#something something 'there are many obvious things in this world that nobody picks up on' or something along those lines

[multifandomfanatic02]

"My Little Partner in Crime."

pairing : father!Alastor x daughter!reader

synopsis : you spent nearly 80 years by your father's side without him knowing who you truly were. Don't you think it's about time you told him the truth? Would he despise you?

warnings : weep bitches.

word count : 3,106

          It had been 76 years since she had passed. Yet she remained in the body of a 15 year old girl. In hell, of course no one aged. Not many child sinners were often found in Hell but she was special. While she wasn't an overlord, she was a brilliant mind behind one.

           In life, [Y/N] felt she had been misplaced in the world. So many terrible things had happened at such a young age. She got by though. Through learned methods and maybe a little bit of her genes had helped too.

            She was orphaned at the age of 10 years old. Father died before she was born and mama fell severely ill when she was 10. It was an unfortunate circumstance for such a young child to be in, however it only got worse from there. After both parents had died, she ended up in a very poor fostering system. In which none of the children were treated right. It was so much worse for her.

             [Y/N] was the daughter of an infamous serial killer in Louisiana. Which did not look good to potential foster parents. If her father was a fucking psychopath, what would she be like? In a way, they weren't far off in their speculations. And they proved to be right later on.

            Her mother didn't find out about the love of her life's deeds until he was pronounced dead one eventful night. Gunshot to the head in the midst of burying his own victim. Regardless of what was said about the man, she still loved him all the years after before falling to her own demise. It wasn't like he was a crazed monster, in fact, he likely saved more people than he killed. He only went after the worst of the worst.

            It was obvious that the man loved his wife more than life itself. More than his job. It saddened her knowing that he would never get to meet his daughter. Children were never planned or even talked about between the two considering sex was kind of a sensitive topic for the both of them and for different reasons. So the one time they decided to 'experiment' she ended up conceiving. Funny enough, 6 weeks later was when he died. Neither parents had knowledge of [Y/N] presence yet.

          [Y/N] was scorned throughout the entirety of her foster community. Not for anything she did, no no. But for something her father did. No one wanted her. Regardless, she was happy that she was on her own in a way. Her 4 years in foster care were quite peaceful.

            It wasn't until she was 14 that she had been finally picked out of the system. An old man, maybe in his fifties, had come to get her. The fostering system, not wanting her to continue her stay any longer, kept their dealings with him under wraps so everything stayed out of legal documents.  [Y/N] wasn't adopted, no, she was to become his wife and to bear several of his children. Figures. What else would a man like him want in a child. Women were still known as the caretakers at the time. Nobody in this day and age was evolved like her father whom treated her mother like a queen when they were alive.

            Thankfully it never got too bad before she decided to take her fate into her own hands. She was an avid reader. Her favorite things to read were the medical books found in her room when she was in the system. So she eventually learned a thing or two. It started off with a crushed pill in his drink every morning to stave off his libido. So he was never in the mood to touch her. (Don't ask where she gets the medication, it's a secret.)

               Wearing him down slowly every day and night for the next year before his untimely death. An insulin overdose. It'd be like he died in his sleep. During an autopsy, no one would even know. She grinned ear to ear, feeling the man's pulse disappear from his neck. She took a breath before calling 911 in a faked panic tone. Convincing actually. "Hello? I n-need help. My husband isn't b-breathing, I think he may be dead. Please come save him! He can't die! I love him!" She managed to force tears from her eyes.

             Ultimately, he did indeed pass away and she was finally on her own. I guess it wasn't a totally bad set up since his property, belongings, and money went to [Y/N]. It was short lived, unfortunately. All that money that went to ballrooms and jazz music. It was paradise and worth every penny she thought. Only to die at the age of 15 from an infected fox bite. (Random, right? Just like dad's lol)

           [Y/N] had been in Hell for 76 years. She wasn't well known unlike her companion. Sticking to the man like glue after all this time. She worked well with the Radio Demon. Their minds complemented each other very well. Almost to a point of familiarity. When she first arrived in Hell, it was like she had made a big boom in the talk of the town. She was a mastermind and very talented at killing and pranks. It sparked a lot of the overlords' interest, especially since she wasn't interested in becoming an overlord herself. All she wanted was to enjoy her dark and very humorous afterlife. [Y/N] of course declined all their business proposals, even the famous Vox.

             There was one she couldn't turn away from. He was charming and the two immediately had an unbreakable connection. The connection itself was unreadable but it was there nonetheless. He made a deal with her, promising absolute protection from the exterminators and other overlords and in turn she would help with his dealings. It was a fair trade, the Radio Demon was a bit impulsive with his actions while [Y/N] methodically planned all her own dealings 30 steps ahead. And with her being 15, well, she was thought to be an easy target.

              It was actually strange, they look alike too. The same color scheme, same nose and eyes. Both shared that constant shit-eating grin and composure. The only difference between them being that he's an elk demon while she, a fox demon. It was literally just the tail, antlers, and hairstyle that set them apart.

               Overtime, the radio demon, opened up to her piece by piece. Alastor, that was his name. It didn't take to long for her to come to the realization that he was in fact her beloved father that her mom talked about oh so much. It was clear. It wasn't just their appearance but mannerisms that were so similar. Her name being the same as his mothers surely didn't help either. He thought nothing of it. Alastor didn't know, he was too oblivious to anything that wasn't himself. And up to now, it never felt like the right time to tell him, so it's been a secret.

            Turns out she wasn't the only one to have this realization. Carmilla Carmine along with many other overlords figured it out before even she. Carmilla being a mother herself felt empathy for her and talked to her whenever she needed it. Rosie found a deep love for [Y/N] herself, acting as a mother figure as well. The little darling was just like her bestie, Alastor, how could she not? Other overlords weren't as reasonable and often threatened to use the knowledge as a weapon against her. What would Alastor think? Did he ever want a child? Would he stray away from her if he found out? Often enough, the overlords who threatened her ended up without their lives by her hands by the end of the day.

         Seventy-six years, Alastor had kept [Y/N] by his side every step he took. It wasn't until his powerful fight with Vox that he decided to step away. He disappeared for 7 years without notice. It broke her heart into a million pieces but just like before in life, she marched on and kept her promise to him.

           It wasn't until news arrived in Pentagon city about this Hazbin Hotel that she'd heard Alastor's name after so long. He was working as the host of the hotel. It wasn't often [Y/N] showed emotion but this time she couldn't hold it in, tears streamed down her face. Her sturdy smile began to slowly break apart. It seemed her father was her weakness. While he didn't want to admit it, it was mutual. He left without saying a word to avoid seeing her disappointment in those little eyes of hers. He didn't want her see him so weak. In a way, he subconsciously felt he had some kind of responsibility over her.

            The walk to the hotel was nerve-wracking for [Y/N]. Seeing him after all this time felt bittersweet. She was excited of course but she was awfully upset about his random disappearance.

Knock, knock, knock

        The Princess of Hell had opened the door, to her surprise to see a red and black fox demon with a huge smile on her face. Charlie was suddenly having a flash of deja vu. Where else has she seen this before? In any case, it wasn't the most obvious thing to pop out at her. This girl was a child. There shouldn't be a child in Hell, whose cruel idea was it to send her down here Charlie thought.

          "Princess Charlotte, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is [Y/N]." She bent down pulling her dress between her fingers to greet her.

           "Just call me Charlie! It's nice to meet you too! Are you here to stay in the hotel? If so we would love to have you here with us. Especially someone as cute as you." Charlie reached out to pinch the young demon's cheeks before composing herself.

           "I actually am, among other things. I was hoping I could be of service to you." Charlie sat questioning her proposal for a second.

             "I'll gladly accept any help I can get but love, you are a child, don't you want to focus on going to heaven and get out of this place?" Charlie bent down to her level and took the girl's hands in her own.

              "Don't let her age fool you, my dear. She is a very capable demon. In fact, better than most overlords I know." The familiar radio static voice tickled [Y/N] ears as Alastor materialized behind Charlie. He smiled genuinely as he held out his arms, waiting for her embrace. Tears suddenly streamed down as she ran into his arms. The two holding onto each other as if one of them would disappear forever.

               "I apologize for my sudden departure, darling. I hope you know that I would never leave you willingly. It was the only way I could keep my side of the deal." He stroked her hair in attempt to calm her sobbing. She couldn't say anything, she had already forgiven him a while back. Alastor couldn't do anything to make her hate him.

               "Alastor aren't you going to introduce us? Who's this sweet thing?" Angel dust walked to the doors to join him and Charlie. The rest of the sinners in the lobby following suit.

              "I guess you could say she is my partner in crime. This little darling has been by my side for nearly 80 years. I owe a lot of my victories to her truth be told." Everyone stood around confused, expecting a different answer. There's absolutely no way she could JUST be his partner they look too much ali-

             "Al, is that.. is that all she is?" [Y/N] sent vaggie daggering eyes as a warning not to continue her statement. Getting the hint, Vaggie backed off and went to sit on the couch in the center of the room. "Nevermind, forget I said anything."   

              "Hey [Y/N], it's been a few months. How you holding up. Still getting into trouble I hear." Husk gives the fox demon some pats on the head.

               "It's nice to see you again Husker, I would like to thank you for looking out for me these past few years." Her grin grew looking up at the fluffy demon.

             "Just doing what the boss told me." Alastor often had souls he was contracted with look after her in his absence. There wasn't much he could do, but knowing she was safe and sound and thriving eased his cold heart. It wasn't often he found himself tied to someone. But there he was, worried for the safety of someone else. A child no less. It took a while to understand his feelings but he eventually did accept it. He cared about someone other than himself.

               Introductions to the residents went smoothly, all of them having such lively personalities she thought. What an amazing new family to have. Besides missing Mama, this was much better than what she had in life ironic as it is.

           The times were changing and everything felt still, peaceful. [Y/N] had an amazing new family and business. Angel Dust being like an amazing big brother and Charlie like an amazing older sister. However the biggest change was how close she got to Alastor. He insisted her bedroom be near his radio tower so he could watch over her. It was so out of character for the residents that have only known him since he joined the hotel staff.

              She was back to being glued to his hip. Her charm helping to gain more residents with her adorableness. It brought on a whole lot of business deals for the feared radio demon as well. Everything was perfect. Something still weighed on [Y/N]'s heart. Alastor needed to know the truth. Why the two of them have such a strong connection. And why they can't seem to ever let each other go. It's not something easily brought up in conversation. Thankfully, luck was on her side one day during one of their business outings.

           "So.. do we have a deal?" Alastor held his hand out to damaged overlord. The enemy's eyes flickered over to the fox demon, causing a distraction. Long enough for his partner to sneak a gun to the young girl's temple. Her composure stabled, a smile creeping on her face.

            "Before I agree to this deal, you are going to hear me out. Or my partner here will end the little girl's life. And you'll be pickingup brain matter off the ground." Alastor's eye twitched, returning his hands to the top of his cane. His expression eased back into his typical smile, seeing her unfazed by the imminent threat.

         "Fine. What do you want?" The man smiled seeing Alastor accept his conditions.

           "[Y/N]. I want the girl." The Radio Demon's breath hitched in his throat upon hearing the request. Never. Never in a million years, he thought. "You see that BITCH had me killed. Secretly drugging me for a year. Didn't think I would have noticed, huh? She never payed for it, she never had to answerfor her crime. Got her out of that shithole of a foster care and this is what I get?"

            He forcibly grabbed the collar of her prim and proper dress, picking her up to his face. Her ears folded to the back of her head, scowling at the man now. "You were going to make me a child bride."

         "You are a woman. You do what I say. If you don't accept my proposal, I'll tell daddy here your little secret. Won't he be surprised." Her eyes turned red at his words, both her and Alastor, in his demon form, shoving an arm through the man's chest in unison. All he felt in that moment was fear, dying for a second time.

            It took a second for the man's words to process in Alastor's head. Secret? What secret? He didn't want to pry but it was obviously tearing [Y/N] up inside. Her expression said it all. All he wanted was to know she was okay. It was time to let him know. And whatever decision he made, she was going to be okay with.

           "There's something I need to tell you."

           "Darling, you don't have to tell me anything if you are not comfortable. That fuck was just trying to get under your skin." And it worked.

             "No. You need to know." [Y/N]'s lip began to quiver in fear. Scared she was suddenly going to be a disappointment. How could she keep this a secret for so long. He had the right to know. Now. "My name is [first name] [Shared last name]. I..  I am your daughter."

                The gears in his head turned as he tried to process the new information. When something suddenly clicked in his head. The love of his life just before he died, was constantly sick and had been for a few weeks. Alastor had just thought she had a cold and constantly doted on her, trying to provide the best medicine he could.. hm.. find. She never took it thankfully. She was pregnant.

           He hadn't thought about it before now but it has come to his attention that the reason why he cared for this child so much was because she reminded him of his wife. She was careful with every decision, she was always calm in every situation she's been in, and they both had that beautiful fire in their eyes. The fire that let everyone know that they weren't going to submit to nobody. The dynamic between him and his wife wasn't much different from the dynamic between him and his daughter.

              Why hadn't Alastor seen it before. [Y/N] was obviously named after his mother. The girl was literally his mini me. He couldn't help but let a tear or two drop from his eyes before bending his knees to look at her at her level.

            "Tell me... what uh. What happened to your mother?" Alastor held the girl's cheek in his hand caressing it gently and wiping away her own tears, slightly smearing the blood on his hand.

             "Mama died of the influenza virus when I was 10. I'm sure she's in Heaven, having the time of her life." Alastor pulled his daughter into a tight embrace, never wanting to let go.

            "After all this time, I've had a precious piece of her with me. And I won't ever leave you alone again."

A/N: Yall let me know if you liked this concept, this was fun to do. I know it's kind of out of character for Alastor but I hope it healed something in y'all with daddy issues 🙏

[sempersirens]

sun bleached flies | four

masterlist

chapter summary: joel seeks to make amends the only way joel knows how: messily

warnings: 18+, mdni. previous dark!joel/raider!joel. mention of ptsd, nightmares, some sexist/misogynistic comments, lotsa swearing, nihilism, alcohol & bad decisions.

a/n: hello! as you may know, i paused this series for a little while after receiving some comments about the content of this story. i was quite upset and reactive upon first seeing the comments and instantly pulled the series in order to give myself some time to consider whether i wanted to carry on. but, as is obvious, i really do not care anymore. i put detailed warnings before each chapter so everyone knows what they're getting into. if this isn't for you, that's okay! don't read! alas. thank you SO much to all of you who continue to read my silly little stories and send me such kind messages, reblog, and like. i love and cherish you ALL. this chapter is very much giving "it's the drama, mick. i love it.”

Joel's POV

In the movies about the end of the world, humanity always seemed so vulnerable. Not so much in the way that people would be literally picked off one by one by hordes of undead, but there was always the feeling that it took the end of the world for the human race to finally become their true selves. As if the worst of times brought out the best of people.

Joel had hated that trope. Whenever he, Tommy and Sarah picked out a zombie movie at Blockbuster on a Friday night they opted for the most gory, gruesome option on the shelf. They would simultaneously roll their eyes at any cheesy line snuck into the dialogue mid-fight scene - apart from Tommy, who would wipe his bleary eyes with the back of his sleeve in the hope that nobody had seen.

Sat amidst that gathering of lost survivors, each searching for some semblance of safety in the dire form of group therapy, Joel had perhaps for the first time in his life seen true, raw emotion reflecting in your eyes. You had always seemed so composed during your brief but sharp run-ins with one another, but this evening was different.

He'd watched your cheeks turn pink when the idiot stood at the front of the group prompted you to share your story. The way you unravelled speaking about Mia, it was as if your facade had shifted ever so slightly - perhaps even accidentally - because as soon as you realised your mask was slipping, you snatched it straight back and regained composure. Like she was your Achilles heel, the only thing in this world that could bring your walls tumbling down.

Joel had tried to follow you after the session to get you alone to talk about - he didn't even know what. He just knew was the right thing to do, and he had made a promise to himself to start following that gut feeling for once. But he had been trapped by his row of slow-moving attendees with little sense of urgency and menial small talk, and you were long gone by the time he had escaped the barricades of plastic chairs.

You'd had a child, his child. A child he had no right to see, and wasn't even sure if he wanted to see. How could he look her in the eye knowing the reason she had been brought into this world, knowing he had even let such a thing happen, to bring something so small and innocent into such a plagued existence?

A lot of things kept Joel up at night; too many things to count. The fire of bullets before feeling the limpness of Sarah's body in his arms. The mocking song of defeat, noise constantly muffled in his eardrums that reminded him of that damn flinch. Ellie's small body collapsing into his still-weak chest, fresh blood coating her pale skin. The smell of the burning building in their wake.

It was worse when the dreams reminded him of his own cruelty. Settlements raided and burned to the ground. Blades pressed through temples in the dead of night.

And then there was you.

He had stumbled upon you at the peak of his inhumanity. He wanted to blame it on being around the other raiders for so long, that the things he had only ever been a bystander for had finally seeped into his skin and corrupted him. He wished he could reject all of the shame and responsibility as an unconscious action of muscle memory.

When he saw you standing in your kitchen passing his brother a bottle of beer like it was the most mundane action, he thought his subconscious was punishing him again; like his first day in Jackson, when he'd dared to drop his shoulders ever so slightly at the sight of a woman he let himself believe to be Sarah. For that second all logic evaded him, all he could think was that his little girl was alive and well right before him. As if it had all been a bad dream and she would turn to face him like it had only been an hour at most since they'd been apart.

It took just as much time for his brain to remind him he was really seeing you and not another one of his nightmares. Despite the briefness of your encounter all those years ago, he would've known you anywhere. Even if he'd wanted to forget you, his brain wouldn't let him.

You had every right to despise him, to out him to his brother and the entirety of Jackson. Not only had he taken advantage of your vulnerability, he'd failed at the one measly promise he had made you in exchange.

His biggest regret manifested as a Bambi-eyed little girl staring up at him as if he were a stranger. Which in truth, he was.

It was still early when Joel returned home to an empty house. Ellie was staying the night at a friend's, Dina, or something. Tommy and Maria had reassured him that she was a good kid and it would do Ellie some good making friends if they planned on staying in Jackson for the foreseeable future.

So, he retired to bed and tried to disappear underneath the thin duvet in the hope of dreamless sleep.

After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, your feeble voice from earlier ricocheting through his ears, he admitted defeat.

One thing Joel appreciated about Jackson was the lenient opening hours of the Tipsy Bison. Something he didn't appreciate, however, was how the entirety of Jackson's male population seemed to think the same thing.

"Joel," Tommy called across the room as Joel entered the bar.

For god's sake, Joel muttered under his breath, all hope of a peaceful glass of whiskey dissipating at the sight of his little brother waving him over.

"What you doin' here so late?" Tommy questioned, trying to decipher whether Joel had seen through his suggestion of attending the support group.

"Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd make good of this... fine establishment." Joel replied as Tommy signalled to the bartender for two more of whatever he had already been drinking.

Two men Joel hadn't met yet were seated on either side of Tommy, and he didn't care to be introduced to them either.

"You go to that meetin' I told you about?" Tommy was never good at being discreet, making the situation sound more like Joel was eliciting some kind of drug run rather than going to a damn trauma support group.

"I did," the bartender placed a glass of whiskey on the table in front of Joel. "Saw your girl there."

"Oh yeah, she goes every week. How was she?" Tommy's face lit up at the mention of you.

"S'fine. Don't think she likes me very much."

Joel took a swig of his drink as one of the other men chirped up, questioning whether the topic of conversation was about you.

"She's my patrol partner sometimes. Doesn't like anybody very much, don't take it to heart."

"That so?" Joel mused, twirling the glass around in his fingers.

"Spends most of her time with her kid, and if not her, then she's with our Tommy and his Maria. Reckon they're all that's good enough for her in this town."

"Now, don't put yourself down like that, Keith. She's just a private gal, that's all." Tommy reassured the man to his left, earning a raised eyebrow in response.

"Hopefully not that private, I'm takin' her for a drink tomorrow night." Now the man on Tommy's right spoke up.

Joel felt his grip tighten around the glass, his eyes narrowing on the tall but weak-looking man sitting across from him.

"Well I'll be damned," Tommy laughed. "Y'finally wore her down, huh?"

"Other way round, really. I gave into her asking and asking."

"Now, now, Greg. She's a good girl, you better look after her."

"Yeah, really look after her, Greg. Be doin' us all a favour, might put a smile on her face for once." Keith added.

"C'mon now, boys. She's like a sister to me, don't be talkin' about her like that." Tommy grimaced slightly, which soon turned to a snort. He always did lose his backbone after a couple of drinks.

"Like any of you would say that to her face." Joel scoffed, taking a sip of his drink to stop him for saying anymore.

God knows why, but Joel felt defensive over you. Listening to the way Tommy was allowing his friends to speak on you made his blood boil. He could hear thumping in his eardrums, waving his hand in the general direction of the bartender for another glass of whiskey.

"They're just playing, Joel. She can be kinda icy to say the least."

"Yeah, why d'you think that is, Tommy? She's got a damn kid to look after, all on her own."

"I didn't realise you knew her so well." Greg retorted, his face looking more and more punchable by the second.

"I didn't know you were keepin' tabs on my life, who I know and who I don't." Joel spat back with a little too much vim in his voice.

The bartender replaced Joel's empty glass with a filled one, which he knocked back without a second thought before rising in his seat and slamming the glass back on the table.

He turned to leave, feeling the warmth of the alcohol settling in his chest.

"The hell was that all about?" Tommy had followed him outside.

"What?" Joel barked in response, turning to face his brother.

"In there, you gettin' all wound up over nothin'."

"Nothing? You said that girl's like your sister, yet you let them speak on her like that?"

"Oh c'mon, Joel. They're idiots I know, but they're harmless. What's it to you, anyhow?"

"I just thought you were better than that, Tommy."

"You're being crazy. Go home, Joel."

"Where d'you think I'm fuckin' going?"

He waved Tommy away, turning to walk back to his place. However, he didn't want to go home yet. He let his feet take him in the direction of your house, instead.

It wasn't too late, but he still knocked lightly on the front door so as to not wake Mia. He heard some shuffling from inside before the door creaked open.

"Jesus Christ." You breathed.

"Not quite."

"What the fuck do you want, Joel? Why do you keep showing up here?" You demanded, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door softly behind you.

"You know why, we have shit to talk about."

You scoffed and pushed your shoulders back, the smell of alcohol from Joel's breath making the thought process for his surprise visit clear.

"We have nothing to talk about. You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here."

"They were all in the Bison, just know, those pricks from patrol. Greg or whatever, talkin' shit about you. I couldn't stand it."

"Oh, please. What do you want me to do? Get on my knees and thank you for defending my honour?"

"No- not at all. Just don't want you wastin' your time with them when they don't respect you."

"And you do? Respect me?"

Joel couldn't find the words to respond. Everything came flooding over him at once.

"Please, I- I wanna see her."

He surprised even himself at the words that left his mouth, however, you didn't seem surprised. Your eyes narrowed while his widened, watching you take a step toward him, closing the gap between you both.

“Joel, I don’t think you understood at all. Why would I want you near her, when you’re the exact kind of man I'm trying to protect her from?”

taglist: apparently my tags don't always work so fingers crossed these come thru? sorry if i forgot anybody - if you want to be added/removed please lmk! @warm-tea-and-otp @mrsquill @ashleymsnodgrass @bluetattoos @mabermaple @hiroikegawa @casssiopeia @joeldjarin @southernbe @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @cool-iguana @drewharrisonwriter @none-of-this-makes-any-sense @randomhoex @ilovepedro @koshkaj-blog @ejuliet999 @love-the-abyss @jellybeanxc @mabermaple @radsanchez @powellssaturn @ok-boke @phoebe13 @ahintofkiwistrawberry @smexy-bucky-waifu @withasideofmeg @darkroastjoel @willowsvalley @forestfaeriequeen @radsanchez @moonlightdivine @noisynightmarepoetry @mysingularitybts @misshoneypaper @ezzynf @spideyyhoe @runningmom94 @disassociation-daydreams @serendipity22086 @lionlena @shotgun-shelby @daddy-din @dins-riduur-anthe @phoebe13 @bageldaddy

[velvetyraincoat]

I enjoyed the show because it scratched that KotOR itch that I desperately crave, but I can’t get over just how many scenes in The Acolyte didn’t make very much sense.

It feels like a lot of characters ended up making strange decisions purely for the sake of plot and I kept having moments where I felt like I was an idiot or like I missed something.

I made a list of big holes that I had trouble filling in my own head. Maybe someone smarter than me can explain this show to me.

Spoilers for The Acolyte S01 below

- After Sol rescues Osha and she clears her name, she says that she wants nothing to do with the situation and that Mae is the republic’s problem. She’s very clear as to what her desires are and they devote a bunch of time giving her goodbyes and then trying to sneak off. Then Sol is like “but what if you helped me??? 🥺”. And she’s like ‘ok’, and changes her mind without any hesitation. Why?

- Why did Mae decide to tie up Manny Strangerface on Khofar and give up on her quest? When this happened, I assumed she was just making up an excuse to ditch him, but it turned out genuine which was really weird. Mae has devoted her whole life to killing these people. She also called her sister Jedi scum earlier and didn’t seem to bear any real attachment to her. Where did this change of heart come from?

- Why did Darth Nobody make his dramatic appearance and morb all over all those Jedi guys? Why not just kill Mae earlier when she tied him up? Surely if he can kill a whole squad of Jedi, he can Force his way out of a stupid rope trap.

- On that note, how is it that Jecki, the padawan, is capable of squarely holding her own in an extended fight scene against a guy who just three-man solo decapitated a bunch of Jedi knights in two seconds?

- Yord gets instructions to take Osha back to the ship, despite Osha’s protest to stay. But then Osha has a vision of her sister and suddenly Yord is like “ok that checks out guess we’ll turn around then”. What?

- The thing with Pip as a flashlight. Why didn’t Powerful Sith Guy just use the Force to pull it off of himself? Seems kind of obvious, no?

- Mae stuns Osha and then clothes swaps with her. Didn’t Mae just renounce her dark side master in the name of her love her her sister? But she’s going to just leave Osha to be found by her master now?? What? Why?

- Everything about Darth Swole Guy after he picks up Osha and nurses her back to health. We just saw him being the world’s biggest dickhead, but he’s nice now? Why? Osha even asks him why he’s being nice to her, lampshading the question, but it just never really gets answered. Guess he’s just a nice guy now.

- Everything with Mother Aniseya. We’re expected to see Ascension as this big culturally important thing that the Jedi are butting into, but none of it seems particularly important to Aniseya (the coven leader) who is willing to just look the other way and let Osha do whatever she wants (valuing her individualism the same way the Jedi do). The cultural relativism plot sort of breaks down when the two cultures don’t have, you know, conflicting values.

- Every single time there’s a question of whether to go with tradition or let the girls do what they want, Aniseya actively steps against tradition in the name of ‘it’s what Osha wants’. If the leader of the coven can say that it’s not that important and let Osha leave, then why is it bad for the Jedi to interfere? It don’t make no sense.

- In the finale, why does Osha agree to train with qimmy again? She says she will take her sister’s place, but why is this an option? Also, why doesn’t he want to kill Mae anymore? Didn’t he want to kill her for being weak or whatever back when he was still Darth Scaryguy the first time they met him?

- Why erase Mae’s memories if they are just going to leave her to the Jedi anyway? The whole Vernestra questioning scene where Mae does the Rosemary Kennedy bit just felt so weird, gross, and unnecessary. “Who am I? What is this place and how did I get here?” — Dude me too, Mae. Questions I ask myself when watching The Acolyte.

- Why leave her alive at all even? Why not just kill her and tie off the loose end? Isnt that kind of show of strength what the Sith are known for?

- Why torch Sol’s reputation at the end? If you have no moral backbone and are already about to admit there was an evil Jedi guy but are really Sol’s friend, then just put Mae on trial. You literally have her in custody. Why not just execute her and call it a day?

look I really want to like this show. The casting is fantastic, the acting is overall pretty good, and the special effects are so incredibly cool and perfectly capture the vibe of an older time in the Republic era. I wish I could say this show was amazing because it panders to the exact kind of Star Wars shit I love, but it’s so incredibly hard to get past the fact that the writing is so internally incoherent with its own plot and characters.

[beanghostprincess]

You know, One Piece is all fun and happyness untill you learn that the world and themes are actually some of the darkest and most depressing things that were ever put on paper. The biggest potrayal of this tho is the fact that many characters have different running gags and quirks that are actually products of their horrible past trauma and messed up life.

Luffy- Wants to befriends literally everybody because of his fear of being alone and picks fights with all the people he doesn't like because he wants to protect his friends.

Nami- Her greed and kleptomania were developed because her mom literally died because sge was poor and was never able to give her and Nojiko all they wanted/needed.

Usopp- Makes absurd lies about everything because as a kid he had to keep lying to keep his mother happy and when she died he kept on doing so to keep himself safe.

Sanji- Puts all women on a super high pedestal because growing up women like his mom and sister wrre the only good people in his life and men like his Judge and his brothers were fucking awful.

Brook and Robin- Super S tier dark humor to cope with S tier dark trauma.

In other words, One Piece is just a comedy passing drmatic anime, but I think we all already knew that.

Ah, yes, I love this topic so much.

But I wouldn't say One Piece is a "comedy passing dramatic anime". One Piece is both comedy and drama. The drama doesn't hide behind comedy at any moment. You don't have to actively look for it or read between the lines to understand the characters. I think Oda is an amazing writer because he manages to just tell us/show us about his characters in the clearest and most obvious of ways. He throws hints at us over the episodes to then explaining it to us very carefully how his characters are built. This is why I find so difficult to understand why people (mainly from the general audience or, y'know, dudebros) don't get the characters in the first watch/read. An example of a comedy passing dramatic show would probably be just any sort of satiric comedic show in which they don't actually address the drama but instead make jokes about it. Like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (God I love that sitcom).

I know what you mean, though. You're talking about the whole "making jokes/running gags about something when the reason behind them is actually way deeper". And I agree wholeheartedly.

Luffy has abandonment issues and that's why he keeps wanting to protect his friends and hates being alone, Nami sees money as safety and comfort because her mom died because they lacked money, Usopp's lies come from trying to make her mom happy because his dad left them, Sanji has an obsession with women because they're the only ones who never hurt him, Brook and Robin have no filter when it comes to dark humor because they've been alone for so long that the only way they have to cope is jokes and nobody gets them except them... And also:

We treat Zoro's relationship with Tashigi as comedic at some points but he has so much trauma regarding his best friend dying that he can't be close to someone who looks like her.

We make fun of and exaggerate Sabo's love for Luffy to the point of brocon/possessiveness because he literally spent most of his life having forgotten him and when he remembers his brothers, one of them dies, so of course he wants to look after the little one.

Boa's love for Luffy exists exclusively because she feels safe around him and it's the first man who has never seen her as a sexual object.

And a lot more of these but, basically, Oda is great at character building and writing because these are not things that you have to read between the lines. These are not exaggerations for the reader to understand what's going on with the characters. These are just trauma responses that constantly happen in real life. It's just a well-written story with awesome, realistic characters, and I absolutely love it.

[maddrumsticks2]

Been thinking about all the Links. Originally I thought Time was the only one whose deeds went basically unknown, but no, it's most of the Links.

There's almost never an instance where a bunch of people show up to help in any of the games. (Of course, I haven't played many of the Zelda games.)

I just wanna run through the games that I've played.

SUPER LONG POST WARNING

LttP: I never actually finished this one, but the majority of the game feel like you're completely on your own. Maybe people do know what he's done, though.

OoT: He fights Ganon in a world that's already destroyed. Of course, the remaining people may know of his accomplishments, but he doesn't know they know. Link is no longer in the timeline where he might've gotten some recognition. Instead, he just seems like a child who picked up on Ganon's evil before anyone else.

(I'm in the midst of playing Majora's Mask, please do not spoil it for me.)

WW: Nobody even remotely knew of Hyrule's existence. The only thing people may have noticed being wrong was the disappearance of some of the girls around towns and islands. Though, Link could easily be remembered as the person who saved these girls. (It's been a bit since I played this game, please forgive my bad memory.) And at least the sages know what he's been trying to do. Oh, and Tetra knows, but that's a given.

TP: Been playing through this one again. This time I've really picked up on the lonely atmosphere. Which is funny because that game has arguably one of the biggest casts of important people. And maybe that's why. Because despite how many people acknowledge and believe in Link, only Midna truly knows everything he's done. And by the end, she returns to her world and seals off any hope of Link ever seeing her again. So maybe the people know Link has something to do with the sudden decrease in monsters, or maybe that he saved Zelda somehow, but they will never truly know how in trouble they were before Link came along.

BotW: Idk, Link is pretty well acknowledged here. Though it seems like the villagers have no idea he even exists. The Rito even believe that Link's the descendant of himself. But he is not, by any means, the least acknowledged. After the events of BotW (in TotK), you can tell that people know who Link is, and they know that he saved Zelda and defeated Calamity Ganon. Zelda has become very beloved to her people, and Link is the guy almost always accompanying her. (I assume.)

TotK: It's been a while since I've beaten this game, so I'm not entirely sure, tbh. But my guess is the gloom dissipates, and Zelda's back and people know because the signs of things going back to normal are obvious.

Sorry, just having silly hyperfixation thoughts loll

[angies-writing-blog]

A Devil's Grief (Raphael x Tav)

Ao3 Link

Carelessness on Raphael's part had cost him the precious little mouse her life.

Rushing towards the open attack of the enemy army with an extraordinary spirit of sacrifice.

Giving her companions enough time to build up their defences

... but also to save Raphael from certain destruction.

No quick and peaceful death was granted for her.

Repentance for her sin still had to be done by the little mouse.

According to the gods, this consisted of not even falling into his arms,

pierced by enemy weapons, barely able to make a move and succumbing to elemental forces.

Pulling her into his arms, all soaked in blood, she was incapable of words

...because of the arrow stuck in her throat.

Neither poisoned nor enchanted, it had hit with critical success.

Pale around the nose, his little mouse had always been, but the increasingly grey tone was alarming.

And the cyanotic glow around her lips revealed that her body was no longer able to maintain vital functions.

Shallow and infrequent breaths emerged, struggling for air at times.

Dilated pupils stared at him without focussing on anything in particular.

Raphael had only ever seen the glow of the universe in her eyes, never intimidation or fear.

In denial, Raphael raised his voice, assuring her that everything would be all right.

But the expression she met him with revealed that she was enveloped in a silence that, like a sudden and impenetrable fog, stole the outline of all words.

Turning all her attention to his lips, she focussed on the shapes, not understanding a whisper.

Speaking softly, Raphael returned her gaze to his.

Uttering three words clearly, which she understood in time before the pulsating world, spinning in circles, picked up speed and darkness finally engulfed her.

Preventing the little mouse from acknowledging all his feelings.

Standing still, all of a sudden, both her companions, who had fallen into a state of shock, and their outnumbered enemies.

No longer possessed Raphael's voice a mortal sound, even the stars trembled at the infernal cry.

Never before had even one soul seen tears forming in the devil's eyes, pooling like in front of a dam whose wall showed an unimaginable vulnerability and finally broke when it was least expected.

During this war of hells, fought on earthly ground.

Slowly, the door to Raphael's inner world opened.

Knowing all the tears in the world would not bring back her life.

Many things now made sense for his little mouse's companions.

Love was what the devil felt for this small and fragile human child.

Nobody had noticed it all this time;

neither had anyone recognised the little crushes they had on each other nor noticed the obvious desire for closeness.

Crumbling cracks of restraint formed in the salty spray along his cheeks.

And the otherwise imperturbable façade was pervaded by an expression of unease. 

For the first time, the dark clouds inside Raphael gained the upper hand. Roaring tempest unstoppable.

Engulfed by invisible flames, his prominent facial features were distorted into something demonic

...something never seen before.

Leathery, shimmering wings erupted from his back, their span expanding, bearing the burden of all cosmic grief.

Fiery glow enveloped his body while the ground shook beneath his clawed feet.

Nature itself seemed to mourn the passing of this life.

Crown-like horns extended menacingly towards the sky, manifesting an eldritch power never seen before.

"Now I understand, why she always referred to him as a fallen angel and never called him a devil", Astarion confessed.

Powerless, he watched as Raphael rose in demonic form, carrying the seemingly lifeless body tightly pressed against him.

"This war is about to end, isn't it?"

Karlach tried to organise what had just happened, retreating together with her comrades.

Shaking his head and turning away from the tragedy, Astarion replied:

"No. The war was already over when the fading of her life turned his flaming heart to ice."

Loud rumbling sounded...

[modelbus]

hii! for your 500 followers event i was wondering if i could request wilbur with coworkers to lovers and fake dating? congrats on 500 <3

It’s kind of like I just did a part two to the previous request for the event… :D Thank you!!

This is the last request for the event, thank you all for sending in the requests! I really enjoyed doing them all <3

Pairing: Cc!Wilbur x Gn!Reader

Coworkers to Lovers - Fake Dating

“You know, I’m always surprised you still don’t have a special someone.”

You give a tight-lipped smile to Shannon, one of your many cat-lady coworkers. She’s really one to talk, seeing as the closest thing to a boyfriend she has is her cat, Ferdinand.

Really, you’re just trying to go home. Apparently not having a partner to pick you up was a crime in this building.

“I could always set you up with my vet’s son. He’s around your age I think.”

This is the fifth fucking time she’s tried setting you up with the same guy. The first time was nice, just like the first time she bothered you about your dating life. Seven months later? Not so nice.

You didn’t want to be an asshole and make work awkward though, so you just haven’t told her to stop. She’s a cat lady, it shouldn’t bother you so much.

Yet it does.

There’s nobody. Hell, there’s been nobody for years! Your dating life is nonexistent! And for some reason it’s exactly what all your coworkers decide to talk about with you. All of them except Wilbur, thank God.

“No thanks, I-“

“Have a boyfriend.” Wilbur interrupts. A warm weight settles around your shoulders: his stupid trench coat. “Here, I know you forgot your coat.”

You mutely slip it on. It’s definitely his stupid coat, and that was definitely his voice saying those things, so you have to be having a vivid hallucination. There’s no way he just lied and said he was your boyfriend.

“You two are dating?! And you didn’t tell me?!”

Okay, so you’re not hallucinating. You’ve just slipped into an alternate universe.

“We were worried about the fact we work together. Don’t tell, okay?” Wilbur grins, grabbing your hand.

“Oh, I wouldn’t.” Shannon assures you both. “I’m so happy for you two though! Enjoy your walk home!”

“We will. Come on, let’s get you home before it’s too dark out.”

You let Wilbur tug you along, not even remembering to grab your bag until it’s already in Wilbur’s hands. Although you were saved from Shannon, this just didn’t feel real.

He doesn’t let go of your hand until you say something about halfway down the street.

“What the fuck just happened?” You ask.

Wilbur drops your hand but doesn’t return your bag or take back his coat. “I just saved you from Shannon. She’s a bitch sometimes, isn’t she?”

“I mean, yeah, but why’d you pretend to be dating me?”

“To save you.”

He’s acting like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like friends pretend to date each other all the time.

“Wil, you realize we have to keep pretending, right? She’ll know if we suddenly break up after telling her. And not to mention we might get in trouble because we work together!”

It seemed perfectly logical that Wilbur just majorly fucked up.

“It’ll be fine. We can fake break up in a few months or something. That way the cat ladies won’t bug either of us about being single. Nobody but the cat ladies have to know. It’ll be fun!”

You sigh, but not being harassed by the cat ladies would be nice. The motion of your rising and falling shoulders makes you remember the coat you still have on.

"Oh, sorry, I still have your coat-"

"Keep it on. Your dumbass will catch a cold."

Hurtful but true, you keep the coat on.

“You know she’s going to tell everyone?” You ask, referring to Shannon.

“Oh absolutely.”

-

"Hey, love. Did you like the flowers?" Wilbur's grinning when he asks it, and you're tempted to tell him no. Just to see what would happen. But he already knows you like the flowers he left on your desk because they were your favorite.

"Of course." You answer instead.

Three months. That's how long you've been pretending to date Wilbur and that's how long he's been doing things like this. From having flowers delivered to your desk to sneaking in your favorite dessert, he's been making you fall in love with him for too long.

How were you meant to keep your feeling platonic when he did things like this? Just seeing the flowers on your desk this morning made your heart leap, knowing they were from him.

Oh, and the nicknames. You nearly died the first time he used them, a casual "darling" slid into his sentence. Now you were too used to hearing them come from his mouth. Fuck, you even liked them!

"Don't forget we're going to dinner tonight. I'll be at your house at eight." He reminds you. From behind him, Shannon gives you a thumbs up.

"I know, I know."

He wouldn't actually be there. This was simply for show, just like all the other things he did. It didn't matter if he kept holding your hand far out of view from the building, or if his little pet names persisted even out of earshot from others. Dating Wilbur was fake.

"You're hovering." You finally say, raising your eyebrows at him.

He gives a sheepish smile. For the first time since you two started... whatever this was, he had to work overtime. You were walking home completely and utterly alone.

"I called you an Uber." Wilbur admits.

"Wil!"

"I know you said you didn't want one! I was just worried about you walking home alone!"

He smiles and you sigh. “Fine, I’ll take advantage of the fact you’ve already paid.”

“Of course you will. Be ready. Eight. Don’t forget.”

“I’m not going to forget!”

At exactly eight o’clock, someone knocks on your door. You’re in lounge clothes, settling down to watch a movie or something for the rest of the night. It's probably the postman or someone normal, so you don't bother to see who it is before opening the door.

Big mistake.

"You forgot." Wilbur deadpans, and you gape at him in surprise.

Not because you forgot about your "date" tonight. No, you definitely remembered it. You just didn't think he'd actually take you on one. After all, your relationship was purely fictional for the office ladies only.

"I didn't forget." You protest. It doesn't matter if it's the truth because he definitely doesn't believe you.

His eyes flicker over your clothes. "Go get dressed. Fancy."

It's only then that you realize what he's wearing. A suit, striking black standing out against the white shirt. He looks better than good, which makes your heart flutter.

"Okay, okay. Come in, I'll try to be fast."

He steps in while you hurry to get changed. Keeping true to your word you just throw on your best clothes, not bothering to style your hair or worry about anything else. Thank God you quite liked your natural hair.

"Wil, could you grab my shoes for me? By the door, the black ones." You call out, slipping on the socks to go with them.

"These ones?" He asks, holding them up when you walk out. His mouth parts slightly at the sight of you. "Wow. You- um, you look good."

"I'd look better if I had more time." You joke.

"Not possible. You looking better, not the time. Not to say you can't look better if you wanted to- I mean, you look great right now-" He keeps backtracking, face steadily getting redder with each word.

"Wilbur?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

He hands you your shoes, and you slip them on. You haven't worn them in what feels like forever: they just sat by your door, collecting dust. In your defense, you haven't exactly had a reason to wear them.

"So why are we going out on a date?" You ask.

"What do you mean? I literally told you I was taking you on one." Wilbur runs a hand through his hair, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You're also confused here.

"But why? We're fake dating at work."

Understanding dawns on his face, and he suddenly looks sheepish.

"That's kind of why. I- I wanted to take you on a real date. Away from work, so you know it wasn't pretend."

What could you ever say to that? His words seem straightforward, but you're certain there's a trick in them. The date might not be pretend, but his feelings were. That's all that he means, right?

Hope was too dangerous of a thing for you to have now, after all this time.

He must read something in your face, because he's suddenly sweeping his arms wide in a grand gesture. You're too startled to even get a word in before he starts talking, but maybe that's for the better.

"Will you do me the honor of going on this very real date with me? I have very real feelings for you, and a very cowardly heart."

"A very cowardly heart, huh?" You ask, raising your eyebrows.

"I spoke before I thought when I told Shannon we were dating. That night I swore to myself I'd finally ask you out, but I fucked it up and jumped a few steps ahead."

Finally, you laugh. That definitely sounded like a Wilbur thing to do. But most importantly, he said his feelings towards you were real. Romantic feelings. Feelings you've felt for so long that you can't keep them in with his confession.

"I will." You answer.

Now he's the only one confused. "What?"

"I'll go on a date with you. A real one."

He breaks into the biggest grin you've ever seen him wear, and he's shown you a ton of cute animal videos. It's infectious, making you smile right along with him.

"Well then." He holds out his arm, and you take it. "Let's get to this date."

[the-gay-disney-games]

Round 1B: The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004) vs. Mulan (1998)

Propaganda:

The Lion King 1 1/2:

“This movie is about Timon and Pumbaa raising a child together”

“Just 2 dudes raising their son and dealing with commitment issues. The movie heavily leans into the bit that Timon and Pumba are like a couple. Timon is voiced by gay icon Nathan Lane. This movie was my childhood.”

Other propaganda for the original movie with the same idea:

“Simba was literally raised by a gay couple (Timon and Pumba…Timon even literally wears drag in the movie)”

“Timon and Puumba are a queer couple that raised simba into adulthood. Scar is a mean gay. Nuff said”

“Timone and Pumbaa are Simba's gay adoptive dads.”

Mulan:

“Trans awakening for so many of us”

“Well Mulan gives off very non-binary vibes”

“Literally listen to the music also Li Shang”

“just what your intro post said - Milan being trans (or gnc) coded and Li Shang being bi coded. like come on do i even need to explain? I’ll just add that I was listening to “Reflection” on repeat cuz the lines “Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?…When will my reflection show who I am inside?” we’re stuck in my head. So with that song on loop I decided to finally chop my hair short in true Milan fashion (ok that’s a lie, I didn’t do it myself, but the PRINCIPLE) so not only is Milan trans/gnc coded but I can’t be the only one the movie inspired to finally go for The Haircut or something else related. sry that’s very rambly”

“gnc. bisexual. what more could u want.”

“Both trans and gay coded. Shang was so into Ping that he couldn’t stand to execute him for his “crime”. Also includes drag saving the day!”

“This is less a competition for the queerest movie and more a competition for the second queerest movie. Just *look* at every aspect of Mulan and tell me it’s even a contest.”

“Not only is mulan super trans coded but Shang is definitly bi”

“I know it's the obvious pick, but Mulan is so gender and Shang is so bi. 💯💯💯”

“Mulan is very trans coded. Li Shang is totally bi. Dude absolutely had a thing for “Ping” before learning he was actually a woman (Mulan). Also watching that movie as a young egg made me feel less alone about the fact that I didn’t fit into the “girl” role everyone around me pushed me into. Mulan was kind of my hero and sometimes listening to Reflection makes me tear up a little bit because it’s such a mood but also such a TRANS mood. It’s probably my favorite Disney movie song. “Why is my reflection someone I don’t know” made me THINK as a kid. Disney may be evil but they did the world a great service with Mulan.”

“It is obvious why”

“If movies could turn you trans this one did it to me”

“I mean I assume this one is going to be there, but what if we all think “oh everyone is going to put mulan so I won’t” and then nobody does?”

“it’s mulan”

“Gender”

“Mulan is so trans, however you want to read her (as a trans man, genderqueer, genderfluid, etc.) and Shang is hella bi. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk”

“This movie is SOOOOO trans coded. Captain Li is a bisexual icon. As an Asian queer person I have sat and cried to Reflection by Lea Salonga while staring in a mirror too many times to count. Can I be my authentic self without making my parents who I love hate me? It's too good.”

“My little asian tboy awakening”

“Can be read as transmasc- he finds his true purpose/calling in life by presenting as male- or as transfem- she goes against everyone’s expectations for her by revealing her true self as a woman. A very trans movie. Also just a very good movie in general.”

[ya-what--ya-erster]

Mistake, Regret, or Something to that Level

PROOF-READ CREDIT TO: @waiting-makes-me-antsy Thank you!!

Albert/Davey UNREQUITED, prequel to Goodbye Don't Last Forever

kinda angsty, enjoy.

David was lost. Completely and totally lost. How was he supposed to carry on when the center of his world just up and left without a word to him?

He didn't really know how to cope long term, but he knew that a visit to his best friend's house might just help.

Ever since Francis left David (a year ago), David and Albert had become the closest of friends (except for Race and Albert, but Race was off in Australia being an impressive dancer). The two were almost inseparable. Seeing one or the other alone was a rare occurrence which was usually met by some sort of joke about how joint at the hip the two boys were.

So David was on his way to Albert's apartment in January, wearing flannel sweatpants and a sweatshirt with a cute snake drawing on the front (Albert gave it to him). It was cold, and snowy, and he regretted not putting on a coat or a hat or anything, but it wasn't far to Albert's place.

By the time David knocked on the door, he thought he was going to die of the cold, but Albert saw him and immediately pulled him into the apartment and handed him a blanket.

"Dave, are you alright?" Albert asked, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"No." David leaned sideways onto Albert, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Oh, come here." Albert put an arm around David. "You need to get drunk."

"Yeah I do."

...

Several hours (they think) later, the two are flat-out wasted.

David got honest when he got drunk, and never remembered anything afterwards, and Albert just got crazy (and maybe a little more confident).

"What if she was the only one I was meant to be with?" David asked.

"She wasn't." Albert laughed like it was the silliest thing he'd ever heard.

"But nobody could love me like I thought she did."

"But I love you." Albert's smile spread across his face. "You're my best friend."

"But don't people in love kiss? And boys can't kiss boys."

"I've kissed boys."

"Oh."

The boys fell silent, and then Albert burst into laughter again.

"What's so funny?" David asked (but he was smiling).

"Would you kiss me if I was a girl?"

"I would kiss anything if it were Francis."

"So pretend I'm her, then. It'll make you feel better to kiss someone."

"But-"

Albert cut Davey off with a deep, drunk kiss on the mouth.

And Davey liked it.

Davey wanted more of that feeling.

So he kissed back.

He could do whatever he wanted, he decided. It wasn't like there was anyone to tell him no, except for Albert who had initiated the kiss.

Very quickly, the kiss turned into more. Shirts unbuttoned, hands in hair, and the possibility of several purple marks to appear in the morning.

"Should we keep going?" Albert asked.

Davey blamed it on the fact that he was drunk that he said yes.

...

David woke up not in his bed. Albert's bed, he knew, from the many times he'd slept over.

David immediately felt guilty wash over him. Had he seriously kicked Albert out of his own bet just to fuck some girl that was not even there anymore? He didn’t really know, he couldn’t really remember, but it was fairly obvious in his mind that he had fucked someone. And Albert didn't do well with change in routine, Davey knew that. He was feeling worse and worse about it the more he thought, so he made a move to get up and go apologize.

The headache was not good as he stood up out of the bed and headed into the kitchen area of the apartment.

“Sorry for taking up your bed last night Al.”

“Doesn’t bother me.” Albert smiled. He handed David a glass of water and two ibuprofen pills. “This might help a bit.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“So. Uhm. Happen to know the identity of the girl I slept with in your bed last night or…”

Something flashed across Alberts face. Hurt. But he picked up quickly with a laugh.

“You should be asking who the guy was.”

“The… A guy?”

“Yessir.”

“Okay so uh who was this potential guy that I-“

Albert pressed a quick kiss to the tip of David’s nose, quieting him.

“Hi there.” He said with a little smile.

(Albert was dying inside. He wasn't this forward. He wasn't this confident. He wasn't this person who was flirting shamelessly with his best friend.)

“Oh.”

“Is that… is that okay?”

“Al, I… I didn’t even know- But I don’t even remember it so how am I supposed to know what it felt like? I don’t-“

“I could kiss you again.”

“What?”

“I said I could kiss you again.”

David didn’t respond, so Albert just cupped his face in his hands and kissed him.

Pulling away after a moment, David blinked. “Is that what that’s supposed to feel like? I never- it was never like that with her.”

“Good way or bad way?”

“Good.”

“Well, Dave. It must be really confusing for ya, all this. But… I’d like to help you along the way, if you’ll accept?"

"I don't think... Al, I don't think I can. I don't think I love you like that and I'm sorry-"

"That's alright, Davey. It is what it is."

...

Albert kept a smile on his face for two more hours while Davey hung around in his apartment awkwardly, too tired to walk himself home yet.

Albert, who was majorly stressed out, would have offered to walk him home. But, he didn't want to seem rude, and he didn't want to face the outside world with its flashing lights and loud noises and people bumping into him every five seconds.

As soon as Davey left, though, everything came crashing down.

Albert was stupid. Stupid to have done what he did. Stupid to have hoped that it would work out.

Mostly, though, he was stupid for falling in love with his best friend.

It wasn't fair that Davey was that effortlessly pretty and glamorous and nice and smart and perfect. Albert never even stood a chance.

So who could blame him, really, for crying? He had wrecked his perfectly routine life and possibly his relationship with his best friend.

He called Race in a desperate attempt to feel better, but it didn’t help much because then he just missed Race too. Why couldn’t Race be in the United States? Why did he have to be so far away?

Albert closed his eyes as he sat down on the couch, trying to make the tears go away. Crying made his head hurt.

But, despite that, Albert cried himself to sleep that night.

[marshmallowprotection]

Do you think AE Saeran can look at old photos of himself? Ones from his childhood and selfies Ray has taken. Or do you think it’d be a little triggering for him?

I think he would be able to do that. There aren't too many photos of him that exist from childhood, in fact, you could probably count them on your hand.

There are more photos of him than there are of Saeyoung. That's for a good reason and only has to do with the fact that Rika took secret photos for Saeyoung. If not for that, there would not be any photos of him in existence at all. You have to remember that the boys weren't supposed to exist at all.

Their very existence was a detriment to their lives. They couldn't grow up normally, they couldn't have pictures taken of them, they couldn't go to school, they couldn't leave their house without taking multiple steps to make sure nobody followed them home, and I'm sure you can imagine the rest.

If you're not supposed to exist, you shouldn't have evidence of your existence.

I think GE Saeran can look back at all the photos that were taken of him. The ones Ray took might be hard to look at. Because, he is Ray, and he's in a better place of healing now and looking back on how far he was into the manipulation and delusion that was sold to him is hard to stomach.

He doesn't turn away from those pictures because he isn't ashamed of himself. He feels a lot of empathy for that person, for that Ray, because now he knows why what he was feeling was wrong and those insecurities that ruled his world aren't as powerful as he thought they were. He can look back at those photos and tell himself that what he was afraid of wasn't true.

But... photos from his childhood? I believe those can be hard to look at. There's a lot of complex feelings that come from looking at those photos, but I think the most difficult thing for him would be guilt. The obvious feelings that are intertwined with this are the ones that everyone can pick out, him looking at a smaller version of himself that's in a bad place, but that kid just needs somebody to tell him that it's going to be okay someday and even though it hurts and he doesn't deserve to suffer, he would choose to do it all again if he ended up where he was now.

The hardest part would be knowing that his brother wouldn't be able to have photos like that. Saeyoung might have gotten photos of him, but... he never got photos of Saeyoung.

Sure, I suppose we can argue that there are pictures of him on the messenger, but we have to remember that he is the one in control of moderating that server, and he makes it pretty clear throughout the game that it has tip top security. Nobody could get into that if they wanted to, and the only reason people were able to get into it in the first place is because HE WASN'T THERE TO MAN IT.

His brother had the benefit of seeing Rika's phone and the messenger. He was able to recreate everything after studying it for quite a while, and sure, it wasn't perfect by any means, but that was the only reason why he was able to get in. He had something that was already inside of it.

Saeyoung likely didn't start taking photos of himself until he had the messenger. I can't see it any other way. Most, if not all of the photos he shares with everyone in the messenger tend to have him in costume for disguise.

It's never quite him 100%, and if it is, he lives knowing that it's safe from everybody else. That is the only place where he allows his existence to be what it is. He isn't afraid. I mean, if you look up paranoid in the dictionary, his face is there, but the messenger is his safe place.

Saeran would undoubtedly feel guilty that his brother doesn't have much documentation of his own existence.

That's not his fault, but I'm sure he would experience some guilt about it. Honestly, I think that's a huge reason why Saeran takes up photography. It's a common theme we see throughout his after-ending, and it was always hinted at from the very beginning, sprinkled in there with hints from his conversations with Jihyun.

He wants to take pictures of everything, of all of his experiences, not because he doesn't want to live in the moment, but because he always wants something to show him that he's been to all kinds of places and he can look back on it fondly. But, in this sense, he could make sure that there's always pictures of his brother and I think that's part of his healing process.

Looking at his brother can be difficult because of what was done to him, he spent so long being sick at the side of his own reflection because of his brother, but now he can look through a view finder and it's not as sickening. It's going to take some time before it feels right, but they're on their way to recovery.

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

*points* you've been talking a lot about ruju lately so let's do fear, guilt, hunt, and secret for him (for that ask meme) >:)

oc asks: not-so-nice edition

Ty so much for giving me an excuse to talk about The Rat™ even if this is very, VERY late... And long. Whoops. This is going under a cut, I think all of your dashes will thank me for that later.

I'll stick to just his Commander verse for this batch!

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

At his core, what Ruju fears most is feeling helpless.

There aren't a lot of times in the present that he's truly cornered, but in his youth it was a lot more obvious; he learned early on just how cruel his peers could be, and how eager they were to circle even the smallest hint of blood in the water. So he stopped showing the world he was scared. He buried it all deep, deep down and put on the air of confidence and aggression worn by so many Inquest because, well, nobody dares to mess with THEM, right? Better to blend in with the sharks than wind up as chum for the real deal.

But helplessness is more complicated than just being cornered in a fight. He's afraid of so much more than that; that his choices won't matter, that everything he's done will be for nothing, that forces he can't control will steamroll it all no matter what he does, that he just plain isn't enough for the role he's trying to fill. That fear only grew more and more as each dragon fell, the next picking up more and more new powers from each one he's taken down. What if he's just making it worse? What if that monstrous version of himself from the Infinity Ball was right-- what if the future really is unavoidable?

What if the one obstacle he'll never be able to surpass is himself?

Ruju doesn't let anyone see the deeper layers of his motivation, though. He pushes harder, fights fiercer, burns brighter. He won't let anyone see him falter. At its worst, it creates a vicious cycle of intense impulsiveness and aggressive independence, rushing past everyone else to reduce the number of variables and just deal with it. His solutions are direct and violent; as long as it works, he doesn't really care what the consequences are. And more importantly, it gives an outlet to his burning need to do something.

It takes a long time and a lot of work for Ruju to start trusting and leaning on others more instead. Even then, though, his most natural instinct is still to bristle like a cornered animal-- and if you jam your hand where it shouldn't be, he might not pause long enough to consider whether you're a friend or a foe. Watch your fingers, he bites.

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

While there's lots of little things-- rude remarks, losing his temper, impulsive choices, and so on-- those he usually apologizes for shortly after. He hates leaving things to fester. Ruju knows himself well enough to recognize that if he doesn't deal with it right then, he'll default to option 2 which isn't particularly great for anybody.

By far Ruju's heaviest guilt is the knowledge he bears of the future, and what he might become for reasons not even he understands. The only person who knows prior to EoD is Zojja-- and he had no more contact with her than anybody else by that point. While he wants to believe that he's fighting to make the world better, there's always a part of him that's afraid the 'Sovereign' was right and the path he's following is going to doom the entirety of Tyria. Ruju hopes that he's making better choices this time, but how can he know for sure?

What if he's just leading all these people right to their doom?

But he handles that just about as well as he handles his guilt about being a notorious college bully: avoidance. He just tries not to think about it, focusing on the future and keeping himself busy and hoping it never comes up again. It doesn't work particularly well, though, once the void finally shows itself-- and at that point he cracks.

Ruju has something that his other, doomed version didn't, though.

When he falters, he has people who care enough to catch him.

And once everything is out in the open, he does confront it; it's a complicated conversation (and one not even Taimi dares to make more than a single jab about) but it does lead to Ruju becoming much more honest moving forward. After all it's not like he can get any worse than THAT, right? 'Possibly causing the apocalypse' is a bit hard to beat.

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

The shadow looming over Ruju's shoulder has always been his own-- his past and his future. He never really felt its weight until the Infinity Ball showed him one of his potential futures in all its grisly, self-destructive glory, but knowing what he does now? Ruju is keenly aware of his own impulsiveness and is in a constant fight to choose a better path; in more ways than one he really is his own worst enemy.

And if not that, there's his unstable magic to worry about, too. His fiery disposition isn't just in personality; Ruju's power is destructive, and at times it can be a genuine challenge to keep it in check.

But as time progressed and he gained meaningful bonds of trust, learning to lean on his friends and allies... He's gradually come to realize that the best way to keep himself in check is to rely on people who can catch him when he stumbles. Ruju has found exactly the support network that his doomed timeline never had-- and together they ensure that the future he witnessed will never come to pass.

The Doomed Sovereign was wrong; there may be no delaying the future, but that doesn't mean you can't choose how it goes.

By the time the Dragon Cycle ends, he finally knows they've won.

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

There's actually a reason Ruju's magic is so potent and unstable.

His parents worked at the Crucible of Eternity, with his mother being a high-ranking researcher working directly under Kudu. As a refresher crash course: Kudu's whole deal was controlling and weaponizing dragon corruption, with him even applying Branded corruption to HIMSELF so that he could control powerful dragon minions.

His mother wanted to be home more, but her position also required long hours-- so she took to bringing some research materials to her home lab, continuing her studies right under their roof. While she was out, Ruju got into her lab and tried to 'assist' with her research; after all, if all her work was done then she'd have more time to spend with her family, right? But, well, he didn't exactly know what any of this stuff was, or just how dangerous it could be.

The ensuing lab accident destroyed basically all the records they had so far, along with making him deathly ill from exposure to multiple heavily altered strains of dragon corruption. They didn't expect him to survive, let alone make a full recovery seemingly unscathed.

But when he did recover, while Ruju didn't show any obviously visible signs of dragon corruption... He did develop some extremely unusual qualities that they couldn't quite explain. A lot of the top secret research that the asura kept under wraps about dragon minions? They confirmed it from secretly studying him. The biggest breakthroughs were confirmations of dragon minions absorbing magic-- something they directly observed from him accidentally draining nearby power sources and reacting to ambient magic-- and being able to stabilize strains enough for Kudu to weaponize.

Ruju never knew about this until he got into the records at the Crucible of Eternity, though. Zojja saw it too, but they never really talked about it; after all, what was there to say?

And after seeing how the world felt about the sylvari... He decided that there was no way he could EVER tell anyone what he was.

If they couldn't even handle the comparatively stable liberated minions of a dragon, they definitely wouldn't be able to handle a medically inexplicable volatile freak like him. Most running theories in the present are that it has to do with being the Champion of Aurene, and he's certainly not about to tell them otherwise.

[ghostly-wisp]

THE OSCARS

pairing — Pedro Pascal x gn!reader

Summary — Pedro and you go on a date to the oscars <3 nothing bad happens, just happy reader n' happy Pedro on a date to one of the biggest award ceremonies.

word count — 2288.

navigation | please like and reblog it makes me smile !!

You had dreamed of attending the Oscars since you were a kid, at the time it seemed like nothing you'd ever actually experience—the big dresses, fancy suits, and live performances, of course, that's when you were a kid, and before you met your partner—Pedro Pascal. 

Pedro recently has been taking the world by storm, with the release of The Mandalorian season three and The Last Of Us, though he wasn't nominated for anything this year–he was presenting an award with the Elizabeth Olsen, which was a very big deal to him, nomination or not. He almost turned down the offer, because he was extremely busy with press tours following his series releases but he made the arrangement to go for his older sister, Javiera, who was in a nominated film. 

You weren't even sure if he was going to take you at first—you would've been upset if he didn't at least ask, but the two of you had kept your relationship rather private for personal reasons. You weren't ashamed or scared; you just didn't want people in your business. People knew he was in a long-term relationship; they just knew very little about it, and you wanted it to stay that way.

As the day was coming closer, he still hadn't asked yet – and honestly, it was starting to hurt your feelings a bit. He hadn't picked up on it, too invested in making sure he remembered his lines and that his suit would be properly fit and ironed for the big night. He had attended the Oscars before, but this would be the first time he presented. He wanted everything to be perfect. Who can blame him for that?

“What are you going to wear?” He asks you one night as he's in the kitchen reading over his lines for the one-hundredth time, the last time he was this dedicated to something, it was his lines for The Last Of Us, you were cozied up on the couch while watching Friends. “What?” You ask in return, not understanding the context of his question; he rounds the corner so he can face you. He thinks you're joking, but the confusion on his face settles when he sees your confused facial reaction. “To the Oscars? I figured we could match a little. Maybe my tie matches your outfit?”

“I'm going?” You say, sitting up a little, clearly very excited. Pedro raises his eyebrows as if it's the most obvious thing ever. “Duh! Why wouldn't you? You're my partner, of course. I want you there.” Pedro puts his note cards down. “Did you think I wouldn't take you to see me present at The Oscars?” He asks while walking closer to you, and you stand. “You never asked!”

“I didn't think I needed to!”

Given the short notice, you didn't get one of those big, over-the-top outfits you've seen on TV. growing up, but you don't mind that. Because you're literally attending the fucking Oscars. Your outfit is simple yet elegant, and Pedro still thinks you're the most attractive person there. He looks extremely good too, since you were both wearing black he didn't add the tie to his suit, he has on a white turtleneck underneath his jacket, and my goodness, he looks good. The “red” carpet this year is champagne in color rather than red, but you don't mind it, you think it makes your black clothes stand out more with such light backgrounds as people took photos, the only negative so far was an interviewer asking Pedro rather questionable questions—but other than that, the night so far was a blast. 

The nice thing about being out of the spotlight is that nobody wants to interview you, you get to stand there and look pretty beside Pedro, listening to people call his name excitedly, though you're the one actually entering the event with him.

The room is packed, as you expected, still—there are so many people, some of them you've admired for years. It takes composure not to point to celebrities with their husbands, wives, partners, or friends excitedly to Pedro. You'd think dating one of the biggest names in Hollywood at the moment would train you to be calmer in situations like this, but honestly who can't feel a little excited when they're in the presence of Melissa McCarthy? You are literally in the presence of the woman who played Sookie in Gilmore Girls!

Pedro takes you to your seats, and you look around the room. It's everything you've imagined, from being a little kid to now, the elegance, the outfits, and you can't believe you're here. Pedro can easily sense your excitement, and he grabs your hand. “Is this everything you've dreamed of?” His tone is quiet, contrasting to everyone else around you two talking at a normal volume. You nod your head, turning to face him. “And more.”

It feels like you're sitting in those chairs forever until the award ceremony starts, though the seats were surprisingly more comfortable than how they looked. 

The host this year was Jimmy Kimmel—Pedro was on his show not all that long ago, he seemed like a rather decent guy and he was funny, which presumably would ease the nerves of those nominated and anxious about winning or losing tonight. 

You're holding hands as the lights dim, and Jimmy comes on stage to begin his speech, most of the jokes seemed to be centered about a mishap that happened last year. Though they never said any names, but everyone in the room knew who they were talking about… Kimmel mentions the people who play strong characters in the crowd, the camera pans to Pedro as he mentions “You have to go through the mandalorian to get to me.” and you laugh as Pedro gestures two fingers from his eyes to the camera to say I’m watching you. Some of his jokes, and he eventually brings in the presenters for the first category. Time flies a lot faster than you anticipated it would, and before you know it, Pedro is releasing your hand and whispering, “I'm up next.” You just barely had enough time to reach up and kiss his cheek, offering him good luck. Though you know he doesn’t need it, you know he’ll do great, he always does. You’re not sure who was the person that decided to pair him with Elizabeth Olsen, but they did their job well and you know that the internet is going to love it. 

While walking out – the crowd respectfully cheered, though having known Pedro for so long you can tell, even from your seat, that he was nervous. Shaking slightly, and his face was red. You’d think that being an actor he’d be used to standing in front of so many people, maybe it's because almost everyone in this room had the same profession as him or perhaps he never fully was ready for all the eyes. He had put his glasses on at some point and he looked very handsome, and you can confidently say that you’ve never seen a man so drop dead gorgeous and he was yours. The started by presenting “Best Documentary Short Film” – while Pedro didn’t say as much as Lizzy, his couple lines were delivered quickly yet professional, despite how nervous he was he didn’t stutter. He was the one to read out who the Oscar went to – The elephant whisperers, which you have never heard of before but still, the applause in the room seemed happy enough. He hands someone their oscar before standing off to the side while they give their speech. 

He knows roughly where you are, and he's trying to see if he can find you but in the sea of people that's a hard thing to do, he settles on looking in your area – you can definitely see the attempt he's trying to make, and you’re appreciative of his gesture. They also present “Best Animated Short Film”, one of the names gives Pedro an opportunity to make a joke, which he goes by simply grinning this goofy, big grin to the camera. It melts your heart a little, seeing him seem so happy on the stage. 

“Year of what, Pedro?” Lizzy asks, smiling widely while looking at her co-presenter, Pedro doesn’t take his eyes off the camera as he answers. “Well, you’ll find out when you watch this.” “How thrilling!” 

It's unfortunate that My Year Of Dicks didn’t win for the sheer comedy of it, but The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse seems just as deserving of it and the people who accepted the award seemed genuine in their speech. 

The Rhianna performance was incredible, as to be expected – her recent Superbowl performance was fantastic and this didn’t disappoint. You saw how excited Pedro was for her to sing, he had been talking about it before he even knew if it was going to happen or not, his wide grin and the way he squeezed your hand just a little tighter made it clear just how thrilled she was. She’s incredible when you’re driving in your car singing along, but she's absolutely jaw dropping in person. If you weren’t so infatuated with your boyfriend, you would say that she was the best part of the night without doubt. 

By the time the award ceremony was over, you were so tired that you weren’t even sure if you wanted to go to the after party, you’ll go anyway if Pedro wants to, he is the one who the people cared about after all. 

The two of you wait for a decent amount of people to leave the theater before you do, in order to avoid possibly losing each other in the crowd. You leave holding each others hands, which does not go unnoticed by journalists waited for celebrities to come out to get an interview in; unluckily for the two of you, Pedro gets flagged down by one, begrudgingly, he makes his way over to the woman in a white dress and microphone. “Pedro!” She says once the two of you are close enough, “It’s nice to meet you, big fan of The Mandalorian!” He remains polite, “Thank you.” he replies, his arm is tight around yours because he notices the journalist taking a few glances at you, and he thinks he knows what's coming. “I see you bought a guest! People online have been freaking out by the rare sighting of your partner.” he was right, “Yeah, I couldn’t not bring them with me to a big night like this!” he beams, while his patience for these people as of recently has gotten rather faulty and thin – he loves talking about you, and he's pretty well trained at pretending to be enjoying whatever conversation is happening. He truly means what he's saying, but he wishes he could be saying it so someone who's not going to write it in some article about how “He never talks about you enough” or whatever shit they can spin to get clicks. “Y/N, is it?” the reporter asks, now facing more to you than Pedro. You nod politely, but you too wish that you could get a move on to the car. “How does it feel to be dating Hollywood's biggest heartthrob?” This question makes you internally cringe, but you aren’t going to just walk away. You feign a pleasant smile – “I mean, it’s no different than if he was just a regular person heartthrob.” you say, “As for the people who are jealous of me for it, I get to go home with him at the end of the night.” You add with a playful wink to the camera, his hand squeezing yours, his laugh is quiet though you think if he could it would’ve been louder. His attention is on you, this sort of thing isn’t your thing to do, yet you’re handling it elegantly and he couldn’t be more proud.

You finally get away from the reporter, and he kisses you gently on the head. “I just want to say goodbye to Javiera,” he tells you, “Then we can go home.” 

“You don’t want to go to the after party?” you ask, you assume that he would – use the time to unwind before he's back on his high-stress schedule, he only shakes his head before saying. “No, I want to spend time with you for a little, God knows I’m going to be busy the next couple weeks and I just want to spend the rest of my night with you.” 

So you do, in your pajamas curled up on the couch watching whatever garbage television was on this late at night, you were fighting to stay awake – but you wanted to savor every moment of this you could get. Pedro was a very attentive partner, sometimes though work consumes him. It's one of his flaws that he has but hey, everyone has them. “You can go to sleep if you need to, mama.” he says quietly, the pet name he uses is purely affectionate, he's been saying it for years, still it makes your heart flutter like it's the first time he's ever said it. “I’m here, I’m not goin’ anywhere,” yet you shake your head. “No, I want to enjoy every moment of this…” he can hear just how tired you are, but he knows better than to argue about whether you should sleep or not. “Did you have fun tonight?” he asks instead. 

Your smile is wide, “Mm, yeah, I had fun bein’ with you. Next time though, I want more notice, and to be properly asked as your date.” This makes him chuckle, his grasp around you pulls you closer into your chest. “Dually noted.”

[oldfashionedmorphine]

well now i can’t say “nobody asked for this…”

(dear anon, i hope this helps!)

fyi—i spend way too much of my time looking things up for this fic… and this is some of what i saved when it came to outfits/hair and also just some basics info/stuff :)

———————

mike in 2004

hair: styled like johnny depp’s hair in the 90s… he’s kept it shoulder length or longer since 1986—he ditched the bangs at some point in the early 90s! and since he doesn’t dye it, there’s some gray throughout

outfits: white or black t-shirt’s, black jeans, and converse high tops are still his bread-and-butter base. his style is pretty consistent because he’s not a big fan of change—he likes what he likes! it’s just super easy for him to throw something else over a plain t-shirt and walk out the door.

overall: he doesn’t typically keep his face clean-shaven, call it laziness, but sometimes he will wait two weeks or more between picking up a razor. he’s still skinny because he doesn’t always eat right, skipping meals because he gets too distracted with video games, but years of drinking are starting to take a toll and reflect in his skin, at times looking sallow

———————

will in 2004

hair: styled basically like whatever hayden christensen was doing to his hair in 2003/2004, also not a fan of hair dye, and also as he got older there was a bit more wave to his hair

outfits: wears lots of flannels, band/graphic tees, polos, button ups with sweater vests, jeans/corduroy/khaki pants, adidas/saucony jazz/new balance style sneakers—usually laid back but he will also use any excuse to dress it up! wears square-framed tortoiseshell glasses since 2001 (when he had to renew his driver’s license he couldn’t pass the eyesight test—got his eyes checked and sure enough he needed glasses!)—and included that picture of noah wearing glasses cause when i saw it i was like, wow yeah, that’s not too far off, just change the frames and age him 15 years… lol

overall: usually keeps his face free of any stubble, also has a few gray hairs but not as many as mike and he likes to walk or run for exercise to better keep in shape, in the summer he’s been known to pick up a tan, and he has one tattoo—the word “love” written in morse code under the scar from where nancy burnt him with a hot iron [ .-.. --- ...- . ]

———————

holly in 2004

(holly is 24, about the same age as kristen bell so I kinda picture her from veronica mars season 1 but with long hair/dyed like cady heron from “mean girls”—holly watched the movie earlier that year and liked the look!)

outfits: low rise flare jeans, denim jackets, fitted shirts, canvas vans sneakers, low top converse

———————

el in 2004

hair: long, always past her shoulders at least—she doesn’t like cutting it short for obvious reasons—she also dyes it and never skimps on spending money to maintain it and loves adding things like butterfly clips or barrettes with sparkles

outfits: she loves fashion and experimenting with her wardrobe. lots of delicate details and whimsy. a lot of what claire danes and anne hathaway were wearing 2002-2004

what she’s up to: el never went to college, but attends a few business seminars in between all her world travels and eventually invests some of her government hush money into opening a vintage/antique shop in hawkins that her and joyce run together.

el’s exact outfit from ch 8!

———————

outfit inspiration for mike + will in 1999 (aka for ch. 15)

mike: black jeans, ochre yellow striped button down, and of course he would’ve worn his typical converse shoes if he had to physically travel to the house that night, but alas… lol

will: brown dress shoes (normally wears sneakers, but for special occasions he gets fancy), light wash denim with navy turtle neck, plus brown leather jacket

(yes… i purposefully made them wear each others colors 😏)

———————

the mood board i made for nancy + jonathan’s wedding in 1993

(i’ve posted this before but idk how many of you saw it lol)

of course there is more i could add and sadly there’s things i’ve since cleared from my phone like the picture i had saved of a wedding dress i thought nancy would wear… but if there is anything else you’d like to know, i’m always down to talk more about this story! send me a message—you don’t have to stay on anon unless you wanna, but i don’t bite!! ;)

[invinciblerodent]

For you oc is problematic game

Arvid (because I'm curious)

And Ray (because I'm a pot-stirrer on occasion 🤭)

Your fave is problematic: OC edition

Thank you, this was a lot of fun! :) Enjoy this pair of problematic men in their fifties <3

Your fave is problematic: Arvid Trygg 🐧

Has intimidation proficiency, but is too much of a softie to ever use it, which is honestly just egregiously wasteful of him. (We failed so many rolls. We got into so many fights because of him.)

Self-medicates his very obvious anxiety disorder with a big ol’ heaping dose of denial, and later his clear PTSD with toxic codependency. His husband reports getting up to 17 magical “are u okay” pings a day, and he may say he doesn’t mind (pings right back, sends like 15 of his own anyway), but, like, Jesus fuck, dude. Not only is he a teacher, it’s also Waterdeep. Whatever even happens in Waterdeep, ever.

Didn’t disclose his nonexistent sexual history, or communicate effectively about expectations before having mind-melding astral sex on what was essentially the first date :( (defining the term “virgin slut” quite inaccurately, but efficiently) (no really, he was, by some certain definitions of the word, kind of a 50-year-old virgin before Gale, and didn't even tell him :/)

tbh also they got married only after like, idk, a few months of dating while in the throes of mortal peril. that's not good rep at all, they shouldn't endorse that.

Also didn't tell anyone, not even his boyfriend, that he's half-duergar. And yeah, maybe they didn't ask, but like, that's still a lie. :/

Litterer!! By which I mean he left the Crown of Karsus on the bottom of the fucking Chionthar, potentially ruining the delicate magical ecosystem down there, and MAYBE even leaving room for the rise of some…. diseased, city-dwelling fish-god. Or crab-god. What the fuck even lives in the Chionthar? Nothing at this point, probably, because the dang water is full of Netherese magic now!!! :CCC

Consumes smutty literature :/// we see your dog-eared copy of A Pleasurable Deal in the bottom of your pack, boy, you ain’t slick, and it’s frankly SICKENING that you’d endorse such smut. (and let’s not even talk about the REST of his collection of stolen!!!!!!!, smutty books. Man, for a Man of the Cloth he sure does consume a LOT of bad erotica.) [I, uh… like to pick something for my characters to collect in rpgs, for him it was the romance novels.]

Speaking of, he endorses organized religion??? Sure, that religion may be the one in which he was raised and is organized around the central tenet of “pick your battles- but fucking pick them”, but still, he’s a priest, and we ALL KNOW that clerics are, without exception, fantasy!catholics, which means that they are insufferable sticks-in-the-mud, and bad.

And even so, he’s double-dipping gods??? Like, for someone who claims to be a Tempuran, he does seem to enjoy the buff from Loviatar, and all that free healing from Silvanus and Selune, yknow? So he’s like, technically cheating on his god, which is also bad. :////

And like, why discriminate against Sharrans, you know. :/ It’s not their fault that their Dark Goddess’ ultimate doctrine is to envelop the world in pure nihilism, so like, convincing his best friend to renounce her goddess was, like, super manipulative. (Yeah, even if it turned out well for her.) (And then he didn't even hug her???? What, because "it was added in a later update"???? Get out of here, that's no excuse. Your programming shouldn't prevent you from doing the right thing. :/)

Gave the gith egg to the Society of Brilliance :/// and sure, he may CLAIM that it was because the rest of the créche turned on them and nobody would have been there to take care of it if it had hatched (and the Shadow-cursed lands really didn’t seem like the best place for a child either), but that’s not an excuse!!!! It still turned out bad, and it was a mistake in retrospect, which he SHOULD HAVE BEEN aware of, and therefore he is problematic.

Oh, also, he like... rejected everyone in camp at least once, which is, like, toxic as hell of him. Way to lead everyone on, man. :/ He should've had the good sense to NOT chop wood in his shirtsleeves. He should've known all his friends are horny bisexuals, he should've kept those thick biceps and that lush carpet of chest hair covered. :/

Your fave is problematic: Raymond Trevelyan 🐴

oh god so many reasons where do i even fucking begin

bourgeois scum. born a wealthy noble. abolish nobility and guillotine his ass. >:(

His romantic life has been a mess since the moment learned what his dick is for, and he consequently also stopped being able to keep it in his pants (slut :///)

Started out dating the son of his father’s blacksmith (the power imbalance! the secrecy! so toxic!!!! the guy was even a MINOR!!!!) (so was he) (they were both 17) (no that doesn’t MATTER right now), then he was engaged to a woman (without disclosing that he’s gay :/), then married a NECROMANCER (unethical, slightly better because it's recycling :///) who was both his technically-subordinate AND like 7 years older than him (sketchy :////), and NOW, after 20+ happy years of marriage and like 3 years widowed, he’s going to be dating a guy who is young enough to be his son??? :///// frankly gross ://// not good gay rep at all ://////

And, like, it's very likely that he's going to become illithid too, so he like, doesn't even give his super-young boyfriend the happy ending he promised. :/ And breaking promises is, like, so problematic.

He freed a dragon that was living in captivity one time, which i’m sure ruined the native ecosystem, introducing a large, invasive predator willy-nilly like that :/

And speaking of, there’s got to have been catastrophic levels of ecological fallout to all his dragon-murdering, now that I think about that. Destroying native megafauna like that definitely caused the overpopulation of all the dragons’ prey animals, and then you can just WATCH the vegetation suffer. (Have there been fewer forest fires? Maybe! But at what price!!!!!!)

His judgment of war criminals seems dependent on whether they were nice to him, because if you dig into it, he’s pardoned one and executed another, and it honestly really just came down to one being his friend :/

Also he's said discriminatory things about mages :/// and yeah, maybe it was him echoing the kind of views everyone in his homeland held unironically and he may have ended up a staunch supporter of mage rights and married to a mage, but, like, he should have known better from the very start. :/

Used a hand he honestly believed to have been marked by the mark of the divine prophetess to jerk off that one time :/

Actually he did also unironically believe himself to have been chosen by a god, and when he realized that wasn’t the case, he still didn’t use his platform to publicly apologize :/

Used influence to change the outcome of an election, is the sole reason the Thedosian pope is all WOKE now :/

accidentally aided the rise to power of a megalomaniacal trickster-god who seeks to destroy the world as we know it :/

and let's not forget that he's not even forklift-certified. doesn't matter that there aren't any in Faerun/Thedas, it still counts.

................ Oh, and technically they're both, like, mass murderers??? In some way??? So. That's gotta add to the pile. But honestly, in the context of everything else, that's like, a minor thing.

Point is, they both suck and nobody should like them. ://///

[thatawkwardbryce]

So uh....apologies for the next chapter of DD and FM is taking so long, I am suffering from the worst Writer's block ever....so to make up for it, have a headcanon story on how Alyssa died. Yeah.

Surface Tension

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Attention, Dreamworld is now closed, if you have not left yet you will be escorted out. Please leave and thank you for joining us for the day."

Alyssa heard the message and sighed, sitting by the pool.

"...Where did you go, Mike?"

She asked herself while looking at a photo of him on her phone

In the photo, Mike was relaxing by the pool, giving a cheeky smile.

"...Whatcha looking at?"

Sara asked, damn near giving Alyssa a heart attack.

"Ahh! Sara it's uh n-nothing just looking at a photo of a f-friend."

Alyssa said standing up.

"You sure it's nothing? You look more nervous than usual."

Sara said as Alyssa picked up pool noodles and floaties left out by the guests.

"Yeah…just leave me alone."

Alyssa said, putting the toys up.

"Alright alright. Stay safe and lock up before you leave."

Sara said, handing a keyring with some keys to Alyssa. Leaving out one of the double doors to the many halls of this place.

Alyssa looked at Mike's photo a little longer. Before sighing and getting to locking the place up.

"Alyssa?"

Alyssa turned around quickly, hearing Mike's voice…but nobody was around.

"...You're just hearing things, Alyssa."

She said to herself. Getting back to locking each of the doors.

“W-Why are you ignoring me A-Alyssa?”

Alyssa heard it again, looking around.

“Mike?”

She called out. But nothing responded, all she heard was the pool filters gently humming.

Alyssa sighs, beginning to leave.

“Please Alyssa, don't leave me!”

Mike’s voice yells out from a supply closet, causing Alyssa to jump.

“M-Mike?”

She responded, looking at the supply closet.

Silence…Mike didn't respond.

Alyssa cautiously approached the closet. Her steps echoed through the halls and rooms of the building.

“Please…help me Alyssa.”

Mike said as Alyssa slowly opened the door.

And promptly got hit in the face with the back end of an axe.

“Get some help and realize I'm dead!”

It yells, stepping out of the closet.

This…thing looked like a dead ringer to Mike…except it was wearing Sara’s clothes and had pink, glowing eyes.

“W-What?! N-No you can't be d-dead!”

Alyssa yells, holding her head in pain.

“Well I bloody am, my head crushed in-between the jaws of a Trash Compactor. And that's all. Your. FAULT!”

It yells, approaching with each word as Alyssa tries to stand up and run.

“Y-You can't be M-Mike! H-He would never say that!”

She yells back as the thing stops hearing this.

“Good eye, Alyssa, won't save you. But good eye.”

It says, their face slowly morphs back into Sara’s face.

“...W-What the hell a-are you?”

Alyssa says, beginning to stand up.

“Like I would tell.”

Sara promptly went for another back of the axe swing.

Alyssa yells, ducking and trying to dodge the swing.

“What do you want from me?!”

Alyssa says running for one of the open doors. Only for the doors to slam shut, locking.

“I want you dead of course, isn't that obvious?”

Sara says before beginning to laugh as Alyssa tries to frantically unlock the door, walking slowly.

“Come on come on come on!”

Alyssa tried to find the right key for the door. But each key failed.

“Sorry Alyssa but to quote a horrid movie, Sara forced me to watch with her…You’re in my world now, Bitch.”

Sara drops the axe and grabs Alyssa, throwing her to the ground behind her.

Alyssa coughs a bit as Sara walks up to her. Noticing some water weights near Alyssa.

“Tch tch tch. Alyssa didn't I tell you to put these up…someone could get hurt from these weights.”

Sara takes a chain wrapped around some pool toys and wraps it around Alyssa’s right foot.

“Please…I-I don't want to die.”

Alyssa cries trying to crawl away. But she is stopped as the chain is connected to the water weight.

“...Want to know something funny?...Mike said those same words right before his head was crushed.”

Sara chuckles, kicking the weights into the pool. Dragging Alyssa into the pool.

Alyssa took one big deep breath as she sank into the pool, tugging on the chain as she slowly sank. Trying to pull the chains off of her or the weights. She becomes more and more desperate as she nears the bottom, her tears adding to the pool.

Alyssa finally hits the bottom, as her attempts to free herself fail. Finally gasping and began to fill her lungs with water. Her cries bubbled up as she slowly passed out.

But she fought through the drowsiness. Returning to trying to pull the chains off, managing to pull them off, and beginning to swim up, the light above the pool gets closer and closer as she finally surfaces!

She gasps for air, grabbing the edge of the pool as she cries out in happiness. Leaning on the edge of the pool she makes a mental plan on what to do looking around.

And noticing that everything was smaller to her.

“W-What?”

She then covers her mouth, hearing her voice and seeing her blue robotic hands.

“N-No-”

She sees posters advertising a new animatronic for the pools-

“No-”

She feels her mechanic, sea serpent tail-

“Nononono-”

And she finally sees her reflection in the water. Seeing her new face.

“NO!”

She screams, diving back into the water in fear, sending water flying everywhere as she splashes back down.

The water on the surface of the pool ripples a bit. Before calming down.

She hid at the bottom of the pool, unable to shed tears as she cried. For what felt like several days.

“Why…Why did this have to happen to m-me.”

As she hides at the bottom of the pool, she hears someone enter the room.

“W-who’s there? I can hear you. Please leave this cursed place. Leave me alone.”

She calls out.

“Hey, it's okay. Your new body will feel weird at first but you just-”

The voice says, before getting cut off by Alyssa.

“N-No! Go away! Stay out of the waterpark!”

“...Ma’am I-”

“Don’t you understand? Thi-This is wrong, this is horrible. I-I thought I'd died, but now I'm trapped in the body of a weird monster.”

She cries, her horns popping out of the water.

“...That’s okay. Me too. We can be weird monsters together, yeah?”

The voice responds, trying to reassure her.

“H-How can you even say something like that? Don't you understand what happened to us?”

“Trust me, I've been here for three weeks, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on.”

The voice says, getting closer to the pool.

Alyssa sniffles, poking her head up a little, her eyes now visible.

“B-But aren't you scared?”

“Terrified, but I know it won't do anything. If I'm going to spend my eternity here, I need to make the most of it. Especially since I haven't had the time to make the most of it in the first place.”

The voice says as Glory rises more out of the water, leaning on the edge of the pool now.

She saw the voice belonged to a yellow dragon with red sunglasses and wings, he was giving a reassuring smile to her as she rose.

For some strange reason…Glory felt like she had found who she was looking for after a long, long time.

[mask131]

It is always a fascinating experience to see people describe their dislike or hatred of, for example, a fantasy series or a fantasy book, when you, yourself, you know that it is objectively good - as in, in term of literature and of book it is good, no matter if you actually like the story or the characters.

In general, it really makes you realize how one's reception and appreciation of a book recently has turned away from actual literary quality, and is now mostly tied to the reader's personal life-experiences and personal world-views.

For example recently - this is why I picked up a fantasy series as an example - I read a fantasy book which had as a main character a composer of music, and made music a part of its plot, a key part. I myself do not know anything about the technicalities of music, but I recognized that there was a real work of information and knowledge placed into this, and despite not knowing anything about higher musical arts, I still perfectly got everything the author was trying to carry - and it worked very well for non-experts, while also clearly being written by someone who knows what they're talking about.

And I randomly found this one person on a blog that said that this was one of the weakest and most dragging parts/aspect of the book because, and I quote, "I get people would be into reading about sword-fighting, or languages, but music? Seriously?"

This person basically said that because they found the subject silly and uninteresting outside of the book (in real life, as this person clearly has no interest in the making of music), the parts dedicated to exploring it and using it for fantasy were bad. And that was it. It wasn't about the handling of the topic, or the writing style, or how well it carried in the plot, it was just about... "Music doesn't interest anyone, so this book who is third about it is already of bad quality".

And I'm not even going to point out the obvious problems a person has when they think that nobody should take interest in music... In fact (and I am a bit jumping around here from point to point), this is something I noticed in online forums and so when it comes to fantasy reviews and fantasy audiences - at least the English speaking ones. One of their very first complaints is "Fantasy books are too generic, they're too cliche, they're too stereotyped" but when someone tries to do something new or bring something added to the table, the same people will criticize it as being too weird or unusual or not interesting enough. And with this specific "music" comment, we can unload a whole can of worms about this sort of strange "reverse-geek-bullying" in fantasy reader groups.

One of the things I appreciate with fantasy stories is variety, the exploration of new territories, the use of new sources of inspiration. A very easy way to do this is simply to focus on a part of life, a trade, a job, an element of culture that hasn't been focused on by "traditional", "archetypal", "stereotypical", "done to eath" fantasies. There are epic fantasy stories about music and the making of it. There high fantasy series about cooking and the art of food. There are weird fantasy series about poetry and how to write a poem. There are mythical fantasy stories about making books, and the numerous jobs surrounding the existence of a book. There are so many stories which aren't about just digging up treasures in lost temples, and making war against evil overlords, and having sex with pretty girls saved from human sacrifices. Fantasy series where people often overlooked in fantasy - cooks, writers, musician, poets - will have a prominent place and an important role. And what happens?

Some idiots just come in and mock this/insult it, and they typically do what bullies in real-life do when they call someone's interest or passion "geeky" or "nerdy". The two words are never spoken or outright written in their reviews, but when you consider their sentences, their points, their logic, which is "This author has a passion for a specific craft or a specific hobby I do not enjoy/I find boring/I find weird, so this is bad", you actually can hear in their unspoken word the same cries of "Look at this nerd!" or "What a geek!" bullies shouted upon seeing kids enjoy video games, play role-playing games or reading science-fiction books ; talk eagerly about math, or share a love for classical literature, or enjoy computer coding.

This is literaly the same logic, but in a very bizarre way, applied to fantasy reviews and the appreciation of fantasy literature.

I don't know if that's related to specific fandoms and authors fan-base in the fantasy world, or if it is a recurring phenomenon everywhere - but there's clearly a faction of "fantasy readers" and "fantasy fans" you must be aware of, who will complain if something is too "that was done before" and be unhappy if they are given "something that hasn't been done before". They want non-archetypal character, but standard plot-focus ; they want stereotype-breaking worlds, but that the author has the same interests as them ; they want to not see specific tropes they know too well, and yet they refuse to read about stuff they do not know about. They're just infuriating little bugs, who somehow manage to perpetuate within the world of fantasy enjoyers the same behavior little school-bullies had towards fantasy-enjoyers back in the old decades when fantasy "wasn't cool".

In fact, I wonder if this behavior isn't somehow related to the fact that fantasy became much more widespread, normal, recognized and "cool" - meaning the type of idiots who mocked non-usual and deemed-weird subjects got "absorbed" within the fantasy sphere, and simply switched from "Let's not care about fantasy cause it's weird and not real literature" to "Okay, fantasy can be good since everybody is into it, but let's still disdain and reject weird stuff within fantasy".