#He! Will! Be! Worse!!! On!!!! Literally!!!!!! Every single issue!!!!!!!!!! Including and Especially the ones you care about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[musical-chick-13]

I really don't want to make this a political blog, but there is. A big difference between "Neither of the major parties are on board with my values"/"I have criticisms of everyone in the political sphere"/"the political system is inherently flawed, I wish we had better candidates to pick from" (or even, "Wow, there is so much on both sides that really sucks! No one here is a particularly great person!")<-all of which are fair and things I actually do agree with, and "Both sides are, in every single way, on every single issue, literally completely the exact same."

[wolven91]

Humans Are Goliaths

Betty blinked at the rapid talking of the chintian below her.

They obviously had a point they were trying to get across, but despite her grasp of their language being decent thanks to the universal translator, she struggled to keep up. The foot tall chintian weren't just telling her what the issue was, they were going all around the houses getting to the damn point.

The universal translator used by all the races of the The Galactic Community, was an incredible technical marvel, especially to humanity. Betty couldn’t help but be as impressed as most other humans who adopted the technology. Not only did it render an alien species language understandable, it adjusted words to fit the concept the speaker was attempting to articulate. This did have the oddity that every now and then, an alien far removed from Betty’s hometown and slang of her area, would sometimes use a word that only someone from her home town would use in place to get an idea across. 

It truly was a marvel of what essentially amounted to an earpiece. There were subdermal implants for instant text translation as well if someone wanted it, but Betty hated the idea of an implant that was attached to the optic nerve. 

Blinking back to reality, the diminutive chintian hadn’t finished. They were literally worse than when her mother used to go on one of her long rambling stories that included an entire cast of folk that she supposedly knew according to her but realistically Betty hadn't a clue who or what she was one about.

It was about five minutes after the alien had got the human’s attention in the first moment that her patience finally ran out. Enough was enough, she swiped the blade of her hand in a diagonal stroke between her and the alien whilst raising her voice.

"Enough! What is the problem?" She asked, putting emphasis on each word.

"The material is too high up and the crane is broke, just like I said?" Piped up the pipsqueak.

Betty rolled his eyes and stomped past, in a worse mood than when they began, this was hardly real work. She was being wasted here.

"What is wrong o' grand and impressive Human?" The pipsqueak asked, trying to keep up at a trot to match Betty’s pace.

"I'm just bored. I want something to happen."

"W-what?! You wish danger to be upon us? You truly are mad! Oh! I mean? I meant no disrespect! I'm so sorry, that's not what I thought, there's no need to get violent, I just-" Betty stopped listening. They always acted as if she'd flip her lid at the drop of a hat. One action would be interpreted as something far grander or violent that she intended.

Christ, when she'd sneezed last week on her way down a hallway, the following hour they'd turned up with food and presents to 'appease her’. Humans weren’t like that! The bigger races assumed humanity was incapable whilst the small ones assumed they were inches away from going feral.

She got to the storage cupboard and found the vial of some kind of green liquid that the chintian pointed at. She grasped it with ease and offered it to the diminutive creature. They grasped it, bowed deeply and began to walk off. Betty watched for a moment before calmly following. 

Pipsqueak was struggling to open it, but wasn't asking for Betty's help.

Rolling her eyes, when the chintian pause, she reached past Pipsqueak's shoulder, ignoring the actual jump to the side and grabbed the jar. With a single twisting grab she popped the lid off and offered both back to the alien.

"I loosened it..." He defensively said.

Betty quirked an eyebrow.

"What did you just say?"

She smiled inwardly as the alien's colour drained from the inside of his ears.

She had to admit though, being feared had its perks...

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for snapping at my brother for taking his iPad to the bathroom? (I don’t think this is unsanitary despite the subject matter but idk)

Sorry for the long post !

Context: There are three bathrooms in our house. One downstairs, one upstairs and one ensuit in our parents room that neither of us use. He is mid to early teens and autistic, I am late teens and (as much as I know) neurotypical. I don’t know if this impacts anything, but i also don’t know much about autism. I don’t *think* it does but mum keeps letting him get away with this because of his diagnosis so it feels important to include.

Everytime he uses the upstairs toilet he brings his iPad with him and his headphones. He sits in there and watches YouTube and it takes him half an hour every time.

I only use the upstairs toilet because the downstairs one grosses me out to the extreme for reasons I don’t want to get into, (I honestly think it’s becoming phobic, I won’t walk past it if the door is open or even breathe if I’m near it,) but this issue is isolated to me and everyone else is fine with it. He is fine with using both. He also knows I only use the upstairs toilet.

He says he gets bored so he has to have his iPad when he goes. Yes, every single time, he gets bored and needs his iPad with him. I find this ridiculous, and ironic. Now instead of taking maybe five minutes he takes half an hour. I ask him again and again and again not to take his iPad in because it’s insensitive to if I might want to use the bathroom, but he doesn’t change.

We have had this same conversation over and over again, like, over twelve or eighteen months, and he keeps promising that he’ll change and then he doesn’t. It makes me upset how content he is to continue even knowing very well how it upsets me.

We had a really big fight about it awhile ago and mum suggested he try not to use the iPad when he thought I wasn’t likely to need to go to the bathroom, because that’s apparently as much as he can bear to do. He said he’ll try to use the downstairs toilet instead and because my dad uses that toilet he’s been getting in trouble with him for the exact same reason.

Sometimes when I knock on the door I’ll ask “do you have your iPad” and he’ll say no but when he comes out he does. He doesn’t have any qualms about lying to me and about breaking the same promise he makes over and over. It’s like he doesn’t care what I think at all and like he doesn’t view my problems as valuable. It’s literally the only thing I ask of him.

AITA: Today, he lied to me again. I knocked on the door and told him to hurry up and he said ok and I asked if he had his iPad in with him and he went strangely quiet and then said I’m coming out. when he came out he didn’t have his iPad so I thanked him because I finally felt he was listening to me, but he was lingering weirdly by the door. I HATE warm toilet seat so I gave it awhile and he went downstairs. He happened to come up while I was about to go in and he looked at me strange and I said “what? Why are you staring at me?” And he said no reason but I pressed it and he said “can I check the bin?”

In the bathroom we have a small bin that just got emptied today. He told me he had taken his iPad in there and had hidden it in the bin. I was peeved he had lied to me again and also that he had no problem with taking my thanks. If I hadn’t caught him trying to get it back he never would have told me.

So I said no and when I was finished I kind of snapped and told him I thought he was becoming a “nasty, selfish person.” It’s the only thing I ask of him and Im so tired of it. I felt especially upset the extent he would lie to me so easily. It seems like nothing gets through to him, and it’s like, I can’t help feeling he is a nasty selfish person!! I probably would have said more and said worse if dad hadn’t caught on to what we were talking about. Upon reflection I feel like I shouldn’t have said those things to him and I was being too harsh.

My brother apologized but I’m so sick of it and even after all this he said he would use the downstairs bathroom. It feels like he’s not making any effort to actually change the behaviour and he’s avoiding confronting it. I’m so tired of all of this.

AITA? I really don’t know what to do, but I feel like I’m being too mean about it.

Tldr: my brother always takes his iPad to the bathroom even though I ask him not to and he takes way too long on the toilet (up to half an hour) each time. This has been going on for months upon months and he’s showing no change even though he keeps apologizing and promising he will. Today, he lied and said he hadn’t and I thanked him because I felt he was finally listening but he had hidden his iPad in the bin. I snapped and said he was a “nasty selfish person” but I think I was being too mean.

What are these acronyms?

[ragingbookdragon]

You Have A Mind To Keep Me Quiet, And Although You Can Try

Simon "Ghost" Riley x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 1.3K Warnings: Explicit Language, Mentions of Violence and Blood, Mature Themes

Author's Note: Lots of people are telling me they love Spades. So what does that mean? More Spades, obviously. -Thorne

**********************************************************************

The plan in Syria goes off without a single hitch—surprisingly—and Ghost can feel Spades’ smirk from the other side of the helo as they watch the power plant literally implode on itself and paints the night sky in a hail of red and orange. The success only solidifies her position on the 141, especially when Price and Laswell sit down and exchange the various secrets Spades has also included—brownie points, she’d simply said.

Ghost is annoyed. Beyond annoyed because now he can’t kill her and be completely justified in it, and Spades knows it too. And anyone around would just think Ghost had it completely out for her, but anyone else who knew Spades as well as Ghost would realize that she was absolutely doing half of this just because she knows it pisses him off.

And Ghost wanted to rip his hair out when the base started to transform into some lavish mansion. It started with little things, new gear, new weapons, new toys for everyone to play with. But then some of the recruits started talking about new instructors being involved in training, and Ghost hadn’t been on his rotation for overseeing training yet this week, but he knew he was going to be greeted with either non-military trainers or ex-military. He didn’t know which was worse.

The final straw was when Ghost had walked into the mess with Soap and they both stopped dead in their tracks at the various chef stations set up around, and the line of recruits happily awaiting gourmet food. Soap had no issues as he was already headed for the omelet bar, but Ghost was prickling with anger as he saw Spades surrounded by a table of recruits fawning over her.

And they were fawning.

But only because she was wrapped up in a silk robe and batting her expensive eyelashes at them, no doubt gathering information with subtle questions and quips. Those idiot recruits had no idea she was playing them like fiddles and soaking up every ounce of information they gave her with every smile.

Ghost is stomping over to her before he can even stop himself, yanking the recruit in front of her across the table up by his collar, planting his hands in the empty spot as he leans forward and glares at her.

Spades blinks and smiles at him. “Good morning, Lieutenant Riley.”

“This stops now,” he warns.

“What does?” she asks, cocking her head to the side. “All I’ve done is raised morale? Wouldn’t you agree, gentlemen?” half of them are too afraid to speak and so they all nod. “All work and no play makes dull boys, Simon, don’t you know that?”

And that’s what sets his kerosene on fire.

Lieutenant Riley is no longer able to come to the phone right now.

But Ghost is.

He’s snarling at her from behind his mask, grabbing her by the front of her robe as he hauls her up to hang nose to nose with him. “I’m not playing around anymore, Spades.”

Her eyes are hooded in a way he’s never seen before and for a split second, for the first time in his life post joining the 141, Ghost falters; there’s danger dripping like venom in her voice as she calmly states, “You have all of three seconds to put me down before I show you the consequences of your actions. One.”

It’s not a recommendation. It’s an order. One not to be disobeyed. And Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley has never taken orders from someone not in the military, but at that moment, he’s wondering if he probably should.

He decides to ignore the warning bells going off in his head and gripes, “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Two.” Her eyes slit.

“You don’t get to come in here—”

The expression on her face flashes into one he’s never seen before, and he never wants to see again. “Three.”

“You have everyone else fooled, but I kn—”

Ghost cuts off with a pained growl and the recruits around him gasp and recoil as Spades shoves the long-pronged fork from her plate into the side of his ribs where she knows it’s going to prick into his lungs from the proximity. They’re glaring one another down as she grasps the fork and twists it violently. Ghost’s hands shake from the pain ebbing from his side.

“Put. Me. Down. Now.” She warns and he gently lowers her down so she’s on her knees on the table.

Spades yanks the fork out, stares at it as it drips blood down her wrist before meeting his gaze, tongue darting out to trail up her skin to the metal of the fork. It’s a threat in and of itself that she’ll be out for his blood if he ever tries something like this again, but God if it doesn’t make something deep in his stomach twist and Ghost, in mortification, realizes he wants to fuck her senseless.

It's not hate he feels for Spades.

It’s lust.

Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley is standing in the middle of the goddamn mess with everyone’s eyes on him and he’s in absolute abasement as they all come to the exact same fucking conclusion he just has.

He remembers the fight they had in Hungary one time, when he accused her of sleeping with officials to get her way. Oh, don’t worry, Simon, better men than these corrupts have hit their knees for me. Like you will one day. And bigger ones have died.

Oh, God, he’s come full circle with this witch of an assassin and he didn’t even realize it.

“Pleasure as always, Ghost,” she thanks with that smirk, and keeps her eyes on his as she fixes the robe that has opened and bared her body to all. “Would you like me to have something sent to your quarters after you visit medical?”

He says nothing and turns on his heel, somehow managing to save his face as he stalks off towards the doors. Everyone’s still staring as she still kneels on the table and a man in a white outfit appears in her peripheral.

“Une autre fourchette, madame?”

She takes it from him and replies, “Merci, Jacques. Faites-moi une faveur et préparez un ragoût copieux pour notre fantôme résident, voulez-vous? Il en aura besoin pour se rétablir.”

“Tout de suite, madame,” he answers with a bow and disappears into the kitchen.

She turns to the recruit who has been in his seat the entire time. “König, would you be a dear and help me off the table? It’s unladylike to crawl on furniture in front of men.”

The Austrian mentally flounders, and she can tell as he hesitantly rises to feet and with one hand, wraps around her back, the other under her knees. He lifts her with ease and sets her down on the floor, subconsciously smoothing out the robe along her body.

“Danke, mein Schatz,” she smiles and he makes gestures with his hands before he settles on a curt nod and returns to his seat, no doubt flustered under the hood he wears. Soap has now gotten his food by now and has been standing and watching with wide eyes; she smiles at him. “Good morning, Sergeant. Take my seat, why don’t you? I’ve other business to attend to at the time.”

After seeing what she just did to Ghost, Soap is in no position to ever argue with her and nods frantically, sitting down. Everyone watches as she follows the same path Ghost took, but her expression is rather pleased as she hums lowly under her breath. The two soldiers look at one another, share something between them before going back to their food—there’s no way in hell they’re gonna open that can of worms at seven A.M.

It's only when Price opens the doors and stares straight at Soap that his shoulders drop and he groans, “Aw, I didnae even do anythin’!”

“My office. Now, Soap.”

[randomahhbrainrot]

Why I Hate Teddie and How I’d Fix This Idiot (Yes, spoilers)

Yes, I know the image is low quality. In all honesty, he deserves it.

Teddie is honestly one of the worst characters I’ve ever experienced. I genuinely have no clue how people prefer this walking garbage bin to Morgana. I might be a bit biased to Morgana because I genuinely love him, but I can understand what turns people off of him.

Morgana has a nice story and relationship to Joker, but his relationship with Ryuji is painfully unchanging and grating to experience, especially during the break-up arc. Speaking of that arc, Morgana DOES steal away the spotlight from Haru in both the introduction AND the ending where he was the one to get the last word against Okumura before the battle instead of, I dunno, his actual daughter.

BUT NONE OF THAT IS WORSE THAN TEDDIE’S FLAWS.

When first playing P4G (great game btw, loved it all the way through except when I realized that I accidentally locked myself out of the true ending and got so mad I had to take a break from the game), I was fine with Teddie. In fact, he was pretty neat, being so innocently supportive of the protag after the first awakening. I was perfectly fine with having him around as an innocent otherworldly being who gets eased into the ‘real’ world and grows attached to it and wants to be a part of it.

The big fuckin’ issue is that he STOPS being that at Yukiko’s palace. At first, when he got introduced to the ‘hot stud’ thing, it was a fine joke. Innocent character gets introduced to saucy talk and doesn’t know what exactly it means. But then suddenly????

Suddenly, Teddie starts acting exactly like some suave pick-up artist??? Why??? Wasn’t the point that he had no idea what any of it was, so why was he suddenly acting like yet another pervert added to the team? We already had Yosuke and he’s enough pervert for the whole game. I love that guy, wish he was gay, but I only had enough patience for ONE pervert.

And the worst part is, Teddie continues to play the role of “I don’t know anything and I want someone to help guide me through it all so I can be useful”, while still clinging onto the “charismatic” (in HEAVY quotation marks) perv who tries to sweet talk any girl within his range.

INCLUDING THE MOTHERFUCKING 6-7 YEAR OLD NANAKO. AND THE WRITERS STILL HAD THE AUDACITY TO CREATE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO. YOU HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO WATCH THE LITTLE GIRL YOU’VE CREATE A BROTHER-SISTER TYPE RELATIONSHIP OVER THE COURSE OF THE GAME START LIKING THE PERVERT WHO HIT ON HER.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

THIS ISN’T A MAIKO “Let’s get married when I grow up! :D” SITUATION. THE OLDER PERSON IS THE ONE WHO INITIATED IT AND IN THE SAME PERVERTED TONE HE USED ON EVERY OTHER GIRL HE HIT ON.

TLDR: Teddie is presented as an otherworldly being who wants your help to navigate through the new world he’s found himself in, just as you needed his help in the Midnight Channel at first. In reality, he’s another fucking pedophilic pervert who’s somehow worse than the hormone addled Yosuke AND allowed to have a deeper connection to the fucking CHILD he hit on.

If I were to fix him, I’d want Teddie to actually be that innocent and naive person who’s completely clueless to social situations.

First off, his SL is fucking trash. Why is every single rank up dependent mostly on what the investigation team’s doing? You can just call his link “Investigation Team 2” or hell, fucking 1.5, because it’s literally just spaced BETWEEN the ranks of the actual investigation team SL. His SL needed to be quiet one on one moments with the protagonist, updating him on all the new things he’s learned ever since coming to the real world and adapting to it. You could BE the sensei he keeps calling you. He’d come to you on advice on how things really are, admiring you for your leadership and guidance. He’d open up about how out of place he’s felt since becoming a part of the team and how his lack of memories frustrates him.

And you know what that’d make him?

Childlike.

Teddie should’ve been legitimately more childlike. In wonder, in discovery, and in social situations. And THAT would honestly make his relationship with Nanako much more warranted, AND much sweeter too! They’d both essentially the same; with Teddie being the one that Nanako could lead with her own experiences. Nanako would have a friend who thinks just as childishly and innocently as she does, with Teddie having a genuine friendship with her. Not that his relationship with you isn’t, but you’re more his mentor and superior that he respects. Nanako would be the friend at an equal level.

But alas, instead we have Persona’s own Pedobear. What a joke.

[quodekash]

i went to bed instead of watching abaab and i woke up and im ✨sick✨

its not the plague but i have a sore throat and im really congested and i feel like a dump truck ran over me and poured all the bin juices in my brain, but its fine cos im here, im queer, and threezo are near

CONTENT WARNING: if youve seen this episode, youll be aware that there will be discussions of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia. if any of these topics are triggering for you, please take the measures you require to stay safe, and please call emergency services if you require help, and talk to someone you trust. remember: you are not alone, and there will always be people who love and care for you, but you havent yet met some of them. stay safe everyone, i love you

i cannot for the life of me remember how the last episode ended so its lucky that they have little summaries at the starts of episodes cos otherwise id have no clue whats going on

OH YEAH THOOP WAS ARRESTED

hang on, dont they still need to go to work?

i cant remember what day it is and what they were doing before cher got that phone call but still

dang it ive already had a cup of tea today but i think i need another one

THREEZO HELLO (ft jack's luscious hair on the side there)

THREEZO ARE SO SWEET WHY ARE YOUR FACES LIKE THAT JACK AND TUB

okay, yeah, fair

HE IS HAPPY

HIS HAIR IS FLUFFY AND HE IS HAPPY

GREHJKDFGKJRB

aww

AWWWHHHH

awhh thoop is cryinggg

bro is in desperate need of a hug

IM GONNA CRYYYY

i love deep platonic bonds

especially when its found family

fnjgbhfbvhfb

**gasp** despicable!

HELLO THREEZOOOOO

hes so prettyyyy

and hes also so prettyyyyyy

GJKRTBNFDHKJRG I LOVE THEM

am i crying? yes.

im crying a lot

i love threezo so much

the grip these two have on my mental health and sanity--

have i rewatched this scene four times? yeah. do i now kinda just wanna curl into a ball and sob for a day or two? yeah. unfortunately i have to keep watching the episode

okay so its literally like six hours later now, ive tried having two naps, ive had three cups of tea today, as much medicine as i can have, and the sickness has done nothing but get worse which is just so fun but the only reason i wasnt watching abaab is bc i was trying to sleep and that's just not happening so im continuing the episode now

the commentary is gonna be very little tho btw bc im having trouble making coherent thoughts through all the conjestion clogging my brain

the way they smile at each other is so 🥺🥹

im TRYING--

sorry, last week i couldnt stop talking about the freaking pomegranate i was eating, today i cant stop talking about how sick i am, ill try and shut up about it and just watch the episode lol

SCREW THAT GUY

VAFFANCULO

I HATE HIM

I HATE HIM SO MUCH

idk much about the mother

BUT THE STEPFATHER CAN GO SHOVE A PIGNA UP HIS CULO

look, i hate cops and law enforcement

but i even more hate thoop's stepfather

and law enforcement, unfortunately, have a lot of power, but thats fortunate in this situation bc they can force him to shut up which is nice

oh, wouldya look at that. i was right.

im not happy about it. its freaking horrible. and its even worse that it happens every day in every single country and state and city and suburb and yet nothing is being done about it.

um. yeah. thats all i can think of to say.

SHE HAD TO PUT UP WITH IT FOR THREE YEARS???

holy hell thats freaking disgusting

i hate this so much. not that they included this in the show, im really glad they included it because it's freaking disgusting and not talked about enough, especially in mainstream media and stuff. i just freaking hate that rape exists and people have to put up with it every single freaking day of their freaking lives, and NOTHING is happening to fix this freaking disgusting issue

this episode is a lot heavier than i was expecting and idk if anything im saying makes any sense because im too sick for this and the things that happened are making me even more sick

HUZZAH, I WAS RIGHT

AND THIS TIME ITS A GOOD FEELING THAT IM RIGHT

HES NOT HOMOPHOBIC

HUZZAH, HUZZAH, PRAISE OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JACK'S ALMIGHTY FLUFFY BEAUTIFUL HAIR

sobbing, i cant do this, theyre too sweet

AH SHOOT, I JUST REALISED IVE BARELY DRANK ANY WATER TODAY

as per usual, your hair is on fleek today, my friend

he's angry at laem, but his hair is perfection

the perfect way to get someone to shut up: shove food in their mouth as fast as possible (im using this at some point) (also how the hell is his hair so pretty i love his hair too much. i think i always spend more time talking about jack's hair than i do talking about the actual episode)

gun's mother has such a sweet sounding voice but her words sting like poison, jeez

OH HELL YES ITS THIS PART

IVE SEEN SCREENSHOTS

side note: look at three and zo's knees pressed together gjfngjbhfgbh

HEYYY GUYS

ITS SO FUNNY

WHAT ARE THEY DOING WATCHING SIMM

wait so. bad buddy exists as a series inside the msp universe. simm exists as a series inside the abaab universe. what's next??

the frame changed suddenly, kluen was looking down slightly earlier and now he's looking right in nuea's eyes (yes i had to include jack's hair in the screenshot, so what?)

side note: i love all of jack's ear piercings (and his hair) so much

(ive now used all my 30 photos for this post so you just have to deal with that. on the bright side, the final photo was of jack's beautiful face and beautiful earrings and beautiful HAIR)

i love this friend group so much, theyre all just sitting in a circle in their gaming chairs supporting cher as much as possible in their own little ways and its so sweet and so happy and gfbhbrhgb

ignore your bfs phone calls only to show up at his house with food

AWWW, THE WAY HE JUST PULLS HIM INTO A WORRIED HUG AS SOON AS HIS HANDS ARE EMPTY- I LOVE THEMMMM

"promise me no matter what happens, we will fight it together" RGHBKRDFHGKRBDFHB

AWWWW TEHY KISSSSS

"(talking to himself) if your mum knows about this, she will hit you to death, cher" "know about what?" "she gave me only one heart and i gave it all to you" "youre as cheesy as i am" IM DYING WHAT THE HELL THEYRE SO SWEET

BRO CHILL

CALM DOWN

I DONT NEED TO SEE THIS

I MEAN LIKE GOOD FOR THEM

BUT WHY DO WE NEED SUCH A LONG SHOT OF GUN'S BARE ABS

theyre so soft with each other what the hell

"i just want to hear it from your mouth-" AND CHER CUTS HIM OFF WITH THE SOFTEST KISS EVER??? (well, not ever. no one can ever kiss as softly or lovingly as freaking akk, but that's neither here nor there) THAT ONE TINY MOMENT IS GONNA PLAY IN MY HEAD FOR AGES NOW OMG

keep the pants on please guys

oh thank goodness they finished the episode before it got to that, i appreciate that

anyway THAT WAS SO SWEET GBFHGBFHBHG

im desperately hoping that next episode will be mostly fluffy happiness bc i cant take much more of this seriousness, especially not if my sickness persists (which i really hope it doesnt, id love to be functioning this week)

um yeah. that was that. i hope you enjoyed that? sorry for all my ramblings about being sick, i just really hate being sick.

once again, i hope youre all safe and healthy, if you're not, i hope you can find a safe space and people you trust, please contact someone who can help you if you need it. i love you all, have a great week :]

[twow]

i really love naruto (even tho i dont post abt it much lol) and while the writing is bad in some places i generally think a great manga with some really great writing in certain arcs. but god. sometimes i just randomly think of nejis death and get irrationally angry about it. bc usually when i personally disagree with a writing choice i can at least understand narratively why the choice was made but for nejis death its just bad on every single level. like objectively its one of the worst writing choices in the history of writing. rant incoming

nejis arc is one in which he is literally enslaved to the head family and feels despair over the fact that his "destiny" is to die for the head family just like his father did. naruto then teaches neji that nothing is predetermined and that he can choose his own destiny and that head families and branch families don't matter and naruto vows to help neji end the slavery in the hyuga clan. all of this is coupled with the context of nejis father dying in the place of hinata's father to protect hinata, with neji feeling bitter about it towards both hinata and her father. so the most obvious conclusion to this arc is to either 1. show neji rising up and overcoming his status as a branch member and toppling the unfair power system with his clan or 2. hinata's dad sacrificing himself for neji which would parallel and sort of "pay back" neji's dad for dying in his place by protecting his son, just like nejis dad died to protect hinata. it would also show a head family member sacrificing himself for a branch member, therefore following through on the theme of the arc that "destiny" doesn't matter and that head families and branch families don't matter, and that neji has made progress in dismantling the unfair power system considering a head family member was willing to die for him rather than vice vera. instead, neji dies in hinatas place. the person he is enslaved to. the very destiny that neji loathed so much when we first met him happens to him, effectively disproving the entire thesis of his arc - that he can defy his destiny as a branch member and does not have to die for a member of the head family and for hinata specifally. to make matters worse, the slavery of the hyuga clan is never brought up again. naruto never follows up on his promise to end the unfair claim system, and the hyuga clan never gets challenged on its ideas like we were promised. hinata's dad even becomes a "haha funny grandpa" character, completely ignoring the fact the he owned and tortured members of the branch family, including neji himself as a child. a lot of people argue that nejis arc was fulfilled actually since he "chose" to die for hinata out of fondness for her rather than obligation as a branch family member (and contrasting with the chunin exams fight where he tried to kill her) but that really does not sit right with me. its still him going down a predestined past - just one he accepts instead of resents. any version of events where neji dies for a head family member is unsatisfying because of this - it just proves the ji we get during the chunin exams right that his destiny is to die for the head family and disproves the thesis of that arc that defying and changing destiny is possible. i also personally take issue with a plotline in which someone being oppressed dies for the oppressor, no matter how much hinata and neji care for each other. that power dynamic is always there and it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth especially since that power dynamic never gets resolved to out knowledge. but again even taking away my personal feelings, it just narratively makes no sense and retroactively makes one of the best arcs in part 1 feel meaningless. okay im running out of steam but god that writing choice pisses me off endlessly. so so so bad no matter how you look at it. anyway i said this like 3 years ago and i still stand by it:

[originalleftist]

I would dispute a number of things in this post, including the suggestion that what Biden will or won't do for Palestinians is in any way comparable to Trump, and it's uncritical attitude toward pro-Palestinian protesters collectively, as many have proven quite willing to support or at least turn a blind eye to the most evil and fascist people, organizations, and actions as long as they're against Jews Israel or anyone associated with them.

But it's too rare to see this grasp of political strategy on the modern Left. Like, for example, the realization that while Joe Biden may not give you everything you ask for, Donald Trump will literally deploy troops against you and send secret police to arrest you (this isn't speculation, he did this to Black Lives Matter in 2020). Or that it's harder for people to be activists when they're struggling to survive because Republicans tanked the economy and gutted what little social safety net America has.

This is something that I wish every single person understood: Whatever side you are on, whatever your views, unless you are an elderly conservative millionaire or billionaire, a Donald Trump Presidency will make your life worse (or end it). Even his base will suffer and die- especially them, actually: look at the Covid statistics among the Republicans he told not to mask or vaccinate. Even the rich fucks won't be immune- another Trump presidency can and will crash the economy, and no amount of money will completely shield you from worst-case scenarios like nuclear war or accelerated climate change. I specified elderly rich conservatives as the only ones who might not be fucked over by him completely, because if you're old enough, and selfish enough not to care what comes after you, you might die before the real impacts of another Trump presidency really hit you. But everyone else will be fucked.

Doesn't matter who you are. Doesn't matter what your most important issues are. Trump will make your life worse, and he will destroy whatever you care about. There is literally not one issue I can think of where his involvement will make things better, for ANYONE involved, outside of a small clique of wealthy old fascists.

Whatever you care about, whatever you believe, he WILL make your life worse. So please, just keep literally maybe the worst person America has ever produced from getting back in the White House, and sort the rest out after.

To get serious for a moment, you do have to vote.

Biden is not going to save the Palestinians. Trump is not going to save the Palestinians.

You still have to vote.

Surrendering your vote because it feels bad, because it isn't the purest moral action, will literally help nobody. It is a coward's route.

Millions of Americans are organizing and protesting to help save the Palestinian people- those aren't conservatives, they are largely marginalized communities and young people. Conservatives want Palestinian activists and allies dead. Those allies are the people who will have their lives and livelihoods destroyed if Trump takes office.

Ignoring all other harm that puts millions of people in- to focus solely on aide for Palestine-

If American allies have their lives destroyed, they won't have the means to help Palestine any more.

I'm seeing some aggressively anti-voting posts lately. Some of them come from places of genuine hurt and horror. Some of them are the propaganda machine, loud and proud. There is a genocide in Palestine. Anyone would feel reactionary. Anyone would want to avoid voting for someone who makes them feel guilty.

For the love of whatever gods you believe in, do not make this decision based on feelings. Your feelings will not help the Palestinians. Your feelings will not stop a genocide.

Fight smart at every opportunity. Use every avenue of influence against your government, at every level.

You are not fighting a one sided war. There are pro-genocide supporters, and they are using every resource they have to wipe out the Palestinians.

[la-lauren]

Dani might have a UTI. We rearranged our schedule for tomorrow (today) to accommodate an urgent care trip. Fun.

Also, I have come so close to yelling at people so many times. There is SO much foot traffic, and people don’t give a FUCK about other people, including and especially Dani in her wheelchair. One woman was like, “Excuse me, you’re pushing me,” and I point blank was like, “And I’ll continue to do so, so that 400lbs of a power wheelchair doesn’t roll over your feet.”

The issue is that people are all trying to get by, and you are surrounded on all sides. As a standing person, I can shove and maneuver through crowds gently. But there is nothing gentle about a 400lb power chair on wheels. She can’t gently move anyone or flex her body in and out of crowds. She just has to hope they move out of her way or run over them. Obviously, she opts to wait, but people are so selfish and/or oblivious that they literally never let her pass. I became a fucking linebacker or something, spreading my body out to make more space for her to come through.

It was just SO stressful.

And to top off my day, some asshole at TB was like, “Let me help you decide which drink to get,” and he pointed to a sugar free drink. I laughed it off, but it actually broke me.

I literally freak out about my body every day, which has gotten worse since being with Dani. She’s great. She genuinely loves me and my body. But I still worry. A lot. That one day she’ll wake up and hate my fat body. We talk about this every single day because it comes up every single day.

Anyway, dude’s comment made me want to jump off a building because all the thoughts of never being able to get my eating under control flooded my brain. I hate my body’s size but eating less feels impossible. It’s shameful and a lifelong struggle, and I just don’t know what to do. So jumping off tall buildings seems like a great solution sometimes. Especially when other humans are assholes.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. so wait ... demeter could have been a QUEEN (thus allowing persephone to have near equal rank to hades so there isn't a huge power imbalance), but HADES stole that chance from her??? hades is a confirmed misogynist. i hate him lmao. does rachel think that makes him look good? persephone look at what he took from your mother and yourself???

2. it's comical how badly rachel is writing this. persephone has negative agency now because she's just that scared of letting persephone ever have a single Bad™️ action, but in the process all it shows us that Persephone is not a character, she's a puppet being tugged along, quite literally now, by rachel and the other characters. at this point we're going to find out [redacted] is also behind minthe's demise, apollo's actions, even hades' infertility, because that's how bad this is written.

3. So are we gonna just gloss over how RS plagiarized Sleeping Beauty or…?

4. women should be allowed to be emotional or cry, but idk there's something about rachel thinking "empowering" an actual goddess involves making her a weepy mess who needs hera and hades to "fix" everything for her while she really does nothing just seems wrong? especially when her "strong" moments are just of some vague "feeling" taking over her so she's not actually in control. rachel is basically just neutering a literal godess of agency and power/intimidation and thinking that's better?

5. its not even the fact LO is Problematic™️ it's the fact LO just isn't very good?? Like if it was written well and had consistently good art we know it once was capable of then that'd be one thing, but the writing has gotten worse esp when RS puts everything in a moralistic lens so HxP always looks Good™️ (+retconning everything to make it UnProblematic™️) & it's badly drawn?? It's a good idea on paper but RS just doesn't have to writing skill to execute it decently and too lazy to fix the art.

6. To me I think issues like the height difference and age gap aren't inherently bad in LO, it's only in combination with P's characterization that it becomes an issue. If they were closer in age (say P being 200 or smth) and she was more confident/intelligent it would be a non-issue, but making her so childish and helpless (+even in universe the age/maturity gap is seen as creepy) is where the height/age gap becomes far bigger issues that RS self-imposed on herself. IDK what she expected?

7. it's ridiculous there's so many webtoons (including popular romance ones) that have all started AND ended before LO is even half way done, if even that. you guys cant tell me rachel planned anything out ahead of time and isn't putting in filler/dragging it all out when so much less has happened LO while other comics have well done and wrapped up stories in less time. Yeah her next work will not be as successful as LO, but you'd rather have a short, good story versus a dragged out, bad one.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

8. Fast past mention of the mid season finale:

I don't say this with any malice but literally what the heck is that punishment??? It's not even that bad why did P&H react so dramatically. They're immortal, so they can't see each other for a few years, big whoop. Like is that really the best RS could come up with? like talk about anticlimactic and underwhelming. 

9. FP Talk: This is basically Persephone getting a smack on the wrist and being let go easily. Just like every yt person in court to their crimes. I’m sick and tired of it as a POC. Another women getting blamed for what is PERSEPHONES FAULT???! Nah. Nah. Dos not pass the code check. 

10. FP// So if Eris is behind the AOW, why hype Persephone up as the feared Dread Queen? Persephone now has so little power Eris can just control her like a doll, so couldn't some other deity or even Eris herself just overtake Persephone's body and run rampant in the Underworld and use her Fertility powers for their own wants? Because that's what RS has set up here with this stupid reasoning. How can she dare claim this is a story about giving Persephone agency when she's now entirely devoid of it?

[softestavengers]

Outnumbered (avengers cast x reader)

Hi!! First of all, I love your writing it’s AMAZING. I was hoping to request a fix where the reader finally gets to go to a reunion with the avengers cast (like evans, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Lizzie, Scarlett,etc.) this would probably take place for whenever covid is no longer an issue. And with everyone together in one place a big tickle fight ensues with the reader being the main target 😊 not sure if you right for the actors or just the characters but just thought I’d send in this idea. Thank you so much!

I’m SO sorry this took literally forever!! I’m sorry if it doesn’t include every single cast member, I’m still learning how to write with multiple lers/lees! I hope you enjoy!

~

“So, what you’re saying is, you actually missed us?”

You could hear the teasing grin in RDJ’s voice from behind you as you stood at the kitchen counter, pouring yourself a small glass of red wine. You rolled your eyes playfully, spinning on your heel to face him. 

You were overjoyed to finally have this reunion with your best friends. With over a year of quarantine and a vaccine finally being distributed, the COVID-19 pandemic was finally finding its way to an end. And with it, isolation began coming to an end as well.

“I guess.” you hummed, taking a sip of your wine. You thought about your next remark before swallowing. “But I don’t miss Evans scaring me all the time, that’s for sure.”

From the living room, you heard Evans bark out a laugh. “You never get used to it!” he yelled back, folding one leg over the other as he lounged back on the couch.

You shook your head and strutted into the living room, eyeing the fully occupied sofa where Tom and Anthony sat next to Chris Evans. “Move over and let a gal rest her legs, will you boys?” you asked, pouting slightly.

“Only if you say you missed us.” Tom gave a cheeky smile, taking a large gulp of his wine.

“Holland, you’re supposed to sip it, you unholy swine!” you proclaimed, setting your glass down on the coffee table so you could cross your arms. Everyone began to snicker at your sass.

“Who gave him alcohol?” Anthony piped up. “Someone get this kid a juice box.”

“I’m 24!” Tom protested, glaring over at Mackie. “You’re an ass.”

“Whats a girl gotta do to find a seat around here?” you groaned, turning to the other couch where Scarlett and Elizabeth were perched. They both immediately scooted in opposite directions, leaving a space in the middle for you.

“See? The ladies always have my back.” you glared at the boys, sulking as you sat between the two girls. “Where’s Sebby?” you asked, suddenly noticing Sebastian’s absence.

“Probably on his phone on the toilet.” Tom giggled, pantomiming typing on a phone and pretending to be engrossed in it. Evans slapped his shoulder.

“If you guys aren’t busy talking shit, maybe I’ll join the party.” you heard Sebastian Stan himself proclaim as he appeared at the hallway entrance. “And y/n, you know I hate being called Sebby.”

“But I haven’t seen you in ages, Sebby!” you retorted, unable to hide your grin. “This quarantine had my memory a little rusty. Perhaps yours is even worse, considering you’re canonically 106 when you’re Bucky.”

“Watch it.” he warned, pointing at you. “I’ll still get you.” he took on a threatening tone.

You raised an eyebrow challengingly. “I’m not scared of you.” you sassed, folding your arms across your chest. You could practically feel the playful tension that began to fill the room. On your right, Scarlett barked out a laugh.

“Oh y/n, you must never learn.” she shook her head, wrapping an arm around your shoulders casually. She leaned close to your ear and whispered “Everybody in this room knows something that could end you.”

At her words, you felt your stomach drop and heat rise to your cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” you mumbled, though you knew you were already defeated. Especially when you glanced up to see Sebastian stepping towards you with a menacing grin. 

You felt Lizzie wrap her arms around you from the other side. “You don’t, do you?” she feigned shock, resting her head against your shoulder. “I think she needs a reminder, don’t you guys?”

You could feel everybody’s eyes on you, your heart pounding in your chest, and the burning in your face. You knew exactly what was coming, and yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to protest. It had been such a long time since..

“You know what happens when you cross us, y/n.” Sebastian snapped you out of your thoughts, and you immediately began to squirm when he lifted his arms and began to wiggle his fingers threateningly. Elizabeth’s grip on you instantly tightened, and you found yourself stuck.

“W-Wait!” you gasped, letting out a squeal when Scarlett’s fingers began to ghost over the side of your neck. You shrugged up your shoulder, but she only responded by switching to the other side.

“Oh, now you want to protest?” RDJ suddenly spoke up from the other side of the room, his face remaining stone cold as he spectated. “It’s no secret that you practically beg for this every single time.”

“Exactly!” Seb exclaimed, his fingers gripping your sides and squeezing ruthlessly. “It must have been so hard for you, having to wait for this for so long!”

You shook your head, giggles bubbling through your gritted teeth. “Y-You’re all crahahazy!” you cried, still squirming in Elizabeth’s grip.

“Crazy?” Evans suddenly gasped from behind the couch, nearly making you jump out of your skin. He must have snuck back there whilst you were occupied with your other three assailants. “How rude of you!”

You shrieked when you felt his fingers dig into your shoulders, your hands immediately flying up to shove at them as you shrunk back against the couch, squeezing your eyes shut. “Stohop! I hate all of yohohou!”

“Poor baby y/n,” Elizabeth’s voice crooned in your ear. “I can’t imagine the torture it must have been, needing tickles for so long but having no way to get them.”

You swore you could feel your entire body heat up at her words, and you screamed when she suddenly began blowing into your ear, and Sebastian’s menacing fingers switched to your knees. You kicked your legs about in a fit of laughter.

“STOHOP! NOHOHO!” you choked out, now thrashing desperately. Four people tickling you at once was almost too much for you to handle. Almost.

“But you loooove it!” Evans exclaimed from behind you, his hands moving down to shake his fingers into your ribcage.

“TOHOM! HELP MEHEHE!” you reached out to someone, anyone. “ANTHONY!”

Both men glanced at each other, the same grin crossing their faces.

“No thanks.” Anthony folded his arms behind his head. “I’m having a good time with Holland over here.”

“Sorry y/n.” Tom shook his head. “I don’t want to fall victim to those creeps.”

“Keep that kind of talk up and you will.” Sebastian glared back at him, making Holland raise his hands in surrender and roll his eyes.

“GUHUYS!” you screamed. “I CAHANT BREATHE!”

Slowly, the tickles began to stop. You felt Elizabeth’s grip on you loosen, and you immediately jumped off of the couch, collapsing onto the floor and taking in huge gulps of air. You buried your red face into the carpet, unable to look at anyone.

“Now look what you guys did! You broke them!” RDJ exclaimed, gesturing to you. 

“I... I-I hate you guys.” you huffed, slowly sitting up. You dusted yourself off, regaining your composure. “Now, who’s first on my revenge list?” you glared at Scarlett, Elizabeth, Chris, and Sebastian. 

“Not it!” Chris exclaimed, raising his hands. You narrowed your eyes at him.

“Thanks for volunteering.” you grinned, advancing towards him.

“WAIT! I’M INNOCENT!” Chris exclaimed as he took off across the house, with you hot on his heels.

You had definitely missed this. Though, you could never admit it.

[otakusheep15]

SFW Alphabet - Satan

I had a really hard time trying to get Satan’s character right, so I hope I did a good job with this one

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

He’s not super affectionate, physical, verbal, or otherwise. Really, that’s just a side-effect of him being born from pure wrath. He simply just can’t express emotions very well. You’ll most likely have to initiate any affection if you want it. However, he does also like when you lay your head on his lap and he reads to you since it doesn’t require much. 

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

He’s the mom friend for sure. He helps you with anything you may need from studying to pranks. Of course, he does also make sure you both make it out of any trouble unscathed. I also lowkey see him as the type to carry around random snacks to feed strays he comes across, and he’ll give some to you so that you can also feed the strays. 

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Like I said, affection isn’t his strong suit, so cuddling isn’t really his thing. The closest he’ll get to cuddling is either you two sitting next to each other on the bed/couch or with him sitting up and you laying on his lap. He may also pat your head like you’re a cat. There might also be reading involved if he’s awake enough to read out loud to you. 

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He does like the idea of settling down, but he’s unsure if he really can. Yes, he can do basic household chores like cooking and cleaning, but he feels as though he couldn’t handle the more emotional side of settling down. Doing something like that means you truly love the person you’re with and he’s afraid that he might not have the emotional capacity to feel that strongly about someone. Then you came along and destroyed all of that nonsense. Now he wants nothing more than to drag you away and live out a romance just like in his favorite books. 

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

There would most likely be a lot of yelling. Also lots of things being thrown around in rage. When he’s mad, he’s mad, and a breakup is a great way to get him mad. If he’s the one initiating it, he’ll try to keep a level head, but that solely depends on how the other person reacts. If they’re also calm, then it’ll be pretty civil and respectful, and they might even stay friends after. However, if the other person starts getting mad, that only makes him worse and it does not get better for that other person. 

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Before you? He never even considered the idea. After you? That’s practically all he can think about. You know that one friend we all have that constantly gushes over sappy romance stories and constantly wishes how that could live them out with their partner? Yeah, that’s him. He’ll never admit that out loud though. The only one who actually knows about all of his fantasies are Asmo because he once walked in on him comparing you to this one character from a romance novel he liked (kinda like Levi with his anime). 

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He knows how dangerous he can be. Not only is he a demon, and a powerful at that, but he also the literal embodiment of wrath. Even after years of keeping up his gentlemanly facade, all it takes is the slightest inconvenience to set him off. So he’s extra careful around you. Physically, he tries not to get to close to you, especially when he’s pissed off. Verbally, he tries to watch his language around you because he doesn’t want to hurt you by saying anything mean.  

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

His hugs are extremely rare but surprisingly nice. Since he’s scared he might hurt you by accident, and his lack of need for physical affection, he doesn’t hug you very often. However, they are super relaxing when they do happen. He hugs you just tight enough to keep you pressed to his body, but not so tight that it’s uncomfortable. 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Out of all the brothers, he one of the last ones to say it. He’s not all the familiar with the concept of love, especially in romantic context. Obviously, he knows how it feels in theory, but he can hardly figure it out in practice. The worst part is that he knows he loves you, but he has no clue how to go about it. When he does finally say it, he seems perfectly calm and collected, but he’s internally screaming the whole time. You’ll never know.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Surprisingly, he’s not one to get jealous easily. One of the benefits of having a poor grasp on emotions maybe? Whatever the case, he always tends to take a more logical approach to things, relationships included. He knows that you’re loyal to him and so he trusts you. If he has any reason to be jealous, then he’ll talk to you and workout any problems or concerns.  

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

His kisses can go one of two ways. They can 1) be the softest, most romantic kisses you’ve ever felt in your life, or 2) the most heated and passionate kisses you’ve ever felt in your life. Literally no in between. The former will usually happen during softer moments of bliss. Maybe you two were just in his room and relaxing or in the library studying. The latter only ever happens during more ~spicy~ times *wink wink*. 

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He hates kids. That’s it. He hates them. They’re such a hassle, they need constant supervision and care, and they never shut up. He is a firm believer in children being the worst creatures in all the three realms. 

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He always wakes up first no matter what. He’ll go down to the kitchen and make you a cup of tea, but that’s only when you guys don’t have school. If you do have school, he’ll wake you up as gently as possible and help you get ready. 

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

He’ll usually drag you to hs room so that you two can spend the evening reading together. Sometimes you end up sitting next to each other and reading your own books, others you may end up in his lap while he reads to you. You mostly end up falling sleep first, and he’ll follow soon after. 

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

This boy is the definition of closed off. It does not matter how close you are to him or how much he trusts you, he will never tell you anything. Okay, he does tell you some things, but only surface level stuff. If you want the real, honest answers he has, you need to pry them out yourself. 

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Lmao what’s patience? Seriously though, he actually has a decent amount of patience. He trained himself really hard in order o control his anger, so he can actually be pretty chill for the most part. Obviously, he still gets mad all the time, especially with Lucifer, but he does try his best. 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He’s totally the type to write down facts about you in a secret journal somewhere so that he can reference it later. He has a great memory, but he loves just writing down everything you tell him about yourself just in case he forgets anything. He will never tell you or anyone else about the journal, but if anyone finds out, they will never be heard from again. 

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

He isn’t one to have any particular moment in mind, but he absolutely treasures those quiet moments when you two are alone. No brothers to bother you, plenty of books and snacks, and just each others presence. It’s quiet, calm and peaceful. These moments don’t happen very often due to the chaos around you, so when they do happen it’s special. Just being able to spend time with you is his favorite thing in all three worlds. 

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He is arguably one of the most protective brothers, and that’s saying something. The second someone even hints at hurting you, they’re dead. They just cease to exist. He will not let a single thing harm his precious human, and he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure your safety. He’d even go so far as to get himself in trouble if it means getting you out of it. 

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

He’s much more casual than most of his brothers, so he doesn’t see the need in planning over-the-top dates. Obviously, he wants you to be happy no matter what, but he knows he doesn’t need extravagant dates to make that happen. I mean, if you like things like that he’ll certainly try for you, but it’s just not his style. He prefers causal, lowkey dates. Coffee shop dates, going to bookstores together, sitting in his or your room and reading all day, and going out to play with the stray cats are all ideal dates for him. He just knows that, as long as you two are together, everything is already perfect. 

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Obviously, he has some issues he needs to work out. His anger issues are, of course, the main issue, but that also leads into other problems. For example, his daddy issues hatred for Lucifer is something he needs to get sorted out. He also has a hard time expressing his true feelings for fear of letting his anger out as well. Most of his issues are emotional, so he needs a lot of time to work on them. 

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He’s not so much concerned with physical appearance so much as social appearance. he is highly concerned about how he looks to the public. If he needs to look physically appealing in order to keep a good social standing, then he’ll do it. He’s not vain like Asmo or Mammon, but he’d be quick to put more into his appearance if it means he gains something out of it socially. 

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Honestly, he’s felt incomplete since being born, so even with you he doesn’t feel quite complete. You definitely help fill some of that void he has in him, but not even you can fix him completely. If you did leave him, he’d be back at square one, so he needs you to be there in order to make him feel even the slightest bit more whole. 

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

As I stated before, I think he keeps a journal of all of your interests so that he can remember then, but I think it goes deeper than that. I also think he has one for each of his brothers that he keeps on him. Any time one of his brothers mentions something they like, he’ll write it down to keep it for later. That way, if an occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc.) that would require this information would ever arise, he would already have it written down. No one knows about these, and he’ll take this secret to his grave. 

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He refuses to even acknowledge someone without even the slightest bit of academic prowess. If he deems you to be stupid, you’ll never even hear from him again. He also cannot stand people who dislike cats. 

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He has a tendency to move around a lot when he sleeps. No one has any clue as to why, but it’s not really a problem. That is until you two start sleeping together. He either ends up on top of you or kicking you out of the bed. In the morning, he’ll apologize, but it’s not something he can really fix. 

[frnajdi]

How can I stop sinning? I repent but then I go back to the sin again. I am too ashamed to even make tawba after breaking my repentance every single time. Please give me any advice or any lecture to listen to and pray for me 🙏🏼😔

Salamou alaykum, before continuing, please note that these are just my humble pieces of advice and nothing worthy of mention. To really gain insight and seek help, I’d firstly recommend speaking with a scholar if you have access to one. Secondly, whether or not my advice below is helpful, I would suggest reading this essay by Shaykh Mohammad Ali Shomali:

Additionally, Shaykh has a book called Self Development which includes several essays to the same effect as the one above that should give an even more comprehensive look into the issue of purifying and developing oneself. He has many lectures on the topic as well on youtube, but I haven’t watched them myself to give you a specific link. Forgive me.

You’re in my prayers and your struggle is not yours alone… more common than you think. Even if it isn’t a sin, we all have habits that are disliked by Allah swt. We’re flawed and we’re weak and we’re forgetful but Allah swt is Perfect in His Mercy. We have to turn to Him because He is all we have. Truly and literally, all we have. So put all your hopes in Him. He will fill the gaps caused by our imperfections. It is the precise feeling of that shamefulness that I humbly think causes Allah swt to look at us even more closely and with an even more merciful gaze.

Of course, going back to a sin after having repented for it, especially when it becomes a cycle is disliked by Allah swt. There’s no doubt about that, however that does NOT mean He stops guiding you and helping you. But it’s just that now, what will you do in this position? Will you give up and say it’s of no use? Or will you try again? And when you try again inshallah, what will you do differently to ensure success?

A few practical ideas:

Start each day writing down “ I will not commit the sin of….” Say it out loud as well. Perhaps read a quote or hadith that helps you stay out of trouble. An effective one might be this point by Shaykh Bahjat (ra) when he says, “If we do not stop ourselves from committing sins, we will end up denying, belying, and mocking Divine Signs, or we may reach a point where we will become hopeless of God’s mercy.” (really reflect on these words, subhanallah. Shaykh Bahjat is implying that hopeless in God’s mercy is worse than all the things he mentioned, even worse than the sins themselves.)

Hold yourself accountable if you slip and fall. Pay a penance of some kind. It could be a chore, or a difficult workout, or a promise to fast. Whatever it is, it must be something difficult.

[shumaiseyeliner]

“Hi! Uh~can I make a request? I feel real angsty rn so let's do Nagito, Post-game Izuru/Hajime (sorry), Makoto, Fuyuhiko and Kokichi and a Dying reader who dies in their arms confessing :) Also I love your stories so much~”

a/n: y’all know that I’m bad at writing for them (hajime and izuru) but you just enjoy seeing me struggle 😭🤚I’M DOING THEM SEPARATELY BC I FEEL LIKE A DUMBASS WHENEVER I WRITE FOR THEM TOGETHER, also writing nagito for this prompt made my heart hurt, komahina vibes and I cried a lil

warnings: yandere, unhealthy relationships, unhealthy mindsets, unhealthy behavior, angst, death, spoilers for nagito’s freetime events, suicide mention in nagito’s, his part is longer but there’s too much to unpack with nagito 🥲, murder mention

Komaeda Nagito

☘︎︎ he’s literally dying from dementia and another disease, so I feel like while Nagito craves a relationship with his darling, he definitely pushes them away a lot due to having the (fair) idea that he’s going to end up dying before his darling. It’s a really sad truth about Nagito that he doesn’t acknowledge much, but he’s extremely lonely and afraid that he’s going to end up dying alone, but I think he’d eventually just want to spend what time he has left servicing his darling. That’s how he wants to die, truly. So, you can imagine his absolute despair once he realizes that his darling is going to die.

☘︎︎ whether it’s from a disease or not, Nagito knows that his darling is going to die before it’s actually happening. He’s absolutely convinced it’s due to his luck cycle, so the dread he feels is absolutely crushing. Nagito, due to his illnesses, lacks empathy, but as his darling is dying in his arms, he’s sobbing his heart out. He doesn’t know how to process what’s going on, and while this may sound harsh, his darlings confession just makes it ten times worse. Nagito is closed off because of the severe amount of trauma he’s gone through, so coming to terms with their death is quite literally going to be impossible for him.

☘︎︎ hate to say it... but he won’t last long after his darling dies, especially knowing that they loved him. The only thing keeping Nagito from the deep end had been his darling, so I don’t think he’d live very long afterwards. He’s the type that would say that he wouldn’t be able to live without his darling in his life, and it was true, technically, and Nagito proves this through his actions. He becomes reckless, and I don’t think his luck cycle could ever keep up with that in the long run. He’d end up dying, eventually, and while it could be counted as an accident, it most definitely was not.

Kamukura Izuru

☘︎︎ he does not deal with this well, and this is because Izuru knew that his darling was going to die already. It messed worh his brain, and he hated knowing that they’d die eventually. He left his darling alone - see, avoided them - because he specifically did not want to be there when it happened. Izuru is still very new to emotions, so when they’re forced out of him, he can become rather... angry. That being said, he doesn’t accept the fact that his darling is going to die very easily, Izuru tries to help them in his own way, but he’s literally incapable of stopping it from happening.

☘︎︎ needless to say, he’s pretty much seething when his darling dies in his arms. Like... this is something he cannot emotionally comprehend and it bothers him a lot knowing that he was helpless in this situation. Their confession of loving him just makes it worse for Izuru, especially since he doesn’t fully grasp what that would have meant for him if he had caught onto his own feelings earlier on. He reaction is just kind of him being numb, if I’m being completely honest, because he doesn’t understand. Izuru wasn’t built for these types of things, literally, he wasn’t.

Hinata Hajime

☘︎︎ he’s got a lot of issues, especially if you look into the fear of being inferior that he has. After the program, I think Hajime had a lot more confidence than he did before, so he was confident in his ability to protect his darling and he wanted to love them, genuinely. He was trying to work on his issues in order to be a better person for his darling, so this happening is like a slap in Hajime’s face. He’s still afraid of being less special, less strong, so his reaction to his darling dying in his arms is a pure emotional one. Frankly, he’s a mess, but why wouldn’t he be? The love of his life has died, after all.

☘︎︎ overall, though, Hajime is angry. It’s bad for his mental health, but he most definitely blames himself, and remembering his darlings confession makes Hajime’s heart hurt. He’s just so... emotional about the whole thing. A more innocent reaction, but he’s still undeniably angry. He’d have two different reactions, though, depending on his darling cause of death. An illness would cause him to become angry at himself and horribly self-deprecating. However, if they were killed by someone else, things would not be the same for Hajime. He’s seething with rage, and he’s going to kill whoever did this to his darling.

Naegi Makoto

☘︎︎ like Hinata, he has one of the more emotional reactions, but they’re very different. Makoto is very attached to his darling, they genuinely mean the world to him, and his mindset is much like Komaeda’s, just not including the self-depreciation. Makoto, however, knows for a fact that if anything bad ever happened to his darling, he’d die. So, when his darling does end up dying in his arms, Makoto is completely broken up about it. He’s inconsolable afterwards and he pretty much just falls apart at the seams, which is pretty disturbing to witness considering how he usually acts.

☘︎︎ he’s just so... sad. Makoto genuinely adored every single thing about his darling, so their confession along with their death was like an emotional gut punch for him, especially when he gets to thinking about how it would have been like if he had found out about their feelings beforehand. Makoto is just full of regrets, irs very sad to see, actually. I feel like Kirigiri would try to help him out of the emotional ditch that he’s been thrown into, but it’s really no use, especially considering how he thinks about it constantly. His darling is all he ever thinks about in general, but after their death it becomes worse.

Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko

☘︎︎ also apart of the overly emotional reaction group. Fuyuhiko does not deal with this well, and relives seeing his darling die in his arms daily in his head. Fuyuhiko isn’t very open worh his emotions in the first place, so I think much like Komaeda he’d go through a period of time during his infatuation where he simply pushed his darling away, they just do it for different reasons. Rather than doing it for his darlings sake like Komaeda, Fuyuhiko does it because he doesn’t like the fact that he’s fallen for someone, he becomes offended. So, his darlings death hits him hard.

☘︎︎ despite how he might’ve acted around his darling, Fuyuhiko had fallen for them hard, so even the idea of them being inconvenienced made Fuyuhiko angry, so just imagine how them dying in his arms went. He’s crying and screaming at them at the same time and he’s a mess, a lot of emotions are flowing out of him so he most likely accidentally lets out that he loves them as well, but he won’t remember saying it once everything is over, he’ll be too busy mourning. Receiving a confession from his darling like this is going to make Fuyuhiko furious, and I think he’d be kind of angry with his darling afterwards, but that doesn’t last.

Oma Kokichi

☘︎︎ not emotional... outwardly. Kokichi is constantly putting up a mask of not caring, and his darling is not an exception to this whatsoever. It’s just what he does, so when he’s faced with a situation like this he isn’t too sure what he’s supposed to do. Kokichi is kind of freaking out when he realizes that his darling is literally dying because that definitely wasn’t supposed to happen... like, ever. Kokichi is usually pretty lighthearted about most things, but this is something he cannot handle normally like he usually would. His mental state is pretty much falling apart the moment he realizes what’s happening.

☘︎︎ he wouldn’t cry at first, but the confession from his darling feels like he’s being killed. Kokichi truly can’t understand why they love him in the first place, because he’s admittedly pretty terrible to them sometimes, but just the fact that they care for him is breaking Kokichi’s resolve and it’s only after his darlings death that it becomes clear to everyone else around him that he’s definitely not okay after everything that happened. He still teases people, but there’s an obvious shift in his attitude and how he holds himself. Frankly, he’s depressed, and he’s never going to stop being depressed until he dies.

writing nagito’s had me like

this made me SAD

[thepapergirlandthespiegelman]

Might stop reading Worm.

Content warning: bugs/insects/arachnids and related horror, body horror mention, miscellaneous violence mention, sexual violence/assault mention

My thoughts on the first ten arcs of Worm. (contains spoilers)

So, I finally got around to reading Worm. It was kinda big when I was in high school, and I still know some people who are/were into it, so I thought it was time that I gave it a serious shot. I did actually try to read it in high school once, but I couldn’t get into it and stopped reading after the first chapter. I tried to be a little more persistent this time to give it a fair evaluation.

When I started reading Worm this time around, I kind of just breezed past the warning at the beginning (“This story isn’t intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Worm a pass.”) I don’t consider myself someone who really gets triggered by media. I think it’s important to talk about stuff, including fucked-up stuff. It’s uncomfortable, but that discomfort is part of the point. I think it probably should bother you to read about terrible things, even fictional ones, given that those fictional atrocities almost always have real-world counterparts.

I think I vastly underestimated the amount of fucked-up-ness that is in Worm. When I read that warning, I thought, “Okay, this story’s probably dealing with some dark themes, and there might be some particular scenes that are really disturbing.” After reading the first ten arcs, though, I feel it’s more accurate to say that fucked-up-ness is Worm. It is the core of the story, and there is really very little else.

So it’s not that any particular thing that happened in the story triggered an immediate, strong, psychologically-damaging reaction in me, but as I continued reading, I began to notice that not only was I not enjoying myself, I was actually finding it subtly unpleasant. When I read about something bad happening, I get hit with a small dose of negative emotion. As it turns out, that adds up over time, especially when there aren’t any positive scenes to balance out the negative stuff. Without me even noticing for a long time, Worm was making me unhappy.

Here’s what I did like about Worm:

Impressive world-building - Wildbow is exceptional at inventing different locations, groups, and individual actors and thus creating a detailed ecosystem of capes and civilians.

Lots of characters, lots of superpowers - Directly related to the previous point, Worm contains a lot of characters...arguably too many characters. I generally prefer stories that focus on a smaller number of characters in order to give each character more room for development, but I appreciate Wildbow’s talent for coming up with vivid, if simplistic, characterizations. There are also some really interesting superpowers and interesting takes on common powers.

Inventive use of Taylor’s superpower - Taylor is always coming up with new uses for her power: having black widow spiders spin silk for her suit, using her bugs are a sixth sense to keep track of her enemies and environment, using venomous bugs to take hostages, covering her body in bugs as a disguise, coating her bugs’ stingers in capsaicin for extra punch, using human-shaped swarms to fake out her enemies...The list goes on and on, and I really appreciate how Wildbow took this oft-overlooked superpower to the next level.

Danny Hebert - The only character in the story who I can say I genuinely like. Danny Hebert is a union organizer whose pet project is getting the ferry up and running again so that there can be more interaction between the poorer and wealthier parts of Brockton Bay. I also loved the scene where he supports Taylor in the “mediation” with her bullies and their parents at school. Even if he was impotent, unable to protect her, I could tell he was on her side. His one screw-up is when he locks Taylor in the living room and tries to force her to talk to him, but it definitely makes sense with his character (a little bit of a pushover) and the story (Taylor was shutting him out and seemed to be putting herself in danger) that he would end up letting Taylor’s grandma convince him to take a forceful approach. Don’t get me wrong, locking up your kid is a horrible thing to do (I should know, my parents did it to me, and it fucked me up), but I still ended up feeling bad for him when Taylor just up and disappeared. She didn’t even call her dad to let him know that she was still alive after Leviathan! I mean, on the one hand, I do actually appreciate that she started making an effort to protect her father from the dangers of her cape life, something that I was kind of appalled to see that she never even considered before. But damn, did I feel bad for Danny.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

Way too much fucked-up shit happening - Name an atrocity, Worm’s probably got it. The plot is mostly just terrible thing after terrible thing and reveals of how terrible all of the characters are, with many terrible things that aren’t directly treated in the plot peppered in along the way.

Lots of capes, no heroes - This is one of those themes that sounds deep on paper but is really just cynical and fatalistic. Even if all the capes are corrupted by power (or by the toxic power dynamics between capes), what about civilians? Where’s the thoughtful therapist or the brave fire-fighter? Danny Hebert is one notable exception to the “Everyone is terrible” rule, but we don’t see all that much of him. Other than him, the only person I can think of who could possibly fit this “civilian hero” role is Aisha’s social worker, who I don’t think even has a name.

All superpowers are evil - This is arguably just a rephrasing of the previous point, but I think it’s important to mention. Worm contains so many superpowers, but it seems like they’re all being put to evil purposes. Panacea, the superheroine with healing powers (really just dominion over health and illness of the human body in general), makes some really despicable threats (e.g. giving someone cancer with a touch, or giving someone a disorder that will only manifest at an unknown time in the future, leaving them to anguish over their fate). Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing inherently wrong with writing a character using this type of power for evil ends. There’s a lot of interesting stuff to explore there, and I actually love that Panacea is a character that acknowledges the burden of having a healing power, feeling unable to take any time for yourself while simultaneously growing to resent those you feel obligated to help. My issue is not with Panacea but with the fact that literally every superpower in the story is painted in a negative light. It just feels absurd to suggest that, for example, someone like Gallant couldn’t use his power (carefully and thoughtfully and with consent) to heal people with emotional trauma. Superpowers in Worm are only for violence and conflict and crime, and I just don’t understand that. Again, the rogues form a token exception, but we rarely actually see them, and one of the first rogues we meet, Canary, is immediately subject to harsh and unjust punishment and never heard from again.

A misguided focus on only certain types of crime/violence - Worm deals with gang violence, robberies, and general chaos-inducing terrorism. It focuses on crimes perpetuated by working-class individuals and small to medium size illicit groups. There’s some commentary on state-sanctioned violence in terms of the corruption of the Protectorate and Dragon’s worries of having to obey a despot should one take over the government, but it’s not exactly framed in a way that highlights the struggles of the average person; the focus is almost entirely on capes. Worm doesn’t discuss things like wage theft, illegal rent hikes, or, dare I say it, the inherent violence of capitalism, which, while less flashy, are important problems with far-reaching consequences. It’s weird, and honestly kind of unrealistic, that there’s not a single anarcho-communist cape. Whether you agree with that kind of politics or not, it’s still a glaring omission if the setting of the story is trying to emulate real life. Again, Danny Hebert’s role as a union organizer and interest in restoring the ferry and reintegrating the city pay token attention to some of these ideas, but the vast majority of the story is unconcerned with addressing the source of, or solutions to, poverty and crime in Brockton Bay and the wider world of Worm.

So those are my thoughts. There’s a part of me that still thinks, “But so many people like this so much! Maybe it’ll get better!” I have a really strong drive to understand why others like the things that they do, to be able to share in their appreciation. But from what I’ve seen in a couple memes I happened upon, things are getting worse, not better for the world of Worm. And even if things start to resolve at some point, I’m not sure it would be great for my mental health to continue reading up to that point.

The breaking point for me, if you’re curious, was when a main character was just casually revealed to be a serial rapist. That wasn’t even the point of the chapter, it was just kind of thrown out there as an extremely-not-fun fact. So I was still reeling from that reveal while also experiencing all of the atrocities said character was committing in the moment, and after that was when I realized, “Hey, maybe this is not the kind of content I should be reading.” It even took reading a few more chapters into Arc 11 for it to really sink in, but I had this weird revelation of like, I get to choose which fictional worlds I spend my time in, and the world of Worm isn’t one I relish.

If you do enjoy Worm, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on what makes it appealing to you.

[whumpitgood]

HEAR ME OUT: I don't think Bobby is a terrible person who stole Sunset Curve's music to be selfish

I’ve seen Bobby/Trevor getting a lot of hate, but I don’t think he deserves it. The whole reason he is judged negatively is because when the boys found out about him making it big with their songs, they hated him for it. They assumed he did it out of a selfish desire to be rich and famous, so he took advantage of the situation, i.e., their deaths, and made a name for himself. This is the assumption they made, and it is what we, the audience, are expected to believe.

But let’s take a step back. What do we actually know about Bobby (I will refer to him as this from now on)? After the boys died, he basically disappeared and changed his name. Fast forward 25 years, and we see him as a rich musician who lives in a mansion with his daughter. He has a therapist. He does meditation. He also has a helicopter. That’s pretty much it, right?

Let’s break it down even further.

1) The members of Sunset Curve were his best friends. Basically brothers. They were serious about making a name for themselves and making it big. That means they had to have spent lots of time together, practicing music and just being friends. It is implied that Alex, Reggie, and Luke all had questionable home lives, meaning that they probably spent most of their time at Bobby’s and they probably spent a lot of time making music.

Luke ran away from home. It’s very likely that when he did, he went to live in their studio, which was most likely Bobby’s garage (since we know none of the other boys had lived in Julie’s house). Meaning Bobby saw Luke literally every day. They basically lived together. I’m sure Alex and Reggie also spent a lot of time there too to escape their parents. They were probably together all the time, including their school lives.

On the night they were supposed to make their dreams come true, Bobby stayed behind to flirt with Rose. Imagine Bobby chilling with Rose, only to be told by a cop or a random phone call to the Orpheum that your bandmates and best friends were dead? How would someone process that?

I’m sure he grieved. Maybe went to their funerals…it’s unclear since he was said to have disappeared, but the point is that it would have affected him greatly. In one night, he lost not one, but three people he was close to. He goes from seeing them all day every day to them being dead and gone in one evening. I doubt he could even go into the garage after that. There would be too many memories.

I like to think that he and Rose became close after that. She must have comforted him when he found out. It would have been hard for her, too, because she had just spoken to them. I’m sure they stayed in touch and helped each other through it, although it was probably Rose doing most of the consoling. Bobby didn’t have anyone left.

Because of this, it makes sense (assuming Rose is Julie’s mom) why Julie and Carrie were friends at one point in time and why Julie’s family was living in Bobby’s old house.

Keep in mind that for the boys, they simply died, and what felt like five minutes later was actually 25 years. It was nothing to them, but Bobby had to live through the aftermath of their deaths. He had to struggle and come to terms with the new reality that they were gone. For him, it wasn’t just a blink of the eye, it was years of dealing with trauma.

2) Bobby’s wife/girlfriend is never mentioned. Did she die? Did they break up or get divorced? Either way, he is raising his daughter by himself, as a single dad, as far as we know. The point is, if she died, that would further Bobby’s trauma. He was already dealing with probably some regret and survivor’s guilt over his friends’ deaths, so if she died, that would only make it worse. Like he couldn’t get close to anyone without them dying, especially considering that Rose died as well. Even if they just broke up, that still means that she left. It’s like no one will stay with him and he is destined to be alone.

Maybe that is why Carrie is the way she is. Her dad has been through a lot. It’s probably hard for him to function normally and connect with others. She may have been emotionally neglected growing up, meaning that now she will take any type of attention she can get, whether it be positive or negative. This is sort of implied with her song “All Eyes on Me”. She just wants to be noticed. So, yes, she has daddy issues. Bobby’s trauma affect’s his daughter.

3) It is mentioned that he has a therapist. When the boys go to haunt him, he runs off in his helicopter to go see his therapist. The scene is made to be funny and paint Bobby in a silly, almost negative way, but stop and think about it. HE HAS A THERAPIST. It may not be too unlikely that he experiences odd things, maybe hallucinations because of the trauma he’s been through. He also does mediation, probably to keep him calm and also deal with past trauma.

Remember, he lost his best friends suddenly, right before their big break. He must have survivor’s guilt. He was meant to go with them. He would have, if it hadn’t been for Rose. Rose then helps him through the difficult mess his life became in the aftermath, and then what happens? Rose dies. He lost her too, and who knows about Carrie’s mom. He’s got to be hurting. He’s probably got some PTSD, too. Nothing in his life has been easy, like they would have you believe. Sure, he’s famous and rich, but look at what he’s been through. I doubt he’s truly happy. Carrie isn’t, and she didn’t go through what he did.

Okay, that brings us back to him stealing their songs and making it big. Why would he do that if it wasn’t out of a selfish desire to be rich and famous?

Would he really want to be in the spotlight after he’d been through all that? Probably not. I think he was struggling with a lot. Trying to come to terms with everything. So why would he do it?

I had a thought as I mulled this over. If he and Rose were close, she would have stopped him from stealing from his bandmates, right? But she must not have, because he still did it. And she had their demo. She knew their music. She would’ve recognized the music and called him out on it, but she didn’t. Instead, she listened to his music with Julie.

Then I thought, what if she actually encouraged him to do it? Like, as a therapeutic way of relieving the guilt he felt. Like, maybe through making their music famous, he was almost giving them the life they didn’t get to have. They got to live through him. It probably made him feel closer and connected to them. It probably felt like he was doing them a favor.

But why not let the world know whose music it really was, that it was actually Sunset Curve? Why change his name?

Think about it. His career would no longer be a form of escape. He even changed his name so he couldn’t be tied to his past. He was anonymous. If everyone knew who he really was and where the music actually came from, his life would be filled with interviews about the past. Everyone would bring up what happened. He’d have to relieve that pain again and again. Maybe it’s selfish, but he was really trying to save himself that trauma, while still trying to let his bandmates’ memories live on.

And remember he didn’t take “Unsaid Emily”. He knew how much that song meant to Luke. He knew it wasn’t his place to perform that song. It was too personal and he respected that by leaving it alone.

I can only imagine how he felt as he sat in the Orpheum, where he’d been when he’d gotten the news about their deaths, and saw his old friends just as they’d been before, finally getting to experience that dream from all those years ago. Finally getting to rock out on that stage.

Maybe I’m wrong, but it makes sense to me. I hope season two touches on Bobby and his story. I doubt he’s as bad as they want us to think at this point. I hope he gets to communicate with them. He needs closure. They all need to resolve things. And while they’re at it, I hope Luke gets to resolve things with his mom. Here’s hoping for season 2.

EDIT: I'm not saying he's perfect or praising him or anything, I just think there is more to his story than we are aware of. I think he probably started out with good intentions, but he may not have stayed true to that over time, considering he took "My Name is Luke" and his helicopter has his face on it, if I remember correctly. Anyway, just putting that out there.