#and nobody ever got “argued” into heaven

[artist-issues]

Yesterday my German coworker yelled at me because she firmly believes no world religion can know anything, for sure, about God, so there’s no way to call anyone “right” or “wrong.”

And it took all my strength not to say, “so you’re saying I’m wrong”

because truth in love, truth in love

But seriously. What actually is the deal with the discourse that goes: “you can’t know anything for sure about God.”

“Wait, yes you can, like I know you well enough to know for sure that you’re from ____ Place—“

“—no no, no, that’s different. This is about God.”

“How’s it different?”

“You can’t say someone’s wrong about God.”

“…Well, can I say anything that’s wrong about you? Like, if I say, ‘_____ Person likes to kick puppies,’ can’t you say I’m wrong about you?”

“Yes but I’m not God.”

“Right, but you’re a real person who exists, so there are some things that I can know for sure about you—“

“THAT’S DIFFERENT”

No it’s not! It’s not ‘different.’ Quit acting like it’s different. Christians don’t believe in a set of ideals or the properties of rocks or some mystical vibe that nobody can be right or wrong about. We believe in a living and existing deity with an unchanging, eternally constant personality, and will, and DESIGN, outside of ourselves. So we can be wrong about Him. You can be wrong about Him. Everyone can be wrong—OR RIGHT—about Him, because He actually exists.

He’s not some imaginary friend who’s open to anybody’s interpretation. You get to claim an independent identity, character traits, and a personal history, but the God of the universe doesn’t? What is happening?

I’ll tell you what’s happening. You’re fine with me believing in an imaginary figment that’s only real to me, but as soon as He starts having an effect on the outer world, as if He actually exists and you have to start making some decisions based on that fact, THEN you’re not fine.

[dmercer91]

pretty girl, me94

in which mark has a little bit of an unwarranted jealousy problem you help him get over. (18+!!)

part of the sophomores best girl mini series! also set in last season, a couple days after mackie's fic (2.6k)

she’s long awaited, she’s hot, and she’s not proofread!! (typical). i hope she lived up to the excitement, i love you all, i need to pack and i need to go tf to sleep

jealousmarkjealousmarkjealousmarkjealousmarksdhsjdhsdjdh

to the public you were mark's. it made the most sense- he'd probably be around until his graduation, at which point the arrangement you had with the sophomore's would probably be over- but it would still prevent people begging the question of why you hadn't followed any of the other's to their respective draft cities despite the lack of any 'breakup'

he was touchier with you than the rest, as well. so being his 'girlfriend' had allowed for that to translate well when the group of you were out, for him to stay mindless about his fingers twirling the ends of your hair and his palm having a home on your thigh.

to top it all off- it was so embarrassingly evident that, although he liked sharing you in general, sometimes his mind went to places it shouldn't, and sometimes sharing was the last thing he wanted when it came to you.

so at a party where you and mackie had been stuck to one another like glue, partnering in beer pong, sharing a cup when nobody was paying attention, passing fleeting touches once everybody was too far gone to notice, mark could only sulk.

the biggest downside of being your so called boyfriend was that, no matter how badly he wanted to leave, it would look a little wrong for him to ditch his love at a frat house with absolutely no warning.

so he pulled you aside, your giggles stinging a little as you fell into his chest, looking up at him in the dim lighting like he was something of a god, whisking you to heaven, or, in this case, the entrance hallway of the most trashed building possibly ever

"it's time to go home now, baby," he murmured, wrapping you in his jacket, knowing you refused to bring any warm one, arguing it ruined your outfit.

you pouted, clutching the hem of his shirt and trying to pull him back to where some of the hockey team had stationed themselves

"but i'm having fun, marky," your genuine displeasure at his words had his jaw ticking, shaking his head at you.

"is that how this works now? you bossin' me around, baby?" he tilted his head and the look in his eyes made your mouth water. you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, shook your head and watched in real time as his face got more laxed, his body getting closer to yours.

he gave you a lazy grin, pressing a kiss to your lips and leading you out the door.

"we're gonna go home n' you're gonna be good, yeah?" he whispered, earning a nod as you tried to lean in for more kisses. he hummed, accepting the gesture but quickly pulling back to get you onto the sidewalk and towards the house.

you pawed at his arm, an attempt to get his attention back on you. he quickly eyed you before deciding to lean into his jealousy, see if you caught on and see what you'd do about it.

"look who's just gettin' all the attention from anyone who'll spare it tonight, huh?" you blushed, shaking your head timidly

you stepped in front of him so he’d stop walking, only for him to lift you into his arms and continue on without a thought

you giggled, tucking your face into his neck. "just want your attention, marky," you gave him a sultry look, watching as his tongue poked the bottom of his cheek in frustrated contemplation

"don't seem to want any of me when mackie's around," he stated, feeling your nails scratch at his bicep absentmindedly.

now that you thought about it, you were starting a little bit of a pattern. you'd be caught up in marks lap, giggling at everything he said and being the perfect, attentive girlfriend. then, mackie would come into a conversation and you'd be entirely distracted.

the first time, his food had come to the door and you never bothered to come back to mark after bringing it upstairs. tonight, he asked for you to partner him in games and you spent the whole night looking at mackie the way mark felt he deserved instead.

"then you're always runnin' around the house in luke's clothes, snuggling up with him on movie nights, sleeping in his bed," he continued, despite your lips on his jaw and neck, nipping at his skin

luke always preferred softer affection from you to cheer him up unless he was particularly angry- which meant him dragging you into his lap and hugging onto you, giving you his clothes so they'd smell like your perfume and having you fall asleep on his chest.

"best of all, ethan's been taking you out to lunch dates when you're meant to be my girl, not his," he walked through the front door just as you were about to explain to him that he seemed afraid to be affectionate with you other than to sleep with you or touch you, and that's why you kept getting whisked away.

the other boys had found a nice middle ground of relief and relationship, and you never denied any of them what they'd asked of you- mark had been stuck on relief, and always seemed to try and catch you when the rest had already whisked you away.

"m' not tryin' to pick favourites, i promise, marky. wanna have a thing with you, too. i don't know what you'd like, though," he grumbled, like your explanation hadn't quite met his standards for an excuse

"right now?" he dropped you on his bed, peeled his shirt off. "i'd like to fuck you,"

you giggled, pulling him down on top of you and tugging at his hair, kissing him and letting him tug your shorts off. his hands slid down your waist and hips to find your panties, only to feel that you'd gone without.

he groaned into your mouth and you smiled. one hand abandoning his hair to scratch down his back.

he moved off you, earning a needy whine and your arms reaching out at him. he smirked, sitting at the edge of his bed and nodding for you to come over to him while he ditched his pants and boxers

your response was to start kneeling in front of him, only for him to shake his head. "on my lap, pretty baby," he gripped your waist, pulling you onto his thigh, pressed tight to his chest.

"think m' gonna make you work for it," he smiled, looking in front of you at the full length mirror, watching as you stared at the two of you. you licked your lips slightly, watching the way he was holding you.

"what?" you murmured, finally looking into his eyes, a little distracted by his hands and the way you looked.

he chuckled, pressing a sweet kiss to your temple.

"said i'm gonna make you work for it, baby." his hands moved to your hips, teasing for a second before he lifted you forward and then dragged you back, bare cunt dragging on the muscle of his thigh and making your legs clench together

he gave you an expectant look through the mirror, watching with a smirk as you slowly rocked forward, a shaky whine spilling from your lips when his leg tensed under you

your hand planted on his other leg, nails digging into his skin as you rocked yourself as well as you could manage, a sticky mess building on his leg from your arousal

"the boys and i.. we talk about you, you know?.." he trailed, leaving kisses on your shoulder while you moaned at the though of them talking about the things they'd all done with you.

"and none of them can shut up about how well you respond.. when they tell you how good you are for them," your core pulsed, hips stuttering in your pace.

you weren't quite sure where he was going with his rant, which side of the coin he'd choose.

"is that true, pretty girl? you like it when they pretend you're this perfect angel, like you're not the prettiest little slut for us?" your eyes fluttered closed, and reopened to look into his own.

both. he was choosing both sides of the coin.

"mark, mark-" your grip on his leg tightened and he hummed, serving as a repetition to his question and not an acknowledgement of how close you were, nor your whimpers of his name.

"answer me," he murmured, bringing a hand in front of you and making light circles over your clit.

"m' a good girl. good for you, always. s' not- ah, not pretend" you breathed out, leaning your head back on his chest and looking up at him from there, rather than in the mirror

"please," you gasped, and you didn't even know yourself whether you were pleading with him to confirm you were good for him, or just to let you cum. though, one would probably result in the other.

"oh, look at you.. you do like it, don't you?" he teased, and you nodded obediently, peering up at him with all the hope you could muster.

though apparently your hope was for nothing, cause he moved his fingers away from your clit and grabbed your hips roughly, stopping your movement and effectively pressing pause on any stimulation you'd been feeling.

"no, no- was so close," you whispered, tears collecting at your waterline and both of your hands trying to pry marks off your body so you could go back to fucking yourself on him.

"shhh, pretty baby. m' gonna take my hands away and you're gonna sit nice and still, yeah? don't be a fucking brat, now," his voice was low and stern, your core throbbing against him and earning a chuckle

he hummed in satisfaction when you halted your attempts at forcing his hand, and you watched patiently as his forearm slayed over your stomach and he lifted your whole body with a one handed grip on your waist.

using his other hand, he aligned himself under you, pulling you down onto his cock and dropping you so that he immediately bottomed out.

you squealed, squeezing him so hard that he grunted and pried your thighs apart, slapping the inside of one hard enough for you to come back to yourself and try and relax your pelvis.

you gulped when you finally got used to the sudden intrusion, eyes fluttering shut and hips rocking gently.

he gripped your jaw, eyes jolting open as he forced you to look into the mirror in front of you.

"i told you to sit still" he barked, and you were smart enough to will away every aching desire to squirm.

since the last time you'd acknowledged yourself, you found that the lust drunk bliss on your face had increased tenfold and that you were now dripping down your thighs and onto marks, despite the two no longer rubbing against one another.

you also found that mark was staring, as well. drinking in every inch of exposed skin and massaging at your thighs when his eyes spent far too long focused between them, eyeing the way he was pressed into you and how stuffed you looked.

his arm made it's way back over your stomach, fingers gently grazing the imprint he was leaving on your stomach on their way across to your waist.

his voice was deep and crisp in your ear when he started to fuck up into you, one hand pulling you up, slamming you back down, and the other placing your thighs over his knees so they'd stay spread while he moved to paw at your tits, pinch your nipples.

"have you ever let any of us come inside?" and he sounded so calm that it hurt your head, confusion and fear melting together into a look that you gave him through the glass of his mirror.

".. s' against the rules," was all you said, shaky and wanting so desperately to grip onto him but wanting to be well behaved far more, so choosing to stay as he put you.

"that's not what i asked, pretty baby. i asked if you've let anyone," his fingers stopped messing with your nipple, instead his whole palm enveloped your left breast and the lines of his hand soaked in the scattered beat of your heart.

"no," you whispered, and it couldn't have been a more evident lie even if he hadn't felt the skip in the rhythm beating through your chest. he slammed up into you particularly roughly and you struggled not to scream, your eyes fluttering and tears dripping down your cheeks.

"no?" he asked again, his condescending tone ringing in your ears. if only you'd known he knew before his question even fell from his lips, you would've apologized rather than lying.

"so.. what was it, that you were begging mack to do the other night? promisin' him you wouldn't tell, saying you'd been so good," he tilted his head, the hand over your heart sneaking up around your throat, keeping your head straight so you'd look him in the eye.

"nothin'.. nothing, mark, i swear. just know he likes me talking, beggin'.. wanted to be good t' him," you cried, and he let out a dry chuckle.

"good girls don't lie.. n' i thought that's all you wanted, was for me to validate that little fantasy in your head where you're obedient, and sweet, and the best girl, and then.. you lie to me? m' starting to think the boys are liars, too. tellin' me you're this angel baby.." he trailed off, tutting breathily.

"if you're a good girl, you'll make it up to me, right, pretty baby?" he asked, coming up with his very own resolution for the problem he'd stuck you in.

"i'll- m' gonna make it up to you, swear it," your lead lolled back onto his shoulder from how dazed you were and he quickly perched your head right back up.

"gonna let me come inside? need to- i need it. need to know what it feels like to fill you up, baby," he squeezed your throat a little, your walls clenching around him and your eyes flickering between open and closed. you'd never been so loud, so twitchy for him and he was loving every last second.

you nodded, almost frantically, staring at where you and mark connected in the mirror while he hummed in satisfaction and gave you one last, rough thrust, leaking into you and dropping his hand from your neck, squeezing every inch of skin he could reach and moaning gently in your ear.

"there's a good girl. prettiest fucking whore f' me," he murmured, smiling blissfully when your legs made their way over his knees, clamping together while your walls pulsated around him.

you squeezed your eyes shut hard and clawed at his arm, shaking against his chest and moans spilling violently from red, swollen lips.

you heaved in his arms, chest rising and falling prominently while he used light circles on your clit to bring you down from an intense orgasm.

his hands slid to your hips, ready to pull you off him and you whined in retaliation, turning to nestle your face into his chest.

he smirked, keeping you taught to himself while he laid back, keeping you in top of him and petting your hair out of your face.

"mh. was always so annoying you never wanted cuddles, so warm, big," you babbled, clinging on tighter.

"always wanted cuddles, pretty baby. didn't know how to ask for 'em."

"kay, well. you're an idiot," he raised an eyebrow, adjusting his hips and earning an oversensitive whine

"watch yourself"

[cupidkenji]

Hi!

I love Doctor, Doctor, please listen! The way you wrote about the differences between the two that were apparent at first and then how they were actually similar! 🫠

Would you be interested in doing a follow up for the same reader who still refuses to carry a gun, but then she and Spencer are in danger and an unsub is about to kill Spencer, so she breaks her rule and uses Spencer’s gun to shoot the unsub? She doesn’t have to shoot to kill, but just to protect Spencer.

Like maybe she got injured first and didn’t defend herself but the moment it’s about to happen to “her Doctor”, she knows what she has to do.

(If youre not interested, totally get it!!!) thank you for reading!

ANON YOU'RE A GENIUS OH MY GOD Pairing: Spencer Reid x Chubby!Fem!reader Cw; Guns, mention of violence towards a kid, reader gets stabbed (again), death mention, mention of reader getting a leg amputated WC: 909 This is a little spin-off of my first fic which you can read here but it can be read as a standalone as well

Things had escalated fast. The team had profiled a calm, rational unsub. She was acting more out of desperation than anything, nobody thought an attack was plausible. You had ruled out a partner early into the investigation, the kills were too mundane for that of two people. Even now, with said partner having killed the unsub, you still wondered how the companion could have possibly hid herself so well. The partner was armed, clearly the dominant of the two, it became an obvious case of master/servant. 

It was just you and Spencer here, Hotch was following close behind but his ETA was around 6 minutes. You didn’t have 6 minutes. She had gotten you good, coming out angry and ready to take out as many as possible. Your leg paid the price as she dove at you. You aimed for the floor, just needing to get out of her way, but you’re about 60% sure she sliced right through your Achilles. It would take all the energy you had to get back up, leaving you stationary and practically useless on the floor. 

The woman was clearly struggling with paranoia. She ditched the knife she struck you with in favor of waving her pistol around. She was incredibly animated as she spoke, throwing her hands in tune with her words as she argued with the air around her. Soon, as though a decision had been made, she set her sights on Spencer. Up until this point, he’d been helping you stop the blood pouring from your leg. You saw her make up her mind, and knew you had to act quick. She was coming for him. 

“Spencer, give me your gun.” You said it quickly and near silently, thanking the heavens he was so close to you. You discreetly laid your hand on the ground, and he placed it on your open palm. His back was towards her, it was up to you to protect him now. 

“You people think the whole world is up for you to dictate, you know that? You can never just let people be.” She was panting, hauling Spencer up from the floor and walking him against the wall at gunpoint. “We were fine! Nobody was ever even meant to get hurt, but you all can never just let people make mistakes.”

You were hiding the gun with your arm, if she saw it she could snap. “We understand mistakes, ma’am. But sometimes people get hurt. Don’t you think it’s fair the people you wronged get some justice?” You tried, but in your professional opinion this woman was already too far gone. 

“No! Don’t say it like that! We didn’t mean to hurt that kid, ok? We just got carried away.” She was rising, there was no talking her down. “You could have let us go, we would have left the country.” It was horrific, she was crying - remorseful. “But now - now I have to kill you and I don’t even want to.”

“Put down the gun, ma’am. Please.” One last bargain. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

She only cocked the gun as a response, raising her hand to aim the pistol at Spencer’s temple. 

“I’ll make it quick, I promise.”

You didn’t have a choice at this point. This was the first time in your entire career you’d been forced to hurt an unsub. You’d never been anywhere without a team to back you up. This time it was your finger on the trigger. The angle you were aiming from - crooked, while lying on the floor - made it incredibly difficult to predict where the bullet would end up. You aimed low, crossing your fingers it would shock her away from Spencer. She can’t hurt him. It was the only thought left in your head. Please don’t hurt him.

–

You found yourself in the back of an ambulance. Again. The wound was more severe this time, Spencer glued to your side for the trip to the ER. You were going to need surgery to repair the nerve damage she caused.

“I hate hospitals.” Dread pooled in your gut at the thought of going under the knife. Spencer looked at you appalled. He couldn’t believe you were complaining about the service that was going to save you from an amputated leg. Or in other words, he was panicking. 

“Are you kidding me? You’ve lost enough blood to fill half a milk carton, Y/n! The fact they think you’re going to keep your leg means you got luckier than 67.2% of patients with similar stab wounds. Have a little gratuity.” His face was flushed, the hand gestures that usually accompanied his words were otherwise forgotten about. 

“Spencer, I’m gonna be ok.” You looked in his eyes from where you laid on the stretcher. Sounding out each word a little more purposefully in order to calm him down. 

“You shot someone. You’ve never even had to detain someone. I know how much you prioritize peace, Y/n.” Ah, so that’s why he was worked up. 

“Spence.” You laughed a bit - endearingly - at how worried he was about you breaking a vow. “She was going to hurt you. I would have killed her if I had to.” He looked so fragile in the vehicle’s stark lighting.

“Really? You mean that?” The kinder way of saying would you have done that for the others? 

You smiled at his words. “Only for you, Doc.”

[newkatzkafe2023]

i dont know if u did this already...!

Btw hi <33 its me ander :3 giving wholesome asks sometimes ♡

What about an Madoka!reader and Wukong being homura type of relationship? I just wanna read your troughts (troughs? Trought? How is it spelled hellnmdmsj) about it :3

Can even do an mini story about it i dont mind <33

You can ignore this if you did it already :3

I LOVE MADOKA MAGICA!!!!🤩 I LOVE THE ANIME, MOVIE, AND SONGS!!!! AND IM EXCITED FOR THE SEQUEL!!!!!🤩🤩🥳🥳

(Lmk Wukong) Next to Mk, you are his Priority, his queen, his love, his reason to continue on. He wants nothing but to please you and protect you because you bought him a brand new view of life. He couldn't admire you enough to be in your presence, to take care of you. To have you with him forever. He doesn't care who he has to sacrifice or disregard as long as he has you and Mk. Everything in his little world was fine🥰

(HIB Wukong) Safety of his family is his top priority, both yours and the children. You're very powerful in your own right, but your husband would usually quickly and brutally take care of the threat. So you don't ever have to step in. Of course, you tried to argue with him about this, but he would distract you with his affection and make sure you don't have to do anything. In his private time, he'll make you forget about everything bad , and he will take good care of you and everything.

(MKR Wukong) He's cares very much about two things in his life Fruity and you, He spends all his private time with you. You became a source of genuine joy, and he would do anything for you to make you proud of him. His biggest fear was losing you to the world who made him so miserable, I mean, he almost lost fruity to the demon king, so imagine what would happen if he lost you. That would be terrifying because that would be like losing his mid and sanity. Everyone will suffer, it doesn't matter, friend or foe, he's gonna burn the realms to the ground, just like he did to heaven.

(NR Wukong) His obsession with you makes everyone look concerned. You are his first and only love, and he would do anything for you. I really think he would fall into madness if he lost you somehow either in death or to someone else, the Scarier part is what he is willing to do to get you back even if it's gonna turn him into a monster. Just as long as he got you back, all is right with your little worlds.

(Netflix Wukong) He would break bones and cry blood for you. Your approval is his number one priority and goal, and his insecurities would kinda be his downfall because of that. Wukong would do anything to protect and have you by his side, which is why the quest for immortality was very important. So he can spend the rest of his existence with you, and nothing gonna matter. Nobody's gonna matter.

FEEL FREE TO REBLOG ✨️

[tsuy4n]

Gonna make for all the brothers, thus, it's big Raph turn. (I couldn't find or think of the right dynamic name so I'll let ya all decide on this one!)

[Leo] [Donnie] >Raph< [Mikey]

[Y/n]: You have no idea what I'm capable of!

Raph: Don't take it personally but I feel like I'm being threatened by a cupcake.

—

Raph: How can someone say [Y/n] is evil?? They're the most precious little soul.

[Y/n]: *in the middle of planning a detailed plan to commit arson in their mind* Yeah, I'm adorable!

—

[Y/n]: Who the actual fuck–

Raph: Language!

[Y/n]: Whomst the actual sexual intercourse–

Raph: What.

—

[Y/n], literally to anyone: Fight me!

Raph: *In the distance* Lay one hand on them and you'll never see the day of light ever again.

—

*At Albearto's*

[Y/n]: Remember kids! Be yourself, stay healthy, commit arson, steal from the government, and eat the rich-

April: *pushes them where Raph and the others are hiding at* Okay, that's enough.

—

[Y/n]: If I leave my ass hanging off of the bed, will a demon eat it?

Raph: Please stop talking.

—

Raph: Alright, what do we say when we're anxious?

Donnie: My anxiety is chronic,

[Y/n]: But my ass is iconic.

Raph: nO-

—

[Y/n]: *wakes up from a power nap and sees Raph smiling at them* Did I die? Am I in heaven?

Leo and Donnie: *walks in and is arguing*

[Y/n]: We're in hell.

—

[Y/n]: When I was small–

Raph: *snorts* "was"

[Y/n]: *murderous gaze*

Raph: *coughs then smiles sheepishly* Sorry, continue?

—

[Y/n], is just a year older: *trying to convince Raph to do something that'll definitely get them in jail* I've been your age, you've never been mine. Pay attention.

Raph: I've been your height, you've never been mine, you pay attention.

[Y/n]:

—

[Y/n]: *under their breath* Future husband say what.

Raph: What?

[Y/n]: *screeches internally*

—

[Y/n]: Pfft, there's no way Raph actually likes me! Haha, you guys are funny.

Leo: *holding in a laugh* Yes he does.

Donnie: *monotonously* Yes he does.

Mikey: *smiling brightly* Yes he does!

Raph: Yes I do.

—

[Y/n], angrily: You wanna fight? You wanna catch these hands?

Raph:

Raph: *Holds [Y/n]'s little fists*

[Y/n]: Okay, I'm calm now.

—

Leo: Why can't dinosaurs clap?

Raph: *unamused* Because their hands are too sh–

[Y/n]: *smiling creepily* Because they're all dead.

Leo:

Raph:

—

Raph: DON'T BE SORRY! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT AN ANGEL! YOU TRIED TO HELP ME WHICH IS A SWEET MOVE!

[Y/n]: You're yelling nice things at me again and it's very confusing!

—

Mikey: *walks in, visibly confused* Why is [Y/n] on a child leash???

Raph: They've had 5 redbulls and coffee with 10 espresso shots in less than 1 hour. This a precaution. I am not taking any chances right now.

[Y/n]: *visibly vibrating out of their skin* I CaN heAr CoLoRs. CaN yOu tAsTe ThE rAiNbOw?

—

Donnie: Sit down!

[Y/n]: Nobody tells me what to do.

Raph: Sit down.

[Y/n]: *sits down immediately and smiles cutely at Raph*

—

Raph: You need to stop doing weird things. Try going out sometime.

[Y/n]: I went to the park today.

Raph: There you go, I hope you got something from that.

[Y/n]: *opens jacket* Yeah, this squirrel.

[that-ari-blogger]

Shallow Beauty (Welcome To Heaven)

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Complexity isn’t always the best fit for a story.

Don’t get me wrong, I love nuanced characters and ideas and judging by the popularity of Arcane, a show that will be getting a second season by the time this post goes live, I think most people enjoy that kind of story as well.

But there is a debate going on as to what is better in a story, complexity and nuance, or simplicity and readability. Honestly, I find this debate frustrating because the answer is neither and both. The sides act as if any attempt at the other is sacrilege when the truth is unfortunately more complicated. Sometimes a story needs twists and surprises, and sometimes a story needs to look you in the eye and say “here’s what I am talking about”.

Case and point, Welcome to Heaven.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Hazbin Hotel)

I honestly don’t have much to say about this song. It’s not the most popular in the musical and I’m not going to argue that it should be. The song is shallow, and that’s the point.

I think the entirety of this song exists to point out how vibrant Heaven looks, but how empty it feels.

Because starting with the voice acting. St. Peter is voiced by Darren Criss, a man with a gorgeous singing voice. But notice something different between him and, for example, Lucifer. St. Peter's singing is technically perfect.

Perfect is a self-fulfilling adjective. It is the absence of imperfections, with imperfections being defined simply as “things that make something not perfect”. Perfect, especially when used in relation to people, has no meaning.

But singing can be perfect. It can hit all the right notes in just the right way. You can play things safe, and there is the kicker.

Imperfections are character beats. Lucifer’s insistence on jumping the gun with every note says something about him as a person. But St. Peter has none of that. He is a blank slate. He doesn’t have any character, and neither does heaven. But in a paradoxical way, that says a lot about him, doesn’t it?

“’Cause here, we got no worries, got no burglaries, no strife, It's the perfect afterlife.”

Really? Nobody disagrees on anything? Nobody worries? Nobody is stressed?

Two things about that.

The linework on heaven's buildings is done in white, giving it a bright feel, The Colours are pastel, sure, but if the linework was black instead, this would have a different vibe. It differentiates it from Hell and creates a distinct atmosphere.

First, how do you have the resources to upkeep a place where everyone has all their needs met? Like, if it’s magic, can you share that with the people who literally live in hell nearby you. Maybe give them food and stuff if you clearly have stuff to spare.

But second, I call bullshit. Nobody is without worry. Even people who are told they are amazing all their life internalise that unhealthily. And besides, you live next door to hell, a place you feel the need to exterminate once a year. No chance are you all unbothered by everything. Those who benefit the most from the status quo are always the ones terrified of it changing.

Or is it that you aren’t allowed to worry? Do depression, anxiety or even being bipolar get you disqualified from ever going here?

Come to think of it, what does get people into heaven?

"We've got the best and brightest, the politest of the lot And everyone is hot.”

That’s the summary of the people in Heaven. Smart, polite, attractive. Those aren’t moral characteristics.

I can use long words and count to twelve and a half. I can be polite when I need to be. My partner tells me I am attractive, and I think he has the ultimate authority on this kind of thing. But I don’t think any of that makes me morally upstanding, they are just nice things to be.

It’s also worth noting that these things are all subjective. Intelligence comes in different forms and someone who can memorise stuff and someone who can do calculus in their head are smart in different ways. If you are testing for only one of the two, you are missing out on everyone else who has their own field of expertise.

On the other hand, conventional ideas of attraction are seriously flawed and skewed in some uncomfortable directions that society is currently recovering from. Besides that, everyone has their own idea of beauty, and romantic, sexual, and aesthetic attraction are different things.

Also, everyone is hot is not a distinction the show can make. Last I checked, Heaven wasn’t the place with the succubi.

This actually translates into the music, which is standard pop. It sounds like the type of music people who don’t like pop think the genre is made entirely out of. “Life is great, la di da di da.” But it’s disingenuous.

There are emotions that inspire music beyond rage, but contentment and perfection aren’t that. Wonder, joy, love, pride, even catharsis. But contentment?

Pop is all about these emotions. It gets to the soul of its listeners on a real level. The pain of a breakup, the ambition of competing for love, the exhilaration of one incredible night.

Contentment is the emotion for the lowest common denominator, the type of song that plays it safe and doesn’t do anything interesting. Contentment is the emotion antagonistic towards change.

We have already seen that antagonism in full force through Adam. Locations are characters in their own right, and Adam is heaven fighting to conserve its stability. It is addicted to the contentment to the point where it will hold everyone down to stay at the top.

But, it’s self-sabotaging. If Heaven stopped holding people down to stay in place, it could work with everyone else to move forward together and get to an even better place than it is now.

But no, it is static, and boring, and perfect, and polite.

Final Thoughts

I harbour a deep seated contempt for people who put emphasis on politeness for its own sake. Being polite is a tool, it allows you to be clear with someone without letting emotions like anger sabotage yourself. It works when it is needed.

When being polite is not needed and people insist on enforcing rules of conversation that don’t matter, I find that immensely frustrating. Talk how you want, don’t be an asshole, but don’t feel the need to round your vowels for the sake of it.

That’s honestly my take on Welcome To Heaven, it’s pretty for the sake of it and nothing more. It’s simple and shallow. There is nothing behind the “sick décor.” Being polite is fine, but looking down on people who aren’t is just a recipe for disaster.

Next week, however, I will be talking about You Didn’t Know, a song that is anything but simple. So, stick around if that interests you.

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/739683077572395008/kids-in-my-anime-adjacent-fandom-discoursing-over

Reminds me of the time I found out that most East Asian BL writers actually have a set bottom/top dynamic and that switching is very very rare. I think the author for MDZS/The Untamed said that the main couple shouldn't be switched, and that the Chinese Danmei fandoms do follow that for the most part. As in, most Danmei fandoms do not switch the dynamics of the top/bottom in general, nor do they do much switching at all? Which makes it absolutely hilarious how the Western fandoms keep insisting certain Danmei boys to be switches or switching their dynamics and claiming it's canon. TGCF/Heaven official's blessing seems to be such a case, from the same author as MDZS. Author says Red dude is the top, and White dude is the bottom. Western fandom starts arguing dynamics because there's no porn in the books. (Apparently Chinese censorship bc one of them is a God.)

And just to be clear, I'm just sharing what I got told, so if you don't like it, that's not my problem. If I'm wrong though, I'd welcome the clearing up.

--

Sighhhhh.

Anon... Yes, this is roughly correct, but it's also just tonally kind of wacky. It's like if someone sent me an ask going "Apparently, some women ship m/m, but don't quote me on that".

If I don't like it, that's not your problem?

Really?

What a whiny bitch-ass thing to say in someone's inbox, dude.

--

Anyway, on the actual topic, yes, 100% strict top/bottom roles have been the norm in many Asian fandoms and, to some extent, foreign fandoms for Asian media.

That doesn't mean nobody ever likes switches there though. There are terms for that. It's just not as common and doesn't sell or get clicks as well.

Yes, you can generally tell from BL/danmei canons exactly who the top and bottom are even if there's no sex. It's like reading a Regency romance novel and figuring out which love interest is "the rake" or whatever. It's more than just who sticks it in: It's a whole constellation of character cliches that go together.

The only reason Western fans can't tell is 1. bad translations that lose the flavor of the original, 2. n00bs not knowing the tropes, 3. willful blindness.

It's like that post from a while back about shizun-fuckers. Yeah, there are tons of ships where the older partner is the top, but this trope is about reversing that, and it's so unbelievably unsubtle.

I've heard that Yami no Matsuei's set of leads is so wacky because the author changed direction on who was the main lead and who was supposed to read as more of a bottom and thus this one dude doesn't read as quite the trope he was probably originally supposed to be.

(Cue reheated zombie wank about who's the bottomiest bottom out of all of the abused woobies in YnM.)

--

Re Chinese censorship, it has varied over time. I'm no expert either, so people are welcome to chime in, but basically, a lot of horny stuff is straight up illegal on the mainland and they've been cracking down in recent years in a way they didn't a while back.

A lot of danmei novels will have the less censored version printed in Taiwan.

It's not just about some character being a god: it's about the entire concept of pornography being illegal.

Some decades, you can push the boundaries a lot; some, you can't.

[totallybakedcake]

hello :) (if you recived another message sorry I don't know if I sent it bc my phone doesn't work) as I asked before like could you do a Aoi x Haruichi fanfict? also I'd like to read something that focuses also on Haruichi's family issue because I'm really struggling to think about something and I'd like to know other people's thoughts :)

Woo hoo my first character x character fic!! Really I do like to ship many characters together but don't have any motivation to write. I had fun trying to make a backstory so thanks:D

The joy of silence

There were no cute fanarts on them on google so settling with this one ig

Haruichi was just in his apartment, gazing at the mellow sunset while lost in thought. He had for the past four hours been opening his phone every five minutes, which even made the vice captain and instructors concerned, so he had to stop.

He didn't tell anyone; he wasn't bold enough to tell them that it was his father's birthday, and he had tried to call him multiple times, text him plenty of times, and even send him some gifts, but in response, he got dead silence.

He felt so annoyed and nervous at the beginning of the day that he worked way harder than usual, and now everything would hurt if he even moved an inch.

"I am hungry." He thought to make dinner, but during cooking, most probably his body would give out, so he diverted his mind and would think about that later.

This is the first time he felt so useless that he might cry from it, but what could even help him cheer up? Just then

The doorbell rang.

Usually at this hour, nobody came to visit him, though Haruichi did think of a certain someone when he needed to talk.

"Aoi?" Ah, yes, it was Aoi. He didn't outright say it, but he was glad that he had come to visit him.

"Talk." Kaguragi simply said that and settled on the couch. He damn well knew that Haruichi was very upset and wanted to confront him in private.

"Caught me, huh? Well,  what can I expect from you?" Haruichi didn't even hide the fact and just sat down beside him, offering him some ramen before digging into his.

He took deep breaths to calm down as he spoke. "I had a little brother; he was younger by 4 years. We played for hours and hours every day. Each day our parents would come home with gifts. He always wanted some sort of building set that helped him build weapon toys. He was going to be the one to inherit the Izumo family business. While I was 18 and he was 14, a kaiju attacked our home. He died; mom got an illness and died soon later. I was the one left that dad would leave the business to. My destiny was to become a defense force officer or maybe a captain someday, so I refused, and we argued day and night after that. Dad quit trying to convince me but also stopped talking to me as we both cut ties. Today is his birthday. I did countless things to reach out, but he just wouldn't reply."

The room felt silent as none of them dared to say anything else. Haruichi was and is still hiding his pain deep down, but the tears might start to fall and not stop.

Aoi pulled him in an awkward hug. He had never hugged anyone, but it was a great way to comfort a sad person. "At least you have us; I am sure in the future your father will forgive you; give him some time."

To say he was shocked is an understatement. Haruichi wrapped his arms around Aoi. He closed his eyes, muttering thanks over and over as he got comfortable in the warm embrace that was like a balm to his sore muscles.

It was a quiet moment where no words needed to be exchanged; just the relaxing touch was enough. They were enjoying each other's company.

Falling asleep with Kaguragi felt like heaven, but there was no way in hell that Haruichi was ever going to admit that.

"Oh Kaguragi, I love you," he thought to himself before joining in on the slumber.

[shirolian]

Star Crossed Myth - Review of Zyglavis, Hue and Scorpio

My current Star Crossed Myth career is at its peak - I wholly finished three routes (yes, that much, envious?) and now I need to unleash my brainrot. The finished routes: Zyglavis, Hue, Scorpio - in this order. 2:1 for Punishments but I suppose that is not surprise given that this game subverts the expectations of how gods should be and Punishments gods are mostly mewling kittens.

Zyglavis route as whole was, how to put it, felt like I dated a man who is older than me by 20 years. Comforting, reliable but also very lonesome and sometimes distant experience. His later parts of story were frustrating but this time the meme "my life is living hell and I have nobody but myself to blame" applies. The King shockingly is not the antagonist in this route, Zyglavis rigidity is. As much as I love strict meganes who are kind souls inside, I couldn't feel the real love and connection between him and his MC. Favorite scene in his route: The realization in his main story, where he finally acknowledged that he loves MC. The tenderness was palapable as he wiped her tears and whispered "you cry for others?" - it was very defining moment that rekindled his faith in humanity Favorite scene with Zyglavis overall: His infamous arrival in Hue's route where he breaks through window 😂 Route rating: 7,5/10

Hue... I kind of regret that I did his second. I should definitely do him last. So if you plan to play, don't do the same stupid mistake like I did. His route is full of lore and background about MC. The background especially will cause you LOTS of pain if you do his route early and then proceed to other gods. Relationship with Hue felt just right. Like two halves of one soul united and in a sense, it's true. Two halves of stars reunited 😭 I mean how much more of "their love is destiny" vibes can this get? Their banter was entertaining and witty, ocassionaly MC really flipped the tables back on Hue and it was amusing to see his reaction. Hue is definitely the brain in this relationship but his MC is not stupid either - rather, she is jealous and insecure. If you read my previous post where I ranted about this, you will understand what I mean. The ending of whole route was very unsatisfactory and the jelaousy plot of MC's was dominant arc, which annoyed the hell out of me. You know what would be absolutely perfect ending for Hue? If he got Scorpio's ending. Here, I said it. Favorite scene in his route: When MC travels back in time and is Clotho. Then she dies and we can see the aftermath - Hue, standing in the darkness of his room and MC clinging to his lifeless, breathing body. He just pulled out his eye for her, effectively crippling himself in the name of love even if the result was uncertain. The sheer rawness of the moment, the despair and mourning - it all deeply resonated with me. Favorite scene with Hue overall: The sequel (?) ending where Hue and MC talk their feelings and MC admits that she thought the source of Hue's uneasiness was his dissatisfaction with their lovemaking. Hue is literally speechless for a moment because it would never ever occur to him that THIS was one of MC's concerns. The aftermath to this scene is 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating: 9,5/10 - I blame overused jelaousy plot. Once, it was nice. Using it all the time was rather tiresome.

Scorpio, the local tsundere god from Wish- ahem, Heavens. He definitely is the most rude LI that I had the honor to date 😂 I don't really like tsundere types and at first, I really couldn't warm up to Scorpio. But his scene with train tickets won me over - man was extremely cute 😂 However, in terms of relationship, his and MC's reminds me of italian couple - they argue, loudly and violently, and then they probably hate-fuck or make up. Not the most healthy dynamic on the market but hey, it's otome, red flags are welcome. Needless to say, that Scorpio became green flag in disguise. His explosive vocabulary and prickliness won't go ever away but he softens significantly and opens up to MC. It was very heartwarming to see the progress fromt he begining, where he couldn't read MC's emotions at all to the end, where one look at her face was enough for him to deduce what she is thinking. The constant source of comedy in this route was Scorpio's mind reading ability and his open defiance to the King. Yes, the King. If I thought that the King was extremely tame in Hue's route, in Scorpio's the King is main antagonist and the biggest dick in universe. "Sparkly bastard. Sorry excuse for a king. That bitch." - Scorpio, circa 2015 This route had absolutely the best ending of all three - literally the ideal outcome that I wished would happen in Hue's. The real promise of Infinity together. I don't know what I expected but it really was not the most romantic rendition of Sleeping Beauty. Favorite scene in this route: Rabbit. Apples. The first time when they come up, the scene is SO darn cute. Then the apples become the staple of the route and source of comfort between MC and Scorpio. CUTE. Favorite scene with Scorpio overall: My knees went weak from that CG and moment where Scorpio and MC couldn't touch each other. They were in MC's apartment and Scorpio was about to leave. The longing, the love, the passion when they touched and kissed as the glass window separated them... *slaps seal of forbbiden longing* This is how it should be done. Rating: 10/10, no regrets. They said fuck the King and really did it.

[majaloveschris]

So, he’s wearing a ring at NYCC, telling the world that he is married (real or PR we can’t argue that this is what he’s showing to everyone). I 100% love your blog and all you’ve shared…but let’s go off the assumption that this is real (no matter how inconsistent and toxic)…that would mean that the trolling and all the leaks to other blogs were somewhat correct…meaning that someone from the INSIDE is spreading his private info…

Maja, make it make sense! Did the Chris we all thought we knew ever exist? Was he THAT good of an actor? For something so private as an engagement/house/marriage…why all the leaking and trolling??

Yeah, it is weird. I don't know why, if this is real, it was so important for someone to leak personal info. I don't think it ever happened before Alba, at least not on this level, and most things that got leaked were connected to them and their relationship, so I think it came from her side. Either way, it's really interesting that someone would spend their time on Tumblr sending information to blogs if this is all natural and they have nothing to sell. Enjoy your, your friends', or your relatives' perfect relationship; be happy for them; and don't care about what others think. People won't like them more just because they say or try to spread things that make them more likeable. That ship sailed when those tweets and posts came to light, so...

I still don't think that he's been acting for 20+ years. Nobody can pretend to be someone else for that long, and there is no way his real self wouldn't have come out on sets, or that if it has, nobody said anything or nothing leaked. He's made so many movies with so many different people, whether we are talking about ethnicity or religion. I doubt that if he'd done or said questionable things, those wouldn't have come out already. He is a good actor, but not so good that he can deceive everybody, especially not for like 2 decades. 

To me, it seems like they are trying so hard to prove that they have such a good relationship and that this is a match made in heaven. If it's real, if it's not, I don't think this is something healthy and genuine. Obviously, this is only my opinion; I don't know them; this is only based on the things we've seen and known.

[wanderingmind867]

Ranking the Twelve Olympians (plus Hades and Hestia):

Ones I like:

Hermes: Hermes is a good guy. God of travellers and merchants and stuff. I kind of feel bad for him. The other gods have him run ragged. But he's a nice guy. I think it says something the Hermes cabin accepted all the unclaimed kids. Hermes was always there for those with nobody else to turn to. And if that isn't kindness and generosity personified, I don't know what is.

Apollo: From what I've read in the Titan's Curse, Apollo is one of the nicer gods. He's pretty kind to everyone, his poetry is bad but sincere (in fact, I didn't hate his poetry at all), Apollo is great. Better than his sister by a mile.

Dionysus: I'm not a drinker (I can't stand alcohol) but Dionysus isn't a bad guy. He's apathetic at Camp Half-blood, sure. But I'd be apathetic too if I had to spend 100 years around a bunch of immature brats. Kids can be awful, man. If I were at Camp, I'd be friends with Dionysus and Chiron. They're like teachers. And as I've always known: I tend to get along better with teachers than with other students.

Hephaestus: I'm not someone who likes to do work with my hands (I think even trying to work in a forge would go disastrously for me). But I like Hephaestus. He seems like a pretty good guy.

Hestia: The neglected Oldest child of Kronos and Rhea. Hestia is sweet, because she's content with her lot in life. She's just fine being ignored. Having a bunch of siblings more famous than you can sometimes make you bitter and jealous, but not Hestia. Hestia is just happy for them. And just happy to be included whenever she is included, I assume. The goddess of family and home and hearth, Hestia is truly worthy of praise.

Demeter: Goddess of Agriculture and food and stuff. I'm not a farmer or anything, but I can admire a lady who provides us with things like bread and grain.

Poseidon: Being that I have family from Newfoundland (even though I've never been), plus the fact that I love water and baths and stuff, one might argue I'm biased towards Poseidon. And maybe to some degree I am. I've never been on a boat and I don't like the beach. But I love baths and seafood and stuff. So I have nothing against Poseidon. He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy.

Ones I have complicated feelings on:

Zeus: Zeus is the king of Olympus. He's the greatest of all the gods, and it's to him we owe the heavens above. That being said, he does have a reputation for being temperamental (I believe) and for being a philanderer. So Zeus might not be the best god, but I think he's still worthy of our respect.

Aphrodite: I know Aphrodite can be vengeful and vindictive sometimes, but she can also represent one of the emotions we all feel. Love. Whether it be platonic, romantic or whatever, love is beautiful. So I can't hate Aphrodite completely. Besides, she's the oldest olympian. That's pretty cool.

Hades: Only reason Hades is here is because of the afterlife. I'm glad there is one, I just hate Asphodel and the Fields of Torment.

Athena: I like Athena because she's the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, and because her symbols are great (I love owls and olives). But she's also a goddess of war, and I hate war. War is never acceptable. Still, Athena isn't as bad as, say, Ares when it comes to warfare. At least she's got some other stuff going for her.

Ones I dislike:

Hera: Hera has an important role (I will acknowledge that), but she's still not very nice. Of the six kids Kronos and Rhea had, Hera is the worst. She's judgy to the point of excessive cruelty. She pushed Hephaestus off Olympus because he's ugly. And sure, she hates her husband because he cheats. But has anyone ever wondered why Zeus cheats? Because he's a philanderer, yes. But probably also because Hera is an awful wife. She's probably judging him constantly.

Artemis: Artemis is kind of misandrist. She hates anyone that isn't female, she loves turning people into animals, she sucks.

Ares: Ares may not be the worst god/titan/etc, but he represents a concept that I think we all hate. No war is good and just, war is always hell. Hard to respect the God of War when you hate war. Especially with how Rick Riordan writes him.

[hinamie]

ok i have composed myself i have transcribed the lyrics for wish you were here as best as i could. i am going to listen to this and only this until i lose interest or the ability to hear, whichever happens first

this song is SUCH a bop the soft guitar intro in2 the main beat is so good but can we TALK . about how . HE STARTS IT WITH A "MWAH" WHAT A FUCKING ICON I LOVE HIM I LOVE THEMMMMM the percussion is so good i love the soft offbeat claps in th bg they add such a nice lil pep n especially in verse 2 after "love you even if you hate my guts" they add like 4 extra clap beats and i am !!!!!!! ASCENDING

verse 1 is iconic i love the line "pack up my head might mail it back to your house" its so fucking funny it reminds me of that post thts like "i didn't know how to deal with the fact that i had a crush so i wrote her a note that said get out of my school" . but listenok listen. verse 2 is the one they posted a snippet of last year and first of all i love the electric-y/tv-turning off/guitar slide/quiet video game laser effect as the vocals start it makes my brain buzz aNYWAY this verse is my favourite between the two and has absolutely s tier lines such as "as long as you think of me I don't care what" and "love you even if you hate my guts" PLUS the lil clappy bits i mentioned they r so GOOD. not to mention his voice pls.,,, he sounds so good when he belts,,, his voice has a slight rasp to it that they lean into with the slightly muffled old speaker sound god he sounds so good all the TIME his vocals are so clear when he hangs on the words "singing" and "myself" into the chorus PLS. also the bg vocal 'a t-t-t-touch too sentimental' is so gd CATCHY

speaking of the chorus oh my god the CHORUS. the desperate cry of "don't you miss me? / don't you want me around?" is so devastating and heartfelt head in HANDS also the lyrics . im so excited abt them i cannot put into words how !!!!!!!! they make me just. gestures helplessly

wishful thinking is all that’s holding me down  lost on a blue moon  i wish you were here right now

in chorus 2 especially the way the beat cuts out after "lost on a blue moon" n comes back after "I wish you were here"??? AUDIBLE SEROTONIN TO ME ((plus in the final chorus changing the "lost on a blue moon" to "not like you used to" ??????? OW ???????????? that had a lil kick that got me a bit.. , being stuck with ur own wishful thinking as a stand-in for the physical affection of the person u like,,, ....fushiguro touch starved megu- *is shot dead*)))

HOWEVER the absolute lyrical Backbone of this song is the fucking bridge. i knew it would be i heard the snippet ages ago and i was like holy shit these lyrics go hard what are they from only to b dismayed to find that whatever song they were from did not yet exist. but now it DOES and i can listen to the way the bridge sounds like lights dimming. like headlights passing through a hazy window. it sounds like clouds parting

nobody else in this life or next  will ever have me the way that you do nothing in hell, heaven, earth, or the rest could ever take me away from you

THAT FUCKING EMOTIONAL BOMBSHELL against the original soft guitar from the intro drop the drums just reverb-y lyrics and background vocals and some of the most romantic fucking lyrics i've had the pleasure of reading let alone hearing one of my favourite artists sing.

i am going to once again fuse my fv brainrot with my megumi brainrot. realistically ik this is probably a missing your ex song but i do not care. this is a longing megumi song to me i dont CARE argue with a WALL (said to no one). the verses and chorus are pine-y and a bit snarky n very i like-like you and don't know what to do with how much i miss you. it's wry and frustrated n just tsundere enough but then u get to the bridge n there lies the sheer undying devotION god im unweLL this is all i'm going to listen to. this was worth waiting a year for if this is part of a new album they have in production im actually going to die

[lemmilemura]

Heyy, would you consider doing a continuation for the Love Sucks oneshot? One where Janae actually gets the girl and Simon realizes that he has a heavy crush on reader (i'm so bad at this, i'm sorryy) with Janae&Reader friendship moments making fun of Simon and stuff. And maybe like, both Simon and reader staring at each other when the other isn't looking and Janae teasing them individually + Janae/Maeve pair??? ok thankss <3 (i really liked the academic rivals oneshot btw)

OH MY GOD FUCK YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I love this. I love this idea so much it's actually insane because i also was thinking of doing a part 2 xD I'm happy you enjoyed the academic rivals one <3

All kept gender-neutral Based on the show

The weeks after were... awkward. Well, whenever it was all 4 of us, nowadays it was mostly just me and Janae. Simon and Maeve did their own thing. Me and Janae spent our time together, listening to LoveSucks and complaining about our crushes. "I really should've noticed sooner. I mean it's so fucking obvious now! Of course you like Simon!" Janae said, sitting next to me on the couch in my garage. With my parents' permission, we made it into our little hangout room, complete with TV, couch, minifridge and microwave, everything you could ever need. "What do you mean 'of course you like Simon'?" This girl-

"Oh come on. You stare at him like he's heaven. Don't think I didn't see you when we were at the beach. I didn't even say anything and you went 'Not a word, Matthews'! People don't just say that if there's nothing there." She turned to face me, and I did the same. The couch was pretty small, so our faces were only a few inches, a foot or so, apart. "The exact same goes for you. I've never seen a gayer person in my life. If I 'look at him like he's heaven'" I do air quotes, "then she's paradise to you!" To others it may seem like we're arguing, but those who knew us knew this was how we always were.

"Ya know what, let's just agree that we're both down bad and will probably never get any and get married to eachother at 30. Cheers?" She lifted her drink up, I snickered and lifted mine up too. "Cheers!" The drinks may have had just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit of alcohol in them, and seeing as we drank quite a few, after a while my LEDs were thrown on and LoveSucks was blasting. Lucky my house isn't directly attached to another.

Nobody's POV

He could hear the music blasting through the garage door from where he was still down the street, the rapidly changing LEDs shining through the frosted windows at the top of the garage door. As he got closer, he could even hear what song it was. It was a classic, one he didn't quite expect to hear coming from you. When he got even closer, he was able to hear both you and Janae inside, scream-singing your hearts out to Katy Perry's "Hot N' Cold".

Simon was originally going to come talk to you, his day had gone kinda shitty and he hadn't seen you in a while. Whenever he'd look at you in school, he'd get distracted. When you'd look at him, you'd turn away the second you made eye-contact. He tried a few times to approach you after school, but you and Janae were always in your own world, driving away vefore he was even noticed. INstead of knocking and talking like he planned, he decided to turn around and go back home. He'd just have to try another time.

Your POV

"Wait what? Since when?" I was on the phone to Janae. I stayed home sick from school, but really it was going to be a boring day anyway, so I just didn't go. Though now I was regretting it, because Jane had called me to tell me her and Maeve had gotten together! "Wait, but what about Simon?" I asked. Hadn't hima and Maeve just gotten together? "That's the thing! Apparently he broke up with her like, two days ago? Well, they both kinda agreed to it, but he initiated it!"

"Hey, now you've got a chance!" She joked. "Oh come on, I don't want to be a rebound." That was the main thing holding e back from making my move. Eventhough, Simon was apparently the one who wanted to break up. "Well, anyways uhm me and Maeve kinda are gonan hang out after school, soooooo" Janae trailed off. "Don't worry, I'm not angry that you're going on a date." "Yeah but, that means I won't be able to bring you the stuff we did today. It's gonna be Simon. Though he said he doesn't know quite when today he'll be able to come over."

Simon wasn't gonna snitch on me, that I knew. Still, it was bound to be awkward. I was trying to avoid too much contact, that way I couldn't do anything stupid. I was sort of on-edge the rest of the day, since I never knew when he'd be there. I just hoped he'd come round soon and leave just as fast. It was already dark outside, and to be honest I had kind of forgotten about it all when he showed up.

"Hey, there you are. Thought you'd never show." I stepped aside a bit to let him in. He hesitated for a moment, then came in. "Please don't pay too much attention to the mess, I can't be bothered." He had been to mine more times than I could count, so he knew his way around. Somehow, it took him sitting down on the couch and putting his guitar-case onto the floor that I ever realized he had it with him.

He had never played for me before, or even when I was in the room, so for him to bring his guitar to my place completely unannounced was something I never expected. "Why'd you bring it if you're not even gonna play?" I asked, grabbing a drink out of my mini-fridge. "I... god this is gonna sound stupid but... it helps me... when I feel like shit. Like right now." He fiddled with his hands, playing with the pick. I had gotten it for him after all four of us watched StrangerThings together, it was designed after Eddie's.

"Well, be not ashamed, you can play all you want. I can leave you alone if you need me to. Gotta go to the bathroom anyway." I placed my drink on the little table next to the couch. "No, no, you can stay. I'm just... not that good at it." He started unzipping the guitar case and getting set up. "Better than me, for sure. Never even touched one." The bathroom wasn't far from the garage, but I stayed a little longer, simply to try and freshen myself up a bit.

I could hear it playing through the door, but I couldn't quite understand the lyrics quite yet. The couch faced away from the door, so he didn't see or hear me enter. It barely took a second for me to freeze in place, unable to move and even forgetting to breathe for a few seconds when I heard it. He wasn't just playing... he was singing too. Did I expect it? Fuck no. Did I like it? Fuck yes I did. Somehow it was possible for me to fall even more for him, eventhough he was inlove with Maeve, or atleast used to be.

Everything else seemed to disappear, as cheesy and stupid as that may sound. I was just so taken aback by everything. I very very slowly and quietly closed the door behind me, trying to not ruin the moment. I was just so torn over everything. Yes I really really liked Simon, but also his situation was still so new and- I just managed to catch the end of the song. As soon as he was done I started clapping. Seemed he hadn't noticed me before, because he almost threw his guitar across the room and jumped up atleast a foot.

"Sorry. I just... didn't wanna interupt. You seemed... really into it." I sat down on the couch and took a sip from my drink. "I dunno..." We fell silent. "I'm just... not doing great. Dunno if Janae told you, but me and Maeve kinda... broke up." He absent-mindedly fiddled with the strings, a pluck or two sounding off every once in a while. "I heard. You doin' okay tho?" He wasn't usually this quiet, always giving snarky remarcs. "I guess? I dunno... just, kinda... confused. Conflicted. Dunno what to do." I dunno how or why but, listening to him talk about his feelins fror Maeve just... made me snap.

"I know I really shouldn't be the person to tell you this but you need to get over her! Yes you and Maeve made out at Jake's party but she's in a relationship with Janae and very clearly over you! So what you need to do is ignore those feelings and push them incredibly deep down into yourself where you'll forget they exist, but oh no! Everytime you see her you're reminded of them and in the end you'll never really be over her and I know this for a fact because it's been a year and I'm still not over you!" The last part I wasn't intending to let out, but I wasn't able to stop myself. "A fucking year, Simon. I've been in love with you for a year and I just have to watch you gawk after Maeve and pretend everything is fine when it obviously isn't. And you showing up here and complaining about how you still like Maeve and then playing fucking 'I can't help falling in love with you' just makes this all worse!"

Simon was definitely taken aback by my sudden burst, I usually kept my anger in check, and if not then it was while playing video games, and that'S never that serious. "Wait." He shook his head and set his guitar aside, then turned to me.

"The whole reason I was trying to get with Maeve was to forget you! I was convinced you and Janae had something going, just the way you two always hang out and are basically inseperable. So you're telling me this whole time I could've just told you and this whole thing would've been avoided?" He seemed shocked out of his mind. "But you were dating Maeve! YOU JUST GOT WITH HER TO FORGET ABOUT ME? YOU JUST FUCKING USED HER?" I was screaming now, tears pricking my eyes and threatening to spill. Anger, sadness, regret. "No I wasn't! I did like her! She's a great girl! Just hear me out."

I had to calm down. I tried to calm down. I knew if I didn't I'd just hurt us both. But now more than ever it seemed like the hardest thing to do. "Just get out" I said, turning away from him. "What? (Y/N), listen-" "I said, get out!" He stood still. "Please. Please just leave. Leave me alone." I started heading out and to my room, leaving him behind. I just went up the stairs and waited until he was gone. "I'm sorry... See you at school. Hope you feel better soon." was all he said before I heard the door open and close again.

So much weight fell on my shoulders. I felt miserable. I started crying and slid to the floor.

A few more sick days could't hurt...

[yelena-bellova]

UNLUCKY: A STRANGER THINGS STORY (OC) - CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Chapter Seventeen: …To Worse

Series Masterlist l OC Profile

Plot: Things between El, Christine and Hopper finally come to a head when El ventures out on her own.

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: language, fighting, PTSD

—————

“Eleven!”

I flew into the house, spinning so fast I could barely register the room I was scouring. “Eleven!”

I had fought for her freedom. I’d argued with Hopper constantly trying to get her just a bit of it. And now my worst fear had come true and she’d decided to take it for herself.

“Eleven!” I ran into our bedroom hoping she’d be there waiting. No luck.

I threw open the bathroom door. I looked in Hopper’s bed. I searched every inch of our tiny home hopelessly. She was still out there.

Waiting around seemed like the wrong thing to do, but so did leaving and to go look for her. Too scared to think or move or breathe, I grabbed the phone and dialed Hopper’s number at the station.

It was on the third ring that he burst through the front door, appearing in a worse mood than he’d been in the morning. He knew.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” I hung up the phone, “I think she was at the school.”

He shrugged his jacket off, “Mike?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, realizing how out of breath I was. “They didn’t see her.”

“Other people did,” he ground out, “Got a call about it.”

This was it. This was how it all fell apart. I could feel it.

“What do we do? Do we go look for her?” I asked.

“We wait here until she comes back,” he answered, running his hands over his face.

The sun had almost set as we went out to the front porch and took up our posts. Hopper stood in silence, smoking, while I huddled on a rocking chair. The temperature was dropping quickly but it was the fear making me cold. What if El had been taken? What if Brenner had left plants in Hawkins, just in case they ever found her?

“I told you.”

Hopper looked over, “Excuse me?”

“I told you something like this would happen,” I expounded.

“So I’m to blame for her stupid decision?”

“I didn’t say that,” I bit back, “But maybe if you’d have listened to me, we could have avoided this.”

Hopper slowly turned to me, I didn’t dare look at him.

“I’m gonna give you a pass ‘cause I know you’re scared,” he said, his voice was unsettlingly low, “But I am not the one who screwed up here.”

Saving my strength for whatever confrontation was coming with El was more necessary than arguing with Hopper. But Heaven knew I wanted to.

The sun had disappeared l and we were sitting in the dark when I finally heard branches cracking under footsteps. El’s shadow came through the tree line, stopping when she saw us. Specifically Hopper.

She walked through the door silently, I followed and Hopper brought up the rear, slamming it shut.

“‘Friends don’t lie.’ Isn’t that your bullshit saying?” He said as El stormed into our room, “Hey, hey! Hey! Don’t walk away from me!”

He slammed our bedroom door open and hung in the frame. “Where’d you go on your little field trip, huh? Where? Because your sister,” Hopper pointed behind him, “Said you were at the school.”

El looked to me, wondering how I could possibly know. I stayed quiet and sent no thoughts.

“He didn’t see me,” El answered.

“Yeah, well, that mother and her daughter did and they called the cops,” Hopper replied as he moved into the room, “Now, did anyone else see you? Anyone at all? Come on, I need you to think!”

“Nobody saw me,” El spoke more firmly.

Hopper’s tone dropped a bit of its aggression, “You put us in danger. You realize that, right?”

“You promised,” El pointed a finger, tearfully and raging all at one, “I go! And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!”

“Yeah! Nothing ever happens and you stay safe!”

El and I flinched as Hopper smacked our dresser. “You lie,” she yelled at him.

“I don’t lie,” he yelled back, “I protect and I feed and I teach! And all I ask of you is that you follow three simple rules. Three rules. And you know what? You can’t even do that!”

I stayed frozen in place as Hopper marched out of the room. This was the fight I’d been dreading and it was triggering silent alarms in my body.

“You’re grounded,” Hopper announced, “You know what that means? It means no Eggos,” he promptly went to the fridge, grabbed the package and threw it in the sink. “And no TV for a week.”

I wanted to stop him, to tell him he was being too harsh, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything.

As Hopper went to move the TV out of the living room, it stuck to the floor. El was keeping it there with her powers.

“Alright, knock it off,” Hopper said, “Let go.”

El shook her head, blood dripping from her nose.

“El…” I managed to get out. She was going to make this worse.

Hopper shook the TV again, trying to move it to no avail. “Okay,” he stood back up, “Two weeks.”

She still wouldn’t move.

“Let go!” Hopper yelled, this was the one area he couldn’t be beaten. “A month!”

“No!” El refused.

“Well, congratulations. You just graduated from no TV for a month,” Hopper moved behind the box and yanked out one of its cords, “To no TV at all.”

“NO!” El cried, running and trying to fix the antenna to make it light up again.

“You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions,” Hopper said from across the room.

El spun around, “You are like Papa!”

“Eleven!” I snapped, we were crossing too many lines.

“Really?” Hopper was exhaustedly leaned against the wall, “I’m like that psychotic son of a bitch? Wow! All right,” he faced El, “You wanna go back in the lab?”

My blood went cold.

“One phone call. I can make that happen.”

“Hopper,” I bit out.

“I hate you,” El remarked.

“Yeah, well, I’m not so crazy about you, either. You know why? ‘Cause you’re a brat. You know what that word means?” Hopper grabbed our dictionary and angrily flipped through it, “How about that be your word for the day, huh? Brat. Why don’t we look other up? B-R-A-T. Brat.”

He threw the dictionary in El’s direction, she caught it mid-air and launched it back at Hopper, barely missing me.

“Hey,” Hopper exclaimed, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Eleven,” I called from my spot between them.

El was unreachable, sliding the couch telekinetically across the floor to hit Hopper in the legs.

“Hey!”

El stormed off to our room, knocking over a bookcase on her way. Hopper chased after her but she’d locked him out.

Hopper tried with the knob, “Open this door!”

My chest had started rising and falling rapidly. There was something about their fighting that was too much for me to handle. I needed out. I needed out now.

As Hopper continued to berate El, I ran out the front door and slammed it shut. I fell to the ground and realized I was crying. Their voices could still be heard and the panic continued to build. It was all too much.

Suddenly a piercing scream from El cut through the cabin, sending me straight back into my mind. Flashbacks of the same sounds on the day I’d escaped the lab filled my ears. My chest clenched up, the oxygen coming too fast and not at all.

The windows of the cabin shattered, pulling a gust of wind through them. I curled into a ball to avoid the falling glass. El was using her powers.

I laid on the wooden deck, my ears covered and my ragged breaths coming unevenly. The cabin had gone silent, but the noise continued ringing in my head.

It was a few minutes later that I heard the front door open. Hopper’s boots weighed on the deck. He said nothing. When he did inhale to speak, I threw a hand out and moved one of our chairs in between us. Blocking me off from him.

“I’m not sending you-“

“Don’t,” I sat up, my face tear stained but my eyes wide with rage, “Don’t.”

Whether I was right or not didn’t matter. Hopper didn’t like being told what to do and I could see the frustration in his eyes. He walked back inside, leaving me to calm down.

When I did come back to myself, I rose on shaky legs and went inside. Hopper was sat on his bed, head in hands. I had no empathy for him tonight. Not after what he’d said. I also knew El wasn’t letting me into our room.

I brushed off the glass shards from the couch, pulled a blanket off the back of it and laid my head on our only throw pillow. I didn’t need pajamas or dinner or to brush my teeth. I didn’t need to speak to Hopper. I didn’t even need to feel good about the state of our home.

I just needed to sleep.

——————

None of it was any better in daylight.

I woke up to Hopper nailing boards up where the windows had been. Glass littered the floor and the furniture was still knocked over.

With nothing to say to him, I silently went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. El wasn’t likely to want anything other than Eggos but I poured an extra bowl of cereal anyway.

Both Hopper and I turned when the bedroom door squeaked open, promptly squeaking back shut. For once, I wasn’t going to be the clean up crew for Hopper’s mess. He could fix this one himself.

“Hey, kid,” he called to El, “Listen, um…about last night, I, uh…”

He was so close. So close. If he could just push through the pride, we could-

“I want this place cleaned up by the time I get back and then maybe I’ll consider fixing the TV. You hear me?”

Disappointed, but not surprised, I went back to fixing breakfast.

Hopper came into the kitchen, hesitating in the same way. “I called the school, told ‘em you were sick.”

I silently poured the milk.

“Keep an eye on her today,” he pointed around us, “Don’t help her clean this up unless, y’know, it’s something she can’t do.”

I carried the two bowls over to the table.

Hopper was less than pleased with my silent treatment. The quickest way to frustrate him was to go quiet. He grabbed his hat and headed out the door, leaving me and El to ourselves.

She came out a minute after he’d left, but didn’t join me at the table. She took her cereal to her room, shutting the door behind her.

I dug my palms into my eyes, it was going to be a long day…

The morning went on silently, El cleaning up the mess and me doing my homework and other chores. Come lunchtime, when there was nothing left for me to do in the house, I decided to run the list of errands on the fridge.

I paused in the doorway of our bedroom, looking through the slit at El sitting on her bed. She looked miserable.

“I’m gonna run to the store,” I said, pushing against the doorframe, “I shouldn’t be gone more than an hour or so.”

El wouldn’t even look up at me.

“Look, what Hopper said last night was…” I paused, still in shock from it all, “Absolutely wrong, but what you did was-“

“You get to go,” El snapped suddenly, “You get to see Mike. You go to school. You go everywhere!”

I bit back tears, “I know. I know. And I’m sorry-“

“Go,” she yelled, just as close to crying as me, “Go!”

The time I’d been dreading had finally come. El’s resentment of my freedom had become stronger than her love.

I couldn’t hurt her any more, so I obeyed her wishes. Without a word, I turned on my heel and walked out the front door.

——————

Errands took longer than usual because I let them. When I should have been going from store to store, I was sat outside the library, taking some time to myself.

The night wasn’t promising for any of us to make up. If it was going to be another evening of screaming and arguing, I wanted to take what little peace I could get.

It had been one year, one good year. I’d gotten a home, friends, an education. I’d even gotten El back from the dead. However rocky it had been, I counted myself lucky every day that I got to wake up with this life. My life. It felt now like it was all slipping through my fingers. I wondered if this was the end of it.

Eventually, I got up and completed all my tasks, moving through them robotically and heading back home.

There were still a few hours till Hopper got back so I had time to clean up whatever El hadn’t, demands be darned. I hit the secret knock against the door and waited for El to let me in.

There was no answer.

I did it once more, louder, in case she had locked herself in our room.

Nothing.

Growing concerned, I telekinetically opened the locks myself. “El?”

More silence.

“El, it’s me,” I announced, “I’m back.” Angry or not, she always acknowledged when I came home. Always.

Upon setting the grocery bag down on the table, I was able to get a good look at the house. The old mess had now been replaced with manila folders and papers all across the living room. There was a box on the couch labeled ‘Hawkins Lab.’

“El?” My voice grew panicked, “El!”

I crossed the floor to our room and threw the door open. She wasn’t there.

“El!” I scrambled through the cabin, “El! El!”

There was nowhere to search, it was too small a home. I ran outside and into the forest, yelling her name relentlessly, waiting for her to call back and say she’d just been outside. Breaking a rule, yes, but she was still here.

“El!” I cried once more, a flock of birds startling and flying off. I watched them fly north, as far away from the cabin as they could get.

She was gone again.

I bolted back inside to the phone and hurriedly dialed the number to the station.

“Hawkins Police De-“

“Flo,” I rushed out, “Is Hopper there? I need to talk to him right away.”

“You and everybody else, honey,” she replied, “He’s out on a call right now.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“Joyce Byers was the one calling,” Flo sighed, “So that would be my best guess.”

The Byers. Will. In all the chaos of El leaving, I’d forgotten to tell Hopper about Will’s episode.

“Okay. Okay, thank you, Flo.”

I caught my breath as I hung up. Hopper was at the Byers’ house. He was checking on Will. He’d be home soon and we could make a plan to find Eleven. Until then, I’d stay planted in case she returned.

But he wasn’t home soon.

Hours went by, and he didn’t come back.

I waited on the couch, watching the door as if both of them were about to walk through. Bang out the knock and wait for me to let them in.

They never did. El had run away, Hopper was just gone and I was on my own.

Unable to hold it in any longer, panic came exploding out of me, throwing the room into absolute chaos.

—————

Unlucky Taglist: @lanadelray1989

[raccoon-in-ankhmorpork]

[MAJOR GO2 SPOILERS]

I decided, of my own accord, to rewatch episode 6, for the purpose of paying attention to every little detail, every expression, every word. What I can tell you from that experience is that watching it a second time around wasn’t better—it was worse. It broke my heart all over again, I don’t know why I inflicted this pain on myself.

While I’m here, I’ll state my thoughts on the ending: I hate to say it, but I don’t believe in the coffee theory. I’ve tried to convince myself, but… no. What Aziraphale did is, in my opinion, completely in-character: it’s a manifestation of his biggest flaw. However, he never seems convinced that he is making the right decision, always wanting to backtrack but ultimately going along with the Metatron. Is that simply because the Metatron has power over Azira, and is using it to manipulate him into it? Most probably. At any rate, the Metatron is immediately painted as the bad guy (when he enters the bookshop, the music is foreboding and dark), which I thought was interesting. Obviously he is one of the main enacters of the Great Plan, so he couldn’t have been good to begin with, but the Metatron is presented as a different kind of evil than, for instance, Michael and Uriel. THEY are slightly ignorant and generally lacking empathy. HE seems more aware, more willing to use underhanded tactics to manipulate the course of things. God, how I hate him (get it? haha).

Random thing in the middle of this rant, bc there is something so fishy about the Metatron in general: when he describes Aziraphale, stating the qualities for which he wants him to fill Gabriel’s position, he doesn’t truly describe Azira, does he? A leader who is honest and not afraid to say what he thinks, I believe the Metatron said? Those aren’t outwardly wrong things to say, but they also aren’t Azira’s main qualities. They’re more Crowley’s, really, but I don’t know what to do with that inference. Additionally, they aren’t even qualities the Metatron would WANT in the Archangel. He needs someone compliant. I don’t know what to make of any of this, if I’m honest, but it needed to be said.

Anyways. Back to Aziraphale. The moment at which he seems most convinced that Heaven is the right choice is while arguing with Crowley, when he has made it clear he doesn’t want to come with. I think this is an attempt to convince Crowley (and, most of all, himself) that they aren’t breaking up for something unimportant. Azira NEEDS to believe that he’s leaving Crowley for the only thing more important to him: doing good. He NEEDS to believe that going to Heaven can be the way to do an extraordinary quantity of good, because otherwise he broke his own heart and Crowley’s for nothing. And even while trying to convince himself, he still instinctively wants to go back to Crowley; it is the Metatron’s pressure on Azira that causes him not to, I think, more than Azira’s hope that he can fix things.

In short, this is what I see for s3: Azira tries his best to do good, but being the Supreme Archangel doesn’t come with as much agency and power as he thought (which we saw, in part, with Gabriel) I think he could try to lean into his faith in God, but he could just as well constantly try to find ways to go against the Plan. Somehow, I think it’ll lead to a sort of breakdown, because I don’t think Aziraphale CAN fix Heaven. I’m hoping he’ll find his way back to Crowley in a moment of desperation, but I can already see how much that would hurt too. Because Crowley deserves to be angry at Azira. But ultimately love’s gotta win, right? RIGHT, NEIL??? We shall see. (I literally got the prime video free trial just so I could help with the viewer count. We all need to binge our asses off, I am NOT accepting episode 6 as the last episode of Good Omens.)

TL;DR: episode 6 broke my heart (part two: electric boogaloo), no to the coffee theory, the Metatron is fishy AF, and please binge GO2 as much as you can :) I’m confident nobody will read this ever, but oh well.

[stormears]

Tristamp Episode 12 and My Ascension to Heaven

Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen episode 12 bc they put it off for a day like I did to extend the suspense or just haven't gotten around to the series, period.

I watched Stampede episode 12, And wow. Wow!? WOWOWOWOWOWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAaHG!!!?!!!

I was so so gunning for a Knives v. Vash actual BATTLE, and got a gunslingin sprinting slashing flying godly angelic spectacle like I had been dreaming of for weeks. I got to see VASH'S 98 HAIRSTYLE after he broke free from that plant imprisonment!?!!!?? HOLY SHIT?!!? I!!!!!!!! AM!!!!!!! IN!!!!! AWE!!!!!!!!!1

(edit 10 minutes later: saw a tweet that proposed that Studio Orange had probably "studied Spiderverse" to hone the animation/shots of the K vs V battle because "anime CGI does not look like this" and hmmmmmm!)

I shouted and gasped and commented to my laptop screen during the episode like my deceased grandma constantly talking in a movie theater. I clapped at Wolfwood saving Meryl's life, and Vash's hair and his clumsy one wing flying and went aaAahhhhnoooo! at seeing him and Knives argue in midair and realize yet again they will never be able to connect and love each other as easily as they once did, they will never align, neither will ever change. Even at the end, Knives seeks to "save" Vash from himself and saw his aggression as love for his brother. He wanted to return to the days when they loved each other easily and lived in peace as innocent children. :'(((((

At the same time, Vash's determination to always forgive and bond with humanity is noble and good and so admirable (....I mean most of the time not ALWAYS but w/e). Even if the stakes were not so crazily high as the fate of the human race, his actions speaks to his maturity as a person.

Not sure what to say next, Meryl maturing into a slightly more stern and together woman with even shorter hair and a newbie of hER OWN YES YES MILLY IS RETURNING!!!!:DDD or planet Earth being in the equation of this series at all. Was that in the manga? Planet Trigun and Earth communicating at all? That threw me for SUCH a loop. I really thought Earth was 100% dead or destroyed in this series' lore.

Anyway I'm just thrilled...and before I'd even watched the episode, my brother gave me the news that a 2nd cour will definitely be happening, so I went into it knowing that this wouldn't be the end of it all. It's been a while since I enjoyed an anime this much.

This episode couldn't have been better. And now I wish I'd just watched it ASAP when it came out so I wouldn't be seeing all the posts about it late and be a late-ass loser coming into the conversation and enjoying 1-3 tumblr notes and zero on twitter bc nobody fucking talks back to me on twitter. Anyway.