, y'know?

For a while, the stalking is all he really needed. He would follow you around maybe once every couple of weeks, and you would be none the wiser. But then it became once a week. And then it was every other day. And now it's whenever he's not doing anything else.

And you're starting to feel his eyes on you wherever you go. You try to brush it off as you just being paranoid, perhaps a sudden discomfort with crowded places or your mind just playing tricks on you when you're alone. It's hard to ignore though, especially when you're in the comfort of your own home.

Jeff thinks your sudden awareness of him watching you is cute. He likes seeing you look over your shoulder every couple of minutes whenever you're outside. He likes how you're always searching for him.

And that's when a shift happens. Alongside his interest in you, a feeling of ownership begins to form.

He started to feel an itch whenever he saw you interacting with other people. At first, the itch only came when you spoke to your friends and family. But then it started to happen when he saw you talking to random service workers as well.

Now, he can't just go around and kill every single person you speak with. He can, however, kill your friends! But don't worry, he doesn't kill all of them. He doesn't want you to feel lonely just yet. He just kills the ones that are too close for his liking.

And he doesn't exactly hide that he's the one who kills them. Why would he? Besides, why would you suspect that the infamous serial killer, Jeffery Woods, is your stalker? I mean, no one would come to such a conclusion. It's all just a coincidence.

But you know better. So when you start to isolate yourself from your friends in hopes that, if there is a chance that he's the person who's been watching you these past couple of months, it'll keep them safe.

And, well... it almost makes Jeff wanna go 'awww' because isn't that just adorable? Honestly, if he didn't have so much fun scaring you from a distance, he'd probably whisk you away right then and there.

He hates that he loves you, and he loves that he can't grow to hate you.

It goes on like this for a while, to be honest. You keep yourself isolated, and if Jeff sees you getting too close to anyone, he'll kill them as a reminder to be good. You haven't even officially met him yet, and he's already in control of your life.

But don't worry, he doesn't just kill the people who try to get close to you! He also kills the ones who say anything bad about you. He doesn't take too kindly to people who badmouth something, or someone, that belongs to him.

Even if you don't want to acknowledge the fact that you belong to him, it's hard to ignore.

Especially now.

You could only stare down in horror at the gift left for you on your doorstep. It was so early in the morning, the sun only just begun rising when you had received a knock on your door.

With how things have been these past few months, you obviously were cautious when you went to see who was there.

A quick peek out the window showed you that no one was there, and for a moment, you thought that maybe some random kids had decided to pull a dumb ding-dong-ditch prank on you.

But that's when you noticed something sitting in front of your door.

You should've just left it alone. Hell, you should've called the cops or something to inform them of a suspicious package left at your house, but you didn't.

Your curiosity is going to get you killed someday, that's for sure.

But you weren't reckless. You made sure to quickly head to your kitchen to grab a knife for protection before you went back to the door to see what had been left behind.

It was... a box.

Nothing that would be too suspicious, if it weren't for the fact that you were most definitely being stalked by a maniac serial killer who may or may not want to kill you. How are you supposed to know his intentions?

There wasn't only a box, of course.

There was a folded note resting on top of the box with your name on it, and in front of it, there was a rose that still had its thorns.

Alarms were going off in your mind, but there was that feeling of being watched again. He was watching you. You could feel him looking at you expectantly, but when you glanced around outside, you couldn't see him.

But you knew he was there. And he wanted you to see what he left for you. He wanted to see your reaction.

That tidbit of knowledge in mind made your nerves spike, and you could already feel nausea burning in your stomach as you hesitantly picked up the note resting atop the box.

Your hand shook as you unfolded the note, and you couldn't deny the wave a fear that washed over you as you read the words written down.

You owe me.

Three little words shook you to your core. Whatever was inside this box was not something you wanted to see, that's something you knew. The grip you had on the knife tightened for a moment as you set the note to the side and carefully moved the rose of the box, making sure you didn't prick your fingers on the thorns.

You had to take in a few deep breaths, setting the knife down and using both your hands to lift the flaps of the box to take a peek inside. You... weren't entirely sure what you were looking at for a moment, brows pinching together as you open the box a bit more to get a better look at the item sitting inside of it.

That's when you make eye contact with the decapitated head of a coworker who had been harassing you these past couple of days.

And you immediately scurried back inside and hurried to the kitchen, where you proceeded to throw up the dinner you had last night into the thankfully empty sink.

You had to swish some water around in your mouth to get the leftovers out, and you left the sink on to clean some of the vomit as you hurry back outside, this time holding your phone to call the police and keep an eye on the stuff that would no doubt be considered evidence.

But instead of finding a box with a head in it, you find a different sight. The box, the note, and the knife you had left behind were gone. The rose was still there, sitting on top of a new note.

This one wasn't folded like the last one, so you could see the words clear as day, and it truly felt as if the world was caving in around you as you stared down at the note. It felt like you were being mocked, to be honest.

See you soon.

[velvet-games]

fucked up staticmoth time! (no idea if this is good or not lol; I've never written dead dove-adjacent stuff before)

cw for dub/non-con, (extremely) unhealthy relationship dynamics, acephobia, racism

I wrote vox as kind of a disaster bi that fell in love with everyone in favorite, which I thought would be incompatible with aroace vox, but! I think it's perfect actually.

I present to you:

aroace vox who was rejected by everyone, who never had enough actual romantic/sexual experience in life to realize she'd never felt allo attraction (she does love very deeply, just not like that)

asian vox who feels emasculated by the stereotype that asian men are impotent/undesirable and will fight to the death to prove that he does indeed fuck (she doesn't)

transfem vox who is so unbelievably repressed that she overcompensates by playing the role of a dominant, hypersexual man after death

vox who is so immediately enamored by valentino's attention that she interprets the feeling of validation as love

vox who starts to believe that alastor's criticisms of her must've meant he was just a heartless asshole and never really her friend in the first place

(mildly) sex-repulsed vox who learns from valentino that love and sex are supposed to feel uncomfortable and scary

valentino who implies on several occasions that aroace people aren't real; they're just boring prudes who aren't hot enough get laid! sex is a part of human nature, mi amor; relax, it's all in your head.

sex-repulsed vox who loves valentino anyway, because the moments of genuine comfort and affection are special to her

they'll always be special to her, unfortunately

sex-repulsed vox who is so paranoid about valentino getting bored of her that she discovers her hypnosis powers while trying to convince him to fuck her

he still wants to fuck her, right? she's still worth something?

maybe val never really liked her, maybe he was lying about finding her attractive, but vox can make sure he wants to stay. and it's supposed to feel bad when it happens; it's the least she can do to endure it ...

vox who starts to feel sick to her stomach thinking about valentino touching her, but it's just butterflies. she's just nervous. she's just in love.

vox who gets trigger happy and starts hypnotizing val when he shows any signs of being out of her control

vox who eventually can't tell how much the hypnosis has done and how much of val is actually intact

vox who wants to care about that last part, but who does she have if valentino leaves her?

[mtvjedi]

i just got home from the movie i have more. at first katniss reminds snow of lucy gray since they look sort of similar and they both make big spectacles out of their reapings. but as time went on and he got to sort of know her personality and peeta’s, katniss started to remind him more of the best friend he betrayed. katniss, like sejanus, can’t help but say what she thinks and she has all these self destructive tendencies because she believes in justice.

but she also reminds him of himself, in an alternate universe. she’s the one in her family who provides. she hunts to bring her family food and money and clothing, even if that’s not necessarily what she dreamed of as a child. she’s paranoid. she has a dead father who she can never live up to in the eyes of her mom. she has things that she wants, but will never allow herself to have because of her duty to her family. she’s thinking about survival, first and foremost. and this is why snow thinks he can predict her movements - at the end of the hunger games when they announce “oh actually, only one tribute can win” he fully expects katniss to kill peeta so she can go home to her family, because that’s what he would’ve done (that’s what he did. he had sejanus executed and maybe killed lucy gray to advance his own ambitions). it’s why he always tells her the truth, because he thinks they’re made of the same stuff.

but at every turn, katniss does the opposite of what he would do. she sings a lullaby to rue as she dies and covers her body with flowers. she takes mercy on cato and kills him to end his suffering from the mutts. she decides she’d rather die with peeta than win and go home without him. she CARES, at every step, where snow would’ve abandoned. and that’s ultimately what gets him - he COULD have chosen to run away with lucy gray, he could’ve saved sejanus’ life, he could have done any number of things differently, but he didn’t. he expects that everyone else is as evil and heartless and cruel as him, but they’re just not. which really is what makes him crazy, that maybe lucy gray wasn’t turning on him, that sejanus wasn’t trying to get ahead, etc etc. maybe they were just doing good things for the sake of being good.

[tickytheclock]

Saw a bunch of Kinsona and I'm motivated to make some.

So meet the (unwilling created and forcefully hired) employees for Dandy

C-001 (Poppy Clone) and C-002 (Boxten Clone)

- They both are clones made by Dandy, and have some Ichor resistances.

- Both of them have never seen Gardenview, and have no knowledge of it. They usually are in Dandy’s Store (the one in the Elevator) to sell him items that they got in their journey so that he can sell it other Toons.

- IDK where Dandy put em, probably in the Basement

- It's basically just Lethal Company

Character Description:

C-001 or Distractor is a more serious and less enthusiastic clone of Poppy. She still speaks whatever is on her mind with not much filter.

This makes her seem harsh, blunt and rude but she means well and cares for others well beings, especially her coworker, C-002.

C-002 or Extractor is a more alert clone of Boxten who is paranoid at times. He isn't really good with his words but he will always have his friend's back.

He cares and worries a lot about his coworker, C-001 given her role. But if things go wrong, he can always rely on his strength to protect.

Fun fact for both of them:

- C-002 is pretty heavy and tanky despite how he looks and can hits very hard. He has fought a few Twisteds throughout his job.

- C-001 had insulted and pissed off Dandy on multiple occasions but somehow get away with it.

- It isn't a run without C-001 consuming all six bottles in a Pop Pack, an entire Box o' Chocolate, lots of Speed Candy and Protein Bars, as well as AIR HORNS

- Both of them have never seen any other Toons other than Dandy and they don't really think much of the Twisteds

- They actually do get day offs (Dandy isn't a heartless boss)

[satuguro]

⠀⠀ ⠀ཾ ༚ TO FAULT A NET AU

[ INTERLUDE I: SOMETHING ABOUT YOU ]

spider-man! ethan landry x black cat! reader

#SYNOPSIS— while being at a party to protect your friends, you meet an unexpected visitor.

#CONTAINS— nothing tbh, just fluff and pining

#AUTHORSNOTE— this is a request based off of to fault a net, which can be read here. also, listen to about you by the 1975 while reading!

you weren't an avid party-goer.

that never stopped you from going whenever you wanted to end up in someone else's bed that night. but other than that, you didn't go to parties for the same reason why you didn't go to a lot of get-togethers; you had no friends.

at least you didn't. not until tara began getting targeting and you being not as heartless as many people believed you to be, you cared. which led to a deal with spider-man to catch the ghostface killer. which led you here now, pouring a shot for tara after she invited you to a party with her friends. emphasis on her friends.

they were all suspicious of you— you were observant enough to know that. even after driving them to chad and ethan's dorm, they were still wary of you (and for good reason, you had no qualms). but they didn't seem to object when you came along with them to some shitty frat party, so maybe your charm (could you even call your constant cynicism and dry humor a charm?) was working.

the music was horribly loud as you and tara stood at the drinking table. the bass was boosted to the point where your heart beat shook with every beat. it wasn't an overly crowded party, but the amount of people that was entering and leaving was making you almost paranoid. what if the killer was here? what if they were watching right now?

why did you agree to party while a killer was lose? to protect your friends from the possibility of death. the knife on your side suddenly weighed a lot heavier.

picking up a bottle, you squinted as you tried to read the label with the dim led lights flashing everywhere. "what even is this?" you asked her as you read it. jose cuervo.

"it's tequila, y/n!" tara said with a large smile (which made you happy, as she hasn't been able to smile for a while due to the recent events). her head turned to the side, her smile growing as she motioned over for people to join.

"two shots in and you're already tipsy," you commented, turning your head towards who she was waving over. your eyebrows raised when you saw chad, who was pulling a reluctant ethan over.

"i was trying to get him to talk to some girls!" chad said over the music, taking a cup from the table and pouring himself a shot.

"and did you?" you asked ethan curiously, who only looked at you with a sheepish smile. the tight white shirt he was wearing was practically glowing under the blue light, making your eyes flicker to his muscles (did he always have those?).

"god, no. not really.. actively looking, you know," ethan said with a lopsided smile. "and you, did you talk to anyone?"

"i'm talking to you, aren't i?" you couldn't help but say with a flirtatious smile, one that made the boy's cheeks flare red.

but despite the slight embarrassment, ethan looked at your face, eyes softening as he said, "are you flirting with me, y/n?"

"you wish."

and at your words, ethan shrugged. "maybe i do."

hiding the slight heat of your cheeks, you turned to tara as she began to shake you, wanting to take a shot. you failed to notice ethan's own blushing face as you turned to grab him a red cup. "what do you want? tequila, vodka, soju, beer.."

ethan's eyes widened as you kept naming out drink names. "oh! i, uh, don't really.. know how to take a shot," he confessed, making chad gasp dramatically, his hand hitting his chest.

"you're around the right people, e!" chad said excitedly, making you roll your eyes amusedly (chad was really a chad) as you poured him a bit of tequila.

"i'll teach you," you offered, tilting your head towards him as you handed him the cup. you grabbed a sprite, opening easily with one hand as you handed it to him as well. "you sip this after you take the shot. try not to breathe when you take it, okay?"

ethan nodded, eyes on you as you grabbed your own sprite and opened it. "i don't usually take shots." he explained to you, sniffing the alcohol, "it's.. gross."

"then you haven't been doing it right," tara said with a smile, raising her cup. everyone raised it with her. "cheers!"

you looked at ethan, nodding as you threw your head back and took your shot, swallowing it before sipping your sprite. ethan's face scrunched up a bit as he swallowed the shot and drank his chaser, but he turned to you and opened his mouth, sticking his tongue out and saying, "ah."

"that's my boy!" chad laughed, throwing his arm over ethan's shoulders as he laughed.

you couldn't help but laugh softly at that, your muscles relaxing slightly. whether it was due to the alcohol or the energy, you didn't know. you weren't used to being around people, but you found yourself not minding it. maybe you liked the presence of others more than you thought.

"i'm gonna go outside!" you told tara and chad, who nodded (chad however, sent you a thumbs up). you moved past ethan, failing to notice how his head followed to watch you walk away, adam's apple bobbing as he watched you make your way outside.

the side of the house was empty for the most part, and you leaned against the house, breathing in the fresh air. the backyard and front porch were buzzing with people, but as you recharged your social battery at the side of the house, you found yourself alone yet again.

but as just as you got yourself ready to head back inside, the familiar thwip sound made you stop. no way he was here.

using a web stuck to the edge of the roof, he hung upside down from a strand to stare at you. posed with his legs on the web, his face was close to yours as you looked at him, unimpressed. and in any other circumstance, he would have said some witty remark about it— something that would make him interesting, as the mask almost always gave him more confidence.

but from behind the mask, as ethan stared at your face up close, he found the words drying on the tip of his tongue. even with your brows furrowed and impatience evident on your face, you still looked unreal to him. hauntingly captivating. every word a poet would use to describe their love, ethan would easily use it to describe you.

like a painter with their muse, he studied you. the angles of your eyebrows, the curve of your face, the shape of your nose, the hue of your eyes, the shape of your lips— ethan realized he could look at you and never be tired of it. he'd never be tired of the feeling of his heartbeat quickening, of how his nerves simultaneously went off and calmed down, of how he felt such a strong sense of familiarity with you he couldn't point out.

your head tilted a little but your mouth didn't speak a word. teasingly, his head tilted a little too.

"can i help you?" you asked, pretending as though you didn't argue with the hero when you had a mask on your face. how would any other person react to seeing spider-man in front of them? it didn't matter; you weren't just any other person.

"you're welcoming."

"and you have no perception of a personal bubble."

spider-man slowly moved so that he could stand on the ground, disconnecting himself from the web. he hummed at your words. "you're really nice."

"thanks." a pause. "what's new york's very own spider-man doing here at this hour?" you asked, unable to fight your curiosity as you peered at him. was he patrolling around here?

"i'm supposed to be watching out for a killer," he replied cooly, making your brows furrow. "and since everyone here seems to be careless enough to party with a killer running lose," he said as though he himself didn't take a shot with you merely moments before, "i'm here to watch over it. besides," he shrugged casually. "you're like, dislocated from the group. anyone not with the group usually gets killed."

you scoffed at that. of course he was watching over the frat party. he was most likely watching over tara and the rest of the group.

"oh, c'mon," he said, and you swore you could hear the hero grin under the mask. "haven't you watched horror movies? anyone who walks away to get air ends up getting stabbed, and you," he motioned to you, "are alone! though i don't doubt you can protect yourself, but seriously, at least pay attention to horror movie rules!"

you couldn't bite back the small smile on your lips as you listened to the hero ramble.

usually you didn't get along with people who were incredibly talkative. for some reason, you didn't mind it when he did it.

"new york's friendly neighborhood spider-man is a smartass," you tsked, nodding your head slowly. "noted."

"i prefer the term knowledgeable, actually," spider-man correct you pointedly, and you couldn't stop the small chuckle from leaving your lips. the sound of your laughter made ethan's gaze soften slightly. "so? why're you not with people and actively seeking death?"

"i'm not actively seeking death," you corrected him, leaning against the wall again. "i'm recharging my social battery."

"introvert?"

"sure." you shrugged, sighing and watching your breath come out white in the cold. you glanced at him, eyes following his body as he leaned against the wall next to you, copying your movement. "aren't you supposed to be like.. climbing on walls and shit?"

"that's not all i do, you know."

"that's primarily what i know you for," you lied, cocking a brow at the hero. you knew him for more than that. you knew him as someone who carelessly patched criminals up in their house. someone who played with cats with a genuine smile. someone who ate your ramen after he patched you up, trying to tell you that he knew that new york's black cat would be a cat lady.

"ouch," the hero said with a laugh, "maybe the killer should be scared of how mean you are."

"hopefully they are." you said with a hint of a smile. "but i mean.. aren't you supposed to be looking over the party? why're you here with me?"

the hero shrugged casually, his cheeks burning red behind the mask. "there's just something about you," he said, making you roll your eyes.

"seriously— was that a line?"

"you wish," he said, throwing your own words from earlier right back at you. you couldn't help but grin at that, tilting your head to look at him.

"maybe i do."

now it was his turn to laugh at that. it was a pretty sound, one that you didn't get to hear as often as you liked. a comfortable silence surrounded the both of you, the only noises coming from the people talking in the backyard and the muted bass of the music.

"i don't like parties," spider-man said to you, making you raise your eyebrows and glance at him. "i mean— i used to not mind them, i didn't get invited to a ton, but i liked them when i did go. but after the, uh, spider thing.. my senses aren't really cut out for that."

you tilted your head out of curiosity. why was he telling you this? you didn't mind it, really, but it was surprising to hear the hero open up to you— the real you without the mask. "you get sensory overload?"

"yeah, something like that," he murmured softly, listening to the muted bass. "loud music, lots of people, cramped space, heightened spidey sense—"

"spidey sense?"

"yes," he said, watching as you let out an amused laugh. "but as i was saying, it doesn't really make a good mix, y'know?"

you nodded your head in understanding. a beat of silence passed. then another. and another, until you found yourself telling him something that you never liked admitting to anyone but yourself. "the whole party scene isn't for me either. it's too.. crowded. too much socializing. i'd rather just visit the museum or watch a shitty show with a few people i genuinely care about instead of wasting my time being around people i don't know."

"jesus, you really are an introvert."

"oh, shut up," you scoffed with a smile, making the hero grin under his mask.

"museums, huh? you seem like the type."

"yeah," a nostalgic smile ghosted over your face, "i like just going there and staring at the pieces of art, the paintings, the statues, everything. i like just.."

"studying them," he finished for you, eyes set on your face as you nodded. "taking in their features."

"exactly. and how it's not all perfect, but all their characteristics just fit so well to what they are, what their history is, and.. it's just beautiful, you know?" you found yourself smiling a little sheepishly at the mini ramble you went on. but ethan's eyes were on you the entire time as you spoke.

"yeah, i know."

#AUTHORSNOTE— again, this is based off of to fault a net, which can be read here. thank you for reading xx

[fourteentrout]

acotar hot take

there seems to be this really intense polarization with anti-tamlin readers and pro-tamlin readers where most (but not all) antis will be like haha tampons the worst and deserved everything he got, fuck that guy, what a creep, and most pros (but not all) are like he did nothing wrong!!! there are so many double standards!!! look at all the hypocrisy!!!

and like i feel like not only is it more nuanced than that, but the narrative is more interesting because of that nuance. "Tamlin ONLY did wrong things" is untrue, but "Tamlin didn't do anything wrong!" is also untrue. He did a lot of things wrong, he put his mate in danger, he didn't foster any kind of proper communication with her, he was controlling and paranoid and just because he was traumatized doesn't mean his actions were justified. But he also did a lot of things that weren't necessarily bad that were later construed as bad following his shift in character, sometimes even by the characters in the books themselves, which...doesnt really make sense to me. Just because someone starts doing bad things, it doesn't negate the good things they've done in the past, or change their reasoning for their actions at the time. But just because someone may be misunderstood or taken at face value doesn't mean they were actually innocent the whole time, too.

To deny the parts of his character that are written to invoke sympathy in the reader is sort of closeminded, but to deny that he was abusive is an equally blind narrative to follow. That said, sympathizing with him doesn't make you an abuser by proxy. You know, its okay to feel more than just "this guy good" or "this guy bad" about a dimensional, multifaceted character. Like, thats kind of the whole point of morally gray characters.

Ive said it before, but Rhys always being toted as the exemplary morally gray character feels so weird when tamlin is an equally good example of a morally gray character, if not more, but is often completely shunted to the side as this irredeemable, heartless asshole.

i hope this doesnt hurt anyones feelings, but am i making any sense?

[snowfallenapocalypse]

Howdy Slay the Princess friends! I wanted to show off my Voices designs, they’re still very likely to change cause I’m still not quite happy with all of them, but I hope you enjoy them! :3c

Explanations and a few extras below the cut! :) (This ended up being a kinda long post so be warned!)

For the most part I try to use the same body shape for all of them, with the only differences being their accessories and some beak variation. None of them have wings either- I don't like drawing them that much so they're reserved for TLQ

Alright here we go- explanation time!

Hero - Knight's helmet based on the default warrior class helmet from Miitopia, no clue if the feather, ponytail, thing... is his actual feathers or part of the hat and I probably never will. I love how he looks even if the helmet sucks to draw

Broken - Shackle and chain around his neck, not much to say about this guy, I was a bit worried it was too similar to the Prisoner's shtick at first but it's grown on me

Contrarian - Jester's cap, the most common defining accessory I saw for him in fanart and thought it fit. Probably gonna change him cause the current iteration doesn't feel quite right. (Either hat redesign or something new)

Opportunist - A tie and ripped dress shirt, I wanted a smarmy business-ey feel for him but didn't think a nice shirt would fit in with the aesthetic of the game, so I gave him a ripped one (he probably found it on the ground somewhere)

Paranoid - Perfume pendant, I adore this concept but have had a hard time conveying it properly. The pendant is filled with smelling salts in case he needs to wake someone up. I want to keep this concept so much but I know it has to go through a few more designs cause I don't really know what it's supposed to look like. Planning on adding another necklace and maybe a clock?

Smitten - A shawl with heart shaped embroidery and a flower broach, I... Don't know how to feel with this one? It doesn't quite fit Smitten's exuberance but I don't know what I would give him instead. Will probably change later if I do come up with something better

Hunted - Hooded cloak, for camouflage :0 (it's a very short cloak though basically only covers his shoulders.) I drew him twice so you could see both versions, realistically he'd always have the hood up but I find it hard to draw and doesn't look as good so I don't bother, (it probably looks weird because the hooded version is missing the feather tufts, I added a quick sketch of the hood with them below)

Cold - A hole in his chest (shamelessly based on Mad Rat Dead,) Cold didn't seem like the type to have any worldly possessions so this was the most literal way I could convey his 'heartless' personality, it is kinda bending my rule of giving all these guys unique accessories but it fits him quite well so I don't mind

Skeptic - Detective hat, this is another one that I think looks a bit weird due to the lack of tufts (version with them below) and I don't know how well this fits his personality, but Skeptic is probably the voice I'm least familiar with so I'm kinda just ignoring redesigning him until I get a better grip on his character (I also don't really know how to draw this hat- I tried my best lol)

Cheated - Cut off tuft and scars, I had a really hard time coming up with this one and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It's another one that bends my rule of having accessories but I couldn't think of anything to put on him that fit the vibe of 'Being salty from repeatedly losing to someone using hacks in a game.' (Yes, that's how I summarize Cheated's personality lol)

Stubborn - ...Isn't here, Oops? Yeah, you probably noticed but I don't actually have a design for him yet. I might give him a cape? idk. He's another voice I don't really have a good grasp on, I have to play through his chapters again :')

Anyways! I had put my sort of 'design rules' for these guys in an older version of this post but I ended up not vibing with it so I edited it out- I like the post a lot better without all the excess stuff

And finally as the send-off to the post (and a thanks for reading all) here's the extra bits! My one Long Quiet full body, the Hunted and Skeptic sketch with their tufts, and a bonus Opportunist cause I realized you can't really tell what the shirt looks like lol

[ingravinoveritas]

Go Wilfred! Love their shirt!

Hi there! Well, I did see this post of Georgia's yesterday, and there is a lot happening in this picture/post, of which Wilf's shirt is just one small part, and I definitely have a lot of opinions. Full disclosure, however, before I delve deeper: I am an only child, and my parents have been married for over 50 years, so I am by no means an expert on sibling relationships or blended families. What follows are only thoughts based on my own observations.

For those who didn't see Georgia's post (and I was a bit delayed in seeing it myself, due to the holiday here this week), she posted the photo below of her and David in the DW era, one of her as Jenny, and the family photo above, in that order. This was then followed by the below Insta story of a picture of Ty inside a Dalek:

What really struck me about this post is that Georgia posted that family photo and wrote the caption about Doctor Who giving her a family...and yet Ty is not in the picture. She very, very easily could have chosen a picture that Ty was in, but seemingly purposely chose not to, and the optics of that alone are questionable. It is my understanding that, in many blended families, the stepchild (in this case, Ty) is sometimes treated differently than the "biological" children, for any number of reasons. Yet David has never once treated Ty as anything other than his own, never once referred to him as his "stepson"--only as his son. So the impression that this post gives is that Georgia thinks of her family as the one she had with David, and Ty somehow "doesn't count" because he was from a previous relationship ("new" family vs. "old").

As I mentioned before, I am not at all an expert on blended families, but I feel as though my impression of this post was further bolstered by what we see in your screenshot @kime11e--Ty commenting asking where he is, and Georgia calling him "needy," followed by her posting that photo in an Insta story as almost an afterthought. I'm just very confused by what kind of mother calls her own child "needy" for wanting to know why he's not in a family photo, because it seems rather cold and heartless on her part. Could this be some sort of inside joke/banter between Georgia and Ty that I am entirely missing? Absolutely. But as we know, in jokes are only funny if we're in on the joke, and the fact is, we have seen Georgia make similar comments about her other children (calling Birdie a drunken accident, lest we forget) so that, to me, suggests this isn't a one-off occurrence.

Which then brings me to Wilf and their shirt in this picture. It is definitely a great shirt, to be sure. And I truly do love that Wilf seems to be so supported and accepted by their parents for exactly who they are. What I keep thinking about, though, is that Wilf is 10 years old, and is starting to or about to start going through puberty and that journey of finding out who they are. I remember how difficult and painful and scary that journey was, navigating the turmoil that was happening inside my body and my mind. The difference, however, is that I went through all of this in private, but Georgia is putting Wilf's journey out on Instagram for the world to see.

What also seems strange is that none of the other kids are wearing shirts that advertise their sexual orientations. Again, this is not about shame, or saying that Wilf should have to hide who they are--and I cannot overstate how beautiful it is that they have such a loving family and a safe place to be themselves, especially at such a young age. It's about the fact that David has been/is being targeted by lunatic homophobic and transphobic bigots in the UK calling him a "groomer" and all sorts of foul and disgusting insults, and I just worry that singling Wilf out in this particular way could have unintended negative consequences. I know folks will say that that seems ridiculous or paranoid and that Wilf of course has people who are looking out for them...but their own parent is the one who posted this on Instagram. And once something is on the Internet--pictures or any personal information--it's out there forever.

So, yes. Those are my (not at all intended to be controversial) thoughts on this new post from Georgia. I know I could be completely off and misinterpreting all this, so I welcome comments from my followers with their thoughts and impressions about all of the above...

[hauntingpercival]

Walburga Black is a character I will never stop loving.

I think the general fanon, or so I've seen on TikTok, has done her a disservice by characterizing her as heartless and cruel when really, she's much more than that.

We know that despite disowning her own child, she's heartbroken when he runs away. She doesn't touch a single thing in Sirius's room after he leaves, I think because she wants to hold on to what she still has of him. She is a mother grieving the loss of her child and even if that's because he ran away, there's still weight to that grief.

A headcanon I have is that the reason Pollux Black was married and had children so young is because it was arranged by his parents as a reaction to his brother, Marius, being a squib. They might have seen having a squib child as a sign that their magic was running out or a bad omen to the family. I've always imagined the family is quite paranoid about those sorts of things. So they thought they needed to produce a new heir as soon as possible. We know from canon that Pollux and Irma Crabbe were married at thirteen and seventeen, respectively. They had children shortly after that. The first of which, being Walburga.

Walburga is a woman so she couldn't be the heir and growing up knowing that you were only born to satisfy a need for an heir, and couldn't even fill that role, must do numbers to a developing child. Continuing from that, it's entirely logical that growing up that way only fueled her obsession with the family's general beliefs around blood purity.

This feeds into a larger issue within the fandom which, again mostly on TikTok, is that so many characters are stripped of their complexity and nuance because of a want to say "fuck jkr! I'll write what i want" and while i fully support that statement I think it's much more impactful to reject jkr's harmful portrayals of women and take a female character that is presented as a villain and show them in a sympathetic light than to turn Walburga into a charicature of evil just so you can have Sirius as your tortured blorbo.

I'm sure all of this could be said more elegantly and I'm positive there are grammatical errors in there but my point stands.

TLDR; I love Walburga Black and I hate TikTok.

[hello-nichya-here]

Hi. What do you think about Lisa and Michael's marriage? I mean... they had a complex relationship. Do you think he made mistakes in some of his actions? Do you think both were immature?

The best way to describe Michael Jackson is "Surprisingly well-adjusted for someone who was abused his entire life" and the best way to describe Lisa is "Surprisingly well-adjusted for someone who was literally being exploited in a cult."

I love Michael with all my heart, but he would disappear for weeks after fights with his wife, and told her, to her face, that if she didn't give him children, he was gonna get someone else (who was supposedly just a friend) pregnant, and then he did and went on to marry her. "Made mistakes" is quite the understatement. This is on the level of "Do you WANT to make this woman hate you?"

Not to mention the simple fact that being married to someone who has an addiction is quite the emotional turmoil - especially when they're addicted to the same thing that killed one of your parents and full on told you they feared they'd die the same way. It really isn't hard to understand why Lisa Marie asked for a divorce, and then also gave up on the "affair" they had during his second marriage (well, """"marriage"""" if we're going to be honest here).

But that's not to say Lisa was perfect. She wasn't. She full on said "He had a sad childhood, but who didn't?" to kind of dismiss the whole Peter Pan thing he had of compensating for the time of his life - which is an INSANE thing to say. There's "My childhood wasn't that fun" and there's being a survivor of abuse.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Lisa was some heartless monster (if anything, to me that sounds more like her being very much in denial about how traumatic her own childhood was and not liking that Michael was indirectly/accidentally reminding her "No, what happened to you wasn't normal, you need help too") but obviously it'd hurt to open up about something like that and have your own wife act like you're being dramatic. Dude was the definition of "Just 'cause you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you" after all, of course he would take that to heart.

Lisa also full on admited that, looking back, she had not truly appreciated how much Michael had genuinely tried to make things work for a long time. That it truly had been a HUGE step in the right direction for someone as traumatized him to open up to her the way he did, to share his life with someone, to let everyone see him in love. She full on said that it took him dying for her to finally understand that he loved her.

I think Lisa also set herself up for disappointment to some extent.

She married the man that called himself Peter Pan and lived in Neverland, then was suprised that he was goofing off during interviews instead of trying to act more "adult" to prove their marriage was real. She didn't want her marriage to be turned into a spectacle, yet her husband was literally Michael Jackson (and he had just been accused of abusing little boys, OF COURSE he'd be reminding everyone that he was very much a straight man). She literally said in an interview that she thought she could save him - she looked at that trainwreck of a life that left this man badly damaged, emotionally stunted, paranoid and depressed, then went "I can fix him!" when she was equally messed up. Just terrible idea after terrible idea.

They both went through A LOT of tragedy from a very young age, and it messed them up. On good days, that made them a great match because they could relate to, and find comfort in, each other. But on the bad days? It was a VERY toxic relationship - and not because one or both of them were terrible people, but because, to put it bluntly, it's hard to have a normal, healthy relationship when you never experienced it, or even seen it, your whole life. Of course they didn't know how to make it work.

Add in the fact that a lot of people, including Lisa's mother, seemed to be actively rooting for them to fail, and openly questioning if their marriage was even real, and it becomes a truly unbearable situation. Lisa gets a lot of shit from some MJ fans for being the one who ended things (twice), but in all honesty, sooner or later Michael would have said "enough is enough" too.

And it really is a shame, because considering how genuinely happy they seemed through a lot of their marriage, how they showed support to each other through hard times after spliting up, how they couldn't keep their hands off each other for five freaking years after their divorce, how Michael's nephew was defending Lisa from slanders in public because he had only ever heard his uncle say good things about her, and how much Lisa was grieving after Michael's death, it's clear that they loved each other A LOT.

[salty-an-disco]

For ParaCold... Pre-Relationship 6, General 6, General 13, Love 11, Love 13, and/or Domestic Life 12? (Yes I am asking a lot, feel free to only answer one of these if you'd prefer! I just love your thoughts on them always~)

(I freakin' knew you'd come at me with the asking sheet lol /aff /pos)

Ship Questions Redux

Pre-relationship 6. What was their flirting stage like?

Veeeeery awkward. At least from Paranoid's perspective; the moment she started consciously flirting, she felt like a shelf full of glass jars constantly shaking and dropping everything onto the floor. She'd go out of her way to compliment Cold's additions to any convo or their appearance, all while sweating bullets and feeling like a giant fuckin' buffoon.

Cold, meanwhile, never registered anything he did as 'flirting', but when they saw Para actively flirting, it found the sight very amusing, and started going out of its way to compliment her back and even say some suggestive lines (cue Paranoid.exe stopping working and going into overdrive)

General 6. How do their personalities complement each other? How do they clash?

I mean– we already talked about this at lenght like aikskdmdjdmd

Cold is uniquely equipped to help Paranoid calm her nerves and look at situations with a more pragmatic view, while Para can make Cold consider being less reckless if only for other sakes, how they can read each other, the way their actions often clash but also helps them grow– aaaaaaaagggghhhh

General 13. Which one thinks they aren't good enough for the other, if at all?

Oh, they both have their own form of Imposter Syndrome.

Para knows she can unlikable to others, with how intense and inquisitive she can be, and she knows it's hard to approach her when she's already expecting the worst from others. And that's fine!! She can live like that, it's safer if others don't even try to approach cuz she seems a bit too prickly. And she often wonders if Cold would've felt the same if they weren't born from the same being–

Cold knows it's difficult. Knows others find it unsettling or menacing. And it's fine with that, really, it's a flattery that so many people think of it as an uniquely evil being. And Paranoid is no exception, she was definitely afraid of it in multiple occasions, but she still puts it aside to try and work with them. They're sure she wouldn't want anything to do with it if it didn't insistently follow her and got into her personal space, but it selfishly wants her attention. And if they're evil and scary and dangerous anyway, why bother if it's being a little selfish too?

Love 11. What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

I like the idea of Cold calling Para 'Dots' cuz of her plumage patterns. A cuter way to look at the markings that triggers Paranoid so much. She was very taken aback by it when it was first used, but didn't mind it and even came to like it.

I think Para definitely calls Cold some of the many nicknames the others gave her to tease her. 'Cool Guy' is one of her favorites for this. Avoids names like 'heartless' tho, cuz she noticed how those seem to actually get to Cold (it's very subtle, but she learned to read him at this point).

Love 13. How do they make up after an argument? Who is the first to apologize?

Depends on the argument, and how much one was at fault over the other. Para definitely apologizes as soon as she realizes she was being unfair/going a bit too far. Cold doesn't verbally apologize– almost never, but it does change its behavior when they notice how it upsets others and tries to make up for their actions through other ways.

Domestic Life 12. Who likes to dance with, or sing for, the other?

I know many have Cold with good singing voice hcs, but personally, I think he'd rather whistle than sing. And they have a very haunting but weirdly beautiful whistle, and can make many melodies with it. Para finds it weirdly comforting, so Cold will sometimes whistle for her.