#i don't believe he thinks that he's fallen from grace and stuff

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

Alright, I know people say Castles Crumbling is very Arthur- but the first time I heard it I immedieately went, "Oh this screams Uther".

And NO, I DO NOT WANT A REDEMPTION ARC FOR HIM. HE STILL SUCKS, HE ALWAYS WILL.

I just thought it would be very interesting to think of him as a character who is so utterly flawed and projects it in the worst way possible-

Like, think about it. Maybe he just wanted an heir... maybe he had a similar father who pressurised him into having a male heir no matter the cost... but even though his father died ages ago, he wants to please him, so he resorts to using any means to get a male heir.

And he was a good enough prince- beloved by the people (much like Arthur would be later); but after the death of his father, he became more serious- trying to uphold past expectations (though he was still beloved).

And then he tried to fulfill his final promise. The promise of a male heir (via any means necessary, mind you). And so, when Ygraine was unable to concieve, he turned to Nimueh. To magic.

It was only when his lost Ygraine, when he lost his happiness (read: the only person who'd kept him sane while he bore the brunt of his father's wishes and expectations) that he realised what a huge mistake he'd made still letting his father have this hold over him.

And the guilt eats him from the inside out- and unwittingly, he goes from being a beloved prince to a paranoid tyrant (he is blinded by guilt and so he believes he's doing his best to prevent his citizens from falling victim to their own actions as he did due to magic; he believes he's keeping them safe); and an absent father with too many expectations.

And then when everything is said and done (read: he's dead, but like ya know afterlife or whatever), I really think he'll look back and more than anything, besides eventually coming to regret everything, I believe his biggest regrets would be:

Letting his father have such a huge impact on his life even after his death (since that was the inciting point for everything)

And eventually turning into a version of his father, imposing the same upon his son

(And I also personally headcanon that since Arthur will be in between life and death while he waits to reunite with Merlin, he'd meet Uther and everyone again, and so after some time of mulling it all over, the moment Arthur would arrive, he'd apologise to both him and Morgana and they'd finally get to be the family they could've been all along- plus, he'd be glad that Arthur had broken the cycle and disregarded what his father thought of him for the good of the kingdom, as Uther should've done as well).

[lxkeee]

Hi! Is it okay if I ask for Lucifer seeing female sinner!reader when she is breaking down, panicking from both insecurity and overthinking (generally having trouble breathing and not being able to stop herself from crying at all) and being there with her in general?

Like, what would he say, how would he react, how would he comfort her, stuff like that!

notes: I was debating whether this should be platonic or romantic lmao.

warnings: panic attack.

edit: I fucked up, it said sinner and I accidentally made reader a fallen angel here lmfao omgg 😭

Lucifer is trying his best, even though he dissociates a lot and doesn't realize how much time has passed, he spends most of his time in his room just making rubber ducks or doing paperworks. After he and Lilith split, he had fallen more into depression and began to slowly lose his will to do his duties, hell would've crumbled apart if it weren't for his closest friend who decided to help him run his kingdom. [Y/n] fell from grace at the same time as him as she was an accomplice, Lucifer begged for her forgiveness years ago—apologizing for bringing her to this mess but the woman just chuckled and told him it was fine, she believed in his intentions and it was her decision to follow him.

Thinking about her, he realizes he barely saw her, let alone he forgot when was the last time he saw her. A couple of months ago? He barely saw her as she took it upon herself to lead as he isn't fit to lead as of lately, she is his right hand man afterall.

On top of that, with her taking on his duties, she also made sure to check up on him occasionally to make sure he is still functioning.

“I really need to show her my appreciation... She's doing so much for me...” Lucifer mutters as he lies on his bed, a few rubber ducks on his mattress. His recent memory of her is when she came back to check up on him and he noticed how tired she looked.

“Luci, how are you doing these days? Do you feel slightly better?” the door in his bedroom opened as she entered his room, he was making a new rubber duck and her voice cut off his concentration. He turned around to face her and gave her a grin, “I have been feeling slightly better, [n/n]! Time off seems to be doing me some good.” he says with a smile but his smile faded a little as he noticed how her eyes looked so... Tired... The usual sparkle gone and her once vibrant orbs now dull. Worry fills his chest as he hesitantly asks her, “Are you okay...?” he spoke softly and her eyes widened before giving him a closed eyed smile and when she opened her eyes again, that sparkle was there once more.

“Of course, don't worry too much about me. You should worry about yourself first.” [y/n] says softly with a smile and he just nodded, deciding not to push her boundaries. “If you say so...” he says softly and the two hanged out that afternoon before she decided to take a rest in her room—as she had a room in the palace as she did help in making it.

Lucifer sighs once more, he's worried for her. She's always working so hard. He grabbed a nearby rubber duck and held it near his face, “Mr. Waddles, I'm such a bad friend... She keeps on checking up on me but I forget to check up on her...” he says softly. He's afraid to admit it out loud, but he always loves her. Sure, he loves Lilith with all his heart but it was [y/n] who's his first love but he was too scared to confess and then he met Lilith and he fell inlove with her. Though, after his separation with Lilith, it feels like his love for [y/n] is returning but he doesn't want to think too much about it and wants it to develop properly. After all, he doesn't want to make her a rebound. That's why he wanted to fix himself first and give himself time.

He sighs to himself once more before eventually getting out of bed, he needs to get a drink. He got out of his room, passing by many rooms. He passes by [y/n]'s room. His body stopped as he heard soft sobs. It was coming from [y/n]'s room.

A few moments ago.

[y/n] angrily storms back into the castle, tears running down her cheeks. She just finished a meeting with Adam at the heaven's embassy building. It was just a meeting about hell's population. The meeting would've been bearable if it weren't for Adam's misogynistic attitude towards her. How she isn't fit to lead and how egoistical she is for putting herself in Lucifer's shoes. The major stabbing words she received is when Adam told her how pathetic she is for doing this to a man who doesn't even bat an eye on her. “You're really doing all of this for a dick you can't suck.” is what Adam said to her condescendingly with a mocking laughter. She doesn't even think of Lucifer in lustful thoughts, she only sees him in romantic scenarios, going on dates, holding hands, being there for each other.

It truly reminded her that Lucifer wouldn't be hers.

She's grateful that she was able to keep it together for the rest of the meeting but when she left, she couldn't hold back anymore and quickly teleported to her room.

She couldn't think properly. Chest heaving up and down irregularly. Barely catching her breath as she covers her mouth with her hands to muffle her cries so that Lucifer won't hear her. Though, a few sobs escaped here and there.

She felt so pathetic, so tired. Voices of other demon's comments on her work are starting to repeat in her head. She was only upset by the comments made by Adam but now, she's crying for everything as all the pain and exhaustion she was bottling up has now exploded.

She curls up in her bed, wanting to be as small as possible. Hair messy, dark circles around her eyes. Dull [e/c] orbs. Shining no more as she was exposed more and more to the cruelty of mankind.

She can only have herself to blame, she wanted to be here with him. A speck of light in darkness, slowly getting dull.

Lucifer hesitantly holds his hand towards the door handle to [y/n]'s room, he knows she's crying in there and each second his heart slowly breaks for her. He is debating whether to leave her alone or go inside and comfort her.

“For fucks sake, I need to go there and be there for her.” he mutters before sighing and then taking a deep breath. Curling up his fingers and then knocked on her door.

“[y/n]? It's me... Can I come in...?” He asked softly and he could hear the hitch of her voice when she heard him.

A brief moment, silence.

“Yes... You can... Come in...” she said behind the door, her voice audibly breaking and Lucifer was close to crying just by hearing how broken she sounded. But this isn't about him, so he composed himself and opened the door.

A truly heartbreaking sight to see, his best friend sitting at the corner of her bed and room, knees pressed against her chest as she tries to look as composed while her breathing is uneven. Eyes red and puffy, dark circles surrounding it. “Oh... [N/n], What's wrong...?” he asked softly and that question alone was enough to make her burst into tears. Lucifer panicked and quickly closed the door and then went to her side. Putting an arm around her. “Sshh... It's okay, I'm here... You can talk to me...” he says softly and [y/n] just sobbed and continues to hyperventilate. He remembers how she used to calm him down when he was in this position. “[y/n]... Look at me...” he says, voice gentle and [y/n] hiccups but hesitantly looked at him. “Can you try to focus on your breathing for me? Follow my breathing... Can you do that...?” he asked softly and she weakly nodded. “Okay... Take a deep breath and inhale...” he says, doing the action and gently urging her to follow. [Y/n] trying her best to match his slow and deep breathing. “Now... Exhale...” he says softly and exhaled, [y/n] following shortly after him. “You're doing great sweetheart. Now inhale...” he says, “Exhale...”

Once Lucifer notices she's beginning to calm down, he needs to move into the next step. “Focus on your breathing sweetheart, can you identify five things you can see for me...?” he asked softly and she nodded weakly, still trying to focus on her breathing while looking at her surroundings.

“The desk...”

“The window...”

“My pillows...”

“The hanged picture of us...”

“You...”

Lucifer smiled, his other hand gently playing with her hair, “You're doing so good sweetheart, now.. Can you tell me four things you can touch for me please?” he asked softly and she nodded.

“Your suit...”

“My blanket...”

“My pillows...”

“Your hand...”

She says softly, her breathing slowly going back to normal and he nodded, proud of her. “Very good, now, can you name me three things you can hear?” he asked softly and she nodded.

“Your heartbeat...”

“Your voice...”

“And your hand rubbing against my arm...”

Lucifer was trying hard not to blush and quickly calmed himself, “You're doing so well, can you tell me two things you can smell...? Can you do it for me?” he asked softly, grabbing a nearby tissue and gently wiped the tears off her cheeks, “Your perfume... And the smell of apples...” she answers.

“Now... Can you answer one more question for me?” he asked her softly and she nodded, “Can you name me one thing you can taste...?” he asked softly and she nodded, “my... Tears...” she answers, letting out a small chuckle... Occasionally hiccuping but she significantly calmed down. “Now there's my girl, are you feeling better now...?” he asked softly and she nodded, feeling exhausted after crying so much. “Do you want to talk about it...?” he asked and she shook her head and he nodded, “Alright, how about we rest for a bit? I am sure you have been very tired.” he says and allows [y/n] to get into a comfortable position to lie down on her bed. He was surprised when she held his hand, looking at him as if asking him to join her. He sighs before smiling softly and decided to take the extra space of her bed and cuddled her with her the little spoon. Both of them could feel their hearts beating erratically but decided to calm down as this isn't the time and this isn't the first time they cuddled in bed. [Y/n] was so tired that after calming herself, she quickly fell asleep on his arms.

Lucifer noticed her to have fallen asleep so quickly and he just smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Sleep well, [y/n]. You deserve it.”

[kitkatopinions]

I truly think that the tendency some people have of treating RWBY like a religion is just very weird and problematic to me.

As soon as someone starts up with the "how dare you think you might be better than the RWBY writers," "if you post too much critical things you're going to wind up like the htdm," "anyone who calls themself a rwde poster is proving that they're a bad person," "we all know rwde posters are SECRETLY evil even if there's no proof of it because spending their time criticizing RWBY is proof enough," "we need to stand up against these sick freaks posting rwde," "these htdm people are less than shit, they're less than dirt," all that stuff...

RWBY is not sacred. The RWBY writers aren't special. Criticizing RWBY is not inherently wrong. Supporting RWBY doesn't make someone a better person. Making fix-its isn't the same thing as supporting a conservative politician. Nobody is 'lying down with dogs and getting fleas' because they criticize the merch of a bigoted company with a bigoted history. Nobody should be getting sent hate anons about how they need to stop thinking about RWBY so they can enjoy it like people should. Nobody should be getting treated like they've fallen from grace by starting to have problems with RWBY. Nobody should be getting treated like they should've just had faith that what seems like missteps in RWBY are actually secretly part of a larger great and good plan that will unfold in due time so long as we keep giving RT our money and believing that the people that whistle-blew on the company were all just liars trying to destroy the good work that Miles in his wisdom gifts his true followers while he punishes the detractors by making them voice a conman racoon.

Like, I know I exaggerated a little on the end there, but the fact that I was only slightly exaggerating a little bit by saying out loud the things that most people only imply is bad in and of itself.

It's weird behavior. It's one thing to say "I don't think this piece of work is as bad as some people make it out to be" which is something I frequently find myself thinking about things like Avatar the Last Airbender, Steven Universe, other things like that. This is another thing entirely.

I wish all anti-rwde posters a very please take a break from rwby and rwby discourse to touch grass and watch other things.

[saline-coelacanth]

So obviously I don't know if I'd be able to fit a scene like this into the au, and I probably won't know until season 2 comes out, but an idea that has been floating in my brain for a while is Ras trying to manipulate Oliver onto his side.

Now I don't know if Ras would know that Oliver is the Overlord or even if he would know what the Overlord is, but he does seem to be quite knowledgeable, so it doesn't seem too out there to say he might know something about Oliver's true nature. And ultimately I don't think Oliver would fall for Ras' manipulation, but I do think it would mess with his head and get to him.

And this is a theory that I don't follow for multiple reasons, but if you look at this through the lens of the Overlord being Ras' master (which again is something I don't believe and also something I don't want to happen) then it would make their dynamic even more interesting. You'd have Ras seeing Oliver as his master who has fallen from grace, and Oliver who wants nothing to do with Ras or his plans because he wants to move past his life as the Overlord.

Idk just some random thoughts. I normally don't like going into au stuff for seasons that aren't out yet, but I've been thinking of the potential between Oliver and Ras since season 1 happened and I just haven't really talked about it.

[draculasfavoritewife]

I Still Want You

Summary: It's been awhile since the two of you last worked together, but some things will never change.

Pairing: Madmartigan x fem!Reader

Warnings: Brief references to injury and alcohol use, some sexist jokes and sensuality (look, I physically cannot stop writing about reader running their fingers through pretty men's hair, alright? It's an actual problem guys).

So my family finally made me sit down and watch the original Willow film this past summer, and I ended up pretty smitten with this man lol. What can I say, the fallen-from-grace type with a flexible moral code and piercing eyes just really does it for me I guess. 🤷🏽‍♀️ (Also young Val Kilmer in drag? Kinda hot.)

"I don't know why the hell I let you talk me into this load of bull," you groan, a hand covering your exasperated face. "Why, in the name of all that's holy, did I leave behind my honest living to follow you into this harebrained scheme?"

The man next to you throws you a wide and winning smile, blue eyes flashing in the dim light. "Cause you didn't want me to come back to you dead," he says with a knowing smugness. "You love me."

"Did I say that?"

"You didn't have to," he teases, leaning down to saucily kiss your forehead before readjusting the woman's dress that doesn't quite fully hide his very masculine form. "Now, how do I look?"

You roll your eyes and crawl to your feet in the cramped cellar where he had chosen to make his quick change. "He's going to see through you in a second."

Your companion frowns, dark brows sulky and full lips pouting like a petulant child. "Please. The old oaf's such a lusty pig he's going to see exactly what he wants to see and fall head over heels for me. Believe me, it's happened before." He hurriedly stuffs the bodice of the dress until he has quite the impressive bust, and it's suddenly all you can do not to laugh out loud at the sight of him.

"I'm not sure you can slander other men until you finally start thinking with what's above your own belt," you chide, helping him wrangle his long, sooty-black locks beneath a headscarf. As always, you're momentarily distracted by how soft his hair stays, even though you know he does the bare minimum to care for it.

"I do think pink is definitely your color though, Mads."

"Shut up," he growls half-seriously. "We all do what we have to. A man's gotta eat, you know."

You snort. "Right. Because that's the old Madmartigan I remember. Always strictly practical, and definitely not getting in over his head robbing a rich man when he could find some honest work."

"Where at? A brothel?"

You move to slap his chest, but never make contact. It feels wrong somehow, now that his enormous false bosom is in the way.

Madmartigan sees the discomfort on your face and snickers. "Not to worry, Sweets. Your beautiful wife will return to you in one piece, trust me."

He presses a fond kiss to your cheek and turns around to the cellar door, ready to make a move on his unsuspecting target.

And promptly lets out a muffled yelp as you slap his ass.

"What the hell, Sweets?! What was that for?"

You smirk and make yourself more comfortable atop a large bag of flour, to wait out the results of his loosely formed "plan". Chances are he might have to call for backup if things get sticky.

"We women have to put up with that all the time from you 'lusty pigs'. Thought you should get used to it sooner rather than later."

"Insolent fox," he mutters, and hastily leaves, as if afraid you'll smack him again.

You might have, too.

Man's got a fine ass.

"Hold still, idiot," you scold as he flinches away from the wet cloth in your hand for the seventh time. "Do you want my help with that bloody lip or not?"

"I don't know why you're so angry," he grouses. "You're not the one that got their clothes torn off and beaten up for not actually being a woman."

"Oh, stop whining. You got out of there with the gold you came for and the other guy is worse off than you. And it's my dress that got sacrificed, so I think I've every right to complain." You gesture to the shredded pink material hanging around his waist, now the only thing preserving your disheveled warrior's dignity.

He at least has the grace to look momentarily contrite. "Right. I'll get you a new one."

You're slightly concerned by the fact that he doesn't explicitly use the word "buy", but decide to let it go for now. Many of the gifts he's given you throughout the course of your years-long friendship have shady origins, but it is the thought that counts.

And honestly, you're just glad he's not hanging up in a crow cage left for dead somewhere again.

His sharp eyes soften as he finally lets you finish tending to him. "Why did you really come along with me?" he asks bluntly. "I have nothing with which to bribe you, and you have built yourself a life here. When you made the decision to quit while we were ahead and go straight, I didn't understand, but I think I understand you even less now."

Not wanting to meet that deeply piercing ice-blue gaze, you study his lips instead, transfixed as ever by their perfect, sweeping curves. He can dress in animal skins like a barbarian and be constantly covered in ash and dirt, but the refined features of the noble knight he once was are never hidden completely, try as he might.

"I asked you a question, Sweets."

"Maybe I missed you, you boor." Unsettled, you smack him with the damp cloth and abruptly turn away to stoke the fire.

"Why?" You can't tell if he's genuinely lost or fishing for a particular answer from you. "You have a little bit of land, you're a respected herbalist, and I'm sure you've had more than a few offers of courtship since I saw you last."

Is that jealousy simmering behind his careless words?

You smirk over your shoulder. "Please. Herbalist is just two degrees south of witch around here. Men fear me."

He rises to his feet and comes up behind you, his large hands settling on your upper arms and rubbing gentle lines from your shoulders down to your elbows and back again. "I've missed being ripped to shreds by that razor-sharp tongue."

"Have you." You sigh softly as you lean back against his broad chest; without the barrier of one of his leather-and-fur shirts, all you can smell is him, a warm, welcome scent you hadn't forgotten in all the time since you last parted ways. Your bodies melt into each other with old familiarity, prompting a rush of memories of huddling together for warmth during long winters on the run, posing as husband and wife for hustling heists, his arm wrapped tightly around you on horseback.

All the little things that made you fall in love with him in the first place. The intimately shared moments that had made it so hard to leave him. But you had felt like you needed to protect your heart somehow.

After all, at the time he had seemed far more content to remain unbound to anyone, even you.

"I have another question," he murmurs, his lips now only a hair's breadth from the stretch of exposed skin at your collarbone.

"And that would be...?" You stifle a shiver, his hot breath skimming your neck and sending prickles of anticipation dancing across your body in all directions.

His cheek rests against yours. "That time I tried to kiss you, do you remember that night?"

Your hands tense, unconsciously grasping fistfuls of the torn dress fabric still hanging from his belt; there's a minuscule hitch to his breath at the sudden feeling of your hands at his hips.

"Yes."

"Why did you run away from me?"

The raw uncertainty running beneath that simple question makes you turn to face him again, acutely aware of the feeling of him against you, the hard muscles of his chest pressing into the softness of yours, his hands sliding down to linger in the curve of your back. There is no judgment in his handsome face, only a twinge of long-hidden hurt and real curiosity.

You reach up, tangling your fingers in his thick dark hair, loving the way the glossy strands slide across your skin. It's gotten so long, and your hands itch to weave it into slender braids like you used to.

"I'm pretty sure you were drunk, Mads. And I...I just wasn't fully ready," you admit.

"I still want you," he tells you softly. "I never stopped wanting you, even when you left."

You smile as he bends to rest his forehead against yours. "And I would still kill for you."

"Gods, you know it drives me crazy when you talk like that." He leans in even further, eyes dancing in the glow from the firelight. "How do you feel tonight?"

Your hands trail down again to cradle his face. "I think I'm ready now. I've missed you."

So you kiss him.

You're not surprised he's such a good kisser, but maybe more than a little startled that there's a real gentleness in him, a smooth temperance to his wildly passionate expression of love. And as the sweet reality of having him alive and solid and in your arms once again after so long finally sets in, you realize what you truly want with crystal clarity.

"Take this ridiculous thing off," you breathe as your lips finally part and you tug at his tattered skirt.

"You sure?" It takes him a second to figure out what you're really asking. "Cause I don't have anything else --"

You laugh and silence him with another kiss, guiding his hands to the laces of your corset and watching his expression change from one of surprise to warmth and hunger as he swiftly helps you undress.

[adamsappl]

//thinking about where they could go w/adam in the finale/season 2,,, ramblings under the cut :]

//to start: as awful as he is, i genuinely don't think they're going to kill him off, simply because i don't think it'd be narratively satisfying. i'm sure he ( and lute ) are gonna be roughed up a bit, especially after preaching about all the "an eye for an eye" stuff ( and the very literal route they could take with vaggie's situation ) -- but at the end of the day, adam is a very important character. as of right now, he serves as both the main antagonist and charlie's narrative foil -- but he hasn't had a proper character arc yet. which leads me to my next point:

//i think mr "hell is forever" is going to fall. but i also think the reason he falls is going to shape where his character goes.

//adam absolutely has the potential to thrive in hell, and if the reasoning for his fall from grace is related to the exterminations, one could EASILY argue that his entire army ( and possibly even sera herself, for allowing the exterminations to happen ) deserved to go down with him. and with no one to hold him back, that is possibly the most danger adam could pose to the rest of hell. a fallen angel with a highly trained army at his disposal, already hellbent on DESTROYING every sinner in hell? he and lute could easily call themselves overlords. this route would see him becoming worse and worse -- likely until he was killed off.

//but on the flipside: if his reason for falling is something more specific to him ( and likely lute ) they could take the route of redemption. and THIS would be charlie's ultimate challenge. she can see the best in sinners and rant and rave about helping them improve, but at the end of the day, the actions that landed them in hell haven't affected her. but adam's HAVE. adam has challenged her entire worldview since the moment they met. for ( presumably ) thousands of years, adam has enthusiastically lead the charge in slaughtering her people. adam has shamelessly threatened her and her friends to her face. adam allowed his lieutenant to maim vaggie and left her for dead, and later EXPOSED her just to "win" an argument. charlie deeply values forgiveness and second chances, but to deny adam the chance to change ( even after all the awful shit he's done ) would go against everything she believes in -- but it would also be harming vaggie. he could, for the first time in his life, become a BETTER person, but at what cost? what ( or who ) would charlie be willing to sacrifice to get to that point?

//of course, all of this is dependent on adam falling -- but honestly, either possibility would be VERY interesting for me, for different reasons. honestly, regardless of what happens, i might make a verse for both options. lmk yall's thoughts if you have any!! i'd love to hear them :]

[thecloudstan]

Thoughts regarding the changes of certain elements of the OG in "Rebirth" (e.g. Cid's personality being changed or Dyne's death)?

This is such a great question!! I'll answer for both of these because I do have thoughts, and the game is so big that I'm already forgetting some things that you guys remind me about. I'll start with Cid.

I'm not entirely convinced that Cid's personality is changed, so much as the...timeframe of his life is being shifted? I'll try to explain.

In the original, you meet Cid and he's already this grizzled asshole who is doing THE MOST, and his hatred of Shinra is so acute that he eventually starts to rival Barret for who hates that company the most. I love Cid, but I guess if anyone from the playable party had the weakest motivation, it would be him. "They stole my dream" is motivation, don't get me wrong, but doesn't it sort of pale in comparison to "they murdered our parents and burned our village; they murdered me and brainwashed the love of my life; they did EXPERIMENTS ON ME." Sorry Cid, but your trauma is a bit...hmnnggh bebi by comparison...

In Rebirth, Shinra hasn't 100% fallen from his good graces yet, at least with regard to him being ambivalent about their misdeeds because he needs to turn a profit. I think the changes to when you meet Cid, how you meet Cid, and how he behaves about Shinra boil down to two things;

1.) Game functionality. It made the most sense to introduce him sooner to give access to the world in an exploratory sense, and the only way to do this in a remotely timely manner would be to introduce him sooner. But then you kinda fuck up the placement and point of Rocket Town, so he needs some other "hook."

2.) I believe they're saving his "fall" for the third part, much like Vincent's background will be saved for the third part. We still need some dramatic flair and some reminders why everyone should hate the fascist overlord, and by then we already know very well why Barret, Tifa, Cloud, Aerith, Red, Yuffie, and even Reeve harbor those feelings.

Long story short, I think he's been set up for his own character development. It was also kinda nice to have the Tiny Bronco around before Cid's wings are totally clipped, so to speak. It was interesting to see that spark of pre-FUCK THIS SHIT Cid. One thing I do find VERY intriguing is the connection to Ifalna!!!!!! I can't wait to see how that pans out...how well did he know her? Did he have FEELINGS for her?! Is he the reason she was able to escape, even though she didn't make it far? Is Aerith walking free because of Cid Highwind?! That would be kind of gaggy, to be quite honest.

So, sure, they did adjust his personality a bit. Like I doubt he's going to verbally abuse Shera and drop F-bombs, but that's fine. They changed a lot of things from the original that just would not play well to an audience nowadays, and I get it.

Dyne stuff under the cut!!!

My husband and I fully disagree on Dyne. I'm not too assed about him not leaping to his death (I mean, he already fell into a gorge which was probably kinda traumatic???? So having him NOT choose to off himself that way could make a bit of sense). What I am most intrigued about is how he goes full fucking Tetsuo from Akira half way through the fight??

In the original game, Dyne is just a man. He's strong, but he's just a broken man. He isn't experimented on by Shinra, we have no canon understanding of him being Mako poisoned or something, he should not be capable of what Rebirth Dyne was doing during that fight with Barret. My husband has chosen to write it off as the dev team just beefing up the battle to make it more modern/difficult/fun.

I don't share this thought process. Hojo is already understanding things (in my opinion) that go above and beyond the original plot. There are already mutations in Rebirth that didn't exist in the original, and I don't know if I'm reading too much into that, but it seems to me that it's kind of an emerging theme...

SOMETHING. Happened to Dyne. Whether he...fell into the gorge and then was Mako poisoned from being too close to the blown up reactor for years...or something else...I don't know for sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if Rebirth is NOT the last we hear about what happened to Dyne. They're REALLY going in on the human experimentation thing...it's going to get quite ugly with Cloud's background (and Aerith's, I'm assuming, if Cid ever spills those beans), and just Red XIII's Trial in the Temple of the Ancients ALONE was bone-chilling. I don't have precise answers or predictions or anything, but I do think it was changed with an intention deeper than "let's make this battle harder/more cinematic."

[kimarisgundam]

^ pics from our Cyberpunk Red game night 😀. I swear, this is the best fried chicken place in Singapore >_<

Also... I know Halloween is coming... but does my friend/our party's Exec really need to pull this kind of spooky surprise on me ಠ_ಠ

After the trouble our Rockerboy got into with Militech and NCPD, Exec and my Netrunner's NCPD chief friend feels it's better if Rockerboy leaves the city for awhile...

I thought we were just going to work with the nomads to transport something to Cali, but Exec just informed me that we'll be travelling with a few raffen too ಠ_ಠ. Like why. And what makes you think I'm ok with this ಠ_ಠ

"I need them cos they are familiar with Dogtown". Dogtown. DOGTOWN.

Why are we going to Dog Frigging Town?! I don't want to go in there??? I feel like I'll catch 6 different kind of diseases the moment my foot touches the ground >:U

If what you're transporting to Cali can only be picked up from Dogtown... I don't even want to know what kind of illegal nonsense Exec is getting himself into this time. I'm not paid enough to do this omg

And like no offence to our Wraiths Nomad (okay, full offence) but as my Netrunner, I don't even trust him on most days. I don't even like it when he drives me around. I'm civil with him now, but I still rather not associate with a raffen

I know the kind of shady stuff raffens do cos he is the kind of person dad/Arasaka hires when they want to commit unsavoury deeds ಠ_ಠ

And like, the upper management of Arasaka rather not interact directly with raffens. If raffens are hired, it's usually via a lower ranking employee acting as the middle man. My dad refuses to speak to them too ಠ_ಠ

My Netrunner interacting with our Wraith means she's really fallen from grace after defecting from Arasaka ;_;

He even tried to nab me the first time we met and now you want me to travel with his pack of rabies infested rats ಠ_ಠ. Like why. And why did you think I'll be ok with this ಠ_ಠ. I have 0 reason to like him and he is unbothered by how much I dislike him ಠ_ಠ

Rockerboy really dislikes him too for personal reasons, so I can't believe he's willing to travel with Wraiths just for a chance to mess with Militech again ಠ_ಠ

[michaelwavemichaelwave]

i am intrigued by arise… what could that be?

Hehehe

I'm so glad you ASKED!!

Arise is the title of the WIP that I occasionally allude to in various tags, and I've been working on it since May. (The title has changed over time, but I think I'm finally satisfied with Arise!)

Basically it's a Midam fix-it fic! (It alligns mostly with canon events, but it's very different from canon.)

It starts pre 15x08 when they're getting out of Hell and progresses into post canon! (I'm doing a terrible job of selling it, I know, I'm so bad at summarizing it without giving anything away! 😂) But they visit Kate, Adam goes to college and becomes a doctor and other fun stuff!

I've been mostly working on editing/ revising/ adding to later chapters. There's still parts that I've yet to write/ expand.

Word Count is currently 60,000. (I plan on posting it once it's complete, which is TBD 😂!)

Here's the opening prologue of the first chapter! Let me know what you think/ if I should change anything!! (Is it engaging? Too wordy?) I don't think I've read the first chapter since the Summer, but I believe it's done (DEFINITLY still need to tweak a few things. I feel like the second paragraph is a bit repetitive and I should cut it down for clarity as well as other parts.) (Ok, now I'm rereading it and can't tell if it's dull af or if I'm just being over critical of my writing. Definitely both. But I'll be cutting some of this from the final version).

"Adam!"

Adam lurches up from where he had been nestled against Michael at the urgency of his voice. Peeking his head up from where he had settled to sleep for the night.

They had long since discussed the subject that Adam doesn't need to sleep. But Adam was adamant that, "What else is there to do in Hell for a thousand years?" 

To which Michael would respond with "work," like the work-a-holic he is. Or "A thousand years really isn't that long of a period of time." But with the increasing amount of time they spent in Hell his tone would imply differently. Having worn into a cold resignation over the years.

Adam would roll his eyes at him, and try to correct his concept of time to that of humanity's. But even he grew distant from "humanity." He seemed to exist in a strange place of being too old to be human but too young to be an angel.

"Adam." The repeated stern caution of Michael's voice jars him back to full attention.

"What is it?" Adam asks warily as he anxiously strokes Michael's feathers as he sits up. Both to sooth Michael as well as to fidget with something.

"The Cage. It's open." Again.

"Oh," is all he can get out.

The memory of the first time is still deeply burned into their minds and Michael's wings. The searing agony of the bars against his body that remained even after Michael had instinctively fallen to the ground of The Cage away from the bars. How the pain had penetrated into his soul even through Michael's grace. Michael writhing on the floor trying to soothe all of his feathers at once. How Adam could only watch after Michael had taken the brunt of the anti-angel warding and material of the bars. They were made of the same material as angel blades, and making contact with them caused grave injuries that lingered and were slow and stubborn to heal. Michael's feathers had long since regrown after that first incident that had occured in year 203 of their confinement. However there were still a few scars that had yet to heal where the feathers hadn't grown back.

[Removed 2 paragraphs here to edit later, but I don't think they're necessary]

After the first time trying to exit The Cage they'd agreed to be more patient. Michael apologized non-stop for failing Adam, and Adam had to assure Michael he wasn't to blame, he honestly would've done the same. But something about that hadn't set right with Michael. He prided himself on his patience, and yet he had been moved to rashness in that moment. It weighed on him- being human, failure. Everything about The Cage had stripped him of his status, his family, his power, his freedom. How could he make an error in perceiving The Cage as open when it wasn't? Michael had never made mistakes before, and failure was immensely devastating. What was he if he made mistakes?

And Adam had taught him how to recover from mistakes- he was an expert on the subject. Though Michael still struggled, Adam made it bearable.

After that Michael had closed himself off from Adam before eventually allowing himself to be more open in front of Adam. They shared a desperation to be free of The Cage, but together they kept each other in check.

And when the door had seemed to open for the second time- Again they had fallen for it.

They couldn't keep ramming into The Cage walls with reckless abandon whenever the opportunity presented itself.

It worried Adam how The Cage could trick all of Michael's eyes. And Michael would fall for it because his eyes and senses had never wronged him before.

Michael would consult Adam when he thought The Cage was open. He’d consult Adam, and those would be the rare glimpses that Adam got of The Cage that Michael always carefully shielded from his view. He’d report back that The Cage appeared to still be sealed. Then they'd wait, and watch until the door closed again. And pray that that wasn't it.

But this was different.

Adam paused for a beat over the electric race of Michael's thoughts and emotions.

“It’s open.”

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Could you give us sneak peaks from you WIP, please?Thank you so much ❤️❤️I am excited to read something new from you!

Oh Anon...what would you like to see?

As I am dead tired now and probably won't get any of this out...Here are two snippets from upcoming ficlets

For Leafy Anon :

There was not a thing you didn’t love about him; you adored the way he smelled in the morning – green growth and fertile earth – and the feeling of his smooth skin under your dancing fingertips; idly, you pencilled a list of your plans for the day onto his collarbone in the invisible ink of your love and looked up just in time to see the dreamy smile that made his lips quirk.

For @medusas-hairband:

“Hello, my love,” you purred, pressing a kiss – your lips still chilly from the cold outside – onto his furry cheek; you would have thanked him more effusively, but you knew that he’d just as soon feel your gratitude.

So, there's a lot more, I'll put it under the cut :D It's all Silmy stuff...so...

From the mysterious WIP that might never find a place anywhere:

“Oh, you think he’s pretty then?” The dark-haired, fire-eyed individual asked her sharply before muttering that she should see his own first-born for comparison.

“Please,” Rain exclaimed urgently, “please, I do not care to be the judge of a beauty pageant amongst your people!”

Here another snippet of a useless descriptive scene that I've written but don't know where to put:

A small moan – a pained sound – escaped his gritted teeth as he saw his half-brother round the corner, flanked by his two oldest sons, dressed in heavy fabrics, and adorned by metal and stone – a proclamation of pride regarding both their parents – and looking so regal in deportment and mien that it made his gut clench.

“He brought both of them,” he hissed, pointedly ignoring the way Findekáno’s face tilted up like a flower straining towards the light of Laurelin. 

Here a sentence of porn:

How long had he been sitting here, unmoving, mouth agape, eyes riveted on that broad hand trailing up and down the oiled-up chest before dipping provocatively into what little clothing was left in a specious pretence of decency?

A snippet of angst:

With the honour came a heavy responsibility and a threat of peril that he’d rather not place on the one he had loved so well; his only hope had been that Fingolfin might reign for endless centuries to come and that – in the shade of his greatness – they might find reprieve from that doom pursuing them doggedly.

He himself had known exactly that his birth right was a curse so dark and all-encompassing that he’d be hard pressed to keep it from devouring all in its path, but maybe the younger branch of his family tree might know a vigour and strength of heart denied to his own lineage.

“I believe in you.” Such sweet words of faith from lips so gentle, he had thought with a pang of longing.

Ever on my mind, my TRSBs:

“The Fëanorians have closed ranks around her,” Finrod shrugged, lounging on the comfortable armchair – the very picture of sophisticated grace – without so much as creasing the priceless fabric of his discreetly shimmering suit.

Haleth gulped; she did not know how to survive seeing her beloved decked out in silk and lace, resplendent in pristine, mendacious white, diamonds around her slender throat and rubies in her cheeks.

And the second one:

Seeing Nerdanel’s eyes widen and fill with the flickering light of desperate hope, Anairë added: “So you and me, friend, will sit here and exchange recipes if necessary until they’ve fallen asleep. Finno would never chase us out of the living room to go to bed and he certainly doesn’t want to stand in the corridor and eavesdrop.”

A sharp smile stretched across Nerdanel’s face, making the freckles she had bestowed like a golden blessing on so many of her sons dance like stars as she slowly nodded and tapped the side of her nose.

Ah, why not a bit of a potential treat as well?

Yes, the Greenwood was cursed and so was he, doomed to struggle desperately against a destiny that was beyond his influence; as he clenched his fists in helpless frustration, the shivering apparitions died, choked to death between his long, elegant fingers. 

Other than that, there is STILL Lindir (smut upcoming), BAS (always smutty), Bagginshield (a little smutty)...and another slew of secret writings :D

Just tell me what you'd like to hear about and I am almost sure that I have a WIP somewhere about it...(Elves and Dwarves at least haha)

Lots of love and thank you for asking...

[chicleeblair]

Dawn of Redeeming Grace [2/23]

Chapter Two: December 24, 1978||FFN

Rating: NC-17/Explicit

Pairings: Meredith Grey/Derek Shepherd

Six weeks after Derek left to take the NIH job, Meredith is ready to use the holidays to prove she has this working mom thing on lock. Sure, he neglected to tell her he'd be bringing a guest, but whatever, 'Tis the season for truces. Even Ellis Grey took the day off. But with every moment of family togetherness, a return to the trenches seems more impossible. Can a few days of peace put their relationship back on track, or has she fallen for the illusion of a snow-globe, destined to either settle or shatter?

Dawn of Redeeming Grace|| FFN

I can't say this chapter is entirely the reason for the structure of this story, but...it basically is. Taking the Ellis Grey who married Thatcher to the woman who we see twenty-five years later fascinates me. Meredith idolizes childhood, she often says she didn't have one; she does generalize a lot in voiceovers, but I don't think it's cut-and-dry.

I don't think life with both her parents was perfect, by any means. I know/believe Thatcher loved Susan, the way he fell apart after her death seems to me to have a lot to do with how bad he is at holding anything together. We never hear a word about his family from him, Susan, Lexie or Molly--not even a 'hey, btw, your grandparents died xx years ago; did you know?' and it makes sense to me that they were both grasping at something new. The issue is that he's bad at both decisions and follow-through.* So much changed in Boston that Meredith attributes it to Thatcher being gone, but Thatcher was Ellis's George. At some point they loved each other in some way, but not the way they'd have needed to make their family work. (Richard is not the Derek. Richard wishes he was the Derek, and the writers forgot that).

I think Ellis is a not-super maternal person who grew up in a very traditional household, and is trying to meet every standard out there. To prove women aren't just equal; they're better. Which, hey, I'm not against it, but when you really think about this year, her internship would've been 120hr/wk.His whole thing about her pregnancy...he never once said, "hey, you know, being this stubborn about your shoes isn't proving anything, and it won't improve your board scores?" Meredith and Derek do that kind of thing for each other after all the various injuries, and her getting better at being cared for is basically a plot point between s3, s6, s12,,,,

The image of this whole scene just makes me smile, too.

*My dad had a very decison-heavy job, and he flat-out asked my mom to be the boss of our house. She cooked, he'd clean the kitchen--which lemme tell you? in the south? not a thing--cleaned bathrooms, did yard stuff even though he was allergic to fire-ants--he didn't check out. Just, Mom was Chief. (And she drove, but that's mostly because he sucked at it) They were together from 1978 (oh, whoa, didn't see that parallel before) until he died in 2015 (yes, two months before Derek; yes, probably why i didn't write all these AUs for nearly seven years.) It worked, and left me with a very "wait, who does what?" attitude toward Traditional Gender Roles.

[crowning-art]

TGCF SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3! LIKE MAJOR SPOILERS

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

HOLY WHAT THE HECK, THE CHAPTER I BEGIN ON AND THE CHAPTER I ENDED ON WERE LIKE ON TWO DIFFERENT ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM

Xie Lian's extremely overdramatic reaction to anything embarrassing is sooo on point! Like yes, I too would say "Die! Just die! If he can’t die, then just dig a hole somewhere and pretend to be dead!" if I embarrassed myself in front of my crush or smt lol

I- UGHHH DWDHOWFNL my heart literally feels so FULL whenever I read about some cute hualian moments, but you gotta understand, it's not the declarations of love or the acts of chivalry, it's the small, subtle stuff that just consume me, like the simple understanding...

Xie Lian wasn’t dumb. He knew that Hua Cheng was giving him an easy out, but he could only follow along and mumbled vaguely with his head bowed.

Omg the whole talk they have at the beach?!?! There's just so much in that convo nfqofnoqi and like it's incredible how much every sentence means when you just look at ALL that context behind it. Like when he's thinking about why the person Hua Cheng likes doesn't like him back yet (UGH THEY ARE SO STUPID I WILL SCREAM),

Maybe it was because he felt the other party didn’t have good taste, or maybe they were taking it all for granted.

and it's like, are you self-projecting? do you feel like you are taking Hua Cheng for granted? but also, after everything he went through, to have someone believe him or just care for him, despite being a scrap-collecting god, it was something he took as granted when he was at his height, and it's just...wow.

and this,

After a pause, he continued, “There was also a period of time in my life that wasn’t easy, and during that time, I’d constantly think: if someone should witness the version of me who rolled in dirt and couldn’t get up, but could still love me for who I was, it’d be great. Still, I don’t know if there’s anyone like that, and I daren’t show that part of my past to anyone, either.

Like I know it's a meme/quote but the one where it's like 'If you can't handle me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best' fits so well, and the reason why certain memes kick off so well is because of how much truth is in them, y'know?? and we see that reflected in this so well lejnfownfogn

and of course

OF COURSE

OF FREAKING COURSE

THIS GOLDEN LINE, THIS INCOMPARABLE LINE T-T

“To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, and not the state of you."

It just summarizes everything previously stated so beautifully.

ANd like, this part?

Hua Cheng didn’t say anything more, either, and laid down inside the coffin. Xie Lian entered too, and pulled the cover closed. As if a light was blown out, they sunk into darkness.

It just reflects their whole story so nicely? Like the whole world around them being a coffin; so dreadful, so constrained, painful, grieving, and yet in all that darkness, they had each other and it's all that mattered...

It's all that they needed to survive...

(But also lmaooo Xie Lian plzz calm your thoughts LOL)

I LOVE HOW BLUNT HE IS

Pei Ming pulled out his sword and said leisurely, “Yeah. There’s the coffin wood, but where’s the deceased?

Hua Cheng smiled, too. “If you’re so concerned with who’s dead, I suggest you go kill yourself.

OMg this part was legit straight out of horror movie level SO excellent

Xie Lian blurted out, “My Lords! I FOUND IT! LOOK…”

Just then, his pupils suddenly shrank. Something new was reflected within the Black Water Lake.

A shadowy figure had appeared soundlessly behind both him and Hua Cheng.

It's hurting me so much seeing Shi Qingxuan taking so much care of Ming Yi at every turn and the part where he went 'It's not fair Ming YI has to suffer so much when he has nothing to do with it' and Im like boiiii, OOHHH BOIIIII You have nooo idea

No idea at all...

(Unknowingly, he even took care of the actual earth master bones after they fell and I'm like EYYYYYHH)

Like it wasn't his fault the fates were switched but like inheritly, it was his fault and it's just...does he really deserve all that pain? Just for existing? Just for his predetermined fate?

UGh GOD HE'S SO CUTE HERE

Xie Lian knocked on the doors and called out brightly, “Pardon the intrusion! We have, by accident, offended bluntly. We deeply apologize.”

No one answered. Xie Lian steadied his mind and slowly pushed open the palace doors.

Based on Xie Lian’s years of experience, even if there was something inside, it wouldn’t come out and greet them the moment the doors opened. Yet he had to eat his own words. Upon the first look, there was something petrifying.

In the grand, spacious centre of the entrance hall sat a person. And this person, dressed in all black, its face snow-white—was a corpse.

Instantly Xie Lian shut the doors soundly.

He thought, “Did I maybe open the doors incorrectly? Something like that shouldn’t show itself so fast?”

He had wanted to try greeting again and start over, but Shi Wudu had already walked past him and pushed open the doors, humphing.

AND HERE TOO WBILBFILWBF

The group of them surrounded that haunting skeleton and started examining it. Xie Lian spoke up.

“First, it’s a man.”

“We see that,” the group said.

(Can't stop laughing cuz one of the best ways to identify a male skeleton is by looking at the pelvic region and I'm just imagining all these heavenly officials doing that and it's HILARIOUS)

I have strong, bad feeling Water master will not be passing his third heavenly calamity this time....

As for what the consequences of that would be, we are to find out...I think quite soon :/

I forgot about the Reverend of Empty Words there for a second lol

AND UGGHHHH WHY DO I KEEP LEAVING IT AT CLIFF HANGERS?!?! (ok I do it so I have something to anticipate and look forward too) BUT LIKE WHYYYYYYY

The one behind you, several hundreds of years ago, his original name was He Xuan. He cultivated into a Supreme, and changed his name to Black Water Demon Xuan. He devoured the Reverend of Empty Words and sent that creature to find you. He imprisoned and murdered the real Earth Master, and took on his name, assuming his position in the heavens!!!”

Just as the words left his lips, his entire person suddenly froze.

A hand had slapped onto his shoulder without warning

LIKE OMG THIS IS INSANE WBIFBWOFJOW THIS MAN IS ALL OF THEM BUT ALSO NONE OF THEM?? He's actually just He Xuan, like wow. And it's crazy that He Xuan was powerful enough to kill a heavenly official, but also kill the og demon dude, like wow that's insaneeee

I'm worried

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

I posted this picture in an atheist group. And one smartass responded this

"Most Christians, with whom I have a lot to do in private, especially those from the Protestant Church, do not share such views at all."

He is always a little protective on this topic and explains some stuff in a really good way, but this is only argument from experience. What would you say?

I would say he's never listened to anyone who left.

Firstly, this is a really weird claim to make. Because I don't know how many times I've heard a believer tell myself or someone else that I/we don't believe because of some kind of adverse experience with a church or religion. They weren't True Xians, come to our church and you'll see it's not like that.

Here's just a couple of examples:

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/189685199592

https://religion-is-a-mental-illness.tumblr.com/post/178046031167

It's been one of their favorite ways to belittle and dismiss non-belief.

"wHo hUrT yOu tO tUrN yOu fRoM gOd?!12!?!1!?!?"

==

Let's put that aside for now.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Nobody is good enough.

1 John 1:8-10

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is called a Kafka trap. If you deny you’re a witch, that’s proof you’re a witch, because denying you’re a witch is exactly what a witch would do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_depravity

Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Christian theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of man's fall, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin as a result of their fallen nature and, apart from the efficacious (irresistible) or prevenient (enabling) grace of God, is completely unable to choose by themselves to follow God, refrain from evil, or accept the gift of salvation as it is offered.

The doctrine is advocated to various degrees by many Protestant denominations, including some Lutheran synods, and all Calvinist churches.

I don't think he understands Xianity.

do not share such views at all

It just sounds like he's authoring his own god and his own religion. Which they all do, but what he's saying kind of undermines the entire point of Xianity: that humanity is irrevocably fallen and sinful by nature, needs to repent and seek salvation from depravity through Jesus Christ. That's pretty much a good definition of Xianity.

==

Let's also put the scripture aside.

The image is a caricature, as evidenced by the walking, talking sheep.

Although....

A metaphor, if you will. It's remarkable that people who are so obsessed about turning things into metaphors don't actually understand metaphors when they're presented.

It's probably true that very few but those from the most fundamentalist or most extremist denominations have ever actually encountered anything as literally depicted in the meme.

However, he's missing or avoiding the point. This happens on a much more insidious, manipulative and subtle basis all the time.

There are hundreds of apostates online, ex-Xians, ex-JWs, ex-Muslims and so on, on podcasts, forums, boards and other places, who will tell you how they learned these lessons. Through a tossed word, a glare, an admonishment to be quiet, an insistence that they didn't have enough faith, that god was punishing them; Jesus is watching; give the glory to god; nothing without god (a "good" thing), give god what's right, not what's left; and a dozen other little sayings that make believers feel broken and damaged, sold as "humility."

He can't see it because it's the water he swims in. He's listening to other believers, who are in the club and want to stay in the club. They know full well not to criticize the club, because they're dependent upon the club, because that dependence has been fostered through the the aforementioned manipulations.

And they probably grew up in the club and have nothing to compare it to.

You've got a a guy with Stockholm syndrome asking the others with Stockholm Syndrome whether any of them have Stockholm Syndrome.

It's only the people who have left who will tell him honestly. But he probably won't listen, because he doesn't want to hear it; they probably have an agenda like trying to tear him from his god or trying to promote atheism or something.

On the off chance he has some intellectual integrity, here are some relevant podcast episodes from the Born Again Again Podcast, with Joe and Katie Bauer.

https://bornagainagain.co/podcast/episode-16-losing-our-identity-in-christ

https://bornagainagain.co/podcast/episode-14-christianity-warped-our-brains

https://bornagainagain.co/podcast/episode-03-is-my-relationship-with-god-abusive

https://bornagainagain.co/podcast/episode-20-being-a-godly-woman

https://bornagainagain.co/podcast/episode-21-being-a-godly-man

They talk about what Xianity did to them, what it encouraged them to do to themselves. Rarely even overtly, but through subtle messaging, through what was held as virtuous, what was whispered about, who was whispered about, learned social cues, small chips in who they were that added up over time. Joe talks about how he deliberately hollowed out his personality so that he could be filled with Jesus; he aimed to be nothing more than a vessel for god and Jesus and shit, and saw that as a good thing

 And they talk about how they had to completely reconstruct their identities, their personalities afterwards as a result. They talk about how different each other is after their deconversion, and how much more they like each other and themselves.

But I suspect even if he listens to it, he'll want to rationalize it. Because they just can't see what it looks like from the outside.

==

And yes, it’s also fallacious. We could file it as a Biased Sample:

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Biased-Sample-Fallacy

Biased Sample Fallacy

(also known as: biased statistics, loaded sample, prejudiced statistics, prejudiced sample, loaded statistics, biased induction, biased generalization, biased generalizing, unrepresentative sample, unrepresentative generalization) 

or a Hasty Generalization:

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Hasty-Generalization

Hasty Generalization

(also known as: argument from small numbers, statistics of small numbers, insufficient statistics, argument by generalization, faulty generalization, hasty induction, inductive generalization, insufficient sample, lonely fact fallacy, over generality, overgeneralization, unrepresentative sample)

==

EDIT: I just realized I misinterpreted what you wrote; it was an atheist saying this, not a believer. I saw “smartass” and “in an atheist group” and, well, it’s a fairly natural mistake to make.

I think what I’m saying here still holds. He may never have been in one such religion, or may never have been a believer at all. But even if it’s not universal, this is still a common experience.

[ibuki-loves-you]

Killed for a Hopeful Future (Nagito Komaeda x Reader)

Warnings: Angst, mentions of suicide, domestic stuff, detailed descriptions of murder, mentions of v/mit, potential spoilers???

Mod Ibuki: Another piece me and @call-me-ko worked on together! Execution based off this fan-made one! I hope you enjoy!

Sobs were all that could be heard throughout the small cottage.

Heavy, distraught sobs.

Nagito sat in his bed, the bed Y/N often accompanied him in. Heavy sobs racked his body. He doesn't think he's cried this hard in his entire life.

His love, his world, was gone.

It was like they were taken right out from under him.

One gunshot wound to the chest and bruises around their neck. Their leg looked broken, probably from the fall.

Y/N's body was hung from the door of strawberry house and dropped all the way to grape house's floor. Blood was everywhere due to the gunshot wound.

When Nagito saw, he thought he was going to die himself. No one told him that they were the victim. They just said they didn't know who it was yet.

He didn't get to say goodbye

He didn't get to tell them that he loved them.

He didn't-

"Nagito!" Fuyuhiko yelled. Nagito swung his head around, glaring at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nagito stated. Fuyuhiko stayed quiet. "Simple question. Is it really that hard to answer?" He snapped. Fuyuhiko didn't say anything. Kazuichi shakily sighed. "W-We didn't want to make you panic."

Nagito scoffed. "A little late for that, isn't it?"

Nagito investigated your body himself. He didn't trust anyone. You were loved by everyone here, and yet you still died. It didn't add up.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Nagito... it's time for the trial." Hajime mumbled apologetically. Nagito nodded slowly.

"Give me a minute..." He responded. "Of course." Hajime said softly, moving to the elevator.

Nagito dropped to his knees in front of them. Tears started streaming down his face.

"Who did this? Angel...who did this to you?" He mumbled, stroking Y/N's head. "I promise...your killer will get what they deserve." Nagito placed a kiss on their forehead.

He began making his way towards the elevator.

Justice would be served

"The murder occurred at around 5:30 am." Hajime started.

"The murder weapon was a noose found at the scene, but they also had a wound in their chest. I think a gunshot. That could be the cause of death as well." Chiaki added.

"It was the cause of death." Nagito interrupted. "How else could they have fallen?"

"Fallen...?" Chiaki asked. Nagito scoffed.

"I'm not looking to play games this trial. I want to know the blackened as soon as I possibly can so let me tell you this so you can put everything together." Nagito said angrily.

"Strawberry house and grape house are connected. It's an elevator. Y/N died beforehand via gunshot. That means the killer went to the Final Dead Room. I would know because I went there. The elevator won't move if a living thing is detected. It moved because they were dead already. The killer tied a noose around their neck and tied the other end to the doorknob. Then, they activated the elevator. Eventually, Y/N would fall because that's how gravity works. Now, figure out who killed them." Nagito snapped. He explained the murder in perfect detail, no flaw.

With Nagito's explanation, soon enough they found the killer.

"Gundham...why did you do it?" Hajime asked, a solemn expression painted onto his features. 

Gundham stood silent. After a moment, he took a breath.

"We had a plan." He muttered. "Please explain." Hajime requested, taking a few glances at a fuming Nagito.

"Y/N and I agreed that we would allow all of you to escape at the expense of our lives. I completed the Final Dead Room, and we planned the murder from there." Gundham started.

"We wanted you to survive. Y/N didn't go down without a fight, nor did I. I request you remember that." Gundham looked towards Nagito. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a key. He walked over to Nagito and held it out.

"It is the key to their cottage. I didn't know if you had one or not, either or I assumed they'd want you to have it." Nagito took the key silently.

"I don't expect forgiveness, nor do I want it. But one thing I want you all to carry from mine and Y/N's demise is that you must always fight. Do not go down without one."

With that, Gundham was dragged to his execution.

And that's how he ended up in his room clutching a piece of your clothing while he bawled his eyes out.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Please make your way to Jabberwock Park! Not attending will result in immediate death! See you soon! Puhuhuhuhu~"

Nagito looked at the monitor. Should he even attend? He didn't care whether he died or not.

After contemplation he decided to go. He dried his eyes and placed your belonging neatly on his bed. Nagito made his way out the door and to Jabberwock Park.

Upon arrival, everyone gave him pitied stares. He looked horrible, worse than he usually did, and he knew that.

"Are you alright?" Chiaki spoke. Nagito looked at her and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"No, not really. But you shouldn't worry! I'll be fine." That was a lie, even he didn't believe it.

"Allow me to introduce the new motive. Future visions!" Monokuma announced. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We aren't gonna do that shit!" Fuyuhiko screamed. "Yeah, like we'd believe it!" Nekomaru hollered after. Nagito stayed silent.

Future visions? He didn't believe in any of that, but it's worth a look, right?

When everyone left Jabberwock Park, mainly out of anger towards Monokuma, Nagito looked at the vision motive.

A character select button appeared on a screen that seemingly came out of nowhere. He selected himself. A video began to load.

"Alright, let's go see baba." Nagito cooed. He took his daughter's hands and gently pulled her to her feet. The baby giggled in response.

"Ready? One step at a time." Nagito looked up at Y/N. They sat on the other side of the living room, smiling at the two. Nagito gave them a bright smile. With small steps of his own, he guided their daughter in Y/N's direction.

Their child shook their hands from Nagito's. Nagito let go and smiled, keeping close behind her.

Y/N opened their arms and their daughter stumbled into them. Nagito hurried over with a wide smile.

"You did it, baby! I'm so proud of you!" Nagito cheered. His daughter crawled out of Y/N's arms and into his. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"And you say she isn't a daddy's girl." Y/N teased. Nagito smiled and kissed his daughter's cheek over and over, earning a giggle in response.

"Yeah, I guess I see where you're coming from." Nagito leaned forward and gave you a kiss.

"I love you, angel." "I love you too, Nagi."

Nagito stared at the screen with a mix of horror and awe. He moved his hands towards his pale face and rubbed his temples. He took his hand and selected Y/N’s character.

“Daddy! Higher!” His daughter giggled, gripping the chains of the swing. Nagito chuckled

“A little higher, okay?” Nagito compromised. She giggled and nodded. “Okay daddy!”

Y/N smiled from next to Nagito, watching as he booped her nose every time the swing came towards him.

“Baba! Look how high I’m going!” Their daughter called. Y/N giggled and nodded.

“I see! You’re almost as tall as me and daddy from up there!” Y/N said, a smile gracing their features. Nagito nodded in agreement, a huge smile on his face. He turned his head to face his lover.

“Look how happy she is.” He mumbled, chuckling everytime she giggled.

“Daddy keep pushing me!” She said when he stopped for a moment. Nagito laughed and continued pushing the swing.

“She really is such a happy kid.” Y/N smiled throughout their sentence. Nagito wrapped one arm around Y/N’s waist and used the other to push the swing.

That was his future? Or would’ve been?

Nagito put his forehead against the screen and started crying again.

He couldn’t help but feel selfish because he wanted that more than anything.

Soon enough his tears turned to crazed wheezes, laughter shaking his body.

Hope and despair mixed in his eyes once again. He had nothing to lose…

So why not get himself killed? Or better yet get them killed. It's all their fault after all, Y/N did nothing to them yet they had to die.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

“A body has been discovered! Please make your way to the warehouse on the fifth island!”

Everyone dropped what they were doing and made their way to the warehouse next to the factory while Nagito took his time. Everything went according to plan. Now all he had to do was wait. Whether he survived the trial or not didn’t matter much to him, since one way or another he would die.

Suicide or execution was the question now.

“The victim is Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager. The murder weapon is unknown, but definitely a tool of some sorts as he was taken apart.” Hajime started. 

“Trip wire was found at the scene.” Kazuichi added. “So we can assume that was definitely used, especially since he has scratched on his ankles. Well, as scratched as metal can be.”

“Killer probably pressed the power button after using the trip wire, right?” Fuyuhiko questioned. Hajime nodded. “Most likely.”

Sonia put a finger to her chin. “So what you are saying is the killer used tripwire, and then powered Nekomaru off?” Hajime nodded again.

“Who would want to kill Nekomaru? He was so kind to us all.” Akane muttered. “I can’t answer that, I wish I could. But for now all we can do is find his killer.” And with that the trial was officially underway.

“So this is how it happened.” Hajime started. “Nekomaru was lured to the factory’s warehouse by an anonymous letter. He assumed whoever it was he would be able to handle, so he expected a fight. What he didn’t expect was tripwire a few feet away from the door. With his height, I wouldn’t expect him to see it either. Nor would I expect it myself. After Nekomaru fell into the tripwire, his head slammed into the floor, causing him to be weakened for a moment. It may not have been a long moment, but it was enough for the killer to rush into action and press his power button on the back of his neck. When the power button was pressed and Nekomaru was officially powered off, the killer took him apart using a variety of tools found at the market. This explains the mess of oil we found. The killer scattered his parts all around the warehouse and factory, thus leading to us having to find the parts and put them together for investigation.”

Hajime turned to the podium across from his.

“Isn’t that right, Nagito Komaeda? The Ultimate Lucky Student…”

Nagito smiled that crazed grin of his. His eyes were swirling with hope and despair once again.

“Yep! You are absolutely right!” He laughed. Hajime winced while Akane banged on her podium in sheer anger.

“Why, Nagito?” Hajime asked. Nagito continued to laugh. “Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to die!” He said as if it was nothing. Akane growled. “So why didn’t you kill yourself!?” Nagito’s laughs died down, his emotions doing a complete 180.

“Because I wanted to kill you all as well.” He said simply. Everyone looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

“W-What?” Hajime whispered. “Did I stutter? You guys were the reason Y/N died! Y-You took them away from me!” Nagito screamed. He dropped to his knees behind his podium, sobs beginning to consume him once again.

“I-I could’ve had a life with them...We w-would’ve been happy a-and I w-would’ve had a d-daughter.” Nagito mumbled weakly. “I just want Y/N...I-I want to see Y/N. P-Please just kill me already.” He pleaded.

Everyone looked at him with a mixture of sadness, pity, and fear.

“Who am I to disobey?” Monokuma said. “W-Wait, we need to talk more! We have more questions, bastard!” Fuyuhiko cursed. Monokuma ignored him. Nagito continued sobbing and clutching his podium.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s punishment time!”

Nagito was set up straight, strapped to a wheel similar to one you’d see on a gameshow. Every section other than him was either Monomi or Monokuma.

Monokuma spun the wheel, causing him to start spinning with it.

It landed on Monomi.

Monokuma spun the wheel again. A wave of nausea hitting Nagito like a truck as his head began pounding.

It landed on Monokuma.

The wheel was spun once again. Nagito laid cursing his luck as he began throwing up in his mouth from the constant motion sickness.

The torture continued for nearly 15 minutes. A vicious cycle of spinning and choking on his own vomit.

Monokuma spun one last time, the wheel finally landing on Nagito. He smiled, elated that the torture was finally over.

Before he could blink, copious amounts of spears fired towards him. Out of many, only three struck him.

Two in each of his legs, and one in his chest.

As he slowly bled to death, all he could think about was one thing.

He was going to see them again.

[jaedreaminn]

At War or In Love?

Word Count: 2.5k

Pairings: Haechan x Reader.

Theme: fluff, crack, hurt, comfort, angst, enemies to lovers, collegeau.

Characters: Donghyuck, Jeno, Mark, Taeyong, Ten, Renjun, Jaemin, Jisung «mentioned» Chenle.

Words Count: 2.5k

~~~

Donghyuck knew he was a cheerful boy. His cheerfulness was given to him by his mother who he lived with for the first five years of his life. He couldn't remember her face but he did remember her smile and bubbly attitude and it stuck with him even after he was seperated from her to live with the Lee's. To live with his father.

He's always been social and good with people so he couldn't understand why Mrs.Lee hated him so much. Nor could he understand why his brothers who he was so excited to meet never spoke to him, so he had simply assumed that talking inside the Lee house was forbidden. He barely remembers his early childhood, just glimpses of memories passed through his head. Memories like Mrs.Lee's glares and awful words, memories of yelling and crying but he wasn't sure where the crying was coming from, memories of being stuck with an awful Maths teacher who really didn't like him.

But those were just distant memories because the memories that stuck with him were sitting at the dinner table and eating with his brother's, his elder brothers taking care of him and pampering him, Marks red face when he would annoy the boy who no matter how mad he was would never push Donghyuck away.

He remembers growing up protected by Taeyong, Ten, Mark and Jeno from his awful step mother. She was the only person Donghyuck ever despised, he remembers how she was drunk and angry one day and she grabbed him by his arm and yelled at him, told him he wasn't supposed to exist, wasn't supposed to be loved. But she was also told him something that broke his eight year old self, she told him his birth mother had died.

He remembers crying into Tens arms bitterly and all of his brothers joining him, huddling together on Tens small bed to console him. That night when he had fallen asleep in his brothers arms he dreamt of his mother, his mother who smiled at him and told him he was loved and that he was ment to love and to always be happy and cheerful. And so he believed her.

He lived his life quite happily, shielded from his parents by his brothers, which he would grow up to appreciate.

He was cheerful and friendly and loving and got along with everyone. So he couldn't for the life of him understand why you made his blood boil so much.

"Y/n you're messing it up!" He yelled, frustrated but you only ignored him poking you tongue out from the side of your mouth as you concentrated on lining the border of your assignment with decorative tape.

"Do you think we're still in kindergarten?" He mocked you and without wavering your attention from the task at hand you spoke, "If we were in kindergarten I would be at peace and you wouldn't be here." And that angered him even more.

"Why did you follow me to uni" he grumbled under his breath sitting down next to you.

"Please you followed me here" you scoffed, handing over the assignment to him.

"Why did you even waste time decorating the first page of the script. It doesn't make sense and doesn't even add to our marks"

"One. It makes our script original-" "but isn't the story in it origna-" "TWO. It looks cute" you said with a grin plastered on your face and he looked at you and wondered how anyone could be so irritability adorable.

"Well if you're only going to stare at me weirdly I'm leaving" and you were gone before he even got a chance to say anything. Haechan sighed, looking at the cutely decorated cover page to the script the two of you worked on together. You really were stupid.

Before he knew it he found himself at lunch seated in between Mark and Renjun.

"Ugh I swear if this one doesn't turn our right I'm quitting" Renjun grumbled to no one in particular as he continued to work on his art assignment. Haechan sighed feeding the busy boy a sandwich and Mark rolled his eyes.

"What are you losers upto" Jeno asked, approaching the table with Jisung trailing behind him.

"I'm still in shock you're studying music and dance" Mark said taking a bite of his food.

"He says that everytime" Jisung rolled his eyes as he sat down.

"At the pace at which Jeno was going at I'm pretty sure Mark expected him to get into crime" A voice spoke and all the boys looked up to be greeted by a smiling Jaemin.

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Jeno asked Jaemin with a pout and the other just laughed handing him a bottle of water.

"Please I love Mark more" the grinning boy said and Jeno being his dramatic self visibly deflated.

"Calm down there casanova Marks already got someone" Renjun said, eyes still on his painting.

"Where's Chenle?" Haechan then asked. "He's still stuck in the practice room, said his partner is being annoying" Jisung answered after he realised no one else was going to.

"Pft I know a thing or to about annoying partners" Haechan scoffed and everyone at the table sighed.

"Here we go again" Jisung said rolling his eyes and digging into his food.

"Again?"

"Oh please Haechan this happens everytime it's either y/n this or y/n that. You're obsessed" Renjun said banging his paint brush onto the table.

"What! That's not true" Haechan started to get defensive.

"Please the amount of tension between the two of you is crazy! Like just date already" Jeno laughed and now Donghyuck was very embarrassed.

"You're single ass should date first you've still not dated anyone after-" Donghyuck stopped himself immediately realising the words coming out of his mouth.

"That's my fault isn't it" Mark frowned.

"No!" Jeno said and then glared in Donghyucks direction, "No. I gave you my blessings it's okay I had to get over our relationship and I'm so happy for the two of you right now" Jeno said quickly and Mark frowned.

"But what if you had a chance.."

"Mark Lee you foolish fool if Jeno said he had no problem and literally encouraged you to date his ex then don't question it. Plus he's giving his all to music right now" Jaemin said patting Marks back.

"Hate to say this but Jaemins right, like Jeno could have easily killed you in his sleep of he had a prblem with you, we live in the same house remember?" Haechan added grinning and everyone faceplamed.

"Anyway moving on I've got a buisness class right now I'm going to run" Jaemin said getting up and leaving and Renjun jumped up cheering.

"Geez I didn't know you hate Jaemin hyung" Jisung the ever sassy said and Renjun looked at him confused before realisation dawned on him "Ahhh no I'm done with my drawing and I need to run too" Renjun said eyes widening as he noticed the time, grabbing his stuff and running off. They watched with a laugh how Renjun who was usually calm and graceful tripped as he ran out.

"Wait when did Jisung even leave?" Mark asked pointing to the empty seat. "Ungreatful brat" was muttered by Jeno.

"Are you guys secretly hanging out with y/n and lermimg disappearing trick from them?" Haechan asked and Mark and Jeno just gave him a look. "what?"

"Y/n again? I'm telling you you're obsessed" Jeno chuckled and Haechan chocked on his spit as he quickly got up and hurried away from his brothers teasing.

He was on his way to his locker when he spotted you laughing rather fakely to something a very attractive boy was saying. You laugh was a pitch higher than normal and Haechan almost snorted loudly. Almost. And you were most definitely flirting with that guy.

He approached you with a smile from behind, tapping your back and watching with utmost pleasure when you frowned.

"Is that a new laugh y/n weren't you snorting like a pig just today morning" he asked with a cheeky grin and you frowned.

"Shut up and leave" you said throught gritted teeth trying your best to keep calm.

"Oh c'mon I was just kidding" Haechan smiled and was about to wrap his arms around your shoulder when the boy you were talking to stopped him. He glared at the hand stopping his.

"I don't know who you are but you're making y/n uncomfortable so you got to leave" the boy said pushing Haechans hand away and grabbing onto your hand and pulling you away from Haechan.

Haechan stood there shocked at the boys actions for a second before snapping and pulling you back with so much force you fell onto his chest.

He glared daggers at the boy, his eyes threatening him. "Y/n and I have known eachother all I lives and now we've got a project to work on so don't suddenly interfere in the life of someone you know nothing about." Haechan said coldly, venom hidden behind each word of his and he dragged you away.

He was fuming, not realising where he was going until he was at the garden with you.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" He scoffed but you didn't say anything head hung low. He immediately took notice of that.

"Y/n what's wrong?" He asked worried and thats when you looked up at him, eyes tired. "This has to stop" you pleaded and he didn't understand what you were saying.

"You did this back in school too. You were awful to me and hated me but the moment I was with someone other than you you'd make a big deal out of it and end up fighting with that person" you said said, voice breaking and tears glistening your eyes. Haechan was about to defend himself when you spoke again. "I'm so tired of whatever crap you're pulling Haechan, you were always sending me mixed signals in school and I let you take me for a ride but not again. I liked you but hated you. You made me angry but so happy. You pushed me away only to pull me back and I'm sick of it" the tears now made their way down you face as you cried and Haechan stood there feeling so guilty for making you cry.

"Y/n I'm so sorry I didn't mean to.."

"Of course you didn't mean to" a dry laugh escaped your lips, "but tell me, did you ever like me? Was this just entertainment for you? For when you were bored?" You asked with spite.

And suddenly everytime someone hinted at his weird obsession with you came back to him, "Look I don't hate you... Atleast I think I don't. Not that much I-" You scoffed cutting him off.

"It's either you like me or you don't stop playing with my heart this isn't funny" you said rather calmly but the anger visible in your eyes.

"I don't know...I don't think so" he could hear your heart break and somehow he felt like maybe, he was wrong.

"Then leave please leave" you said agressively wiping away the fresh tears falling down your face. He tried to comfort you but you raised you hand stopping him.

He sighed in defeat and began to walk away, head hung low. He felt bad for making you cry and wanted to see you smile. Just then the thought of you crying in that pretty boys arms crossed his mind and he felt and awful feelin at the pit of his stomach. Jealousy. He was jealous, he wanted to make you happy and he wanted to hold you as you cried, he didn't want you to look at other people lovingly, and he hated the thought of you kissing someone else so he immediately turned to you and grabbing you by your shoulders.

"Look y/n I want to believe I hate you but at the same time I hate when it's not me that makes you happy because I love making you smile, I love making you laugh, I love annoying you." He said eyes serious as you blankly stared at him.

"All I know is whatever is going on in my head, you're at the center of it and you're the only one that can help me figure out what my fixation with you is."

"That's stupid." you mumbled, looking away from his intense gaze and he smiled.

"Nothing's stupid in love and war y/n and right now I don't know if I'm at war with you" he paused and you looked up at him and he smiled at you fondly, "or in love with you."

You looked at him awe struck and he couldn't help but chuckle at how cute you looked, with eyes still shining from all the tears and your face flushed.

"Will you help me figure which one it is?" He asked, his tone hopeful and you thought for a while and nodded as he grinned happily. And you smiled.

"This might just be my own downfall" you started with a frown and then a very small smile made its way to your face, "But atleast then I'll know more than I know now."

Bonus:

"This is stupid he's in love with you" Jeno said with a frown and Haechan pouted as he watched you laugh.

"Ah y/n run away while you can, our hyucks really stupid to even think he hates you" Mark added and if you weren't holding his hand right now Haechan would have punched his brother.

"Oh so this is the infamous y/n" Ten said walking into the room with a smirk on his face and Haechan silently cried inside.

"We really need to leave" he said but you were at your antics again and said "no we don't we have plenty of time don't we" he swears he hates you but at the same time it was impossible to hate you when you smiled at him like that.

"Ohhh is this y/n Donhyuck?" Came his eldest brothers voice and this time Haechan did cry.

"Oh c'mon don't pretend to cry you love me"Taeyong said patting his back and you chuckled.

"No I love Mark" Haechan said glaring at the eldest who only chuckled, "What's with everyone's fixation on Mark?" Jeno asked and Ten rolled his eyes "You just don't see how adorable our Markie is because your Taeyongs pet"

"Hyuck this is your fault the name stuck!" Mark growled and you stood there watching the brothers argue with eachother, amused at their antics.

"Ahh this is what you'll be getting into if you associate with this family" A voice said behind you and you turned around to meet the person who was your senior in high school and the one that stole Tens heart.

"Wouldn't I be lucky if that was the case?" You asked but another voice spoke "Try being stuck babysitting five grown men" you turned to see the person you recognised as Marks partner.

"I will hit you!" Haechan yelled charging at Mark who had run behind Ten who was yelling at Taeyong for help who who was being held down by a sulky Jeno.

You shared a look with the two people beside you as the three of you broke out in laughter.

~~~

Lee brother's- A mini series

Previous Part: Lee Ten

Next part: Series Finale

[oldfritz]

I'm genuinely curious and don't want to start something! Just wanted to ask what you make of the 'Old Fritz might've been asexual' take, I don't know much about him and I feel you're one of the best people to ask esp since you lean towards 'he was probably queer in some way' too

Hey there! So, first off, don’t ever worry about me interpreting you asking me a question as starting something. As much as I love making dumb jokes about the guy, I love nothing more than doing this kind of stuff and defending or explaining my points. There’s two degrees I want to get over the next decade: first my JD and then my MA in Prussian history. I live for this stuff! Always have! Second off, I’m very sorry for not getting to this sooner. Things have been incredibly stressful for me for a variety of different reasons which have made answering your question, until now, rather difficult. Putting this under a cut because, holy shit, it got long!

My personal reasoning for why I think he’s bi (which, correct me if I’m wrong, I’m assuming is what you meant instead of ace and could be a different post entirely since some historians have tried to argue that) stems more to do with some of my lingering questions about the nature of his relationships with certain woman, rather than that of his relationships with men. To me and my modern, queer eye, Fritz’s relationships with men like Hans Hermann von Katte, Francisco Algarotti, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, and (much to my personal vexation) one Monsieur Voltaire are either outright homosexual/homoerotic in nature or very, very easily lend themselves to that interpretation rather than strictly romantic friendships (which Wikipedia does a fairly good overview of and, if you’re coming to me from AmRev perspective, uses Hamilton and Laurens’ relationship as a familiar example). While I’m avoiding those relationships in this ask, I’d be more than happy to elaborate upon one/all of them in a different one. 

Before I go into the big pauses that Fritz’s relationships with Madame von Wreech and Countess Orzelska give me, I want to deny the use of Fritz’s wife as an example of Fritz’s attraction to woman. While this, admittedly, may sound odd, we have ample evidence of how turned off and repulsed Fritz found Elisabeth Christine. Before he had even met her, Fritz was complaining about how she was ‘not very pretty, speaks but little, and acts like a blockhead’ (Asprey, 87) and, later, admitted to Grumbkow his plan to ‘keep my word,...get married, but afterwards it will be a case of that is that, and goodbye, Madame, and fare thee well’ (Jones, 52). For Christ’s sake, the man pitied her knowing how his treatment would leave her as ‘one more unhappy princess in the world’! Which is little consolation when you remember he also referred to her with such romantic terms as ‘this unpleasant creature,’ ‘the abominable object of my desires,’ ‘the person,’ and claimed to have preferred to marry ‘the biggest whore in Berlin’ (Asprey, 87). And while we (fortunately? unfortunately?) know quite a bit about their sex life, Fritz largely regarded it as just another duty - to quote him, ‘I will only have the duty to fuck’ (Ibid, 87). And while Seckendorf heard - first, presumably from Count von der Schulenburg and, later on, Count Friedrich von Wartensleben, a close and intimate friend of the then-crown prince - that Fritz would ‘fuck and refuck’ Elisabeth Christine and that said act occurred in the afternoon, it still was out of a sense of obligation (Bely, 481-2). When reminded that if he wanted more money for frivolities, he’d need to produce an heir, Fritz bemoaned that he ‘cannot sleep with my wife out of desire, and when I do sleep with her, I do it out of duty rather than inclination’ (Clark, 50). All this in accumulation, as well as the myriad of other quotes and incidents I’ve left out, makes one wonder why his relationship with Elisabeth Christine is sometimes used by historians to prove any sort of heterosexual impulse in the man when she’s the woman with the weakest supports for that argument.

That being said, now we get to the women with a more muddled places in his romantic escapades, if you will. What exactly happened between Orzelska and Fritz during his trip with his father to Dresden in 1728? The main source for everything that occurred during this trip is Wilhelmina, who didn’t attend and without anything about this specific incident coming from Fritz or Friedrich Wilhelm I, make it rather hard to use as concrete, irrefutable proof. Now, if her recollections were contemporaneous - like coming from a diary or journal she kept at the time - that would be one thing. But it comes from her memoirs which, while a delightful read 10/10 recommend, are written decades after this trip took place and, memory being a finicky thing, can’t be taken to the bank. All those disclaimers, here’s the story as told by her:

‘One evening...,the King of Poland [note: Augustus II] insensibly led the King of Prussia to a very richly decorated room...The King of Prussia, delighted with what he saw, stopped to contemplate all its beauties, when [all of] a sudden a tapestry was rolled up, which procured him a very novel sight. It was a lovely female in a state of nudity [note: Countess Orzelska, the Polish king’s daughter], carelessly reclined on a couch. Her beauty excelled that of the finest pictures of Venus and the Graces; her body seemed of ivory, whiter than snow, and better shaped than that of the Venus de Medicis at Florence.

...Scarcely had the King cast his eyes on the fair one, than he turned about with indignation; and seeing my brother behind him, he rudely pushed him out of the room, and left it immediately after in a violent irritation against the trickery they had attempted to practice on him. ...In spite of the King’s vigilance, [Frederick] had had time to contemplate the Venus of the closet, who did not cause him so much horror as she had done to his father. (Wilhelmina’s Memoirs, vol. 1, 107-6)

Wilhelmina then goes on to claim Fritz had fallen ‘passionately in love’ with Orzelska and that the illness Fritz experienced upon returning home was simply being lovesick. Pinning the accuracy of this story is incredibly difficult because, again, we have only one source relayed decades after the fact and from two volumes of memoirs known to have inaccuracies. While I, personally, would love if he had had a tryst with Orzelska (who is such a badass in her own right and deserves more recognition than as a footnote in this guy’s story), there’s no one way to say with more than 30% confidence. I am inclined to believe something along these lines happened because if someone told me a story like this, lord knows I wouldn’t forget it for the rest of my life. And, with Wilhelmina being so close with her brother, it lends a bit more credence but as to the actual emotional or physical response Fritz had to it, well, without my time machine, I can’t and don’t want to say.

With Madame Eleonore-Louise von Wreech, things are a little more concrete. For starters, Fritz actually talked about her! In written correspondence that survived! We even have seven letters between the two of them that survived, which is a bigger win! As Blanning says, they’re ‘ardent but light in tone, ironic, almost flippant, and highly stylized’ (Blanning, 58). Their relationship was known to those close with Fritz at the time that Schulenberg felt compelled to visit and warn the crown prince against devoting himself to women because ‘the slight pleasures gained cause a million displeasures.’  Fritz’s response? To tell the poor guy that he may have ‘the gift of continence, but I assure you that I do not’ (Asprey, 83-4). Firtz even went so far as to send a letter to her mother, waxing poetic about Louise’s ‘beauty, her majestic air, her bearing, and her entire department.’ It’s worth noting that Louise eventually broke off the affair due to being bored by how he ‘loved [her] too much and often annoyed [her] with his clumsy love’ (Ibid, 84). Contemporaries, including Friedrich Wilhelm, believed Fritz had impregnated her with a daughter who her ‘cuckolded husband would refuse to recognize’ (Blanning, 58). Blanning is the only source I’ve seen dispute this due to this news coming from Seckendorf, who didn’t reveal how he came about this information; that Fritz and Madame von Wreech’s correspondence doesn’t indicate a physical relationship; and on the fact that she was not pregnant. I haven’t been able to find the birth dates or any sort of records for Louise’s two daughters to figure out where their conception could’ve been in the timeline and if it matches with the likely dates for the affair, but I also don’t have the resources Cambridge would afford Blanning. Either way, while the physical nature of the affair is in dispute, the emotional aspect certainly was there. Especially when taking into consideration the fact that she’s the woman Fritz was likely referring to in the 16 August 1737 letter to Voltaire where he claimed she had taught him how to love (and also inspired him to write poetry, which we shouldn’t be thankful for). Specifically, all these years later, he stated how ‘this little miracle of nature possessed every possible charm, together with good taste and delicacy. She sought to transfer these qualities to me. I succeeded well in love but poorly in poetry. Since that time I have very often been in love and have always been a poet’ (Fritz’s Oeuvres, vol. 21, 96).

All this to say, there’s a bit too much evidence of some degree of opposite-gender attraction in Fritz to completely write off the possibility that he could’ve been bisexual. While it’s undeniable he held a preference for men and that’s whose company he typically enjoyed, I still do find it interesting the two exceptions (one potential and the other with a fair degree of certainty) to this. And, while I would never want his attraction to men be minimized in favor of that to women, it still remains important to note to get the most comprehensive picture of the man.