#like I do not want to see straight people shoving two characters together when they had absolutely no interest in ANY

[flowryluv]

MY HUSBAND IS HOME

[lazyalani]

| Xiao × [F!Reader]

| Same old empty feeling

| angst, hurt no comfort, awakening xiao's death issues again, reader just wants him to be happy, character death (reader), xiao does love you, the traveller is clueless and innocent, the traveller gets caught up in your angst, xiao does not like the traveller romantically, go with the flow for the sake of the plot, xiao needs a hug, insecure thoughts, xiao is a bit oblivious, xiao breaks down

| Summary: In which she loved him in every shape despite her insecurities clouding her, and he loved her in every way despite drowning in his.

Alternate Ending

| Genshin Impact Masterlist

| Main Masterlist

Staring at the bottom of your glass,

"Xiao!" You came rushing to your balcony, holding a tray contaning two plates and two bowls.

Xiao, General Alatus, the Conquerer of Demons, an Adeptus, the honorable Yaksha, a protector of Liyue, one with so many titles, but only Xiao to you.

He stands up straight and turns to you from leaning his elbows on the railings. "How many times have I told you to stop running?" He sighs and sits on his cushion, watching you put down your dinners on the table infront of him.

hoping one day you'll make a dream last

You smiled sheepishly. "I couldn't help him, I'm just really happy to see you." You sat down and grabbed your utensils.

"You see me everyday." He murmurs and grabs his as well.

"Every dinner." You correct him. With his duties that come with his numerous titles, it's impossible for him to visit you in the day, as he says.

"You still see me..." He tries to counter.

You shake your head with a smile. "It's fine though, I'm thankful you can even fit me in your 'busy' schedule, oh mighty Adeptus Xiao."

But dreams come slow

He gives you a pointed look and shoves a tofu in his mouth. "Stop that."

You stuck out your tongue at him. "What are you gonna do about it?"

He's fast when he reaches out and takes two out of three of your favorite food on your meal.

You gasp in offence. "Wha-- How dare you! Giving me one of your scary face thingy look you give to my fellow 'mortals' and 'humans' is one thing but taking my food is another!"

He simply continues to eat, ignoring your 'threats'.

and you go so fast

"You! Me! Right here! Right now!"

Xiao doesn't smile or laugh, but he's happy, you think. If people ask you how you knew, it's simple really.

Because he doesn't have those burdened frowns, because his face is lighter when you talk to him like this. When you talk to him as Xiao. When you talk to him as your friend.

When you talk to him with like you're the only people in the world right now.

You see when you close your eyes,

You wall throught the streets of Liyue with a smile, walking excitedly towards the certain shop you've been eyeing.

You opened the door with a ding, the metal, traditional Liyue ornaments clinking together. "Goodmorning, Mrs. Jiaxu." You greet the middle aged jeweler.

"Goodmorning, [Name] dear, how are you?" She greets back, her voice as gentle as ever. You've known her since you were a child, your parents often bringing you here to play with her children.

maybe one day, you'll understand why

"I'm doing fine, umm... could I possibly have my order today? It's fine if you haven't finished it yet though, I'm sorry for the sudden request." You smiled apologetically.

She waves it off, "It's alright, my dear. Infact, your order is almost done, could you wait for a few more minutes?"

You nodded, eager. "Ofcourse!" You answer and she goes out in the back.

You had ordered a custom made bracelet for you and Xiao. You've been friends for 2 years now, and you think it would be cute to get matching bracelets now, working on the designs for almost a week to fit both you and him. It was a hard pick considering Xiao doesn't really fit the cute type or the overly designed one. You had to make it simple, minimal, but also describing him and you. You made yours simple but descriptive too, since he was going to get yours and you were going to get his.

A bracelet exchange, you liked being sentimental at times.

everything you touch surely dies

You and Xiao only meet during your dinner time in these 2 years, him leaving after eating. And to be honest, it's the reason why you had started to eat more, because you make so much food on purpose so he would stay and you could talk more. You didn't really know how you managed to get him to be friends with you, much less come to you to eat dinner everyday, but you couldn't care less either. As long as you get to meet him, everything's fine.

You admit it was a lot of work trying to get him to talk to you, especially to meet you, but it was worth it, afterall. You were glad you somehow have this stubborn, talkative illness around him.

You can't help but admit you've grown to love him too.

But you only need the light when it's burning low,

You can't help but wonder either, could he possibly return the same?

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow,

Your eyes roamed around everything, trying to entertain yourself while waiting.

Liyue really is beautiful, huh, you thought, staring at the beautiful scenery of people talking and laughing through the glass windows. Whether it'd be customers and vendors, children and parents, they were all happy, and with the sight of Liyue's traditional colors and the sky, you couldn't help but think everything was perfect.

Your eyes widened as you unconciously took a step back.

Only know you love her when you let her go

Was it from shock? From what shock? Seeing Xiao roaming in the streets during the day?

Or seeing him with another person?

You know that person, ofcourse, almost everyone does. The Traveller. The famous traveller who has helped so many people, thousand, millions of people.

The overwhelming thoughts and questions clouded your head, deflating your happy figure as you stare at him so casually talking to the traveller, roaming around the streets in broad daylight.

Your heart hurts, for some reason. Were you too clingy for getting upset over seeing him talking to someone else? Maybe, but you couldn't help it. Seeing him talk so casually to someone that isn't you makes your thoughts race against each other.

It hurts. Seeing him talk to someone casually. Seeing him walking in the streets with them. Seeing him eating street food with them. Seeing him keep his gaze on them. Seeing him without his frown and heavy features he usually gives to everyone. Seeing him have his lighter face with someone that isn't you.

Seeing him having the same things he has with you.

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low,

You forced yourself to lower your head, staring at the ground to avoid seeing them.

How would you even compete with them?

You, who's only a normal civillian, citizen of Liyue. You, who can only talk to him about your day and nothing too interesting for him to relate to. You, who can only give him little things. You, who barely even speaks to other people and only gets talkative around him. You, who only has her parents, and the same friends she has from her childhood, no one, nothing new. You, who despite being friends with him for 2 years, can only even see him at dinner.

You, who he only talks to for no longer than 2 hours.

And the Traveller, who's already been declared as a nation's honorary knight. The traveller, who has many connections. The traveller, who's naturally kind and helpful. The traveller, who has this alluring, natural charisma around them. The traveller, who unknowingly draws people in. The traveller who's brave and strong. The traveller, who can tell Xiao more interesting stories with their adventures.

The traveller, who is intelligent and charming.

Only hate the road when you're missing home,

You go home carrying the two boxes containing both of your custom breacelets, and carrying the dejected and unhappy look on your face.

You stare at the green and white boxes on your table, thinking about whether to prepare dinner for both of you or not. But you shake your head and think you would be too petty if you didn't. You shouldn't be mad.

It's not like you're in a relationship with him anyway.

Night came and you cooked dinner for both of you, still cased in the thoughts of earlier and keep pushing away the unhappy thoughts.

You bring the tray over to the balcony, the usual set up of the table, cushions, the fairy lights, the blankets, and extra pillows still around. It's always been that way since you and Xiao came to this routine. You're thankful to have a bigger than normal sized balcony, extending the roof so that rain wouldn't touch anything when it's in weather.

You stared at the dark sky being illuminated by the stars, waiting for Xiao. He loved your balcony, it was high up because you live in an apartment, apart from your parents because of work, and it had a complete, beautiful view of the sky above and liyue below. It's the reason why you specifically chose this one, honestly. You grew to love it more when Xiao said it was his favorite thing in your home.

You keep waiting for him when you notice a piece of paper trying to escape with the wind under your flower pot.

You take the note and immediately feel something bad upon holding it. You already had an idea what it would say.

You just kept hoping it wasn't it.

"I can't come tonight, busy. Sorry, have

a great dinner.

- Xiao"

Only know you love her when you let her go

Unconciously, a continous stream of tears fall down from your eyes as you let go of the note and lean on your hand, covering your eyes and rubbing your forehead.

You think you're being dramatic and sensitive, but the tears and aching won't stop. Why? Was it because you love him? Yes.

Was is because you were afraid of being replaced? Definitely.

For the first time, Xiao couldn't come.

For the first time, seeing each other during dinner isn't enough anymore.

For the first time, everything you shared because an insecurity.

And the thought of him being 'busy' with another person leaves you defeated and crying on the balcony you both love so much.

You were so caged in your thoughts and insecurities that you didn't notice someone coming from behind.

It all happened so fast, so stealthily.

You felt a very short, sharp pang of pain on your nape and you fell on your table, crashing to the ground unconcious.

Never to wake up again.

Staring at the ceiling in the dark,

＝★

Xiao sighs as he walked down the streets with the traveller and Paimon who's running her mouth off again, invisibly awkward.

As Paimon runs over to a food booth, the traveller sighs with him. "So you're telling me, that you approached me, forced yourself to talk and walk with me earlier and now, now, because you didn't know what to give her?"

Xiao sighs again and rubs his neck, feeling a little embarassed. "Didn't know who to ask..."

"So you chose me? Of all people, Xiao." They say, feeling frustrated.

"You have people around you everytime..."

"Bu I don't like like them!"

"...."

The traveller closes their eyes for a second and gives in, knowing this is once in a blue moon. "Fine, fine, but don't blame me if she doesn't like it. I don't know much about these things either."

Xiao only nodded. "Let's hurry." He demands. He wants to give it before midnight, you'll be awake because you always stay up late, but he wants to make it up to you. He knew you probably wouldn't be upset, you're always happy, afterall, but he doesn't want to risk it.

"Hey! You're the one asking for help here!"

Xiao didn't want to ask for help. He swear he didn't at all, but he doesn't know about these type of things. He doesn't know a thing about romance but he isn't stupid to not recognize and acknowledge how happy he is when he is in your presence. He doesn't know if he should call it love but there's no harm in doing so if he wants and needs to be by your side, to listen to your rants, to tolerate your teasing, and have peaceful and comfortable nights with you.

Xiao definitely isn't the type to be affectionate and loving, but who could blame him for wanting and needing the affection of the person who makes him happy. Makes him comfortable, understands him, cares for him, respects his boundaries.

How could he not fall for someone who makes him feel like a worthy person?

How could he not develop such feelings for someone who cares for him like that?

Deep inside, he's always longed for someone's care like this. Deep inside, he's just too afraid of getting hurt and hurting others. Deep inside that unapproachable, brave, strong, and mighty adeptus mask, both the literal and the facade, he just seeks comfort and peace. Physical peace, mental peace, inner peace.

As someone who's been through a lot, Xiao is truly thankful he found you, or rather, you found him.

And he wants to share those lovely thoughts of you to you tonight. So you know how important you are to him. How much happiness you've brought to him, even if he doesn't show it often. He wants to show and share to you the same happiness you taught him. If you would let him.

To be honest, Xiao doesn't know what to do if you don't return his feelings and reject him. Maybe he would cower and stay away, just admiring and protecting you from afar. Or maybe he would remain friends with you and be content with what you want and can give him.

But no matter what your response is, he knows and wants to keep having these feelings for you.

He wants to keep feeling for you.

Because his feelings for you are peaceful and comforting.

He wants this feeling to stay. To keep him at bay when he starts losing it. To keep him from those ugly, drowning thoughts.

So now he stands infront of your apartment, a slightly big box, a gift, the box is colored green, from its body to its lid, in hand, tied with a dark blue ribbon, a white rose symbolizing you slilped into the center along with the ribbon.

However, his feeling of nervousness and excitement were replaced by an unknown dread as he walks closer to your building.

His heart races fast as he sees the flower pots near your side of the cushion broken and almost hanging.

But his heart drops when he sees a hand, your hand, with the makeshift red ring from a yarn on your middle finger you made during dinner a month ago, almost hanging of the balcony beside the pots.

He quickly teleports inside your apartment in panic.

His eyes widened at the sight of your figure before him.

Crashed room, thrashed things, broken plates, bowls, cups, vases, wrecked tables, pierced cushions, sofas, and pillows. The table you onced shared with each broken, spilled food, soup, and drinks with he assumes was supposed to be yours and his dinner.

Your body laying in a pool of your own blood.

same old empty feeling in your heart

He wants to vomit.

His mind in a haze, he's getting dizzy.

He drops the gift.

Everything is spinning, his ears are ringing as he shakily, slowly, carefully moves towards your body, ignoring everything, ignoring your blood seeping into his hands, his feet, his clothes, his everything.

He notices all of the blood came from your nape. He carefully, slowly, shakily carries you inside, leaning his back at the bottom of your couch, hugging your body close.

His eyes are wide, shaking, red, almost bulging out. He keeps releasing heavy, deep, and continous pants, breaths.

He shaky hand brushes your hair from your face, staring at your beautiful face, ignoring your blood that sticked in his hand to your face.

His other hand is still supporting your nape, keeping it still, and covering it, so blood doesn't come out anymore, he thinks.

But then he takes on look at your face again and is hit by an invisible meteor.

You're not breathing.

You're so pale.

You're limp in his arms.

Why?

Oh.

'Cause love comes slow,

Xiao inhales with so much force, letting out a loud noise like he held his breath for a long time.

As air visits his lungs once more, his eyes let outstreams of tears.

He panics and his trembling hand touches your face and hands and feet and---

How did this happen?

When did this happen?

Oh archons,

Why did this happen?

What went wrong? He was supposed to give his gift to you--- his gift. His gift. Where is his gift? He looks around in panic and sees it dropped not too far away.

It was on the ground, the lid was opened and the gift came out.

A diary.

His diary. You told him to write his thoughts and feelings, you said it would help, so he did. So he wanted to confess using his diary. He wanted you to see how much he loved you from his writings.

A sharp pain pricked his brain.

Oh right, he left you alone for hours.

He didn't come to you. Then someone, or people, came in and...

He didn't come and because of that you..

He wasn't there to protect you, and now you're....

Dead?

and it goes so fast

Like his yaksha friends? Like the people he cared about?

Like the people he killed?

He almost screamed at the sharp pain that went throught his heart.

How could he let this happen? How could he let someone precious dies again? How could he not protect you?

It's his fault. It echoes in his mind.

Well, you see her when you fall asleep,

Then he notices something on the table of your couch. There were two boxes and a big note.

"I love you, Xiao. I've loved you for a long time now, I don't want thesd bracelets to be just friendship bracelets, I want these to be a symbol of our feelings, if you'll have me.

- Love, [Name]"

Xiao lets himself break.

But never to touch,

He bawls his eyes out and let out broken noises, his trembling hands touching your face once again, cupping your cheek and kissing your forehead repeatly. He didn't want to let go of you, not yet.

Not ever.

So please don't go. Pleasepleaseplease-

"B-beautiful." He manages to say, forces it out. "Y-you're always beautiful..." He means it, inside out, even if your own blood is now scattered against your face, by his bloodied hands.

and never to keep

Xiao's eyes looses their light once again.

Empty, once again.

Lifeless, once again.

He's so tired, he thinks, he feels.

So he closes his eyes and hopes when he wakes up, you'll be here by his side again, or he'll be at yours.

He wishes he spent more time with you.

He wishes he stayes more than 2 hours.

He wishes he wasn't so caught in his insecurities.

'Cause you loved her too much,

He didn't just see you during dinner, he sees you almost every second, watching you from afar, protecting you, admiring you.

He wishes he wasn't afraid of his own karmic debt.

He wishes he couldn't been stronger to fight away those cowardly thoughts.

He wishes he could've realized everything earlier.

He wishes he wasn't cursed by this chain that binds him to death and loneliness.

He hugs your body as close as it can be, hoping time goes slow. So he could apoogize more. So he could thank you more. So he could say he loves you. So he could feel you more.

So he could hug you for the very last time.

and you dived too deep

[thursdaygxrls]

Seeing Him (‘Seeing Her’ Part Three)

summary — george weasley is very bad at getting a girlfriend.

paring — george weasley x fem!bookworm!reader

disclaimer — i do not own harry potter or its characters.

warnings — i didn’t edit, my bad lol. also i inserted wuthering heights a little too much (by the way you should read wuthering heights)

read part one and part two!

“You are repulsive.” The words left her mouth bitterly as she stared at him, her eyes narrowed.

“Woah!” He exclaimed, his eyes widening, “I’m sorry—it just wasn’t my thing!”

“Frankenstein is everyone’s thing!” She fired back, though, a small grin cracked on her face, “You are a waste of perfectly good eyes, you know that?”

“You like my eyes?” He wiggled his eyebrows, a smirk lighting up on his face.

When George Weasley had taken out the girl he’d long been staring at, a stroll through the book store turned to hours of talking, and one date turned to three. It was so natural, and yet, so odd. A girl who’s presence was only marked by the books she read and a boy who’s troublemaking reputation surpassed that of many fictional characters had somehow found harmony between fantasy and reality. Well, most of the time.

“I meant that your eyes are perfectly capable of seeing and consuming beautiful literature, yet you’re squandering it.” She huffed at him, though, the smile on her lips was obvious.

“Beautiful literature and beautiful ladies,” George spoke, still smirking, “And I’m using up all that eyesight power by staring at you.”

“Horrible boy,” she scoffed, the grin still on her lips.

“Beautiful girl,” George replied, his eyes dancing across her face.

Whatever had bloomed between the two had proved strange to almost every other student at Hogwarts. It wasn't as if people shouted or stared when they saw them walking together in the halls, but there was the occasionally lingering look that said 'huh, I wouldn't have put those two together.' It was especially odd that a known flirt had seemed to retire his previous career. George, who'd always been one to chat up a new girl each week, was now only seen with the same girl day after day. If that hadn't been enough to set off a few social alarms throughout the school, a few students had even seen George reading — and not just dirty magazines.

"Things seem to be getting pretty serious," Fred chuckled as he talked. He and George had just gotten out of detention and were headed through the halls towards the Gryffindor common room.

"I'd say that was rather normal." George shrugged, "Flitwick snored just as much as usual."

"Not detention, you git." Fred couldn't help it when another laugh left his lips, "Things are getting serious with your girl."

"Oh," George shook his head, a smile lighting up on his face, "Yeah, I guess."

"D'you make it official?" Fred nudged him, "Tie the noose around your neck? Connect the ball and chain?"

"Shove off," George groaned, nudging him back with a bit more force.

"Oh, come on, did you?" Fred sighed, relenting his antics for a moment. George looked at him, a sudden frown curling on his lips. He shook his head.

"No." He shrugged as though it didn't matter, "It's only been a couple dates."

"What?" Fred's eyes seemed to widen to the size of planets, "Only a couple dates? I've never seen you this gross and lovesick! She's got you reading those old muggle books for Merlin's sake!"

"I like to read," George spoke, lying straight through his teeth, "I'm a big reader."

"Yeah? And I think hours long Transfiguration lectures are riveting," Fred let out a dry laugh, "Listen, even if I find the puppy-eyes you give her disgusting, it's obvious you're head over arse for her."

Even if George wanted to retaliate, it was true. He walked her to class, insisted on carrying her things for her. He even read Pride and Prejudice to understand a joke she made once. He was enamored with her in a way only dead old ladies like Emily Brontë could describe.

"Yeah, I know," George let out a sigh, "Trust me, I know."

"Don't tell me you're nervous." Fred chuckled, a smile spreading on his lips, "I may be the more attractive twin, but you've still got a nice face on you. Give it a shot, alright?"

George groaned, but as they pushed past the portrait of the fat lady, he couldn't help but feel that Fred was right. Not about being the most attractive, of course; he was right about giving it a shot. And so he planned.

Plan A seemed nearly impossible to screw up. It was simple, really; he'd catch up with her on the way to breakfast like he always did, and ask her to be his girlfriend. No pomp and circumstance, no fanfare, just a quick question and a sweet smile. When the time finally came the next morning, he was so confident in himself that his toes were barely touching the ground. He left the common room with a skip in his step, ready to meet with her near the stairs where they always did. His eyes met hers.

She was lovely. She'd done nothing different; her hair was how it always had been, her smile was the same. Yet, when George saw her, it took all his willpower not keep his jaw from dropping to the ground.

"Ready for breakfast?" She asked, her voice like a serenade in his ears. His face reddened as he nodded, and he knew then that Plan A was impossible.

Plan B was much more exciting, yet, still simple. This time, he made sure that he'd have his words prepared for him so he didn't have to do any talking. Over the weekend, he'd picked up a rather nice copy of Wuthering Heights at the muggle book store in Hogsmeade. She'd been eyeing it for a while; he'd noticed her staring at it while telling him about another book. Along with the book, he wrote her a sweet (albeit grammatically poor and rather cheesy) note that ended with the question 'will you be my girlfriend?' He was going to slip it into the novel before he gave it to her. While walking from Charms to lunch, George couldn't quite contain his smile.

"Hey," he said as they exited the classroom, "I've got a surprise for you." "Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, her eyes glowing with anticipation. Without any further teasing, George slipped the novel out from between his stack of books and handed it to her, a proud grin on his face.

"Merlin!" She exclaimed as she exchanged her things for the book, "George, this is wonderful! I've been wanting to get this copy."

"I know," George spoke, trying not to look too adoring of her as he took her books into his hands, "Flip through, it might have an introduction or something." With a smile, she did as told, thumbing through the pages eagerly. George craned his neck, trying to see if she'd found the note nestled within the pages.

"Find anything good?" He sounded almost smug.

"Yeah," she said excitedly. Looking to George, the smile on her lips only spread wider. This was it. She was smiling, she was happy, she was going to say--

"There's a biographical notice of Ellis and Acton Bell in the front." Her gaze moved back to the book, "I told you about that, right? How the Brontes wrote under male pseudonyms? Well, Emily used Ellis. It looks quite interesting."

"Oh, yeah," George's face fell a bit, but he tried to hide it, "Is there, uh, anything else?"

"There's an editors note, too." She shrugged, but grinned at him, "Thanks, George, this is really incredible."

His mouth opened, the words on the tip of his tongue, when he froze. He'd woken up so excited that when he left his dorm, he'd snatched the book off his desk and ran down to the Great Hall. He'd never put the note in — it was still on his desk.

"No problem," he responded, a bit stunted, as he tried to swallow the frustration he felt with himself, "No problem at all."

Plan C had to work — it had to. The second he returned to his dorm later that afternoon, he threw the note in the trash and got right to work. If there was one thing George knew how to do, it was to go big. He could write out a sign in the sky using fireworks, or maybe hang a banner over the astronomy tower. Maybe a thousand flowers in her dorm would do. A giant cake that he pops out of could work.

As he collected his ideas, he couldn't help but feel that everything he thought of just wasn't right. He went through Plan C, Plan D, Plan E. Eventually, he had to start numbering his plans. As the sun dropped lower outside the castle, a huff left George's lips, catching the attention of Fred, who was laying against his bed, playing with some sort of puzzle contraption.

"What's got your knickers bunched?" Fred chuckled, sitting up to look at his brother.

"Every plan I try doesn't work," George shook his head, "I've been trying to ask her to be my girlfriend for days now."

"Fireworks?" Was Fred's immediate reaction.

"Thought about it. Not sure how much she'd like it." George shrugged in response.

"Oh, come on, everyone likes a bit of dramatics sometimes." Fred moved, sliding his legs off the bed to sit down on the edge.

"Yeah, I know, but this just feels different." George's nose scrunched, "I want to do something personal, y'know?" "Fireworks spelling out her name is personal." A smile crept onto Fred's lips.

"That's not what I mean." George slumped against his desk chair, letting out a dramatic groan. At that, Fred relented with a sigh.

"Did you ever try just asking her?" He asked, cocking his head.

"That was Plan A." George let out a long breath.

"Well, maybe just retry Plan A," Fred suggested with a shrug, "And just don't screw up whatever you screwed up before."

"I didn't screw anything up." George stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Whatever you say." Fred grinned, and with that, he returned his attention to the contraption in his hands.

Retry Plan A. The thought stuck in George's head as he looked down at his desk. He had given up on it fairly quickly. She made him nervous — sure, he could flirt with her, but when it came to fessing up his actual feelings, he was at a loss. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought it over. Looking out the window, the near absence of the sun reminded him that it was time for dinner. She would be at dinner.

Without even a goodbye from Fred, George shot up, scrambling from the dorm, through the common room, and down the stairs. He hastily tried to fix his rushed appearance: he redid a few of the buttons on his shirt and combed his fingers through his hair (the mess was untamable). When he finally made it to the Great Hall, he was nearly out of breath. His eyes scanned the tables for her, and when he finally found her (laughing her head off about something with a boy that George was easily ten times more attractive than, in his opinion), he set off. His steps were heavy and confident, and when he reached her, he sat down right next to her, not even bothering to introduce his presence.

"Oh, hey!" Her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of him, "I was wondering where you've been."

"I'm right here." He grinned at her. Once more, his lips parted, ready to ask her the question. Will you be my girlfriend? Would you mind being my girlfriend? Please, my Queen, I will beg on my hands and knees for you to even consider being my—

"This is my boyfriend, George, the one I was talking about." She smiled kindly at the boy across from her, gesturing to the redhead next to her.

Boyfriend.

George's brain nearly short circuited at the word, his eyes going wide and lips curling into the largest grin anyone had ever seen.

"Boyfriend?" He repeated the word as though he'd just imagined it.

"Oh!" Her face twisted in horror, "I'm sorry, I guess I never really asked. It was an assumption, I guess." Before she could continue her apologies, George grabbed her by the shoulders, trying not to squeeze her to death.

"I have been trying to ask you to ask you to be my girlfriend for a week," He said, the smile never leaving his lips, "I tried to ask you in the morning, but you were too pretty, and then the book I gave you, I wrote this note that I was going to put in it but forgot—” The words rushed from his lips in quick succession, his cheeks rosy enough to match his hair.

"So," She cut him off, a small giggle leaving her lips, "You want to be my boyfriend?"

"For Merlin's sake, yes, yes I do!" He couldn't help the excited laugh that escaped him.

"Could I have my notes back now?" A voice spoke up, causing George to whip his head to its source.

"Oh, sorry Theo." She chuckled as she slid the boy his book, and he nodded, giving a quick wave as he stood and left.

"Well he's grumpy," George mused, turning back to her with the same smile he'd been wearing.

"Oh, that's just Theo." She shrugged, "He's always like that."

"Well, enough about him, we haven't talked about me nearly enough." George's eyes sparkled as he spoke.

"I feel like we talk about you far too much." She laughed back.

"Ah, but being your boyfriend obligates you to talk only about me for about ninety-eight percent of your time," he beamed.

"Does that mean I reserve ninety-eight percent of your thoughts, being your girlfriend and all?" She tilted her head.

"You reserve a lot more than ninety-eight percent of my thoughts, darling," he chuckled. When each of their laughter subsided, they stared at each other for a moment, content but unsure. Tentatively, George reached forward, his hand gently making contact with her cheek.

"So," his voice was a low whisper, "Since I'm your boyfriend, can I kiss you?" An even brighter smile lit up on her face, and she let out another small laugh.

"That can be arranged." She grinned. When George leaned in, so did she, and their lips met in gentle kiss. It was light and sweet, yet the undertone of excitement lingered as they pressed against each other. When they separated, a bit breathless, they gazed at each other a moment more. It was a tender stare that held something strong. Maybe it wasn't love just yet, but it was close. After all, he was seeing her, and she was seeing him.

Taglist — @noncorrected @dreary-daffodils @skivingsnackbox @ironnightnight @quionnia @superduckmilkshake @emilykolchivans @adhdduckie @aree-you-sirius-rn @anotherbookreader10235 @withered-rxse @eyebagsanonymous @wannabe-goblin-king @willowcho25518 @laryfairy @superstaarrs @cillshot @pirate-with-internet-connection @ireallywannasleep127

hope you guys liked the last part!! i’ll probably be doing some more george soon bc he’s 🤭🤭🤭 but besides that i’m working on an enemies to friends to lovers remus fic with a bit of angst and such. also i’m DEF making some sirius stuff soon bc he’s my number 1 🤭🤭

oh and btdubz, i’m gonna make a google thingy for my tag list. everyone who’s currently on it, you’ll still be there, but you can specify what type of content you’d like to read from me. okay, toodles!!

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

Hey it's me again (from Mitsuri/Tanjiro/reader request) can make the reader like Venti from Genshin impact, a free spirit. I think reader would do well with chuuya, Dazai, Sigma and Gogo.

And how are you? Take care and drink plenty of water, have a great weekend.☺️

Venti-Like! GN! Reader

Self-Aware! Chuuya Nakahara x GN! Reader x Self-Aware! Dazai Osamu

Self-Aware! Nikolai Gogol x GN! Reader x Self-Aware! Sigma

Part II

Hello. Here you go, your request. I am fine, thank you for asking. Will drink water and try to have a great weekend.🙂

Warning: OOC. Some changed quotes from Venti. Gogol proposed to you. English is my second language.

🐾 You are an adult, that's for sure. But you are so carefree and playful.

🐾 During their "first" rain in the real world, you offered everyone to go outside and start jumping in puddles and see who can make the biggest splash.

🐾 Only Kenji joined you at first, but, after seeing, how happy you two were, Dazai and Ranpo also joined.

🐾 Kunikida tried to tell you, that four of you are too old for playing under the rain, but you only giggled and said, that you couldn't wait for a winter, so you can have a snowball fight.

🐾 You were working at home. Moreover, you were a freelancer. You said, that you don't like to follow too many rules.

🐾 And your hobbies. You liked hang gliding, for some reason. You also liked singing songs and taking naps

🐾 You were interesting. There was something in you.

🐾 They learned, what were your reasons behind your behavior in a month after they get into your world.

____________

You take a bite out of the apple and look at BSD Cast. They were discussing the future of their organizations. Their future life. As you learned, during their work together, characters managed to become at least good acquaintances, if not friends. Moreover, they were ready to spend their life in real world near you. You were silent during their discussion.

Meanwhile, characters were discussing the possibility of changing organizations. Sigma said, that he wants to be with ADA. He looked at you and asked.

"[Y/N], do you think I should join ADA? I remember, that you were saying, that in Decay of Angels doesn't value me."

You take a breath and answered.

"I... Let me get this straight. I am very happy, that you are in real world right now. I am glad, that you are free. But... I won't tell you, what to do. I won't tell anyone, what to do. If you want to stay with me, I will be happy to let you do this. If you want to live by yourself, I won't stop you. Same with you, Sigma. It should be your choice, not mine."

Everyone was silent. Sigma stands up, looking confused.

"But, when we were in our world, I heard how you said..."

You came closer to Sigma and take his hands into yours.

"Sigma, me not wanting you to listen to the Decay of Angels doesn't mean that you have to listen to me. Freedom, if demanded of you by another person, is really no freedom at all."

You smile and looked at everyone.

"All of you are free to do, what you want. I care about your opinion and your freedom. Choose for yourself."

Cast were quiet. They were touched by your worlds. But four people were really moved by your words.

Sigma was smiling. He looked at you with a soft gaze. He felt so happy, that you don't want to use him.

Dazai was grinning. He was glad, that you won't try to control them. They are really lucky, that you were their Reader.

Chuuya want to be his own person. He doesn't want to be under anyone's control. Your words were like honey to him. He smiled.

Gogol's breathing became heavy, he was looking at you with adoration.

Before anyone can react, Gogol jumped to you and, after almost shoving Sigma out of the way, grabbed your hands. Nikolai looked you right in the eyes.

"Marry me! Right here, right now!"

You managed to say.

"E-he?"

______________

🐾 You manage to convince Gogol, that you are not ready for marriage right now.

🐾 But he still spends almost all his time with you.

🐾 As three other characters.

🐾 Dazai, Chuuya and Sigma are also like to spend their time with you.

🐾 Your Quintet are having fun, pulling pranks on others, handing with each other.

🐾 You five have found each other. You are close, you understand each other.

🐾 Other characters may spend less time with you than Chuuya, Dazai, Sigma and Gogol, but, they also became your friends.

🐾 All of you are happy. You may be childish, but you have a bug heart and you value their freedom.

[harukamitsuki]

Okay... I am currently back on my Voltron bullshit and continuing my rewrite of Voltron. And I'm constantly reminding of HOW MUCH I HATE LANCE.

Don't get me wrong. I am still treating Lance fairly in my fic, making sure he gets screen-time and a proper character acr and stuff.

But by GODS. This man pisses me off so much and that's only made worse by his stans. I was scrolling through Keith's tag here on tumblr. I also have Kl@nce filtered out. I cannot see a single post without at least three pages of scrolling and then it's only ONE POST. AND IT'S STILL KLANCE BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN TAGGED CORRECTLY.

Anyway. Onto the actual things I hate about Lance and not just his fandom.

Lance is a fucking asshole. I mean that on the deepest level. Let's go through it chronologically because I cannot rank it from least to most assholery, because some things are on the same level.

1 - Allura wakes up from the cryopod and Lances catches her. She's confused and dazed and the first thing you should do is ask if she's alright. Oh, but Lance is above that. Instead, he flirts with her. Karma given immediately as she calls his ears hideous and puts him in a submission hold, which is why I kept that scene in my fic, but that was still wrong. I know it was played for comedic effect, but that doesn't make it not canon. It's canonically accurate that if you've awoken from a coma, Lance's first instinct is to flirt with you if you're pretty.

2 - Literally throws Hunk into the middle of a battle. I get that Hunk was supposed to leave the Lion anyway, but just shoving him out when there are lasers everywhere and Hunk has no protection? Yeah. So much for 'best friend'. Add on the fact that Lance never really treats Hunk like a friend. At all.

3 - Okay. Season 1 Lance isn't bad outside of those two examples, even if he has his dumb moments, so let's jump to Season 2. Starting shit with Keith for no reason. People can go 'oh, Keith obviously did something to him at the Garrison' but he DIDN'T. The writers themselves confirmed that Keith did nothing to Lance, he just started shit with Keith all the fucking time. Like accussing Keith of wanting Blue and cutting him off when he tried to explain what was actually happening, even though Lance is the one who was outraged initially that Keith had Red. Or how about Lance getting up in Shiro's face and screaming his head off about how Keith would rather kill people than listen to them, as if he knew Keith at all after bullying him the entire time.

4 - Okay. This one pissed me off the most and is the biggest reason I'm making this post. The fact that Lance used Shiro's death/disappearance against Keith. Keith outwardly expresses his lack of desire to become the leader and accidentally let it slip that Shiro wanted him to do it. To which Lance is all 'convenient that you say that when Shiro's gone'. What. What the fuck. Stans really say that Lance is precious but how the hell are you justifying that? A blind man could see how much Keith loves Shiro, and Lance has the fucking gall the say that Keith is USING his death/disappearance for a position he doesn't want? He didn't even apologise for it. He just told Keith to suck it up later on. This is one of the reasons I hated Lance as the Red Paladin, the others being explained in an earlier post of mine.

5 - Oh, yeah. We're not done. Because after Keith, it's Allura. Allur@nce is probably the worst ship that could have happened, apart from Kl@nce. If you wanted a straight ship, how about what was canon for the past Voltron series? Kallura? Anyway. Yeah, Lance treats Allura like a prize instead of a person. He's posessive in a way that he has no right to be because they were not together. He glares at Matt for flirting with Allura, something he only does once. He gets mad at Lotor and tries to stop them from spending time together, EVEN THOUGH LOTOR IS HELPING ALLURA AND BONDING THROUGH ALTEAN THINGS. HELPING HER KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ALTEAN CULTURE. In Season 8, he literally yells that it should be Lance and Allura?? What a fucking weirdo?? You can't claim that you're destined to be with someone without being together. That's not how healthy relationships work. That's how a stalker's mind works. Lance is constantly flirting with Allura throughout all of Voltron and she never once reciprocated until Season 8 where it's so obvious that Lance is just a rebound but the writers wanna make it so that it's 'true love' and they want Lance to be happier than anyone so they just gift her to him like some sort of trophy. Lance didn't care about loving Allura, he cared about winning her. At least Lotor actually cared for and respected her. I still don't like canon Lotor, but that's mostly because the writers didn't want to deal with gray morality. Cowards.

1 - Honestly the worst example of a leader. It's shown from episode one. Now, there is the argument of learning to become one, but Lance just never learns? He's never facing the consequences of his actions and, if he is lectured, he ignores it. Keith actually takes lessons to heart and tries to improve and he does. If Lance became the Black Paladin, the universe would have been doomed because he can't get over himself for a single moment to even bother listening to anyone else's advice.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons why Lance is an asshole. Now to make the Lance stans really pissed.

Reasons why Lance would have been a terrible leader and could never have been the Black Paladin.

Remember episode one? Remember how the hydraulic stabiliser was out in the simulator and Lance still tried to push on, even though Pidge and Hunk advised him not to? Totally great leadership qualities there. There's nothing better than a leader that refuses to listen to you. 'Oh, but Keith is stubborn and didn't listen--' yes he did. He's stubborn and unrelenting at first, but he eventually realises that they're right.

Remember episode three? Remember when Lance bragged about kicking, which made Voltron fall, then proceeded to try it again and failed again even when Keith advised him not to? Yeah. Lance does not make good decisions and does not listen to any advise. Even from the leader's right hand man.

Remember Season 1 Episode 12? Remember how they were waiting for Shiro and Allura to get back and then Keith saw someone taking quintessence so he decided to follow them? Remember how Lance said no and was ignored but did nothing more to stop Keith? He has no authority and no charisma to keep anyone at bay. Pidge herself mocks Lance for being the pinnacle for leadership. Sarcastically. Because he's far from it.

Pidge doesn't respect Lance as a leader, Keith never would considering Lance treats him like shit, Allura can't take Lance seriously with him hitting on her every ten seconds, and Hunk is always questioning Lance's decisions. If nobody respects you, you cannot be a good leader.

2 - Easily distracted. Yes, it's a very popular headcanon that Lance has ADHD, and I agree with that, but that doesn't make it okay. And he's distracted in the easiest ways. Just shove a pretty girl and he'll instantly get distracted and lead the entire team to doom. Remember Nyma and how easy it was for her to steal the Blue Lion? How he didn't even warn anyone that he was taking her out for a ride because he didn't want anyone contesting his conquest? Yeah.

Don't get me wrong. It's fine to have ADHD or get distracted easily. Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece is a great example of a leader who gets easily distracted, but the second he sets his mind on something, he blocks everything out. Lance just doesn't have the capability to do that, nor do I think he'd be able to learn how to.

3 - Gets jealous really easily. As in. Really fucking easily. He's jealous of Keith from the get-go, starting a one-sided rivalry that he's constantly on the losing side of because Keith doesn't care. He gets jealous of Matt when he flirts a bit with Allura. He gets extremely jealous of Lotor for having actual chemistry with Allura. He's constantly jealous and a good leader is only ever in competition with himself. A good leader will only strive to become better for the sake of the team, not to say that they're better than someone else, much less if they're someone that you are in charge of. It's a horrible trait to have.

Jealousy in and of itself is not a bad thing. It's when that jealousy overrides your logic and controls you, instead of you controlling your jealousy: which Lance struggles with a lot. And getting jealous over anyone who even looks at your crush is a very bad thing to do because you do not own your crush. It's okay to be jealous, but not posessively like Lance is. Not to the extent of trying to scare off any potential suitors.

4 - Nowhere near as skilled as Keith or Shiro. Sure, the writers may claim that he is better, but the proof is in the pudding. Keith and Shiro are fucking unmatched. I've defended Lance's skills in a previous post, but I also said in that post that, while he is skilled, he is nowhere near Shiro or Keith's level. I mean, Shiro was the golden child of the Garrison and set so many records. He was known as the best pilot. Keith beat those records and his flying capabilities are always, always noted. I haven't heard a single character comment on Lance's skills, other than to point out how bad they are. Keith was the only one who could have flew through the astroid field, he was the only one who could fly into the Marmora base which was in a blue star surrounded by two black holes, he was able to fly a Galra jet just by pushing the right buttons and knowing what the do, and he's the one who unlocks the warping abilities of the Black Lion. Shiro was able to connect with the Black Lion far before anyone else, able to see through Black and connect with Black to the point of his soul being saved by her.

Lance hasn't done anything spectacular. And, no. He was not 'done dirty'. He was given almost everything he wanted except the Black Lion. The writers claim he's the best pilot, but have not shown it at all. In my eyes, Keith and Shiro will always be the best.

5 - Selfish. Again. Nothing against being selfish. It's perfectly fine to be selfish, so long as it doesn't actively harm others. But for a leader? You should be as selfless as you can be. The team comes before you. And that's exactly what Lance isn't.

Lance is selfish and that's okay, but it's not leadership material. The whole reason Black rejected him is because he wanted the position out of selfish reasons. When he enters Black, he says 'Come on, Lance. You can do this'. In other words, he wants to pilot her because he wants to prove himself. He wants the acknowledgement. He wants the title of the Black Paladin and leader. Black accepted Keith, both at the start of Season 2 and Season 3, because he piloted her for purely selfless reasons. For Shiro.

Lance wants things for himself. Keith wanted things for Shiro. It was only after Shiro came back, (or so they thought), that Keith started focusing more on himself. Even then, he put everyone else before him. He distanced himself from the team so that Shiro could pilot Black again, and he was constantly risking his life for the Blades.

Lance just... isn't the type. He has put others before himself, but he expect things out of it. He expects a parade and acknowledgement. Nobody knew what Shiro went through to rid Zarkon of his connection to the Black Lion. Nobody knew what Shiro went through in his imprisonment because he doesn't want to burden anyone with that. Nobody knew what Keith went through to save Black and Shiro from Zarkon. Nobody knew what Keith went through when they were all mad at him for missing an attack. Lance doesn't withold that sort of stuff. The only thing he doesn't talk about is his insecurities, which he ends up spilling to the mice and Laika (the Yupper) anyway.

6 - Last one. Promise.

Nothing fucking happened. While Keith was gone, nothing of importance happened surrounding Voltron specifically. There was the Lion mind meld and Lotor joining, but all that served to prove was, with the mind meld, if Keith was there, he would have heard Shiro. And with Lotor joining, all it proved was how immature Lance was.

The second Keith gets back, things start happening again. Lotor gets outed as cruel and manipulative (still an ass-pull, by the way), Shiro gets outed as a clone, and so on. If Lance was leading, they all probably would have died ages ago. I'm talking Season 3 Episode 2, ages ago. Because Lance just isn't cut out for it.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons I hate Lance and why Black Paladin Lance is an awful idea. Screw the people who believe in it. It is awful.

Like I said, this won't affect my treatment of Lance in my rewrite, because I can fix those issues that come up. I don't have an issue with Season 1 Lance, it's later on that gets problematic. I just hate people building Lance up by bashing all the other characters, then claiming that Lance is the most traumatised, sad character when SHIRO AND KEITH ARE RIGHT THERE. NOT TO MENTION ALLURA, WHO LOST HER ENTIRE SPECIES, AND CORAN WHO LOST EVERYONE INCLUDING ALLURA AND NEVER GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO HER.

Fuck. I hate Voltron so much but I can't help but love it.

[mamawasatesttube]

Kon-El questions 3, 7 and 16

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

hmmm. how do i put this. it's like... the way karl kesel treated him as a self-insert for his own teenage fantasy self or whatever sometimes. obviously this comes out in the way he gets preyed on by adult women and this is played off as cool and chill, but it also comes out in the way a) kesel writes his flirting. sometimes it's very endearing and cringefail, and other times he's kissing women without consent, and that's played off as chill and fine because kesel thinks it should be and the women in question almost always are fine with that, but also b) he writes off concerns about indigenous hawaiians in kon's narrative (like silver sword or ...man i'm forgetting that kid who gets jealous of him and has powers about it for a minute, but that narrative). and like. yeah. white man in the 90s wrote this for SURE. i don't think it's like, written in the absolute poorest taste imaginable, because there's a lot of ways where it seems almost like they were trying to be respectful of native hawaiian culture, but then there's shit that's so far off the mark it's like. dude. and it's very evident that it just reflects karl kesel's own views much more than any character in-narrative.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

lmaooo that's a toughie!!!! fanon kon at large is just. straight up not my boy. however there's a subset of fandom who leans into him being genderqueer/gnc/trans a lot more than canon ever has and i looove that. trans kon truthers lets go ♥

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

LORD. tim/ber/kon is the one that makes me roll my eyes hardest, alongside the rarer but no less irksome ber/kon. it's like... this is 100% not about kon as a character. this is about tim. ber/kon is almost funny in that it's entirely about tim but with tim himself cut out of the picture. but tim/ber/kon is just "let's take tim's most popular two fanon love interests and just shove all of them together!" and i have yet to see Anything even remotely try to convince me why kon and bernard should give a shit about each other. like, MAYBE you could sell it as a loooong slow burn, but i just. i don't see it man. putting the rest under a cut bc i AM gonna ramble about why i dislike it, so if you like tim/ber/kon or tim/ber and don't wanna see that, keep scrolling here👍!!

this is also partly bc i just... man i really wanted to like bernard and tim/ber but there's nothing there. i knew i didn't like rebirth tim characterization going in when i read tdr but i was hoping i'd at least find some crumbs. it's all just ... like there's no substance to it. there's no conflict, no character flaws, no "why do they even like each other???", no particular way they seem to help each other grow. it's just tropey "told, not shown" fluff where megfitz insists they are SO in love and perfect for each other, over and over, without backing that up really at all, and it just holds absolutely no appeal to me. and when it's just tim/ber i'm like yeah ok sure it's not my thing but whatever. but when people start trying to shove kon into there i'm like NO!!!!!! sdjkfhkd like im just SO unconvinced and it feels like such a great steaming heap of Nothing.

the main reason that is is that to me a relationship needs to have an arc. it can't just be stagnant. if there's no conflict, if there's no room for growth, if there's no development, it falls apart in my eyes. it doesn't feel like a real story about actual people. and as far as the tim/ber dynamic established in tdr, there's just. nothing. even the fact that bernard apparently somehow knows that tim is robin, which should be a HUGE source of conflict, is completely glossed over. it never comes up in any way.

like, we know that tim wants to tell people, but holds back out of a sense of duty. in robin '93, he agonizes about this with steph. but when bruce tells her his identity without his consent - which steph tells him bruce did immediately - he flips the fuck out!!!! he panics and runs away and he's furious with them both!!! so you'd ostensibly think that bernard knowing, and then not telling him he knows, would be sowing the seeds for an explosive conflict later down the line. especially because bernard now knows that tim is just. lying to him. all the time. shamelessly and blatantly lying through his teeth. and sure, it's for a good cause. right? but you'd think that in a relationship that's only just been established, just for a few months, that would also be offputting!! you'd think he'd start getting more and more unhappy that tim is just constantly lying to him and he knows it!! because he knows it about the robin secret, but what else might tim be lying to him about??? he knows now that tim has no qualms just lying to his face all the goddamn time, and he's... FINE with that???? there's this giant secret they're both dancing around and it's set up that there's just. N O T H I N G done with that. it drives me up the wall. i found this absolutely infuriating to read. both of them just being so one-dimensionally "oh we're in looooove so nothing else matters" that it erodes not only tim's specific characterization but bernard's ability to react like . idk. a human being? it just feels like running into dead end after dead end.

so yeah adding kon into that mix makes me want to tear my hair out bc it just feels SO surface-level. it's like... how much of him are you gonna shave off to fit him into this soulless, conflictless mold? it's like how i get annoyed when tim/kon fics ignore kon being genuinely really upset tim didn't share his identity with the team in yj98, but worse. because identity shit REALLY matters to kon. kon has never dated anyone who didn't know he was superboy. all of his civilian friends in sb11 know he's superboy. like, he does Not get close to people if he can't share that. it would be!!! a source!!! of conflict!!! but i've never seen Any ship content for tim/ber/kon that isn't just either completely declawed fluff that's just oh hehe tim has two boyfriends, or "kon angsting over tim dating someone else uwu" bullshit, which occasionally leads into completely declawed "tim has two boyfriends" fluff. it just does such a disservice to every character involved imo.

[tvfangirladdict]

Rant about all the Bi-Buck Arc hate surfacing.

Made the mistake of scrolling through comments on Instagram surrounding 911 and the cast.

I need to blow off steam, so this is gonna probably start harsh.

While there was so much heartfelt appreciation for Buck's storyline, the negative comments kept stealing my attention. I'm so tired of hearing(reading) that people think the whole show is ruined because two grown men kissed. Like, get the fuck over yourselves already. You don't agree with the relationship, you're just gonna have to deal with it the same we've dealt with Buck and Eddie's half-assed, flat, forced heterosexual relationships for the last 7 years, okay?

They all want to justify their biphobia/homophobia by saying that it's "forced" or it "doesn't make sense," or that they "never saw Buck even hint at it and it's just pandering to fans." Like, bitch, welcome to real life. If you're a real fan of this show, and you watched from the beginning, you know Athena and Michael's marriage ended first thing when he came out as gay. A muscular, "straight", black guy with a wife and two kids who'd been in the closet/denial his whole life, came out to his family, and none of them saw it coming, even if they might have suspected "deep down". This shit happens every day, okay? They're all mad cause "if he was gonna be gay, they should have made him gay from the beginning". Why? So you could form your opinion of him based on who he's attracted to? Why does this bother you so much. You were okay with it when it was Michael and Hen cause you knew from the beginning and they were your token gay characters that you've just learned to "put up with" to appease the rainbow crowd.

And it's not even the ones who are just straight up, like "it's wrong"/"it's a sin"/"it's gross", etc. that bother me the most. It's the "I don't care, you do you, but don't shove it down my throat", people that make me mad. Why is simply witnessing a queer person or relationship "shoving it down your throat"? Y'all realize they exist in real life too, right? Like, personally, I have family, friends, co-workers, bosses, who are all apart of the lgbtq+ community, and I'm from a smaller suburban/rural area of Ohio. Those are just the people in my life who are out. Why is seeing them represented in modern media so bad? This isn't covid, it's not fucking contagious. If it was your brother, your cousin, your best friend, would it be okay then? Both of my brothers have only ever dated women, but if one of them came out and said "hey, I think I might like guys too," I'm not gonna throw a fucking fit and invalidate them by telling them it's not possible because they've only ever dated women. No, I'll thank them for trusting me, and gush to them about boys because I never had a sister to do that with.

Every time I read those comments, all I can think is, you just proved that you're not a safe person to be trusted if someone in your life wants to come out.

Just, how do you give up on an entire show after one kiss? And then claim that you don't have a problem with it? You can't have it both ways. If it didn't matter to you, you wouldn't react so strongly and so negatively to it. 911 and ABC's intention isn't to question your sexuality. You don't have to worry that you're suddenly going to have to kiss Buck too, okay? Chill.

The whole "Buck has only ever slept with women" and "suddenly he's gay" responses are exactly why this storyline is so important. So many people to this day refuse to acknowledge sexualities outside of straight and gay. Why is it always, "made gay"? It doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be both, or neither.

I say this with the experience of having a mom who's still in the "I don't care as long as I don't have to see it" camp. If seeing it upsets you, you've got a problem. If it really doesn't matter and you're cool letting everyone be themselves, seeing two men together should be just as accepted as a man and a women together. Unless you're also saying we need to stop portraying men and women in romantic, sexual relationships together with kissing scenes or more graphic ones, then you can't rule with a double standard. Me and my mom loved watching Teen Wolf together, but any time there was a scene with Danny kissing another guy, she'd get uncomfortable. She even told me once, that she didn't think they should show scenes like that but she wasn't sure why when watching het couples together didn't make her feel the same way.

Safe, sane, and consensual. As long as they follow that, and are happy, why can't you just be happy for them?

If you're old enough to have been following along with this show, you're old enough to know that everyone is different. And life as an adult is about opening yourself up to the outside world and learning about what makes people different. From race to religion to sexuality to nationality and beyond. Your views, beliefs, ideologies, etc, are not the only ones that matter. Getting and giving acceptance goes hand in hand.

I get it to a certain extent. Coming from a different time and all that, but it just means you've had more time to learn. Being stubborn and holding onto what you were brought up in doesn't mean a whole lot to me if you refuse to open your mind up as an adult to look beyond yourself.

Okay, I'm done now. That felt chaotic, but I feel better. If you've made it this far, thanks for coming to my TED talk☺️

[nqmonarch]

Oblivious VS and X Yandere

Was writing the Blade fic part 2 and was like hmmm maybe I should have a conflict of reader being like nooo he can't like me he just wants me to kill him, and because I love him I'll do so (weird view bro but okay)

Obviously decided against that but then I was like, completely oblivious readers... that sounds like it could be funny.

Cause like people are always 'argh! I hate how this character is oblivious just get together with this other character!' but there's a charm in making a character so inhumanely oblivious that I feel like it'd be genuinely funny??? Especially with a yandere so just quick thoughts on that.

TW: Yandere content, attempted murder (implied), stalking, swearing

Reader's EQ is that of a rocks, can be read as Reader also just being really fucking delusional, or can be read as Reader having gone through shit and just choosing to ignore everything that happens in the world in order to cope. Up2u

For the sake of clarity:

Yan will be called Obbie (they/them pronouns)

And your friend is f/n just going to do she/her pronouns for this one because writing like three characters with they/them pronouns can get a bit confusing to read. When I master the skill I'll try it again.

EXTREME Oblivious Reader VS Yandere

A Yandere falling in love with your friend, f/n, isn't too surprising. the more surprising thing being how you still haven't fucking realized it. And you invited said Yandere to lunch with the two of you.

They originally planned to kill you for being so close to f/n but you kept making opportunities for them to get closer to f/n. Hey, they'll take what they can get because f/n avoids them like the plague.

Your friend continued to shoot you glares, as you chilled out, eating a sandwich, and reading webcomics. You let out a small curse at the protagonist's obliviousness, it was obvious that gifts were a declaration of love, at least in the quantity they were being delivered to the protagonist.

You'd never do misunderstand something so obvious. Sure, you've always had trouble understanding some people but people were confusing, hiding their emotions behind masks. You'd at least understand a straight forward gesture like a gift!

Obbie picked up some food on their fork and held it up to f/n's face, a sickeningly sweet smile on their face. She leaned away from the fork slowly, inch by inch. Then--

"They finally kissed!!!" You exclaimed, shoving your phone in your friend's face, "See? I told you." You puffed out your chest, too busy watching her reaction to see the fork slowly move away from her, having been intercepted.

"...Yeah, you told me..." F/n replied back unenthusiastically. You brushed it off as her being upset at being wrong. But you couldn't help shake off the suspicion that something else was wrong. Maybe she was sick?

Mentally, f/n noted never to tell you when the two of you will hang out again so that way you don't bring along any unwanted pests. You were just too welcoming sometimes.

Obbie's eye twitched as they moved the fork down to their plate. They couldn't tell if you were taunting them or just too absorbed in your silly little comic.

At f/n's less than stellar response you declared that you will take her home early. You are worried about her after all, she may be a sore loser but normally she'd lose with grace! You walked your friend home to take care of her, whether she was sick physically or mentally but when you arrive at their door all they say is:

"Don't bring that person to hang out again. Please?"

How could you be so foolish? To make f/n hang out with someone she didn't want to. That was a bit rude, plus you didn't even check with her when you invited Obbie.

Yet Obbie seemed to want to become friends with f/n! You wouldn't force your friend to do anything they didn't want to do. So instead you decided to give Obbie some extra friendship because you feel bad for them and hey, if your friend can't be their friend maybe you could be :)!

So you ended up greeting Obbie whenever you passed by them, texting them good morning and good night, and offering to hang out with them whenever you were free.

Obbie: ??? (Actually kind of scared)

In this way you manage to befriend the Yandere! Nice job you!

Although they keep asking for your friend's whereabouts among other information, you kept true to the age old saying!

"Snitches get stitches!" You smiled, opening and closing the scissors conveniently in your hand.

Obbie: ?! Clearly you were more of a threat than they thought.

This leads to them entering your room at night with the intent of murder!!! Unfortunately for them they bumped into a table, accidentally knocking a book off of it with a crash. You were a light sleeper and woke up with a jolt.

At the sight of Obbie, you relaxed. They would never do anything to hurt you so this meant one of two things. You looked them in their eyes.

"Are you injured, kicked out of your house, or sick and you need someone to shelter or take care of you for whatever reason? Don't worry, my friend... I am here," You spoke valiantly, with your hand on your heart.

"...No?" They were starting to wonder if you were okay mentally, maybe you were insane, or maybe... this was an evil beyond what they imagined!

To not only taunt them by remaining so close to their one true love but to go so far as push it in their face by calling them weak and hanging out with them! Diabolical!

Meanwhile you knew that only left one option, you looked at Obbie pityingly, "Then you must love me..." You would never miss a sign as obvious as this, you were nothing like those oblivious protagonists.

Obbie: What the actual fuck.

"...Are you okay?" They suddenly asked you, wondering if they had more problems on their hand then they originally thought. Maybe... you were a yandere too?

"Yes," You nodded solemnly, as understanding washed over you. Maybe... you could fall in love with Obbie, hadn't the signs always been there? They always tried to spend time with you (and your friend), "I'll be together with you."

They paused before promptly turning around, "Forget about this. I'm leaving."

Meanwhile you remained on your bed, clutching your chest, as 'my heart will go on' from Titanic played in your head.

EXTREME Oblivious Reader X AND VS Yandere

Somehow you finagled your way into a relationship with Obbie. F/n (the person Obbie loves) is beyond concerned for you, especially since you don't seem to have realized... well anything.

Meanwhile Obbie is trying to figure out the reasoning behind this diabolical scheme, you don't seem to like them so that must mean this is only a plot to keep them separated from their one true love forever! Obbie knew it would be too cruel to make f/n date them after they'd broken up with you. So they decided it would just be easier to kill you instead. But for some reason that idea didn't seem too agreeable anymore with them.

Then there was your ass trying to stay on top of everything while simultaneously keeping up with all the web novels and comics you read, a difficult task. On the bright side you had your new partner to rant about them to,

"Ugh, I can't believe Kim Dan is still with that bastard! If I had a man like Kim Dan I'd treat him right, spoil him, buy him gifts, pay off all his debt--" You began to rant, annoyed at the newest chapter of Jinx. You were truly in love with the brown haired mousy man, if he were real you'd keep him safe in the comfort of your arms.

"With what money?" Obbie looked at you mildly annoyed.

"...This is my fantasy okay." You let out a sigh in response.

Obbie didn't even know why they were listening to you, this was really annoying and boring.

Truly the most diabolical torture of all!

You were conniving but you wouldn't be able to beat them... If this was how you wanted to play the game, then fine. They would start small getting on your nerves... then once you were completely defeated they'd end you, taking f/n for themselves in the process.

Unfortunately, this process started after a terrible day. For whatever reason something went wrong at work and it was your job to clean it up. You hadn't even had time for lunch. When you finally returned home from work and logged on to catch up with all your stories, not only had your tabs been closed, but all of your bookmarks removed...

There was no way you could remember all those titles by name, there were over 100. What kind of a glitch was this?! Did you accidentally fuck up your computer somehow? You must've...

You stared at the screen crestfallen for a few moments until you heard footsteps behind you.

You turned behind you, a smile lifting up to your face as Obbie stared back at you a slight smirk on their face, "Something wrong?" They asked.

"Nope! Just a bit tired!" You replied cheerful you at least had someone by your side during such rough moments, "C'mon let's go make dinner!"

Obbie: ?! ...You were clearly going to be a more challenging opponent than they thought. Each moment that passed you only grew more menacing.

A series of unfortunate events continued to follow you from randomly getting food poisoning, to everyone suddenly avoiding you aside from f/n.

"Aren't you worried?" F/n asked, keeping a watchful eye out for anyone suspicious looking.

You glanced up at her from your webcomic, "About what? It's their fault if they're missing out on this!" You said confidently, pointing your thumb toward your chest.

Your friend smiled weakly in response, "But..."

"Really, it's all good," You replied, "So tell me how's that new relationship of yours going?"

You managed to remain in high spirits despite your life falling down around you. Somehow you got fired (they couldn't afford to keep you apparently) and were struggling to pick yourself up but you were sure you'd do so eventually.

However, Obbie was in shambles at one word of news:

Your friend was in a relationship. A romantic one.

You stumbled upon your partner on their knees and had immediately been worried, "What's wrong? Are you okay-- well of course you aren't, what hurts?" You placed your hands on their shoulders, steadying them as they looked up to you tearfully.

Sure, they could kill you, and your friend's partner, but they didn't want to murder anyone originally! Killing you had been their last resort and of course you foiled it! You demon! You weren't even suffering after all they'd done to ruin your life! They... wouldn't be able to beat you...

F/n had only ever given them disgusted glances in the past anyway, (not to say they didn't deserve them). Plus what Obbie had wanted was f/n in full, the only way they'd be able to get her to love them at this point would be to break her beyond belief. It would leave only a pretty doll in its place, with none of the lovable qualities left.

"I... give up. You win..." Obbie spoke defeatedly, tears rushing out of their eyes at the sudden words. They let out a loud and ugly sob before hugging you, pressing their face against your chest and getting snot and tears all over your clothes.

You pat their back gently, "There, there... It'll all be okay, I promise. And what do you mean I won?" Your voice was comforting aside from the mild confusion in the last sentence.

"I won't go after your friend anymore..." Maybe this wouldn't be so bad the Yandere would have a chance to reinvent themselves, and maybe... they could find new things they loved.

Wait... so the reason why she told you she didn't want to hang out with them...

You froze mid pat as everything came falling into place, "You were never in love with me. You were in love with my friend!" You exclaimed, excitedly at your new discovery, as if you were Sherlock Holmes.

Obbie: ??? There was no fucking way this was real.

EXTREME Oblivious Reader X Yandere

You'd managed to piece everything together Obbie was really in love with f/n. Then they'd gotten together with you out of pity, when you misunderstood their intentions of why they were in your room late at night. Why were they in your room late at night? The world may never know...

Meanwhile Obbie felt themself in more despair than before, having lost the love of their life and realizing they had been defeated by someone who didn't even know what was going on. To say they were upset was an understatement.

You let out a dramatic sigh, "You may not be able to be with my friend anymore but... I won't leave you trapped in this relationship with me. I'm sorry."

And now you were breaking up with them. Just great, wait why the hell did they feel upset at this?! "...It's really okay," They said suddenly, looking up at you with a shaky smile. They'd already lost enough in one day maybe that was why losing something so minor made it worse...

"No, I can't with good conscience let you suffer anymore. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding," You were a bit sad, to say you hadn't grown feelings for Obbie after three months of dating (the two of you had lasted a while somehow) would be a lie.

You got up, slight tears in your eyes, vowing not to comfort them in order to restrain any lingering feelings you had and left to your computer. There you continued slowly rebuilding your army of tabs and bookmarks.

Obbie: ..? why are you like this

Still Obbie couldn't help but feel guilty, sure you may've ruined their relationship but the fact that you were even able to ruin it?! You of all people? You genuinely had no idea of what was going on.

It was embarrassing. Both that you didn't know what was going on and that they somehow couldn't deal with someone who was genuinely clueless.

Not only that but in retaliation they'd ruined your entire life, and you remained none the wiser and ever positive. It... was kind of fucked up. How the hell could they not feel guilty?!

After breaking up with Obbie your days for some reason got better, the two of you were still housemates as you'd decided a month ago to share an apartment for six months. But once these upcoming five months were up they'd be completely free!

Plus, you'd managed to get a better job than the one you had before, it paid better AND was easier! What a win! You'd also finished recollecting all of your bookmarks of web novels and web comics, AND a lot of your friends had come back into contact with you! It was wonderful!

Not to mention your relationship with Obbie hadn't gotten awkward at all instead it was thriving! They'd make breakfast and lunch for you, then sit around in the kitchen when you made dinner and cleaned dishes. They listened to all of your rants, and watched over you while you slept.

The last part was actually a bit creepy but apparently you'd been having nightmares recently so they were just making sure you'd sleep well. Not only that but you found out the two of you took the same bus, wasn't that sick?!

Plus they were leaving you gifts all the time now, you would've thought they liked you if well it wasn't so clear they didn't. One misunderstanding was enough for you.

Obbie: ...WHY DID IT WORK WHEN I BROKE INTO YOUR ROOM TO KILL YOU BUT NOW YOU CAN'T TAKE A HINT HUH?

Obbie had to admit in the past they'd been... a bit short sighted maybe liking your friend originally wasn't the right move. F/n didn't pay them much attention nor really care about them so why couldn't they have just liked you sooner?

At least now they had a chance to make up for their mistakes. They could keep you safe by keeping an eye at you to and from work, at work, and at home. They could slowly garner your affection again from the talks and meals you two shared, and the gifts they gave you. They just had to make sure you didn't find out about the source of those unfortunate events. But even if you did... you would forgive them right?

And if you still don't like them by the end of your remaining five month lease. That's okay... they just won't let you leave. F/n had just been a practice run so they wouldn't make mistakes where it really counted.

"What are you doing?" Obbie came home to you stuffing some clothes in a suitcase, you jumped up at the sound of their voice.

You looked at them slightly confused, "You know our lease ends tomorrow right..?"

They approached you and you remained still, feeling your heart thrum rapidly. They didn't like you in that way, you knew that so why was your heart beating so fast.

Then they smiled down at you, "You can't leave me, okay?" They wrapped an arm around you, holding you snug before leaning down and kissing you, their mouth slightly ajar and warm always pushing for more. Teeth brushed against your bottom lip as you remained still.

Friends don't do this.

"Our... our lease still ends tomorrow," You sputtered out looking up at them.

They let out a small tsk, leaning close enough so that the tips of your noses touched, "I took care of it. Just stay. Don't leave me." They wouldn't even give you the chance to leave. Then they moved their lips toward yours again taking them again.

"...So does this mean you want to be with me?" You asked for confirmation.

They let out a heavy sigh, "Seriously, how oblivious are you?" Then they smiled, looking down at you adoration completely in their eyes, "Yes, it does."

In other news:

Work on my 4 minific drafts vs work on my 3 original stories vs create something completely new and random based off a random urge.

Guess who won?!

The last one. It's always the last one.

I hope you guys had fun reading this, honestly I felt like this was a really funny pair to write. Like the Yandere thinking the Reader was a genius who foiled their plans. Meanwhile Reader: wow this chick in this web comic is really hot.

I think the concept of an extremely oblivious Reader and Yandere can also be written in a nice and funny manner :) just Yandere moving into their class midway through the semester and reader being like 'you've always been here?' Yandere:...Yep. Or the classic murder = paint. I think there's a lot of untapped comedic potential in the pairing, of course with a nice little side of psychological.

I know people aren't the biggest fans of oblivious protagonists (because we love ourselves a smart MC who can support themselves and give everyone a good challenge and solve the world!!! rn I'm reading like the Greatest Estate Developer and the MC is so fucking smart it's nice!!! (no romance in it tho)).

But I thought that we need a good variety of protagonists always, and oblivious protagonists can be wonderful when done right so I've gotta keep working to master all of the characters so that way when I write my novel (eventually) the oblivious character is cool af!

[fizzigigsimmer]

Caligator has such an appeal, because of what they have in common. I'm really hoping Fargo makes Gator more sympathetic and less a jerk. Even Dot was not afraid of him. Just shoved him and said, "shame on you!" Maybe Joe is following Dacre's playbook for Billy.

I am holding out hope for a redemptive arc for Gator too anon! It’s all early speculation at this point but I’ve seen a lot of symbolism and character beats in the first couple of episodes that lead me to believe that at the very least, a break from his father is imminent. It’s like you said, nobody’s afraid of him, because the narrative is going out of its way to show us and tell us that he’s posing. Billy posed too, for many of the same reasons, but unlike Gator, Billy’s narrative didn’t actually care whether or not the audience recognized that or not. Even the Duffers have said that a lot of Billy’s most powerful moments, where you can really see the depth of his emotions and feel sympathy for him as a “real person” and not just a villain, came straight from Dacre.

For the obvious reasons, a lot of people are comparing these roles but for me it just reinforces what I always wish - that Billy had been written by better writers who gave a shit. Because I would have loved to see what Dacre could do with a narrative that cared to show us that Billy was a scared kid, projecting and lashing out, who needed to get out from under his abuser in order to see the world and himself in different perspective. Which is why the thought of the two characters coming together and finding their peace and their freedom really appeals to me.

Thankfully, Fargo is a better show all around than Stranger Things and their character writing has never disappointed me. I am fairly confident that Mr. Jack Skellington over there is going to come into his own and tell his dad where to stick it😉.

I’ve always really appreciated Joe’s love for Billy as a character and his perspective on Billy not just as the narratives antagonist, but as a whole. He’s never been shy about his enthusiasm for it. He’s been pretty vocal the last couple of years about wanting to take on more challenging roles, and I think this is right in line with that. Which is why the backlash he’s getting from some chronically online portions of the internet annoys me so much. lol. If you’re a Joe Keery fan and you aren’t prepared for this man to take on some deeply flawed problematic characters by now you haven’t been paying attention. Also a whole essay could be written on why he can play an actual murderer on a killing spree and receive less hate than when he plays a character like Billy, with very everyday tragic flaws.

Anyway end rant. Ignore me. I just love these characters.

[demodraws0606]

What is q!BBH's end goal with the Soul Vultures ? (and his plan in general)

I'm making this in turn because I'm frustrated with the "q!BBH will die and come back with no memories" theories purely because I feel like they're really unsatisfying from a storytelling standpoint. I also have been thinking a lot about q!BBH's plan and how it could all tie together.

I've been specifically thinking about what cc!BBH has been hinting with his character's dialogue with others and the smaller details.

Now I'm gonna get started with the obvious : The Soul Vultures

We know q!BBH has been letting himself get hurt by the Soul Vultrues HOWEVER there is a big thing people are ignoring about this...

q!BBH also kills the Soul Vultures after getting attacked by them. You can see that happen at the end of this particular stream, where he even says "all according to plan".

Now I think most people know at this point know this information about Soul Vultures but after having attacked something, the soul vultures become "bloated".

When a Soul Vulture is bloated they can drop a Soul Heart.

Now those Soul Hearts can be used to make a Soul-stealing potion which can grant it's user the same abilities as the bird but after seeing some people talk about it and thinking about it...

I don't think q!BBH has been using the hearts to make potions, I think he has been eating directly.

I'm saying that based on two major things. The first being that q!BBH's ability to eat literally anything has been shoved in our faces a looooot of times to the point where it has to come into play in some way. The second is that we never really see q!BBH with the soul-steal potion effect which...tbf isn't that much of evidence but I still feel like its important to mention.

Either way, weither he has been drinking Soul-Steal potions or straight eating the hearts raw, q!BBH is not just letting himself getting attacked by Soul Vultures for no reason. He is doing so to gain something from it.

There is also a huge detail that people have missed and it's that this particular stream and it's end is the starting point of when q!BBH starts turning blue.

Meaning what is making him turn blue is not just the Soul Vultures attacking him...but the Soul Hearts (or soul steal potions) themselves.

Now let's focus on the big elephant in the room, q!BBH's clear death flags and him seeming to plan his own death.

However there are a tons of things that don't make sense with q!BBH planning to die. We know he doesn't know exactly how to get the Eggs back so him dying to get them back doesn't make sense.

He also says multiple things like him planning to escape the island with the eggs which just ends up contradicting the idea of him dying in a literal sense.

I've said it multiple times that I him dying would be most likely metaphorical but I do actually think it's a little more than just that.

I've pointed this out in a theory thread before but q!BBH's skin went through a strange transformation

He went from being extremely pale almost like he was fading away or turning into a ghost..

However, he is turning opaque again, you can see his skin almost seeming to grow back (I have no better words for it) but...he is not returning back to how he originally was. He is still changing.

I decided to compare how he was before turning to pale to the skin he currently has right now.

Now of course q!BBH now is still more pale but I want to point out to people how q!BBH's entire hood changed hues.

They're still blacks and grays so it's a lot harder to tell but I screenshoted the color wheel after picking the colors on the hoods between the two skins. You can see an EXTREMELY visible difference between the two color's hues, in fact i'd say the values of the colors are the thing that are left the most unchanged despite the fact that it's the most visible difference.

I've said this in a theory before but I do believe this heavily implies that q!BBH has died or is in some kind of strange rebirth process. I do think it's still true however I think it's slightly more different than that.

I think q!BBH is dying through this strange transformation he is going through, I don't have any other better ways to phrase it. q!BBH is slowly losing more memories and has lost any sense of pain/smell. It's quite obvious that he is dying however I don't think him dying is gonna be just him keeling over and taking his last breath. I think this transformation that q!BBH will be q!BBH's death.

When the "transformation" is fully done q!BBH won't be q!BBH anymore but be replaced by something else. That something else weither it will be completely seperated from q!BBH or be just another version of him, we don't know.

Now let's get back to q!BBH's plan, how can this transformation be beneficial for his plans at all and how does it fit with everything else he has stated about his plans.

I think q!BBH's main goal is to transform himself into something stronger because, here is the thing, q!BBH has blamed himself constantly for the eggs getting hurt. cc!BBH has said it loud and clear q!BBH's main goal has always been the Egg's wellbeing.

However his plan also involves hurting the Federation severely leading to pose the question...which is it ?

(I also want to say since I don't know how to insert it organically into my arguments but q!BBH's plan is something he had before the eggs even disappeared meaning him planning to die to get the eggs back doesn't make sense if that's part of his plan)

But I think seeing that as a contradiction might be missing the point because we assume q!BBH's Massive Omega Secret Plan only has one end goal or that it's end goal isn't broad enough for it to fill multiple purposes.

I think q!BBH's end goal is to become stronger

q!BBH is going through this transformation on purpose to become stronger most likely by giving himself the power of the soul vultures. He is going through this transformation that will most likely "kill him" to become more powerful and thus being able to protect the eggs.

The question is where does the whole "falsely emprisonned" part of this come in, why does he want to be thrown into jail for something he didn't do ?

Well I think q!BBH by making himself go into the jail..is trying to make himself snap and fully finish that transformation I was talking.

He said himself that if he doesn't time his emprisonnement correctly it could throw his entire plan into the water. Possibly because if he ends up not actually triggering the transformation it would both be harder to get emprisonned again and also would end up wasting a lot of time.

Now the reason why being falsely emprisonned would make q!BBH snap and finish his transformation would be well....we know q!BBH holds negative feelings over being emprisonned. Him getting thrown in jail at the museum for something people had no evidence for (even if he DID do it) is something that still affected him.

I think q!BBH's plan basically is the representation of what he told q!Bagi about wine glasses. When glass is broken, you can't piece it back together, you have to melt it into another whine glass. Basically q!BBH is trying to make himself shatter to reform himself again into this new wine glass.

It also fits another thing that q!BBH has said to q!Bagi, about how sometimes death is just the beginning of something else (not exactly the words he said but i digress)

And that's my theory, I probably left out some things there but I pretty much said the basics on what I think q!BBH's ultimate goal/plan is.

[beansnsoup]

Hiii I love your writingss <3

I don't know if you're getting requests, but I want to try my luck. Can you write something about George Weasley and the female slytherin reader? The reader has no problems with the golden trio and others... over time, she and George become close and they fall in love with each other. But the reader gets the dark mark due to family pressure and becomes a death eater. After what happened, she gets away from everyone and this attracts the attention of the others, especially George... :') I hope you write, thanks in advance~

Tysm for the support!!

☆

See You Again

Summary: She couldn't have been happier with her life, but due to family pressure, she's forced to become a death eater and must give up everyone.

Relationship: Romantic

Character: George Weasley

Warnings: Fluff, angst, fem reader, slytherin reader

"Y/N, you don't have a choice."

"Mom, I can't!"

"Listen to us, Y/N."

You glared at your dad. There was no way this was happening.

"Either you listen to us or never see us again." He added, this is when you felt tears sting at your eyes. You loved your parents. They meant everything to you, and if you never saw them again, you knew you'd hate yourself forever.

You sighed out, "Okay."

Your mom instantly ran up to hug you. She knew this was a sacrifice. Being a Slytherin was more difficult than people would think. They instantly think you're spoiled and conceded.

You tried so hard to make a name for yourself, and since day one, you made sure to mark yourself as the one people could go to for help, no matter the house.

This caught the eye of a certain red head that had always had a hatred towards Slytherins, but you were different.

His name was George Weasley, and he always accidentally found himself subtly flirting with you and staring at you when you aren't paying attention.

Later on, you guys here the power couple of your year. His parents loved you, Molly always spoiled you with treats that you could take home to your family.

Speaking of, your parents were fine with this, until now. They recently had come in contact with the Dark Lord and was told that you had to be able to do things for him like your parents did or you'd die.

This led to them telling you to cut all ties with your friends and even your boyfriend. They were causing you to become the person everyone saw Slytherins as on day one.

-

You didn't want to talk to him. You knew it would lead to you telling him everything which you weren't supposed to do.

You and George would always meet up in the courtyard and sat together in first period, but today, that had to change.

Your friend would normally walk with you because she was smitten for George's brother, Fred.

"Hey, Y/N!"

It hurt, it hurt to ignore your best friend, but it had to be done. You continued to walk past her and through the outdoor hall of the courtyard.

She paced over to Fred and George, "Yo, George, what's up with your girlfriend?"

George furrowed his brows, and your friend makes it over to them, "She just straight up ignored me! I know she heard me. There was barely anyone around, so she wouldn't have been able to miss me."

"What's going on?"

"She going through a phase, I guess, because she was perfectly normal yesterday."

Your friend makes it over to friend, "You'll never do that to me, will you love?" Fred asks. This is followed by her laughing, but George can't even joke back.

He's never felt this worried. His thoughts are flooded. Did he do something to piss you off?

George decided to wait until your first class, which he had with you, to catch you and talk to you. But much to his dismay you were unresponsive, he tried to grab your attention when walking into class but was shoved aside.

Then he remembered the two of you sitting next to each other but then he watched as you went to sit at the table that was always empty. He was going to follow you but didn't want to push it.

He found himself watching you like he always used to do, but this time it wasn't out of love it was out of worry.

The look on your face scared him, like you had seen a ghost or something.

You then asked to go to the bathroom and excuse yourself, which George sneakily followed after asking a friend to cover for him.

He followed you into the bathroom, praying there weren't any other girls in there. He shuts and blocks the door behind him. He checked under all the stalls and then waited at the sink for you.

You opened the stall door and felt your soul leave your body as you saw him, "George, what the hell are you doing?"

"Now she speaks."

You sigh, swerving past him to wash your hands, "I can't do this right now."

"Why? You could do it this morning either, why did you ignore us like that?"

"You won't understand." Your voice was starting to crack.

"Try me."

"George, stop, please."

"What happened? You can't leave me like this."

"George, I can't, you don't understand."

"Please, Y/N."

At this point, tears were streaming down your face. You walked up to him, caressing his hands and arms, just in case this was the last time you'd ever see or feel each other again.

Your hands found their way to his face, his were planted on your waist.

"I'm not supposed to say anything."

"I'll keep you safe, don't worry, love."

That's what go you, those words alone convinced you everything was going to be okay.

"I'm not supposed to see you anymore, or anyone for that matter, that's why I didn't talk to any of you this morning."

Before he could ask why you continued, "My parents forced me to, I didn't have a choice, they told me if I didn't do as I was told I'd never see them again, and I couldn't do thag George, I just couldn't." You looked at him, deciding if you should tell him the reason behind all of what you just told him.

"I thought your parents loved me."

"They do, but,"

"Go on, love. Please."

"They became death eaters, and He Who Must Not Be Named told them that because I knew I had to also be under his order or they'd kill me."

That's when he finally fell silent. He took your hand off his face and then slowly lifted the sleep of your robe and button up.

You felt him tense up when he saw the dark mark on your arm, "Oh, darling, I'm sorry."

You were pulled into an embrace. You didn't think this would be the outcome at all.

"We're going to get through this, I won't say anything, ignore me infront of everyone, but please keep in touch."

Being a slytherin hurts man

You smiled through tears, "Of course."

[maxverstappensflatbrim]

Show Me Yours | Matty Healy [13]

chapter thirteen, act two: anobrain

masterlist

November 1st 2013

Tommie has always felt like out of all the places in America, New York would be scariest. It's big and that's where all the big American crime drama shows she watches are set, with things like the mafia or random serial killers.

But no, LA, is by far, the scariest place she has visited.

With people screaming as you pass by, strangers trying to sell you CDs and monks handing out bracelets. The dress up characters (something she used to be afraid of as a child), getting handsy as you walk through the touristy parts creeped her out, and if one more person tried to hand her a flower she was going to scream.

Not even Times Square was this bad.

Her anxiety was getting the better of her and the deeper they got into the walk of fame the more she clung onto Matty’s arm.

He’d sensed her anxiety a while back and had kept closer as the other three oblivious men (of course men, what anxieties do they need to have while walking down a street in the night) walked on ahead.

“Do you want to turn back?”

She shakes her head, “I’d rather not go back through all of them.”

He grins as they get closer to the loud music of this pub a friend had recommended, “Almost there anyway, we’ll get a taxi back from right outside when we’re done, yeah?”

She nods quickly, “Okay.”

His hand lifts to play with some strands of her hair, she’d had a shower before they left and hadn’t had time to dry it, so it was a curly wavy mess.

“I like your hair like this.”

“Really?”

He nods, pulling on it and watching the curl bounce back into place, “It’s messy but put together at the same time, like you. It suits you.”

Tommie stuck by him all night, they both shared a drink, they only did one shot, a couple ciders, and had two G&T’s.

About an hour after Tommie had finished sipping on her orange gin and tonic she and Matty had ordered an uber from right outside and gone back to the hotel, leaving the other three in the bar, all of them too far gone with John running around after them.

In the lift Tommie sighs, leaning back against the wall as she kicks off the heels that George’s date for the night had let her borrow.

She leans down to rub at her left foot while struggling to undo the strap of the right one at the same time.

Matty gives a lopsided smile and kneels down to help her, he taps his knee and she holds her weight on the railing so her aching foot doesn’t take all the weight.

It’s a little hard in her tipsy head but she manages to hold herself upright.

He carefully undoes the strap, slides off the heel, and then delicately places her foot back down, his hand following his movements up her bare leg slowly as he stands.

Her shoes now in his free hand until she stands upright and shoves it into the pocket of his skinny jeans.

“God,” She groans and grimaces, “Did you see that one couple?”

He nods, “The ones that were practically having sex on the table?”

She nods trying to rid the image of the girl lying flat on her back with the guy on top of her, “What ever happened to hello?” She wonders.

“Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious.”

She rolls her eyes, “Stop quoting that book all the time, you twat.”

“Can’t help it,” He shrugs, “Read it so much it's engraved in my brain. Like you with fantastic mr fox. Guarantee you could quote that film word for word.”

“I can’t.”

He nudges her hip with his, “Don’t lie, you definitely can.”

She shrugs her shoulders, “Maybe a few scenes.”

She looks him up and down, “Are you not hot?”

“I’ve been told I am.” He says cheekily leaning to her.

She rolls her eyes, shoving him out the lift when it stops on their floor, “I meant warm, physically, it’s bloody boiling out here.”

“You just think that ‘cause you’re ginger.”

“No, I think that ‘cause I’ve sweat through three t-shirts today.”

She groans as she tries digging around in her pocket, “What?”

“I’m sharing with Ross, he has my key card.”

He pulls his from the back pocket, “I was supposed to be sharing with George until he ditched me for that bird he met a couple days ago, so I have a free bed.”

She smiles, following him inside, “Life saver, you.”

She faceplants the first bed she comes across but he tugs at the foot that hangs off the bed, “Uh uh, my bed’s always the one closest to the door.”

“Why? You gonna fight off any attackers with that pigeon chest?” 

He laughs sarcastically, “I was thinking more if anything goes wrong I can run out the fastest.”

“My knight in shining armour, you are.”

He says nothing, just aggressively throws her a pair of shorts an old the cure t-shirt, she’s halfway through pulling it, looking at her tired face in the bathroom mirror that she realises it's her own shirt she lost about four months ago on the tour.

“Hey!”

She rips open the bathroom door and he looks up, “What?”

“I’ve been looking for this top.”

“It’s mine.”

She shakes her head, “No, Adam bought me this when you guys went to that concert a couple years ago. It was my christmas present, my mam spilt wine on it and it stained, look!”

She shoves the stain into his face and he leans back, pushing his glasses up on top of his head.

“Well, it looks better on me anyway.” He says, holding back the smirk.

She grins and pushes him so he falls back on the bed, “Ow, not funny, think I landed on the remote.”

He winces and she feels slightly bad, slightly.

“Pull me up so I can get dressed.”

“Get up yourself.”

“Think it’s only fair after the attempted assault I just endured.”

Rolling her eyes she holds her hands out and he grips them both, he starts pulling himself up but he uses all his body weight to fall back and pull her down with him.

She laughs, bending his arm awkwardly to hold him down, “Tap out.”

“No.”

He tries to twist around but only ends up with her overpowering him even more, “Tap out. I’ll break your arm, Roddy, not even joking.”

He flips her off and they play fight for a while giggles and tickles being passed around until eventually she pinning his arms above his head and panting heavily.

She grins down at him but there’s no humour on his face, his eyes are lidded, head slightly tilted back to stare up at her.

“I won.”

“Mhmm.”

He bites down on his lip and she watches as he has some internal battle behind his eyes as they flicker around her face.

She leans back a little, grip loosening, “Matt-”

He moves forward quickly, sitting up, one hand holding him up on the bed, the other circling around to her back to hold her there as his lips land on hers.

It’s a quick and harsh peck, his bottom lip between hers, their noses pressed into each other's cheeks creating indentations of each other.

He pulls back, doesn’t say a thing as he looks at her, assessing her.

He knows her.

He knows that the softness of her eyes means she at least didn’t hate it. Knows that the crinkle on her one eye means she’s thinking it over.

And he knows that that smile… he knows that that smile will be the death of him.

She moves forward, both her hands in his hair as she brings him closer, leaning backwards until she’s lying flat on her back and he’s on top of her.

His hands are everywhere all at once.

She’s addicting, her taste, her sound, everything about her, he can’t get enough.

One moment his hands are threading through her hair, the next they’re on her face, thumbs rubbing across her round cheeks, then they’re travelling down her arms, down her rib cage, her waist, he wants to touch parts of her no one's even thought of touching before.

He wants to know everything. 

He opens his eyes, moving back so he can look, like really look, not like his usual fleeting glances where he’s afraid he’ll get caught.

She lifts herself up on her elbows, trying to chase his lips but he stops her, “Wait, I want to see you.”

She giggles, “I’m right here, Matty.”

“No, I want to see you.” He moves to kiss her cheek, “Explore you,” A kiss on her jaw, “See the way you work, the way you move, hear the way you sound when you cry my name.”

She slaps his chest, but then curls her hand around his white t-shirt to bring his lips back to hers, he mumbles into her lips, “You’re so addicting.”

“That’s just the oxytocin, darling.”

He groans into her ear, biting down on her bottom lip and pulling back, “Call me that again.”

“What? Darling?”

He nods, leaning back to pull his t-shirt off and toss it across the room, “Come here, darling.”

He smiles into the kiss as he pushes her back, their teeth clashing together as he pushes her top upwards.

She doesn’t have a bra on, and he feels himself grow harder when his hands meet her breast.

She arches her back, pushing her hips into his own, “Matty, I’ve-”

He moves his kisses to her neck, “I know. We can stop.”

She shakes her head quickly, hands gripping his shoulders, encouraging his arms to go higher, “No, no,” She shakes her head, the words leaving her lungs in one breath, “Please.”

He moves his kisses to her collar bone, tugging down on the neck of the t-shirt but still telling her, “One word, one word and we’ll stop, Tommie.”

“Just go slow,” She says, chest pushing into his, her hands squeezing his upper arms, “Be gentle.”

“Always with you.”

When Tommie thought of losing her virginity she didn’t think it would be in a hotel room in LA with her cousin’s best mate.

She thought it would be a drunken one night stand with a complete stranger to get it over and done with.

She’s glad it’s Matty.

She trusts Matty.

He finally peels the t-shirt off in a painstakingly slow manner, letting out a low guttural groan at the sigh of her bare chest in front of him, “God.”

 His hands move to her shorts, tugging them down and throwing them to the pile, “One word, Tommie.” He says again, moving further down the bed to pull her underwear off too.

She doesn’t say anything, lets herself get lost in the  feel of his hands and the fabric pooling at her ankles.

She doesn’t say a single thing until his hands are on her again, “Please.”

He nods, “Gonna go slow, baby,” He kisses her between her thighs, “Nice and slow.”

It was slow, and gentle, but fast and rough at the right times.

It was a mix of his moans and her loud screams of his name as they both allowed themselves to come undone around one another.

It was a mix of hands and mouths roaming each other’s bodies, exploring across freckles like stars on a constellation map.

At one point, when Matty had flipped her over, a pillow beneath her stomach, his hands pushing her shoulder blades down he’d leaned forward and quietly whispered (while still inside her). ‘You have a group of freckles shaped like a moon.’

He’d slowly traced his finger around the crescent shape on her shoulder and then leaned forward to place a kiss there.

“I know.”

Then his lips had moved to the tattoo on the other shoulder, her own words from her poem and coincidentally their song lay there.

He kissed the tattoo, lips slightly open and pushing into her skin before he dragged his bottom lip up towards the nape of her neck.

Only glancing back at the words once more before he pushed himself deeper into her.

‘I love you, don’t you mind?’

But now they lie silently beneath the covers of the bed closest to the door, he pushes the hair from her face, kissing her temple as she allows herself to nuzzle deeper into him.

“Matty?”

She yawns and he carries on playing with her hair, “Yeah, baby?”

“You know what I was saying like oxytocin and serotonin and stuff?”

He hums, “It’s not the chemicals.” She mutters quietly, “Just you.”

He smiles to himself, listening to her breath even out as she finally falls asleep, he pulls back to look down at her, head tilted as he gives her forehead one last kiss. “Good night, beautiful girl.”

Then, shifting further down the bed so he can comfortably rest his head on her chest just above her heart, he allows the sound of her to consume him until he falls asleep.

taglist

@thereisaplaceintheheart

@indierockgirrl

@sofaritsalrightt

@julezs-bl0g

@eaglestar31

@sophinthealpss

@if-my-heart-bleeds

-let me know if you want to be added :)

[crownedtargaryen]

Aemond x Bastard Baratheon!Reader Oneshot FLUFF

A/N: I’ll be honest I used to hate Aemond, so if I don’t have a good grasp of his character I sincerely apologize. @valeskafics is to blame for my newfound Aemond love.

ALL NOTES ARE APPRECIATED (LIKES, SHARES, COMMENTS)

TW: Just people being rude, Implied sexual desire Pronouns: She/Her

Ever since I was young Aemond has impacted my life. A pushed-aside boy with a bastard girl who was set to marry the solemn and husk Targaryen, the duo felt like destiny.

At first, his mother was appalled by the request, feeling it was insulting of the deer to suggest a bastard wed her sweet boy, a growing and powerful individual. 

What had changed her mind? 

Well, when Aemond and I were together, there was an undeniable gentleness he felt toward me.

After he had been pushed around by his nephews, he became defensive and harsh. Maybe a woman was what he needed to rid that standoff and snappy personality.

When the adults were busy talking, I would urge him to show me around. Reluctantly, he agreed, since he hadn’t had much of a choice otherwise. He was knowing of my adventurous personality, and that no matter his response to showing me around, I'd go with or without him. So, might as well not be responsible for my demise.

I was with him when it happened, walking with him as he ushered me to come with him. He trusted me, a loving and honest feeling. It devastated me when he seemed ashamed in my presence. Lucerys sliced his eye, and I watched as he fell to the ground in horror, unable to do anything. The two brunettes looked at me fearfully, then scampered off as I fell to my knees next to my lover-to-be.

"Aemond?! Aemond! Let me see it, please, I can help!" I insist. He cries, which is something you never wished to see. I watch as he shoves me away with one hand, looking at me fearfully and shaking like a scared pup. "Aemond please, I beg of you." He refuses, panting and swallowing down screams. 

"Go away!" He yells at me, making my muscles tense. "Leave! NOW!" I refuse, shaking my head. "Are you stupid?! LEAVE!" I glare at him, moving over and grabbing him. He fights for a moment, before becoming too weak to battle anymore. I carry him straight to his mother, where she screams in horror and snatches him from me. My clothes are bloodied, and my figure trembles in adrenaline and horror.

"What have you done," Alicent screams, making my eyes widen. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BOY YOU BASTARD." I wince at the phrase, looking at her with tears in my eyes.

"Your Grace, it was the Valeryon boys. I swear it! The smaller one, Lucerys, he attacked him!" I yelp, her eyes widening with anger and sorrow. She feels bad for saying what she said to me, but can't muster an apology. Her servants bring in whoever they can to help, and I hastily clear the room to avoid being in the way.

As I walk through the halls, I see the two boys hurriedly trying to find their mother. I run over in a fiery rage, grabbing Lucerys and throwing him to the ground. I stare at Jacerys who looks at me in shock, Lucerys groaning after his head hits the solid floor. I don't dwell on the fact I'm outnumbered here, I focus on the smaller one, clawing at his face and punching him as his arms are pinned beneath my legs until I'm forcibly removed. His face is bloodied beneath me, but he isn't hurt enough to be dead or chronically wounded. Just maybe a scar or two. "You took his eye! My husband!" I scream in anguish, kicking and crying, trying to escape Jacerys. I didn't care if he attacked first, and I don't care if it was self-defense, it felt unfair.

And after that, it's a blurred memory. I remember Alicent thanking me for my sacrificed honor, and demanding an eye for an eye. I faintly remember Aemond looking at me, the light in his eyes now gone. It shattered me.

Now, we were of the proper age to marry, but he hadn't talked to me since that day. It'd be dishonest of me if I were to say I hadn't been avoiding him as well, I knew he didn't want to see me.

All I knew, is every early morning on my name day, a knock came on my door. When I opened it, no one was there. Just a gift left at the door. I was sure it was him, but he wouldn't show any sign of interest when the celebrations came around.

Until this name day.

I was expecting no one at the door once more after the knock, scrambling out of my bed and opening the door swiftly in hopes of catching him. However, he waited. I open the door to Aemond, standing with the brutishness that I've grown used to. A small smirk comes to his face when he sees me, my heart skipping a beat.

"Prince Aemond? To what do I owe the pleasure," I whisper, looking around the halls to ensure no one is around.

"Happy name day, Princess," he says, surprising me. He hasn't spoken to me since- "I thought I'd deliver it face to face this time." I smile, almost melting into myself. I know the boy I once knew is in there, he's just putting walls up.

"Come in then," I insist, turning to the side and allowing him inside my chambers, closing the door behind him. "What'd you get me this time?" I look at the small box, raising a brow. He hands it to me and takes a seat. I feel somewhat defenseless around him, his eye trailing my form. When he notices I catch him staring, he covers it with an excuse. "Are you planning on opening it?" His face is flushed, and I feel a knot in my stomach, a good one. 

Slowly, I lift the lid off the box. My eyes widen at the contents inside, a necklace. A rich golden color with a dragon pendant attached to it. I grin like an idiot, hearing a small chuckle escape Aemond.

"I'm assuming you enjoy the gift, yes?" He crosses his arms and leans back a bit in the chair. I admire the expensive gift, looking at him with excitement and joy.

"Aemond, it's beautiful," I compliment, holding it close to my chest. "Could you help me put it on?" Hesitantly, he nods. I walk over, which surprises him, and sit between his legs on my knees, back facing him as I hand him the necklace, our hands brushing. He pulls away as if I burned him, taking the necklace. I can hear his breathing become broken, his warmth radiating onto my back. Slowly, he moves my hair from my neck, telling me to hold it, and slips the necklace over my neck. I feel his hands touch my skin, a small shiver escaping me. I hear the gentle clip of the neckpiece and look over my shoulder to him where he's pursing his lips. I stand, looking down at him and adjusting my hair. "What do you think? Does it look nice?"

Aemond pauses before nodding slowly, and I smile once more. I watch as he relaxes at the sight of my smile, his gaze softening.

"Look, Aemond," I start, but he senses what I plan to say and stands swiftly.

"I have to return to my chambers, have a good name day, Princess." He hastily says, surprising me as he pushes past me. I hesitate before rushing to him and grabbing his hand.

"We can't avoid it forever," I say with a heartbroken tone, seeing him pause and then look at me. "Please, Aemond." His eyes widen at my words, watching as they gloss over slightly. I hate seeing him cry, I refuse to see him cry. So, without thinking, I grab his face and kiss him.

He freezes, refusing to return the kiss at first, then sighs and gives in. He wraps his arms around my figure, cupping my cheek with one hand as the other rubs my side. He groans into the kiss, leaning into it as it becomes more heated. I pull away, my mind and body craving more but I don't give in.

"Aemond," I whisper, watching him scan my face. I reach for his eyepatch, he grabs my hand.

"No," he demands, his jaw clenching.

"Why? I watched when it happened, why can't I get closure?" I murmur, seeing him debate his options.

"I do not wish you scare you," he murmurs back, his forehead pressed to mine. I close my eyes and sigh. "I have no fear towards you, Aemond. You are mine, and I am yours. Scar or not, you're still the man I love." I admit, peeking through my eyelids and seeing the surprise on his face. I open my eyes, smiling at him and looking at the eyepatch. Aemond hesitates for a moment, before nodding.

I reach for the clasp, undoing the patch and letting it fall into my hand as I slowly remove it from his eye. The sapphire stares at me, then he looks away hastily and grips me tighter. I reach and cup the side of his face, turning him to look at me. Hesitantly, he gazes into my eyes.

I say nothing, I merely kiss over the scar and chuckle softly. "Out of all the gems, a sapphire? Expensive taste." I joke, seeing his fear wash away. I watch that signature smirk come to his face, unable to stop myself from smiling like an idiot.

He doesn't let me tease him anymore, kissing me eagerly. I return the kiss and its passion, feeling us heading backward as I fall onto the bed. I look up at him, Aemond's smile growing as he nuzzles his nose with mine, gentle Eskimo kisses.

"I love you," he coos, petting the side of my face. I hum, content with his words and feeling my insides exploding with joy.

"I love you too," I respond, hooking my legs around his waist. "I never stopped loving you, nor will I ever. I swear it." 

"You swear it?" He teases, moving his head back to get a better view of my face, raising a brow.

"I swear it, by the old gods and the new," I assure, seeing his eyes glimmer with the affection I had known times ago. "I swear that I will love you into the last of my days, and after."

Aemond sighs, moving a strand of hair from my face. "I swear it as well, you are mine as I am yours," he reassures, moving back in and kissing me.

I felt complete once again.

[vicsy]

Recently I got back into making edits in photoshop and since that I got just a couple of questions, asking to do a lil commentary on some of editing choices, ideas etc etc. So I actually decided to do so with this edit that I am genuinely proud of. I hope this will come useful to someone!

For starters, I must say that web weaving has been on the rise for quiet some time and I enjoy the concept. Although, I never made what you would call a traditional web weaving edit, I do borrow some inspiration from the way the web weaves are created.

For me, it starts with a song. Usually. I get madly possessed by the compelling lyrics that fit my character of choice. With this particular edit, it was a twenty one pilots song called Snap Back – a banger with the kind of sorrowful mood. I singled this part out from the starters:

If I’m gonna snap necks, then I gotta snap back.

This line set the tone. I do have the urge to shove an entire song into one edit (did it once right here) but it's important to find the part that will deliver a gut punch to the people that will see it. That's how I chose a passage and divided it so I would know how many images I need.

Then begins the process of sourcing said images that fit the narrative I have created in my head. With the edit I mentioned above, this pic punched me in the face straight away. The forlornness of it all..

When it came to editing, I made a choice to have a textured background so the whole edit would be set in one, consequential tone. Choosing to leave the pics as they are felt off because of the drastic difference of the background and, mainly, because I wanted to bring Daniel to the forefront, to let him be the main focus. And having a plain background would leave me enough room to improvise on all the additional details that I would add for the narrative purposes.

Here, I took several textures and mashed them together to create a rough looking background. I didn't want it to be plain but also not too "loud". Highlighted on the screenshot below are all the layers that make up the background (sorry, photoshop is in russian):

I play around with overlay settings until I get the result I have envisioned in my head or until it surprises me with something that just hits.

After that I crop out Daniel from the pics (hate the process but we gotta do, what we gotta do), apply sharpening to the layer with him, duplicate that layer and add noise (I set the layer to 50-60 opacity usually). Then I tend to erase some bits of the layer with applied noise, especially on faces or important details, so it doesn't get lost but also doesn't look like I forgot to edit it properly. And then I do some basic color correction/brightness/contrast etc. Basically, you are left with something like this:

After that come the details which I either have on hand or rawdog ahahah. Honestly, sometimes you open photoshop with a clear picture in your head and other times you just play with textures/images until it feels right.

My photoshop folder is growing every day, I always look for more textures of all sorts but I do sometimes use regular images in place of the textures. It does require some level of massacre of said picture. If any of you will be interested, I would gladly delve into that too!

I like to follow a particular plan while making edits - start from the beginning to the end of chosen lyrics. With this edit I started from the last two images instead and then worked my way back in a random order.

The narrative here was rather clear – the choice to include a pic from infamous Monaco win and lyrics about "snapping necks" and then add more recent pictures from the time Daniel is clearly struggling cause he needs to "snap back". There is an intentional change in the font, compared to the way it was more "reserved" in the previous pics, so the narrative "screams" on your screen. In the Red Bull pic I included a background detail that resembles tree rings (actually, @flawlessassholes pointed it out correctly in her tags) and it's a callback to another pic that comes before – the one where Daniel is in the first year of his Red Bull run. It is truly about growth and finding your roots and then kind of loosing them. In the last pic, with the modern era Daniel, I really wanted to include the Miami livery colors ahahaha So I leaned into that a lil bit. The background detail was meant to be brush strokes – the story is written but it is not over. The sort of halo around Daniel's head with a little star can be interpreted more freely... up to you. I have my own lil ideas. But this is, by far, my most favorite picture in the edit.

One of the other, I'd say, narrative heavy pics is this one:

Here, apart from being an iconic photo, I broke the background rule but it was very intentional. Everything that is in color has more meaning – Daniel, the character, and the stars that surround him, signifying one of the most iconic moments of his career. Although, @boxboxbrioche pointed out that those red-colored detail look a little bit like knives and, honestly, that's an incredible observation. All the people in the background are black and white, meshing with the background textures that I used, but the water below has some color to it, once again bringing the attention to what matters and what doesn't. That jump into the pool was a part of the redemption.

The most amount of time I spent on this picture:

I really struggles with showing pressure without overdoing it and, honestly, I really love how it came out. I have butchered some plain scribbled textures to look like plans that are sort of falling apart. In the bottom right corner, barely visible, there is a texture that looks like hands reaching out – I wanted to show that other people are a part of that pressure, always reaching out but sometimes only to hurt. The blue "shadow" above Daniel also signifies mounting pressure + a lil nod to the scar on his hand and the overall body language in the pic.

I don't think that I have to comment on other pics because, to me, they are rather straightforward with the storytelling but I would gladly answer any and all questions if you have them! please don't hesitate to message me. I did put a lot of thought into this <3

A very important part of making edits is composition and I am very meticulous when it comes to that. If you notice with this edit it went like this: left - right - middle - left - right - middle + the last two images are standing out but the text follows the left-right rule that I set from the beginning. To me, composition is one of the hardest things to decide but it usually pays off greatly when you look at the overall result.

One additional comment about fonts... besties... I fucking hate choosing fonts. It's my greatest enemy but MY GOD finding out the one that works is sooo hard and yet sooooooo fucking important. It took me two days to make this decision. And I spent about 10 days making this whole edit.

Let me take two pics here as sort of a before and after (that one was a bitch to crop out):

Let me leave you with the way my edit folder usually looks like:

It helps to have everything in one place.

Overall, there is no right or wrong way to go about editing. Go with the flow and don't be scared to ask for help. 15 years ago I opened photoshop for the first time and it was scary but you pick up skills as you go. Sometimes you make something really good, sometimes you feel like you made shit. What matters is you are still creating and that really inspires others, too. So if you ever need any help or advice (tbh, I don't have any kind of graphic design background and I can't do art), I'd be glad to try and help.

Thanks a lot for sticking around and letting me yap for a lil bit <3

[childofaura]

All right, it seems like I’ve got a lot of understanding and rational people who responded to my earlier inquiry about making a Claire criticism post. So I’m gonna go ahead and do it, since this is something that’s sat in my mind every time a new installment of the ToA series came out.

SO BIG DISCLAIMER BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO READ THIS BEFORE ANYONE GETS MAD AT ME:

THIS IS ALL MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION. I MIGHT BE PHRASING THIS POST LIKE IT’S AN ABSOLUTE, BUT IT’S NOT, IT’S ALL ISSUES I PERSONALLY FEEL WITH CLAIRE’S CHARACTER. SO IF YOU LIKE CLAIRE, THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK OR ME TELLING YOU YOU’RE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING/CAN’T LIKE CLAIRE.

Now that I think I’ve got that out of the way, I wanna jump into the actual post of why I’ve never really liked Claire’s character.

If we’re being really really REALLY honest... I think the issue is mostly based off of “The writers didn’t know how to write Claire”. I’ve felt like every character in Trollhunters (specifically Trollhunters, we don’t talk about 3Below and while Wizards was pretty positive overall, that was also a lot of hit or miss, and that series plays even more into why I don’t like Claire) was executed pretty well to fulfill their roles as characters or to be compelling and pretty easy to grasp their personalities.

Except Claire.

Personality issues:

Her character’s inconsistent and flip-flops. To start off, her intro in the series is just “pretty girl that Jim likes”. We get the promising sense that she has some non-conforming interests at first, as she’s advertising try-outs for the play, but that’s just lifted from the Trollhunters book and we never see any interest in theater arts from Claire ever again after that. Her hair (and I’m sorry but I hate her hair with all the stupid hairclips in the front, it’s so distracting and it looks dumb) with the streak in it and the skull shirt she wears makes you assume she’s somewhat rebellious, maybe kind of punk, but she’s a straight-A trouble-free student who’s apparently popular with everyone, and helps her mom out with campaigning for her political career. There’s really nothing to her personality that shows itself consistently, besides the Papa Skull interest.

And then there’s how badly her character and personality was executed at first; When Steve’s about to beat up Jim, she tries to step in but gets shoved back. Great! She has a sense of right and wrong and she’ll stand up for others. But then later on, she scolds Jim for the crime of... standing up for himself? Which sends a really bad message that she’d have rather had Jim publicly humiliate himself and/or possibly get beat up. Then later she’s willing to go to a Papa Skull concert with the same guy who shoved her. That’s incredibly weak character right there.

She starts to show some more positive character when after getting mad at Jim for trashing the house, she puts two and two together and realizes something’s off, but then she just... sneaks into his house like a weirdo, even though nothing about her character suggests that she’d do something like that and she has no real reason besides “Jim wasn’t straightforward about the party”; it’s not something a normal person would do or what SHE would do given her current character development. And then this one’s a smaller gripe, but I hated her scoff in Wizards when the tournament was going on and the guards didn’t let her in, she goes “Ugh, boys’ club!”. UH HELLO, YOU IDIOT. THERE WERE FEMALE GUARDS CLEARLY EMPLOYED IN ARTHUR’S SERVICE. HELL, THE GUARD THAT BULLAR ATE WAS A FEMALE GUARD. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU’RE BEING SLIGHTED BECAUSE YOU’RE A GIRL. YOU WERE CONSIDERED A CIVILIAN TRYING TO ENTER A TOURNAMENT FOR TRAINED KNIGHTS.

Now past all the character inconsistencies in those first thirteen-ish episodes, the second issue I have with Claire’s character is that she teeters pretty dangerously into Mary Sue territory. Everyone (I was almost gonna say “who isn’t a major villain” but EVEN MORGANA ends up liking her. So MOSTLY everyone) who isn’t a main antagonist ends up liking Claire in some way. Steve the bully? Tries to date her. Mary, whom she said she wasn’t really close friends with? Is friends with her and even has her number. Freaking VENDEL, the grumpiest character in the show, only has to hear her talk in Troll and he immediately likes her without her having to earn his trust (which also she just... never uses Troll again. Sure is convenient that she learned to speak fluent Troll just for one scene and one character to like her). Morgana takes a liking to her. Compare that to how hard Jim had to work to gain the trust of others: His bond with Draal, learning to prove himself to Vendel, engaging with Nomura in prison and befriending her. She too easily assimilates with other characters; I’d have less issues if she had to work like Jim did, but the only time she does is with NotEnrique.

Skills and abilities don’t feel earned or consistent:

And then the whole thing with her powers and her physical abilities. It was never explained in the show how she actually obtained innate magic powers not connected to the Shadow Staff itself (And no, if you have to explain it on Twitter as a writer, that’s not good writing, that’s forcing your audience to play detective). She’s just all of a sudden doing awfully-convenient high-level magic in the first two episodes (or maybe three, whenever she created that shadow-cover for Jim and the others to escape.) without explaining HOW she had got those powers, and then she performs it perfectly whenever the plot needs it (She’s literally shown to be more powerful than Merlin, how stupid is that?). Remember in the movie where everyone was like “Oh no Claire, don’t use your powers because it could hurt you!” and she does anyways and she faints for like three seconds and then has no other physical repercussions? Or how she’s somehow MORE capable than Jim when it comes to fighting, like how in the Chinese Trollmarket she manages to swipe one of the other troll’s weapons, which has an entirely different weight and size to her shadow staff and probably required extensive training, and she just uses it flawlessly to fight? The only times Claire really fails are when the plot calls for it.

Plot can’t happen without her:

And finally, she hijacks the plot constantly, more than her character should, and has more importance placed on her role in the story than anyone else. Even Blinky. She even took over the plot for Wizards, which was supposed to be Douxie’s story and Douxie’s character-focus. The poor guy took a backseat to his own story because the plot relied on Claire to move forward, literally nothing could be done without her. And I mentioned it before but even though Douxie’s character still managed to get enough development, it was hardly enough because Claire hogged up so much screen-time focusing on HER and HER magic development and HER relationship with Morgana over Douxie and HIS magic development and HIS relationship with Merlin.

And also the fact that it’s Claire who ends up either saving the day or taking priority over the others. Who was the one who defeated Morgana in Trollhunters? Claire. Who brought Jim back to life as a human, despite the fact that even Merlin stated it was impossible for him to make Jim a human again? Claire. Who was it that Jim made sure to establish his relationship with, but not anyone else? CLAIRE. That ending in the movie where he doesn’t seem to care about his relationship with Blinky, Draal, Strickler, etc, but oh we’ve GOTTA have his girlfriend!

Overall, even typing this, I don’t think it’s her fault even though I hate her character; it’s the writers’ fault for doing such a sloppy and inconsistent job because she’s boiled down to just a “girl empowerment”. Because in the book, Claire Fontaine is AWESOME. She’s a Scot descended from a warrior lineage which actually explains why she has weapon capabilities, she’s explained that she’s not really a “popular girl” but she’s super confident in herself and doesn’t really care what others think, and that’s what Jim finds charming about her, and she rips Steve a new one after hearing that he’s just trying to charm her to piss off Jim.

But Claire Nunez is a mess of a poorly executed character. And again, I blame the writers because I think Claire could have been great if they knew what they were doing with her and made her balanced.

[quetzalpapalotl]

So if you were gonna write MegaDrift how would you do it?

Sorry, you really threw me a curveball here, coming up with megadrift that would please not only me but also you it's kinda hard. So have my half assed ideas.

Generally wartime ships with IDW1 Megatron are hard without him feeling like a different character to me, because uh... well, he deliberately keeps himself from connecting with people, it's a whole deal. If he were having intimate relationships that gave his life meaning, he wouldn't have turned out the way he did yeah. I'll spare you the whole essay. He has people he likes, sure, like Ravage, but it's always with this sense of distance, of being seeing as a leader first, his closest relationship beig Soundwave and that's some weird toxic validation loop.

Megatron lives to fight, he won't admit he lives to fight, he leads a cult of personality where everyone either worships him or wants to take his place. He maintains control via maintaining his imagine (the lie he tells himself) and tempting people with the promise of power and then keeping them in line with power plays and beating them (this also feeds his own worldview back into him). This isn't someone who has a healthy understanding of intimacy and consent.

So outside of the 3 main ships I have for him that are its own weird thing, if Warlord!Megatron was being intimate, he wasn't having proper relationships, certainly nothing tender. It's more power plays, feeding his own ego or just straight up using sex as a disciplinary measure (hey, Impactor parallel). And while I could put Deadlock into this, is something for which I could use basically any Decepticon, there is no particular reason to be Deadlock (there may be no reason to be Deadlock), and he doesn't have the characteristics that someone like Starscream has that would make this more interesting.

So I give up on wartime. Let's do something with the Lost Light, and this is an idea that came up in your server, but I think I'd would be super fun if Megatron and Drift had like a mutually parasocial relationship and are now very bitter over that.

Like, Deadlock idealized Megatron on some level, that's how he gets you to join the death and murder cult, and Megatron invited him personally. Then he realizes Megatron isn't really delivering and bails. This really pisses Megatron because he liked Deadlock as someone who festered the sort of anger Megatron himself has and was good at murder.

Then Drift gets even more pissed that Megatron ditched the Decepticons wholesale to go on a roadtrip (he's right tho), and Megatron is like "you ditched the Decepticons first!" (this is in a scenario before his full character development, so he's still very petty). And there's just this increasing miasma of resentment between two people that want to be better and can't quite figure it out and practically everyone in the ship hates them and they remind each other of the way they used to be, but also of the hopes they used to have. They could try to relate to each other, but they won't.

Rodimus gets tired of this and tries to force them to get along by scheduling these Lost Light command bonding exercises because hey, it's better for the crew if they know how to work together!! They have to go because Rodimus is trying to be a good captain. Poor Minimus DOES NOT want to be here, but he's the only one who actually does the activities properly. At some point Rodimus may just shove them into a closet to see if they can fuck their issues out.

But also, something I'd like to see exlored (and that would require Megatron to have his character development) is that Drift has always felt empty, he tries to cover who he is with all these different facades he keeps dropping. And then comes Megatron who also used to put on a facade and was far better at lying to himself than Drift ever was, but when Megatron tries to find himself he eventually just does it, he can never be who he was but he regained some of that person, Megatron can be at peace with the fact that he will never be at peace with himself. And it's so unfair, it's so unfair that it comes so easy to Megatron when Drift has struggled for far longer. When it was Megatron who encouraged Drift's worst traits. And it doesn't help that Megatron's whole deal is accepting that he enjoy's violence for violence's sake, when for Drift violence has always been about survival.

Sorry, I kinda failed at this. But have that.