#Miss how things used to be but I don't want to like- tell them this bc i know they need time for themselves

[feral-renaissance-cat]

Having come from a small church town that gets reeeal ugly when you look past the "We're all good neighbors who live good lives :)" facade, I can see the vision here.

Cozy Witch thinks to herself "Hmm, in every cozy mystery there's usually a convenient clue with exposition in the trash somewhere" so there's a game mechanic where you can peek in trash cans and dumpsters but she finds things like crumpled up drafts of suicide notes, or letters from the bank with a final warning about all their overdrawn accounts, or empty prescription bottles for anti-depressants and antipsychotics. She could use these to better understand the struggles of her neighbors and maybe reach out to them to offer emotional support, but haha nope nothing about where the cat went in here, better keep looking. (And she's not qualified to help people with problems like that so what could she do anyway that wouldn't possibly make things worse? They seem happy when she waves at them during her visits to town so they must have it under control anyway. She'll cast a little spell to make more flowers in their garden and that ought to cheer them up.)

Cozy Witch sees a little boy sitting on his back doorstop looking sad. "Aha," she tells herself. "He must be sad because the nice kitty he saw ran away. I can ask him which way it went." Turns out the boy is sad because one of his parents drank too much "grown-up juice" and now they're too sleepy and angry to play with him. She could take him with her on her adventure or at least spend some time with him, but ohhh welllll if his parent comes out looking for him they might be worried about where he went, so best of luck kid but there's still a missing cat out there. (She has heard about how violent alcoholics can get and if they get angry with her for doing anything with their son without permission they might hurt her. Except no, that person runs the charming little bookshop, they would never hurt anyone. She doesn't want them getting upset either way, and doesn't want to find out what they're like when they drink. She'll come back later and bring them some muffins or cookies or something the boy will like.)

Cozy Witch comes to the forest on the other side of town, which of course is where a cat would go to hide. She hears people talking and goes to see if they have any information about where her cat might be. As she gets closer she hears it's actually a small gang who have dragged the local Minority Character out here to rough them up and remind them that You Don't Belong Here Because You're Different. She has a few spell options that could break this up, but it's not her business and besides all this noise would have scared her cat away so she should look somewhere else, far enough away where she can't hear Minority Character's pleas for mercy. (And frankly she sort of agrees that Minority Character would be happier if they moved away because they don't fit in at all and no one would have to get mad if everyone just Fit In.)

Cozy Witch eventually finds her cat playing with the dead body of an endangered bird that it very clearly killed. Earlier in the game there were posters throughout town saying that this bird is a protected species and here's a list of ways you can help the conservation efforts, which includes not letting your pets roam free outside. She dismissed those by telling herself that her cat is different and she keeps it well-fed so it shouldn't have any reason to kill birds. She's a witch after all, and it's her job to protect all living things, which is why she's vegetarian and keeps her cat on a vegetarian diet as well. She gives her cat a talking-to on their way back to her cottage, and that should settle the matter. (Her cat might not have even killed that bird. Maybe it saw a hawk attacking the bird and tried to intervene but it was too late. Maybe it died of natural causes and when her cat found the body it thought that was one of its feather toys. She taught her cat to be nice and not even scratch the furniture so it's just so very unlikely that her cat would kill anything.)

These are all basic examples but it's almost 4am and I'm too tired for deeper nuances

i could not be trusted to make this game because my immediate thought is that the game advertises and markets itself as what op intended but steadily and then rapidly becomes very clear that instead of a cozy cute cottagecore "mystery" the story SHOULD be about the blatant corruption, cruelty, systemic oppression, and persecution and bigotry of her neighbors, but the main character is desperately clinging to the original genre of omg cozy cute and cottagecore because she feels overwhelmed by the potential responsibility to enact meaningful change rather than feel-good aesthetic positivity, thus becoming actively complicit in the town's crimes through her not mere inaction but in fact conscious choice to decide that she will be the protagonist of a cozy cute genre game rather than a story which might challenge her preconceptions of the world and the state of her own community.

[lu-is-not-ok]

quick question, how we feeling about hong Lu's new id after the trailer? I am personally so fucking hyped

Oh there's a lot I am feeling. Not just about Hong Lu's new id, but I am feeling things about them regardless.

I don't usually do full analysis on walpurgy trailers, but I want to at the very least plop down some observations I noted.

One - THERE IS A NEW TRACK IN THE SECOND HALF??? I can tell it's not originally from Ruina. They added. A wholeass new track. For the Church of Broken Gears fight. Fucking Incredible Honestly.

Two - Nothing too interesting going on with the Full Stop Heathcliff voice lines we got. It's mostly reiteration of the ammo-preserving ideas we got from Ruina's Full Stop Office reception, but we do get a little bit of lore through the full name of one of the ammo we see being used - Atelier Logic-made high velocity pulverisation round.

Three - Gameplay trailer for Full Stop Heathcliff. Three-coin Skill 1. One-coin Skill 2. One-coin Skill 3. Special Skill 3/Skill 4 that uses a cinematic as fuck animation of a unique bullet, my guess is that this Skill is used for either the last Ammo or through some other unique conditional. Evade that causes a followup attack from Full Stop Hong Lu. Retreat mechanic similar to Devyat IDs, but in this case upon running out of Ammo. Upon return, Heathcliff uses another Skill 1 - I'm guessing this is to showcase that this retreat is a Reload mechanic.

Four - Full Stop Hong Lu voice lines. So can we talk about the middle line? "I don't think the Head wants people to die anti-climactically. But what is an anticlimatic death anyway? We can put all kinds of meaningful labels on deaths, but it's still death at the end of the day." Hey. Hey Hong Lu. What the fuck are you talking about? This is terrifying because this could have two equally as likely explanations. This could be a Baoyuism, a musing about Daiyu's death being meaningless. OR. This could be a Daiyuism, a musing on the nature of death not unlike that of the flower burial scene. And the fact that both fit scares me.

Five - Gameplay trailer for Full Stop Hong Lu. Two-or-three-coin Skill 1. Four-or-five-coin Skill 2. Maybe four-coin Skill 3. Hard to tell if every gunshot is one coin or not. Then, we get something that I fucking called - Full Stop Hong Lu has an alternate Skillset for when he runs out of Ammo. Three-coin Skill 1. Three-coin Skill 2. Three-coin Skill 3. Next up, clashable Counter with two coins and what seems like a Reload. Then, a similar followup attack, in this case Full Stop Heathcliff shooting as a followup to Hong Lu's attack. And another followup attack mechanic, except in this case while Heathcliff has retreated - he can snipe enemies from afar.

Six - Quick note on Magic Bullet Outis E.G.O animation: I don't think what we're seeing is one continuous cinematic of one E.G.O use. I think this E.G.O will display different animations and have different effects depending on the amount of uses, aka depending on the amount of Magic Bullet Ammo. Similar to how Magic Bullet Outis ID's Skill 3 changes depending on the amount of Magic Bullet Ammo.

Seven - Magic Bullet Outis E.G.O Voice lines. Cause holy shit there's a lot of them.

Awakening:

"It really is as you say; this is a magic bullet that will never miss." - This is obviously a reflection of how the bullet is given through a deal with the devil... which then makes me think. Was Outis's role in the war also a deal with the devil? Was there someone in her life who willingly gave her the position of commander?

"There's no going back when I've already come this far by firing the bullet. Even if this road I walk is an inevitable path to inferno." - A reflection of Outis's own feelings. She feels like after what she's done, she can't turn back and change, even if she knows that continuing down this path will spell her doom. It's an insecurity we see be partially unearthed in Canto 7.

"The despairing heart is burnt black, never to fade away. Only its shearing cold floods within." - Perhaps a hint to her deeper feelings. Despair is what led her to taking the deal, and in the process she had to burn her heart and leave it with nothing but cold within.

"Though it was despair that I sought, the bullet's trajectory... is predetermined!" - Something something this flow cannot be stopped. Outis feeling like no matter her motivations she can't change what she's doing because she's in far too deep.

Corrosion:

"A bullet was fired, a magic bullet that will never miss." - Interesting how in these she completely dissociates herself from the bullet firing. Perhaps it's a reflection of how she deals with the crimes she's committed. Detaching herself from them, seeing them as just something that happened

"No justice, no malice. Only a finger that pulls the trigger." - Not just personal dissociation, but a dissociation from any emotions. Trying to say there is No real motivation for the bullet, it's just something that happens regardless. There's no malicious intent, but no righteous justice either. Just calculated violence.

"I'll be left alone in this inferno at the end of the road." - Girl you are so abandonment issues. This could be a reflection of both how she's worried about whether anyone is waiting for her to come back, but also an insecurity about whether anyone will accept her for knowing what she's done.

"Though I may lack the will to move forward... ...the bullet's forward-momentum cannot be stopped." - Reflection of how Outis, despite not wanting to continue down this path, feels like she has no choice. This flow cannot be stopped. Unable to change, she continues on.

To me, the awakening is a reflection of Outis when it all began. When she took the deal at the start of the war. The corrosion on the other hand is a reflection of Outis how she is now. One who is distant from the past, and yet unable to move on from it.

[waitmyturtles]

Final Thoughts on Spare Me Your Mercy, Thailand's Biggest Queer Show of 2024*

(*domestically!)

Due to the holidays, I was behind on watching last week's finale of Spare Me Your Mercy, but I got it in, and I'm glad I did.

I am mucho on the record that I thought, throughout this series, that the romance portion of this series was done weakly. I throughly enjoyed and appreciated @clairedaring's objective and appreciative commentary throughout the airing of this drama to provide all of us with context about novel!SMYM versus series!SMYM, helping us to understand what of the many bits were missing between the two versions of this story.

There has been a nice lot of debate online about the ultimate success of the telling of the SMYM story in drama format, both pro and not so pro regarding the script. There was also quite the revealing interview with the screenwriter Lux Sirilux, who revealed that the show's design purposely excluded NC scenes to favor more time being spent on the euthanasia ethics debate (thank you so much to @clairedaring for reblogging so much, I wouldn't have these references without you!).

I want to note that even despite the recent holidays, that the heightened online burble of debate around SMYM indicates to me -- like the ensuing debates after the airing of the 4 Minutes finale -- that the story of the SMYM drama format didn't land for everyone. If it was universally successful in its storytelling from all the classic narrative markers, then much of this debate would not be happening.

I first entered the SMYM world understanding that it was a part of a storytelling trilogy of sorts, connecting Sammon's previously adapted stories in 2020's Manner of Death and 2022's Triage (I haven't reviewed Triage yet, but I watched it in 2024 and it is absolutely one of the five best Thai BLs I have ever watched.)

To go back to the Lux interview quickly, and to note fan commentary in defense of Lux's position: what Lux Sirilux posits is that the show essentially decentralized NC scenes and intimacy in favor of giving the script more time to dwell on a debate about euthanasia -- the ethics and morality of being a part of a person's death, and the ethics of a person deciding to die in the first place. The defense of this position essentially stated: well, because the show wasn't intended to be about romance, then why criticize it on its romantic context?

When I think back to the show's original positioning as a part of the MoD/Triage trilogy, I think to myself: the couples of TanBun and TinTol were absolutely central, as romantic pairs, to the success of those two stories, and both shows absolutely balanced their mystery elements so as to leave us fully satisfied on two (!!) genre fronts. At least, before SMYM premiered, to be excited about the TorJJ/KanTew coupling was therefore a reasonable expectation.

As well: there was a lot of implied attraction and romance in SMYM. A lot!

All these scenes! And we had more.

As soon as this show started airing, I was pulling for it to work as well as Manner of Death and Triage had. And I was side-eyeing to my drama homies about what I was smelling, when I started to feel like SMYM was NOT working. While a defense that the show was never meant to be a romance is... an interesting postscript to ponder: I don't buy it, because many elements that were clearly designed to otherwise communicate romance actually failed. I squinted heavily at the middle episodes of this series, really wondering, ".....so......are these guys.... DATING? Just feeling things out?!"

If these elements weren't actually intended to be in the show, the attraction between Kan and Tew, then -- why did we get them?

What was missing, narratively, for me? It was emotional context based in the reality of how I understand intimacy to function between two humans -- an understanding that, in the very best of art, I don't need to suspend in order to make a narratively unsuccessful show otherwise work.

The progression of emotional (let alone physical) intimacy was choppy in this series, to say the least. @clairedaring gave us the very important context early on that the novel version of SMYM had two volumes -- the first of which focused on KanTew's dating, before the ethical clashes of euthanasia entered the picture. If we had had that narrative context in the drama, the drama would have worked wonders, and I believe the crew was working throughout this debate in the writing process, from how the script turned out.

The script here did not work, because even if romance was intentionally deprioritized to focus on the euthanasia debate -- many episodes still spent too much time on KanTew, without giving us viewers an emotional journey for us to understand where they were in their emotional intimacy. And I posit, because the script seemed to be so indecisive, that the euthanasia debate got lost for much of the show as well. Up until the end, in the final episode, with that utterly fabulous attic scene.

If only the show had the strength of dialogue and conflict as that attic scene! I wrote yesterday that Tor and JJ will win awards for the whole series, based on that scene alone. That scene finally held the full and holistic scope of the tension between Kan and Tew totally bursting out in all its glory.

Let me just note, though, that we had to get through the first half of the episode to get to that scene -- a first half that really, REALLY made Kan look like an AWFUL LYING SCUMBAG to Tew (HOW COULD YOU LIE TO TEW LIKE THAT IN YOUR HOSPITAL BED, KAN, AND TELL HIM THAT HIS PAIN HE WAS FEELING WAS GUILT, YOU MF'ING ASSHOLE, okay I got it out of my system). Really, with all the lying Kan was doing to Tew about Tew's mom, I was praying that Tew would do the full COPS treatment on Kan, "Bad Boys" and all.

Kan was, in my absolutely personal opinion, ultimately rendered unforgivable during that first half of the finale (regardless of my personal thoughts on the ethics of euthanasia) simply because of his disingenuousness to Tew. The penultimate conversation in attic between Kan and Tew was a phenomenal encapsulation to the ethical conflict that Kan and Tew had danced around for the entire series -- and it highlighted, to me, again, where the script had failed the show, because it actually put a spotlight on moments when the EXCELLENT and FASCINATING nuances of the euthanasia debate in Thailand were sidelined for weak attempts at romantic development. (The socioeconomic nuances, the inequity in health care nuances, the impact that terminal illness has on caretakers, all of them! GAH!)

My takeaway from all of this is that the crew of this show did not hit the exact and delicate formula of deciding what the crux of this show should have been about, despite the commentary we received posthaste from the screenwriter. While the intention of that commentary indicated that the euthanasia debate was supposed to be the only center of the show -- too much time was spent showing us KanTew moments, and those moments lacked context and clarity to give us viewers an understanding of where they stood in their engagement or relationship at any one time. Thus, I do think the postscript commentary from the crew was also a touch disingenuous, regarding the success of the narrative itself as art.

And — I believe it was also disingenuous to the two previously adapted Sammon stories of Manner of Death and Triage as well, as both of those dramas were able to hold both mystery and romantic storylines to excellent ends, with wonderful touches of intimacy along the way (MaxTul couch scene, my beloved). There's more to say, as other people have noted, about writers deprioritizing intimacy to tell "another" story, as it were, but that's a debate for another time, that I think speaks to where Thai BL is going in general.

But otherwise, while I think SMYM was ultimately narratively unsuccessful (that last "I love you" and the rushed close were just brutal), I'm not surprised about how well it did in Thailand. No one can argue with the star power that Tor and JJ hold in Asia — the show was always going to do well, no matter the artistic success of its narrative. I just wish the show had lived up to the caliber of acting and writing that Tor and JJ got to display in that attic at the end.

[littlefankingdom]

Kind of frustrating how many posts there are criticizing Bruce's parenting in Batgirl (2000), while Barbara is getting barely a slap on the wrist for her parenting.

The thing about Barbara and Bruce in Batgirl (2000) is that they both do something bad that is projecting yourself on your kid (no, Bruce doesn't see Cassandra as a weapon, stop saying that shit), however only Bruce is getting call out for this by y'all, and I think there's two reasons why:

Bruce is so easy to criticize. Everything he had ever done has been criticized to hell and back. Damn, he is criticized if he dares parent his kids and tells them no or something (literally read a fic where he was painted as the bad guy by the batfam, the writer and the reader for... saying no to another dog Damian decided to adopt without telling him) Somehow, he is always in the wrong with y'all. Even when he is nice or right it's "well, actually..."

The way Barbara is doing it is very normalized in western societies. Bruce isn't projecting something we are used to, he is projecting his crusade and how he dealt with his pain by kicking criminals' asses. Barbara is projecting ideas about womanhood and life that a lot of mothers do, but that doesn't mean it's not wrong.

"What is Barbara projecting on Cassandra?" Her sexuality and her interests. She wants Cassandra to go flirt and date boys, to dress more sexy, to love reading, even tho Cass doesn't want to. She forces Cassandra into situation she is very uncomfortable in (being viewed by men as sexy) because she enjoys it herself and misses it. There is NOTHING wrong with that last bit, but projecting it on Cass and ignoring it until Cass has a breakdown, that's not okay. (Cass keeps communicating she isn't comfortable in the bikini, and it's only when Cass runs away from the situation that Barbara accepts that Cass is uncomfortable) Cass tries to force herself to be more like Barbara to please Barbara, she puts on her suit and goes out, but she is so uncomfortable. Tim's comment about her body, and the heels, she can't. And then, there is the library scene, where Barbara yells and insults Cass for not knowing how to read. It is more difficult, as older as you get, to learn a new language. It is easier if you already speak multiple, but if you have never spoken ANY language before, and you just learned to understand one NOT EVEN A YEAR AGO, learning how to read is going to be hard. It is so ableist and unacceptable for Barbara to call Cass "stupid" for not knowing how to read. It doesn't matter if Cass hasn't been training enough, she literally should have helped and not let her do it alone (in the cases of children who, like Cass, didn't learn a language as a child because of their environment, they only improve with love and care in their teaching. If you give them a book and tell them to learn on their own, they will not succeed. Reading is a concept taught to you, not in you, and they need to learn it from another human.) And the reasons why Barbara gets so frustrated are just that, reasons, not excuses.

I'm going to be sincere, the reason why I'm criticizing Barbara is because I had a mother like this. I'm asexual and afab, and I was forced into uncomfortable situation because "girls are supposed to like flirting with boys". My mother got really frustrated after a couple of years because I never had a boyfriend, and that wasn't "normal". She would force me to see myself in a sexual way, to attract boys, because that's what "a normal teenage girl wants". And that was nightmarish for me. But also, my mother is a big reader, and I'm not for multiple reasons. My mother would often diminish my intellect because I don't read novels, and especially not as much, like her. Reading a lot was associated with intellect in our home, and it was extremely harmful to my self-esteem. They are different kind of intelligence, people aren't stupid if they don't read a lot. That's the classicism talking, because it was literally badly seen for working class folks to read not so long ago and so, only the rich did so only the rich were smart. And having an education, which I have, is not the same as being a reader.

This is also probably why I have seen queer afab folks identify with Cassandra, because we experienced the "you should be flirting with boys" pressure when you don't want to.

The other thing is that, not only is Barbara projecting herself on Cassandra, she is also living through her, which is bad. That's something you can hear a lot about for children stars, where their career and success is for mommy, who cannot be a star anymore. Barbara wants Cassandra to date boys and "have fun" because she thinks she can anymore because she's disabled.

And I'm sure a lot of y'all don't understand what is wrong with what Barbara is doing. But it is forcing amatonormativity and her sexuality on Cassandra, it is ableist, it is forcing Cassandra into uncomfortable situation because she would have enjoyed them. Cassandra doesn't want to wear a bikini, it's not ok for Barbara to force Cassandra to wear a bikini because SHE enjoys it.

In no way I'm trying to say that Barbara is a bad parent. What I'm saying is more that y'all are very hard on Bruce when both him and Barbara are doing the same thing. They both fuck up and learn to do better, because they love Cassandra. They are both wrong about Cassandra, but also right sometimes (example: Bruce is right about letting Cassandra fights because that's what she wants to do. Barbara is against it and she is shown she is wrong multiple times) Y'all are calling Bruce a bad parent to Cassandra in Batgirl (2000) and not Barbara because he's forcing on her his bad copying mechanism of sacrifcing your life to save others, and she is forcing on her amatonormative sexist and ableist norms of our western societies.

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: screenshots of reblogs on this post.

Images in the first reblog:

moregaythanyourealized: i was at an antique store in Austria once and when I went to check out they guy was like "Oh, that was my wife's. Oh well, she'll be okay without it!" I felt a little guilty]

[takk: #bought a ceramic seal at an antique store and the woman at the counter said 'do you know what this is?' and i said 'a seal?' and she said #nothing else]

[vintagegarf: #this has happened to me multiple times #I tried to buy a lamp they were using for light that got unplugged #they let me buy it but i had to haggle for a bit]

[tackyflamingosarah: I was in a local used bookstore once and they had an original finalized script for The Breakfast Club. That was pretty cool to see. Still have no idea where they got it from]

[shakespearerants: #ahahaha throwback to the one time I went into THEE most expensive antique store in the city to ask about a ring that was haunting me #and the about 90 year old sales lady a. didn't recognize the peice b. immediately told me if she'd have seen it earlier she would've kept i #for herself c. turned the tag around and was surprised to find a price in her own handwriting d. deduced I don't have a job by my manicured #for-once hands e. offered me a 100€ discount because she liked my vibes f. immediately invited me to come to her property and meet her #horses after I expressed the slightest interest. when I say property I mean castle with grounds. when I say horses I mean own private stud. #OH YEAH and this whole interaction started with her wanting to throw me out of the store as soon as I walked through the door bc she had a #private client coming in 10 minutes. #vladi speaks]

[cosmic-courtroom: #me when i find radioactive glass in some random persons booth and it's just labelled 'green glass $2.50' like. #stares. girl. and the owners of the store see my blacklight in hand and go 'oh so is it [uranium/depression] glass??' and i flash it with #light and sometimes it's the brightest shit they've seen like. Hey That's a Really High U Concentration Actually.]

[agdab: #this was how i got a cursed ring #i had to bury it in a graveyard to get rid of it]

[chikinan: #still thinking about the cow fetus]

[horneboy: #omfg no i got a 60s soviet union biscuit tin from a vintage shop #and the guy was like wtf whats this never seen it before #and i was like it's your shop blud]

[thirdchoiceurl: #love when they ask why I picked something out and I get to tell them about all the uranium they have]

[Images in the second reblog:

abyssalterrors: #me w my collectible nsync marionnete puppets #jt i WILL find you]

[therebloger22: #the employee going i don't think we have postcards cause postcard lady hasn't been in lately and then here i come with postcards]

[ghostphy: #i once tried to buy a little Pikachu figure from a thrift store #and they would NOT sell it to me #because they were convinced it wasn't from the store #so they just took it and kept it #like. ok]

[phi-says-bullshit: One was at an antique store, he asked "where did you find this?" I said, in a bucket marked a dollar? And he gave me a handful of things from the bucket for free. What a score]

[tinygreenbug: #one time i bought an atrocious lamp because it was only $4 and i thought it was funny and she went 'oh thank god']

[chrono-of-june: #me: waltzes up to the counter with a pink frilly parasol and a gruff also plush #*gruffalo #the lady there: ?????]

[mothmanns: #one time i found a little ceramic piggie at the antique store #not my first but one of the early ones #and i fell in love with him instabtly even though he is missing an ear #and i took him up to the counter and said 'i know hes broken but i love him so much' and the owner smiled at me #and she said 'he was broken when he got here but i kept him because i knew someone special would want to take him home' #and she gave him to me for free and also i cried #im looking at him rn !!!]

[speakingofdoorknobs: #I once found an autographed photo of the Professor from Gilligan's Island at an antique store #yes of course I bought it how could I not?]

[bubsu: #i went to an antique store with a basement and nothing had price tags #also you could only access stuff on the perimeter of the absolute pile of stuff #i took a pic of chairs i wanted and the guy was like oh yeah i remember those i sold them and then bought them back #couldnt buy them lest i find him in my apartment taking his chairs back in the middle of the night #also they were $400]

[stan-pines-mullet: contrary to mom n pop thrift stores, where you can go to the deepest corner of the shop, find a tunnel created by chairs and dressers, crawl into it, be meeted by diverging paths but eventually picking the path less trodded, and at the end you'll find like a cute lamp or something and bring it to the desk and shes like "ahhh yes the lamp" and probably tell you exactly when she got it and who gave her it".]

[Images in the third reblog:

fairyundead: #Or the store is owned and staffed by just one dude who knows exactly when and where he got each and every item #And while he's ringing you up he tells the story of how he found the item and how he had planned to do XYZ with it #He seems almost sad to let it go but when you're like "you don't have to sell it to me?” He's like no no it's yours now #And it makes the item just a bit more special to you whenever you see it]

[idyllic-idioms: #bought a hat at the charity shop yesterday and the guy at the checkout was like #is this hat yours #and i was like ????? #and he was like did you find it in this building or bring it in yourself #and i was like oh yeah it was in that bin over there #and he was like hmm interesting]

[sleepysuccubi: #either that or they have extensive knowledge about the random Pyrex bowl you found in the basement]

[ereborne: #when I got my cuteass little teapot I wanted a little trivet to keep on the floor in the corner of my room for my teapot to perch on #and the first of the little antique/consignment shops we went to didn't have any trivets we could find #the second one I found a trivet in the first main room and I was much encouraged! I marked its position in my mind and kept looking #and by that point my family had gone farther in (an acknowledged fact that I am always the slowest and should be left) #and the lady behind the little desk asked if she could help me with anything so I told her I was looking for a trivet #but also we were all just there to poke around no worries and she was like 'oh well I don't think we have any trivets but enjoy!' #and I was like 'ah well you do have at least one. right here. on this shelf maybe two yards from where you spend all your time' #very funny to scoot a milkjug aside and lift a bunch of plates to show a little cast-iron maple leaf trivet and see her be like oh!!!!!! #that is the trivet I ended up buying but they did have at least four in the shop. maybe more hidden where I didn't see them #and also actually we never went to the other floor so who knows how many there! but yeah at least four and the first in that front room

mariedemedicis: #quoth queue quoth i]

[dreamshappytrail: #this happened when i bought a clown once #cashier had. never seen it before ???? #so they let me have him for free :3]

[roominthishell: #this happens in normal shops too if the customers are insane enough #ive had people come up to me with our wall decorations that we like nailed onto the wall trying to buy it #and i have to be like 'where did you get this from????']

[uncivilliberties: I bought an eight inch tall cast iron Michelin Man coin bank the other day and the cashier looked at it blankly for a full thirty seconds and then just whispered "what"]

[everlastingrandom: #me every time I find a new lead crystal piece #that guy at the counter is like 'we had that in the store???' #and I'm like yeah man #:3 treasure hunting]

[wierdrocks: #bought a framed cross stitch when i moved #and the guy at the antique store squinted at it and was like #i... sold this #were there two?? #guess there were two]

[lachlame: #bought a sword at a thrift store one time #had a price tag and everything #but that cashier swore on a stack of bibles that theyd never seen it before]

[Images in the fourth reblog:

lichensings: #a friend of mine when she found a doll that looks exactly like her in the back #(they let her have it for free)]

[fisherkings: #once someone semi accusingly asked if i got my sweater there and i said no and she said hm. well i wish we sold it. okay?]

[ivytwines: #the walk of shame to show them the rando booth you picked it up at]

[aquilathefighter: #the awkward description of which booth and what dusty corner of said booth #listen gertrude i like to DIG through all the musty crap]

[obfuscatingintelligence: #i found what i think was a Christmas tree topper from the Soviet Union #hammer and sickle and everything #still no idea how it showed up in small town lowa]

[turtledactyl: #my friend once found a large jar of various stones and jewelry and the person working was like idk where you found that but its uhhh $20 #there was like hundreds of dollars worth of stones and cabachons in there]

[pumpkabitch: #i know ive reblogged and tagged this before about this #but i wanted to look at this little gold frog in a case and the guy opened it took the frog out and said Ive never seen this thing before]

[goosefeathered: #one time it was a rat #the only thing worse than being a customer is being the customer that finds that rat #she put it in a jar and gave it to me? #i let it go in a creek #weird day]

[berry-femme: #me like hello I want those three musical ceramic wall masks please #and they're like #the what now.]

[comradecrab: #that one lamp shaped like a ship i bought with little sails and an anchor #at least five older ladies crowded around me to watch me see if it turned on and cheered when it did #cashier was like i swear i have never seen this in my life anyway that'll be $15]

[Images in the fifth reblog:

ectogasm: #found this absolutely fucking DELIGHTFUL antique store in keyport the other day #just packed to the gills #some of the strangest shit just piled onto shelves #religious pamphlets from 1895 thrown into a bin stacked next to a shelf that had uranium glass plates and an old box of antiseptic dressing #nixon political pins and a BOTTLE OF MERCURY and antique rolls of film #i wanted to move in #anyway i bought a pair of earrings and had this exact exchange w the shop owner]

[thesunshookwithjoy: #shout out to the lady at the antique store who said 'what the hell is a gyroscope' while we were buying said gyroscope #and then I think just guessed at the price #it's really cool though it's from an old boat]

[midnight-herald: #LITERALLY #there was this antique store in boston i would go to after moving #because there was so much good kitchen stuff in the basement that the owners forgot about #so they'd cut me a crazy deal #i'd be trying to add up how much for everything i had grabbed based on what the signs downstairs said #and the guy working the counter would just look at this shit and me with my calcualtor (not even joking) and say '$35' #ever september we would do this song and dance #got a rlly nice cast iron skillet from him this way]

[shower-man: #everytime i come up to check out with the dustiest crustiest doll that looks like it no longer believes in light]

[bohello: #"oh yeah theres a mannequin in the bathroom btw" after getting jumpscared by the mannequin]

[tyronetoastertime: #me when I got my hand caught in a bear trap at an antique store]

[ghxsttowns: #i love tiny cutlery. like tiny tiny. and whenever i find any in antique stores and go 'hi how much will it be for this' theyre like damn #those are minuscule where were they ??? u can just take them Imao dont worry]

[songsfordustmites: #usually they dont comment on my purchases but last time they did #yes there are captain kangaroo records out there. yes i did get a great deal on that bag of colorful thread. #yes the little toy that i bought is so cute. thats why i bought him.]

[cookinguptales: #I also love the opposite #when you bring some little tchotchke up to the front desk and they're like oooh do you know what this is #and you're like yes it's a little kitty with a pumpkin and I love him #and they're like THIS is a FIGURINE that came packaged in TEA and people COLLECTED them #and you're like fascinating thank you I've named him timothy]

[maximum-snoot: I briefly worked at an antique mall in highschool, the kind where they rent out spaces to different vendors and whatnot... Well one day a customer brings this skull up to the register and like, that's fine, a lot of vendors have the occasional animal skull, but we had to be like UHHHH WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS because it was a fucking PORPOISE skull, which is EXTREMELY illegal to own and even MORE illegal to sell and I guess the vendor who was trying to sell it somehow didn't know this??? So we had to be like "Sorry, you can't buy this. Nobody can buy this. We shouldn't even have this. Please don't tell the authorities."]

[Images in the sixth and final reblog:

zooophagous: #"i got it from the booth full of santa claus decor" #i also love the random booths that are selling clearly brand new items and handmade soap #like girl youre lost this place is for mildew covered magazines and racist salt and pepper shakers]

[autisticmisabel: #my favourite thing is when they're so confused about you wanting whatever useless knick knack #that they just give it to you because they can't think of a reasonable price #it's happened to me twice now i think]

[goomygoomygoomy: #me at river market all the time #'where did you even get this' in a dark corner of the basement floor dw about it]

[quillkippsisalilbitchandilovehim: #one time i asked the guy behind the cash desk about something and he tried to walk over before realising he was literally trapped behind the #desk because of all the stuff piled up around him. had to help this dude climb out lol]

[catskincass: #when I bought a pair of vintage rare binoculars for pennies because they put the decimal in the wrong place]

[siixxeyes: there's an antique store across the street from my house. i collect vintage poodle related things (i show poodles) and i found a really gorgeous poodle brooch from the 60's. the owner looked at me and said "where the fuck was this?" and proceeded to write down my name and put the word POODLES next to it. i get a phone call every few weeks when they either find something or get something new.]

[asstrainmcfucktruck: #'who let you into the forbidden relics section' 'fred??' 'NOBODY NAMED FRED WORKS HERE']

[carneflower13: #not even the creators of the labyrinth are truly aware of what lurks within it #memes]

[zzazu: #once found a 300 year old history book and the store owner was like #where did you find this? weve been looking for this for 8 years]

[night-creeps: #the best and only time I went to an antique store #i was like 3/4 years old #i dont remember if i was with my mom or my aunt #but near the counter they had their small/ easily steal-able things in a glass case #and i saw this set if two wooden cats that are vaguely reminiscent of lucky cats #but they were painted black and with slight floral detailing #and i was obsessed with cats as a kid #and in my brain i was like convinced they were super valuable because they were in a glass case #and the lady who owned the place thought i was adorable and let me hold them #and i was begging to get them but was told we couldnt #but the lady gave them to me anyway #now that im older im p sure they arent that valuable #and i only have one becayse i gave tge other to my best friend in elementary school #but I was so wowed as a kid that the lady let me have something i was convinced was extremely valuable]

/End ID

i love antique stores you go to check out & theyre like “where the hell did you get this”

[plaidos]

Didn't want to be that one follower who sucks the wind out of the room with a big addition, so sending this for you to answer or ignore at your own discretion.

Visavis that body slider post, I kind of just feel like we can't and will never be able to depend on AAA games to represent us accurately, or really any minority experience for that matter. These games are all fairly archetypical power fantasy heroes quests or whatever, and especially if they incorporate full character customization, they necessarily will shave off granularity, especially in the name of budget feasibility.

Maybe they could be convinced that transfems are a large enough market to hire a VA for us, and learn the dos and donts of body/gender character creation by rote, but the story will still be roughly the same. They won't add a hundred, maybe thousand, little instances of microaggression, degendering, kneejerk suspicion; completely rewrite the fabric of how every other character in the game interacts with us, because then they'd have to do that for every other conceivable identity.

I'm not saying this is fair, or justified, or that they should be let off the hook for it, but I just unfortunately don't see it ever changing for these types of games. A far more feasible ask, in my opinion, would be to demand that games if anything stop making the character a blank canvas for the audience to craft an effigy of themselves, and instead force them to make narratives that are explicitly transfeminine alongside being power fantasy heroes quests; to ask the majority cis audience to step into our shoes for once, in a way that can't be cordoned off to the side as the overwhelming majority of the audience plays as a character that doesn't force them to challenge their preconceptions of the world.

i agree somewhat, but i’m not necessarily asking for literally every line of dialogue to be restructured for every element of every character — but this is Dragon Age we’re talking about; it prides itself on writing separate dialogues for different character traits, and it literally follows through on doing that with transness as a trait too — that’s actually one of the cooler parts of Veilguard. the problem is that when we come to meet the non-binary character, none of their story makes any kind of sense. theyre closeted and anxious about telling their mom, but… there doesn’t seem to be any transphobia in this world, so why would that be a factor? there’s this great big Very Special Episode feeling cutscene about this character being accidentally misgendered and how all the cis characters should punish themselves for it. but if there’s no transphobia, that’s just a genuine mistake, like i don’t see people forcing themselves to do push-ups when they accidentally refer to their married friend as “miss”, or if you accidentally refer to a cis person who changed their name by their old name — it’s just a “oh my bad, sorry” moment before moving on — and worse yet, this conversation forces your character to be a cis person at the sidelines when it’s a perfect example of just One perfect place you could be inserting different dialogue for a trans character.

i’m not asking for massive vast differences between trans and cis characters, obviously these types of RPGs have to have some element of mushy in-the-middle-ness to be able to have such widely customisable characters. but there’s a mid ground between “literally realistic depiction of being microaggressed by every cis person you meet & totally separate dialogue trees and quests and storylines” and “my trans character is assumed to be cis in the writing of cutscenes interacting with major trans characters about them being trans”. and we’re at the latter right now.

you’re right — we’re not a marketable demographic. that’s not why these things are being added: that’s literally my point, the trans content in videogames is largely aimed at cis people feeling good and progressive for its surface level inclusion. like, “nobody cares enough to represent us because we won’t give them enough money” is part of what i’m complaining about? 😭

[avonnimimi]

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Plugged

The Series. Part: 1 | 2 | 3 |

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a/n: PART TWO IS HERE BITCHESSSSS. @hcneymooners @wannabe-fic-reader im so nervous about this lmao. I hope you all enjoy :) . Please remember, some things will be written in my native english dialect, if you don’t understand, comment and I will translate. MEN AND MINROS DNI

content: drug dealer! Vi x Black fem reader, weed, intox, cursing, toxic relationships, gang violence, guns, vi being fine asf, ANGST (kinda). lmk if i missed anything <3

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Donte didn't drag his sorry ass back home until the sky was starting to lighten, that weak-ass sunrise painting the shitty apartment in a pathetic, pale glow. You woke up on the couch, stiff and sore, to the feeling of his clammy hand creeping up your thigh. You shoved him off hard enough to send him tumbling onto the floor.

"Where the fuck were you? I had to hitch a ride home with your friend," you spat, the taste of stale weed and resentment thick in your mouth. He looked at you with that lazy, half-lidded gaze that used to make your stomach flip, now just made you want to puke. He licked his lips, a slow, deliberate movement that sent a shiver of disgust down your spine.

"You fine when you mad, mama," he slurred, his voice raspy with sleep and something else, something that smelled faintly of cheap perfume.

You rolled your eyes so hard you thought they might get stuck. "That's how bitches like me get raped and killed," you growled, the words sharp and bitter.

He let out a dramatic sigh, mumbling something about you talking too much, about how you were always starting shit. You ignored him, the anger a cold knot in your gut. "I'm going out with the girls," you announced, already planning your escape from this suffocating apartment, from him.

You took a scalding hot shower, scrubbing his touch off your skin, then dressed in your favorite ripped jeans and a tight crop top, the one that always made him look twice. You spent an hour meticulously applying your makeup, each stroke of eyeliner a tiny act of defiance. You even finished that damn marketing assignment, the one you'd been putting off for weeks, just to prove to yourself, and maybe to him, that you weren't some useless, dependent thing. Then you called Shay.

"Hey, baby mama, wanna go out today?" you chirped, forcing a lightness you didn't feel.

"Bitch, don't wish no kids on me! I rebuke that shit in the name of Jesus! Girl, bye," Shay's voice boomed through the phone, her laughter infectious. You couldn't help but giggle, the tension easing just a little.

"I'm trying to be an auntie!" you whined playfully.

Shay promised to be there in 20 minutes. Five minutes later, her car horn blared outside, the sound a welcome interruption to the suffocating silence of the apartment. You didn't even glance at Donte as you walked out the door.

The second you were in Shay's car, the gossip floodgates opened. "Girl, you heard Violet's outta jail?"

You rolled your eyes, already tired of hearing about this Vi chick. "I've seen her. What's the big deal?"

Shay looked at you, a mixture of shock and amusement on her face. "I forgot you weren't here when she was running these streets," she explained, shaking her head. "Vi was the shit. Freshly 18, but she owned these ends. Connected to everyone, kept shit cordial. It wasn't just about the weed, girl."

You listened, intrigued despite yourself. "But then she got knocked. Don't know how, but she's been in jail ever since. Just got out last week."

A slow smile spread across your face. "So, would now be a good time to tell you she took me home and brought me weed at 3 AM?"

Shay slammed on the brakes, the car screeching to a halt in the middle of the street. "BITCH, WHAT?!" You burst out laughing, the sound echoing in the small car. "God, I'm so jealous. You don't know what I would give to be up in them drawls…." she trailed off, her voice laced with a longing that surprised you.

"Hello?! Why would you say that, omg?" you asked, feigning outrage.

Shay just laughed, shaking her head as she pulled back into traffic.

You ended up at a dingy arcade, the kind with sticky floors and flickering neon lights. You spent hours playing air hockey, racking up tickets, and winning handfuls of cheap candy. Your phone buzzed in your pocket.

It was Vi. You didn't even remember saving her number, but that weed… that had been some seriously potent shit.

"Hello?" you answered, your voice a little breathless from laughing.

"Precious, where you at?" The nickname sent a shiver down your spine. You bit your lip, liking it more than you should. You had a man, you reminded yourself.

"Stop calling me that," you said, trying to sound annoyed, but failing miserably. "I'm at the arcade. Why?"

"Come outside. Got somethin' for you," she said, her voice low and husky. Then she hung up. How the hell did she know where you were? You grabbed Shay's arm, pulling her towards the exit. "Girl, Vi just told me to come outside. Did you tell her I was here?"

Shay looked genuinely confused. "Nah, babe, I ain't said shit. Haven't spoken to her."

You stepped out of the arcade, blinking against the bright afternoon sun. And there she was, leaning against her black Hellcat like she owned the damn place, a spliff dangling from her lips. Shay was practically drooling beside you. "God, she's so fine," she mumbled, her eyes wide.

You walked towards Vi, a nervous flutter in your stomach. "How'd you know I was here?" you asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Vi leaned down, her eyes locking with yours. "I got eyes and ears everywhere, precious. Ain't nothin' I don't know."

"So, whatcha want? I was in the middle of a game," you said, trying to maintain a cool facade, but her closeness was making it hard to think straight.

She straightened up, pulling something out of the car. Three crisp hundred-dollar bills. She took your hand, her fingers brushing against yours, and placed the money in your palm.

You stared at her, speechless. "What's this for?"

She looked you up and down, her gaze lingering on your chipped nails. "Two of your acrylics are missing. Ain't gonna let precious walk around like that," she scoffed, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I can tell when someone ain't getting taken care of." You glanced at Shay, who looked as stunned as you felt.

It was only then that Vi acknowledged Shay. "Aye, that my girl Shay?" She stepped away from you, the loss of her warmth surprisingly noticeable.

"Hey, Vi," Shay said, waving awkwardly.

"Hey, lil mama. Ain't seen you in a minute," Vi replied, her voice softer now. A pang of jealousy twisted in your gut. Vi seemed to notice, her eyes flicking back to yours for a brief moment.

"Yeah, you been in jail like a bum," Shay retorted with a nervous giggle.

Vi said she had other business to attend to, her eyes lingering on you for a beat longer than necessary. "Call me if you need anything, precious," she said, her voice low and husky. Then she got back in her car, the engine roaring to life before she sped away, leaving you standing there, the three hundred-dollar bills burning a hole in your pocket.

"Bitch, did THE Violet just give you three bills to get your nails done?!" Shay shrieked, breaking the spell. You just shook your head, still reeling from the encounter.

—

Shay dropped you back at your apartment around 5 PM. Donte was sprawled on the couch, glued to the TV, a controller clutched in his hand.

"Get dressed. We going to Tevonn's," he said without looking at you, his voice flat and emotionless.

"Tevonn? Ain't that your biggest opp?" you asked, a sense of unease settling over you.

"Nah, we cool now," he mumbled, his eyes still fixed on the screen. You nodded slowly, searching his face for any flicker of dishonesty. Something felt off.

You went to your room, a knot of anxiety tightening in your stomach. You changed into a little black dress, the one that always made you feel confident, and tucked the three hundred dollars into your purse.

—

Tevonn's place was packed, the air thick with the smell of weed and sweat. Music blasted through the speakers, the bass vibrating through the floor and up into your chest. You followed close behind Donte, trying to navigate the throng of unfamiliar faces. This didn't feel like a party. It felt like a trap.

Donte found a couch and sat, pulling you down onto his lap. You sat stiffly, acutely aware of the eyes on you, the weight of unspoken tension hanging heavy in the air. You scanned the room, your heart skipping a beat when you spotted Vi across the room, talking to a group of men. But her eyes… her eyes were on you, and for a moment, the chaos of the party faded away, leaving only the intensity of her gaze. You quickly looked away, your cheeks flushing, thanking God you were black.

Donte mumbled something about needing to "deal with some business" and pulled you towards the back of the house. You followed reluctantly, your unease growing with every step.

The back room was smaller, more dimly lit, and the air was thick with tension. Tevonn and his crew were there, their faces hard and unreadable. This didn't look like business. It looked like a setup. You grabbed Donte's hand, your voice barely above a whisper. "You sure about this?"

He brushed you off, his voice impatient. "Come on," he muttered, pulling you forward.

Tevonn stepped towards Donte, his eyes cold and calculating. You saw the glint of metal tucked into his waistband, and your heart pounded in your chest.

"Yeah, so to settle this shit, we want your girl," Tevonn said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. The words hit you like a physical blow, the air knocked out of your lungs.

"Excuse me, what?" you choked out, stumbling back. "Settle what shit?"

Donte grabbed your arm, yanking you towards Tevonn. "Just go. Gotta deal with this shit, then I'ma come back for you, mama," he said, his voice tight with annoyance.

"I'm not going anywhere, Donte! What the fuck?!" you yelled, struggling against his grip.

His patience finally snapped. His hand swung back, connecting with your cheek with a sickening thud. You stumbled back, tears stinging your eyes. He crouched down, his fingers digging into your arms. "Aye, just do what I'm sayin'! Gotta deal with this," he hissed, his voice laced with menace. He pulled you roughly towards Tevonn.

"There a problem out here?" The voice cut through the chaos like a knife. Vi.

Tevonn stiffened, and Donte let out a string of curses under his breath. Vi walked towards them, her movements fluid and effortless, her eyes fixed on you. She casually draped her arm over Tevonn's shoulder, pulling him close.

"What's going on out here, my boy?" she asked, her voice smooth and deceptively calm. Tevonn mumbled something about payment, about Donte sleeping with his girl, his words barely audible over the pounding of your heart. Vi held your gaze, a silent promise in her eyes.

With a swift, practiced movement, Vi lifted the gun from Tevonn's waistband, tossing it aside as if it were a child's toy. Then she drew her own weapon, the movement so smooth and seamless you barely registered it until the cold steel was pressed against Tevonn's temple.

She whispered something in his ear, her voice low and menacing. You watched as Tevonn nodded, his face pale and drawn, muttering apologies. Then she turned her attention to Donte, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Not gonna lie, bruh, you know how I feel about men hitting women," she said, her voice dangerously quiet. Donte froze, his bravado melting away like ice in the sun.

"Vi, we go way back. It ain't that serious," he pleaded, his voice trembling.

"I don't give a fuck," Vi growled, shoving Tevonn aside and stepping towards Donte. Even though Donte was taller, Vi radiated an aura of power that made him seem small and insignificant.

She pressed the gun against his forehead, her finger tightening on the trigger. Donte finally released you, his eyes wide with fear. You ran to Vi, and she caught you, her arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you close.

"Don't ever touch her again, Donte. Don't make me have to teach you this lesson twice," she warned, her voice cold and hard.

She scooped you up as if you weighed nothing, carrying you through the crowded house, ignoring Donte's desperate pleas and empty threats. She carried you to her car, gently placing you in the passenger’s seat.

She closed the door, then walked around to the driver's side, sliding in and cupping your face in her hands, her thumbs gently stroking the bruise forming on your cheek. "Gonna kill him," she mumbled, her voice thick with rage.

You pulled away, the anger and fear churning in your stomach replaced by a strange mix of relief and… something else. "Just take me home," you whispered, your voice trembling.

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this is my original post, please don’t repost, translate, or plagiarize my work ;)

©️avonnimimi 2024

[potatoes83]

AI...

So I went to Taco Bell yesterday, the one on 11 Mile in Royal Oak, since the one up on 12 Mile in Madison Heights, although closer to my home, absolutely sucks. And this is something I try not to do, because it's nothing but calories, although a good and inexpensive source of protein, and I indeed regretted its return all through the night.

I pull in, roll the window down, and I hear the car in front of me talking to what is very clearly a computerized AI voice. A pleasant enough female voice, good diction, but with the very obvious pauses between phrases. I think that's the biggest difference; humans tend to trail off with their phrases, our conversations are a two-way street as we finish each other's sentences. AI doesn't do that. Okay, got it. Would you like anything else? No. Say, it's hot out there. Did you know you can get any medium drink for $2.99? Would you like to add a medium drink for $2.99? No. Okay. Got it.

At this point, making fun of the still imperfect technology, I would point out that it was late December in Michigan. One is more apt to be after a nice hot coffee then a plastic cup of iced sugar water.

Now, I guess credit where it's due, the thing did take my order with surprising accuracy. I order several different items, each of which has a modification because I'm either swapping out the ground beef or chicken in favor of black beans, or adding sour cream to something because it's delicious. It got everything bang on, much better than the voice assist on my smartphone or in my vehicle. And removing all doubt, there was indeed a sticker on the squawk box saying AI is assisting us today.

One thing I noticed is that even though I was perfectly aware that I was talking to AI, my common courtesy still instinctively kicked in; yes please, no thank you, that sort of thing. But when it prompted me for the roundup donation at the end, there wasn't that guilt of telling a human no, I don't want to send my change to some foundation, because I was talking to a robot.

I think one of the biggest problems I have with all of this is the lack of human interaction. And don't get me wrong, I'm an introvert by nature, leave me alone in my office to do my work, and don't get between me and my home. But you still need basic human interaction. You need the banter. Because I go out of my way to start my interactions with basic human pleasantries; good evening, how are you doing? No bullshit, no idle chit chat, but 10 seconds of acknowledgment that I am a human being talking to a human being. That was missing.

I very much doubt it's going away, though it would be nice if it gave you some quick little survey at the end so you could tell them what you think. Like those ziosk tablets at Olive Garden, at the end it asks you if the ziosk device improved your dining experience. And it's like, no. It may have made life a little bit easier for the server, able to ring the app in right at the table, although these days they can be just as easily carrying around a mobile device. So I'm able to slice my credit card right there at the table instead of the server having to go to the nearest POS station to do it, again, could be solved with a mobile device. It's like, I didn't come here to ring in my own order, any more than I'm still terribly fond of having to ring up and bag my own groceries. So as the end use Taco Bell customer, your AI didn't generally improve my experience one way or the other. Although, to be fair, I have had some absolutely abysmal customer service where humans are involved, when they're clearly just not paying attention, and you have to repeat yourself five times. The AI did help with that, I suppose. 🥔

guys don't worry about ai anymore

[shall-we-die]

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↬[Fandom]•⊰ {Love and deepspace}࿐

↬[Warnings]•⊰ {None}࿐

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[A]ctivities: What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

He's a busy man, maybe he can't spend much time with you, but when he's with you, he'll spend this time in the best way.

He’d probably love to spoil you, buy you expensive stuff and take you shopping around, basically always wants to keep you close to him.

Probably take you out on expensive dates and to the most expensive restaurants, he will definitely love flaunting his wealth.

He knows how (and he will) make you happy even without using his wealth. Of course his presence alone is enough. So cuddling on the couch while you’re in his arms and he’s just playing with your hair, is another way to spend time together.

He's Mr. Creative date planner. He can take you to a wrestling match one night and surprise you by winning the prize.

He can take you to the farthest place outside the city and make a flower crown for you while you are sitting in the plain.

He can also invite you to his place to make funny clay sculptures together.

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[B]eauty: What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He thinks you’re beautiful, smart, intelligent, talented, witty, and just overall perfect.

"You're the best, Miss hunter, aren't you?" *murmuring into your ear*

He’s quite obsessed with you and the way you act and he loves every little thing about you.

Sylus especially likes the way you laugh and smile, and he likes it a lot when you look at him with your warm gentle eyes.

He loves your small, delicate hands, whenever he can, he’ll just hold your hand or caress it. (Or maybe he'll kiss the back of your hand, just to make you blush.)

He finds your eyes, lips, and every little detail about your face absolutely beautiful.

He’ll probably be obsessed with your scent even, and wants to constantly have you in his arms so that he would get to breathe it in.

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[C]omfort: How would they help their s/o when they feel down/ have a panic attack etc.?

Sylus immediately notices it if you’re feeling down and he would immediately come to comfort you.

He’d try to make you feel better by holding you and comforting you, probably telling you anything that could soothe you, while caressing your hair.

"Shhh... kitten. I'm here." *kissing your tears gently.*

He'll be really protective of you if you’re having a panic attack and wouldn’t let anyone who isn’t him get close to you.

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[D]reams: How they picture their future with their s/o?

He is not a dreamer and most of the time he's too realistic, he doesn't give himself false hope and prefers not to act like a fool.

Although sometimes...

Sometimes, He imagines you holding your children.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a mini version of you running around his depressing mansion like a duckling?

(This idea mostly comes to his mind when he sees you and the twins together.)

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[E]qual: Are they the dominate one in the relationship, or rather passive?

He is absolutely the dominant in the relationship, he’s also a possessive one. (Hee can also be a bit passive, specially when you're on your brave Miss hunter mood.)

"I don't mind if you save me, miss hunter."

Yes, Sylus doesn't need a kitten to save him, but if the kitten wants this... then he sat back and watches his kitten, fighting for him~

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[F]ight: Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Sylus probably won’t be easy to forgive in the beginning, it depends on the severity of whatever you did that you need to ask for forgiveness.

He would be the type to get really mad at first and would probably give you the cold shoulder, but also constantly making sure that he’s in your sight, just to piss you off.

but he’s also the type that probably won’t stay mad for long and will eventually forgive you and just go back to tease you about it for a while.

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[G]ratitude: How grateful are they in general?Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Sylus definitely is grateful for any and every thing that you do for him, the little things and big things.

If he is happy, if he smiles when he sees a pigeon, and if he buys groceries with more pleasure (he never buys them himself before), it's only because of you; Because he knows that a special person who's name is y/n, is waiting for him to try his cooking.

He knows you'll wait for him to get to the kitchen so you can hug him from behind or surprise him by poking his back.

"Is this your way of saying hello, kitten?... hmm? It's my turn now."

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[H]onesty: Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

He does have a lot of secrets, he’s definitely the type too, but it’s mostly because most of them have to do with his work, which is illegal...?

he probably wouldn’t share them with you, mostly for your safety, but he would probably be completely vulnerable around you, you’re the only person that can and probably will be able to make him vulnerable.

Though he won’t say it, he would probably be scared of you getting hurt if you involved yourself in these things.

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[I]nspiration: Did their s/o changed them somehow, or the other way around? Like, trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Sylus definitely changed, because he developed feelings (though he’s not fully aware of them), and he slowly became more vulnerable when he was with you.

he also slowly started having certain thoughts and feelings (jealousy, possessiveness) that he didn’t use to have, but now that you’re in his life, it’s all starting to appear.

He still has lots of personal problems, he’s like a really closed off type, but if anyone knows how to open him up, it’s probably you.

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[J]ealousy: How jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?

Dragons are surely jealous and possessive... what's theirs it just for them.

He probably would get really, really jealous if other people talk to you or even look at you in a way that he doesn’t like.

he would probably try to stay cool on the outside, but in the inside he would be burning up and he would probably keep you by his side in some way, like having his hand around your waist or something.

"So you're here kitten, I was looking for you."

"Don't leave me behind or else you'll miss me." *raises an eyebrow*

He also gives a death glare to whoever is making him feels jealous.

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[K]isses: What are they kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you ? Where do they like to be kissed?

Sylus is pretty intense, especially if he’s the one to initiate the kiss. he would probably pull you close and press your body close to his, he would have his hand around your waist or holding the back of your head, pulling you in.

"Get use to it, kitten."

He likes to kiss your neck and lick the soft skin there, and he’d probably like it if you kissed his lips while holding the sides of his face.

Yes yes... his knees get weak when your lips meet his chin, brushing closer to his neck and ears.

"You're playing with fire, kitten."

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[L]ove Confession: How would they confess to their s/o?

His actions are usually shows how he feels, (and he waits... he waits for you to remember him and kiss him and then he'll kiss you back.)

But if you're to lost and he'll get impatient...

No... he won't be a stuttering mess. but as you’ve probably never seen him in this state, it can be a bit uncharacteristic and maybe even funny to see how he was usually so reserved and strong, but around you, all bets are off...

"Kitten, your IQ is really low." *Pulls the scarf around your neck and kisses you roughly.*

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[M]ornings: How are mornings spent with them?

He hates the day, so he definitely won't wake up earlier than you.

But on days when he wakes up earlier than you...

He likes looking at your peaceful sleeping face and admiring it for a while.

"What a brave kitty, peacefully asleep in the arms of a monster... should I tease you a little?" *biting your earlobe gently.*

He'll kiss and caress your face or hair, just gently admiring your presence and how beautiful you are.

when you wake up, he’ll probably hold you close to him and not let you leave his arms for a while.

"Stop moving miss hunter. The world is safe, so stay here a little longer." "Sylus, I need to pee..." "can't you hold it a little bit longer?"

after he’s finally let you out of his arms, he’d probably follow you to the bathroom and helps  you combing your hair.

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[N]ights: How are nights spent with them?

Sylus loves to tell you bedtime stories and probably tuck you in bed and won’t let you sleep until his story ends. (Each of the stories will have an unexpected ending for sure.)

He likes to watch you sleep peacefully and admire your face, caressing it sometimes, but mostly just holding you in his arms.

He will be the big-spoon and be very clingy, holding you to him so tight that you wouldn’t be able to leave even if you tried.

he’d probably kiss your face and run his hand through your hair while caressing your body, taking in your scent and feel of your skin.

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[O]pen: When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?

He Hides Things about Himself. he wouldn’t reveal too much about himself, especially the illegal stuff he does for his work.

but he would probably reveal some things slowly to you once he’s sure he can trust you and once he’s sure that you won’t try to run away from him, he’d also probably trust you more as time passes and would be more and more vulnerable and open about himself.

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[P]DA: Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with they're s/o infront of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. When others are watching?

Sylus will definitely be upfront about it, he wouldn’t really care if other people see...

he actually loves to flaunt his relationship with you, he’d put his hand around your waist and hold you close.

"Come here, kitten."

Sylus wouldn’t be shy when it comes to kissing or showing affection to you in front of other people.

And be knows he has to be 'Sky' infront of your friends, but it's okay...

he'll be the Sky, and he'll be infront.

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[Q]uirk: Random ability they have that's beneficial in a relationship?

He is a giant human heater. His body is always warm.

You can hug him on cold winter nights and you won't need a blanket anymore.

Is your period painful this month? Sylus is here to massage your belly with his warm hands.

When you’re kissing, you can feel your lips are burning. 

When he's kissing your skin? You feel like you're melting every time his lips brush over your skin.

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[R]omance: How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliche or rather creative?

Sylus us the type to be extremely romantic when it comes to you. And he has his own special way of expressing his affection and love to you.

he’d do anything for you, the things he would do for you can be both cliche (like bringing you to expensive restaurants and buying you expensive things) and creative (like writing you love poems and letters)

Let me count... He gave you a ring, he gave you a handmade flower crown? And he carried you around to show people that you're his lover... he let you win in every game? (This one is not that correct, specially in kitty cards...)

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[S]ecurity: How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?

Sylus is the type to step in front and shield you from any danger, he wants to protect you at all costs. 

he would only let you ‘protect’ him if and only if he’s in a vulnerable state, probably after an injury or after a very hard mission, where he would let you take care of him (in the most caring and loving way of course.)

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[T]ry: How much effort would they put into dates , anniversaries, gifts and everyday tasks?

He would very much put a lot of effort into every date, anniversary or gifts that he gets you.

Sylus would constantly put 110% effort in making sure that the date, the gift and the anniversary are absolutely perfect for you, but he won't be that anxious to get your response to it.

He knows he has done a great job.

"You're face shows that you're happy, miss hunter. Now, what you'll give me instead? I'll wait to see your special gift for me."

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[U]nderstanding: How good do they know their s/o? Are they empathetic?

Sylus knows you at a really deep level, he knows you inside and out at this point. 

he’s surprisingly empathetic and he notices the little details about you, probably how you move your hand when you’re nervous, what you actually mean when you’re not expressing it verbally, and the way you respond to things, and all subtle details in between.

Sylus definitely understands you completely and is really good at figuring out what you’re thinking without you actually saying anything.

"Of course I know my kitten... I know her very well."

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[V]alue: How important is the relationship to them? What is its worth in comparison to other things in their life?

The relationship with you means everything to him, it’s his top priority.

he’d probably even abandon his work or anything just so he can come and save you if you’re in danger.

Sylus can and will give up everything for you if you wanted him to. 'Everything' even if it's his own life.

(Don't make me sad, don't make me cry... *I'm crying in the background*)

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[W]ild card: A random fluff headcanon.

Sylus likes to give you massages, especially massaging your scalp because you always look cute when he does it.

"You know what you look like now?" *smirks*

"a kitten who enjoys receiving scalp massage."

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[X]OXO: Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Sylus is just a giant dragon who love cuddling (secretly) and he's incredibly affectionate and clingy, especially when it’s just the two of you.

He’d love to hold and kiss you any chance he gets and he’ll always seek some sort of physical contact like holding your hand or wrapping his arm around your waist.

Whenever you’re close to him, he’ll probably have his hands all over you, especially on your hips, waist, thighs and hair. He likes your hair.

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[Y]earning: How will they cope when they're missing their s/o?

Sylus would be really restless if he misses you a lot, but he'll try to keep himself busy with work so he doesn’t think too much about you.

He'll finally give up and call you just so he can hear your voice.

"Why did I call?... hmm... no reason." *silence*

"just wanted to hear your voice, kitten. How was your day 'without me'?"

he might also become a little more clingy and possessive when you’re reunited with him because he missed you so much.

(He'll send Mephisto to stalk you all the time.)

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[Z]eal: Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Sylus is absolutely willing to go to any length for your relationship.

he’d do absolutely anything, he’d break any law or rule for you, because he has a sort of tunnel vision when you’re involved.

As I said, he’d probably throw away anything and everything for you if that’s what it takes for the relationship to last (work, reputation, material things, money, people)

He will die for you, he will kill for you and no matter how hard is life for him, he'll be back to you if it's what you want.

"The bond between us will never be lost."

[cowboyjen68]

Hello Jen, wishing you a happy year ahead thank you for still being around. Its been a rather tough time so i wanted to ask how do you deal with heartbreak? recently my long distance partner broke up with me, I'm trying to come to terms with everything that happened and now I'm devastated *besides missing them of course* that I'll never a partner again, being a lesbian in my country is already a taboo and i dont know when/if ill be able to leave so those feelings of loneliness and hurt are even stronger. It was thanks to this partner as well I managed to stand up for myself and accept I'm a lesbian, I think thats what I'm mourning the most now

Thank you and sorry for the bother, stay safe and healthy I wish you well and all the best in life

The good news is you will become proud and content as a lesbian with or without any partner. It can take time and work but you can get there. Your sexuality is not contingent on the affirmation of anyone else. Only yourself.

I can't imagine what it is like to be in a country where your sexuality endangers you both socially and due to the laws or traditions. I mean, i came out to a USA that was pretty hostile but I had the support of friends and family to some extent. I was free to protest and have conversations with the opposing side which is more that many countries allow lesbians to do.

The ending of a long distance relationship has its unique challenges, especially if you never met in person. The time that was filled with texts or video chat seems very odd and quiet leaving you checking your phone or computer out of shear habit. You were available to each other 24/7 as opposed to relationships in the same physical area where you met up and had mostly set times to date or spend time. Texting was a side bar to set up dates and only one mode of communication and not the sole contact. It will feel strange as you reset your schedule to be all yours with no need to look for and respond the a partner. It some ways lonely and in some ways freeing.

Getting over any relationship that was meaningful just takes time and work. My advice is to be sad and let yourself feel all the emotions from anger to angst but don't let it go on and on just because you are not sure what is next. Start to list things you don't miss about her. Make notes as you move through your day about things you are now free to think about and change in your life, in the direction of your life.

Don't date right away. Don't even try. Use your time and energy to pursue existing friendships or relationships with relatives or people you have not spoken to in a while. Write letters.

Rest assured that feeling that overwhelming sensation that your relationship was your one and only shot at love a shared Lesbian experience. Lesbian isolation and loneliness is a very real feeling but the reality is it is not true. You have a while life and and whole world of women to meet WHEN you are ready. You will be okay but in the meantime it is nature to hurt and second guess and worry.

As an older lesbian with break up experience in my life I can tell you it gets easier, you heal and love will come again.

[letmereedusyou]

i'm not yours

Daryl Dixon x fem reader

summary: Daryl is in a relationship with Leah (they live in Alexandria together, so completely different plot to what TWD sold us), and you have been friends forever now. He doesn't know but you love him and you finally decide to tell him.

warnings: some swearing, but nothing too crazy

A/N: this one broke my heart, I was listening to Conan Gray "Yours" and I thought it would be a great idea. Don't ask why Leah, it just fits the story the most and it's easier to write about someone who you actually dislike a little than someone like my sweet precious Connie. I know Daryl wouldn't be like that in any way, shape or form, but I wanted to write something that has a bit of a sad ending. Welp, here we are.

Knock knock knock.

The sound of it echoed through your house, and it made you jump in your place at the desk, where you were writing in your journal. You knew exactly who it was. You promised Daryl you will go with him for a scavenging trip, as you were his best friend, but also a real good scavenger. You knew you couldn't deny him when he asked you two days ago, and even if it means enduring your stupid heart beating fast every time you were around him.

Truth was, you were in love with Daryl for quite some time now. You couldn't remember when exactly it happened. It felt like day by day you heart was aching to be more to him. More than just a friend. To be able to touch him, kiss him, feel him against you, not only as a friend... but as something deeper.

You were going to tell him a few months back, but then he met Leah and everything changed. You could see how he looked at her. Even though his face did not let it show, his eyes told you that he was attracted to her. Hell, you knew way before he admitted to it. And then, stupidly, you pushed him to ask her out but he only gave you a look of "do not even go there" and waved his hand at you. It wasn't long after that, Leah decided to make a move herself. She asked him out and he said yes. Of course, he said yes. He was silently yearning for her since she showed up in Alexandria. It almost made you sick how much he was into her.

You tried to be happy for him, you really have. And a part of you is happy for him. He finally seems a bit more relaxed, smiles a little more, talks a little more. Leah had a good influence on him through the months - you couldn't deny that. But deep down, you wished you were the one who was making him that happy, that much more open.

With a sigh, you closed your journal and got up, making your way to the doors. You opened them, only to be greeted with a slight smile from Daryl and a nod. "Hey," he said. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," you say and you looked him up and down. He was wearing a weird, cape like thing. "The hell are you wearing?" you ask him, putting on your own jacket.

"A poncho," he says without missing a beat. He looked down at it and brushed an invisible fluff off it. "Why?"

"A poncho?" you raised you eyebrow, your lips curl into a smirk.

"Yes, a poncho," he says, rolling his eyes. "What's wrong with a poncho?"

"Nothing," you shake your head. "I just didn't take you as a poncho guy."

"Leah made it for me and it's quite warm," he shrugs his shoulders and looks at you with a slight smile. Of course, you thought to yourself, physically wanting to roll your eyes at it, but your smirk never falters. "I'll ask her to make you one. We'll both look like Robin Hood in the woods." You snort with laughter, stepping out of the house and following him to the gates.

Your heart was already thumping in your chest and it's only been mere minutes since you've been close to him. Your palms were sweaty. All you could think about was wrapping your arms around him and never letting him go. You knew you couldn't, but it was getting increasingly harder to be around him, knowing that him and Leah are playing house and being happy together.

If it isn't clear yet, you hate Leah. Pretty much everyone disliked her in Alexandria, but you were hundred percent sure you hated her most. Not because she was with Daryl, but she was just... so... bland. So boring. She had nothing going on for herself, she cries more than anyone you know, but yet somehow Daryl likes her? You found it strange. You found her strange. But you guessed that maybe she is only ever so bland in front of people, and she might be a bit more fun behind closed doors.

"Where are we going today?" you ask Daryl once you were out the gates, sounding casual and normal as always.

"I found some places, a couple miles out west and I wanted to check them out and see what we could find," he says, looking forwards. "We're running low on some medical supplies."

"Righto," you nod, focusing on the surroundings.

You walked and Daryl talked about Leah, non stop, like he didn't have any other topics to talk about with you. It was all 'Leah this... Leah that' and it really pissed you off, even though you didn't show it. You missed your usual banter and teasing. You missed the connection you formed over the years of friendship. Daryl quietens for a second before he speaks again.

"You should give Leah a chance, you know?"

"Kinda hard to give a chance to someone who has everything you want," you murmur.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

You stop in your tracks and your eyed widen realising that you said it out loud, instead of in your head. You turn to Daryl, who also stopped walking, and were looking at you with a raised eyebrow. You felt like your heart surely will jump out of your chest, in panic, under his questioning gaze.

"Nothing," you say, shaking your head.

"No, it's clearly something," Daryl presses and steps closer to you. "Why do you hate Leah so much? She's a really good person. If only..."

"Dear God, do you have anything else to talk about anymore?!" you roar, slinging your hands up in frustration. "I am so fucking sick of hearing you talk about her!"

"She's my..."

"Yeah, she's your girlfriend, got it!" you scoffed, the irritation building up inside of you. "You won't let me forget for even a minute!"

"What's gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?" he asks, looking you up and down, so clueless that it makes you blood boil and your face turns red. You clench your fists until your knuckles turn white.

The next words come out of your mouth with anger, frustration, so much fucking annoyance that you weren't able to stop them.

"Because I fucking love you! Because Leah gets to have you every single day of the week, while I have to watch you two from the side lines, kissing and holding each other and it makes me fucking jealous. Because I was supposed to be that person to you! Me!"

Daryl's eyes widen at your confession, and you keep looking at him. You swallowed hard, the realisation of what you just said finally hitting you and you close your eyes for a minute, trying to steady your breath. Everything seems to slow down around you, like someone switched the world to slow motion setting. Your body freezes up in place and when you open your eyes again, you see Daryl standing there, frowning.

"What the fuck, Y/N?" he asks, crossing his arms on his chest, his muscles stretch and roll under his checkered shirt. "Why would you ever tell me that?"

"I didn't mean to," you say but then you shake your head catching yourself on a lie. "That is a lie. I meant to... way before the Leah bullshit. But I've always chickened out."

"Before Leah? Y/N... How long has this been going on? And why the hell you thought that now is the best time to tell me?" his voice is cold and unforgiving. "I thought we were friends."

"We are!" you say quickly. "Of course we are friends."

"But you love me," he says slowly. "And now I know. How am I supposed to treat you now?"

"Just like you did before all of this," you say and you take a step closer to him. "Nothing needs to change. We can just forget about it."

He instinctively takes a step back.

OUCH.

You look into his eyes, your eyes pleading and questioning, like you were trying to search for answers in his. You wanted him to say that it is fine and that he will just forget about it, but he doesn't. Instead, he's standing there, his hands squeezing on the crossbow, looking at you like you've just stabbed him or something. Confusion on his face tells you he doesn't know how to deal with this information, knowing his best friend loves him in a romantic type of way, not the friendly way.

"Please, Daryl," you say, your head swing down, between your shoulders. "I'm still your best friend..."

"Best friend?" he scoffs.

OUCH AGAIN.

"Yes... Am I not?" you ask quietly, feeling the sting of the tears at the back of your eyes as you pray to God not to break down in front of him.

"You were, until you fell in love with me," he says without skipping a beat and you feel like your heart is being ripped out your chest. "Do you really expect me to just forget about all of this, and continue to be friends with you?"

"What do you mean?" you ask, your voice really weak.

"How would I know you won't try and destroy my relationship? Try to put a wedge between me and Leah, so you can have me all to yourself?" he starts to pace around, his eyes still scanning you, nothing but coldness in them.

"I wouldn't," you whisper. "You happiness is important to me."

"I cannot be sure about that now, can I?" he huffs. "So what, you're okay with just being friends with me?" he look you dead in the eyes and you could've sworn your heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

No. I want more. You wanted to say, to scream, but you knew that it wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"I'm okay with being just friends with you," you say, looking down at the ground, your words lack conviction.

"You're lying," he calls you out.

"I am," you admit pretty quickly, knowing he could read you like a book.

He looks at you for awhile, before rubbing his face with his whole hand. You could see he was trying to process the information as best as he could, and you were afraid that you just made the biggest mistake of your life. That you were about to lose a friend, someone who has been there for you forever now, just because your stupid feelings.

You bite your lip, trying hard to keep your emotions in check, your eyes still stinging at the back. Daryl was pacing around again, not looking at you anymore. His face serious, more serious than you ever saw him be. He suddenly stops.

"I would never see you as something more than a friend," you hear him say and your whole body shivers with how cold and mean it sounded.

You look up to him. He's now standing in front of you, with his crossbow swung across his body, his hands crossed on his chest. His blue eyes - oh, those perfect blue eyes - are looking at you but there is nothing behind them. His jaw seems to be clenching hard, like he's trying not to yell and scream. You wouldn't blame him if he did, but you were glad that he wasn't. Because it would, for sure, make you curl into a ball and cry.

You swallow hard and nod to him, acknowledging the words he just said.

I would never see you as something more than a friend.

You knew it. You knew you'd never be his. Deep down you were aware of it, but your stupid aching heart thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd change his mind one day and he'd see you as more than a friend... It was a delusion, promptly followed by empty hope.

"I know," you manage to whisper to him, your eyes digging a hole in the ground before you. You were too embarrassed to look at him, now that he knows and he will always know. He will always have your words at the back of his head and, most likely, he'll never treat you the same way.

Your whole scavenging trip goes in an excruciating silence. You go through the buildings and you scavenge the most of it, before going back to Alexandria. There is no goodbye from Daryl when you step inside the gates. There is no "see ya later" or anything else that would indicate that your friendship is okay. Of course, your friendship wasn't okay. You just told him you loved him, and he said he'd never see you as more than a friend...

You watched him head to his house, greet Leah and pull her inside the house, closing the doors behind him. You think about what they were doing, but you quickly shake your head to get rid of these thoughts. Your eyes finally fill with tears as you head down the street, your head down, your hands in your pockets. You let it all out, stepping inside your house, sliding down the doors onto the floor and curling into a ball. It felt like you just lost a piece of yourself. Piece that was important, maybe too important.

Days go by, and Daryl stays away from you, you both slowly drift away from each other. It was clear he wasn't comfortable with being friends with someone who loved them more than that. It was clear that your friendship was ruined, and that it was your fault. When you passed by each other, there was no words exchanged. It was like two complete strangers, just living in the same community.

You remember how he made you smile, and laugh. You you'd always tease each other and banter. How you always find ways to annoy people around you. You remember how everything that you liked about your life, it was somehow connected to him. How hearing his name made you smile every single time because you knew that day spent with Daryl was going to be full of adventure and mischief which you loved.

But one day, hearing his name didn't make you smile anymore...

[nualaofthefaerie]

Everyone chill. Op just asked a question. It was cheeky. It wasn't meant like that. It's not like everyone gets everything. Defensiveness gets us nowhere, on both sides. Whenever someone asks one or the other side about their ship, they jump as if Viktor's a cookie that can't be shared.

I'll be glad to explain. Skyvik is not my "THE" ship. They either come in pack of four or I'm not interested:

But I spend enough time in all the tags to the point where I can explain each of their individual dynamics quite easily.

Is Skyvik based on guilt? Kinda actually.

On one hand, the acquintances to lovers pipeline is appealing to people, it's a tale as old as time. But I do think the guilt/grief angle is much more romantic. Now granted, I am a freak 😔 i do like them doomed from the get go.

Super important I subscribe to 'death of an author'. What Christian Linke or Amanda Overton tell me about any of these four is like air to me, it wasn't in the show it doesn't count. "Jayvik are friends"...like hell they are. "Sky was a stand in for Jayce" I'm afraid visuals do not subscribe to that notion.

Now, to go quickly through the usual Skyvik denial arguments:

1. "He calls her Miss Young"

Viktor's character is based on Slavic men. In most slavic cultures nicknames, first names and last names are used interchangeably without indication of how close someone is to another person.

He calls her Sky more times than he calls her Miss Young ever. At some point it became this Mandela Effect where people act like he didn't know her name.

2. He shows no interest in her before she died

By the time we are shows any sort of interest on Sky's part about Viktor, he's already too obsessed with the Hexcore and saving himself.

Relationships are kind of obsolete to a man who knows he has no time left to spare and the "cure" is a puzzle that's dangling over his head

That scene where he "rejects her" is also the scene he ignores Jayce more or less because he is too focused on the idea that the core can learn.

So all in all we do not know if he cared. And then it's Schrödinger's cat since their backstory was stripped from the final versions of the script

3. She tells him "No, you won't" when he says he'll miss their conversations

He needed reassurance he can let her go. He wasn't ready to do that. That's the shot on their hands where she's letting him go. His hands are shaking, he's teary eyed, he doesn't really want to let whatever she is, go.

Now! Is Sky his humanity? Yes. Does that mean she wasn't herself in there? No. I don't think so. We see she has free will. She is not pleased with the violent turn of events and if she can be displeased, she can argue, if she can argue she can be herself.

She let's him go so he can finish what he started. I believe she told him he won't miss her because that was the last of his emotions and then he is just numb, therefore incapable of missing anything or anyone. Missing someone is deeply intertwined with having any sort of positive opinion or feelings for someone. And he let's these things go.

Now, onto the real juicy stuff.

Was it guilt? YES. Yes it was. BUT, in many literary pieces grief and guilt are the strongest soldiers of romance. They are inherently romantic.

Viktor felt SOMETHING for her. Be it that he's in love with the idea of her or her, it doesn't really matter. Not really. But the acts he engages in post her death are quite in line with those of a classic gothic romance novel.

He scattered her ashes where he met her and was ready to just follow her to death. Jayce stopped him. Which (the implications of that...we can talk about the Hexteam some other time) but Jayce prevents that. When he's resurrected, it's against his will and his body is now the thing that killed the person who loved him.

So he takes the one object left from her (the notebook) and leaves his "creator" (who at that point betrayed him twice - made weapons and didn't destroy the core) behind with a body he detests. The only way to attone for him being alive at that point is to try to do what she wanted - make their home better.

At that point everything saviour Viktor does is FOR Sky as much as it is for him. The commune? Highly implied that was the project she wanted his help on. That's her commune he built for her. Healing people? For her. To attone for her being gone. He needs her approval constantly or at least the illusion of her approval. As seen ⬇️ down here and when he looks up to her in Arc 1 s2. He wanted to make sure telling Singed to go was the right choice. Which is NOT the hexcore manipulating him into doing anything as in the end all he did, he did himself.

The symbol that holds the blanket is her broach, which is a favorite symbol of mine about how Viktor is an amalgamation of the two people who loved him unconditionally. REGARDLESS.

Her spirit is also allowed to touch him. Something others are not. The followers were touched BY him, she and Jayce are allowed close enough to touch HIM. Also in a "single consciousness" she is not shared with the others. Its only for him to see because he is the only one who knew her.

But in doing everything to make it up to her, Viktor triggers the end of the world. And world ending grief and guilt is just something different all together. If Sky doesn't die...Viktor will never end the world. There is only an end to pursuit if Sky Young dies. There is only reversal to that if Jayce Talis saves Viktor's soul. Their fates are intertwined for eternity to chase after one another and take the entire world down with them.

I hope that's not too long, i tried to be as detailed as possible but I'm also tired and my tummy aches 😥 I'm sorry.

I hope that makes a bit of sense to OP. 🪷

full offense to skyvik shippers but literally what basis do yall even ship them on? guilt?

[aeb-art]

note: the following is three (almost four) years post-game

okay fine i'll just draw comics for my au since writing is so dang hard smh

anyways welcome to two coins! where loop shows up again but siffrin only got the one hat ending

edit: part two

[kindnessoverperfection]

Lately, when I talk about someone I strongly disagree with, I think about my friends.

When I interact with someone who regularly rants about people, and tends to take things in the worst ways (without any attempts at self-reflection or grace), I feel more on-edge. I'm nervous to voice opinions. I'm always over-thinking everything I send them, worried about how they'll receive it.

On the other hand, I feel much safer during conversations where someone is speaking neutrally about those they feel at conflict with. When they feel upset about a situation, but without talking aggressively about the other person. Because I know that if we're ever in a disagreement, or have some sort of conflict or misunderstanding, they won't hurt me or suddenly hate me*.

I used to speak much more aggressively about people. My personality disorders, combined with online toxic environments, were big factors in that. I was stressed and angry constantly, and I felt justified, and I felt afraid and ashamed to respond with anything but anger. But to make a long story short, I had several big painful interpersonal experiences where I realized how my attitude was impacting my friends.

I remember the nervousness in my friends' eyes. I remember the people I've met who are much older and never grew out of that reactive communication style, and I don't want to be that person. I want my loved ones to feel safe around me.

So nowadays, I do my best to speak compassionately (or at least neutrally). Because I want to signal to my friends that I'm not going to be cruel to them, or to automatically believe the worst of them, during a conflict or misunderstanding. I try to vent about situations and my fears instead of people.

I wish I'd realized this before.

*(I discuss splitting in the tags)

[cold-neon-ocean]

belligerent

[quinloki]

Canon Characters vs OC vs x Reader

Disclaimer: This is just my two cents, and my perspective on things, and I'm not trying to lay down the law for everyone. I needed to just put this to words though, in order to sleep.

I was thinking about this because of a post I saw, and some, we'll say, kind of useless comments associated with the post. Mean-spirited stuff.

Normally, in one ear and out the other, but the vibes just kicked me off down a rabbit hole of sorts an I wanted to try to put some of my thoughts to words.

First, some style vibes:

Canon x Canon Canon/Canon stories are, to me, like reading an episode of that show. I'm sitting down in front of a TV or whatever, and I'm experiencing the story As A Viewer. I like this style because I don't really have to expend much energy and I just kind of roll with whatever's happening. Generally some sort of 3rd person perspective.

OC x canon OC/Canon stories are like being on a carnival ride. I'm sitting in a car on a roller-coaster, and maybe the OC is sitting next me. I'm experiencing the story more deeply than strictly canon stories, but my connection with the OC is no deeper than say, my connection with Katniss Everdeen when I read The Hunger Games. Sometimes 3rd person, sometimes first person.

Reader x canon Reader/Canon (or Reader x/ OC) is like putting on a VR helmet. I don't get much physical input about the "Reader OC" because I'm experiencing the story through their eyes. I don't expect the reader to be me, but there's a bigger feeling of immersion to be had. Some description might happen cause it's relevant to the story, and it's still a type of ride, I can't jump the rails on the roller coaster, after all. (Even with a VN you still follow the tracks). Sometimes first person, sometimes second person (I'm partial to 2nd person perspective, but that's just me).

I love Fan Fiction, I love it. All of it, and man even more than anything, what I love is that I'm going to dislike 80% of it. Because that 80% was written for someone who is not me. (Hell, that number's probably closer to 99% if we're looking at ALL fandoms, but I digress).

Second - The VENT:

What got me the most in the post that prompted this, was someone saying "Bring back the Mary Sue OCs!" and then they went on to describe something more detailed, and I just -

Look, respectfully, fuck you.

The point is, you're not going to be happy no matter what. Whether it's "mary sue" OCs, or x readers, or alternative universes, or a ship you don't like, you're going to find something to be unhappy about.

Cause people have been bitching about all styles of fan fiction since the first "You've Got Mail" chimed in 1991. And until 1998 and ff.net you really had to hunt for it, and until 2007 and Ao3 the idea of tagging a fic for any reason wasn't really a thing. Every click was a surprise! \o/

I just have seen the same song and dance a dozen times. It's exhausting. People become okay with OCs and decide x readers are the enemy, and before that OCs were *all* Mary Sues and cringe and people who made OCs were the enemy, and before OCs people who wrote even a little OOC were the enemy, and people who wrote AUs were the enemy, and you can write fan fic but it HAS to be Canon Compliant, and everyone MUST be in-character at all times - "They would not fucking say that" was the enemy.

Look, just please - please - in any capacity, stop it with the "All X style of story telling is crap" mindset. There's over a dozen different ways to do x readers alone. I know 20 x reader writers and I don't think any of us have the same style, preferences, or vibes.

I've had a lot of comments along the lines of "I thought I hated x readers, but I really loved this." on a few different fics I've written. Sometimes it's not the style of the fic, sometimes it's the style of the writer, and my Brother In Christ - you're going to have to read some awful shit to shuffle through the thousands of writers out there to find the vibes that resonate with you.

Ostracizing entire swathes of fan fic because you need something to be "The Enemy" so you can lift up something else, and then bitching you can't find anything new to read seems like a personal problem.

And I know y'all are scrolling by TONS of posts that don't interest you, every day, as a matter of course. So don't give me that "clogging up the tag" BS, because we deserve to be here same as anyone else in the fandom.