#there IS a clear difference and I’m tired of people pretending there isn’t

[orthopoogle]

It’s really, really annoying how many women will wear bikinis and lowcut tank tops and see-through leggings and booty shorts with their buttcheeks hanging out, but then turn around and be all, “Men should be able to control themselves and stop lusting after me!” Like girl, we know why you’re dressed like that, you know why you’re dressed like that, everyone knows why you’re dressed like that. Stop pretending, lol.

[leaderwonim]

i’m just a teenage dirtbag baby ( like you. )

based on this edit !!

pairing. troublemaker!nishimura riki x goody-two-shoes!fem!reader

summary. nishimura riki was infamous for being handsome and also quite the character. he’d purposely throw papers everywhere, bump into people without a care, and ditch class like it was nothing. you were the complete opposite, but deep down, nishimura riki knew you were just like him

warnings. cursing, smoking, riki destroys someone’s private property 😭, riki is your typical teenage dirtbag, he also calls her sweets

“Hey.”

Nishimura Riki slides onto the seat right next to yours, blinking twice as much as he should be. You knew it was one of his teasing habits, meant to make you shift uncomfortably under his gaze.

“What do you want Nishimura?”

He puts his hand over his chest, pretending he’s wounded by your words. “Nishimura? We’re on last name basis sweets?”

“Shut up,” you say, pushing his face away with your index finger. “I have exams to study for.”

“Let me see.” He ignores your protests, flipping your textbook to his side as he eyes the papers. “Ew, mathematics? You’re a bigger nerd than I thought sweets.”

“Don’t call me sweets.” You say, sticking out your tongue in annoyance. “And get out of here.”

He lifts both hands in surrender, “alright, alright, I’ll leave sweets. Gotta meet Jungwon anyways.”

You thank whoever above was listening to your pleas of making Riki leave. Turning around to face the desk he was in, you realize he hadn’t pushed in his chair.

“Nishimura!” You groan out loud, pushing it in with your foot. This earns you a shush from the librarian, which only fuels your hatred towards the Japanese boy.

.♡.

“Y/N! Is that you?” There was Nishimura Riki’s annoying voice again, the one voice that you dread to hear everytime you entered school.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than annoy other people?” You ask, face clearly unimpressed.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed.”

You glare at Jungwon’s unneeded input in the conversation, which makes him snicker and look away.

“You guys are ditching again?”

Riki and Jungwon shrug, making you roll your eyes. Of course the two were ditching, why did you even ask?

“We were gonna stop by the cigarette shop and get a pack or two.”

Jungwon elbows Riki, as if he wasn’t supposed to say that out loud.

“What? We can trust Y/N, isn’t that right sweets?”

“You still call her sweets?” Jungwon groans. “Gross dude. Let’s go.”

Jungwon starts walking, Riki closely following behind him. Just before they exit the school corridors, the boy throws you a wink, one that you roll your eyes at.

“You’ll love me one day sweets!” He shouts.

“In your dreams Nishimura!”

.♡.

It seemed like nothing was going your way. The next week had approached and even though it was barely Monday, your teachers decided it was a good idea to assign a bunch of exams on the same day.

With quivering hands, you tried not to get the tears that were currently coming out of your eyes onto your physics paper, which was marked with a 68.

How on earth did you get a 68? You were so sure you knew the formulas that were needed for the exam, but what was on the test looked completely different from what you expected.

You could barely find it in yourself to walk home, legs practically dragging across the concrete floor as you wipe your tears away with your windbreaker.

“Sweets?”

Although your normal self would snarl at the nickname and the voice it belonged to—you found yourself too tired and miserable to care at this point.

“Riki?”

You wipe your eyes again, vision clearing in enough to make out Riki leaning against one of the large trees a few meters away from the school.

“Hey, what’s wrong sweets?” He takes the cigarette that was currently dangling on his mouth out, squishing the head of it on the dirt floor beside him.

“Are you smoking again? That’s bad for you and you know it.”

“Geez sweets,” he laughs, finally standing up. “You looked like you just bawled your eyes out yet you still have enough energy to lecture me?”

“Shut up.”

“Ah, there she is again.”

Riki makes his way closer to you, head peering down to reach your level.

“Don’t cry.” He says softly, and it’s the first time you heard him in that tone. “Makes your eyes all red and scary.”

“Yah!”

He laughs when you hit him on the shoulder, sound that used to make you frown but you were weirdly enjoying it now.

“I’m kidding sweets!” He slings an arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to him. “You’re pretty, even when you have tear stains all over you.”

The two of you continue walking, you not too sure where Riki was even taking you.

“Where are we going?” You sniffle, looking around the area.

“This new arcade, cmon, I’ll drive us.”

The two of you are in front of his beaten down Toyota, although it looks pretty clean from the inside. You thought Riki’s car would be an absolute mess, but it seemed like he was a clean freak when you opened the door to the smell of vanilla and cinnamon.

“You actually clean your car?”

“I’m offended you thought I didn’t sweets!” He says, frowning. “Thankfully, I don’t hold grudges.”

He puts the key in, hands tapping against his leather seat. “Wanna tell me why you’re so sad?”

He places a hand on the head of your seat, body twisting back with one hand on the wheel to pull out of his parking spot. He looked incredibly handsome doing such a basic task that it almost made your ability to speak go away.

“I got a 68 on my physics test.” You say, shoulders defeated.

“No way.” He continues driving, eyes glancing back and forth from the road to you. “Mr. Yuji’s class right? Fucking hate him.”

“Yeah well, I do too.”

Riki takes a road that you’re unfamiliar with, and he suddenly stops the car in front of a house.

“What are you doing Riki?” You say, watching as he opens his trunk and leaves the car.

“Doing something I should’ve done a long time ago.”

He pulls out a bat, and your eyes widen when he smashes it against a mailbox, crushing it in completely.

“Holy shit!” You shriek, eyes widening as Riki throws back the bat into the trunk, closing it with a loud bang.

He runs back to the car, slamming the door behind him.

“And that’s for Y/N motherfucker!” He yells before driving off, his boyish laughter could be heard from a distance.

“You’re crazy.” You breathe out, body still in shock from what you witnessed. “Who’s mailbox was that?”

“Mr. Yuji’s.” He smirks, eyes still on the road. “Let’s just say—this isn’t the first time I’ve been to his residence.”

“Wow.” You rest your head against Riki’s cold windows, still taking in what just happened. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome sweets.” He smiles, teeth practically shinning like the movies. “Now how about that arcade I promised you earlier?”

.♡.

After hanging out with Riki at the arcade on Monday, you realized the boy wasn’t as bad as you thought.

He had won you a gigantic brown teddy bear, a cliché that you never thought would have happened to you after failing your physics exam.

He made you name it James The Third, and made you promise that it was your child and you had to take care of it while he was away.

“I heard you hung out with Nishimura this weekend!” You swore nothing could go past Byeol, who was currently geeking at the sudden news of you and Riki being so close.

“Shh, keep your voice down!”

Byeol wiggles her eyebrows, giggling at your stressed state. “You two are so cute! Opposites attract!”

You start to walk away from her, using the excuse that class has started. Sure Riki was handsome and weirdly—nice—you weren’t sure what your feelings about him were yet.

“Hi.”

You basically flinch out of your seat when you see him right next to you. He had a can of soy milk and a slice of chocolate cake with him.

“I brought you soy milk, hopefully you like it.”

You give him a small smile, not trusting your words enough to actually speak. Thankfully for you, the teacher entered right after, starting her lesson on trigonometry.

“Nishimura Riki, do you really have to eat in my class?” The teacher stops writing, placing her chalk on the board as she stares directly into Riki’s eyes.

He looks up from the bangs poking at his eyes, giving the teacher a stupid smile.

“Yes Mrs. Park, I’m very hungry.”

“Very well.” She wants to scowl at Riki, you could tell by her furrowed eyebrows. But she doesn’t, instead, picking up her chalk again to continue the lesson.

3 minutes don’t even past when Riki’s chewing gets incredibly loud and obnoxious, making you place a hand over your mouth to prevent yourself from bursting out laughing.

“Is the chocolate cake that good, Riki?” The teacher asks, trying not to completely snap at the boy.

“It’s sooo good.” Riki says, smiling fully with his teeth.

The class blurts out in laughter and hysteria, making Mrs. Park practically crush the chalk that was in her hand.

“That’s it! Go outside Nishimura Riki!”

He rolls his eyes, standing up from his seat. “Fine, but I was just eating cake.”

He looks over to you, who was currently giggling underneath your breath. He gives you a small smile, flicking your forehead softly before leaving the room, leaving you a blushing mess.

.♡.

“Pssst.”

You turn around, already knowing who was on the other side.

Of course Nishimura Riki was there.

“I’ve got two tickets to see Arctic Monkeys, come with me Friday night?”

You shake your head softly. “Oh I don’t know Riki, I have to study.”

“Don’t say that sweets,” he groans, head slumping into your shoulder. “Have some fun!”

“Shhh!” You look around, thankful the librarian wasn’t here to scold you guys. “Okay, okay, I’ll go. Just be quiet.”

“Yay!” He cheers, and it’s the happiest you’ve ever seen of the boy. “I’ll pick you up, okay? Friday night, 8pm exactly.”

“Okay Riki,” you say. “I’ll see you.”

Friday comes by in a flash, and you weren’t sure what to wear to the concert.

Despite it being your last year of being a teenager, you still haven’t attended one. So you were in a real struggle to pick what would be perfect.

You decided to go with a plain black top and cream colored cargos that hugged your waist, one without straps so your shoulders could be out. You were sure it’d get hot in the concert with all the people that would be attending.

“You look cute.” Riki says as he rows down the window. “Get in.”

The stadium is only 20 minutes away from your house, and you’re starting to get nervous when you realize how many people were attending.

“Hey,” Riki says, taking ahold of your hand when he notices it shaking. “It’ll be the most fun night of your life. I promise.”

And he was right. Although you were sure you weren’t going to enjoy it all that much, you found yourself singing and swaying along to the music.

The stadium was dim, making the music hit even ten times harder.

When I wanna be yours started playing, your vision was focused on the band whereas Riki’s eyes were focused on you.

“Hey!” You giggle, catching him staring at you. “Focus on the music dummy! You’re the one who bought the tickets.”

“Yeah yeah,” he says, smiling ear to ear. “The concert’s great and all but you’re even better.”

You don’t get to question his words before he crashes his lips onto yours with the lyrics wanna be yours blasting in the background.

[sulieykte]

𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒕𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 - 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄

pairing : neteyam x omatikaya!reader a/n: so this one might be of a little interest to people who enjoyed my action // reaction series. this is a little cut scene from the original outline of the series that i always regretted not including, but you don't have to have read the series to follow this. i hope you enjoy this as i really loved revisiting this dynamic warnings: smut under the cut mdni, aged up character, possessive behaviour, degradation, fingering, in public & a teensy bit of restraint word count: 700+ masterlist | taglist

He can’t take his eyes off of you.

He’s tried. Desperately so, to distract himself from you, and from the way he’s touching you. How his hand settles on your waist, fingers slightly digging into your skin as if he’s claiming you. And you allow it, leaning into his touch as though you're desperate for it, pretending you don’t see the eyes burning into the side of your skull. 

But he knows you know. It’s clear in the way your eyes flit to the side, systematically every minute, and how each time you’re sure you have an audience you lean further into Ralu’s grasp, laughing as he puffs up his chest, surely telling tall tales of his bravery during the day's raid. It set’s his teeth on edge. 

“Are you okay, brother?” Kiri’s voice breaks him out of his trance, dragging him away from his thoughts and back to the present. He meets his sister's concerned expression with a tight smile, shaking his head.

“I’m fine Kiri. Just tired.” He assures her. “I think it’s best I turn in early.” There’s a glint in Kiri’s eyes as she looks over at you and back to him.

“It looks like you’re not the only one.”

Neteyam’s brows furrow, turning to see you stand, hands gliding over Ralu’s shoulder to give a gentle squeeze as you bid him and his friends goodbye and turn to leave the congregated clan for the evening. Kiri is smirking when he turns back to face her.

“Sleep well, brother.” She says before returning to the armband she was weaving for Tuk. 

With a hurried goodbye to the rest of his family, he stalks after you. His pace easily catching up to yours before you could reach your Marui. 

His hand wraps around your arm, pulling you behind the nearest Marui. You gasp as your back hits his chest, hissing his name as he carts you behind the nearest tent, out of immediate view of any prying eyes of the clan.

“Neteyam, I swear to Eywa if you don’t let go of me I–”

“You’ll what?” His mouth skims your ear. “Tìyawn, we both know you could make me let go if you really wanted to.” He catches your other arm, pinning both of them behind your back with just one hand. “But that isn’t what you want, is it? Throwing yourself all over Ralu to get my attention.” His free hand runs down your stomach, tracing circles into your skin until he reaches his destination, pushing his way past the cloth of your tewng. “If you wanted someone to treat you like a whore, all you had to do was ask.”

“I’m going to kill you.” Your words are violent, but your actions tell a different story. Your chest heaving as you press yourself back into him, tail curling around his thigh, head dropping back against his shoulder as he runs his fingers through your folds, already drenched with slick before he circles your sensitive nub and has you keening against him.

“Shhh Tìyawn, you don’t want the whole clan to hear you.” His lips ghost over your throat, teeth grazing the skin, so bare now that his marks have faded. That would need to be rectified later. Your breath catches in your throat, your own teeth digging into your lower lip to cease the barrage of curses that spill out of your mouth as he slips two fingers into your waiting cunt without warning.

His lips trace your jaw, uttering soft coos against the skin, contradictory to the brutal pace he’s set. His thumb circling your clit as he curls his finger, hitting your sweet spot and sending your knees weak, his hold on you the only thing keeping you steady. All thoughts of threats and resistance gone as your mouth hangs open in a silent moan. 

“Don’t you see how they all look at you because of him?” A particularly harsh thrust of his fingers is enough to tell you how he feels about that. “They all think you’re Ralu’s whore. But they have no idea, do they?” His thumb presses harder against your swollen nub, the coil in your stomach close to snapping. “You’re mine, Tìyawn. Mine.”

And your world falls apart as you come undone on his fingers.

taglist: @teyamsatan @pandoraslxna @eyweveng @jakesullyfatjuicypeen @goodbird1 @avatarsslut @amora16447 @blue-slxt @loaksulluyswife @multibishh @qweq-6802 @mylovescara @renaimel @xylianasblog @salamandraemcimadocaveirao @neteyamsyawntu

[preciouslandmermaid]

Maybe in time, we can give it one more try

Pairing: Carmy Berzatto/F!Reader

Tags: Angst, break-ups, lovers to exes, the painful acknowledgment that it’s over and nothing can fix it. No use of Y/N

Rating: E

WC: ~700

You lean back into the squeaky, plastic that cushions the diner booth. You drag your fingertip across the white and be-speckled table and trace mindless circles. The pattern reminds you of the cafeteria tables from high school. The condensation from your water pools at the base of your glass. You drag your fingers through it and trace faint water patterns. It helps to distract you. The bell above the door rings and you reflectively look up and your heart clenches.

Carmy slides into the booth and the server gives him a large menu with every single imaginable cuisine printed across it. You could buy a hot dog, or a steak dinner, or a club sandwich or pancakes. It was limitless. His eyebrows lift as he looks over the menu.

“Did you already order?” He asks without looking up.

“No, I’m not hungry.” Your teeth meet your lower lip and scrape against the thin skin there. You resist the urge to peel it off. To feel the sharp, copper-tasted pain. You chose a public place because you felt it would be easier. There was less of a chance you would cry.

“Carmen,” You swallow. His name feels like sand in your throat. “I don’t think I can put this off any longer.”

He looks up at you, blue and soulful and bloodshot. And you look away. You’ve felt yourself drifting from Carmy ever since he reopened his restaurant. You knew there was a chance of your relationship suffering. Or perhaps suffering isn’t the right word. Too dramatic. And it wasn’t like you hadn’t tried. You told Carmy your worries. You expressed your feelings. You suggested date nights and ways to stay connected and stay close. Somewhere between telling him and these past few months—Carmy stopped trying.

It was as if he was pretending to be in a relationship. He went through the motions. He held your hand. He kissed you and held you at night. But it was like he wasn’t truly with you. He was someplace else. Distracted. You can’t put your whole life on hold with the hope that he’ll come back—that he’ll get it together and be a better partner to you. You could blame the restaurant, sure, but you knew that wasn’t the whole picture. You gave it a few months. You tried.

Now, it felt like you and Carmy were two pieces that didn’t fit together anymore. The more you tried to force it the more obvious it was. Once something breaks, you can glue it back together, but that glue becomes a barrier. You’ll never be as close as you once were.

You say, “It’s not working.”

Your throat tightens and prickles. The familiar ache builds behind your eyes. Once the words leave you, there’s the instinctive desire to swallow them back up. You hear Carmy place the menu onto the table and watch him fold his hands out of the corner of your eye.

His voice is soft and pained, “I thought we could make it through anything.”

You laugh bitterly, “Yeah, me too.”

“What if--”

“Carmy, don’t.”  You interrupt, “I’ve heard excuses for the past three months.” You pull your water glass closer and wrap your hands around it. A barrier. A cool, wet comfort between your palms. “This is what happens, you know? People grow apart. People want different things.”

“And you don’t want to be with me anymore.” He nodded, not making eye contact, though you could see the glossy sheen of his eyes beneath the harsh florescent diner lights. His blunt honesty is like a knife through your ribs. Ironically, this is the most honest conversation you’ve had in weeks.

“So, that’s it?” He says, “we’re done?”

“I’m tired of being alone in this relationship.” You push ice around with the straw, “that’s what it comes down to. You don’t have space for me in your life, Carmy.”

“I – I – uh -” Carmy clears his throat and his forehead crinkles, “I don’t want to lose you, though.”

“I know.”

The awkward silent lays before you like a slaughtered, wheezing beast. You feel the life of your relationship slowly drain out of you. The love stays, of course. The love always lingers even after saying goodbye.

[zainmalik]

2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about.

tagged by @victoriaspriing thank you!!!

2024 is just around the corner, so unbelievable to me. it feels like no time has passed since the beginning of 2023. i was thinking, hm it doesn’t feel like i’ve made many gifs this year, but then i went looking back at all my favorite gifsets i made and i was pleasantly surprised to see quite a significant amount. my goal for 2024 is to create more gifsets, to share with the fandom and most importantly to let the creativity flow. okay, but i’m here to reflect on my gifsets from this year, so let’s get into that shall we? i’ll share some fun statistics and then my top 5 gifsets from this year, and totally copying joana here but i’ll also give a shoutout to my favorite creators who not only inspire me but make this fandom wonderful with their creations <3

fun statistics

in total i made 188 gifsets in 2023

99 are about louis (*pretends to be shocked*)

50 are about harry

10 are larry

4 are ot5

1 about samia

1 about soyoon

the rest are 911 lone star, stranger things, only friends and first kill

28 (!!!) are elaborate gifsets

44 are or include purple

4 are about faith in the future

top 5 gifsets (in no particular order)

louis birthday gifset this has to be my favorite gifset i’ve made this year. i had so much fun making it, from trying a different color i’m not used to, to using new effects i hadn’t had the chance to try. everything came out as i had envisioned and it makes me so happy. i gotta say by the end of it i was tired. i think i spent a total of 10 hours on it, but it was so worth it

faith in the future anniversary gifset okay so this one was originally going to be blue and yellow, but the first gif (the one with the tv) wasn’t looking good, so i just did what i do best, make it purple and yellow. i’m glad i did, because not only do i love that combo, but i think it looks great. i had this vague concept of what i wanted to do. i knew i definitely wanted to include the spotify template. from there i just did what i felt in the moment. the edit with the tracklist was originally going to be in the form of a google search, but it looked so bad, so i just went for something more simple, which ended up looking so much better. the last edit was the second to last one. i was thinking, how can i include fitfwt into it? that’s when i realized i had a combination of one gifset, one edit, one gifset and one gifset, so i added one edit in the middle of the last two gifsets to create that pattern. i took my favorite louis picture from tour and just did a quick edit. with this one, less was better, and i’m very proud of how it came out

hlholidayexchange gifset i absolutely adore this one. the prompt was anything with 2014 larry. i had a very clear concept for this one. polaroids showing them together. while looking for videos i just gravitated towards their night changes performance, especially the prince and little one with the cheekbones, so that’s what i did. i was apprehensive about the blending, as it’s something i struggle with, but personally i think i did good. there’s always room for improvement, but i’m satisfied with it. the colors came to me right at the end, a combination of some of my favorite colors that are close together in the color wheel, so they look good together. it’s simple, but effective :)

louis tomlinson tinder this one was so fun to make. i especially loved coming up with hobbies and activities that describe louis. i knew i wanted to include numerology because this boy is obsessed with numbers and you can’t tell me he isn’t into numerology. as for the matches, i included his husband people who he’s potentially had a crush on based on interactions and interviews. i also love how the colors came out, i think it looks very pretty

harry’s house anniversary i love this one so much. i had a very clear concept of what i wanted to do. the cutout of the pictures plus the lyrics looked so much fun and i had a great time putting it together, and i just love the spotify template. i think everything about it is very pretty. the colors, the scenes, all of it. the only thing that makes me sad is how the video for daylight came out way later so i couldn’t include it, but other than that i love it so so much

bonus!!! this is louis tomlinson a very fun, very pleasant edit. i remember just wanting to do a gifset highlighting some aspects of louis and his career. i wanted something semi simple and visually appealing, so i did the google search overlay and from there just basic layouts. i had a lot of fun making it

shoutout to my faves!!!

@delicatepointofview @heroeddiemunson @wylanvannecks @505louis @anxiouspunk @ricky-olson @vinmauro @raypakorn @victoriaspriing @birthdaysentiment @robin-buckleys @perrieedwards @margarethcarter @neil-patrick @bobbiedebruyn @braverytattoos @justthinkingaboutlouis @loustyles @kiwikiwiandkiwi @finexbright @zourried @seatawinans @mcbride @jdeanmorgan @morgana-pendragon @niccolofares @sci-fi @benoitblanc @saw-x @binariesuns @oliviairodrigo @annacoleman @aliecenthightower @nelsonnicholas @curlyhairedprince @padme-amidala

sorry if i’m forgetting anyone. if you’re a gifmaker assume i love your gifs. tagging the people above and anyone else who happens to see this and wants to do it. no pressure!!!

[alfredosauce50]

Requests are closed, but this has been sitting in my head for months. A white picket fence-themed story with slasher undertones! This is a little different to my other posts (and longer) because it has a concept and build up, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

Content warning: Slasher horror, adult themes, and overall fucked-upness. Viewer discretion advised. R18+ only.

The reader is referred to as she/her.

Yandere America headcanons

Everyone says the same things about him. That he’s friendly, charming, and reliable. The boy-next-door, the type you’d trust your drink with. What nobody knows is that it’s all an elaborate guise to hide his true colors. Once he reveals them, there’s no going back. You’re never getting away from him.

The worst part is, nobody suspects a thing. Everyone would think you’re the crazy one for accusing him. Thus, his untouchable reputation (and cunning) makes him the most dangerous yandere of all.

The office romance

Alfred is the most popular guy in the building. He’s a hard worker, a people person, and lights up the room with his smile. It feels like he has everything going for him: a great job, good looks, and lots of friends that can’t get enough of him. What he can’t seem to get is your attention.

You’re married to the Danish ditz from customer relations, Mathias Densen. HR usually frowns on that sort of thing, but you were cute together. Either way, you’re friends with Alfred for the same reason everyone else is. He’s charming. The only difference is that he makes an effort to see you outside of work—to see a movie, to grab dinner, or to catch up over some coffee.

“So, what do you say? Me and you at Mastro’s?”

You’re walking out of the break room when he jogs over, his blue tie swinging from side to side. He’s been going on about having a steak dinner with a friend, then complaining nobody wants to go with him—only because he hasn’t asked anybody yet.

“I don’t know, Al. Isn’t that place expensive?”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m paying for the both of us.”

“Okay,” You laugh gently, turning toward the cubicles. Everyone is clacking away on their keyboards or speaking into their telephones. Your husband is one of them, only he’s more animated than the rest, nodding away and chuckling every now and then. “I’ll try and get Mat to pick me up at ten.”

“Great! I’ll be sitting in my office pretending to do stuff until we get off.” He beams.

He likes getting on your nerves. It’s that one trick that gets you to feel closer to him. And it works. During work hours, he’ll drop by your desk to steal your snacks for a reaction. He will literally pluck a candy bar or pastry out of your hand and stuff it in his mouth while walking away. When you get mad at him, he’ll just laugh and go, “you’re not supposed to eat at your cubicle. I’m just saving your ass from trouble. If you don’t believe me, you can take it up to HR.”

If he’s not picking on you, he’s a total sweetheart. Alfred will make you coffee without being asked. Mathias usually keeps an eye out for stuff like that, doing favors for you when you need them, but not when he’s predisposed with work. He’s easily distracted, unfortunately. And Alfred is an opportunist. “You look tired. I’ll add in an extra bit of everything to give you the energy.”

Being closer to him, he can act more like himself when he’s around you. That means less of the laughing, small talk, and all that nonsense. He can actually give you a straight answer. You’re willing to let him explain, and if not, you seem to trust him for his judgement. He loves that. He thrives off validation. But by the rare occasion you do disagree with him, you mostly just poke fun at him. “Doesn’t that seem kinda stupid? Or am I just an asshole? I’m the asshole? Okay, fine.”

He starts obsessing over you. It’s refreshing to be around someone he doesn’t need a social battery for. Alfred is also lonelier than he’d like to admit. He can’t count how many superficial acquaintances he has. You’re an outlier, so he make it clear he’s high-strung about you in a ‘guy best friend’ way. He won’t stop competing with Mathias over everything as a joke. It’s really not. “So, is the husband gonna take you to Field of Screams this weekend, or am I gonna have to?”

He makes his attraction to you glaringly obvious. Alfred doesn’t care to hide it. It starts off subtle, like looking at you when he’s laughing in a group setting. Then, he’ll start gazing your way when you aren’t even paying attention to him. When it gets to that point, he has the balls to hold your waist when he’s around you. When I say he’s an expert at playing things off, I mean it.

That’s when he starts scheming. He will match his schedule with yours and sabotage Mathias’s. You start seeing him more during the work week, not knowing it was his doing. Alfred will catch you in the break room every day, making sure to get in every ounce of interaction there is.

What gets him to blow his cover is jealousy. And not from the third-wheeling he’s already doing. That, he can keep a lid on. But telling him you hope to have a baby soon? With your husband?Alfred will turn red in the face and lose his composure. His reaction is visceral, rambling about why you shouldn’t, that it’ll ruin your career, that kids aren’t economic, and any other bullshit reason he can come up with on the spot.

“You’re too young,” He laughs breathily. He’s already rubbing you the wrong way, but he drives the stake in with this comment. “And plus, do you really wanna have a baby with that guy? I mean, look at him—”

You slap him right across the face.

His head turns in the direction of your hand. He falls silent, his smile gone. That’s the end of your friendship. But to him, it’s the start of something else. And it isn’t half as holy as what you have with Mathias. Or what anyone has, for that matter.

“What, do you hate me now? Just say it and I’ll leave you alone.” Alfred gives you a side-eye.

“I really want to hate you.” You fume, wrapping your arms around yourself. Your voice is hushed to hide the hurt in it. “You’re an asshole. But I just want you to apologize, even if I shouldn’t talk to you again.”

“Fine. I’m sorry.”

When you argue

Alfred is manipulative. He victimizes himself or over-exaggerates to make it seem like something is not his fault. “I’m sorry for giving my opinion. I was just trying to be honest,” or “Great. Now I’m the bad guy.” are typical responses when you confront him. He hates being confronted. He will do anything to avoid the blame, even if it means pinning it on you. He never admits he’s wrong.

He needs to have the last word in an argument. He will go back and forth with you for hours if he has to. He only ever stops when you give up, meaning you storm out on him. He’s knocking on your door, pleading to work this out with you. Shut him out all you want, he’ll force himself into the room. “Babe, just hear me out. I’m sorry for being an asshole—wait, don’t lock the door—you locked the door. You know I have keys, right?”

If you’re crying, he turns gentle and affectionate. Kissing, hugging, whispering how sorry he is for hurting your feelings. Alfred then makes it up to you with a romantic dinner, a movie night, or flowers. Even then, he still won’t double-down. He only feels bad for making you cry, not for the point he’s making. Egocentric is his middle name. He thinks his opinions are always right, and can’t see things from another perspective.

Psychology

He has a sense of entitlement like no other. Being close to him will give him the confidence to do anything. He will go from a friend to a homewrecker pretty fast. Why? Because he can. It comes from his undying belief that you’ll always forgive him. That you like him enough to let everything he does slide. And he won’t think twice to take advantage of your soft spot for him.

He has a major superiority complex. Alfred loves what he is—his intelligence, charisma, and wit. He also believes he’s far better for you than Mathias is. What he has with you is more special, and he’s dying on that hill. “You can be with him in another life” is bullshit. Fuck that. Having a husband won’t stop him from chasing you, let alone your rejection. You just need to give him some time. You’ll warm up eventually.

He’s mastered the art of seduction. Once he admits his attitude is out of jealousy, he will try and get you to give in to him. If he can kiss you, or better yet, get you to have sex with him, your marriage will be over. He’ll have you all to himself. “I didn’t want you to have his baby because I want you to have mine. Okay?”

Alfred is very traditional. He loves the idea of having a nice big house in the suburbs. He has a thing for kids too, so it’s no wonder why he freaked out so much in the first place. He’s also happy to play along with gender roles, however obsolete they are. He wants to be the provider. That’s one thing he mentions to persuade you to dump Mathias and marry him instead.

He’s obsessed with his image. Alfred needs to look like a perfect poster boy to compensate for everything he’s thinking about doing, or what he’s already done. Being admired is a coping mechanism for him to be at peace with himself. He’s deluding himself that he’s a good person. There’s a practicality of a good reputation too—he can avoid any and all suspicion.

What’s unique about him is that he never ‘snaps’. He retains a level-headedness throughout, even while doing the most unsound things. Making threats, stalking, you name it. He can look Mathias straight in the eye and say, “I’ll kill you,” before smiling and playing it off as a joke. It’s not. He’s already thinking about how he’s gonna do it.

He feels no empathy for his victims. There’s a ‘necessity’ in his actions, and he refuses to think they’re really just violent impulses. He associates aggression with unrefined criminals, which he feels he’s above. He’s too clever and classy to be a criminal. He’s too ‘in control’ of himself. Alfred could be the most dangerous out of all the prisoners behind bars, but he’d get pretty pissed being treated like the same—like an animal.

He’s a true-blue psychopath. It’s hard to gauge how much love he’s capable of, but his obsession with you goes without saying. Keeping you in his grasp is all he can care about. Controlling how the world sees him will make sure of that. Killing anybody in his way is just maintenance. There’s a satisfying finality of death, the absolute silence of possible witnesses. His victims will never get him caught if they’re in the trunk of his car. The soil in his garden. When they let out their last breath, all they see is the million-dollar smile that everyone fell for. It’s a final display of power, a cruel reminder that he will never be caught.

His first target is your unassuming husband. The trigger is simple—your plans to start a family with him. Alfred needs to get rid of him before that happens. He will study his schedule before following him in his car. When Mathias is alone, he will sneak up from behind and hit him in the back of his head with a bat. Alfred will pack his body in his trunk like he’s packing for Summer.

He’ll comfort you while you’re grieving your husband’s sudden disappearance. When you’re anxious in the middle of the night, he’s more than happy to talk to you over the phone. Alfred is now closer to you than ever, and makes it a habit to swing by and keep you company. What he can’t change is how you feel about Mathias. He’s long dead and gone, but your love for him is undying. Sometimes, you might even cry about how much Alfred reminds you of him.

That’s how he comes up with this: impersonating and replacing your late husband. An opportunity comes along when you get in a car accident. Alfred rushes to the hospital to see you, only for the doctor to inform him of the brain trauma you endured. You have retrograde amnesia; you can’t remember major details about your life. Not your friends, family, or a Mathias Densen being in your life. Alfred would be a fool if he didn’t take advantage of that. He will sit by your bedside and lie that he’s your husband, the Mr to your Mrs.

Home life

Alfred is a con artist. Not only will he convince you of your new marital status, he’ll get rid of any evidence of Mathias being in your life. He’ll photoshop his face out of your pictures and replace it with his own. It’s easy to do because they look similar. Then, he shows it to you to ‘refresh’ your memories of him. You’re sitting in your hospital bed, bonding with him over events that never happened. Not with him, anyway. “And these—” He flips through a photo book before wiping his eyes. “—these are our wedding photos. They’re really, really pretty, I know. We rented out a National park and everything.”

He takes you ‘home’ to the middle of nowhere. The house is a huge, rustic, and gorgeous manor in the mountains, i.e., miles away from your next door neighbor. It’s the perfect getaway for fresh air, quiet, and enjoying the wilderness. Alfred can live the life he’s always idealized, and with the woman he’s idealized it with. He won’t have to worry about anybody finding you here, either. “Once you get a little better, we can try out the pool. It’s heated.” He grins, turning to you with a spatula in hand. You’re sitting in the patio while he barbecues some meat. As for the apron, it’s a bright pink one with ‘kiss the cook’ on it. And you do, thanking him for how sweet he’s being.

He’s a dedicated husband. Alfred is incredibly sensitive to your mood, and will do anything to keep you comfortable. He has no problem going to work, doing the chores and being there for you when you need him, especially while you recover. You worry you’re not doing enough, but he always assures you otherwise. All he wants is for you to get used to moving around on your own. Deep down, he knows that having you is more than what he deserves. Being the perfect hubby is almost like his redemption for what he did.

He works on himself. He can’t ruin what he has with you, so he tries to mellow out his more undesirable traits—narcissism, apathy, etc. Alfred will go to therapy for it. Separating from him isn’t on the table. Ever. What are people gonna say when you tell them you divorced a man you never married? What is Alfred gonna do when they tell you about your real husband? Keeping you happy is his number one priority, and he’ll feel good while doing it.

Alfred manages all your affairs. You don’t know where everything is, all your files, documents, and important passwords. You don’t ‘remember’ them, apparently. But that’s no problem. He can handle it. He becomes the more dominant one in the relationship, being responsible for the bills and bureaucratic side of things. There’s nothing you can do without asking him first, but it never feels restricting, or demeaning for that matter. He’s always kind about it, doing things for you and taking the lead, so you feel protected.

He’s very sensual. Alfred values the physical aspect of the relationship, and, of course, the time he spends with you. He loves taking you on long walks where he can just hold your hand and ramble about all the animals he wants to find. Deer, chipmunks, even butterflies. He loves it when you take off his glasses just to kiss him. Suddenly, he doesn’t want to look for animals anymore. “Wanna go home and kiss in the pool?”

He likes sleeping in on Sundays. That gives you the chance to get up and make breakfast for him. Alfred is a pretty heavy sleeper, but it doesn’t take long for him to wake up when you’re not next to him. He will get out of bed, throw on a robe, and saunter into the kitchen with the worst bed head of the century. While you’re frying up some pancakes, he will hug you from behind. “Can you put in some chocolate chips for mine?” Alfred mumbles, squeezing you tighter. You ask him to let go of you so you can get it for him, and he’ll just change his mind on the spot. “Nah.”

He has to be in the same room as you. The house is pretty damn big, but it doesn’t feel like a home when he can’t be with you. If you’re folding laundry in the bedroom, he will walk in, flop onto the bed, and clack away on his laptop. If you’re watching TV when he comes home from work, he will put his head on your lap and take a nap. Alfred is clingy when he’s tired, but who doesn’t sleep better when they’re around loved ones?

He’s the most affectionate when he wakes up in the morning. Not only is he comfortable in bed, he’s turned on by your smell. You’ve been under the covers with him for hours, so your scent is the strongest now. Alfred will cuddle you for a good hour or so, kissing you until you memorize the taste of his tongue. He also has to deal with morning wood, so morning sex becomes a bit of a routine. It’s the first thing on the menu, after all.

Not a month goes by before you find out you’re pregnant. Either from him, or Mathias. You think it’s Alfred’s. Alfred doesn’t know that, though. But it’s not like he’s gonna check. A paternity test could potentially be evidence for his crimes. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He’s excited to be a father, and there’s nobody else out there that can claim the baby is theirs. The baby will look like him too, so it won’t make much of a difference.

He’s happy, you’re happy, and Mathias has germinated into a flower. There’s a pretty patch of daisies in the backyard, which you see Alfred tending to every now and then. He’s picked up gardening as a hobby ever since he moved here.

“I didn’t know you liked flowers,” You comment mindlessly, staring into the yard from the balcony. The daisies sway lightly to the breeze, and you stand watch. He’s hugging you from behind, kissing your head and cheek. “They look really nice, by the way.”

“Nice enough to not be dug up, I hope.”

“Why would I dig up something you planted?”

“You wouldn’t.” Alfred smiles. “You wouldn’t.”

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

☕️the most egregious problem The Flash has is that it literally NEVER ADDRESSES ANY of the trauma it consistently puts Barry and co through, like it has other problems but I think that's the worst lol

1000000% and I will die mad about it.

Since it’s (always) on my mind, let’s take season 2 for example shall we?

If I had a nickel for everytime Post-Zoom-trauma just disappeared at the drop of a hat, I’d have four nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s fucking INFURIATING THAT IT HAPPENED F O U R TIMES

The four (for lack of a better word) victims in question: Caitlin, Barry, Jesse, and Jay.

Caitlin: kidnapped and held against her will for (I believe) two weeks (that’s putting it simply but we’ve all seen the show so🤷‍♀️). The show gives her one single episode to deal with it, during which she shows very real symptoms of PTSD— solved and therefore ignored and glossed over entirely with a single pep talk. I would also like to add that she showed NO fear of him in the season finale which makes no fucking sense with what the show established only an episode earlier. But tbh, this is the best one because at least the show ACKNOWLEDGED that trauma; if only for one episode.

Barry: Back broken during first encounter (among other severe injuries), humiliated by being dragged around the city to show he wasn’t strong enough to stop Zoom, confidence shattered from the experience. Like Caitlin, we got one episode to deal with this trauma and in that episode, Barry also showed signs and symptoms of PTSD (the entire season is evidence tbh). But of course, one pep talk from his dad and everything’s magically ok :-D !!!!!! I’m going to eat glass (also I will definitely make a post on that fucking episode because I hate it). As mentioned; he continues to have PTSD symptoms throughout the season but it’s glossed over so much and attributed to generic-superhero-stuff™️ that it really doesn’t matter. Gods, I could go on all day about Barry’s post-Zoom AND post-Thawne trauma. (Oh, he was also kidnapped, threatened, and {borderline} tortured by Zoom in the Earth-2 episodes; but that’s all normal superhero stuff ofc so it doesn’t matter right :-D !!! gnawing at the bars of my enclosure)

Jesse: Good gods where do I even start. Kidnapped by a known serial killer, tortured by said serial killer, repeatedly and (probably) constantly threatened with death, and held captive for around 9-10 months. Mm also, she was clearly terrified of Zoom every time he showed up prior to her rescue. Sounds like an extremely traumatic experience with multiple opportunities and instances to develop PTSD right? WRONG! According to the lovely writers; people are completely fine after a traumatic experience is over! What’s PTSD??? chewing glass chewing glass chewing glass. They didn’t even TRY with her, at least with Barry and Caitlin they pretended to give a shit about what they went through but Jesse makes two things crystal clear. 1) The writers don’t care about your trauma unless you’re an MC. 2) The writers put minimal effort into trauma if any; MC or not. It’s like they said ‘Ooo, we should have Caitlin kidnapped by Zoom!’ ‘Won’t that have some sort of effect on her? Being kidnapped is a terrifying experience’ ‘Ah fuck you’re right… eh, we’ll give her one episode ig’ ‘What about Jesse?’ ‘Who?’

Jay: Fucking. Hell. I ordered this in what I consider best handled to worst. Jay is by far— handled worst. Let’s see here *checks notes* Ah yes. Kidnapped and taken to a completely different Earth, an attempted theft of his powers, imprisoned and put in a mask so he can’t speak, {not confirmed but very likely with Zoom’s track record and somewhat implied} tortured, had his identity stolen and {likely} mocked and tormented about the subject, and the ~delightful~ cherry on top— held captive in this situation for at least one year. Fuck I’m so tired. Anyways; there’s not much to say. He got rescued (off-screen ofc), was able to access his powers instantly with no problems, and left to go back to his Earth. Trauma? What trauma? *gestures wildly at said trauma posted above* That’s not traumatic at all! *screams* I don’t care how much experience you have as a superhero— that doesn’t just GO AWAY! PTSD, FLASH WRITERS. LOOK INTO IT P L E A S E fuck I just remembered the show is over now ALL YOUR MC’S HAVE IT! EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Sigh. In the end of *gestures at said trauma* all that, Jay was just used to cause Barry more greif from his father’s death. Obviously he gets roles in later seasons but (as far as I can remember) this whole thing was never brought up again. Sigh.

I COULD GO ON

I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS

but I won’t cause dear gods I’ve been typing forever now

[ellieshousewife]

you dream of some epiphany.

ellie x f!reader

summary; in which, ellie decides to go kill abby after seattle, right after you two settled at the farm.

you woke up, the morning fog awakening your thoughts. you yawned and reached for ellie, finding the cold sheets instead.

“els?” you asked, stretching as your feet hung off the bed. you got up, searching for your beloved. “elsss?”

the sound of a backpack being moved to another room made you jump a bit. “els?” you said again, seeing her with a guilty look on her face.

“what’s wrong? why do you have a bag? are you going to jackson?” you asked quickly, all the sleepiness left you as soon as you saw the bag.

“no.” she said, you were shaking now, approaching her slowly. “els come back to bed, we can talk about thi-“

“no. i’m leaving, either you come with me or i go alone.” she said, frowning. you looked at the scar from the arrow that impaled your leg.

“i’m not doing this.” you said, crossing your arms. “i’m not going back els.”

“i’m not like you, you know.” ellie said, her sad eyes meet your tired ones. “i can’t go on pretending like life is okay.”

“ellie, who said i was okay? i’m okay because i have you. isn’t that enough?” you said, she looks down.

“i don’t eat, i can’t hardly sleep. my eyes close and all that runs through my mind is him.” she said, her eyes getting glossy as she said the last word.

you walk up to her, tears forming in your eyes. “ellie, please.” you begged.

“i have to finish it.” she said, you frowned hard, “no. you don’t.”

“it isn’t safe.” you said, “what if you die, or get super hurt?"

“i don’t plan on it.” she said, giving you a look of despair.

“neither did jesse, or joel?” you said, she gave you a look of disgust as the words slipped out, “ellie-“

she grabbed her bag and slammed open the door, not looking back. tears streamed down your face as you began wondering if you should’ve went.

you run to yours and ellie's shared bedroom, grabbing all the clothes that you owned, (and some you shared), and threw it in the raggedy old suitcase you found on patrol.

you took all the sheets as the overcast on the moody sky cleared, causing sunshine to come through the windows of your home. you sighed as you folded up neat, new sheets and placed them onto the bed.

you took your pillows, leaving ellie's on her side of the bed, you took everything you knew ellie deemed sentimental and packed it all away in the suitcase, a part of you hoping she would come find you for the things she held dear.

after getting all of your belongings, you made your way to jackson. you took one last long look at the rusty old farm you no longer call home, it wasn't home without your girlfriend.

-

you settled into jackson again, reuniting with dina and meeting her baby boy JJ. you began being more involved in the settlement, helping run the bar.

you also ran the farm, helping with livestock and gardening. on the particular day, you were watering all the plants with your rusty watering can, when you heard people chattering about ellie.

your heart sped up when you heard her name. "hey, sorry to be nosy, but what about ellie williams?" you asked, wiping the water off onto your overalls.

"you haven't heard?" one of the men say, "ellie williams has returned to jackson."

they both looked confused, "oh, you were her little girlfriend huh?" one of them said, snickering. "well, you might wanna see her, she's different."

you felt your heart break, "different?" you said, frowning. they just laughed, snickering about something as they walked away, what douches.

you shrugged, continuously watering the pretty flowers you found outside of jackson. you heard footsteps approaching the gardens, "hey." you heard, a raspy, familiar voice behind you.

turning around, you see none other than ellie, standing there with guilt all over her face. you examined her, nothing seemed different, you kept scanning til you saw her hands, two fingers missing.

"holy fuck! ellie what the fuck!" you exclaimed, running over to her, grabbing the hand. "fuck." you murmured.

"you said you wouldn't get hurt, you're such a liar." you said, obviously not meaning it. a tear fell from your eyes. it was almost as all the anger washed out of your mind as soon as you saw her safe, and in front of you.

"bab-" she began to say, you backed away. "ellie, know that i know you're safe, you have to make it up to me. you're still not forgiven for leaving me without a second thought."

she began to say something, but you look away. "nah. you gotta let me process this." you said, walking around the garden. she followed you like a lost puppy, she pulled out her journal, handing it to you.

you looked at her with confusion, you held the journal in your arms. she also handed you a small box and said a quick bye, running away swiftly.

later in the day, you sat on the small couch in your home. the full moon caused moonlight to shine through the small window that was by your couch.

the small lamp was on, you flipped open the journal, a bunch of doodles and entries written sloppily. a bunch of poems, apologies, small love notes, and even a drawing of you. you read it all, tearing up and some blood splatters (and tears) on the pages.

you opened the little box, a necklace with a poorly carved e laid inside. you sighed and closed the box, tossing it to the other side of the couch.

lying in bed, you kept thinking about the box, you sneakily ran to get it, hoping ellie somehow didn't sense you clutching the necklace to your chest, or how you only wore it under your shirt when anyone was around.

weeks after reading the entries, ellie had slowly came around the gardens and bar more, sometimes bringing gifts, sometimes bringing jokes, and finally, she stole your heart again.

and ellie never planned on giving it back.

[anxresi]

GOD am I sick of this. (Watch Out, MAJOR Rant Ahead)

Why do Chloe haters (nearly) ALWAYS insist on using this tired old line to ‘win’ an argument?!

No-one (at least anyone I’M paying attention to) is saying Chloe should get away with her bullying because of her shitty parents.

We’re saying poor Chloe has been a victim of character assassination, sabotage, purposeful vandalism, ruination etc by the very person who created her! No... not her fictional dad or mom... but a certain real-life Frenchman by the name of Mr Thomas Astruc.

If you want a somewhat over-exaggerated parallel, it would be like Da Vinci painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo chopping David’s ‘bits’ off or Geppetto making Pinocchio into firewood (I say this because there’s been TWO movies about the lying puppet in the last year. Hint: don’t watch the Disney one).

It’s like... I can’t even debate these people, because they haven’t just got the wrong end of the stick, we’re not even in the same forest!

My point is to those somewhat disingenuous individuals, and let me be VERY blunt here, because I ain’t repeating myself... (clears throat): 

Chloe’s Character Writing Has Been The Worst I’ve Ever Seen In A Professional Cartoon Show. The Fact They Utterly Destroyed One Of The Few People In Miraculous With Any Potential For Serious Development For Growth And Basically Replaced Her With Another Girl Who’s Just As Blandly ‘Perfect’ As Most Of The Other Females Demonstrates How Utterly Lacking In Ambition, Creativity And Talent The Makers Truly Are. (As If The Glaring Lack Of Other Positive Attributes To The Show Isn’t Evidence Enough) The Only Reason You Use A Completely Manufactured And Different Scenario Than The Case I Put Forward As Your Lone Defence Proves You KNOW I’m 100% Right. THAT’S Why So Many People Are Defending Her... Not Because They Think She Should Get Away With Her Progressively More Ridiculous Misdemeanors Inserted Into The Scripts To Convince The Audience To Hate Her More And More, But Because We Recognize The Less-Than-Subtle Route The Writers Have Taken In The Last Few Seasons To DESTROY Her Character, Her Role, Her Agency And Any Hidden Depths Or Layers She Might Have. This Is A Girl Who LOVED Her Daddy, (Occasionally) Valued Her Best Friend, Adored Adrikins, Confessed How Inadequate She Felt In Front Of Her Idol Ladybug, Made A Heartfelt Apology To Her Teacher In An Emotional Hug (It Made Me Cry :,/ ), Made REAL STRIDES With Her Behavior In terms Of Being More Independent Towards The End Of S2, Had An Intriguing Relationship With Her Favorite Stuffed Bear Which Acted As Her Conscience, Was Setting Herself Up To Be An Efficient Anti-Hero With Questionable Loyalties... And All This Fascinating Narrative Was Left To ROT In Favor Of Turning Her Into The Most Boringly Generic Baddie In The Entire History Of The Show. WELL DONE, EVERYONE. Then To Add Insult To Injury, They Claim This Was The Plan All Along And Her Rapid Deterioration Into A Teenage Psycho From A Standard School Bully Is Some Kind Of Bizarre Statement On ‘How Some People Can Never Change’ Rather Than The Obnoxiously Terrible Piece Of Hackneyed Writing It Actually Was. Damnation Arc? A Fancy Title For Utter Bullsh*t That’s An Insult To Miraculous Ladybug Fans’ Intelligence Everywhere, I Say. I Don’t Know About You Guys, But I Feel Cheated, Swindled, Bamboozled... You Name It, Or Just Thorughly P*ssed Off Should Suffice. Want Some Evidence For My Claims? Okay, Here Goes: Get Comfortable... Removing ALL Of Chloe’s Positive Traits And Redemptive Moments Overnight After S3. Pretending They Never Existed Or Happened In The First Place. Turning Her Into A Villainous One-Dimensional Sociopathic Object Of Ridicule. Giving Us Zoe Who’s Goodie-Two-Shoes Non-Personality Is No Substitute Whatsoever For The True Queen. Cynically Producing AN ENTIRE EPISODE in S5 For The Sake Of Retroactively Making CHLOE Solely Responsible For Adrinette Not Happening Sooner. (Thus Purposefully Exposing Her To More Vitriol From Obsessive Shippers) Pretending That She Had ‘Plenty Of Help’ To Change When The Truth Is No-One Seriously Attempted At All. (Even Saint Marinette ‘Encouraged’ Her And Good Ol’ Toxic Audrey To Bond By Being Awful To Each Other Instead Of Getting To The Heart Of Chloe’s REAL Issues), Breaking Up All Her Closest Relationships One By One Until The Only Person Left Is With Her Is Her Tyrannical Mother Who Promises To “Take Control’ Of Her Life Now In A Different Country That Her Father Has Disowned Her. (So I Guess Letting Chloe Get Further Traumatized By Her Main Abuser is Thomas’s Idea Of ‘Punishing’ Her... Great Message There For Children!) This Means Adrien Wants Nothing To Do With Her, Sabrina Has Been Unceremoniously Dumped And Even Butler Jean Has Been Fired With Little Fanfare. (Not That Chloe’s Had Any Interesting Interactions With Adrien Since S2... What Was The Point In Making Them Childhood Friends Again?! Her Dad Is Basically An Enabler Who Got Off Scot-Free Now He’s Resigned As Mayor And Looks To Have A Fresh Start With His ‘Perfect’ Adopted New Daughter, Sabrina Has Been MIA For YEARS And Only Gets Acknowledged This Once To Further Isolate And Damage Chloe And As For Butler Jean... Who?!) What It Boils Down To Is That Thomas Doesn’t Just Want To Strip Chloe Of The Bee Miraculous Permanently And Write Her Out Of The Show, Oh No! He Wanted To Transform Her Into The WORST Possible Version Of Herself To Try And Forcibly Extract Away The Last Few Fans She Has, And Then Give Her The WORST Possible Ending In The S5 Finale Despite Other Characters (E.g Gabriel) Doing FAR Worse And Yet Either Ending Up Getting ‘Redeemed’ Or Thought Of As Heroes(!). Oh, And Lila Has Multiple Moms Now(!), A Completely New Identity(!!) And Is The Main Antagonist From Now On(!!!)... I Think Her Superpower Is Dumbing Down Everyone Else So They’ll Believe Her Obvious Untruths. GREAT STORYTELLING, GUYS. Mr Astruc Is A Pathetic, Petty, Spiteful, Talentless Excuse For A Showrunner Who’s So Problematic To Discuss His Many And Numerous Controversies Would Take Another Post Probably Five Times As Big As This Already Overlong Wall Of Text, So We’ll Save That For Another Day. Good To See Though, That His ‘Brilliant” Scheme Appears To Be Failing And The More He Sticks Pins In Chloe’s Likeness The More Support She Gets Online And The More ‘Very Sweet’ Zoe Gets Hyped Up Into Something She’s Not, She’s Recognized As The Shallow Shill She Truly Is. I Just Hope Little Kids Aren’t Taken In By His Obvious Crusade To Make Chloe The Most Hated Teenager Since Joffrey. Why Couldn’t The Idea For Miraculous Have Fallen To A Guy Who Had Some Semblance Of Ability, Instead Of This Mediocre Hack Who’s Happy To Wallow In Stale Romantic Cliches, Underwhelming Superhero Fights, Uninteresting Lore, Non-Existent Continuity, Bbaadd Dialogue, Filler, Filler And More Filler, An Overabundance Of Characters = No Development For Them, ‘Special’ Episodes Abroad That Are Anything But, Prioritizing The Merchandise Above The Show ALWAYS, Allowing SO Many Spoilerific Leaks To Spread Under His Watch, Blocking Fans Left, Right And Center When They DARE To Question ANY Part Of His Writing (Because Apparently We’re Too Dumb To See The GENIUS)... And... rreesstt.

I am well aware that this post started out as one thing and ended up rather more convoluted than I hoped for, but Tumblr has always been a great source of therapy for me... so what better to get all my major bugbears out in one word soup of a paragraph that nobody will ever read if they know what’s good for them, before slouching back in my spinning chair with a glazed yet satisfied look on my face?

Nothing, that’s what.

[cherieprincess]

A major aspect of the plot of Goncharov (1973) that I don’t think people are discussing enough is the power struggle that plays out between Katya Goncharova and Sofia Ambrosini.

To Katya, Sofia is everything. Despite Katya being embittered and worn and tired of the world, and that being visible in the way she treats Sofia ("teaching" her to play cards and fire a gun and leading her through the streets, influencing her behaviour and movements, constantly making it clear she is more versed in the ways of the world than Sofia is), she still sees a chance for something new in her - something full of genuine love. She plays with Sofia at first because of her own lack of autonomy - she's frustrated, upset, and lost, and in Sofia she thinks she's found someone she can finally feel differently with, in a way that would be enjoyable to them both.

As smart and versed in the ways of the world as Katya is, with her femme fatale energy, the fact that she's convinced herself that she is more experienced than Sofia is exactly what shoots her in the foot about it. Katya allows herself to put genuine trust in Sofia because she's managed to convince herself that she's smarter and that Sofia is young and new - a sheep amongst the wolves - and Sofia played along masterfully. Katya's self-inflicted superiority, so to speak, is what drags her down; though I'm unsure if superiority is the right term. It's not that she overestimates herself, but she underestimates Sofia.

When Katya realises that Sofia hasn't just been keeping up in this game of chess, but has been winning, her delusion of grandeur shatters around her so fast. She immediately realises she's lost, and though she fights back, the way she’s easily overpowered means that in the end she has to appeal to Sofia. And yet Katya’s self-assuredness is still there - or at least an attempt to keep it up is. Her "appeal" is her softly going "Sof, you know this isn’t how our time ends." Katya is trying so desperately to hold onto some sense of power or control, so she makes a blanket statement rather than asking for mercy. And Sofia’s silent response of a smile, moments before she pushes Katya under the water, tells Katya there’s no use in pretending she still holds the reins.

So throughout, their power balance has fluctuated. Katya's seemed in control from the start, from the very first scene where she offers Sofia an apple, an unmistakeable reference to the temptation into evil that occured in the Garden of Eden. Sofia snatched control back and lifted herself on top, both figuratively and metaphorically, as she shoved Katya down into the water. And in the final scene between the two of them, the power balance is equal.

The two share a cigarette - clearly a distinct parallel of them finally sharing control over the situation - and Sofia seems entirely unfazed as Katya sharpens her knife. Sofia’s calm "If I am going to be stabbed, then I want to feel every second of it", causes Katya to laugh for the first time since the poker game at the scene near the beginning of the film, and she drops the knife. The tension between them disappears as the knife hits the ground - Katya's dropped both the knife and her mindset of having a foothold over Sofia, and Sofia's made it clear that she’s willing to take whatever Katya has to give her, but on her own terms.

Whether or not the two get to develop their relationship on equal footing, post the events of the film, is beholden to whether or not the viewer believes Katya survived or not. But whether the knife scene is the closing line to their personal story, or the opening line to a newly negotiated life between them, it leaves them at the end of a struggle that was laced through the entire film, and honestly is incredibly narratively satisfying.

[goldfish-fhr]

@iggydabirdkid I am inspired by you 🤭

But I have not the imagination for AUs as you do haha so mine is def a one shot ☺️

“I was wondering how you got your hair to stay so nice all night.”

You drop the box of Bobby pins. Almost drop the dark wig too. You eye her with wide eyes as she makes her way into your dressing room, a look bordering guilt as she eyes the scatter of pins on the floor.

You think you're going to be sick.

You don’t make a move to pick up the mess so when she finally gets close enough, gets to her knees as she scoops up the majority of the pins and places the box back on your table. She doesn't get back up—instead, props herself onto one pants clothed knee and stares up at you, the silver cuffs shine at her side, but she only needs her eyes to hold you in place right now.

“It’s fake” you say. You sit still, like any sudden movements might set her off.

She smiles, “I can see that” runs a hand through her own hair—drastically different from your own stubble of a buzz cut—“I don’t think I could pull that off, but it’s kinda cute on you”

Your lips tug downward before you can pretend to even buy her compliment.

“Cute like a little boy” you raise an eyebrow, because you know she’s lying.

“N—she stutter on a laugh, not quite expecting you to admit that—no of course not”

Your eyes shift to the door behind her, before landing back on hers. You swallow. You know she saw—know she's trained to pick up little things like that, but you don't have much of a choice right now.

When it's clear you won’t be playing hostess she sighs. The humor leaves her face and leaves someone looking much more tired and worn than the woman you made eye contact earlier this night. She finally reveals to you why she's here—like you don't know.

“I have a few question for you”

You’re sure she does.

“You see—“

You stand up.

Fast enough she almost loses her balance.

You swerve behind your cushioned chair and make your way to the bathroom. There’s a window—too small for most people—but you're desperate and you’re sure with a few dislocated bones you can squeeze through.

“Ma’am—“

You hear a clatter behind you as she hurries to her feet and you practically run to the bathroom door.

“I don’t think this concerns you—“ you try to shut the door. But she easily stops it, one hand wrapped around the knob.

“Oh—I think it does” her tone leaves absolutely no room for argument. She doesn’t look happy.

You eye her hand. You eye the door. You could slam it shut—want to slam it—you could but how many innocent women would do that?

So you concede. Back away from the big dark wooden door into the candle lit interior of the bathroom. Turn to the sink basin and splash your face, pretend the only reason for your hasty retreat was to remove all that makeup off. You don't need to fully turn as you see her figure lean on the sink back to it.

The room isn’t big—you’ve never minded before.

Right now you do.

Her size makes this seem far too much like a cell—the star on her blouse catches the dancing candle light and you think—might as well get used to the idea of one.

“Look,—“ she starts and you take a deep breath, stare at the mirror—at the vomit green wall behind you, as your stomach flips.

“—I’m sure you’ve heard…there’s been a few robberies around town—we—I have been following a bit of a lead—she eyes you—and well it seems all lead here”

Your heart is jackhammering. Your breathing is growing erratic uneven—you’ve never been slick.

wear your emotions on your sleeve, and right now as you look at yourself in the mirror, it’s obvious— you look like a frantic mess.

”please—“ a desperate plea that fall from your lips, you look into your eyes and you try to will the tears you see building to leave, “—I’ll do anything, i—“ because you will. God you will. You have no doubt what will happen to you—punishment fit for the crime—and well—you’ve done some pretty awful things.

“Anything—“ you don't get to finish as she turns to you with an urgency. You don't look at her—stare straight ahead into your frightened eyes.

“Look if he’s forcing you into anything—“

He?

You finally turn. And you quickly realize, you have to strain your neck to look up at her. She's tall, intimidatingly tall. Maybe this was why she was so eager to get on her knees for you—to lean on the sink…she doesn’t want to scare you.

This idiot has no fucking clue who you are.

“—you need to tell me.” She looks so serious.

And you continue staring. Eyes wide—and you don’t doubt red rimmed with the tears that are still threatening to fall.

Her eyes soften, “it’s okay if you’re scared. That’s why I’m here.” And she steps closer, slowly reaching out her hands until she's holding your own. “But you need to tell me—I can’t help you if you don't”

Her hands engulf yours easily, and you can understand why any other young little thing might feel safe with hands like hers. Might feel inclined to lean in and share all their secrets.

And by god you are scared.

And you don’t hide it anymore. You cry like the little girl you know she—everyone—sees you as.

“I’m scared” you tell her—weak and broken.

And when you feel her pull your body towards her, you don’t stop her. You melt right in. “It’s okay” she soothes “no one’s going to hurt you”

You can’t remember the last time someone held you like this—with the intent to comfort and keep safe.

“You're safe,” she says.

You laugh—it’s a wet thing—it just falls from you, pure relief at the turn of events.

And you cry, you cry because you don’t have the words. Never needed them before. The gun did all the talking and—a dark realization falls onto you. As she holds your sobbing figure to her, like a prayer answered—your hands—clutching at her—skim the top of her gun.

It happens fast. Two shots later and you're out the bathroom door and she's grasping the sink.

honestly? You’re as surprised as she is. Her white blouse quickly blossoms darker than your boudoir roses and you think ideally that red is her color. Can't even tell how quickly she's paling with that bronze skin warmed by the hue.

Sniffling you realize something as you look into the now grim face of the Marshall—maybe you hadn’t noticed with the glare of that golden star on her chest when she first leaned in—but she has the most beautiful eyes you've ever seen.

“You know?” and you take a step forward, you were hoping for a jerk back—some sort of prey panic in those doe lashed eyes—but she doesn't so much as blink’ “I think you’re right Marshal” and you smile. Something soft. Something deceiving.

You raise the gun.

“I think I am safe”

Aiming it straight for her head.

[bookdragonwrites]

ooo perhaps this bit from "all seems lost"?:

"His eyes open to a place he doesn’t know, a man he doesn’t recognise. The man’s clothes are dirty, blood-stained, and torn beyond repair. His eyes are purple. When the man opens his mouth in apparent surprise, there are fangs. A vampire. He fears vampires. He must fight. Damn it, where are his knives? He must flee, then, but his limbs won’t cooperate.

‘When you say, “I’ll live”, that usually means, “I came very fucking close to not living”, so don’t give me any of your drivel about how you’re fine, really.’

Noé carrying him. Vanitas fails to be annoyed about this being necessary.

‘Instead, Noé nearly died. I don’t recall you doing anything to prevent that.’

The air smells sweet. There’s a wildflower by the roadside. It’s the same colour as Noé’s eyes. How painfully sentimental of him to notice that.

‘I’m Noé. We’re friends. I won’t hurt you, I swear it.’

Noé asleep in their hotel room in Paris, his sheets kicked into disarray, drool leaking onto his pillow. An idiot even when he’s unconscious. The Vanitas of the past looks on fondly, thinking that if he isn’t careful, he might just —"

I’m sorry it took me so long to write out my thoughts, but let’s get this show on the road, dear anon.

[note for everyone else: this is from All Seems Lost, a short companion piece to And They Lived (ATL hereafter)]

I wrote All Seems Lost in something of a hurry, because I had the idea for it not long before I was set to publish the chapter of ATL to which it is a companion. As a result, I had to tinker with it a bit after I posted it, and I’m still not super-duper happy with the whole thing. Nevertheless, I do actually quite like the extract you sent me.

I find Vanitas’s point of view quite difficult to write. He’s an angry, sharp, purposely contradictory man, and it’s so hard to get a read on what’s going on with him in canon. Who knows what he’s thinking, or what he means, or how he feels about anything or anyone? It’s hard to get him to engage with emotions!

One thing that’s clear to me, though, is that he does care. He cares a lot. Especially where Noé is concerned. And that’s where I tried to put the focus in the sequence of memory snippets this extract is from. Originally, I wrote them all in chronological order, but that seemed rather flat, because they covered so many different moments in a rather disconnected way. So I wondered where the focus should be, then. If not chronologically, how should I order them? What’s important to Vanitas as he’s reliving these moments? What’s his subconscious trying to tell him? What’s he been suppressing, all this time? And the answer became kind of obvious: he’s dwelling on Noé, and all the ways just about everything in his life has started to revolve around, of all people, an Archiviste.

He’s resisting it with all he has, and yet, in the back of his mind, he’s thinking about Noé constantly. And in this fic, he’s so tired, so lost, so close to giving up on everything, that those thoughts manage to break through his defences. Given that context, what’s the story these memories are trying to tell him? I put the memories that have little or nothing to do with Noé at the beginning – to lull Vanitas into a false sense of security, perhaps – and then I moved onto the memories that have Noé in them, but they aren’t strictly about him. From there, the fragments grow more and more emotionally charged, until they end with a partial scene from months ago. That’s where we were going all along, it turned out: look, Vanitas, you’ve cared for him for so long, why do you keep pretending you don’t? Turns out Vanitas can’t handle that question yet, so he finally manages to put his barricades back up. Still, a seed of wondering has been planted.

Now let’s take a look at some bits in detail.

His eyes open to a place he doesn’t know, a man he doesn’t recognise. […]A vampire. He fears vampires. He must fight. Damn it, where are his knives? He must flee, then, but his limbs won’t cooperate.

This, I think, is fairly straightforward (if you’ve read ATL, that is). He’s waking up after yet another fit, and he’s extremely disoriented. This is the only time in the ATL-verse that we get Vanitas’s perspective on what it’s like when that happens, and that’s why I thought it’d be interesting to include here. It’s a moment of complete terror, and Vanitas pretty much always falls back on aggression when he’s afraid. It’s also the first memory in the sequence that has Noé as the main focus, but it’s more detached than the ones that come after. Noé is the bad guy here, an enemy, a stranger. I thought that would be an interesting perspective to include.

‘When you say, “I’ll live”, that usually means, “I came very fucking close to not living”, so don’t give me any of your drivel about how you’re fine, really.’

Next, we get Vanitas scolding Noé for acting like his injuries don’t matter. He knows who Noé is, but he’s angry with him. It’s coming from a place of caring about Noé’s well-being, of course, but Noé is still a little bit the bad guy, at least from Vanitas’s perspective. Also, it’s kind of a thesis statement for ATL as a whole: these idiots just do not care enough about their own well-being, because they’re too busy protecting each other.

‘Instead, Noé nearly died. I don’t recall you doing anything to prevent that.’

More scolding, this time in defence of Noé. Vanitas being protective of Noé warms my heart, so it had to be included.

The air smells sweet. There’s a wildflower by the roadside. It’s the same colour as Noé’s eyes. How painfully sentimental of him to notice that.

Vanitas has a soft side? Say it ain’t so! Seriously, though, the flower by the road is the image that stuck with me the most from this fic. Noé is something of a wildflower himself: artless, hardy, happy to grow wherever he can get the basic necessities, always ready to cheer up a weary traveller with his simple beauty, yet easily trampled by a careless foot. There is also the contrast between the innocent, cheerful flower and the horrors they both went through that day. I thought would be quite interesting to highlight that, because he did in fact take the time to notice that the world isn’t completely awful, and usually that’s Noé’s job.

Noé asleep in their hotel room in Paris, his sheets kicked into disarray, drool leaking onto his pillow. An idiot even when he’s unconscious. The Vanitas of the past looks on fondly, thinking that if he isn’t careful, he might just —

I mean. Yeah. Vanitas, my honey, my sweetie pie, my darling, you have been in love with this man for months and months, and living in denial is not going to work forever. And I could not resist shoving it in his face, because I am very mean. Also, there’s just something about Vanitas’s fond exasperation that gives me the warm fuzzies.

—

As I was writing this commentary, I noticed an irony I hadn’t even intended: normally, it’s Noé, as an Archiviste, who’s closely associated with memories. In this fic, though, it’s Vanitas who’s dragged down into memories (his own, but still), looking on and powerless to change anything. I’m not quite sure what that means, thematically, but I think there’s something there to consider.

———

Thank you very much for the ask, anon! I hope this was a satisfying deep-dive!

[helphensteeple]

it’s really frustrating to see people continue to act like from games have no story. like if that style of storytelling isn’t to your taste & you don’t care, there’s nothing wrong with that, but claiming it doesn’t count as a “real” narrative is laughable and honestly a self report

i know this isn’t a new thing by any means—in my case, my first entry into the series was bloodborne and i was hearing people say the exact same kind of things about it back then. “plot what plot?” or “it’s just a bunch of cryptic nonsense randomly thrown together lmao classic from!” which i accepted at face value……. only to find once i started playing that it did in fact have quite a clear story with incredibly well-defined themes PLUS tons of lore to give flavor to the world and additional context to the story??? where i was having the enjoyment of experiencing a great story PLUS the fun of actively putting that story together piece by piece as i went through it???? imagine my shock.

and yes from’s storytelling is one of the main draws for me, it’s such a wonderful change of pace that fits the medium of interactive media so well!! there’s nothing inherently wrong with the more cinematic style of presentation, obviously. like…. my other main game interest for the past few years is a story that’s famous for having walls of cutscenes so long it pops up a box to warn you beforehand. but good god it’s really so refreshing to be given this intricate web of a story that unfolds & deepens the more you look at it, something that encourages you to engage with it at your own pace and come to your own conclusions. and it DOES take a ton of skill to write that way! i’m tired of people pretending it doesn’t!!!

the aspect of open-endedness is what makes these stories something we can come back to for years and years in the community as new things are uncovered and speculation evolves. every time i go looking into some rabbit hole with elden ring story/lore to see how others read it i’m astonished by how much thought went into constructing it. i love that feeling of someone’s analysis giving context to something i got a vibe for but wasn’t able to put into words! or seeing how someone’s unique perspective results in a completely different reading i never would have thought of! it is a feature not a bug!!!

[the-void-writes]

Love me.

Have fun! ✨

Thank you so much Circa!!! I hope it's okay that I went with something simple for Maddie and her partners. I'm still working on their dynamics lol

Bluebrook - A New Home

“Did you make it?”

Jon was whispering into the keyhole of the door, hoping that Maddie could hear him from the other side. The others stood behind him, blocking the moonlight as they shivered and paced around. They were cold and tired, Jon knew, but at least they were still together.

“This isn’t necessary,” Anthony said, crossing his arms to keep himself warm. “Bluebrook’s got plenty of rooms, we can just live there.”

Charlie scoffed. “No offense, baby, but I’d rather not live in the place that held us captive.”

“Vesely’s gone, isn’t he? Things are different.”

“How can you be sure? Why do you, of all people, want to trust them so badly? They locked you in a damn box.”

“I don’t trust them, but I know how to deal with scientists and doctors.” Anthony’s teeth chattered as he hissed. “We’re not exactly equipped to fight mutated wildlife or whatever the hell’s out here. We need a place where we can actually be safe.”

Charlie smiled and pulled him into his shoulder. “Aww, Tony, I didn’t know you were scared. It’s okay, we’ll protect you from all the big, nasty creatures.”

Anthony pried himself away. “I’m not scared of them. I’m scared for you and your absolute lack of defensive skills.”

“I’m sorry, which of us has been to the gym in the last week?”

“Taking photos of yourself on the yoga mat isn’t exercise.”

While the two of them bickered, Jon tried to look into the keyhole through his glasses, which proved difficult when his breath kept fogging up the lenses. Sam’s big, gentle arms surrounded him, trying to keep him warm.

“Maddie’s gonna make it,” Sam said. “She’s probably just pretending she’s a spy.”

Jon smiled. “Do you remember back in middle school, when she’d sneak into the vending machines—”

“And throw down snacks for us.” Sam laughed. “Tony always left money in it afterwards.”

“Yeah… I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I miss school.”

Sam frowned and kissed his cheek. “Things will get better, Jonny. We’ll find a nice home, live a peaceful life, and maybe the world will start healing along the way. There’s always a chance for— Will you two knock it off?!”

Charlie and Anthony stopped their bickering, which had been growing louder. Sam rarely snapped at anyone, but when she did, people knew better than to test her. Their sweet, stout, partially-blind friend was more than capable of cooking someone through pure UV light.

Finally, the house came to life with lights and buzzing, and soon the front doors swung open. Maddie stood in the doorway, shaking and covered in cobwebs. Sam and Charlie rushed to them and tried to clean it off.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked.

“Please, just make sure they’re not on me.”

Charlie smiled. “You’re good, sweetie. These look old. Any bugs that made these are probably dead.”

Maddie made a small squeak. “Great, dead bugs. I’m gonna go see if the shower works.”

They rushed down the dark hall, leaving the others to gather inside. The house seemed bigger than it appeared outside. A dirty, rusted chandelier hung over the entryway, right in front of a small indoor balcony on the second floor. This small group of former Preston residents had never seen such a grand house in person before.

“You guys can look around,” Sam said, “I’ll go help Maddie.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” Charlie said with a grin.

Sam’s face was as red as her hair. “Don’t be gross, Charles.”

She hurried away, and Charlie wandered further down the hall. Jon’s hands shook as he tried to lock the front door, so Anthony did it for him. With the winter wind blocked out, Anthony could better hear his partners’ footsteps, and Jon’s soft breathing as he stood beside him.

“Thank you,” Jon said.

Anthony nodded. “A place like this probably has a fireplace. We can warm you up.”

“Will you sit with me?”

He cleared his throat. “If that’s what you’d like.”

“What about you? Would you like it?”

His soft smile made Anthony’s heart beat even faster. He had promised himself to be more open for Jon, ever since he discovered that his poor friend thought he had hated him. 

“I would,” he said.

“Hey lovebirds!” Charlie shouted. “Check out this kitchen, we can finally cook!”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “Please don’t let him cook anything.”

“I’ll distract him,” Jon said. “Then you can cook instead.”

“Deal.”

Jon led Anthony into the kitchen. Dinner that night may have been year-old canned spaghetti, but it felt like a grand meal. The five young lovers sat together by the fireplace, listening to music from an old record player, chatting and joking around like they had before the earth died. Jon got to sit with Anthony by the fire, staring at the dancing flames that flickered against the stones. 

He gently laid his head on Anthony’s shoulder, waiting to see if he would pull away, smiling to himself when he didn’t. The music and laughter of their partners was a perfect ambience. Jon sat a little closer.

“Tony, is it too early to say that I love you?”

“We say it all the time, don’t we?”

“Yeah, but this is— I really do love you. I hope you know that.”

Anthony looked down at him. “I know, Jon. I can see it in your mind… and I love you, too.”

Jon smiled and kissed the tip of his chin. Two dark arms came down around the duo, and Charlie peeked out between them. The firelight danced in his deep green eyes, like the very souls he controlled.

“Are you playing favorites, Tony?”

“No, Charlie, don’t worry. I’ll love you no matter how much you irritate me.”

Charlie grinned. “I wouldn’t expect any less from you.”

He started to leave, but Tony took his hand. It still felt weird to be so forward, but it also felt freeing, in a way.

“Thank you for finding us a new home.”

He leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Get your ass over here before you make me cry.”

Jon helped Anthony off the ground and to the long couch, where Sam and Maddie immediately pulled them both down between them. Surrounded by their warm embrace, hearing their soft breathing, Anthony didn’t need to read their minds to know how much they adored him. He was just as certain, now, that they knew how much he loved them back.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Doubt: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

Your entire team heads back to the police station to try and convince the lawyer if it's possible to hold Nathan any longer than seventy-two hours, but you know that won't go over well. The local police stay at the crime scene to clean it up, so you're not worried about that right now.

"Tubbs' lawyer has been here for the last hour demanding we release him. What's happened out there?" Hotch asks when your team gets back to the station.

"We have a copycat."

"Do you want to tell me why the hell my client hasn't been released?" Paul asks angrily from across the room.

"Cut me some slack here, Paul," Jim sighs.

"You've got another murder and a note from the real killer."

"We're discussing that."

"I'm not saying he's not a creep. I'm just saying he didn't do this."

"Just take a seat, please. Okay? Come on. Give us a second."

"Is everybody still in the conference room?" Gideon wonders.

"Yeah."

"How long can you hold that lawyer off?"

"Are you kidding? I was a prosecutor. I can hold him off for days," Hotch smirks, leaving your side to talk to Paul.

You head to the conference room where everyone else is. This whole case got everyone arguing because half of the team thinks Nathan is the killer and you've got a copycat, but the other half thinks Nathan is innocent since there is nothing to tie him to the crimes.

"So you think we're making a mistake, huh?" Gideon asks Derek.

"I know we're tired. There's a lot of pressure. We all want to believe that profile is right."

"It is right, Derek," you argue.

"What if we're wrong? Tubbs enticed that girl to get in his car. There's nothing to suggest that the unsub has ever done that before."

"There's also nothing to suggest he hasn't."

"I know how bad cops want to believe they got the right guy. I've been on both sides of that."

"Derek, how can you not see what's going on here? This last kill had a completely different signature and you know it."

"I know I also know that Richard Jewell fit the profile of the Olympic Bomber to a 'T' and he was innocent, but the accusations tore apart his life."

"Yeah? Well, how about the fact that I have been able to see nothing but red energy until this last crime scene, huh? This one was blue! A woman killed this last one."

"Even if you're right, Y/N, a jury isn't going to put him away because you see the world through energies and auras."

You thought Derek believed in what you can do, but it looks like he's only supported you because you've proven to be right in the past. He doesn't believe in what you can do, and it makes you wonder how many others feel that way about you. Do they really believe, or are they just pretending around you?

"I can't believe we're actually thinking about letting Tubbs go," JJ scoffs, trying to move the conversation away from this fight.

"JJ, we got no evidence. Tubbs' lawyer is not gonna let him talk, so we're not about to get a confession out of him."

"Yeah, but we can still hold him for another forty-eight more hours."

"You can't hold a suspect indefinitely with no evidence."

"Not indefinitely, forty-eight hours. It's enough time to clear the campus."

"If you let Nathan go, he will kill again! He's a liar and a killer. I can't believe after all this time, you don't trust me to make the right decision!" you argue.

"We have no evidence! Last time I checked, it's what we need to charge someone, and Tubbs doesn't have that!"

"Can we please forget about Tubbs for a minute?" Gideon breaks this fight up. "Let's just say we have a copycat. What are we talking about?"

"The most common examples are ones that people don't always think of of being copycats--kids who commit school shootings, and also teen suicides. They tend to come in clusters," Spencer answers.

"With both models, we're talking about an age range that's consistent with the campus," Emily agrees.

"School shootings fit the classic copycat model. They want their own piece of glory."

"Okay, but that doesn't fit with whoever wrote this note," Derek says, taking the note in his hands. "'He's innocent.' It's about freeing Tubbs, not trying to steal any credit."

"So, there might be a partner?"

"Yeah, sure. That's possible, but I think it's highly unlikely. I mean, come on, look at Tubbs. He's a loner. He's antisocial. He's not the partner type."

"Could be more like a groupie," Spencer says. "After Kenneth Bianchi was arrested, he actually convinced a woman he hardly knew to attempt a murder so the police would think the Hillside Strangler was still at large."

"But Nathan subdues his victims first. He's not powerful. Not to mention the stabbing most likely means he's impotent."

"A groupie doesn't have to know that. All they have to believe is that Tubbs answers some need inside them. Whoever wrote this definitely needs something from Nathan."

With nothing against Nathan, Paul has no choice but to let him go. He's not going to let his client sit in agony for another forty-eight hours, so he is released. He is being smart and keeping his head down without a word, but that doesn't stop others from talking.

"I can't believe he is walking out of here. He is going to kill again," you say to Derek.

"It's the right thing to do."

"You and I both know it's not. You're only lying to yourself if you think it is. The next time JJ has to tell someone their friend or daughter's been murdered, well, I'll remember that you thought it was the right thing to do by letting him go."

What you said might have been harsh and mean, but you're too caught up in everyone's emotions to see it. Derek looks offended that you would say that to him, but you walk away from him before he could say something back.

"That was mean," Spencer whispers to you.

"He needed to hear it."

"You still think he's guilty, don't you?" Jim asks.

"Are your security cameras up and running?"

"Yeah."

"Good, we're going to need them," Gideon says instead of answering his question.

If Nathan is truly the killer, then having those security cameras is enough to make sure eyes are on him the whole time. He might not make a move from almost being caught, but he may do it since he doesn't know about the cameras. In the meantime, you're in the girl's dorm since Katie called you to talk to you about something. Spencer is with you to make sure she doesn't spit on you, but you know she only did that because she is angry that her friend died.

"I didn't know who else to call," Katie sighs.

"What is it?"

"Every girl I know is either bleaching her hair or buying a wig, and she goes and dyes her hair dark?"

"Who is?"

"Anna. Everyone is freaked out by all this, but she makes sure that she dresses for the part, or whatever. I didn't know who else to tell this to."

"I agree that it is weird, but it shouldn't be too alarming." Katie bites her lower lip in thought, and you know there is something else. "Is there anything else?"

"I think I saw stories about the murders taped to her wall, and there was, like, blood or something all over them."

"What?"

"What can you tell us about Anna's usual mental state?" Spencer asks.

"I don't know. No one really knows her very well. She doesn't play well with others. I know she cuts herself. She covers it up, but people know."

"Has she ever been violent towards others?"

"I don't think so."

"Does she ever talk about suicide?" Katie looks unsure, but you need her to tell you this if you want to help Anna. "We want to help Anna and the other girls, but we can't if you won't talk to us."

"She talks about it all the time. Everyone makes fun of her, like she thinks she's some goth chick Sylvia Plath."

Spencer steps off to the side and dials Gideon so he can let him know that you have a potential suspect in the latest murder. If you can at least see her room, you'll be able to tell if she was the one who committed Alisha's murder.

"Hey, Gideon, it's Reid. Are Morgan and Prentiss still following Tubbs? ... I think I know who we're looking for."

"It's good that you called us about this."

"It's not just the others who make fun of her. It's me, too," she sighs.

"You can't blame yourself for this. If Anna was planning this for a long time, then there was nothing stopping her from doing so."

"I'm sorry for spitting in your face earlier."

"I forgive you," you smile gently.

Emily and Derek were given orders to follow Anna instead of Nathan because you have a feeling that Anna is going to run into Nathan if she did kill for him. Gideon and Hotch are at the police station watching the monitors to keep an eye on them while it's Derek and Emily's job to keep their ears on them.

Nathan had packed up his things because it seems like he is either fired or he quit due to the whole campus talking about him. If he wanted to kill again, then he couldn't do it here since no one trusts him anymore. He is keeping his head down when Anna cornered him into a tough spot in the courtyard where there are no other people.

Derek and Emily can't move in without either one of them seeing them, so it's up to Gideon and Hotch to keep their eyes on them. The both of them need to get as close as they can until he makes am move on her or either of them admits to murder.

Anna presents a knife to Nathan, but because Hotch and Gideon can't get good audio, they don't know what she is saying. That is, until she offers the knife to him. She wants to be a victim because she can't seem to kill herself. Before Emily and Derek could move in, she stabs him and stabs herself, killing them both.

It's a tragic story that ends with a victim you didn't expect, but Anna was far too gone for you to help her. She was planning this for quite some time now, and only now did she have the courage to actually make the move. It's sad, but you can't focus on that right now.

All you can focus on is what you can control: yours and Spencer's relationship. You finally feel at a place where you're happy being yourself without the burden of your past weighing on your shoulders.

If you're so content, then why do you feel like something bad is coming for you?

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[neverwritewhatyouknow]

Hi! I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I'm trying to give you an opinion from another side of the story. I'm Jewish, and I 100 percent agree about there being Jewish erasure in media. I agree with you on that. But that doesn't mean that you can just say that an actor has to be Jewish to play a Jewish character. In my opinion, it's kind of like the only queer actors can play queer roles. Rachel is an actor; sure, she isn't Jewish but it's her job to pretend to be something different than what she is in a film. I don't think it's Jewish erasure if there's an actual character in the movie that's Jewish.

P.S when you say Rachel's a great actor, but she's shit because she's not Jewish sounds a wee weird.

P.S.S I'm double apologizing. I hope you have a lovely day!

Hey! Welcome to the blog! (Don’t know if you wanted this posted or not because your name is on it, if not, let me know and I’ll take it down). Also this will be very rambly because I’m so tired and I can’t focus, so bear with me.

Just to clarify I’ve definitely never said Rachel is shit! I don’t know if I’ve ever used the word shit exactly, but if I did it was 100% at the situation and never supposed to be at her. I really, honest to god, think she is an amazingly talented actress. But the Jew erasure in the movie is what’s shitty.

The issue is, when they made sure to cast every other character with 100% accuracy, it’s very clear that they purposely didn’t cast someone Jewish, you know? Maybe I’m hallucinating, but I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that they even explicitly looked for a Mexican/Mexican-American actor for Alex because they knew people would freak out if he was anything else. They were incredibly mindful to all other minorities, which is great, but they forgot one.

If they hadn’t done that, and didn’t look for people to fit all the different minorities and instead just went for a type of blind-casting (roughly meaning: not looking at the person or the role and just casting based on talent), this would be a totally different conversation. Like it would still be bad, but you could say “Oh, they weren’t trying to be authentic.” It’s the fact that for RWRB, they did exclude one single ethnicity from the movie while they made sure to uphold all the others. They didn’t take any away, you know? Besides the only Jewish character. That’s erasure. Purposely done. As for the character herself, it is highly unlikely she’ll be Jewish in the movie. Since Nora (the character) wasn’t stereotypically “media” Jewish, like praying all the time or talking in Yiddish or from New York (you know, all that stuff that screams JEW), it seems easy enough for the film to ignore that literal ethnicity. Obviously we’ll have to wait for the movie to come out to see just how true that is, but due to the actress not being Jewish the character won’t be as well. She may perform Jewish religious rituals (weird for Nora’s character) or do stereotypically Jewish things (idk… eat a bagel? Talk about money? All that stuff people think Jews are). But none of that makes her Jewish. Does that make sense? Told you, rambling.

And I mostly disagree that it’s the same as queer actors playing queer roles, for the sole reason that one is an ethnicity and one is a sexuality. One is more inherently private, like someone’s sexuality is something that is so personal. Not that an ethnicity isn’t personal, but it’s not the same as a sexuality. Like… ugh how do I explain this without it all sounding super convoluted. Ethnicities aren’t something people tend to hide (unless faced with very horrific circumstances, you know what I mean), while sexualities are something many people keep private until they so chose. You physically cannot play an ethnicity due to it being a literal biological thing, like someone literally cannot play Jewish. They can just play stereotypes and the religion aspects, but they can’t play Jewish when they’re not. The same way that I couldn’t play a Pacific Islander when I’m not. I guess maybe in a way it is like queer actors playing queer roles, since sometimes it could ver more stereotypical when they want to “show the gay,” but I have wayyyyy more thoughts about that and it’s all more confusing and long that I have time for right now and none of it will come out the way I’d want it to right now lol.

I have an older post that might have gotten buried or deleted, but it talked about how Jewish viewers don’t even realize that the Jew-erasure is something bad, because it’s something we’re so used to seeing. We’ve come to expect it (subconsciously or not) so it’s not even a thought when it happens. We’ve been told that it’s okay due to centuries of it happening. And obviously not 100% of any one group of people will agree on anything, that would be impossible and a miracle. Especially a group of Jews agreeing on things (*Jew humor*). But I was to ask you a question, I really don’t mean this to sound confrontational but it will because there’s no way for it not to: Would you be saying that it doesn’t matter ethnicity-wise if Alex was being played by a totally non-Mexican or Hispanic or Latinx actor? Would you still say that counts as representation since the character is Mexican-American even if the actor isn’t? (Again! Don’t mean that to sound as confrontational as it does. Really just a question!)

I totally understand where you’re coming from, the same way I’m sure you do. We can both agree that there’s a lack of Jews in media and Jew-erasure. But I hope I’m able to show you more of why, at least for RWRB, this is 100% Jew-erasure and how actors can’t play an ethnicity that they aren’t a part of. I know (believe me I know) that actors are hired to play someone they’re not, but not when it comes to ethnicities. When it comes to ethnicities, Jews are the only one still not being played accurately, (people aren’t tanning up to play Latino or having their eyes tapped backwards to play Asian anymore— Yes… these used to be real practices for actors back in the day), and it’s because people think it’s okay. It’s not. Not for any ethnicity or race. Especially when Jewish actors are constantly rejected for being too Jewish, and Jewish-Americans account for soooooo many hate crimes every year.

Did I cover everything? Message me or comment if I missed something or you want something clarified. I’ve been up for nearly 20 hours now and I think I’m melt into the couch. But I’m serious, message me so we can talk if you have any questions. Okay I’ll stop rambling now!