#OH MY GOSH YOUR MIND!!!!

[legolasghosty]

Okay I was going to put this in the tags where it belongs... But then I ran out of space. Sorry!!! First off I love this idea so much, your MIND!!!! I would read 50k of this EASY!!! But here are some of my thoughts on a conclusion...

So like a week or two after they've left, (and Julie has definitely not been stalking social media, both to see if they say anything about the song, but also cause... well Luke was really cool before he turned out to be a jerk. And while she's rightfully MAD, she kinda hopes he's doing okay), Julie gets a letter.

It contains a long note, plus a couple of plane tickets and backstage passes to one of their shows for her and a friend cause Alex pointed out that this could be a really scary and potentially unsafe situation for her to walk into alone.

The letter (from Luke and handwritten by Reggie) contains an apology for miscommunication (which Julie scoffs at cause dude you stole the song) and then an explanation that he never planned to use it without her permission and that she would totally be credited even if she was just writing it. He also says that he definitely screwed up and he was so so sorry. But pleasepleaseplease come to this show and he can explain everything.

Plus notes from Alex and Reggie promising that they're not going to try and pressure her and that they'll pay for everything if she does decide to come. But being stupid boys they don't leave contact info, and the return address is to a city they've already left. (Which Julie definitely only knows because of overhearing some execs talking about it while she was working and not because she's been spending a bit too much time on the SC and Luke's social media accounts.)

She debates over it for like a full week, cause like... 1, this could definitely be a bad idea safety wise, and 2, she isn't sure if she wants to give Luke another chance. But Tia and Flynn (her best friend) point out that the week or so when she was writing with Luke was like the happiest she'd seemed all summer. Or maybe longer than that. And how upset she's been since she overheard them working on the song. So she owes it to herself to at least get some closure.

So she and Flynn get on the plane to somewhere in Canada. They're both very startled to see a taxi with Julie's name when they get out of the airport. Cause they hadn't called it and they hadn't managed to contact the guys directly to tell them they were coming. But the cabby has a note from Alex promising the girls that it's safe and they covered it and it'll take them to their hotel. (Because yes, Luke fully did pay for a cab to go pick them up even if he had no clue if they were on the plane or not.)

Insert hotel debacle because Julie had booked a room at this small economy hotel but the driver seems to think they're going to one of the nicer places in town, cause that's what the guy who paid for it said. And they kinda argue about it for a minute, but eventually Julie and Flynn get out cause the guy won't move. (Both cause the person who paid said this was the destination but also probably a bit cause racism and sexism unfortunately, he won't listen to the girls.)

But then Dante, who is one of the guys' handlers, is waiting for them in the lobby and checks them into a room and explains that it's all covered by the band. Julie is like, "Just out of pocket?" and Dante is like, "What no, we have a whole thing for bringing in collaborators. Actually getting you squared away has been a lot easier than most of the collab people I have to deal with cause you don't also have your own private security detail and all that jazz."

Julie: *Confusion*

But their room is really nice and Flynn is like, "well it's not like they can actually force you to sign anything or whatever so might as well take it." And it's late so they crash.

Julie gets up before Flynn the next morning and heads down to the continental breakfast (which is wayyyy more elaborate than she was expecting cause she's not used to staying in fancy hotels) and is still like half asleep, and ends up running into an also half asleep Luke. And then they have a very awkward half conversation cause neither of them expected this.

Both are fully stumbling over everything before Reggie appears(being wayyy more awake cause he's the only morning person there), and is like, "Sorry, what Luke is trying to say is that we're glad you came, and maybe join us for breakfast? That was we can explain what's going on?"

Julie is like, "Fine, but no serious talk until I get through at least half a cup of this coffee." Reggie laughs and agrees, along with a comment that she sounds like Alex, who is currently huddled at a table in the corner with his own caffeine. They sorta chitchat for a bit, and then Luke is like, "Okay, so here's the deal..."

Comes out that while yes, he totally should have asked her before showing it to the guys, he wasn't thinking at all about releasing it or officially recording it. And it kept driving them all nuts anyways because it sounded like it was missing something. But also their manager heard it and loved it and had started hinting that it should be not only on their next album but that it should be one of the singles released ahead of it.

They'd all been like, "No way, not unless Julie is okay with it," but then she was avoiding Luke and they had to leave for Australia and it just got into a whole mess. At which point Alex jumps in cause Luke is starting to ramble and not make sense. He says that hands down, they're never recording it without her express spoken and written permission, and that she would get writer's credit(and payment) if it did get released.

Reggie then adds that they're pretty sure what the song is missing is her though. And if she was okay with it, then they reallyyyyy wanted to have her record it with them (with a hint that maybe it wouldn't just be a one time thing). And then Luke jumps back in and adds that the gig they're playing that night is a venue that is known for being a spot where bands try stuff out. A new song that hasn't been released/recorded yet or a new instrument or... a new person.

Insert more serious conversation and stuff and Flynn comes in at some point, but Julie ends up being like, "Okay let's find a studio space or something and see if this works at all." And they do and it's AWESOME!!! And semi turns into a lil jam session and they're all loving the vibe. So Julie ends up performing it with them that night (anonymously though cause she isn't really in the mood to have her entire life suddenly thrown up on social media). And the crowd goes WILD.

After the show there is definitely a massive band hug and Luke frigging gets down on one knee and asks Julie to be his writing partner, at least sometimes. She says yes! More group hugging!!!!

And by the time the song drops as the last single before SC's next album comes out, Luke is ECSTATIC to be able to introduce her as both his writing partner and his girlfriend. And she has some kind of credit on like half the songs on the album.

Those are just my thoughtsssss, feel free to ignore meeee!!! Sorry this got so long!!! But I love this idea so much!!!

just thinking about an au where Julie works for her Tia's housekeeping company. they have contracts with one of the prominent labels in LA

it's a summer job maybe?

but she's getting the hang of dusting, cleaning glass, collecting trash and recycling, restroom maintenance, breakroom scrubbing, the works

when one day, one of the higher ups at the company seeks out her Tia for an unorthodox tasking

They need someone to go to an apartment and clean it up ASAP

Tia selects Julie because she knows she can trust her to work unsupervised as well as she can get the T-E-A later after the workday is over.

Once inside, it's got the musty smell of a place that hasn't been entered in a while and there is a light layer of dust on everything, including a very nice sound system connected to a high-end combination cd/tape/turntable with impressive library of cds, records, and the occasional tapes

Deciding that she doesn't have to work in silence, and whoever lives here won't be back before she's gone. she picks out a record to jam out to while she cleans, then throws open the windows she can and gets to work. She washes the linens, dusts, scrubs the bathroom, dusts, wipes down the kitchen, dusts, and when she finishes with all of that she can vacuum!

As she dusts in the living room, there are guitars on the wall and she can't help but notice 2 are missing

when one record ends, she switches it to something new, excited by the selection whoever lives here has curated

it's honestly hard to pick what's next but then in the CDs, down in the S's, she notices a rare gem from the music world!

They have Sunset Curve's first ever EP

It's a no brainer, she puts the CD into the tray and hits play as she picks up the rag she was using to wipe out the refrigerator. The guitars sound out the beginning of Now or Never and she's leaning inside the fridge, the french doors splayed open as she sings along to the song when a loud THUD startles her out and THERE IS A MAN and she is YELLING, and then he is yelling

and that is how she met Luke Patterson of Sunset Curve, freshly returned from their european summer circuit, as she explains to Flynn later

Once they'd stopped yelling, she had apologized, rushed to turn the music off and explained that she was almost done and to "please, settle in and pretend i'm not here. I will be gone in 10 minutes"

and he had, looking dead on his feet, probably from the time change (also very stunned from hearing a wrecking ball of a voice singing his lyrics from inside his fridge, but she doesn't know that) and then she was gone.

time passes and she keeps working the normal duties from the contracts at the company, only once did she see Sunset Curve and she did an about face and took an alternate route to the task she was doing.

but then Toby gets tendonitis or something and now Tia needs someone to cover the part of the building that features all the studios for the different bands in LA that are signed to the label and it has to be someone trustworthy because they might see or hear music that CANNOT be leaked or the whole cleaning service loses the contract. So trustworthy niece gets picked

Given a schedule each week of what bands will be in and when (ish) she is able to clean unobtrusively for the most part

It's the end of the day and she just needs to gather trash from the rooms that were used that day when she gets a bit thrown off by the set up in SC's studio. Everything is pushed to the edges of the small room and a keyboard is set up front and center.

Looking for where they'd moved the trash can, her eyes keep flicking back to the keyboard and she can't help brushing her fingers over the keys gently before she leaves. Only for someone to be in the doorway, making her jump!

It's luke and he apologizes for startling her but she is in "oh crap oh crap don't bother the clients" mode and so she apologizes and skidaddles out of there

and then and then

Suddenly on the schedule of when bands will be in, there is a request for her to clean SC's room at a specific time during the lunch hour that day. and when she arrives, the rooms is well, not spotless, but cleaner than it should be and there is a note on the keyboard saying to have fun for an hour maybe

and it keeps happening?

julie starts taking luke up on the opportunity to play around on the piano

and then suddenly luke is there but like "don't mind me, keep doing your thing!" and she very much does her own thing but that is grilling him about what is happening annnnnnnnnnnnd

they get closer as time passes

and eventually it becomes helping luke with a song which then becomes working on a new song together

and then excited about the song, luke shares it with the guys and they begin workshopping their instruments into it and Julie happens to hear it happening and thinks that Luke just used her for the music and stole the song they'd been working on for his band

so she stops showing up during that hour, instead working in a room somewhere else where he can't find her

annd she avoids him in the hallways, always turning and going the opposite direction if she sees him or the band

and finally Toby's arm is doing better and can come back to work so she is quick to relent the studio section back to them

Tia notices she doesn't even hum while working anymore and then one day she is cleaning a conference room, and

The door opens behind her. Reggie and Alex walk in. She can't run out, so she just keeps wiping down the windows.

"Did Luke do something wrong?" It could be just his friends trying to help a guy out but there is steel in alex's voice that lets Julie know that they will 100% be on her side if she told them Luke did anything royally stupid and offensive.

"No."

"Oh...okay. Do you think you'd want to write with him again?" the question is unsure. like alex doesn't know if he should even ask it.

Now Julie is mad. "I'm not paid to write songs. I'm paid to clean. I don't have time for this."

"a shame. That was a killer song you two wrote" Reggie hesitantly says.

"yeah. I heard you guys playing it. Hope it does well on your next album" she fails to keep any of her anger out of her voice. and since she doesn't want to get fired for fighting the labels talent, she grabs her supplies and leaves out the secondary door.

and then the guys realize that Julie may have a misunderstanding about what's going on with the song she wrote with Luke

but before luke can fix it, SC has to travel again, this time to Australia and then Canada.

so it's at least 3 weeks before they are back in LA

I don't know how this ends. How does Luke make things right with Julie? Any ideas? Would love to see your thoughts.

[tallyhoot]

[_^

[ummyesisthisjasongrace]

Did I ask for Bagginshield in my life? No.

Do I need Bagginshield in my life? Absolutely.

[age-of-moonknight]

“A Little Chaos,” Moon Knight Annual (Vol. 5/2024), #1.

Writer: Dan Watters; Penciler and Inker: Marco Renna; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[queenofbaws]

Have been bingereading the Almosts lately for the first time (going slow only because the slowly eroding friendships pre anniversary are causing me physical pain, its absolutely amazing), and just discovered your six sentence prompts! Could you do one exploring what would happen if chris could survive the hannah attack-- specifically in a route where he shot ash and then she didnt open the door for him? 👀👀

It was dumb luck, that open window - dumb luck and about a million other pointless choices coalescing, adding up and slotting into just the right place at just the right time to save his miserable skin. Spurred on by adrenaline and terror and the very, very clear understanding that if he slipped even once he could very well end up so much blood spatter in the snow, he moved faster than he'd ever moved in his life, vaulting up the bin and through the still-open pane, tumbling onto the hard-packed floor the way he had earlier, back when Josh had still been his friend (read: back when he had still been alive).

The...the thing (the old guy with the flamethrower had called it something, but he couldn't remember now, not with the image of his body sinking into the snow so fresh in his mind) was too big to follow: Its spindly limbs gnashed and flailed, it screamed like the very voice of hell itself, but each of its swipes missed him, missed him, just barely missed him.

He sat there for a long time even after it left, not quite trusting his own senses, but when the numbness of his terror wore off, when he caught his breath and the burning in his lungs moved into his extremities instead, he carefully got up and tested his shaky legs; out of the storage room and into the lodge he toddled, taking (again) the exact same route an earlier version of him had wandered before, and it wasn't until he stepped into the great room that -

"Dude, holy shit, we thought you fucking died," Mike said, grabbing him by the arms and giving him a once-over, "talk about a lucky break, huh?"

"Yeah, real lucky," said a flat, unimpressed voice from the other side of the room, and Chris, feeling his stomach twist at the memory of yanking at the sliding door onto to find it locked, realized he couldn't meet Ashley's eyes; he realized too, as she breezed past him and Mike to make for the stairs, the basement, the others, that maybe, just maybe, dying out there might've been a kinder fate than having to face her again.

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

[earthtooz]

because of my rescue cats, and because Reo's rich, please think of this with me.

Reo wanted a pet, so he was given a cat. some high pedigree, beautiful, insanely expensive kitten from high breeding and luxurious fur. a beautiful proper 'mew' and very graceful. probably has a diamond studded collar or smth too.

enter, you: the love of Reo's life, whose cats come with none of that. the first time he meets your cat, your baby, it's a bit of class whiplash to his face. He didn't really think about how "top tier" his darling cat was, he basically thought "cat's a cat"

Until your cat, who's just a big, orange striped, kind of wonky looking cat you found on death's door after being abandoned with a broken back that was untreated and healed Wrong, torn up ears, health complications, can't jump, wobbles harshly as it walks, and sounds a bit like a broken honk instead of a meow.

For some reason Reo goes from down bad to down worse. Seeing you with this poster cat for 'mangy stray that's been kicked too many times' and proudly introducing him, like this is your greatest treasure, with far more lasting love than all the jewelry he's gifted you, makes him love you even more.

admittedly, i've been a little selfish bc i wanted to let this ask marinate itself in my inbox so i could cherish it forever and keep it in here when i inevitably respond to it... but it's time to share this thought with everyone :,((( more comments in tags anon !

no bc this thought is so... beautiful. the very clear divide between your lifestyles manifesting through the damn cats you own. that's not to say your situation is dire or anything along those lines, but anyone- compared to reo, could look far off. especially this cat that you are now holding in your arms.

he's in your apartment after coming back from a date, hoping just to hangout and watch a movie or something when he meets your cat. the purple-haired hasn't ever seen it before, only knowing that you got him from a shelter when it was around seven years old - older than most pet owners get their cats. it's... beat up to say the least, and reo frowns just thinking about what it must have gone through to end up with a partially scratched off ear, a limp, and as many health complications as you told reo about.

but clearly, none of the cat's complications matter when it mewls happily, brushing against your legs. it's with a coo that you pick it up, cradling it in your arms, showering it with undivided love and affection as the cat similarly leans itself into you, so trusting and vulnerable in your warmth. it begins purring the second you scratch behind its ears.

reo feels his heart squeeze at the sight, rendering itself utterly helpless to your charm and kindness. he knows how hard it is to get a cat to trust people, even as kittens, so he can't imagine how many hoops you had to jump through to get a grown cat to love you back. the journey could not have been easy, especially with how rough this cat's life has been.

it feels like 6 out of 9 of them have been used up, but reo feels warmed knowing that at least it'll have an incredible 3 with you.

he knows because even though reo may not have 9 lives, you make his one feel indescribable.

[mintytealfox]

I am going through and listening to all of the songs in the playlist Neil Newbon put together for Astarion, on spotify, and its got me:

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 what was going on in that brain of yours when you added some of these songs that have me 👀 i am so very interested

here is the playlist if yall haven't seen it yet 💕

(like 'ALI ALI' IS ON HERE! I PRACTICALLY SCREAMED!! And ALSO A HEILUNG SONG IS IN THERE IMMMMM)

This playlist is PERFECTION, by gollyyyyyy

[personinthepalace]

"That fucking baby stole my goddamn candy!" - Eric in Taskmaster Minnesota Season 2, Episode 1

This lives rent free in my head 😆

[criscura]

Absolutely adore your OPM writing but I am also living for your recent takes about Dorian Gray. Easily one of the best books I’ve had to read back in school. I just love when I find other people who are also obsessed with jt!

THANKS FOR ACTIVATING MY TRAP CARD I'M GOING TO GO OFF ON WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT YESTERDAY

okay. okAY so like. so i finish Dorian Gray right. It still feels so cold and ruthless and bitter, and once AGAIN I'm left thinking "oh damn, Henry is probably gonna be a little devastated by this one, he spent the last twenty years hanging out with this dude who he was absolutely fucking almost daily, and THEN he's going to find out that Basil really is dead, AND his wife left him, he can't sardonic his way out of feeling for this"

and he's hot right like that's a plot-critical point, Henry is seductive. SO HERE I GO LIKE "okay tumblr let's try this again SUREly you have art of the fucked up sexy old bastard right"

AND FUCKING THEN (under the cut this is SO LONG and i'm not apologizing for it)

i go on and see????? like not only is there almost nothing of him??? people GENUINELY hate him??? but they LOVE Basil??? and I'm like no, no this CAN'T be right, maybe--like okay, Tumblr is a unique place, maybe this is one of those cases where my opinion falls more in line with the majority, so I go to google and I just. Type in "Dorian Gray Henry Wotton"

AND IT'S ALL THE SAME. ALL!!! ALL THE SAME!!!! He's awful, he's the villain, he's the worst, blablabla, and i'm like. okya. OKAY. ALRIGHT OKAY yes he was terrible but it was so painfully obvious he was in love with/obsessed with/infatuated with Dorian, S U R E L Y that's gotten him some brownie points there. Like. He sees Dorian, and then goes onto spend every single day with him if he can, morning, noon, and night, taking him out on dates and trips and giving him anything he asks, for EIGHTEEN YEARS, to the extent that when his wife divorces and leaves him he begs Dorian to stay with him.

Like even his whole issue with women, specifically romance with women, like---did???? did fucking no one???? ?DID FUCKING NO ONE READ THAT AND SEE A GAY MAN PISSED OFF THAT HE HAS TO PLAY A PART??????? HOW MUCH FUCKING CLEARER CAN YOU GET. All in all he does the EXACT SAME THING Basil does, just in his own way, so i figure there must, there MUST, there has GOT TO BE sympathy for him *somehwere*

AND!!!!! NO/!1!!!!! NOT!!!!1 NO!!!!!!!!!! EVERYWHERE!!!! i loook EVERYWHERE!!! for "Henry Wotton in love with Dorian" AND IT'S ALL LIKE!!! oh no, he just wanted power, oh no, he just wanted to see dorian fall, oh no, he NEVER felt ANYTHING for this guy he fucking DEVOTED ALL HIS WAKING HOURS TO IF HE COULD and i just. i.

so i go to my last recourse right??? i'm fucking desperate. i am DESPERATE. I go to Reddit. Surely, FUCKING SURELY--and at this point i just want to know I'm not insane, you KNOW you are in the absolute fucking trenches when you're going to reddit for opinions on literature but fuck at least if I can find a mirror in the cesspool i know that I exist right like i'm not some fucking ghost right SOMEONE will have seen what I saw--and

overwhelmingly

OVERWHELMINGLY

it's people talking about how much they hate Henry.

i. And like. SOME people are like "oh he was so interesting, he was the best part of the book," which yes, gratifying, but???? I????

As i was reading it, it was unbelievably--UNBEARABLY--again ****OVERWHELMINGLY**** obvious that a) both Basil and Henry were in love with Dorian b) they were BOTH older men taking advantage of him and dominating his time and attention so they could try to mold him into something for their own personal viewing pleasure c) Dorian was bare minimum a little bit shit from the start--as in, BEFORE WE SEE HIM he's introduced as someone who likes to hurt his friends because he enjoys it. This was so obviously a mean book about bad people and we're watching a train wreck unfold. a sexy, sexy, SEXY train wreck because wanting to fuck Dorian is a critical pull for the whole thing, but!!!!

BUT!!!!! ALSO CRITICALLY!!!!! ESSENTIALLY!!!!! HENRY WOTTON IS A SEXY ASSHOLE YOU NEED TO WANT TO FUCK

LIKE!!!!!! It's like the whole thing with stories about Satan, where he HAS to be hot so you understand why people would do what he says despite knowing it's bad for them. Henry is designed to be the dangerous, hot, older worldly dude stepping further and further into the shadows while beckoning for Dorian to follow after him, and to a certain extent you NEEED to understand that pull so you understand what Dorian is going through. AND THIS IS SO COMMON IT'S A MYTHOLOGICAL TROPE!!!

DO YOU HATE SATAN IN THE BOOK OF JOB. DO YOU HATE MEPHISTOPHELES IN MEPHISTOPHELES. Henry is performing the exact same role!!! All his lines are written sex!!!! it is fucking LEGITIMATELY some of the most sensual shit I have EVER read!! "talking to him was like playing upon an exquisite violin" ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. aND YOU!!! You're supposed to be pulled in!!! that's SO IMPORTANT. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU READ THE BOOK AND ENJOYED IT BUT HATED HIM AND DIDN'T WANT TO READ HIS LINES. WHAT DID YOU FUCKING READ.

But okay. Alright okay. EVEN DISREGARDING that Henry is a hot sexy bastard and that's necessary for the story and for Dorian's characterization. I would fucking GET IT if he was the ONLY person in the story that's like that. I would give it a pass if this is a story where everyone is good and sweet and everything is all daisies and niceness. FUCKING BUT.

THE ENTIRE NOVEL IS FULL OF ABSOLUTELY SHIT ASS PEOPLE FROM START TO END

Everyone uwu-ifies Basil, but that man is the same age as Henry. He saw this barely legal???? Not yet legal???? I'm not entirely sure how that works at that time with people of that status, but he saw the equivalent of a fresh-faced "i've been 18 for one day and have never left my house" angel of a boy who lost his parents young and was raised with family that fucking hated him and was like "yes well i want to look at him forever I'm going to keep him with me as much as I can and tell him how perfect and pretty he is so he does what i say and lets me paint him in whatever pose i can think of" and like

HE DOES TEH SAME THING AS HENRY???!!! IT'S TEH SAME THING???????

IT'S NOT BETTER JUST BECAUSE BASIL IS PATHETIC?

He does the same thing Henry does!!!! Henry is also a manipulative predatory asshole!! HENRY IS JUST MORE FORWARD ABOUT IT.

like WHAT??? what is it better when he does it because he's a sad wet cat of a man??? why, because he says he loves Dorian? He loves Dorian SOOOOOO MUCH he watches as he falls down a worse and worse path, refusing to believe any of the rumors he heard about him FOR TWENTY YEARS because they don't line up with how he personally sees Dorian, and only steps in to try to make a positive difference the HOUR before he was going to leave for an unknown amount of time???? he loves him THAT MUCH he just gives up every time he runs into legitimate resistance when it comes to helping Dorian out????

And!!!!! fuckin!!!! Everyone uwu-ifies Dorian too!!!!! ONCE AGAIN, LITERALLY ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE LEARN ABOUT HIM--no, I'm just gonna write out the paragraph:

"He likes me," he answered after a pause; "I know he likes me. Of course I flatter him dreadfully. I find a strange pleasure in saying things to him that I know I shall be sorry for having said. As a rule, he is charming to me, and we sit in the studio and talk of a thousand things. Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain. Then I feel, Harry, that I have given away my whole soul to someone who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer's day."

HALF OF THAT IS DEVOTED TO SAYING HE'S KIND OF A DICK. The *other* half is Basil saying being with him makes him happy, but, but, but, but, but. There's SO MANY conditions on that happiness. Dorian is NOT a purely good person--he's capable of good, but he's also capable of bad, and he chooses which he's going to be. He's capricious. And he's not an idiot!! He can tell Henry is bad news!! and he gets PLENTY of warning about it! But he's curious and he chooses to go back to Henry, over and over and over again.

AND THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT!!!!!

Dorian chooses!!!! DORIAN CHOOSES!! Basil and Henry are both different forks on the same kind of hedonistic, idolatrous paths. Basil wants to put him in art; Henry wants to put him into the world. They're BOTH fucking Pygmalion and Dorian is their Galatea--it's just that the medium they both use is different. And Dorian can tell!!! He can see!! He realizes that Basil sees him like a pretty thing to keep around to inspire him! He KNOWS that Henry's ideas poisoned him!! AND YET!!

HE CONTINUES TO GO BACK TO BOTH, depending on what he wants the most at that moment!!

AND IN THE END HE BECOMES A WORSE VERSION OF BOTH OF THEM BECAUSE HE CONTINUES TO CHOOSE BAD DESPITE HAVING SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO STOP.

The manipulation? Using people for his own pleasure and then throwing them away when he's bored of it? The hateful, bigoted, judgemental thoughts? Ruining lives because that's convenient for him? The deaths of MULTIPLE people, probably considerably more than we know about? Dorian does ALL OF IT, again and again and again, because he wants to.

We revisit him throughout SEVERAL points in his life, all of which it's very apparent he wants for nothing and can do whatever he pleases. At ANY OF THOSE MOMENTS, or any of the ones between, he could have chosen to do good. But the same way he chose to hurt Basil because he enjoyed it, he chooses to fuck around and cause chaos because he likes it. The ability to do bad was always, ALWAYS inside Dorian, and both Basil and Henry were fascinated by it because it served different parts of their own vanity.

Basil liked Dorian the way you like a filter on a camera, and he thought Dorian left everything that HE made looking more beautiful. It's made abundantly clear that his biggest concern was the art he was creating, and Dorian was key to it. Henry liked Dorian the way you'd like a phonograph, where you can hear everything you've said reflected back at you, but in a different way with different tones. They are BOTH narcissistic in their approach towards Dorian, WHO IN HIMSELF IS NARCISSISTIC IN HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE. No one is good here!!! No one is a purely good person!!!!!!!!

And everyone else, except fuckin' Sybil Vane, is bare minimum kind of shit. We don't meet a SINGLE other character that's a glowing representation of what mankind can be, who doesn't have some sort of flaw. And like.

THERE IS A LITERAL LIST OF RULES AT THE BEGINNING THAT MAKE IT CLEAR NOTHING IN THIS BOOK IS SUPPOSED TO BE MORALLY GOOD.

It says it!!!!!! Again and again and again!!!!!! It makes it SO FUCKING CLEAR that this isn't concerned with right and wrong and you need to abandon that at the doorstep!! There are no good characters, the same way there aren't any evil characters, because that doesn't apply here.

SO FUCKING. TO COME BACK TO IT. AFTER ALL THAT. AFTER!!!! ALL!!!!! THAT!!!!!!!

TO HAVE PEOPLE SAY HENRY IS EVIL AND THE VILLAIN OF THE BOOK!!!!

DORIAN IS THE VILLAIN OF THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. DORIAN IS THE BAD GUY!!!

Basil and Henry were paths!!!! They were choices!!! They were options AND DORIAN FUCKING CHOSE!!!!!!! And you're not supposed to feel good about it!! It's not supposed to make you happy!! We're supposed to see that Dorian was doomed from the start and we're watching his downfall!!

And it just!!!!! IT IS MAKING ME INSANE. IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY THAT I'M NOT SEEING THIS OUTSIDE OF MY OWN HEAD. Gosh even just!!! Even the way the "Henry is the antagonist" removes agency from Dorian, and everyone else, when it involves Henry?? As if they don't all willingly go to him and talk to him and want to be with him??

Not to get fucking spicy about it but it comes WAAAAYYY too close to the idea that thoughts and ideas are guilty/sinful/actions in themselves and they need to be shut up, and there's little to no responsibility on the shoulders of the people hearing them to dissect them and decide whether or not they're a) legitimate and b) something they want for themselves. It's the reason it drives me absolutely I N S A N E when people say the devil made someone do bad or it was just God's influence who made something good happen, as if there weren't real actual living fucking human beings who made choices and put in the work, good AND bad, to make those things happen. It's like throwing up your hands and going "well! everything is predetermined and there's no point in fighting."

Like. The complete villainization of Henry, and the hand-waving on what Dorian and Basil do, is just---TUM,BLR. TUMBLR!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!! I CAME TO YOU FOR HELP. I CAME TO YOU FOR NUANCE. TUMBLR!!!!!!!!! HENRY IS THE FOREFATHER TO ALL YOUR SEXYMEN!!!!! HE'S GAY!!! HE'S MANIPULATIVE!!!! HE'S HOT!!!! HE'S WEIRD AND OLD AND LURKS IN CORNERS ALL THE TIME!!!!! WHAT !!! THE FUCK!!!!!!!

[oblivious-aro]

Guess Who's next? I'll start! Does your character have a hat?

:D

My character does NOT have a hat.

Okay, um... does your have facial hair?

[total-drama-brainrot]

realized I had no idea how to attach an image to ao3 comments so I’m posting this here instead

katy perry firework

LOSING MY FUCKING MIND

[ningningkittie]

so now im sure she is the one who has been sending me anon hate about me being ugly.... 💀

[midshipmank]

actually had to forcibly separate myself from my grading because i was tempted to call a student an idiot on their test. not my proudest moment as a teacher

[insomnya777]

hi i just want to say i reallllyyy love your smalletho superhero au on ao3 it's amazing and aughhhh im so so insane about it and i cant sayy anyyythinggg to my friends cause ofc theyre twitter people and i have to be insane about your fic alone *sad face*

i love love love the amount of taylor swift titles btw

(also id go insane if you name a fic after false god or i can see you lyrics just a thought hehe)

awwww thank u so much omg! i lovelovelove naming things after songs i love (which is why there's so much taylor and olivia rodrigo LOL) and omg ive been thinking about lyrics from i can see you for a while now actually!!

[apple-os]

ppl who like making friends solely with one-note cardboard boxes who will hang out with them when it's convenient and never open up about who they are as people and what their lives are like dni

[rainbowangel110]

Since I’m taking forever on that fic 😩

*dies* AAAADGHJKHCXX THANK YOUUUU 😭 I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAA YOU'RE SO AMAZING I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!! 💖💖💖💖