#honestly this is just every interaction I have with my so called family. Haven't lived under their thumb for years and they still blame me

[asshlyyyy]

Fairytale

Series Warnings: Language, fake relationship, lying, drinking, major depressive disorder, mommy issues. Mentions of occasionally sexula interactions/ wording. Maybe eventual smut. Individual chapter warnings will appear as needed.

Masterlist | Next Part

Chapter 1: Maid of Honor

Message from Jess at 10:23 AM Hey, Y/n! The girls and I are getting together for some brunch today! There's a chair with your name on it! Your response at 10:26 AM God, that sounds amazing! Just that my boyfriend and I already have plans for lunch :( Message from Jess at 10:28 AM That's okay! We have to meet up soon! I miss you girly! Your response at 10:30 AM I miss you too :(

Sometimes you felt bad doing all this lying, but it wasn't like it was harming anyone. You just didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Truth was... you couldn't find the motive to leave your house. Sure, it seemed unhealthy not to want to leave your home. However, you honestly just... you couldn't bare it. So, you made up the excuse that you had a boyfriend. But Y/n, don't you have a job? Of course, you had a job. You were just lucky enough to work from home.

You often times blamed it on your major depressive disorder. Now, it has calmed down over the years since you were first diagnosed with it. However, every day it still felt like a chain that kept you home. The only times you left were when your sister forced you out of the house. She couldn't always do that though. She lived in a different state, and honestly, you didn't blame her. California could get a bit crazy. Especially with all of these wannabe influencers. 

With that being said. You used the boyfriend excuse plenty of times. In fact, you pretty much lost count. Now, this is a very normal excuse, especially when you have plans already with them... So, no one would question it. Yet, the only issue was... it was all a lie. You didn't have a boyfriend. Like hell! You couldn't even leave your damn house. How in hell would you get a boyfriend? Exactly, you couldn't.

Four years ago you hit the darkest moment of your life. The lowest of the low, and you kept it to yourself. You only really felt happy with you were with your family members. Four years is how long you've been using that goddamn excuse. You were diagnosed three and a half years ago. You went to your doctor, who sent you to a therapist who gave you the news. You met with them about once a week. So... once a week for three and a half years. That's... four times a month... which is forty-eight times a year... then 144 for three years... Plus twenty-four... that's... you've met with your therapist so far 168 times. 

The major question is... did it help? Yes, for the most part, it did. For the most part, you knew that you had to work on it yourself. Which you have been. Your therapist suggested making a video diary a week. Sitting down and just going over everything that happened that week and how you felt. It was nice, and they held their home on your laptop. You haven't... you haven't reached that sense of content enough to go back and watch them. 

As you stepped out of your shower, you wrapped a towel around your body. You had to make a video diary today, and you knew that you should wait till the end of the day... But the start of the week was Sunday, and so was the end of the week. You always recorded these things on Sundays... it just... it just worked. You grabbed a free towel and started to dry your hair, as the familiar tone of your ringer went off. 

With curiosity in your mind, you made your way over to your bedroom where your phone rested. Flipping it over you heard your sister's name and smiled. You answered the phone and quickly put it on speaker.

"Is that Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo princess and heir to the throne of Genovia?" You teased as you answered the call. You could hear your sister's laugh from the other end. You smiled and pressed forward with drying your hair. 

"Right, Y/n," she continued to laugh, "I have a question for you."

"Hit me," you encouraged her to go on. You looked in the mirror at your messy wet hair and tossed the towel into your bathroom. You'll pick that up once you're off the call. 

"So, as you know I'm getting married in a couple of months. Three months exactly, and this may be last minute... But I have a huge huge huge question." She reminded you. Ah yes, your sister met her fiance Nicholas... yes you heard that right. He may very much be Nicholas Deveraux. You were very much all for Mia and Nicholas ending up together in that movie. 

"Yes, of course, you would never forgive me if I forgot." You reminded her as you started to dig through your drawers. You just needed your comfy sweats and long-sleeved crewneck.

"I wanted to ask... if you could be my maid of honor...?" You gasped lightly and ran to your phone.

"No way! I would love to!" You heard your sister eeeee at your response. You found yourself joining her as you picked up the phone and pressed it against her ear. "I would be honored."

"This is great news, Y/n! Oh my gosh, oh! And bring your boyfriend! Everyone is dying to meet him, and not to mention... Nic would be very honored if he would be his best man." Your mouth gapped open, and your eyes widened. Did you hear that right? Someone wanted your imaginary boyfriend to be their best man?

"B-best man? I-I mean aren't they supposed to be a relative or a friend? Not a complete stranger?" You struggled to get your words out. Well, you struggled in general. You felt your heart just about to stop at any moment.

"Well, Nic and I talked, and we knew you would find a way to excuse your boyfriend from coming... This way, we knew he would feel bad. So, yes... Nic wants your boyfriend as his best man." She explained. This was that moment you were scared of. The moment that would give out you... This was the moment. FUCK.

"Okay yeah... that works... Yeah... When do we have to be there?" You asked. You were honestly hoping she would say a week before the wedding. Because then that would give you plenty of time to find someone to be your fake boyfriend. 

"Well, I want your help during this whole time... And I know you work from home so that's amazing. Maybe in a week or two? Bring your boyfriend as well. We all need to get to know him, and this is the perfect time to do it." With every word that came out of her mouth, the more you felt a weight on your chest. It got harder to breathe and honestly all you wanted to do... was... well... you wanted to disappear.

"R-right well... I will see you then... Bye! Love you!" And you quickly hung up. You placed your phone down and immediately got under your sheets. You pulled them up and over your head and closed your eyes. Think of a better place. A place where you never made the boyfriend excuse. A place where you are happy... Go there... Go there. 

Now, your sister always brought you happiness. She never pushed you or even laid out her troubles on you. Your brother was the same way. Your family was a very caring and loving family. They also respected everyone's privacy. So, when it came to them finding out about your boyfriend... They didn't push. They pushed a few times, but that's because you never even gave them a name. You couldn't even think of a name for your imaginary boyfriend! Maybe it was because you knew this would happen.

Yet, every holiday... they would ask you to bring your boyfriend. You would always decline and say that he couldn't make it due to prior engagements... or that he was simply sick. You never shared anything more about your said boyfriend. Sure, it looked a bit suspicious... but they respected you and you appreciated that. 

After you found yourself, you got out of your bed. You made your bed and moved over to your desk. You sat down with a huff and lifted open your laptop. You pulled open the video recorder and started to record. You picked at your nails and bit at them, a habit you picked up on. It wasn't that it was out of nerves... it was more or less... it was your fidget.

"I received some bad news today... Well, bad for me..." You let out a breath and turned to look into the camera. You never spoke about your 'boyfriend' on a video before. Your therapist was the only one who would see these, so it wasn't like you were showing it to all your friends and family.

"As you know, my sister Mia got engaged a while back and she asked me to be her maid of honor. I was... well... I was honored," you chuckled lightly at your terrible joke. "Which is great news, don't get me wrong... but... she and her fiance, Nic, have decided to have my boyfriend as the best man."

"I never spoke about him before and it's quite literally because he is a lie. I made him up four years ago as an excuse to get out of things. And, I just kept using that excuse over and over again that everyone thinks I have this mysterious boyfriend that I don't like talking about." You started to ramble on.

"I'm supposed to leave in a week or two with my boyfriend to go back home. The only problem is... I have no boyfriend. So, now what? I ask my male friends, whom I have used the very same excuse on. No. It just wouldn't work. I made this excuse up so that I wouldn't have to explain to my friends why I don't want to hang out." You pulled out your phone and started to look through your contacts.

"Mike is gay... and has had the excuse used on him. Liam, John, Cody, some of these guys are just taken. Yet, I have all used the same excuse on. There's just no way I could ring one up and explain to them why I lied to them and all our friends." You paused as your eyes found a name that you haven't spoken to in a long time. 

Austin Butler. You first met him when you first moved to California. He was the absolute kindest man you have ever met. He was actually your neighbor who lived right across the hall. You two haven't spoken in a long time. In fact, over four years ago, so in theory... You have never used the boyfriend excuse on him. Then again... sparking up a conversation with him after so long would be weird... What if he had a girlfriend? He had one when you met him... What makes you think he isn't in that same relationship?

"Austin Butler... he's one I haven't used it on... He's one I haven't talked to in so long... I mean... Hell... I don't even know what happened between us. It wasn't like it was some big falling out. We just got busy, and we stopped texting... stopped calling, and eventually, we stopped hanging out." You started to speak aloud. 

"I moved to California a little over six years ago. I was just twenty-one... I had just gotten a job as a physiological criminal analyst. Which, is a job I still have today. I've talked about it a bit, but... I basically analyze people. See, why they have committed the crimes. I listen to tapes, and I read transcripts. All work is easy to do remotely. If there is a big case, then I have to go in person and meet with them personally. You catch the drift."

"Austin lived right across the hall from me. We met the first day I was moving in, and he offered to help carry my things to my apartment. He is such a nice guy. We got everything inside, we had some water and talked. I learned that he is an actor. We exchanged numbers and he left. We started to text continuously, and eventually, I met his girlfriend Vanessa. She seemed very nice, and honestly... God, she was hot. I may be straight, but I can appreciate a woman when I see one."

"He moved out roughly... a year and a half after we met. We still talked after he met, but without that... running into each other in the halls... we talked less and less as time went on. Till we eventually stopped talking. I thought about texting him a bit afterward, but all thought of that left the door soon after. I don't know, it just wouldn't feel right to text him just because I need him for a favor. It just sounds wrong."

You placed your phone down on the desk and looked out your floor-to-ceiling window. You let out a breath and thought about what you could do. Maybe you could just tell the truth... but that would just mess up your sister's wedding. Your fake boyfriend is supposed to be the best man. If there is no fake boyfriend, then there is no best man. 

"Do you think someone on Tinder would be willing to go along with it?" You asked no one in particular. You knew the chances of that were very slim unless you somehow found the right guy... but you also knew that you were going to have to kiss this said fake boyfriend. So, it had to be someone you knew and were comfortable with, but goddamn you really did not want to both Austin. You turned back towards the camera and smiled softly.

"Besides this whole deal happening just now... my week was fine, and I need to go. I only have so long until I have to figure this out." You said and ended the recording. You titled it the day's date and sent it off to your therapist. You closed the laptop and picked up your phone once more. 

You stood up and pulled up Austin's contact. You took a big gulp and pressed the call button. You placed it against your ear and stood up. You wrapped your arm around yourself and started to walk around the apartment. The pacing was something that... somehow eased you. Yes, quite weird, but you felt that if you kept moving nothing could affect you as much. Not to mention, you felt like curling up in a ball and crying. You didn't even know if Austin still had your number... it is very likely he would've just deleted it and forgotten all about you.

"Y/n?" You heard his voice. You felt your body stiffen. You weren't exactly expecting him to pick up. Let alone remember you!

"Austin... hey."

Mutual Taglist: @darlinboypresley, @emmymaehereeeeee, @venus-haze, @austinstyles

[tenebraevesper]

Knuckles (My Thoughts)

So, I have watched Knuckles, the 2024 show that basically came out yesterday, and before watching it, I have heard a lot of mixed opinions, ranging from ''the show is great'' to ''the show is awful, I hate it''. I had figured I might as well add my thoughts to the fray.

There will be spoilers in this review, so if you haven't watched the show, you had your warning.

So, for starters... this show is absolutely bonkers, and I definitely enjoyed watching it! X3

Honestly, I feel like there was a pretty good mix of comedy and action, and while there is some over the top acting, it didn't really take away from my enjoyment. It was a pretty wild ride from start to finish, and I kinda want to know what the writers were smoking during some scenes, because there were moments where things just get a bit surreal.

The show is also peppered with a lot of emotional moments, but I'll get to that bit in a moment. So far, I think people were right when they called this Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's Knuckles and Wade instead of Sonic and Tom.

The main crux of the show is that Knuckles has a bit of a crisis. He has found the Master Emerald, he has found friends in Sonic and Tails... and the only reason he's on Earth is because of that promise to them, as he clearly doesn't feel like he is at home... yet. So, how does he deal with that struggle?

Well, Pachacamac tells him what to do. Not gonna lie, even though I had expected him to appear, I was still baffled, because Pachacamac in this show is basically Oogway, Mufasa and Mr. Miyagi rolled into one. Clearly, Knuckles still holds great admiration for him, but let's remember that this was the guy who hunted down Sonic and Longclaw, leading to the mutual massacre. And now, he's a ghost that Knuckles can talk to, a lá Tikal. Kinda weird, but I think this is also the moment the show doesn't give a damn about being grounded.

Pachacamac suggests Knuckles that he should continue the legacy of the Echidnas, with Wade Whipple becoming his new protégé. Knuckles knows Wade is a loser, but he accepts, especially given Wade's determination to show everyone and their mother that he isn't some kind of loser and will become the bowling champion at the tournament in Reno, Nevada. So, he and Knuckles go on a road trip there while also being hunted down by two rogue G.U.N. agents, who want to deliver Knuckles to The Buyer, a guy who formerly worked for Robotnik and wants to use his quills to power his weapons.

Now, I will first start with the negative stuff that I noticed during the plot. Yes, people were correct, the second half of the show does focus a lot on Wade and his family rather than on Knuckles. Should it focus more on the titular character? Absolutely! Am I disappointed with what we got? Ehh... not really. Not gonna lie, I was actually quite invested in Wade's family drama.

Honestly, I can't really think of any complaint aside from the lack of Knuckles' screentime. Maybe it would've been better if the show focused on Knuckles bonding with Sonic and Tails, but it was always advertised as a Knuckles and Wade road trip, so I can't say I was lied to (not to mention, we had a whole movie of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles bonding). I suppose that another thing to add to it is the abrupt ending, although we do get a post-credits scene with Knuckles and Wade going to their next adventure, and the fact that they just don't address some plot points (like we don't know how the Wachowski family reacted to Knuckles' absence).

Well, that's my negative thoughts on the show, what's the positive stuff?

First of all, Knuckles himself - he is absolutely awesome every moment he gets! His character is on point, and he gets a lot of goofy, but also very wholesome moments. He also works very well with Wade, their personalities bouncing off each other and their interactions can turn from hilarious to absolutely heartwarming, especially when bonding over their respective lives.

I think that's a really strong point of this show - Knuckles helping Wade, in his own way, to overcome his insecurities, while just being his Echidna Warrior self. At the same time, he also learns about simple things in life, like ''what his jam is'' (to no one's surprise, it's the show's theme song, The Warrior by Scandal) or about Wade's family's traditions, as well as finally accepting that Earth is his home.

Also, Knuckles and Wade's mother beating up the bounty hunters was one of the best scenes in the show, hands down.

As I said previously, I also got quite interested in Wade's family life. I really like his mother, but his sister is a bitch, even if she stands by Wade's side. His father, not gonna lie, Pistol Pete gets the same amount of hate from me as Locke... Huh, maybe they did base Wade's father on one of the most hated characters from the Sonic Archie comics? After all, both abandoned their sons for a ''greater purpose''. In any case, it was satisfying seeing Wade beating his father in the bowling tournament and use what he learned during his journey.

Furthermore, this show is peppered with many lore bits, but the most jaw-dropping is this one:

So, if you guys don't know, this is Iblis, one of the Big Bosses of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), alongside Mephiles, and basically the main reason Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat went back to the past to save the future, with Silver fighting Sonic due to the belief that he was responsible for the apocalyptic wasteland that is Silver's future. Both Iblis and Mephiles are halves of the sun god Solaris, who was defeated by Super Sonic, Super Shadow and Super Silver.

So, in this show, in this story told to us via a rock opera arranged by Pachacamac and starring an... unconscious (dead?) Wade? *shrugs* So, yeah, in this story, apparently, Knuckles defeated Iblis with the Flames of Disaster, aka beating him up with flaming fists.

Not gonna lie, that's metal.

Also, another lore bit that is dropped is how a different alien visited Reno for a bowling tournament in 1974, which tells me either two things:

One possibility is that it was Shadow who appeared at the bowling tournament, which is but funny and pretty awesome, and now I have an image of Shadow, Maria and Gerald Robotnik wearing those bowling T-shirts.

The other possibility is that Black Doom dropped after making his deal with Gerald and decided to sign up the Black Arms for a tournament, which is just plain hilarious.

So, yeah, overall, I liked the show. Is it the best? Not really, but it is something I'd rewatch if I want something fun and wholesome.

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[undead-potatoes]

So! Tell me about Aurora! Did they have a life before the Urge came calling? How has their journey been through the game? Are they romancing anybody or do they have any other significant bonds?

I hope you don't mind, but I decided to split this into two posts. You asked about her journey through the game, and suddenly I had written 1400 words that didn't fit with the rest. So uuh yeah, here's the first and the last question at least!

I'm still a little unsure about her life before the Urge. There's the few "canon" things we're given through bits of dialogue (like murdering their parents as a child), but I honestly don't tend to get too caught up in canon if I want to do something different.

She had a lot of nightmares as a child (thanks dad), and it made her a very skittish and nervous child. In combination with minor Urges which made her say and sometimes do off-putting shit, I imagine she wasn't exactly a social butterfly. Like once she probably bit someone when the Urge overtook her, but bc they were baby urges and she was like 6-years-old it didn't really do much but alienate her.

But I think she was otherwise a good kid, doing her best and loved by her adoptive parents, even if they probably worried about her a lot.

I kinda like the idea of her being slightly older, someone who briefly escaped her heritage due to Bhaal's death before he returned in full, and the Urge became too strong to ignore. To have the Urge hovering around in the background her entire life, but always being able to repress it, until she suddenly couldn't.

Idk there's just something to the tragedy of being so close to escaping your predestined fate, when in reality it was always going to end like that, on way or another. You never truly escaped anything, you simply just delayed the inevitable.

She could still have murdered her family, still living with her adoptive parents and possible siblings, or maybe she had her own family by then. Either way, Bhaal would have wanted them out of the way.

The Urge building and building, sending her flip-flopping between moments of bloodlust and lucidity filled with fear, until the Urge took her away completely.

(Would the Urge even work like that for any of this? Who cares, just gonna do as Larian does, my city now).

TL;DR: I don't even know, it's still stewing in there.

- - -

Though I've watched like every Durge related video on YouTube, I haven't actually played very far in Aurora's playthrough, mostly bc I'm waiting for Larian to stop breaking the game with every new patch 🙈

Meaning I haven't actually had a lot of time with her interacting with the companions and gotten a good feel for where they're at.

Wyll and Shadowheart are possible candidates for some at least surface level boding. Like Wyll's whole "self sacrifice for the good of others" thing, and with Shadowheart they both have been brainwashed and forced into cruelty in service of an evil god.

And Karlach bc I love her and I said so.

Maybe some more interesting dynamics will pop up once I really get in there with her 🤔 (Larian fix your shit already, I want to plaaay)

There's also Jay who's already wrangling every other companion and their problems, so I'm sure he'll have some fingers in her pies too eventually (it's what he does, after all).

-

The only solid relationship to have formed in my head as of yet is her romance, and bc I'm as original as a pair of earbuds from AliExpress, she eventually starts a thing with Astarion.

He initially sees her as an easy target, a shy and possibly meek person quite literally removed from the others at camp (a deliberate choice on her part), but it doesn't go quite as he had planned.

I've written a whole post about it that's hanging out in my drafts, but tl;dr: he tries to bite her, but she wakes and angrily sends him away. She later comes to him one night, panicked after the Murder At Camp™, and he (begrudgingly) agrees to help her with the body. This begins this weird partnership where they keep each other's secret, and she lets him drink from her as thanks for helping her.

Their relationship is a bit rocky at first, like they don't hate each other or anything, but there's a fair share of bickering and such. She can be a bit blunt, and is too impatient and exhausted from the urge to deal with his very obvious mind games, tiredly telling him "stop trying to seduce me, you already have what you came for".

When he offers to sleep with her at the party, she thinks "why not". They're already putting each other at risk, so might as well have some fun with it. He might have tried to bed her sooner if she hadn't been so blunt and unapproachable, but it did also give him some time to rethink his strategy. Based on finds with the freecam during his party sex scene, he has set up a lil spot on a blanket, with wine and maybe some food, in an attempt to seem more genuine, which admittedly she does find a little cute.

Ultimately it's all the bits in between, the quiet moments after feeding or sex that gives them an excuse to talk, and they realize they enjoy each other's company a lot more than they first thought. She vibes with him a lot more when he's being genuine, something she sees more of when he's fed and generally less guarded.

She've kept her distance from the others bc of the urge, in fear of either harming someone, or being discovered through the tadpoles somehow. It puts her on edge constantly, but Astarion already knows, and she knows he doesn't judge her for it, so she's more at ease too.

Aurora can become ride or die pretty fast, especially in combination with other intense personality traits (hello devotion), and I think maybe Astarion picks up on that and thinks he can use that to his advantage. At least until he too accidentally catches feelings and becomes pretty ride or die himself lmao. Great job idiot.

Which is also when her more self sacrificing nature goes from something that could be to his advantage, to something that actively upsets him. Stop it! Stop sacrificing yourself for others who probably don't even deserve it! Stop putting yourself in situations that could take you away from me for no good reason.

They're note super lovey-dovey either. Like sure there's romance and tenderness there, but there's also some clash of personalities ("stop being an asshole" "stop trying to be such a bloody hero"). Nothing too bad but there's definitively something for them to work on.

This became the Aurora and Astarion post, sorry about that (not really). I hope to have some better answers to these in the future, my brain is still cooking (unfortunately it's a slowcooker).

[yunoteru4ever]

Having finished Dusk Maiden I’m really doubling down on the hanako-kun parallels I’m really curious when you get around to watching whether the main trio will remind you as much of Teiichi, Yuuko and Kirie only genderbent as they did to me.

I just tore through Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun's first season this week and am starting in on the After-school Hanako-kun shorts now. And I can definitely see what you mean about the three main leads sharing similar types!

But first, Full Disclosure: I actually thought Hanako-kun was going to be about KIDS. Like... pre-teen kids. The classic "Hanako-san" story is usually portrayed as involving a girl between 10-13 years old, and the characters in Hanako-kun just look so much like children at first glance, y'know? So I was definitely surprised to watch the show and learn they're in high school! Turns out it's just a cutesy design choice. :P

Nene here is 15 years old. But if you told me you thought she was 8? I'd believe you.

ANYWAY. I want to take a moment to talk about where I see the similarities and differences.

Similarities:

To start with: Both stories focus on a group of teeenage characters investigating and/or combatting ghostly school mysteries that're usually framed as the "Seven Wonders of the School." (Every Japanese school has to have its Seven Wonders, y'know. :P I've lost track of how many times the "Seven Wonders of the School" trope has appeared in manga/anime/visual novels/etc that I've consumed... ) There's also the fact that, tonally, both stories also bounce between comedic group interactions and the creepy horror aspects of what the characters are facing.

But you were particularly honing in on the character similarities! And I agree that that's the area that makes them most reminiscient of each other. It's worth noting that Dusk Maiden of Amnesia has a quartet of primary players, whereas Hanako-kun only has three. However, if we exclude DMoA's Momoe (who I'd argue is the least important of the Dusk Maiden quartet), then both stories contain the following three chararacter "types" among their main characters:

Dim-Bulb "Every(wo)man" Lead Protagonist (many in-universe members of the opposite sex will crush on this character over the course of the series... for whatever reason)

Mischievious Ghost with a Secret Past (a.k.a. the actual reason we're watching/reading this thing, CLEARLY)

Exorcist from a Spiritual Family Line (they show recurring skepticism about the ghost's seemingly benign nature, repeatedly threatening to exorcise him/her even as they gradually come to befriend him/her)

It's that last one that's particularly interesting to me. If you're going to do a story about a ghost lurking in a school and his/her connection to a living student attending that schoool, it's easy to imagine those first two types/tropes coming to mind quite quickly and naturally. The third one is a little more of a stretch, though. It's not impossible for it to be a case of "independent invention," but... it does make me wonder if the authorial team called "AidaIro" was directly influenced by the work of team "Maybe" on DMoA.

Differences:

Ultimately, though, I think both stories are different enough from one another to make them stand uniquely in my mind.

— The most obvious distinction is that Dusk Maiden is very much focused on the love story between a ghost and a human — I'd argue that's one of its primary appeals! Meanwhile, Hanako-kun is sometimes billed a "romantic comedy," but I don't know where the romance is supposed to be. :P Honestly, the first episode of the anime made me think (with horror), "Oh god, they're now CURSED to fall in love! Free will is dead!" but uh... I do know that by the first 75 chapters of the manga, they still haven't shown any signs of being into each other? So 1) If anything is happening between Nene and Hanako, it is a SLOW-ass burn and 2) If they ever DO get together, I hope they manage to sever this whole forced-bond thing first so it can feel more legit :P

— That's another thing: Dusk Maiden is a complete story right now in both its versions/formats! Meanwhile, Hanako-kun is still DEEPLY ongoing. The manga has no end in sight, and although the anime JUST got a second season announcement, it didn't even come with a vague release window.

— Out of the three shared "character types" I mentioned above, the "Dim-Bulb Protagonist" is probably the most distinct character between the two stories. DMoA's Teiichi is more of an innocent — the open-minded and pure-hearted type who just wears his heart on his sleeve. He's pretty chill but kind of unmemorable, yet somehow attracts his own mini-harem? Luckily, he's 100% committed to his ghost waifu. TBHK's Nene Yashiro is, by contrast, a borderline genki girl who is super boy-crazy and regularly on the verge of a mental spiral. (Actually, I think Nene acts more like Momoe than she does Teiichi... ?) But when our story starts, Nene is already bolder/braver and more ready to take action than either Teiichi OR Momoe are for the majority of DMoA. She... ALSO attracts her own mini-harem, but she's too self-conscious about her legs to even notice.

— Also: Whereas Dusk Maiden goes MUCH darker with its horror aspects than Hanako-kun ever would, Hanako-kun also features far more of your typical shōnen action elements than you'll ever find in Dusk Maiden.

.............you get the idea.

I do enjoy Hanako-kun! I especially grew to appreciate its cuter character designs; they make it imposible for us to wind up with those borderline-ecchi moments that DMoA sometimes has, and I consider that a good thing. :P However, I ultimately still prefer DMoA because of that central relationship... naturally.

[acourtofthought]

I still don't understand how people think Azriel is in love with Elain when we literally had his pov and it was... certainly not love.

Sexual attraction ≠ love

The sexual attraction is not even the problem, it's the fact that after 2.5 years he can't think of her as a person, couldn't think past sexual fantasies. How is that love?

I have seen them spread false Information like "He thinks about her smile and eyes at night". What bonus chapter have you read? We're clearly not reading the same one. What I've read is that Azriel played with his big schling schlong while looking at the headache powder Elain gave him at night. What I've read is that despite him not considering Gwyn as a friend, he pictured how her eyes would light up at the necklace and how that brought a smile to his face. How he decided to keep the image of her deep down where it glowed quitly and then called it a secre, lovely beauty. I clearly remember reading this "He hadn't gotten that far, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to". And please, don't try to convience yourself that "How do my brothers got 2 of these sisters and someone else got the third one?!?" Is not entiltement. What secret chapter are they reading? Help a girl out and send her that chapter.

It doesn't matter that he was always so kind and gently with her when we finally got his pov after years and this is all he thought of her. Love my ass.

I guess the fandom is going to remain divided on this one but it really is baffling to me that anyone could honestly claim either Elain or Az or are in love with one another.

I completely understand how the fact that he stares at the headache powder on his bedside table and has done so for the past year could be misleading. 100% that sounds like something, right? But the problem is, you can't just look at that and call it a day. Because regardless of every "cute" interaction between them, they're still awkward as hell around one another, they have barely spent any time together as of late, and in his own words, Elain doesn't know him, he hasn't thought of a future with her beyond sexual fantasies, he's not ready to address his past with Mor, AND he didn't give Rhys any reason for wanting to kiss Elain outside of "you and Cass are with her sisters so why wasn't Elain made my Mate?". Whatever someone thinks they know about those "cute" moments is spelled out for us all when we finally get inside his head. And that is not a place where love is confirmed. It really does get tiring when they try to look back over the rest of the series to pull every "adorable" moment between E/riel as if that's somehow proof of anything considering a year later and he confirms for us that he's NEVER THOUGHT OF A FUTURE WITH HER. When you're in love with someone you think of how you might be together, where you might live, whether you might want a family (adopted or biological), etc. Again, it is baffling that fans are still trying to cry "LOVE" when he straight up tells us he's gone no further in his thoughts of her than the secret ones he only thinks of in the night that involve his other "Bat Boy" (haha, schling schlong 😂). So there's a very different and complex reason that gift is on his nightstand that doesn't equal love.

As far as he and Gwyn. Of course he wouldn't call her a friend. They haven't spent any one on one time together (aside from those moments in the training ring). Friendships take time to build. Is it supposed to be some sort of insult that they're still in the getting to know you phase?

The important part is where his thoughts of Elain are a combination of lust and loathing, his thoughts of Gwyn are pretty beautiful. Admiring her "charming irreverence", her focus and skill with the sword, the fact that he feels calm after spending time with her, the thought of making her happy which makes him feel better.

Honestly, which sounds more like the path to real love? Lust and loathing or contentment, joy, and admiration?

[esosazuwawrites]

November 14, 2022 | NaNoWriMo 2022 | Day 1-13

WORD COUNT: 29776/50000 (59%)

Comments

So I haven't updated for the first half of Nano because I hadn't posted my intro yet so I felt weird.

Nano is going extremely well for me because I am way above my word count and I'm writing so much! I haven't written this consistently or enjoyably since last year, so I feel really euphoric about the whole thing.

I've written so much because I've planned for 64+ chapters, so I have a feeling that if I hit 50k words early, I probably won't have my story finished. I'll use the rest of November to finish it and go way about my word count.

My favourite characters are quickly becoming Grace and Janelle because I love an eccentric WLW couple.

Anyway, the chapters are pretty short, so I'm burning through them very quickly.

I hope I don't have any assignments or big projects at school because I don't want to stop writing. But I need to set boundaries.

I watched X-Factor, American Idol, and The Voice very frequently under the guise of research. Honestly, I love those shows so I just wanted an excuse to watch them!

Excerpt

I wobble up in my newfound heels and head over to the frontmost part of the backstage area. Halle is already on stage gleefully opening the show and introducing the beloved guest Andre. Everyone seems so excited. I hope I don’t disappoint them.

She begins to introduce the first act, and soon the theatre goes dark, as the person’s intro video plays on the screen. I remember his name as Malik, and he was one of those acts who had a guitar. He walks onto the stage and sits onto a barstool set up for him. As soon as his video ends, he’s playing a song I’ve never heard before, so it must be an original.

I still wish I got to play “Across The Universe”. It was such a beautiful song and I longed to hear what I could make it. It would sound so beautiful. If only Lennox could see my vision.

I forced the thoughts out of my head, not wanting to jumble the melodies. After the person who followed Malik, it was me. I hoped that my family was seeing me perform so that they could see how much this meant to me. 

Not them.

Me.

Malik came back and Halle traded his place and announced a commercial break. I sighed in relief at the extended time. I congratulated Malik before he sat down. I hoped that he would make it. I hoped everyone would make it. But that was a far-fetched dream.

I saw them setting up the huge platforms where Penny and May were supposed to dance on, and felt my stomach churn. 

This was really happening. I was going to sing in my second-ever live performance. I sucked in a breath. I knew the lyrics. I knew how I was supposed to sing. I knew how I was supposed to move. It wouldn’t just fly from my brain.

The commercial break finally ended, and it was time for me to face my fate. I was escorted onto the stage in the middle of the boxes and soon the commercials ended. Halle spoke from some random platform near the judges table, and introduced me.

My intro video played, showing the interviews I did over the week, and an in-depth look at my rehearsal footage. I didn’t recognize half of this footage. All the parts where I was yelled at, were edited out and only the nice ones were shown. I tried not to let it bother me. I didn’t even know they were taking some of this footage. Nonetheless, it showed all my moments from the week.

My intro clip moved into the screen and then faded to black. The metronome queued up in my in-ears. 

Oh gosh, this was really happening.

I thought that adrenaline was my favourite feeling. I felt it every time I got the right answer on a test, before it was even graded. Feeling all my notes I’d studied jumble out of my head and on my page perfectly. 

Maybe this is a test. I’ve prepared for it nonstop, but yet I feel like I haven’t studied at all.

“Track: Call Out My Name,” my in-ears told me to the beat of the metronome. “Artist in position. Intro, 2…3…4.”

WIP INTRO

ADD ME ON THE NANO WEBSITE!

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[softboi97]

Gods I really am pathetic. I stopped working, stopped being responsible for myself almost 3 years ago, and moved back with my parents in an attempt to give myself time to work on my mental health. Things have not improved at all. In fact, I think my mental state is worse than it has ever been before. I'm essentially at a point where I am completely unable to work, go to school, provide for myself in any way, or make meaningful connections. I live my life in black and white. A couple months ago, I was reminded what color felt like, just for it to be snatched away faster than it appeared. I'm left with nothing.

My family says they care, but in my attempts to please them and keep their worries at rest, I've grown to resent them more than I love them. Any true close friends I had have long since drifted away from me, and now I'm stuck with the only people willing to put up with me for longer than 5 minutes at a time. They're nice and all, but nobody gets me. Nobody actually wants me. Nobody appreciates me.

I have no aspirations. I've dreamt of love, but I honestly doubt I'll ever find it. I'm not stable enough to maintain a healthy relationship. To prepare myself for a real connection like that, I'd need to improve myself, but I have no idea how to get better. How am I supposed to deny my nature? How am I supposed to be happy in a world that tries its best to snuff out any spark of joy that arises?

I don't WANT anything. I try to keep myself hopeful and keep my sights on the future. I try to look forward to things. I just don't feel excitement anymore. The closest I get to excited is a mild desire to play a new video game. But with no way to make an income, I'm unable to get my hands on them. So I just sit in my room alone with more broken dreams piling up every day.

So what keeps me from ending it all? I have a cat. Yes, a cat. He is my baby. He is all I truly cherish anymore. The thought of him being confused and sad upon finding my corpse, or when I never come back home, breaks my heart more than the rest of this painful world does. So I stay. I endure it all for him. A small orange thread connecting my soul to this realm. The last thing for me to hold on to.

And here I am, some random, needy Tumblr blog. I made it to explore my interest in gfd. I think maybe since I have absolutely no direction in life, I wanted a mommy domme to take care of me and help steer me in the right direction. But who would want to take care of a hopeless basket case like me? Nobody is going to love me. Nobody is going to care.

Even you, reading this far into a random post that intrigued you for whatever reason. You don't actually care. You might pity me for feeling down on myself. You might wish that you could show me a spark of happiness to give me some hope. But you don't really care. You don't know me. You can scroll right past this, and your life won't change one bit.

How do I know? Because I've posted plenty, I've reblogged plenty, I've interacted with plenty of people. My pinned post practically begs people to reach out to me, and yet here I am with empty DMs. I guess you could call this a cry for help. One more desperate attempt to see if anyone could possibly care.

What's going to happen to this post? Maybe a few of my followers and mutuals will see it. I doubt more than one of them will read the entire thing. Maybe some will relate to the sad beginning because they struggle with depression too. I might get a like or two, but this post will inevitably get swept under the rug, ignored and forgotten. Just another instance of nobody caring enough to even try to help.

I've been so starved of companionship for years now. I haven't had any form of romantic connection in literal years. My best friends all dispersed and have their own lives, and don't have time to stoop back down to my level to try and lift me up with them.

Everyone says it gets better. Everyone says so. So why has it only gotten worse for me? Why has nothing improved in the slightest? Why have I held on to hope for this long? Why won't somebody, anybody, reach out to me and love me?

I believe I was made for a different world. A fantasy world, a sci-fi world, a post apocalyptic world, someplace where my heart's wings could spread out and find freedom. My soul dreams of soaring in the skies, discovering untold secrets, being a hero, being adored. In this reality, things like that are considered nothing but a child's immature dream. A falsehood of wonder that they will lose when they realize what an awful place this world really is.

Somebody prove to me that it isn't all for naught. Show me something that makes me believe that this world might actually have some worth to it. I'm begging you. I'm pleading with any gods listening. Whatever cosmic beings of the universe might grant a poor lost soul his one wish. Give me a sign at least. Show me I haven't been holding on and suffering for nothing. And if it's not going to get better, then please, for the love of everything pure, just end me already. I'm so tired. Tired of trying. Tired of being. Tired of existing. Please.

[wheresmulder]

I got an anon the other day asking me for my opinion on the depp/heard case and I just ignored the message bc I didn't feel like having that discussion but honestly I wanna talk about something personal regarding my past experience with abuse so you'll understand why I haven't responded to your question, and what biases I hold on the subject

Tw every kind of abuse tw drugs etc

Tldr; my opinion is biased, personal, complicated, and should not matter to anyone in the slightest

He was seriously mentally ill, diagnosed bipolar/depression or smthn I'm not sure,, but only bc he was able to manipulate the doctors (and bragged about it later) into diagnosing him with something that would get them to give him the drugs he wanted (xanax) so he could snort the entire bottle along with a months worth of vicodin in the span of a few days. For the periods of time he was drugged up he mostly slept. And once he was out of drugs he'd wake up pissed and take it out on us. That was his cycle. He would come into my room and torture me in whatever way he felt like at the time. Accuse me of stealing his money, keys, phone, drugs, food, anything just to have a reason to scream at me or make me take my clothes off so he could beat me with his leather belt/buckle. Or hit the bottoms of my feet with a hammer, so no one would see any bruises on me at school. He would starve us, keep us awake all night, and then make us run laps around the property until we collapsed. He called us fat stupid and lazy the whole time, among other more disgusting things.

My dad beat me severely from the age of 8 to 17 (when he died). He also abused me verbally, emotionally, psychologically and sexually. My therapist called what he did to me "torture". He did the same thing to my little sister and my mom to a lesser degree.

He was also the most manipulative person I've ever met but I saw through every lie he ever told. To his mom, to my mom, to his friends, to my friends and their parents, to strangers, doctors, cops, every person he ever met. He always got his way. Tricked ppl into thinking it was their way.

When I turned 14 I started fighting back. I had a mouth by then and I was tired of living in fear of him. I was also suicidal and I wanted to die protecting my mom and sister. So the beatings became all out brawls. He would hit me with anything he could grab and I would do the same. A desk chair. Computer monitor. He literally chased me with an axe once but I ran away from home, by that time I had a gf that lived in the neighborhood I could escape to her house when it got bad. When I came back the next day the axe was stuck in the tv and he was gone for the time being. He threw a machete at me (it was dull af but left a giant bruise on my leg). I broke a hotsauce bottle on his head. He almost choked me to death against a wall but my gf hit him in the back of the head with my skateboard. He let go of me and turned to her and I literally saw red and don't remember what happened. When I became aware again we where in the front yard and he wasn't unconscious but like dazed I guess. My gf said I went berserk I jumped on him beating him in the head and like dragged him to the door and threw him out down the stairs. He called his mom to come get him and I didn't see him for a few days which was normal. Those were all separate incidents and there were literally countless others I can't think of rn and don't care to.

He told us if we ever called dcf or the police he would burn our house down and he was not lying. He eventually died of a heart attack my senior year of high school.

To his mom and sister (my only other family bc he wouldn't let us see my mom's side) I was the problem child. I was disobedient and deserved whatever punishment I got and should be grateful it wasn't worse. My mom was the only one in our house that worked so she was never there. No one was there to see how everything really went down, that he instigated every interaction between us and I hid from him in my room 24/7 unless I was protecting my little sister.

So if you want my opinion on this trial you have to understand that I'm coming into this HEAVILY BIASED. Yes I have seen quite a bit of the trial bc my sister is super into it, she finds it cathartic. And shes been watching it on the TV in our living room so I've seen a lot but not nowhere near all of it.

From what I have seen it's incredibly obvious to me who the aggressor is. I say aggressor and not abuser bc idk how I feel about that word in this context.

I absolutely assaulted my father. Almost every day for 4 years. But it was in self defense or in defense of another. But you might say some of it was just retaliation? Where is the line? Does that make me an abuser? I dont believe so but I'm not a lawyer. If it's just a question for couples, if he and my mom went to court how could they prove that she never hit him unprovoked? If she admitted to hitting him would that be enough to charge HER with domestic violence?

Idk if I was an abuser but I can tell you that I most certainly was NOT the aggressor.

And when I look at amber heard I see my father reincarnated. If DARVO was a person. Everything down to her microexpressions. I haven't seen the whole trial because watching her testify or even just watching her reacting to other testimony drives me up a fucking wall. Her smirks. Her tone of voice. It's fucking UNCANNY. I agree with Dr curry's diagnoses of her. I have seen her commit perjury like 4 different times. It's been said in court that ah co-opted her sa story from another woman, what the literal fuck. The audio recordings. The lack of photos of her allegedly *broken noses* that she never went to the doctor for?????and covered up with makeup?????? He wears big ass fucking rings like brass knuckles and she's supposed to be covering this shit with make-up and there are no photos. Her face would have been a bloody. Fucking. pulp.

If johnny ever did hit her back I couldn't even blame him, bc that would make me a hypocrite. And I can't say that I 100% believe he never did, bc honestly when you live with someone like that it becomes an impossible situation. Even the most docile ppl have their breaking points. We're human beings. But I do believe amber would have taken believable photos of her injuries if she ever had any, but I haven't seen one that didn't look fake. And in complete contrast to ah, Jd seems docile and the type to run from confrontation. And i don't believe johnny depp is that good of an actor. Neither of them are. I'm not saying he should win his case against her bc its a weird burden of proof thing like it's a defamation case. But I think most everyone who's been following it believes his case over hers. And for me it has nothing to do with gender idgaf I know a lot of ppl on this app would call me a misogynist for not "Believing all women" but I can't help what conclusions I come to from the evidence in front of me.

My abuser was a man and he acted EXACTLY like amber heard has in court whenever he was confronted with his own actions. Johnny depp admits to the drugs, name calling etc freely and amber has admitted to NOTHING that would hurt her public image.

If either had stood up and said yes they hit me and sometimes I retaliated I would believe it. But the one who admits to nothing is probably fucking lying imo

All I see when I look at her is DARVO DARVO DARVO. He told her he wanted a divorce and she retaliated.

Could I be COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONG and have it totally backwards? I'm being manipulated by depps amazing legal team? Of course that's possible, idk these ppl and I admittedly haven't seen the whole trial. When the whole thing started I went into it believing amber 100% bc I will always side with the person coming forward first. And I literally didn't know shit about either of them as people before this, didn't even know they were married, last I heard amber was a lesbian, bc I don't rly follow celebrities like that. I've done a total 180 in a month.

Does my personal story make you see me as a violent monster? Or do you think I was brave for sticking up for myself? Is that only bc it was a child/parent relationship? Or bc I'm female and my abuser was male?

As an abuse victim who fought back I cant say that violence is never acceptable, I just can't. But instigating violence for the sake of violence is abhorrent and triggering to me.

Even though in my humble opinion amber was the physical aggressor, jd was the one retreating, and they were both verbally abusive, I know that I'm biased and I can't possibly know for certain what actually went down. But I see myself in jd and I see my dad in amber. My sister and mom both say the same thing.

If my opinion makes you uncomfortable you can unfollow me if it matters that much to you, I get it, but this is the first and last thing I'll ever post on the matter. Sorry if it's not super coherent. I'm not debating my own experiences and I'm not arguing about ah/jd with anyone so don't bother xoxo

[spookiekewchie]

Demon!Andy

So did Andy and little Angel go to the church Christmas service?

New Traditions

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Characters: demon!Andy Barber x woc!reader (little angel)

READ: LOSING MY RELIGION / CHRIST IS COMIN', AND SO AM I / CALL ME WHEN YOU NEED / A HOLIDAY READ / SALT BAE / CAN I GET IT

So this would take place after Salt Bae and before Can I Get It

Word count: ???

Warnings: General language warning, Soft dark!Andy Barber, mention of dysfunctional family, mentions of the reader being pregnant, some angst, some fluff, petnames (andy calls reader little angel), allusions to future smut

DO NOT repost or translate my work anywhere. If you like it don’t forget to reblog and share with others who might enjoy it as well.

You're up early on Christmas morning, purely out of habit and by the time you realize what you're doing you're standing in the closet fussing over what dress to wear.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Andy's voice startles you out of your thoughts, and when you go to answer him you groan.

"Nothing." You answer, not sure why you suddenly feel so sad all of a sudden. Well you know why, you just don't want to talk about it because you assume the conversation will lead no where. You brush past Andy, not saying anything as you worry your bottom lip between your teeth. For the moment he gives you your space, going into the bathroom too brush his teeth and grab a quick shower.

When he comes out he finds the bedroom empty, but he can hear you in the kitchen downstairs. You're dumping sugar into your tea with a little sniffle when he finds you, and this time he does press the issue. "Tell me what's wrong, little angel." He urges, sidling up behind you until his body heat is surrounding you as he presses his front against your back.

You try to shake him off but he holds firm to your hips, and you huff in frustration before letting your spoon clank loudly against the side of your cup of tea. "It's Christmas, and every year for as long as I remember I've woken up, gone to church, and spent time with my family." When you try to elbow your way free of Andy he lets you, but he follows closely behind you as you pad your way into the living room.

A living room that doesn't have a Christmas decoration in sight. For some reason that just makes you tear up, and you fully blame the twins you're carrying.

"I can't spend time with my family because Thanksgiving was a disaster, my parents haven't reached out because I'm sure to them I'm just a whore that's pregnant out of wedlock, and you—" You point an accusing finger in Andy's direction. "You didn't even decorate! Every year I decorated for Christmas but this year I couldn't and do you know why?"

Andy takes a breath and lets out a deep sigh to calm himself. "I'm sure you're going to tell me."

Your voice is wobbly when you speak next, eyes brimming with tears of frustration because honestly you don't even care all that much that your parents haven't tried to call or reach out. And you never expected a demon to give two shits about Christmas. That doesn't stop you from wanting to burst into tears at the loss of tradition and being torn away from everything familiar. "I couldn't decorate this year because I'm pregnant with your demon spawns and it's been hell!" The magazines on the coffee table burst into flames at your outburst, and again Andy sighs before putting out the flames with a wave of his hands. Your incidental channeling of his spawns have been happening more and more the further along the pregnancy gets.

He knows better than to tell you that being tormented in hell is actually worse than morning sickness. He's learned since the salt circle incident, and he's slowly getting accustomed to the mood swings and the outbursts that come with them.

"The least you could have done is ask me if I wanted to celebrate the holiday." You mumble with a sniffle, and finally the tears start to spill and Andy moves to stand in front of where you sit on the sofa.

"You're right, I should have asked." He says, employing the tactic that Agatha assured him would work to diffuse you during moments like this. It's not exactly in his character to admit fault, but it's better than you setting everything in sight ablaze...even if it does make his cock stir to see you wielding such dangerous power. He reaches up and with two fingers pressing under your chin he makes you lift your face to look up at him from where you sit.

"I'm not stepping foot inside a church, but I can call your aunts and see if they'd like to join us for dinner at your favorite restaurant. It can be the start of a new tradition for us." He says, and you chew on your bottom lip before nodding with a little smile starting to tug at the corners of your mouth.

"But what about the decorations?" You press, picking at the edge of your mug of tea. Your demonic lover stops himself from swearing out loud before he snaps his fingers and in the blink of an eye the living room looks like something out of a home décor magazine. You grin, your mood suddenly bright and cheery as you beam up at him. Andy just shakes his head, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips. "What am I going to do with you." He mutters against them, and you just shrug.

"You brought this all on yourself when you stole me out of my father's church. All you can do now is love and adore me."

He supposes there are worse ways to spend a holiday that he doesn't care about. Plucking the mug of tea from your hands, Andy grins and lets a hand run over the ever-growing swell of your belly. He plans on showing you plenty of love and adoration, starting right there on the sofa surrounded by all the ridiculous Christmas decorations.

[formulatrash]

Hi Hazel, I hope you’re doing well! I was wondering if you’ve read everything changes? I’m up to chapter 140 and one thing that’s surprised me is how adversarial the relationship between the media and the drivers is shown to be. Do you think that’s an accurate representation, from your perspective? Thanks! (Obviously it’s fiction etc etc but it was very interesting to me)

I haven't read it so just sort of took a flick through a few chapters that seemed to have the most about it in and unfortunately, yes, I would say that's accurate.

There are two different sides to it, of course: what's portrayed in Everything Changes is, to a large extent, the British tabloid press. It's well documented that the British press is, absolutely, scum; the phone-hacking scandal where the press manipulated the search for a dead child because they were hacking her voicemail, the smears against Liverpool fans that perverted the course of justice after the Hillsborough disaster, the invasion of privacy and harassment of Meghan Markle, through to outright bigotry and lies about trans people.

Although British papers do also do some incredible investigative work and not every British journalist is scum (I like to think I'm not) it's a mucky industry and the parts that specifically report on people's personal lives most of all. The British press prints stuff so disgusting that it sued Stop Funding Hate for simply telling advertisers where their products were appearing.

So yes, the relationship between that sort of coverage and its subjects will always be hostile, unless they choose to lean into it, as some celebs do and there was a weird PR era of mutual exploitation that launched a lot of what we'd now call influencers. Even then, the press would eventually turn the attention they'd courted on them, decide at some point that they were bored of having a darling if the subject didn't conform to their every (and increasing) demand. And then the gloves come off and the court cases start.

Then there's the motorsport press. Who can be invasive and tasteless, without question. From asking Lando if he fucks to probing Mick about his family, they by no means stick to sports and some of the British tabloid press is also the motorsport press. Case in point, racist-screed-for-hire fucko Jonathan McEvoy of the Daily Mail, who either has zero morals or some seriously twisted ones.

Is it true that every interaction between drivers and the press is hostile? No, absolutely not. I get on really well with a bunch of my lot and I've never had a bad situation with any of the F1 grid, probably because I don't ask incendiary, offensive stuff that's obviously demanding a reaction to print a hit piece. And neither do most other journalists - it's not normal to be that adversarial because what's the point, what are you going to gain? If it mattered, then for sure I would be - I'm not a coward and you shouldn't be a journalist if you are - but that would be, I don't know, if a driver said something racist* or wore a nazi symbol to an anti-racist protest** or something, not just to be a sick fuck.

And most journalists are actually totally decent about that. A lot of the drivers personally get on with and are even friends with journalists - we spend a lot of time with them and sometimes you're the person they've got who'll listen to them, during a tough weekend or when they're trying to make a decision.

I've had a few of mine blow up in my face and that's understandable; they're hopped up on adrenaline and tired and especially if they've just had a bad race, they're angry. I don't expect them to robotically deliver a PR line like they don't care - and neither do I think it's me they're actually having a go at, obviously, I'm just the thing in front of them at the time and mutually neither of us is enjoying that moment. I don't use the quotes from those, usually.

You can build really great relationships with drivers and teams and PRs. And honestly, that's how it should be because even when you have to challenge them, it should be with the confidence that you trust that relationship. But yes, there's a lot of needless and invasive aggression across journalism - it reflects the prejudices of the outer world but we are supposed to be better than that, not reinforce it.

*haha let's never revisit that fiasco 🙄 **or that one

[stormblessed95]

Totally off topic but i just need to geet this out of my chest. You know, I've witnessed so many ugly judgemental comments in this fandom, specifically towards Jimin, Jungkook and occasionally Tae and I'm saturated with it. Jimin is the intruder in the couple that allegedly is Taekook, and therefore, he's disrespecting his own soulmate by engaging with Jungkook. Jungkook is not considerate towards Jimin or Tae whenever he just talks or hugs one of the two. And I am over and done with these narratives. Not only is this just some pure bullshit, it also spreads such toxic ideals on how relationships actually are irl.

But THANK GOD things are alright between the maknae line. Thank god they don't listen to these voices that might make things awkward between them. Thank god they have this solid bond between them. You have no idea how angry I get when these supposed fans put their input where it's not needed. Respect the freaking boundaries, live and let live. I really was scared when i heard about the river of emails sent to bighit in regards to Jikook being literally themselves on stage at the final shows of the SY tour in Seoul. I thought that would make them more wary and awkward towards each other cause of the complaints. But oh boy, thank god I was dead wrong.

I don't know if you're familiar with the Larry situation in the One Direction world, but I spent my last teen years growing with them, and the genuine bonds between the members is one of the things i love most about bands. And i first-hand witnessed where the shipping went wrong. I loved the friendship Louis and Harry had between them, but the ship destroyed it, making it impossible for them to even interact normally in their own band cause every little thing was scrutinized. Louis' fiancé has been harassed by "fans" for years, his family keeps getting asked about Larry to this day, and all of this ugliness hasn't stopped no matter how many times Louis has addressed it directly, literally asking fans to stop doing that cause it was hurting his loved ones, besides himself of course.

And this reminded me of Tae's words on that weverse post. And the similarities are striking. Even the "evil management" hiding the relationship is the same cliché.

But thankfully, so far at least, Jikook's bond is still flourishing from what we've seen, and Taekook is rebuilding their friendship after last year's drift. I just hope people learn from the shit show that has been Larry and many other obsessive "ships". Respect, love and boundaries, how hard is it?

We have the same goal here, the members' wellbeing and harmony, can we try and learn how to be more considerate towards these human beings?

VMINKOOK SUPERIOR.

Honestly same. I'm so happy that they haven't let all the toxicity affect their friendships. I know about the 1D and Larry stuff, but was never involved in it at the time, only afterwards. I was a more casual and occasionally listener of their music rather than a giant fan. And I cannot express how happy it makes me that TaeKook have been trying to work through whatever made them start drifting and trying to rebuild their bond and get even closer. I can imagine that Jimin probably feels similarly. Or during Festa 2021 and he called Tae "Chingu" aka, friend. After YEARS of JK refusing to drop formalities with Tae and Tae wanting him to and to be even closer with him, JK finally did 🥺 it really does speak to how in less than a year, they truly did make efforts to meet each other halfway more and work on their friendships. Calling Tae friend is not something you do with older people, it's something for essentially same age friends only. So it really speaks to how much they worked for that friendship since ITS. I really think thay talk was good for them!

Anyway, I totally agree with your rant and I think we could all use some Vminkook cuteness to cheer us up. Their friendship is the cutest and I love that for them. I'm so glad they have each other!

I hope they stay best friends forever.

And I'll just link this, which was my response response the vminkook drama fest that occurred with some of the toxicity after how cute the maknae line were with each other during muster 2021. It was my own rant, similar to yours lol for anyone who hasn't seen it:

Feel free to rant anytime anon. I get it

[eusuntgratie]

1, 12, 16, 18, 20, 26, 39, 46, 59 (gimme all the recs), 63, 69 (SORRY THERE'S SO MANY OMG)

it is adorable that you continue to apologize for always sending me approx 42 asks per ask 😂 i expect nothing less haha

1. What made you start the show?

^THIS! I *think* the culprit is @zainclaw who i followed for sterek edits and fic and his buddie reblogs got me. But Buck & Chris is what did me in.

12. Favorite storyline?

I love everyone, okay, but really I'm here for the buckley-diaz family. LOVE LOVE LOVE karen and hen and their babes and can't enough of their story either.

16. Wishes for next season/half season?

okay the obvious answer is for buddie to go canon, but my honest answer is that i want eddie to deal with his trauma. and i want him and buck to have a fucking conversation. if that ends in them being together, i'll piss myself with excitement. if it doesn't, that's okay, that's why i have fandom.

18. Favorite rescue?

oh god i'm horrible i barely pay attention to the calls. the drivers test lesbians in 5a come to mind first. and the highway shark, obviously. chim and the pregnant girls too. GAH. i'm forgetting some. buck pulling the little girl out of the toy claw machine lives rent free in my brain. the rodeo bar tailpipe incident in stuck. best rescue of the whole show though goes to hen saving athena from a sticky situation in s1 - i hope she got that selfie! 😏😂

20. Moment that made you cry the most?

JESUS WHY. ummm... maddie's video. all of maddie in 5a honestly. THE FUCKING WELL. just all of it. i wept. buck losing chris, and telling eddie. NIA. i cried about the shooting obviously but I was so in shock that not as much as some of the others. every fucking begins episode. not hen's as much, but kevin, bobby's family, buck's family and the warehouse, the well + eddie's backstory. GOD. this show loves to make me ugly cry.

26. hottest moment

every time buck's in a harness, every time eddie's on screen, every time anyone is working out, etc. etc. oof that one call where eddie and buck rappel down together. eddie's green henley. and that flannel shirt. eddie in jeans. anytime i can see eddie's ass. eddie in general. BUCK WITH CURLY HAIR. anytime buck is near death and has sweat through his hair gel (he's never looked better than that tsunami arc and after eddie gets shot i'm sorry these are just facts). maddie in that green dress. abby in the black dress. SUSPENDERS. i'll stop now.

39. Your favorite headcannon?

demi!eddie

46. How do you think Chimney got his nickname?

i have no idea but he's clearly embarrassed about it so i'm hoping he got stuck in a chimney or something equally ridiculous.

59. favorite fic

OH GEEZ. if i have to pick one Leading with the Left by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels.

63. Moment that makes you go i n s a n e?

buck inexplicably bringing eddie to pick up chris in early s2. "his buck". the grocery store fight. there's no one i trust with my son more than you (eddie's hand placement makes me lose my whole mind). can i spend christmas with you? chris running away to buck's. the entirety of the eddie begins episode. all of the shooting, all of it, all of the aftermath, everything. THE FUCKING WILL. all of eddie and buck's interactions in 5x06. buck's interactions with taylor in 5a. buck telling eddie to break up with ana, and eddie doing it. basically everything about this show makes me insane, haven't you noticed?

69. What kind of episode would you kill to have happen?

i would love a domestic episode? like no emergencies (lbh i barely care about them anyway) just everybody at home having sweet domestic ordinary moments, the 118 chillin' at the firehouse, maybe a party with all of them where we get more than 4 minutes. gimme all those sweet sweet found family feels.

wee woo show asks | ask grace

[butteraway]

when time runs out | iv

⋆ summary:  A young girl has fallen deeply ill with an unknown disease in her, so with all her free time spent in an empty hospital room, she spends it online playing video games. That's until she meets her cousins friends, one spiking her interest with his extremely vulgare language.

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

word count: 2.5k

warnings: none

authors note: I wanna say im so sorry for lying to yall about that extra chapter KJDFFF😭😭 ALSO @chibiiichann I APOLOGIZE FOR SPAMMING YOU WHENEVER I REPLIED TO YOU💀 A DIFFERENT ACC WOULD POP UP BUT THE FIRST CHAPTER WAS AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER EXPLAINING THE OC'S CONDITION JFJDJD

"HAHA! I GOTCHU NOW LOSER!" Y/N smashed the buttons on her controller, basically on the edge of her bed. A grunt was heard through her headphones, then a loud bang with laughing in the background. Y/N felt her stomach turn at the sound of this, feeling a little left out, but smiled nonetheless.

"HOW'D YOU EVEN DO THAT?!! YOU’RE DOING SOME HACKING MY GUY!" Denki yelled through the laughing in the background, hands pulling at his hair. He seriously couldn't believe it!

"I'm not! I just wanted to show Sero I'm way better at this game than you are. And turns out I am!" Y/N let out a loud laugh, falling backwards onto her pillow. After finding out that 'Tape Dispenser' went to her cousin’s school by hearing his voice in the back of Denki's room, she got to learn more about this Sero dude. She already knew this after their last game a few nights ago, but he was so chill. It was still insane for her to find out that her cousin and online friend went to the same hero school. The coincidences in this world. Y/N thought as she grinned.

"It's okay Kaminari, you still lasted a long time! But you did get brutally beat by Y/N at the end though..." Sero said, trying to raise Denki's low spirits, but only succeeded in making him more miserable. Rustling was heard through Y/N's headphones, making it obvious that there was movement happening.

"You don't understand Sero! THIS IS THE ONLY GAME I COULD FULLY BEAT THIS GIRL IN!" Denki shook Sero by the shoulders, quickly doing the action. Cackling was heard through the speakers while the girl wiped a tear from her eye. Sero laughed along, as he was pushed to the ground by Denki. His arms were crossed as he looked away, upset that Y/N managed to finally beat him in every game they played.

"It's okay Denki, not everyone can be as good as me!" Y/N exclaimed, getting up from her bed to start taping specific parts of her room. Kaminari continued to complain about his defeat to Sero, who only chuckled in response. As she finished taping the bottom of the walls, Y/N sat back on her bed, sighing in content.

"So, how are you? I'm doing terribly after being utterly destroyed by you, by the way." Said Kaminari, opening his water bottle and taking large gulps from it. Y/N felt her face light up as she remembered to tell Kaminari of her future activity.

"Bro, you won't believe this! So, basically, they're actually letting me paint my room! All by myself! How fricking cool is that?!" The girl laughed out loud, jumping on her bed in excitement. Kaminari's eyes widen, in surprise and slight fear, sitting up and taking in the new information.

"Wait, really? But isn't that like extremely dangerous? Cuz of the chemicals and what not??" He tried his best to keep his voice leveled, not noticing Sero look at him weirdly. That guy had no idea what was happening.

"Well, they said that they were gonna do something to the paint so it won't hurt me or anything, I don't know what, but-" Y/N was cut off by an extremely confused Sero. "Wait wait wait, hold on. I don't understand what's happening. How can paint harm you? Besides like...eating it. And what do you mean by 'finally getting to paint your room?’ Silence was the only answer he got. Sero gulped in embarrassment, thinking he asked a really personal question.

"Um, it's nothing du-" A loud 'shhhhhhh' was heard from Y/N, who let out a shaky breath. She never really told anyone, it's not like she could either way, being confined in the hospital room for a long time. She pushed a loose strand of her away from her face, preparing herself to tell Sero.

"Well, the reason is because I basically live in a hospital. I can't go outside, or have 'unpurified' air, as the doctors like to say, meaning my interactions with people and the outside world are extremely limited. That means anything that's not cleared of dust and germs, I guess, can be extremely harmful for me? As pathetic as it sounds, it could actually kill me, haha." It was quiet as Sero took in the information, a large wave of emotions crashing on him. A person shouldn't have to be locked in a room for the rest of their life. Especially someone who is such a sweet person like Y/N.

"I-I'm so sorry to hear that Y/N. If you don't mind me asking, how...how long have you been in the hospital?" The young girl answered with a quick 'Two years', and that's when Sero felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. Kaminari abruptly got up and headed towards his door.

"I'm gonna get something to eat, you want something dude?" Kaminari's voice was low and trembling. It didn't take a genius to see that the blonde haired boy needed some time alone. "No thanks." Kaminari let out a hum, quickly exiting his room and closing the door shut. Sero heard the loud sniffs that slowly faded away, as he hung his head down.

"Hey, you good Sero? That was probably a lot to take in, sorry." Sero shook his head, letting a sad smile adorn his face. "It's fine, really. I actually feel honored that you're comfortable telling me. Feels like we're getting closer, to be honest." He smiled happily, meaning every word he said. And Y/N knew that. "Ha, we are though!" The air was tense, despite the two teenagers being in different rooms.

Y/N went to clear her throat, but was interrupted when a light knock echoed throughout her room. "Someone there?" Sero asked, noticing her silence and hearing the very faint knocking.

"Yeah, um Sero, I'll call you guys later, my doctor wants to talk." Y/N quickly replied, seeing Receen open the door and walk in with his thin suit on. Sero let out an ok and they hang up. Y/N finally took in how the doctor looked, noticeable eye bags under his blue-grey eyes, from lack of sleep. His dark hair slightly tousled, probably from putting on the protective helmet that came with the suit, and a small smile on his welcoming face. And a large container of paint in his left hand. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"What’s up doc? I see you have something in your hand, can I see it closer?" The small girl asked, getting up and making a grabbing motion with her hands. Receen chuckled, lifting up the paint for Y/N to see. Even if he were to hand her the container, she wouldn't be able to hold. She was just too weak. Said girl let out a high pitch 'OOOO ' in excitement.

"I'm not sure if you wanted more, but we managed to get you your favorite color! This should be enough to paint the room, you can even put a second layer if you want." Receen walked over to where Y/N put all the equipment, opening the container of paint. And with a low grunt from him, the lid was opened. Y/N watched with amazement as the doctor poured the soft looking paint into a tray. She picked up a roller near her, and drowned the roller in paint, the white fluff getting covered in color.

The two began painting, Y/N's hand shaking every now and then. After painting half the room, they sat in silence, resting for a while. Receen seemed to be tense, though Y/N didn't seem to notice since she was too happy to speak. Receen let out a breath, breaking the silence, causing Y/N to look towards him.

"I didn't get to ask you how you were, did I Y/N? How are you?" Said girl let a beaming smile spread on her face, causing Receen to slightly squint his eyes from the intensity of her smile. "Honestly, I haven't felt this happy in a very long time! I actually still can't believe you guys really let me do this! Thank you so much!"

Receen gave her a small smile while rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not a problem, you could’ve asked sooner and gotten this done a long time ago. You've been here for two years, so please don't be afraid of asking for things!" At the mention of her time spent in the hospital, Y/N lowered her head, causing Receen to wince. Well, might as well tell her. The doctor cleared his throat and began to talk.

"Y/N, as you are aware, I, along with many other doctors and scientists, have been working hard for you to be able to go outside again. To see your family, hug them, be a normal kid again." There was a pause and that alone caught Y/N's attention. She looked up at him. "There is a way for you to finally do that, Y/N."

Shock evident on the girl's face, she abruptly stood up and faced the doctor. There was absolutely no way anyone could have found a cure for someone like her. Someone who had an incurable sickness. Someone who was too sick, to even have medicine. He's lying. Y/N narrowed her eyes at the grown man sitting in front of her.

"With all due respect Doctor, I highly doubt that ​​that's possible. Cuz, y'know? I basically have an incurable disease? I mean, like, even if you did manage to find a way for me to leave this place, how do you even know it's gonna work? I don't think you've tried this medicine since no one in recorded hospital documents in the past have had people like that checked in before-"

"How do you even know that?"

"-so how do you truly know it'll work?" Y/N quickly finished, completely ignoring his statement. Receen sighed, scratching his head. "We live in a world where quirks exist. Would you believe me if I told you centuries ago that the human race would evolve to have super powers? It's kind of like that, but not really." Y/N eyed him suspiciously. He's avoiding the question.

Receen looked straight at the girl standing in front of him. He felt slightly intimidated by her piercing gaze. He quickly looked away and got up, towering over Y/N's small frame. Then he smiled. "Y/N, you are a very sweet girl, no doubt about it. I know how much you want to get out of here, and I want to help you. My team has created this almost perfect pill, especially suited for your sickness. I know you're very cautious, just like your mother, but I can only reassure you, that these are your ticket out of here." He pulled out the bottle from his protective suit, shaking it in front of [Y/N].

Her eyes widened as she restrained herself from reaching out and snatching the bottle. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she pulled herself together. Crossing her arms and slightly tilting her upwards, she looked into the doctor's bright eyes. "There's always a catch when it comes to these kinds of things. What's the price if I take these? My lifespan shortens, I only have five hours to go outside, it drugs me or something?"

"I'm hurt you think I would just give you these without setting out the consequences." There was a slight glint in his eyes before it quickly disappeared. Y/N hummed, urging the doctor to continue.

"There are exactly 15 pills in here. And consuming just one of these bad boys right here, would allow you to go outside! Though, time is very important when taking these. You'd have 10 hours before the pills effects wear off. These would dull your hypersensitive senses, but not to a point where you can't feel, smell or do anything. No no, it'd just be like how you were before. You'd feel slightly dizzy and be a little itchy, but besides that, nothing too extreme. It just dulls all your body senses down." Receen gave Y/N a small smile. She looked a little weary, unsure if what he said was true. She looked at the bottle then back to Doctor Receen, fingers twitching every now and then. Breathing in and letting it out slowly, Y/N stared straight into the doctor's eyes.

If I take these, I can finally go out. I can hug mom and dad, I can be around Denki again. I can meet Sero face to face and feel the grass again! I can be... happy again. But if these don't actually work, I'd immediately die on the spot. I'd be able to go outside though. Aah, so much going outside, I can meet new people! I don't wanna spend the rest of my days slowly rotting away in here anyway.

"So Y/N, are you going to take them or let all our time go to waste?"

Sero looked at his hands solemnly, thinking about what Y/N had told him. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, then lightly slapped his cheeks to stop the wave of emotions from spilling out.

"Yo, you good dude? It's not everyday I see someone willingly slapping themselves." Kaminari chuckled, walking in and closing the door with his foot as he carried a soda bottle and a bag of chips towards the boy sitting on his bed. Sero grinned, feeling the sadness of everything wash away.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. But what about you though? After we had that conversation, you were, well, umm... kind of out of it." Kaminari froze, letting a dejected smile appear on his face. Dragging a hand down his face, he let out a sorrowful laugh.

"She's my best friend. My first real, true friend. She's basically my sister at this point. So when she collapsed that day, I felt my whole world crashing down. She is the sweetest, the most kindest, person I have ever met. She never let me degrade myself, alway cheered me up when people called me stupid." Kaminari rubbed his eyes, opening the bag of chips and plopping one of them into his mouth.

"It hasn't been the same ever since she left, her parents barely come over anymore, and they're always so sad whenever I see them. My own parents aren't the same either, they treated her like their own daughter. I can't even begin to imagine how Y/N feels about this all. She was the top in our grade, highest scores in our test. No one could compare to her. M-my heart breaks for her. She lost everything." Sero let that information sink in, thinking about how she was before. He smiled as he saw Kaminari's shoulders begin to shake. He cares so much for her.

He put his hand on his shoulder, watching Kaminari slowly lift his face towards him. "Come here you emotional ball of feelings." Being the friendly guy he is, Sero gave the sobbing boy a hug, cuz hugs fix everything.

"No homo though bro." And with that, they both laughed out loud, continuing their bro day.

[fanfiction-funtime]

Spritefather and Selene Interaction

A fan drabble for @clouds-rambles, I hope I characterized Selene right

Without much prompting it's a tad hard to write like this, but I hope it works.

Also I hope you don't mind me mentioning Cael amnesia anon.

(Selene was hanging out with Cael when Venti makes trouble, bringing the night to a close)

(Selene pov)

Yet again, I had to drag Cael's boyfriend out of the bar. This time because he thought someone was insulting his father and punched them, but he was just talking about some mythological person called 'Spritefather'.

I haven't thought about that story in a long time, not since I was a kid. Something about him being able to "use all elements" or something and how he "taught Barbados about freedom", maybe I'll ask Lisa about it.

"Excuse me madam, my father needs to speak to that man you're carrying. Please, hand him to me." I heard a voice from behind me say, the accent was a thick Schneznayan one.

I turned around to meet the person, a woman in an outfit that wouldn't look out of place in a family portrait of old Schneznayan nobility, they also held a vision.

A cryo vision.

I three Venti into a hay pile and summoned my spear, "your a pretty bad liar, LA SIGNORA!"

"No wait! You've got it all w-" I jabbed at her with my spear, using conduct to increase it's power, "I said wait!-"

"I don't bargain with people who hurt my friends!" Hehe, that was a cool line, nice one Selene.

"W-WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT I WOULD HURT MY OWN BROTHER!" The woman gasped and pointed behind me.

I looked back and saw an abyss mage sneaking away with Venti.

"HEY! THAT'S MY BROTHER/BEST FRIEND'S BOYFRIEND!"

The mage noticed and bolted away. We chased it all the way to star conch cliff, where it threw Venti over the edge.

"Haha! Do your worst human! I have already completed my mission! Now without your precious archon, mondstadt will-!"

A tornado of water sprouted up from the sea, then froze in place. From the newly formed spiral of ice rose a cloaked man, and around him were 6 wisps of every element but cryo.

The mage turned around, and were it not for the dendro tendril crushing it's windpipe they would have screamed in horror.

"First you threaten to kill my son," the cloaked man stepped off the spire, the air polarizing itself with electro to form a step, "then you kidnap him while my daughter is trying to retrieve him," another step, this time the air simply pushes him up to form a step, "and now you have followed through on that threat. It tried to," the man took one last, powerful step, to which a geo platform met his feet and lifted him to the hanging abyss mage, "how truly foolish must you be."

He man then lit the tendril on fire, burning the mage like a furby in a campfire.

The man lowered himself down, Venti in his arms, and said, "I'm sorry Barbados, I should have gone to get you myself. Viktoria, what happened?"

Then he noticed me.

"EEEEP!" He shouted as he dropped Venti with a thud.

_____________________

(3rd person limited, Spritefather pov)

'Oh celestia, a person! No no, keep it together. You love interacting with humans in a controlled manner. This is just as controlled, just...a suprise.' Spritefather thought.

"By Barbados' hairy nostrils! You're the Spritefather!" The human Selene shouted.

Spritefather straightened himself out and cleared his throat, "y-yes, I am. But I am not 'the' Spritefather, I'm just Spritefather. Saying 'the Spritefather' is like calling you 'the Selene'. But now isn't the time for such trivial bickerings," Spritefather gave a gentlemanly bow, "thank you for attempting to rescue my eldest child, and for taking him home everytime he indulges a bit to much on vices."

Viktoria facepalmed, "dad! They aren't supposed to know that!"

"Well why not? They're friends with him, and best friends with his boyfriend. Which by the way I STILL need to meet-" he noticed Selene was seeming kind if pale, "you ok?"

*thud*

"Oh dear."

_____________________

(3rd person omniscient pov)

(There's no good point to explain this, but they're in a serenitea pot)

Selene woke up in a very confused state, and on a cloaked woman's lap.

"Please do not be alarmed, neither me nor my daughter did anything to you." The woman said.

Selene, in response, punched the woman and scrambled away, "who the abyss are you!?"

"Well I'm not particularly loved by celestia but I'd hardly say I'm abyssal.."

"Father, people here are not as accustomed to the divine as Liyue or Inazuma." The woman from before, who Selene thought was La Signora, said as she approached them with some tea.

"Wait, fa-no, no. Don't do that Selene, it's rude."

The cloaked woman shook her hands to dismiss Selene's concern, "it's fine, however I thank you for your accepting nature. Though it is to be excepted given your personal identity."

"How do you know me?"

"Heh, have you forgotten already? Though I suppose the change in form is not common among you humans. And nonexistent in the way me and the wisps can do."

The woman got up and started twirling, then surrounded themself in elemental power, and when it cleared stood the cloaked man Selene saw in her dream...

*wait*

"That wasn't a dream...holy shit that wasn't a dream! You're the Spritefather-I mean-you're Spritefather! Your real!"

"Indeed I am. I would think everyone in mondstadt believes I'm real, but atleast that leaves less for that misconception."

"What misconception?"

"Ask Barbados, shouldn't be too hard since you two are close."

"Barba-wait Venti is actually Barbados!?

"Oh dear I'm making this worse."

The still unnamed woman sighed and shook her head, "how about we focus on why my dad decided to be a woman? Surely that would be a far more easy thing to understand."

"It's because she likes women, and I don't blame her. World cold and hard, titty warm and soft."

"Dad who taught you that!?"

"You do realize I can hear the lives of all in my home yes?"

"I guess I'm at fault." Selene laughed.

"I will have my revenge upon you for this." The woman responded.

Spritefather chuckled, "oh? And how about you get your revenge over a date. Anastasia."

"F-FATHER!"

"What? She's single, friends to someone who can teach her proper tea ceremonies, and uh....they have....hmmm..." Spritefather was trying to think if what he could say to convince his daughter, "look I just want to see grand kids!"

"FATHER"

"K-KIDS!?"

"Look I'm pushing fifty million! If one of you doesn't get me kids in the next ten million years I'm going to grow grey hair!"

Anastasia starts forming an ice throwing knife, "REBEL'S-"

"Papa, what happen?" Came a childish voice.

Selene gasped, they were looking at probably the cutest thing EVER!

"Oh my ARCHONS! IS THAT A PYROSPRITE!?"

"Yes that's my child Flameo-"

Selene, already having picked up the the baby, "they're so CUTE!"

They hugged the little flame close to their face and nuzzled them, to which Flameo quickly responded to with their own.

"Smell like..." they thought for a moment, "big Bro Bardos!" They flew around Selene excitedly, "friend!"

Spritefather sighed, "Oh dear, now the rest will be coming out. And I just got them to sleep aswell."

It wasn't long before Selene was surrounded by six Sprites.

The Electrosprite landed on her vision and started vibrating happily.

The Geosprite asked, "are you strong!? I think I could be you!"

"Oh I'm sure you could." Selene said to appease the little Sprite as she chuckled chuckled.

The Anemosprite and Pyrosprite flew around her head like children.

The Hydrosprite was inspecting her clothes, "how utterly bourgeois, has my Brother and father been teaching you how to dress? Honestly, the people of mondstadt should learn from the reconnaissance captain of the knights. Now there's a woman who knows how to dress."

"Oh you mean Eula?"

"You know her?"

"Oh yeah, she's invites me to tea every now and then."

"SHE...invites....YOU...out for TEA!?-"

Anastasia puts her hand over the Hydrosprite and tries to hold her back

"Sorry about that," the woman replied, "kids and their crushes."

(Agua, muffled: I'M SIXTEENTH HUNDRED YEARS OLD!)

"Ha-haaa...."

Selene couldn't respond to that as they felt a prick in her spine, causing them to yelp.

A Dendrodsprite slinkied up her back and put it's head on her shoulder, "just sampling...never seen blood like yours...so intertwined with the...divine....yet so distan-"

Spritefather picked up his child, "please forgive Leafy, they're in their...adventurous stage. And their adventure is to learn things. Often things that involve pins and needles."

This was going to be a looong night

_____________________

The next day, Vanessa's tree

Selene yawns and falls on the statue, Venti doing the same. The difference between them is one is hungover and waiting for his boyfriend to take him home after the fifth assassination attempt this week, the other has to deal with the consequences of being loved by children and being there to try and stop the most recent assassination

"Holy shit....this hang over....I thought Decrabain's hailstorms were bad..."

"You shouldn't try watching after Leafy.....but I think half the pains are from Agua's jealousy bites......"

"You think that's bad?.....you should have seen them when they realized Cael and I....were dating....."

"...archons I hope I was never like that as a kid...."

"Oh cherry up you two!" Spritefather said, a bit too loud for the two, "it's a new day and-"

Venti hit his father with a clump of grass using anemo

"YOUNG MAN!-

"Ohheythere'sCaelgottagobye!" The archon said as he ran off.

Spritefather sighed, "he's always like that, running from responsibilities. But he always means up when it counts, so I can only say I'm proud of the man he's become," he thought for a moment, "except for when he turns into a woman for whatever reason, then I'm proud of the woman she's become...you know, after being around single form life for so long stuff like that feels so strange. I mean you humans are born with one form and cant naturally change it. But if you feel it's wrong you'll go through so much trouble just to get close to what us shape changers can get. While to humans it is inspiring purely because of the person's determination to take the form they so deserve, that they were truly meant to have. But for me it's so much more! The human spirit and will is oh so inspiring, but the amount humans go through! So much money, so much time, and in many places simply enduring life! Why even I couldn't get the...uh...transphobia is it?...out of Inazuma!Terribly sorry human language changes so much. Oh and on language! To think that I was there when the first cave man was trying to mimic the grunts of the gods, only to make something so much superior to them to the point that the gods copied THEM! And speaking of copies have you ever heard of the time Dainsleif-" he paused as he saw Selene's bored face, "sorry. One little thing and I start ranting and rave...no, it's info dumping. And I should thank you humans for making that term, and all the other wonder words you've made, and the medical advances. They've helped me understand myself....ah but look at me, rambling on again. You know what? For entertaining my kids the whole night, and listening to an old man's ramblings, I'll give you a boon. Anything you want, if I can get it you shall have it."

Selene thought for a moment. She thought about asking him to bring back her father, but they knew he couldn't raise the dead. She even thought...of her mother, to see her again, but they knew that it wouldn't help. A selfish part of her even wanted someway to reignite her's and Rosaria's relationship, after all that part of her life was, but she knew it would be wrong and that they both agree they just didn't work.

Perhaps just ask for mora? She did need some for a good night's rest, but that felt wasteful. What was one night's rest for what could be a lifetime of amazing power. But maybe it would be wrong to ask for something like power. Ah! She's got it!

"How about a spear? A really powerful one that compliments my powers perfectly! Oh! And make it look really cool!"

Spritefather blinked, then laughed, "well, that's rather simple isn't it? So amazing you humans. You expect them to make something big and/or selfish, like taking control of a country, or killing someone. Yet never once has one of my boons been used for anything bad. Even when they're selfish. Like one time I met a very selfish person who I granted a boon, and all he did with it was ask me to make sure the kids of Inazuma were never hungry. Ah, now that. That was ranting, sorry." Spritefather walked over to the statue's base and knocked three times, "hello Vanessa. It's been a while since I last called you, but I was hoping you could give me a hand? And perhaps a very sturdy branch off your tree?"

"Uhhh-"

A light shown down from the heavens and the ground shook, causing a skeletal hand to rise from the depths.

Selene would have screeched if she weren't so tired, "I'd prefer my weapon to be less...body part-sy."

"Nonsense! Everyone knows that bones make the best weapons! You know why it's called a prototype rancor?! BECAUSE NOONE WANTS TO ACCEPT THAT THE PERFECTED VERSION I, THE INVENTOR, MADE INCLUDES THE SHINBONES OF MITSCHURLS! YOU EVER SEEN A-*ahem*-sorry, rambling."

As he was ranting, a branch handed Spritefather a sturdy branch from the tree.

"Perfect, now a bit of magic and-" the two items blew up in Spritefather's face before reforming into a purple and black spear that ended in a feathery sleeve like pattern that was attached to a sharp blade that looked very much like a hand made into a spear blade. Mainly because it was.

A brilliant light shone down on the Spritefather as he floated up and presented the spear to Selene(mumbled: thanks Venessa)

"SELENE OF MONDSTADT!"

His voice became that of s god's, filled with power and compassion, booming across windrise.

"YOU HAVE SPOKEN YOUR WISH, AND BY MY HONOR AS THE ENTERNAL FATHER, I AM DUTY BOUND TO GRANT IT!"

He leans imup to Selene and whispered to her, "do you like the eternal father moniker? I thought it up myself."

"Oh yeah, 10/10, really keeping with the Inazuman background."

"Thanks."

"TAKE YOUR GRAND BLADE, AND GO FORTH TO CARVE THROWS DESTINY AND TILL YOUR OWN FUTURE!"

Selene took the spear, "uh...thanks?"

"Oh your very welcome. By the way how was that delivery? I've been working on the whole 'I am a powerful being' delivery for a few centuries."

"A bit hard to understand, but overall gets the vibe across. Maybe 8/10? Low seven probably."

"Yeah, I kind of expected that. Wonder how else I could get that effect, you know without the whole can't understand thing."

"Well, I've got teo other immortals to meet. Ones I need to question."

"Ah yes, I'm sure Cael and Barbados have much to answer for to you."

"Yes they do. I don't suppose 'see you around' would be appropriate here?"

"On a sense? It's appropriate. After all I'm your friend now aswell, and I prefer a life without isolation. So...see you round?"

"Sure, see you around."

_____________________

Admittedly didn't know how to end this. I like it but I'm a tad worried I made it to focused on my character and didn't give Selene enough attention.

Regardless I hope you enjoyed it cloud! I really tried to get Selene right. And sorry it took so long, sleep kept getting messed up, and then covid shot+forgetting to hydrate kicked my ass.

(Tagging: @storytravelled, @golden-wingseos, and @clouds-rambles)

[wildernessuntothemselves]

Yes yes I'm safe. Thank you for worrying for me. I actually hadn't thought about it for a while. This will be very long. Please forgive me.

I would love to tell you since I don't have many people to tell.

TW: stalking, mention of r*pe, eating disorder(?)

So about a year into uni (I was 19) this guy who i thought was actually pretty cool (well dressed even though everyone knew his financial situation is bad, knowledgeable, excited for life, was working on a project to help people in need) was introduced to me by my friend. He liked my her and he chose to email her about it. Which was weird, this happened only a few years ago. She is really sweet and isn't the kind to outright reject people so I helped her with what to reply with, and he thought she only rejected him because he was poor. Then all hell broke loose. He suddenly became disheveled. Looked like he didn't sleep. Dropped all of his projects to the point where they failed. The only thing that didn't change about him is his social interactions. He was uppity and would make sure to sit with us, and befriend people in our circle that he hadn't met.

Over the course of the next year she would continue to reject him with my aid, and he would keep trying. I would talk to him just to know what's going on with him because I was scared for my friend because of how prisistant he was being. I talked him into trying for therapy after he told me some things that happened in his childhood, I was even in contact with his therapist at some point because he was worried he was lying to her. I emailed her with what's actually happening. He even once told me that the situation makes him so mad that he fantasised about rape. I couldn't tell my friend, I probably should've but she had severe anxiety. I started walking her to and from classes, and I bought a pocket knife.

That's when he started being weird to me. We'd leave on the same bus since we lived in the same area, and he would text me things like "I'm behind you." I obviously knew he was sitting behind me, but I tried to ignore him.

I couldn't tell anyone because my friend didn't want to tell anyone about what was happening with her, and we had the same friend group.

I was dating at the time, and he hated my boyfriend and his best friend really badly because they sensed a weird vibe from him and wouldn't leave us alone with him. He wouldn't even refer to them by name. I could see the hatred in his eyes. He even expressed to me that he couldn't be himself around me because of them.

One day, I had to leave uni at sunset, uni was empty and I was waiting for the bus. He comes and sits with me and I was really scared, there really was no one except me and the housekeeping staff, and he was two years older older me so he should be done with all the courses that require him to stay late. I'm normally not easily scared, but that day something felt off. I told him I needed to go get food and that I'll go alone, and I went to a supermarket that's outside the other side of campus, separated by a large building and a lot of stairs. As soon as I leave campus I turn around and I spot that he's been following me. He is maybe 800 m away. He doesn't turn around. Doesn't pretent to be doing anything else. Just stands there. I quickly texted my ex and told him, asked if he was awake and if could call him. Luckily it took my ex 5 minutes to come to campus. He was still there when my ex arrived. He hadn't moved an inch. He kept staring at my ex as if he'd massacred his entire family. My ex walked me to the bus and I went home safely.

When he realised he couldn't get to me on campus because my guy friends wouldn't let him, he started trying to get me to meet him outside of uni, I don't know if he knew that I knew what he was doing. I kept refusing and telling him I'm not going to see him at all. He then sent me a text that goes like this:

"Going on a walk. You can join if you want. I can pick you up from your house. And we can go from there. Tell me if you're interested. I'm going at 5 pm."

My house? How does he know where my house is? No one from uni know where I live specifically. Sure they know the part of the city I live in, because I go by bus, but no one ever drove me there. Unless he had followed me home since we go by the same bus.

I became paranoid, and I was going through unrelated trouble with my ex so I didn't get to tell him. I couldn't tell my friend because she'll panic. I couldn't cut contact with him because I knew he wanted to hurt my friend, and he would usually overshare on text so I would know if he was planning anything. There was nothing I could do but wait. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I was malnutritioned to the point where I was passing out randomly and my hair started to fall out in clumps.

That seemed to give him the greenlight. He bought me a gift. He even sent me an indirect feet pic (all my friends know i get really uncomfortable seeing feet, he knew this, he sent it on purpose) and I put up with it all, I don't know if it was the right thing to do. I was scared that any action I take will make him hurt my friend.

His therapist told him to not talk to her, then to act normal around her, but when he tried she obviously wasn't able to treat him normally. He told her it was doctors orders. She just couldn't, understandably.

She blocked him everywhere and I thought it was over. Until one day he comes up to me in person, and he says

"You'll be so mad at me. I did something bad."

And he said it cheekily, as if I was supposed to find it cute.

My friend was in the lecture hall right behind me so I wasn't worried about her. I ignored him.

Two days later she sends me a screenshot from the website of uni platform. A death threat in the direct messages of the platform.

My friend chooses to tell our friends, and our friends suggest that now that he abused the university platform, we can go to them, and they'll deal with it from there. That was the first time my friend mentions it to her family.

The uni holds a trial of sorts, and deems him less responsible because he was pn bpd medication. They make him sign an oath that if he every speaks to her or gets physically close to her he will be expelled. This has worked. He left her alone and we haven't heard from him since. I saw him occasionally, and when I was volunteering on campus he'd stay away from my booth, even if the people he was walking with came to talk to me, so I assume he thought I was included too.

A day after the trial my boyfriend and I broke up, I wasn't sad about the breakup as much as I was sad about never being able to tell him the details, because my friend didn't want anyone to know, and now that he knew, I'll never be able to tell him what I personally went through. Sure, i had confided in him the general outline of what was happening, against my friend's will, but I couldn't tell him how paranoid I had been.

I changed address shortly after, only out of pure luck, had my financial situation been slightly worse I would still have to live there.

I have graduated.

This is the first time I tell anyone about the harassment I endured. No one knows about his rape fantasies, no one knows about the stalking. I hope no one who knows me personally finds it, but it felt good to let it off my chest.

This is horrific. You were such a good friend honestly, but your friend was selfish and put you in danger by not allowing you to tell the people around you anything about it. It’s not fair especially that it involved you too. You went through so much for her, to protect her, and she prevented you from having someone to support you. what if he had done something to you? 

i’m not trying to say that this is her fault. it’s clearly the guy who is the insane one here but it’s not debatable. he’s a shit human being. I’m just disappointed in your friend. 

he is definitely dangerous and needs to be on some kind of list. it makes me shudder that he’s out there somewhere

once again you were an amazing friend. she is so lucky to have you but please take care of yourself too

[schibi12]

Review/Reaction for "Let's Get Dangerous!"

Sorry for posting this a bit late i tried to post these a day before the new episode but this being an hour long episode and i got a really busy week it took its time to write but know its here so enjoy!

This post is gonna be long, longer than my usual posts, not only because it’s a 1 hour special but im gonna be fangirling real hard even though i haven’t watched OG Darkwing Duck so take this as a biased or unbiased review, but still this episode was amazing, everthing was so on point the story, characters, animation, music, action, comedy, etc., everything was great so Let’s Do This!! And LET’S GET DANGEROUS!!!!

Spoilers!! Read at your own Risk!!

Love that intro of Launchpad narrating their entrance to St. Canard, Dewey and LP accidentally revealing Darkwing's identity to Huey and Louie and Scrooge forgetting to turn off the laptop on his video call with Bradford and Darkwing failing to glide like Batman everything was great and then we get the titlecard no theme song oh it was perfect.

I like Taurus Bulba's introduction like we already know he is a villain but i like that he is this friendly and knowledgeable to Scrooge and the kids which can be seen as kind or a bit stalkerish once they reveal his true intentions.

I love Darkwing's hideout, all the gadgets, the super computer every little detail i love it,and that Fenton helped him and that Drake is oblivious to Gizmoduck real identity is just funny.

I love W.A.N.D.A. her sarcastic tone and i especially love that she is voice by Jameela Jamil who also voices Gandra Dee, but i like that she kept her accent.

Of course there is no crime in St. Canard they got the best mayor, and im glad that Owlson finally got a job where she is respected.

Ooh Huey is getting is suspicious of the RAMROD and of Bulba and ew Haggis sounds kinda nasty not gonna lie.

No crime kind of an awkward situation but at least Darkwing had the decency to finish the job for them. Ooh we get to see Gosalyn damn she can hold her own, oh my gosh i think we all have the same thought that the first triplet to be arrested would be Louie, and of course Scrooge doesn't remember Darkwing at all. Interesting Bulba is on DW side but not for long. Damn Huey that hat is like Mary Poppins bag.

They made a set for Dewey Dew Night, these pics of DW and i need that cookbook in real life.

And Gosalyn i love her design, personality everything and Stephanie Beatriz did an amazing job voicing her she had big shoes to fill and in my haven't watched OG Darkwing Duck opinion i think she is a worthy sucessor and a big plus that she is Latina and i love the reference to her original design

And honestly i thought that Dewey was gonna be the last of the kids that she would form a friendship with, so i was genuinely surprised when they teamed up and i loved that they related with the whole mystery of a missing family member a nice callback to the 1st season, and i love that Dewey is trying to make a catchphrase for her.

Of course DW is gonna help her but i do like that Launchpad is the one who encourages him to help Gosalyn, nice shot of all them driving DW motorcycle but where is Dewey in the motorcycle WHERE??? Huey knows he knows Bulba and tell a parent or caretaker how to educate their children, Did Darkwing just dislocated his jaw ouch! and nice hiding spots guys, that’s a really big and heavy book.

Taurus what a good liar and yeah some nice teamwork from Dewey and Gos!!! And that’s a lot of papers and plans for one machine oooh this episodes ties up with the whole missing mysteries plot wasn’t expecting that and wait so that means any Disney Media is an alternate dimension/universe so maybe DT17 is a universe where Mickey Mouse doesn’t exist ok crazy theory aside i like the explanation they have for the RAMROD and the whole dimensional stuff.

Caught in a lie Taurus Bulba!! What a jerk he just hit a child what is wrong with you (well he is a villain so why am i surprised). Good Guy Launchpad helping as always. Some more good teamwork with DW and Gos! Oh my the Fearsome are Fearsome indeed and what an entrance! 

So like i have said many times i haven’t seen OG Darkwing Duck so i have no reference to compare or critique but as their own version i really liked it their design. personality and etc., everything was good with these 4.

Come on DW you already breaking down and you haven’t even fought anyone. Aw Fenton/Gizmoduck has his own kind of Iron Man Hud and geez so rude DW. Hey Bonkers another Disney Afternoon show i haven’t seen (im gonna get my Disney Fan Club Card revoked after this post). And aw Launchpad is making another Adventuring Family and Oh my Ducks!! LP is the uncle he has a lot to live up to.

Oh so he is a part of FOWL i was kinda suprised not gonna lie, oh Bulba gone rough and kinda crazy, and the kids with Bradford what an odd team up and of course Louie can pick locks,The chase scene with the Quackerbot and Liquidator and DW and Co. was great, was that a Sonic reference? and that scene with Bushroot was suspenseful and  creepy as heck! That saxophone solo was hilarious. Duck boys getting suspicious especially Huey.

Did LP broke the 4th wall?!?! Aw what a funny and wholesome moment with Gos and LP.

Aw is DW is doing the best he can for Gos, aw what a sweet tender moment im not crying your crying LP is crying. LP made pancakes what an uncle and ouch DW can take a beating.

What a reference to OG Ducktales this was really unexpected and hilarious!! And i really like Dewey’s sarcastic tone at Bradford. Holy cow the boys know about FOWL and they are in ther classic design Oh bother!

What a plan LP kind of dumb but it worked. And what a nice message of LP about what it means to be a hero wise words my dudes. And what a fight it was amazing great references, action-packed, clever and funny it was beautiful. Oh those references to OG Ducktales good stuff. 

Aw poor Gosalyn having to make the ultimate decision the animation, music and voice acting were great and you really feel for her and i gotta be honest i cried in this scene.

Oh snap!! Scrooge knows about FOWL now!! The tables have turned for this season!

And aw they formed a nice found family and Launchpad is an honorary member of team uncle!

Amazing episode everything was so good this is the perfect pilot for a Darkwing Duck Reboot, Disney if you don’t do it you’re crazy.

This episode was greatly balanced i liked that it wasn’t all Darkwing Duck but it also followed Scrooge and the boys and it all perfectly meshed together with the whole FOWL plot line which i wasn’t expecting at all but it was an awesome surprise and i honestly don’t know what to expect for future episodes or the season finale.

Overall a perfectly made episode funny, clever, action-packed, great character interactions and great introduction to Darkwing Duck universe for peeps who haven't seen the OG like me and others.

I give this episode 5 out of 5 ducks.

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆