#katie thinks she's relevant

[chenziee]

Honestly the best writing advice I've ever seen and hold dear to my heart are "said is a valid word" and "just say their name twice I promise it's okay"

[mauesartetc]

Redesigning Helluva Beelzebub

Hoo boy, roll up the sleeves for this one.

The Original

In my review of Helluva Boss 108, I mentioned that Beelzebub's character design put me in mind of how some DeviantArt kid's fursona might look. And... Yeah I stand by that statement. The most likely reason I can figure Viv Medrano wanted her to be dog-like was to make a reference to her Die Young music video, which featured an anthro wolf singing a Kesha song (for context, Kesha herself voiced Beelzebub and co-wrote a song for this episode).

But for those who are unaware, Beelzebub's traditional depiction looks nothing like this.

Really the only visual similarities the Helluva version shares with the Infernal Dictionary version are the insect wings, six limbs, and the crown thingy over the head. (At least I think that's a crown-? Kinda hard to tell on both counts.)

Bee's eyes get somewhat more insectoid later in the episode, but that feels like a cop-out. Wow, her eyes and colors changed. Totally a bug demon, right?

They had the same problem in Hazbin Hotel with Katie Killjoy, who's allegedly supposed to be a praying mantis but barely resembles one, even after her transformation.

I understand the desire for fresh takes on old figures, and taking creative liberties so the new interpretation doesn't feel generic. But the changes should at least make sense. By now it's pretty clear Viv couldn't care less about representing Ars Goetia demons faithfully, as demonstrated with Paimon, Andrealphus, and now Beelzebub. You could slap completely different names on these characters and it wouldn't change a thing. I posted this meme a while back but it's never been more relevant:

On top of that, what reason could there possibly be for the design to be this damn complex? Why did she need so many markings on her face? Why did she need so many layers of hair? Why did she need flowing goo for her hair, tail, and body, each requiring dedicated effects animation?

When it comes to a hand-drawn production, less is more. Any superfluous details on a character just make unnecessary work for the animators.

Anyway, here's what Viv has to say about it.

Alright, I'll admit: The lava lamp bit is a little clever. Basically it works as a regular stomach does, but on demonic steroids. But it wouldn't look so much like Viv's making this up as she goes if we'd seen Bee's stomach performing its intended function in the episode. Let her chow down on a giant piece of food (maybe that cotton candy she's been handing out-?) and swallow it, and let Loona (and the audience) see it dissolving in her transparent belly. As a general rule, if it's not shown or explained in the work itself, it's not canon. Like I've said before, Viv: Elaborate on the nuances in the story you're telling, not on social media.

Also, "Her ears are designed after beehives"? Wh...Wha? Ma'am have you ever seen a beehive.

(Hell, even if you told me the ears were inspired by the generic cartoon beehive we're all familiar with, I wouldn't have guessed. There's a difference between being subtle and being vague.)

I can kinda see it in the overall shape, but that's a very specific design inspiration that wasn't clear at all in the design itself. Same with the "animal trainer" thing: I never would have picked up on that if Viv hadn't pointed it out. If a character design doesn't visually convey all the necessary information, it's not a successful design. Show, don't tell. There's a communication breakdown between what Viv's telling us and what Bee's design shows us.

(It's possible she actually meant "Her ears are designed after honeycombs", but even then, each compartment has a specific pentagonal shape that's not coming across at all here.)

I also find it interesting that Bee and Loona have almost the exact same body type. Of course Viv's pretty infamous for samebody syndrome, but it's actually unnerving how similar these two are.

Might this be a reference to Vortex's "type"? Is this foreshadowing a relationship with Loona? Am I overthinking this? Yeah, probably. Viv's demonstrated a clear preference for tall, skinny body types over the years, so it's safer to assume that's the explanation. It's all aesthetics. It ain't that deep. Occam's Razor and all that.

Finally, Bee how the hell does your shirt work.

The Concept

So at this point it seems most logical to lean into the "bee" thing for the redesign, and scrap all the canine elements. As for the blobby hair and tail... yeeeah let's nix those too. We're going for a streamlined version that's easier to animate. And because I ignored the ringmaster look for my redesign of Asmodeus, it only makes sense to do the same for Bee's animal trainer vibe (what little there is) for the sake of consistency. I know this version of Hell has a circus theme with its highest-ranking demons, but there's never been an in-universe explanation for why that is.

Let's look at actual bees, then. A quick peek at Google has informed me that certain insect species have smaller, "simple" eyes (also known as ocelli), in addition to their compound eyes. In bees, this manifests as a triangular grouping of three beady eyes on top of the head.

In her Helluva Boss episode, Bee's full demon form has three eyes, which could be a reference to this triangular arrangement, plus her regular form has two spots on her forehead in addition to the third eye. So it's possible Viv actually did research for something. Pleasantly surprised on that front.

Next, the body. I've noticed that some folks find Bee's skinny body type refreshing, as the sin of gluttony is too often personified with fatness. And that's fair. That's valid. But consider this:

Imagine any Vivziepop character saying that about a chubby person. Imagine the series sending the message that fat people can be sexy too, and that they have worth outside of their appearance, enough for at least one character to consider them girlfriend material. That they're valued and appreciated regardless of this culture's beauty standards (which we know nothing about since the worldbuilding is as thin and flimsy as tissue paper, but whatever). Imagine if this show finally had a fat female character who wasn't relegated to the background. Don't know about y'all, but that would be refreshing to me. And when you take into account all the fat-shaming of a character who isn't even fat, portraying a fat character as attractive would be a nice change of pace for this show.

Now let's talk about clothing. In the episode, Bee's clothes show off a lot of her body, with a cutout crop top and short shorts. We can take a similar approach for the redesign (something that still shows off her chest, belly, and limbs, in keeping with the extroverted "party girl" persona), but that perhaps includes more queenly elements.

The Redesign

Because this is a redesign, many elements were already in place, but I still had to figure out how this character would look as a bee. Here's where the preliminary sketches came in. Lots of trial and error in this process.

Wrestling with this character's face got a lot easier once I realized I could mold it into a pentagonal shape akin to a honeycomb compartment. It took a few tries, but at last, I had a final sketch.

All that was left to do was test out some color combinations.

I tried a few different approaches, but in the end, this is the version I felt worked best.

I used many of the colors from the original, but pushed the orange much harder since orange is the symbolic color of gluttony as a sin. And overall it gives Bee a nice honey-ish look rather than the generic black and yellow we already see on so many bees in cartoons. I thought the colored outlines on her clothing would add a soft, feminine touch, as well.

And just for kicks, here's a quick sketch of her giant form, inspired by the Infernal Dictionary drawing of Beelzebub.

Conclusion

The canon version of this character exists in the form she does for no reason than to stroke her creator's ego. "Hey guys, remember when I animated that Kesha fan video? Remember how cool that was? Wanna see me foist this unnecessarily-complex character design on other animators while I take a victory lap?" I wouldn't mind so much if Viv animated any of this herself, but she didn't. I could almost excuse this if she had no animation experience and didn't know how much work it requires, but she does. The self-aggrandizing entitlement is just off the charts. But a nonsensical design is leagues better than a stolen one, so... brownie points for that, I guess.

[onesidedradiostatic]

I mean with the race thing. We know that Vox is the kind of guy who wants to always be In With The Public Opinion and stays caught up on the Times, right? That's how he remains relevant. It doesn't necessarily matter what his personal beliefs on the matter are, he'll support whatever wins him more popularity. Kind of like a politician. Which seems like a very interesting idea that I doubt will be explored but he feels like the type who would drop (or pretend to drop) his own prejudices the second he realizes they're not going to get him ahead in the right direction. Vox is all about optics. So maybe he WAS racist but at some point in Hell went ah. Racism is not Cool anymore. From this day onward I am Not Racist.

LMAOOO honestly this is making me think if he had homophobic views too either until he realised "ah shit. I like men" when he laid eyes on alastor or until it wasn't cool anymore, I mean again he did die in the 1950s

also this just makes me think about how he has done nothing about katie killjoy despite being a bi man who controls the tv networks, does he like not care if she's not homophobic towards him specifically

[pluto247]

The Four Mistakes - pt 2

Thinking about doing a part 3...

Katie McCabe x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Injury

It seemed like every step was a chore, even with Katie supporting your entire body weight. You groaned with every step. Katie was basically dragging you, at least that is what you felt was happening as you could barely lift your feet. 

“I know y/n, I know it hurts but we are almost home.” Katie would reassure you, although you were pretty sure she was scared shitless and trying to keep you calm. Fun fact, you were anything but calm. 

The 10 minute walk back to Katie's house felt more like 2 hours with how slow you felt you were walking, but you have to give Katie credit, she can most definitely drag a 60 kg 17 year old like there is no tomorrow. When we did get back to the house, Katie practically threw you in the back seat and jumped in the driver's seat. Driving like a mad woman to the nearest hospital, you took notice of her right hand. It could have been broken, it was swollen with dried and fresh blood flowing down her arm. It seemed as though she hadn’t really taken notice, it was the least of her problems to be fair. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me back there, ya hear?”

“I’ll try my best” you whispered. Gosh, even talking hurt. 

“You’re going to be just fine y/n. Ya gotta be.”

Katie pulled right outside the emergency doors and threw open her door to grab you from the backseat. Once you were safely tucked into her side, the both of you made your way to the entrance of the emergency room. Surprisingly, the emergency room seemed to not be as chaotic as they portray in drama shows. So a nurse was on us the moment we came through the doors. 

“We will take her from here ma’am” she said while getting on my other side, “Tell us everything you know.” 

“Um.. I.. He..” Katie stuttered out, as they transferred me to a gurney and wheeled me away.

“Ma’am, your hand. You are hurt, let me help you.” She said gently grabbing Katies right hand,

Katie recoiled a little bit, hissing at the contact, finally realizing that she in fact was in a great deal of pain. Her pain only became relevant now that you were in the hands of people capable of helping you. 

“Ma’am, do you know who you brought in? Do you know who we can call? Can I please help you? I think you broke your hand” The nurse asked

“Um, she's my kid. I am the one who you would call.” She responded shakily

“Ok, good. Is there anyone we can call for you? You don’t seem to be doing ok.”

Katie thought for a few seconds before fishing out her phone and handing it to the nurse “Uh, yea me best mate. And yea me hand hurts help would be appreciated, if ya wouldn’t mind. Is she gonna be alright? What are they going to do?”

“We will not know until the doctor comes back, but we will let you know as soon as they come back. Now let's go over here and take a look at your hand.” The nurse said while leading Katie back into an examination room. She began to look at the hand in more detail before reaching over to grab some cleaning supplies and clean her knuckles.

“I’m Nancy by the way, what’s your name?” The nurse said after starting to clean Katies wounds.

“My name is Katie, do ya think my hand is broken?”

“Straight to the point I see. Well, we will need an x-ray to say for sure and what kind of treatment would be needed, but I am 80% sure you indeed have a broken hand Katie,”

“Damn, I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. Do I at least get a cool cast?”

“Of course, in any color you want. But let me go and put in for an x-ray and check up on the status of your child. What's her name? Nancy said while standing up

“Her names y/n, y/n McCabe” Katie responded tearfully

*****

A half hour had passed before another person burst through the emergency room doors. 

“I’m looking for Katie McCabe? Where is she?” Viv asked the front desk

“She is just about to come back to the waiting room, looks like she just got her cast done so the nurse will send her your way if you will just have a seat ma’am.” 

Viv nodded and turned around to look for an open chair perfectly positioned to see everything but not be so far away that she couldn’t hear if the nurse called your name. In the middle of her consideration, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her torso. She looked over and saw Katie, so she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. 

“Hey, are you ok?” Viv spoke after a minute

“I don’t know, I will be once I see her. Viv… she was in bad shape… I …” Katie said before being caught by a wave of emotion. 

“Hey. Look at me, she is going to be fine. She’s a McCabe, you all are a stubborn lot. Now lets sit down and tell me what happened”

*****

Katie was currently tucked into Vivs side, her leg bouncing in anticipation, impatiently waiting for the doctor to say your name. 

“So, why did you have them call me instead of Caitlin?” Viv wondered out loud 

“Well, Cait is out with Steph and Kyra. I didn’t want to ruin her night, and ya were the next person I could think of to help me.” Katie confessed. “Where's Beth? Ya guys are attached at the hip.”

“Ah, Steph called like 10 min before I got the phone call. She got invited to hang out with the Aussies.”

“God, that's trouble.”

Finally, your name was called, “Family of y/n McCabe?” 

Katie  and Viv shot up and made their way to the doctor.

“Hi, yea that’s us. Is she ok?” Katie rushed out 

“Yes, y/n is alright. If you follow me, we will go back and see her. She is a little out of it because we gave her some strong pain meds, just a warning.” They said while walking down the corridor. They walked past a few more doors until the doctor turned left and went through the door.

“y/n, how are you feeling?” The doctor greeted you.

As they walked in the room, Katie was finally able to see you. You were sitting up and looking at the door with a dopey look on your face. She took note of all the physical injuries she could see, you had a black eye, a few stitches around your eyebrow and a cut adorning your lip. As well as a bandage around your right hand. 

“I’m okayyyy. The funky juice ya gave me is makin me feel fuzy, but its all goooood becuz ya brought me Mum. Oh! And Auntie Viv!”

The doctor chuckled a little bit, “Mhmm, I sure did. They are gonna take you home soon, I just need to tell your mum a few things, is that alright?”

You looked flabbergasted, “pfffttt, of course. She already knows everything about meee”

“Alright, so I am sure you can see most of the damage. She has a few stitches in her face and quite a few in her hand. We have it covered so that nothing gets into her… incisions. You will have to come back to get all the stitches removed in about 2 weeks. We checked her torso area, and found that she has no broken bones, she did however have a few fractured ribs and severe bruising. That is the reason for the strong pain meds. I imagine she will be in quite a bit of pain for about a week or so because of that. Any questions?”

“Um, is there a way I can get you to send both my report and hers to our work? And I can take her back home tonight?” 

“Yea, that shouldn’t be a problem. Just need a medical release so that we can send those over and those can be there by the morning. Yes, you can take her home tonight. We don’t need to keep her for observation, but if anything changes please do come back and we can take a look.” 

“Ok, thank you very much.” Katie replied and then turned to you. “Hey kid, ya really gave me a scare there.” She continued, gently cupping your cheek.

“I’m sowry, I didn’t mean to” You replied looking tearful

“Hey, no. It’s alright, I… I just hated to see you like that, but you are alright now. Auntie Viv is going to take us home” She softly smiled before leaning in and placing a light kiss on your forehead. You leaned into her touch, closing your eyes briefly. 

*****

You all had arrived home far too late for Katie’s pleasure. It was nearing 3 am when you stumbled through the front door.

“Hey, careful there kid. Lets not have to go back to the hospital, alright?” Katie said, worry laced in her voice

“I am like sooo careful, ya don’t even know. Now where is the boi??? I am in need of cuddles” You retort back, head swiveling in search of cooper. 

Viv chuckled, as she grabbed your arm and pulled you into her side “God, she’s so high.”

“C’mon, we need to go to bed. Ya can sleep in my bed with cooper too.”

“Yayyyyy, now where is he??? And what about auntie Viv, where is she going to sleep?” you say, determined and confused.

Katie turned to Viv, “I actually did not think of that. We have practice tomorrow… Ya can sleep over obviously, I think Cait said something about spending the night at Stephs”

“Yea, that would be great. I can drive you both in tomorrow, you will have to talk to Jonas and the Physio. I can do that if it would make it easier.” Viv said while practically dragging you to Katie's bedroom.

“That would be great, I don’t know if I could talk about it again without breaking down. Would you mind taking us later, so everyone is on the pitch already, I don’t want the kid to be overwhelmed.”

“Yea, I will text Jonas now. I am in no shape to train tomorrow either, I am so tired.”

Viv helped you lay down in the middle of the bed, where you were now picking up cooper from where he was and placing him on your chest. Your quest of finding your furry friend now over. 

As Viv was sending a message to Jonas, Katie got into the bed and pulled the covers up. Cooper moving off y/n’s chest and onto her own. You however, were sad that cooper had left you so you moved to your side and cuddled into Katies side sighing contently as Katie wrapped an arm around you protectively. When Viv had turned around, she chuckled.

“May I join the cuddle pile?” 

“Of course, auntie Viv. Come on my other side, so that I am a sandwich!”

“What kind of sandwich?” Viv asked as she got into the bed, spooning you

“A love sandwich, silly” you said tiredly.

 “My bad, now go to bed kid, you have a long day tomorrow.” Viv said as she felt herself being claimed by the warmth of sleep. 

[lovingperfectionsblog]

Not Like Us

Charles Leclerc x Reader

Request:

Helloo! Could I maybe request a fic where charles is dating a reader who is like medium sized and the fans are like being really mean to her and she overhears comments in the paddock about how he could get with any model etc and he notices she's starting to eat less and he's worried abt her etc . also, I really love your work!

Summary: The development of an eating disorder after you realize Charles wants something you aren’t.

Warnings: TW!!!! EATING DISORDER! Angst, fatphobia, language.

Word Count: 3927

Authors note: I really hope I have done this request justice <3 This is always such a delicate subject and I need anyone and everyone to know, if you even think you could be going down this road, please seek help! Your body needs to be strong and healthy and that is all that matters. It does not matter what you look like, it will never matter what you look like, you just need to be healthy, whatever that could possibly look like for you in your each and individual circumstance! And Mental health is one of the biggest factors of that!! Your value and worth will never ever ever be linked to your weight or how you look. If this is where you are currently, where you are headed or you know someone in this situation, pleas be kind, please be gentle and please please please get help my sweets <3 There is also nothing wrong with slimmer people either! Every body type is different and healthy in their own ways, so please just, the point is to love and respect yourself always because then you do the same for others <3 I hope you enjoy this.

_____

“You know you deserve better Charles, come on, stop playing this stupid little game, she isn’t like us, god, the least she could do is lose some weight to stop embarrassing you so much”

It must have looked so odd, you flat against the side of the motorhome, seemingly eavesdropping on the conversation that was happening behind it, a sinister undertone to it all, and you didn’t mean to eavesdrop, normally trusting Charles completely, except, this time, the girl with him was absolutely sinister. This was Katie and she had wanted Charles for longer than you’d even known him, and she was exactly what you’d expect a woman dating one of the world most eligible bachelors would be, beautiful, rich, one of those go getters, you know the kind, the one’s more than happy to step over whoever they needed in order to get what she wanted, and most relevant to this exact conversation, she was so terrifyingly skinny. The kind of skinny you always told yourself you didn’t admire, that you would never do that to yourself because who would ever want to give up everything good just to look like that?

But the deeper, darker truth was, that you did, that you would. No matter how much you tried to deny it, you so desperately wished you could look like her and that you could have her self-discipline. But you didn’t, and so you just, were so much bigger than she was.

You’d never ever thought of yourself as that much bigger than girls like her, you knew you were bigger, but God, not that much? You were what you’d considered a normal, healthy woman? Maybe you were just wrong. Maybe you had an over inflated ego? Maybe she was wrong? Maybe she was just insecure?

“I know”

Did, did Charles just agree with her?

You couldn’t stand there anymore, you had to go. You felt the heat from the embarrassment creep up your neck and onto your face. It was hot, too hot, you had to go.

He agreed.

You moved through the paddock quickly, head ducked low, thankful that this was Charles’ home race, thankful you had your home to run to in order to escape the embarrassment. No. This wasn’t embarrassment, this was, devastation. This was your heart being ripped out of your chest by your boyfriend. The man you loved, who you adored, the man you thought adored you. He had told you enough times that he had. Was he just lying? Had he been lying to you the entire time?

Your throat suddenly felt tight, the lump forming too quickly, tears threatening to start spilling. God why were there so many people here. You ignored everyone as you near ran out of the paddock. Fumbling with your pass as your hands shook.

He agreed.

As you managed to make it onto the streets you knew too well, the streets of your home, making your way mindlessly towards your flat, your mind wandered back to the conversation between Charles and the woman you now knew you hated. She had called you fat, she had called you different, he had called you an embarrassment and he had agreed. You could almost picture his face as she said those words, twisting in disgusting, and then you pictured hers, a smirk as she heard him agree with her, and this replayed over and over again, all the way to your flat, and you willed yourself not to cry.

You had just made it inside your flat before you couldn’t hold it in anymore, you slammed the door shut and had your forehead pressed to the cool wood and the floodgates had opened. You wept. Every fear you didn’t even realize you had come true in a two-sentence conversation you happened to overhear.

HE FUCKING AGREED WITH HER!

You weren’t even sure who you were angry with? Him? Maybe, for agreeing with that woman, the woman he knows wants him all to herself or maybe her? How dare she fucking say that about you, to your boyfriend no less? And he didn’t even defend you?

Or with yourself, because here, all alone, maybe you could admit that they were right.

_____

Katie had caught Charles by surprise, dragging him behind the motorhome before he could even begin to struggle against her, not that it would have been all that much of a struggle, considering she weighed about nothing. Charles didn’t mean to judge her, it was a sense a pride for him that he never thought badly about people no matter what they weighed from an aesthetics point, but her, God, she was so unnaturally skinny, and he had no idea how she even survived day to day? How did she hold her own? Charles never thought he had a type, but lord knows he now knew he loved strong women, women with some meat on their bones, women who he knew could take care of themselves and that were healthy, women like his girlfriend.

In the time Charles had all of these thoughts run through his head, Katie had begun talking to him, and by the time he paid attention he had only caught the tail end of her self-righteous monologue.  

“You know you deserve better Charles, come on, stop playing this stupid little game, she isn’t like us, god, the least she could do is lose some weight to stop embarrassing you so much”

“I know”

He hated the smug look that had crept up onto her face and he couldn’t wait to see it be wiped off in just a moment.

“So then, please explain why you are still with her”She looked like she had won some sort of prize, and Charles hated her for it. He hated that she looked down on you because you weighed more than her, despite the fact that he knew that she wasn’t healthy, he knew from some of his other friends the lengths Katie had gone in order to stay this skinny, and he knew this was definitely an eating disorder.

He hated how she looked down at you and he pitied her for how she hated herself.

“Because you’re right, she isn’t like you and that is the exact reason I love her. She is one of the most phenomenal women I have ever had the privilege of meeting and I will fight tooth and nail to keep her in my life Katie. Jesus, you are so focused on what people fucking look like and it is fucking pathetic at this point. And for the record, Y/n, she is strong and healthy and loves herself and lord knows when she has my children, God willing, she is going to teach my children to love themselves relentlessly and I just can’t believe I am trying to justify my girlfriends looks to you at the moment. I’m done Katie, stay away from me, stay away from Y/n, and please, genuinely, as someone who just cares, please get help, because you’ve lost too much” Charles felt the heat from his rage creep up onto his face as he stormed away from Katie, ignoring her protests and the insults she flung at him, wanting nothing more than to find you and worship every single inch of your body, not caring that he was technically at work, but he needed to ground himself and if that involved the two of you hiding in an abandoned office as he did so, well, he will take what he can get.

He looked for ages before he finally opted to try and phone you, the call being declined almost instantly and a message coming through not long after that.

“Felt sick, went home, good luck for the race” It was all he had gotten from you. He had tried two more times, each being declined as the worry grew in his chest, messaging you that he loved you and hoped you felt better soon, and he’d come by after the race.

There was no reply.

_____

It had been one year since that day, and you were quite literally a different person by this point. You hated to admit it, but you had thrived off of the new comments about your body, ignoring the more concerned ones that littered through the comments on social media, focusing only on those built you up.

“Oh my god look how good she’s looking”

“Charles must be so much happier now that she’s lost all that weight”

“Well done girlie!!!!! You look so much better with all that weight off”

It was comments like that that had made it all absolutely worth it, and Lord knows it had been difficult. Gym twice a day, minimum and majorly restricted eating was tough, but you had done it. You’d finally fit into clothing all those other girls could and you felt so much better looking in the mirror, although, you knew you had a few more kilos to lose, this was an amazing start, and the look on katies face made it even better, because now suddenly you were equals, equally as pretty, equally as disciplined and now equally as skinny, actually, you think you might be even smaller than her now.

What was truly great though, the thing that really made all of this worth it, was whenever Charles would look at you, whenever you got undressed in front him, which you were doing more and more frequently the more and more you lost, his eyes would rake over your figure, his fingers would drag along your skin, you loved the feeling of when he tapped against the bones in your hips, the sound of skin against bone and you knew he loved it.

You weren’t an embarrassment anymore.

You knew he now fully loved you.

And so, you promised yourself you wouldn’t stop, not yet, you needed to be smaller, because if you were smaller, then you weren’t an embarrassment and if you weren’t an embarrassment then Charles would love you.

You would love you.

_____

“Lunch” Lorenzo plopped down next to you, placing the salad in front of you, his own pasta dish in front of him, shoving Arthurs across the table. The two boys immediately tucked into their lunch with their eyes avoiding you while you sat, pushing a strawberry around as you gathered up the courage to eat.

You had already had your allotted calories for the day, Charles insisting on foods that you’d hadn’t had in months for breakfast, and you had felt sick since then. You’d resigned yourself to not eating this salad. Lorenzo and Arthur wouldn’t question you, they were happy that you’d lost the weight too, they were happy for Charles, they were happy for you. They wanted you to lose more. They would understand. They would encourage it.

Yes. Okay, it was decided. You weren’t eating lunch. If you were remembering correctly, you were allowed to have something small this evening and then you wouldn’t be eating until tomorrow afternoon again.

No salad now.

“You not eating?” Arthur asked through a mouth full of food, glancing between you, the salad and Lorenzo.

“Oh no, I ate this morning” you shot him a smile, they’d understand. They’d encourage it.

“Yeah, that’s breakfast, this is lunch?” Lorenzo shot Arthur a look as you laughed, although it sounded more forced than the natural laugh they were used to hearing. Both Charles and Lorenzo had spoken to him about this, nearly trained him on how to talk to you about food and eating, knowing they had to do this delicately lest they do any more damage than had already been done.

“I’ll eat later, don’t worry little Leclerc, I’m gonna go to the bathroom” you kissed Arthur on the head as you made your way around the table and they watched you, like a hawk as you left, neither forgetting the day you had stumbled because you were so dizzy. You put it down to getting up to quickly. They knew it was because you hadn’t eaten in nearly 2 days.

“What the fuck was that?” Lorenzo whispered towards Arthur, ready to climb into his little brother who sat before him, mouth full and eyes wide.

“Isn’t she getting better?” Arthur genuinely thought he had heard Lorenzo and Charles discussion how you had gotten better, he truly thought it was a harmless comment.

“No, we were talking about how she ISN’T getting better, and we may need to get her admitted so she CAN get better you tit!” Lorenzo hated having to deal with this situation, hated constantly having to keep his eye on you and your eating habits and report back to Charles, but he didn’t hate it because it was a burden, he hated it because the situation had gotten this bad at all. The entire family had grown to love you, God, you were family at this point, both Arthur and Lorenzo having sat for hours with Charles going through ring options for the one he was going to eventually propose to you with, but that had all been put on hold as the fear of losing you before that could even happen had gripped the entire family, and if it had a hold on all of them, it had a vice grip on Charles.

“I’ve got to go chat with Charles, just, stay here with her, don’t talk about food or weight or just, talk about, the race, that’s it, that’s all you’re allowed to talk about, the race, I’ll come get you two when I’m done” Arthur nodded as Lorenzo got up and left him there waiting for you.

Arthur hated that this is what your relationship had become with him, planned conversation because you hadn’t even realised you’d gotten so sick, you two used to have so much fun, your inside jokes had even disappeared, your sickness overshadowed everything, and he felt bad for being angry with you about that. He knew you were sick, he had it explained to him enough times to get it, but he was still angry. He was angry that he couldn’t just be himself with you anymore. He was angry that every single little thing had to be planned just because you might get worse. He hated that this had driven his brother into a hole of anxiety at the fear that he might lose you, not because you broke up or anything but because you were withering away to nothing.

He hated that you were willingly killing yourself. Did they not make you happy? Did they not make you feel loved? Were they not enough to stick around for?

_____

“Didn’t touch her salad, said she’d-“ Lorenzo stopped as soon as his eyes landed on Pierre in Charles drivers’ room.

“He knows, it’s okay” Charles urged his brother on, desperately hoping that they had managed to get you to eat today, because if they hadn’t, the Charles was going to make the executive decision to get a psychologist to admit you.

“Kind of hard to miss” Pierre didn’t mean for it to sound so rude, but everyone knew what was going on, well, everyone but you it seemed. He was thankful Charles had spoken to him about it first, because if he didn’t, Pierre was going to have to start the awkward conversation with his best friend about the fact that the woman he loved was killing herself, and now that Charles had looped him in on what was going on, it meant there was more he could do to help.

“She didn’t touch her lunch?” Charles had pushed off the wall he was previously leaning on, making his was to the centre of the room to have this discussion with his brother.

“She said she’d eat supper, said she’d eaten breakfast, didn’t want to push her” Lorenzo could feel the fear radiating off of his brother as silence settled between the three men in the driver’s room, both Lorenzo and Pierre waiting for Charles to decide what he was going to do from here on, both knowing that he’d given the deadline till today before he got professionals involved.

What they didn’t expect was the reaction that Charles had given.

The silence was shattered as Charles threw what they could only assume was his phone against the wall, and then there he stood, mouth wide, a scream ripping through the room, face red and a ragged breath was all that followed after a few moments.

The entire garage had gone silent, Lorenzo popping his head out the door just to reassure everyone that Charles was okay. Pierre’s head dropping, staring at the floor, making sure he stayed to help Charles, but making sure he still gave him his privacy.

“I’ll call the psychologist tomorrow” it was all he could get out.

What else was there to say? They had tried. He had tried, but he couldn’t stand there and watch you waste away anymore and clearly what he was doing just wasn’t enough.  

“I’ll talk to her tonight, and I’ll call the psychologist tomorrow” he wasn’t sure who he was telling this plan to, Pierre and Lorenzo or himself.

“It’s for the best” Pierre tried to reassure his friend, oddly grateful that you’d actually be getting the help you need. Finally.

“I know” Why did Charles feel so scared then? Why was he dreading this so much?

_____

“What do you want for supper” Charles was throwing out a hail Mary, praying that you would give him something.

“Oh, I ate a big lunch, don’t stress about me my love, want me to make you something though?” you wished you had felt bad about lying to him, but it had gotten so easy. You had justified it that you didn’t want to bother him with all of this, he could just reap the rewards of it.

“You didn’t though” this was it. He was going to talk to you about this. It was now or never.

“Of course I did baby-“

“Lorenzo told me you didn’t” were you seriously just lying to him?

“Why do you sound upset?” Charles could do nothing other than stare at you, wide eyed.

“Why do I sound upset? WHY DO I SOUND UPSET? MY GIRLFRIEND! THE WOMAN I PLAN ON MARRYING IS STARVING HERSELF TO DEATH” he knew shouting wasn’t the right thing to do, but he had already exhausted every other option,

“I’m calling a psychologist tomorrow” just rip the band aid off.

“What do you mean you’re calling the psychologist tomorrow?” he couldn’t do this to you. Everything you had worked so hard for. He couldn’t do this when this is what he wanted.

“You need help Y/n, you need help and I have tried everything, and it is not working, I don’t know what else to do” he couldn’t look you in the eye, not with how betrayed you looked, “I can’t lose you”.

“Charles! This is what you wanted!” how had he suddenly just changed his mind? How had he just dismissed all the work you had done?

“What I wanted? What the fuck have I done to make you think I could have ever wanted this? I am here, worried out of my mind that you are going to die because you have lost so much weight and you think this is what I wanted? You are the woman I love, you were strong, you were healthy, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen AND YOU HAVE BEEN KILLING YOURSELF!” what had he done, how had he fucked up this badly, “What did I do to ever make you feel less, how do I fix this, please, fuck, I need to fix this!”

“Katie”

“What the fuck does Katie have to do with this? She’s been out of our lives for the last year?”

“Yeah, about a year ago, I heard you two talking, and she said I was embarrassing you and you deserved better, and I wasn’t one of you guys and I was fat and then you said ‘I know’” the memory was still so vivid, for both of you.

“How long did you stick around for that conversation?” Shit, this might have been his fault.

“I left as soon as I heard you say you agreed with her” you had to sit down, a combination of not eating and the stress of this conversation getting too much for you.

“Okay, so you completely missed me telling her that I know that you’re different from her and that’s why I love you and think you’re beautiful? You missed me telling her to fuck off and stay the hell away from me and you? You missed all of that, chose not to talk to me about it and then decide to literally kill yourself via starvation?” he watched as the realization dawned on you, he watched your face drop, and he thought he would feel better once you had finally gotten it, but he didn’t he still felt sick, he was still scared, “I just want you back.”

“Charles, please, I didn’t realize, I’m sorry” you weren’t sure if you were sorry though, you liked how this all had made you feel and you knew he knew it too.

“Okay, then I’m calling the psychologist tomorrow and you’ll get help”

“Charles-“

“No, that’s the only option here” he was going to throw up, “I can’t sit here and watch you wither away”

“What do you mean?” you felt bile rise up into your throat, surely he couldn’t be insinuating,

“You either are going to go and get help or I have to leave” This isn’t how he wanted things to go, this was cruel, and he knew it, but if this is what it took, then he’ll be the bad guy, he would happily be the bad guy, you could hate him till he died for all he cared, all that mattered was that you got better.

The silence went on for too long, he was so sure you would choose him, but suddenly that confidence started to waver, the longer you sat staring at the table, the less he was sure you would choose him.

“I’m scared” you whispered out.

“You aren’t going to be doing this alone, I’m here, and as long as you’re fighting, so am I, please, my love, please, I can’t watch you do this to yourself, not anymore” Charles was one more ‘please’ away from getting on his knees and begging.

“Call them” he let out a breath was didn’t even know he was holding, making his way to you, needing to hold you, thanking every god out there that he hadn’t lost you just yet.

“Thank you, thank you baby, I love you” and for the first time he let himself cry, the relief and fear both coursing through him and this was the outlet, he knew you were still there, the you he had fallen in love with, the confident you, the you he knew that loved yourself, he placed a kiss to the top of your head as you both stayed silent, the evident battle ahead of you becoming more and more real the longer you sat there, but before you both started on that journey you sat there, in silence, thankful for the love that existed in this space, the love that was brave enough to do whatever it took to make sure you got better.

“Thank you for still loving you”

_____

Taglist:

ricsaigaslec

amulhermaisfelizdomundo

miniminescapist

0-atmilk-latte

d0ntjudgemy50shades

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

“The cooking show genre is overly saturated” I agree and she doesn’t offer anything different. Two separate examples come to mind. The former Mrs. Billy Joel aka Katie Lee also got her start due to who she was married but she also lacked experience and authenticity and that quickly fizzled. It took her a long time to build up her credibility but she did eventually get there. Recently Pamela Anderson has been in the press for going au natural, embracing her age and really looking amazing and being authentic. She just announced a cookbook (and had pictures to share bc it was done) with the same air of authenticity that she has been slowly building up to. Social media feedback has been positive and I think she will do well. I guess long story short is time and authenticity go a long way!

It's what a lot of us have been saying all along: authenticity has been Meghan's problem from Day 1.

If Meghan was authentic and truly herself all this time, she would actually be quite likeable and a much more relatable Duchess for a lot of people to admire in some way, shape, or form.

But that didn't happen so now when Meghan tries to be authentic (like with ARO/Roop and the cooking show), it comes off as hollow. As equally hollow as every other version she tried to be.

I have no problem with Meghan wanting to do this cooking show. I hope it works out for her. But if it's true being a foodie is all she's wanted since 2014, then why isn't this the first thing she pitched and worked on after Megxit? But it isn't. She spent 4 years dicking around being Diana 2.0 first. So now all of her "this is all I've ever wanted" PR supporting the new cooking show rings hollow, inauthentic, and desperate. Because we can tell it's not all she's wanted, it's just a last-ditch grab for relevance.

[crooked-wasteland]

Hazbin Hotel Live Blog: Overture

. While I am being kind to the show as it is, I cannot push out of my mind the fact that this is still Vivienne Medrano, and while this seems to be an interesting direction the series is considering to take the story, I am lacking any intrigue. Medrano has a knack for interesting ideas, but once executed are often trimmed down from all nuance and then played in the most straight forward and storybook fashion.

Evil existed before and separate from Lucifer

Eve is linked to the root of evil through the animation

Dichotomy of Lilith and Lucifer

Why does Heaven think Hell will rise up?

Charlie is reading the storybook to herself. Aloud. And the reason is because she’s like a child seeking comfort. Also Charlie’s delivery of “Pretty worked up” is just feeling off. Like isn’t this supposed to be a somber moment? Why is it delivered so chipper? The pilot had her crying and singing a lamentation. Downgrade.

Info dump dialogue

“This kingdom was something she really cared about.”

Vaggie’s voice is such a downgrade. She sounds so uninterested.

“Daddy issues by fixing you” So alastor knows about Charlie’s family situation already.

The lineart around Alastor is so distracting. It’s so bizarrely thick.

I wish there was no dialogue

Her dad calls her but she is supposed to have a strained relationship.

I feel like Medrano doesn’t know what Angel Dust is. As in the actual drug. PCP is not Cocaine.

That was the worst segue into a song I ever saw.

“If you dont mind the smell, it’s a happy day in hell.” I hate this line.

Vaggie just never sounds right, does she? Her singing is so nasal dominate it doesn’t sound like her throaty modal voice.

What was the contract? What did it say? Why even have Charlie sign anything if we have no concept of what that is? It is such a rip off from Ariel’s contract in the Little Mermaid that it feels more like an Easter egg than relevant to the story actively being told. You need to show why the actions happening are taking place, you cant just do things and expect us to pick up the pieces for you. Are you trying to get across that Heaven is full of bureaucracy and paperwork? There is no receptionist and no other person in the building until she signs ONE paper. You failed at portraying an overabundance of bureaucratic red tape and it is distracting and infuriating. All I see are the better DISNEY MOVIES that were clearly just plagiarized. Not an homage, not inspired. Plagiarized.

Lucifer calls Charlie to meet Adam. Adam says he knows. So this doesn’t feel like this is Charlie filling in, the way the dialogue is written is that it was specifically planned for Charlie to meet Adam.

Everything has a gradient.

I bet $15 that the Dickmaster portion of Adam’s dialogue was Alex Brightman’s improv. I was not impressed by his Kaiju Dick improv in Oops and this is just as flaccid. Pun intended.

There is a clear discccrepency in talent between Alex and Erika. He has such a smoother voice and range while Erika feels like a Disney understudy where every delivery is pretty much identical to the last. Like the songs themselves are not doing her any favors. They range from bad to mediocre, and even in the better songs, there is always one horrifically bad lyric that just ruins the entire experience.

I like Lute. She feels like Peridot.

RIP Katie Killjoy.

Nifty is cute. The joke for her had a lot of potential of being hilarious but didn’t meet my threshold of comedy due to lacking a feel for Nifty. Imagine if she was in every scene with Vaggie talking her head off and never shutting up. Then when Vaggie is like, “If anyone can sell this hotel, it’s Nifty.” And we had this foundation that Nifty is known for being a huge chatterbox only to then be dead silent when the camera is on her. It would have been hilarious. But we see her once and she has one singular line previous. So it just feels like a cheap visual gag.

As a musical, it is lackluster. I see that Evil is something separate from Lucifer and something he dislikes. Lucifer is said to see free will as a spring of creativity, but humans used it to suck and that killed Lucifer’s love of life. In the meantime, Lilith is empowered by Hell. Hell fuels her sense of freedom, which she spreads through her “songs”. Only for her to just vanish I guess. She just hopes out without a word, Charlie says she must be doing something important over the last 7 years, but no inclination on what important things Lilith would be doing. Additionally, Lilith is said to have loved Hell, like Charlie. So it sets up this idea that Lucifer dislikes Hell or even hates it, while Lilith revels in it. Alluding to their marriage falling apart from this dissonance. At the same time, Lucifer calls Charlie to meet with Heaven, despite the pilot being canon. So we get the impression that Charlie and Lucifer had a falling out (“Maybe dad was right.”) but she doesn’t have much more than surprise at her father calling. Then he just sets up this meeting for her to meet with Adam off screen entirely. It is unclear how this was conveyed, but Lucifer doesn’t believe in Charlie and her meeting Adam has nothing at all to do with her hotel.

But the way Adam talks about the meeting is unusual in that it gives the impression that it wasn’t about Charlie “filling in”, but that this whole meeting was specifically set for Charlie and Adam. This is compounded by how the ending reads like they didn’t know if the angel was dead until that moment. So the extermination being moved up has nothing to do with the angel’s death. Maybe I’m wrong, but this all feels really disjointed.

But Lute really is just Peridot. So much so that when asked what I liked about the episode, I literally said “Peridot”, not Lute. The one good aspect of this episode is another stolen concept from a better show with a more competent creator. But I also like Alex Brightman’s singing. He is very talented and he does elevate the material by really playing with his delivery, but it’s still at best Mid due to the weak lyrics,

3/10

[jockmewalking]

main tag needs to see my old TDI swap edit + Alejandro n Sierra

OLD Labels for most of these bitches under the cut:

Izzy -> Sadie: The Crazy Brainiac

Bridgette -> Eva: The Short-Tempered Surfer

Courtney -> Lindsay: The Fashion Designer

Katie -> Cody: The ‘Lovesick’ Fool

Sadie -> Justin: The Commercial Star

Ezekiel -> Bridgette: No label (rip). Basically a chill and amiable fisherman

Beth -> Izzy: The Freaky Farmgirl

Maddy/Cody -> Sierra: The Movie Geek (this label is relevant since she gets introduced in Action and joins the season…)

Gwen -> Alejandro: no label thought of before, but I think ‘The Glam Goth’ works

Trent -> Beth: The Boyscout

Noah -> Courtney: The School President/The Meticulous Mastermind

Owen -> Tyler: The Clumsy Comedian

Justin -> Gwen: The Moody Model

Eva -> Katie: The Strong Heart Of The Team

Leshawna -> Noah: The Sassy Slacker

Lindsay -> Leshawna: The Competitive Cheerleader

Heather -> Izzy: The Overzealous Oddball

Geoff -> Heather: The Snobby Socialite

Harold -> Geoff: The Party DJ

Tyler -> Duncan: The Daredevil

Duncan -> Dj: The Punk With A Heart Of Gold

DJ -> Ezekiel: The Animal Whisperer

Alejandro -> Owen: The Friendly Food Critic

Sierra -> Trent: The Pop-Singer Wannabe

[anamoon63]

The other reason of Tyron and Candice's marriage falling apart is Ty's obsession with this young fan of him, Katie O'Dourke. Tyron's brothers have advised or rather begged him to stay away from Katie until he's divorced in order to avoid problems with Katie's father, university professor Liam O'Dourke, who doesn't sim to like Tyron at all. It doesn't help that Katie is also bewitched with Ty.

All that remains is to pray Candice grants Ty the divorce quick, cause, for Katie's parents, if Tyron is really interested in Katie, he'll have to propose to her and marry her before starting any kind of relationship. I don't think getting a divorce is the problem, since Candice is more urgent about it than Tyron is, the real issue is going to be the fight over Brandi's legal custody.

Disclaimer: Katie's pic posted above is from when she and Tyron first met as he delivered a sing-a-gram from her parents. Katie was a teen then, but shortly after she became a young adult, so nothing illegal here. Note and possible spoiler: The Katie affair is not even the tip of the iceberg of problems that await Tyron, clearly not the wisest of the Cho Brothers. 🙄

So, these are the most relevant events occurred in Hidden Springs since Dale and Kelly left for college for their last term. I thought I should update you on what's happened to Tyron, the older of The Cho Brothers and the other people in his life. Talking about side stories 😉

[theonlyren]

Ryme City Gengar

This is Kati

She's my Gengar partner.

DISCLAIMER: The following is my account of how I came to own my Gengar, Kati. It is a true story, however, I have falsified names and omitted the direct address of relevant parties in this story for their “protection.” Please do not seek these people out or harass them. They are not worth your time or energy. This is not a happy tale, especially if you like Ghost-types, are a Hex Maniac, or have a shred of common decency. Now, without further ado.

Consider the Gastly.

Gastly is one of the most well-documented, well-known, common ghost types across the regions. It’s in Oak’s original Pokedex and even shows up in Laventon’s old field journals. Its body is 95% gas, and it’s one of the lightest known pokemon in the world, to the point where a stiff wind will make the thing vanish (it’ll re-materialize later just fine, though). The remaining 5% of it is somewhat less clear. It could be argued that this 5% is undoubtedly what gives the Pokemon its Ghost typing. Some believe it is the souls of those its gas has killed, others believe it’s the ghostly essence of graveyard grievances, or forlorn memories of departed people or places.

All Kati remembers is waking up in front of the grave of a girl named Catherine.

I was backpacking through Galar at the time, I had the clothes on my back, the spares in my pack, some few thousand Pokedollars, basic Pokemon care and healing supplies, a phone, and my Eevee and Zorua, Vivi and Aka, respectively. I was looking for a place to crash for the night and wound up at a village in the southern edge of the region. Extremely quaint, very lovely, and I ran into the residents of a very old chateau, whose family had lived there for generations. They were trust fund kids, basically. The husband, who we’ll call John Doe, lived in the estate with his wife, Jane, his parents - his father being the local (and, if you’ve been following my Chatotter, a certain) reverend - and his grandparents. I met John and Jane at the town's only pub, and they were utter sweethearts; to this day, I still wish them well and the best for them. Upon telling them I was the son of Pokemon Rangers, and an Arceist, they asked if I could help them with an issue they’ve been having at the chapel.

Now, to a normal person, this probably would’ve set off every red flag in the universe. Supposedly rich family is inquiring about an outsider for “help”? Boi they’re about to steal your Pokemon and lock you in the basement. Turns out, something being locked in the basement was the issue. I initially declined, but then John made an offer to pay me a… moderately life changing amount of Pokedollars, provided I could solve the issue, which- er, piqued my curiosity enough to at least humor the couple. I figured I had Aka with me, and if things become sketchy he could use a clever illusion to help bail me outta there.

This village I went to was absurdly secluded, they hardly ever received tourists or travelers. The local authorities were in the back-pocket of John’s parents, which he was quick to explain as he led me to the estate. Once we arrived, he played me off as a guest of his wife’s side of the family, and I was introduced to this man’s elders.

I know the saying goes to respect your elders, but one look at this man’s family told me everything I needed to know about why John trusted an outsider with this. These were the most miserable, leery-eyed, snobbish, conservative-ass, “only polite because I have to be” motherfuckers I have ever had the discomfort of meeting and breaking bread with. The bread was the only good thing about their dinner as well, come to think of it, with unseasoned vegetables, beans, and… ok, the shepherd’s pie was alright, but still.

Later that night, John led me out as if to politely escort me off, but detoured around the back of the mansion to the village’s church, where we went through a cellar entrance.

And that’s where I would meet Kati for the first time.

As he opened the door, I saw paper talismans on the interior side. Cleanse tags. Prayer tags. The like. They dotted the stairwell down, to a locked door, which my escort unlocked to reveal a room, lined - wall-to-wall - with tags. And sitting, suspended in a cage, also laced with these tags, was a Gastly.

Cleanse Tags have long been a staple item for the traveling trainer, useful in helping ward off unwanted wild encounters, if a little uncomfortable for most pokemon to hold. A ghost type can handle holding one for the sake of their trainer.

An entire basement lined with them is torture of the highest order. Especially for a ghost.

This Gastly was well and truly trapped. Being locked in stasis inside a Pokeball would’ve been a kinder fate. Everywhere in this room that she could look, she saw searing wards and condemning reminders that told her in no uncertain terms that she was an unwelcome monster. She could not escape this place, the talismans well and truly suppressed any and all ghost energy she could even try and muster. No phasing, no vanishing, no shrinking or morphing, nothing.

John wanted her freed.

I was quick to agree.

It was clear the man was wrestling with the idea of freeing her for a while, and, when I pressed him about why the poor thing was locked away in the first place, he explained that the Gastly had been locked down here for generations, his late great-(great?)-grandfather had apparently caught the thing at the local graveyard, “communing with Giratina,” if you believe such malarky. So his family took it upon themselves to “catch” the ghost and seal her away in their church to cleanse or contain the sin within her, to the point where it’s become an obsession for the family, and they’ve never known peace since. So it was, she remained down there for something to the effect of over eighty years. 

At least three generations of Does is apparently what it took before one realized “hmm, maybe this Gastly down here is fine???”

So of course because things had to be dramatic, we heard the upper cellar door open the moment I tore enough tags off the cage to get the Gastly out. John told me to get my Zorua out and hide as he’d go distract whoever it was. I did so and told Aka to blend us into the wall. John went up, tried to tell his father the Gastly had escaped, and when he angrily came down to verify, well.

The Gastly didn’t like seeing the old man’s face.

She gassed my face to break free and immediately went for the old-timer. The illusion broke and I now had an angered reverend cursing my name, breaking every rule of engagement, since “the next coming of Giratina” was on the line as he threw his entire fuckin’ team at me. A “prize” furfrou, a machop, and a houndour. 

Trying to remember the fight as best I can, Vivi was strong enough to take out the Houndour, but the Machop made quick work of Aka. My new Gastly friend managed to poison the Machop in turn, but a bite from the Houndour nearly took her out instantly. Vivi weakened the Furfrou and Machop with a quick Swift, but, well, at the time my two team members were both weak to fighting, so the Machop was quick to take him out as well.

It was at that point I discovered the Gastly knew will-o-wisp as it cursed the Machop with its flames, taking it out, and I had an idea.

It was time to run from a trainer battle.

I kicked the Houndour in the face (sorry pup!) and told Gastly to set the remaining tags on fire. With the ones I had already desecrated, she had strength enough to set the room ablaze, which freaked out the reverend father and his pokemon enough that I was able to throw an empty pokeball at the Gastly to “catch” her, lob her out of the cellar as she struggled to break out, and get the absolute hell out of there.

John was waiting in a car outside. An extra broken-and-lobbed pokeball later to get the Gastly away from the reverend, we were driving from the estate and I had a very angry Gastly I was trying to calm down in the backseat of a speeding vehicle. It took a while, but she calmed down when it became clear we were tearing her away from that awful place.

John dropped me off at a graveyard, presumably (and, I would later find, purposefully) the best spot he thought to release the Gastly, - cliche, I know, - he wired me the money, and sped off. The Gastly tore itself free from me, and hovered at one particular grave. It was an old headstone, weathered and faint, but I could just barely make out the name “Catherine” on it. I sat near her as she stared at it. And we stayed there for a while; long time. Appropriately, I think we left at about midnight, when I offered her one more Pokeball and the chance to travel with me, safely, and see the world she was locked away from. Gave her the name “Kati” then and there, both as a shortening of her old name, and because it translates to “Pure.”

We beat feet from that village and never looked back. 

My backpacking journey was a lot more comfortable after that, I’ll say that much. Dude gave me bank.

But, here we are, me and the reverend, locked in something of an awkward stalemate where if either of us try and report what happened, we have to inadvertently confess to crimes we ourselves committed. Pokémon Abuse for the Does. And uh, Arson and Pokémon A&B for me. Trainer Disengagement too, but that’s a misdemeanor more ‘n anything. The fact that both of us have a decent amount of influence, should things get legal, doesn’t help either. Haven’t been back in or extradited to Galar since, and it’s basically been something like a 10 year cold case, so I’m not too concerned about this actually biting me in the ass, but the Reverend Father Doe sure is getting spicy with me on Chatotter.

He can rot for all I care.

Kati’s mine.

And she can burn through any holy tag you throw at her, now.

[chenziee]

There have been many posts like this but my two cents for people coming here from twitter and who've never used this hell site (affectionate):

Reblog content, likes or replies don't do anything to spread the posts because there is no algorithm for your dash (THANK GOD)

You can make as many sideblogs as you want if you want to separate your interest so your followers from the hello kitty fandom aren't subjected gore and body horror (this is entirely up to you tho, there are both the people who throw all their posts on one blog and the people who have 4729 hyper-specific blogs)

Use tags for your ORIGINAL posts to show up in searches

You can also use tags to help organise your blog (you can search by said tag on blogs) and so people can filter them if they need to (ESPECIALLY triggers and spoilers - for these, try to use a generaly accepted tag and not something unique to you to make other people's lives easier)

Also put compliments and just ramble in tags if you want, overwhelming majority of creators read them and they make them stupid happy

On desktop, @new-xkit-extension is your best friend

Pornbots are tumblr's "looking for a part time job?" and they're a part of the package. Just report, block, and ignore

You can hide your likes and who you follow from people visiting your blog in user settings

You can also manage filtering, set if you want to see "sensitive" content (marked with community labels), notifications, if you want people to see if you're online, manage your blocklist and a bunch of other stuff in user settings - I recommend you take the time and look through everything in there

There is no spoiler/blur image option but you can use the read more/keep reading function (on mobile, just put :readmore: on its own line)

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part thirteen: "The First Time He Walked You Home"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: Matt invites you out to Josie’s shortly after the night you both met and then he offers to walk you home.

Or

You assume Matt invites you on a date and become disappointed when you realize you've been friend-zoned.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 2.7k

a/n: This one is a flashback, friends!! Just so you're not confused when you read it! It could be read as the second installment to this whole thing (which is what I'd intended but I wasn't sure at the time if I liked it but then later posted it anyway). This one becomes relevant in the next installment piece "The Time Matt Got Jealous" which is why it comes right before! And you can find all of the installments for this series on tumblr here.

It had only taken Matt four days to call you after your Monday night encounter at Josie’s. You'd easily gotten along with his friends when he'd introduced you to them as they finished their game of pool. Foggy had been friendly and was constantly throwing out jokes, and you'd especially hit it off with Karen, who had given you some useful advice on the story you'd been stuck on that night. Needless to say, because of her help you'd made headway on your investigation this week to Ellison's chagrin, but even he had to admit you were on to something. 

Before you'd gone home from Josie’s that Monday evening though, Matt had asked for your number–which had momentarily baffled you beyond words. And then you were further delighted when he'd called you only days later as you'd been finishing up for the evening at The Bulletin, getting ready to go home and relax for the weekend. Katy had hovered beside your desk, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she tried to listen into the phone call while you repeatedly swatted her away. 

You had been giddy and excited on your way to Josie’s, heading straight there after you'd finished at the office. You still couldn't believe your luck at managing to capture Matt’s interest with your terrible flirting skills and in spite of how awkward you had been the other night. But then the smile had fallen flat off your face the moment you stepped into Josie’s, classic rock and the smell of must and mold hitting you, when you saw Matt sitting at a table not alone, but with Karen, Foggy, and a pretty blonde draped over Foggy’s arm. You immediately felt ridiculous for thinking this was some sort of date. 

And why would it be? You’d probably stuffed your foot in your own mouth more times than a contortionist generally did in an evening that night, so why the hell would someone like Matthew Murdock actually want to go on a date with you? 

For a moment you contemplated turning and exiting the bar, your heart rate increasing as another thought struck you. Maybe he hadn’t even meant to call you? Maybe he’d confused you for someone else he’d met recently, someone vastly more articulate and normal ?

You didn't have long to mope though because Foggy had spotted you and animatedly waved you over, loudly calling your name with a massive grin on his face. You'd had to swiftly plaster a smile onto your own face to mask the way your heart had sunk to the sticky bar floor. 

Despite your growing disappointment at your misinterpretation of whatever your relationship with Matt was, you'd enjoyed your evening having a few beers with the group of friends and only moderately managed to embarrass yourself. You'd even really clicked with Marci, Foggy’s girlfriend. Though you still blushed and occasionally made a stuttering ass of yourself whenever Matt directly acknowledged you.

And then the night had gotten a bit later and you'd not had a chance to eat dinner, so you'd finished your beer and told everyone you needed to head home. Which was precisely when Matt decided to slide his chair back across the floor and shoot you a charming smile that not only confused you but had your heart hammering in your own ears.

"Let me walk you home," he offered.

You nearly died on the spot. That sounded equal parts wonderful and terrible.

"Oh, uh, you really don't have to, Matt," you answered quickly.

He was already reaching for his cane on the table as his dark brows raised behind his glasses. "Would you prefer to walk home alone this late at night?" he countered. 

"It's not like I haven't walked home at night before," you pointed out. "And I don't want to make you leave just because I am."

"Would you feel differently if I said I truly don't mind?" he asked.

Your cheeks were burning when you realized the group at the table had gone completely silent, currently focused on the exchange between you and Matt.

"Besides," he added with a shrug, "I invited you out, I'd like to make sure you get back safe."

You fidgeted on the spot, fiddling with the strap of your purse across your chest. "Alright," you hesitantly agreed, nerves rising at the prospect of the few blocks of uninterrupted alone time you were about to have with him. And for some reason as he rose to his feet, unfolding his cane, your brain decided for you to throw out what could possibly be the worst attempt at a nervous joke ever made. "As long as you're not about to brutally murder me in a back alley and then chop me to bits and scatter me around the dumpsters of Hell's Kitchen."

Matt abruptly paused, freezing entirely with his lips parted and his brows furrowing together as they dipped low behind the red lenses, his cane only half unfolded in his hands. Karen snickered loudly behind a hand at the table, seemingly sharing a look with Foggy across from her. 

"That was…disturbing and oddly specific," Matt said when he recovered, finishing unfolding his cane. "Is that a common fear of yours?" he teased.

"I…watched a lot of true crime this week," you admitted awkwardly. "And I think the four beers on an empty stomach disintegrated that filter between my brain and my mouth,” you added, gesturing towards your mouth as you spoke. “I said I was awkward, right? I thought I made that abundantly clear. Or did you just invite the wrong girl out tonight?" you half-joked.

Foggy let out a low whistle at the table as Marci and Karen openly laughed, though their amusement seemed directed particularly at Matt and not you. 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Matt asked, the charming smile not faltering on his face as he crossed the few steps towards you, cane tapping lightly along the floor.

You shrugged a shoulder. "I figured with your terrible pickup lines the other night that you probably have a lot of womens' numbers in your phone. You might have mistook me for one of the less socially awkward ones," you answered, truthfully only half-teasing.

Foggy was covering his laugh behind a hand, but the loud snort he let out had caught your attention and you glanced his way. When you caught his eye he called out, "He does get a lot of numbers, but I have never seen someone call him out on it like that." He gave you a thumbs-up, still openly laughing. "You're officially my favorite now."

"Well, I can assure you," Matt began, your attention returning to him, "I meant to invite the woman with the unique and charming ability to make any situation highly amusing and uncomfortable in a matter of seconds."

You felt heat rise to your cheeks at his words, your attention dropping to your feet as your stomach twisted in your gut. You still weren’t entirely sure what to make of Matt’s interest in you as he exchanged goodbyes with his friends. Did he just want to be friends with you? The awkward chick who amused him–was that it?

When he turned towards you, you sent a wave to the table and a quick ‘bye’ to the group. 

"Don't let Matt murder you!" Foggy called out, his hands cupped around his mouth. "He's got a violent alter ego!"

You snorted a laugh, quickly covering a hand over your mouth at the sound. Karen and Foggy broke into loud laughter at the table, Marci shooting them a confused look as she lightly laughed along with them. Matt grinned and shook his head beside you.

"Ignore them," he told you.

"That sounds exactly like what someone who was going to brutally murder me would say," you teased back. 

Matt laughed, shaking his head again, but he didn't say anymore. 

Soon you were both outside of Josie’s in the chilly April evening walking towards your apartment alone with Matt. You had become very aware of his presence beside you; occasionally your arm would bump against his and you'd apologize. It had happened so many times walking down the first block that he eventually teased you for feeling the need to apologize for walking beside him when he'd asked to walk you home in the first place. 

And then you'd awkwardly apologized again before becoming silent. 

That silence lingered over the pair of you for a half a block; the only sound was Matt’s cane tapping along the pavement and the music pouring out of the bars you passed. Occasionally a few cars would drive past or you’d hear a shout or laugh in the distance. The growing silence was starting to weigh on you though as your mind raced with potential topics that wouldn’t embarrass you. But it was Matt who finally broke the silence.

"You really think I didn't mean to call you?" Matt asked curiously.

Your hands nervously found their way back to the strap of your crossbody bag, your fingers toying with the black material. "Yeah, kind of figured it was a mistake and you just decided to run with it."

You saw him shoot you a look out of your peripheral but you kept your eyes ahead of you as you walked.

"Cause I'm blind?" Matt asked, his tone sounding partially amused and partially serious. "You think I dialed the wrong number?"

Eyes growing wide, you shook your head. "No, that's not–not what I meant!" you quickly stuttered out. "I meant you probably confused my name with someone else's and then were like, too polite to say so. And then just figured it would be amusing to see what other stupid shit I would say tonight to embarrass myself with. I mean, I'm honestly even shocked you asked for my number to begin with the other night," you admitted. 

Matt's head turned towards you as you both walked. "Why?"

You shrugged, your eyes focused on the sidewalk as you moved, too nervous to look at him. "Socializing is not a strong suit for me. I'm not–not great at making good first impressions. Unless I'm doing an interview," you told him. "Which makes no sense because you'd think I’m just overall awkward in all social situations, but no, apparently I can handle interviews," you continued, aware you had begun to ramble but couldn't seem to stop. "Which is probably because having a goal in mind for a conversation sort of…focuses me. Otherwise I feel like there's twenty different trains of thought going on at once up here," you explained, gesturing to your head even though he couldn't see it, "and sometimes that filter doesn't catch everything before something weird or embarrassing comes out." 

You both continued walking, Matt entirely silent again now as you finally fell quiet beside him. Slowly you began to feel like you'd finally made him realize just how awkward and strange you were and now maybe he finally regretted that one drink he asked you so persistently to stay for Monday night. You sighed, grip tightening on your purse strap.

"See? I made this weird," you pointed out. 

Matt chuckled softly, shaking his head. "No, actually. That just was an interesting insight into why your brain probably brought up me murdering you on the way home a bit ago."

You cringed at the reminder. "Can we maybe forget I said that thinking it might have been a funny joke?"

"Only if you tell me if you really think I have bad lines," he quickly countered. 

You shot him a look, one brow raised. "You really want my opinion on your pickup lines?" you asked.

"Yes, enlighten me," he said as a smile spread onto his face. "You're the first woman to complain about them."

You snorted, the sound unflattering as his smile only grew. You blamed that damn handsome smile on his face directed at you for the reason that you suddenly blurted, "No one complains because you're really, really good looking."

Matt chuckled, his brows rising behind his glasses at you as you realized what you'd just said aloud. Groaning, you threw a hand to your face. 

"That came out of my mouth didn't it?" you asked, your voice muffled behind your hand.

"Is there any other place you speak from that I'm unaware of?" he quipped back. 

"I knew letting you walk me home would be a bad idea," you grumbled into your hand. 

"Why?" he asked, tone teasing. "Because you think I'm really, really good looking?"

You ran a hand nervously through your hair, unable to look at him after that admission. You were pretty sure your face was beet red. "My foot is taking permanent residence in my mouth the more time I spend around you."

"That sounds uncomfortable," he replied. 

"You think there's a bus running out here this late that could hit me?" you mused, your eyes scanning the fairly empty street beside you. "Maybe a taxi even? A bicycle? Anything ?"

Matt chuckled, his hand reaching out and lightly grabbing your arm beside him. Your eyes immediately darted down to it, very aware of each of his fingers over the fabric of your cardigan. Gradually, your eyes traveled up to his face, those dark tinted glasses still covering his eyes.

“I meant to call you,” he stated firmly. “Believe it or not, I enjoyed talking with you the other night. And so did Karen and Foggy. We all wanted to see you again.”

Oh. So this was a friendship thing. He liked you as a friend . He enjoyed talking to you as a friend . Same as him spending time with Karen, Foggy, or Marci. His friends .

How stupid were you to think that the flirting and teasing were anything more than just banter between friends? That he would want your number to actually take you on a date? He was a successful, handsome, well-spoken lawyer who’s best friend had just minutes ago admitted that he got a lot of phone numbers. You were just the interesting quirky new friend he’d met who amused him.

You felt your stomach drop at the realization, your hands releasing the strap of your purse as your arms crossed over your chest. Matt’s hand had long released your arm as you both continued walking, but you saw him glance at you.

“You seem like your mood just shifted,” Matt pointed out. “You’re awfully quiet. What twenty different trains of thought are running through your mind?”

You sighed, shaking your head. Your apartment building was thankfully a few buildings over now and you were ready to forget this whole week. 

“Nothing, my building is right here though,” you answered him.

He came to a stop and you did as well. You awkwardly shifted back and forth on your feet across from him, not entirely sure what to say here. You felt a little foolish for thinking he’d felt something more.

“Thanks for uh, walking me back,” you muttered.

"It was my pleasure," he answered with a warm smile.

You frowned in response. Why did he have to be so charming and good-looking? It wasn't fair and it certainly wasn’t helping that stupid crush you were very obviously forming. 

"I uh, guess I'll see you," you said awkwardly. 

"How about next Friday?" he asked quickly. 

Your heart rate increased, your arms tightening around your chest. Was he asking you out? 

"Uh, sure?" you answered hesitantly.

His smile grew at your response. "Great! Foggy, Karen, and I always meet up at Josie’s on Friday nights. Usually around six. Sometimes Marci stops by, too. We'd all love to have you come out again."

Right. Because you were just like his friends. He wasn't going to ask you out. 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

You forced a smile onto your face and tried to sound cheerful when you replied. "Sounds great, I'll stop by if work doesn't hold me up."

And as you both said goodbye, you taking a moment to watch him leave, you told yourself it would be stupid to try to chase after a man like Matthew Murdock. You weren't even sure if you really planned to go back to Josie’s again, even if you enjoyed meeting and spending time with everyone. Because then you'd get to know Matt more, and he seemed like the sort of guy that you'd find yourself spending way too much time pining over. 

And he'd made it pretty clear you were just his friend.

[massivecrownchaos]

I recently got into the Boys of Tommen series, and some of the fans opinion about one of the female characters left me really confused and a little bit sad since I really like her.

I’m talking about Lizzie a character that hasn’t yet a book, so basically we still don’t know her backstory and motivations.

We just know some details of her story, and that she has something going on with another character (Hughie).

With the things that we know about her, and also her relationship with Hughie, I don’t think we can already judge her.

You can be annoyed by her attitude in the book, because she really is sometimes rude and mean and not easy to like.

But even that is tied with her trauma that we still don’t know about.

People are really calling this character names for a situation that is not clear and explained, and personally I don’t think that she and Hughie slept together.

And yes, I have read “Seven sleepless nights” and hers and Hughie short story, in which they sleep together.

But the author said that SSN is not canon and also the other characters scenes were said to be dreams.

In the BOT universe nothing has happened between Hughie and Lizzie, that’s why I don’t understand all the hate both characters are getting.

Let’s wait for their book and see how things play out, Lizzie is confirmed to be Claiming 10 (Hughie’s book) heroine so is almost 99% sure that they are endgame.

He is currently with Katie.

So we just have to wait and see how the writer will handle this situation, and how Lizzie and Hughie are gonna get together.

I just think you can trash on them, the moment we learn for sure that they are sleeping together while Hughie is still with Katie.

In the end a cheating trope never killed anybody guys, let’s all calm down it’s just a book.

And Katie was never such a relevant and interesting character, she doesn’t deserve to be cheated on that’s obvious, but I don’t think people really like and are so attached to her like it seems… they are just using her to hate on Lizzie.

It’s unfair that a female character so complex and interesting like Lizzie has to get all this hate, but I also blame the author who put her in a controversial situation like this one.

Let’s wait for Lizzie/Hughie crumbs in Taming 7, and their book that is supposed to also be releasing this year!!!!

[chaifootsteps]

We know Cherri hasn't been cut since she got a redesign, but I feel like it might be safe to say that she won't be all that relevant since she hasn't appeared in the trailers. Meanwhile, Katie killjoy has most likely been cut

Oh, Cherri's definitely going to show up. But when alI's said and done, I think we'll wish she hadn't.

[justmultifandom]

Kidge winter event

Day 4: Winter Holidays

(This is a Modern AU)

The Christmas holidays: a real break for students with the end of the first quarter. Katie sighed as she placed the large cup of hot black tea on the white saucer. She looked impatiently at the clock: four sixteen in the afternoon, she had been there for almost an hour now. Next to her, on the comfortable sofa with red cushions, her heavy canvas bag was still placed with notebooks and notes from the quarter inside. The beautiful bar door opened and a small bell rang while the sound of heavy rubber boots got closer and closer until it reached her with a wave of petrol and mint perfume. “Sorry for the delay, there was a lot of traffic due to the snow…”: the man smiled sheepishly, taking off his gray hat and red jacket: “I should have sent you a message, I know, it's my fault…” “Don't worry…”: Katie giggled: “The important thing is that you're here, Keith..” He smiled. After the unfortunate events of last year they had stopped seeing or writing to each other, and now they had finally had the courage to talk about it. What had happened between them was just a misunderstanding, a bad joke and a bad mistake. The summer had been hell for both of them. “I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I didn't call you or… just hear from you…”: she sighed, bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip of the hot drink. “I didn't call you either…”: he replied: “We are equal in many aspects…” There was a brief pause in which neither of them could speak. Katie was casting her mind and memories back to the events of the past year, their effects and causes. They had been best friends throughout high school and middle school, and even when he dated Acxa in her junior year, breaking her little heart, she never betrayed their friendship. She had simply pretended nothing had happened; she had moved on with her life and her studies, also finding a kind and willing boyfriend to fill that void in her chest. All it took was some alcohol and a big Christmas party at Lance's house to make them sleep together, cheating on their partners at the same time. “How did Acxa cope?”: she asked, finding any excuse to speak and interrupt that deafening silence. “We argued, of course, but then everything went well…”: he replied, tapping his fingers nervously and slowly on the polished wooden table. “I'm happy…”: she nodded: “James and I broke up…” That had no relevance, however it was right that he knew it too. Apparently he had caught them making out at the party and when Katie returned to the apartment they shared the next morning, the suitcases were already packed and ready by the door while the furniture was bare of all her things. “I've always hated that asshole…”: Keith groaned, “You have no idea how much I wanted to punch him when you told me you were dating…” She bit back a small, amused smile, then cleared her throat. “What do you think we should do now?” She asked, playing with her fingers as he looked up at her for a moment. “What would you like to do?”: he asked in turn. “I don't know, become friends again and bury what happened? I don't think Acxa will be happy to know that I'm your best friend again after what happened…": she shook her head. “Acxa is not the problem, she and I decided to end our relationship a few months ago. Now she's with Veronica..”: he informed her. “OH…”: she squeaked in surprise: “I'm sorry…” “Don't be, we just talked calmly and came to the conclusion that everything was simply not as we had imagined…”: he explained. “And how would you have imagined it?”: she asked, daringly. “With a special person who has always been next to me, but who I was so blind as not to see completely…”: Keith looked at her with a slight smile, devouring her through his eyes. “Are you saying that after years I can be with the person I've always loved?”: she asked, as he moved next to her. "It depends on you…" Katie smiled. All of that was enough. She pulled him down for a kiss.

[agardenandlibrary]

I sometimes reach a point on this site where I remember I'm here to talk about books and mostly I've been reblogging little creachures instead, so here's what I'm currently reading:

Conflict is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman

I think this is rewriting my brain in a good way. I'm only 25% through. Bonus brain melting: she talks about the events in Palestine from 2014. Just. Lots of relevance to current existence.

The Pits by Katy L. Wood

I needed a fun break book to give my brain some wiggle room and this one I got from a Kickstarter with its shiny cover embossing, weird Western with 100% more queer people and people of color, is very nice. They just went through a willy wonka tunnel into the mouth of a giant coyote. Love that for them.