#I’m gonna reuse it next year for sure

[shortqueershakespeare]

Is most of my lesson planning today an excuse to talk about Hozier? Yes, yes it is, but it IS educational and tbh there is no way the kids will listen anyway nor will we get through more than like 2 slides so the teacher and I might as well enjoy it

[27vampyresinhermind]

BNW ep2 spoilers and technically novel spoilers below. If you’ve read the book, please help me!

So are they keeping with the novel then???? Jin what do you know!?!?!?

So, considering that I have not read the novel that Boy Next World is from and I’ve only really skimmed what others who have read the novel have said about it, take everything I say with a grain of salt and feel free to correct me if/when I’m wrong.

But I was under the impression that, in the novel, Cir makes up the parallel universe thing in order to get close to Phu because he’s had a crush on him since they were in high school.

But then, since the show came out, there’s been all this speculation (largely due to the imagery in the beginning credits and stuff) that Mame had decided to divert from the source material and make it so that in the show, parallel worlds were real and that Cir actually is from another world where he and Phu have been together since high school. And because the way the first episode went, I was ready to believe that tbh. Because if Mame decided to add the element of parallel worlds to her MameCinematicUniverse, it would allow her to continue reusing popular actors and ships (FortPeat and BossNoeul of course but the potential for others if she chose) as different characters within her shows.

And through this second episode, I was still believing in the possibility of a parallel universe!

And then Jin made his little comment to Cir! Now I’m back thinking all the speculation is possibly just that, speculation, and Mame is keeping to her novel after all and the parallel universe thing is something that Cir is making up as he goes along in order to get close to Phu?? Because if he’s essentially just been obsessed with Phu for years, that could account for why he knows so much about him even though they haven’t spoken. Not sure how it explains him knowing about the mole though….either way! Is Jin just super observant and he’s known all along that the senior was obsessed with his best friend or is there something more going on there??? Did almost dying at the beginning make Cir rethink how he’s been going about life and decide he’s gonna go after the guy he’s been crushing on for years in the most convoluted way possible?? I have so many questions! Can someone who’s read the book let me know things??

[byoldervine]

Are you an artist? If you are, can you share some art of your characters from Byoldervine?

I would LOVE to

Gonna show everything in the order it was designed and go nuts rambling about it because I can. Just note that none of these are finished designs and are very much still concepts rather than what I’m sticking with

It all started with Kennedy; she’s always been the one I had the most specific mental image of. She’s only been getting a couple tweaks here and there, so there isn’t a huge lot to say. My requirements for her were medieval fantasy vibes, a sleeveless waistcoat, some level of green and her three brooches on her lapel

I moved on to Sy next for a number of reasons; first, I know exactly how I want Sy’s hair to go, so that was helpful, but mainly I didn’t know which of the main five to pick, so I used Sy as an exercise instead. Sy is the kind of character who would be the only one to change their wardrobe in a cartoon. They do their own fashion design, so I’d have to work on my (lack of) sense of style, but Sy is also non-binary, and I’m very much unused to designing non-binary characters and their outfits, especially ones that fit the theme of fantastical royalty

I’ve been quite set on the trousers for a while, which is why I kept reusing them, but I’m sure that in future I’ll try dress designs with Sy as well. In an older design somewhere on my laptop Sy wore trousers like those and also had their designer signature up one leg in a sort of loopy golden embroidery or something like that? Can’t remember where but I’ve seen that done somewhere else and it looked like just a pretty design and I loved it

Top-wise I’m trying to figure out Sy’s style still, I don’t wanna make it too masc or femme but realistically Sy could go either way depending on whatever outfit they feel like. I think red would suit them well, both to go with their hair and to emphasise their royal status. Pretty settled on red being Sy’s favourite colour

But yeah Sy is just my experimentation character to have fun designing rather than attempting to settle on anything specific

Enigma came next, and for the first design I tried to follow what I wrote like years ago about what I wanted her to look like - and quickly realised she needed an update. Persephone is pretty athletic and energetic, she loves gymnastics and parkour and stuff, so I wanted Enigma in something practical that would allow for flexibility and a range of movement. The poofy trousers ended up being a lot cuter than I expected, I actually love them now, and to add an extra pop of colour I added that red thing going down from her belt (I have no idea what it’s called but I love it. And the torso? Absolutely amazing, adore it. I found a reference on Pinterest that I copied and it came out so much nicer than I expected. I think everything is so much more well-balanced now

The requirements I had for Enigma are her lower face mask, her hooded cloak that splits around the small of her back, the dark greys and other dark colours, her utility belt and a necklace similar to Katara’s from ATLA with the seal of Nexus on it (you can see it in the first one but the other ones have it hidden beneath her mask and hood)

Angelus is an interesting one because he has two hero looks; he has the altered Guardian armour that he wears initially to go to stop the breaches from Paracosm - which I’m not even gonna attempt to draw, that’s a job for Hero Forge - and then the slightly more casual look he has while travelling through Paracosm. I didn’t have a major idea of how I wanted this to look, so I experimented a little. And I’ll admit that at first I was kinda reluctant to draw a mostly white outfit since that would mean I’d have to colour the template

Until now, Angelus didn’t actually have his own style since he was always wearing Guardian armour, so it was fun to experiment with giving him new colours. I loved how the coral and blue worked together, but ultimately the coral clashed with the gold and I had to prioritise his main accent colour. In the end I went back to the white and gold, and leaned into the armour idea again because I feel it just suits him

The thing about Angelus is that he’s a very showy person who tries his hardest to be grand and ethereal and… well, angelic. But at the same time, giving him a cape or cloak to billow dramatically behind him would impede his wings when he lets them out, so I settled with long flowy sleeves and the flowy train coming down from his belt. I think it created a nice compromise between style and practicality

[stupidspidey]

AJR - Living Room

if you told me in 2013 that this was the absolute pinnacle of music and that it would get no better than this, chances are i would’ve told you “that’s nice, leave me alone creep” and went to go kick the shit out of my brother at Mario on the DS. Now if you told me now that these guys ended up being my favourite band, i’d probably give you the same response but i’d go play a Spider-Man game instead. Regardless, Living Room by AJR is just… not good, by any sense of the word realistically, don’t get me wrong it’s got its merits but holy fuck, it’s really hard to listen to. Now, i don’t want to be too unfair about this, believe it or not sitting here for a good 5 minute read yelling about how bad something is is REALLY undesirable in a review, and it’s even more undesirable since my girlfriend refuses to sleep with me because of it. (jk rose ily) So, i’m gonna take their advice from one of their next albums that came after this and well, skip to The Good Part, which unfortunately should only take me like, 20 lines, maximum, before i start either repeating myself or talking about how a line in “The World is a Marble Heart” is was reused as a backing vocal in “I Won’t” like, 10 years later.

The Good

My GOD, do these guys know how to write a decent line or few. Sure there’s a few “Thirsty, Thirsty, Thursdays!” in there but, every one of those is definitely made up for by the honestly-adorable Infinity or the surprisingly-hopeful My Calling, each lyric will either strike you as cheesy in a really cute way, or inspiring in a really dumb way, the album could honestly be mistaken as written about someone with how directed and loving each line feels from the start to the end and briefly sidestepping around at least 49.2% of each song. Big White Bed especially, but as i wrote that down all i could think to describe the song was “I love you… BITCH. I ain’t ever gonna stop loving you… BITCH.” from a vine like 10-or-so years ago. So, really, pretty appropriate for their timing on the albums release realistically. A really specific praise for the album but, i think the art itself is really pretty? something about it feels so real. Like, if you made an album with two of your brothers and basically pro-tools, a mic and a big idea (yeah, that’s a quote from one of the songs, Big Idea.) would you not just make the album art you all sat on the comfy family sofa in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere with your band name splattered on the wall in a nice deep red? I know i would if i could fit all 5 of my brothers onto one tiny-ass couch. Now unfortunately i can only realistically think of these two points for the positive part but, i will say this: Every track on this album, has thought behind it. It sometimes comes across as them just lobbing the entire processing power of a Windows 7 computer running pro-tools at you, but if you listen to the audio-commentary edition of the album (because, for some reason they made that?) it really is easy to tell the three of them had passion for the thing, especially seen in Jack’s (the J in AJR) enthusiasm about finally making it out of slummin’ it in the streets while his two way-fucking-taller brothers tap danced and sang, outside of his appearance in Pink Panther 2 and Sesame Street of course. (seriously, i’m deadass, look it up, he even has an iMDB page.) Now, unfortunately, on that point, i can’t realistically stay on the positives forever on this without ending up on some TikTok calling me a brainrotted liberal or some slur that hasn’t been unsealed since some crusty fucking 4channer woke up from his food comatose over a reddit girl with fat tits so, with that point.

The Bad

Ok right so, you know how i mentioned this was considered some sort of principle of music back then in 2013? Well guess what, motherfucker. I wasn’t even joking, the way people view Bruno Mars now is the way people viewed Living Room in 2013, though it was hard not to when their brain cells rubbed together and they decided the best way to promote their album was to tag every artist under the sun on gods green-motherfucking-earth and tell them to listen to it. Even then, the only one who listened really was Sia, and realistically what the fuck have you actually seen Sia do in the past like 5 years? This is a real question seriously please for the love of GOD tell me i have no idea past *Chandelier*. Anyway, enough of throwing Sia some strays (i’m sorry ma’am i’m sure there’s a grammy somewhere i didn’t bother googling), back onto Twenty-One Pilo— Coldplay— I mean, AJR. The album had passion behind it, don’t get me wrong here, but it is completely misplaced. The only way i can describe this is that, if this was the latest release around the time of E.T. for the Atari 2600? Music probably wouldn’t have survived past that either. Though realistically it was probably one of the better albums of that era since by then every other song was the most bassy-pile of “please dance to this” you’d ever seen, but i’m sure there’s someone still out there hitting the dab to fuckin’ The World is a Marble Heart, surely. The album itself had some pretty… interesting, approaches, but really you can only get around 30 seconds into the first song before that fucker starts yodelling? why the fuck is he yodelling? Regardless, no matter how many times you make a sequel to Turning Out or how many times you make some good shit like The DJ is Crying for Help, to those guys at TikTok? you’ll allwwaayyss be the guys who made Thirsty. You could get a treaty and a vulcan salute from half of space, but all those motherfuckers will still only know you for Thirsty. Personally? i’d be so fucking mad. I mean, you look to your left and Kanye has just dropped Yeezus, and what do you have to compete against that? a new national holiday celebrated exclusively by kids who get bullied at school, Thirsty Thursday, if i were them i wouldn’t have even made it to The Click without some sort of apology statement.

The Ending

Now, if i’m being completely real here. I can’t entirely slander Living Room, it’s got ideas, it’s got (marble) heart, and most importantly… It let Neotheater exist so… some good out of the bad right? Sure, for anyone else, unless you’re subconsciously subscribed to every single opinion on r/Music like some sort of absorption sponge. And just… in future, for anyone reading this, Include yodelling in your song and i will fucking SLICE you, not for poor mixing choices, not even for poor taste, but for reminding me that i sat here for an hour, and reviewed an album. Worst part? one out of five baby, i’m not down until i hear the fat lady sing, i’ve still gotta drop my useless thoughts for The Click, Neotheater, OK ORCHESTRA and *The Maybe Man. So, i’m gonna go out with a BANG! and by that? i mean get gunned down by the mexican cartel for even daring to include a good section in this slice of piss.

4/10 - Not enough yodelling really.

[tinysillylemonman]

Enjoy a bonus chapter of Just Barely There, but written three years late and based off my very foggy memory of the show. :D

—-

It’s amazing what one could do when armed with explosives. Guards? Royalty? Citizens? Nothing a little explosives and armed criminals can’t fix.

Paved streets became littered in rubble and a choking alabaster dust, homes were caved in to reveal what would’ve been quaint dinner tables and gardens. People were left in shock, all the easier for their capture and the handy reuse of prison cells. The queen and king were tied to the same fate, just a few levels below their people, left to count the etches on the walls and smell the iron of dried blood.

In short, after a few quick witted words and total domination of the kingdom he hated, Andrew was doing much better than he had been two days ago. He and the Saporians were on top of the world, so what if they had to carry around a mentally unstable kid too? They’ve gone through worse in pursuit of their ambitions. Andrew just wished that the kid would keep his mouth shut.

“…And when we find him? I’m gonna make him realize just how wrong he was about me! That’s right Flynn Rider, I’m on top of the world right now! Well, uh- we. We’re on top of the world. Eheh… Anyways, I’ve been thinking that I should have facial hair, y’know to match the whole look we’ve got going on…”

Good Sun could this kid fucking talk. Kai was the appointed listener while they picked through the rubble of what might’ve been a marketplace? Eh, the specifics didn’t matter, just finding what the kid needed for their next step did. They’d quickly found that they didn’t need to restrain the kid or anything to keep him close, he latched onto Andrew as quickly as a baby duck, which suited Andrew’s purposes all the better. Shuffling through the rubble took time, which made Andrew nervous. The what ifs of outside support or unfound citizens catching up to them was in all senses illogical, but he couldn’t help it. This was too easy to be this good.

“Hey Andrew! We found something!”

And it kept on getting better.

Andrew ambled over to where Clementine and Juniper stood, eagerly awaiting praise or reprimand. People were just so easy to control, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Just give them a dollop of approval or a look of disappointment and they would fall all over themselves to do whatever he asked. Tell them that it’s for a good cause, that surely if you work a little harder and listen to me more the people will forgive you, or Saporia will rise, and they are as docile as sheep. Bracing himself on fallen lumber and jumping over bricks, he made his way to see what the girls had found. Hm.

“Varian!” He barked, interrupting the kid from his ramble and turning his attention back to the container found. The kid stumbled towards him, eager like a puppy and nervous as a fawn. “What’s up Andrew?” Oh how he loved that fragile sense of causality, “Take a good look at this kid”. Andrew smiled at him, not warmly like a father appraising a job well done, but instead like the cat that got the cream, wolfish and not unlike a predator. But Varian didn’t know the difference at this point. The object found was a woven container made of wheat straw, labeled simply with “luminescent powder”. Andrew didn’t much care for this container, but rather what it meant. This particular site was the remnants of some sort of alchemy shop, and held precious resources for the Saporian cause.

Varians eyes were the size of saucers, oohing and ahhing at the prospect of new materials. At least the kid caught on quick. “Wha- are these- I mean…can I use these?” Varian’s mouth was in a comical gape, gazing down at what would be the first of many new and expensive materials. Andrew had him hook…line…

“Of course Varian! Why do you think we were degrading ourselves to scavenging for Coronan goods? Don’t be shy, take whatever you need, we’ll even help you carry it all!” He could feel the disgruntled looks from his compatriots burning into his back, but that could be soothed later. Varian whipped his head back towards Andrew, who surely looks liked some sort of saint providing for the poor and needy fourteen year old criminal. The boy’s face was split in half with a look that hadn’t graced his visage in a very long time, a beaming, gap-toothed smile.

And sinker.

.

.

.

Hugo hates slayer wolves with a burning passion, he’s decided. Of course Flynn fuckin’ Rider’s ego could get bigger, why hadn’t he known that fact sooner? Silly him! It was Flynn Rider’s hubris that led to Hugo being held upside down by some magically inclined tree branch, displayed like a jester vying for the king’s laughter. The king in this case is the culprit himself.

“Ok, yeah, laugh it up Rider. This is truly the peak of comedy!” Hugo shouts, and no dear reader, the heat in Hugo’s face is not due to embarrassment, he’s far above something like that. He’s just suffering from his body’s content of blood heading straight for his head. Rider is on the ground, in such a grand fit of laughter that he could be mistaken for a man attempting to imitate a ship in tumultuous seas. His girlfriend is standing next to him, smiling warily and waiting for her partner to return to sanity. The peanut gallery is standing to the side and actually trying to help Hugo out of his predicament. They’re not making very much progress on that front unfortunately.

“You’re damn right this is! Sun”, a choked wheeze interrupts Rider’s bout of clamor, “I think we should just leave you there! maybe you’ll get smarter from all that blood going to your head!” Hugo growls and swings himself closer to where Rider is. “We’ll at least I’m not a pathetic pampered lap dog who can’t even find his way around a-“ Hugo is cut off by the last person he thought would stand up to Rider, the princess. Oh this would be good. “You two need to stop fighting, we can’t get anywhere with you two quarreling constantly! Sure, you’ve screwed each other in the past, but none of that matters now! We’re all working together so I’d like you two to act like it!” The man with the earring hoots from his spot by the offending tree’s base in support or agreement, or maybe even both.

And to Hugo’s surprise, Rider listens. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. Rider picks himself up and cuddles up to the princess, apologizing. But Hugo knows that he’s not genuine. The grin on his face when the princess is satisfied and hugging him is evidence.

“As beautiful as that moment was, unfortunately the power of friendship will not get you very far here.” A husky and confident announces from above- and is that a RACCOON???

.

.

.

Now dear readers, we of course know that this woman is set up to be our knight in furry armor, Adira, accompanied by her newfound companion Ruddiger. But our starring cast of misfit found family is none the wiser to this notion. Because we have the knowledge of who this remarkable figure is, I’ll spare you from the details of her introduction and in the spirit of brevity, inform you that our current narrator Hugo is an astute follower of the idea that “an enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

.

.

.

Hugo is quickly becoming very fond of this Adira. Sure she’s a bit odd and confusing, but he’s worked with worse when on prior assignments. The caravan is being pulled slowly along the path of the “Forest of No Return”, Adira is at the head of this odd procession, followed by Hugo, who is trying to learn about this new ally in annoyment as much as possible.

“What’s the rat’s name?”

“If you’re talking about the raccoon, then I’m sorry to say that I do not know”

She slashes stray branches with her (super fucking cool) sword and takes a left turn into an identical looking portion of the forest. Hugo scrunches his nose at this acknowledgment and continues his jog in pursuit of her. “What, the all-knowing Adira doesn’t even know the name of her animal companion? Hm, I guess that you’re not as wise as you let on.” Hugo knows this song and dance like the back of his hand, banter is his second nature and his most used tool. Annoyance is just another result that gives him entertainment and intel. But Adira is stoic, smoothly keeping her pace and not batting an eye. “It is not in my knowledge that rodents are able to communicate their names to people. This fellow came to me well-fed and groomed, I am sure that he has a home and name somewhere, maybe even multiple. I however am not keeping him around long enough to require that sort of connection. I may not know his name but call him Bandit, much like how I call each of you a nickname. I find that terms based off of physicalities are much more useful than learning everyone whom I meet’s name.”

Hugo perks up at the mention of nicknames, “Hey now, you can’t just mention that you have nicknames for all of us and not tell me what they are! What am I- Actually no better question what’s Riders?”, he grins devilishly. Adira chuckles and decides to indulge in his childish curiosity. “You my fellow are Stringbean,” she points at Rapunzel who floats curiously closer and closer towards the duo, not-so subtly eavesdropping, “she is Sundrop”, Adira points at Lance, “he is Earring”, she points at Cassandra, “she is Short Hair” and finally she points at Rider, “he is Fish Skin”.

An indignant yell comes from Rider, who hilariously falls all over himself to contest the (aptly chosen) nickname. Hugo gets a good laugh in, and when it’s later just him, “Bandit”, Rider, and Adira left to find the lost caravan, he decides that the little guy deserves a proper name for the time being.

“How about…Smokey?” The raccoon shakes its head.

“Freddy?” Rider offers, to which the vermin actually hisses at.

“Hector?” Adira muses, again with another head shake.

“Ok! Lighting round! Theodore, Clifford, Gadget, Pluto, Alastor, Dill, Bones, Fin, Pippin, Stew, Chase, Bard, Rufus, Ricky, Wallace, Ruddiger-“, the raccoon perks up and starts chittering excitedly, making admittedly adorable cheering motions. Hugo grins and lifts the newly named Ruddiger off of Adira’s shoulder and cradles it in his arms. “Ruddiger? I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” Rider moves his hand to pet the raccoon’s fur, but is swatted at and promptly denied any further proximity. “Well I’d hope so,” Hugo snarks, “any good fan of the ‘Adventures of Flynn Rider’ knows the con-man shopkeeper Ruddiger Jordan, Flynn Rider’s reluctant father figure and-“ he’s cut off by a man with the very same name. “His grumpy mentor, yes I know. I guess that’s where I heard it from. No need to lecture me kiddo”. Hugo sneers at the interruption and drops the raccoon to stare at Flynn directly. Does this guy wanna go? Because he can GO and he���d actually hit a growth spurt recently so he is feeling good about he chances-.

Adira and Ruddiger exchange eye contact and sigh.

.

.

.

This kid is fucking ridiculous. After having praised him, tucked him into bed, read him a story, and KISSED HIS FOREHEAD, he’s finally asleep. Andrew is so glad that it’ll only be a month or two until he can drop the kid and get into the real crux of his plan. Of course he wasn’t going to just settle for taking Corona, no, a man with as much charisma and as good of looks as him was meant for bigger better things. Next he could take Koto, or Ingvarr, or maybe even see if that wife's tale about the Dark Kingdom is true. Yes, Andrew is going to dump Varian, and he is going to enjoy every moment of the betrayal.

Fuck did he get that luminescent powder on himself?! The kid’s hair is glowing for Sun’s sake! Andrew turns over in bed and covers his head with a pillow. This will be a long night.

[mochiibearrsims]

[Cody]: Mori~ Why are you gonna text us for ice-cream if you are just gonna write in that little journal of yours.

[Morgan]: How else am I going to bride you guys if I told you the real reason I text you two. 

[Morgan]: Anyway, I’m just working on some songs for the art and music festival in a few days.

[Wolfgang]: Oh right…I forgot about that…

[Cody]: *laughs* Sure you did, it’s every year at San Myshuno, Wolf.

[Wolfgang]: Shut up.

[Wolfgang]: Anyway, I’m assuming that you're going to perform this year, Mori.

[Morgan]: Ugh yes, but it’s much harder to think of something non-rock like and I’m getting stressed just thinking about it.

[Cody]: You know, I could help you ease some stress and get you more motivated.

[Morgan]: Oh? How?

[Cody]: I have just the thing but I need to go get it at my place so I’ll swing by yours later. 

[Morgan]: Well that…something? Hey, what do you think of this? *starts humming a tone.*

[Wolfgang]: Hey it sounds lovely. Listen, how about reusing your old songs, just change the melody to make it more classical. 

[Morgan]: That’s not a bad idea, it saves me a lot of time and less stress.

Pervious

Next

[a-concert-just-for-me]

Okay so I’ll just say random things about the build with no rhyme or reason because @wathav refuses to give me a specific topic to yap about /lh

Infodump under the cut

I got an acrylic bird feeder that I’m so so so excited to set up in the tank (I’ve never seen anyone do this before, and I think it will be a super unique centerpiece of the build).

The bird feeder has a removable tray, so it will be easy to clean!

Also!!! Having the bird feeder close to the top will make it SO much easier for me to change out their food! Currently, I have to reach my arm all the way to the bottom to grab their food dish and it’s really annoying lol.

There’s gonna be another smaller acrylic bird feeder next to it too, but I’m not sure exactly what I want to put in it yet.

I have a few of those cheap little q-tip dispensers (#1 in the drawing) that I’m going to put some healing foods/shelf stable foods that can be accessible at all times. I already do this now, but I’m going to do it again because it works well.

I’m going to try doing micro greens at the bottom in little trays (#2 in drawing) for them to nibble on as a snack. They might make a mess with it, we’ll see, but it’s worth a shot lmao.

I saw this little secret hideaway thing online and thought it might be cool to try. Thats in the bottom right corner.

I need to get some dowels and make a new super long ladder; the one I’ve had has been in there for like 2-3 years and is probably due for a replacement.

The big long sticks in the tank are bamboo from our yard! We have tons of it. I have some in my tank now but it is very much in need of replacing. I’m going to replace the rope tied around it too, as it’s getting kind of gross.

I’m (read: my dad) gonna need to cut out a big piece of plexiglass to fill out the rest of the top floor. I already have it on one side, just need to make a floor for the other side (and cut out a hole for the long ladder)

I have two humidity gauges (my dumbass thought I broke one, when really, it just needed new batteries; I ordered a new one and now I have two), so I think I’m going to put one on the top floor and one on the bottom floor.

Speaking of humidity, the bottom floor being cut off so much from the top does worry me a bit in terms of humidity and air flow. I think I’m gonna see if my dad can drill some air holes in the plexiglass to fix this and have the humidity distribute more evenly instead of having two different humidity levels in the tank.

I have a mini tire swing for them that I haven’t had in the tank for a long time (lack of room), and I wanna see if I can get it to fit this time. It’s so cute.

The random circle thing on the bottom floor is a saucer hamster wheel lmao, they love it.

I currently have 3 corner shower caddies, and I’m going to reuse them in the same way I’m already using them: one moss pit, one oak leaf pit, and one shell shop. Hashtag enrichment. They get a couple playgrounds and a Macy’s dressing room to try on new pants. /j

Another thing about the shower caddies, I’m switching out the locations of each of them. The moss pit is now going to go above the water dishes to help keep it moist. The shell shop is thus going to move down to the bottom floor, and the oak leaves are going, well, in the one shower caddy connected to the birdhouse that I forgot to label on the pic.

I’m going to make a major investment in some quality water dishes. The makeshift ones I have right now that I made out of Tupperware and craft mesh suck so bad lol. They get super dirty and brown-water scummy so stupidly easily. I wanna get some 3D printed ones from Etsy, but god, they’re just so expensive. I have Etsy gift cards from Christmas though, so hopefully that should cover a lot of it. But yeah, they’re super duper cool and have a stairway in and out of the water already built in. They also have bubbler attachments, which is awesome. They look so much easier to clean and I’m excited. I just need to go order them now, but I’m waffling on the color!

The little cylinders by the tire swing are just some mini resin tree trunk planters I found that might be cute to put some fake plants in, idk. I’ll figure out something cute to do with them.

Trying to figure out if I want to put some waterproof peel-and stick wallpaper on the plexiglass to pretty it up a bit, or if that would make it look too “busy.”

I’m going to completely redo the sand and coconut fiber because it is bone dry right now. It’s supposed to be sandcastle consistency so that they can molt, so I need to get on fixing that right away. But that’s always fun to mix, lol, I feel like a kid playing in the mud when I do it.

I got some shower caddy hooks to try this time—hopefully since they’re built to last in wet conditions, they’ll hold much better than the regular command hooks I have in there now that keep falling.

Alright, I can’t think of anything else. Feel free to ask more questions!

Tentative Crab Mansion V2 plan, I’m open to comments, critiques, and suggestions lmao

(If you ask me about any of this I will infodump. You have been warned)

[l-r-christian]

heyyy can u do a klaus mikaelson imagine where the reader comes out with the album ‘sour’ instead of olivia rodrigo and its based off of an ex not klaus and klaus throws a party and she sings the songs ‘deja vu’, ‘jealousy, jealousy’ and ‘brutal’ for a sneak peak of the album and it’s basically pure fluff

Ahhhhhh writing for my wolfie boy again ☺. I apologize if this is a little bad as I was trying to find a good way to write this and look up the artist as I haven't heard these songs before.

Pairing: Niklaus Mikaelson x F!Singer!Reader, Past!Damon Salvatore x F!Reader

Warnings: fluff, Damon being Damon

Music was Y/N's pride and joy, having done cover songs putting them up on a YouTube channel and she was every popular gaining a huge audience. She started to make her first album right around when she found out that Damon had been seeing Elena behind her back which hurt her deeply and since then she hadn't talked to her so call best friend. Y/N's fans had been angry at Damon saying how dare he hurt such a cinnamon bun and saying how Elena was a terrible best friend.

"Love, I have something to ask of you."

"What is it Nik?" Y/N asked looking up from lyrics she was working on for her album. Klaus sat next to her.

"I am throwing a party and was hoping you could sing for my guests?" Klaus asked her as she stopped looking at him. Y/N knew that most likely Damon would be there along with the rest of her friend group.

"I'll love to Nik."

Y/N was a bit nervous and had asked Kol to record her for her channel as the songs she picked was sneak peaks of what she was working on. Y/N was announced to go on stage and heard the clapping seeing every that was going to prom had came to the party.

"How is everyone tonight?" Y/N greeted getting cheers as Damon stared at her and Klaus found Y/N just gorgeous as she wore the dress he got her.

"I here to sing for you all. Three sneak peeks at some songs I wrote." Y/N said getting loud cheers making her smile.

"The first is called 'Déjà Vu' so enjoy." Y/N said beginning to play people began to move to the music.

"Car rides to Malibu, strawberry ice cream. One spoon for two and trading jackets. Laughing 'bout how small it looks on you." Y/N sang as she played her guitar.

"Watching reruns of Glee, being annoying singing in harmony. I bet she's bragging to all her friends, saying you're so unique, him. So when you gonna tell her? That we did that too? She thinks it's special. But it's all reused that was our place, I found it first. I made the jokes you tell her when she's with you. Do you get déjà vu? Ah, hmm." Y/N sang and got cheers while Elena looked to Damon wondering if it was true.

"Alright everyone I'm sure alot of can relate to the next one here's 'Brutal'." Y/N said with a grin feeling more comfortable on stage.

"I want it to be,like, messy. I'm so insecure, I think that I'll die before I drink. And I'm so caught up in the news of who likes me and who hates me." Y/N sang as Klaus frown hating the idea that Y/N felt that way.

"And I'm so tired that I might quit my job, start a new life and they'd all be so disappointed. 'Cause who am I, if not exploited? And I'm so sick of 17. If someone tells me one more time "Enjoy your youth." I'm gonna cry."

"And I wish I'd done this before. And I wish people liked me more. All I did was try my best, this the kind of thanks I get? Unrelentlessly upset. They say these are the golden years but I wish I could disappear. Ego crush is so severe.... God, it's brutal out here." Y/N sang as she looked out at the dancing crowd then saw how Klaus watched her. The crowd cheered as the song ended and Y/N was now in her element as Damon frowned wishing he knew this about his ex.

"Here is for those girls who felt like me. This next one is called 'Jealousy Jealousy.'"

"I kinda wanna throw my phone across the room. 'Cause all I see are girls too good to be true. With paper-white teeth and prefect bodies....Wish I didn't care. I know that beauty is not my lack."

"But it feels like that weight is on my back. And I can't let it go. Co-comparison is killin' me slowly. I think, I think too much 'bout kids who don't know me. I'm so sick of myself. I'd rather be, rather be anyone anyone else. But jealousy, jealousy. Started followin' me. Started followin' me." Y/N finished as everyone cheered loudly and clapping as she waved leaving the stage as the band took over.

"Y/N." Damon said as the singer turned seeing her ex the first time in months as she had buried herself in her music.

"Salvatore." Y/N said not caring about the hurt that flashed in his eyes as in her mind Damon had no right to be hurt.

"We should talk."

"Sorry but I'm busy."

"With what?" Damon questioned stepping forward as in a blur Klaus was next to Y/N with an arm around her waist.

"Joining me for a drink." Klaus said leaving Damon no more to talk as he lead the young woman away.

"You didn't have to do that."

"But I did love." Klaus tells her as she found herself in his studio and she stepped away looking at his paintings. Y/N stopped at one of her making her blink as he step next to her.

"You shouldn't feel l like you aren't good enough Y/N. "

"And why would you say that?" Y/N asked smiling looking at him as Klaus looked at her cupping her cheek. Y/N had a suspicion that Klaus had a thing for her since he would bend over backwards for her.

"Because I'm in love with you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met." Klaus tells her making Y/N's heart skip a beat as he leaned closer.

"I am in love with you too. As I can't believe I fell for my best friend." Y/N said softly cupping his face as Klaus crashed his lips against hers. Y/N kissed back pressing closer to Klaus making him growl while in a blur she found her self in Klaus's bed. Y/N giggled leaning back against Klaus's bare chest as she showed him how to play the guitar. Y/N was glad she said yes to singing for Klaus's party as she would have never gotten her happily ever after with someone who really loved her.

[imgoingtohellsofuckit]

But Baby Bird

Cheating!Hawks x Reader 

Warning - Cheating! Toxic ass behavior. 

Summary - You catch Hawks cheating on you - and you decide to take him down a peg

Apparently cheating Hawks is a trend right now? And like I’m down... But in my way. Also listen to the glee version of Bust your windows and it 100% fueled this.

Today was a normal day for you. You got off at work, went to pick up something for dinner, and headed home for the night. Work had been stressful. All the heroes at your agency seemed to need a hundred things. And running the behind the scenes of the agency was already hard enough. So you were longing to be home. In the arms of your fiancé. He’s always great with helping you recover from a bad day. 

As you walk into the penthouse you notice a distinct lack of Hawks. Normally he greats you at the door- a drink and hand and a sweet kiss. However he was no where to be found. You don’t think too much on it. You’ve been at the office extra late the last couple weeks and with his hero work you know it brings natural conflicts in your schedules. However the pros boots at the door reveal he’s here. Still he could be asleep. He is one for laying around in his free time. 

“Hawks baby?” You call “I’ve got us dinner.” 

He doesn’t reply. You roll your eyes setting down the takeout bag on the kitchen counter. Starting to set it up. Knowing he’d be grateful to wake up to the meal. You move to grab some paper towels only to catch site of two wineglasses in the sink.

“The fact he can’t just reuse a dish-” You groan lightly.

“Baby bird-” You hear a distant groan. You move looking down the hall to the bedroom. “Oh Baby Bird.”

“He couldn’t fucking wait for me,” You growl, “what a tool.” You move marching towards the bedroom. Clearly annoyed that your boyfriend started with out you. ”Hawks I’m sure I’m better than your hand-”

The scene in front of you isn’t that of catching your partner jerking it off... No instead it’s Hawks balls deep in on of the interns from his agency.

“No fucking way,” You say harshly. Hawk looks over at you. Eyes wide. Guilt filling his expression.

“Love Bird-” Hawks start pulling away from the girl. The intern moving to grab the blankets from your bed to cover herself. Hawks standing and pulling his boxers from the ground as you stared at the scene. 

The emotions flooding over you weren’t deafening. The anger. The sadness. The helplessness. The shock. All blending into an overwhelming mess. You just walked in on your fiancé fucking his intern. The man everyone warned you about proving their point. 

For a moment you don’t do anything. Then you just start to laugh.

“This isn’t- let me jus explain.”

“Explain what?” You ask him laughing lightly, “that you’re fucking some bimbo from your office?”

“Y/n-”

“Fuck off Keigo,” You say harshly, “I’m done. I hope you and your little slut over there have fun...” 

“Babe-” 

You pull away harshly. 

“Don’t fucking touch me,” You spit back. 

You left. Wanting to be anywhere but there. So you ended up over at Rumi’s. Your friend giving you the usual break up kit. The pajama, ice cream. The whole nine yards. She tried to cheer you up as you sobbed. You wanted to understand why the hell he’d do that. Why he’d risk your relationship of 4 years all for a girl who’s barely legal. You wonder how long he’s been letting this happen? If she’s the only girl?

“Fuck Keigo,” Rumi says harshly.

“I tried that- didn’t work out so well in the end,” You say slightly amused. She laughs lightly.

“That’s the spirit babe,” She says, “he sucks- but he’s a learning exprience. Now you can go find a guy who treats you right-”

“Or I can burn his apartment down,” You say harshly.

“That’s an option,” She says, “I’m sure you’re dad will love that one. Mr. Hero Commission watching his sweet daughter burn her fiancé’s house to the ground.”

“You think he’d let that get out?” You ask her slightly amused, “man would have that covered up in a heart beat.”

“Well as much as I love the arson- let’s think smaller,” Rumi says, “like moving on... Show him what he lost.... And he lost the hottest bitch he’ll ever see.” You chuckle through the light tears. Moving to wipe them away. “Now no tears- pretty bitches down cry over fuck boys.” I laugh lightly. “Step one to cheering up is get under some hot guy- how’s Zawa sounding?”

“As much as I’d love to tread that wave of daddy issues- I can’t even think about that right now,” You say sadly, “Hawks and I were supposed to get married! I spent our entire relationship defending him from people telling me it would end up this way. I feel stupid.”

“That’s not your fault,” Rumi says, “you love him... Besides you aren’t the only girl who’s ever gotten hurt this way... Heroes fucking suck. Whores... All of them. They’ll stick it in anything that has a pulse- and even that’s not stopping them sometimes.”

“Ew,” You chuckle sadly. She starts to laugh. 

“Bird man sucks- and you deserve so much more,” She tells you, “I promise you that this will only bring you closer to the guy who’s gonna treat you right.”

“Thanks Rumi,” You tell her. She moves pulling you into a hug.

“Any time song bird,” She says. When she pulls back she gives you a firm look. “Now go to bed- we’ve got moving out to do tomorrow.”

“Fine,” You tell her. 

You try to head to sleep. You really do. But you barely get a wink when the sun starts shining through the large windows in Rumi’s living room. Outside you can hear birds chirping. The sound fills you to your core with anger. Stupid birds... Stupid Hawks. You toss a shoe at the window. The birds immediately flee. 

“I know the man with wings fuck you over but don’t take it out on the birds,” Rumi says chuckling lightly. You look back to see her in the kitchen. She’s in her hero costume. Her bunny ears standing tall. “Morning song bird.”

“Ew” You groan, “I don’t want to hear that nickname ever again.”

“Oh come on I called you that before he who shall not be named ever did,” Rumi says, “your mother gave you that nickname. Don’t let him ruin it.”

“Too late,” You say as you stand from the couch. Moving over to grab a cup of coffee. Rumi rolls her eyes lightly at your comment. “I’m going to get my stuff- you still gonna be able to do that?”

“Sorry Y/n I got called in for patrols if you wanna wait here-”

“No I’m gonna go get a head start,” You tell her, “It’ll go faster that way anyways. You got any boxes?”

“No but Aizawa does- and he’s meeting us at yours to help move your stuff,” She says, “I’m giving you another chance to fuck him.” You roll your eyes roughly. “Come on! He’s hot- and before Hawks you would of killed to get under that man.”

“There was a lot I’d do pre hawks - but a lot of thats changed,” You tell her, “so I guess I’ll meet you there?” 

She heads out for work. And you go through the basics of getting ready. You had called your boss to tell them you needed the day for a family emergency. This was kinda a emergency. Honestly you just couldn’t handle needing to run around for everyone else after all of that.

The penthouse isn’t too far from Rumi’s house. It’s a ten minute taxi ride. You stand out in front of the door for a minute. Anger slowly filling you as your mind replays the events of last night. You shove it away and finally open the door. The light of the morning reveals what you didn’t notice last night. Napkins with lipstick on the table. A few spare feathers on the couch. Small signs of the build up. You scoff loudly. Marching back to your room. You’re thankful that the intern isn’t there. Even more thankful Hawks isn’t. You start in the closet first. Grabbing your clothes in armfuls and tossing them onto the floor of the bedroom. Next you move to the dresser. Pulling the drawers out to dump your belongings out. You can hear the soft moans fill your ears on repeat. Keigo calling her baby bird. Something he’s called you a million times. You growl lightly. Trying to focus on getting your things. As your grabbing the picture of you and your late mother you notice a picture of you and Keigo the night he proposed. You were so happy. He promised it would be you two for the rest of you life. You move grabbing the frame. You don’t even know why. But it doesn’t stay in your hands long. In a split second your slamming it against the wall. Then you move tossing the other ones of you and Keigo on the floor. Glass is everywhere. You don’t care. You rip the frames off the wall letting them smash as well. 

You calm down a bit. Moving to the bathroom to grab your stuff. However you catch yourself in the reflection. Smirking lightly as you catch the tube of lipstick on the counter. You uncap it and lean forward. Writing the word ‘Cheater’ across the glass in large red letters. Satisfied you toss the lipstick in your makeup bag then grab it to move it with the rest of your stuff. Next you move into the office. More pictures in frames around the room. You pull the down tossing them at the wall. Not caring about the scattering glass or the memories your destroying. You grab one of the markers from your desk to keep up with the redecoration. Scribbling ‘Whore’ ‘Player’ and other insults across the wall. You don’t care about what your doing. All you care about is the inconvence he’ll have cleaning this all up. 

You move dragging the marker along the walls as you head out to the kitchen. Opening the shelves to toss plates and bowls on the ground. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

You turn to see Keigo. He seems to be just walking in. He’s got his costume on. You smirk lightly as you drop a stack of plates on the ground. “Oops.”

“Y/n what the hell?!”

“You don’t like the redecoration? That’s a shame,” You say.

“Are you still mad?” 

You don’t answer. Instead you let the teapot you toss at his head answer for you. He barely ducks it.

“Listen what happened-”

You move throwing a mug at him. He steps out of the way and it smacks the floor behind him.

“It was an accident.”

“You accidentally fucked her?” You ask harshly, “oh that’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever fucking heard.”

“I meant it was a mistake- I messed up.”

“Oh shut the fuck up Keigo,” You growl, “I don’t wanna hear it.”

“We need to talk about this- like adults not throw a tantrum!”

You angrily toss the toaster at him. He smacks it away from him. 

“You’re acting like a child!”

“You cheated on me!” You shout, “don’t give me that acting like a child shit.”

“I’m trying to talk to you and you’re throwing shit- so yeah you’re acting like a child,” He shouts back.

“Fine Keigo - what’s you’re excuse?” You ask him, “what lead you to this mistake?”

“You’re never around and I felt so alone-”

You don’t let him finish. You’re tossing the silverware drawer at him.

“You’re blaming you fucking your intern on me!” You scream, “oh my fucking god! You’re a joke.”

“Let me explain-”

“I- don’t- want- to - hear - it!” You scream in between tossing wine glasses at him. You’ve made a terrible mess of your kitchen. You couldn’t care less though. All you can think about is Keigo standing in front of you trying to blame him cheating all on you.  

“Stop throwing shit!”

“Keep your dick in your pants!” You scream back.

“Did this little tantrum make you feel better?”

“No!” You scream, “you broke my heart Keigo! You cheated on me! I can’t believe you don’t understand why I’m so upset-”

“I’m trying to explain-”

“You’re trying to blame me!”

“Just let me talk!”

“No!” I scream, “I don’t care! I don’t want to hear your stupid reason!”

“Baby bird I love you-”

“HOW DARE YOU CALM ME WHAT YOU CALLED HER!” I scream on the top of my lungs. Anger radiating off of me. “You stupid- fucking- asshole!” More of the kitchenware goes flying. He’s dodging them. Mumbling explanations. You stop. Laughing lightly. He watches you clearly confused. You grab the lamp from the table and toss it straight into the middle of the TV.

“Babe oh my god!”

“Shut the fuck up! I’m done! I’m done letting you walk all over me! Defending you when you clearly don’t deserve it! And I’m done trying to love you when you clearly don’t love me!”

You yank the ring off your finger and toss it at him.

“We’re done.” I say firmly. He looks at me. Tears starting to well in his eyes. Suddenly the anger fades. You just felt numb. Over it all.

“Hey Y/n- Oh my god.” 

You see Rumi and Shota at the door. Looking over the disaster of an apartment. Concern covering their faces.

“Are you okay?” Shota asks, “did he hurt you?”

You chuckle lightly.

“You think he did this?” You ask him, “I’m fine- Let’s get my shit and go... I don’t want to be here for another second.” You move past Hawks over to your friends. 

“But Baby Bird,” Hawks says lightly. You look back to the man. 

“Maybe next time you’ll think before you cheat-” You tell him, “see ya Bird Man.”

[amispnrewatch]

SPN 1x06 “Skin”

Okay, I’m gonna try to type while I watch this time instead of forgetting this blog exists until the episode is almost over.

You can tell the footage for the previously on segment was saved on a VHS copy instead of the original film that the show was shot with because even in the HD iTunes version I have it looks low quality as fuck. And jumpy in the way that brings me back to my teens watching the WB all the damn time.

I love this song. WTF is this song. Shazam says “Good Deal” by Mommy and Daddy. I… have no comment, except that it sounds like everything I was listening to in college at the time this shit was airing.

Aaaaand not!Dean turns around to face the SWAT team after obviously torturing some woman. THAT is a cold open.

I wanna know what that car is in the background. It’s pretty. Maybe a convertible Impala? They have similar grills. This is not at all important.

Also, I love that with these higher definition versions of the episodes you can see that Sam’s email is lawboy and whatever dot com and that people in the fandom have started calling him Law Boy. It’s hilarious.

DEAN: Well, what exactly do you tell ‘em? You know, about where you’ve been, what you’ve been doin’?

SAM: I tell ‘em I’m on a road trip with my big brother. I tell ‘em I needed some time off after Jess.

DEAN: Oh, so you lie to ‘em.

SAM: No. I just don’t tell ‘em….everything.

DEAN: Yeah, that’s called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin’ the truth is far worse.

SAM: So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life? (DEAN shrugs.) You’re serious?

DEAN: Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can’t get close to people, period.

Aaaaand now I have Dean and Cassie feelings again and we haven’t even gotten to her episode yet.

SAM: No, man, I know Zack. He’s no killer.

DEAN: Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you.

Aaaaaand now I have Dean and Lee feelings and we’re nowhere near Lee’s episode in season 15.

YOU JUST BLEW THROUGH A STOP SIGN DEAN WTF.

Little Becky. Oi with the reusing of names.

Of course Sam made friends with a bunch of rich kids while he was at college in a desperate attempt to try to be normal.

SAM: You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack’s house.

DEAN: We could.

REBECCA: Why? I mean, what could you do?

SAM: Well, me, not much. But Dean’s a cop. (DEAN laughs.)

DEAN: Detective, actually.

I love that Dean was like “how dare you call me that.”

Okay, after a bit of research, I totally want to take a day trip to Bisbee, Arizona, but it’s already in the 90s here in the desert and it’s not even May so that trip is going to have to wait until… winter or something. There is no way in hell I’m going deeper into the desert when the weather gets hotter.

It’s a historic mining town tourist trap looking place now which is exactly the kind of shit I love.

SAM: Bec, look, I know Zack didn’t do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he’s innocent.

I mean, not technically, technically you would 1) NOT FUCK WITH A MURDER INVESTIGATION YOU’RE NOT LEGALLY INVOLVED IN BECAUSE ANYTHING YOU FIND WOULD BE INADMISSABLE IN COURT 2) find evidence to provide a reasonable doubt for the jury that he did commit the crime. You know, like a lawyer would need to do, Law Boy.

DEAN: I just don’t think this is our kind of problem.

When I made my husband watch this show with me (he’s seen it all at least once now over the years) this is the recurring thing that drove him crazy.

You guys can’t even go in through the back door? Or shut the front door behind you? Really?

REBECCA: (tearfully) Well, there’s no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in.

Yeah, that doesn’t even really mean that she knew her attacker. Just that it was someone she let her guard down around or got in some other way. See: The Son of Sam and Nightstalker, etc.

Love the pinup magnet on the fridge. I’d throw shade at that, but I have a pinup magnet on my fridge too so… pot kettle and all that.

Okay, both people in the next couple are gorgeous.

And oh wow those special effects changing eyes… wow.

This poor couple. I feel so bad for them in this episode.

How… how are the police gonna explain the way he was able to beat himself over the head with a bat??? I…

I love that 5:30 in the morning on TV is clearly like… 10 AM.

Okay, this is a really unrelated point, but the graffiti on the dumpster here reminds me of the Teen Wolf fandoms use of the name Void!Stiles when Stiles Stilinski was possessed by a Nogitsune… I just spent way too long digging through YouTube and my Tumblr tags from back when those episodes were airing looking for a few specific videos and couldn’t find them. The TL;DR reason I bring it up here is goofball, bi-coded main character guy getting possessed by an entity set on destroying the people he loves. SOUNDS LIKE THIS EPISODE AND A WHOLE LOT OF SPN RIGHT. I love that all these monster hunting shows call out to each other.

This scene haunts me years later and I don’t even WATCH Teen Wolf. I just watched the fandom on Tumblr collectively lose it’s shit then tripped down a Hale Pack fanfiction rabbit hole.

ANYWAY

Back to Supernatural, a show that also treated its fan base, cast, and characters like garbage! Huzzah!

DEAN: Well, there’s another way to go—down. (They look down and notice a manhole.)

I’m gonna be mature and ignore the double entendre there…

But I love that Dean thinks of the world in 3D. Which sounds like a dumb statement to make, but this is honestly a good example of that in action.

SAM: I bet this runs right by Zack’s house, too.

Really Sam, sewers run by houses? SO WEIRD. I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED.

DEAN: You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds.

SAM: That is sick. (DEAN puts the bloody pile back on the ground.)

Guys, there is a WHOLE ASS EAR in that pile of yuck you’re looking at. I think it’s pretty safe to assume the shapeshifter indeed sheds its skin like a snake. A much… gooier snake.

Sam’s friend is rightfully pissed at him for fucking with the crime scene.

This is before the pearl gripped guns?! Wow. I never noticed that before.

Also, this whole episode gives me feelings.

++++

Cool. Tumblr mobile ate a whole section of my notes on this when it crashed for NO APPARENT REASON. Love that.

It always boggles my mind that actors can trust the people they’re working with enough to let people “tie” ropes around their neck or put them in actually dangerous positions in a scene.

SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?

SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)

SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)

SAM: What are you talkin’ about?

SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. (He laughs.) I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens. (He smiles and covers SAM with a sheet.)

This exchange is just… so much. So many feelings. And I will forever (unless we magically get a fix-it fic mini season someday…) be SO MAD that none of this got resolved in that pointless, trash heap of a finale.

REBECCA: Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?

SHAPESHIFTER: That’s right. (She chuckles.)

REBECCA: Well, what is it, like a genetic freak? (The shapeshifter laughs.)

SHAPESHIFTER: Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (REBECCA looks around, uncomfortable. The shapeshifter’s eyes glint silver, and he smiles.)

It always amazes me how much of this show is a pile of accidental queer allegories parading around in an ill-fitting toxic masculinity suit.

Vulcan mind meld! I love nerd!Dean. Also, I’m rewatching Star Trek: TOS with my husband, because that is what my life amounts to these days, rewatching comfort TV and flailing over the bits I love.

This post does a better job than I can do of pairing up screen caps with the dialogue of this next scene. SIX EPISODES IN. They’re dumping all of this character depth SIX EPISODES IN. FUCK THIS SHOW FOR NOT EMBRACING ITSELF.

Okay, I love that he screams back in her face after he threw the phone. It’s not something to laugh at because the situation is horrifying, but I can’t help laughing at it every time.

AND THE WAY THEY CUT THESE SCENES. Going from him winding his hand back to backslap her directly to him dropping the chains on the table to show how hard he must have hit her without actually making the actors hit each other. Good job editing department!

I… don’t understand the shifter’s motivation for killing people. If he can take over people’s identities without killing them, why kill them? Is it just because he’s a homicidal, rapist piece of shit? Cause that’s all it seems like.

How did the SWAT team even know she was being attacked? Why can the snipers aim no better than Storm Troopers?

Ugh, these kind of transformation body horror scenes are exactly why werewolf stories have never really appealed to me much. Like, I could do without watching your ribs move and teeth fall out, dude.

BUT.

THIS FUCKING SCENE.

I looked up the song that’s playing over shapeshifter!Dean being caught by the SWAT team and then going through the grotesque transformation. (And as far as I know, the iTunes version has the original music from the episodes.)

It’s a song called “Mary” by The Death Riders

Who's your mother, who's your mother here boy // Who's your mother, whos your mommy dear // Who's your father, who's your father here boy // Who's your father, who's your daddy dear

Silently screaming // Where everyone knows // Daddy's always watchin' // Where everywhere - everywhere I go

I don't wanna be a freak show pretty boy anymore // I don't wanna be a full time slave // I don't wanna be your midnight cowboy anymore // I just want to be Mary

This is… a fascinating choice. Here are the rest of the lyrics. The song as a whole has a weird incesty kinda vibe to it? Kinda like when SPN tries to straight-wash itself and misses the mark wildly. (Like Dean’s male siren episode.)

The midnight cowboy line reminded me of 12x11 and the bull riding scene with “Broomstick Cowboy” by Bobby Goldsboro playing over it

Dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy, // Dream while you can; // Of big green frogs, // And puppy dogs, // And castles in the sand.

For, all too soon you'll awaken; // Your toys will all be gone. // Your broomstick horse will ride away, // To find another home. // And you'll have grown into a man, // With cowboys of your own. // And then you'll have to go to war, // To try and save your home.

And then you'll have to learn to hate; // You'll have to learn to kill. // It's always been that way, my son; // I guess it always will.

Because, you know, why not add tons of feelings into the lyrics, right?

Props to the people who can embrace their rewatches and reclamations of the show with ease. Because every episode seems to remind me of how hollow and tragic Dean’s ending was and I just… struggle all over again.

Anyway, back to the episode so I can move on with my day.

REPORTER: An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home. (A sketch of DEAN appears on the screen.)

DEAN: Man! That’s not even a good picture. (SAM looks around cautiously.)

SAM: It’s good enough. (He walks away.)

DEAN: Man! (He follows SAM.)

(CUT TO: Alley. DEAN and SAM are walking. DEAN steps into a puddle.)

DEAN: Ugh, come on.

I love that we get two tiny little back-to-back vanity moments for Dean here. One commenting on the sketch artist rendition of him being broadcasted on the news and the other tripping in the puddle. There is literally someone running around the city trying to kill people while wearing Dean’s face, but Dean is still concerned with how he looks appears to others. He’s still concerned with keeping up his own performance. The shifter left him with just a t-shirt, so he doesn’t even have his usual comfort layers on and at any moment someone could spot him and call the police or try to kill him for assaulting Sam’s friend. His life is wildly out of control in that moment and the only thing he can try to focus on is his appearance (something semi-controllable) and finding the shifter before any of that other shit can happen.

One day I want to put together a like top 10 episodes focusing on / explaining each TFW character from the series. Like the kind of list you could show someone who’s never seen the show, but has OPINIONS about the characters (or who hasn’t seen the whole show and seen the growth they went through… you know, like the people responsible for the travesty of 15x20). This episode would be on that list. I’m not sure how I could manage to make a list of only 10 episodes to understand Dean Winchester by, but eh.

SAM: What are you gonna do to me?

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, I’m not gonna do anything. Dean will, though.

SAM: They’ll never catch him.

SHAPESHIFTER: Oh, doesn’t matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He’ll be hunted the rest of his life. (He picks up a sharp knife and examines it.)

Speaking of season 15 in general, this right here. This was Chuck’s villain story arc thesis statement. AND THEY DROPPED THE GODDAMN BALL WITH IT. I think that’s the thing that honestly pisses me off the most these days (about 5 1/2 months from when the finale aired) is that they tried making the whole thing a tragedy but did such an awful job with it that it just ended up like a deflating condom balloon at a dive bar concert. Disappointing and gross. The finale for season 14 set them up SO FUCKING WELL and it just… didn’t get there.

Becky’s parents are gonna be pissed at how torn up their house is after all this shit…

And you’re not shooting him when you first see him strangling Sam because…?????

I like that he took the necklace back. Also, is this kinda Dean death number .5 of the show? Like it wasn’t him but it was also kinda him. Eh.

At least they left the windshield on Baby this time. Reflections are better than tearing her apart.

[mal3nko]

“Why wasn’t Life is Strange 2 as popular as the first game?”

A lot of people like myself have wondered what exactly made Life is Strange 2 go so relatively unnoticed compared its predecessor, Life is Strange 1. And when you think about it, you may come up with the few obvious generic answers, such as the lack of Max and Chloe and just the original cast in general. However, I think there was a lot more at play here that prevented Life is Strange 2 from reaching the amount of success/popularity the first game had. So I want to take the time and break down what exactly happened to Life is Strange 2 and the things that hurt the game’s ability to really connect with the audience of LiS1.

Disclaimer: We do NOT know how well Life is Strange 2 was for Dontnod and if it was a success or not. No sales numbers have been given out to the public so there’s no way of knowing for sure how well the game did. What we do know is that LiS2 did not receive the same amount of attention/popularity as the first game. That can’t be denied, it simply didn’t. However, based on the fact that Dontnod have recently announced they are working on six new games at the moment and are now expanding their studio, even if LiS2 was a “flop” it doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on them (most likely due to the success of Vampyr). Dontnod is going to be fine either way. Another thing I want to mention is that this is not a anti-LiS2 post and that I am a fan of the game. I’d consider myself a pretty big fan actually. I have my problems with the game of course and don’t agree with a lot of the writing decisions but I enjoyed the game very much overall. But for the sake of this post I will try to be as unbiased as possible, giving out only what I’ve observed when it comes to reactions from the fandom on different websites and forums. So with that all being said, let’s dive in to this.

Here I will be listing the many different reasons as to why Life is Strange 2 failed to reach the same amount of popularity as LiS1 or even BtS managed to achieve. This list isn’t in any particular order but some reasons are bigger/more important than others.

For some background, there was a lot of hype going into Life is Strange 2. The teaser trailer for it with the cop car trended at #2 on YouTube, a huge feat for the series. It generated immense amount of views and comments in a short period in time, completely surpassing Before the Storm’s announcement trailer in just a few weeks. So what exactly happened to all that hype? Where did everybody go? Well, let’s break everything down.

1. The lack of Max and Chloe: Yes I said that this list wouldn’t be in any particular order in terms of importance but I think it’s obvious this one is one of, if not the biggest reason as to why LiS2 failed to match LiS1’s popularity. When the protagonists Sean and Daniel were first revealed, the reception was pretty divisive. Specifically, a very vocal part of the community were baffled and disappointed at the lack of Max and Chloe present within the trailer and subsequently the game itself. This instantly turned off a lot of people from the game, as they couldn’t connect with the new characters or simply didn’t want to. At that point in the franchise Max and Chloe as well as the original cast from the first game had been the face of the series for almost three years. It’s understandable why it was hard for people to just…move on. To this day people are still asking for Max and Chloe to return. The Life is Strange subreddit is still dominated with Max and Chloe fanart. Whenever the social media accounts for Life is Strange post anything Max and Chloe related it gets way more attention compared to a post about Sean and Daniel. Whenever a post online goes viral about Life is Strange you can bet it’s most likely about Max and Chloe. Hell the only reason why episode 5 of Life is Strange 2 trended on Tumblr was because of the fucking picture of Max and Chloe. On the releas day of episode 5 of LiS2 the top post on the subreddit was the Max and Chloe picture. It was almost as if that one photo of them completely overshadowed the entire episode. Point is, Life is Strange 2 lost a lot of momentum the moment it was revealed Max and Chloe would not be present. Case closed, let’s move on.

2. The release schedule: Words cannot describe how frustrating the release schedule was for LiS2 when it came to it’s episodes. For those reading this who didn’t follow LiS2 until the game was finished, each episode took around 3-4 months to be released. This was because Dontnod bit off a bit more than they could chew with the road trip story in having to create new locations and character models from scratch. The reason why this wasn’t a problem for LiS1 was because Max was for the most part always in the same locations around the same characters (I’m pretty sure you roam around Chloe’s house like 4 times throughout the season), which made development a lot easier since the devs could just reuse a lot of the assets. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible for LiS2 due to the nature of it’s story. The wait times between each episode made a lot of people leave the fandom due to loosing interest or simply forgetting about the game altogether. This also impacted youtubers/streamers as many of them either stopped coming back to play the new episodes or they’d not be as connected as they were in the previous episode due to the amount of time that had passed. One of the reasons why LiS1 gained so much popularity was because of youtubers/streamers and how they would bring in their audience and would pretty much make them fans of the series. With quite a handful of youtubers/streamers quitting LiS2, the game was not able to draw in as much of an audience as previous games did. This is how detreminetal the release schedule was for LiS2.

3. The marketing (or lack thereof): Square Enix really fucked up on this aspect. Due to the ridiculous wait times you would think Square Enix would try and advertise the game heavily when a new episode was about to be released, right? Well they didn’t. Not at all actually. Throughout the games release schedule from September 2018 up to December 2019, I had not seen a single ad for the game. Nothing on YouTube, nothing on reddit or any other websites, it was like Square Enix had completely forgotten about the game’s existence. Now don’t get me wrong, SE did do a few things with LiS2 like starting up the community series on their YouTube channel and also the dev updates that came after episode 1 (that stopped after episode 2 for some reason) but these went relatively unnoticed to people outside of the fandom and did pretty much nothing. I believe SE was trying to wait until the game was fully complete with all of it’s episodes released before actually marketing the game (and they DID start advertising the game after episode 5 came out) but that’s just WAAAY too long to go without any type of advertisement. I understand marketing teams have budgets and what not, but you’re telling me there was no way for SE to market each episode in anyway as they were about to be released? Seems a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?

4. The road trip story: I completely understand why Dontnod wanted to branch out and do something different with the story of Life is Strange 2 and I respect them for stepping out of their comfort zones. However, it can’t be denied that the road trip story where characters are cycled in and out as Sean and Daniel make their way to Mexico was a very…questionable decision. Seeing as how LiS1 was loved for it’s world filled with a reoccurring cast of characters that developed as the story went on, it’s really easy to understand why LiS2 was so off-putting for a lot of fans. It was off-putting for me, even. It just…wasn’t fun having to leave these truly interesting characters behind because the plot demanded it. This left a lot of characters feeling underdeveloped to many people and by the time you meet new characters you already know they’re most likely gonna be gone soon anyways, so it made it even harder to connect with them. Couple this with the fact that LiS2 lacked any type of mystery unlike LiS1, speculation and discussion fizzled out a few weeks after each episode was released. LiS1 kept people speculating and wondering about what would happen next, while LiS2 left a lot of people struggling to care.

5. Politics: Yeeeeaaaaah I think I had to put this somewhere on the list. While many of the people who tease and mock how LiS2 handled its political topics were most likely not fans of the series anyway (the type of people who called LiS1 “Life is Tumblr” and hate Chloe), I do think it’s important to realize that some people just don’t want politics in their games, period. I’ve seen people online come out and say that while they agreed with what the writers were saying when it came to the political topics, it overall still came off very forced and one-sided to them, lacking any type of nuance or subtlety. I could write an entire essay discussing if the politics in LiS2 were handled well and whatnot but this is not that post so I’ll just leave it at that.

6: Lack of a prominent female cast/wlw: This is a bit more tricky to talk about (for the record the person writing this is a black gay guy) but I will try and write about this the best way I can. For many women, specifically queer women, Life is Strange was a series they could expect representation from. Max, Chloe, Rachel, and Steph are all popular characters amongst the fandom and even other wlw ships such as Marshfield, Chasefield, Chaseprice, etc are popular. So when LiS2 was revealed to be about two (hispanic) males, the queer women within the community were understandably upset. It felt like DN were simply throwing away the community that for the most part made up the entire fandom. At the time I simply found the situation ridiculous and overblown as many people were dismissing Sean and Daniel as “generic straight males” (even though it turned out Sean was bisexual in the end) before really getting to know them. However, looking back I totally get why people were upset. A lot of the fanart/fanfiction that was made for the LiS series was mostly created by queer women, so when the franchise pretty much stopped giving them representation, they left in search of other media (like She-Ra, which honestly has better wlw rep anyway). LiS2 is also mostly male dominated in terms of its cast, and features no queer women as well, which is really disappointing in my opinion.

7. Price: This one is pretty simple. When Life is Strange 2 was first released the full season costed $40. This was a pretty big jump in comparison to LiS1’s $20 price tag (original price was $25 however) and BtS’s $16. Obviously people would be more skeptical about buying a sequel that is pretty much double the price of its predecessor and has completely new characters. With the pretty mixed reception from gaming communities I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people saw the price and decided to either watch a playthrough or simply not check out the game at all. With the first episode now free the base price has been lowered to around $30-32 I believe so yeah.

8. Daniel Diaz: Some people just don’t like kids, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people grew easily frustrated with Daniel early on and once he got more irrational and bratty as the story progressed they just stopped playing altogether. Even if you do like kids, or at least don’t mind them like myself, Daniel can still be quite a pain.

9. Not having control of the powers: This one is honestly really disappointing and I know it was to a lot of other people as well. In LiS1 Max had the ability to rewind time and do certain scenarios and conversations over and that basically acted as the more interesting gameplay segments. In LiS2 Sean doesn’t have the power, his brother Daniel does. This leads to the gameplay feeling much more boring and mundane. There are also no interesting puzzles this time around, most likely because Dontnod didn’t know how to implement them without the rewind power so they just…didn’t even attempt to add any. The power itself, telekinesis, is also much less interesting compared to rewinding time, according to a lot of people.

SO YEAH that’s basically it for me. I know this probably came off a bit rambly/incoherent but I tried my best to be as clear as I possibly could. I don’t doubt there are other reasons at play as to why LiS2 failed to meet LiS1’s success (such as liscensed music not being quite as good as LiS1) but I think I hit the main points I believe were key reasons. And the thing is, there isn’t just one main reason why LiS2 didn’t do as well as LiS1. It’s overall very unfortunate so many things went wrong with it that ended up making people lose interest in it. I think the lack of Max and Chloe hurt the game the most right off the bat, but the other reasons just led it to do even worse. Oh well.

I hope any of the people who read this enjoyed it (it was a BITCH to write). I’ve been wanting to get my thoughts down about this for SO long but just never had the motivation/time but I finally did it!

Again, thanks for reading! If you have any disagreements or just thoughts in general don’t be afraid to reply or dm me about it and I’ll be sure to reply! Now back to reblogging Marco posts….

[serendipityseulgi]

8 Ways of Love.

– kim hongjoong

according to the ancient greeks, there are eight different types of love. here is:

･*:༅｡ the one known as mania, the obsessive love.

aka, the kind of love that can lead you to obsession, jealousy, and madness and can be toxic if not kept under control.

TW // sexual harassment. 

* italic text indicates flashback.

8 ways of love series; part ii

A not-so-healthy love story in which you reach your breaking point in your relationship, giving Hongjoong an ultimatum – to fix his toxic tendencies or to let you walk out on him forever. 

love catalyst: survival.

There are times where you often underestimate how much Hongjoong truly loves you. 

You don’t always fully grasp the extent he will go to make sure that everyone knows your his, and his only. The limits he will push to prove just how much you matter in his life, and the boundaries he will cross to ensure that no one would ever, ever take you away from him.

How he absolutely cannot live without you, and you can’t live without him.

Because he just loves you so much that the feeling almost consumes him, and it drives him crazy. He knows how much of an impact you have on him. How you could do absolutely nothing and he would still kiss the ground you walk on. How he worships every single part of you and will go to the absolute ends of the earth just to keep you forever. How he simply could not care about a single thing in this world except for you.

And for most people, they strive for that kind of love. The kind that consumes you so much that you would do absolutely anything and everything for your partner.

But the way Hongjoong loves you is intense, and it’s obsessive. It’s exhausting it absolutely drains all the energy out of you. To have to love and care for one another more than yourselves. That no matter what kind of shit you put each other through, you’re always going to be together.

It’s overbearing and overwhelming in all the wrong ways.

You hate how much Hongjoong loves you. Because he treats you like shit. Makes you feel like shit. Acts like you aren’t shit.

Not without him at least.

It’s unhealthy, to put it simply.

Neither one of you are that delusional, though. 

You’re both painfully aware how borderline toxic your relationship is. Hongjoong’s manipulative in certain ways and he uses that to his advantage. He won’t admit it but he loves how codependent you are on him. He knows that he can fuck up a million times and you’re always gonna be there to pick up the pieces and love him again and again. He makes promises he can never keep and gives you false hope just to make sure you stay in his arms, even if it’s only for one more day. He hears you say that you hate him more than you love him, but it doesn’t matter because he knows how you feel deep down. You’re always going to love him.

He defends his behaviour, constantly telling you he only acts that way because he loves you and wants to protect you. And you know he’s not a terrible person. Aside from his possessive nature and his intense anger problem, he’s actually one of the best people you know. It’s contradictory in every sense.

It was just the way he loves you that brings out the worst in him.

You know there’s no good that could possibly come from being together anymore. You both know that by now.

But the truth is, neither one of you will ever walk away.

12:41 AM

It’s past midnight when you walk in your apartment, your heart heavy and filled with despair. Your feet hurt from standing in those wretched heels for hours, your mascara is dripping down your tear-stained face, and your head is pounding from the events that transpired only a few hours prior.

You have no words. 

All you want to do is curl up in your bed and sleep away your worries. You want to ignore everything that’s happened even for just a few hours and deal with the damage in the morning, but you know he won’t let you.

He never does.

When you hear the door slam behind you, you feel a sense of deja vu. 

You’ve been in this exact situation more times than you could count and you’re starting to think there’s actually no hope left in your boyfriend. 

At this point in time you don’t even know if this relationship is worth salvaging anymore, and the very thought almost has you in tears.

You’re feeling a million things right now but above all, you’re just pissed beyond belief and you want to cry and wallow away in your tears. You feel every negative emotion surging through your body right now and it makes you all the more exhausted. 

Hongjoong stands behind you, equally as pissed, and you refuse to acknowledge him because you know it’s all his fault. 

It’s always his fucking fault.

“Y/n, look at me.” he commands, but you don’t listen.

Your back is still turned to him, eyes fixated on the marble pattern on your kitchen island as you try to suppress your anger. Your eyes start to water again and your body begins to shake.

He waits for you to face him. 

But you don’t. 

Because you don’t even want to talk to him right now, let alone look him in the face. You swear you’ll punch him if you do, so you save himself the trouble and start walking towards the direction of your bedroom.

Hongjoong is fast though, and he’s quick to grab onto your arm to pull you in front of him.

“Can you say something?” he asks, a little too aggressively for your liking, and you just stare at him. The glare in your eyes never falters and for a few seconds you two are just staring each other down with you still refusing to speak.

You take the opportunity to yank your arm out of his grip and he lets out a frustrated groan.

“I’m tired.” you say with a blank stare, prepared to walk away again.

“So you’re not even gonna talk at me?!” he asks with that aggression still evident in his tone.

You breathe in a heavy sigh before whipping around to face your boyfriend, your eyes narrowing immediately when you make contact with him. “What do you want me to say, Hongjoong?” you ask with frustrated tears running down your face. “What the fuck do you want me to say when you keep doing this over and over again?!”

“All you ever do is walk away when you’re pissed at me and you go off the next morning talking shit to your friends. So if you have something to say, say it to my fucking face.” he spits at you with menace and your eyes darken.

“Well what the fuck is the difference of me going to my friends and going to you?! It’s not like you ever fucking listen to me anyways! I’m sick of having to repeat myself day after day! The amount of times this has happened and the amount of times I tell you the same exact thing! When I keep asking you to change and you never do! We have this exact conversation all the time, what is the use of me talking anymore?! Nothing ever changes so why the fuck should I bother wasting all my time and energy fighting with you about the same shit that’s gonna piss you off next week?!” you shout before turning around once again.

Hongjoong doesn’t say anything back to that, because deep down he knows you’re right. He knows that you’re a broken record at this point, he knows that anything you say now would just be reused arguments he’s heard in the past, he knows that he’s not going to listen to you. So he doesn’t retaliate.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to walk away?” he counters.

You take in a deep breathe. “Why don’t you tell me exactly it is that you want to hear? That I’m just going to accept the fact that you never fucking listen to me? That you somehow find it acceptable to be punching random guys in the face for looking at me? That we fight about the same shit every week? Or how you can’t seem to control your anger? How you have absolutely no regard for how you make me feel? How you think acting so possessive over me is something to be proud of?! How we’ve been together for three fucking years and the more days I spend with you the more I realize I’d rather be dead than be with you!”

Hongjoong’s face falls for a second at your words but you soon come to regret it when he’s pushing you against your counter. He’s seething inside, you can sense it. You know your words cut deep but Hongjoong won’t admit it. His ego is too big for that. 

“You’re one to fucking talk.” he grits his teeth. “You act like such a fucking bitch all the time and yet I’m still willing to bend over backwards just to keep your ass happy. You overlook all the shit I do for you because you’re selfish. You think I don’t listen to you? When have you ever listened to me?! You’re so fucking ungrateful when all I’ve ever done was love you!”

You scoff. “This is what you call loving me?!” you gesture to your current position. “Hongjoong do you even realize what we’re doing right now?! Do you even acknowledge how messed up you are?! When you go around knocking guys’ teeth out for doing so much as looking at me, for picking fights with your own friends when they’re being friendly towards me, when you fucking call me names and blame me for the fact that you can’t bear the thought of another male giving me an ounce of their attention, do you think that’s fucking normal?! You’re just fucking insane!” 

“You think I do that shit because I like it?” Hongjoong hissed. “No, I fucking do it because I know how guys think y/n! They’d take advantage of you if they got the chance! Use you like you’re a fucking toy to them or something! You can’t trust these people all the time! I fucking act that way to protect you!”

“Yeah is that it?” you sneer. “Or is it because you’re just so fragile and insecure inside you’re too afraid that one of these days someone might actually take me away from you and I’ll fucking leave. You think you can control them and control me by threatening them, assaulting them? You go off and snap at people who piss you off because you think you have some sort of claim over me! So are you sure you do it to protect me? Because I don’t think so. I think you do it 'cause you know you can’t function without me. Because deep down you know you’re just a little bitch without me. You’re nothing without me.” you spit at him. 

“Fuck you.” Hongjoong shoves you harder into the counter, a sharp pain shooting up your spine. His arms are gripping tightly onto your own and you don’t think he realizes he’s hurting you because he’s too focused on your words and how badly they’re affecting him. 

“You have a big fucking mouth sometimes you know that? You like to talk like you’re so big and purposely rile me up, huh? Who the fuck do you think you are catching an attitude with me? Watch your mouth and how you talk to me or-”

“Or what? What are you gonna do, Joong?” you challenge, shoving him away from you. “You gonna break up with me? Kick me out again? Call me a fucking slut and send me on my way?” you mock. “Or are you gonna hit me this time? Huh? Because I get you so fucking angry. Why don’t you try it? Instead of punching holes in the wall why don’t you try doing it to my face instead? I bet you want to. I bet you really want to fucking hit me. So do it. Hit me!” you push him back. “Fucking hit me!” you scream as you repeatedly hit him in the chest and Hongjoong snaps, grabbing onto your wrists tightly.

“You’re a fucking crazy bitch.” he seethes. “I may be a piece of shit but I’m not fucking abusive. I would never hit you no matter how mad you make me. So fuck you for ever thinking I’d put my hands on you. Fuck you.” he pushes you off of him.

He storms off into your bedroom, slamming the door like he always does. You stand there in the middle of your living room shaking your head. This is nothing new. It’s nothing you aren’t already used to.

You sit on the couch, burying your face in your knees as you cry. You cry with a heavy heart because you don’t know what else to do. 

All you’re left with is your own thoughts, thinking about all the times you should’ve walked away.

Because God knows it should’ve happened a long time ago.

You remember the first incident like it was yesterday.

2 years, 6 months, 7 days ago.

You remember it was only six months into being with him when he had assaulted your ex in front of your eyes. 

There was no remorse, no regard, nothing for the human life in front of him. Just pure rage that that good-for-nothing scumbag tried to touch you. His prized possession. The love of his life. The only thing that ever mattered to him.

Seeing your ex-boyfriend touching you like you were still his fuelled a fire inside Hongjoong like never before and he absolutely lost it. 

“S-stop Chris, seriously get off me,” you stutter trying to push the male off of you. 

You don’t remember how you got yourself into this situation through your drunken state.

All you know is one second you’re dancing with Irene and the next you’re pressed up against a brick wall by your ex-boyfriend.

He’s pressing you into the wall so hard it makes your body hurt and you can feel his boner rubbing against your thigh. You want to scream but when you try no sound comes out. You’re crying and your throat closes up because you can’t breath with him pinning you so tightly.

“Y/n, baby relax.” he whispers and you smell the stench of alcohol lingering on his breath. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’ve never hurt you, right?” you feel like you can’t breathe. “I just wanna talk, that’s it...” his voice is gentle but it doesn’t provide you any comfort whatsoever.

“Y-you don’t have to pin me against the wall if you wanna t-talk, Chris.” you breathe out. “G-get off of me.”

“I just missed you,” he says gripping you tightly. “You missed me too right?”

“Fuck off!” you try to scream, but his heavy weight on you is restricting you from moving a muscle. “M-my boyfriend is gonna find me and he’s-”

“He’s what?” Chris snickers. “You’re dating that pussy bitch Hongjoong, right? Yeah, as if he’s gonna come to your rescue when everyone knows he’s a fucking bitch boy. You know better than to go for nice guys, right y/n?” he chuckles.

“Y-you’re drunk, Chris. Let me go.” you try to shove him back but he’s much bigger than you. You stand absolutely no chance.

“Where is your little boyfriend anyways, huh? ‘Cause I’ve been watching you since the moment you got here and all I saw was you with Irene and Seulgi. Does your boyfriend even know you’re slutting it up at a bar without him?” Chris taunts you and you cry even harder. “I wonder what he would do if he saw me and you together right now. Probably nothing right? He’s too nice for his own good. Wouldn’t touch a fucking fly.”

“Please just-”

“Relax, y/n. I know you miss me. Miss what we had. You don’t always have to play hard to get,” he whispers in your ear, pushing your dress up your thighs. “Just enjoy it and-”

“Y/n?” you hear a voice call behind you, and you recognize it almost immediately. 

“Joong?” you call through your hazy vision and you take the opportunity to push the man off of you. “J-joong, I wasn’t doing what you think, he pinned me, I-i tried to get him off but he wouldn’t, fuck, it’s not what it looks like-” you can’t formulate a coherent sentence because you know exactly what it looked like and you’re afraid he won’t believe you.

“Y/n get behind me right now.” he states calmly, and you don’t hesitate. You run up behind your boyfriend as Chris stands in front of him with a cold stare. 

Your heart is still beating hard against your chest and you study Hongjoong’s expression to see what his next move would be because frankly, you don’t know. 

“Can I kindly ask what the fuck were you doing to MY girlfriend?” Hongjoong asks, voice still calm and collected it almost scares you.

“Hey man, no need to get upset, we were just chatting.” Chris raises his hands in defence.

Hongjoong laughs, but there’s not a hint of amusement in his tone. “Chatting, huh?” he mocks. “About what?”

“Look, with all due respect, I know she’s your girl now and everything but you have to understand me and y/n have a lot of history. Just rehashing some old shit-”

“No you weren’t.” Hongjoong interrupts. 

“Excuse me?” Chris raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry but you’re being pretty fucking hostile right now, don’t you think? Like, what exactly are you trying to accomplish, you’re not very intimidating.” Chris laughs.

Your eyes are moving back and forth between the two males and you don’t exactly know what’s going to happen next. You’ve never been in this kind of situation before, let alone predict how Hongjoong would retaliate. You’ve never seen him angry before.

“You wanna know what it looked like to me?” he asks rhetorically, slowly walking towards your ex. “You were forcing her against her will to talk to you.” he states, still calm. “You were touching her. You were groping her.” Hongjoong begins backing him into the wall. “You were sexually harassing her. After she begged you to stop.” he states. “You lifted up her dress, and then what?” Hongjoong’s cornered him into the wall. “You were gonna fucking rape her. Right?”

“Woah, woah, hey, I was not gonna fucking rape her-” Chris defends.

“No?” Hongjoong raises his eyebrow. “Are you saying you weren’t trying to fuck my girlfriend?”

Chris scoffs. “That isn’t rape-”

“But she told you to stop, didn’t she?” Hongjoong folds his arms across his chest and your eyes are bulging out of your head as you witness this new side o him. “And if I wasn’t here right now... what exactly would you have done?”

“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend? She seemed to be enjoying it, right?” he turns to look at you. “Admit it, y/n. Tell your bitch of a boyfriend that you’re better off with me. Hey, do you know how fucking easy it is to get with your girlfriend? Ask me, I have experience.” Chris chuckles. “What do you think would’ve happened if you weren’t here right now? Y/n probably would’ve let me fuck the shit out of her because that’s how easy she is. Probably would’ve fucked her better than you ever have-”

Hongjoong lets out a chuckle before finally snapping. You see his fist raise up in one swift motion, and he punches him. Hongjoong punches the shit out of your ex and you let out a shocked gasp. Your hands fly over your mouth, covering your face in surprise.

“Hongjoong!” you try to stop your boyfriend but he doesn’t listen. 

“Keep talking, I fucking dare you.” Hongjoong spits. He’s still punching him and it doesn’t seem like he plans on stopping anytime soon. “Your mouth is fucking shit, you know that? You’re a fucking scumbag.”

He punches him again.

“You’re a fucking piece of shit talking about girls this way.” Another punch.

“You would go as far to fucking rape her if you didn’t get what you want?” Hongjoong’s fist collides with his face again. “That’s the kind of guy you are?”

You hear another punch.

“Then you deserve to fucking die here.”

He’s hovering over your ex’s body, continuously delivering blows to his head. He doesn’t stop even when you start to see blood. It’s everywhere, coming out of his eyes, his mouth, it’s covering his entire face and it scares you.

“Hongjoong stop!” you call.

“S-stop” Chris chokes out, trying to use whatever strength he had left to stop your boyfriend from continuing his assault.

“Joong stop, you’re going to kill him!” you scream.

“Maybe I should.” Hongjoong chuckles menacingly. “He deserves it, don’t you think?” he glances at you and your eyes widen.

You shake your head. “Please.” your voice is quiet. “Just leave him.” and finally your boyfriend relents.

He spares another glance to the bloodied man on the floor who’s coughing profusely to catch his breathe, and he leans over him.

“If you ever fucking touch y/n again, I will fucking kill you.” Hongjoong growled. “I will hunt you down and fucking kill you, and I’m gonna make it slow and painful. If you do so much as breathe the same air next to her, I can promise you, I will come after you. So don’t ever think about coming near her again, you understand?” Chris doesn’t say anything and it pisses Hongjoong off.

Hongjoong grabs onto his collar, lifting him up till their faces are almost touching. “Do. You. Understand?”

“Y-you’re fucking crazy.” Chris manages to say through his coughing fit.

“Yeah I may be,” Hongjoong chuckles. “But I’m not a fucking rapist like you. I don’t force girls to do things they don’t want to. I don’t try and take away what’s already taken. Y/n’s fucking mine, you’ll never go near her again.”

Your eyes are wide with horror and you see your boyfriend’s fist covered in Chris’ blood. Your eyes scan your ex’s body laying limp on the ground, spitting out the remnants of blood out of his mouth. Hongjoong stands up looking over him, and you’re frozen with shock.

“I was fucking wrong, y/n. You should fucking leave. You don’t want to be with a guy like this, he’s a fucking psychopath-” Hongjoong kicks the words right out of his mouth and you jump back with a gasp.

“Lay here and rot.” 

Hongjoong grabs onto your hand, dragging you away, and even if you want to pull your hand away, you don’t. You’re too scared to. 

You’re left in a state of shock witnessing your sweet boyfriend nearly kill the man you once loved. Granted, it was probably well deserved given that he was harassing you and was about to do far worse had Hongjoong not shown up. But you don’t think it should’ve been to such an extent. 

You don’t talk for the entirety of the car ride, but you do spare small glances at your boyfriend who’s eyes were directed onto the road.

Hongjoong can sense your intense stare and he sighs, turning briefly at a stoplight to face you.

“I only did that because he was gonna hurt you.” he sighs. “You know that right?”

You nod slowly. “Y-yeah.”

“Don’t be scared, baby.” he says gently, reaching over to grab your hand as you flinch slightly. 

The light turns green. He averts his gaze back onto the road, but he rubs the back of your hand in an attempt to comfort you.

Your heart is racing and you know you shouldn’t fear him.

But you can’t help it.

Seeing him like that was a first, and you didn’t like it.

“Y-you didn’t have to hurt him that bad.” you whisper.

“You’re not defending him are you?” he glances at you.

“I-i’m not, Joong.” you’re quick to say. 

“So why does it sound like you are?” he badgers.

“You almost killed him.” you swallow the lump in your throat.

“He was touching you, I saw him. He was going to-”

“But he didn’t.” you interrupt before he can finish his sentence. “You stopped him before he could do anything. And I’m thankful that you did but... that should’ve been it. We should’ve walked away, but you just ... you kept going.”

“He was hurting you, y/n, I couldn’t let that slide.” he tries to defend.

“But you weren’t you back there, Joong. I’ve never seen you so... violent. I didn’t like it.”

“I’m sorry baby. I couldn’t help it. I was just protecting you.”

His words repeat over and over in your head, but you can’t ignore the sinking feeling in your gut. He almost killed him. He threatened to kill him. You’ve seen possessive before, but not to this degree. 

No, what happened back there wasn’t normal.

You don’t talk anymore after that, instead counting down the minutes till you were safe and sound in the comfort of your home. 

When you do get home you run off into the shower immediately, wanting to wash away how disgusting and dirty you felt after what you witnessed.

You shoot Irene a text to tell her you made it home okay and she lets you know she’s gone home with Seulgi and is glad you’re safe.

You spend a long time in the shower, trying to ease your racing mind and your thumping heart. You know Hongjoong’s waiting for you in bed, he can’t sleep properly without you in his arms. But you dread the moment you have to get out and face the reality of what happened. So you choose to stay in there until the heat runs out.

You hate to admit that you don’t want to be near him right now, but you can’t help it when your mind keeps flashing back to seeing your boyfriend’s eyes fill with rage. How he went from being so calm to snapping in an instant. How he mostly like broke your ex’s nose and most likely gave him a concussion, and left him there without a single ounce of guilt.

You don’t say anything when you enter your bedroom, and Hongjoong notices your distant behaviour. 

“Y/n, can you come here please?” he asks gently and you lock eyes with him.

You don’t know what else to do except comply, and the minute you’re sat next to him, he pulls you into his arms.

“I’m sorry if I scared you earlier.” he apologizes, and you snuggle deeper into his arms.

“It’s okay, it just.. caught me by surprise that’s all.” your throat burns as you suppress your tears.

“You know why I did it though. I would never let anyone hurt you.” he states and you nod. “I just hate the thought of someone else touching you. Especially him.”

“I know.”

“I had to get rid of him someway, right?” he asks, it’s a rhetoric question so you stay silent. “This way he won’t ever come near you again.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” your voice is quiet and your vision starts to blur from holding in your tears.

“I love you, y/n.” he whispers, pressing a soft kiss to your head. 

“I love you too.” you choke out.

“You’re all mine right?”

You nod again, this time letting the tears fall down your face.

“All yours.”

You don’t want to say it. You don’t want to give him the power of being able to control you. But you tell him what he wants to hear because you don’t know what he would do if you didn’t.

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me.” he begs his arms tightening around your body. “I don’t know what I would do if you ever did.”

Your heart is beating rapidly in your chest that it hurts and your mind is panicking with so many thoughts. You’re scared, but you also know you still love him.

And you want to give him the benefit of the doubt that this incident was just a one time slip up, so you forgive him, and you commit to his promise.

“I promise.” you gulp. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Little did you know how true that statement would be.

Hongjoong falls asleep next to you, with your head on his chest, and the sound of his heartbeat rings in your ears. You look up at his sleeping state and your eyes start to water once more.

You think about how he was a good boyfriend, one that made you happy and did everything he could to ensure you stayed that way. He was sweet, he was kind, he was everything you wanted. 

You look at Hongjoong and think about how he made you smile and laugh like no other person ever had, how made you feel safe in his arms, how he kissed away your tears when you were sad, and how he treated like you an absolute goddess, never making you think otherwise. He was there to provide you comfort and pleasure, and he was good at everything he did. 

Up until that point he was perfect. 

A little too perfect that you knew there had to have been something wrong with him.

And now you knew.

You tried to rationalize his flaws with all the redeeming qualities he had.

He was good to you.

He absolutely doted you.

He loved you.

So why was it right now, looking at him at this very moment, you wanted to throw up in disgust at the mere sight of him.

2:07 AM

You think about that first incident as you sit curled up on your couch, and you’re left wondering why you continued to stay after that. That should’ve been your first sign to get the fuck out and leave. 

But you didn’t. 

You stayed.

And right now, you’re looking at yourself with disgust.

Seeing as how things haven’t gotten any better.

No improvement, no changes.

Nothing.

So why the fuck are you still here? you ask yourself.

But you know it’s because you love him. That you’ve never loved anyone the way you loved Hongjoong. You knew from the moment you met him you knew you wanted him to be your forever.

But this wasn’t what you meant.

This wasn’t what you signed up for when you gave your entire being to this very man. 

You’re smart enough to know you’re only going to keep getting hurt. But your love for him remained so strong and completely outweighed the bad. You know you’ll never be able to bring yourself out the door and leave him behind.

You’re stuck with him. Forever.

Your thoughts are interrupted by the sound of your bedroom door opening, and you watch as Hongjoong passes the kitchen into the living room where you’re sat. You don’t know how much time has passed until you look over to the clock and see that it’s been well over an hour and you have yet to move a muscle.

Hongjoong walks over to you as he sits down beside you.

“Are you done having your bitch fit?” he chided and your eyes narrow at him.

“That’s how you’re really going to start this conversation right now?” you scoff. 

“What, you think I was gonna come here and beg for your forgiveness? I didn’t peg you for an idiot, y/n.” Hongjoong rolls his eyes at you.

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that? It’s like you want to keep fighting with me!” you shout, getting up from your spot to stand in front of him. “You make me feel like I don’t have a right to be pissed at you and then you come back an hour later and talk to me this way?”

“I came down here to tell you to get the fuck up to bed. Like aren’t you fucking tired of doing this every time? Let’s just fucking be done with this shit and go to sleep and-”

“And what? Deal with it in the morning? Or fuck me until I eventually forgive you? Because that’s always what happens right? You know exactly how to make things better, right? But it’s always temporary! We’re always just gonna keep coming back to this over and over again! Nothing’s changed in the last three years!”

“You’re constantly throwing around the fact that I don’t listen to you, that I don’t fucking change, but what about you? What have you done for me to compromise?!” he retorts.

“Compromise on what?! All I’ve been asking you to do was to control your behaviour! Stop acting so possessive and violent over me because you should know by now, I’m not going anywhere! But you keep doing this, you keep lashing out on other people who don’t always deserve you, you put me in a position where I have to fix your mess, while you live a guilt free life! You’re just driving me away at this point! You continue to lie to me, saying you’re going to change and fix your behaviour but you never do! Why can’t you just do this one simple thing for me?!” you badgered with annoyance.

“Because you’re mine!” he screams at you.

You look at him with a glare, and you shake your head.

“But that’s the thing Hongjoong, I’m not! I’m nobody’s! I belong to fucking nobody but myself. You don’t fucking own me Joong. I’m with you because I love you. I stay with you because I love you. I can acknowledge that you might be bad for me but I choose to put that shit aside because I fucking love you! You make me fucking miserable and yet I stay with you when I know I fucking shouldn’t! That’s how much control you have over me!” you return.

“And everything I’ve done for you is because you have control over me! Why don’t you understand that?!” he asks, getting up in your face.

“This is fucking toxic, this isn’t good for us!” you pull at your hair in frustration.

“It’s not like you’re going anywhere anyways! If you think this relationship is too much for you, why do you continue defending me and putting up with it?!” he argues.

“Because I’m still trying to make this work!” you cry. “I’m still trying because I still love you! But I can’t keep seeing past all these problems we have! I’m done overlooking all the shit you put me through. I’m reaching my last fucking straw, Joong! I’m reaching my fucking breaking point!” you scream in frustration. “So let me make one thing clear, the minute I decide I’m done, that’s it. I will fucking leave you if you push me to it, and you’re gonna let me because you don’t own me.” you say. “I’m giving you one last chance to prove to me that you’re gonna fix up and change your attitude. I want you to prove me wrong, prove that you aren’t gonna screw up again. Because the minute you fuck up, Im gone.” you threaten.

“You’re just fucking saying that.” he scoffs. “You always fucking say that and then you come back to me!”

Your mouth falls open in disbelief. “You know what, fine. Watch me leave then.” you stomp upstairs and Hongjoong follows suit.

You close the door behind you with force but Hongjoong opens it before you can shut it fully and he watches you messily grab random articles of clothing, pushing past him to retrieve every item you can take. 

You’ve always made empty threats, you’ve never actually left him before and he knows you won’t. You’ve never been able to. 

But when he sees you grabbing a duffle bag and filling it with clothes it actually starts to scare him.

“Cut the fucking act, y/n. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove-“

You stop forcefully throwing hangers around and throwing your clothes around so carelessly to look at him. “You think I won’t leave you? I told you to fucking watch me.” you state continuing your haphazard packing.

Hongjoong lets out a frustrated sigh and grabs onto your arms to stop you. “Stop it.”

“Fuck you, let go of me.” you spit.

“I told you to fucking stop.” he says through gritted teeth.

“I swear to god if you don’t fucking let go of my arm-”

He doesn’t let you finish. Instead he pins you to the bed, hovering over you. “You’re not fucking leaving, stop being so fucking dramatic and just go to fucking bed! It’s fucking late, you need to chill out!” he scolds but you don’t listen. 

“What, so now you want to stop me?” you glare at him. “You could just kick me out again! You’ve done it before right? So why won’t you let me fucking leave this time on my own!”

“You always feel the need to bring that shit up, get the fuck over it! I’m not letting you leave-”

“WHY NOT?!”

“Because you’re acting fucking crazy and you’re out of control right now! Just fucking relax for once-”

You punch at his chest but his grip is too strong and you let out a frustrated groan. “GET THE FUCK OFF!” you screech at him but he doesn’t relent.

“Y/n, stop-”

“I FUCKING HATE YOU!” you scream. “I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU!”

“YOU CAN HATE ME ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU’RE NOT LEAVING ME!” he screams back at you.

You manage to free your grip from his wrists and you do the one thing you’ve never done before. You slap him.

It shocks the both of you and your mouth fall slightly open in surprise. He doesn’t say anything at first and you can tell he wasn’t expecting it either.

But then his eyes darken and they glare into your wide ones and he pulls on your wrist, teeth clenching. “Don’t ever fucking hit me again.”

You open your mouth to speak but no words come out.

“You’re not going anywhere.” he states. “I’m gonna go into the living room and you’re gonna stay in here and calm the fuck down. Then we’ll talk.” he says. “and if you still want to leave after that, fine. I won’t stop you this time. But you need to fucking relax and clear your fucking head. You’re fucking insane.”

And he leaves you alone once again.

You think about the one time you actually did leave.

But it wasn’t a choice you made on your own.

1 years, 9 months, 23 days ago.

You were used to his possessiveness by now. You knew his love for you was borderline obsessive, and you hated the fact that you still loved him too. You still chose to ignore all the red flags, overlooking every toxic trait he had.

You continued to put up with it and you excused his behaviour because... well it wasn’t like he controlled you completely.

He never forced you to tell him things you didn’t want, never controlled the things you did, never gave you shit for the things you wore, never made you feel like you needed to rely on him for everything.

He still gave you your freedom.

He just didn’t hold himself back from how other people acted around you. 

It was at his birthday party, you recall.

And it was the first time you were meeting the majority of Hongjoong’s friends. You wanted to make an effort to mingle with them to show your boyfriend you cared about the people in his life.

Sure you knew of his closest ones, the other seven boys he allowed you to be near. They were the only ones that Hongjoong felt comfortable with you being around.

But this time you were surrounded by new faces, and it wasn’t like Hongjoong warned you of any of them so you took it upon yourself to befriend a few of them. You figured if he let him into the comfort of your own home, they had to have been good people.

You saw no harm in it, and at first he didn’t see the harm either.

Until he noticed the lingering stare in Sehun’s eyes, and the way his fingertips would ghost over the skin of your shoulder, and how his knee would brush against yours every so often. 

Anger started to bubble up in his chest at the sight of you laughing at something Sehun said, and the jealousy ran rampant in his veins. 

He tried to control his feelings at first, brushing it off as Sehun’s overly flirtatious nature. 

But it was when he saw his friend place his hand over your bare thigh that Hongjoong finally lost it. 

Before you could even take Sehun’s hand off of you and tell him to back off, Hongjoong’s grabbing onto him in an instant, throwing him away from you.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Hongjoong seethes as Sehun’s eyes widen.

The guests eyes avert to the scene in front of them and you look over at Seonghwa and San pleading for help.

“Woah, calm down, Joong.” Sehun says with a light chuckle. “I was just telling your girlfriend about-”

“Yeah, exactly, MY girlfriend.” Hongjoong interrupted. “So why is that you feel the need to touch her like she’s fucking single? You don’t think I’ve been watching you eye fuck her this whole night? Don’t you know how to back off?” he pushes at his friend’s chest.

“Dude, relax, it’s not that serious.” Sehun rolls his eyes. “You know me man, I would never do anything to disrespect you, or your girl.”

“That’s not what it fucking looked like you prick-”

“Okaaay, Joong, how ‘bout we go somewhere else, hm?” Seonghwa calls, placing his arm around your boyfriend’s shoulder as he and San guide him into one of your guest rooms.

You follow suit with Wooyoung and Yunho behind you as you leave the confused party guests to themselves.

“Are you okay?” Yunho asks and you nod your head.

But inside, you’re heart seizes with fear, because you know exactly where this conversation is gonna go. 

When you enter the room, it feels tense right away, and Hongjoong eyes you with a cold stare. “Do you have anything to say for yourself right now?” he calls over San’s shoulder.

You shake your head. “W-what did I do?” you ask genuinely.

“Are you fucking stupid?” Hongjoong scoffs.

“Joong, stop.” Seonghwa sighs, placing a hand on his chest.

“You know what your problem is, you fucking act like such an innocent little bitch when in reality you’re the biggest slut i know.” he spits at you suddenly, and it has everyone’s eyes widening at his bold statement.

“Pipe down, hyung. Don’t call her that.” Yunho shakes his head disapprovingly.

“What was I doing wrong?! Talking to him?!” you scoff.

“For letting him touch you like that! He was fucking flirting with you and you didn’t do shit about it-”

“Oh my god, you didn’t even give me the chance!” you say, throwing your hands in the air. “If you just waited one more fucking second I would’ve told him to take his hands off me and-”

“Bullshit.” he laughs. “You wanna go whore around? Fine. But don’t fucking lie to my face and pretend that you didn’t do shit.” he pushes past Seonghwa to get in your face. “Go back out there with him if that’s what you want.” as he shoves you back.

“Woah hey, Joong, don’t do that.” Seonghwa intervenes when he sees his best friend push you a bit too hard.

“How are you gonna blame me and say it’s my fault? All we were doing was talking!-“ you try to defend, tears threatening to spill.

“Talking my fucking ass,” your boyfriend scoffs at you.  “You’re just a fucking attention whore. What, I’m suddenly not enough for you? So you go around prancing like the little slut you are because you need validation from other guys?!”

You feel embarrassed at your current situation, feeling the heavy stares of Hongjoong’s best friends on you. Fighting with him in private was one thing. It was shitty and made you feel terrible, but you could handle it. 

But being in the same room, hearing your boyfriend call you names while his friends watch from the side has you recoiling in pure humiliation.  

“Hongjoong that’s enough! Fuck, what is wrong with you man?” Seonghwa pushes his friend back.

“Why don’t you ask her? Why are you guys acting like i’m the fucking villain?!” Hongjoong sneers. “You think she’s the fucking victim here? Look at her. Acting all innocent and crying like a fucking bitch. What are you so upset about?” he glares at you and you stand still in your spot, not knowing what to say. 

“Joong, I’m sorry but I don’t think what I was doing was wrong!” you say. “You wanted me to get to know your friends and that’s exactly what I was doing! You can’t get mad at me for doing what you wanted!”

“You let him fucking feel you up, you let him touch you when you know I don’t like that shit. You’re making all these excuses to justify the fact that you can’t be satisfied with one man giving you all his attention?! How are you gonna say you didn’t do anything wrong when you let that happen?! When you know it would upset me, on my fucking birthday no less? Fuck you y/n! Your mouth is fucking shit, all you know how to do is lie!”

“You know what, fuck you too Joong. I put up with so much of your shit, I forgive you every time you get pissed over another guy being around me. I clean up your fucking mess time and time again and this is how you treat me?! Are you just going to get mad every time a man does so much as breathe next to me?! You’re going to blame me for shit I didn’t even do-“ he interrupts you, refusing to hear your side.

“Yeah I fucking blame you!”

“God can you fucking relax and think about what you’re saying right now?! You’re literally causing a scene at your own fucking birthday party-”

“Yeah and what?!” he screams at you. “You don’t think everyone at this fucking party should know how much of a fucking slut you are?!”

You gape at him and so does Seonghwa and San whose holding their best friend back. 

“Woah, hyung that’s not fucking cool.” San says. “I know you’re pissed off and drunk as fuck right now but do not treat your girlfriend that way.”

Hongjoong chuckles, “Why? She thinks she can do whatever the fuck she wants anyways. Why the fuck can’t I call her out on her shit?”

“Because she didn’t do anything!” Wooyoung shouts, coming next to you protectively. “You need to fucking relax. Yunho, help me get everyone out of their house. They need to deal with this shit with less people here.”

Yunho nods his head, leaving the room with Wooyoung to usher all the party guests out.

“Joong, don’t be unreasonable right now. Be mad at Sehun all you want, but don’t accuse y/n of being at fault when she didn’t do anything. She’s your fucking girlfriend for god sakes, don’t treat her this way-” Seonghwa begins to defend you but Hongjoong stops him.

“You know what, take your fucking shit, get the fuck out of my house, and don’t fucking come back!” he grabs your purse and throws it in your direction and it nearly hits you in the face.

“Hyung!” San shouts as he holds his elder back.

“Are you actually kicking me out right now?” you ask in shock.

“You’re damn right I am.” he states. “Go fucking slut it up on the streets for all I give a shit! Since you want male attention so bad, see how long you last out there!” Hongjoong taunts you.

“D-don’t fucking do this, Joong.” you plead. “I know you’re pissed at me but don’t make me leave, I have nowhere else to go.”

“Ask me if I give a shit.” he rolls his eyes. “You want to act like an ungrateful bitch then get the fuck out of my place. I literally fucking give you everything, I love you like no else fucking will. You don’t fucking appreciate me then Get. The. Fuck. Out.”

You don’t move for a second, but Hongjoong pushes past his friends, gripping onto your arm as he drags you out of the room. 

The guests are long gone by now, and you don’t admit that you’re thankful that no one else has to witness this right now.

“Joong, let go of her!” Seonghwa calls after him, as him and San follow you both out the door. 

Yunho and Wooyoung are in the kitchen when they see their friend dragging you outside and they’re quick to try and resolve the situation, but there’s nothing they can do at this point that’ll calm Hongjoong down.

“You don’t want to fucking leave? I’ll make you leave! Don’t ever try and come back here, I mean it!” he pushes you forcefully out the door and slams the door in your face and his friends stare with their mouths open in pure horror.

“Are you crazy?! What is wrong with you?!” Yunho gapes.

“She wants to act like a whore then let her. When everything I do is for her, it’s not enough! She wants to find comfort in other men then she can fucking do that.” Hongjoong simply shrugs. “Let her learn her lesson. See how long she can survive without me.”

The four boys don’t say anything, instead choosing to leave and find you to ensure your safety. They don’t recognize this man in front of them, and they never thought they’d witness him act this way.

They hate him right now, and they think you deserve to hate him too.

They find out downstairs in the lobby, crying on the bench hysterically. It’s 2 in the morning and they know how tired you must be, so Seonghwa kindly offers you to stay at their place for the time being.

“Y/n, don’t worry about Hongjoong right now.” Seonghwa sits next to you.

“I have nowhere to go-”

“You’re going to come stay with us.” he states. “We have a spare room, you can stay there for as long as you need. You don’t have to worry about him right now, he’s being a fucking dick. Drunk or not he shouldn’t be treating you this way.”

“He’s gonna get mad if I go with you-”

“Let him get mad then.” San interjects. “It’s better than you sleeping on the streets by yourself. You’re better off with us.”

You don’t hesitate after that and you agree, thanking them profusely for their generosity. They sit with you until the Uber comes, asking you every few minutes if you’re doing okay. You realize that not even your own boyfriend has shown this much compassion towards you in a long time. 

“Does he always do this to you?” Wooyoung asks and you shake your head.

“No, no..” you say. “He just, he gets jealous easily. Doesn’t like when other guys are around me. He’s kind of possessive and he just, acts out I guess.”

“I didn’t know he was like that.” Seonghwa sighs. “He doesn’t ... hit you does he?”

“No! Never, no.” you’re quick to say. “He just needs to control his anger better...”

The Uber pulls up in front of your building before any more words can be exchanged, and the boys guide you over to the car.

When you get inside, you rest your head on the window and cry again. Silently this time, but the boys know. They can only imagine how you’re feeling at this very moment, and they feel terrible inside.

You look over to Yunho who’s sitting beside you and he stares back at you. 

“Do you think he hates me?” you ask quietly.

“No, y/n. He could never hate you.” he sighs. “He loves you so much.” he tries to reassure.

“So why does he treat me like this?” you return, and Yunho’s heart breaks for you.

He doesn’t know what to say because he doesn’t even know the answer to that himself.

He shakes his head with another heavy sigh, reaching over to comfort you. “I don’t know, y/n.” he admits truthfully. “All I know is that I’m sorry he did this to you.”

Everyone else in the car can hear your conversation, but out of respect for you they pretend to ignore it.

But in their heads, they’re all thinking the same thing as Yunho.

They’re sorry he did this to you too.

4:12 AM

A few hours pass and you’re calmer now.

Your head still hurts and your heart feels heavy but you’re less angry. So you figured that counted for something.

You’ve sat with yourself for the last two hours, weighing your options.

You could still leave.

But just like the first time you left by force, you still have nowhere else to go.

You could go back to Seonghwa’s place, but it took a long time for him and all the other boys to forgive Hongjoong, you didn’t want to burden them and drag them through this mess all over again.

You somehow managed to convince them you and Hongjoong were doing better, and you didn’t want to have to put them in another uncomfortable position where they would have to pick sides.

You figure here is better than nowhere, even with the endless cycle of this torment. 

Half of you wants to leave, to forget about this whole nightmare and leave this life behind. To not look back and leave your boyfriend for good. To find someone else who could probably treat you better than this.

But the other half knows you depend on Hongjoong too much for your happiness. It’s the optimistic part in you that keeps reminding you that despite all these reoccurring fights, he still makes you happy, in some ways. 

You’re conflicted to say the least, and you don’t know what you truly want to do.

Because if you leave you’ll come back, and if you stay, you’ll just subject yourself to this miserable life over and over again.

You don’t see any winning options.

Hongjoong’s soft knock interrupts your thoughts and he comes in shortly after. “Are you good now?” he asks softly and you nod.

You scoot across the bed to make room for him and he takes it as a sign to lay next to you. You two don’t say anything for a long while. Just staring into the plain white walls of your bedroom. You can hear each other breathing heavily, words lingering on the tips of your tongues, yet, none of you say anything.

The silence lasts for what feels like an eternity before he finally decides to speak first.

“So are you going to leave?” Hongjoong asks, turning to face you.

You shrug. “I want to.”

“So why don’t you?” he asks, but this time, there’s not a hint of malice in his tone. For once, it’s just curiosity.

You finally lock eyes with him and your face softens. “Because I fucking love you.” your eyes water, and Hongjoong pulls you into his arms. “I don’t know why I can’t leave you Joong. I fucking hate you and love you at the same time. You literally make me feel like shit. You do nothing good for me. You ruined my life.” you cry into his chest and he hugs you tighter.

“I know baby.” he murmurs, and it shouldn’t comfort you. But it does.

“I should leave.”

“You should.” he agrees.

“There’s only so much I can handle. I can’t stay with you if you aren’t willing to change, even a little bit. This is getting too much and I keep giving you all these chances when I should’ve walked away a long time ago.” you exclaim.

“I know.” is all he can say.

“I want to leave you, but at the same time I can’t stand the thought of not being with you.” you sigh.

You hate yourself right now because you sound so fucking stupid.

You could never explain why you continue to stay with him, because you don’t even know the answer to that yourself. All you know is that you’re a fucking idiot.

“I know I don’t deserve you, but I need you here with me, y/n.” he sighs. “I don’t ever want to know what it’s like to not have you anymore. I love you, you know I do. That’s why I do this, it’s just because I love you.”

You’ve heard it all before.

You shouldn’t believe him.

You shouldn’t even let him convince you of anything.

He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness for the millionth time.

“If you forgive me this time, it’s the last time I’ll put you through this ever again.”

“Don’t lie to me, Joong.” you shake your head.

“I’m not.”

“I want to believe you so bad.” you sigh.

“So believe me.” he turns to you. “Trust me now like you’ve trusted me all the other times before. I swear to you that I’ll put more of an effort this time.”

You sigh, looking up at the ceiling, refusing to meet his eyes.

You think about the time you forgave him for kicking you out.

1 year, 8 months, 23 days ago.

One month later, Hongjoong’s begging for you back, asking for your forgiveness as you sit at Seonghwa’s dining table, void of any emotion.

You’ve lived 30 days without any communication with Hongjoong, and you hate to say that it was the worst thirty days of your life. 

Even after tossing you out like you were nothing, you still missed him beyond belief, and your heart craved him every night he wasn’t right beside you.

You know at this point, you were just as fucked in the head as he was.

For continuing to love a man who proved time and time again that he wasn’t good for you, and he never would be.

“What makes you think you deserve to talk to her after you pulled that shit last month?” Seonghwa raises his eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest as he eyes his best friend.

“I-I was drunk, Hwa.” Hongjoong excuses and his friend scoffs.

“You’re pathetic.” Seonghwa rolls his eyes. “You can’t just come back and expect her to be okay with what you did to her. And why now? You should’ve done it the night after you tossed her out but instead you choose to wait a whole fucking month?”

“I wanted to clear my head. I wanted to think about what I did wrong and make sure I made it up to her the right way.” Hongjoong defends himself. “Can you just let me in so I can see my fucking girlfriend? Since when were you so protective over her?”

“Since you treated her like fucking garbage!” Seonghwa retaliates. “I shouldn’t even let you do this, but you’re my best friend and you need to do what’s right. But if I ever catch you treating y/n that badly again, I will make sure you never see her again.” 

Hongjoong nods his head, but inside he’s rolling his eyes at his elder. He hates that Seonghwa cares about you all of a sudden, but he won’t be unreasonable this time. He’ll admit his faults. Right now the only thing he cares about is getting you back.

Seonghwa finally lets him in and he takes you to the dining area where you’re seated reading a book. You don’t notice the presence of the two boys right away until Seonghwa clears his throat and you look up.

“Y/n, Hongjoong wanted to talk to you.” Seonghwa states, leaving the two of you alone.

You just stare at him at first, not knowing exactly what to say or do. You don’t know if he’s going to lash out at you, or forgive you for pissing him off the night of his birthday.

He approaches you gently, leaning down next to you as he places a small bouquet of roses on the table.

“I know this isn’t enough of an apology for what I did, but, I didn’t mean what I said that night.” he says gently.

You look at the roses in front of you and sigh. “You really hurt me you know that?” 

“I know.” he bows his head down in shame. 

“I get it, Joong. I can deal with your possessiveness, I can deal with your anger problems, but calling me names? Kicking me out? I let so much shit slide but when you go off and blame me for things that I didn’t even do...” you say quietly.

“I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, baby.” Hongjoong sighs. “Everything I said that night was out of anger towards Sehun. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, but it just killed me to see him all over you like that. You know that I love you too much and sometimes that makes me act out.”

“You can’t keep doing this when someone makes you mad.” you say. “You should know by now I’m all yours. I told you that so long ago. You don’t have to worry about me leaving because I won’t. But you can’t do this ever again, Joong. Please.” you plead.

“I won’t. I promise, I won’t do this again. But please forgive me, because I can’t live without you. I miss you so much. And I still love you. No matter what I said, that doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I always will.”

Your heart softens hearing his words and your eyes begin to tear up. Hongjoong looks at you endearingly and you suddenly remember the face of the man you fell in love with so long ago.

You go against your better judgement and forgive him.

Like you always do.

“I love you too.” you say.

“So you forgive me?” he asks, placing his hand on your thigh comfortingly.

You sigh.

You take his bouquet of roses as a silent sign of forgiveness and you scoot over to let him sit next to you.

Hongjoong pulls you into his arms, hating the prideful feeling inside of him, knowing very well things were going exactly how he expected. He knew this was going to happen. He knew you were going to forgive him and take him back.

Because you always take him back.

4:30 AM

“Y/n, I love you, you know that right?” he says.

“I know.” you swallow your tears. 

You do know he does.

But it never really feels like it.

“But.. if you claim to love me why can’t you change? Or at least try to? You keep hurting me and then you say it’s because you love me but, you don’t exactly show me that. I don’t understand how you can keep putting me in this position and say you do out of love.” you ask.

“I can’t explain what makes me act this way. But I go crazy when it comes to you, and it’s because of how strongly I feel for you. I don’t know why I treat you like shit. I don’t know why I do the things I do.” he admits.

“Sometimes I feel like you don’t love me at all. You just look at me as something that belongs to you.” you say.

He hates that you’re partially right. 

“That’s not true.” he lies. 

He does love you. He loves you more than anything else in this world, that much is clear.

But you’re right about you belonging to him.

Deep down he thinks you’re stupid for thinking you don’t belong to him. 

You are is his. You always will be his.

But he doesn’t try to prove you wrong. He keeps his mouth shut.

It’s silent again, and your heads are both swirling with a million different thoughts, and you want to say a million different things to each other. 

But you feel like there’s nothing left to say. 

Because everything that could be said, already has been.

The cycle will just continue. It’s never going to stop.

And there’s no one else to blame except for the poor decisions you both make.

You let yourselves get to this point.

“You need to let me leave, Joong. I can’t keep doing this.” your lips quiver and your voice breaks.

“No y/n-”

You stop him. “No, listen to me first.” you say. 

“I told you. I’m tired of doing this again and again. You need to promise me right now you’re going to do something to change yourself because I meant it when I said I will leave if you keep driving me away. Because if you can’t promise me this one thing, and actually mean it, you have to let me walk away. If you claim to care about me, and if you really do love me, you’ll either do this for me or you’re going to let me be happy without you. So please, Joong. I’m begging you. Please. Please just do this for me or just let me fucking go.” you cry, and he pulls you into his chest as you sob.

He doesn’t know what to tell you.

Because if he promises he’ll change, he’d only be lying. 

But if he doesn’t, he has to force himself to let you go.

And he could never do that.

“I’m not letting you go.” he states, and you know that’s his way of avoiding your promise.

“We aren’t good for each other. We shouldn’t be together.” you bury your face in his chest, and his hold on you tightens again.

Hongjoong’s throat starts to burn. “I know.” he whispers. “But we also can’t be without each other.” 

He feels your tears soak through his shirt.

“You’ll change this time, won’t you?” you look at him with pleading eyes. 

He doesn’t want to, but he nods anyways. 

He just doesn’t offer any sort of reassurance.

You want him to say sorry, Hongjoong can feel it. He knows all you’ve ever wanted was to hear him apologize and mean it.

But he never does. Because he isn’t sorry.

He isn’t sorry for scaring away those guys who threatened to take him away from you. He isn’t sorry for calling you those names. He isn’t sorry for making you feel like you can’t get anyone better than him. He isn’t sorry for knowing how much you truly depend on him and need him. 

He’s not sorry, and he never will be.

So instead he chooses to say ‘i promise.’ like he’s done again and again. He repeats those same words to you and he feels you relax in his arms.

He knows you’re not stupid enough to believe him, but you’re too optimistic for your own good. Always choosing to believe he can change. Always seeing the good that’s left in him and your broken relationship. And for the record, he does try, but his love for you is just so obsessive and consuming it drives him mad. He just can’t bear the thought of someone else taking you away from him. He can’t control the way he acts and he knows its unhealthy. 

But he lies to you because he knows it’ll keep you with him. 

“I promise I’ll change.” he whispers in your ear.

And you want to believe him so badly. But you know it’s just an empty promise. Because you know the next chance he gets, he will put you through all this again. And Hongjoong won’t admit it but he knows you’re always going to forgive him. No matter how many times you threaten to leave and actually try to, you’re going to end up back in his arms every night, loving him like you’ve never loved anyone else before.

So for right now, you just pretend. You pretend he means what he says and you pretend that things are going to get better. 

You want to believe that he’ll change.

But deep down inside, you know he never will.

LA FIN.

[flightsoffandom]

Peer Pressure

Pairs: Aaron Hotchner x Reader (Future SugarDaddy!Hotch x SugarBaby!Reader)

Words: 6998

Summary: After a casual comment to your friends, an interesting opportunity falls into your lap. Curious to see where this opportunity leads, you go along with it. This odd string of events has a very intriguing outcome.

Warnings: None really, Peer pressure I guess (I mean it is the title of this chapter)

Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Please feel free to send me any questions, comments, or suggestions about this fanfic because I’m kinda in new territory, so any feedback would be helpful and appreciated. <3 I found a gender-neutral term for Parent, so instead of using ‘Sugar Mommy’ or ‘Sugar Daddy' at one point, a character used the term ‘Sugar Renny’ (‘Renny’ is shorthand for ‘Rents’ which in turn is short for ‘Parents’). I will probably reuse the term in other fics because, honestly, I think it’s a hella cute term for a parent. Please know that I don’t support using some of the behavior displayed in this fanfic in real life. That being said, this is indeed FanFiction, and some of it was added for comic effect or whatever else. Don’t peer pressure your friends into doing something they don't need and/or want to do. You don't need to date someone ever or date consistently in order to be a fulfilled person <3

Beginning of Unconventional – Peer Pressure* – Second Date

Rossi sat utterly relaxed in the chair across from Hotch’s desk, “When is the last time you went on a date?” Rossi had been relentlessly questioning Hotch about his love life for the last fifteen to twenty minutes. Hotch groaned, “Is this really a good use of our time, Dave?” Rossi gave a very dramatic nod, “Yes. It is.” Hotch had been staring at the same paper, unable to get any work done, “I don’t have the time.” Rossi gave Hotch an unamused look. Prompting Hotch to add, “Finding someone who has a schedule that lines up with mine would be damn near impossible.” Rossi got a mischievous look on his face. A look that always meant he was up to something. Rossi smiled, “There are certain…” Rossi moves his hands as he speaks, “arrangements. People who are willing to spend time with you at the drop of a hat.” Aaron narrowed his eyes, watching Dave closely, “You’re not seriously suggesting a prostitute, are you?” Rossi laughs, “You are not that much of a lost cause… yet.” Rossi pulls out his phone and starts messaging someone. Aaron was more suspicious than curious, “Then what were you suggesting?” Rossi looks back up from his phone, “Something more in the sugar baby range of companionship.” Hotch’s eyes went wide, completely taken aback, “What?” Hotch pauses, thinking this was a joke. Rossi’s face, however, showed that he was serious about his suggestion.

   Hotch starts to protest, “How is tha-” Rossi interrupts him with the wave of his hand, “Now before you start throwing the rulebook around and get all dramatic about it. It’s not always money, Aaron.” Hotch scoffs. Rossi rolls his eyes, “So closed-minded. It can be gifts, opportunities, or connections.” Rossi looks at his phone again, “That’s something you will have to work out with them.” Hotch couldn’t believe what Ross was saying. Then Hotch realized how Rossi phased that last sentence, “Did you already set me up with someone?” Rossi nods, smirking, “I did. From what I have heard about them, you two would be a good match.” Hotch exhaustedly places his hand over his face, “You haven’t even met them yourself?” Rossi stands up, “I heard it from a reliable source.” Rossi grins at Hotch, “If it makes you feel better, I will be vetting them before I set up your official date.” Hotch wanted to protest to fight this, and Rossi could see that. So Rossi intervenes before anything could be said, “And don’t try to weasel out of it. I can make your life a living hell, and you know I will.” It was a half-hearted threat, one made between friends. That didn’t make the statement any less true, though. If Hotch didn’t agree to this now, he knew Rossi would find a way to trick him into it later. Maybe even getting the rest of the BAU involved. That sounded like a much bigger headache than just agreeing to it now. Hotch reasoned that he could always go to this date, meeting, whatever it was called, and then just never do a follow-up. So begrudgingly, Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke, “Fine.” Rossi had an all too triumphant look on his face as he walked out of Hotch’s office.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It hadn't been a good week for you. Between getting the news that the scholarship you had been relying on for college was ending, you had no financial backup plan. You had a decent job at a local restaurant, but one of the owner’s kids took over and cut the servers pay. It was that time of year for your apartment to increase rent prices. You have been looking for other jobs but didn’t have any luck. It just seemed to be one thing after another. All of these things weighed on your mind, stressing you out. Before all of that stress happened, you had agreed to go out with your friends tonight. And Oliva wasn't planning on letting weasel out of this so you could anxiously worry about things in your apartment all by yourself.

You wanted to be studying, or filling out applications, or anything but be at this bar right now. Oliva and Mason, two of your close friends, had different plans. The music was so loud you had to yell over it just to talk to anyone. It was so crowded that you felt claustrophobic. And to top it off, the three of you had been looking for a free place to sit for easily an hour. It was exhausting. Oliva tugged on one of your arms, “[Y/N] come on have some funnnnnnnn…” Mason pulled on your other arm, “You promised you would be fun tonight.” You sighed and rolled your eyes, “I agreed to this before I found out I will either have to drop out of school or pick up two more jobs.” Your two friends groaned. The pair finally finds a table, and the three of you jump on it before someone else takes it. Oliva spoke up first, giggling, “You know you could always get a job working with us.” Mason grins, “Being a sugar baby has a lot of perks. I haven’t had to worry about bills in like five years.” You roll your eyes, “I’m glad you guys are happy being sugar babies, but I really don’t think it's the right thing for me.” With the news your scholarship was ending, you had started seriously wondering if your friends were right, though. It seemed like a magic fix to all your problems. You sighed, “But maybe… let me see if I can figure something out, first.” Oliva and Mason were both busying texting away on their phones. Mason shook his head, “You can’t wait that long. It’s like a normal relationship. You gotta feel it out and see if it will work and then mutually agree to the arrangement details.” You dramatically let fold your arms onto the table before letting your head fall on top of your arms.

Oliva pats your back, “It’s alright. I got one lined up for you already.” You shoot back up, “What? I haven’t even officially agreed to it yet.” Oliva grins devilishly at you, “You said ‘officially,’ which means you have agreed. You just haven’t admitted it to yourself or said it out loud.” Mason flags down someone bussing drinks and orders you all a round. Oliva was right. You had basically mentally agreed to it already. You were nervous, though. This was not typically how you did things. You take a drink, “I don’t like being so dependent on someone.” These weren’t objections. They were more just worries you had. Mason laughs, “I mean in a way sure. But doesn’t marriage do the same thing? Married people become legally bound together by all sorts of documents from the marriage itself to houses, cars, or bank accounts.” Mason knocks his drink back and then shrugs, “I’ve never become legally bound to any Sugar Renny’s I’ve had.” He was making sense. You nod along as you drink, “Okay then… I honestly don’t see how it could make things worse.” Olive laughs, “Cheers to that. Now let’s have some fun.” You all gently clink your glasses together before going back to drinking.

After a few hours, Oliva jumps up, “You have to come with me now. We are gonna go meet someone.” You sit there startled, and Mason shoos you both, having his own plans for the night. You stare at Oliva, “How is this happening right now?” Oliva rolls her eyes like you're supposed to know, “Cause he is famous and a very busy man. He calls the shots.” She grabs your arm and starts tugging you through the crowds of people. You stumble behind her. Once you get out the door, you start asking questions, “Who even is he? Where are we meeting him?” Oliva looks around and pulls you towards a car that you’re assuming is an Uber, “So many questions can’t you just be spontaneous and trust me.” Oliva makes you get in the back of the car first, so you didn’t have a chance to run away. You glare at her as she slides in next to you, “I trust you just fine. It's the stranger I don’t trust. What if he is a serial killer or something?” Oliva starts chuckling, which quickly turns to full-out laughter like she knew something you didn’t. You narrow your eyes at her, “You are the worst.” Oliva confirms that the driver knows where to go. The place she stated was pretty upscale. Now you were nervous. You hadn’t dressed for a nicer venue, only wearing clothes for a casual night out. Oliva turns to you, “You might think I’m the worst, but clearly someone needs to intervene. When is the last time you went on a date?” You anxiously breathe in through your teeth, “There was…” Olive interrupts you knowing exactly who you were going to say, “That was YEARS ago. It’s been too long.” You sigh and try to relax, knowing arguing isn’t going to get you anywhere with Oliva.

The drive took some time, and you were getting more nervous, the closer you got to your destination. To try to calm yourself, you switch between messing with your hands and scrolling through your phone. When the vehicle finally stops, it startles you. Oliva gets out first. You closely follow behind her. At this point, you knew trying to sneak away was pointless. Plus, part of you was extremely curious about who this guy was and how this whole sugar baby thing would pan out. You could already see that this place was a higher class then you were used to. Oliva let go of your wrist when she deemed you trustworthy enough to just follow her on your own. You stayed close, feeling absolutely out of place. When the door opens, the smell of cigars and smoke rolls out. Luckily it wasn’t overwhelming, but it was definitely noticeable. Oliva worked her way through the crowd with ease as you trail behind her. Oliva weaves her way through like she has been here before, and she probably has. When she stops, you almost run into her. Oliva motions to a gentleman enjoying a cigar and a glass of what you assumed was alcohol.

The man was quite a bit older than you thought he would be. Not that Oliva had given you any sort of information to go off of. He had grey coming into both his hairline and facial hair. The man was dressed more casually than the posh masses that filled the rest of the building. Oliva said he was famous and you recognized him from something, but you weren’t sure what. He had a suave look about him, and he wasn’t bad looking, just not your type. Oliva walked up to the gentleman, “Davie!” She gave him a big hug, and the man hugged her back. Oliva pulled back, “Steve and I really had fun at the party last week.” This was one of those moments where Oliva got carried away. She was catching up with the nicely dressed gentleman, and you were wondering if you were actually supposed to be here for this. The man clears his throat to get Oliva to slow down, drawing your attention. The man finished his drink, looking overall, somewhat amused, “This is the friend you were telling me about?” He motions to you. Oliva nods, “Mhm, [Y/N]. They are new to all this stuff. I think they will be perfect for what you need.” You glared at Oliva as she talked about you like you weren’t there. Oliva doesn’t even seem to notice, “Which I think I will leave you two to discuss the details.” Your mouth drops open, “Liv!” Oliva turns to look at you, “What? You need to be more spontaneous. So I’m just going to throw you into the deep end of this. Love you, though.” She gives you a loving, albeit annoying pinch on the cheek. You grumble. Before you can stop her, Oliva bolts, quickly disappearing into a group of people.

You let out a long groan before remembering that the famous man was still standing near you. You turn to look at him, worriedly pressing your eyebrows together, “She is a bit of a mess.” Letting out a nervous chuckle as you finish your statement. The man laughs, “Since she skipped over proper introductions. I’m David Rossi.” As soon as he said his name, it clicked. You had seen some of his books. You think you might have even bought a few but just never got around to reading them. You still weren’t entirely sure what was going on, but you offered an apprehensive smile, “I’m [Y/N], but Oliva at least remembered that part.” David motions to the table for you to sit down. He seemed friendly, but between him being famous and Oliva completely underselling the whole ‘throwing you into the deep end’ thing, you were antsy and unsure of what was going on. David seems to catch onto this quickly, “You can relax, I’m not the person you’re being set up with. But I’m assuming Oliva didn’t mention that.” You do relax a bit, sighing as you nod, “She did fail to mention that and pretty much everything else about what is going on.” A waiter stops by handing David a new glass. David takes a drink, “I am here to make sure you're a good fit for a friend of mine.” You nod slowly, “What do you want to know?” David pulls out a small note pad, skimming it as he talks, “You're a senior in college. You have a job, but you're still having a money problem.” There wasn't a question in that it was all statements. David looks back up at you for a moment. You try to get a closer look at that note pad, “Did you take notes about me? How much did Oliva tell you?” David laughs, “I’m an author. What did you expect? I do my research.” You didn't know where to be disturbed or flattered that a celebrity was this involved in your love life. You didn’t get a chance to think about it too much. David spoke again, “Essentially, I know everything about you. Mostly just fact-checking. I wanted to gauge your personality in person.” You sigh and let your face fall into the palm of your hand, feeling slightly overwhelmed at the moment. Surprisingly David lets you take a minute to collect yourself, only starting his questions when you raise your head back up. David looks back over his notes, “You've never been involved in this sort of arrangement before?” You shake your head. He asks a few other questions, clearly trying to evaluate you the whole time. It wasn't too bad, but you get anxious that maybe you were giving the wrong answers. The stress was getting to you a little bit, and David could tell. He quickly asked the questions, giving you just enough time to respond before asking the next one. Finally, he asks his last questions, “Do you plan on making arrangements with multiple people?” Startled by the question, you respond with the first thing that comes to mind, “Ohh god, no. I’m fucking nervous enough about one person.” This was the first candid response that fell out of your mouth. Your eyes went wide when you realized that you said that much louder than you meant too. You try to collect yourself to give a more collected response, but David just starts laughing before you get a chance. David gives a pleased nod as he starts writing something down on a card, “I like you.”

David looked at you, “Now it's time for me to leave but, I think you’re a good fit. Here is the location, date, and time you will be meeting him.” David hands you a card. You choke out of surprise, “What? I don't get to see a picture of him or anything? No further details?” You cautiously take the card. David shrugs and laughs, “His name is Aaron, and that’s all I am giving you. Think of it as a game.” David tussles your hair, “Good luck, kiddo.” You try to stop him, but he is already gone. You were left sitting in the middle of the restaurant, just having spoken to a decently famous man who set you up to be his friend’s potential sugar baby. You had no idea how your life went from 0-100 this quickly. You were in shock. With everything you had been worrying about in your life, it was actually kind of nice worrying about something less serious like this whole Sugar Daddy situation for a change. Maybe you should treat this as a game of sorts like David said and just have some fun. What’s the worst that could happen. David Rossi, a famous author who caught criminals for a living, wouldn’t set you up with a dangerous person. Also, David thought you were good enough for his friend, so that felt like a compliment. You took a deep breath deciding to just go with the flow for a change. Looking down at the card David gave you. The date was scheduled for a week from now. Which gave you some time to figure out how you would go about this. You got on your phone and ordered an Uber to take you home.

You were nervous. It had been a long time since you went on a date. You had never gone anywhere as fancy as the restaurant you were meeting Aaron at, and you damn well couldn’t afford it. Part of you was glad you had a week to figure out what to wear. The other part of you didn’t like having a whole week to overthink everything. However, your life didn’t give you much of a chance to sit around and worry about your upcoming date. Your week was filled with you applying for any and every scholarship application you qualified for. Then there was work, which wasn’t paying anywhere near what they should have been. You applied to at least twenty places. They didn’t seem like they would pan out. You did have a few classes, but you had slowed down a bit on your course load while waiting to figure out what you would do financially. You couldn’t help but think your slight indecisiveness on picking a specific major was a small blessing because it helped keep costs down for the time being. The week just seemed like the perfect example of why having a Sugar Daddy would make your life so much easier.

The day of the date had arrived. You wanted to be there early, considering you would have to play a game of ‘Where’s Waldo’. Getting dressed in an outfit that you deemed nice enough to wear on this date. You stood in the mirror and readjusted your clothes over a dozen times. You patted your cheeks to try to help calm your nerves as you stared at your reflection. You took a deep breath and then finally left your apartment. You were about half an hour early. It seemed like a bit much, but you want to scope the place out before your date arrives. Also, hoping the extra time would help you chill out a bit. You walk into the restaurant already feeling your nerves going crazy. Stepping over to the side, wringing your hands as you looked around. The restaurant just seemed to have the typical groups of society's elite. Everything was bright and shiny. It made you not want to touch anything. There was expensive, breakable artwork scattered about, which made you want to stand still out of fear of breaking something. It wasn’t overly crowded, at least, so that was a small comfort. Your first scan of the room you didn’t notice anything that drew your attention. But you were also nervous enough that you were getting distracted by the wait staff scurrying about. So after you calmed down a bit more, you took a second scan of the room. It was just the same groups you noticed before until your eyes landed on a table off to the side with one lone man sitting there.

You didn’t know how you missed this table the first time you looked. The man seemed a bit older than you. He had dark hair and was dressed up, but not as much as the other people that littered the room. Even from a distance, you could seem that his brows were tightly knit together. Despite the scowl carved onto his face, he still looked very handsome. He looked like he didn’t want to be here. Something inside you told you he was the man you were here to meet. You willed your feet to move, trying to ignore the anxiety still building inside you. You walked over to the table. He had been handsome from a distance, but the closer you got, the more you realized just how attractive you found him. You also started to see how stiff he was sitting. He looked so serious. He intimidated you. You weren’t sure if you actually had the courage to talk to him. You had been staring for a while, and he was bound to notice any minute. Right as you were about to turn tail and run, that was the moment he decided to look in your direction. You froze in place, probably looking just like a deer in headlights. His eyes narrowed, and he started glaring at you. You swallowed hard and tried to speak, “H...Hello.” You sounded timider then you wanted to. Trying to steady your voice, you cleared your throat before you continued speaking, “Are you Aaron?” He studied your face, “Yes.” Once he finished analyzing you, his face softened slightly, “You must be, [Y/N] then” Aaron automatically stood up and reached out to shake your hand. You offered a smile before reaching out and returning the gesture. Your mind temporarily goes blank when you feel his calloused hand in yours. When the handshake was finished, you both sat down at the table. You train of thought slowly coming back to you.

You pulled nervously at your collar, trying to figure out how to proceed. Aaron was still stiff. The glare on his face hadn't gone away. It was utterly silent, and the tension at the table kept growing. It was so bad that when the waiter brought you both a glass of water, they didn't linger at the table to ask anything. In order to do something, you pick the menu up off the table, looking it over. As soon as you see the prices, however, your eyes go wide. You had a rule of thumb whenever you went on any date that you didn’t order anything you couldn’t pay for. Everything on this menu was completely out of your price range. You put the menu back down. Aaron takes notice and raises his eyebrow inquisitively. You gave a nervous chuckle, “I’m actually not that hungry.” You don't know why you felt the need to lie, but none the less you did. He narrowed his eyes at you, studying you again. You felt like he was trying to read you constantly. You couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t like you or was suspicious, or maybe he still didn’t want to be here. Aaron pushed his menu to the side. His features softening as he has an almost apologetic look on his face, “I didn’t pick the place. Rossi did.” You let out a slight sigh of relief, “Good. I didn’t want to sound like an asshole and bring up that this place is a bit… much. I’m sure it’s nice, of course. Just not really my thing.” You chuckle nervously. For a split second, a ghost of a smile shows on Aaron’s face, “It’s not my kind of place either.” The tension and atmosphere made this feel like a business meeting, and you didn’t like it. The feeling bothered you so much that it prompted you to speak up, “Would you hate it if we went somewhere else then? This just feels so formal.” Aaron nods, “Where do you have in mind?” You can’t help but laugh as you get up from the table, “I have no idea. Some fresh air should help me start thinking straight.” You wait for him to stand up. You start walking away from the table, but suddenly you stop. This place was stressing you out more than you thought because you almost forgot. You dig into your pocket and pull out your wallet. It was a bit emptier than you would like, but that didn't stop you from pulling some money out of your wallet and leaving it on the table. Aaron watches you. You could tell what he was about to ask, or at least what he was wondering. So you answer before he has a chance to say anything, “I know we didn’t really order anything, but they still waited on us. They’ll have to clean the table and stuff as well. Plus, this place might be fancy, but wait staff usually don't get paid well.” You offer a smile before turning around and heading out of the restaurant.

As soon as you get outside, you can already feel yourself relaxing even more. As you take a deep breath of fresh air, you fully realize how much anxiety was fogging up your thoughts. You turn to Aaron and watch him walk out of the building. He still looks so rigid and uptight. This had scared you before, but now after watching him for a while, you concluded that this was just how he was. This realization is enough to boost your confidence a bit. You smile at him, “I know this local food truck.” You check your phone for the time quickly before putting it away, “They should be fairly close by.” Aaron watches you for a while. You couldn’t read his expression. It still just looked like a scowl. Once again, you found yourself questioning whether that was just how he was or if he didn’t like you. Your nerves get the better of you, so you started to backtrack, “That's only if you still want to get dinner… with me.” You pause for a second, not giving him time to answer, “It’s okay if you don’t want to.” You start chewing on the inside of your cheek. He motions for you to lead the way, “No, That sounds fine.” You smile and begin navigating the streets until you find where the food truck is customarily parked this time of night.

You stop when you reach your destination. There is a small line just because of the time of night, but the area isn't overly crowded. You already know what you want, but you motion Aaron to the extensive menu on the truck's side, “Once you figure out what you want, I can order for us.” You smile. Aaron gives you a stern nod. Part of you was surprised he didn’t slip away while you were leading him here. He didn’t exactly seem to be having a great time. Aaron seemed like the type who would be too nice to say he wasn’t enjoying himself, and he would just tough it out. Aaron finds what he wants and tells you. He makes a face, “Do you pay after you get the food then?” You tilt your head confused for a second, and then realize that he expects to pay because of the date's whole arrangement. Which you supposed that made sense, but you didn't feel right doing that to anyone. So in response, you just nod your head. Clearly, it was unconvincing because he narrowed his eyes at you. You slipped away and stood in line before he could say anything. What you didn't plan for was he decided to follow you and stood in line with you. You narrow your eyes at him, and he glances over at you out of the corner of his eye. Aaron’s eyes looked almost playful. You can't help but smile as you quietly ask him, “Are you challenging me to a bill race?” You could have sworn you had seen Aaron smirking before he spoke, “I don’t know what you're talking about.” He looked borderline happy, and it was a good look on him. You playfully scoff, “Good luck.”

You already had a plan, and you were going to beat Aaron at this pay race. You knew the people who ran this place, but you weren't going to reveal your secret weapon. You knew a card would be much faster to pay with, so you slipped it out of your wallet and into your hand while waiting in line. When you both got to the front of the line, you smiled when you saw Evie, the motherly woman who ran the food truck. She looked tired but smiled back at you, “The usual?” You nod happily, “Yes, please. But I’m adding his food to my order.” You tell Evie what Aaron had said he wanted. Evie presses the total and does what she always does and gives you a student discount. Evie turns her back to you, “I’m going to trust that you won't jump over the counter like you normally do because you have a guest.” You can feel Aaron giving you a look. You laugh nervously and glance at him, “It’s not as bad as she is making it sound.” Once Evie gets involved enough in cooking your food, you do what you always do. You hop up enough, so your front half is through the order window, and your fingers can press the buttons on the register. You could feel Aaron’s glare as he probably thought you were doing something immoral. You quickly remove the discount from your total, making sure you're paying full price, “You should know better than to trust me like that, Evie. I refuse to let you discount my food.” Evie whips around, glaring at you. You huff as you have to reach further to swipe your card and press the accept button before Evie can fix it. Evie smacks your arm in an annoyed fashion. You wince and drop out of the food truck's ordering window. Evie glares down at you, “You're a student… It's a student discount.” You shrug and smile at her, “Raise your prices, and I’ll think about letting you give me a discount, but currently, you're not charging enough, in my opinion.” Evie shakes her head at you before cracking a smile, rolling her eyes as she goes back to cooking, “You're lucky I like you.” You go to put your card away, “Thanks for putting up with me.” You know you didn't really have the extra money, but you didn’t want to worry about that right now, so ignoring your close to empty wallet, you pull out a few extra dollars. Waiting until Evie isn't looking so you can stick it in her tip jar. If she saw you doing that, you’d get yelled at again. Evie finished both of your meals. Before she hands them to you, she eyes the tip jar. You were predictable, so Evie knew to check every time you ordered food from her. Evie glared straight at you. You raise your hands defensively, and when Evie’s glare intensified, you did something fairly childish. You point at Aaron, not so discreetly motioning your head in his direction to blame him for the money that appeared in her tip jar. Evie shakes her head as she finally hands the food over.

You walk over to a table and sit down. Aaron sits across you with a smirk on his face, “Really? You tried to blame me?” He started to look like he was enjoying himself. You make a playfully guilty face, “You saw how she is.” You start laughing, not even able to keep the fake guilty look on your face. Aaron chuckles. You smile and add, “Plus, I couldn't let you win.” Aaron shakes his head in an amused manner. With that, both of you start eating dinner. When both of you finished eating, Aaron looked at his watch. He gets a conflicted look on his face, “It’s getting late.” It was pretty late, and you weren't sure what else you two could do on this date, but you were slightly disappointed that it had to end. You nod, “I guess it is…” You smile, “I had a great time, though.” Aaron nodded, “It did go a lot better than expected.” You were thinking of how to ask him if he wanted to do this again or if maybe you two should exchange numbers. Aaron seems to have read your thoughts. His eyebrows knitted together, “But… I don’t think we should do this again.” Your breath catches in your throat. You were surprised. You had thought it was going well after leaving the restaurant. You stumble over your words, “I...Uhh…Okay.” You were confused and wanted to ask what the issue was, but then part of you just blamed the circumstances of you both meeting. Aaron's frown sets further into his face, “You seem great…” You narrow your eyes waiting for him to continue. Aaron looks apologetic, “I’ve never been in a ‘situation’ like this. You must have better options waiting for you.” You couldn't help but laugh, “I've never done this before either.”

Now Aaron looked confused, “But you’re-” You interrupt him, “I casually agreed to it a week ago. That same night my friend dragged me to meet David.” Aaron scans your face, trying to read you, “You ‘casually agreed’ to be a sugar baby?” You had both been dancing around that topic all night, but he cut through the pretense quickly, seeming suspicious now. You press your lips into a straight line and let out a heavy sigh, “Absentminded might be a better term.” Aaron looked extremely skeptical, not accepting that as the full answer. You let out another sigh trying to figure out how to explain it, “I’ve been having some issues trying to pay-” You stop yourself, not wanting to get into that whole mess, “I’ve been having financial problems. My friend, Oliva, got tired of me complaining about it and ‘being a major bummer’. So she brought up becoming a sugar baby because that's what she and my other friend, Mason, do for a living.” You pause, taking a chance to look at Aaron’s face. His demeanor hasn’t budged at all. You felt like you were being interrogated, helping you understand the phrase ‘if looks could kill’. You swallow hard and continue, “She had brought it up a billion times before, but it didn’t seem like the thing for me. I hate being that dependent on people. Makes me feel weird. But the problem was weighing on me enough that I said ‘what the fuck, what's the worst that could happen.’” You roll your eyes, remembering the next part, “The next thing I know, Oliva is literally dragging me out of the place we were at talking about how she was taking me to meet someone famous about the whole sugar daddy thing. Once I met David, we had maybe a thirty-minute conversation before he gave me only your first name with where and when to meet for the date.” Aaron looks beyond annoyed. You thought he was annoyed at you until he let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “God damn it, Dave.” Aaron mumbled mostly under his breath. When he looked back up, his face had softened drastically, “He didn’t tell me anything either.” You offer a nervous smile, “Both our friends are assholes.” He nodded in agreement. You rub the back of your neck, “I never do anything like this. Oliva kinda just rushed me into it, but I figured, why not?” Aaron watches you, looking conflicted again.

You can’t help but fidget under his gaze. After a long pause, he finally says something, “What are you having financial problems with?” You tried to avoid the question, “It’s not that big of a deal.” He still waits for you to answer. When you keep avoiding both answering and eye contact, Aaron questions you, “Are you lying about having problems then? Because you were more than willing to spend money tonight.” You only shake your head in response, biting at the inside of your cheek as you stubbornly refuse to answer. Aaron further tried to provoke a reaction out of you, “So you're a liar then?” He phrased it as a question but made it sound like he already thought you were a liar. Which got under your skin a bit, so you quickly spat out, “I’m not lying.” Aaron stares you down, “Then answer the question.” Part of you was startled by the tone he was using, but the other part of you knew he was just trying to find out more about you. You sigh, “I… A few extra dollars isn't going to fix my financial problems.” You pause, hoping that he will accept that as an answer. Aaron did not, waiting for you to elaborate. Taking a deep breath before you finally cave, “There is an issue with my scholarship for school and with my place of employment.” This time you weren't trying to avoid answering the question, but you were trying to avoid sounding like you were guilting him or looking for sympathy. Aaron reads your expression and stops the slightly aggressive questioning. He offers you a small smile after a moment, “I’m going to give you my phone number. We can go on another date and discuss things further.” You open your mouth to speak, but you're too surprised to find the words right away. You minorly collect yourself, “You don't have to…” Aaron shakes his head, “I want to. Overall I had a nice time.” He pauses, looking right at you, “To be honest, I was unsure about this whole situation and about you.” He optimistically raises his eyebrows, “I’ve come to the conclusion that you're trustworthy. You seem like a good person. Even though it's a bit more unorthodox then I’m used to, I’m willing to see where this goes if you are.” You can’t help but smile as you enthusiastically nod, “Yes. I… I would like that very much.” You both exchanged phone numbers before getting up from the table. Aaron walks you back to the restaurant your date started at.

Aaron stops before going to his car, “Do you need a ride?” You laugh and shake your head, “Nah, I can just Uber back to my place” Aaron makes a face before rolling his eyes, “Come on. I’m giving you a ride.” He didn’t leave much room for debate, so you comply. You chuckle, getting into the passenger seat of his car, “Your bossy.” Aaron starts the car and laughs, “I have been told that before.” After that, there isn't a whole lot of talking during the car ride. Just you giving Aaron directions to your apartment. The first date tension and awkwardness is still there between you two, but you did feel safe around him. Considering you just met him, you didn't have a bad feeling about getting into his car. When Aaron gets closer to your apartment, his scowl comes back. You were curious, “What's wrong?” He glances at you, “This isn't the best neighborhood.” You couldn’t tell if he was being protective of you already, or it was just general gentlemanly behavior or maybe even a mixture of the two. You thought it was sweet, though. Aaron was right. It was kind of a bad part of town. You shrug, “I suppose. I don’t think about it all that much.” He glances over at you again, this time judgment in his eyes. You roll your eyes dramatically, “But I still make sure to pay attention… I’m not naive.” Most of the judgment leaves Aaron’s eyes, but he still seems on edge about the area. When he finally gets to your place, you hopped out of his car, “Thanks for the ride.” Right as you're about to close the car door, you hear the engine turning off, followed by Aaron saying, “Not so fast.” Aaron gets out of the car, walking over to you. You raise an eyebrow at him. Aaron replies without you having to say anything, “I’m not letting you walk to your front door all by yourself.” You start walking and chuckle, “I walk to my front door all the time by myself.” Aaron walks by your side, giving you a halfhearted glare. You chuckle, playfully nudging him with your shoulder, “Thanks though, it’s sweet.” This earns you a smile from Aaron, which in a contagious fashion, causes you to smile as well. You reach your door and pull out your keys to unlock it. As you open the door and step into your apartment, you have an odd realization that if this had been a date with someone closer to your age, you’d have to worry about them assuming they were invited into your apartment for ‘coffee’. However, Aaron’s motivation was legitimately about your safety. It was a nice change from other people you had dealt with. Getting another sudden boost of confidence, you turned around in your doorway to face Aaron, “Call me soon, okay?” Aaron smiles and nods, “Of course.” You smile back, “Goodnight, Aaron.” Aaron replies, “Goodnight, [Y/N].” He starts to walk away, and you close your door. As you locked the door and got ready for bed, you couldn't help but think about what a rollercoaster the last few hours had been.

Beginning of Unconventional – Peer Pressure* – Second Date

Tags: @joyofbebbanburg @withyoutilltheendofthismess @marvel-is-my-life-blog

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken: “The Robot Chicken Christmas Special” | December 23, 2005 – 12:00AM | Special

I'm taking it easy for this. This is mostly repeats of Christmas-related sketches. There are a few exceptions: the opening is done with a Christmas twist, including live-action footage of the retards that make the show on the little TVs (disgusting), a little PS of the Mad Scientist guy from the opening being friends with the Robot Chicken or whatever happens (I covered my eyes when it came on, spitefully), and one long sketch that would later be reused in a regular series episode, and one short animation of Frosty the Snowman holding a flame thrower and spraying flames for two seconds. Great.

The long sketch is Dragonball Z helping... Santa. Do something nice. Or something. Mrs. Claus turns out to be behind it and she becomes an Akira monster. Nothing in it made me laugh. The end! There! I reviewed the episode! FUCK YOU! SHORTEST ENTRY YET! SHORTEST ENTRY YET!

CONTACTING GHOST PLANET...

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #18: “Urges” | October 20, 1995 | S02E08

Oh, right, I have a Space Ghost to do. More on that later. Urges, the final episode of season 2! The second-to-last episode on Volume 1! Will it be #1 or will I do a big old #2 all over it? Threed on to find out!

This is pretty classic Space Ghost. Zorak wants to fuck, because it's mantis mating season on his home planet. Mantis mating involves the head of the male being devoured by the female, which makes the prospect of him squirting his joy jizz even more scary. Catherine Bach of Dukes of Hazard fame is a special guest, and she's lookin' good at whatever age she is in this. I'm guessing she has passed on as of this writing. May she RIP.

Matthew Sweet is also in this, he's such a cool guy, seems so nice. I wanna hang out with him, he's probably nice to talk to and “a real trip”. Like you walk away going “man... that guy's a trip.” do you know what I'm saying

This episode was written by Nell Scovel and Joel Hodgeson, both very famous for being great at twitter. Joel was, of course, a comedy hero of mine from childhood. Nell seems like she's earned her stripes on various legendary comedy shows but... DO! NOT! FOLLOW!  

Good episode, though. I love watching these with my nice headphones, because I pick up on little audio cues that I never did before. Like when Tad's Spacey Sense is tingling, you can hear a little voice going “tingle tingle tingle” in the background, very faintly. And when Space Ghost calls back “butter and cheese” (from Spanish Translation), there's a faint laugh track in the background I'm not sure I've ever heard before.

OKAY: ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!

The bad news: I am discontinuing the practice of pairing Space Ghost with Robot Chicken. It really fucked with me, I gotta tell ya. It was mostly a bummer when I was done watching Robot Chicken it kinda took the joy out covering Space Ghost. So I won’t do it no more! SORRY

The GOOD news: I AM covering Space Ghost... I’m just going revive my practice of taking a short break between Adult Swim calendar years and cover them there! Which means that when this year is over (which it almost is), I’m going to spend a week going through the next season of Space Ghost. Before we get to 2006, ya’ll are gonna get 2-3 posts per day covering the 1996 episodes of Coast to Coast. How about that? Space Ghost 1996! Then, Adult Swim 2006, it rhymes! It’s poetry!

[rohad93]

Werewolf in the hospital

As far as Halloween’s go, this one could have been better for her. It wasn’t often she ended an evening sitting in the ER, dressed as a werewolf, with a broken nose, but she couldn’t say now that it didn’t ever not happen!

The night had started fun enough. She’d been out with Gus and Willow at a party being thrown at one of their college’s many fraternity houses. One that was affectionately referred to as the ‘Illusion coven’ around campus because of its many resident students that were known for their penchant for pranks and being able to disappear without a trace when the heat was turned up in response, as well as a large handful of their students that were also members of the school’s ‘magic appreciation club’.

They of course, always threw the best parties, especially at Halloween.

This one had been no different. The music and lights could be seen from about two blocks away. There was a long line of students waiting to get in the front door, but luckily for her and Willow, Gus was a member, which got them through the door instantly.

The place was jammed packed when they finally arrived and Luz could barely hear herself think over the music that was trying to vibrate her teeth right out of her skull, but that didn’t stop her from making a beeline straight for the dancefloor with her friends in tow for the first hour. Excessive amounts of energy made dancing the perfect activity for her, even if she generally lacked any grace or coordination.

It was weird to finally be at one of these raging school parties after all the ones she had been purposely excluded from in high school.

After four years of being an outcast in high school and spending most Saturday night’s alone, watching anime or writing fanfiction to fill her spare time, she hadn’t expected her social life to really take off in college, though ‘take-off’ might have been a strong word for it. She still only had a handful of friends, but it was still a far cry from how she’d been a loner in high school.

Leaving to go to college out of state had given her an opportunity to start new, though she was still the same old Luz she had been her senior year, there were so many more people at her college with varying interests and backgrounds than her small-town high school where everyone had known each other since grade school and pretty much stuck together from the first grade on.

You release one nest of spiders at nap time and suddenly you’re branded for life as ‘that weird kid’. She didn’t like to admit how much that had really bothered her when she was a kid, but it just became the norm as she got older. It didn’t stop her enjoying life as much as she could, even if she had gotten thrown out of prom her senior year for wearing an otter onesie.

It was still nice to actually have friends now, one’s she could study with in the library or just have lunch with and not blink an eye when she said something totally bizarre, or at least bizarre by most people’s standards.

Meeting Willow, her dorm mate, and then Gus through her, had been a lifesaver and through them, she had met other student’s, some of which she shared classes with, like Viney, who despite being an upperclassman was only now taking her English comp basics so they worked together on group assignments, she was funny and easy to get along with. It didn’t take long for Luz to count her, along with Gus and Willow as her closest friends.

Viney was also dating Emira Blight, one of the infamous Blight twins, who were also members of the ‘Illusion Coven’, so she knew Viney was probably somewhere here among the many bodies packed into the large house, though the chances of running into her were slim.

She wasn’t at all surprised to see the copious amounts of alcohol that was everywhere either, that was one thing about college that TV had gotten right. College students drank; a lot.”

She watched three students doing a keg stand till beer squirted out of the guy on the kegs’ nose.

She snorted, grinning to herself and showing off the mouthful of sharp canines she had spent a good hour in the bathroom getting molded to fit too her teeth. She was, of course, the definition of a broke college student, attending entirely on a full scholarship, cause when you don’t have anyone to hang out with, you might as well study, and it was finally paying off, but she still had little in the way of personal spending money given her measly paycheck from working part-time at ‘The Owl House’ An owl themed diner just off campus owned by the most eccentric woman Luz had ever met, did not make for the most extravagant costume. But she made do with an old red flannel, ripped jeans, and some dollar store pointed ears and face paint. She had splurged a little on the fake teeth, she’d reuse them next year, werewolf was a classic after all.

Despite her less than ideal paycheck, Edalyn Clawthorne, or Eda ‘The Owl Lady’ as she was known around town, was good to her, letting her eat and drink for free or study there when she wasn’t working, and honestly, Luz kind of wanted to be Eda when she grew up. She was self-assured and didn’t care what anyone thought about her, not to mention surprisingly foxy for her age.

“You guys want something to drink?” Gus yelled at her and Willow to be heard over the pounding music and voices.

“Is there anything without an octane rating?” Willow questioned, as she watched an upperclassman drinking something straight out of the bottle at maximum speed.

After all, she and Willow were only nineteen, and Gus seventeen, he was crazy smart and had skipped a couple of grades. Luz had never had much interest in drinking, despite Eda sometimes offering her a drink from her flask with the Owl etched into the side.

She didn’t even know what was in it, only that Eda referred to it as “Mama’s magic Elixir’. She always said no and Eda would shrug and tip it back till it was empty.

“There’s punch, but I’d still be careful. Chances are good it’s already been spiked.” He shrugged.

“No thanks,” Willow shook her head and turned to look at something, the glitter on the wings of her fairy costume catching the bright colored lights overhead. She still hadn’t figured out what Gus was supposed to be. He was wearing a long red tube with a smiley face on it and long sleeves that went down to the ground that he flung about in excitement.  

“I might take my chances on those snacks!” Luz shouted, eyeing the array of treats laid out on the table for the taking. She was willing to bet no one had spiked the cake and it looked really good from here. Gus grinned and Willow rolled her eyes, smiling. Anyone who knew Luz for any amount of time knew she had a voracious appetite and an even bigger sweet tooth.

“Yeah, okay, just don’t eat everything.” Gus laughed at her.

“No promises!” She grinned back before moving across the room, trying to slide between the bodies that packed every square inch of the place and get to the refreshment table. People were moving in every direction around her as the music blared and the lights flashed, it was a little disorienting actually, but she had her eyes on the prize.

She had just made it to the table when the crowd surged and sent her careening into someone else standing there, slamming into their back and making them spill their drink.

“Watch it, nitwit! A voice growled at her before stopping. “Oh, hi, Luz.”

Luz blinked, realizing who exactly she had just slammed into, and swallowed thickly.

Amity Blight, who she did not exactly start off on the best foot with when classes had started a few months ago but now had a much more friendly relationship with.

Amity Blight, the smart and talented girl she shared creative writing and literature appreciation with. Amity Blight, who Luz had a teeny, tiny, minuscule... huge, crush on.

Amity Blight, who was dressed prettily as a witch, complete with black and green striped leggings and a pointed black hat and, who she had just slammed into and spilled her drink on.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Amity!” Luz grimaced at the wet spot now in the middle of Amity’s black blouse.

“Oh, it’s okay, really, no big deal!” Amity waved a hand, snatching a napkin off the table and dabbing at the spot.

“You sure? I could go...get you something or…,” she started, unsure.

“NO, no it’s fine, really…,” she insisted and Luz frowned. She must have embarrassed the other girl, her face was tinged red as she wiped at the spot, and was trying not to look Luz in the eyes.

‘Mierda’ Luz cursed under her breath.

Clearly, Amity did not want to talk about the spill anymore, so Luz cleared her throat, drawing the young woman’s gaze.

“What are you doing here? You don’t strike me as the… party type,” she asked and Amity rolled her eyes and Luz’s chest seized up, wondering if she’d insulted her until Amity spoke again.

“I’m not, but my brother and sister are members here and all but forced me to come tonight,” she huffed. “I’d much rather be back in my dorm, studying for our quiz in lit appreciation Monday and not getting a headache from this music.” she frowned and Luz blinked.

“Oh, Mierda! I forgot about the quiz!” Luz slapped her hands to her cheeks and Amity blinked at her before laughing.

“It was written on the board yesterday and the professor sent out an email reminder this morning.”

“Ugh, I didn’t check my email today,” she groaned, squishing her cheeks.

“Well, you still have tomorrow to study,” Amity offered.

“There was so much material to cover though…” Luz groaned. “I’m not gonna sleep all weekend, I’m going to have to cram till I push out every memory of the third grade just to make room for it all.” She frowned, already thinking about all the coffee she was going to have to drink before Monday morning, and on Monday morning.

Amity was biting her lip, thinking, but decided to take the chance.

“You can come study with me. Only if you want that is!” she quickly finished, pushing a stray strand of dyed, half mint, green, half auburn hair behind one of her ears.

“Really?” Luz asked.

“Yeah, I was just about to get out of here anyway, I’ve had enough of the party…” she said, looking around at all the people crowded into the room.

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Luz jumps on the opportunity, cause why wouldn’t she. “Oh, I came with Gus and Willow…” she remembers her friends somewhere in the house.

“Oh…” Amity seems to deflate a little at that. “Maybe another time?”

“No, it’s all good! I’m just gonna go tell them I’m headed out. You, uh, wanna meet outside?” she asks and Amity is smiling at her again and Luz just wants to melt into a puddle on the floor as those amber eyes stare back at her

“Yeah, I’ll wait for you.”    

“Great! I’ll be quick,” she promises as she runs back out into the crowd, looking for her friends. It takes her about ten minutes to find them in the living room.

“Hye guys, is it cool with you if I head out?”

“Where are you going?” Willow questions her.

“I ran into Amity, who reminded me we have a quiz in lit appreciation Monday and I really need to study and she offered to study with me, so…” she trails off, seeing the look Willow is giving her. The horticulture student is very aware of Luz’s crush, despite her never really saying anything about it. She does not count gushing to the shorter girl about how smart and pretty Amity is as ‘saying anything about it’.

“Why would you wanna leave a party to study?” Gus makes a face and Willow smirks.

“I think it’s more about who she’s studying with…” she says knowingly and Luz blushes as Gus blinks at her, confused.

“It’s cool, Luz. Go study with Amity.”

Luz does not care for the knowing way Willow says the other woman’s names, with a teasing lilt, but she’s not concerning herself with that for now.

“Thanks, guys, I’ll see you later,” She calls, already running toward the front door.  

She doesn’t immediately see Amity, in fact, the yard in front of the house is empty, everyone inside.

Luz frowns, looking around. Did she get tired of waiting?

Her chest aches a little at the thought, shoulders slumping, and is just about to turn around and go back in the house when she hears something that does not match the thumping bass of the music inside, voices. She walks quietly around to the side of the house and peeks around the wall curiously, if college has taught her anything it’s that there are students making out anywhere at any given time and not to look too closely into dark corners where sounds are coming from.  

Her eyes widen as she spots Amity right away, her back is pressed against the wall and a guy dressed in a toga is standing in front of her, leaning down over her. He’s not particularly big, but he’s standing uncomfortably close with his hands wrapped around both of her wrists, hands fisted, Amity is scowling angrily up at him. Luz’s brows furrow between her eyes and she frowns, walking over quickly.

“I said let go!” Amity snaps, trying to rip her hands free from his grip and he’s so close she can smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Come on, just a little kiss, it’s Halloween…” He leans forward and Amity turns her head away,  sneering.

“I don’t care if it’s fucking Christmas!” she snarled. “I said no!”

“Hey!” Luz shouts standing just a few feet away now. “She said no!” she growled, lips pulled back over her fangs.

“Luz!” Amity stares at her wide-eyed.

“This is none of your business bitch, go howl at the moon,” he slurred before turning back to Amity and yanking on one of her hands. She yelps in pain as he jerks her and Luz is moving forward before she even knows it and her fist is connecting with the side of his face.

He goes fumbling backward, releasing Amity as he stumbles to his butt in the grass.

“Santa mierda, eso duele!” she hissed, shaking out her screaming hand.

“Come on!” Amity grabs her other hand and starts to pull her away but then the guy is scrambling to his feet and coming at her with a strangled yell and Luz does the first thing she can think of, she uses their joined hands to yank Amity behind her and then the guy’s fist connects with her face and her world an explosion of pain and crunching noises.

She’s only vaguely aware of Amity screaming her name as her back hits the grass and everything goes black for a second but then she’s quickly pulled back to consciousness by his hand fisted into the front of her shirt and her fight or flight instincts kick in and she’s swinging wildly at his ugly mug as quickly as she can.

Her hands protest every hit that connects with his stone-hard face but she doesn’t stop and he’s swinging back, but she can hardly feel it over the constant pain radiating from her nose through her whole body.

She just clenches her eyes shut and keeps swinging, punching him as hard as she can, but then there are more voices and two large burly guys have him in a stranglehold, pulling him off her.

Amity had dashed back inside to grab the houses ‘bouncers’ standing just inside the door.

“Oh my god, Luz!” Amity holds her hands over her mouth as she kneels onto the ground next to her, looking over her face in horror.

“Ugh…” is all she can manage and then Amity is grabbing her hand and helping to her feet and dragging her across the yard, fumbling, panicked through her purse before finally pulling out her keys. She unlocks the passenger side door of a small black sedan and carefully pushes Luz into the passenger seat.

“Keep your head tilted back,” she says before closing the door and hurrying around to the other side, and jumping in the driver’s seat.

It’s only now that Luz realizes she can taste blood and reaches up to touch her top lip and pulls her hand back to see her fingers covered in the crimson liquid.

‘Well, that’s not good,’ she thinks, but it definitely explains why her face hurts so bad.

She tilts her head back but can feel it dribbling down her chin and neck as Amity pulls away from the curb, much faster than the speed limit, Luz is sure as the tires squeal.

She runs her tongue across her teeth and feels a distinct lack of a point and groans, making Amity glance at her.

“I think I swallowed one of my teeth…,” she mumbles more to herself but Amity’s pained expression turns into a grimace as they speed down the road.

Which was how she found herself sitting next to her crush in the ER with her head tilted back and the front of her once white shirt stained crimson as her nose continues to bleed.

Halloween is apparently a very popular time for injury because it’s crowded and takes two hours for someone to see her, while they wait Amity fills out her paperwork for her.

“Birthday?” she asks glumly, and Luz tells her. She hasn’t said much since they left the party, she looks miserable, and that’s coming from someone who is doing their best impression of a fountain with her nose. She can’t stand that face Amity is making. “Allergies?”

“Lactose intolerant, so no milk IV’s,” she jokes, despite the incredible pain in her face. Amity starts to write but then stops, blinking, before turning to look at her grin.

“How can you joke? You just got beat up… because of me.” she frowns.

“No, I got my block busted because some guy was being a pendejo.” Luz frowns. “It wasn’t your fault, and I wasn’t just going to stand there and let him….do whatever he wanted!” she scowled, throwing up a hand.

Amity is looking at her with an unreadable expression, but before she can say anything they are calling her back.

“Oh goody, my turn.”

It takes forty-five minutes for them to tell her that her nose is broken, which she could have told them when she caught sight of herself in a mirror, a bloody mess and her nose pushed to the side at an odd angle. No wonder Amity had been so panicked and run all those red lights.

Putting it back in place is… not fun, and then the doctor stuffs gauze in her nose and splints the outside, telling her she needs to keep the gauze in for a week and then sends her on her way with a prescription for antibiotics and some mild painkillers.

Amity is waiting for her when she comes out.

“What did he say?” she stands as Luz walks back out into the waiting room and frowns at the splint on her face.

“It’s broke.” she shrugs and Amity grimaces as they walk out back to the parking lot.

“I am so sorry, Luz.” Amity frowned. “If I’d just…”

“Hey,” Luz cut her off, she wasn’t having any of that. “I told you, it’s not your fault, technically, I started that fight… didn’t win it, but I started it,” she laughed to herself.

“You are surprisingly chipper for someone who just got their nose broken…” Amity can’t help but smile a little at the other woman’s cheery disposition.

“It’s not the first time I’ve broken something you know. The first time someone helped me along, but hey! Besides, I helped you, and that’s good enough for me.” She smiled as they stopped next to Amity’s car. Amity has a small smile on her face as she unlocks the car. “I hope this is healed up by thanksgiving or my mom is going to have a cow…,” she mumbled as an afterthought. Amity giggled to herself.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

The drive is mostly quiet until they pull up into the parking lot in front of Luz’s dorm building. Willow is probably already back in their room.

“Do you think this will get me out of the quiz Monday?” Luz wonders aloud as she unbuckles and Amity laughs.

“Doubtful... but…, if you’re up for it, I feel like I should at least treat you to breakfast or something for what you did… we could study after?” she offers.

Luz blinks at her, finally realizing what exactly is going on. She was certain before when Amity had asked her to study that she was just being nice, but the way she looks now, fingers tapping anxiously on the steering wheel and glancing at Luz out of the corner of her eye, she finally catches on and curses how oblivious she is at times.

“Like… a date?” she asks uncertainly and Amity flinches.

‘Y-Yeah.” she jerks her head in a nod and Luz is silent for a few seconds too long it seems. “If you don’t want to…!”

“No! No I do, want to go on a date with you, yes!” Luz nods, too fast, it makes her nose throb.  

“Really?” now Amity is turned to look at her, eyes wide, with a hopeful glint.

“Yes, absolutely.” Does she sound too eager? Probably, but she does not care, especially when Amity’s face lights up with that adorable little smile she’s seen on her face once or twice before in class when they talked and now she feels even dumber for not catching on quicker.

They plan for Amity to pick her up here at nine tomorrow morning and then Luz opens the door, but Amity stops her.

“Thank you, Luz… I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t shown up...” Amity says finally.

“Amity Blight, I will be your fearless champion anytime you need me too!” she declares, a fist on her chest. The bandages and bloodstains, as well as her nasally stuffed up voice, diminishes the gesture some, but Amity smiles adoringly at her none the less.

She hesitates a second before reaching across the console to lay a hand gently on Luz’s cheek before leaning forward to quickly kiss the other. Luz’s face erupts in red as her heart hammers in her chest.

“My fearless champion,” she agrees, cheeks a bright pink.

Luz’s face erupts in a grin.

Maybe the evening started poorly, but she can’t find it in herself to mind one bit.

[guyinlovewitheremika]

The new key visual looks awesome!! Finally getting more Final Season artwork is so satisfying and this is pretty great! The marley arc is probably my favorite in the manga and getting even more promotional art for it is really cool : D Since we’re still 3 months from the airdate I hope we’ll get another Warrior-centric one, with the new and old crew, but rn, especially with manga context, I love this, and I need to ramble about it.

First of all, Mikasa!!! Mikasa front and center!!! lets gooooo ahh I’m so happy about this! I don’t think she’s ever been this focused on in any of the promotional key visuals and it’s been about time! She looks gorgeous and absolutely ruthless, I’m here for it. It’s also relieving to see that the scarf did in fact stay red which wasn’t totally certain in the pv. I also think it’s interesting that both that shot of her in the pv, as well as her in this visual both kind of highlight her more badass/ruthless side--I’m all here for it cause like, look at her!!! But she also spends a good amount of time in marley being sad and distressed which I hope they’ll do justice to. Either way, she looks amazing and I can’t wait to see her finally in motion.

Levi I’m a little less sure on--his face looks a little odd? Maybe it’s the nose? I’m not really sure. To be fair, his design has probably been the least consistent across the whole anime, and he’s certainly looked worse! But yeah, I’m not 100% sold on his look yet. Also just as it was in the first key visual, his cape is green? Even tho its specifically dyed black in the manga? I’m sure why and I’m kinda sad about that cause I would’ve loved to see that all black look on him, it’s an odd change.

Connie, Jean and Sasha all look good to me (I’m glad we’re getting Sasha artwork before, you know), but Armin gets pushed to the side pretty hard kind of? Given his rather small role this arc, I think it makes sense, tho hopefully key visuals for the later arcs will improve on that. Also sidenote, his pose reminded me a lot of Jean in the S2 Group visual lol

Hange being a bit smaller, but also being centered and depicted as the leader fits well here, especially with her being closest to the airship since she never leaves it. It reminds me of Erwin in a few other posters, kind of continuing the commander position, in a way

That’s some solid continuity!!! (also, Hange :/)

One thing I also dig about this visual is the look of certain textures, specifically metallic objects, like the blades, thunderspears, even the airship. 

It has this like..shiny glow? I can’t really express what I mean with it, but all these objects feel very tangible, very three dimensional, which is cool!

Unfortunately I don’t really feel the same way about all the textures present in this visual. See, non metallic textures, like clothing, skin, and the characters outlines in general have this kind of rough, or gritty look to them. The lines are clear and straight like they used to be, but it’s a little messier? The first key visual did the same thing, let me show you.

Compare it to something like this, where (even tho the resolution is a bit botched on tumblr) everything looks much smoother, cleaner, softer. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to Kyoji Asano’s style of drawing these key visuals for 6 years, but I think I prefer it over the approach of Tomohiro Kishi’s style. But this only is the start of seeing new artwork, maybe I’ll get used to it. It’s a bit odd as Wit’s animation style in the show was known for generally having thicker lines, and even tho they cut back on that in later seasons, it’s still not as thin as in the final season pv, yet its artwork has lines that feel thicker. It’s an odd back and forth.

My honestly biggest gripe with this key visual is it’s actual get up--having characters kind of float around in nothingness isn’t something I really love. I much prefer most of the older group visuals (like the recap movies or the S2 one) where characters at least seemed to stand on surfaces and physical space, and those who weren’t were either shown to be mid air, or obscured enough so you couldn’t see them stand in nothing. As a result, this reminds me a lot of the 3rd S3 visual

I wasn’t a huge fan of that one as it just reused and rearranged the Vol13 poses without really any effort. Like it just plants everyone there and I don’t think the result is really all that impressive. This one does this a lot better, as it has a bit more synergy going for it, there’s a bit of motion (the soldiers flying next to the ship looking like speedlines is a cool touch), and it just looks more interesting in my opinion. I also think it does the manga-ripoff better, as it clearly is meant to resemble vol 26 with the airship and the squad, but it doesnt just reuse the poses--they’re new here, and the overall positioning of everyone reminds me more of the Vol 25 alt cover, or the new 32 one. It feels true to the spirit of the manga without outright copying! I still don’t like the mid air floating, but other than that it’s a solid grouping!

One additional neat thing is that the new gear is drawn with so much detail! Just as in the PV. Which is awesome! Sometimes its a bit though to get a good look at all the specifics in the manga, but here it’s just---exciting. I never even realized that Mikasa has to swap to an entirely different set of 3DMG handle/trigger/grapple that’s attached to her gear as well--everyone else has only one set for either the gun+thunderspear combo or the swords, but Mikasa has both sets on her since she does switch to swords on 103. And its just fucking crazy just how much gear this girl has on her lmao (did you know a single thunder spear weighs 5kg? thats 20 on each hand! plus all the heavy gear that comes with it! she is too strong lmao)

Ultimately, I like this visual a lot. It’s not perfect and some things are gonna take a while to get used to, but overall, I’m so excited to see everyone’s different looks highlighted as the season goes on. And getting so much Marley arc promo atm is very much appreciated! Hopefully we get another one focused on the warriors soon, and, man, even tho it’s a spoiler, I would kill for one visual dedicated to Marley Eren specifically...like...please. 

Bring on the Final Season!!