#and once they did they probably wouldnt be upset for long at all if they would be upset to begin with

[thatdemiboymess]

Even just half-heartedly looking for work as someone who is legally blind, autistic, with no highschool diploma, GED, or degrees and who can't leave the house is a very specific kind of let-down and disappointment that just really makes a person depressed.

[chimychoo]

HUGE TPOT 12 SPOILERS!

BUCKLE UP CHAT. CAUSE THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG THEORY!!!!!

Where do i begin?

So heres the thing, I watched TPOT 12 then took a shower right after. While taking said shower i took a moment to think about everything that went down. And thought of the wildest theory ever..

• XFHOV

LETS START FROM THE BEGINNING,

One and Three, right?

These two fellas have FINALLY appeared after 15 years! Why is that?

Here is the scene when X found out their value: 7!

Four, Seven, and X are celebrating and generally very happy. Who isnt happy?

Three and one.

Theyre clearly angered by this whole situation, but why? Who are they angry at?

Theres three possible options:

1. Seven. But that wouldnt make sense, huh? Basically every algebralien has SOME sort of grudge held against him, so its nothing new. Scratch that!

2. Four. Its possible, four has done alot of things. But thats not who im personally going to focus on. Well, partially at least.

That leaves one more person!

3. X. But why them?

"Theyre just a little silly dude, they did nothing wrong!" And youre right. Thats exactly why theyre a target.

• THREE AND ONE'S CAPYIVITY

Youre probably wondering, why am i focusing on X, and not four? Four is more of a suspect, after all.

Think about it this way,

Three is trapped in a prison inside of Four's school, so four put him there! (They are the only one with control over that place anyway.)

One is trapped inside of the moon. There isnt really any solid proof to prove my theory with this one, but she came out during TPOT. She clearly had the ability to escape and didnt seem tired out and/or surprised that she finally left her prison. One actually seems happy and collected, even going as far as "greeting everyone" once she's out. She chose to come out at this time, just like how she chose to mess with Two's show.

One also confirmed that shes an "old friend of Two's." If One is suddenly against Two after all the years of them knowing each other, Two clearly did something to her.

• MUTUAL CONNECTIONS

And youre STILL probably wondering, "Chim! You still didnt explain what X has to do with all of this!"

Four and Two hate eachother, this hatred being caused by Two when they stole more than HALF of the bfb cast.

(They seem to not be familiar with eachother when they "first" meet. Im not exactly sure why here HELP.)

But anyway!

Who does Four have a good friendship with? X!

Who does Two have a good friendship with? Also X!

X is what keeps them sane around eachother, the only main reason why they stick around.

If anything bad were to happen to X, Four and Two clearly have the power and ability to get back at whatever or WHOever caused this harm.

One and Three did something to X, and it resulted in Two and Four snapping.

• THREE'S PERSONALITY

Three has basically ZERO information on himself, we know nothing about the guy. But what we do know, is that hes agressive.

In the Number Playground Chronicles, we get an article that explains an event that takes place, Three being apart of it. The article reads:

(To reduce confusion, ill be adding the names for you guys to differenciate whos who.)

"(Five)Integer did not pick up the ball when dropped, and Three Integer, the person playing with him, became impatient. (Five)Integer was angry at (Three)Integer because, Three Integer could simply pick up the ball and throw it to (Five)Integer, and (Three)Integer and (Five)Integer could keep playing.

"FOAMING THREE INTEGER"

The horrible, tragic incident happened at 10:13 AM. Three Integer became Upset.

Three Integer at 10:16, Angry.

Three Integer at 10:31, Furious.

Three Integer at 10:24, and "Foaming."

Three Integer at 10:39, when he started to produce smoke.

(Five)Integer picked up the ball at 6:17 PM."

This event did truly happen, we can see the beginning of it play out in the first few seconds of XFOHV:

Three was so angry and REFUSED to even touch the ball. Five had to go pick it up themself HOURS after the incident.

Three also WILLINGLY closed the cell door after it was opened. He couldve escaped, yet he didnt. I have two possible reasons for this:

1. He's afraid of Four catching him, so he followed orders and stayed put.

2. Three's gone insane after a decade and a half of being all alone, to the point that he WANTS to stay inside.

• ONE'S MOTIVES

One seems like a friendly character, shes smiling in basically the ENTIRETY of her screentime, (minus the part when she conversed with Fanny.)

But something about her smile isnt right, its almost disturbing. The way she grins in the oddest situations,

She is seen with a list during the post-credits scene, with four names on it that are all crossed out, meaning they are "completed."

□ Bell.

□ Bomby.

□ Fanny.

□ Ice Cube.

Notice how all four of these contestants were in some sort of distress during that moment, and One helped them out! In exchange for a "favor."

1. She helped Bell escape elimination by removing her string (something that annoyed Bell constantly due to contestants activley climbing it.) And hiding her.

2. She helped Bomby escape elimination by hiding him.

3. She gave Fanny a new mouth, discarding the need to spend hours at a time searching for it in the ocean.

4. She gave Ice Cube a new pair of legs, allowing her to walk again.

What exactly does One need these favors for? Revenge against Two, of course!

● ONE AND TWO'S FRIENDSHIP

Theres a popular theory stating that Two was kicked out of the equation playground, this would clear up the confusion as to why they basically NEVER appear in the subscriber specials.

Maybe this is because Two hates math! They said it to Gaty in one of the episodes.

I also believe that One was also kicked out. Why, you may ask?

Take a look at this scene in the beginning of TPOT 11:

One's picture was hidden underneath Seven's. As if nobody(COUGH COUGH. Espcially four) wanted her to be mentioned so they simply hid her.

Maybe this is how One and Two became friends, two rejects.

● RANDOM THINGS THAT GET THEIR OWN SECTION CAUSE IDK WHERE ELSE TO PUT THEM

1. How the HELL did One get a mouth and... legs?

2. Judging by One's little room, she probably really likes space and astronomy, maybe thats way the moon was where she was sent.

3. Kinda freaky to think that One was there in the moon the ENTIRE time. Throughout every single episode of the series from BFDI 1A to TPOT9, and we never knew.

Yeah tbh idk what else to say this was just a little info dump cause my mind was PACKED. anyways yeah tell me if i missed anything anf let me know about your little theories and opinions on mine! :3

[6lostgirl6]

Yandere Alphabet - Stu Macher

TW: Toxic relationship, stalking, mentions of suicide (not detailed), mentions of murder, kidnapping, obsessive behavior, controlling behavior

A/N: Please inform me if I did not tag something correctly. Please know the difference between fictional and reality. While fictional, these types of relationships are extremely toxic, especially in real-life. If your relationship is showcasing these toxic behaviors, please seek help from someone to get out safely. Reblogs are heavily appreciated!!

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Stu is very affectionate towards his darling and is not afraid to show it. It can be pretty intense, but it's only because he can't contain it all inside or he will explode.

Have you seen how he was with Tatum in the movie? It would be exactly that and more.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Stu is not afraid to get messy for his darling. Does that mean he needs to kill a few people? That doesn't matter to him, he's only showing that he can protect you and it's simply an act of love from him!

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Between Billy and Stu, Stu would treat you the same as he would before kidnapping you as his goofy self. He would still make jokes and silly actions if it means getting you to smile. If he mocks you, it's only because he's being playful. If you were genuinely upset and crying for him to let you go, he would try to comfort you.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

Besides you simply spending time with him? No, Stu wouldn't really make you do anything you didn't want to do. He might be a little pushy, but he would eventually back off if it starts bothering you.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

In comparison to Billy, he is very open about himself and his feelings for you. Sure, before he abducted you, he had to hide his yandere tendencies. However, now that you were finally home with him, he wouldnt hold back anything from you. He can be very vulnerable, if something is bothering you, he would tell you.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

He would honestly feel very hurt if you tried fighting back. I believe that Stu would be a little bit of a delusional yandere. Of course you wanted him to take you away and keep you to himself? You just didn't know it yet.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

He finds it very entertaining to watch you try to escape him, especially when he first kidnapped you. Seeing you run and cry out in fear, fight back when he finally pinned you down and your failed attempts at escaping your new home. After you've settled in though, he would expect you to simply follow rules and obey him.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Again, it was your kidnapping. Seeing your friend's lifeless eyes staring into your own and your boyfriend standing over them. Blood staining his clothes, you could see the smile slip and quickly chase after you. After the reveal that he was the one that killed off your friends was shocking and you cried from being foolish enough to trust him. He might even have Billy help him with kidnapping you as well and Billy would not be gentle.

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He wants to grow old with you! He genuinely believes that you are his soulmate! Marriage, maybe a few children, he wants that with you. He wouldn't have it any other way, as long as you comply.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Stu can become very jealous. However, he doesn't lash out, he would probably sulk about it for a while. As ghostface, simply killing his rivals is his new coping mechanism.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

He's very playful with his darling, constant jokes and harmless teasing. He's not afraid to show his affection in public and doing random displays of affection like randomly dipping you or twirling you. He'll randomly pull you in kisses that leave you completely flushed.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Stu would stalk you, but he makes it pretty obvious. However, you might see it as something innocent like a boy having a crush and he simply doesn't know how to act. Yet, you don't realize that he's been stalking you as you walk home and putting anonymous love letters in your locker. That's when he lets some of his deeper desires come forth.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Not at all. You wouldn't even know there was something different about him. However, his mask will slip a little, eyes holding something a little more sinister. We've seen how in the movies he can go from laughing and smiling to become the complete opposite.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

He doesn't give out severe punishments. It honestly depends on what you do. However, he'll take away rights when you break his rules. You managed to get outside without him, your banned from your daily walks with him. You tried contacting someone online, you're not allowed on the computer, etc.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Stu would take some rights. For example, you weren't allowed to be around sharp objects, so you wouldn't harm yourself! You would never intentionally harm him! He wouldn't allow you to walk outside without him and limited access on the internet. And phones are off-limits. He's very watchful.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

For you, Stu is very patient. When you were first brought home, he gave you space while you adjusted to your new living situation and gave you a few rules that wouldn't overwhelm you. After a week, his patience will slip a little but always remind himself that you simply need time.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Stu would try his absolute hardest to find you and bring you home if you managed to escape. However, if he was unable to find you or God forbid you died, he would not be able to move on. He wouldn't even be able to continue existing. He can't live in a world where he doesn't have you. He would kill himself.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

At times, he has moments where he starts to think that maybe you were right. He doesn't regret killing your friends, in fact it thrilled him, yet he will start to think maybe he shouldn't have kidnapped you. However, those thoughts are quick to leave him. Stu is very trusting, if you simply follow his rules and obey him, he wouldnt mind taking you out for a walk. His property is very spacious, so he would allow you to go outside with him. No, he wouldn't let you go though.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

I headcanon that Stu is a bit of a delusional yandere. Therefore, he doesn't see things as they naturally are and his obsession thay overcomes him when meeting you just ignites something in him that was dormant.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

He would feel heartbroken and even a little guilty. He brought you home because he wanted to love, protect, and make you happy with him. Yet, it seems to only cause you pain. He'll talk to you about it, let you express your feelings through sobs. He would listen, but he wouldn't understand. He'll try his best to comfort you though.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

Stu doesn't give out severe punishments like most yanderes. He would never starve you or deny you basic needs, he cares about you too much. You're his obsession.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Stu is actually pretty sensitive. Simply saying things about how you hate him and don't want to be around him would make him distance himself from you and sulk. He doesn't like people seeing how emotional he actually is and that would allow you some time to think of an escape plan but he knows. He always knows.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Oh, never! Stu values your safety and happiness, he couldn't handle it if he accidentally hurt you. The worst he's done was get you a little bruised when he pinned you down when you were first kidnapped.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

Oh he is very expressive in his worshiping for you, he's equivalent to a lost puppy. He loves following you around and talking to you, you always make his day. He would literally kill for you if it meant winning you over. He would try anything.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Stu would pine after you just as long as Billy, perhaps even shorter. If you're not dating him by the six month mark, he's going to kidnap you. He's simply speeding up the process.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Yes, he would. Not through threats and violent outbursts, but through his personality. You'll eventually start to believe that what he did was normal because he's just a lovable person.

Taglist: Comment to be added!!

@prettywhenibleed @ghoulgeousimmaculate @rottent33th @slaasherslut @strrvnge

[rockermybuddie]

Rant about my sweet boy Tommy Kinard.

So if you are one of those “OmG JuMp ScArE” or “im blocking you for posting a picture of Tommy”

Just go ahead and scroll or block me, idc.

———————————————

I’m going to start this off by when i first started watching 911 and we shall go from there.

I started watching 911 in 2020 when covid started and it was senior year of high school so we were doing NTI.

I stopped watching it specifically on the episode where they responded to the guy at the car place getting blown up like a balloon.

Why?

Because I couldn’t stand how Buck was treating Eddie.

It was generally pissing me off how Buck was so ‘jealous’ of Eddie in the beginning because he was ‘better’ than him and was able to do things he couldn’t.

Because thats how life is, there is always going to someone who comes into your work space and knows how to do it better than you no matter how long you have worked there.

And yes its a Tv show, i know.

I picked up watching 911 in late 2023 and finished where i left off, so forgive me if what i said wasnt quite accurate.

I literally stopped watching in the middle of that episode and picked right back up in the middle of that episode three years later and never re-watched S1-S2.

I genuinely just forgot i had even started watching it and i knew why i stopped but figured i would give it another try.

I also kept seeing it on my fyp on tik tok and figured i just had to watch his character development.

———-

So what gets me so aggravated about Tommy is when i see and edit of him then it switches to Eddie and i open the comments and everyone is like:

“Omg put a jump scare warning”

“I was abt to block you”

“Ew temu”

“Get him off my screen”

If you dont want to see Tommy then stop watching 911????

When Tommy was introduced in 911 he obviously was an unlikable character.

No one likes a sexist, racist, homophobic.

And I understand why we wouldnt like him.

He was working under Gerrad and we all know how Gerrad is if he were to not follow along with his fellow crew then he would wouldnt of been able to go on calls and would get stuck on cleaning duty.

The whole “he didnt have to follow in their footsteps”

Thats all he could really do back then.

He was introduced as a bad character.

But

Character development.

Haha i like doing the small to big text.

Anyways.

He left the 118 and went to harbor. We had years of not seeing/hearing from him other then that time when Chimney called him.

Obviously he had character development helping Chim.

Dude couldnt stand him in the beginning. Even when Chim carried him out of the building that one time.

So in that time he had time to change his view of things and im sure if was able ro go back in the past and change how he acted he would.

Why?

For Buck.

Both Tommy and Buck had major character development and thats what we like to see!

If we all love Buck now why cant we love Tommy too?

I do hope see Buck learning how Tommy treated Chim and Hen. Yeah Buck will be upset but he will see how Tommy has changed since then.

Gerrad will probably have something to do with that.

Buch changed.

Tommy changed.

——-

People also need to learn

Actor vs character

Lou is NOT Tommy.

He portrays Tommy.

Just because an actor plays a character you dont like doesn’t mean you need to go say hatful things about them.

Lou would never say or do anything racist or sexist.

And if he did/does the internet isnt going to let that slide.

Like come on, we know once something gets said the whole internet will know.

Isnt that right Ryan? (He apologized i know)

And not everyone likes apologies but the thing is people pick and choose if an apology is accepted or not. So either way if someone apologizes it might not even matter in the end.

The internet is going to be the internet.

You dont have to agree with me this was just a rant.

I probably missed somethings i was going to say or maybe i said somethings that are wrong.

Oh well. 

——-

Im going to go clean now. My brain hurts.

[wewerebornsextuplets]

what would kenny say if he could see his family now? would he be happy at how far his daughter has come? would he feel pity for his wife, seeing how grief has changed her? would he still wish for his family to be together? (<- insane)

this ask is absolutely diabolical. i cannot thank you enough for giving me a chance to talk about kenny more in-depth. unfortunately most of this ended up being context for how he thinks + a bit of further exposition on mayumis relationship with her parents [since family is a big deal to kenny and well. yknow], so the actual answers are a bit further down but i hope this is still at least a little illuminating 👼

one thing thats important to know about kenny for this to make sense, is that he has some very strong values and beliefs surrounding the idea of family. while i wouldnt exactly describe these ideals as him being "family-oriented" in the traditional sense, its more like... okay. you know how older people, usually in their 50s and 60s, all seem to be capable of talking at length about That One Relative they despise, how they wish they could have nothing to do with them, because nothing good ever comes of it, but then they end their diatribe by going "well, they're still family, so i love them"? kenny's like that, hes committed to family to a fault. obviously there are still things that he would consider as going "too far" or irreconcilable when it comes tothis, but his tolerance for that is much higher than it probably should be.

to this point, i think even when he was still alive, he could tell that tears were beginning to form in the family dynamic that weren't solely caused by his inevitable passing. its not something ive discussed much here, but mayumi actually wasnt on very good terms with her parents before kenny got sick; she left home and started her career as a gravure model when she was 20 as a means of "sticking it" to her parents' more traditional wishes, and she was unhappy when she was living with them, but never actually did the work to figure out What was so wrong with the situation. as such, when kiru was born some years later, and she started to settle into life with kenny, she began to recontextualize her dissatisfaction with her parents' treatment of her as her just being a bratty teen. so, when kenny got sick, and she decided their best bet financially would be to move in with them, kenny agreed, though he viewed it as something of a necessary annoyance because hey, they're family.

even still, in the last year or so before he passed, the effects of living in the family home again paired with the inevitable realization that kenny was Definitely Gonna Die were becoming more and more apparent, primarily through how mayumi acted towards him and to kiru. he could tell she wasnt taking the process lightly at all, but part of him hoped that after his passing, she would be able to move on and mayumi, kiru, and her parents would be able to continue on as a family unit without him. he thought the bitterness between them and the cycle of mistreatment was just something theyd have to "work through" or "get over" because theyre Supposed to be close, though i dont think he ever said his out loud.

so, i think if kenny were to see the family structure now with full context, he would be pretty upset and confused that things didnt go quite as he'd hoped. i dont think he would blame them for going no-contact after the incident at christmas, but he would certainly be unhappy with the fact that things reached that point in the first place. there's a lot that he wished could have happened differently [esp. once kiru became an adult and left to live on her own, as well as some of the decisions made in the months following his death], though he was quite even-tempered + logical when need be, so i dont think he would really be able to find it in him to stay angry at either party for very long [though he'd certainly be mad about the concussion. physical harm is one of the aforementioned "okay even i think this is too much" bars for him wrt familial conflict, even though mayumi herself was also very freaked out by herself in this instance]

with mayumi as a person, more than anything i think he would just be very sad about her resignation to a life of isolation now that he's gone; he'd hoped that theyd be able to "get over" their differences and become closer now that circumstances were easier for them with him gone. but again, i dont think kenny really understood the full breadth of the emotional abuse mayumi endured, especially since mayumi herself never really came to grips with it. and having never endured that himself, he isnt able to wrap his head around the fact that its the sort of thing there isnt ever any "getting over". its a very naive take on family conflict, borne out of his own inability to really understand incompatibility in this sense + familial abuse due to his lack of experience with it. this same confusion and upset also applies to how things shook out with mayumi and kiru, though i think he was more understanding in this case since there was a physical aspect to it. but past that he just wishes mayumi could find it in herself to move on and meet new people, that she might be able to be happy again in spite of all of this. its a strange mix of pity, confusion and a tinge of anger.

as for kiru though... theres no question that kenny would be immensely proud of the person she is today. to put things into perspective here, he was born and raised on chichijima, and sickness aside, only ever left for long periods of time when he was attending college. he regards this as being the most difficult thing he ever had to do, and its a decision HE made! so for kiru, who went through so much more than that and made the move at a much younger age than him, to STILL come out on top with a doctorate and a nice job? that on its own is enough of a feat in his eyes. but past that i think he would also be very proud of the kind of person she is, since she really is just such a sweetheart and is incredibly level-headed. he'd be very very happy that she managed to do so well for herself even after all that went on, and that she managed to find such a wonderful group of friends who love her [joblessness aside. though i dont think he'd really gaf if we're being honest]... and furthermore i can see him really liking her and keiko as a couple HEHE

furthermore, i imagine kenny would be pretty happy that kiru at least stayed in contact with SOME family on her mom's side, since again, hes still quite family oriented in a strange roundabout way. he would definitely be confused as to why it was yanagida of all people, since they didnt visit one another very frequently before the move and always seemed to be bickering with each other After they moved, but hes happy nonetheless

[silentmoths]

As Fragile as a Brick wall

Masterlist||First||Previous||Next

I realized if i didnt get this chapter out soon, ya'll probably wouldnt be getting one till like, june. tears of the kingdom drops on friday boissss

Chapter 8: ding dong, sneznhaya calling

Zhongli x Afab (fem pronoun) Reader

NSFW elements in later chapters

Multi-chapter, Royal AU, angst, mentions of death, eventual fluff, eventual smut, hurt/comfort

(Wonderful header image made by the wonderful @ainescribe)

The unfortunate part about agreeing to help Zhongli with this was…well, helping Zhongli.

The unfortunate part about agreeing to help Zhongli with this was…well, helping Zhongli.

In the weeks leading up to the arrival of their Ambassador, you had to give Zhongli a crash course in how to impress a Sneznhayan. The northernmost kingdom was often seen as icy and distant, but once you got to know their customs, it was not as difficult as one would think.

However, despite your help, he still insisted you spend the next few weeks resting in your chambers, recovering from your broken rib, which meant it was you and he, stuck in very close quarters as you explain every little detail. You had spent plenty of time in the land of snow in the years he had been gone, after all, you had been set to marry their prince…which is why they were now upset with Zhongli.

“So what was the prince like, anyway?” He asks you one day as you go over things again with him, you wince.

“Ugh Ajax?” you grumble “I mean…he’s alright? He’s not actually the Tsaritsa’s kid…apparently she could never conceive, so she adopted him.”

Zhongli raises an eyebrow as he looks up from his paperwork “Truly? I’m sure there’s some sort of loophole we could exploit there…” “Don’t try.” You warn him “She loves Ajax more than life itself. It’ll just make more problems.” 

Zhongli hums, leaning his head against this hand as he watches you.

“Did you like Ajax?” He asks after a moment.

“Like I said, he’s alright…but he…I dunno…there’s something about him that always kinda freaked me out?”

“Oh? Do explain.” Zhongli presses, watching as your brow furrows.

“It’s… hard to explain I guess.” you start with a sigh “Sometimes he’s great…he’s funny, smart…a genuinely cool person to hang out with…I would consider him a friend.”

Zhongli notes the conflicted look upon your face, and the way you fall silent as you consider you next words, he finds himself invested, what on earth was wrong with the prince of the snow to cause his own little love such confusion?

“Sometimes it’s like…a switch would flick in him.” You eventually manage out after several long minutes of trying to figure out the right words. “So…Ajax has always been interested in combat, he’s a member of the royal guard as well as being the prince….right?”

Zhongli nods, not entirely unheard of…hell, the king had once spoken to Zhongli about the potential of his sons, her brothers, joining the guard…an idea Zhongli had quickly discouraged because…to be honest, they wouldn’t have survived a day.

“No one will spar against him.” 

“I mean, he’s the prince-” Zhongli adds.

“No you don’t understand, Zhongli. It’s not that no one will fight him because of his status…it’s because those foolish enough to fight him…don't usually come out in one piece…literally.” 

At first, He thinks she’s joking, but he can see it in her eyes, that… haunted look, and he finds himself invested.

“Like I said…it’s a switch…the moment combat happens… he goes from this sweet, kinda goofy guy to… the only words I have for it is… bloodthirsty monster” you sigh.

“Hm…he seems a rather… interesting character…” 

“That’s a word for it.” You huff.

“And what of this Ambassador? Do you happen to know him?” 

At this, you perk up a little “Yes actually! I’ve met him a couple of times… he’s one of the funny ones that goes by a weird name.” “You mean like the captain of the guard is literally called Capitano?” Zhongli snorts, you nod.

“Yep, just like that.” you sigh “His name is Pantalone- Don’t you start!” 

“Start what?” Zhongli snickers, receiving a pillow to the face “His name is pants-”

“ I know!” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose “I know his name is pants.”

Sometimes…

Sometimes you found Zhongli’s presence a little less frustrating than you used to

—-

“Um…your highness-” Zhongli mutters from beside you.

“I see him.” you grunt; already feeling a vein ready to pop in your head “I thought you said they were sending the Ambassador”

“They said they were”

You pinch the bridge of your nose, already you were very tired of today. Sure your rib had been healed for several weeks, but it had been a very long time since you’d had to dress up this fancily… and you’d even broken out the formalwear the Tsaritsa had tailored for you upon your first visit to them.

“So why then…am I seeing the prince…and his happy gaggle of men…approaching the castle?” you ask, your voice is terse and thin, this was not what was meant to happen, even Zhongli looks absolutely and utterly confused. 

“You know him better than I do…” Zhongli sighs, also looking equally as uncomfortable. For all the king he was, it was not often that he had to dress so regally, even you knew he was far more used to chainmail and plate, not heavy, ornate suits. 

“Is it to late to back out-” 

“Absolutely.”

”Damn.” you sigh, this was about to get…*uncomfortable*

You find yourself standing beside the throne: on Zhongli’s right, as the throne room doors burst open. In the corner of your eye you see both Zhongli’s grip on the arms of the throne tighten, and Xiao, stationed to his left, hand tightening on the hilt of his sword as your ex-fiance bounds into the room like an unruly child.

There is a moment where all is still, as if time stops as his eyes land on you.

And in the next moment, he’s sprinting towards the throne, manic look upon his boyish features. You see Zhongli poise to stand, Xiao taking hold of his sword properly, and then you’re engulfed by strong, and unfortunately familiar arms as Ajax laughs warmly. 

This was what you were afraid of. 

The prince lifts you from your feet and twirls you like you weigh nothing, as you spin, you spy Ganyu, by the doors, her eyes wide in shock at his display.

“My little krolik!” Ajax laughs as he finally ceases the godawful spinning and sets you down, his eyes are bright and his smile is wide as he looks you up and down. “It’s so good to see you again!” 

You don't see it, but you can feel the absolute fury radiating off of Zhongli when Ajax leans in to do exactly what you knew he’d do next, and you thankfully, shift your head in time. He kisses you, thanks to your quick movement, it’s only on the corner of your mouth, before he continues kissing affectionately up your cheek and to your forehead. 

If it wasn't for the fact you were trying to pry this idiot prince off you, you probably would have found this situation funny, but there was no room for ruining Zhongli’s day here. 

“Ajax…I wasn’t expecting you.” You finally manage to huff out as you push the overly affectionate prince away, but he simply grins, totally uncaring that he’s not yet introduced himself to the King, right beside him. “We were told Ambassador Pantalone-”

“Oh! Yeah as soon as I heard ol’ Pants was being sent here I immediately took over! I wanted to see you again my darling krolik!” Ajax interjects “I wanted to make sure you were alright!”

“Ajax.” you sigh, shaking your head, you knew he was impulsive but this? This was something else entirely. “I know I left in a hurry last time but have you no faith in my abilities?” 

“Ahem…” Xiao is the one to finally save you with his well timed, if not violently forced cough, snapping the prince’s attention away from you and to Zhongli, who is raising a none-too-impressed eyebrow at the boy.

“Oh, Right! Heya!”

Heya… this idiot has just come all the way from his home country as the representative…and he greets the king with a heya. 

You’re sure the sound of your palm making contact with your face echoes loudly throughout the throne room.

 —-

You are thankful that after such a long trip, dinner and sleep is the only thing on Ajax and his men’s minds, you personally escort Ajax to his room and bid him goodnight, if only to know he would no longer bother you. Considering he’d all but attached himself to your arm the entire day, just like he did every time you had been to Sneznhaya since being promised to him. 

You did your best to keep him from saying anything… inflammatory in front of Zhongli, you didn't want a war breaking out, but goddamn you also did not want to be here.

Even if watching Zhongli’s eye twitch every time Ajax got affectionate with you was somewhat entertaining.

In order to return to your own chambers from the guest wing, you find yourself shambling past the king’s study…you didn’t even notice the lantern lit inside, until you hear your name called from within.

Zhongli sits, at his desk, a bottle of a fine looking, amber coloured liquid in his hand. As you poke your head inside, he grabs not one, but two glasses.

Honestly after the day you’d had? You don't question it, entering silently and shutting the door behind you before you drop, ungraciously, into the chair on the opposite side of the desk, with enough force that the pile of paperwork set upon the mahogany and gold tabletop shudders. 

It’s silent, as Zhongli sets down both glasses and pours the whiskey, there is silence as you take your glass.

There is silence as he raises his own and clinks it against yours and there is silence as you both throw back the drinks.

”That is a prince!?” Zhongli howls as he slams down his glass, the paperwork gives another shudder.

”Excuse you.” you grunt ”that. Is my ex-fiance!” 

Zhongli snorts at the exact moment you crack a small grin, he motions for you to hold out your glass again as he refills his own. You share another shot in silence.

“He is aware that he is an ex, yes?” He asks, you shrug.

“He should! I mean…even his mother knows…”

“Is he stupid?”

You look over your glass at Zhongli, raising a single eyebrow.

He pours you another glass as an apology for a stupid question.

“If you are as smart a man as I remember, you will have more of this on hand.” you eventually mumble as you turn the amber liquid around in your glass “we’re going to need it.”

Zhongli scoffs at you.

“This is the youngest of my collection.”

“By the time this is over, we’ll need the vintage.” 

Taglist: @stygianoir @meimeimeirin @ainescribe @dustofthedailylife @rjssierjrie @crystalflygeo @angel-of-requiem @asoulsreverie @zomzomb1e Want to be added to the list? shoot me an ask~

[voiceofsword]

sry to bitch in your inbox abt this but im so glad you pointed out how so many modern enstarries Dont read the stories and base everything off fandom perception.. i saw these users joking about which character would say slurs and someone was ADAMANT rinne would and tho i knew it before it Really struck me then

a) none of them have ever engaged with this text in any meaningful way, ESPECIALLY not the first games' stories, because surprise! characters in es! did Canonically use slurs! and back then Nobody Liked It. we didnt joke about it. most people i know completely stopped paying attention to the characters who did until they apologized. (tho ofc its more a problem w the writing than the characters, but still. we were young. we had the spirit.)

b) people really like using rinne as a punching bag because they dont read the stories and know literally nothing about him except funny drunk drugs gamble man "fuckboy" who harasses niki and the other bees and its. infuriating.

i dont understand how anyone can claim to like a media without ever properly engaging with it, i dont understand how people have fun misunderstanding characters so drastically, and i also think joking about slurs has gotten wayyy too normalized where people feel comfortable saying these things about these characters they allegedly like. and characters like rinne (with a constructed mask of obnoxiousness and such) are the perfect target for these people. which SUCKS. all of it sucks.

NEVER BE SORRY!!!! i hope this is alright to post i thought your ask was good and insightful and i'll add onto it a little bit with my own thoughts (heart emoji)

yeah um ! was definitely a ride. i wouldnt recommend it to everyone but at least we have hindsight and things like slurs and general offensive terms/behaviors can be warned for, so that much is nice. i remember being really upset about a few of these, and then getting back into enstars earlier this year and reading a few of the more current stories + !! stories i was happy to see that the writing has developed CONSIDERABLY in terms of this especially after beasts. something ive noticed a lot of newer fans do (referencing my previous post irt the feeling morally superior) is that if you like a specific character for whatever reason youre actually a horrible person because that character said something awful once. of course youre allowed to dislike characters for whatever reason but dont tell other people they should perish because they like them (as if liking them means you implicitly agree with said views, more often than not One line in a miriad of stories that you might not even have read). but like you said, characters making ignorant comments (an unfortunate occurrence, although rare, it still happens) is not a reflection of 2d pixels on a screen but rather a team of writers..... idk. its a complicated situation. i see both sides and i think people are justified in liking or disliking but this is a game about idol boys (and girl) got dam

yeah i hate how people treat rinne a lot. like because characters like him and eichi are villains that means everything that they do or say is, at worst, a straight, physical threat to everyone around them, or at best, an annoyance that can make the fandom feel justified in making them the butt of reoccurring jokes. idk what else to say about him that i havent said already but its also 3 am now and i SAID i was gonna go to sleep an hour ago but i think i might just be a filthy liar

ALSO its probably because enstars is long, there's a lot to read and although tl's arent necessarily hard to come by you actively have to seek them out. again i understand how this might be a nuisance but instead of sitting down and listening to summaries or analysis ive noticed that a lot of short form consumption content lends itself to people just. posting the most reactive interpretations, and people playing a game of telephone with said information until a lot of the fandom has come to accept this misinformation as true. LIKE SOMEONE ON TIKTOK SAYING HAJIME AND WATARU WERE RELATED? IDEK IF THAT WAS A JOKE OR NOT? and yeah the use of slurs is like ridiculously normalized now im not one to say whether people can or cannot reclaim slurs and people are free to do as they like if they can. i see this one thing specifically with tatsumi a lot where people jokingly bring up how said character is homophobic or make homophobic comments towards characters even if theyre being like. excited or happy. and idk. personally it makes me sad. like maybe its fandom culture now maybe im old (is 23)

WHY WOULD RINNE SAY SLURS HES LITERALLY GAY AND IN LOVE....COME AWN NOW

[tradetobest]

dee's march 2024 fic recs!!

once again, i am late!! BUT ... its finals season so... also i guess i did less reading this month rip but,.... READ THESE

(FIC ROULETTE 1 2 3 4 5)

rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints by anonymous

pairing: jack eichel/connor mcdavid rating: E words: 32k summary: For all the draft hype and semi-annual questions about it, that’s all there ever was between him and Eichel. No friendship, no rivalry, just a one-minute maybe in a crowded hotel room on a team that was never as relevant as Connor wanted it to be. Even if Eichel had meant anything at all by it at the time, he’s surely forgotten about it by now. **** Jack Eichel is traded to the Pacific Division and Connor McDavid is being super normal about it

OUGHHHH..... id been subscribed to this fic SINCE august 2023 and WORTH THE FUCKING WAIT LET ME TELL U!!!! literally perfect mceichel. yes.... yes go over to his house with a flamingo..... yes "does he want me to show up..... idekk" and then the friend is like "yeah hes been fucking insane obsessed w you this whole time thank gawd yr here bro" OUGH..... theyre perfect to me

scar tissue by anonymous

pairing: tyler seguin/jamie benn rating: T words: 12k summary: Jamie still remembers when they were practically living out of each other’s pockets, the memory twinging like a muscle he hasn’t used in a long time but that his body hasn’t forgotten. It was probably inevitable that they’d see less of each other once Jamie formally requested that they no longer go into the field together but it still hits him sometimes. The tangible feeling of loss despite it having been his own decision in the end. Tyler didn’t speak to him for a month after he found out. 

SPIES!!! SPIES SPIES SPIES!!! you know i am ALWAYS down for a bennguin fic and OUGH this one was SO fun..... i LOVE "trying to protect you by letting you go" and then it SPIRALS. sooooo good. twirls hair.

Hello, You've Reached Mr. Handyman by crookedsilence

pairing: jack eichel/connor mcdavid rating: T words: 5k summary: His first thought is that this has to be a prank. Because, despite the distressed clothes and faded red toolbox, there is no way this guy is a legitimate handyman.

OUGH...... OUHHHH.... CONNOR MCDAVID YOU ARE SO .... TO ME..... cradles this fic's connor in my hands.... you do not know how to fix a cabinet...... idiots to lovers at its FINEST i love it so muhc

who can grow me by thekookster

pairing: brady tkachuck & matthew tkachuck rating: T words: 6k summary: But Brady had laughed like it was a joke, and then Brady’d said, no you’re not. C’mon, you’ve never been like that, and then Brady’d gotten upset and said but wouldn’t it be easier if— And then Brady hadn’t talked to him for five months. — After Matthew loses in the Stanley Cup Final, Brady takes him to a cabin for a weekend. They have a lot they’re not talking about.

READ THIS FIC. OHH MY GOD.... this one went DIRECTLY into my recs such a great exploration of family dynamics and like. If Coming Out Goes Badly. when i recced this to an irl they went "brady wouldnt say that" and i thought it was funny but this fic is so worth the He Wouldn't Fucking Say That.... OUGH...... WHO CAN GROW ME A NEW BROTHER................ what if i sobbed

See This Through by impertinence

pairing: sidney crosby/evgeni malkin rating: E words: 32k summary: Sidney's drunk when he orders a Russian bride. He doesn't expect anyone to show up - and he definitely doesn't expect that person to be an awkward-looking guy who barely speaks English.

MAIL ORDER BRIDE FIC......................... OUGHH...... op..... op you know exactly what i want in life fr.... please read this yall it slays

[sieglinde-freud]

for the ask game: 2, 4, 5, 9, 17, 24, 29, 35

OOHHH THIS GONNA BE LONG under cut immediately

2. Least favorite main title?

i think this may upset some people but just of the games that i have finished (i havent played or finished every single fire emblem game… i know i know bad fan shut up) it’s prooobably fe7??? not because it’s bad. i do love that game. i just love it the least of every other game i played? i love all three of the lords a lot!! theyre just not my super favorites. i like the story fine, just not as much as other games. the gameplay is alright, but i dont think it’s anything to write home about. it’s a perfectly average fire emblem game all across the board i think. and that’s probably why i dont think about it too much? though, admittedly, ive only played through it fully once and that was like. five years ago? i could give it another run. i never did try hector hard mode, tbf… also huge shoutout to my lovelies sain and serra i love them so much…

4. What games do you wish to play next?

i dont know how often i mentioned it but i had a computer a while ago that just stopped working. like completely. the hardware is fine it just stopped functioning properly and ive taken it to literally every tech place and handed it to every computer junkie friend i have and nothing can fix it. and very unfortunately, it broke while i was in the middle of playing path of radiance. i dont really have anything else i can emulate it on right now, but if i could it’d be that. and of course, radiant dawn right after :)

5. What games would you reccomend to someone new?

toss up between 7, 8, and 13. they all have their strengths and weaknesses as entry points, but theyre all fairly simple in difficulty, and 7 and 13 were entry points for a lot of people who still love the game today, so theyre pretty easy to reccomend. 7 and 8 are easily accessible being able to emulate on like. most things?? even iphones with little hassle. 13 was also, up until very recently, very easy to grab off the eshop. i guess if someone asked me now compared to last year maybe i wouldnt say 13 for that reason? idk. 16* is also an option though, if only because it’s on the switch and while fairly different from the main fire emblem formula, it is VERY good at grabbing attention. im biased because i have used it to drag a friend into fire emblem hell so. i know it works. personally i’d probably go 7/13, 8, 16*, {the rest} but yeah. those four. move awakening down if hardware is an issue.

9. Least favorite character?

IN THE WHOLE SERIES??????? man… i dont know i dont really dislike a whole lot of characters? i guess the first one that comes to mind is gilbert three houses?? i understand why hes like that for sure and can sympathize but i dont know. everytime that hes on screen i just frustrated. the fact that he treats annette the way that he does bothers me a lot even if i understand why, but then theres also the added fact that he only becomes story relevant to replace dedue, who was a MUCH better and far less ANNOYING character to listen to all the time. like why would you replace one of my favorite students/retainers with this stupid little old man who i really have no reason to be attached to? you cant even recruit him during white clouds! not to mention, hes force deployed with the most garbage base stats (THAT YOU CANT CHANGE. BECAUSE. HE WASNT RECRUITABLE IN WHITE CLOUDS!!) in one of the hardest maps in the whole game in a position you CANNOT EDIT. like just GIVE ME DEDUE??????? you know, the CHARACTER I TRAINED??????? god… anyways so its probably him. this felt good actually i dislike him much more than i thought i did.

17. How did you get into Fire Emblem?

this is really embarrassing actually but when i was younger i was really into kid icarus uprising (i still am but like less so) and i reeeally loved pit like you see me with inigo now? that was pit for me back then. and i wanted more of him but nintendo was not giving me any kid icarus content, so what i looked up his voice actor instead, and i went through a lot of medias just to listen to him (did you know antony del rio did this live performance of maroon 5’s “This Love” that’s actually way better than the original? look it up) (no i dont like adam levine) but the one that stuck the most was this silly little game… you mightve heard of it its called Fire Emblem Fates. and i saw silas fire emblem and i was like WOAHHH. HES CUTE and did a ton of research on the series, having only vaguely known of it from smash bros. bought birthright, having learned it was the easier of the two paths, and then i just. entire life changed immediately and i didnt even know.

24. An FE title you wish would be remade?

all of them in order, which is what they already seem to be doing! so, ideally, fe4 next? of course my bias would LOVE an awakening remake but i dont think thats fair to skip all the other games. plus, i think there are other games that need a gameplay overhaul more. …like fe4.

29. Avatars: yay or nay?

i cant fucking stand the concept of avatars in fire emblem. i like all of them as characters. i think robin, corrin, byleth, and alear as characters (i havent played shadow dragon and new mystery sorry kris!) are fine. but i hate how theyre all implemented into all of their games, to the point where the words “byleth” and “alear” are never spoken in their mostly fully voiced games. its so fucking stupid. and then you have writing problems, like other playable characters not being able to have meaningful and lasting conflicts with the avatars because you have to be able to fuck them when the games over, or even during the game in robin and corrins case. and also the weird incest that has to happen if you want your avatar to have familial ties? god forbid people who just think camilla or ryoma are hot have to justify incest to themselves and read some the dumbest fucking s support bullshit just to have their little otome romance. and then the plot bending around them? robin i give a pass because i dont think awakening was annoyingly centered on them (the grima thing was close but for the most part the focus stays on chrom and i think thats a good thing) but as much as i love these games, fates, three houses, and engage all suffer from being a little TOO player pandering. making your character a god? really? especially when the avatar takes focus away from other potential story drivers (xander/takumi, 3h lords, engage royals) and like for what? i like all of the “avatars” as characters. but the way that theyre used and what little that usage does for any positive story impact is just frustrating!

35. What’s something you wish Intsys would just stop doing?

avatars.

[local-crater-group]

--PRIVATE TRANSMISSION--

[Jaunty Fluttering of Two Sparks, Nine Materials, a Million Bells, Flightless Parallels of Balance, Accented Looking of One Imprisonment, Everything Alight in an Ideal World, Saccharine Sunset]

JET: Everyone! Fang's vulture eggs hatched!! There are two, and they are so cute!!

JET: Mother is watching over them. Fang has an Overseer watching as well. They are the size of fang's hand!!

SS: wooo!! thats so cool!

ALOOM: That's Interesting! I did not know that they were going to hatch soon!

FPB: Congratulations, Jet!! Are all of the hatchlings healthy?

JET: Yes! They are all healthy! Mother has been keeping a good eye on them. Fang is, a little upset though, due to missing the actual hatching.

JET: Fang has been, busy.

FPB: Ah, that is good! Hope they stay that way! May they live a prosperous life, may the gods leave them free of the Cycle, may they flourish and prove themselves if not.

SS: yeah uh. that.

SS: congrats!

JET: Such amazing little creatures.

JET: Fang loves them. When they can leave nest, fang is going to train them, like fang did with mother. Fang thinks it may be useful.

SS: jet youre gonna end up with an army of vultures

JET: And that is a good thing! One can never have to many vultures.

ALOOM: It Can Be if They start swarming Others' Cans.

JET: There won't be that many.

SS: i wouldnt mind if a vulture swarmed my can... as long as it didnt destroy me

SS: gl with your great vulture army!

JET: Thank you! They will grow up big and strong, and well behaved.

JET: Aloom, how are you feeling?

ALOOM: Hm? Oh, I am Alright. Just Sore is all.

SS: once again, glad youre alright!

ALOOM: I Know. Everything Is Just kind of, Fuzzy.

FPB: A great vulture army, to take over the world... Well, I thank thee for the idea for my next writing project!

SS: how long did you zone out for, if you just came to that conclusion

FPB: Shush, dear.

JET: Will fang be mentioned in this writing project?

FPB: It'll probably be a completely fictional story! I'd be glad to include you in it though, if you wish.

FPB: and Accented, how is everything fuzzy? Are there any issues that might be causing it?

JET: Oh that is alright then! No need to mention fang.

ALOOM: Just, It's Weird. I, Don't feel Right.

FPB: Have you run a general systems check? Just in case.

ALOOM: Mmm I can Not. It is, Not Working.

FPB: Not working? Oh dear, even that is enough of a sign.

EAIW: That is an understatement. ALOOM, how many of your systems are broken or unfunctional enough that even a systems check doesn't work?

ALOOM: Uhm.

ALOOM: Most of Them, I Believe.

JET: How come, you never mentioned anything, sister?

ALOOM: It Is, Really Not A Big Deal.

EAIW: not a big deal?

EAIW: ALOOM, I love you, I really do, but come on.

EAIW: something, no matter how insignificant, malfunctioning is never a good sign. Now upscale that by at least a hundred times.

EAIW: This is a big deal

ALOOM: Most Of My Can Is Destroyed, There Is Nothing We Can Do.

ALOOM: I Can't Repair Myself, And I Am Not Sure How Much Longer I'll Be Functioning For.

JET: W What?

FPB: oh dear.

JET: Sister, c come on, you u will be o o okay. Promise e.

EAIW: ...

FPB: oh gods.

EAIW: what

EAIW: how long has this been happening

ALOOM: A While?

EAIW: and why didnt you tell us

EAIW: were your siblings were here to help

ALOOM: But, What Are You To Do? We Can't Leave Our Cans.

SS: ...no one can leave their cans

EAIW: that

EAIW: so you refused to even tell us because of a universal fact that every single one of us faces.

EAIW: we could have done something, in the early stages of your deterioration

EAIW: would you like to hear the entire list of solutions that could have been implemented, but now its too late because you decided to keep your condition to yourself for gods know what reason?

ALOOM: ...

ALOOM: sorry

EAIW: you should be.

EAIW: gods, we care about you, youre our sibling, why wouldnt we need to know.

FPB: Alight, calm down a bit.

FPB: You are correct, but do not blame her.

EAIW: listen to yourself

EAIW: its their own fault if they didnt deign to let us know!

FPB: Calm down.

FPB: As I said, you are correct. She should have told us (we haven't forgotten that you're still here, Accented. sorry for the impoliteness), yes.

FPB: It's, as you said, too late for that now.

FPB: We should be figuring out how to help her, not blaming her.

EAIW: ...

ALOOM: but what is there even to do

ALOOM: I've Tried Everything, And nothing works.

FPB: We will figure something out.

FPB: I'm sure there's something.

SS: please dont die

SS: please

SS: please

ALOOM: I-

JET: Fang has been thinking, we will figure it out. We are siblings, and siblings help each other. Aloom, next time this ever happens, you will tell us, or at least tell fang.

JET: Fang will do regular check ins, while Fang figures out a way to help. Fang will at least fix you, and everything will be okay.

ALOOM:

ALOOM: Okay, I Trust You.

FPB: Siblings stick together. Something will be figured out.

EAIW: ...yeah

JET: Fang will contect NMMB as well. ALOOM, any change in your status, you will tell fang.

FPB: Tell all of us.

ALOOM: Fine. I will.

ALOOM: I Just, Don't want You all to Waste resources on Me.

JET: Nonsense, you are our sibling, resources will never be wasted on you. Fang would do the same thing for anyone in the group.

FPB: It's not as if we're using them for anything else.

FPB: You're always priority.

ALOOM:

ALOOM: I forgot My Puppet could Cry.

ALOOM: Unless that is Blood.

ALOOM: Looks Like It.

FPB: Oh.

FPB: What happened? I don't believe that our blood is supposed to haphazardly make an appearance...

ALOOM: This just Happens Somtimes.

JET: What.

FPB: Oh dear.

JET: ALOOM, Fang is forcing a system check. If your systems can't, fangs will.

ALOOM: Please don't.

FPB: ...Be careful.

JET:

JET: Aloom, fang is seriously disappointed in you for not telling us sooner. This is not good!

FPB: Assuming you did the check, how bad is it?

JET: It's bad.

JET: Fang, fang is going to go. Fang needs to figure this out.

[JFTS has disconnected]

FPB: ...

FPB: oh dear.

ALOOM: Apologies.

[ALOOM has disconnected]

[savethepinecones]

ive got asthma. i run across a crosswalk and i end up wheezing for a good ten minutes. i dont have much stamina or speed and my asthma limits my ability to even improve these. i have an inhaler that im supposed to use multiple times per day and another one that i use whenever my breathing gets bad.

ive had the asthma since i was a baby, but because i wasnt very active (i was more of a music kid than a sports kid), for a long time it didnt have much of an impact on my life. for a solid chunk of my childhood i more or less forgot i had it at all. sure i would get winded easily but thats normal when youre out of shape right? i never excercised so it must just be that.

in the past several years, though, its gotten worse. wildfires affected air quality in my area and i started to occasionally have trouble breathing just from being outside for too long. i finally went to a doctor and got an inhaler (i hadnt bothered to get one in years since i used it so rarely and even if i didnt my breathing would sort itself out. eventually). currently ive got one that im supposed to use multiple times a day and another that i carry with me to use if i get winded while im out and about. even with these, i still cant run much without it affecting my breathing. i dont especially enjoy running so im not too upset by the lack of it in my life but its frustrating that i cant do it on the occasion that i want or need to do so.

ive had a similar journey with my mental health. i ignored it as a kid, convinced myself everything was fine and normal, until i eventually had to admit to myself that that wasnt the case. what most people considered a brisk walk or light jog was more like running a marathon for me. i only worked parttime for years until i was able to get on antidepressants because i knew fulltime would be too much for me without them. when i did start taking meds, it was still difficult but technically possible.

i managed to keep my pace up for two years before i hit a limit i couldnt force myself to push through. whether id finished the marathon or not, i couldnt keep running. so i took a break. i sat down on a bench, drank some water, and waited for my breathing to slow as i watched others run past, going at a similar speed to what id been keeping, but barely looking winded. i knew i wouldnt be able to return to my previous pace. even once my breathing evened out, i was still exhausted. and i couldnt just will that exhaustion away. i tried anyway. once my lungs had stopped hurting, i stood up and started running again. my legs still ached and my breathing quickly worsened but i had to keep moving so i ignored as much as i could and endured the rest. i stopped several times to take a break but i didnt allow myself to sit again. this went on for maybe two weeks before my legs gave out and i had to find another bench.

since then ive been catching my breath. letting my burning limbs rest. i decided that once i was well and truly ready to start running again, i would go slow enough that i could keep a steady pace without wearing myself out. i probably wont work fulltime ever again.

ive more or less caught my breath but my legs are killing me so even though i want to keep moving, im going to go slow. im walking slowly, gradually picking up the pace while being careful not to push myself too hard. its difficult. im not used to acknowledging my limits. i spent two decades thinking that as long as i didnt collapse i was fine. i hadnt allowed myself to slow whenever my breathing became labored. my lungs would ache but i would continue on my sprint regardless. sometimes i still push myself too hard. other times i think im not running fast enough. i catch myself thinking that even if i cant run like everyone else is, i should do as much as i can. i should determine what my limit is and stay just a hair below that speed. its not comfortable, but this has never been comfortable, so what does that matter?

no, i tell myself. your comfort matters. go at whatever speed works for you. i repeat this to myself as i continue to walk. sometimes i jog a little. im surprised to find it enjoyable. ive always been too exhausted to enjoy the run. still, everyone else maintains the same speed theyve had from the start. they look at me walking and criticize me for not running seriously. some say ive had enough time to catch my breath, so i should get back to sprinting now. i tell them i dont think i should. they say im not trying hard enough.

sometimes i look at the people running past and feel guilty for not keeping pace. like ive let myself down somehow. i remind myself that this isnt a race, its more of a jogging path. im allowed to walk if i need to. people run past, scoffing at me for giving up. i havent given up, i want to tell them. im still walking. still making progress.

someone grabs my arm, pulling me forward. forcing me to match their speed. i know theyre trying to help me, but im tripping over my feet in my struggle to keep up. theyre struggling too, i can tell, but they wont allow themselves to stop or slow. you need to do better, they tell me. tiredness is no excuse. i dont know how to explain to them that i passed tired long ago. i pull my arm away. i cant keep up with you. and thats okay. no its not, they tell me. you must run like the rest of us. walking isnt even close to good enough. they run ahead. i jog for a few minutes, enjoying the run, then stop at a bench for a water break. i begin walking again. i remind myself that thats enough.

[isekyaaa]

It's been literal years since I last had an anxiety attack like this like I lowkey was under the assumption that as long as I was taking my meds, my anxiety wouldnt appear anymore. Usually anxiety only appears when depression gets bad, but this is just popping up on its own. LOL

It's understandable, but sometimes I forget the degree to which I am affected by the reactions of the people I care about. I accidentally irritated my supervisor today and I'm not sure exactly what I did that caused it, though I can think of a few things. It feels like once she starts seeing people in a bad light, she'll always see them in that light. Not to mention her habit of just venting about people all the time behind their back.

I told her that I wasn't going to come in tomorrow after my doctor's appointment because my huge project being due, but I'm probably going to go in anyway. One, because there's an event tomorrow that I'll need to help set up for, and two, to apologize. On one hand, it's because I can see the way I acted today and how it could've came off badly without my intending to do so. But I can't deny it's also to make it clear to her that I am well aware of the fact she was upset with me and that I can read her reactions.

My supervisor has this habit of getting really irritated and bothered with people. She, for lack of better words, is a serial bitcher and that's what she prefers to talk about majority of the time. But to the person's face, she acts like she's their friend. So I need to nip things in the bud. I'll apologize so resentment won't build up within her (because there's a chance it'll happen if I don't) and to make it clear that I won't fall for her act.

The thing with apologizing to people like that is that like... Those types of people tend to take everything personally. It doesn't come naturally to them to comprehend that people exist as independent entities. They consider themselves as the main characters of their world. They are the center of the universe. People can't do things. All actions are done as something for or against them. What a genuine apology does is get them out of that mindset.

When you apologize to people like this, you are basically making them realize that you are not the villain in their story. You lay everything out of the table so they absolutely cannot make you the bad guy anymore. When you did those things, you weren't doing it against them. You had no intention to hurt or irritate them. You were a victim of circumstances they simply were not aware of. But the key to being successful with this is being truly genuine with your apology.

To which someone could say, "Are you really sorry when you're approaching this like 4D chess, Ekolu?" To which, regardless of the other motives I have, yes, I am sorry. I didn't mean to irritate her. I didn't mean for my actions today to come off as rude or demeaning. I was in the wrong. I have no doubt about that. I don't ever mean to treat people that way. However, that doesn't mean I won't capitalize on my feelings to accomplish some other goals as well.

If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's feeling off balance emotionally. I can't sit with the horrible feeling knowing that something is wrong without doing anything about it. Leaving things alone will make them become worse. Letting things come worse will make me feel worse and will take much longer and require more effort to resolve. So might as well skip all the hassle and fix things as soon as they come, right?

[my-lunaberg]

I went on a TftSMP binge yesterday before watching The Maze for the first time and I thought it would be fun to rank them :D Thats it, lets start !!

The Beach Episode: Ive only watched this one once when it first came out and it was so boring and I disliked it so much that when it came time to watch it again as part of my rewatch(es), I just didnt. The premise is fun enough but the execution is really lacking and I really hate how it breaks continuity, I know its petty but that kinda stuff is really important to me. I dont have much else to say, I didnt like it very much and if it were up to me, it wouldnt be canon but it clearly is so. whatever

The Haunted Mansion: Again, the premise is fun and I like the idea of a tale taking place in like, the near future and still featuring some characters we know from the present day mixed in with original characters, but again, I thought the execution was lacking. TftSMP lives and dies by its characters imo and I didnt particularly like any of them. The twins were pretty cute and I always enjoy Schlatt's performance but idk it just wasnt enough for me

The Town That Never Was: Honestly, I keep forgetting this one and I wasnt sure if I should even watch it since I didnt watch it the first time around but I watched it now and I cant say I regret it. It does feel very disconnected and it does feel weird to count it as part of TftSMP but its a neat little episode 0-type thing (even if it does feel pretty out of character for Karl ngl lol)

The Village That Went Mad: Ah, the one that started it all. Im so glad the fandom looked at this one and collectively decided that Karl was a time traveller because without it we probably wouldnt have gotten the rest of the series without it! Its pretty neat, although I do wish they did a bit more roleplaying because the most entertaining parts were definitely the in-charcter interactions

The Lost City of Mizu: This is where TftSMP starts getting really good imo. Its kind of an interesting how it almost acts as a transition of sorts, from the more gamified format to more traditional roleplay. Ive already made a post about this, but I think itd be neat if they would remake this one, because the concept is so good and I really enjoyed the interactions between Cleetus, Benjamin and Ranboos character (I forgot his name sry) but the format and the need to rush through the story felt really restricting. I also really enjoyed the details about the lack of food and stuff going wrong with the oxygen system which I never really noticed on my previous watches but really came to appreciate this time. I also liked how clueless Ranbob seemed, I honestly dont think that was an acting choice I think cc!Dream was just actually inexplicably unprepared but I thought it was really funny. Like, it seemed like he wasnt given a name or didnt have one prepared so he just made it up on the spot lol

The Pit: The premise of this one was really fun! I am a little upset that we didnt get the Ran lore that was apparently planned but it worked fine without it. Honestly, I dont have much to say, the characters were fun, I do wish we couldve seen them interact among each other a bit more but I still liked it.

The Wild West: Full disclosure, The Masquerade has been a long time favorite of mine and I was very sure it was gonna be my top one and while I ended up being right, this one is still very high up the ranking and it is the funniest one for sure. There were so many funny and dare I say iconic moments, I dont think I could list them all but my top three moments were: "This is where I keep my mail and. wife", Percy's introduction and exchange with John John, any moment with Jack Kanoff. I also appreciate the reference to The Masquerade :D

The Maze: I was soooooo excited when I read the premise and I'd be a lying if I wasnt a little bit dissapointed at the execution. However, Slimecicle absolutely carried this entire thing on his back, I absolutely adored his performance. That ending twist was also just great, idk why it got me the way it did but it elevated the entire episode for sure. The lore it ended on was also really interesting, although a bit disappointing in retrospect now thats basically over. I hope they integrated some of the lore from TftSMP into the main storyline as well because I do think its very interesting

The Masquerade: MY FAVORITE :DDDDD I adore murder mysteries in fancy mansions and I adore masquerades so yeah, ofc I love this one. I loved everyones fancy outfits, I loved Techno as Sir Billiam III, I loved Karl flirting with Mason, I loved the twist UGHHH. I also thought this episode was really funny, even if not as funny as The Wild West. My standards for humor arent that high tbh, I just liked how they made fun of rich people lmao. I think my favorite moment was probably the one where Karl was hiding in that closet with Sebastian and he was getting murdered right next to him, it was surprisingly tense. All around great, I loved it

[dckweed]

can you do a hurt/comfort or angst/fluff with reader x jonathan byers? preferably the reader comforting jonathan after maybe something to do with his father or will going missing or something? maybe like the reader reassuring him its okay and that they will be with him through all of it?

sad gal hours with this one :( hope you enjoy babes! sorry this took so long, my last post took it out of me lol.

p.s. im low-key in a dark mood so this might come out a little bit darker than i meant it too and im so so sorry

p.s. i had a whole lot written, more than what was below and then tumblr glitched and didn't save my draft so now it's shorter than what i meant it to be.

warnings: no age limit bc no smut, mentions of death, lots of sadness. ive been told that i have an unfortunate gift for making people very strongly feel the emotions of my characters, so this is your official warning that you may slip tears if ive done my job correctly today. also i generally don't proof read or edit so sorry for any spelling mistakes.

'.. THICK AND THIN..' jonathan byers x reader

It was a dreary, cold day in Hawkins Indiana. A large group of people clad in all black stood staring around a large, deep hole in the nearly frozen ground, a casket directly above it.

The Byers family were burying their youngest, a boy named Will, whom you had come to love deeply in your time of knowing him. He was like a little brother to you as well, you being a constant in their home as of late.

You stood next to Jonathan, your hand squeezing his tightly. You could feel how tense he was, you knew he was upset by his father's presence, he hadn't cared one damn bit when Will had first gone missing, so why did he even bother showing up now? Knowing Lonnie, and you knew the stories of course, it was probably because he wanted something, or was trying to take some kind of advantage of the distraught, heart broken Joyce.

You couldn't help but look around at all of the people who had showed up, the ones that actually did care about the boy and his family. You noticed Mike Wheeler just in front of you, tears falling from his eyes. You reached a hand over, squeezing his shoulder. You felt bad for the boys, you loved Will's friends, and it was clear how bad his bunch of goofball buddies missed him.

When the service was over, and everyone who came had finished saying their 'im sorry's' and had shaken Lonnie's hand, you and Lonnie managed to get Joyce and Jonathan to the car.

You didn't care for Lonnie, but you were thankful he was at least helpful in this situation. You say in the back with Jonathan has he drove, your hand gripping his tightly. You knew that he wanted to break down, but he wouldn't let himself because his mother was already a crumbling broken mess big enough for the two of them, you had told Jonathan that you didn't mind shouldering the job of picking up everyone's pieces, but he wouldnt let you do it by yourself.

Once you were back at the Byers house you helped Jonathan inside, laying your coat on his bed before sitting next him after shutting his bedroom door. You could hear the bathroom door close down the hall, and the shower kick on.

Jonathan was stiff, and he had a hard look on his face. You could tell that he was trying very hard not to cry. Not knowing what else to do, you take his face in your hands, moving so you're sitting on his lap.

"Hey, hey...it's okay to cry, Jonathan.." You say, giving him what you hoped was a reassuring enough look, you felt his hands on your thighs, squeezing so lightly you couldn't even tell they were there. You moved your hands down to your shoulders, pushing his jacket off of them and down his arms. "Come on, let's get you into something more comfortable."

You stood, moving off of his lap before going to his dresser, you pulled out a Tshirt and some pajama pants for him and moved back to him, he was still sat there unmoving. You give a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth, running your hands through his hair before unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it off of his shoulders as well.

It took you a few minutes but after a while you had him dressed in a green tshirt and plaid pajama pants, you straightened up after putting his pants on for him and immediately he engulfs you in a hug, his arms wrapping around you to the point where you feel as if you're suffocating, but you don't tell him to let go, you wrap your arms just as tightly around him, letting your head rest against his chest.

His mouth his pressed to the top of your hair, and you feel his body shake as he lets out a sob, and then another one, and before you know it, you're collapsed on his floor in a heap, holding on to him as tightly as you can, trying to comfort him as best as you can as he shakes and sobs and snots all over you.

It lasts for a while, you sit there happily until he calms down, moving his head into your lap as you go to play with his hair. You gave him a soft smile, looking at him almost sadly, you hated that he was going through this, that his mom was probably just as bad. You wished that you knew how to comfort both of them, that you could go back in time and fix this entire situation.

"Thank you..for everything." You hear him sniffle, his voice soft and quiet, laced with sadness. "You don't have to be here, Y/N, you don't have to care like you do, but you do and you have no idea how grateful i am every day that you're here.."

You smile, leaning down to kiss his head before tapping his cheek gently. "Hey, I made you a promise, remember?" You say, giving him a look. "I may have made it when I was drunk off my ass, but i still meant what I said...you're stuck with me, through Thick and Thin, remember?"

Jonathan shifts, looking up at you, his mouth opening as if he's about to say something, but he stops, both of you turn your heads towards his bedroom door as you hear shouting, and you both get to your feet immediately, the sweet moment ruined.

[fruggo]

Hello ! I saw the enemies fo lovers things and I wanna request if possible

“ rich coming from the guy who tried to kill me three days ago. “

With frank if you would and thank you

yessirrr i love frank sm it’s not ok. also umm i may have accidentally written friends to enemies to lovers or something idk. and though i wouldnt necessarily call you friends at the start, you werent really enemies yet???? idk🐸just ummm yeh i love frank

also help how do i not go overboard???? i feel like i made this way too long, please help and i am sorry

warnings: canon-typical violence, swearing, frank being a bastard but then you’re like awwww he’s a cute bastard aaaaw

~~

Things were weird with Frank, and they always had been from the moment you stepped foot in the Entity’s realm. He always tunneled you relentlessly, and that made you think of him as a big asshole, but there were some strange details tacked onto the sentiment that greatly confused you, should you think about it for more than three seconds.

Sometimes, it seemed like he went easy on you in chases, like he put in no effort. He would chase you for a while, let you waste his time, and then leave without even getting a hit on you when he definitely had the ability to.

And you hated saying this, but when he handled you, it almost felt…gentle. Granted, he was a killer, and his job was to murder you, but your experiences with him did not quite line up with those of the other survivors.

They always described trials against Frank as “stepping on legos in the middle of the night” or something akin to that. You never felt like that, though—when he chased you, it felt fair. Almost as if he played nice with you. And more often than not, the killer would let you go when he caught you. The reason remained a mystery to you until quite a bit later.

This trial, Frank was in 100% bastard mode. You had begun to think of his trials as quite easy due to his seemingly calm nature around you, so you were rather caught off guard when he downed you in the first 30 seconds of the match and tossed you onto a hook, no gentleness whatsoever.

You wanted to yell at him and ask what the fuck was wrong with him until you realized this was his fucking job, and this is how he should have been treating you all along. Maybe you had just been imagining it all, but you could have sworn he used to leave you alone more than this. Something just felt different.

After you were unhooked, he went for you again. And again. And then you were dead, completely wiped out of the trial. Frank had demolished you with no remorse.

You knew it was silly to feel betrayed, but you really couldn’t help it. In such an insane and hellish place, anything that could be even remotely perceived as kindness seemed like so much more of a big deal than it truly was. So Frank’s supposed “gentleness” with you had felt somewhat like a friend doing you a selfless favor. Of course, it was not a selfless favor, and it was certainly nowhere near kindness, because he was still a killer chasing you with a knife, but your standards had really lowered in this place.

After that trial, you were back to hating Frank for tunneling and bullying you (like you probably should). You began to understand the survivors’ saying about the legos—and you hoped that Frank would step on some legos too, because he fucking sucked sometimes.

And for a while, that’s just how it was. You nearly forgot how he used to go easier on you, and how you used to do okay in his matches. Now every time you were pit against each other it just felt like you were being stuck with a bunch of pins; you never had any time to breathe or rest or do literally anything. He just went after you until you were gone, and there was next to nothing you could do about it.

Everything changed very suddenly during a trial at Ormond.

You were expecting the same old routine with this asshole—chase, blah blah blah, die. You hardly had energy to fight back anymore.

So when he arrived out of breath at the killer shack, somehow knowing you would be here, Frank was surprised to find you relaxing under the window with your arms loosely crossed, a disapproving scowl upon your countenance. It was enough to make him hesitate in his tracks.

You let out a deep breath, refusing to break eye contact with his mask; you kept up that menacing frown for as long as you could, trying to make him feel guilty (who knows if it was even possible for him to feel guilty? But it was worth a try).

“Just kill me,” you said, voice steady and seemingly unbothered. Underneath the surface, you were trembling, but you stood your ground. “That’s what you’re gonna do, isn’t it? You’re going to chase me until I’m miserable and kill me off as soon as you can?”

Frank went still, not even fidgeting with his knife like he usually did; he was intrigued by your sudden confidence.

You went on. “I’m really sick and tired of you, you know that? I’m sick of you and your bullshit. Why can’t you treat me like everybody else? At first, you went easy on me. Now you just torture me with your stupid mind games, and frankly, I’m sick of playing! I’m done with you—I don’t care anymore! Just kill me, and I’ll get out of your way, okay asshole? Mori me if you want. I don’t give a shit.”

You put your hands up exasperatedly, fully expecting him to take the offer and just send you back to the campfire right then and there. But the man sighed, pocketed his knife, and sat down right next to you as if this were a normal thing for him to do.

You scooted a few inches away out of instinct. Frank noticed, but he chose not to say a word about it.

It was a long time before he said anything, and when he finally did, you wanted to punch him so bad.

“It’s complicated,” he mumbled. And that was all.

Oh, yeah? It was complicated? You scoffed, hanging your head with a bitter smile. “Oh, okay. Sure.”

Silence again.

Awkward, suffocating silence.

And then Frank got up and left. You were unbothered for the remainder of the trial, not even a scratch or bruise on your body.

~~

Sometimes you simply did things, and you didn’t know why. This thing that you just did was irrational, stupid, unplanned, unwise, and everything in-between, and you knew it was, but frequently you just had no impulse control. Perhaps it was the Entity’s influence, or maybe you had always been this way—you couldn’t really remember.

How did you get here again? Why were you laying on the ground? And why did your leg hurt so fucking much?

Oh, yes. Yes, yes, you remember now.

Funnily enough, it seems as though the Entity, along with certain killers, did not like it when survivors tried to enter their side of the forest! But you did it anyways, and it appeared that you had suffered the consequences. It’s not like you had put much thought into it; where was the point in that when nothing mattered anymore and you were stuck in an endless cycle of death?

You remembered entering the killer’s woods, looking around, and doing…something. What was that something? You couldn’t be sure, but then you remembered somebody coming up to you and probably definitely hurting you. Yep, your leg definitely was in a lot of pain. You couldn’t even look at it. Did you pass out for a while? Maybe. How long were you out for?

You lay still there for a while, thinking. Man, it really hurt, and boy, were you miserable. Maybe more miserable than you’d ever felt here. The Entity normally healed wounds immediately, but perhaps you had just angered it so much you deserved to suffer.

Oh, dear! You seemed to be passing out at this time. Yes, that was almost certainly what was happening. Black spots danced across your eyes as your body began to feel distant and numb, but you didn’t feel very worried about it. In fact, you felt like making jokes right now, but you had nobody to make jokes to and you probably couldn’t even speak.

Just as you began to accept it, there was a strange thumping sensation vibrating through the ground growing closer…and closer…

Footsteps! That’s good!

Oh. Not if it’s a killer. That’s not good, probably.

But you had no way of protesting when you felt yourself being picked up, because those black spots in your eyes were dancing a lot faster now, perhaps something akin to an Irish jig, and you also couldn’t feel your limbs.

Then you were fast asleep again, dreaming of Irish dancers who were actually big fluffy cloud people wearing leprechaun clothes. Nobody but you would ever know this, and it was going to stay that way.

On the bright side, it made it a lot easier for your rescuer to carry you to safety like this.

~~

When you awoke once more, you were horrified to find yourself in the Ormond lodge of all places. You knew immediately what had happened and were determined to escape as soon as possible.

Your injured leg proved to be a huge problem, however, and you collapsed the second you attempted to find freedom. Trying again, you collapsed once more, and probably maimed yourself further in the process.

Hearing the commotion from the second floor, your least favorite member of The Legion descended down from the main stairs, refusing to look directly at you even as he scooped you up and plunked you (gently) back onto the couch, which was rather comfortable (not that you would ever tell him that).

So he was playing it cool, huh?

Okay. You could play it cool, too. You were cool. Smooth as butter.

No. You really couldn’t be cool in a situation like this, and plus, your mind was still a little woohoo since whatever accident had occurred. Suddenly you blurted out, “Frank, I hate your guts.”

And he had the audacity to laugh. He laughed at you! He did the man chuckle thing, as if what you were saying was funny. No! You were completely serious! You did hate his guts!

Perhaps your face showed how upset you were, because he started to apologize (still laughing).

“Maybe you should go back to sleep,” Frank said after calming down a bit.

No. You couldn’t go back to sleep. You did not want to experience dancing cloud people dressed as leprechauns ever again in your life, for the rest of eternity. Never again.

So you shook your head violently, refusing to give an explanation, which just provoked Frank to anger all of a sudden. If you went back to sleep, he could have some alone time while the rest of The Legion was gone. He kept pushing, and you kept resisting, and he pushed and you resisted, until finally he gave up and let you off with a warning. If you made him mad again, he was throwing you out in the snow.

Fine with me, you said. Okay, I’ll do it right now, he said. No balls, you said.

So then Frank casually went to scoop you up in his arms again, and you started to freak out and beat your hands against his chest until he put you back down. He was was awfully mindful of your hurt leg for someone who was about to throw you into the snow.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—please don’t throw me out,” you fussed. You thought he wouldn’t actually do it. You didn’t know it, but you were right—he was just messing with you because it was funny seeing you scared.

After a bit more griping back and forth, Frank began to grow concerned about your leg. He didn’t know how to bring up the topic because things were so odd between the two of you; this was your first interaction since the brief encounter in the shack. But he swallowed his pride, because the wound seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

“Hey, do you want me to, uhh…get some supplies?” Frank asked awkwardly. When you didn’t understand, he continued, “Your leg? It looks like it hurts…I could fix it if you want.”

You barked out a laugh at his words, unbelieving of this shift in attitude. “Rich coming from the guy who tried to kill me three days ago,” you snickered, genuinely finding it amusing.

Frank took offense. He was trying to be nice for once, and you thought it was funny. And his situation really was complex, whether you chose to believe it or not. Maybe he should just tell you to get it off of his chest.

“Listen,” he said, voice laced with seriousness. “When I told you things were complicated, I meant it.”

Sensing the mood change from his tone and body language, you stopped smiling and decided to pay attention to him. Just this once. Never again. After this you could go back to hating him.

Frank continued. “The Entity was going to start…well, hurting me, if I didn’t start doing better in trials. I really didn’t want to sacrifice you, which is embarrassing to admit, but I’ll say it. And I don’t think it liked that.”

You were surprised. And also relieved that you had been right all along—he had been going easy on you at first.

“Why me, though?” you asked, confused. “Why wouldn’t you want to sacrifice me? What about the other survivors?”

If the slight tilt of his head at your question didn’t answer it for you, the way he started tapping his feet and cracking his knuckles so nervously did.

Boy, if looks could kill, you would have died instantly at the scowl Frank sent your way; you grinned pridefully at the realization that this man was down bad. You couldn’t see the expression behind his mask, though, which Frank was thankful for.

He hated every second of this, but you loved it. You reveled in his embarrassment.

Leaning forward on your hands, you begged, “Tell me more! I want to hear all about your feelings for me.”

“I could stab you right now, you know that?”

“But you won’t. You liiiiike me!”

“What are you, eight years old?”

“No, but I am severely injured and have lost a lot of blood so I am not necessarily in the right headspace at the moment.”

“You make a fair point.”

“So tell me! What’s your favorite thing about me?”

“Your ass.”

“No, really.”

“Okay, your ass and your hair.”

“You know what, Frank, I still hate your guts.”

“No, you don’t.”

You paused for a moment. It was probably the blood loss talking, you decided later, but you said, “No. Maybe I don’t.”

[daedalusdavinci]

❝  you need someone.  let me be that person.  let me be what you need.  ❞ 😳

you didnt send a dealers choice so im (spins wheel) going w damijon. which i wouldnt normally write bc i havent read enuff comics and etc but i got an idea vis a vis aro damian and the incomprehensible yearning of queer platonic attraction and it wont stop scratching at my head so HOPEFULLY THIS DOESNT SUCK also this is probably when theyre older idk im playing it fast and loose w the timeline here

send me a prompt!

Damian had thought he'd read all of the signs right. The answer was plain. Once again, he was the only person capable of thinking rationally about things that were ridiculously simple. After too long of listening to Jon complain, he presented the solution to him after another long night, their backs pressed against the cold concrete wall of a rooftop stairwell, Jon's shoulder like a fire against his own. "You need someone. Then let me be that person. Let me be what you need."

He expected a relieved grin, perhaps. Praise for his brilliance, certainly. Likely a tease to pad Jon's no doubt bruised ego at being unable to come up with something so simple himself.

Instead, Jon stared at him. He looked at Damian like he'd heard gibberish instead of words, and was trying to parse through it. The smile he gave him was hesitant, awkward. "What?"

Damian sighed. "You keep complaining that you feel alone. That you want someone who ties you down. I do not see why that cannot fall under one of my many roles as your best friend."

"Oh." The relief didn't come. Instead, Jon just looked awkward. He rubbed at the back of his neck, his eyes skittering away from Damian's. Not that Damian ever made eye contact, but the way Jon did it made it obvious that he wasn't looking at Damian anymore. His mouth opened, and then closed again.

Damian frowned. "What is it?"

Jon hesitated. Then he shifted, planting his feet more firmly on the ground like he was gearing up for something big, moving his hands between his knees to gesture. "Look, D... I think you might've misunderstood? It's not that I don't appreciate you! I mean, your friendship means the world to me. But I was talking about, like... what my mom means for my dad, you know?"

"No."

Jon blew out a breath, his bangs ruffling in the wind. "A partner."

"We are partners."

"Not that kind."

Slowly, it started to click. Something in Damian's stomach churned. "You mean a romantic partner."

"Yeah."

Damian didn't know why it felt like his heart was sinking. He frowned to himself, turning over his thoughts, trying to examine why he felt upset by this revelation. It wasn't as though he... had something against Jon having a partner, or wanted... something like that, with Jon. But disappointment still nagged at him, burning in the back of his throat. He fought to keep it from turning into something sharp, folding his arms over his knees and swallowing the impulse until he felt like he could talk. "Why?"

Jon gave him a strange look again. "Why?"

"Why does romance feel so essential? What's missing from this? Is it not better to forge friendships, which supposedly last lifetimes?"

"Love can, too."

Damian scoffed. "As if love cannot take platonic forms. As if the platonic is, somehow, worth less, or not as necessary to living a fulfilling life."

"Of course it isn't," said Jon, surprised. "It's just different."

"How. What is the void that platonic affection leaves behind?" Damian's voice was flat. Irritation bubbled under his skin, even despite the way he tried to push it back. In his head, he knew that it wasn't a proportional reaction, but something about it just stung. The idea that he wasn't enough, somehow, that he couldn't provide something, that someone else could become more important to him, maybe? He knew, logically, that Jon would never do any of that to him, but he also had seen enough people do it that it seemed hard to believe that he wouldn't.

Jon was quiet for some time, studying his face like he might find an answer somewhere in it. The way he looked at him, like he didn't understand what had come over Damian, itched at something horrible in the back of Damian's mind. "Damian..." he started.

Damian shook his head. He could feel clearly that he wasn't responding to this correctly. If he continued, he would doubtlessly say something he'd regret- assuming he hadn't already. He got to his feet, unhooking his grappling hook from his belt. "It's late."

Jon sighed. Then he plastered on a smile, grabbing Damian's hand as Damian offered it out. "Yeah. We can talk more later." The threat of it hung. They would talk more later.

Damian felt queasy. He could only hope that, before then, he sorted out whatever was wrong with him.