#at some point surely one would say ‘you know what? She’s has really bad judgement on BFs and friends. I’m gonna sit this one out’

[taylorrepdetective]

This is something I’ve been curious about since I first stumbled down this rabbit hole and was trying to puzzle out if I thought Taylor really would fake relationships (this was in late 2017, so with joe) and one of the things I couldn’t understand was how people could so easily believe that after what happened in 2016 (breakup of her longest relationship to date, rebound with Tom, cancellation that apparently made her suicidal, her friends suddenly showing themselves to be traitors) that she could not just fall in love with joe but absolutely trust him unquestionably enough o write New Years Day 3 months in. And it wasn’t just NYD, but a lot of songs she wrote in fall 2016 that had a forevermore feel to them (is this the end of all the endings, trust him like a brother.) I simply chalked it up to people being a bit young and rooting for love and not really thinking, and them only knowing Taylor as this over-dramatic lover of love. But now seeing it happen again almost exactly the same (betrayal by her father figure business partner, betrayal by the man she though for sure that she’d marry, betrayal by the man she thought was the man who got away who also made marriage promises) and within weeks she has now fallen in love with another man who so so perfect for her that she would just trust him like a brother and fall into the marriage promises AGAIN. And not only that people will believe it, because yeah, she knows her audience, but also that people don’t side-eye this and say “you know what Taylor, maybe it’s time for you to be single for 5 minutes and just like, think about why you keep falling for these men that can’t give you what you want and work on yourself and your constant need to be hopelessly and forevermore in love all the time. Maybe there’s a different issue here?” Like. They think they are her friends, and this is what friends do for each other. I would be so worried about her getting into something YET AGAIN that seems too good to be true. But instead (because they aren’t her friends, they are her audience, enjoying the romcom entertainment of it all) they cheer it on.

Without a second thought. Without really a first good thought either.

Anyway, as always, fascinated by the insight into human nature of it all.

[clouisluvr]

i need a part 3 of sean diaz hc IM STARVEDDD‼️

ask and (11 months later) you shall receive!

- deep conversations always happen whilst laying on the floor. he’ll lay on his back with an arm propped under his head and listen intently to everything you have to say

- hangs on to your every word if youre talking about something important like .. his eyes will go kinda big because he’s so focused on you he kinda forgets to blink LOL

- grabs onto your hands when hes nervous, like just clutches onto them and squeezes. likes when you rub the back of his hand with ur thumb for extra reassurance

- sean sees the world so artistically and beautifully so a feature of yours you’ve never noticed before is accentuated in his art. a beauty spot you didnt notice, a dimple you never knew about. he loves every little detail about you

- faye webster enjoyer! indie pop lover in general tbh. loves listening to music with you (earbud user because he hates how headphones feel on his head) and will always think of you when he listens to certain songs

- i think if you told him you like his hair long he’d let it GROWWW. like so long he can tie it into a bun, but it would annoy him after a while and he’d cut it to like ep1 length. will let you and daniel put his hair in pigtails with bows (he’ll joke about being coquette)

- loves going on drives with you. sometimes daniel tags along but he prefers when its just the two of you. definitely likes listening to frank ocean whilst the sun sets (it reminds him of gta😭)

- has a bad habit of putting on this cynical teen front (like his journal entry about trump winning LOL) and you give him an outlet to be sincere and sensitive which leads to him opening up about his mom

- sean feels a weird sense of guilt when he criticises karen in front of daniel because he knows he’s too young to really remember and feel upset about it. but he feels even worse doing it in front of his dad because he feels like his emotions take up too much space. like it overshadows the betrayal his dad must feel.

- so instead he adopts a mostly indifferent, partially angry attitude towards his mom leaving to disguise the genuine sadness and resentment. the inability to understand how she could just up and leave. when you give sean the space to actually .. feel everything, he breaks down. it deepens the bond he has with you, he feels theres no judgement to be cruel, selfish, or upset around you.

- seans newfound sensitivity from dating you also lets him be unashamedly happy about the holiday season. he is done pretending to be over christmas, bring out the ugly jumpers and candy canes!!

- esteban is in SHOCK. sean is up early during his winter break to *checks notes* decorate?? convinced it must be crack.

- not sure what the american equivalent of winter wonderland is, but he saves up money from his part time job to take you, his dad and daniel to a winter festival! he kinda breaks the bank but has no regrets!! gets you hot chocolates and treats, also spends an embarrassing amount on game tickets trying to win you a prize😭 you tell him its ok but he will keep trying until he gets you SOMETHING!

- at some point he’ll sneak off with you to give you the sweetest kiss ever. will hold your chin in his hand and tilt your head up to kiss you. he’s not huge on pda (especially with his dad in the vicinity) BUT he’s in such a good mood he cant pass up the chance. starts smiling through the kiss because he’s so happy

- that definitely inspires art of you looking flushed with slightly swollen lips but a look of warmth in your eyes. probably gives it to you as a christmas gift! tells you its one of the many many moments he felt himself falling even more in love with you

- he hates the cold but loves the excuse to cling to you constantly. “sean.. i need to pee.” “pretty sure if i let go of you i’ll instantly get frostbite soo..”

- nervous and geeky when you guys first start dating, but gets SUPERRR suave as time goes on it kinda makes you weak in the knees. will cup your cheek mid conversation and stroke your cheek with his thumb. will backhug you and kiss your neck. will kiss the back of your hand if hes feeling VERY romantic… whore activity tbh!

- hickey enthusiast omg its BAD hes an addict. but god forbid you give him one because he will freak about lyla seeing and giving him grief over it. has a thing for marking you and knowing you like how it feels

- loves when you wrap your arms around his neck!! gives him this super strong sense of security, he’ll always wraps his arms around your waist.

- HATES when people talk at the movies. you, sean and daniel all went to see fnaf and daniel would not stop turning to both of you to explain the lore incase you were confused😭 not even whispering mind you! infuriates sean but its him telling you and daniel to stop talking that gets the reaction of an angry parent asking him to “be quiet or leave!” his eye twitches when you and daniel start laughing at him LOLL

- ushanka hat bandit. will wear them even during SUMMER! always paired with a tank top and jeans or a striped hoodie. i think sean has slutty hips so u love the tank top x low rise jeans combo he wears in summer LMAOO :P

- likes to cuddle with your back facing him so he can kiss your shoulder.

- likes to post discreet pictures of you on his main ig but his spam account is like 90% you LMAO. posts photodumps filled with dumb text messages between you both and candid pictures of you

- gets overprotective of you in a similar way to how he is with daniel, sometimes you have to remind him you’re there to protect him too

- will lay his head on your shoulder when hes in need of comfort. also a subtle way of asking you to play with his hair (he will melt)

- likes if you put your hands in his jacket pocket when it’s cold so he can hold it in there!!

- goes through phases where he ALWAYS wants to be on the phone with you. like you could be on the way over and he’ll stay on call until you’re in his house

- has a bad habit of getting into petty arguments with you that start off playful, like debating over what the best chocolate bar is but he’ll end up taking it too far and getting legit mad LMAO. you both end up cackling about managing to argue over chocolate

- plans his future with you in it. knows he always wants to be in close proximity to you, daniel and his dad no matter what! he can’t imagine life without you and tbh he doesnt want to.

not sure what hits me at like midnight that makes me wanna write hcs but as always im too sleepy to proofread so ignore any mistakes! also sorry if you dont celebrate christmas, i was projecting a little LOL

hope u all enjoy!💗

[xoxomoonlightxoxo]

Like a Hostage | Prologue

𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 ⇢ 

“They hate me, don’t they?” you sigh in defeat, hesitant to look back at your boyfriend whose fingers have gently intertwined with yours. Standing outside his childhood home you hoped for tonight to end differently, preferably with less undertones of passive judgement. 

“They hate everyone, so I wouldn’t give it much thought,” Jungkook assures with a sly grin, wrapping his arm over your shoulders as the two of you walk down to his car. 

“But they’re your parents, Koo. Don’t you want them to like me?” you turn to face his lowered gaze, hands on his chest as your back presses against the door frame. 

“Trust me, y/n. I’ve been fighting for their love my whole life. So, no. I don’t really care what they think.” he snickers before noticing the pout on your lips. 

“And anyways, isn’t my love enough for you?” whispers of his voice touch your skin as he leans closer, broad shoulders towering over your form. 

“You know it is. But, it would be less nerve-racking if we had their blessings as well,” your furrowed gaze looks up at Jungkook’s honey-brown eyes that softened at the sight of your flushed cheeks. 

“Just give them some time, sweetpea. Okay?” he places a soft kiss on your forehead before tucking a few curls behind your ear. 

“Mmhm,” 

“Now please get in, I'm starving,” 

“What? Are you serious? We just ate,” you laugh from disbelief, eyes glued on the boy as he sprints to his seat. 

“Y/n, baby, you're too nice. My mother can't cook to save her life. Everything you saw on that table was bought and reheated an hour ago,” Jungkook huffs impatiently, turning on the engine before glancing back at your puzzled expression. 

“It wasn't that bad. I'm sure she tried her best, Koo. You gotta be more grateful,” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, love. Now please buckle up,” he replied with a dimpled grin before finally driving off, his free hand intertwined with yours. 

To be honest, you never understood how someone could show disinterest in their parents. Growing up in foster care, you were deprived of every childhood memory. Reaching for your mother’s arms as you took your first steps, feeling the warmth of your father’s embrace as he comforted your tears after a boy broke your heart. None of that was ever real. Nothing more than a constant reminder of the void in your heart. The shattering pieces of your younger self who cried every night, carving the blame deeper into her tiny wrists for not being good enough. Not worth the trouble of being in your life. So you grew paranoid of being viewed as an inconvenience, craving that lack of parental love from anyone who has shown even a glimpse of affection. 

Meeting Jungkook saved you from your breaking point, the night you thought you would go to sleep forever. Sitting on the rails of the Han River Bridge, you thought about the people whose life would be impacted by the loss of yours. In the moment, it was like your mind went blank, consciousness completely obscured by the lack of significance you brought to the world. Unable to fold even one pathetic finger, you felt the tears run down your face as your body shivered in fear. Losing sight of how deep the water went, your breaths became irregular, chest heaving up from the rush of adrenaline in your system. Knowing that this would be your last jump, made it all go away. In the end, nothing ever matters because we all die anyway. Some of us just choose to push their luck and see the afterlife faster than others. 

Closing your eyes you whispered a silent goodbye to your parents, wherever and whoever they were. Thanking them for the opportunity to experience life, however shitty it turned out to be. And as you felt your fingers slowly let go of the metal pillars, you took in your last breath before finally finding peace. 

“Are you out of your mind?” a male voice pierces through your senseless state as you feel your arm being yanked back. 

“What the fuck man? Let go,” you snap, body dangling midair as his other arm latches onto you. 

“Hold on for fuck’s sake,” he growls in frustration, digging his fingers deeper into your blue-ish skin as you fight back the friction. 

“I don’t need your saving.” you cry out, unable to control the stream of mixed emotions. 

“I’m not doing this for you.” his gaze furrows, clenching his jaw as his hand cushions the back of your head before your back hits the cement pavement.  

It’s true. In the moment, he wasn’t saving you. While holding onto your dangling body, all he could see was the sadness in his sister’s hollow eyes. He could feel the fear that rushed through her veins as she jumped off of their apartment complex. Alone. Consumed by the darkness of the cold winter night. No one heard her screams, and no one rushed to ease the pain. Unable to swallow down his antidepressants, Jungkook decided to stay the night at his friend’s house in hopes of muting the sound of his parent’s endless fights. Clueless to the reality of it all, his selfish act of leaving behind the only person who shared his misery. His sweet girl, Jieun. Now, they only see each other in his nightmares. The ones in which he begs for her forgiveness, wishing he could hold her one last time. Hear the laughter coming out of her room as he walks down their shared corridor, only to find it buried with white sheets of dust. 

“I was so close …” you whispered under your breath, bloodshot eyes filled with tears. 

“What’s the point? The pain never ends,” he sighs, resting his head on one of the pillars with his arms around his knees. 

“I have no one else. Who do I live for now?” you cry out with a trembling chin.

“Live for me,” he whispers, tears running down his cheek as he pictures Jieun in the back of his mind.

[pawsometoons]

Edit: PLEASE LOOK AT, READ, AND REBLOG THE LINKED POST FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE

I know I usually don't post about stuff like this. But I'm spreading this over to Tumblr to make absolutely sure that everyone in the NiGHTS and Balan fandoms here know this information

I was a victim of Elfie's a while back last year. Both me and a close friend were victims.

At the time, neither of us knew things were this bad. But now I'm releived to know this information is out there and that server is gone for good. And hopefully, nobody will fall for her manipulation again.

CaptainElfie is also on tumblr. Make sure your steer clear of her and block her if you can.

I feel like, since I'm sharing this, I should also share me and my friend's part of the story

My friend doesnt have tumblr, but she is on Twitter (vibripple)

This was an incident from last year, but it's affected both of us pretty harshly. Especially Vib. Not to say we hadnt had a few questionable ordeals in the past. But I'm just going to explain what I can remember, since some of the information I've repressed for the sake of my mental stability.

For the small things, there were plenty of times where me and Vib didnt feel comfortable or safe in the server. Especially with us both being sex repulsed asexuals. Some of this behavior would be from other members of the server, which would never be pointed out or taken care of. And some of this behavior, Elfie had shown herself. Of course, she attempted to show that she cared about mine and Vib's boundaries. But she simply wasnt trying hard enough, since some other members still were pretty icky. Even in VRChat meetings too. Another thing being, both me and Vib had noticed, Elfie never acted very mature at all. She rarely ever took responsibility or tried to act civil in problematic situations.

And then theres the incident that was in the nail in the coffin for us both. It was just after the Monay vs. Fame vs. Love SPLATFEST in Splatoon 3. Both me and Vib were present in it, confident that we would win. Up until the end where Team Money won. Both me and Vib were devastated. Especially since we both associated the splatfest with a comfort character. And seeing we lost, it felt like we let said character down. Especially me. And though, of course, we were aware that yes it's a fictional character, but that didn't stop us from being upset. But elfie took things too far when she took an already bad day and made it absolutely worse. Elfie saw our behavior that day and our massive disappointment in the splatfest results and had the audacity to pull us both into a group chat with another member and act "worried" about our behavior. Again, we were just very upset at the loss of a splatfest that we were positive we were gonna win in, and again, associated with a comfort character. End of story. Or at least we wished it was. Then Elfie went even further to accuse both me AND Vib of being parasocial because of our behavior towards not only the splatfest, but our comfort characters too. Now, Vib has this thing, where she really likes Reala. I have this thing where I really like Judgement Boy. I call Judgement Boy my son, she calls Reala her bff. We BOTH are completely aware that they are both fictional characters and arent real, as much as we wish they were. And yet, here was Elfie, "worrying" about us like we're those tiktok teens who believe in quantum jumping or whatever it's called. We are both grown adults with of course one or two mental disabilities at best. But we are not that mentally ill. During this time, me and Vib could barely speak. We were both having straight up panic attacks on call may I mind you. And Elfie has the gall to try and force us onto VRChat to speak to her about this. In which neither of us had the energy or mental capacity to do at the time because, again, we were both having fully blown panic attacks. Both me and Vib have some pretty bad trauma when it comes to being confronted about things that arent true about us or thing we never even did. What makes this worse, is that I can say for almost everybody in that server, that they've had comfort characters aswell. HELL, there was one member who's status said things about being in love with Reala. Now I'm not against fictional crushes, or those who have F/Os and such. But for me and Vib, we had nothing close to that! Or at least not to that extent. Especially since Vib didnt even have a fictional crush on her comfort character. She saw Reala as a best friend. But again, being fully aware that Reala is a fictional character. So it was basically on the same lines, just not in the exact same way. And THAT user never got called out for it! THEY never got put on the spot in a private gc and being told they're parasocial for it! And all while this was happening, one of my partners, bless his soul, went out of his way to speak to Elfie for us. Which is when we found out that Elfie didnt care as much about us as we thought she did. She claimed that she didnt like our behavior despite us being some of the more normal users in that server, and even had the audacity to call some of our other close friends that we even had invited into the VRChat group gatherings as annoying. It was a whole mess that I regret having one of my partners get involved with, but I am forever grateful for him to have gotten that information for us. So after that incident, we began slowly distancing ourselves from the group and the server. Slowly started blocking people, leaving and blocking the vrchat group, and soon after, blocking Elfie and leaving the server for good.

Things didn't stop right away though. We still kept in touch with a few users who remained in the server, but at least accepted our decision to leave. Some have even stated that Elfie and some of the others "missed us" or "hoped we were okay" which neither of us believed for a second. Elfie herself even tried to pull in one of our close friends who she had as I stated prior, called him annoying. As he states, she said something along the lines of not knowing when she called him annoying and wanted him to join her server. In which, yeah, he didn't fall for that either.

Most of the other members of that server probably don't even know what happened that day. But if you're seeing this and remember us from that server.. well.. now you do.

But I do wish for everyone else who was in this situation aswell to heal. Their experiences should have to be heard too and not just mine. So many more people were hurt by Elfie than just me and you all should listen to them too.

[hazel-eye-coffee-shop-girl-blog]

maybe like a

daryl x reader but he finds her really drunk in (alexrandia)

or finding reader in the woods (meeting her for the first time) and she’s really hurt and he practically saves her

Happy Monday Everyone! Sorry I am taking so long to get to these writing prompts that I ask you all to send my way. I am so appreciated of each and ever one of them, that I want to give each one time to create something special, or at least passable.

I hope @dreamtofus I did you justice in your ask, I really had a lot of fun writing a Daryl x Reader, it was my first, but hopefully not my last. I know I still need to work on getting the 'voice' of Daryl down, but for a first attempt, I don't think it's too bad.

Please let me know what you think, reblog, likes are always welcome. This story is my own, so please don't steal it. All mistakes, typo are mine, I do apologize. I do a few rounds of edits, but things just slip through, so be kind when passing judgement.

Details:

Daryl x Reader, told mainly from the reader POV, but we do get a small POV of Daryl. A flashback is had, some pop culture references, not sent in an particular timeline of the show. Seeing how the reader meets Daryl for the first time, how he saves her not once but twice, and the reader letting her guard down around Daryl.

Ment to be a one shot, but if you all like it enough, I could be persawded to write more, with these two.

Triger warnings: nothing really, its sweet, angst.

Word count: 2,000+

You knew never to go out this late in the day for anything, even a ‘simple’ supply run would never be done this late; you should have just waited until tomorrow. But No, you have to prove something to yourself? No, you knew you had survived this long, almost two years now, in this fire burning world. Your smarts, being a country/farm kid growing up, and your love of reading anything you could get your hands on help you survive this long. 

So, you need to prove something to the members of this group that found you a few weeks ago and brought you into their community? Maybe, you're sure they are still assessing you, and seeing if you're worth the trouble of being another mouth to feed and another body to protect. 

The leader, Rick, seems nice, standoffish, but also a protector that if you do get to stay with them, would be loyal and a big brother figure for you. Maggie, is also in that camp of big sister energy that would kick anyone’s ass for you. 

No, if you were to put money on who in the group is still questioning if they should take you in or not, that would be the redneck hunter Daryl. 

Daryl was the one that came across you while you were scavenging an abandoned drug store just a few miles south from where the group’s camp was. He was the one that held a crossbow aimed at your back, telling you to drop the antibiotics that there was a baby in his camp that needed it more than you. 

Flashback

“Don’t make me say it again, drop the drugs.” A gruff, gravelly voice, from behind you, fills the silence of the space, and makes you freeze like a deer in headlights.

Getting up from your crouch position, you slowly turn, with the bottle of pills in your hand. Sweat from the fever you're currently trying to shake and not the Georgia heat drips down your face. If you hadn’t already heard him speak, you would have thought you were seeing things. There standing in front of you is a man, dressed all in black, his dark brown hair long and slightly covering one side of his face, while the other side is slightly covered by the crossbow that is currently aimed at you. His lean but muscular frame in a stance that screams hunter, his tone arms never wavering, so you know that he will wait you out, he has the discipline to do so.

“Fuck…I can’t…” you reply desperation, and exhaustion taking over. You know that you should be scare, you should be worried that he’s going to let go of the trigger, and put you out of your misery, but, you can’t give a fuck at this point. 

“Will you at least aim for the head, if you're going to kill me.” You quip leaning on the shelving next to you, feeling yourself get weaker.

This seems to throw off the mystery man, as he hesitates for a second, “what?” he questions, not lowering his bow, but moving his finger from the trigger.

Grabbing something from your back pocket, a purple bandana, you wipe the sweat from your forehead. “Look, I can’t come back as one of the dead.” your voice ragged. “You could give me at least that courtesy. Because otherwise, I will find you, and eat you.” You joke, giving your best Lim Nelson voice at the end. 

The mystery man doesn't seem to get the reference to that line, as he gives no reaction to the idea that you, as a walker, could somehow find him on purpose and eat him. 

“It's a joke…it's from…never mind.” You toss the bottle of pills towards him, and slide down to the floor and wait for either the exhaustion, fever, or this mystery man to take you.

Your mind is fuzzy, and either this guy will leave you alone or not. With your eyes closed, you can hear the rustle of him putting the bottle in his bag, and then the sound of him coming over the counter and towards you. His footsteps stop and you can feel him staring down at you. “What?” Uou question, keeping your eyes closed. 

“Whatcha doing?” he questions. “you bit?”

“Waiting for a bus, what does it look like? I am sick you ass, and I am exhausted.” Your frustration taking over. You open your eyes to find him crouching down and bringing a hand up to your forehead, “What the hell, dude!” You slap his hand from you and push yourself up and back from him, scattering bottles around you. “Just leave, you got what you wanted.”

“You didn’t answer me, are you bit?” He grumbles back, harsher this time, with authority. Annoyance is now apparent, and his blue eyes that are staring at you seem to bore into your soul.

“No, I am not bit, just sick. With the quick change in weather we had, my body...why am I explaining this to you….” you start and stop yourself from going into detail about how back when the world was somewhat ‘normal’ any drastic change in the weather always sent you into a quick cold for a few days.

Ringing out your bandana, you run it over your face and down your neck. What you wouldn’t give for some cold water, a nice cool lake to dive into. Your mind drifting to the fantasy of cooling waters is cut short when your bandana is taken from you and quickly replaced with a cool wet red one.

“What the…'' you're about to protest, when the feeling of the cool water hitting your skin shuts you up. You see him, pouring a bit more water on the rag and running it down your bare arms.

He doesn’t say anything, after wiping both your arms, he gets the rag wet again with cold water and hands it to you, “take it.”

You do, and wipe your face and then cover your forehead with it. You close your eyes and let the cool water seep through your pores, it's something, it won’t cure you, but it's something for now.

“Here.” His voice brings you back, and you open your eyes to see him holding out some of the pills and his water jug. 

Your hestent, wondering why he’s being so nice now? He keeps his hand out for you to take the items, and after another second of thinking you finally do. Swallowing the pills and taking the smallest of drinks, no need to piss him off by downing his water, you hand back the jug. “Thanks.” You mumble. 

He nods, and is about to speak when another voice from the other side of the counter breaks the slice, “Daryl, you in here?” 

Present 

You would soon come to find out and meet Rick Grimes, the man attached to that voice, and after seeing you in the state you were in that day, and asking himself if you were bit. Would then ask if you wanted to come with them and join their group.

Now here you were, somehow stuck back in that same drug store just a few miles from camp. Nighttime has settled in, and you can’t leave, with the horde of walkers outside, too many to kill on your own. Even if you could somehow make a path through, you know yourself, and your fighting abilities, you were good, but not that good.

Luckily the doors were still in good shape, and the horde didn’t know you were in the store, so they were just passing by. This has been going on for 20 minutes, and it didn’t look like they were going away anytime soon.

You had checked the backdoor, but it must be barcade on the outside, so here you sit, with your back against the wall, behind that same counter, waiting for the time pass, and hoping no one from the group notices that you're gone and starts to worry.

Running through your interactions with everyone earlier, you don’t think anyone would have seen you slip out, and you never told anyone of your plan, so you should be good, you try and reassure yourself. Stacking up the discarded bottles again in a precarious tower, what else is there to do?

“What are you doing?” a voice, gruff, deep, deadpan startles you and the tower tumbles down.

“Shit!” you yell, looking up you see Daryl leaning over the counter looking down at you. “How did you….” you start to question. Wondering how he found you? Why was he here? and how did he get in?

He strums his fingers on the counter, as if he can read your thoughts, “I saw you slip out from the gates after dinner. Waited for a bit, but when it was getting dusk and you weren’t back, figure I go out and find you.”

“So you tracked me like what...a dear?” You question, not sure if you should be flattered or creeped out by it.

“No…a dear would have been a bit more of a challenge, you were easy to find.” He jokes, and gives you a quick smile, to your glare and giving him the finger.

“Ha,ha,” you quip. getting up, you walk over to the counter, “how did you get in? sounds like that horde of walkers are still out there?” You question, looking over his shoulder, you can just barely make out the crowd still moving.

He looks towards the doors and then back to you. “AC unit on the roof, the air return drops down in the office on the other side of the store.”

“Well aren’t you just the MacGyver of the post-apocalyptic world?” You tease. He cocks his head, giving you a questionable look at your reference. Letting a sigh, “Sersious, dude, what did you watch as a kid? or did you not have a tv?”

“Come on.” He brushes off your comments, and motions for you to follow him. “What were you thinking of doing a run this late?” He questions, waiting for you to grab your gear and walk over to him.

Shit, you were hoping not to have to tell anyone why you went on this run. There was a reason you went on your own, and Daryl, especially telling Daryl was not on your list of something you wanted to do. “Umm…it's nothing….stupid really…” you start and stop yourself, wishing he would take pity on you and drop it.

Daryl wasn’t going to let you off with that answer. After all he did come and risk his ass in saving you. Even though it wasn’t a big risk for him, he knew he could find you, and get you back to camp in one piece, but still, he wants an explanation. Leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, he is not moving until you start talking. “Come on, out with it.”

You let out a sigh, “Fine” you say, and start digging in your bag, “this.” You state and pull out your purple bandana. 

Daryl knew that was yours the moment he saw you pull it out of the bag. He remembered it, taking a corner of it in his hands, the fabric ruff from the dried water/sweat. “You came back for this?” He questions, wondering why risking your neck for a piece of fabric was so important.

Slightly embarrassed, taking Daryl’s tone as stupidity or bewilderment, you pull back the bandana from his fingers and stuff it back in the bag. “Look, I said it was stupid, okay, lets just drop this and go.” You quip, feeling your cheeks start to go red of embarrassment. You start to head towards the office.

The feel of Daryl’s hand on your wrist, stops you from taking any more steps from him. “Don’t walk away from me.” His voice is commanding, but not in a harsh mean way.

The feel of his callus hands in your slightly worked but not as worked as his send a shiver up your spine. You’ve only known him for a few weeks now, and most of that time you were coming down from a cold. So why was the feel of his skin next to yours, him coming to find you, and the thoughts of him judging you make your head spin and your heart slightly race. “You're going to think it's stupid” you mumble, keeping your eyes and body away from him.

“Try me.” He replies, letting you keep your eyes off him, but still holding you in place.

You let out a breath, “it was my dad’s, or at least one of them. He was a mechanic before the world fell, and he always had a bandana in his back pocket. This was my favorite color.” Your voice slightly cracks at the end. thinking about your dad, your family, life before the world was on fire, it hurts too much. You feel the tears start to slightly fall. “He was gone before…”

Pulling you back and into his arms, laying your head on his chest, Daryl says nothing. He wraps his arms around you, surrounding you in a cocoon of him. The feel of him, his strength around allows you to let go. Sobbing, cries that you have been holding in for so long let go, and pour out of you and into his chest. He’s silent, running a hand up and down your back in comfort.

You're not sure how long, but when you feel there is nothing left you pull back to see the tear stain circles on his black shirt. “I am sorry.” Your voice shakes, bringing a hand up to wipe your face. 

Daryl takes his red bandana out from his back pocket, and wipes your cheeks. “Nothing to be sorry about.” He replies. Gentle wipe away the last tear from your jaw. He knows what it's like to lose your family, to be on your own. He wants to tell her he understands that she shouldn't be embarrassed by wanting to hold onto a piece of her past. He gets it, in more ways then she will ever know.

But now is not the time. Whatever he’s feeling for her, whatever he thinks could happen between them, the reality is, that it won’t. This pull that she has on him, it will pass, it has too. Stuffing the red bandana back into his pocket, and his feelings aside. He lets go of his hold on her and starts walking towards the office.

[nenilein]

Drama CD #1-1: The Genie of Wishes in the Underground Ruins (ENG)

[DISCLAIMER: This translation was made by me! Feel free to repost parts of it or the entire text wherever you want as long as you credit the translator correctly!]

INTRO

Arle: Drama CD Puyo Puyo! 

-

STORY

Narrator: A dark underground ruin crawling with dangerous monsters… This is the setting of a certain legend the people tell. It is said that within this ruin a being known as the “Genie of Wishes” has been sealed, and that he shall grant but a single wish of whoever comes to break this seal… 

SFX: *Puyo popping sounds*

Arle: Hah! There! One, two… Ice Storm!

SFX: *Monster dying shriek*

Arle: I did it!

SFX: *bouncing*

Carbuncle: Gugu! Gugugu!

Arle: Oh! Carby’s using that Puyo as a trampoline! That sure looks fun!

Arle: But this isn’t the time! C’mon, we gotta hurry on along!

Carbuncle: Gu-gugu!

SFX: *their footsteps as they run further into the labyrinth*

Arle: It sure has been a while since we’ve gone on this sort of adventure, hasn’t it? Let’s make sure that the first people to break the seal on the wishin genie sealed at the center of this dungeon will be us! Okay, Carby?

Carbuncle: Gugu, gugu!

Arle: Yeah, you’ve right! That’s why we’ve gotta speed up! I mean, what if somebody’s already gotten in here before us?

Witch: Howdy!

Arle: WARRRGH!! …Witch? Don’t scare me like that, geez!

Witch: Oh, c’mon, gimme a smile! Say ‘Howdy!’

Arle: H-Howdy…? Wait, if you’re here, then that means… You’re after the wishing genie too, aren’t you? 

Witch: Yep, guess I am.

Arle: Then you leave me no choice! Let’s battle!

Witch: Now, hold on a minute! Personally, I’ve got no intentions of scuffling with you, Arle!

Arle: Huh?

Witch: I mean, this dungeon is dangerous, like, VERY dangerous. And I’m just a frail little witchling, oh, however will I make it through here on my own? So I was thinking, Arle, how about you and I team up for this adventure? 

Arle: Heh? Um, well… 

Witch: Oh, please, please, pretty please? Do it for your old friend Witch~? 

Carbuncle: Gugu…?

Arle: I mean, if you really wanna party up that bad… I guess…

Witch: …As if~…Ohohoho…

Witch:  Gotcha guard down! Meteo!!

SFX: *attacking sound*

Arle: Heheh! Not a chance!!

SFX: *spellcasting and attacking sounds*

Witch:  WHOA!!

Arle:  I knew it! You were never the type to play nice. I figured you had some kind of ulterior plan, so I made sure to prepare a counter attack when you weren’t paying attention!

Witch:  Urgh…This blows…

Arle: You stay here and take a little nap now. 

Witch:  Hmpf! This isn’t fair, you know! 

Arle: Right back at you! Seriously… Anyway, Carby, let’s move on!

SFX: *footsteps*

Carbuncle: Gugu!

Witch: W-WAIIIIT!

SFX: *they keep running*

-

Arle: *sigh* So Witch made it here too… And if she did, then I bet-

Carbuncle: *gasp* GUGU!!

Arle:  Huh? Carby?

Schezo:  Hmpf… Arle. It would see you too have laid your sights upon the legendary Genie of-

Arle: YES, BINGO!! I KNEW it was gonna be Schezo next~!

Schezo:  What the- S-STOP POINTING AT ME! My face is NOT your bingo sheet!

Arle: Geez, it’s just a figure of speech, calm down! By the way, what’s it you’re after today? My magic power or that of the wishing genie?

Schezo:  Hmpf. I shall answer you. What I desire… is BOTH! 

SFX: *sword slash*

Arle: Ack! Rushing forward and attacking is not cool! 

SFX: *Puyo chaining sounds*

Schezo: It is your own fault for neglecting your guard! Finally, today will be the day that I shall make you my own! Oh, roar, my Dark Sword! 

Arle:  Urgh! I can’t fall behind…

SFX: *Puyo chaining sounds*

Arle:  Judgement! 

Schezo: That won’t suffice! I am more than ready to neutralize and counter that attack! Sting Shade!!

SFX: *blast*

Arle:  Argh! Schezo is always so strong…!

Schezo: Hmpf. Are you ready to beg for your life now? …W-Wait! What is that there dangling from your hip? It is… so round! 

Arle:  That? Oh, that’s a good luck charm Amitie gave me a while back. It’s a little plush figure that looks like an acorn frog. I think it’s really super-

Schezo: Uhh… it’s so cuuuuute…!

Arle: Yeah, right? It’s super cute and…! Wait, huh? 

Schezo: Such a lovely sight…! While the real thing is already unsurpassable in its adorableness, seeing a plush figure modeled in its image is just too…!

Arle: Um, Schezo? Anybody still home in there…? 

Carbuncle: Gugu, gugu…

Schezo: Right now, there is nothing… NOTHING I desire more than to have YOU!!

Arle: Ah… um… You mean… the plush, right? Okay, anyway…

SFX: *Puyo chaining sounds*

Arle: Seriously, how can he leave himself wide open like that… Urgh… I can’t even feel any good about this, but… let’s just get this over with.

Arle: MIND BLAST!

SFX: *blast, cartoon birds tweeting*

Schezo: WAAAARGH!

Arle: Critical hit straight to the brain, huh? Anyway, you spend some time recovering from the mind-melt here now!

Schezo: *lisping* Uhh… uhh… Where’sh this? What wash I… doing…? 

Arle: Okay, Carby. Let’s hurry on along!

Carbuncle: Gu-gugu!

SFX: *footsteps as they leave*

-

Arle: We’re pretty far in now, huh?

Carbuncle: Gugu…

Arle:  I’m pretty sure we’re just about due for her now…

Rulue: OH-HOHOHOHO!

Arle: *sigh* Yeah… There’s the laugh. I figured. I knew she’d show up. But, still..

Rulue: I had a feeling you would be here, Arle! 

Arle: Hey there… Rulue…

Rulue: You must also be searching for the Genie of Wishes. But in the end I will be one to undo the seal! And then I shall have a GORGEOUS wedding with my darling prince, Satan!

Arle: Yeah. That stupid, bland wish sure sounds like you.

Rulue: *shrieking* What are you calling “stupid” and “bland”!? Arle! Not only must you always stand in the way of my romance with my Satan, but now you’re also being so incredibly rude to me!!

Arle: What did I even do!? It’s Satan who’s obsessed with chasing me, not the other way around! 

Rulue: *shriek* You will pay for this…! I will shut you up for good with my marvelous martial arts techniques! 

Arle: *sigh* Yeah, of course this is where this conversation went.

Rulue: I will NOT hold back for a second! 

SFX: *Puyo chaining sounds*

Rulue: Queen’s Dance!

Arle: AAAAAAHH!!

SFX: *blast, more chaining sounds*

Arle: AHH, she sure still knows how to pack a punch! Urgh, and I’m still powered out from casting earlier. I really was hoping to avoid more battles… Looks like I’ve got only one choice!

Rulue: Come now, Arle. What’s wrong? Show me your best shot!

Arle: Hey, Rulue! Look behind you! It’s Satan!

Rulue: Such an obvious lie! That trick won’t work on me.

Arle: But Rulue, he’s waving at you~

Rulue: Ungh… As if I’d fall for this…!

Arle: Oh! And now he’s winking at you!

Rulue: …Uhhh….uhh…!

Arle: Ah! He just blew you a kiss!

Rulue: …She’s lying… I know she’s lying, but… Oh, why must you betray me, my foolish heart…!? OH, MY DARLING, SATAN~!!

Arle: Hngh! Fireball!

SFX: *chain sound, blast*

Rulue: AAAAAHHH!

Arle: Sorry for this, Rulue. But I really don’t think you should have THAT wish granted~!

Rulue: How dare you… AAAARLE!!

SFX: *footsteps as Arle runs away*

Rulue: COME BACK HERE, RIGHT NOW!

-

SFX: *still running*

Arle: *pant, pant…* …Ahh!! There it is! The final door!

Carbuncle: Gu-gugu!

Arle: The wishing genie is sealed behind that door! And we’re first in line to unseal him!

Carbuncle: Gugu!

SFX: *gate opening*

SFX: *slow footsteps*

Satan: Truely, Arly, Carbunny! You two ARE first in line! Let me congratulate you! …Or, well, you would be first. If one were to not count me! The great monarch of the night, Satan!

Arle: Satan? You’re here too!?

Satan: I had a feeling you would not miss your chance to visit this place, so I waited here. Hah. And you have done well defeating the many opponents in your path and making it here first! I expected no less of you, Arle! You are truly worthy of being my wedded empress! 

Arle: I keep telling you! I’ll NEVER be your “empress”! *sigh* How many times have I said that line now? I’ve kinda lost count. 

Carbuncle: Gugu-gu…

Satan: Now, now, there’s no need to be flustered! WAHAHAHAHA!!

Arle: This is really bad… Satan may be a moron, but he’s also really super powerful…!

Satan: Now, Arly, Carbunny, time to stop playing coy! Else I’ll have to be a liiiittle forceful in escorting you out of her~!

Arle: *sigh* Overthinking this isn’t going to help… Let’s get this going, Satan!

SFX: *Puyo popping sounds*

Arle: Hah! There! Fireball!!

Satan: Oh my, oh my… I suppose I shall accept this symbol of your burning passion! 

Arle: Urgh… Ice Storm!

Satan: Ahhh~ Such a nice, little breeze~

Satan: It is about time I returned fire… Disaster!

Arle: *screaming* AAAAAH!!

Carbuncle: *screaming: GUUUU!!

Arle:  Ou, ou, ou, ou, ouch…! Carby! Are you okay?

Carbuncle: Gugu…

Satan: Awww! Don’t make such a sad face my precious little Carbunny! I promise I’ll give you lots of pets after we’re done here~!

Arle: Hm… Satan!

Satan: Hm? What is it, Arle?

Arle: Um…Could you stand over there for a moment?

Satan: For what? Do you want to admire me striking battle poses for a little longer~? Hm~?

Arle: A little further right!

Satan: You mean here? How is this? Does this angle make me look especially handsome?

Arle: Yes, yes, that’s very good~! …Now, Carby!!

Carbuncle: Gu! GUGUGU!!

SFX: *Rubelcrack Beam*

Satan: W-WAAAAARGH!!! M…My eyes! MY EYES!! 

Arle: Perfect teamwork, Carby! Okay, Satan, we’re gonna go now! BYE~!

Satan: U-Urgh… N-No, wait… This can’t be… ARLE, WAIIIT!!

SFX: *footsteps as Arle runs away*

-

SFX: *still running*

Arle: *panting* 

SFX: *stops running*

Arle: *deep breath* Carby! We did it! We’re here!

Carbuncle: Gu-gugu!

Arle: Now, let’s see… Where’s that Wishing Genies sealed? The only thing I can see in this room is some musty, old kind of pot…

Genie(muffled): Over here…!

Arle: Whoaaa!! The pot just talked to me!

Genie(muffled): Over here…! I am sealed within this awful thing!

Arle: Oh, so that’s how it is… Hey, so, I heard that you’ll grant one wish to the person who helps you outta there. Is that true?

Genie(muffled): Yes. No matter how greedy or preposterous your wish, it will come true just as you imagine it! Now, come on, hurry, open the lid of this jar!

Carbuncle: Gugu…

Arle: …Right, you feel it too, don’t you, Carby? I have this really bad feeling about this.

SFX: *someone comes running*

Witch: *panting* …Hold it right there!

Arle: Argh! Witch!?

Witch: *panting* …Now I’ve caught up to you! 

SFX: *more people running*

Schezo&Rulue: *heavy panting* 

Schezo: ARLE! YOU’LL PAY FOR EARLIER!

Rulue: ARLE! DON’T YOU THINK YOU’VE WON ALREADY!

Arle: And now Schezo and Rulue are here too!

Schezo: Now hand me that jar at once!

Rulue: Give it to me!

Witch: No, to me!

[The scene now descends into Schezo, Rulue and Witch incomprehensibly bickering over each other about who should take the pot from Arle. This keeps going as Arle starts to talk again.]

Arle: What do I do now…? Argh! I don’t have time to think this over!!

SFX: *jar being ploppen open*

Witch:  EEK! Arle already opened the jar!!

Arle: Whoa…! *cough* What’s with all this smoke? What is going on!?

Rulue: Kiii! What is happening now!?

Schezo: Wait…

Rulue:  Huh?

Schezo: Something is not right here…!

Arle: Huh!? The smoke is taking the shape of a person!

Genie:  Wa-Ha-Ha… Hehehehehehe!! You fools! Thank you for breaking the seal on me, the Genie of Despair!!

Arle: Huh?

Schezo: The Genie of…Despair?

Rulue: But did the legend not speak of a Genie of Wishes?

Genie: Hahaha! That was a rumor I spread to lure foolish adventurers here. And it seems my plan worked perfectly!

Witch: Then… It was all a lie!?

Genie: That is precisely what it was! I mean who in their right mind would grant you lots’ wishes!? I must say, watching you all be deceived by such an obviously made up tale and quarrel so gruesomely among each other was very amusing! 

The Group: *restless sounds*

Genie: Eheheheheh! My powers are returning to me quickly! Behold the great power that once spread poison miasma across the lands! A magic which’s destructive spells once drove out each and every challenger who stepped before me, and turned this area into a land of despair!

The Group: *more restless sounds*

Genie:  Now, you shall fear me! Tremble in terror! In thanks of breaking my seal, you all shall be the first to taste the despair I-

The Group: SHUT THE HECK UP!! (Gu-gugu-GU!)

Genie: …Heh?

Witch: How dare you deceive me! You sure have nerve!

Rulue: I’ll teach you to play with the dreams of a maiden in love!

Schezo: I have no use for the magic of a being as repulsive as you!

Arle:  You’ve REALLY gone and made us mad at you now, you know!?

Carbuncle:  Gugu-gugu-GU!

[Everybody is incomprehensibly yelling at the genie without waiting their turn.]

Genie:  W-Wait! Were you even listening to what I said!? *deep breath* I am an INCREDIBLY powerful Genie of Despair, who is going to-

Arle: EAT THIS CHAIN! Here I go!! Diacute!

SFX: *Puyo popping sounds*

Witch: I’ll take over! Twinkle Dust!

Rulue: Very well! Concentration!

Schezo:  Oh, dark power… Tear Apart!

Genie:  *shrieking* What is this comet my eyes see before me!? W-Wait! Just a moment ago you were quarreling and snarling amongst each other! Why can you suddenly work together so perfectly!?

Arle: Take this! This is a special chain, full of all our anger! BAYO~EN!!

SFX: *BIIIG IMPACT*

Genie: WAAAAAAAHHH! *blasts off like Team Rocket*

Arle: *pants and sighs* Haaah… Now I feel a little better, I guess.

Witch: We managed to unite our powers wonderfully!

Schezo: Not by choice, of course, but I am also not surprised.

Rulue: Who would’ve thought that a party as prone to quarreling as us could work together so well?

Arle: Yeah, it’s scary how well we all synchronize when it comes down to it, huh?

SFX: *someone comes running*

Satan: Ah! Arle! What happened here? I heard a loud noise…

Arle: Oh! Satan! You only just got here? Your eyes aren’t hurting still, are they…?

Satan: Hmpf… I still find myself blinking a bit more than I should. But, much more importantly! I just saw a rather evil-looking genie come soaring my way. Before I knew it I’d caught it in my hands and sealed it away in a bottle suitable for the job, but where did it come from, I wonder? 

Genie(muffled again): No! NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!!

Rulue: *squee* Oh, my darling Satan! As expected of you, you saved the day!

Schezo: Just throw the bottle out with the recyclables. Nobody wants that trash.

Satan: What has gotten into you…?

Rulue: That all aside… *sigh* What a waste. I came all this way hoping for a gorgeous wedding with my Satan, and now this!

Satan: R-Rulue… I think you just gave me the chills…

Schezo: *sigh* I too came here looking to increase my power, but it seems all the walking was for naught…

Witch: It’s mortifying! I thought I’d be able to use this as a pretext to finally become a fully-fledged witch!

Arle: Yeah, same here! Just when I thought I’d be able to finally get my hands on some good curry again!

Carbuncle: Gugu!

Schezo: Wait…

Schezo, Rulue & Witch:  You were going to wish for CURRY!?

-END

[tubborucho]

Yeah, I am pretty sure he thought of it as a light-hearted way to explain Sunny why Tallulah is moody. Doesn’t change the fact that it was a fucked up thing to say and genuinely hurtful for a literal toddler.

This and your point about people not being able to let go of the whole Dadza thing are two of my biggest problems with q!Phil. I know it's not cc!Phil's fault how people treat him but the way people overhype his parenting does make it more irritating as a viewer. It's not just fans, though, most characters seem to share this view of him as an amazing Dad. The fact that he stepped up for Tallulah when Wilbur left is great and the effort he puts in is great, but his parenting skills are just okay.

It feels like every time he talks to or about Sunny he ends up doing something bad that's brushed off because "that's just how Phil talks" or "he's just protecting his kids".

His reaction to Sunny's train was awful. I know he has a banter-y relationship with Tubbo but he was criticizing her father and her own choices right in front of her. It felt like he didn't even absorb any of what Tubbo was telling him. Like, why did he keep complaining about it feeling sterile when it was a brand new build and Sunny chose the white blocks themself?

The morality test about stealing the panda was completely unacceptable. Genuinely horrible thing to do to a child especially when he told her point blank at the end that it was a test that she managed to pass. Why would she trust someone who might be secretly testing her?

The talk in the museum was bad for both Sunny and Tallulah. Tallulah isn't "in a mood," she has genuine concerns but has still been making an effort with Sunny even while trying to maintain some distance. For Sunny he was playing up a very real insecurity to make a point. It's not really fair to Tubbo either, his game was having issues and he left his daughter with two of the people he trusts the most. I went to watch from the vod for slightly more context and chat reactions and Phil did not waste any time at all. The moment Tubbo was gone he rolled straight into it with Sunny.

There was also a point a few days ago where Tallulah showed some discomfort over Empanada and Phil responded with this:

Empanada’s nice, you like Empanada. You like Em. It’s Sunny you’re not a fan of. Sunny’s just all in your face with money and sunglasses and shit. But, like, Sunny’s fine too. Sunny’s just a bit much though. Sunny takes a while to get used to.

Sunny was not around for this but it's still a terrible way to talk about a child. They weren't even the egg Tallulah was concerned about at the time. And I do believe that q!Phil wasn't trying to be mean here but he still was. He is consistently unkind to Sunny even when he's trying to make a good point or a joking.

Wait, is the last thing a genuine quote? Because I haven’t heard this one before.

And yeah. Listen, Phil is a good parent. He takes care of Chayanne and Tallulah very well. He is a good parent, but it doesn’t mean that he is good that way for every other child ever. I think people forget that Dad figures in stories don’t mean that they are perfect in every adult-child relationship ever.

He is a great dad for Chay and Lullah. He is genuinely very condescending towards Sunny. It’s like every time they interact he just refuses to even try to see past his initial impression of them. Phil wrote her down for no reason as a shallow and tolerable at best kid in his books, and acts on that judgement in a way that he doesn’t care about her in any way past their basic safety and sometimes teaching them stuff if they need it immediately.

The only reason he pays Sunny any mind at all is that he cares for Tubbo. Also not in a parental way that people (and Tubbo lmao) seem to try and picture it as, but he cares. Sunny is just a tag along.

And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that he should love her like his own or even really like her. It’s fine. I am saying that he still should treat her with the same grace as other kids that are not his – she is a child, you are speaking of and with a child, being mean about and to them is not okay. Especially because this child did literally nothing wrong.

[alpaca-clouds]

The Church in Castlevania

Okay, folks, I need to get this out of my system. Because this is always such a bad faith argument and... yeah, I just need to get that out there.

Now, I think most of us can agree that a lot of the game fans, who hate on the series, are just... looking for reasons to hate on it. Because in this time and age it is apparenting not just okay for people to say: "This wasn't for me" and move on. No, folks need to make up reasons why actually the thing they don't like is the worst thing ever.

In terms of Castlevania that comes with people idealizing the games (and quick reminder: I like most of the games, but... their storytelling is still very lackluster) and of course making up issues with that.

And one of the made-up hate reasons they found is how the church and religion are depicted.

They will claim: "Religion is a force of good and such an important part of the games and the Netflix series made religion a bad thing!"

And I am sorry. This is bullshit. Especially as someone who has been raised Catholic - aka the flavor of Christianity that Castlevania features.

Let me explain.

How the Games depict Catholicism

Now, I am no longer Catholic. Because of all the bullshit the Catholic church did to kids, and also their stand towards queer people. But I can tell you: If I still was Catholic, I would probably be offended at the games.

Look, this is how religious characters like priests and nuns look in the games.

And, I am sorry, this is all bad.

Now, let me start with Tera, because she is probably the least offensive in there. Because her dress per se is alright. That is what a habit of a nun would look like. Most probably St. Thomas or Ursuline. But... there is one glaring issue: She is not wearing a head scarf. And that is an important part of being a nun. Like, really. nuns are usually allowed to drop the rest of their habbit. If you live somewhere with an abby (or go to a school where nuns are the teachers like me) you might see nuns running around in normal clothing... But never without their headscarf. The hair has to be covered. It is kinda part of the point.

Next up would be Vincent. And that dress is just like... Okay, I am gonna give them some points for giving him the right hair style that would made him Capucian. But the rest of his design? What is even going on there? That is not Catholic, that is just some fantasy priest design. It absolutely makes no sense. Even less so under the entire "well, technically he should be a monk" idea. The design is bad. Really bad.

And then we have the nameless Priest of Moonlight Rhapsody. Who... looks like you crossed a Capucian monk with a freaking druid?! Like... What?!

Not to mention, of course, that while Sypha in the games is not technically a nun (though she hides as one) she hides as one and also is said to have a close tie to religion, being a woman of faith and all of that.

Now, the CV3 design is not even that offensive.

Like, sure, the blue is a bit weird, but... You know what? Hair is covered. The clothing is very conceiling. Yeah. It is not ideal from a Catholic point of view. So, that is okay.

But then we have the Castlevania Judgement design.

And... Do I really have to explain why this design is offensive on so many levels?

Like, you cannot just put a female character in this super sexy outfit, put so many fucking crosses on it and then go like: "Yay, religious character!"

Ironically the character who has the best religious design in the games is fucking Zead.

Outsie of that, let us look how religion gets depicted within the text... Well, no, let's not do that, because it isn't. Religion is not there in the text. At all. Because it is just a purely aesthetic thing that happens within the games. Charakters have religious affiliations, you will regularly find a chapelle in Dracula's castle with all the pretty stained glass and all that. But... It is not really there.

I think Alucard is a very good example of this. In Japanese artwork he gets depicted with a rosary or cruzifix from time to time. Like on the cover of Symphony of the Night.

But there is nothing religious about how he acts. There is no prayers. Nothing in terms of how he speaks. Really nothing. It is nothing but an aesthetic.

And... that is basically the whole thing going on with the games.

The thing folks miss, when it comes to the depiction of Christianity in the games, is that the games are first and foremost Japanese games made by Japanese games for a Japanese market. And in Japan only 1.5% of all people are Christian. And to Japanese people, Christianity is a very exotic. It is about as exotic as Shintoism is to European and American people. So, the Christianity within the games is very much that. It is basically the same like an American game in which some characters run around with Kitsune masks, or where you run through a shrine with nice torii in front.

Is it offensive in a horrible way? No. Or not that much, and be it just because Christians over here love to feel offended, but actually rarely are because they are the majority. It isn't that bad. But is it a good depiction? No, definitely not.

How Religion gets portrayed in the Castlevania series

So, let me talk about how the series - both the one from 2017 and now Nocturne portray Christianity and how this is related to their historical contexts. Now, let me first get one thing out of the way. The bishop and the Catholic church.

Yes, the bishop is clearly wearing the vestments of a Catholic bishop. Stylized, yes, but this is clearly Catholic vestments. And I have no heard several people claim that this is ahistoric because of Romania in general being mostly Eastern Orthodox.

But here is the big issue with that is, that... Yeah, Eastern Orthodoxy started to spread in Wallachia about a hundred years early. And it was from all we can say (look, there is little of written information that survived on the exact distribution). And I will not do it to you and myself to go deeper into the entire chasm between the Orthodox and the Catholic church.

Something that just needs to be said: The late 15th and the early 16th century in this area was a lot of religious turmoil. Which also had to do with the one historical detail that is not quite adressed in the show: Wallachia was just at the border to the Ottoman Empire, who tried to conquer Europe from there. (Again, the entire historical Vlad Tepes was so closely tied to that story. He got killed by the Ottomans in 1476.)

But that is also the aspect the show rightly brings in in one regard.

See, generally speaking one of the reasons that we got the Spanish Inquisition (which, again, was not about witches!) and the witch hunts just after the middle ages ended, so in the late 15th century was the conflict within the Church. There were suddenly several Christian religions and they were in conflict with each other and with that came a lot more push for the Churches to have power. The witch hunts were a way for them to clear up their power.

And yeah, that was a horrible thing they did. But... it is historically accurate. In fact, I would find it kinda offensive to look at the church of this time and show them as these nice people. Because that is kinda fucking with the pain and trauma of all those killed in the name of the church.

Now, Sala and his men are clearly Eastern Orthodox. While the clothing is not an exact match, the stuff they wear and also how they wear their hair and what not... That is Eastern Orthodox design.

Admittedly, the Priory is a but... bland for that. The Priory looks almost like Protestant. But than again it is a priory in a little town, so I guess it is somewhat understandable that it is not quite as fancy as Orthodox churches would be.

When it comes to the depiction of them... Well, I mean, they are not crazy because of their religion, they are crazy because somehow the night creature has brainwashed them.

That is honestly all I have to say.

And yeah, of course I should mention that we have of course Isaac there, who is a very religious character and who, in the very end, also gets depicted in a more positive light.

Now, compared to the original show Nocturne put in a TON MORE research when it comes to the depiction of the religious folks. Because while I do not consider the depiction in the original show as wrong, there is also not a ton of nuance and neither is there a lot of... details in there.

And compared to that we have now Nocturne and they just get the Knights Hospitaller so right. As well as their role within the revolution and all that. And... you know what? I am just gonna leave this blog here, where I went more into all of that.

But yeah, the entire thing is, that... in the games, Christianity is just an aesthetic. There is no substance to it. It is just to make the setting and the characters more exotic from a Japanese perspective. Meanwhile the show, which is mainly producted for a western audience, is more aware of the historical context it is set in and what role the Church took in it.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

i think the reason why people don’t like mai for zuko is because zuko is already a very grumpy, angry, pessimistic person and so is mai soo they reasoning is that he needs somebody with a more opposite and optimistic, personality like jin and katara who are more nice and caring than mai idk cause zuko does cheer up a little at the end aand katara is more supporting at the end at least oor that’s what people say idk what do you think? why does zuko chooses mai and not jin or katara? and what do you think of the people who “knows whats best for z ??

Anon, I'm gonna be honest here: the people that genuinely dislike Mai with any kind of bias affecting their judgement are very rare. Anyone who tells you the overwhelming hate she gets, both as Zuko's girlfriend and as her own character, are not 99% the result of zutarians being bitter that she "stole Katara's man" are either lying to you or were lied to.

Mai, alongside Ty Lee, is one of the most chill antagonists of the show. Zuko was far grumpier and MUCH more furious than she ever was. Hell, her main deal is that she is always too chill because she was taught to repress her emotions and not voice her opinions.

THIS is why she is Zuko's true opposite, the yin to his yang. When he is letting his emotions cloud his judgement, she's the voice of reason. And in turn, when she's getting too distant, he makes get out of her shell and connect. They've had their issues, sure, but by the end of the show they were all pretty much fixed.

Also, I would NOT call Zuko a pessimistic character. He has low points and moments of panic, but that boy kept himself mostly sane during three years of exile by holding onto to hope that, maybe, just maybe, this supposedly dead enemy of his nation that had been seen in 100 years was not actually dead, thus his mission wasn't pointless, and he'd have a way home. Just look at how over-confident Zuko is battle and at how many life threatening situations he got himself into because he acted without a plan, assuming that everything would turn out alright somehow. That boy is an optimist. A grumpy, moody, reckless optimist, but still.

Again, that's the kind of situation where he and Mai would ballance each other out. She likes the thrill of these adventures as much he does, but she will NOT act without thinking. Hell, she won't even put up with stuff that is not dangerous but that she considers beaneath her (see her refusing to follow orders in "The Drill").

This is thing that really bothers me about shipping, not just in this fandom: people forget that no one wants to date their clone, but no one wants to date their COMPLETE opposite either. You need common ground.

Katara and Zuko have the same temperament - proud, strong-willed, stubborn, wearing their hearts in their sleeves, and willing to get VERY mean when pissed off (never forget the "The stars look beautiful tonight. Too bad you can't see them, Toph!"). Then being a couple would just BEGGING for them to have some very ugly fights. As for their differences? Like I've said a million times before, their goals in life are so different they wouldn't even live in the same country. How could a romance between EVER work?

Ty Lee's temperament would be a good ballance for Zuko's, but the most common ground they have is they hang out with the same two girls and maaaaybe Zuko believes in auras too since he basically demanded Mai to defend herself when Ty Lee insulted her aura (this is totally not me letting my headcanon of Zuko taking that stuff 100% serious and writting down everything Ty Lee says on the topic cloud my judgement). Other than that, we see that Zuko clearly wants to be Fire Lord, and while Ty Lee just wanted to go back to the circus or travel around with her new friends. We barely get any interaction between them, so acting like there's evidence for her to be his perfect match is quite the stretch.

Same for Jin. They got along well enough on their date, but that was just for short bit of an episode, not even the entire episode itself. That's too little to claim she could be "the one" for him.

With Mai meanwhile, we had a ton of episodes, in which we got to see their relationship's ups and downs, and see that they managed to bounce back from some pretty serious conflicts and still clearly adore each other after it all.

As for Zuko choosing her over any other girl, it's simple. He likes her. He likes her dry/sarcastic humor, how badass she is, how much she enjoys physical affection, how she doesn't put with any bullshit fro anyone (including himself), how she was bold enough to basically tell him, Azula and Ty Lee to fuck off, how pretty she is when she hates the world (unbelievably iconic line) etc.

Mai is Zuko's type of girl, she likes him back, and they are compatible, and thus they ended up together. It's not rocket science.

[wildpeachfarm]

https://www.tumblr.com/wildpeachfarm/745438439611285504/i-understand-people-saying-with-18-you-arent-a

I’d like to add something here: even though Caiti was underaged (bc, let’s be real, drinking underage isn’t the craziest thing out there)(but suggesting drinking games and getting shitfaced with near strangers isn’t, even in a hotel room that’s not your own, but that’s besides the point) it was her and Ghostie’s responsibility to know their limits. Now let me explain, because there’s a lot of nuance here and I don’t want to seem victim blamey.

If you’re planning on drinking somewhere—even in your own home—you must know your limits between buzzed, tipsy, drunk, and blackout drunk. That way, you know how to pace yourself. Those two could’ve totally gone in there with the idea that they were going to get so drunk that Ghostie would run out of the room, throwing up in her hand (supposedly, because Caiti’s and George’s recounts don’t line up). In fact, they were the ones to suggest and push the drinking game, so it gives the impression that they either were confident in their ability to decline peer pressure (which would be another issue here), or they knew that the point of drinking games is to get very drunk.

Another point is the whole age thing. Yes, it would’ve been better if George asked her age. However, going off of the previous point, the girls went in there suggesting a drinking game. That gives the impression that either you’re 21+ (since it’s America and they’re American girls), or that you know what you’re doing around alcohol. We don’t know if the others asked if they were sure, but again, if they think they’re 21+, why refuse? They’re in the safety of a hotel room with a bunch of people around in plain sight. It’s only fair to assume nothing bad will happen without someone else noticing.

The rest is about clouded judgement when inebriated, but that’s been discussed before here I believe. I could give some personal stories about drinking/drugs and peer pressure (all good stories at the end), but doesn’t really matter here, unless you or others think it is

(i'm sorry for taking ages to answer this nonnie!)

Yes thank you for adding your perspective and I think it is a good one. When you are going into a situation like that, you need to know your limits and how drunk you get how easily, how touchy you get, how good at making decisions you are, etc. and by ignoring that, you're being irresponsible. It doesn't help that she was drinking underage, and is showing her age by acting immature and putting all of the responsibility of the night onto everyone else. And while yes, everyone has /some/ sort of responsibility for what happened, she is not faultless.

There is responsibilities that everyone has to themselves to know how to proceed in a drinking/party environment and if you can't do that, then that scene is not for you.

[rickfucker]

Happy New Year (Rick Sanchez/f!Reader)

happy 369 followers to me, fellow rick fuckers ;) have some soft!Rick smut with angst!

Read on Ao3

Rick Sanchez/f!Reader 3372 Words - NSFW CW for Drug Use, Explicit Language, Smut, & Angst

It’s entirely too easy to fall back into bad habits.

New Years Eve: the righteous, virtue signaling of new beginnings. One of your favorite holidays, of course, for it's absolute fuck-up potential. Well, you’ve never been one to stick to resolutions, anyway.

The club is loud, casual friends and yourself taking up the entirety of the VIP section. These people aren’t your crowd, really, but they get the job done. You wouldn’t turn down a free party invite. Especially tonight.

You cut the lines for the less sober of your group. A blonde girl you hadn’t met before tonight sits beside you, too fucked to hold her head up. It hasn’t even hit midnight yet. You knew she was green the second you saw her. Either way, you’re going to have a good time tonight if it kills you.

You lean over the table, holding your hair behind your ears as you snort a line. It all happens in slow motion. Your hair flips back as you raise your head, falling back over your eyes, slitting your vision. It’s only in flashes of blue and purple that you see him, pure darkness following every third of a second. His eyes lock with yours as your smile falters, but doesn’t fade. You blink a few times as time stills around you, and he takes in the rest of you, the low table that sits in front of you, the powder, dollar bills, and credit card, the girl to your left leaning forward to snort a line. 

You’re breathing heavily, catching your breath, and he looks back to you, and you can’t help the wicked grin that spreads across your lips. He smiles back, if a bit crooked, and makes his way to you.

You lean back and cross your arms and legs. A laugh leaves your lips as your body subconsciously protects you from him.

He looks good. Really good. Dressed up, for once, or at least like he put some kind of thought into what he was wearing. His long black sleeves are pushed up to the elbow, casual. Incredible.

If you were sober right now, you would shrink under his gaze. He stands so cooly. He could belong anywhere he goes, naturally. But with white venom in your system, you only cock your head at him, still smiling in disbelief. 

“Rick.” He has no glass in his hand. Well, sure; he doesn’t need one. “You look good,” you tell him honestly.

He crosses his arms. So he’s protecting himself from you, too. “I could say the same for you,” he says, eyes dancing over the scene to your right, the half-naked people and the drugs, before looking back to you. It’s pointed, but not judgemental.

“It is New Years, after all,” you say with a wave of your hand, exaggerating the holiday's importance. “What are you doing here?”

“Same as you.”

“I mean what are you doing on Earth?” You lean forward, eyes on him as you reach for your drink. 

He shrugs with a look over his shoulder, and you’ve caught him. He’s not here for the booze. He’s not here for the drugs. Surely trying to get laid. But he wouldn’t say that outright. 

That still doesn’t account for the fact that he’s in the same bar as you. With millions to choose from. What are the odds?

“Thought I’d mix it up.” Polite or suggestive?

You sip on your drink as you take him in. You don’t hide that you’re checking him out and he doesn’t care that you are. There’s nothing to be said between the two of you. He didn’t have to come over just because he saw you; he’s never been known to show more courtesy than absolutely necessary, and even then. You can feel your blood pump rhythmically around the rings on your fingers.

He shoves his hands into his pockets. “You really wanna party?” He nods to the drugs in front of you. If he’s trying to look nonchalant, he’s succeeding.

You take a deep breath. “Rick-”

“What?” he interrupts, feigning annoyance.

You give him a look, your smile small. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Up to you.”

There’s a feeling in your gut that says it’s a bad idea. And your gut is normally right. But that was the same gut that instantly wanted to get to know Rick Sanchez. So maybe you’re wrong.

You look to your friends who couldn’t be paying less attention to you. One of the girls you don’t know as well is now straddling some guy diagonal to you, his hands full of her ass as they make out. 

You give a sigh in defeat, grabbing your purse from the floor and standing from the couch, surprisingly steady. He smiles and nods for you to follow him.

The two of you make your way through the heavy crowd, and you break a sweat just from the small exposure. He’s easy to follow, the tallest person in the room. Your heart is racing already. But maybe that’s just the coke.

The fluorescent lights in the bathroom hurt your eyes. You’ve done this before, too many times to count. It’s like falling back into an old routine. A bad habit. And you are.

He takes out a small black bag from his back pocket, taking out the vial and razorblade when you stop at the end of the sinks. The bathroom is full of people and smells like weed, a slight fog hanging in the air. You aren’t the first ones to snort something in this room tonight and you certainly won’t be the last.

You set your purse onto the countertop, fixing your hair and smudged makeup in the mirror. You can see him better now up close, and he really does look good. Thinner, maybe, if that was even possible. You make eye contact in the mirror as he sets his own down flat. It’s mechanical, going through the motions of it. He eyes your compact mirror as you take it out of your purse, but says nothing.

It’s loud from all the talking, but at least you don’t have to yell over music. A stranger would never be able to tell how long it’s been since you’ve spoken, standing so close like it’s second nature to do so.

“You don’t have to be polite, you know.” You look up at him through your lashes. “You’re not gonna offend me.”

He snorts as he leans over to spoon out the bright pink powder carefully onto each mirror. “Yeah, I’m worried about offending you.” His tone is playful but you still don’t know how to take it.

You lean an elbow onto the countertop. “The Rick I know wouldn’t be caught dead at some fucking American club on New Years Eve.”

He looks up at you before cutting the lines. “What- what do you want me to say? That I knew you were here? For fucks sake.” But he doesn’t deny it.

“I’m not complaining,” you add.

He snorts a line before standing back up straight. He takes a deep breath. “Good. ‘Cause this shit was hard to find.”

You smile, the excitement washing over you. You turn to snort one of the five lines left, and the feeling of his hands brushing against your neck to hold your hair back almost fucks you up. The contact lingers as you straighten out, the skin of your neck tingling as your vision starts to haze. It’s like someone turned up the saturation and contrast, and you take a deep breath as the wave of euphoria settles in.

All you can think is how badly you want to touch him. And, yeah, maybe this was a bad idea. But maybe it could be a great idea.

“Where’s the crew?” you ask, just trying to remain neutral.

“Fuck if I know. Haven’t seen BP in a while.”

You frown as he does another line. “Oh.”

“He’s got bigger fish to fry these days. Or, fuckin’- bigger seeds to fuckin’ crack or something.” Last one. He hangs his head with a muttered ‘fuck’.

You do the next two in succession, giving most of your weight to your arms on the counters. “You two were never really in sync.” 

He looks up at you through his unruly hair, and you don’t resist the urge to run your fingers through it, pushing it out of his face. His hair is soft, and the sensation is only amplified by the drugs, and you want to touch him, take his clothes off, feel him again.

His shoulders slump at your touch in instant relaxation. And you don’t really care if it’s that bad of an idea, anymore. Maybe it doesn’t have to matter at all.

His eyes pierce right through you, and you glance to the open stall behind you and back at him, making your move before you can think too hard. You grab your purse, walk into the stall and place it on the toilet paper holder. He follows in after you, shutting the door behind him and securing the lock.

Before you can control the situation, his lips are hot on your neck, biting and sucking as his hands go for your ass. You gasp at the sudden contact, even if you were expecting it. The heat radiates off of him, warm breath tickling the raw spot now on your neck. No drug ever feels quite as good as he does.

Your stomach tightens as you meet his eyes. You grip both of his arms holding you close, pulling him in the rest of the way, kissing him in a mess of teeth and tongue. His hands swipe over your sides, hiking up one of your legs to press into you. Your mouth falls open with a sigh when you feel him hard between your legs. He’s panting hot breath into your open mouth when he grinds into you, and you’re so distracted you barely notice the bright swirling green beneath you in enough time to grab your purse.

You don’t have time to catch sight of your surroundings, now dark and quiet. You’re falling backward onto a mattress and he briefly crushes you before he leverages his weight. He leans back enough to lift your shirt over your head before removing his own. 

You’re hyper aware of how you’re already panting, but he takes it out of you. Naked skin presses against your own as he leans down to catch your lips again, open mouthed and hot. 

“Fuck, Rick,” you sigh, fingers dancing the expanse of his exposed skin. His smirk is one that you’ve seen a thousand times, that cocky arrogance that he and he alone deserves to sport.

He hums as he dips down to suck at the skin of your collarbone, the valley of your breasts, busying his hands with your pants zipper. Your hands go to action to push them down past your hips and he takes care of the rest. 

He assists in holding your legs open, lips pressed to the inside of your knee, your thigh. He laughs at your expense, the unholy display of you before him, his fingers toying briefly with your clit before dipping lower. 

He groans openly into your skin as he slips a finger into your heat, then two. His eyes close in bliss. “God, baby… I fucking knew it.” 

And you already know. The drugs mix with your absolute obsession with his touch; his fingers make a gross squelch that would normally make you self conscious, but you couldn’t care less. It’s everything you had imagined it would be. The years you’ve spent apart.

You moan something only half articulated. His unoccupied hand slides up your waistline to a breast. You grip onto his wrist that you can reach. He feels like heaven.

He pulls away from you to fumble with his own pants. You think his hands are shaking as you go to help him, palming his dick over the fabric. Looks like your hands are shaking, too.

“How long has it been, hm?” you ask, breathless. Of course, you know the answer.

You greedily size him up once his dick is free from constraints. He’s hot and heavy in either hand, the same metal piece threaded through the head. He stutters when your fingers graze delicately over the skin.

“Two years,” he whispers, eyes fluttering shut. God, was he always this needy?

It’s still a pleasant surprise that he knows how long it’s been. You smile as you pull him in impossibly closer, legs wrapping around his hips. “Keeping count?” you tease.

His breath fans over your face once more. “Like you weren’t,” he counters.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

He slides home without any more fanfare, groaning in absolute relief. He stretches you just to the point of discomfort, and you can’t help but rock against him in search of friction.

He nips at your collarbone while he pulls out agonizingly slow, laving each angry mark with his tongue. He’s all consuming, filling you up. You try to work your hips in tandem with his slow pace, but he holds you down with strong, sweaty hands. You’re just about hopped up on enough drugs and adrenaline to be the loudest lay in the world.

“God, I missed this,” he sighs, “Fuck, I- I fucking love this pussy.” 

You can’t help but laugh. “Can’t believe you’re not making me beg for it,” you note with a wrecked smile.

He rolls his eyes, but he’s not committed to it. Too focused, sitting up just enough to watch his dick sink in and out between your legs. “Don’t have the-” you both groan at the friction, the delicious way he grinds upward against your walls, “the patience,” a particularly hard thrust, “to wait for you to- to swallow your pride.”

He leans back over top of you, stretching your leg to push your knee up as he does. You whimper as he slips just a little deeper, somewhere inside of you that radiates outward, ecstasy shooting through your body to your fingertips.

He picks up on the way your breath catches, clenching his jaw before closing the distance between you. It feels so familiar. How long have you been at this? How long have you spent missing him? 

He’s such a skilled kisser even in his most chaotic moments, tongue sweeping hungrily against your own like there’s no part of you that doesn’t belong to him. A lewd string of spit connects you when you pull away for air.

He’s picked a steady rhythm, leaning his forehead against yours for support. Your hands pull at his hair the way he likes, scratching perfectly painted nails down his back when he slips a hand between you to rub your clit with skilled fingers. You pant in each other's mouths and he’s pushing you closer to the edge, getting more frantic.

“You gonna come for me, baby?” he whispers against your lips. You recognize the way he loses control, entirely too intimate with his fist wrapped around your throat. His hold on you mixes with the burning euphoria in the pit of your stomach, and you come before you can form the words to answer him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, yes. Jesus- Jesus Christ, baby, ah, gonna make me come,” he trails off as you squeeze his cock impossibly tighter. He’s stuttering as your orgasm comes down in waves. You clamp down on his shoulders for dear life as he loses himself in you. It’s too much and it’s not enough. You’re whimpering out, “Please, Rick,” before you can stop yourself. What you’re asking for, you don’t really know.

He shutters as he finishes, biting your shoulder to muffle the guttural groan he lets out. You can only relax when he pulls out, leaving your skin bruised and red. He lays back beside you as both of you catch your breath.

“I knew,” he starts. You turn your head a little to look at him as he stares at the ceiling. “I knew you would be there tonight.”

Your heart sinks. You’re falling back to Earth as the high starts to come down, a stupid rush of emotions replacing it. 

He turns his head to look at you. He’s pensive, eyebrows creased above the bridge of his nose. His eyes are searching, flitting between your eyes and over your face. You have to imagine you’re looking at him in the exact same way he’s looking at you.

“Some- Some dumb thing that Morty said. About how I’m determined to be unhappy or some shit. The little weasel brought you up.” He swings a hand, shaking his head at the ceiling again. “Couldn’t stop… Thinking.”

Your eyes are still glued to him on the inward turn of his brow line. “About me?” You know he’s always been more sentimental than he’s been willing to admit, but it still surprises you. You figured around the year mark that the two of you were officially over. No more rebounds, no more drunk fights, no more quick deals, no more sporadic hookups. 

He sighs like you’ve beaten him. “Yeah.”

You push up on your hands, covering your lower half with the untucked sheet as you sit up. “I…” He doesn’t move, but you meet his eyes. “I mean, come on, Rick. We’ve done this before.” You can remain neutral to this. You can be calm about it. You are what you are. Sometimes things just don’t work out. You came to terms with that the last time you did this.

Rick and his stupid fucking puppy dog eyes. He follows suit and sits up, many emotions playing out on his face at once. And you already know, just like he always is, Rick will be the most emotional person in this fight. “Things are different.” He’s frowning as he says it. “Things are- are better. I’m better.”

Your resolve breaks by a fraction. You sigh, no longer able to look him in his sad eyes. “Rick, the things we do when we’re together, the people we are… We aren’t good for each other.” You glance around the dark room, suddenly needing to not be naked in his bed anymore. 

“It doesn’t have to be like that anymore,” he tries to ration. But both of you knew you were doomed from the start. He doesn’t do relationships. And you can’t handle the instability of his vast universe. 

You slide off the bed, finding your underwear on the floor. “Yes, Rick. It does have to be like that.”

“Why?” he snaps at you. 

You’re sliding on your pants, stopping to look directly at him when you manage the buttons. “Because we’re destructive! Fuck, Rick!” You pull a hand through your hair, digging under his discarded clothes for your shirt. “You saw what I was doing there. I’m not going to stop using and I’m not bringing you down with me this time. You said it yourself, you…” You bite your lip to stop it before it can quiver. “You can’t protect me.” You sigh, turning around as you slip on your shirt so you don’t have to look at him anymore. “If I die, it’s not gonna be on your hands.”

You hear the rustle of the bed behind you before Rick’s naked chest comes into contact with your back. He wraps his arms around your shoulders from behind, face buried in your hair, and the smell of him hits you like a ton of bricks, pushes the brimming tears over your waterline, and you reach back to hold him to you as best you can.

“Please, Rick. Just-” fuck your stupid shaky voice, “Just let me go.”

He takes his time, but he nods against your skull, kissing the top of your head before unwrapping himself from you, his hand slipping from under yours. You grab your purse as the portal appears before you. 

“Tell your friends I said hi,” comes his scratchy voice from behind you. You sigh as a wistful smile crosses your lips, trying not to focus on the emotion he’s hiding. Count that as two years of therapy down the drain.

“Happy New Year, Rick.”

You step through before he can say it back.

[private-kitty]

✨Hogwarts Legacy✨ fandom, i need your light.

Tell me if i am right into your "imagine" stuff

If i am correct, when you imagine a situation with Sebastian and Ominis, what i read is:

You always imagine Mc and Sebastian arguing and fighting and Ominis is the one who is comforting Mc.

Sebastian is swearing and Ominis is always polite.

Sebastian is a bad student who doesn't understand a thing and doesn't do his homework and Ominis is an exemplary person that says that Sebastian is an idiot all the time.

Ominis is kind and Sebastian is rough

Sebastian talk badly about others and Ominis doesn't like that

Sebastian is jealous and Ominis doesn't really care because he trusts you.

Sebastian is a dirty talker and Ominis is a sweetheart in bed

Basically, Sebastian is a red flag and Ominis a green

one

And blablabla and blablabla

Am i right ?

Well, let me introduce myself, i am the one who always see in people what other has missed and i like to establish the truth about a lot of characters. And today, my dears, you are the target.

And do not come to me like "this is just an imagine, we do what we want blablabla" because no. I am talking for everyone who doesn't feel right reading this stuff about their favourite characters because it is NOT them. We do not recognise their behaviour or their talks. Actually you CAN write what you want but keep in mind that you are writing an OC based or inspired by this or that character. It is not the actual character.

Let me tell you, at this point i am not sure anymore if we all played the same game or not.

Sebastian is a character that is introduced to our character because the teachers themselves think he is a good start to know things about the school. Little reminder that when Ominis was all by himself in Hogwarts, it was Sebastian and Anne who took him with them without any judgement about him and his family.

Teachers trust him. He is a good student, known for his good grades (being cocky ≠ being a bad person

Ominis said a multiple times that he doesn't understand the lessons (that he must have bought a potion to pretend it was his work) he always complains when we must go to class etc etc...

Sebastian is known to be the best at dueling and we came in and beat him after all this time. Everyone is arrogant about this situation (im talking mostly about you Leander) everyone but the one concerned, Sebastian. He is proud of you, congrats you about your job. He is humble.

Ominis didn't even introduce himself that he is already talking to us with an arrogant manner about how we could never beat Sebastian as... us. Judging our capacities based on... nothing

Sebastian reads a LOT which means that he is a high cultured person. Definitely not an idiot.

Ominis sleep on the floor.

The first time we spends with Sebastian, Peeves was there and saw us which means there is a witness. Sebastian could have worse if they found out he lied but he protected us without knowing each others. He is someone that can be trusted. (Reminder that i am talking about the character’s behaviour before dark magic)

We follow a boy during his desperate era. Which means that without this situation, none of what we've been through would have happened. Everything around him, put him into a desperate, needing, scared and stressful time and with all that we are aware that he will not be into his normal behaviour. Everyone is quite abandoning the situation about Anne (no one talk about her in Hogwarts when she apparently was a student known by everyone) Touching dark magic will change him at some point. Even the scenario told us the answer when multiple times, characters like Ominis or Anne will say " do not recognise him", "he is not like usual", what's happening to him?" This is NOT Sebastian, this is the dark magic that he is using into a dark time for him that turned him into a craziness hole.

Beginning of the game : Ominis used and saw dark magic all of his childhood and use his memories to joke around to threats other students with it, pretending he can do it on them.

End of the game: it was all pretending and he is terrifying by dark magic so when his best friend finally used it, he is frightened

The only time Seb felt betrayed by us, (the one and only moment into the undercroft) let me tell you once again: he felt BETRAYED by us and he didn't even shouted at us, he didn't even pushed it too far and if you feel bad because someone tells you, you are ignorant, well... This is not a big bad word right here... and this is actually how he felt. "Your ignorance about the situation made you do something you shouldn't have" (this is his thoughts) he didn't say that to hurt you. And guess what? He even apologised with a letter after (are you telling me that in your life you never argued with anyone because you are never upset by anything ?)

The first time we had a real encounter with Ominis, he shouted at us for nothing really important and using his family to scared you. Menacing us about how he can kick us out of the school (reminder : for nothing) And NEVER apologise even after knowing MC more and why we are here.

And Anne, ladies and gentlemen. Anne. Isn't she the proof that Sebastian would do anything for the one he loves. Always there for them, to cherish and protect them. Even we he is not close to someone, he is known to be a cool guy, cocky but not mean, chill and good with magic.

Ominis is known to do harassment on some students. Always talking to them with an arrogant attitude and insulting them. One of them is so scared that he asked our MC for help.

Sebastian always complain about tense situations when people are too strict or severe. Being rough is not is nature.

Ominis is always arguing or mocking everyone. Being rough does not bother him. Perhaps not in manner but with his words for sure.

Let's not forget about "talking sh*t on people's back" or (i don't like that terms so l'm going to change it) only "talking about my private life"

Sebastian is "abused" by his uncle (way before Anne's curse and no one knows about it. Some even are shocked when they found out, Sebastian was living into a little cottage. Sebastian never talk about others or even himself.

Ominis can be found around Hogwarts chatting about how his family is awful, how he hate them and how his sisters are annoying etc etc...

I am going to stop here. Because i can go on and on and on. But it was the more crucial points. Be sure about that: i love both of them. But i love them for who they really are and who they becomes. Not for a fantasy out of nowhere.

As i said in the beginning of my text. If you want to write what you like about the characters, keep in mind that this is an OC and not an "imagine".

Love

[greyfongschemmenti]

overall thoughts on tdp??? Now that you’re done watching, which season/story-line/character (besides our iconic queen General and Aunt Amaya 👑) was your fave? Any moments throughout that you really felt or really spoke to you?

The dynamic of characters in this show is so interesting. The theme throughout the whole show is something that resonates with me because it's how I live my life. Despite what you hear about a certain group of people you should have an open mind. This is just some of my thoughts and opinions on some of the characters. There might be spoilers so read at your own risk.

I love Seasons 1-3 and if it wasn’t for the wedding preparations and scenes with Amaya. I wouldn’t have watched season 4. I felt like the whole season was complete filler. The series could’ve ended at the 3rd season and be solid. Season 4 didn’t really get my attention compared to the previous seasons. I hope the story picks up in season 5. I just need more Amaya 😭 lol

Callum starting as a kid who doesn't know where he belongs because he isn't a fighter or have anything useful to help the kingdom. He is the stepson of the king. Turns out he is a mage and he instantly knows that he wants to be a good light mage and nothing like what his former crush, Claudia is. Speaks on his character and reminds me a lot of his mom.

Ezran, such a baby doll, is quirky and awkward. Has a difficulty talking to people and has a special connection with animals. He has a kind heart and sees the good in people. He doesn't allow outside comments deter his judgement on a person. He reminds me so much of Antonio from Encanto. He is a fave for sure. He is a type of King that I would love to see in the real world.One that rules with kind and compassion instead with a drive for power or holier than thou.

Rayla being a moonshadow assassin. While Rayla claims to despise humans, on the inside she doesn't truly hate them. She doesn't see them as lesser beings than herself, unlike the rest of the elves. It causes this inner turmoil on her belief as a moon shadow assassin verses her morals. She constantly checking her morals and doing better. Willing to put her life on the line to do the right thing.

Claudia, her development was scary, I know there's some good but she continues down this dark path, that its sad. I was so hoping that she would run away with Soren. I really hope there is some way she can redeem herself in the upcoming season but I feel like she's so far down the rabbit hole that it's too deep a hole for her to come out of. The reason why I say Claudia's development is scary s because she knows she is becoming darker. Each season she is at a point where she pushes that morality further. She crosses that limit and instead of realizing ok that's enough. She knows it's bad and accepts it with no regret. Only to surpass it again the next time. There is nothing that will stop her to get what she wants.

Soren, at first I didn't care about him because he was this jerk who constantly picked on Callum, but Soren definitely grew. The first season I feel like the creators wanted us to see Soren as this idiot jock that heavily relies on his physical strength. It also didn't help that Viren and Claudia also treated him as such. As the series goes on he is so much more than that. His development throughout the series is one of the best, imo. He has this emotional intelligence that came to a surprise. He does have silly moments where he acts first but then he realizes his mistakes and changes. When Soren realized how he was manipulated by his dad. He went against his dad. This is so hard to do. He loves his dad and his sister so for him to renounce his loyalty from his family and follow the crown. Then on top of that having to go to war and the person you're fighting is your own father and sister. That hits the heart in more ways than one. His redemption arc is honestly chef's kiss. Soren is a good boi.

Amaya, my my my Amaya. She is wife. Once she appeared on the screen I had heart eyes immediately. Like I was already shopping for rings! I think I have a thing for strong stoic types who are really big softies. She's both an immovable object and an unstoppable force in battle. Amaya is thoughtful, honorable, compassionate and smart. Brutal, driven and capable. Pragmatic and adaptable. Her character design and fight choreography is stylish af. I could watch her fight it's like watching a dance. Her shield is honestly really cool and interesting design. Even though she's a tough person that flips switches so fast once she's with her nephews. She turns into this big softy that is so adorable and honestly is why I fell hard for her. She has a heart of gold and isn't afraid to jump into the line of fire to protect the people she loves. Her nephews, Gren, Janai, her soldiers, her kingdom. I could go on about Amaya.

Bait, Bait is the best. I can't get over him. He has a range of emotions and is the bestest boi. He deserves all the tarts.

Bonus:

I can't get over the fact that Amaya threw Bait in a perfect spiral throw. Bait is beauty. Bait is grace.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I was wondering if you have followed the story of Chappell Roan addressing fan behaviour?

https://people.com/chappell-roan-addresses-fans-predatory-behavior-in-lengthy-note-8700923

I have been following - and I love so much that she's both drawing boundaries and talking about it.

As I've said before, I think the fact that the pop stars breaking through this year are 26 rather than 16 is pretty significant - and the ability and willingness to draw this sort of boundaries is part of it. I remember reading a profile of Shawn Mendes when he was younger where he had three rules - and the one I can remember was that he would never refuse a fan a signature or a picture. I found that rule terrifying then. The idea that you can or should keep every single fan happy in a personal interaction is such a burden - one that people can't really bear. I think it's fantastic that artists are prepared to very publicly not do that.

It has been terrifying to see some people not getting it some of the responses have shown exactly why what she's saying is important. I feel like as she's held firm, more people have acknowledged her points (although the exact dynamic is hard to tell, because it is so hard to )

There is actually one thing that she said in both her Tik Tok videos and instagram statements that I disagreed with. And I've been thinking about a little bit - to figure out if I'm comfortable with where I'm sitting (that's why I haven't reblogged any of the material).

In her instagram she said 'please stop assuming things about me.'In her video when asking people about a random lady: 'would you assume she's a good person, would you assume she's a bad person, would you assume everything you read online was true.'

And in my head I answered 'oh yeah I make assumptions about random ladies all the time.'

Recently in the space of about ten minutes, two different friends told me personal gossip about two different people who had been involved in making my friend redundant at her work. I immediately passed on both of those pieces of gossip on to her, with my own embelishments, assumptions and implications.

While I think that an important part of acknowledging people's humanity and being able to navigate relationships is moving away from black and white thinking. I also think making judgements and assumptions is a key part of humanity and we cannot and should not give it up.I do think both those people are bad people, because they made my friend redundant (and any inclinations towards generosity I find it pretty easy to smother with the fact that they chose to take roles where they had the power to get rid of other people's jobs).

I find it terrifying that I don't know and can't control what people think about me and the stories people are telling - and I really am just a random lady. I'm sure it's exponentially more terrifying being Chappell Roan. But I also think it's true that what people think of us isn't actually our business - whereas the way people treat us is.

It's not surprising that that line is blurred for Chappell Roan at the moment. She has a lot of people violating her boundaries in all sorts of ways and people making their assumptions about her and then making those assumptions her problem. And I think her publicly communicating her boundaries and standing by them is an important cultural intervention.

[coraniaid]

I really really like Doppelgangland. It is a very fun episode. I enjoyed rewatching it a lot, just as I knew I would going into it. I understand why it's some people's favorite entry of the season and why it regularly appears in top five episode lists for the show as a whole. But.

Okay, there are some world-building and plotting issues I have with it, namely:

By all the rules established in The Wish, I don't think the Wishverse should ... you know, exist. What exactly did Giles breaking Anyanka's amulet do if it still does? It didn't send Cordelia back (she was already dead), it just ... what?

The Mayor sending vampires to kill 'our' Willow is a bit too blatantly just an excuse to give vampire!Willow some disposable henchmen (why does he not ever try again?).

Willow doubling back to the library to get the tranquilizer gun last seen in Beauty and the Beasts is a nice bit of continuity (even if it took me a second to realize that that's what she was doing) but vampire!Willow having snuck out of her own hostage situation to show up and be captured is a bit harder to justify.

But -- as I've said before -- plotting and world-building aren't Buffy's strengths and I would certainly agree with the suggestion that these are all laughably minor complaints. Pedantic nit-picking of the worst sort. Who cares? (Well, me, but.)

Much more important though, is the end of the episode, and how the problem of Willow's doppelganger is resolved. That's the part that keeps this one out of my own best-of lists.

I've touched on this a bit before (when I talked about Ted earlier, for example), but during this rewatch I've often noticed that I really do not agree with the implied moral judgements that the show is making. Last week Faith killing one person by mistake was a huge deal. Okay. This week, Buffy and Willow deliberately let a known murderer and torturer free to -- as far as they can reasonably expect, and as far as they will ever know -- willfully murder and torture countless people. How is this not far, far worse than what Faith did in Bad Girls? Do the lives of people Buffy won't ever meet just matter less? Is the show claiming that death by vampire is somehow preferable to death by stake? Is giving vampire!Willow "a choice" a meaningful action when the show's lore has, to this point, been very very clear that vampires do not have a choice (not that she shows any sign of regretting her actions anyway)?

Yes, conveniently for everyone involved (except her), vampire!Willow dies within seconds of being sent back to her home dimension and doesn't get to hurt anyone, but this surely can have little bearing on the morality of the decision to let her live and send her back in the first place. What did the Scoobies expect would happen?

(And yes, Willow not being ready to kill her evil, "kind of gay" shadow self is obviously an intentional echo of Buffy having to grapple with that choice herself later this season. I get it. And yes, it would be hard to argue that the episode would be meaningfully better if Buffy had just staked vampire!Willow at the first opportunity, and that's not what I'm suggesting should have happened. But the idea that Buffy -- who was willing to send her boyfriend to hell to save the world, and willing to stake the vampire that her old crush Ford was turned into, and who told Xander and Willow that they had no option but to kill the vampire version of their friend Jesse -- would not just spare a vampire but let it go free to kill again simply because it looked like (but was not!) her friend Willow does not sit well with me at all.)

And what's especially frustrating is that the show (to say nothing of the wider fandom) doesn't seem to even realize there's any particular problem here. Vampire!Willow isn't happy where she is, so they send her somewhere they think she will be happy, problem solved. But I really think there is something wrong with this, and it's something that will (in some form or another) become increasingly worrisome as the show goes on.

(Also, the obvious elephant in the room here is that if Willow wants to spare a vampire's life but not let it hurt people -- Willow Rosenberg the witch who successfully cast a spell to give a vampire a soul last year -- it shouldn't be hard for her to figure out a way to do just that. But then, for Buffy to work at all as a premise going forward, we all have to agree to pretend that this spell just doesn't work on vampires not called Angel, I guess.)

[herowithbadpublicity]

Who is Hal, really?

Like, we see so many different versions of him. We’re introduced to this awkward, neurotic, definitely not Mitchell, vampire in season 4. Oh cool, he has these friends he’s been with for years, that’s great!

Hal literally kept Leo chained up with the sole purpose to watch him kill people (and make money, as he mentions betting on the fight). This was actually in a prequel clip, not in the show - if you saw the clip, Hal and Leo’s relationship dynamic completely changes when we see them on screen together for the first time.

Throughout the show, Hal implores people to be his keeper, to watch him and make sure he doesn’t commit anymore sins. First Leo. In some ways, this is extremely cowardly - Hal puts the responsibility on others. If his inhibitions drop and he’s placed in just the right situation, he does awful things and can say “oh they didn’t watch me close enough”. I’m surprised Leo kept his promise - if I got free, the guy who initially kidnapped me would be getting these hands.

I really really like Hal and Annie’s dynamic. She is so opposite of him, and from the very beginning you see his discomfort. Then, when Kirby shows up, we get a scene where Hal wants to confess his sins. Part of it is because he would rather she hear it from him, but another part is something Hal does frequently - burden others with keeping him clean.

Who is Hal though? There are 3 parts of Hal. Of course there’s the awful part, that killed Cutler’s wife and who is 100% capable of becoming a genocidal dictator. Then there’s the part we see most of the time. Seemingly harmless vampire with obsessive compulsive tendencies, endearing in some way and obviously trying his best to stay out of trouble. But there’s this other part, that we only see a few times. It’s when the two overlap. There’s some glimpse of it with his prequel - he’s a “slavemaster” but he’s hesitant and ashamed, and wants to be someone else. We also know that this is the in between, as he references the cycles of bad and good Hal.

I think, living for over 500 years, Hal has had to develop a way to cope with everything he has done. There are old ones like Mr Snow who seem chill and totally fine with being menaces to society. But we SEE Hal is capable of acting without malice, of choosing to do things to keep others safe.

I propose then, that Hal, upon becoming a vampire and murdering people left and right, had at one point realized his psyche could not manage and be okay with it all. So, what better way to cope then to organize who you are. Hal is neurotic. He creates a line - bad Hal and kind Hal. It becomes black and white for him - he either goes full villain, or he is safe. He treats the bad part as another being, trying to separate his sins from who he is as a person. I suppose we can also see it as vampire Hal and Vampire Hal.

I struggle at times when trying to figure out who Hal is for real. Is this the true him, proper, neurotic, judgemental. How do these traits present in Vampire Hal. He dresses classy, he manipulates, and he harms. The judgement in this case leads to murder. Try to imagine Hal, the one awkwardly holding Eve, and when he turns Cutler. How can one man behave so contrastingly? The blood eases the anxiety and the pressure. Hal can let go, fall into habits. Without blood, he has to always be mindful.

So, other than being a story telling device; I see the Jekyll and Hyde aspect of him being a coping mechanism. He either fights the urges and the habits, vampire Hal who keeps a schedule, or, he goes full Vampire.